Argosy All-Story Weekly, April 28, 1928 — page 97: what you’re looking at

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

THE PROPER APPROACH. prodding his imagination for some way of overcoming Mr.° Davis’s resis- tance, but at the end of that time he was as far from a solution as ever. Then he straightened up and reached for his phone. “No use going any further to- night,” he thought. “ My mind’s going around in circles, and I’ll be dippy if I don’t quit. This is Friday, so I’ve still got almost a week. Maybe an idea will pop up in the meantime. Guess I'll take Margaret to a show and get my mind off my troubles.” IIT. Tut show was a dull one, and ex- erted a depressing effect upon Marga- ret and Rodney, so both were quiet on the way home. This naturally caused his thoughts to revert to his trouble of the day, so that even her awakened vivacity upon their return to her home failed to stimulate him. Presently she noticed his abstrac- tion and gone tbe “What's the mat- ter, Rodney? You act like you had a thousand pounds on your mind.” “Oh, nothing,” he smiled. “ Just a little matter of business.” “ You mustn’t let your business af- fect you like that. Cheer up. Maybe it’s not so bad as it seems.” “Worse,” he said, then could have kicked himself for admitting to her the existence of any difficulties. In an attempt to allay the look of concern on her face he suggested: “ Won’t you play something, Margaret? That show made me kind of blue, and I need some music to cheer me up.” “ No, I won’t,” she declared. ‘* That play had nothing to do with it. You've got something on your mind that’s bothering you. Won’t you tell me? “Maybe I can help you.” The temptation was strong to tell her that she could help more than she realized, but he held his tongue and merely smiled a refusal. “Oh, please, Rodney,” she begged. 527 “ That is, unless it’s something terribly secret. Dad often tells me of his busi- ness affairs, and you’ve no idea how much help I’ve been to him. Really, I know lots of things that would sur- prise some of you salesmen. In fact, I’ve made quite a study of such things —all for my own amusement, of course.’ Her sudden interest touched a re- sponsive chord, and immediately Rod- ney found himself telling her the whole story of his attempt to “ sell” Mr. Da- vis and its possibly tragic result. She listened with rapt attention, and for the time being her air of reserve seemed to have disappeared. It was the nearest she had ever come to any degree of intimacy, and, had he not been faced by the prospect of los- ing his job, Rodney might have gone further and told her of his love for her ;.but now that was more out of the question than ever.’ When he had finished she was silent for a moment, then asked: “What sort of a looking man is this Mr. Davis?” “Oh,” answered Rodney, searching vaguely for some means of descrip- tion, “ he’s about my size, bald-headed, wears glasses, clean-shaven—sort of a professor-looking fellow.” “I see,” she mused. “ Do you recall the shape of his forehead ?” “ Well, it is pretty high, like he had a lot of brains.” “Does it slope back from his eyes or go straight up?” : “It sort of bulges out, as I remem- er. “ How about his chin?” “ Sticks out—very firm.” She smiled in amusement. “ And you were trying to rush a man like that and give him facts, nothing but facts? Rodney, I’m surprised at you.” “What do you mean?” he asked. “Rodney,” she said, “ you’re all wrong. You couldn’t sell him a thing that way—not in a million years.’ COPMNICLOOKS (E@)