Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1878-01-30

oheNOc. Inc faint expression OF mop
that had for an instant lighted mp hi
~countenance, vanished. He understoot
the money-lendcr and his proposition
A sufficiently clear remembrance Of tn
tables Of life assurance which he ha,
seen, enabled him to perceive that the in
terest and premium together woul,
amount TO nearly 20 per cent, and tina
the bond engaged his security to pay al
annuity for his (West's) life Of tina
amount. 1t Is true that, full of energ!
and hope, he felt no doubt Of his ca
pacity to meet the payments regularly
It il true that, monstrons as were thu
terms, he would have accepted eagerl.
still harder ones, had it simply dependet
ON hia own decision. But where find OF
how AJAX 1 friend to become his bonds
man? He ran over in despair the scanty
list of acquaintance whom his poverty
had not already caused to forget him
He felt that the thing was impossible
There was not one he could think Of wht
would have ven dreamed of entering
into such . compact. He turned desper
ately to the money-lenaer.
IL have no friend" he said, "of whom
I could or would ask such a s~ervice. II
/ had / should not be here. Are there
no terms, however high, on which you
can lend me even the most trifling sum,
for which / myself alone need be RESPONSE.
| ble?"
"None." replied the usQrer, already
commencing his letter.
twill give 80 per cent"
"Ippossible."
"Fiftyr
The Insurer shook his head impatiently.
"A hundred-cent per cent?"
"No!"
The strange seeker of loans at length
rose to depart. He reached the door.
Suddenly he turned back, his eyes blaz-
ing with the sombre radiance of despair.
He strobe to the table, and planted him
self, with folded arms, Immediately in
front of the usnrer.
"Mark mel" said West, in a tone of
deep, suppressed passion, like the hollow
murmur Of the sea before q storm. alt
is q question of life or death to me to get
money before sunset. Lend me only
ego, and within twelve months | will
repay you f100. l will give you every
power which the law can give n nan
over another; and I will pledge my
honor, which never yet was questioned,
to the ~bargain!"
The usurer almost smiled, SO strangely
sarcastic was the contraction Of his fea.
lures, Us he listened to these words.
II do not question your honor" he
said, Jelly, "but honor has nothing to do
with business. As for the law, there is
an old axiom which says, Out of moth
ing, nothing comes.'"
Bernard West regarded the cold, rocky
face and the passionless mouth from
which these wOrds proceeded with that
singing wrath q man feels who has hui
inflated himself in vain. Nevertheless
he chung to the old flinty usurer rs to
the last rock in a deluge, and a sense of
savage recklessness came over him when
he advanced yet closer to the living cash
box before him, while the latter shrunk
half terrified before the burning gaze OF
his visitors dilated pupils.
Laying his hand upon the money
lenders shoulder, by a gesture of terri
bic familiarity that insisted upon and
commanded attention TO his words.
West spoke with a sudden clearness and
even musical distinctness of utterance
that made his words yet more appalling
in their solemn despair: cold man, |
am desperate; I am ruined. 1t is but a
few months since my father died, leaving
me not only penniless but encircled by
petty obligations which have cramped
every movement l would have made. l
have had no time, no quiet, to make an
effort such as my position requires.
This day ! have spent my last shilling. /
am too proud to beg, and to borrow is to
beg when a man is known to be in real
distress. Within one hour from this
time | shall I've beyond all the tortures of
q life which for my W sake | care but
little to preserve. And yet l have spent
my youth in accommodating treasures,
which but brief space might have rem
dered productive of benefit to man, and
Of profit to myself. My fathers little
means and my own have vanished in the
pursuit of science, and in the gulf of suf-
fering more immediate than our own,
If | die, also with me perish the results
of his experiments his studies and his
sacrifices. There are moments when all
ordinary calculations and prudence are
empty baubles. Life is the only real
possession we have, and death the only
certainty. Listen! I will make one
last proposal to you. Lend me about ten
po~unds-that is but ten weeks of life
and | swear to you that If I live / will
repay you for each pound lent not ten or
twenty, but one hundred-in all n
thousand pounds! Grant that it be but
a chance upon the hand, yet, upon
the other. how small is the risk and then,
to a q human life-is that not some
thing in the scale?" And the stranger
laughed at these last words with a bitter
gayety that caused a strange thrill to
creep along the nerves Of the usurer.
However, the lender of gold shrugged
his shoulders without relaxing his habit
ual impassibility of manner He did not
speak. Possibly the idea occurred to
him that his strange client meditated
some act of violence upon himself or his
strong box. But this idea speedily van
ished as the stranger, relapsing suddenly
into silence and conventional behavior.
removed his hand from the usurer's
shoulder and strobe rapidly but calmly
from the apartment.
The door closed behind the ruined
man, and the usurer drew a long breath.
while his bushy brows were contracted
IN a sort of agony of doubt and irresolute
purpose.
Meanwhile Bernard West paused for
an instant On the threshold of the outer
door, as If undecided which road to take.
In truth, all roads were much alike 10
him at that moment. Some cause, too
subtle to be seized by the mental ANALYST,
determined his course. He turned to the
right, and strobe rapidly onward.
He felt already like one of the dead.
to join whom he was hurrying headlong.
he looked neither to the right nor to the
left; and before him was a mist in which
the phantoms of his imagination dis.
ported themselves to the exclusion of all
other visible objects. Nothing earthly
had any further interest for him. He
did not even hear the steps of some one
running behind him, nor hear the voice,
which called after him IN sfon. hit ~