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20
EVENING BULLETIN, HONOLULU, T. H., SATURDAY, AUG. 6, 1911.
2HM23&Mt&lV',j
The Honorable
Senator
Sagebrush
By FRANCIS LYNDE
Copyright 1910. by Street & Smith
"That Is Just what 1 Bbould like to
kuuw," hu persisted. "At the present
nionn'iit I mn shielding not one crlm
IluI, hut good ninny "
"May I know the elrcnmstnncos?"
dhe usked lifter n moment's eonsldera
tton. "Yet. There lias been fraudulent
registration In 11 number of the state
leglslutlvu districts, and I have se
cured lualtlro evidence of It."
"On which Bide?" sbo asked point
edly. "Oil tioth sides, I nin sorry to nay."
be returned gravely.
"Whoui ilo,j It Implicate?"
That l further thnn my Infnrmn
Hon goes," hu ndmltted. "I know only
the fact of the fnlso registration. Hut
with a fully equipped political inn
chine on the ground the, Inference 1a
pretty plalu, Isn't It?"
"I suppose so," she admitted. "Yet
you say the frauds nre on both sides."
"That doesn't uiuku any dlrferenoe,"
he declared. "It Is a light for men
aud not for parties. So far ns I cau
see, the machine picks Its men qnlto
lnespectlvo of party. There Is al
ready reason to liellere that some of
the candidates who have the most to
nay now nlsiut the 'free ballot and
will of the pesiple' are themselves the
sworn henchmen of the machine,
ready when t lie time shall come to
vote yea or nay, us my father Hhall di
rect." "I can't believe It," she protested,
with generous warmth -"of your fu-
tntr, 1 mean 1 am sure nu mis ueve-i-authorlzed
anything so despicable."
ltluunt shrugged. "Shall I publish
this cvldoneo that hns come Into my
hands, or blmll 1 contluuu to suppress
was the first tlmo she had ever
falleil him. "Give me n little time,"
she pleaded. "Tomorrow come to see
me tomorrow. It's n dreadful thing
for you to liuve to do, Kvmi the moat
dreadful thing that could be lmaglmd.
I"-
But here young Gordon, to whom tho
next dance had been piomlsed. ciiine
to claim her, and mount's hard won
Interview was nt nn end.
When he left the Gordon house,
which was rather far out In the south
eastern huburh, he meant lo go direct
to the hotel mid to bed. lie had been
losing' much sleep In tho strenuous ac
uities of thu cumpalgu. and It was
beginning to tell upon him. As the
trolley car was passing tho Templo
court building ho saw n dim light
Illuminating his upper floor olllco win
dows. With all bis suspicions renrouscd, hn
dropped from the ear and took the all
night elevntor to his ofllce floor
' TJie sleepy elevator man let him out
In thu upper corridor, and almost Im
mediately the car sank away out of
sight.
Ileforo lllount had taken two Bteps
toward 'his olllce door there came tho
dull crash of n mil tiled explosion, and
tnu or three of the glass doors In the
suit were shattered.
llloimt quickened his pare to n run,
let himself silently with his latchkey
through tho door of his private room,
flung open hU desk and groped In an
Inner drawer for tho revolver which
was part of Its furnishings.
With the weapon In his hand, ho
passed on through thu swluging door
Into Collins' room. There was an
acrid odor of high explosive In tho
air, and when he hurried through to
the room beyond thu fumes were
stifling.
Ills firstact was to press the electric
button which turned on the lights.
Thu workroom
beyond Collins'
office was a
wieek. Desks
w eru broken
open, thu safo
door hud been
blown (torn Its
hinges, and u
m a 11 wlt.li an
electric pocket
lump In his hand
una crouching lu
AAV VJk fl'OIlt o: tuo
iQtS w recked cash
a man was cmiucii. box.
tlxa in front or On tho blazing
tiii: wiiKoxBD up of tho lights
IfAbll JIOX. JU(J u,u upmug
to his feet and dashed nut past Illouut,
snapping thu light uwltch, to lvau the
rooms lu total durkness, us lie passed.
1 Villi u sat ago uxuluinutluit dUected
at, h own luck of pruseucu of mind,
Hlouut turned tu follow, fell over &
chair, picked himself up 'and, groping
Mr the lutc-b. on Colons' door, let hlm
s4lf out tutu tliu coirldor.
'i'tiero. were no signs of tho escaping
sijfe Slower, and lllount run liustlly lu
thu elevator uud lung thu bell uutll
ttio sloepy operator set tho machinery
Id motion anil lifted himself lu tho
libor of huppenlugs. Here tho Incident
cuuiu tu a.u 'nbrilpt end. The eleintur
man liiil beard, no one descending thu
a WJjrsjiviiJehjcJivled do vvii.tlm.elev.il tor
W.WMM1.
i -
"W. '
kit... j .
