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THE7 CHARLOTTExNEWS, aUARY 14 192 r - HUNTER Novelized by Louis Joseph Vance From the Play of the Same Name by WINCHELL SMITH Copyright. 1510. by Winchell Smith and Louis Joseph Vance CHAPTER III. FTEB dinner they smoked and talked about Duncan's future. Finally Kellogg said signifi cantly, Nat if you follow my advice yon can be worth a million dollars in a year!" "Let him rave," Duncan observed enigmatically and liojun to smoke. "No. I'm not dippy, and I'm perfect ly serious." 4'Of course. But what'd they do to me if I were caught?" "This is not a joke. The proposition's perfectly legal. It's being dene right along." . "And I could do it, Harry?" "A man of your caliber couldn't fail." "Would yon mind ringing for Rob bins?" Duncan asked abruptly. "Certainly." Kellogg pressed a but ton at his elbow. "What d'you want?" "A straitjacket and a doctor to tell which one of us needs it." Kellogg, chagrined as he always was If Joked with when expounding one of bis scheme?, broke into a laugh that lasted until Kobbins appeared. "You rang, sir?" "Yes. Put those decanters OTer here, and scrne glasses, please." "Tes. ir." The man obeyed and withdrew. Kel logg filled two glasses, handing one to Duncan. "Now be decent and listen to me, Nat. I've thought this thing over for oh. any amount of time. I'll bet any thing it will work. What d'you say? Would you like to try It?" "Would I like to try it?" A convic tion of Kellocg's earnestness forced Itself uron Duncan's understanding. "Would IT' He lifted his glass .and drained it at a gulp. "Why, that's the first Is ugh Pve had for a month!" "Then I'll tell you" Ducf-an placed a pleading hand on his forearm. "Don't kid me, Harry," he entreated. "Not a bit of, it This is straight goods. If yon want to try It and will "DO TOU AST GIBIi WITH MITj- JslOy WOT7LD TAKE A CHASCB OX ME?" follow the rules I lay down, I'll guar antee you'll be a rich man Inside of twelve months." "Rules: Man. I'll follow all the rules In the world! Come on. I'm getting palpitation of the heart, waiting. Tell It to me. whafve I got tojdo?" "Marry." said Kellogg serenely. "Marry r Duncan echoed, aghast "Marry." reaffirmed the other with nnbrcken gravity. "Marry who?" "A girl with a fortune. You see, I can't guarantee the precise size of her pile. That all depends on lnck and the locality. But it'll run anywhere from several hundred thousand up to a mil lion, perhaps more." . Duncan sank back despondently. "You ought to be ashamed of your self, Harry." he said dully. 'Ton had xne all excited for a minute." "No, put honestly, I mean what I Bay." "Now look here, do yon really think any girl with a million would take a chance on me? . . . "She'll Jump at It." Duncan thought this over for a While. Then his lips twitched. "What's the matter with her?" he inquired. Tin willing to play the game- as it lies, but I bar lunatics and cripples." "There's no particular her. yet. Yon pan take your pick. I've no more Idea jprhere she Is than you hare." "Now I know you're stark, staring, gibbering" "Not a bit of It I'm Inspired, that's 1L , Tve solved your problem; you enly can't believe it" "How could I? What the, devil are yon gettlngat anyhow? "This pet. scheme of mine. Lend me your ears. - Have you ever lived In a ne horse country town, a. place with one unspeakable hotel and about twen ty stores and five churches?" 1 -No." mm "I have I was twn m one of 'em. Have yon any idea what becomes of the young people of such towns?' "Not a glimmering." "Then I'll enlighten your egregious density. The boys those who've got -the stuff in tbem-stxike out for the cities to make their everlasting for tunes. Generally they do It too." "The same as you?" "The same as me." assented Kellogg, unperturbed. "But the yaps, the Jas pers, stay there and clerk in father's store. After office hours they put on their very best mail order clothes and parade up and down Mala street, talk ing load and flirting obviously with the girls. The girls haven't much else to do. They don't find it so easy to get away. A few of 'em escape to boarding schools and colleges, where they meet and marry young men from the cities, but the majority of them have to stay at home and help mother. That's a tradition. If-there are two children or more the boys get the chance every time. The girls stay home to comfort the old folks in their old age. Why, by the time they're old enough to think of marrying and they begin young, for thaf s about the only excitement they find available you won't find a small country town be tween here and the Mississippi where there aren't about four girls to every boy." "It's a horrible thought." "You'd think so if yon knew what the boys were like. There isn't one in ten that a girl with any sense or self respect could force herself to marry If she ever saw anything better. Do you begin to see my drift?" "I do