Arizona republican., 1915-10-31
ICopyriEE:: 1915: Bv Roy L. McCarde,l
 CHATTER XX


 TIE SOJ-I. SIT ANGLERS"
 /NCTVN as John Powell. the spectac- IA ul2- young oil and mining r,agnate, Arthur Staaley's me;coric career in
 Los Angeles had attracted co2sid-
 erable attention ia newspaper and rnancial ci.c,,s. All that was known Of him was that he had been engaged in sheep raising. and il was generally supposed he was a virsinian who had cone to the oil fields with some small capital and had made a lucky strike in the Good Hope gusher.
 His in:rulsively generous nature and his magnetic personality, coupled with his youth and good looks. he'd made him marked man in the small business world of oil and mining men. in which he had in few months become so important factor. Hence it was the terrible injuries that had befallcn him while inspecting his mining properties had been given much space in the newspapers. The reports were meager to just how his injuries had been sus- .ainca save for the fact that his phy- sician. Dr. Frank Durand a stranger to Los .nGcles. had Sy good fortune been with him at the time of the accident. pr. DUra2d had stated to the newspaper re- Pcrters that the injuries sustained by MT. Powell had occurred by the collapse of a building during a drunken riot at the Mammoth mine. which MT. Powell owned.
 The papers also stated that NIT. PoweIls business affairs N ould be looked after by his cousin and eastern business associate Blair Stanley of Richmond. who had been summoned to Los Angeles by MT. Powell just previous to his accident
 The papers made a dramatic story of the return of the young millionaire to his new. palatal hoF.e. his first homecoming tc it, a crushed. shattered. unconscious. and seemingly dying man.
 And then the accident ceased to be three days' wonder and other sensational happenings and events of interest sup planted it in the papers. and John Powell and his affairs gave no fu-tLer concern save to those who were personally inter ested.
 Among these was pretty young woman who lived quietly under the name of Esther Harding at a modest hotel Esther. after her first rebufs at the portals of the Powell mansion. the day after the injured man was brought back. returned again and again and persistent in her demands to see the injured man.
 It was not as tirnIG pleader Esther had come to the so-called Powell mansion on
  see Arthur. Tactfuny she had waited. with the wntchful Quabba lingering near. until she had seen DUrand and his shadow and aecorplice. the dapper Count de vaux. leave the premises. Blair Stanley she knew. was st Arthurs offices. already talk ing charge of his affairs.
 Esther was not afraid of them. collective Iy or s.ngIy. but she deemed it best .o Vivian hn he learned. was in charge of the sick room. alone. Esther had no desire to bring nOtoriety and ruin. perhaps, upon the in- jured man. known here in Los Angeles John Powell. by any premature disclosure of his real identity. if she could help it. But she was deter:-3ined to so even to this length were it necessary and were she further denied access to the in all the world she loved with every fiber of her brave and loyal H;tle heart.
 Some intuitive sense of Esther's atti tude must have impressed Tiviaa Marston. f.r she did not upbra.d t:Ie maa-servant. Instead she sad. II will the young lady," and followed the servant from the s-c,z room where Arthur lay in fevered sleep.
 Vivian in her costume as nurse. a n-asauerade she had assumed in further auco of the plot against the helpless Arthur. She spoke having author ity.
 You cannot come H. hefc," she said tensely. MT Powell death door. Any intrusion or excitement would be his death."
 Esther faltered. Then the Stanley spirit asserted itself. Better he Gie wi;h a true friend by him than live with such as sou and your associates ministering to him." she said scornfully.
 Vivian was cool and kept her wits. " Thas will be a matter for friend to decide when he is able to decide i: VII you believe If permit you to enter ard