The Argosy, October 1906 — page 113: what you’re looking at

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

; A ‘CUE for which the--Mastodon Department Store would pay $6.25. = But the printer’s bill would be $44.50, including a hundred extra covers which were to be used for postérs advertising * the song in the ‘shop windows. Now, $36.25 would not pay $44.50! “ You see how it is,” Brent told him, laughing. ‘‘ You can’t get along without your uncle’s help——”’ “T wouldn’t ask Mr. _ cent above my wages——” ‘Ho, ho!” roared Brent. “ That's not the ‘uncle I mean. You'll pawn your | watch and some of your clothes. I'll take you around toa man I know. He’s Borrow for a got mine.” f But Clay did not wish to patronize the ~ pawn-shop. He had figured out ‘that when a man begins to depend on such means for financial help, it becomes a habit not easily broken. 2 And thirty-six per cent per year is a. preposterous rate of interest. He . might get down to one suit and one hat, like Brent; then neither member of the firm could go out of the house in the morning. _. “We are launching into Disiriess in a * small way,” he said thoughtfully. “ Most firms begin small. And let us begin hon- estly. I'l go to the printer and put the facts before him Z ~ Never!” gasped Brent. “ He’ll shut down on you instantly. - You’ve got to bluff, or you'll be thought a fool. Anda fool can "t get ORES for a square meal, even.’ -“ Then-I’ll steer a course betwixt and between. [ll neither be entirely frank nor will I try to overreach the printer.” And with this determination he walked into the ofhce of the man on the day agreed and planked down thirty dollars. “T can’t pay the entire bill to-day,” he said, looking the printer straight in “the eye. “ But I only want fifty copies new. Can I have them?” The man hesitated less than half a minute. He would still hold four hun- > dred and fifty copies, and the electro- _-types, so he was due to lose jnothing. “T usually demand cash when the customer has no bank reference, ” he said. ) SO Bat—this tine —<—— a on 0 the ‘fifty copies aud. ‘hurried = to menses Before he left that FROM CHANCE. — with a friend the next morning and Clay store he saw ‘Little Lilly Lee” dis- played to excellent advantage over he a music counter, and heard the girl play- “ = ing it'to the crowd which always hovered about this part of the store. Besides, the head of the department gave him an order on the cashier for the price of the fifty copies. Small accounts were always settled immediately, it seemed. : But *Clay did not go at once to the ~ cashier’s desk, much as he wanted the — money. He placed the order in his wal- let and went up- “town to fulfil his duties as Mr. Borrow’s “man of all work. be He carried with him an extra copy of the song he had obtained from the printer, however, with which to rejoice Brent’s soul, and that night he swore to himself that the most important thing 3 the firm of Brent & Worth had before _ them was the replevining of some of | Brent’s clothing. , ee “Tf you could go out with these songs to-morrow, you might sell a couple of ss hundred—or, at least, place them where they might be sold. But you can’t go in a dress-suit and top-hat,” he groaned. “T’ll take ’em around in the evening,” suggested Brent. - Look nice, wouldn't you, lugging a bundle of song-sheets under your arm. — No, no! I'll have to-sell this first edi- tion during such hours as I can escape from my Old Man of the Sea.” - . He said nothing about it to Brent, but Clay had intended flashing the order on the Mastodon Store before the music printer and let Aim collect it on account the next day. But before. morning he : had thought out another scheme. ae That bona fide order for payment for ss fifty copies of “ Little Lillie Lee” might = help him to get orders at other stores. = But he must take the printer further into ae his confidence, however. ee = Fortunately, Mr. Borrow went to ride found himself free until luncheon. Down to the Bible House he hurried to put his new idea into execution. He told the printer how he stood, dis- played the cashier’s order, and told the man why Ke wished to keep. it fora few days. Then he. asked plump for two hundred copies ‘of the song—making al- together half of the first edition. = ad = comicbook —