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Show ffljTc IASH CIROMSX41CE yfjim' &x Harry I&ving Greene M'JU Aitlhor o"Yosonde of 1be Wilderness"" Js?-f?jtj$ IlKisTrcLiions ry Magnus O. KLe-ttner- ;-rr- - OjrnwjuT I9v ay w.o.giaiah .sta2rf-,"?tt''V. t?. "Bruce," I said after a mcmatt. He opened his eyes and looked at me vacantly, but made no reply. In a general way I attempted to console him, but he only shook his head in silence, si-lence, and finding my efforts unrewarded unre-warded I finally abandoned them. Ordering Or-dering a mild decoction for myself, I touched his glass and drank to the hope that better times might soon be on the wing. He emptied his glass without reply, and sank back into his dajected posture. Five minutes later he seemed to be half asleep, and I determined to take him bodily in hand. Not wishing to have him seen in that condition by any friends who might chance to enter, I shook him Into a semblance of life. Then making ma-king him take my arm. I assisted him into the open air. Darkness had already al-ready fallen and the lights of the skyscrapers were beginning to sparkle. He lurched heavily against me, and seeing that his condition was rapidly becoming hopeless, I signaled a cab, opened the door and thrust him inside. in-side. He fell upon the seat, muttering mutter-ing some address to which he wished to be taken and I turned to the 1ehu a minute a hundred men will jump forth and hammer and saw and toil from morning until night. And the results of ail their labor will be mine because while they work for you, you belong to ma. 1 could buy men, women wom-en or souls with you but I won't. 1 am just going to breed you. I am going go-ing to breed you until you get me another an-other like yo'urself, and then I am going go-ing to do It all over again. And you will never got away from me on this earth, either." He turned to me with that disgusting leer of liis. "Tom, how many of these beautiea have you siuved up?" S sr v - a-. k&r , i v a vy ' fK3m Y Viz go ahead, young millionaire. But 1 will charge you for break' ast here, anyway. Don't you foisv. that." "I will be home at nine o'clock, the usual Sunday breakfast hour." I returned re-turned in an unruffled tone. He snorted and rang off without deigning to reply further, and I hung up the receiver with the feeling that I had done my part towards a reconciliation. reconcilia-tion. For the present at least, the matter must rest where it was. Then calling up the hotel office and leaving an order for them to awaken me at seven o'clock, I locked the door and turned cut the light. At the ringing of the call bell the next morning at the hour I had designated. des-ignated. I arose and 'began my toilet. I had slept but little, and that little was more like the semi-consciousness which comes from exhaustion rather than the slumber of repose. I felt tin-refreshed, tin-refreshed, despondent, self-angry. Nor was my appearance in the glass satisfactory sat-isfactory as I ran my eyes over my reflection. I had little desire for breakfast, but inasmuch as I had told Uncle Abner that I would be present at that occasion, I paid my bill and took a car homeward. The morning was a mldsummerday dream. The foliage had been bathed by a night shower and the air was perfumed' with the incense of growing green things. As I passed up the walk among the oaks I could not but realize how beautiful beau-tiful the grounds were despite their unkemptness, and that it would cost me a pang after all to leave this place permanently should my quarrel quar-rel with its owner develop to that acute stage. For it was under these trees that I had passed so many pleasant pleas-ant hours with Clare, or wandering through the marble halls of my air castles. Mrs. Tebbets admitted me upon my summons; but no sooner had I entered the sleepy halls than my fondnes for the place vanished At Last in One of the Dark Closets I Found Him. who was propping him up. "He will be all right in a couple of hours. At present he is not fee ing particularly well and should be taken care of," I said significantly. The other oth-er nodded his understanding. Then with brief instructions for him to handle his charge right side up with care, I turned away as he picked up the reins. I formulated my own plans for the evening. In my then state of mind, I did not care to exert myself, prefer-ing prefer-ing to go where I could sit quietly and be entertained by others. I decided de-cided upon the theater. A block further fur-ther on I happened across a banking acquaintance, who, upon my Invitation, Invita-tion, joined me. At the end of the performance we emerged. It was now in the neighborhood of 11 o'clock, and, shaking hands, we parted for the night. Having thrown down my key to the house, I decided to stay downtown until un-til morning. Crossing the street, I entered en-tered the Pacific hotel. I knew the clerk at the desk, and saluting him by name, I asked him to assign me to a rcom a few floors up and fronting on the alley, such a location being quieter quiet-er in the early morning hours than a room facing the street. He gave me the key and a bell boy immediately showed me to my number. Not being accustomed to retiring before be-fore 12, I was not in the least sleepy. Leaving the light burning, I threw myself upon the bed as scene by'scene I ran the film of the events of the day before my mental eyes. And so deeply deep-ly did I become engrossed in this that when I aroused myself and looked at my watch It was after midnight. 