The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1907-10-24


l never regretted the bargain
About two months later 3 somewhat
mysterious stranger called upon ne
10 inquire for sidney coIbcrf's ad'
dress. suspecting this man to he q
collector. declined TO give the de-
sired Information. on the following
day lawyer from the Wall street
district came with the same request
. He assured me that be was acting In
, my friends interest ! told him that
Sidney was just recovering from mn
Illness aud was In miserable circum
stances and that would make II
warm for any sne who annoyed him
Then I gave the address.
was not altogether easy In my
mind, however. and consequently !
called a; Sidney's lodgings one even
ing IN the latter part Of that week He
WIS DOT ai home, and nobody bad
seen him for twp days, Much dis
turbed. I went TO see Miss Dean IN
the studio building, where she dwell
In girl bachelor fashion.
Miss Dean was quaking with nerv
BUSINESS. though she tried 10 conceal It
was sure that she had been pacing
the floor. which was Uttered with all
the evening newspapers. She began
by telling my that shs did not know
where sidney WIS. but when | smiled
upon her sadly she abandoned that de.
ception and admitted that she did
know, but was pledged not TO tell.
''IIe has been so M" she cried,
clinchlng her hands dstractedly. "He
ought TO be IN the country. where he
could be quiet and have pure air to
breathe
is he ia any sort OF troubleY
asked, and she said no. except that he
was very weak from illness aud
needed rest.
is he at worky'
"yes.r
Then he will soon have some mon
ey and can go out Of town. said /.
Twenty dollars weekr' she re-
sponded with withering scorn.
That was all learned about Sidney,
but Miss Dean consented to speak more
freely OF herself. thought It my duty
to Inquire, because for all knew she
might be penniless. II appeared, how
ever, that she was a fairly good man.
ager, and, though the allowance upon
which she lived was barely sufficient |
for hor support she had never gone ip
debt. Indeed she had for a time pre-
served some small savings, but these
she had spent for Sidney during his |
Illness. Sidney did not know this, OF |
course. II would never occur TO him |
that little expenses for q sick mans |
delicate provender could have any con
siderable total.
saw Sylvia quite frequently after
that but did not SEQ Sidney nor could
get track Of him, though ! made va.
rious endeavors hint from Sylvia
gave me the impression that the mystic
rlous work in which Sidney was en-
gagged might not DO viewed with ap-
proval by stern moralist, and this led
me TO believe that hc was employed by
Shenstone. II was possible, however,
that he might be serving Shenstone's
enemies. Could 1t be possible that his
resemblance to the speculator was be
Ing used In some wild scheme of per
sonaton?. Sidney would never consent
to such dishonesty, but In the hands Of
the shrewd and reckless men who were
fighting Shenstone's pool my friend
would be n mere child IL would be no
trouble at all for them 10 make Sidney
believe that black was white.
Sylvia was as careless as most wom-
en- are Of the ethics Of business. Her
sole anxiety in this matter was for Sid
ney's health. made out that she had
either very meager reports OF him or
none at all
II should not be surprised any day
TO hear that he was dead" said she to
me. with black foreboding written on
her face.
think IL was not twentyfour hours
nfterward that was going through the
regular daily report from one Of the
.ity news bureaus and came upon this
typewrltten upon the thin,
ilrty yellow paper that they use;
"silney Colbert, a writer. was taken
10 st. Margarets hospital late last
right suffering with ulcer Of the stonl'
ach. An immediate operation VIII be
necessary. In this disease surgery is
rot resorted to until the ulcer pene-
srates the wall OF the organ, and the
,bances are always against the pa
iient. Doctors at the hospital declined
10 discuss the case"
AS soon as ! could get away from
the Office | went TO see Sylvia. She
Eas not In Presumably she was at
st Margaret's, There, however, |
rould get no word OF her, nor was
able, with all my pull" either to see
Sidney or TO send him n message.
obtained the Information that the OPP
,ratlon had been performed and that
he PATIENTS condition was fairly
good. On the following day ] learned
lhnt he was dead.
As Sidney bad no near relatives !
oined with some other men who had
known him, and we claimed his body. .
The funeral was held IN the chapel ad-
Joining the hospital, aud we gathered
quite company OF mourners. But
Sylvia was not present, and ] could .
not find her. My anxiety was ex, ,
treme, for ! knew that she had loved .
Sidney with all her heart. hut before /,
| had taken any steps to trace her
through the usual public machinery !,
| received rather curt message that
she had gone 20 her old home In ,
Maine About three weeks later. how
ever. ! met her on the street.
II was near the place where she had
lived. and ] accompanied her tJse
Sylvia" said when we stood in
her little sitting room, you say yon !,
have just got lack 10 town. don't
believe you'yc ever been away"