Middletown transcript., 1914-12-26
CHAPTER xVuI-contInusd.

'Wait a minute" he said quietly.
That isn't all. thank you, Brand,
6Or your solicitious care for me-" He
emphasized the word noticably. "But
I have been doing some thinking OF my
own In the last half hour and my plans
don't seem to go on at all where yours
leave on It might interest You to
know. before you go, that am going
60 stay right here and tell the truth
from first to last-from the time you
came to Staten Island, until Mrs. Rey-
nolds received a letter from you the
other day showing that you had vol
unfairly squared a criminal transac-
GiOn for me at the bank"
As he finished Bob's fist came down
on the little center table and almost
shattered it. There was the vigor and
determination that Brand had had to
respect once before when he had
IOosed his wiles on a more gullible re-
cIpient But now, in this crisis, he had
not even considered the chance OF op-
position to his will. First astonished,
then thoughtful. his florid features
now revealed their old cunning.
"You play the game big, Reynolds,
ne said at last Either this is a
holdup right, or you have gone clear
crazy"
"All right Rave all you want to,
Brand 1t can't do any harm now.
told you last week there. we're two
ways to get out Of it all: One was
money and the other was to make a
clean breast Of 1t. One can't have all
he wants all the time. You had your
chance ten days ago and you threw 1t
away. ! gave you my terms and you
took advantage Of my helplessness
and ignored them. You stayed away
and paid that paltry $4,000 at the
bank. You thought you would fright
en- my wife; that your magnanimity
In releasing US from immediate peril
would impress her and that in the end
she would welcome the release you Of
fered. Well. you succeeded with her
but not with me. For her sake / was
almost inclined to let matters drop,
but this terrible affair has changed 1t
all. We have taken human life, and a
lot Of It, and some one has got to pay
30 If anyone is going to take the Lusi-
tania. you're the man who had better
hurry and pack his grip"
Brand stepped quickly to Reynolds,
a tower of indignant rage. Trapped
or cornered he was always Brand; al
ways ready to put his back to the wall
and fght-in the open If he couldn't
fight from ambush. Bearded and al
most beaten now, he quivered in his
wrath and shook a threatening fist
straight in Reynolds face.
You're a big, blasted baby and an
imbecile!" he cried. You play the
GUTTER now and I'll make you regret II
TO the last day of your life. Ill fight
and I'll win as l always have. You
cant keep a man with money in jail,
Those three words can't be grouped
in the same language! But what's the
use Of talking" he added diegustedly
~You can't lay down now If you want
to. You haven't got the nerve to send
that girl there to the penitentiary for
six or eight or ten years, to come out
a broken woman-not enough OF her
left to suggest who she was. Do you
know what prison does to men, Rey
nolds? Breaks em-body, mind and
soul! well, what will 1t do to WON
an, then? To your wife? For If we &c
abe goes with us. I've told you that
and | mean it, so l guess my bluff'e
about as strong as yours"
He turaed partly to Dick and, as II
60 cinch his threat, added:
And I'm not sure but that our vir
4uous friend here will be keeping us
company. That's law and you know
IT,"
.'7ob," cried his wife, creeping to his
side and cuddling against him as If she
eaw in Brand some hybrid monster
whom she really feared, I'll go. Any
thing YOU say, dear! I'm not afraid
mot afraid" Weeping softly, in obvi
Ous contradiction to her courageous
stand. she nestled closer to his side.
We stand upon the brink Of higt
Drecipice and looking down are OBJ
Eessed with a strange desire to jump
The thought Of life has vanished In 6
vale of endless depths-the hold on Il
"a in6nitesimal. A bird flying over
head. startled by the strange intruder
in his realms, drops a twig he Is carry
fpg to his nest. The tiny bit Of woOC
Autters to the mountain top and a
the precise moment that we have al
but signed our passport to other worlds
the twig falls at our feet. The sount
of II is scarcely audible, but slight al
it is we hear it, turn, and the spell o
self.absorption and abandon is broken
We lose no time in climbing back tt
terra frma.
So Reynolds, possessed with thu
idea of selfeacrifice-self-d destruction
II necessary-anything to bring to jus
tice the man he blamed for all hi
wrongs and for the awful climax tina
had just come, grew stronger In hi
purpose, more fascinated in the pur
port Of it, with every word that Bran'
used to dissuade him. Even Brand
reiterated threat concerning Jane ha'
lost its power, but the sound OF he
voice came to him like the sound o
the falling twig. 1t restored not tn
instinct of self-preservation for sci
alone, but the sense Of duty to hel
He, the one who had sworn to protec
her. was the only one who could pre-
acct her now. II he failed her an
nolIifed the sting Of conscience b
confession he would only shift the bul
den Of his sin from his own shoulder
10 others not meant to bear 1t. Invo
unfairly his arm closed about her an
he drew her to him. In the mingle
look Of love, pity and protection b
nnra her Brand read the sign Of SUI