Charlevoix county herald., 1908-08-29


his visitor had turned up day o.
two earlier than was necessary, but
this year he had not appeared on the
morning of the final day.
BY the terms of the loan the owners
rights expired at noon, and as that
hour approached, Hicks took down the
umbrella with an unsteady hand an6
deliberated upon plan Of investiga
ton. He had amply provided himsel.
with tools, and only awaited liberty t.
use them.
One! Two! Three! Four! Five!
Six! Seven! Eight! Nine! Ten!
Eleven! Twelve!
from his layout, and was posing s
hammer to strike, when a shadow fel
upon his desk, and a familiar voice
said:
yes, you've beaten. l haven't the
price. I've tried hard, but when one
hasn't money to pay for food, even
bigger things must CO."
Hicks paused in his work and looked
at his visitor.
Let me show YOU" he said. There
is an easier way"
He took the umbrella from Hicks
and, inserting an awl in one eye oil
the carved face on the umbrella head
with this leverage easily unscrewed
the top, to the pawnbroker's amaze
ment and disgust. The cavity thus
discovered contained only piece OF
folded paper, yellow with age. Upon
this Hicks bounced with a kind OF
whine of animal greed and satisfac'
ton.
But the strangers hand fell upon his
with an energy of which his feeble
body scarcely seemed capable.
Don't touch it," he cried. For
! Gods sake don't. 1t is nothing-noth.
ing to you; to me it is so much. No"
he urged, as Hicks strove to withdraw
his prize. mot yet, at any rate. Not
until you have heard my story"
He sank into a chair, his hand still
grasping Hicks wrist, and went on
passionately:
1T belonged to her father-this UNI.
rich man; and l loved his daughter,
and she loved me. But he found it
out, and forbade me his house-for-
babe me to think Of her. But wouldn t
give her up and, she wouldn't give me
up, and SO we used to write one an
other every day, and send the letters
back and forth in this umbrella handle.
hn old oil tod
dry, and / used to watch my chance
during the day and unscrew the top
while he was out of the Office, and put
in my letter, and she did the same at
home. 1t seemed a great joke then
to make him our postman."
Hicks slowly withdrew his hand,
| leaving the yellow paper between
them on the desk.
business went wrong" continued
the stranger after a pause. The old
man got involved worse and worse
tried the wrong way out of it, and had
to skip. He realized on everything he
had-even this, as it turned out-and
left between two days, taking her
with him. They sailed for South
America on the Ginevra-you remem.
ber-she was never heard from
never even spoken. And never a word
from her-it was all so SUDDEN
knew that-but something might have
been done-I couldn't understand.
guess | went pretty near out of my
mind. My body just went round with
out me, somehow, for months, doing
the old things without my knowing
anything about it, when all at once ]
thought OF the old umbrella route as
we used to call it, 1t was a chance
Perhaps she didn't have any other. All
their things had been scattered by
sale, but / hunted and hunted. There
were a hundred chances that he had
taken il with him, but l took the one
that he hadn't. By and by l thought
OF the pawn shops, and went the
rounds. / guess yours was about the
last, and when I got my eyes on the
old thing II was like coming home
But the ticket stuck me, and / couldn't
tell my story to such a man as you
were then. You've changed good deal
in 5S years"
He paused, and looked longingly al
the letter.
That's what | wanted. | knew II
was there. Her last letter to me. The
last one she ever wrote. 1t made me
wild at first to think that II l could
only get my hands on the thing for a
minute, could have 1t out. But you
never let me touch It. Whatd you
think il was-money?"
Hicks nodded.
Money!" cried the other. "Pve
wanted money pretty bad, but never
the way ! wanted that letter. But ]
couldn't seem to tell at first, and by
and by. when / got to know it was
there waitin' for me, it didn't seem
to matter much, so that ! could keep
IL safe. And / have!" he cried. "And
here it is"