Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-03-28
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TURMOIL
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BOOTH TARkINoroSa
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Co0quese Of Canaas =
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cHAPTER ".

Mr.. vertrees, having watched their
departure with the air Of man who
had something at hazard upon the ex-
petition. turned from the window
and began to pace the library thought
fully, pending their return. He was
about sixty; small man, withered
and dry and. fne, trim little sketch
OF the elderly dandy. His lambre-
qutn mustache. like his smooth hair.
was approaching An equally sheer
Wilderness; and though his clothes were
old. they had shapsliness and . favor
Of mode. .v5 %
The room was cheerful and hideous.
Under q mantel Of imitation black
marble Z merry little coal IRE beamed
forth upon high and narrow "Eastlake"
bookcases with long glass doors, COM
Portable. incongruous furniture, half
dozen LAndseer engravings which Mr..
and Mrs. yertrees sometimes men,
toned to each other, After thirty years
Of possession, a. Every fine things"
They had been the first people In town
to possess Landseer engravings, and
there, in art. they had rested, but they
stin had feeling that in all such mat
tiers they were In the van
The growth Of the city, which might
easily hare made Mr.. Vertrees q mil
lionaire, had ruined him because he
had failed to understand 1t. When
towns begin to grow they have whims,
and the whims of q town always ruin
somebody. The dainty little man was
one OF the first to fall down and wor-
ship Bigness. BE was . true prophet
Of the prodigious growth, but he had .
fatal gift for selling good and buying
bad. He sold his inherited once build
ing and house In town to buy lots;
then he sold his farm, except the house
and the ground about 1t, to pay taxes
on the lots. But he had TO do some
thing to keep himself and bis family
up. 50 In despair he sold the lots
(which went up beautifully the next
year, for Traction stock" that was
paying dividends; and disappeared al
together from the commercial surface
at about ne time James 6hsEidan
came out securely on top.
But there came q day whan three
Of Bigness In Philadelphia
took greedy counsel with four fellow
from New YORK. and not
long after that there were no more
dividends for Mr.. vertrses. In fact,
there was nothing for Mr.. vertrees, BE-
cause the traction stock" henceforth
was no stock At al, and he had mort
gagged his house long ago to help "man-
age somehow" according to his concep-
don Of his position in life"-one Of his
own old-fashionsd phrases. Mr.. Yer
trees had discovered, too, that there
vas no salary for him IN u! the bug
ding city-hs could do nothing.
1t may be said that he was at the
end Of his string. Such times do come
In Ill their bitterness, finally, to the
man with no trade or craft. II his
feeble clutch ON that slippery ghost,
Property. shall fan. =. %.
The windows grew black while he
paced the fan-shaped some Of freight
But a the mantel clock struck wheez-
[ly six there was the rattle of an outer
door. and Mary Verrees came rushing
into the library and threw herself into
\ deep chair by the hearth, laughing
30 uncontrollably that tears were In
her eyes. Mrs. yertrees followed de-
no mirth about her; on the
contrary. she looked vaguely disturbed.
m II she had eaten something not uuito