1 arose and stood before the mirror, searching my own face keenly, my mind still reverting to 1 my quarrel with my uncle and Its probable future consequences. While I did not imagine imag-ine that in his present state of mind he would be particularly concerned as to where I was, I resolved to call him up and advise him of my whereabouts. It did not seem that it could do any harm, and, undoubtedly it was good policy to try and conciliate him now that we had given full vent to our spleen. Going to the wall telephone, I asked for his number, and a moment later heard his querulous voice over the wire as he demanded to know who it was that called him at that hour. I answered him with the quietness quiet-ness I always strove to employ except ex-cept upon rare occasions when I lor the moment lost command of myself. I wished him well and told him where I was and that I had decided to remain re-main downtown for the night. liis answering sentences exploded in my ear like distant firecrackers. "That's right. Just like you. Spending Spend-ing your money for hotel bills when you have a better bed at home.. And I suppose you will pay those pirates a dollar for your breakfast. All right. feel pretty well battered up. He used me pretty rough, and I thought ha was going to kill me. I am rather old and not very strong, you know, and cannot stand as much as I could once upon a time. I could not identify the man if I saw him by daylight, but I heard him cough in a peculiar way as he was choking; me." He stopped speaking and the ghost of his old foxlike smile came creeping out of the corners of his mouth. "But I will bet he did not get much, the infernal in-fernal villain. Everything of value was locked up in the old strong box. You maye be sure I took good care to that." We at the bedside shot significant glances from one to another in the silence. I disliked to break the news of his loss to him, not knowing what kind of a scene he would make, but decided I might as well do so now as at any other time. "They got whatever what-ever money was in the safe, uncle." I said. "They blew the combination into old junk and cleaned out the currency cur-rency to the last cent." He uttered a gasp and tried to sit up, but the physician pushed him back upon the pillow. "Burglarized the safe! Got all the money!" he yelled, hoarsely, his eyes rolling upward eo that the whites were to be seen. The expression upon his face was a ghastly reflection of the shock to his soul, and despite his miserliness I felt scrry for him as I grasped one twitching hand. His cheeks turned to the yellowish white of a fish's belly as he straightened out to his full length with a groan that was horrifying in Its death mimicry. (TO BE CONTINUF.D.) m the old depression which always came upon me as I viewed their loneliness. It was like passing Into a vault, cheerless, gloomy, the echoes mocking my footsteps. I went straight to my own room. The door was closed between where I was and my' uncle's apartment, and I stood listening. Usually Usu-ally he was up and could be heard puttering around before this, but now all was silence beyond. I opened the door that separated our quarters and stepped forward. But on the threshold I stopped with my eyes sweeping the scene that lay before me. The room was In a state of disorder. Everywhere was to be seen the hand of violence. Bureau drawers had been ransacked and left yawning; the bed was a twisted tangle of sheets and crumpled pillows; clothing was scattered scat-tered about the floor. But what was more startling than anything else was the condition of the iron safe. Its combination had been shattered by some powerful explosive and its door, standing wide, gave a full view into its looted interior. With the sweat starting from my forehead I rushed forward. I inspected it with a glance. No money remained in it, but the papers looked as though they had not been disturbed beyond a general overhauling. overhaul-ing. I swept my eyes about the room and under the bed. No glimpse of my uncle rewarded me and I ran from the room with loud calls for Mrs. Tebbets. Teb-bets. It was