THE STJXDAY OKrGONTXN, PORTLAND, FEBRXTAUT 12, 1922
S
I FLESH OF MY FLESH-W 1
How Far Is a Father
Justified in Insisting
That His Son Shall
Fulfill His Own
Blasted A m bitions ?
THE young woman who had been
breeding briskly Into the kitchen
of the Shugrue's flat every few
minutes for the last half hour or eo
seemed a most efficient sort of Der-
son. While there waa no atmosphere
of rush or bustlo about whatever she
did. she accomplished It with amaz
ing: rapidity. And each time she ap
peared on the scene she had a smile
for Con Shugrue. gu:n; with treat
lntentnesa out the kitchen window,
and a HUe sod of assurance for him
and a commonplace word or two in
tended to convey to him without tell
ing; htm In so many stereotyped
phrases the comforting news that
there was nothing; to worry about yet.
A wholly trustworthy party, this
tout young woman. You could tell in
a minute she knew her job. You
Wouldn't make any mistake In putting
all aorta of faith la her. despite the
fact that her uniform was that of a
nurse still in training. Con Shugrue
felt he was in luck, because the gossip
of the neighborhood whispered that
when you applied for a nurse at the
dispensary you must perforce accept
without a murmur whatever the dis
pensary chose to send you. By blind
luck he had drawn a prize; a prize
that waa open to criticism in only one
respect. She always left the kitchen
door open. Every time she came Into
that kitchen ahe left the door ajar,
and she persistently neglected to close
It behind her when she left. For good
and sufficient reasons Con Shugrue
wanted that door closed.
Since tb atout young woman was
Just departing with a lot of shiny
teel things la a bowl of steaming
water. It was a good bet the door
would t left wide open. It was. So
Con left his observation post at the
window and shut It once again-, shut
It aa softly aa ha could, but. at the
same time, as tightly as he could,
against sounds that sent cold creeps
up and don his spine and the faint,
sweetly slckish odor of ether.
Then ha went back to his window
to resume hia waiting watchfulness.
The block of dreary tenements in
which, the domestla gods of the Shu
grues were established was on the
left-hand aide of a street that ran
up so sharp a slope It aemed to be
trying; to stand on end. and the flat
that sent Con Shugrue back J 26. 7 5
very month was the uppermost one
of the five In that particular house.
Con, therefore, had an excellent view
from the klchea window of roofs
shining with the glaze of a March
sleot storm. and chimneys that
ambitious confectioner
looked as If a
had tried his hand at frosting them,
and lights In rows and circles and
triangles and squares. Electric signs
made smudges of red and green and
orange and blue on the low. eastward
driving clouds which had momen
tarily ceased dripping particles of hail
and rain that froze as it struck.
Con Shugrue-s eyes were fixed on a
string of fiery red letters that stood
out against the black March sky.
They winked at him and mocked h'm,
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 de-
veloped shooting pains even yet when
that movement on it. He scowled
harder at the blazing red letters. They
spelled out for him the name "Coli
seum A. C."
Under those letters the present
lightweight champion of the fistio
world would having a merry argu
ment of it with a certain party who
was sure his own claims for cham
pionship honors wsre 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 sufficient. 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. There-
fore th old Coliseum would be
crowded. Every last seat of those
tiers sloping upward from the ring
Y " , "
Ith knowing ones.
ray the time until
staged sizing up
would be jammed with
Who would while away
(ha m.ln hnn t
the talent displayed to them In the
, ,
the limelight, that!
Con could see those Jammed tiers of
.! K. inn rar ni n aa nDKF. e .in liri r
of the shaded arc llcbts above the
ring shining through it. He could
hear the pounding of feet, the first
thrilling mob growl of delight as the
flghtlnr took on speed In one of those
preliminary bouts; growing to a roar-
Ing rumble as it became yet faster;
the staccato rattle of blows; the pa
tient, monotonous whirring of movie
machines going on wlh no letup.
But for the untoward circumstances
he had not taken into his reckoning win be all right for you to go in for a
he might have been there tnnight. a little while now."
contender In on of those prelim- She led the way through ths dining
inarles. showing h's sV-eed. his clev- room and paused to listen for a mo-
erness. his punch., to eyes he cou!d ment at a door Just beyond. Then she
most desire to see such qualities in pushed it open softly and took from
him. Con's arm ths bundle which was no
We'll show "em what we got at longer to him a potential armful of
the Coliseum In March." Al Dorsey wash, but bis son.
had told him. "Tie night Biller .and Con tiptoed awkwardly in. A sin
Lewis has to' back up ths hot air gle electric bulb, swathed with sev
they've been throwing at each other, eral thicknesses of tissue paper, gave
They've been gassing so much back a feeble light. Annie, very white.
