The morning Astorian., October 07, 1908, Page 3, Image 3

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 7
THE 3I0RNING ASTOIUAN, ASTORIA, OREGON.
13
,0
oo a
000
Copyright, J90I, t C. W, Hook.
EORGK BLAKE waa a tort of
f confidential aoerotary for old
VI Lemuel Pettus, tbo money
" , lender, Everybody kuowt Pot
tun. lit la uot averse to 1 certain tort
of publicity. Three or four timet
yonr he permit himself to be Inter
viewed at aomo length and held up to
the young m an example of thrift lu
tegrlty and other vlrtuva. He baa
favorite lutorvlew for early auinmer on
the folly and wastefulucat of vaca
tloua, and It inuat bo ranked among
the bflPPli'Ht acblovemonta or uncon
teloua humor, for It la baaed upon the
aerloua conviction that the moat
worthy objoct of human ambition It
to become a nurrow. sciieming. aeiuau
tkluMnt like Lemuel Pettus.
Risks was nearly forty and had
boon In the employ of Tottut for Of-
teen ycara, . " ,.'" '
In the course of tils conum-tlon with
Tettua, Iilako had bwumo Ilka an old
man. Ilia life waa dry aa duat He
'had been rather handsome fellow,
with an excellent figure and carriage,
but uow bo waa thin and ehambllng In
gnlt, and bla clot lie were almost aa
ahabby a Pettus'.; He wat a fine cx
ample of the advantages of the no va
cation habit
Pettus never took an- clmnccs. He
alwaya bod two dollars' worth of mi
Impeachable collateral for every dol
lar that he put out The reader who
It familiar with such phaaea of life
will not be surprised to learn that
Blake, who existed lit thin atmoaphere
of "euro thing" finance, waa himself a
reckl(a Inventor. Ho could aave and
tometlmea make a Ilttlo money, but
he could not keep It At the time of
the event which form the subject Of
tbhi tale HUke had $2,000 tied up In a
gold mine which waa nothing but a
bole In the ground, scarcely deep
enough to hide the man who dug it
Tbla man had been a schoolfellow of
Blnke't and had drifted about the mln
Ing reglout of tbo weat aluce then, lie
bad narrowly tnlaacd several great for
tunes, according to hla 'own atory.
Upon the occaalon of hla father't death
he came eaat and secured a very small
Inheritance, which be converted Into
caah. He did the aamo for the share
of the eatnte which fell to bis half
slater, who waa more than twenty
years younger than himself. With
these two lumps of money and Blake's
12,000 be went west again to develop
bis mine. '.:,'"
The half slater, Amy Lessfng, re
mained with a distant relatlvo In New
Hampshire, but whoo this relative die
covered that. Amy bad given all ber
money to her brother a painful lubar
mony arose. Amy, In despair at tbla
situation, wrote to Jack Leasing and
addressed Die letter to him at the Cal
abash mine, which the United States
postal employees seemed unable to
And. At any mte, Amy received no re
ply. ' After wait Inn some weeks she
wrote to Blake, asking If he could find
work for her In New York.
Blake bad begun to entertain sus
picions aa to Leasing, and these were
Increased by learning that the man
had taken bla slater's money and had
not mentioned t to his partner. It
looked as If tho poor girl might bo In
rather hard clrcuniHtnncos, and Blake
felt vaguely responsible, aa her cash
bad gone Into a mine of which he
owned one-half. With an awesome
. "IKS, tIB; I AM KNOAOKD TO MISS AMI
sense of assuming a burden that might
be entirely beyond his powers, he wrote
Inviting ner to come to new York.
Jack Lesslug bad bcon a good fel
low In his youth, and Blake had been
fond of him, - but Jack was not re
markable for personal beauty, lie
looked like an unkind caricature of
Napoleon Bonaparte,; and Blake un
consciously assumed that? his ststor
resembled him. This may have been
an artifice of fate for Blake's ensnare
ment. The girl had not aa eyelash in
common with her brother; she waa as
pretty as a roso in June.
Blake had formerly been fond of wo
men's society, but had grown quite
away from It. Pettus was a woman
hater, although a - married man and
singularly well mated, having secured
the nearest counterpart of bluisolf that
ever existed in the ranks of femininity.
Perhaps because he knew that there
was none like Mrs. Pettus the money
lender scorned the sex and regarded
with suspicion the smallest hint of a
romance In the life of an employee.
One day, however, Blake appeared in
the office clad In now raiment,,. Ue
looked an Inch and a half taller and
ten years younger. The change .had
been taking 'place1 dn ' hlin 'gradually
during i several ! weeks,; but- the" new
clothes were-required to complote the
revelation. Pettus eyed him, narrow
ly, but said nothing., A few, day t
later he called In one of his spies and
bad the matter Investigated.
