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

the pad, and threw the sheets to Mere
dith. Get those kilograms to the
Western Union office with a rush,
please. Read them first"
With a very red face, Tom read them.
One was addressed to H. Fisbee:
You are relieved from the cares of
editorship. You will turn over the
management of the Herald to War
rem Smith. You will give him the Me-
Cune papers. If you do not, or if you
destroy them, you cannot hide where 1
shall not find you.
JOHN HARMLESS"
The second was to Warren Smith:
Take possession Herald Dismiss
H. Fisbee. This your authority. Pub
fish McCune papers so labelled which
H. Fisbee will hand you. Letter fol-
lows. Beat McCune.
JOHN HARMLESS"
The author of the curt epistles tossed
restlesly on his couch, but the reader
of them stared, incredulous and dunn
founded, uncertain of his command
of gravity. His jaw fell, and his open
mouth might have betokened a being
smit to imbecility; and, haply, he
might be, for Helen had written him
from Plattville, pledging his honor to
secrecy with the first words, and it
was by her command that he had found
excuses for not supplying his patient
with all the papers which happened to
contain references to the change of
date for the Plattville convention. And
Meredith had known for some time
where James Fisbee had found
young relative to be the savior of
the Herald" for his benefactor's sake.
You mean-you-intend to-you dis
charge young Fisbee?" he stammered
at last.
Yes! Let me have the answers the
instant they come, will you, Tom?"
When Harkless turned his face from
the wall and spoke through his teeth:
Il mean to see H. Fisbee before many
days; 1 want to talk to him.
But, though he tossed and fretted
himself into what the doctor pro-
nounced a decidedly improved state, no
answer came to either telegram that
day or night The next morning a
messenger boy stumbled up the front
steps and handed the colored man, JIM
four yellow envelopes, night MESA GEES
Three of them We're for farkless, one
was for Meredith. Jim carried them
upstairs, left the three with his mas
ter's guest, then knocked on his mas
ter's door.
What is it?" answered a thick
voice. Meredith had not yet risen.
"a telegraph, Mist Tawn."
There was a terrific yawn. "O-o-oh!
Slide it-oh-under the-door.'
"YeSSuh.'
Meredith lay quite without motion
for several minutes, Sleepily watching
the yellow rhomboid in the crevice. 1t
was hateful looking thing to come
mixing in with pleasant dreams and
insist upon being read. After while
he climbed groaningly out of bed, and
read the message with heavy eyes, still
half asleep He read it twice before
it penetrated:
Suppress all newspapers to-day.
Convention meets at IL. If we succeed
delegation will come to Rouen this
afternoon. They will come.
HELEN"
Tom rubbed his sticky eyelids, and
shook his head violently in a Spartan
effort to rouse himself; but what more
effectively performed the task for him
were certain sounds issuing from
Harkless' room, across the hall For
some minutes, Meredith had been DULY
| conscious of rustic and stir in the
| invalid'S chamber, and he began to
realize that no mere tossing about a
bed would account for a noise that
reached him across a wide hall and
| through two closed doors of thick wal
nut. Suddenly he heard a quick, heavy
tread, shod. in Harkless' room, and a
| resounding bang, as some heavy object
struck the floor. The doctor was not
to come till evening; Jim had gone
| downstairs. Who wore shoes in the
sick mans room? He rushed across
the hall in his pyjamas and threw open
the unlocked door.
The bed was disarranged and vacant.
| Harkless, fully dressed, was standing
in the middle of the floor, hurting gar
ments at a big travelling bag.
The Mortified Meredith stood for a
second, bleached and speeches., then