The Alaska citizen., 1911-08-07

"Second-With the one idea Of
cleaning out the grafters and cor
ruptionists. who are reputed to be
practically in control of the legisla-
tive machinery of this state, | shall
play their own game and accept ev-
cry bride. every recompense in any
form. that is offered to me.
"Third-As these moneys come
into my possession ! shall deposit
them in this vault. with the name of
every man whom | know to have
shared the bride.
FOURTH pledge myself to open
this vault in the presence OF wit
nesses and make public its contents
on or before June sixth, following
most fitting"
There was long, tense silence
Came at last deep breath of relief
from the press collectively, then a
rush of questions. The reporters
saw it at last. Twas all a trick a
put-up job, just as he had explained.
The ultimate effect OF it no man
might tell
Boys. Id like to call your atten-
ton to the fact that today is June
fourth" said Jim Warren. I'll just
add that, after | understood the
crookedness existing in the state,
this came to me as possible way
of exposing 1t all and Kidding the
state OF the men who are RESPONSE
Bile for il. 1t was sort of joke
at first 1t didn't strike me as be.
ing very serious. | knew they play
ed the game with marked cards;
thought it would be amusing to sit
in their game and deal myself the
high hand. didn't dream OF the
disaster that would come. for it is
disaster Our state will be the
laughing-stock OF the world. but it
will be clean. After all. that was
what ! was aiming at"
He stopped and gazed straight into
the eyes Of Franques and Lewis I'M
till they looked away. Neither said
word
Just one other thing, boys" he
went on. "Financially | am ruined.
spent every penny | had in the
world living up to this reputation of
a CRATER which built about my
self" He smiled YEARLY. This is
my record-all of it. Please say for
me that | am standing on that rec
ord as candidate for governor of
this state" He extended both hands
toward the plain-clothes man. Il am
your prisoner Are you going to put
handouts on me?'
XVI.
Huge. startledlooking type blared
The story Of graft to the world along
with the extraordinary manner of its
revealing, whereupon Jim Warren's
state rose up and beloved its indig-
nation at the conditions he had
shown He had fired the fuse-the
bomb of public wrath blew up with
roar that was heard all over the
country. Immaculate regulations,
shorn to their bare pelts, scuttled
hither and thither seeking knothole
wherein to hide their nakedness from
that mighty blast of popular fury.
There was a bandying Of epithets,
Cf threats. of ugly phrases. of re-
elimination; laying together of cum
ming political heads and sudden
and mysterious thinning out of
those Legislators whose names occu-
pied the more conspicuous places on
the roll of dishonor The newspa-
pers, always intrinsically right. flung
the slogan across the sky: Clean
the capitol Complete the work Jim
Warren has begun" 1t was tribute
to the maker Of plows. He had done
the impossible.
On the afternoon OF his arrest Jim
Warren had been arraigned and re-
manded to the custody of his attOr-
ney Afterward he had returned to
his apartments at the hotel and
there YEARLY he flung himself down
TO think upon many things. He had
turned the trick! He had no fears as
to his future; the public would take
care of that. Its stamp of approval
was already his; but would
she approve? After all, her approval
meant more than anything else in the
whole world Even if she did ap-
prove. what would come after? II
only her father. Dwight Tillinghast,
had withdrawn as he had requested!
or course he couldn't give Mr.. TIL
inghast an inkling OF what was to
come. buff he only had!
The telephone rang.
"Mr. Franques is in the office,
sir" said the operator. He wants
to know if you can see him in your
committee room tomorrow morning at
half past ten?"
'Franques!" Jim Warren repeated
in perplexity. He was thoughtful for
a second. Tell him yes" he directed.
(To be continued.