CHAPTER XXI.—Continued. we] Gn “When I get through with the judge, I shall want to go out to the dam. Will you walt and take me?” “Surest thing on earth"—with prompt acquiescence. And then: “Is it as bad as you thought it was going to be, John?" “It's about as bad as it can be,” was the sober reply, and with that Smith went in to wait for his interview with the Timanyonl's best-beloved jurist. At nine o'clock, or a few minutes desk In the Brewster City National, telephoned a message that presently brought Colonel Dexter Baldwin to the private room in the bank known to nervous debtors as “the sweatbox.” “Sit down, Dexter,” said the banker shortly; “sit down a minute while 1 look at my mail." It was one of David Kinzle's small subtleties to make a man sit idly thus, on one pretext or another; it rardly failed to put the incomer at a disad- vantage, and on the present occasion it worked like a charm. Baldwin had let his cigar go out and had chewed the end of it Into a pulp before Kinzie around in his chair and launched out abruptly. “You and I have always been pretty good friends, Dexter,” he began, “and I have called you down here this morning to prove to you that I am still your friend. Where is your man Smith?” Baldwin shook his head. “I don't know,” he answered. “I haven't seen him since last evening.” “Has he run away, then?” The Missouri colonel squared him- self doggedly in the suppliant debtor's chair, which was the one placed for him. “What are you driv- ing at, Dave? he demanded. “We'll tackle your end of it first” sald the banker curtly. “Do you know that yon and your crowd have come to the bottom of the bag on that dam proposition?” “No, I don't.” ’ “Well, you have. You've got just one more day to live,” The Missourian fell nA phrase, swung og back upon his cl you'll have to show me, ' asserted Baldwin stoutly. “But £0 You've your loaded : what are you aiming it at?” “Just this: I told you weeks the were many Cas on on. got gun ago that too carrying I don't k Dexter” no quitter; you ought to know the bl there are time foolhardy to hold on other people big for you. led off guns see you kil unt rejoinder, when The it I pet up «till was q proposition th waople a while back : today is the last is must accept 1 to accept it at we refuse?” go to smash, of youn. As I've sald, this call” By this was time Baldwin's f k. h pele 48 WTrece “You've something sieeve, Dave: is it?" The banker pursed his riatling mustache ressive angle, up your what » inquired. and the assun £ OF a things, but which concerns you most, just “There are number the one we've got Smith's record 8 an outlaw, with a price We've dug ont the whole row, is this: at last, He i on his head, He is a defaulting bank cash- and before he ran away, he tried kill his president.” Baldwin was frowning heavily, “Who told you all this? Was it this Miss Rict#ander over at the Hophra House, “No: of my to look him up. “And you have telegraphed to the chief of police, or the sheriff, or whe- ever it is that wants Smith?” “Not yet. I wanted to give you one more chance, Dexter, first. # bank, not a detective agency. go and find Smith and fire him: tell him he is down and out; get rid of him, once for all. Then come story. ier, to it was her father. I sent one young men out to the Topaz with Stanton.” relight the dead cigar, jut it chewed past redemption. “Let's get it plumb straight, Dave” who will leave no peace-keeping stone unturned. “You say you've got John mon name. I shouldn't wonder if there were half a milllon 'r so John one?’ “His middle name is ‘Montague,’'"” snapped the banker, “and the man who 1s wanted called himself ‘J. Mon- tague Smith) But we can identify him positively, Mr. Riehlander's dunghter can tell us if he is the right Smith, and she probably will if the po- lice ask her to.” Baldwin may have had his own opinion about that, but If so, he kept it to himself and spoke feelingly of other things, (Copyright by Chas, Scribner's Sons) the square-bullt man In the {chatr, “it's like pulling a sound tooth {to have to tell you the plain truth, You've got a mighty bad case of money-rot. The profit account has | grown so big with yon that you can't { See over the top of it. You've horsed | back and forth between Stanton’s out- {fit and ours until you can't tell the |difference between your old friends {and a bunch of low-down, conscience- [less land-pirates. You pull your gun {and go to shooting whenever you get ready. We'll stay with you and try {to hold up our end—and John's. And (man that's going to get left in