Evening star., 1921-10-26
lerson would otherwise incu
Copyright. 1871. by Public Ledger Co.
Copyright, 1871, by B. II. Davis Corp.

Henderson would otherwise incur
that fate!
The inner voice came quietly again
but 1T held bitter gibe.
What is the matter? Are you In
doubt about anything? Why don't you
get up, and undress, and go to peo,
! and sleep quietly? You've got the
! money now, you're fixed for all your
| man pays the bills"
Five years." Dave Henderson NUT
tered Five years Of heli-for
His face hardened. That was Nicolo
Capriano lying over there on his bed,
wasn't it?-and plucking with thin,
blue-tippcd fingers at the coverlct-
| and eying him with those black eyes
that glittered virulently--and twist
ing bloodless lips into a sardonic and
contemptuous sneer. And why was
! that barbed tongue of Nicolo Cap,
riano pouring out such furious ana
vicious flood of vituperation?
Another vision caine-an oval face
sion was inscrutable; whose dark
eyes met his in a long and stead.
gaze: and from full, white
ivory throat, mounting upward
until it touched the wealth o.
hair that crowned the forehead
a tinge of color brought a more
radiant life. What would Teresa say?
Hls hands swept again and again,
nervously, fierce!y, across his eyes.
In the years of his vaunted boast that
him back, he had not dreamed of
this. A thief. Yes. he had been
thief-but he had never been piker;
He wasn't a vulture. was he, to feed
and gorge on d friends loyalty!
He snarled suddenly. Honesty!
What was honesty? Millnan was
| trying to hold himself up as an
| example to be followed-eh? Well,
| that was Millmans privilege, wasn't
it? And; after all. how honest was
was intrinsically honest? If there
| were, it might be different-it might
| be worth while then to be honest. But
Millman could afford that hundred
| thousand, Millman had said SO him
, self; it didn't mean anything to Mill
| man. If. for instance, it took the
last penny Millman had to make
| good that money there might be
! something in honesty to talk about
but that sort of honesty didn't exist,
| human being. He, Dave Henderson,.
had yet to see any one who would
| sacrifice all and everything in AN
| absolutely literal way upon>the altar
| of honesty as principle. Every one
J had his price. His, Dave Henderson 5,
, price had been one hundred thousand
dollars: he, Dave Henderson. wouldn't
| steal. say, hundred dollars-and
! hundred dollars was probably an even
greater matter to him than hundred
| thousand was to Millman. and
He brought his mental solloquy
| roughly to an end, with low, half
| angry. half perturbed exclamation
| What had brought him to weigh the
| pros and cons of honesty, anyway:
He had never been disturbed on that
score In those five years behind
prison bars. Why now? 1t wasn't
| that that concerned him, that held
| him now in the throes of bitter
| mental conflict. that dismayed him.
| that tormented him, that Knocked at
| the hell of torture he would-if he
| yielded--have endured in vain. that
| grinned at him out of the darkness
| sardonicaliy and awaited with biting
| irony his decision. 1t didn't matter
| what degree of honesty Millman pos
ccssed; it was Millman's act, in its
most material and tangible sense, that
| threatened now TO crush him.
! Both hands. like Enaried knobs
| went above his head. He was a
If he kept that money there, he be
came pulling, whining beggar
sneaking and crawling his way
, through life on-charity. Charity.
| Oh. yes. he might find softer name
| for it: but. by any name. he would
| none the less feed to the day he died,
like parasite and a damned puny.
pitiful whelp and cur. on another
| man's-charity,
GIVE it back-no" he whispered
| fiercely through set lips I've paid
too much-it's mine-Tve paid for it
with the sweat of hell. It's mine!
1 will not give it back
| "Are you sure?" whispered that
| inner voice. 1T begins to look as
| though there We're something in life.
say an honest pride. that was worth
! more than money-even to you,
| Dave"
| He sprang restively from the bed
! to the floor. and groped his way
across the room to the light He was
in for night of it-subconsciously
| he realized that. suhconsciously he
/ realized that he would not sleep, but
! subconsciously he was prompted to
| get his clothes off and obtain. lack
! ing mental ease, what physical COM
/ fort he could.
He turned on the light. and the act
! diverted his thoughts momentarily.
] He did not seem to remember that he
I! had ever turned off that light-but
rof in the light had