Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1925-09-17
0.'s BLACK GANG

and a snake, and suddenly he gave
a little shudder as he realized that his
own position was in reality much the
same as that of the unfortunate
Cohen.
AND then just as the tension was
becoming unbearabIe there came the
interruption. Outside in the passage,
ciear and distinct, there sounded twice
the moot of an owl. To Mr. Latter
II meant nothing to the frightened
little Jew it meant nothing; but on
the count the effect was electrical
With Quickness incredible in one
so deformed he was at the door, and
into the passage, hurting Cohen out
OF MS way into a corner His power
tul lists were clenched by his side:
the veins in his neck were standing
out like whipcord. Bur to Mr.. Lat
ters surprise he made no movement,
and rising from his chair he too peered
round the door along the passage,
only to stagger back after a second
or two with feeling Of sick fear
IN his soul, and sudden dryness in
the throat. For twenty yards away,
! framed in the doorway at the head
OF the stairs leading down to the office
below, he had seen a huge, r1otionless
figure. For perceptible time he had
stared at it. and it had seemed to
stare at him. Then the door had
shut, and on the other side key
mad turned. And the figure had been
draped from head to foot in black
Charles Latter was immoral rather
than immoral: he was a constitutional
coward with a strong liking for I'M
derhand intrigue, and he was utterly
and entirely selfish. In his way he
was ambitious; he wanted power, but,
though In many respects he was dis
t1nctly able he lacked that essential
factor-the ability to work for it. He
hated work: he wanted easy results.
And to obtain lasting results is not
easy, as Mr., Latter gradually discov-
cred. A capability for making flashy
speeches covered with q veneer Of
cleverness is an undoubted asset, but
1T is an asset the value of which
has been gagged to a nicely by the
men who count And so as time went
on, and the epoch-making day when
| he had been returned to parliament
faded into the past, Mr.. Latter real
lied himself for what he was-a
thing of no account. And the reaIiza
ton was as gall and NORWOOD to
his soul. 1t is realization which
comes to many men. and it takes them
different ways. Some become resigned
some make new and even more
futile efforts: some see the humor
of it, and some don't. Mr.. Latter
didn't: he became spiteful And a
spiteful coward Is nasty thing.
1t was just about that time that he
met Count ZadOwa. 1t was at dinner
at a friends house, and after the
ladies had left he found himself sit
ting next to the hunchback with the
strange, piercing eyes. He wasn't
conscious of having said very much:
he would have been amazed had he
been told that within ten minutes this
charming foreigner had read his I'M
pleasant little mind like a book, and
had reached a certain and definite de-
cision. In fact. looking back on the
past few months, Mr.. Latter was at
loss to account as to how things had
reached their present pass. Had he
been told when he stood for pariia-
! nIent, Haunting all the old hackneyed
formufae, that within two years he
would be secretly engaged in red-hot
Communist work, ne would have
laughed the idea to scorn. Anarchy,
too: a nasty word, but the only one
that fitted the bomb outrage in Man.
chester, which he had himself organ,
lied. Sometimes In the night, he used
to wake and lie sweating as he thought
Of that episode.
And gradually It had become worse
and worse. Little by little the charm
ing Count Zadowa, realizing that Mr..
Latter possessed just those gifts which
he could utilize to advantage, had
ceased to be charming. There were
many advantages in having a mem.
Der Of parliament as chief liaison
officer.
There had been that first small slip
when he signed a receipt for money
paid him to address a revolutionary
meeting in South Wales during the
coal strike. And the receipt specified
the service rendered. An unpleasant
document in view of the fact that his
principal supporters in his constitu-
ency were coal-owners. And after
that the descent had been rapid.