Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1904-08-25

-C A&6Alr Will a.
kindly indulgence of a big brother.
Go back, then" he said, with an
odd little twinkle in his eye. "The
survey can get on without you-may-
be! At any rate, / can find some one
to take your place."
In a day or two I went. The alac-
rity with which I took my departure
amuses me when l look back on il
now. | went, and left Kent to his TO-
nance and to the "other man." Per-
haps when you hear the story, you will
say, "And do you call that a romance?''
Perhaps 1t is not much of a one, but
you must remember it is the only ro-
nance Kent eve had. The other man
the man who took my place, brought
1t with him-the romance l mean, all
eece up in a nice little packet, one
might say, for SO it proved. I had
the good fortune to stumble over him
on my way back. although I did not
Know him at the time, but the descrip-
tons tally. He brushed against me
at one OF the stations-almost knocked
me down, in fact, in his rush to get
off the train. I seized him by his
shoulders and held him back. He
shook me off with more than meets
sary force; then, noting my surprised
laugh, he bowed in a genteel fashion
and begged my pardon.
turned to look at him, the same
way I had turned to look at every
body after leaving the foothills. He
was well dressed and well groomed.
His hands were s~oft-looking and white
and his nails highly polished. One
would not have taken him for a pros
pective lineman, but such he proved
TO be.
Il Is necessary to take up the story
now from Kent's standpoint, for l
drop out ef the scene here, though
slightly against my will. l am rather
fond Of mixing in things. If I were
not l would have told this story in a
straightforward fashion and not have
beaten about the bush in the way I
have. But the reader will please re-
member that this is the only stcry I
know, or at least the only one l ever
attempted to tell in my life.
This man, Jack Cassie q wonder
why it is that when a man chooses
an alias he always lights on jack,
appeared at the camp the next morn
ing and asked for Mr.. Kent. That
in itself should have excited suspicion,
for Kent had not sent out "at home
cards, nor introduced himself by name
to the natives. But Kent was born to
be fooled. Mind, l do not say the man
fooled him, but there is a possibility
OF 1t. At any rate, when he asked for
work, Kent promptly handed him out
my place and asked no questions.
Kent was not exactly daft on the
subject of trusting people, but he
came dangerously near being SO. He
had a cheerful theory tucked away
in his soul that the best way to treat
every mar is to trust him; then if the
man is dishonest, he'll give himself
away, and if not, it is all right. Kent
could afford to take chances, for, from
a worldly reckoning he was remark
ably well off. His salary on the sur
vey did not amount to a row of pins to
him, although he was at the head of
the party. Money did not seem to rep
resent to him what it does to most of
us. He had a careless way of leaving
his wallet around. One day he rushe
from his tent with an exclamation akin
to an oath.
"Ive been robbed" he swore.
Serves you right" I replied, "for
leaving your money around"
ut isn't my money" he said with a
snap of his fingers; "it's my collar,
and the only clean collar I had"
And that to Kent was a real tragedy.
But ever Kent had a little suspicion
in his makeup, and Jack Cassie
aroused it after a few days. Who was
he, and where had he come from? It
was at this point that Cassie, waking
up to the fact that he might be ques-
toned, proceeded to tell Kent the story
of his life.
A love affair was connected with his
determination to join the survey, he
said. He had been engaged to be mar
ried to a young woman who had fallen
heir to a large sum of money. With
her wealth had come a desire to probe
into occult sciences, and she proceeded
to use her money as a key to the mys-
teal. She began to associate with
gypsies, wonder-workers, and all the
odd freaks in the place. Cassie plead
ed with her in vain; she was welded
to the black arts, and they seemed to
have supplanted him in her affections.
Finally, she took up the study Of hyp-
notism. This proved too much for
even a lover TO stand, and he informed
her that unless she gave it up, he
should feel justified in breaking their
engagement. The girl laughed at him.
She said that she had made a study Of
personal magnetism, and that she
could win the esteem or love of any
man she wished, and she really did not
know whether she wished his love or
not; she would let him know later.
you are very narrow-minded," she
said, "a1d could not assist me in my
researches, except possibly as a sub
ject. II I wish your love I will retain
it."
Cassie left her abruptly. He had
grave apprehensions regarding her
sanity, and decided that the marriage
should never take place. But the
break was not to be brought about as
easily as he had anticipated. She was
a remarkably handsome woman, with
natural charm enough to satisfy most
men. He did not sever all connection
with her at once and therein lay his
folly. She began to play with him
much as a cat does with a mouse.