Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1917-11-16

bewitching young woman from the will
derness had proved TO be a mOcking
critic of the commonplace conventions,
and had been moved to pillory the
same In the person of her %momentary
entertainer. Some thrills this young
person from the wide horizons had
stirred in him were his only excuse for
stealing her glove. There remained
now nothing Of the clashlng encounter
at the lawn party save the soiled glove.
a rather obscure memory of q face too
plquant and attractive to be cheapened
by the word pretty :" these and a
parting: Eyes; l am going back home
very l don't like your Snug mid
die West civilization, Mr.. Smlth-it
smothers me. 1 don't wonder that 1t
breeds men who live and grow up and
die without ever having a chance to
find themselves"
Some day, perhaps, he would tell
Verda Richlander Of the sh%arp-tongued
little Western beauty. Verda-and all
sensible people-would smile at the
idea that he, John Montague Smith,
was Of those who had not found"
themselves, or that the fnding-by
which he had understood the Western
young woman to mean Something radi-
cal and upsetting-could in any way
be forced upon a man who was old
enough and sane enough to know his
own lengths and breadths and depths.
He was stripping off his coat to dress
when he saw two letters which had evil
IDENTIFY been thrust under the door dur
Ing his absence at supper time. One Of
the envelopes was plain, with his name
scrubbed on 1t in pencil. The other
bore a typewriter address with the
card Of Westfall F%Oundries company In
its upper left-hand corner. Smith
opened Carter Westfall's letter first
and read 1t with a little twinge Of
shocked surprise, as one reads the story
Of a brave battle fought and lost.
"Denr Monty" It ran. II have been
trying to reach you by phone Off and
on ever since the adjournment Of our
stockholders meeting at three o'clock.
We, of the little inside pool, have got
It where the chicken got the ak. Rich
lander had more proxies up his sleeve
than we thought he had, and he has
put the steam roller over us to a finish.
He was able to vote 90 per cent Of the
stock straight, and you know what that
means: a consolidation with the Rich
lander foundry trust, and the hearse
and white horses for yours truly and
the minority stockholders. We're dead
dead and buried.
"Of course, I stand to lose every
thing, but that isn't all of 1t. I'm hor-
ribly anxious for fear you'll be tangled
up personally in some way in the mat
ter of that last loan of 100000 that 1
got from the Bank and Trust. You Will
remember you made the loan while
Durham was away, and 1 am certain
you told me you had his consent to
take my Foundrles stock as collateral.
That part Of it is all right, but, as mat
tors stand, the stock isn't worth the
paper It is printed on, and-well, to
tell the bald truth, I'm scared of Dun
ham. Buckley, the Chicago lawyer
they have brought down here, tells me
that your bank is behind the c~onsOlida-
ton deal, and II that is so, there is go
Ing to be a bank loss to show up on my
paper, and Durham will carefully cover
his tracks for the sake of the banks
standing.
ut Is n hideous mess, and 1t has oc-
Cured to me that Durham can put you
In bad, If he wants to. When you made
that 100000 loan. You forgot-and
forgot for the moment-th0t you own
ten shares OF Westfall Foundries in
your own name. II Durham wants to
stand from under. this might be used
against you. You must get rid Of that
stock, Monty, and do it quick. Trans
fer the ten shares to me, dating the
transfer back to Saturday. I still have
the stock books In my hands, and I'll
make the entry In the record and date
II to ht. This may look a little crook.
ed. on the surface. but it's your saliva.
ton, and we can't stop to split hairs
when we've just been shot full Of holes
"WESTFALL4"
Smith folded the letter mechanically
and thrust it into his pocket. Garter
Westfan was his good friend, and the
cashier had tried. %unodicially, to dis
suade Westfall from borrowing after
. he had admitted that he was going L
use the money In an attempt to buy
up the control OF his own company:
/, stock. Smith was thinking OF the bis
bank loss and the hopeless ruin o.
Carter westfall when he tore the sec
ond envelope across and took out tbs
inclOsed slip Of scratch-paper. II was
, a note from the president and it wal
dated within the hour. Mr.. Dunhan
/ was back in Lawrenceville earlier thar
expected, and the note had been writ
ten at the bank. It was n curt sum
. mons: the cashier was wanted, at once
At the moment, Smith did not con
meet the summons with the Westfal
: cataclysm. or with any other untowar'
Z thing. Mr.. Watrous Durham had
? habit OF dropping in and out unexpect
edly. Also, he had the habit Of send
/ ing for his cashier or any other mem