o
THE PEE: OMAHA. SUNDAY. FEBRUARY 12. 1321
FLESH OF MY FLESH By Barker Shelton
How Far Is a Father Justified in
Insisting That His Son Shall
Fulfill His Own Blasted
Ambitions?
TUB (tout young woman who JuJ bn brees.
Iiif hriokly Int. Hi kiiihi-n of the Khu.
gru'a rut tvrry few minute for th Lt
h!f hour or m imJ a mmi em- lent ri ff
Prn VMI there no atmou'lier of ruU
or huU about ahntevrr eh til J. lta snout,
plhthed It nli aniailng rdpid'iy. And ttrii lime
ho appeared (in th men h had ltiit for
Con Wtugru. mihw with (real iiiteniiuMi out
Ih kitchen window, and liitlw nod of or-
fop him, Hn. t'ur!iriioiiilttt' word or two
intended to tnnv to hint without ttIUi lilm
In many mereoiyprd phre th comforting
fwa that titer wai nothing to worry about .
A wholly trustworthy party, thin stout young
woman, you couM Ml In a minute kit knrw
her Job. You wouldn't niik any mfHnk In
putting all norta of fund in Iter, dt-xplt th fuet
that her uniform was that of nur mill lit
training, fon tfhugruo f!t he In luck, be
rau tlio goip i.f th rieistiborhood whispered
tht when you pidid for a num at th ru
pennary you nuua perfoiv rn-pt without a
murmur whatever th lti f imry ho to nd
you. Py blind luck li had drawn a prlto
a prl thnt w open to .rlt!tim In imly mm
renpect. Kh always 1. ft thi kitchen door open.
Every tin ah cumo Into th.it kitchen ha left
th door ajar, and eh persistently neglected to
dor it behind her when ah left. For food
nd aufflrieiit r-on Con Shugrue wanted that
dour cloned.
Klnr tha (out young woman was Juat do
pining with a lot of ahlny tee things In a bowl
of steaming witr, It wus a good bet tha door
would b loft wlilo open. H wa. to Con left
hi observation pout at tha -window mid thut it
one attain; hut It a softly a ha could, but. at
tha uma time, a tlithtly as ha could. agatiiNt
aouml that int cold crpepa up and down hi
pin and th faint, awectly tkkl.ili odor of
ethr.
Then ha, went back to IiIh window to rcnume
hi waiting waichfulm-ns. Th block of dreary
t-ncmciits In which tha domestic Rod of th
Shugruc wcr establlnhed wa on tho left hund
Id of a ireet that run up no wharp a nlopa It
Mnicd to ba trying to tund on end, and tha
flat that ot Con Hhugru back $26.75 every
month wa th uppermost vna of th flva In
that particular house. Con, therefore, had an
xcellent view from the kitchen window; of
roofa h!nlng with tha gkue of a March aleet
torm, and chimneys that looked a if an ambl
tlou confectioner had tried hla hand at frost
ing them, and light In rows and circle and
triangle and aquare. Electric lgn' mad
smudge of red and green and braiigs and bluo
on the low, eastward driving cloud which had
momentarily ceased dripping particle of hall
and rain that froze a it struck.
Con Shugrue's eye were fixed on a string of
flery red letters that stood out against the black
March sky. They winked at him and mocked
him, and beckoned him and stabbed him. They
made him scowl and set his teeth Into his under
lip, and then shrug his shoulders In a sorry
attempt at resignation, which recalled to mind
the fact that his right shoulder developed shoot
lng pains even yet when he tried that movement
on It. He scowled harder at the blazing red let
ters. They spelled out for him the name "COLI
SEUM A. C."
Under those letters tha present lightweight
champion of the fistic world would be having
a merry argument of It with a certain party
who was sure his own claims for championship
honors were better founded. The little affair
was scheduled for ten rounds. That was all the
law allowed. There was a feeling prevalent .
among the wise birds espousing either side of
the contention that ten rounds were amply suffl
cicent. Whatever number of rounds the affair
lasted, these same wise birds knew would be full
of action, and the sort of action they loved but)
seldom found. Therefore the old Coliseum would'
be crowded. Every last seat of those tiers slop
ing upward from the ring would be jammed.
