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Show r THE MID-vALE JOURNAL Friday, November 16, 1928 I THE DOUBLE CROSS CHAPTER I -1- Early L the afternoon of a certain Saturday Jim Stanley stood at one of the windows of his loft~ office looking out at a panorama of which be seldom tired. Away, through the baze of the late afternoon, be could see a glimpse of New York harbor, with Its busy traffic, and in the far background a bug~ dim figure vaguely stabbed the murk with its uplifted torch. Be gazed upon 1t In silence for a time and then with a sigh and a gesture of lm· patience be turned, sat down and began to dictate somewhat Irritably to the audlphone upon bls desk. ''Ot course there i:-. always the pos· slblllty of error In these calculations. and It would be wise to allow a con· slderable margin of ~afety, therefore; but on the whole we are In a position to say that we think well of the prop· osition. If you wish, I shall be glad to discuss the matter at length and In detail. Very sincereiJ yours." Be switched ofT the machine, took another letter from the heap awaiting his attention. and nttempted to piL his mind on lt. For <;Orne rea~>on he was unable to do so. He fidgeted a mo· ment. rose and walked again to the window and lvoked upo'l the far-flung panorama of Manhattr.n. Now, tills indec!slor• or, better, perturbation, was not a·; all characteristic of this young man. Anyone who knew him well, watching him now, would have sensed that something had dis· turbed him deeply. He run his hand through his brown hair with a gesture of discontent and turning at length again to his desk he rang the bell and said to the gray-haired little man who entered: "Frank, when you tea ve the office this afternoon you will find O'Hara waiting with the car. I shan't need him again today. Take the 'ludlphone und all this heap of correspondence on the desk, hand them to O'Uara, and tell him to take the whole lot down to the country and Jnve Jefferson put them on the desk In the library." "But I understood, sir," objected the secretary, "tl.at you had planned to spend the weel{·end playing golf at Southampton." "That's so, Frank," responded Stan· ley, "but I find l can't do lt. Please get Mr. Jloi.Jerts on the phone and ex· plain to him that unexpected and 1m· peratlve business will detain me. Be P.!> apologetic as you know bow Crovel for me, Frank, grovel." \VIlson smiled. "Yes, sir." he said. "I shall grovel abjectly." ''Great •Invention the audiphone," continued Stanley, casting au Interest· ed eye UIJon the machine. "You can dictate for hours without having 11 stupid stenog•·apher around saying. 'What's that, sir? ' or 'llow do you spell cat, sir?' T11lk as fa S"t as yon please, tall> as slowly as you please, the machine doesn't get restless. It doesn't fix Its hair or tap the floor with its foot, and thank God It doesn't chew gum!" "Yes, sir," :;-mlled Wilson, "it cer· talnly bas some advantages over the female of the species, but doesn't it sometimes get out of order?" "Well," replied Stanley, "the female of the species has been known to do that, too." Employer and emvloyee smiled to· gether at this feeble jest. You would have guessed that relations between them were not wholly formal an 1 ofH. clnl. and you would have guessed right. Wilson was more than secre· tary, l:lc was a thoroughly eoofideotlal assistant. In fact he knew much more about the business of the firm than Rollin ·.vaterman, wbo was not onl) Stanley's partner but his life· long frl:!Dd ar well. And It was not only the business ot tbe firm with which be was weli acquainted. Be knew much more about the prlvat<> lives of both the members of thJ firm than either of them guessed-perhaps a good deal more tbao one of them would have liked, and be was thinldng or that particular one when . Stanley turned and D•entlonen his lltlme. "F•·ank," he said, "Mr. Waterman hasn't come In yet?" "Not yet, sir." Stanley hesitated an Instant, and then tossed his head with an air of decision. "When he does, say I'd !Ike to see hiDl." "Yes, sir, I will," :..nswered the secretary. The door had scar•·ely closed behind Wilson when upon the other side of Stanley's