"I bear," tald be to Blake after re
ceiving the report, "that you have be
come interested In a young woman,"
"Yen, sir," responded Blake, "I am
engaged to Mist Amy Lcsslng."
For years Pettus had hnd Blake un
der bit thumb and bad very nearly
squeezed the human soul out of him,
but Pettus had now become a pale
flguro on tapestry, ntid Amy Leasing
was the one living reality and central
Influence of all creation. ' Pettus did
not know this, and he proceeded to de
liver a lecture against 'designing wo
mont This It not regarded In polite
society at tho most delicate response
to the announcement of a gentloman't
engagement, but Pat tut was a cad.
Ill true thought was that this mar
rlogo would destroy Blake's usefulness
to him, for he would never dare to
trust a married man with tbo valuable
secrets which he had been accustomed
to permit bit confidential clerk to
know.
Blake endured a considerable length
of this discourse from a inero habit of
humility, the product of a gradual
Ions of aclf respect lu Pettus' employ,
but at last the old rascal ovcratepped
tho bounds, and Bluke't temper explod
ed for tho Unit time In many years. lit
consigned Pvttut to the tubcellnr of
tho bottomless pit and walked out of
the office. , ' '
Two days later Blake and Mist Let
slug were married. They bad less
than a hundred dollars In money and
no , employment. Tbvlr happiness,
however, waa worth starving for, If
such ahonld tw their fate. An Intoxi
cating sense of freedom thrilled them
with uulmaglned Joys. 'Both bad
been burled hitherto, the glri in a
gloomy home, the man under the lu-
"UK. HOFKAOKL, WANTS TO SKI TOO."
cubus of Pettus. They bad escaped
Into life and love, and the tun and
moon sang to them from the heavens.
Blake did not anticipate any diffi
culty lu tilling work, lie was known
to ninny prominent men in the Wall
street rcKlm. lie bad an Intimate ac
quaintance with securities and credits.
Surely be could get, a better position
than the one which be had left And,
ludced, ihlt proved more easy than hlsi
rosiest "dreams had pictured It, but an j
unexpected obstacle barred nit way.
Meniere willing to employ blm-tbey
even sought blm with offert-but he
discovered that every one of them toas
looking fur llw secrets of Lemuel Pet
tus. The Instant that Blake revealed
a aense of honor In this matter all
negotiations were r.t aa end. ,,
He had uever before realized tbe na
ture of his portion with Pettus, al
though he hod occasionally been "ap
proached" by the en.lssnrles of money
ed lutorests. Now be perceived that if
be should spend ono week In the in
dustrious distribution of information to
those who were euger to pay for it be
could live the rest of bis days upon
the proceeds. On the other hand, his
possession of this Information was to J
well known that no one would employ i
blm except upon nn understanding that j
he would do "the rlirht thing." ,
Moreover, this situation bad been
foroscen by Pettus. and he had ex
tended the long arm of hla Influence to
close many doors against Blake. Dis
covering this fact, Blake raged the
more against his former employer.
Tbe state of the family exchequer
bad become desperate when Blake re-
eclved a note from a lawyer named
Hofungel, who was Petrus chief ad
viser. It was delivered to Blake In
tho tiny apartment which wat now so
sweet and dear n home, and the tone
of the communication seemed particu
larly offensive In that sacred spot
"Como to my office at oneo," etc. This
was too much for a man Just clothed
In brand now self esteem.
Blake wrote across the lawyer's lot
tcr with a heavy blue pencil. "If you
have any business with mo, state It,
and I will take such action as the mat
ter seems to wnrrant."
Ilofnugcl was furious, but be needed
Bluke,' so be sont word that be de
sired to offer hlra some work which
would pay well.4 i ; 1
"I ;thlnk he has quarreled! with Mr.
Pettus and wants your help ognlns't
him," sold Amy. .
"It's probably crooked, whatever it
is." said Blake. "I'll dccllno-a little
more politely this time.".
Late that afternoon he met one of
Hofuagoi't clerks on tbe etreet ap
parently by accident
"Mr. Hofnngol wants to tee you,"
said the clerk. "There's a document
In Mr. Tettus' handwriting, and no
body can rend it. Pettua himself hns
forgotten what it is. You can make
$50 in half an hour by translating thnt
scrawl." 1 '
Blake believed that there was truth
In this. It was a fact that Pettus was
Often uuable to rend his own writing
and that Blake- wns the only man on
earth who could be depended upon to
perforin that feat. The Pettus band If
famous. ; -,- - ..
i'TH consider tho i::;ttpr," t'al.l Blr.k
and r.t the raow.it It " ?. !:;"!
Hon to see noftingel' nest day,' but li
was occupied with the fruitless 'search'
for work, and the matter was fora.it
ten until too late. - -
Blnke returned home that afternoon
really disheartened.., sorlously alarmed
fie had, detected the Pettus Jut) m?mv
strongly against him, and his hi'.vn
was full of bitterness.
