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Show With som iricmwTAL MxlfeMMAroY 7d WOMAIi aatraw Ys ctwrmrOM fly (kunoHN lieLvui ' SYNOPSIS. A fnotleh young tenderfoot beeontaa fascinated with Ihe bold, artful wife fif a drunken prtMpactnr In a waatern mlnlna Intra They prepare tn atop In a blinding blind-ing btttaarrl but are onnfionted by the InaiMUla kuetMuas. Ha la ahot by tha wlfa, but lha chlvalrnua bur plna a nt to the body taking tha crtma upon hlniaair. la thalr n'ghl tn the rail mad atatlnn tha wnnian'e horaa falla eihauated; tha youth puta her on Ma own and follow hanging to tha allrnip atrap. Realng ha la an Impediment, Impedi-ment, tha wrean thrusta har aeenrl Into a annw drift and rtiiea on. Ilalf-frnsea l ba atunible Into tha railroad etauoa Juat aa tha train bara Ilia woman away, rwanty-ltva yoara later, thla man. Oanrge Unrnily, la a uiulU-mllllonalra In Naw CHAPTER II. Continued. I The thing waa an tnatant eensatlon. , Tha newspaper tunk It up. Othar merchant, freighter, and ahlppera 1 were Interviewed, aad a caaa wu In- I atanlly mado out agalnat tha Gotham t Ktolght Traction company which would tiara ihakan a lege ponderou, lee thick kltnd, laaa Indifferent or-' or-' sanitation to place. Kvon tha author- i I tie were Interviewed, and they shed hypocritical tear orar tha unfnrtunata trickery by which tha publlo had bocn i buncoed out of Ita legitimate rlghtn, but they took oooaalon at tha aama tlma to point out that thara waa nothing noth-ing whatever to ba dona about It. Tha party In power waa ona that bad long dominated tha motropoll. To be aura It gave tha matropolla a fairly good government; but tha people peo-ple paid over aud over again. They were robbed shamelessly right and loft, on every hand, and while mma thing waa tendered them, what thty got waa no quid pro quo for the fright' ful extravagance of the administration. administra-tion. Graft abounded everywhere. The party out of power, which had been out of power o long that It bad perforce per-force become vlrtuoua. did not hesitate hesi-tate to point out the dreadful atate of Ifalra to all who would listen; hut Ita efforta had ao far been unavailing, autl the party In power remained there be-rauae be-rauae of Ita ao doing Now the Gothaui Freight Traction company bad Ita weak point. Tblugs that depend upon the collusion of so many unscrupulous men, not to any villains, usually have a weak point It la a wlae man. Indeed a genius, who finds out theie things and assail tha organisation thereat. The llrst principle prin-ciple of good soldiering la to oppose to your adversary's weak point your own strolls-nut. Tha weak polut In the enterprise of the Got haul Priilght Traction company lay In a certain link vital to the continuance of the carefully care-fully devised system: the franchise of which waa about to run out. Pew people knew that tha franchise waa to expire, and In the ordinary course nothing would have happened. An ordinance renewing It would havs bran slipped through the board of aldermen, signed by the mayor, and that would have been all. Ho sure did the company feel of Ita ground, ao confident were Its members that Gnrmly and hla fellow vlctlun , would see the necessity of paying without delsy, that thsy had never contemplated this publicity an J never i Imagined they would have to face thla bitter and determined attack upon their franchises and upon their methods. meth-ods. They knew, of course, that they held the aldermen In their banda; that In their cloaa alliance with the sehera society, tha organisation that ran things, they could pasa anything they wanted In defiance of any public sentiment whateoever. tlormly had made one blunder; but Ilka a brilliant soldier he had succeeded suc-ceeded In turning It to hla advantage. One advertisement waa aucceedod by another. Tha Gotham Freight Traction