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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Loaded Dice, by Ellery H. Clark
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Loaded Dice
+
+Author: Ellery H. Clark
+
+Illustrator: F. Graham Cootes
+
+Release Date: January 2, 2012 [EBook #38474]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LOADED DICE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen, from page images provided by Google Books
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+   1. Page scan source:
+      http://books.google.com/books?id=jMsgAAAAMAAJ
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                             LOADED DICE
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Frontispiece]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                             LOADED DICE
+
+
+
+
+                                  BY
+
+                           ELLERY H. CLARK
+
+
+
+
+                        WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY
+
+                           F. GRAHAM COOTES
+
+
+
+
+                             INDIANAPOLIS
+                      THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY
+                              PUBLISHERS
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                            Copyright 1909
+
+                      The Bobbs-Merrill Company
+
+                              *   *   *
+
+                                March
+
+
+
+
+
+                               PRESS OF
+                           BRAUNWORTH & CO.
+                       BOOKBINDERS AND PRINTERS
+                            BROOKLYN, N.Y.
+
+
+
+
+
+                                  TO
+                              MY FATHER
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                               CONTENTS
+
+
+                         PART I. THE FOOTHOLD
+
+       CHAPTER
+
+       I A Game of Bridge at the Federal.
+
+      II A Little Dinner at the Albemarle.
+
+     III The Flatfoot.
+
+      IV The Essex Handicap.
+
+       V The Trap is Baited.
+
+      VI Country Cousins.
+
+     VII The Trap is Sprung.
+
+    VIII Gordon Prevents a Scandal.
+
+      IX Palmer Has a Visitor.
+
+       X The Crisis.
+
+      XI In the Firelight.
+
+     XII The Final Obstacle.
+
+
+                          PART II. THE GAME
+
+       I An Ambition is Attained.
+
+      II The Ethel Claim.
+
+     III The Return of Mr. Frost.
+
+      IV Gordon Plays to the Gallery.
+
+       V A Question of Finance.
+
+      VI The Spinning of the Web.
+
+     VII A Double Blow.
+
+    VIII The Case for the Prosecution.
+
+      IX The Public Eye.
+
+       X Ethel Mason Decides.
+
+      XI The Launching of the Konahassett.
+
+     XII Gordon Listens to Good Advice.
+
+    XIII In the Track of the Storm.
+
+     XIV Gordon Engages a Political Lieutenant.
+
+      XV The Voice of the People.
+
+
+                       PART III. THE RECKONING
+
+       I The Hazard of the Die.
+
+      II The Hand of Man.
+
+     III The Hand of God.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                             LOADED DICE
+
+
+
+
+
+                                PART I
+
+                             THE FOOTHOLD
+
+
+
+
+                             LOADED DICE
+
+                              CHAPTER I
+
+                   A GAME OF BRIDGE AT THE FEDERAL
+
+
+Half-way up the slope of the tall hill, beyond the park, looking far
+out over the city to where, in the distance, the broad blue waters of
+the bay sparkle and gleam in the sunshine, stands the Federal Club.
+
+Serenely it has held its place there for more than half a century,
+alike undaunted by winter snows and unmoved by all the beauty of
+springtime's bud and blossom, by the cloudless blue of summer skies
+and the lingering glory of autumn's scarlet and gold. And ever, year
+by year, with tolerant interest, it has watched the great, new, busy
+city beneath it grow and grow, stretching always farther and farther
+away to north and south and east and west in eager, resistless
+advance. Regret and compassion and longing for the old, pleasant
+days of its youth, all of these the club has known, as it has seen
+green field and swamp and meadow vanish for ever, and crowded
+office-building and mill and factory spring up and reign in their
+stead. And thus it stands there to-day, looking quietly on at the
+rushing tide of life below, a type of the life of the older city,
+aristocratic, dignified and reserved.
+
+The year was 1904; the month, August; the time, late evening. The
+long, low-ceilinged card room was all but deserted, the shades drawn,
+the lights turned low. The round, green-topped tables, appearing to
+the eye like some field of giant mushrooms, stood in orderly rows,
+their outlines blending faintly with the dark oak paneling in the
+gloom. In the far distance, at the end of the room, a waiter,
+white-aproned, napkin on arm, hovered expectantly, for generous
+winners did not always heed the club's injunction regarding tips. Thus
+he made a pretense of dusting the tables, and waited, biding his time.
+
+Over by the window, where the faint cooling breeze from the bay stole
+softly in, four men were finishing their rubber of bridge. Vanulm, the
+portly brewer, prosperous, kindly, slow of speech, resolute of
+purpose, saying little, smiled often; from time to time, when
+perplexed as to the proper play, stroking his dark, closely-cropped
+beard with his large white hand. His partner, young Harry Palmer,
+scrupulously well dressed, carefully groomed, showed in his every
+action the handicap of having been born with more money than brains,
+of never having had to lift a finger to help himself, and, drifting
+with the tide, of never having wasted a thought on anything outside
+his own pleasures and how best to gratify them. Many times a
+millionaire, he had but recently come into his fortune, and was making
+a sincere and honest effort to spend as much of it as he could in the
+shortest possible time. His thoughts, seemingly, were far from being
+on the fall of the cards.
+
+At times he sought restlessly to urge on the speed of the game; again,
+as if trying to get control of unruly nerves, he made an effort to
+pull himself together and strove to play leisurely, with a pretense at
+thought, the frown on his weak, good-natured face, however, deceiving
+no one. Dick Gordon, the stock broker, reputed to be one of the
+handsomest men about town, dark, saturnine, played in silence, his
+whole mind centered on the game, noting each card as it fell with
+observant, inscrutable gaze. The last of the four, little Mott-Smith,
+was the typical briefless barrister, who had sacrificed whatever
+chance of success he might have had in his profession for the
+dangerous charm of dabbling in the stock market, and whose continual
+struggles to keep above water financially had been severe enough fully
+to account for the nervous and worried expression that had now become
+habitual with him.
+
+Vanulm recorded the score of the hand just ended, and laid his pencil
+aside.
+
+"Game apiece, Gordon," he said, "and we're twenty-six to four on the
+rubber. Your deal. And your cut, Harry."
+
+Young Palmer lit another cigarette with an elaborate show of
+nonchalance. In obedience to that curious law of our nature which
+makes us admire and aspire to be that which we are not, Palmer's
+fondest ambition was to be known as a humorist. Therefore, before
+cutting, he made a feeble and misguided effort to raise a smile.
+
+"Oh, I say, Vanulm," he drawled, "don't be in such a deuced hurry to
+get their coin. It's bad form, you know, and besides, it's twice as
+much fun to keep them worrying."
+
+From neither Vanulm nor Gordon was the hoped-for smile forthcoming.
+Mott-Smith, indeed, laughed, but nervously and with apprehension. For
+him, bridge at five cents a point was not in any sense a pleasurable
+pastime, but a serious and indeed a somewhat dangerous occupation.
+
+Gordon, observing him, smiled faintly as he dealt with the mechanical
+dexterity born of long practice, each card falling quickly and
+smoothly from his skilful fingers. Tall, dark and unusually fine
+looking, he was by all odds the most noticeable man of the four;
+perhaps, indeed, the only one who would have attracted attention in
+almost any company. His face, especially when he smiled, was
+attractive beyond all question, and yet something in his expression
+hard to define made it difficult to say whether the charm was that of
+good or of evil.
+
+As the last card fell, he gathered up his hand, sorting it quickly,
+yet without haste. Then, scanning his cards carefully for a moment, he
+smiled again as he looked up and met his partner's anxious gaze.
+
+"Sorry, partner," he said, with a trace of mockery in his tone, "but
+I'll have to ask you to name a trump."
+
+Mott-Smith's thin, nervous face was a study in conflicting emotions.
+Anxiety, caution, resolve, all were recorded there, until finally his
+regard for the laws of the game triumphed, and in a voice which he
+tried hard to make appear firm and determined, he announced, with real
+heroism, "Partner, we'll try it without."
+
+Vanulm studied his cards for a moment only; then asked the
+conventional, "May I play?"
+
+Palmer's face flushed. "No, by Jove, I'll be hanged if you may!" he
+exclaimed. "I'm going over."
+
+Mott-Smith sighed with the air of one thoroughly accustomed to
+unpleasant surprises and reversals of fortune. "Perfectly satisfied,"
+he said with resignation.
+
+Gordon's expression alone did not change or alter in the slightest
+degree. There was a moment's tense silence. Then, "I'll come back," he
+said quietly.
+
+Palmer stared at him wrathfully. "You will, confound you!" he
+exclaimed. "Well, I've got a mighty good mind to boost her again. No,
+I guess I won't, though. Satisfied here."
+
+"Satisfied," echoed Vanulm, and Mott-Smith, as the lead was made,
+glancing fearfully at his partner's expressionless face, laid down his
+hand, ace, king and low in two suits, queen and two low in another,
+and queen, knave and two low in the fourth. Gordon studied the cards
+for a moment, glanced once at his own hand as if for confirmation, and
+then played in his turn.
+
+The play of the hand, as the play of a close hand of cards always
+does, afforded an interesting character study. Vanulm played
+phlegmatically, cautiously, but with hesitancy and much painstaking
+effort; Palmer fidgeted in his chair, drummed on the table with his
+nervous fingers, and occasionally swore under his breath; Gordon
+played incisively, unhesitatingly, almost mechanically, much as if he
+had placed every card in the pack, knew already what the final result
+would be, and regarded the actual fall of the cards as a necessary but
+scarcely interesting detail of the game. Six tricks to six was the
+score when Gordon, left with the lead, made good the queen of
+Mott-Smith's long suit, Palmer's carefully treasured ace of spades
+falling useless, and game and rubber were won.
+
+Mott-Smith made no attempt to conceal his relief. "That was great,
+Gordon!" he cried. "You did wonders. You couldn't have played it
+better if you'd tried."
+
+Palmer scowled, and bit his lip with vexation. "What an ass I was!" he
+exclaimed irritably, "carrying home an ace like that. What the deuce
+did I want to double for, anyway? Then they couldn't have gone out.
+I'm awfully sorry, Vanulm."
+
+The brewer shrugged his big shoulders philosophically. "Don't worry,
+Palmer," he said kindly. "It's all in a lifetime; anyway, we made them
+work. Have we time for another?"
+
+Mott-Smith consulted his watch. He knew that the last hand must have
+left him a little better than even, and he hated to tempt Fate again,
+and perhaps pay for it with a sleepless night. "It's almost twelve,"
+he demurred, "but if you fellows want to play another game--"
+
+Vanulm smiled quietly. He knew of Mott-Smith's means, or rather lack
+of them, and his consequent little eccentricities. Therefore he yawned
+out of pure good fellowship. "It is late," he agreed. "I'm getting
+sleepy myself. What do you say, Gordon?"
+
+Gordon shrugged his shoulders. "Don't ask me," he answered indolently.
+"I believe up to date I'm the heavy winner. Stop now or play till
+morning. It's all one to me."
+
+With a sudden impatient gesture Palmer swept the cards together.
+"Let's cut it out!" he cried. "We've had enough bridge, and, besides,
+I've got something I want to tell you fellows. It isn't really
+supposed to be out until to-morrow, but it's so near that I guess it's
+all right."
+
+He paused a moment, as if uncertain how to proceed, while the others
+gazed at him curiously without speaking.
+
+Then Gordon broke the silence. "This sounds suspicious, Harry," he
+said quizzically. "'Out tomorrow' has come to mean only one thing
+nowadays."
+
+Palmer caught at the offered opening with evident relief. "That's what
+it is!" he cried. "I've had enough of sporting around, and I'm going
+to quit it and settle down. You all know who she is. May Sinclair,
+General Sinclair's daughter, and I think I'm the luckiest chap going."
+
+Gordon was the first to extend his hand, and a careful observer might
+have noted an unusual gleam of genuine interest in eyes as a rule
+carefully schooled not to show any emotion whatever. "Lucky!" he
+exclaimed. "Well, I should say you were! You're a sharp one to steal a
+march on us like this. Why, that's the best news I've heard in a long
+time."
+
+Vanulm and Mott-Smith in turn added their congratulations to his, and
+then Gordon touched the bell.
+
+"John," he cried gaily, as the waiter appeared in answer, "will you
+kindly bring us the oldest, biggest and best magnum of champagne
+you've got in your cellar? We want to celebrate a great event."
+
+Palmer raised a protesting hand. "Oh, I say, Gordon!" he exclaimed,
+his face flushing as he spoke, "thank you just as much, but please
+don't bother. I'm not drinking now. You know I really can't touch the
+stuff. I--"
+
+Gordon cut him short. "There, there," he said good-humoredly, "I
+refuse to listen to any such talk as that. On any ordinary occasion
+I'd say you were perfectly right, but this is the one time in a man's
+life when a drink is really the only proper thing. It would hardly be
+fair to the lady, otherwise, Harry."
+
+The appeal to Palmer's pride was successful. "Well," he assented
+half-doubt fully, "if you really think so, Gordon--perhaps this
+once--but I'm going to cut the whole thing out, you know," and
+Gordon's point, as usual, was gained.
+
+Then, while they waited for John's reappearance, a slightly
+embarrassed silence fell upon them. Mott-Smith was thinking half
+enviously of a girl he himself knew, and of the difference between his
+income and Palmer's. Gordon, too, was thinking, not at random, but
+quickly, daringly and to the point. Vanulm began mechanically to
+figure up the bridge scores. Then he laughed. "'Unlucky at cards,
+Harry,'" he quoted. "You're sixty-eight dollars to the bad, I'm out
+forty-five, and Mott-Smith's plus thirteen. Our friend Gordon must be
+deucedly unlucky in love, for he's robbed us of an even century."
+
+Gordon laughed again. "Poor consolation," he said. "I think we'll all
+agree that Harry's the real winner to-night." And then, as John filled
+the glasses, he added: "Here's to you both, my boy, and may the
+Goddess of Fortune bring you all the luck you deserve."
+
+The glasses clinked, and were drained dry. Almost at once a subtle
+change came over Palmer's face. "That's great stuff!" he cried. "You
+were right, Gordon. I believe you always are. It wouldn't do not to
+celebrate the occasion. Lots of time afterwards, you know, and all
+that sort of thing. John, John--" and he tapped at the bell
+impatiently until the waiter again appeared, "John, your first
+bottle's all right. Now you want to get us another just like it, and
+then another just like that, and then you want to stand by for further
+orders--stand by for first aid to the injured, I mean--what the devil
+do I mean, anyway?"
+
+The others laughed, but Gordon's laugh was too hearty to ring true,
+and the way in which he bent forward and slapped Palmer on the back
+savored of deliberate acting. "You'll be the death of me yet, old
+man," he cried. "I swear you're the brightest fellow in the whole
+club. You don't realize what a sense of humor you've got."
+
+And then, as Palmer, glowing with the joy of just appreciation, went
+on to be more and more humorous still, John appeared with the second
+bottle, and later with the third; later still, long after Vanulm and
+Mott-Smith had gone home, at Gordon's suggestion he brought the fourth
+and fifth, and about two o'clock in the morning, as the young
+millionaire's unruly legs balked at the long flight of stairs which
+led to the sleeping rooms on the floor above, it was as "first aid to
+the injured," after all, that he was finally called upon to serve.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II
+
+                   A LITTLE DINNER AT THE ALBEMARLE
+
+
+Lieutenant Osborne, commander of the new submarine, _Anhinga_, wiry,
+alert, bronzed, had proved to be the most entertaining of companions,
+and the little dinner in his honor had turned out to be an entire
+success.
+
+Osborne leaned forward in his chair and meditatively relit his cigar.
+"So that," he concluded, "was the first and only time the engines
+really bothered us. It was close enough while it lasted, though.
+Still, we got by."
+
+Young Carrington drew in his breath sharply. "Close enough," he
+echoed. "I should say it was. That's the only trouble with you
+pioneers, Lieutenant. You get so interested in what you're doing that
+you get reckless, and then you blaze ahead with some fool experiment,
+and the first thing you know something happens. Then they grapple your
+boat up, and lay you all decently away on dry land, where you belong,
+and some other chap has the benefit of your experience, and knows one
+thing more to avoid if he's anxious to keep his health. It's glorious,
+Lieutenant, but it's going ahead too fast. There's such a thing as
+being too brave."
+
+Osborne smiled. "Oh, well, of course there's some risk," he
+acquiesced; "no one would deny that. But not nearly so much as you
+think. We're pretty well prepared for all emergencies now, and in the
+last analysis the interior of a submarine isn't the only dangerous
+place in the world. It sounds trite to say 'you never can tell,' but
+that's what danger and death amount to, after all."
+
+Vanulm nodded assent. "You're right, Lieutenant," he said. "You see it
+and read of it every day. A man makes a trip through darkest Africa
+and comes home to be run over by a trolley car. We take a thousand
+risks by land and sea, far and wide, and then come to peace and
+safety, and break our leg going down the cellar stairs. 'You never can
+tell' hits it about right for most of us."
+
+Osborne nodded. "I'm afraid I've monopolized the conversation too much
+already," he said, "but I'd like to tell you a queer illustration of
+this that we had at the yards a year or so ago. One of the
+construction men there was a Norwegian named Rolfson, a man with the
+most remarkable head for heights, barring none, that I think I've ever
+seen. He was celebrated even among his mates, and you can imagine what
+that means among men who are just as much at home walking about like
+flies on top of a girder sixty feet from the ground as we are seated
+here at this table this moment. Well, one day this fellow--not out of
+bravado, you understand; he wasn't that kind, but just because he took
+a notion to do it--after he got through a job he was doing on the
+mainmast of a big seven-master, deliberately climbed clean up to the
+main truck, somehow crawled on top of it, and stood there, one hundred
+and eighty-seven feet above the deck, waving his cap to the fellows
+below. How was that for absolute nerve?
+
+"Well, the point I am coming to is this: Three or four months later
+this same man, working on a staging about thirty-five feet above the
+deck of a bark, sitting down, mind you, with a support on either side
+of him to hang on to, fell and broke his neck. We never knew just what
+the trouble really was. He might have looked down, I suppose, or might
+have been taken suddenly ill; possibly all at once he lost his nerve.
+That happens sometimes. We never knew. So, you see, you can't always
+tell what's risky and what isn't."
+
+He stopped abruptly. There was a moment's silence, broken presently by
+Gordon. "Still," he said, "to a landsman like myself there's something
+uncanny about a submarine. What does a man think about just before he
+goes down for a twenty-four-hour plunge, Osborne? Does he get worried
+about death and eternity and the state of his soul, or does he simply
+wonder whether or not he's forgotten his tobacco?"
+
+Osborne laughed. "Why, speaking for myself," he answered, "I'm
+generally too busy figuring on where we're bound in this world to
+wonder much, if anything should happen, where I'd be bound in the
+next. I suppose it all depends on a man's temperament, and even that
+doesn't always work out the way you'd think. I know the last time we
+went down there was one of the crew, a quiet, rather gloomy old chap,
+with no nerves at all, just the kind of man you need in our business,
+who turned out, very much as you might have supposed, to be a firm
+believer in predestination. Now, going down didn't worry that fellow a
+bit. In fact, I'd have liked it better if he had worried a little
+more, I like to see the men just as anxious as I am to know that
+everything's in first-class shape. But his ideas were that if we were
+going to be drowned, we were going to be drowned, and that was all
+there was to it. Now, on the other hand, we had another chap who was
+the most reckless man in the whole bunch, really a regular dare-devil,
+afraid of nothing afloat or ashore. This fellow, also, as you might
+have supposed, so far from believing in predestination, didn't believe
+in anything at all--an out-and-out atheist. Result was that out of
+regard for his precious life he was tremendously in earnest to see
+we'd taken every possible precaution before we went under. Rather a
+curious result, I thought, and something of a blow at practical
+religion if we should advertise, 'Picked men wanted to ship on
+submarine _Anhinga_. Atheists given preference over all others.'"
+
+There was a general laugh. "Poor old Religion," said Carrington
+reflectively; "she's had to take some pretty hard knocks lately. What
+with enemies without and factions within, I sometimes wonder what the
+future of the Church is really going to be."
+
+Doctor Norton, the host of the evening, nodded assent. "I suppose the
+trouble really is," he said, "that there's such an endless field for
+speculation in such matters, and people's minds work so very diversely
+anyway, that no one ever really quite agrees with any one else about
+anything. Hence the rows."
+
+Carrington shook his head in dissent. "That's going it a little too
+strong, Doctor," he objected. "I imagine most of us think along about
+the same lines on religious matters these days, don't we?"
+
+Norton smiled. "Well," he answered, "nothing easier than to test the
+question, right here and now. I should say the five of us make up a
+fairly representative crowd--a stock broker, a merchant, a naval
+officer, a journalist and a medical man. Now, if we'll all agree to
+give our honest ideas--our honest ideas, mind you, not hackneyed stuff
+we've been told or that we pretend to believe--on religion, or the
+probability of a hereafter, or however you choose to phrase it, a
+comparison of results might prove entertaining, although the subject,
+I'll grant, is a little shopworn and not nearly so interesting as what
+the lieutenant has been telling us about submarines. Is it a bargain?"
+
+There was a ready chorus of assent, and Norton, after a moment's
+pause, continued: "I don't mind setting the example and confessing
+first. My creed at least has the merit of simplicity. I haven't the
+faintest shadow of a belief in any kind of a future life. I haven't
+had the good fortune to see any evidence of it, and I never expect to.
+There's one view. Now, Carrington, suppose you unbosom yourself."
+
+Carrington pondered. "Why," he said at length, "I suppose I might be
+described as a hopeful agnostic. Lots of hope, but no belief. I guess
+that covers it pretty well."
+
+Norton nodded. "Well, we're not so very far apart," he said more
+gravely. "I suppose practically every man likes to indulge his hopes
+at times. Certainly, when I think of my wife and children, I like to
+try to convince myself against my reason and my judgment. That spark
+is born in us somehow, and of course furnishes a somewhat fanciful
+argument, if it's worthy of being called that, to our good friends in
+the pulpit. I'll concede that much to Carrington's view; I like to
+hope, but that's all it amounts to. Vanulm, enlighten us."
+
+The brewer shook his head. "Not I," he said promptly; "I don't commit
+myself one way or the other. In fact, I never could see what
+difference the whole discussion really made. From one point of view,
+you argue why there should be a future life. From the other, you argue
+why there shouldn't. Nobody knows, and you can argue indefinitely.
+Nobody knows the answer, and there you are. Personally, I'm too busy
+to waste my time that way, even if I were inclined to, which I'm not."
+
+Norton smiled good-naturedly at Carrington. "I believe I'm going to
+prove my point, after all," he said. "Lieutenant, let's hear from
+you."
+
+Osborne flicked the ash from his cigar. "Well," he answered slowly,
+"you chaps have got me a little out of my depth, I'm afraid, but I was
+brought up to believe in God, and I guess it's the best way, on the
+whole. It's the most comfortable, anyway, and saves a nervous fellow a
+lot of worrying. Yes, I think I'm willing to go on record as a
+believer in a future state."
+
+Norton laughed aloud. "Good for you, Lieutenant!" he cried. "You've
+raised the average, anyway. I'm afraid we're a pretty godless crowd
+here. Now, Gordon, it's up to you to complete the thing. Are you with
+the wicked majority or the select minority?"
+
+Gordon gave no sign of hesitation, "Why," he cried quickly, "I confess
+I'm amazed at you fellows. I wouldn't believe you now, if you hadn't
+said beforehand that you were in earnest. I've always believed that if
+you throw over religion you're throwing over everything that makes for
+right and decency and the general welfare. Put me on record with the
+lieutenant, by all means, and we'll form what you call the respectable
+minority. You other chaps are a lot of rank atheists. I'm ashamed of
+you."
+
+Norton clapped his hands softly. "Good! Good!" he cried. "I don't mean
+your ideas, Gordon, but that you've helped prove my point to
+perfection. I said that no two people would think exactly alike, and
+look at the result here. One atheist, one agnostic, one man too lazy
+not to believe, one too lazy--he claims too busy--to believe either
+way, and one noble example who goes the limit and believes everything,
+including, I suppose, that the devil has horns and a tail, and that
+the whale swallowed Jonah. Isn't that proof positive of my claim?
+Almost every known variety of belief and disbelief, I should say."
+
+Gordon promptly demurred. "No, not quite all," he said quietly. "I ran
+across a queer case the other day, if you fellows care to hear about
+it."
+
+A chorus of assent greeted him, and he began slowly. "It was really
+rather a queer case, as I just said. I dare say the man isn't quite
+right mentally. A screw loose somewhere, I should judge. At all
+events, he's worked out the theory that everything on earth is nothing
+but a gamble, and that Life--and Death--and Immortality--are merely
+the biggest gambles of all. His reasoning--he talked to me a whole
+evening about it, but I'll try to give it to you in brief, and as near
+as I can in his own words--is this: Every man, if he knew for a
+certainty that there wasn't any God, would do exactly as he wished;
+that is, he'd live a pretty free sort of a life, behave about as he
+pleased, and in general have a mighty good time. On the other hand, if
+he knew there was a God, he'd probably live as straight as he could
+for the pleasure of enjoying eternal bliss, and all that sort of
+thing, afterwards, and keeping clear of the sulphur and brimstone. So
+there's your gamble, and it's really a very pretty one. Proceed on the
+assumption that there is a God, and get along without any fun here, in
+the hope of making up for it later when you get your harp and crown;
+or else choose the other end of it, go the pace, and when you die, if
+you've guessed right and there isn't any Heaven, you're away ahead of
+the poor devils who've played close to their chests here. On the other
+hand, if you've been unlucky enough to hit it wrong, you're down and
+out and bound straight for hell and eternal damnation."
+
+He stopped abruptly amid an attentive silence. Then, as no comment
+seemed to be forthcoming, he continued even more slowly. "To me, I
+confess the man's way of putting the thing was undeniably interesting.
+What I didn't grasp at first was how far the proposition carried you
+logically. You fellows who profess not to believe in anything don't
+really act out your disbelief, because somehow in the very bottom of
+your hearts you feel that there may be a hereafter, and you don't want
+to take any chances. That is, not to put it too disagreeably, this
+fellow would consider you, in the slang of the track, a lot of cheap
+pikers. But suppose you have the courage to follow out his ideas to
+the limit, and choose one way or the other. You can't kick. Your
+chance is even, and if you're willing to put up all you've got that
+there isn't a God, your life becomes nothing but pleasure. Just think
+of it. You're no longer bothered by any moral law; you're free to
+indulge your passions and your appetites as you please. You can get
+drunk every day, if that's your idea of enjoyment, or you can steal
+your friend's money, or his wife, or both, provided you don't get
+found out. What odds? In place of the groveling worm the preachers
+make you out to be, you're Kipling's 'gentleman unafraid,' taking a
+gentlemanly gamble with a mythical creator. It's a bold conception of
+life; there's no denying it. The man certainly interested me."
+
+He broke off abruptly. Doctor Norton was the first to speak. "It is
+interesting!" he exclaimed. "I call it a first-class sporting
+proposition, and he's dead right on one point. We don't any of us,
+when you come right down to it, try to be good or to do good just for
+the love of it; it's really only selfish prudence, sort of a credit
+account against a rainy day. But on his main proposition I should say
+your friend must have something wrong with his upper story. A man's
+good from reasons of prudence, or he's bad because he's got what we
+call criminal instincts, but no man in his senses would sit down and
+reason the thing out as this fellow has."
+
+"Why not, Doctor?" demanded Carrington quickly. "It's all logical
+enough, as Gordon says, if you've only got the nerve. But most of us
+haven't. It isn't pleasant to think of your finish if you chose the
+sporting end of the thing and then there turned out to be a God after
+all. I claim there's something magnificent about it, though. Is he
+going to live out his theories, Gordon?"
+
+Gordon shook his head. "I confess I don't know," he answered; "he's a
+queer chap, and I didn't like to ask him point blank whether he was in
+earnest or not. Personally, though, I believe he was, and that sooner
+or later he'll choose what you call the sporting end."
+
+Gradually the conversation swung back to less serious channels, and in
+another half hour the little party broke up.
+
+Leisurely enough Gordon strolled along on his homeward way. It was a
+perfect summer night, the park lying bathed in the mellow light of the
+full moon riding high in the peaceful heavens. Perhaps it was but the
+effect of the moonlight, but his face seemed to wear an expression
+very different from that of the man who had declared his faith so
+boldly an hour before.
+
+"The old, old riddle," he muttered to himself; "worthless, and yet
+worth so much." And, after a pause, he added meditatively: "The
+sporting end."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER III
+
+                             THE FLATFOOT
+
+
+South of the park, sloping away towards the east, lies the residential
+section of the city, highly respectable and always in its conduct a
+model of propriety. Across the park, to the north, lies the shopping
+district; and adjoining it, to the westward, is the great business
+section, with the Stock Exchange, the Markets, the Chamber of
+Commerce, and the Government Building. Turning north again, we come to
+the bay itself, dotted with steamers and sailing craft, and edged
+about with huge piers, where the great ocean liners dock, and busy
+wharves, the goal of the hardy fishermen, as they come driving home
+across the foam, lee rails awash, deep laden with their spoils hard
+won from the open sea.
+
+So far, indeed, one may journey with naught save admiration and
+respect for civic pride; but farther to the northeast, across the bay,
+there lies a region of a far more doubtful sort. Here, dark and dreary
+and sinister, begins that inevitable portion of a great city, at the
+mention of which women are wont to raise their eyebrows, and men--of a
+certain stamp--to shrug their shoulders and smile meaningly. Here is
+the abiding place of those who for many varying reasons prefer to live
+in a district unhampered by the authorities; a place where each is a
+law unto himself alone; where the red blood pulses more swiftly
+through the veins, and where the primal passions of men and women hold
+freer sway.
+
+To this wilderness in the otherwise well-ordered city, from time to
+time wander men of birth and breeding from the opposite end of town.
+Some of them come from real love of vice, due perchance to some
+inherited taint, perchance to some flaw or weakness in themselves.
+Others, for the most part younger men, fresh from school or college,
+come with a vague idea that they are thus seeing life, and earning for
+themselves the right to be classed as men of the world. A few, indeed,
+come out of mere curiosity, mere slummers, pleased and risen in their
+own estimation to find others so much wickeder and more miserably off
+than themselves.
+
+The great majority, however, desirous of standing well in their own
+circle, deem it wise to let the district severely alone, for in the
+faintly Puritanical atmosphere south of the park to have it known that
+one has even been seen north of Fulton Street means always a
+possibility of ill-natured gossip and even of unpleasant scandal.
+
+Therefore, on the night after the dinner at the Albemarle, if any one
+of Gordon's friends had chanced to follow him as he crossed the park,
+they would have had good cause for surprise, for, instead of following
+the avenue, or turning sharp to the west, he kept straight on
+northward, past the cove, past Fulton Street, almost to the bridge,
+and then, with one quick glance behind him, swung around to the east
+in a wide half-circle, finally turning up a little, narrow,
+unfrequented side street at the very limits of the city, beyond which
+the broad salt marshes stretched away until their outline was lost as
+they merged with the flats that bordered the broad tide-river flowing
+peacefully onward towards the sea.
+
+A good place, one would have said, for carrying on some business not
+quite within the pale of the law, and so Jim Bradfield evidently
+thought when he chose the spot for the establishment of his
+gambling-house. Not that at the present time there was any great
+danger of a raid, the city, following one of its periodic "citizens'
+movements," with its accompanying spasm of virtue, having suffered a
+violent relapse, and fallen again into the hands of the spoilers, who,
+with a praiseworthy desire to make up for much valuable lost time, had
+issued orders near and far that everything was to be run "wide open."
+
+Bradfield, however, shrewd and far-sighted, had never been
+over-anxious for that down-town notoriety which was sure to result in
+a flourishing business during the reign of some particular "boss" or
+"machine," and then, when the forces of reform again had their little
+day, was equally sure to mean a quick decision between an immediate
+change of climate or an involuntary visit to the handsome new prison
+across the bay. Rather, he desired to keep his trade quiet, safe, and,
+above all, sure, realizing the manifest advantages of a business which
+needed for stock-in-trade only his modest house, a good supply of
+liquor, a complete gambling outfit, and last, but not least, the
+patronage of a score or so of the city's beautiful and accommodating
+lights-o'-love. His creed was equally simple, philosophical and sound.
+Often, indeed, he was wont to observe: "Most trades run too much to
+seasons and fashions, but I figure mine pretty sure. Year in and year
+out men are going to gamble, they're going to drink rum, and they're
+going to run after the girls, and if I'm willing to take a chance on
+combining the three of 'em, and giving every sport a run for his
+money, why, where's the kick coming?"
+
+The readiness with which Gordon ran up the steps and pressed the bell
+seemed to show that he was no stranger to his surroundings. A short,
+broad-shouldered, burly man, built ideally on the lines of a rough and
+tumble fighter, stepped to the iron grating in the thick oak door,
+peered sullenly out for a moment, and then released a spring, allowing
+the ponderous door to swing slowly back. Rather a needless amount of
+precaution, perhaps, in times of peace and ample police protection,
+but Bradfield, as we have seen, was a believer in system, and took no
+chances. Hence his enviable record for immunity from raiding parties,
+and his steadily accumulating balance at the bank.
+
+With a nod to the guard, Gordon mounted the stairs, turned sharp to
+the right, and entered the cafe. It was still early in the night, and
+not more than a dozen or so of the little round tables were occupied.
+The men, as a rule, were sleek, well-fed, prosperous in appearance,
+with a tendency towards flashiness in their general get-up; the women
+were of the type to be expected in such a place, or rather, perhaps,
+on the whole, somewhat above it. All were young and well-dressed, many
+were pretty, and in some cases it needed a keener second glance to
+detect that inevitable hardness of expression and that trace of
+artificiality in their somewhat too obvious high spirits which mark
+the world over the calling of the lower-class courtezan.
+
+Over in the corner by the window, however, half hidden in the shelter
+of a huge palm, sat a young girl of a type entirely different from the
+rest. Seated alone, the chair opposite her tipped forward against the
+table as a sign that she was not anxious for company, she sat with
+elbows on table, chin in hands, gazing with a look of bored
+indifference at the evidently only too familiar scene. Slender,
+blonde, possibly a shade too pale, her dress of filmy black lace, her
+dainty black gloves, her big black picture hat with its sweeping black
+ostrich plume, all showed an instinctive sense of good taste
+conspicuously absent in the costumes of her companions. So much for
+the first general impression. Coming to the girl herself, on closer
+examination one discovered with some surprise that she was undeniably
+beautiful. Her features were flawless, her pretty light hair was
+tastefully arranged over her low forehead, her blue eyes flashed a
+dangerous gleam from beneath her long lashes, and her red lips seemed
+framed in a perpetual challenge to the daring of mankind. More than
+this, one could not rid oneself of the impression that the girl's
+face, in spite of everything, was somehow a good face; the face of one
+who, if sinning, did so all but unconscious of the sin.
+
+As Gordon entered, she leisurely assumed a more conventional pose,
+while he, with a quick glance in her direction, threaded his way
+across the room, and with a word of greeting dropped into the vacant
+seat.
+
+It was evident from the whole manner of both that the meeting was no
+mere casual one, but that it had been planned for some definite
+purpose. Any doubt of this, indeed, was dispelled by Gordon's first
+words.
+
+"Well," he queried, leaning forward across the table and lowering his
+voice a trifle, "did you get what we wanted?"
+
+The girl, with evident complacence, slowly nodded. "I have found out,"
+she said, "the whole story. He may be a very shrewd man in some ways,
+but in others he is--well, let us say vulnerable."
+
+Gordon drew a deep breath of relief. "Good," he cried softly; "I
+didn't believe you could do it, Rose; and if you'd failed, we might
+just as well have given up the whole thing. It seemed like an awfully
+long chance, too. I don't see now how you pulled it off."
+
+The girl made a little grimace. "It was not pleasant," she said.
+"Incidentally, the man is hopelessly vulgar and brutal. On the whole,
+I hope the information is worth all you think it is. The entire
+experience was a disagreeable one. In fact, it was disgusting."
+
+Gordon seemed scarcely to heed what she was saying. "Yes," he said
+absently, "I imagine so," and then sat silent, lost in thought,
+unheeding the laughter, somewhat over loud, as new arrivals constantly
+added themselves to the noisy throng; not seeming to hear the hum of
+voices, now loud, now ceasing altogether, from the gaming room
+adjoining the cafe, whither the evening's play was now beginning to
+draw the crowd; undisturbed even by the young college boy who sat at
+the piano, dashing off ragtime with a brilliant touch. At length he
+looked up.
+
+"Well, you've got us our start, anyway," he said; "that's sure.
+Without that, we were nowhere. Now, to get down to the details. I
+suppose he only talked generalities, or did he happen to let slip
+anything definite about prices?"
+
+The girl smiled as she drew a tiny piece of paper from the palm of her
+glove and slowly unfolded it. "Not less than twenty-five cents," she
+read, and then paused. "I wrote it all out afterwards," she explained,
+"although I could have remembered it perfectly well. I knew you wanted
+it exact."
+
+Gordon nodded impatiently. "Of course, of course," he said. "Never
+mind that. Go ahead with the figures. That's what I want now."
+
+"Oh, very well," said the girl, somewhat piqued; "where was I? Oh,
+yes. Not less than twenty-five cents, and very likely twenty-six or
+higher. Some well-informed men even talk of thirty. The price will
+hold for two years, at least, and very likely for three. In fact, it
+is very doubtful if it ever goes below twenty cents again. Finally,
+there has been an agreement, not for publication, of course, between
+the Consolidated, the Octagon and Michigan, and the Wood-Kennedy
+interests. So, if a poor, friendless girl wanted a chance to make a
+few dollars in 'coppers,' why, it's possible that things might go off
+sharply the last two weeks in October on rumors of over-production and
+a hidden supply of the metal, and that's the time she might buy a few
+shares of some good producing mine, because about the first of
+November these rumors might be flatly contradicted, and there might
+begin the biggest bull market in 'coppers' the country has ever seen.
+There, does that suit you?"
+
+Gordon's face betrayed no sign of emotion, but the smoldering gleam of
+excitement in his half-closed eyes had grown steadily as the girl read
+on, until, as she ended, he could scarcely repress an exclamation of
+mingled pleasure and astonishment.
+
+"Rose," he cried, "you must be an enchantress to have got that out of
+him. We've got practically every card in the pack now. Why, good
+heavens, girl, the thing's a cinch. Properly played, what you've just
+told me means a fortune for us both."
+
+The girl glanced at him shrewdly. "But for us to get it properly
+played," she said; "I take it that's where the rub comes."
+
+Gordon nodded. "It comes right down to this," he answered; "in two
+months from now, at the latest, we've got to have at least a hundred
+thousand dollars. After that, everything's plain sailing. But getting
+the hundred thousand; there, as you say, is just where the rub comes."
+
+"I suppose," queried the girl, "that between us we haven't the tenth
+part of that?"
+
+Gordon shook his head. "We might have had it, and more too," he said,
+"if I'd only known a year ago what I know to-day; but I didn't, and
+instead of making a fortune, I came within an ace of bankruptcy
+instead. Well, there's no use in post mortems. We've got to get that
+money somehow. You remember the scheme I spoke of?"
+
+The girl lowered her voice as she bent towards him. "Oh, Dick, not
+that," she murmured.
+
+Gordon raised his eyebrows the veriest trifle. "I don't see why not,"
+he rejoined. "I've been busy looking it up, and as far as I can see it
+looks first-rate. He's just the same as he ever was, and between the
+two, as I told you, we're sure to land him. Of course, what he'll do
+afterwards no one can tell, but I think we can count on his doing
+what's right, safe enough."
+
+The girl wrinkled her pretty forehead. "I can't make myself like it,
+Dick," she answered. "It seems like taking so many chances. If there
+were just the two of us, I wouldn't mind so much, but right at the
+start we've got to get some one else--some older woman--and there's a
+risk right away. I can't think of any one I'd trust."
+
+Gordon considered. "There must be some one," he said at last. "How
+about that Wilson woman?"
+
+The girl shook her head. "Too stupid," she objected promptly.
+
+"Wouldn't Helen Russell do it?"
+
+"Not old enough. She isn't more than five years older than I am, and
+we'd have to go light on anything like make-up. There are risks enough
+anyway without adding one."
+
+"Well," cried Gordon impatiently, "there must be some woman that can
+do it and will do it. You must be able to think of some one."
+
+The girl reflected. "There's Annie Holton's mother," she said, half
+doubtfully, at last. "I think she'd do, but I don't like the risk of
+getting mixed up with Annie. She'd like nothing better than a chance
+to do me a bad turn, as you know, Dick."
+
+Gordon frowned. Annie Holton's infatuation for him was such matter of
+common knowledge about Bradfield's that there was no use in making
+light of it, and the girl's rabid jealousy of Rose Ashton had been the
+occasion of many a prophecy as to what might happen some day if the
+occasion should serve.
+
+"I don't know why that should make any difference," he said at last.
+"Mrs. Holton's a very clever woman, and she'd look the part remarkably
+well. Besides, getting at her doesn't mean telling Annie, especially
+as I don't believe from what I hear that there's much love lost
+between them nowadays. If it comes to that, it would be easy enough to
+get Annie away somewhere for a week. That's only a matter of detail,
+anyway. You'll find we can get some one. But the point is that we've
+got to try the scheme, whether you like it or not. I can't borrow what
+we want. Money's been tight as the devil for six months now, and I
+think I begin to see why. No, this looks to be the only chance, and I
+forgot to tell you one thing more that makes it a little better; I've
+just found out that he's engaged to be married."
+
+The girl looked doubtful. "I don't know whether that makes it better
+or worse," she said at last. "Of course it makes a difference in one
+way. It would help a lot--afterwards; but--it might spoil the first
+part altogether."
+
+Gordon laughed cynically. "You don't know Harry as well as I do," he
+quoted. "Getting engaged doesn't make a man grow wings all at once,
+especially a man that's led the life he has. Think of the inducement,
+too. No, I'll risk the first part for a certainty, and I guess the
+second is about as good, too."
+
+Both were silent for a time. The noise from the adjoining room grew
+louder. Every table in the cafe was filled. The piano tinkled
+unceasingly. Still they sat unheeding. Finally the girl leaned
+forward, speaking with deliberation.
+
+"Dick," she said, "I'll grant that it isn't impossible. We might pull
+it off all right, and the whole scheme really does you credit. But
+you've got to own up to the risk. It's one of those things where every
+move has got to come off just as we've planned it, and just on time.
+If any one of a dozen possible things happens, we're done. In a word,
+it's something we really ought not to try except as a very last
+resort."
+
+Gordon nodded a trifle impatiently. "That's it, exactly," he
+acquiesced. "We don't differ a particle about it. But at the present
+moment I can't for the life of me see what other chance we've got. I'm
+afraid it isn't a matter of choice at all."
+
+The girl hesitated a moment; then asked, apparently irrelevantly,
+"Have you any money with you, Dick?"
+
+Gordon nodded again. "Bridge winnings," he said laconically. "About
+three hundred, I think."
+
+"Three hundred," repeated the girl. "That would be enough. The wheel
+here is run straight, isn't it?"
+
+Gordon glanced at her keenly. "Absolutely," he answered. "But I hope
+you're not planning to raise our hundred thousand that way, because
+I'm afraid it might take a long time."
+
+He spoke in a tone of mild amusement. The girl smiled faintly. "No,"
+she answered, "hardly that. I've seen and heard enough of 'systems' to
+know they're all impossible. But sheer, blind chance is always open to
+every one, and I'd like one try just to satisfy myself before we try
+your scheme. Let's chart the wheel thirty-eight times, then pick one
+of the numbers that hasn't come, and play it flatfoot three times
+running. If we lose, three hundred won't kill us, and if we win, you
+know what you told me about your friend McMurtrie and his black colt."
+
+Gordon laughed, then shrugged his shoulders. "If you call my scheme a
+wild one," he said good-naturedly, "I wouldn't dare say what I think
+of yours. Still, it's possible. Everything's possible, for that
+matter, and, as you say, a few hundred won't be fatal. On the other
+hand, if we should win, I'll say frankly that I take considerable
+stock in old McMurtrie. He's crazy over racing, and knows the whole
+game, too, from A to Z. He'd never have told me what he did about his
+long shot if I hadn't made twenty thousand for him in two days
+shorting steel common. His gratitude for that took the somewhat
+doubtful form of this tip of his. I can't even remember the colt's
+name now, but I could find out to-night, I suppose--if we have any
+occasion to."
+
+The girl rose. "Come on, then," she cried. "Fate's going to be kind to
+us, Dick. I feel it. We're going to win."
+
+The man gazed at her curiously. "Fate, instinct," he muttered to
+himself, as he rose. "I wish I could feel sure--"
+
+He broke off sharply, and together they left the cafe.
+
+In the gaming room they found a good sized crowd around the roulette
+table, and a smaller group gathered at the faro lay-out farther down
+the room. Gordon bought the little stack of yellow chips, handed them
+to the girl, and stood beside her, pencil and note-book in hand,
+jotting down the swiftly recurring numbers as the croupier called them
+in his even, expressionless tones.
+
+A half hour passed. Once the croupier, glancing at Gordon and noticing
+his occupation, smiled very faintly. There was no law or rule against
+the use of paper and pencil at Bradfield's; rather inventors of charts
+and systems were gladly made welcome. Their money, as Bradfield had
+once with some dryness observed, was just as good as anybody else's.
+
+At last Gordon turned quickly to the girl. "They haven't run very
+even," he said hurriedly. "Here's your choice. These numbers here."
+
+The girl glanced hastily at the ten numbers out of the thirty-eight
+left blank, and instantly made her decision. "Thirty-five, Dick," she
+whispered, and as she spoke she placed five of the counters on the
+chosen square. Momentarily heads were turned in her direction, and
+then the wheel was started once again. Bradfield's croupier wasted no
+time. "Do them now," might have been his motto. Even as Gordon leaned
+forward to get a better view, the ball stopped abruptly. "Seven,"
+called the croupier, and Gordon smiled ironically at the folly
+of the whole proceeding. Once more the girl placed her bet on the
+thirty-five, once more the ball revolved, slackened its speed as the
+wheel spun more slowly, and stopped--in the single zero. Gordon turned
+to his companion with a laugh. "How about your presentiment?" he
+queried.
+
+The girl shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, we've a chance still," she
+answered, "and I rather think this is the time we win."
+
+Down went the last five chips on the thirty-five. "Bets are closed,"
+cried the croupier, and the little ball spun merrily away again on its
+accustomed journey. Gordon's eyes were fixed eagerly upon its
+progress--now slower and slower spun the wheel, more and more gently
+the little ball moderated its pace, hesitated, paused on the lip of
+nineteen, hung there, balanced, and then, as if with the faintest
+possible remaining effort, rolled on, and dropped--
+
+"Thirty-five," called the croupier sharply. "Red wins--," and the rest
+was lost in the quick buzz of excitement, for at Bradfield's hundred
+dollar flatfoots were rare. The croupier leaned forward across the
+table. Thirty-five hundred was quite a sum to lose, but he knew that
+it would make talk, help trade, and doubtless eventually come back. So
+he even smiled deferentially. "I think I'll have to send for Mr.
+Bradfield on this," he said. "We're not prepared for quite such heavy
+plays, as a general thing. Will you have bills or a check?"
+
+"A check, please," said Gordon half mechanically. "We'll be in the
+next room."
+
+It was not until they were again seated at their table in the window
+that he was able to make the whole occurrence seem a reality. The girl
+was laughing half hysterically, the bright color in her cheeks making
+her prettier than ever. Gordon gazed at her in admiration.
+
+"Well, Rose," he cried, "I'm not so smart as I thought I was. I guess
+the laugh's on me, or on Bradfield, I don't know which. Now for
+McMurtrie. I know just where I can locate him this very minute."