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
preliminary with somebody wno it is
won't matter much. Tou could take
care of any of them now."
Every word of that conversation
cme back to him now; the first thrill
of it that evening months ago in a
corner of the basement of Dorsey- lit-
tie sporting goods shop which Al bad
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 bis gloves, seeing life
beading for pleasant places.
AI Dorsey had happened into the
molding room of the Pratt Carwheel
works one noon hour, had se'R him
fooling with some of the other men.
had watched him closely, asked him a
few cuesUona. requested more of-the
foolms. watched closer, and taken Con
Shugrue under his wins.
(Skeptical at first, thinking little of
it. Con bad said nothing; about it to
anybody. Neither had h allowed
himself any pleasant delusions. But
he had worked faithfully with AI
Dorsey several evenings a week, with
an aptitude for the work that Al him
self 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, hut the doctor wa
nrm ihnut it Tt trtnlr mnnev tn ret
by ,nd ,ive eve half oeCently. and
witn Anne-, weekly contribution nol
proxaed and the need of money in the
future looming: yet more urgently. Con
saw where it behooved him to find
some extra work.
He found it In fhe Bay State garage
four evenings a week, which left him
two evenings for the finishing touches
in Al Dorsey's basement. All of
which might have worked oat satis
factorily with the closest sort of fig
uring if a benighted swab with
more Indifference than brains hadn't
dropped a heavy Stlllson wrench over
the side of a car and Into the pit one
night at the Bay State garage.
It struck the bottom of the pit via
Con Shugrue's right ahoulder. And
this was calamitoua. For. while they
managed to patch and strap the
shoulder so Con was missing at the
carwheel works but ten days and from
the garage but two weeks, the speed
had gone forever from that particular
shoulder when it was pronounced fit
once more.
Al Dorsey trotted him around to
various men who might do something
to limber it up. Successively they
shook their heads. Ai Dorsey learned
three new oaths in his overweening
disappointment. The men to whom
he had taken Con Shugrue explained
at length why no operation would
help and why no system of exercise
or massage or baking or 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 anything
In it so why mope about it now? Em
inently sane philosophy. Only visions,
once they have taken a grip, are loath
to let go. They have a way of pop
ping 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 having 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 waa begin
ning again. If, for instance, that pin
headed boob hadn't dropped his Still
son wrench, or had dropped it from
the other aide 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
woman crossing the floor of
ine aimrnutive aining room ot xne
flat. She was. opening the kitchen
door. So, of course, he'd have to close
VT'a"Z t'UJZt
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
"P- She grinned at Con. and trans
he carried
ferred whatever it was
from her own arms to his. It did not
seem to have much shape. A thin wall
startled him into the realization that
there was something alive in it.
"Ifs 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 fins
about it. she must be kidding 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.
a uvuum si m
"Hear 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 must to look at." said he.
"Going to be weak and plndling.
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's
busters. You never saw such fists
On a baby, Mr. Shugrue. They're big
enough for a prize flrhter's."
Con Shugrue's face underwent a
change. Its apathy vanished. He
r ,k . mi k- h.v.
"Does that " hu"k'
kid maybe T- he asked.
"I 11 say he will.
came out of his daze.
A sudden warm glow descended
. r- , . . - .
feeling that marbe Fats had not
cheated. him so rlur r all.
uuan. n.w. ... -
. .
boy! I'd oughta be
proud or him.
hadn't I?"
The stout young woman nodded
emphatically,
"Well. I am." said Con.
For. vague, formless in detail as
yet. anothor vision had come to Con
Shugrue.
"I think Mrs. Spragne would like
to see you for a minute." the stout
young woman suggested to him. "It
very drawn, very tired looking, smiled
uncertainly at him from the pillows.
"Con. she said weakly, come nere
to me-
He knelt beside the bed. H 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 gentleness, "the son you've
given me! The fine. big. husky boy!"
"Are you glad. Con? Do you really
wnt him?" she said with a queer
catch in the words.
"The fool questions the girl can
ak'" faid he "She gives me the fine.
hukv kid. with a howl in him that
does credit to his young lungs and
the biggest pair of fists that were
ever oa a baby! And then: 'Am I
f I " U '
'1 'f
f (
. , J, 1
if
i'U
1
t,
f 1
I (lit-.
