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Show Following Orders. DY IIAIIOI.D 1IUMH. trnpyrlght, r. Pntir fllnry Pub. Ce Dick had finally all the sentiment knocked out of hlin so far aa the busl-nea busl-nea was runcerned. Ho had come U the great city and taken a position aa reporter on tho Screamer full of enthusiasm en-thusiasm In the work and a determination determina-tion to succeed, and he bad spared neither time or energy to mako good. He had been the first man down to report anil last to go homo, slaying about long after ho could have gone In the hope of catching a late emergency emer-gency assignment. Ho had sought bard assignment which the older reporters re-porters dodged. He had not minded the sneers of bis colleagues, but It had Jolted hi faith when tho powers that wnre.ultor-ly wnre.ultor-ly Ignored his faithfulness and placed It not to hi credit at all. Dick felt the Injustice of It keenly, keen-ly, but the flrat real blow came whon he had spent foi.r day and night on an cloiement story and bad fallen down while the Thunderer had all the details on the first pago secured, he afterward ascertained, by wlro from the Kansas City correspondent and rewritten In tho office to make It appear a local story. He attempted to explain to the city editor, but wa cut short. "I don't raro a rap why you didn't get It. Tho fact remain that you didn't. You fill down aud that's all there Is to It. Hesulta aro what count, aud what I want Is cturles, nut explanations." ' This made Dkk blind with fury. Inasmuch' In-asmuch' aa he wonld. have willingly givon up hi day on" to work on the story. The final crash ce,mq when he was sent out on a big financial ' story and , ,folind a lead which Mrlmialy . . reflected upon a concern In 'which the rtilvf backer of the paixir was tho dominant personality. He worked out bis slory on another theory and Ingeniously covered the connection. When the turrn broke looso the next day and be attempted to Justify upon ho wae told with more emphasis than courtesy that he was not respoiiHlhlo for the editorial policy of tha paper. "What d'ye suppose we have copy-readora copy-readora and city editors and night editor edi-tor and manng'nc editor here fort" shouted tho city editor. "What you are hired tor la to go out and got fact. Then If we want 'era up-proased up-proased we'll let you know. And when wo get so we aro not compotent to run tho sheet wo'll turn It over to a batch of cub reimrlers. I ought to Or you that's what I ought to do. and I've a blamed good mind to do It, too. Dut I'll Just lay you off for a week so you can have chance to study ovor the question of your duties and limitations, and then I'll give you on more chance." Then the other follow guyed him unmercifully ss the man who had appointed himself the censor of the paper. Bo It was that Dick bocame hardened hard-ened like the others and worked for hi 'alary, and not for glory, and took pi; Toil fell down, and that'a all tbore is to It!" ai little responsibility aa possible and did aa llttl" 'rk wl" """-ble """-ble with the holdlnK of hla Job. And he became hlno anil lost most or his old tlino entlim-win ami Interest. Ho nevor lost his prldo lu getting scoop nor In turning I" 'ory no born niKirler does tlmt, but ho became be-came as the others, stolid. Indifferent and more or Ii sh hopeless. This wus tho frame of mind In which ho found himself one hue after noon when, n be snt chewing a cigar and fuming Inwardly over hi lot hotca, ho was sent out to "do" a sensational sen-sational embezzlement atory. It proved considerable of a puxxler and tho assignment lasted several day. Finally all hla fighting blood bevaino aroused and he buckled down to the mystery with his old time enthusiasm and fidelity. While rooting around night and day picking up loose ends of tho story and Pinning down Impossible Im-possible clues, he accidentally stumbled stum-bled upon a most peculiar fact which sot blin off upon a scent wholly out and beyond tho line being pursued by the other reixirtcr and the police. "My Ond, Itorton, help me keep this . from his mother and slstert" The duo led blm strulght Into a do-fouement do-fouement so startling aa n'arly to floor blm. llcloro be knew whither his Inveatlgntlous wore leading him ha stumbled fvill Into the fiut that Herbert kwnnx, the si u ot ' Mia man." a. (he city editor wo ;'tViu', waa beyond piirudvenlure the -i'''.t' tier and that he bed coven 1 hi crime so carefully by forgery that suspicion sus-picion had not only bwn thrown upon several others, but had bean wholly dlvortod from him. Indeed, In the ordinary or-dinary course of event he would have been the la it person