otlice another door opened and there entered briskly a young woman, clad in the business tweeds of Wall Street. She was a dark, good· looldng girl ot twenty·tbree or twenty· four, with assurancr written large upon her handsome face and radiating from her eyes of Spanish black. Stanley turned upon her entrance. "Well, Miss Morgan?" be said. "Uere is a letter," she said ln her clipped voiced, "which Mr. Waterman askNI me to rnll your attention to." Ue took the letter and read it swift ly. Then he faced the girl with a glance of dissuti~factlon as be said: "Why, this 1s dated three days ago. T! should have been attended to before. What happened to It?" "It got mislaid somt way," she an swered. "I se". It ju:~t crawled stealthily away and bid itself, I suppose-just out of spite." The girl looked sulkily at the floor. "I'll see Mr. Waterman about lt. After all you're h1s secretary, not &liue.'' By A. E. THOMAS Copyri;ht, By Dodd, Mead and CompaDy, IDe. w. N. U. Senice "I was about to suggest something of the sort, sir." Stanley looked at her wltb curiosity but whatever be was thinking be passed over the impudence. "Bm," he said reflectively, and then, "is that all?" "Yes, sir." ''Good." She turned and went out · Be t". as still looking after her in u puzzled sort of way, when the opposite door opened and Rollin Waterman came In, breezily, as usual. Perha Pl:! that was one fJf the secrets 01 his charm-he always seemed to bring the -.~u,·doors with him. In the Street thest two men were known variously among their Inti· mates as Damon and Pytllias, Pari; and Tilford. or liver und baton, and The Girl Looked Sulkily at the Floor. they spent more time togethe1 out of the office '::ban In lt. · Their friendship dated from the dayr, when they wore pa..:11.fores anc> played together lo the park whil their our::,es gossiped on a nenrby bench, presumably, If we credh the professional humorist, with hand some policemen. It Is true that thP credit side of the ledger of this f•·lend ship showed a Ilea vy balance in favor of Jim Stanley, bnt It Is equally true. too, tha 1 his opportunities f(>f benev· olenee far exceedetl those of his friend Jim and Watermar. were ttbout tht> same age. They had many points In common. They were both well born. of an old New York stoek, they were ut school together and at college. Jim's father, bowe'l'er. bad been a canny ttnd suc('essful busint:ss man. and when he died had left a fortune of uncommon size entirely to his son. Waterman's sire, uo the contrurJ<, bud been ao nble but erratit' pe•·son who dissipated the fortnues of his family and left his son a heritage of debtsnot 'that anyone could ever see, how ever, thnt the\;e debts weighed noticeably on the mind of their inheritor "Hello, Rolly," said Stanley, "a bit late?" "Whl, does It matter? Lively day on the floor. you know." "Yes, another million shnre day. Glad we held on to that B. & 0. iasr spring." "Yes, that will do us a bit of good. ·Er- Wilson said you wanted to see me.', "Ob, yes, 1-oh, by the way, why do you keep that secretary of sours?" "What's the matte1 with Miss Mor· gao!'' lnqnlred Waterman, ·ith just the least Indication o! surprise. "Well," said Stanley, "rhe's care· le:ss, and she's lm;mt.leot Aside from thnt she's llrst class." Waterman laughed and answered: "Oh, she's all right lt you understand her, and she's intelligent. 1\·hl<:b cov ers a multitude of sins. That whar you wanted to see me about?" The smile died from Stanley's race. "No," he said shortly, and then adderl slowly, "no, no, It isn't." ·•Well. then. shoot," adjured his friend. "What the deuce Is It? You look a~ glum as a parson's face on a Monctay morning." lt was clear that Stanley was em· barrassed. This was a thing that sel· dom happened to hlm and be didn't llke the feeling. However, It had to be done, and now was the time. "Rolly," he said, "I've bad something o my chest for quite awhile and now I'm going tt• get it off. We've been pals for a good many years. 