The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1925-08-19

| -, cscS. Inreo or four
eierks' who had been surreptitiously
peeping through the open door. melted
apiuly away, while from his chair
W. Latter watched the scene fasci.
mated. He was reminded of q b;rd
anu a snake, and suddenly he gave
NIUE shudder as he realized tbat his
o"n position was in reality much tbe
saihe as that of the unfortunate
Cohen. ''''''e
ana then just as the tension was
oecolnlng unbearable there came the
interruption. Outside in the passage.
ciear and distinct, there sounded twice
.ie moot OF an owl. To Mr.. Latter
II meant nothing; to the frightened
ilttie Jew it meant nothing: but on
Tue count the effect was electrical
WIN qulckness incredible in one
so deformed he was at the door. and
INTO the passage, hurting Cohen out
Vi HIS way into corner. His nower-
lul nsts were clenched by his side.
'ne VEINS IN his neck were standing
OUT Ike whipcord. But to Mr.. Lat
lers 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 MS soul, and a 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, motionless
hgure For perceptible time he had
stared at 1t, and It had seemed to
stare at him. Then the door had
smut, and on the other side a kew
mad turned. And the figure had been
draped from head to foot in black.
charles Latter was immoral rather
than immoral: he was 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
tinctly 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. capability for making f1ashy |
speeches covered with veneer of |
cleverness is an undoubted asset, but
it 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 realiza-
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 a nasty thing. 1,
II was just about that time that he
net Count Zadowa. 1t was at dinner
Al d lIleHu uOUSt. anu dltCl INC |
aides had left he found himself sit
ing next to the hunchback with the
strange, piercing eyes. He wasn't
conscious of having said very much =
le would have been amazed had he
,een told that within ten minutes this
,harming foreigner had read his I'M
pleasant little mind like book, and
,ad reached certain and definite de-
ision. In fact, looking back on the
,ast few months, Mr.. Latter was at
oss to account as to how things had
cached their present pass. Had he
cen told when he stood for parlia-
1ent. Haunting all the old hackneyed
that within two years he
rould be secretly engaged in red-hot
work he would have
,ughed the idea 70 scorn. Anarchy,
10: a nasty word but the only one
nat fitted the bomb outrage in Man.
hester. which he had himself organ
ed. Sometimes in the night, he used
, wake and lie sweating as he thought
{ that episode.
And gradually IL Hau become worse
nd worse. Little by little the charm
% Count Zadowa. realizing that Mr..
after possessed just those gifts which
. could utilize 70 advantage, had
,ased to be charming. There were
any advantages in having men,
" of parliament as chief liaison
licer.
There had been that first small slip
hen he signed receipt for money
i'd him to address a revolutionary
Getting in South Wales during the b
al strike. And the receipt specified
@ service rendered. An unpleasant +
cument in view of the fact that HIS
incipal supporters in his constitu-
cv were coal-owners. And after
at the descent had been rapid.