The Dolores star., 1909-09-03


Nor can a rich man afford to make
himself so insolent" said l. You are
talking of friend of mine. remem-
ber"
"A nice kind of a friend. must
say,"
An unfortunate one"
I've no patience with that sort of
more conciliatingly.
mo. / don't expect you to have
Neither do I expect you to understand
his temptation; | don't understand ii
myself. for ] wasn't born a rich mans
son, thank God, to have the silver
spoon snatched suddenly out of my
mouth and a rough pewter one pushed
in in its place. It's not pleasant
experience that, and If we haven't
gone through it we don't know any
thing about It. 1t takes a strong man
to meet that sort of thing and not be
upset by it, Dan isn't strong. per-
haps; he is only open-hearted and big
and generous and kind"
And thief" supplemented he.
He was not an intentional one. He
meant to put the money back, | am as
sured of that"
"Oh, they all expect to do that"
Il dare say" replied unargument-
atively.
That's no excuse" he protested.
Il am not urging it as one
"A mans fool to take such
chances"
Discretion stands for morality with
you, them" l remarked.
No such thing" he cried. There's
no use in getting excited or sore about
this thing Twining"
/ made a hasty calculation and of
fered him my proposition. 1t was to
refund to him before the end of six
weeks all that Hemingway had taken.
with interest, Dan to be turned over
to me, and nothing to be said of the
affair to any one.
81 suppose you call that restitu-
tom" he inquired
Something like 1t. yes"
We'll. l don't. We're tired of this
thing of being robbed behind our
backs by the men we trust | didn't
send for you to consider ways and
means of getting the money back and
letting Hemingway go scot free | sent
for you as the company's attorney to
proceed at once with the necessary
steps leading to his arrest and incar-
ceration."
"Ah," said l, now we understand
each other"
He nodded
81 would hardly have expected this
of you. Ankony.'
You admit the theft. don't you?"
DO you admit the motive that
prompts you in the prosecution
That's got nothing to do with it.
But naturally-quite naturally, I'm
sure-it is to our interest to stop this
business and make an example of the
thief. We've stood it too long al
ready This is the fifth time this has
happened to the company in twice
that many years. / tell you it won't
do to let it go on"
looked at him and smiled 1t may
not have been very pleasant smile;
certainly didn't intend it to be- and
he flushed beneath it.
What do you mean?' he clustered.
That what you are telling me is all
nonsense" / retorted
Now that you've gone this far, per-
haps you will go little farther and
make yourself plain he cried an
grily
Certainly. You were refused last
night by Miss Hemingway"
"She told you that"
IF you knew her better you would
not ask such question. She told me
nothing. You made your proposal so
public that the refusal was bound to
be more or less so, and you have your
self to thank for the fact that /, with
others, know of It. Now, to make her
suffer. you throw her brother into
prison."
He got up hotly and took a step or
two toward me.
Be careful what you say. You
know better than that"
Your habit has not been to run
down offenders" l remarked.
We've had to let several OF them
go because of their relation to MEM
bers OF the company. But there must
be stop somewhere, and l am in
earnest when | say that it must be
here. I'm sorry for the boy and for
his sister. though l don't expect you
to believe 1t. But
mo, don't" said l.
l took up my hat.
Wait! Where are you going?"
Back to my Office"
What for?"
because our interview is at an
end"
ITS only begun We must talk Of
how we are to proceed
/ walked toward the door,