Show r am WOM am 1 JOHN A aa BURT UPHAM sj H Y REDERICK FREDERICK A M ADAMS author of t the th kidnapped Co loael noc trim etc ec 1901 DT all AJI rl OUT I 1 RT by mug I 1 1 I 1 urbam reserved A J w w w www CHAPTER continued general garden carden applauded vigorously anil and demanded an all encore the tro trio sang bang berra leeral bongs and the old soldier lay back in ilia his armchair and let his hl drift back to the hours when the one of 0 jessie was the imago image lifted her wed sweet voice in the ballads lie be loved to bear at his big request they sang douglas tender Teni lerand and true hoban adair the blue bells of scotland annie laurie and several old war songs then jessie proposed a rubber ot of waist and in the cut she became the partner of james blake jessie played well and they defeated the general and edith you dont know what a victory we have won declared jessie her eyes sparkling with pleasure plea burc papa and edith think themselves invincible and this Is 13 their first defeat lets go co to the conservatory I 1 want to show nir mr blake those lovely bulbs I 1 sent seat you yon from holland and leaving edith and the general to follow she escorted blake to the great glass house bouse with its arched root roof and wilderness of balnis ferns and flowers 1 I know this Is h not much of 0 a treat to you ventured jessie 1 I had forr for gotten that you have spent all of your life in california but I 1 havo have not spent all of my life in california blake said 1 I 1 lived lu in california only seven eleven or elect eight years and hat had little chance to study flowers what little knowledge I 1 have of 0 lowers floers date filatea back to my boyhood dass dais in new england new Engla englana nl what part of new england mr air blake massachusetts he answered proudly 1 I was born in boston less then than halt half a mile from where the tea was thrown overboard my mothers name was smith so im a yankee all over so am I 1 laughed jessie john hancock once lived in the house w where here I 1 was born and samuel adams was there many many times im as much of a hancock as edith though she wont admit it dont ou like boston better than san francisco mr blake really I 1 remember very little ot of boston replied blake when I 1 was nas a small boy we moved to yand from there to a farm near that part of my new england life most vivid in my memory clusters round tho the old farm arm in rocky woods did you live ilva in rocky woods the dark eyes opened vide mide and jes ki I 1 1 I g r sa fill g Z I 1 J I 1 wl f ji I 1 f T clil L f 1 1 I 1 drw va 1 1 ali ti I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 W t I 1 A I 1 I 1 11 1 A I 1 Z 1 ZI 7 1 N I 1 if r 1 t la W VIR lk y i 11 it f Z I 1 I 1 II 11 I 1 y w I 1 11 I 1 I 1 i I 1 1 1 e CY I 1 C ia t L I 1 M owr 1 cyd cy D laae 11 Z zo lanu i 11 1 I 1 I 1 ait sio looked wonderingly into blakes tace face why aes es I 1 lived there for several y years ears do you mean to tell rue that you ever beard ot of that desolate patch OL 01 rocks pines stone fences huckleberry swamps anil and cranberry marshes certainly I 1 have uncle tom mr bishop lived there tor for a generation and spends the summers skimmers there now mow I 1 have often been there it strange mr blake that both of 0 us are familiar with that out country where was your fathers farm it was then known as the old leonard farm do you know peter burt lived peter curt burt the old crazy man who used to pray at night from the top ot of the big rock yes sold said jessie softly with a little catch at her breath as the blood mounted to her cheeks checks james blake watched her face intently doth both were thinking of john burt burl but with in abat hat different emotions since the sun had set get a gulf had bad opened between john burt and james blake and jessie carden intuitively i ebe be tell felt that james blake knew john burt in a gash flash it occurred to her that blakes business with her father was as a subterfuge was he the bearor bearer of tidings from john burt perhaps john was dead it if alive why did to he not noti i come himself and you knew john marta burt I 1 remember now that he often spoke of you lie ile alwais called you Jl Ji maud rarely mentioned your last lait name dome and you roe ran abay auay an ay from home did you ever meet john burt in california mr blake james blake was not deceived by ills careless tone in which she asked this question with grim joy he be reflected that johns injunction tor for secrecy was still in force lie he mint either mislead jessie carden or prove false to his friend but for the first time the deceit was its his own and riot not EL a sacrifice tor for another of course I 1 knew john burt sald said blake reflectively dear old john I 1 owe him thirty live dollars when I 1 ran away aay from home be gave roe me every dollar he had and ivo ive not seen him since did you say la be had bad gone to california Californi aT Is that so EO no I 1 never dever saw him there and you knew him really miss carden I 1 almost feel as it if we were old acquaintances ah here comes sir mr a and d mrs 11 BI bishop b py I 1 had bad no ile idea it was so 0 o late d uc mr thomas bishop waa in introduced i r and after a brief conversation in abi which c h jessie acquainted her uncle with the fact that their agn guest e at was nine formerly from rocky woods blake excused himself lie he accept accepted edan an invitation vi to call again then we will continue our decol lec llona ot of kocl y woods miss ills 5 garden carden he said on leaving instructing bis big coachman to drive to his apart apartments menO james blake closed big eyes even and attempted to calmly review abat had bad happened ile ho found it impossible sible one emotion hold held mastery over him he was in love wildly and defiantly to in love with jessie carden lie he thought of arthur morris unit and bated baled him lie he thought of john burt and pitted pitied him