+
+The girl bent across the table, her eyes bright, her whole attitude
+expectant, alluring. "To-night?" she murmured. "But I thought
+to-night--"
+
+Gordon met her glance squarely, his eyes ablaze with passion. He
+leaned forward in turn until his hand touched hers. "In just one
+hour," he cried. "And an hour--can seem like a thousand years."
+
+
+[Illustration: He leaned forward until his hand touched hers. Page 44]
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IV
+
+                          THE ESSEX HANDICAP
+
+
+Handicap Day, and true Handicap weather. A warm sun shining from a
+cloudless sky, a light cool breeze blowing from the west, a track in
+perfect condition--what more could the heart of horseman desire on the
+greatest day of the horseman's year?
+
+As early as twelve o'clock the long procession began to wind its
+leisurely way toward the track. By automobile, by coach and carriage,
+by steam yacht and railroad train and electric car, even by bicycle
+and on foot the crowds surged and flocked and fought their way, until
+by two o'clock thirty thousand people crowded grandstand and betting
+ring and paddock, keen, alert, active, on tiptoe with eagerness to see
+the Essex run.
+
+High up in the grandstand Major McMurtrie, a trifle flushed, more than
+a trifle excited, eloquent in the extreme, seated himself beside Rose
+Ashton and Gordon, and with a wealth of gesture fought and refought
+for their benefit the bygone Handicaps of twenty years.
+
+"The race of the year, my dear boy, the race of the year," he repeated
+for perhaps the fiftieth time. "No race like it, sir, for the true
+lover of the racehorse, and a more perfect day for it, sir, I have
+never seen."
+
+Rose, looking up from her race-card, nodded assent. "Forty thousand
+dollars to the winner," she said thoughtfully. "It's a tremendous sum,
+isn't it?"
+
+The Major shook his head vigorously. "No, no, my dear young lady, you
+mistake me," he cried. "It isn't the money value of the race that
+makes it. Forty thousand is a snug little sum, of course, but the
+Metropole is worth fifty, and the Belleview upwards of seventy. But
+it's the public sentiment, not the cash, that makes this race what it
+is. The Essex isn't any six furlong scramble for two-year-olds; it's a
+mile and a quarter for three-year-olds and upwards. It's none of your
+get-away sprints; it's a horse-race, from start to finish. And more
+than all that, it's our oldest stake race, with its records for thirty
+years filled with stories of courage and speed and daring and skill;
+it's part and parcel of the turf history of the country. Yes, by gad,
+sir--I beg your pardon, Miss Ashton, I do, indeed--the Essex
+Handicap's a part of American history itself."
+
+Gordon, himself no mean authority on the history of the track, nodded
+affirmatively. "True, every word of it, Major," he cried. "Why, away
+back in '78--"
+
+The Major fairly caught the words from the younger man's lips. "'78!"
+he exclaimed. "Yes, sir, Kingstreet's year. The greatest sire this
+country has ever known. I saw him win, sir, by three lengths, in
+2:071/2. Think of it, sir, for those days: 2:071/2! Eleven years that
+record stood the test, until Contender's year. Ah! Miss Ashton, he was
+a race-horse. Gentle and kind and true. Home he came that year--'89,
+wasn't it? Yes, '89--home he came, simply romping in, fighting for his
+head, and the time 2:06 flat. Ah, there was a race-horse for you. And
+all the others, too. '96, Gordon, you can remember that; that finish
+between True Blue and the Florentine. Forty races the mare had to her
+credit, and, by gad, sir, that was the greatest of them all. A slow
+first half, and then how they fought it out to the wire. Won by a
+short head, and she came within a quarter second of the record at
+that. She went lame afterwards, poor thing, and never faced the flag
+again. A game, true little mare was the Florentine."
+
+He paused reflectively, and Gordon, seeing the girl's evident
+interest, again touched the tinder to the flame. "Two years ago,
+Major," he began.
+
+It was enough. The old man, in his eagerness, half started from his
+seat. "Yes, yes," he cried, "Custodian! Gordon, that horse, when he
+was right, was the king of the track." Then, turning to Rose,
+"Custodian was his name, Miss Ashton, a four-year-old then, black as
+the ace of spades, and ugly as the devil himself. He had his set days
+for running and his days for sulking, and nobody but himself could
+ever pick the days. If it was one of his off days, he'd be last in a
+field of selling platers; if he made up his mind to run, he was a
+whirlwind, a thunderbolt, whatever you want to call it, something more
+than human, anyway. The day of the Essex he started badly, four
+lengths behind his field, sulked to the quarter, and everybody who'd
+backed him was properly resigned to walking home, when all of a sudden
+he took it into his crazy head that he'd mistaken the day, after all.
+Run! Nobody ever saw such a mile before or since. He nipped Disdain
+and old Yarboro' a furlong from home, never let up at all, and came
+under the wire, as if he were just starting to run away, in 2:033/4! The
+point has never been settled to my knowledge, but it is my solemn
+belief"--he lowered his voice confidentially--"that if that horse had
+ever been driven to it, really hard pressed, you understand, he could
+have made the distance in two minutes flat. Well, I must get down to
+the paddock. Good-by, Miss Ashton; good-by, Gordon; look for my black
+to come under the wire in the lead."
+
+He left them, and Rose, half bewildered, turned to Gordon. "It's a
+world by itself, isn't it, Dick?" she said. "I never thought men
+followed it that way. It's all Greek to me, I'm afraid."
+
+Gordon laughed. "The Major's certainly an enthusiast," he answered,
+"but it isn't so mysterious, after all." He held his race-card that
+she might see, checking with his pencil as he talked. "There, here's
+the description of the race, and the money value, and all that.
+Here are the entries down here. The Cynic's the favorite. He's a
+four-year-old who's had a great record this season; very speedy and
+one of the most consistent horses in training; he's quoted at 3 to 1
+against. Here's Rebellious, one of the best of the three-year-olds, 5
+to 1 against. He's a good one, too, but I believe they think a mile
+and a quarter's a bit too far for him. Old Yarboro' here's campaigning
+for his fifth season, and pretty near as good as ever, too. He's third
+favorite, 8 to 1 against. These two here are a couple of 100 to 1
+shots. Here's our friend Highlander, 30 to 1 against, and here's--" he
+broke off suddenly; then, after a moment, added in a very different
+tone, "Well, of all the remarkable coincidences--"
+
+"What's the matter?" asked the girl quickly, struck by the unusual
+surprise in his manner.
+
+For answer Gordon passed her the race-card, his pencil under the name
+of the last starter in the race.
+
+"Palmer's got a horse entered," he said, still in amazement. "I
+remember now his saying something a while back about starting a
+string."
+
+The girl glanced at the card. Sure enough, the last entry was Henry D.
+Palmer's bay mare, Lady May, carrying one hundred and seventeen
+pounds.
+
+"Well, that is unexpected!" she exclaimed. "Named for his fiancee,
+too, I suppose. Wouldn't it be strange if she should win?"
+
+She seemed scarcely to realize the import of her words. Gordon nodded
+grimly. "Very strange, indeed," he assented dryly. "I rather think on
+the whole it would be better for our friend Palmer if she didn't."
+
+The girl gave a little cry.
+
+"Why, I never thought of that," she exclaimed. "If Lady May should
+win--oh, but she won't Dick, will she? She can't beat Highlander."
+
+Gordon shrugged his shoulders. "The Major doesn't think so," he
+answered; "but I suppose Palmer's trainer thinks no one can beat Lady
+May, and The Cynic's owner is sure he's the only horse in the race,
+and even the rank outsiders have somebody here who honestly believes
+they're going to win, even at 100 to 1. That's what makes racing. A
+fool born every minute, they say, or they couldn't keep it going."
+
+The girl shivered. "Oh, Dick, don't frighten me," she cried. "If only
+the Major is right. Did you get the money all on, finally?"
+
+Gordon nodded. "Three thousand, at 30 to 1," he answered. "I suppose
+McMurtrie's done considerably better. I understand he began to back
+the colt way back in the winter books. If he did, he's probably
+averaged as well as 40 to 1. If the colt's half what he thinks, I
+should say 10 to 1 would be nearer right. We'll know all about it in
+another ten minutes, anyway."
+
+Even as he spoke, an expectant thrill seemed suddenly to run through
+the crowd. All eyes turned in the direction of the paddock. A big,
+red-faced man seated next to Gordon half started to his feet. "There
+they come!" he cried.
+
+And then, walking up from the paddock in the dignified, time-honored
+procession before the race, the nine horses filed slowly by the
+grandstand on their way towards the start. The Cynic, a bright bay,
+third in the line, his jockey gorgeous in the blue and gold of the
+Highcliff stables, walked somewhat soberly along, but the glance from
+his big, kind eyes seemed to say, "I don't show off beforehand like
+some of these youngsters, but when the flag drops, then watch out."
+Even more sedate was old Yarboro', the veteran of a hundred races, to
+all appearance as fit as ever, but looking as if he considered he had
+fairly earned the right to an honorable discharge from active racing
+and a peaceful retirement to the big green pastures of some quiet
+farm. Farther back in the line Lady May, sporting the red and white of
+Palmer's stable, was doing her utmost to pull her jockey's arms off,
+and her dainty hoofs seemed scarcely to touch the track as she pranced
+and curvetted by the grandstand.
+
+Gordon gazed at the mare in admiration. "She looks awfully fit," he
+muttered. "Good enough to take a lot of beating."
+
+The girl, not hearing, laid her hand on his sleeve. "Oh, Dick," she
+cried softly, "look at Highlander. Isn't he the darling!"
+
+The black colt, bringing up the rear of the procession, was undeniably
+a beauty. His glossy coat shone like satin in the soft sunshine, and
+he looked to be in the very top-notch of condition, lean and hard and
+wiry, and yet not overfine, but as if he had plenty of speed and
+strength in reserve. On his back was Bowman, the colored boy, known
+the country over as the "Kentucky Midget," McMurtrie's first string
+jockey, resplendent in the gorgeous crimson jacket that made the
+Major's entry by far the easiest to distinguish of the field.
+
+Back to the barrier, a quarter of a mile away, walked the horses; then
+came that trying, nerve-racking five minutes of jockeying for
+position, cautioning of riders by the judges, fretting of the high
+strung horses, and then, just as it seemed as if the strain were
+growing unendurable, all at once the barrier leaped upward, the red
+flag flashed, and the great crowd gave vent to its pent-up feelings in
+one mighty roar as the nine thoroughbreds leaped forward through the
+faint haze of dust to a well-nigh perfect start.
+
+Then fell silence, far more eloquent than any mere din of voices could
+have been, as thirty thousand pairs of eyes were strained to watch the
+flying racers as they tore down the track. Past the stand they came,
+Firefly, a rank outsider, running wild a length or two in the lead,
+then The Cynic, Rebellious and Lady May, bunched close, then Yarboro',
+a length and a half back, with Highlander at his girth, and the others
+already tailing, for Firefly had carried the field along at a
+tremendous clip, the watches catching twenty-four and three-fourths as
+she flew past the quarter.
+
+Too fast, indeed, for the light-weighted filly, and at the half
+she had fallen back, leaving The Cynic and Rebellious in the lead,
+Lady May dropping back a half length and Yarboro' and Highlander
+moving up almost on even terms with the mare. Forty-nine seconds for
+the half, and still the five ran true and strong, with no change in
+the long, steady, machinelike strides. Past the five furlongs, past
+the three-quarters, and then, as if riding to orders, the jockey on
+Rebellious for the first time raised his arm and brought it down once,
+twice and again. Nor had he to wait for his answer; with a mighty
+bound the game colt shot forward, and in a trice a clear length of
+daylight showed between him and The Cynic.
+
+A cry burst from the crowd. "Rebellious wins! They'll never head him!
+The favorite's beat!" The big, red-faced man snarled like a wild
+beast. "The fools," he muttered savagely. "A half mile more to go.
+They've spoiled his chance now."
+
+Gordon nodded in mute assent, but for the next furlong it looked as
+though the crowd was right. Away and away drew the colt, crazed with
+the joy of feeling the choking pull released from his tender mouth;
+two lengths, three, four, and then--still he strove, still he seemed
+to run as fast and free as ever--but the four lengths remained four,
+and rounding the turn, just before coming into the straight, the colt,
+suddenly tiring, was thrown for a moment from his stride, and when he
+swung into the stretch, The Cynic's head was at his shoulder and it
+was a fresh horse against a beaten one.
+
+And then, as the field squared away for home, old Yarboro' made his
+challenge for the lead. Out from the ruck he came, past Rebellious,
+past The Cynic, the long gray head just for a moment showing clear in
+the lead, and then, with a rush, fresh and strong, The Cynic again
+shot by, and the old hero of a hundred races, game to the core,
+disputing desperately every inch of the way, fell slowly back, beaten
+by a younger but not by a better horse, the old, remorseless,
+inevitable story of youth and age.
+
+Long afterwards some horsemen dubbed the Essex of the year "The race
+of surprises," and surely it merited the title. For now the chestnut
+colt showed clear in the lead, only a furlong from home, and the sight
+had brought the multitude to its feet, wild with delight, already
+shouting itself hoarse in anticipation of the favorite's win. And now
+the mighty roar for just an instant died away, only to burst forth
+again in redoubled volume as a gleam of crimson and black flashed like
+lightning, and McMurtrie's colt, the pride of all Kentucky, shot
+forward like a thunderbolt and challenged the leader in his turn. And
+this time it was not old Yarboro' who was to be shaken off. This time
+it was youth against youth, strength and speed and spirit the same,
+the same brave blood of racing sires surging and pulsing in their
+veins, the same fleet limbs and mighty hearts opposed, and now it was
+the black, and now the chestnut, that seemed to gain.
+
+Gordon sat motionless, his face showing no sign of emotion, but his
+race-card was torn in his hands, and his nails were gripped deep into
+the flesh. The girl, her lips parted, her breath coming in little
+gasps, oblivious of everything else, sat with eyes riveted on the
+flying Highlander, Bowman's crimson jacket gleaming, as the little
+jockey, riding far forward, brought into play the last ounce of skill
+and cunning for which he was famous as, nearing the wire at every
+stride, he lifted his willing mount along. Only a hundred and fifty
+yards to go, but half a lifetime seemed crowded into those few brief
+moments. Now, both jockeys crouched low over their horses' withers, at
+last gone to the whip and riding like demons, the two thoroughbreds
+came tearing down the stretch, locked stride for stride, Highlander
+not only holding his own, but gaining inch by inch, the crimson
+showing clear ahead of the blue and gold, and the win only a hundred
+yards away; and then--suddenly, hugging the outside rail, a flash of
+red and white caught the crowd, and Palmer's mare, nostrils distended,
+eyeballs bloodshot, glaring, with a mad burst of speed, bore down on
+the struggling leaders, caught them twenty yards from the finish, and
+flashed under the wire a scant head to the good, queen of the turf,
+and winner of the fastest Essex ever run.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER V
+
+                          THE TRAP IS BAITED
+
+
+The dilapidated little engine, with its train of two battered cars,
+puffed despondently away around the curve, and disappeared in the
+forest, leaving Rose and Gordon standing alone, the sole occupants of
+the small station platform.
+
+Everything about the place spoke of desolation. With each gust of wind
+the weather-beaten door swung to and fro on its rusty hinges; the two
+cracked windows stood open; beneath their feet the rotting timbers
+sagged creaking; around them, on every side, the tall black pines
+towered upward against the sky, save where the narrow ribbon of the
+little single track stretched away a stone's throw to right and left
+before losing itself among the winding curves of the forest
+wilderness.
+
+The girl, glancing about her with much disfavor, gave a shiver of
+repulsion. "You must be fond of shooting," she said, "if you can stand
+coming here for it. It's worse even than your description."
+
+Gordon smiled. He remembered vividly his own first impressions of the
+place, and his wonderment that such a spot could exist only fifty
+miles from civilization.
+
+"Oh, well," he answered defensively, "it isn't exactly Fulton Street,
+of course. This is the worst of it, though. Wait till you've seen the
+island, and you'll change your mind."
+
+For twenty minutes they followed what was by courtesy known as the
+road, and then, turning abruptly down a narrow wooded path, plunged
+ahead straight into the heart of the huge pines. To the girl, after
+the ceaseless roar and tumult of the city, the silence was almost
+appalling. No sound echoed from their footsteps as they trod the
+carpet of fragrant pine needles and velvet moss. About them all was
+dark, and solemn with the hush of the great forest's majestic repose.
+Far overhead the sun appeared to shine less brightly and the blue of
+the sky seemed infinitely far away. Ahead and to the right a bluejay
+screamed. A squirrel poised a moment on the top of a stump before
+darting away in headlong flight. The girl, subdued and silent, kept
+close to Gordon's side. "I wish I hadn't come," she sighed, half in
+jest, half in earnest. Gordon, less imaginative, thoroughly familiar
+with his surroundings, smiled at her mood. "Just you wait," he kept
+repeating encouragingly; "you'll see."
+
+At last the trees grew less thickly together. Bushes, higher than
+one's head, began to appear, and tangled vines stretched themselves
+underfoot Occasional gleams of sunlight lay quivering across their
+path. Faintly, as if from far away, a swamp-sparrow's song rang sweet
+and clear. Chickadees bustled and scolded in the branches. And then,
+on the instant, Gordon and his companion turned straight to the left,
+and the lake burst on their sight.
+
+The girl uttered a sharp cry of delight, and Gordon, smiling, stood
+and watched her in silence. Far away, seemingly to the utmost limit of
+the eye, the blue waves danced and sparkled before the westerly
+breeze. Far away to the north, the distant shore eluded the vision
+with the unreality of a mirage. To east and west, the low black line
+of the pines stretched on and on till they too melted away against the
+dark blue of the water and the fainter blue of the sky. Half a mile or
+so from the shore, a little island, pine-covered, also, like its
+parent shore, lay sleeping in the afternoon sunshine, and the girl's
+glance, slowly withdrawn from the sweep of the distant horizon, fell
+suddenly upon it.
+
+"Oh, that's it," she cried. "It's beautiful, Dick."
+
+Gordon smiled a brief self-satisfied smile, not altogether pleasant to
+witness. "Yes, isn't it," he answered; "and I think useful as well.
+You really couldn't find a better place for duck shooting--or for
+other things."
+
+Instantly the girl's expression changed, and her face clouded. "Ah,
+don't, Dick," she said. "Let's not spoil our day while we're here.
+There'll be time enough later to talk of that."
+
+Gordon's expression hardened a trifle. "As you please," he rejoined
+coolly; "only don't forget that we're here primarily on business, and
+not for pleasure. If you don't care to discuss things as we go along,
+I shall take it for granted that you'll at least keep your eyes open."
+
+The girl nodded as if relieved. "Of course," she rejoined, "I'll do
+that anyway. But out here, on a day like this, to be deliberately
+planning--well, I can't put it in words exactly, but you know
+perfectly well what I mean. It's too--cold-blooded--that's the word I
+want. I've got to get back to Bradfield's before I'll be any good at
+scheming."
+
+Gordon made no reply, but busied himself with launching the boat. Five
+minutes later, lying back at ease in the stern of the little rowing
+skiff, the girl watched the island grow steadily larger and larger as
+the boat shot forward under Gordon's long, steady strokes. As they
+approached more nearly, she could see that the whole southern side was
+guarded by gray cliffs rising sheer from the water's edge, but as they
+rounded the eastern point they shot into a quiet little cove,
+narrowing as it ran inland, and ending in a short stretch of smooth
+gray sand. Here they beached the boat, and walked slowly up the
+pebbled pathway to the house. Gordon fitted the key to the lock, threw
+open the door, and stepped back to allow his companion to enter. The
+girl moved quickly forward, and then paused on the threshold with a
+soft cry of pleased surprise.
+
+Built square and low, with its back against a huge gray boulder so
+that winter northeasters might thunder overhead in vain, the
+shooting-box was little more than the one huge living-room and
+dining-room combined. To the right were two bedrooms and to the left
+the tiny kitchen and pantry, but it was on the living-room that
+Gordon had lavished all his care. Everything was in keeping: the big
+center-table of dark oak, the enormous fireplace with its store of
+logs, the heavy rugs on the floor, the guns and shells in their racks,
+the shooting and fishing prints upon the walls, all combined to make
+up a room ideal to the sportsman and charming even to the girl's more
+critical eye.
+
+Crossing swiftly to the cushioned window-seat she tossed hat and coat
+aside, and with a deep sigh of contentment threw herself back among
+the cushions. A pretty enough picture she made, and Gordon, gazing at
+her a moment, crossed the room, and seating himself by her side, drew
+her to him and covered her face with kisses. Yielding herself to him,
+the girl suddenly lifted her face to his and clasped her arms around
+his neck. "Let's not go back," she whispered; "let's stay here for
+good and all."
+
+Gordon smiled, humoring her mood. "All right," he answered, "I'm
+agreeable. I suppose my customers might miss me a little, though. And
+you," he added, a trifle maliciously, "I know they'd miss you at
+Bradfield's."
+
+The girl's face flushed, and she drew herself from his embrace. "I
+hate it, Dick," she cried passionately, "I loathe it more and more
+every day. Nobody can be happy leading a life she was never meant to
+lead. You know that yourself. And every word I've told you about
+Bradfield's is God's own truth. What was I when they started me going
+there? Fifteen years old. Nothing but a baby, Dick. I swear I never
+knew what it all meant. And now I've met you. Oh, Dick, if only you'd
+marry me, and let us have a little home somewhere, I'd be so happy.
+I'd make you the best wife in the world. I'd see to it--" She broke
+off quickly, with a laugh mirthless, almost of self-contempt; then
+added, in a very different tone, "but there's no use in saying all
+this. No man that ever lived can know for a minute what real love--or
+what a real home--means to a woman. We might as well forget it, I
+suppose, and go on as we are."
+
+Gordon's face had seemed imperceptibly to harden as she spoke, but his
+tone, as he answered her, was kindness itself, as one might try to
+soothe a too insistent child. "I do know," he said, "and I think
+you're right about it; entirely so. And you know how much I love you,
+Rose. Just let us get this one thing out of the way, and I give you my
+sacred word of honor I'll get out of this sort of thing for good, and
+we'll buy the finest little home in the state, and settle down to
+farming, or anything else you want. Or we'll go around the world in a
+steam yacht, if we hit things right. Just which you'd rather. But we
+can't quit the thing now. It looks too good. After we pull it off, I
+promise you anything in the world in return, and I shall be very proud
+of my wife."
+
+He rose quickly, and then, as if to forestall a reply, added with an
+entire change of manner. "Well, we mustn't get too serious over
+things, Rose. You were the one that didn't want our day spoiled. So we
+might as well get down to the point while daylight lasts."
+
+Reluctantly enough the girl rose, with a vaguely dissatisfied feeling
+of having once more been put off from a definite decision on the
+unwelcome plan. Gordon's mood, on the contrary, was cheerfulness
+itself. Taking down his favorite little sixteen-bore from the rack, he
+snapped it open, ran his eye lovingly through the glistening barrels,
+tested the safety-catch, and caught up a box of shells from the table.
+"Come on," he cried, with boyish enthusiasm, "ducks for supper, unless
+I've forgotten how to shoot."
+
+Leisurely enough, in all the glory of the crisp autumn air just
+tempered by the pleasant warmth of the mellow, waning sunlight, they
+made their way down towards the point. Gordon, in a mood entirely
+different from any the girl had ever seen him display, eager as a boy
+set free from school, kept constantly calling her attention to one
+thing and another as they strolled along. Here he pointed out the
+hollow in the rocks where he had lain all through the great northeast
+gale of two years before, when the frightened wildfowl, storm driven,
+low sweeping to the southward, had passed over his head all day long
+in countless flocks; there he showed her the little cove where he had
+stalked the Canada geese, and, nearing the point, he made her shudder
+as he pointed to the treacherous quicksand beyond the clump of pines
+where, in reckless pursuit of a wounded duck, he had come within an
+ace of losing his life.
+
+Twenty minutes later found them in readiness, safely hidden in the
+gunning box sunk level with the ground on the pebbly point of land
+which stretched far out to the westward of the island. Before them,
+the little flock of wooden decoys, moored in the lee of the point,
+nodded and dipped gaily to the rising breeze. The girl's eyes were
+bright with excitement. "Will the ducks really come, Dick?" she
+whispered.
+
+For answer Gordon pulled out his watch for the twentieth time; then
+nodded reassuringly. "Of course they will," he answered. "In fact,
+it's pretty near--there, look! There they come now!"
+
+The girl peered through the screen of bushes that fringed the box.
+Sure enough, off to the southward, a flock of ducks was flying swiftly
+towards them. A moment more, and they swerved farther to the west. She
+heard Gordon swear softly under his breath, and strangled a hysterical
+desire to laugh. Then all at once the birds caught sight of the
+decoys. Just for an instant they seemed to hang motionless against the
+sky; then, with set wings, came on straight for the blind. The girl
+felt her heart leap with excitement; for, all in the same breath, she
+saw the flock wheel quickly, and Gordon rise to his knees. The little
+sixteen-bore cracked spitefully once--twice--and two of the flock,
+doubled up in mid-air as if struck by lightning, fell stone dead among
+the decoys, the others, towering high into the air, made off far to
+the westward and safety.
+
+Gordon, obeying the wild-fowler's first instinct, swiftly slipped in
+fresh shells, then turned to his companion, his eyes bright with the
+triumph of the hunter, his whole bearing alert, eager, confident.
+
+"Well," he queried briefly, "what do you think?--Look out, there they
+come again!"
+
+A second flock, larger than the first, was bearing down upon them.
+Just in time to escape detection, Gordon sank into the box. Again the
+birds swung, again Gordon rose, and again two ducks fell dead to the
+quick right and left of the little sixteen-gage.
+
+Twenty minutes passed. Fainter and fainter grew the light, until the
+sun sank low behind the pines, and the laughing blue and white waves
+turned sullen and gray. Together they left the blind, and, walking
+along the beach, Gordon began to gather up his spoils. Poor little
+wild ducks, there they lay, rising and falling as the tiny waves
+splashed gently against the shore, as if vainly seeking to rouse them
+once more to flight. No, they would never fly again; quietly enough
+they lay there, their bright, glossy feathers stained with a faint
+crimson, their wild, bright eyes closed in death.
+
+With a swift revulsion of feeling the girl knelt over a mallard duck
+and drake, the little brown mate by some trick of fate, with her dusky
+head lying across the neck of her bright-plumed lord. "Oh, the poor
+darlings!" she cried pitifully. "Oh, Dick, we can't wish them alive
+again."
+
+Gordon stood silent. The faint afterglow still hung in the fading
+west, but elsewhere all was dark. A star or two shone far up in the
+blue. The wind, erstwhile such a jolly companion, seemed graver now,
+as it moaned through the swaying tops of the dark pines. Suddenly the
+world became a solemn place, sad, unfriendly, vast. Gordon's face set
+hard as he looked at the kneeling girl and the two little dead wild
+ducks. "No," he said, with a world of meaning in his tone; "no, we
+can't wish them alive again," and together they turned toward home.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI
+
+                           COUNTRY COUSINS
+
+
+The breakfast room, flooded with October sunshine, was such a pleasant
+place that Palmer, leisurely glancing through the columns of the
+morning paper, deliberately lingered as long as possible over his
+toast and eggs. Finally he laid the paper aside, slowly poured out a
+second cup of coffee, and with an expression of good-humored
+resignation glanced across the table at his secretary.
+
+"Well, Morton," he said pleasantly, "let's have it. What have you got
+to bother me with to-day?"
+
+The secretary smiled deferentially, as it behooves one to smile when
+one is earnestly desirous of keeping an easy, gentlemanly position,
+with little work and good pay.
+
+"There's really very little this morning, Mr. Palmer," he answered.
+"There were the usual number of begging letters, which I answered in
+the usual form; a notice of the annual meeting of the polo club; one
+or two dinner invitations; a letter from Mr. Gordon asking you out to
+his shooting-box, and the check from the racing club for first money
+in the Essex."
+
+Palmer chuckled. The winning of the Essex had been one of the
+never-to-be-forgotten incidents of his life. "Gad, Morton," he cried,
+"we hit it that time, didn't we? I can see the mare coming under the
+wire now. Traveling! I'll bet she was traveling! By rights I ought to
+make the check over to her. She deserves it, if any one ever did.
+Well, there's nothing very exciting in that mail outside of the check,
+is there? Nothing immediate, anyway."
+
+Morton smiled faintly. The last three words embodied Palmer's whole
+philosophy of enjoying life to the best advantage. To live calmly,
+without haste; to know what was coming in time to enjoy it in
+anticipation; to be able to put off unpleasant tasks until the latest
+possible moment--that was Palmer's creed. Some men, nervous and high
+strung, when the final moment of life itself has to be faced, pray for
+a sudden death. To Palmer, that would have appeared highly
+undesirable. Rather, he would infinitely have preferred to have the
+whole matter indefinitely postponed. So the secretary smiled.
+
+"No," he said, "nothing really immediate, except Mr. Gordon's note.
+Shall I read it?"
+
+"If you please," answered Palmer indolently, and the secretary read in
+his even, pleasant voice,
+
+
+"My Dear Harry:
+
+"Do you recall that you were going to put in a day's shooting with me
+this fall? I write to tell you that the ducks are just on their
+flight. I killed over forty in two hours' shooting one day last week,
+over half of them redheads. Can't you meet me at my office at three
+to-morrow, and run out for the night?
+
+                           "Your sincere friend,
+
+                                  "Richard Gordon."
+
+
+Palmer set down his cup of coffee untasted. "By Jove!" he exclaimed,
+"that's really very decent of Gordon. I didn't know the ducks were
+flying like that. Yes, Morton, telephone him I'll go with pleasure.
+And, Morton, get Smith to pack my shooting things, and look over my
+gun, and put in about two hundred shells, number six shot. Yes, by
+gad, I'll go."
+
+Deep down in his heart, although he would not have admitted it, and
+indeed was perhaps hardly aware of it, Palmer had an immense
+admiration for Gordon, doubtless based on the fact that Gordon did
+those things best which Palmer himself would most have liked to do
+well. Palmer's game of bridge was mediocre. Gordon's was masterly.
+Palmer played a passable game of golf, sometimes brilliant, always
+dangerously erratic. Gordon's steadiness had won him a rating among
+the first dozen on the state handicap list. Palmer could always bring
+home a fair bag of ducks, shooting being perhaps his greatest
+enthusiasm, but Gordon's clean right and left kills were little short
+of wonderful in their precision. Of course, as regarded popularity,
+Palmer had by far the greater number of hangers-on, retainers,
+satellites,--friends, he chose to call them--for when a genuine
+multimillionaire turns out to be a lavish spender as well, the
+combination furnishes unusual opportunities to those wise in their
+generation, and yet somehow the men whose friendship Palmer would most
+have liked, while always civil to him, never seemed to treat him in
+just the same way they did Gordon.
+
+Thus the prospect of a day at Gordon's shooting-box, sure of good
+shooting and a pleasant time generally, startled him a little out of
+his usual calm, and three o'clock found him at the door of Gordon's
+modest office. Gordon came forward to meet him, his face troubled, a
+telegram in his hand.
+
+"Confound it, Harry," he cried, as he shook hands, "I'm afraid I've
+done an awfully stupid thing. About a month ago I got a letter from an
+old lady up country, one of my mother's oldest friends,--awfully good
+to me when I was a boy, and all that--saying that she and her daughter
+were going to run down here for a little trip some time this month. Of
+course I wrote back, as in duty bound, and told her that I should be
+out at the shooting-box then, and that she must surely let me
+entertain her there. I never gave the matter a second thought, and
+here I've just got a telegram--delayed, of course,--saying they're due
+in town about half-past two, and will come right over to the office. I
+suppose they'll be here any minute. I'm infernally sorry. I never
+meant to let you in for anything like this."
+
+Palmer made a not over successful attempt to conceal his
+disappointment. "Well, never mind, Gordon," he said reluctantly.
+"Can't be helped, of course. Better luck another time."
+
+Gordon crumpled the telegram in his hand, and threw it into the
+waste-basket. "Confound it all!" he cried; "I wouldn't care so much if
+it wasn't right in the middle of the flight, but this is the very top
+of the season for redheads and widgeon. The wind's been fresh to the
+westward all day, too, and now it's just starting to haul out to the
+north. If it holds there, I'll bet we could kill twenty-five to-night,
+and God knows how many to-morrow morning at daylight. I don't want you
+to do anything you don't want to, Harry, but I wish you'd come along
+just the same. You needn't see anything of them, and, anyway, they're
+not a half bad sort. The little girl gave promise of being quite a
+good looker the last time I saw her, three or four years back. I
+really think you'd better come along just the same, and not mind them
+at all."
+
+Palmer looked uncomfortable. "Oh, thanks, no," he said, somewhat
+hastily. "Country cousins, you know, and all that. Not much in my
+line, I'm afraid."
+
+Gordon laughed. "Well, I don't blame you," he said, "only I feel
+ashamed of myself to have mixed things up so. I can't help the--"
+
+A knock on the door interrupted him, and the office boy appeared. "Two
+ladies to see you, Mr. Gordon," he announced, and close upon his heels
+an elderly lady, clad in sober black, came bustling into the room. Her
+plain, spectacled face fairly beamed with pleasure as she advanced
+toward Gordon, both hands outstretched in greeting.
+
+"Well, Dick, my dear boy," she exclaimed, "I am glad to see you again.
+And how well you're looking."
+
+Gordon took her outstretched hands, and shook them cordially. "The
+same to you, Aunt Dora," he cried; "I declare you've positively grown
+younger. And where's Marian?"
+
+Mrs. Francis turned toward the door. "Why, she's here," she answered,
+"I expect I got ahead of her, I was so anxious to set eyes on you
+again. Here she is now."
+
+Gordon could hardly repress a start of surprise as he glanced up at
+the girl standing hesitatingly in the doorway. A prettier picture, he
+thought quickly, he had never seen. Possibly the simple white muslin
+dress, with its band of crimson at waist and throat, spoke a little of
+the country girl on her holiday visit to the city, and the girl was
+evidently a trifle shy and embarrassed, but these small defects only
+added to the general impression of freshness and charm. Evidently,
+too, her shyness was not the shyness of gaucherie, but of becoming
+modesty, and as she raised her blue eyes at Gordon's greeting there
+was a sparkle in them eloquent of plenty of spirit and humor to be
+disclosed on closer acquaintance.
+
+"Why, Marian," he exclaimed, "I'd never have known you! You oughtn't
+to surprise a man like this. I'll swear you were wearing short dresses
+the last time I saw you."
+
+The girl blushed and laughed. "Don't be silly, Dick," she protested.
+"Three years is a long time, and we're awfully glad to see you again."
+
+Gordon turned quickly to Palmer, who stood staring at the girl with a
+surprise evidently greater than Gordon's own. "Where are my manners?"
+he cried. "Aunt Dora, my friend Mr. Palmer. Marian, Mr. Palmer. Harry,
+my oldest friend, Mrs. Francis, and her daughter, Miss Marian Francis.
+I call Mrs. Francis my aunt principally because she isn't. I was just
+trying to persuade Palmer to go with us on our little trip, Aunt Dora,
+but he's obdurate. I wish you would try your hand."
+
+The older woman turned to Palmer with much cordiality. "Why, I wish he
+would," she cried. "Please do, Mr. Palmer. Dick will be bored to death
+anyway with two women on his hands to entertain. We'll look after the
+housekeeping, and you men can have all the shooting you want. I'll
+guarantee one thing, too. I can cook a duck with any woman in the
+county."
+
+Gordon nodded in vigorous assent. "I'll back that up, Palmer," he
+cried. "Leaving out of consideration all question of the pleasure of
+Aunt Dora's society, her cooking is an inducement no sane man ought to
+think of refusing. I believe you'll go, after all."
+
+Palmer wavered. The "country cousins," one of them especially, were
+far from being the curios he had imagined. And the thought of the
+shooting--he could see in imagination the long lines of ducks fighting
+their way up the lake against the stiff northerly breeze, swinging to
+the decoys, with set wings--and yet he hesitated--
+
+"Come, Marian," cried Gordon gaily, "try your hand. Apparently Aunt
+Dora and I have failed. We've promised him plenty of good shooting and
+plenty of good cooking. What can you offer to make him change his
+mind?"
+
+The girl blushed charmingly, but her eyes, nevertheless, met Palmer's
+squarely. "You see," she murmured demurely, "I don't really know Mr.
+Palmer's tastes."
+
+Gordon roared. "But you'll do anything you can," he cried broadly.
+"Well, that's fair. There's a challenge direct, Harry. Do you dare
+refuse now?"
+
+Palmer's face reddened a trifle. His eyes had scarcely left the girl.
+"Go?" he cried, "of course I'll go. I was only afraid I might be in
+the way, but since the ladies are so kind--"
+
+Gordon clapped him on the back. "Good boy," he cried, "and now we
+mustn't lose any time. Just a half minute till I leave word where I'm
+going."
+
+He pressed a button, and almost immediately the office boy appeared.
+"Oh, John," he began, and then caught sight of a yellow envelope in
+the boy's hand. "What's that you've got there?" he asked sharply.
+
+"Telegram for you, sir," answered the boy promptly. "Just came this
+minute."
+
+Gordon caught the envelope from the boy's hand, and hastily tore it
+open. Then, as he read it, his face clouded with vexation. "Well, if
+this isn't too bad," he cried, "I never knew such luck. Here's a
+telegram from the one man in the world I can't afford to offend. The
+biggest customer I've got. Says he reaches town at five and wants half
+an hour kept absolutely free for business of great importance. I guess
+that means there's no getting out of it for me. It's too bad, though;
+I hate to see our plans spoiled like this."
+
+Mrs. Francis was the first to speak. "Why, Dick, what nonsense!" she
+exclaimed. "We know the way perfectly well. It was only three years
+ago Marian and I were there, and I don't believe things have changed a
+great deal since then. We'll go ahead and get everything ready, and
+you can come out on a later train. That's a great deal better than our
+staying here or going to a hotel, isn't it, Marian?"
+
+The girl, thus appealed to, glanced quickly at Palmer. "I think you
+forget, mother," she said quietly, "that we ought to consult Mr.
+Palmer. He may not care to escort us out there without Dick, and I'm
+very sure I wouldn't care to go through those woods alone."
+
+Palmer rose gallantly to the occasion. "Not care to?" he cried.
+"Indeed, I shall be honored, Miss Francis. We'll show Gordon here how
+well we can get along without him, and I'll have all the shooting to
+myself. Go? Of course we'll go!"
+
+Gordon turned to him gratefully. "You're awfully good to take it this
+way, all of you," he said, "and I'll surely be out a little after
+eight. You'd better be starting, though. You haven't but just time.
+Oh, and Aunt Dora," he called after them, "you don't change at
+Fairview any longer the way we used to. Remember not to change.
+Good-by. Good luck. I'll be there about eight."
+
+As the door closed after them he dropped into a chair with a sigh of
+relief. "Thank God that's over," he muttered, "so far, so good!"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VII
+
+                          THE TRAP IS SPRUNG
+
+
+The tickets secured, the baggage safely stowed away, Mrs. Francis and
+Marian fitted out with papers and periodicals, Palmer began thoroughly
+to enjoy his trip. Mrs. Francis insisted on a seat by herself, and an
+uninterrupted chance to read the October _Bazaar_ and Palmer, in the
+seat behind with Marian, inwardly blessed her literary taste. Not only
+did the girl's obvious beauty attract him, but as their acquaintance
+developed, he found her in every way a charming companion; as he
+himself would more probably have expressed it, "A ripping fine girl."
+
+Thus everything went well until Fairview was reached. Here Mrs.
+Francis roused herself from her magazine, and turned around to Palmer.
+"Didn't Dick say we changed at Fairview?" she demanded.
+
+Palmer shook his head. "No, Mrs. Francis," he answered, "I think not.
+I understood him to say that was just what we didn't do."
+
+Mrs. Francis glanced around her apprehensively. "I was sure he said to
+change," she replied, "I know we always used to change here. This
+train waited five minutes for the connection. I'm going to ask the
+conductor, to make sure."
+
+Palmer started to rise, when the girl laid a detaining hand on his
+arm. "Please don't bother," she whispered. "Mother's always like this
+when she's traveling. It wouldn't do any good for you to go. She'll
+have to find out for herself before she'll be satisfied. And I hate
+being made conspicuous. So please don't trouble yourself, really."
+
+Palmer perforce kept his seat, and they saw Mrs. Francis walk down the
+car aisle, and then out on to the platform. The girl laughed.
+
+"I can't cure her," she declared. "She's the best mother in the world,
+but to travel with her is a nightmare. I've been going through this
+all day yesterday and part of to-day, so I believe I'm getting a
+little hardened to it."
+
+Palmer smiled in sympathy. Then, suddenly, as the engine whistled and
+the cars began to bump and grind, he started to his feet with an
+exclamation of surprise. "By Jove," he cried, "isn't that your mother
+coming out of the station? She'll get left, as sure as fate."
+
+The girl glanced hastily from the car window. Sure enough, Mrs.
+Francis, evidently determined to get her knowledge at first hand, had
+ventured too far from the train, and had succeeded in getting left
+behind. Even as they watched her, she began to run awkwardly, waving
+her umbrella. Her mouth seemed to Palmer to frame the words, "Wait!
+Stop!" and then, as their speed increased, they turned the curve, and
+Fairview and Mrs. Francis were left behind together.
+
+Fully expecting a burst of tears or a scene of some kind, Palmer
+turned apprehensively to his companion. But to his surprise and to his
+infinite relief, the girl, meeting his glance, suddenly burst into a
+fit of uncontrollable laughter, and his own revulsion of feeling was
+so great that involuntarily he joined in her mirth.
+
+"Oh," cried the girl, "I beg your pardon, Mr. Palmer. I oughtn't to
+laugh, but the humorous side of this awful trip was too much for me. A
+friend of my mother's was going to escort us yesterday, and he was
+taken sick at the last moment and couldn't come. Then Dick got that
+telegram, and now my mother's lost the train. It's like the rhyme of
+the ten little nigger boys. I wonder which of us will drop out next.
+Please promise you won't desert me without warning."
+
+Her blue eyes sought Palmer's frankly and innocently enough, and yet
+with just a trace of coquetry. Palmer leaned a little toward her. "I
+promise," he said, "if you won't run away, I won't."
+
+The girl laughed delightedly. "It's a bargain," she cried. "I think
+it's really fun. Thank goodness, I have the key to the house. Mother
+will get the next train with Dick, I suppose, and we can have
+everything ready for them. We'll have a fair division of labor. You
+will have to carry all the luggage and row me over to the island, and
+then you can have your shooting for a reward, and I'll cook the
+supper. Is that fair?"
+
+"That's fair," acquiesced Palmer. "At least, it sounds fair. But how
+do I know how good a cook you are."
+
+"Well, I like that!" exclaimed the girl. "And how do I know whether
+you can row a boat or not? We've got to take each other on trust, as
+near as I can see."
+
+Palmer laughed. He found his little adventure much to his liking, and
+more and more, as the train rattled on, he found himself yielding to
+the spell of the girl's charm.
+
+Down from the little station through the woods to the lake she piloted
+him, and he made good the first part of the bargain as he rowed the
+little boat across, in the teeth of a stiff northerly breeze, in a
+style as good as Gordon's own. Once arrived at the house, she showed
+him the way to the point, and a few moments later, Palmer, gun in
+hand, was striding down the path.
+
+Left alone, a curious change came over the girl. The laughter faded
+from her face, leaving it white and drawn, and she half fell, half
+threw herself into the big easy chair in front of the fire which
+Palmer had set blazing.
+
+"God, what a strain," she muttered to herself. "All right so far,
+though, if I don't break down and spoil everything. But he oughtn't to
+have asked me to do it. It's too much for any one. Now let me think--"
+
+For ten minutes she sat motionless. Then, with a sigh, she rose
+somewhat unsteadily to her feet, and busied herself about the room.
+Comfortably near the fire she placed the round table, and set it
+tastefully for four. Then for a time she was busy in the tiny kitchen.
+Finally, returning to the living-room to find it almost in darkness,
+she struck a match to light the lamp, and, as she did so, a sudden
+gust of wind from the half open door blew it out in her hands. She
+stepped to the window and looked out, and then stopped short, struck
+with the unexpected change that had taken place in the whole aspect of
+things.
+
+The sun scarcely shone, and the big gray-black clouds were piling up
+ominously overhead. Below, a strange murky glow spread far out on
+either hand. The wind drove down the lake in sudden warning gusts.
+Flock after flock of ducks came hurtling down from the northward
+before the gale. She heard the crack of Palmer's gun, and with a start
+she came suddenly to herself. She laughed half defiantly.
+
+"I believe he's right, after all," she murmured. "Everything is
+chance, and for once it's on our side. Half an hour more, and they
+couldn't get across, and we couldn't get back. Nothing could be
+better. We won't need to use any of the second strings now."
+
+With a glance at the progress of the supper, she relit the lamp and
+stepped into one of the little bedrooms. "Altogether too pale," she
+frowned, as she glanced in the mirror. "But that's easily remedied. He
+isn't the observant kind, evidently." From the closet she took down an
+evening gown of black velvet, glancing somewhat dubiously at the low
+neck and short sleeves.
+
+"It's a question, even now," she muttered thoughtfully. "He may think
+it's a queer rig for a country girl, and get wise, but I don't really
+think so. It's worth the risk, anyway. Men are such fools. It seems a
+shame."
+
+Half an hour more and darkness had fallen over the island. Outside the
+northeaster roared in rising wrath. Within the fire blazed cheerily,
+and the soft lamplight cast a pleasant charm over the cozy room.
+Suddenly her heart beat quicker as she heard Palmer's footsteps. An
+instant, and he entered, buffeted and beaten by the gale, staggering
+under a load of ducks.
+
+"Well, what do you think of this?" he cried. "Ducks! No end of 'em.
+Gordon missed the time of his life. But what do you think about it?
+They can't get across to us, can they?"
+
+The girl shook her head. "No, not possibly," she answered, "and what's
+worse, we can't get across to them."
+
+Just for a moment Palmer looked grave. Then he laughed boisterously.
+"Well, this is a go!" he cried; "I never thought I'd come to play
+Robinson Crusoe. I suppose we must just make the best of it. How about
+that supper? By Jove, you look as if you'd been working."
+
+The girl laughed, glancing down at the blue checked apron that
+enveloped her from head to foot. "Supper," she echoed, "the
+sportsman's first thought. Well, it's all right excepting the ducks; I
+have them prepared, and I'll give you exactly eleven minutes to get
+ready in. That was Dick's last word on cooking them. Eleven minutes,
+provided the oven was right, and I believe it's perfect."
+
+She deftly cleared the table of the two useless places, slipped the
+much talked of ducks into the oven, and brought two bottles of
+champagne from the ice box. At the end of the allotted time Palmer
+appeared, and the girl placed the smoking meal on the table. Then she
+glanced at him, smiling.
+
+"I know you don't want to eat with the cook, do you?" she asked, and
+before he could protest she deftly threw off the concealing apron, and
+stood before him in all the glory of womanhood, a 'delicate flush in
+her cheeks, her eyes bright, the low cut, somber gown setting off to
+perfection the rounded whiteness of her neck and arms. Palmer, in
+admiration, gazed at her until with a laugh she broke the spell.
+
+"I wanted to surprise Dick," she said simply. "He's always making fun
+of me for living in the country, and I thought I'd show him I knew
+something about dressmaking, anyway. Do you like it?"
+
+"Like it?" the young man exclaimed fervently. "Like it? Why, by Jove,
+I should say I did. You're simply ripping, you know. You're--"
+
+Words failed him, and by way of relieving his feelings he began a
+savage onslaught on the ducks.
+
+As the supper progressed, better and better grew his humor. Everything
+was delicious, and his third glass of champagne found him gazing at
+the dainty figure opposite through a mellow haze of sentimental
+content, until, finally, when she rose and held the match for his
+cigar, he somehow found the little hand which hung so invitingly at
+her side, and held it close until she gently withdrew it.
