Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1910-07-01
CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK.

leb, finding his shattered self-poise
at last Are you crazy, girl?"
mo; | am quite sane. From the
start | have helped Mr.. Standish. BY
my help, | believe he will win the
Governorship. | have learned much
from you, in practical politics, Nj.
Conover | intend to put some of that
education into use. You see"
You've backtracked me? You, of
all the folks alive! Why, I'd "a gam
bled my whole pile on your whiteness,
girl. This is measly joke of some
kind. It's"
Its the truth, Mr.. Conover."
And Caleb, looking deep into her
eyes, could at last doubt no longer. A
dull red crept into his face.
well, I'll be damned!" he said,
slow, measured of voice, rigid of body.
"Jockeyed by the one person in the
world | ever had any trust in!
Cleaned out like any drunken sailor
in a dance hall! Say" he added in
puzzled querulousness, ''What'd the
Almighty mean by putting eyes like
yours IN the race OF "a
A sudden forward movement from
Standish checked him, and, incident
ally, drove from his brain the last
mists of bewilderment The Rail
roader settled forward in his chair,
his teeth meeting in the stump of the
cigar he had so contentedly lighted
but few minutes before. He was
himself again; arrogant, masterful,
vibrant with quick resource. A sar-
donic smile creased his wooden face.
You're a noble work of God. Miss
Lanier, amt you?" he sneered. Tn
Bible days the man who betrayed his
Master was made the star villain for
all time. But when it's a woman that
does the betraying, guess even the
Bible would have to go shy on words
blazing enough to show her up. For
three years he went on, as Anice, by
a quick gesture, silenced Gives fierce
interruption-"fo three years and
more you've eaten my bread and lived
on my money For three years I've
treated you like you were queen.
Whatever I've done or been to other
folks, to you I've been as white as any
man could be- You've had everything
from me and mine. And you pay me
by playing the petticoat-Judas. Look
here, there's something behind all
this! Tell me what it means"
1T MEANS" answered Anice, who
had borne without wincing the hot
lash of the angry mans scorn--"it
means that | have tried TO pay a debt.
Part | have paid. Part | am paying"
"A debt? What rot are you trying
to talk? 7"
IF you care to listen I'll tell you.
| will make it as short as | can. Shall
| go on?"
Conover nodded assent as a man in
a dream.
my father began Anice, speak
ing dispassionately her rich voice
fattened to a quiet monotone-"m
father was Foster Lanier. You never
knew him. You never knew many of
the men you have wrecked. But he
was chief stockholder in the Oakland
Rodney Railroad He was not BUSH
ness man. The stock was left him
by his father. 1t was all we had to
live on. 1t was enough You owned
the G. G. & x. Little by little you
bought up the other Mountain State
roads At last you came to the Oak
land-Rodney. Do you remember"
81 remember my lawyer told ne
there was some stiff-necked old fossil
who owned the majority stock and
wouldn't SELL"
so you crushed him." went on
Anice, unmoved, "as you have crushed
others. You cut off the roads con-
Meeting points and severed it's COM
munications with your own and your
allied lines. After isolating it you
lowered your own freight rates and
mileage until all the Oakland-R Rodney
patronage was gone. The road col
lapsed and you bought it in. My IA
Their was pauper. Other men have
been driven to the same straits by
you-men whose very names you did
not take the trouble to learn My IA
Their knew little of business. To save
others who had bought Oakland-Rod-
ney stock at his advice, he sold what
little property he had and bought
their worthless stock back at par. He
was ruined and above his head In
debt. My mother was an invalid. The
doctors said trip to the Mediterran-
mean might save her life. We had
not a dollar. So she died. My ia
ther-he was out of his mind from
grief and from financial worry-my
father shot himself. 1t was hushed
up by our friends, and he was re-
ported accidentally killed while hunt
ing. It was only one Of the count
less victories you 'financiers' are so
proud of. He and my mother were
but two of the numberless victims
each of these victories entails"
She paused Caleb made no reply.
He sat looking in front of him into
the pulsing heart of the fire. He had
scarce heard her. His mind was oc-
| cupied to bursting by the shock and
lcute pain of this rupturing of his
| OF in+;n,ato bond with hmm auitv