The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1915-01-23

ter to parched throat
When they left the cafe the boy
felt as though he were taking leave
of an old and tried friend. By homely
methods. this unerring diagnostician
of the human soul had been reading
him. liking him, and making him feel a
heart-warming sympathy.
1t was not until much later that
Samson realized how these two really
great men had adopted him as their
little brother" that ne might have
their shoulder-touch to march by. And
it was without his realization, too.
that they laid upon him the imprint
of their own characters and philoso-
ply.
81 have come, not to quarrel with you,
but to try to dissuade you" The Hon.
Mr. Wickliffe bit savagely at his cigar
and gave a despairing spread to his
wellmanicured hands. You stand in
danger of becoming the most cordially
hated man in New York-hated by the
most powerful combinations in New
York"
Wilfred Horton leaned back in a
desk. For while he seemed interested
in his own silk socks.
Its very kind of you to warn me-"
he said, quietly.
The Hon. Mr.. Wickliffe rose in ex-
ASPIRATION and paced the floor. The
smoke from his black cigar went be-
fore him in vicious puffs. Finally he
stopped and leaned glazing on the
table.
Your family has always been con-
sentative. When you succeeded to the
fortune you showed no symptoms Of
this mania. In Gods name, what has
changed your"
81 hope l have grown up explained
smile. "One can't wear swaddling
clothes forever, you know"
The attorney for an instant softened
his manner as he looked into the
straight-gazing, unafraid eyes of his
client.
i've known you from your baby
hood. l advised your father before
you were born. You have, by the
chance of birth, come into the control
of great wealth. The world of finance
is of delicate balance. Squabbles in
certain directorates may throw the
Street into panic. Suddenly you
emerge from decent quiet and run
amuck in the china shop, believing
and tossing your horns. You make
war on those whose interests are your
own. You seem bent on hari-kari.
You have toys enough to amuse. Why
couldn't you stay put?"
They weren't the right things.
They were, as you say, toys" The
smile faded and Horizons chin set
itself for a moment as he added:
IF you don't think I'm going to stay
put-watch me-
why do you have to make war
to be chronically insurgent?"
'Because''-the young man, who had
walked up, spoke SLOWLY am read
ing a certain writing on the wall. The
time is not far off when, unless we
regulate a number of matters from
within we shall be regulated from
without"
Take for instance this newspaper
war you've inaugurated on the police, %
grumbled the corporation lawyer. It's
less dangerous to the public than
these financial crusades, but decidedly
more so for yourself. You are re-
garded as dangerous agitator, a mar
plot / tell you, Winfred, aside from
all other considerations the thing is
perilous to yourself. You are riding
for fall. These men whom you are
whipping out of public life will turn
on you"
$50 hear. Here's letter got this
morning That is, thought
it was here. Well. no matter. 1t
warns me that have less than three
months to live unless l call off my
dogs"
1t is said that the new convert is
ever the most extreme fanatic. Will
fred Horton had promised to put on
his working clothes, and he had done
it with reckless disregard for conse-
Guences. At first. he was simply obey
| ing Adrienne's orders; but soon he
| found himself playing the game for
| the games sake. Political overlords
assaulted as unfaithful servants, showed
| their teeth. From some hidden, but
| unfailing, source terribly sure and di
rect evidence of guilt was being gath
cred. For Wilfred Horton, who was
demanding a day of reckoning and
spending great sums of money to get
| it, there was a prospect of things do
| ing.
Adrienne Lescott was in Europe
Soon she would return and Horton
meant to show that he had not buried
his talent
For eight months Samson's life had
r~n in the steady ascent of gradual
| climbing, but in the four months from
| the first Of August to the first of De
cember, the pace of his existence sud
| denly quickened. He left OF drawing
| from plaster casts and went into a
| life class.
In this period Samson had his first
acQuaintanceship with women. except
| those he had known from childhood
and his first acquaintance with the
men who were not of his own arr
world
Tony Collasso was an Italian illus
tratcr who lodged and painted in
| udio-apartments in Washington