Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-08-12
sEcoNp INST ALLMENT.

SECOND MSTALLMENT.
A Girl in Distress.
Is doesn't sound adventurous in
spirit. There are millionaires In
New York today who arrived with
no more than ten cents
Perhaps I had ideas. Perhaps I consid.
cred 1t best to wait until I had some mental
arlnor with which to defend myself when the
tlme came to strike out. But perhaps you're
right. I'm a dreamer rather than a doer.
These books! mo matter what the poison
vas, here I found the antidote. But for
these books + might have been the clod you
evidently expected to see."
Whereas I found a young man erudite far
beyond DR.. :Eliot's Ave foot shelf. Darwin.
DE Foe, Balzac; that is TO say, the philos.
ophy of the origin, the philosophy Of adven.
ture, the philosophy Of sex. Alice in Won.
derland, nudging ~Pantagruel! Twelve hun.
dred books!n/ 49,
40, many Of them have gone over N.Y.
head. My noodle is our Some Of these
classics are for maturer minds than .mine,''
replied Bancroft candidly.
"Ah: What would leave a man Of my age
Tranquil in spirit and flesh turns your brain
nto steam and your blood into froth."
20, not quite SO bad. Let us say, some
Troublesome human thoughts"
The stranger nodded. You will be a re.
narkable young man. I rather expected it,
Z rom my information"
And yet you approach me with the idea
II selling me a plotted adventure? Come.
aow; decidedly you are after sorne Of, my
money. That's evident. Come out into the
open and tell me frankly what your game is"
The stranger reached down for his port.
folio, still damp with rain. He laid it upon
; his knees and opened 1t. Bancroft watching
him curiously the while. Forthwith a docu.
nnent was produced, but the producer did not
at once extend this for the young mans in:
spection. Instead he beat a light tattoo with
it, rehectively. against the damp leather.
For the present shall. have no name.
Call me an adventurer. II we do business
eventually my name will be made known to
you. You, will readily understand that the
Great Adventure company is not incorpor.
ated under the laws Of New York state"
"Ah!" =. @ A#
"While we might be the squarest individ.
uals in the world, the police are generally
stupid and skeptical. They would be med.
ding and shopping. we never use the mails,
but approach our prospects in person. Have
l your word of honor not to, repeat what I
ma tell you?"
Bancroft thought this over carefully.
lnere COulQp De 10 uILlIlIdlc ldTIH III giving
his word. Within a short time the man (and
j his absurd ~project) would vanish down the
path up which he had come. But for the
mans amazing intellectual side-and it was
this rather than his business that held Ban
croft's interest-the young man would have
: dismissed him curtly in the beginning. So
he gave his word; out of careless curiosity
to learn if there was {. mentality which could
defend logically so illogical a proposition as
this Great Adventure company. .
There came a fash Of that mutiny Of the
mind when the thought refuses to concen.
trate upon the immediate problem, but flies
elsewhere. Why had his father spent the
best years Of his life in this obscure village
when he despised it? Why had he not sent
his son to college When he had been provided
with ample means to do so? And why should
any man scare. hin, to death when there
would be no material profit in the deed?
T. He heard the ,a~dventurer's voice, but
sensed nothing Of what was said un-
TIL And that is why I use the word
philanthropy. Your life has been particu.
dreamed and dreamed. You have in sue.
cession been Robinson Crusoe. Galahad.
John Ridd, D'Artagnan, Marius; you have
lived in rush fthatched huts and palaces; you
have loved Hannibal's sister, Agnes; Olympic
de Cleves, Elaine, Cosette. 1t is, then, as a
real benefactor that I come to YOU
+. A ten thousand a benefaction."
Again the merry mask dropped from the
blue eyes. but the transitiot and return were
so rapid that Bancroft missed the express
sion of malevolence.
The adventurer' continued. adroitly defend
Ing his cause with a clarity and a frank.
ness which would haye fooled rnaturer minds
than Bancroft's, who felt himself being hyp.
Noticed. For what was the man doing II not
naintine in glorious colors the dreams OF boy,
hood? Feeling himself drawn. he sought to-
break the spell.
What is your proft out OF this ten tpou'
sand?" he interrupted.
; Generally our profits range between nve
.na seven thousand. OF course. we have to
law out moneys for which we should not be
AHA to account to you. That would be giving
away our secret" y rs
"Generaly" exploded Bancroft. ''You
mean to tell me that the.s exist fools who
have signed your contracts?
~ should not call; theniN fools. I stand
ready to a~cquaint you with several who have
+ edventures, grateful indeed to- have been
hsuled out ofSthe hun1drum and set upon
the whirligig. Remember. part Of the fun
, a. the suspense, the wondering when 1t will
herin and from what direction:
"wasn't it Solomon who said there was
nothing new under the sun? He was before
your time
Everything Is new under the sun; but II
YOU and solomon mean everything repeats
it.e,f. l agree. The Great Adventure com
anaTy dramatises incidents already invented
10 nopular novelists. And there you have
~. mix in the cocoanut. You are not per
&,nitted to choose sthe subject for itds only
n he unknown attbreeds adventure
= !. Sir. my compHments, q they ny. ! fsSl
/ myself tempted. Not because the thought
This Interesting