Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-24

y
| from me and mine And you pay me by
| playing the petticoat-Judas. Look here,
| there's something behind all this! Tell me
| what ii means"
1T means" answered Anice who had
| borne without wincing the hot lash of the
| angry mans scorn-'it means that I've
| tried to pay a debt. Part have paid. Part
l am paying
"A debt? What rot are you trying to
talk? /"
7 IF you care to. listen I'll tell you. will
make it as short 1 Shall go on?
Conover nodded assent as a man in a
dream.
My father began Anice, speaking dis
passionatey, her rich voice f1attened to a
quiet monotone-"my father was Foster
Lanier. You never knew him. You never
knew many of the men you have wrecked
But he was chief stakeholder in the Oak
| land-Rodney railroad. He was not BUSH
ness man. The stock was left him by his
father. 1t was all we had to live on 1t
was enough. You owned the c. G. & X
Little by little you bought up the other
Mountain state roads. At last you came to
make 1t as short as l can. Shall go on?'
Il remember my lawyer told me there was
some stiff-necked old fossil who owned the
majority stock and wouldn't SELL
so you crushed him. went on Anice,
cut off the roads connecting points and
severed its communication with your own
and your allied lines. After isolating 1t you
lowered your own freight rates and mileage
was gone. The road collapsed, and you
bought 1t in. My father was pauper.
Other men have been driven to the same
straits by you-men whose very names you
did not take the trouble to learn. My father
knew little of business. To others who
had bought Oakand-Rodney stock at his
advice, he sold what little property he had
and bought their worthless stock back at
par. He was ruined and above his head
| in debt. My mother was an invalid. The
! doctors said trip to the Mediterranean
| ,fcrlt Ia, 70 In1 y,nt 1nI1o
| So she died My father-he out of his
mind from grief and from financial worry
my father shot himself. 1t was hushed UP
| by friends, and he was reported acct
| dentally killed while hunting. 1t was only
/ one of the countless victories you 'finan-
ciers' are so proud of. He and my mother
were but two of the numberless victims
| each of those victories entails"
She paused. Caleb made no reply. He sat
| looking in front of him into the pulsing
| heart of the fire. He had scarce heard her
His mind was occupied to bursting by the
| shock and acute pain of this rupturng of
| his last intimate bond with humanity
| Il was left to make my own way con-
| tinued Ance. land came here. Out of one
| not mere coincidence believe it was some
thing more. Something higher. l entered
your service that might some day pay the
debt l owed my father. who was not strong
enough to bear your victory and my
mother, whose life the money you wrested
from us might have saved This is melo-
dramatic of course. But 1 think most
things In real life are. l came here. ]
worked for you. I won your confidence,
your respect, your trust Perhaps you
think it was pleasant task had set my
self? l am not trying to justify it. If it
was unworthy, l have paid. You say I've
eaten your bread and lived your money
have. And l have received your con-
fidence. But have ever eaten mouthful
or received one penny that l did not earn
three times over? You yourself have said
again and again that was worth to you
ten times what you paid me. You have
begged me to let you raise my salary, to
accept presents from you. Have l ever
consented? If there is a money balance
between US, the debit is all on your side. 1
owe you nothing for what condolences you
have lavished on me- Have 1 ever asked
for them or lured you into bestowing them?
Have not all such condolences come un-
sought, even repealed, by me? Have l ever
civility? Have l ever so much as volun-
tarily shaken your hand? The Judas
parallel does not hold good, Mr.. Conover."
She waited again for reply. But none
came Conover merely shifted his heavy
gaze from the fire to her pale, drawn face.
In all these years, said Anice. Il have
waited my chance. l could not take your
life to atone for the two gentle lives you
crushed out. Nor would a life like yours
have paid one-hundredth of the debt. So !
have waited until your life-happiness, your
whole future, should be bound up in some
one great aspiration Until You should
stake all on one card. When such time
shouid come resolved would make you
taste the bitter shame ana despair you have
mace others groan uhder. On, II was long,
weary waiting out thlnk the end is COM
ing; III mas come.
lou TAX me- MISS l-anler, observed
Caleo an master OF himself once more.
but talking S never quoted at par, except
IN poker game and wedding ceremony.
1ou We Deeh reaQlng novels, and you've
framed up DANDY line OF story book rec
VenSe It's as good as any stage villainess
could nave thought of. But. honest, it clean
surprises me how woman with all your
brains could have took such a fool plan
seriously. It's grand stunt to grab the
center of the stage and drive the wicked OPP
pressor out into the snow. Only it don't
happen to be showing tonight. Neither
really nor fig ratively. No. no, Miss Lanier
your hands four-fiush, and / hold
whole bunch of aces. Go ahead with your
little fireworks, if that's your diversion 1t
won't bother any one. Certainly not me-
The only regret I've got in the whole bust
ness is finding you've so little horse sense"
"If l had so little" answered Anice calm
ly, 1.-The affair would have to end here and
now As IL is"
"Wen?"
It's going on
"Oh, you've extra cards to turn that
four-fiush into win, Ell? Show 'em out.
/ CALI