Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-01-21
CHAPTER |
No Aitru.st

mai III TO Cunningham. one put IL on
the desk before him and stood waiting,
timidly, afraid to voice her demand fo:,
justice, vet too desperately anxious to
leave with IL unspoken.
He leaned back in his swivel chair,
his cold eyes challenging her. well,
he barked harshly.- ...... ...... ...,......
She was young, soft creature. very
pretty In kittenish fashion, both sem
suous and helpless. II was an easy
guess that unless fortune stood her
friend she was n predestined victim to
the worlds selfish love of pleasure.
And fortune, with cynical smile, had
stood aside and let her go her way.
81 Il. =" A wave of
color flooded her face. She twisted
rag of n handkerchief into hard wad
ded knot .. =.
"Spit it out" he ordered curtly..
I've got to do something *$
soon. Won't you--won't you-?'
There was II wall of despair in the
unfinished sentence.
James Cunningham was q grim, gray
pirate, as mallcabc a. cast iron and as
soft. lie was n large, big boncd man,
aggressive, dominant, the kind that
takes the world by the throat apd
S.hhcS ou'''eS iion, h' ,"o toh,C"'
OF ms nook nosed lace n"d something
rapnSlous Wr'tIen .,ei on II. , , ,,.
I've told you Id look out for YOU il
you'd keep still. Don't come whining
at me. / won't have IT,
But
Already he was ripping letters open
and glancing over them. Tears brimmcd
the brown eyes of the girl. She bit her
,,,r,,,,I LfroIosSir ovny IJcr misfnr.
,ulIleI "oi,''Lss' """i inr Shn tno,.
.nnt ' ny az nv n.y. Nv" u' g., hor hon,
,,,n, ,,"' ,,,o ,nor ,hc bod Iovcd wns leaving
io. m"o ~ ,"' ra"a ,lono a niybt ne blenk ms
cl W '"'e "''"' "
u'|!u ;,,bor, hal ol,r.vs lcd Iifc
of intnii;gemt sclfishncss. He had
ueu,ilv gnt what he wanted because he
uSW1II u'"" ,trong nc om6mgb to take II. No scru-
nrlous nicnty Of means had ever de-
tcrrrJ him. Nor ever would. He
nlnyrd his own hand with n cynical dis
regard of tho rights of others. 1t was
This that had made him what he was,
n man who bulkcd large in the sight
of the CITY and State. Long ago he
had made up his mind III! = altruism was
weakness.
lie went through his mail with
swift. trained eve. Ono of the letters
! nc laid aside and glanced at second
time. 1t brought grim, hard smile
TO his lips \ paragraph read:
There's no water in your ditch
| and our crops arc burning up. Your
whole irrigation system in Dry VAL
| lev is a fake. You knew It. but We
didn'; You'vc skinned us out of all
wc Ind, you damned bloodsuckcr. If
yo,, cycr como nm here we'll dry
cmIch vou sure
,Tho Iottcr was signed. "One You
IIoro Rohbod Attached 10 il was n
'i;,,,,i,,' Sror, , ,moIi.to manor tnIl-
mpr,G"e 1.-Two NJ farmers tn osl ,hc
uS y, c.m,o .,S III - n, Httorncv for nm
nn'tt'. ''uWo H. n.,. Vorio!, ;rr;,a-
.nN,, mv"S.'s"t"',' o,od ". ~" hv lanes Cnn.
I'oh VI'V', P'''"''" ~
ningham' IT,, ~
Inc promoter smiled hc was no,
AFRAID OF thc government. @ re man
kept strictly WITHIN tn" law. ~ was
not his fault there was not enough ram
fall in the watershed to irrlgatc inc
valley. But the threat to dry -gulch
| him was another matter. lie had no
| fancy for. being shot In tho back. Some
crazy fool of II settler might do just
that. He decided to let an agent attend
TO his Dry Valley affairs hereafter.
| IIn dictated some letters. CLOSED ms
desk md went down the street toward
tho CIV Cub Ar florists he stoned
and ordered n box of American Bcautics
to ha sent 70 Miss PHYLLIS Hartman.
With thoso he incIosed his card. n line
~ ,,rocijrg sc,,wIcJ On r.
nokcr ,omc was on nj ,hc cluh and
C,innfi,no fnt snt IN iIc ;utcrruntoJ
IL =" In" hoIJiny his scnt by Icavine n
. r1" - ,.h;mo ~ thc uInrr WLen hr
nrogboJ i, III. uiuninys and wcnt dawn.
,toiry - ,,os SIN rarIv Ns u card :
nIaror ho "'as not nonuInr lie was TOO
t"I teoIn On tho min rhanrc and no ncorIy
ALWAYS won. In spitc of his loud and
frcGucnt laugh, Of tho effect of bluff
| rCniality, there was no genuine humor
! in the man. none OF the milk of human
| Kindness.
4 lnwycr i'm The reading room rose at
sight of Cunningham. "Want TO 500
YOU n minutc.' he said. "Lcts S 60
( INTO thr Red Room"
lilo led thc way to II small room fur
uishod with n desk. writing supplies
and n telephone. II was for the use Of
mrn,bers who wanted to be private. The
LAWYER shut the door.
"Afraid I've bad news for you, Cum
nngham. y he said. -,
wavcr. He waited silently.
II was at Golden today on business
! connected with II dlNorc" case bS
tonished me. 1t may be only coin
cidoncc of names. but
Now. you've wrapped up the black
inck so that il won't hurt. suppose you
go ahead and hit mo over the head with
it," suggested Cunningham dryIy.
The lawyer told what h" knew. The