The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 2, 1900, Page 10

10 THE SUNDAY CALL. Digges bie e 1 e an s It s & sig t > x W & he sets out # s & . Rella, b XVTI1-4 &0 [ T 3 he anew C £ . . = < F 3 ’ D 3 as rich as ugh, don’t invy e 5, 2 c nd ance agen’ s; but as ter carry on And yes and. bent his back nd, as if he were about n_the hot-headed Irish b I madam, she ther! 1'll make myself er sake; séttle every dollar be her stave; stand by sit upon the box, wait ser lapdog, if she will me and be my wife. But, man, ye're mad! Shtop e see that ye're nts have mercy man. - Why, -the ve, as if ye'd got the e wid a ragin’ fever. it t ye down.” d upon his-erm He thed hard. " he sald. “I am spoke with Giffichity, and pronounced though not loudcr tle whisky,” she sald, pouring out f a glassful and placing it by the side iced siphon of soda water. “It will it off straight and leaned his elbows upon the table. me call ye a couge. Or aid ye a carriage, and have ye left it e corner? ame in the cars and walked the rest e 14 b ” ghe said; o n 1. AVe Yo & coupe, ’ as nl’én\‘l‘l to pull the handle of the nger bell, T find my way/” he ssid_{F'm oW, N one cure for me, Mistress d; “and only one happy sald Mrs. or.. d, locking at her s ye.are, about Misther cunning Brunnen e m,” he into hi "Wxit, Wait!l” Said the Wo- man, . tepp ng Between Bridget and the Messen- ger Belil. 1 out a full glass’and drank:ft at 1f. I want you n_this great game, aks. Here's a thou- a guarantee.” k from his breast pocket ‘a roll of notes and thrust them upon her. At the = ne he was astonished that she did not refuse them. When, however, she t d, fumbling for her pocket in the back of-ber dress, put them away, his eyes sparkled with a cun- ning joyfulness, T righ nat’s . my dear iady. Money's the talisman: nothing moves without it.” “The saints forgive ye such blasphe- mies!” exclaimed Mrs. O'Hagan. It makes honesty a thilef; it's the load- stone of women's hearts: makes old men young; it buys love as it buys merchan- dise; it defies time, it bridges the ocean, makes the granger a gentleman; gives victory in war, gives luxury in peace and makes a common man a demi-god. It makes you and me also friends, my dear lady: and it shall teach our Zella not to despise the man who can lay at her feet twenty million dollars! Think of it! Think of it! Twenty million dollars! By Gosh! it makes me tremble, who possess it, to think of the force of such a power. Dyna- mite isn’t in it with it; nor melinite. All the ‘ites’ ever invented is a 10-cent pistol compared with the power of twenty mil- licns of dollars!” He stretched out his arms, as If to em- brace the mighty pile: and then, falll back in his chair, chuckled and laugh: with - drunken 1mbeclllls'. / e yer Tistiment, misther. . .” sald the mistress of Park-. side, contemplating him with pity, but not without indignation; *I was sayin’, If ye'd rade yer Tistiment’ ‘“Twenty million dollars!” he sald, with @amned iteration and chuckling. *Twen- ty_millions!” 2 “Ye'd find Saint Paul agen g and Saint Paul's an autherity not to despised.” “Ah, eh! Do they think they can bluft T Faul saye The tove 4 1 % #ays ‘the love av money the root av all evil'~"* \ 11 buy 'em all she continued, re tabl , In an oracular exter with the other, .« s ppn pierced thim- ny sorrows.’ ™ ning upon his hands, his body O'HAGAN USED THE nd Mistress “tleman said you were a friend of his m it did seem T she could do to wistful face, voung face, and had been beau eyes were dark as night and bright’as I am Libby Doolan,” she said, filnging aside her sables and faking a seat. “‘Oh, indade,” said Mistress O'Hagan, preening her feathers, as it were and cocking up her head. permitied for an ould woman to what ye are and why you come here?” “It"is. permitted you to do what you ““Where's my man, “Oh indade! please,” said Libby. Ned Glover?” ‘Misther Glover is on a It's a nice tric! me, his lawful wife.” “His lawful wife, is 1t?" hem was my words. “Shure, ye'd better ’a: Hiram Dexter; he's rich. as poor as a Dublin hackman.” hat don’t make no difference. He managed to keep me when v uainted. These last two a months he's live ‘“Has he so! foine things, I :“That is my affair. Glover disowns me, makes out he never knew me, and is going to wed some other 1 want to spare her the misery of committing bigamy. That's what I'm “Now, listen to me, Misthress Libby Doolan, and don't fly up at what I'm ay me false, by all over honest wimmin. 