The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1935-05-17
CHAPTER XIII

Furiously, Nicholas Brandon saw as
the days passed the wreckage of his
power pile up on a flood of public re-
sentiment, of loosened expressions of
distrust and contempt and hatred which
had grown and festered unobserved for
years.
In yard and mill he was conscious
that his employees were thinking only
of his fall. He discharged one man
for loafing and the fellow only laughed
at him. :. Laughed!
There's plenty room at Hoot Owl
for good hands," he said and laughed
again.
That mob yesterday had not wrecked
the town as they had threatened but
the ruin they left was of far more con.
sequence. Their coming had stripped
Brandon of everything but his mate
rial possessions and now these only
Knocked him in survival
Mail arrived. He took the packet Of
letters and drank deeply from his bot
tie again.
He thumbed the letters absently, I'M
til the script on one caught his eye.
The envelope contained a single sheet
of note paper and he unfolded it with
trembling fingers. On the sheet was
written:
81 never want to see you again. 1
know now what the whole country has
known and been afraid to admit for
years. have thought you were my
friend bur now / know you are my
worst enemy, as you are the sworn
enemy of those love most.
DAWN"
He stood for a time staring at the
paragraph; then read it again and
drained his whisky bottle Such a
note, now, was to have been expected
by an ordered mind, of course, but his
fevered brain had not foreseen any
necessity for abandoning this. the most
precious of his hopes. He trembled a
bit and made strange sound in his
throat.
meticulous office man was Mich
olas Brandon, and though he had suf-
fered the severest blow of his expert
about his habitual procedure. He had
received and read letter. 1t required
no reply. The next step in orderly pro-
cedure was to file it.
In the outer office were ranks and
rows of letter files. But this letter
did not belong there.
In the great safe to which only he
had combination and keys reposed two
files side by side. He took both out
and placed them on the desk. He
opened one and cruel smile twitched
his lips. 1t contained letters on paper
of varying size, color and quality.
He riffled through these, stopping now
and again to read phrase. a sentence,
paragraph. Pleas. these were
a writing begging for help and
he smiled again.
In the other file were more letters,
some yellowed by age and these older
ones had been written In the uniformed
script Of child. Dear Uncle
Nick" they all began. Always that,
though the handwriting grew formed
and mature until 1t was identical with
that on the single sheet he had Just
read. These were Dawn McManus'
letters to him, saved since her child.
hood.
He ran through them almost idly, his
senses dulled by whisky and the calam-
ity which had befallen him. A narrow
slip of tablet paper fell out He
looked at the penciled note on one
side.
Meet US at Antler Lodge this after
noon.-Dawn."
Happier memories, that brought; of
the time Dawn had brought girls home
with her from school for Thanksgiving
and had taken them to the hunting
camp for weekend.
Brandon had gone with the party
and it was there that he had first re-
marked Dawn's emerging womanhood