Middletown transcript., 1915-11-06
QeBALIfF I'D
BTGEORGF RANDOLPH CTEST[R.
and LILLIAN CHESTER wv
|SS5Ss:5;SS~ Ss:s$ sss ILLUSTRATED 4~c:DRI1oDEs !.
lco0oa0AU0Y

to recognize In herSelf as dlsLlncL Co
quetry.
Il have a prior claim" laughed ALI
son, stepping up and taking her by the
arm. ITS my turn to guide Miss Sar-
gent on the two-passenger sled"
There was something new about AL
lison tonight. There was the thrill
and the exultation Of youth in his
voice, and twenty years seemed to
have been dropped from his age. There
was an intensity about him, too, and
also a proprietorlike compulsion,
which decided Gail on certain diver
sion she had entertained. She was
oppressed with men tonight. The
world was full of them, and they had
closed too nearly around her.
Suddenly she broke away with a
laugh, and, taking the two-passenger
sled from Smith Boyd, who still stood
in preoccupation at the edge Of the
group, she picked 1t up and ran with
it, and threw herself face forward on
it, as she had done when she was a
kiddy, and shot down the hill, to the
intense disapproval of Reverend Boyd!
Dick Rodley, ever alert in his chosen
profession, grabbed light steel racer
from the edge of the bank, and, with
magnificent run, slapped himself on
the sled and darted in pursuit! The
rector's lip curled the barest trace at
one corner, but Edward e. Allison,
looking down the hill, grinned, and lit
cigar.
Coming Allison?" called Cunning
ham. There's room for you both,
doctor"
Il don't think I'll ride this trip,
thanks" returned Allison, and, as the
rector also declined with pleasant
thanks, Allison gave the voyagers a
hearty push, and walked back to the
camp fire.
J 81 received the ultimatum of your
vestry today, Doctor Boyd" observed
Allison when they were alone. "Still
that eventual fifty million"
well, yes" returned the rector
briskly, and backed up comfortably to
the blaze. He was a different man
now. 1--WE discussed your proposition
thoroughly, and decided that. in ten
years, the property is worth fifty mil.
lion to you, for the purpose you have
in mind Consequently why take less?
Allison surveyed him shrewdly for a
moment.
That's the argument of a bandit,
he remarked. why accept all thai
the prisoner has when his friends car
raise little more?"
'I don't see the use of metaphor.
retorted the rector, who dealt profes
sionally in it. Business is business
Allison grunted, and flicked hi!
ashes into the fire.
"By George, you're right" he agreed
''I've been trying to handle you like
a church, but now I'm going after yol
like the business organization yol
are"
Rev, Smith Boyd Redeemed. Tn,
charge that Market Square church wa
} a remarkably lucrative enterprise wa
becoming too general for comfort.
"The vestry has given you their de
: cision," he returned, standing stiff ant
straight, with his hands clasped be
J hind him. you may pay for the We'd
der court tenement property a casl
; sum which, in ten years, will accru
to fifty million dollars, or you may lie
1t alone" and his tone was as force
fully crisp as Allison's, though h
could not hide the musical timbr
of it.
II won't pay that price, and won
, let the property alone" Allison snaI
ped back. THE city needs it."
For a moment the two men locke
each other levelly in the eyes. Their
seemed to have sprung up some nev
enmity between them. A thick ma
) with stubby mustache came putin
p up to the fire, and sat down on his sic
+ with thump.
Splendid exercise" he gasped. holt
g ing his sides. II think about a week c
3 it would either reduce me to a livin
< skeleton. or kill me-"
+ Your vestry's an ass" Allison too
d pleasure in informing him.
r Same to you and many of them,
:. puffed Jim Sargent. What's the trol
t BILE with you? Trying to take bus
|. ness advantage of a church"
d I'D have a better chance with
J. Jew" was Allison's contemptuous IT
/. ply.
@ "Oh, see here, Allison!" remonstra
e ed Jim, Sargent seriously. He even ros
e to his feet to make it more emphati'
d "You mustn't treat Market Squar
church with SO much indignity."
i why not? Market Square churc
/. puts itself in position to be consit
IS cred in the light of any other graspin
d organization