Las Vegas optic., 1913-07-21

made it all in real estate"
Then she doesn't know"
That's the hell of it-she don't"
Kerr could sit still no longer. Ht
pulled himself out Of his chair anC
stood with his back to the fire anG
directly facing Gilbert. "All these
years I've acted lie. I've made Gloria
believe I'm the leading man in Bel
mont am but not in the way she
thinks. 1t wasn't because / loved her;
can't say | do, cause l don't know
her WE'LL | amt been east to see her
for a couple of years. 1t was pride
made me tell her that; that's what it
was, pride wanted my girl to have
what I'd missed. | didn't want her
to know"
He lapsed into silence, which he
finally broke himself with the explain
atory remark:
Gloria thinks I'm the social leader
of Belmont; that the whole town
hangs breathless on what l say shall
be the fashion at pink teas
Hasn't she often wanted to come
back?"
Kerr was not to be hurried. He
began to pace up and down in front
of the fireplace When he paused,
the lawyer, to secure continuation
of the story, said:
''Well?"
This morning she came home"
Now Judge Gilbert understood yet
he could scarcely believe it possible.
What! Gloria here!"
"Yes, here" echoed Kerr. Come
home, that's what she calls it. She's
been visiting school friends since she
came back from Japan, and had just
started to California when the party
fell through when they'd got to st.
Louis. So she jumped on the train
and came to Belmont unannounced-
to surprise me"
So here was Gloria in Belmont. It
was more than embarrassing. Gilbert
recognized that it was tragic. Kerr
never mentioned his daughter, and
Belmont had almost forgotten her
existence Much that the boss had
told the lawyer was news to him.
Gloria Kerr, the little girl, had been
allowed to slip out Of his mind and
he had come to regard the political
leader, just as every one else did, as
thing apart, as power almost as
impersonal as the force of gravity or
the freezing Of water The easy boss
was regarded as just as much a Bel
mont fixture as was the river which
flowed past the town, and those good
people who laid aside the rose-col-
ored spectacles of Belmont's laissez
faire doctrine felt that it would be
just as easy to remove one as the
other.
The lawyer in Gilbert now rose to
the surface and he began to question
Kerr just as he would a client. The
girl was here. The only thing now
to discuss was what to do with her
She can't help but learn the truth"
Gilbert exclaimed at last
He sank back in his chair, over
come by the weight of the problem
On the wall, where he could see 1t,
hung the picture of his own daughter,
Julia, now away at school, and the
bitterness Of the whole thing was
brought home to him all the more
poignantly because. he, too, was a
father.
The hopelessness of Gilbert's tone
when he declared Gloria would learn
the truth if she remained reused Kerr
to his old self. When he had entered |
the room he seemed crushed beyond |
recovery. Now he suddenly developed I
all the spirit, all the calm resourcefuI-
ness, which he had ever displayed |
when listening to the report Of some
political revolt which would call forth |
hitherto latent strength.
she must not know" he replied |
with all his old dominance. Listen
to me, Amos Gilbert-that girl must
be recognized. know what people
say Of me- and I've abided by the yer
dict. amt been no hypocrite I've
played mans game, and I've dealt
with men | amt asked nothin' of
ycur women folk, but now | do I'm
bringing Belmont a girl any Of you
could be proud Of She's got to be
took UP by the right people-I've kept
her away all these years, and she
d n't know my story, and I don't in
tend she shall. She's the equal of any
girl in Belmont, and by God, she'll I
have an equal chance"
What can dor asked Gilbert
1t was for this Kerr had waited.
It was for this moment that he had
c.lled the past to mind He had |
wanted Gilbert to have before him
the many obligations under which he
rested. 1t is true that he could hav
commanded, but he was too much the
easy boss to issue orders where he
could hold forth a glittering reward |
as the price of valuable services. To |
the ward heeler the word of the boss
is fetish to be blindly worshiped. |
To his few leading lieutenants the
command is coated with sugar which |