Trac-tion company waa made the subject of scathing criticism and hitter attack of which the Sachem society and the party In power came In for a largo shnre And men everywhere began asking what waa to be done about It. In pruvloua campaigns the party out of power had been led by a serloa of forlorn hopes, men enthuslastla In thnlr devotion to the cause of reform and not noted for much of anything else. The leaders of the oula took notice no-tice of Ooriuly. Inquiries began to be made about him; hta business methods were Invest Ignted; hla resources re-sources were discussed; his character waa analysed: hla career made the subject of study. From being merely a name attached to a familiar Institution, Institu-tion, he became within one month one of the great personalities of New Tnrk. The situation waa Ititoxlratlrg. Incidentally, he did not loae tn the estimation of Miss Haldane by thla exploitation of himself, which he had so cleverly managed that no one dreamed It waa due tu his own motion. Even In those exclusive circles In which Mlaa llnldane moved, which are ordinarily Indifferent to any happenings happen-ings on this side of the terrestrial sphere, some arcount of Gormly and his doings, penetrated. That he was rich and a bachelor were the most Interesting In-teresting facta which appealed to this act. Man and women there began to Inquire aa to who he wu It waa Mix llnldane' privilege and pleasure to enlighten them so far as she could, without hatrarlng the nature of their confidential relation. There were several papers nn the side of the administration, which aero owticd and contrnVed by the party In power, thai would have been glad Indeed to have dlM-reillti'd Gormly; hul the closest scrutiny reveled nothing noth-ing In his life Hint could he used for that purpose. Where he hud come from was not known; hut for the Inst quarter tif a century ut bust his course hnd been trncod with ronald-erahle ronald-erahle accuracy, and Indeed there was little of It that waa not discovered and disclosed tu the eager public He waa quite willing to talk about the Gotham Freight Traction company or any matter of puhllc moment, hut for the rest he was unshakahly silent. Mis arly past, therefore, was a mystery; but the interest In a mystery that has no special hearing upon the pn n ut soon dies out. Then Gnrmly did an unusual thing for him. He purchased a country place on I-ong Island. This received no mention In the public press, because be-cause the whole matter had b.-en handled han-dled by the Invaluable Chalnner, and Oormly'i name bad not appeared at i il I all I.- - place waa dralrablc. In that It waa not far- ft or six mile from the country place of the Haldane family fam-ily It waa boushl completely fur nlshed. and the stuff of aervants previously previ-ously employed was retained Oorml) knew from the clipping bureau bu-reau that It waa the custom of the Haldanee to pass the Christmas holidays holi-days at their country place. He had seen Mies llaldnne rather less frequently fre-quently of late, because the work at the settlement house was now o far advnnced that II was merely a mattar of carrying out the plans decided upon and apendlng the money so gi neroualy placed In her hands by him, which did not need much consultation Bo. on the vain hope that chance might throw lil in In touch with her. tiorinly decided alo to occupy for the I'hrlat-mna I'hrlat-mna season Ms lonely cottage-It waa tnll.d a cottage, although it was more lll.e a I'.irni, ,,l niiinMiiu than anything else- nn the ng Maud shore II enott!K hunl the evening of I h:s annul the dny before Chrlsttniis. mid tiormly d d not like snow He hnd bitti r memories tnl -rmitigh d with n storm, nt.d tie alrht of the white Ice covered stinw t lad field fired lulu with utiph .KHlit reilllnls Since he iMd honr'lt the estate throuKh the f t i : It f 1 1 rtuiloni r. he lm! not sin n It l ln - . I Tin refore. after ilie ctu-i-Hi ut dinner which hnd been proviii.d hy Ms in w chef ntid serv .1 by his new butler. I e tlelermlni d urott a i.ref ill I'sie.