s^®®^ wsb® Fair Exchange By STANLEY CORDELL (Associated Newspapers—WNL’ Service.* MRS. CLARK BUCKNER likes to talk about her husband. She is forever fretting about him, worry ing, it seems, for fear that he will get himself into some sort of mess that will result in disaster or shame for his well-ordered family— a family which, besides Mr. and Mrs. Buckner, consists of two line boys and a girl. This continual fretting on the part of Mrs. Buckner is, on the one hand, excusable. Clark, though capable to the nth degree, gives the impression of being helpless. Yet more than once I have strongly suspected that this simple look on the face of Clark Buckner is a mask behind which he hides. For Clark is indeed shrewd. Smooth talking strangers, who hav select ed him as attractive game, have discovered themselves fairly fleeced when their negotiations with Clark are completed. And Clark, as much as they, will act mildly surprised and bewildered at the outcome. And on the other hand Mrs. Buck ner, who has lived with Clark these past 17 years, should, it would seem, be familiar with her husband’s traits and cease her worrying about him, which is not the case. 4Tm sure," Mrs. Buckner said to me this particular afternoon as we aat together on the porch of Clark’s home, “that sooner or later some one of these business deals Clark is forever entering into will leave us penniless.” She stroked the head of her youngest child, Madeline, aged seven, as she talked. 4,Of all the folks who know Clark,” 1 suggested, “you, Mrs. She put bis hat on his head, kissed him tenderly and told him to go home and mind the chickens. Buckner, should be more certain than any that no city clicker can get the best of him; that his fam ily will never be in want.” Her head came up as I spoke and a smile came to rest in her eyes, as if my words had enlivened a dim memory. "Yes," she said, staring vacantly out over the lawn, "yes, I suppose I should." And then after a mo ment, "it reminds me of the time Clark went to New York." She looked at me, smiling. "Has Clark ever told you about the time he went to New York?” I shook my head. At the mo ment I was waiting for Clark to keep a fishing appointment with me. He was late, as usual, and so I lit my pipe and settled back to hear Mrs. Buckner's story. It was a long time ago (began Mrs. Buckner). Clark had made some money on his little farm here *and decided he ought to go to New York to celebrate. He was always, as you know, a fine-looking man, and when he dressed up in a new suit of clothes and bought himself a Panama hat he certainly looked handsome. But they spotted him—those vul tures who are forever on duty be fore the gates of incoming trains at the Grand Central station—for just what he was: A yokel from the sticks with some money to spend. They followed him to his hotel and that evening managed to strike up an acquaintance. Clark seemed pleased at their friendliness and in vited them up to his room. Clark, sensing that his two guests suspect ed him of being a prosperous mer chant or some such thing, decided not to be disappointing. He painted a picture that made the vultures mouths water. He told them he was a mining man from the Middle West, hinting that he’d recently sold one of his properties for a sum that made the vultures’ eyes light with greed. Shortly after that the vultures de parted and Clark chuckled at his little joke. But Clark, of course, couldn't guess what was in store for him. He didn't know that the vultures had taken in every word of that story, had decided that he was bigger game than they anticipated. If Clark had merely had a thick roll of bills they would have robbed him and called it a day. Owning mines was different. It would take time and ingenuity to get him to sign over the ownership of a mine. The first step was to win Clark’s confidence. And no man can ac complish this task of winning an other’s confidence like a woman. So the two vultures introduced Clark to Sari. Sari wa* their come-on. Her job was to make Clark fall in love w'ith her so that when her friends, the vultures, appeared with the fake stocks, Clark would not dare enter tain a doubt or suspicion. She was all that was necessary to fill in the gap between a good time during his stay in New York and a bad one. He took Sari every where. He bought her jewelry. He lavished compliments on her. The vultures rubbed their hands together. Things couldn’t be pro gressing any more smoothly. After about three weeks of this, Clark's savings gave out and he decided to go home. He hated to leave, too, he’d been having such a good time. And he hated to leave Sari. Moreover, he’d been enjoy ing the role of prosperous mining man. He’d enjoyed letting the vul tures and Sari believe he was a millionaire. It was about then that