not. But go on drifting." "No? Why, the demand for eligible males is 300 per cent in excess of the supply. Don't you know no, you don't; I got to that first that there are twenty times :;s many old maids in small country towns as there are In the cities? It's a fact, and the reason for it is -because when they were young they couldn't lower themselves to accept the pick of the local matri menial market. Now. do you see?" "You're as interesting as a magazine serial. Tlease continue in your nexfT I pant with anticipation." "You're an ass. Now take a young chap from a citywith a good appear ance, more or less a gentleman, who doesn't -talk like a yap or walk like a yap or dress like a yap or act like a yap, and throw him into such a town long enough for the girls to get ac quainted with him. He simply can't lose, can't fail to cop out the best look ing girl with the biggest bank roll in town, I tell you, there's nothing to itr "If s wonderful to listen to you, Har ry." "I'm talking horse sense, my son Now consider yourself down on your luck, don't know how to earn a decent living, refusing to accept anything from your friends, ready (you say) to do almost anything to get some mon ey. And think of the country heir esses with plenty of money for two, pining away in In Innocuous desuetude hundreds of them, fine, straight, good girls, girls you could easily fall in love with, sighing their lives away for the lack of the likes of yon. Now, why not take one, Nat when yon come to consider it, it's your duty marry her and her - bank roll, make her happy, make yourself happy and live a contented life on the sunny side of Easy street for-the rest of your natural born days? Can't you see it now?" "Yes," Duncan admitted, half per suaded of the plausibility of the scheme. "I see, and I admire im mensely the Intellect that conceived the notion, Harry, but I can't help thinking there must be a catch in it somewhere." "Not if you follow my instructions." Duncan drew a deep breath, sat back and looked Kellogg over very critically. . "If I didn't know yon so well. Har ry," said Duncan slowly, "I'd be cer tain you were mad. I'm not at all sure that I'm sane. It's raving idiocy, and It's a pretty darned rank thing to do to start deliberately out to mar ry a woman for her money. But Tve been through a little hell of my own In my time, and if s not alluring to con template a return to It There's noth ing mad enough nor 'bad enough to stop me. Whafve I got to do?" Kellogg beamed his triumph. "Yon'll try it on, then?" "I'll try anything on. It's a con temptible, low lived piece of business. but good may come of it; yon can't telL Whafve I got to do?" Slipping back, Kellogg knitted his fineers and stared at the ceiling, smil ing faintly to himself as he enumer ated the conditions that first appealed to his understanding as essentials to ward success. "First pick out your town, one of 2,000 or' 3,000 Inhabitants, no larger. I'd suggest at a hazard guess some place In the Interior of Pennsylvania. Most of such towns have at least one rich man with a marriageable daugh-" ter but we'll make sure of that before we settle on one. Of course any subur ban town Is barred." "How so?" "Oh, they don't count The girls al ways know people In the city can get there easily. That spoils the game." "How about the game laws?" "I'm coming to them. Of course there Isn't an open or close season, and the hunting's always good, but there are a few precautionary measures to be taken If you want to be sure of bagging an heiress. . Yon won't like most of 'em." "Like 'em! m live by them!" "Well, here come the things you mustn't do. You mustn't swear or use CASTOR I A . Tor Infants and Children, The Kind You Have Always Bought Bears the yyt - V" Signature of (tfctd I,, JMm i YJIt'X".;1; " - "' i'-'". I , ti. . 1 : . . ill -til'" - 1 v lkt ' ''x 1 "I INZW THEKE WAB A CATCH IS IT SOIIX ' WHEEE." slang; you. musn't smoke and you mustn't drink" "Heavens! Are these people as inhu man as all that?" "Worse than that It might be fa tal If you were ever seen in the hotel bar. And, to begin with, you must refuse all invitations of . any sort whether to dances; itf3, church so ciables or even SCty dinners." "Why Sunday dinners?" "Because Sunday's the only day you'll be Invited. Dinner on weekdays Is from 12 to 12:30, and it's strictly a business matter, no time for guests. But you needn't fret They won'task yon till they've sized you up pretty carefully." "Oh!" "Moreover, you must be very par ticular about your dress. It must be absolutely faultless, but very quiet Clothing sober, dark grays and blacks and plain, but the very last word as to cut and fit. And everything must be In keeping, the very best of shirts, collars, ties, hats, socks, shoes, under wear" Kellogg caught Duncan's look and laughed. "Your laundress will report on everything, you know, so you must be Impeccable." "I'll be even