The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1911-11-09
ooh dear. she hreathed: ooh. dear


Ruggles put his cigar down on the
edge of the table. He looked at his
chair meditatively, he took out his
silk handkerchief, polished up his
glasses, readjusted them, put them on
and then looked at her.
Now" he said. 81 am going to trust
you with someti hg, and / know you
VIII keep my secret for me. This
shows you little bit of what / think
about you. Dan Blair hasn't got a red
cent. He has nothing but what l give
aim. There's false title to all that
land on the Bentley claim. The whole
I thing came up when | was home and
/ the original company, of which l own
three-quarters of the stock, holds the
clear titles to the Blairtown mines. II
all belongs now to me, if l choose to
present my documents. Dan knows
nothing about this-not a word"
The actress had never come UP to
such a dramatic point in any of her
plays With her hands folded in her
! lap she looked at him steadily, and
he could not understand the express
sion that crossed her face. He heard
her exclamation: ooh, gracious!'
I've brought the papers back with
me-" said the westerner, "and it is
between you and me how we act. If
Dan marries you ! will be bound to
do what old Blair would have done
cut him off-let him feel his feet on
the ground, and the result of his own
folly"
He had taken his glasses off while
he made this assertion. Now he put
them on again.
IF you give him up I'll divide with
the boy >ld be rich enough still to
hand over to my wife all she wants
to spend"
She turned her face away from him
and leaned her head once more upon
her hands. He heard her softly muir
muring under her breath, with an alb
sent look on her face, accompanied
by still more incomprehensibl
smile.
That's how 1t stands" he conclud-
ed.
She seemed to have forgotten him
entirely, and he caught his breath
when she turned about abruptly and
said:
MY goodness, how Dan will hate
being poor! He win have to sell all
his stickpins and his motor cars and
all the things he has given me- 1t
will be quite little to start on, but
he will hate it, he is so very smart"
why, you don't mean to say"
Ruggles gasped
And with a charming smile as she
rose to put their conversation at ar
end, she said:
'Why, you don't mean to say that
you thought 1 wouldn't stand by him ?"
She seemed, as she put her hands
upon her hips with something of
defiant look at the elder man, as
though she just then stood by her pau
perized lover.
II thought you cared some for the
boy Ruggles said.
We'll, I am showing it."
''You want to ruin him to show it,
do your"
AS though he thought the subject
dismissed he walked heavily toward
the door.
"You know how it stands. have
nothing more to say" He knew that
he had signally failed, and as a sud-
den resentment rose in him he ex-
claimed, almost brutally:
81 am darned glad the old man is
dead; l am glad his mothers dead,
and am glad have got no son.
The next moment she was at his
side, and he felt that she chung to his
arm. Her sensitive, beautiful face,
all drawn with emotion, was raised to
his.
ooh, you'll kill me-you'll kill me!
Just look how very i'll l am; you are
making me crazy. / just worship
him."
"Give him up, them" said Ruggles
steadily.
She faltered: 81 can't can't-it
won't be for long'-with terrible pa
thos in her voice. you don't know
how different / can be: you don't know
what a new life we were going to
lead"
Stammering, and with intense mean
ing, Ruggles, looking down at her.
said: my dear child-my dear child"
In his few words something per-
haps made her see in flash her past
and what the question really was. She
dropped Ruggles' arm. She stood for
a moment with her arms folded across
her breast, her head bent down, and
the man at the door waited, feeling
that Dams whole life was in the bal
ance of the moment When she spoke
again her voice was hard and entirely
devoid of the lovely appealing quality
which brought her so much admira-
ton from the public.
IF ! give him up" she said slow
ly, what will you do?"
why" he answered, I'll divide
with Dan and let things stand just as
they are
She thought again for moment and
then as if she did not want him to
witness-to detect the struggle she
was going through, she turned away
and walked over toward the window
and dismissed him from there.
"Please go, will YOU? ] want very
fyIr