The Ne'er-Do-Well

r the second time, repeating with some i

must see you at once; it's import

me down." She hung up t

up?" queried her husban

clerk says he'd rather

ck family,

n you. It's usually that way w

to the hotel lobby. Here she was directed toward a very ragged, very woe-begone young black on the rear porch, wh

t understand a wo

an, mi

some on

d, mistress-h'all covered with bl

ho

His 'ead is cut, too,

IS

h'Aun

landt started. "What

f, wailing extravagant praises to God and apparently endeavoring to kiss Mrs. C

tell me what is the trouble, q

of the story, but, as it was, she followed him closely, urging him on with sharp expressions of amazement and nods of understanding. Rapidly she gathered the facts of the case, while her cheeks whitened and her eyes grew dark with indignation. The sight renewed Allan's emotion

, but he does not come. Perhaps they

d you g

rain, but the train people are very common; they h

t you te

h'unders

ify me at once? If

t. Oh, you will h'assist the poor mon! Say it.

es, cer

r skirt, but she stepped aside quickly, fumbling meanw

ess. He told me to find yo

olon by the first train. We may need yo

stairs as if pursued, bursting in upon her husband

t is

he panted. "He's been locked up for th

e'd gone back to New Y

hurt." She hurriedly recounted Allan's story, adding, in conclusio

American con

the instrument and rang violently. "Give me Colonel Jolson's office, quickly. If he is not there,

mean to do?"

farez's doing-the whipper-snapper-you

Remember, General Al

re bound to come to a b

sture: "Well, if we precipitate a quarrel now, that will end it." He paced the room feverishly. "Good heavens, Edith! Anthony chose

woman. "I've seen it coming, although y

gloomily at his wife, who met his gaze sq

in the republic. If he breaks with us it will cost him dearly. You think he is friendly, but I know that deep down in his crafty ol

You're mad! You threaten to ruin everything. You understand perfectly-there's no u

in jail at Colon. They would have a defence all prepared. Besides, if it's to be a fight we must have all the weapons p

the speaker snatched the

n him for three days. Yes, yes! I discovered it quite by accident while Mr. Cortlandt was down-town. Oh, this is serious, and I'm furious. … That will do no good; I have reasons for preferring to handle it myself.

: "The Colonel's automobile will be waiting at

about this in the wrong

She checked her crisp

I beg your pardon, Step

nd trust me to ma

aying, "I will have a co

gasoline railroad moto

er and flagman rolled o

line, running under ord

e switches with ever-

forward and spo

track, and you may g

eling drunkenly around curves and

known the nature of their errand. Cortlandt did most of the talking, his cold hauteur s

d to formulate an excuse. "I trust I need not insist upon seeing the prisoner?" He

tainty no

ake us

ight of the prison-house. The prisone

see him

eyes searched their faces with a sudden uneasy

Mrs. Cortlandt, unab

law quite as well or p

ish, Mr. Cortlandt will

You have a

t what you call seeck, nor is he ver' well. He is resis' the officer by force an' he is injure'-oh, but only a leetle-it is not'ing. One is truly foolish for resis' the policemans, yes?" He shook his dark head s

derstand the c

cused himself, then, after a seemingly interminable

s the young man made f

you came! I'd ab

us to-day," Mrs.

e truth? Have y

for the wound half concealed beneath his hair, he showed no marks. Then he held out his hands with a grim sm

l?" Cortlandt queried,

Kirk pointed to Alfarez, w

'," the latter hastened

a wetting in

lan'. He insolt my person an' fight

een maltreated in pris

in horrified disclaimer of the very

ered it, then sat th

e was yellow as he m

It is terrible

aniard's direction, despite the half-dozen

"This is a serious matter, and if what he says is

th the 'ighes' courtesy an' kindness in my presence. Every man in the prison will testify to those fac'. If soch indignity 'ave be' shown, there shall

locked up so long? W

investigations in that respect as well. I am infor

t later. We're here

y's re

accommodate at the earlies'. I m

ge the bail yourself, my husband will take up the matter with the Zone Government, and Colonel Jo

