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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Metropolis, by Upton Sinclair
+#10 in our series by Upton Sinclair
+
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+Title: The Metropolis
+
+Author: Upton Sinclair
+
+Release Date: April, 2004 [EBook #5421]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on July 14, 2002]
+
+Edition: 10
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+Language: English
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+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE METROPOLIS ***
+
+
+
+
+This eBook was created by Charles Aldarondo (pg@aldarondo.net).
+
+
+
+
+
+THE METROPOLIS
+
+BY
+
+UPTON SINCLAIR
+
+FIRST PUBLISHED 1908
+
+PRINTED BY OFFSET IN GREAT BRITAIN
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+
+
+
+"Return at ten-thirty," the General said to his chauffeur, and then
+they entered the corridor of the hotel.
+
+Montague gazed about him, and found himself trembling just a little
+with anticipation. It was not the magnificence of the place. The
+quiet uptown hotel would have seemed magnificent to him, fresh as he
+was from the country; but, he did hot see the marblo columns and the
+gilded carvings-he was thinking of the men he was to meet. It seemed
+too much to crowd into one day-first the vision of the whirling,
+seething city, the centre of all his hopes of the future; and then,
+at night, this meeting, overwhelming him with the crowded memories
+of everything that he held precious in the past.
+
+There were groups of men in faded uniforms standing about in the
+corridors. General Prentice bowed here and there as they retired and
+took the elevator to the reception-rooms. In the doorway they passed
+a stout little man with stubby white moustaches, and the General
+stopped, exclaiming, "Hello, Major!" Then he added: "Let me
+introduce Mr. Allan Montague. Montague, this is Major Thorne."
+
+A look of sudden interest flashed across the Major's face. "General
+Montague's son?" he cried. And then he seized the other's hand in
+both of his, exclaiming, "My boy! my boy! I'm glad to see you!"
+
+Now Montague was no boy--he was a man of thirty, and rather sedate
+in his appearance and manner; there was enough in his six feet one
+to have made two of the round and rubicund little Major. And yet it
+seemed to him quite proper that the other should address him so. He
+was back in his boyhood to-night--he was a boy whenever anyone
+mentioned the name of Major Thorne.
+
+"Perhaps you have heard your father speak of me?" asked the Major,
+eagerly; and Montague answered, "A thousand times."
+
+He was tempted to add that the vision that rose before him was of a
+stout gentleman hanging in a grape-vine, while a whole battery of
+artillery made him their target.
+
+Perhaps it was irreverent, but that was what Montague had always
+thought of, ever since he had first laughed over the tale his father
+told. It had happened one January afternoon in the Wilderness,
+during the terrible battle of Chancellorsville, when Montague's
+father had been a rising young staff-officer, and it had fallen to
+his lot to carry to Major Thorne what was surely the most terrifying
+order that ever a cavalry officer received. It was in the crisis of
+the conflict, when the Army of the Potomac was reeling before the
+onslaught of Stonewall Jackson's columns. There was no one to stop
+them-and yet they must be stopped, for the whole right wing of the
+army was going. So that cavalry regiment had charged full tilt
+through the thickets, and into a solid wall of infantry and
+artillery. The crash of their volley was blinding--and horses wore
+fairly shot to fragments; and the Major's horse, with its lower jaw
+torn off, had plunged madly away and left its rider hanging in the
+aforementioned grape-vine. After he had kicked himself loose, it was
+to find himself in an arena where pain-maddened horses and frenzied
+men raced about amid a rain of minie-balls and canister. And in this
+inferno the gallant Major had captured a horse, and rallied the
+remains of his shattered command, and held the line until help
+came-and then helped to hold it, all through the afternoon and the
+twilight and the night, against charge after charge.--And now to
+stand and gaze at this stout and red-nosed little personage, and
+realize that these mighty deeds had been his!
+
+Then, even while Montague was returning his hand-clasp and telling
+him of his pleasure, the Major's eye caught some one across the
+room, and he called eagerly, "Colonel Anderson! Colonel Anderson!"
+
+And this was the heroic Jack Anderson! "Parson" Anderson, the men
+had called him, because he always prayed before everything he did.
+Prayers at each mess,--a prayer-meeting in the evening,--and then
+rumour said the Colonel prayed on while his men slept. With his
+battery of artillery trained to perfection under three years of
+divine guidance, the gallant Colonel had stood in the line of battle
+at Cold Harbour--name of frightful memory!--and when the enemy had
+swarmed out of their intrenchments and swept back the whole line
+just beyond him, his battery had stood like a cape in a storm-beaten
+ocean, attacked on two sides at once; and for the half-hour that
+elapsed before infantry support came up, the Colonel had ridden
+slowly up and down his line, repeating in calm and godly accents,
+"Give 'em hell, boys--give 'em hell!"--The Colonel's hand trembled
+now as he held it out, and his voice was shrill and cracked as he
+told what pleasure it gave him to meet General Montague's son.
+
+"Why have we never seen you before?" asked Major Thorne. Montague
+replied that he had spent all his life in Mississippi--his father
+having married a Southern woman after the war. Once every year the
+General had come to New York to attend the reunion of the Loyal
+Legion of the State; but some one had had to stay at home with his
+mother, Montague explained.
+
+There were perhaps a hundred men in the room, and he was passed
+about from group to group. Many of them had known his father
+intimately. It seemed almost uncanny to him to meet them in the
+body; to find them old and feeble, white-haired and wrinkled. As
+they lived in the chambers of his memory, they were in their mighty
+youth-heroes, transfigured and radiant, not subject to the power of
+time.
+
+Life on the big plantation had been a lonely one, especially for a
+Southern-born man who had fought in the Union army. General Montague
+had been a person of quiet tastes, and his greatest pleasure had
+been to sit with his two boys on his knees and "fight his battles
+o'er again." He had collected all the literature of the corps which
+he had commanded--a whole librarry of it, in which Allan had learned
+to find his way as soon as he could read. He had literally been
+brought up on the war--for hours he would lie buried in some big
+illustrated history, until people came and called him away. He
+studied maps of campaigns and battle-fields, until they became alive
+with human passion and struggle; he knew the Army of the Potomac by
+brigade and division, with the names of commanders, and their faces,
+and their ways-until they lived and spoke, and the bare roll of
+their names had power to thrill him.--And now here were the men
+themselves, and all these scenes and memories crowding upon him in
+tumultuous throngs. No wonder that he was a little dazed, and could
+hardly find words to answer when he was spoken to.
+
+But then came an incident which called him suddenly back to the
+world of the present. "There is Judge Ellis," said the General.
+
+Judge Ellis! The fame of his wit and eloquence had reached even far
+Mississippi--was there any remotest corner of America where men had
+not heard of the silver tongue of Judge Ellis? "Cultivate him!"
+Montague's brother Oliver had laughed, when it was mentioned that
+the Judge would be present--"Cultivate him--he may be useful."
+
+It was not difficult to cultivate one who was as gracious as Judge
+Ellis. He stood in the doorway, a smooth, perfectly groomed
+gentleman, conspicuous in the uniformed assembly by his evening
+dress. The Judge was stout and jovial, and cultivated Dundreary
+whiskers and a beaming smile. "General Montague's son!" he
+exclaimed, as he pressed the young man's hands. "Why, why--I'm
+surprised! Why have we never seen you before?"
+
+Montague explained that he had only been in New York about six
+hours. "Oh, I see," said the Judge. "And shall you remain long?"
+
+"I have come to stay," was the reply.
+
+"Well, well!" said the other, cordially. "Then we may see more of
+you. Are you going into business?"
+
+"I am a lawyer," said Montague. "I expect to practise."
+
+The Judge's quick glance had been taking the measure of the tall,
+handsome man before him, with his raven-black hair and grave
+features. "You must give us a chance to try your mettle," he said;
+and then, as others approached to meet him, and he was forced to
+pass on, he laid a caressing hand on Montague's arm, whispering,
+with a sly smile, "I mean it."
+
+Montague felt his heart beat a little faster. He had not welcomed
+his brother's suggestion--there was nothing of the sycophant in him;
+but he meant to work and to succeed, and he knew what the favour of
+a man like Judge Ellis would mean to him. For the Judge was the idol
+of New York's business and political aristocracy, and the doorways
+of fortune yielded at his touch.
+
+There were rows of chairs in one of the rooms, and here two or three
+hundred men were gathered. There were stands of battle-flags in the
+corners, each one of them a scroll of tragic history, to one like
+Montague, who understood. His eye roamed over them while the
+secretary was reading minutes of meetings and other routine
+announcements. Then he began to study the assemblage. There were men
+with one arm and men with one leg--one tottering old soldier ninety
+years of age, stone blind, and led about by his friends. The Loyal
+Legion was an officers' organization, and to that extent
+aristocratic; but worldly success counted for nothing in it--some of
+its members were struggling to exist on their pensions, and were as
+much thought of as a man like General Prentice, who was president ot
+one of the city's largest banks, and a rich man, even in New York's
+understanding of that term.
+
+The presiding officer introduced "Colonel Robert gelden, who will
+read the paper of the evening: 'Recollections of Spottsylvania.'"
+Montague started at the name--for "Bob" Selden had been one of his
+father's messmates, and had fought all through the Peninsula
+Campaign at his side.
+
+He was a tall, hawk-faced man with a grey imperial. The room was
+still as he arose, and after adjusting his glasses, he began to read
+his story. He recalled the situation of the Army of the Potomac in
+the spring of 1846; for three years it had marched and fought,
+stumbling through defeat after defeat, a mighty weapon, lacking only
+a man who could wield it. Now at last the man had come--one who
+would put them into the battle and give them a chance to fight. So
+they had marched into the Wilderness, and there Lee struck them, and
+for three days they groped in a blind thicket, fighting hand to
+hand, amid suffocating smoke. The Colonel read in a quiet,
+unassuming voice; but one could see that he had hold of his hearers
+by the light that crossed their features when he told of the army's
+recoil from the shock, and of the wild joy that ran through the
+ranks when they took up their march to the left, and realized that
+this time they were not going back.--So they came to the twelve
+days' grapple of the Spottsylvania Campaign.
+
+There was still the Wilderness thicket; the enemy's intrenchments,
+covering about eight miles, lay in the shape of a dome, and at the
+cupola of it were breastworks of heavy timbers banked with earth,
+and with a ditch and a tangle of trees in front. The place was the
+keystone of the Confederate arch, and the name of it was "the
+Angle"--"Bloody Angle!" Montague heard the man who sat next to him
+draw in his breath, as if a spasm of pain had shot through him.
+
+At dawn two brigades had charged and captured the place. The enemy
+returned to the attack, and for twenty hours thereafter the two
+armies fought, hurling regiment after regiment and brigade after
+brigade into the trenches. There was a pouring rain, and the smoke
+hung black about them; they could only see the flashes of the guns,
+and the faces of the enemy, here and there.
+
+The Colonel described the approach of his regiment. They lay down
+for a moment in a swamp, and the minie-balls sang like swarming
+bees, and split the blades of the grass above them. Then they
+charged, over ground that ran with human blood. In the trenches the
+bodies of dead and dying men lay three deep, and were trampled out
+of sight in the mud by the feet of those who fought. They would
+crouch behind the works, lifting their guns high over their heads,
+and firing into the throngs on the other side; again and again men
+sprang upon the breastworks and fired their muskets, and then fell
+dead. They dragged up cannon, one after another, and blew holes
+through the logs, and raked the' ground with charges of canister.
+
+While the Colonel read, still in his calm, matter-of-fact voice, you
+might see men leaning forward in their chairs, hands clenched, teeth
+set. They knew! They knew! Had there ever before been a time in
+history when breastworks had been charged by artillery? Twenty-four
+men in the crew of one gun, and only two unhurt! One iron
+sponge-bucket with thirty-nine bullet holes shot through it! And
+then blasts of canister sweeping the trenches, and blowing scores of
+living and dead men to fragments! And into this hell of slaughter
+new regiments charging, in lines four deep! And squad after squad of
+the enemy striving to surrender, and shot to pieces by their own
+comrades as they clambered over the blood-soaked walls! And heavy
+timbers in the defences shot to splinters! Huge oak trees--one of
+them twenty-four inches in diameter--crashing down upon the
+combatants, gnawed through by rifle-bullets! Since the world began
+had men ever fought like that?
+
+Then the Colonel told of his own wound in the shoulder, and how,
+toward dusk, he had crawled away; and how he became lost, and
+strayed into the enemy's line, and was thrust into a batch of
+prisoners and marched to the rear. And then of the night that he
+spent beside a hospital camp in the Wilderness, where hundreds of
+wounded and dying men lay about on the rain-soaked ground, moaning,
+screaming, praying to be killed. Again the prisoners were moved,
+having been ordered to march to the railroad; and on the way the
+Colonel went blind from suffering and exhaustion, and staggered and
+fell in the road. You could have heard a pin drop in the room, in
+the pause between sentences in his story, as he told how the guard
+argued with him to persuade him to go on. It was their duty to kill
+him if he refused, but they could not bring themselves to do it. In
+the end they left the job to one, and he stood and cursed the
+officer, trying to get up his courage; and finally fired his gun
+into the air, and went off and left him.
+
+Then he told how an old negro had found him, and how he lay
+delirious; and how, at last, the army marched his way. He ended his
+narrative the simple sentence: "It was not until the siege of
+Petersburg that I was able to rejoin my Command."
+
+There was a murmur of applause; and then silence. Suddenly, from
+somewhere in the room, came the sound of singing--"Mine eyes have
+seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!" The old battle-hymn
+seemed to strike the very mood of the meeting; the whole throng took
+it up, and they sang it, stanza by stanza. It was rolling forth like
+a mighty organ-chant as they came to the fervid closing:--
+
+"He hath sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; He
+is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment seat; Oh! be
+swift, my soul, to answer Him; be jubilant, my feet,--Our God is
+marching on!"
+
+There was a pause again; and the presiding officer rose and said
+that, owing to the presence of a distinguished guest, they would
+forego one of their rules, and invite Judge Ellis to say a few
+words. The Judge came forward, and bowed his acknowledgment of their
+welcome. Then, perhaps feeling a need of relief after the sombre
+recital, the Judge took occasion to apologize for his own temerity
+in addressing a roomful of warriors; and somehow he managed to make
+that remind him of a story of an army mule, a very amusing story;
+and that reminded him of another story, until, when he stopped and
+sat down, every one in the room broke into delighted applause.
+
+They went in to dinner. Montague sat by General Prentice, and he, in
+turn, by the Judge; the latter was reminded of more stories during
+the dinner, and kept every one near him laughing. Finally Montague
+was moved to tell a story himself--about an old negro down home, who
+passed himself off for an Indian. The Judge was so good as to
+consider this an immensely funny story, and asked permission to tell
+it himself. Several times after that he leaned over and spoke to
+Montague, who felt a slight twinge of guilt as he recalled his
+brother's cynical advice, "Cultivate him!" The Judge was so willing
+to be cultivated, however, that it gave one's conscience little
+chance.
+
+They went back to the meeting-room again; chairs were shifted, and
+little groups formed, and cigars and pipes brought out. They moved
+the precious battle-flags forward, and some one produced a bugle and
+a couple of drums; then the walls of the place shook, as the whole
+company burst forth:--
+
+"Bring the good old bugle, boys! we'll sing another song--Sing it
+with a spirit that will start the world along--Sing it as we used
+to sing it, fifty thousand strong,--While we were marching through
+Georgia!"
+
+It was wonderful to witness the fervour with which they went through
+this rollicking chant--whose spirit we miss because we hear it too
+often. They were not skilled musicians--they could only sing loud;
+but the fire leaped into their eyes, and they swayed with the
+rhythm, and sang! Montague found himself watching the old blind
+soldier, who sat beating his foot in time, upon his face the look of
+one who sees visions.
+
+And then he noticed another man, a little, red-faced Irishman, one
+of the drummers. The very spirit of the drum seemed to have entered
+into him--into his hands and his feet, his eyes and his head, and
+his round little body. He played a long roll between the verses, and
+it seemed as if he must surely be swept away upon the wings of it.
+Catching Montague's eye, he nodded and smiled; and after that, every
+once in a while their eyes would meet and exchange a greeting. They
+sang "The Loyal Legioner" and "The Army Bean" and "John Brown's
+Body" and "Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching"; all the
+while the drum rattled and thundered, and the little drummer laughed
+and sang, the very incarnation of the care-free spirit of the
+soldier!
+
+They stopped for a while, and the little man came over and was
+introduced. Lieutenant O'Day was his name; and after he had left,
+General Prentice leaned over to Montague and told him a story. "That
+little man," he said, "began as a drummer-boy in my regiment, and
+went all through the war in my brigade; and two years ago I met him
+on the street one cold winter night, as thin as I am, and shivering
+in a summer overcoat. I took him to dinner with me and watched him
+eat, and I made up my mind there was something wrong. I made him
+take me home, and do you know, the man was starving! He had a little
+tobacco shop, and he'd got into trouble--the trust had taken away
+his trade. And he had a sick wife, and a daughter clerking at six
+dollars a week!"
+
+The General went on to tell of his struggle to induce the little man
+to accept his aid--to accept a loan of a few hundreds of dollars
+from Prentice, the banker! "I never had anything hurt me so in all
+my life," he said. "Finally I took him into the bank--and now you
+can see he has enough to eat!"
+
+They began to sing again, and Montague sat and thought over the
+story. It seemed to him typical of the thing that made this meeting
+beautiful to him--of the spirit of brotherhood and service that
+reigned here.--They sang "We are tenting to-night on the old camp
+ground"; they sang "Benny Havens, Oh!" and "A Soldier No More"; they
+sang other songs of tenderness and sorrow, and men felt a trembling
+in their voices and a mist stealing over their eyes. Upon Montague a
+spell was falling.
+
+Over these men and their story there hung a mystery--a presence of
+wonder, that discloses itself but rarely to mortals, and only to
+those who have dreamed and dared. They had not found it easy to do
+their duty; they had had their wives and children, their homes and
+friends and familiar places; and all these they had left to serve
+the Republic. They had taught themselves a new way of life--they had
+forged themselves into an iron sword of war. They had marched and
+fought in dust and heat, in pouring rains and driving, icy blasts;
+they had become men grim and terrible in spirit-men with limbs of
+steel, who could march or ride for days and nights, who could lie
+down and sleep upon the ground in rain-storms and winter snows, who
+were ready to leap at a word and seize their muskets and rush into
+the cannon's mouth. They had learned to stare into the face of
+death, to meet its fiery eyes; to march and eat and sleep, to laugh
+and play and sing, in its presence--to carry their life in their
+hands, and toss it about as a juggler tosses a ball. And this for
+Freedom: for the star-crowned goddess with the flaming eyes, who
+trod upon the mountain-tops and called to them in the shock and fury
+of the battle; whose trailing robes they followed through the dust
+and cannon-smoke; for a glimpse of whose shining face they had kept
+the long night vigils and charged upon the guns in the morning; for
+a touch of whose shimmering robe they had wasted in prison pens,
+where famine and loathsome pestilence and raving madness stalked
+about in the broad daylight.
+
+And now this army of deliverance, with its waving banners and its
+prancing horses and its rumbling cannon, had marched into the
+shadow-world. The very ground that it had trod was sacred; and one
+who fingered the dusty volumes which held the record of its deeds
+would feel a strange awe come upon him, and thrill with a sudden
+fear of life--that was so fleeting and so little to be understood.
+There were boyhood memories in Montague's mind, of hours of
+consecration, when the vision had descended upon him, and he had sat
+with face hidden in his hands.
+
+It was for the Republic that these men had suffered; for him and his
+children--that a government of the people, by the people, for the
+people, might not perish from the earth. And with the organ-music of
+the Gettysburg Address echoing within him, the boy laid his soul
+upon the altar of his country. They had done so much for him--and
+now, was there anything that he could do? A dozen years had passed
+since then, and still he knew that deep within him--deeper than all
+other purposes, than all thoughts of wealth and fame and power--was
+the purpose that the men who had died for the Republic should find
+him worthy of their trust.
+
+The singing had stopped, and Judge Ellis was standing before him.
+The Judge was about to go, and in his caressing voice he said that
+he would hope to see Montague again. Then, seeing that General
+Prentice was also standing up, Montague threw off the spell that had
+gripped him, and shook hands with the little drummer, and with
+Selden and Anderson and all the others of his dream people. A few
+minutes later he found himself outside the hotel, drinking deep
+draughts of the cold November air.
+
+Major Thorne had come out with them; and learning that the General's
+route lay uptown, he offered to walk with Montague to his hotel.
+
+They set out, and then Montague told the Major about the figure in
+the grape-vine, and the Major laughed and told how it had felt.
+There had been more adventures, it seemed; while he was hunting a
+horse he had come upon two mules loaded with ammunition and
+entangled with their harness about a tree; he had rushed up to seize
+them--when a solid shot had struck the tree and exploded the
+ammunition and blown the mules to fragments. And then there was the
+story of the charge late in the night, which had recovered the lost
+ground, and kept Stonewall Jackson busy up to the very hour of his
+tragic death. And there was the story of Andersonville, and the
+escape from prison. Montague could have walked the streets all
+night, exchanging these war-time reminiscences with the Major.
+
+Absorbed in their talk, they came to an avenue given up to the
+poorer class of people; with elevated trains rattling by overhead,
+and rows of little shops along it. Montague noticed a dense crowd on
+one of the corners, land asked what it meant.
+
+"Some sort of a meeting," said the Major.
+
+They came nearer, and saw a torch, with a man standing near it,
+above the heads of the crowd.
+
+"It looks like a political meeting," said Montague, "but it can't
+be, now--just after election."
+
+"Probably it's a Socialist," said the Major. "They're at it all the
+time."
+
+They crossed the avenue, and then they could see plainly. The man
+was lean and hungry-looking, and he had long arms, which he waved
+with prodigious violence. He was in a frenzy of excitement, pacing
+this way and that, and leaning over the throng packed about him.
+Because of a passing train the two could not hear a sound.
+
+"A Socialist!" exclaimed Montague, wonderingly. "What do they want?"
+
+"I'm not sure," said the other. "They want to overthrow the
+government."
+
+The train passed, and then the man's words came to them: "They force
+you to build palaces, and then they put you into tenements! They
+force you to spin fine raiment, and then they dress you in rags!
+They force you to build jails, and then they lock you up in them!
+They force you to make guns, and then they shoot you with them! They
+own the political parties, and they name the candidates, and trick
+you into voting for them--and they call it the law! They herd you
+into armies and send you to shoot your brothers--and they call it
+order! They take a piece of coloured rag and call it the flag and
+teach you to let yourself be shot--and they call it patriotism!
+First, last, and all the time, you do the work and they get the
+benefit--they, the masters and owners, and you--fools--fools
+--fools!"
+
+The man's voice had mounted to a scream, and he flung his hands into
+the air and broke into jeering laughter. Then came another train,
+and Montague could not hear him; but he could see that he was
+rushing on in the torrent of his denunciation.
+
+Montague stood rooted to the spot; he was shocked to the depths of
+his being--he could scarcely contain himself as he stood there. He
+longed to spring forward to beard the man where he stood, to shout
+him down, to rebuke him before the crowd.
+
+The Major must have seen his agitation, for he took his arm and led
+him back from the throng, saying: "Come! We can't help it."
+
+"But--but--," he protested, "the police ought to arrest him."
+
+"They do sometimes," said the Major, "but it doesn't do any good."
+
+They walked on, and the sounds of the shrill voice died away. "Tell
+me," said Montague, in a low voice, "does that go on very often?"
+
+"Around the comer from where I live," said the other, "it goes on
+every Saturday night."
+
+"And do the people listen?" he asked.
+
+"Sometimes they can't keep the street clear," was the reply.
+
+And again they walked in silence. At last Montague asked, "What does
+it mean?"
+
+The Major shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps another civil war," said
+he.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+
+
+
+Allan Momtague's father had died about five years before. A couple
+of years later his younger brother, Oliver, had announced his
+intention of seeking a career in New York. He had no profession, and
+no definite plans; but his father's friends were men of influence
+and wealth, and the doors were open to him. So he had turned his
+share of the estate into cash and departed.
+
+Oliver was a gay and pleasure-loving boy, with all the material of a
+prodigal son in him; his brother had more than half expected to see
+him come back in a year or two with empty pockets. But New York had
+seemed to agree with Oliver. He never told what he was doing--what
+he wrote was simply that he was managing to keep the wolf from the
+door. But his letters hinted at expensive ways of life; and at
+Christmas time, and at Cousin Alice's birthday, he would send home
+presents which made the family stare.
+
+Montague had always thought of himself as a country lawyer and
+planter. But two months ago a fire had swept away the family
+mansion, and then on top of that had come an offer for the land; and
+with Oliver telegraphing several times a day in his eagerness, they
+had taken the sudden resolution to settle up their affairs and move
+to New York.
+
+There were Montague and his mother, and Cousin Alice, who was
+nineteen, and old "Mammy Lucy," Mrs. Montague's servant. Oliver had
+met them at Jersey City, radiant with happiness. He looked just as
+much of a boy as ever, and just as beautiful; excepting that he was
+a little paler, New York had not changed him at all. There was a man
+in uniform from the hotel to take charge of their baggage, and a big
+red touring-car for them; and now they were snugly settled in their
+apartments, with the younger brother on duty as counsellor and
+guide.
+
+Montague had come to begin life all over again. He had brought his
+money, and he expected to invest it, and to live upon the income
+until he had begun to earn something. He had worked hard at his
+profession, and he meant to work in New York, and to win his way
+in the end. He knew almost nothing about the city--he faced it with
+the wide-open eyes of a child.
+
+One began to learn quickly, he found. It was like being swept into a
+maelstrom: first the hurrying throngs on the ferry-boat, and then
+the cabmen and the newsboys shouting, and the cars with clanging
+gongs; then the swift motor, gliding between trucks and carriages
+and around corners where big policemen shepherded the scurrying
+populace; and then Fifth Avenue, with its rows of shops and towering
+hotels; and at last a sudden swing round a corner--and their home.
+
+"I have picked a quiet family place for you," Oliver had said, and
+that had greatly pleased his brother. But he had stared in dismay
+when he entered this latest "apartment hotel"--which catered for two
+or three hundred of the most exclusive of the city's
+aristocracy--and noted its great arcade, with massive doors of
+bronze, and its entrance-hall, trimmed with Caen stone and Italian
+marble, and roofed with a vaulted ceiling painted by modern masters.
