Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1901-07-04
said: Have you ever thought of selling
your property, Miss Lopez 2"

A1 Soli1iil4tldl ~ the last degree. All
his questioning elected nothing
more than a laconic Nope" Then
Lambert deliberately trained his gray
eyes upon her and smiled down into her
little freckled face, with the result that
she told him the whole story.
"Ye gods!' he calculated inwardly, as
she explained that johnson, of the Nam
moth Mineral Monopoly, had made her
an offer at figure that the Original Oil
Ollgarchy could never touch, much less
outbld. So this was not his own ex-
elusive scheme, after all! The new debts
ne had incurred on the strength of his
prospects arose before him as he stared
blankly at the wall. Johnson's company
was rich, backed by substantial business
men, while his was worse than poor, its
heaviest stakeholder a miserable spend
thrift Zip to his ears in debt, his one hope
now shattered by Johnson's rivalry
Johnson's eagerness to get the land was
only another proof of its value; he must
have it, he simply had to have it, and
he would have it, he was saying to him
self, while Tony, her tongue once loosen
ed, babbled on, telling him the terms of
Johnson's proposition, and ending by
saying he had pledged her to secrecy as
to his part in it, and cautioned her
against all other would-be buyers.
Lambert smoked long and furiously
that night over this new phase of his diff
iculties, and as the smoke-wreaths grew
denser they evolved the vision of rosy
girl, with laughing eyes, who had prom
ised to share his fortunes, however great
they might be. Tony's little freckled
face, he remembered, always beamed
with pleasure from the depth of her bon
net when she saw him, and Tony, with
rich oil we'll back of her, and foreign
travel, private tutors, Paris gowns,
might in time become like other people;
but here the laughing blue eyes arose
through the smokey reaths to mock him.
He drew the difference between this
lovely creature, the finished product of
care and cultivation, and little Mexican
| What s-Her- Name slipping her chmela
on and off at the heel as she talked to
| him. Still, Tony was good little thing !;
she was slim and straight, and if she
could be induced not to tog herself out
in such outlandish colors she might be
almost pretty, he unused. Then he stop
ped short and laughed at himself, de-
risively. What could it matter to him
whether she were pretty or not?
Tony was waiting for him the next
time his trap clattered down the dusty
road. She had that conhding manner
that is so fattering to man who knows
the weakness of his strength Johnson,
she told him, had raised his offer for
the whole tract, several thousand rocky,
unproductive acres Lambert groaned.
He had to have it, there was no choice !;
so, with the figure of Johnson's offer
staring him in the face, the prospect of
bankruptcy pursuing him from behind,
and the only means of obtaining the pros
pective millions walking close beside him
Blue Eyes were forgotten and he did it.
1t was quickly said Then he kissed
her blushing cheeks and the coveted
land was his-and Tony. He had dis
creet1y refrained from saying anything
more about her property after hearing
Johnson's offer, so she did not know he
cared anything about it, and there was
not a doubt as to his sincerity IN her
simple little heart.
Johnson was the first man Lambert
met when he went back TO the hotel. He
made strained effort to be afable, and
Lambert, who could afford now to be
generous, pitied him for the disappoint-
ment in store for him, and tried to Guido
him in forced friendliness.
Tony was undeniabIy a good little
thing, although Lambert regarded her
merely as his means of escape from in
| solvency, and his only feeling for her
was a vague sort of gratitude She
bored him by the abiect devotion she
1avished upon him. Once, however, it
had really touched him, when she had
said: For you there is nothing in the
world I would not gladly sacrifice"
But he had only said: eyes, yes, that's
good girl, but you shouldn't wear
bright pink. 1t is not becoming.
! Iambert's success went to his head,
| and made him long to throw his arms
around the neck of the whole world and
treat. He spent money with prncely
lavishness and Johnson came IN for all
his share And Tony, too, was happy
she went about with suppressed mlrth-
fitness in her eyes, as if she had
secret source of happiness nobody but
herself which, indeed, was the
case. -,
And so they were married. The little
bride was decked, not in shimmerlng
white, but in all the gaudy colors her
primitive soul loved A gorgeous yellow
gown and variegated frrbelows and red
Slippers. Lambert wondered if she
would slip them off and on at the heel
d,,r;,o the ceremony. But nothing could