Show f > M JOHN BURT 7Jy FREDERICK author UPHAM ADAMS 01 The I Idnpptd Mllllonalru CoIYRlGIIT Colonel Monroe Ihelrln Etc FmDluICK UrllUI IQQ Dy All rlrht ADAMS tessPOda CorYRIGIlT I I reservc < t A J DY JDnazat UlnULB JiJt > < Io CHAPTER XXVContlnucd l Tho valet thefloorand Burt Opened lC door 1 allli John entered For a moment BlBk dill The8nt not rho him rccog The dsl I moustache and had disappeared heard and the lar lines ot strong regu John Durts perfect face were In and harmon with the keen calm discerning eyes your Hello Jim whats the matter with Mall right John 01 fellow mnll right Glad to see > C dear 01 Johul Hays 11 drink T John Glad to Dlllile see ye swayed and fell Into John Durts arms HIs flushed face and reciting breath told their vlt own story without m the help of the emptied d ° canter Blake weighed two hundred pounds but John picked hIm UII and laid him on the couch as If he wero a child Youre knocked out Jim he said Take a nap old man and youll be ill right when you wake up With a dull smile on his lips Blake sank into a deep slumber Tho mlnutp hand of tho little clock crawled half Its way around tho circle before John Durt left tho side of his friend His eyes wero fixed on tho motionless figure but his thoughts I wandered far away Blake groaned and muttered In his sleep At first his words were Inco herent but ns his excitement grew his voice became distinct und In a higher key he exclaimed This Is awful awful What shall I do what shall I do I lovo her I love her and no one shall stand be tween us no one by God no one rot evenIf The sentence ended In a moan and again he sank Into quiet slumber Pacing up and down the room John stepped on a crumpled newspaper He plpked It up glanced carelessly at the data and name and ran his eye over the pages The first words that caught his at Sntlon were Miss Jessie Garden John Burt stood like a statuo and rend tho paragraph which had thrown Blake Into a frenzy of fear Every word burned itself into his brain Instinctively he drew back like one menaced by a blow struck In the dark Then the enormity of tho thing clime to him Crushing the paper In hIs hand he strodo across the room and towered over the figure of the nan who had requited years of friend hip with an act of treachery Blakes face was turned toward him the handsome clearcut features or ho one he had known since bohood For an Instant the Impulse to strike thIs man dead in his sleep came to John Burt Then a flood of feeling checked the swelling tide of his rage How could you do such a thing Jim ho exclaimed unconsciously aloud For hours John Burt concentrated his mind on the strange problem which had so suddenly arisen At times a wave of anger swept over him but In the end charity won against odds which seemed overwhelming It was dark when Blake awoke from his stupor Ho raised himself on his elbows and stared wildly about the room until his eyes rested on John Burt John laid aside the hook ho had made a pretense of reading Do you feel better Jim ho asked ask-ed as Blake struggled to his feet and passed his hand wearily across his eyes I beg pardon for this foolishness 1 exclaimed Blake looking ruefully first John and then at the decanter at lena Im not given to drink As you bad this morning and I felt very ing stom on an empty took some brandy I said nothing to ach Arc you sure ffend you John 1 nothing to offend have said you fight that day wo had the mo since Woods the creek In old Rocky near toturned John looking eye trank In the face The hatters eyes dropped In confusion i more about IV added Well say no ad by the bothafta our John Take your that read I will see tlmo you aro dinner served Roberts ha meal John led During and after the Jobnjod harm over tho yeurs conversation tho Idaho was they had spent toSfenJ took rulo silent Ail 1 ru aaoou strangely cOlllpanlon on his quIet cui relon tho lead over but this etnK IIhen such occasions rin ir tho conerhll tj he ntt tuptad tlon something arose ln llls throat and choked him CHAPTER XXVI Hawkins Makes a Discovery John Hawkins strode into tho office of James Blake Company at an early hour the following Monday inornlnK and after greeting the noml rai head of the firm was shown to John Burts room Mighty glad to see you my boy his deep voice rumbled ns ho laid n giant palm on the shoulder of the younger man They talked for several minutes on commonplace topics Mr Hawkins studied the face of the younger with a scrutiny which did not escape John Hurt In your new disguise or lack of disguise you strangely remind moot mo-ot some one said Mr Hawkins sud denly You told mo once ns I remember re-member that you were born In Massachusetts Massa-chusetts didnt you I did replied John and I also told you that Burton was not my right name Now Im going to toll you who I am though you must guard my secret for a while eta short while I hope John Burton is good enough for me asserted the magnate grimly I know youre all right and Ill bet n million on it Dont tell me my boy If you run any risk by doing so There Is no reason why I should not tell you said John after a moments mo-ments pause Hero is an advertisement advertise-ment I recently ran across in a San 1rancisco newspaper Read it John Hawkins adjusted his glasses and real the following To John Burt of BIngham Mass All rewards offered for your arrest by 1 c r t V r f ri ul t t a Il i v e ii 111111 I Iilltt IIII Ali V k IIJjr i + etu 4jAl TAP AAD JQ57V Randolph or Arthur Morris are hereby withdrawn and you are exempt from prosecution at our hands Signed Randolph Morris Arthur Morris John Hawkins read It slowly and looked searchingly Into the face of