The Tupelo journal., 1903-11-13

hooking blur across h picture. A month
went by. She heard that Kirke had left
town. There was no one to upbraid her
for her %fickleness, for she was without
relatives, and held her friends proudly
aloof. The voice of her heart she would
not listen to.
The package of papers still lay UNI
touched, when one day an advertisement
In the morning paper claimed her notice.
She read and re-read, the idea taking al
most visible grip on her:
"Wanted-Party with s 5000 to invest
in strictly legitimate business. Security
given and Is per cent. dividends guaran-
teed. Call on or address J.. Cresco, 400
Blank Bldg, Chicago"
Linda devoted several minutes to ex
cited calculation. Her bonds bore only
4 per cent; they could easily be con-
verified into cash. Under Kirke's man
agement her income, though reliable as
the sunrise, had never gone above eight
per cent. Here was a chance to more
than treble it.
Linda investigated the matter, palpi-
tating with freedom that hurt while ii
exhilarated. She found J. Cresco all that
could be desired, at least in deferential
courtesy and bland confidence. She left
his office wrapped in dreams of luxury,
but extremely misty as to her concep-
tons of the business" whose returns
were to realize them. lA
During the following three months she
reveled-or tried TON reflections owe
her s~hrewdness. At the end of that time,
her promised profits did not appear. She
waited two weeks, when a suave letter
came, expressing regret at the delay, and
promising a payment directly. Six
weeks passed, filed with growing fore
bodings. She had put all her available
cash into the scheme. and began o to
be decidedly cramped to meet her bills.
At exactly the end of the h~alf-year. she
wrote a very decided demand for a remit
lance.
h answer delayed. Then, one morn
ing. Linda took up her paper, to
read under staring headlines an &C
count of "Get-rich-quick" institutions
raided, and prominent among them the
holhC VI ASi IOiQeu tlSlOu. ~
There seemed to be no way but to
swallow her pride, and face the ignominy
of having been victimized. She went to
a lawyer, who in turn referred her to a
~well-known legal firm in the city. In this
thinly-veiled superciliousness Linda
read her doom; and it Is to be hoped
a more frightened and desolate soul new
er set out on that journey.
In the luxurious private offices of GAY,
Overman & Co, the second-named gem
tleman was DOMINIC hat and gloves. He
turned back at the last minute, address
ing the firms latest acquisition In a
junior partner:
Gay said there'd be a woman in at
Nlree, to see something about that Cresco
business. She'd invested all she had. ]
believe. Gay said to tell her she might
as we'll try to pump up the bed of the
Pacific, and that we couldn't undertake
a suit"
slipped the new partners mind, when an
office boy laid a card on his desk. He
had barely glanced at it when the door
opened, and his client was admitted.
She stood transfiXed, as he rose; a hot
flush ran up to her forehead, and then
she grew pale as a lily. 4t +
"Kirke!" she gasped.
"Linda!" he cried, coming quickly
forward. Good Lord, deari 1t wasn't
you who got caught in that beastly
scheme?"
Linda drew back. Her lips quivered,
and her lashes dropped heavily. Kirke
stopped, but only for an instant. The
sight Of her misery was sending the old
protective tenderness thrilling through
him, to the obliteration of his wrongs
He followed persistently, and took pos
session of her hands.
you'll have to let me take care of you,
now, darling" he declared, with sudden,
mischievous triumph. Every cent OF
your money is gone!"
Linda tried to pull away, and failed.
Back of the crushing shame that her hu-
initiation lay bare before the last eyes
she desired should see it, something else
was working havoc within her.
L CdH Sldl We, tutu, SHe TetOTteQ an
grily. Let go my hands, Kirke Morris!
What would Helen Ritter say?"
He loosed his hold, staring.
Helen Ritter?" he repeated, in aston
ishment; Helen Morris, you mean. She
and Cousin Dick were married five
months ago. Good Heavens."-as light
burst suddenly upon hint can't be
you were Jealous, dear, because l escorted
Helen to a few places? She was my
aunt's guest. you know, and Dick was
confined to the store"
Kirke's arm was around her, but she
slipped out of it and hid her face.
IF l am so poor" she began, but
Kirke gathered her resolutely to him
again.
"And since you are he finished for
her, with a happy laugh, I'm going to
make it the business of my life to prove
the scriptures true, in that I have the
moor ALWAYS with mob