Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1916-06-01

patiently waiting for another day Of
excitement and opportunity Corner
lots and the astounding prices they
had commanded filled the air in the
lounge, the billiard room and the buff
fet, and after few minutes Brouillard
turned his back on the hubbub and
sought the quiet Of the darkened build
ing on the opposits side of the street.
He was alone in his Office on the
sixth floor and was trying, half absent.
ly, to submerge himself in a sea Of
desk work when as distinctly as If she
were present and at his elbow, he
heard, or seemed to hear, Amy Mas
singale say: Victor, you said you
would come IL / needed you. | need
you now" Without moments hesita-
ton he got up and made ready TO go
out
The Massingale town house was one
of row Of succeed villas fronting on
the main residence street, which be-
yond the city limits became the high
road to the Quadjenai bend and the
upper valley. Brouillard took cab at
the Metropole, dismissed it at the villa
gate, and walked briskly up the path
to the house, which was dark save for
one lighted room on the second floor
the room in which Stephen Massingale
was recovering from the effects of Van
Bruce Cortwright's pistol shot.
Amy Massingale was on the porch
waiting for him, as he fully believed
until her greeting sufficiently proved
her surprise at seeing him.
you. Victor?" she said, coming
quickly to meet him. Murray Girls
low said you had gone down to the
Buckskin camps and wouldn't be back
for two or three days!"
Il changed my mind and came back.
How is Steve this EVENING""
He Is quite comfortable, more COM
Portable than he has been at all since
the wound began to heal. have been
reading him to sleep, and when the
night nurse came l ran down to get
breath of fresh air in the open"
mo, you didn't come down for that
reason" Brouillard amended gravely
You came to meet me-"
did I?' she asked. What makes
you think that?"
Il know what happened" said Brou-
Hard, speaking as soberly as If he
were stating mathematical certainty.
you left that room upstairs and came
to me. l didn't see you, but l heard
you as plainly as can hear you now.
You spoke to me and called me by
| name"
She shook her head, laughing lightly.
You have been overweight about
something, or maybe you are just plain
| tired"
You are standing me off," he de-
| clared. you are in trouble Of some
sort, and you are trying to hide it from
me-
mo. not exactly trouble; only lit
tie worry"
All right, call 1t worry If you like
and share 1t with me. What is it?'
Il think you know without being
told. l am afraid we have finally lost
the Little Susan That is one of the
worries and the other I've been trying
to call silly. l don't know what has
become Of father-as If he weren't old
enough to 60 and come without telling
me every move he makesi"
Your father isn't at homer" gasped
BrOuillard
No; he hasn't been here since nine
O'Clock this morning Murray Grislow
saw him going into the Metropole
| about one O'Clock, but nobody that I
have been able to reach by phone
seems to have seen him after that"
Il can bring the record down to two
o'clock" was the quick reply. HE ate
with me at Bongras', and afterward /
walked with him as far as the bank.
| And can cure part of the first worry
all of it, in fact; he had the money
to take up the Cartwright notes, and
when left him he was on his way to-
Hardwick's window to do it."
He had the money? Where did he
get it?"
Brouillard put his back against g
| porch post, a change of position which
kept the light of the street electric
from shining squarely upon his face
~ UCcu oHDLnCI VI luC
quick days in MiNapolis," he said
evasively. Somebody told me that the
corner opposite Poodles' was bought
and sold three times within a single
hour and that each time the price was
doubled"
"And you are trying to tell me that
| father made a hundred thousand dol
lars just in those few hours by buying
and selling Mirapolis lots? You don't
know him. Victor. He Is totally lack
ing the trading gift. He has often said
that he couldn't stand on a street cor
ner and sell twenty-dollar gold pieces
at nineteen dollars apiece-nobody
would buy of him"
Nevertheless, l am telling you that:
he had the money to take up those
notes" Brouillard insisted. Il saw it
in his hands
She stood fairly in the beam Of tho
street light. The violet eyes were
misty, and in the low voice there was
note of deeper trouble.
"You say you saw the money In IA
theirs hands; tell me, Victor, did you
see him pay 1t into the bank?"
why, no; not the final detail. But,
as say, when l left him he was on his
way to Hardwick's window"
Again she turned away but this time