Marble Hill press., 1920-01-08

I
our own home. You must look up n
responsible dealer whose advice we
can trust In n matter OF this kind"
And wns il remarkable that Irene
Hardy should think nj once OF the firm
of Coward n Eden? II was not. She
had, indeed, been thinking of mem.
hcr Of that firm ever since the decision
10 move 10 the West. The fact Is
Irene had not been at all sure that she
wanted 10 marry Dave Eldcn. She
wanted very much to meet him again !;
she was curious to know how the years
had Jared with him, and her curiosity
was not unmlSed with n finer scnti.
wcnt; but she was not at all sure that
She should marry him.
what. Dave Eldcn. the million.
aircy" Bert Morrison had said. Every.
body knows him" And then the news
paper woman had gone on to tell what
q irure Dave WAS In the bL LsIuc>s life
of the city. "Onc Of our biggest young
men," Bert Morrison had said. "Rc.
served, little; likes his own company
best but absolutely white"
That gave new turn 10 the sltua.
tion. Irene had always wanted Dave
10 be success: suddenly she doubted
whether she had wanted him to bc 81
big success. She had doubted whcth.
or she should wish 20 marry Dave:
she had never allowed herself 10 doubt
that Dave would wish to marry her
| Secretly. she had expected 10 rather
dazzle him with her ten years dcyel.
| opmCnt--wlth the culture and knowl.
edge which study and travel aud lie
had added 10 the charm of her young
! girlhood: and suddenly she realized
that her lustcr would shine but dlmly
10 the greater glory Of his own
II was easy TO locate the Office ~
/ Coward 4 Eden; II stood on a prin.
cipal corner OF principal street.
| Thence she led her mother. and found
herself treadIng on the marble floors
of the richly appointed waiting room
| IN n secret excitement which she could
with difficulty conceal She was. In.
deed. very uncertain about the next
development. . Her mother had
20 be rcckonci with.
\ young man asked cour;e0gsly
what could be done Tor them.
we want 20 see the head ~ the
firm" said Mrs. Hardy. I'VE want &c
buy a house"
They were shown into Couwanl's
ofrc. Coward gave them the vel.
come Of q man who expects 10 make
money out ~ his visitors. lie placed
/ p very comfortable chair fnr Mrs.
Hardy; be adjusted the blinds 20
| nigoty; be Discarded his cigarette and
hcawri upon th"m with MS great
show ~ cordially 0s his somewhat
bcefy appearance would permit Mrs.
Hardy outlined her he history with
considerable detail ana ended with the
confession that the West was not as
bad as she had feared and. anyway. II
was n case of living here or dying else
where. So she would have 10 make the
best OF II. And here they were. And
might they see q house,
Coward appeared 10 be rejecting.
As n matter OF fact, he saw IN this In.
experienced buyer an opportunity to
reduce his holdings in anticipation Of
the impending crash. His difficulty
was that he had no key TO the flnan.
cial resources Of his visitors. The
only thing was 10 throw out feeler.
You are wanting nice home.
take Il, that can be bought at n favor
able price for cash. You would con.
slider an investment OF, say"
He paused. and Mrs. Hardy supplied
the information for which he was
waiting, about twenty-five thousand
dollars" she said.
I'VE can hardly invest that much"
Irene interrupted. In whisper. ave
must have something TO live on"
People here live on the profits Of
their investments, do they not. Mr..
ConwardT' Mrs. Hardy inquired.
"Oh, certainly" Coward agreed.
and he plunged into mass OF incl.
dents to show how profitable invest
ments had been 10 other clients OF the
firm. Then his mood OF dellheration
gave way TO one of briskness; he sum-
moned car, and in few minutes his
clients were looking over the property
which he had recommended. Mrs.
Hardy was an amateurish buyer, her
tendency being alternately to excess
OF caution on one side and reckless
ness on the other. Conward's manner
pleased her; the house he showed
pleased her, and she was eager to have
1t over with. But he was too shrewd
to appear to encourage a hasty deci.
sion. He did not seize upon Mrs.
Hardy's remark that the house seemed
perfectly satisfactory; on the con-
trary, he insisted on showing other
houses, which he quoted at such I'M
possible figures that presently the old
lady was In feverish haste to make
deposit lest some other buyer should
forestall her.
(To BE CoNTINUED)