that, whatever it is." "Be very particular about having your shoes polished, shave daily and manicure yourself religiously, but don't let 'em catch -you at it" "Would they raid me if they did?" "And then, my son, you must work." Kellogg paused to let his lesson sink in. After a time Duncan observed plaintively, "I knew there was a catch in it somewhere. What kind of work?" "It doesn't make any difference, so long as you get and hold some job in the town." "Well, that lets me out (You'll have to sic some other poor devil on this glittering proposition of yours. I couldn't hold a Job In" "Wait! I'll tell you how to do it In just a minute." "I don't mind listening, buf ' "You'll cinch the whole business by going to church without a break. Don't ever fail morning and evening, every Sunday.. Don't forget that" "Why?" - "It's the most Important, thing of an." "Does going to church make such a hit with the young female Jasper the Jasperette, as it were?" "It'll make you morg solid than any thing else with her popper and mom mer, and that's very necessary when you're a candidate for their ducats as well as their daughter. You must .work and you must go to church." "That can't be alt Surely you can think of something else." "Those are the cardinal rules -church and work until you've landed your heiress. After that you can move back to civilization. Now, as soon as yon strike your s town you want to make arrangements, f or board and - kuj, -mm "XOUliXi TBT IT OH, THIS ?" L i 3 C ... -rniia.1.- .i " - 1 lodging in some old woman's house, preferably an old maid. Yon'll be sure I tj find at least halfa dozen of 'em yuiiuk iu rase Doaraers, but you warn to be equally sure to pick out the one that talks the' most, so that she'll tell the neighbors all about you. Don't worry about that, though. They all talk. When you've moved in stock up your room with about twenty of the driest looking books in the world. Lawbooks look most imposing. Fix up a, table with lots of stationery pens and pencils, red and black- ink, and all that sort of thing. Make the room look as If you .were the most sincere stu dent ever. And by no means neglect to have a' well" worn Bible prominently In evidence. You can buy one second hand at some bookstore before you start out" "I'd have to, of course. I thank you for the flattery. Proceed with the pro gram of the gay, mad life I must lead. I'm going to have a swell time; that's perfectly plain." . "As soon as you're shaken down In your room make the rounds of the stores and ask for work. Try to get Into the dry goods emporium If yon can. The girls all shop f here. But any thing will do, except a grocery or a hardware store and places like that You mustn't consider any employment Ihat would soil your clothes-or rough en yt ur lily white hands." "You expect ma to believe I'd have eny thauce of winning a millionaire's daughter if I were a ribbon clerk in a dry goods store?" "The best in the world. The ribbon clerk is her social equal. He calls her Mary, and she calls him Joe." "Done with you! Me for the ribbon counter! Anything else?" "The storekeepers aren't apt to em ploy you at first. They'll be suspicious of you." "They will be afterward, all right. However" "So you must simply call on them, walk in. locate the boss and tell him, 'I'm looking for employment' Don't press it. Just say it and get out "No trouble whatever about that. It's always that way when I ask for work." y . . "They'll send for you before long, when they make up their minds that you're a decent, moral young man, for they know you'll draw trade. And every Sunday" "I know church!" "Absolutely! Pick out the one the rich folks go to. Go In quietly and do just as they do stand up and kneel, look up the hymns and sing just when they do. Be careful not to sing too loud or anything like that Just do it all modestly, as If you were used to it Better go to church here two or three times and get the hang of it" "Here, now" "Nearly all the wealthy codgers In such towns are deacons, you see, and, though they may not speak to you for months on the street, It's their busi ness to waylay you after the service is over and shake hands with you and tell you they hope you enjoyed' the sermon and ask you to come again. And, you can bank on it they'll all take notice from the first" "If s,no wonder Bartlett made you a partner, Harry." "Now, behave. I want you to get In right If you follow the rules I've out lined, not only will all the girls in town be falling over themselves to get to you first, but their fond parents will be egging them on. Then all you've got to do is to pick out the one with the biggest bundle and" "Hake a play for her?" "Not on your life! That would be fatal. Your part is to put yourself in her way. She'll do all the courting, and when she scents the psychological moment! she'll do the proposing." "It doesn't sound natural, but yon certainly seem to