Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1915-11-04
..rhose papers and that picture are

THOSE papers ana tnat picture are
copies; the originals are In a sealed
envelope In Mr.. Raymer's safe. II you
haven't taken your hands off Of Mr..
Raymer's throat by three O'Clock this
afternoon. the envelope will be
opened"
Jasper Grierson's teeth met In the
marrow of the fat cigar. Equally with
out heat and without restraint, he
stripped her OF all that was womanly,
pouring out upon her a food of foul
epithets and vile names garnished
with bitter. brutal oaths. She shrank
from the crude and savage upbraid-
ings as II the words had been hot irons
to touch the bare flesh, but at the end
Of 1t she was still facing him hardly.
calling me bad names doesn't
change anything" she pointed out, and
her tone reflected something Of his
W elemental contempt for the eu-
phemisms. you have Ave hours In
which to make Mr.. Raymer under
stand that you have stopped trying to
smash him. Wouldn't 1t be better to
begin on that? You can curse me out
any time. you know"
Jasper G%rierson's rage fit, or the
m%ud.volcano manifestation of 1t,
passed as suddenly as 1t had broken
out. Swinging heavily In his chair he
took up the papers again. reread them
thoughtfully, and then swung slowly
IN faro the %situation.
Lets see what you want-show up
your hand"
81 have shown 1t. Take the prop Of
your backing from behind this labor
trouble. and let Mr.. Raymer settle
with his men on a basis Of goodwill
and fair dealing"
as that all?"
mo. You must cancel this pine.
land deal. You have broken bread
with Mr.. Galbraith as a friend, and
I'm not going to let you be worse than
an Arab"
Grierson's shaggy brows met In a
reflective frown, and when he spoke
the bestial temper was rising again.
when this Is all over. and you've
gone to live with Raymer, I'll kill him."
he said, with an outthrust Of the hard
jaw; adding: "You know me, Madge."
81 thought I did," was the swift re-
tort. But 1t was a mistake. And as
for taking 1t out on Mr.. Raymer, you'd
better wait until / go to live with him.
as you put 1t. Besides. this isn't Yellow
Dog gulch. They hang people here"
"You little she-devil! II you push
me into this thing. you'd better get
Raymer. or somebody, to take you In.
You'll be out in the street,"
81 have thought Of that, too" she
said, coolly; about quitting you. I'm
sick Of 1t all-the getting and the
spending and the c~rookedness. I'd
put the money-yours and mine-in a
pile and set fire to 1t, If some decent
man would give me a calico dress and
a chance to cook for two"
"Raymer, for instance?" the father
cut in, in heavy mockery.
"Mr. Raymer has asked me to mar
ry him, If you care to know" she
struck back.
"Oho! So that's the milk in the
%cocoanut, is 1t? You sold me out to
buy in with him!"
you may put 1t that way, II you
like; l don't care" She was drawing
on her driving gloves methodically
and working the fingers into place,
and there were sullen fires in the
%brooding eyes.
"Tve been thinking it was the other
one-the book writer" said the father.
Then. without warning: Hes a
damned crook"
The daughter went on smoothing
the wrinkles out of the fingers of her
gloves. What makes you think so?"
she inquired. with indifference, real or
skillfully assumed.
Hes got too much money to be
straight. I've been keeping cases on
him."
Never mind Mr.. Griswold," she in
terposed. HE is my friend, and l
suppose that Is enough to make you
hate him. About this other matter
ten minutes before three o'clock this
afternoon l shall go back to Mr.. Ray
mer. II he tells me that his troubles
are Strengthening themselves out, I'll
get the papers,"
You'll bring 'em here to me?"
Some day; after I'm sure that you
have broken off the deal with Mr.. Gal
braith."
Jasper Grierson let his daughter get
as far as the door before he stopped
her with a blu~nt.pointed arrow Of con-
tempt.
81 suppose you've fixed 1t up to
marry that college.sharp dub so that
his mother and sister can rub 1t into
you right?" he sneered.
you can suppose again." she re-
turned, shortly. "If l should marry
him, it would be out Of pure spite to
those women. Because, when he
asked me. I told him No. You weren't
counting on that, were your" And
having fired this final shot Of contra
diction she departed.
After Miss Grierson had driven
home from the bank between ten
and eleven in the morning, an admir-
ing public saw her no more until just
before b~ank-closing hours in the after
noon. AS she passed In the basket
phaeton between half-past two and
three through the overcrossing suburb
there we're signs of an armistice ap-
parent, aver before the battlefield was
reached. Pottery Flat was populated
again, and the groups Of men punched
on the street corners arguing peace
fully. Miss Grierson pulled up at n
Of the corners and beckoned to a
young iron-molder.
Anything new, Malcolm?" she