The Ordway new era., 1915-12-17
CHAPTER I.
No Place for Sentiment.


OF the Market Square church: the win.
ter sun. streaming through the clere-
story windows. cast. on the floor and
on the vacant benches. patches OF
ruoy and sapphire. OF emerald and of
topaz thczc seeming only to accentu.
ate the dfmness and the silence.
IN mat silence the vestry door
creakcd. 1t opened wide, and It was
hs II vision had suddenly been set
mere! Bathed in the golden light
from the transept window. brown.
uaire', brown-eyed. rosy-cheeked,
STOOD girl who might have been one
OF tfte slender stained-glass virgins
come to life. the golden light flaming
the edges of her hair into an aureoIe
She stood timidly, peering into the
Guinness. and on her beautifully
curved lips was half questioning
smile.
Uncle Jim." she called. and there
was some quality in her low voice
which was strangely attractive. and
disturbing.
BY George. Gail. forgot that you
we're to come for mel" said Jim Sar.
gent rising from amid the group of
men In the dim transept We'll be
through In few minutes. Allison
you were about to prove something to
us. think"
Prove is the right word" agreed
the stockily built man who had evi
IDENTIFY been addressing the vestry. He
<as acutely conscious OF the presence
Of Gall. as they all were. Your rec.
tor suggests that this Is a matter Of
sentiment. You are anxious to have
nifty million dollars to begin the erec-
tion of cathedral; but l came here
to talk business. and that only. Grant
Ing you the full normal appreciation
OF your Vedder Court property. and
the normal increase of your aggregate
rentals. you cannot have. at the end
OF ten years. a penny over forty-two
millions. ! TN prepared to offer you.
In cash. sCm which will. at three
and half per cent. and in ten years.
produce that exact amount To this
add two million"
How much did you allow for In
crease in the value of the property ?"
asked Nicholas Van Ploon, whose only
knowledge for several generations had
been centered on this one question
The original Van Ploon had bought q
vast tract Of Manhattan for dollar
an 2cre, and. by that stroke of tower
ing genius. had placed the family Of
Van Ploon. for all eternity. beyond the
necessity Of thought.
For answer, Allison passed him the
envelope upon which he had been fig
uring, checking off an item as he did
SO. He noticed that Calls lips
twitched with suppressed mirth. She
turned abruptly to look back at the
striking transept window. and the
three vestrymen in the rear pew i'm.
mediately sat straighter. Willis Cum
ningham, who was a bachelor. hastily
smoothed his vandyke. He was SO
rich. by Inheritance. that money
meant nothing to him.
Mot enough" grunted Van Ploon.
handing back the envelope and twist
ing again in the general direction OF
Gail.
Ample" retorted Allison. You
can't count anything for the buildings
While don't deny that they yield the
richest income of any property in
the city, they are the most decrepit
tenements in New York. They'll fall
down in less than ten years You
have them propped up now"
Jim Sargent glanced solicitousIy at
Gail. but she did not seem to be bored;
not a particle!
"They are passed by the building
inspector annually" pompously stated
W. T. Chisholm. his mutton chops
turning pink from the reddening OF
the skin beneath. He had spent
lifetime In resenting indignties be-
fore they reached him.
Building inspectors change" insin-
uated Allison. Politics is very uncer-
tain"
Four Indignant vestrymen jerked
forward to answer that insult.
Gentlemen, this Is a vestry meet
ing" sternly reproved the Rev. Smith
Boyd, advancing step. and seeming
to feel tie need of gavel. His rich.
deep barytone explained why he was
rector of the richest church in the
world.
Calls eyes were dancing, but other.
wise she was occurrences itself as she
studied. in turns, the members Of the
richest vestry in the world. She esti-
mated that eight OF the gentlemen
then present were almost close enough
to the anger line to swear. They num-
bered Just eight. and they we're most
interesting! And this was vestry
meeting!
"The topic Of debate was money.
believe" suggested Rufus Manning.
rescuing his sense of humor from
somewhere in his beard. He was the
infidel member. Suppose we return
to It. Is Allison's offer worth cousid-
ering?"
"Why?" inquired the nasal voice OF