Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-04-05

me, Olivia. I know my own business
better than Govan does. have work
on hand that must be done tonight"
Cannot help you with it, father?"
He smiled unpleasantly and pushed
away pile Of loose papers with one
hand.
No; you cannot help me, my child.
1t is not the sort of work should like
to see you engaged in. y
"But you are not going to dispose of
that great pile of papers before you
sleep, father?"
He did not answer her Immediately.
Presently, slowly, almost reluctantly,
he said
Eyes; they must all be disposed Of to-
night" Again that short, unfamiliar
laugh, more like the bark of an animal.
1t startled Olivia by it's strange I'M
familiarity. She looked at him almost
inquiringly He moved restlessly I'M
der the scrutiny of her clear, loving
eyes.
eve have exchanged our good nights,
my dear. i am waiting for you to re-
tire so that l may resume my work.
Bafied, -perplexed, sore at heart, she
bent to kiss him once more and went
away with the face of chidden child
and the anxious soul of a tender wom-
an. Tears came to her relief when she
had gained the shelter of her own
room.
What a horrid day it had been! What
between her hot tempered lover and
her inscrutable father it was enough
to make a woman wish there was no
such thing as man in the world.
| Woman never narrowed up your feel
ings nor trampled upon your affections.
And there We're three of the wretches
to make her miserable.
She was. drawing the comb through
| her long thick hair with savage energy
as she, arraigned the offenders one by
one. :
| Father treating me as if were a
criminal brought before him for trial;
| Clarence saying all manner Of things
that had no justice nor kindness in
them, then going off home in huff;
Tom Broxton writing silly letters that
1t breaks my heart to answer
1 Between them all they were making
life burden to her. If Mother Spill
man We're not in the way, she would
! take Miss Malvina and fly to the ends
of the earth and never speak to an
other man unless, indeed, to porter
or a courier or some masculine neces-
sity incidenteto foreign travel.
From this tempestuous summary Of
an uncertain and disappointing exist
ence: she passed straightway through
the gates of slumber into a happier
world of dreams. She was sleeping so
soundly that it was with some diff
Guilty she was brought back to the
world of realities by her fathers voice.
| She dreamed that she heard him
calling her in harsh, strained voice.
With start she sat bolt upright in
bed to find him standing over her
fully dressed. He was saying some
thing to her'which her only half arous-
ed senses could not grasp at all.
Get up and dress yourself quickly,
Olivia! My study is in flames! A cur
tain must have blown against the gas
jet while dozed. We may save the
house. The wing is doomed. l must
rouse Reuben, the town.
Each one of these frightening sen
licences had dropped slowly from his
lips in husky whisper. Olivia was
slipping into dressing gown before
he was half through. "You are safe,'
he said in another choked whisper and
rushed from the room like mailman.
i Vaudeville did not lack food for Cos
sip for weeks after the Matthews fire
There were those who pitied the old
man for the loss of his books and pa
pers, books he had been a lifetime col
lecting and papers that bore directly
upon his business affairs.
There We're others who thought he
got off we'll in losing only the wing
to his handsome house.
One set declared that the lawyer
had displayed the calmness and the
Indifference of Stole while the flames
We're licking up his fine library, Others
that he had looked and acted more like
mailman than rational human be
ing.
AS the days wore on it was asserted
in some quarters that Horace Mat
thews looked 20 years older since hi.
mishap, in others that, having mad,
his pile and secured Olivia's future, b,
could well afford to act as if nothin:
had happened.
1t was all in the point of view, ant
the point of view where Lawyer Mat
thews was concerned had strange fluc
tuations in the town.
CHAPTER XII.
MR.. MATTHEWS CALLS FOR HIS PHYSICIAN
Vaudeville had the usual contingent
of charitable and uncharitable people
of reticent thinkers and people Agivel
to speaking their minds plainly in sea
son and out. In short, humanity wa
mixed there as elsewhere.
DR.. Govan had to rebuke old Mr.
Langdon, the druggist, quite sharpl.
more than once for asking him, "Hoy
t comes it Horace Matthews has go
Z rich practicing law, in Melton county