Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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m m Authoj? Of "The Call Of The Wild: W m "Wwte Fang, "Ma#tm Eom frc M ^ Illustrations By DearbornMeivtu M'opyrtrfit. l?lo. by Um New York u/ral 1 Company.) (Copyright. 1*10. by the Mac Ml', I an Company. Tes, that's the vary r.iing- oow ?att said "The commercial need for ?oopper la continually tncreasing Ward ?alley Copper, and all that It stands for?practically one-quarter of """the world's supply, as I hare shown you? Is a big thing, bow big, even we can scarcely estimate. Our arrangements ?re mads. Ws have plenty of capital oorsorvos. and yet we want more. Also, there Is too much Ward Valley out to suit our present plans. Thus wo kill both birds with one etone. Mot OSdy will you bull Ward Valley, hut yon win st the seme time gather Ward Valley In. This will be of ines? timable advantags to us, while you and all of us will profit by It as well. And as Mr. Letton has pointed out, the thing Is legitimate snd square On the eighteenth the directors meet, and. instead of the customary divi? dend, a double dividend will be de? clsred.-* There will be all sorts of rumors on the street.** Dow sett warned Day? light, "but do not let them frighten yon. These rumors may svsn origin ato with us. Tou can see how and why clearly. But rumors are to bo no eotioern of yours. You are on the Inside All you hare to do Is buy, buy. buy, and keep on buying to the last stroke, when the directors declare the double dividend Ward Valley will jump so that it won't bo feasible to buy after that" "And one other thing, Mr. Harnish." ? Uwgg*nhammer said. "If you exceed your available cash, or ths amount you oa re to Invest In too venture, don't tell Immediately to call on us. Reniem bor, we are behind you." "Too, we are behind you," Dowsett repented. Nathaniel Letton nodded his head In aMrmatlon. CHAPTER VIII. ? I Back at his hotel, though nsarly two In the morning, hs found the reporters waiting to Interview him. Next morn Ins; there wsrs more. And thus, with Tatars of papsr trumpet, was ho re? ceived by New York. Once more, with hooting of tom-toms snd wild hulls halloo, his picture qua figure strode across ths printed sheet. The King of the Klondike, the hero of the Arctic, the thirty million < ?llar millionaire of the North, had come to New York. What had he como for? To trim the Now Yorkers ss hs hsd trimmed the Tos?pah crowd In Nevada? They were prepared for him to play, and. whsn hesvy buying of Ward Val ftng began. It was quickly decided that ho wss the operator. Financial gossip isiiid and hummed. He was after the Ooggenhammers one* more. The story of Ophlr was told over again sued sensationalised until even Day? light scarcely recognised it. Still, It was all grist to his mill. The stock gamblers wsrs clearly bafooled. Each day he Increased his buying, and so eager wsrs the sellers that Ward ??(ley rose but slowly. A wildly ex estln*' time wss his during the week preceding Thursday the eighteenth. Mot only wss he gambling ss he had teevr gambled before, but he was gmssbllng at the biggest table Jn the world for staket so large that even the csse-hsrdenetl habitues of that ta? kes ware compelled to sit up. in spite of the unlimited selling, his persist not buying compelled Ward Valley steadily to rise, snd as Thursday ap? proached, the situation became acute. Something had to smash. How much Ward Vslley was this Klondike gam hier going to buy? How rruch could ho buy? What was the Ward Valley crowd doing all this time? Daylight appreciated Interviews with them that appeared?Interviews delightfully placid and non-committal. I>eon (lug genhamrner even hasarded the opinion that this Northland Croesus might pgg sibly be making a mistake. Hut not that they cared. John Dowset ex? plained "It Is purely gambling from beginning to end," were Nathaniel Let ton's words; "and we refuse to have anything to do with It or to take no? tice of It In any way." During this time Daylight had sev? eral secret meetings with his partners ?one with I^eon (Juggenhainmer, one with John Dowsett, snd two with Mr. Howlson Iteyond congratulations, they really amounted to nothing; for, as ho eras Informed, everything was going satisfactorily. Ihit on Tuesday gsOfsV lag a rumor that was dl>couc?rtlng same to Daylight's ears It was also published In tne Wall street T, urnal, ?nd It was to the effect, on apparently straight Inside Information? that on Thursday, when tho directors of Ward Valley met. Instead of the eg dividend being ?!?? ' m <l. an a.