The Tupelo journal., 1916-12-22

Il am sure you are mistaken, Mr.,
Burton" she said sweetly. you must
learn to think right. Implicit trust in
mankind is the first onward step along
the road to redemption"
"You must not imagine that no prog.
ress is made in the work Of regenera-
ton merely because you have met
with failures on the way" she urged,
laying an impulsive hand on his arm.
"Look at Bill Reilly's case! And
Blanche Griffin'S! The man was a dar,
ing burglar, yet he resisted temptation
when his former associates could have
extracted a fortune from you. And
picture what it means to the girl to
abandon forever the glare and glitter
of the night clubs.
"Come with me, Mr.. Burton. l will
submit two of my waits to a severe
test. 1t may be cruel, but if they sur.
vive it they will benefit, while your
cynicism will sustain a heavy shock"
John protested that he was by no
means cynical, but Grace laughingly
hCiu W lSA pun OSCs ohC ulAlOIhCu a
drawer in the desk at which she was
sitting, and took out a roll of currency
notes. She counted the money, which
amounted to quite a large sum. Then,
halving it, she placed one-half on the
desk and pocketed the remainder.
Crooking a finger at John. she led
him into the outer hall, where Bill
Reilly and Blanche happened to be
seated at the moment.
"Mr. Burton and I are going out"
She said to her proteges. "We shall be
away a couple of hours, or longer. If
you two have nothing better to do, you
might take care of the office until !
return"
where are we going?" inquired
John, when Grace and he were out of
earshot.
"For a spin in your car" she an
swered gaily.
But is it wise to leave SO much
money on your table? There must
have been nearly two thousand dollars
in the pile. Is it even fair to tempt
those people IN that Way!'
IF l am wrong" came the earnest
answer, II shall suffer the loss with
resignation, and you will be strongly
intrenched in the position of the SUI
periOr male who can say 4 told you
So Meanwhile, let us forget these
problems for at least forty miles,"
John fell in with her mood. How
might any young man do otherwise?
They enjoyed the run amazingly, and
by some miracle contrived to talk light
ly of that great world which both had
seen through such very different spec
tacles. They were absent Il good deal
longer than the two hours stipulated
for, but, when they came back, found
Bill Reilly and Blanche Griffin seated
in the Office. Each was apparently alb
sorbed in a book, and the pile of bills
lay untouched on the table.
Grace chatted with her humble
friends for some time before she at
fected to discover the money with as
constituent.
"How careless of me to leave those
notes on the table" she cried. "Why,
if you two hadn't been here, someone
might have crept in and walked off
with the lot !"
1t was peculiar, almost an unfor-
tunate coincidence that the girls art
less maneuver should have succeeded
in the very hour when the forces of
"icnhinf Vxynro ro thnpsn ~ xxvsfhsr n cyI,A,<
half-mile of the settlement building.
Mother" Flanagan and her chief
henchman were even then perfecting a
plot which would place Burton in
greater peril than he had ever before
encountered during his adventurous
life, while George Coe was uncon-
sciOusly assisting in its development.
The young man had gone straight
from his fathers Office to the fiat in
which he had installed Virginia Griffin,
Blanche's sister. This girl was pri-
marily responsible for his financial en-
barrassment. She was somewhat pref
tier and younger than Blanche, and
her demands for money, jewelry, CLOTH
Aa6 0hA0 diA LAX t0AlG0 AlNRCAAC0 u a
fashionable existence We're quite merci-
less in their frequency and extent.
At the instant his familiar ring was
heard on the electric bell she was de-
scribing him to TwO-Gun Jake as sthat
poor boob who has gone to try and
skin a few more notes Off his fathers
wad."
Huh" she cried. when the two were
startled by the sound Of the bell. sHcrc
he comes now. He mustn't find you
on the mat, Jake!"
"Don't care ii he does," growled the
gangster. IF that sister Of hts keeps
on reformin' the crowd. therc.n besnonc
Of us left First Bill has gone.
then Blanche. You1i be the next. l sup
poser"
Sometimes you get me that mad,
Jake, / want to shake you!" muttereI
the girl, selling him and thrusting him