Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-31

and thirty-two. twelve. seven: "a thong II
In this one class of expenditure ! had
more than used my entire income.
Well Sir?'
~Whereas only an amount which. l
would deferentially suggest. is fairly al
loWable to man in my-in your son
position. has been charged par annum
You see. father. you have been misled by
the items In a long. running account
If he had intended to infiame his rather
he could hardly have done Ii better. He
had intended to infiame him; he depended
In part on this to postpone the disagree
able subject of the time of repayment
But the senior E.verard was no fool. and
besides he had another matter in hand.
Despite his anger he went on his intended
way. saying. with bitter sarcasm:
"Ah. l trust your creditor may see it
in that light and that for your sake he.
too. may be 'misled by the items In a
on. more br!skly:
Now as 10 your purpose. When, ana l
may perhaps ask incidentally, how. do
you intend TO repay it,
"Oh. directly. sir. when I am settling
some other matters. ] am just now ar
ranging my affairs. and when l have got
all these little matters before me 1t won t
! take long to polish them off. It's only a
matter of cheuue book and a pen and
ink. anyhow
Could it be possible. he thought, that
Leonard had all along been using his
money carefully. merely saving the money
while he left his debts unpaid. For few
moments he looked at him keenly before
speaking:
And about how long will this arrange
ment of your affairs take?'
SEEDING that Leonard hesitated, he pro-
| ceeded:
You see I have to reply to that letter.
how fnrO1ffpn IL
was addressed to me-" Leonard deilb-
erately took the letter and bill from his
pocket and. after looking at them, handed
them to his father. saying:
$50 1t is. Pardon me, SIR: / had quite
overlooked it."
He felt. however. that he was in tight
place. His thoughts were roaming wide.
and comfort came to him in a sudden
memory of Stephens words: II know
you are in trouble about money matters.
Why not let me help you? - If you
were going to be my husband all such
little matters would fall away from you.
| Good old Stephen"' he thought to him
self Crank or no crank you'll do:
modified drawl. he answered:
When? oh! in about week. Not
| longer. l expect.' His father rose up,
which seeing ne rose too.
VERY well.' said Mr.. Everard. For
ten days l shall walt to answer this let
ter-you can keep the bill, though such
delay Is not according to my habit in
dealing with correspondence" Leonard
began to move away. but when he was
half way to the door his father. who had
all the time been watching him keenly.
added:
by the way, here is another letter
which you had better take and read at
your leisure. You can leave note for
me before you go to bed. / am dining at
Worcester tonight and may be back late.
I shall want know definitely in the
morning"
Thank you. SIR" said Leonard. as he
took the paper. with his heart sinking.
| Timeo Danaos ct dona ferentes.
Leonard thought it wiser not to look
at the letter until he was in his own
room. When he opened 1t he gave a low
whistle and his heart sank 1t was from
the firm of money lenders to whom he
| had such a heavy debt. informing his
father that. as his son had failed to make
payment of his instalment as arranged
and had not even acknowledged their ap-
plcations. they would reluctantly be COM
PEELED to take legal action unless the to-
tai amount due. with accumulated inter-
est. was repaid within three days. AS
he letter was dated two days earlier
something should I've done at once If a
catastrophe was to be averted. Leonard S
commentary was characteristic:
"Beastly mean of the governor to keep
this back till had committed myself and
then spring 1t on me! I'll be even with
| him for 1t yet. Nasty old devil"
There was but one thing for him to do,
he recognized that at the very outset of
his consideration of the situation. He
would have to see Stephen at once. She
herself had suggested lending the money.
1t was she who said that If he We're her
husband. or going to be. such troubles
would not touch him. Well. he was going
to be her husband. He had intended that
already, but now he would have to hasten
the engagement. 1t was beastly grind.
Every one was pretty selfish! Just a s II
Stephen couldn't have waited. Never
mind. he would get even with them all.
every one of them, some day! Anyhow
he must lose no time. He would call at
Normanstand this very afternoon and fix
up the matter. When they had been en-
gaEsd and he had kissed her no doubt
but Stephen would offer again to help
him out. He could in their billing and
cooling work round to the subject of his
debts He would pretend to be upset by
his fathers sternness. and that would
bring her up with a round turn. When d
woman loved man she couldn't bear to
see him unhappy: she would get out her
check book. So that was all right In
the meantime he would take a brandy
and soda to steady his nerves. But he
must be careful. Stephen had an eye Ike
a hawk and would spot it at once If
there was anything wrong with fellow.
Well. II she made new matters more I'M
pleasant for him than need be, he'd get
level with her later on. A man had al
ways the whip hand OF his wife; that was
one comfort. He smiled as he pictured
to himself his fathers amazement when
he should, after another stormy inter
View. which he would take care to pro-
tract to the full. hand him a sheaf Of re-
ceipted bills.
In the early afternoon he lay down for
a quiet sleep in order to prepare himself
for his ordeal. Then he dressed himself
carefully and drove his dogcart over to
NormanStand
CHAPTER XIV.
A Private Conversation.
The name hraced up Stephen at once.