Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1920-06-16

acquired the lease or Il mouse IN bur
lington Gardens, purchased two mot
or cars, paying cash down for an
early delivery, gave orders left and
right for the enrichment OF his per-
son and his domicile, and In forty
eight hours had established himself
in n certain mode OF living which
suggested that he had never known
any other.
He had had his lesson and had pro-
fitted thereby. He had experienced an
unpleasant fright. tho he might not
admit it to DR.. Fall and his master;
1t was nevertheless n fact that, real
izing as he did that he had stood face
to face with a particularly unpleasant
death. he had been seized by panic
which had destroyed his ordinary
equilibrium.
You may trust me, my friend" he
muttered to himself. as he sorted over
the papers on his brand new desk in
his brand new study, in n house
which was still redolent OF the paint
er's art and presence. you may
tr,lct me just so long as I find 1t con-
venient for You to trust me. but you
may be sure that never again will |
give you the benefit OF my presence
in the Secret House.
He had come back with a large sum
of money to carry out his employers
plans There were a hundred agents
thru the country, particulars of whom
Poltavo now had in his possession.
Innocent agents and guilty agents:
agents in high places and active
agents in the servants hall. I'm
doubtedly Gossip's Corner was use
full institution.
Harrington had not made great
deal of money from its sale: indeed
as often as not, 1t showed dead loss
every year. But he paid we'll for con-
tributions which were sent to him,
and offered price, which exceeded
the standard rate of pay. for such
paragraphs as were acceptable.
Men and women with a malicious
desire to score off some enemy,
would send him items which the
newspapers would publish If they
concerned somebody who might be
bled. Many of these facts in an
amended form were. in fact printed.
But more often than not the para
graphs and articles which came to the
unknown editor dealt with scandal
which 1t was impossible to put into
print. Nevertheless, the informant
would be rewarded. In some far
away country home a treacherous
servant would receive postal orders
to his or her great delight, but the
news she or he had sent in their ma
lice, a tit-bit concerning some poor
erring woman or some foolish man,
would never see the light of day. and
the contributor might look in vain
for the spicy paragraph which had
been composed with much labor.
The unfortunate subjects of do
nestle treachery would receive in a
day or two a letter from the mysteri-
Gus Montague Fallock, retailing, to
their horror those precious secrets
which they had ina gined none knew
but themselves. They would not as
sociate the gossipy little rag. which
sometimes found its way to the SER
wants hall, with the magnificent de-
mand OF this prince of blackmailers.
and more often than not they would
pay to the utmost of their ability to
avoid exposure.
1t was not only the servants hall
which supplied Montague Fallock
with all the material for his dastardly
work. There were men scarcely de-
serving the name. and women lost to
all sense of honor. who found in this
little journal means by which they
could come back at those favored
people who had offered them directly
or indirectly some slight offense.
Sometimes the communication would
reach the Gossip anonymously. but if
the facts retailed were sufficiently
promising, one of Fallock's investiga-
tors would be told off to discover how
much truth there was irvit. A bland
letter would follow, and the wretch
ed victim would emerge from the
transaction the poorer in pocket and
often in health.
For this remorseless and ruthless
man destroyed more than fortunes;
he trafficked in human lives. There
had been half a dozen mysterious
suicides which had been investiga ted
by Scotland Yard, and found directly
traceable to letters received in the
morning. and burnt by the despair
ing victim before his untimely and
violent departure from life.
The office Of the paper was stu
ated at the top OF a building in Fleet
street: one back room comprised the
whole Of it's editorial space, and one
dour man its entire staff. 1t was his
duty to receive the correspondence as
1t came and to convey it to the cloak
room of London station. An hour
later it would be called for by a mes
senger and transferred to another
cloakroom. Eventually 1T would ar
rive in the possession Of the man who
was responsible for the contents of
the paper. Many of these letters con-
tanned contributions in the ordinary
way of business. story or two con-
tributed by a more or less well known
writer. Fallock, or harrington. needed
these outside contributions not only
to give the newspaper a verisimili-
tude of genuineness, but also to fill
the columns Of the journal.
He himself devoted his energies to
two pages of shrewdly edited tit-bits
of information about the great. They
were carefully written, often devoid
of any reference to the person whom
they affected, and were more or less
innochous. But in every batch of
letters there were always one or two
which gave the master blackmailer
an opportunity for extracting money
from people who had been betrayed
by servants or friends. There was a
standing offer in the Gossip Of five
guineas for any paragraph which
might be useful to tho editor. and It