Show THE ION CORNER d i STRICTLY BUSINESS I II By ROBERT C. C BLACKMON I 1 I HF t E finest sermon I ever heard hear ded and the benediction camit came cam camet bt it t from the heart of th the shouldered figure in the pule pul pul- e stirring voice of the bl bIg tilled fined the church and the con con- tion began to leave ray Thatcher and I were sur sur- sur- sur ed by sober thoughtful people e went to the car He drove ward I the laken lake n n Thatcher said abruptly aft art got a cigar started We were g the lake drive There arci are arc 1 i million five hundred and thousand four hundred and letters In the Bible suppose appose so o. o I almost dropped garette His Ills talking about th thI the I took me by surprise His int in- in t was financial news exclusive- exclusive It re ire arc are seven hundred and ity ty thousand s seven e eve v e n red and six forty words In Its thousand one hundred three seventy verses B I its re e. e I looked at him wonder- wonder gray gray eyes were half closed road toad face grave One could by be he was called dog Bulldog er cr He had a reputation of off f after business wherever it and rand and getting it tartly after the war ended a aI aman I man named Phillip PC into my club one evening cher icher settled himself more combly combly comply com com- bly ply In the broad front seat of ear ar r one big hand on the wheel j Hc Be had been a n pilot I dont don't k how many missions but b h. h Star end at the university re ire that t All AIl around athlete He been mentioned as a possible pic chance Folks had a lit lit- ones money car rolled with almost no noel el I said nothing This wasn't Harry Iha Thatcher Id I'd known Id I'd ped in on em him last night since BJ in town for a few days and Insisted upon my going to torch toch ch with him this morning was not a church man so 0 as as I knew I waited 1 had got some cockeyed sin rin the army Thatcher went Some Some radical talk He started R ling g about youngsters In the army ing g g killed while the income big-income stayed home safe My 1 Mye Myme me me e runs up a little He couldn't rear iceal c ai a note of pride pride- He looked me e when he said it and I thought was was making it personal I told income income big men were worth it t they got and he said they eja a lot of stuffed fools I got gotI gott t I told him he couldn't handle job for a month much ra ia year hatcher coughed a little apol apol- i was a captain in the first Jd war war Infantry Shrapnel hand h nd and moved to his right side r j wouldn't take me the last rr ey l p straightened straightened Breeze from rom the Swept wept our smoke from the car fillip flip said he had 1 said id he could handle any 50 50 job jab for 12 months Inherited money aloney ney from an aunt I believe aFY y 1 he said for me to put up lp art ut up The fellows in the club feed ed d and I well I-well well I lost my ternI tern- tern I I called him at a t ten to one Nig g against his five that handle the job I was me EJe the job It wasn't to be beible Bible ible or require technical skill er i r of us had It was foolish wither either ther of us would back down BI s I a bet and I couldn't call it Bating Is strictly business with H U I win I collect and If U I 1 Pay off oU Strictly business If a man cant can't look at it like that he has no business betting He tooled the big car around a curve Sunlight was jon the lake I a moving pattern of glinting water under a 1 cloud splashed sky The club was ww in an uproar with men betting e each ch other wed we'd both back out or go on with it it I went over to the big bookcase at the other end of the room to think it outI out outI I saw the Bible in the bookcase book book- case and remembered my mother telling telling- me mc that the Book Cook was good to read when you jou ou didn't know V what to do I didn't know what hat to doI do I took the Bible and saw in the Ute back where it had so many many letters and words and all that and it gave me an idea When I was in school I couldn't spell The teacher used to make me write missed words on the black black- t r I w Li 1 rl I II I r Y ro t r J a My Iy man cabled me that Phillip had locked hims himself lt In the cottage and wouldn't let anyone in board a couple of hundred times I wrote about 20 words a minute writing carefully I figured I could write perhaps 30 words a minute fast That meant about words in a full day of writing At that I Irate rate it would take 50 days to c complete com complete com com- m- m I a handwritten copy of the Bible Ten good clear handWritten ten copies would therefore take about days and the bet was for fora a 1 year Th Thatcher laughed softly bering I realized that this was an ideal job for the purpose It required no technical skill neither of us had and there was a good chance that Phillip couldn't do it I didn't want to lose any more than he wanted to lose the five Phillip hadn't stuck at anything since he came out of the army and I figured hed he'd drop out within a few weeks at the most Then Id I'd return his money and teach him a lesson he wouldn't forget about betting And there was a very good chance that after he learned what the job was to be hed he'd drop the whole thing and agree to call the bet off oU That would have been fine with me I couldn't back down as long as Phillip Phillip Phillip Phil Phil- lip wanted to go on on of course The Themen Themen Themen men at the club never would have I forgotten it and it would have hurt me in a business way I went back to the others oUters He nursed his cigar for a few moments Phillip exploded when he learned what the job was to be I didn't know it it but his handwriting was awful He thought I was ribbing ribbing ribbing rib rib- bing him The men in the club were having the time of their lives A well well known lawyer drew up a contract contract and both of us signed it Phillip wouldn't back down and I I was to furnish the place and the materials to do t the c job and I was to be the judge judg ol of whether the copies produced acceptable or not If we wc hac hat too loo oo much much ar argument we could each uch choose a friend and they would choose a third party to settle the argument There wasn't anything left for me to do but go through with it I was going to to each Phillip Phillip Phil Phil- lip a lesson anyway anyway My forgotten cigarette burned my my- fingers and I tossed it from rom the car I turned over a small cottage down on the lake like to Phillip stocked jt t with a Bible paper pens ink and blotter and told h him m to go goto goto goto to work I left a man there to see that he didn't get outside help It was sh strictly business with I me I 1 had at stake Phillip Philip was going to pro produce uce 10 p perfectly legible handwritten handwritten hand hand- written witten copies of or the Bible as the contract provided or he lie would lose the bet I didn't get back for a week weck or two and Ph Phillip had spoiled a lot lotof lotof lotof of paper but produced nothing ac ac- ac- ac He wanted to fight but butI I told him to read the contract and it was time for him to put up or shut up I thought he would burst The club was betting hed he'd last about abou another week I did not think heigo hed he'd go that long Thatcher looked out over the lake then his eyes ees came back to the drive before us Business suddenly took me to France and Italy and I stayed there for lor months He coughed again apologetically All AIl wars are not ol won on the battlefield and all sol sol soldiers diers do not wear uniforms know Anyway Iwas I was gone over ovel nine months My man cabled me that Phillip Cras r had locked himself him self sell in the cottage and wouldn't l let t anyone in The year was almost up when I got back home It had about 20 days to run run- I hurried down to the cottage Thatcher flicked nicked ashes from rom the tha cigar My man said Phillip had been gone for a week The 10 handwritten copies of the Bible were on a table in the cottage all per legible On top of one pile was a letter to me from Phillip I have t that at letter homo home now now in m my Bible He said he wouldn't take the and the bet was off oU I paid though to the tha church we attended this morning When a man loses he should pay Its It's strictly business If It Id I'd won won won- But what about Phillip I held another forgo forgotten cigarette in my hand Oh He preached that sermon you heard this morning |