Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1892-09-02
THE CALIFORNIANS
BY JULES VERNE.
Copyright 1891 by the Authors Alliance.

Copyright 1891 by the Authors Alliance.
Upon reaching San Diego Barker had
opened an office in Fleet street, one of
those bureaus which it were more APP
propriate to call dens, in which any
scheme, good or bad, becomes the start
ing point of n fraud. Very slkillful in
depicting the possibilities of combina-
ton, utterly INSCRIPTIONS as to the
means rcsortcd to, an adept in the art
of persuasion, with very shadowy no
tons of meum ct tuum, he plunged
hcadlong into twenty speculations, all
of which went to pieces; but the bitter
himself did not escape unbitten, for he
now found himself literally on the
street, almost without the necessaries
of life Still, as his operations had
been entirely secret, he had some little
credit left and made use of it to launch
new schemes and secure new victims.
This condition of affairs, however,
could not last. Any moment there
might be an outburst, and the schem-
ing Yankee who had transported his
peculiar business methods to the Pacific
slope might find himself obliged to
leave San Diego as he had left Boston.
And yet, in an intelligent community,
a genuine center of commercial activity
whose Importance increased from year
to year, any man of honesty and in
tegrity would have found many ave-
nues of success open to him. But there
were needful something's which Lew
Barker didn't have-moral rectitude,
straightforward ideas and q mind free
from guile.
1t is important to note here that
neither John Allaire, Andrew HOLSTER
nor anyone else had any suspicion of the
true condition of Barllcrs matters. In
industrial and commercial circles there
was no inlIling that this adventurer-
and would to Heaven he deserved no
harshcr namc-was fastening to his
ruin. And even when the crash should
come, possibly they would be inclined
to look upon him simply as an unlucl1y
business man and not a man utterly
devoid Of moral sense, to whom all
methods are permissible provided they
lead to fortune. And John Allaire him
self, although he had never been
specially attracted by the man, was at
this moment not in the least inclined
to distruSt him, and therefore was it
that during his absence he would
count upon his wifc's being the re-
cipicnt of Lewis and Hates kind Of
fees. Should the emergency arise,
should Molly stand in need of their out
stretched hand, she would not call out
to them in vain. Their house would
be open to her and she would find a
welcome there-not only the one due to
a friend, but to sister.
Besides, how could there possibly be
any suspicion of Kate Barker's sincerity
of affection? Her love for Molly was as
great as it was unselfish, and, far from
striving to set bounds to it, Lew Barker
had encouraged it, no doubt with some
sinister motive, some shadowy vision of
future gain, which he hoped he might
be able to draw from it. He was per-
fectly sure, too, that Kate would not
say aught which should be left unsaid,
that she would be discretion itself as
regards his present condition, giving no
sign or hint as to the disreputable
schemes in which he had become in
volved or as to the sea of difficulties in
which he was now laundering. AS to
all this Kate would hold her tongue;
not even word of blame would escape
her. The domination of her husband
was absolute; no power of resistance
was left her, although she knew him to
be n man utterly without conscience,
destitute of moral sense, who would not
hesitate to commit criminal act. And
now that this man stood before her in
his true colors, how was it possible for
her to preserve the slightest regard for
him? The fact is, and it should not be
lost sight of, she was afraid of him, she
was like child in his hands; and even
now, ut signal from him, had his safe
| ty demanded it, she would have followed
hun to any quarter of the globe. But
| after all, her sclf-respect would restrain
her from confcssing her sorrows even to
her cousin Molly, who may possibly
| have had suspicion of them, but that's
all.
The relations of John and Molly AL
laire on the one side and of Lew and
Kate Barker on the other, are now
sharply enough outlined to render in
telligible the facts which are about to
be set forth in this narrative. To what
degree these relations were going to be
changed, by sudden and unexpected
events of the near future, no one could
have forcsccn.