The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1911-03-25
[coNTmUED.l

lCONT1NU8O.l
There Is no other solution Of thu
mystery possible" answered Stott.
And you, father, do you believe Ry
der did this?"
II have no longer any doubt Of it, .
answered the judge. II think John
Ryder would see me dead before he
would raise finger to help me. His
answer to my demand for my letters
convinced me that he was the arch
POTTER
"What letters do you refer to-" de.
manded Shirley.
"The letters wrote to him in re.
gard to my making an investment. He
advised the purchase Of certain stock.
which letters if 1 had them now would
60 long way to clearing me Of this
charge Of bribery, for they plainly
showed that I regarded the transac.
ton as bona fide investment. Since
this trouble began I wrote to Ryder
asking him to return me these letters
so I might use them in my defense.
The only reply got was an insolent
note from his secretary saying that
Mr.. Ryder had forgotten all about
the transaction, and in any case had
not the letters I referred to-"
Couldn't you compel him to return
them?" asked Shirley.
1--WE could never get at him." inter-
rupted Stott. ''The man is guarded as
carefully as the car"
"Still,' objected Shirley, 1T is posi-
bic that he may have lost the letters or
even never received them"
'Oh, he has them safe enough" re-
piled Stott. "A man like Ryder keeps
every scrap Of paper, with the idea
that it may prove useful some day.
The letters are lying somewhere in his
desk. Besides, after the Transconti-
mental decision he was heard to say
that he'd have Judge Rossmore off the
bench inside Of a year,
"And it wasn't a vain boast-he's
done it," muttered the Judge.
Shirley relapsed into silence. Her
brain was in whirl. It was true,
then. This merciless man Of money.
this ogre of monopolistic corporations,
this human juggernaut had crushed her
father merely because by his honesty
he interfered with his shady business
deals! All, why had she spared him
In her book? She felt now that she
had been too lenient, not bitter enough,
not sufficiently pitiless. Such a man
was entitled to no mercy.
Long after the Judge and Stott had
left for the city Shirley sat alone on
the porch engrossed in thought, taxing
her brain to find some way out Of the
darkness, and when presently her
mother and aunt returned they found
her still sitting there, silent and preoc-
cupied. II they only had those two
letters, she thought. They alone might
save her father, but how could they be
got at? Mr.. Ryder had put them safe
~ away, no doubt. He would not give
them up. She wondered how it would
be to go boldly to him and appeal to
whatever sense Of honor and fairness
that might be lying latent within him.
NO, such a man would not know what
the terms "honor," fairness meant.
She pondered upon it all day, and at
night when she went tired to bed it
was her last thought as she dropped off
to sleep.
The following morning Shirley went
out for a walk. She preferred to 20
alone 80 she would not have to talk.
Hers was one Of those lonely, intro.
SnoNf3vo al t1,o%
sion of aimless chatter when preoccu-
pied with serious thoughts.
Every now and then Shirley espied
in the distance the figure of a man
which she thought she recognized AZ
that of Jefferson. Had he come, after
all? The blood went coursing tumultu-
ously through her veins only moment
later to leave her face shade paler as
the man came nearer, ard she saw he
was a stranger
AS she neared the cottage on her re-
turn home, she caught sight of the let
ter carrier approaching the gate. In
stantly she thought of Jefferson. and
she hurried to intercept the man. Per-
haps he had written instead of coming.
Miss Shirley Rossmore?'' said the
man eying her interrogatively.
That's IT, said Shirley.
The postman handed her a letter and
passed on. Shirley glanced quickly at
the superscription. No, it was not from
Jefferson; she knew his handwriting
too we'll. The envelope, moreover. bore
the firm name of her publishers. She
tore it open and found that 1t merely
contained another letter which the
publishers had forwarded. This was
addressed to Miss Shirley Green and
ran as follows:
Dear Madam-If convenient, I should
like to see you at my ofhce, So Broadway.
In relation to your. book, 1.-The American
Octopus Kindly inform me as to tho
day and hour at which INDY expect you.
Yours truly,
JOHN BURKETT RYDER.
Per b.
Shirley almost shouted from. sheer
excitement. At first she was alarmed
the name John Burkett Ryder was
such a DOGGY to brighten bad children