The Washington herald., 1909-02-28

At length cars OF coke. lead, sntimony iron sui
phur and other delivered the factory
and the kndled South Suburb, hEuratsyeIy,
held its breath JsrfOn his handsome person capped
and clad in the garb OF skilled artisan divided his
time between the comDounding room and general
pervison OF operations; Lane, pale and thin but with
his big, lustrous agiow oscillated between his
neglected doctors Office and the gold works"
In the three months just gone he had seen Barbara
infrequently then though he was unconscious OF
it. she had seemed rather enamored Of his scheme
himself Now the day was not far distant when he
should make her entirely his own The fat. wintry
sky the crumbling towers OF smoke and cang
ing channels Of the oiing tinted II seemed
&c him. with auguries Of paradise He had ceased to
visit Ann for CRUZ Saxon pronounced the making
gold fraud both ilusory in conception and damnabie
in sequence Re answered the puzzlnE fact that Jer
fon's laboratory process gave gold by contending
that the resulting yield little than trace
and that this much always native antimony-
Nevertheless the ragged; it IN the
heady fumes Of invisible liquor Would Jerfon make
gold? Would the world be changed for Lane and for
all men?
One day Jerfon went By train 10 barter for an
antimOny mine in the far west He returned
Another extraordinary thing 70 light-Nrs. Hope
wells niece had disappeared tourist. returning pres
emily from the south reported that Barbara
with Jerfon IN New Orleans. a chill OF doubt crept
South suburb followed by fever OF rage Jerfon
had "saited the putting gold into Il and extract
ing again and again said and true OF false
the report ike FIRE in stubbie.s
One other thing Of import and IN this case capable
OF proof. into the light of day-the fact
half the stock had been sold By Jerfon who
president of the company, together with large
amount OF spurious stock, the secretarys signature
the certificates OF which had been skilIfuIly forged
CrUn Saxon smcte his mighty right fist into his
horny left hand and swore THAI. properly. some
ought 20 be hanged Dozens OF w0rkmen agreed with
him. At bottom SaxOus heart was soft That was why
he swore- Had the wrong been done himself alone It
might have passed but the outrage his fellows made
him wild.
As for Lane. when the rull-tru was known. he
walked for hours about the factory" dead OF eye
gray OF face. stunned He moved IN dark world.
graced beaten, undO1e. Barbara had flown with the
man who had ruined him. His hearts best emanation
had with poison his confidence had been outraged
his life lay crushed fat IN the twilight of that day
he went slowly back 70 his Offices detected heavy OF
foot, cold People looked him askance Iaborers
whom he met stopped and regarded him OinoUsly: he
the vice president OF the Jerfou Metaurglcal company
organized and brought the thieving
enterprise into operation.
He went up INTO the front room Of his Offices and
moved about heavily, stood little by window. and
looked out duly noting that beginning to fall
and the wind to blow. He turned and sat down in
chair By table. and. opening a case took out a sur
geons knife and felt the edge Of looked at the
bright tongue OF steel then laid on the table turned
and his eyes along phiais another cases
noting the bottles labeled poison then settled back IN
the chair and sat staring
Night falling without closing swift and black
the like the shutting Of mighty wings in its
darkness swirng snow and driving smoke He got I'D
at last. ignited the gas and sat down desk and
began to write. Presently he unlocked a drawer and
took small roll OF bank notes some papers and 500
Of Jerfon gold stock. drawn single certh-
He laid the valuables the tables By him and
writing hour after hour his features set and
white, his hand steady.
Down in the streets the cars changed through the
the lights dim halos the walks all but de
serted In the saloons crowds OF men. drinking
not hilarious but mainly wet from the snow red and
sullen Here and there a gold stock certificate was
hurled down bar and scornfuly pushed back again
the Not worth the baber vot K is written
on" was the usual verdict
Take it to Lane, the smooth tongued liar" from
a bystander.
Yes, ram it'deTn his throat. the cur from
second
Il wonder how much his SEQ shares netted him.
damn him." from another
I tolt dot he sell 400 OF dem shares already
for from sse0 to $500 apiece from German blowing
the foam from his lager
I'm thinkin bit Of himp would UNI good"
from an Irishman spose he hilped wild the forgin
Do any know II the diviI is in town.
He was dis efening 1 you he vas
gone to meet de odder feer By morning from the bar
tender Thus the comments ran viruieat inaammatorv
profane
Near midnight a slim figure buTeted and stumbling
through the swiriing eddies OF storm came painting
down dark side street crept along alley hasti-
" climbed the back stair 70 Lanes Offices On the
landing uncovered porch jutting from beneath the
rear windows. the figure paused, and. pushing back
masses Of blowing hair from excited eyes peered in
through the frnged panes The young doctor his
work finished leaning against the table, the knife