Judge — June 5, 1920 — page 13: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

When the Devil Drives By Joux Ciaran Hiroew NEEDED work. So IT an- swered the first. advertise- ment that caught my eye: Wasten Only experience \ piano tuner and repair man party need apply I answered it in person. Of course I knew nothing about tun- ing pianos. But 1 had been town a week, and I had two dol- lars and three cents to last me, if I didn’t get something to do, for the rest of my life It was a large department in “You're experienced, —« course,” assumed the piano man. “Of course,” said 1. It was I had had lots of experi- true. Nisibogy ences. “Allright. Can't go into that now. Need a man in a hurry. One of our regulars is sick. Here's a kit. Go to this address. It’s to tune and repair a player.” I took the kit and the paper with some misgivings. ‘The house was in the suburbs. A servant opened the door. She was an ugly little thing. She looked at my bag, then at my shoes, and began to close the door a Me Drawn byt Pru again. “We don’ “Pardon piano.” She let me in, but was not decent enough to apolo- need anything today,” she said curtly. I purred. “I’ve come to see about the xize “Keep off the woodwork with them boots,” commanded. ‘I’ve just oiled it.” I stepped onto the rug. “And don’t muss up the carpet swept.” “Where is the piano?” I asked stiffly. he led me to the drawing-room. The piano stood at the far end of it, ysferious. I had played on pianos, and could thus claim acquaintance with them. But of their inner workings I was as ignorant as a little child. I took off my coat. I knew piano tuners did that. Because that particular coat had once belonged to a piano tuner. It had become mine while he was submerged beneath the strings. Then I played a little piece. This was to make certain that the piano was out of tune. The people might have been deceiving the department stére. They might have been. But th weren't. Another great disappointment in my life she I's just been quiet and Drawn by Pace Renx I sat and watched the piano. I didn’t move. How Serr-Conxsciovs Jones Four Weak-Your-Orv-Croturs Movement 13 The mistress of the house came down. “The player's in shocking con- i she volunteered. I bowed. “And we find the middle n rather dull. An? The tempo lever work properly and the modulator out of order.” I listened _ politels These things were apparently near t this woman’s heart. But they produced no thrill in mine. Upon intelligent investigation, I found that the front of the in- strument was detachable. I de- tached it. The result frightened me. My nerves were beginning togo. I had to do something. 1 looked into the kit bag. There were screwdrivers, oil cans, rags, a key, and many other fascinating things. I selected a screwdriver as best suited to my needs, and went to the attack. It was very hard to begin. Dozens of screws invited my attention. So I went at it systematically, starting at one end. As I took them out, | put them in an ash tray. In order not to lose them. It was like a sort of game. I named each screw as I took it out so I wouldn’t forget where it came from. here was Fitzgerald, and Percy and Roland and all the old crowd. I really began to enjoy it. At last they were all extracted. Right in front of me was a brown box arrangement, with a round brass thing in it. I gave this a slight tug and it came off in my hands, bringing with it another long wooden part, with a lot of rubber tubes and little bellows. I deposited all this on the sofa, and went back for more. This time I was fortunate enough to be able to pick out some of the little hammers. I made several trips in this way, finding somethi to take out of the piano each time. The room was soon covered with a layer of it. They hold such an enormous amount, those player-pianos. There still remained the strings, stretched tightly in stiff, ugly rows. These I loos- ened by means of the key which I found fitted just as if it had been made to. The effect was a great deal better. I sat down for a brief rest. I think I had deserved it. Bear in mind all that I had accom- plished. Visible testimony lay on every chair and table and inch of floor space in the room. Suddenly an awful thought sprang into my mind: Suppose I couldn’t put all the things back! 1 picked up the long wooden dit doesn t on Her Arrer Joininc rie 5 4 comicbooks.com