Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-11-20

night. Where Is she? Is she dead.
alive. In misery. She. 100, has pride.
for she has never written but once
i tell you have no daughter"
And / repeat | have. And II did /
not depend upon you for my bread and |
butter / would seek and find her. In /
my heart I have never forsaken her"
"she Is still more to you than ever I
was
No. Since that day when you ceas-
ed to be my lover Money and pomp /
and false pride have robbed me Of both /
ny daughter and my lover"
He sat down. This seems TO be a
crisis. Jane" He spoke gently now.
Il want her.
Listen. Was / the tyrant. the ogre:
Did l ever deny her anything in rea-
son. Did I not do my duty In laying
all the facts before her and proving
them-that the man was youthful
hiackIeg. gambler. a handsome scoun-
drel, the son Of one OF the greatest
rascals In the state? God knows 1t
was not that she had chosen as her
lover poor young man. honest
he paused passionately.
u know az well as you do that love
il something We cannot harness and
drive. But In the face Of all these
facts she ran away and married him,
have spoken. I disowned my daugh-
ter the day she disowned me. for that's
what she did. and SO long as 1--we she
shall not enter this house. When am
dead and gone you may do rs you see
At with my money. ] make no reser-
vations'
/ she may he hungry and cold"
/ Am I TO blame? Jane. you are
wrong Money has not made me
/ hard man. bat it has given me some
thing to think Of That girls foolish
/ ness seemed 10 change my heart into
stone have never said anything. hut
! know that ron gave her your inner
+ itance. II was yours. 10 do with rs
/ you pleased. Doubtless she dumped II
I into his lap Now listen. Rather than
have this subject brought up again 1
will meet you halfway, Find her II
! you can. Feed and ciothe her if she is
hungry and cold. for I ana certain the
scouHdrei left her when he found that
/ he could not get his crooked fingers
/ into my wallet But never let me hear
her spoken of again i'll this house,
Never bring her TO me, hoping that |
shall forgive her. That is the last
word from me on the subject"
With this he left the room.
: Quarter after 10.
1t tinkled from an ormolu clock
which had once been Napoleon's, This
F., house. but a few blocks removed from
! the other, would have been called a
| palace in Europe. 1t was Tiled with
priceless treasures such as only these
modern Aladdins may purchase.
To the intelligent eye there was some
thing more than the treasures them
selves disceYnible in the atmosphere,
In the arrangement. in the lack of jun
bic, which few millionaires escape who
leave the filing Of their mansions to
collectors more OF less greedy.
From the antique lspahans on the
hoor to the OK blood and peach blow
and Persian plaque all had been col,
lected, one by one, by the man who
loved them, 1t was all he had left to
do. all be had left to love. He was a
very old man.
The man in the first house, and he
knew nothing of the others existence
they dwelt In worlds apart, yet their
lives were definitely linked together.
Together they had danced In the pup
pet booth of pain TO the wires of an
other man who had empded their
houses Of laughter and happiness.
|
Quarter after 10.
The old man heard the message from
Time.
Under the study lamp his head glim-
mered like new minted silver Slowly
he laid down the faded photograph.
He touched the hand bell, and the liv-
cried footman came in from the hall
Call up MIR Simmons and tell him
to come over. Tell him it is matter
of life and death-that urgently need
him
The lawyer was almost as old az his
client. His withered face was full OF
concern as, later By half an hour. the
footman ushered him into the room.
Anything wrongT' he asked.
mo. At last everything is right.
I've been fool for thirty years, Sim
mons. stubborn. heartless fool. But
I've found myself I thought it was
pride, but 1t was only anger, which /
was ashamed TO confess
The lawyer saw the old photograph.
Instantly his thoughts went back 10
the beautiful child who had romped
these lordly, silent rooms,
Il want 10 make will tonight
Charities win have 10 come second. ]
want yeu TO find out II Marguerite left
any children.
The lawyers eyes sparkled.
Il want you 10 find out. Go to that
devil and ask him point blank, ] am
very lonely. | want 10 see young peo-
pie In this house before die" He
rang the bell again See IL my pri-
vate secretary il In. Tell him I want
him 10 witness a legal transaction"
Simmons rubbed his dry hands, and
the smile on his face wimpled his
cheeks like wind on water.
i Should he tell him now? No. Sur
prise him-make the JOY double So