The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1912-05-16

was n harmony with his character;
it was plain but rich in its appoint
ments, at once his library and his Of
flee, while the well-filled cases ranged
about the walls showed his tastes to
be in the main scholarly and intel
lectual.
"How long have you lived here?"
asked the Judge abruptly. Fentress
seemed to hesitate; but the judges
glance, compelling and insistent, de-
manded an answer.
"Ten years."
"You have known many men of all
classes as lawyer and planter?"
said the Judge. Fentress inclined Ids
head. The judge took step nearer
him. People have great trick OF
coming and going in these western
states-all sorts OF damned riffran
drift in and out of these new lands"
A deadly earnestness lifted the judges
words above mere rudeness. Fen
tress, cold and distant, made no reply.
For the past twenty years I have
been looking for man by the name
of Gatewood-David Gatewood." Dis
ciplined as he was, the colonel start
ed violently. Ever heard of him,
Fentress?" demanded the Judge with
savage scowl.
whats all this to me?" The words
came with gasp from Fentress'
twitching lips. The judge looked at
him moody and frowning
Il have reason to think this man
Gatewood came to west Tennessee"
he SAID
IF so, I have never heard OF him."
perhaps not under that name-at
any rate, you are going to hear OF him
now. This man Gatewood, who be-
tween ourselves was a damned scoun-
drep'-the colonel winced-'this man
GatewOod had friend who threw
money and business in his way-a
planter he was, same as Gatewood. A
sort of partnership existed between
the pair 1t proved an expensive en-.
terprise for Gatewood's friend, since
he came to trust the damned scoun.
drel more and more as time passed
even large sums of his money were
In Gatewood's hands" Fentress
countenance was like stone, as express.
sionless and as rigid.
BY the door stood Mahaffy with
Yancy and Cavendish; they under
stood that what was obscure and
meaningless to them held a tragic
significance to these two men. The
judges heavy face, ordinarily battered
and debauched, but infinitely good
natured, bore now the markings OF
deep passion, and the voice that rum
bled forth from his capacious chest
came to their ears like distant thun-
der.
This friend of Gatewood's had a
wife" The judges voice broke, emo
ton shook him like leaf; he was
tearing open his wounds. He reached
over and poured himself drink, suck
Ing 1t down with greedy lips. There
was a wife" he wh1rled about on his
heel and faced Fentress again. There
was wife, Fentress-'' he fixed Fen
tress with his blazing eyes. "A wife
and child. Well, one day Gatewood
and the wife were missing. Under the
circumstances Gatewood's friend was
we'll rid of the pair-he should have
been grateful, but he wasn't, for bis
wife took his child, daughter; and
Gatewood tritie of thirty thousand
dollars his friend had intrusted to
him!"
There was another silence.
AT later day met this man who
had been betrayed by his wife and
robbed by his friend. He had fallen
out of the race-drink had done for
him-there was just one thing he
seemed to care about, and that was
the fate of his child, but maybe he
was only curious there. He wondered
If she had lived, and married." Once
more the judge paused.
whats all this to me?" asked Fen.
tress.
Are you sure it's nothing to your"
demanded the judge hoarsely "Un-
derstand this, Fentress, Gatewood's
treachery brought ruin to at least two
lives. It caused the woman's father
to hide his face from the world; it
wasn't enough for him that his
friends believed his daughter dead; he
knew differently, and the shame OF
that knowledge ate into his SOUL 1t
cost the husband his place in the
world, too-in the end it made of him
a vagabond and penn1Iess wan
derer."
This Is nothing to me-" said Fen
tress.
"Wattin cried the iud9e "A bout sig