+
+"You mustn't," she whispered, with heightened color. "Won't you please
+fix the fire? It's half out."
+
+He rose reluctantly to obey, and in that instant she poured the
+contents of a tiny phial into his glass. Then, as he turned again
+towards her, his face flushed, his eyes gleaming, his throat working
+convulsively, she raised her own glass in laughing challenge. "One
+more," she cried daringly: "To our better acquaintance!"
+
+Palmer touched his glass to hers and drained it at a gulp. "To our
+better acquaintance," he echoed thickly, and, putting down the glass,
+he came unsteadily toward her, and, before she could move, had seized
+her in his arms.
+
+The girl struggled faintly. "Oh, don't," she cried piteously, as she
+strove to free herself from his grasp; "please don't, Mr. Palmer! Let
+me go!" But her strength was as nothing compared to his, and with all
+her seeming shrinking, one would have said that her lithe form clung
+even more closely to his.
+
+Suddenly Palmer released her, raising both hands quickly to his head
+as he staggered back. "God," he cried, in a strange, choked voice,
+"it's all dark! I can't see!"
+
+Then, with a last conscious effort, he reeled towards the window and
+fell heavily face downwards on the cushioned seat.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VIII
+
+                      GORDON PREVENTS A SCANDAL.
+
+
+"Exactly," said Gordon. "Yes, I understand. I trust I shall be equally
+so. In about fifteen minutes, you think. All right. Good-by."
+
+With a smile he hung up the receiver, and turned again to his work.
+Ten minutes more, and Harrington, his confidential clerk, entered, a
+puzzled expression on his face. He bent over the desk and spoke a few
+words to Gordon in a low tone. Gordon nodded.
+
+"Certainly," he said, "show him in. And, Harrington," he added, "I'm
+not to be disturbed until I ring; not by any one, you understand. If
+Rogers should telephone, I'm out of town but expected back any minute,
+and I'll ring him up as soon as I get in. Remember, I'm not to be
+disturbed for any reason whatsoever, unless I should ring. All right,
+now. Ask him to step in."
+
+The clerk nodded and withdrew, and Gordon, rising, stood waiting
+by the window, outwardly calm, inwardly exerting every atom of
+self-control to keep down his rising excitement, as the crucial moment
+in the game drew near. Even as he listened, a hurried step sounded in
+the corridor without, and Palmer burst into the room, flinging the
+door to behind him as if to shut out some threatened pursuit. His
+unshaven face was pale and haggard, his eyes bloodshot and wild, his
+clothing awry, his whole demeanor as unlike that of his every-day,
+placid self as could by any possibility be imagined. His eyes sought
+Gordon's face, half in relief, half in fear.
+
+"I've come straight here," he cried hoarsely. "I thought I might have
+missed you if you'd gone to the island. Gordon, there's the very devil
+to pay. Have you heard what's happened?"
+
+Gordon, his face set and hard, nodded silently. He motioned to a
+chair, and seated himself at his desk, his voice, when he spoke,
+sounding low and constrained.
+
+"Yes, I've heard," he said; "I was just starting for the island when
+Mrs. Francis got me on the 'phone. Poor woman, she's half out of her
+mind." He paused, and then his seeming emotion mastered him, sweeping
+away in an instant his effort at self-control.
+
+"For God's sake, Palmer," he cried aloud, his eyes fixed on the
+other's face, "how did you come to do it? I can't believe it yet. You!
+A man of your position! My guest! Great heavens, Palmer, it can't be
+true! Tell me the whole thing's a lie."
+
+The younger man sat silent with head bowed and eyes fixed on the
+ground; his hands clenched, his body drawn back as if to avert a blow.
+Once, twice, he tried to speak, swallowing with difficulty and
+moistening his dry lips with his tongue. Then unwillingly he raised
+his eyes to Gordon's face.
+
+"It's true enough," he muttered thickly; "I've been a fool, that's
+all, and now I suppose there'll be the deuce to pay. Wine and women,
+damn them both! they've got me into trouble enough before this, but
+this time I guess they've just about done for me."
+
+Gordon's lip curled contemptuously. "Oh, so you're the one to be
+pitied," he said at length with slow irony. "Really, Harry, I'll admit
+that that's the last view of the matter I expected you to take. Why,
+don't you realize, man, what you've done? Things may be bad enough for
+you, of course; probably they will be; but can't you think for a
+minute of that poor girl. What's your trouble compared to hers?"
+
+A tinge of red showed in Palmer's pale face. "Of course I'm sorry for
+her," he said sulkily. "It was hell coming back from the island. I'm
+terribly ashamed of myself, and all that, and I'll do anything I can
+to square things with her. But I can't help thinking about what's
+going to happen to me, just the same. We've all got to look out for
+ourselves first. That's human nature."
+
+Gordon gazed at him from half-shut eyes. "Yes," he admitted, "that's
+human nature, I suppose, beyond a doubt." He paused a moment, and then
+continued: "Very well, then, if it suits you better, we'll eliminate
+the girl altogether, and look at things just from your end of it. I
+suppose the first point is whether the thing becomes known or not. If
+it does, I imagine there's no question that it will hurt you
+tremendously. In society in general, it surely will. In your clubs I
+don't know that it would make so much difference."
+
+Palmer threw back his head with a gesture of uncontrollable agitation.
+"Damn all that part of it," he cried angrily; "that isn't what I mind.
+It's what May's going to do if she hears about it. I can't have her
+know, Gordon; she's the best girl that ever lived, and she's devilish
+particular about such things. She'd break our engagement in a minute,
+just as sure as fate, if she knew."
+
+Gordon nodded. "I imagine she would," he said drily. "When you come to
+think of it, Harry, it is rather a difficult thing for you to explain
+to her satisfactorily. A man just engaged to one of the most eligible
+girls in town; supposedly swearing all the usual vows of eternal
+constancy, and all that; and then, a week or so later, taking
+deliberate advantage of an unexpected opportunity, and ruining a young
+girl placed in his care by a friend who had every belief that the man
+was in all reality the gentleman he seemed. If it comes to that,
+Harry, and we're to consider anybody's position in the matter except
+poor Marian's, just think of mine for a moment, and what I'm to say to
+Mrs. Francis. The dear woman blames me, and in a sense she's perfectly
+right. I vouched for you, Harry, as my friend and guest, and this is
+what you thought was due me in return. It's a terrible thing you've
+done; terrible for Marian, terrible for yourself, terrible for all of
+us."
+
+Palmer sat with head bowed, shoulders drooping, eyes fixed on the
+ground, the embodiment of despair. "I admit it," he cried; "I couldn't
+have done a worse job for everybody concerned if I'd tried. But that's
+all done with. Now, I want to know what's going to happen next."
+
+Gordon, his hands clasped about his knee, his forehead wrinkled
+doubtfully, gave himself up to reflection.
+
+"Well," he said at length, "of course it's already occurred to you
+that some moralists would insist that you marry the girl."
+
+Palmer started nervously. "I know it," he cried; "but it's impossible,
+Gordon. I couldn't do it. The girl herself wouldn't want that. No girl
+would."
+
+Gordon shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, I don't know about that," he
+answered. "I imagine some girls, the ambitious, designing kind, would
+jump at the chance. Still, fortunately for you, Marian, of course, is
+a girl of a very different type. No, as a matter of fact, I don't
+think, in all candor, she ever wants to set eyes on you again. I
+suppose you can rest easy on that score."
+
+Palmer glanced up with the first signs of hopefulness on his haggard
+face. "Then why can't the thing be hushed up?" he asked eagerly. "Why
+isn't that the best way out of it for every one?"
+
+In spite of the gravity of the occasion, the faintest suggestion of a
+smile played around Gordon's mouth. "That's human nature," he quoted
+ironically. "It's best for you, and so it must be best for everybody
+else. The reasoning's no good, of course, but I'm not sure, though,
+but what in this case it does happen to work out so. I've been trying
+to think it over fairly, and consider your position as well as
+Marian's and her mother's. I suppose, from Marian's point of view,
+there's nothing to be gained by publicity. The girl's life is
+practically ruined, Harry; she's completely crushed by what has
+happened, and I don't think she's got spirit or ambition enough left
+to wish to make trouble for any one."
+
+Palmer nodded eagerly. "I'm mighty glad she takes it so sensibly," he
+cried. "I don't see, then, why everything can't be hushed up. I'm
+certainly willing to do anything at all to make things right."
+
+Gordon shook his head doubtfully. "It isn't as simple a matter as you
+think, Harry," he said. "I dare say everything could be smoothed over
+if you had only Marian to reckon with, but you forget her mother. You
+might not guess it, to see them around together, for Mrs. Francis
+isn't what you'd call a demonstrative woman, but Marian is the very
+apple of her eye. She fairly worships the ground the girl treads on,
+and she's nearly out of her mind with grief. I don't want to worry you
+unnecessarily, Harry; things are bad enough already; but I suppose
+it's only right to tell you that she was going to see Miss Sinclair
+this morning, and I had a pretty bad half hour before I managed to
+dissuade her. Even at that, I imagine it's only a temporary respite.
+Sooner or later she's bound to go to Miss Sinclair with the whole
+story, and, to be frank, I don't suppose we can blame her for a
+minute."
+
+Palmer groaned. "Oh, God!" he cried, throwing back his head as if in
+physical torture; "what a fool, what an utter fool I've been! Here's
+my whole life, my whole happiness ruined, and all for the sake of an
+evening's cursed pleasure. Gordon, get me out of this damnable mess
+somehow, and I'll do anything in God's world for you; anything you
+ask; anything you want."
+
+Gordon shook his head again. "I wouldn't talk that way, Harry," he
+said more kindly. "You're losing your grip on yourself. There's
+nothing you could do for me, and if there was, I'd never take
+advantage of a time like this to try to get you to do it. I hope I'm
+not that kind of a friend. No, it's a bad outlook, Harry. There's no
+getting away from that."
+
+He paused a moment, then added doubtfully:
+
+"There's just one possibility I can think of, but it's one I hardly
+like even to suggest."
+
+Palmer glanced up quickly. "What is it, Gordon?" he cried. "For
+Heaven's sake, don't torture me! If there's any possible way out, tell
+me what it is."
+
+Gordon hesitated. "Well," he said reluctantly, "I don't like to
+speak of money even indirectly in connection with an affair of this
+kind, because it has a sort of savor of blackmail about it. But I
+think--mind you, I don't know--I think I know why Mrs. Francis is so
+terribly wrought up over the whole affair. It's like this with her.
+Her husband, when he died, left her in charge of a big farm that she's
+been trying to run herself, I imagine without much success. I guess
+the place is mortgaged up to the handle; she hasn't been able to sell,
+and it leaves her practically tied down to her work there. You know
+what a country neighborhood is; a pretty narrow circle of interests,
+and consequently a perfect hotbed of gossip. Now, I think the real
+dread she's got is that somehow this story may leak out, and that she
+and Marian will be disgraced and looked down upon for the rest of
+their lives. That's what I gathered, anyway, from the talk I had with
+her this morning, and I'd hazard a guess that if a purchaser for the
+farm could somehow be found, and she could be left free to leave home
+for good and start life over again for Marian, away out west
+somewhere, she might be made to listen to reason. I may be all wrong,
+though, and, as I say, it's with the greatest hesitation that I speak
+of it at all, because it involves money, and I suppose quite a
+considerable sum--seventy-five to a hundred thousand dollars, I should
+say off-hand--so perhaps, after all, we'd do better to let her go
+ahead and see Miss Sinclair. I dare say Miss Sinclair would take this
+better than you imagine, anyway. She doubtless understands a man's
+nature."
+
+Palmer laughed mirthlessly. "Understand!" he cried; "Heavens! You
+don't know her, Gordon. Her mind's as pure as snow. Why, if she knew
+this, she'd end everything in a minute. No, we've got to keep Mrs.
+Francis away. That's all there is to it. I'll buy her farm, or a dozen
+farms, if she's got them, if she'll agree to keep quiet. But if she
+says she will, can I trust her, Gordon?"
+
+Gordon nodded assent. "Absolutely," he answered. "If she agrees to
+anything at all, she'll stick to what she says. You needn't worry
+about that. She's the soul of honor."
+
+Palmer rose abruptly. "I must get back home," he said, more in his
+usual manner. "I look like the very devil. Ring her up, Gordon, and
+have her come down here and get the thing settled up, that's a good
+fellow. I'm half wrong in my head myself over the thing. Get it
+settled right, Gordon, and I'll never forget it." He hesitated a
+moment, and then continued awkwardly. "And I'm devilish sorry, Gordon;
+I really am. And I wish you'd tell the girl so when you see her. I
+hope you won't lay this up against me. I never meant to do it, and I
+never would have done it if I hadn't lost my head altogether. I'm
+sorry. That's all I can say."
+
+Gordon held out his hand. "Harry," he said, "you've done an awful
+thing, but God forbid that one man should sit in judgment on another.
+A higher power than ourselves must do that. As far as I'm concerned, I
+forgive you the wrong you've done, and I'll do all in my power to help
+you."
+
+Palmer eagerly took the proffered hand. "Gordon, you're a brick!" he
+said gratefully. "I wish to God I were half as good a chap as you
+are." And, turning on his heel, he left the office.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IX
+
+                         PALMER HAS A VISITOR
+
+
+Eight--nine--ten--eleven-- The little clock on the mantel chimed the
+hour musically and significantly, and Palmer jumped quickly to his
+feet, pulling out his watch as he did so for confirmation. Then, with
+a laugh and a shake of his head, he thrust it back into his pocket
+again.
+
+"No use, May," he said; "I've lost track of an hour somewhere, and it
+doesn't seem to be the clock's fault. I suppose I'll have to blame you
+instead."
+
+May Sinclair smiled. "I find, Harry," she said slowly, "that being
+engaged makes awfully irresponsible creatures of us. You wouldn't
+think that it would change people who ought to have arrived at years
+of discretion so that they act and talk and feel in a way their common
+sense tells them is ridiculous, and yet a way so pleasant that they
+wouldn't have it different if they could. I find my most settled
+tastes, habits, plans, everything, all completely changed. And I
+guess, Harry, you find it a good deal the same way, too."
+
+She had risen as she spoke, and stood beside him, slender, delicate,
+womanly, altogether charming. With no assumption of coquetry, she laid
+a detaining hand on his arm, and raised her brown eyes wistfully to
+his.
+
+"I don't want you to go yet," she whispered. "You can stay till
+half-past eleven, Harry. Honestly, I'm not a bit tired to-night."
+
+Palmer stooped and kissed her. "Mustn't try to tempt me, May," he
+answered, "after you've got doctor's orders to take things easy and
+have plenty of rest. If you'd only give up your beloved settlement
+work, then it would be a different thing altogether. You wait till
+we're married, and I'll make you give it up, whether or no. You'll
+find I'm enough to reform, without your having to bother your head
+with those bums from the slums. Gad, May, how's that? One of these
+regular eppy--what-you-may-call-'ems--Bums from the slums; really,
+now, I call that rather clever."
+
+The girl shook with laughter. "Oh, Harry, Harry," she cried, "your
+sense of humor will certainly kill me some day. It's so very--well,
+obvious--to say the least. But--" and she drew closer to him--"I love
+you, dear, in spite of it."
+
+Palmer slipped his arm around the girl's slender waist, and kissed her
+again and again. "You don't know, May," he whispered, "what it means
+to me to hear you say that. It makes me feel awfully proud, and yet at
+the same time, you know, it makes me feel awfully ashamed of myself,
+too. I never ought to have dared to ask you to marry me in the first
+place, May. That's the whole trouble. You're a million times too good
+for me. Sometimes, you know, I get to thinking lately I'm a deuced
+poor sort of a chap, after all."
+
+The girl laid a protesting finger on his lips. "Stop!" she commanded;
+"I can find fault with you all I please, but I'm the only one. You're
+not to say a word against yourself, because I won't let you. I
+wouldn't want you to be any different, my dear, in any possible
+way--if only you wouldn't make fun of the settlement. That really
+makes me discouraged, Harry."
+
+Palmer raised his right hand. "I solemnly swear," he cried, with mock
+seriousness, "that if it bothers you, May, I'll never make fun of it
+again. Only--and I'm really in earnest about this--I always have
+believed that there's trouble enough coming every one's way before
+they've finished the game to keep them busy, and yet here you
+deliberately go out hunting for it. That's what I can't get through my
+head."
+
+The girl in her turn grew suddenly grave. "Oh, but Harry," she
+protested, "we don't have any real troubles, you and I. If you could
+know some of the things we come across there at the settlement. Just
+think, last night I heard about the little O'Brien girl, the
+brightest, prettiest little thing in the whole club; she isn't a day
+over seventeen, and some brute of a man got her to go off with him in
+an automobile, and there was wine, of course, and now--now the poor
+thing's in trouble. Just think of it, Harry. You can't imagine the
+temptation and all that part of it for girls that haven't good homes.
+And most men are such beasts. Oh, I've thanked God, Harry, more times
+than you've ever guessed, that I'm to marry a man that's big and
+strong and clean and honest. I'm so proud of you, Harry, you don't
+know how proud."
+
+Fortunately for both, the dim light masked the expression on Palmer's
+face, and the girl did not mark the sudden spasm of pain that
+contracted it. Somewhat hastily, it seemed to her, he stooped and
+kissed her again.
+
+"I'm a brute myself," he said with a faint attempt at humor, "keeping
+you up till almost midnight. To-morrow night, dear. No, don't come
+down. Good-night, May, good-night."
+
+Once outside the Sinclairs' home, Palmer strode away down the
+street, for the first time in his life, perhaps, in an agony of
+self-abasement. Up to now, his fears and worries had been purely
+selfish ones. He had done something of which he was ashamed, and in
+which he did not wish to be found out, and in spite of the payment of
+hush money and solemn protestations of secrecy in return, he had felt
+that he was treading on the edge of a slumbering volcano. Now,
+however, May Sinclair's parting words had for once awakened his
+dormant moral sense, and he flushed hotly at the thought that the
+kisses he had given the pure girl who believed him all that was true
+had been but a short twenty-four hours before lavished in a mad burst
+of passion upon another.
+
+With all his faults, Palmer was kind. Horses and dogs were his
+friends. Small children, oftentimes to his great embarrassment, made
+much over him. Kind--and weak, he was never cast to play the villain
+in life's drama; betrayals of friendship, premeditated deception, even
+injury to the feelings of another, none of these things was natural to
+him, and his love for May Sinclair, all unknown to him, was working
+and striving to rouse the finer sense sleeping within him far beneath
+the crust of ignorance and selfishness and sloth.
+
+Thus, in repentant, self-contemptuous mood, he reached the entrance of
+his big house on the avenue, and in moody silence unlocked the door
+and entered the quiet hall. At once, to his surprise, a silent figure
+came forward to meet him, and, peering through the half-light, he
+recognized the figure of his secretary.
+
+"Hullo, Morton," he exclaimed in surprise, "what's the trouble now?"
+
+The secretary advanced with an air of caution. "There's a young woman
+waiting in the reception-room to see you, sir," he said in a low tone.
+"She's been here since ten o'clock, and she seems to be an uncommonly
+determined sort of person. In fact, she was too much for me,
+altogether. I couldn't get rid of her. She insists she's got to see
+you."
+
+Palmer frowned, possibly with well-merited apprehension, for a girl to
+see him might mean any one of half-a-dozen disagreeable alternatives.
+With a sigh he drew back the portiere and entered, closing the door
+after him as he did so.
+
+The girl who rose to meet him was fashionably, even expensively gowned
+in a closely fitting black walking dress, cunningly designed to
+display to the best advantage the obvious attractions of her figure.
+Her face was so heavily veiled that her features were hardly to be
+distinguished, but to Palmer's relief, she was evidently an utter
+stranger to him. The lateness of the hour and the fact that she was
+alone did not seem to disturb her self-possession in the least; in
+fact, she even seemed faintly amused at Palmer's scrutiny.
+
+"No," she said, as if in answer to his unspoken question, "you don't
+know me, Mr. Palmer. I don't think you've ever laid eyes on me
+before."
+
+Palmer bowed courteously. "Then you will pardon me for saying that
+this is a rather unusual time for a visit," he rejoined. "Perhaps I
+may venture to ask your name and business."
+
+The girl, without waiting for Palmer's invitation to do so, had
+resumed her seat. "You certainly may," she answered. "You're really
+very good not to throw me out through the window. I suppose I deserve
+it. My name is Annie Holton; my profession perhaps you can guess
+without my shocking you; my special business with you is that I've
+tumbled to something that ought to interest you a lot."
+
+Palmer looked at her with the closest scrutiny. "Perhaps," he
+suggested, "if this is very important, you could call at ten o'clock
+to-morrow morning. I shall be at leisure then."
+
+The girl laughed. "You probably think I'm crazy, or else that I'm an
+anarchist or something like that," she rejoined good-humoredly. "I'm
+sure I don't blame you a bit. But I'm neither one nor the other, and I
+can assure you I wouldn't be here at this hour if it wasn't worth
+it--for both of us, I hope. In the first place, I know about the
+little difficulty you're in."
+
+Palmer shook his head. "I'm afraid there's some mistake," he said
+blandly. "You'll excuse me for reminding you--"
+
+The girl cut him short with an impatient gesture. "Don't bluff!" she
+cried. "You ought to be able to see I'm no fool. I'm giving this to
+you straight, and you might as well go straight with me, too. I know
+half the story, to start with, and there's another quarter that's not
+very hard to guess, and you can fill in what's left, if you feel like
+it. Does that sound right?"
+
+Palmer frowned. To him it sounded as if the pledge of secrecy had been
+violated almost as soon as made. "All right," he rejoined resignedly,
+"fire away!"
+
+The girl hesitated a moment, then began, speaking slowly and with
+care.
+
+"Well, here's the story," she said. "There's a man that you know named
+Gordon, who seems to be a pretty smooth proposition. He's been doing
+the Jekyll and Hyde act for two or three years now, and nobody's ever
+got on to him so far. Now, for some reason that I don't know, he's got
+it in for you, and puts up a game on you. It's all done very smooth,
+indeed. Two women--same profession as myself--are worked into it, one
+to play Miss Innocence, 'Her golden hair was hanging down her back,'
+part, you know, and the other to be the loving mother. Then there's--"
+
+Palmer raised a protesting hand. "You can stop right there," he cried.
+"This is nothing but foolishness, and waste of time. I don't know
+who's been telling you all this rot, or what his object was, but one
+thing I do know, and that is that you've been most completely taken
+in. The only thing you've happened to get right is that I know a man
+named Gordon, and it also happens that he's one of the best friends
+I've got in the world. So any stories you're bringing me about him are
+just waste of breath."
+
+The girl gave an impatient little sigh. "My dear Mr. Palmer," she
+said, "there's no use in our going on at cross purposes like this. I
+tell you once more I'm not easy to fool. I've seen my bit of the
+world, and I wouldn't be here wasting my time and yours if I didn't
+know what I was about. I don't ask much. Just give me five minutes to
+tell my story without interruption, and then, if you don't believe it,
+I'll go like a lamb, and leave you to be buncoed in peace, if you
+really enjoy that sort of thing. Isn't that fair?"
+
+Palmer leaned back in his chair with an air of resignation, pulling
+out his watch as he did so. "Pardon my rudeness," he said ironically.
+"I'm unfortunate enough to be feeling a little tired. You may have
+your five minutes, free from interruption, and then I fear we shall
+have to say good night."
+
+The girl nodded. "Thanks," she said briefly, "that's all I wanted. And
+I guess I won't waste any time, either. Now, as I was telling you,
+this Gordon is a pretty smooth kind of a guy. He goes into this thing
+right, from the breakaway. Stage setting, lights turned down, soft
+music, the whole show. Now, the play is to get you compromised with
+this girl, and then bleed you for all they think you'll stand for, so
+they get you off on an island somewhere alone with this girl--I don't
+know if it's really an island, or whether that's just a name they've
+got for it. Gordon's out there now, I believe; but, anyway, they get
+you there alone with the girl. Well, I suppose there's no need to go
+into details. I take it, though, that there's some play with knockout
+drops, or something of the sort. That's only a guess, though; you know
+what happened better than I do. Anyway, the point is that between them
+they got you dead to rights, and now they've started to bleed you.
+What they want, or how much they've got you for, I don't know, but it
+must be good and plenty, because the woman who played the smallest
+part of all flashes a roll as big as your arm, and, if a super gets
+that, what do the star and the leading lady get? I don't know, but I
+guess you do, all right.
+
+"Now, they're two things more. One, how do I know all this? Because
+the woman who did the loving mother is a friend of mine, and she gets
+full up at my house last night, and tells me the whole yarn, or mostly
+the whole of it; enough so I can see you're being done for fair. Two,
+why do I come to you about it, instead of holding them up for money?
+Because I hate Gordon and his crowd, and I want to see you get back at
+them, and because if you can make them give back what they've stuck
+you for, it's worth your while to pay me well for putting you on.
+That's business, isn't it? There, I guess that covers it, and I guess
+I'm within my five minutes. So what do you say now? Is it 'Good
+night,' or is it 'Won't you stay a little longer'? Is it go or stay?"
+
+Palmer's air of bored indifference had long since vanished. Now he sat
+silent, motionless, while the ticking of the clock was the only sound
+to be heard in the room. A minute passed, two, three. Then, with a
+quick intake of his breath, he leaned forward in his chair.
+
+"It's stay," he said.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER X
+
+                              THE CRISIS
+
+
+The sun still hung an hour high above the horizon. No faintest breath
+of wind was stirring, and the tall pines along the island's shore
+stood mirrored in the broad lake's placid calm. The wildfowl, true to
+their custom, were bedded in huge flocks far out towards the center of
+the lake, and what few ducks there were stirring, kept for the most
+part warily out of range of the point.
+
+Gordon sat in the blind alone, and for so keen a sportsman the poor
+shooting seemed to trouble him but little. On the contrary, his
+thoughts, which were of the pleasantest, had strayed far away from
+ducks and duck-shooting. He had played a difficult and a dangerous
+game, and had played it boldly and well. Rose and Mrs. Holton had
+acted their parts to perfection, and Palmer had behaved exactly as
+they had hoped he would. Gordon permitted himself a quiet smile of
+self-satisfaction. That was true enjoyment, after all. The ability to
+handle one's fellow-men; to humor them, to learn their weaknesses, and
+then to turn these weaknesses to one's own account; in that there was
+true satisfaction, in that there was the feeling of getting something
+really worth while from the game of life. So much for the past, and
+now for the future a hundred questions lay waiting to be solved. The
+problem as to whether a partner would be desirable, the best and
+quickest way of finding the right mine, the advertising campaign, the
+gaining of the public confidence, surely there were many things to be
+thought of yet, before the victory should be won.
+
+At last, as the sun sank lower still, the folly of waiting any longer
+for the wildfowl to fly became apparent, and Gordon, rousing himself,
+was already beginning to gather up the decoys, when he caught sight of
+one of the little rowing skiffs putting out from the mainland. An
+instant feeling of uneasiness crept over him. "That's queer," he
+muttered to himself. "Vanulm isn't due till to-morrow, and he wouldn't
+be rowing at that rate, anyway. I wonder who it can be."
+
+The boat was certainly approaching at high speed, the long furrowed
+wake stretching away behind, and a little curl of white foam showing
+under her bow. As she passed out of sight around the easterly point of
+the island, Gordon gave a sudden start of surprise. "By God," he
+muttered, "it looks like Palmer. I wonder what's gone wrong now."
+
+He had not long to wait for his answer. Five minutes passed, and then
+down the path, walking rapidly, came striding a man now easily
+recognizable as Palmer. Straight on he came, and Gordon, as he watched
+him, felt his heart suddenly begin to beat loud and fast.
+
+Palmer's face was flushed to a dull, angry red, his eyes were glaring,
+his upper lip was drawn upwards from his teeth, and his whole face was
+working convulsively. He was still some distance away when he began to
+speak, his voice pitched high in an ecstasy of rage.
+
+"Damn you, Gordon!" he shouted, shaking his clenched fist. "You dirty
+blackguard! You blackmailer! You canting hypocrite! I've got you to
+rights now, you skulking hound!"
+
+He laughed a strained, unnatural laugh as he paused a few feet away,
+fairly trembling with excitement. Then he went on: "You smooth, dirty
+villain. You pretty nearly did for me, didn't you? But, by heavens,
+I've got you where I want you now. I've blocked your pretty little
+game. It's state's prison for you, you and your precious gang."
+
+Gordon stood staring at him, while an expression of utter amazement
+came over his face. "Harry," he cried, "what do you mean? What are you
+talking about? Are you going crazy, or am I?"
+
+Palmer laughed sneeringly. "Good," he cried; "she told me you'd try to
+bluff it out somehow." Then, with sudden change of tone, he added
+fiercely, "Drop it, Gordon. It's no use. Don't be a fool. I tell you
+the thing's up. Did you ever hear of a girl named Annie Holton?"
+
+An instant change came over Gordon's face, followed quickly by a look
+almost of relief. "Know Annie Holton," he cried. "I should say I had
+reason to. The most unprincipled woman on earth, and one who hates me
+as much as one human being can hate another. What lies has she been
+telling you, Harry?"
+
+He spoke frankly and fearlessly, and for the first time an expression
+of doubt came over Palmer's face, but he did not hesitate.
+
+"No lies," he exclaimed, "but a lot more truth than you'll care to
+have known, I'll warrant. I know now that those charming relations of
+yours were women of the street, got up for the occasion. I ruined a
+young girl, did I?" He roared and shook with unwholesome laughter. "I
+was made a fool of by one of your mistresses. I was--"
+
+Gordon took a quick step forward, his eyes blazing with wrath.
+
+"Stop it!" he cried sharply, and his voice rang with the tone of
+absolute command. "Another word, and I'll kill you in your tracks. I
+won't stand it, Palmer. I won't take such talk from you or from any
+man living. You're either drunk or crazy, man. You're out of your
+mind."
+
+Palmer hesitated, cowed in spite of himself. "I don't believe you," he
+said sulkily. "And you've got to come back with me now and face the
+music. If I've slandered you or any one else, I'll make it right, and
+if I haven't--" his voice rose again, "I'll make you pay the piper for
+the fun you've had."
+
+He stopped abruptly, and for a moment both men stood silent. Gordon
+was thinking hard and fast. The game was up; that much was obvious.
+Rose had been right. One little slip, she had said from the first,
+would ruin everything, and now, just as it all seemed safe and sure,
+just as the game was all but won, that slip had come. Somehow Annie
+Holton had got the story from her mother, and had gone straight to
+Palmer with it. The mischief was done, unless--
+
+Mechanically, as one does the most trivial things in the moments of
+greatest strain, he went on putting away the decoys. Suddenly he
+straightened up, and looked Palmer squarely in the face. "Harry," he
+said more quietly, "this whole thing is an awful mistake from
+beginning to end, but we certainly won't make things any better by
+standing here quarreling. I won't say one word in criticism of your
+action in coming on to a man's private property as you've done, and
+using the language you've used to me, for I can understand the
+provocation you think you're laboring under. On the contrary, I'll go
+back with you with all the pleasure in the world. All I want is to
+have you bring that Holton woman before us, and have her dare repeat a
+word of that story. That's all I ask. But in the meantime, Harry,
+remember we've been friends a long time, and let's both try to act a
+little more like gentlemen, at any rate."
+
+The unnatural flush had slowly receded from Palmer's face, leaving him
+deathly pale. Evidently the strain upon him had been terrific. He
+nodded shortly. "All right," he said, his voice sounding hard and
+unnatural, "that's fair enough. But back to town we go to-night. I
+can't stand this much longer. I've lived through hell to-day. So it's
+back to town to-night. Is that understood?"
+
+Gordon nodded. "Certainly," he assented readily. Then with apparent
+irrelevance, he added, "How did you know where to find me? Ring up the
+office?"
+
+Palmer stared at him sullenly. "I don't see what difference that
+makes," he said; "but if you want to know, your friend the Holton girl
+told me."
+
+"Ah, yes," said Gordon, "that was it, of course. I might have thought.
+Stupid of me."
+
+Slowly they walked along toward the house, until suddenly, near the
+little cluster of pines, Gordon stopped. "Look here, Palmer," he
+cried, "I don't want to ask favors of you when you're naturally
+impatient and worked up over this thing, but on the other hand, my
+conscience is clear, and half an hour more or less won't make any
+difference, anyway. The last two nights there's been a big flock of
+Canada geese trading by the point here, and I'm keen to get a crack at
+them. In fact, that was what I came over for to-night. If it isn't too
+trivial at such a time, do you mind letting me try them?"
+
+Palmer hesitated, and Gordon hastened to add, "Unless, of course,
+you're anxious to get to the station earlier for any other reason. I
+suppose, though, you left word at your office or your home where you'd
+gone, so that you don't really care particularly when you do get
+back."
+
+Palmer shook his head. "No, I didn't," he answered. "This thing broke
+me all up, Gordon, and I posted right out here to see you. If you
+really want to try the geese, go ahead. I suppose it won't make any
+difference as to the train, anyway."
+
+"No," Gordon assented; "that's true. There's no train we can get for
+two hours yet. A worse little branch road, I suppose, was never run
+anywhere. That station agent's going to get fired one of these fine
+days. He's never at the station when I come out."
+
+"He wasn't there to-day," growled Palmer. "You've got the damnedest,
+out-of-the-way place to get to I ever saw. Your ducks aren't worth
+your trouble."
+
+They had reached the edge of the little grove as Palmer finished
+speaking. Gordon's whole bearing seemed to have changed entirely. His
+eye was watchful, his step alert, as he snapped the sixteen-gage open
+and quietly slipped in a couple of shells. "We'll only wait a few
+minutes," he said. "Sometimes they come straight from the north. Would
+you mind looking out that way?"
+
+Palmer obeyed, staring moodily out across the placid surface of the
+water. The sun had set, and in the faint, gathering dusk the brooding
+silence of the lake had about it something sinister, unearthly,
+threatening. Man, and his petty passions, his childish hopes and
+fears, seemed somehow strangely dwarfed into utter insignificance in
+the midst of nature's impassive, inscrutable calm. Involuntarily
+Palmer shivered.
+
+"I'm afraid it's too late for them, Gordon," he said slowly. "I don't
+really believe--"
+
+The sentence was left unfinished. With a motion quick as thought,
+Gordon threw the sixteen-gage to his shoulder, pressed the barrel to
+Palmer's back just below the left shoulder blade, and pressed the
+trigger.
+
+At the muffled report the murdered man's arms flew out and up as if
+grasping for support, his head twitched back sharply, and like a log
+he fell. A horrible choking sound issued from his distorted lips, his
+body twitched convulsively once or twice, and he lay still, his head
+twisted to one side, the bared teeth grinning upward from the mouth
+contorted into the ghostly semblance of a smile.
+
+Mechanically Gordon leaned his gun against a tree; then looked
+fearfully about him. Still, calm, motionless, the lake lay before him.
+No wind stirred the pines. The silence was the silence of death. A
+sickening faintness crept over him. He stifled an impulse to shout for
+help, and set his teeth sharply together. "God!" he muttered, "God!"
+Then, with averted face, he picked up the ghastly, inert thing that
+had been Harry Palmer, and, staggering with it to the very edge of the
+quicksand, cast it from him with all his strength. A moment, and it
+had disappeared from sight.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XI
+
+                           IN THE FIRELIGHT
+
+
+Before the fire in the big library May Sinclair sat gazing into the
+leaping flames, the book she had taken from its shelf lying unopened
+in her lap, her thoughts far away. Pleasant, indeed, must have been
+the land through which they were journeying, for a smile played about
+her lips, and the little sigh that escaped her as she nestled more
+closely in the big arm-chair was but of content.
+
+"Everything in the world," so ran her thoughts, "everything to make a
+girl happy." Her bluff, soldierly father, masterful enough with
+others, but tenderness itself to her; her mother, kind, loving,
+watchful, ever apprehensive lest some harm might befall her; her home;
+her friends; her work at the settlement; her wealth, prized not for
+itself, but for the use she could make of it for others; last of
+all--and she smiled at her own self-deceit, knowing that she had
+purposely kept it to the last that she might be free to dream on and
+on without interruption--last of all, her lover and the thought of
+their wedding-day, now distant but one short month.
+
+The clock struck nine. Momentarily she wondered what might be keeping
+him, and then the spell of the future, insistent, not to be denied,
+drew her on and on, and again she was lost in fancy's realm. She could
+picture the wedding ceremony in the big church on the avenue, and at
+the thought of the ordeal she shivered a little, half in pleasure and
+half in fear. Then the honeymoon--and here she gave a sigh of utter
+rapture--for with all her dreams of working and doing for others, she
+was but human. To think of it! Six months abroad! England, France,
+Italy, Switzerland, and all with Harry alone to herself. To think of
+it; and she blushed and laughed as she found herself wishing that the
+month would hasten swiftly by. Then the return, to find herself
+mistress of Harry's mansion, hostess to all of his friends, sole ruler
+over all the vast domain of housewifery. So much they had to do! How
+could they find time for it all, for it was not to be all
+entertainment and fun? She must keep on with her reading and her
+studying, and she must make Harry more interested in such things, so
+that they could feel that they were doing everything together. Then
+there was the settlement work. Her clubs and classes--those must be
+kept up--for of what use were learning and culture and refinement if
+they could not in some manner be used for those less favored by
+fortune than herself? Here was the only real difference of opinion
+between them. Strive as she would, she could not manage to interest
+Harry in her cases at the Settlement House. He would escort her there,
+and call for her again, but to get him inside the door, for that even
+her skill would not suffice. That, however, would doubtless be somehow
+arranged. There could be no disagreement between people who loved each
+other as she and Harry did. What a busy life they were going to have.
+And then, some day, she supposed, she hoped, and her pure heart leaped
+with joy at the thought, there would be babies to love and care for,--
+she closed her eyes and for one rapt instant strove to pierce the
+veil, to gaze upon the deep, strong, mighty current of life, flowing
+steadily, swiftly, resistlessly--who knew whither? Face to face in
+that one tense moment she looked upon all the mystery of existence,
+the Sphinx's riddle, the problem of the ages, huge, illimitable,
+vast,--birth, life, death, so real and yet so unreal, actualities and
+yet but fancies, and only fixed and certain Fate, God, Eternity--
+
+She gasped suddenly for breath and opened her eyes with a little start
+of fear. The clock on the mantel struck ten. With a quick gesture of
+disappointment she rose. "I'm sure he said to-night," she murmured,
+"well, he'll explain about it to-morrow." Then she snatched Palmer's
+picture from its place and pressed it to her lips. "Life is so
+beautiful, dear," she whispered softly, "and all because I love you
+and you love me."
+
+
+Over across the city, far away to the northeast, on a quiet side
+street near Bradfield's was Annie Holton's tiny flat. To find its
+occupant at home at nine o'clock in the evening was a rare occurrence,
+but on this particular night, for perhaps the first time in a
+fortnight, she had not gone to Bradfield's, but sat alone in front of
+the fire, whose leaping flames furnished the only light in the little
+room.
+
+She, too, was busy with her thoughts. It was not often that a thing as
+big as this came her way. Sheer luck it had been from the first. A
+suspicion that her mother had been a little over eager in urging her
+to go on the motor trip with the warm hearted western millionaire, a
+suspicion confirmed on her return by a chance word incautiously let
+fall; then her unlooked-for good fortune in getting the old woman
+gloriously drunk, and finally the startling discovery of the whole
+story, and her instant visit to Harry Palmer. With him, too, it had
+been touch and go. What if she had not been able to persuade him to
+listen; what if she had failed to convince him of the truth of her
+story? Gordon's game had been a good one. In spite of her desire for
+revenge, she felt a fierce admiration for his cleverness; just that
+one flaw, the picking of Mrs. Holton for one of his helpers, risking
+the taking on of a woman once notorious as a drunkard, and still given
+to occasional lapses. That one fact had meant Gordon's defeat and her
+own salvation.
+
+
+[Illustration: Rose]
+
+
+The struggle between her old infatuation for Gordon, and her hatred of
+Rose Ashton had been bitter, but brief. Hatred had triumphed, and yet
+to-night her exultation meant regret as well. The thought of holding
+Rose in her power made her clench her shapely hands, and brought a
+tigerish gleam to her bold black eyes, and still the afterthought
+would come that it was Gordon, after all, who would suffer most.
+Gordon was the one man she had ever cared the snap of her fingers for,
+and to harm him--and yet, since she had had the bitterness of seeing
+him desert her for Rose, there was a fierce pleasure in knowing that
+she would be sending him where she would never again know the agony of
+seeing him under the spell of the girl she loathed with all her heart.
+
+And her own future? Five thousand dollars. What could she not do with
+that? First, clothes, of course. She would be the best dressed woman
+at Bradfield's. Jewels, too. And a little laid up for a rainy day, for
+Annie Holton was level-headed, and saw with grim philosophy the fate
+of the poor, tawdry, painted things of the street, who served to point
+the moral, when youth and good looks have fled.
+
+"I'm lucky," she cried aloud challengingly, "I'm one of the lucky
+ones. I'm--"
+
+She broke off sharply with a little cry of disgust. "You fool," she
+said, in a very different tone, a tone of the bitterest self-contempt,
+"you poor, weak fool! You know you're miserable. You know everything's
+a sham. You know your life isn't worth sixpence to you. And all
+because you're such a fool, with a dozen men crazy after you, you
+can't be satisfied because you can't have the one you want."
+
+The clock chimed the hour of ten. For a moment she sat silent, and
+then slowly nodded her head. "It oughtn't to be so," she said with
+conviction, "but it's the truth, just the same. A woman can get along
+if the man she's stuck on is stuck on her--and if he isn't, she's
+better dead."
+
+
+In the parlor of her pretty little home on Dalton Street Rose Ashton
+was pacing restlessly to and fro. Finally, with a sigh of weariness,
+she flung herself down on the sofa, and lay quiet, gazing into the
+dying embers with wide-open, unseeing eyes.
+
+Wave after wave, a flood of bitter, remorseful thoughts swept over
+her. What a weak thing, she mused, a woman is, after all. "To know the
+right and still the wrong pursue," she quoted to herself. "That's what
+I'm doing now, and that's what I've done for a year. Perhaps, before
+that, I wasn't to blame, but since I met Dick it's all been so
+different. Now I know, and yet three times in a year I've lowered
+myself to depths of which no decent woman would even dream. And
+perhaps I've got more shame before me still. And yet I do it--hating
+it, protesting, drawing back, almost refusing,--and then doing it,
+because he tells me to. I might as well be honest. I've damned myself
+for a man who's using me to help himself, and I've done it just on the
+hope that he's going to be honest with me and do what he's promised.
+I've done it because I'm weak, I've done it because I couldn't help
+myself, I've done it--because I'm a woman."
+
+She sat silently watching the last embers die. The clock in the square
+boomed the hour of ten. With a sigh of utter weariness she rose.
+
+"Life for a woman," she murmured, "is safe--monotonous, perhaps, but
+safe--until the man comes along. And then, the old life and all its
+memories are gone for ever in the twinkling of an eye, and the woman's
+true life begins. And perhaps, after all, the old life was the better,
+for the new may be Heaven--and it may be hell."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XII
+
+                          THE FINAL OBSTACLE
+
+
+Mechanically Gordon rowed across to the darkening shore; mechanically
+he traveled the path to the road, and followed the road to the
+station; mechanically he boarded the train and sat quietly in his
+seat, to all outward appearances calm and indifferent, until the city
+lights gleamed a welcome through the dark, and the train clanked and
+bumped its way over the drawbridge, and passed from the silence of the
+night into the bustle and roar of the noisy, smoky station.
+
+Outwardly composed, but his brain was all the while in a turmoil, so
+that some thought for which he was seeking would not come to his mind,
+but seemed constantly to keep just beyond his grasp. Far back in his
+brain a ghastly, haunting something still lurked and mocked him, and
+yet, seated there in the train, filled with its freight of every-day
+prosaic passengers, the stout conductor roaring the indistinguishable
+names of the numberless little way-stations, that terrible quarter of
+an hour on the island seemed fantastic, unreal, impossible of truth.
+He waited almost expectantly, thinking every moment to awaken as if
+from a nightmare, to feel some friend's hand laid upon his shoulder
+and to start suddenly back to life again; perchance even to see Palmer
+himself enter the train, and to tell him, laughing, of the curious
+dream.
+
+Palmer! He pulled himself together sharply. This was no time to let
+his brain play him such tricks as these. Now, when he needed every
+atom of good judgment and cool daring at his command. Palmer
+himself--God! Somewhere back on the deserted island, sucked down and
+down into the depths of the earth, was that mangled, grinning,
+wide-eyed thing that had been careless, irresponsible Harry Palmer,
+across whose limited vision real thoughts of life--and death--had
+scarcely so much as passed.
+
+With a sudden intense effort he tore his mind free from its clinging
+fancies. For good or ill--the meeting on the island had been real. For
+good or ill--the murder was done. And now, what next? How best to
+carry through the game, begun selfishly, recklessly perhaps, but with
+no plot or even thought of bodily harm to any one, and now, almost at
+its ending, grown suddenly desperate and black with tragedy.
+
+Annie Holton--he wished now that he had been more deliberate, and had
+asked Palmer more questions--first. And yet, in doing that, there
+might have been greater danger still; suspicion might have been more
+keenly aroused, and even as it was, the situation, indeed, seemed
+tolerably clear. Somehow, the girl had managed to get the story from
+her mother, and had gone straight to Palmer with it. Would she have
+told any one else? Obviously not. It was to her interest only to
+possess and to impart the information to Palmer. And now Palmer was
+out of the way--and Annie Holton was left. So much for to-night,
+but to-morrow--ah, that was the thought that had been eluding
+him--tomorrow she would know of Palmer's disappearance, and she was
+the only person in the world who knew that when Palmer had left the
+city he was bound for the island. The deduction was only too obvious.
+Not alone his fortunes and his liberty, but his life itself, hung in
+this girl's power. To-night then, at any cost, he must see her; and
+to-night, somewhere, somehow, her silence must be assured.
+
+Somehow--ah, it was just there that the problem lay. By what means,
+then, could he gain his end? His old relations with her, once so
+tenderly intimate, so fraught with reckless passion, could he once
+more recall the past, and make it live again? No, scarcely that. After
+deserting her for Rose, and after her betrayal of his secret; hardly,
+it seemed, could the breach between them be healed. And even if it
+were possible, there again would be Rose to reckon with. Unconsciously
+he frowned and shook his head. No, the way out did not lie there.
+
+What else, then? Money? The promise of that she must already have had,
+and, indeed, if the question came to be one of money, if that were
+all, though he might beggar himself to his last cent, still all that
+Palmer's friends would have to do would be to double or treble any
+offer that he himself might make.
+
+No, there was no hope there The game was going badly. The cards lay
+all against him, unless--unless--
+
+A feeling of repulsion, almost of physical nausea, crept over him--and
+yet, must he give up thus early in the struggle, for lack of courage
+and nerve? Because somehow he shrank--because, somehow, in spite of
+all, he pitied the lips that had known his kisses. A curse on the
+whole wild venture. Was there then no way out? No way but _that?_ Yes,
+one other way, indeed, there was, but only one. And which of the two
+to choose. Logic, clear, straightforward thought and argument, led but
+one way; and now it was plain to him that that was the way he must
+take. And then, in spite of him, again that ghastly memory would come;
+and, life and logic contending, life and logic inevitably at odds, the
+issue once more was blurred. Not _that_. Whatever else, no more of
+that.
+
+Thus, over and over, his thoughts, ranging in a circle, seeking an
+outlet where no outlet lay, swung back at last, repulsed at every
+turn, to the same starting point. For once baffled, perplexed,
+uncertain, now firmly resolute, now tremblingly terrified, now wholly
+despairing, he sat in his seat and railed, first at Fate, then at
+himself, then at the other pawns that moved hither and thither across
+the board--blindly perhaps--perhaps directed by the Master's hand.