A.
lifer; 7i
"STRAIGHT FROM THE SHOTJLDliR.! ATTABOY! ATTABOY! DID YOU GET THAT, AlVMEt
glad? Do I want him?' says she. The which had been mutually his and whole training of him. Will 'you do
fool Questions a woman can ask a Con's. it, Al?"
man!"
"But I thought, mayjsbe, the last
few months. Con " way- -inree oi uera in n
He waited, but she did not go on. e'bw- room. She was a smaller,
"What was it yeu thought. Annie, frailer woman than Dorsey had ex
girl? Out with it!" pected Con's wife would be; prettier,
.... ,.J .,. too. a certain fetching grace and
Con." she aid. "you was awful trou-i
bled about it. I didn't blame you.
what with hard luck we've had. I
thought me having. to give up work
t it .nH
ou taking on the night work at ths
J . . T
garage and then getting
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 your
self for a minute. Could I?"
"No." he said, "you couldn't help
thinking like that because, God for
give me, it was true. I didn't want
him. But it's different now. Honest,
it is. I'm tickled to death with that
kid." v
Her eyes searched his face as if
. , ,
wu.u "" """
untruth he might be trying to put
over on her for the sake of her mo-
mentary comfort. They looked at him
long and steadily.
"I believe you are. Con." she told
him at last: "I really believe it's eo.
I was afraid you'd look on him as
just another drag, another piece of
the hard luck you've had. But some-
thing: in your eyes tells me you are
tickled to have him now he's h
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
t.ptoed cautiously out of the room.
. .Cao T haT, 0ther squint at them
bIgmts of my son?" he asked the
n
She
She seemed not only willing but
h ghly pleased to grant this request
0 K a nard cIimb to the shugrue
an.vtTmATtt im t h m nirrnv little street
"' ' . ,
that seems trying to stand on end.
Moreover., after, the ascent of the
sharp slope has been accomplished
IMI. ,r. i ... U1 ...... .. .
negotiated before the uppermost flat
is reached Ne.ther of these condl-
tions is conducive to the general com-
there are four flights of stairs to toe
fort 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 over-
warm day would tend yet further to
upset the equanimity of a party of
this deacripion.
The October holiday seemed to
have become a trifle confused as to
its identity. Anyway, it had taken
to itself a temperature mat wouia
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 life
hllo. tne .haoe of a word of e
couragement to the heavy man puff-
,ng. and lowing and stumbling UP
ward 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
deferrea coming until a cooler day.
jf0 prodigy of a kid that ever lived
was worth all this discomfort. As
for the prodigy part of it. he had his
own mental reservations on that
p0int. Kids were always prfcdlgies to
thir Barents: much overrated: one
had to
ments.
rnv H unnn nr.
stui. in a way he could see where
it was tne only decent thing to do: to
humor this paternal exuberaace of
Con Shugrue's out of respect to cer-
tala hlh and now defunct hopes
A--' All
''' J
if
It 1 18
At the sound of the key in the
ko an. ' '"
Hsntness about her Dorsey unmar-
" "V ,
Jhat marrying young was a good deal
ke standing your chances in life
against a blank wall and assasslnat-
ln them on. after another in cold
blood. witness this case of Con Shu-
grue, for example rorgave uon
whole lot at the sight of he,r.
t : Vy - uPr Itr'-s
"Annie," said Con,. "I want you to a scowl, nut tnere was no souna, no
shake hands with my good friend, Al ' wails, no tears.
Dorsey. Al wants io see the itid.". .1 "pb.yoii mind that? Never a whim
Annie shook hands with 'her-hus- per out of him. I'm teaching him
hand's friend. Al murmured that fie early to take what's coming to him
was glad indeed to meet Mrs. Shu- and -be- game."
grue, which' was the truth, and Annie "Fine"!"' Dorsey enthused, although
said she was pleased ,te meef Mr.-jj. nothing particularly marvel-
Dorsey, which wasn't. " Con pushed,
open a door on one side of that tri
angular room. Al Dorsey made ready
to spill the enthusiasm he knew was
-g--a
expected of him and to say the tmngs
he woujd be expected to say. He
found himself standing with Con be
side a small iron crib. Mrs. Shugrue
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."
Til say so, if I am the father of
him DM yQU ever see a huskler kid
at seven months?"
"I never did," said Dorsey, which
was perfectly true, considering the
fact that he hadi probably never in
spected a seven-months old baby be
fore. "Look at the fists on him. will
vou"
Dorsey centered his interest on tne
fists.
"Ain't they cute?" said he, andi re-
aiized at once that he had made a
conversational miscue.