her custom not to disturb dis-turb us of Sunday mornings until she announced breakfast, and that she knew nothing of the condition of affairs af-fairs in the upper part of the house had been evidenced by her ordinary demeanor as she admitted me. From room to room of the upper story I went In rapid search of the missing one, and at last, in one of the dark closets I found him and dragged him forth. He was bound hand and foot, and I bent over him and shook him. He seemed to be rather more unconscious uncon-scious than otherwise, but he certainly certain-ly was alive. Puffing up the stairs in response to 1 SYNOPSIS. Abner ITuMirijiy, a miserly millionaire. Id found KMKK'Jil. bounrl anil Insensible 111 hl.s room. Iil.t Haft) rilled am W.fyiO ml.ss-Jntf. ml.ss-Jntf. The thread of the Hloiy is taken up by his nephew Torn. LivlnK in the name houHo Hre oilier relallvea; reekless iirueu XlMlliday and pretty Clare WlnLon. CHAPTER II. (Continued.) happened to mm t Bruce one day ft! -ur noon luncheon. It was Saturday Satur-day aflernoon and my work was tin-IkKbiI tin-IkKbiI for the week. Ho came Into the pr,i where I sat and dropped heavily Iritfi ii Hunt beside me. His appearance caused me to whirl upon him. His face was drawn tense as the skin of a drum, his eyes wore heavy as though with a great weariness, and his hands aspeu .In their shaklness. He had (he haunted look of a man who has been crushed, soul and body, by Mime appalling disaster. Marveling Marvel-ing at the evil transformation which had come over him, I let my hand fall upon his shaking fingers. "What is it, Bruce?" I cried sharply, sharp-ly, lie blotted the perspiration from hln lace and answered me hoarse as a crow. "U is all up. They have wiped me out clean as a whistle. Had everything every-thing 1 could rake and scrape on "System' stock, and she has gone straight to the bottommost pit of inferno. in-ferno. And 1 was forty thousand to the good and was going to quit forever for-ever at fifty thousand and marry Clare'." He burst Into tears. "And now 1 can't marry her, for I am ruined, busted, blown up, shot to pieces. If any one should give me an Hiitrmiobile I couldn't raise the wind to fill Its tires." His head dropped forward, and wiping his eyes dry he sat with chest heaving. 1 stared at him. "How much did It sink?" I asked Blowly after a moment. He waved his hands helplessly. "It didn't sink; It didn't take time to do that. It just plunged, dived, sihUH'.od dropped like a tan of lead in h vacuum. I was wiped out before I could yell 'keno' and crook a linger. Oh, the miserable shame of It! Ass unspeakable! Fool unmentionahls! Idiot unutterable! Ass! Idiot! Fool!" Shocked but helpless I surveyed him In silence. Presently his voice , aroso again, this time angrily. "But that stock is only temporarily knocked down, and is bound to come up smiling Icng before the count, it was that damnable published lie that started the panic, and the scare will be over in 24 hours when the truth is known. If I only had $10,000 more I could get back in good shape in no time. Hut I can't beg. borrow or steal one-ten; h of that sum. I'm an alley-Itifortir". alley-Itifortir". I'rre-'nrch pauper who crn't even i bis soal because Old Nick fjguvej he'll get it anyway free gratis. And there's our dear Uncle Abner sitting sit-ting up there in his den this very minute min-ute plowing his fingers aud nose through 5 1 0,000 that he has just collected col-lected In currency. I was up to see him In a dying effort to get him to slake me, but he only grinned at me like a totom pole and kept on counting count-ing the bales of yellow backs until I wanted to yell and had to run away to get shut of it." He got upon his feet ami in his anger banged the table with a metal object which he had tightly clenched in his fist. "But I've simply get to get ten thousand thou-sand !';-." a month or two, I tell you, and I'm going to do it." Then suddenly sud-denly subsiding he turned to me in helpless importunity. "You couldn't .tpf.te mo anything in the shape of an idv.anc". could you, eld man?" The pathos of the appeal touched rue, but 1 shook, my head. "No, Bruce. I can i-'ve ye i nothing to speculate with," 1 replied quietly. He got up with a ib-sp.-'iring shrug of his shoulders. shoul-ders. msMcd a hurried goodby and v.t.s off o.i what was doubtless some last !tvp::!r1r.? ;uest. I saw no good iii v.g ' detain him and there- 'love i: :!;; no effort to call him back. The. ; of what he had told me ! . fitit ,1 mind to the .exclusion of all f el. o. 1' -as lad news, very lad tie v. s, i:;C :::' . r,n I knew that Clare would ,' l:i,'u' ; ilid, she 'would take his I fni (hit .5 la-ep into her own heart. And ! viis ;4 iaSorat"o stmnie, 'too. Forty 't fcivaVAiul " dollars was a mapnificoot j HMfi .vbag ih read to fortune for a iii'.tti'.i s'y twenty-eight vers old, and ly'-V.v"!..! pro' ably be many years be-frfs'e be-frfs'e lie - coub! climb that h!yh naain. 