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Show IllSSj IdmhereWflmiseelhllmffmiMtim' 3featolJ3 Pathe' PLAYERS WRITTEN BY GEORGE RANDOLPH CHESTER Author of "Get-Rlch-Quick-Wallingford" DRAMATIZED BY CHARLES W. GODDARD Builder of tho World's Qratat s.vi.l. INTRODUCING BURR McINTOSH .... j Rufus Waiiingford MAX FIGMAN Blackie Daw i, U)UTA ROBERTSON . violet you'll have, to help Black In be In Ihrr towns ar once. Blackie, you are to be Mr. neai!-zum neai!-zum of Beaunk, Michigan; Mr. Cazizua of Cazak. Oniiuio. nn-i Mr. renawpUfl 01 IVnau, Arkansas." There was a little rllenee in which the girls porulerA.) on the wonderful ne.w possinllitie3 which bad been opened up to them "What I want, to know 1m this," inquired Nlackle, after tnafuws rejection "do T, or do I ijot, wear whi.-tki n,?" The grand opening of tho factory of tVm Speckled Bass Hollow-Walled Portable Bungalow Bun-galow Company was a function long to be remembered. Fully one third of the factory was r1v':u ovor to offices befitting such a distinguished fcot of officers. Entering a spa-clous spa-clous vestibule In Dutch tiling:, one. Haw surrounding sur-rounding him a -lumber of beautiful glass doors, leading into the office of President Valla, in white and .?old; of Vice-President Haugh. In mahogany and ibony; of Second directors' meeting was in session. With him wiih a beautiful daughter, whom he callen V Inlet and who, in Wa WriRford's private office ru fihed i nto the arms of the private secretary and giggled for a solid five minutes, nfu-r which both ffirJfl peeped out for a frenJi llghl of Mr. Bezazzuhl of Bezunk. and pouui back in to giggle -omo more. rotfl Bezazzum of Bezunk was. in truth, a u-ondroiKi creature, in felt boots, corduroy t rouser: , a canvas coat, a sweater of gorgeous gor-geous hues and wondrous pattern, and a broad-brimmed felt hat. As for his countenance, counte-nance, it wan lean and bony, with the most absurdly sprawled black mustache imaginable, imagin-able, and a little tuft of chin-whiskers which began neatly to be a goatee, and ended In all directions, an if it had suddenly become be-come intoxicated. His eyebrows were equally black, and beneath them glowed a pair of black eyes which : 1 ternately twinkled with mischief and flashed with hawklike Intensity. some himself. The hoys liked the imprcs-sivo imprcs-sivo and helpful -manger. He was a big man and n cheerful man. and his round fao bore the color whleh OQUild only come from years of fastidiously selected food and drink; moveovcr. his babe dashery. though striking, was correct and up-to-the-minute, and iher-i was no disputing the fact, that ho employed a tailor who was an artist. AIbo, bo appreciated appre-ciated the pretty little pasteboard house, when, In his active groping for openings, he spied It on the floor, and ex pressed bis Interest. In-terest. "Rippin' fine thing. It If:," Rickey Plunders boaated. "Benssy's the arohitetrt and builder because he Is such a clever -inn with his finrors, but we're rll tn on the InvenllnV "1 1 's for a fishing trip we contemplate," voting K:jllr, modestly explained. "And so you're building a wind-proof, dust-proof, dust-proof, rain -proof, and snow-proof portable hOUfleTV suggested J. Rufus, 1 1 groping-. "Also beat and cold proof," added Rickey. "You see. we couldn't find a good portable hous eo we invented one. .Stunning, the amount of bralne we found In the crowd! Benssy invented the hollow walls, air-space, and that sort of thing, vou know. Roggy figured out how to turn the tables and benches Into cots. Hum pay, who is no end of a clever mechanic, devised the simplest sort of a collapsible cookstove with a telescoping tele-scoping ntn.' I'.vh discovered th- method of making the roof ridare water-tight, and I worked out a fancy damn to bind Hi corners cor-ners together: but. after all. the real rippin brains of the thing is Benssy. The hollow wall idea wns his; came to him just in a flash. Ne or wasted a moment of t hough on it." "Clever scheme," declared Waiiingford studying the model with the Practised eye of a born mechani-. us Bensay took it apart and demonstrated bow ;i was lo oe packed and shipped and reassembled. Waiiingford turned to him quickly anl studied him with great care before jin replied. re-plied. "There's a fortune In ItA he declared, with a dellbcr.u-K" rising enthusiasm "Of course you gen; 1 em en are not commercial. I arn. T know a good commercial opening when I see one," and ho smiled to himself aa be looked into t he faces of the eagerly interested inter-ested