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Show i r " :; I Faie Played Into Hi3 Hand By H. IRVING KING 3 i : (CuDyrlKht.) P'l'HEL CHANSTOUN trad among "' her many admirers two who stood At the top of the list George Stafford Staf-ford and Howard riurllngame. In her secret heart George was the One Man. George was pretty slow, for Instead of boldly proposing he beat about the bush and procrastinated; he feared his fute too much to put it to the test. The two men began to watch each other closely and it came to pass that whenever Kthel and Howard were, by any chance, together at dinner, dance or what not, there, alo close along side, would be George. And George could uot talk five minutes with Ethei without the "butting In" of Howard. I would not for an Instant breathe the name of Polly Peachem in the same atmosphere as that of Ethel Crunstoun yet Ethel was about in the same frame of mind as Mr. Gay'? heroine when she sang, "How happy could I be with either were t'other dear charmer away." And a quotation from the "Beg gars' Opera" brings us naturally to Tatters the Tramp. Tatters sat on a mossy bank in the gloaming inhaling the fragrance of the evening and the rank tobacco In his short pipe, while he patiently awaited the gifts of fate. A small car came along and stopped abreast of where Tatters sat "smoking. A man got out with two bottles In his hands and, after eyeing the hobo for a minute, said: "Do you want to make a couple of dollars? Another man was to meet me here to do the job ; but you'll do." "What's the game, boss?" asked Tatters. "Rum-running? If 'tis I'm on." He had a vision of being sent with those two bottles to some destination desti-nation he was resolved they should never reach. "Nothing like that," laughed the stranger. "These bottles are empty. I want you to smash them and when you see an automobile coming out of that big gate in the stone wall down there see? down where those stone pillars are? just scatter the broken glass across the road. The car will be coming along within half an hour. It will be dark by that time and they won't see you if you are careful. What do you say?" "All right, boss," said Tatters. "Here's your two dollars," said the man and, getting Into his car, he went back the way he came. "Now what does that guy want to puncture another guy's tires for?" mused Tatters as he gazed with a sigh at the two empty bottles. Then he smashed them on a rock and carefully care-fully gathered up the fragments. It was fairly dark now and presently he saw the lights of an automobile appear out of the gateway he had been told to watch. Quickly he scattered scat-tered the broken glass. A sudden thought occurred to him. He had honestly earned his two dollars dol-lars by scattering the glass. Perhaps he might earn two more by preventing prevent-ing the approaching car from suffering suffer-ing from the effects of the aforesaid -scattering. He sprang into the road, waved his arms and shouted. The headlights shone upon him ; the machine ma-chine stopped and a man sprang out saying angrily: "What's all this a holdup?" " 'Tain't no holdup," explained Tatters Tat-ters ; "It's only a warnin'. I see a feller come along In a flivver Just now and scatter glass in the road there, and I was afraid you'd git a puncture." The man took an electric torch out of the machine and examined the road. "Glass enough to puncture all the tires in Jericho," he snapped, and called to his chauffeur, "William, break off one of those branches and help sweep the stuff out of the way." He pressed Tatters Into the service, and the three of them soon had a clear surface. "It ought to be worth two doll arm," casually remarked Tatters, "the warnin' and the work." "Oh, I see! a little game of your own," replied the man. Tatters began be-gan to expostulate Indignantly, the man eyeing him searchingly. "Well. perhaps I'm mistaken," said he. "Anyway "Any-way here are three dollars and much obliged. William, speed her up. We mustn't be late" and he wa off. Meantime the guests were assembling assem-bling for the Wainrlght'i dinner party. "If there Is any virtue In broken glass." thought Howard Bur-Hngame, Bur-Hngame, "I'll have Ethel to myslf for once long enough to pop the question ques-tion for tonight must decide the ; game." But scarcely had he reached Ethel's side when George was standing there, too. "I came very near being late," George was saying. "Some scoundrel scattered broken glass in the road. I and If a friendly tramp had not warned me T should have had bad punctures." "Frightfully careless about .broken I glass some people are," said Howard ; "congratulate you on meeting the benevolent tramp." That's all : except that George, like Howard, had resolved that that night the game should be decided and fate played Into his hand. He was seated beside Ethel at the dinner table: he proposed to her b?hind his napkin at the soup and was accepted at dessert. If Tatters should ever chance to cross ' the path of George Stafford again he Is sure of an abundant largess. If h ever crosses the path of Howard Bur-llgume Bur-llgume he la aura of (ocattihng not to pleasant. |