.i.L- 1 lJ. .J.
well fiom flour. tu floor Iv the sited
lev el
lllount Went lack lo his iilllce, lilrn
ed III a polke tihiim end wiillid until
nil citlleer cniru from headquarters
Leaving the man In eh.irge uf the
wricked wovl:iiiuui, he went to lepuit
the safo blowing lu peisuu tu the tap
tain nil ilnl.i nt polli e lieiidquiiiti'.s.
after which he carried nut Ids uilglniil
Inti'litlon of going tu the hotel noil to
bed
Hut for a Ian time after tli post
midnight quiet had settled down upon
thu hostelry he lay wide awake. wree
tling with this newest problem Whirl,
had risen up tu iimfront htm, fur now
there was no longer nut doubt In his
mind that the long mm of the ma
chine was rem hlug 1 ut for lilin per
sonally and that snouei or later It
mu't come In a life and death grapple.
ciurnnt xv.
ov Tiir. Kit is tu inn limit amis.
STT was 011 the evening of the day
D following the safe blow lug In
Itlount'ii olllees In the Temple
court building that n one cur
special train slipped unostentatiously
Into thu capital from thu east, running
as second section of the overland.
Coincident with Us sidetracking,
O'ltrlaii, the vice president's secretary,
drnpiied from the step uf the car anil
made his way ncross tho tracks lu the
jard to the nearest railroad telephone,
which chanced to bu in the ynrdmas
ter's ofllce.
I'lfteeu minute Inter the result of
O'ltrlnu's telephoning became evident.
Gantry nuil Klltredge, the. division mi
perluteudeut, left their respective, of
fices lu tho railroad building, met In
tint echoing train shed nnd walked to
gether down the yards.
Tho vice president, sitting nt the
great tnhlo In thu oon compartment
which served hlm ns n desk In work
ing hours, looked up nnd nodded when
his two subordinates entered.
"You pot my message'" he queried.
Gantry answered for both. "Yes,
nnd we were wnlttng. Your orders
have been carried out. Nobody out
side of the dispatcher's otllce and the
few men lu thu jnrd crew knows that
you nre here."
Mr. McVlckar sat back In his chair,
took 0110 of the large blade cigars
from tho open box on the table nnd
passed tho box across to his two sub
nlterns, "Light p," he snld tersely. "I nm
duo In Twin Canyon City tomorrow
morning, nnd we've got to thrash this
thing out lu n hurry. Any change In
the situation since jour last report?"
Gantry shook his head. "Nothing
very Important, mount's uptown of
fices were broken Into Inst night, nnd
his safe was ripped open with dyna
mite. Tlmt's nil."
"Well." said the big man at the ta
ble, "what came of It?"
"Nothing so far as any one can find
out."
To a disinterested observer It might
have seemed n little curious that thu
I 'u president Hindu no further Inquiry
Into thu safe blowing. As a matter uf
fact, his next question completely Ig
nored It.
"What has lllount been doing this
week'" he asked.
"lie has spoken tw-lec, once at Art
qulpa and ouce at Ilellcrsvlllc, Col
lins sojh ho hns engagements enough
to keep him out of town right up to'
election day."
"That's good," was tho nodded nn
proMil. "He'd only bo In thu way hero
nt H16 capital."
"That young man has been pretty
neatly n frost," remarked Klttredge
(.usually. "If he Isn't n wild ejed
fanatic, ns Gantry hero insists ho Is,
ho is deeper than thu deep bluo sea.
I'vo been keeping tab on hlm, as you
dlrectisL nnd. ho bus worn out three
of my best oUlce men trj fug to Tiocp
cases on hhn."
"You lire prejudiced, Klttnslge,"
was the Ice piesldeut's comment. "It
was thu best move in tho entire cam
paign putting Idm lu thu Held. I dou't
Mipposo ho has accomplished much In
u practical way, but wu havo kept tho
Honorable Davu from using him, us he
meant to."
"1 don't know about tho accomplish
ment," put In Gantry. "Thcro Is a
four ply mystery linked up In this
speechinililiig business. At first I
thought Kvnn mount's sudden popu
larity dated hack to homo word sent
out Hum jour Chicago olllce, but when
.oi told me It (Hi I n't I begun tu do a
little wouderlug 011 my own account
I can't imiku up my mind yet. whether
It Is puru popularity growing out of
Ids speeches or whether It's tho as
sisted kind."
"Assisted"" snld tlie vlco president,
with 11 lifting ut thu heavy penthouse
eyebi ow s.
"Yes," Gantry went on. "It has
been tuo unanimous. Colllus has kept
me posted, and hu sajs thu Imitations
buvu fluttered hi thicker than thu nil'
tuuiu leiuea lu Yullumhiosu, nnd
Klttrodgo's men tell us tliut thu young
orator has been making what flgured
as n triumphal progress nil over tlio
state bunds, receptions, committees,
banqueting and ull tliut everywhere
hu has gone."