grouo around the table, and sUtdlod the good rommei-f la! openings he saw before him. "Your marvelous portable house should be your gift to vour fellow sportsman at about twenty -five per cent dividends; and t. who am strietJy a busings: man am so favorably fav-orably Impressed that I should be dolighted to take twentv-five or fifty thousand dollars worth of the stoetc myself" "Thank you." said Benssy gratefully "'I consider that a groat compliment. Ifni sure." "Nothing of the sort." returned Waiting-ford Waiting-ford sedately. "It Is only my cold business Judgment which is speaking. Mr. Falls." Reggie Haugh had been flapping hfs thick lower lip with his thick forefinger in deep thought. "Only trouble Is," he objected, "that all the rest of us have had a shart In the Inventing. Wbloh riiikes It a ?ort of famiiv affair, don't you think ?" WaJllngford was instantly ready for that emergency. "So far as that Is concerned." he i m- fBK RKSTl t l IlOA F.Vi D S BLs-ROANS and shnck? iV c .s-ird W fl from the close .i dors c" the Fullnuui I T arawinprcoiu. ahd the two girls, lio IVjPere the only occupants of the car, locked at eaoi other in ,-;!' 9une one is ill :" S-Ul"i tne youiie'- a ::d -n) vivacious. She w as very handsome, Shout tweutj . jL other girl, who w.is about twenty-two. afacre sedate, though there was the Bm of humor in her brown eyes, lir--Sf latently to the agonizing noises tnar : tasore the rattle and rumble and screech 2 w Jerky train; then sh-e touched the bcil nHbr side: and thj two, appaicntly sisters. nKUieir likeness ot feature and from the BPtolf-mouming, waited in vain for the Hmds and shrieks unspeakable: walls of .KSTcries of mortal agony; wild despair- EanH: stand it any lonter Fannie:" and omiger of the two gu up. Tsteter hesitated, then followed to the SIFof the drawtngrcom. oiiiid of which Stood for a moment: white those ter-jj ter-jj Eapirtng sounds rose above the loud 3 ST of the train I iStas Fannie who at last knocked. No one a iak; OBlv the groans and shrieks responded, f pirls looked at each other in frightened I '-Jast turn the knob. Violet, and we'll p ia," finally advised Fannie. "fou do it'" breathlessly returned Violet, "land on the knob nevertheless. uj extra loud shriek seemed to animate :!r.'s hand, for it turned the kuob. and n pirls peeped timidly through the crack. ItT stopped, numbed by the unexpected jrjit which met their eyes, and a lurch of :j train Jerked the door from Violet's hand, id swung it wide. Welcome, ladies." greeted the lean, lank Bfdan, with a flourish of his saxophone, d another flourish with his unoccupied Oi "Won't you come in and listen to the KrtT Am two rirls Emerged from their stupor besan to turn pink with embarrassment. So Sorry." apologized Fannie, but sudden-f sudden-f Violet sriggled. Frankly." she explained, "we thought i-a nrip was riving in hpre." and the hroad- off his feet, and tossed Violet arden forward into the arms of Blackie Daw: five young men picked themselves from the floor of the magnificent private car. Swallow, after that rude stop of the train and viewed tho devastation with extreme annoyance. The whist cards lav scattered eerywhere; a beautiful pasteboard rnodol of a portable bungalow had been Jerked from the Sideboard and bent in the tumble; and a glass of champagne had been dashed all Fa"s avender waietcoat of young Benssy "How very aggravating." said voumr Benssy. as he ran-.: for Shamasuka. but his dimples returned immediately. "Some one shall have a good ragging for this. Sammy, you've been a vexing long time in coming." "I beg vour pardon, sir." replied the Jap ,ni JS i11 English, "but 1 thought you might like to know the cause of the dolav and I hurried our to Investigate." 'VOJPJ well. ou may tell us," Mr Kails graciously consented. ..3hank you- pir" responded Shamasuka There is a. heavy rook -Slide on the track just ahead of us. The engineer made a verv good stop, but unfortunately snapped a dri- -ing-rod in doing so." The eyes of all four of Mr. Kalis' friends turned to him expectantly in this emergency He was equal to the occasion. "You will tell the conductor." he directed in the voice of authority, "to repair the driving-rod. clear the track, and prooccd immediately. imme-diately. Wait, he snail have written instructions." instruc-tions." "Tes. sir." said he Jap, in a tone almost of solemn gratitude, but when he reached the platform he grinned. Mr. J. Rufus Waiiingford was outside discussing dis-cussing ways and means with the conductor when Shamasuka came with the message "Would you listen to this?" flared O'Connel "Mr. Falls directs me to repair the driving-rod, driving-rod, clear the track and proceed immediately"' immediate-ly"' He turned to Shamasuka red in the face "You tell Mr. Falls that I directed him to go to the devil V ne roared. "Tes. sir." amid the Jap with pleasure anl when he regained the platform he permitt-d himself another grin. Waiiingford tuned to the conductor .a the law on yez, begob. You promised me three hundhred bungalows and Ol hov ine mm eriKaarea, ano no bouses to put them in. I ooujwt nave got thlm chanties elsewhere; out ax cheminy. I blace my confidence een wisa skinner concern an' they truii me down. - m acin you; see? To-morrow, by heck, ii stack you up In front of a two-hundred-thoijsand-dollar damage suit, so help me! And that goes!" "My dear Mr. Bezazzum! You must realize that, so far as Intent goes, we are entirely Innocent, in this affair. We delivered the goods to you on time, and we cannot be held for anything on that score. In a spirit of fairness, however, we will do this much. We will pay the freight boib ways, take back the three hundred portable houses, and repay your ten pr cent advance deposit, in cash. Isn't that fair. 71 r. Bezazzum?" "Hear: Hear!" cried Rickey Saunders, in a tone which tried to be exhilarating:. "That's a Sportin' offer. Mr. Bezazzum." Mr. Bezazzum's answer to that sportin' offer w:-.o immediate, pfcturef-que. and violent. vio-lent. He bad a contract calling for the delivery de-livery of the goods to hfm within a certain specified time; and delivery to a carrying agent from which he could not secure the goods, upon the nroffer of the agreed price of their release, was no delivery to him, in fact, common sense, or law. He Intended to press bis claim in the highest courts in the land, so help him Moses: and there was no possible compromise! Hold on thoug.h! There might that is, it was just barely possible that there might be a way out. Hope, dim. vague, distant, glimmering hope, the barest :iicker and spark of hope blushed taintly upon the far-distant horizon for fl vo disconsolate gentlemen in trade. It might be barely potsible that, if the Speckled Bass Company were to relinquish the goods free. In settlement of Mr. Bezazzum's damage dam-age claim -well, gentlemen, there you were, and what were you going to do about it or stand snlt, buhgosh! The dense silence was broken by Humper-dinck. Humper-dinck. the three creases in whose brow were now so tightly drawn that they seemed one blurred, black line of foundation for his spikes of hair. "Did 1 understand the gentleman gen-tleman to :-:ay that he offered a compromise?" he queried in tones of intense thought. Mr. Waiiingford. apparently hopeless and despairing, put the compromise into intelligible intel-ligible terms. "At last there's somethin' fairly sportin'!" Rickey plucked up his spirits enough to announce. an-nounce. "Is it correct, guv'nor. that this gentleman will ju:it take the three hundred portable houses and go back home to Bzap. or Bezibber. or wherever it is, and never er never molest us again?" "That is his omy term." vociferated Ir. Bezazzum. "Then it's perfectly easy." declared Rick ly. so relieved that he could pluck with interest at the mustache which would not come. ".We don't want the bloomin' bungalows, do we, fellows?" The unanimous as&enl to this was a closely cencerted groan ; but the groan was emphatic. em-phatic. "Then," went on Rickey, still brightening", "I vote, fellows, that we accept the bloomin' compromise and thank the gentleman from Bezam for having made his rippin'. good sportin' offer." "Just a moment, gentlemen," warned Waiiingford Wai-iingford solemnly. "We are setting a dangerous dan-gerous precedent. We have customers in Ontario, On-tario, and in Arkansas, who will be claiming claim-ing the same terms." "Move we let 'em all have the terms," returned re-turned Rickey promptly. "Move we lei "em all have 'em. That's sportin'. eh. fell own? . Somebodv second the motion." A savage second came from Reggie Haugh. He had just lost the second girl from the end. first row, because a man who would let business interfere with an engagement with her was a piker. They nad barely made that resolution when the attorney tor the National Company just managed to happen in upon them. The attorney for the National Company was very severe. He would give the Speckled Bar.s Company its choice of two courses. It could continue business under a prohibitive royalty, roy-alty, or it could quit business entirely