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Show H t mmmmmmmm. ... H ; rtv"" Hased on GJI.Broadhurst's Successful Piny jfcj I HI 7'ZttS' i4JV JH I I BY J I Albert I Patsom I I I ff BRHUNB H I C0PYRIGHT.19O7 BY " H: W7 t7ic advantages of Hj youth, education and good looks Hl and no vocation other than the jj enjoyment of wealth, the hero of H'j our present story chose rather Hj to sacrifice his case and com- K fort on the altar of his duty as a H ' citizen. His city called him to M i save her from spoliation and M I corruption, and he responded to m ! the call. To lure him from the M path of right came the seduc- M tions of love and the claims of a M revered parent's memory, allied m with the mighty forces at the B command of political and finan- m cial malefactors. The firmness B with which "the man of the 1 hour," singled out for the high- PH est past in a great municipality PH j by those who saw in him only Hfl ' a-ivualtling and a tool, resisted BBa 1 the very forces that had elevated him for their own purposes t H j official power will be an inspi- BP jj ration to the reader, as it haa H been an uplifting force in the H I minds of thousands who have witnessed its theatrical rcprc- H ncntation.' M OUAI'THU H .' I UtIJ country house of Charles PH 1 Wuliiwrlghr, (lriiuu-lcr, topped I the ridge overlooking the water H A In a climax or architectural hid- ooiisness ami extravagant cost. 'I'lio BBl grounds of Charles Wnlnwrlght, lluan BBl dor, Htrctched out Into counties acres BBl of landscape gardening. Tlio whole es- BH tnte of Charles Walnwrlght. Iluniieler, BBl eclipsed thoe of lilt neighbors In the BB fashionable suburb, even as the uaiiu' pBl. of Charles Walnwright, lluancler. BB eclipsed almost every other In the citj world where money ruled as undls- BH puted and absolute mquareh. BB Uvon when he turned from the bus. BB tte of t-lty ami fellow money liullders BBl ami ought for a space the t-hnplo life BH on his $'J,."00,(H)(( country place, with BHl Its modest equipment of forty-one sorv- H ants, Mr. WalnwriKht so far carried BHl Into the wilds the ntmospheio of hui- BBl ucs and the harden of other men's BH .wealth ns to hno a very 'omplete llt- H tie stockbroker room titled up adjoin- H Int.- his big llhrury and to Keep a man BH night and day at his private wire. BH Charles WalnwriKht. (lunueier, was a BH liaclielor. No obese or stutuesiue wife BH carried about with her a portable nil , vorth-einent of his wealth In the shape BH of fabulously valuablo Jewels or made BH his inline renowned in opera box, New- BH,, port casino or Lenox cottage, ills only H'j brother liad died years before, leaving BH- & a mere beggarly million dollars or so H'iJ and two children to divide It, These PH48 children - Dallas, a strikingly pretty PJ mill illl more strikingly independent BH Kill of twenty-four, and I'erry, a do- PH' IlKhtfully lazy, lovable1 lad of twenty-PH':3 twenty-PH':3 . one lived with their uncle, who man- BH iiKed their affairs, let them go pretty BH much as they elioso and as they were BH '' more or less oruaineatal and enter- 14 talniug and decidedly popular was H' rather fond of them. BH j The trio had passed a pleasant, tin- BH1! (cutful mouth at the big house on the 'f liill early in the summer of 111, when PB, a day dawned whereon fate booked a IB number of decidedly Interesting fateful 'T happenings to occur. Hrl WalnwriKht himself was up betimes Hki and at work lu his library, poring over BfJ murket reports, cipher telegrams and a U dozen other details of deals which his BBS simple life cult did not prevent him PBK from operating at long range. With pBu, him was his secretary, Thompson, a PBTE pallid, earnest looking yonnK fellow, PVjV whose unobtrusive ctilclcncy had long PB since won the tluaucler's ndmlratlnu. PB This morning affairs in the tliuuiflal PB'S world had gone mote than ordinarily PBn to .Mr. Walnwrlght's liking, Moreover. BB a paragraph in one of the city papers Vfr that had caught his eyes hail set his lean gray face to twitching with as BB-'i.V near an approach to n smile ns the BBY,'' great man ever permitted. Altogether BBj lie was in nn uuwontedly genial mood, BB" and some of his good nature so fur ex- BB' pamled as to Includo his busy Fecro-BB' Fecro-BB' i BB i "Thompson," ho remarked as the Inst BB batch of correspondence was cleared BB nwny. "you're looking pnlc. T)o I work BA's J you too hard?" Bt' " "No, Indeed, Bir." replied tlie Becre- BbM BBBBBBA tnry, with a promptitude Hint had something almost slavish lu it, "Keeling all right?" went on Wain wrlght. "Vou need mole exercise. U don't you get out of doors oftenerV" i "The work, sir" "(Jet another man to help you do the telegraph part of it, then. I" "Thank you, sir. You are very 1:1ml Indeed; hut. If It's Just the same to you. I'd rather handle It all myself. 1 hope the work's perfectly satisfactory, sir?" "Perfectly, Thompson. You're the only emplo.ieo I have who seems to lovo work for work's sake. Seen anything any-thing of Mr. (Jllibs this morning?" "No, sir. I don't believe he's np yet. Coming by such a late train Inst night, you know, sir, and" "1 was up as late as ho was, and 1 was at work by 8. Hut when a man takes his llrst holiday In six years, as he is doing, I suppose oversleeping Is part of the fun. There's n mnii to pattern pat-tern yourself after, Thompson! I re-member re-member when ho started out he hadn't a penny nothing but the resolve to get money and then to get more of It. And now look nt liltn! At thirty-live he's the head of one of the busiest brokerage houses In" "Good morning!" broke In n voice from the foot of the broad stairway ncross the hall. "Sorry to be so late. Do you know how the market Is?" "It's opened even stronger than 1 hoped," said Walnwrlght. "Take a look at these dispatches and see for yourself. Ilatl your breakfast?" "Yes. thanks," answered the newcomer, new-comer, a well groolned, stocklly built mail, lounging Into the rooms, with a nod nt Thompson, who discreetly withdrew Into the adjoining olllce. "Seems queer to have a whole day away from the olllce. I hardly know what to do with so much spare time." "It's the everyday hard work that's put you where you are today, Olbbs. .Scott Uibb. and Unit's Interested mo lu you. -I'd.-Instance, that deal of yours In South Sea copper" "Yet that was the deal the papers, all"- "AH denounced you for? What do you care? You were within the law. They've been hammering me for years and attributing all sorts of low motives mo-tives to me. As long as the law doesn't Interfere I'm going to get all I can. So are you. So Is every sane man. As long us It can be done without any fuss or shouting, A mosquito could bite twice as often If only he didn't sing a song about It. Ily the way, have ,ou seen the papers?" "No. Anything new?" "One thing at least that ought to in-teieslyou. in-teieslyou. Listen to this; Thoeugagu-mciit Thoeugagu-mciit of the niece of a world celebrated financier to a prominent young broker is about to bo announced. Tho young lady and her brother nrc orphans and arc not only their famous uncle's wards, but also tho solo heirs to his vast wealth. They are summering nt his magnificent country place, where tho fortunate broker Is said to spend every one of tho very few moments left vacant by his during slock manipulations.' manip-ulations.' No mistaking that, eh, Glbbs?" . "It It ought to bring mutters to n head, I should think." ' "It certainly should," assented Walu-wrlght. Walu-wrlght. "In fact, It's such en audacious auda-cious master stroke that I'vo n notion you may possibly havo been nt the bottom of It. Now, confess. Weren't you?" "Well, of course I didn't exactly write it. Hut"- "Clever biy! Dallas will have to show her hand now or never She's kept ,ou on the anxious