The Mena weekly star., 1921-02-10

U "as those sixteen townships
 or red cedar-that crown gran, ,n
 British Columbia in which you Inancad
 me to Invest four hundred thousana
 dollars. You will remember thar vo,
 purchased that timber for me from the
 Caribou Timber company. Limited You said 1t was an unparalleled invest.
 ment Quite recently learned-no
 matter how-that you were the princ,. pal owner of the Caribou Timber com.
 pany, Limited Smart as vou arc
 somebody swindled you with that red
 cedar It was a wonderful stand of
 timper-so read the cruisers report
 put nifty per cent of 1t, despIte lts
 green and fourishing appearance. is
 hoIlow-butted And the remainiro
 nfty per cent of sound timber cannot
 De logged unless the roltten timber ,s logged also and gotten out of the wav
 And l am informed that logging if
 spells bankruptcy"
 She gazed at him steadily. but with.
 out malice; his face crimsoned and
 then paled; presently his glance
 sought the carpet While lie struggled 10 formulate a verbal defense against
 her accusation Shirley continued:
 You had erected a huge sawmin
 and built and equipped logging road
 before you discovered you had been swindled. So. in order to save as
 much as possible from the wreck yoa decided to unload your white elephant
 on somebody else. was the readIest
 victim. You were the executor of my fathers estate-you were my guardian
 and financial adviser, and so you found
 1t very. very easy to swIndle mel"
 T had my back to the wall" he
 quavered. T was desperate and it 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 lhe proceeds of the safe of those cedar lands. | knew I
 could make an investment in California
 redwood and more than retrieve my fortnnes-make big money for both of us"
 You might have borrowed the money from me. You know have never hes.
 Hated 10 join In your enterprises"
 This was too big deal for you.
 Shirley. had vision. could see in- calculable riches in this redwood em- pire, but it was a tremendous gamble
 and required twenty millions to swing If at the very start. dreamed of the control of California redwood: and If
 you win stand by me, Shirley, shall yet
 make my dream come true-and half
 of il shall be yours. It has always been my intention tO buy back from you.secretly and at a nice profit to you that Caribou red cedar and with the acquisition of the Cardigan properties would have been in position 10 do so. Why. that Cardigan tract in the San Hedrin which we will buy in with. in a year for half million. is worth five millions ai least And by that
 lime. l feel ceriain-in fact, know the Northern Pacific will commence
 building in from the south, from VII its"
 ''l shall" he began but he paused abruptly. as if he had suddenly re membered thai tact and not pngnacify 'sas the requirement. for the handling
 If this ticklisl situation.
 She silenced him with a disdainful gesture. You shalt not smash inc
 Cardigans." she declared firmly. You are devoid of mercy. of a sense of sportsmanshlp Nov, then. Uncle Seth. listen to mt: Ton have twenty-four hours in which to make up your mind whether to accept my
 ultlmatum or refuse it. If you re- fuse, l shall prosecute you for fraud and a betrayal of trust as my fathers
 executor on that red cedar timber deal"
 He brightened lriiie. Tim afraid that would he a long. hard row to hoe my dear, and of course shall have to defend myself
 Tn addition" the girl went on Gui- etly, the county grand jury shall be furnished with stenographic report of your conversation of Thursday night with Mayor Tombstone. That
 will not be long, hard row to hoe Uncle Seth. for in addition to the
 stenogrspher have another reliable
 witness. Judge Moore. Your casual 1 disposal of my sedan as bribe to the
 mayor will be hard to explain and
 rather amusing, In view of the fact | that Bryce Cardigan managed to fright l en Mir Tombstone into returning the sedan while you were away. And | if that is not sufficient for my purpose, l have the sworn confession of the Black Minorca that you gave him five hundred dollars to kill Bryce Cardigan. | Your woods boss. Rondeau, will also
 swear that you approached him with a | proposition to do away with Bryce | Cardigan. I think. therefore, that you | will readily see how impossible q sit- uation you have managed to create and will not disagree with me when ! suggest that It would be better for you 10 leave this county"
 His face had gone gray and nag | gard. q can't" he murmured. "i | can't leave this great business now. Your own interests In the company | render such course unthinkabie. | Without my hand at the helm things | win go to smash"
 l "I'll risk that. I want to get rid of 1 fhat worthless red cedar timber; so l