THE ALLIANCE HERALD. Tt'KSDAY, MARCH 22. 1021
THHEn
MM
PUNCHER
IV Roltert J.CSieaci
uuinoror
Kitchener, and other poems
Jkutatiem ty Irwin Myr
TldetTlioltl the hill In his fingers
iglnperly, bs though It might csrry In
fection, ns In very truth It elf il. He
realized thnt he stood at n turnlng
polnt thnt everything the future held
for him might rest on his present deci
sion. There remained In him not a lit
tle of the fine, stern honor of the
rnnehmnn of the open range; nn honor
curious, sometimes terrible, In Its In-
irrMi'iuiinii m rini mm wniiiR, nui it
fine, stern honor nevertheless. And he
Instinctively felt thnt to accept this
money would compromise him for
evermore. As he turned the hill In his
fingers he noticed that It wns for one
liundred dollars. He thought It was
ten.
"I can't take that much," he ex-
in i ii it. ij ii ic u iaiii
"Fair enough," said Conward, well
Spleased that Dure should be Impressed
tjHii
! ' (11
l Can't Take That Much," He Ex.
'claimed. "It lan't Fair."
y his generosity.' "Fair enough," he
repeated. "It's Just ten per cent of
my profit."
"You mean you made a thousand
-dollars on that deal?"
"Exactly that. And that will look
like a peanut to what are golDg to
junke later on."
"We?"
"Yes. You and me. We're going Into
partnership."
"But I've nothing to Invest. I've
only a very little saved up."
"Invest that hundred."
Dave looked at Conward sharply.
AVas he trifling? No, his eyes were
frank and serious.
"You mean It?" "
"Of course. Now, '111 put yoifonto
something, and It's the" biggest thing
that has been pulled off yet. There's
-a section of land lying right against
the city limits thnt Is owned by a fel
3ov over In England; remittance man
who fell heir to an estate and had to
go home to spend It. I am arranging
through a London office to offer him
icii uuuurs nn acre, and i u net lie
jumps at it. I've arranged for the nec
essary credits, but there will be some
expenses for cables, etc., and you can
put your hundred Into that. If we pull
it off and we will rll It off we start
n"pTn n"!islnessa"s "Conwnrd &" EiTTen,
or Elden tc Conwnrd, whU-hevor
sounds better. Boy, there's a fortune
in lt."
"What do you figure It's worth?"
said Pave, trying to speak easily.
"Twenty-five dollars an acre?"
"Twenty-five dollars an acre!"
Conward shouted. "Dave, newspaper
routine has killed your imagination.
Twenty-five dollars an acre! Listen!
"The city boundaries nre to tie ex
tendedprobably will be by the time
this deal goes through. Then It Is city
property. A street-railway system is
to be built, and we'll see that It runs
through our land. We may have to
'grense' somebody, but It's a poor en
gineer thnt saves on grease. Then we'll
survey that section Into twenty-flve-foot
lots and well sell them at two
hundred dollars each for those nearest
the city down to one .hundred for those
farthest out averuge one hundred and
fifty total nine hundred and sixty
thousand dollars. Allow, say, sixty
thousand for grease and there Is still
nine hundred thousand, and that
doesn't count resale commissions.
Dave, It's good for a cool million."
Dave was doing rapid thinking. Sud
denly he faced Conward and their eyes
met. "Conwnrd," he said, "you don't
need my little hundred to put this
over. Why do you let me in on It?"
Conward smiled and breathed easily.
There had been a moment of tension.
"Oh, that's simple," he answered. "I
figure we'll travel well in double har
ness. I'm a good' mixer I "know peo
ple and I've got ideas. And you're
sound and honorable and people trust
you."
"Thanks," said Dave, dryly.
"That's right," Conward continued.
"Well .be a combination hard to beat."
Dave had never felt sure of Con
ward, and now he felt less sure than
ever. But the lust of easy money was
beginning to stir within him. .The bill
in his hands represented more than
three weeks' wages. Conward was
making money making money fast,
and surely here was an opportunity
Burh as comes once In a lifetime".
"I'll go you," he said to Conward, at
last. "I'll risk this hundred, and a
little more, If necessary."
"Good," said Conward, springing to
his feet and taking Dave's hand In a
warm grasp. "Now we're away. But
you better play safe. Stick to your pay
check here' until we pull the deal
through. There won't be much to do
until then, anyway, and you can help
more by guiding the paper along right
lines."
"It sounds like a fairy tale," Dave
demurred, as though unwilling to cred
it the possibilities Conward had out
lined. "You're sure it can he done?"
"Pone? Why. son. It has been done
In all the big centers In the States, and
at many a place that'll never be a cen
ter at all. And it will be done here.
