The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1917-01-19
FIFTEENTH EPISODE
The Murderer at Bay.

testic country place principally be
cause it furnished him an ample sol
itude. He could wander about it fol
wanted company, there was room fol
1t in the palace and in the formally
gardened grounds. And he could lool
down on the tremendous peace Of the
Hudson river, admiring it's strength as
one strong man does another, and com
plimenting 1t on the efficiency with
which Ii did such big business with
20 little fuss.
He asked few persons to visit him
and those few only when the mood
moved him. In his everyday life as q
man of big affairs he met SO many peo-
pie and was so pointed out when he
walked the streets that he acquired a
kind Of shyness in his hours of leisure
he was touched in q tender spot
when he heard that his scapegrace
daughter Gloria had invited three
guests to make his sacred retreat their
more or less permanent home. She
had not consulted him and the guests
were the last people in the world he
would have invited. 1t was nice
enough for Gloria to take pity on q
poor waiter and his forlorn child. II
was sweet of her to adopt the child
Pierpont had even forgiven her by now
for compelling him to hunt employ
ment for the waiter. But then what
followed? Gloria invited the boys al
most hopelessly invalid mother and the
boy and the father to make themselves
at home in PierpOnts own sanctuary
That move was far more than too
much.
This has got to stop, and I'm going
to stop IT," Pierpont stormed to Doc
tor Royce, who had, at Gloria's COM
mand, transported the three to Pier
points country place.
Royce smiled. Pierpont grew more
furious.
'Oh, I'm not afraid of her just be-
cause she is only child. She's got to
obey me and get rid of them"
"Tell her so, SIR" said Royce,
amused at the old mans helpless blus-.
ter.
'Oh, I'll tell her." Pierpont swag-
gered. "Where is she?"
No one knew. Royce suggested that
she had probably gone TO the country
place to see her new playmates. SO
Pierpont motored out with Royce. He
told Royce that he would really have
to get rid of the unWelcome guests, If
only to prove to Gloria that she was
not yet the absolute boss of the family.
THAT victory will be worth going
miles to see" said Royce
They REACHED the country place, only
to find that Gloria had not been seen
nor heard of. Her three guests were
there, however, installed for long
stay. The butler was so Mortified at
having a walters family to wait on
that he offered his notice.
Pierpont decided to evict the wait
ers family and save the butler. He
would do it at once, before Gloria got
home. He stalked forth like CON
stable with Il writ of eviction,
The boy Stas caught sight of him
and ran and flung his arms about his
neck and began to tell him of the won
lers of his own country place, of trees
md flowers and birds and animals
commonplace things to Pierpont but |
to the boy from the slums. |
Iasimir had gathered an armload of |
lowers for his sick wife, and he was /
lglow with the feeling that she was
letter already.
Pierpont had great deal of Gloria S
bounding tenderness. He lost his
emper in flashes, but his charity
urned steadily and deeply, and now
tas had won his heart. He could not
nclasp that child's arms. In fact, he
fled Stas to his arm and held him
lere while he told the butler he could
ave without notice if he did not like
he guests of the house. Also Pier
ont told Royce that he must take par
cular care of Casimir's wife. Royce
ughed at the old mans complete col
pse and said
Its a pity Gloria isn't here to see
III. | wonder where on earth she Is"
"She's somewhere she oughtn't to
), that's sure" Pierpont growled, as
: stared at his section of the Hudson,
here, fighting against the current,
tie tug was visible, towing an old
nal barge loaded to the water line.
hen he added: "She's probably on
at barge now, adopting the barge
ans family
He could imagine nothing more ex- !.
avagantiy impossible to say than
at. And yet, the truth kept pace
tn his extravaganza. For Gloria was n
deed even then on board just such o
barge being tOwed upstream by just t
CHI tug. Only Gloria was not h
opting the bargeman's family. She v
Is being adopted by 1t. She was a a
isoner and her life was In pawn. n
Gloria's curiosity as to one problem G
IS solved. She had found out that