Show in T A bir ir swatter WATI ARE R by I 1 J ALLAN DUNN An llnA MAN TO HIS MATE TRAIL 0 uy dodd read co service CHAPTER IX 13 1 I hept the cheek ck it was coining to me anil and ini im going to 0 o have it 11 rood good time on it it wont pay tit ill what I 1 owe or begin to square tilt ino with the club though for one thing ile he loft left and caleb lit in turn clini clinti iRed ged his clothes and spent a couple of hours hour reviewing lila ills plans at tile the water company lie he noticed mary adorgan driving away nt at her typewriter lier was sullen and she did alil not look iiii tit though she leonrd tits ills naine mentioned coleb wo alint she of the lie ile found ills sot set up tip on a long ions table in tile the directors room that DIVI opened IId olt off coxs private cox and wore were examining it they greeted ri blin cordially lit in particular giving jilin so cordial grip of the blind suppora Sup poe poRe you go affo over tho general plan warner suggested cox then well talk we ive willit want to know how you arrive tit lit your premises caleb described simply ills belief that tile lie whole of cal ballente lente plain formed a great bowl of grind gravel with tit tt oin lint ancl sides of einy clay with a roof of clay tit nt tile upper tipper end ml that caused arte artesian sinn wells lie iio went over ills his op erat lons and displays d ills maps lie ilo find dad felt it n certain diffidence almut the water divining doubting whether ills bearers might not fifolt tit nt proof built up tip of such means lint hut hinckley tie nc opted cepter it and cox nodded ills hla agreement spoke first after calebs inal surn summing ming up tip and lie spoke with a sincerity that hold no trace of jealousy 1 I congratulate you I 1 should have gilted lilted to in liao have idaile that discovery illy pelf hut but there Is one lie big obstacle that exists it Is the haw flaw if f there Is a flaw in your our plan 1 I menn mean the powerful notion action of the I 1 elds I 1 Is upon any pipes which may be lat ined upon tile lie I 1 hav ay bottom it shallows shallow al nt fit tile south pud end and the sly foot rise alse and full fail has great swing there 1 Is your 5 our weak point it may ile ho ove 0 come lint but it will need it special anven ilon ifon I 1 lint convinced 1 I lind had thought of that lint nail and I 1 have n Rug suggestion sald caleb it Is not per reeled I 1 have not lind had time nut but I 1 torn dm sure sum tile the idea Is a sound one vall up cox co so far I 1 think thin wo we may inn say my that your sour project interests us its warner I 1 must add my illy congratulations to those of hinckley it looks as if your lour visit to the coast was ns going to ile he fortunate to nil all con coil cernea I 1 am going to call a directors niec ting I 1 connot set it late date now they alicy are arc nil all busy bus men with other oilier interests than tills this company 1 I should say a fortnight should prove proe suil lelent ill IH let you know at lit lie earliest hint two weeks will enable you ion to work out nut your our idea about the lie pipes neep keep in touch toch with lit through mr illner ley icy you can rely upon ills co operation they both accompanied him film front from lie bit big room rae gave him ills private address esnil invited him to t 1 conle come there any t tiling evening for con consulia consulta sulta doll caleb lind sonic homp other business to attend to down town tind and lie he rot got haer to tile the house in ino alne feather feat lier ile he found baxter there lie ile binl just come front from the club lie he said mood fly caleb saw that lie he had been drin ic ing ills face was flushed and lie was in bad humor im 1 in wiped out lie said tile bottom copped it out of the lie market some of coxs d d manipulation 1 the iho tip was ns tint that they were driving down the sa s1 i ock to buy cheap and we were pro pre pared for that hut dut teiei ley were unloading my M thousand went for ini ili celenti liati and vin I 1 in up tit against it lie he went to ills ids burdall find and took up tile be silver frame mary mai morgans picture lit in it ile he took out tile photograph and tore it tilt inoff small dinall pieces which ho he tossed into a 11 wastepaper waste paper basket D n herl her I 1 lie he sald savagely Y slips sites the last straw getting ugly bugl in ili more ways was than onel you owe tier her something said bald ell caleb I 1 e 1 it was a slip that lie realized immediately by the deepening scowl i baxters la forc forehead liend owe tier her something lie he exploded A lot you ou know about it I 1 you are like most preachers prea cheri you ou prate without experience I 1 may he be a sinner but no saint site