seat ton long ns It K That's the reason I asked yon up here for the day. She must settle It today If I can uiunugc It. She knows how anxlotiH I am for her to accept you." "Hut I'm sometimes nfrald she does not cine for me." "Then make her care. As long as she cares for no ona else you can persuade per-suade her to believe sho adores you." "How do you know? You're n bach-lor," "Perhaps thot's how I know. And eli.t doesn't care for any one else." "You're sure? There's Ilcnnett, for Instance." "Alwyn Hennctt? Why, absurd! Shu's known him all her life. They're Just good friends; nothing more. He's our nearest neighbor here, add it's only naturaC Hesldes, lie Isn't tho sort of man she wants. He's an Idler. She likes men who have mado something some-thing of themselves llko yourself, for Instance. So make yourself easy on that score. If Hennctt loved her, he'd have proposed long ngo." "Not necessarily. He's not a man to EC. tirtii cnsllv but oneo start u nml"- "Then don't Bt'art him. Go In and win. What Is it, Thompson?" The secretary entered from the of-flee of-flee tilth n dispatch. "There's an answer, sir," said he. "Here's a blank." Walnwrlght read the message, scribbled scrib-bled n few lines and handed the reply to tho secretary, who hurried out with It. "So Thompson Is not only a secretary, secre-tary, but a telegraph operator as well," remarked Glbbs as the clicking of a Morse Instrument sounded from the otllce. "He's everything," replied Wuln-wngnr. Wuln-wngnr. "lies a wonder, no iicuru inu say I w Ished I had n good operator up licro whom I could trust, so without with-out a word to me ho goes and learns telegraphy. I'vo had him nine years now and tested and tempted litni fifty ways, but lie's as true ns steel, the one employeo I ever had thnt I could trust. By the way, the message he Just brought me ought to Interest you. It tells me Horough Street railway stock Is offered now at G3. I'vo given orders for our olllce to take all they can get hold of nt that price quietly and without with-out making any bids or attracting attention, at-tention, That'll bo the biggest deal of my caicer If I can carry It through. You understand your part perfectly to take for yourself 20 per cent of the ileal, handle, the whole affair on the Hoor and not buy any of tho stock for your own private account? Stick to thnt and there's Just one thing that can-possibly block us." "You'tnean the defeat of the present city administration thU fall?" ".lust that, and I don't believe It will bo beaten. The organization's solid as n rock. They have tho police, the of-llceholders of-llceholders nnd" "Hut the people at large?" ' "The people at largo are sheep that like to lie driven by the strongest shepherd. shep-herd. If they weren't, they'd have broken loose a century ago ami run the city and thccoitutry to suit themselves. Just now Dick Horrlgaif happens to lie the 'shepherd' who can make them go wherever he says." "Shepherd and 'crook' combined, I should say." commented Glbbs. chuckling chuc-kling at his own feeble Joke. "I wouldn't let a speech like thnt get back to Horrlgau If I were you," returned WalnwriKht dryly. "Your career might suffer. Nothing (except, maybe, gratitude) Is so bad as humor for spoiling a man's chances lu business busi-ness or politics. "A laugh costs more than people think. Hut. speaking of the election this fall, a reform wave or any change of city administration wpuld smash our Horough Street railway rail-way deal. To offset that, I've Joined hands with Horrlgau. If I can bring htm to see things my way, he shall have cash enough to buy all the honest voters he needs. He's coming here this noon to talk things over with me Phelan's coming too." "Phelan? You mean tho alderman of the Klghth? You'll have a pleasant little gathering. Perhaps you didn't know that Phelan and Ilonigaii have had u row nnd" "And that's why I'm bringing them