Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-03-07


you were trying TO stick Mortimer with
him. He might do for the troop am
characteristic. What? Oh, yes; met
Mr. Blank mean Mr.. Plank-at
Shotover, think. How dye do? Had
the pleasure of potting your tame
pheasants. Rotten sport, you know.
What do you do it for, Mr.. BlankT
what did you come for if it's rot
ten sport?' asked Plank SO simply that
it took O'Hara a moment to realize he
had been snubbed.
ST didn't mean to be offensive" he
drawled.
81 suppose you can't help it." said
Plank very gently. "Some people can't,
you know" And there was another 81
lence, broken by Mortimer, whose en-
tire bulk was tingling with mixture
Of surprise and amusement over his
protege's developing ability to take
care of himself. did you say that
Stephen Siward is in Westbury, Billy?
''No; he's in town." replied Fleet
wood. 81 took his horses up to hunt
WILL 4ou yOu AAOWs
"I didn't know. Nobody ever sees
him anywhere" said Mortimer. 81
guess his mothers death cut him up"
Fleetwood lifted his empty glass and
gently shook the Ice in it. "That and
the other business-is enough TO cut
any man up, isn't it?'
'You mean the action of the Lenox
club?" asked Plank seriously.
Eyes. He's resigned from this club,
too, hear. Somebody told me that he
has made a clean sweep Of all his
clubs. That's foolish. A man may be
an ass to join too many clubs, but he's
always a fool to resign from any Of
'em. You ask the weatherwise what
resigning from a club forecasts. It's
the first ominous sign in young mans
career"
Under cover of rapid fire exchange
Of pleasantries between Fleetwood and
OHara, Plank turned to Mortimer,
hesitating:
ST rather liked Siward when l met
him at Shotover," he ventured. "I'm
very sorry he's down and out"
"He drinks" shrugged Mortimer, di-
luting his mineral water with Irish
whisky. "He can't let it alone. He's
like all the Siwards."
Mortimer doesn't care for Siward.
but he's an awfully good fellow, all the
same" said Fleetwood, turning tc
Plank. Hes been an ass, but who
hasn't? / like him tremendously, and
/ feel very bad over the mess he made
Of it after that crazy dinner gave in
my rooms. What? You hadn't heard
of it? Why. man, it's the talk of the
clubs"
heard" said Plank simply. my club
life is still in the future"
"Oh" said Fleetwood, with an invol-
untary stare. surprised, trife uncom-
Portable, yet somehow liking Plank.
and not understanding why.
Mortimer continued a desultory dis
cussion with O'Hara concerning very
private dinner which somebody told
somebody that somebody had given to
Quarter and the Intercounty Electric
people, which, if true, plainly indicat-
ed who was financing the Intercount
scheme and why Amalgamated stoc.
had tumbled again yesterday and wha
might be looked for from the Algon-
quin Trust company's president.
"Amalgamated Electric doesn't seem
to like it a little bit" said O'Hara.
"Ferrall, Belwether and Siward are In
it up to their necks, and if Quarter is
really the god in the machine and If
he really Is doing stunts with Amalga-
mated Electric and is also mixing feet
with the Intercounty crowd, why, he
is virtually paralleling his own road,
and why, in the name of common
sense, is he doing that? He'll kill it,
that's what he'll do.''
"He can afford to kill it," observed
Mortimer, punching the electric but
ton and making a significant gesture
toward his empty glass as the servant
entered "a man like Quarter can af-
ford to kill anything"
Eyes, but why kill Amalgamated
Electric? Why not merge? Why, it's q
crazy thing to do; it's devil Of a thing
TO do, to parallel your own liner in
sisted O'Hara. ''That is dirty work.
People don't do such things these days.
Continued on age three.]