With knowing ones. Who would while away
the time until the main bout was staged sizing
up the talent displayed to them In the prelimi
naries. A chance to leap Into the limelight,
that!
Con could see those Jammed tiers of seats,
the fog of blue smoke, the glare of the shaded
arc lights above the ring shining through it. He
could hear the pounding of feet, the first thrill
ing mob growl of delight as the fighting took
on speed In one of those preliminary bouts;
growing to a roariny rumble as it became yet
faster; the staccato rattle of blows; the patient,
monotonous whirring of movie machines going
on with no letup.
But for the untoward circumstances he had
not taken Into his reckoning he might have been
there tonight; a contender In one of those pre
liminaries, showing his speed, his cleverness, his
punch, to eyes he could most desire to see such
qualities In him.
"We'll show em what we got at the Coli
seum In March," Al Dorsey had told him. "The
night Biller and Lewis has to back up the hot
air they've been throwing at each other. They've
been gassing so much back and forth the place
will be packed. It'll be the chance of a lifetime
to show up a comer. I'll get you on in a pre
liminary with somebody who it is won't matter
much. You could take care of any of them
now."
Every word of that conversation came back
to him now; the first thrill of it that evening
months ago In a corner of the basement of Dor
sey's little sporting goods shop which Al had
rigged up for training quarters. Al's hand on
his shoulder as he spoke and himself, panting
on an up ended box as he unlaced his gloves,
seeing life heading for pleasant places.
Al Dorsey had happened into the molding
room of the Pratt Car Wheel Works one noon
hour, had seen him fooling with some of the
other men, had watched him closely, asking him
a few questions, requested more of the fooling,
watohed closer, and taken Con Shugrue under
his wing.
Skeptical at first, thinking little of it, Con
had said nothing about it to anybody. Neither
had he allowed himself any pleasant delusions.
But he had worked faithfully with Al Dorsey
several evenings a week, with an aptitude for
the work which Al himself could never have
guessed.
Then Annie had to give up her work in the
loft where they made the feather flowers. Annie
didn't think it was necessary, but the doctor was
firm about it It took money to get by and live
ven half decently, and with Annie's weekly
contribution nol prossed and the need of money
In the future looming yet more urgently, Con
aaw where it. behooved him to find some extra
work.
He found it. In the Bay State Garage, four
evenings a week, which left him two evenings
for tha finishing touches in Al Dorsey's base
ment. All of which might have worked out sat
isfactorily with the closest sort of figuring if a
benighted swab with more indifference than
brains hadn't dropped a heavy Stlllson wrench
over tha side of a car and Into the pit one night
at the Bay State Oarage.
It struck the bottom of the pit via Con Shu
grue's right shoulder. And this was calamitous.
Tor, while they managed to patch and strap the
shoulder so Con was missing at the Car Wheel
Work but ten days and from the garage but two
waaks, tha speed had gone forever from that
particular shoulder when It was pronounced fit
once more.
Al Dorsey trotted him arounj to various men
who might do something to limber it up. Suc
eively they shook their heads. Al Dorsey
learned three new oaths In hi? overweening dis
appointment. Tha mea to vnom ha had taken
i
I i
m: m " - -Sill
'iLi '
' Straight from th ihoalJt! Attaboy I Attaboy I Did yoa gat that. Anni ? "
Con Shugrue explained at length why no opera
tion would help and why no system of exercise
or massage or baking on bandaging would be
effective. And Al Dorsey learned two more
new ones.
Wherefore Con Shugrue saw his visions fade
and did the best he could about it, and told
himself he hadn't thought at first there was any
thing In it, so why mope about it now? Emi
nently sane philosophy. Only visions, once they
have taken a grip, are loath to let go. They
have a way of popping up persistently, poor
' unlaid ghosts, to Jangle and wrench the soul
and present trains of futile might-have-beens.
Just such futile might-have-beens were hav
ing their will of Con Shugrue now as he scowled '
at the smudge of red letters on the roof of the
Coliseum, dimmer because the sleet was begin
ning again. If, for Instance that pinheaded
boob hadn't dropped his Stillson wrench, or had
dropped It from the other side of the car. Or
if he had been working at the other side of the
pit at the moment. Or if Annie could have held
down her Job In the feather loft a little longer.
