Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1910-04-07

fortune even TO disguise his chagrin.
A somewhat different Cherub De.
vine 1t was. however. who met his
half dozen lleutenants that night be.
hind the seclusion Of safely locked
doors on the tenth floor of a gaudy
Dig hotel. He had become an alert
Masterful. confident person. who thrill
va those about him by revelation Of
hnSuessed resources and unsupported
Reserves Of force.
The climax of the struggle was
reached during Thursday. Along
about the noon hour the members Of
the Bates Rimmer combination were
forced to admit that the Cherub was
still in tho fight They made the ad
mission with profane JUNCTION. They
uid not understand why 1t was So
They only knew that in some mysteri
BUS manner their triumphant career
had been checked.
Thus 1t went. All that afternoon
The contest waged. Now the price Of
f.. II. and n. stocks slumped tlesper-
htely now 1t slyrocketed amazingly.
4
whole list quaked and qui,ered as the
struggling giants of finance wrestled
heedlessly about the arena
Placidly smoking n fat. black cigar
and fitting comfortably back in one
pf Walloway e Co.'S mahogany office
rhairs. Chcrub Dcvine received bul.
1etins from the front. That was the
position In which Nick Walloway
found him when, after the day was
over, ne rushed In. haggard Of face
and with an anxious look In his eyes
I'VE lack fifty shares" he announc-
ed briefly
Then that's fifty we must get TO-
morrow morning." responded the
Cherub
1T can't he DONE" declared Wallo
way. dropping hopelessIy into n chair
"The country has been raked with n
fine toothed comb. We can't get hold
OF another share. I'm sorry. Cherub
but I've done my best for you The
T.. n. and Ms annual meeting is held
at noon tomorrow, and the Bates Ric,-
mer crowd has practically got us beat
en- now. If we only had fifty shares
more we could wipe them off the face
of the earth"
You're as bad as the countess"
chuckled the Cherub amicably. Then
as this reflection recalled something
to his mind he thrust his hand into an
inner pocket of his coat and drew out
long envelope, at which he stared
blankly.
twinge Of guilt pricked his con
science. There-he had completely for
gotten the first errand with which she
10 exchange this stock for cash that
she had been so anxious to come to
the city. Perhaps she had been OK
pecting a remittance by every mail
Sha mcfacedly he opened the envelope
10 make an idle examination Of the
contents. At the first glimpse his ex-
preston changed. Hastily he ran
through the documents, then showed
them back into the envelope.
A moment later he asked quietly.
How many shares did you say we
lacked NickT'
Fifty" gloomily responded Mr. Wal
loway. his head between his hands.
And about how much would they
be worth to me just now?"
Worth. Why. anything-three hun
dred. five hundred, thousand dol
lars share il you could get them
which you can't"
No" responded the Cherub. well.
what do you say to those" and he
tossed the long envelope to Walloway.
That young man took his head from
between his hands and glanced re.
proachfully at the Cherub 1t was no
time for joking. But he took the pack
ct and began spiritless Investigation
Suddenly he jumped to his feet.
"Devine" he exclaimed hoarsely.
"These are T.. z. and y. preferred
Sure" The Cherub was watching
him with calm interest.
And there are twenty -dve-ffty-
one hundred shares
Right again. Nick
But where on earth-Cherub. are
you a wizard!"
Just make a note Of 1t that l owe
the Countess Vecchi hundred thou
sand dollars. Guess ! can afford to
bull the market little on her &C
count. chr
Afford to! Why, Devine. this gives
you control Of the road. You've got
the ates-Rimmer crowd under your
thumb. You've won. man; you've
wonv