The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1903-02-21

to return home?"
He stopped in front of Hestor, his
eyes flashing anger. His voice trem-
bled with rage and he restrained him
! self by an effort from physical at
| tack on Hestor.
Don't get so excited, Sidney"
said Hestor, as he lit cigarette.
''There is nothing so serious about
this as you imagine. Olive thinks you
have gone to Europe with me. 1
sent her telegram and signed your
name to it. l made a copy of the
message and here it is"
Hestor handed a slip of paper to
Hammond, who read as follows:
Miss Olive Hammond:
| 1t is necessary for me to accompany
Mr.. Hestor on short business trip to
Europe. We sail early this evening, and
l shall be too busy to come home to bid
you good-by. Pack my trunk and valise
and send them to Mr.. Hestors office.
Do not come down town, as l do not
| know where / shall be in the meantime.
| Put my scrap books and some writing
paper in the trunk, as 1 wish to work on
| my essays on the trip across and back.
| Also enclose the matter l have already
written. l shall not be gone long. Re-
| greet that l cannot see you before l leave,
but know that you are used to these sud-
| den journeys and will forgive me.
SIDNEY HAMMOND. =
''rhat shows that while forger
you are not entirely lost to decency,"
said Hammond, with evident relief,
but no signs of relenting. "But how
| about these other men? They have
dear ones. They have feelings.
Think of what they must suffer and
how much grief you will cause if
you persist in your course. You must
put this boat back to New York at
once"
cit cannot be done, Sidney" said
Hestor. 81 have this all planned out
Tomorrow these men can commun.
icate with their people. I will take
care of that" Hestor's manner
changed. The smile died on his lips
and his face grew dark. "You are
my friend" he said in a tone sin
gularly harsh and strident. 'You are
my friend, but shall not permit yor
to interfere in the least with my
plans. This is my yacht, and we are
on the high seas. The man who re
fuses to obey orders ON this boat
will be put in irons. ] should moi
like to see you i'll the BOBBY hatch
Sidney" and IIestor laughed in ar
unpleasant way.
'There will be some one hurt be
fore l go in irons," Hammond sale
iiercely. "After what you have don,
l should not be surprised, however
at any attempted outrage. Do 20,
care to give any sane reason fol
this AFFAIR.""
II gave you the reasons at til,
dinner table," said Hestor, whose fl
of anger had PASSED. "These mel
now on this yacht have managed tt
secure control of about everything
in the country worth having. The,
, run Wall Street, the banks, tn,
trusts, the railroads, and dictate t,
the government. I want to find on
what would happen if they Shout,
die simultaneously. Such thin!
might happen, don't you know? We'll
what would be the result? No on
knows. ! am going to find out
They will be cut off from communi
cation except for one day. Durin.
that time they may be dead for al
any one knows. Then 1 will see tina
word is received from them, sayin
that they are safe. That will reliev
the strain on their families an
friends. We then will see how tn
country gets along without them TO
: awhile. Great scheme, don't yo1
think?"
Hammond continued to pace tn
floor but said nothing. Hesto
seemed intensely in earnest.
"Does Mr.. Van Horne, the edito
of The Record, know anything abou
this?" asked Sidney.
"Of course he does not said Hes
tor promptly. 81 have not seen Boz
: in six months. This is my persona
affair. just now I am working TO
myself. I never thought of this un
til a week ago, and it came to me lil1
an inspiration. OF course coul,
confide my plans to no one, but
felt sure you would appreciate tn
scheme and give it your cooperation
You will, when you get over you
, foolish anger. I must rejoin GU
! friends. They will think I am neg
Letting them"
There being nothing for Sidney t.
. say he remained quiet and returned
to the dining room in time to NEE
Mr.. l.. Sylvester Vincent, as has beel
} related.
Hestor soon found that his unwill
ing guests desired to retire to tn
: apartments which had been reserves
for them. They were shown to tn
staterooms, and servant detaile
to look after their comfort. The,
found that their host had made ever,
effort to anticipate their needs
Slippers, smoking jackets, pajamas
and liberal assortment of line
and undergarments were provided il
profusion. Hestor bid them pleas
+. ant good night, and returned to tn
upper deck where he found Mr.. I
Sylvester Vincent. That gentleman
face yet bore puzzled expression
He had vainly attempted to engag
Mr.. Hammond in conversation. h
7 now approached Hestor.
, "Where did you say you were &c
ing, Mr.. Hestor?" he asked.
!. South Sea islands,"
3 "But must go back to New York,
explained Mr.. Vincent. "Just a
soon as I can see Mr.. Carmody 70
l must put me off. Which way are W
!