St. Johns review. (Saint Johns, Or.) 1904-current, 1910-10-07
CHAPTER XVII

Copeland. tho lawyer who never
practlcod. reached the Tippecanoe Clut
every weekday at exactly thirty min
utes past twelve o'clock. A good fig-
uro Of a man was Copeland. Ho had
steady brown eyes IN which a keen hu-
NOR lurked. and his hair that had once
been black was now white. but no was
stlll young and tho snowy cap over
his dark features was becoming In a
frock coat Copeland would have Rrace1 I
the Senate or tho Presidents cabinet
table. Ho had tolephonod Leighton "a
meet him one day near the end OF Sep
tomber
"Nothing7 You reject my offer7''
asked Copeland. IT'S better 30 at your
age. When was IN the practice
THAT was In the day" said Morris
when law library In these parts
meant tho State decisions and a few
toxt. books"
Copeland continued 20 speak with
ehara cteristie orispnesa
Il have a customer up In the coun-
try who has made the acquaintance OF
your particular friend. Mr.. Jack Dai-
comb, DO you follow me1"
your customer must be man OF
parts. Baleomb does not cultivate poo-
Pile unless ho sees something pretty
good IN them"
Il believe that 10 correct Well. my
customer. whose name 10 Jennings, hA.
bought some stock In what In known
as tho Patoka Land and Improvement
Company. OF which Iialcomb IL treas
urer and one thing and another. There's
a lawyer up there IN his building"
Van cleve," suggested Leighton.
That's the chap. Ills eyes look like
a bowl OF clam broth. He's the attor.
ney Tor the company. The reason no
holds the Job ID not dinicult 20 deter
mine. Ills father 10 banker down
here ON the river somewhere and ls
weli-to-do iiaieomh. I understand, h
teaching Van cieve how things ars
done In large cltiea,"
He's competent teacher 90 on"
"a client OF your once IL also In tho
game 90 a certain extent refer 10
Ezra Dameron. that genital. warm,
hearted. impulsiVe old fossil They
tell mo on the quiet that he's been
monkeying with options, iie's selling
this company tho old Roger Merriam
property south OF town at half It's wall
ue and he's given them an option on
his strip OF land out. here on the creek
You know nalcomh's scheme. He's go-
ing 90 build AN ideal fiat out here az the
edge Of toWn-fOuhtains playing ev.
erywhere. roof gardens. native forest
trees-its delightful prospect Dam
eron's corner Is great place for a. lt
makes no difference whether the
scheme Is practicable or not Baleomb
makes Il sound awfuily good. It's been
written up In the newspapers most ss-
duotiyely, It's SO good that only the
elect can get In"
Il know baleomb and his habits OF
thought How much Is he paying
nameTon for that property"
"halcomb has AN option at sixty
thousand Jennings told me that tbs
stockholders had already paid IN most
OF their money 50 that the purchase
could be made at once. The price Is
amazingly low. IIe must be hard up
Baleomb tells Jennings and the rest OF
them that he bought these lots merely
90 be able 90 get that creek strip; but
is's bargain and they'll make a good
thing out OF the lots. But what's the
matter with Ezrag l thought perhaps
Carr's relations with Dameron were
such that this information would In
terest you. The property Is part OF the
Margaret Dameron trusteeship and l
hope Miss Dameron will get all she's
entitled TO- I believe that's the most
curious win that was ever prohated In
our county" Copeland continued. with
the exaggerated gravity with which he
talked OF legal matters "But that
woman certainly had an extraordinary
faith IN her husband. Nobody else In
this township would trust Ezra Damer-
on round the corner with a hot base
burner But Mrs. Dameron was as
proud as Luoifer. She was a Merriam
and she must have thought that by
leaving her property TO Ezra In trust
for their daughter she would put
corner stone under his honor. But the
expires on the first OF ooto-
ber and the old man Is selling property
az a ridiculous figure 20 crook. II
looks rather queer. doesn't itG"
"Dameron must have had somethins
OF his own; he had his wife's property
to play with and II he hasn't done well
with Il it's his own fault I'm sorry
that he has fallen into Baleomb's
hands"
"oh. we'll; you can't make a silk
purse out OF sardine'a tail" observed
Copeland. refieotively. -And fear that
Ezra 10 a sardine."
When Norris reached his once. he
found a frst draft OF Margaret Damer-
on's will. written In lead pencil on a
faded piece OF manila paper, In Carrs
small regular hand Leighton had
ooms upon Il once In cleaning out an
oid dssk. and Ne had put II among his
owa papers As an interesting specimen
u CArTs hAndiWork. He unfoldsd the