Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1920-04-07
The
VALLEY
of the
GIANTS
BY PETER B. KYNE
Author of
"Cappy Kicks"
CHAPTER XVIII.

Seth Pennington could remember
having received thruout his thirty
odd years of give and take. He was
too old and experienced campaign
err. however, To permit futile rage
to cloud his reason; he prided MINI
self upon being foeman worthy OF
any mans steel.
on Tuesday he returned to Sc
quota. Sexton related TO him In uetail
the events which had transpired since
his departure. but elected nothing
more than a nonCommittal grunt.
There IL one more matter, SIR
which will doubtless be OF interest 10
you" Sexton continued apologetically'
Miss Sumner called me on the tele-
phone yesterday and instructed me
formally to notify the board Of direc-
tors of the Laguna Grande company
of q special meeting of the board, to
he held here at two o'clock this al
ternoon. In view of the impossioillty
OF communicating with you While
YOU were enroute, conformed to her
wishes. Our bylaws, as you know,
stipulate that no meeting OF the
board shall be called without formal
written notice TO each director mailed
twenty four hours previously.
What the devil do you mean.
| Sexton. by conforming to her wishes?
Miss Sumner is not a director Of this
| company" PenninGton's voice was
harsh and trembled apprehensively.
Miss Sumner controls forty per
cent of the Laguna Grande stock, sir.
took that into consideration"
You lie!" Pennington all but
screamed. "you took into considera-
ton your job as secretary and general
manager. Damnation!'
He rose and commenced pacing up
and down his office. Suddenly he
paused. Sexton still stood beside his
| desk watching him respectfully. you
| and leave me alone"
! Sexton departed promptly. glancins
at his watch as he did so. 1t lacked
! five minutes of two. He passed Shir-
| ley Sumner in the general office.
Shirley" Pennington began in q
! hoarse voice as she entered his office
what is the meaning of this direct
ors' meeting you have requested"
BE seated, Uncle Seth" the girl
answered quietly. "1f you will only
be quiet and reasonable, perhaps we
can dispense with this directors
meeting which appears to frighter
you So"
He sat down promptly, a look Of
relief on his face.
II scarcely know how to begin.
Uncle Seth" Shirley commenced sad
~. ut hurts me terribly to be forced
to hurt you, but there doesn't ap-
pear to be any other way out of 1t.
7 can not trust you to manage my
financial affairs in the future-this
for a number of reasons, the princi-
pal one being"
Young Cardigan" he interrupted
in a low voice.
Il suppose So" she answered, "al-
tho ! think until very recently that
it was those sixteen townships of
red cedar-that crown grant in Brit
ish Columbia in which you induced
me to invest four hundred thousand
dollars. You will remember that you
purchased that timber for me from
the Caribou Timber Company, Linn
tied. You said 1t was an unparal-
leled investment. Quite recently
learned-no matter how-that you
we're the principal owner Ct the Carl
bou Timber Company, Limited!
Smart as you are. somebody swim
died you with that red cedar. /
was wonderful stand of timber
50 read the cruisers report-but If
ty per cent Of it, despite Its green
and flourishing appearance, Is hol-
low-butted! And the remaining fifty
per cent Of sound timber can not be
logged unless the rotten timber is
logged also and gotten out Of the
way. And I am informed that log
ging it spells bankruptcy"
She gazed at him steadily, but
without malice; his face crimsoned
and then paled; presently his glance
sought the carpet. While he strug-
eled to formulate a verbal defense
against her accusation Shirley con-
tinued:
you had erected a huge sawmill
and built and equipped q logging
road before you discovered you had
been swindled. SO, in order to save
as much as nossihlR from tina Wrnck
you decided to unload your white ell
ephant on somebody else / was the
readiest victim. You were the exec
utor of my fathers estate-you were
my guardian and financial adviser
and so you found it very, very easy
to swindle met"
II had my back to the wall" he
quavered. Il was desperate-and II
wasn't at all the bad investment you
have been told it is. You had the
money-more money than you knew
what to do with--and with the pro-
ceeds Of the sale of those cedar lands
l knew I could make an investmen,
!. inCalifornia redwood and more thar
retrieve my fortunes-make biz
! money for both of u.s."
| You might have borrowed tn,
money from me. You know / hav,
! never hesitated to join in your enter.
| prices"
| This was too big deal for you
Shirley. / had vision. I could Sc,
incalculable riches in this redwood
empire, but ii was tremendous
gamble and required twenty million!
to swing 1t at the very start.
dreamed of the control of Californi,
redwood; and IL you will stand b!
me Shirley, shall yet make m.
dream come true-and half of /
] shall be yours. 1t has always beer