Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1916-11-18

w "1 oiHRlcu OUT lot attentions DN
this young Napoleon of finance for
whom a score of girls were angling.
Wherefore she allowed him to call
whenever he cared to-which was
very often.
Mrs. Austin. more worldly-wise than
her daughter. was not minded To give
p'opl" cause for gossip about Leila.
>" on" day when Brent called. she
! 'ohtrlyed 10 snatch a few words with
him I'm private before Leila came into
the living room.
Mr. Brent" she began abruptly. as
She greeted the caller. You are com
ing here rather frequently of late. AS
man Of the world you must under
stand that my daughter cannot afford
10 be put in false position In the
! eyes Of our friends"
Mrs Austin. ] have always loved
your daughter You know that. I
love her now more than ever. Don't
mlsunderstand me I've spoken no
WORD or this to her And | shall not
until she is legally and morally free
10 listen to me"
fou would have my approval and
| her fathers" replied Mrs. Austin with
eHuSlYe hcartiness Il will write today
10 Tom Carter and plead with him to
| set her free for her own sake"
| Thank YOU. ten thousand times"
exclaimed Brent clasping her hand
| gratefully. II am"
He checked himself. for Leila's light
football sounded in the hallway out
( side.
After few minutes of general talk
| MIS-. Austin left the two young people
alone together. Scarcely had she
gone from the room. when Leila
turned impotuously TO Brent and said.
m so glad YOU came today BE
| cauS" want to ask favor OF YOU.
| \ big favor I've been thinking il
! over Tor two Dr three days You are
Wall street man DO YOU sup
pose you could sell my shares ina
the Leila q for sl0Ouug That's tine
! FAVOR } wanted to ask you I'm give
| the money To Tom and me- can put II
/ IN something that will earn a living
| for us
lialsey Brent was doing some OK
tr'mely rapid thinking He knew Tom
/ Garter was an authority on mines
whose pTnfc rSional judgment was
highly priced. If Carter said there
was a fortune in the Leila A" there
was every reason to believe It was
true
I'll try. of course" he said. doubt.
fully. Let me make inquiries on the
Street and call I'm "A day or so to tell
YOU the result"
When he left tho Austin house
ter all unusually brief all-Halsev
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
secured, it promises to be biggest gold
discovery of past ten years You will
1891 &c -Hs:sta ke-in paying ANYTHING
mp to s2,000.000 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 Austin 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 checkbooks corner stuck in
the lining of the pocket. He pulled
ii ont with so sharp a jerk that three
envelopes tumbled out with II. Two
OF these fell on the table and he
picked them up in nervous haste The
third-a yellow envelope-futtered
unnOticed TO the floor beneath a table
Sitting at the table Brent filled in
Il check for 10000 to the order OF
Leila Austin Carter" lie was blot
ting it as Leila herself came into the
room.
Good news" he hailed her. I've
sold your stock"
Good Good" she exulted Thanks.
a hundred times"
He left her an hour later. the GER
titicates 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 nj a
florists and sent Leila a great armful
OF American beauty roses.
The flowers were delivered at the
Austin house within q few minutes.
Leila buried her face in their fragrant
mass of petals. then handed them to
a servant to arrange i'm a vase.
The servant carried the vaseful OF
flowers into the living room and set
it 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 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 il Leila came In.
To account for his action the man