1] ‘ave. the law on yer—by Houly Saint I will, right away!” And who bought ye thim Jewels on yer I am told that Mr. ter say; for if ye saints’ that watcl to alarm me or ibby, at the same and it graves m&a Lfl'lrl.l‘lln' G Pt X e thomghy” cked woman se colors ai re no Olris] “Ye are—thruly?” “I was born indear ould Dublin.” “And ye would disgrace it?” *‘How' dare you say such a thing?" “How dare I, ye base woman, ye've come here to glory in ve the tool av that baste, Hiram I shame a good young man and br heart av an angel? Libby Doolan, if that's yer name, repint before I curse ye; repint before the blasting malediction av an ould woman shtrikes ye dumb!” Bridget O'Hagan raised her hand with & strange solemnity, her small body fairly towering over thé crouching figure of her overdressed visitor. “Be easy, be easy, woman,” said “Ye'll never frighten me that way.’ She Wwas frightened all the sagge. “Thin T'll' jist terrify ve arother way. callin’ in the pollisman, who knows all 1t ve. “What a row yo! a 're making! The g “I'm a friend av the pollis, I'm a friend av the Mayvor and I'm your best friend if yell let m. “It's only the last week has seen me prosperous,”’ sald Libby. “My fine togs are new, my jewels fri from Simmin’s store, my houge new furnished, and would ye, one Irish woman agen’ another, ruin me? {‘As sure as ye would ruin Misther Glover and his swate angel. Ye say Ned Glover knows ve, that he's demained him- selt wid that he's yer husband?"” “I do say it.” “You do?" “Thin you lie! And ye know it, ye base hypocrite, and it's the pollls shall make ye deny it Mistress O'Hagan rose and went to the messenger alarm bell, ull which three th.r‘xe‘g would bring the officers of the law. »¥hat would you do?’ asked Libby. ‘Call for a pollisman and a wagon, for by the Houly Mother I'll have ye in the house av correction, shure as my name's Bridget O'Hagan! And ye may dipind on it, ve'll get banes from the Chaife, who's en honest Ofrishman and will know how to rivinge his sacred country for the dis- gracin’ av it by such as you.” “Walt, wait!” sald'the woman, stepping d between Bridget and the messenger “I come here to meet a friend and I fin, an enemy.” ‘Ye find a counthrywoman whose heart * blades for the disgrace you bring upen Ould Ireland, and the ye bring upon wimmin In general; to a counthry- woman that can forgive as well as pun- ish. Now, be thrue wid me; be & woman, Misthress: Brunnen has done ye no harm: Misther Glover can never have seen ve. Misther Dexter has pald ye to throw mud. Are the clothes ye ’ave on yer own?"" . _The woman began to M?nt. ulled at the strings of her hat, breathed hard and for a moment seemed about to give wa: to the vigorous attack of her assallan Mistress O'Hagan did not mistake these Bl“%l af comi :lm. " "Ye may well fale ay position. And to think we -&’% Otrfil: wimmin, and rrhlpu av the same county, not to name the same chi " tr:oth‘ Mlg}re.u O’Hagan, it I only durst st you X . Ye've thrusted worse than me, both mmin and menl” “God knows I have, to my sorrow,” sald the woma PGt Sow coma 7o dsbasp yer goun- #Oh, if I durst trust you.” ; many a better has. What's hinderin’ ye?” The man outside— lots of things.” “Bad cess to the man out Two wimmin'. shtay there. wan man any day. “Not such as he, “And a hundred “Listen to me, my poor make me your friend instid.av irimy, and by the houly minister: igicn 1 can make Are ye, poor? Leen here in” Chicago How'long ’'ave ve here from New / The gir! took from her besom a