Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1916-09-08

SlQS.
After few minutes Of general talk,
Mrs. Austin left the two young people
alone together. Scarcely had she
gone from the room, when Leila
turned impetuously to Brent and said:
I'm so glad you came today. Be-
cause / want to ask favor of you.
A big favor! I've been thinking it
over for two or three days. You are
Wall street man. Do you sup
| pose you could sell my shares in
the Leila A for $4,000? That's the
| favor I wanted to ask you. I'll give
the money to Tom and he can put it
| in something that will earn q living
| for u.s."
Halsey Brent was doing some ex-
tremely rapid thinking. He knew Tom
Carter was an authority on mines
| whose professional judgment was
| highly priced. If Carter said there
was a fortune in the Leila A" there
was every reason to believe 1t was
| true.
'I'll try, of course" he said, doubt
fully. Let me make inquiries on the
Street and call in a day or so to tell
| you the result"
When he left the Austin house-af-
| ter an unusually brief call-Halsey
| Brent stopped at the nearest tele-
graph office and dispatched a one
hundred-word telegram to an Oregon
mine expert with whom he had had
business dealings from time to time.
| Two days later he received the fol-
lowing telegram from the expert:
made secret inspection of Leila
A. mine, pretending to be looking for
job as blast operator. Rich vein has
| just been struck From samples l
secured, it promises to be biggest gold
| discovery of past ten years. You will
make no mistake in paying anything
up to 100000 for it as it stands.
Carter has left for New York"
Carefully putting the telegram in
his inner coat pocket, Brent set out
| for the Austfn house.
While he waited for Leila in the
living room at the top of the front
staircase he pulled out his checkbook
from his inner pocket.
The checkbook's corner stuck In
the lining of the pocket. He pulled
it out with so sharp a jerk that three
| envelopes tumbled out with it. Two
Of these fell on the table and he
picked them up in nervous haste. The
| third-a yellow enyelope-futtered
| 81 foh In
Sitting at the table Brent filled in
| check for $4,000 to the order of
Leila Austin Carter" He was blot
| ting it as Leila herself came into the
room
Good news!" he hailed her. Give
sold your stock!"
Good! Good" she exulted. Thanks,
a hundred times"
He left her an hour later the GER
tificates in his pocket-a thrill Of de-
| light surging through him at thought
Of the easily acquired wealth that had
| just come to him. He stopped at
florists and sent Leila a great armful
of American Beauty roses.
The flowers were delivered at the
Austin house within 9 few minutes.
Leila buried her face in their fragrant
mass of petals, then handed them to
servant to arrange in vase.
The servant carried the vaseful of
flowers into the living room and set
1t on the table there. AS he did so
one of the topheavy roses was jostled
out of place and fell to the floor. The
servant stopped to pick 1t up. His
eye fell on a yellow envelope, half
hidden under one of the big carved
feet Of the table.
Curiosity made him draw the mes
sage from the envelope. Before he
| could read 1t Leila came in.
To account for his action the man
handed her the dispatch, saying:
81 just picked this up from under
the chair where Mr.. Brent was sitting.
He must a dropped 1t out of his peck
et 1t seems to be a telegram"
Leila took the sheet of paper he
proffered. CHANGING idly at it she saw
the words Leila A. mine" In an
other second she was eagerly reading
the report the mining expert had tele-
graphed to Brent.
"He-he knew there was an enor-
nous fortune in our mine!" she MUIR
INJURED, dazedly. HE knew it! And,
knowing that, he has paid me the
$4,000. He has cheated me, as a
counterfeiter cheats a feeble-minded
! farmer Worse-he has robbed Tom!
He has made me rob Toni"
Snatching up the telephone, she
called Halsey Brent's Office. A clerk
answered that Brent had not yet re-
turned.
"TelI him to come here at once!
The minute he gets to his ofice!" she
| ordered
HE must give back the stock to
me! He shall give it back" she told
herself, fiercely And then I'll never
let him speak to me again. And Toni"
her angry eyes softening, "Tom was
right after all! Darling old Tom!
Our dream is coming true-our gold
en- dream-his and minei" -
It seemed to Leila an unbelievably
long time hafore Halspy Brent'S name