Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1910-12-02

VINO knew buying and selling as he
knew smelling and casting. They rout-
ed him, easily at first, with increasing
difficulty as he learned the new trade,
but always with certainty. It was Nor
man, the correspondence man, trans
formed now into a sales agent, who
gave him his first hint of the inward
ness.
We're too straight, Mr.. Gordon;
nat at the bottom of It," he said to
Tom, over a grill-rooml luncheon at the
Marlboro one day. 1T takes money to
make money. Four times out OF Ave
we have to sell to a municipal COM
mittee, and the other time we hav to
monkey with the purchasing agent Of a
corporation In either case 1t takes
money-other money besides the differ
ence in price,"
Tom was in town that day for tho
purpose of taking a train to Louisville,
where he was to meet the officials of an
Indiana city forced, despite the hard
times, to relay many miles Of worm
out water-mains He made a pencil
computation on the back OF an envel-
ope. The contract was a large one, and
his bid, which he was confident was
lower than any competitor could make,
would still stand a cut and leave a
margin of profit. Before he took the
train he went to the bank, and. when
he reached the Kentucky metropolis,
his first care was to assure the wheel
horse" member Of the municipal pur-
chasing board that he was ready TO
talk business on q modern business ba-
sis.
Notwithstanding, he lost the contract.
Other people were growing desperate,
too. 1t appeared. and his bride was not
great enough. One member of the
committee stood by him and gave him
the facts. A check had been passed,
and 1t was a bigger check than Tom
could draw without trenching IN the
balance left in the Iron City National
TO meet the months payroll at Cor
donia-
You sent a boy to MILL" said the
loyal one, And now It's all over I
don't mind telling you that you sent
him to the wrong mill. at that. Bullin-
gers a hog"
I'D like to do him up said Tom,
vindictively.
We'll, that might be done, too. But
1t would cost you something"
Tom did not take the hint; he was
not buying vengeance. But on the way
home he grew bitterer with every sub
tracted mile. He could meet one more
payday, and possibly another; and
then the end would come. This n
contract would have saved the day, and
1t was lost.
The homing train. rushing around
he boundary hills Of Paradise, set him
down at Gordonia late in the afternoon.
There was no one at the station to
meet him, but there was bad news in
he air which needed no herald to pro-
claim it. Though it still wanted half
an hour of quitting time, the big plant
was silent and deserted. Tom walked
out the pike and found his father on
the Woodlawn porch.
You needn't say 1t, son." was his
low greeting, when Tom had flung him
self into a chair. TT was In the South
Tredegar papers this morning.
What was in the papers?"
About our losin' the Indiany con-
tract. l reckon 1t was what did the
business for us, though there were a.
plenty of black looks and q storm
brewin' when we missed the payday
yesterday"
Missed the payday? Why, I left
money in bank for 1t when l went to
L~ouisville!"
Yes, I know you did. When Dyck-
man didn't come out with the pay
rolls yesterday evening I t~elephoned
him.. He said Vint Farley, as treasur-
err of the company. had made a draft on
him and taken It all"
And the men?"
"The miners went out at 10 o'clock
this morning. The blacks would have
stood by US, but Ludlow's men drove
EN- out-made 'em quit. We're done,
Buddy"
Tom dashed his hat on the door and
the Gordon rage, slow to fire and fierce
to scorch n burn when once 1t was
afiame, made for a moment a yelling
maniac of him. In the midst Of 1t he
turned, and the tempest OF imprecation
spent itself in a gasp Of dismay. His
mother was standing in the doorway,
thin, frail, with the sorrow in her eyes
that had been there since the long
night of chastenlngs three years agone.
AS he looked he saw the growing
pallor in her face, the growing speech
less horror In her gaze. Then she put
out her hands as one cropping in dark
ness and fell before he could reach her.
1t was her stalwart son who carried
Martha Gordon to her room and laid
her gently on the bed. with the nus
band to follow helplessly behind. Also, |
1t was Tom, tender and loving now as
a woman. who sat upon the edge of the
bed, chatting the bloodless hands and
striving as he could to revive her.
I'm afraid you've killed her for sure,
this time, son!" groaned the man.
But Tom saw the pale lips move and
bent low to catch their whisperings.
What he heard was only the echo of
the despairing cry of the broken heart:
Would God l had died for thee, o Alb
SALON., my son!"
ITO be continued.)