she when I 1 met lr the things we did were done mutually in ill full k now ow ledge of tile the risks because we wanted to do them now ashes pinned this thing on tile me alth W ilir sonic some cause primps p rimps but im not reeling paternal about it I 1 can tell you aou and I 1 dont intend to marry tier her flat and final owe her something maybe I 1 do but it can call only be paid with money and wheres that coining from 1 I mean to pren preach ell te ted d As for money if shell accept it theres your land deal its easy fur for yoi oi tu to male make money inona ted if you buckle flown jovn to it and cut out the drinking i preaching again cried kastor baxter the quor bior lie he lind had been taking hail had a tit ronger a more malevolent hold bold on hirr hiff lhnn ever before in calebs knowl edge of hini the veins wore were swollen in face and hand and tits ills eyes acs were I 1 slightly glazed glared his speech t was duent and clear enough le ive taken talan j snore more man ji inks tills this afternoon than you oil hive have in your life be h tent ent on aba T I 1 swallowed out on the bon boulevard levard this afternoon would woul drive a man crazy in time but a nil 11 we call c nn ret get look here tei ted youre talking non said mild caleb ile he was beginning to feel nettled tile blood ran liot hot unter under tile lie holn of tits ills forehead the day lind had gone too well to will wind up in such fashion ile ho went into ills own on roon room to escape tile threatened tirade harter followed jilin him bent on oil argument ills hn tilt rid set lit in one groove ile ho seated heated himself in it wicker armchair 1 I suppose you think thinh I 1 ought to marry tit lie kill girl tie myself mi self up lip wit it lIllig wife and a kid yours yo ins Iff lybe ini im not even sure of vint that no im not I 1 can call handle tier her if 1 I 1 to do it right away said allia haxter with ever thickening speech sp eccli put hy by tile the time my deal goes through it may ho be too late those things liang fire sometimes lend lead tile mo the money anon ey call cal twenty le hundred bundled it 11 do it shea ready to cut loose and go cast if I 1 tell tier lor its fallen through shell turu turn nasty again will you ou to do it 1 I cant ted I 1 the motley money you mean can you wont why dont you come through and say what you iou moan 1 I lave have if I 1 lind had the money or could pet get it I 1 would tell lend it to you alit ali t what they nil all tiny bay when tier it II comes to 11 showdown it if you think youre louro going to force me to marry the girl youre wrong you secra rl 1 d 1 eager to take tier side in the lie matter if youre so anxious ti ti save bac tier her good name why dont you marry tier lier your yourself belf baxter got tip swaying n little 1114 ill eyes 01 ea were now bleared the poison lie had been was forcing its venorn to tile surface caleb stopped stepped forward to put its his hands on oil the others shoulders partly to steady him film with the idea bof coaxing jilin him to lie ile down half blind with crudely doctored alcohol baxter mistook Ill ca JE NO I 1 tk I 1 miss there were some thirty people in the tha room and they all seemed to be laughing and talking at once lebs intention and swung tits ills it ast 1st s t viciously calebs own civil temper had been mounting despite tits ills efforts f for or control lie ile was thred and ills ids nerves had bad been strained more than lie suspected ile ho parried pan led tit lie blow and thrust haxter baxter back greaning tre aning td to pinion 1 jilin him in the chair while lie talked some sense into ills sodden brain but baxter twisted ills went all upon one arm wid and the unlit light chair overturned clutching at the rickety little desk baxter scrambled bled on the floor in ili it a shower of papers as the lie desk toppled the full fall seemed to temporarily soher sober jilin ile he scrambled to his knees and begun began picking up tile papers as caleb righted desk lind and chair ashamed of the brawling termination of the hio affair altair look loolu here ted lie said catching blaxter by the elbow tills this lias has gone far enough wo we are both acting like a couple of chumps chunil iq if ive luit but hater baxter stood sti staring tring at on one of the papers lie he had picked up ills 1119 face was contorted by a malevolent sit sneer er you lia got the money eliv he said A fine friend you are you rotten liar im through gli with alth youl lie ile hung flung tit the paper down on oil the top of the desk and lung flung through the lie door tits ills face livid caleb heard tits own door clarn us as he picked up the slip it was the telegram from tits his attorney announcing the closing