Norbert A. Myles

Edna Payne

Franklyn Hall

Eugene Manlove Rhodes

Walter Keough, a stock gambler, also interested in gold mines, has been losing heavily. He is a heartless fool, whose chief characteristic is cunning. The beautiful Clara Clayton, his secretary, is, in truth, wasting her love on a...

Webster Cullison

The Fool&apos;s Heart

Walter Keough, a stock gambler, also interested in gold mines, has been losing heavily. He is a heartless fool, whose chief characteristic is cunning. The beautiful Clara Clayton, his secretary, is, in truth, wasting her love on a worthless man, but in his own way, he loves her too. Keough is driven to borrow $5,000 from his partner, Van Atta, and signs an I.O.U. for the money. On his way back from the transaction he meets Gibson, a rich ranch owner and lucky at mining. The bully rouses Keough's jealousy. A thought passes through his mind, which horrifies him at first. Gibson, watching Keough's face, reads that the latter has murder in his heart, but also recognizing that Keough is a coward, dares him to carry out his desire. This only strengthens Keough's purpose. The next day, Keough learns of more reverses. Miss Clayton advises him to rest and to forget his troubles. She calls up Van Atta's home, and learns that the master has gone away to look after some mining property, and that the only one in the house is Snowball, the maid, who is also going away that day. So the gambler's secretary advises Keough to go to Van Atta's house, where he can be quiet. Keough leaves shortly after. Keough, with murder in his heart, reaches the road along which Gibson, with his most recent "haul" will pass. The gambler succeeds in his foul plot, robs the body and drags it into the woods. Then he taps the wires, and phones to Miss Clayton, pretending that he is at Van Atta's house, and that he is about to retire. Meanwhile, Tait, a thief, has entered Van Atta's house. Earlier than he was expected, Van Atta returns from the mine, where he has struck it rich, intending to announce the good news to his partner as soon as possible. He enters the study, where Tait is plundering, intent on telephoning Keough. As he picks up the phone, he notices that the table has been tampered with. At that moment, the thief, seeing that he is discovered, jumps upon the mine owner, and strangles him. Terrified at the sudden interruption on the telephone and her inability to reach Van Atta's house again, Miss Clayton asks the sheriff to investigate. Tait helps himself to Van Atta's pocketbook, in which he finds Keough's I.O.U. for $5,000. Just then Keough arrives at the house and enters. The thief escapes, unnoticed, through the window. As Van Atta's partner lights the kitchen lamp, Tait determines to enter the house as a stranger. He is welcomed in by Keough, who thinks that this will help prove his alibi, if necessary. He is invited to remain for supper, and as Keough goes out for wood, the murderer runs to the study, takes the I.O.U. and places it in Keough's coat, hanging in the kitchen. When Tait is about to leave, Keough sends him to Gibson's house, thus hoping to avert suspicion for the rancher's murder from himself. Later, the sheriff arrives. Finding Keough alone, they ask him if anyone else has been there. He says there has not. The officers decide to investigate. The three enter Van Atta's study. When Keough looks down upon the upturned face of his partner, the shock, coupled with the sense of his own guilt, overcomes him, and he falls dead over the body.

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The Fool's Heart

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