The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1912-02-02

He wondered II Alicia would ignore
his letter or If she would come ia
MIN. Surely she could not be so heart,
less az to throw him over at such a
moment. Crushed in his left hand
was copy of the New York Herald
containing an elaborate account of the
brilliant reception and musicale given
tne previous evening at her home.
with an exclamation of traaatfence he
rose from his seat, threw the paper
from MIN, and began to pace the floor.
Was this the end of everything?
Had he reached the end of his rope
lie must pay the reckoning, If not to.
DAY, tomorrow AS his eyes wan
! dered around the room and he took
mental inventory of each costly OBJ.
| Ject, ne experienced a sudden shock
as he recalled the things that were
missing. How could he explain their
| absence? The art dealers we're al
ready suspicious. They wera not to
be put off any longer with excuses.
ANY moment they might insist either
on the immediate return of their prop
erty or on payment in full He was
In the position to do neither. The
articles had been sold and the money
lost gambling. Curse the luck! Every
thing had gone against him of late
The dealers would begin criminal pro-
ceedlngs, disgrace and prison stripes
would follow. There was no way out
OF 1t. He had no one to whom he
could turn in this crisis.
And now even Alicia had deserted
him. This was the last straw. While
he was still able to boast of the
friendship and patronage Of the aris-
tocratic Mrs. Howard Jeffries he
could still hold his head high in the
world. No one would dare question
his integrity, but now she had aban-
doned him to his fate, people would be-
gin to talk. There was no use keep
ing up a hopeless fight-suicide was
the only way out!
He stopped in front of a mirror,
startled at what he saw there. Il
was the face of a man not yet 80, but
apparently much older The features
were drawn and haggard, and his dark
hair was plentifully streaked with
gray. He looked like a man who had
lived two lives in one. Tonight his
face frightened him. His eyes had a
fixed stare like those of a man he
had once seen in a madhouse. He
wondered il men looked like that when
they were about to be executed Was
not his own hour close at hand? He
wondered uyh W bn al
1t seemed to him that the ticks were
louder than usual. He started sud-
denly and looked around fearfully. He
thought he had heard a sound outside.
He shuddered as he glared toward the
little drawer on the rtght-hand side of
his desk, in which he knew there was
a loaded revolver.
If Alicia would only relent escape
might yet be possible. If he did not
hear from her it must be for tonight
One slight little pressure on the trig-
ger and all would be over.
Suddenly the bell of the telephone
connecting the apartment with the
main hall downstairs rang violently
Interrupted thus abruptly In the
midst of his reflections, Underwood
jumped forward, startled His nerves
were so unstrung that he was ever
apprehensive of danger With a trem-
ulous hand, he took hold of the re-.
ceiver and placed it to his ear. AS he
listened. his already pallid face turned
whittier and the lines about his mouth
dghtened. He hesitated a moment be-
fore replying. Then, with an effort.
ne said:
Send him up"
Dropping the receiver, he began to
walk nervously up and down the |
'oom. The crisis had come sooner than |
lie expected-exposure was at hand.
This man Bennington was the man.
'ger of the firm of dealers whose
foods he disposed Of He could not |
make restitution. Prosecution was in.
'vitable. Disgrace and prison would
ollow. He could not stand it: he
would rather kill himself. Trouble was
cry close at hand, that was certain
low could he get out of it? Pacing
he floor, he bit his lips r,u the blood
anne
There was sharp ring at the front
DOR. Underwood opened it. AS he
his visitor on the thresh-
Id, he exclaimed:
Why, Bennington, this is a sur.
rise!"
The manager entered awkwardly.
lie had the constrained air of a man
tho has come on an unpleasant err
and, but wants to be as amiable as
lie circumstances will permit.
You didn't expect me, did you?" he
cyan.
Shutting the front door, Underwood
ID the way back into the sitting room,
nd making an effort to control his
erves. said
Sit down, won't you?"
But Mr. Bennington merely bowed
lilly. 1t was evident that he did not
ish his call to be mistaken for a So
al visit.
L haven't time, thank you. To be
ank, my mission is rather a delicate
lie, Mr.. Underwood"
'TO BE CONTINUED1
Corfu's Queer Laws,