- - -< merit would be levied. If WM the iii ? ? rheck Daylight h id rece ved It cam* to hi n with a shock (hat If the thing were so he was a brok >u man. And It also came to him tb it all this i oh>; sal operating of hi- wit* being il fie on his own money . > m ? t f. C ? genhsmmer and Lett >a ri notV*i?. it wss a panic, ihoi I was true, but sharp . lasted to make him real em bei Mo'dn Mr. C. C. Teague Isft here Friday worthy an?', the brick-yard, and to lm pel hlra to ciacel all buying orders while he rushed to a telephone. "Noihlng In It?only a rumor," came Leon Ouggen ha miner's throaty voice In the receiver. "As you know," said Nathaniel Le*ton, "I am ono of the directors, and 1 should certainly be aware of it were auch action con? templated." And John Dowsett: "1 warned you against Just such rumors. There is not an lota of truth in It? certain'.,, not. 1 tell you on my honor aa a gentleman." Heartily ashamed of himself for his temporary loss of herve, Daylight re? turned to his task The cessation of | buying had turned the Stock Exchange Into a bedlam, and down all the line of stocke the bears were smashing. Ward Valley, as the apex, received the brunt of the shock, and was already beginning to tumble. Daylight calm? ly doubled his buying orders. And all through Tuesday, Wed neaday and Thursday morning, he went on buying, while Ward Valley rose triumphantly higher. Still they sold, and still he bought, exceeding his power to buy many times over, when delivery was taken Into account. What of that? On this day the double dividend would be declared, he as? sured himself. The pinch of delivery would be on the short!. They would be making terms with him. And then the thunderbolt struck. I True to the rumor, Ward Valley levied the assessment. Daylight threw up? his arms. He verified the report and , quit Not alone Ward Valley, but all ? securities were being hammered down j by the triumphant bears. As for Ward Valley. Daylight did not even trouble to learn if It had fetched bottom or , was still tumbling. Not stunned, not j even bewildered, while Wall Street I went mad, Daylight withdrew from the 1 field to think It over. After a stu rt conference with his brokers, he pro? ceeded to his hotel, on the way pick? ing up the evening papers and glanc? ing at the headlines. BURNING DAYLIGHT CLEANED OUT. he read; DAYLIOJIT GETS HIS; ANOTHER WE8TERNER FAILS TO FIND EASY MONEY. He passed up to his rooms, ordered a Martini cocktail, took off his shoes, and sat down to thir.k. After half au hour he rouRed hilnself to take the drink, and as he felt the liquor pass warmlngly through his body, his fea? tures relrxed Into a slow, deliberate, yet genuine grin. He was laughing at himself. v "Buncoed, by gosh!" he muttered. Then the, grin died away, and his face grew bleak and serious. Leav? ing out his Interests in the several Western reclamation projects (which were still assessing heavily), he was a ruined man. But harder ,hlt than this was his pride. He had bee a so easy. They had gold-bricked htm, and be | had nothing to show for It. The sim? plest farmer would have had docu? ments, while he had nothing but a gentleman's agreement, and a verbal one at that. Gentleman's agreement! He snorted over It. John Dowsett "s voice, Just as he had heard it In the telephone receiver, sounded in his ears the worr.s, "On ray honor as a gentleman." They were sneak-thieves and swindlers, that was what they were, and they had given him the double-cross. The newspapers were right. He had come to New York to be trimmed, and Messrs. Dowsett, Let ton and Guggenhammer had done it. He was a little Ash, and they had played with hlra ten days?ample time in which to swallow hlra, along with his eleven millions. Of course, they had been unloading on hlra all tho time, and now they were buying Ward Valley back for a song ore the mar? ket righted Itself. And Daylight sat and consumed cocktails and saw back In his life to Alaska, and lived