together here today. I want to patch up their quarrel If I can. I ueetl them both. Phclnu's a useful man." "Hut Horrigan Is boss of the orgunl zatlon. If you have him on your side, why do you bother about getting Phelan too?" "Yes, Horrigan Is boss. He's fought his way up by bulldog tactics, lie has no diplomacy nothing but brute force. Now, Phelan has Just ns much force In his way, but bo's us tricky as a fox too. I'vo known him ever since ho was chief of police. He's n dangerous danger-ous mau. If he's against us, he can mnko trouble. I wnnt him, He's" "Judge Newman!" nnnounced the butler. A whlmslcnl frown crossed Walnwrlght's Waln-wrlght's fnce, but eleured Into n passably pass-ably hospltablo expression ns n little gray haired man, with a solemn, weuk face, trotted pompously In on the heels of the butler's announcement. "Good morning, Judge," said the host plensantly. "You don't know Mr. Glbbs, I think, of Glbbs. Norton & Co.? Judge Newman Is .uy next door neigh-lxr neigh-lxr on the left as you come from tho station, Glbbs. You must have noticed no-ticed the place Queen Anne house, wlth"- "Oh, ho probably never gavo It i glance," put In tho Judge. "A inero cottage, cot-tage, that's nil, When n man with my meager Judicial salary has a social position po-sition to keep up nnd four daughters that aren't nmrrleJ nnd-Chnrles, you rnu't realize what It means to hae four unmarried" "No, 1 cannot," assented WnlnwrlgMt quickly, "and from present signs I'm not likely to. I hope Mrs. Newman Is well?" The little Judge's fnce grow doubly Important. "Extremely well, thank you," said he. '"A wonderful woman! You've met her, Mr. Glbbs? 4. course you have wvQ jL. often heard l "v Palpv mk Charles, It was XAvibJHbI he told JM-JHJHBmB me to drop In B on this BIP morning. You V, imliTI Mrs. Newman ffl LM Is most anxious - -itJ' tor me to come '" up for ro-clec- ' .tlon this fall. "MioughtiouMilint Mr. Horrlgan.to '"I ' 1rori t0 -Vr-whom I broach- ""'m "l mv hC ed the subject. "mr" doesn't quite soem to see It thnt way. Ho doesn't wnnt to have mo renominated. renominat-ed. I thought perhaps, as a personal favor to so old n frleid. you might say n word to Mr. Horrlgau lu my behalf." "Of course I'll do what little I can. Horrigan will bo hero today. Drop In a littlu after noon and I'll tell you how my Intervention turns out." "Oh, thank you so much!" cried the Judge, positively wriggling lu his delight. de-light. "Mrs. Newman will bo o pleased. pleas-ed. And, by tho way, won't you nab Perry why he never conies over to see my daughters? Please ask him If he won't. I'm suro Mrs. Newman would be glad If he did. Well, till afternoon, then. Good morning." "Queer little rnt!" observed Glbbs ns tho Judge bowed himself out. "Mrs. Newman must be n marvel If all he says is" "She Is u wonder us a husband trainer. train-er. She's tamed htm so lie" doesn't know his soul's bis owii. A good little man because he's never had n chance to be otherwise. I'll spenk to Horrigan Horri-gan about him, though. It's always well to havo a friend on tho bench. One never can tell when" Hut Glbbs was not listening. Ills henvy face had lighted with a sudden glow of eagerness. Turning to note tho cause, Walnwrlght saw his niece Dallas descending the stairs. Involuntarily Involun-tarily she halted as she reached the threshold and saw Glbbs. Then, her sense of hospitality triumphing over Impulse, she came lu and greeted her uncle's guest with some show of cordiality. cor-diality. "Itcmember, Dallas," said Walnwrlght Waln-wrlght as he prepared to go Into his olllce, "Glbbs Is here only for the day. I count on joti to make his holiday as pleasant as you can." He glanced covertly cov-ertly at Glbbs. who had strolled to the window. Then the financier lowered his voice and said rapidly: "Please bo nice to Glbbs for my sake, Dallas. 