Dave, bigger things that you dare
dreuni of are looming up right ahead."
CHAPTER VII.
Dnvld TTMon mnVol Mq ftfr-1lnnr
A World
W
I
Necessity
HAT makes possible the Running of
farms and businesses; the erecting of
schools and churches and homes; the
building of roads; the payment of wages;
in short, the carrying on of human activ
ities and life itself? It is saving, your
saving, our saving, the saving of those
who lived before us, that makes these
things possible. ;
You couldn't borrow if someone hadn't
saved and when 'you haven't saved
enough for your own use you must pay
others for the use of what they have
saved. It's fair, isn't it?
Cut why not save for yourself, receive five per cent
interest on your savings and accumulate enough
to buy things you will want with your own money?
Opening a savings account with us will help you to
do these things.
Come in today. .
The
First National Bank
cigar In Ills liailie'or quarters." Tlic
years had been good to the firm of
Conward & F.lden ; good far beyond
Ihe wlldness of their first dreams. The
transaction of the section bought from
the English absentee had been but tin
beginning of bigger and more daring
adventures. Conwnrd, In that first
wild prophecy of his, had spoken of a
city of a quarter of a million people;
already more lots had been sold than
could he occupied by four times that
population.
Diive had often asked himself where
It nil would end.
The firm of Conward A Elden had
profited not the least In the wild yeai
of gain-getting. Their mahogany-finished
first-floor quarters were the last
word In office luxuriance. Conward's
private room might with credit hnve
housed a premier or a president. Its
purpose was to lie Impressive rather
than to give any other service, as Con
ward spent little of his time there. On
Dave fell the responsibility of office
management, and his room wns fitted
foi efficiency rather than luxury. It
commanded a view of the long general
office where a battery of stenographers
and clerts took enre of the details of
the business of Conward & Elden.-And
Dave had established his ability as an
office manager. His fairness, his fear
lessness, his impartiality, his courtesy,
his even temper save on rare and ex
cusable occasions had won from the
staff a loyalty which Conward, with all
his abilities as a good mixer, could
never have commanded. " -
He had prospered, of course, Ill
statement to his banker ran into seven
figures. Dave was still a young man,
not yet In his thirties; he was rated a
millionaire; he had health, comeliness,
and personality; he commanded the
respect of a wide circle of business
men, and was regarded as one of the
matrimonial prises of the city; his
name had been discussed for public
office; he was a Rueeess.
And yet this night, as he sat In his
comfortable rooms and watched the
street lights come fluttering on as twi
light silhouetted the great hills to the
west, he was not so sure of his suc
cess, lie was called a success, yet In
the honesty of his own soul he feared
the coin did not ring true. He felt
that the crude but honest conception j
of the square deal which was the one
valuable heritage of his chlldhod was
slipping away from him. He had little
In common with Conwnrd outside of
their business relationship. He 'sus
pected the man vaguely, but had never
found tangible ground for his suspicion.
He was turning the matter over In
his mind and wondering what the end
would.be, when a knock came at the
door. !
"Come," he said, switching on the
light. . . . "Oh. It's you. Bert I I'm
honored. Sit down."
Roberta Morrison threw her coat
over a chair and . sank Into another.
Without speaking, she extended her
shnpely feet to the fire, but when its
soothing warmth had comforted her
limbs she looked up and said :
. "Adam sure put it over on us, didn't
he?" .
"Still nursing that grievance over
your sex?" laughed Dave. "I thought
you would outgrow it."
"I don't blame him," continued the
girl, ignoring his interruption. "I am
Just getting back from forty-seven
teas. Gabble, gabble, gabble. I don't
blame him., W.e deserve It."
"Then jou have had nothing to
eat?"
"Almost. Only Insignificant Indi-
gestlbles "
Dave pressed a button ntid a Chi
nese boy (all male Chinese are hoys)
entered.
"Bring something to eat. Go out for
it, and lie quick. For two."
"You'va had your dinner, surely?"
asked Uert.
"Such a dinner as a man eats alone,"
he answered. "Now for something
real. You stick to the paper like the
ink, ilon't you, Bert?"
"Can't leave It. I hate It and I
love It. It's my poison and my medi
cine. Most of all I hate the society
twaddle. And, of course, that's what
I have to do."
"Bert," Dave Bald, suddenly, "why
don't you get married?"
"Who, me?" Then she laughed. "It
would be mean to put over anything
; UL
did iml understand. "With whoiuV'
he demanded, almost peremptorily.
"With ('onward Elden." she an
swered, and the rogutshness of her
voice suggested that her despised fem
ininity lay not far from the surface.
"Were ymi about to be Jealous?"
"Why didn't you mine to me?"
