Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1913-04-03

quire patience . She was far too loyal
to run away without first giving him
warning. In the event Of her refus-
ing Mortimer's roof and protection, he
knew what his plans would be. Some
n else could do the buying for Nor
timer & Jones; his business would be
to revolve round this lonely girl, to
watch and guard her without her be-
ing aware Of 1t. OF what S were
riches II he could not put them to
whatever use he chose? So he would
wait nea her, to see that she came
and went unmolested, till against that
time when she would recognize how
futile her efforts were and how wide
and high the wall Of the world was.
That mother of hers! To his mind
1t was positively unreal that one so
charming and lovely should be at
heart strong as the wind and mercit
less as the sea. His mother had been
everything; hers, worse than none,
an eternal question. What a drama
she had moved about in, without I'M
Outstanding!
George did not possess that easy
and adjustable sophistry which made
Ryanne look upon smuggling al a
clever game between two cheats. His
point of view conceded with For
tunes; it was ~thievery, more or less
c~ondoned, but the ethics covering 1t
were soundly established. He had
come very near being culpable him
self. True, he would not have been
guilty of smuggling for profit; but
none the less he would have tried to
cheat the government. His sir had
found him out; he had now neither
the rug nor his thousand pounds.
All these cogitations passed through
his mind, disjointedly, as the dinner
progressed toward its end. They babe
Ackermann good-by and Godspeed, as
he was to leave early for Beirut, upon
his way to Smyrna. Fortune went to
bed; Ryanne sought the billiard
room and knocked about the balls;
while George asked the manager If
he could send a cable from the hotel.
Certainly he could. 1t took some
time to compose the cable to Morti-
mer; and it required some gold be-
sides. Mortimer must have a fair view
Of the case; and George presented it,
requesting a reply to be sent to Cooks
In Naples, where they expected to be
within ten days.
HHow much will this be?"
The porter got out his telegraph
book and studied the rates carefully
Twelve pounds six, sir"
The porter greeted each sovereign
with a ge~nuflection, the lowest being
the twelfth. George pocketed the re
ceipt and went in search Of Ryanne
But that gentleman was no Longer
in the billiard-room. Indeed, he hat
gone quietly to the other hotel AMI
written a cable himself, the code o
which was not to be found in an!
book. For a long time he seemed t.
be in doubt, for he folded and refold
ed his message half a dozen times be
fore his actions became decisive. HI
tore 1t up and threw the scraps upol
the floor and fastened into the street
as if away from temptation. H
walked fast and Indirectly, smokinI
innumerable cigarettes. He was fight
ing hard, the evil in him against tn
good, the chances Of the future agains
the irreclaimable past. At the end c
an hour he returned to the strange HI
tel. His lips were pulled and bleet
ing. He had smoked 80 many cigi
rettes and had pulled them SO imp
tiently from his mouth, that the dr.
paper had cracked the delicate ski
He rewrote his cable and paid fC
the sending Of it. Then he poke
about the unfamiliar corridors till b
found the dingy bar. He sat down b
fore a peg Of whisky, which was fc
lowed by many more, each a bit stiff
than its predecessor. At last, whe
he had had enough to put a norm
mans head upon the table or to COW
his lack with the mask Of inanit
Ryanne fell into the old habit Of tai
ing aloud.
Horace, old top, what's the us'
We'd Just like to be good II we coul
Ell? But they won't let us. We
grow raving mad in a monastery. v
were honest at the time, but v
couldn't stand the m~onotony Of watc
=. ing green olives turn purple upon Il
silvery Dough. Nay, nay!"
He pushed the glass away from hi
AZ and studied the air-bubbles as tn
us formed, rose to the surface, and we
~ dissipated.
~ mo matter what the game h
been, somehow or other, they
dashed us, and we've lost out"
=. He emptied the glass and order
~ another. He and the bartender we
d. alone.
Id after all, love is like money. l
better to live frugally upon the int
~. est than to squander the capital a
m go bankrupt. And who cares, al
IN how"
,tv He drank once more, dropped a hs
~. sovereign upon the table, and push
back his chair. His eyes were bio
shot now, and the brown Of his 81
Nv had become q slaty tint: but
wrlke6 steadily enough into the re-