The Coolidge examiner., 1932-12-02
CHAPTER 1

Nithti CudISe tongue III lHe
veranda of his country house, Hill
crest, and pretended TO be asleep
subierfuge quite in keeping with
n certain salient characteristic of
his which. quite early in his career.
had earned for him the not inap-
propriate sohriqGet of Crooked
crooked in the commonly accepted
sense Of that term as employed in
the quaint patOis of our times Tin
deed he was a most honorable man),
but because he was possessed of an
uncommon degree of craft. of auda-
cious and generally amusing sly
ness. in business and out of it-a
sort of super-prudence born of un-
canny innate ability 10 read human
nature. He was popularity believed
TO have more money than some folks
have hay he had no wife 70 bother
his life and he padded his own
canoe; also. he enjoyed excellent
health.
II pleased William B. Latham
this late afternoon To pretend to be
asleep in order that he might. from
under he drawn down rim of his
hat. watch his late wife's niece en-
gagged In a pastime peculiarly dear
10 that most attractive young wom-
an. 10 wit, snaring and breaking the
heart OF a youth whose manifest
decencies appeared. TO Crooked Bill,
sufficient justification for receiving
from the young lady in question
what her uncle and guardian de-
scribed as "a whole lot of letting
alone"
With the odrinary run Of young
gentlemen who laid their vealy
hearts at the feet of Miss Roberta
Antrim. Crooked Bin had little sym
pathy and less patience. The ma.
jority OF them were he-flirfs. anus
ing themselves with Roberta as ont
rageously as she amused herself
WIN AAAf.ltls W tlsNt Il dlih ~
10 her as n moth is attracted TO a
candle flame Crooked Bin had more
than a suspicion. too. that. In addi-
tion 10 Roberta's undoubted charms.
the fact that she was his heir was
not a negligible attraction TO her
continuous and shifting encourage.
In the case of the young gentle
man who sat with Roberta on the
stone bench under the elm. Crooked
Bib could find no extenuating cir
cumstances 70 adduce ms to why Ro-
berta should not he convicted of in
flicting cruel and unusual punish
ment. Glenn Hackett. to begin with.
was OF good family where brains
aud money. in evidence for three
generations. had always been used
wisely. He was rather tall. loose
jointed and angular. with a plain
honest face like a kind horse. He
was thirty years old. a lawyer and
n good one. which is 10 say that
Crooked Bill gladly paid him a large
annual retainer.
Crooked Bill wished he might
have been privileged TO hear what
Glenn Hackett and Roberta were
saying. However, he was a fairly
accurate reader of gesture. facial
expression and mods. so he was as
sured that Hackett was proposing
marriage 10 his niece
''It'll he like her 10 refuse him."
he decided. "and him the only real
man I've ever seen on the prem
ises And for once in his life he's
doing all the talking while Roberta
does the listening. know that
meek. sad resigned bend OF her
head while she tugs at her hand
kerehief and tries TO appear sur
priSed She must have admiration
from men or life is a delusion and
a snare! And now she's picked on
a victim that's bound to back fire
on her, or I'm no Judge of men.
Hello. he's talking too muchi He's
getting oppressive. She's finding the
going not TO her liking-ah,
thought so !"
Crooked Bill drew his hat brim
down over his nose. opened his
mouth little and commenced TO
breathe in long even respirations.
He heard the rapid patter of Ro
berta's little feet as she passed him
and entered the house. In about
five minutes he heard the firm, leis-
urely tread of Glenn Hackett, fol-
lowing. and was aware, presently.
that the young man had sat down
In a chair beside him. So he pre-
tended tO sleep on for five minutes.
then he stirred uneasily. gritted his
teeth. sighed. opened his eyes, and
yawned pleasurahly.
"Well. now that you haven't had
your forty winks." Hackett OBJ
served quietly. whats your opin-
ion as To what my next move should
be? I've just Tilted Roberta %
Crooked Bill sat up with the
abruptness of Jack-in-the-bux
which. in all fairness. he resembled
n ssShAaf mo fnr n