"Hut his speeches have been straight
to thu point, our polut," Interrupted
thy lcu piealdcut "l'Vu'beeu reading
them "
Klttrcdgp shook his head.
"Gantry says 'Yes but I say 'No, "
he contended. "Theio Is such a thing
us pultlug too much sugar lu tho eof
feu. mount's been overdoing It. Ho'ii
been putting thu whltuwiish on so
thick that nuy llttlo handful of mud
that happens to bu thrown will stick
and look hud."
"Wu must take chances on that,"
was Mr. MeVltkur's decision. "Young
mount's good work lids undoubtedly
had Its ifret upon public sentiment
There Is u distinctly better feeling to
wuid us, unci It Is fairly state wide,
We.nushej'jcut-dludcijrruLiiotJa
,1 tin' opposition newsVupcis gef I10M
of anything that can bu ustd iigulnst
ns."
"They me moving heaven nud earth
to do It," said the superintendent.
'And I believe that old lalil Is help
ing them. That Is the explanation of
hu safe blowing incident, ns I put It
up."
Again the vice president refused to
comment on the olllce breaking.
What I nm most afraid of now Is
that our young man will be o vet-zeal-.
ous," he said musingly. "He Is some
thing of n fanatic, ns you have Inti
mated, ami try."
"lies 11101 e than that," Klttrcdgo put
in quickly. "l'e had one man keep
ing tab on him rnrnsworth who is
as good as any detective that over
walked. He says lllount Isn't hnlf ns In-
nncuit ns he looks. Ills specchinaklng
hns taken him Into every c6rner of tho
state, and rnrnsworth says hu has
been doing n lot of quiet prying nnd
Investigating on the side looking up
evidence, was whnt my man thought."
Gantry began to look uncomfortable.
"I'erhaps I ought to hnxu mentioned
It before," he suld. "lllount has been
holding me up to the rack nil along;
says If ho preaches straight we'o got
to walk straight. 1'tu argued with
hlm, but It doesn't do any good."
Ouce more thu Ico president's heavy
eyebrows rose.
"You mean that ho might be tempted
to try compulsion" hu nsked.
"Yes er In fact, ho hns threatened
to do Just that," stammeiid the truffle
man.
At that the shaggy ejebrows bent
thcniseUcs Into n frown of ubstracted
reflection, .
"Wo must tako enre not to glui hlm
a cliuuce," ho announced finally. "Dur
ing thu few days that liitereno be
tween now nnd the election ho must
bo kept snfely In hand. It won't do
for him to bu around and In the way
Willie jou two lire trjlng tu do busi
ness with Iliithawny and the others.
Keep hlm out of thu capital. And If
you think lie lias been gathering evi
dence see to it that he doesn't get n
chance to use It. How about that mat
ter In the rifth ward? W'u'te got to
make sure of Grjsuu this time."
Klttredge held up a thumb and fore
linger tightly pressed together.
"We've got thu city wards right
there," he said, "with the Honorable
David pretty safely euchred. He Is
phi lug n deep game this tluio-so deep
that it Is altogether underground and
out of sight Hut wo haul hlm down
Just the same."
Tha vice president reached over and
pressed tho bell push which signaled to
Ills train conductor.
"That Is ull I have to say," he con
cluded. "Keep your eu ou young
lllount nnd get rid of him for 11 few
duys, I'll leuvo the details to you.
Get orders fur me us you go up, Klt
tnslge, aud let me out ns soon us pos
sible. I ought to bu halfwuy tu Alkull
by this time."
It was juung Itnnlett 11 reixirter for
thu Dally Capital, who told Kvau
lllount of thu arrival of thu presi
dent's enr, running as second section
of tho overland.
Itnnlett had tried Ineffectually to get
to the'prhuto cur, having for his ob
ject thu interviewing of the Ucu piusl
dent lllount thought It a llttlo singular
that tho vlco president should cuuiu to
the capital secretly, but he did not
stop to .speculate upon this.
Having something more thun n sus
picion that Gantry was not passing
Ills throat of exposuru up to McVlckar,
ho determined ut once to seek 1111 lit
tecvlew with the A leu prcsjdejit
Walking rapidly (luvfu'to the HIerr.i
nrcnuu stntlou, he saw n light In Gnu
try's olllce, uud, moaning to he fair llrst
uud severe afterward, If ms-dful, he
run up tho stair nnd tried the door of
tho troQlc manager's ofllcu. It opened
tinder his hand. Gantry 'was at his
desk.
"Hanlctt tells mo that McVlckar is
In town," hu began abruptly. "Whero
is he?"
"Itnnlett Is mistaken about twenty
minutes mistaken," was Gantry's re
ply. "Mr. McVlckar pnsM-d through
hero 11 few minutes ngo on Ids wuy tu
Twlu Can von city. Ills special has
been gouo somu llttlo time."
