Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1910-12-14


That was the very point you made.
That was where you would have
dropped me-if / had stuck by my
kind, as you thought it, and not come
over to yours"
She saw herself fairly caught. She
heard her mental process stated to
perfection.
But if you hadn't felt all along 1
was your kind, if you hadn't had an
idea that l was stray from the orig
inal fold, you would never have want
ed to go in for me-" he explained it.
Flora had her doubts about the
truth of this. For time she had
been certain of his belonging to the
lawless other fold, and at times she
would have gone with him in spite of
it, but this last knowledge she with
held. She withheld it because she
could make out now, that, for all his
seeming wildness, he had no lawless
instincts in himself. Generations of
great doing and great mixing among
men had created him, a creature per-
fectly natural and therefore eccen-
trio; but the same generations had
handed down from father to son the
law-abiding instinct of the rulers of
the people. He could be careless of
the law. He was strong in it. In
his own mind he and the law were
one. His perception of the relations
of life was so complete that he had
no further use for the written law;
and Farrell Wand's was so limited
that he had never found the use for it..
Lawless both; but-the two extremes.
They might seem to meet-but be-
tween those two extremes, between a
Chatworth and a Farrell Wand-why,
there was all the worlds experience
betweenl
She raised her eyes and smiled at
him in thinking of it, but the smile
faltered and she drew away They
were about to be disturbed Beyond
the rose branches far down the drive
she saw figure moving toward them
at slow, uncertain pace, looking to
and fro. See, there's some one
coming"
ooh, the gardener" he said as one
would say ooh, tlddlesticks!"
The gardener had been her first
thought But now she rose uneasily,
since she saw it was not he, asking
herself: who else, at such an
hour?"
By this time Chatworth, still seated,
had caught sight of it. Hello" he
said, what sort of thing is that?"
1t was a short, shabby, nondescript
little figure, shutting rapidly along
the winding walk between the rose
bushes. Now they saw the top of his
round black felt hat. Now only a
twinkling pair of legs. Now, around
the last clump of bushes he appeared
full length, and, suddenly dropping
his businesslike shuttle, approached
them at languid walk
Flora grasped Chatworth's arm in
nervous terror. "Tell him to 90" she
whispered; make him go away"
The blue-eyed Chinaman was plant
ed before them stolidly, with the
curious blind look of his guarded eyes
blinking in his withered face. He
wore for the first time the blouse of
his people, and his hands were folded
in his sleeves.
who's this?" said Chatworth, ap-
pealing to Flora.
At this the Chinaman spoke. 'Mr.
Crew." he croaked.
The Englishman, looking from the
Oriental to Flora, still demanded ex-
plantations with expostulating gesture.
1T is the one who sold us the sap
phire," she whispered; and ooh, what
does he want of your"
'.Eh?" said Chatworth, interrogating
the goldsmith with his monocle.
What do you want?"
The little man finished his long,
and, what had seemed his blind, stare;
then dived into his sleeve. He drew
forth crumpled thing which seemed
to be a pellet and this he proceeded
to unfold. Flora crept cautiously for
ward, loath to come near. but curl
Gus, and saw him spread out and hold
up a roughly-torn triangle of news
paper. She gave a cry at sight of it.
Across the top in thick black type
ran the figures $4,000.
Chatworth pointed stern fore
finger. what is it?" he said, though
by his tone he knew.
The Chinaman also pointed at it.,
but cautious and apologetic. Twenty
thousand dollar You likee twenty
thousand dollar?" He waited a mo-
ment Then, with glimmer as of re-
turning sight, presented the alterna-
tive. "You likee god?-little JOSH
come so?" And with his finger he
traced in the air a curve of such deli
cate accuracy that the Englishman
with an exclamation made a step to-
ward him But the Chinaman did not
move. Twenty thousand dollar" he
stated. 1t sounded an impersonal state
ment, but nevertheless it was quite
evident this time to whom it applied.
The Englishman measured off his
words slowly as if to an incomplete
understanding, which Flora was aware
was all too miraculously quick. "This
little god, this ring-do you know
where it is? Can you take me to it?"
The goldsmith nodded emphatically
at each word, but when all was said
hn only reiterated 'Twentv thousand