over the grim years in which he had battled for. his eleven millions. For awhile murder its at his heart, and wild ideas and sketchy plans of killing his betrayers flashed through his wind. Daylight un? locked his grip and took out his auto? matic pistol?a big Colt's .44. He re? leased he safety catch \Ith his thumb, at I, <>; .Mating the sliding outer bar? rel, ran the contents of the clip through the mechanism. The eight cartridges slid out In a> Htreatn. He :?tilled ike clip, threw a cartridge Into the chamber, ami arlth the trigger at fill cock, thrust tip the safety rateh? at He ?hovee1 the weapon into iho side pocket Ofl Ids coat, ordered an? other MaTttnl, atul resume.! his seat. \t ten O'clock ha ?rose and DOl C ! over the city directory. Then he put ofl Iiis shoes, took a cab. and departed Into the nlulit. Twice he Changed cabs, and finally fetched Hp at the night of? fice of a detective agency. He mi per* Intended the thing himself, laid down money In advance In profuse quanti? fier, seb" fe?| ti e men he needed, and gave thorn their Instructions. Never, for so simple a task, had they been >o well paid: for to each in ad? dition to office charges, lie navo a live* hundred-dollar Mil with the promise 1 of another if ho succeeded, lomc afternoon for Columbia by way ol tir.ie next, dny, he was convinced. If not sooner, his three silent partners For a While Murder Ate at His Heart. would come together. To each one two of his detectives were to be at? tached. Time and place was all he wanted to learn. "Stop at nothing, boys," were his final instructions. "I must have this information. Whatever you do, whatever happens, I'll see you through." Returning to his hotel, Jie changed cabs as before, went up to his room, and with one more cocktail for a night? cap, went to bed and to sleep. In the morning he dressed and shaved, order? ed breakfast and the newspapers sent up, and waited. But he did not drink. By nine o'clock his tele phono began to ring and the reports to come In. Nathaniel Letton was taking the train at Tarrytown. John Dowsett was coming down by the subway. Leon Guggenhammer had not stirred out J yet, though he was assuredly within. , And in this fashion, with a map of the city spread out before him, Day? light followed the moveirrnts of his three men as they drew together. Na? thaniel Letton was at his offices In the Mutual-Solander Building. Next arrived Guggenhammer. Dowsett was still in his own offices. But at eleven came the word that he also had arrived, and several minutes later Daylight was in a hired motor-car and speeding for the Mutual-Solander Building. CHAPTER IX. Nathaniel Letton waa talking when the door opened; he ceased, and with hi8 two companions gazed with con? trolled perturbation at Burning Day? light striding Into the room. The free, ?winging movements of the trail-trav? eler were unconsciously exaggerated in that stride of his. In truth* It seemed to him that he felt the trail beneath his feet. "Howdy, gentlemen, howdy," he re? marked, ignoring the unnatural calm ' with which they greeted his entrance, j He shook hands with them in turn, . striding from one to another and grip- j ping their hands so heartily that Na thaniel Letton could not forbear to | wince. Daylight flung himself Into a massive chair and sprawled lazily, with an appearance of fatigue. The leather grip he had brought into the room he I dropped carelessly beside him on the floor, "I've sure been going some," he sigh? ed. "We sufe trimmed them beautifully. It was real slick. And the beauty of the play never dawned on me till the very end. It was pure and simple knock down and drag out. And the way they fell for it was amazln'." Letton made a dry Bound In his throat. Dowsett sat quietly and wait? ed, while Leon Guggenhammer strug? gled into articulation. "You certainly have raised Cain," he said. Daylight's black evea flashed In a pleasant way. "Didn't I, though!" he proclaimed, jubilantly. "And didn't we fool 'em! I was teetotally surprised. I never dreamed they would be that easy. "And now," he went on, not permit? ting the pause to grow awkward, "we all might as well have an accounting. I'm pullin' West this afternoon on that blamed Twentieth Century." He tugged at his grip, got It open, and