"When Is ho coming buck?"
"I dou't know."
"Did. you seo him"
"I did."
"Did you tnko up with hlm tho mat
ter of Issuing now tuiHTs tu du nwny
with thu Ircfcrcntials or to lew el tho
public rates'down to them?"
Gantry shifted uneasily lu his chair
itnd tried to uvnde. "Theru wus wry
llttlo time," hu said. ".Mr. McVlcknr
wus in 11 great hurry, nnd his special
wns held ouly u fow minutes."
Illouut crossed tbo room nnd tint
down.
"Dick, wo'vo come to thu last round
up," hu kii Id gravely. "In thu nature
of things I can't glvu you any movu
time, Yoti'vu gut tu du something nnd
do It quickly. Let's go up uud seu thu
editor of tint Cupltul."
"What for" demanded Gantry.
"I wiint you to glvu hlm 1111 Inter
view to tho effect that a revision of
thu freight rates Is lu process nnd
tliut shippers hitvlug grlovnuces should
presuut themselves nt once, Tliut will
nt least bturt tho ball to rolling In thu
right direction."
"I should think It would," scoffed tho
tralllc munugcr. "What jou don't
know nbout tho making of freight tnr
lffs would sink n ship, Uvun. Theso
things can't bu donu wlillu jou wait."
"Hut they'vu got to bu lu this In
stance," lllount Insisted. "If you don't
wlThdrnw the prefeieulhils given to
thu corporations you must do the other
thing, l'ost jour legal notice of a re
duclluii of thu rates on tliucouinuMlltles
upon which you uiu now iillowlug ru
hutes, uud I'll light straight through on
thejliipjlvu been taklngi". .
if-1 tkHtY '
jar TUL-a
''And If we don'l" queried Gantry.
"If 3011 don't do one or the other
there will be nn explosion. Just ns I'vo
told you. of course jou know that
my safe was broken open lust night
wrecked with dynamite"
"Yes."
"Well, unluckily for jou, the packet
of paper. which might otherwise hnvo
been taken or destroyed didn't happen
to be In the safe. Tho documents nro
still where they can be usisl nt n mo
ment's notice. And, Dick, I'll use my
nmmunltlon If j-oit don't play fair."
Gantrj', long suffering nnd patient to
n fault lu n business affair, wns not al
together superhuman.
"Hvnn, you nro n ftost n black frost.
You stand up so straight that you lean
over backward. Don't you know that
tho Transcontinental Is big enough nnd
strong enough to chivvy you from ouo
end of this country to the other If you
turn traitor? 1 love a lighting man,
but 1 haven't nny use for n fool."
lllount laughed.
"If I havo succeeded In ranking you
angry perhaps there Is n chance that
you will do something. You may curso
1110 out ull you vvnnt to. but the fact re
mains. I'm going to explode the bomb,
nnd It will be touched off far enough
before election to do the work If jou
keep on refusing to make my word to
the iK'opIo good. That Is nil nil tho
nil. Now, will jou go up to tho Capital
olllce with mo and dictate that bit of
Information that I mentioned'"
"Not In n thousand years!" raged
Gnntrj'. "Not in n thousand years!"
Nevertheless hu rose, closed his desk
and prcpand to accompany the hn
portiinnto political manager. Half
way along tbo first bloek he suld:
"There Is no use In our going to tho
Capital olDco nt this tlmo of night
Illenklnsnp doesn't get nround to his
desk much before 11. Let's go up to
the club."
At the rnllwny club tho frame man
nger developed n keen deslro to kill
the Intervening time In a game of bil
liards, lllount Indulged htm, beat
hlm threo games lu succession and
consistently refused to drink with
hlm. At tho end of the third gnmn
Gnntrj gnvo n terso definition of a
man who would forco tils ftlenil to go
nnd drink nlnno nnd went to the bar.
Ten minutes Inter when Illouut went
nfter hlm he had disappeared, nnd tho
visit to the newspuper olllco was post
poned perforce.
CIIAITKIl XVI.
TUB F.yE OK I1ATTIX.
ON the following morning Tllonnt
found n telegram on Ids desk.
It iMiro the vice president's
inline, nnd the date Hue was
Twin Canyon City. It directed him to
go to n remote portion of the state be
youd tho Lost Ither mountains tu ex-
IT DiitrcTrn him to ao to a uemote
lOllTION OP TUB HTATK.
amino thu papers lu a right of wuy
case which was coming up fur trial
ut thu next term of court.
