, 1906-01-31
CONTINUED.

Nooh chi " thio hlhd VI tlHb,
though. My only fear was that-Jones
wouldn't consider me worthy to receive
the fortune. 1t never occurred to me
that he might prove to be the-the I'M
worthy one"
81 will take you a little farther into
u confidence, Brewster" said Grant
slowly. "Mr. Jones notified us in the
beginning that he would be governed
largely in his decision by our opinion
Of your conduct. That is why we felt
no hesitation IA you to con-
tinue as you wee sJ.iIs. While you
were off at sea we Aad many letters
from him, all il that sarcastic vein of
his, but in none of them did he offer a
word of criticism. He seemed thor
oughly satisfied with your methods. In
fact, he once said he'd give a million of
his own money If it would purchase
your ability to spend o%ne-fourth of it."
"Well, he can have my experience
free Of charge. A beggar can't be a
chooser, you know" said Brewster bit
terly. His color was gradually coming
back. what do they know about the
secretary" he asked suddenly, intent
and alive.
"He was a new one, I understand,
who came to Jones less than a year
ago. Jones Is said to have had implicit
faith in him." said Ripley.
"And he disappeared at the same
time?'
'"They were last seen together"
'"Then he has put an end to Jonesi"
cried Monty excitedly. "It is as plain
as day to me. Don't you see that he
exerted some sort of influence over the
old man, inducing him to get all this
money together on some pretext or
other solely for the purpose of robbing
him of the whole amount? Was ever
anything more diabolical?" He began
pacing the hoor like an animal, merry
ously clasping and unclasping his
hands. "We must catch that secretary!
l don't believe Jones was dishonest.
He has been duped by a clever scoun-
drel."
"The strangest circumstance of all,
Mr.. Brewster, is that no such person as
Golden, the purchaser of our proper
ties, can be found. He is supposed to
reside in Omaha, n it is known that
he paid nearly 100000 for the prop
erty hat now stands in his name. He
paid it to Mr.. Jones in cash, too, and
he paid every cent that the property is
WORTH
"But he must be in existence some
where cried Brewster in pe%rplexity.
'How could he pay the money if he
doesn't eXist?"
81 only know that no trace of the
man can be found. They know nothing
of him in Omaha" said Grant helpless
ly.
$50 it has finally happened" said
Brewster, but his excitement had
dropped. Well" he added, throwing
himself into a deep chair, ut was al
ways much too strange to be true.
Even at the beginning it seemed like a
dream, and now-well, now l am just
awake, like the little boy after the
fairy tale. / seem like a fool to have
taken it so seriously"
There was no other way" protested
Ripley. you were quite right"
"Well, after ALL" continued Brewster,
and the voice was as of one in a
dream, perhaps it's as we'll to have
been in Wonderland, even If you have
to come down afterward to the or
binary world. l am foolish, perhaps,
but even now l would not give it up"
Then the thought of Peggy clutched
him by the throat, II he stopped.
After a moment he gathered himself
together and rose. Gentlemen" he
said sharply, and his voice had chang
ed, 81 have had my fun, and this is the
end of it. Down underneath / am des-
perately tired of the whole thing, and l
give you my word hat you will find me
a different man tomorrow. l I'M going
to buckle down to the real thing. l
am going to prove that my GRANDPA
TIERS blood is in me. And l shall
come out on top"
Ripley was obviously moved as he re-
piled: 81 don't question it for a mo-
ment. You are made of the right stuff.
1 saw that long ago. You may count
on us tomorrow for any amount you
need"
Grant Endorsed the opinion. II like
your spirit, Brewster" he said. 'There
are not many men who would have
taken this as well. It's pretty hard on
you, too, and it's a miserable wedding
gift for your BRIDE"
1--WE may have important news from
Butte in the morning." said Ripley
hopefully. "At n rate. more OF the