Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1903-05-27

asked; for nobody seemed to know
the object of his visit or in what way
all this wining and dining could assist
the prospects of the city. But Nilus
was naturally hospitable and when
Mr.. Merivale's presence was made
: known it was surmised in n general
way that he was seeking an outlet
(, for eastern capital. Perhaps he might
be induced to take up an important
! railroad project that had been aban.
doned for lack of funds, and which
would open up splendid new terri
tory to the trade of Nilus. Or perhaps
he was looking for n place to estab,
fish manufactures of some kind, and
Nilus had well-defined idea that
without manufactures she could
never hope to be great city. But
whatever Mr.. Merivale's projects were
he kept them largely to himself.
Some of the wealthy cotton men may
have been in his confidence; the assid-
| uity of their attentions to him ia
vored this idea; but nothing definite
got into the papers except the fact
that Mr.. Merivale had been enter
tanned by the clubs and -banqueted
by some of the business men.
Merivale was the sensation of the
day, and the appetizing odor Of mys-
terry that chung about him added to
the interest which his visit had cx-
cited.
Yet there was absolutely nothing
interesting in the MINIS personality
except the fact that he permitted no
one to understand him. That which
is unintelligible seldom fails to awak-
en- an interest, and it was so with
Frederick Merivale. In appearance
he was anything but remarkable. He
was cold and dull-looling, with a
fishy eye, neatly trimmed beard,
flushed face, and sparse hair on the
top of his head. His yellowish brown
beard was parted with great pre-
cision. His manners were nice but
not affable. He seldom laughed, and
when he did the intention was not
mirthful.
People knew that this man had
made great deal of money, but they
could not guess how. His manner
gave no Indication whatever of his
methods, and there was no way to
determine the process of his thoughts
from his conversation, which was dry
as parchment. Merivale had very lit
tie to say, and what he did say was
not worth remembering either for it's
brilliancy, its depth or its perspicuity.
But whatever may have been his de-
ficiencies In the conversational line.
there could be no doubt that he was
a gourmet of marked ability, and
that he gave his tailor carte blanche,
Every detail of his toilet was care
fully considered. and he would have
been pronounced well-dressed man
in the most fashionable city of
Christendom.
Nilus knew there was something
in Merivale, even though she could
not define it, because he had been
known to squeeze Wall street pretty
hard several times to his own profit
and glory; and 1t is hardly necessary
to say that the man who is n sue
cess. but does not disclose his secret.
possesses n chaNn for the curious
that no merely fortunate man could
have.
Naturally, Irving Warde, as n wide
awake newspaper man, was interested
in finding out the object of Merivale's
visit, and soon after his arrival Sc
cured an introduction. AS member
of some of the leading clubs of the
city, he contrived to see a great deal
of Merivale, and though he made
several adroit attempts to learn from
him the business which brought him
to the city, he found himself baffied
at every point by that apparently
dense and unsuspecting person. Then
he turned his attention to the rich
cotton men who were most frequently
in Meriyale's society, but they were
evidently as much in the dark as
Irving, although they assumed an air
of mystery and pretended to be in the
secret. Irving was not deceived by
the show of mystery, however, and
he dropped his Investigations in this
line.
There was one person in the city
upon whom Merivale called frequent
ly, and this was Col. james Franklin.
As has already been intimated in this
story, Col. Franklin was man who
dabbled in great many enterprises,
but he had considerable reputation as
chancery lawyer. He was n man
whom it was worth while to consult
about real estate investments, Ques.
tons involving titles and intricate is-
sues connected with the settlement of
estates and the rights of ownership.
Frequent consultations with Franklin
could only be explained on the ground
that business of considerable import,
ance was contemplated, business re-
quiring the services of an astute law
yer. Warde knew that it would be
useless to try to elicit any informa-
might be induced to become garrul-
Gus and tell what he knew. The
coloners clerk was person to keep
his ears open, and who had an inordi-
nate fondness for gossip. Dissipated
and unscrupulous, he had certain
natural cunning which had developed
in him the peculiar mania of collect
ing all the discreditable things he
could find against those with whom
he was acquainted or likely to come
in contact. If he could secure the
evidence of anything crooked in the
life of an apparently respectable man,
something that had been hushed up
or forgotten, he was as happy as
stamp collector or an autograph fiend
over fresh find. A clipping from an
old newspaper narrating n long-for-
gotten scandal in the life of some
prominent officer OF respected citizen,
a letter in which some finically proper
person had "given himself away" a
copy of paper which was never in
tended to see the light of day,
gambling I. o. U. that had never been
paid, or the notes in the suppressed
divorce case were objects as valu-
able in Hillsman's eyes as rare bric-a-
brac to virtuoso. He first began
this collection with the idea that per-
haps some day he might need these
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