The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1909-10-29
CHAPTER I.
Copyright. by Bobbs-Merrill Coz

CHAPTER J..
Darlington folded the document and
thoughtfully balanced it on his palm.
W ,at an ironical old world it was!
Th~re was a perpendicular wrinkle
aboat his nose, and his lips had
thinned into a mere line which dropped
at the corners. The drone of type
writer in the adjoining room sound
ed above the rattle-tattle Of the street
below. Through the open windows
came vague breath of summer redo
lent I flowers and grasses; for it was
but eleven o'clock of the morning, and
the smell of sun-baked brick and as
phalt had not yet risen through the
air. Far beyond the smoking, ragged
skyline Darlington could see the shift
ing. glittering river and the great
ships going down to the sea. Present
ly the ashes from his dead cigar fell
In a gray cascade down his coat and
tumbled across his knees, but he gave
no heed.
Ironical old world, indeed! Here,
suddenly and Unexpectedly. he found
himself upon the battlefield of love
and duty, where all honest men find
themselves, sooner or later. To pit
the heart against the conscience, i'm
pulse against calculation! Heigh-ho!
Duty is an implacable goddess, and
those who serve her most Loyalty are
most ruthlessly driven. She buffets
us into this corner and into that, digs
pitfalls for the hesitant foot, and
brushes the vacillating.
AS all men will, Darlington set
about to argue down his conscience;
the heart is so insistent counselor.
Why should he give up the woman he
loved, simply because duty demanded
he should? After all. was not duty
merely social obligation? What was
1t to him that the sheep were sheared?
Was 1t right that he, of all men,
should divide the house, throw the
black pail of dishonesty over it, de-
stroy his own happiness and hers,
when so simple Thing as q match
would crumble into nothingness this
monument to one mans greed and
selfshness? The survival of the fit
test; if he put aside Self, who would
thank him? Few, and many would
call him fool or meddler. So many
voices spoke that he seemed to hear
none distinctly.
He alone had made these astonish-
ing discoveries; he alone had fol-
lowed the cunningly hidden trail of
the serpent. He could stop where
he was and none would be the wiser.
To be sure, it was only question of
time when the scandal would become
public through other channels; but in
that event he would not be held re-
sponsible for bringing about the catas-
pent are devious and many, and other
investigators might not come so close
to the trail
He had gone about his investiga-
lions without the least idea where
they would lead him. At the begin
7ing he had believed that the guilty
ones were none higher than petty Off
cials; but presently he found himself
going over their heads, higher and
higher, until, behold! he was at the
lair Of the old serpent himself. A
client had carelessly dropped bit
OF information, and it had taken seed
with this surprising result. Henry
Cavenaugh, millionaire promoter
dnancier. trust magnate, director in
Q hundred money-gathering concerns;
Henry Cavenaugh, the father of the
girl he loved and who loved him!
Could 1t be he, indeed? 1t seemed in
credible.
1t was not case of misappropria
ton of funds, such as man may be
guilty of when temporarily hare
pressed. 1t was bold and fraudulent
passing Of dividends that rightfully be
longed to the investors; of wrongful.
issuing statements of bolstered ex
penses, lack of markets, long strike,
(promoted by Cavenaugh and his as
sociatesD, insufficient means of trans
portation. An annual dividend o
seven per cent. of many millions tina
had been dishonesty passed over. TIL
reports that there would be no div
dends encouraged slump in the list
ed price Of the. stock, and many ha
sold under par value, thereby nettin
to Cavenaugh and others several mi
Hons. And the proof of all this la
In his hand!
- = 2. - "a {
IL had been a keen hunt. Many an
many q blind trail. had he followed
only. to come back to the start agaii
An that now remained for him to d
was to pass this document op to til
hands Of the intrepid district attorne,
and justice would ~ meted out to I'll
ssiity.
Her fathsrl The picture Of him ros
suddenly and distinctly in his min,
Tan powerfully built. hooked nos