Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1908-11-05

| Close to the marble-white face of the
PROSTATE man he had dragged to the floor
of the balcony, Hope bent his hot, kissing
breath. At riot in his brain ran all the
| formidable facts of guilt with which he
had invested his downfall. And the other
shuddered, for he felt that doom, sudden
and sure, enmeshed his willy soul at last.
"Who are you?" he painted, struggling
to arise.
"Who|-a grinding laugh-sardon:c,
full of bitter triumph-cut the air.
Dream remember the avenger
Go back the years--Chicago, your rotten
stock jobbing swindle, the man you muir
dered because he had probed your secrets
and in another hour would have given the
facts to the commercial word-rny broth
err my brother, Everett Hope" !"
The name was pronounced in a sob.
Religiously at that moment Hope con-
sidered himsef the appointed instrument
of almost divine justice. Yet, the thought
revived of the sunny-faced brother, so
cruelty put to DEATH wrung his soul to
anguish
Your BROTHER" gasped Kane 1.-THE
face on the transparency 1t was you,
then
His striving limbs fell inert. his eyes
were horror-stricken. Now he knew: in
a flash he traced the hidden hand. the
motive, that had so fatally pursued him
from affluence to ruin, from proud power
to the threshold of the gallows' gate
Run down - he murmurmed, in a lost
and helpless tone.
YES" came the prompt. discorlant re-
sponse. II swore it have achieved it.
And you-you have acknowledged all. The
face of the dead on yonder canvas-Aye
you remember it. 1t brought confession
to your lips And | can only drag you to
Jail That does not give me back my
brother-poor, pitiful recompense. But
you shall listen, you shall know what tire
less resolve has done to rid society of its
worst foe. | have snatched the cup of
Croesus from from your lipS-I have un-
dermined your every ambition. Thus i
have done it. Writhe, weep, rave, but
naught will avail you. Your hour has
come, :"
SO Gideon Hope fervently believed
This was his moment of triumph. Into
the craven. crushed face he shouted his |
srory-a record almost incredible. He did
not mention his helpers-only of the |
plain. strong facts he told. of the giant
strokes that had assailed the great wall of
power and wealth. and battered down ev-
cry approach, destroyed every drawbridge
of escape
He was in a frenzy as he spoke He |
could have torn the wretch in his grasp to
pieces. He felt all his usual calm and !
steady methods fly to the Winds but he
rocked little. Here was the climax he had
striven for, this the final arraignment,
and he poured forth his soul.
"To your feet" he shouted. suddenly.
Kane was brought upright like child
in the grasp of a Hercules.
And them" chattered his prisoner,
incoherent with terror.
Your DOOM
"Stop-wait.'' ~ hotly painted Kane
you can prove nothing absolutely. Let
us bargain. If money"
You have none"
81 can secure it."
"Ha ~
Scorn. disdain--cold and entre-show-
ed in Hopes eyes. He dragged his COM
on proclaiming his rightful character,
first to those who had been his friends,
and then to the mob in the streets below.
wait moment, say" pleaded Kane,
holding back.
mo-" thundered Hope.
You must. You shall ~
"Insult-then defiance You scum" :"
In hot anger Hope released the man.
but only to sweep him back with a swift
blow he could not restrain.
Both power and frenzy We're in the
movement. and the ex-mllionaire spun
through the air, plaything of caprice.
With a crash he struck the frail metal
railing encircing the balcony. Hope, too
late appraised of the full power of his
blow, and then appalled,. saw the railing
give. 1t cracked. broke, brittle, and,
shooting the darkness like a falling clod,
Kane went speeding outward and then
downward. without time to even utter
cry for help or of terror.
(Tn hp coDtinund \