Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1913-12-27

"Jockeyed by the one person.
world i ever had any trust
Cleaned out like any drunken 81
in a dance hall! Say" he added
puzzled querulousness, "whatd TIN
Almighty mean by putting eyes like
yours in the face Of a"
A sudden forward movement from
Standish checked him, and, incident
ally, drove from his brain the last
mists of bewilderment. The Rail-
roader. settled forward in his chair,
his teeth meeting in the stump of the
cigar he had so contentedly lighted
but few moments before. He was
himself again; arrogant, masterful,
vibrant with quick resource. A sar-
donic smile creased his wooden face.
You're a noble work of God. Miss
Lanier, amt you? ?" he sneered. I'm
Bible days the man who betrayed his
Master was made the star villain for
all time. But when it's woman that
does the betraying, l guess even the
Bible would have to go shy on words
blazing enough to show her up. For
three years." he went on, as Anice, by
quick gesture, silenced Gives fierce
interruption-"for three years and
more you've eaten my bread and lived
vi lily DlOucys TOT llItt ytdIS VIC
treated you like you were a queen.
Whatever I've done or been to other
folks, to you I've been as white as any
man could be. You've had everything
from me and mine. And you pay me
by playing the petticoat-Judas. Look
here, there's something behind all
this! Tell me what it means"
at MEANS" answered Anice, who
had borne without wincing the hot
lash of the angry mans scorn-"it
means that have tried to pay debt.
Part have paid. Part am paying"
"a debt? What rot are you trying
to talk? /"
IF you care to listen I'll tell you.
| will make it as short as | can. Shall
go on?"
Connover nodded assent as a man.in
dream.
"My father" began Anice, speak
ing dispassionately, her rich voice
fiattened to a quiet monotone-"my
father was Foster Lanier. You never
knew him. You never knew many of
the men you have wrecked But he
was chief stakeholder in the Oakland
ness man. The stock was left him
live on. 1t was enough You owned
the c. G. & X. Little by little you
bought up the other Mountain State
roads. At last you came to the Oak
land-Rodney. Do you remember?
81 remember my lawyer told me
there was some stiff-neckd old fossil
who owned the majority stock and
wouldn't sell"
$50 you crushed him." went on
Anice, unmoved, "as you have crushed.
others. You cut off the roads con-
Meeting points and severed its COM
munications with your own and your
allied lines After isolating it you
lowered your own freight rates and
mileage until all the Oakland Rodney
patronage was gone. The road col
lapsed, and you bought it in. My IA
Their was a paper. Other men have
been driven to the same straits by
you-men whose very names you did
not take the trouble to learn. My ia
Their knew little of business. To save
others who had bought Oabland-Rod-
ney stock at his advice, he, sold W.
| little property he had and bot
their worthless stock back at par.
was ruined and above his head
debt. My mother was an invalid.
doctor said trip to the Mediteri
mean might save her life. We
not a dollar. So she died. Myt
ther-he was out of his mind fl
grief and from financial worry
father shot himself. 1t was hushed
by our friends, and he was report
accidentally killed while hunting.
was only one of the countless vicA>
tories you 'financiers' are so proud of.
He and my mother were but two of
the numberless victims each of these
victories entails"
She paused. Caleb made no reply,
He sat looking in front of him into
the pulsing heart of the fire. He had
scarce heard her. His mind was oc-
cupied to bursting by the shock and
acute pain of this rupturing of his
last intimate bond with humanity.
ITO Be Continued.)