+Thus he sat and pondered, until the train, with a grinding and jarring
+of brakes, came to its final stop, and threading his way in and out
+among the alighting passengers, he left the station and mingled with
+the crowds that thronged the street.
+
+For a little distance, quickly and surely he made his way, and then,
+all at once, amid the familiar scenes, the light and the noise and the
+bustle of the crowd, for just a moment of time the tense strain on
+body and mind relaxed, and on the instant, like a flood, the
+inevitable reaction swept over him. Suddenly, without warning, he
+found himself gasping for breath; something tightened, like a band of
+iron, about his throat; his knees trembled under him; and shudder
+after shudder shook him from head to foot. Deathly faint and sick, he
+clutched at a near-by railing for support, and for a moment or two
+that seemed age-long, stood helpless, powerless, until the attack to
+some extent had passed, and, shaken, weak and exhausted, he came
+again to himself. Then, after a moment, with an intense effort at
+self-control, he loosed his hold, and managed, dizzily enough, to make
+his way into the first saloon that lay in his path. The pallor of the
+face reflected in the mirror fairly startled him, and three times he
+had to moisten his lips with his swelling tongue before he could order
+the drink he craved. Once, twice, thrice he drained his glass before
+his weakness passed, and then, in a flash, his heart began to pound,
+and the life blood all at once seemed again to stream riotously into
+every pulsing vein. It was not until a half hour later that he left
+the saloon, and then the man who swung out again into the night was a
+man with head held high, with steadied nerves of steel, and with a
+brain again crystal clear--perchance too clear. Only one thing
+now--one thing in the way--one thing to be done--and the entrance to
+his life--his splendid, glorious, mighty life--would lie open before
+him. No time now for other thoughts of what was past--past, it seemed,
+long, long ages ago--now, at the instant, but one thing remained--only
+one thing.
+
+Along the familiar route he passed, now by the park, now along Fulton
+Street, now through the sinister, deserted byways on the borderland of
+the city, and now at last he neared the quiet side street, two blocks
+away from Bradfield's, where Annie Holton lived in her tiny flat, a
+street as unfrequented and inconspicuous as that on which the gambling
+house itself was built. To his relief, for the last half dozen blocks
+he had met no one, not even a casual pedestrian like himself. Perhaps
+a trifle more inattentive and preoccupied than was his wont, he had
+failed to notice, almost at his journey's end, that he had been an
+object of interest to at least one person. For a young man, hidden in
+the shadow of a doorway across the street, had watched him as he ran
+quickly up the steps, and then, when he had disappeared, the watcher,
+in the most casual way, had strolled to the corner, crossed over, and
+taken up his stand in the doorway next to Annie Holton's home. And now
+he stood there, quietly waiting.
+
+Gordon ran quickly up the stairs, silently extinguished the flickering
+gas jet in the hall, and knocked softly on the door. There was a
+moment of suspense, then a faint noise from within, and in another
+instant the door was opened, and Annie Holton, her light wrap drawn
+closely around her, stood before him.
+
+Dim as was the light within, it was far brighter than the darkness in
+the hallway, so that for a moment the girl could hardly distinguish
+the tall figure, muffled in the long overcoat, that stood without.
+Then Gordon took a quick step forward. "Annie," he cried, and at the
+sound of the well-known voice the girl gave a little cry, partly of
+wonder, partly of fear.
+
+"Dick," she gasped, and the blood seemed suddenly to leave her heart,
+"what are you doing here?"
+
+There was a moment's silence. Then, without speaking, Gordon crossed
+the threshold, brushing the girl aside as he did so, and closed the
+door quickly behind him.
+
+
+It was not until long after midnight that the door again opened and
+Gordon stepped out. Slowly, almost inch by inch, he came forth into
+the darkness of the hall; slowly, hesitatingly, as if in deadly fear,
+he crept down the flight of stairs that led to the street. In the
+silence of the hallway, the quick, gasping intake of his breath could
+be distinctly heard. His step faltered, and the hand that gripped the
+railing of the stairs shook as if with palsy. Surely a strangely
+altered man was Richard Gordon. Down the stairs he passed. Then, for a
+long time he stood in front of the outer glass door, listening
+anxiously for any sound or movement. Finally, as if summoning all that
+was left of waning strength and resolution, he opened the door and
+stepped forth into the street.
+
+His hurried glance to right and left showed the way to be clear. Then
+suddenly, half-way down the steps, his heart gave a quick leap of
+fright, as the door of the adjoining house opened quietly and a young
+man emerged. "Good night, Bill," he called gaily to some one within,
+"see you to-morrow," and with a casual glance at Gordon, strolled off,
+whistling, down the street.
+
+Gordon drew a long breath of infinite relief. "God!" he muttered; and
+then, with hands clenched, walking as if every step cost him infinite
+effort, he left Annie Holton's flat, with all its many memories,
+behind him for ever.
+
+In the little room up-stairs, the firelight, slowly dying, fell softly
+on the slender figure in the armchair, lying there peacefully,
+quietly, as if in sleep.
+
+
+
+
+
+                               PART II
+
+                               THE GAME
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER I
+
+                       AN AMBITION IS ATTAINED
+
+
+To the press, the total and unexplained disappearance of a well-known
+millionaire and young man about town came as a golden opportunity, and
+flaring head-lines and extra editions followed close upon the heels of
+the tragedy. Indeed, for several days in succession, the Palmer case
+managed to hold the center of the stage. Theory after theory was
+advanced by the police, by the private detectives called in on the
+case, and by the papers themselves; and then, nothing transpiring to
+clear up the mystery, the attention of the public was in turn
+distracted by a railroad horror, a prize fight of national importance,
+and the scandal caused by the head of the pork trust running away with
+a chorus girl; and thus, before the excitement created by this
+sequence of events, the Palmer case, save to a very few, ceased to be
+an object of interest for all time.
+
+Verily, the world moves rapidly these days, and human life--always
+excepting one's own--is but cheaply esteemed. Men are plenty, and one
+more or less--still, of course, always excepting one's self--what
+difference does it make, anyway?
+
+Overshadowed by the importance of the Palmer case, the violent death
+of a woman of the underworld on an obscure street near Bradfield's
+attracted little attention, and by the papers the affair was disposed
+of in a few brief lines of the smallest type. Suicide seemed to be
+favored as the cause of death, and despondency and weariness with life
+the reason therefor.
+
+That Gordon should be questioned both by Mrs. Holton and Rose was
+inevitable. Not that Mrs. Holton, with hazy memories of talking too
+freely while the wine had worked its spell upon her, altogether
+regretted that Providence had seen fit to intervene, or that Rose,
+after her work was done, was deeply concerned with Palmer's subsequent
+fate, but to both, knowing the situation as they did, the sequence of
+events seemed, though lacking the faintest shadow of proof, beyond all
+question to implicate Gordon. To both he made the same answer. He
+admitted that Palmer's disappearance, coming just at the time it did,
+was a remarkable stroke of good fortune for all of them, but as to any
+knowledge of it, outside of the theories advanced by the papers, he
+blandly professed entire ignorance. That Annie Holton should have come
+to her death on the night of the same day on which Palmer had
+disappeared, he further acknowledged to be a most remarkable
+coincidence, but so far as he could see, nothing more than that. And
+with this they were fain to be content.
+
+To Rose, indeed, the succeeding weeks brought a vague sense of
+injustice and disappointment. Constantly Gordon had referred to the
+getting of the money from Palmer as the turning point in their
+fortunes; the first real step towards the culmination of their plans;
+as marking the time when he should have leisure to be constantly at
+her side; and now, so far from this being so, she found as the days
+went by that she saw less of him even than before. Moreover, on the
+rare occasions when he did dine with her at Bradfield's or call at her
+rooms, he was preoccupied, inattentive, distraught, his mind only too
+plainly upon other things.
+
+And in truth, Gordon for a time had found himself more perplexed than
+he would perhaps have cared to own. Even with sufficient capital, and
+a practically certain knowledge of the future course of the metal
+market, the problem still remained to him how best to make use
+of his point of vantage. The first move in the game successfully
+accomplished, the second was yet to be made.
+
+At length, after long deliberation, he went to young Bob Randall,
+floor broker for Parkman and Brooks. Randall's father, old Sam
+Randall, the big cotton man, had just emerged victor from a desperate
+fight with the Parker-Moorfield interests, the loudest bellowing and
+highest tossing of all the great cotton bulls, in which battle,
+besides the prestige gained, he was incidentally reported to have
+cleaned up something over two millions on the sharp break in July
+cotton. Young Bob, besides having money back of him, was one of those
+gifted mortals who seem always able to carry others with them in
+whatever they choose to undertake. With a national reputation as an
+athlete while still at school, in college he had played end on the
+football team, and then made the crew, both with the same ease with
+which he had been chosen president of his class, and called out as
+first man on the Alpha Chi. In addition, in his few leisure moments he
+had worked enough, as he had himself expressed it, to "somehow get
+by," so that at last, infinitely to his friends' surprise, and
+somewhat to his own, he found himself, at the end of his four years,
+entitled to his sheepskin, and perchance with somewhat mingled
+feelings of regret for lost opportunities of learning, and of
+satisfaction at more substantial and worldly-wise success, heard
+himself, together with three hundred of his mates, welcomed by the
+venerable president in his class-day address to "the fellowship of
+educated men."
+
+To young Randall, then, over the coffee and cigars in a private
+dining-room at the Federal, Gordon broached the subject.
+
+"Bob," he said abruptly, "do you want to make a barrel of money?"
+
+Randall nodded. "Sure thing," he answered briefly. "How?"
+
+Gordon did not at once reply, and when he did, it was to answer the
+query with another.
+
+"What do you know about coppers?" he asked.
+
+"Soft," answered the younger man readily, "and going lower, too.
+There's a big surplus supply of the metal stored somewhere, or at
+least so everybody says."
+
+Gordon leaned back in his chair, gazing at his companion from beneath
+half-closed eyelids.
+
+"Just one more question, Bob," he said; "don't think it's an
+impertinence. About how much are you getting now?"
+
+"Three thou," answered Randall promptly. "And now give me a turn. What
+in the devil are you driving at, anyway?"
+
+Gordon hesitated the veriest instant, as if choosing which course to
+pursue. Then he answered, speaking with the utmost earnestness.
+
+"Here's the story, Bob. I've got a great chance; the kind that only
+comes once in a man's lifetime, and of course I'd be a fool if I
+didn't want to make the most of it. It's perfectly true that coppers
+are soft; it's perfectly true that they're going lower, but that
+there's any accumulation of the metal I know to be absolutely false.
+And more than that: I can almost name the precise day when there's
+going to be launched the biggest copper boom this country's ever seen.
+A boom that's going to last, barring the absolutely unforeseen, for
+several years, and that's going to provide the speculative opportunity
+of the century. Now my proposition is just this: Leave Parkman and
+Brooks at once; get your father to advance you a hundred thousand
+dollars, and then start in partnership with me. I'll put in a like
+amount, and this information, which I'll absolutely guarantee, against
+your ability to bring your father and some of his crowd in as
+customers, to say nothing of your own following among the younger set.
+Nothing succeeds like success. We'll do well by our customers, and
+incidentally we'll make our own reputations and our fortunes beside.
+Bob, it's an absolute cinch, and I don't mind letting you know that I
+started with a list of twenty men as possibilities, and eliminated one
+after the other until you were left as the man I wanted for a partner.
+Now, what do you say?"
+
+Randall had allowed his cigar to go out, as he sat listening to
+Gordon's words.
+
+"It sounds good," he said at length, "but, Gordon, tell me one thing.
+I know your reputation on the Exchange, of course, and I know you're a
+bully good judge of the market, but the information you're giving me
+is away out of the ordinary. I think you ought to be willing to tell
+me where and how you got it."
+
+Gordon smiled. "I can tell you where," he answered readily, "but not
+how. Is this good enough for you?" and, leaning forward, he whispered
+a name known the world over.
+
+Randall started slightly, and then gave a low whistle of astonishment.
+"The devil you say!" he exclaimed. "Well, you have struck it rich. I
+didn't know you stood in with him."
+
+Gordon smiled again. "It isn't a thing that's generally known," he
+said softly, "and of course you realize I'm trusting a great deal to
+your discretion in talking so freely, but I feel so sure you're not
+going to let the chance slip, Bob, that I thought it was the best way
+to let you know the whole situation and keep nothing back at all. Do
+you feel reasonably satisfied now?"
+
+Randall nodded. "I'll have to see the governor, first, of course," he
+answered; "but I guess it will be all right. That's just the kind of
+thing he rather likes, you know. I'll dine with you again day after
+to-morrow, if you say so."
+
+Thus it was that they met again two days later, to sit discussing.
+plans and details far into the morning, and thus it was that a month
+after, in their big new offices in the Equitable Building, with a
+generous bank account, with the hearty backing of old Sam Randall, and
+with every prospect of success, the stock brokerage firm of Gordon and
+Randall was formally launched.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II
+
+                           THE ETHEL CLAIM
+
+
+The sun, sinking low, for an instant shone through the gap in the
+distant hills in one splendid blaze of light, enfolding in its
+radiance, as if in friendly farewell, the little cabin which lay so
+snugly nestled away on the towering slope of Burnt Mountain.
+
+Abe Peters, gaunt, unkempt, kindly of face and gentle of manner,
+turned for a moment from his methodical washing of the supper dishes
+to glance down and away far over the distant valley.
+
+"An' there's another day gone," he said slowly, "an' there's old
+Ph[oe]be once again tellin' us good night. All sorts of ways she comes
+up over the mountain in the morning, and all sorts of ways she goes
+down behind the hills at night, but that's the way I like to see her
+set the best; sort of nice and peaceful like and calm."
+
+He turned to the other occupant of the cabin. "But there," he added,
+after a moment, "I expect it seems kind of all-fired lonesome to a
+city man, don't it now? I expect you find us folks out here live
+pretty common."
+
+Frost, short, stout, pleasant of face and manner, turned from the
+window. "No, sir," he said heartily, "not a bit of it. I'm a city man
+part of the time, but the other part I have to spend just knocking
+around the world, here, there and everywhere. And after all, Abe, four
+walls and a roof, a fire and a bit to eat and drink; that's all a
+man's got a right to expect, and that's all he needs, too."
+
+Peters nodded in pleasant assent. "Yes, sir, that's right," he
+answered, "but it ain't every one that thinks the way you do. Most of
+'em are crazy for somethin' they can't get; money mad, or liquor mad,
+or minin' mad, or somethin' of the kind. Speakin' in general, it ain't
+what you'd call a contented world, no ways at all."
+
+Frost laughed. "Abe," he said good-humoredly, "you're a real
+philosopher. You've got about the same ideas concerning things that I
+have, and that's why I respect you and esteem you as a man of
+intelligence and good sense."
+
+Up the path, standing out in shadowy relief against the fading
+afterglow in the west, a figure strode past the cabin window. Frost
+turned idly to his host. "There goes a late worker, Abe," he said. "I
+wonder if that might be Harrison you were telling me about."
+
+Peters stepped to the window, shading his eyes with his hand as he
+gazed out into the fast gathering twilight. "No, that ain't Harrison,"
+he replied. "Jack would be steppin' out sprier'n that. That must be
+the old man, I reckon. Yes, that's him, for sure."
+
+Frost turned from the window, and, seating himself by the log fire,
+began leisurely to fill his pipe. "So we see the gentlemen to-night,
+do we?" he asked.
+
+Peters nodded. "That's what we do," he answered, "and, Mr. Frost, I'm
+givin' this to you straight. I'm a friend of Jim's and I'm a friend of
+yours, and I want to see you both come out of this thing right. And
+the way to do it's for you to buy a half interest in the Ethel. That's
+best for him and it's best for you, too."
+
+Frost smiled. "So you think half a loaf's better than no bread, do
+you?" he said. "Well, that's right enough sometimes, but where a man
+wants to buy the whole blamed bake-shop, why, then it doesn't quite
+seem to fit. Yes, I've got to do my best, anyway. And I wonder, Abe,
+which is the real man I ought to get next to here, Mason or Harrison."
+
+Peters put the last dish away on the shelf, and in turn drew up his
+chair and, fumbling in his pocket, drew forth and lighted a grimy
+pipe. He shook his head doubtfully.
+
+"That's more'n I can tell," he answered, "but we've got half an hour
+yet before we start, an' I can give you the story, anyway; then you
+can figure things out for yourself, an' you won't be blamin' me. How's
+that suit?"
+
+Frost blew a beautifully rounded ring of smoke, and leisurely watched
+it float upward. "Fine," he assented. "Just what I was going to ask.
+I'm all attention, Abe. Let her go."
+
+For some minutes Peters puffed in silence; then took his pipe from his
+mouth and began.
+
+"In the first place," he said slowly, "Jim Mason's an all fired smart
+man. He wa'nt born and brought up here, like I was. He used to live
+down Octagon way. Soon as he left school, he went to copper minin'.
+I've heard him tell about it fifty times. 'I began,' he says, 'at the
+bottom o' the mine an' the bottom o' my trade, an' I worked pretty
+well up to the top in both of 'em.' An' it's the truth, too. He was
+one o' the best surface men at the lake, an' earnin' good money;
+layin' it away, too, an' that's more than a lot of 'em can say. Then
+he gets married an' settles down, an' then damned if a while after
+that an epidemic o' typhoid don't hit the Octagon camp, an' Jim's wife
+takes it an' dies in a week. Well, that breaks him up complete. After
+a while he finds he can't stand it round home noways, so he takes his
+little girl an' moves up here to Seneca. Always he's claimin' the
+Onondaga lode hits here somewheres after it dips. So he fools around
+for a while, an' then, after a year or so, he stakes out his claim,
+names it the Ethel after his little girl, hires a gang o' men, an'
+goes to work. Four years he's fitted out for, an' blamed if they don't
+turn out to be four hard luck years. First he strikes tough rock, then
+the price o' labor goes up on him, then he gets sick himself, an' it's
+most a year before he's right again; it's one thing here and another
+there, so finally he has to let his gang go, an' by that time he's so
+plumb crazy over his claim that he goes on workin' her by himself,
+everybody but him knowin' he couldn't do nothin' that way if he lived
+to be as old as Methusalem. Still, he don't seem to care, an' goes
+right on pluggin' away alone.
+
+"Now here's where Harrison comes in. Jack's a pretty likely young man,
+an' he'd got to be Jim's foreman, an' was mighty sweet on the little
+girl. No blame to him, either. She's as pretty as a picture, an' smart
+as chain lightnin', but let to run wild like a colt. Long as she gets
+the old man's meals, an' keeps the house cleaned up, he don't care a
+mite what she does the rest o' the time. I guess, though, the girl's
+got discontented like, an' she'd be mighty glad to have the old man
+strike it rich, so's she could get out o' here for good an' move off
+to the city somewheres. Well, when the rest o' the gang goes, Harrison
+says he won't leave, but he'll work along a spell with the old man,
+an' if they strike things rich Jim can treat him any ways he thinks is
+right. Course, though, it ain't the old man or the mine Jack cares
+about; it's Ethel he's after, an' as I say, small blame to him.
+
+"So there you are. The old man's the legal owner, but Jack's got a
+kind of a say-so about the mine, too. The old man's sensible enough
+about everythin' else, but half crazy about the mine, an' Jack's
+sensible enough about everythin' else, an' the mine, too, but he's
+half crazy about the girl. So that's the story, an' there you are."
+
+Frost, rising, nodded. "I guess," he said slowly, "the old man's the
+one I want. I can tell better after I've seen 'em, though. What's the
+use of waiting, Abe? Let's go along over and size 'em up."
+
+For answer Peters rose and put on his coat, and a moment later they
+had left the cabin.
+
+Meanwhile, over at Mason's, Jack Harrison had come slowly up the path,
+the stoop of his broad shoulders and the slight stiffness of his
+usually springy gait showing that there are limits beyond which the
+strongest muscle and sinew can not with safety be driven. Entering the
+kitchen and seeing no one, he stepped out on to the broad veranda
+which surrounded the house, and came suddenly on the girl he was
+seeking, seated alone and gazing idly out over the broad sweep of the
+darkening valley.
+
+To find Ethel Mason in an attitude even suggesting meditation was an
+occurrence so rare that the young man was fairly startled. "Hullo,
+Ethel," he exclaimed, "anythin' gone wrong?"
+
+The girl started to her feet. Slight of figure, slender and graceful
+as a deer, the brown curls clustering around her pretty face made her
+at first sight seem little more than a child in appearance, an
+impression, however, no sooner formed than at once dispelled by the
+soft curves of her figure, and the poise and self-reliance of her
+manner as she answered him.
+
+"Yes," she cried rebelliously, "there's plenty wrong. I'm just sick
+and tired of the way things are going on. He doesn't give me enough a
+week to keep house for a dog; I haven't had a cent to spend on myself
+for a month; and then last night there's a dance over at the Hall, and
+every girl in the county can go but me, and I haven't a single thing
+to my name I can wear, and so I have to stay at home. Cook the meals,
+wash the dishes, clean the house; if that's all the life I'm ever
+going to have, I'd a lot rather be dead."
+
+The young man's face showed his dismay. "Don't say that, Ethel," he
+cried. "I'm sorry things are goin' so bad. It's Jim's fault, partly,
+and it's mine, too. I'm afraid I'm gettin' as crazy over the lode as
+he is, and pretty nigh forgettin' everythin' else. I'm sorry, Ethel.
+It is tough on you, and no mistake."
+
+The girl shrugged her shapely shoulders. "Oh, it's all right," she
+said indifferently. "Everybody's got to have their troubles; and I
+wouldn't start telling you mine if it wasn't so's you could see what
+things are getting down to. You know what I think about you, anyway. I
+think you're a fool to stick around here. The old mine's never going
+to be any good, anyhow."
+
+Harrison smiled grimly. "You know right well it ain't the mine I'm
+holdin' on for," he answered, a gleam of passion in his eyes. "It's
+for what goes with it when we strike the lode. And the man that's
+waitin' for that ain't got no cause to be called a fool."
+
+The girl, not ill-pleased, tossed her head coquettishly. "You aren't
+sure of either of 'em," she cried, "the lode or the girl. We aren't
+regular promised, Jack. Maybe some day a better looking fellow with
+more money'll come along, and then you'll get left."
+
+The young man's face grew dark with anger, and he took a quick step
+forward. "Don't you dare say that!" he cried fiercely. "If I thought
+you meant that, Ethel, I'd kill you! By God, I would!"
+
+The girl shrank a little before the storm she had unwittingly raised.
+"There, there," she cried, "don't be so foolish, Jack. I didn't mean
+it. You run along and fix up, and don't bother me. I've got to get
+supper. Where'd you leave the old man?"
+
+Even before Harrison had started to reply, the door swung open and
+Mason entered, stooping, unkempt, weary, but with eye still bright and
+his whole expression alert and aglow with the lust of battle.
+
+"I knew it, Jack!" he cried. "I told you the farther we worked to the
+eastward, the richer that fifth level was going to open up. Look at
+this! And this! And this!" and he tossed the chunks of rock on the
+piazza table.
+
+Harrison, a trifle shamefaced, picked them up and nodded. They were in
+truth splendid samples, fairly blazing with copper.
+
+"I tell you," Mason went on, "if we haven't really struck the lode,
+and I believe we have, we're right next door to it, anyway. Perhaps I
+haven't mined that rock year in and year out for ten years without
+finding out a little something about it. Perhaps I don't know the look
+of it and the feel of it, and pretty near the taste of it. I'll bet
+you anything you want, Jack, that inside a month we'll strike as rich
+copper as ever was mined at the lake."
+
+All through supper he talked on in a like strain. Ethel and Jack
+listening in silence. Then, after the supper dishes were cleared away,
+and the old man had settled down, pipe in mouth, in front of the
+kitchen stove, Harrison had his say.
+
+"Look here, Jim," he said abruptly, "I did somethin' last night that I
+suppose is goin' to get you mad. I met Abe Peters walkin' home, an' he
+tells me he's got one of those eastern sharps stayin' with him,
+investigatin' likely claims, Abe says, with the idea to buy 'em if
+they comes up to standard. Abe says he starts to tell him about the
+Ethel, an' the man seems to be better posted than Abe is himself.
+Anyways, we fixed it up that Abe's goin' to bring him over to-night
+after grub, an' we'll have a little talk with him. Can't do no harm,
+an' the way things is goin' now ain't right to none of us; not to you
+nor to me nor to the girl here, neither. So you want to treat 'em
+civil when they come."
+
+The old man straightened up in his chair with a glare of resentment,
+and banged the table with his clenched fist.
+
+"No, sir," he exclaimed, "I won't see him or have nothing to do with
+him, and neither will you. I'll have no man nosing into my claim, or
+talking of buying it, either. It ain't a mite of use, Jack. The claim
+ain't for sale, and I won't have 'em coming round bothering me about
+it. You can get rid of Abe your own way, but I don't let him set foot
+in this house, him or his mining sharp or anybody else. I won't do it,
+Jack, for you nor no man."
+
+Harrison's jaw set with a resolution quieter, perhaps, but every bit
+as determined as Mason's.
+
+"Jim," he said, "that talk don't go. I've stuck to you and the mine
+for two years now, fair and square, and it looks like I'd got a right
+to some say about what we're going to do. Now, I've been figuring it
+out pretty careful, and this is just about the way we're fixed.
+Supposin', just for argument, we strike the lode to-morrow, why, even
+at that we can't ever develop that mine alone. It stands to reason
+we've got to have an awful pile of money back of us. Give us all the
+men we want, and all the machinery, and God knows what else, and then
+it's goin' to take two years and more to make her a dividend payer.
+No, sir, we've got to have money, Jim, and the only way to get it's to
+hitch up with some one like this cuss that's out here now. We can look
+out for our end all the time. You hold out for a big lot of stock, and
+getting yourself appointed superintendent, and me assistant, and that
+way we'll be doing right by the mine, and we'll get plenty rich, too.
+So that's sense, Jim, and nothing but sense, and you've got to talk to
+this man to-night, or, by God, Jim, I'll get out to-morrow, as sure as
+we're sitting here, and leave you to go it alone."
+
+Mason, completely taken aback, fairly gasped. Suddenly he had
+realized, perhaps for the first time, his utter dependence on the
+younger man. "You--you wouldn't really do that, Jack," he faltered
+tremulously.
+
+Harrison, more from the old man's manner than from the words
+themselves, felt that the victory was won. He nodded decisively.
+
+"That's just what I'd do," he answered firmly. "I don't mean to go
+against you any way at all, Jim, but I know what's common sense, and
+you'll see it yourself some day, too. I'm not bluffing. I'd hate to do
+it, but I mean every word just the way I say."
+
+The old man sighed, as if half the joy had suddenly gone out of his
+life. Then he nodded with resignation.
+
+"All right, Jack," he said, with a trace of bitterness in his tone, "I
+can't say but what you've used me straight as a string all the way
+through. Mining's a young man's work, I guess. Maybe you'd act a mite
+foolish over the old claim yourself, Jack, if you'd wintered and
+summered with her the way I have. Never mind, though. Have it your own
+way."
+
+Harrison had started to reply, when heavy footsteps sounded on the
+path without. "Good for you, Jim," he said quickly, "it won't hurt to
+talk it over, and we'll be careful we don't make any mistake. I guess
+that's them now."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER III
+
+                       THE RETURN OF MR. FROST
+
+
+Gordon, with apparent reluctance, rose slowly from the table. "Rose,"
+he said, "this has been most delightful. If life, now, were all
+Saturday afternoons and Sundays, with none of this getting back to
+work again on Monday mornings, what a good time we should have."
+
+The girl forced a smile, though her eyes were troubled. "Yes," she
+said, "it has been delightful, only--I do so wish things were really
+settled for good. Can't you begin to tell something, Dick, about how
+long it will be?"
+
+Gordon made an effort not to appear annoyed. "No," he answered, a
+trifle coldly, "I certainly can't, and, for that matter, nobody can.
+For a guess, though, I should think that another six months would see
+things pretty well fixed. I expect to see Frost this morning, and of
+course a lot depends on the kind of report I get from him. If it's
+what I'm hoping for, it's practically the last link in the chain. If
+it isn't, then it's a choice between waiting or taking a chance on
+something that may go and may not. So it's really an impossibility, as
+you can see for yourself, to say just when things will be settled
+Still, I can't see but what we're doing pretty well as we are. You're
+not unhappy, are you?"
+
+The girl's troubled look did not alter. "No," she said, half
+doubtfully, "not really unhappy, but if I didn't know that this would
+all be over soon, and that within a year we should be married and
+settled down, I'm afraid I should be--miserably so. It's no kind of a
+life to be leading, the way we are now. Do you remember, Dick, the
+afternoon we went to the island?"
+
+Gordon nodded. No incident connected with his trips to the island was
+ever likely to escape his memory. "I do, very well," he answered
+shortly.
+
+The girl nodded in her turn. "Then you probably remember," she
+continued, "what I said that day. And I've never changed my mind
+since. Just to be by ourselves somewhere in a little place in the
+country, and I should never want to be rich or want to see the city
+again. That would be my idea of being happy, Dick, but of course
+you've got your ambitions, and I've no right to want to hinder them."
+
+
+[Illustration: Gordon. Page 167]
+
+
+Gordon laughed. "The eternal feminine," he quoted. "I'm sorry, my
+dear, but I'm afraid I can't give them up, even to please you. Let me
+try them first, anyway, and then, if you're still of the same mind,
+we'll have the cottage and the roses to fall back on in our old age.
+Well, I suppose I must really be going. Until next week, then."
+
+He stooped and kissed her, and in another moment the door had closed
+behind him, and he was striding away down the street.
+
+Outwardly, to the casual passer-by, he appeared the very embodiment of
+content; prosperous, untroubled, self-satisfied. But inwardly, his
+keen mind was busy forecasting the future, and he was even then
+dissecting himself, his strong and weak points, his successes and his
+failures, as judicially and as mercilessly as he might have done if he
+had been sitting in judgment on some stranger in whom and in whose
+fortunes he had not a ray of interest.
+
+"Promising to marry her," he mused; "that was the worst mistake. I had
+to do it, of course, to get at old Pearson, and to get at Palmer, and
+for that matter I was crazy enough about her for a while to promise
+anything, but I was a fool not to look further ahead. It's only fools,
+anyway, who say, 'Let's cross that bridge when we get to it.' I
+suppose a more dangerous proverb was never coined. In plain English,
+all it means is that we're too lazy to take a look ahead to see if
+there's a bridge there at all. Yes, that was my mistake. Given a
+hundred thousand and my start, I was ready to promise anything, and
+now there's so much ahead I never dreamed of then, marrying her seems
+absolutely out of the question. Who would ever have foreseen, though,
+that she'd develop this spasm of virtue? If she'd been what I thought
+she was--and what I had every reason for thinking she was--I imagine
+things could have been fixed up easily enough. I wonder whether--"
+
+Abstractedly, as he crossed towards the park, he had paused for a
+passing victoria. As the carriage passed, he noticed that its only
+occupant was a girl, her slender figure clothed in deep black, and
+glancing up, he was just in time to receive Miss Sinclair's friendly
+bow. Raising his hat, he passed on and entered the park.
+
+"The devil!" he muttered. "Coincidences are queer things." And with a
+shrug of his shoulders he turned his thoughts in the direction of the
+day's plans.
+
+Ten minutes later he entered the Equitable Building, and turned sharp
+to the left where the doors leading into the big ground floor office
+suite bore the inscription, "Gordon and Randall; Investment
+Securities."
+
+Confident in himself as he was, firm believer as he had been from the
+first in the destinies of himself and his firm, even he still felt a
+trifle awe-struck at the wonder of it all. Only a few months ago and
+he had been proud of his little two room and a ticker establishment,
+proud of the fact that he had a stock clerk, a stenographer and an
+office boy, proud that he was slowly piling up his modest profits,
+regarding a five hundred share order with veneration--and now--the
+huge modern office lay outspread before him, clean, light, spacious,
+the delicate tracery of steel work taking the place of old-time
+partition and creaking door. To the right, occupying more than half
+the whole floor space was the huge "cage," with its ordered ranks of
+busy bookkeepers, cashiers, order clerks, margin clerks, telephone
+operators and messengers; in front, the pleasant room reserved
+for the firm's customers, where the casual investor might drop in
+for a moment to read at a glance the long rows of quotations on the
+board, and where the leisurely professionals gathered daily from ten
+to three to sit and smoke in the big cushioned armchairs, basking
+pleasantly in the sunshine, and listening to the whirring tickers
+as they sang their two songs, one merry and cheerful--up,
+up,--click, click,--up, up,--the other sorrowful and full of
+discouragement,--down--click--down, down--click--away, way down,
+more margin, quick,--click, click,--down, down, still further down,
+down--and out. To the left lay the private offices of the firm; first,
+the luxurious ladies' room; then, in sequence, the room for ordinary
+private business, then Gordon's and Randall's private consulting-room,
+and last of all, the holy of holies, Gordon's own special office, cosy
+and homelike, where he could retire when he pleased and be as safe
+from intrusion or interruption as though he were a thousand miles
+away. All in all, it was small wonder that Gordon stood still for the
+briefest of moments, looking quickly to right and left with the glance
+of the general marshalling his forces in review before going into
+action. Then, with a momentary glow of just self-satisfaction, he
+turned into the first office on the left and hastened to his desk.
+
+Field, his private secretary, had just finished sorting the mail, and
+stood waiting by the window while Gordon quickly ran through the
+letters that were left, checking, penciling, laying aside, with speed
+and despatch, and yet with due consideration and without haste; then
+he called Field to his side.
+
+"Well, Bert," he said affably, "they seem to be mostly routine, don't
+they? These you can attend to, if you'll be so kind. These go to Mr.
+Brown, and these I wish you'd give to Sumner, and ask him to look them
+up sometime before noon. I'll take them up with him directly after
+lunch. Now, how about Mr. Frost? Can he manage to get over here this
+morning without inconvenience?"
+
+Field nodded. Latterly he had noticed that upon request people
+generally found that they were able without apparent inconvenience to
+get over to his employer's office at almost any time. "Yes, sir," he
+answered promptly, "I managed to see Mr. Frost personally, and he said
+that he'd be here sharp at half past ten."
+
+"Thank you very much, Bert," said Gordon. "That's very good indeed. I
+think there's nothing more just now. I may ring a little later if I
+want you. If you will just keep on the lookout for Mr. Frost, and as
+soon as he comes show him right in."
+
+Field nodded and withdrew, appearing again at the end of fifteen
+minutes to usher in Mr. William D. Frost, widely known as one of the
+three highest-priced mining experts in the United States. Mr. Frost,
+as usual, was true to his word, for the clock struck the half hour
+sharply just at the moment that his spectacled, benevolent face
+appeared in the doorway.
+
+Gordon rose quickly. "My dear Frost," he cried, "I'm delighted to see
+you back. You look as fit as possible. Come right in and make yourself
+comfortable."
+
+Frost shook hands, followed Gordon into the inner office, and took the
+proffered arm-chair which Gordon drew up in front of the pleasant
+warmth of the open fire. He was a short, stout man, whose round, ruddy
+face and twinkling eyes gave not the slightest indication of the
+really remarkable brain within. One might perhaps have classed him as
+a traveling man, possibly as a prosperous manufacturer, as a long shot
+one might even have risked the guess that he had about him something
+of the magnetism of the successful politician, but the part of the
+mining expert scarcely seemed to fit. Leaning far back in his chair,
+legs crossed, the finger-tips of either hand touching one another, he
+threw Gordon a quick glance of inquiry. "All ready?" he queried, and
+then, as Gordon nodded, he began with characteristic directness and
+precision to speak.
+
+"A," he said, much as if his whole subject had been neatly typewritten
+and docketed in his orderly brain, "Preliminary recapitulation, if we
+may so term it. And subdivision one of same, my part in the
+enterprise."
+
+He paused for an instant, and then continued. "Six months ago you
+intrusted me with what we might designate as a kind of roving
+commission. My task was to locate for you, within the limits of North
+America, a genuine gold, silver or copper mine, or rather, to be
+perfectly explicit, not exactly a mine, but a claim or prospect, with
+such excellent possibilities attaching to it that one might easily
+make of it, with proper development, a first-class producing and
+dividend paying proposition. In a word, what you wished me to find for
+you was a mine in embryo? Am I so far correct?"
+
+Gordon nodded. "Absolutely correct," he answered good-humoredly. "No
+lawyer could state the facts more clearly, or more concisely."
+
+Frost checked on the fingers of his left hand. "Subdivision two," he
+continued, "your responsibility in the matter. You were to pay all
+necessary expenses, give me a salary of two thousand dollars a month,
+and in addition, if I so desired, you were to allot to me one-fiftieth
+part of the capital stock of the company, if any such company was ever
+formed. That, I take it, is also correct?"
+
+Gordon again nodded. "To the letter," he answered briefly.
+
+Frost, with his left hand, made a little gesture of dismissal, as if
+mentally telling the stenographer that she might now return the papers
+to the safe.
+
+"Very good," he said, "and now for part B. Written report of my
+investigations."
+
+From his inner breast pocket he drew a packet of papers, and handed
+them to Gordon. "One," he said, "itemized expense account. Two, bill
+for services. Three, typewritten report of work done, one hundred and
+thirty-nine pages; and, four, condensed summary of results attained
+and conclusions reached, eleven pages. All of these, of course, to be
+gone over by you at your leisure, after which I shall be glad to
+discuss any points or to answer any questions you may care to ask."
+
+Gordon laid the papers carefully on his desk. "Most excellent," he
+cried. "If all the world had your ideas of system, Frost, it wouldn't
+be such an infernally haphazard sort of place as it is. You've been
+more than good to take so much trouble. And now, as I'm apparently in
+for a pretty busy week, suppose we take advantage of the opportunity,
+and, entirely apart from your report, have you give me in a general
+way a little account of how things have gone."
+
+Frost nodded his assent. "I anticipated that you would in all
+probability make such a request," he answered, "and we may
+accordingly"--he tapped the third finger of his left hand--"proceed to
+C, brief verbal summary of my investigations."
+
+He paused, with the cautious hesitancy of a man given to much thought
+before putting his ideas into words, while Gordon perforce restrained
+his impatience as best he might. At length Frost broke the silence.
+
+"Of course, Mr. Gordon," he said, "you understand that mining
+forecasts are about the most uncertain things in an uncertain world,
+but, so far as I can tell, I've had really rather remarkable success.
+You'll find all this in the report, of course, but the situation, in
+just a word, is this: During my trip I've looked into over two hundred
+claims and prospects. In all but fifteen or twenty I found, right at
+the start, some radical defect; something wrong in the size or the
+location of the mine, or in the quality of the mineral. Of those
+remaining, I made, of course, a far more extended examination, and the
+result is that I have three propositions on which I am quite willing
+to stake my professional reputation. One is a copper mine in Arizona,
+one is a silver mine in British Columbia, and the third is a copper
+mine at the lake."
+
+Gordon's eyes gleamed. "Three!" he exclaimed with enthusiasm. "Well,
+that's certainly good enough. And which of the three do you consider
+the one best bet?"
+
+Frost's forehead wrinkled doubtfully. "Not to be too discouraging, Mr.
+Gordon," he answered, "I ought to say that in the case of all three
+there are certain disadvantages to be considered, and certain
+obstacles to be overcome. Take the Arizona mine. The price is
+exorbitant, to start with; there's a large amount of construction work
+to be done under unfavorable conditions; I'm not sure but what,
+considering that it's a low grade proposition, at best, the cost of
+production would run fairly high; and then, too, there seems to be a
+possibility of serious labor troubles out that way before long, which,
+while probably not a determining factor, ought still to be reckoned
+with."
+
+Gordon laughed. "Yes," he said, with irony, "just to start with, that
+does sound a little discouraging. Haven't you anything better than
+that to say for the others?"
+
+Frost sighed. "Better--or worse; I don't know which," he answered.
+"The silver mine has really caused me a great deal of anxiety. The
+deposit itself is wonderfully, almost incredibly, rich. One of the
+most interesting problems, purely from a geological standpoint, that I
+think I have ever seen. The truth about it is that it's totally
+undeveloped, and it's practically an impossibility to predict anything
+about the depth and extent of the deposit. As a straight mining
+proposition, it's easily the biggest gamble of the three, but really
+nothing more than a gamble. If, however--" he paused for a moment, and
+then continued apologetically: "This is, of course, entirely outside
+my province, but if the mine is to be looked at at all from the stock
+market point of view, and not entirely on its intrinsic merits, then
+the extreme richness of the surface deposit is so spectacular that I
+should judge that would be a strong point in the mine's favor."
+
+Gordon smiled. "Sometimes," he said softly, "even in the case of a
+perfectly legitimate enterprise like this, people will insist on
+looking at it merely as a market venture. It's a curious thing, Frost,
+isn't it?"
+
+Frost, feeling sure that he understood Gordon perfectly, smiled also.
+"Yes," he assented, "it is. So many people nowadays want to live
+without working, and, as a result, they get worked."
+
+Gordon laughed delightedly. "That's good, Frost," he cried, "very
+good, indeed. I must remember that. But to get back to business, how
+about the copper mine at the lake?"
+
+Frost at once resumed his wonted gravity. "The copper mine at the
+lake, if we could get it, Mr. Gordon"--he lowered his voice
+confidentially--"I believe to be far and away the best of the lot.
+It's really exceedingly interesting. You know, yourself, of course,
+that the only ground at the lake not already taken up is south of
+Octagon County, down where the Batavian and the Anona and all those
+properties are located, or else north as far as Seneca. Mining men
+have always disagreed, and still do disagree, as to what becomes of
+the Onondaga lode when it dips. Personally I have always believed that
+somewhere about the locality of the Batavian was the place to strike
+the lode, so, on my way west, I stopped there first of all, without, I
+must confess, finding much that interested me. The Seneca theory I've
+never been a believer in, and I hardly think I should have stopped
+there at all except that I wanted to do a thorough job. As a result,
+however, I'm afraid I've got to admit that I've been wrong, and that
+Paine and those other fellows have been right. It happened like this:
+I got in with a man named Peters out there, and got to know him pretty
+well, too. His own claim is a rather fair one; nothing startling; just
+a good, likely claim; but the one adjoining his is the jewel. They're
+all talking about it out there, and I got information enough, and saw
+samples enough, to convince me that that's the mine we want. But--and
+I'm sorry to say it's a big But--the claim is owned by an old fellow
+named Mason, a man of character and intelligence, but half crazy over
+the mine. It's meat and drink, body and soul, wife and child, to him,
+and he's absolutely fixed against parting with it, even though it's
+clear to every one but himself that he can never develop it alone. So
+there's where we stand. My advice would be that if you can get Mason's
+claim by hook or crook, you want it; it's the best of the three. If
+you actually can't get it, try the silver mine, unless you're
+unwilling to run the risk of losing your market reputation by getting
+your friends into a gamble that may go wrong. If you have that feeling
+about it, think over the Arizona proposition pretty carefully before
+you decide on it; it's safe, but hardly immensely profitable, I think.
+Do I make myself clear?"
+
+Gordon thought a moment. "Perfectly," he said at length, "except in
+one particular. You speak of getting Mason's claim by hook or crook.
+Just what do you mean by that?"
+
+Frost looked a trifle uncomfortable. "Well," he said at last, "we none
+of us like to own up to making failures, but I feel that somehow I
+ought to have done better with Mason. It may be all fancy, but I think
+the right man could have put the thing through. It's like this:
+Mason's got a pretty daughter, and there's a young fellow named
+Harrison who works with Mason who's sweet on her. Now, I guess, when
+you come right down to it, Harrison's word would go a long way toward
+deciding the thing with the old man; and I don't think I managed to
+hit it off just right with Harrison. They're a queer crowd out there,
+and I believe the man you want to send to clench things had better be
+the hail-fellow-well-met kind who can keep his end up whether it's
+drinking whisky, or fighting, or talking copper claims. Those seem to
+be the three principal industries of Seneca, and you can imagine the
+impression I made. Whisky always disagreed with me, and I'm
+essentially a man of peace. You need a man with red blood in him to
+get on out there; what they term, I believe, from something I
+overheard supposed to be somewhat to my discredit, 'a good mixer.' The
+right man can get that claim; I'm confident of it, but, frankly, I'm
+not the man. You see, I'm really not what you'd call a sport, Mr.
+Gordon."
+
+Gordon laughed long and heartily. "No, Frost," he said, when he could
+speak, "your worst enemy couldn't say that about you. But you're a
+mighty good judge of human nature, just the same, which is infinitely
+more to your credit. I think I catch your idea perfectly. The only
+thing now is to get the man, and that may be difficult. I wonder, now,
+how I would do?"
+
+Mr. Frost gazed at him meditatively. Then his face brightened. "I
+confess that hadn't occurred to me," he said, "but I can see many
+points in favor of such a decision. In the first place, you can thus
+keep the thing quiet, and that, of course, is of prime importance. As
+to your qualifications, you've been an athlete of distinction; I know
+you can adapt yourself to all sorts of company, and I believe,
+further, whether it's to your credit or not, you bear the reputation
+of never having been known to refuse a drink. The mining details I
+think I could prime you sufficiently on, but, really, after all, it's
+the other qualities that are going to carry the thing through." He
+nodded thoughtfully to himself, then said again, "Yes, I can certainly
+see many points in favor of such a decision."
+
+Gordon rose. "Well," he said, smiling, "I'm glad to know you think so
+well of me. We'll take a day or two to think things over, and then
+we'll have another talk. I'm tremendously obliged to you for all your
+trouble, and I'll send that check along this afternoon. Right out this
+door here. Takes you directly to the street. Good day, Mr. Frost.
+Behave yourself, now. Good day."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IV
+
+                     GORDON PLAYS TO THE GALLERY
+
+
+Harrison, somewhat clumsily, held the hotel door open for the
+stranger, and, as he followed him out into the street, quietly took
+his measure with a shrewd and appreciative eye.
+
+Indeed, as the two men strolled leisurely along down through the town
+and out toward the smelting works, there seemed physically little to
+choose between them. Harrison, big and burly and strong, was the
+heavier by some twenty or thirty pounds, and yet the easterner, with
+his broad back, sloping shoulders, powerful, well-rounded chest, and
+alert, confident step, though evidently lacking the rugged endurance
+of the miner, looked nevertheless in strength to be fully his equal,
+and in agility and speed his superior. Both, indeed, were well-nigh
+perfect examples of their type; the mastiff and the wolfhound might
+perhaps have been a not inapt comparison.
+
+The stranger was the first to break the silence. "Mighty good of you
+to take all this trouble, Jack," he said, "I'm getting to feel at home
+already."
+
+Harrison grinned, with a rough attempt to disclaim any courtesy on his
+part. "That's all right," he said. "Want to treat a man fair if I can.
+Anyways a mining man. Too bad it's Saturday afternoon, though. That's
+a regular half holiday here now. Boys mostly lay around and enjoy
+themselves. We'll find most of 'em out at the park, I guess, doin'
+stunts."
+
+The stranger looked at him inquiringly. "Stunts?" he queried.
+
+Harrison grinned. "Athletic craze struck here about a month ago," he
+answered. "Kind o' funny, too, when you come to think of it, ain't it?
+Here's a crowd o' big miners slavin' away five days an' a half a week
+gettin' out copper, workin' like truck horses, an' then when Saturday
+afternoons come they've got to get out an' work just about twice as
+hard playin' baseball an' runnin' an' throwin' weights. It's a pretty
+damn lucky thing they've got Sunday to rest up in, or they'd be one o'
+these fallin' offs in copper production you minin' fellers tell of."
+
+Gordon's face betrayed his interest. "It does seem funny," he
+acquiesced, "but I know how it is, just the same. I used to do a
+little in that line myself once on a time, and pretty good fun it was,
+too," and he smiled reminiscently as he spoke, as if the memories that
+came to mind were pleasant ones.
