Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1891-09-24

jeremiah Szidder dropped heavily into
the chair from which he had arisen
-Really?S he muttered. seeing the
merchant was perfectly serious Then
1 shall have to deal with sister Mary,
and that will suit me better; women are
so easily Wheedled!S
@But sister Mory is dead. tool" con-
/ tinued the merchant, in the same tone
/ and with the same aspect he would have
| displayed in mentioning the price OF a
| yard of tape %She died last week,
/ Jerryl1
aIndeed? Then I shall have to deal
/ with their daughter" declared the
/ visitor, without the least expression OF
/ SORROW Lets see-What was her
name? I've forgotten il
@Her name is Ellie, " said the merchant.
~She was here an hour ago, asking me
| for little assistance, but 1 turned her
/ of without a penny"
@Then she don't know the value Of her
| inheritance, OF courseP Good Capital
l can buy her out for a few hundreds
She has gone back to Ingleheim, Of
course?S
The point is uncertain. In any case,
| it would do you no good 10 see her! The
/ title you are seeking does not rest in her,
/ Jerry. The truth is, Charley Tower sold
/ his half Of the Musselshell property some
/ two or three years ago!"
] pu5S4DlG- EltE4 uGLI y "
his feet again and looking startled.
THE fact is perfectly certain"
@But who bought him Out?"
| "Perry Wynans-my cashier"
"For how much?"
@Four hundred dollars"
@Four hundred" gasped Jerry, turu-
/ ing pale @You cannot mean it,"
Il am telling you the exact truth 4"
! @And you permitted IT."
81 didn't know any better at the time,
| Jerry" said the merchant, his face sud-
/ denly lighting up with concentrated
| wrath and disgust @You had been tell
ing Us for years in your occasional let
| ters that the lands were of no account
and Tower and I were fools enough to
believe YOU
@And W lere is this Wynans?"
~He has started West, as you may see
/ by this letter"
He handed the farewell epistle Of his
ex-cashier to Jerry, who literally writhed
while reading it.
Destruction" he gasped, on reaching
| the signature SThe fellow is posted.
The cat is out of the bag. He'll be in
Montana before 1 am. He'll learn all
! the facts in the case. I shall never be
able to buy him out-neveri neVer!"
The very excitement Of the old man
tended to make his younger brother
angry, so terribly did It remind him of
what he had lost by the falsehoods and
receptions heaped upon him.
"The lands are a prize, then?" he
cried, his face livid with passion.
"A prize, Hiram?" returned Jerry,
carried away by his emotions They're
| the biggest thing on earth! We have
discovered two gold mines on the prop
! erty from which we have been taking
thousands of dollars day."
Sand vet"
VITA a cry like that of a maniac,
/ Hiram Skidder sprang to his feet and
caught up the chair in which he had
been sitting, swinging 1t aloft and ap-
| preaching his brother.
sand yet, You Internal rascal" he
| cried, "you have the cheek to come here
and offer me $500 for half interest in
all those present and coming millionsl
! Oh! what ought TO do to you"
Look out, Hiraml Don't come a step
nearer! Put down that chair or I'll yell
murder" cried Jerry, starting TO his
feet and nimbly darting behind the mer-
| chants desk. ~I'Ye only done what you
would have done in like circumstances.
Besides, intended to tell you all about
it as soon as my title was perfect"
"Wretched fool and lnave that you
| are, " returned the merchant, recovering
| his self-possessiOn and lowering his
chair, you'll never secure the least title
I " a 4OOI VI AAAO AGL4 IL AuGoLAOlL-
never!"
Jerry Skidder looked aghast at the
violence of these foundations.
~Why, you've just given ne"
"a mere bait to catch my own" inter
rupted the merchant with grim and
mocking frankness. @The pretended
deed have just given you is not worth
| the paper it is written upon"
why not?"
ITO begin with, the lands have been
out of my hands nearly three years, ex-
| planned Hiram Sllidder, with visible joy
at the gall and NORWOOD he was serY-
/ ing up to his brother. @You gave me
such reports OF them that was glad
TO sell them to Wynans for seven hun
dred dollars
Jerry not only tottered TO his chair
I again, but he lay there so faint and help
/ less that his brother began to find him a
source Of amusement
Then You have sold me piece Of
/ property You did not possess, returned
/ Jeremiah, his rascally wits beginning to
recover their habitCal flow; Sand l need
not remind you that such an offense is
punishable by long term OF imprison-
ment-"
@Pm probably quite as wise in the law
as you are, jerry" sneered the mer-
chant-@tOO wise, certainly, to place my
self in the power of such a reptile as
yOu are capable Of being"
Then what IS that deed?H
at is deed to a fine piece Of land I
have in Idaho. and for which 7 paid
about two thousand dollars explained
the merchant, his sardonic smile coming
back to his features SWhile you read
one thing, 1 wrote another, quite GER
tain, as the event proved, that you
would fail, in your hurry and excitement,
TO verify what ] had written. -
Jerry looked annihilated, but soon be-
gan to buster again.
"Ill have you arrested for false pre-
lenses and swindling," he declared.
mo, you won't, old man, assured the
merchant, contemptuOusly. Il have a
right to ask you what I please for my
Idaho ranch, and you have no remedy
whatever, in either law or equity, from
the moment when you have paid over
your money. Think It over a minute,
and you'll see that I am quite right.
The gloom Of Jerry's countenance at
tested that the point was well taken.
HAs to the two hundred thousand dol
lars you have handed me, F." pursued the
merchant. at is merely portion OF the
sum you have stolen from Perry Wynans.
You have never had so much as a ghost
of a title to the lands in question. l
may add that this money is merely a
drop in the bucket to what you have
caused me to lose by the lies and misrep-
reservations you have been sending me
ever since Charley Tower and invested
in that Musselshell property. You see,
therefore, that you have no cause of
complaint against me. You have sim
ply handed me my share Of the Doodle.
as taken from the lands OF Wynans, and
the less You say about all these proceed
ings the better it will be for you"
For nearly a minute Jerry Skiddar