Omaha daily bee., 1919-07-26
THE }
WOMAN IN BLACK

- Copyright 1919. BY the Century Company -

NJ SSnSu1y SV"V1nS.
any real sense Of God at all, or if
he was capable of knowing God
through the emotions. But I un-
derstood that as child he had had
= religious up-bringing with a
strong moral side to it. His pri-
vate life was, in the usual limited
sense, blameless. He was almost
ascetic in his habits, except as to
smoking. I lived with him FIVE years
without ever knowing him to tell
direct verbal falsehood, constantly
as he used to practise deceit in other
forms. Can you understand the
soul of 4 man who never hesitated
to take steps that would have the
effect of hoodwinking people, who
would use every trick of the markets
10 mislead, and who was at the
same time scrupulous never to utter
a direct lie on the most insignificant
matter? Henderson was like that,
and he was not the only one. l
suppose you might compare the
state of mind to that Of soldier
who is personally a truthful man,
but who will stick at nothing to de-
ceive the enemy. The rules of the
game allow it; and the same may be
said of business as many business
men regard it. Only with them it
is always war time"
1T is sad world" observed Mr..
Cupples.
"Asyou say" Marlowe agreed,
Now l was aging that one could
always take Manderson's word if
he gave it in a definite form. The
first time I ever heard him utter a
downright lie was on the night he
died; and hearing it, believe, saved
me from being hanged as his muir
derer."
Marlowe stared at the light above
his head, and Trent moved i'm
patiently in his chair. Before we
come to that" he said, will you tell
us exactly on what footing you were
with Henderson during the years
you were with him."
Eve were on very good terms
from beginning to end" answered
Marlowe. Nothing like friendship
he was not a man for making
friends-but the best of terms as
between a trusted employee and his
chief. l went to him as private sec
rotary just after getting my degree
at Oxford. For long time | liked
the position greatly. When one is
attached to an active American
plutocrat in the prime of life one
need not have many dull moments.
Besides, it made me independent.
My father had some serious bust
ness reverses about that time, and
1 was glad to be able to do with
out an allowance from him. At the
end of the first year Henderson
doubled my salary. It's big money,
he said, but I guess don't lose.
"You see, by that time l was do
ing a great deal more than accom-
pany him on horseback in the morn
ing and play chess i'll the evening,
which was mainly what he had re-
CURED. l was attending to his
houses, his farm in Ohio, his shoot
ing in Maine, his houses, his cars
and his yacht. l had become a
| walking railway guide and an ex-
pert cigar buyer. l was always
learning something.
well, now you understand what
my position was in regard to Man
derson during the last few years of
my connection with him. 1t was a
happy life for me on the whole. I
was busy, my work was varied and
interesting. l had time to amuse
myself, too, and money to spend.
At one time l made fool of my
self about a girl, and that was not a
happy time; but it taught me to I'M
derstand the great goodness of Mrs.
Manderson." Marlowe inclined his
head to Mr.. Cupples as he said this.
"She may choose to tell you about
it. As for her husband, he had
never varied in his attitude towards
me, in spite of the change that came
over him in the last months of his
life, as you know. He treated me
we'll and generously in his unsym-
pathetic way, and never had feel
ing that he was less than satisfied
with his bargain-that was the sort
of footing we lived upon. And it
was that continuance of his attitude
right up to the end that made the
revelation so shocking when | was