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Show ! I The Mardi Gras Mystery ; t' ; H CHAPTER XII Continued. B . -10- "Very well, then, tlio meeting Is B railed to order I" Jncliln I'cll smiled - 91 ns lie rapped on the desk before Idtn. B "Kleitlon of ofllcers no, wultl The H frPt thing on luind Is to gle our com- I H puny n nnnie. Suggestions?" B "I was thinking of Hint Inst night," H paid Lucle. smiling n little. "Why not , B call It the 'American Prince Oil emu. B puny'?" And her eyes dnrted to Gru- H nuint merrily. "excellent I" exclolmcd Jncliln Fell. "lly vote fnlls with yours, my dear M I'll' nil In the hlnnks with Hint name. B jcow to the election of olllcers." - H "I nominate Jncliln Fell for presl- BlV .i..M tinlil nrnmnnf. nulrklv H "Seconded 1" exclaimed the girl, H gnjly, a little color In her pnle cheeks. H "Any other nominations? If not, so H approved nnd ordered," rattled Fell, laughingly. "For the olllcc of treasurer" treas-urer" "Miss Lucle Lcdannlsl" said Gra-niont. Gra-niont. "Move nominations be closed." "Seconded and cnrrlcd by n two-thirds two-thirds vote of stockholders." chirped Fell In his toneless voice. "So approved ap-proved nnd ordered. For secretary " "Our third stockholder," put In Lu-cle. Lu-cle. "He'll have to bo an olllcer, of course!" "Seconded nnd carried. So approved nnd ordered." Mr. Fell rapped on the tnhle. "We will now have the report of our expert geologist In further detail de-tail than yet given." Grnmont told of Ending the oil; he was not cnrrled away by the Ray niock-polemnlty of Jncliln Fell, nnd ho remained prove. He went on to relnte how he had secured the lease option upon the ndjolnlng Innd. nnd suggested suggest-ed that other such options be secured i at once upon other property In the neighborhood. He hnnded the option to Fell, who laid It with the other documents. "And now I have It proposal of my "1 own to make," said .Tachln Fell. He appeared sobered, as though Inllu-enced Inllu-enced by Gramont's manner. "Although "Al-though we've nctunlly found oil on the place, there Is no means of telling how much we'll find when we drill, or whnt quality It will be. Is that not correct, Mr. Grnmont?" "Kntlrely so," assented Grnmont. i "The chances are, of course, that we'll J find oil In both quality nnd qunntlty. "Aj On the other hand, the seepage may be I all there Is. Oil Is a gamble from start to finish. Personally, however, I I would gamble heavily on this pros- "Naturally," said Mr. Fell, "now ever, I have been talking over the oil H business with n number of men nctlvc- ly engaged In It In the Ilouma field. I H think that I may safely say thnt I can dispose of the mineral rights to our company's land, together with this H lease option secured yesterday on the adjoining land, for a sum approximate ing one hundred nnd fifty thousand k dollars; reserving to our company a JtL sixteenth Interest In nny oil located M on the property. Personally', I believe U this can be done, and I am willing to I undertake the negotiations If so cm- powered by a vote of our stockhold- ers. Lucle, you do not mind If we smoke. I know? Let mo offer you a cigar, Mr. Grnmont" Grnmont took one offered him, and lighted It amid a startled silence. j "I Nominate Jaehln Fell for Presl. H dent," Said Qramont Quickly. J Fell's proposal come to him as n dis-WM dis-WM tlnct shock, and alrendy ho was view-Hi view-Hi 'Ing It In the light of prompt suspicion. WS "Why," exclaimed Lucle, wlld-cyad, I that would be fifty thousand dollars MM to each of us, and not a cent ex-V ex-V ipended i" B "In case It went through on thnt K basis," added Jncliln Fell, his eyes on mx iGramont, "r would vote that the entlro H sum go to Miss Lednnols. Iler Innd ML alone Is Involved. If she then wishes J to Invest with us In a new company R to exploit other fields, well nnd good. m 'One moment, my dear I Do not pro- m 'test this suggestion. The sixteenth B Interest reserved to our company J would provide both Mr. Gruraont and .me with n substantial rewurd for our H slight activity 'in the mntter. Don't K 'forget thai interest, for It might I amount to a large figure." "night," assented Grnmont. "I b Tould socond your vote, Mr. Fell; I E 'think the Idea very Just aud proper ' By H. BEDFORD-JONES Copyrlcht by Doubleday, Pate Co. thnt Miss Lednnols should receive the entire amount." Lucle seemed n trifle bewildered. "Hut but, Henry I" she excluimed. "What do you think of selling tho lease to these other men?" Grnmont eyed the smoke from his cigar reflectively, quite conscious that Mr. Fell was regarding him very steadily. "I can't answer for you, Lucle," he said at last. "I would not presume to advise." Mr. Fell looked slightly relieved. Lucle, however, persisted. 