The Washington times., 1911-01-28
CHAPTER XIII.
| WEEK or two later Rogers

A WEEK or two later Rogers cut
"a out all qualifying words. ant
said with his heart, "Fm glad you
know" He and David quickly be.
came comrades. and many an hour
they. sat in the room behind the office
talking Of life. of philosophy. OF
David now learned that Rogers had
| done large part of his really wide
| reading while in prison. and he now
nunciation-Roger had acquired his
less common words entirely from
reading. and never having heard them
spoken, and lacking such fundamen-
tails OF education as rules of pronun-
citation, he had for fifteen years been
pronouncinG his new words as SEEM
ed to him proper.
: David marveled to find that, for all
his occasional bitter flashes, Rogers
/ was an optirlist. He could explain Il
only by great natural soundness in
| the man. Rogers believed that the
| world was marching forward, and he
often said. his eyes illumined with be-
! lief:
THE time is coming, AIdrich-I shall
not see 1t. and you may not. but it's
| coming-when there will be no human
| waste, when the world will have earned
| the economy of men,
Frequently they discussed society's
| treatment of the criminal, and David
learned that the one-time Red Thorpe"
| burned with an Indignation as great as
his own. If ever Rogers obsessing
fear should be fulfilled-if he should be
found out-then his one desire, a desire
bitter accusations in the Vorld's face.
One warm, exuberant Sunday toward
the end of February they walked north
ward through Riverside Park, the
broad, glinting Hudson at their left.
When they reached the height crowned
by Grants tomb, Rogers, who hal
been silent for several minutes. now and
then slipping meditative glances at his
arm and brought him to a pause.
Look across yonder," he whispered,
pointing to the Palisades that lift their
mighty shoulders from the Hudson's
farther edge.
Wonderful, aren't they?" said David,
letting his eyes travel northward along
the giant wall till it dimmed away.
''Yes-but I didn't mean the view"
Rogers drew nearer, and went on In
whisper. while the crowd of Sunday
promenaders sauntered on behind them:
Il told you that l saw many big bust
ness opportunities, and that had TO
Let Let them he. all pass Over there is one
saw that some of the people who we're
being crowded off Manhattan Island
would in the future live over there.
The land was cheap then; 1 saw 1t
would some day be immensely valuable
After a great deal of maneuvering, In
which Mr.. Hoffman helped ME. l Sc
cured an option for four years on hVe
pieces of ground that lie together. A
few months ago / renewed the option.
Under its terms, / guarantee them q big
price, and they are bound to sell the
land only through me. So you see |
am, in effect, the head OF small land
syndicate. Over there is my big venture
aAnd has the development you ex-
pected come?
TT is coming. 1 have learned that a
big company Is buying all the land over
there II can get hold OF. They're going
to establish a new suburb. They're buy
ing secretly and through several agents;
they want to keep the different holders
get the land at their own price. Well.
for my land they'll have to pay me my
price!''
That evening they called on Kate Nor
gan. Once, shortly after that first din
ner together in the Pan-American Cafe,
when David had dropped in to see her,
he had found Rogers there. and he had
discovered on Rogers controlled face
look he thought might betoken more
than a commonplace interest. Since
then Rogers had often called, and that
which David had at first seen as a pos
sibility he now saw developing toward
q fact.
They found Kate in the depths of the
blues. David asked her what was the
matter.
"Soapi" she cried fiercely. my life's
nothing but soap, It's That kinds .
cents for a box of three cakes, ma am. /.
Three boxes? Twenty-seven cents,