The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1920-02-27

OUR OWN nome. Lou muSt lOOk up II
responsible dealer whose advice we
can trust in a matter of this kind"
And was 1t remarkable that Irene
Hardy should think at once of the firm
of Coward & Eden? 1t vas not. She
had. indeed, been thinking Of a MEM
to move to the West. The fact Is
Irene had not been at all sure that she
wanted to marry Dave Eden. She
wanted very much to meet him again;
she vas curious to know how the years
had Jared with him, and her curiosity
was not unmixed with q finer senti.
ment; but she was not at all sure that
she should marry him.
What. Dave Eden. the million
aire?" Bert Morrison had said. "Every-
body knows him. And then the news
paper woman had zone on to tell what
a figure Dave was in the business life
Of the city. "One Of our biggest young
men" Bert Morrison had said. "I;e-
served. a little; likes his own company
best; but absolutely white"
That gave a new turn to the situa-
ton. Irene had always wanted Dave
to be a success; suddenly she doubted
whether she had wanted him to be so
big a 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 devel-
opment-with the culture and knowl.
edge which study and travel and life
had added to the charm Of her young
girlhood; and suddenly she realized
that her luster would shine but dinly
in the greater glory of his own.
1t was easy to locate the office OF
Coward & Eden; it stood IN a prin-
cipal corner Of a principal street.
Thence she led her mother, and found
herself treading on the marble floors
Of the richly appointed waiting room
in a 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 %courteously
what could be done for them.
I'VE want to see the head of the
drm," said Mrs. Hardy. 1--WE want t.
buy a house."
They were shown into Conward's
office. Coward gave them the wei
come Of a man who expects to make
money out Of his visitors. He placed
a very comfortable chair for Mrs
Hardy; he adjusted the blinds to q
nicely he discarded his cigarette and
beamed upon them with as great a
show Of cordiality as his somewhat
beefy appearance would permit. Mrs
Hardy outlined her life history will
considerable detail and ended with thu
confession that the West was not as
bad as she had feared and. anyway, II
was a case of living here or dying else
where, SO she would have to make the
best Of it. And here they were. Ant
might they see a house?
Coward appeared to be rejecting
As a matter of fact, he saw in this in
experienced buyer an opportunity t.
reduce his holdings in anticipation Of
the impending crash. His difficulty
was that he had no key to the finan
cial o. his visitors. The
only thing was to throw out a feeler.
You are wanting a nice home. ]
take it. that can be bought at a favor.
able price for cash. You would con
slider an investment Of. say"
He paused. and Mrs. Hardy supplied
the information for which he vas
waiting. "About twenty-five thousand
dollars" she said.
I'VE can hardly invest that much"
Irene interrupted. in a whisper. 1--WE
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 q mass of Incl.
dents to show how profitable invest.
ments had been to other clients of the
firm. Then his mood Of deliberatiOn
gave way to one OF briskness; he sum.
moned q car, and in a few minutes his
clients were looking owe 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 q feverish haste to make
a deposit lest some other buyer should
fOrestall her.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
Observation Of Oil Belt Philosopher.