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Show A Fat Man's ' Chance By J. k McCarthy , Doafcl.dar, Fill Co.) RCT'US BURTON, be of the glaring red tmlr and the Incredibly optl-miotic optl-miotic disposition, .was not a man to be discouraged by trifles. Where a modern Casslus, with hla lean and bungry look, would bar shot up the boss and then gone borne and pickled his meager lungs In gas, Rufus Burton merely leaned back In his overburdened overbur-dened chair and let his waistband roll with laughter. Ue sat upon life complacently, com-placently, and squashed the troubles out of It, as a fat man should. Yet today the. Impossible had happened. hap-pened. Rufus Burton's huge girth did not roll, His mighty "Ho hoi" did not rock the office walls. The fact Is, Burton the whole three hundred pounds of him was glum. For Burtdn had conceived a great idea, and the chief had pooh-pooh'd. So Rufus sat sagging in his chair, glum as last week's cream-puff. But not for nothing did the bowl of his pipe grow hot, and his round eyes watch the maneuvers of a spider on the celling. Burton's round brain was working In bis round bead. Be was evolving a scheme. It might not work; It might work; It must work. "If It takes ten years," he told the spider. "I'm going to put that Idea through that dumb-bell Green's head." The fat man was like that. His loyalty to Oreen was second only to his loya'ty to the firm of which Oreen waa chief. It would never have entered en-tered bis bead to take bis pet Idea to some other advertising agency. The Oreen company was his company and his company and tils idea must somehow some-how be got together. Th spider on the celling had completed com-pleted her web and retired into obscurity. ob-scurity. Her trap was set Presently a fly Olio I Burton's sagging cheeks stiffened. He even smiled. Timothy Green, the chief, passed his dek a few minutes later. "Well, Rufus, Ru-fus, have you forgotten that fool scheme of yours and got back to honest hon-est workr But the fat man was bis old self again. He grinned. "I haven't forgotten for-gotten the scheme, but I've got back to work. I'm after some one to write the Ladles' specialty copy, since Miss Simpson is to get married. What do you think of Miss Dorothy Hall, who writes the style column In the NewsT" Now, Burton happened to know very well what Green thought of the good-looking good-looking Dorothy Ball. This, in fact, was why he asked. Green thought of her very much as Burton himself thought of her, which was pretty complimentary com-plimentary thinking, to say the least "Can we afford her?" Green asked. "That's the only question, of course. But she can produce the stuff. Guess we'd better arrange to afford her." "All right," said the chief, with enthusiasm. en-thusiasm. "Go get her." Thus It was that Miss Dorothy Ball was Installed where Rnfus Burton could admire her, and where Green, when be was lucky, could have a word with her. Miss Dorothy entered into her new work with keenness which surprised even Burton, wbo had admired ad-mired her brains (from a safe distance) dis-tance) ever since she had returned from college and entered the employ of the News two years before. She was quick as lightning to understand un-derstand the idea, and soundly efficient effi-cient in its execution. No wonder, then, that when Burton told her of his great idea which was to triple an important im-portant branch of the business. But he was constrained to warn her. "Don't say a word about this idea to Mr. Green, Miss Dorothy. Be can't see it with a telescope, and the mere mention of It throws him into a rage." "Why, that Is absurd I Bere you propose to secure for his company a practical monopoly on a big branch of the advertising business, new to this city, and be can't see ltl This idea of booklets which will entertain the children, coupled with advertising to mothers of children's goods is a really big thing. It'll take the department de-partment stores by storm. You can sign them up easily. And I can write the copy. Mr. Green really must be made to see ltl" "No," said Burton emphatically. "Better not say a word to him about It It makes him mad." Three weeks later Kufus Burton returned, re-turned, fatter and funnier than ever, from his vacation. When he went to the office, Miss Dorothy was not at her desk. But presently the door to Green's office opened, and the young lady in question came out She was dressed for the street "Oh, Miss Dorothy, I'm glad to see yon again," said the round man. The young lady smiled and held ont her hand. "Mrs. Green," she corrected correct-ed him, archly. Burton watched her disappear through the outer door. Be was still standing, open-mouthed, when Green appeared and stepped up to him Jauntily. "Congratulations I" mumbled the fnt man, meekly. "Thank you 1 And say, Burton, I've decided to try ont that idea of yours. I I ei Mrs. Green thinks If s minutes later Rufus Burton, alone, leaned back dangerously In his overburdened chair. Bis Jolly bulk rolled with the laughter of an incurable incur-able optimist A new spider was on the celling. "Nobody loves a fat man," Burton told the new spider, "but It takes a lot Bore than one thin man to beat Mm!" e |
