Chicago eagle., 1905-08-12

IOEty years.
When Harvey returned the blinds were |
drawn and the gas was burning. and the |
young man was astonished Mt the beam |
ing face his uncle wore. Now that the |
beard was gone and the great fringe OF
dropping moustache was trimmed to neat |
ness. there were unexpected characteris- |
tics Of simple mirth and humor about the
mouth. and at this instant these signs
were at their broadcast.
ave hit upon a scheme since you
went out" cried Jcthroe. 'Tm going
to make plan with Monboddo. Before
my dcccasc I shall have coniided my se-
cret to Monboddo. l shall have told him
the name of one man at least to whom
these little documents of mine would be
of priceless value. I'm going to have
bogus copy made and false key. After
my funeral Monboddo will possess him.
self of these. and. not knowing how to
use them to his advantage, will sell them
to my friend Ezekc. My friend Ezekiel
will pay. Oh. he'll pay! Monbodlo shnll
bleed him. Ha! ha. ha! Ezekiel will
try to swindie his partners. of course.
He'll gloat aud exult and sweat his
brains for nothing; and then I'll put Mon.
boddo on to another of the gang. and
make him sell Ezekiel. Hnrvey" he said.
with a sudden rage of exultation. I'll
make 'em drink the cup they poured for
me! I don't know IL you know it," he
continued. with an immediate return to
quictude of voice and manner. "but I've
carried my life in my hands for years
on end. I'm not a timid man by nature.
and custom has hardened me a good deal.
And yet. you know. the fact of being
hunted for ones life is not u pleasant
thing: and when you've had a year or
two Of the wear and tear Of 1t. 1t grows
irksome. Your nerves will play tricks
sometimes. You hear footsteps and
breathings In the dark. The thing comes
on you In your dreams. and In my dreams
I'm an arrant coward. My friend Eze-
kiei. by the way. Is fond Of a heavy sup
per. I fancy he'll be changing his habits
In that respect before six months are
| over"
Harvey surrendered himself. There
was a magnetism In the man who. while
threatened. hunted. and In peril Of his
life. confronted the situation, and con.
trolled It and used 1t for his own angrily
mirthful purpose. Within half an hour
the younger man was away ut the elders
bidding In search of a lithographc art
ist. In an hour he was back with his
man. a sort Of business mind whose 70.
cnbulary seemed limited to the one
phrase "Ou, ay! Wanted to transcribe
chess problems? "Ou, ay" On thin
vellum? "Ou. n.y." Of this size. six
problems aside? "Ou. ay" Himself a
chess player? "Ou, ay" Then the bust.
ness man grew loquacious. and said. "A
bit of one" and after that conversa tional
outburst withdrew to prepare his esti.
mate.
| Jethroe insisted on going to the the.
ater after dinner. but Harvey thought II
impolitic to accompany him, and he went
alone.
IL don't know myself" he declared
when he returned. ''l'm trihe short.
sighted for the theater nowadays, md
l stepped into an oculist's and bought
an eyeglass on my way. l was dandy
at your agc, Harvey, and 1t was a trick
of mine to wear one. ! saw, a tall, mill
tary looking fellow walking straight at
me In the vestibule Of the theater, and
skipped out of his way. He skipped into
mine. l skipped back again. and 80 did
he. 1t wasn't till the third skip found
was lodging my own reflection. It's a
good disguise. eh?'
Its an astonishing change" Harvey
assented, "but I wouldn't rely upon II
too much. It's growing familiar to me
already. can see the old frame about
the face. The eyes are there"
"Ye--es," said Jethroe. examining him.
self in the pier glass, Il suppose they
are"
"And the voice Is there" said Harvey
"Yes, confound it! know that.
can't tune that laundering old bassoon
to another note. Never mind. We're
out of action for the time being. aud
under good shelter
They sat till long after midnight, and
Jethroe the elder did the talking. He
spread out n wild panorama Of the rug
ged Andes. and he peopled these strange
places with adventurers. gold seekers
diamond seekers, Illicit diamond buyers
the widest kinds of rascal and the sound
est hearted of men--a phantasma gOria
of all that II best and worst In human
nature. sneak and swinder and bully and
hero, a most strange, mixed crowd Of ex
emplars Of the highest and the lowest
And the talker was man with an ey'
for character. and reported at first hand
of what he knew; so that his speech
fascinated the bankers clerk, who had
known nothing of the world but it's rout
Inc. But Jethroe the younger had thu
family eye for character, and the thinl
. that most impressed him was that thi'
: remarkable uncle ut every turn display
ed unconsciously a very sterling honOl
{ and a rare good heart.
That nights talk made them comrades
and their parting handshake was com
pact.