Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1912-04-25
CHAPTER VIII.

ent man from the night before. A pitt
less consideration Of his circumstances
began at down, and carried to the
bath hour, had shown him facts as
they were-the dismalest facts imag-
inable,. and as gray as the first peep
of that gray morning. Who was he.
to be calling on aristocratic young
ladies and whispering things In
pretty pink ears? He whose fortune
amounted to less than four thousand
five hundred dollars, and who had
need to strive very energetically to
keep his own somewhat large and red
ears above the engulflng waters. His
business was indubitably mules-not
to linger in fools paradises, waste
money and time, and drift into the
most heartbreaking of false positions.
He tried to put that sparkling face
out Of his mind; tried not to linger
or those girlish admissions that made
his pulses beat; called himself, oh, so
many times, fool-a crazy, silly fool
and vowed all sorts of tremendous
things. He would excuse himself
from that tea; would leave the next
day for Kentucky; would get back to
dry land and mules and sanity. But
he did not wish to appear rude; he
would hate to have his action mis-
construed; he would go at four, after
all, and if the occasion presented itself
would tell her the truth quite frankly
that he had hardly any money, no
profession, and a long, uphill fight IN
frcnt Of him. Though how idiotic he
was to take it all seriously-himsel
and her and the whole affa1r-as
though it were any more than a pass
ing Irritation. 1t was just the incur
able way he had of exaggerating
everything-of making mountains out
of molehills. He laughed at himself
a little forlornly. What an ass he
was, to be sure! What an ass!
After breakfast he made it up hand
somely with Dagsancourt, expatedng
on mules with much ardor and enthus-
iasm, and gradually recovering the
mulatto's sorely shaken confidence.
It seemed that Victor had not slept all
night, so distressed had he been at
Matt's indecisicn. He spoke Of It
quayeringly, like father to way
ward son, his face yellower than ever,
and puckered with chagrin. He said
that no one, even with mules, could go
very far without concentration of
purpose" He repeated the phrase
several times, always with the same
note Of timid warning. Matt apolog-
lied, explained, and promised to- con
centrate." Victor was perfectly right!
Mules first, and not another side-step
on the track He proved his SINGER
ity by promising to leave for Kentucky
on the morrow. They shook hands on
1t, then and there, in front of Buggins;
and any lurking grudge that Victor
might still have felt disappeared IN
that hearty clasp. But there was still
a weight on the mulatto's mind. He
stammered out something about the
San Francisco money-hoped that 1t
was all right-hoped that 1t had come.
Excuse my mentioning It," he said.
"But you know, We'll be needing 1t
pretty soon, and I'd rather not sell the
garage till"
"Oh, that's all right" returned Matt.
1T ought to be coming along soon, and
If it doesn't I'll telegraph. Don't
you worry about that" he added re-
assuringly. "Its one of those splen-
did jewelry stores with diamond neck
laces in the window, and Is good for
a hundred times the money"
But Victor's concern remained; ne
had kept better tally on the dates tnan
Matt; 1t was exactly twenty-four days
since the latter had written-a long
while, surely. Victor asked for the re-
ceipt, and examined it closely. That's
all right as far as it goes" he said,
handing it back with a relieved ex-
preston, Though they don't have to
buy the ring If they don't want to, or
nj tbojr minds ~
"If people like Snood and Har-
greaves offered fifty-f1ve hundred dol
lars for the ring, it's pretty sure to be
worth IT," replied Matt. Even If they
backed out, we could sell it some
where else.'
Eyes, that's true" said Victor, re-
covering his cheerfulhess. "and maybe
for better price, considering you
took the first bid they made. DEPEND
upon it, you could have raised them a
few hundred dollars
They fingered while longer. talk,
ing about the three hundred dollars
commission Victor hoped to get on a
secondhand car, and as to the advls-
ability of taking sixteen hundred dol
lars cash for the garage, or thous-
and down, and another thousand on a
nine-months note. They also touched
on the often-debated and never-solved
question Of genuine, pedigreed Ffson
jackass. This dazzling animal was
capable of absorbing threequarters OF
their capital. and would be, If he lived,
a four-legged gold mine. His value,
dead, was precisely seventy-f1ve cents.
No wonder the partners were harassed
blew this way and that, one minute
the imaginary possessors of genuine.
pedigreed Fison jackass, and another
forswearing him as an unattainable
luxury and the embodiment Of carking
care. Victor went back to work, leav-
ing the perpetual problem still un-
solved, while Matt, with nothing in his
head but mules, walked up and down
the porch, raising more.
Perhaps he kept closer to the yer
anda that morning than usual, for 1t
was warm and sunny, and likely to
tempt the presence Of Mrs. Sattane
with her rocking chair, her darning
and her interminable tongue. For once
Matt was eager for Mrs. Sattane, and
when at length she appeared he was