The Argosy, Vol. 83 No. 1 — page 34: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

24 once a month, yet you are perfectly will- ing to let me rent my property to you for twenty dollars when you know that I could receive a hundred for it.” “The proposition was yours,’ returned Jerry sharply. “I should not be here if you had not sent for me. But we will end the matter now. I heard your offer and accepted it, and now you seem to accuse me, in a roundabout way, of a sort of ex- tortion. Allow me to reconsider the offer, if you please, and I will refuse it. I will vacate the property, Mr. Delroy.” - The conference was a symposium of staggering surprises. Instead of showing relief and satisfaction, as Jerry expected, - Delroy became unmistakably alarmed. “My dear Hampton!” he cried, getting to his feet and leaning over the table, “‘I don’t want you to do any such thing. I have the misfortune to make myself mis- understood all the time. I shall be glad to have you keep the property, as I said. The moving-picture man has withdrawn his offer, as I told you, and I do not know that I should be likely to receive a similar one. If you moved away you would leave me without a tenant, and—and a fifth of a loaf is better than none, to be sure. “You keep the place in excellent condi- tion; you have made it, as a matter of fact, almost a show place. If I should rent it again, as it stands, my tenant would doubt- less be some undesirable person who would turn it into a junk yard or something of that sort. I wouldn’t dream of increasing your rent, either; as a farm, the place cannot possibly yield much of an income, and you are paying all that it is worth to you, I am sure.’ He sat down again, almost breathless. “Let us forget any unpleasantness that has passed between us,” he went on in- gratiatingly, ‘“‘and let things continue ex- actly as they have done in the past.” Jerry felt a smile trembling on his lips, but repressed it. “T would not dream of remaining there, Mr. Delroy,” he said, “were it not for my grandmother. She would be wretchedly unhappy, and I doubt if she would live THE ARGOSY. long if we had to give up the farm; it is her life, you know. That is why I am acting in direct opposition to my will. Some men consider it right and impera- tive, I know, to sacrifice sentiment, family, comfort and everything to their pride, but I can’t draw the line so finely. If it came to a test, I think that I should give up my life or my liberty for the sake of my grand- mother, so why shouldn’t I sacrifice my personal pride just as readily?”’ “She is a charming and lovable old lady,” Delroy remarked pleasantly, ‘and your devotion to her is creditable, I’m sure. No, I don’t think any reasonable man could blame you for your attitude. I am sorry, on the whole, that you regard a—a compromise with me as a sacrifice of pride, Hampton. We don’t like to accept con- cessions or favors from our enemies, I know, but I am grieved that circum- stances have made it appear that there is anything save good will between us.” “TY don’t regard you as an enemy!” Jerry exclaimed abruptly. ‘We were cer- tainly not on a friendly footing yesterday, and we exchanged some rather unflattering opinions of each other, but the word ‘en- emy’ is a strong one; superlatives should be reserved for occasions that require them. I don’t think that men become enemies over trifling affairs of temper. After that episode in the woods yester- day I looked upon you as an unreason- able and irritating man; nothing more!” Delroy listened attentively, and his de- meanor underwent another surprising change. He leaned on the desk and bent a searching, eager gaze upon the speaker. ‘Then you don’t regard me as an enemy, Hampton?” he said quietly, after a pause. “No, I do not,” Jerry answered. ‘Neither could I reasonably look upon you as a friend. Our relations are strictly in the nature of business, I should say, and neither extremity of sentiment is required. We are landlord and tenant, that’s all!” Delroy sat back in his chair and the deeper lines of his face were smoothed out for the first time since the beginning of the interview. ECORMICLOOOLX< (GO)