This was lu Klttredgu's department
and lllount culled up thu superin
tendent ou tho plume. Klttredge wns
tu Ids olllce, uud he evidently knew
hhqut thu vice president's telegram;
also hu seemed very anxious to huvo
thu (IHia'on counsel go tu LowUtunut
ouce, so anxious tliut ho offered his
own set vlco cur tu bu run us n special
trulu.
lllount biiw 110 wuy to evadu n posl
tlvu older from his chief, but hu wus
moru than suspicious that Gantry or
Klttrcdgo or possibly both of them
were eonspliltigjto got hlm iiwayfrom
thu capital ut thu critical moment.
Wlmt did not occur to him nt thu tlmo
was the fie t that Mr. McVicknr's tel
egram might havu originated In Klt
tredgu's otllcu.
Asking thu superintendent to hnvo
the bet vlco car luadu ready Iminedl-ttlelj-,
he p.iekid his bund bag, left a
lioto for 1'utllciu uud began thu lueluss
Juurney,
In ull his traveling up nnd down tho
stuto hu hud never found mij thing
to equal the slowness of thu special
train. Tour mot till bonis weie lost
ou thu lonely siding. Theru was 110
station, and Illouut could not tele
graph. So fur ns he knew, the seiv
leu cur might stay theru for 11 day or
n week. It was nil to no purpose Unit
ho quarreled with his conductor. The
trulu clew Ind aiders lo wait for
westbound 17, mid theru wns nothing
to do hut to keep on wultllig.
Lute lu thu ufteriioon trnlu 17 or
some other train camu along, nud tho
special was ouco moru set lu million
eastward, but nt dinner tluiu it was
again sidetracked, eighty odd miles
fiom Its destination, and ouco more
at 11 blind siding, whelu theie was 110
telegraph olllce. The car wus still
standing 011 the siding when Illouut
went to liul. Hut In thu morning It
was lu motion again, Jogging now on
Its lelstuely wuy up thu blanch lino.
At Lewistou, tho town nt tho cud of
thu Jjruuchwhi'xu Jim right of. wny
zbrfctitelX'
trouble luul .originated. HTqiuit found
mole delaj, enieriilly planned fur, ns
he hnd now come llrmty to believe.
The plaintiffs tu the right of wny case
weie oqt of town, nnd their lawyers
had genu tu the capital, lllount saw
that he mlghl wnlt 11 wiek without ne
compllshllig uu.vtlillig; hence he Imtue
dlately liistiuitul his (oiuUotor to got
outers for 1 he leturn.
After having been gone 11 leisurely
half hour the 1 ouductor 1 utile line I;
tu the.serv Ice car to sny that the single
telegraph wire (ouncitlug l.ewiston
with the outer woi 111 was iluwiftmd
Hint the oiders for the return Jeiiir
ney could not be iilitiiliuil until the
telegrai h connection wus 1 onion d At
that iotnl Illouut look luatteis Into
his own hands
There was 11 mining company having
Its headquarters lu the Isolated town
end lllount had met the innungor oncn
to the capital-met hlm lu a suclul way
and hud been able tu show htm boine
little attention. Hiring u buckbourd At
thu uuu livery stable lu the pluce, he
druve out to the Little Mury mine
and luckily found Ulatcliford. the
filuudly manager. It did uor tuke over
n minute tu renew the pleasant uc
qUaliiiance and tu statu his dilemma.
"I'm hung up here with my special
train, the wires 1110 duvvh, nnd I can't
get out." wus his stuteiueht uf tho
crude fact "Didn't you tell me that
you owned a motorcar"
"I did," was the prompt reply. "Want
to borrow it"
"You beat me to It" Bald lllount,
laughing. "That was precisely what T
was going to beg for tho loau of your
car. I bcllcvo you told mo Hint you
had driven It from hero to the capital."
"Oh, yes, several times. You ought
to mako It In six hours and a half or
seven ut tbo most Drlvo mo down to
the burg and I'll put yoa lu posses
sion." A little later mount found himself
Bundling tho levers of n vury service
able knocknhout car equipped for hard
work on country roads. Whcu ho was
ready to go lie drove, down to the rail
road yurd und hunted up his conductor.
"After you hnvo had your vacation
jou may get orders from Mr. Klt
trcdgo and take his car buck to the
capital." lie told tho man. "When you
do you may give hlm my compli
ments uud tell him that I preferred tu
run my own special train."
The conductor grinned nud made no
reply, nnd ho wns still grinning when
he sauntered Into tho railroad tele
graph olllce and spoke to the operator.
"I dunno what's up," he said, "but,
whatever It was, tho string's broke.
Old Dave Sagebrush's sou has bor
rowed hlin nn automobccl aud gono
buck to town on his own hook. Guess
you'd butter call up tho division dis
patcher nnd tell hlm the broken wlro
gug didn't work. Get a move on. We
huln't got nothing to stay hero for
now."
The tralllc manager bad left his olllco
for the day, hut Illouut found hlm at
tho rnllwny club.
"Just n word, Dick," ho began when
he had overtaken KIttredgc's accom
plice In the grill room corridor. "Klt
tredge put up n job on me, and I thlnlc
you helped him. I had to borrow an
automobllo to como back in from
Lewistou."