of the deal and the forwarding forward lne of th money 1 for or a second lie he stood irresolute he e di did d not want to explain to baxter why ho could not lend him any of this a 1 or to what use he had already put ut it finally he made up ills mind ills ilia friendship with baxter had been largely protective lie ile did not want to abandon that friendship now when baxter most needed him lie knocked on the door then tried it the key had been turned on tho the inside lie ile called ted 1 let me ino in for a minute you go to li 1 1 A moment after tile the door to the corridor slain slammed ined caleb went to his own and saw baxter entering the elevator ile he rang the bell hoping that lie he might catch tile other before lie ho got too far down tho the street the colored boy grinned nt at hlin him us tile thu elevator came to rest lit at tits his floor want to catch allatch baxter sun suit I 1 reckon too late ills chalia bin bill wal walten till fo jilin him fo nigh liaf haf an I 1 hour our lies iles goue gone a I 1 n CHAPTER X the party if baxter camo 1 k that night caleb never neer knew baxter kept the door of his room lo locked clied caleb heard him casualty casually mentioned lit it the club as being on oil a tear doctor heldi fieldi inquired for him once directly of caleb hell get cirrhosis clr cirr rhola honis of the liver if he loops heeps on oil said the physician and ana heni hell snuff out like a match in the wind wo we must got get liliu him on oil the wagon ill try and scare litin into it though theres real cause for the scare blell stay on off tile the stuff for several months sometimes I 1 theres heros just one tiling thing he ha cint cant resist and that starts him orf off thing lie he could take champagne fortunately Fortunat cl its scano and expensive understand my talking to you this way they say you and ted have been friends for a long time but caleb doubted very cry much if baxter would listen to him until his mood changed and lie was busy i with tits his own problem of the pipes and the tides 1 ile he had nn an idea of what was needed if the bottoni bottom sloped evenly the big tug nt at its his submarine pipeline would come in looping it backi wards and forwards but wherever there was a depression or a channel i ills pipes would rag and grent great strain come coine on the joints A flexible line inc that eliat was vint lie ft wanted anted ile ho worked over oer it daytimes and drea dreamed nied of it nights without coming coining to it a practical solution lie he witti wanted ted to complete lits ills plan to come before the meeting with ull all difficulties solved I 1 then one day lie he received an invitation from the to a radio party it will be quite informal wrote sirs vedder Ve ilder but I 1 think you will enjoy it and we hope you ion can come I 1 some friends ft lends of yours will be with us its betty clinton and carmen wilson i among them dont dress diess come any time after eight i calel caleb accepted lie ile found himself enger casor to to do so nt at tile the mention of betty cliftons Clin tons name the afternoon of the lie appointed day the solution of the pipe problem came to him it seemed to him that thoughts of the girl lind had blent with tits ills tinkering rings and drawings and quickened ills invention lie ile ret sketched ched out tits his idea and made sonic some that he to took down to a working machinist with whom he had got in touch A model was to be made the thing was simple enough though an entire novelty in such work caleb intended to make ills pipe junctions flexible by designing a hall ball and socket joint so that the curving ends of one pipe should he be clasped clapped in coln coinciding eldIng curves of another working in soft habbitt i nic till giving a play of almost ninety degrees degre e s this would make the p 11 I 1 j line as limber na as a sprocket chain I 1 caleb balc believed bell eved i the lived on semaphore hill in a louse house that consisted rons r isted of ono one great room on the ground floor together with a kitchen tit at one end all and a conservatory porch at the other an open staircase led to tn the upper floor and the bedro bedrooms olas A japanese servant met him ut tit tile door which was screened off front from the main room and relieved caleb of lint hat and coat there were sonic some thirty people in ili the room and they all seemed to be laughing and talking at once split up in little groups on oil divans standing ly by the fireplace by tile the grand piano about a table where the japanese was now serving punch out of a great bowl of mandarin ware smoke trailed everywhere front from pipes cigarettes cigars and from sticks of chinese punk plunk TO BE CONTINUED I 1 |