Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1907-12-16

AS the greatest criminal the world
has yet produced" replied Shirley
without moments hesitation.
The fnancier looked at the girl in
unfcignel astonishment.
"CriminalT' he echoed.
"Yes. criminal" repeated Shirley de
cisiyely. "Ee is avariee. egotism and
ambition incarnate He loves money
because he loves power. and he loves
power more than his fellow man."
Ryder laughed uneasily. Decidedly
this girl had opinions OF her own which
she was not backward to express.
Isn't that rather strong?' he asked
81 don't think So" replied Shirley.
Then quickly she asked: But what
does it matter? No such man exists"
mo. OF course not" said Ryder. and
he relapsed into silence
Yet while he said nothing the pluto
crat was watching his visitor closely
from under his thick eyebrows. She
seemed Supremacy unconscious of his
scrutiny. Her aristocratic thoughtful
face gave no sign that any Interior mo-
tive had actuated her evidently very
hostile attitude against him. That he
was in her mind when she drew the
character of John Broderick there was
no doubt possible. No matter how she
might evade the identification, he was
convinced he was the hero of her book
Why had she attacked him so bitterly?
At first it occurred to him that black
mail might be her object. She might
be going to ask for money as the price
of future silence. Yet it needed but
glance at her refined and modest de-
meanor TO dispel that idea as absurd.
Then he remembered, too, that it was
not she who had sought this interview,
but himself. No. she was no black
mailer. More probably she was a
dreamer-one of those meddlng sociol-
ogists who. under pretense of lettering
the conditions of the working classes,
stir up discomfort and bitterness of
feeling. As such she might prove more
| to be feared than mere blackmailer
whom he could buy off with money.
| He knew he was not popular, but he
| was no worse than the other captains
| of industry. 1t was cutthroat game
commercial life, and if he had Outwit-
ted his competitors and made himself
richer than ali of them he was not
criminal for that. But all these at
tacks in newspapers and books did not
do him any good. One day the people
might take these demagogic writings
seriously, and then there would be the
devil to pay. He took up the book again
and ran over the pages. This certain
| ly was no ordinary girl. She knew
more and had a more direct way of
| saying things than any woman he had
| ever met And as he watched her
| furtively across the desk he wondered
how he could use her-how instead of
| being his enemy he could make her his
| friend. If he did not, she would go
away and write more such books, and
literature Of this kind might become a
real peril to his interests. Money could
| DO anything. 1t could secure the serv-
| ices of this woman and prevent her do
| inc further mischief. But how could
| he employ her? Suddenly an inspira-
| ton came to him. For some years he
| had been collecting material for his
| tory of the Empire Trading company.
| she could write it. 1t would practical
| " he his own biography. Would she
| undertake it?
| Embarrassed by the long silence.
Shirley finally broke ln~by saying:
But you didn't ask me to call mere
" to find out what l thought of my
| own work"
mo" replied Ryder slowly, Il want
you to do some wotk for me-"
He opened a drawer 40 the lefthaDd
side of his desk and took out several
sheets of foolscap and Il number OF let
ters. Shirley's heart beat faster as
she caught sight of the letters. Were
her fathers among them? She
wondered what kind Of work John
Burke.t Ryder had for her to do and
If she would do it whatever it was
Some literary work probably, conpil-
ing or something Of that kind. If it
was we'll paid. why should she not
accept? There would be nothing hui
initiating in it; it would not tie her
hands in any way. She was profess
sional writer in the market to be en-
ployed by whoever could pay the price.
Besides. such work might give her bet
ter opportunities to secure the letters
of which she was in search. Gather
ing in one pile all the papers he had
removed from the drawer, Mr. Ryder
said:
81 want you to put my biography to-
gether from this material. But first, u
he added, taking up 1.-THE American
) Octopus" Il want TO know where you
| got the details of this mans life"
: "Oh. for the most part-imagination
= newspapers, magazines" replied Shir
ley carelessly. You know the Amer
= lean millionaire is a very overworl-ed
topic just now-and naturally I've
read
"Yes. | understand he said. "but
refer to what you haven't read-what