The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1913-08-11
CHAPTER Viii.
The Trap Is Sprung.

There was a pause. Neither man
seemed DESTROYS to be first to return
to the attack. The buzz of the city
crept in from outside. The half-stifed
rhythm of the dining-room orchestra
reached them in snatches.
Standish got to his feet; slowly and
more like a very OLD man than one in
his prime. But he looked down with
Grass stolidity at his tormentor. And
In his deep tones there was more of
sorrow than Of nervous dread.
Mr. Blake" he said, there's one
point 1 can't quite grasp. Even your
admiration for my worthy qualities
and your very kind desire to save me
trouble, can not wholly explain your
action in telling me. Why are you Civ
ing away your hand like this?"
Blake looked panied.
Cant a man do a decent thing for
once" he grumbled, without having
his motives picked apart?"
"Tm afraid not-in your case" an
swered Standish.
"All right" agreed Blake in no whit
chagrined. Let's look at it from
business standpoint, then. If you'll de-
eide suddenly to let this Mullins bill
pass, and if you'll support Mark Rob-
ertson for the speakership, everything
will be perfectly smooth and har-
monious. And we won't have to use
these painful means"
ooh, l see. A bargain?"
One that you won't lose by" said
Blake. "A mighty good one, since it
saves you your political skin, instead
of forcing us to nail it to the barn"
Despite his confidence Blake was
vaguely worried. He knew men, as a
pianist knows his keyboard. And now
a subtle intuition, quite at variance
with all his keen logic, warned him
that Standish was not in the least
frightened by the threat of political
death. Knowing the insurgents high
ambitions as he did, Blake could not
account for this absence of terror. So,
feeling his way, he shifted to the 9TH
er tack.
THE Woman, too," he added. Think
of her!"
He grinned under his sparse mus
tache. For again he saw Standish's
hands clench. And he knew he had
struck the one right note
Yes went on Blake. Think of the
Woman! She's walking blindly, I'M
suspectingly, right straight into the
trap we've set for her. It'll be hell
for her. Pure, unadulterated, sky-blue
hell. If she's got a husband or kids
or parents it'll blacken the whole
world for them all. Oh, don't make
us do this thing, man. Think it
over. Don't decide in a rush. Take
your time. By eleven o'clock or so
I'll have her name. Then it will be
early enough for you to tell me your
decision. You'll find me somewhere
about the hotel, if I'm not over at the
Capitol. Good-by."
He strolled of toward the dining
room. AS he passed Wanda he glanc-
ed covertly at her through his lowered
lids. She was raptly absorbed in the
novel she was reading. And her dainty
lower jaw moved slowly up and down
in a gum-chewing cadence that be-
spoke years of practice.
Standish watched Blake out of
sight. His face, now that the mask
was no longer needful. worked almost
grotesquely. And his swarthy skin
was a pallid yellow. He looked like
a pugilist who tries dazedly to rise
after a knockout
He was thinking rapidly; despite his
daze. After moment or two he
crossed hastily to the telephone
switchboard.
Get me a New York wire, please,
he said, looking nervously down the
.eorridor "as quickly as you can"