hand- kerchief and rubbed face and wept. If yer poverty has been timpted befriend ye.' And now Bridget fumbled in her pocket for Hiram Dexter’s bundle of notes. moment had come for the use she intend- ed to make of them, supposing her instinct had prompted her aright. aved before the blinking eyes v or Libby’'s representa- a thick bundle of dollar bills. I'm not goin’ ter bribe y: “I'm goin’' ter reward ye, and hel good sister ter kape the child. one thousand truth, the whole truth a the truth, so help ye God.” “T'll tell it, sb help me heaven!" “One_thousand to begin wid whin the dirty work’s done wid, according d nawthin’ to me Insthructlon: She handed the notes to the girl, who clutched them feverishly, rocaded gown found a pocket and thrust them into it. “I'm not Libb; dressed me u Job for me to and dragging Doolan at all. 1t is a put-up reak off the match between & young woman and Ned Glover. saw either of them, to my knowledge. didn’t know it was Hiram Dexter the job wag to be done for; but I was told you knew what I had to say, and I am his wife. I don't know Mr. hall know him; and whis 1l confession in Misther risince and in mine ve shall have the other thousand. “It's a fortune! It won't be hard to be good with that.” ‘‘How much 'ave they paid ye to malign Misther Glover and blacken his white e? “‘A ragged hundred-dollar bill!” sald tHe flashing eyes. ‘Il work hard for the biggest 1l work hard for yeu without a cent” if ye ask me, and give ve the monay back as I want it. have committed murder I tell yer man ter driyve House and fetch Misther He thinks he exter either. Vai, thin, i Dexter here. He'll come. ! The mlld“fflo thout me.” Bectrity, ey mistress says go stralght to Misther Hi- ram Dexter at the Palmer House and say istress O'Hagan sinds for ye, _an?‘ fl}: young lady, Misthress Brunnen; sh€ -4 p{pp red to convince ye, and make thing alsy’.” Thé woman dbeyed these instruction Several pairs of eyes from adjacent "‘_“" dows watched the business. In the esti- mation of her neghbors it redounded to the credit of Mistress O'Hagan to be re- ceiving such a -visitor. 2 The driver demurred. He must have a note from Mrs. O'Hagan. The old lady complied with this request at once. »ured .Sir—Come wid the coache man of kouppy and bring wid ve deere Zella at wunst—Bridget O’Hagan The driver took the note and his cargo of sablés and jewels and drove away. CHAPTER XX. “NO_FOLLY, NO CRIME THAT PAS- SION HAS NOT COMMITTED. As fate would have it, during Mistress O'Hagan's interview Mr. Hiram Dexter was engaging. the attention of Miss Brun- nen on the very subject of the bad wo- mun on. ! made up her mind to reln- Dexter's employment. Mr. 1ad made .up his mind to make a final throw for her. le had béen caretully groomed for the occasi His gray hair—all that was left of it—was faultlessly brushed, showing a tuft where his bit of whisker began and ended. His face shone, despite the PGw- der the barber had used upon his “clean L He wore a white waistcoat, a en tie, a single diamond In his shirt, a brown frockcoat and trousers, and a tlower in his buttonhole. His face was pale, and his lips seemed more compressed than usual, the under-lip slightly protrud- Ing.” A keen, fierce expression gleamed in lis eyes, that were bright and watchful. There was a great falling off from the man he was when first we made his ac- quaintance. All the bluff in his manner and the self-confidence were gone. He was, nevertheless, not so unprepossessing as Mrs.-O'Hagan made out; and for thls spectal occasion he had tuned his- voice into an almost pleasant key. Wwore a long gray cioak, with hat ather of the same soft neutral tint, r hair pushed back from her forehead. Ne wWas paler than usual, but looked the plcture of health and strength, stood firm in her shoes and held herself with a dig- Dity of pose In remarkable contrast to the stgl_ft‘y attitude of the millionaire. 1 desire that you will permit me, Mr. Dexter, to quit your. service without mo- Indeed, Miss. Brunaen! Why this haste?’ “I am uncomfortable and unhappy, sir, in my work, and feel no longer capable of tul!lnhlng my duties nr&\cx‘—:fi;r e “I am sorry,” Dexter replied, rubbin; his hands in a deferential, though protes(!: Ing, manner, his attitude altogether changed from his aggressively ate demeanor of the day before, “1 fear I distressed you yesterday, I was In a. controversial modd, eh? Not quite myself? You intimated, if I remem- ber rightly, -that the Grand Pacific wine was to blame. It was good of you to do me that much credit. But let me confess to you that 1 am at. this moment calm and -collected; as judicial of ‘temper, lot me say, as if I had thought out a great business scheme, and entered upon its ne- sotiation.” Yes?" she sald, meeting his glance with &‘aleatlfas: response. ‘“‘But. I hope you will not detain me long.” I'm no sc as you know: but_‘in vino veritas’ is ving we all under- stand. If it was speak for me, it spoke true, Miss Brun- nen, I reiterate, I tell you now, in plain language, what the wine only hinted at— 1 love you.” “Mr. Dexter!” sald Zella, by way of yozvst. and stepped back toward the oor. % “Don’t start! I am not going to molest o I have no fear of that.” “Thank you. As we are going to part, there is no harm in my telling you in g!aln words what you must long since ave understood.” “I have understood nothing of the kind."” “Then you are very blind.” “I may have credited you with more good sense than you possess, Mr. Dex- er.” “Pray be seated. You look as If you contemplated flight, or as if you were not llstening.” He left his desk and placed a chair for her. She seated herself, her eyes steadily watching him. “You think I am afrald of you. You are mistaken.” ‘“Not a bit of it. I know your fighting weight, as they say. 1 want you to com. prehend mine. "Any young lady might be proud to know that she absorbed the con- stant thoughts and attention of a man of my position and wealth, and that with the most honorable motives—marriage and a princely settlement. Nay, listen. It is probably the last time I shall speak to you on this subject.” “Then stand further away,” she said, T returned to his desk, sat down, thrust his hands into his pockets, and looked at her. “Under the Influence of .my passion, stimulated by the Grand Pacific wine, you think 1 had resolved to carry you You paln me, Mr. Dexter.” “You must hear me. It does me good to confess. 1 have' loved you wilaly— tove vou Y i e st syt #o. T cannot to hear you.” ou must. When I tell you that in him you think you love you are grossly deceived, you will listen?" “T_will not!" “But you shall!” he repiled, hurrying to. the door and locking it. 9 “Unlock that door!" she saild, flinging her cloak aside and facing him. “Will you hear what I have o say? The next moment he was stag; against his désk and the door was locked. * She opened it, as if_to leave the ng -her mind, she s=aid: & 1l hear what you. have to But say Ii. from your chair, at the You had dréamed of compromis- ay. Was this one of your for a caller to find the locked ? 0, I swear it!" he answered. “I told to admit no one until I rang my What_I want to say is this. I will put it in a busin, ke way. In the fifst piace, I love you.” She' made a grimace of impatience. “And would make you my wife.” “I loathe you!' she replied. “I would settle millions vpon you." “Don’'t waste time. What else?’ she sald, curious to hear what he would say about Glover. It might be useful in the interest of her lover. “‘Ned Glover is already married.” -“Is that the only libel you have to hurl at an absent and Innocent man?