anl forever. It took the board of directors just forty-three forty-three seconds to accept the proposition to go out of business entirely and forever; and immediately thereafter it departed in a body, declining even to take a parting drink in the hideous marts of trade. Violet and Fannie Wrarden started nervously ner-vously as the door of Manager Wallingford's private office opened, but they brightened aa Mr. Waiiingford and Pete EezsKzum entered, with a distinct and concerted swagger. "Everybody's discharged," announced J. Rufus jovially. "The Speckled Bass Company Com-pany has gone out of business." "Gone out of business," faltered Fannie. The two girls had been holding hands and were still pale. "Vfii'Avpr1" Mr RAT.d vnm nullah n ' 3.1 Wxlllncrford cleverly explained the improved lightning rod. ice-President tlumperdink, In rosewood and silver birch; of Secretary Saunders in walnut wal-nut and cedar: of Treasurer Cash, In redwood red-wood and bird's-eye maple; and of Manager Waiiingford in plain oak Besides these, there was an arched and groined directors' room, which was a triumph of ceramic art; a buffet stocked with more varieties of liquids than a dye- hop; and a an19.ll boy. proud n no many gold buttons that In the Euniight he was one solid blaze. Also there was a very neat and retiring private pri-vate secretary for Manager Waiiingford. who kept herself out of sight a great deal, but displayed a remarkable interest in the Business. Behind the offices was the factory, with workmen, gri lining fpollehly when unobserved, un-observed, in snow-white unit onus; and the very cleanest of clean shavings scattered everywhere. The ofiit ers of t lie company brought hosts and flocks, and bevies cf women, some young and some old, and .all jo beautiful by art that nature, out ot pure spite, had wasted no gifts upon them. Theae ladles, taught carefully from infancy to be charming, were charmed into ecstasies by everything they saw, without discrimination, unless t hoy dlscripitnated in favor of Waiiingford Wai-iingford himsel f, whom they voted to be r most charming manager, as did the board of directors next day at their first regul .ir meeting in the new quarters. "Vou see. fellows," declared Rickey Saunders, Saun-ders, "it's not only sportin" but rippin' what this chap Wallingford's done. Efe'sj made -t possible for each fellow to entertain in his own offices with all the resources of a club, and all the privacy of bis own quarters, and yet it's a bloomin' factory ofnee. Wonderf il business man. T call him." "Rem.-, rkable." agreed Benssy. "I never saw a line ot liquors and win' s selected wKh so nice discrimination. Oh. come in Mr. Waiiingford. .loin us in an absinthe puff'."' "No thanks, boys," smiled the general manager. "1 came in to discuss stern business, busi-ness, and to lay refore you a synopsis of our progress during the two months and a half since we organized our company; You There was that !n his bearing ana ease, however, which iorbade levity or ridicule, and which made thf- board of directors take him as seriously a3 he .ook himself, but Toad Jebsup. after one good look at him. went out into the stock room, where he leaned over a barrel of nails and laughed until n had the stomach-ajChe. "Well, yuh see, gents," said Mr. Bezazzum in objection to the company's product, "I'm a wlllin' tub pay thuh top-notch-buh danged price fur thuh, very best bub gosh port-table houses what can be coaxed together, and 1 gut thuh buhjlr g money." and here be slapped his pocket meaningly. "Bu-u-ut 1 don't notice from y--.ur catalogue enough new fangled doodads, dinguses, and hickeys tuh seem tuh chahin 1 huh dollars out'n thege co'duroys." "I'm very sorry, Mr. Bezazzum." returned Mr. Waiiingford. but I am sure that our catalogues do not do full justice to the Speckled Bass Portable Bungalow. You must come out into our factory and inspect one which is complete and ready for ship ment." It was a masterful manner In which l o treat such an emergency, and the board of directors were strong in their admiration of it The board followed into the factory, much Interested tc see the demonstration. With all bis suavi ty, Waiiingford strove to prove to Mr. Bezazzum the excellence of the Speckled Bass Hollow-Walled Portable Bungalow. Bun-galow. But Mr. Bezazzum was obdurate. While admitting the superiority of the article before be-fore him. admitting It in such flattering terms that each and every one of the board of .directors was -leased until he writhed, still the thing Would not quite do. The -official manager sighed. The members of the board of directors looked at him anxiously. anx-iously. What would this commercial gen i us do in such an emergency? Ho displayed his haPdi and in unison they sighed wTth relief. "You have not seen the Improvements upon the Speckled Bass Bungalow." said Waiiingford. holding up his hand impressively, impressive-ly, and the mere manner in which he said It, bested, man with the huge diamond in his n-at. chuckled, ais wide shoulders heaving I hfa eyes half closing. "What is your favorite musical selection r Tell him The Wearin' o the Green.' Misa fad,' broke in a rich voice, and a red-M red-M conductor stood there, his eyes twink- aa" grinned the musician: "but I". b it again." vn was youT retorted the broad-sh iul-ktd iul-ktd man. "Then don't." ha the girls laughed, and the gifted ama- Turned to the conductor with a -ell iT.ed expression of grievance. Tiiis is rough on real art." he complained, tor to cheer my gloomy companion with little light lilt, and the young ladies rush i minister to one dying in pain. If yot? " ' . ';ome in. ladies, may I entertain you Tej ad just turned laughingly to o tta their sa;s. when a glistening haired I Jan with preternaturally solemn J r?.me stalking back through the car. i handed the conductor a note. The condor con-dor read it; said gruffly. "No answer." and iJJaD went away. ni faces of the girls changed instantly, per saw the stationery, with its shadow- imprint of a flying bird across the face ft '" elope. . ' f Swallow." and Fannie's low vols g kh sadness. Mr. O'Connel '." exclaimed Violet, ' r quick tears sprang into her eyes. tl " Miss Violet'." and Conductor wane gave a little motion of his neck t:a might have been a gulp. "I wasn't 3? 0 tel1 yoa' but we're hauling The nJtow on behind, and young Falls is In it aft 1 souse nartv " TFhai In ytur favorite mnsleal selection V to girls, all the sparkle gone out of iF-t,jrned away and went slowly back to JKiire. they pat sorrowfully, hand Rai'E a E;Va-'7-'nquireri the lean WmWK t rrilFi'-'3':- troui f't expression in W FSter e6S :,S i;"5V :oi:r"'vo'1 v,olet and Shallow!" Conductor O'Connel as he punched the tickets. 'It used iflSh to thee yul ladies. Their ti, 5 ! or them: Warden, owner of J road. When he died, old E. H. Falls Hp or other got the road, and Miss p and Miss Fannie that I've hauled W?ey ,were babies haven't a cent." h "ei Pulped, and his face turned redder. mB!Wn shame!" he suddenly blurted. in Fail . ls tongue as long as he could. Bnffi 8 skfnned 'em, that's what he did: LRWi million dollars!" to !5H em!" The lean and lank musl- vZ ng back at pretty Violet War-fcwrame War-fcwrame suddenly furious. "Girls like i-ttf? !'-ke them!" and O'Connel plodded Nation ar' t0 indie71ant for iurther i 'Hum'" said the black-mustached musi- V'y.j that outrage?" Ht a tu- , ed tne D'f? man, frowning as M black cipar-Wr.ii cipar-Wr.ii z? out of the door to where the tn " "'den head of Violet Warden , 9mLth? Moulder of her dark-haired lu caVi Iy ne lammed hiy saxophone an'i i and h'"ri':d straight out to th t leaned over the seat in front of fltollyS Par,lan." he began his black faDDing. "I'm Horace G. Daw. and Wu a wel ca" n 'Blackie.' everv-. everv-. arfrt rV My Partner is J. Bufur Walls Wal-ls Puhrn"d. ie's slickest little financial -k fejln Vnnthti rrii,f''l Stales, bar nor..--f tt'C. l,.ni'rr,r,i can go into a town t r0 ' ntlre -fating capital consists of ' '"ttio SL nenr,les a plugged dime, 4 "h'mfJT. 'tn enough money to sta't Sat- h i ' He r,in J'if Angers through sa t ' an1 warmed up to his work. :-'ft I of thl fte. Pulled astonishment on the :- P ' Vls- "Nov- we've Just hear 1 lea tA Fall skinned vou out of five Civ-rL. werc (foing to get it back for , ke h,?0me the details." ' 'o'Pan ifiy?s of V"iolt and the brown Nleace ,0okf!d Into each other in Jong, ''' o thUte? !ater- J- Bufun Waiiingford. drie an t or - the drawingroom. saw HfranH e Vvo irls hent together in , f"'-'e.- ..r.