Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1908-03-26

to our desire that you should master the
whole business from its very founda-
tions."
There is nothing desire better" said
Tom.
I'm addition to the routine Of Office
work, and the superintendence Of the
clerks, l should wish you to have thor
ough grasp of all the details of the ship
ping, and of the loading and unloading
of our vessels, as we'll as of the storage of
goods when landed. When any Of our
ships are in, should wish you to go down
to the docks and to overlook everything
which is done"
In one respect Tom Dimsdale was i'm
measurably the gamer by his connection
with the firm, for without that it Is diff
cult to say how he could have found op-
portunities for breaking through the bar
rier which separated him from Kate. The
surveillance Of the merchant had become
stricter of late, and all invitations from
Mrs. Dimsdale or other friends who pitied
the loneliness of the girl were repulsed by
Girdlestone with the curt intimation that
his wards health was not such as to jus
tify him in allowing her to incur any
risk of catching a chill. She was practi-
cally a prisoner in the great stone cage IN
| Eccleston square, and even on her walks
warder in the shape of footman was,
as we have seen, told off to guard her.
Whatever John Girdlestone's reasons may
have been he had evidently come to the
conclusion that it was of the highest i'm
| portance that she should be kept seclud
ed. .-,=
As it was Tom, ethanks to his position
as one of the firm, was able occasionally,
in spite of every precaution, to penetrate
| through the old mans defensive works If
a question of Importance arose at Fen
church street during the absence OF the
senior partner, what more natural than
that Mr.. Dimsdale should volunteer to
walk round to Eccleston square in order
to acquaint him with the fact. And If it
happened that the gentleman was not to
be found there how very natural that the
young man should wait half an hour for
him, and that Miss Harston should take
the opportunity of a chat with an old
friend? Precious, precious interviews
those the more SO for their rarity. They
frightened the dull routine of Kate's
weary life, and sent Tom back to the Office
full Of spirit and hope. The days were
at hand when the memory Of them was to
shine out like little riffs Of light in tha
dark cloud Of existence.
And now the time was coming when It
was to be decided whether, by last bold
stroke, the credit Of the house OF Girdle-
stone was to be saved, or whether the
attempt was to plunge them into deeper
and more hopeless ruin. An unscrupulous
agent named Langworthy had been dis
patched to Russia well primed with in-
structions as to what to do and how to
do it. He had been in the employ of
an English corn merchant at Odessa.
and had some knowledge Of the Russian
language which would be invaluable to
him in his undertaking. In the character
of an English gentleman of scientific
tastes he was to establish himself In some
convenient village among the Ural Noun
tains. There he was to remain some little
time, so as to arouse confidence in the
people before making his pretended dis
covery He was then to carry his rough
diamonds to Tobolsk. as the nearest large
town. and to exhibit them there, backing
up his assertion by the evidence of villag-
ers who had seen him dig them UP. The
Girdlestones knew that that alone would
be sufficient when telegraphed to England
to produce panic in the sensitive dia-
mond market Before any systematic in
quiry could be made, Langworthy would
have disappeared, and their little specula-
ton would have come off After that the
sooner people realized that it was hoax
the better for the conspirators. In any
case, there seemed to be no possibility
that the origin of the rumor could be
traced. Meanwhile Ezra Girdlestone had
secured his passage in the Cape mail
steamer Cyprian. On the night that he
left he sat up some time in the library
at Eccleston square talking over the mat
ter for the last time with his father.
ITO be continued)