+Men in livery bore their wraps and bowed the way before them; a
+great bronze elevator shot them to the proper floor; and they went
+to their rooms down a corridor walled with blood-red marble and
+paved with carpet soft as a cushion. Here were six rooms of palatial
+size, with carpets, drapery, and furniture of a splendour quite
+appalling to Montague.
+
+As soon as the man who bore their wraps had left the room, he turned
+upon his brother.
+
+"Oliver," he said, "how much are we paying for all this?"
+
+Oliver smiled. "You are not paying anything, old man," he replied.
+"You're to be my guests for a month or two, until you get your
+bearings."
+
+"That's very good of you," said the other; "--we'll talk about it
+later. But meantime, tell me what the apartment costs."
+
+And then Montague encountered his first full charge of New York
+dynamite. "Six hundred dollars a week," said Oliver.
+
+He started as if his brother had struck him. "Six hundred dollars a
+week!" he gasped.
+
+"Yes," said the other, quietly.
+
+It was fully a minute before he could find his breath. "Brother," he
+exclaimed, "you're mad!"
+
+"It is a very good bargain," smiled the other; "I have some
+influence with them."
+
+Again there was a pause, while Montague groped for words. "Oliver,"
+he exclaimed, "I can't believe you! How could you think that we
+could pay such a price?"
+
+"I didn't think it," said Oliver; "I told you I expected to pay it
+myself."
+
+"But how could we let you pay it for us?" cried the other. "Can you
+fancy that _I_ will ever earn enough to pay such a price?"
+
+"Of course you will," said Oliver. "Don't be foolish, Allan--you'll
+find it's easy enough to make money in New York. Leave it to me, and
+wait awhile."
+
+But the other was not to be put off. He sat down on the embroidered
+silk bedspread, and demanded abruptly, "What do you expect my income
+to be a year?"
+
+"I'm sure I don't know," laughed Oliver; "nobody takes the time to
+add up his income. You'll make what you need, and something over for
+good measure. This one thing you'll know for certain--the more you
+spend, the more you'll be able to make."
+
+And then, seeing that the sober look was not to be expelled from his
+brother's face, Oliver seated himself and crossed his legs, and
+proceeded to set forth the paradoxical philosophy of extravagance.
+His brother had come into a city of millionaires. There was a
+certain group of people--"the right set," was Oliver's term for
+them--and among them he would find that money was as free as air. So
+far as his career was concerned, he would find that there was
+nothing in all New York so costly as economy. If he did not live
+like a gentleman, he would find himself excluded from the circle of
+the elect--and how he would manage to exist then was a problem too
+difficult for his brother to face.
+
+And so, as quickly as he could, he was to bring himself to a state
+of mind where things did not surprise him; where he did what others
+did and paid what others paid, and did it serenely, as if he had
+done it all his life. He would soon find his place; meantime all he
+had to do was to put himself into his brother's charge. "You'll find
+in time that I have the strings in my hands," the latter added.
+"Just take life easy, and let me introduce you to the right people."
+
+All of which sounded very attractive. "But are you sure," asked
+Montague, "that you understand what I'm here for? I don't want to
+get into the Four Hundred, you know--I want to practise law."
+
+"In the first place," replied Oliver, "don't talk about the Four
+Hundred--it's vulgar and silly; there's no such thing. In the next
+place, you're going to live in New York, and you want to know the
+right people. If you know them, you can practise law, or practise
+billiards, or practise anything else that you fancy. If you don't
+know them, you might as well go practise in Dahomey, for all you can
+accomplish. You might come on here and start in for yourself, and in
+twenty years you wouldn't get as far as you can get in two weeks, if
+you'll let me attend to it."
+
+Montague was nearly five years his brother's senior, and at home had
+taken a semi-paternal attitude toward him. Now, however, the
+situation seemed to have reversed itself. With a slight smile of
+amusement, he subsided, and proceeded to put himself into the
+attitude of a docile student of the mysteries of the Metropolis.
+
+They agreed that they would say nothing about these matters to the
+others. Mrs. Montague was half blind, and would lead her placid,
+indoor existence with old Mammy Lucy. As for Alice, she was a woman,
+and would not trouble herself with economics; if fairy godmothers
+chose to shower gifts upon her, she would take them.
+
+Alice was built to live in a palace, anyway, Oliver said. He had
+cried out with delight when he first saw her. She had been sixteen
+when he left, and tall and thin; now she was nineteen, and with the
+pale tints of the dawn in her hair and face. In the auto, Oliver had
+turned and, stared at her, and pronounced the cryptic judgment,
+"You'll go!"
+
+Just now she was wandering about the rooms, exclaiming with wonder.
+Everything here was so quiet and so harmonious that at first one's
+suspicions were lulled. It was simplicity, but of a strange and
+perplexing kind--simplicity elaborately studied. It was luxury, but
+grown assured of itself, and gazing down upon itself with
+aristocratic disdain. And after a while this began to penetrate the
+vulgarest mind, and to fill it with awe; one cannot remain long in
+an apartment which is trimmed and furnished in rarest Circassian
+walnut, and "papered" with hand-embroidered silk cloth, without
+feeling some excitement--even though there be no one to mention that
+the furniture has cost eight thousand dollars per room, and that the
+wall covering has been imported from Paris at a cost of seventy
+dollars per yard.
+
+Montague also betook himself to gazing about. He noted the great
+double windows, with sashes of bronze; the bronze fire-proof doors;
+the bronze electric candles and chandeliers, from which the room was
+flooded with a soft radiance at the touch of a button; the
+"duchesse" and "marquise" chairs, with upholstery matching the
+walls; the huge leather "slumber-couch," with adjustable lamp at its
+head. When one opened the door of the dressing-room closet, it was
+automatically filled with light; there was an adjustable three-sided
+mirror, at which one could study his own figure from every side.
+There was a little bronze box near the bed, in which one might set
+his shoes, and with a locked door opening out into the hall, so that
+the floor-porter could get them without disturbing one. Each of the
+bath-rooms was the size of an ordinary man's parlour, with floor and
+walls of snow-white marble, and a door composed of an imported
+plate-glass mirror. There was a great porcelain tub, with glass
+handles upon the wall by which you could help yourself out of it,
+and a shower-bath with linen duck curtains, which were changed every
+day; and a marble slab upon which you might lie to be rubbed by the
+masseur who would come at the touch of a button.
+
+There was no end to the miracles of this establishment, as Montague
+found in the course of time. There was no chance that the antique
+bronze clock on the mantel might go wrong, for it was electrically
+controlled from the office. You did not open the window and let in
+the dust, for the room was automatically ventilated, and you turned
+a switch marked "hot" and "cold." The office would furnish you a
+guide who would show you the establishment; and you might see your
+bread being kneaded by electricity, upon an opal glass table, and
+your eggs being tested by electric light; you might peer into huge
+refrigerators, ventilated by electric fans, and in which each tiny
+lamb chop reposed in a separate holder. Upon your own floor was a
+pantry, provided with hot and cold storage-rooms and an air-tight
+dumb-waiter; you might have your own private linen and crockery and
+plate, and your own family butler, if you wished. Your children,
+however, would not be permitted in the building, even though you
+were dying--this was a small concession which you made to a host who
+had invested a million dollars and a half in furniture alone.
+
+A few minutes later the telephone bell rang, and Oliver answered it
+and said, "Send him up."
+
+"Here's the tailor," ho remarked, as he hung up the receiver.
+
+"Whose tailor?" asked his brother.
+
+"Yours," said he.
+
+"Do I have to have some new clothes?" Montague asked.
+
+"You haven't any clothes at present," was the reply.
+
+Montague was standing in front of the "costumer," as the elaborate
+mirror was termed. He looked himself over, and then he looked at his
+brother. Oliver's clothing was a little like the Circassian walnut;
+at first you thought that it was simple, and even a trifle
+careless--it was only by degrees you realized that it was original
+and distinguished, and very expensive.
+
+"Won't your New York friends make allowance for the fact that I am
+fresh from the country?" asked Montague, quizzically.
+
+"They might," was the reply. "I know a hundred who would lend me
+money, if I asked them. But I don't ask them."
+
+"Then how soon shall I be able to appear?" asked Montague, with
+visions of himself locked up in the room for a week or two.
+
+"You are to have three suits to-morrow morning," said Oliver. "Genet
+has promised."
+
+"Suits made to order?" gasped the other, in perplexity.
+
+"He never heard of any other sort of suits," said Oliver, with grave
+rebuke in his voice.
+
+M. Genet had the presence of a Russian grand duke, and the manner of
+a court chamberlain. He brought a subordinate to take Montague's
+measure, while he himself studied his colour-scheme. Montague
+gathered from the conversation that he was going to a house-party in
+the country the next morning, and that he would need a dress-suit, a
+hunting-suit, and a "morning coat." The rest might wait until his
+return. The two discussed him and his various "points" as they might
+have discussed a horse; he possessed distinction, he learned, and a
+great deal could be done with him--with a little skill he might be
+made into a personality. His French was not in training, but he
+managed to make out that it was M. Genet's opinion that the husbands
+of New York would tremble when he made his appearance among them.
+
+When the tailor had left, Alice came in, with her face shining from
+a cold bathing. "Here you are decking yourselves out!" she cried.
+"And what about me?"
+
+"Your problem is harder," said Oliver, with a laugh; "but you begin
+this afternoon. Reggie Mann is going to take you with him, and get
+you some dresses."
+
+"What!" gasped Alice. "Get me some dresses! A man?"
+
+"Of course," said the other. "Reggie Mann advises half the women in
+New York about their clothes."
+
+"Who is he? A tailor?" asked the girl.
+
+Oliver was sitting on the edge of the canape, swinging one leg over
+the other; and he stopped abruptly and stared, and then sank back,
+laughing softly to himself. "Oh, dear me!" he said. "Poor Reggie!"
+
+Then, realizing that he would have to begin at the beginning, he
+proceeded to explain that Reggie Mann was a cotillion leader, the
+idol of the feminine side of society. He was the special pet and
+protege of the great Mrs. de Graffenried, of whom they had surely
+heard--Mrs. de Graffenried, who was acknowledged to be the mistress
+of society at Newport, and was destined some day to be mistress in
+New York. Reggie and Oliver were "thick," and he had stayed in town
+on purpose to attend to her attiring--having seen her picture, and
+vowed that he would make a work of art out of her. And then Mrs.
+Robbie Walling would give her a dance; and all the world would come
+to fall at her feet.
+
+"You and I are going out to 'Black Forest,' the Wallings'
+shooting-lodge, to-morrow," Oliver added to his brother. "You'll
+meet Mrs. Robbie there. You've heard of the Wallings, I hope."
+
+"Yes," said Montague, "I'm not that ignorant."
+
+"All right," said the other, "we're to motor down. I'm going to take
+you in my racing-car, so you'll have an experience. We'll start
+early."
+
+"I'll be ready," said Montague; and when his brother replied that he
+would be at the door at eleven, he made another amused note as to
+the habits of New Yorkers.
+
+The price which he paid at the hotel included the services of a
+valet or a maid for each of them, and so when their baggage arrived
+they had nothing to do. They went to lunch in one of the main
+dining-rooms of the hotel, a room with towering columns of
+dark-green marble and a maze of palms and flowers. Oliver did the
+ordering; his brother noticed that the simple meal cost them about
+fifteen dollars, and he wondered if they were to eat at that rate
+all the time.
+
+Then Montague mentioned the fact that before leaving home he had
+received a telegram from General Prentice, asking him to go with him
+that evening to the meeting of the Loyal Legion. Montague wondered,
+half amused, if his brother would deem his old clothing fit for such
+a function. But Oliver replied that it would not matter what he wore
+there; he would not meet anyone who counted, except Prentice
+himself. The General and his family were prominent in society, it
+appeared, and were to be cultivated. But Oliver shrewdly forbore to
+elaborate upon this, knowing that his brother would be certain to
+talk about old times, which would bo the surest possible method of
+lodging himself in the good graces of General Prentice.
+
+After luncheon came Reggie Mann, dapper and exquisite, with slender
+little figure and mincing gait, and the delicate hands and soft
+voice of a woman. He was dressed for the afternoon parade, and wore
+a wonderful scarlet orchid in his buttonhole. Montague's hand he
+shook at his shoulder's height; but when Alice came in he did not
+shake hands with her. Instead, he stood and gazed, and gazed again,
+and lifting his hands a little with excess of emotion, exclaimed,
+"Oh, perfect! perfect!"
+
+"And Ollie, I told you so!" he added, eagerly. "She it tall enough
+to wear satin! She shall have the pale blue Empire gown--she shall
+have the pale blue Empire gown if I have to pay for it myself! And
+oh, what times we shall have with that hair! And the figure--Reval
+will simply go wild!"
+
+So Reggie prattled on, with his airy grace; he took her hand and
+studied it, and then turned her about to survey her figure, while
+Alice blushed and strove to laugh to hide her embarrassment. "My
+dear Miss Montague," he exclaimed, "I bring all Gotham and lay it at
+your feet! Ollie, your battle is won! Won without firing a shot! I
+know the very man for her--his father is dying, and he will have
+four millions in Transcontinental alone. And he is as handsome as
+Antinous and as fascinating as Don Juan! Allons! we may as well
+begin with the trousseau this afternoon!"
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+
+
+
+Oliver was not rooming with them; he had his own quarters at the
+club, which he did not wish to leave. But the next morning, about
+twenty minutes after the hour he had named, he was at the door, and
+Montague went down.
+
+Oliver's car was an imported French racer. It had only two seats,
+open in front, with a rumble behind for the mechanic. It was long
+and low and rakish, a most wicked-looking object; whenever it
+stopped on the street a crowd gathered to stare at it. Oliver was
+clad in a black bearskin coat, covering his feet, and with cap and
+gloves to match; he wore goggles, pushed up over his forehead. A
+similar costume lay ready in his brother's seat.
+
+The suits of clothing had come, and were borne in his grips by his
+valet. "We can't carry them with us," said Oliver. "He'll have to
+take them down by train." And while his brother was buttoning up the
+coat, he gave the address; then Montague clambered in, and after a
+quick glance over his shoulder, Oliver pressed a lever and threw
+over the steering-wheel, and they whirled about and sped down the
+street.
+
+Sometimes, at home in Mississippi, one would meet automobiling
+parties, generally to the damage of one's harness and temper. But
+until the day before, when he had stepped off the ferry, Montague
+had never ridden in a motor-car. Riding in this one was like
+travelling in a dream--it slid along without a sound, or the
+slightest trace of vibration; it shot forward, it darted to right or
+to left, it slowed up, it stopped, as if of its own will--the driver
+seemed to do nothing. Such things as car tracks had no effect upon
+it at all, and serious defects in the pavement caused only the
+faintest swelling motion; it was only when it leaped ahead like a
+living thing that one felt the power of it, by the pressure upon his
+back.
+
+They went at what seemed to Montague a breakneck pace through the
+city streets, dodging among trucks .and carriages, grazing cars,
+whirling round corners, taking the wildest of chances. Oliver seemed
+always to know what the other fellow would do; but the thought that
+he might do something different kept his companion's heart pounding
+in a painful way. Once the latter cried out as a man leapt for his
+life; Oliver laughed, and said, without turning his head, "You'll
+get used to it by and by."
+
+They went down Fourth Avenue and turned into the Bowery. Elevated
+trains pounded overhead, and a maze of gin-shops, dime-museums,
+cheap lodging-houses, and clothing-stores sped past them. Once or
+twice Oliver's hawk-like glance detected a blue uniform ahead, and
+then they slowed down to a decorous pace, and the other got a chance
+to observe the miserable population of the neighbourhood. It was a
+cold November day, and an "out of work" time, and wretched outcast
+men walked with shoulders drawn forward and hands in their pockets.
+
+"Where in the world are we going?" Montague asked.
+
+"To Long Island," said the other. "It's a beastly ride--this part of
+it--but it's the only way. Some day we'll have an overhead speedway
+of our own, and we won't have to drive through this mess."
+
+They turned off at the approach to the Williamsburg Bridge, and
+found the street closed for repairs. They had to make a detour of a
+block, and they turned with a vicious sweep and plunged into the
+very heart of the tenement district. Narrow, filthy streets, with
+huge, canon-like blocks of buildings, covered with rusty iron
+fire-escapes and decorated with soap-boxes and pails and laundry and
+babies; narrow stoops, crowded with playing children; grocery-shops,
+clothing-shops, saloons; and a maze of placards and signs in English
+and German and Yiddish. Through the throngs Oliver drove, his brows
+knitted with impatience and his horn honking angrily. "Take it
+easy,"--protested Montague; but the other answered, "Bah!" Children
+screamed and darted out of the way, and men and women started back,
+scowling and muttering; when a blockade of wagons and push-carts
+forced them to stop, the children gathered about and jeered, and a
+group of hoodlums loafing by a saloon flung ribaldry at them; but
+Oliver never turned his eyes from the road ahead.
+
+And at last they were out on the bridger. "Slow vehicles keep to the
+right," ran the sign, and so there was a lane for them to the left.
+They sped up the slope, the cold air beating upon them like a
+hurricane. Far below lay the river, with tugs and ferry-boats
+ploughing the wind-beaten grey water, and a city spread out on
+either bank--a wilderness of roofs, with chimneys sticking up and
+white jets of steam spouting everywhere. Then they sped down the
+farther slope, and into Brooklyn.
+
+There was an asphalted avenue, lined with little residences. There
+was block upon block of them, mile after mile of them--Montague had
+never, seen so many houses in his life before, and nearly all poured
+out of the same mould.
+
+Many other automobiles were speeding out by this avenue, and they
+raced with one another. The one which was passed the most frequently
+got the dust and smell; and so the universal rule was that when you
+were behind you watched for a clear track, and then put on speed,
+and went to the front; but then just when you had struck a
+comfortable pace, there was a whirring and a puffing at your left,
+and your rival came stealing past you. If you were ugly, you put on
+speed yourself, and forced him to fall back, or to run the risk of
+trouble with vehicles coming the other way. For Oliver there seemed
+to be but one rule,--pass everything.
+
+They came to the great Ocean Driveway. Here were many automobiles,
+nearly all going one way, and nearly all racing. There were two
+which stuck to Oliver and would not be left behind--one, two, three
+--one, two, three--they passed and repassed. Their dust was
+blinding, and the continual odour was sickening; and so Oliver set
+his lips tight, and the little dial on the indicator began to creep
+ahead, and they whirled away down the drive. "Catch us this time!"
+he muttered.
+
+A few seconds later Oliver gave a sudden exclamation, as a
+policeman, concealed behind a bush at the roadside, sprang out and
+hailed them. The policeman had a motor-cycle, and Oliver shouted to
+the mechanic, "Pull the cord!" His brother turned, alarmed and
+perplexed, and saw the man reach down to the floor of the car. He
+saw the policeman leap upon the cycle and start to follow. Then he
+lost sight of him in the clouds of dust.
+
+For perhaps five minutes they tore on, tense and silent, at a pace
+that Montague had never equalled in an express train. Vehicles
+coming the other way would leap into sight, charging straight at
+them, it seemed, and shooting past a hand's breadth away. Montague
+had just about made up his mind that one such ride would last him
+for a lifetime, when he noticed that they were slacking up. "You can
+let go the cord," said Oliver. "He'll never catch us now."
+
+"What is the cord?" asked the other.
+
+"It's tied to the tag with our number on, in back. It swings it up
+so it can't be seen."
+
+They were turning off into a country road, and Montague sank back
+and laughed till the tears ran down his cheeks. "Is that a common
+trick?" he asked.
+
+"Quite," said the other. "Mrs. Robbie has a trough of mud in their
+garage, and her driver sprinkles the tag every time before she goes
+out. You have to do something, you know, or you'd be taken up all
+the time."
+
+"Have you ever been arrested?"
+
+"I've only been in court once," said Oliver. "I've been stopped a
+dozen times."
+
+"What did they do the other times--warn you?"
+
+"Warn me?" laughed Oliver. "What they did was to get in with me and
+ride a block or two, out of sight of the crowd; and then I slipped
+them a ten-dollar bill and they got out."
+
+To which Montague responded, "Oh, I see!"
+
+They turned into a broad macadamized road, and here were more autos,
+and more dust, and more racing. Now and then they crossed a trolley
+or a railroad track, and here was always a warning sign; but Oliver
+must have had some occult way of knowing that the track was clear,
+for he never seemed to slow up. Now and then they came to villages,
+and did reduce speed; but from the pace at which they went through,
+the villagers could not have suspected it.
+
+And then came another adventure. The road was in repair, and was
+very bad, and they were picking their way, when suddenly a young man
+who had been walking on a side path stepped out before them, and
+drew a red handkerchief from his pocket, and faced them, waving it.
+Oliver muttered an oath.
+
+"What's the matter?" cried his brother.
+
+"We're arrested!" he exclaimed.
+
+"What!" gasped the other. "Why, we were not going at all."
+
+"I know," said Oliver; "but they've got us all the same."
+
+He must have made up his mind at one glance that the case was
+hopeless, for he made no attempt to put on speed, but let the young
+man step aboard as they reached him.
+
+"What is it?" Oliver demanded.
+
+"I have been sent out by the Automobile Association," said the
+stranger, "to warn you that they have a trap set in the next town.
+So watch out."
+
+And Oliver gave a gasp, and said, "Oh! Thank you!" The young man
+stepped off, and they went ahead, and he lay back in his seat and
+shook with laughter.
+
+"Is that common?" his brother asked, between laughs.
+
+"It happened to me once before," said Oliver. "But I'd forgotten it
+completely."
+
+They proceeded very slowly; and when they came to the outskirts of
+the village they went at a funereal pace, while the car throbbed in
+protest. In front of a country store they saw a group of loungers
+watching them, and Oliver said, "There's the first part of the trap.
+They have a telephone, and somewhere beyond is a man with another
+telephone, and beyond that a man to stretch a rope across the road."
+
+"What would they do with you?" asked the other.
+
+"Haul you up before a justice of the peace, and fine you anywhere
+from fifty to two hundred and fifty dollars. It's regular highway
+robbery--there are some places that boast of never levying taxes;
+they get all their money out of us!"
+
+Oliver pulled out his watch. "We're going to be late to lunch,
+thanks to these delays," he said. He added that they were to meet at
+the "Hawk's Nest," which he said was an "automobile joint."
+
+Outside of the town they "hit it up" again; and half an hour later
+they came to a huge sign, "To the Hawk's Nest," and turned off. They
+ran up a hill, and came suddenly out of a pine-forest into view of a
+hostelry, perched upon the edge of a bluff overlooking the Sound.
+There was a broad yard in front, in which automobiles wheeled and
+sputtered, and a long shed that was lined with them.
+
+Half a dozen attendants ran to meet them as they drew up at the
+steps. They all know Oliver, and two fell to brushing his coat, and
+one got his cap, while the mechanic took the car to the shed. Oliver
+had a tip for each of them; one of the things that Montague observed
+was that in New York you had to carry a pocketful of change, and
+scatter it about wherever you went. They tipped the man who carried
+their coats and the boy who opened the door. In the washrooms they
+tipped the boys who filled the basins for them and those who gave
+them a second brushing.
+
+The piazzas of the inn were crowded with automobiling parties, in
+all sorts of strange costumes. It seemed to Montague that most of
+them were flashy people--the men had red faces and the women had
+loud voices; he saw one in a sky-blue coat with bright scarlet
+facing. It occurred to him that if these women had not worn such
+large hats, they would not have needed quite such a supply of the
+bright-coloured veiling which they wound over the hats and tied
+under their chins, or left to float about in the breeze.
+
+The dining-room seemed to have been built in sections, rambling
+about on the summit of the cliff. The side of it facing the water
+was all glass, and could be taken down. The ceiling was a maze of
+streamers and Japanese lanterns, and here and there were
+orange-trees and palms and artificial streams and fountains. Every
+table was crowded, it seemed; one was half-deafened by the clatter
+of plates, the voices and laughter, and the uproar of a negro
+orchestra of banjos, mandolins, and guitars. Negro waiters flew here
+and there, and a huge, stout head-waiter, who was pirouetting and
+strutting, suddenly espied Oliver, and made for him with smiles of
+welcome.
+
+"Yes, sir--just come in, sir," he said, and led the way down the
+room, to where, in a corner, a table had been set for sixteen or
+eighteen people. There was a shout, "Here's Ollie!"--and a pounding
+of glasses and a chorus of welcome--"Hello, Ollie! You're late,
+Ollie! What's the matter--car broke down?"
+
+Of the party, about half were men and half women. Montague braced
+himself for the painful ordeal of being introduced to sixteen people
+in succession, but this was considerately spared him. He shook hands
+with Robbie Walling, a tall and rather hollow-chested young man,
+with slight yellow moustaches; and with Mrs. Robbie, who bade him
+welcome, and presented him with the freedom of the company.
+
+Then he found himself seated between two young ladies, with a waiter
+leaning over him to take his order for the drinks. He said, a little
+hesitatingly, that he would like some whisky, as he was about
+frozen, upon which the girl on his right, remarked, "You'd better
+try a champagne cocktail--you'll get your results quicker." She
+added, to the waiter, "Bring a couple of them, and be quick about
+it."
+
+"You had a cold ride, no doubt, in that low car," she went on, to
+Montague. "What made you late?"
+
+"We had some delays," he answered. "Once we thought we were
+arrested."
+
+"Arrested!" she exclaimed; and others took up the word, crying, "Oh,
+Ollie! tell us about it!"
+
+Oliver told the tale, and meantime his brother had a chance to look
+about him. All of the party were young--he judged that he was the
+oldest person there. They were not of the flashily dressed sort, but
+no one would have had to look twice to know that there was money in
+the crowd. They had had their first round of drinks, and started in
+to enjoy themselves. They were all intimates, calling each other by
+their first names. Montague noticed that these names always ended in
+"ie,"--there was Robbie and Freddie and Auggie and Clarrie and
+Bertie and Chappie; if their names could not be made to end
+properly, they had nicknames instead.
+
+"Ollie" told how they had distanced the policeman; and Clarrie Mason
+(one of the younger sons of the once mighty railroad king) told of a
+similar feat which his car had performed. And then the young lady
+who sat beside him told how a fat Irish woman had skipped out of
+their way as they rounded a corner, and stood and cursed them from
+the vantage-point of the sidewalk.
+
+The waiter came with the liquor, and Montague thanked his neighbour,
+Miss Price. Anabel Price was her name, and they called her "Billy";
+she was a tall and splendidly formed creature, and he learned in due
+time that she was a famous athlete. She must have divined that he
+would feel a little lost in this crowd of intimates, and set to work
+to make him feel at home--an attempt in which she was not altogether
+successful.
