mpted to look indignant but he was a bad actor, he could
only look drunk. On this occasion he could not dissemble. His effort to
do so only made him appear more drunken.

"I'm--a--man--of--h-honor--I'll stan'--by--anythin' I do." Here Harrison
fell down, full length on the settee, muttering and shaking his fist at
Hurd.

"Get him out of this house!" was Hurd's order to Alfred.

Alfred pulled and pushed Harrison to the bottom of the stairs leading up
to his room. Harrison fell on all fours and began a slow ascent of the
stairs, Alfred pushing him as he had seen deck hands shove refractory
cattle when loading them on a boat.

He returned to the room. Hurd was very crusty. He hinted that Alfred
should not have permitted the first circus agent to induce Harrison to
sign the shut-out contract.

Stowe, the circus agent, further endeared himself to Alfred when he
informed Mr. Hurd that Alfred should not be blamed.

Alfred, in the brief interview between the second agent and himself, had
informed him as to the contract made by the first agent, the price
charged for advertising, the free tickets extorted and other information
that was valuable.

The agent was very diplomatic. He began by calming Hurd: "Now, Mr. Hurd,
I know the value of your paper to us, I know you to be a man of honor,
and I would not offend you by even insinuating that you could find a
way to carry our advertising and reading matter as I know you would not
violate the contract made with the other concern, although it is evident
that contract was obtained by fraud. There is only one way around this;"
here the circus agent placed his hand on the shoulder of the big editor,
"we will have to get out an extra edition, their advertising and reading
matter to go in the regular edition, mine in the extra."

The editor beamed on the agent, the beam expressing more strongly than
any words: "You're a daisy--but, but," stammered Hurd, "we haven't got
matter enough for our regular edition. I've been working all morning;
Harrison's been drunk all week an'--"

"Never mind," interrupted the agent, "don't you worry, let me do the
work and the worrying also. Where can we get a little something to clear
the cobwebs out of our tonsils?" And they left the office arm in arm,
but not until the circus agent had asked Alfred if he knew where all the
office force could be found. Alfred answered "No, sir." And he was
truthful; as he was not certain whether he was on the stairs