Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1918-01-25
peireve ne was robbs5 .

If she didn't. then what conclusion
must she arrive at? No need of spend
ing much time over the question. Love
and romance had been scared away,
and common sense had taken their
place.
"Why, he wants to hold those letters
over me TO extort money!" was her
exclamation.
If there had been no r~obbery-if the
professor had the letters-if he meant
extortion, then he had a great advan-
tage and meant to use 1t. What could
be done to stop him?
Beverly Dare was a young man of
twenty-five, who had graduated as a
lawyer and hung out his single In
the town. Up to date he had had but
few clients and created no stir. He
was spoken of as a nice young man
who would make his way, but was not
much given to society. Miss Florence
Gale had never met him to be intro
duced. But she went to him for help.
II wan legal advice" she quietly
explained.
ltdoC oldtC yOul tdSC.
She had been a silly girl. She had
been more than that, and as the pen
atty had found herself at the mercy Of
a blaekmailer. She told all there was
to tell, and then handed over the pro-
fessor's letter.
"Do you want advice as to whether
you shall pay the 5000 or not?' was
q c1vnl xvho,1 +h0 Lotion haI hoo. ~1.A
81 couldn't pay it if l wanted to, and
I'm sure I don't want to-" she replied.
Looking at it legally, Professor Re
Wilton can be arrested and punished
for extortion.''
"And | can be held up to ridicule
and scandal"
"Well, your letters would have to be
read in court"
Never"
'Looking at it Legally again, Miss
Gale, I might try to scare the fellow
into giving up your letters. Not too
much scare, but just enough"
ST want something worse than a
scare"
81 fail to get your idea."
81 want to meet him. I want to be
firmly satisfied that he is what 1 be-
lieve him to be. Then I want you to
give him a good whaling and take the
letters away"
The lawyer turned away to smile.
and then turned back to say:
"Miss Gale, looking at it legally, I
can't assault and batter a man in the
interest of a client"
'Then why not look at it some other
way?" she asked.
"As for ~instance?"
"As Mr.. Beverly Dare"
"H'ml I think I could do that. 7
cannot cite a precedent, but we can
make ONT"
Then came details that were not
strictly according to Blackstone, but
very interesting nevertheless, and that
night Miss Florence didn't suffer for a
moment with the toothache. It was
two nights later that she went to her
tryst with the professor. He had been
awaiting her a quarter of an hour. His
anxious inquiry as he ran forward and
seized both her hands was:
'For the love of Heaven, have you
got the money!"
"Have you got the letters?" she
asked.
"Yes-yesw
professor, I cannot get the money!"
"Whati But you mustl Think
what it means to you'll"
"But you have the letters and can
hand them to me right here"
"But my honor is pledged"
'To a %robberl"
"See here, you silly kitten, it's 5000
for this package or / raise a scandal !"
Miss Florence turned her back on.
the scoundrel just as something lit on
him. 1t rolled him to the ground and
toyed and dallied with him. 1t punch
ed him and it slugged him. 1t applied
epithets to him, and then applied the
boot.
1t was months and months later
when Mr.. Beverly Dare said to Miss
Florence Gale:
Looking at it legally, my dear
client, I think we ought to be married
on Thanksgiving"
And he also won that case.