"Cute nothing." Con denied. "They're
big as young hams. Old) whales of
... .
fists for such a wee ieiier as mm.
mRans. so thev tell me. he'll
be a husk TOUnK ,Drute. that he'll
mtnn them hi -fist, of him.
,,h fighter's
enough for a prize fighter's.'
nufse sea tnem
he.s Tnata what
, hnt him more
. . i. . V. 1 mnA
Bnything else, them big fists of
than etae-ffntt;r.lfc
, .ern
ntw lonk t
them. "They sure are big fists for
the size of the kid," he revised! 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
row up to match them fists of his.
Ail tnat i couran t oe uecau.o Ui
busted shoulder he shall be. And
more, mayue. b-. "u -l,...
oe Digger anu uua.ier nua-n c ci .
was."
"I see," said: Dorsey.
"And when that day comes I'll want
you to train him, Al, and put him
where he ought to go. That'll be the
top. AL
Nothing short of the top
ill do."
Al Dorsey did a little mental arith-
metic "I'll be an old man then. Con,"
he said.
"But you'll be a wise one, all the
same. I donH mean for you to put on
the gloves with him like you did with
me; but I do mean for you to take
mm in nana ana siiuw mm wiii . " li
can show him and tell him all the
things you can ten mm ana waicn
him and shape him and get him
placed right. There's a lot in start-
ing ngnt. ami mere.- neii, no inai
for him and have- an oversight otlho
.r.'iVy,(
r J- .
s-r ViJt ' 'J1
Mr. Dorsy accepted the commis
sion. "Now, let me show you the mate
rial you'll have to work on," said
Con.
From the foot of the crib he took up
a celluloid rattle with jingling bells
around, its edge. He shook it before
the baby's face. Two chubby hands
came, up and clutched the handle.
"You 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
ous 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 forefinger. The small hands
pushed the prodding finger away.
Con chuckled In great delight.
"Did you get that?" ho asked.
"The way he's playinff with you?"
"He's not playing with me. He's
fighting me off. Look at the scowl
on his iace.
Fighting me, he is, I
say."
"Well, well, now! I be hanged if
he ain't!"
"You told me once I had) the real
fighting blood in me, do you remem
ber?" "I told you the truth. Con. You
sure oy got. n.
"And It's in him. too."
"Never a doubt of It."
Annie came into the hall as Con waa
showing Dorsey out. "Won't Mr. Dor-
sey stay and have a bit of dinner
witn us.' sue asKea ner nusoana.
T -. . 1. lt V- a huJ an
uu. oo.m .
engagement downtown, and departed.
with all that feeling of relief that
manifests itself when some boring
but necess
out nece
plisned.
..who
asked hi
but necessary thing has been accom-
is this Mr. Dorsey?" Annie
Bota him When rhfl flflftr 1 fl.rt r DMd
behind their visitor,
..An old friend of mins, Annie. A
man that would have done a lot for
me. if he.a had the chance, or if he
hadn't been cheated out of the chance
of doing it"
"One of his ears is awfully funny,
isn't it?"
"Don't you like him?"
Annie thought her answer over
carefully before she gave it. "No," she
said finally.
"Why not?"
"I don't know. It's just that I don't
like him. Maybe it's because of that
funny ear. But -I want you to show
him to all your friends, whether or
not I take a dislike to them. I'm glad
you're iroud of him."
"I'm going to bs prouder yet some
day."
Annie started for the kitchen to
take up the belated dinner. He fol-
lowed her.
"When Al Dorsey has done all he
can for him." he went on.
"Al Dorsey! What can Al Dorsey
do for him?"
"Everything, like he could have
done for me if things had gone right."
He lighted a pipe and sat down by
upcu iwv. v. "
Kitcnera.
Annie worked away by the stove.
n ,'-"j
have done for you. Con, and why
didn't he do It?" she asked him, aftr
one ot moss
told him she had been waiting lor
. him to go on without the prompting
question.
"He could have put me into the way
of making heaps of money. We might
have had wads of It, and stories about
me in the paper and pictures of me
heading 'em, and a limousine of our
own, no doubt in time, and things like
that."
"Well, why didn't he do it for you?"
"I'd have made good from the start,
Al said. I had the speed, the shifti
ness, and the punch. I was all ready
for my first appearance. It was to be
at the Coliseum in one of the pre
liminaries, one night when the place
would be crowded by reason of the
main bout drawing out a full bouse.
But I busted the shoulder and it went
stiff on me."
A spoon clattered to the floor. His
wife forgot the dinner she was tak
ing up. She turned, about in sudden,
distressed alarm.
"You were going in the ring, Con?"
she asked between set lips.