+
+Half a mile or so from town they came to the smelting works, as
+Harrison had predicted, shut down for the afternoon. Beyond the line
+of low buildings, a flat open field, the grass burned brown by the
+sun, stretched away for a quarter of a mile or more. The heat of the
+afternoon was just changing to the cool of evening, and, in the center
+of the field, true to Harrison's prophecy, two rival ball teams were
+playing with all the zest of boys. Nearer at hand a dozen brawny
+miners were throwing the hammer. Even as Gordon looked, one of them
+picked up the missile, swung it around his head, and hurled it far out
+from the circle. The stranger's eyes gleamed. "Rotten form," he
+muttered under his breath, and then, with apparent irrelevance, he
+added, "and they say there's no such thing as luck."
+
+They had reached the little group, and Harrison, evidently well known
+and well liked, was greeted with rough good will. Responding, he
+introduced the visitor. "Boys," he said, "let me make you acquainted
+with Mr. Gordon. He's another one o' these eastern minin' sharps, come
+out on purpose to buy the whole township, if we'll give him a cheap
+enough rate on it; so you want to look out an' treat him good."
+
+There was a general laugh, in which Gordon joined. "Oh, we easterners
+are easy, I admit," he said good-naturedly. "Don't soak it to me too
+hard, that's all I ask. Jack's got no license, though, to go to
+talking business on Saturday afternoon, just for the fun of getting
+after me. We're on a vacation now. Let's see somebody throw that
+hammer again."
+
+"That's right," cried Harrison; "let Bill Martin give her a toss. He's
+the man can do it."
+
+The others drew back, and as Martin willingly enough stepped forward,
+Gordon looked him over with undisguised admiration. He was perhaps
+thirty-five years of age, well over six feet, and a much bigger man
+than Harrison even. His woolen shirt, open at the neck, showed the
+play of the corded muscles in his massive throat and neck, and his
+uprolled sleeves disclosed the arms of a giant. Taking his stand
+somewhat awkwardly, he swung the hammer stiffly around his head, and
+then, with one final tremendous heave, sent it hurling a good ten feet
+beyond the farthest mark.
+
+There was a chorus of good-natured approval. "Put the tape on it,"
+cried three or four at once, and the hundred-foot measure was
+slowly unrolled until the mark was reached, and then pulled tight.
+"Ninety-four feet, eight inches," called the measurer, and there was
+another murmur of satisfaction. Harrison turned to Gordon. "How's
+that?" he grinned. "Beat that back east?"
+
+Gordon smiled too. "Well, that's a good throw," he answered
+noncommittally, "a mighty good throw from a stand, but the real way to
+throw a hammer's to turn with it; you can get up so much more speed
+that way."
+
+The little group gazed at him in astonishment. One or two grinned
+derisively. Old Jim Stickney, with deep meaning, spat upon the ground,
+then looked up at Gordon.
+
+"Would you show us?" he asked, with mild and deceptive politeness. "We
+all hail from Missouri here."
+
+Harrison looked distressed. He felt in a way responsible for the
+stranger. "Oh, hell, Jim," he expostulated, "ain't you got no
+manners?"
+
+Gordon laughed easily. "I guess it's up to me, boys," he said quietly,
+and, leisurely removing his coat, collar and tie, he laid them
+methodically on the ground.
+
+The group eyed him with surprised interest. Stickney grinned
+malevolently and moved away. "Goin' to git out o' range, boys," he
+said; "don't want to git hit."
+
+Gordon showed no resentment, but on the contrary nodded with the
+utmost cheerfulness. "That's a good idea," he said; "it's a long time
+since I've thrown one of these things. Can't tell what'll happen. I
+don't know that I ought to be throwing, anyway. My lungs aren't any
+too strong."
+
+Harrison, in mute distress, dreading a scene, laid a hand on his arm.
+"Don't let 'em make a fool of you," he whispered; "they'll tell it all
+over the county; unless," he added, "you really can throw the darned
+thing."
+
+Gordon nodded in quick appreciation of the other's good will. "Don't
+you worry, Jack," he whispered in answer; "I wouldn't try it if I
+couldn't get by. We've got to take the good chances when they come
+along. They're not apt to turn around and come back again."
+
+Harrison looked puzzled, and a little dubious, but as Gordon took his
+stand within the circle the miner's face cleared. There was a
+masterful ease in the way in which the easterner took his position
+very different from the awkward pose of the others. Once, twice, three
+times, the hammer circled around his head, and then, like lightning,
+he spun around in his tracks, once, twice, so quickly that the eye
+could scarcely follow the whirling missile. Then, in a flash, it
+leaped from his hands, and Gordon was left standing motionless in the
+ring, while the hammer shot up and out in a high, graceful curve,
+sailing along as if on wings until it landed with a thud so far beyond
+Martin's mark as to make comparison ridiculous.
+
+There was silence, bewildered, complete, absolute. Gordon, not seeming
+to notice, stepped from the circle. "A little low," he said, with a
+note of apology in his tone, "and I didn't quite get my weight behind
+it. A little out of practice, I guess, but the turn's a great thing."
+
+And then over the group swept a sudden revulsion, and there burst
+forth a mighty roar of laughter. Stickney spat again, but, if the
+phrase be permissible, with a far different intonation; and then
+voiced the sentiment of the crowd. "Well, by God," he cried nasally,
+"all I can say is I'm glad you ain't kept in steady practice, an' I'll
+say further that you can bet I ain't wastin' a mite of sympathy on
+them pore weak lungs o' yourn. No, sir, I ain't, an' not by a damned
+sight, neither."
+
+Bill Martin eyed the stranger with increased respect. "I'd like to
+know that trick," he volunteered. "Want to learn it to me?"
+
+Gordon nodded. "Certainly," he said; "glad to. Only you can't expect
+to get it right away. It looks easy enough, but I had to practise it
+every day for three months before I could get it down right. Here's
+the idea. I won't throw it. Just to show you"--He picked up the
+hammer, illustrating as he talked--"See? Pull back from it like this.
+Keep pulling against it all the time, and when you swing it around
+your head the third time, turn right on your toes, this way; once,
+twice, and then let her go for all there is in you. See?"
+
+Martin nodded, and took the hammer again in his hands, while Gordon
+and the others stepped quickly back. Once, twice, three times, he
+swung the missile with ever-increasing speed, and then, as he tried to
+turn rapidly, there ensued a sudden amazing tangle of arms and legs,
+hammer and man mixed in hopeless, whirling confusion, and two hundred
+and thirty pounds of bone and muscle and misdirected energy struck the
+ground with a mighty, jarring crash.
+
+Each man in the little knot of spectators expressed himself according
+to his temperament. One or two howled their joy aloud, others rolled
+prone upon the ground. Jim Stickney, holding his sides, the tears
+coursing down his cheeks, shook his head from side to side in helpless
+merriment. As a tableau the picture appeared to his delighted eyes too
+beautiful, too perfect, to spoil with mere words.
+
+Slowly Martin picked himself up from the ground, a flush of anger
+darkening his face. "Shut up, you damn fools," he growled, "the whole
+thing's a trick. There ain't no fair test to it. But if any one of you
+jackasses, when you get through your braying, wants to try and see how
+strong he is, I'll fight any three of you in succession, and I'll
+knock the everlasting stuffing out of you, too." He paused a moment,
+glaring blackly at the group; then, as an afterthought, added with
+deliberation: "West--or east. No bar. First come, first served."
+
+His words had a sudden sobering effect upon the crowd. The laughter
+died away. Gordon felt rather than actually saw all eyes turned
+curiously in his direction. He hesitated, but only for a moment.
+
+"Oh, the devil," he began good-naturedly, "nobody wants to
+fight--" but Martin's ill humor was not to be so easily appeased.
+
+"Oh, no," he jeered; "nobody wants to fight, and it's lucky for them
+they don't. It's lucky for them they're afraid--"
+
+On the instant Gordon stepped forward, an ugly little smile playing
+around the corners of his mouth. "Meaning me?" he asked quietly.
+
+Martin eyed him malevolently. "Sure," he grinned, with all the
+disagreeable effrontery he could put into his tone, "meaning you; and
+why not, I'd like to know."
+
+"Only this," said Gordon in a perfectly level tone; "that you're not
+the man to use that word quite so freely without knowing first what
+you're talking about. And you'll apologize to me right away before
+these gentlemen--or I'll fight you with all the pleasure in life,
+three-minute rounds, one minute rests, no hitting in clinches,
+Harrison to referee."
+
+Martin, the lust of battle glowing in his deep-set eyes, breathed a
+sigh of content. "Come on," was all that he said.
+
+With the readiness born of much experience, Harrison and Stickney in a
+twinkling had the simple preparations under way. The rough dimensions
+of a twenty-four-foot ring were paced off; the spectators took their
+places where corner posts and ropes should have been, and a messenger
+was despatched to the ball field for the two players' benches there in
+use. In short order he returned, aided with his burden by many willing
+hands; behind him trailing some two score eager followers, for in the
+eyes of the Lake a fist fight still took precedence without
+competition over all else in the line of true diversion.
+
+There was a moment's silence, and then Stickney, spitting furiously in
+his excitement, looked at his watch, and nodded. "All ready!" he
+cried, his voice vibrant with excitement, and at the word the two men,
+stripped to the waist, stepped quickly forward and shook hands.
+
+Gordon smiled at his burly antagonist. "No ill-feeling?" he queried
+good-naturedly.
+
+The miner shook his massive head. "Oh, no, not a bit," he said grimly,
+and his tone and the smoldering wrath in his eyes belied his words.
+
+Both men turned and walked slowly toward their corners; then "Time!"
+yelled Stickney, and, turning again, they put up their hands and
+warily faced each other.
+
+Martin stood upright in the center of the ring, body a little thrown
+back, his left arm held straight in front of him, and his right
+doubled across his chest. Gordon, standing easily and loosely, with
+muscles relaxed, eyed his man for a moment, and then suddenly dropped
+into the more modern fighting pose, crouched catlike, his weight well
+over his hips, shoulders hunched, both arms held loosely in front of
+him. Slowly he walked around the miner with quick and cautious steps,
+Martin pivoting slowly to meet him as he advanced. Nearer, nearer
+still, they came; imperceptibly the distance between them grew less
+and less, and then, all at once, like a flash, Gordon jumped in.
+
+Thud! came his right on Martin's ribs, and crack! came his left on
+Martin's face. The miner's head jerked suddenly back; he gave an
+involuntary grunt of pain; and from his twitching nostrils there came
+a sudden dark red stream of blood.
+
+Just for an instant he stood motionless, inert; then, smarting with
+pain, and half mad with rage, he lowered his head and charged like a
+bull. Gordon, hard-pressed, gave ground at once, stalling off as best
+he might the angry giant's reckless charge. Once the miner's right
+found his ribs, and his face contracted with a sudden spasm of pain,
+while the angry red blotches showed mottled against the clear white
+skin. Twice a mighty left swing just missed his jaw, and both times
+the indrawn breath of the crowd expended itself in a sigh, half of
+relief, half of disappointment, as they saw the easterner still
+unharmed.
+
+Thus two minutes of the round had gone, and then all at once there
+came a change, for by this time it had become evident to Gordon, long
+skilled in all the craft and science of the ring, that he had opposed
+to him a man, unskilful, to be sure, but untireable as well, and that
+the longer the fight lasted the better it would be for the miner and
+the worse for him. Thus, his mind made up, he summoned to his aid
+every particle of strength and cunning at his command, and when next
+the miner rushed, he no longer gave ground, but for an instant met the
+attack squarely and then again forced the fighting in his turn. Three
+times he landed straight lefts on Martin's face that should have put
+an ordinary man away for good, and three times the giant grunted and
+came on for more. Again Gordon drove home a smashing blow on the
+miner's gory nose, and then, in trying to get his right to the heart,
+he left himself for an instant unprotected, and in that instant
+Martin, fighting more craftily in his turn and biding his time, landed
+one of his wild right swings on Gordon's left cheek, just under the
+eye. Gordon staggered back, reeling; earth and sky blazed suddenly in
+a mist of swimming red; the wild yells of the miners reached him as
+the faintest buzzing of a swarm of bees; and, flushed and eager,
+Martin came on to finish his man. Like a drunken man Gordon blocked
+weakly, clenched mechanically with the fighter's instinct for an
+instant's respite, and then as Harrison, pitying but firm, walked
+between them, pushing them roughly apart and ordering them to take the
+center of the ring, in that blessed moment the mist cleared from
+Gordon's eyes, the red tide of life pulsed again through every vein,
+and brave heart and cunning brain waked again to life.
+
+Fortunate it would have been for Martin had he realized the change,
+but all unmindful he came gaily on, thrilling with the triumph of the
+fighting beast. Carelessly, recklessly, well-nigh disdainfully,
+he started in to demolish his weakening foe, and then--sudden,
+unlooked-for, amazing--Gordon's left caught him with a lightning jab
+in the ribs, Gordon's right caught him full on the point of the jaw,
+and, like a pole-axed bullock, he stood still for the veriest instant
+of time, and then, crashing face downward, lay motionless on the
+field.
+
+With the inrush of the crowd Gordon laid a hand on Harrison's arm,
+lifting his eyes in mute appeal, and Harrison, understanding, picked
+him up bodily in his arms and got him away to one side. Here, for ten
+minutes, he lay weakly enough, his head against Harrison's knee, his
+eyes half closed. Then, somewhat unsteadily, he struggled to his feet,
+and walked over to his still prostrate foe. Martin's grin, this time,
+was sincere, and his faint handshake had a friendly pressure.
+
+"All right," he said weakly; "no kick comin'. I know when I'm up
+against a better man, and you done me fair."
+
+Gordon straightened up, and spoke that all might hear. "Look here,
+gentlemen," he said, "I'm afraid I've started off badly. I'm out here
+on business, and I need the good-will of every one of you. Perhaps
+later on you may be glad of mine in return, but we can't tell about
+that now. All I want to say is that I didn't look for a fight, but
+since it came along I'm glad it's over, and I hope we'll all be better
+friends for it. I'm afraid I only beat Bill here by accident, and I'll
+bet I feel a good deal worse done up than he does." He paused and drew
+a fifty-dollar note from his pocket, handing it to Stickney with a
+smile, "I'm afraid I shan't be with you to-night," he added, "but I
+want you gentlemen to have a drink on me, all around, and then do a
+repeat as long as the money holds out, and I never want a better fight
+than I had to-day."
+
+Amid the general murmur of approval he nodded to Harrison, and
+together they started back for town. That evening Gordon spent alone
+in the hotel, in greater pain than he would have been willing to
+admit; but in tavern and bar-room and store his fame waxed mightily,
+and the next morning every man, woman and child in Seneca township
+knew that Mr. Richard Gordon, a "minin' sharp" from the effete East,
+had suddenly appeared among them, and had most emphatically "made
+good."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER V
+
+                        A QUESTION OF FINANCE
+
+
+The three men were seated together in Gordon's tiny room in the hotel.
+The shades were drawn, and the lamp on the table diffused at one and
+the same time light, heat, and a reek of ill-smelling oil. A scattered
+mass of papers, notes, jottings, memoranda, littered the room, and
+from the midst of this disorder Gordon, flushed, perspiring, for once
+lacking his usual calm, was seeking to bring about some semblance of
+system and order. Seated at the table, coat and vest tossed aside, he
+went through a regular routine, seizing on a paper and reading it
+through, then either tearing it up and tossing it aside, or
+transcribing its contents, his fingers flying furiously over the
+typewriter's clicking keys. Steadily and rapidly he did his work, and
+steadily the little heap of typewritten pages at his right hand
+mounted higher and higher still.
+
+Jim Mason, sprawled comfortably in the armchair, smoked in silence,
+apparently waiting with calmness for the completion of the task. Jack
+Harrison sat on the side of the bed, awkward and uncomfortable, his
+troubled gaze shifting from Mason to Gordon and back again with the
+air of one who wishes to see a puzzling silence brought to an end.
+
+Finally Gordon cast the last discarded memorandum from him, whirled
+the last sheet of copy from the typewriter, and with a heartfelt sigh
+of relief pushed back his chair. "There," he cried, "that's out of the
+way; and now let's see what we've got to show for it."
+
+For a moment he sorted and arranged the typewritten sheets; then,
+looking up at the others, he spoke eagerly, anxiously, almost with a
+note of entreaty in his tone. "I hate to rush this thing through this
+way," he said, "and under ordinary circumstances I wouldn't do it, but
+you understand the situation as well as I do. This is the time you
+want to give me a free hand on the stock market end of the deal, just
+as later on, when you want all kinds of new-fangled machinery and all
+that sort of thing, I shall have to let you get it, though I won't
+know whether we need it or not. In other words, it's a mutual affair.
+You don't know and don't care just the precise moment when the stock
+ought to be listed, and I don't know and don't care about the
+difference in the rock on the sixth level and the seventh, but you
+want to let me run the incorporation and the market end, though you're
+not especially interested in them, and I want to let you run
+everything connected with the mine, though personally I don't care
+half so much about all that part of it as you do."
+
+He paused for a moment, then continued, more slowly, "The point in our
+settling this thing up quick is right here. It's only about once in
+every five or six years that there comes a time like this in coppers,
+anyway. It takes a long time to get the pot boiling; then for a while
+it boils like the very devil, and then--it boils over; there's a
+busted boom, and people are left to sit down on their holdings for
+five or six years more, calling themselves names and wondering how
+they could ever have been such fools. At the end of that time, such a
+wonderful thing is the human mind, they've forgotten the past, and
+fairly tumble over themselves in their anxiety to repeat the process.
+Right now is the beginning of the biggest copper boom this country's
+ever seen, and it looks as if it would last for a good long time.
+Still, you can't ever tell; there are so many things that can happen;
+and what I want to do is to have the Ethel all incorporated and ready
+to launch just at the exact moment when the people are so crazy over
+coppers that they'll buy anything that's even named a mine, let alone
+a genuine first-class proposition like ours. Then we'll be sure of the
+mine's future, for we'll be able to make enough legitimate profit in
+the market to set aside a sum big enough to look out for all the
+development work we might ever be called upon to do. So the quicker we
+can get the papers signed, and the quicker I can get back East and
+have the company incorporated, the safer for all of us. There, that's
+the whole story, and if there's anything about it that isn't on the
+square, I want you to say so. How about it, Jim?"
+
+Mason slowly removed his pipe from his mouth. "Sounds all right," he
+said laconically.
+
+Gordon turned to Harrison. "Any objection, Jack?" he queried.
+
+Harrison shook his head. "Sounds all right," he echoed. "Maybe down on
+the sixth level me and Jim could give you some pointers, but when it
+comes to stocks and bonds I guess you're the doctor. I don't see
+what's wrong with getting things fixed up right away."
+
+Gordon nodded. "I'm glad you both think so," he said, his relief
+showing in his tone. "And you'll find you won't regret it, either.
+Now--" he reached for the typewritten papers, "here's the best I could
+do on an agreement. It's a lawyer's job, but I guess what I've patched
+together here will hold water, anyway. Stop me if there's anything you
+don't understand, and if you want to ask any questions, just fire
+away."
+
+He tilted his chair back against the wall, glanced the papers through
+for an instant, and began to read rapidly, skipping here and there.
+
+"This agreement, entered into this blank day of blank, between said
+Mason and said Gordon, witnesseth; said Mason, hereinafter styled the
+party of the first part, in consideration of the sum of one dollar and
+other good and valuable consideration, the receipt whereof is hereby
+acknowledged, to him paid--does hereby covenant and agree with said
+party of the second part--"
+
+He broke off suddenly, letting the papers fall from his hand, and
+mopping his forehead with his handkerchief.
+
+"Damn the language they use," he said, "it's too much to wade through
+now. Boiled right down to plain common sense, I give you fifty
+thousand dollars cash for a half interest in the mine, and you're
+appointed superintendent for ten years at a salary of five thousand a
+year, and Jack assistant for the same time at three thousand a year.
+That's the gist of it, isn't it? and that's plain enough for any one."
+
+Mason glanced a trifle doubtfully at the ten or twelve scattered
+sheets. "What's all the rest of it?" he inquired.
+
+Gordon slowly lit a cigar. "Well," he said at length, "you know all
+the stuff that has to go into one of these things. There's nothing of
+any real importance beyond what I've just said. The other clauses take
+up provisions as to how the corporation's going to be formed, and all
+that sort of thing. They don't amount to anything except to get us all
+mixed up, though, if we start to go into them. Why don't we say that
+I'll get the whole thing in final shape by to-morrow night. Then we
+can sign it before a notary, and I can put for home and get things
+underway without any delay at all. Or do you think of anything else?
+You're all right as far as the board of directors goes. You'll both be
+on the board, and any other Michigan man you think ought to go on. The
+eastern men that I'm going to get are all first-class in every way,
+and there's no doubt we'll have a strong board. Most of the other
+things, as I say, are mere matters of detail, so I should think if you
+could get around about this same time to-morrow night we could fix
+things up then, and make our start."
+
+There was a moment's silence. Then Jim Mason again removed his pipe
+from his mouth. "About what," he said deliberately, "were you
+calculatin' on for your capital stock?"
+
+From Gordon's manner no one could have guessed that this was the one
+subject he had feared and dreaded, that this was the one question he
+had hoped and prayed no one would raise. Indeed, to all appearances,
+he welcomed the topic with real pleasure.
+
+"Well, where are my wits wandering to?" he cried. "Why, that was one
+of the things I particularly meant to speak of, Jim, because I knew if
+I didn't, you might have your breath taken away. You see, times have
+changed in the stock market, altogether. Where once it was a rich
+man's game, now everybody plays it. The clerk on his twelve dollars a
+week reads the stock column with just as much care as the millionaire,
+perhaps with more. The coachman the butler and the chauffeur, even the
+maid and the milliner, keep their ears open, and when an employer
+plunges, he carries a lot of people and a lot of money, of whom
+and of which he is entirely unconscious, along with him. So a copper
+stock, to be attractive to the general public to-day, has got to be a
+low-priced one; and of course that means a larger capitalization. Ten
+years ago, if you'd asked me the same question, I'd have said,
+'Capitalize at ten thousand shares, at a par of a hundred,' and I
+guess, for that time, that would have been about right. For that time,
+you understand, but--"
+
+Mason interrupted. "For that time, or for any time," he said
+positively, "that would have been right then, and it's right to-day,
+too. I'm agin' these big capitalizations, and that's just why I asked
+you for the information. Ten thousand shares, and par a hundred
+dollars. That's my ideas. What do you say, Jack?"
+
+Harrison nodded, with, for him, unusual decision. "I guess that's
+about the regular thing," he answered, "leastways, in this state.
+That's what the Orono's in at, and the Hawkeye, and the Iroquois's
+only got five thousand, but they're a smaller proposition than the
+others. Yes, I guess for us ten thousand, and par a hundred, just
+about hits things right."
+
+Gordon shook his head vigorously. "No, no," he cried, "you're wrong,
+both of you. But it's only because, as Jack just said a few moments
+ago, you're not in touch with market conditions in just the same way
+that I am. A big capitalization and a low par are the two things that
+are going to benefit everybody. They're going to help us make money,
+and that's going to help develop the mine, and, better than anything
+else, it's going to give lots of poor devils a chance to get into a
+really good thing at a moderate price, instead of wasting their good
+money on the first wildcat scheme that comes along, some kind of a
+fake mine that doesn't exist at all except on paper. Really, I hope
+you'll be willing to take my judgment on this; I'm right; I'm sure of
+it, or I wouldn't say so."
+
+Both Mason and Harrison looked puzzled. There was a moment's silence.
+Then Mason, asked abruptly, "Well, what do you call right, then?"
+
+Gordon, as he answered, made an effort to speak in a perfectly casual
+tone. "Why," he said easily, "as I say, I'd make the par very low, say
+five dollars a share. Then, of course, to give everybody a show, you'd
+have to have plenty of stock. I don't really care about the exact
+amount. I haven't given that much thought; but I should say, off hand,
+perhaps a million shares would be about right."
+
+Mason stared at him in blank astonishment. "A million shares!" he
+gasped. "You'd capitalize the Ethel at five million dollars. God, man,
+you're crazy!"
+
+Gordon flushed. "I guess one of us is crazy," he retorted, with some
+heat, "and I don't think I'm the one. I keep telling you you'd do a
+lot better to leave the whole market end of this thing to me. Why,
+half the people that'll buy our stock won't know how many shares there
+are, won't know what the par is, won't know a single identical thing
+about the mine except what I tell 'em in my advertisements. What's
+more, if we offered to tell 'em every single thing we know about the
+mine, they wouldn't care to take the trouble to listen. They're not
+buying shares in a copper mine. They're scraping together money enough
+to take a little flier, on margin, of course, something they mean to
+hold for a day or a week or maybe a month, and get out of at the first
+decent chance. The whole damned market's nothing but a big gamble,
+anyway, and everybody knows it, and what we're offering's a hundred
+times more legitimate than most of the stock deals people frame up,
+because, when all's said and done, we've got a genuine mine behind us.
+Still, we're not taking all this trouble just for our health, and we
+can use money just as well as anybody else. And the way to get the
+money, as I'm now trying to drive into your heads for about the tenth
+time, is to launch our mine with a big capitalization and a low par."
+
+He stopped abruptly. Harrison, indeed, looked somewhat impressed, but
+Mason shook his head. "No, sir," he said stubbornly, "I know just a
+little mite about the market myself, and I don't say but what, if
+anybody's goin' to get skun, I wouldn't rather kinder give ourselves
+the benefit of the doubt, but five million dollars for the Ethel,"--he
+straightened up in his chair in his excitement--"five million dollars!
+Why, that's so damned unreasonable they're ain't no good tryin' to
+argue about it. When do you expect to pay a dividend on your million
+shares, I'd like to know?"
+
+Gordon, to all appearances, looked thoughtful, as indeed he was.
+"Well," he admitted at length, "not right away, I suppose, and I'll
+own up there's some sense in the way you look at it, if the people
+were going to buy the stock for a real investment. Why don't we do
+this? Issue ten thousand shares of preferred stock, at a par of
+twenty-five or fifty, for the kind of people that want to buy for
+investment. We could really pay dividends on that, without the
+slightest doubt. And then, for the crowd that only wants to take a
+flier, and don't care a continental about the merits of the mine, or
+its future, we'll issue a million shares of common stock, at a par of
+five. Then we'll all be suited. How does that strike you?"
+
+Mason snorted. "Oh, hell," he said forcibly, "what's the use of you
+talking that way? I've lived pretty near seventy years without robbing
+any one yet, and damned if I want to begin now. I'll wind up in the
+poorhouse first. What say, Jack?"
+
+Harrison shook his head helplessly. "I don't know," he said vaguely.
+"Seems a pretty big lot of stock to me. Too big, I reckon."
+
+Gordon laughed, with an attempt to pass the matter off lightly. "Oh,
+well," he said, "I don't want to do anything that neither of you
+approve of, of course. Why not let the whole matter of the capital
+stock drop for the present, and let the full board of directors settle
+it when we're organized?"
+
+It was a last effort, and a futile one. Indeed, the moment the words
+had left his mouth, Gordon saw his mistake. Mason laughed a little dry
+laugh. "Yes," he said, with irony, "and four of the seven on the board
+are easterners. How'd they settle it, I wonder?"
+
+Gordon's expression was not a pleasant one. With a faint shrug of his
+shoulders, he arose.
+
+"Well, I'm sorry," he said, "but I don't see what I can do. If I do
+say it, you're being treated as fair as any two men could ask. You're
+looked out for in every possible way, and if you choose to spite
+yourselves, and call everything off, because you can't trust me on one
+of the minor details of the whole scheme, why, I can't see that it's
+up to me. I'm sorry, though, sincerely sorry. I firmly believe the
+mine has a great future."
+
+Harrison's face lengthened perceptibly. The downfall of all his own
+cherished plans was far from pleasant. Mason, however, got up from his
+chair, his stern old face set in aggressive lines.
+
+"Dick Gordon," he said, "I've liked you first-rate, up to now; I've
+tried my best to use you right, an' I've gone further with you than I
+ever went with any other man concernin' the mine, but I don't like
+this part of your scheme, an' I never will. It ain't honest.
+Capitalize her at a million dollars, an' we're with you up to the
+neck, but if you're goin' to stick to any of these five million
+schemes, why--you can go plumb to hell for all of me."
+
+He walked slowly towards the door. Harrison rose and, awkwardly
+enough, followed suit. There was a moment's tense silence. Then Gordon
+stepped forward and laid his hand on Mason's arm.
+
+"For God's sake, Jim," he cried, "don't let's part this way. We seem
+to look at this thing differently, but we've been too good friends to
+start quarreling over it now. Give me a week to think the whole
+proposition over, and you take the same. Pretty nearly everything in
+the world can be fixed up by some sort of a compromise. You're sure
+you're right, and I'm sure I'm right, but I'm not going to quarrel
+with you and Jack, if we never have a mine at all. And if we find we
+can't come to terms, and there's anything else I can do, why, I'll be
+ready, just the same, to help out any time in any way I can."
+
+By good fortune he had struck the proper chord. Almost instantly
+Mason's face cleared, and with, for him, unusual feeling, he extended
+his hand. "That sounds more like it," he cried, "we'll sleep on it for
+a while, anyway, and see what we can fix up." He paused a moment, then
+added gruffly, "I guess maybe I spoke kind of hasty, too."
+
+Gordon laughed. "Oh, that's all right," he said. "Maybe you're right,
+and I'm wrong, after all. But let's make an honest try to get
+together, anyway, and see if we don't come out better than we think.
+Good night, Jim; good night, Jack; see you again in a day or two; good
+night."
+
+His tone was easy and pleasant, his expression fairness and cordiality
+itself, yet scarcely had the door closed behind them when his whole
+face suddenly darkened and distorted with rage.
+
+"You fool," he muttered; "you damned straitlaced old fool. To have a
+chance like that, and turn it down because you thought it wasn't
+honest. Well, you've had your chance, and it won't come again--"
+
+Just for a moment he paused, and then, his eyes gleaming with passion
+under his frowning brows, he added, with savage, deliberate meaning,
+"It won't come again, as long as you live."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI
+
+                       THE SPINNING OF THE WEB
+
+
+Bill Hinckley, pallid, unshaven, tremulous with drink, his drooping
+lower lip destroying whatever intelligence of expression he might have
+had when sober, blinked across the table at Harrison, and with his
+tattered coat sleeve wiped the maudlin tears from his staring,
+bloodshot eyes.
+
+"I'm damn much obliged, Jack," he quavered, "you're good frien' to me
+always, an' I'll never forget it, never. I thought I was down 'n out
+for good, 'n would have been, too, 'f 'twan't for you. You're good
+frien', Jack, an' I'll never forget it, never."
+
+Harrison eyed him with some disgust. "Ah, cut out the thanks, Bill,"
+he said good-naturedly. "This ain't charity; it's business. We need a
+watchman, an' if you've got sense enough to keep sober there ain't no
+reason why you can't hold down the job as well as the next man. It
+ain't my doings, anyway; it's Gordon's. He's puttin' up the stuff, an'
+he asks me if I've got any friend I think'll be partial to the job.
+That's how you come in. But you want to get out of this place pretty
+damn quick. You've got two days to sober off in, an' then it's up to
+you whether you make good on your job or not. So you want to make a
+break out of here right away now. Rum shops ain't healthy for you. Get
+the idea?"
+
+He rose, and Hinckley obediently enough followed suit, although into
+his drink-sodden brain hardly a word of Harrison's explanation and
+caution had penetrated. He had a chance at a job, and Harrison had got
+it for him; those were the two ideas he had absorbed, and those only,
+and his last words to Harrison were a repetition of his old refrain,
+"You're good frien' to me, Jack, an' I'll never forget it, never."
+
+The week which Gordon had proposed for the consideration of the
+question of the capital stock had become first two, and then three,
+without any definite agreement being reached. The old man stood firm.
+Ten thousand shares, par one hundred; that he had determined upon as
+the proper thing, and to move him one share or one dollar in either
+direction seemed apparently a task impossible of achievement. To
+Gordon, therefore, fell the lot of yielding gracefully, and while he
+did not at once abandon his position outright, he did take pains to
+make it clear both to Mason and to Harrison that any arrangement in
+reason would be satisfactory to him. Thus complete good feeling was
+restored among the three, each tacitly assuming that some kind of an
+understanding would be reached whenever Gordon was ready to say the
+word.
+
+Certain much needed improvements, indeed, Gordon insisted upon having
+made at once; for the mine's sake, as he phrased it, and not for his
+own. Not the least of these was the appointment of Bill Hinckley as
+watchman, and in Hinckley's welfare Gordon from the first showed a
+most kindly interest. Not only did he fit him out with a suit of
+clothes, a cartridge belt and revolver, but further he did what he
+could to arouse the drunkard's self-respect, smoothing out occasional
+dissensions between Mason and Hinckley, and sometimes even, when bound
+towards the mine, taking Hinckley's lunch pail down to him, and
+stopping for a pipe and a friendly chat.
+
+Small wonder that he soon numbered Hinckley, along with most of the
+rest of the township, among his devoted admirers. With high and low
+alike, indeed, throughout the county, Gordon, as time went on, had
+reinforced his first good impression, gained by force of arms, by
+showing equal aptitude for the gentler arts of peace. Alike in the
+town of Seneca, among the scattered mountain claims, and in Jim
+Mason's little cabin itself, he was soon a welcome visitor, honestly
+liked, respected and looked up to.
+
+And all this time, for all his different activities, for all the
+seeming aimlessness of many of his expeditions and conversations,
+Gordon, far underneath the surface, was working ceaselessly, steadily,
+relentlessly, toward one desired end; with Jim Mason's cabin as the
+scene, and the members of Jim Mason's household as the involuntary
+actors, in the drama whose final act he was seeking to hasten to its
+end.
+
+With honest, open-minded Jack Harrison he had been on the best terms
+from the first; with Jim Mason progress had been slower, but progress
+it had been, for all that. And while the old man's grunts and
+occasional dry chuckles meant to Gordon little in the way of
+cordiality or good-will, to Ethel Mason and to Harrison they were
+a source of constant wonderment, revealing, as they did, depths of
+good-humor in the crusty old man of which they had never even dreamed.
+With the girl herself Gordon found his wits kept busy in a spirited
+warfare of words, for apparently to Ethel Mason his every action
+was a subject for criticism, his every word an opening for a shaft
+of wit, barbed for the most part, too, with a sarcasm keen and fine;
+and yet, for all their contention, under the surface both felt a
+mutual--perhaps both alike would have paused, at a loss for the
+precise word--liking, regard, attraction, perchance even a word of
+deeper meaning still.
+
+From the first, indeed, they had been thrown much in each other's
+company. Many a long ride Gordon had been forced to take over the
+winding, solitary mountain roads, and what more natural than that he
+should ask Ethel Mason to go with him as companion and guide. And
+then, on days when business did not intrude itself, what again more
+natural than the transition to rides and walks with pleasure and not
+business as their aim.
+
+One place especially possessed for Gordon an irresistible
+attraction,--beyond the pass, down in the lowland between the
+mountains, where the brown of the marsh, dotted with many a quiet pond
+and reedy pool, stretched far away on either hand, far as the eye
+could reach, losing itself at last against the dim, smoky outline of
+the distant hills. The river, a narrow ribbon of brightest blue,
+flowing peacefully along through the valley in many a winding curve,
+spread gradually out, just under the shadow of Burnt Mountain, into a
+long, shallow, sedgy lagoon, the stopping place for innumerable hosts
+of chattering wild-fowl, winging their leisurely way along on their
+journey to the southward. Hither it was that Gordon loved to come, and
+hither it was, on a crisp fall afternoon, that he and Ethel Mason,
+driving over the mountain from Seneca, had come, intent upon the
+evening flight.
+
+The sun still hung, an hour high, above the horizon. A big
+green-headed mallard drake winged his way lazily from the marsh over
+toward the pond, noted with pleased interest the little flock of his
+companions feeding near the shore, turned, set his wings, and glided
+gently downward through the crisp, dry stillness of the keen October
+air. A puff of white smoke darted from the clump of reeds, there was a
+crack like the sharp snap of a whip lash; the drake's head jerked
+suddenly back over his body, and with a mighty splash fell stone dead
+into the quiet waters of the pond. The little ripples spread away
+until they touched the shore, a few feathers floated softly downward
+on to the quiet surface, the smoke wreathed slowly heavenward,
+dissolving against the clear blue sky, and all was still again.
+
+Lying back at ease in the little blind skilfully hidden on the shore,
+Gordon leisurely took the gun from the girl's hand, snapped it open,
+slipped in a fresh cartridge, and with a slow smile of admiration
+handed it back to her again.
+
+"Ethel," he said, "you certainly can shoot. I've never heard of a girl
+killing ducks the way you can. It's really remarkable."
+
+The girl nodded indifferently. "Yes," she answered listlessly; "I can
+shoot, and fish, and ride a horse, and cook, and keep house, and
+that's all. That makes a great life for a girl, doesn't it? And all
+the things I'd really like to do, the things that make any girl's life
+pleasant, why, I've never had a chance at one of them--and I suppose I
+never shall."
+
+Gordon gazed steadily at the girl as she sat looking out over the
+pond, the little sixteen-gage across her knees. For the hundredth time
+he noted the slender perfection of her lithe young figure, the
+faultless profile, the delicate, almost childlike beauty of every
+feature. And he did not take his eyes away.
+
+"The things you'd really like to do," he repeated. "I'm afraid, Ethel,
+you're just like nine-tenths of the rest of the world, not knowing
+when you're well off. What could you want better than this?"--he waved
+his hand toward the quiet waters of the pond, the level marsh beyond,
+the pleasant valley stretching away to meet the distant hills, and
+above them the huge mountain towering up against the sky. "And you'd
+leave the life you're living--for what? Suppose you had all the money
+you wanted, suppose this very minute you were free absolutely to act
+as you pleased, now what would you really do?"
+
+The girl gazed dreamily away over the valley. "All the money I
+wanted," she mused; "oh, I don't know. First of all, I'd get straight
+away from here. I'm sick to death of it all. I'd go right to some big
+city, where I could see all the things I've always wanted to see, and
+buy all the things I've always wanted to buy. Clothes, first, of
+course, and jewels and things; and theaters, and the opera, and an
+automobile. Oh, I could spend the money all right; you needn't worry
+about that."
+
+Gordon laughed. "I believe you," he said. "I'd like to watch you doing
+it, and I believe I'll have a chance to, some day. I don't know how
+good it's going to be for you, but if you'll have patience a little
+while longer, till this deal about the mine goes through, you'll have
+money enough. There's no question about that."
+
+The girl shook her head disbelievingly. "For the last five years," she
+said, "I've been hearing about the money we were going to get out of
+the mine some day. Now I've got so that when I see it--real, true
+money--I'll believe it; and not a minute before."
+
+Gordon smiled. "This time," he said, "things are really going through.
+I'm willing to admit that your father is about the toughest
+proposition to do business with that I've ever come across. I'm used
+to getting my own way, myself, but I can always see the other fellow's
+side, and come to some sort of a compromise; but your father--good
+heavens, he doesn't know what the word compromise means. I've given in
+to him practically on every detail of the whole agreement, and when,
+at the very end of everything, there's one little point that I'm
+anxious to have my way about, why, no, he won't give in on that,
+either, and if I don't like it, I can go back East without the mine,
+or go to another place he mentioned. That's compromise for you, with a
+vengeance."
+
+The girl laughed in thorough enjoyment. "What is it you can't agree
+about?" she queried.
+
+"Why," answered Gordon, "it's about the question of the capital stock.
+It's a little technical, perhaps, to explain to you, but the result is
+that where he wants to make one dollar, I want to make five. Doesn't
+my way sound the best?"
+
+The girl laughed again, but, withal, glanced at him shrewdly. "Of
+course it does," she answered lightly, "much the best; but I suppose
+in the end you've got to give in to him, just the same; that is, if
+you want the mine."
+
+Gordon sighed. "Yes, I suppose so," he assented, "but don't let him
+know it, just the same. I'm still holding out on a bluff. But I've as
+good as made up my mind. The mine's really a wonder; it's too good a
+chance to let go, even though it's got to be run on your father's
+somewhat old-fashioned ideas."
+
+There was a moment's silence. Then the girl spoke again. "You've waked
+them up a little, anyway," she observed. "Didn't Jack tell me you were
+going to keep Hinckley for a watchman?"
+
+Gordon nodded. "We surely are," he answered. "I did manage to persuade
+the old man about that. Oh, and that reminds me, too; there's
+something else I meant to ask him about that. Isn't there another
+opening of some old claim that comes out near our fifth level
+somewhere?"
+
+The girl nodded in turn. "Sure," she answered "Abe Peters started a
+claim before the one he's got now that does come out right on the
+fifth level, but we bought the land afterwards; it wasn't any use to
+him. You wouldn't need any watchman there."
+
+"No," assented Gordon; "I guess that's right. I had an idea it was on
+Peters' land. I don't suppose any one could get down it, anyway."
+
+The girl laughed outright. "Of course they could," she cried; "but
+they couldn't do any harm to the claim. It seems to me you're awfully
+green about mining for such a smart man as they say you are."
+
+Gordon did not seem in the least offended. On the contrary, he laughed
+with the utmost good nature. "I'll admit it," he said; "but I'm not
+nearly so green when it comes to the stock market end of things, and
+that's what concerns you most, after all. You wait about six months,
+and you'll be spending money hand over fist; see if you don't."
+
+The girl pondered. "I don't suppose," she said, at last, "that the old
+man would let me go off traveling alone. Maybe I'll have the money,
+but no chance to blow it in."
+
+Gordon laughed. "Of course," he said, with mock seriousness, "what you
+really need is a husband to take you around and give you a good time.
+I think I know a man that would like the job first-rate, too."
+
+The girl nodded. "I know of several myself," she answered coolly, "but
+I suppose you mean Jack, don't you?"
+
+"Yes," said Gordon, "I mean Jack. It's quite evident to any one.
+Joking aside, though, Jack's a mighty good fellow, and he's been a
+mighty good friend to your father. It isn't one man in a hundred that
+would stick the way he has. If your father's made a will, or ever does
+make one, you really ought to remind him to fix Jack all right in it.
+It's a curious thing, but as a man grows older, he sometimes forgets
+things like that altogether."
+
+The girl shrugged her shapely shoulders. "A will," she echoed. "He'd
+never take the trouble to make a will. He's pretty healthy yet. And as
+long as you've got it all fixed that I'm to marry Jack, it'll be all
+right, anyway."
+
+Gordon laughed. He found the girl distinctly amusing. "I wonder," he
+said idly, "how Jack will like taking a spending trip around the
+country. Not very much, I fancy. I imagine he's more for the happy
+fireside act, isn't he?"
+
+The girl laughed, too. "I think you're awfully good," she said, "to
+take so much trouble over my affairs. I think you're right, too. I
+never thought of it before. I don't believe I'll take Jack, after
+all."
+
+"I wonder, now," ventured Gordon, "if any of the others--"
+
+The girl shook her head. "No, not a bit better," she answered. "I'll
+tell you, though, what you might do. You might break off your
+engagement with that girl back East you've been telling me about, and
+then ask me. I'm not sure but what you'd do pretty well. You've got
+money, they say, and that's a good deal. Of course, you're rather
+conceited, but then you're not bad-looking. On the whole--"
+
+Gordon cut her short. "I beg off," he cried; "a joke's a joke, but
+you're rather rubbing it in. I tried to be funny with the wrong
+person; I'll admit it. Speaking of Rose, though; that reminds me
+again--I'm going to see if I can't persuade her to come out here soon;
+it's taking so much longer to get things in shape than I thought it
+would, and I was wondering--do you suppose you'd mind asking her to
+stay with you? The hotel, to be frank, is pretty near the limit, and
+then there'd be a chaperon, too, while if you invited her--"
+
+The girl nodded. "Sure," she said; "glad to. I'd really like to see--"
+
+She stopped abruptly. A pair of black ducks swung swiftly across the
+decoys, and like a flash the gun leaped to her cheek. The two quick
+reports sounded almost as one, and the two ducks struck the water,
+dead. The girl rose.
+
+"Come on," she cried, "that makes our dozen. We've got to be getting
+back home."
+
+By the time Gordon had launched the little skiff and brought the ducks
+ashore, she had deftly harnessed the horse to the old buggy, and stood
+waiting for him. Tossing the ducks under the seat, he stood back for
+her to get in, and then, with a sudden impulse, stepped forward again,
+blocking her path. Very dainty, very charming, she stood there with a
+little smile of understanding on her lips.
+
+"Ethel," he whispered.
+
+She made no answer. A sudden gust of passion shook him. He took one
+quick step forward, and clasped her in his arms. "Ethel," he whispered
+hoarsely, "suppose there wasn't any other girl."
+
+With a glance enticing beyond words, she raised her eyes to his. "Oh,
+but there is," she answered, and yet she made no move to free herself,
+and in another moment their lips met.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VII
+
+                            A DOUBLE BLOW
+
+
+"Some one," said Ethel Mason, "has to go to town for me this
+afternoon. There are a dozen things I've got to have right away."
+
+She looked at Gordon as she spoke, but he smilingly shook his head in
+answer.
+
+"Some one," he said lightly, "doesn't mean me. I've got to drive over
+to the Iroquois to see Haskins about that smelting proposition, and
+you know what that means; I shan't be back till supper time at the
+earliest. Otherwise I'd do your marketing for you with all the
+pleasure in life."
+
+The girl nodded, and turned to Rose Ashton. "Isn't he clever at
+excuses?" she said. "Preparing for married life, I suppose."
+
+Rose laughed in answer. A week in the little cabin on Burnt Mountain
+had changed her a hundredfold for the better. The color in her cheeks
+and the animation of her whole expression bore witness that her
+surroundings were to her complete satisfaction.
+
+"I'll go for you, Ethel," she said; "unless," she added, turning to
+Gordon, "you'll take me with you, Dick. I'd like to go."
+
+Gordon doubtfully shook his head. "I'd like nothing better, of
+course," he said; "but I don't believe you should attempt it, Rose.
+You have no idea what these mountain roads are like in places; it's
+about as rough as an ocean voyage. And as far as that goes, I don't
+believe you want to walk to town and back, either. It's altogether too
+far. You'll be sensible to stay at home and rest."
+
+The girl's face showed her disappointment, and she was about to
+protest, when Harrison spoke.
+
+"He's right, Miss Ashton," he said, "that ride's a tough one for
+anybody, and the trip to town ain't much better. It's all right goin',
+but comin' back ain't no joke. I'll go to town myself, an' be glad of
+the excuse--unless," he added, with a grin, "Jim here wants to go
+'nstead of me. If he wants the job, it's his for the askin'."
+
+Mason's look was sufficient answer. The idea of leaving his beloved
+fifth level for an entire afternoon savored almost of sacrilege. Even
+the brief trip home for lunch always somehow exasperated him with a
+sense of time wasted, and an afternoon--a whole long afternoon--
+
+"I'm not a candidate for the nomination," he said drily. "You can go
+and welcome, Jack. I'll get Miss Ashton to come along with me and take
+your job down on the sixth level. I'll bet she'd make as good a miner
+as a lazy cuss like you."
+
+There was a general laugh. Then Gordon turned to Rose. "That reminds
+me," he said. "Seriously, Rose, if you want to help us out this
+afternoon, you can. You needn't go to work with a pick, but I do need
+about a dozen specimens of rock to send East; and if you want to let
+Jim show you the place on the sixth level, and pick us out the best
+samples you can find, it would really save time and trouble for
+everybody. We'll pay regular union wages, too, so there's your
+chance."
+
+The girl nodded eagerly. Than to help Gordon in any way, real or
+fancied, she desired nothing better. "Splendid," she assented, "if I
+won't be in the way."
+
+Mason shook his head. To the surprise of all, he had taken what was
+for him a great fancy to their visitor from the East. "Not a bit," he
+said, readily enough; "I'll be proud to have you along," and thus the
+afternoon's program was settled for all.
+
+Harrison was the first to take his departure, striding cheerfully away
+down the path on his long jaunt to town, ready and willing to start on
+a journey a hundred times as far as long as it was only Ethel who said
+the word. Next, Jim Mason finished his pipe and rose.