dip? ped into it with both his hands. "But don't forgeti boys, when you-all want me to hornswoggle Wall Street anoth? er flutter, all you-all have to do Is whisper the word. I'll sure be right there with the goods." His hands emerged, clutching a great mass of stubs, check-books, and brokers' receipts. These he depos? ited In a heap on the big table, and dipping ugain, he fished out tho strag- 1 glers and added them to the pile. He conanlted a slip of paper, drawn from I his coat pocket and read aloud: "Ten million twenty-seven thousand | and forty-two dollars and sixty-eight cents is my flgurin' on my expense. Of course that-all's taken from the winnings before we-all get to flgurin' j on the whack-up. Where's your fig? ures0 It must a' been a mighty big clean up." The three men looked their bepUS element al one another. The man was a bigger fool than they had imagin? ed, or else he was playing a gatno Which they COUld not divine. Nathaniel Letton moistened his Ui*? and spoke tip. "It win take some hours yet, Mr. llarnlsh, i afore the fall accounting can ho made, Mr. Howlton Is at work upon It now. We ah as you Bay, it hn?* 1 I been a gratifying clean-up, Suppose we bave lunch together and tali ii I over. I'll have the clerki word through the noon hour so thai you will have ample time to catch your train." Dowsett and Quggerihammer manl Camden, taking with him all o| Ills fesled a relief that was aufl?st "uT> vious. The situation was clearing. It was disconcerting, under the circum? stances, to be pent in the seme room with this heavy-muscled, Indian-like man whom they had robbed. They re? membered unpleasantly the many stor? ies of his strength and recklessness. If Letton could only put him off long enough for them to escape Into the po? liced world outside the office door, all would be well; and Daylight showed all the signs of being put off. "I'm real glad to hear that," he said. "I don't want to miss that train, and you-all have done me proud, gentle? men, letting me in on this deal. I just do appreciate it without being able to express my feelings. But I am sure alrr '.ghty curious, and I'd like ter? rible to know, Mr. Letton, what your figures of our winning Is. Can you-all give me a rough estimate?" Nathaniel I^etton did not look ap pealingly at his two friends, but In the brief pause they felt that appeal pass out from him. Dowsett, of sterner mold than the others, began to divine that the Klondiker was playing. But the other two were still under the blandishment of his child-like inno? cence. ^ "It is extremely*?er?difficult," Leon Guggenhammer began. "You see, Ward Valley nas fluctuated so, er?" "That no estimate can possibly be made In advance," Letton supple? mented. "Approximate it, approximate it," Daylight counselled, cheerfully. "It don't hurt if you-all are a million out one side or the other. ,The flgures'll straighten that up. But I'm that curi? ous I'm Just itchmg all over. What d'ye say?" "Why continue to play at cross pur? poses?" Dowsett demanded abruptly and coldly. "Let us have the explana? tion here and now. Mr. ?Harnish is la? boring under a false impression, and he should be set straight. By this time Letton was stiffened by the attitude Dowsett had taken, and his answer was prompt and definite. "1 fear you are under a misappre? hension, Mr. Harnish. There are no winnings to be divided with you. Now don't get excited, 1 beg of you. I have but to press this button . . ." Fur from excited, Daylight had all the seeming of being stunned. He look Ul at Dowsett and murmured: "It was your deal, all right, and you all dole them right, too. Well, I ain't kicking. I'm like the player in that poker game. It was your deal, and you-all hr.d a right to do your best. And you done it?cleaned me out slick er'n a whistle.