Or if he had met Al Dorsey a little sooner or
had met Annie a little later in his life.
He heard the footsteps of the stout young
woman crossing the floor of the diminutive din
ing room of the flat. She was opening the
kitchen door. So, of course, he'd have to close
it after her again presently. He turned about.
The stout young woman came in. This time she
carried what might well have been a hastily
gathered bundle of laundry to be duly wrapped
up. She grinned, at Con, and transferred what
ever it was she carried from her own arms to
his. It did not seem to have much shape.
thin wail startled him into the realization that
there was something alive in it.
"It's a boy," she told him, "and a fine
one, too."
Con merely stared at it. He had no idea
babies looked anything like that. As for there
being anything fine about it, she must be kid
ding him. He grunted dully:
"A boy, hey?"- He said it as If he didn't
believe it.
"Isn't he a bouncer?" she went on.i "Hear
him him howl! That's the way he should do It."
She could not seem to Impart any of her own
enthusiasm to-him. He refused to be Impressed.
"He ain't much to look at," said he. "Going
to be weak and plndllng, ain't he?"
She looked at him scornfully, and then broke
into a delighted laugh.
"Weak? That baby? Not on your life!
Look at those hands? They're busters. Tou
never saw such fists on a baby, Mr. Shugrue.
They're big enough for a prize fighter's."
Con Shugrue's face underwent, a cha'nge. Its
apathy vanished. He came out of his daze.
"Does that mean he'll be a husky kid,
maybe?" he asked. v .
"I'll say he will."
A sudden warm glow descended upon Con
Shugrue, a sense of peace, a feeling that maybe
Fate had not cheated him so fearfully after all.
"A husky kidV he muttered. "A boy! I'd
oughta be proud of him, hadn't I?"
The stout young woman nodded emphati
cally. "Well, I am," said Con.
For, vague, formless in detail as yet, another
vision had come to Con Shugrue.
"I think Mrs. Shugrue would like to see you
for a minute," the stout young woman sug
gested to him. "It will be all right for you to
go In for a little while now."
She led the way through the dining room
and paused to listen for a moment at a door
Just beyond. Then she pushed it open softly
and took from Con's arms the bundle which
was no longer to him a potential armful of wash, .
but his son.
Con tiptoed awkwardly in. A single electric
bulb, swathed with several thicknesses of tissue
paper, gave a feeble light. Annie, very white,
very , drawn, very tired looking, smiled uncer
tainly at him from the pillows. .
"Con," she said weakly, "come here to me!"
Ha knelt beside the bed. He started to take
her hand, but it seemed so small and frail and
his own paw looked so big beside It that he hesi
tated. She noticed this, smiled again, and
slipped the frail hand into his.
"Annie, girl," said he with a strange gentle
ness, "the son you've given me! The fine, big,
husky boy!"
"Are you glad, Con? Do you really want
him?" she said with a queer catch In the words. ,
"The fool questions the girl can ask!" said
he. "She gives me the fine,- husky kid, with a
howl In him that does credit to his young lungs
and th biggest pair of flat that were ever on
a baby! And then: 'Am I glad. Do I want
him?' says she! The fool questions a woman
can ask a man!"
"But I thought, may be, the last few months,
Con "
He waited, but she did not go on.
"What was it you thought, Annie, girl? Out
with it!"
"I thought these .last few months. Con," she
said, "you was awful troubled about it I didn't
blame you, what with the hard luck we've had.
I thought me having to give up work sooner
than we'd counted on It, and you taking on the
night work at the garage and then getting hurt
I thought maybe you didn't want him."
' "What made you think that way, girl?"
"Could I help thinking that way? Look
back. Con, and think hard yourself for a minute.
Could I?"
"No,"' he said, "you couldn't help' thinking
like that becaus, God forgive me, it was true.
I didn't want him. But it's different now. Hon
est, it is. I'm tickled to death with that kid."
Her eyes searched his face as If they would
ferret out any sopthing untruth he might be
trying to put over on her for the sake of her
momentary comfort. They looked at him long
and steadily.
