Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1907-01-10

i'fl''l pt't OF ny Ilili.
\ had forgottcn about it, said I.
iNi. NpW that you renlini me | want
,nN n''iie witndraWu. II wa a pass
ING lHn"N. 1t WAS ltit aud parcel Of :.
int 81 damn FOOL nnrsS rye been in
dul$inS in for the lass fsw months.
t'ut ite come to ny sc}isos and it's
me Ia the Wild where belong. sam
my. from this time ON
~" looked tremendously relieved. and
Il niue puzzled, too. thought | vas
reading him like AN Illuminated sign.
'hes eager To keep friends With me-
in"ushi /. until he's absolutely sure
~tl're's nothing more in ii for him and
ms people AEd that guess was a
pretty good one. Ii is not to the dis
credit OF my shrewdness thai l didn't
see 1t was not hope. but fear. thar
made him try To placate me. l could
not have possibly known then what the
lansdon's had lone. but Sammy
was saying. III his friendliest tone:
WHATS the matter. old man? You're
sour tonight"
Never In better hutnor." / assured
him. and as l spoke the words they
came true. What | had been saying
about the Travellers and all II repre-
sented-all the .nnhbery. and stnirk-
ing. and rotten petense my final and
absolut" renunciatiou of it all-acted
on me as rye seen Religion nc; on the
'"s' " W So uP w tilts
mourners' bench mt the REVEALS. | felt
as IL l had suddenly emerged from the
parlor of Il dive and its stencil of sick
cning perfumes into the rlir. air OF
Gods heaven.
j signed the bill. ana We went afuot
up the avenue. Sam. as l s,w With Il
good deal of amusement. WAS trying
I" devise some subtle. tactful way of
attaching his poor. ciumsy little sue
ton pump tn the we'll of my secret
thoughts.
What is it. sammy said 1 at last.
'NnH' 1t" N"u want to know that you're
afraid to ask me-
Nothing" he said hastily. I'm only
a bit worried about about you and
Textile. Matt"-this i'm the tone OF
deep c,notiun we reserve for the at
tempt 10 lure our friends into contid-
ing that about themselves which viii
give US the opportunity to pity them.
and. If necessary. so sheer OF from
them Matt. ! DO hope GOT haven't
been hard hit
Not yet" said I easily. DRY your
tears and put away your black clothes.
Your friend. Tom Langdun. WAS Il little
premature"
Tn afraid I've given YOU A false
impression" sam continued. with am
ovcieagerness la convince me that did
not attract my attention ut the time.
Tom merely said. 4 hear Blackjack is
loaded up with Textile shorts thnt
WAS all. a careless renark. l really
didn't think of it again until I saw
you looking so black and glu,n.'
That seemed natural enough. so I
changed the subject. AS we entered
his house l said:
I'm not go up to the drawing room.
my excuses to yoni mother. will you?
IN turn into thu little smoking room
here. Tell yo,r sister-and say I'm go
ing tn stop only II moment"
Sam haii just left when the butler
came. Mr.. BALL hin that was the
name. sir-wishes to speak to You on
the telephone"
1 had given Ellcrslys' as one of the
places ut which might he found.
hould it be necessary to consult me.
l ollowed the butler to the telephone
closet under the main stairway. AS
soon as Ball made sure 1t was l, he
began:
"Ill use the code words. I've just
seen Fearless, AS you told me to-"
FearIess-that was Mitchell. my spy
in the employ of Tnvistock. who was
my principal rival in the business OF
confidential brokerage for the high fl
nanciers. Yes said 1. What Ices
he say"
There has been n Great deal of heavy
buying for Il month past
Their my dread was we'll founded
Textiles were to be deliberately rock
ct.d. WHO'S been doing it?' asked.
He found out only this afternoon.
IT'S beer kept unusually dark. It
Who: Who" I demanded.
Intrepid" he answered.
intr"pid-that il. I.angdon-Mow bray
Langdon.
The whole thing was planned care.
fully continued Ball. and is corning
OF a~ccordingto schedule. Fearless orer-
heard a final message Intrepid's brother
brought from him today
So IL was no mischanc~-it was an
assassination. Mowbra. Langdon had
stabbed me in the Nack and fed.
Did You henv what l said:" asked
Ball. is THAI YOU
Yes" ) replied.
oh" came in a relieved tone from
tn" other end OF the wire. You were
I'd been cut off. Any instruotions?"
No said l. "Good-by."
heard him ring of. but ] sat there
for several minutes. the receiver still
to ny ear. 1 was muttering: Lang
don, again
and again. Why had he turned against
me" Why had plotted to destroy me.
one of those plots so frequent i'm Walt
treet-wher the assassin steals up. de.
livers the mortal blow. and steals await
without ever being detected or even
suspected: l saw the whole plot now
l understood Tom activities.
I recalled Mowbray Langdon's curious
phrases and looks II tones. But-whv
-why-why? How was / In his way?
1t was all dark to me-pitch dark.
l returned to the smoking room. lighted
"a cigar. sat fumbling at the new situa.
ton. I was in no worse plight than be.
fore.what did 1t matter who wa at.
lacking me: In the circumstance. a
novice could now destroy me as easily
al a Langdon. Still Balls news seemed
to Lake away my courage. 1 reminded
myself that / was used t t~rcacherv Of
this sort, that l deserved what I was
getting because I had. like a fool. dron.
ned mN- QlloHd In tho A-A