-ersallon. ,7-, '""." called Blackie. "Kav: i ; v,io'-; g',.i: n Ulif; lif..iLt :l difpjP Pads! We're going to get that ',',u'n,,'d Waiiingford. "Getting iriJ; backwards or forwards. Is my '"' hlSVl.fl train stopped with an ah runt -n threw big J. rtufus Waiiingford nave. I tnm k, seen tne circulars and catalogues cata-logues mailed you trom time to time a? they were received from the printers. I now have the pleasure of presenting tho most promising promis-ing of the repltK I have had from our advertising. The first one of these, requesting request-ing us to make a price on three hundred of the portable bungalows, is from a Michigan cranberry monopolist, who expects to house his pickers right where the picking is good. The next one, from Ontario, wishes prices on a hundred and twenty-five, and this one, from Arkansas, asks for a quotation on a hundred of the portable bungalows. I must confess that if we can book the orders for these five hundred and twenty-five bungalows at a gross return of over two hundred thousand dollars, I shall feel not only encouraged, but flattered." "Hear! Hear!" shouted Rickey Saunders, and the others clapped their hands. Waiiingford laid down the letters and took up two other packages. "I have furthermore to report." he went on, "that we have received re-ceived our joint patent from the Government at Washington, granting us the exclusive right to manufacture our articlo in the United States." . He held up tho document in question, exhibiting ex-hibiting its gaudy ribbon and seal, then produced pro-duced five more copies and passed them around the table, so that each one of the proud patentees might see his own name upon the grant and have it for keeps. "Also I have to report," ho continued, this time with solemn Impressive ness, "the procuring pro-curing of six patents In my own name for six more or less trivial improvements in portable houses or bungalows. These are. of course, my own invention and my own property; but it is only my decent duty to offer them to the Speckled Bass Portable Bungalow Company Com-pany at the nominal price of one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, cash! Here are the copies, gentlemen, and I shall retire without recommendation of any sort." A stillness of the weight and Inflexibility of a Pullman blanket fell upon the board of directors immediately after the retirement of Mr. Waiiingford. Ringgold Cash, being the calmest as well as the most deadly about money matters, was the first to recover his nerves. "Seems to me this Waiiingford chap's too good a business man for us. You see. It's like-this. To begin with, the fellow has no right to invent portable-house improvements after we have perfected the article." "That's it! It Isn't sportin'!" declared Rickey, much disappointed in Waiiingford. "Gentlemen or the Board: I move you thit we table Official Manager Wallingford's proposition!" said Benssy. "Ripphi'!" shouted Rickey, jumping up. "Three cheers and a tiger for Benssy! Now fellows. One, two. three!" A gentleman from Bezunk, Michigan, u air. Bezazzum, visited the factory quite opportunely op-portunely one rTjy, T.'IiUo r. special cz.!'c'Z '. -o&revO his round pink face graven into solemnity, and his broad chest expanded to its full capacity, ca-pacity, was enough to inspire confidence in any man. "Allow mo to show you the improved im-proved portable house weatherstrip: the improved im-proved portable-hoi;se lightning rod; the Improved Im-proved portablo-house ventilator: the unproved un-proved portable house down-spout; the improved im-proved portable house door-knoj). and the improved portable-houte burglar alarm." Deftly and quickly the manager displayed these wonderful attachments protected by :ho six Waiiingford patents. Mr. Bezazzum was in ocstascies. nor was his voluble ardor cooled when Mr. Wallingtord announced that these improvements would add twenty-five dollars to the cost of eacn bungalow. "I wouldn't buhdnng miss havin them Improvements Im-provements if they cost fifty plunks a throw." he declared enthusiastically. "Yuh can jes' book mah ohdek faw three hundred hollowed walled bungalows with all of them there improvements, im-provements, and I slip you ten per cent of thuh entire bill, in cash, right now. Yo'all can ship the balance C. O. D. and you can write or telegraph anybody in Bezunk, Michigan, Michi-gan, about the credit of ole Pete Bezazzum. "Of course, Mr. Bezazzum. I shall be compelled com-pelled to investigate your standing, as a matter of form, but in the meantime I should like, before booking your order which is rather a large one for us. to consult with my board of directors. I am onlv the manager here. Boy. take this gentleman into my office and see if he will not have some refreshments. re-freshments. Mr. Bezazzum. I shall not detain you over two or thj-ee minutes. Gentlemen will you kindly accompany me to the hoard" room." On the day those three shipments were to reach their destination. Mr. Wallingford's private secretary called on a certain lawver who immediately telephoned a certain other lawyer. On that day. The National