She realized that he was In deep
earnest. "I did," she answered can
didly. "At least, I asked for you, but
you were out of town, so Conward
took me In hand and I followed his ad
vice." "Do you trust Conward?" he de
manded, almost fiercely.
"Well, he's good enough to be your
pnrtner, Isn't he?"
The thrust hurt more than she
knew. Hp bad his poise again.
"Ileal estate is the only suhject 1
would trnt him ou," she continued. "1
must say, Dave, that for a shrewd
business man you nre awfully dense
about ('onward.
. He remained silent for a few mo
ments, lie decided not to follow her
lend. He knew that If she had any
thing explicit to say about Conward
she would say It when she felt the
time to be opportune, and not until
then.
"How much did you lnv?st?"
"Not much. Just what I had."
"You mean nil your savings?'!
"Why not? It's all right. Isn't it?"
He had risen und wns standing by
the window
"Its all right, Isn'f It?" she repeat
ed.
"I'm afraid It Isn't 1" he said, at
length, In a restrained voice. "I'm
afraid It Isn't."
"What do you mean?" she demanded.
"Bert," he continued, "did It ever
occur to you that this thing must have
an endthat we can't go on forever
lifting ourselves by our own boot
straps? We have built a city here, a
great and beautiful city, almost as a
wizard might build It by magic over
night. There was room for it hera;
there was oecnslon; there was Justifi
cation. But there was neither occa
sion nor Justification for turning miles
and miles of prairie land Into city lots
-lots which in the nature of things
cannot possibly, in your time or mine,
be required for city purposes. These
lots should be producing; wheat, oats,
potatoes, cows, butter that is what
we must build our city on. We have
been considering the effect rather than
the-cause. The cause Is the country.
the neglected country, and until it
overtakes the city we must stand still,
If we do not go back. Our prosperity
has been built on borrowed money,
and we have forgotten that borrowed
money must some time he repaid."
"Yon menn that the boom is nbout
to burst?" she said.
"Not exactly burst. It will not be
so sudden as that. It will Just ooze
away like a toy balloon pricked with
pin."
There was silence for some minutes.
When she spoke at length It was with
a Urge of bitterness. "So you are
unloading?" v
"The firm Is. I betr vou.- Bert.'.tr
(Continued on Page 7)
It Would Be Mean to Put Over Any
thing Like That on a Man, and a
Girl Wouldn't Have Me."
like that on a man, and a girl wonldn't
have me."
"Well, then, why don't you bay some
real estate?" he continued, Jocularly,
"Every mnn should have some dissipa
tion something to make hlra forget
his other troubles."
"A little late In the meal for that
word. Isn't It? But the fact Is, I have
Invested."
K look came IntoJiU .fnee which she
Wanted to buy1 both your fat
and stock hogs. O'Bannon and
Neuswanger. Phone 71. IStz
Unemployment is
Sending Men From
Cities to Farms
Men who left the farm for the city
during the period of high wages are
returning in great numbers to till the
goil, according to the oiricer in charge
of the federul free employment offices
in Nebraska. It is'al.o stated that
many of them are being hired without
pay, being willing to do general farm
work for their board and loom.'
Farmers, thoughout Nebraska, re
ports indicate, are making prepara
tions now to employ help for their
spring work. A great many requests
for farm help have already been made
to the federal employment of otlicers.
These requents are coming from all
parts of the state.
J here is every indication, it present
conditions continue, that Nebraska
fanners will be able to employ farm
help this spring for less than half
what thev paid last year. A large
number of experienced farm hands
have been employed during the last
few weeks at very low wages, it is
claimed, while others are being given
a place to work for their board and
room until soring work begins.
A great many of the men applying
for work on the farms at the present
time are ex-service men. . On being
discharged from the army these men
were attracted to the city where high
wages were being paid. As soon as
industries began to close down and
money tighten they were thrown out
of employment. As most of them are
inexperienced in nnciing new joos in
a city triey lounu memseives -up
airainst it."
W hue a great many or the men np-
nlvinsr for inhs'are civen daces, the
supply of .farm, help at the present
time far exceeds the demand, and it
will probably be some little time be
fore all are able to find employment.
TEACHERS' EXAMINATION
T?emlnr teachers examinations will
be held at the court house March 2G.
- OPAL RUSSELL,
30-S3 County Superintendent
GRANDMA 1 OR A BLUE SUNDAY
"Helen, I really cannot permit jou
to read novels on the Sabbath."
'Rut irrnmlma. this-one 18 all rlffht:
it tells about a girl who was engaged
to three Episcopal clergymen all at
once. Boston lranscript.
Very naturally most of the teeth in
serted In preventive laws turn out to
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