-ioti of his residence Tley h.-id nd.i.m. d n r ir us the II hrnry whin the f.nnl.l.ir tinkle of the telephone tunde tlieiti pause. "Si e who It Is. hi uls." suld the maa-ter maa-ter of the l.ouse t'a from the keeper of the lodge gnte, sir," he snld. turning and look-Irg look-Irg toniird his n uster "He says that there's a pitrt.v i'"n (here stalled In in aiiioiuohlle Tliev can't get on In the snow They'd like to com up to the house 1 here are ladles In the party, and " "T II tin m to come up by all mean at on e," snld Gormly "Hrg pnrdon, sir." returned the butler, but-ler, "but you know It's half a mile by the road, nnd It'll be terrible walking for the ladles In such weather aa this " "Unite so." returned Gormly. "What does the stnble afford?" "There's the atatlnn wagon and the pair that brought you over, sir. Thoae are all that are there." "Yea, I remember. That's all I told Chaloiicr to arnd down, not expecting lo Well, have that hitched up and telephone them that a conveyance will he at the lodge In a few momenta; that I should be glad to have them come to the house at once." ity me way, be asked, "did yon find out the name of the people?" "Yes. sir," answered the butler, "It waa Mr. Haldane and his party." CHAPTER III. Society Buret Upon Mr. Gormly. Knter at last. Mis Haldane, accompanied accom-panied by her father, her mother, her brother, Mlsa lxiulse Van Vleck Stewart Stew-art (one of her Intimate frlenda and a possible sister Inlswl, Pr. Warren Deveaux la retired physician, an old bachelor and an old and Intimate friend of the family.) The newcomera were all dressed In winter automobile garments. It whs young Haldane who broke the aomewhat awkward pause consequent upon their entrance. "Mr. Goodrich." he begnn unbuttoning unbutton-ing his coat and slipping It off aa he advanced "Your pnrdon. sir," said Gormly. "but Mr. Coodrlch la no longer the ow ner of this place " "Why, Mr. Gormly," burst out Mlsa llalilune Impeiiioiis'y, as she turned at hla voice and reeognlred hint. "Ihls la a great surprise' Wo didn't know lhat you were to be one of our neigh-bora." neigh-bora." Hhe had been In the background ami had not observed their boat until she heard hlin speak. Aa she spoke, she stepped forward Impulsively with outstretched hand "Eleanor," exclaimed her father In great surprise, surveying Gnrmly aa he spoke, with a stare aa rold aa the winter weather, "do you ah know this gentleman?" "Certainly I do," returned the girl. "It Is Mr. George Gormly of the Gormly Gorm-ly store, you know " "Ah, Indafd." began her father. "I hove known hlin for" she paused uncertainly "Seven months yesterday. Mlsa Haldane," Hal-dane," answered Gormly, who waa nothing If not accurate. "We have er bought things nt your shop for a Inng.-r time thiin lhat. I fancy." here Interposed Mrs. llnldane vuguely with an air of great condescension. "You have been on my books, mndiini, na one tif my must valued customer evtr since I moved lo llroiidwny twenty one teaia ago." re. turned Gormly, who was hy no mentis ashamed of his hllslncHS. else he would not have continued in It Yes," snld lliililune at Oils Juncture, I have been milking nut checks with notonous ngularliy to your firm fi-T sliu a." ' My good man" began Mrs lliililune lliil-ilune still somewhat vuguely, and evidently evi-dently rnther at a loas how to place ihls trrei roarhnbl dad and tine np-pearltig np-pearltig gentleman who hail sollid his lunula with trade and yet did not seem to be at all etnhnrrnssi d or ashutui d of It. "Mother'" exclaimed the daughter, ! blushing with vexation. "Mr. Gormly. forgive me. I forgot that you did not know my family." "I have seen