Hollow AValled Portable House Company which was a real concern doing a real business filed a suit against the Speckled Bass concern for infringement of patents and damages! An injunction was also filed! Here was a pretty how-do-you-do! Manager Mana-ger Waiiingford immediately called a boad of directors meeting, an imperative one- and three most important social engagements were broken. This thing of being in trade bad become a bore! Four days after the suit was filed, there came an agonized telegram from Mr. Bezazzum. Bezaz-zum. that an injunction had been served upon him. forbidding him to pay for and remove the portable bungalows consigned to him. On the second day after that, again Mr Bezazzum himself came into the factorv both himself and his daughter, clad in the most violent silk sweater, procurable. Mr. Bezazzum. more violently inflamed than his unspeakable sweater, was a tornado of righteous wrath, whom Mr. Waiiingford endeavored, en-deavored, with no success at all. to placate with soothing words and fond promises 'No!" shrieked Mr. Bezazzum. "Oi'll hs.ve whiskers and thre.v them on the desk, and became Blackie Daw. "We must have cleaned up about a quarter of -a million for the Warden War-den Restitution Fund, Jim." "A little better. I think." Wallingiord threw open the safe, and drew out a bundle which he tossed on the desk. "There's a hundred and twenty-five thousand cash, which 1 wouldn't touch until we had every possible come-back settled, including the removal from the game of Mr. Bezazzum, Mr. Cazlzus, and Mr. Penap; and more particularly particular-ly the removal of the Speckled Bass Portable Port-able House Company." "That's the idea." Blackie turned in explanation ex-planation to the mystified girls. "In any con-deal, it's easy enough to get hold of tho money, but to make it safe money requires both skill and patience " Violet laughed, but Fannie still looked troubled. "I don't quite understand how you got this money. Mr. Waiiingford " "By strictly legitimate business methods in use every day. from Portland, Maine to Portland. Oregon." immediately claimed Waiiingford. Wai-iingford. auite anxious to convince Fannie that It was all right. "That isn't what I meant," Fannie went on. "However you got it. the money Is for patents you sold the company: your inventions.' inven-tions.' "Bunk." grinned Blackie. "Jim invents like he eats his din tier, five or six courses at. a time. The 'fact you have to consider is that we got .his hundred and twentv-five thousand thou-sand dollars for the heirs of the Warden Estate out of the heirs of sonic of the crooks who robbed it. And there's more besides, girls. You own five hundred and twenty-five fine, hollow-walled, very portable bungalows. bunga-lows. What are they worth. Jim?" "Can't say exactly," Waiiingford had a deep frown on his brow. "They're at good distributing points, and ihey should bring a couple of hundred thousand dollars; but th National Portable Bungalow Com pa ny offers us a hundred thousand net, and " "Put away the pencil and paper Jim. ordered or-dered Blackie for Waiiingford had begun o figure. "We'll take that hundred thousand, and know where we're at. How about It girls?" "But we can't accept all that moncv!" protested pro-tested Fannie. The girls had clasped lands again. "We " ''That'll do." said Waiiingford gruffly You'll take what we get for you. or we won't play." "Let 'em pay our expenses. Jim." Blackie had detected a tear trembling on Violet's lashes, and Fannie's lip1' were cuivcring. "Vx-penses "Vx-penses consists of whatever any of we four blowed In. And I move that we lock up thin office and throw the key away, hire a eight v-horse-nower car. and go some pa.-e for a celebration dinner on tho Bxnenvo Fund!" (To be continued) perplexity. "You must be tired of your job," he suggested. "Me? I love it," responded O'Connel. "But you don't think I'm sending that answer to President Falls, do you? It's his saphead son back there, and he's been giving me fool orders ever since we picked up his souse-car souse-car at the junction. If the Jap only carries him my little speech, and the cub only reports re-ports It to his old man, I'm in line for promotion promo-tion If that's worth while." A savage dissertation upon the road 'n general was presently interrupted by the arrival ar-rival of Benssy FaJls. attended by his quartet quar-tet of friends. The son of the president wasted no time in parley, but stalked straight up to the conductor. "I demand an apology." he said, his dimples dim-ples interfering