"Confound j-oul" said Gantry heartily-
Rut that wns all that bo had a
chanco to say, slnco mount hnd turn
ed abruptly nnd was already leaving
tbo club to go on to tbo hotel.
Slnco tho election was -now no mora
than three days distant tho Inter
Mountain lobby was filled with groups
of caucusing politicians. Notwith
standing thu position ho had taken
und tho open ejed fearlessness with
which ho bad discussed tho political
situation publicly In every considera
ble town In the state, Evan lllount
wus still 11 puzzlo to thoso whoso ways
were, by need nnd tho forco 'of cir
cumstance, the rovcrso of stralghtfor
Wind. lllount was -halted hnlf a dozen
times before ho could mako his wuy
to tho elevator, and thu pumping
process to which be wns subjected nt
each fresh halting space amused hlm.
It wns plainly evident that In spite of
all ho had said nnd done n consldcr
oliV majority of the politicians wcro
still regarding hlm ns in sumo sense
his father's lieutenant. Somewhat to
his disappointment ho found that Pa
tricia bud gone out with his father
and tils father's wife to dinner; henco
hu wus forced to sit nt a tablojn tho
cafe with threo of tho caucusing po):
Itlclnns and wns obliged to find his
moderate plensurc In trying to mako
their vury evident perplexity loso noth
ing of Its ncutuness during thu tablo
hour.
When ho reached tits olllce on Sat
uidny morning, after un early nnd
kolltary breakfast nt the hotel, thu
young reformer scored, or thought ho
bad scored, his llrst small victory.
Among tho envelopes 011 his desk wns
one bent lug thu Imprint of thu tralllc
oillce. It Inclosed a carbon copy of
the notice requited by law of n pro-i
pused change lu freight rates.
Hastily comparing tho tlgurcs with
thu iiiuiuoiuuduui In his ci(otbook,
Illouut felt tho tension relaxing for
the 111 st tlmo In weeks. At tho long
Inst Gantry or his superiors hud sur
rendered. The rates on lumber, elec
trical supplied uud other commodities
which hud been given Illegal preferen
tial weie to be reduced to tbo figures
given to tho fnvured corporations,
lllount passed u busy Saturday, put
ting In most of his time at his dusk,
Culling up tho hotel In thu afternoon,
hu found that his father had taken
I'litrlcla nud Honorla for a drlvo lu
the roadster, aud nt dinner time tho
automobile party had not yet return
ed, lllount went back to his olllco
after 11 busty dinner nud woiked Into
into tho night. Thu ovo of battlo hud
arrived, nud ho wus striving to clinch
thupu.IL of-nrgument ns.well aa J10
could by writing" manyfetters to tfio
political friends he had mudo In going
up and down the state.
The Sunday proved to bo n 'very
quiet day, though tho lobby of the Inter-Mountain
wns still the nssembllng
plnco for the gnHi-iIng dans of poli
ticians, lllount went to church In the
morning because Pamela Insisted
upon It nnd his iipiienr-iin-n In the pew
ns n member of the lloiiiuable David's
family would have iliuisl fresh com
ment tf there hud been nny church
goers among the visiting polltlrlnns:1
After luncheon he borrowed the
roadster nnd tool: IVtlrhiu for n drive.
The dny wns perfect, and the ronds
were In good condition, vvhen he
hnd put dlstnneo between them nnd
thu Sunday quiet of tho city streets
he told I'atrtela of his experience with
KIttredgc's special train.
"Do you think It was Intended" aha
asked whcu hs had Mulshed bis story,
"1 haven't the slightest doubt of It
now. Mora than that, I think the
telegram bearing Mr. McVIckar's
name wus 11 bold forgery. Hut 1 urn
bringing them to time," be went on.
exulting over bis onu small victory.
"There bj to be an evening up of
freight rates, nnd one more room of
tbo railroad house will bo clean. I
believe Mr. McVlckar bus meant to bo
fair alt nlong, but the overzenlou
BUbordluntu U always the hardest man
to handle."
"I nm glnd," she snld. And In tho
sunshine of her nppioval tbo young
man spent n very happy afternoon.
'At breakfast Monday morning Kt-on
Illouut again made the senntor's party
of three 11 puny of four und nt luble
found n puzxlliig surprise 1) lug In wnlt
for hlm.
The critical day of daj-s In tho cam.
pnlgn hud arrived, and It wns sup
posable on every hypothesis that the
commander of un army would choose
any oilier dity rather thnn this to be
nbseiit from bis post Hut nt the
bienkfnst table be beard his father un
iioimee (iilmly that he was going to
drive outjo Wartrnee, for no better
stilted reason Hum a purely routine
purimsc of having 11 talk with his
ranch malinger nbout the shipment of
n triilnloud of beef cnltlo.
