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


on his salary out of his collections and
followed their example. The odds
they had obtained were to 1, and
the horse had won. Out Of his win
nings Brooks had replaced the money
he had helped himself to.
The pool room and the availability Of
the company's money had offered to
him a great opportunity to win what
he could not earn, and, encouraged by
his first success, he had taken advan-
tage Of 1t. He had begun by making a
study Of racing and risking small sums.
Luck had been with him, and he had
won time and time again. He had
wanted his wife to share his good for
tune, but had not dared to tell her
how he had obtained the money, 80 he
had invented the story Of outside work.
His run of luck had continued, how
ever, until 1t had become phenomenal,
and this 1t was that had caused his
extravagant optimism. He had wager.
ed larger and larger sums until his
winnings had represented a secret
bank account of $3,OOO 1t was one
day when he had plunged" and won
a thousand dollars that he had con
ceived the fiction Of his promotion with
reward Of back pay.
Soon after their installation in their
more expensive quarters, however, a
series of reverses had come. His luck
had deserted him. First his bank ac-
count went; then he had drawn on the
collections in his efforts to retrieve his
losses. He had plunged and lost,
plunged and won, plunged again and
lost. 1t had not been long before his
BORROWINGS" had reached such a ter
rifying AMOUNT that he had realized
that discovery was Inevitable unless
he could replace the money within
brief delay. He had clung to the de-
spairing hope that by wagering heavi-
ly he could win enough during Will
liams' absence to hide his pilfering
and postpone examination. While this
could be deferred there was hope.
NOV he knew that his cunning, re-
lentless employer had been watching
his gradually tottering progress on the
tight rope of dishonesty and, prepar-
ing trap to catch him in, had chosen
his own time to spring it.
At the thought of this Brooks worked
himself into perfect frenzy Of fury.
He ragged up and down the room, curs-
ing Williams, and hurled a cushion to
the floor and ground it with his foot as
though it were his enemy's hated face.
"You have cheated me out of liv-
ing, you f1endv he almost howled.
"And now you have taken my wifew
The sound of his own voice startled
and calmed him, and he peeped out in
the corridor apprehensively, for fear
any one. might by chance have been
nigh and heard him. He was exhaust
ed by the violence of his paroxysm.
His breath came quickly in gasps,
and he stood with staring eyes and
heaving bosom until the nervous reac-
tion set in. Then he staggered to the
sofa, threw himself upon it and burst
into tears.
The lachrymose effusion was Of brief
duration, and 1t was succeeded by
deep detection. He sat up and glanced
at his watch. 1t was II o'clock. One
after another he got all the papers
and magazines there were, only to
throw them impatiently to the floor.
1t was impossible for him to read
them.
Emma had been gone a long time.
What was OBTAINING her-what, ex-
cept-
His face began to twitch. He rose,
lit cigarette, took two puffs at it and
put it down.
After all, the chief thing was that
she should be successful.
He filed a glass with water that a
bellboy had brought up iced for his
mother-in-law and drained it at q
draft. Then he picked up the news
paper nearest to him and tried to read
again, but 1t was useless. He threw
it down.
What If Williams had refused to be
persuaded?
The suspense was becoming unen-
durable. A look Of determination
came into his face, and he went to the
telephone, but as his hand touched it
he changed his mind, walked back to
the table and lit another cigarette.
Then he went to the window and
stared out at the opposite houses with
unseeing eyes. Presently his hand
sought his watch pocket. The time
piece 1t drew out marked ten minutes
past IL. He held 1t to his ear. 1t was
ticking steadily.
Only ten minutes since he had looked
at 1t before! Impossible! Fully an
hour had elapsed. The watch must
have stopped in the interim. Impa-
tient, he went to the telephone and
asked for the right time. The ho-
tel clerk replied that it was just ten
minutes past IL. On his way to the
table to get another cigarette he hap
pened to catch sight Of himself in
the mirror over the mantelpiece. The
thin, haggard, ashen visage he saw
there frightened him. He laughed nerv-
ously.
AS he did so the door behind him
opened. Starting so violently that he