The Grangeville globe. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho) 1907-1922, 1908-10-14

prospects of discovery now seemed too
remote for concern. The erstwhile
New York shark was now an eel, willy
and elusive. but he was an eel with a
sharks teeth and sharks voracious-
ness. He had grown old In the study
of this particular branch of natural
history. Bansemer was tifty-fve years
old in this year of 1898 He was thin
ner than in the old New York days,
but the bull-ike vigor had given way
to the wiry strength of the leopard.
The once black hair was almost white
and grew low and thick on his fore
head. Immediately dressed. ever
straight and aggressive in carriage, he
soon became figure of whom all eyes
took notice even in the most crowded
Of Chicago thoroughfares
Graydon Bansemer. on leaving Yale
with diploma and some of the honors
of his class. urged his father to take
him into his Office and ultimately to
make him partner in the business.
James Bansemer never forgot the ma
llclouS grin that crossed the face of
Elias broom when the Young fellow
made the proposition not more than a
fortnight before the Bausemer estab-
lishment picked itself up and hastily
deserted New York. That grin spoke
palmer than all the words in language
Take him into the Office? Make this
honest. gray eyed boy partner? 1t
was no wonder that broom grinned,
and it is no wonder that he forgot to
cover his mouth with his huge hand,
as was his custom.
The proposition. while sincere and
earnest, was too impossible for words.
For once in his life James Bansemer
was at loss for subterfuge. He
stammered, flushed and writhed in the
effort to show the young man that tie
step would be Improbable and he was
sorely conscious that he had not con-
vinced the eager applicant He even
urged him to abandon the thought of
becoming Il lawyer and was ably sec
onded by Elias Doom. whose opinion
of the law, as he had come to know it,
was far from fattering
Just at this time RanSpmpr was en-
gagged in the most daring as well as
the most proiigious deal" Of his long
career. With luck it was bound to en-
rich him TO the extent of $4,000 IA,
plans had been so well prepared and
the execution had been so fautess that
there seemed TO be no possibility of
failure. To take his fair minded sou,
with the mothers eyes, into the game
would be suicidal. The young fellow
would turn from him forever. Banse.
mer never went so far as to wonder
whence came the honest blood in the
boys veins nor to speculate on the orr
/ gin of the unquestioned integrity. He
/ had but.to recall the woman who bore
him, the woman whose love was the
only good thing he ever knew, the
! wife he had worshiped while he sinned.
/ For years and years he had piled his
I unwholesome trade in regulations,
/ sometimes evading exposure by the
narrowest of margins, and he had
| come to believe that he was secure for
| all time to come. But it was the "big
! job" that brought disaster. Just when
/ 1t looked as though success was assur-
ed the crash came He barely had
! time to cover his tracks, throw the fig
urative pepper into the eyes of his
enemies ard get away from the scene
of danger But he had been clever
/ and resourceful enough to avoid the
penalty that looked inevitable and
came off with colors trailing, but I'M
/ captured.
! Perhaps no other man could have es-
capped. But James Bansemer was cley-
! crest when in a corner. He backed
away, held them at bay until he could
recover his breath and then defied them
/ to their teeth. Despite their proof he
! baffled them. and virtue was not its
own reward-at least in this instance.
In leaving New York he hoped that
Elias broom, who knew too much,
might refuse to go into the new terri
tory with him. but the gaunt old clerk
took an unnatural and maleyolent de-