The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1904-08-11

These things he knew in the strange
concrete arithmetical manner Of the
routine bookkeeper. Other men saw
a desperate phase Of firm rivalry. He
saw struggle to the uttermost. 9th
er men cheered a rescue. He thrilled
over the magnificent gesture of the
gambler scattering his stake in largesse
to Death.
1t was the simple turning of the hand
from full breathed prosperity to life
less failure.
His view was the inverse of his mas
ter's. TO Thorpe it had suddenly be-
come very little thing in contrast to
the great sweet, elemental truth that
the dream girl had enunciated. TO
Collins the affair was miles vaster than
the widest scope of his own narrow
life.
The firm could not take up it's notes
when they came due; it could not pay
the interest on the mortgages. which
would now be foreclosed; it could not
even pay in full the men who had
worked for it-that would come under
a courts adjudication
He had therefore watched Thorpe's
desperate sally to mend the weakened
chain in all the suspense of a man
whose entire universe is in the keeping
Of the chance moment It must be re-
membered that at bottom, below the
outer consciousness, Thorpe's final de-
c1sion had already grown to maturity.
On the other hand. no other thought
than that of accomplishment had even
entered the little bookkeeper's head
The rescue and all that it had meant
| had hit him like a stroke Of apopleXy,
and his thin emotions had curdled to
hysteria. Full of the idea he appeared
before the men.
With rapid, almost incoherent speech
he poured it out to them. Professional
caution and secrecy were forgotten
Wallace Carpenter attempted to push
through the ring for the purpose of
stopping him. A gigantic river man
kindly but firmly held him back
II guess it's just as well we hears
this" said the latter
| It all came Out-the loan to Carpen-
ter, with hint at the motive-the
Vaccinations CT the rival firm on the
board of trade; the notes, the mort
cages, the necessity Of a big seasons
cut; the reasons the rival firm had for
wishing to prevent that cut from ar
irving at the market; the desperate and
varied means they had employed. The
men listened, silent. Hamilton, his
eyes glowing like Goals, drank in every
| p~1 l. o1+o I,
had sought; here was the story great
to his hand.
'That's what zoe ought to get!' cried
Collins, almost weeping. "And now
we're gone and bust just because that
internal river hog had to fall off a
boom! It's shame! Those scalawags
have done us after all!'
Out from the shadows Of the woods
stole Injun Charley. The whole bear
ing and aspect Of the man had chang
ed. His eye cleaned with a distant,
farseeing fire of it's own, which took
no account of anything but some re-
mote vision. He stole along almost
furtively, but with proud, upright
carriage of his neck, a backward tilt
Of his fine head, a distension of his
nostrils, that lent to his appearance a
panther-like pride and stealthiness. No
one saw him. Suddenly he broke
through the group and mounted the
steps beside Collins.
''The enemy of my brother is gone"
said he simply in his native tongue,
and with a sudden gesture held out be-
fore them-a scalp.
The medieval barbarity of the thing
appalled, them for a moment The days
of scalping were long since past, had
been closed away between the pages
of forgotten histories, and yet here
again before them was the thing in all
its living horror. Then a growl arose.
The human animal had tasted blood
All at once, like wine. their wrongs
mounted to their head. They remem-
bered their dead comrades They re-
membered the heart breaking days and
nights of toll they had endured on &C.
count of this man and his associates.
They remembered the words of Collins,
the little bookkeeper. They hated.
They shook their fists across the skies.
They turned and with one accord
struck back for the railroad right of
way which led to Shingleville, the
town controlled by Morrison & DAILY.
The railroads lay for mile straight
through thick tamarack swamp, then
over nearly treeless cranberry plain
The tamarack was a screen between
the two towns. When half way
through the swamp Red Jacket STOP
ped removed his coat, ripped the lining
from it and began to fashion rude
mask.
"Just as we'll they don't recognize
u.s. said he.
Somebody in town will give US
away" suggested Shorty, the chore boy.
mo, they won't; they're all here"
assured Kerlie.
1t was true. Except for the women
and children, who were not vet about