Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1906-03-23
/ / 1erRansom-
By WILLARD

meant to silence the speaker with Il
blow, then fell back and laughed
hoarsely.
Hold on said Lavarick. Just at
that moment there came a knock at the
door. You were fiur.ricd-whicn was
only natural-and you rushed to the
door, showing the will inside your
waistcoat.. as you thought
Jordan's lips twitched. Lavarick, rs
If warming to his work, went OF 1'itb
suppressed excitement, and yet care
fully and ~guardedly as If no minute
detail of the terrible scene should be
lost. !
1T was the nurse. You went out
side to her for q minut or two, kept
her out, sent her for something. l sup
pose, and went back to the bed. The
old man raised himself on his elbow.
tried to speak, pointed at you, then
screamed out and went off-dead. LII
came the nurse and the doctor. ana
the rest of them. and there was Il con
fusion as usual. You were terribly
cut up, quite the affectionate son-oh.
very loving and h~eartbrokcn, and all
that. And you got EN- out of the room
hat you might be alone. And the
very first thing you did when 0 were
alone was to put your hand in your
waistcoat M find that the will
wasn't there"
Jordan drew a long breath. and he
folded his arms and looked at Lavarick
%defiantly.
ut made you queer for a moment
resumed Lavarick. You could have
taken your oath that you'd stuck it in
side your bosom, you know. But it
wasn't there. Then you began to hunt
about. But you couldn't find it. 1t
was as clean gone as if you'd burned
it. Just then-after you'd beer search
ing for about a quarter Of an hour-I
heard footsteps outside. I knew they'd
nab me if l stayed where I was, or If
I went down. I'd got to come into
the room, and-came." He laughed
grimly. II thought you'd have had a
fit when you saw me open the window
and slip inside. You looked worse
than you looked when 1 came in just
now, and that's saying a good deal.
OF course, you'd have given me up, but
I had this little friend here and he
tapped the table with his revolver
''and that kept you quiet for a minute
till I'd explained that I'd heard you
and the old man, and that If you
offered to give me up I'd split on you
Jordan bit his lip, but remained 81.
lent.
"You were always a cool one, ana
you pulled yourself together after a
minute or two. 1t didn't take long to
persuade you that the best thing you
could do vas to hide me in the cup
board there, get me a suit Of your
own clothes, and give me money
enough to clear out Of the country
with. Once he's out of the way
thought you, he won't dare to come
back And you Were right. Sir Jor-
dan-up to a point. | left the house
next morning quite free and open like;
they took me for one of the under
takers men, 1 expect; there was an
sorts Of people coming and going, and
i looked such Il perfect gentleman,
such a respectable cad in your toys,
that even il that idiot TraIe had seen
Ille LIZ "olldu l. nave hIoWli Liz. ALI
he laughed with keen enjoyment. II
got clear off, and never intended to
come back, but"-he paused, and his
face darkened-"well, 1 got homesick.
for one thing, and"
"You thought you could blackmail
me- said Jordan. "You are a fool. /
listened patiently to your far
rago Of nonsense and a%bsurdity, list
ened far more patiently than a judge
jury would do. Yes, o are a fool.
Who do you think would believe this
~cock-and-bull story of a second will:
A story told by an escaped convict!
he laughed contemptuously. "No such
will ever existed excepting in your
fertile ina gination; the whole story is
a concoction worthy of a scoundrel
who committed a clever forgery and
escaped from prison, a well-known
whom it is my duty to hand
over to the police
Lavarick eyed him sideways with
evil leer.
s'I'm a fool, am IT. he said. IT dare
say; but I'm not half such a fool as
you, who forget that the will was wit.
messed, and that one of the witnesses,
old Mrs. Parsons, is alive and kick
ing"
Jordan started, and the color which
had been creeping back into his face
deserted it again, but he forced q
sheer.
Very WE'LL" he said. "WelI admit
the will, If you like; but you have lied
In your version Of what occurred, lied
as a convict naturally would to serve
his purpose and make his story COM
plete. 1t was my father who changed
his mind and repented Of the will, who
burned II. l saw him do it, and, so did
you! He burned it in the candle a few
minutes before he died.
Lavarick smacked his leg with his
hand.
That's a clever stroke of yours, Sir
Jordan he exclaimed, as il with
genuine admiration. Its smart, right
down smart. I couldn't have hit upon
a neater idea myself. But'-he leaned
forward and glared cunningly with his
evil eyes at Jordan-..it won't work.
The old man didn't ourn the will, be
cause-it In existence"
Jordan cIinched his hands, and kept
his lips steady.
That's a lie," he said. sIf 1t is in
existence, where is it? Who has got
it?'