his needless Nee aless fears by H M EGBERT 1 zad copyright 1916 by W QC 0 chapman hayman the man who gets his salary from j a distant city lives under able clean sword jenkins was no exception to this rule rula the leather company employed agents in several towns arid Jonk jenkens lna neway posted at drew his forty dollars weekly I 1 i out of the alie mailed letter with fear ear and trembling what it tile the company suddenly dispense with him once tho the letter lette r faced to arrive and jenkins Jen klOB who always waited for tho ito check to pay his weekly bills was in despair to complicate matters there was wag mrs Jenk lna a trail weakly woman without the least ability to earn a living it if anything happened to her husband jenkins bad this possibility u upon pon his mind all the time to crown ills his troubles lie ha was a one job man he laid h ad been with the leather company which was a soulless concern place lie he entered their service ts as an osce office boy thirty years before shy and retiring tiring rr he did not see the ghost ot of a chance to earn anything it over he be lost his bis position no that did vat not crown ilia bis troubles lea but he had another trouble mix mixed ed with joy oy the two so interwoven that lie he did not know eliere one began and the other ended laura in the local hospital had presented herci with a boy their first child jenkins had looked in awe and partly in fear at the extremely red atom of humanity then at his bis cifes weak figure lie he saw paw the radiant hip happiness at 0 motherhood i upon her taco face A at such a moment most men would took a silver candlestick from the tha buffet have thought of anything but material things but into jenkins brain thero there lashed flashed an appalling thought he remembered that having paid the hospital bill for only one ona week ahead he hud had exactly twelve dollars in the world suppose the tha check tailed failed to arrive next day lie he passed a sleepless night in the morning ho he waited tor for the tha postman with growing panic ro 0 o usual letter from the tha leather y was waff in his mall mail but it was j instead irsle aJ ot of written by the cash ter ler jenkins tore open the envelope desperately hoping to see bee the familiar pink check flutter out instead thero there came a formal notification As you are arc by this time doubtless doubt lesa awa aware rewe we have decided to discontinue our agency in senuah you will therefore close the office pending the arrival of our representative who will trill take charge of th ala a stock and fixtures jenkins let the tha letter flutter to the floor he put the rest of the mall mail unopened tn in hla his pocket and went automatically up to the hospital etwas it was always his habit babit to notify laura when any unexpected event occurred but when he looked at her he ha could not fl her lie he thrust the letters upon the table hardly knowing what he was doing kissed her with trembling liet and went away ITO he was discharged fired with twelve dollars in the world and next day he must pay a second twenty five ter his cifes second week he must get thirteen dollars then by nightfall ile ho staggered ared into the tha street and groaned he ha walked the streets all day not oven ven troubling to think about closing the ahe office there was money two hundred dollars in the sate safe but that mid not tempt jenkins he ha could ney net er have robbed his employers that was not in him but he must rob somebody he stood still with iden clenched ched fists heedless of 0 the tha passers by ill get it he swore then he thought of the doctor who was going to charge him seventy five dollars in addition to the hospital hospit alfee lee the sleek smug doctor rolling indis oar car while laura would be turned into tha ahe streets with a week old baby jenkins rage flamed in a huge deluge ap against anat ado doctor it was raz a fiery floryde det luge of 0 stark wrath that blotted out all the normal personality ol of the man jenkins found himself a criminal ile ho dl discovered ord latent within his heart 1 a fund of cu nning cunning that he had bad never nevor suspected could exist I 1 in hi him he recalled that the doctor was a bachelor lie bo know knew that he was at the hospital in n the evening ho he had seen through the open door of the consulting room silver scattered about the top at 0 tho the buffet with one ot of those pieces laura s hill bill could be paid jenkins resolved to act upon tho the thought at nightfall he went softly toward award the doctors house lie he knew that there was a back door always open except for the flimsy screen that covered it he had seen that during hla ble visits and remembered that once over the fence he not be seen from the windows dows ile he found the fence scaled it and nd cr crouched 0 ached cowering on the other side tho the houes was dark except tor for a single dingle light in the dining room jenkins could see the silver even now it gleamed derisively upon the buffet ills his gorge rose he walked steadily toward the back door it stood blood wide open it was not even clasped thieves were unIt unknown almost tn in prosperous Se sequoah perhaps somebody was on the prom aises though there roust must be servants ire he know knew the doctor had a housekeeper put but it wan waa vot not likely that sha he would bo be on the first floor jenken 4 walked lit in very botus and took it a silver candlestick candles from the buffet lie he know by the touch that it was waa ot at puro metal that alone would more than pay lauras bill no doubt he could pawn it somewhere in town he stood irresolute holding it in his hands then all at once he heard the front door click open doctor evans was coming in there was still time lime to escape with his plunder through the back but fear paralyzed jenkins the irresolute man had found himself lim again and the enterprising criminal who had arisen in him like some mr hyde had betaken betoken himself to thi the nether gloom from which lid ha sprang jenkins jonkins put down the candlestick and sprang behind the cur curtains tallis heard evans enter his office the open door ha saw him st down at his desk the doctor pulled out a pocketbook and heaped up an all immense pile of bills before him jenkins jeakins could not see aee their denomination but he knew that each was for five dol dolln larr rB alid thi spoils of hla his tow hours at 0 office work that day there thera must have been three hundred dellaia there abere jenkins felt ma fury rising again the sleek amu 1 u dovil counting Count di his mone money Y hlll 4 laura would be put out of the hosp hospital itai 4 the following day rt it did not occur to him that ehg would merely be transferred to tha trea free ward the man was road raad at the moment the loss of hla his lifelong position had bereft bita of his senses he crept forward and watched the doctor doctora with parted lips his hia hand stretched out closed upon the candlestick that set a new thought running through his head with that candlestick he could hatter batter out the mans brains ile he could take the money from the dead hand and go none had so seen n him enter and none would see sea him leave in the darkness money good goo money was better than candlesticks candlestick throe three hundred doll dollars arsi he had never had so much money in his life before ile he clutched tho the candlestick in his hand and just then boctor evans evana looked up with a start who nho is there ho he called jenkins put down the weapon ile he was the old man once more the weak man incapable ot of anything but the tha trained groove moving thoughts doctor evans approached the dining room and suddenly switched on an electric light beside the door it revealed jenkins standing by the buffet shaking and white the doctor stared at him and suddenly jenkins saw recognition in his eyes why mr jenkins how long have you been waiting for me he asked and jenkins perceived that his design was unsuspected suspected ua doctor evans must have thought that the servant bad admitted him through the front entrance were wera you anxious about your wits wife he bo asked there thera is nothing to worry about she is doing very well and by the tha way she asked me to give you this she expected you tonight and was sure bure that I 1 would meet you on the way out of the hospital she said it was important and wanted you to know as soon as possible and he handed jenkins another letter from the leather company jenkins took it and looked looked at the envelope this one was typewritten too it could not be the check still A check was due jenkins had forgotten that the envelope was open laura had read the contents jenkins took out the check and a letter lie he read dear mr lit jenkins Jenk lna we have decided to close our agency in senuah poor business conditions and other affairs of which you will learn on your arrival hero here have caused a reorganization of at our branch system this requires the services 0 at a superintendent with a thorough gl knowledge of the business will you accept the post at a salary of 11 alvo v 0 thousand jenkins put the letter in his pocket and shook hands with the doctor thank you I 1 im glad my wife Is out of danger he stammered and rushed tor foi the door what a genuine man lie be is awe ur inured the doctor KB as hla ble hand band swept up his money