toward whom It could havo beou directed. The discovery not only aurprlsod hlin, but It unnerved him. Herbert waa the pet and Idol of hla father and hla appearance aud record warranted warrant-ed all tha pride and affection bestowed be-stowed upon htm. Ho wua a band-some band-some and apparently frank youth, tilled with good nature and gifted with hkh ability. He bad gone through the chool and university with high honor and wa of such exemplary ex-emplary character that be had never given bis parent a moment' uneasiness. uneasi-ness. He bad no bad habits that any ono had over heard of and waa In Tory fact a model young man. Aftor hi graduation hi father, brushing aside with Indignation tho suggestion that the lad should follow In hi footsteps, had secured him a position la a great financial establishment. "Dub about In a cheap nowspaper Jon and gut worse off the older he grows? I think not!" exclaimed Knox, Br., with spirit. "Alnt one In a family enough to get on a dead one? No, slree, that boy Is going to have the benefit of my hard experience. But he did much more and landed Herbert In a very good positron In a big Institution where there wae plenty of chance to bo pushed ahead. And Herbert had made good with his employer em-ployer and had been rapidly advanced ad-vanced until he was entrusted with grave responsibilities and drew a larger larg-er salary than hla aire. And It wa the one enthusiasm of "the old man'" life. "Herb" waa forever on bi tongue and forever In bl mind. It waa to this fact that Dick' mind reverted tho moment he realized the significance of hi discovery. HI first Impulse was to save tho "old man" from this awful pit that wa opening under hla foot. Hut ho had not spared him, Dick thought grimly, and had given him cold notice that tho very next time ha failed to turn In hla story as bo found It he would be discharged. "I.ut blm tuke his medicine," ald Dick, setting his lips, ominously. "1 will follow the letter of tha law." Ho ho went to the otflco, sat down and wroto hla story. It waa a pass-lug pass-lug good one, forsooth, thore being plenty of Inspiration both In tho novelty nov-elty of the facts, tho sensational quality qual-ity and bent of all, In tho fact tuut Dick knew well enough that the atory waa a clean scoop. Whon It wa finished fin-ished he read It over and It set bis newspaper Instincts all aglow. Aa be rose to band It to tho head copy- i reader a vision ! X blue and white a iWlth gashing black eyes and a saucy rosette of a mouth. He recognized her aa Allca Knox, the pretty daughter ot "the old man" and twin sister of the subject of bis story. Hhe accepted hla atam-tnorcd atam-tnorcd apologies demurely and passed on after a friendly word of greeting. This chance meeting gave him a now viewpoint on his story an a most startling one. This was Herbert Her-bert Knox' twin sister and her ex-cecdlug ex-cecdlug fondness for the brother waa ' a matter of common comment Could ( ho break her heart? Ho had no com- i punctlon for ttie father who had hu- t mlllated him, but could he be the r mean of breaking the slater heart? ' He glanced up and saw ber standing f, '. before tho door of "tliu old man's" 'r room. Bho waa radiant and at that " 1 moment glanced at him and gave him i a saucy noxl and smllo. That settled1. ' tho fate of the atory. Hit took It In both hand and atarted to tear It Inr' f p.eces, but a second thought poeseesodr j him and ho rose quickly and walked over to where she stood. j "Will you hnud this to your father i when you go In?" ho said, steadily. i "Certainly," sho replied. Then he I vanished, leaving the room cold and dreary. Presently Dick was summoned Into the Inner room, whero he found "the) old man" alone ana whit and trembling. trem-bling. The daughter had departed. "la this story known?" he whla-pered, whla-pered, hoarsely. "Only to you and me," replied Dick. "It Is a scoop. I worked It up alone. Even the police do not uspect" "The old man" threw himself upon Dick's mercy and beggnd that the secret se-cret be kept between them. f "I will flx up tho deficiency to-mor- J row In ome way." he aald, "and end i tho boy away. My Ood. Itorton, bolo -i me koep this from hi mother and sis- ' tor. I know I have no right to ask It. but It would kill them and I am ' ' human and, by heaven, sir, you can name your own price." "Done." cried Dick. "You hava tha copy. I havo forgotten It" "And your price?" asked the father. "I will dem: nil later," rosponded Dick, with a sphinx like smllo. "It shall bo your, whatever cost," replied "tho old man," grasping bl) ' band. What that price eventually wa la another atory. the gist of which th reader I entitled to guess. |
