Show THA FICTION ION 1 I 1 KEEPERS FINDER by PALMER IL III III the chauffeur pulled the long black car over to the side ol of the dusty road and the elderly gentleman in the leaned forward to open the door for or the two hitchhikers the slim nervous one with the beady black eyes sat on one tide side of the elderly gentleman the large sleepy one on the other the elderly gent lemans hands were folded benignly in his lap his friendly rather vague eyes peered at first one then the other he broke the silence my name Is gentlemen and you the slim nervous one sat up sharply ply any relation to the bank family yes said the elderly gentleman stroking his gray goatee 1 I have that honor tt if you call it one this then said the 3 um slim one this Is weeks your lucky day best aint it george the big one took fiction his hungry gaze from the passing orange trees long enough to grunt agreement and turned back to contemplating the luscious fruit the slim one fixed the elderly gentleman with a gimlet eye and hooked a taut finger confidently in his lapel have you ever neglected the birthday of a loved one and spent sleepless nights of regret be h e probed intensely have you ever slipped up on remembering an anniversary niver sary and gone to the doghouse as a result or failed to congratulate a friend on a promotion and gotten the fishy eye the next time you met have you well yes apologized the elderly gentleman 1 I have I 1 am a trifle forg forgetful taul at times adding defensively but then most people are ali ah pressed the slim one giving the lapel an impressive shake my point exactly most people are like you forgetful and they suffer for it they suffer because they know the slight or omission was not intended and realize too that the neglected one Is certain to wrongly interpret it maybe a long friendship will be strained or a wife or daughter hurt but suppose you were to suddenly find yourself in a position where those slights and omissions never happened any morel t you be delighted especially if it meant no effort on your part no strain no time in tact fact nothing beyond beyond the payment of a verb very small fee the elderly gentleman nodded 1 I imagine most people would be as delighted as I 1 my y point aga iril cried the slim one now george and I 1 are at this moment on our way to los angeles to initiate just such a service we plan to call it the tell you when co inc ali AH you have to do is give us the names of 0 the people whose anniversaries you want to remember with the dates it if you have them otherwise we will look them up for you give us too the names ol 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 0 information when an item pops up on the calendar we keep in your name we notify you and for a small additional dit ional tee fee we will even write an appropriate note or purchase and forward a gift now tell me does that ml fill a longfelt long felt need the elderly gent lemans eyes were bright with interest amazing young maul man exactly what I 1 need put me down as your first subscriber you seel said the surn slim one you snapped at it so will others which brings us to the heart of the matter it george george turned from the oranges long enough to grunt a second agreement and turned back to his contemplation temp lation an orange would go very very good just now the slim one grasped the elderly gent lemans lapel again mr I 1 called this your lucky day it Is you being a have money which you are probably willing to treble on a proposition that cant miss george and I 1 have such a proposition but no money now why cant we get together on this thing amm hmm remarked the elderly gentleman how much capital do you estimate your venture will require the slim one inspected him with covert calculation well theres there advertising office rent telephones and help livings tor for george and me all only until the golden flood begins to roll in say oh say live five thousand dollars that should be sufficient to launch the business the elderly gentleman drew a checkbook from his pocket and un limbered his fountain pen the beady eyes glistened the elderly gentleman I 1 turned to the back of a check and began to figure the slim one exhaled sharply opened his hi m mouth auth to speak but thought better of st it in a few moments the elderly gentleman stopped figuring and looked out the car window stroking hi his goatee reflectively he shook his hi head slowly no he said 1 I believe your calculations to be in error you will need at I 1 least east ten thousand thousand dollars to get your proposition under way the blood slowly flowed back into the slim ones cheeks mr vander pt A 0 J IVIN ii h IV okay he said 11 bit then be kissed the check regretfully and tore it up moor turned his checkbook over and poised his pen 1 I am a man of quick decisions he told the slim one 1 I am convinced 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 wrote out the check tore it from the book and handed it to him and now I 1 see we are almost home if you young men will come in with me we can draw up some informal papers to cover co the matter and then I 1 will have my driver take you on to the city to start your company the car swung from the highway and stopped smoothly A uril uniformed formed attendant hobbled bobbled from the gate house to unlock the ponderous iron grilles which effectively barred the driveway suddenly the slim one bent forward his eyes rested on a small bronze plate set in the stone pillar sunnyside Sunny side home for the mentally diseased he read slowly choking as the th e 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 ones eyes dropped to the flourishing signature on the check he still held in his hands napoleon he quoted his ups lips tightened murderously for a moment then he grinned sheepishly okay napoleon he be said 1 I bit your our name aint but just to even it up george and me aint starting any tell you when service either because somebody else beat us to it a year ago see and all we wanted your dough tor for was 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 ot ok 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 card car tor for a moment harvey he said to the waiting driver wait here for me ill be only a moment the chauffeur touched his cap respectfully fully yes doctor he b said |