Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1907-06-27
,,neularly bright and direct In glance,

| singularly bright and direct in glance,
and shaded by heavy brows. The
whole face and poise of the tall, lean
body spoke of power, knowledge and
| resolution.
One man was of the earth, earthly;
| the other seemed far removed from
! sensual and material things Yet, per-
haps deep student of character, and
one who had gone far into the hidden
springs of action within the human
sour, would have preferred the weak,
easy-going sensualist, with all his
meannesses and yiciousness, TO ths
hard and agate intellect the indomita-
BILE and lawless will, that sometimes
shone out upon the face of the scient-
list like lit lamp.
| Charliewood sat down in obedience
70 g motion of his hosts hand. He sat
down with sigh for he knew that he
had been summoned to Sir William
Gouldesbrough's house to perform yet
another duty which was certain to be
distasteful and furtive.
Yes! There was no hope for it now
For the last few years the man about
town had been under the domination
of stronger will than his, of more
cunning, of more ruthless brain.
Little by little he had become en-
tangled within the net that Gouldes-
brough had spread for him. And the
lure had been, then and afterward, a
| 11,ro nP Ypnpov--fhn fbiyp Chor li
| wood worshipped in the world.
The history of the growth Of his
secret servitude to this famous man
was long one. Money had been lent
to him, he had signed this or that pa
per, he had found his other large
debts bought up by the scientist, and
at the end Of three years he found
himself willy-nilly, body and soul, the
servant of this man, who could ruin
down out Of his comfortable life for
ever and a day.
No living soul knew or suspected
that there was any such bond as this
between the two men. Even Charlie,
woods enemies never guessed the
truth-that he was d sort of jackal, a
spy to do his masters bidding, to exs
cute that or that secret commission, ia
go and come as he was ordered.
AS yet, all the services which Char.
liewood had rendered to Sir William,
and for which, be it said, he was ex-
cellently paid, were those which,
though they bordered upon the dis
honorable and treacherous, never actu-
ally overstepped the borders.
Gouldesbrough employed Charlie
wood to find out this or that, to make
acquaintance with one person or an
other, to lay the foundation, In fact,
of an edifice which he himself would
afterward build upon information
supplied by the clubman. There was
no crime in any Of these proceedings,
no robbery or blackmail An what
happened after he had done his work
Charliewood neither knew nor cared
OF one thing, however, he was certain,
that whatever the scientists motives
might be-and he did not seek to
probe them-they were not those OF
the ordinary criminal. Tor, indeed,
ever bordered upon the criminal at all
All that Charliewood knew, and real.
lied with Importance and bitterness,
was that he had allowed himself to be
come a mere tool and spy of this
mans, prober Of secrets, walker in
tortuous by-paths.
What did you wire to me for!''
Charliewood said in sulky voice.
What do you want me to do now?"
Sir William looked quickly at his
guest, and there was momentary
CLEAN Of ill-temper in his eyes, but he
answered smoothly enough.
my dear Charliewood, I wish you
wouldn't take that tone. Surely we
have been associated too long togeth-
er for you to speak to me in that way
now. 1t has suited your convenience
to do certain things for me, and it has
suited my convenience to make it
worth your while to do them. There
is the whole matter. Please let's be
friendly, as we always have been"
Charliewood shrugged his shoulders
"You know very well, Gouldes
brough,'' he said, that 1 am in your
hands and have got to do anything
you ask me in reason. However, ]
don't want to insist on that aspect OF
the question if you don't. What did
you wire to me for?"
Ito Be continued.)