know what you're drooling about." "You can anchor on that Nat" "And are you finished" "I ani. Of course I'll probably think of more things to wise you to before yott.;go." . Duncan laughed shortly and tilted back in his chair, selecting another cigarette. "And you're the chap who wanted me to, go to some bromidic old show tonight! Harry, you're immense. Why didn't you ever let me suspect" you had all this romantic Imagination in your system?" "Imagination be bio wed, son. This is business." Kellogg removed the stopper from the decanter and filled both glasses again. "Well, what do you say?" "iTe Just said my say, Harry. IfS amazing. I'm proud of you." . "But will you do itr "Everything else aside, how can I? I've got to live, you know." "But I propose to stake you." Duncan came down to earth. "No, you ' won't not a cent I'm in earnest about this thing no more sponging on you, Harry. Besides" "No, seriously, Nat" I mean this, every word of It I want you to do It to please me if you like. I've a no-, tlon something win'come of it -And I believe from the bottom of my heart there's net the slightest risk If you'll play the cards as they fall, according to Hoyle." "Harry, I believe you do." "I do firmly. And I'll put the prop osition on a business basis if you like. "Go on. There's no holding you." "You start out tomorrow and order your war kit. Get everything you need, and plenty of it, and have the bills sent to me. You can be ready in side a fortnight. The day "you start I'll advance you $500. When you're married you can repay me the amountv of the advances with interest at 10 per cent and I'll consider it a mighty, good deal for myself. Now, will your' "You mean it?" "Every word of it Well V v For a moment longer Duncan hesi tated; then the vision of what he must return to otherwise decided him. In desperation he accepted. "It's a drowning man's straw," he said, a lit tle breathlessly. Tm sure I shouldn't but I wilt" Kellogg flung a hand ' across the table, palm uppermost i rword of honor, Nat?" Duncan let his hand fall Into It ("Word of honor! .'I'll- see it through." ! "Good! It's a bargain." Kellogg lifted his glass high in air. "To the fortune hunter!',' he cried, half laugh ingly. Duncan nervously fingered the stem of his glass. "God help the future Mrs. uncan!" he said and drank. CONTINUED -TOMORROW. Xhe Best Cough Syrup Is Easily JUade at Home Coats Little and Acta Quickly. Money Refunded If It Fails. This recipe makes a pint of cough syrup, and saves you about $2.00 as com pared with ordinary cough remedies. It stops obstinate coughs -even whooping coueh 4n a hurry, and is splendid for l sore lungs, asthma, croup, hoarseness and other throat troubles. , Mix one pint of granulated sugar with pint of warm water, and etir for 2 minutes. Put 2 ounces of Pinex ( fifty cents' worth) in a pint bottle, and add the Sugar Byrup. Take a teaspoonful every one, two or three hours. Tastes good. This takes right hold of a cough and f;h?3 almost instant relief. It stimu ? tes the appetite, and is slightly laxa tive both excellent features. Pinex, as perhaps you know, 19 the most valuable concentrated compound of Norway white pine extract, rich in guaiacol and the Other natural healing pine elements. No other preparation will do the work of Pinex in this recipe, although strained honey can be used instead of the sugar syrup, if desired. Thousands of housewives in the United States and Canada now use this Pinex and Sugar Syrup recipe. This plan has often been imitated, but the old success ful formula has never bfen equaled. Its low cost and quick results have made it immensely popular. ' . A guaranty of absolute satisfaction, or money promptly refunded, goes with this recipe. Your druggist has Pinex, or will get it for vou. If not, send to The Pinex Co., Ft. Wayne, Ind. QUEER LEAP-YEAR CUSTOMS. They All Go Back to Ancient European Superstitions. History gives the "ladies leap-year privilege' as a well-accepted fact. It is an old one, becoming a part of the common law of social life in Great Britain as early as 1606. "Courtship, Love and Matrimony," published in that year, says: "Abeit it Is nowe become a part of the common awe, in regard to the so cial relations of life, that as often as every bissextile year doth return, the ladyes have the sole privilege, during the time it contlnueth, of making love unto the men, which they doe either by words or- lookes, as to them it seem eth proper; and moreover no man will be entitled to the benefit of clergy who doth in any wise treate her proposal with slight or contuely.' One legend by which it is attempt ed to account for the origin of the priv ilege relates that an appeal was made to St. Patrick to iccord the women the same right of proposing at any time as the men have. This he refus ed, but was willing to concede the right every seventh yeaT. Finally, as a compromise, he agreed that women should