Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-08-27


the fire.
81 mean any Roger winship,' Paula
:. replied. I've heard the name to-
night, and seem to have known it
before"
How on earth did it happen?"
came from MNs. Trafford.
There was young man at the
Casino rather an interesting looking
! man, friend of the Dukes. The
J Duke spoke to him and then intro
} duced him to me- I'd noticed him be-
] fore that"
: "I'm surprised at the Duke. It's
/ very queer the sort of people who
seem to know one another nova
, days"
Mrs. Trafford spoke with as much
Eeverity as a beaming content would
permit. Handsome, dimpling, and
energetic, she was spending her mid
die age In the serene satisfaction ,'f
seeing all her dreams fulfilled.
The daughter of a New England
coal merchant, her modest fortune
, had been the foundation on which her
. colossal Coal Trust had been built up.
1t was to her credit to have married
, q poor man, certain that great in
[ dustrial empire awaited him. She
, had married for love, against the
wishes of her family, but her love had
been based on admiration. Her hus.
band and she had passed through
good years and evil years, had lived
, sparingly, had watched and planned
and combined, and made their bust
ness march with the march of the
country. She had seen his rise, with
| the swiftness and sureness Of a Bona
. parte, to the highest financial posi-
ton, first in Vermont, then in New
] England, then in America, then III
the world. Before he was sixty or
! she was fifty, Trafford was name to
!. go with Rothschild. It was name
that meant not only the power of
money, but the power Of power-the
I success Of those who threw in their
. destinies with 1t, and the ruin of
r those who opposed it.
IA During the years in which the
' great trust was being organized and
4 maintained the Traffords had lived in
an atmosphere OF battle. There were
. suits in the law courts, appeals to
e supreme courts, States legislatures to
Q be managed, Congress to be appeased
b foreign trademarks to be invaded, and
8 small competitors to be crushed out
h at home. It had been exciting and
q often dramatic; but as middle-age
drew on and most of the ends had
s been gained, 1t was pleasant to set
n tie down and enjoy the hardly won
a iaurels in peace. George TraffOrd,
d whose late father, Andrew Trafford,
n had shared the family elevation, was
It equal now to taking his uncles place
d In everything but the supreme com.
mand. In the exercise of this Office
l. Paula Trafford himself was never
q idle, hurrying now to one great CAPT
l. tai, now to another with but brief
It intervals to spend with his wife and
daughter at home.
n Home now meant Paris. The dust
u Of conflict being still thick in New
y York, it was natural that Mrs. Traf
! ford, at least, should prefer place oI
!, abode where she could breathe more
y freely. 1t was not less natural thai
. the enticements of fashion and fine
'r weather, as we'll as the needs Of
y Mrs. Traffords health, should draw
them In winter to the Riviera. The
re coming Of the George Traffords from
America, as well as the possibility O
" Paula's engagement to the Duke %
III WlI5ulkc-d pOSblUlllty WAlCu Wds
only awaiting her final word to be
for assembling something like a fam
lily party.
Is At the present minute they were
s. spending the last desultory half-hou
e. of the evening in Mrs. Trafford's sit
ting room, before parting for thu
II night. Mr.. Trafford had alread!
re gone to his apartment, and Mrs
George, beating back a yawn with tn
u. gloves she had just pulled off, wa
~, preparing to take her husband off t,
- theirs. Paula, dressed as she cam,
n from the Casino, sat by window
70 from which she had pulled the cur
- tain back. Under the starlight, tn
- sea cleaned duskily rejecting her
- and there the lamps Of the yatchs an
- chored in the tiny bay. Lights, toe
"a ran in long, slanting line down tn
- sea-wall to the Condamine while NOR
-, lights still punctured the dark mas
:. Of the town of Monaco, looming
- high and ancient, against the sky.
1.-THE Duke couldn't help introduc
q ing him to me" Paula explained, i
~ answer to her mothers objections
~ II was standing near and he aske
~ who was. Besides, we'd notice
y. each other before that"
" Noticed each other?" Mrs. Georg
queried, with just the glirnmer Of
Us smile.
nd 'In the Casino at Monte Carlo,
George Trafford began, "strang
ne ladies don't notice strange gentleme
unless"
NJ 1T was this way" Paula hastene
BIT to say. "I'd won a lot Of money frol
m' him"
ta- "Youd-what7" Mrs. Trafford gasl
~ ed. "You don't mean to say you pla!
ed in that dreadful placer"
es II didn't play exactly. | just pr
lis down ten francs on sort Of squar
u to see what would happen"
ITO "Well?"
ne We'll, he had ten francs on the co
en- responding square on the opposit
or, side, and he lost and I won"