The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1915-03-25
CHAPTER xvIlI-continued.


own In the last half hour and my plans
don't seem to go on at all where yours
leave of. II might interest you to
know. before you go, that I am going
TO stay right here and tell the truth
from first to last-from the time you
came to Staten Island, until Mrs Rey-
nolds received a letter from you the
other day showing that you had vol
unfairly squared criminal transac-
don for me at the bank"
AS he finished Bob's fist came down
on the little center table and almost
shattered 1t. There was the visor and
determination that Brand had had to
respect once before when he had
loosed his wiles on a more gullible re-
cipient. But now, In this crisis. he had
not even considered the chancs of op-
position to his will. First astonished,
then thoughtful. his florid features
now revealed their old cunning.
you play the game big, Reynolds"
he said at last. Either this is a
holdup right. or you have gone clear
crazy"
"All right Rave all you want to.
Brand. 1t can't do any harm now.
told you last week there we're two
ways to get out of it all: One was
money and the other was to make a
clean breast of II. One can't have all
he wants all the time. You had your
chance ten days ago and you threw 1t
away. ! gave you my terms and you
took advantage of my helplessness
and ignored them. You stayed away
and paid that paltry $4,000 at the
bank. You thought you would fright
en- my wife; that your magnanimlty
In releasing us from immediate peril
would impress her and that in the end
she would welcome the release you Of
fered. Well, you succeeded with her
but not with me. For her sake was
almost inclined to let matters drop.
but this terrible affair has changed 1t
all. We have taken human life, and q
lot of II, and some one has got to pay.
80 II anyone is going to take the Lusi-
tania. you're the man who had better
hurry and pack his grip"
Brand stepped quickly to Reynolds,
q tower OF indignant rage. Trapped
or cornered he was always Brand; al
ways ready to put his back to the wall
and fight-in the open IL he couldn't
fight from ambush. Bearded and al
most beaten now, he quivered In his
wrath and shook a threatening fist
straight In Reynolds face.
You're a big. blasted baby and an
imbecilel" he cried. You play the
gutter now and I'll make you regret II
to the last day CT your life. I'll fight
and Ill win as l always have. You
can't keep a man with money in jail.
Those three words can't be grouped
in the same language! But what's the
use OF talking" he added disgustedly.
you can't lay down now II you want
to. You haven't got the nerve to send
that girl there to the penitentiary for
six or eight or ten years, to come out
a broken woman-not enough OF her
left to suggest who she was. Do you
know what prison does to men, Rey'
nolds? Breaks 'em-body. mind and
soul! Well, what will 1t do to WON
an. then7 To your wife? For II we &c
she goes with US. I've told you that
and l mean it. 80 ! guess my bluff's
about as strong as yours"
He turned partly to Dick and. as II
to cinch his threat. added:
"And I'm not sure but that our vir
tuous friend here will be keeping us
company. That's law and you know
it."
Bob" cried his wife, creeping to his
side and cuddling against him as II she
saw in Brand some hybrid monster
whom she really feared, ''Pll go. Any
thing you say. dear! I'm not afraid
not afraid" Weeping softly. in obvi
GUS contradiction to her courageous
stand, she nestled closer to his side.
We stand upon the brink Of a high
precipice and looking down are OBJ
sessed with strange desire to jump
The thought of life has vanished In q
vale OF endless depths-the hold on II
is infinitesimal. A bird flying over
head, startled by the strange intruder
in his realms. drops twig he is carry
ing to his nest. The tiny bit of wood
futters to the mountain top and al
the precise moment that we have all
but signed our passport to other worlds
the twig falls at our feet. The sound
OF 1t is scarcely audible. but slight AT
II is we hear 1t. turn, and the spell oi
self-absorption and abandon is broken
We lose no time in climbing back to
terra firma.
So Reynolds, possessed with the
idea OF sacrifice-self-destru
II cessary-anything to bring to jus
tice the man he blamed for all his
wrongs and for the awful climax that
had just come. grew stronger In his
purpose, more fascinated in the pur
port OF 1t, with every word that Brand
used to dissuade him. Even Brands
reiterated threat concerning Jane had
lost its power. but the sound OF her
voice came to him like the sound Of
the falling twig 1t restored not the
Instinct OF selfpreservation for sell
alone, but the sense of duty to her
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