To his unspeakable nma::tmont, If,
found Mrs. Pettus In his s!tf!::;t ron"
The rigid, pale old woman In htr rln up
black fwn was doing her miserable
best to be affable and to give an air
of tho usual to this extraordinary In
cident "My hUHuund was very sorry to lose
you, Mr. l'.luko," tald sho. "He would
be glad Indeed if you would return to
bis employment, and I'm sure that all
four difference! could bo adjusted
upon a basis that would bo very satis
factory to you. At any rate, you and
I have no quarrel, and I'm sure you
will do me this Ilttlo favor."
, Amy taw her huuband't face hard
ening, and tbo hastened to tho rescue
of her guest . f
"Mr, Pettui bat gone away," tald
the, "and no one knewa where. He
wrote a letter to Mr. Hofnagel which
doubtless explains everything, but it
cannot be read. Meanwhile Mr. Pet
tus! titter hat fallen very III, and they
desire .to communicate with hlra at
once." :. . v1" ;
The Action of the Illness of the sis
ter did not Impress Blake, but be
lacked the hardihood to refuse this re
quest under bit own roof.
"llavs you the letter?" be asked,
and Mrs. Pettus produced It from ber
rusty black band bag with, the celer
ity of a conjurer. : , : ' '
Blake glanced at It and bla face be
came an Inch or two longer than or
dinarily. Tbe letter looked aa If It
bad been written In the dark on the
back of a bucking horse. The lines
ran together; the wordt trod upon one
another'! bcclt. ,
"This will take mo all night," tald
he, "but you shall have It tomorrow
morning If tbe thing can be read at
all, I will send It to Mr. Hofnagel'a of
fice." Mrs, Pettus departed with profuse
expressions of gratitude and esteem
and promises of remuneration, which
were firmly tot aside by Blake.
"I will take no money for this," be
said. "I regret to say that my feelings
for Mr. Pettus are not sufficiently cor
dial for either friendly or business re
lations."
"You wrong blm; indeed you do,"
said Mrs. Pettus. "He Is really very
fond of you."
Immediately after dinner Blake tat
down to his tank, and for two hours
lie worked without appreciable result
Amy became so tired watching him
that she fell ssleep in her chair, and
finally Blake picked her np at If the
had been a child and carried ber to
her room.
At 4 o'clock In tbe morning Blake
returned to that room. lie was trenv
bllng from bead to foot with exhaus
tlon and excitement Ills face was
pale, and hit eyet were sunken, but
very: bright. K-At :'
Amy was asleep precisely where be
bad put ber. Apparently tbe bad not
moved hand or foot She waa very
beautiful In ber healthy youtb and
atalnlest purity of heart
.'At Blake. turned up the light the
stirred and spoke ;
"If we can manage the rent we'll be
all Why, George, I was asleep!"
"lou were Indeed," said he, "and a
bad dream you were having. Rent,
eh? Well, well., my dear, Just cast
your eye on tbla and then talk to me
of beastly bills. I guess not!"
Ills manner was so strange that she
could not think of anything else. Ue
was obliged to force the sheet of pa
per Into ber bands and make ber read.
It was a copy of the letter which Tet
tua nad wrlttti to uls lawyer:
Denr Hofnagel-rm oil to Denver. Am
writing this In a cab' on the way to ths
station. 8r George Blake, formerly in
my employ, and buy his Interest and his
wife s In the Calabash mine, Bralsted,
I Colo. They have put In about 13,600 be-
I tween them and will sell for less. They're
; bard up. 8iuecie them. Make trouble
for Blake somohow and force him to sell.
Her brother Is the other owner. He Is
sick In a hospital In Denver. Was on his
way east. He wired Blake at my office,
and I have the telegram; also a letter. I
wired my man Hastings in Denver, and
he says to come at once. The thing Is a
fortune. I may be able to get Leasing to
sign something If I can lis the hospital
doctors, but you must buy the other In
terest anyhow. Don't fall in this. Wire
me Denver, care Hastings. You have
several days for this, as Lcsslng Is out of
hla head, I understand, and can't com
municate, but don't lose any time. Ill
fix you all right for this. Tours, , '
' PETTC8.
"And at midnight," said Blake In an
awestruck voice, "I was on the point
of giving up the Job. Amy, that letter
it undecipherable; nobody can read It
I didn't read it; the Lord did It for
me. Why, at midnight I hadn't even
found out that my own name was
tAMENTINO TEH LOSS OF THD CALABASH,
mentioned. Then I got 'Calabash
mine, Bralsted, Colo.' You see, he
made a special effort to write that
plainly. From that moment I was in
spired." "We must go to Jack at once. But
how? We have no money.'1 ,
Blake laughed.
