Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-12-16

tain into gravel for commercial uses
1T first she refused to credit the story
It seemed Incredible that any one who
had been bern within the shadow Of
Duke mountain. the historic landmark
which made Crosskill distinguished for
something nobl3r than the quality Of
it's FIRE clay could be guilty Of such
vandalism.
1t was true, however, and when ia
net realized fully that John Rossiter
and his company had actually obtain
! ed possession Of the river side Of the
mountain and were preparing to erect
a stone crushing plant and to install
an army Of Sicilian diggers at the foot
Of the beetling height she was shocked
and indignant. There was justification
sufficient for her wrath. Less than
two years previously she had bought q
piece Of land abuttIng on the noun
tain and had bGilt thereon a handsome
house In which she had settled herself
comfortably with the assurance that
no uncongenial neighbor could ever
harass her from the mountain SIDE.
That the unforeseen was actually i'm
minent and. above all, that John Ros-
sitter should be its agent made her des-
perate. she resolved that It should not
be-
So she went TO him with her ava
lancne Of protests and reproaches. To
her surprise and infinite chagrin she
was unable to lodge them effectively.
He listened with admirable gallantry.
but Janet Armitage realized before she
had launched a 1.-THE Of her argument
that John ROssiteP had made up his
mind
Il couldn't- nobody could--have be-
lieved you capable of such-such an
awful desecration!" she declared, with
manifest intention to put him on the
defensive.
Il hated to DO it." he confessed so
berly. II really did"
''Why did you, them she demanded
illogically
Il must have money" he replied sim
Iply
"One needs very little in Crosskill,,'
she said. You certainly must need it
very much to be tempted to do what
you expect It must be another case
Of life or DEATH
ooh, hardly as bad as THAR He
laughed rather uneasily Then his face
/ sobered and his voice became lower
and somewhat unsteady. cit might
not seem necessary to another man,
but it does to me. Shall tell you all
about Il, Janet?'
mo she returned hastily. 81 must
decline to have anything to do with
such detestable thing"
Then we must let it 60 at that" he
said, with a quick resumption Of his
business manner. LET it stand that
want money for precisely the same
reasons that influence the average
man-for a steam yacht, a house in
Fifth avenue, a castle in-in Killar-
ney, a.
Janet did not remain to hear fur
Their. At bay, but still unvanquished
she retired and from that day gave
herself up unreservedly to the task Of
| frustrating the design of the traprock
company. The weight Of public sen
timent was with her, and she manipu-
lated 1t IN every possible manner that
her ingenuity could suggest.
Nothing was Of the slightest avail.
! The big crushing machinery came up
| the river in sections, was unloaded at
/ the foot Of the mountain and put to-
/ gether and began at once its merciless
reduction of the picturesque Outcrop
which had been loosened by the mighty
Examinations and sharp pickaxes Of the
gang of dwarfed and noisy Palermo
/ tans that had camped just without ia
| nets Enclosure.
1t was a trying period for Janet Ar
mitage. She was the most wretched
woman In CrOssl1ill when she knew
that she should have been the happi-
est. She was the prey of contending
emotions. 1t almost crushed her to be
! brought face to face with the knOwl-
edge that the power to make her SUI
premely unhappy had been delegated
to any one. and it grieved and humili-
ated her ineXpressibly that the person
delegated should have been John ROs-
sitter. Most exasperating Of all was the
tardy conviction-unwelcom yet IN
/ miStakable-that the man who had
brought her to this extremity Of dis
comfort was dearer to her than life
itself.
! All this came home to her with ire
mendous significance as she sat alone
at her dinner on Christmas day. Ev-
erything seemed strangely unreal The
season itself was as unlike the typical
holiday time as It well could be. Thus
far there had not lodged q single snow
fake on the hemlOcks to herald the ap-
proach Of winter. The air was soft
and balmy, and there was a hazy lull
IN It that suggested a belated Indian
summer. The unseasonableness Of the
weather was positively disquieting. It
was impossible to fit the Christmas
| essentials into the scene.
"Open the windows, Beppo-wide
open!" she called out to a half grown