Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1910-06-02


was in the habit Of bringing her and
the impossible dolls with fuzzy, daxen
hair and staring blue eyes. Jim was
not rich In those days. but he seldom
came to the house without some trife
for the "kid." and Muriel never forgot
him.
His rise to fortune was rapid In a
few years from a plausible, smooth
tongued promoter. with shabby coat
buttoned over his shirt to hide def
ciencies Of toilet, he became a success
ful manipulator Of the stock market
and the president Of company which
netted him thousands of dollars q
year. Jim had prospered. and he had
enemies, and among the bitterest were
the members of Muriers family II.
The Dimocks never forgave the good
luck, as they phrased 1t, Of a friend.
They spoke slightingly Of the great
James Douglass Manning. which, how
ever, did not bother the said James.
as nowadays their paths never crossed
but Muriel suffered for him. She took
his part eloquently at first; then when
the usual shaft Of ridicule had been
launched and. her tongue sllenced her
reproachful eyes continued to protest
against the injustice.
"Jim owes you nothing" she would
arralgn her people in imaginary con-
versations. by his pluck. his quick
grasp Of affairs, he has prospered.
while you have remained in a rut.''
At eighteen Muriel suddenly devel-
oped mentally and physically. Her
meager little frame filed out. the
sharp oval Of her face rounded. till
she no longer resembled the baby
owlet. all eyes in a bony setting. TO
which her eldest brother had long
likened her.
She became bolder. less easily 81
fenced In the unequal family argu-
ments; she pursued, her little charities
in the face OF opposition. while her
people looked on and wondered. They
considered her an alien and admitted
among themselves that she was
queer" but as she never attempted
to win any of them over to her way
of thinking they let her alone and
smiled indulgently at what they called
her folly.
When Jim Mannings downfall seem-
ed imminent the Dimocks fell on k!;a
root and branch and tore him to pieces.
They. exulted In the ruin that hurS
over him as II they had personal
grudge to ayenge, and they declared
that they had known all along that
this would happen. When Muriel
started up IN his defense they turned
upon her as If they would rend her
also. She covered her ears with her
hands and fed from the room. her
heart beating furiously in storm Of
futile anger.
Jim, her idol. tottering ca his pedes-
tai. had never seemed so heroic fig
ure. She read every line the newspa-
pers printed about the scandal in his
company. She did not understand the
technical terms, but her intelligence
grasped that he was charged with
fraud. that his creditors were insinuat-
ing his money had been made dishon'
estly and that he was threatened with
Tuln anu ulSRTdCe. Sne Eeuu tne "OiSt
side of the story, for her people pat
ronized the yellow journals, and she
pictured him sitting alone. deserted by
those who had fawned upon him in his
palmy days, and she longed to show
him by some tangible sign that one
person at least did not elieve In his
iafamy. Waves OF sympathy were not
powerful enough to at this case II
needed action. and Muriel nerved her
self to act. She must see him; she
must let him know that she under
stood, that she had faith in his power
to silence his detractors, then she
could better bear the tyranny in her
home. -.....
The morning papers pictured graph,
ically the scene in his ofIice-the outer
rooms crowded with a mass of excited
men and women clamoring for their
money, while alone in his private of
fee sat James Douglass Manning, his
head bowed, his whole attitude one of
miserable detection.
Then Muriel could hold out no long.