+
+They were bound for a shooting-lodge, and so she asked him if he
+were fond of shooting. He replied that he was; in answer to a
+further question he said that he had hunted chiefly deer and wild
+turkey. "Ah, then you are a real hunter!" said Miss Price. "I'm
+afraid you'll scorn our way."
+
+"What do you do?" he inquired.
+
+"Wait and you'll see," replied she; and added, casually, "When you
+get to be pally with us, you'll conclude we don't furnish."
+
+Montague's jaw dropped just a little. He recovered himself, however,
+and said that he presumed so, or that he trusted not; afterward,
+when he had made inquiries and found out what he should have said,
+he had completely forgotten what he HAD said.--Down in a hotel in
+Natchez there was an old head-waiter, to whom Montague had once
+appealed to seat him next to a friend. At the next meal, learning
+that the request had been granted, he said to the old man, "I'm
+afraid you have shown me partiality"; to which the reply came, "I
+always tries to show it as much as I kin." Montague always thought
+of this whenever he recalled his first encounter with "Billy" Price.
+
+The young lady on the other side of him now remarked that Robbie was
+ordering another "topsy-turvy lunch." He inquired what sort of a
+lunch that was; she told him that Robbie called it a "digestion
+exercise." That was the only remark that Miss de Millo addressed to
+him during the meal (Miss Gladys de Mille, the banker's daughter,
+known as "Baby" to her intimates). She was a stout and round-faced
+girl, who devoted herself strictly to the business of lunching; and
+Montague noticed at the end that she was breathing rather hard, and
+that her big round eyes seemed bigger than ever.
+
+Conversation was general about the table, but it was not easy
+conversation to follow. It consisted mostly of what is known as
+"joshing," and involved acquaintance with intimate details of
+personalities and past events. Also, there was a great deal of slang
+used, which kept a stranger's wits on the jump. However, Montague
+concluded that all his deficiencies were made up for by his brother,
+whose sallies were the cause of the loudest laughter. Just now he
+seemed to the other more like the Oliver he had known of old--for
+Montague had already noted a change in him. At home there had never
+been any end to his gaiety and fun, and it was hard to get him to
+take anything seriously; but now he kept all his jokes for company,
+and when he was alone he was in deadly earnest. Apparently he was
+working hard over his pleasures.
+
+Montague could understand how this was possible. Some one, for
+instance, had worked hard over the ordering of the lunch--to secure
+the maximum of explosive effect. It began with ice-cream, moulded in
+fancy shapes and then buried in white of egg and baked brown. Then
+there was a turtle soup, thick and green and greasy; and
+then--horror of horrors--a great steaming plum-pudding. It was
+served in a strange phenomenon of a platter, with six long, silver
+legs; and the waiter set it in front of Robbie Walling and lifted
+the cover with a sweeping gesture--and then removed it and served it
+himself. Montague had about made up his mind that this was the end,
+and begun to fill up on bread-and-butter, when there appeared cold
+asparagus, served in individual silver holders resembling andirons.
+Then--appetite now being sufficiently whetted--there came quail, in
+piping hot little casseroles--; and then half a grape-fruit set in a
+block of ice and filled with wine; and then little squab ducklings,
+bursting fat, and an artichoke; and then a cafe parfait; and
+then--as if to crown the audacity--huge thick slices of roast beef!
+Montague had given up long ago--he could keep no track of the deluge
+of food which poured forth. And between all the courses there were
+wines of precious brands, tumbled helter-skelter,--sherry and port,
+champagne and claret and liqueur. Montague watched poor "Baby" de
+Mille out of the corner of his eye, and pitied her; for it was
+evident that she could not resist the impulse to eat whatever was
+put before her, and she was visibly suffering. He wondered whether
+he might not manage to divert her by conversation, but he lacked the
+courage to make the attempt.
+
+The meal was over at four o'clock. By that time most of the other
+parties were far on their way to New York, and the inn was deserted.
+They possessed themselves of their belongings, and one by one their
+cars whirled away toward "Black Forest."
+
+Montague had been told that it was a "shooting-lodge." He had a
+vision of some kind of a rustic shack, and wondered dimly how so
+many people would be stowed away. When they turned off the main
+road, and his brother remarked, "Here we are," he was surprised to
+see a rather large building of granite, with an archway spanning the
+road. He was still more surprised when they whizzed through and went
+on.
+
+"Where are we going?" he asked.
+
+"To 'Black Forest,'" said Oliver.
+
+"And what was that we passed?"
+
+"That was the gate-keeper's lodge," was Oliver's reply.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+
+
+
+They ran for about three miles upon a broad macadamized avenue, laid
+straight as an arrow's flight through the forest; and then the sound
+of the sea came to them, and before them was a mighty granite pile,
+looming grim in the twilight, with a draw-bridge and moat, and four
+great castellated towers. "Black Forest" was built in imitation of a
+famous old fortress in Provence--only the fortress had forty small
+rooms, and its modern prototype had seventy large ones, and now
+every window was blazing with lights. A man does not let himself be
+caught twice in such a blunder; and having visited a
+"shooting-lodge" which had cost three-quarters of a million dollars
+and was set in a preserve of ten thousand acres, he was prepared for
+Adirondack "camps" which had cost half a million and Newport
+"cottages" which had cost a million or two.
+
+Liveried servants took the car, and others opened the door and took
+their coats. The first thing they saw was a huge, fireplace, a
+fireplace a dozen feet across, made of great boulders, and with
+whole sections of a pine tree blazing in it. Underfoot was polished
+hardwood, with skins of bear and buffalo. The firelight flickered
+upon shields and battle-axes and broad-swords, hung upon the oaken
+pillars; while between them were tapestries, picturing the Song of
+Roland and the battle of Roncesvalles. One followed the pillars of
+the great hall to the vaulted roof, whose glass was glowing
+blood-red in the western light. A broad stairway ascended to the
+second floor, which opened upon galleries about the hall.
+
+Montague went to the fire, and stood rubbing his hands before the
+grateful blaze. "Scotch or Irish, sir?" inquired a lackey, hovering
+at his side. He had scarcely given his order when the door opened
+and a second motor load of the party appeared, shivering and rushing
+for the fire. In a couple of minutes they were all assembled--and
+roaring with laughter over "Baby" de Millc's account of how her car
+had run over a dachshund. "Oh, do you know," she cried, "he simply
+POPPED!"
+
+Half a dozen attendants hovered about, and soon the tables in the
+hall were covered with trays containing decanters and siphons. By
+this means everybody in the party was soon warmed up, and then in
+groups they scattered to amuse themselves.
+
+There was a great hall for indoor tennis, and there were half a
+dozen squash-courts. Montague knew neither of these games, but he
+was interested in watching the water-polo in the swimming-tank, and
+in studying the appointments of this part of the building. The tank,
+with the walls and floor about it, were all of marble; there was a
+bronze gallery running about it, from which one might gaze into the
+green depths of the water. There were luxurious dressing-rooms for
+men and women, with hot and cold needle-baths, steam-rooms with
+rubbers in attendance and weighing and lifting machines, electric
+machines for producing "violet rays," and electric air-blasts for
+the drying of the women's hair.
+
+He watched several games, in which men and women took part; and
+later on, when the tennis and other players appeared, he joined them
+in a plunge. Afterward, he entered one of the electric elevators and
+was escorted to his room, where he found his bag unpacked, and his
+evening attire laid out upon the bed.
+
+It was about nine when the party went into the dining-room, which
+opened upon a granite terrace and loggia facing the sea. The room
+was finished in some rare black wood, the name of which he did not
+know; soft radiance suffused it, and the table was lighted by
+electric candles set in silver sconces, and veiled by silk shades.
+It gleamed with its load of crystal and silver, set off by scattered
+groups of orchids and ferns. The repast of the afternoon had been
+simply a lunch, it seemed--and now they had an elaborate dinner,
+prepared by Robbie Waiting's famous ten-thousand-dollar chef. In
+contrast with the uproar of the inn was the cloistral stillness of
+this dining-room, where the impassive footmen seemed to move on
+padded slippers, and the courses appeared and vanished as if by
+magic. Montague did his best to accustom himself to the gowns of the
+women, which were cut lower than any he had ever seen in his life;
+but he hesitated every time he turned to speak to the young lady
+beside him, because he could look so deep down into her bosom, and
+it was difficult for him to realize that she did not mind it.
+
+The conversation was the same as before, except that it was a little
+more general, and louder in tone; for the guests had become more
+intimate, and as Robbie Walling's wines of priceless vintage poured
+forth, they became a little "high." The young lady who sat on
+Montague's right was a Miss Vincent, a granddaughter of one of the
+sugar-kings; she was dark-skinned and slender, and had appeared at a
+recent lawn fete in the costume of an Indian maiden. The company
+amused itself by selecting an Indian name for her; all sorts of
+absurd ones were suggested, depending upon various intimate details
+of the young lady's personality and habits. Robbie caused a laugh by
+suggesting "Little Dewdrop"--it appeared that she had once been
+discovered writing a poem about a dewdrop; some one else suggested
+"Little Raindrop," and then Ollie brought down the house by
+exclaiming, "Little Raindrop in the Mud-puddle!" A perfect gale of
+laughter swept over the company, and it must have been a minute
+before they could recover their composure; in order to appreciate
+the humour of the sally it was necessary to know that Miss Vincent
+had "come a cropper" at the last meet of the Long Island Hunt Club,
+and been extricated from a slough several feet deep.
+
+This was explained to Montague by the young lady on his left--the
+one whose half-dressed condition caused his embarrassment. She was
+only about twenty, with a wealth of golden hair and the bright,
+innocent face of a child; he had not yet learned her name, for every
+one called her "Cherub." Not long after this she made a remark
+across the table to Baby de Mille, a strange jumble of syllables,
+which sounded like English, yet was not. Miss de Mille replied, and
+several joined in, until there was quite a conversation going on.
+"Cherub" explained to him that "Baby" had invented a secret
+language, made by transposing letters; and that Ollie and Bertie
+were crazy to guess the key to it, and could not.
+
+The dinner lasted until late. The wine-glasses continued to be
+emptied, and to be magically filled again. The laughter was louder,
+and now and then there were snatches of singing; women lolled about
+in their chairs-one beautiful boy sat gazing dreamily across the
+table at Montague, now and then closing his eyes, and opening them
+more and more reluctantly. The attendants moved about, impassive and
+silent as ever; no one else seemed to be cognizant of their
+existence, but Montague could not help noticing them, and wondering
+what they thought of it all.
+
+When at last the party broke up, it was because the bridge-players
+wished to get settled for the evening. The others gathered in front
+of the fireplace, and smoked and chatted. At home, when one planned
+a day's hunting, he went to bed early and rose before dawn; but
+here, it seemed, there was game a-plenty, and the hunters had
+nothing to consider save their own comfort.
+
+The cards were played in the vaulted "gun-room." Montague strolled
+through it, and his eye ran down the wall, lined with glass cases
+and filled with every sort of firearm known to the hunter. He
+recalled, with a twinge of self-abasement, that he had suggested
+bringing his shotgun along!
+
+He joined a group in one corner, and lounged in the shadows, and
+studied "Billy" Price, whose conversation had so mystified him.
+"Billy," whose father was a banker, proved to be a devotee of
+horses; she was a veritable Amazon, the one passion of whose life
+was glory. Seeing her sitting in this group, smoking cigarettes, and
+drinking highballs, and listening impassively to risque stories, one
+might easily draw base conclusions about Billy Price. But as a
+matter of fact she was made of marble; and the men, instead of
+falling in love with her, made her their confidante, and told her
+their troubles, and sought her sympathy and advice.
+
+Some of this was explained to Montague by a young lady, who, as the
+evening wore on, came in and placed herself beside him. "My name is
+Betty Wyman," she said, "and you and I will have to be friends,
+because Ollie's my side partner."
+
+Montague had to meet her advances; so had not much time to speculate
+as to what the term "side partner" might be supposed to convey.
+Betty was a radiant little creature, dressed in a robe of deep
+crimson, made of some soft and filmy and complicated material; there
+was a crimson rose in her hair, and a living glow of crimson in her
+cheeks. She was bright and quick, like a butterfly, full of strange
+whims and impulses; mischievous lights gleamed in her eyes and
+mischievous smiles played about her adorable little cherry lips.
+Some strange perfume haunted the filmy dress, and completed the
+bewilderment of the intended victim.
+
+"I have a letter of introduction to a Mr. Wyman in New York," said
+Montague. "Perhaps he is a relative of yours."
+
+"Is he a railroad president?" asked she; and when he answered in the
+affirmative, "Is he a railroad king?" she whispered, in a mocking,
+awe-stricken voice, "Is he rich--oh, rich as Solomon--and is he a
+terrible man, who eats people alive all the time?"
+
+"Yes," said Montague--"that must be the one."
+
+"Well," said Betty, "he has done me the honour to be my granddaddy;
+but don't you take any letter of introduction to him."
+
+"Why not?" asked he, perplexed.
+
+"Because he'll eat YOU," said the girl. "He hates Ollie."
+
+"Dear me," said the other; and the girl asked, "Do you mean that the
+boy hasn't said a word about me?"
+
+"No," said Montague--"I suppose he left it for you to do."
+
+"Well," said Betty, "it's like a fairy story. Do you ever read fairy
+stories? In this story there was a princess--oh, the most beautiful
+princess! Do you understand?"
+
+"Yes," said Montague. "She wore a red rose in her hair."
+
+"And then," said the girl, "there was a young courtier--very
+handsome and gay; and they fell in love with each other. But the
+terrible old king--he wanted his daughter to wait a while, until he
+got through conquering his enemies, so that he might have time to
+pick out some prince or other, or maybe some ogre who was wasting
+his lands--do you follow me?"
+
+"Perfectly," said he. "And then did the beautiful princess pine
+away?"
+
+"Um--no," said Betty, pursing her lips. "But she had to dance
+terribly hard to keep from thinking about herself." Then she
+laughed, and exclaimed, "Dear me, we are getting poetical!" And
+next, looking sober again, "Do you know, I was half afraid to talk
+to you. Ollie tells me you're terribly serious. Are you?"
+
+"I don't know," said Montague--but she broke in with a laugh, "We
+were talking about you at dinner last night. They had some whipped
+cream done up in funny little curliques, and Ollie said, 'Now, if my
+brother Allan were here, he'd be thinking about the man who fixed
+this cream, and how long it took him, and how he might have been
+reading "The Simple Life."' Is that true?"
+
+"It involves a question of literary criticism"--said Montague.
+
+"I don't want to talk about literature," exclaimed the other. In
+truth, she wanted nothing save to feel of his armour and find out if
+there were any weak spots through which he could be teased. Montague
+was to find in time that the adorable Miss Elizabeth was a very
+thorny species of rose--she was more like a gay-coloured wasp, of
+predatory temperament.
+
+"Ollie says you want to go down town and work," she went on. "I
+think you're awfully foolish. Isn't it much nicer to spend your time
+in an imitation castle like this?"
+
+"Perhaps," said ho, "but I haven't any castle."
+
+"You might get one," answered Betty. "Stay around awhile and let us
+marry you to a nice girl. They will all throw themselves at your
+feet, you know, for you have such a delicious melting voice, and you
+look romantic and exciting." (Montague made a note to inquire
+whether it was customary in New York to talk about you so frankly to
+your face.)
+
+Miss Betty was surveying him quizzically meantime. "I don't know,"
+she said. "On second thoughts, maybe you'll frighten the girls. Then
+it'll be the married women who'll fall in love with you. You'll have
+to watch out."
+
+"I've already been told that by my tailor," said Montague, with a
+laugh.
+
+"That would be a still quicker way of making your fortune," said
+she. "But I don't think you'd fit in the role of a tame cat."
+
+"A WHAT?" he exclaimed; and Miss Betty laughed.
+
+"Don't you know what that is? Dear me--how charmingly naive! But
+perhaps you'd better get Ollie to explain for you."
+
+That brought the conversation to the subject of slang; and Montague,
+in a sudden burst of confidence, asked for an interpretation of Miss
+Price's cryptic utterance. "She said"--he repeated slowly--"that
+when I got to be pally with her, I'd conclude she didn't furnish."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Miss Wyman. "She just meant that when you knew her,
+you'd be disappointed. You see, she picks up all the race-track
+slang--one can't help it, you know. And last year she took her coach
+over to England, and so she's got all the English slang. That makes
+it hard, even for us."
+
+And then Betty sailed in to entertain him with little sketches of
+other members of the party. A phenomenon that had struck Montague
+immediately was the extraordinary freedom with which everybody in
+New York discussed everybody else. As a matter of fact, one seldom
+discussed anything else; and it made not the least difference,
+though the person were one of your set,--though he ate your bread
+and salt, and you ate his,--still you would amuse yourself by
+pouring forth the most painful and humiliating and terrifying things
+about him.
+
+There was poor Clarrie Mason: Clarrie, sitting in at bridge, with an
+expression of feverish eagerness upon his pale face. Clarrie always
+lost, and it positively broke his heart, though he had ten millions
+laid by on ice. Clarrie went about all day, bemoaning his brother,
+who had been kidnapped. Had Montague not heard about it? Well, the
+newspapers called it a marriage, but it was really a kidnapping.
+Poor Larry Mason was good-natured and weak in the knees, and he had
+been carried off by a terrible creature, three times as big as
+himself, and with a temper like--oh, there were no words for it! She
+had been an actress; and now she had carried Larry away in her
+talons, and was building a big castle to keep him in--for he had ten
+millions too, alas!
+
+And then there was Bertie Stuyvesant, beautiful and winning--the boy
+who had sat opposite Montague at dinner. Bertie's father had been a
+coal man, and nobody knew how many millions he had left. Bertie was
+gay; last week he had invited them to a brook-trout breakfast--in
+November--and that had been a lark! Somebody had told him that trout
+never really tasted good unless you caught them yourself, and Bertie
+had suddenly resolved to catch them for that breakfast. "They have a
+big preserve up in the Adirondacks," said Betty; "and Bertie ordered
+his private train, and he and Chappie de Peyster and some others
+started that night; they drove I don't know how many miles the next
+day, and caught a pile of trout--and we had them for breakfast the
+next morning! The best joke of all is that Chappie vows they were so
+full they couldn't fish, and that the trout were caught with nets!
+Poor Bertie--somebody'll have to separate him from that decanter
+now!"
+
+From the hall there came loud laughter, with sounds of scuffling,
+and cries, "Let me have it!"--"That's Baby de Mille," said Miss
+Wyman. "She's always wanting to rough-house it. Robbie was mad the
+last time she was down here; she got to throwing sofa-cushions, and
+upset a vase."
+
+"Isn't that supposed to be good form?" asked Montague.
+
+"Not at Robbie's," said she. "Have you had a chance to talk with
+Robbie yet? You'll like him--he's serious, like you."
+
+"What's he serious about?"
+
+"About spending his money," said Betty. "That's the only thing he
+has to be serious about."
+
+"Has he got so very much?"
+
+"Thirty or forty millions," she replied; "but then, you see, a lot
+of it's in the inner companies of his railroad system, and it pays
+him fabulously. And his wife has money, too--she was a Miss Mason,
+you know, her father's one of the steel crowd. We've a saying that
+there are millionaires, and then multi-millionaires, and then
+Pittsburg millionaires. Anyhow, the two of them spend all their
+income in entertaining. It's Robbie's fad to play the perfect
+host--he likes to have lots of people round him. He does put up good
+times--only he's so very important about it, and he has so many
+ideas of what is proper! I guess most of his set would rather go to
+Mrs. Jack Warden's any day; I'd be there to-night, if it hadn't been
+for Ollie."
+
+"Who's Mrs. Jack Warden?" asked Montague.
+
+"Haven't you ever heard of her?" said Betty. "She used to be Mrs.
+van Ambridge, and then she got a divorce and married Warden, the big
+lumber man. She used to give 'boy and girl' parties, in the English
+fashion; and when we went there we'd do as we please--play tag all
+over the house, and have pillow-fights, and ransack the closets and
+get up masquerades! Mrs. Warden's as good-natured as an old cow.
+You'll meet her sometime--only don't you let her fool you with those
+soft eyes of hers. You'll find she doesn't mean it; it's just that
+she likes to have handsome men hanging round her."
+
+At one o'clock a few of Robbie's guests went to bed, Montague among
+them. He left two tables of bridge fiends sitting immobile, the
+women with flushed faces and feverish hands, and the men with
+cigarettes dangling from their lips. There were trays and decanters
+beside each card-table; and in the hall he passed three youths
+staggering about in each other's arms and feebly singing snatches of
+"coon songs." Ollie and Betty had strolled away together to parts
+unknown.
+
+Montague had entered his name in the order-book to be called at nine
+o'clock. The man who awakened him brought him coffee and cream upon
+a silver tray, and asked him if he would have anything stronger. He
+was privileged to have his breakfast in his room, if he wished; but
+he went downstairs, trying his best to feel natural in his elaborate
+hunting costume. No one else had appeared yet, but he found the
+traces of last night cleared away, and breakfast ready--served in
+English fashion, with urns of tea and coffee upon the buffet. The
+grave butler and his satellites were in attendance, ready to take
+his order for anything else under the sun that he fancied.
+
+Montague preferred to go for a stroll upon the terrace, and to watch
+the sunlight sparkling upon the sea. The morning was
+beautiful--everything about the place was so beautiful that he
+wondered how men and women could live here and not feel the spell of
+it.
+
+Billy Price came down shortly afterward, clad in a khaki hunting
+suit, with knee kilts and button-pockets and gun-pads and Cossack
+cartridge-loops. She joined him in a stroll down the beach, and
+talked to him about the coming winter season, with its leading
+personalities and events,--the Horse Show, which opened next week,
+and the prospects for the opera, and Mrs. de Graffenried's opening
+entertainment. When they came back it was eleven o'clock, and they
+found most of the guests assembled, nearly all of them looking a
+little pale and uncomfortable in the merciless morning light. As the
+two came in they observed Bertie Stuyvesant standing by the buffet,
+in the act of gulping down a tumbler of brandy. "Bertie has taken up
+the 'no breakfast fad,'" said Billy with an ironical smile.
+
+Then began the hunt. The equipment of "Black Forest" included a
+granite building, steam-heated and elaborately fitted, in which an
+English expert and his assistants raised imported
+pheasants--magnificent bronze-coloured birds with long, floating
+black tails. Just before the opening of the season they were dumped
+by thousands into the covers--fat, and almost tame enough to be fed
+by hand; and now came the "hunters."
+
+First they drew lots, for they were to hunt in pairs, a man and a
+woman. Montague drew Miss Vincent--"Little Raindrop in the
+Mud-puddle." Then Ollie, who was master of ceremonies, placed them
+in a long line, and gave them the direction; and at a signal they
+moved through the forest; Following each person were two attendants,
+to carry the extra guns and reload them; and out in front were men
+to beat the bushes and scare the birds into flight.
+
+Now Montague's idea of hunting had been to steal through the bayou
+forests, and match his eyes against those of the wild turkey, and
+shoot off their heads with a rifle bullet. So, when one of these
+birds rose in front of him, he fired, and the bird dropped; and he
+could have done it for ever, he judged--only it was stupid
+slaughter, and it sickened him. However, if the creatures were not
+shot, they must inevitably perish in the winter snows; and he had
+heard that Robbie sent the game to the hospitals. Also, the score
+was being kept, and Miss Vincent, who was something of a shot
+herself, was watching him with eager excitement, being wild with
+desire to beat out Billy Price and Chappie de Peyster, who were the
+champion shots of the company. Baby de Mille, who was on his left,
+and who could not shoot at all, was blundering along, puffing for
+breath and eyeing him enviously; and the attendants at his back were
+trembling with delight and murmuring their applause. So he shot on,
+as long as the drive lasted, and again on their way back, over a new
+stretch of the country. Sometimes the birds would rise in pairs, and
+he would drop them both; and twice when a blundering flock took
+flight in his direction he seized a second gun and brought down a
+second pair. When the day's sport came to an end his score was
+fifteen better than his nearest competitor, and he and his partner
+had won the day.
+
+They crowded round to congratulate him; first his partner, and then
+his rivals, and his host and hostess. Montague found that he had
+suddenly become a person of consequence. Some who had previously
+taken no notice of him now became aware of his existence; proud
+society belles condescended to make conversation with him, and
+Clarrie Mason, who hated de Peyster, made note of a way to annoy
+him. As for Oliver, he was radiant with delight. "When it came to
+horses and guns, I knew you'd make good," he whispered.
+
+Leaving the game to be gathered up in carts, they made their way
+home, and there the two victors received their prizes. The man's
+consisted of a shaving set in a case of solid gold, set with
+diamonds. Montague was simply stunned, for the thing could not have
+cost less than one or two thousand dollars. He could not persuade
+himself that he had a right to accept of such hospitality, which he
+could never hope to return. He was to realize in time that Robbie
+lived for the pleasure of thus humiliating his fellow-men.
+
+After luncheon, the party came to an end. Some set out to return as
+they had come; and others, who had dinner engagements, went back
+with their host in his private car, leaving their autos to be
+returned by the chauffeurs. Montague and his brother were among
+these; and about dusk, when the swarms of working people were
+pouring out of the city, they crossed the ferry and took a cab to
+their hotel.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+
+
+
+They found their apartments looking as if they had been struck by a
+snowstorm-a storm of red and green and yellow, and all the colours
+that lie between. All day the wagons of fashionable milliners and
+costumiers had been stopping at the door, and their contents had
+found their way to Alice's room. The floors were ankle-deep in
+tissue paper and tape, and beds and couches and chairs were covered
+with boxes, in which lay wonderful symphonies of colour, half
+disclosed in their wrappings of gauze. In the midst of it all stood
+the girl, her eyes shining with excitement.
+
+"Oh, Allan!" she cried, as they entered. "How am I ever to thank
+you?"
+
+"You're not to thank me," Montague replied. "This is all Oliver's
+doings."
+
+"Oliver!" exclaimed the girl, and turned to him. "How in the world
+could you do it?" she cried. "How will you ever get the money to pay
+for it all?"
+
+"That's my problem," said the man, laughing. "All you have to think
+about is to look beautiful."
+
+"If I don't," was her reply, "it won't be for lack of clothes. I
+never saw so many wonderful things in all my life as I've seen
+to-day."
+
+"There's quite a show of them," admitted Oliver.
+
+"And Reggie Mann! It was so queer, Allan! I never went shopping with
+a man before. And he's so--so matter-of-fact. You know, he bought
+me--everything!"
+
+"That was what he was told to do," said Oliver. "Did you like him?"