1 hope we always shall be." "1 hope so, too," responded his part· ner. "Why not? Anything gone wrong~ Uavt: J done anything?" "No, no, not a blessed thing," said Stanley hastily. "Don't mlsunder· stand me. I thluk t11at ours Is the kind ot friendship that ootl•log could spoil, with possibly one exception." "1 can't imagine what the exception could be," laughed Waterman. "The possible exception," responded the other, "Is an exteptlon that bas ruined more tl•an one frienllshlp before now. l mean a woman." "Oh," said Waterman blankly. He rcse from the desk on the corner ot whicb be had been sitting, took one turn up and down the room and stopped In front of his friend: "I sup· pose you're talking of Doris Colby." Stanley shrugged his shoulders. "Well," said the other, "what about ner?" , "Just this. Here we are, you and 1, pals-same school, same college, same clubs, .. od now for two years part· ners; and as 11 that were not enough for us to bold In common, It looks to me as If we had gone and fallen In 1" ' e with the same girl. Of course we've never talked about It-" "People don't, as a rule," muttered Waterman. "True, but we must." "\Vhy so?" "I'll tell you, Holly. It would be easy enough to let things drift along and take their natural course, but I've heen thinking a lot 11bout It and here's how It stallds. Many a friend· ship has been wrecked on ~nst this kind of a reef NtJW I don't want our friendship •to be "'/'reeked, no mutter what happens. I may be all wrong when J say that we both love the same girL 1 can only speak for myself, and lf I am wr0ng, just say so and we'll drop It." He looked inquiringly at his friend, who prest>ntly dropped his eyes and shrugged his shoulders. "All t•ight. then," Stanley went on. "Nuw It is clear to me that it's be· gun to get on our nerves. We haven'! been ourselves In c:•cb other's com puny for quite a while. It has both ered me a lot, this-this barrier that's been rising between us. Let's breuk it down. I think that Doris Is fond of botll ot us, though perhaps In dff. ferent ways. An11 for the moiLent there's nppar ntly oo one else lo the running." "No," agreed Waterman, "nut since ~lonsi e ur Le C'omte d'Estrelles took ship for h(lme with a l'efusal in hi~ Iuggage." ''But," continued :Stanley, "she can 't marry us botlJ, and It may be thllt ,;be hasn't the slightest lt.lea of umrry Log 3ither of us; hut I have certain notions of my owu upon the point, liS oo doubt you have al~o. Some time she must make a <:boice. So far ~~~ we're concerned, tht sooner the bet ter. It Is wy besotted hleu that I am the hushand designed for her hy an all wise Providence, and you appear to be not:rishlng designs oi your own not preci~eiJ In line with thnt view. [s that right?" "It is," said Waterman t.rtetly. "Very well, then, I propose thiswe sball each go to her thi~ very evening, one flt nine o'clock, and one at oloe·tbirty. Ench o1 us shall ask her to marry him and the loser shall take his medicine as best be can. What dr you say?" ' ·aterman took auother turn upon the rug. Then be thrust both hnnds deep into his trousers o>ochts, and thoughtfully jingled a few coins there· in. Somehow he seemed to t:ath.er de· tcrmioatioll from the soon!] At all events, he turned agnln to Stanley hnd bsenert. sucl'ini't!y, "It'" a bet." Stanley hreathed a sigh of relief. "Good," be snid. "and whoever wins, It's to make n1 differenre what· ever tu bis rei a lions with the other." this splendid tribute to one of the great spirits of the American Revolu· tion: "Thomas Paine was the first man to use the words that now echo over the whole world, 'The United States of America.' As one of the leading lights of the American Revolution, he was of great Importance, although none of his many writings todicnte that he had a gift for practical states· manship. His words burned everywhere with a large and splendid ar· dor for American Ideals, for liberty, equality, and the right to happiness. "Ilis pa111phtet, 'Common Sense,' printed In 177fl and followed b-,v the various numbers of 'The Amerkan Crisis,' stirred and spurred Ameri<'n:>s to the rond to freedom more than any other words produced in th11se days by tongue or pen, unless thl'y were those of the Dec!an: t!on nf In· depend+>nre. When a II men were hesitating over the nurlwity 01 tiual separation :f.ro.w G11:at