The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-04-19

and read the contents. They were brief
| and unhappy.
Cant you do something? Can't you
come down? 1t begins to look the
other way. XIII"
IT'S from Holloway" said John. II
have got to go. What did that doctor
say?"
He said two weeks at the earliest,
or you'll run into typhoid and compli
| cations from your hurts, and even
pleasanter things than that. I've got
you here, and here you stay; so lie
back and get easy, boy"
Then give me that pad and pencil"
He rapidly dashed off a note to H. Fis-
bee:
Sept. 5.
III. Fisbee, Editor Carlow Herald"
Dear Sir: You have not acknowl-
edged my letter of the End September
by note (Which should have reached
me the following morning., or by the
! alteration in the tenor of my columns
| which | requested, or by the publica-
ton of the McCune papers which / di-
rected In this I hold you grossly at
fault. If you have conscientious rea-
son for refusing to carry out by re-
! quest it should have been commune
| Gated to me at once, as should the
| fact-if such be the case-that you are
| al pcISOIdl kOT lI1peTSOIldl, you Hke)
| friend of Mr.. Rodney McCune. What
ever the motive, Interior or otherwise,
| which prevents you from operating my
paper as ! direct, / should have been
| Informed of it. This is a matter vital
| to the interests of our community, and
| you have hitherto shown yourself too
alert in accepting my slightest sugges-
| ton for me to Construe this failure as
| negligence. Negligence l might es-
TEEN as at least honest and frank;
your course has been neither the one
nor the other.
You will receive this letter by
this evening, by special delivery. You
will print the facts concerning Nc
| Cune in tomorrow mornings paper.
Il am we'll aware of the obligations
under which your extreme efficiency
and your thoughtfulness in many mat
| ters have place me. 1t is to you 1
| owe my unearned profits from the
! transaction in oil, and it is to you 1
owe the Herald's' extraordinary pres
ent circulation, growth of power and
influence. That power is still under
my direction, and is an added RESPONSE
| bility which shall not be mfsapplied.
You must forgive me If 1 write too
| sharply. You see l have failed to an
| derstand your silence; and If l wrong
| you / heartily ask your pardon in ad-
vance of your explanation. Is 1t that
you are sorry for McCune? 1t would
| be a weak pity that could keep you
to silence. 1 warned him long ago that
the papers you hold would be publish
ed if he ever tried to return to politi-
| cal life, and he is deliberately count
ing on my physical weakness and alb
| sence. Let him rely upon it; 1 am not
| so weak as he thinks. Personally,
| cannot say that 1 dislike Mr.. McCune.
| / have found him a very entertaining
Cai he iC no Of
| husbands, and true friend to some
of his friends, and, believe me, I am
| sorry for him from the bottom of my
heart. But the Herald is not.
you need not reply by letter. To-
morrow's issue answers for you. Until
my judgment. JOHN HARMLESS"
The morrow's issue-that fateful
| print on which depended John Hank
less opinion of H. Fisbee's integrity
contained an editorial addressed to the
| delegates of the convention warning
| them to act for the vital interest of the
| community, and declaring that the OPP
| portunity to be given them in the pres
ent convention was rare one, a singu-
lar piece of good fortune indeed; they
| were to have the chance to vote for a
| man who had won the love and respect
of every person in the dist1ict-one
| who had suffered for his companion
| IlEnI0OuS1eSS-OD WnOm even
| his few political enemies confessed
they held in personal affection and es-
teem-one who had been the inspiration
| of a new era-one whose life had been
helpfulness, whose hand had reached
out to every Struggler and unfortunate
"a man who had met and faced danger
for the sake of others-one who lived
| under a threat for years, and who
| had been almost OVerborne in the full
filment of that threat, but who would
live to see the sun shine on his tri-
| umph the tribute the convention
would bring him as a gift from a COM
munity that loved him. His name
needed not to be told; it was on every
| lip that morning, and in every heart
Tom was eagerly watching his conn
paniOn as he read. Harkless fell back
on the pillows with a drawn face, and
for a moment he laid his thin hand
over his eyes in a gesture of intense
pain.
what is it?" Meredith said quickly.
Give me the pad, please"
What is it, boy?"
The others teeth snapped together.
What is it?" he cried. What is it ?
It's treachery, and the worst 1 ever
knew. Not a word of the accusation
demanded-lying prises instead! Read
that editorial-there, there!" He struck
the page with the back of his hand.
| and threw the paper to Meredith.
Read that miserable liei One who
has won the love and respect of
every person in the district!'-'One who
has suffered for his championship of
righteousness!' Righteousness Save
the mark"
What does ii mean?"
"Meani 1t means McCune-Rod Nc
Cune, who has lived under threat
for years'-my threat! l swore / would
print him out of Indiana if he ever
raised his head again, and he knew 1
could. Almost overborne in the full
filment of that threat!' Almost! It's
a black scheme, and i see it now. This
man came to Plattville and went on
the Herald for nothing in the world
but this. It's McCunes hand all along.
He daren't name him even now, the
cowardl The trick lies between Nc
Cune and young Fisbee-the old man
is innocent. Give me the pad. Not
almost overborne. There are three
good days to work in. and. by the gods
Of Perdition. IL Rod McCune sees Con-
gress it will be in his next incarna-
toni"
! He rapidly scrubbed a few lines on