"I believe you are, Con," she told him at
last; "I really believe it's so. I was afraid you'd
look on him as just another drag, another piece
of the hard luck you've had. But something in
your eyes tells me you are tickled to have him
now he's here awful tickled to have him, Con
and I'm glad and happy."
the eyes closed again. Presently the nurse
came In. She touched Con's shoulder. She
nodded toward the door. Carefully he freed his
hand and tiptoed cautiously out of the room.
"Can I have another squint at them big fists
of my son?" he asked the nurse.
She seemed not only willing but highly
pleased to grant this request of his.
'it is a hard climb to the Shugrue apartment
up the narrow little street that seems trying to
stand on end. Moreover, after the ascent of the
sharp slope has been accomplished there are
four flights of stairs to be negotiated before the
uppermost flat is reached. Neither of these
conditions Is conducive to the general comfort
of a man who recently has been taking on
weight far too rapidly and to whom an attack
of the flu has bequeathed the unwelcome legacy
of a good imitation of asthma. An overwarm
day would tend yet further to upset the equa
nimity of a party of this description.
The October holiday seemed to have become
a trifle confused as to its identity. Anyway, it
had taken to itself a temperature that would
have done credit to a Fourth of July. '
Wherefore at the top of the third flight of
those stairs by which he gained his domicile
Con Shugrue found it advisable to heave out a
lifebuoy in the shape of a word of encourage
ment to the heavy man puffing and blowing and
stumbling upward In his wake.
"Only one more flight after this, Al, and
we're there."
' Mr. Dorsey was wondering why he had come,
or at least why he had not deferred coming un
til a cooler day. No prodigy of a kid that ever
lived was worth all this discomfort. , As for the
prodigy part of It, he had his own mental reser
vations on that point f Kids were always prodi
gies to their parents; much overrated; one had
to be prepared for disappointments.
Still, In a way, he could see where It was the
only decent thing to do; to humor this paternal
exuberance of Con Shugrue's out of respect to
certain high and now defunct hopes which had
been mutually his and Con's.
At the sound of the key in the latch Mrs.
Shugrue came into the hallway. Three of them
In it left scant elbow room. She was a smaller,
frailer woman than Dorsey had expected Con's
wife would be; prettier, too, a certain fetching
grace and lightness about her. Dorsey, unmar
ried himself and firm In his belief that marry
ing young was a good deal like standing your
chance in life against a blank wall and assassi
nating them one after another in cold blood
witness this case of Con Shugrue, for example
forgave Con a whole lot at th sight of her.
"Annie," said Con, "I want you to shake
hands with my good friend, Al Dorsey. Al
wants to see the kid."'
Annie Shook hands ' with her husband's
friend. Al murmured that he was glad Indeed
to meet Mrs. Shugrue, which was the truth, and
Annie said she was pleased to meet Mr. Dorsey,
which wasn't Con pushed open a door on on
id of that triangular room, Al Dorsey mad
ready to spill the enthusiasm he knew was ex
pected of him and to say the things he would
be expected to say. Ha found himself standing
with Con beside a small iron crib. Mrs. Shu
grue had betaken herself to the kitchen.
"Well, what do- you know about it?" said
Con proudly. .
"A fine kid, Con, Sure, a right fine kid."
"I'll say so, If I am the father of him. Did
you ever see a huskier kid at seven months?"
"I never did," said Dorsey, which was per
fectly true, considering the fact that he had
probably never inspected a seven months old
baby before.
"Look at the fists on him, will you."
Dorsey centered his interest on the fists.
"Ain't they cute?" said he, and realized at
once from Con's face that he had made a con
versational miscue.
"Cute nothing!" Con denied. "They're big
as young hams. Old whales of fists for such a
wee feller as him. Which means, so they tell
me, he'll be a husky young brute, that he'll grow
to match them big fists of him. 'Big enough for
a prize fighter's,' says the nurse when she sees
them the night he's born. That's what seems
to strike her about him more than anything
else, them big fists of his. 'Big enough for a
prize fighter's, she says of 'em."
Mr. Dorsey took another look at them. "They
sure are big fis'ts for the size of the kid," he re
vised his former estimate of them. '
"Some day them fists is going to have a
regular old mule kick of a punch in them, Al."