+
+"I don't know," said the girl. "He's queer--I never met a man like
+that before. But he was awfully kind; and the people just turned
+their stores inside out for us--half a dozen people hurrying about
+to wait on you at once!"
+
+"You'll get used to such things," said Oliver; and then, stepping
+toward the bed, "Let's see what you got."
+
+"Most of the things haven't come," said Alice. "The gowns all have
+to be fitted.--That one is for to-night," she added, as he lifted up
+a beautiful object made of rose-coloured chiffon.
+
+Oliver studied it, and glanced once or twice at the girl. "I guess
+you can carry it," he said. "What sort of a cloak are you to wear?"
+
+"Oh, the cloak!" cried Alice. "Oliver, I can't believe it's really
+to belong to me. I didn't know anyone but princesses wore such
+things."
+
+The cloak was in Mrs. Montague's room, and one of the maids brought
+it in. It was an opera-wrap of grey brocade, lined with unborn baby
+lamb--a thing of a gorgeousness that made Montague literally gasp
+for breath.
+
+"Did you ever see anything like it in your life?" cried Alice. "And
+Oliver, is it true that I have to have gloves and shoes and
+stockings--and a hat--to match every gown?"
+
+"Of course." said Oliver. "If you were doing things right, you ought
+to have a cloak to match each evening gown as well."
+
+"It seems incredible," said the girl. "Can it be right to spend so
+much money for things to wear?"
+
+But Oliver was not discussing questions of ethics; he was examining
+sets of tinted crepe de chine lingerie, and hand-woven hose of spun
+silk. There were boxes upon boxes, and bureau drawers and closet
+shelves already filled up with hand-embroidered and lace-trimmed
+creations-chemises and corset-covers, night-robes of "handkerchief
+linen" lawn, lace handkerchiefs and veils, corsets of French coutil,
+dressing-jackets of pale-coloured silks, and negligees of soft
+batistes, trimmed with Valenciennes lace, or even with fur.
+
+"You must have put in a full day," he said.
+
+"I never looked at so many things in my life," said Alice. "And Mr.
+Mann never stopped to ask the price of a thing."
+
+"I didn't think to tell him to," said Oliver, laughing.
+
+Then the girl went in to dress--and Oliver faced about to find his
+brother sitting and staring hard at him.
+
+"Tell me!" Montague exclaimed. "In God's name, what is all this to
+cost?"
+
+"I don't know," said Oliver, impassively. "I haven't seen the bills.
+It'll be fifteen or twenty thousand, I guess."
+
+Montague's hands clenched involuntarily, and he sat rigid. "How long
+will it all last her?" he asked.
+
+"Why," said the other, "when she gets enough, it'll last her until
+spring, of course--unless she goes South during the winter."
+
+"How much is it going to take to dress her for a year?"
+
+"I suppose thirty or forty thousand," was the reply. "I don't expect
+to keep count."
+
+Montague sat in silence. "You don't want to shut her up and keep her
+at home, do you?" inquired his brother, at last.
+
+"Do you mean that other women spend that much on clothes?"
+he'demanded.
+
+"Of course," said Oliver, "hundreds of them. Some spend fifty
+thousand--I know several who go over a hundred."
+
+"It's monstrous!" Montague exclaimed.
+
+"Fiddlesticks!" was the other's response. "Why, thousands of people
+live by it--wouldn't know anything else to do."
+
+Montague said nothing to that. "Can you afford to have Alice compete
+with such women indefinitely?" he asked.
+
+"I have no idea of her doing it indefinitely," was Oliver's reply.
+"I simply propose to give her a chance. When she's married, her
+bills will be paid by her husband."
+
+"Oh," said the other, "then this layout is just for her to be
+exhibited in."
+
+"You may say that," answered Oliver,--"if you want to be foolish.
+You know perfectly well that parents who launch their daughters in
+Society don't figure on keeping up the pace all their lifetimes."
+
+"We hadn't thought of marrying Alice off," said Montague.
+
+To which his brother replied that the best physicians left all they
+could to nature. "Suppose," said he, "that we just introduce her in
+the right set, and turn her loose and let her enjoy herself--and
+then cross the next bridge when we come to it?"
+
+Montague sat with knitted brows, pondering.' He was beginning to see
+a little daylight now. "Oliver," he asked suddenly, "are you sure
+the stakes in this game aren't too big?"
+
+"How do you mean?" asked the other.
+
+"Will you be able to stay in until the show-down? Until either Alice
+or myself begins to bring in some returns?"
+
+"Never worry about that," said the other, with a laugh.
+
+"But hadn't you better take me into your confidence?" Montague
+persisted. "How many weeks can you pay our rent in this place? Have
+you got the money to pay for all these clothes?"
+
+"I've got it," laughed the other--"but that doesn't say I'm going to
+pay it."
+
+"Don't you have to pay your bills? Can we do all this upon credit?"
+
+Oliver laughed again. "You go at me like a prosecuting attorney," he
+said. "I'm afraid you'll have to inquire around and learn some
+respect for your brother." Then he added, seriously, "You see,
+Allan, people like Reggie or myself are in position to bring a great
+deal of custom to tradespeople, and so they are willing to go out of
+their way to oblige us. And we have commissions of all sorts coming
+to us, so it's never any question of cash."
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed the other, opening his eyes, "I see! Is that the way
+you make money?"
+
+"It's one of the ways we save it," said Oliver. "It comes to the
+same thing."
+
+"Do people know it?"
+
+"Why, of course. Why not?"
+
+"I don't know," said Montague. "It sounds a little queer."
+
+"Nothing of the kind," said Oliver. "Some of the best people in New
+York do it. Strangers come to the city, and they want to go to the
+right places, and they ask me, and I send them. Or take Robbie
+Walling, who keeps up five or six establishments, and spends several
+millions a year. He can't see to it all personally--if he did, he'd
+never do anything else. Why shouldn't he ask a friend to attend to
+things for him? Or again, a now shop opens, and they want Mrs.
+Waiting's trade for the sake of the advertising, and they offer her
+a discount and me a commission. Why shouldn't I get her to try
+them?"
+
+"It's quite intricate," commented the other. "The stores have more
+than one price, then?"
+
+"They have as many prices as they have customers," was the answer.
+"Why shouldn't they? New York is full of raw rich people who value
+things by what they pay. And why shouldn't they pay high and be
+happy? That opera-cloak that Alice has--Reval promised it to me for
+two thousand, and I'll wager you she'd charge some woman from Butte,
+Montana, thirty-five hundred for one just like it."
+
+Montague got up suddenly. "Stop," he said, waving his hands. "You
+take all the bloom off the butterfly's wings!"
+
+He asked where they were going that evening, and Oliver said that
+they were invited to an informal dinner-party at Mrs. Winnie
+Duval's. Mrs. Winnie was the young widow who had recently married
+the founder of the great banking-house of Puval and Co.--so Oliver
+explained; she was a chum of his, and they would meet an interesting
+set there. She was going to invite her cousin, Charlie Carter--she
+wanted him to meet Alice. "Mrs. Winnie's always plotting to get
+Charlie to settle down," said Oliver, with a merry laugh.
+
+He telephoned for his man to bring over his clothes, and he and his
+brother dressed. Then Alice came in, looking like the goddess of the
+dawn in the gorgeous rose-coloured gown. The colour in her cheeks
+was even brighter than usual; for she was staggered to find how low
+the gown was cut, and was afraid she was committing a faux pas.
+"Tell me about it," she stammered. "Mammy Lucy says I'm surely
+supposed to wear some lace, or a bouquet."
+
+"Mammy Lucy isn't a Paris costumier," said Oliver, much amused.
+"Dear me--wait until you have seen Mrs. Winnie!"
+
+Mrs. Winnie had kindly sent her limousine car for them, and it stood
+throbbing in front of the hotel-entrance, its acetylenes streaming
+far up the street. Mrs. Winnie's home was on Fifth Avenue, fronting
+the park. It occupied half a block, and had cost two millions to
+build and furnish. It was known as the "Snow Palace," being all of
+white marble.
+
+At the curb a man in livery opened the door of the car, and in the
+vestibule another man in livery bowed the way. Lined up just inside
+the door was a corps of imposing personages, clad in scarlet
+waistcoats and velvet knee-breeches, with powdered wigs, and gold
+buttons, and gold buckles on their patent-leather pumps. These
+splendid creatures took their wraps, and then presented to Montague
+and Oliver a bouquet of flowers upon a silver salver, and upon
+another salver a tiny envelope bearing the name of their partner at
+this strictly "informal" dinner-party. Then the functionaries stood
+out of the way and permitted them to view the dazzling splendour of
+the entrance hall of the Snow Palace. There was a great marble
+staircase running up from the centre of the hall, with a carved
+marble gallery above, and a marble fireplace below. To decorate this
+mansion a real palace in the Punjab had been bought outright and
+plundered; there were mosaics of jade, and wonderful black marble,
+and rare woods, and strange and perplexing carvings.
+
+The head butler stood at the entrance to the salon, pronouncing
+their names; and just inside was Mrs. Winnie.
+
+Montague never forgot that first vision of her; she might have been
+a real princess out of the palace in the Punjab. She was a brunette,
+rich-coloured, full-throated and deep-bosomed, with scarlet lips,
+and black hair and eyes. She wore a court-gown of cloth of silver,
+with white kid shoes embroidered with jewelled flowers. All her life
+she had been collecting large turquoises, and these she had made
+into a tiara, and a neck ornament spreading over her chest, and a
+stomacher. Each of these stones was mounted with diamonds, and set
+upon a slender wire. So as she moved they quivered and shimmered,
+and the effect was dazzling, barbaric.
+
+She must have seen that Montague was staggered, for she gave him a
+little extra pressure of the hand, and said, "I'm so glad you came.
+Ollie has told me all about you." Her voice was soft and melting,
+not so forbidding as her garb.
+
+Montague ran the gauntlet of the other guests: Charlie Carter, a
+beautiful, dark-haired boy, having the features of a Greek god, but
+a sallow and unpleasant complexion; Major "Bob" Venable, a stout
+little gentleman with a red face and a heavy jowl; Mrs. Frank
+Landis, a merry-eyed young widow with pink cheeks and auburn hair;
+Willie Davis, who had been a famous half-back, and was now junior
+partner in the banking-house; and two young married couples, whose
+names Montague missed.
+
+The name written on his card was Mrs. Alden. She came in just after
+him--a matron of about fifty, of vigorous aspect and ample figure,
+approaching what he had not yet learned to call embonpoint. She wore
+brocade, as became a grave dowager, and upon her ample bosom there
+lay an ornament the size of a man's hand, and made wholly out of
+blazing diamonds--the most imposing affair that Montague had ever
+laid eyes upon. She gave him her hand to shake, and made no attempt
+to disguise the fact that she was looking him over in the meantime.
+
+"Madam, dinner is served," said the stately butler; and the
+glittering procession moved into the dining-room--a huge state
+apartment, finished in some lustrous jet-black wood, and with great
+panel paintings illustrating the Romaunt de la Rose. The table was
+covered with a cloth of French embroidery, and gleaming with its
+load of crystal and gold plate. At either end there were huge
+candlesticks of solid gold, and in the centre a mbund of orchids and
+lilies of the valley, matching in colour the shades of the
+candelabra and the daintily painted menu cards.
+
+"You are fortunate in coming to New York late in life," Mrs. Alden
+was saying to him. "Most of our young men are tired out before they
+have sense enough to enjoy anything. Take my advice and look about
+you--don't let that lively brother of yours set the pace for you."
+
+In front of Mrs. Alden there was a decanter of Scotch whisky. "Will
+you have some?" she asked, as she took it up.
+
+"No, I thank you," said he, and then wondered if perhaps he should
+not have said yes, as he watched the other select the largest of the
+half-dozen wine-glasses clustered at her place, and pour herself out
+a generous libation.
+
+"Have you seen much of the city?" she asked, as she tossed it
+off--without as much as a quiver of an eyelash.
+
+"No," said he. "They have not given me much time. They took me off
+to the country--to the Robert Wallings'."
+
+"Ah," said Mrs. Alden; and Montague, struggling to make
+conversation, inquired, "Do you know Mr. Walling?"
+
+"Quite well," said the other, placidly. "I used to be a Walling
+myself, you know."
+
+"Oh," said Montague, taken aback; and then added, "Before you were
+married?"
+
+"No," said Mrs. Alden, more placidly than ever, "before I was
+divorced."
+
+There was a dead silence, and Montague sat gasping to catch his
+breath. Then suddenly he heard a faint subdued chuckle, which grew
+into open laughter; and he stole a glance at Mrs. Alden, and saw
+that her eyes were twinkling; and then he began to laugh himself.
+They laughed together, so merrily that others at the table began to
+look at them in perplexity.
+
+So the ice was broken between them; which filled Montague with a
+vast relief. But he was still dimly touched with awe--for he
+realized that this must be the great Mrs. Billy Alden, whose
+engagement to the Duke of London was now the topic of the whole
+country. And that huge diamond ornament must be part of Mrs. Alden's
+million-dollar outfit of jewellery!
+
+The great lady volunteered not to tell on him; and added generously
+that when he came to dinner with her she would post him concerning
+the company. "It's awkward for a stranger, I can understand," said
+she; and continued, grimly: "When people get divorces it sometimes
+means that they have quarrelled--and they don't always make it up
+afterward, either. And sometimes other people quarrel--almost as
+bitterly as if they had been married. Many a hostess has had her
+reputation ruined by riot keeping track of such things."
+
+So Montague made the discovery that the great Mrs. Billy, though.
+forbidding of aspect, was good-natured when she chose to be, and
+with a pretty wit. She was a woman with a mind of her own--a
+hard-fighting character, who had marshalled those about her, and
+taken her place at the head of the column. She had always counted
+herself a personage enough to do exactly as she pleased; through the
+course of the dinner she would take up the decanter of Scotch, and
+make a pass to help Montague--and then, when he declined, pour out
+imperturbably what she wanted. "I don't like your brother," she said
+to him, a little later. "He won't last; but he tells me you're
+different, so maybe I will like you. Come and see me sometime, and
+let me tell you what not to do in New York."
+
+Then Montague turned to talk with his hostess, who say on his right.
+
+"Do you play bridge?" asked Mrs. Winnie, in her softest and most
+gracious tone.
+
+"My brother has given me a book to study from," he answered. "But if
+he takes me about day and night, I don't know how I'm to manage it."
+
+"Come and let me teach you," said Mrs. Winnie. "I mean it, really,"
+she added. "I've nothing to do--at least that I'm not tired of. Only
+I don't believe you'd take long to learn all that I know."
+
+"Aren't you a successful player?" he asked sympathetically.
+
+"I don't believe anyone wants me to learn," said Mrs.
+Winnie.--"They'd rather come and get my money. Isn't that true,
+Major?"
+
+Major Venable sat on her other hand, and he paused in the act of
+raising a spoonful of soup to his lips, and laughed, deep down in
+his throat--a queer little laugh that shook his fat cheeks and neck.
+"I may say," he said, "that I know several people to whom the status
+quo is satisfactory."
+
+"Including yourself," said the lady, with a little moue. "The
+wretched man won sixteen hundred dollars from me last night; and he
+sat in his club window all afternoon, just to have the pleasure of
+laughing at me as I went by. I don't believe I'll play at all
+to-night--I'm going to make myself agreeable to Mr. Montague, and
+let you win from Virginia Landis for a change."
+
+And then the Major paused again in his attack upon the soup. "My
+dear Mrs. Winnie," he said, "I can live for much more than one day
+upon sixteen hundred dollars!"
+
+The Major was a famous club-man and bon vivant, as Montague learned
+later on. "He's an uncle of Mrs. Bobbie Waiting's," said Mrs. Alden,
+in his ear. "And incidentally they hate each other like poison."
+
+"That is so that I won't repeat my luckless question again?" asked
+Montague, with a smile.
+
+"Oh, they meet," said the other. "You wouldn't be supposed to know
+that. Won't you have any Scotch?"
+
+Montague's thoughts were so much taken up with the people at this
+repast that he gave little thought to the food. He noticed with
+surprise that they had real spring lamb--it being the middle of
+November. But he could not know that the six-weeks-old creatures
+from which it had come had been raised in cotton-wool and fed on
+milk with a spoon--and had cost a dollar and a half a pound. A
+little later, however, there was placed before him a delicately
+browned sweetbread upon a platter of gold, and then suddenly he
+began to pay attention. Mrs. Winnie had a coat of arms; he had
+noticed it upon her auto, and again upon the groat bronze gates of
+the Snow Palace, and again upon the liveries of her footmen, and yet
+again upon the decanter of Scotch. And now--incredible and
+appalling--he observed it branded upon the delicately browned
+sweetbread!
+
+After that, who would not have watched? There were large dishes of
+rare fruits upon the table--fruits which had been packed in cotton
+wool and shipped in cold storage from every corner of the earth.
+There were peaches which had come from South Africa (they had cost
+ten dollars apiece). There were bunches of Hamburg grapes, dark
+purple and bursting fat, which had been grown in a hot-house,
+wrapped in paper bags. There were nectarines and plums, and
+pomegranates and persimmons from Japan, and later on, little dishes
+of plump strawberries-raised in pots. There were quail which had
+come from Egypt, and a wonderful thing called "crab-flake a la
+Dewey," cooked in a chafing-dish, and served with mushrooms that had
+been grown in the tunnels of abandoned mines in Michigan. There was
+lettuce raised by electric light, and lima beans that had come from
+Porto Eico, and artichokes brought from France at a cost of one
+dollar each.--And all these extraordinary viands were washed down by
+eight or nine varieties of wines, from the cellar of a man who had
+made collecting them a fad for the last thirty years, who had a
+vineyard in France for the growing of his own champagne, and kept
+twenty thousand quarts of claret in storage all the time--and
+procured his Rhine wine from the cellar of the German Emperor, at a
+cost of twenty-five dollars a quart!
+
+There were twelve people at dinner, and afterward they made two
+tables for bridge, leaving Charlie Carter to talk to Alice, and Mrs.
+Winnie to devote herself to Montague, according to her promise.
+"Everybody likes to see my house," she said. "Would you?" And she
+led the way from the dining-room into the great conservatory, which
+formed a central court extending to the roof of the building. She
+pressed a button, and a soft radiance streamed down from above, in
+the midst of which Mrs. Winnie stood, with her shimmering jewels a
+very goddess of the fire.
+
+The conservatory was a place in which he could have spent the
+evening; it was filled with the most extraordinary varieties of
+plants. "They were gathered from all over the world," said Mrs.
+Winnie, seeing that he was staring at them. "My husband employed a
+connoisseur to hunt them out for him. He did it before we were
+married--he thought it would make me happy."
+
+In the centre of the place there was a fountain, twelve or fourteen
+feet in height, and set in a basin of purest Carrara marble. By the
+touch of a button the pool was flooded with submerged lights, and
+one might see scores of rare and beautiful fish swimming about.
+
+"Isn't it fine!" said Mrs. Winnie, and added eagerly, "Do you know,
+I come here at night, sometimes when I can't sleep, and sit for hours
+and gaze. All those living things; with their extraordinary
+forms-some of them have faces, and look like human beings! And I
+wonder what they think about, and if life seems as strange to them
+as it does to me."
+
+She seated herself by the edge of the pool, and gazed in. "These
+fish were given to me by my cousin, Ned Carter. They call him
+Buzzie. Have you met him yet?--No, of course not. He's Charlie's
+brother, and he collects art things--the most unbelievable things.
+Once, a long time ago, he took a fad for goldfish--some goldfish
+are very rare and beautiful, you know--one can pay twenty-five and
+fifty dollars apiece for them. He got all the dealers had, and when
+he learned that there were some they couldn't get, he took a trip to
+Japan and China on purpose to get them. You know they raise them
+there, and some of them are sacred, and not allowed to be sold or
+taken out of the country. And he had all sorts of carved ivory
+receptacles for them, that he brought home with him--he had one
+beautiful marble basin about ten feet long, that had been stolen
+from the Emperor."
+
+Over Montague's shoulder where he sat, there hung an orchid, a most
+curious creation, an explosion of scarlet flame. "That is the
+odonto-glossum," said Mrs. Winnie. "Have you heard of it?"
+
+"Never," said the man.
+
+"Dear me," said the other. "Such is fame!"
+
+"Is it supposed to be famous?" he asked.
+
+"Very," she replied. "There was a lot in the newspapers about it.
+You see Winton--that's my husband, you know--paid twenty-five
+thousand dollars to the man who created it; and that made a lot of
+foolish talk--people come from all over to look at it. I wanted to
+have it, because its shape is exactly like the coronet on my crest.
+Do you notice that?"
+
+"Yes," said Montague. "It's curious."
+
+"I'm very proud of my crest," continued Mrs. Winnie. "Of course
+there are vulgar rich people who have them made to order, and make
+them ridiculous; but ours is a real one. It's my own--not my
+husband's; the Duvals are an old French family, but they're not
+noble. I was a Morris, you know, and our line runs back to the old
+French ducal house of Montmorenci. And last summer, when we were
+motoring, I hunted up one of their chateaux; and see! I brought over
+this."
+
+Mrs. Winnie pointed to a suit of armour, placed in a passage leading
+to the billiard-room. "I have had the lights fixed," she added. And
+she pressed a button, and all illumination vanished, save for a
+faint red glow just above the man in armour.
+
+"Doesn't he look real?" said she. (He had his visor down, and a
+battle-axe in his mailed hands.) "I like to imagine that he may have
+been my twentieth great-grandfather. I come and sit here, and gaze
+at him and shiver. Think what a terrible time it must have been to
+live in--when men wore things like that! It couldn't be any worse to
+be a crab."
+
+"You seem to be fond of strange emotions," said Montague, laughing.
+
+"Maybe I am," said the other. "I like everything that's old and
+romantic, and makes you forget this stupid society world."
+
+She stood brooding for a moment or two, gazing at the figure. Then
+she asked, abruptly, "Which do you like best, pictures or swimming?"
+
+"Why," replied the man, laughing and perplexed, "I like them both,
+at times."
+
+"I wondered which you'd rather see first," explained his escort;
+"the art gallery or the natatorium. I'm afraid you'll get tired
+before you've seen every thing."
+
+"Suppose we begin with the art-gallery," said he. "There's not much
+to see in a swimming-pool."
+
+"Ah, but ours is a very special one," said the lady.--"And some
+day, if you'll be very good, and promise not to tell anyone, I'll
+let you see my own bath. Perhaps they've told you, I have one in my
+own apartments, cut out of a block of the most wonderful green
+marble."
+
+Montague showed the expected amount of astonishment.
+
+"Of course that gave the dreadful newspapers another chance to
+gossip," said Mrs. Winnie, plaintively. "People found out what I had
+paid for it. One can't have anything beautiful without that question
+being asked."
+
+And then followed a silence, while Mrs. Winnie waited for him to ask
+it. As he forebore to do so, she added, "It was fifty thousand
+dollars."
+
+They were moving towards the elevator, where a small boy in the
+wonderful livery of plush and scarlet stood at attention.
+"Sometimes," she continued, "it seems to me that it is wicked to pay
+such prices for things. Have you ever thought about it?"
+
+"Occasionally," Montague replied.
+
+"Of course," said she, "it makes work for people; and I suppose they
+can't be better employed than in making beautiful things. But
+sometimes, when I think of all the poverty there is, I get unhappy.
+We have a winter place down South--one of those huge country-houses
+that look like exposition buildings, and have rooms for a hundred
+guests; and sometimes I go driving by myself, down to the mill
+towns, and go through them and talk to the children. I came to know
+some of them quite well--poor little wretches."
+
+They stepped out of the elevator, and moved toward the art-gallery.
+"It used to make me so unhappy," she went on. "I tried to talk to my
+husband about it, but he wouldn't have it. 'I don't see why you
+can't be like other people,' he said--he's always repeating that to
+me. And what could I say?"
+
+"Why not suggest that other people might be like you?" said the man,
+laughing.
+
+"I wasn't clever enough," said she, regretfully.--"It's very hard
+for a woman, you know--with no one to understand. Once I went down
+to a settlement, to see what that was like. Do you know anything
+about settlements?"
+
+"Nothing at all," said Montague.
+
+"Well, they are people who go to live among the poor, and try to
+reform them. It takes a terrible lot of courage, I think. I give
+them money now and then, but I am never sure if it does any good.
+The trouble with poor people, it seems to me, is that there are so
+many of them."
+
+"There are, indeed," said Montague, thinking of the vision he had
+seen from Oliver's racing-car.
+
+Mrs. Winnie had seated herself upon a cushioned seat near the
+entrance to the darkened gallery. "I haven't been there for some
+time," she continued. "I've discovered something that I think
+appeals more to my temperament. I have rather a leaning toward the
+occult and the mystical, I'm afraid. Did you ever hear of the
+Babists?"
+
+"No," said Montague.
+
+"Well, that's a religious sect--from Persia, I think--and they are
+quite the rage. They are priests, you understand, and they give
+lectures, and teach you all about the immanence of the divine, and
+about reincarnation, and Karma, and all that. Do you believe any of
+those things?"
+
+"I can't say that I know about them," said he.
+
+"It is very beautiful and strange," added the other. "It makes you
+realize what a perplexing thing life is. They teach you how the
+universe is all one, and the soul is the only reality, and so bodily
+things don't matter. If I were a Babist, I believe that I could be
+happy, even if I had to work in a cotton-mill."
+
+Then Mrs. Winnie rose up suddenly. "You'd rather look at the
+pictures, I know," she said; and she pressed a button, and a soft
+radiance flooded the great vaulted gallery.
+
+"This is our chief pride in life," she said. "My husband's object
+has been to get one representative work of each of the great
+painters of the world. We got their masterpiece whenever we could.
+Over there in the corner are the old masters--don't you love to look
+at them?"
+
+Montague would have liked to look at them very much; but he felt
+that he would rather it were some time when he did not have Mrs.
+Winnie by his side. Mrs. Winnie must have had to show the gallery
+quite frequently; and now her mind was still upon the Persian
+transcendentalists.
+
+"That picture of the saint is a Botticelli," she said. "And do you
+know, the orange-coloured robe always makes me think of the swami.
+That is my teacher, you know--Swami Babubanana. And he has the most
+beautiful delicate hands, and great big brown eyes, so soft and
+gentle--for all the world like those of the gazelles in our place
+down South!"