"My excellent friend Hofnagel would
be glad to give me some," said he.
"But don't worry about that I'll raise
it somehow, and we'll start on the 1
o'clock train."
They were In Denver on the third
day and found Leasing already begin
ning to mend. Pettus, alarmed by
wire from his lawyer, had fled back to
bis lair defeated. It was a great stake
that he had lost, for the Calabash is
a wonderful property. Those who are
lh a position to know declarev that Pet
tus sometimes paces the floor of bit
office holding bis head in his hands and
lamenting the loss of ihe Calabash.
He needed that gold mine, poor man,
for he Is worth only about $30,000,000.
J 4 k
AMUSEMENTS.
...Astoria Theatre...
OctlO
After the Make Be
lieve, Come the Real
Notable Tour of
RICHARDS & PIGLE'S
;( famous ;
Minstrels
Thousands of Dollars Invested in
Itt Equipment
A VERITABLE DREAM OF THE
ARABIAN NIGHTS .
FREE STREET PARADE AND
CONCERT AT NOON
Prices
25c, 50c, 75c, $1.00
Astoria Theatre
SATURDAY,
Oct II. (
KLIMT & GAZZOLO'S
MELODRAMA
The
4 Corners of
The Earth
The Melodramatic
Hit of the Season
" . " " ''
A SCENIC MASTERPIECE
A Pure, Wholesome Story of Con
vincing Power, Embracing the
Gamut of Human Emotions
PRICES 25c, 35c, 50c,, 75c
THE GRAND
THEATRE
Commercial and Ninth Street,
Tonight
STOP THIEF
AN ENTERPRISING FLORIST
TRAVELS OF A FLEA
CHINA SHANGHAI
SONG
"When the Snow Birds Cross the
Valley" '
VIEWS OF SCOTLAND
This Theatre is equipped with
the latest and most improved electri
cal Machines. Don't fail to see these
pictures.
ENTIRE CHANGE OF PROGRAM
MONDAY THURSDAY AND
SATURDAY. V
ADMISSION ! 10c , Children St
18 'ii
By buying alleged bargains in unre
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values is easy, and a very common
practice, "but to actually give them is
rare. We have a reputation for keep
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more than we claim, lience the steady
and natural growth of our business.
You will find that by steadily dealing
with us you are saving money all the
year' round, v." :'-..h. : '.
1Iave you seen the fine display of
new style Heaters, in bur big stove
department, upstairs'?''' . .' '
illiti'iiifriip.
Saturday
NOTICE
;'!' ,',
73 i - HI ... , :
The agency of the San Francisco Examiner is
now located at Whitman's Book Store. Price 75c
per month delivered.. Subscribers not getting
papers regularly notify us at once and' agent will
call. Quick delivery guaranteed.
Wi lli, A S 0
Fisher Brothers Company
SOLE AGENTS ; ' " ''
Marbour and Finlayton Salmon Twinet and Netting
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w ill a Hi
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For rates, steamship and sleeping-car reservations, call on or address
, Q. B. JOHNSON, Gen! Agent
12th St, near Commercial St ASTORIA, OREGON.
FINANCIAL.
-'. T?J-:
Saving's
Savings Deposits are received from $i up, on which inter
est is paid.' This form of deposit is of especial yalne in
building up a bank account, as it admits of withdrawals
or additional deposits at any time. Every incentive con
sistent with safety is offered to patrons of this department.
Our neat home savings banks, as an aid to saving, is loaned
free to those who want them.; i - - -
The Banking Saving & Loon' Assn.
. 0
First -national:
u:y::, . directors ,,):;-'";i--
Jacob Kamm W. F. McGregor , , G. c!Flavel
J. W. Ladd S. S. OoRDONy j
Capital . . . ?
Surplus . .1 .....
J. Q. A. BOWLPY, President ; ,,,
0. I. PETERSON, Vice-President
ASTORIA SA VINOS BANK
-CAPITAL AND SURPLUS S227.C33 '
Transacts a General Banking; Business : i Interest Paid on Time Depot1, .1
Four Per Cent. Per Annum ;
Eleventh and Duane Su. v- ,; - - . . Astoria, Oregon $
SCANDINAVIAN, AM ERI CAN
SAVINGS bXNK
r fASTORIA,' OREGON
"OUR MOTTO: "Safety Supercedes All Other Consideration."
1 ril ;
111 050
lUUlt)
00U ST0E1
'. . ." Iffy"-,! T1 i
Accounts
W M 1
DaflR of -Aslfiria
7. r.7. "V. $100,000
.... 25,000
h t . 100t;000
BET
ESTABLISHED J8M5.JJ - ' -j
J. W. GARNER, Assistant Cashier
FRANK PATTON, Cashier
r i.