"They'd ought to," Dorsey agreed.
"And the little bit of a kid will grow up to
match them fists of his. All that I couldn't be
because of the busted shoulder he shall be. And
more maybe, because, no doubt, he'll be bigger
and huskier than ever I was."
"I see," said Dorsey.
"And when that day comes I'll want you
to train him, Al, the same as you was a training
me, and put him where he ought to go. That'll
be the top, Al. Nothing short of the top will
do."
Al Dorsey did a little mental arithmetic.
"I'll be an old man then, Con," he said.
"But you'll be a wise one, all the same. 1
don't mean for you to put on the glove with
him like you did with me; but I do mean for
you to take him in hand and show him what
you can show him and tell him all the things
you can tell him, and watch him and shape him
and get him placed right. There's a lot In start
ing right ain't there? Well, do that for him,
and have an oversight of the whole training of
him. Will you do it, Al?"
Mr.. Dorsey accepted the commission.
"Now lemme show you the material you'll
have to work on," said Con.
From the foot of the crib he took up a cellu
loid rattle with jingling bells around Its edge.
He shook it before the baby's face. Two chubby
hands came up and clutched the handle..
"Tou wouldn't believe the grip he can get
on it," Con told the other man. "But now Just
watch."
He proceeded to take the rattle away. The
small face wrinkled into a scowl. But there was
no sound, no walls, no tears.
"Do you mind that? Never a whimper out
of him. I'm teaching him early to take what's
coming to him and be game."
"Fine!" Dorsey enthused, although he saw
nothing particularly marvelous in all this.
"And he is game all right. Even now that
kid's game."
"Sure he is." Mr. Dorsey concealed a yawn.
"Now watch again."
Con poked the baby's cheek with one fore
finger. The small hands pushed the prodding
linger away. Con chuckled in great delight.
"Did you get that?" he asked.
"The way he' playing with you?"
"He's not playing with me. He's fighting
me off. Look at the scowl on his face. Fight
ing me, he is, I say."
"Well, well, now! I be hanged If he ain't!"
"Tou told me once I had the real fighting
blood in me, do you remember?"
"I told you the truth, Con. You sure hav
got It."
"And It's In him, too."
"Nev.er a doubt of It."
Annie came into the hall as Con was show
ing Dorsey out. "Won't Mr. Dorsey stay and
have a bit of dinner with us?" she asked her
husband.
Dorsey thanked her, said he had an engage
ment downtown, and departed, with all that
feeling of relief that manifests itself when soma
MrlKf tut PrtMry ihic M tn fcum
tltHat,
"Who ! Itii lr, lrnyr Annie .k4 him
lion ih 4aor l4 o4 IwljinJ ihir iiior.
"An eUl Mn4 of nun, Anni. A man that
would hv don a t for it. If h'l bd the
rhni, or If l hsdn'l been w4 out tf
th rhni' Pt doing It
i of In 4t 1 fully funny, ln't It?"
Den t )6ti Ilk lilm?"
Anni thought Iff nf r vxtr rtfi!iy !
f.u kl t4 it. "No," ha Mill liiully,
. "Why nutf
"I dun'i know, li ju! iht I don't Ilk him.
Mt u IwiftiiM of i Imt funny r, I'm I
want you li lior th hihy to )our MflnU, Con,
1 ( you to show him to all your McndK,
liilir or hot I lak a dulika to ihm. I'm
Kind rou'r proud of him."
"I'm going lo bu pruu'Kr yet ma dy"
' Anni ma rod for ih klt hrn to lk up III
M'l dinner. II foiinunt lir.
"When Al Inri"y lot dona all t tun for
lilm." h went on.
"Al Itor)! What ran Al Uory li lor
him?"
"Kvrryiliinf, IA h could hut don for in
If llunii Imd koii rUttl."
II liiiMrd pip sud wit down by th opt n
window of the klu lien, Annla worked mviiy by
th (tnve,
"Ulmi sll thin Mr. l.my ruuld liav done
for you. dm. and why didn't h do It?" h
kd bun, after on of thou tn Mil psuxr
thut told lilm she hud been nailing for him lo
go on without th prompting qutnilon.