this { short and went back to the High Line offices on the upper floor. CHAPTER XXII. Witnesses, Driven by Starbuck new car, Smith reached the dam half-past ten and was in time to see the swarming carpenters begin placing of forms for the pouring of the final section of the great wall. Though the high water was lapping at the foot timbers of the forming, and the weath- er reports were still portentous, Wil- in fine fettle. There had been no further Interferences on the part of the railroad people, every man on the job was spurting for the finish, and the successful end was now falrly in sight. [| “We'll be pouring this afternoon” {he told Smith, “and with a twenty- { four-hour set for the concrete, and the {forms left in place for additional se- was the malin iindrance, Under would th the siuices back the water Into Instead of beln the flood-tide wi slack-water it a day or two to finish fill lake, but now we'll rise led to fill the most while you wait.” “You have your planned?’ Smith “Twenty of the find. They are on both sides of the river, with instructions to they see so much as a rabbit and ditch. g I then, will help. conditions, take ng . H 1 >» ¢ voir get feet nee guards out, as inquired. best men patro Ig report Starbuck to g to let d the lake limits Iniy toh aroun persy 1 ie that you on the b. to use your phone id with the f i bookkeeper, arters, f the of brief talk ctory, for rang House, ng is go has had Colonel I saw brea ith him in th colonel go in while I wi When are you “Not for some time that will afternoon.” “Very well; you'd better stay awn as long as can, and then you'd i better communleate with before | you show yourself much in public, I'll have Jibbey looking out for you.” Smith sald “good-by” and hung up the receiver with a fresh twinge | dissatisfaction. Every step made his dependence upon Vera Richlander more complete, Corona Baldwin: what would she say to this newest al- lance? Would she not say again, and {this time with greater truth, that he was a coward of the basest sort: of the type that makes no scruple of hid- ing behind a woman's skirts? Between the noon-hour and the { one-o’clock Hophra House luncheon, { Mr. David Kinzie, still halting tween two opinions, left his desk and the bank and crossed the street to ithe hotel, He wrote his name on a card and let the clerk send it up. The boy came back almost Immediately | with word that Miss Richlander was { waiting In the mezzanine parlors, The banker tipped the call-boy and ‘went up alone. He had seen Miss Richlander, once when she was driving with Smith and again at the theater in {the same company. So he knew what ito expect when he tramped heavily into the parlor overlooking the street. None the less, the dazzling beauty of the young woman who rose to shake o wi at 12 back : I have me comir 1 pd arrive unt a to make keep out v vou me be- {rather took him off his feet. David Kinzie was a hopeless bachelor, from | en, “Do you know, Mr. Kinzie, T have been expecting you all day,” she said | sweetly, making him sit down beside { her on one of the flaming red monstros- {ities billed In the hotel Inventories as | “Louls Quinze sofas.” “My father sent me a note by one of your young men, and he sald that perhaps you would— that perhaps you might want to—" | Her rich volce was at its fruitiest, and the hesitation was of exactly the proper shade, Kinzie, cold-blooded as a fish with despondent debtors, felt himself sud- denly warmed and moved to be gentle with this gracious young woman. “Er—yes, Miss Richlander—er—a disagreeable duty, you know. I want- ed to ask about this young man, Smith. { We don’t know him very well here in | Brewster, and as he has considerable business dealings with the bank, we— that Is, I thought your father might be able to tell us something his standing in his home town.” “And my father did tell you?" “Well—yes; he—er—he says Smith | Justice; and we thought—" David Kin- zie, {of dealing with men, was making dif- | ficult weather of it with this all-too- { beautiful young woman. Miss Richiander's laugh was well re- strained. | earnestly to make It appear so. | “You business gentlemen are so fun- ny!" she commented. “You know. of course, Mr, Kinzie, that this Mr. Smith and I are old friends; you've probably seen us together enough to be sire of that. Hasn't it occurred to you that however well I might know the Mr. th my father has written you about, I should hardly care to be seen in public with him?" “Then there are two of them?" Kin- zie demanded. The young woman was laughing