sadly with his severity. "You get back on your car," ordered O'Connel. O'Con-nel. "You can do what you please there, but I'm running the ream of the train." "You will either apologize or I shall be compelled to ask you to fight." declared young Mr. Falls very sternly. "That's what I call sportin',' announced Rickey Saunders. "Magnanimous of Benssy. considering the difference in class." murmured thick-lipped Haugh whose father had, been a dry-goods clerk until he developed a genious for being lucky at stock and bond gambling. O'Connell looked over the shoulders and arms of the athletic young Mr. Falls appreciatively appre-ciatively and a twinklo came Into his eye. "Far be it from me to commit assault, battery bat-tery or mayhem upon the son of my bread and" butter." he stated: "but even if you were vour own father. Mr. Falls. I'll bet a month a pay I'd defend myself if struck If struck. To the surprise of all, youug Mr. Sails dashed his fist angrily into the red countenance counte-nance of Conductor O'Connel: then Mr. Falls hit the p-round! A hearty cheer encouraged Conductor O'Connel. as he sailed in to demolish de-molish the rest of Benssy's friends; but at the sound of that cheer big Jim Waiiingford turned to the cheerer. who was none other than Blackie Daw. and gave him a well understood un-derstood sign and signal. Thereupon Mr. Daw slaromed his silk hat on his head, and held hack the two girls who were headed toward the scene of the trTNlx?" he warned. "Urwder cover for ours. Friend Jimmy is a i ready on the job." and ho hurried Violet and FanaTe Warden into the Pullman again. ' . . Friend Jimmy was indeed on the job. He had bent over Lb.- proestrate Benssy solicitously solici-tously Now he raised that limp young man. and. with a passing wink at O'Connel who had been quieted by (fwp brakenien and the engineer, supported tlue son of Old Falls back-to back-to the Swallow. He was a friend and a comforter In need, was J Rufus Waiiingford. and one, who knew well how to administer restorative;?: and take observed in smiling confidence, "I Invented inventing, though I am far too modest a man so to state." and ho laughed jovially, closing his eyes and shaking his big shoulders to show them that this was a joke. "Even while we have been talking, I have discovered a radical defect in tne construction of your portable cottage, and have invented a way to overcome it. Tou are making your hollow hol-low walls in straight sections which merely abut upon each other. Warpage and shrinkage shrink-age will draw them crooked and leave wide cracks. What we must do is to make the hollow sections like this." and he deftly and ruthlessly cut open, upon alternate edges, cne of Benssy's sections, telescoping the two parts upon each other slightly so as to show the plan of overlapping, and then reversing them to show how much space they saved in nesting for shipment. There was a general chorus of polite exclamations. ex-clamations. "That surely makes Mr. Waiiingford one of the family. Reggie," declared Rickey. "I vote him In. fellows. Now! One, Two. Three " "Aye!" courteously shouted his friends In perfect, unison. "I thank you," said Waiiingford, riBing and bowing gravely. "I've only a minute, and then I must go back to my partners," announced the chuckling chuck-ling Waiiingford. as he stepped into the Pullman drawing room, where Blackie and the girls had retired to talk business. "Partners!" exclaimed Fannie Warden, a flash of amusement sparkling in her brown eyes as she saw the twinkle in the eyes of J. Rufus. "Partners." J. Rufus repeated it with a relish, as he sat by Fannie. "I've gone Into business with young Benssy Falls and the sons of four of the other prominent commercial commer-cial crooks who helped to steal the Warden estate. s "Please. Mr. Waiiingford. wc don't want you to fret into any trouble on our account.'" "Trouble," he laughed: "Why, we're going lo have the time of our lives. And don't you worry about anything that turns up. I'll promise you this much, that anything we do won't land us in jail. I have a great respect for the law." "It's so useful," added Blackie, and Violet Vio-let laughed delightedly. She had come to the point where s'ne laughed at anything Blackie said. "Can Fannie and I help?" she offered eagerly. J. Rufus blinked, and then he chuckled. "It will ive Blackie and me great pleasure," pleas-ure," he assured her. "Would you mind. Miss Fannie, if I save you a little detective work in tho office of The Speckled Bass Portable Bungalow Company? Jlisc Violet, |
