Mexico weekly ledger., 1910-05-12

had NY fingers on those seals, about
to break them. and then have erzEled
awzy-oocs more to do without the
money. Somehow / knew that ny
time must come. Besides there was
that Overwhelming ambiu0n-prompt-
ed BY a woman
Shirley hung her head
Yes" be went on hercely, "a wom-
An who must have her duo u was mp
to ne to be something more than
merely honest Anybody could be hon
est she told roe. but not eFerybody
could be great"
Shirley veutured 70 look up at hiFn;
but meeting hls gaze fixed on her face
she shifted hex eyes instantly. Then
there was the United States senator
ship-the fainest Office In the state
which l knew ! could bay with the
money for which I had sold my soul.
Again and again l came into this Of.
Zee and went 20 that vault there, de-
termined to break the seals OF the COW
ers on those boxes-to buy the United
States s~enAtorship. But / could not
bring myself to do IL Something al
ways said to me: 'Toa mast do pifh0uf
e! YoH rESt Be AOEesfl Fos nHSf make
q deos fghtF Yet still | was a thief,
holding thousands that didn't belong
! to NE. But always upon me wan that
all absorbing ~passion-a passion not
TO use, but TO DO without the thing
which vas at my fingers ends, an In
eentiye without which I could not sue.
coed Ard so.r he concluded Il went
In and won without It"
Probably better than any one pres
ent Challoner realized to the fun what
Murgatoyd had suffered. Manlike.
however. he was more than willing to
permit the great work that Murga-
troyd had done to oyershadow COM
pletely his questionable proceedings.
Of course Challoner was quite well
aware that the prosecutors actions
viewed in the light Of a successful
campaign wore an entirely different
aspect than they would had he failed
to obtain the senatorship. In the lat
ter 5 > it was inevitable, no matter
what moral satisfaction he could de
rive from the return Of the money
n In fairness to Challoner be It said
that be never once questioned it-that
In addition TO the humiliation OF A
ruined career the prosecutor would
hare 70 endure the modification Of
knowing that his loss Of self respect
was wholly futile. But in any event
Challoner was too generous not to ac-
cept without reservation Murgatroyd's
contention that-at least IN part-he
was aetuated by q praiseworthy de-
sire to say his wife and him from the
results of his designations. And so,
rising, Challoner grabbed impuisiyely
Murgatroyd's hand, saying:
Not another word. old man. It's all
right"
Thank you" Murgatroyd said, visl-
bly, affected, and then added: "Only
one thing more remains to be done.
Mrs. Chanoner, l must ask you to
break these seals"
'0h, no, Mr.. MurgatroydF' she said.
Surely you must know that | believe
your
But M~urgatroyd insisted, and, obey
ing him finally. Miriam broke the
seals. and presently she showed to
them the securities undisturbed, Just
as Murgatroyd had taken them, dollar
for dollar, bond and bond.
Suddenly Murgatroyd felt g touch on
the arm.
And 1 believe You, Billy" said
Shirley contritely.
An enigmatieal smile passed across
the prosecutors face.
do you, indeedr" he said dryly.
A slight pucker showed on Miss
Bloodgood's beautiful brow, but she
replied. quite unrut1ed:
Why, OF course | do. After ali, you
were honest, weren't your" And, not
waiting for his answer. added lngenu-
ously, you were not a theft"
Murgatroyd's face became very seri-
Gus.
yes. was" be protested. II was a
thief" And with that he turned to
Challoner and said in a voice Of great
feeling: "ChaIIoner. this money is your
wife's; take It And, great God, man"
be groaned, ~don't-don't forget what
1t did to you-what it made you years
ago"
Mrs ChaIloner shiyered. Challoper.
~hesitating, advanced and said:
Wen take It I'm not a bit afraid
now, Murgatroyd, for | knop." And
then. holding out bis hand, he contin-
ued kindly, Billy, If you hadn't taken
It where would | have been todayY'
"Free-free as you are now" said
the other man In q low. strained tone.
Yes" asssHted Challoner, "out of
prison, butt
Mrs. Challoner quickly rose and put
an end to the conversation.
Come, Laurie" she said abruptly,
and, holding out her hand. "Goodby,
Mr.. Murgatroyd. I'm afraid we have
taken up altogether too much of your
time"
Murgatroyd shook hands with the
Challoners. But on Shirley making
her adieus be said:
May / have a moment with you,
Miss Bloodgood3 Won't you wait.
please"
Mrs. Challoner answered for the
girl:
SHIRLEY, don't be in any hurry. Lau-
rie and I will wait for you In the ante
room" And al they passed out Chal-
Toner called. "Wait until you see that
concrete hospital, Murgatroydr'
For moments that seemed hours
Shirley and Murgatroyd stood facing
other, neither having the courage
to speak, the girl filed with shame at
the great wrong she had done to the
man she loved, while be, feeling as If
the burden that had rested upon bis
soul had at last rolled away. was
drawing deep Notwithstanding like
a man who has suddenly come u OF
darkness into daylight. Shirley was
the first to break the silence, and now,
looking up at Murgatroyd with a little ,
shake Of the head, she asked:
Billy. do you care to know what l
think Of your ,
:
nRnED 1r MIN ,n-1 d