Page Eight
TriE MIRROR AUGUST 24,
HOME !
Typifying the profound joy of all soldiers returning home from
Errors are T/Sgt. Harold Phelps, left, of Manlius, N. Y., and1
'=,__. Szti William H. Goodfellow of Fayetteville, N. Y., as they, look'
at America through a porthole. (Coast Guard photo.)
BEHOLD THE TH3EF!
(From Page One) _. ,
at each other as though expecting
to see the object mentioned immediately produced.
But no coin appeared.
"I have other amusements waiting," suggested their host, with a
smile in which even his wife could
detect no signs of impatience.
"Now let Robert put it back intoj
the cabinet."
Robert was the butler.
Blank looks, negative gestures, I
but still no coin.
"Perhaps it is' in somebody's
lap," timidly ventured one of the
younger women. "It doesn't seem
to be on the table."
Immediately all the ladies began
lifting their* napkins and shaking
out the gloves which lay under
them, in an effort to relieve their
own embarrassment and that of
the gentlemen who had not even
so simple a resource as this at
their command.
"It can't be lost," protested Mr.
Sedgwick, with an air of perfect
confidence. "I saw it but a minute ago in somebody's hand. Dar-
row, you had it; what did/ you do
with it?"
. "Passed it along."
"Well, well, it must be under
somebody's plate or doily." And he
began to move about his own and
such dishes as were within reach
of his hand.
Each guest imitated him, lifting
glasses and turning over spoons
till Mr. Sedgwick himself bade
them desist. "It's slipped to the
floor," he nonchalantly concluded.
OF THE
WEEK
"It can wipe but everything
bad—or good—in the world. It's
up to the people to decide which."
— II. G. Wells, on the atomic
bomb.
pa
"New _
me toa ii.
Perry, Put
refuted to
birthday.
pers these days make
•vous I"—Mrs. Emely ■
<.am Valley, N. Y., v:ho
cad them on her 104th
"Both industry ar.d government must has.en their plans for
'r_.cor_version to peacetime production." — Pres. Ira Mosher,
Nail. Assr.. of Manufacturers,
after atomic bomb announcement.
" 'Planned economy' is actually
a relic of the Middle Ages." —
Prca. Roger Tl. Kyes, Harry Ferguson, I:zc, Dearborn-, Mich.
vct__s
tco.nc
aciir.
[lis is some way to get
I"—Vacationing Congress-
_n Clare Boothe Luce, Conn.,
g in a summer theatre play.
"I
now.
kins
ha
e more time on my hands
— Harry (the Hop) Hop-
who has left the White
\
"A toast to the ladies, and we will
give Robert the chance of looking
for it."
As they drank this toast, his apparently careless, but quietly astute, glance took in each countenance about him. The coin was
very valuable and its loss would
be keenly felt by him. Had it slipped from the table some one's eye
would have perceived it, some
hand would have followed it. Only
a minute or two before, the attention of the whole party had been
concentrated upon it. Dai row had
held it up for all to see, while he
discoursed upon its history. He
would take Darrow aside at the
first opportunity and ask him —
But it! how could he do that?
These were his intimate friends.
He knew them well, more than
well, with one exception, and he
Well, he was the handsomest
of the lot and the most debonair
and agreeable. A little more gay
than usual tonight, possibly a trifle too gay, considering that a man
of Mr. Blake's social weight and
business" standing sat at the board;
but not to be suspected, no, not to
be suspected, even if he was the
next man after Darrow and had
betrayed something like confusion
when the eyes of the whole table
turned his way at the former's
simple statement of "I passed it
on." Robert would find the coin;
he was a fool to doubt it; and if
Robert did not, why, he would
simply have to pocket his chagrin,
and not let a triviality like this
throw a shadow over his hospitality.
All this, while he genially lifted
his glass and proposed the health
of"the ladies. The constraint of the
preceding moment was removed
by his manner, and a dozen jests
caused as many merry laughs.
Then he pushed back his chair.
"And now, some music!" he
cheerfully cried, as with lingering
glances and some further pokings
about of the table furniture, the
various guests left their places and
followed him into the adjoining
room.
But the ladies were too nervous
and the gentlemen not sufficiently
sure of their voices to undertake
the entertainment of the rest, at a
moment of such acknowledged
suspense; and notwithstanding the
exertions of their host and his
quiet but much discomfited wife,
it soon became apparent that but
one thought engrossed them all,
and that any attempt at conversation must prove futile so long as
the curtains between the two
rooms remained open and they
could see Robert on his hands and
knees searching the 'floor and
shoving aside the rugs.
Darrow, who was Mr. Sedgwick's brother-in-law and almost
as much at home in the house as
Sedgwick himself, made a move to
draw these curtains, but something
in his relative's face stopped him
and he desisted with some laughing remark which did not attract
enough attention, even, to elicit
any response.
Joy Unconfined in
"Little Italy"
The Italian quarter in New York
yields to no other section in .he
volume and; quality of its enthusiasm for the end of the war. Here
is a view of part of "Little Italy"
its the celebration of Japan's defeat got underway.
"I hope his eyesight is good,"
murmured one of the young girls,
edging a trifle forward. "Mayn't I
help him look? They say at home
that I am the only one in the house
who can find anything."
Mr. Sedgwick smiled indulgently at the speaker (a round-faced
round-eyed, merry - hearted girl
whom in days gone by he had dandled on his knees), but answered
quite quickly for him:
"Robert will find it if it is
there." Then, distressed at this involuntary disclosure of his thought,
added in his whole-hearted way'
Tt's such a little thing, and the
room is so big and a round object
rolls unexpectedly far, you, know.
Well, have you got it?" he eagerly
demanded, as the butler finally
showed himself in the door.
