The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-04-07
CHAPTER ln-Continued.

She, he saw, was listening. like him
self, for the sound Of SherrillS ar
rival at the house; and when it came
she recognized it first, rose, and ex-
CuGed herself. lie 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.
Alan had arisen at sight Of him ;
Sheriff., as he came in, motioned him
back to his seat; he did not sit down
himself, but crossed TO the mantel and
leaned against it.
Il am Lawrence Sheriff." lie said.
AS the tall, graceful, thoughtful
man stood looking down at him, Alan
could tell nothing Of the attitude OF
this friend of Benjamin COrvet to-
ward himself. His manner had the
same 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. "Is there anything
you want to add to me regarding
that?"
There's nothing l can add" Alan
answered. 81 told her all that l know
about myself"
and about Mr.. Corvet?"
II know nothing at all about Mr..
COrvet."
81 am going to tell you some things
about Mr.. COrvet," Sheriff. said. 81
had rcasOn-I do not want to explain
just yet what that reason waS-fOr
thinking you could tel! us certain
things about Mr.. Corvet, which would,
perhaps, make palmer what has hap
pened to him. When | tell you about
him now, it is In the hope that, in
that way, l may awake some forgotten
memory Of him in you; if not that,
YOU may discover some coincidence of
dates or events in Caryet's life with
dates or events in your WI Will you
tell me frankly, if you do discover any
thing like that?"
"Ycs; certainly"
For several moments, Sheriff. paced
up and down before the fire; then he
returned to his place before the
mantel.
81 first met Benjamin Corvet,' he
commenced, nearly thirty years ago.
/ had come West for the first time
the year before; l was about your own
age and had been graduated from
college only a short time, and a bust.
ness opening had offered itself here.
Times were booming on the Great
Lakes. Chicago, which had more than
recovered from the fire, was doubling
its population every decade; Cleve-
land, Duluth, and Milwaukee were
leaping up as ports. Men were grow
ing millions of bushels Of grain which
they couldn't ship except by lake
hundreds of thousands Of tons of ore
had to go 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 / was, that this trans
portatiCn matter was all one thing,
and that in the end the railroads
would own the ships. I have never
engaged very actively in the operation
me to be more active in it than / have
been; hut ever since. l have had
money in lake vessels. 1t was the
year that | began that sort of invest
nuent that l first met COrvet."
Alan looked up quickly. Mr.. Cor
vet was-?" he asked.
"C0rvct was-is Il lakeman," Sher-
rill said.
Alan sat m~otionless, as he Iecol-
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 ma used
only to the prairie might have felt the
same.
"He was q shipowner, then" he
said.
ayes; he was a shipowner-not,
however, on q large scale at that time.
He had been q master, sailing ships
which belonged to others; then he
had sailed one Of his own. He was
operating then. l believe, two vessels
but with the boom times ID the lakes,