*' He gazed at the heap on the table with an air oJ' stupefaction. "And tint-! II .h : * orth the paper it's written r;<'i dust it, you-all can sure deal 'eth round when you get a phnnce. Oh, J o. J sintt a-klcklng. It was your deal, and youall certainly done me, and a man ain't half a man that squeals on another man's deal. And now the hand is played out, and the cards are on the table, and the deal's over, but . . ." His hand, dipping swiftly into his in? side breast poeket, appeared with the big Colt's automatic. "As I was saying, the old deal's fin? ished. Now it's my deal, and I'm a-going to see If I can hold them four aces? "Take your hand away, you whited lopulchre!" he cried sharply. Nathaniel Letton's hand, creeping toward the push-button ~oh the des?T, was abruptly arrested. "Change cars," Daylight command? ed. "Take that chair over there, you gangrene-llvered skunk. Jump, or I'll make you leak till folks'Il think your father was a water hydrant and your mother a sprinkling-cart. You-all move your chair alongside, Guggenhammer; and you-all Dowsett, sit right there, while I Just irrelevantly explain the virtues of this here automatic. She's loaded for big game and she goes off eight times. She's a sure hummer when she gets started. "Preliminary remarks being over, I now proceed to deal. Remember, I ain't making no remarks about your "Now It's My Deal, and I'm Going to See If I Can Hold Them Four Aces." deal. You (h no your darndeit, and It wai all right, But Uds is my deal, and it's up to me t.? do my darndest in the first place, you-all know me. I'm Burning Daylight savvee? Ain't afraid of God, devil, death, nor destruction. Them's my four tiros, and they sure COD* l>or your hots. Look at that there living skeleton. Letton, you're ?uro afraid to die. Your bonei is'all rat? tling together you're that scared. And look at that fat Jew there. This little woniMin'a t<'\:-< p-:t llio fear of (Jod in his heart, He's yellow as a sick per* ?Itntnon, Dowsett, you're a cool one, \ouuii ain't batted an eye nor turned , a. hate* That's because you're great i - ? apparatus which hne been used In on arithmetic. And that makes you-all ; dead easy in this dead of mtne. You're sitting there and adding two and two together, and you-all know I eure got you skinned. You know me, and that I ain't afraid of nothing. And you-all adds up all your money and knows you ain't a,-going to die if you oan help It" "I'll see you hanged," was Dow- , sett's retort. "Not by a damned sight. When the j fun starts, you're the firil I plug. TU' j hang all right, but you-all won't lire ; to see it. You-all die here and now , while I'll die subject to the law's delay j ?savvee? Being dead, with grass growing out of your carcaeeee, you ? won't know when I hang, but I'll sure j have the pleasure a long time of i knowing you-all beat me to It" 1 "You surely won't kill uaV Letton , asked in a queer, thin voice, j Daylight shook his head, j "It's sure too expensive. You-all j ain't worth It. I'd sooner have my ; chips back. And I gnees you-all 'd ? sooner give my chips back than go to the dead-house." A long silence followed. "Well, I've done dealt Ifa up to j you-all to play. But while you're de < liberating, I want to give you-all warn? ing: if that door opens and any one of you cusses lets on there's anything , unusual, right here and then I surd i start plugging. They ahVt a soul '11 ! get out of the room except feet first." A long session of three hours follow ? ed. The deciding factor was not the big automatic pistol, but the certitude j that Daylight would use it. Not alone were the three men convinced of this, I but Daylight himself was convinced j He was firmly resolved to kill the men I If hla money vas not forthcoming. It was not an easy matter, on the spur of the moment, to raise ten mil? lions In paper currency, and there were vexatlouB delays. A doeen time9 Mr. Howlson and the head clerk were summoned into the room. On these oc? casions the pistol lay on Daylight's lap, covered carelessly by a newspaper, j while he was usually engaged In roll \ ing or lighting hla brown-paper clg 1 arette. But In the end, the thing was accomplished. A suit-case waa brought j up by one of the clerks from the wait lng motor-car, and Daylight snapped it ! shut on the last package of bills. He { paused (at the door to make his final i remarks. "There's three several things I sure want to tell you-all. When I get out aide thia door, you-all'll be set free to act, and I just want to warn you-all about what to do. In the first place, no warrants for my arrest?savvee? Thia money'a mine, and I ain't rob? bed you of it. If It gets out how you gave me the double croae and how I done you back again, the laugh '11 