Part 33 (1/2)

He rolled away in his car, and Hazel watched him from the , a trifle puzzled She recalled Bill's reht of Brooks' explanation, she could see nothing wrong On the other hand, she knew Bill Wagstaff was not prone to juive others the benefit of the doubt If he objected to certainCorounds But then, as Brooks had observed, or, rather, inferred, Bill was not exactly an expert on finance, and this new deal savored of pure finance--a term which she had heard Bill scoff at reeable would come of it

So she put the whole ement with a dress on that She dressed, and hole-heartedly about her own affairs

Dinner ti close when she returned home She sat down by athat overlooked the street to watch for Bill As a general thing he was promptness personified, and since he was but twenty-four hours returned froer--and Granville's business normally ceased at five o'clock

Six passed The half-hour chirew irieved Dinner would be served in twenty n of him And for lack of other occupation she went into the hall and got the evening paper, which the carrier had just delivered

A staring headline on the front page stiffened her to scandalized attention Straight across the tops of two columns it ran, a facetious caption:

WILLIAM WAGSTAFF IS A BEAR

Under that the subhead:

Husky Mining Man Tumbles Prices and Brokers Whips Four hty Fists Subdue Society's Finest Finally Lands in Jail

The body of the article Hazel read in what a sob sister would describe as a state of entle hter To prove this he inflicted a black eye and a split lip on Paul Lorimer, a broken nose and sundry bruises on James L Brooks Also Allen T Bray and Edward Gurney Parkinson suffered certain contusions in the melee The fracas occurred in the office of the Free Gold Mining Company, 1546 Broad Street, at three-thirty this afternoon While ha the brokers a police officer arrived on the scene and Wagstaff was duly escorted to the city bastile Prior to the general encounter in the Broad Street office Wagstaff walked into the Stock Exchange, andCompany which set all the brokers by the ears Lorimer was on the floor, and received his discolored optic there

Lorie firm of Bray, Parkinson & Co, and is president of the Free Gold Mining Coer of the Acme Advertisers, and secretary of Free Gold Bray and Parkinson are stockholders, and Wagstaff is a stockholder and also er of the Free Gold properties in B C All are well known about town

A reporter was present when Wagstaff walked on the floor of the Stock Exchange He strode up to the post where Loriht now,” he said loudly and angrily, ”that if you sell another dollar's worth of Free Gold stock, I'll put you out of business”

Lorimer appeared to lose his testaff He sstaff's punch would do credit to a chaht He i afterward Broad Street was electrified by sounds of costaff had the situation and his three opponents well in hand when the cop arrived

None of the men concerned would discuss the staff, however, it appears that the policy of e or consent

Be that as it may, all sorts of rumors are in circulation, and Free Gold stock, which has been sold during the past week as high as a dollar forty, found few takers at par when Change closed There has been a considerable speculativeto wonder if there is a screw loose in the costaff's case will co the peace was placed against hiave a cash bond and was at once released When the hearing coe what lay at the bottom of the row

Any fine within the power of the court to iatelle, co four of society's finest in one afternoon As one bystander restaff's a bear!”

The brokers concerned

Hazel dropped the paper, mortified and wrathful The city jail seemed the very Pit itself to her And the lurid publicity, the lifted eyebrows of her friends, , such as one ht expect from a cabman or a taxi mahout, not froned the blame to him Not for the cause--the cause was of no importance whatever to her--but for the act itself Their best friends! She could hardly realize it Jimmie Brooks, jovial Jimmie, with a broken nose and sundry bruises! And Paul Lori which was the despair of his fellows, and the enerations of culture ith to charm the women of his acquaintance He with a black eye and a split lip! So the paper stated It was vulgar Brutal! The act of a cave e of tears

And just at that moment the door opened, and in walked Bill

CHAPTER XXIX

THE NOTE DISCORDANT