ESS WAS ABOUT TO
WED WEALTHY MERCHANT
BEFORE FLIGHT OCCURRED

"What d'ye think of that, Mawruss," Abe cried.

Morris read the story carefully before replying.

"That's a hard blow to Kleebaum and old man Pfingst, Abe," he said.

"I bet yer," Abe replied, "but it ain't near the hard blow it's going to
be to a couple of concerns what you and me know, Mawruss. Klinger told
me only yesterday that Kleebaum would get twenty thousand with that
girl, Mawruss, and I guess he needed it, Mawruss. Moe Rabiner says that
they got weather like January already out in Minnesota, and every retail
dry-goods concern is kicking that they ain't seen a dollar's worth of
business this spring."

"But Kleebaum's got a tremendous following in Minneapolis, Abe," Morris
said. "He's got an oitermobile delivery system."

"Don't pull that on me again, Mawruss," Abe broke in. "Women ain't
buying summer garments in cold weather just for the pleasure of seeing
the goods delivered in an oitermobile, which reminds me, Mawruss: Did
Pfingst deliver you his oitermobile yet?"

Morris blushed.

"It was delivered yesterday, Abe," he replied. "But the fact is, Abe, I
kinder changed my mind about that oitermobile. With oitermobiles I am a
new beginner already, so I figure it out this way. Why should I go to
work and try experiments with a high price car like that Pfingst car?
Ain't it? Now, you take a feller like Fixman who is already an expert,
y'understand, and that's something else again. Fixman tried out the car
last night, Abe, and he thinks it's an elegant car. So I made an
arrangement with him that he should pay me fifteen hundred dollars cash
and I would swap the Pfingst car for a 1907 model, Appalachian runabout.
That's a fine oitermobile, Abe, that Appalachian runabout. In the first
place, it's got a detachable tonneau and holds just as many people as
the Pfingst car already, only it ain't so complicated. Instead of a six
cylinder engine, Abe, it's only got a two cylinder engine."

"Two is enough for a start, Mawruss," Abe commented.

"Sure," Morris agreed, "and then again instead of a double chain drive
its only got a single chain drive, y'understand."

Abe nodded. To him planetary and selective transmission were even as
conic sections.

"Also it's got dry battery ignition, Abe," Morris concluded
triumphantly, "instead of one of them--now--magneto arrangements,
which I ain't got no confidence in at all."

Abe nodded again.