Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1908-12-31
CHAPTER VI.

were the epithets he applied to the squire,
in these first moments of his wrath. Even
q usErious solicitor is possessed of pride
of some -ind. and though he may hold it
in tolerab Die subsection during the early
stages of his career. like other mems,
it wakes fat and thriyes wonderfully IN
der the accumulation of wealth. Harold
DenisOn had trampled it remOrselessly I'M
der foot. Then the irritation subsidized.
and the asrute old head once more began
to reckon up the chances of the game. He
played it all over again in his own mind.
NO" he m.ttered don't think | made
any mistakes | was a fool to lose my
temper though. Hadn't | made up my
mind. all along, that he'd take 1t pretty
much in that way. to start with! When
/ think how many of 'em I've seen run
rusty about their family names places.
and plate, 1t was foolish-ay. very fool
ish-to be annoyed at Denisons tantrums.
Names bah :" continued the old man.
cortemptuously. IF it came all the way
from the Conqueror, its worth on stamp
ed paper is the only valid test"
Sam Pearman, when he heard the re-
suit OF his fathers mission, took rather
a different view of it from his progenitor.
As younger man he lacked the patience
and then. moreover, was there not the
blow to his self-esteem? Between twenty
and thirty we feel that acutely; from
thirty to forty, with a sort of modified
soreness at fifty the conceit has been
taken out of most of us, and we are no
longer astonished at finding that the world
rates US little lower than our own val
uation. Electroplate may pass for gold
for q short season, in these days, but So
ciety is pretty certain to detect the ring
Of false metal ere very long.
Samuel the junior had so far been
fortunate man in pursuit OF his ambi-
tons Though not so successful as he
could have wished, yet, to a certain ex-
tent. he had worked his way into the
county society. There were many houses
that he was occasionally asked to, as an
odd bachelor to make up. Despite all his
father had said at the time, a man with
Sam pearman's eye to the main chance
could not conceive a man in Harold
Denison's position rejecting a proposal so
very much to his own advantage. He
might recognize a certain amount of diff
ficulty on the part of the lady, but men
OF his age are not wont to be diffident
about their own powers of attraction on
these occasions, and Sam Pearman was
one of the last TO entertain apprehensions
on that score.
HE don't know what's good for him.
and that's about the size of it :" was that
eentleman's remark, as his sire retailed
the account of his interview with Deni-
son. I'VE shall have to exercise little
gentle pressure. I'm not going to be
choked off my game. at all events at this
stage of the proceedings. lnralids often
REQUIRE coercion to make them take the
tonics necessary for their existence, and
il will be for you to make Denison under
stand that he will cease to be Denison of
Glinn, at all events, unless he is prepared
to welcome me as a son-in-law."
Leave it to me, Sam, and don't be
in q hurry. | made up my mind about it
the otl4r night. l don't say all, my boy
but a good many things l have made up
my mind to have come to pass in course of
time. Leave me alone to work the oracle
gust now, and depend upon it. I'll give
you due notice when it's time for you to
make a move
The son acquiesced. If at times he
thought his father was getting a little
SLOW at turf tactics-a pursuit from which
he had in great measure withdrawn-he
still held a firm belief that his parent
was difficult to beat in the great game of
HE. more especially when he held a win
ming card or two in his hand.
Some two or three weeks elapsed and
then, one spring morning, Harold Deni-
son received letter to the effect that Mr..
iearman of Mannersley felt it incumbent
on himself to call in his money lent on
mortgage, more favorable opportunity
for investment having offered
That this would probably be the result
of their last interview, the squire had
foreseen. Yet, as days went by without
any such notnce, he began fondly to hope
that the attorney had seen the preSump-
ton he had been guilty of. and that things
would still jog quietly along in their old
way. How ephemeral that way had now
become. under almost any circumstances,
he still kept locked within his own
breast. But as he read that letter the
squire knew we'll that the rubicon was
passed. that his ships were burnt, and
himself defeated. He knew, too WELL that
TO raise that ten thousand anywhere else
would result in an exposure of his af
fairs tantamount to ruin. He was quite
aware that Pearman was equally convers-
ant with the fact. He prepared himself
for the impending crash.
But there is a certain amount of notice
requisite on the calling in of mortgage.
and this gave Harold Denson time to
reflect whether for good or evil the read
Crs of this story must determine. Had
the blow fallen at once he would have
abandoned CHM. grimly, and set up his
lonely tent in some remote watering place.
But the crafty solicitor had measured the
strength of his prey with great accuracy.
! was not without design that the notice
of the foreclosure of the mortgage had
been delayed. Give it time-gve il
time" Quoth that fisher of feeble human
ity. He was right; and day after day
did Harold Denison ponder over the old
hsherman's terms; at first contemptuous-
ly. then moodily, until At last he began
10 think that it was his duty TO retain
Giiun at all hazards. Once arrived thus
far, the speciousness of the reasoning
became easy and rapid. The lands | re-
ceiyed from my ancestors it is my duty to
transmit 10 my descendants" A fine coun-
try gentleman's sentiment, that would
have invariably insured a round of ap-
plause at the farmers ordinary in any
market town of respectable dimensions.
Now, of course, it was all plain sailing.
morally. As a personal matter. the mean
est lodgings at Hastings or St. Leonards
would have suficed. 1t were better so
than to see a Denison of Glinn so vilely
mated. But there were other ties TO be
considered. He. Harold Denson. had IN
doubtedly betrayed the trust of a long
line of ancestors.
Then he began to think once more of
his daughter. He felt conjunction at
the idea of yielding his handsome Maude
to this low-born sutton. But then Maude
had never been TO him what an only child
Is 10 most fathers. He had never quite
forgiven the fact of her not being a son.
and she had ever been more her mother
pet than his. Again, this candidate for
her hand had been brought up a gentle
man. had the mark of the university
stamped on his based composition. and,