neither should stani stand in hla his way could site she bo be engaged to lo arthur Alor morris ls now that lie had root met jessie carden he found himself unconsciously repeating john burts burls indignant declaration it Is a lie an infamous aleve lie it an engagement din did exist it should be as a barrier of mist to hi hla 8 ardent progress but she did not she could not love arthur morris did bid john burt burl lovo love her did iho love john burt these were the stinging burning 9 questions which scared cleared hla his brain but the clamor of his conscience was drowned in the louder din of bis big passion ile he had ball not yet reached a point where with calm he be could voice the brutal aphorism of moral and physical desperadoes all la Is fair in love and war ile he was eager to clear himself of self accused disloyalty to john curt burt andee clutched at any defense which dould serve as possible justification or extenuation john burt was his friend the founder of hla his fortunes fort unea the loyal trustful comrade to whom he owed all he was or could hope to be blake knew this and yet with ith the truth confront confronting ing him bud and pleading tor for justice the sophistic arguments and evasions of a vaulting passion came readily to hla big lips how do I 1 know john loves her lie he pleaded ile ho has not told rue me so lie ho has sent bent her no word he could have done so easy enough she does doer not know it if he be be dead or alive Is that the way tor for a over lover to act it if john has lost her it la Is ills his own fault perhaps he gave her up long ago honestly I 1 believe his hato hate for morris Is more to him than his affection for jessie carden thus quibbled james blake anak ered love loosens a million eloquent tongues to plead tor for self and palsies the voice which should speak for call ers era the love ot of a man for cor a oman Is tile the sublimation of ills egoism his unconscious exaltation of desire CHAPTER unreasoning passion in all the vast world only two persons knew that such a roan man as john burt burl lived james blake rind and peter durt burt john burt owned stock to la thou sands bands 0 of miles of railroads ile he was nilas an investor in other great enterprises said and activities an army of men worked under his direction and the stork market rose and tell fell at the pressure of 0 his unseen hand for years lie he had rebelled at the fate ate which had made him a recluse which denied him the fellowship and confidence 0 his peers lie he felt a keen joy oer the knowledge that the day was approaching pro aching then be coiled assume his true place in the world of vast affairs but of earths countless millions there was one above all others to 11 whom loan lie il wished sheil to tell ills his secret ile he impatiently awaited the time when ben he be could look into jessie gardens cardens tace and read the verdict in her eyes were years 0 of patient waiting and working to lc be rewarded or equit ed blake arrived at his office at an un till asua usua usually ily early hour on the morning fol follow following loIng ing his introduction to jessie carden lie he had bad spent a miserable night no sleep came to his bloodshot eyes and tor for hours he be restlessly paced the floor 1 I love her my an y god how bow I 1 love her but I 1 also love john he exclaimed again and again as the night hours crawled slowly away what shall I 1 do what can I 1 do I 1 cannot give her up by god ill not give her up for any roan man not even for john burt blurt would john surrender the abo woman he loved for me what am I 1 to do 40 I 1 must decide before I 1 see him it I 1 tell john she is in new york he be will see her inside of twenty tour hours that will be the end of my hopes she shall love me she must love me I 1 cannot live without her oh why did I 1 over ever see her in this unequal contest between loyalty and passion in a weak and self Pelf indulgent nature passion won the battle but at a frightful sacrifice his 1419 judgment warned him that he was doomed to defeat but with the frenzied led desperation ot of a gambler he be staked everything honor bonor friendship loyalty his business career all on an the turn of 0 a card and dared to meet J olin john eurt burt with treachery in hla his heart and a lie on his hia lips blake knew that thai john burt was wa to in his private office but for the first time la in his lire life he hesitated to enter cater it IL prosperity had erected no wall ot of formality between these two F from thy flay ay they ought fought their boyish battle on an the edge of 0 the flailing fishing pool they had bad called each other john and jim in tacitly accepting john burts leadership blake recognized in hla his companion those traits which attract allegiance and which hold it by unseen but Row powerful erful bands by a display of tact which amounted to genius john burt had bad aided james biake without patronizing him bill arid bad forgiven his repeated repealed mistakes without offending him dilke blake strolled slowly through the connecting offices and entered the large room reserved for customers those who knew the famous operator bowed respectfully blake glazed gazed absentmindedly at a bulletin board containing the tbt early london and paris quotations ile he read them but they had no meaning he was thoroughly abjectly miserable who Is that gentleman raked a smooth checked cheeked and dapper young man who had embarked ked on hla his first venture by risking the major part of nil his quarterly allowance ance ibby don t you yell know exclaimed his bid companion 1 I should have introduced you oil james alake the famous and only james bl blake a ke five years ago ho he have a d ollar dollar twenty millions in five years la Is his record and it enlarged hla big hat in tho the least ile he tells a good story rings kings a good song and no man in tho the club can drink him under the table to be continued |