Evening star., 1897-01-30

Lanely stole softly in upon his stricken
friend, closing the door stealthily after him,
With the bearing of man about to commit
a crime and certain Of being caught.
Rraunt gave him no greeting, but giowered
upon him from under his frowning, shaggy
eyebrows.
to take" said the organist. timidly, placing
q heap of coins on the table.
Braunt, with an angry gesture, swept
away the pile. and the silver jingled on the
floor.
"Ah'n have none O. thy money. as Alive
ma money, if All boot get tn chance"
Langly, with no word OF remonstrance,
stopped and patiently collected every scat
tered piece.
1T is not my money" he said, on rising.
"It was sent to you, and Is for you, and for
no one else. It belongs to you; have no
right to 1t, and this very money you your
self have earned. I don't know who has q
better claim to it."
Again placing the silver and gold on the
table, Langly tiptoed out of the room In
wits and make reply.
The Yorkshireman, with curious neon
sistency, had accepted without question the
money which had saved his child from q
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 resent
nent in his turbulent nature, while the
bald offer of money or food sent him In
3tantly into a tempest of anger.
He thought over the organists words.
How could the money be his? How had he
earned the coins? His slow brain gradually
solved the problem. The money evidently
had come from Hope or Monkton, or per-
haps from Sartwell. He cursed the three
Of them, together and separate: ana IN ms
rage once more scattered the heap to the
floor. The coins whirled hither and thfther,
at last spinning to rest on the bare boards.
Braunt watched them as they lay there
fl--l.& L ;pI cfv,er
to cogitate on the respective culpability Of
employers or employed for the state of
things under which he suffered. He had
formerly thought of MonktOn and Hope
saw their cringing. frightened demeanor
when escorted out of the works by the po-
ucemen, and since that time he had been
endeavoring to reconstruct his ideas con-
refuse to take money from them II one or
the other had sent 1t? He gazed at the
coins on the floor. white splotches and yell
low points Of light, hitching round his chair
the better to see them. He had heard that
might be hypnotized by gazing
steadily on silver piece held in the palm
AS Braunt watched the coins 1ntently ne
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
Ii was all an illusion. 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 absorbed in the strange movement
on the floor and gradually losing interest
in the mental conflict regarding the reality
of what his strained. unwtnking eyes told
him was going on at his feet. AT last ne
noticed that the heap was slowly but i'm.
perceptibly sliding away from him. All
doubts about the genuineneSs or What ne
saw vanished. The money was trying to
escape. He sprang to his feet and Jumped
to the door, placing his back against 1t.
.'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
pounced suddenly OH the main heap, while
the isolated pieces scuttled back TO their
former posltions. pretending tney had never
shifted their places. He laughed sneerlng-
ly at their futile attempts to deceive him,
poured the heap into his pocket. and cap
tured each separate. coin that renamed by
springing upon 1t. He searched the whole
room like some animal, nosing into the
corners. crouching lower and proceeding
more cautiously when he spied silver or
gold piece that had rolled far, chuckled
when he siezed it and placed 1t with the
others. AT last he rose to his feet, slappinS
his pocket joyously, and making the money
Jingle. Once erect, the blood rushed to his
head, making him dizzy He staggered and
ieaned against @ the wall an MS hiiarity
around him, and he covered his eyes with
his hands.
"Ah'm gooin mad" he whispered. "Ah
moost ha' summat ia 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 AM and
Crown" and asked for mug of beer. The
| barman hesltated. The credit of the
| strikers had long since gone.
I'D like to see the color of your money,
| he said, gruffiy.
"Ah've no money. Ah'u pay thee mex,
| week; ahm goin' to put stop ia the
| strike today
He brought down his open palm against
| his trousers pocket to emphasize his pow
| erty, and was startled by the clink Of coin
| He thrust his hand down into his pocket
| and pulled out some silver, gazing at Il
| stupidity.
Ma word" he gasped at last. "Af
| thought All dreamt it!''
The barman laughed and reached for al
empty beer mug, grasping the beer pumI
handle.
crown" ofss he SAID. goo" better es have f som mn
| bread and cheese with it"
| Eyes. Be quick, man.
Standing there, Braunt ate and dranl
| ravenously.
II can get you a plate of cold meat.
| said the barman. seeing how hungry tn,
| man was. The other nodded, and the plate
! with knife and fork, was placed befor
| him.
80 the strikes of, Is it?' said the man
| leaning his arms on the bar.
It'll be off when All get there"
| We'll, It's not minute too soon. Ou
| trades suffered"
More than your trade has suffered
| worse luck. Dom little you'll do for
! man. unless the moneys In ia pouch.'
"Oh. il 1t comes to that, neither will
other people. We're not giving outdoor re
| lief. any more than our neighbors."
BraLnt tie his food and drank his beer
but made no reply. The barman's atti
! tude wac commercially correct; no on
could justly find fault with 1t. Money wa
the master-key OF the universe; 1t unlocke
all doors. The barman did not care hoy
Braunt came by 1t, SO long as he paid TO
what was ordered, and the workman nov
/ found that courage was taking the place O
despair, merely because he had money 4
his pocket He felt that now he had en-
ergy enough to cope with the strikers, sim
ply because he had fed while they wer
hungry. He would wait for no meeting
| hut (, he