Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-05-13
CHAPTER VI-Continued.


"Unwin, bide, lad" said Birley
'I want you to be witness Of what
have to say: | may as we'll say it now
it's been bound to come for a Ion!
while. You see that man there-tha
foreigner, that German-that grindS
our Lancashire folk small under hi!
great clumsy boot, and that threaten:
now to ruin me-that's what he means
by saying I'll repent this-I took him
into my office when he was a raw lad
with no recommend but that he was
willing to work; l gave him better
place in my print works; l was his
FRIEND l treated him like brother
The dear old mans voice well nigh
broke; it was not pleasant to see the
unrelenting, uncompromising malignity
with which Steinhardt listened-"l
gave him money to get him partner
ship with Paul"
(which 1 paid back" interrupted
Steinhardt.
cay, lad" said Birley, "you paid
me back more than that; you paid me
back for all did in your own way
you took my print works from me-
"Your own mad extravaganza did
that
"You set my friend Paul against
me-" continued Birley, waving away
his interruptions; "you've got my
other shop now almost into your
hands,"
"Your bad management has done
that"
"You've done with Paul's money as
if it were your own; and you've pro-
posed to me that should agree to your
taking that 20, 900 pounds of the law
suit from his girls fortune"
"Soh!" growled Steinhardt, becom-
ing more German in his rage. "It is
now done! There is an end! We are
no more to each other!'
81 know that, Manuel, my lad.
And you're glad of it, and so, think,
am I. And now you may finish me off
but you shall not beggar the orphan
girl. Now my say is done. Your
very proud tonight of having deceived
an English court of law; but don't you
holloa so loud till you're out of the
wood; you haven't done yet with law
nor with Lancashire.
The old man turned and left the
room, looking ten years older; he
seemed to falter in his step, and the
usually ruddy tints in his face had died
out, leaving his cheeks and lips of an
ashy hue. l followed him without a
word. In the hall he took his hat; l
did the same and accompanied him in
silence from the house and through the
village; would have seen him home,
but he insisted on my leaving him when
my lodgings were reached.
I went indoors. but could not stay.
1 was in the widest perturbation of
feeling which, think, I had ever ex-
perienced. The close air of my little
sitting room stif1ed me, and when left
it the air of the village oppressed me
almost as much. l could not, strive as
would to turn my attention to other
things, get rid of the burning impress
sion of that painful scene in the dining
room of Timperley Hall. My resent
ment of the brusque treatment | had
myself experienced from Steinhardt
was keen; but it was nothing compared
with the Indignation / felt at the ter
ribly pathetic tale of ingratitude re-
vealed by old Birley's words; and that
again had to give place to a feeling of
horrible dread and loathing of that un-
overbearing German rufiiaE.
had watched him closely, even with
certain fascination of intentness, and
the scene I had caught not
SO much as the wink of an eyelid or the |
movement of a single nerve or muscle |
indicative of anything but the most un-
determination to assert him |
self and his will, no matter what came
in the way. l was appalled,, may say
terrified at the exhibition of |
such remorseless inhumanity-allt the
more so that did not find it out of
keeping with anything 1 had before
known of the man. If another stood |
in his way, he would not merely tread |
on his toes with crunch of his big |
boot; he would lift him in his strong |
German arms and fling him aside. He
had "eaten up" his old friend Birley, !
from no small vindictiveness, it was
svident, but from an all-devouring self
sggrandizement. And what greater
enormity would he hesitate to commit,
so long as it brought him nearer his
chief end? To what did all this vague
Tread and surmise tend? To my horror
found that the suspicion OF what had
been Lacroix's fate, which had hitherto
been whirling and curling in my imag-
nation like lurid vspor, was now
assuming definite shape and settling
lpon Steinhardt! Why should he have
lone to death his partner? l could not
ell; 1 could scarcely make a guess
worth the name. If he had, was the
method of it such as had been indicated
n Dicks confession9 If he had-how,
where had he bestowed the traces of
he crime?