them often In the store, Miss Haldane, and have evm sited upon some of them In other dnys myself," replied Gormly, quite a cold and formal In his Tanner aa any on In the room "Nevertheless I want Ut nlcaaur i e"ct,tii c you to toy u.oiher. Mr. Oor Gormiy, mother, my very good iVM- Mrs llaldan drew herself up. Orly bowed himself down In a bow x carefully calculated to expreaa a rtr d.gne of appreciation of tba bv atid nothing more "1 friend, visa Rtswart; my fa, tvr and my brother. Mr Uvlngstons llW. in Kcveaui" l T persons mentioned bowed cool-tj cool-tj (eept that Livingstone Haldane Wubd a little more cordlnllty In his fa')ltlon than the other did, whP t wvaaux actually stepped forwaid at ktcmli-d hla hsnd I "M dear sir - he sal t genially, hli M rr beaming with good nature jsl tsiuiiiii- ailtiitrnilon, "I am de-III') de-III') to 1. tl,.. prlvlleca ol ahUg yon hi the l and Atnbody J" tl ura- to attack the tl Mi i-tiii-m Traction company as kv. clone !u the pnpera may be rtPVd as a rib'lr b nefactor whom II aj honor to know " p'Unk you." snld Gortniy, grateful ftjrlkv r.-cr-gnttlon K tNigan llnldane, "an unfor-!' unfor-!' set Ident to our machine baa i t ,!! i,. upon your hospitality did tiatkiiw t at my friend GoodrUh hid sjk tils place or " (1s-ll.it rHe you no roiicirn. sir." fttired ilotinly; "I pray lhat yea wtfctiild-r (he place and all In it aap'iown I In-g yon will lake od ytay trnts nnd make yourselves in-llrvr in-llrvr t heme " Thl's very handsome of you. I atn lift." rnnlinoed the elder llaldnne, slTVlyrt'inoiln his coal : ' but my owi Pice lb a but s'x nillea hi yoti l hen 11 If you will permit us to tcle-pliaar tcle-pliaar uy stables. I think we shall hat illrouhle you but Utile " tTi telephone la In the library yeaer Mr llnldane, and I at your servtrsfc a everything In the house, I rtfrethat my own stables are not yet finished The small station whw id pair which brought you up are thtonty horees I have on the plaat 1st now." "isdrilly well crowded we were! said mag Haldane "Mmahlle," contlnuid Gormly, "mayl Ik have you had dinner? Can I offer tu anything to eat, or " "Ws kink you." answered Mrs. Hal-dane,"kt Hal-dane,"kt we dined at the llraddoiia plate ive or an mile bark- befor we surd" "A cm of tea or a glass of w'ne after yir cold ride, then?" aald Gormly "Tilt rould be very nice Indeed," said till llaldnn. "Uuilae, aren't you ahnty dying for a cup of tea:'' "Pajtslng for lack of It," answered Loulat imaptly. Ondtlrijlinmnned the butler, gnva the nreetry directions, showed llnldane llnl-dane that the telephone waa. Invited the opetmen Into Ihe library also, wherejlhe waa a well stocked buffet and cfr'Bt cigars; after which h ahoweewe women Into a small reception recep-tion ri.li nn the other aide or the hall, mi left them to divest the ml aches fltlielr wraps. Tho m refreshed themselves ao cnrdlngu their fancy at the buffet, llclilej t -Ir cigars, which, aa Chalnner Chal-nner hit been careful to send a nun-ply nun-ply of '. mly' favorite and private brand. 0 1 found excellent, while llnl dann vhi 1 endeavored to gi t In com-tnunlcnti com-tnunlcnti i with hla own house. 8uch was tin- verity of the storm for a country 1 1 prepared for It, however, that lbs tire were broken In every dir. clloi Kven that to the lodge wn found lol out of order at Inst. tlormb hnd not wnlted In Ihe library li-brary tn snr the result of tho telephoning tele-phoning ta soon as he had the men cotiifortai r provided for, lie hud gone back to i . great hall, which was niore of t living room than anything else. Tif drat of the women of the party to went herself was Mis llaldnne. llal-dnne. fk mi In full evening dtess. Her nohlt n ad rose grandly from her exquisite i siutder. lu her dark hnlr she worsia diamond coronet Her drees, snf.lililmu.erlrg stuff of white, trailed htiliid her. iid nn cuntini'kh |