"No, sir; and it's not in the dining-room. I have cleared the table
and thoroughly searched the floor "
Mr. Sedgwick knew, that he had.
He had no doubts about Robert.
Robert had been in his employ for
years and had often handled his
coins and, at his order, sometimes
shown them.
"Very well," said he, "we'll not
bother about it any more tonight*
you may draw the curtains."
But here the clear, almost strident voice of the youngest man of
the party interposed.
"Wait a minute," said he. "This
especial coin is the great treasure
of Mr. Sedgwick's valuable collection. It is unique in this country, and not only worth a great
deal of money, but cannot be duplicated at any cost. There are only
three of its stamp in the world.
Shall we let the matter pass, then,
as though it were of small importance? I feel that we cannot; that
we are, in a measure, responsible
for its disappearance. Mr. Sedgwick handed it to us to look at,
and while it was going through our
hands it vanished. What must he
think? What has he every right to
think? I need not put it into
words; you know what you would
think, what you could not-help b i|t
think, if the object were yours and
it was lost in this way. Gentlemen
—I leave the ladies entirely out of
this — I do not propose that he
shall have further opportunity to
associate me with this very natural
doubt. I demand the privilege of
emptying my pockets here and
now, before any of us have left his
presence. I am a connoisseur in
coins myself and consequently find
it imperative to take the initiative
in this matter. As I propose to
spare the ladies, let us step back
into.the dining-room. Mr. Sedg^
wick, pray don't deny me; I'm
thoroughly in earnest, I assure
you."
The' astonishment created by
this audacious proposition was so
great, and the feeling it occasioned
so intense, that for an instant all
stood speechless. Young Hammersley was a millionaire himself,
and generous to a fault, as all
knew. Under no circumstances
would any one even suspect him
of appropriating anything, great
or small, to which he had not a
perfect right. Nor was he likely
to imagine for a moment that any
one would. That he could make
such a proposition then, based
upon any such plea, argued a definite suspicion in some other quarter, which could not pass unrecognized. In vain Mr. Sedgwick raised
Kis' voice in frank and decided protest, two of the gentlemen had already made a quick move toward
Robert, who still stood, stupefied
by the situation, with his hand oh
the cord which controlled the curtains. ^
"He is quite right," remarked
one of these, as he passed into the
dining-room. "I shouldn't sleep a
wink tonight if this question remained unsettled." The other, the
oldest man present, the financier
of whose standing and highly esteemed character I have already
spoken, said nothing, but followed
in a way to show that his mind
was equally made up.
The position in which Mr. Sedgwick found himself placed was far
from enviable. With a glance at
the two remaining gentlemen, he
turned towards the ladies now
standing in a close group at the
other end of the room_ One of
them was his wife, and he quivered internally as he noted the
deep red of her distressed countenance. But it was the others he
addressed, singling out, with the
rare courtesy which was his by
nature, the one comparative stranger, Darrow's niece, a Rochester
girl, who could not be finding this,
her first party in Boston, -very
amusing.
"I hope you will appreciate the
dilemma in which I have been
placed by these gentlemen," he began, "and will pardon "
But here he noticed that she was
not ih the least attending; her eyes
were on the handsome figure of
Hugh Clifford, her. uncle's neighbour at table, who in company
with Mr. Hammersley was still
hesitating in-the doorway. As Mr.
Sedgwick stopped his useless talk,
the two passed in and the sound
of her fluttering breath as she finally turned a listening ear his
way, caused him to falter as he
repeated his assurances and begged her indulgence.
She answ,ered with some con-
4i. Goast Guardsm(
veterans of Iwo Jir
Jap surrender by t
Army's Got a New Recoil less Gun
l>
'■Ssfe
n
um
ipi
Loss of two legs at Salerno doesn't dampen spirits of Frank Mer-
curio who demonstrates (above) with WAVE Shirley Seidman, both
of Brooklyn, that he can rhumba with two artificial legs. Mercurio is
one of a group of World War II disabled veterans now taking part in
Disabled American Veterans National service officer training program
at American University in Washington, D. C. After graduation Mercurio, as a DAV service officer, will help in the rehabilitation of other
disabled veterans of World War IL ■
ventional phrase v>
while crossing the
remembrance - of hi
rbbed figure^ drawi
ttide whose careles,
Ijsr belied by the
half-averted glance
into the presence o
awaiting him. Foui
five, for Robert^ v
though in a corn-
ready no doubt, to
tempt which the
make to prove thei
"The ladies will
music-room," anno
on entering; and th
concerted by the p:
disclosed to his eye
stood the two wh
first, with their eye
sternness on young
quite alone on the _
with a countenanci
nounced pallor tha
to be nothing else i
his features were
ular and his almost
accentuated by a _
his figure was imm
was so. startling th;
Sedgwick, but ever
present, no doubt, j
plough had never 1
row which " had
wretched coin to li
However, the al
too far now for i
shown by Mr. Bla!
financier whom all
recognize as the ch
With an apologetic
Hammersley, the in
millionaire who hac
this embarrassing
advanced to an en
and began, in a q
like way, to lay on
of his various pock
rose, the silence gi
itself was so simp
actuating it so seri
accord with the si
It's Army's new 57 mm. recoilless gun, witb rearward blast Jog
cancel out recoil. Conventional cannons of -this caliber weigh
around a ton and a half, but this bazooka-like weapon weighs
only 45 pounds. Tr^ng it at Frankford Arsenal, Palmyra, N. J.,
are Pfc. Sam Martin, left, Westport, Conn., and Cpl. Lewis Haines,
Bala Cynwood. Pa.
HiH
b^_?WW_Iil
S¥>__-_§fr
Nobody in the
stand the gleeful e
wave their victory
