Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-06-13
CHAPTER III.
A Straiuht lin.


report of Stuart's action against the
big financiers had given her quick
mind the cue to new line Of strata
gem. She began cautiously.
You are no going to give up thing
rye set my heart on merely because
old Woodman's a fool, are you?" she
asked her husband, with a touch of
scorn. Jim Stuart is the best friend
you ever had. He has become one Of
the most famous men in America. He
would lend distinction to our house.
want him at our next entertainment"
"The thing that puzzles me-" Biv-
ems broke in, "is why the devil he
will not come to the house. When
meet him down town he's always
friendly"
Mans lips 'quivered with a queer
little smile.
will he succeed in this action
against these men?"
NO"
"Why?"
He can't get the facts"
IF he could get them and did sue
ceed. what would happen?"
He'd shake the foundations of the
financial world"
You could get the facts, couldn't
you, dear?"
Nan spoke in the softest tones.
II have them already"
why not give them to him."
Il had thought of that-but it's
dangerous"
why dangerous?"
1T might bring on a panic"
What have you to lose by it?"
Nothing, if I'm wise"
1--WE never known anybody to call
you a fool"
"A panic's a dangerous thing to
monkey with"
"Nonsense!" Nan cried with enthu-
siasm. "Tll back you to win when the
test comes"
Bivens smiled with pride.
Yes. l could win, think, having a
little inside information about what
may happen"
why don't you do it. then?"
It's dangerous" Bivens repeated,
thoughtfully.
1T couldn't injure Stuart?" his wife
asked cautiously.
NO. 1t couldn't hurt him. On the
other hand, might make him the
unconscious instrument of a great
personal vengeance, double my fortune
and possibly land Jim in the White
House."
You must do it, dear!" his wife
cried, trembling with suppressed ex-
citement. Bivens hesitated and shook
his head.
It's playing with dynamite"
It's worth the risk of double your
fortune-do it for my sake!"
Nan leaned close and pressed her
husbands hand while her dark eyes
found their way into his heart. The
hard mouth smiled as he took her
flushed face in his hands and kissed
her.
"Tn do it," he said with firm ac-
cent
Il know you'll win-you never fall"
she cried, You'll not lose moment""
mo. I'll phone him at once"
Bivens called Stuart and made an
appointment to meet him at the AL
gonquin club for dinner two days la
ter.
why two days delay?" Nan asked
petulantly.
1T will require that time to prepare
the papers. Don't worry. I'll put the
thing through now"
When Stuart sat down with Bivens
in one of the magnificent private din
ing rooms of his millionaire club two
DAYS later, he was struck with the
perfection of the financier's dress, and
the easy elegance of his manners.
Nan has surely done wonders with
some pretty crude material" ne
| unused.
AS the meal progressed the lawyers
Imagination continued to picture the
process of training through which she
had put Bivens to develop from the
poor white southerner, the polished it
tie man of the gilded world he now
saw. No flight of his fancy could i'm
agine the real humor of 1t all. He re-
called Mans diary with grim amuse-
ment.
While Bivens had really been wax
in her skillful hands since the day of
her marriage, the one task she found
hard was her desperate and determin-
ed effort to make him a well-groomed
man. She was finally compelled to
write out instructions for his daily
conduct and enforce them with all
sorts of threats and Establishments
She pasted this programme in Bly,
ens's hat, at last, and he was in NOR
tai terror lest some one should lift
the inside band and read them. They
were minute and painfully insistent or
| the excessive use Of soap and water
They required that he wash and scrut
two and three times daily. Not only
did they prescribe tooth brushes anc
mouth washes, with all sorts of pastes
and powders, but that he should fol-
low it with an invention of the deVi
for torturing the gums known as den
tai floss" To get even with the mar
who invented the thing Bivens bought
him out and stopped its manufacture
only to find the scoundrel had in
vented a new one and had it on the
market three weeks later.
In the midst of this agony of break
ing him to the cOpious use of water
Bivens found a doctor who boldly de-
clared that excessive bathing was
ruinous to the health-that water was
made for fish and air for man. The
little millionaire made him chief OF
the staff of his household doctors, but
Nan refused to admit him when she
learned his views. Bivens secretly
] built him hospital, endowed it, and