Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1908-09-30
Continued.

1t In his possession, lest ne snOui1
again lose it; so he babe me take it
TO you at once
You have spent the money, you
have spent it yourself!' cried Mr.. Jor-
dan wildly.
If | had done this, should l have
come to you to-day with this confess
sion? 1 had the money in the pocket
book in notes. The notes were alb
stracted from the book. AS / was 50
long insensible, it was too late to
stop them at the bank. Whoever took
them had time to change them ALL
Cursed be the day l lent the
money moaned Ignatius Jordan.
The empty, worthless case returns,
the precious contents are gone What
Is the shell without the kernel? My
Eve, my Eve! He clasped his hands
over his brow.
And now once more hearken to me,
pursued Jasper. My tather cannot
Immediately ind the money that he
owes you. He does not know OF this
second loss. l have not communicated
with him since l met with my accident.
The blame attaches to me. must d.
what l can to make amends for my
carelessness. l put myself into your
hands. To repay you now, my father
would have to sell the land he bought.
[ do not think he could be pursuaded
to do this, though, perhaps, you might
be able to force him to it. However,
as you say the money is for your
daughter, will you allow it to lie where
it is for a while? l will undertake,
should it come to me after my fathers
death, to SEN it or transfer it, so as
to make up to Miss Eve at the rate
OF five per cent. on the loan l VIII
do more. If you Will consent to this,
/ will stay here and work for you.
have been trained in the country, and
know about a farm. l will act as
your foreman, overlooker, or bailiff
| will put my hand to anything. Rec
kon what my wage would be. Reckon
at the end of a year whether nave
not earned my wage and much more.
If you like, l will work for you as long
as my father lives; l will serve you
now faithfully as no hired bailitf
would serve you. My presence here
will be a guarantee to you that Will
be true to my undertaking to repay
the whole sum with interest. l can
see that this estate needs an active
man on it; and you, sir, are too ad-
vanced in age, and too much given up
to scientific pursuits, to cope with
what is required
Those words, scientific pursuits,
softened Mr.. Jordan. Jasper spoke IN
good faith; he had no idea how worth
less those pursuits were, how little true
science entered into them. He knew
that Mr.. Jordan made meteorological
studies, and he supposed they were
well directed
Order me to do what you WILL said
Jasper, and l Will do it, and will
double your gains in the year
l accept said Ignatius SJordan.
There is no help for it. l must ac-
cept or be plundered of ALL
You accept! let US join hands on
the bargain.
Ii was strange; as once before,
seventeen years ago, hands had met in
the golden CLEAN of sun that shot
through the window, ratifying a con-
tract. so was it now. The hands
cIasped in the sunbeam and the re-
fected reht from their illuminated
hands sm- ,e up into the faces of the
two men, both pale, one with years
and care, the other with sickness.
Mr.. Jordan withdrew his hand,
clasped both palms over his face and
wept. Thus it comes, he said The
shadow is on me and on my child
One sorrow follows another.
At that moment Barbara and Eve
entered from the court.
Eve! Eve! cried the father OK
citedly, come to me, my angel! my ill
treated child! my martyr! He caught
her to his heart, put his face on her
shoulder, and sobbed. My darling,
you have had your money stolen, the
money put away for you when you
were in the CRADLE
Who has stolen it, papa?' asked
Barbara.
Look there!' he cried; Jasper Babb
was bringing me the money, and when
he fell from his horse, it was stolen.
Neither Barbara nor Eve spoke
Now continued Mr.. Jordan, he has
offered himself as my hind to look az
ter the farm for ne, and promises, il
| give him time
Father, you have refused!' inter-
rupted Barbara.
ON the contrary, l have accepted
1T cannot, it must not be- exclaimed
Barbara vehemently. Father, you do
not know what you have done
This is strange language to be ad-
dressed hv a child to a father said