+
+Thus Mrs. Winnie, as she roamed from picture to picture, while the
+souls of the grave old masters looked down upon her in silence.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+
+
+
+Montague had now been officially pronounced complete by his tailor;
+and Reval had sent home the first of Alice's street gowns,
+elaborately plain, but fitting her conspicuously, and costing
+accordingly. So the next morning they were ready to be taken to call
+upon Mrs. Devon.
+
+Of course Montague had heard of the Devons, but he was not
+sufficiently initiated to comprehend just what it meant to be asked
+to call. But when Oliver came in, a little before noon, and
+proceeded to examine his costume and to put him to rights, and
+insisted that Alice should have her hair done over, he began to
+realize that this was a special occasion. Oliver was in quite a
+state of excitement; and after they had left the hotel, and were
+driving up the Avenue, he explained to them that their future in
+Society depended upon the outcome of this visit. Calling upon Mrs.
+Devon, it seemed, was the American equivalent to being presented at
+court. For twenty-five years this grand lady had been the undisputed
+mistress of the Society of the metropolis; and if she liked them,
+they would be invited to her annual ball, which took place in
+January, and then for ever after their position would be assured.
+Mrs. Devon's ball was the one great event of the social year; about
+one thousand people were asked, while ten thousand disappointed ones
+gnashed their teeth in outer darkness.
+
+All of which threw Alice into a state of trepidation.
+
+"Suppose we don't suit her!" she said.
+
+To that the other replied that their way had been made smooth by
+Reggie Mann, who was one of Mrs. Devon's favourites.
+
+A century and more ago the founder of the Devon line had come to
+America, and invested his savings in land on Manhattan Island. Other
+people had toiled and built a city there, and generation after
+generation of the Devons had sat by and collected the rents, until
+now their fortune amounted to four or five hundred millions of
+dollars. They were the richest old family in America, and the most
+famous; and in Mrs. Devon, the oldest member of the line, was
+centred all its social majesty and dominion. She lived a stately and
+formal life, precisely like a queen; no one ever saw her save upon
+her raised chair of state, and she wore her jewels even at
+breakfast. She was the arbiter of social destinies, and the
+breakwater against which the floods of new wealth beat in vain.
+Reggie Mann told wonderful tales about the contents of her enormous
+mail--about wives and daughters of mighty rich men who flung
+themselves at her feet and pleaded abjectly for her favour--who laid
+siege to her house for months, and intrigued and pulled wires to get
+near her, and even bought the favour of her servants! If Reggie
+might be believed, great financial wars had been fought, and the
+stock-markets of the world convulsed more than once, because of
+these social struggles; and women of wealth and beauty had offered
+to sell themselves for the privilege which was so freely granted to
+them.
+
+They came to the old family mansion and rang the bell, and the
+solemn butler ushered them past the grand staircase and into the
+front reception-room to wait. Perhaps five minutes later he came in
+and rolled back the doors, and they stood up, and beheld a withered
+old lady, nearly eighty years of age, bedecked with diamonds and
+seated upon a sort of throne. They approached, and Oliver introduced
+them, and the old lady held out a lifeless hand; and then they sat
+down.
+
+Mrs. Devon asked them a few questions as to how much of New York
+they had seen, and how they liked it, and whom they had met; but
+most of the time she simply looked them over, and left the making of
+conversation to Oliver. As for Montague, he sat, feeling perplexed
+and uncomfortable, and wondering, deep down in him, whether it could
+really be America in which this was happening.
+
+"You see," Oliver explained to them, when they were seated in their
+carriage again, "her mind is failing, and it's really quite
+difficult for her to receive."
+
+"I'm glad I don't have to call on her more than once," was Alice's
+comment. "When do we know the verdict?"
+
+"When you get a card marked 'Mrs. Devon at home,'" said Oliver. And
+he went on to tell them about the war which had shaken Society long
+ago, when the mighty dame had asserted her right to be "Mrs. Devon,"
+and the only "Mrs. Devon." He told them also about her wonderful
+dinner-set of china, which had cost thirty thousand dollars, and was
+as fragile as a humming-bird's wing. Each piece bore her crest, and
+she had a china expert to attend to washing and packing it--no
+common hand was ever allowed to touch it. He told them, also, how
+Mrs. Devon's housekeeper had wrestled for so long, trying to teach
+the maids to arrange the furniture in the great reception-rooms
+precisely as the mistress ordered; until finally a complete set of
+photographs had been taken, so that the maids might do their work by
+chart.
+
+Alice went back to the hotel, for Mrs. Robbie Walling was to call
+and take her home to lunch; and Montague and his brother strolled
+round to Reggie Mann's apartments, to report upon their visit.
+
+Reggie received them in a pair of pink silk pyjamas, decorated with
+ribbons and bows, and with silk-embroidered slippers, set with
+pearls--a present from a feminine adorer. Montague noticed, to his
+dismay, that the little man wore a gold bracelet upon one arm! He
+explained that he had led a cotillion the night before--or rather
+this morning; he had got home at five o'clock. He looked quite white
+and tired, and there were the remains of a breakfast of
+brandy-and-soda on the table.
+
+"Did you see the old girl?" he asked. "And how does she hold up?"
+
+"She's game," said Oliver.
+
+"I had the devil's own time getting you in," said the other. "It's
+getting harder every day."
+
+"You'll excuse me," Reggie added, "if I get ready. I have an
+engagement." And he turned to his dressing-table, which was covered
+with an array of cosmetics and perfumes, and proceeded, in a
+matter-of-fact way, to paint his face. Meanwhile his valet was
+flitting silently here and there, getting ready his afternoon
+costume; and Montague, in spite of himself, followed the man with
+his eyes. A haberdasher's shop might have been kept going for quite
+a while upon the contents of Reggie's dressers. His clothing was
+kept in a room adjoining the dressing-room; Montague, who was near
+the door, could see the rosewood wardrobes, each devoted to a
+separate article of clothing-shirts, for instance, laid upon sliding
+racks, tier upon tier of them, of every material and colour. There
+was a closet fitted with shelves and equipped like a little shoe
+store--high shoes and low shoes, black ones, brown ones, and white
+ones, and each fitted over a last to keep its shape perfect. These
+shoes were all made to order according to Reggie's designs, and
+three or-four times a year there was a cleaning out, and those which
+had gone out of fashion became the prey of his "man." There was a
+safe in one closet, in which Reggie's jewellery was kept.
+
+The dressing-room was furnished like a lady's boudoir, the furniture
+upholstered with exquisite embroidered silk, and the bed hung with
+curtains of the same material. There was a huge bunch of roses on
+the centre-table, and the odour of roses hung heavy in the room.
+
+The valet stood at attention with a rack of neckties, from which
+Reggie critically selected one to match his shirt. "Are you going to
+take Alice with you down to the Havens's?" he was asking; and he
+added, "You'll meet Vivie Patton down there--she's had another row
+at home."
+
+
+
+"You don't say so!" exclaimed Oliver.
+
+"Yes," said the other. "Frank waited up all night for her, and he
+wept and tore his hair and vowed he would kill the Count. Vivie told
+him to go to hell."
+
+"Good God!" said Oliver. "Who told you that?"
+
+"The faithful Alphomse," said Reggie, nodding toward his valet. "Her
+maid told him. And Frank vows he'll sue--I half expected to see it
+in the papers this morning."
+
+"I met Vivie on the street yesterday," said Oliver. "She looked as
+chipper as ever."
+
+Reggie shrugged his shoulders. "Have you seen this week's paper?" he
+asked. "They've got another of Ysabel's suppressed poems in."--And
+then he turned toward Montague to explain that "Ysabel" was the
+pseudonym of a young debutante who had fallen under the spell of
+Baudelaire and Wilde, and had published a volume of poems of such
+furious eroticism that her parents were buying up stray copies at
+fabulous prices.
+
+Then the conversation turned to the Horse Show, and for quite a
+while they talked about who was going to wear what. Finally Oliver
+rose, saying that they would have to get a bite to eat before
+leaving for the Havens's. "You'll have a good time," said Reggie.
+"I'd have gone myself, only I promised to stay and help Mrs. de
+Graffenried design a dinner. So long!"
+
+Montague had heard nothing about the visit to the Havens's; but now,
+as they strolled down the Avenue, Oliver explained that they were to
+spend the weekend at Castle Havens. There was quite a party going up
+this Friday afternoon, and they would find one of the Havens's
+private cars waiting. They had nothing to do meantime, for their
+valets would attend to their packing, and Alice and her maid would
+meet them at the depot.
+
+"Castle Havens is one of the show places of the country," Oliver
+added. "You'll see the real thing this time." And while they
+lunched, he went on to entertain his brother with particulars
+concerning the place and its owners. John had inherited the bulk of
+the enormous Havens fortune, and he posed as his father's successor
+in the Steel Trust. Some day some one of the big men would gobble
+him up; meantime he amused himself fussing over the petty details of
+administration. Mrs. Havens had taken a fancy to a rural life, and
+they had built this huge palace in the hills of Connecticut, and she
+wrote verses in which she pictured herself as a simple
+shepherdess--and all that sort of stuff. But no one minded that,
+because the place was gr'and, and there was always so much to do.
+They had forty or fifty polo ponies, for instance, and every spring
+the place was filled with polo men.
+
+At the depot they caught sight of Charlie Carter, in his big red
+touring-car. "Are you going to the Havens's?" he said. "Tell them
+we're going to pick up Chauncey on the way."
+
+"That's Chauncey Venable, the Major's nephew," said Oliver, as they
+strolled to the train. "Poor Chauncey--he's in exile!"
+
+"How do you mean?" asked Montague.
+
+"Why, he daren't come into New York," said the other. "Haven't you
+read about it in the papers? He lost one or two hundred thousand the
+other night in a gambling place, and the district attorney's trying
+to catch him."
+
+"Does he want to put him in jail?" asked Montague.
+
+"Heavens, no!" said Oliver. "Put a Venable in jail? He wants him for
+a witness against the gambler; and poor Chauncey is flitting about
+the country hiding with his friends, and wailing because he'll miss
+the Horse Show."
+
+They boarded the palatial private car, and were introduced to a
+number of other guests. Among them was Major Venable; and while
+Oliver buried himself in the new issue of the fantastic-covered
+society journal, which contained the poem of the erotic "Ysabel,"
+his brother chatted with the Major. The latter had taken quite a
+fancy to the big handsome stranger, to whom everything in the city
+was so new and interesting."
+
+"Tell me what you thought of the Snow Palace," said he. "I've an
+idea that Mrs. Winnie's got quite a crush on you. You'll find her
+dangerous, my boy--she'll make you pay for your dinners before you
+get through!"
+
+After the train was under way, the Major got himself surrounded with
+some apollinaris and Scotch, and then settled back to enjoy himself.
+"Did you see the 'drunken kid' at the ferry?" he asked. "(That's
+what our abstemious district attorney terms my precious young
+heir-apparent.) You'll meet him at the Castle--the Havens are good
+to him. They know how it feels, I guess; when John was a youngster
+his piratical uncle had to camp in Jersey for six months or so, to
+escape the strong arm of the law."
+
+"Don't you know about it?" continued the Major, sipping at his
+beverage. "Sic transit gloria mundi! That was when the great Captain
+Kidd Havens was piling up the millions which his survivors are
+spending with such charming insouciance. He was plundering a
+railroad, and the original progenitor of the Wallings tried to buy
+the control away from him, and Havens issued ten or twenty millions
+of new stock overnight, in the face of a court injunction, and got
+away with most of his money. It reads like opera bouffe, you
+know--they had a regular armed camp across the river for about six
+months--until Captain Kidd went up to Albany with half a million
+dollars' worth of greenbacks in a satchel, and induced the
+legislature to legalize the proceedings. That was just after the
+war, you know, but I remember it as if it were yesterday. It seems
+strange to think that anyone shouldn't know about it."
+
+"I know about Havens in a general way," said Montague.
+
+"Yes," said the Major. "But I know in a particular way, because I've
+carried some of that railroad's paper all these years, and it's
+never paid any dividends since. It has a tendency to interfere with
+my appreciation of John's lavish hospitality."
+
+Montague was reminded of the story of the Roman emperor who pointed
+out that money had no smell.
+
+"Maybe not," said the Major. "But all the same, if you were
+superstitious, you might make out an argument from the Havens
+fortune. Take that poor girl who married the Count."
+
+And the Major went on to picture the denouement of that famous
+international alliance, which, many years ago, had been the
+sensation of two continents. All Society had attended the gorgeous
+wedding, an archbishop had performed the ceremony, and the
+newspapers had devoted pages to describing the gowns and the jewels
+and the presents and all the rest of the magnificence. And the Count
+was a wretched little degenerate, who beat and kicked his wife, and
+flaunted his mistresses in her face, and wasted fourteen million
+dollars of her money in a couple of years. The mind could scarcely
+follow the orgies of this half-insane creature--he had spent two
+hundred thousand dollars on a banquet, and half as much again for a
+tortoise-shell wardrobe in which Louis the Sixteenth had kept his
+clothes! He had charged a diamond necklace to his wife, and taken
+two of the four rows of diamonds out of it before he presented it to
+her! He had paid a hundred thousand dollars a year to a jockey whom
+the Parisian populace admired, and a fortune for a palace in Verona,
+which he had promptly torn down, for the sake of a few painted
+ceilings. The Major told about one outdoor fete, which he had given
+upon a sudden whim: ten thousand Venetian lanterns, ten thousand
+metres of carpet; three thousand gilded chairs, and two or three
+hundred waiters in fancy costumes; two palaces built in a lake, with
+sea-horses and dolphins, and half a dozen orchestras, and several
+hundred chorus--girls from the Grand Opera! And in between
+adventures such as these, he bought a seat in the Chamber of
+Deputies, and made speeches and fought duels in defence of the Holy
+Catholic Church--and wrote articles for the yellow journals of
+America. "And that's the fate of my lost dividends!" growled the
+Major.
+
+There were several automobiles to meet the party at the depot, and
+they were whirled through a broad avenue up a valley, and past a
+little lake, and so to the gates of Castle Havens.
+
+It was a tremendous building, a couple of hundred feet long. One
+entered into a main hall, perhaps fifty feet wide, with a great
+fireplace arid staircase of marble and bronze, and furniture of
+gilded wood and crimson velvet, and a huge painting, covering three
+of the walls, representing the Conquest of Peru. Each of the rooms
+was furnished in the style of a different period--one Louis
+Quatorze, one Louis Quinze, one Marie Antoniette, and so on. There
+was a drawing-room and a regal music-room; a dining-room in the
+Georgian style, and a billiard-room, also in the English fashion,
+with high wainscoting and open beams in the coiling; and a library,
+and a morning-room and conservatory. Upstairs in the main suite of
+rooms was a royal bedstead, which alone was rumoured to have cost
+twenty-five thousand dollars; and you might have some idea of the
+magnificence of things when you learned that underneath the gilding
+of the furniture was the rare and precious Circassian walnut.
+
+All this was beautiful. But what brought the guests to Castle Havens
+was the casino, so the Major had remarked. It was really a private
+athletic club--with tan-bark hippodrome, having a ring the size of
+that in Madison Square Garden, and a skylight roof, and thirty or
+forty arc-lights for night events. There were bowling-alloys,
+billiard and lounging-rooms, hand-ball, tennis and racket-courts, a
+completely equipped gymnasium, a shooting-gallery, and a
+swimming-pool with Turkish and Russian baths. In this casino alone
+there were rooms for forty guests.
+
+Such was Castle Havens; it had cost three or four millions of
+dollars, and within the twelve-foot wall which surrounded its
+grounds lived two world-weary people who dreaded nothing so much as
+to be alone. There were always guests, and on special occasions
+there might be three or four score. They went whirling about the
+country in their autos; they rode and drove; they played games,
+outdoor and indoor, or gambled, or lounged and chatted, or wandered
+about at their own sweet will. Coming to one of these places was not
+different from staying at a great hotel, save that the company was
+selected, and instead of paying a bill, you gave twenty or thirty
+dollars to the servants when you left.
+
+It was a great palace of pleasure, in which beautiful and graceful
+men and women played together in all sorts of beautiful and graceful
+ways. In the evenings great logs blazed in the fireplace in the
+hall, and there might be an informal dance--there was always music
+at hand. Now and then there would be a stately ball, with rich gowns
+and flashing jewels, and the grounds ablaze with lights, and a full
+orchestra, and special trains from the city. Or a whole theatrical
+company would be brought down to give an entertainment in the
+theatre; or a minstrel show, or a troupe of acrobats, or a menagerie
+of trained animals. Or perhaps there would be a great pianist, or a
+palmist, or a trance medium. Anyone at all would be welcome who
+could bring a new thrill--it mattered nothing at all, though the
+price might be several hundred dollars a minute.
+
+Montague shook hands with his host and hostess, and with a number of
+others; among them Billy Price who forthwith challenged him, and
+carried him off to the shooting-gallery. Here he took a rifle, and
+proceeded to satisfy her as to his skill. This brought him to the
+notice of Siegfried Harvey, who was a famous cross-country rider and
+"polo-man." Harvey's father owned a score of copper-mines, and had
+named him after a race-horse; he was a big broad-shouldered fellow,
+a favourite of every one; and next morning, when he found that
+Montague sat a horse like one who was born to it, he invited him to
+come out to his place on Long Island, and see some of the
+fox-hunting.
+
+Then, after he had dressed for dinner, Montague came downstairs, and
+found Betty Wyman, shining like Aurora in an orange-coloured cloud.
+Sho introduced him to Mrs. Vivie Patton, who was tall and slender
+and fascinating, and had told her husband to go to hell. Mrs. Vivie
+had black eyes that snapped and sparkled, and she was a geyser of
+animation in a perpetual condition of eruption. Montague wondered if
+she would have talked with him so gaily had she known what he knew
+about her domestic entanglements.
+
+The company moved into the dining-room, where there was served
+another of those elaborate and enormously expensive meals which he
+concluded he was fated to eat for the rest of his life. Only,
+instead of Mrs. Billy Alden with her Scotch, there was Mrs. Vivie,
+who drank champagne in terrifying quantities; and afterward there
+was the inevitable grouping of the bridge fiends.
+
+Among the guests there was a long-haired and wild-looking foreign
+personage, who was the "lion" of the evening, and sat with half a
+dozen admiring women about him. Now he was escorted to the
+music-room, and revealed the fact that he was a violin virtuoso. He
+played what was called "salon music"--music written especially for
+ladies and gentlemen to listen to after dinner; and also a strange
+contrivance called a concerto, put together to enable the player to
+exhibit within a brief space the utmost possible variety of finger
+gymnastics. To learn to perform these feats one had to devote his
+whole lifetime to practising them, just like any circus acrobat; and
+so his mind became atrophied, and a naive and elemental vanity was
+all that was left to him.
+
+Montague stood for a while staring; and then took to watching the
+company, who chattered and laughed all through the performance.
+Afterward, he strolled into the billiard-room, where Billy Price and
+Chauncey Venable were having an exciting bout; and from there to the
+smoking-room, where the stout little Major had gotten a group of
+young bloods about him to play "Klondike." This was a game of deadly
+hazards, which they played without limit; the players themselves
+were silent and impassive, but the spectators who gathered about
+were tense with excitement.
+
+In the morning Charlie Carter carried off Alice and Oliver and Betty
+in his auto; and Montague spent his time in trying some of Havens's
+jumping horses. The Horse Show was to open in New York on Monday,
+and there was an atmosphere of suppressed excitement because of this
+prospect; Mrs. Caroline Smythe, a charming young widow, strolled
+about with him and told him all about this Show, and the people who
+would take part in it.
+
+And in the afternoon Major Venable took him for a stroll and showed
+him the grounds. He had been told what huge sums had been expended
+in laying them out; but after all, the figures were nothing compared
+with an actual view. There were hills and slopes, and endless vistas
+of green lawns and gardens, dotted with the gleaming white of marble
+staircases and fountains and statuary. There was a great Italian
+walk, leading by successive esplanades to an electric fountain with
+a basin sixty feet across, and a bronze chariot and marble horses.
+There were sunken gardens, with a fountain brought from the South of
+France, and Greek peristyles, and seats of marble, and vases and
+other treasures of art.
+
+And then there were the stables; a huge Renaissance building, with a
+perfectly equipped theatre above. There was a model farm and dairy;
+a polo-field, and an enclosed riding-ring for the children; and
+dog-kennels and pigeon-houses, greenhouses and deer-parks--one was
+prepared for bear-pits and a menagerie. Finally, on their way back,
+they passed the casino, where musical chimes pealed out the
+quarter-hours. Montague stopped and gazed up at the tower from which
+the sounds had come.
+
+The more he gazed, the more he found to gaze at The roof of this
+building had many gables, in the Queen Anne style; and from the
+midst of them shot up the tower, which was octagonal and solid,
+suggestive of the Normans. It was decorated with Christmas-wreaths
+in white stucco, and a few miscellaneous ornaments like the gilded
+tassels one sees upon plush curtains. Overtopping all of this was
+the dome of a Turkish mosque. Rising out of the dome was something
+that looked like a dove-cot; and out of this rose the slender white
+steeple of a Methodist country church. On top of that was a statue
+of Diana.
+
+"What are you looking at?" asked the Major.
+
+"Nothing," said Montague, as he moved on. "Has there ever been any
+insanity in the Havens family?"
+
+"I don't know," replied the other, puzzled. "They say the old man
+never could sleep at night, and used to wander about alone in the
+park. I suppose he had things on his conscience."
+
+They strolled away; and the Major's flood-gates of gossip were
+opened. There was an old merchant in New York, who had been Havens's
+private secretary. And Havens was always in terror of assassination,
+and so whenever they travelled abroad he and the secretary exchanged
+places. "The old man is big and imposing," said the Major, "and it's
+funny to hear him tell how he used to receive the visitors and be
+stared at by the crowds, while Havens, who was little and
+insignificant, would pretend to make himself useful. And then one
+day a wild-looking creature came into the Havens office, and began
+tearing the wrappings off some package that shone like metal--and
+quick as a flash he and Havens flung themselves down on the floor
+upon their faces. Then, as nothing happened, they looked up, and saw
+the puzzled stranger gazing over the railing at them. He had a
+patent churn, made of copper, which he wanted Havens to market for
+him!"
+
+Montague could have wished that this party might last for a week or
+two, instead of only two days. He was interested in the life, and in
+those who lived it; all whom he met were people prominent in the
+social world, and some in the business world as well, and one could
+not have asked a better chance to study them.
+
+Montague was taking his time and feeling his way slowly. But all the
+time that he was playing and gossiping he never lost from mind his
+real purpose, which was to find a place for himself in the world of
+affairs; and he watched for people from whose conversation he could
+get a view of this aspect of things. So he was interested when Mrs.
+Smythe remarked that among his fellow-guests was Vandam, an official
+of one of the great life-insurance companies. "Freddie" Vandam, as
+the lady called him, was a man of might m the financial world; and
+Montague said to himself that in meeting him he would really be
+accomplishing something. Crack shots and polo-players and
+four-in-hand experts were all very well, but he had his living to
+earn, and he feared that the problem was going to prove complicated.
+
+So ho was glad when chance brought him and young Vandam together,
+and Siegfried Harvey introduced them. And then Montague got the
+biggest shock which New York had given him yet.
+
+It was not what Freddie Vandam said; doubtless he had a right to be
+interested in the Horse Show, since he was to exhibit many fine
+horses, and he had no reason to feel called upon to talk about
+anything more serious to a stranger at a house party. But it was the
+manner of the man, his whole personality. For Freddie was a man of
+fashion, with all the exaggerated and farcical mannerisms of the
+dandy of the comic papers. He wore a conspicuous and foppish
+costume, and posed with a little cane; he cultivated a waving
+pompadour, and his silky moustache and beard were carefully trimmed
+to points, and kept sharp by his active fingers. His conversation
+was full of French phrases and French opinions; he had been reared
+abroad, and had a whole-souled contempt for all things American-even
+dictating his business letters in French, and leaving it for his
+stenographer to translate them. His shirts were embroidered with
+violets and perfumed with violets--and there were bunches of violets
+at his horses' heads, so that he might get the odour as he drove!
+
+There was a cruel saying about Freddie Vandam--that if only he had
+had a little more brains, he would have been half-witted. And
+Montague sat, and watched his mannerisms and listened to his
+inanities, with his mind in a state of bewilderment and dismay. When
+at last he got up and walked away, it was with a new sense of the
+complicated nature of the problem that confronted him. Who was there
+that could give him the key to this mystery--who could interpret to
+him a world in which a man such as this was in control of four or
+five hundred millions of trust funds?
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+
+
+
+It was quite futile to attempt to induce anyone to talk about
+serious matters just now--for the coming week all Society belonged
+to the horse. The parties which went to church on Sunday morning
+talked about horses on the way, and the crowds that gathered in
+front of the church door to watch them descend from their
+automobiles, and to get "points" on their conspicuous
+costumes--these would read about horses all afternoon in the Sunday
+papers, and about the gowns which the women would wear at the show.
+
+Some of the party went up on Sunday evening; Montague went with the
+rest on Monday morning, and had lunch with Mrs. Robbie Walling and
+Oliver and Alice. They had arrayed him in a frock coat and silk hat
+and fancy "spats"; and they took him and sat him in the front row of
+Robbie's box.
+
+There was a great tan-bark arena, in which the horses performed; and
+then a railing, and a broad promenade for the spectators; and then,
+raised a few feet above, the boxes in which sat all Society. For the
+Horse Show had now become a great social function. Last year a
+visiting foreign prince had seen fit to attend it, and this year
+"everybody" would come.
+
+Montague was rapidly getting used to things; he observed with a
+smile how easy it was to take for granted embroidered bed and table
+linen, and mural paintings, and private cars, and gold plate. At
+first it had seemed to him strange to be waited upon by a white
+woman, and by a white man quite unthinkable; but he was becoming
+accustomed to having silent and expressionless lackeys everywhere
+about him, attending to his slightest want. So he presumed that if
+he waited long enough, he might even get used to horses which had
+their tails cut off to stumps, and their manes to rows of bristles,
+and which had been taught to lift their feet in strange and
+eccentric ways, and were driven with burred bits in their mouths to
+torture them and make them step lively.
+
+There were road-horses, coach-horses, saddle-horses and hunters,
+polo-ponies, stud-horses--every kind of horse that is used for
+pleasure, over a hundred different "classes" of them. They were put
+through their paces about the ring, and there was a committee which
+judged them, and awarded blue and red ribbons. Apparently their
+highly artificial kind of excellence was a real thing to the people
+who took part in the show; for the spectators thrilled with
+excitement, and applauded the popular victors. There was a whole set
+of conventions which were generally understood--there was even a
+new language. You were told that these "turnouts" were "nobby" and
+"natty"; they were "swagger" and "smart" and "swell."
