The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1909-12-15

1t became active in Brooks, having
been fred by the flicker Of shame that
the full realization Of his villainy had
provoked as he took down the receiver
Of the telephone to call Captain Will
nams.
In forcing Emma to deliver herself
into the hands Of his employer he had
not actually believed that It would be
necessary for her to make the supreme
sacrifice. you can handle him all
right" he had told her. "You know
how far you can let a man go-all wo-
men know that" But he had been
willing to take the chance that this
sacrifice would be exacted, and, know
ing only too we'll the brutal sensuous-
ness Of Williams, his notorious de-
pravity and that he had cast what he
had taken to be longing eyes on Emma,
he now had no doubt whatever that 1t
would be. The captain was not the
man to give anything for nothing, to
part with money without receiving full
value. With his great physical strength
and his will that overbore and wore
down all opposition, how would the
gentle, submissive nature Of Emma be
able to hold out against him? Re
duced to helplessness by his all domi
mating power, with the alternative Of
compliance or tisrfr ruin held out to
her, she would have to submit.
Brooks pictured the scene as though
1t were being enacted before him, and
hn wont hnf md cold ~
agony broke out all over him.
"No, no, nor
He uttered aloud the protest wrung
from his writhing soul by his half re-
suscitated manhood. He clutched his
throat, struck himself in the mouth
with such violence that his teeth cut
his underlip and the blood dyed his
chin, seized his hat and dashed wildly
for the door. Fear met him there and
held up a restraining finger. Down,
stairs were the three central office de-
tectives. On the morrow, in a few
hours, at the Office where he had
worked for five years, these men, at the
behest Of his employer, would place
their hands on his arms, and he would
be under arrest. He saw himself be-
ing led out, handcuffed, under the
mocking eyes Of his fellow clerks and
the customers.
He closed the door again and turned
from it. cowardice at his heels, whis
pering sophistic prudence, counseling
the poltroon's discretion, throwing spe-
cious sops to his conscience. Some
fhinn hod 70 hn No
than that he had taken had been pos
sible under the circumstances. BE,
tween him and state prison stood
Emma. She alone on earth could save
him, If salvation were possible. Pun
1shment and immunity at that moment
perhaps held the balance even. The
giving or Withholding Of kiss would
turn the scales either way. The giving
Of 1t would brand him with that par
ticular stamp of infamy which when
recognized by men caused them to
draw away with rising gorge and
spurn the bearer. But none would
know of the sacri6ce-no one save the
victim, Williams and himself Other
women had done as much in pressing
emergencies to save their husbands
from public dishonor. Some had bar
gained their favors to insure office or
advancement for husbands or sons,
some for dress and jewels their hus-
hands could not give them. He him
self would never seek to know just
what had passed between his wife and
the captain. He was free to assume
that he had worried unnecessarily;
that nothing of what he felt certain
was happening had occurred, to sur
mise that 1t had not been necessary
for Emma to resort to complete sur
render. What he did not know could
not trouble him. Anyhow, 1t was too
late now. The die had been cast The
chief thing-nay, the one thing-he had
to fear was that her mission might
be unsuccessful; that she could no
purchase his freedom at any price
whatsoever
The possibility Of this twisted his
selfish heart with anguish again. oh,
why had he got himself into this trou.
BILE?
When goaded to desperation and
recklessness he had taken the first
$40 from the money he had collected
he had no idea of not returning it
somehow. 1t had brought good deal
OF pleasure to Emma and himself,
lightened their hard penury with a
CLEAN Of brightness. But $40 then
had been a lot Of money. 1t had not
been possible to replace 1t at once.
1t was far easier to fix his accounts
so that the sum would not be missed.
He had yielded to the temptation and
had so fixed them.
jenkins, his fellow employee in the
Office, was a follower of horse racing
in his small way. Now and then he
risked a dollar or two In a nearby
pool room, and sometimes he won. A
few days after Brooks had falSifed
the books to cover up his dencit Of
Y ~