"II rould tmvn put tu into Ih wty of
making lioapt of money. We might hv had
wad of it, and alorie about in In lite piper
and pl' lure of in (trading 'em, and a llmou
in of our own, no doubt In time, and thlnv
Ilk that."
"Well. liy didn't ba do It for you?"
"I'd huv lumltt good from th Urt, Al uill
I had lha p-d. the uhlftin, and th punch.
I wn all ready for my lirnt appoaram- It wit
to ba at tha Collm-u'm In on of tha prelliulnarlra
one nls'it when the plr would be crowded by
reason of tha main bout drawing out a full
Iioumi. Hut I bunted the shoulder and It went
tiff on me."
A spoon clattered to tha floor. Hi wlfa
forgot the dinner ha was taking up. Sh
turned about In middun, distressed alarm.
"You were going In th ring, Con?" she
'aitked between ft lip.
"In tha ling, Annie. And up to th top after
I one got started. I had all tha stuff to do It
A I said so."
"I that what your friend Dorcy will do for
little Con?"
"II promised to do It this morning; In
there after ha had looked over tha kid and seen
the gamenexa of lilm and the spirit, and him
only seven months old, at that."
"Oh, Con, not thai! Nothing like that!"
"What would you hnvo him, girl?"
"I don't know. Whatever ha wants to be.
Mont anything but that!"
"There' money In it, more than he'd ever
make at anything else, probably. When you get
to tho top there's a lot coming to you out of
the picture and turns you do in vaudeville, be
side the Income from the fights themselves."
"Money!" she said scornfully.
She stood by the stove, twisting a corner of
her apron in her fingers. She was not looking
at him. Her eyes wcr fixed on a warping crack
in the kitchen floor.
"Con," slie said at last, and the slowness
with which she spoke told of th difficulty she
was finding In making herself clear. "I want
you to be glad we've got him. I want you to be
glad at any cost. That's the main thing, for
you to be glad he's here. I was so afraid once,
Just before he was born, you didn't want him.
I don't want to be hurt like that again." ,
"Want him? Of course, I want him. Have
done with all this foolish talk about me not
wanting him, Annie!"
"You didn't want him at first," she persist
ed. "You're glad of him not for himself, but
because you count on some day seeing him do
all the things you wanted to do yourself. It's
all right, Con. I'm trying to understand it and
make the -best of it"
"Now listen, Annie!" he tried to explain it
to her. "That's kid's like me; he looks like me.
You've said so yourself time and again. He's
got my Ecrapping blood In him, too. Why, Al
Dorsey could see that this morning. You don't
know the feeling blood like that in your veins,
so you can't understand. You'd have him a
priest, maybe, or a lawyer, or a dolled-up floor
walker in a store. He'll do best whatever he
likes best; and, being me alb over, he'll want
what I want"
"I'll do my best," she said very meekly. "I'll
try not to interfere. There'll be times when it
will be fearfully hard not to speak my mind
about it all, but I'll try to keep quiet."
Annie surprised him in the weeks that fol
lowed, for she kept her word and carefully
avoided the subject; or, if Con brought it up in
any way, she merely dismissed, it with: "You
know best, Con."
His feeling of uneasiness, of being in wrong
In the matter, wore away. Annie, plainly, had
fully accepted the fact that he was the one to
shape his nwn-child's future. , And this, he felt,
was as it snould be.
Presently all his spare time became occu
pied with much cutting and shaping of scraps
of soft leather and a vast amount of awkward
sewing with a needle that was forever getting
itself lost in his big fingers. His wife's proffered
' help he turned down. He chuckled frequently
over his task, whatever it was. It was clearly
some work that must be done to his satisfac
tion, for he was forever discarding it when it
was partly finished and starting the cutting and
the shaping and the sewing all over again.
But at last he reached the standard he had
set for himself and grinned delightedly at a
pair of tiny boxing gloves he had contrived. He
took them into the room where the Iron crib
stoo4 close to the window. Being late in the
evening, his offspring was asleep. But Con Shu
grue could not wait until the following evening
to see those tiny gloves he had made on those
overgrown little fists. So he violated the one
and only law Annie had laid down concerning
the baby since their discussion of his future in
the kitchen that former day and prodded the
child into dazed wakefulness. His wife heard
, him laughing mightily and presently he was
dragging her into the room.
