Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1909-11-05
Copyright. by Bobbs-Merrill
CHAPTER /.

Copyright, by Bobbs-Merrin Coz
CHAPTER /.
Darlington folded the document and
thoughtfully balanced it on his palm.
What an ironical old world it was!
There was a perpendicular wrinkle
about his nose, and his lips had
thinned into mere line which dropped
at the corners. The drone of type
writer in the adjoining room sound
ed above the rattle-tattle of the street
below Through the open windows
came vague breath of summer redo
lent of flowers and grasses; for 1t was
but eleven o'clock of the morning, and
the smell of sun-baked brick and. as
| phalt had not yet risen through the
air. Far beyond the smoking, ragged
skyline Darlington could see the shift !
ing, glittering river and the great
ships going down to the sea. Present.
ly the ashes from his dead cigar fell |
in a gray cascade down his coat and
tumbled across his knees, but he gave
no heed.
Ironica1 old world, indeed! Here,
suddenly and Unexpectedly, he found
himself upon the battlefield of love
and duty, where all honest men find
themselves, sooner or later. To pit
the heart against the conscience, i'm
pulse against calculation! Heigh-ho!
Duty is an implacable goddess, and
those who serve her most loyalty are
most ruthlessly driven. She buffets
us into this corner and into that, digs
pitfalls for the hesitant foot, and
brushes the vacillating.
AS all men will Darlington set
, about to argue down his conscience;
the heart is so insistent a counselor.
Why should he give up the woman he
loved, simply because duty demanded
J he should? After all, was not duty
merely social obligation? What was
It to him that the sheep were sheared?
Was it right that he, of all men,
should divide the house, throw the
, black pail OF dishonesty over it, de-
stroy his own happiness and hers,
= when so simple a thing as a match
t would crumble into nothingness this
monument to one mans greed and
selfshness? The survival of the fit
? test; If he put aside Self, who would
/ thank him? Few, and many would
j. call him fool or meddler. So many
voices spoke that he seemed to hear
none dlSunctly
II He alone had made these astonish
ing discoveries; he alone had fol
J. lowed the cunningly hidden trail q
the serpent. He could stop where
u he was and none would be the wiser
1t To be sure, it was only a question o
"a time when the scandal would become
public through other channels; but II
% that event he would not be held re
d. sponsible for bringing about the catas
RI trophe Besides, the ways of the ser
pent are devious and many, and othe
~ investigators might not come SO clos
ID to the trail.
r He had gone about his investigf
tons without the least idea wher
{, thew would lead him. At the begiI
o. ming he had believed that the guilt
Id ones were none higher than petty of
re cials; but presently he found himse
going over their heads. higher an
II higher, until, behold! he was at th
Sc lair of the old serpent himself.
client had carelessly dropped a b
!, of information, and it had taken see
~ with this surprising result. Henr
so Cayenaugh. millionaire promote
" fnancier trust magnate, director
a hundred money-gathering concerns
Henry Cavenaugh, the father of IL
ri, girl he loved and who loved hin
IN Could 1t be he, indeed? 1t seemed |
:. credible.
II was NOT a case of misappropri
III. ton of funds, such as man may
a guilty of when temporarily ha
10 pressed. It was bold and fraudule
passing of dividends that rightfully b
longed to the investors; of wrongful
, issuing statements of bolstered {
iii penses, lack of markets, long strik
lid (promoted by Cavenaugh and his {
n p sociates!), insufficient means of traI
portation. An annual dividend
seven per cent. of many millions tn
tai had been dishonesty passed over. L
.rs reports that there would be no di
dends encouraged a slump in the Il
ms ed price of the stock, and many n
Gus sold under par value, thereby netti
lie to Cavenaugh and others several n
lions. And the proof of all this
in his hand!
cal It had been keen hunt. Many a
EN-, many a blind trail had he follow
.av. only to come back TO the start aga
All that now remained for him to
sln' was to pass this document on to
ave hands of the intrepid district attorn
lar. and justice would be melted out to
NJ, guilty.
Her father! The picture of him r
al suddenly and distinctly in his mi
TGu now. rflilly built a hooked nc