The Irish standard., 1915-09-11
CHAPTER XVII.

CHAPTER XVII.
"HE days that followed the re-
turn Of Mallory and the O'Brien
family to Maple Grove were
= days Of worry and anxiety for
all. The outlook was not precisely cal
culated to induce jubilation. As the
result Of the sudden break with NAL
lory's partner hard times were at the
very door and lowered depressingly
over the household. Crawford had
lost no time in calling for settlement
Of his loan and a dissolution of part
nership. Mallory did not have and
could not raise the wherewithal to
meet the demand, and the foreclosure
OF the mortgage was the impending
consequence.
= The trainer was well aware that the
summary sale at auction Of the horses
and training quarters which Crawford
would insist upon regardless Of loss to
himself was not likely to net more
than one-third Of their value and that
he would be. left penniless to all in.
tents and purposes. His association
with Crawford. therefore, instead OF
bringing the substantial advantage he
had anticipated and which its con-
tinuance would have insured, for the
business was beginning to prosper,
had left him in a worse position than
he was in before. He could not even
conclude the sale Of Lady Belle, for
Crawford's first move had been to
obtain an injunction restraining him
from disposing of any Of the stable
property.
All the work Of his life had gone for
naught. AL his years Of waiting for
Patsy in the hope Of being able to win
for her position of comfort and dig
nifty had been spent in vain. BE had
simply cheated himself and her Of the
happiness that might have been theirs
during that time. He ground his
teeth with impotent rage at the thought
of It. Nothing remained for him but
to wrest what bliss he could from the
years that remained by marrying Patsy
at once and to begin all over again
the struggle for living by hunting
for job. To renew, handicapped us
he was, the pursuit Of fortune which
had eluded him like will-o'- the-wisp
was not to be thought of, at least not
then. Never for minute, however,
did he regret his treatment Of Craw-
ford. With the certainty of even worse
Detailing him he would have done the
same thing In the same circumstances.
! Patsy was for waiting while longer
and returning to the stage in the mean
time, but this proposition he refused
absolutely to consider.
'sYou've sacrificed yourself enough for
me an your family, GIRL" he said, "an'
! I'll stand for it no longer. Your IA
ther III get place somewhere. He
( knows his business an amt afraid to
work, an wen help 'em IL we can"
Mallory had hopes that through Nc
Govern or some of the big men with
whom he had come in contact since
starting in business for himself he
would be able to procure an executive
position In one of the more important
racing establishments, and he r3urposed
in this event to take care Of O'Brien.
The O'Briens themselves viewed the
prospect anything but hopefully. 1t
was very serious matter indeed for
the old couple to be deprived Of the
money which Patsy for so long, and
recently both Nora and Patsy, had sup
piled. They had been able to save a
little, it was true, and the careful
Patsy also had managed to put some
BY, but their combined resources would
not last long. The house in which
) they lived with Mallory was very
comfortable one. They had become
much attached to the place and to the
beauties Of it's surroundings. The
thought that 1t was to be sold over
their heads increased the heaviness Of
their hearts, already filled with grief
/ ct the misfortune which had over
taken Mallory, the real cause Of which
had been kept from O'Brien, who had
been given to understand that the dis
Z puts. with Crawford had arisen over
+ business matters.
1. Their worry Vas added to not lit
ID ~ Nora. she had strenuously n
sbsusd against rstsrning With them,
B Ad q overcome hsr resistance her