"Look at that, will you!" he bade her.
He had laced on the gloves. The baby
blinked and cooed and waved its chubby arms.
Its face was wrinkled with smiles.
"The feel of the gloves!" Con enthused. "His
first feel of them, and look at how he likes
them!" '
He stepped to the crib and bent over it.
"Come oh, old timer!" he urged, his grin
ning face close to the swinging arms. "Swing
on me once with the fine little gloves I've made
you! A good one! Straight from the shoulderl
Atta-boy! Attd-boy! Did you get that, Annie?
He passed me a couple of good ones. By the
living hokey, he did that!. Wouldn't it kill Al
to see him do that? He's got to see him! To
night! Right uway! I can't wait to see him
split himself with laughing at it. I'm going
down and bring him tip here in a taxi. It's
worth it"
He dove out of the door for his hat and coat
The door banged behind him. She heard him
going down the stairs three at a time. She flew
to the crib and began to unlace the gloves. She
was saying "O! O!" over and over, deep down In
her' throat She looked frightened.
ton and Al Dorsey alighted from a taxi some '
twenty minutes later. Dorsey made his usual
lumbering ascent of the four long flights of
stairs.
"You'll near die when you see him with 'em
on, Al," said Con. "And he passes good ones,
too, believe me, he does!"
But the crib by the window In the room they
entered was empty. Neither was Anni any-
hi about h pUr; not In th kitchen; not
In th dining room; itr )t In tha tt tfsort,
lh front room, A vagu uvpk-lon, which atrut-k
Con th itit abaurd lUa In all tha world
vn a It poMMMd Mm, prompted hint to rpn
a rlvimi door. Th clo looked a If ryclon
hl ion through It tvrything of Ann)'
that h4 hung in that clot bad (una from th
hook.
"th mut hav took th kid out nmewhera,
A I," It announced a calmly a h could, "uv. r
lo to on of br friend, probably. I gue I'll
hv to how you om oilier trulii4 how l
look with ihtm glov on."
Tha qnurtr of ili (juill liuresu of Investi
gation are not liituuatng. Tlo-y do not keep
fault wlih tho iiw of ih concern. On urn II.
fiid office In nit old building tuhVe It need.
Th llil window in Ih pine open on an air
haft. Th furniHhiiiK t on nxioinl'liand hl
big citblnrl, two cliMir with sugKiiig can nt,
a framed portrait of Allnn I 'Inker! oft, atanding
bet. id Mm oh) in front of a itu, and a xeunvd,
ifgr acori'lted dik, at which, mU' em i Into ilia
Inadequate tontine belweell llio arlox l't III
desk chair and overflowing It somewhat, an
Jiweph LI. Quill, bead of th bureuu and iu en
lir working fore well.
Con Phuuru w iinprttl with lulttu-r tlx
pla' nor wlih Mr, Quill. Th hitter ..iucd far
too heavy boll) phynlcully and im lit. illy for th
delicti detail nf confidential Invemiiittiioii.
A fellow workman at Ihu cur wheel work
had NUtited Mr. (Julll and bin bureju to Con.
And. ainra It wa Iter and Mr, Quill waa al
ready nuking for tho third tinio what ba could
da for hlni, there to-emed nothing el to do but
tat the natura of hi errand. So Con took a
photograph from hi pocket and laid It on th
desk. It wa a llkene of Annie and himself.
"I should Ilk you to find out th present
whereabout of till lady," said Con.
Mr. Quill gated on the photograph. Th
man In th picture being undoubtedly th on
who whs speaking to hint and th habiliment of
th lady being of th bridal variety, ha got tha
right answer at tha first try.
"Your wife?" auit, he.
"Quite so."
sha' beat it. I tuk It."
"Hh h."
"How long ago?"
Thre dity."
"What wa th troublo?"
"That's what 1 want to find out."
"There' always reaaon for everything," said
Mr. Quill. "Don't be afraid to tell ma tha whole
atory. How about another man?"
"Nothing In thnt."
