The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1920-11-04
BY
S.
RAYMOND
Nlusfrafed BY
IRWIN MYERS

l told her the girl Agnes was to be
treated with every consideration and
that If it were possible to have the
other maids regard her kindly so us
not to make her feel obloQuy, it would
be only Christian.
Mrs. Aldrich was a very stanch
churchwoman and l could see in the
tightening of her lips that such soft
treatment of Il woman caught in crime
did not satisfy her ideas of morality.
She went out dissatisfied, but knew
she would do her best. Jed came In.
still in his superserviceable mood.
"Would you like some coffee, sir?"
he asked. I was tired and did want
a stimulant.
"Yes, Jed I would-thank YOU" l
said us heartily as l could. determined
to break down his triumph of imper-
durability by a commonplace handling
of him. He brought the tray.
"Sit down." I said. "Your schemes
have come to a bad end in this house.
1t will do You no good. and 1t may de-
stroy the family. Things are beyond
your control or M control. The Span
lard has the manuscript he was after.
Your power is gone. 1t is transferred
to him."
$50 you are familiar with this at
fair"
81 am not. I only know what has
happened since I came here. do not
Want to know any more"
"You are wise. There is nothing but
unhappiness and danger in knowing.
1t is not news to me that Dravada has
Mr.. Sidney's diary. They released me
after they learned that the manuscript
had been found and that the lawyer
and Dravada had It,"
Jed then sat down and told what
had happened to him. I was very
angry, remembering Isobel as she came
hunning in that night with her sleeve
torn from her waist. ! wondered that
l could heal the man calmly, but he
had extraordinary power, being moved
by extraordinary emotions.
"1n the first place." he said, "may I
say that l have been preposterous?
You think I nm a %lunatic. Sometimes
am, almost. It is easy enough to be
a cabbage If you are inc 1t is some
times hard to seem one II you are not.
I've been a fool-but I've been hunting
for something that l have not been
able to find. I want happiness and i'm
p%ortance. My egotism asks for it. but
my common cense is going to have its
way. That's preliminary"
Then he told his experiences. He
had become violent with 1sobel. He
wanted 1t understood that he had been
desperate but respectful. He had no
idea of taking hold of her or of tear
ing her sleeve. She had been magnifi-
cent. She had given him n moral
shock. He felt like a worm. He had
been attacked suddenly by the men
who had overpowerel him. They had
come upon him from the brush. He
had recognized Dravada at once. He
might have overcome the S%paniard. but
the desperate little lawyer. in Il frenzy
of activity, had been just bold and
strong enough to interfere so that Jed
had been made helpless. Another man
had come breathlessly to help. Jed
had been bound and gagged. He had
been hustled into the screen Of woods
and beyond them to a waiting auto
mobile.
His captors. in the automobile, had
headed for the city and entered it after
midnight. They had taken their pris.
oner to a tenement on the East side,
For several days the lawyer and ORA
vada had tried to eXtort the secret
F.o,, 1orl he, +6,oo<c 1>1,o,, lid tr;nI
, to buy it by promise of an equitable
!, division of profits. The lawyer had
!, been quite frantic part Of the time,
Jed said, bounding about in an ecstasy
, Of rage. At other times he had been
friendly and persuasive.
Dravada had been savage and want
ed to try torture, but the attorney, en-
, ragged as he frequently became in his
failure and disappointment. would not
permit this and had got a trustworthy
. rascal of his acquaintance. named Sim,
with two other men, to keep a con-
slant guard over Jed with a view not
only to prevent his escape but to keep
Dravada from doing him harm or TAX
ing him away.
The lawyer. both d:smayed and en-
ragged by Jed's obstinacy. had finally
thought of c%orrupting someone in the
house to f1nd and steal the manuscript.
The best he had been able to d was
to persuade a maid to prove false
enough to introduce the real thief.
"Dravada and the lawyer never had
any hesitancy at having their quarrels
in the room where they held me-" Jed
said. "Brown was afraid Dravada
; would corrupt the fellow Sim, torture
= me and get the story. Dravada was
afraid Brown would corrupt someone
in Hartley house and get the manu-
script. Each one feared that the
other would succeed independently
I and get away without making q divi-
!. sion.
"Dravada pretended to he satisfied
vixen Brown told him that he must
l MT oppoOr Ocor Hnrtlov Whom they