Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-12-14

get the same money. Mr. Smith gets the
fees from the law business that's bound to
come. Mr.. Pickett gets the first newspaper
in Port Hatch, and we give him the plant
to start with. The others get salaries, and
can be on the inside of what ought to make
US all rich. So there you are!"
THERE was not one of them, college bred
: as they were, which he was not, cultured
as they were, which he was not, educated to
dress, which he was not, who could tell why,
| when he made this fiat, uncompromising
statement, they had. no vocal objection to
offer. All they knew was that in the man
| was some quiet leadership, some indefnable
power, that made them accept anything he
said as an ultimatum. There was but one
who WIS not disappointed, and that was
Kirby Smith, who had been given his am
bition. Yet Kirby Smith understood that
| for some reason he could not fathom he had
been squarely placed outside the breast
| works of profit.
| He, as well as the others, surmised that if
they had risen together and voiced a protest,
this same fat, badly dressed man would have
told them that he had no desire save to meet
their wishes, and that in accordance he
would Immediately present them with three
little wooden houses in Port Hatch, leaving
each of them to recover from beneath lum-
Der pile his brave shingle and hang it f1utter-
ing to the winds to creak itself into rusty
uselesspess. Each would have been per-
mitted to practise law as best he might,
knowing all the time that this strange, fat,
inscrutable man, vulgar and Napoleonic,
would see to it that all business was trans
acted by Seattle lawyers. They did not in
the least pause to consider that favors had
been bestowed in exact proportion to favors
given. Little Billy had become the Kan
sans right-hand man because he had been
the first to show his faith with money,
Tommy had come next because he had been
second, Pick third because he had been
third, and Kirby Smith was cut off as being
the one who was not amenable.
| "Now,H the quiet voice of Burmah went
on, eve shall each give the other Teller all the
ry, he will want to send for it, or if he hasn't,
he may want to find one that he can buy
cheap" There was a certain suggestive en-
phasis on the last word. "Mr. Pickett will
probably want to 60 out and find a plant for
printing newspaper. And, by the way, |
think you'd better buy linotype. We
can't tell how soon the paper will have to
print a daily issue"
Pick began to see rainbows.
3And my new immediate assistants will
come to me this afternoon SOS we can dis
CuSS OuI CdIlpdlSIl, ASST leu DuIIildIi, IHuS
airily disrnissing them"
| Surely he was welding them all to his will,
and that was merely that he, Burrnah Jones,
should get all there was to be had, and then
step away, silently and gently, always
within the law, before the great air castle
stumbled.
They separated, and Burmah was left
alone to mediate, and to arrange his plans.
Everything now was to be bent to one point,
to get action as fast as possible
RURMAH was at the dock to meet the
= Colonel and Arabella when they arrived,
that he might be the first to inform the bios
soming financier of the arrangements he had
made. As usual, everything met with the
Colonels approval.
Couldn't have taken care of my young
friends better myself" declared the Colonel.
Il don't see how it is that your ideas and
mine always run so closely together, Bur-
NAH The odd part Of it was that he
meant it.
Now said Burmah, a must tell you
somethin' else. The boys, all except Mr..
Smith, bought lots on Main-st. telephoned
the pawn company, and their men will
begin work here tomorrow. | telephoned
to the contractors to come in and bid on