+
+However, the horse was really a small part of this show; before one
+had sat out an afternoon he realized that the function was in
+reality a show of Society. For six or seven hours during the day the
+broad promenade would be so packed with human beings that one moved
+about with difficulty; and this throng gazed towards the ring almost
+never--it stared up into the boxes. All the year round the
+discontented millions of the middle classes read of the doings of
+the "smart set"; and here they had a chance to come and see
+them-alive, and real, and dressed in their showiest costumes. Here
+was all the grand monde, in numbered boxes, and with their names
+upon the programmes, so that one could get them straight. Ten
+thousand people from other cities had come to New York on purpose to
+get a look. Women who lived in boarding-houses and made their own
+clothes, had come to get hints; all the dressmakers in town were
+present for the same purpose.. Society reporters had come, with
+notebooks in hand; and next morning the imitators of Society all
+over the United States would read about it, in such fashion as this:
+"Mrs. Chauncey Venable was becomingly gowned in mauve cloth, made
+with an Eton jacket trimmed with silk braid, and opening over a
+chemisette of lace. Her hat was of the same colour, draped with a
+great quantity of mauve and orange tulle, and surmounted with birds
+of paradise to match. Her furs were silver fox."
+
+The most intelligent of the great metropolitan dailies would print
+columns of this sort of material; and as for the "yellow" journals,
+they would have discussions of the costumes by "experts," and half a
+page of pictures of the most conspicuous of the box-holders. While
+Montague sat talking with Mrs. Walling, half a dozen cameras were
+snapped at them; and once a young man with a sketch-book placed
+himself in front of them and went placidly to work.--Concerning such
+things the society dame had three different sets of emotions: first,
+the one which she showed in public, that of bored and contemptuous
+indifference; second, the one which she expressed to her friends,
+that of outraged but helpless indignation; and third, the one which
+she really felt, that of triumphant exultation over her rivals,
+whose pictures were not published and whose costumes were not
+described.
+
+It was a great dress parade of society women. One who wished to play
+a proper part in it would spend at least ten thousand dollars upon
+her costumes for the week. It was necessary to have a different gown
+for the afternoon and evening of each day; and some, who were adepts
+at quick changes and were proud of it, would wear three or four a
+day, and so need a couple of dozen gowns for the show. And of course
+there had to be hats and shoes and gloves to match. There would be
+robes of priceless fur hung carelessly over the balcony to make a
+setting; and in the evening there would be pyrotechnical displays of
+jewels. Mrs. Virginia Landis wore a pair of simple pearl earrings,
+which she told the reporters had cost twenty thousand dollars; and
+there were two women who displayed four hundred thousand dollars'
+worth of diamonds--and each of them had hired a detective to hover
+about in the crowd and keep watch over her!
+
+Nor must one suppose, because the horse was an inconspicuous part of
+the show, that he was therefore an inexpensive part. One man was to
+be seen here driving a four-in-hand of black stallions which had
+cost forty thousand; there were other men who drove only one horse,
+and had paid forty thousand for that. Half a million was a moderate
+estimate of the cost of the "string" which some would exhibit. And
+of course these horses were useless, save for show purposes, and to
+breed other horses like them. Many of them never went out of their
+stables except for exercise upon a track; and the cumbrous and
+enormous; expensive coaches were never by any possibility used
+elsewhere--when they were taken from place to place they seldom went
+upon their own wheels.
+
+And there were people here who made their chief occupation in life
+the winning of blue ribbons at these shows. They kept great country
+estates especially for the horses, and had private indoor exhibition
+rings. Robbie Walling and Chauncey Venable were both such people; in
+the summer of next year another of the Wallings took a string across
+the water to teach the horse-show game to Society in London. He took
+twenty or thirty horses, under the charge of an expert manager and a
+dozen assistants; he sent sixteen different kinds of carriages, and
+two great coaches, and a ton of harness and other stuff. It required
+one whole deck of a steamer, and the expedition enabled him to get
+rid of six hundred thousand dollars.
+
+All through the day, of course, Robbie was down in the ring with his
+trainers and his competitors, and Montague sat and kept his wife
+company. There was a steady stream of visitors, who came to
+congratulate her upon their successes, and to commiserate with Mrs.
+Chauncey Venable over the sufferings of the un-happy victim of a
+notoriety-seeking district attorney.
+
+There was just one drawback to the Horse Show, as Montague gathered
+from the conversation that went on among the callers: it was public,
+and there was no way to prevent undesirable people from taking part.
+There were, it appeared, hordes of rich people in New York who were
+not in Society, and of whose existence Society was haughtily
+unaware; but these people might enter horses and win prizes, and
+even rent a box and exhibit their clothes. And they might induce the
+reporters to mention them--and of course the ignorant populace did
+not know the difference, and stared at them just as hard as at Mrs.
+Robbie or Mrs. Winnie. And so for a whole blissful week these people
+had all the sensations of being in Society! "It won't be very long
+before that will kill the Horse Show," said Mrs. Vivie Patton, with
+a snap of her black eyes.
+
+There was Miss Yvette Simpkins, for instance; Society frothed at the
+mouth when her name was mentioned. Miss Yvette was the niece of a
+stock-broker who was wealthy, and she thought that she was in
+Society, and the foolish public thought so, too. Miss Yvette made a
+speciality of newspaper publicity; you were always seeing her
+picture, with some new "Worth creation," and the picture would be
+labelled "Miss Yvette Simpkins, the best-dressed woman in New York,"
+or "Miss Yvette Simpkins, who is known as the best woman whip in
+Society." It was said that Miss Yvette, who was short and stout, and
+had a rosy German face, had paid five thousand dollars at one clip
+for photographs of herself in a new wardrobe; and her pictures were
+sent to the newspapers in bundles of a dozen at a time. Miss Yvette
+possessed over a million dollars' worth of diamonds--the finest in
+the country, according to the newspapers; she had spent a hundred
+and twenty-six thousand dollars this year upon her clothes, and she
+gave long interviews, in which she set forth the fact that a woman
+nowadays could not really be well dressed upon less than a hundred
+thousand a year. It was Miss Yvette's boast that she had never
+ridden in a street-car in her life.
+
+Montague always had a soft spot in his heart for the unfortunate
+Miss Yvette, who laboured so hard to be a guiding light; for it
+chanced to be while she was in the ring, exhibiting her skill in
+driving tandem, that he met with a fateful encounter. Afterward,
+when he came to look back upon these early days, it seemed strange
+to him that he should have gone about this place, so careless and
+unsuspecting, while the fates were weaving strange destinies about
+him.
+
+It was on Tuesday afternoon, and he sat in the box of Mrs. Venable,
+a sister-in-law of the Major. The Major, who was a care-free
+bachelor, was there himself, and also Betty Wyman, who was making
+sprightly comments on the passers-by; and there strolled into the
+box Chappie de Peyster, accompanied by a young lady.
+
+So many people had stopped and been introduced and then passed on,
+that Montague merely glanced at her once. He noticed that she was
+tall and graceful, and caught her name, Miss Hegan.
+
+The turnouts in the ring consisted of one horse harnessed in front
+of another; and Montague was wondering what conceivable motive could
+induce a human being to hitch and drive horses in that fashion. The
+conversation turned upon Miss Yvette, who was in the ring; and Betty
+remarked upon the airy grace with which she wielded the long whip
+she carried. "Did you see what the paper said about her this
+morning?" she asked. "' Miss Simpkins was exquisitely clad in purple
+velvet,' and so on! She looked for all the world like the Venus at
+the Hippodrome!"
+
+"Why isn't she in Society?" asked Montague, curiously.
+
+"She!" exclaimed Betty. "Why, she's a travesty!"
+
+There was a moment's pause, preceding a remark by their young lady
+visitor. "I've an idea," said she, "that the real reason she never
+got into Society was that she was fond of her old father."
+
+And Montague gave a short glance at the speaker, who was gazing
+fixedly into the ring. He heard the Major chuckle, and he thought
+that he heard Betty Wyman give a little sniff. A few moments later
+the young lady arose, and with some remark to Mrs. Venable about how
+well her costume became her, she passed on out of the box.
+
+"Who is that?" asked Montague.
+
+"That," the Major answered, "that's Laura Hegan--Jim Hegan's
+daughter."
+
+"Oh!" said Montague, and caught his breath. Jim Hegan--Napoleon of
+finance--czar of a gigantic system of railroads, and the power
+behind the political thrones of many states.
+
+"His only daughter, too," the Major added. "Gad, what a juicy morsel
+for somebody!"
+
+"Well, she'll make him pay for all he gets, whoever he is!" retorted
+Betty, vindictively.
+
+"You don't like her?" inquired Montague; and Betty replied promptly,
+"I do not!"
+
+"Her daddy and Betty's granddaddy are always at swords' points," put
+in Major Venable.
+
+"I have nothing to do with my granddaddy's quarrels," said the young
+lady. "I have troubles enough of my own."
+
+"What is the matter with Miss Hegan?" asked Montague, laughing.
+
+"She's an idea she's too good for the world she lives in," said
+Betty. "When you're with her, you feel as you will before the
+judgment throne."
+
+"Undoubtedly a disturbing feeling," put in the Major.
+
+"She never hands you anything but you find a pin hidden in it," went
+on the girl. "All her remarks are meant to be read backward, and my
+life is too short to straighten out their kinks. I like a person to
+say what they mean in plain English, and then I can either like them
+or not."
+
+"Mostly not," said the Major, grimly; and added, "Anyway, she's
+beautiful."
+
+"Perhaps," said the other. "So is the Jungfrau; but I prefer
+something more comfortable."
+
+"What's Chappie de Peyster beauing her around for?" asked Mrs.
+Venable. "Is he a candidate?"
+
+"Maybe his debts are troubling him again," said Mistress Betty. "He
+must be in a desperate plight.--Did you hear how Jack Audubon
+proposed to her?"
+
+"Did Jack propose?" exclaimed the Major.
+
+"Of course he did," said the girl. "His brother told me." Then, for
+Montague's benefit, she explained, "Jack Audubon is the Major's
+nephew, and he's a bookworm, and spends all his time collecting
+scarabs."
+
+"What did he say to her?" asked the Major, highly amused.
+
+"Why," said Betty, "he told her he knew she didn't love him; but
+also she knew that he didn't care anything about her money, and she
+might like to marry him so that other men would let her alone."
+
+"Gad!" cried the old gentleman, slapping his knee. "A masterpiece!"
+
+"Does she have so many suitors?" asked Montague; and the Major
+replied, "My dear boy--she'll have a hundred million dollars some
+day!"
+
+At this point Oliver put in appearance, and Betty got up and went
+for a stroll with him; then Montague asked for light upon Miss
+Hegan's remark.
+
+"What she said is perfectly true," replied the Major; "only it riled
+Betty. There's many a gallant dame cruising the social seas who has
+stowed her old relatives out of sight in the hold."
+
+"What's the matter with old Simpkins?" asked tho other.
+
+"Just a queer boy," was the reply. "He has a big pile, and his one
+joy in life is the divine Yvette. It is really he who makes her
+ridiculous--he has a regular press agent for her, a chap he loads up
+with jewellery and cheques whenever he gets her picture into the
+papers."
+
+The Major paused a moment to greet some acquaintance, and then
+resumed the conversation. Apparently he could gossip in this
+intimate fashion about any person whom you named. Old Simpkins had
+been very poor as a boy, it appeared, and he had never got over the
+memory of it. Miss Yvette spent fifty thousand at a clip for Paris
+gowns; but every day her old uncle would save up the lumps of sugar
+which came with the expensive lunch he had brought to his office.
+And when he had several pounds he would send them home by messenger!
+
+This conversation gave Montague a new sense of the complicatedness
+of the world into which he had come. Miss Simpkins was "impossible";
+and yet there was--for instance--that Mrs. Landis whom he had met
+at Mrs. Winnie Duval's. He had mot her several times at the show;
+and he heard the Major and his sister-in-law chuckling over a
+paragraph in the society journal, to the effect that Mrs. Virginia
+van Rensselaer Landis had just returned from a successful
+hunting-trip in the far West. He did not see the humour of this, at
+least not until they had told him of another paragraph which had
+appeared some time before: stating that Mrs. Landis had gone to
+acquire residence in South Dakota, taking with her thirty-five
+trunks and a poodle; and that "Leanie" Hopkins, the handsome young
+stock-broker, had taken a six months' vow of poverty, chastity, and
+obedience.
+
+And yet Mrs. Landis was "in" Society! And moreover, she spent nearly
+as much upon her clothes as Miss Yvette, and the clothes were quite
+as conspicuous; and if the papers did not print pages about them, it
+was not because Mrs. Landis was not perfectly willing. She was
+painted and made up quite as frankly as any chorus-girl on the
+stage. She laughed a great deal, and in a high key, and she and her
+friends told stories which made Montague wish to move out of the
+way.
+
+Mrs. Landis had for some reason taken a fancy to Alice, and invited
+her home to lunch with her twice during the show. And after they had
+got home in the evening, the girl sat upon the bed in her
+fur-trimmed wrapper, and told Montague and his mother and Mammy Lucy
+all about her visit.
+
+"I don't believe that woman has a thing to do or to think about in
+the world except to wear clothes!" she said. "Why, she has
+adjustable mirrors on ball-bearings, so that she can see every part
+of her skirts! And she gets all her gowns from Paris, four times a
+year--she says there are four seasons now, instead of two! I thought
+that my new clothes amounted to something, but my goodness, when I
+saw hers!"
+
+Then Alice went on to describe the unpacking of fourteen trunks,
+which had just come up from the custom-house that day. Mrs.
+Virginia's couturiere had her photograph and her colouring
+(represented in actual paints) and a figure made up from exact
+measurements; and so every one of the garments would fit her
+perfectly. Each one came stuffed with tissue paper and held in place
+by a lattice-work of tape; and attached to each gown was a piece of
+the fabric, from which her shoemaker would make shoes or slippers.
+There were street-costumes and opera-wraps, robes de chambre and
+tea-gowns, reception-dresses, and wonderful ball and dinner gowns.
+Most of these latter were to be embroidered with jewellery before
+they were worn, and imitation jewels were sewn on, to show how the
+real ones were to be placed. These garments were made of real lace
+or Parisian embroidery, and the prices paid for them were almost
+impossible to credit. Some of them were made of lace so filmy that
+the women who made them had to sit in damp cellars, because the
+sunlight would dry the fine threads and they would break; a single
+yard of the lace represented forty days of labour. There was a
+pastel "batiste de soie" Pompadour robe, embroidered with cream silk
+flowers, which had cost one thousand dollars. There was a hat to go
+with it, which had cost a hundred and twenty-five, and shoes of grey
+antelope-skin, buckled with mother-of-pearl, which had cost forty.
+There was a gorgeous and intricate ball-dress of pale green chiffon
+satin, with orchids embroidered in oxidized silver, and a long court
+train, studded with diamonds--and this had cost six thousand dollars
+without the jewels! And there was an auto-coat which had cost three
+thousand; and an opera-wrap made in Leipsic, of white unborn baby
+lamb, lined with ermine, which had cost twelve thousand--with a
+thousand additional for a hat to match! Mrs. Landis thought nothing
+of paying thirty-five dollars for a lace handkerchief, or sixty
+dollars for a pair of spun silk hose, or two hundred dollars for a
+pearl and gold-handled parasol trimmed with cascades of chiffon, and
+made, like her hats, one for each gown.
+
+"And she insists that these things are worth the money," said Alice.
+"She says it's not only the material in them, but the ideas. Each
+costume is a study, like a picture. 'I pay for the creative genius
+of the artist,' she said to me--'for his ability to catch my ideas
+and apply them to my personality--my complexion and hair and eyes.
+Sometimes I design my own costumes, and so I know what hard work it
+is!'"
+
+Mrs. Landis came from one of New York's oldest families, and she was
+wealthy in her own right; she had a palace on Fifth Avenue, and now
+that she had turned her husband out, she had nothing at all to put
+in it except her clothes. Alice told about the places in which she
+kept them--it was like a museum! There was a gown-room, made
+dust-proof, of polished hardwood, and with tier upon tier of long
+poles running across, and padded skirt-supporters hanging from them.
+Everywhere there was order and system--each skirt was numbered, and
+in a chiffonier-drawer of the same number you would find the
+waist--and so on with hats and stockings and gloves and shoes and
+parasols. There was a row of closets, having shelves piled up with
+dainty lace-trimmed and beribboned lingerie; there were two closets
+full of hats and three of shoes. "When she went West," said Alice,
+"one of her maids counted, and found that she had over four hundred
+pairs! And she actually has a cabinet with a card-catalogue to keep
+track of them. And all the shelves are lined with perfumed silk
+sachets, and she has tiny sachets sewed in every skirt and waist;
+and she has her own private perfume--she gave me some. She calls it
+Occur de Jeannette, and she says she designed it herself, and had it
+patented!"
+
+And then Alice went on to describe the maid's work-room, which was
+also of polished hardwood, and dust-proof, and had a balcony for
+brushing clothes, and wires upon which to hang them, and hot and
+cold water, and a big ironing-table and an electric stove. "But
+there can't be much work to do," laughed the girl, "for she never
+wears a gown more than two or three times. Just think of paying
+several thousand dollars for a costume, and giving it to your poor
+relations after you have worn it only twice! And the worst of it is
+that Mrs. Landis says it's all nothing unusual; you'll find such
+arrangements in every home of people who are socially prominent. She
+says there are women who boast of never appearing twice in the same
+gown, and there's one dreadful personage in Boston who wears each
+costume once, and then has it solemnly cremated by her butler!"
+
+"It is wicked to do such things," put in old Mrs. Montague, when she
+had heard this tale through. "I don't see how people can get any
+pleasure out of it."
+
+"That's what I said," replied Alice.
+
+"To whom did you say that?" asked Montague. "To Mrs. Landis?"
+
+"No," said Alice, "to a cousin of hers. I was downstairs waiting for
+her, and this girl came in. And we got to talking about it, and I
+said that I didn't think I could ever get used to such things."
+
+"What did she say?" asked the other.
+
+"She answered me strangely," said the girl. "She's tall, and very
+stately, and I was a little bit afraid of her. She said, 'You'll get
+used to it. Everybody you know will be doing it, and if you try to
+do differently they'll take offence; and you won't have the courage
+to do without friends. You'll be meaning every day to stop, but you
+never will, and you'll go on until you die.'"
+
+"What did you say to that?"
+
+"Nothing," answered Alice. "Just then Mrs. Landis came in, and Miss
+Hegan went away."
+
+"Miss Hegan?" echoed Montague.
+
+"Yes," said the other. "That's her name--Laura Hegan. Have you met
+her?"
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+
+
+
+The Horse Show was held in Madison Square Garden, a building
+occupying a whole city block. It seemed to Montague that during the
+four days he attended he was introduced to enough people to fill it
+to the doors. Each one of the exquisite ladies and gentlemen
+extended to him a delicately gloved hand, and remarked what perfect
+weather they were having, and asked him how long he had been in New
+York, and what he thought of it. Then they would talk about the
+horses, and about the people who were present, and what they had on.
+
+He saw little of his brother, who was squiring the Walling ladies
+most of the time; and Alice, too, was generally separated from him
+and taken care of by others. Yet he was never alone--there was
+always some young matron ready to lead him to her carriage and whisk
+him away to lunch or dinner.
+
+Many times he wondered why people should be so kind to him, a
+stranger, and one who could do nothing for them in return. Mrs.
+Billy Alden undertook to explain it to him, one afternoon, as he sat
+in her box. There had to be some people to enjoy, it appeared, or
+there would be no fun in the game. "Everything is new and strange to
+you," said she, "and you're delicious and refreshing; you make these
+women think perhaps they oughtn't to be so bored after all! Here's a
+woman who's bought a great painting; she's told that it's great, but
+she doesn't understand it herself--all she knows is that it cost
+her a hundred thousand dollars. And now you come along, and to you
+it's really a painting--and don't you see how gratifying that is to
+her?"
+
+"Oliver is always telling me it's bad form to admire," said the man,
+laughing.
+
+"Yes?" said the other. "Well, don't you let that brother of yours
+spoil you. There are more than enough of blase people in town--you
+be yourself."
+
+He appreciated the compliment, but added, "I'm afraid that when the
+novelty is worn off, people will be tired of me."
+
+"You'll find your place," said Mrs. Alden--"the people you like and
+who like you." And she went on to explain that here he was being
+passed about among a number of very different "sets," with different
+people and different tastes. Society had become split up in that
+manner of late--each set being jealous and contemptuous of all the
+other sets. Because of the fact that they overlapped a little at the
+edges, it was possible for him to meet here a great many people who
+never met each other, and were even unaware of each other's
+existence.
+
+And Mrs. Alden went on to set forth the difference between these
+"sets"; they ran from the most exclusive down to the most "yellow,"
+where they shaded off into the disreputable rich--of whom, it
+seemed, there were hordes in the city. These included "sporting" and
+theatrical and political people, some of whom were very rich indeed;
+and these sets in turn shaded off into the criminals and the
+demi-monde--who might also easily be rich. "Some day," said Mrs.
+Alden "you should get my brother to tell you about all these people.
+He's been in politics, you know, and he has a racing-stable."
+
+And Mrs. Alden told him about the subtle little differences in the
+conventions of these various sets of Society. There was the matter
+of women smoking, for instance. All women smoked, nowadays; but some
+would do it only in their own apartments, with their women friends;
+and some would retire to an out-of-the-way corner to do it; while
+others would smoke in their own dining-rooms, or wherever the men
+smoked. All agreed however, in never smoking "in public"--that is,
+where they would be seen by people not of their own set. Such, at
+any rate, had always been the rule, though a few daring ones were
+beginning to defy even that.
+
+Such rules were very rigid, but they were purely conventional, they
+had nothing to do with right or wrong: a fact which Mrs. Alden set
+forth with her usual incisiveness. A woman, married or unmarried,
+might travel with a man all over Europe, and every one might know
+that she did it, but it would make no difference, so long as she did
+not do it in America. There was one young matron whom Montague would
+meet, a raging beauty, who regularly got drunk at dinner parties,
+and had to be escorted to her carriage by the butler. She moved in
+the most exclusive circles, and every one treated it as a joke.
+Unpleasant things like this did not hurt a person unless they got
+"out"--that is, unless they became a scandal in the courts or the
+newspapers. Mrs. Alden herself had a cousin (whom she cordially
+hated) who had gotten a divorce from her husband and married her
+lover forthwith and had for this been ostracized by Society. Once
+when she came to some semi-public affair, fifty women had risen at
+once and left the room! She might have lived with her lover, both
+before and after the divorce, and every one might have known it, and
+no one would have cared; but the convenances declared that she
+should not marry him until a year had elapsed after the divorce.
+
+One thing to which Mrs. Alden could testify, as a result of a
+lifetime's observation, was the rapid rate at which these
+conventions, even the most essential of them, were giving way, and
+being replaced by a general "do as you please." Anyone could see
+that the power of women like Mrs. Devon, who represented the old
+regime, and were dignified and austere and exclusive, was yielding
+before the onslaught of new people, who were bizarre and fantastic
+and promiscuous and loud. And the younger sets cared no more about
+anyone--nor about anything under heaven, save to have a good time in
+their own harum-scarum ways. In the old days one always received a
+neatly-written or engraved invitation to dinner, worded in
+impersonal and formal style; but the other day Mrs. Alden had found
+a message which had been taken from the telephone: "Please come to
+dinner, but don't come unless you can bring a man, or we'll be
+thirteen at the table."
+
+And along with this went a perfectly incredible increase in luxury
+and extravagance. "You are surprised at what you see here to-day,"
+said she--"but take my word for it, if you were to come back five
+years later, you'd find all our present standards antiquated, and
+our present pace-makers sent to the rear. You'd find new hotels and
+theatres opening, and food and clothing and furniture that cost
+twice as much as they cost now. Not so long ago a private car was a
+luxury; now it's as much a necessity as an opera-box or a private
+ball-room, and people who really count have private trains. I can
+remember when our girls wore pretty muslin gowns in summer, and sent
+them to wash; now they wear what they call lingerie gowns, dimity en
+princesse, with silk embroidery and real lace and ribbons, that cost
+a thousand dollars apiece and won't wash. Years ago when I gave a
+dinner, I invited a dozen friends, and my own chef cooked it and my
+own servants served it. Now I have to pay my steward ten thousand a
+year, and nothing that I have is good enough. I have to ask forty or
+fifty people, and I call in a caterer, and he brings everything of
+his own, and my servants go off and get drunk. You used to get a
+good dinner for ten dollars a plate, and fifteen was something
+special; but now you hear of dinners that cost a thousand a plate!
+And it's not enough to have beautiful flowers on the table--you have
+to have 'scenery'; there must be a rural landscape for a background,
+and goldfish in the finger-bowls, and five thousand dollars' worth
+of Florida orchids on the table, and floral favours of roses that
+cost a hundred and fifty dollars a dozen. I attended a dinner at the
+Waldorf last year that had cost fifty thousand dollars; and when I
+ask those people to see me, I have to give them as good as I got.
+The other day I paid a thousand dollars for a tablecloth!"
+
+"Why do you do it?" asked Montague, abruptly.
+
+"God knows," said the other; "I don't. I sometimes wonder myself. I
+guess it's because I've nothing else to do. It's like the story they
+tell about my brother--he was losing money in a gambling-place in
+Saratoga, and some one said to him, 'Davy, why do you go
+there--don't you know the game is crooked?' 'Of course it's
+crooked,' said he, 'but, damn it, it's the only game in town!'"
+
+"The pressure is more than anyone can stand," said Mrs. Alden, after
+a moment's thought. "It's like trying to swim against a current. You
+have to float, and do what every one expects you to do--your
+children and your friends and your servants and your tradespeople.
+All the world is in a conspiracy against you."
+
+"It's appalling to me," said the man.
