Meade County news., 1915-08-12


that portrait?"
Frankly. never noticed it before"
Warrington placed the certified check
on the desk. with interest" he said
The vice-president cracked 1t, ran
his fingers over his smooth chin, fold
ed the check and extended II toward
the astonished wanderer.
I'VE don't want that, Paul. What
We wanted was to get you back. There
was no other way. Your brother made
up the loss the day after you :.
went away. There was no scandal.
Only few Of us In the Office knew.
Never got to the newspapers"
1t was impossible for Warrington to
digest this astounding information at
once. His mind could only repeat the
phrases: No scandal, only few of
us in the Office knew, never got to the
newspapers. For ten years he had
hidden himself in wildernesses, avoid
ed hotels, read no American newspa-
pers, never called for mail. Oh, monu-
mental fool!
And / could have come home al
most at once!" he said aloud, address
ing the crumpled cneck in his hand
rather than the man in the swivel
chair.
"Yes. have often wondered where
you we're, what you were doing. You
and your brother were upper-class-
men. / never knew Arthur very we'll; /;
but you and / were chummy, after a
fashion. Arthur was little too book
ish for my style. Didn't we use to call
you Old Galahad? You were always
walloping the bullies and taking the
weaker chaps under your wing To
me, you were the last man In the
world for this business. Moreover, ]
never could understand, nor could IA
ther, how you got it, for you were not
an office man. Women and cards. l
suppose. Father said that you had the
making of great engineer Fierce
place, this old town." waving his hand
toward the myriad sparkling roofs and
towers and spires. Have to be strong
and hard-headed to survive It. Built
anything since you've been away?"
I'm Cashmir." To have thrown away
a decade!
Glad you kept your hand in. dare
say you've seen lot of life" To the
young man it was an extremely awk-
ward interview
"Yes. I've seen life dully
Orient. mostly, / suppose. Your
letter about the strike in oil was
mighty interesting. Heap of moirey
over there. If they'd only let US smart
chaps in to dig it up. Now, old man,
| want you to wipe the slate clear OF
these ten years. Well call 1t a bad
dream. What are your plans for the
future?"
"Plans?" Warrington looked up
blankly He realized that he had made
no plans for the future.
Yes. What do you intend to do?
A man like you wasn't made for idle
ness. Look here, Paul; I'm not going
to beat about the bush. We've got a
whopping big contract from the Chi
nese government, and we need man
to take charge, man who knows and
understands something of the yellow
people. How about salary Of ten
thousand year for two years, to be-
gin in October?"
Warrington twisted the check
Work, rehabilitation.
Gould you trust me?" he asked
quietly.
with anything have in the world
Understand, Paul, there's no philan.
thropic string to this offer. You've
pulled through devil Of hole. You're
man. ! should not be holding down
this chair If couldn't tell man at a
glance. We we're together two months
In Peru. I'm familiar with your work.
Do you want to know whose portrait
that is up there? Well, it's General
Chetwood's, the founder of this con-
cern, the silent partner. The man
who knew kings and potentates and
told 'em that they needed bridges In
their back yards. This building be-
longs to his daughter. She convert
ed her stock into granite. About a
month ago l received letter from
her. 1t directly concerned you. 1t
seems she learned through the consul
general at Singapore that you had
worked with us. She's like her fa-
ther, mighty keen Judge OF human
nature. Frankly, this offer comes
through her advices. To satisfy your
self, you can give US a surety bond for
fifty thousand. It's not obligatory,
however"
Elsa Chetwood. She had her IA.
theirs eyes, and 1t was this which had
drawn his gaze to the portrait Chef.
wood; and Arthur had not known any
more than he had. What irony! Ten
years wasted for nothing!
Warrington laughed aloud. A weak
ness seized him. like that of a man
long gone hungry.
Buck up, Paul" warned the good
Samaritan. "All this kind of knocks
the wind out of you. know. But
what I've offered you is in good faith
Will you take it?"
ii,