Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1907-11-18

probably write others. Then I shall
write, too, for the newspapers and
magazines. 1t viii add to our income"
"Your book, The American Octopus
Is selling woll?" inquired the Judge, IN
terested.
$50 WELL replied Shirley, that the
publishers wrote me in Paris that the
fourth edition was now on the press.
That means good royalties. I shall
soon be a fashionable author. The
publishers will be after me for more
books, and We'll have all the money
we want Oh, 1t is so delightful, this
novel sensation Of a literary SUGGEST
she exclaimed with glee. aren't you
proud of me. dad?'
Tks judge smiled indulgently. OF
course he was glad and proud. He al
ways knew his Shirley was a clever
girl. But by what strange fatality, he
thought to himself, had his daughter
In this book of hers assailed the very
man who had encompassed his own
ruin? 1t seemed like the retribution
of heaven. Neither his daughter nor
the financier was conscious of the fact
that each was indirectly connected
with the impeachment proceedings.
Ryder could not dream that SHIRLEY
| Green" the author of the book which
f1ayed him so mercilessly, was the
| daughter Of the man he was trying to
| crush. Shirley, on the other hand, was
| still unaware of the fact that it was
| Ryder who had fured her father to his
| ruin.
When at last she could lock herself
| in her room where no eye could see
| her, Shirley threw herself down on the
bed and burst into a torrent of tears.
She had kept up appearances as long
| as it was possible, but now the reac-
ton had set in. She gave way freely
to her pent up feelings; she felt that
unless she could relieve herself in this
way her heart would break She had
been brave until now, she had been
| strong to bear everything and see
| everything, but she could not keep it
up forever. Stott's words to her on
| the dock had in part prepared her for
| the worst; he had told her what to ex-
| pect at home, but the realization was
SO much more vivid. Then to have
come to this all in the brief space of a
few months! 1t was incredible, terri
BILE, heart rending! And what of the
future? What was to be done to save
her father from this impeachment
which she knew well would hurry him.
to his grave? He could not survive
that humiliation, that degradation. He
must be saved in the senate. but how
how?
She dried her eyes and began to
think. Surely her woman's wit would
find some way. She thought of Jeffer-
son. Would he come to Massapequa?
1t was hardly probable. He would
certainly learn of the change in their
circumstances, and his sense of deli
cacy would naturally keep him away
| for some time even if other considera-
tons less unselfish did not. Perhaps
he would be attracted to some other
girl he would like as we'll and who was
not burdened with a tragedy in her
| family. Her tears began to flow afresh
until she hated herself for being so
| weak while there was work to be done
to save her father. She loved Jeffer
| son. Yes, she had never felt so sure
of it as now. She felt that if she had
him there at that moment she would
throw herself in his arms, crying:
| stake me, Jefferson-take me away
| where you will-for 1 love you! l love
your But Jefferson was not there,
and the rickety chairs in the tiny bed
room and the cheap prints on the walls
seemed to gbe at her in her misery.
| Suddenly she thought of Jefferson's
| promise to interest his father in their
| case, and she clutched at the hope
this promise held out as a drowning
man clutches at drifting straw. JEFF
ferson would not forget his promise,
and he would come to Massapequa to
| tell her Of what he had done. She
was sure of that. Perhaps, after all,
there was where their hope lay. Why
had she not told her father at once?
1t might have relieved his mind. John
Burkett Ryder, the Colossus, the man
of unlimited power! He could save
her father, and he would. And the
more she thought about it the more
cheerful and more hopeful she became,
and she started to dress quickly, so
that she might hurry down to tell her
father the good news. She was actual
~ sorry now that she had said so many
hard things of Mr.. Ryder in her book,
and she was worrying over the thought
that her fathers case might be serious
" preiudiced if the identity Of the
author were ever revealed, when there
came a knock at her door. It was
EudoXia.
please, miss, will you come down
to lunch?"
fro BE Continued