+
+"Come on, Miss Ashton," he cried, "got to get to work. Life's short,
+and there's lots to do."
+
+With a laughing word of farewell to Ethel and Gordon, she hastened to
+join him, and together they left for the mine.
+
+Fifteen minutes later Gordon climbed into the buggy despatched from
+Seneca's only livery stable, duly received Bill Hinckley's well-filled
+lunch pail from Ethel Mason's hand, gathered up the reins, chirruped
+to his horses, and disappeared from sight around the bend in the road.
+No sooner, however, had he reached a safe distance from the house than
+he deliberately brought the team to a standstill, and then, a dark
+gleam of excitement in his eyes, opened the lunch pail Ethel Mason had
+given him, drew a tiny bottle from his pocket, and quickly poured its
+contents into the coffee, still steaming hot in the bottom of the tin.
+Having rearranged everything as before, he drew up a few moments later
+at the entrance to the mine, with a word of friendly greeting handed
+Hinckley the pail, and started in earnest on his long trip across the
+mountain.
+
+Singular enough, however, seemed his actions, for a man bound on an
+errand that had for its object the completion of a contract for the
+smelting of the Ethel's ore. Scarcely five minutes after he had left
+Hinckley he passed through a small, densely wooded plateau on the
+mountain's side, and here he drew rein, scanning the bushes on either
+hand with careful scrutiny, listened a moment, and then, tying the
+horses, walked straight toward what seemed to be a tangled network of
+overhanging boughs. Readily at his touch, however, they parted to
+right and left, for an instant disclosing a narrow path with a
+clearing at the end, and then closed noiselessly upon him.
+
+Another five minutes passed. Silence everywhere; the stern old
+mountain sleeping its majestic, ancient sleep in the sober calm of the
+peaceful, sunlit afternoon. Then from the bushes near the mouth of Abe
+Peters' abandoned claim a figure emerged, at first crouching, then, as
+the screen of bushes grew less and less, snakelike, hugging the ground
+itself, worming its cautious way steadily onward, at length to be
+swallowed up bodily in the overhanging shadow of the entrance to the
+mine.
+
+Once secure in the gloom of the old shaft, the man, with a little sigh
+of relief, rose to his full height, drew from his coat a slender tube
+of steel, and from his pocket a delicate frame shaped like the stock
+of a gun, deftly fitted the two together, pulled back the spring,
+carefully inserted the bullet, and stood armed with a weapon, at close
+range absolutely to be relied upon, precise, noiseless, deadly.
+Silently the man nodded his head, and then, slowly, cautiously, with
+every nerve in his body on the alert, began his dangerous descent.
+
+Down on the fifth level old Jim Mason, his miner's lamp casting its
+glimmering light on the high walls of rock, plied his heavy pick, not
+with the fiery enthusiasm of eager, determined, hot-blooded youth, but
+with the slower, steadier poise of equally determined, and far more
+patient, age. Rhythmical, effective, machine-like, he bent to his
+work. Swing--crash; swing--crash; swing--crash; his vigorous old body
+sent the steel biting into the rock; never a glance to right or left,
+never a glance behind, on and on he pressed, well satisfied, with an
+honest content, every stroke bringing him an infinitesimal fraction
+nearer his heart's desire.
+
+Never a glance to right or left, never a glance behind, or he might
+have noticed one shadow darker than the rest creeping steadily forward
+out of the gloom, stopping momentarily only to advance again, until at
+last it paused but a few yards away and stood rigid and motionless,
+blending again with the other shadows among the jagged walls,
+waiting--waiting--
+
+And now the old man tired a trifle. The rock was hard. Rhythmically he
+had been counting the strokes to himself--eighty-five, eighty-six,
+eighty-seven--when he should reach one hundred he would stop--stop and
+rest a while. On and on crashed the pick; ninety-four, ninety-five,
+ninety-six--the tired muscles cried out for a respite, however brief,
+but grimly the old man set his teeth and kept on; ninety-seven,
+ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred--with a long sigh of relief he
+slowly straightened, and stood for an instant, motionless as a statue,
+in the sheer physical enjoyment of rest well-earned. The best that was
+in him he had given for so many long years, the best that was in him
+of muscle and brain, and now the end--the consummation of all his
+dreams--was near, so near--
+
+From the darkness behind him came the faintest vibrant twang, as of a
+spring released. Swift, sinister, relentless as fate, the bullet sped
+to its mark. Just for an instant of time the old man still stood,
+motionless; then, the pick slipping from his nerveless fingers went
+crashing to the floor, and old Jim Mason of Seneca, shot through the
+head, pitched forward headlong, and lay stone-dead amid the faintly
+gleaming ore of the mine he had loved so well.
+
+Again silence, seemingly for minutes, in reality but for seconds, and
+then the dark shadow crept again forward, picked up the miner's lamp,
+and stole silently to the old man's side. Only for a moment it waited
+there, and then crept back until it paused at the opening of the shaft
+which led again downward to the sixth level. Very faintly a sound came
+up from the blackness below--the sound of a girl's voice singing. Amid
+the darkness no eye could see the expression on the shadow's face. For
+an instant it stood poised at the mouth of the shaft; then, quickly
+and yet with caution, began its descent.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VIII
+
+                     THE CASE FOR THE PROSECUTION
+
+
+As the judge rose from his desk he sighed. His face was troubled, his
+whole manner vaguely dissatisfied. It was the last day of the trial,
+and from the evidence, from the district attorney's all but completed
+argument, from the whole manner in which the case had been tried, he
+felt certain that the jury could come but to one conclusion, and that
+their verdict would condemn to death the sodden, miserable wretch who
+now for three days had sat in the prisoner's box, listening, seemingly
+without comprehension, to what was being said, acting throughout as if
+he scarcely realized that in all this dramatic spectacle he was the
+central figure, to watch whose chance for life or death all these
+people had come day after day to crowd the little court room, sitting
+enthralled with a terrible fascination as the lawyers for prosecution
+and defense fought their fight of thrust and parry--with a man's life
+for the prize. "Guilty" would be the verdict, and doubtless a verdict
+well justified by the evidence, and yet--and the judge, half
+unconsciously, sighed again.
+
+The court officer, blue coated, gold buttoned, portly, imposing, threw
+open the door leading into the court room. "Court!" he cried in
+resounding tones, and the crowd, rising as the judge entered, with a
+little flutter of expectancy sank back again into their places as he
+took his seat on the bench, gazing down through his gold-bowed
+spectacles at the familiar scene.
+
+The prisoner sat in his accustomed place, a trifle more weary looking,
+a trifle more pathetically forlorn, than ever. At the tables in the
+enclosure sat Wilson Carter, the district attorney, a man keen and
+sharp as a brier, yet fair withal, and universally liked and
+respected; to his left, pale and nervous with the strain of waging a
+gallant but losing fight, sat young Harry Amory, assigned by the court
+as counsel for the accused; and just behind Carter, next to the
+prisoner, as the parties most in interest, sat Gordon, Harrison, and
+Ethel Mason, the girl clothed in somber black, Gordon with a band of
+crape on his left arm.
+
+The judge cleared his throat. "Counsel for the prosecution?" he said
+inquiringly, and Carter started to his feet. "Ready, your Honor," he
+replied, and the judge nodded. "You may proceed," he said.
+
+Tall, erect, dignified, Carter stood waiting for just the moment of
+time necessary to have fixed upon him every eye in the court room.
+Then, turning to the judge, he bowed. "May it please your Honor," he
+said respectfully, and then turned squarely face to face with the
+twelve jurymen.
+
+"Mr. Foreman and gentlemen of the jury," he began, his tone earnest
+but agreeably informal and conversational, "before the brief summing
+up which I wish to make, there are two preliminary matters of which in
+a word I desire to dispose. First, I wish to compliment the members of
+the jury on the careful and conscientious manner in which they have
+listened now for three long days to the evidence in the case before
+them. I wish to say that I, for one, thoroughly appreciate the way in
+which they have attended to this branch of their duty, and I wish
+further to say that I shall leave the decision in this case to them
+with the greatest possible willingness and confidence, and that the
+summing up which it now becomes my duty to make will, in justice to
+them, be as brief as is possibly consistent with the grave importance
+of the issue involved.
+
+"And secondly, I wish to say a word concerning the unfair prejudice--a
+prejudice, while in a way perfectly natural, still, as I say,
+distinctly unfair--which exists in the minds of many persons against
+the prosecuting officer in a case like the present. One who occupies a
+position such as mine, in a capital case where public interest is
+thoroughly aroused and public sentiment runs high, is not
+infrequently, as he brings forward evidence and argument to show that
+one of his fellow-beings should properly be condemned to death,
+regarded with a feeling akin to horror. In the ten years during which
+I have filled the office of district attorney for the county of
+Seneca, I have had the real sorrow of hearing myself referred to as a
+butcher, as a murderer, as a man who has delighted in his
+opportunities of sending unfortunates to the gallows. Now, Mr. Foreman
+and gentlemen of the jury, not so much in justice to myself, although
+that, too, is perhaps a perfectly natural desire, but rather in
+justice to the high and worthy office which I have the honor to hold,
+I wish it to be perfectly clear to you gentlemen that neither I nor
+any other prosecuting officer with a vestige of proper feeling and
+regard for the rights of mankind ever enters upon the conduct of a
+case like the present with any feeling other than a most earnest
+desire to see justice, absolute and final, done. If the accused in
+this case, after the hearing of the evidence and the arguments on
+either side, shall, upon the verdict of twelve good men and true, go
+forth again under God's pure sunlight, a free man, none will rejoice
+for him more heartily than I; if, on the other hand, you shall be
+satisfied that the accused is guilty of the crime with which he stands
+charged, and if upon your verdict he shall be sentenced to death,
+beyond the feeling of sorrow that I, together with every man in this
+court room, must share at the thought of a fellow-being paying the
+extreme penalty of the law, beyond and above that feeling, I say, is
+the more solemn thought that higher than the rights of any individual
+in the community, whether he be of high or low degree, stands the
+immutable law that first and before all else must be safeguarded and
+protected the rights of the town, the city, the county, the state and
+the nation; that unless safety of life, of liberty, of possessions, be
+made possible for our citizens, unless law and order be made to rank
+above deeds of violence committed in disregard of law, then the whole
+fabric of our nation must crumble, and the government of which we so
+proudly boast be reckoned little better than a mockery and a sham."
+
+He paused for an instant, and then, simple, forceful, direct, began
+his final summing up.
+
+"And now, Mr. Foreman and gentlemen of the jury," he continued,
+"briefly to review the facts in the case; briefly to summarize the
+evidence; briefly to outline the theory of the prosecution in regard
+to it. And first, the facts. On the seventeenth of December last, the
+bodies of James Mason, long a well-known and universally respected
+member of the town of Seneca, and of Miss Rose Ashton, the fiancee of
+Mr. Gordon, who has become well known to all of you since his
+residence here, and whom you heard yesterday upon the witness stand,
+were discovered by Mr. Harrison, James Mason's foreman, in the mine in
+which Mr. Mason had worked for so many years. Death in both cases had
+apparently been instantaneous, and had been produced by shooting, the
+medical examiner finding that both deaths had been caused by a bullet
+from a thirty-two caliber rifle or revolver.
+
+"At the very outset it must be admitted that there is nothing in all
+the evidence which has been presented to you even savoring of direct
+proof as to how the deaths took place. It becomes necessary,
+therefore, to examine the case from the standpoint of what is commonly
+called circumstantial evidence, in order to see whether a chain can be
+constructed of sufficient strength properly to hold the man who has
+been brought before you, charged with the commission of the crime. And
+I shall not only not deny, but shall be the first to admit, what my
+learned brother in his closing argument will not fail to emphasize and
+reemphasize, that it is upon circumstantial evidence only that the
+case for the county must rest.
+
+"First, then, we are faced with the very obvious fact that the deaths
+took place; of that there can be no question whatever. Next, going one
+step further, we come to the question involved in this trial: by whose
+hand was death inflicted? Could Mason have killed Miss Ashton and then
+shot himself, or even could Miss Ashton have killed Mason and then
+shot herself? In both cases the answer must be that such a supposition
+is not within the bounds of possibility. Not only can no possible
+motive be found, but on the evidence neither party had a weapon, and
+such a wild explanation of the case may be dismissed as soon as
+raised.
+
+"The inquiry, therefore, unavoidably narrows down to the theory of
+murder. Murder by whom? The most exacting search has brought to light
+seven persons who were anywhere in the vicinity on the afternoon of
+December the seventeenth, or who were in any way connected with the
+events of that afternoon. These persons are Abe Peters, and his two
+helpers, Marston and Ferguson, Mr. Gordon, Jack Harrison, Ethel Mason,
+and the prisoner at the bar, William Hinckley. Proceeding on the
+theory of elimination, we find that in the case of the first six
+persons mentioned we have a complete alibi. Abe Peters and his helpers
+have testified that they were at work in their claim during the whole
+of the seventeenth. There is no shadow of evidence to the contrary;
+they were in one another's company during the entire day, and,
+furthermore, the friendly relations between these three men and Mason
+was matter of common knowledge throughout the county. Mr. Gordon, as
+he has testified, was obliged to go over the mountain on the day in
+question to transact some business with the superintendent of the
+Iroquois mine. Every moment of Mr. Gordon's time is accounted for; his
+testimony is absolutely straightforward and sincere, and, in addition,
+the bare idea of a man of Mr. Gordon's standing and character even
+dreaming of killing his friend and the young lady to whom he was
+engaged to be married is absolutely unthinkable. Jack Harrison, whose
+testimony is corroborated in every detail, has testified that he went
+to town on some errands for Miss Mason; and Miss Mason herself
+remained quietly at home, busied with her household duties, until, on
+Harrison's return, no word coming from the mine, they became alarmed,
+went to investigate, and discovered the tragedy that had been enacted.
+
+"And now, Mr. Foreman and gentlemen of the jury, we come at last to
+the consideration of the case against the prisoner, and here, for the
+first time, we find a chain of evidence, circumstantial, to be sure,
+but in every link so firm and true that it can not by any possibility
+be broken--a chain of evidence which leads indisputably to the
+conclusion that the murderer of James Mason and Rose Ashton sits here
+before you now, the perpetrator of as dastardly a crime as has ever
+marred the records of our county. The prisoner's story is absolutely
+unbelievable. He claims that he remembers seeing Mason and Miss Ashton
+enter the mine, that shortly afterwards he ate his lunch, and that he
+must have then dozed oft; to sleep, remembering nothing more until
+Harrison, coming to see what had become of the missing victims, shook
+him back to consciousness. Certainly an improbable story, even on its
+face, but in the light of other evidence, clearly appearing as a
+clumsy lie, an excuse for not being willing to lay himself open
+to the danger involved by permitting a more extended field for
+cross-examination.
+
+"Mr. Harrison's testimony is clear and concise. He has told us that,
+on reaching the entrance to the mine, he found Hinckley in a drunken
+stupor, an empty whisky bottle by his side; that being only partially
+successful in his efforts to arouse him, he went at once into the
+mine, descended to the fifth level, where he found Mason's body; then
+to the sixth, where he found Miss Ashton's; that on his return to the
+mouth of the mine he found Hinckley still only half aroused; that,
+upon taking away his revolver and examining it, he found two of the
+five chambers empty; and that the revolver was a thirty-two caliber.
+The expert testimony, as you scarcely need to be reminded, has shown
+that the bullets which killed the two victims fitted with exactness
+the revolver with which Hinckley was armed. In addition, Miss Mason,
+who accompanied Mr. Harrison as far as the entrance of the mine, has
+corroborated his testimony in every detail. Now take, in addition to
+this evidence, the testimony that Hinckley's work had been far from
+satisfactory; that since he had gone to work he had persistently got
+drunk, and several times neglected his duty; that he had on at least
+two occasions had words with Mason himself, and that on the latter of
+these occasions he had sworn at Mason, and said that he would 'square
+up with him some day.' Take all this testimony together, and is not
+what happened on the afternoon of December seventeenth pretty plainly
+to be imagined? 'Nothing but theory' perhaps my learned brother may
+say, and this of necessity is so, for the prisoner will not speak, and
+from the mute lips of James Mason and Rose Ashton the story of the
+tragedy we shall never learn. 'Nothing but theory,' and yet how
+plainly we can see it all. Mason, on coming to the mine, has further
+words with Hinckley; Hinckley, perhaps even then partly drunk, later,
+emboldened by a further drink or two, creeps down on to the fifth
+level, treacherously shoots and kills Mason from behind, and then, in
+terror at what he has done, kills Miss Ashton also, and returns to the
+mouth of the mine. In doubt as to what means to take to escape
+detection, he desperately turns to the flask again, and before he
+knows it, his sodden brain loses consciousness altogether, and thus
+Harrison finds him.
+
+"Gentlemen, I have finished. The facts are all before you; all the
+evidence is in. I have striven, as best I could, fairly and
+impartially to present to you the case for the county. The learned
+counsel for the defense, following me, will present the prisoner's
+side of the case. His Honor will instruct you as to the law; the
+burden of proof, the sufficiency and weight of the evidence, the
+different degrees of murder--my last word to you is to remember that
+in presenting the case for the prosecution I am acting simply in
+discharge of a duty, that justice is all I ask, and that justice from
+you--a careful, just, impartial verdict--is all that the county has a
+right to ask, and all that the county has a right to expect."
+
+Amid a dead silence he resumed his seat. On jury and on spectators
+alike the effect of his plea could scarcely be mistaken. Young Amory,
+following, did his best, but facts that no process of reasoning could
+satisfactorily explain away, at every turn blocked the path of his
+argument and robbed it of its force. The judge charged clearly,
+briefly, impartially; the jury remained out but two hours and a half,
+and in accordance with their verdict of murder in the first degree,
+Bill Hinckley, some three months later, was duly and properly hanged
+by the neck until he was dead.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IX
+
+                            THE PUBLIC EYE
+
+
+"After that?" repeated Doyle. "Well, after that for three years I did
+newspaper work; then I was appointed Governor Parker's private
+secretary; he was in office two years; and then I had an offer from
+Henry Eastman, of Eastman and Peabody, and I went with him as
+confidential clerk, and have been with him since a year ago last
+month. And that, I guess, is about the whole story."
+
+Gordon leisurely drained his glass, glancing once more with
+appreciation about the familiar little room. The return to
+civilization and the Federal Club had not been unwelcome. Then, with
+deliberate scrutiny, he gazed at the young man who sat opposite.
+Slender, wiry and muscular, Doyle's thin, alert, sensitive face seemed
+a fit index to the whole make-up of the man. Limited to one word in
+which to describe him, that word would have been "energy." Twinkling
+brown eyes, an aggressive chin, a mouth firm and resolute, but with a
+humorous droop at the corners, all in all Jim Doyle appeared not to be
+one of those men who are content with viewing the world from a
+distance, spectators detached, remote, but one who was perforce most
+decidedly in and of it, rubbing elbows with it, slapping it on the
+back, and asking after its health with all the friendly good-nature
+imaginable.
+
+"Well," said Gordon judicially, "you've made a good record for
+yourself. There's no question about that at all. You've been something
+of a rolling stone, to be sure, but in the process you've managed to
+gather considerable moss. You're getting five thousand dollars a year,
+and from what I hear, I judge you're earning it, too, which doesn't
+always mean the same thing. And yet I want you to leave your nice,
+comfortable job, and try your luck with me. And," he added
+deliberately, "I think you'll come, too."
+
+Doyle's face showed no surprise. For him, indeed, variety had been
+the very spice of life, and with each succeeding change in occupation
+and in fortune, his capacity for being astonished had grown
+correspondingly less. Therefore he simply waited, not without
+interest, and after a moment's pause, Gordon continued.
+
+"I rather think," he said banteringly, "that I'll show you all the
+advantages of the proposition first, with the intention of thus
+dazzling your mind so that you'll be in a hurry to accept, without
+thinking of the possible objections that might occur to you later on.
+It seems almost too much luck for one man. You'll think, when you hear
+about it, that I've been lying awake nights planning it for you, and,
+to be frank, that's more than half true, too."
+
+He paused again, meeting Doyle's amused glance with an answering
+smile. "I can see you're pleased," he said, "and I won't keep you in
+suspense any longer. I want you to come with me in a position which
+will bear the same name as the one you now occupy, confidential clerk.
+But the name's the only thing that's the same. In reality you're going
+to be something entirely different; advertising agency, publicity
+bureau, whatever name of that kind you choose to call it; and,
+seriously, it's going to be the chance of your life."
+
+Doyle looked interested, and a trifle puzzled as well. "How?" he asked
+tersely.
+
+"How?" repeated Gordon, "I'll tell you how mighty quick. First of all,
+except that you'll be in close touch with me all the time, you'll be
+your own master, free to come and go as you like. Next, you'll run up
+against a lot of different men, all working in different lines, but
+all useful to know; men who, if they take a notion to, can help you
+along like the very devil. Third, the position pays ten thousand a
+year salary, and if you're inclined to take an occasional flier in the
+market, there's no reason why you shouldn't double that. But that's
+your business, of course. Good men differ on the wisdom of playing the
+market, even from what seems to be the inside. The ten thousand,
+however, like the past, is secure. So there's your story. What do you
+think of it?"
+
+Doyle leaned back in his chair, with a little puzzled frown. "It's a
+trifle vague, isn't it?" he said mildly; "not the salary end; that's
+refreshingly definite, but the duties, I mean. What is it I advertise?
+Fish, or toothpowder, or soap?"
+
+Gordon laughed, then suddenly grew grave. "I beg your pardon," he
+said, "I got ahead of my story for a moment. It's going to be a worse
+job than any of those you've mentioned, for you've got to advertise
+me. Here's the idea right here. For certain reasons, which will
+develop later, I want to get myself very much before the public. It's
+going to help me, and incidentally, if you decide to come in with me,
+it's going to help you. Now let me be sure I make myself plain. It
+isn't any cheap notoriety I'm after; what I want is a big public
+following, especially among the so-called lower classes. I want you to
+get me so well known, and so favorably known, through the city,
+through the state, through the country, even, that the great mass of
+the people, clerks, artisans, working people of all descriptions, will
+say, 'Here's a man that's all right. Here's a man we're willing to
+follow!' When that's once accomplished, I've got a number of different
+things in view. The others I needn't bother you with now, but the
+first is in connection with a big mining deal, which I want to try as
+a test of how strong I really am with the public, besides at the same
+time cleaning up a couple of millions or so on the side. So you can
+see that your end of the thing's no joke; it's a big job; there's no
+question about that. What I want to know is whether you think you're
+the man for the place. Personally I believe you are. What do you say?"
+
+Doyle leaned forward confidentially across the table, his eyes
+twinkling as he spoke. "Mr. Gordon," he said, "I'm so damned modest
+that I hate to tell you what I think, but since you've asked me, I can
+only say that I entirely agree with you. I think I can make good on
+the job, but you won't go up in the air if I ask you one question
+first?"
+
+Gordon smilingly shook his head. "No, I'll promise that," he answered;
+"fire away."
+
+Doyle pondered a moment. "The two best things," he said slowly, "that
+I ever heard Mr. Eastman get off were these. One was on a matter where
+a crowd of street railway men, to round out their system, had to get a
+franchise to run through a little town. It was something they had to
+have, and there was a lot of discussion as to the best way to go about
+it. All sorts of things were proposed, until finally Mr. Eastman spoke
+up. 'The real point, gentlemen,' he said, 'is a simple one. All we've
+got to do is to act and talk and even look so straight that they'll
+finally say, "These fellows are so damned fair and so damned
+reasonable about this thing that we'd better let 'em have their
+franchise."' Well, one or two of the smart Alecs in the crowd, the
+kind that think because they're rotten themselves, every one else is
+rotten, too, kind of gave him the laugh; thought he was a little
+simple minded and out of date on the thing. Finally, though, they let
+him engineer it his way, and it went through flying, just as nice as
+could be. The other time was on a big consolidation scheme, and there
+was a lot of discussion about including a particular statement in a
+report that was going to be made to the public. One man thought it
+would affect the public favorably; another thought it would make a
+good impression on the stock-holders; one or two spoke against it;
+then they called on Mr. Eastman for his opinion; he was for it, and he
+said so; he summed up the points that had been made in favor of making
+it public, and then in conclusion he said in that dry way of his, 'And
+I think, gentlemen, that on this proposition you forget what is to my
+mind the most important point of all; that besides all the other good
+things that may be said of this clause, it has the additional merit of
+being true.' Most of them thought he was joking, I suppose, but I knew
+mighty well he wasn't, and the result of the thing showed that he was
+right again, as he generally is.
+
+"So, according to my ideas, picked up partly from watching him, and
+partly on the outside, the only thing that'll really go with the
+general public in the long run is honesty, either real or imitation,
+and the trouble with the imitation kind is that it doesn't last very
+long before it begins to show wear. And that's why I'd like to ask you
+right out plain, without meaning any insult, whether this mining deal
+and the other schemes are fakes or not. Not because I've got any
+conscience; I never had much, to start with, and since I've got into
+things down town a little, I haven't any at all, but I mean just as a
+matter of business policy. You might put a fake deal through, and come
+out flying, but I wouldn't want to go into it myself unless it was
+straight."
+
+He paused suddenly, refilled his glass, and then added, "After which,
+you probably think I'm several kinds of a damn fool."
+
+Gordon laughed with thorough enjoyment. "On the contrary," he said, "I
+find all the good reports I've had on you being borne out. You've got
+the right idea on these things, or, at least, you've got the same
+ideas that I have, which with most people means the same thing. No,
+I'm glad to say that these schemes of mine are all straight as a
+string. On the mining deal, of course there'll be inflation, and the
+usual amount of legitimate stock market manipulation, and also, too,
+you can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs, and some of the
+general public will undoubtedly suffer, as they always do, for being
+fools enough to speculate. But in a general way, the proposition's
+perfectly legitimate, and I think without further discussion on that
+point we'll agree that you're the man I'm looking for. Now there are
+two other things I want to get straightened out. First, this
+advertising scheme. Is it feasible? Can it be successfully carried
+out?"
+
+Doyle thought a moment only. His active brain had been busied with so
+many projects, real and imaginary, in his brief span of life, that it
+was hard very greatly to surprise him. He nodded assent.
+
+"Why, sure," he rejoined succinctly, "it can be done, all right, but,
+if we do it the way it ought to be done, it's going to cost you money;
+a whole lot of money."
+
+Gordon looked his approval. "Yes," he answered, "I know it, and of
+course I shouldn't think of going into it at all if I wasn't ready to
+foot the bills. I'm in condition, however, financially, to meet almost
+any expense within the bounds of reason. So much for that. Now here's
+the final consideration. We've agreed that you're the man for your end
+of this thing, and we've agreed that with the right man to run it, the
+advertising campaign can be carried on to advantage. Now, how about
+the man who's to be advertised. Are there any reasons why I won't go
+down with the public? If there are, now's the time to tell me about
+them, instead of later. Go ahead, now; pick me to pieces; I give you
+leave."
+
+Doyle shook his head in decided negative. "You needn't worry a minute
+over that," he answered positively, "you've got every card in the
+pack. All we've got to do is to play 'em right. First, you see, you're
+from the swell end of town, and that helps to start with. Some people
+it might discourage. You know some folk that get their ideas mostly
+from books really believe that the rank and file want one of their own
+kind to lead 'em. That's the worst rot going. The common people get
+jealous when they see one of their own getting ahead too fast. 'That
+fellow,' they say, 'he's no good. Why, he used to live on the same
+street as me.' And a poor man's got nothing against a rich man that
+treats him half way decent. He envies him, of course, but he doesn't
+hate him; and a man like you, if he goes at it right, can get the kind
+of following he wants quicker and better than the man that's been
+raised right up among the gang. I know that for a fact.
+
+"And, then, Mr. Gordon, you've got the coin, too. Of course that isn't
+everything, by any means. Lots of men are so unpopular that all the
+coin in the world can't help 'em any, but there's some people that
+have got to be reached with the long green, and that can't be reached
+any other way on earth. You've got to show 'em before they'll be with
+you.
+
+"Finally, you're a business man, and you know every dollar's made up
+of a hundred cents, and that's going to save you from getting soaked a
+lot. No, Mr. Gordon, there's nothing to stop you that I can see;
+nothing in the world."
+
+Gordon checked on the fingers of his left hand with the index finger
+of his right. "Let's see, then," he reflected slowly, "one's all
+right, and two's all right, and three's all right; so far, so good.
+And now we come to the part where I'll confess my ideas are altogether
+vague, and where I've got to rely on your judgment and experience. And
+that's on the practical details of this advertising scheme. With a
+free hand, what would you do?"
+
+There was no hesitation about Doyle. At once he attacked his subject
+with the relish of an epicure about to enjoy a feast. "Well," he said,
+"of course, to begin with, there's no way of reaching the general
+public like the newspapers. It's a fact that most people, even
+intelligent, well informed people, most of all, people in upper
+society, don't begin to have the faintest idea of the influence of the
+one-cent dailies; and I tell you, Mr. Gordon, there are tens of
+thousands of people in this country who take every word they read in
+one of those papers for gospel truth; more than likely it's the sum
+total of all they ever do read. So first of all we want to get control
+of a paper, and then we can print what we please. Some people might
+tell you that a weekly or a monthly magazine would answer your purpose
+better, but it isn't so. That would do well enough for a second
+string, so to speak; you'd reach a little different class of readers
+that way, and that would help; but what we really want first of all is
+to own or control a good one-cent daily that gets right to the people,
+and that gradually gets you before the people in as many different
+ways as possible. Then finally one story or another gets the eye of
+the men on the other papers, and finally you're good copy--for a
+while, at least, until something comes along to eclipse you--from one
+end of the country to the other. That's the way we'll work that."
+
+Gordon nodded. "That sounds all right," he said approvingly, "but I
+suppose it's got to be done with a lot of tact. With some people there
+can't be such a thing as publicity without criticism."
+
+Doyle leaned quickly forward across the table. "I know exactly what
+you mean," he exclaimed, "and I know exactly the kind of people you
+mean, too. You mean the conservative, ultra respectable men you meet
+here every day at the Federal, for instance; the class that thinks if
+your name appears in print anywhere outside the society column, it's
+deucedly bad form, you know, most extraordinary sort of thing, my dear
+chap, on my word."
+
+He mimicked successfully, and Gordon laughed. "Yes, you've hit it," he
+answered, "but these same men are powers in the city, and I should
+hate to lose their regard, as I suppose I undoubtedly should by any
+such campaign as we propose."
+
+Doyle nodded. "You certainly would," he replied; "but, Mr. Gordon,
+it's a choice you've got to make. It's simply inevitable. To
+paraphrase Lincoln, you can suit part of the people all of the time,
+and you can suit all of the people part of the time, but you can't
+suit all of the people all of the time. It's absolutely impossible;
+and the choice to make is to see where you'll really get the true
+following. Jefferson made the choice, and I suppose he wasn't really
+exactly popular in good Federalist society, but when he wanted a
+thing, he only had to go to the people for it, and he got it. He knew
+where the country's real strength lay, and you can't do better than
+copy him. It's the so-called common people you want to have back of
+you, and it's the common people's battle you want to fight, and the
+common people's ideas of what's right and proper that you want to
+study over. That's what you've got to make up your mind to."
+
+Gordon looked thoughtful. "So you really think," he said, "that I can
+afford to lose standing south of the park, and still hope to gain
+through the city at large."
+
+"The city at large!" cried Doyle, his voice rising in his excitement.
+"Why, Mr. Gordon, I don't think you've caught the idea of this yet.
+With the way we're going to take hold of this thing, the things that
+you've done, the things that you'll be doing, the things that you'll
+be going to do, we'll sweep the country from one end to the other.
+This little crowd south of the park you stand so much in awe of aren't
+even a pin prick on the map, and that's the solemn truth. For one
+enemy you'll make among them, through the country, from east to west,
+from north to south, you'll make a hundred, no, a thousand friends."
+
+Gordon laughed at the younger man's enthusiasm.
+
+"That sounds fine," he assented good-humoredly, "but when we come
+right down to the details, just how are we going to make all these
+friends? What are some of these wonderful things we're going to do?"
+
+Doyle did not give ground for an instant. His eyes, indeed, gleamed
+more eagerly than ever, with the ardor of a man fairly started on a
+favorite theme.
+
+"Details," he cried; "don't you worry about them. I'll give them to
+you in a minute, but they aren't the things to worry over. Here's the
+big thing; the one we've got to hang up on the wall, and look at a
+hundred times a day. What are we going to do, what are we going to
+say, to make the average man the country through, believe in us?
+That's the puzzle. We've got to be good enough judges of human nature
+and things in general to tell that, and the rest's easy. I've just
+told you my idea; the one big thing is, 'Honesty is the best policy;'
+you've got either to be honest, or to have the people think you're
+honest, and you've got to show at least a fair measure of ability, and
+after that, you needn't be so careful. You can do lots of things; you
+can be too radical for a lot of people; you can be too conservative
+for a lot more; but, whether they agree with you or not, so long as
+they think you're honest and fairly capable, why, good men, and
+especially good leaders, are scarce, and they'll stick. You'll find
+that's so, every time."
+
+Gordon nodded. "Well," he admitted, "I must say I think you're pretty
+nearly right. Let's assume that you are, anyway, and then you can go
+ahead and take up some of these details I want to know about. That's
+where, as I just said, my ideas are vague."
+
+Doyle grinned cheerfully. "I'll clear 'em up for you," he observed,
+with confidence. "That part's easy compared with the rest. First off,
+you've got to have six or eight speeches on different topics. A man,
+to be in the public eye, has got to be a mighty versatile proposition
+these days. We go crazy over so many different things we've really got
+to be a nation of cranks, pretty near, and every crank has to be got
+at on his specialty, if it's a possible thing. You want a good
+up-to-date talk on financial questions, and work things to get a
+chance to spring it at Board of Trade dinners, and that sort of thing;
+you've been an athlete,--work up a talk on athletics, and you'll find
+that'll go great almost anywhere; your base-ball crank's a power in
+the land to-day; he has to be catered to, and written for, and
+everything else. And then you'll have to mix a little in the political
+game, too. Not too much, at first, anyway; but still politics is the
+big thing, after all, and you've got to have a good safe speech ready
+on the issues of the day; you never can tell,--a speech, a sentence
+from a speech, even, may make a man famous overnight. Versatility;
+broad-minded interest in everything; and always ready to see that the
+rights of the people are looked out for; pretty good, what?"
+
+Gordon smiled. "Do I get time for anything else except speechmaking?"
+he asked dryly.
+
+Doyle laughed. "Of course you do," he cried. "The speechmaking part is
+only a necessary sort of evil. It's got to be done, for advertising,
+but it's the easiest thing in the world, if we're not careful, to
+overdo. It's a great thing to have your name in big head-lines about
+once in so often; shows people you're alive, and makes a lot of 'em
+jealous, too; but the minute you get the reputation of being willing
+to shoot off your face anywhere on any old subject at any time, then
+people begin to laugh at you. So we'll be careful on that end of it,
+for, after all, the things a man does count a hundred to one over the
+things he says he's going to do. And that's where I think we'll
+score."
+
+Gordon gazed at him. "Young man," he said solemnly, "I begin to have a
+suspicion that by engaging you I'm going to take my life in my hands.
+They told me you were a hustler, an enthusiast, and a man of resource,
+and I begin to believe they understated the case, at that."
+
+Doyle, engrossed in his subject, scarcely seemed to heed Gordon's
+words. "Look," he continued, "these things we've got to have you do.
+Here's the idea about them. We want to pull things off just the way
+they make a dramatic climax on the stage. You know the old gags; the
+hero says he wrote the letters, and shields the wicked brother; the
+rich and beautiful heroine leaves her happy home to fly with the poor
+but honest workingman; and the gallery has a mild species of fit. Of
+course the fellow that writes the play has the advantage over us; he
+can arrange things to suit himself, and we can't. But we can work up
+some pretty neat little grandstand plays, just the same. Like this.
+When Moriarty was going to run for district-attorney the second time,
+he paid a poor boy's fine practically out of his own pocket, and let
+the boy go home to mother. It was just around Christmas time, and that
+soft and mushy act, which he probably had no business to perform
+anyway, they claim was worth two or three thousand votes, at the very
+least. Take another one. You remember Lamson, that tried a good deal
+the sort of thing you want to do a few years back, and finally failed
+because he was partly crazy and partly crooked, too. Here's a thing he
+pulled off, that I heard of from an eye witness. He came driving down
+to the station at his summer home one fine morning to take the train
+for the city. There was an old wagon, belonging to a junk peddler that
+lived in the town, standing near the station, and harnessed to it the
+weariest, thinnest, most discouraged looking old white horse you ever
+saw. Lamson eyed the horse a minute; then he got his groom down off
+his own trap. 'William,' he said, 'unharness that horse at once.' The
+groom started to do it, and the peddler was going to interfere, when
+some one in the crowd--probably tipped off, I suppose--grabbed his arm
+and stopped him. By the time the horse was out of the shafts there was
+quite a little crowd collected; then Lamson turns to the peddler. 'My
+man,' he says, 'that horse is going to be taken up to my farm, and
+turned out to pasture for the rest of his natural life. My groom, in
+just half an hour, will come back here with a good, strong, bay horse
+of mine, and you're to harness him up and keep him as a present from
+me. But if I hear of your not keeping him in the very best of
+condition, if he isn't fed and watered and cared for in every way just
+as I've treated him, then, my man, you'll stand a fine chance of going
+to jail,' and with that, he swung on to the train, while the crowd
+cheered.
+
+"Well, sir, in some mysterious way that got into the papers and was
+copied from one end of the country to the other. It had just enough of
+the dramatic about it to catch people right. The poor old horse going
+out to the green fields, the man being taught an object lesson. Lamson
+being so good and generous and kind--it helped him to float a big
+issue of wildcat mining stock that netted him a couple of millions,
+and ruined a dozen men outright when it collapsed. So that's the sort
+of thing we've got to pull off from time to time; you'll be very
+reticent about it all, when it's called to your attention; you'll be
+very much displeased that it's got into the papers; you'll have to beg
+the reporters to excuse you for being unwilling to discuss the matter
+at all, and it'll be the devil of a good boost for you and any schemes
+you may be at work on. And you can't deny it, Mr. Gordon, can you?"
+
+Gordon, without at once replying, gazed quizzically at the younger
+man. "Doyle," he said at last, "I can't for the life of me make up my
+mind whether if I follow you I'm going to find I'm on the road to
+fame, or whether I'm only going to succeed in making a most outrageous
+fool of myself. But on the whole--" he paused deliberately and flicked
+the ash from his cigar--"on the whole, I believe in you, my boy, and
+I'm willing to take the chance."
+
+Doyle leaned forward across the table. "Good," he cried, "you won't
+regret it, Mr. Gordon. With what I know about you, with what I know
+about myself, with what I know about the general public, the thing's a
+cinch. You'll be the best advertised man that's walked the earth since
+the day it was made."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER X
+
+                         ETHEL MASON DECIDES
+
+
+"It ain't nothing to laugh about," said Harrison savagely, "you have
+changed, every way. You ain't the same girl you was a month ago. You
+dress different; you act different; you treat me different; and it's
+gettin' to be more'n I'm goin' to stand for."
+
+Ethel Mason only laughed again in answer. A month had passed since her
+father's death, an aunt from the lake coming up to the mountain to
+live with her; but, according to Seneca's gossip, and according to
+Seneca's general ideas of the fitness of things, this was but a
+temporary arrangement, to last merely until such time had elapsed as
+would suit the rough conventions of the county, when Ethel Mason would
+then become Mrs. Jack Harrison.
+
+According to Jack's ideas, indeed, the proper period had fully
+elapsed, and on this special evening he had walked over from his cabin
+with a definite purpose in mind; only to find, as sometimes happens
+when man proposes, that the girl in the case was in mood capricious,
+even frivolous, always somehow evading, by turn and twist of the
+conversation, the subject uppermost in his thoughts. Gradually the
+little frown between his eyes had grown darker and darker, and finally
+the girl's failure to be serious had provoked him to open wrath.
+
+"Dear me," mocked the girl, "more'n you're going to stand for. And I
+wonder what you're going to do about it. Are you boss over me? Haven't
+I a right to dress as I please, and act as I please, and treat you as
+I please? I guess I don't understand what you mean by not standing for
+it?"
+
+The young miner winced. Certainly he was not making the headway he had
+expected, nor was the conversation coming any nearer the desired end.
+Restlessly he fidgeted in his chair, uncrossed his legs, and
+immediately recrossed them again, swallowed desperately once or twice,
+and finally plunged headlong into the speech he had lately rehearsed
+so many times to himself.
+
+"Look here, Ethel," he began, his voice sounding strangely in his own
+ears, "this ain't no way for you to live, up here alone by yourself,
+an' you ought to make a change mighty quick. If things had broke
+different, and Jim hadn't gone so sudden, I'd have had plenty to say
+before this, but of course that went and changed everything. You're
+owner of the mine now, and whatever Jim might have meant to do for me,
+as it is, I'm nothin' but your hired man; foreman of your mine,
+workin' under you."
+
+He paused uncertainly for a moment; then, as the girl made no effort
+to break the silence, he continued, "You know what I think of you,
+Ethel; you know I've loved you from the day you first set foot in
+Seneca; you know I've always meant to ask you to marry me the minute I
+felt I was well enough fixed to have the right to ask; and now--well,
+everything's changed; you're rich and I'm poor, but, by God,
+Ethel--" and his voice rang vibrant with a strong man's pride--"I'm a
+man, and when the papers go through I'll be foreman of the mine for
+the company at the salary they meant to give Jim, and if you'll have
+me, I swear I'll never touch a cent of your money; I'll work my hands
+to the bone for you; and I'll look out for you every way I can, as
+true and faithful as a man could. I mean it, Ethel, every word; I love
+you, and if you'll marry me, that's all in the world I ask."
+
+Abruptly he stopped speaking. To the last few words the girl had
+seemed scarcely to be listening, as the faint sound of wheels, the
+sound she had been expecting, came to her ears. She leaned forward,
+speaking low and rapidly.
+
+"Jack," she said, "you know how fond I am of you, but we can't have
+to-night to ourselves. Mr. Gordon's coming over to talk some business
+about the mine, and I can't very well put him off, for he's going East
+to-morrow. Come over to-morrow night, Jack, and we'll be all by
+ourselves then."
+
+The tone, fully as much as the words themselves, seemed entirely to
+satisfy Harrison. Without objection he rose.
+
+"All right," he answered, "I'll be over to-morrow night, and I'll be
+looking to hear good news, too."
+
+The girl made no answer. For a moment, Harrison paused at the door,
+then turned and came swiftly toward her. "Just one kiss, Ethel," he
+said, "just to show everything's all right between us."
+
+With a little laugh the girl rose and yielded herself to his embrace,
+nor did Harrison, consumed with passion, note that her lips met his
+without response. Once, twice, thrice, he kissed her upturned lips;
+then without a word half threw her from him and burst blindly from the
+room.
+
+Scarcely five minutes later, and Gordon sat in the self-same chair
+which Harrison had occupied, gazing with approval at the slender
+figure opposite. Beyond question, the strain of the past few weeks had
+changed her, and not for the worse. The girl's face was thinner and
+more thoughtful, and yet far more attractive even than before; the
+soft, petulant prettiness of the child giving place to the real beauty
+of the woman.
+
+"You wanted to see me about the mine?" she queried.
+
+Gordon shook his head. "That," he answered, "was only a somewhat
+clumsy excuse. But I did want to see you very much, and I wanted to
+see you alone, so I thought the mine would serve."
+
+The girl nodded. "And now?" she asked.
+
+Gordon noted the little smile that played about her lips. In some
+things, he acknowledged on the instant to himself, no man could ever
+hope to cope successfully with a woman. And he smiled in answer.
+
+"Yes," he said slowly, "that's it. I want you to marry me to-morrow
+morning, and start East with me on the express to-morrow afternoon."
+
+Ethel Mason laughed outright. "You're more business-like than the
+others," she said mockingly, "and yet haven't you forgotten something
+else? Sometimes, you know, just a word or so, about--love."
+
+Gordon shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't forget it," he said, "I'd
+have put it in if I'd thought you expected it; glad to, really,
+because I do it rather well. But what's the use? You know I've got all
+the feeling for you that sex has for sex; that goes without saying;
+you've seen it in a hundred ways; and in addition I know that together
+we can go a hundred times as far as we'll ever get separately. But
+beyond that--the dying for you, and shedding my heart's blood, and all
+that--why, these days, that's a little bit out of date."
+
+The girl gazed at him with an expression hard to fathom. "It's not
+very flattering," she suggested.
+
+Gordon made a little impatient gesture. "Oh, come," he said, "I'm
+perfectly frank. Why can't you be so, too? Does the woman marry just
+for love? Doesn't the woman want to feel passion first? Or, if she
+isn't that kind, doesn't she figure what she's getting in return for
+herself? Dollars and cents, these days. I say again, story-book love's
+gone by."
+
+The girl shook her head. "You're talking for the city woman," she
+said, "who's got so civilized she's lost the instinct every woman once
+had. With a woman, unless she stifles it till it's dead, there's one
+thing comes ahead of everything else, and that's to be protected,
+cared for, guarded, to be safe. Perhaps it isn't quite love, but it's
+pretty nearly the same thing. Somebody stronger to lean on, some one
+in time of danger who won't fail her. That's what comes first."
+
+Gordon gazed at her with real surprise. Then, without hesitation, he
+nodded. "You're right," he said, "and that I can give you, too. Will
+you marry me, Ethel?"
+
+The girl did not answer; the long silence seeming in no way to
+embarrass her. At last, with a little sigh, she looked up at him.
+
+"I will be frank with you," she said, "it's so hard to know what to
+do. Jack was here to-night before you came, and he asked me the same
+question you're asking now. Jack's rough, and he isn't educated, but
+he's big and strong, and I know he thinks a lot of me, and, besides,
+he's really a man."
+
+Gordon, with the skill not to provoke opposition, nodded assent.
+"You're right," he said with conviction, "no one thinks more of Jack
+than I do. But, Ethel, without flattery, you're a woman in a
+thousand--in looks, in charm, in every way. And Jack--it isn't his
+fault--Jack is rough and uneducated, and it's too late to change him
+now. And, with all his good qualities, you'd never be happy with him
+all your life through. You couldn't, Ethel. Think what it would mean
+to live your life here on the mountain, no friends, no interests,
+nothing but life with Jack and the mine. No, we only live once, and
+it's our duty to make the most of it. And think of the other side of
+the picture. Wealth, social position, everything you could desire. I'm
+not a man of great wealth yet, but let me swing the mine the way I
+want to, and I'll be a millionaire ten times over. Think of it, Ethel.
+Your city house, your country place, servants, horses, motors, around
+the world in a steam yacht; we'd get out of life what only a chosen
+few can get. Say you'll marry me, Ethel, and you'll never live to
+regret it, so help me God."
+
+There was a silence even longer than before. Then the girl rose and
+began to pace the room with quick, nervous steps.
+
+"Oh, I don't know," she cried, "you make it so hard. It's my whole
+life you're asking me to decide. And I believe you're honest, too, and
+sincere; but, I've known Jack all my life. Oh, I don't know what to
+do."
+
+Gordon rose, and coming quickly across the room, took her in his arms.
+She made no resistance, and very gently he stooped and kissed her.
+
+"I know it's hard," he said. "It's hard to give up Jack. It's hard to
+leave the place that's always been your home; but, Ethel, it's the
+only way. I'm not going to urge my claims too far. After all's said,
+you're the one to decide. I'm going back now, and I'm coming here at
+ten o'clock to-morrow morning. Make your decision then, and whatever
+it is, in every way, Ethel, I'll always stand your friend. Good night,
+and I shall hope--and expect--to find you ready when I come."
