Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1913-04-25
retiring back and the manner of caro-


less scorn.
make 1t three" said the BONANZA
King, turning his head slightly and
throwing the sentence over his shoul-
der.
Gene Cannon was now twenty-nine
years of age and had drunk since his
eighteenth year. His mother had died
In ignorance Of his vice. When his
father discovered it, It simply aug
mented the old mans impatience
against the feeble youth who would
carry on his name and be one of the
inheritors OF his fortune. Bill Can
non, had never cared much for his
only son. He had early seen the stun
Of which the boy was made. Doesn't
amount to hill of BEANS" he would
say, throwing the words at his wife
over the bitten end of his cigar. He
could have forgiven the drinking. as
he could other vices, If Gene had had
some of his own force. some of that
driving power which had carried him
| triumphant over friend and foe. But
the boy had no initiative. no brains,
no energy. How did I ever come to
have such a SOM" he queried some
times in an access of disgust In which
the surprise was stronger than the
disgust. The question possessed a
sort of scientific interest for him
which was deeper than the personal
and over which the disappointed mag
nate would ponder.
AS Gene grew older and his intem-
perance assumed more serious proper
| he fath
open and was augmented by sort Of
exasperated dislike. The Bonanza
King had no patience with those who
failed from ill-health or the persistent
prosecutions Of bad luck. His conten-
tion wan that they should not have
been i'll. and they should have con-
quered their bad luck. He had not ex-
cuses for those who were beaten back
against the wall-only death should
be able to do that. But when 1t came
to useless, hampering vice, weak
ness that in itself was harmless
enough, but that was allowed to gain
paralyzing proportions, his original
contempt was intensified into a fierce
intolerance which would have been
terrifying If it had not been tempered
with an Indifferent disdain.
Roses attitude toward her brother
} was a source of secret wonder to him.
She loved the feeble youth; tie of
} the deepest affection existed between
them upon which Genes intemperance
seemed to have no effect. The Bonan-
J za King had always admitted that the
ways of the gentler sex were beyond
= his comprehension, but that the two
> women he had known best-his wife
2 and his daughter-should have Law
: ished the tenderest love upon an in
t temperate, incompetent, useless weak
i ling was to him one of the fathomlees
r mysteries Of life.
a 1t was Roses suggestion that Gehe
4 should be withdrawn from temptation
e by sending him to the country As
n the only son of Bill Cannon he was
= the object Of a variety of attentions
and allurements in the city to which
l. a stronger-willed man might have sue
6 cumbed. The father readily agreed to
o the plan. He could graciously sub
scribe to all Rose said as the removal
J. of Genes amiable visage and unin-
S spired conversation would not cause
d him any particular distress or sense
of loss.
d But when Rose unfolded the whole
It Of her scheme he was not SO enthu-
& siastically in accord with her. 1t was
that Gene should be put on his fathers
d ranch-the historic Rancho OF the
h. Santa Trinidad near San Luis Obispo
l. as manager, that all responsibility
f. should be placed in his hands, and
e that IL, during one years probation
he should remain sober and maintain
e. a record of quiet conduct and general
ID good behavior, the ranch should be
N turned over to him as his own prop
n erty, to be developed on such lines az
re he thought best 4
The Rancho of the Santa Trinidad
m was one of the finest pieces OF agri
= cultural property in California. The
,k Bonanza King visited it once year
In and at intervals received crates ol
q fruit and spring chickens raised upor
~ it. This was about all he got out
Nv of 1t, but when he heard Rose calmly
If. arranging TO have it become Gene.
property. he felt like man who sud
10 denly finds himself being robbed. Id
Id had difficulty in restraining a roal
of of refusal. Had it been any one bu
,;s Rose he would not have restrained II
at OF course he gave way to her, as h
an always did. He even gave way grace
nd fully with an effect Of generosity tse
nj large to bother over trifies, not be
cause he felt 1t but because he di'
ar not want Rose to guess how 1t wen
IN against him" Under the genial bland
~ ness of his demeanor he reconcile'
rd himself to the situation by the though
- that Gene would certainly never kee
=. sober for year, and that there wa
=, therefore no fear OF the richest piec
Oh of land In the state passing into tn
~, hands of that dull and incapabl
young man.