tho young man So your names Burt Ever have a relation by tho name of Peter BurtMy My grandfathers name Is Peter Burt replied John Was he a whaling captain He won captain and part owner of tho whaler Segregansett answered John Hawkins vented his surprise In rtrange exclamations and John Burt was silent in puzzled amazement John Burt grandson to old Captain Cap-tain Pete Burt This Is too rich My boy theres a feud between the houses of Burt and Hawkins hut It shall not extend to jour generation Well bury It right now Did the old man over mention the name of Jack Hawkins to you Never I suppose not It isnt likely ho would out again Mr Hawkins seem rd vastly amused Well I was his first mate on the Segregansett Cap Hurt was nearly sixty years old then and I was ahout twentysix There was an Idea abroad that no man who trod a deck beneath an American flag could lick Jack Hawkins and barring one man I guess they had the facts rized up about right Do you see that scar He ran his fingers through the Iron gray locks and pushed thtn back Irom his forehead There showed a livid mark with four black circles Those round black marks are the prints of your dear old grandfathers knuckles he said letting tho hair drop back Into place Theyve been there thirty odd years Ill tell you how it happened Captain Burt was avery a-very religious man according to his own standards Ho was particularly word drovo down on swearing A cuss him crazy and Ive seen him pound a man nearly to death for a harmless damn damnWo had a sailor named Bllson continued Mr Hawkins Ho was one of those clumsy aggravating fools looks were an Incentive whoso very an to profanity It came on to blow ono right and I sent Bllson aloft Ho man Ued to foul the foreroyal clew lines nIl when I yelled at him he laughed his Idiotic way and I was boiling jn While I was relieving all over lI1d mind I felt a hand on my shoul tuy either or und It wasnt a gertle one I Not another word from your blasphemous blas-phemous mouth Jack Hawkins Bald Captain Burt You go to hell 1 said so mad I didnt know what I was saying Ho gave mo a cuff on tho side of the head with tho palm of his hand It was not heavy but It made mo crazy Go below and pray God to forgive you he said No man had over struck mo before end I swung at him with my right I caught him a glancing blow above the eye lie didnt even raise his hands lIlt me again Jack Hawkins ho said calm as if asking me to pass him Tlio salt 1 aimed for his chin but caught him on the neck It was like striking A brick wall His arm smashed through my guard and his fist landed full on my temple It was a frightful blow and I wont sprawling to tho deck Before I could make 1 n struggle he picked mo up and hurled me over ho rail As 1 came up 1 caught ono glimpse of the Sogrugansott through tho mist ns she heeled to port i in tho rale raleThe The water revived me and I succeeded suc-ceeded In kicking off my boots I swam In the direction of tho ship and by sheer good luck bumped Into n hencoop hen-coop which some ono Captain Burt most likely had thrown overboard I floated around on that hencoop until morning Along about noon I heard n splash Jng and a big canoo filled with natives na-tives came In sight I yelled nt them and after much palaver they took me In They were friendly savages on a visit from ono small Island tq another I went along ns a guest and It was months before the boats of tho Jane M cane ashore and took mo off A year later I landed In Frisco just in time to be In tho gold excitement excite-ment Thats all If your grandfather grand-father hadnt thrown mo overboard in the middle of the Pacific ocean Its not likely Id have located l tho Challenge Chal-lenge mine I forgave him years ago and you can bet 1 harbor no grudgo against his grandson Ho has been tho one to Buffer said John Ho Imagines himself your murderer and for years has prayed for forgiveness I expect to go back to him In a tow days and you must go with me Then ho told John Hawkins the story of his boyhood and of tho shooting shoot-Ing of Arthur Morris Ho told of his love for Jessie Carden and of his do termination to restore to General Car den the fortune filched from him by the elder Morris When last I saw Miss Garden Raid John sho was tho heiress to a comfortable fortune I had nothing but health strength and ambition but she believed In my future and something some-thing has told me that she would wait for me I shall see her in a few clays and I wish her to bo as proud end Independent of my wealth as on that night I left her side fivo years ago She has been robbed of her birthright but If my Judgment of the value of I j 0 Is accurate It will be restored to the keeping of her father I havo news for you about L 0 said John Hawkins but first tell mo exactly how you stand Tho company Is organized with one hundred thousand shares of a par value of one hundred dollars each ho paid with bonds to the amount of five millions more Morris holds thlityflve thousand shares and his associates twelve thousand That Is three thousand less than control but ho Imagines that General Carden cannot can-not exercise his option on ten thousand thou-sand shares As I wrote you Ive had Blake acquire this option from Central Cen-tral Carden but of course Morris knows nothing of this By private purchase and In tho open market our agents have picked up twontynino thousand shares Lets see mused Hawkins I have 7460 you havo 29000 and an option on Gardens 10000 That makes a total of 16460 shares You yet lack 3641 of control Go into tho market and buy em my boy Youve none a great piece of work a bigger ono than you realize To bo continued |