The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1922-03-06

| self, for the sound of Sherrill,s ar
rival at the house; and when it came
| she recognized it first, rose, and ex-
cused herself. He heard her voice in
| the hall. then her fathers deeper voice
which answered.; and ten minutes
later, he looked up to- see the man
these things had told him must be
| Sheriff. standing in the door and look
| ing at him; NH s2 1917 n H. -
Alan had arisen at sight Of him;
Sheriff., ms he came in, motioned him
| back to his seat; he did not sit down
himself, but crossed to the mantel and
leaned against It. 2sz 5&n tx
II am Lawrence Sheriff." he said.
AS the tall, graceful. thoughtful
man stood looking down ut him. Alan
could tell nothing of the attitude Of
this friend Of Benjamin Corvet to-
ward himself. His manner had the
sume reserve toward. Alan, the same
questioning consideration of him, that
Constance Sheriff. had had after, Alan
had told her about himself.
MY daughter has repeated to me
what you told her, Mr.. Conrad"
Sheriff. observed. rs there anything
you want to add to me regarding
that" eg.r
There's nothing I can add" Alan
| answered. II told her all that / know
! about myself"
And about Mr.. Corvet?"
II know nothing at all about MIR.
! Corvet" ~.a,.
II am going to tell you some things
about Mr.. Corvet," Sheriff. said. II
had reason--I d0|not want to explain
| just yet what that reason was--fOr
thinking you could tell us certain
things about Mr.. Corvet. which would,
perhaps. make palmer what has hap
pencd to him. When l tell You about
him now, it is in the hope that, in
| that way. | may awake some forgotten
memory of him in you; if not that.
YOU may discover some coincidence Of
| dates or events in Ccrvet's life, with
| dates or events in your own. Will you
tell me frankly, if you do discover any
thing like that?" =
Eyes: certainly" ,'-
For several moments. Sheriff. paced
! M and down before the fire: then he
returned to- his place before the
| mantel.
II first met Benjamin Corvet," he
commenced, NEARLY thirty. years ago.
| l had come West for the first time
the year before; was about your own
age and had been graduated from
college only a short time, and busl-
ness opening had offered itself here.
Times were booming on the Great
Lakes. Chicago, which had more than
recovered from the fire, was doubling
it's population every decade: Cleve-
land, Duluth, and Milwaukee, were
lcaping up as ports. Men were grow
| ing millions Of bushels Of grain which
they couldn't ship except by luke
| hundreds OF thousands of tons Of ore
had to 90 by water: and there were
| tens Of millions of feet Of pine and
hardwood from the Michigan forests.
! Sailing vessels, 1t is true, had seen
their day and were disappearing from
the lakes; were being Sold many OF
them, as the saying is, to the insur-
ance companies by deliberate wreck
Ing. Steamers were taking their place.
Towing had come in. l felt. young
man though I was. that this trans
pOrtation matter was an one thing,
and that in the end the railroads
would own the ships. I have. never
engaged very actively - the operation
of the ships; my daughter would like
me TO DO more active In it than l have
been; but ever since, l have had
money in lake vessels. 1t was the
year that began that sort Of invest
ment that l first met COrvet.' .
Alan looked up quickly. MIR. Cor
vet was-?" he asked. IT,
"Corvet waists n lakeman," Sher-
rill said. H. g.
| Alan sat motionless, as he recol-
lected the strange exaltation that had
come to him when he saw the lake
for the first time. Should he tell
Sheriff. of that? He decided It was
too vague, too indefinite to be men
toned no doubt any other man used
only to the prairie might have felt the
! same. III I ~
He was a, shlpowner, then" he
said. - HUI
Yes; he was a shipowner~-not
! however, OH a large scale at that time
He had been master, sailing ships
which belonged to others; then he
| had sailed one Of his own. He was
operating then, believe. two vessels
| but with the boom times ON the lakes
his interests were beginning to |ex
| pand. met him frequently IN thu
next few years, and we became clest
friends" -. -.a.-..s -. .s.s 81
! Sheriff. broke Oft and stared an In
! slant down at the rug. Alan BEN
forward: lie made no interruption bu
only watched Sheriff. attentively.
Between 1856, when first met him
and 1895. Corvet laid the foundation o
great success; his boats seemed lucky
men liked to work for him, and h
got the best shippers and crews. Ther'
was saying that in storm gCorve
ship never asked help; it gave It
to-