The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-06-14

note, but turned up in the market
with fifty thousand dollars In govern.
ment bonds under his arm.
Looks crooked to me-" insinuated
| Tank, over the phone, when he heard
about the bonds What's man dom
with mortgage on his property and
government bonds in safe deposit
Vault" There was note of suspicion
in the boss's voice. Somebody might
be playing him false.
IL guess It's straight. all right" said
Mr. yining. He said they were his
wife's. Came to her from her first
husbands estate You can't keep a
wife from helping her husband out In
a pinch
No." snorted Daniel Tank. IN rage,
and hung up his phone, to surrender
himself to irritating reflections. Was
he to be beaten. after ALL by this pig
| headed warehouseman? For Mr.. Tank,
with all his international resources
had no means of knowing that W. A.
Holman had fifty thousand dollars
worth of government bonds at his COM
mand. and neither had Mr.. Tank any
| way OF making those bonds unmer-
charitable nor of directly forbidding
anyone to purchase them.
So Mr.. Holman paid his mortgage
and Mr. Tank bit his thumb-bit his
| thumb and uncoupled another link In
that tremendously long reach of his,
and this time Mr.. Holman found him
self caught, where escape was impos-
sible.
It all came of strange fish or two
which Tank let loose in that lofty So
cial pool to which Mrs. Holman and
her daughters had attained after much
upstream filming
For two seasons previously, the Hol-
man ball had been a great success, and
! third would seem to mark the family
as securely fixed in society. Mr.. Hol-
mans business had languished to the
point where the cost of such func-
ton involved considerations, but there
was to be no wavering. New flower
schemes. new decorating plans, new
/ German figures, oh, everything was to
| show originality and piquance. com.
| bined with elegance and high-class
form. All was going merrtly, when
! suddenly the postman began to be
| loaded down with letters of regret.
! Each mail brought more. Within three
days the Holman ball had collapsed.
Mrs Holman sat with a savage CLEAN
| IN her eyes before the table on which
were her invitation lists, with the re-
grets In one pile and the acceptances in
another. A casual inspection showed
that with one or two notable exceptions
the lions had regretted, while the no
bodies had accepted. The ball was
ruined. 1t would be a rag-tag and bob
tail affair, farce, a laughing stock.
Mrs Holman grimly directed the
preparation of the note which recalled
!, the invitations to the ball on account
Of the death OF very near relative.
William Holman" she said. turn
ing an uncomfortable gaze upon he
, husband. do you mean to say tina
, you've made all this trouble for your
: self and brought disgrace upon you
family over q miserable, little piece O
railroad track not as long as the trail
on my last ball dress?"
This done. her face saved. the littl
woman bowed her head amid the pill
Of regrets and wept long and copfously
Here her husband found her. The tw
Miss Holmans were seeking to comfor
her and had so far succeeded that grie
had given way to cold, hard, impert
ous mood.
Her sarcasm was whitening. TIL
menace of her tones was pregnant wit
purpose.
The next morning Holman was agai
among the list of Dan Tanks callers.
Good mornin', Mr.. Holman" sal
Mr.. Tank.
Mr.. Holman made no audible form {
galutation. He waved his hand after
deprecatory fashion in token that n
hCS4ie w c%Abhh6O tAii%StfASS 49,
brought him there
What have l got to do?" he aske
Pay for the spur privilege" sai
Tank, and take up the track"
Take up the track" he asked IN
startled way. Pay for 1t and take
up?"
Yes" responded the boss, frml
pay for 1t and take it up. ! told yc
I'd learn you and. blame me. / will.
The man who had wasted his gu
stance for three riotous months
which he had found the ramificatio1
Of this vast, political machine mena
ing him on every side. cooling h
friends heating his enemies, drivll
his teaming business out OF existen
and his warehouse into homes for ba,
gazed at the inscrutable face OF Z
4 boss and rubbed his chin reflective
helplessly.
If you'd paid for that track. fs
and reasonable, like You ought, you
a had It and you'd had your bushes
8 but you started in to buck me Nobo
B can do 1t and not get their lesson. y
4 been dom that, but you amt got 1t
vet. And there's somebody else got