The state herald., 1920-02-13

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/ served. little; likes Ills own company
best; but absolutely white"
That gave new turn to the situa-
tion. Irene had always wanted Dave
to be success; suddenly she doubted
whether she had wanted him to be so
big success. She had doubted wheth-
er she should wish to marry Dave;
she had never allowed herself to doubt
That Dave would wish to marry her.
Secretly. she had expected to rather
dazzle him with her ten years devei-
opment-with the culture and knowl-
edge which study and travel and life
had added to the charm of her youn:
girlhood; and suddenly she realized
HAT her luster would shine but dimly
In the greater glory OF his own. =.
II was easy to locate the office Of
Conward & Eden; 1t stood on a prln.
c!pal corner Of principal street.
Thence she led her mother and found
herself treading on the marble floors
of the richly appointed waiting room
In secret excitement which she could
with difficulty conceal. She was, IN.
deed. very uncertain about the next
development. Her mother had
to be reckoned with.
A young man asked courtecusly
what could be done for them.
1--WE want TO see the head Of the
firm" said Mrs. Hardy I'VE want to
buy house."
They We're shown into Conward's
office. Coward gave them the wei.
come of n man who expects to make
money out of his visitors. He placed
n very comfortable chair for Mrs.
Hardy; he adjusted the blinds to
nicely; he discarded his cigarette and
beamed upon them with us great
show of cordiallty rs his somewhat
beefy appearance would permit. Mrs.
Hardy outlined her life history with
considerable detail and ended with the
confession that the West was not as
bad rs she had feared and. anyway. 1t
was case Of living here or dying else
where, SO she would have to make the
best Of II. And here they were. And
might they see house,
Coward appeared to be rejecting.
As 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 iinan.
cinl resources of his visitors. The
only thing was e throw out a feeler.
nv "a, =
take 1t, that can be bought at 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
whiting. "About twenty-five thousand
dollars" she said
I'VE can hardly invest that much"
Irene interrupted, In n whisper eve
must have something to live on"
people here live on the profits of
their investments, do they not, Mr..
Conward?" Mrs. Hardy inquired.
"Oh. certainly" Coward agreed,
and he plunged Into mass OF Incl.
dents to show how profitable invest.
ments Ind been to other clients OF the
firm. Then his mood OF deliberation
gave way to one OF briskness /: he sum.
moned cur. 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 nnd reckless
ness on the other. Conward's manner
pleased her: the house he showed
pleased her. and she was eager to have
II over with. But he was too shrcwd
to appear to encourage n has,y deci.
sion. He did not seize upon Mrs.
Hnrdy's remark that the house seemed
perfectly satisfactory; on the con-
trnry. he insisted on showing other
houses. which he quoted mt such i'm
possible figures that presently the old
lady was In a feverish haste to make
n deposit lest some other buyer should
forestail her.
Back In Conwnrd's Office. while the
agreement WINS being drawn. Irene was
possessed Of consuming desire to
consult with Dave Eden. She was
uneasy about this transaction In which
her mother proposed 30 precipltntely
to Invest the greater part OF their lit.
tie fortune. II think ! would hesitate.
mother" she cried. "If you buy this
house we will have only = few thou.
sand dollars left. Your health may de-
mand other cspcn,!.iurcs-"
MY health was never better" Mrs.
Hardy interrupted. And Tn not
going to miss u chance like this. health
or no health. You hnve heard Mr.
Coward tell how many people have
grown wealthy buying property md
selling It agnln. And I will sell 1t
ngain--whcn ! get my price"
ut IN Ms your mother says" Con-
wnrd interjected. There are very
rapid increases In value. would not
be surprised II you should be offered