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Show a1?? stouts? Mix-Up By STANLEY CORD ELL (Associated Newspapers WNU Service.) BART frowned over the letter. "There's no sense in threatening this guy," he said despairingly, looking up at his wife. "He'd think I was bluffing. " "The money's due you, isn't it?" Louise asked. "Due and past duel I earned it fairly and squarely by selling his property up on Maple street. Grove claims the property was sold as the result of an advertisement he placed in the paper and paid for out of his own pocket." "What does Ashton say the man who bought the property?" Bart gestured impatiently. "What does Ashton care who gets the commission? com-mission? I explained the situation to him and he was good enough to scratch off a note saying he bought the property as a result of my salesmanship. sales-manship. Then he left for Bermuda." Ber-muda." A faintly puzzled expression appeared ap-peared on Louise's face. "But if you have the note, why in the world can't you sue Grove and collect through the courts?" "That's the point. I can. But any suit of that nature takes time. And litigation costs money. I need that commission now, within the next two weeks." Louise looked thoughtful. After a moment she said, "But if Grove knew you had that note, knew you could bring charges of larceny a criminal offense wouldn't that frighten him? Wouldn't he pay?" "Right again! But if I write and tell him I have Ashton's statement, Grove won't believe me. He knows Ashton has gone to Bermuda. He'll think I'm only bluffing. On the other hand, if I go ahead with the ;uit throw him in jail, it won't pay satisfaction in seeing him in jail " Grove stopped reading and looked across at his partner. But Wheeler's Wheel-er's face was a mask of bewilderment. bewilder-ment. "What," he asked, "the devil is all that about?" A crafty look crept into Grove's eyes. "This letter, Alf, was written writ-ten by Bart Frazer to a friend. Frazer is the guy who sold the Maple street property. Get it? He's writing to some Paul asking to borrow money to get along on while he brings a criminal charge against me. Apparently he wrote to me at the same time, and inserted the letters let-ters in the wrong envelopes!" Wheeler emitted a slow whistle. "That looks to me as if young Frazer knew whereof he spoke. He isn't working a bluff, else he would have attempted to collect the money from you first by threatening. threaten-ing. This Paul is probably Na lawyer law-yer and will give him some good advice." Grove smiled thinly. "Alf, I must have been born under a lucky star. It's breaks like this that have helped make me what I am today. I knew Frazer had grounds for a criminal charge, but I didn't think he had brains enough to realize it. Now I'll have to pay him the two hundred, but it'll keep me out of jail." He smiled broadly. "What a break! If the sap hadn't got his letters let-ters crossed I'd probably be entertaining enter-taining the sheriff in a day or two!" The day following Bart Frazer found a letter from Leonard Grove in his mail box and with something of eager anticipation in his expression, expres-sion, ripped open the envelope. It contained a check for $200 and a brief note, in which Grove explained that the money was for payment of his commission in full for the sale of the Maple street property to Mr. Ashton. At sight of the check Louise began to laugh, and Bart placed an arm about her shoulder. "Honey," he said, "you're a genius! Anyone who can pull a fast one on Leonard Grove like that deserves a medal. I wonder what the old coot would think if he knew we crossed those letters on purpose!" Grove spread out the letter and read. the mortgage interest, the car payment pay-ment or buy coal. I want money, not revenge!" Louise nodded. She understood the importance of getting the money, as far as she and Bart were concerned. Bart leaned an elbow on his desk and toyed despondently with a pencil. pen-cil. The half-finished letter to Mr. Grove was spread out before him. Louise bent over to read what he had written, and as she did so an idea occurred to her. "Why not write to Paul Cutter and. ask his advice? Paul's a lawyer and one of our best friends. He wouldn't charge us much." The morning following, Leonard Grove, seated at his desk in his somewhat pretentious looking office, glanced through the pile of unopened un-opened letters that represented his morning mail, and his glance fell upon an envelope bearing Bart Frazer's return address. He picked it out of the pile and slit the envelope. en-velope. Probably, he thought, another of Bart's sob letters, asking for money. Well, he could sob all he wanted. There would be no commission for Bart Frazer on the Maple street sale. Memory of the transaction brought a smile to Grove's face. That $200, he reasoned, had been about the easiest he had ever fleeced from one of his salesmen. Grove spread out the letter and read, and as his eyes ran down the page a puzzled look came into his face. It was replaced a moment later by an expression bordering on alarm. After a moment he pressed a button and asked the girl who appeared to nave Mr. Wheeler step in. Mr. Wheeler was Grove's partner. part-ner. Wheeler entered and Grove said to him, "Sit down, Alf, and listen to this. I think we've got a break." Grove spread out the letter and read, "Dear Paul: Just a hurried .note to ask you to help me out of a Tjad hole. Can you lend me $200 for a couple of months? You see, I have that amount coming from Leonard Grove, for whom I sold some property the other day. Grove claims he doesn't owe me the commission and won't pay it. However, I've got him where the hair is short. Mr. Ashton, who bought the property, has given me a statement saying he bought the property as a result of my efforts.' So you see, it's just a matter of time before I get it. However, Grove is a crook and I'm going to bring a criminal charge against him for trying to fleece me out of the commission. There'll be a lot of |