l.lrituin, be spoke boldly, demantl!ng to tle shown any reason for argunwnt or delay. lie preached federal union, that petty jealousies and local narrowness be forgotten: "'Our great title Is .Americans-our inferior one varies with the place.' " Origin ol the Polka A Bun;.:nriao dnndn)! ma::;ter on a walking tour In the 1830s stopved at a small village In l'ulund wher~ he saw a peasant girl dancing a folk dance that particularly pleased him Ue brought back the new steps to Prague, where the dance lmrr.ediatelv won great popularity, and named It polka for the land of Its origin. The poll;a was introduced to Amer lea ubout n deeade later, when James K. Polk was a Presidential cnndidate, lPcanse of the similarity of names the polka became a campaign dance. Al't: ·Ies of various kinds were named for •he dance-polka searfs, polk:~ glo~eb ana finally the polka dot C a LAUNDRESS "Waterman jingled the coins again. "Right," said be. "Fine," cried Stanley, his race light· log up. Be put out bls band. Water· man took it. "And now," said Waterman, "who goes first?" "We'll toss for It," Stanley 'decided. "Suits me," grinned Waterman, producing one of the jingly coins, "You call It, or shall I 1"· "You to~." directed Stanley, "I'll call." "Right. Here goes I" Be tossed the coin. "Heads I" cried i:ltanley, as It fell upon Waterman's palm. Stanley in spected the coin briefly, then his face fell a trifle. "Tails It Is," said he. "Yon l'l'in. All right, old boy, yon go first. Dot I know that you'll forgive me If I don't wish you I uck." Waterman grinned. "Under the cir· cumstances, yes," said he. "All right," said Stanley briskly, "I know :;-be's to be at borne tonight. for she told me so." Waterman grinned again. "Yes," said he, "so I beard," and they grinned together. "Well," said Stunley, "that's that," and made for the wardrobe clu,;et. whence he took bls bat and stkk. "Awful joke on us," be remarked. "if she turned us both down." "Can happen," answered Waterman phllosophical!y, • "Anyhow, 1'11 be d-n glad to get It over." "lie too,n "All right, then-you at nine, and at nine-thirty enter, so far as you're con cerned, the villain. Ot course if you ' ve woo I'll know It the moment 1 come in, and It won't be neces~ary for me to say anything but, bless you, my chi!· dren. But, best of all, it's golng to be a square deal." "Surest thing you know!" "Till tonight, then, old man. Win or lose lt's all right, and-good I uck to-one of us," and with that Stanley Amifed again and departed. The remaining partner gazed retlel~ tlvely after him. Then be lighted a cigarette and sat down. He bad a good deal to tblr.'k about. a. es a -------------------------· ~..-..-~~ BENEFITED Business Training Pays By Taking Lydia E. Pink· 1000 in good positions. We can place you when competent. When will you be ready? • ham's Vegetable Compound say Nashville, Tenn.-"I cannot too much in favor of the medicine. last year we placed more than s-l fur Sucuu C..taloi Behnke-Walker Business CoUege 11th and Salmon Streets _________________ _______ _ , ..,.............-..,.....~., I Was in a. run· Portland, Oregon down condition, I worked in a. laundry but my COYOTE. FOX and SKUNK liXTBRMINATOR 0APSUT.IIS. Go' health got so bad : 9 OOJO'"" one nl~tht. BroughtiiJ1.60. that I had to Free Circular. Free Foru111ta lllld Instructions. GEORGE EDWARDS, llvlnpton, Montana give up work. I got a bottle of Lydia E. Pink. Booklet free. UiJihestreferencea. Best reenlt.s. 'Promptness as· ham's Vegetable 6Ured.. 1f.l1'80~ I. 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Bullets carrying sleepinp; potions have been invented by Captain Harris, director of the Harris zoological t>xpeditwn to South Africa. Tile nose of the bullet carries a hypodermic n eedle, which on Impact discharges a powerful dr ug. The animal is un· con ~ cious an hour. Well, Maybe Not. "I hav e been reading some of the articles In Woman's Home Companion on why people marry," wrote one bus· band. "I don't believe the authors know why they marry,'' he a•ltled. "Nobody knows." Assistance is always otiered fr eely to those who don't need it. 1 .. cents by mail or at dmg• l!ists. Hiscox Chemiclll