Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1933-06-22
CHAPTER WI

The kindly face OF the banker was
marked by lines of worry as though
he feared he had talked too much
But the ponderous detective did not
seem particularly interested.
Vernon" he remarked. Maxwell
Vernon, eh?"
Eyes. They call him Max.
"Frlend of yours?v
I like him--if that's what you
mean.n
What sort of kid Is hef"
Fiske hesitated. then Ieaped for
ward with a sudden burst OF conf
dence. IL ! give you my honest opln-
lon OF that boy, Hanvey-will tt preju-
dice you against hIm?"
"Golly, no."
"He has faults"
"Who hasn't7 Only men I'm afraid
OF are these goody-goody, ain't-I-hon-
est ones. They're the cute babIesf
Now about Vernon7'
Tt Isn't a long story. You know
we have q college here. Vernon en-
tered as q freshman three years ago
he's finishing his junior year now. I
met him when he came into tho bank
and opened a ninety-thonsand-dollar
checking account. 1t vas rather nm
usual"
Il should guess yes
And naturally / had a chat with
him. This money was the remainder
Of an Inheritance from his mother.
she having been his surviving parents
"Orphan?"
Exactly. In the past three years
Max and / have been quite friendly
SO friendly that at times I'm afraid he
has rather resented what must have
seemed like interference on my part.-
What were you interfering about?r
aVernon has been running through
his money pretty fast He started
slowly In his freshman year, but the
word got out that he was very rich
and he gathered around himself 1
group OF friends rather more mer-
cenary than genuine. Max Vernon ID
weak; about az weak as a young man
who is not vicious can be. I really
believe, though, that there Isn't 4
vicious bone In his body. His first
at college he spent money lavish
~. Last year he spent 1t faster. This
he has run through every cent az
what little was left"
GOSH He must be a bIrdi1
TOO many friends for his own good
One In particular"
"Who?s
I'll tell you about him directly.
To stick to Vernon. when l saw his
money dwindling I started having
sensible, fatherly talks with him. He
confessed his weakness and
promised to draw In his horns.
the next thing | knew there'd be-
walloping big check come through
he bank"
did he have all his money here?r
Every cent. That's why I'm In 4
to know so much about him.
About a month ago he had run through
lis money. Didn't have two hundred
left. About a week ago he
anne to me and asked for a loan. He
Omitted that he was broke. He said
was In a rotten fix--owed 4 biz
ambling debt-and felt that his honor
7as at stake"
"Does he gamble much?"
"A good deal. But that TIL tonch
n later. He wanted to borrow money.
Il course, I explained that / couldn't
md it-at least that the bank couldn't
did offer to lend him a triAinq sum
ersonally, but he said that the HIM
red dollars I offered wouldn't helm
bit. He needed five thousand.
No piker, at any rate
1T Isn't that, Harvey. He lust
oesn't know anything about
or II he does. he's learned It
the last month, which isn't very
kelly. He always had thought that
lnety thousand dollars was inex-
anstible. Then, suddenly, 1t was
me. 1t took him q long time to nm
that there was no more. He
'nfessed tc me that he had been 1
'ol- He wanted to know what to do.
ID ] suggested that he leave college.
t a Job and begin to take life seri-
Isly. His gambling debt-the debt
honor he rather grandiosely called
seemed to be preying on his mind.
nco or twice he even talked about
ling himself. ! spoke to him Ike
itch uncle"
you thought he meant It1~