Her Eye-Work was perfect, but she found it hard pumping to Blush at
the right time.
When she tackled Polite Conversation she put a few Tooth-Marks in it.
Still she made a very creditable Stab for a Girl brought up in
Michigan and never east of Sheepshead Bay.
She looked very creamy to Bob, if the Music was loud enough.
He liked to tow something that would cause the Oyster Forks to pause
in midair and the Catty Ones to reach for their Hardware.
[Illustration: He liked to tow something that would cause the Oyster
Forks to pause in midair and the Catty Ones to reach for their
Hardware]
When Elphye did a little Barnum and Bailey down the main Chute of a
Terrapin Bazaar, rest assured that every Eye in the Resort was aimed
at her gleaming Vertebrae.
Bob showed her his monthly Statements and she confessed to being very
fond of him. So it was planned that they would Marry some afternoon,
if she could get away from the Masseuse early enough.
The Troth was pledged in a few high-priced Trinkets which she had
decided upon before he spoke to her.
Just when it seemed a mortal Pipe that the Bull Tactics would enable
him to cop a Million, so that he could live at a Hotel and finance the
Little Queen, the Unseen Superintendent in the Tower began to throw
the Switches of Destiny.
If Bob had not speeded so far into the Country in the Smell-Wagon,
there would have been no Flat Tire.
If there had been no Flat Tire, he would have been back in time for
the usual round-up of the Irrigation Committee and never would have
been a Great Financier.
Marooned among the Hay-Fields, he stopped at a Farm House and took a
long chance on some Well-Water, dipped in a Gourd from the
Moss-Covered Bucket.
Scotch Whiskey is never contaminated by Surface Drains, but each
sparkling Drop of the Fluid that Bob quaffed, there beneath the
Willows, contained more than 2,000,000 of the Germs made notorious by
Dr. Woods Hutchinson.
A few days later a swarm of Bees settled in each ear. Every
Sky-Scraper gave an imitation of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
He knew he was out of Kelter, but he had to watch the Board, for he
had put every Bean in the World on an acrobatic Industrial known as
Tin Bucket Preferred.
Already the Paper Profits were enormous. Bob figured confidently on
another Whoop of 50 points and a double string of Pearls for Elphye.
But when the poor Loon had a Temperature of 5 above Par and had to
cling to the Brass Rail to
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