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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 1939)
£ k . \ ! • \ ' - ' i V ! | >» ^ ' \1 Lj \ ‘ i • \ j- r i vl! 4 i, f: \ • 1 5 ^ 1 j f* V ! J ^ . 1 ’ 1 ^—k - 1 . i. - 1 ‘ 4j\ ±1 1 Ik E \. A A ii * L L. T i ju-.- l. l IL V ? \ ~ ; k \ a: v ■i A MARTINI [ PLEASE! By Paul Ketelsen t -r , The next morning I wake up feeling like non* one had been playing: the anvil thorn* in my head all nighty t walked down to the drug store to get a hromo and the morning rag. Then’s when I really sobered up. No, it wasn't the brovno; I just drink those from force of feahit. It was what I rand in the morning paper. The headlines were that Jimmy had phot his wife ahd turned the gun cm himself. Now for a man who is feeling jittery that in really no way to start the morning off. It was a great shock, Jimmy my best pal committing suicide and not saying a thing to me about it. Why it was spilflMla. • 1 h I giabbed a cab and hustled over to the house. Yes. stupid, J rnmy’s house. There were cops all over the place The dnf was even there; treah he kinds liked Jimmy too. In fact everyone did. I—„ , 1 : M ' M 1 Wej I guess that Is a| I can tell you right how. another Martini? Well, yes* I believe I will. 1 can teU the rest right now, You kmnf there’s nothing like on of things to loosen a fellow up. His tongue I mean. Hack |no. I’m not drunk. I've only had about ten of these so far. I t _LLl • rri ^ 1 ; Lk • iiiL Did you ever have a spat with your wife and just wa|h to sta^lLmw!^'! -- 00 * l *!fL® 1 * 1 there were cops all over the plans, running to .uy horn, from now on. Go.li! w*. I .v.r di.illuo.onod oo -round n „ lhini[ ^ Mi.. wen> . tU , th „. tnd M i j Ynth my press pass got to ••• it all. Sure, I’m a iwport rr. I left the house in a hurry and went to the nearest baf. t^Y*t's the matter with that. Well O. K. then if you wmt It was a ritxy sort of pUce where all the dHnks cost plent^. . 10 * emr r ** t of this story you’d better sit still and kpep But then I was mad enough t# pay no matter what the cost Htl11 It was at the bar that it all began. I sat down next to a fetkotr || and we began to talk. You know hpw it is. when you’re In that state of mind, you’ve just get to talk to home one. Pretty soon we moved over to a table. He was a carefree sort of fellow, s little bleary eyed perhaps but then I didn't The story he told me and the w*y he told it. Well, 1 care. suppose the whole thing is good enough to write, so I r written it Just eactly as he told it. Jimhiy's body was at the bottom of the stairs and his wif was at the top. There was nothing wrong in that, but whkn I saw that his wife had been shot twice I began to thir k.. Jimmy would never shoot her In the arm and theiis in the head. He was too good a shot for that. Besides his wife hpd a handful of twenty-two bullets. Now that didnk mage "t sense to me, but I could do nothing about it. He started out just like the story was about then swung into a story shout a boy named Jimmy. I Well, what do you know, my glass is empty. I suppose 1 should be getting along. You know, news hunting and all thi.t. HIH r ^No, I couldn't. Well, If you insist. Waiter, bring me another It seems Jimmy was a cop. The boys on the force were Martini. ' e i all proud of him. He was young; in fact he was the youngest . ; j * * [ ... on the plainclothes squad. He was a good shot with a piaUd I T * ert ** 001 mUt h • lm * 10 un * 1 tried convince those •rvi that U how he mmnaind to in with th. older fellow,. du,nb th,t J ‘ mm y ^ not committed .ttieWo I t: would they believe tne ? Yog can bet they wouldn’t. I kebt telling them that Jimmy wps too good a shot to hate jto shoot twice to kill. But they said he might have been a wpe bit tipsy—I know that wasnTt so, because I had been at bis 1 His shooting had won plenty of blag ribboris for them. i 1 • ] ‘ Jimmy was a very likeable sort of a guy, blonde, tall andl had a steel face. At least that h the impression he left on everyone. His wife was nice too. Of course he had a wife; hasn't every g'» d!<>oking guy Jimmie’s age got one. By the way, he was twenty-four. _ 1 ’ pi ^ I I I. | He was to have a home, not one that he owned but one be was paying op. He bad everything, that guy. It is still a mystery how It all happened. Wfcat? Well, if you will call the waiter and order me a Martini, I can tell you about it LI] ! ; ■ I “"il T. i I’m not much at telling stories and I have the solution all figured you the dt-tad* of the story. thing. it am a good detective But first let me give 1: v Every year, .you know they have the policemen’s ball. Everyone goes aad there’s a swell time had by alt Well, we had ours last March and that's how It all started. *. 1 ' X" * Jimmy and his wife came and it was very obvious that they were there to have a good time. About one o’clock Jimmy went home. Yes, of course his wife went with him. If she hadn't there were plenty of them there that would have given (their right arm to go. But anyway they went home. FEBRUARY elbow all evening and he hgdnt touched a All of them figured it was a suicide killing and let go at that. I went out and irot good and plastered and cussgd the whole force for being so dumb. * That is all therd is to jte. Oh, oh, aay I’m late for nn engagement. Will you excupe me. The solution? Well l^s not very important; thanks d>r the drinks; I’ll be seeing y^u. , The way that guy got off made me kinds sore, heio I had been listening to a tear jerker and didn’t evea know the whole story, it was ki^da like a aerial. The gnf had . never introduced himself and neither had I so I called the . waiter and asked him who M was. That fellow that just left, you moan ? Oh, he’s just s bum, goes around tell big everyone about a guy named Jimmy, Then when he gets near the end he rura off. 1 heard it the first time two months ag . and still haven’t heard how bis solution came out 'YU ' Believe me, right then and there. I decided that h<9me was the best place after all. Spat or no spat.