'l'h'o '.('errcss or the cat-tstrvpha Vas ii! Jtinct shock to me. For an i.k::- 1 pj nderc d over it eeeply. then, aii: '::;', took my own drpaiture home-vav;l. home-vav;l. V'ne'e Abr."r was still nosing around iiitiora his stacks of currency as I j uteri-d. He glanced up at me qulck-jy qulck-jy - 1 evened the door, then, ignoring j vne, picked up a thousand dollar bill ' rind be,an talking to it. "Hoof, at me, you beauty. Of course you' don'. know how I got you, but I'm goirs to tell you. I schemed (or you cays and laid awake for you nights. I sweat fcr you and 1 set Iraps for you and denied myself for you, and finally I got you. You led , me a pretty chase, but in the end 1 captured you because I had my soul net upon you. And why did I want i ytn,? Because you are the concentration concentra-tion of stored energy. All I have to f do Is turn you loose in the world and ' lt hark In my chair and watch. In , Not any. Aud it doesn t look as though I ever would at the price I pay you for second-class board and lodgings." lodg-ings." He leaped to his feet in a quivering rage, for the moment made speechless by my unprecedented insolence in-solence in daring to resent his insults. But his voice came to him soon enough. Grimacing like a chimpanzee chimpan-zee he fairly squealed in his anger. "Second-class lodgings! You never had enough money in your life to buy a quarter of it. And you never will have, either, you spendthrift. If 1 didn't charge you for your living you would have just that much more to go to the dogs with. You ought to thank me for it. Second-class board! You will be glad to get a bone to gnaw yet, you puppy." Suddenly he subsided to a sneer and began smoothing my coat over like a prospective buyer of old clothes. "This suit, how much did it cost you, huh?" "Fifty dollars." "And the rest of that trousseau that you wear around In the mud, including includ-ing the overcoat?" "1 don't know. I never figured it up. Probably seventy-five more." He sat down with a thump and sat glaring at me as liis voice gradually rose again. 1 "A hundred and twenty-five dol-l;s' dol-l;s' worth of dry goods on your back as you strut around the streets! And on your salary!" He popped up like a jack-in-the-box and stood before me, scarecrow-like, with arms outstretched and his clothes hanging in shapeless pouches from his slat-like frame. "Look at me! This suit cost me nine dollars and I have worn.it for a year. My shirt cost 40 cents, my collar six and my necklio eight. Mean to say I am not as well dressed as you?" "That is a matter of personal opinion. opin-ion. Anyway, it is none of your business busi-ness so long as I pay you for my living. liv-ing. At any rate I have never had to ask you for money." Ho reached forward for-ward with his long arm and began thumping me on the chest with his bony knuckles. "Hey! Wouldn't you though if you thought you could get it? Wouldn't you though, Mr. Peacock, with your 5ne clothes, if you thought you could wheedle a doliar out of me? But you know your Uncle Abner ain't fool enough to let you have it. I'd rather trust it to Bruce, for with all his foolishness fool-ishness he has got twice the sense that you have. He takes chances and some day may win a fortune, while you only spend, spend, spend. Get a cent from me! I'd like to see you." With a quick run he gathered up the money, shoved it into the safe, spun the combination until it rattled like a roul-elte wheel and faced me again with his nose wrinkled. I faced him in a boiling rage. Fcr while I had always cherished the natural and legitimate le-gitimate hope that I, as his next of kin, might some day profit by reason of his accumulative instincts, he could have left hi-; money strewn broadcast throughout the house from the time 1 had first cc:ae to live with him and I would not have touched a dollar ot it, even had I known I never wouid be even suspected. Furthermore, r.oa.e had a btiler reputation for honesty than myself, and his everlasting treat-uar.t treat-uar.t ol' i,:e ss a potential thi.-.f had always nauseated nte. Not caring how ho might regard the act, I dre the Lay to the front door from my pocket' and fiar.a" it on tli ta.Me before him. It was tha only key to the bouse I had ever w s.ssul and its surrender j left me withenr means of entrance, i but i!l:oi:t pno'Ufr word I stalked! out into the opn. banging the door j U'iaa.d mo. NY-vex had I been In a I mere vil'.a.inoas mood thftii now a3 I strode i!'