+
+He was gone, and the girl was left alone. Alone, to lie awake the long
+night through, thinking, planning, deciding and then changing her
+decision, in a tremor of doubt and uncertainty, until the morning
+sunlight, sweet and wholesome, forced its cheery way through the
+shutters of the little room.
+
+For Jack Harrison, never did day seem so long. The hours dragged on
+leaden feet, even the minutes seemed mockingly to lengthen all through
+the dreary day. It was dusk when he started for the cabin, and as he
+neared it, absently he noticed that the light was not yet lit in the
+kitchen window. With a step so buoyant as to become almost a run, he
+thrust open the gate, and gained the porch. The door was shut, and the
+latch did not yield to his eager pressure. Then, suddenly coming to
+himself, he gave a gasp of fear, and half staggered back on the porch.
+As he did so, his eye caught, pinned to the door, a square of white.
+With trembling fingers he lit a match, tore open the letter, and read
+the few brief words it contained. Then, silent, as if mortally
+stricken, he staggered here and there, as if still blindly seeking, in
+the place she had loved so well, the girl he had loved--and lost.
+
+On his knees he dropped, clasping the railing with his hands, and in
+dumb agony gazed out as if for help across the mighty silences of the
+darkening valley. The west wind, sweeping free, moaned through the
+tree tops below; dark clouds, driven low, one by one blotted out the
+light of stars; faintly, here and there, on the mountain side, gleamed
+the lights of other cabins, homes--such as the home he had some day
+meant to build. With a sudden uncontrollable gesture, he raised his
+eyes to the heavens, where, amid the flying cloud wrack, one star
+still faintly shone.
+
+"Oh, God! Oh, God!" he cried. "And I loved her so."
+
+Faster sped the hurrying clouds, louder moaned the freshening wind;
+even the single star no longer shone, and darkness, like a pall,
+settled down over Burnt Mountain.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XI
+
+                   THE LAUNCHING OF THE KONAHASSETT
+
+
+The hands of the big clock in the "customers' room" at Gordon and
+Randall's pointed to five minutes of ten. Pervading the place was a
+general air of extreme tension, somehow suggesting that all present
+were about to start in a race of some kind, and were undergoing the
+agonies of the last few nerve-racking moments before the start. And
+this, indeed, in a sense was true. When the clock should strike ten,
+and the opening bell of the Exchange should be heard, a race of a kind
+began for all.
+
+The two thin-faced, alert, nervous young men at the tickers, steadily
+calling the quotations, must keep pace with the whirring tape; the two
+boys standing in front of the big stock board, marking up the eighths
+and quarters, or indeed, the whole points, as the favorites receded or
+advanced, must make their nimble fingers fly; and the customers
+themselves, according to their several temperaments sitting at ease in
+the big arm-chairs or pacing nervously up and down the room, must keep
+close watch of their holdings; make up their minds, if winning, when
+to quit at the right time; if losing, whether to take their loss with
+a philosophical shrug of the shoulders, or whether to dig deeper into
+their pockets, make the depleted margin good, and desperately hold on
+for better things.
+
+The day and hour marked the third month of the great copper boom, an
+"era of good-feeling" when bulls were rampant in every pasture, and
+bears had retreated so far into the woods that their distant growlings
+passed all unnoticed and unheard; when every little lamb had his
+little day and on the strength of his paper profits bought an
+automobile for himself and a set of furs for his wife; when brokers
+were encouragingly urbane and polite and customers eager and
+enthusiastic in their pleasant and successful chase after the jingling
+dollars; that splendid time, in short, when anybody and everybody
+could make money, when there were all winners and no losers, when
+"getting rich quick" was so easy that one felt almost ashamed of his
+winnings, and thought with good-humored self-contempt of what he had
+been making in "straight" business, his year's earnings now in a week
+or two doubled or even trebled, and all without effort, all with
+scarcely the exertion even of lifting a finger. Prosperity, happiness,
+glorious country, beautiful world!
+
+Among the other customers was little Mott-Smith, as usual, anxious,
+worried, hesitating between the conservative wish to make sure of what
+he had gained by following Gordon's lead, and the maddening desire to
+hold on and take his chances of seeing things mount higher and yet
+higher still. A week ago, on Gordon's word of advice, let fall after a
+game of bridge at the Federal, he had bought two hundred Arizona and
+Eureka at forty-seven; two days later a drop to forty-five had cost
+him a sleepless night and two restless, nervous days; then, in a
+forenoon, it had jumped to forty-nine, and thence had risen steadily
+on what was described in the learned language of the financial columns
+as "accumulative buying of the very highest class, rumored to be that
+of prominent insiders who are in receipt of most gratifying news
+direct from the mine." In turn it had touched fifty, fifty-one,
+fifty-two and one-half, and the night before had closed strong at
+fifty-three bid, and no stock offered.
+
+Thus Mott-Smith worried and planned and mentally bought and sold
+stocks right and left twenty times in two minutes. On the one hand,
+twelve hundred dollars in real money was for him a sum well worth
+having, and yet, in spite of that, he could not forget the tone of
+Gordon's voice as he had looked Mott-Smith squarely in the eye in
+answer to the latter's timid question. "Arizona and Eureka," he had
+said, "yes, indeed, it's a good mine; a very good mine," and then he
+had glanced over his shoulder and distinctly dropped his voice a
+trifle before he added: "and from what I hear, I should judge that
+before many days it's going considerably higher, too."
+
+It had been on the strength of this opinion that he had bought his two
+hundred shares, for Gordon and Randall were already known as a house
+remarkably well posted on coppers, and Gordon's weekly market letter,
+well-written, entirely lacking in anything bordering on the tipster's
+objectionable art, well poised, and steadily but conservatively
+bullish, numbered among its readers thousands of Gordon's eager
+followers. And in this special case, Gordon, as usual, had been right.
+But "considerably higher"; just what that meant was the hard point to
+determine. Was six points "considerably higher" or was it not?
+
+While he stood pondering the problem, suddenly the bell struck.
+Instantly the clerks at the tickers began to call, "Copper, one
+hundred fourteen and a quarter; U. P., one hundred thirty-seven;
+Reading, one hundred eight; Copper, one hundred fourteen and a half;
+Copper, one hundred fifteen;" the race was on.
+
+From long experience, Mott-Smith knew the exact spot on the local
+board where he should look to find Arizona and Eureka. For some
+moments, however, he purposely avoided looking in that direction.
+Supposing there should be bad news from the mine; a cave-in, a
+washout, a fire; supposing the whole market should suddenly break
+sharply on foreign war news or something of the sort--momentarily he
+felt a slight giddiness creep over him, and involuntarily he gave a
+little gasp as he sought to pull his unruly nerves together. Then,
+with lips tightly compressed, he glanced a third of the way down the
+list of local stocks. Opposite Arizona and Eureka was already posted a
+long row of figures, and even as he looked the boy was putting up
+others. Heavens! Mott-Smith hardly dared trust his eyes. Fifty-six and
+a half, seven, six and a half, seven, eight and a half, eight and a
+quarter, three-quarters, nine and a half, sixty, sixty-one--
+
+A sudden rush of gratitude and self-congratulation swept over him. Oh,
+if he had sold, he could never have forgiven himself. Twenty-eight
+hundred dollars--and he had thought twelve was good. Oh, what a
+splendid thing was life, after all. Twenty-eight hundred dollars--what
+a world of opportunity it was for men of foresight and ability and
+sound judgment; for men, in short, like Arthur Fitzhenry Mott-Smith.
+Twenty-eight hundred dollars--could the whole city produce a man
+happier than he?
+
+Meantime in their private consulting room Gordon and Randall sat
+planning the various details of the day's campaign. Randall, pulling
+out his watch, had just risen to take his departure for the customers'
+room, when Gordon called him back.
+
+"Oh, Bob," he cried genially, "just a minute, please. I forgot to say
+that I think we're ready now for the preliminary work on the
+Konahassett; getting the ground in shape, so to speak, for the
+circulars and advertisements that will come a little later on. If you
+can, I'd like you to start to get the tip in circulation to-day, and
+it seems to me I'd do it something like this. During the forenoon pick
+out six or eight men that you know trade with half-a-dozen different
+houses, and in the course of casual conversation just give it to them
+in the strictest confidence that I've got a mine about to be launched,
+which you understand, on the very best authority, is going to be, in
+the course of a year or two, one of the richest producers in the whole
+world--a genuine bonanza. Tell them of course not to mention it to a
+soul. Tell them that for a while yet there'll be nothing doing anyway;
+but you want them to have it in mind in case you shouldn't get another
+chance to speak to them about it before the stock is really listed.
+Well, I needn't go into all the details with you, Bob. You know how to
+do it better than I do, by a long shot. You catch my idea, anyway.
+Mystery; immense size; inconceivable richness; chance to make a barrel
+of money, either by out-and-out speculation or by buying the stock as
+a genuine investment. Savvy?"
+
+Randall nodded. "Sure," he answered briefly, "I'll get you in right;
+you needn't worry a minute about that. Any men in particular you've
+got in mind?"
+
+Gordon thought an instant. "Harry Atkinson, for one," he answered,
+"and Holliday, and Bancroft. Oh, and if Mott-Smith's around, be sure
+and see him anyway. He's the greatest he-gossip of the lot. Tell him
+to sell Arizona and Eureka, and then to wait for the word from me. And
+tell him it's my personal tip to a few old friends, and that it's
+given in absolute secrecy. Rub that in. If there were any doubt about
+his not spreading it, that'll clench it. He'll tell, all right. He's
+human. Absolute secrecy, remember. It's got to be kept quiet."
+
+Randall, pausing on the threshold, smiled grimly. "Dick," he said,
+"your ability is only equalled by your sincerity, and--you're a damned
+good judge of human nature," and the door slammed to behind him before
+Gordon could frame a reply.
+
+Ensuing events certainly seemed fully to bear out Randall's estimate
+of his partner's cleverness. Little Mott-Smith, indeed, after
+Randall's guarded talk with him in a quiet corner of the customers'
+room, fairly grudged the time necessary for closing out his Arizona
+and Eureka, and bustled away from the office, almost bursting with the
+magnitude of his secret. In five different offices, before the closing
+bell rang, he spread the news of Gordon's glorious find, and left
+behind him a trail of eager speculators, each striving to solve the
+problem of how best to get in on the ground floor for the largest
+possible amount within his means, and each wondering what special
+strings might perchance be worked to get at Gordon himself, and thus
+to have the wonderful news really verified at first hand.
+
+To cap the climax, Mott-Smith, later in the day, chanced to dine at
+the Travelers' with Holden, of the _Post_. Even with the oysters,
+Mott-Smith could not refrain from dropping a mysterious hint or two;
+with the arrival of the punch he was in full blast, and by the time
+the demi-tasse was served Holden had at his command a very pretty
+little two-column "scoop." It appeared duly in next morning's _Post_;
+by afternoon all the other papers had copied it, and then the real
+rush to get at Gordon, or some one near him, began.
+
+Gordon, of course, was immensely annoyed. Reluctantly after a day or
+two, he did in self-defense grant one interview, and that interview
+served to whet the popular appetite almost beyond restraint It
+appeared that everything which had been said of the mine was true,
+only in reality far short of the whole truth. The samples Mr. Gordon
+showed the reporter were alive with the very richest copper. The stock
+would be listed in due time, probably, but for the present Mr. Gordon
+did not intend doing this, lest the excitement caused by the
+newspapers might change what was strictly an investment affair into a
+mere speculative venture.
+
+Human nature being always much the same, and the best and the worst of
+us being alike ever tormented with the desire to attain that which we
+can not attain, and possess that which we can never possess, the name
+and fame of the Konahassett lost nothing in the few weeks' delay which
+followed. From time to time new strikes, of still greater richness
+than ever before, were duly made and recorded. And then, one fine
+morning, appeared the first of Gordon's famous public advertisements,
+modeled somewhat on the style of the pyrotechnic Lamson, with whom,
+some years previous, the idea had originated. With this difference,
+however, that the English of Gordon's advertisements was perfect, his
+reasoning clear, his statements terse and directly to the point. In
+one respect, on Doyle's advice, he did copy Lamson direct, and that
+was in the matter of advising that no one should buy on margin. As
+Doyle justly observed, not only was the moral effect of this advice
+excellent, but there was practical advantage to be gained as well,
+those who had intended buying on margin in the first place most
+certainly not being deterred by the advertisement from doing so, while
+on the other hand, many who had never dreamed of experimenting with
+this risky form of gambling, being told not to do so, and finding in
+addition that, if they did, they were bound to make four or five times
+as much--when Konahassett went up--would yield to temptation, and thus
+largely increase the amount of the stock subscribed.
+
+For three days the advertisements were continued, and then at last the
+stock was in reality listed. Even Gordon, knowing as he did that he
+had picked the ideal moment for his venture, knowing as he did that
+the country was in the midst of tremendous prosperity and fairly on
+the upswing of a big bull market, knowing that money was still easy
+and speculation rampant, even Gordon was absolutely amazed at the
+public response. All day long the stock was bought in small lots, in
+huge blocks, bought outright, bought on the flimsiest imaginable
+margin, bought in every possible way that it could be bought,
+legitimately or otherwise; and with the ringing of the closing bell
+Konahassett preferred, with its par of twenty-five, closed at
+thirty-three and one-half, while Konahassett common, with its
+par at five, after the heaviest transactions ever recorded in any
+copper stock in one day's trading, closed triumphantly at nine and
+three-quarters. And Gordon and Doyle, dining together at the Federal,
+looked upon their work and saw that it was good.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XII
+
+                    GORDON LISTENS TO GOOD ADVICE
+
+
+Fast, true and strong the little black pacer came through the last
+quarter mile of the speedway. Gradually Vanulm, quietly soothing him
+with voice and rein, steadied him down to an ordinary road gait, and
+then, as they swung sharp to the left into the quiet of the old
+country road, with its crumbling stone walls, shaded on either side by
+the overhanging elms, the little black reluctantly slowed to a walk,
+and Vanulm, with a smile, relaxed his hold upon the reins, and leaned
+comfortably back against the buggy's cushioned seat.
+
+Gordon drew a long breath of satisfaction. "He's all right," he said
+approvingly, "you've got hold of a great little horse, Herman, and you
+were mighty kind to give me a chance to see him step, too. Fresh air's
+been scarce with me, lately; your stopping at the office was a happy
+accident."
+
+Vanulm's brow wrinkled quizzically. "It wasn't really an accident,
+Dick," he confessed, "it was only a subterfuge to get you off by
+yourself where you couldn't run away. You're so confoundedly busy that
+it was really the only way I could think of to get you where I'd have
+a fair chance to give you a good talking to."
+
+Gordon gave him a quick glance. "Well," he answered good-humoredly,
+"they say you might as well kill a man as scare him to death. What's
+the trouble now?"
+
+Vanulm looked as if he did not altogether relish his task. "Look here,
+Dick," he said at last, "I'm an older man than you are by twenty
+years, or I wouldn't be fool enough to try to give you advice. But
+here's one thing that's the trouble right away. You're driving
+yourself altogether too hard. Your business has increased enormously;
+you're fathering this Konahassett scheme; you've married a young and
+exceedingly attractive wife, and the success she's made socially
+demands at least a part of your time there; I keep reading of you
+making speeches in all sorts of places; they tell me you're beginning
+to dabble in politics; you're taking on a hundred and one new
+interests, Dick, and it's too much for any one man; you simply can't
+stand it, that's all; and I want you to promise me you'll begin to go
+light on some of these things; why not let up on this Konahassett
+business a little?"
+
+Gordon laughed. "And you get me away from the office to tell me that,"
+he scoffed. "Nonsense, Herman, I'm as fit as possible. A man's got to
+hustle if he wants to get ahead these days; it won't hurt me; so don't
+you worry."
+
+There was a moment's pause; then Gordon glanced keenly at his
+companion's dissatisfied face. Suddenly he leaned forward, and laid a
+hand on Vanulm's knee. "Damn it, Herman," he cried good-naturedly,
+"why don't you give it to me straight? You never got me out here to
+tell me I was working too hard. What did you pick out the Konahassett
+for? Anything wrong with that?"
+
+Vanulm laughed uneasily. Then suddenly he drew a long breath.
+"Confound it, Dick," he cried, a note of apology in his tone. "I hate
+to interfere this way, but I've known you a long time, and I like you
+too much to have things seem to begin to go wrong with you now. Since
+you've asked me, I'll tell you straight out that people are beginning
+to talk about this Konahassett scheme. They don't like it, Dick, and,
+as far as I can see, you can't really blame them. Your capitalization
+_is_ big, and beyond that, your methods of getting it before the
+public--well, they're unusual, Dick, if we simply let it go at that.
+Lamson tried that sort of thing, and you know where he wound up;
+Prince tried a clumsy imitation of Lamson, with all Lamson's lack of
+conscience, and none of Lamson's brains to back it up with, and he's
+where he won't do any more advertising for some time to come. And now
+you're working along the same lines that they did, and it's costing
+you your standing around the Federal, and down-town, too. There's not
+a doubt of it, Dick; and I can't bear to see it going on this way.
+What's the use?"
+
+Gordon grinned somewhat malevolently. "Meaning the ads?" he queried.
+
+Vanulm nodded. "Principally the ads," he answered. "They are cheap,
+Dick; cheap as the devil, and you know it."
+
+For answer Gordon pulled from his pocket a sheaf of the evening
+papers, and at random turned to the financial page of the _Observer_.
+There, sure enough, in huge black capitals, his latest bit of advice
+to investors stared the reader in the face:
+
+
+                      COPPERS--COPPERS--COPPERS
+
+
+ran the big head-lines; then, in smaller type, Gordon's brief pithy
+argument in favor of the purchase of copper stocks; the future of the
+metal; the expansion of telegraph and telephone; the electrification
+of railroads; the vain search for a substitute; the immense foreign
+demand; then good words for half a dozen other mines, all well and
+favorably known, and, lastly, a glowing paragraph devoted to the past,
+present and future of the Konahassett, its great area, the wonderful
+richness of its copper, its boundless possibilities within the next
+few years. The deduction was as obvious as the type which proclaimed
+it to the world.
+
+
+                       KONAHASSETT--KONAHASSETT
+
+
+ran the next to last line, and then, for a parting shot at the
+hesitating speculator, with splendid vigor and decision:
+
+
+                   BUY KONAHASSETT--BUY IT OUTRIGHT
+                            AND BUY IT NOW
+
+
+Gordon grinned again. "And you say they don't care for that at the
+Federal?" he asked.
+
+Vanulm shook his head. "They most certainly do not," he answered. "In
+fact, from all I hear, it's going to cost you your place on the House
+Committee at the next election."
+
+Gordon's lip curled. "Well," he said, composedly enough, "I'm sorry to
+hear that, and I'm sorry they don't approve of my taste in
+advertising, but I don't know what they're going to do about it. I've
+got hold of too good a thing to let go of it now."
+
+Vanulm's face showed his disapproval. "Damn it, Dick," he exclaimed,
+with unusual profanity and real feeling, "that's _another_ thing.
+You're going to get snowed under one of these fine days. No one can
+make the success you have, and forge to the front down-town the way
+you have, without making enemies. And I know, on the best of
+authority, that you're being gunned for, and right on this very stock
+we're talking about--the Konahassett. And the interests that are after
+you are interests that you can't withstand--that no man in the
+country, for that matter, could withstand."
+
+Gordon's eyes narrowed. "You mean the Combine?" he queried.
+
+Vanulm nodded. "I mean the Combine," he answered. "The argument's
+perfectly plain, Dick. You're in too many things; you're cheapening
+yourself by this advertising business on the Konahassett, and you're
+courting ruin, besides. You've made enough, Dick; pull out, now, and
+quit while you've got a chance. For Heaven's sake, don't wait till
+it's too late."
+
+Gordon's face set obstinately. "One thing first Herman," he said,
+"I'll tell you frankly that I wouldn't sit here and take all this
+advice from any man on earth except yourself, but I know the spirit
+you're offering it in, and I appreciate it, too. Now, to answer your
+arguments; in the first place, I won't admit that I'm courting ruin,
+as you put it; in the second place, I'll acknowledge that my methods
+of getting the Konahassett before the public are cheap, if you choose
+to use that word, but they suit the general public, and therefore they
+suit me; as to my doing too many things at once, that may be an open
+question; personally I don't think I am, but, of course, I may be
+wrong. Anyway, I can't stop now; I've got too much to straighten out
+first. I don't mean to keep up this pace for ever; if things go right
+a while longer, I shan't have to."
+
+There was a long silence before Vanulm spoke again. "All right, Dick,"
+he said slowly; "I see the force of what you say, and, after all,
+every man _has_ got to live his own life in his own way. I'll drop the
+subject, seeing that I look at it one way and you another; I've had my
+say, and you've been very considerate to take my interfering the way
+you have; and now, if you'll bear with me, there's just one other
+thing I want to say, Dick, before I get through. And that's on the
+point you spoke of about the number of things you were doing; if you
+were a single man, I think it might make a difference, but you're not.
+You've married a girl who seems to me to be one of the most charming
+young women I've ever met. Are you treating her quite right, Dick?
+You're very seldom seen with her in public; she's young, and
+exceedingly attractive; she's bound to receive a lot of attention, and
+it's common gossip the way this young Ogden's seen around with her.
+You know what he is, Dick, and I ask you again, fully aware of the
+liberty I'm taking, 'Is it fair to her?'"
+
+Gordon turned to him with a little mocking smile. "While you're on the
+subject," he said, with irony, "is there anything else? My character,
+my religion, what I eat for breakfast? Don't stop with my family
+affairs, I beg. Is there anything else?"
+
+Vanulm flushed scarlet. "I ask your pardon, Dick," he said stiffly,
+and, after a moment's hesitation, he added quietly: "No, there's
+nothing else."
+
+With the gentlest shake of the reins he signaled the little black that
+they were ready for the journey home; for five, ten, twenty minutes
+they sped along in silence; then Gordon turned to his friend.
+
+"Herman, old man," he cried, "forgive me. You're the best fellow in
+the world, and I had no business to lose my temper. Only--it _is_
+true--every man has got to lead his own life, and use his own
+judgment, such as it is. That's really what makes life, I suppose. And
+a man's family affairs, pleasant or unpleasant, are his own property.
+But I had no business to speak as I did. Forgive me, Herman."
+
+In silence Vanulm extended his hand. "Nothing to forgive, Dick," he
+said half sadly; "I'm a meddling old fool, and I'll never bring up the
+subject again. It's a queer world, anyway, and which one of us has the
+right to judge the other?"
+
+Gordon sat silent and thoughtful. Once, twice, he made as if to speak;
+then, with a smile that had no mirth in it, he shrugged his shoulders,
+as though dismissing something from his mind. "Yes," he said, "you're
+right, Herman. It's a queer old world."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIII
+
+                      IN THE TRACK OF THE STORM
+
+
+It was on a Wednesday morning that the famous "Gordon Panic" began.
+According to the later comment of the financial critics--those writers
+whose opinions are always interesting, rather, perhaps, than
+valuable--diagnosis, and not prognosis, being their forte--according
+to the critics, then, the members of the Combine, patiently biding
+their time, chanced to hit upon a morning when a well-defined war
+rumor joined company with a sudden and utterly unexplained drop of
+five pounds in copper in London. The result was immediate and
+disastrous. Overstrained and feverish for a fortnight past, the market
+broke sharply at the very opening, and Konahassett common, which had
+closed the night before at twenty-three and a half, by eleven o'clock,
+had run off, in sympathy with the other coppers, to nineteen. Then,
+and not until then, came the attack, evidently planned and executed by
+a master hand. Huge blocks of Konahassett were thrown upon the market
+with such rapidity that, for a time, Gordon himself seemed utterly
+helpless. Indeed, before he was fairly able to come to its defense,
+the stock had touched fourteen and a half. And then ensued a battle
+royal, waged with unabated fury until the ringing of the closing bell.
+Not only Gordon's office, but the offices of half the brokers in town,
+were overrun with crowds of frightened speculators; white-faced,
+anxious, terror-stricken. To all, by word of mouth, by tissue, by
+published statement, Gordon gave out the watchword, "Hold on; don't
+sell; it's only a drive; the mine's all right; above all, don't sell!"
+and Konahassett, on huge transactions, closed at sixteen.
+
+On Thursday morning, indeed, everything looked better. The war rumor
+was denied, the decline in London copper was attributed to
+speculation, pure and simple, in nowise affecting the stability of the
+market, a remarkable report from the British Atlantic Railroad was
+rumored for the morrow, and, Gordon's followers taking heart of grace,
+Konahassett worked steadily upwards in sympathy with the rest of the
+market, and closed strong at twenty bid.
+
+Thus things stood on Thursday evening, but Friday, day of ill-omen,
+disproved all the promise of the preceding day. Crop damage and heavy
+rain in the cotton belt both served their turn; the war scare was duly
+aired again; the report of the British Atlantic, so far from being
+what was expected, on the contrary not only showed a very considerable
+decrease in net earnings, but stated moreover that the complete
+electrification of the system would be for the present indefinitely
+postponed; rumor bred rumor, and the whole market, under the lead of
+the railroad stocks and the coppers, plunged heavily downward.
+
+Amid all the excitement and confusion, once again it was an easy
+matter to distinguish the hand of the man or men who had led the
+attack on the Konahassett on the preceding Wednesday. The stock again
+from the very first acted badly; half an hour after the opening it had
+dropped to seventeen, and then a sudden flood of selling orders
+carried it down, and still farther down, until at eleven o'clock it
+was quoted at thirteen and a half.
+
+Gordon, for the first time anxious and plainly doubtful of the result,
+fought his fight with all the cool daring and stubborn courage which
+had won him his place in the market world. One barrier after another
+was interposed in the effort to stem the tide, and one after another
+was ruthlessly swept away. About noon, for the first time in years,
+Gordon in person took the floor of the Exchange, and, knowing full
+well that he was destined to defeat, none the less bravely fought out
+his battle to the bitter end. Just once, indeed, early in the
+afternoon, it seemed for the moment that he might, after all, have a
+chance to win, and then came still another drive; stop orders were at
+last uncovered, and the battle, in a short half hour, became first a
+retreat, then a slaughter, and finally a hopeless, panic-stricken
+rout.
+
+Gordon himself, pale as death, authorized the giving forth of the news
+that the fight was lost; that it was every man for himself; in the
+jargon of the street, made to do service to worried brokers in time of
+hopeless panic, that "one man's guess was as good as another's."
+
+In the ensuing wild scramble to unload, Konahassett common was
+buffeted about the room, kicked and beaten and dragged in the dust,
+with none so poor to do it reverence. Once even it broke par for the
+first time in its history, a lot of a thousand shares selling at four
+and seven-eighths, and at the close it had only staggered weakly back
+to seven and a half. A great day for the Combine, if all the rumors
+were true; a great day for the reporters and their news columns; a day
+that had crushed and crumbled Gordon's little army into oblivion,
+spreading ruin and disaster in its wake.
+
+Ruin and disaster--and worse, for not alone money losses and huge
+flaring head-lines followed closely on the heels of the Gordon Panic.
+In Saturday's paper one read of a woman, crazed by her losses, found
+dead beneath the window of her third-story room, and in the early calm
+of the Sabbath morning little Mott-Smith, at last tired of following
+the advice of others, for once acted on his own initiative, and the
+attendants at the Federal, bursting in the door, found him lying
+across the bed, the smoke still curling faintly upward from the pistol
+in his hand, a little round hole drilled neatly between his eyes.
+
+And then, at last, after all the damage had been done, Monday morning
+saw the clearing of the storm. The newspapers which had talked
+hopelessly of panic, acting on "information from the very highest
+sources," suddenly changed their tone. "A bear drive," "A carefully
+planned raid," "Gunning for Gordon," were some of the phrases used.
+Stocks rallied, went blithely up, held their gain and then increased
+it, and closed actually buoyant. It was over. "They" had "gone" for
+Gordon, and had "got" him. That was all. The incident was closed.
+
+During Saturday and Sunday Gordon received three visitors at his home.
+The first was a man whose eyesight evidently troubled him very
+considerably, for he came to Gordon's door in a closed carriage, with
+the shades drawn; did not emerge until such time as there chanced to
+be no passers-by in sight; and hastened up the steps with his hand
+held close to his face, as if further to aid the disfiguring blue
+goggles that protected him from the sun. It was two o'clock when he
+arrived, and he remained until shortly before six, when the same
+carriage again drew up at the door.
+
+Once safely ensconced behind the drawn shades, he thoughtfully removed
+the blue goggles, and sat silent and preoccupied, until the carriage
+paused before the most magnificent house on the wholly magnificent
+avenue, the famous residence of the famous head of the Combine. Just
+once during the drive did the man with the weak eyes allow himself a
+thought outside his mission; very slowly he shook his head, and
+half aloud began to frame a brief sentence, "Of all the damned,
+cold-blooded--" and there he stopped, for the head of the Combine
+desired reports, and not comments, even from the man who was, perhaps,
+in his way, the most trusted little cog in the whole vast machinery of
+the big Trust's many activities. And so the sentence remained
+unfinished.
+
+Gordon's second visitor; and the word is used advisedly, was his wife.
+For the first time in a week, she invaded the privacy of his study,
+and stood by his desk, tall and slender and graceful, her neck and
+arms gleaming with jewels, her opera cloak over her arm, a copy of the
+evening paper in her hand.
+
+"Well," she said coldly. "Is it as bad as they say?"
+
+Gordon made a little deprecating gesture. "You can read," he answered
+shortly. "The papers haven't got everything quite right, of course,
+but it's been bad enough. Yes," he added with emphasis, "the whole
+affair's been fully as bad as the papers make it out to be."
+
+She nodded, a cold gleam of anger in her eyes. "You've done
+splendidly, haven't you?" she queried scornfully. "You that were going
+to make yourself one of the richest men in the country before you got
+through. You that were going to see that I never lacked for anything I
+wanted to raise my finger for. You that said you never started out for
+anything that you didn't get it--"
+
+She gave a scornful little laugh. Gordon, with a humility that sat
+strangely on him, rose quietly. "I'm sorry," he said simply. "For
+myself, I don't mind, but I'm sorry for you. I think, though, in
+time--"
+
+She cut him short. "In time!" she echoed bitterly. "And I've got to
+give up everything. To be pointed out as the wife of a man who went
+broke in the stock market. To be laughed at, pitied, patronized; oh,
+it's too much! I hate you, you fool! I'll tell you the truth now. I
+hate you! I despise you! I'd be glad--"
+
+With a supreme effort at self-control Gordon clutched the rim of the
+table with both hands. In a red mist the room swam before his eyes.
+Then, all at once, together his vision and his brain suddenly cleared.
+He raised his right hand and pointed to the door.
+
+"You'd better go," he said, in a perfectly even tone. "You've gone too
+far. I'll never own you as my wife again."
+
+She did not flinch. Her eye met his with a passion less restrained,
+but the equal of his own. "No," she blazed, in sudden wrath, "you
+won't. You never spoke a truer word. Perhaps--"
+
+She stopped abruptly, then silently turned and swept from the room.
+
+It was not until Sunday night that Gordon's third caller came. Doyle,
+hurrying post-haste from the West, consumed with anxiety, his fears
+increasing with every bulletin received on the way, burst into
+Gordon's study, travel-stained and weary, to find his chief sitting
+calmly in his easy chair, the long table in front of him, usually
+covered inches deep with papers, cleared bare, with the exception of
+two sheets, one a letter, one a memorandum covered with minute
+figures. Gordon nodded pleasantly.
+
+"Well," he said, "glad you're back. You've missed all the excitement.
+We've been making history since you left. All sorts, too."
+
+He pushed the letter across the table. Mechanically Doyle took it, and
+read the few brief lines through. Then he looked up with a gasp.
+
+"Is it true?" he exclaimed. "She's really gone?" Gordon nodded. "Quick
+work, wasn't it?" he said pleasantly. "She could have had a divorce,
+if she'd waited; but she was in a hurry, it seems. So they're off on a
+three years' tour of the world on Ogden's steam yacht. Quite romantic,
+isn't it?"
+
+Doyle shook his head in mute sympathy. "I'm awfully sorry--" he began,
+but Gordon, with a strange laugh, cut him short.
+
+"Needn't be," he said. "You don't know the humorous side yet. When you
+do, you'll laugh, too. It's really funny."
+
+Doyle's face sufficiently showed his bewilderment. Inwardly he
+wondered whether it was Gordon or himself whose brain was giving way.
+After a moment's pause Gordon continued, half, it seemed, as if to
+himself.
+
+"You're the only man who's ever going to know the inside of this;
+this--and one other thing. The two are inseparably connected, as they
+say in books. Well, here's the story. You've heard gossip about my
+wife and Ogden?"
+
+Doyle nodded reluctantly. Who, indeed, had not?
+
+Gordon nodded in turn. "I supposed so," he said dryly. "And I suppose,
+further, you've wondered at my inaction. Before this gossip started, I
+made a deal with Ogden, by which he lent me a very large sum of money
+to use in engineering a stock deal I'll be coming to in a few moments.
+It was demand money, unfortunately, and Ogden, like the thorough
+gentleman he is, made use of the fact that he knew I needed it, to go
+on dancing attendance on my wife and getting her name coupled with
+his, feeling sure that I wouldn't be in a position to act, or even
+complain. Clever, I think. Don't you?"
+
+Doyle's lip curled. "Clever!" he cried. His tone was enough. Gordon
+smiled.
+
+"There, there," he said, "don't take me too seriously. I'm never
+serious, these days. Life's too amusing. Well, now we come to the
+side-splitting humor. The real reason my wife took French leave, as
+you've just read in her touching little farewell, is that she couldn't
+endure life with a poor man. That was the phrase, wasn't it?"
+
+Doyle nodded again. Uneasily he began to think that Gordon, under the
+strain, was going mad. Yet his chief's tone, when he spoke again, was
+sane enough, even pleasantly indifferent.
+
+"I'm afraid," he said, "that my poor wife decided too quickly. As far
+as Ogden is concerned, his wealth has been grossly overestimated.
+To-day he isn't worth over three millions, and while it's too long a
+story to bother you with now, the substance of it is that, thanks to
+this wild trip of his, I've got the information, I've got the men in
+my power, and, best of all, I've got the resources to make the man a
+beggar, so that long before he gets ready to come home, he'll be glad
+some fine morning to sneak into the poor debtor court and take that
+means of getting rid of his creditors."
+
+Again Doyle's fears returned. Gordon, himself a hopeless bankrupt,
+sitting there and stating calmly that he had the resources to put a
+multimillionaire into bankruptcy. Possibly something of Doyle's
+thought showed on his expressive face. At all events, Gordon smiled.
+
+"Well," he said. "I mustn't have all the enjoyment. It isn't fair to
+keep you away from the point so long." He picked up the paper covered
+with the neat little figuring, and almost lovingly glanced over it
+once more. Then he handed it across the table to Doyle.
+
+Half a minute passed--a minute--two. Then Doyle slowly raised his eyes
+to Gordon's face, and his expression was that of mute adoration. Once
+again, as if he could scarcely believe his eyes, he glanced at the
+eight figures in the lowest row of all, just below the little code
+cipher known only to himself and to Gordon, which, translated, read,
+"Deducting amount paid to Combine, as per agreement." Then once again
+he raised his head. "My God!" he ejaculated slowly, and, after a
+pause, even more slowly and with greater emphasis, "My God!"
+
+Gordon gazed at him with a slow smile; then, when he spoke, his tone
+for the first time showed a trace of excitement.
+
+"It is remarkable, isn't it?" he said simply. "And Jim, at that, it's
+only the first step. I'm through with the market. You're to come with
+me at a doubled salary, and I'm going to try the biggest game of all.
+A year from now I'm going to be elected governor of this state--the
+first Democratic governor for twenty years--and the year after that--"
+
+He paused, as if confident that Doyle would catch his meaning, but for
+once the latter's ready brain was fairly staggered by what he had
+seen.
+
+"The year after that--" he repeated.
+
+Gordon rose, and stood facing him, the lust of battle in his eyes.
+
+"The year after that," he said quietly, "is presidential year."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIV
+
+                GORDON ENGAGES A POLITICAL LIEUTENANT
+
+
+Vanulm dropped into the chair next to Carrington's, reaching for a
+match as he did so. "Well, Mr. Journalist," he said, "and what's the
+news today?"
+
+Carrington sighed. Following the campaign through the hot weather was
+no easy task. "The news to-day," he echoed. "Why, for me the same as
+it was yesterday, and the same as it will be tomorrow. State politics,
+morning, noon and night. I've just come from an interview with an old
+friend of yours."
+
+"Gordon?" queried Vanulm.
+
+Carrington smiled. "How'd you guess it?" he answered. "Yes, they told
+me to get a column and a half out of him on his chances of election.
+He says he's going to win."
+
+The brewer paused a moment before lighting his cigar. "And is he?" he
+asked.
+
+Carrington's brow wrinkled doubtfully. "Well," he replied at last, "I
+wouldn't want to be quoted, but between ourselves I really think he's
+got a good show. It would seem queer enough, too, to have a Democratic
+governor again after so many years. Nobody down-town thinks he's even
+got a show, and yet somehow away down in my heart I think he'll go in.
+How do you feel about it?"
+
+Vanulm shook his head. "Why should he?" he answered. "The state's
+normally Republican, to begin with, of course, and always has been.
+Add to this that Endicott's a man of intelligence, and a man of great
+wealth; that he's essentially a corporation man, and supposed to be
+hand in glove with the Combine, and how's Gordon going to beat him? I
+dare say he'll make a creditable showing, but he won't win. I'm sure
+of that."
+
+Carrington did not look convinced. "Well, you voice the general
+down-town opinion, of course," he answered, "but here's something that
+you don't realize. The strongest bond in the world is the bond of a
+common misfortune, and the strongest passion in the world is the
+passion for revenge; and when you come to instil that passion into men
+already united by that bond, why, something's going to drop. And
+that's been Gordon's game ever since the panic. He's got a tremendous
+following throughout the state, as far as the market goes, and men
+aren't Republicans or Democrats when they've been touched in their
+pocket-books. So you see the chance he's had. Day in and day out he's
+been preaching the same thing: that that Konahassett drive was a
+deliberate, cold-blooded steal from the stock-holders of an honest
+mining venture, that the whole thing was planned and carried through
+by the Combine, and that the only way to break up such practices and
+give the people a show is to place an honest man in the governor's
+chair. That man, he modestly admits, is himself. That's only his
+start, and it's a strong start, at that. You and I may laugh at the
+hackneyed 'People against the Corporations' cry, but it's as effective
+with the masses to-day as it ever was, perhaps even more so. And added
+to all that, Gordon's been a tireless and systematic worker. He's gone
+everywhere; he's sent out the greatest mass of literature you ever
+heard of; he's apparently had plenty of money to use--and, by the way,
+that's a queer thing. I understood he was busted when they made that
+raid on his mine, but he doesn't act so. I wonder where he gets his
+money. I guess we both know one place he doesn't get it from."
+
+Vanulm laughed. "The Combine," he said. "Yes, that's right. I don't
+believe they've been very large subscribers to his campaign. They
+aren't worrying, though. I talked yesterday with a man very close to
+headquarters. He says they don't even take him seriously."
+
+Carrington rose. "Well, I must get along," he said. "Buy a paper
+to-morrow, anyway, and read my write-up. And, though I'm not posing as
+a prophet, you may get a surprise on election day, too. Remember
+that."
+
+Gordon's campaign for the nomination, fostered carefully for a year,
+had been one which had puzzled every one, most of all the politicians
+of the old "machine" school. Received at first with unbelief, then
+with derision, the announcement of his candidacy had never met with
+really serious consideration until about a week before the primaries.
+Then, indeed, disquieting rumors began to pour in from all over the
+state, and there was a general revival of interest at the headquarters
+of Logan, the machine candidate, who had so far branded Gordon as a
+"butter-in" and an "amachoor," and had further regarded as unnecessary
+the usual "distribution of campaign funds." Subsequent events proved
+the revival to have been started about a month late, and the
+nomination came to Gordon by a clear ten thousand plurality.
+
+Even then, however, the Republicans had not seen fit to be alarmed,
+regarding the choice as reflecting on the judgment of their opponents
+rather than as putting their own candidate in serious danger. And now,
+with election day only three weeks away, the situation was practically
+unchanged; the Republicans serenely, even majestically, confident;
+Gordon's forces working day and night, for the most part under cover,
+with Gordon himself the only figure really in the limelight, but
+working with a silence and with a system that spoke well for the
+youthful manager of the campaign. Doyle's methods had been
+characteristic. For Gordon, ceaseless activity; the entire round of
+the state; speeches not too long, but clear and to the point, driving
+their lesson home to the humblest intellect in the crowds which
+flocked to hear him; the "glad hand" to all; the introduction of the
+much-abused "personal element" into all that was said or written
+concerning the candidate. For every one else connected with the
+campaign, the most praiseworthy shrinking from publicity; an almost
+morbid desire not to attract too much the attention of the public; as
+Doyle, in a phrase long remembered, had put the matter to his
+lieutenants assembled in full conclave: "Gordon's looking out for the
+theoretical part; and the rest of us are going to be practical, and
+pretty damned practical, too."
+
+The day on which Carrington had interviewed Gordon had been a hard one
+for the candidate. The hands of the clock pointed to half-past six as
+Senator Hawkins rose from his seat in the inner office to take his
+leave. Gordon rose also, smiling and shaking hands with the
+distinguished leader of the fifth ward just as cordially as though he
+had been his first, instead of his hundredth, visitor for the day.
+
+"Well, thank you for coming in to see me, Senator," he said, with the
+utmost sincerity in his tone. "I think we understand each other
+perfectly, and I'm delighted that I'm to have your support. You won't
+forget to remember me to Mrs. Hawkins, will you? And about the
+details--if you will see Doyle any time after to-morrow. I leave all
+that in his hands. Thank you again for coming in. I think we're going
+to win. Good-by."
+
+As the door closed behind the senator, Gordon resumed his seat and
+rang for Doyle. The year's struggle had certainly not improved him
+physically. His face in repose looked tired and worn, and the vitality
+and energy of former days seemed strangely lacking.
+
+"I guess, Doyle," he said, "I'm pretty near my limit for to-day.
+Anybody outside I've really got to see, or can you put them off until
+to-morrow morning?"
+
+Doyle glanced with ready sympathy at the candidate's weary face. He,
+better perhaps than any one else, realized what the strain of the last
+few months had been.
+
+"You do look a little off color," he said; "it's been a hard week for
+every one. Yes, I think I can fix things outside without making any
+friction. You've seen most of the big fellows already."
+
+He hesitated a moment, as if suddenly recalling something, then added
+doubtfully: "There's one young fellow out there that I don't really
+know how to place. He's been around two or three times now. First, I
+took him for an ordinary 'heeler,' but to-day he said he wanted to see
+you right away, and intimated pretty strongly that it would be to your
+advantage to see him, too. I should almost advise you to see him, I
+think."
+
+Gordon frowned. "The story sounds old enough," he said indifferently.
+"They all have something to tell me that's going to be to my
+advantage."
+
+Doyle nodded. "I know it," he answered, "and I may be all wrong. It
+was his manner, really, more than anything he said. But suit yourself.
+I'm just giving you my impression."
+
+Gordon sighed. "All right," he said, "show him in; and for Heaven's
+sake, clear out the rest of them. If this fellow's an ordinary cheap
+grafter, I'm going to use up the little strength I've got left kicking
+you down-stairs."
+
+Doyle grinned and withdrew, presently to usher in a slight, wiry,
+young man, with a keen, alert face, and a manner that bore out Doyle's
+description. Without embarrassment he came quickly forward and took
+the vacant chair by the side of Gordon's desk.
+
+"My name is Lynch, Mr. Gordon," he said, "Thomas Lynch; I live out in
+ward twenty-six, Bradfield's ward, and I should like very much to have
+charge of your interests there on election day."
+
+Mentally Gordon enjoyed the process of kicking Doyle down the two
+steep flights. Outwardly he managed to keep to the tone of unvarying
+courtesy so necessary to the candidate for public office.
+
+"I'm very glad to have a chance of meeting you, Mr. Lynch," he said
+smoothly, "and extremely sorry that I've already looked out for things
+in twenty-six. If you'd come in a couple of weeks ago, now--"
+
+He stopped, as if to talk further was hardly necessary. Lynch nodded,
+as if he understood the situation. Then he drew his chair a trifle
+nearer.
+
+"To tell the truth," he said, "I supposed that was about what you'd
+say. But there are exceptional circumstances back of my request. And
+when you hear them, I think you'll change the arrangements you've
+already made."
+
+Gordon glanced sharply at his visitor. He was, indeed, out of the
+ordinary; either a monumental impostor, Gordon decided, or a ward
+leader of real importance somehow unknown to him.
+
+"Suppose," he suggested, "you come right down to the facts. What are
+they?"
+
+His answer was as sudden as it was unexpected. Lynch, a bright gleam
+of excitement in his eyes, leaned forward and whispered two or three
+brief sentences. In spite of himself, Gordon could not repress a
+start, and the eyes that looked into Lynch's were the eyes of a
+frightened man.
+
+"You lie!" he cried, and then something in the other's look made him
+add quickly, "and if you were speaking the truth, what good would it
+do? It's your word against mine."
+
+Lynch shook his head. Again he leaned forward and whispered in
+Gordon's ear. Then fell silence, until finally Gordon turned full on
+his accuser. "Come," he said, "we might as well talk this thing over
+now."
+
+In the outer office, Doyle waited patiently. Fifteen minutes
+passed--twenty--a half hour. At last he heard the door leading to the
+hall close sharply, and, with a smile, entered the inner office.
+
+"Well," he said, "are you going to kick me downstairs?" and then
+stopped short, struck by the expression on Gordon's face.
+
+The candidate's lips forced a smile, belied by the expression in his
+eyes. With an effort he made reply.
+
+"No, Doyle, you were right, as usual," he said, in a voice curiously
+unlike his own. "I'll see you in the morning," and, with steps that
+seemed to falter strangely, he passed quickly from the office and out
+into the street.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XV
+
+                       THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
+
+
+To Gordon, wearied and worn out in body and mind, the last few weeks
+of the campaign passed like an evil dream. Always the steady stream of
+callers, all more or less frankly with hand extended, not merely for
+the clasp of friendship, but with palm upturned as well. Always the
+same calculations with Doyle, based on the reports of their
+subordinates in city, town and ward. Always the same disbursements,
+some large, some small, but in number keeping at one steady high-water
+mark. And always, when evening came, and Gordon would think longingly
+of what one night of refreshing, uninterrupted sleep would mean to
+him, there was the meeting or rally which positively could not be
+missed, and Gordon, hating the sight of his big white automobile,
+would climb reluctantly in, and be whirled away to some hazily
+indefinite point on the map, to mount the platform and make his plea
+for a fair show for the rank and file, for the curbing of the Combine,
+and for an honest man--to wit, Richard Gordon--in the governor's
+chair.
+
+Among the many disbursements made, there was one series which filled
+Doyle with wonder. In practically every case, Gordon, taking into
+consideration the fact that he was in a field entirely new to him, had
+handled the financial end of the campaign with extreme skill and good
+judgment. Therefore, to Doyle it seemed inexplicable that one Thomas
+Lynch, who had been appointed Gordon's representative in ward
+twenty-six, should be able to come to Gordon seemingly with the most
+outrageous demands, and yet, at the same time, in the vernacular, "get
+away with them." Once, indeed, Doyle had ventured to suggest that ward
+twenty-six was being treated in a manner far outweighing its political
+importance, but Gordon had answered him in a manner not to be
+mistaken, and Doyle, with an outward shrug of his shoulders, and much
+inward speculation, had let Mr. Thomas Lynch and Gordon run matters in
+twenty-six to suit themselves.