'Whnt would you do, then, If you were In my place?" Gramont shrugged his shoulders. "In mut case," he said, slowly, "I would gamble. We know oil Is In thnt ground; we know that It has been found In large quantities nt Houmn or near there. To my mind there Is no doubt whutoer thnt under your land He n part of the same oil field and a rich one. To sell fifteen-sixteenths of that oil for a hundred and fifty thousand thou-sand Is to give It nwny. I would sooner take my chances on striking a twenty-thousand twenty-thousand bnrrel gusher and hnvlng the whole of It to myself. However, by all means disregard my words; that Is not my affair." Lucle glanced nt Jaehln Fell. "Ypu think It Is the best thing to do; Henry does not," mused the girl. "I know that you're both thinking of mc of getting thnt money for me. Just the snme, Uncle Jaehln, I I won't be prudent 1 I'll gamble I Uesldcs," she added with smiling naivete, "I'm not n hit willing to give up having a real oil company the very minute It Is formed 1 So we'll outvote you, Uncle Jaehln." Despite their tension, the two men smiled nt her finnt words. "That motion of mine has not yet been tnnde," suld Fell. Her rejection of his proposal had no effect upon his shyly smooth manner. "Will you excuse ex-cuse Us one moment, Lucle? If I may speak with you In the outer ofllce, Mr. Gramont, I would like to show you some confidential matters which might Influence your decision In this regnrd." Lucle nodded and leaned back In her chnlr. Grnmont accompanied Fell to the outer otllce, where Fell sent the stenographer ste-nographer to keep Lucle company. When the door bad closed and they fterc alone. Fell took a chair and motioned mo-tioned Gramont to another. A cold brusquerlc was evident In his manner. man-ner. "Grnmont." he said, briskly, "I am going to mnko thnt motion, and I want you to vote with mc against Lucle. Unfortunately, I have only a third of the voting power. I might argue Lucle Into agreement, but she Is a difficult person to argue with. So I mean thut you shall vote with me nnd I'm going to put my cards on the table before you." "Ahl" Gramont regarded him coolly. "Your cards will havo to bo powerful persuaders 1" "They arc," returned Jaehln Fell. "I bave been carefully leading up to this point the point of selling. I have practically arranged the whole affair. I propose to self-the mineral rights In that laud, largely on the strength of the signed statement you gave me a few moments ago. That statement Is going to be given wide publicity, nnd It will bo substantiated by other reports re-ports on the oil seepage." "You Interest me strangely." Grnmont Grn-mont leaned back in his chair. The eyes of the two men met and held In cold challenge, cold hostility. "Whnt's your motive, Fell?" "I'll tell you: It's the interest or Lucle Lcdanols." In tho gazo of Fell was a strange enrncstuess. In those pale gray eyes was now a light of flerco sincerity which startled and warned Grnmont. Fell continued with n trace of excitement In his tone. "I've known thut girl all her life, Gramont, nnd I love her as a father. I loved her mother before her In n different wny. I can tell you that nt this moment Lucle Is poor. Her house Is mortgnged. she docs not know, In fact, Just how poor she really Is. Of course, she will accept no money from mc In gift. Hut for her to get a hundred hun-dred and fifty thousand In n business deal will solve ull her problems, set her on her feet for life!" "I see," snld Gramont with "harsh Impulse. "Whut do you get out of It?" He regretted tho words Instantly. Fell half rose from his chair as though to answer them with a blow. Grnmont, nwure of his mistake, hastened to retract re-tract It. "Forgive mc, Fell," ho said, quickly. "That was au unjust Insinuation, and I know It. Yet, I can't find myself In agreement with you. I'm firmly set In the belief that a fortune In oil will be made off thnt innd of