be I on you, and it'll be sure an almighty j big laugh. You-all can't afford that laugh. Besides, having got back my stake,that you-all robbed me of, if you arrest me and try to rob me a sec? ond time I'll go gunning for you-all, and I'll sure get you. No little fraid cat shrimps like you-all can akin Burn? ing Daylight. If you win you lose, and there'll 8ure be some several unexpect ' ed funerals around this burg. Just \ look me in the eye, and you-all'll sav j vee I mean business. Them 8tubs j and receipts on the table is all yourn. i Good day." As the door shut behind him, Na? thaniel Letton sprang for the tele? phone, and Dowsett intercepted him. j "What are you going to do?" Dow \ sett demanded. j "The police. It's downright robbery. I won't atand it. I tell you I won't ? atand It." j Dowsett smiled grimly, but at the I ?ame time bore the slender financier back and down into hla chair. "We'll talk It over," he aaid; and in Leon Guggenhammer ho found, an anxious ally. And nothing ever came of it. The thing remained a secret with the three men. Nor did Daylight ever give the secret away, though that aft \ ernoon, leaning back in hie stateroom on the Twentieth Century, his ahoes off, and feet on a chair, ho chuckled long and heartily. New York remained forever puzzled over the affair; nor could it hit upon a rational explana? tion. By all rights, Burning Daylight should have gone broke, yet it was known that he Immediately reappeared j in San Francisco possesalng an appar? ently unimpaired capital. Thia was evidenced by the magnitude of the en? terprises he engaged In, such as, for Instance, Panama Mail, by sheer weight of money and fighting power wrestling the control away from Sheft j ly and selling out in two months to the ( Harriman intereats at a rumored enor? mous advance. CHAPTER X. Back In S;in Francisco, Daylight quickly added to his reputation. In ways it was not an enviable reputa? tion. Men were afraid of him. He be c. me known as u fighter, a fiend, B tiger. ills play was" a ripping and smashing one, and no one know where or how his next blow would fall. The element of surprise was largo. Ho balked on the unexpected, and, fresh j from the wild North, his mind not op i crating In stereotyped channels, be was ; ble In unusual degree to devil I new tricks and stratagems And once be won (he advantage, ho pressed It remorselessly. "As relentless as a Red Indian,'- was gald of htm, and it vas ??Jaid truly. He was a free) lance, and had no I'l l* ndly business associations Such alliances as were formed from time to time were purely af? fairs of expediency, and he regarded his allies as men who would give him tl" double-cross or ruin him if a profitable chance preaented, in spite of this point I view, hi was faithful I to his allies, .But he was faithful Just grading the new A. C, L freight as long as tney were Tihfl "no \ ? ~<er. The treason hrd to come from them, and then It was 'Ware Daylight. The business men and financiers of the Pacific coast never forgot the les? son of Charles Klinkner and the Cali? fornia & Altamont Trust Company. Klinkner was the president. In part? nership with Daylight, the pair raided the San Jose Interurban. The power? ful Lake Power & Electric Lighting corporation came to the rescue, and Klinkner, seeing what he thought was the opportunity, went over to the en? emy in the thick of the pitched battle. Daylight lost three millions before he was done with It, and before he was I done with it he saw the California & Altamont Trust Company hopelessly wrecked, and Charles Klinkner a 6ui side in a felon's cell, j So it was that Daylight became a : successful financier. He did not go in for swindling the workers. Not only did he not have the heart for it, but it did not strike him as a sporting proposition. The workers were so easy, so stupid. It was more like slaughtering fat, hand-reared pheas? ants on the English preserves he had ; read about. The bport, to him, was j In waylaying the successful robbers and taking their spoils from them. The grim Yukon life had failed to make Daylight hard. It required civ? ilization to produce this result. In the fierce, savage game he now play? ed, his habitual geniality imper? ceptibly slipped away from him, as did his lazy Western