El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-12-27

won't let you do it either
- Why should you smear your
name and roll it in the dirt and play
dead TO please Jeanne2 If Jeanne
thinks I'm going 10 send you to 9
Raines hotel and follow you up with
detectives to furnish her with a fake
divorce, you can tell her / won
WHAT are they coming to- demandeG
the best friend What do they want
A man caves a woman all his love. all
his thoughts, gives her his name, his
home only asks to work his brains
out for her, only asks TO see her happy
And she calls it charity calls her
self a slave" The best friend kicked
violently at the place where the waste
basket had been Give them the
vote. I say" he shouted. It's all
The Violence Of his friend did not
impress Jimmie AS he walked up
teWn the on-y Fart of the interview
he carried with him was that there
must be no scandal Not on his &C
count If Jeanne wished ii, he assured
himself in spite OF the lawyer. he was
willing in the metaphor of that gentle
man, TO roll IN the dirt and play
dead PLAY deadH' The words struck
him full in the face. We're he dead
and out Of the way. Jeanne, without a
touch of scandal, could marry the man
she loved. Jimmie halted in his tracks
He believed he saw the only possible
exit He turned into side street.
and between the silent houses, closed
for the summer. worked out his plan
For long afterward that city block re-
I'tained in his memory, the doctors
signs on the sills. the caretakers seek
ing the air, the chauffeurs at the can
rank. For hours they watched the
young man, who went bent head and
fixed eyes struck at the pavement
with ihs stick
That he should really kill himself
Jimmie did not for moment contem-
To III aNT los n
Deared only as an Offense against
nature. On his primitive, out OF door,
fox hunting mind the ethics OF SUICIDE
lay as uneSsily as absinthe on the
By pretending he were dead, he could
set Jeanne free. could save her from
gossip and still could dream OF her,
love her, and. occupy with her, II noI
the same continent, the same world
He had three problems tO'solve, ana
as ne considered them he deVotedly
wishd he might consult with brain
more clever than his own But IN
eccompIice was out of the question
Were he to succeed. everybody must be
fooled no enc could share his secret
It vas "a lone game. played alone,
and without any partner
The three problems were first, IN
order to protect his wife, to proylde
for the suicide a motive other Ihan
the attentions of Maddox. third, with
out later creating suspicion, TO draw
enough money from the bank to keep
himself alvie after he was dead For
his suicide Jeanne must not hold her
self to blame; she must not believe
her conduct forced his end above every
one else. she must be persuaded that
in bringing about his death she was
completely innocent What reasons
then were accepted for suicideZ
As TO this. Jimmie refusing 10 con-
slider the act justified for any reason,
was somewhat at a loss He had
read OF men who, owing to loss OF
honor, loss OF fortune, loss OF health.
had gone out He was determined
he owed it to himself not to go out
under & cloud, and he could not lose
his money, as then there would. be
none to leave Jeanne; so ne must lose
his health As except for broken
arms and collar bones he. never had
known a sick bed, this last was as
difficult as the others. but II must
serve. After much consideration ne
decided he would go blind At least
he would pretend he was going blind
To give a semblance Of truth to this
he would that day consult distin-
guished oculists and, IN spite or their
assurances, would tell them that
slowly and surely his eyesight was
failing him He would declare to
them. in the dread Of such catas-
1rophe he was Of a mind to seek self
destruction. To others he would con-
fide the secret of his blindness and his
resolution not to survive II And
later, all Of these would remember
The question Of money also was
difficult After his death he no longer
could sign a check or negotiate Sc
curities- He must have cash. But II
from the bank he drew large sums Of
actual money, if he converted stocks
and bonds into cash and a week later
disappeared. apparently forever, ques-
tons as to what became of the sums
he had collected would arise, and that
his disappearance was genuine would
be doubted This difficulty made
Jimmie for a moment wonder If being
murdered for his money, and having
his body concealed by the murderer.
would not be better than suicide. It
ance of the money. But he foresaW
that for his murder some innocent one
might be suspected and hanged This
suggested leaving behind him evidence
TO show that the one who murdered
him was none other than Proctor
Maddox The idea appealed 70 his
sense OF humOr and justice 1t made
the punishment fit the crime Not
without reluctance did he abandon II
and return to suicide But he recog-
nized that to supply himself with any
large sum of money would lead TO
ana that he must begin his
new life almost empty handed In his
new existence he must work
For that day and until the next at
ternoon he remained in town, and in
that time prepared the way for his
final exit At a respectful BILE lodging.
house on West TWenty-third street.
near the ferry. he gave his name as
Henry Hull and engaged a room To
This room. from department store he
never before had entered, he shipped
a trunk and Talise marked with his
new initials and filled with clothes to
suit his new estate To supply him
restaurants he cashed many checks
for small sums The total Of his