Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1911-07-14

ever1sh, and dry, and cracked. IKE
stale crust lnstinctively she knew
what was first 10 be done.
Ice water!" she demanded, of the |
servants, as she ripped Vests collar
from his shirt. And cracked ice
quick! Telephone for DR.. Dexter; tell |
him to come at once. lists life
or death"
At midnight she was sitting by his
bedside, gazing hungrily into his set
features, waiting for the arrival Of the
nurse whom Dexter was to send. The
physician had been an hour gone. leav-
ing her in state more tranquil. reas-
sured. West was by no means out of
danger. but the chances were in his
favor.
He lay like log, swathed in blan-
kets, without motion save for the
slow. almost imperceptible heave of
his stertorous respiration. The wo-
man sat as quietly. tensely strung, ell
bow ON knee, lips pressed tight
against her knuckles. She could do
naught but watch, wait and take
Vests temperature every quarter
hour. IF it goes above one hundred
and four" Dexter had told her, put
him In the ice bath again-and send
for me-"
The man was in a drugged stupor,
strychnine squirting his laggard heart
action, morphine soothing him. Pres
entity the woman bent forward, very
cautiously, and slipped the clinical
thermometer between his parted lips.
West stirred uneasily, and his teeth
clicked against the glass tube. Then
again he lapsed into coma. She with
drew the thermometer, saw that 1t re-
corded an even one hundred, and was
glad.
warning, West had cast the blankets
aside, and was sitting bolt upright,
jabbering in frenzy of delirium. The
woman gave a hurried order to the
waiting servant to telephone Dexter,
and returned to her husbands side.
"Belden-" he was iterating with
savage emphasis; "Belden-- Bel
| den"
Hush, dear" Gently she forced
him back, until his head rested upon
the pillow, and as gently sponged his
moist brow with ice water He proved
tractable enough, and seemed CRATE
full for the cold applications; but the
morphine was stimulating his unhelm-
ed imagination with a wavelike &C.
ton; and he would talk. and did. by
fits and starts.
| aauraoa MotAnfn~ Int he
began to piece together a comprehen
sive statement of what lay upon his
mind, that had Slapped his strength un
til the sun had found him an easy vic
tim. One phrase-"Belden broke
faith"-served as a starting point;
with It as a guide she was able to Sc
lect fragments from Vests incoher
ent ramblings, and to join them to
gether. mosaic-like. until she under
stood 1t all.
"Belden broke faith--promised t.
buy at eighty-broke his contract
said he'd examined roadbed and roll
Ing stock-come to conclusion tina
bonds were not worth the market
would pay sixty-damned scoundrel-
need cash for Ontario deal-squart
with him-desperate fix-million pu
me on my feet. easy-make him pa.
par"
Under the treatment of the physi
} clan and the nurse West subsidized int,
silence. But the woman had hear,
J enough to enable her to grasp tn,
i situation very completely.
, West needed ready money for hi
! various enterprises II he did not ge
1t, his failure was inevitable-fron
what he limited. Although there wouli
, remain her private fortune, compara
: tive poverty confronted the woman
though that was as nothing by tn
side of the resultant loss of her hus
, bands prestige among his associate
J, in "the Street" If Belden shoul
4 triumph. If he should succeed In oil
, tanning the Bennington Extensio
3 Fours at his own price, Vests porto
D would be ruin.
e She debated the matter throughou
the long. dreary night, an odd. har
light cleaning in her eyes
That morning the market opene
n firm; Net Common was In demand 9
g one hundred and nineteen, an advanc
y of two points overnight; Benningto
n Fours had dropped four points. I
d fifty-five.
e Belden smiled grimly. as he scanne
r the opening prices on the tape. To h
l. ears the gossip of the ticker wa
= sweet music: everything was going &
J. he had wished Nothing could be be
y ter. from his point of view
y He was an undersigned man, dar
p wizened and by no means affable; b
p, business associates disliked him wit
d rare heartiness and unanimity-an
Is masked their dislike; Just as Il
Street cordially hated him-and kel
ID Its knife out of sight. behind its BAG
His name was not savory, but II was
r power in the financial world; the T
y. spect which was not given him pc
n sonally, was more or less cheerful
1t accorded to his genius. his infini
sr generalship.
n He dropped the paper ribbons In
" the ticker basket. and began to pa,
'e up and down the length of his priya
h Office, with stealthy, catlike trea
e glancing from side to side with som