+
+"Yes," said the other, "and there's never any end to it. You think
+you know it all, but you find you really know very little. Just
+think of the number of people there are trying to go the pace! They
+say there are seven thousand millionaires in this country, but I say
+there are twenty thousand in New York alone--or if they don't own a
+million, they're spending the income of it, which amounts to the
+same thing. You can figure that a man who pays ten thousand a year
+for rent is paying fifty thousand to live; and there's Fifth
+Avenue--two miles of it, if you count the uptown and downtown parts;
+and there's Madison Avenue, and half a dozen houses adjoining on
+every side street; and then there are the hotels and apartment
+houses, to say nothing of the West Side and Riverside Drive. And you
+meet these mobs of people in the shops and the hotels and the
+theatres, and they all want to be better dressed than you. I saw a
+woman here to-day that I never saw in my life before, and I heard
+her say she'd paid two thousand dollars for a lace handkerchief; and
+it might have been true, for I've been asked to pay ten thousand for
+a lace shawl at a bargain. It's a common enough thing to see a woman
+walking on Fifth Avenue with twenty or thirty thousand dollars'
+worth of furs on her. Fifty thousand is often paid for a coat of
+sable, and I know of one that cost two hundred thousand. I know
+women who have a dozen sets of furs--ermine, chinchilla, black fox,
+baby lamb, and mink and sable; and I know a man whose chauffeur quit
+him because he wouldn't buy him a ten-thousand-dollar fur coat! And
+once people used to pack their furs away and take care of them; but
+now they wear them about the street, or at the sea-shore, and you
+can fairly see them fade. Or else their cut goes out of fashion, and
+so they have to have new ones!"
+
+All that was material for thought. It was all true--there was no
+question about that. It seemed to be the rule that whenever you
+questioned a tale of the extravagances of New York, you would hear
+the next day of something several times more startling. Montague was
+staggered at the idea of a two-hundred-thousand-dollar fur coat; and
+yet not long afterward there arrived in the city a titled
+Englishwoman, who owned a coat worth a million dollars, which
+hard-headed insurance companies had insured for half a million. It
+was made of the soft plumage of rare Hawaiian birds, and had taken
+twenty years to make; each feather was crescent-shaped, and there
+were wonderful designs in crimson and gold and black. Every day in
+the casual conversation of your acquaintances you heard of similar
+incredible things; a tiny antique Persian rug, which could be folded
+into an overcoat pocket, for ten thousand dollars; a set of five
+"art fans," each blade painted by a famous artist and costing
+forty-three thousand dollars; a crystal cup for eighty thousand; an
+edition de luxe of the works of Dickens for a hundred thousand; a
+ruby, the size of a pigeon's egg, for three hundred thousand. In
+some of these great New York palaces there were fountains which cost
+a hundred dollars a minute to run; and in the harbour there were
+yachts which cost twenty thousand a month to keep in commission.
+
+And that same day, as it chanced, he learned of a brand-new kind of
+squandering. He went home to lunch with Mrs. Winnie Duval, and there
+met Mrs. Caroline Smythe, with whom he had talked at Castle Havens.
+Mrs. Smythe, whose husband had been a well-known Wall Street
+plunger, was soft and mushy, and very gushing in manner; and she
+asked him to come home to dinner with her, adding, "I'll introduce
+you to my babies."
+
+From what Montague had so far seen, he judged that babies played a
+very small part in the lives of the women of Society; and so he was
+interested, and asked, "How many have you?"
+
+"Only two, in town," said Mrs. Smythe. "I've just come up, you see."
+
+"How old are they?" he inquired politely; and when the lady added,
+"About two years," he asked, "Won't they be in bed by dinner time?"
+
+"Oh my, no!" said Mrs. Smythe. "The dear little lambs wait up for
+me. I always find them scratching at my chamber door and wagging
+their little tails."
+
+Then Mrs. Winnie laughed merrily and said, "Why do you fool him?"
+and went on to inform Montague that Caroline's "babies" were
+griffons Bruxelloises. Griffons suggested to him vague ideas of
+dragons and unicorns and gargoyles; but he said nothing more, save
+to accept the invitation, and that evening he discovered that
+griffons Bruxelloises were tiny dogs, long-haired, yellow, and
+fluffy; and that for her two priceless treasures Mrs. Smythe had an
+expert nurse, to whom she paid a hundred dollars a month, and also a
+footman, and a special cuisine in which their complicated food was
+prepared. They had a regular dentist, and a physician, and gold
+plate to eat from. Mrs. Smythe also owned two long-haired St.
+Bernards of a very rare breed, and a fierce Great Dane, and a very
+fat Boston bull pup--the last having been trained to go for an
+airing all alone in her carriage, with a solemn coachman and footman
+to drive him.
+
+Montague, deftly keeping the conversation upon the subject of pets,
+learned that all this was quite common. Many women in Society
+artificially made themselves barren, because of the inconvenience
+incidental to pregnancy and motherhood; and instead they lavished
+their affections upon cats and dogs. Some of these animals had
+elaborate costumes, rivalling in expensiveness those of their
+step-mothers. They wore tiny boots, which cost eight dollars a
+pair--house boots, and street boots lacing up to the knees; they had
+house-coats, walking-coats, dusters, sweaters, coats lined with
+ermine, and automobile coats with head and chest-protectors and
+hoods and goggles--and each coat fitted with a pocket for its tiny
+handkerchief of fine linen or lace! And they had collars set with
+rubies and pearls and diamonds--one had a collar that cost ten
+thousand dollars! Sometimes there would be a coat to match every
+gown of the owner. There were dog nurseries and resting-rooms, in
+which they might be left temporarily; and manicure parlours for
+cats, with a physician in charge. When these pets died, there was an
+expensive cemetery in Brooklyn especially for their interment; and
+they would be duly embalmed and buried in plush-lined casket, and
+would have costly marble monuments. When one of Mrs. Smythe's best
+loved pugs had fallen ill of congestion of the liver, she had had
+tan-bark put upon the street in front of her house; and when in
+spite of this the dog died, she had sent out cards edged in black,
+inviting her friends to a "memorial service." Also she showed
+Montague a number of books with very costly bindings, in which were
+demonstrated the unity, simplicity, and immortality of the souls of
+cats and dogs.
+
+Apparently the sentimental Mrs. Smythe was willing to talk about
+these pets all through dinner; and so was her aunt, a thin and
+angular spinster, who sat on Montague's other side. And he was
+willing to listen--he wanted to know it all. There were umbrellas
+for dogs, to be fastened over their backs in wet weather; there were
+manicure and toilet sets, and silver medicine-chests, and
+jewel-studded whips. There were sets of engraved visiting-cards;
+there were wheel-chairs in which invalid cats and dogs might be
+taken for an airing. There were shows for cats and dogs, with
+pedigrees and prizes, and nearly as great crowds as the Horse Show;
+Mrs. Smythe's St. Bernards were worth seven thousand dollars apiece,
+and there were bull-dogs worth twice that. There was a woman who had
+come all the way from the Pacific coast to have a specialist perform
+an operation upon the throat of her Yorkshire terrier! There was
+another who had built for her dog a tiny Queen Anne cottage, with
+rooms papered and carpeted and hung with lace curtains! Once a young
+man of fashion had come to the Waldorf and registered himself and
+"Miss Elsie Cochrane"; and when the clerk made the usual inquiries
+as to the relationship of the young lady, it transpired that Miss
+Elsie was a dog, arrayed in a prim little tea-gown, and requiring a
+room to herself. And then there was a tale of a cat which had
+inherited a life-pension from a forty-thousand-dollar estate; it had
+a two-floor apartment and several attendants, and sat at table and
+ate shrimps and Italian chestnuts, and had a velvet couch for naps,
+and a fur-lined basket for sleeping at night!
+
+Four days of horses were enough for Montague, and on Friday morning,
+when Siegfried Harvey called him up and asked if he and Alice would
+come out to "The Roost" for the week-end, he accepted gladly.
+Charlie Carter was going, and volunteered to take them in his car;
+and so again they crossed the Williamsburg Bridge--"the Jewish
+passover," as Charlie called it--and went out on Long Island.
+
+Montague was very anxious to get a "line" on Charlie Carter; for he
+had not been prepared for the startling promptness with which this
+young man had fallen at Alice's feet. It was so obvious, that
+everybody was smiling over it--he was with her every minute that he
+could arrange it, and he turned up at every place to which she was
+invited. Both Mrs. Winnie and Oliver were quite evidently
+complacent, but Montague was by no means the same. Charlie had
+struck him as a good-natured but rather weak youth, inclined to
+melancholy; he was never without a cigarette in his fingers, and
+there had been signs that he was not quite proof against the
+pitfalls which Society set about him in the shape of decanters and
+wine-cups: though in a world where the fragrance of spirits was
+never out of one's nostrils, and where people drank with such
+perplexing frequency, it was hard to know where to draw a line.
+
+"You won't find my place like Havens's," Siegfried Harvey had said.
+"It is real country." Montague found it the most attractive of all
+the homes he had seen so far. It was a big rambling house, all in
+rustic style, with great hewn logs outside, and rafters within, and
+a winding oak stairway, and any number of dens and cosy corners, and
+broad window-seats with mountains of pillows. Everything here was
+built for comfort--there was a billiard-room and a smoking-room, and
+a real library with readable bogles and great chairs in which one
+sank out of sight. There were log fires blazing everywhere, and
+pictures on the walls that told of sport, and no end of guns and
+antlers and trophies of all sorts. But you were not to suppose that
+all this elaborate rusticity would be any excuse for the absence of
+attendants in livery, and a chef who boasted the cordon bleu, and a
+dinner-table resplendent with crystal and silver and orchids and
+ferns. After all, though the host called it a "small" place, he had
+invited twenty guests, and he had a hunter in his stables for each
+one of them.
+
+But the most wonderful thing about "The Roost" was the fact that, at
+a touch of a button, all the walls of the lower rooms vanished into
+the second story, and there was one huge, log-lighted room, with
+violins tuning up and calling to one's feet. They set a fast pace
+here--the dancing lasted until three o'clock, and at dawn again they
+were dressed and mounted, and following the pink-coated grooms and
+the hounds across the frost-covered fields.
+
+Montague was half prepared for a tame fox, but this was pared him.
+There was a real game, it seemed; and soon the pack gave tongue, and
+away went the hunt. It was the wildest ride that Montague ever had
+taken--over ditches and streams and innumerable rail-fences, and
+through thick coverts and densely populated barnyards; but he was in
+at the death, and Alice was only a few yards behind, to the immense
+delight of the company. This seemed to Montague the first real life
+he had met, and he thought to himself that these full-blooded and
+high-spirited men and women made a "set" into which he would have
+been glad to fit--save only that he had to earn his living, and they
+did not.
+
+In the afternoon there was more riding, and walks in the crisp
+November air; and indoors, bridge and rackets and ping-pong, and a
+fast and furious game of roulette, with the host as banker. "Do I
+look much like a professional gambler?" he asked of Montague; and
+when the other replied that he had not yet met any New York
+gamblers, young Harvey went on to tell how he had gone to buy this
+apparatus (the sale of which was forbidden by law) and had been
+asked by the dealer how "strong" he wanted it!
+
+Then in the evening there was more dancing, and on Sunday another
+hunt. That night a gambling mood seemed to seize the company--there
+were two bridge tables, and in another room the most reckless game
+of poker that Montague had ever sat in. It broke up at three in the
+morning, and one of the company wrote him a cheque for sixty-five
+hundred dollars; but even that could not entirely smooth his
+conscience, nor reconcile him to the fever that was in his blood.
+
+Most important to him, however, was the fact that during the game he
+at last got to know Charlie Carter. Charlie did not play, for the
+reason that he was drunk, and one of the company told him so and
+refused to play with him; which left poor Charlie nothing to do but
+get drunker. This he did, and came and hung over the shoulders of
+the players, and told the company all about himself.
+
+Montague was prepared to allow for the "wild oats" of a youngster
+with unlimited money, but never in his life had he heard or dreamed
+of anything like this boy. For half an hour he wandered about the
+table, and poured out a steady stream of obscenities; his mind was
+like a swamp, in which dwelt loathsome and hideous serpents which
+came to the surface at night and showed their flat heads and their
+slimy coils. In the heavens above or the earth beneath there was
+nothing sacred to him; there was nothing too revolting to be spewed
+out. And the company accepted the performance as an old story--the
+men would laugh, and push the boy away, and say, "Oh, Charlie, go to
+the devil!"
+
+After it was all over, Montague took one of the company aside and
+asked him what it meant; to which the man replied: "Good God! Do you
+mean that nobody has told you about Charlie Carter?"
+
+It appeared that Charlie was one of the "gilded youths" of the
+Tenderloin, whose exploits had been celebrated in the papers. And
+after the attendants had bundled him off to bed, several of the men
+gathered about the fire and sipped hot punch, and rehearsed for
+Montague's benefit some of his leading exploits.
+
+Charlie was only twenty-three, it seemed; and when he was ten his
+father had died and left eight or ten millions in trust for him, in
+the care of a poor, foolish aunt whom he twisted about his ringer.
+At the age of twelve he was a cigarette fiend, and had the run of
+the wine-cellar. When he went to a rich private school he took whole
+trunks full of cigarettes with him, and finally ran away to Europe,
+to acquire the learning of the brothels of Paris. And then he came
+home and struck the Tenderloin; and at three o'clock one morning he
+walked through a plate-glass window, and so the newspapers took him
+up. That had suddenly opened a new vista in life for Charlie--he
+became a devotee of fame; everywhere he went he was followed by
+newspaper reporters and a staring crowd. He carried wads as big
+round as his arm, and gave away hundred-dollar tips to bootblacks,
+and lost forty thousand dollars in a game of poker. He gave a fete
+to the demi-monde, with a jewelled Christmas tree in midsummer, and
+fifty thousand dollars' worth of splendour. But the greatest stroke
+of all was the announcement that he was going to build a submarine
+yacht and fill it with chorus-girls!--Now Charlie had sunk out of
+public attention, and his friends would not see him for days; he
+would be lying in a "sporting house" literally wallowing in
+champagne.
+
+And all this, Montague realized, his brother must have known! And he
+had said not a word about it--because of the eight or ten millions
+which Charlie would have when he was twenty-five!
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+
+
+
+In the morning they went home with others of the party by train.
+They could not wait for Charlie and his automobile, because Monday
+was the opening night of the Opera, and no one could miss that. Here
+Society would appear in its most gorgeous raiment, and, there would
+be a show of jewellery such as could be seen nowhere else in the
+world.
+
+General Prentice and his wife had opened their town-house, and had
+invited them to dinner and to share their box; and so at about
+half-past nine o'clock Montague found himself seated in a great
+balcony of the shape of a horseshoe, with several hundred of the
+richest people in the city. There was another tier of boxes above,
+and three galleries above that, and a thousand or more people seated
+and standing below him. Upon the big stage there was an elaborate
+and showy play, the words of which were sung to the accompaniment of
+an orchestra.
+
+Now Montague had never heard an opera, and he was fond of music. The
+second act had just begun when he came in, and all through it he sat
+quite spellbound, listening to the most ravishing strains that ever
+he had heard in his life. He scarcely noticed that Mrs. Prentice was
+spending her time studying the occupants of the other boxes through
+a jewelled lorgnette, or that Oliver was chattering to her daughter.
+
+But after the act was over, Oliver got him alone outside the box,
+and whispered, "For God's sake, Allan, don't make a fool of
+yourself."
+
+"Why, what's the matter?" asked the other.
+
+"What will people think," exclaimed Oliver, "seeing you sitting
+there like a man in a dope dream?"
+
+"Why," laughed the other, "they'll think I'm listening to the
+music."
+
+To which Oliver responded, "People don't come to the Opera to listen
+to the music."
+
+This sounded like a joke, but it was not. To Society the Opera was a
+great state function, an exhibition of far more exclusiveness and
+magnificence than the Horse Show; and Society certainly had the
+right to say, for it owned the opera-house and ran it. The real
+music-lovers who came, either stood up in the back, or sat in the
+fifth gallery, close to the ceiling, where the air was foul and hot.
+How much Society cared about the play was sufficiently indicated by
+the fact that all of the operas were sung in foreign languages, and
+sung so carelessly that the few who understood the languages could
+make but little of the words. Once there was a world-poet who
+devoted his life to trying to make the Opera an art; and in the
+battle with Society he all but starved to death. Now, after half a
+century, his genius had triumphed, and Society consented to sit for
+hours in darkness and listen to the domestic disputes of German gods
+and goddesses. But what Society really cared for was a play with
+beautiful costumes and scenery and dancing, and pretty songs to
+which one could listen while one talked; the story must be elemental
+and passionate, so that one could understand it in pantomime--say
+the tragic love of a beautiful and noble-minded courtesan for a
+gallant young man of fashion.
+
+Nearly every one who came to the Opera had a glass, by means of
+which he could bring each gorgeously-clad society dame close to him,
+and study her at leisure. There were said to be two hundred million
+dollars' worth of diamonds in New York, and those that were not in
+the stores were very apt to be at this show; for here was where they
+could accomplish the purpose for which they existed--here was where
+all the world came to stare at them. There were nine prominent
+Society women, who among them displayed five million dollars' worth
+of jewels. You would see stomachers which looked like a piece of a
+coat of mail, and were made wholly of blazing diamonds. You would
+see emeralds and rubies and diamonds and pearls made in tiaras--that
+is to say, imitation crowns and coronets--and exhibited with a
+stout and solemn dowager for a pediment. One of the Wallings had set
+this fashion, and now every one of importance wore them. One lady to
+whom Montague was introduced made a speciality of pearls--two black
+pearl ear-rings at forty thousand dollars, a string at three hundred
+thousand, a brooch of pink pearls at fifty thousand, and two
+necklaces at a quarter of a million each!
+
+This incessant repetition of the prices of things came to seem very
+sordid; but Montague found that there was no getting away from it.
+The people in Society who paid these prices affected to be above all
+such considerations, to be interested only in the beauty and
+artistic excellence of the things themselves; but one found that
+they always talked about the prices which other people had paid, and
+that somehow other people always knew what they had paid. They took
+care also to see that the public and the newspapers knew what they
+had paid, and knew everything else that they were doing. At this
+Opera, for instance, there was a diagram of the boxes printed upon
+the programme, and a list of all the box-holders, so that anyone
+could tell who was who. You might see these great dames in their
+gorgeous robes coming from their carriages, with crowds staring at
+them and detectives hovering about. And the bosom of each would be
+throbbing with a wild and wonderful vision of the moment when she
+would enter her box, and the music would be forgotten, and all eyes
+would be turned upon her; and she would lay aside her wraps, and
+flash upon the staring throngs, a vision of dazzling splendour.
+
+Some of these jewels were family treasures, well known to New York
+for generations; and in such cases it was becoming the fashion to
+leave the real jewels in the safe-deposit vault, and to wear
+imitation stones exactly like them. From homes where the jewels were
+kept, detectives were never absent, and in many cases there were
+detectives watching the detectives; and yet every once in a while
+the newspapers would be full of a sensational story of a robbery.
+Then the unfortunates who chanced to be suspected would be seized by
+the police and subjected to what was jocularly termed the "third
+degree," and consisted of tortures as elaborate and cruel as any
+which the Spanish Inquisition had invented. The advertising value of
+this kind of thing was found to be so great that famous actresses
+also had costly jewels, and now and then would have them stolen.
+
+That night, when they had got home, Montague had a talk with his
+cousin about Charlie Carter. He discovered a peculiar situation. It
+seemed that Alice already knew that Charlie had been "bad." He was
+sick and miserable; and her beauty and innocence had touched him and
+made him ashamed of himself, and ho had hinted darkly at dreadful
+evils. Thus carefully veiled, and tinged with mystery and romance,
+Montague could understand how Charlie made an interesting and
+appealing figure. "He says I'm different from any girl he ever met,"
+said Alice--a remark of such striking originality that her cousin
+could not keep back his smile.
+
+Alice was not the least bit in love with him, and had no idea of
+being; and she said that she would accept no invitations, and never
+go alone with him; but she did not see how she could avoid him when
+she met him at other people's houses. And to this Montague had to
+assent.
+
+General Prentice had inquired kindly as to what Montague had seen in
+New York, and how he was getting along. He added that he had talked
+about him to Judge Ellis, and that when he was ready to get to work,
+the Judge would perhaps have some suggestions to make to him. He
+approved, however, of Montague's plan of getting his bearings first;
+and said that he would introduce him and put him up at a couple of
+the leading clubs.
+
+All this remained in Montague's mind; but there was no use trying to
+think of it at the moment. Thanksgiving was at hand, and in
+countless country mansions there would be gaieties under way. Bertie
+Stuyvesant had planned an excursion to his Adirondack camp, and had
+invited a score or so of young people, including the Montagues. This
+would be a new feature of the city's life, worth knowing about.
+
+Their expedition began with a theatre-party. Bertie had engaged four
+boxes, and they met there, an hour or so after the performance had
+begun. This made no difference, however, for the play was like the
+opera-a number of songs and dances strung together, and with only
+plot. enough to provide occasion for elaborate scenery and costumes.
+From the play they were carried to the Grand Central Station, and a
+little before midnight Bertie's private train set out on its
+journey.
+
+This train was a completely equipped hotel. There was a baggage
+compartment and a dining-car and kitchen; and a drawing-room and
+library-car; and a bedroom-car--not with berths, such as the
+ordinary sleeping-car provides, but with comfortable bedrooms,
+furnished in white mahogany, and provided with running water and
+electric light. All these cars were built of steel, and
+automatically ventilated: and they were furnished in the luxurious
+fashion of everything with which Bertie Stuyvcsant had anything to
+do. In the library-car there were velvet carpets upon the floor, and
+furniture of South American mahogany, and paintings upon the walls
+over which groat artists had laboured for years.
+
+Bertie's chef and servants were on board, and a supper was ready in
+the dining-car, which they ate while watching the Hudson by
+moonlight. And the next morning they reached their destination, a
+little station in the mountain wilderness. The train lay upon a
+switch, and so they had breakfast at their leisure, and then,
+bundled in furs, came out into the crisp pine-laden air of the
+woods. There was snow upon the ground, and eight big sleighs
+waiting; and for nearly three hours they drove in the frosty
+sunlight, through most beautiful mountain scenery. A good part of
+the drive was in Bertie's "preserve," and the road was private, as
+big signs notified one every hundred yards or so.
+
+So at last they reached a lake, winding like a snake among towering
+hills, and with a huge baronial castle standing out upon the rocky
+shore. This imitation fortress was the "camp."
+
+Bertie's father had built it, and visited it only half a dozen times
+in his life. Bertie himself had only been here twice, he said. The
+deer were so plentiful that in the winter they died in scores.
+Nevertheless there were thirty game-keepers to guard the ten
+thousand acres of forest, and prevent anyone's hunting in it. There
+were many such "preserves" in this Adiron-dack wilderness, so
+Montague was told; one man had a whole mountain fenced about with
+heavy iron railing, and had moose and elk and even wild boar inside.
+And as for the "camps," there were so many that a new style of
+architecture had been developed here--to say nothing of those which
+followed old styles, like this imported Rhine castle. One of
+Bertie's crowd had a big Swiss chalet; and one of the Wallings had a
+Japanese palace to which he came every August--a house which had
+been built from plans drawn in Japan, and by labourers imported
+especially from Japan. It was full of Japanese ware--furniture,
+tapestry, and mosaics; and the guides remembered with wonder the
+strange silent, brown-skinned little men who had laboured for days
+at carving a bit of wood, and had built a tiny pagoda-like tea-house
+with more bits of wood in it than a man could count in a week.
+
+They had a luncheon of fresh venison and partridges and trout, and
+in the afternoon a hunt. The more active set out to track the deer
+in the snow; but most prepared to watch the lake-shore, while the
+game-keepers turned loose the dogs back in the hills. This
+"hounding" was against the law, but Bertie was his own law here--and
+at the worst there could simply be a small fine, imposed upon some
+of the keepers. They drove eight or ten deer to water; and as they
+fired as many as twenty shots at one deer, they had quite a lively
+time. Then at dusk they came back, in a fine glow of excitement, and
+spent the evening before the blazing logs, telling over their
+adventures.
+
+The party spent two days and a half here, and on the last evening,
+which was Thanksgiving, they had a wild turkey which Bertie had shot
+the week before in Virginia, and were entertained by a minstrel show
+which had been brought up from New York the night before. The next
+afternoon they drove back to the train.
+
+In the morning, when they reached the city, Alice found a note from
+Mrs. Winnie Duval, begging her and Montague to come to lunch and
+attend a private lecture by the Swami Babubanana, who would tell
+them all about the previous states of their souls. They went--though
+not without a protest from old Mrs. Montague, who declared it was
+"worse than Bob Ingersoll."
+
+And then, in the evening, came Mrs. de Graffenried's opening
+entertainment, which was one of the great events of the social year.
+In the general rush of things Montague had not had a chance properly
+to realize it; but Reggie Mann and Mrs. de Graffenried had been
+working over it for weeks. When the Montagues arrived, they found
+the Riverside mansion--which was decorated in imitation of an
+Arabian palace--turned into a jungle of tropical plants.
+
+They had come early at Reggie's request, and he introduced them to
+Mrs. de Graffenried, a tall and angular lady with a leathern
+complexion painfully painted; Mrs. de Graffenried was about fifty
+years of age, but like all the women of Society she was made up for
+thirty. Just at present there were beads of perspiration upon her
+forehead; something had gone wrong at the last moment, and so Reggie
+would have no time to show them the favours, as he had intended.
+
+About a hundred and fifty guests were invited to this entertainment.
+A supper was served at little tables in the great ball-room, and
+afterward the guests wandered about the house while the tables were
+whisked out of the way and the room turned into a play-house. A
+company from one of the Broadway theatres would be bundled into cabs
+at the end of the performance, and by midnight they would be ready
+to repeat the performance at Mrs. do Graffenried's. Montague chanced
+to bo near when this company arrived, and he observed that the
+guests had crowded up too close, and not left room enough for the
+actors. So the manager had placed them in a little ante-room, and
+when Mrs. de Graffenried observed this, she rushed at the man, and
+swore at him like a dragoon, and ordered the bewildered performers
+out into the main room.
+
+But this was peering behind the scenes, and he was supposed to be
+watching the play. The entertainment was another "musical comedy"
+like the one he had seen a few nights before. On that occasion,
+however, Bertie Stuyvesant's sister had talked to him the whole
+time, while now he was let alone, and had a chance to watch the
+performance.
+
+This was a very popular play; it had had a long run, and the papers
+told how its author had an income of a couple of hundred thousand
+dollars a year. And here was an audience of the most rich and
+influential people in the city; and they laughed and clapped, and
+made it clear that they were enjoying themselves heartily. And what
+sort of a play was it?
