The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1913-10-27
CHAPTER v.
Heart Break Hill.

had shown him facts as they were
the dismalest facts ina ginable and as
gray as the first peep of that gray
morning Who was he. to be calling
on ariStocratic young ladies and whiS-
pering things In pretty pink ears: He
whose fortune amounted to less than
$500 and who had need to strive
very energetically to Keep his own
somewhat large red ears above the en-
quilting waters His business was in
dubitably muleS-not to Iinger in fools
uaradiSeS. waste money and time. and
drift into the most notwithstanding of
ia lse positions.
He tried TO put that sparklin" face
out of his mind: tried not to linger on
those girliSh admissions that made his
pulses beat: called himself. oh. so many
times. Il fOOl-a crazy. silly fOOl-and
vowed all sorts of tremendous things
He would excuse himself from that
tea: would leave the next day for Ken
lucky: would get back to dry land and
mules and sanity. But he did not wish
to appear rude. He would hate to have
his action miSconStrued He would go
at 4 after all. and if the occasion pre-
scented itself would tell her the truth
quite frankly-that he had hardly any
money. no profession. and a long. up
hill fight in front of him. Though how
idiOtic he was to take it all seriously
himself and her and the whole affair
as though it We're any more than
durable way he had of eXaggerating
verything-of making mountains out
of mOlehilS He laughed at himself
a little forlornIy What an ass he was.
to be sure. What an ass,
After breakfast he made it up hand
somely with Daggancourt. eXpatiating
Oh mules with much ardor and enthu
siasm and gradually recovering the
mul;itto's sorely shaken confidence
He proved his sincerity by promising
to leave for Kentucky on the morrow.
They shook hands on it. and any lurk-
ing grudge that Victor might still have
felt disappeared in that hearty clasp
But there was still Il weight on the
muattos mind He stammered out
money-hoped th.:t it was all right
hoped that it had come.
Excuse my mentioning it." he said,
but you know We'll be needing ii
pretty soon. and I'd rather not sell the
garage till
"Oh. that's all right" returned Matt
ut ought to becoming along soon. and
worry about that" he added reasSur-
ingly. ITS one of those splendid jew,
elry stores with diamond necklaces il
the window and is good for Il hundred
times the money"
But NictOrS concern remained. He
had kept better tally on the dates than
Matt 1t was exactly twentyfour days
since the latter had written. a long
while surely Victor asked for the re
ceipt and examined ii closely. ''That'S
all right as far rs it goes, he said
handing it back with II relieved eX
preston. though they don't have tc
buy the ring if they don't want to OF
change their minds"
"If people like Snood & Hargreaves
offered $3.50 for the ring its pretty
sure To be worth it." replied Matt
Even if they backed out we coulC
sell it somewhere else"
Yes. that's true" said Victor. recov
ering his cheerfulneSS. and. maybe fol
better price. considering You took the
first bid they made Depend upon it
You could have raised them a few hun
dred dollars
They fingered awhile longer. talkin:
about the $500 commission Veto
hoped to get on Il secondhand car ant
as to the ACCESSIBILITY of taking Sl.fO
cash for the garage or u thousan
down and another thousand on j min
months note.
Perhaps Matt kept closer to the We
randa that morning than usual, for
was warm and sunny and likely {
| tempt the presence of Mrs. Satan
| with her rocking chair. her darnin
| and her fnterminable tongue. For ono
| Matt was eager for Mrs Sattane. an
! when at length she appeared he wa
| very agreeable and friendly. DRAWN
| up beside her. with his pipe. inStea
| of dropping off the end rail. rs he ord
narily would have done After fey
| false starts he got her on The subjet
! Of the Marshalls and. though rs q nal
/ ratOr she was as uncertain a> a rabbi
| and apt to give conversational jump
| in the most random directions. Mat
always contrived to bring her bac
! and running again in the way b
would have her go.
The general when young cavalr
| officer. hardly indeed more than DO,
| had made Il runaway match with
! Miss Koenic of Philadelphia. who wa