The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1931-03-13

lie replleO cOIlpldtthti!' oul Ndtcn
me line out the next ball that
passes over the plate. Run along
now. assure you ! have no de-
sire to laugh in your face-you
! big boobl"
His face turned white with fury.
Disdaining further argument he
left the bank abruptly. while Nellie
wired the Los Angeles bank to re-
turn the check for further exam
nation Of the signatures of the
ind0rsers.
That night, when his colored re-
tainer, Jasper, summoned Elmer to
| dinner, the latter found a fat, plain
envelope beside his plate. It bore
a Los Angeles postmark. After
reading its contents Elmer's Id
tite failed him completely. He sat
m%otionless. staring wildly into
space.
Presently Elmer's fox terrier,
Benny, becoming alarmed at his
masters rigidity and silence, came
to the latter's chair and uttered a
short, friendly little bark. Elmer
paid no attention to him. so Benny
favored his master with a little bite
on the shin-whereupon Elmer But
terworth Clarke rose to his feet in
agony and with a well directed
kick skidded the surprised Benny
fifteen feet across the room.
The first thing Nellie Cathcart
saw, as the curtain went up be-
fore her window at ten o'clock the
next morning, was Elmer Butter
worth Clarke. He said very dis
tinctly: "Stop payment on that
Gatewood check, please"
Nellie nodded and Elmer strobe
out of the bank, nor did he utter
another syllable. Nellie did not
blame him In the least, for there
are moments when silence Is
golden
1t was not an easy task to fright
en- Elmer Clarke. Experts had tried
that and failed. Nellie Cathcart,
however, had succeeded not only in
frightening Elmer but also in STAN
peding nina fact of which she
was fully aware when, upon return
ing from her luncheon she was in
formed by Mr.. Crittenden, the
cashier, that Elmer must be plan
ming to take a journey, since he
had just purchased two thousand
dollars worth Of travellers checks.
Nellie left the bank and walked
swiftly up Main street to the pub
lie telephone office and sought a
booth.
"NelIie speaking, Elmer. Are you
going away?"
Yes, | am" Elmer's voice vas
%lugubrious.
"When?"
give minutes from now. I'm mo-
toring to San Francisco and will
take the Overland Limited from
there"
"Whither away. Elmer?"
ITO Muscatine, Iowa, to look
after my interests"
"And you were going away with
out a word Of farewell to me?"
Eyes, l was"-savagely.
81 had an idea / didn't deserve
such treatment, Elmer"
You don't You're al angel"
Elmer's voice had a slight catch
In it now.
well, you could drop over to the
bank for a minute to say good
by, couldn't you? I'll not pick on
you"
Il know it, Nellie. That's just
the trouble. | require a lot Of pick
ing on. I'm the wild ass of the uni
verse"
well, Elmer darling, I'm afraid
I'm not we'll up On natural history,
but isn't it a characteristic of the
wild ass to run away when fright
ened?"
Elmer instantly lied to her for
the first time. "Oh, I'm not fright
ened, Nelliel What have | got to
be frightened about?"
you act as if you were afraid
of me-"
Not afraid of you, Nellie-just
a little ashamed to face you, that's
all. I'm going away towel, |
think l ought to go away for a
while, for the good of my soul"
"Why don't you go to Los An
geles again?"
"Nelliei Please, please"
"Silly old dear, l am picking on
you after all. Pm sorry. I'll not
do it again. Tell me, Elmer, have
l ruined your romancef'
"Nellie, why did you hold up
that check the first time?"
"A woman's instinct. ! thought II
/ gave you time to reconsider, you
might change your mind. And
wasn't | right, Elmer dear? You
did change your mind, didn't you?
AS soon as you had time to think
things over You stopped payment
on the check"
"That's right" be agreed life
Are you sorry now that you
stopped payment"
mo, I'm not" Savagely again.
81 thought you might be. One can
not treat ones fiancee so casually
and hope to escape unscathed, FL
mer. I'd feel badly at such treat
ment myself"
"She's not my fiancee."
but you told me she was. You
fitted me for her. Surely you must
been quite certain Of your
ground before you disclosed your
altered feelings toward me-"
"Well, she's no fiancee Of mine,"
he profpctnd do50pdly
''Then, pray, what is she? A
friend?"
mot any more"