The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1922-07-11

Houston was alone In his office.
Jenkins was gone. discharged. and
Nouston fclt a sort Of relief In the
knowledge that he had departed
The last Of the Thayer clan. ne be
ieved. had been cieaned out 81 his
organisation il was like light.
Gang burden to realize q.
That the lease and stumraeo con.
tract were fraudulent. Harry Houston
was certain. surely he had seen
neither q them. and the ming
must have been thru some OF
trlekcry OF which he was unaware.
hut would such a statement hold In
COURT Houston learned. haifhour
later. that u wouldn't. as he faced
the family attorney, In his he. bleak.
old fashioned office.
-ft's all right. Barry. for you TO
| tell me that you didn't sign Il" came
/ the edict "f'd believe you-becausc
I feel sure you wouldn't lie 20 me.
But II would be pretty thin stuff TO
!. tell 10 n jury. There Is tho contract
and tho lease In black and white.
Both bear your signature which. you
Aeve declared in the presence of wit.
nesses. 20 be genuine. Even when
a man signs a paper while insane.
It's a hard job 20 pun Il back. and
we certainly wouldn't have any wit.
ness who could swear that you had
host your reason"
'.Nope.- he concluded. giving tho
papers flip. as tho dispensing % the
whole matter. somebody has Just
worked the old sewing machine
racket on you--with trimmings. This
IL an adaptation Of a game that il
as old as the hiiis--the one where
IN. solicitors would so % a farm
house. sell man sewing machine
or 4 cream separator At a ridiculous
figure. let him sign what he thought
was contract TO pay certain
amount a month for twelve months
ana then take the promissory note
which he really had signed down "a
tho hank and discount II. Instead
cf a promis~ory note. they made this
make IL good. they had their confcd.
crate. a lcgalizsd notary public. put
his seal upon Il a. witness. You
can't remember when all this hap
pencdg"
~AecordIng 20 Jenkirs-who put
~ notary seal on shsrs--she whole
kthing was put over about a week or
20 before I loft for the West That's
Abc date on Them. too. About this
be. remember. I had good
hny papers to sign. A lot Of legal
&tufS. " ycu'll remember. camc up
about fathers estate. IN which my
signature was more Of a form than
anything else. I naturally suspected
nothing. and IN one or two instances
signed without reading
And signed away your btrfhrighf
Ito this contract and lease You
did II with no intention OF giving
your land and TUNE and fiumo site
SWAY. that's true n one OF the
snen would b. willing TO confess to
= conspiracy. Il would hold water in
cour<- Otherwise not You've been
bunksd. and your signature IL 90
{IeGnf and a. binding AZ though you
! had read thar contrnct and lease
form . hundred times over. So I
don't sec anything to DO but to swai.
/ f0w your medicine with AZ iitfic Of
y wry face a. possible"
II was with this ultfnsafum that
Houston turned again for tho West.
Etad 20 be out Of Boston. glad 10 be
hended back once more for the noun
kains, In spite OF the fact that the
shadows Of his life had followed him
even there. that the III luck which
seemed 70 have been perched con-
tfnuously on his shoulders for the
past two years still lowered. like a
vuiture. above him What be was
going to do. how he could hope 20
combat the obstacles which had
arisen was more than he could tell.
He had gone into the West. believ-
ing. AT worst. that he would be
>Sorced 10 become the general facto-
IN Of his own business. Now he
vknd there was not even n business:
his very foundation had been swept
from beneath him. leaving only the
discrimination. tho grim. earnest
resolution TO succeed where all was
failure and 10 fight TO yictory--but
how7
Personally, he could not answer
the question, and he longed for the
sight OF the stumbling little station
at Tabernacle. with Ba'tiste. In
snswer to- the telegram he had sent
from Chicago. awaiting him with
the buggy from camp. And Ba'tiste
49, hfrr. a.