1 do a great ileal for you. and I don't often ask anything In return." He patted her on tho shoulder with 11 gesture meant to bo affectionate and hurried Into tho adjoining otllce. Scarcely had the door closeil when Glbbs turned from tho window, crossed the room to where Dallas stood and In his usual direct fashion said: "You saw that" "The article In this morning's paper? Yes." There was no confusion, no embarrassment, embar-rassment, neither In the clear, girlish voice nor In the honest dark eyes that met Glbbs' so calmly. He went 011 with a shade less confidence. "It annoys you?" "Very much Indeed." "You can't feel worse about It than 1 do. Miss Walnwrlght. I"- "You didn't wrlto It yourself, then?" "I? Of course not! How could von think" "I didn't; 1 Just wondered. Please see that the minor Is denied." "Why should I? You are going to mnrry me some day, aren't you, Dallas?'' Dal-las?'' "Have I ever given you reason to think I would?" "You have let 1110 keep on coming to see you. You have" "I have told you thnt I don't care for you the way you want 1110 to. I havo great admiration nnd respect for you, but that, is all. And It Is not enough to marry on." "It Is enougli for me. If I hae your admiration nnd respect to stnrt on I'll soon make you love me." "You would bo satisfied with so little?" lit-tle?" "Yes. Knowing l could lu time win more. You nren't the sort of girl who could marry a man If she didn't respect re-spect him didn't admire him. You" "Perhaps I couldn't marry bucIi a man. Hut perhaps I couldn't help loving lov-ing him." "Your chances lor happiness would be better with 1110. Oh, Dallas, you know I lovo you! You've kept mo waiting so-long! Is It fair to either of us?" "I hesitate because I want to be fair to us both. For that reason I must still nsk you to wnlt." "Hut I'vo waited so loilg! Tell 1110 ono thing; Is thero any one else that" Steps, none too light, clnttered down the stairs, and into tho library bounced a lad In tenuis ttariucls. He was tall, well set up and good to look nt nnd seofned nlways to havo stepped directly direct-ly from n bandbox and to have had extremely ex-tremely recent acquaintance with much soap nnd water. "Hello, Dallas!" ho shouted, encompassing encom-passing his sister In a bear hug. "How soon nre" "Here's Mr. Glbbs, Perry." Dallas reminded him ns sho emerged, some-what some-what crumpled, from the embrace. "Have you" The lad's manner underwent n lightning light-ning and frigid change, "Oh. good morning!" he grunted, with 11 curt uod to the visitor, nnd. picking up a paper, turned to the sporl lng sheet nnd beenmo Immersed In Its contents, oblivious of nil else. "Mr. Glbbs Is only spending one day with us." admonished Dallas, trying to soften her young brother's rudeness. rude-ness. "Hope he'll enjoy It," came In nbsent tones from the depth of the paper. Glbbs rose. "I'm going out for n cigar on the terrace," said he. "I'll Join you a little later." "Perry," scolded Dallas us soon us tho broker disappeared through thu long windows, "how could you treat a guest of uncle's so rudely?" ' "I don't like the fellow. And I don't like what I read In the paper today about hltu and you. Gee. what a measly paragraph! It's enough to make n white man wnnt to dash out his brains with n cigarette. You're going go-ing to deny it In time for the retraction to get Into tomorrow's papers, aren't you?" "I I'm not quite sure." "Good Lord!" gasped Perry, slumping slump-ing down In the nearest chair "Are you crazy? Say, if yon nre looking for n real good, exciting match why don't you marry n Wall street stock report? It'd bo better 'n Glbbs. If you marry him you'll only be nn 'also ran' with tho ticker tape nnd tho market news. Oh. keep out of It, old girl! You owe something to your Intelligent nnd distinguished dis-tinguished little brother. If you've got to commit matrimony, marry some one I like, can't you?" "I haven't given him a definite answer an-swer