San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-08-04
CHAPTER XII
A SLEEPING DRAFT.

SLEEPING DRAFT.
"You are very foolish young man,
said Stanley Percival to Maurice Leclerc
as the pair sat in DR.. Percival's study
the same evening about 9 o'clock.
II own it readily" assented Leclerc,
lifting his head Worse than foolish, /
am ashamed to say
"You were doing very we'll in my
humble opinion with Ine, and by and by
a partnership might have come within
the limits of the possible I warned you
not to set up for yourself ON borrowed
money, but you poohpoohed my well
meant advice.
81 did not poohpooh it, SIR" said
Leclerc humbly. but thought Icould
see fair prospect of success, and was
eager to marry"
"On less than nothing"
"Clayfelds is growing A practice
would, I thought, come quickly I am
too hot headed, l admit. "
II don't want to make you more dis
tressed than you are, but you really
must try and put curb on your impetu-
osity. Why on earth didn't you come to
me when you got into this money trou-
BILE? Which, by the way, heard of only
today"
81 thought the whole neighborhood
knew of it. "
"Of course you did. You are, if you
will pardon me, Leclerc, sensitive to the
verge of selfshness. But ask why you
avoided me?"
81 did not dare to approach you l
felt I had treated you with scant cour-
tesy."
but you know 1 am not revengeful
What is the exact story of the mess you
had got your affairs into?"
Briefly, I borrowed $500 from q
money lender on various kinds of securi-
ties. "
"How much of the 800 did you get?"
"a little short of 300"
"Ahl Well?"
at was in six bills of so running
over IS months, the whole 800 to be-
come due ON the failure to meet any of
the bills. I paid the first 80 easily
enough.
"Out of the loan. Well?"
1.-THE second was tough job. The
third I managed to pay portion of and
got little time for the remainder The
fourth couldn't find penny toward,
so / pleaded for time, and the answer l
got was a bailiff, whom I promptly
kicked into the roadway"
"a remarkably wise proceeding.
1.-THE fellow is now blaclzmailing me.
An assault on an omcer or the law is,
am aware, a serious offense. am tired
of staving off prosecution. In any case
l shall be sold up Immediately, and
e10 note would be an excessive valua-
ton of my purse I paid my passage and
the passage Of my intended wife to New
York out of the last money I could
raise.
"Iknow you, Leclerc, or I'd be obliged
to say you were a very wicked young
man. Did you think at all of your in
tended wife?'
"Think of her? God knows I did I
wasn't going to the States on wild
goose chase. Ny eldest brother there has
good practice and promised to try and
pull me through"
"a very slender staff for a newly
married man to lean upon. 1 must say
1 consider your treatment of Miss Rod
ney most selfish and inconsiderate. Your
wild antics this morning have complete
ly upset her 1t is mercy went round
to 10 Felspar road this evening, and
that I induced her to come here with
me, or heaven knows what might have
happened
Don't be too hard ON me, doctor. l
i. Mt there was new life for me in the
, pos"
: Nat's terribly rough and tumble
Oel Nyeating ones career, Leclerc. I
many Gut pity Miss Rodney more" "
!. ladies tSbear to think of how reek-
cp 1 feel ON the verge of
: most Pe11eSNink of everything. And
2 Is horrible suspicion of
me."
o 1yn