Argosy All-Story Weekly, July 11, 1925 — page 159: what you’re looking at

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

By SAMUEL G. CAMP LONG early last September I and the other five per cent of the family, namely, my well-known wife, were on surprisingly friendly terms, business wasn’t so worse, and, ali in all, you might say I was sitting pretty. But, while I am by no means superstitious, nevertheless, I had my fingers crossed. What I mean, something seemed to tell me that things couldn’t go on like that. They never do. And they didn’t. One evening when the wife arrives back at our little gray home in the West Eighties, it’s plain to be seen that she is in a state -of no little excitement. So it seems she’s joined out with some women voters’ organ- ization or other, and from now on, she ‘makes known in clarionet tones, she is pos- itively going to take an active personal in- terest in public affairs. And just to prove it, she promptly starts radiocasting the cor- 313 rect answers to each and all of the political crossword puzzles then confronting the one > hundred per cent American public. “Sign off!” says I, cutting in with old world courtliness. “Listen. This is im- portant. Have you told anybody about this except me? That from now on you’re positively gonna take an active personal interest in public affairs?” — “Why, no,” says the little woman. “Well, then,” says I, “do me a favor and keep it dark for just twenty-four hours.” ‘“* Why?” demands the frau, suspiciously. ‘* Because,” I replies, “‘ when Wall Street gets wise to it there’ll no doubt be the great- est boom in history, and I want to get in on the ground floor.” “You and your comical strip stuff!” snaps the dear girl. “If you and the rest of the men had taken some interest in some- - <- Sk ; ae es a 3