The Lamar register., 1919-01-01
Illustrations
olr~Gnhyer.

lutu tlal ne, JOHN MphlhLue Slnltn.
was of those who had not found"
themselves. or that the finding-hy
which he had understood the Western
Young woman to mean something radi-
cal and upsrtting-could in any way
he forced upon II man who was old
enough aud sane enough To know his
Z avn lengths and breadtlIS and depths.
lie was stripping on his coat to dress
when he saw two letters which had evil
dehtly been thrust under the door dur
Ing hts absence with Debrltt. One OF
the envelopes was plain, with his name
scribh'ed on II in pencil. The other
bore II typewritten address with the
card "f Westfall Foundrics company la
Its upper left-hand corner. Smith
opened Carter Westfalls letter first
and read II with n little twinge OF
shocked surprise, as one reads the story
Of a brave battle fought and lost.
Dear Monty" 1t ran. 81 have been
trying to reach YOU by phone on aud
"n ever since the adjournment Of our
stockholders meeting at three o'clock.
We. "f the little inside pool. have got
il where the chicken got the ax. Rich
lander had more proxies up his sleeve
ilinn we thought h" had. and he has
put the steam roller over us to finish.
lie was able to vote ~ 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 and
she minority stockholders. We're dead
dead and buried.
''of course. stand to lose every
thing. but that isn't all of II. TN hor-
rihly anxious for fear you'll be tangled
up personally In some way In the mat
ter Of that last loan of SiOO.0OO that
got from the Rank and Trust You VIII
rcI9cmber you made the loan while
ID N,ham was away. and ! am certain
you told me you had his consent to
take my Foundries stock as collateral.
That part OF II Is all right. but, as mat
ters stand. the stock Isn't worth the
paper II is printed on, and-well. to
tell the bald truth. I'm scared Of Dun
ham. Brlckley, the Chicago lawyer
they have brought down here, tells me
that your bank Is behind the consollda-
lion deal, and II that is 50, there Is go
ing to be bank loss to show up on my
PAPER, and Durham Will carefully cover
his tracks for the sake OF the banks
standing.
at Is IA hideous mess. and II has oc-
CURED TO me that Durham can put you
In bad. II he wants to. When you made
that S1OO,OOO loan. you forgot-and
.
ten shares OF westfall Foundries In
your own name. II Dunhnm wants to
stand from under. this might be used
against you. You must get rid OF that
stock. Monty. and do IL quick. Trans
fer the ten shares to me, dating the
transfer back to Saturday. ] still have
the stock books In my hands. and I'll
make the entry In the record and date
II TO fit. This may look n little crook
ed. on the surface. but us your saliva
tlon. and we can't stop to split hairs
when we.re Just been shot full of holes
"wEsTFALI."
Smith folded the letter mechanically
and thrust II into his pocket. Carter
Westfall was his good friend. and the
cashier had tried. unofiicially. to dis
suade Westfall from borrowing after
lie had admitted that lie was going to
use the money In an attempt to buy
up the control Of his own coinpany's
stock. Smith was thinking Of the big
bank loss and the hopeless ruin OF
Carter Westfall when he tore the sec
ond envelope across and took out the
inclosed slip OF scratch-paper. II was
a note from the president and II was
dated within the hour. Mr.. Durham
was back In Lawrencevllle earlier than
expected. and the note had been writ
ten at the bank. II WAS curt sum
mons; the cashier was wanted. at once.
At the moment, Smith did not con
meet the summons with the Westfall
cataclysm, or with any other untoward
thing. Mr.. Watrcus Durham had
habit of dropping In and out unexpect-
edly. Also. he had the habit of send
Ing for his cashier or any other mem
Der of the banking force at whatever
hour the notion seized him. Smith
went to the telephone and called up
the Richlander house. The prompt
ness with which the multlmlllionaire's
daughter came to the phone was an
that his ring was not entire
ly unexpected.
This is Montague" he said, when !
Aias HchlsndES mallitpous Main