enjoy the right every four years and that this year sscmld be the long est of $he four. In 1288 it is said that a law was en acted in Scotland that: "It is stut and ordeint that during the rein of hir maist blissit megests, for like years known as lepe year, lik maiden ladye of both highe and lowe estate shall hae liberte to bespeake ye man she likes;, albeit he refuses to taik hir to be his lawful wife, he shall be mulcted in ye sum ane pundid or less, as his estait may be; except and awis gif he can make it appeare that be is betrothit ane ithr woman he shall be free.' A like law is said to have been pass ed in France about the same time. In the fifteenth century the custom was legalized in Genoa and Florence. In Scotland, In later years, and perhaps at present, the women have the. priv lege of many private dances, of choos ing their own partners in a leap year. Men stand about the walls f the room like veritable wall flowers, waiting "to be asked.' They look pic tures of sheepishanxiety untiF they are courteseyed to and lead forth to the dance by the fair one. Frequent "asking"' is supposed to accentuate the "hint' 'that a proposal trembles on the lips of the fair one. A strange superstition in some parts of England is that beans grow differ ently in the pod in leap year from what they do in other years. . "In leap year,' goes' the saying, the eye is to the point, in other years to the string," the (stalk.) This is mentioned in the autobiogra phy of Charloes Darwin A gentleman, abotanist, wrote to him "that the seeds of beans of the common field beans had this year grown on the wrong side of the pod." . Local newspapers also mentioned this as a fact. The first recorded expression of leap year is believed to be that of oHpton s A Concordancy of Yeares," published in 1615.. It contains this: Thirty dayes hath September, April, June and November The rest have thirtie and one Saue February alone, Which moneth hath but eight and twenty meere, x - ! Saue when it is bissextile or leape ye are. Brooklyn .Eagle. When people begin to say to a wo man, "How young you are looking," it's a sign she is getting old Most men would rather give their wives credit for what they do than to give them money. INDIAN KILLED ON TRACK. Near Rochelle, 111., an Indian went to sleep on a railroad track and -was killed by the "fast express. He- paid for his carelessness with his life. Oft en It's that way when people neglect coughs and colds. Don't risk your life when prompt use of Dr. King's New Discovery will cure them and so pre vent a dangerous throat or lung trou ble. "It completely cured m. ir short time, of a terrjble cough- that followed a severe attack of Grip," writes J. R. Watts. Flovdnria tw and I regained 15 pounds in wpiWt that I had lost." Quick, safe. rftiiahiA and guaranteed. 50c and $1.00 Trial bottle free at W. L Hand & Co, 'Problem For Yon 4" g Upholstered I , SFuriitire j That's vwhat's worrying you, Isn't It? You want a home and don't set your way clear to get it. Well, sir, then you're the fellow that wants this store, for the things your home wiir.want are all here; the prices your pocketbeok will stand are here and the payments each week or month that your pay-envelope will easily meet will quickly be arranged. -v Coming in, aren't you? We are ready for you. We. are making some special low prices this week on Upholstered Furniture for 3'our Library or Parlor. The largest stock this 'side of Balti more to select from. Our prices and goods are of the Parker-Gardner stan dard which is the best. .. MumpsVare swell,. but scarcely fash ionable. 1 brick store on Graham St. Ex tension. , 1 sevem-room house on South A. St. 1 six-room house on East Liberty St 1 six-room house on East Stone wall St J five-room house on West 12th St. with all modern conven iences. CvMc Neiis No. 23 East 4th St 'Phona No. 604-J, For Bent Slv it 1! VWI Your ny wv - - si . THE SELWYN HOTEL EUROPEAN Only fire-proof hotel in .Char lotte ; supplied entirely with w ter from its own deep well CAFE OPEN Aw, NIGHT. Water analysed Jjly 6, 19U by Director State Laboratory of Hygiene ana pronounced pur. Pure Water tiom our Artesian Well, 303 1-2 feet deep, for sale. 5c gallon at Hotel. 10c gallon In 5-gaIloJ tots. lelivered In Charlotte or at B. R. Station, eDGAR B. MOORE, Proprietor. A Delighted Purchaser of one of cur tells us "I am heating seven rooms, with the amount of coal I would or- dinarily consume in -one grate i' en times the space heatbd on e same coal consumption.) . He Is just one or the many pleaseo users of this wonderful stove, that are doing likewise. THE FIVE RADIATING FRONT FLUES Is what does the work. No oth er stove has them. Let us show you. j. N. McCausland & Company N "THE STOVE MEN" 221 South Tryon Street Monitor
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Feb. 14, 1912, edition 1
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