* “I,.am prepared to give you the fullest evidence of the truth of what I say. The woman_herself, and every possible evi- dence that would be considered necensary In a court of law.” “And when you have proved all this T offer you the revenge of an outraged woman. I will make you my wife.” “The vengeance would be worse than the crime.” “ “Would it so? Then, by —" Don’t swear, Mr. Dexter; it s not nec- essary. We quite understand each other, Good-by, sir. not_everything. “We shall see!” he said, biting his lips and clenching his hands. At which moment the telephone bell rang. - With her hand upon the knob of the door, Zella paused, on the point of quit- ting the room with a Efl.l;.l! shot. 3 m « « Yes' ‘q‘hat you? to come to her. She has sent a coupe. “Oh, indeed!” sald Zella, with a frown.' P! dreams?"” “Is that another of your “Come up, Sam. . . . Pray stay one moment, Miss Brunnen.” Sam entered, with Mistress O'Hagan's note In his hand. hDexlet read it, and requested Sam to d it to Miss Brunnen. She read it. '‘As soon as you. She was there earlier. He stayed to 've Sam some ructions. She took flé Cab she saw by the hotel foon. Mis (o3 the way of mm:{mnn e passage s R E i %wm anvthing to ye sbout .locking the door, she added, “Ou affectiona, wine that seemed tos. oney is a great thing, but. turned to Zella to say: “A messenger from Mis- tress O'Hagan, requesting you and me s that Mistress O'Hagan's writing?"" it is.” *To his dishonor?™ Yo “I had hoped to spare ye the sordid thing. But since it's the wiil av the Houly Mother, why her gracious will be donel Come into the parlor.” As Zella entered t drove up with Mr. Dext “Now, Libby, as ve ¥ obey me to the “To the letter: and the girl, whose feell: ed upon b; interval o he coupe. Now, Misther saild Bridget: “a the door and tak meddlin’ body shz sit_wid closed d in a conspira “Mistress O'Hagan!" sald Dexter. “Jt's a mighty poor price ye've paid f the trayson! Ye've tould ma, and T foin ye've been base enough to tell Zella, that Misther Glover's an . A the worst kind av m - to put him further away Ay B that he's m. or I'll bate yer head in wid th poker ridget, dear; be calm,” sald Zella. for God's sake said Dextes, “There’s no_sense In raising the strest.” “I'll raise hell upon ye bef wid ye, yo mane, shrunken nspirator!™ sald Bridget. “Listen now, all av ye! This woman was to be the It av.Ned Glover’s infamy.” Spare us, Bridget, dear “Spare the poor creature, enough. Mr. De “Oh! thank you! e Woman, had brushed the last smudge of foy from her face, and was now white as lace about her neck. “Tt's all a sald Dexter. *Yours 1s_the ira “It s no lle!” sald the woman, rising up and looking almost beautiful, her halr dragged about her face. “Curse you, for a traitorous wretc he maid. “As for you, Bridget O'H Tl _have you whipped out of the bedad? Thin away wid before I brain ye!” And, about it, YSinfiss Brunnen, you dom’t belleve what that woman says? You will give me a chance?” “To hang yourself!” said Bridget. And she pushed him into the passageway, and following him up, opened the outer door and rated at him so fiercely that he hur- ried Into the road. After which fusillade she staggered into theé little parlor and fell exhausted into the arms of Zella. CHAPTER XXL DREAMING OF LOVE AND HAPPI- NESS. “This is my third letter,” wrote Glover to his ‘“beloved Zella, ho had duly treasured his previous epistles of love and hope, and records of travel, “and I am writing it under far more pleasant co tions than I could have hoped to achi when 1 set foot In this wonderful regio: One of my fears had that wint: might lock me up and post turn. And I find there is no winter to speak of. Imthe higher mountains the weather is cold enough -to keep their tops white, as I see them now, but th glittering in_the there has already been snow, but appeared in a day. The air is dry vigorating. “One day, sweetheart, we will explore the Rockies together. I doubt if thers !s anything more beautiful of romantic Europe or America than Colorado, ew: judging from the little I have yet seen it, in a district t is being knoc about by prospectors and mining ope tions. I am sending to the Mail a scriptive letter which I hope will Inte: Chicago, as well as Parkside, and more particularly yourself. “I have be singularly lucky, so far: though there is one little shadow on my good fortune that