Omaha daily bee., 1916-01-02

II was the needed spur, Gloom fell from
name Young mann he inquired.
Pete" replied that person laconicaliy.
''Weil. Pete. which would you rather have.
n quarter or another dose of this poisonT'
due care. Quarters is mighty scarce" he
saRely concluded. but good red LIQUOR is
couiS save S th that snftSr for about @ hoSr
when this'n has wore offT
beaming upon Pete with all his most fetch
Ing beams now. and cementinE his friendship
Then I'll take the LIQUOR"
tits bargain How big is Jinkinsville?'
warinEford contemplated that vague
sI Sour Biggest st business ssta6iishmentsT fS "f'
who has the most money here?"
"Benjamin r. ouirker. I reckon. He owns
the bank Nobody else around these parts
has got any money to speak, OF; guess; un-
Yes. l know about him." said waliingford
With smile I'VE came here. here to ,r see hin, him.
possibly: or Investing in some other business
Gosh, T hope you. do" promptly responded
Pete. land guess maybe you could buy
any business you wanted about here II you'd
Il reckon" agreed aWanlngtord. what
Pete and passed as swiftly away Hes all
right" said Pete with every appearance Of
Indication OF secret thought and had made a
mental memorandum Of 1t. Hes savin' uD
How about BREAKFAST" demanded Biackie.
HpSSaSS,Hs Ssps N the door Just then Let's have
Pete looked at h!W wi. With return Of his
former conviction You'll u get down-stairs 40 N a
tracks II you get It at all; because after
BENJAMIN F. oulrker gets through, breakfasts
over. and he's Just went down to the dining
''Does ouirker live herer' asked wailinG-
ford quickly. and mechanically he poured out
another drink from the silver-mounted flash.
Doesn't he make his home In Jinkinsville7"
This hain't the llcker I was to get in an
he took the proffered glass.
mo-" said waliingford. smiling. and shak-
your nose is blue. and 1t ought to bo red"
on half OF II with a relish. Yes. benjamin.
tated moment. drank the remainder Of the
lIapOr. and sank his voice TO a CONFIDENTIAL
his family. He owns the biggest house in
town and Keeps two. girls and mani and
a broom with her own hands. They do say
that she's going up next week and hire a city
mony. 1t aint always the rich that's happy"
,You. Petel" shriiied a woman's impatient
Gosh, that's herr' calculated Pete and
thrustinR the emptied glass into walling-
ford's hands. he bumped through the door
way and stumbled down the stairs.
An instant change came over WallinRford
He hurried across TO the glass and looked
Vest and throwing. il and his coat back on
his shoulders. "Blackie. you Just stand by
e the % Village bsnksr % % and for a man nS Of rsf his
bulk he started an amazingly quick series
OF costuming contortions.
Ten minutes later. suave. smiling. con-
room followed by the obseauIous Biackie;
and. bearing IN his breadth OF chest and
wealth OF the Indies he sat down opposite
the only other occupant a man of about
neatly -trimmed mutton-chop whiskers about
halfway down his plump checks. and who
feet He was a man OF excellent ease. ap-
parently but at the same time he was deep
the advent o. the strangers. and INSPECTED
them critically. wallinRford had scarcely
with % friendly w smile ar and % Observed: S? 'O'~'0
'Mr. Waliingford, believe"
though. that you have slightly the better Of
Il am Mr.. ouirker. Mr.. BENJAMIN F.
ouirker." stated the other. I met you at
Cindsrburg, n you'll remember. when /
~, of the Bans sun-sngins;"
y ouirEsr in the hilarious % promotion days
J OF the sun-motor which never noted.
Ar. oTirker What is the present status OF that
marvellous machtneF
! "Graduaiiy nearing perfection" stated
: WallinEford promptly. sure OF his ground
now and thankful that Quirker had been
! one OF those who came in late. after he had
all his plans made for cleaning up" "Are
you still In the market for this territory2"
mo, think not" returned Quirker the
} shadow OF a frown fitting across his brow.
? I'm taking on no new interests whatsoever.
? Just now. As matter OF fact I'm letting
a go OF some OF them" and again for an in
. etant a faraway look came into his eyes
. What brinEs the wealthy Mr.. wallingford
4 10 our httie JinklnsvileF
Wallingford was himself more. Ut
a 20 this instant idea had visited him. but
now upon demand one came. II have rather
. large financial scheme In hand" he said
: frowning with deep gravity; "a plan 20
n counteract the immense money monopoly OF
the large city banks which. you know
n have for their foundation rocks OF strength
the small country banks. II 10 a lop-sided
. arrangement. with all the favors flowing
I eastward. In times of stress. the financial
: center throws it's weight on you aud draini
p you 70 the last drop OF your financial blood
IN In times lime, OF ease Il threws your money back
a MT. ouirker had nodded his head at eAcl
!. period as he slowly slipped his cofee. BlI
= i,oww how dS yog propose to remedy this eondi
''consolidats the country banks OF the MD