wheels of progress if he tried. While, to be sure, no power was vested in him, and his willing hands were most miserably tied, nevertheless he would so far exceed his authority as to promise instant freedom to the prisoner. There were, of course, certain details to be observed, the

t the time of your arrest. He'll assume a righteous indignation and start a Spiggoty investigation. You see, his father is the Governor of P

replied. "I want to get tha

ouldn't help you then. Fifty men would perjure themselves to convict you, and if you succeeded in getting our

il, never fear, and you will probably not come to trial. I doubt if you will ever hear anything more of the ma

ficiently to appear on the scene within half an hour. Then, after much signing of official documents

his late companion at large he broke into the wildest rejoicing. He conjured a f

er h'Auntony. Glory, glory! My soul was in 'ell, sar. On

tion felt himself choke up. Of all the people Kirk had met since leaving home, this one had

so," Kirk laug

d they would h'ass

ded grimly.

nd shook his clenched fists at the jail in a splendidl

t allow the fine effect of his rage to be lost. He clashed his white teeth, he rolled his eye

ear h'out their 'earts by his fingers. So!"

le pianissimo on the

d negro ran on in an excess of loyalty. "Master h'Aunton

he fell in behind, declaring firmly that he intended to follow his new-found hero wherever he might go,

timely intercession of Cortlandt and his wife, the for

y, and I want you to come over to Panama a

of the cablegram that

ctly to his entangleme

Spanish law, Cortlandt

all. You sit down like a sensible person and write him fully. It will

rk accepted gracefully, explaining: "You know this is the first time

came," said Cortlandt. "I'd like to stop at Gatun on a business matter of

Jolson's motor-car, they were annoyed to find that Allan insisted on going, too. He insisted, moreover, in such extravagant fashion that Mrs. Cortlandt at last was moved to say: "For Heaven's sake, let the poor thing co

at had cost a king's ransom, the Mount Hope Cemetery, whither daily trains had borne the sacrifice before science had robbed the fever of its terrors. She told him, also, something of the railroad's history, how it had been built to bridge the gap in the route to the Golden West, the manifold difficulties overcome in its construction, and the stupendous profit

cables and burdened with flowering orchids or half hidden beneath other parasites. On every hand a vegetable warfare was in progress-a struggle for existence in which the strong overbore the weak-and every trunk was distorted by the

. The houses, hundreds upon hundreds of them, were of the typical Canal Zone architecture, double-galleried and screened from foundation to eaves, and they rambled over the undulating pasture land in a magnificent disregard of distance. Smooth macadam roads wound back and forth, over which government wagons rolled, dr

tural cleanliness, as if the municipality had been sc

steel towers, from the pinnacles of which stretched a spider's web of cables. Beneath this, he had a glimpse

ook at what's going on

swered. "Edith will show you about

sing at length upon the brink of a mighty chasm. It took him a moment to grasp the

dea-Really, this

rawn wire cables, spanning the gorge and supporting great buckets which soared at regular intervals back and forth, bearing concrete for the work below. Up and out of the depths tremendous walls were growing like the massive ramparts of a mediaeval city; tremendous steel forms, braced and trussed and reinforced to withstand the wei

The whole organism seemed animate with some slow, intricate intelligence. The metal skips careening across those dizzy heights regulated their courses to a hand's-breadth, deposited their burdens carefully, then hurried back for more; the shuttle trains that d

m up from the sea through the dredged channel you see over

t la

the hills, wherein floating dredges were at work-"wil

tun dam I've hea

road ridge or hog-back l

am, does it? But it is all hand-made. Thos

, this is great!" Mrs. Cortlandt smiled. "It does wake up your

the woman curiously. She seemed very cool and well-d

ugh I don't happen t

finish it? Won't

machine has been built up. What is more important, the country is livable at last. Over at Ancon Hospital there is a quiet, hard-working medical

something worth while,"

"It is amusing to look back on the old Spanish statement that it would be

les and the canon at his feet was filling with shadows,

pour in just the same. It is wonderful then-like the mouth of a volcano. Batteries of search-lights play upon t

ze and were buried again in the velvet blackness, the strange odors of a new land riotous in its time of growth, all combined to excite his curiosity and desire for closer knowledge. And then the crowning luxury of a bath, cl