While lllount sat In open ejed nn
tontshmeut the day wns planned for
there nud then. The arrangement
made was one that left I'atrlcla free
to keep nu engagement at thu Would
erfords' while the senator drovu to
Wnrtrnee In the roadster. The little
car, which I'atrlc-lit hud been told to
call her own, wns to be left nt the
gnruge. and she wns to drive out hi
the nfternoon, bringing Ilrnii with her
If be cured to come.
It wus Mrs. Honorla who made this
nrrnngement, nud In the midst of his
astonishment lllount ucknowlcdgcd a
warm kindling of gratitude. If the
tittle- lady whom he wns trying so con
sistently to dislike had seemed to do
her best to keep hlm nud I'ntrlclu
npnrt during the early part of the
girl's visit she now appeared to be
doing whnt she could to ntoue, Blount
ventured one question aud one only,
ns it was addressed to his father.
"Do you happen to remember that
this is tho final day before election"
hu asked,
"So It Is; so It Is, son," was tho even
toned reply.
"I thought maybo you had forgotten
It" Bald Uvan quietly,
"1 hnvo In a measure," smiled the
boss, "nnd if you'll tako my nil vlco
you'll forget It too. Tho political spell
binder who hasn't snld bis say and
dono bis do before sunrise this morn
ing needn't expect that bo's going to
tio nblc to dig tho trco up by Its roots
between now nnd tomorrow morning."
It wns not until the younger man
wns leaving the table, excusing him
self on the plen of business, that the
senator's wife clinched the arrange
ment for tho afternoon.
"You'll come out with l'ntrlcla,
won't you?" she said, putting It fulrly
up to hlm to consent or refuse.
"(if course," ho stammered. "I shall
hu delighted."
"You don't nny It qulto as If you
tnciiut It." laughed tho one who was
to drive hlm out tu Wnrtrnee, "but I'll
ho clinrltahtu nnd give you the benefit
of thu doubt Whero can I pick you
up, Bay. between 1 und 2 o'clock Mrs
Wcuthorford's luncheon Is to be reully
n 1'iencli dejeuner, nnd I shall bu
able to get away early."
"If It wouldn't bo too much trouble
for you to stop by for mo nt the Tem
ple. court," Hlount began, nnd when
sho nodded her ucqiilescence he went
nway, still wondorlng at his fnther's
calm Indifference on tho very hour
striking evu of tho great battle.
CIIAl'TEH XVII.
Till! 1I0QIIIIACK.
I J? wns on this sumo Monday morn
ing, day of preparations for pullt
teal battles, that Mr. Itlchurd
Gnntrj'. nnsvvellng a teleplmno
cnll on the long distance line, hastily
dosed his desk and left his olllce to
uinko his wuy by quiet side streets lu
the Itullvviiy club gurugo. Klttredgu's
bur wus In Its plnco over onu of the
pits, nud the chauffeur wus polishing
thu brass.
"Get her lu commission In about
three shakes of 11 dead lamb's tall.
Haberstio.V snld tho tralllc manager
briefly, "I'vo got to go somewhere In
11 hurry. Do you want nn order from
j-our boss"
The chauffeur shook his bend. "No;
I guess It's ull light. If you suy so, Mr.
Gantry," he replied. And a llttlo later
ho bad tiikc-u on his supply of gaso
line! nud thu motor wus whirring mcr
lily under thu hood.
"Whero to" lie usked vvhen Gantry
climbed to tbo mechanic-bin's sent bo
ride hlm,
"Out of town to thu north by the
quietest streets you can Und. Then
tukujhu Qunretpro county road. We
J. - itJi -
nro duo fit Cllffcicst tnu Just nbout
fifteen minutes sooner than wo cun
get there."
No more thnn n quarter of nn hour
wns consumed before tho car hnd
wound Its way to the summit of tho
mesa und was wheeling to a halt be
fore the entrance of a small slimmer
resort hotel ierched nmong tbo pines
at the edga of tho canyon cliff. There
were no guests on the hotel verandas,
nnd Gantry knew that the Inn's sea
son hnd closed two weeks earlier.
Yet ho spra'ig from the enr and went
In ns If he expected to find the plnce
open nnd occupied.
It wns open, and In the coty guests'
writing room nt one of the tnbles
drawn up before a cheerful wood (Ire
int the vice president of the Trans
rontlnental wccmlngly In solitary state,
tint In the room beyond a battery of
tslogrnph Instruments clicked busily,
und u close ubserrur would have re
marked that the small tablo before
thu the wns tltted with a row of eltK
tile call buttons.
CllUcrcst luu, deserted of guests,
bad becu transformed Into the hidden
hendquurters In tho field of the com
mander In chief.
"Weill" said the great man, looking
up quickly when Guntry entered. "You
took your time about getting here
Whose car Is that?"
