The Monte Vista journal., 1915-07-17
TWELFTH STORY
PROLOGUE.

,ha very solitudes of the distant
~, and with pale and terror
,,icten chauffeur bending over the
.sal tbe limousine of David Pow
:. millionaire lumber king, tore
,rouph the granite gateway of his
..u,i,ul residence and dashed madly
,ong the shrub bordered driveway
award the marble porch.
Powers himself-tyrant boss OF
,oroand underfed workmen-was
the steps. Anxiety was betrayed
y every line of his working features.
Parry Travis, his legal adviser, was
,,tb him. and as the machine came
a sudden stop before them, its
rnding wheels sending up a shower
|, fine stone and gravel. Powers was
een to pause and turn an instant
howard the younger man as If for
|upport.
He had heard the piercing, clank-
ur notes of the horn long before the
machine was In sight. He knew the
lemper of his men, He realized that
81 affairs were approaching crisis.
And he was afraid-afraid with the
bIatul fear which comes over strong
men when they realize that the con-
Fropting danger is of their own crea-
ton
With trembling limbs the chauffeur
climbed from his seat and averted his
Tear distended eyes, as with unsteady
hand be pointed to the broken window
pane in the door Of the handsome ma
chine The small round hole, with its
pattern of radiating cracks, like a
beried and shattered mirror, told Its
pwn story. Nothing but bullet could
have made break like that.
Mastering his own emotion with su.
preme effort, Powers stepped toward
lie machine, and with firm hand-for
biz was will of iron-he opened the
door. From out of the luxurious in
terror he lifted the inert body of his
BEAUTIFUL daughter and pressed her to
bis bosom-a bosom that was racked
md torn with partly stifled sobs.
Gently-gently as when she had
Deen- an infant some twenty years
aso-he carried her into the house
Ind tenderly-oh, so tenderly he
placed her on a divan.
David Powers sank on one knee be-
s,de the cot, and then slowly his body
seemed to shrivel and sag, much like
: nalf'filled bag of meal, as with a
complete surrender to grief he threw
himself prone upon the floor and utter
60 the single word,
Dead"
Travis stood silently beside the
'ulcken father, unable to think or
move. The young woman who lay
mere victim to the wickedness that
.ne tyranny of her father had stirred
~ tne breasts of his workmen, had
oeen his fancee, and his sorrow was
Oat little less than that of the ago.
nized parent.
David Powers was known as the
uan VINO never smiled during bust
.''' hours, He was known as the
lsn whose employees all feared him.
.e was known, too, as one of the most
NSeesstul lumbermen in the business
'he Pacific coast and all who
Ao" MIN envied him. Stern. domi.
s..e' and with a genius for organi-
..uon' he could get more work out
,.n 'ess men for smaller wages than
th.. mah In the state Of California
An, s' 49, more than any man except
ana the man who excelled him
co,,. driver Of men, the man who
, ,Ou'a extract one more ounce of labor
sn,s vne 1.-THE less of wages was Jake
hue. a.aer' the chief foreman, pugnacious,
a,S u as nails, flinty-hearted and en-
,ay without sentiment.
.,,a. sac made an ideal driver for 80
h,a wing a boss as Powers. Watch
vsa.. now on this morning several
Powers 'e'I M the shooting Of Laura
Anon. "a'cn MIN as he talks
and - .ne men there on the dock
,n,,.,. 'ne boat. Note the feverish
her with which the men bend to
direction. A ne s'owers IN their
enc. " =, had Just driven up to his
Zen, IN MIS- high-powered six and had
n,rt., A.li,onaire was looking over the
VS.n column Of the morning paper
Asysr to-, foreman entered and he
hr ,hsa ..eo his eyes from the absorb.
Aad d. e' until the feld commander
.un,os sSn his chair up close to his
rroyers desk.
WAS no word Of greeting BE-