The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1907-03-04


room, he began to deliver an orarlon
to her on the subject of magazine pub
! licatiOn. His eloquence produced an
unexpected effect, for the woman be-
came wildly excited and finally fell to
! the floor In sort Of fit. Then Billy
ran for the landlady, with whose as
sistance he carried the hysterical
servant to her room.
Returning to his own place after this
unusual exercise he sat down to reflect
upon the strange happenings that had
recently varied the monotony of his ex-
istence and was presently confronted
by one that overtopped the others
topped eve 'y -, b. lid remember
to have s. . oySisc # dreamland.
There was upon the desk paper
| weight Of painted porcelain, Christ
mas present from Dorothy and very
dear to his heart Protruding from
| beneath it he now beheld something
| green, and this green substance proved
| to be four bank notes, each Of the de-
nomination Of $500.
"Dear, dear little girl he said aloud,
| and the tears rushed into his eyes.
This was not money any more, it was
her love, and he laid down his head
on these poor counters in the pretty
game of trade and kissed them.
Presently he arose, put the money
! into his safest pocket and strobe away
| to Dorothy's house, where he was in
formed that Miss Vincent had not yet
returned to town. Billy knew better
He perceived a trick and instantly
| formulated one of his own. He tele.
graphed to Dorothy in the west Though
he knew she wasn't there as follows:
I can't take it, Dorothy, but you're the
| greatest girl in the world.
In the early evening came this reply
You must. But how did you find out
about it? DOROTHY.
To which he responded:
I have the money and will hold it for
| you. I cannot use it as you WISH
At 1 o'clock in the morning the door
bell changed, and Billy received this
| telegram:
Impossible. Did not mail check till to-
day. Can't understand what you mean.
DOROTHY.
Billy had not money enough to con,
tinue this correspondence by wire with
| out breaking one of. the $500 bills, SO he
wrote a long letter which he mailed
about daybreak, and by the last de-
hot Of
| othy's letter, full Of subtle persuasion
| and inclosing her check for $1,000
Three days later came Dorothy herself
and in the thrilling conversation which
| ensued she denied in the most explicit
manner all knowledge of the larger
| sum.
| It will be remembered that Louis XII
| Of France had many solemn forms OF
| adjuration, only one Of which he held
to be binding, and he would never tell
! which Of them it was. Few men have
been SO clever as Louis, but nearly all
reservation is the natural weapon OF
| the sex. AS student of human ma ture
Billy Allenwood knew this, and, though
| he held Dorothy to be the fawless
| pearl Of womanhood, he still could not
free his mind Of the notion that the
| four big bank notes had once beer
| hers. It was therefore with an in.
defnable disfavor, sense Of some
| thing gone from his own soul, that he
at last paid down the $4,000 into the
capital Of the great scheme.
The $1,000 which was confessedly
Dorothy's was placed in bank, but in
the early days, when the scheme
seemed surely winning, Billy lost his
balance wheel, veered to the delusion
that he had foolishly shut Dorothy out
from the greatest opportunity of hel
life and at last permitted her to invest
her money. Then came the later days
the days of disappointment, Of ex
penses marvelously swollen and re
ceipts miraculously shrunk.
On the blacklist Of black days, wher
Billy had left the Office merely to gel
away from it and not because his
work was done, he was aware of re
membered face in the crowd, and q
name leaped into his mind. . a..
II beg your pardon, SIR" said he
Are you Mr. Mousoud?"
NO." replied the stranger, with 8
touch Of excellent courtesy even III
so small matter.
III happened to be present when you
met with an accident two or three
months ago." said Billy, "and after
ward found a letter on the spot" and
he described the occurrence.
1T was NINE" said the other, who
seemed surprised and even more
amused. "May I ask what has be-
come of it?'
81 have 1t at my rooms" answered
Billy. "Would you care to come with
me and get it?"
eff you were on your way there
yes" said he.