yet," admitted the girl, a little touched by the real feeling thnt under-'lay under-'lay her brother's flippant words. "That's good medicine. Confidence restored and the run on Brother's Emotions Emo-tions Is checked. Next time you get the marry bee I hnve a dandy candidate candi-date to suggest for the Job." "Who?" laughed Dallas, amused in spite of herself. "Ahvjn Bennett!" "How silly!" "Not on your life! Words of wisdom from the young that's what It Is. Go ahead nnd marry Bennett. Be a sport and say 'Yes.' Why don't you want to marry him?" "For nny one of a million reasons. First of all, ho never asked mo to." "Mnybe lie's scared to. Hut If lie wasn't stuck on you he wouldn't be banging around here every day and going everywhere with you the way he docs. I'll bet $'J he's"- "Mr. Uennett!" tho butler announced: Brother and sister stared guiltily at each other. . "Speaking of angels" muttered Perry. Per-ry. But Dallas had nlrcndy turned to welcome tho visitor. Alwyn Bennett at first glance had little to distinguish him from the average av-erage good looking young man about towtt. But a closer observer would have noticed a firmness about the chapcly mouth, an honesty nud strength of purpose nbout the eyes, 11 general nlr of latent power that lay unawak-cued unawak-cued beneath tho Jolly, purposeless exterior. No crisis had yet called- forth any special manifestation of this power, pow-er, nnd meanwhile Bennett wns content con-tent to loaf through nn existence that thus far had been decidedly pleasant. The only son of a widowed mother who advised and spoiled him, more than comfortably well off from tho great fortune nmnssed by bis dead father, fa-ther, possessed of n social position un-'assailable un-'assailable and equally fortunate In that mysterious quality that spells popularity all these gifts had saved Alwyn Bennett the trouble of lighting life's battle or showing who might b within his reach. "Good old Bennett I" hnlled Perry. "We were Just talking about you." mwSBmWW " Wrh J "jJUfc S!!lmWm?lm9mmmmmmt i)nl((i8 Wdlincrlulit. "Good!" answered Alwyn. "Anything "Any-thing Is better than Indifference. What wero you Baying nbout me?" "You tell him. Dallas!" grinned tho boy. "Bo quiet!" whispered his sister, flushing with voxntlou. "Then lil tell for myself," went on Perry gleefully. "I was Just asking her"- ' Seeing the girl's confusion, Bennett quickly changed tho subject by Interrupting: Inter-rupting: "My mother will bo over hero lu 11 few minutes. Dallas., She Is bringing along a guest of ours, who says you nnd sho wero chums, nt school Miss Garrison." "Cynthia Gnrrison! Oh. I'll bo eer so glad to see her again! I" "I know who she lsl" cried Perry, refusing to be snubbed, "They say she's n gorgeous looker. When her kennel wns under the hammer I bought In her two pet Uoston terriers, Hetty and Prince. Maybe thnt won't BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB'1 mnke me solid with her, eh? Well, I guess. All I nsk is a start, and you'll find u whole lot of cripples slower than I'll be. If they're walking over I might wander out. sort of nlmless-llke and happen to meet 'em. Mnybe that's 11 bum Idea? Good old met" Full of his Mnehlavelllau scheme, the lad bolted through the long window win-dow and was gone. "Dallas." began Hennctt. without preamble, "you must surely know why I'm here today. You've seen that paragraph para-graph In thu" "I have seen it." she nnswered quietly. Taken aback by her manner, Bennett , hesitated au Instant; then asked nerv- Jfc ously: BjF "The the rumor isn't true, Dallas? l'cll mo it isn't." "Why shouldn't It bo true!" she countered coun-tered perversely, ns though not wholly sorry to witness the new look be: words called to his face. The look deepened as Bennett continued: "You don't lovo Glbbs? Surely yoi don't love him?" The Fiench windows swung wide, breaking off her icply. TO HE CONTINUED. |