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Show i ' pfjCTlON CORNER ' I keepers finder I W5 j Ry CHARLES PALMER covert calculation. "Well, there- advertising office rent, telephones and help) livings for George and me all only until the golden flood begins to roll in. Say; oh say, five thousand .dollars. That should be sufficient to launch the business." The elderly gentleman drew a checkbook from his pocket, and un-limbered un-limbered his fountain pen. The beady eyes glistened. The elderly gentleman turned to the back of a check and began to figure. The slim one exhaled sharply, opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it. In a few moments, the elderly gentleman gen-tleman stopped figuring, and looked out the car window, stroking his goatee reflectively. He shook his head slowly. "No," he said. "I believe your calculations to be in error. You will need at least ten thousand dollars dol-lars to get your proposition under way." The blood slowly flowed back into the slim one's cheeks. Mr. Vander- "All you have to do is give us the names of the people whose anniversaries anniver-saries you want to remember; with the dates if you have them, otherwise other-wise we will look them up for you. "Give us too, the names of people whose promotions, marriages, births, deaths and so on you want to mark with a gift or note; and our clipping service will watch the papers and other sources of information. infor-mation. When an item pops up on the calendar we keep in your name, we notify you and for a small additional ad-ditional fee we will even write an appropriate note, or purchase and forward a gift. Now, tell me: Does that fill a long-felt need?" The elderly gentleman's eyes were bright with interest. "Amazing. The chaufEeur pulled the long lack car over to the side of the usty road, and the elderly gentle-ian gentle-ian in the tonneau leaned forward j open the door for the two hitch-ikers. hitch-ikers. The slim, nervous one with he beady black eyes sat on one Ide of the elderly gentleman; the irge, sleepy one on the other. The elderly gentleman's hands ;ere folded benignly in his lap. His riendly, rather vague eyes peered t first one, then the other. He Toke the silence. "My name is fandermoor, gentlemen. And '0U?" The slim, nervous one sat up jharply. "Any relation to the Van-dermoor Van-dermoor bank family?" "Yes," said the elderly gentleman, gentle-man, stroking his gray goatee. "I I 1 have that honor, if you call it one." This "Then,"" said the . , , slim one, "this is WeeK S your lucky day. Dpt.i Ain't it, George?" UKtl The big one took Fiction his hungry gaze from the passing 1 orange trees long enough to grunt agreement, and turned back to contemplating the luscious fruit. The slim one fixed the elderly gen-( gen-( tleman with a gimlet eye, and hooked a taut finger confidently in bis lapel. "Have you ever neglected the jtrthday of a loved one, and spent 'i sleepless nights of regret?" he ' Drobed intensely. "Have you ever .lipped up on remembering an an-liversary an-liversary and gone to the doghouse is a result or failed to congratu-ate congratu-ate a friend on a promotion and otten the fishy eye the next time ou met? Have you?" "Well, yes," apologized the elder-r elder-r gentleman, "I have. I am a trifle )rgetful at times," adding defen-vely, defen-vely, "but then, most people are." "Ah," pressed the slim one, giv-ig giv-ig the lapel an impressive shake, my point exactly. Most people are, ke you, forgetful, and they suffer k it. They suffer because they now the slight or omission was not itended and realize too, that the glected one is certain to wrongly iterpret it. Maybe a long friend-lip friend-lip will be strained, or a wife or lughter hurt. "But, suppose you were to sudden-( sudden-( find yourself in a position where ose slights and omissions never ippened any morel Wouldn't you ; delighted especially if it meanl ) effort on your part, no strain, i time ; in fact, nothing beyond e payment of a very small fee?" The elderly gentleman nodded. " agine most people would be as lighted as I." "My point again!" cried the slim ie. "Now, George and I are a1 ds moment on our way to Los ngeles to initiate just such a serv-:e. serv-:e. We plan to call ft The Tell-ou-When Co., Inc. " 'Okay,' he said, 'I bit.' Then be kissed the check regretfully and ! tore It up." young man! Exactly what I need. Put me down as your first subscriber." sub-scriber." "You seel" said the slim one. "You snapped at it. So will others. Which brings us to the heart of the ; matter, doesn't it, George?" George turned from the oranges long enough to grunt a second agreement, agree-ment, and turned back to his contemplation. con-templation. An orange would go very, very good just now. The slim !. one grasped the elderly gentleman's lapel again. t "Mr. - Vandermoor, I called this your lucky day. It is. You, being a Vandermoor, have money which , you are probably willing to treble on a proposition that can't miss. George and I have such a proposi-! proposi-! tion, but no money. Now, why can't we get together on this thing?" i t "Hmm," remarked the elderly , gentleman. "How much capital do you estimate your venture will re-. re-. quire?" The slim one inspected him with moor turned his checkbook over and poised his pen. "I am a man of quick decisions," .he told the slim one. "I am convinced con-vinced of the worth of your idea, and of your ability to carry it through. Your name?" The slim one supplied it, and the elderly gentleman gen-tleman wrote out the check, tore it from the book, ' and handed it to him. "And now, I see we are almost home. II you young men will come in with me, we can draw up some informal papers to cover the matter, mat-ter, and then I will have my driver take you on to the city to start your company." The car swung from the highway and topped smoothly. A uniformed attendant hobbled from the ' gate house to unlock the ponderous iron grilles which effectively barred the driveway. Suddenly the slim one bent forward. for-ward. His eyes rested on a small bronze plate set in the stone pillar. "Sunnyside Home for the Mentally Diseased," he read slowly, choking as the words sunk in. He turned toward George, flicking a rather hopeless glance in his direction. George turned away sadly to again appraise the oranges. The slim one's eyes dropped to the flourishing signature sig-nature on the check he still held in his hands. "Napoleon Vandermoor,"' he quoted. His lips tightened murderously for a moment, then he grinned sheepishly. sheep-ishly. "Okay, Napoleon," he said. "I bit. Your name ain't Vandermoor, but just to even it up, George and me ain't starting any Tell-You-When Service, either! Because somebody else beat us to it a year ago, see, and all we wanted your dough for wns to skip the country before the dicks caught up to us." He kissed the check regretfully, then tore it into little pieces and tossed them in the air, watching them flutter down. "Come on, George," he said, "oranges "or-anges for breakfast." "The elderly gentleman watched them trudge down the road, and stroked his goatee contemplatively as the car rolled up the drive. It stopped in front of a brick building with barred windows, and he stood beside the car for a moment. "Harvey," he said to the waiting driver, "wait here for me. I'll be only a moment" The chauffeur touched his cap respectfully. re-spectfully. "Yes, Doctor Vandermoor," h said. LYNN SAYS: Help Yourself and Solve Vour Kitchen Problems If potatoes don't seem as white as Lhey should be when you are mash-ng mash-ng them, beat a small amount of making powder into them. Use a hot blade for slicing fresh Dread, a wet blade for cutting 'resh cake, and a very thin, sharp jlade for slicing cookie dough, j Keep the inside of your coffee pot I :lean by boiling a solution of soda ! ind water in it at least once a week, j This removes stains. |