Omaha daily bee., 1897-01-31

friend, closing the door stealthily after him,
with the bearing of a man about to commit a
crime and certain of being caught. Braunt
gave him no greeting, but %glowered upon him
from under his frowning, shaggy eyebrows.
There is some money here that you are to
take said the organist, timidly, placing a
heap of coins on the table.
Braunt, with an angry gesture, swept away
the pile, and the silver jingled on the floor.
"Ahll have none O. thy money, as Ah've
told 'ee before!' he roaIed. A can earn ma
money, if All boot get tn chance"
Langly, with no word of remonstrance
stopped and patiently collected every scat
tered piece.
ut is not my money" he said, on rising.
ut was sent to you, and is for you and for
no one else. 1t belongs to you; l have no
right to 1T, and this very money you yourself
have earned. 1 don't know who has a better
claim on it,"
Again placing the silver and gold on the
table Langly tiptoed out of the room in some
haste before Braunt could collect his wits
| and make reply.
The Yorkshireman, with curious inconsist-
ency, had accepted without question the
money which had saved his child from a
pauper funeral, although he must have
known, had he reflected, that the expenses
were paid by some one; yet charity which
did not come direct awakened no resentment
in his turbulent nature, while the bald offer
Of money or food sent him instantly into a
tempest Of anger.
He thought over the organist's words.
How could the money be his? How had he
canned the coins? His slow brain gradually
solved the problem. The money evidently
had come from Hope or Monkton, or perhaps
from Sartwell. He cursed the three of them,
together and separate. and in his rage once
more scattered the heap to the floor. The
coins Whirled hither and thither, at last spin
ming to rest on the bare boards. Braunt
watched them as they lay there glittering
in the dim light, his mind ceasing to cogi-
tatn on tho recnnntiup ntt1nalilftu ~ 49,,
ployers aud employed for the state of things
under which he suffered. He had formerly
thought of Monkton and Hope as purseproud,
naughty capitalists until he saw their cring-
ing. frightened demeanor when escorted out
of the works by the policemen, and since
that time he had been endeavoring to re-
construct his ideas concerning them. So.
after ali, why should he refuse to take
money from them If one or the other had
sent it? He gaZed at the coins ON the floor,
white splotches and yellow points of light
hitching round his chair the better to see
them. He had heard that a man might be
hypnoti2ed by gazing steadily on a silver
piece held in the palm. AS Braunt watched
the coins intertly he passed his hand
swiftly across his brow, concentrating his
gaze by half closing his eyes. He leaned
forward and downward. Surely they were
moving, edging closer to each other, the
larger heaps attracting the various atoms
of metal, as he remembered. with bewildered
brain, was the case with money all the
world over, which gave a plausible cause,
such as one has in dreams, for the coins
creeping together, although what was left of
his reason told him that 1t was all an allu-
sion. The sane and insane sections Of his
mind struggled for mastery, while Braunt
leaned closer and closer over the money,
sitting forward now ON the very edge OF his
chair, breathing hard, almost wholly abb
sorbed in the strange movement on the
floor, and gradually losing interest in the
mental conflict regarding the reality of
what his strained, u%nwinking eyes told him
was going on at his feet, At last he
noticed that the heap was slowly, but i'm
perceptibly sliding away from him. All
doubts about the genuineness OF what he
saw vanished. The money was trying to
escape. He sprang to his feet and jumped
to the door, placing his back against it.
"Oh. no." he shouted. you're mine, you're
mine"
Crouching down, never taking his eyes
from the coins, he got upon his hands and
knees, crawling toward them craftily; then
p~ounced suddenly on the main heap, while
the isolated pieces scuttled back to their
former position, pretending they had never
shifted their places. He laughed sneeTingly
at their futile attempt to deceive him,
poured the heap into his pocket. and cap
tured each separate coin that remained by
springing upon 1t. He searched the whole
room like some animal, nosing into the
" LitiS, NlOuNhihS iONti winch ht Spltu u
silver or gold piece that had rolled far,
'chuckling when he seized 1t and placed it
with the others. At last he rose to his
feet. slapping his pocket joyously, and max
ing the money jingle. Once erect, the blood
rushed to his head, making him dizzy. He
staggered and leaned against the wall, all
his hilarity leaving him, and he covered
his eyes with his hands.
"Ah'm gooin' mad" he whispered. "Ah
moost ha' summat TO eat-or drink"
Braunt staggered through the doorway to
the passage and down the stair, out into the
open air, which revived him and made him
feel the nip OF hunger again, Once on Light
street he turned into the Rose and Crown"
and asked for a mug Of beer. The barman
hesitated. The credit OF the strikers had
long since gone.
I'D like to see the color OF your money"
he said gruffiy.
ALIVE ne money. Ah'l pay thee next
week; ah'm goin' to put a stop to the strike
today"
He brought dawn his open palm against
his trousers pocket to emphasize his pow