Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-11-01

mort of the terror seemed to leave his
face, but he was still an alarming-iooklnS
object Laverick quietly opened the door
and laid his band upon the girls shoulder.
..Wil YOU leave alone"' he asked.
Il will come and talk to you afterward,
if I may"
She nodded understandingly and passed
out. Laverick closed the door and came
up to the bedside
What in the name of thunder mas
come over YOU, Morrison?' he said Are
you i'll or what is it?'
Morrison opened his lips-opened them
twice-without any sort of sound issuing.
This is absurd Laverick exclaimed,
protestingly Il have been feeling wor-
ried myself. but there's nothing so terri
flying in losing ones money, after all. As
a matter of fact. things are altogether
better in the city today You made big
mistake in taking US out of our depth.
but we are going to pull through. after
all. Unions have been going up all day.
Laverick's presence and the sound of
his even. matter-Of-fact tone seemed 10
act like a tonic upon his late partner. lie
made no reference, however, to Laverick' S
words.
You got my note?" he asked. hoarsely.
Naturally got it," Laverick answered.
impatiently, land ! came at once. Try
and. pull yourself together. Sit up and tell
me what YOU are doing here, frightening
Your sister out of her life"
Morrison groaned.
Il came here" ne muttered. because
| dared not go to my own rooms / was
afraid.
Laverick struggled with the contempt
he felt.
Man alive" he exclaimed, what was
there to be afraid OFF,
You don't KNOW Morrison faltered-
You don't know"
Then, for the first time 1t occurred to
I.averick that perhaps the financial crisis
in their affairs was not only thing
which had reduced his late partner TO
this hopeless state. He looked at him
narrowly.
Where did you go last night" he
asked, when you left me?''
Nowhere Morrison gasped. II came
here"
Laverick made space for himself at
| the end of the bed and sat down
Look here" he said, its no use send
| ing for me unless you mean to tell me
everything. Have you been getting your
self into any trouble apart for affairs.
or is there anything In connection with
| them which | don't know"
| Again Morrison opened his lips, and
| again for some reason or other, he re-
| manned speechless. Then a certain fear
came also upon I-averick There was
something In MorriSOn'S state which was
| in itself terrifying.
You had better tell me all about it.
Laverick persisted, whatever 1t is. ]
will help you II / can"
Morrison shook his head. There was a
glass of water By his side He thrust his
finger into it and passed it across his lips
They were dry, almost cracking.
Look here he said. I've got a break
down-thats what's the matter with me.
My nerves were never good I'm afraid
of going mad The anxiety of the last
few weeks has been too much for me- l
want to get out of the country quickly
and | don't know how to manage it.
can't think. Directly ! try to think my
head goes round
There is nothing in the world to pre-
vent your going away" Laverick an
swered. 1T is the simplest matter pos
sible. Even if we had gone under today
no one could have stopped your going
1t had been ruin-and l told you just now
that business was better-is not crime.
Pull yourself together, for heavens sake,
man, You should be ashamed to come
here and brighten that poor little girl
downstairs almost to death"
Morrison gripped his partners arm.
You must do as | ask he declared.
hoarsely. 1t doesn't matter about prices
being better. want to get away. You
must help me-.
Laverick looked at him steadily. Nor
| rison was an ordinary young man of his
at heart a coward. But this was no ordi-
nary fear-not even the ordinary fear of
| a coward. Laverick's face became graver.
There was something else. then!
Il will get you out Of the country if I
| can" said he. There is no difficulty
about it at all unless you are concealing
something from me. You can catch a
| fast steamer tomorrow, either for South
| Africa or New York, but before I make
| any definite plans hadn't you better tell
me exactly what happened last night 2 <
] Once more Morrison's lips parted witty