The Washington times., 1910-11-26
CHAPTER /.
The End of All Things.

A. 3RRIS LATHROP gave final
Nk glance toward his reflection n
the mirror and assured himself
that his toilette for the evening
was Immaculate Then he took from
his pocket q solitary dollar bill, at
which Ea stared fer long time in rue
ful contemplation
The sole remnant Of my fortune" he
-nuttered. finally; my last dOllar-ab-
soIuteIy the LAST But he shrugged his
shoulders contemptuousIy as he thrust
the bill back into a pocket At Least, II
viii serve 70 pay my cab rare 70 the
Trevors'r was his rejection. And I'll
make my last night on earth merry
one. None shall see the shadow Of death
Oh my brow And yeti wonder
where I shall be tomorrow, when they
find this body. after the fight OF that
which is called the soul
But since he had definitely resolved to
make an end Of himself such speCula-
ton troubled Morris LathrOp very little
Il seemed 10 him that. inasmuCh as he
had dissipated q fortune, ne might
throw away life itself as well So far
as he could determine, ne possessed no
art for the accumulation OF money, even
had ne the incIfua ton which he had
not For that matter, now at the last
he found himself rather weary Of the
friViIous round which had made up his
life He had but one sincere SOTroW De-
fore tbs. prospect OF death, and that lay
in the giving up OF Cara Trevor. 10
" HON he was betrothed-fOr the final in
tervieW with whom he was now setting
1T was only a few blocks from the
aDartment house IN which LathrOp
had Z is suite 10 the mansion OF George
Trevor, the financier, where the debut
of Edna Trevor, the younger 0augh-
ter was to be celebrated that night
1T was such a little way, indeed that
the cab driver thanked his fare when
y - b. Go ~
OF fortune in the guise Of dollar
And suppose the fellow envies
me- LathrOp unused cynicaily, as he
''' The ladies arr not down yet, sir"
the butler explained. as the visitor en-
tered the vestibule, but M Trevor IS
in the library VIII you 60 there,
I.athrop nodded. and forthwith made
his way to the library, which he en-
tered unannounced- The only occu-
pant Of the room was q handsome
man of some three-ScOre years. whose
clear ewes and complexion proclaimed
both a good constitution and clean
manner Of life The iron gray hair
still clustered thickiy; his spare
frame was held vigorously erect. The
whole aspect Of the man suggested
The consciousness Of power Yet at
this moment the strong, stern face
was relaxed into an expression that
betrayed acute anxiety. Then. as he
locked up at the opening OF the door
and saw Lathrop, suddeI. reiiet
shone IN his eyes
"Ah. Morris. it was good - you TO
come early he exclaimed We have
q f1TTl hour for a smoke and a chat
Helm yourself to cigar and a glass
- vine. my boy I must talk
10 you seriously. I am going to ask
a favor Of you, Morris
"a favorI" the young man repeated.
in evident surprise But sir between
i7r, hrE
of --antiuE savors. lot ! "
The f7nancier smiled wryly.
IT happens that-just now. at least
vou are wrong, Norris" he said. sadly
Il know that. since the death of your
father. YOU have looked on me as TAX
ing his place toward you in some
measure I, for my part, have looked
on YOU as a son, especially since your
enEaEenent 10 my daughter So I am
sure that you viii respect what I am
about to say
rs 1t to be a lecture, Sir?'' Lathrop
inquired, apprehensively.