Work8, Patchogue~ N. Y. Wolves, Coyotes, Fox, Skunk are easlh killed with "Coyote Killer Capsules." Clr· cular. Bait Formula and instru ctions free Evan• Fnr House, Lhingston. lllont. • MEDITERRANEAN ~~i:: •• "Transylvania" salllng Jan. 30 Clark's 25th cruise, 66 days, including Madeira, Canary Islands, Casablanca, Rabat. Capital of Morocco, Spain, Algiers, Malta. Athens, Constantinople, 15 days Palestine and Egypt, Italy, Riviera, Cherbourg, (Paris), Includes hotels, guides, motors, ete. IMonrway·Medlterraaean, J~U~e29, 1929; S800 up FRANKC.a.ABK,Ttmea Bidlo,M.Y. For Galled Horses Hanford•s Balsam of Myrrh Money baek tor ftrat bottle d not oulted. AD dealen. W. N. U., Salt Lake City, No. 46 .. 1928. A Treat in Store. Clare Sheridan, the sculptor of halfAmerican and ha11'·English hlood, Is coming ba ck to lecture again. She said the other day to London cor· respondent: "My other American lectures falletl because they wet·e too heavy. llfy new lectures will be light and airy-full of epigram~, you know. l\Iy lecture or1 love, for example, will begin : "Love-making consists in a man running after you till you land hlm.''Rehoboth Sunday Herald. CHAPTER II ... t "Well, Holly, do you mean It?'· Waterman started. The speal;er stood behind blm and he had not !ward her enter. It was one of her a(•(·om· plishmen ~· thi:;- swift nod silent np parition. She was not stealthy-she was simply sil~nt. "Mean what?" "Don't stall. I happen to have hPur<l every word you two have been ~uy ing." "Well, what about It?" "Do you mean It?" she demanfletl once more. Waterman's hand was not to ue forced. "Do I meun wnat 1" he sui d. "That you're going to osk Miss ~ol tly to marry you?" Waterman blew the ash from cts cigarette. "\\'hat It I aru?" he !:'ald. The girl's mouth tightened, her ra t e hardened, hPr black eyes tlashed. "Just this." she said. "You can 't do tbat kind of thing to me." ·.' ~ "No, Mr. Rollin Waterman, not after all that's passed between us-no." "Why," he said, "what could you do about It?" Though he spoke with a jeer, ht> was far from comfortable, tor It is a.Iway~ sa.!e to give a Bayer tablet; there is not the slightest harm in genuine Aspirin. You have the doctor's assurance that it <Ioesn't affect the heart. And you probably know from experience that. Bayer Aspirin does banish all sorts of pain in short order. Instant relief for headaches; neuralgia, neuritis. Rheumatism, too. Nothing like it for breaking up a cold. At all druggists, with proven directions enclosed. Aspirin Is tbe trade mart of Bayor Manu~acture ot Monoao:etleac!dester of Salleyllcac!d Protect their 'nmder Ski:Jts and Silky IIair witlt -- Cuticura the Cutlcura habit T that theyyourmaychildren have clear skin and Jove!y BACH hair through life. The daily use ofCuticu.ra Soap, assisted by Cuticu.ra Ointment, keeps the skin and sa.Jp clean and healthy. Soap 2~o. Otntm.ent 2~. t'iOo. Talewn 2:Se. &14 euryu:hel-e. Sampft tach [m. Addrtst: "Cutlcura." Dept. B S, Malden, Mass. Thomas Paine's Place in American History A writer In the Detroit News pays WJ Cutieura Talenm l.o Soothin(l aDd Cooling. t "Hm," Said Wat~rman. "Blackmail, Eh?" he knew well enough that she could and would do so met hfng ahout It Wherefore his remark wus not so much a gihe aF n genuine reque~t fnr lnfnr mation information was prompt!~ fo1'thcomim;. "I'll tell you what I can do about it. Do you suppose a girl like Doris Colby would have any use for sou U she knew the truth ubnut me?" "Do you mean that you will tell ller?" "That'£> just 1\'hat I mean. You will promise me here and now to give up all attempts to marry her, or I'll go to her and tell .ber the precise truth about y.rt1 on1l me." "Um," said WatermaiL "Black· mail, eb ?" ITO 61£ CO.toi'£1NUJi:D.l s rand1" U TAH-GRAND a coal that is HARD; in fact, it burns almost is "A Different Utah Coal," like Anthracite. It stores with no loss, LASTS LONGER, is CLEANER and MAKES NO STRINGY SOOT OR CLINKERS. Both the retail dealer and consumer will find UTAH-GRAND COAL an economical fuel. Just as good for range, heater, brooder or furnace. ... Phone your dealer or write us CHES ERFJELD COAL COMPAN"I' Salt Lake City, Utab ' |