drawl. He still had recrudescences of genial? ity, but fbey were largely periodical and forced, and they were usually due to the cocktails he took prior to meal? time. In the North he had drunk deeply and at Irregular intervals; but now hie drinking became systematic and disciplined. It was an unconscious development, but it was based upon : phyrlcal and mental conditions. The cockt&'ls served as an inhibition. Without reasoning or thinking about It, the strain of the office, which was essentially due to the daring and au? dacity of his ventures, required check or cessation; and he found, through the weeks and months, that the cock? tails supplied this very thing. They constituted a stone wall. He never drank during the morning, nor In of? fice hours; but the Instant he left the office he proceeded to rear this wall of alcoholic inhibition athwart his consciousness. The office became Im? mediately a closed affair. It 00* d to exist. In the afternoon, after lunch, it lived again for one or two hours, when, leaving it, he rebuilt the wall of inhibition. Of course, there were ex? ceptions to tills; and, such wa? the rig? or of his discipline, that if he had a I tiinner or a conference before him in , which, in a business way, he encoun i tered enemies or allies and planned or ; prosecuted campaigns, he abstained i from drinking. But the instant the business was settled, his everlasting call went out for a Martini, and for a ! double-Martini at that, in a long glass ! so as not to excite comment. Into Daylight's life came Dede Ma? son. She came rather imperceptibly, i He had accepted her impersonally i along with the office furnishing, the office boy, Morrison, the chief, confi? dential, and only clerk, and all the rest of the accessories of a super j man's gambling place of business. Had ue "been as"kea any rime duTing Hie nfFt j months she was In his employ, he j would have been unable to tell the ? color of her eyes. From the fact thi t j she was a demi-blonde, thera res' 1 | ed dimly in his subconscious less a I conception that she was a brunette. I Likewise he had an idea that she was ? not thin, while there was an absence in his mind of any idea that she was fat. And how she dressed, he had no idea at all. He had no trained eye in such matters, nor was he interested. He took it for granted, In the lack of ! any impression to the contrary, that 1 she was dressed somehow. He knew I her as "Miss Mason," and that was ? all, though he was aware that as a stenographer she was quick and accu? rate. He watched her leaving one aft? ernoon, and was aware for the first i time that she was well-formed, and that her manner of dress was satis? fying. He knew nonG of the details of woman's dress, and he saw none of the details of her neat shirt waist . and well-cut tailor suit. He saw only the effect In a general, sketchy way. 1 She looked right. This was In the ab? sence of anything wrong or out of the * way. I "She's a trim little good-looker," wis I his verdict, when the outer office door closed on her. The next morning, dictating, he con? cluded that he liked the way she did her hair, though for the life of him he could have given no description of It. The impression was pleasing, that was all. She sat between him and the window, and he noted that her hair was light brown, with hints of golden bronze. A pale sun, shining in, touched the golden bronze intc smoul? dering fires that were very pleasing.^ He discovered that in the Intervals, when she had nothing to do, she read books and magazines, or worked on some sort of femlnino fancy work. Passing her desk, onoe, he picked up a volume of Kipling's poems and glanced bepuzzled through the pages. "You l ke reading, Miss lesson f ho - said, laying the book down. I "Oh, yes," was the answer; "very much." Another tlnio It was a book of Wells', "The Wheels of Chance." I "What's it all gDOatf" Daylight asked. "Oh, It's fust a novel, a love story " she stopped, hut he stin stood will * j inj.', snd she foil it incumbent to go 01 '?I s about a little Cockney draperV I assistant, who takes a vacation I I I his bi< ycle, and falle in with a yoani j girl verj much above him. Her moth er Is u popular writer and all that. And the Bltuatloo is very curious, aadjj > ai d.