The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1910-04-01

took them away the spots Of color
were cleaning beneath her brown eyes.
Shyly and very demurely she came to
him with clasped hands and gazed up
at him as If to search for the truth in
his face.
II believe you." she whispered ooh,
/ do believe in you But l want you
to go. Go this time. to please me-"
Honest? Are you sure you want
me to go?" He gripped his hands
tightly at his side as he looked at her.
them" The fighting spirit Of all the
old Continental HewingtOns must
have blazed up and burned anew In
her brown eyes. Don't let them beat
you. Smash them hard" She made
a gesture with her soft. white hands
I to illustrate what she wished him to
do. The Cherub smiled.
But you will not run away while
l am gone. will you?" he demanded.
perhaps Motif you smash them
hard enough. Hurry! He is start
ingr'
She whirled him about by the shoul-
ders and pushed him toward the door.
Hold on. Nick, I'm comingr shout
ed the Cherub
/ The countess ran down the steps
and tossed package to him.
Il almost forgot" she said breath
lessly. II wanted to ask you to sell
those for me. They're some stocks
or bonds or something. and / want
them sold. That's all"
The inner works Of the vehicle be-
gan to whir violently. the big car
leaped forward. and moment later
the Countess Vecchi could see only a
little cloud Of dust that showed
through the trees lining the road to
the village.
1t remained for train boy to dis
close just how the public viewed the
crisis in Mr.. Devine's affairs. Half.
way to the city the boy came aboard
with the early afternoon editions
From the headlines it was evident
that the disturbance in Wall street
had become a popular topic. the sensa-
ton of the hour.
One enterprising journal INDUCED In
a half page cartoon. which was sup
( posed to represent the situation. II
was entitled "Plucking Cherub." A
scandalous caricature of Mr.. Devine
! 1t was. showing him most inadequate
! ly clothed. but possessed of pair OF
! wings from which a group Of bad
boys were gleefully pulling what few
| feathers remained, while the victim
rubbed his fists into tear leaking eyes
and made no attempt at defense.
''Oh, my. my!' and Mr.. Devine rock.
ed mirthfully over the cartoon.
at would be funnier if it wasn't sc
ID near the truth" growled Wal
loway. "Of course | don't know just
how deep you've plunged on this F.,
u. and n. deal. but l gathered that
you'd gone in rather Steep"
YES" admitted the Cherub more
soberly. 81 have. In fact. It's the big
gest thing ever tackled"
Nick Walloway gaZed at him incred-
ulously. And right i'm the middle of
it you take u day off TO feed the swans
at Hewington Acres!'
"I'd take year off If it was neces-
sary" sys
Young Mr.. Walloway paled little.
"Devine." he began hesitatingly, tits
its the countess, isn't it,?
! The pink in the Cherub's chubby
cheeks flashed up behind his ears.
! 1.-The countess!" he exclaimed
"Why, she's way out Of my class
Nick! Oh. she's about hundred pei
cent too good for me-aristocratic. re-
fined. old family and all that. Why,
| she wouldn't look at me. Nick! You
| know she wouldn't"
II know that you've been looking at
her and-and"- Something was in
| terfering with the speech Of young Mr.
Walloway. However, he mastered the
difficulty. Suddenly reaching out, he
grasped the Cherub's right hand and
gave it crushing grip. IL wish
you luck. old man."
| Perhaps Mr. Devine was little sur
prised by this unexpected display OF
emotion from the usually reserved
| souhS uidH. IL nc "uS ne DIuSueu IL
aside
Luck nothing, Nick! Much obliged
for your good wishes. my boy, but |
haven't the ghost of show. Now, If
l was chap like you there'd be some
hope for me. Say. Nick, wonder you
never took a.
Beg pardon, Devine, but let's stick
TO the point. l should not presume to
intrude my advice on personal mat
tiers, but if l were you | would drop
p. u. and NJ until you can give your
whole time and thought to the bust
ness. Why don't you pull out?"
The Cherub ceased to stare dreamily
Mick" he said abruptly, III tell you
something. I've changed my plans.
I'm going TO do something besides
speculate in that stock. I'm going to
buy that road, and I've got to get
control before next Friday noon.'
"Cherub, you're crazy It's impossi-
BILE! Why, the Bates Rimmer crowd
scooped in twO-fifths of the stock yes
terday. so they say. You know what
that means-they'll wreck it. wiring it
dry The small outside holders have
been tumbling over each other to I'M
load. See here"-and he pointed to a
newspaper on his knee-"fifty lots Of
fered during the first half hour today