Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-01-30
CHApIEPI
SEVEN K
(Continued.)

(SOIltIHuCu.J
And all tina, ;a..e. --oo-l, having taken
to his room on pretense OF neuralgia.
he lay sprawled on his bed, thinking.
thinking Not that he meant harm to
anybody, he told himself very fire.
quently. He had, Of course. informa
ton which certain degraded men
might use in n contemplate way. but
he (Mortimer) did not resemble such
men in any particular. All he desired
was to do Plank good turn. There
was nothing disreputable in doing Il
wealthy man favor And God knew
q wealthy mans gratitude was neces-
sary to him at that very moment
gratitude substantially acknowledged
He liked Plank. wished him we'll.
That was all right, too, but q man is
an ass who doesn't wish himself well
also Two birds with one stone. Three,
for he hated Quarter! Four. for he
had no love for bis wife! Besides. it
would teach Leila wholesome les
teach her that he still counted:
serve her right for her disgusting
friendship for Plank.
No, there was to be nothing dis
reputable in his proceedings: that he
would be very careful about. Proba-
bly, Major Belwether might express his
gratitude substantially If he, Mortimer.
went to him frankly and volunteered
not to mention to Quarter the scene
ne had witnessed between Sylvia Ian
n; Il ut n'c N
the morning in the corridor. and If III
playful confederation he displayed the
cap and rain coat and the big fan, all
crushed, which objects Of interest he
had discovered later III the bay Win
dow. Yes, probably Major Belwether
wanted Quarter in the family. He
needed Quarter In his business But.
faugh! That was close enough to
blackmail to rub off! No. no! He
wouldn't go to Belwether and promise
any such thing! On the contrary, he
felt it his duty to inform Quarter.
Quarter had right to know what sort
Of girl he was threatened with for
life. A man ought not to let another
man go blindly into such marriage
Men owed each other something, even
If they were not particularly close
friends. And he had always had a
respect for Quarter even sort Of lik-
ing for him-yes, distinct liking!
And, anyhow, women were devils. and
1t behooved men to get together and
stand for one another!
Quarter would give her her walking
papers, and. in her humiliation, is
there anybody mad enough to fancy
that she wouldn't snap up Plank III
such fix and make it look like a Jill
for Quarter? But Plank must do his
part on the minute. Plank must step
up in the very nick Of time. Plank.
with his millions and his ambitions.
was bound to be a winner anyway,
and Sylvia might as we'll be his pilot
and use his money And Plank would
be very, very grateful-very useful, a
very good friend to have, and Leila
would learn at last that he. Mortimer,
had cut his wisdom teeth, by God!
AS for Siward, lie amounted to moth
ing. Probably was one of that con-
temptible sort of men who butted in
and kissed pretty girl when he had
the chance. He, Mortimer, had only
disgust for such amateurs of the social
byways.
After all, the matter was simple-ab.
surdly simple. A word to Quarter,
and. crack, the match was off! Girl
mad as hornet, but staggered, has
no explanation to offer-man frozen
stiff with rage, mute as all iceberg.
Then, zip, enter Beverly Plank, the
girls 1escuer at pinch, her preserver,
the savior of her face" the big. high
ly colored, leaden eyed deus ex MA
china. Would she take so cents on the
dollar-would she, to buy herself a
new '.face." and put it all over Quar-
rier. and live happy ever after-would
she? Oh, not at all!
The main thing, after all, was to
promise Plank his opportunity, but not
tell him how he was to obtain it, for
Mortimer had an uneasy idea that
there was something Of the Puritan
deep planted under the stolid young
mans hide and that he might make
some absurd and irrelevant objection
to the perfectly proper methods en-
ployed by his newly self constituted
guide and mentor. No; that was no
concern of Pank's All he had to do
was to be ready. AS for Quarter, any
body could forecast his action when
once convinced Of .Sylvia's behavior.
He lay there bordering several meth
DDS Of imparting the sad but neces-
sary information to Quarter. One
thing was certain-there was not now
time enough before the house party
dissolved to mold Plank into acqui-
escent obedience. That must be fin
ished in town unless Plank invited him
to stay at the Fells after his time was
up at Shotover. By heaven, that was
the idea! And there'd be chance for
him at cards. Only, of course, Plank
would ask Leila too But what did he
care? He was no longer afraid of her.
He'd soon be independent of her and
her pittance.
his dirty little drama. he pondered over
the possibility of an Interior gentle
man as he moved heavily to and fro,
dressing himself. his neuralgia being
much better, and presently descended
the stairs to find everybody absent,
engaged, as servant explained, III a
game of water basket ball i'll the