again. “Would that be so very won- derful with so many Smiths {n the world?” “But—er—the middle Richlander: that isn't very wn, I'm sure” i | rather But there are a good many Montagues our part of the world, too. The my father wrote u’ about al- ays signed himself ‘J. Mon he were a little L111 Smit SEER name, Miss so inférn—so conn iy remarkable, isn't 11% {in man YO ash hen this Brewster Smith is in Law for embezzlement and attempte der?” “Excuse me,” ther very th wanted sald the paipable mother her amusement, ly know as I remember hiz Ii, this other Sm ith tague, was a typi- “He Says Smith Is a Grand Rascal™ cal soclety man-—the kind of man who wears clothes even he dines alone, and who wouldn't let his beard grow overnight for a king's ran- som. But wait a moment. There Is & young gentleman here who came last evening direct from Lawrenceville. Let me send for him." dress when and when the floor boy came, he was sent to the lobby to page Jibbey. Dur- ing the little walt, David Kinzie was skillfully made to talk about other things. Jibbey was easily found, as it appeared, and he came at once. Miss Richlander did the honors graciously, “Mr. Kinzie, this Is Mr. Tucker Jib- bey, the son of one of our Lawrence ville bankers. Tucker—Mr. Kinzie; tional,” gin: “Tucker, I've sent for you In self-defense. You know both Mr. John Smith, at present of Brewster, and also J. Montague Smith, sometime of Law- renceville and now of goodness only knows where. Mr. Kinzie Is trying to same,” Jibbey laughed broadly. He stood In no awe of banks, bankers, or stub. {bly mustaches. “I'll tell John, when I see him again-— and take a chance on being able to {run faster than he can,” he chuckled. “Ripping geod joke!” “Then you know both men?” sald Kinzie, glancing at his watch and ris. | Ing. | “Like a book. They're no more [alike than black and white, Our man (here Is from Cincinnati: isn't that where you met him, Verda? I recol- lect you didn’t like him at first, be- | cause he wore a baard, They told me, the last time I wus over in Claoel, that he'd gone West somewhere, but they didn’t where, He the first man I met when I lit down here, Lit- tle world, isn't it, Mr. Kinzie?” David Kinzie was backing away, watch in hand, Bu was very pressing, he sald, and he must get back to his desk. He was very much obliged to Miss Richlander, and was only sorry that he had troubled her. When her father should return to Brewster he would be glad to meet him, and so on and so on, to and be- yond the portieres which finally blot- ted him out, for the two who were left in the Louls Quinze parlor. “Is that aboute«what you wanted me to say?” queried Jibbey, when the click of the elevator door latch told them that Mr. Kinzie was descending. “Tucker, there are times when you are almost lovable,” sald the beauty softly, with a hand on Jibbey's shoul- der. “I'm glad it's what you wanted, be- cause it's what I was going to say, any- way,” returned the ne'er-do-weel sober. ly, thus showing that he, too, had not t yet outlived the Influence of the over- | night hand-grip. . | Since Brewster was a full-fledged city, its banks closed at three o'clock, | Ten minutes after the hour, which hap- | pened also to be about the same length {of time after Starbuck and Smith had reached town, Mr, Crawford Stanton himself admitted by the jar at the side door of the Brewster President 8 private say Ww as ¥ siness Zot onal, Kinzie 8 desk in hi room, the promoter entered unannounced. “I though Hmit- 1 i d, dropi Hi Vi at the desk-end. And quarrelsome rasp in his 1 gett 1 get 1 addy to switch agal | | hang off and give y tt ile there was, the debtor's then, tone: 5 ing into ing re Though his victim banker for his shrewd caution ane i f 5 often 1 curs 1 his i, no one had ever ty a stand iit 2 accused him of timic encounter, “You've taken that tone | fore and 1 returned brusquely. keep it In m hat 1 the people represent, Brewster C SAational, or any ruthless profit-takin ir in un u with me be- like it," he 1 may as well nor the art of don't “Yor Stanton, find t n t ieithe r you, own 1 » out any minute retorted Stan- . Your that Liat 1gh sentence throt » ong talk with morning-1 kept you fgured seesawing 3 1 ang oy be just about to hours too nd-bodied banker righted his chair with a and his lips were puffed out like the lips of a swim mer who sees the saving plank drifting out of reach, “You are wrong, Stanton: altogether wrong!” he protested. “Baldwin was here because I sent for him to make a final attempt to swing him over to the compromise. You are