The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1908-12-16

converting che traprock VI Duke noun
tain Into gravel for commercial uses
AZ llrst she refused 20 credit the story,
II seemed Incredible that any ono who
had been born within the shadow OF
Duke mountain. the historic landmark
which made Crosskill distinguished for
something nohler than tho quality Of
lts ARE clay, could bc guilty Of such
vandalism,
! II was true, however and when ia
net realised fully that John Rosslter
and his company had actually obtain
| eA possession OF the river side OF the
mountain and were preparing to erect
stone crushing plant and to install
/ an army u Slclllan diggcrs at the foot
of the bcetllng height she was shocked
aud Indignant There was Justification
sufficient for her wrath Less than
| two years previously she had bought
/ piece of land ahutting on The moun'
tain and had built thereon a handsome
house 10 which sho had settled herself
comfortably with the assurance that
no uncougeula, nelghhor could ever
harass her from the mountain slde,
That the unforeseen was actually i'm
mlneut and. above ell, that John RIOS
sitter should hc It's agent made her dea'
perato. She resolved that II should not
/ be.
80 she went TO him with her ava
lanche OF protests and reprOeches, To
her surprise and infinite chaSrln she
was unable TO lodge them effectively,
He listened with admirable gallantry,
but Janet Armltago realized before she
had launched tlthe Of her argument
that John Rosslter had made up his
$mlnd.
II couldnt--nobody could--have be-
| lieved you capable Of such--such an
awful desecratlon" she declared, with
manifest intention to put him ON the
defensive.
Il hated to do it, he confessed so
berly, II really did"
"why did you. thenY" she demanded
/ llloglcally,
Il must have money" he replied sim
/ ply
zone needs very little In CrosskLl," F"
she said. You certainly must need K
I very much 10 be tempted TO do what
/ you expect II must be another case
| OF life or death"
'oh hardly as bad a. that| Ho
laughed rather uneaslly, Then his face
sobered and his voice became lower
and somewhat unsteady. 1T might
not seem necessary 20 another man,
but It does to me Shall tell you all
about Il, JanetY'
mo" she returned hastily, Il must
decline to have anything to do with
such detestable thing"
''Then we must let II 20 at that" he
said, with a quick resumption Of his
business manner. "Let II stand that
want money for precisely the same
reasons that influence the average
man--for steam yacht. house In
Fifth avenue, a castle in--in Killar'
ney. a.
Janet did not remain 10 hear fur
ther. At bay. but still unvanquIshed.
she retired and from that day gave
herself up unreservedly to the task OF
frustrating the design Of the traprock
company. The weight Of public sen
timent was with her. and she manlpu'
lated II In every possible manner that
her ingenuity could suggest
Nothing was Of the slightest avail
The big crushing machinery came ~
the river in sections. was unloaded al
the foot OF the mountain and put to
gether and began at once its merciless
reduction Of the picturesque outcroT
which had been loosened by the mighty
Examinations and sharp pickaxes Of the
gang Of dwarfed and noisy Palerml
tans that had camped Just without ia
nets inclOsure.
4 II was a trying period for Janet Ar
mitage. She was the most wretched
woman in CrosskilI when abe knew
that she should have been the happi
est. She was the prey Of cOntendInl
emotions. II almost crushed her to b'
brought face TO face with the knowl
edge that the power to make her su
premely unhappy had been delegatet
to any one. and 1t grieyed ard humlli
ated her inexpresslbly that the persor
delegated should have been John Ros
sitter. Most exasperatlng OF all was th'
tardy conyiction--unw yet un
miBtakable-that the man who hat
brought her to this extremity Of dis
comfort was dearer to her than llf'
itself.
An this came home TO her with tire
mepdous significance as she sat alont
at her dinner on Christmas day. Ev
erything seemed strangely unreal. Th'
season itself was as unlike the typica
holiday time as 1t well could be. Thu
far there had not lodged single snow
fake on the hemlocks to herald the ap
proach Of winter. The air Was sof
and balmy, and there was hazy lul
in It that suggested belated IndiaI
summer. The unseasonableness Of tn
weather was positively dlsquieting.
was impossible to ft the Christina
essentials into the scene.
"open the windows, Beppo-wid'
openp she called out to half growT
boy who stood looking in on her from
the veranda outside. 'Its posltivel!