"It Is Klttredgo's," said tho traffic
man.
"Hotter tell hlm to get one that will
mako time," was the Impatient com
ment. Then: "Sit down and bring tho
situation up to date, uud talk fust.
Time Is precious today."
Gnntl-v iln.iv nn n rtinlr nnd (?mvp n
Vasty lesumeof the political situation.
Everything luul been done Hint could
be done, und so far us the tralllc mali
nger knew the railroad forces were
ready to meet the Issue lit the Kills.
At one point, uud out one, the de
fenses were weak. "It's that Gryson
deal," he explalmd. "It has been ruth
ir iiu'kwnrdly handled, nud If Evun
I'.louut should happen to stumble upon
II any lime dining the day 1 shouldn't
like to answer for the 1 oiisequi uees."
"You ought 10 have imide sure 'by
getting )) 111 snfclj out of the way,"
iviih the rnspliiL- iiuuiiieilt of the great
(lain "inl im uhI common bunglers
Jou 1II1J Klttridge- both of Voll."
Gaudy's M'sluie uiih of l.umoioiu
Icipalr
"There' 11 limit. .Mr. McVlckar We
iMildn'l Very well pirrote til 111 and
nny hlm !f In 11 diiuglMii We h.ivi
I lid everj way We 1011UI lo iiiuxzle
liu. So far us I l.iiow, be hasn't been
iiiliig r.ii.v U.li ;: lu. 1 mlliirj since yitu
yen- hi re lasi vvie!.. lull 1 had lit pip
.-i" e(H'"..in liSi.t about the oi)U:ill.lu,
.1 the tieluhl dies" '
"What did jou ilnTc' snapped the vie,.
leshlent
'I miilhil hlm vvtint purpoihsl lu b
1 e;.li,on lupy uf the ligal liutlie uf v
tduethm. He doesn't know jet lliai
i" lies 1 i u.ilj nipj that the uoll-.
n'.Ml't belli o-.ltl u our station-'. 10
lie I in- thiols I'm hoping that li
vuu't f.ni! Il, out until after tomorrow,
via 11 II v.-ou't maUi. mij ispislnl dlf
'. re-nee."
.Mr. MeVhl.ai- fruwiuil again.
"1a1r epedlents have all beeu pret
ty elude. Muutrj. You seem to per
sistently forget that Jou are denllng
with n mighty sharp, shrewd .viiiiug
lawyer; that the chances are leu to
one that joung lllount discovered jour
pious fraud ut once. Go hack lo the
city nnd think up some scheme that
will keep hlm busy tuday, too busy to
smell out thu facts lu tho Gryson
mutter."
Gantry got up aud stood with his
hack to the lire.
"I'm all In. Mr. McVlckar, nnd that's
the humiliating fact. There Isn't nil
other Idea left lu me," hu confessed
despiitiingly. "Can't you help us out n
little. Mr. Mc.Vlckur"
Helug thus put face to fuce with the
luveutlvo test, the vlco president did
not hesitate a moment
"Of course," he grated. "If I hnvo to
do your thinking for you. Go buck
nnd get Into communication with Gry
son. Tell him the time bus como to
play tho sumo game on young lllount
that he played four years ngo on
Ilothorcdgc, tho speaker of tho house.
He'll understand."
Hut now Gantry was shaking his
bead dubiously, "I'll do whnt you
suy and do It quickly. Rut cundldly,
Mr. McVlckar, I'm afraid of Grjson.
,lf mount should bnppeu to go at hlm
Just right there mlgbt bo consequences
of another sort Gryson Is pretty sore
us It Is."
"Never mind about ttio consequences.
Go nnd do ns I tell you to. Then go
uround to the telephone exchange nnd
tell tho mumiger (hut I want 11 special
operator a umu If he's got one put
bn this long distance wire; tliut you
want the connection broken between
tho capital und David Ulouut'a cuuu
try bouse and that my wire Is to bu
kept ojien to you and to Klttrcdgo oil
day. Hus Klttredge got his lluemeu
out guarding thu telegraph wires up
here?"
"Yes; ull tbo way out from thu cut-tu
at Grand canjon."
"All right That's ull. Now make
thnt boy of jours burn the road get
ting buck."
It wns only a little after 0 o'clock
when this coufercucu wns held In the
guest deserted inountulu resort house
ut thu head of Shouobo canyon. 'At
11 o'clock lllount, who was dictating
to tlnce stenographers In succession
In his olllees lu thu Teuiplu court, bud
a culler.
"It's thn fellow Gryson," said Col
llus, who hud goue tu imswer the unto
room bell. "IIu Buys bo's got to see
you whether jou want to beo hlm or
not"
"Send him In," snld Hlount briefly
And a moment later thu ox-bud man
uf the mining cumps entered nnd cure
fully, ciubcd the door behind hlm.. .
(Continued Next Saturday)
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