the vultures decided the time was ripe. They printed up a lot of fake stocks, and set off for Clark's room on the last; evening of his stay in the big city. In the meantime Clark, who at heart was as honest as the day is long, and who had come to love Sari sincerely, had decided that he couldn't go oft leaving this little slip of a girl in a disillusioned state. That very afternoon he called at her apartment and told everything. At first she wouldn’t believe him, but as he talked on and she saw the utter innocence and simplicity of the man, she came to know the truth. It was this impression of innocence and simplicity that Clark radiated that made Sari do the thing she did. Instead of flying into a rage, up braiding him, scorning his atten tions, she put her arms around his neck and told him what a dumb, stupid idiot he was. She told him about the vultures, and gave a brief outline of her own mission in life. She told him that he was the only man who had ever warmed the cockles of her heart or treated her like a lady. She told him he'd bet ter get out of town within the next hour or the vultures would descend and perhaps do him serious bodily harm. Then she put his hat on his head, kissed him tenderly and told him to go home and mind the chickens. Mrs. Buckner paused in the tell ing of her tale, and I asked, deeply amused, "And so it was the im pression Clark gives folks that got him out of that mess—by the skin of his teeth?” "No,” said Mrs. Buckner, "it wasn't. When Clark realized what might happen to Sari if he left her there alone — what the vultures might do, he decided to stay. Which he did. The vultures arrived with their bogus stock and Clark bought a lot of it. In payment he deeded them a mine, a whole mine, and they went away happy." Mrs. Buckner paused and laughed at the memory. “I’ve often wondered,” she said, "how those vultures felt when they tried to idspose of the property which didn’t even exist.” "But what about Sari?” I asked, a Uttle impatiently. "What hap pened to her?” Mrs. Buckner looked up at me and there was faint surprise in her eyes. “Why,” she said, "couldn't you guess? Clark married Sari, of course." And she smiled even more brightly, and looked down happily into Madeline’s upturned face. Immunize Dogs Against Rabies, Doctors Advice Most of us like animals. It is natural for children to like dogs, cats, birds and rabbits. In cities, especially, the child who has a pet gets, in a small way, the contact with animal life which the country child enjoys as part of his life. So if children are to have pets, parents must know just how to prevent these pets from possibly communi cating any diseases or parasites to the members of the family. To be safe, every dog and cat should be immunized against rabies. Rabies—or hydrophobia, as it is more commonly known—is caused by a germ which is transmitted from one animal to another, or to a hu man, by a bite of the infected ani mal. Your pet can be immunized so that the bite of a “mad” dog will not communicate the disease to him. This, then, is a protection for your child and his pet. Each year have a veterinarian inject the animal with immunizing vaccine against rabies. Fleas, lice, mites, ticks are uny parasites which attack pets and may attack their owners. Such in festations are nuisances rather than dangers, although one of the most fearful diseases of mankind is the bubonic plague, carried by fleas which naturally live on rats and other animals, and thus spread the disease. Various preparations are available to help keep the family pet free of fleas and lice. If a pet is to be part of a household, it should be someone’s responsibility to keep the animal free from parasites. There are several types of human skin diseases called "ringworm.” These skin troubles are caused by a form of mold, a tiny vegetable growth which gets into the skin and grows there. ' __ - Scientific Gadgeteer Keeping track of earthquake* and checking up on the weather are a few of the things that make life worth living for Mar tin G. Murray, assistant postmas ter at Huntington Beach, Cqlif. Mr. Murray makes all his own scientific instruments out of pieces of junk. These photos take yoti for a call. Above: Sun telescope made from an old auto axle. Murray is focusing the solar image on a paper receiver here. Right: At the eyepiece of this homemade telescope he checks up on a fetv stars. The instrument is made of old water pipes, wood and pieces of mirror. Note how the wood is bound with wire. I At left Murray has the im age of the sun accurately fo | cused on the buff paper be hind this blackened tube. The (pistol is part of his P. O. job. Below: From an assortment of discards Mr. Murray got this instrument, which accu ■ rately measures magnetic dip. rjlfpKHHk * p4|mp|a