.:vu;'a the trees on my ccay t':ov, at own. I de iicd to see Bruce again. I was concerned to know just what turn his rh'spr.ruler.ey might take, and I thoirjAt ' that I might cheer him up a bit.' Knowing Know-ing usual place of habitat in his hours of recroK! ion i' w as not long lie-love lie-love I had laca'.al him. lie was humped up buzzard-like in a semi;prl-va'e semi;prl-va'e rcom of a cafe, his bands sound-' i"S thy deptns of his pockets and his F.iin resting upon his breast. A cocktail, cock-tail, apparently tintasted. stood on the table before him. 1 sat dqwn on the oiher tide of the board, noticing that his eyes were closed. He had the general appearance of a man who had been drinking. Ordinarily Ordi-narily immaculate of person, he was now semi-disreputable. He had -not shavod that day, his necktie was disarranged dis-arranged and his hair rumpled. However, How-ever, as I had never known him to be the worse for liquor, I was Inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt In this case and ascribe his unkemptness unkempt-ness to brooding over his misfortune. my cries, Mrs. Tebbets reached me just as I had finished my hasty diagnosis. diag-nosis. I immediately removed a handkerchief hand-kerchief which had been tied around his mouth, slashed the cords which bound him, and together we carried him to my room and placed him upon the bed. I tore open his night garment gar-ment and examined him superficially, but could discover no marks of physical physi-cal violence save about the throat. There it was red and puffy. Mrs. Tebbets, Teb-bets, in a hysteria of excitement, was useless as an assistant, and hastening to the telephone I called up first Doctor Doc-tor Courtney, our family physician, and then the nearest police station. After that I went back to the victim. vic-tim. He was breathing more freely now that the handkerchief, had been removed, re-moved, and presently his 7eyes opened and he stared at me. When I spoke to him, however, he did not answer. Having done everything for him that I could think of for the moment, I sat down upon the edge of the bed to await the arrival of those whom I had summoned. CHAPTER III. Doctor Courtney arrived first. Up the drive he came whirring in his light electric runabout, and darting through the door which the housekeeper house-keeper held wide for him, was by the patient's side in a few seconds. To-r.ciher To-r.ciher we made a thorough examination examina-tion of the reviving man. The physi- i cian tested his temperature, his heart i and reflexes, afterward addressing me concisely. "It Is nothing serious. There is no permanent injury and he will be all right as soon as he recovers from the shock. He seems to have been severely se-verely choked, but the re was no chloroform chloro-form or other drug administered."' He gave the patient a stimulant, and 1 was much relieved to see my uncle respond to it favorably as the patrol wagon arrived. A foment later a r;rovtp of officers piloted by Mrs. Tebbets Teb-bets swarmed into the room. In a few words I explained to them the condition condi-tion of affairs as I bad found them, aud in twos and threes they went trooping over the house from top to bottom in a survey of the safe, the doors and shutters and other things of interest to them. Th'.n they came lack to us. Uncle Abner by this tii-.e w as ab'e to speak in a low voice, j and tha csrsa'n, sea'ing himself, rle- m-n:Vd that be be told a'l that t he j pitferefl o-e knew of the ailsir. Sfili-i syeakk'p; with more or less dlff.culiy. Uacle Abnr addressed 113. "I was sound as'.e p. The reotrt was vt 1 y dark and I knew of no rsrs; mi-tis.ta! mi-tis.ta! until 1 awoke and found injvelf r.i". lined lo the keel by a hsavy man. lie was, cltoltina- rae and pressing ray -1 . 1 - - s ro l-el'-lessness beneath his l-.-jfa-a 1 hi r-a'ttpted to strugg'e, but j ceu'd do .liHle more than squirm be- I 'icaih his strctiglb. liv used a good deal, of farce, ard in a f"w nwicttts 1 my senses- left iv.a. 1 kaew tutiag; iint'e i-niil 1 awoke an:! found ; self j in some dark ho c. 1 rolled a'. a !i:t'e, and from the c'oieaess of the j w.-.l's to each ether knew it v. :: s a closet. There was z handkerchief in j rnv mouth and i ccuid no; ca 1 tor , !.".' p. Anyway it would have been J useless, for there was nobody else on j the premises but Mrs. Tebbeis, and 1 j knew if she should awake and attempt to come to my assistance or give the alarm my assailants would do something some-thing to render her helpless if they had not already dene so. Therefore I desisted attempting to make a noise. After awhile I must have lost my senses again, for all is blank to me from them up to the time I awoke-here awoke-here a few moments ago. I do not believe that more than one man had hold of me, as I heard nothing to Indicate In-dicate that he had companions. He may have had, however, for ! could see nothing in the darkness. I do not bolieve that I am hurt very much, but I am considerably exhausted and v. J ' "Tom, How Many of These Beauties Have You Saved Uo?" |