+
+Three times in the last week of the campaign, in most unheard-of
+places and at most unheard-of hours, Gordon met the man whose weak
+eyes drove him to the wearing of blue goggles and to traveling in the
+protection of a closed carriage. The conferences were not over-long,
+and yet they seemed to be regarded as of importance by both of the
+principals, and after each of them, and especially after the last of
+the three, Gordon's spirits seemed better, and a certain well-known
+man about town, who for many years had made a specialty of election
+bets, in one day not only changed the odds from five to three on
+Endicott to practically even money, but in addition, even at the
+altered figures, with the greatest readiness covered everything in
+sight.
+
+And thus matters went until at length the final night before
+election was reached. Gordon, in deference to time-honored custom, had
+reserved the night for a whirlwind tour of the city's twenty-six
+wards, but when the time arrived it found him for once under a
+doctor's care--a doctor who did not mix in politics, and who gravely
+recommended a month's rest, and an instant cessation from all work.
+Smiling grimly, Gordon left the celebrated practitioner's office, and
+went home to dose himself with brandy until, on the stroke of seven,
+gaunt, hollow-cheeked, with dark circles under his eyes, he climbed
+uncertainly into his place beside Doyle and started on the final
+effort of the campaign. And somehow, for six solid hours, with the
+platforms reeling under him, and the red fire dancing drunkenly before
+his eyes, he managed to get through his evening's task; half
+mechanically, indeed, and yet, served in good stead by his long
+practice in speaking and in meeting voters, so well that not one man
+in a hundred knew they were applauding a candidate who stood on the
+brink of nervous and physical exhaustion, finishing his battle on
+sheer nerve alone, game to the core, and ready to fight the people's
+fight against corruption in high places as long as he could stand or
+see. From the facts, however, the enterprising Doyle, weighing all the
+chances, decided that good capital could be made, and, quoting to
+himself with a grin his favorite phrase, "It has the additional merit
+of being true," he divulged to the reporters the true state of
+affairs, with the result that next morning the papers fairly teemed
+with splendid head-lines. "Gallant Gordon," "A Fighting Candidate,"
+"Democratic Candidate Risks Death in the People's Cause," were some of
+them, and Doyle felt that for once, at least, the Ideal and the
+Practical had been effectively united.
+
+And Doyle, indeed, in that last threatening night, came nobly to the
+front. To Gordon's benumbed brain, at many a critical moment, he
+furnished the inspiration, and always the inspiration was a happy one.
+Over in respectable ward ten, Gordon, finishing his plea for
+righteousness, for decency, for common honesty, had come out into the
+street to find his motor surrounded by a crowd of street urchins, all
+anxious in due time to become politicians, and all beginning on solid
+Democratic principles.
+
+"That's Gordon," they chorused shrilly. "That's the guy." And then, in
+the jargon of the day, surrounding the automobile, they fairly rent
+the air with the insistent cry: "Well, what do you say?" "Well, what
+do you say?" "Can't get elected if you don't scatter the coin." "What
+do you say?"
+
+The crowd, appreciating the incident to the full, paused. Gordon, not
+knowing whether he was in ward ten or ward twenty-six, mechanically
+was on the point of plunging his hand into his capacious, jingling
+pockets, when Doyle clutched his arm. "For God's sake," he whispered,
+"don't! Get up and tell the crowd you won't stand for such a thing.
+Give it to 'em strong."
+
+The suggestion was enough. Gordon nodded, and in an instant was on his
+feet. "Gentlemen," he said quickly, "I have been telling you that
+there is something wrong in our state to-day, and when those in
+authority set the standards they do, what can you expect from the boys
+who, twenty years from now, will stand in our places? It gives us food
+for thought to see these boys, the products of our public schools, and
+yet I think the blame is scarcely theirs. If elected, I pledge myself
+to see that a course in the simple ethics of right and wrong in
+respect to our government is included in future in the curriculum of
+our schools, and for the present, let me say that, rather than give
+one of these boys a cent of the money for which he asks, without, I
+believe, fully realizing the enormity of which he is guilty, I will
+suffer defeat, and suffer it gladly, at the polls to-morrow."
+
+He resumed his seat amid a genuine burst of cheers. "By George," one
+old conservative was heard to say to a friend, as the motor vanished
+in a cloud of dust, "that fellow's got the right ring to what he says.
+He means it, too, every word. I've voted the straight Republican
+ticket for thirty years, but I'm hanged if I don't give this man a
+vote tomorrow. I'd like to see what he'll do if he wins."
+
+And so the evening passed. "Something to suit everybody," was Doyle's
+motto; the reporters were well looked after, and Gordon preached
+virtue in the tenth, eleventh and the kindred wards, and thence ran
+down the entire scale, until, out in twenty-six, about two in the
+morning, he used up the remnants of his voice in a fiery, scathing
+indictment of the money power--a speech savoring in its radicalism of
+sheer anarchy. Then, as Doyle got him back into the automobile,
+outraged nature at last rebelled, and Gordon was got home and to bed
+in a state bordering on collapse.
+
+A long night's rest, a morning in bed, and the relief of having the
+strain of the campaign off his mind, all, however, combined to work
+wonders, and Gordon, choosing to watch the returns from a private
+office opposite the huge bulletin in front of his own newspaper
+office, by evening, attended only by Doyle and by his secretary,
+Field, was able to come down-town in comparatively excellent
+condition.
+
+The street showed the usual election night scene: the crowds lining
+the sidewalks in front of the bulletin boards, and overflowing into
+the street itself; two rival brass bands engaging in a duel of sound;
+and ever, high above the waiting crowds, the huge lantern throwing the
+messages upon the glaring white of the screen.
+
+Gordon drew a long breath. "Doyle," he said, "this is like the moment
+in a race, just after the starter has sent you to your marks, and just
+before he fires the pistol. Before the start you're all right, and the
+second you're off you're all right, but the intervening instant is
+hell."
+
+Even as he spoke, the first returns were flashed upon the screen.
+The little town of Freeport was the first to register its vote.
+"Endicott--234; Gordon--139."
+
+Gordon nodded approvingly, for Freeport had been stanch Republican
+since the memory of man. "What was it last year, Doyle?" he asked.
+
+Doyle ran his eye down the table of last year's vote. "Two hundred ten
+Republican, eighty-four Democrat," he said quickly, "a good omen."
+
+Quicker and quicker the returns came pouring in, almost faster than
+they could be flashed across on to the screen. Doyle and Field bent to
+their work, adding, comparing, calculating; Gordon stood silently
+watching the bulletins, each bearing its message of good or evil
+fortune. At length a little frown gathered upon his forehead; things
+in the western part of the state were not going to suit him. Gains, to
+be sure, he was making; in many instances, substantial gains; but as a
+whole he did not seem to be repaid for the efforts he had made. Once
+he turned disgustedly to Doyle. "The farmer," he observed, "is a
+pretty conservative animal. A little of the pig about him, and a good
+deal more of the cow."
+
+Doyle grinned encouragingly. He had never deluded himself as to the
+leanings of the west and northwest. "Wait for the cities," he said.
+"They'll make up in five minutes for all you're losing in an hour
+now."
+
+A half hour more and his words were verified. First, River Falls, with
+its huge mill population, went in a perfect landslide for Gordon;
+Linton and Kingmouth followed suit, and by nine o'clock Gordon was
+able to make the rough calculation that he had come into the capital
+itself only some fifteen thousand votes behind. On the capital, then,
+with its twenty-six wards and its vote of ninety thousand odd,
+depended the result.
+
+From the crowd below Audible comment came floating up to the little
+group. "Win!" they heard one man shouting at the top of his voice, "of
+course he'll win! He'll take the city by thirty thousand!" Then a howl
+of protest, offers of huge sums of money, for the most part put
+forward by men without a dollar to their names, on the result of the
+city vote; finally a strident voice, repeating over and over again,
+"He can't beat the Combine!" "He can't beat 'em." "He ain't got
+nothing on Endicott through the city--not a vote!" Just for a second
+Gordon's eye met Doyle's, and simultaneously they smiled.
+
+Ten minutes passed, and then the first ward made return--ward ten, the
+respectable. It went for Endicott, and by a fairly good margin, so
+good, indeed, that the Republican sympathizers in the crowd raised a
+little cheer. Fortunate, indeed, for them, that they did so while they
+had a chance, for with the next bulletin the rout of the Republicans
+and the signal defeat of the Combine began. Twenty-six came
+strong--overwhelmingly strong--for Gordon; twenty-four hundred and
+fifty-one to five hundred and twelve were the figures; then twenty,
+the ever-faithful Republican stronghold, actually, for the first time
+in its history, swung into the Democratic column by the narrowest of
+margins, then thirteen, fourteen, six and eight went by large
+majorities for Gordon, and, to complete the ruin already begun, the
+famous Combine wards, eleven, two and twenty-five, made the weakest
+showing to be imagined, somehow not even getting out their full vote,
+and giving Endicott, just where he might well have expected to make
+one last stand for victory, at the best nothing more than lukewarm,
+half-hearted support. "Overconfidence," the spokesman of the Combine
+said to the Press next day when interviewed; they had rated Gordon
+altogether too lightly, and had paid the penalty. That was all. And
+Gordon, carrying the city by rising twenty-five thousand votes, left
+the little room for his home, governor-elect of the state by a
+plurality of nearly ten thousand.
+
+Doyle, with a hearty hand-shake, left him at his door. "'What we
+want,'" he quoted, without the shadow of a smile, "'is an honest man
+in the governor's chair.'"
+
+Gordon, gazing with equal solemnity at his friend, for answer bared
+his head. "It has been," he said simply, "the people's fight," and
+then, for the greatest and most successful of us, after all, are only
+human, the governor-to-be and his right-hand man burst forth
+simultaneously into sudden, unlooked-for and most unseemly laughter.
+And they laughed until they could laugh no more.
+
+
+
+
+
+                               PART III
+
+                            THE RECKONING
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER I
+
+                        THE HAZARD OF THE DIE
+
+
+Mrs. Holton doubtfully shook her head. "But he won't come," she said;
+"you can't fool him that way, Tom. He's too clever a man."
+
+Lynch's eyes narrowed a trifle. "Oh, don't think I'm forgetting that,"
+he answered; "on the contrary, that's the very thing I'm taking most
+pains to remember. It's the very fact that he is a clever man that's
+going to bring him here, where a stupid man, for love or money,
+wouldn't dare come on his life."
+
+Mrs. Holton looked puzzled. "But I don't see--" she began.
+
+Lynch leaned forward in his chair. "Look," he said abruptly. "Things
+can't go on the way they're going now. Either we've got to do
+something pretty quick, or else he will. That's the point. It's simple
+enough, and yet, when you begin to follow things out, right away you
+run into all sorts of complications. First of all, of course, he'd
+like nothing better than to have us out of the way. There's no doubt
+about that, is there?"
+
+Mrs. Holton shivered. "No," she answered, in a low tone, "there isn't.
+And yet, knowing him the way we do, isn't it strange he hasn't tried
+before now?"
+
+Lynch glanced at her keenly. "I've thought of that," he admitted.
+"There hasn't been anything of the sort with you, has there? Nothing
+melodramatic, like an automobile coming on you without warning, or a
+brick falling off a house, or a thug holding you up in a dark
+alleyway?"
+
+The woman shook her head. "No," she said again, "and yet I've suffered
+as much the last few weeks, just from the dread of what he might do,
+almost as if he'd really tried. My nerve is pretty near gone, Tom."
+
+Lynch nodded. "I know," he said briefly. "It isn't pleasant to feel
+there's some one gunning for you. At first I thought myself he'd try
+something of the kind, and of course he may yet, but I hardly think
+so. That's one of the complications I spoke about, for him. It's a
+good deal like one of these endless chains. It would probably be easy
+enough for him to get us put out of the way, but, even at that, he'd
+be no better off than before. There'd always be some one else to look
+out for, and they might not be as reasonable as we've been, either.
+No, I guess, on the whole, on that lay we're safe enough. If he ever
+makes a try, it's going to be a different one from that."
+
+Mrs. Holton turned a shade paler. "You mean--" she faltered.
+
+Lynch gave an impatient little laugh. "Exactly," he answered. "If he
+wants the job done, he'll do it himself. Try to do it himself, I
+should say. That's a pleasanter way of putting it."
+
+A sudden gleam of comprehension darted across the woman's face,
+followed on the instant by an expression of abject fear. "God! Tom!"
+she cried sharply. "That's why you think he'll come!"
+
+Lynch nodded. "That's it," he agreed. "He knows what he wants; we know
+what we want; it comes down to a question of who strikes first. With
+this difference--" he paused purposely for a moment, then added, with
+grim significance, "if we pull it off, it's successful blackmail; if
+he pulls it off, it's successful--murder."
+
+Mrs. Holton's face showed gray in the lamplight. "God!" she muttered
+again.
+
+There was a long pause. Then Lynch spoke again, half to his companion,
+half to himself. "No," he said meditatively, "there's no getting
+around it. In one way he's certainly got the best end of it. The thing
+he wants most is to see us out of the way; the thing we want least is
+to see anything happen to harm him. As I say, if we strike first, it
+merely costs him money; but, if he strikes first, that's all there is
+to it; we're done."
+
+The woman, with an evident effort to pull herself together, drew a
+long breath. "And so," she said, with sarcasm, "knowing all this,
+you're going to try to get him down here, and give him the very chance
+he wants."
+
+Lynch smiled patiently. "Well," he admitted coolly, "that's one way of
+putting it. But, on the other hand, you'll never catch a big fish with
+a bare hook, and I'm putting on the bait that I think's most likely to
+work. There are only three moves, really. First, the message that I'm
+going to send him; second, the way he's going to figure out what it
+means, and last, what's going to happen if we do get him down here."
+
+Mrs. Holton nodded. "Well?" she said inquiringly.
+
+"Well," repeated Lynch, "as far as the message goes, I simply send him
+word that I'm sick; confined to my bed, and very weak; that I've got
+no one here to look after me but you, and that I've got some political
+news of the very greatest importance that I've got to let him know
+about at once. Further, that if he can possibly arrange things to come
+down here and see me, he'll be well repaid. 'Well repaid,' is good, I
+think. And that's all there is to that."
+
+The woman shook her head. "It's no use, Tom," she said, with
+conviction. "Either he won't come, or he'll bring some one with him,
+or he'll leave word where he's going in some such way that, if
+anything should happen to him, we'd be sure to be found out. No, it's
+no use."
+
+Lynch smiled. "Those are the obvious things he would do, I'll admit,"
+he answered. "But then he doesn't do the things that are obvious, as a
+general rule. I've studied the man pretty close since I've been in
+touch with him--a good deal closer than he thinks--and I've about made
+up my mind that I've got to the secret of how he's got along so fast.
+Most of us can't get rid of the habit of looking at everything from
+our own point of view; you know how you hear a hundred times a day,
+'If I were in his place, I'd do so and so,' and all that sort of fool
+talk. Some of us, who think we're clever, get far enough to be willing
+to imagine how, under given conditions, the average man would think or
+act, not just how the particular kink in our own special little brain
+would work; but the governor's got further than that. He gets away
+from himself altogether--he even gets away from the average man
+altogether--and instead, if a man's worth being studied at all, he
+puts himself, as far as he's able, inside that man's skin; he eats,
+thinks, sleeps as that man, and when he's ready to make a move, he
+figures his own play by his own standards of thought and action, then
+plays the other man's game as the other man would play it, and so he's
+really on both sides of the table at the same time. God knows I hate
+Gordon, but God knows the man's smart as chain lightning, and anybody
+who undervalues him is a fool."
+
+The woman frowned. "I don't understand what you're talking about," she
+said fretfully.
+
+Lynch looked at her with ironical contempt. "My fault, I'm sure," he
+said gravely. "This was all I was trying to say; that I'm figuring now
+just how he'll look at this message he gets; not what you or I would
+think about it, or what anybody else in the world would think about it
+except the Honorable Richard Gordon himself. Is that any plainer?"
+
+Mrs. Holton nodded. "What you think," she retorted, with unexpected
+spirit, "is plain enough, but what he's going to think isn't plain,
+and never will be."
+
+"There," replied Lynch, "is exactly where we differ. I'll tell you
+just what he's going to think. In the first place, for any one who's
+been spending as much thought on us lately as I flatter myself he has,
+the first thing that will strike him is the fact that by coming down
+to this forsaken spot he could find us together, and in all
+probability would find no one else excepting ourselves. That's clear
+enough; and from that it's only a step to thinking how easy it would
+be to put us both away at the same time, and nobody the wiser. He'll
+have thought that far in about a tenth part of the time it's taken me
+to say it. Then he'll pull up short with the idea that the whole
+thing's a trap, and decide not to come; then he'll go into it deeper,
+and suddenly it's going to strike him what a big advantage he's really
+got over us; he knows we can't see him hurt; he's got the chance that
+the message is genuine, which is perfectly possible, and if it isn't,
+if things don't break right for him, he'll figure that he's sure to
+get away with a whole skin; and, if they do break right, he's got the
+chance of his life to get us off his mind for good and all. See?"
+
+Grudgingly enough the woman nodded. "Yes," she said slowly. "But how
+about his bringing people with him; and how about his leaving word
+with the police where he's gone?"
+
+Lynch laughed quietly. "Not for a minute," he answered confidently.
+"He's got to be careful, too. If he brings any one with him, he
+safeguards himself, and at the same time loses the chance to harm us,
+which is really the very thing that's going to bring him here. If he
+comes alone, and leaves word, it's going to cause a lot of talk; and
+what's more, some wise guy would be sure to follow him, looking for a
+chance to poke his nose into something that didn't concern him. No, if
+he comes, he'll come alone; and he's going to come, too; I can put my
+finger now on the thing that's just going to turn the scale."
+
+Mrs. Holton glanced up. "And what's that?" she queried.
+
+"A question," Lynch answered, readily enough, "of nerves. Something
+that no one who hadn't had a chance to watch the governor pretty
+carefully of late would ever think of; but I've had that chance, and I
+can see in a dozen little ways that he isn't just the man he was a
+year ago. At times he's irritable, something he's never shown before;
+he doesn't keep his mind as close to a subject as he used to; on two
+or three important matters he's been apparently unable to make up his
+mind; and twice, at least, he's made decisions that I'm sure
+politically are going to be disastrous for him. Mentally and
+physically, he's a tired man; little things bother him more than they
+should, and after he's brooded as much as I think he has over the
+trouble we're making for him, for once, very likely against his better
+judgment, he'll decide on the rash course, and he'll take a chance on
+coming down here just to get rid of the suspense of the whole affair.
+He'll come; I don't feel the slightest doubt about it."
+
+"And if he does," said the woman thoughtfully, "you're really going to
+hold him up for fifty thousand."
+
+Lynch nodded. "I think that's the proper sum," he said, "anything
+under that's too small, and anything over that he'd probably kick at.
+But that figure gives us enough to get by on for the rest of our days,
+and the idea of having us half way across the world for all time is
+going to strike him pretty strong. He knows he can trust me when I say
+this is the last deal, and I think he'd do it anyway, but when I've
+got it in reserve to tell him that it's a case of put up or shut up;
+that we get our fifty thousand right off the reel, or there'll be a
+vacancy in the office of governor, why, there's nothing to it. I think
+the whole scheme's a damned good one, if I do say so. He's got
+everything to live for; he'll have his mind at rest; and the money's
+only a flea bite for him, after all. Anyway, the game's getting too
+hot for me, and we might as well get it settled one way or the other.
+We'll get his money, or we'll get him."
+
+Mrs. Holton rose to take her leave. "And if he should try to get in
+first?" she said apprehensively.
+
+Lynch's mouth set grimly. "I'm not taking chances," he said
+significantly. "You needn't worry that anything's going to happen to
+you. You see that you get here to-morrow night at eight sharp, and
+we'll have a little rehearsal."
+
+For half an hour after Mrs. Holton had taken her leave, Lynch, from
+time to time glancing at his watch, sat alone in silence. At length
+there came a faint knock at the door, and he rose to admit a thin,
+ferret-faced, slinking little figure of a man, with a sinister eye and
+a manner in general far from reassuring. Lynch welcomed him with scant
+courtesy, and his tone, as he bade him take a seat, savored less of a
+request than of a command.
+
+"You're late," he said curtly.
+
+The other nodded. "I know it," he answered sulkily enough, "I couldn't
+help it. What do you want of me, anyhow?"
+
+Lynch's expression was the reverse of pleasant. "Come, come," he said
+sharply, "we'll cut that out, right away. You know what the bargain
+was; you ought to, since you were the one that was so anxious to make
+it. You've had a cinch, too. Just twice in three years I've asked you
+to do anything for me, and now, when I need you for a little job that
+I want to see pulled off right, you turn ugly, as if I was trying to
+rub it into you too hard. And I tell you, you can cut it out; if you
+don't feel like doing it, just say so, and I'll know what to do."
+
+There was a certain cold menace in his tone, and the man threw him a
+glance malevolent, yet cringing, much like that of a beaten dog,
+subdued against his will.
+
+"Why, sure," he whined, "don't go talking that way, Tom. I'm game
+enough. What's the row?"
+
+Lynch motioned to him to draw his chair closer, and then, leaning
+forward, for some minutes he talked earnestly, the little man
+listening attentively, and from time to time nodding his head. As
+Lynch finished speaking, he glanced up rather with an air of relief.
+
+"That sounds easy enough," he said, "most too easy. I'll want to look
+the place over, though, to make sure what I'd better use. Maybe I'm a
+little out of practice, anyway. I hope I don't get you in bad."
+
+He grinned as he spoke. Lynch, observing him, allowed the faintest
+shadow of a smile to play for an instant around his lips.
+
+"I hope not," he answered dryly, "both on my account--and on yours."
+
+The little man glanced at him furtively. "Whatcher mean?" he demanded.
+
+Lynch raised his eyebrows. "Mean?" he said carelessly, and with
+apparent lack of interest. "Why, what should I mean? Nothing, except
+that if you shouldn't happen to be in time, and anything unpleasant
+should happen to me, I've left everything looked out for. The police
+will have all the papers within twenty-four hours."
+
+The man's impudent grin had completely vanished. He turned a sickly
+white, and swallowed with difficulty once or twice.
+
+"Hell, Tom," he remarked at last, "but you follow a man up too close.
+I guess I'll be able to look after my end. Come on; let's see what the
+place's like," and together they left the room.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II
+
+                           THE HAND OF MAN
+
+
+The governor stood by the window of the inner office, gazing out with
+unseeing eyes into the fast gathering twilight of the short November
+afternoon. The lights gleamed faintly through the haze--half mist,
+half rain--and the passing crowds, as they hurried by, seemed somehow
+to have about them an air of being shadowy, ghostlike, unreal.
+
+Slowly the governor turned away from the window, and seated himself at
+his desk. For perhaps half an hour he sat motionless, his brow
+furrowed, his eyes questioning, his whole attitude that of a man who
+seeks to solve a problem which again and again comes around to the
+same starting point, and at the last still eludes him. Finally, with a
+sudden gesture of decision, he raised his head; the faraway expression
+left his eyes, and he was once again his old, alert, every-day self.
+
+Closing his desk, he pressed the button for his secretary. Then,
+suddenly, as if overcome by utter weariness, he sank back in his
+chair, with eyes half closed, and thus Field, as he entered, found
+him.
+
+"Nothing wrong, sir?" he asked anxiously. He, perhaps better than any
+one else in the city, save Doyle, knew the pace Gordon had been
+setting for himself of late.
+
+The governor, with a sigh of infinite weariness, raised his head.
+"No," he said slowly, "nothing really wrong. Nothing but what a
+night's sleep will put right. But I am worn out, Bert, utterly worn
+out. We'll have to cancel everything for to-night, I'm afraid, and
+I'll just go home and get to bed."
+
+The secretary nodded in quick appreciation. "That's right, sir," he
+cried quickly, "you couldn't do anything more sensible. It's only what
+I've been saying for a month past. No man on earth can treat himself
+as you've been doing. Flesh and blood aren't steel and iron. You're an
+exceptionally strong man, Governor, but other men, every bit as strong
+as you, are in their graves to-day simply because they got the idea
+they were something more than human. No, sir, you get a rest, and I'll
+look after everything for to-night. The dinner's really the only
+matter of official importance, and I'll get the speaker to represent
+you there. The other things it won't be any trouble to arrange. And no
+matter what happens, you take a good rest. No man ever deserved one
+more."
+
+With a slight effort the governor rose. "Thank you, Bert," he said
+gratefully. "You're very kind. I think I'll do as you say."
+
+The secretary nodded. "Good," he cried; "and if you'll just wait a
+moment, I'll have a carriage here."
+
+The governor shook his head. "Thanks," he said, "I think I won't
+trouble you. I feel as if the air might do me good, and it's only a
+short walk, at best."
+
+Then, as Field helped him on with his coat, he added: "There's one
+thing you might do, Bert, to head off any possible interruption. Just
+get my house on the 'phone, and tell Hargreaves that I'm at home, but
+that I'm not to be disturbed by any one. Tell him to answer the 'phone
+himself, and simply say that I'm indisposed, and can't see any one
+before nine o'clock to-morrow morning. Thank you. Oh, yes, indeed,
+I'll take care of myself. Good night."
+
+Two hours later, although Governor Gordon was known to be at home, so
+completely worn out as to be confined to his room, a man whose face
+and figure, had not both been hidden by raincoat, slouch hat and
+umbrella, would have disclosed at least a startling resemblance to the
+governor's, strode along across the city through the downpour of rain,
+out towards the northeast streets; past Fulton, past Bradfield's,
+straight out across the deserted fields, now ankle-deep in mud,
+stumbling along the miserably kept by-paths, now fording miniature
+lakes and rivers, ever increasing in size as the torrents of rain
+steadily increased.
+
+In spite of the discomfort, the weather conditions seemed to be to the
+man's liking, for as he bent forward in his efforts to breast the
+force of the gale, from time to time he somewhat grimly smiled. Then,
+as he neared the solitary house, visible only by the faint light
+gleaming uncertainly through the dripping panes, the smile faded
+suddenly from his face, his mouth set in a tense line, and into his
+eyes there came an expression keen, alert, watchful. As he entered the
+gate, he cast one quick glance about him through the darkness, and
+half-way to the door he thrust his right hand momentarily into his
+pocket, and as quickly withdrew it again; then, passing under the
+shadow of the porch, he lowered his umbrella, shook the water from his
+dripping garments, hesitated for just the veriest instant--and
+knocked.
+
+He had but a moment to wait. Silence for a space, and then the scrape
+of a chair, footsteps along the hall, and the door was cautiously
+opened to reveal Mrs. Holton, lamp in hand, peering anxiously out into
+the darkness.
+
+"Who is it?" she quavered, and he could see that the hand which held
+the lamp was shaking. "Is it you, Governor?"
+
+Without ceremony Gordon pushed past her into the hall. "Of course it
+is," he said curtly. "Who did you think it was? Or do you have a run
+of callers on a night like this? If Tom's got me down here in this
+storm, and his news isn't what he makes it out to be, I'll break his
+neck; that's what I'll do to him."
+
+Mrs. Holton, leading the way into the kitchen, managed to force a
+laugh. Then, as Gordon removed his dripping coat and seated himself by
+the fire, she remembered instructions, and grew suddenly grave.
+
+"You'll be lucky to get anything out of him at all," she said. "He
+turned so weak an hour ago I was going out after brandy, but he
+wouldn't let me go till you came. I'd better go now, though, I guess.
+He said you could come right up."
+
+Apparently frightened and painfully ill at ease, she rose and started
+to put on her coat. Gordon eyed her with a glance much like the look
+that a snake might cast upon some shrinking, terrified rabbit.
+
+"Didn't care for the climate of Europe?" he said abruptly.
+
+The woman turned a shade paler, and her hands trembled more violently
+still. "I suppose I oughtn't to have come back," she said, in a low
+voice, "but I couldn't stay. Everything was different from what I'd
+expected; everything had changed so; and I got homesick; I had to come
+back, that was all there was to it."
+
+"Although," said Gordon lightly, "your return involved, of course, a
+little matter of breaking your contract with me; going back absolutely
+upon your pledged word."
+
+The woman flushed scarlet. "Well," she said half-defiantly, "in a way
+I did, but I can't see that it makes any difference to you. I'm living
+here quietly, seeing no one, having nothing to do with any one, I
+should think it was all the same to you."
+
+"That," answered Gordon evenly, "I imagine should have been left for
+me to decide. However, we needn't discuss it now. You're here,
+evidently, and taking care of my friend Lynch. I suppose,
+incidentally, of course your coming back had nothing to do with him."
+
+The woman's eyes did not meet his. "Of course not," she lied glibly.
+"Why should you think such a thing?"
+
+The governor raised his eyebrows. "Oh, it simply crossed my mind," he
+said indifferently; "seeing you here, taking care of him, I suppose.
+He's really pretty sick, is he?"
+
+"Is he?" echoed the woman. "I should say he was. He's so weak; that's
+the trouble. He can hardly lift a finger. But he'll get well; it's
+just a question of rest, and decent care; that's all."
+
+Gordon rose abruptly. "Well," he said, "I guess I'll go up and see
+him. Which room is he in?"
+
+"Head of the stairs," she answered, "first door on the right. The only
+room with a light. You can't miss it. I'll be back in half an hour."
+
+She had reached the door as she spoke, seemingly not anxious to delay
+her departure.
+
+"One minute!" called Gordon sharply. "You understand, of course, that
+my being here to-night is absolutely to be kept secret. I shouldn't
+want you to make any mistake about that."
+
+His tone was scarcely threatening, yet the woman seemed to understand.
+"Of course," she answered hastily. "Tom told me that. I understand
+everything."
+
+Gordon smiled grimly. "That's good," he said dryly. "In half an hour,
+then."
+
+He held the door open for her; then stepped to the window, and watched
+her until her figure was swallowed up in the blackness of the night.
+Then, turning leisurely, he made his way up the creaking stairs and
+into the sick-room.
+
+In the dim lamplight Lynch's face, as he sat propped up among the
+pillows, looked ghastly enough, and yet, as Gordon came forward and
+pulled a chair up to the bed, it at once struck him that Lynch's eyes
+looked naturally bright, and when he spoke, his voice, though pitched
+low, was hardly the voice of a man who is seriously ill.
+
+"Glad to see you, Governor," he said, "and sorry to trouble you so."
+
+Gordon looked at him with keenest scrutiny. "It was some trouble," he
+answered, "and I dare say I've done a foolish thing in coming here at
+all. And now, let's not waste any time. What's your important news?"
+
+There was a silence. Outside the grim northeaster drove the rain,
+sheet upon sheet, against the rattling casement and the flooding pane.
+Within, the flickering lamplight threw strange, darting shadows across
+the sick man's bed. Finally Lynch raised his eyes squarely to
+Gordon's.
+
+"Governor," he said quietly, "ever since the day I came to see you
+first, we've both played the game with the cards on the table. I'm
+going to play it that way now. I haven't any news. I only used that to
+get you here."
+
+Gordon did not start, or in any way show surprise. On the contrary, he
+nodded, as if in self-confirmation.
+
+"I thought the chance was about even," he said quietly, "and yet I
+thought if it was a lie, that for you, Tom, it was a pretty clumsy
+one. I should be sorry to think I'd overrated you."
+
+Lynch forced a smile, but far back in his half-closed eyes there
+gleamed a little angry light, "On the face of it," he admitted, "it
+was clumsy, and so I felt it had a better chance of passing for truth.
+I apologize, of course. I have no excuse, excepting my anxiety to see
+you."
+
+The governor leaned back a trifle farther in his chair. "Well," he
+said, "and what's the story?"
+
+Lynch did not hesitate. "It's like this," he said. "Of course you'd
+like to see me out of the way, and the old woman, too. That's so,
+isn't it?"
+
+Gordon smiled faintly. "For the sake of your argument, whatever it
+is," he said dryly, "I'm perfectly willing to assume that it's so."
+
+Lynch nodded appreciatively. "Now," he said quickly, "I'm tired of the
+whole game; sorry I ever started it. I'm afraid of you, Governor, and
+that's the truth. Let's cry quits. Give me what I want, and I'll get
+out for good. And what's more, I'll get the old woman away for good,
+too. I'm on the level. I'll do anything you say; sign any papers you
+want me to sign. Let's fix it up, and stop the game right here."
+
+The governor's expression was one of faint interest. "How much?" he
+asked casually.
+
+Lynch's answer came with equal promptness. "Fifty thousand," he said.
+
+Gordon raised his eyebrows a trifle. "Quite a sum," he said mildly.
+
+Lynch shook his head. "Not for what it gets you," he answered. "You'll
+find the value's there, as they say. It's a good bargain for both of
+us."
+
+His voice was quiet enough, his tone conversational, and his gaze
+seemed not to be upon Gordon as he spoke, yet from the corner of his
+eye he was watching his visitor with a singular intentness. Gordon, as
+if wearied, yawned leisurely, raising his hands above his head and
+then replacing them upon his hips. Then, with a purely natural motion,
+he slipped them into the pockets of his coat.
+
+"Well, Tom," he began slowly, his eyes fixed on the other's face, "I
+think, on the whole--"
+
+Lynch gave a sudden cry, sharp, warning, insistent. Above the howling
+of the storm two quick reports sounded almost as one, but the little
+spurt of flame from the wall behind Gordon's back flashed just on the
+instant that the governor's finger curled about the trigger of his
+revolver. Aimlessly Gordon's bullet ripped through the flooring, but
+the skulking figure in the room adjoining had made sure of his aim,
+and with a choking cry the governor of the state pitched forward and
+lay motionless across the bed, with a bullet through his lungs.
+
+In an instant Lynch, in a frenzy of haste, had leaped from the bed and
+started to dress. Then, suddenly, still but half-clothed, he ran to
+the door, just in time to meet face to face the slight, stooping
+figure stealing down the hallway. Lynch raised his hand. "Get that
+carriage!" he called sharply, "and get it quick! No skulking, now!
+Quick, damn you! Do you hear? Quick, I say!" And in a very ecstasy of
+impatience he stood, with face contorted and both arms uplifted and
+shaking, as if he could thus drive more speedily the crouching figure
+that nodded and slunk away down the stairs.
+
+Back again he turned into the little room, and lifting the body of the
+governor on to the bed, he hastily tore away the clothing until the
+wound lay bare. Quickly his hand fumbled in his pocket until he had
+found what he sought; then, pulling the cork from the little bottle,
+with a tiny hook of shining metal he probed for an instant into the
+bullet's track, and then poured a drop or two of the liquid into the
+wound. With a long-drawn sigh, as if of relief, he rose, and gazed at
+the motionless body.
+
+"And that settles you," he muttered, below his breath; "if you should
+come to, it won't be for long. Maybe that won't make your high-priced
+doctors sit up and take notice for a bit. And now, by God," he added
+brutally, "I guess I'll treat you to a little ride. You don't look
+like you'd make out very well walking it. Damn Durgin! Why doesn't he
+come?"
+
+It was long after midnight when, through the driving sheets of rain, a
+carriage stole softly up the deserted street and stopped in front of
+the governor's dwelling. The driver, slipping from the box, opened the
+carriage door, and helped to hold upright the silent figure that his
+companion half lifted, half pushed, from within. In silence they
+carried their burden up the steps, in silence and in haste propped it
+against the outer door, and again in silence descended and drove away,
+until the outline of the carriage, quickly blending with the darkness,
+was at last lost to sight as it turned into the street leading away to
+the northeast.
+
+Up-stairs, in the pleasant warmth, the faithful Hargreaves, for the
+twentieth time that night, stepped to the telephone. "Yes, sir," he
+answered, "all right, sir. Nine o'clock to-morrow morning. Oh, no,
+indeed. Nothing serious, sir. Just tired. There's no light in his
+room, now. I think he's sleeping sound."
+
+Outside, braving the wind and the rain and the storm, the huddled
+figure, with its head sunk on its chest, leaned wearily, as if mutely
+pleading for shelter, against the fast closed door. The small hours of
+the morning came, and went. Still the figure was motionless.
+Spitefully the lashing rain beat down as if to rouse it; fiercely the
+gale, howling and moaning through the deserted streets, stopped to
+beat and buffet it; yet strangely, the figure, gazing with fixed,
+unseeing eyes, made no effort to resist, no effort to move. Governor
+Gordon slept soundly indeed.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER III
+
+                           THE HAND OF GOD
+
+
+Vanulm, standing by the window, hat in hand, abstractedly watched the
+carriage swing smoothly down the street and stop, with a jingle of
+harness, in front of his door. Abstractedly he walked slowly down the
+steps and out toward the street, and had even started to get into the
+carriage, for once without remembering his never-failing word to the
+coachman on the box, so that the dignified James, violating much
+against his will all the traditions of his craft, was at last obliged
+to speak without first being spoken to.
+
+With a preliminary cough he touched his hat. "Begging your pardon,
+sir," he said, "but is there any chance?"
+
+Vanulm, coming to himself with a start, glanced quickly up. Then
+slowly he shook his head. "The doctors think not, James," he answered;
+"we can only hope they may be wrong. We'll drive straight to the
+hospital, please."
+
+The coachman touched his hat again, and at the word the spirited
+grays, chafing at the delay, swung swiftly away down the avenue. Out
+through the long, smooth streets they sped, out through the Arborway,
+flower and bush and tree still lying cool and green and fair in the
+splendor of the soft Indian summer day; now slower and slower as the
+gradually recurring hills grew more frequent and more frequent still,
+until at last, at the summit, they drew up before the door of the
+hospital, isolated, restful, serene, looking far off over the valley
+and the broad blue river winding peacefully along through the cool,
+green fields, in the wistfully lingering sunshine of the waning
+afternoon.
+
+Doctor Stratton, the foremost man of his day, slight, alert, composed,
+met them at the door. With a curt word of greeting he led the way
+within, and motioned Vanulm to a seat. For a moment or two he sat
+silent, a troubled frown upon his face. Then he glanced quickly up.
+
+"Vanulm," he said abruptly, "this whole business of getting you to
+come out here comes pretty near being unprofessional. In the first
+place, the governor's going to die; there's not the slightest doubt of
+that whatever. If any man with that hole through him could live, he's
+the one. He's got more nerve and more will power than any man I've
+ever met, and that's saying a good deal, too; I've seen some plucky
+men in my time. But--no human being with that wound could pull
+through, and I doubt if he can even last out the night. Now, on the
+one hand, you can't fail to excite him, and will probably hasten the
+end; on the other hand, he's evidently got something on his mind that
+troubles him, and you're the one man he wants to tell it to.
+Therefore, considering his temperament, to me it seems better, even if
+it does result badly, to let him see you. Not to allow it would be
+rank cruelty. Simply, if you can help it, don't let him excite
+himself, and above all, don't let him make any attempt to raise
+himself in bed. I'll be directly outside, if you should want me.
+That's all. I suppose we might as well go up now." He rose, and
+Vanulm, following suit, laid his hand for a moment on Stratton's arm.
+"Just one question, Doctor," he said, "suppose he starts to talk about
+how it happened. Shall I let him go on?"
+
+The physician shook his head. "He won't," he answered, "I even tried
+him on it myself, and his answer was most curious. 'I'm not talking,'
+he said. 'It was the same game with both of us. Let him get away with
+it, for all of me,' and not another word would he say. So come, we'd
+better not waste time."
+
+As quietly as possible, Vanulm entered the darkened room and took his
+way over to the narrow bed by the window. In spite of all the doctor
+had said, he could scarcely repress a start. The face that looked up
+at him was fearfully changed--haggard, unshaven, pale, drawn with
+pain--only the eyes, upturned to meet his own, gleamed still with all
+the unquenchable fire of old. Gordon's mouth half parted in the
+pathetic semblance of a smile, and more by his glance than by any real
+movement of his head, he signed his visitor to take the chair that
+stood beside his bed. In silence Vanulm did so, and Gordon, with
+evident effort, began to speak, his voice not strong, and yet distinct
+and clear.
+
+"I knew you'd come, Herman," he said. "Devil of a time to get 'em to
+send for you, but Stratton's a pretty good sort, though. Not a damn
+pompous old fool like most of 'em. I suppose he's told you. I'm dying.
+He told me this morning. Thought it was news, but I knew it already.
+It doesn't need a doctor when the time comes. Any fool can tell--"
+
+He broke off sharply, his lips contorted in a spasm of pain. Vanulm,
+frightened, made as if to rise, but the sick man frowned and shook his
+head. "No, no," he whispered, "don't get him. All right in a minute.
+Leave me alone." And after a moment, indeed, the look of pain left his
+face, and he went on. "I'd better make it short," he said, "short as I
+can, but I want to tell you. Remember, Herman, away back, five years
+ago, a dinner Jim Norton gave to that submarine chap; four or five of
+us there?"
+
+Vanulm nodded, and an expression of relief came over Gordon's face.
+"Good," he said, "saves a lot of explanation. Remember we talked
+religion? Remember I told about a chap that was going to make a gamble
+out of life? Going to risk everything on there not being any God?"
+
+Vanulm, his eyes fixed on Gordon's face, nodded again.
+
+The sick man spoke quickly, eagerly. "I was the man, Herman," he
+whispered. "I always pretended religion; I knew in lots of ways it
+would help me, and it has. I've got men that way that I never could
+have got in any other. But the whole thing was a lie; to the world
+I've been a sneaking hypocrite; to myself I've lived straight; no
+bluffs; no lies; no whining; I've lived my life, and had my fun; and
+I'm ready to pay--if we have to pay."
+
+He paused, and suddenly his glance found Vanulm's. Keenly he sought to
+read the expression there; then, with just the shadow of a smile,
+nodded to himself. "I thought so," he said. "How long have you known?"
+
+"I haven't known," answered Vanulm, "only suspected, from things that
+have happened lately, that it might be so. In fact, if it hadn't
+seemed like such a damned piece of impertinence--"
+
+Gordon took the words from his lips. "Yes," he said quickly, "the day
+you took me to drive. I knew it. I knew you meant well by me, Herman,
+but it wouldn't have done any good then. It was too late."
+
+The brewer's kindly face took on a troubled frown. "Dick," he said
+diffidently, "I'm not religious myself, but they say--"
+
+Gordon strove to raise a protesting hand. "Damn it, Herman," he cried,
+"it's harder than I thought. You're the only man I ever cared a straw
+for; I suppose that's the reason. But I've got to tell you. I've gone
+the limit. I was the man that killed Harry Palmer."
+
+
+[Illustration: "I have gone the limit." Page 369]
+
+
+Vanulm half recoiled, then made as if to rise, but again Gordon shook
+his head. "No, no," he said, "it isn't fever; I'm as sane as you are;
+I wanted money; I tried to blackmail him; drugged him, and made him
+believe he'd ruined a girl; bled him for a hundred thousand; and then,
+by the devil's own luck, the thing leaked out. Then it was my life
+against his, and he was fool enough not to see it. I got my chance out
+on the island, and I shot him, and threw his body into the quicksand
+over by the point. That same night I killed the woman who told him,
+and that's how I got my start. Then came the time about the
+Konahassett--the Ethel, they called it then--and I couldn't come to
+terms with Mason; he was honest--and stubborn--and that left only one
+way. I killed him, and to make things sure, I killed the only woman
+that ever really cared for me, and married Mason's daughter--" he
+smiled sneeringly--"the young woman you thought so charming, and who
+tired of me when she thought my money was gone. To make the thing
+safe, I had to get the murders saddled on a poor old drunk out there;
+that never troubled me much, though; he was only a pawn in the game.
+So I got the mine. And since then, as you probably know, I've been
+fooling the people right and left--the people that have trusted me;
+all my stock market letters were fakes; all my battle with the moneyed
+interests was a sham--I've been hand in glove with them, from the
+start. My politics have been rotten, right through; I've bought,
+bribed, corrupted, betrayed, and yet they've followed me like sheep;
+if I'd have lived, I'd have been president of this country; deals;
+combinations; God, how, I had things lined up; and now I'm through;
+I've had my turn at the game; I'm through; and we're counting up the
+score."
+
+As he spoke, a curious light had come into his eyes; slowly the color
+had crept back into his sunken cheeks; even his voice had taken on
+something of its old, commanding ring. Fascinated, Vanulm gazed at him
+without speaking, and the dying man, almost as if in a state of
+exaltation, went on: "I've played square with myself, Herman; square
+all the way through; and I'm not afraid, now. It's been a fair game.
+I've seen what I wanted, and I've taken it. Money? I've made my
+fortune. Twenty million dollars, Herman; no more, no less; and I could
+have doubled it, trebled it, in ten years more. And everything it
+could buy; I've gratified every wish of man; God, Herman, I've lived a
+dozen lives in one. Power? I've made history in the market; I've
+changed a state in politics; five years more, and I'd have changed the
+destiny of the country. Success? There isn't a man alive that's
+accomplished more. Every one's envied me, looked up to me, tried to
+copy me, even. And the preachers say a man is nothing; it's a lie,
+Herman; a man's a god; man is God; I've played the game through, and I
+know. Herman, get that doctor; I won't die; I can't die; I tell you
+I'll be president yet. Great God, Herman--"
+
+The light faded from his countenance as it had come; from his pallid
+face the tide of life ebbed again; his eyes closed like a tired
+child's; then, in an instant, he opened them again, and gazed at
+Vanulm with an expression that the latter had never seen before.
+
+"Good old Herman," he muttered drowsily, "I knew he'd come. Off my
+head a minute, I guess. Feverish, maybe; that night did it, that night
+it rained--"
+
+He stopped, with an expression of complete bewilderment; once, twice
+and thrice he gazed around the unfamiliar room; then drew a long sigh,
+as if at last awakened from sleep.
+
+"Herman," he said quietly, "God knows what rot I've been talking. I'm
+pretty near gone; I know it; but whether I go off wandering again or
+not, I'm sane now; as sane as you are; do you believe me?"
+
+Vanulm nodded silently. It took no eye of experience, indeed, to see
+that the sands of life were running low.
+
+"There's something more you want to say?" he asked, with sudden
+intuition.
+
+Gordon spoke with ineffable sadness. "Herman," he said, his voice
+scarcely raised above a whisper, "I've made a horrible mess of things.
+I know it now. If only--" his voice faltered--"if only I could go back
+to that day on the island with Rose. I can remember so well. 'A
+cottage in the country,' she said, 'with you all to myself.' Herman, I
+didn't know it then, but that day I shut myself out of Paradise. That
+day was the parting of the ways. And since then it's been down and
+down and down--Palmer, and poor Annie Holton, and old Jim and Rose,
+and I ruined May Sinclair's life, and I ruined poor Jack's--and
+Hinckley--poor fool--he had as good a right to live as I--Ah! God!
+Herman, what I've got is turned to ashes. Gold--Love bought for
+gold--Power bought for gold--all Gold. Everything--and Nothing! And I
+could have had friends--money enough to live on--and a woman who loved
+me. Think, Herman--" and his voice sank very low--"a woman who loved
+me, and, after all, that is life."
+
+His voice died away. There was a long silence. Outside, the wind
+stirred gently the clambering vines, and a ray of sunlight darted,
+questing, into the quiet room. The sick man turned his head, and his
+voice was very low. "And after that, Herman," he said, "a good friend;
+the friend you've always been to me; the kind of a friend I might have
+been to you."
+
+Again fell silence. Once outside a song-sparrow sang sweet and clear
+his brave little song, and the sick man smiled. At last he turned his
+head, and with a great effort raised his hand until it touched
+Vanulm's. "Good-by, Herman," he said.
+
+And then, over the quiet of the peaceful afternoon came a change,
+sudden, terrible. Before Vanulm could stir, the sick man dashed aside
+his coverings and raised himself bolt upright in the bed, his eyes
+burning, his face working convulsively, his whole expression that of a
+man who looks upon a sight of horror. "I've lost!" he shrieked, in a
+terrible voice. "Oh, God, I've lost!"
+
+Vanulm had leaped to his feet; at the same instant the doctor rushed
+into the room, but a doctor was no longer needed. In one great crimson
+stream the bright red blood gushed from the sick man's mouth, and the
+body, lifeless, inert, sprawled horribly back among the pillows. The
+Honorable Richard Gordon was dead.
+
+
+
+                               THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Loaded Dice, by Ellery H. Clark
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