The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1917-06-16

II "0 achieved IN short SOcia
II "oul-had followed. At all points th
\ De"ltching young woman from the vii
| Ne' ness had proved to be a mockin.
| .i!lic OF the commonplace conventions
| ana mad been moved to pillorv III,
o",iie ia the person Of her momentary
entertainer. Some thrills this youna
person from the wide horizons har
'tiireu III MIN were his only excuse fol
stealing her glove. There remained
now nothing Of the clashing encounter
at the lawn party save the soiled glove
rather obscure memory of a face toe
piquant and attractive to be cheapened
ny the word pretty" these and q
thlng she had said at the moment of
parting: yes; am going back home
very soon. don't like your SNUG mid
uie West civilization, Mr.. Smith-it
smothers me. l don't wonder that 1t
breeds men who live and grow I'D and
ole without ever having q chance TO
find themselves"
some day, perhaps, he would tell
Verda HIGHLANDER of the sharp-tongued
little Western beauty. Verda-and all
sensible people-would smile at the
ldea that he, John Montague Smith,
was of those who had not found"
| themselves, or that the finding-by
which he had understood the Western
| young woman to mean something radi-
cai ana upsettng-cOuld in any way
pc forced upon q 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 Foundries company in
its upper left-hand corner. Smith
opened Carter Westfalls letter first
ana read 1t with little twinge Of
shocked surprise, as one reads the story
OF brave battle fought and lost.
Dear Monty" it ran. 81 have been
trying to reach you by phone off and
stockholders meeting at three o'clock. |
We, Of the little inside pool, have got |
1t 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 q finish.
He was able to vote 50 per cent of the
stock straight, and you know what that
means: consolidation with the Rich
lander foundry trust, and the hearse
and white horses for yours truly ard
the minority stockholders. We're dead
dead and buried.
"Of course, l stand to lose every
thing, but that isn't all of it. I'm hor-
ribly anxious for fear you'll be tangled
Up personally in some way In the mat
-er of that last loan Of 100000 that I
got from the Bank and Trust. You will
'emember you made the loan while
Ounham was away, and I am certain
'ou told me you had his consent to
AXE my Foundries stock as collateral.
That part Of it is all right, but, as mat
ers stand, the stock isn't worth the
PAPER 1t is printed on, and-well, to
ell the bald truth, I'm scared of Dun
lam. Brickley, the Chicago lawyer
hey have brought down here, tells me
hat your bank Is behind the consOlida-
ion deal, and if that is SO, there is go
ng to be bank loss to show up on nv
aper, and Durham will carefully cover
is tracks for the sake Of the banks
1T Is hideOuS mess, and it has oc-
urred to me that Durham can put you
/ bad, If he wants to. When you made a.
hat 100000 loan, you forgot-and /
Drgot for the moment-that you own
N shares Of Westfall F0undrics in i!
our own name. If Durham wants to $
and from under, this might be used \
gainst you. You must get rid of that g
ock. Monty and do it quick Trans a
n the ten shares to me, dating the u
ansfer back to Saturday. l still have
lie stock books in my hands, and I'll n
axe the entry in the record and date Il
to fit. This may look little crook Ii
|, on the surface. but it's your saliva f,
on. and we can't stop to split hairs
hen we've Just been shot full Of holes. al
"WESTFALL."
Smith folded the letter mechanically
Id thrust it into his pocket. Carter g.
'estfall was his good friend, and the =,
shier had tried, unofficially, to dis
ade Westfall from borrowing after =,
, had admitted that he was going to =,
e the money in an attempt to buy ~
, the control of his own company'S %
ock. Smith was thinking of the big 81
nix loss and the hopeless ruin Of :,
lrter Westfall when he tore the sec III
d envelope across and took out the
closed slip Of scratch-paper. 1t was ae
note from the president and it was w
ted within the hour. Mr.. Durham af
IS back in Lawrenceville earlier than to
pected, and the note had been writ -
4 at the bank. It was a curt sum-
ms; the cashier was wanted, at once. lo'
At the moment, Smith did not con- NJ
ct the summons with the Westfall jo
taclysm, or with any other untoward
T. l.