The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-03-08

no hope afterward. The only honest
thing TO do was 10 suspend all opera
tions and let the company drift into
bankruptcy as serenely as possible.
| knew what Lasalle had done. but
l could not prove it. To prove it thad
| possessed the evidencel would have
| been to Jail him. and he was Irma' s
father. preferred ruin to this al
! tentative.
On top Of all this the court Of appeals
of the state handed down n decision In
certain case reversing another which
had been my model in the matter of
! the bonds. II appeared that | had bad
no right to them and that my action
! in putting them up as collateral for
| personal loans had been criminal
! These loans would now go unpaid. and
! the banks could send me to prison If
they pleased.
laid the whole case before my coun-
| sci in one grand flnal interview.
| showed him that by herculean efforts
| had put Off the inevitable TO about
/ Feb. of the following year-a matter
| of six weeks. All my personal liabil-
/ tiles which could not meet. amount
| ing to about S1OO,OOO. were concentrat-
I ed around that fatal spot in the calen-
| dar.
| incidentally ! remarked to my law
| yer that my life was insured for S1O5.-
600. He smiled upon mo henpvoently
and pronounced this able and compre-
hensive legal opinion:
"The only thing that you can do. so
| far as | can see. is to die"
My associate. Rainsforth in some al
most forgotten moment Of prOSnerity,
had bought little island with Il cabin
! on it in the middle of Il Florida river
which at that point extends to the di-
| mensiuns uf a lake. He now offered
me the island as Il refuge.
GO down there and hide" said he.
It'll this thing blows over"
If | We're conversing with my own
soul l should not dare to say why
went to Rainsforth'S island. If had
! gone there with the deliberate inten-
ton of drowning myself might not
| be so much ashamed of ii. but to have
| gone with n hazy notion of doing it by
| accident. of taking risks upon the wa
| ter. hardly know how to describe II.
! The proceeding simply stamps me as
a man sunk to something more insig.
nificant than cowardice. made my
! journey in the last week of December.
AMI on the morning of the first day
OF the year ! awoke in Rainsforths
hut.
One dull thought. aching like a
| bruiSe. was in my mind-I should new
ar see Irma again.
/ New Years mOrning-the same oc-
caSion Of hope and resolution which
| had been 50 ready to greet one year
| ago, Could this be the man who had
| been so happy, so courageous. 50 ex-
nltpd. in spirit on that other dawn of
Il year? The contrast was unbearabe.
could not lie there and behold my
! best day and my worst thus side by
side
Sheer misery drove me to exertion.
! | kindlpd Il fire and began to prepare
some breakfast Yet | made Il meal
after II fashion and was reminded that
my supplies were running low after
my three days residence upOn the is
land. Ii would he necessary to re-
| plenish them from the village.
\ wind had sprung up from the east
ward and was freShening. | sat upon
the shore and watched the waves break
said ! to myself. canoe will have
trouble out there, and | waited.
/ got under way from the lee of the
island. and when ! passed beyond the
shelter of the hGndbreadth of Iand |
felt the sweep Of the wind and waves,
! made less than no headway. | was
carried backward. There seemed to
anything.
Then something inside me seemed to
say: This isn't fair You must at least
try. | shook myself awake, and at
that instant half Il wave came over the
side. and before | could take any
measure Of safety another followed it,
and the caEOe sank under me. Instant
ly. | knew not why, the fighting in.
stinct awOke in me. ! never gave an
OlueT tuOlput 10 the POSSIBILITY bl
death. was all for the battle for its
own sake.
swan beside that canoe and swash
ed the water out of her and climbed
into her. BY this time | was far Il
leeward of my island, but headed
straight for the village and reached II
after Il heartbreaking fight. exhausted
to the marrow Of my bones, but some
how happy.
sat on little pier and dried my
self in the sun. and various persons
came and congratulated me upon be
ing alive and politely told me that
was a fool. but | knew better. Fol
the first time in months ! felt the glow
of pride.
A familiar voice smote upon my ear
l sprang to my feet, amazed, and faced
Rainsfortt.
why. what the deuce are you doing
, here?" | demanded.
He led me aside.
Its all up" said he. "They know