"In the ring, Annie. And up to
the top after I once get started. I had
all the stuff to do it. , Al said eo."
"Is that what your friend Dorsey
will do for litle Con?" .
"He promised to do it this morn
ing; in there after he had looked over
the kid and seen the gameness of him
and the spirit, and him only seven
months old, at that."
"Oh, Con, not that! Nothing like
that!"
"What would you have him, girl?"
. "I don't know. Whatever he wants
to be. Most anything but that!"
"There's money in it, more than he'd
ever make at anything else, probably.
When you get to the top there's a lot
coming to you out of the pictures and
turns you do in vaudeville, besides
the income from the fights them
selves." "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 were fixed on a warping crack in
the kitchen floor.
"Con," she said at last, and the
slowness with which she spoke told
of the 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 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, Aunie!"
"You didn't want him at first," she
persisted. "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 nest of It."
"Now listen, Annie!" he tried to ex
plain it to her. "That kid's like me;
he looks like me. You've said so
yourself time and again. He's got my
scrapping 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,
may.be, or a lawyer, or a dolled-up
floorwalker in a store. He'll do best
whatever he likes best; and, being me
all over, he'll want what I want."
"TU do my best," she said very
meekly. "I'll try not . to interfere.
There'll fee times when it will be fear
fully hard not to speak my mind
about it all, ibut I'll try to keep quiet."
Annie surprised him in the weeks
that followed, 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
man-child's future. And this, he felt,
was as it should be.
Presently all his spare time be
came occupied with much cutting and
shaping of scraps of soft leather and
y 'tU DOUBLE-DIPPED TO
- PROTECT FRAGILE CREAM. I 11
I There yu have j'ust ONE of the I
j ilinXV 11 secrets of Krause's STELLAR i
Wmhs. 1 superiority. Otherwise the It
11 P fiTisv. lyl smooth rich cream, in its II
WWMm almost flowing softness, II
I I ill It I Nrfffltlli liv. wo'uld be-too delicate A
KRAUSE'S VALENTINE FAVORITES FOR 1922:
"STELLAR" Creams, in half to five-pound gift packages
of white and gold. Pound size $1.
"FRUITS AND NUTS" An ever-popular assortment of
richly-coated tidbits in red and gold packages famous
everywhere. Pound size $1J5Q.
"FRENCHY CHOCOLATES" Fruited Stellar Creams of
extra size, with cream caramels and nougats, double
dipped in rich vanilla coating. $1, $2, $3.
"LA VISTA CHOCOLATES" The finest Milk Choco
lates money will buy. Extra large Stellars. $1 and $2.
(From the Daylight Home of Tru-Blu Biscuits, Portland)
a vast amount of awkward sewing
with a needle that was forever get
Xing 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 satis
faction, for he "was forever discard
ing 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 stood close to the window. Be
ing late in the evening, his offspring
was asleep. But Con Shugrue 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 tha kitchen that former day and
prodded the child into dazed wakeful
ness. His. wife heard him laughing
mightily and presently he was drag
ging 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
his chubby arms. Its face was wrin
kled wtlh smiles.
"The feel of the gloves!" Con en
thused. "His first feel of them, and
look at how he likes them!"
He stepped to the crib and bent
over it.
"Come on, old timer!" he urged, his
grinning 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 shoul
der! Atta-iboy! Atta-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. Tonight! Right away! I can't
wait to see him split himself with
laughing at it. I'm going down and
bring him up here in a taxi, it's
worth It."
He dove out of the room 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.
Con and Al Dorsey alighted from a
taxi some 20 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 Annie anywhere about
the place; not in the kitchen; not in
the dining room; nor yet in the last
resort, the front room. A vague sus
picion, which struck Con as the most
absurd idea In all the world even as
it possessed him, prompted him to
open a closet door. The closet looked
as if a cyclone had gone through it.
Everything of Annie's that had hung
in that closet had gone from the
hooks. A bureau drawer he opened
brought him further discomfort.
"She must have took the kid out
somewhere. Al," he announced as
calmly as he could. "Over to to one
of her friends, probably. I guess I'll
have to show you some other eve
ning how he looks with them gloves
on."
The quarters of the Quill bureau of
investigation are not Imposing. They
do not keep faith with the name of
the concern. One small, inside office
in an old building suffices Its needs.
TheX single window in the place opens
on an air shaft. The furnishings are
one second-hand filing cabinet, two
chairs with sagging cane seats, a
framed portrait of Allan Pinkerton
standing beside Lincoln in front of a
tent, and a scarred, cigar - scorched
(Concluded on Page 7.)