The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1925-04-30
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writes Il play anu nearly everyone, hs
Brena, startled and surprised at the
secret labor, thrusts the manuscript
into a drawer when a knock
1t was Mrs. Wilkie.
well" she said, exploding her
usual establishment, inquiry and dis
approval in one puffed word.
Brena smiled.
"You better put yourself to rights ="
said the landlady, holding the edge
of the vanished yellow door. You
better dress your best! You've got q
caller"
"To see me?"
Yves. to see you. And such a caller!
It's Mr.. Parmalee"
Brena stiffened. She asked: "What
does he want TO see me for?'
~ don't know" Mrs. Wilkie admit
ted. II certainly wish | did. He has
bodies of money! He speculated dur
ing this year and he's made q for
tune -
Il will go down just as l am said
Brena calmly and firmly. 81 do not
care about his fortune, Mrs. Wilkie.
| want to find out what he wants of
me-"
Compton Parmalee did not appear
at all anxious to say what he wanted.
He was a small, wiry man, careful of
his dress, who above everything else
was self-contained. He thrust his
chances. AS Brena Selcoss came in
the door he thrust a glance at her and
then looked up at the ceiling as if his
mind was digesting that which his
gray eyes had photographed. AS she
came toward him i%nquiringly, he rose.
thrust another glance at her and
looked III the window considering.
When she stopped he thrust once
more and sat down looking at the car
pet. Everyone who ever knew Comp
ton Parmalee will remember the char
acteristic inspection of that daring
speculator.
Are you Miss Selcoss?' he asked.
as if now that he was able to fasten
his gaze upon her, he found it inn
probable that the girl he saw in all
her freshness of youth was the girl
he had come to see.
"Yes,' he said.
Parmalee had come to Texas from
the desert country of southern Cali
fornia when he was twenty-six. He
knew that country well. In his years
in Dallas, acting as a cotton commits
sion man and commodity gambler, he
had collected a large and valuable
library about the whole historic
Southwest, its Indian tribes, the Pueb-
los. the strange customs and secrets
of savage men carrying some of the
traits and traditions of prehistoric Az
tees. and the Jesuit missionaries. 1t
was said by some persons that his
quiet ways were a veneer put on by
some studiOus years in Berkeley at
the university, but rumor had 1t that
Parmalee with his rather pale, young
face that made him look thirty instead
of forty-three, his small, well-shaped
hands, his immaculate linen, his soft
voice, had once shot a man across a
roulette table which he himself owned
and operated.
@Aet ~ 90 WV - Ahoo VI NCANN(
is very doubtful. He was an unquiv-
ering gambler, but not with his per-
sonal safety his personal safety was
his principal concern. He wore gloves
on all occasions-to keep the germs
off his hands; he had his massive ma
hogany desk, in the Office building
across from the new hotel, wiped
down every morning with an antlsep-
tic; long years before the practice had
become a worthy fashion he had him
self examined periodically by special
lists. He was always fearing conta-
gion. He gargled. He snuffed. He
sprayed. He read medical journals.
He feared cancer above all other
things. He loved his life so much that
he had loved no woman for many
years; the monopoly of this devotion
excluded competition. He loved his
his life with an unending passion; he
ruined it by fearing to lose it.
This was the man who withheld his
questions, bided his time and gazed
at Brena Selcoss with frank admira-
tion on his absurdly youthful and aca-
demic face. He turned away from her,
walked to the window and looked out
at the night, at the wall of the neigh
boring house upon which the light of
the full moon was blush white, and
then, like an actor who has rehearsed
the part of a cool and collected man
he walked toward Brena and said
clearly and calmly, I've come for in
formation"
He could not see the slightest CULVER
in the girls eyes, though he looked
for it.
YES" said he. May l close this
door,"
Mrs. Wilkie, who was outside pre-
tending to read the names in the tele-
phone book, saw the front room door
gently swing to and heard the latch.
How ole are your" Parmalee was
asking Brena.
Eighteen this month" she said.