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terrible. Insurance, straight to the end, financial independence at
sixty-five.
Harry's photograph was in The Evening Herald and there was a
big story about his life, how smart Harry had been, how ambitious,
and all that sort of thing. That's what it came to, but somehow there
was something about that crazy jackass that none of us can forget.
He was different, there is no getting away from it. Nowadays
he is almost a legend with us, and there are a lot of children in this
town who were born after Harry died, and yet they know as much
about him as we do, and maybe a little more. You would think he had
been some great historical personage, somebody to talk to children
about in order to make them ambitious or something. Of course most
of the stories about him are comical, but just the same they make him
a really great person. Hardly anyone remembers the name of our last
mayor, and there haven't been any great men from our town, but all
the kids around here know about Harry. It's very remarkable if you
remember that he died before he was twenty-three.
Whenever somebody fails to accomplish some unusual
undertaking in our town, people say to one another, "Harry would
have done it." And everybody laughs, remembering him, the way he
rushed about town, waking people up, making deals. A couple of
months ago, for example, there was a tight-wire walker on the stage
of the Hippodrome Theatre, and he tried to turn a somersault in the
air and land on the tight-wire, but he couldn't do it. He would touch
the wire with his feet, lose his balance, and leap to the stage. Then he
would try it over again, from the beginning, music and all, the drum
rolling to make you feel how dangerous it was. This acrobat tried to
do the trick three times and failed, and while he was losing his
balance the fourth time, some young fellow away back in the gallery
hollered out as loud as he could, "Get Harry. Harry is the man for the
emergency." Then everybody in the theatre busted out laughing. The
poor acrobat was stunned by the laughter, and he began to swear at
the audience in Spanish. He didn't know about the town's private
joke.
All this will give you an idea what sort of a name Harry made
for himself, the funniest stories about him are the ones that tell about
Harry in heaven, or in hell, selling earthquake insurance, and
automobiles, and buying clothes cheap. He was a worldbeater. He
was different. Everybody likes to laugh about him, but just the same