Work and Win #07: Fred Fearnot as Actor — page 33: what you’re looking at

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

oO —p > ae oo eek BSS AD al « ~ Weally, I was too weak to give her one. a3 : ttahance. Actually, I was verbally stunned. , P (How do you like the expwession ‘verbally ~ stunned?’ I think myself it is what the stweet boys —eall a—ah—‘‘ corkah !’’) So she went on: “Now, Mr. Sweetcake, if ye have ears, reply to the question: Whin do ye mane to pay me ?”’ ‘ ‘: _ Her query was anothah “ corkah.’’ She might just as well have asked me when I meant todie. You—ah—see that I had pledged half of my _ salawy in advance for six weeks, in partial payment _ for half a dozen new neckties, weal beautiful ones they are, too, golden stars upon a cwimson gwound. I stuttahed out that I would settle just as soon as 31 could. _ Mrs. Donnelly gwinned. <A contemptuous gwin. Wight in my face. “Ye will not settle it as soon as ye can, «<“Twuly I will.’’ ““Ye will not, I repate.’’ “Why not?’’ *‘Tt is mesilf who will not let ye.”’ “© How ?”’ ‘Ye will pay me some board on account to-morry, or I will kape ye locked up in yez room till ye do. It is not foire ye out will I, for ye wud be only too ready __ to go, Mr. Sweetcake—and a ace cake that ye are, too, ye have heard from me.’ - lTawose and went wight upstairs without any far- » ther wemarks. I would lowah myself to argue with such a cweature. When I got up in my woom I cwied. fres, | did. Cwied weal tears, for I was awfully mortified. Pwesently Chollie, and Gussie, and Fweddie, and several of the west of the boys came up. From their faces I could wealize at once that they felt tewwibly bad for me. Fweddie must have perceived that I had been giv- ing away to my—ah—justifiable emotions. He tapped me upon the shoulder. ‘‘Dolphie, old chappie ?’’ he said. «* Well, old fellah ?’’ ‘«* Bwace up.’’ «How ?”’ <¢ Come out with me. You will feel bettah.”’ I wefused. ___-For gwave weasons. ~, Yam fully aware of my weckless nature. I knew that if my blood became inflamed with stimulants that I might wreak some tewwible vengeance upon the landlady. “How much is the gwand sum total?’ asked Gussie. «Of what?’ I asked. £ *? said she. = 4 e < Take a glass of wootbeer. «) The uttah surpwise, and the shame that I felt at position, had wendahed me almost incapable of FRED FEARNOT AS AN ae IDSOME HARRY.” ACTOR. 31 “Your board bill ?’’ I shrugged my shouldahs. The question made me feel worse than evah. “‘T am shuah that I don’t know exactly, Gussie,” said I, “but it is something awful.’’ ** How large ?”’ ‘‘Nearly thirty dollahs; must be.” There was silence—a dead silence. My cwonies looked at one anothah with pallid faces. Pwesently Chollie spoke. “Great Gawd, Dolphie,’’ he said, ‘‘this is dwead- ful. Thirty dollahs! that would last me for a whole yeah! How in the world did you get wid of youah money? You haven’t gambled ?’’ ~“* No, except when I chucked dice for cigawettes.”’ You lost?” ‘No, I won; five cigawettes.”’ “You don’t dwink ?’’ ““Vewy seldom.”’ «And then—aw—of course the pwopah capah, at somebody else’s expense ?”’ ‘Of course.”’ ‘Then, Dolphie,’? gwavely wemarked Chollie, “it must be a woman. Yes, it must be a woman.’’ ‘‘Chollie,’? weturned I, as I hid my head between my hands, ‘‘ you have guessed it. You know Miss Dale ?”’ . ““Yaas, I dawnced with her.”’ “‘T took her to the opewa. I believe that I must have been cwazy; and aftah the opewa we had oystahs. It was not the opewa that bwoke me so much as it was the oystahs. She ate five box stews, and extwa cabbageevewy time. And ven I believe that she hinted sevewal times at chocolate.’ “ Well,’’ said Chollie, ‘‘ I can’t think what can be done. How stor cash have you ?’’ «‘Nine cents.’ **Cawn’t you—aw—pawn something ?’’ ‘*You know very well that I was forced to pawn my last pin to pay my washing Dill.”’ Chollie appeahed to give up my case as hopeless. ‘‘Dolphie,’’ said he, ‘‘if I only had the money I would settle youah bill most gwaciously. But IL haven’t.’’ Neither had Hweddie. Or Gussie or the west of the chappies. So they asserted, and I felt pwetty well convinced that they were twuthfully speaking. Chollie sighed. ** The only wesource, Dolphie,’”’ he said, “‘ that ap- peahs to me left to you, is the windah-sill and a wope ladder.”’ Hardly had he spoken before there came a wap at the door. Who was the wapper I will tell you next week. Yours truly, DOLPHIE. P. S.—Would you please ask youah fashion editor the cowwect hue of chest-pwotectahs for the coming wintah and early spwing? oO Eomichboo (SG <SiiGO mi