The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-06-16

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 But I do thank you a thousand
 tlmesT exclaimed Rawarden. shak-
 ng hands with boyish vehemence. q a1nwam q @ awfully obliged to you. When came was afraid I'd meet some such fate as poor MT. Blacarda."
 Whats that?" snapped Caleb, all genial1ty wiped from his voice.
 Aoout Mr. Blacarda?'' asked the boy in perfect innocence. Haven't you heard2 It was in the morning pa pers It seems he was Jumping on moving HeStn1 street car. up at the Capitol, sIPped on the steps and he was drag ged along, face downward for nearly half block. Two of his ribs were
 broken, and his body is covered with | orulSeS The papers say his face is
 battered almost beyond recognition.
 roo bad!" remarked Conover drily. | Folks ought to be careful how they l try to jump onto heavy-movin' things sometimes there's apt to be a surprise for the jumper. Now clear out! You can run an tell Dey what I said if you want to. No, don't go thankin' me again. It's up to her, I told you. business. So long!"
 Waving out the bewildered, delight ed youth, Caleb threw himself back in his leather chair and fished from a | case the ever-present cigar. A tower 1rs pile of work lay untouched on his desk But he gave it no heed. With a queer, wholly inexplica ble contraction at the heart he lay there thinking. At nrst he tried to laugh at the memory Of the boys loftily worded pretens1ons. But somehow he could not. He recalled what Caine had said about Desiree marrying the right man" Hawarden came of good family. His parents were among the best people in Granite. As his wife, Desiree could probably take and hold any social position she chose. He was nice boy too And | some daV he w0ll1d There
 was much to be said for the match preposterous as it had at first seemed.
 After all. why not?
 | A clerk entered with a card. Con- overs mouth set in a grim smile as he glanced at it.
 Send him in," he said, moving across to his desk chair. ''I seem to be holdin' a levee of the ar'stocracy .I this mornfn'"
 T Reuben Standish. gaunt, gray and stiff as ever was uShered into the private office. The old mans face was 8, monotone of drab, save for a ruddy patch on either cheek bone where con- sumption Haunted a no-surrender flag. Caleb greeted him with a rod and mo- tioned him to a seat.
 'I hope l have not broken in upon very important work" began Standish, glancing at the mountain of letters and papers on the desk.
 "A1 my works important" an
 Swered Caleb. eff it wasn't I'd have an office boy do it while loafed. want anything especial?''
 First of all,'' evaded Standish in
 the courtly old-world manner that Ca
 leb always found so jarring, permit
 me to congratulate you your great } victory at the Capitol yesterday. l
 read this morning that the Starke bill was defeated entirely through your own personal endeavors. It must be a great thing to wield so powerful an
 influence over ones fellow men-I' . Say" interposed Caleb. Quit stand sr,S 1Srko, 1,s ,Irsv,
 signs. Come on down an tell me what you want. Make it as short as you can."
 It appeared that MT Standish want ! ed much; though he did not seem to be
 able to condense fis wishes to the de- gree Caleb suggested. This, however, was of little account, since the Fighter already foreknew the others mission. He listened with only perfunctory at tention to a recital of the Aaron Burr Banks needs. of the stringency of de- posits and the danger of run" " with still less heed to the tale of an unwonted depression in certain stocks
 wherein MT. Standish's interest was pureiy marginal. As the story ended, Conover said curtly:
 Il ITO sum it up, you're bEoke- You want me to make deposits today in your bank an you want personal | loan tesides.''
 Standish started to speak. Caleb motioned back the words.
 "J1ow much?" he asked. Flow much in all? Don't hem an haw, man. You've got the amount fixed in your | mind, down to the last cent You know how much you really need. Start off with the biggest sum first. How much?'
 Stancish tremulously blurt ed out his l with a boor like this Conover, there | was surely no need for hneSse. The l fellow was as blind to the finer shades | of business dealings as to the usages | of gentle life. Therefore, why hesitate or leave him to guess the amount from | adding up series of delicate hints. A | ilow-browed boor; though decidedly l convenient one to cultivate-at times. one of these times. Standish with ruffIed dignity laid bare his financial | soul.
 And the big, red haired xnan lolIed | back in the opposite chair watching his stately visitor from between alert, half. shut eyes. The Fighter had wait ed, worked, planned, for months, for | this very interview. Had Stand1Sh | been better versed in sign-reading, he might have seen marks of Conover's passage all along the tortuous finance | trail that had at last led to this pri- vate office and still more private con | feSSion.
 | But Standish had fallen not only into the trap but into the fatal mistake | that had, a century earlier, in France, caused the severance of a goodly num- ter of noble heads;-the error of un- | derestimating a proletariat opponent And now, unwittingly, he was about to | pay the price.
 | Well" observed Caleb. when the l facts stood forth, marsha1ed in their sorry array. ''How does all this | int'rest me?"
 l 'I beg your pardon?" halted Stan | dish.
 "I. say. how does this intrest me? | Why should I int'reSt myself in doin' | this mighty big favor for you? Why | don't you turn to some of your own | own class? Why do you come here?"