Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1908-09-24

euhus OF rettua, They had escaped
Into life and love, and the sun and
moon anng to them from the heavens.
Blake did not anticipate amy dihi-
Guilty In tndiNg work, He WAS known
to many prominent men In the Mnll
atrppt region He had nm intimate nc
uunlntnnrp with arcnrltiea and credits,
Surely lle could get n better position
than the n Which he had )ett And,
lndeed, tllla proved more easy than his
rohlohl lrenma hnd pictured II, hut an
unexpected obstacle barred his way.
Mem We're willing to employ him they
eV"n aoughl him with offers but he
discovered that every one ul Them was
looking for the secrets of lcmurl Pct
tuR The instant that Blake revealed
n aenHo uf honor In this matter AN
negotiations were ut an end
He hHd never before realized the ma,
tnre Of his position witch l'rttUS, Nl
though he hnd occasionally been zap
%lnoRohed" lS the rmisaurjne ~ money
cd interests Now he lrrcrjNr, tAat ii
he should spclld one Week II the In
t%lustriona distributton OF Information to
those Who We're enger to pay for ii he
could liYc the lcst OF his day uppu
the proceeds Dn the other hand, his
possession OF this Information was so
we'll known that NJ one Wonlrl rtnpl0l
him except upon mn understanding that
lie would lo 'lhe right thing
Moreover, this situation had been
forcaoon lN %l'eltus, and he had eN
tended the long urln Of his influence to
close lnnny doors against Blake Dis
covering this fnct, Blake ragged the
more ngninsl his former employer
The state of the family eXcheqlcr
had become desperate when Blake ne
roiNed II note from II lawyer named
liofnngel, who was i'ettus' chief nd
wiser II WINS delivered To Blake In
Che tiny apartment which WAS now so
sweet and dear II home, and the zone
or ~" communication seemed particu
lhrly ntT, llsiyo IN that sacred spot
"Fomo 10 my office NJ ouer, etc This
WAs too mncl, for II mlG INST clothed
in brand new self esteem
Blake wrote across the lawyers let
ter Win n heavy blue penc!,, "lf Won
hive nny business With me, state it,
md : wiz lnl{o such action ms the mnt
ter se"tns Ia warrant
|liofUngol WINS furious, but he needed
Bake, SO he som word that he DE-.
sired to offer him some work which
would pay wei
~ JliDIA Ia Inns 4, ,r.l,J ,,,I,i, A.,
peills md WANTS your help against
him" said Amy.
"tt's probably crooked. whatever 1t
is," said Hlnko I'm d~ecline-n little
more politely this time"
LGte that afternoon he met one of
Fofnagel'a clerks on the street, az.
par"ntiy by accident,
"Mr. %IIofnngel wants to see you"
said the clerk There's n document
In Mr. pettus' hand WRITING, and no.
body can read It. Pettus himself hns
forgotten what 1t Is. You can make
$50 IN half nm hour by TRANSMITTING that
scrawl."
Blake believed that there was truth
In this. 1t was n fact that Pettus was
often Unable to read his own writing
and that Blake was the only mar on
earth who could be depended upon to
perform that feat. The Pettus hand is
famous.
"1ll consider the matter" said Blake,
and at the moment 1t was his inten-
ton to see Hofnagel next day. but he
was occupied with the fruitless search
for work. and the matter was forgot
ten until too late.
Blake returned home that afternoon
really disheartened, seriously alarmed.
He had detected the Pettus influence
strongly against him. and his heart
was full of bitterness.
To his unspeakable amazement. he
found Mrs. Pettus In his sitting room.
The rigid. pale old woman in her cheap