The Newport miner. [volume] (Newport, Wash.) 1899-current, 1909-02-25

ed possession Of the river side OF the
mountain and were preparing to erect
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
piece of land abutting on the noun
tain and had built thereon 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
lanche 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 1.-THE of her argument
| CQdC JONI HOSSIleI Hftu AlduC uP hAS
mind.
81 couldn't-nobody could-have be-
lieved you capable Of such-such an
awful desecration" she declared, with
a manifest intention to put him on the
defensive.
II hated to do it," he confessed So
berly 81 really did"
'Why did you, then?" she demanded
illogically.
81 must have money" he replied sim
ply.
zone needs very little in Crosskill,"
she said "You certainly must need 1t
very much to be tempted to do what
you expect 1t must be another case
of life or DEATH
ooh, hardly as bad as thatv' He
laughed rather uneasily. Then his face
sobered and his voice became lower
and somewhat unsteady. at might
not seem necessary to another man,
but it does to me- Shall 1 tell you all
about it, Janet?''
NO." she returned hastily. II must
decline to have anything to do with
such a detestabIe thing
''Then we must let it go at that" he
said, with quick resumption of his
business manner "Let 1t stand that l
want money for precisely the same
reasons that influence the average
man-for a steam yacht, 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
company. The weight of public SEN
timent was with her, and she manipu
lated it 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
fulminations and sharp pickaxes Of the
gang Of dwarfed and noisy Palermi-
tans that had camped just without ia
nets Enclosure.
1t was trying period for Janet Ar
mitage. She was the most wretched
woman i'll Crosskill 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-unwelcome yet I'M
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 a single snow
fake on the hemlocks to herald the ap-
proach OF winter. The air was soft
and balmy, and there was hazy lull
IN it that suggested a belated Indian
summer. The unSeasonableness Of the
weather was positively disquieting. It
was impossible to At the Christmas
essentials into the scene.
open the windows, Beppo-wide
open:' she called out to a half grown
boy who stood looking in on her from
the veranda. outside cts positively
Sitting Beppo was a swarthy Sicil-
ian lad whom she had rescued from
the mountain gang and befriended and
VINO was repaying her for her protec-
ton with devotion that was almost
tragic In its earnestness.
beppo threw open the Unmatched door
WINDOWS and stood in one of them in
an attitude of rapt admiration. There