"But you do know aome reasona why aha
left you. Think hard, and don't be afraid, a
I aay, to tell me everything. Th mor I know
about It, the quicker I'll be apt to find her for
you."
"There wa a kid." said Con slowly. "Wa
hadn't actually quarreled about him. But there
waa aome difference of opinion between ua
bout what he'd be when he grew up."
"She took the kid with her, of course?"
Con nodded.
"Did she have much money with her?"
"Only a very little. Maybe not any at all."
"Has she ever worked at any Job? Before
you married her or since?"
"Uh-huh. She worked on feather flowers
for a number of years."
Mr. Quill took up a pencil. Ho Jotted down
Con's answers to terse questions as to her name,
age. weight, color of her hair and eyes, and
certain details of the clothing she had taken
with her.
"Ought to be easy," said Mr. Quill. "Ten
dollars in advance to cover possible expenses."
Con gave him the ten dollars.
"Where will I get you when Fve found out
anything?"
Con mentioned the car wheel works as the
best bet in the daytime and gave the address of
the flat where he might be located after six
at night
Just before closing time that evening Mr.
Quill came into the molding room at the ear
wheel works.
"You haven't located her already?" Con
asked him eagerly. ,
"Mayb not; but try this address." He
passed Con a slip of paper with a street and
number scribbled on it "Mrs. Annie Shaush
nessey came there with a baby three evenings
ago, and took a room. Mrs. Bedloe runs the
house. Better look into this."
This latter advice was wholly superfluous.
Con went straight from the car wheel work to
the address on that slip of paper. It waa a
dowdy street He rang the bell of a house that
matched the street.
A dispirited looking woman opened the door;
the Mrs. Bedloe who ran the place, no doubt
"Will I find Mrs. Annie Shaughnesscy here?"
Con asked her. t
"I'll see if she's in."
"Let me save you that trouble," said he,
pushing past her and mounting the stair.
At the top of the third flight he tried a door
knob cautiously, it turned noiselessly in his
careful fingers; the door opened a crack. It
was not locked, then. He went in, closed it, set
his back against it Annie bounded out of a
sorry looking rocking chair by the yet sorrier
looking bed, where the baby was asleep.
"Annie, what crazy foolishness is this?" h
growled.
"I saw the gloves on him. It was the last
straw. You shan't make a fighter of him!"
"I thought you said you wouldn't interfere."
"I said I'd try not to interfere."
"You're coming home with me."
She shook her head. "No, Con. I've thought
it all over- I'd rather it would be you that wa
cheated than him."
"Who's cheating him?"
"You," she flared. "What's all this you're
doing but cheating him? What's all this talk
about him being a fighter when he's not out of
his crib, and prodding him and poking him and
taking things he wants away from him and
scowling at him so he won't whimper when you
do it and keeping at him until he won't think
of anything when he begins Jo think except
what you want him to? What's all that but
cheating him? Maybe he'd rather take holy
orders or be a poet or love music or something
like that. And he won't know because you've
filled his poor head with the stuff you want it
filled with. No, if any one's got to be cheated.
It shan't be him."
"I suppose," he said with biting irony, "you'll
work in the feather loft again to support him,
and give him a grand education when he grow
up."
"I'll save every cent for him I can," she said.
"What you'll do," he said shortly, "is get on
your things and the kid's things and come home
with me."
"Will you promise to stop all the things
you've been doing to him?"
"I'll promise nothing of the sort."
"That's the way I thought it would be," she
said, dully. "So we'll stay here. And I'll giv
him a chance to choose for himself, if I have to
work my hands off to do it."
"Annie, that child is a real he-kid. He's got
bed blood in him. My fighting blood is in his
veins. Teach him to be game? Teach him to
fight? It comes to him naturally, without any
teaching. It's In him. Born there. He gets it
from me. Get on your things and his! Do
you hear?" '
She went over to the door and opened It
Standing there, very straight and very white,
she motioned him to leave.
"I hate the way you've acted about him," she
said between her clenched teeth. ,. "And hating
the way you've done, I've come to hat you.
Now go and leave us alone."
"Hate me, do you? What for? For trying
my best to make something out of that kid that
I know h'H do better than anything ! in tha
(Tor to Fag Mn-B, Col am Tamj
. i - .
