St. Tammany farmer., 1922-10-07
Gramont sat stunned beyond words.

There was no reason to doubt what
Foil said. Gramont believed the little
man sincere In his love for Lucie.
:t'No matter what the outcome, your
reputation will not be affected" said
Fell, quietly. 'The company which
will buy this land Of Lucie's is con-
trolled by me. You understand Even
II NO oil is ever found there. shall
zee to 1t that you will not be injured
because Of that signed statement"
Gramont. nodded In dull comprehen-:s
sion. He realized that Fell had de-
vised this whole business scheme with
internal ingenuity; had devised it In
order to take q hundred and fifty thou
sand dollars out Of his own pocket and
put It into that OF Lucie. 1t was .
present which the girl would never ac-
tept az gift, but which. II it came
In the way Of business, would make
her financially independent. Nobody
would be defrauded. There was no
ehicanery about 1t. The thing was
straight enough.
'"That's not quite all Of my plan"
pursued Fell, as though reading Gra-
tnont's unuttered thoughts. "The min
ute this news becomes public, the min
ute your statement is published, there
viii be q tremendous boom in that
whole section. shall take charge Of
:Lucfe's money, and within three weeks
I should double it, treble 1t, for her.
Before the boom bursts she will be out
Of It Ill, and wealthy. Now, my dear
Gramont, I do not presume that you
will still refuse to vote with met I
have been quite frank, you see"
0ramont stirred In his chair.
'Yesi" he said, low-voiced. "Yes,
By heavens I do refuse l"
With an effort he checked hotly i'm
pulsive words that were on his tongue.
One word now might ruin him. He
dared not say that he did not want to
see Fell's money pass into the hands
Of Lucie-money gained by fraud and
theft and crimel He dared not give
his reasons for refusing. He meant
now to crush Fell utterly-but one
wrong word would give the man full
warning. He must say nothing.
ITS not straight work, Fell. Re-
gardless oe your motives, I refuse to
Join you."r
Jachin Fell sighed slightly, and laid
down his cigar with precision.
"Gramont," his voice came with the
softly purring menace Of a tigers
throat4tone, II shall now adjourn this
company meeting for two days. until
Saturday morning, In order to give you
Thursday. BY Saturday"
II need no time" said Gramont. =
'sBut you will need It. I suppose
you know that Bob Maillard has been
arrested for parricide7 You are aware
Of the evidence against him-all cir
eumstantial7" IN
Gramont frowned. .sWhat has that
got to do with our present business7'.
"Quite bit, fancy" A thin smile
curved the lips Of Jachin Fell. mail
lard is not guilty Of the murder-but
you are"
"Liarw Gramont started from his
chair as those three words burned: into
him. "Liari Why, you know that !
went home Ess, a.
ss&'tAh, walt r. Fell lifted his hand for
peace @His volceHwas, calm. s'-tAnsley
and I both saw you depart, certainly.
We have since learned that syon did
not reach home until some time after
midnight. You have positively no
alibi, Gramont. You may allege, Of
course, that you were wandering the
streets"
AS I wasi"s cried Gramont. heat
edly.
Then prove 1t, my dear fellow;
prove it-f you can. Now, we shall
keep Lucte out Of all this. What re-
mains1 I know that you were the
Midnight Nasquer. My man. Ben Cha
cherre. can prove by another man who
accompanied him that the Masquer's
loot was taken from your car. A die
tograph In the private Office. yonder,
has a record Of the talk between VI
Of the other morning, in which you
made patent confession to being the
Masquer.
-"Once let me hand this array Of
evidence over to the district attorney,
and you viii most certainly stand |
trial. And, II you do stand trial,
can promise you faithfully that you
will meet conviction. ! have friends
you zee, and many Of them are infiu-
sntial in such small matters"
It was not nice smile that curved
the lips Of Fell.
Gramont choked back any response,
holding himself to silence with a firm
will. He dared say nothing, lest he
say toos much. He saw. that Fell |
could indeed make trouble for him
and that he must strike his own blow
ut Fell without great delay. It was a |
battle. now; q fight to the end.
Fell regarded Gramont cheerfu1ly,
seeming to take this crushed silence |
40 evidence Of his own triumph.
! Further" he added, "your man
Hammond is now in Jail at Houma, as
you know; for the murder of the sher.
tx. Now, my influence is not con-
fined to this city, Gramont; may be
able ste clear Hammond Of this charge 7
Ii you decide to vote with me. II
may keep what know about the Mid
night Masquer from the press and
from the district attorney-if you de-