Show A FOOL PLUS 88 ily by LUCIE A OBRIEN mcclure wlee newspaper service Sync licate URTON TRAVERS dangled BURTON aso the tip solitaire from a finger so I 1 get the gate and one engagement ring on account I 1 wont carry a dinner pail go on I 1 was the spendthrift clown at harvard you write well you specialized in journalism peggy howe strove to keep her voice level but rather drink dance dice 2 excellent alliteration I 1 should earn bylines by lines by the sweat of my brow when theres your father moneys made you dont tell me scoffed burton tan an idler a lounge lizard and all sy synonyms nony roundabout p peggye peggys e egts s lips hardened well shed wipe that mocking expression from his mouth she spoke deliberately you were kicked out of aviation service for acting like a fool travers winced stiffened then he smiled crookedly she had recalled the one worth while phase of his otherwise aimless existence a part of his life he tried hard to forget that of his brief aviation career fresh from harvard and two weeks after being admitted to the san diego training station travers took off on a solo flight twenty minutes later he and the plane were shattered wrecks the elder travers replaced the ruined machine burtons bartons Bur tons bones mended in time he would have welcomed being benched of appearing before a special board these desirable humiliations humi lations were denied him due to the medical discharge issued him by the first surgeon travers strode from the room caught up his overcoat muffled sounds of distress overtook him he returned to the library peggy sobbed into unresponsive pillows ive lost burton and hes lost to himself he knelt beside peggy slipped the ring on her finger holding her closely he said huskily ive found myself honey ill make good even if I 1 am a doggone fool wait for me pegs eyes were sufficient answer 0 at the next morning travers crashed the editors office bearing a letter from the records owner the recommendation ended give this cub your toughest assignment sign ment im began burton all here the editor waved heres an assignment revolution canamo south america one record man dead another dying tropical fever tompkins of the morning mail got stuff through fruit steamer leaves in two hours for nearest step off im telling you only a flold go me beamed travers over there for instructions motioned the chief remember youre not writing comics for dear old lampy furthermore ther the imore more a paper must get its story sometimes scoops bring fortune and reputation 1 I have a reputation to lose grinned travers so long boss 0 A roadster screeched to the pier where the steamer alvado was belching its imminent departure travers leaped from the car dragging a loudly dressed camera laden individual burton admonished the chauffeur got it all tell tel miss howe to look for my articles in the record roadsters yours ayoung fY ur young oung fool choked the chauffeur As the ship glided by the statue oi of liberty travers murmured bye old dear A bye is right 11 burst forth condon whose fondness fondness for merry waters produced pictures which made him I a free ee lance photographer gan gang 9 said I 1 was cuckoo to go sa aard d y you 0 awas was acting like a fool col Lon londona idoni dons s last words recalled a girl gin atwith with shining trustful eyes the buil Duil buildings ings dings on the receding shore zigzagged crazily travers blinked its ts great to be a fool laughed travers you 0 aughta know muttered CO cond adon the fruit fry stear steamer er rested on quiet waters surrounded by native barks travers ers glimpsed crude habata eions ons through the dense vegetation an 1 american flag flew from the partially hidden consulate 4 r ballam amo 0 repeated the captain hns one h U dred miles inland heui ala Tiina ln swains ins rats eith er faction to save a bullet rip you open with a rusty bayonet then chuck you into quicklime dont be a fool 1 I failed that flag flag once because I 1 acted like a fool and I 1 failed a girl and myself ive got to prove drove im not all fool the captain said good luck son one sweltering night a week later both men were awakened by the crack of bullets an agonized gasp a thud then silence gandl what a rotten colel condon chattered through bur tons warning fingers travers torchlight revealed a dead man further examination brought forth grim and gruesome recordings there were rolls of undeveloped films and a page of startling revelations elat ions involving great nations scoop condon cried d deliriously will I 1 my nose and how tompkins of the mail mused travers had a helava time well fellow your paper gets your st stuff U ff you big fool shrieked condon springing at travers throat throat burton struck the maddened man condon fell an inert heap travers travels splashed the contents of his canteen on the photographers wizened features then made off on the eighth day he stumbled into the associated press office gasping tompkins account morn mom ing mail hes dead im travers record without a moan he sank to the floor the bulging wallet beside him the following afternoon an unkempt young man burst into th the telegraph office sobbing A scoop sc ap and the dam fool lets it go the morning mails representative homeward bound on the transport bearing condon and travers said of the latter quixotic young youn 9 fool when travers awoke to consciousness he looked straight into peggys peggye tear dimmed eyes he remembered everything clearly he had failed im still nothing but a no good fool he confessed miserably A blessed fool breathed peggy and are you a hero the editor says youre a hard boiled news hound with a scoop to your credit even if you did turn in the worlds scoop to a rival paper you grand grand fool she kissed him gently burton drifted off into a dreamless untroubled sleep |