Lucie's. I simply sim-ply can't agree to sell out for n comparative com-parative pittance, nnd I'll fight to persuade per-suade her against doing Iti As I look at It, the thing wtauld not be Just to her. I'm thinking, as you are, only of her Interest." A light of sardonic mockery glittered glit-tered In the pnle eyes of Jncliln Fell. "You are basing your firm conviction," convic-tion," ho queried, "very largely upon your discovery of the free oil?" "To n large extent, yes." "I thought you would," and Fell laughed harshly, "Whnt do you mean?" "I mean' said the other, fiercely earnest, "that for a month I've worked to sell that land I I had young Mall-lard Mall-lard hooked and landed It would have been poetic Justice to make him hand over a small fortune to Lucle I But that deal Is off, since he's In Jail. And do you know why young Mntltard wanted to buy the land? For tho same reason you don't want to sell, I sent him out thcro and he saw thnt oil sccpngc, as I meant thnt he should! He thought he would skin Lucle out of her Innd, not dreaming that I had prepared a nice little trap to swallow swal-low lilm. And now you come along " "Man, whnt are you driving nt?" exclnlmcd ex-clnlmcd Gramont. Ho was startled by what he rend In the other tnnn's fncc. "Merely that I planted that oil seep-ago seep-ago inj self or had It dono by men I could trust," said Jaehln Fell, calmly. He sat back In his chair and took up his cigar with an air of finality. "The "I See," Said Qramont With Harsh lm-pulse. lm-pulse. "What Do You Get Out of It?" confession Is shnmeless. I love Luclo more than my oWn ethical purity. Ue-sldes, Ue-sldes, I Intend to wrong no one In the matter." Gramont sat stunned beyond words. The oil seepage a plant. . There wus no renson to doubt what Fell said. Gramont believed the little man sincere In his love for Lucle. "No mntter what the outcome, your reputation will not bo n fleeted," said Fell, quietly. "The company which will buy this land of Lucie's Is controlled con-trolled by me. You understand? Even If no oil Is ever found there. I shnll see to It that you will not be Injured because of that signed stntcment." Gramont nodded In dull comprehension. comprehen-sion. He realized that Fell had devised de-vised this whole business scheme with lnfernnl Ingenuity; had devised It In order to tnke a hundred and fifty thousand thou-sand dollars out of his own pocket and put It Into thnt of Lucle. It was a present which the girl would never accept ac-cept as a gift, but which, If It came In the way of business, would make her financially Independent. Nobody would be defrauded. There wns no chicanery about It. The thing was straight enough. "That's not quite all of my plan," pursued Fell, as though reading Gramont's Gra-mont's unuttered thoughts. "The minute min-ute this news becomes public, the minute min-ute your statement Is published, there will be n tremendous boom In thnt whole section. I shall take charge of Lucie's money, nnd within three weeks I should double It, treble It, for her. Before the boom bursts she will be out of It nil, and wealthy. Now, my dear Gramont, I do not presume that you will still refuse to vote with mc? I have been quite frank, you see." Grnmont stirred In bis chnlr. "Ycsl" ho suld, low-voiced. "Yes, by heavens, I do refuse I" With an effort ho checked hotly Impulsive Im-pulsive words that were on his tongue. One word now might ruin htm. Ho dared not say thnt he did not want to see Fell's money pass Into the hnnds of Lucle money gained by fraud and theft and crime I He dured not give his reasons for refusing. He meant now to crush Fell utterly but one wrong word would give the man full warning. He mnst suy nothing. "It's not straight work, Fell. Regardless Re-gardless of your motives, I refuse to join you." Jaehln Fell sighed slightly, nnd laid down tils cigar with precision. "Grumout," his voice came with the softly purring menace of a tiger's throat-tone, "I shall now adjourn this company meeting for two days, until Saturday morning, In order to give you a little time to reconsider. Today Is Thursday. Ily Saturday" "I need no time," said Gramont. "Cut )ou will need It. I suppose you know thut Hob Malllard has been arrested for parricide? You are aware of the evidence against him all circumstantial?" cir-cumstantial?" (TO DB CONTINUED.) |