Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1913-1915, 1914-02-05

He eyed 1t aSKanc6s as HI m46nI
have been q dangerous thing and liable
to sting. Businesst Should he ever
really discover how to feel the slight
est interest in it or understanding OF
it? what a tfresome looking thing 1t
was.
mo: not right now" he told her, al
most shivering. eT-Mr. Wallace prom
ised to do all that for me"
she put the statement back into her
desk. a little disappointed. "Then he'll
be here this m~orning?"
Eyes; hen be here right away. He
had to go to the barber shop He
laughed. Il shave myself, thank Cod"
he added feryently.
Her manner now became more sert-
Gus and rather puzzIing. It was not
as If he had done anything which dis
pleased her, it was not ven as if she
thought he might: it was only that Of
the delightful woman who is wonder
ing if, presently, she may not think he
might. She was not suspicious, she
suspected that she might suspect. He
knew it; men always know when WON
en- are beginning to wonder il they had
not better very soon begin to wonder.
It's the only intuition mere men have.
The others are all feminine monopo-
lies.
Presently, while he waited, acutely
conscious that some unpleasant ele-
ment had entered into the situation,
but densely ignorant Of its character;
and while she calmly went about the
business of her Office management, at,
which, it may as well be stated now
as ever, she showed unmistakable signs
of perfect competence, she went to a
complicated fling cabinet, extracted
from it certain other papers, carried
them across the room to the desk near
which he had found a seat, laid them
on that desk, then slowly turned and
faced him.
do you know that Mr.. Pembroke, of
the Consolidated, is here In town."
she asked, after a seconds hesitation.
To her great satisfaction, which she
would not for the world have admitted,
he did not hesitate before he an
svered; he did not try to beat around
the bush; he INDUCED In NO ~evasions
or delays Of any kind whatever.
Eyes, l know it." he said promptly.
It may be that some detail In his
tone or manner treasured her, at any
rate her voice, when she spoke next,
was free from a certain icy hint of
criticism which undoubtedly had crept
into It
did he come here with your"
mo; he followed me here"
Have you seen him?" She made
no attempt to offer an excuse for
cross-examining him; she evidently
asked the question as an interested
party who has a right to be informed.
Was she not a citizen of Jonesville and
an employee of the Jones Pepsin Gum
Company"
mo; I have not seen him, but Mr..
Wallace saw him last night and turned
down his offer, too"
Instantly the reserve, which, intangi-
BILE but perceptible, had affected her,
dropped from her. She was no longer
in the least suspicious.
"Oh, I'm SO glad!" she exclaimed
cordially.
stance; he failed to ward against on
coming danger. As a matter of fact he
was not thinking of her as an employe
Of the Jones company, he was not
thinking about ~Jonesville, he was con-
sfdering his own pressing need for
money and the delightful possibility
that through Pembroke, in one way or
another, that need must be relieved.
He rose and paced the floor with light
and hopeful tread, wholly without ap-
p~rehension.
1--WE gave him to understand that we
wouldn't sell for less than a million
and a half" He said this half proudly.
Then, with the accents Of a hopper:
Eve expect him here at eleven o'clock
with his answer"
Her face took on a puzzled and dis
approving frown. But you just gave
your word to the men that
Now he spoke definitely and crisply.
No one listening to him could imagine
that he did not mean exactly what he
said; that he had not carefully consid-
cred every meaning Of each syllable
that he was uttering.
"Oh, don't be afraid" he assured
her. 81 meant exactly what / said to
Higgins"
She sighed with real relief.
"I don't mind telling you, Miss Rich.
ards, that when I came here yesterday
my intention was to sell this business
and get it on my hands at any price
or sacrifice"
The mere statement of this evidently
past and gone intention was a shock
to her. He noted, and not without
emotion-mind that: Broadway unmis-
takably was touched-that her face
blanched at the thought Of that which
he had definitely decided not to do.
The young man was beginning to
think; he was forming some faint
realization of the fact that his own
troubles were but somewhat unimpor-
tant bubbles In a sea made up of
everybody's troubles. The thought