Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-08-03

have way of knowing those things" Her
eyes sought his for confirmation. Am l
not right?"
Il would do anything to win her" he
spoke up quickly; evidently she took the
rest for granted for she continued to per-
severe:
81 know that you have great ambitions;
and with such girl at your side there Is
no reason why you should not become
great man."
This sudden interest on her part in mat
ters concerning his future for the moment
ratt,ed him. Nevertheless he was conscious
OF decided sensation of relief that the
conversation had taken its present course
and her words, with such q girl at your
side," found n welcome in his heart On
her part, Mrs Challoner was becoming
more and more composed. And NOW, in
voice that seemed to him ringing with con-
viction, she went on:
You will have uphill work, l know.
Your party is against you and all that sort
Of thing; but Il only for Shirley's sake, I
want you-you must succeed
For some reason which he did not at
tempt to explain Murgatroyd found himself
actually confessing to this woman that he
thought he deserved to win out.
IT'S only money that you lack, know"
she ventured now. with money they
couldn't keep you down. With money of
your own" she stopped abruptly; the
tension was getting too much for her.
Presently she cried out, "Oh, Mr.. Murga-
troyd, don't you see what mean, and won't
you help me?"
But he failed to understand her mean
ing and was obliged to ask her to explain
herself. He was staring hard at her now.
"Only this, Mr.. Murgatroyd." she said,
meeting his gaze Il will give you $780,
600 to set my husband free -
Murgatroyd instantly sprang to his feet
You mean to bribe me :"
Miriam Challoner covered before him
She had not put the matter to him in quite
the way she had intended. She was des-
perately afraid that she had destroyed all
hope of success by blurting it out like this
please don't be hard on me-condemn me-"
she begged as one before the judgment
seat. Il know it's awful! -
For full moment Murgatroyd fastened
his gaze on her face. Then he walked to
| the door, stepped inside the vault and salts
fled himself that there was no one there,
looked into every corner of the room and
underneath the table; and when at last he
was convinced that he had taken every pre-
caution, he came back and stood directly
in front of the woman and told her to repeat
what she had said.
In fear and trembling she reiterated her
words -.
II VIII give you one hundred thousand
dollars to set my husband free 20
Mrs Challoner," the prosecutor asked,
falling into his habit of putting fingertip
to flngertip, "how much money have you?"
an all?"
Murgatroyd nodded
"In Just minute ."
With hard look on his face Murgatroyd
watched her pull a little book from bag,
watched her take out the stub of pencil
waited while she busted herself in adding
figures, waited until at the end of a short
calculation she looked up at him and made
known the result.
"In all, ! have about eight hundred and
sixty thousand dollars left"
"What?" excla lined the prosecutor, unable
to conceal his astonshment. For since he
had begun his investigation 1t had come
to him that Mrs. Challoner's affairs were
in a bad way. A moment later he said
And about eight hundred thousand dollars
or so is"
/"All in negotiable securities" she prompt
ly assured him. payable to bearer. 1 get
six and seven per cent on some of them
the old ones"
''Where are these securitles?"
"In the Fidelity Safe Deposit vaults"
in addition to these" went on Murga-
troyd. "you have your house on the
avenue?'
"Yes. There's a small equity in it."
He raised his eyebrows.
at Is subject to mortgage, then?'
"Of course" she answered glibly II get
six per cent on most of my securities and
have to pay only four and a half on nv
mortgage 1t would have been foolish to
pay it Off"
N1urgatroyd smiled cold smile.
you're quite business woman, Mrs.
Challoner."
"I have to be-" she acknowledged with
smile that was intensely pathetic.
And that's all you have?" he asked
moment later,
absolutely"
himself, will take care of Thorne's fee"
How much will that be?''
Murgatroyd jerked his head nervously
"Thorne? oh, he'll take all he can get :"
There was short silence which Murgatroyd
suddenly broke. Mrs Challoner, your at
tempt to bribe is no longer an attempt
You have succeeded l shall set your hus-
band free!'
Mrs. Challoner smiled while the tears
trcked down her cheeks.
II shall get you the hundred thousand
dollars right away" she said, as IL 1t were
a mere bagatelle.
"Just one moment, please" continued
Murgatroyd waving her back into her seat
for she had risen, Il shall set your hus-
band free for eight hundred and sixty thou
sand dollars!"
Miriam Challoner leaned back in her
chair. She seemed to hesitate.
For everything l haveF she muttered
half aloud.
Murgatroyd reached over and touched her
on the arm and repeated in the same tone:
"Everythng you have!" And added
surely you did not think that would sell
myself for less?"
mo, no, of course not" she faltered. 'T
wish had millions to give you You are
good man--you are doing good act"
Murgatroyd shook his head and said
I somewhat impatiently:
Mrs. Challoner, this is business trans
| action; let us close 1t. You can get those
| securities today, suppose"
"Yes," she replied In the next breath. the
| flush of Joy still on her face.
'sThen do so. please" His voice was
| hoarse now. And bring them to me here
wrapped up in brown paper. You under
stand that nobody must know about this
| VOW KNOW what X would mean. q ma -