antly. "I never even got an idee to take pity on the feller at
all. An old snoozer like him which he's got only one house to his name,
understand me, he don't deserve no better. So go ahead and ring up
Schindelberger and tell him that's what we would do."

Lesengeld turned to the desk, but even as he took the telephone
receiver from the hook Schindelberger himself came in.

"_Endlich!_" Belz exclaimed. "We was expecting you a whole week yet.
Are you ready to fix up about Rudnik's mortgage?"

Schindelberger sat down and carefully placed his hat on Belz's desk.

"The mortgage I didn't come to see you about exactly," he said. "I got
something else to tell you."

"Something else I ain't interested in at all," Belz rejoined. "We was
just going to telephone and ask you why don't Rudnik fix it up about
the mortgage?"

"I am coming to that presently," Schindelberger said. "What I want to
say now is, Mr. Belz, that I am very sorry I got to come here and tell
you an information about your wife's cousin, Miss Blooma Duckman."

"Blooma Duckman!" Belz exclaimed. "What's the trouble; is she sick?"

Schindelberger shook his head.

"Worser as that," he explained. "She disappeared from the Bella
Hirshkind Home a week ago already and nobody sees nothing from her
since."

For a brief interval Belz stared at his visitor and then he turned to
Lesengeld.

"Ain't that a fine note?" he said.

"All we are discovering is a couple packages she got with her, which
the superintendent sends her over to West Farms she should buy some
groceries, and on her way back she drops the packages and disappears."

"Might she fell down a rock maybe?" Lesengeld suggested. "The other day
I am seeing a fillum where a feller falls down a rock already and they
search for him a hundred people yet. They get near him as I am to you,
Schindelberger, and still they couldn't find him anyhow on account the
feller is too weak to say something."

"How could she fall down a rock?" Schindelberger interrupted. "It's all
swamps up there. But, anyhow, Belz, we are wasting time here talking
about it. The best thing is you should ring up the police."

"What d'ye mean, wasting time?" Belz cried. "You're a fine one to talk
about wasting time. Here the woman disappears a week ago already and
you are only just telling me now."

Schindelberger blushed.

"Well, you see," he said, "we all the time got hopes she would come
back." In point of fact he had purposely delay