doing me the greatest possible injustice !” Stanton rose and made ready to go. “I think that would be rather hard Kinzie,” he flung back. body loves a trimmer. But in the pres. { ent case you are not going to lose any- { thing. myot snap to do, as 1 promised you we would.” It was at this crisis that David Kin- zie showed himself as the exponent of the saying that every man has his i modicum of saving grace, by smiting | pon the arm of his chalr and glaring | up at the promoter, 3 that you've got to remember, too, Stan. [on,* he argued hoarsely. “You've got to hold Dexter Baldwin harmless!" malice. “I've made promise as to that; but you shall have lone now, win in two and throw ranchmen backers out of the Timan- i [same time. When you look over your | paylog teller's statement for the day, | you'll see that I have withdrawn our [account from your tin-horn money shop, Good-day.” ' (TO BE CONTINUED.) STATE'S MEDICAL FORGES LISTED Data About All Hospitals, Doc- tors, Dentists, Pharmacists and Veternarians. CAN ANSWER INSTANT CALL All Allied Professions Are Included— Can Supply Government with Anything It Needs on Mo. ment's Notice. Harrisburg One of the departments Committee of Publi comparatively littie h een drawn comment of the nature Surgeon General Army Safely of which ard has near Gas most favorable from the headquarters of the Teds Lnil itation, the ed States Med] # t : ni SAr § is Red Cro AOD acres ! larger if necessary Colonel F. P. Raymond, U7. 8 A. as- gorts that the work will be of Inestima bie value to the Surgeon General's De partment Booze Hits Army Camp. After | ing % y 4 - rouble from swimmingly any drinking for almost three months, rum has cropped up as the principal annoyance to the officers the United lance camp at Allentown raided a keg party of about a dozen soldiers the river bank. whom five caught When officers returned to get the kegs as evidence they were gone y aion . ' ¥ . of States Officers on of were the After a Grade Trap Again, The Public Service Commission has into the condition of two grade cross. Black Lick branch of the Pennsylvania Raliroad’s Clearfield division cross a State highway In southern Cambria county This is the second occasion on which the commission has proceeded against a crossing on its own initiative, the other case being at Mr. Dallas. The commission arranged a hearing In this case TTT TTT TL PENNSYLVANIA BRIEFS REE RRR I IF { { HHS Hn a 3 ithbstons arvets tated In Norrist | where higher fone rn are being ax! Conshohocken, foodstuffs quoted in Allentown wn and ices of vi ¥ ices » much bg I are than for the first cu market E chairman of th Milk Commission, is a practical farmer west C Carothers a and has ern Pen raised his own cattle in nayivania B. J. Bowers, superintendent of Joh W the slown school gardens ted directly in the 400i children iren from irons together ie the schools oulisd Ts . ' ' inere are fifteen vocational schools rYennsylvania Alleging tha Dern i I LE POWEr was injuries sus years was rid- ughter of J man lanently tained when a trolley car ago, nit ¢ two 4] ghne otel of 20 0046) lamages HAR Droxken near Hazleton much damage to the AMOus giant chestnut farm at Valley, Perry county Three brothers called in the draft at received notice to appear be exemption board, and none will ask exemption The usual order of “men scarce” was reversed at Conyngham, where it was impoasible to find a woman to subeti- tute for a girl telephone operator Fourteen per cent larger average of wheat asked of Pennsylvania farmers Hazleton malls, cut off by cancella- tion of passenger trains, will be han dled by fast freights Peaches have sold In Hamburg at 25 to 50 cents a basket F. B. Eshleman, of Cordelia, planted | thirtysix early Irish Cobbler potatoes in the spring, and the yield was five | bushels, most of them big ones weigh- | Ing twelve ounces or more Several hundred washerwomen in | Lawrence county have gone to work in rallroad yards and roundhouses Activities are being gradually re. | sumed at the North Bristol plant of | the Chester Shipbuilding Company. | Immense quantities of lumber are ar | riving and other supplies preparatory | to building operations yngham Blig { Sober Irish Hazletor ’ ore the is | A point of injerest about the filing | of nomination papers by candidates at | Doylestown is that the Democratie party failed to secure a candidate for the two-year term for Director of the {| Poor, so that John W. Birkey, of Now- | portville, is left without opposition. »
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers