The guardian. [volume] (Boston, Mass.) 1901-1960, 1939-01-07
Such Rot!
BY STANLEY coRDELL
@ Associated Newspapers.
WNU Service.

face changed from cold anger to
hopeless despair. He glanced from
the pile of household bills spread
before him on the living room table
to his wife's sweetly unperturbed
countenance.
Diane, l can't understand it.
Why you go on spending, piling up
debt after debt when you know how
hard up we are"
~But, darling, why worry about
a few trifing bills when"
''Why worry Trifing bills! Good
Lord, woman, don't you realize my
salary's been cut twice within the
past six months? Why, I'm having
a job making enough to meet our
running expenses"
"But, precious, you didn't let me
finish. l was going to say, why
worry when we know we're coming
into lot of money within very
short time"
Coming into money? And just
where is this money coming from?"
''What difference" she asked,
''does it make where it's coming
| from, so long as we know it's COM
ing"
'Say, are you seeing that fakir
Tarzini AGAIN."
''Tarzini is not a fakir! He's an
astrologer. Everything he predicts
| comes true. That's why he has such
big clientele"
Gill leaped to his feet and his face
was black with rage. "Diane, if I'd
have thought you were going to turn
into such an idiot, by CAD, I'd never
have married you. Believing that
rot This piker Tarzini has told you
we were coming into money some
time and SO you've gone ahead run
ming up lot of bills
GILL Stanton, l never heard such
talk. Tarzini is not fakir. He's
| great and wise man. The mere fact
that he charges paltry two dollars
| for his reading is proof enough for
re that he is not trying to CONNER
cl"lize his-his art. Moreover, I
+, !. all the faith in the world that
| we will inherit a large sum of
money. And if you won't respect
my faith we've"
eve what?" said Gill.
Diane tossed her head. "We'd be
happier-separated."
Gill stared at his wife for a long
moment. He bit his lip. The color
left his cheeks. There was an empty
feeling inside of him. He said quiet
| ly: Diane, have just one answer
to that. If I can prove to you that
I'm right about Tarzini--"
"You can't" said Diane.
Gill turned away. He picked up
his hat and went out without a word.
He jumped into his coupe and at
length drew up before the residence
of Tarzini, the astrologer. Sitting
cross-legged before a smouldering
pot of incense the great Tarzini
looked up at him with heavy eyes.
'Who is this who intrudes upon the
solitude and privacy of the great
reader of stars"
''Nuts!" said Gill. He looked for
chair and, finding none, remained
standing. "Tarzini, old boy, you've
been feeding my wife lot of tripe
about an inheritance we're going to
get, and she's run up flock of
bills that 1 can't pay. Now here's
the proposition: I've got fifty bucks
in cash and that's all. It's yours if
you'll agree to reverse your line and
make the little woman think the
inheritance is off and she'd better
start economizing or we're both des-
tined for poverty row. Either that
or I'll queer your little game by en-
listing a flock of federal dicks and
fetching 'em down here to look the
ground over. And I'm not kidding"
Tarzini's heavy-lidded eyes gazed
into ellis blue ones, and then he
coughed. 20. K.," he said. "Hand
over the dough-"
The next day when Gill came
I home from the Office he found his
wife with a worried frown on her
face. "Oh, darling, you were right.
1 mean, went to Tarzini again and
the stars have told him there'n be
no legacy. Something has happened
that he can't explain-something
about the location of Neptune. More
over, Tarzini says that unless we
economic we-we're destined for
poverty row. Oh, darling, I'm so
sorry"
Inwardly Gill chuckled. Outward
ly he was grave.
"I'm going to begin economizing,"
Diane said
Gill rode to work the following
morning feeling as though ire
mendous burden had been lifted
from his shoulders. Pretty smart
of himself, he thought, to take the
bull by the horns. He thought of
other victims of Tarzini. Perhaps
he should have brought the federal
dicks in anyhow. 1t would have
been kinder to those poor misguided
souls who actually believed he could
predict things like inheritances.
Such rot Imagine anyone believ-
ing they were actually coming into
money.
Gill reached his office and found
| L.