I will mention later. Une cannot have everything one desires in this life. It would not do for us to be ictory be too easy k of the nights ar ache that i fears that beset You wers so now: now, wers S0 manful in say so; had ) i such muscle. ow you had. How in’ State street! get it? and to think t ys Joe Williams chaffed me abot girls, and women who lfted welghts in side shows! He had guessed all the time who you w and we: straight to the Women's Athletic Chu But even under that glimpse of yo¥ in the lamplight I knew that you were ideal, that you rivaled Diana; that with the s th of your arms you had of a beautiful womanhcod.™ “Shure and his mother must 'ave been Oirish!” remarked Bridget O’Hagan, to whom Zella was reading extracts from slover's most recent letter. mean to it's ail blarney?” with a happy smile. larlint, it's the gift av a biv nature 's come to him natural through his ser. No nee fisther Glover to your femin such fndependent Ye: k Bridget was knitting, more by way of self quiet than for the sake 1gs that were growing very hing of her four this occupation lured to walt while bits of the letter to herseif, ting passages here and there for have already Prudent’s Gulch, Platts Val Red Horse Forks, Coloradc 4 ? it the country her: abouts We tap the h route at the Forks, and so letters ack and then on to I ow this epis- see vou rea de. First, I ses ¥, via the A lot of it re Chicago, straightaws tle with my. though ing in dear ol F you alore, in y hamber, and my heart beats at' t picture; then I see you in Bridget's qulur. reading_parts of ! and I hear the dear soul's Irish compl ments and criticisms. “While I am writing my partner is watching me, when he is not watching his fox terrier, a keen little imp that does hing but talk. Yes, dear; I have a art 4 r'I shall contract with one day. soon: to cherish and prote and love until death us do part! You w never know how dearly I love you. B this other partner-is a grizaly old chap, with the brownest and most trustful e you ever saw in the face of man, bushy eyebrows, and wrinkles that come of hardship and weather and labor; a strong, sturdy old fellow, much older than he looks. with an expressive mouth, and the kindliest smile. He Is a/plcture of the typical miner of romance: a rough weather-beaten, almost grim-lookin, oid chap, with the heart of a woman and the courage of a British soldter. He took a fancy to me from the moment we met; sald he wanted ‘a pard,’ and offered me a share of his latest holding. which he had just begun to work. I planked down tho ‘fastening penny,’ as the English farmer calls the payment on account; and he has given me comfortable quarters. He's a bit of a sybarite in his way. Hiy diggings, or hut or cabin. or whatever I8 the right name. is unique, even here, It is placed on the side of the ridge that slopes down to Blind Man's Drift, over- looking & stretch of valley thu(hm |s not marred by new drifts and heaj of tallings, and a bit of half-burnt forest that gives the back of a hill the appear- ance of a gigantic porcupine, every quill a burnt tree stump. would be Just too lovely,’ as your descriptive American hrase has It “At night the s is luminous with stars. Oge of them, I think it is the even- ing star, might be a diamond with many facets under the electric light.s Another, Mars, seems to radiate glints of the ruhy. I don’t think I like Mars. The north star reminds me of you—clear, steadfast and true. Standing at the door of the Danks and Glover shanty, with night's lames above, and against the distant hillside the twinkling candles of Blind Man's Drift dotting the little world below, scene might be fairyland. Blind s Peitt 1s half hidden by groves of forest trees, which the miners have not yet mo- lested. Fancy my partner huving a .K.n room in his cabin! It was a lum! ed ; we have made it quite swell. My bed is § like a berth on a shi Yo ;'lc ure“lfmn in the best light mx window fords. A curtain covers my gaee T (Comtinued mext ‘weskd