Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1907-02-14
XIII
A


Joe's daughter staying on ami On AT
Dawn Hill, was chief lieutenant. If not
principal. In my conspiracy to drift
Anita day by day further and further
into the routine ~ the new He. Yet
neither OF Us had shown by word OF
look that y II rough understanding ex
listed between us Ny part vas To be
unobtrusive. friendly. neither indiffer-
emit nnr eager. and I held to II by tax
ing care never 20 be left alone viii,
Anita. Alva's part was To ne herself
simple and natural and sensible. full of
life and laughter. knocking at those
moods that betrny us into The absurd
lily of taking ourselves t" seriously.
! was getting ready "A new house In
tosvn as a surprise TO Anita. and l took
Alva into my plot. Il wish .Anita's
r.trt OF the house 20 be exactly 30 her
liking said /. ','an you SCI her tn
dreaming aloud what kline OF place she
would like To live in. What She could
like To open her eyes IN III the morn
ing. what surroundings she'd Ike to
dress in and read In. and all that"
Alva had no difficulty In carrying out
the suggestions. And by harassins
Ntstlake necessarily. | succeeded Ia
realizing her report Of .\nita's irenm 10
the exact shade ri the draperies and
rnc- silk
pushing the work. ! got The house lone
just as Alva Mas warming ne that Sil6
could not remain longer At Dawn Hin.
but must go home and get ready for
her wedding. When | went down to
arrange with her the last details of
the surprise. who should meet NE Mt
the station but Anita herselfo l TOOK
II glance at her serious face and.
much disquieted. seated myself beside
he in the it'll. trap. Instead of fol-
loving the usual route TO the house,
she turned her horse into the bay shore
read.
Several days ago" she began. as the
nead hid the station. II got a letter
from some lawyers saying tina an
iincic of mine had given ne Il large
sum OF money! very large sum. I
have Teen inqiiring about il. and and
1t is mine absolutely"
| braced myself against the worst.
She Is about to tell me that she is
leaving" thought /. Bat / managed
TO say: Tn glad TO > of your luck.
'nough L fear my tone VAS not espe-
cially joyous.
So she went on. II arr in a position
to pay back to you. I think. what my
father and Sam took from you. 1t
won't be enough I'm afraid to pay what
you lost indirectly. But / have told
h lawyers to make II all over to
you"
l could lave laughed aloud. 1t was
too ridiculous. this situation into which
1 had got myself. l did not know what
to say.
Anita said u~nsteadily. Anita
The color famed In her cheeks: we
were silent for n long time.
"fou-yOur people owe me nothing"
I at length found voice to say. Even
II they did. I couldn't and wouldn't take
your money. But. believe me. they W
me nothing
You canno mislead me-" she an
swered. When they asked me to be-
come engaged to you. they told me
about It,"
mad forgotten. The whole repnlstve.
rotten business came back to me. And.
changed man that I had become in
the last six months. I saw myself as
l had been. I felt that she was looking
at me. was reading the degrading con-
9ession in my telltale features.
But with all my Owe making and
trouble at home. my financial plans
matured. In fact. they we're rtpened ia
rottenness by the urgency OF my enem-
les. open and hidden. However skill
iully they plotted. my plans outrar
theirs. h suspicious that had beer
sown. the natural conditions OF trade
he secret springs in currency. led to
q great financial cataclysm.
There was a week Of stress and
storm. but with my sails reefed I rar
before the wind. my assets all secure
and clewed down like the sails of the
good ship Luck In which l was running
The millions of others melted before
their eyes, absorbing all thai lay about
but nothing Of mine run down.
However. 1t seemed advisable that
should leave New York. It was TOLD
to the chief Of police that my presenc.
might cause a riot. Personally, I hat
no feeling Of fear. I was serene witt
my conscience. But Ia the storm bca,
shout there was nothing for me to do
and I went Off on my yacht to rest ant
think and give the skies time to clear.
My enemies caused 1t to be widel,
believed that wild Week. was my de
liberate cOntrivance for the sole Dur
pose of enriching myself. Thus the,
got me a reputation for almost super
human daring. for satanic astutenes.
at cold-blOoded calculation. do no
deserve the admiration and respect tina
men lay at my feet. True. 1 did great,
enrich myself: but not until the Mon
day after Wild Week.
Not until I had pondered on men an
events with the assistance OF the news
papers and my detective protectors an,
jaflers permitted to be brought aboar,
not until the last hope Of turnin,
Wild Week to immediate public ad
vantage had sputtered out like a los
mans last match. did l think Of bene
fitting myself. Of SELLING the opportun
tty to strengthen myself for the future
, On Monday morning I said to SerRean
Mulholland: Il want to go ashore a
once and send some kilograms"
The sergeant is one OF the detectiy
bureaus "dress-suit men," He IL b
nature phlegmatic and cynical. Hts ex
perience a put owe that a veneer q
weary p~oliteness. We had becom
great friends during our enforced IN
separable companionship. For Joe. wh
looked on me somewhat az a mofhe
looks on q brilliant but erratic son. M
~ I soon discovered. elaborated = won
derful program for me. It Included
watch ON me dav md ol~AH ~.