+
+It was called "The Kaliph of Kamskatka." It had no shred of a plot;
+the Kaliph had seventeen wives, and there was an American drummer
+who wanted to sell him another--but then you did not need to
+remember this, for nothing came of it. There was nothing in the play
+which could be called a character--there was nothing which could be
+connected with any real emotion ever felt by human beings. Nor could
+one say that there was any incident--at least nothing happened
+because of anything else. Each event was a separate thing, like the
+spasmodic jerking in the face of an idiot. Of this sort of "action"
+there was any quantity--at an instant's notice every one on the
+stage would fall simultaneously into this condition of idiotic
+jerking. There was rushing about, shouting, laughing, exclaiming;
+the stage was in a continual uproar of excitement, which was without
+any reason or meaning. So it was impossible to think of the actors
+in their parts; one kept thinking of them as human beings--thinking
+of the awful tragedy of full-grown men and women being compelled by
+the pressure of hunger to dress up and paint themselves, and then
+come out in public and dance, stamp, leap about, wring their hands,
+make faces, and otherwise be "lively."
+
+The costumes were of two sorts: one fantastic, supposed to represent
+the East, and the other a kind of reductio ad absurdum of
+fashionable garb. The leading man wore a "natty" outing-suit, and
+strutted with a little cane; his stock-in-trade was a jaunty air, a
+kind of perpetual flourish, and a wink that suggested the cunning of
+a satyr. The leading lady changed her costume several times in each
+act; but it invariably contained the elements of bare arms and bosom
+and back, and a skirt which did not reach her knees, and
+bright-coloured silk stockings, and slippers with heels two inches
+high. Upon the least provocation she would execute a little
+pirouette, which would reveal the rest of her legs, surrounded by a
+mass of lace ruffles. It is the nature of the human mind to seek the
+end of things; if this woman had worn a suit of tights and nothing
+else, she would have been as uninteresting as an underwear
+advertisement in a magazine; but this incessant not-quite-revealing
+of herself exerted a subtle fascination. At frequent intervals the
+orchestra would start up a jerky little tune, and the two "stars"
+would begin to sing in nasal voices some words expressive of
+passion; then the man would take the woman about the waist and dance
+and swing her about and bend her backward and gaze into her
+eyes--actions all vaguely suggestive of the relationship of sex. At
+the end of the verse a chorus would come gliding on, clad in any
+sort of costume which admitted of colour and the display of legs;
+the painted women of this chorus were never still for an instant--if
+they were not actually dancing, they were wriggling their legs, and
+jerking their bodies from side to side, and nodding their heads, and
+in all other possible ways being "lively."
+
+But it was not the physical indecency of this show that struck
+Montague so much as its intellectual content. The dialogue of the
+piece was what is called "smart"; that is, it was full of a kind of
+innuendo which implied a secret understanding of evil between the
+actor and his audience--a sort of countersign which passed between
+them. After all, it would have been an error to say that there were
+no ideas in the play--there was one idea upon which all the
+interest of it was based; and Montague strove to analyze this idea
+and formulate it to himself. There are certain life principles-one
+might call them moral axioms--which are the result of the experience
+of countless ages of the human race, and upon the adherence to which
+the continuance of the race depends. And here was an audience by
+whom all these principles were--not questioned, nor yet disputed,
+nor yet denied--but to whom the denial was the axiom, something
+which it would be too banal to state flatly, but which it was
+elegant. and witty to take for granted. In this audience there were
+elderly people, and married men and women, and young men and
+maidens; and a perfect gale of laughter swept through it at a story
+of a married woman whose lover had left her when he got married:--
+
+"She must have been heartbroken," said the leading lady.
+
+"She was desperate," said the leading man, with a grin.
+
+"What did she do?" asked the lady "Go and shoot herself?"
+
+"Worse than that," said the man. "She, went back to her husband and
+had a baby!"
+
+But to complete your understanding of the significance of this play,
+you must bring yourself to realize that it was not merely a play,
+but a kind of a play; it had a name--a "musical comedy"--the meaning
+of which every one understood. Hundreds of such plays were written
+and produced, and "dramatic critics" went to see them and gravely
+discussed them, and many thousands of people made their livings by
+travelling over the country and playing them; stately theatres were
+built for them, and hundreds of thousands of people paid their money
+every night to see them. And all this no joke and no nightmare--but
+a thing that really existed. Men and women were doing these
+things--actual flesh-and-blood human beings.
+
+Montague wondered, in an awestricken sort of way, what kind of human
+being it could be who had flourished the cane and made the grimaces
+in that play. Later on, when ho came to know the "Tenderloin," he
+met this same actor, and he found that he had begun life as a little
+Irish "mick" who lived in a tenement, and whoso mother stood at the
+head of the stairway and defended him with a rolling-pin against a
+policeman who was chasing him. He had discovered that he could make
+a living by his comical antics; but when he came home and told his
+mother that he had been offered twenty dollars a week by a show
+manager, she gave him a licking for lying to her. Now he was making
+three thousand dollars a week--more than the President of the
+United States and his Cabinet; but he was not happy, as he confided
+to Montague, because he did not know how to read, and this was a
+cause of perpetual humiliation. The secret desire of this little
+actor's heart was to play Shakespeare; he had "Hamlet" read to him,
+and pondered how to act it--all the time that he was flourishing his
+little cane and making his grimaces! He had chanced to be on the
+stage when a fire had broken out, and five or six hundred victims of
+greed were roasted to death. The actor had pleaded with the people
+to keep their seats, but all in vain; and all his life thereafter he
+went about with this vision of horror in his mind, and haunted by
+the passionate conviction that he had failed because of his lack of
+education--that if only he had been a man of culture, he would have
+been able to think of something to say to hold those terror-stricken
+people!
+
+At three o'clock in the morning the performance came to an end, and
+then there were more refreshments; and Mrs. Vivie Patton came and
+sat by him, and they had a nice comfortable gossip. When Mrs. Vivie
+once got started at talking about people, her tongue ran on like a
+windmill.
+
+There was Reggie Mann, meandering about and simpering at people.
+Reggie was in his glory at Mrs. do Graffenricd's affairs. Reggie had
+arranged all this-he did the designing and the ordering, and
+contracted for the shows with the agents. You could bet that ho had
+got his commission on them, too--though sometimes Mrs. do
+Graffenricd got the shows to come for nothing, because of the
+advertising her name would bring. Commissions wore Reggie's
+speciality--he had begun life as an auto agent. Montague didn't know
+what that was? An auto agent was a man who was for ever begging his
+friends to use a certain kind of car, so that he might make a
+living; and Reggie had made about thirty thousand a year in that
+way. He had come from Boston, where his reputation had been made by
+the fact that early one morning, as they were driving home from a
+celebration, he had dared a young society matron to take off her
+shoes and stockings, and get out and wade in the public fountain;
+and she had done it, and he had followed her. On the strength of the
+eclat of this he had been taken up by Mrs. Devon; and one day Mrs.
+Devon had worn a white gown, and asked him what he thought of it.
+"It needs but one thing to make it perfect," said Reggie, and taking
+a red rose, he pinned it upon her corsage. The effect was magical;
+every one exclaimed with delight, and so Reggie's reputation as an
+authority upon dress was made for ever. Now he was Mrs. de
+Graffenried's right-hand man, and they made up their pranks
+together. Once they had walked down the street in Newport with a big
+rag doll between them. And Reggie had given a dinner at which the
+guest of honour had been a monkey--surely Montague had heard of
+that, for it had been the sensation of the season. It was really the
+funniest thing imaginable; the monkey wore a suit of broad-cloth
+with collar and cuffs, and he shook hands with all the guests, and
+behaved himself exactly like a gentleman--except that he did not get
+drunk.
+
+And then Mrs. Vivie pointed out the great Mrs. Ridgley-Clieveden,
+who was sitting with one of her favourites, a grave, black-bearded
+gentleman who had leaped into fame by inheriting fifty million
+dollars. "Mrs. R.-C." had taken him up, and ordered his engagement
+book for him, and he was solemnly playing the part of a social
+light. He had purchased an old New York mansion, upon the decoration
+of which three million dollars had been spent; and when he came down
+to business from Tuxedo, his private train waited all day for him
+with steam up. Mrs. Vivie told an amusing tale of a woman who had
+announced her engagement to him, and borrowed large sums of money
+upon the strength of it, before his denial came out. That had been a
+source of great delight to Mrs. de Graffenried, who was furiously
+jealous of "Mrs. R. C."
+
+From the anecdotes that people told, Montague judged that Mrs. de
+Graffenried must be one of those new leaders of Society, who, as
+Mrs. Alden said, were inclined to the bizarre and fantastic. Mrs. de
+Graffenried spent half a million dollars every season to hold the
+position of leader of the Newport set, and you could always count
+upon her for new and striking ideas. Once she had given away as
+cotillion favours tiny globes with goldfish in them; again she had
+given a dance at which everybody got themselves up as different
+vegetables. She was fond of going about at Newport and inviting
+people haphazard to lunch--thirty or forty at a time--and then
+surprising them with a splendid banquet. Again she would give a big
+formal dinner, and perplex people by offering them something which
+they really cared to eat. "You see," explained Mrs. Vivie, "at these
+dinners we generally get thick green turtle soup, and omelettes with
+some sort of Florida water poured over them, and mushrooms cooked
+under glass, and real hand-made desserts; but Mrs. de Graffenried
+dares to have baked ham and sweet potatoes, or even real roast beef.
+You saw to-night that she had green corn; she must have arranged for
+that months ahead--we can never get it from Porto Rico until
+January. And you see this little dish of wild strawberries-t-hey
+were probably transplanted and raised in a hothouse, and every
+single one wrapped separately before they were shipped."
+
+All these labours had made Mrs. de Graffenried a tremendous power in
+the social world. She had a savage tongue, said Mrs. Vivie, and
+every one lived in terror of her; but once in a while she met her
+match. Once she had invited a comic opera star to sing for her
+guests, and all the men had crowded round this actress, and Mrs. de
+Graffenried had flown into a passion and tried to drive them away;
+and the actress, lolling back in her chair, and gazing up idly at
+Mrs. do Graffenried, had drawled, "Ten years older than God!" Poor
+Mrs. de Graffenried would carry that saying with her until she died.
+
+Something reminiscent of this came under Montague's notice that same
+evening. At about four o'clock Mrs. Vivie wished to go home, and
+asked him to find her escort, the Count St. Elmo de Champignon--the
+man, by the way, for whom her husband was gunning. Montague roamed
+all about the house, and finally went downstairs, where a room had
+been set apart for the theatrical company to partake of
+refreshments. Mrs. de Graffenriod's secretary was on guard at the
+door; but some of the boys had got into the room, and were drinking
+champagne and "making dates" with the chorus-girls. And here was
+Mrs. de Graffenried herself, pushing them bodily out of the room, a
+score and more of them--and among them Mrs. Vivie's Count!
+
+Montague delivered his message, and then went upstairs to wait until
+his own party should be ready to leave. In the smoking-room were a
+number of men, also waiting; and among them he noticed Major
+Venable, in conversation with a man whom he did not know. "Come over
+here," the Major called; and Montague obeyed, at the same time
+noticing the stranger.
+
+He was a tall, loose-jointed, powerfully built man, a small head and
+a very striking face: a grim mouth with drooping corners tightly
+set, and a hawk-like nose, and deep-set, peering eyes. "Have you met
+Mr. Hegan?" said the Major. "Hegan, this is Mr. Allan Montague." Jim
+Hegan! Montague repressed a stare and took the chair which they
+offered him. "Have a cigar," said Hegan, holding out his case.
+
+"Mr. Montague has just come to New York," said the Major. "He is a
+Southerner, too."
+
+"Indeed?" said Hegan, and inquired what State he came from. Montague
+replied, and added, "I had the pleasure of meeting your daughter
+last week, at the Horse Show."
+
+That served to start a conversation; for Hegan came from Texas, and
+when he found that Montague knew about horses--real horses--he
+warmed to him. Then the Major's party called him away, and the other
+two were left to carry on the conversation.
+
+It was very easy to chat with Hegan; and yet underneath, in the
+other's mind, there lurked a vague feeling of trepidation, as he
+realized that he was chatting with a hundred millions of dollars.
+Montague was new enough at the game to imagine that there ought to
+be something strange, some atmosphere of awe and mystery, about a
+man who was master of a dozen railroads and of the politics of half
+a dozen States. He was simple and very kindly in his manner, a plain
+man, interested in plain things. There was about him, as he talked,
+a trace of timidity, almost of apology, which Montague noticed and
+wondered at. It was only later, when he had time to think about it,
+that he realized that Hegan had begun as a farmer's boy in Texas, a
+"poor white"; and could it be that after all these years an instinct
+remained in him, so that whenever he met a gentleman of the old
+South he stood by with a little deference, seeming to beg pardon for
+his hundred millions of dollars?
+
+And yet there was the power of the man. Even chatting about horses,
+you felt it; you felt that there was a part of him which did not
+chat, but which sat behind and watched. And strangest of all,
+Montague found himself fancying that behind the face that smiled was
+another face, that did not smile, but that was grim and set. It was
+a strange face, with its broad, sweeping eyebrows and its drooping
+mouth; it haunted Montague and made him feel ill at ease.
+
+There came Laura Hegan, who greeted them in her stately way; and
+Mrs. Hegan, bustling and vivacious, costumed en grande dame. "Come
+and see me some time," said the man. "You won't be apt to meet me
+otherwise, for I don't go about much." And so they took their
+departure; and Montague sat alone and smoked and thought. The face
+still stayed with him; and now suddenly, in a burst of light, it
+came to him what it was: the face of a bird of prey--of the great
+wild, lonely eagle! You have seen it, perhaps, in a menagerie;
+sitting high up, submitting patiently, biding its time. But all the
+while the soul of the eagle is far away, ranging the wide spaces,
+ready for the lightning swoop, and the clutch with the cruel talons!
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+
+
+
+The next week was a busy one for the Montagues. The Robbie Wallings
+had come to town and opened their house, and the time drew near for
+the wonderful debutante dance at which Alice was to be formally
+presented to Society. And of course Alice must have a new dress for
+the occasion, and it must be absolutely the most beautiful dress
+ever known. In an idle moment her cousin figured out that it was to
+cost her about five dollars a minute to be entertained by the
+Wallings!
+
+What it would cost the Wallings, one scarcely dared to think. Their
+ballroom would be turned into a flower-garden; and there would be a
+supper for a hundred guests, and still another supper after the
+dance, and costly favours for every figure. The purchasing of these
+latter had been entrusted to Oliver, and Montague heard with dismay
+what they were to cost. "Robbie couldn't afford to do anything
+second-rate," was the younger brother's only reply to his
+exclamations.
+
+Alice divided her time between the Wallings and her costumiers, and
+every evening she came home with a new tale of important
+developments. Alice was new at the game, and could afford to be
+excited; and Mrs. Robbie liked to see her bright face, and to smile
+indulgently at her eager inquiries. Mrs. Robbie herself had given
+her orders to her steward and her florist and her secretary, and
+went on her way and thought no more about it. That was the way of
+the great ladies--or, at any rate, it was their pose.
+
+The town-house of the Robbies was a stately palace occupying a block
+upon Fifth Avenue--one of the half-dozen mansions of the Walling
+family which were among the show places of the city. It would take a
+catalogue to list the establishments maintained by the
+Wallings--there was an estate in North Carolina, and another in the
+Adirondacks, and others on Long Island and in New Jersey. Also there
+were several in Newport--one which was almost never occupied, and
+which Mrs. Billy Alden sarcastically described as "a
+three-million-dollar castle on a desert."
+
+Montague accompanied Alice once or twice, and had an opportunity to
+study Mrs. Robbie at home. There were thirty-eight servants in her
+establishment; it was a little state all in itself, with Mrs. Robbie
+as queen, and her housekeeper as prime minister, and under them as
+many different ranks and classes and castes as in a feudal
+principality. There had to be six separate dining-rooms for the
+various kinds of servants who scorned each other; there were
+servants' servants and servants of servants' servants. There were
+only three to whom the mistress was supposed to give orders--the
+butler, the steward, and the housekeeper; she did not even know the
+names of many of them, and they were changed so often, that, as she
+declared, she had to leave it to her detective to distinguish
+between employees and burglars.
+
+Mrs. Robbie was quite a young woman, but it pleased her to pose as a
+care-worn matron, weary of the responsibilities of her exalted
+station. The ignorant looked on and pictured her as living in the
+lap of ease, endowed with every opportunity: in reality the meanest
+kitchen-maid was freer--she was quite worn thin with the burdens
+that fell upon her. The huge machine was for ever threatening to
+fall to pieces, and required the wisdom of Solomon and the patience
+of Job to keep it running. One paid one's steward a fortune, and yet
+he robbed right and left, and quarrelled with the chef besides. The
+butler was suspected of getting drunk upon rare and costly vintages,
+and the new parlour-maid had turned out to be a Sunday reporter in
+disguise. The man who had come every day for ten years to wind the
+clocks of the establishment was dead, and the one who took care of
+the bric-a-brac was sick, and the housekeeper was in a panic over
+the prospect of having to train another.
+
+And even suppose that you escaped from these things, the real
+problems of your life had still to be faced. It was not enough to
+keep alive; you had your career--your duties as a leader of Society.
+There was the daily mail, with all the pitiful letters from people
+begging money--actually in one single week there were demands for
+two million dollars. There were geniuses with patent incubators and
+stove-lifters, and every time you gave a ball you stirred up swarms
+of anarchists and cranks. And then there were the letters you really
+had to answer, and the calls that had to be paid. These latter were
+so many that people in the same neighbourhood had arranged to have
+the same day at home; thus, if you lived on Madison Avenue you had
+Thursday; but even then it took a whole afternoon to leave your
+cards. And then there were invitations to be sent and accepted; and
+one was always making mistakes and offending somebody--people would
+become mortal enemies overnight, and expect all the world to know it
+the next morning. And now there were so many divorces and
+remarryings, with consequent changing of names; and some men knew
+about their wives' lovers and didn't care, and some did care, but
+didn't know--altogether it was like carrying a dozen chess games in
+your head. And then there was the hairdresser and the manicurist and
+the masseuse, and the tailor and the bootmaker and the jeweller; and
+then one absolutely had to glance through a newspaper, and to see
+one's children now and then.
+
+All this Mrs. Robbie explained at luncheon; it was the rich man's
+burden, about which common people had no conception whatever. A
+person with a lot of money was like a barrel of molasses--all the
+flies in the neighbourhood came buzzing about. It was perfectly
+incredible, the lengths to which people would go to get invited to
+your house; not only would they write and beg you, they might attack
+your business interests, and even bribe your friends. And on the
+other hand, when people thought you needed them, the time you had to
+get them to come! "Fancy," said Mrs. Robbie, "offering to give a
+dinner to an English countess, and having her try to charge you for
+coming!" And incredible as it might seem, some people had actually
+yielded to her, and the disgusting creature had played the social
+celebrity for a whole season, and made quite a handsome income out
+of it. There seemed to be no limit to the abjectness of some of the
+tuft-hunters in Society.
+
+It was instructive to hear Mrs. Robbie denounce such evils; and
+yet--alas for human frailty--the next time that Montague called, the
+great lady was blazing with wrath over the tidings that a new
+foreign prince was coming to America, and that Mrs.
+Ridgely-Clieveden had stolen a march upon her and grabbed him. He
+was to be under her tutelage the entire time, and all the effulgence
+of his magnificence would be radiated upon that upstart house. Mrs.
+Robbie revenged herself by saying as many disagreeable things about
+Mrs. Ridgley-Clieveden as she could think of; winding up with the
+declaration that if she behaved with this prince as she had with the
+Russian grand duke, Mrs. Robbie Walling, for one, would cut her
+dead. And truly the details which Mrs. Robbie cited were calculated
+to suggest that her rival's hospitality was a reversion to the
+customs of primitive savagery.
+
+The above is a fair sample of the kind of conversation that one
+heard whenever one visited any of the Wallings. Perhaps, as Mrs.
+Robbie said, it may have been their millions that made necessary
+their attitude toward other people; certain it was, at any rate,
+that Montague found them all most disagreeable people to know. There
+was always some tempest in a teapot over the latest machinations of
+their enemies. And then there was the whole dead mass of people who
+sponged upon them and toadied to them; and finally the barbarian
+hordes outside the magic circle of their acquaintance--some
+specimens of whom came up every day for ridicule. They had big feet
+and false teeth; they ate mush and molasses; they wore ready-made
+ties; they said: "Do you wish that I should do it?" Their
+grandfathers had been butchers and pedlars and other abhorrent
+things. Montague tried his best to like the Wallings, because of
+what they were doing for Alice; but after he had sat at their
+lunch-table and listened to a conversation such as this, he found
+himself in need of fresh air.
+
+And then he would begin to wonder about his own relation to these
+people. If they talked about every one else behind their backs,
+certainly they must talk about him behind his. And why did they go
+out of their way to make him at home, and why were they spending
+their money to launch Alice in Society? In the beginning he had
+assumed that they did it out of the goodness of their hearts; but
+now that he had looked into their hearts, he rejected the
+explanation. It was not their way to shower princely gifts upon
+strangers; in general, the attitude of all the Wallings toward a
+stranger was that of the London hooligan--"'Eave a 'arf a brick at
+'im!" They considered themselves especially appointed by Providence
+to protect Society from the vulgar newly rich who poured into the
+city, seeking for notoriety and recognition. They prided themselves
+upon this attitude--they called it their "exclusiveness"; and the
+exclusiveness of the younger generations of Wallings had become a
+kind of insanity.
+
+Nor could the reason be that Alice was beautiful and attractive. One
+could have imagined it if Mrs. Robbie had been like--say, Mrs.
+Winnie Duval. It was easy to think of Mrs. Winnie taking a fancy to
+a girl, and spending half her fortune upon her. But from a hundred
+little things that he had seen, Montague had come to realize that
+the Robbie Wallings, with all their wealth and power and grandeur,
+were actually quite stingy. While all the world saw them scattering
+fortunes in their pathway, in reality they were keeping track of
+every dollar. And Robbie himself was liable to panic fits of
+economy, in which he went to the most absurd excesses--Montague once
+heard him haggling over fifty cents with a cabman. Lavish hosts
+though they both were, it was the literal truth that they never
+spent money upon anyone but themselves--the end and aim of their
+every action was the power and prestige of the Robbie Wallings.
+
+"They do it because they are friends of mine," said Oliver, and
+evidently wished that to satisfy his brother. But it only shifted
+the problem and set him to watching Robbie and Oliver, and trying to
+make out the basis of their relationship. There was a very grave
+question concerned in this. Oliver had come to New York
+comparatively poor, and now he was rich--or, at any rate, ho lived
+like a rich man. And his brother, whose scent was growing keener
+with every day of his stay in New York, had about made up his mind
+that Oliver got his money from Robbie Walling.
+
+Here, again, the problem would have been simple, if it had been
+another person than Robbie; Montague would have concluded that his
+brother was a "hanger-on." There were many great families whose
+establishments were infested with such parasites. Siegfried Harvey,
+for instance, was a man who had always half a dozen young chaps
+hanging about him; good-looking and lively fellows, who hunted and
+played bridge, and amused the married women while their husbands
+were at work, and who, if ever they dropped a hint that they were
+hard up, might be reasonably certain of being offered a cheque. But
+if the Robbie Wallings were to write cheques, it must be for value
+received. And what could the value be?
+
+"Ollie" was rather a little god among the ultra-swagger; his taste
+was a kind of inspiration. And yet his brother noticed that in such
+questions he always deferred instantly to the Wallings; and surely
+the Wallings were not people to be persuaded that they needed anyone
+to guide them in matters of taste. Again, Ollie was the very devil
+of a wit, and people were heartily afraid of him; and Montague had
+noticed that he never by any chance made fun of Robbie--that the
+fetiches of the house of Walling were always treated with respect.
+So he had wondered if by any chance Robbie was maintaining his
+brother in princely state for the sake of his ability to make other
+people uncomfortable. But he realized that the Robbies, in their own
+view of it, could have no more need of wit than a battleship has
+need of popguns. Oliver's position, when they were about, was rather
+that of the man who hardly ever dared to be as clever as he might,
+because of the restless jealousy of his friend.
+
+It was a mystery; and it made the elder brother very uncomfortable.
+Alice was young and guileless, and a pleasant person to patronize;
+but he was a man of the world, and it was his business to protect
+her. He had always paid his own way through life, and he was very
+loath to put himself under obligations to people like the Wallings,
+whom he did not like, and who, he felt instinctively, could not like
+him.
+
+But of course there was nothing he could do about it. The date for
+the great festivity was set; and the Wallings were affable and
+friendly, and Alice all a-tremble with excitement. The evening
+arrived, and with it came the enemies of the Wallings, dressed in
+their jewels and fine raiment. They had been asked because they were
+too important to be skipped, and they had come because the Wallings
+were too powerful to be ignored. They revenged themselves by
+consuming many courses of elaborate and costly viands; and they
+shook hands with Alice and beamed upon her, and then discussed her
+behind her back as if she were a French doll in a show-case. They
+decided unanimously that her elder cousin was a "stick," and that
+the whole family were interlopers and shameless adventurers; but it
+was understood that since the Robbie Wallings had seen fit to take
+them up, it would be necessary to invite them about.
+
+At any rate, that was the way it all seemed to Montague, who had
+been brooding. To Alice it was a splendid festivity, to which
+exquisite people came to take delight in each other's society. There
+were gorgeous costumes and sparkling gems; there was a symphony of
+perfumes, intoxicating the senses, and a golden flood of music
+streaming by; there were laughing voices and admiring glances, and
+handsome partners with whom one might dance through the portals of
+fairyland.--And then, next morning, there were accounts in all the
+newspapers, with descriptions of one's costume and then some of
+those present, and even the complete menus of the supper, to assist
+in preserving the memories of the wonderful occasion.
+
+Now they were really in Society. A reporter called to get Alice's
+photo for the Sunday supplement; and floods of invitations came--and
+with them all the cares and perplexities about which Mrs. Robbie had
+told. Some of these invitations had to be declined, and one must
+know whom it was safe to offend. Also, there was a long letter from
+a destitute widow, and a proposal from a foreign count. Mrs.
+Robbie's secretary had a list of many hundreds of these professional
+beggars and blackmailers.
+
+Conspicuous at the dance was Mrs. Winnie, in a glorious
+electric-blue silk gown. And she shook her fan at Montague,
+exclaiming, "You wretched man--you promised to come and see me!"
+
+"I've been out of town," Montague protested.
+
+"Well, come to dinner to-morrow night," said Mrs. Winnie. "There'll
+be some bridge fiends."
+
+"You forget I haven't learned to play," he objected.
+
+"Well, come anyhow," she replied. "We'll teach you. I'm no player
+myself, and my husband will be there, and he's good-natured; and my
+brother Dan--he'll have to be whether he likes it or not."
+
+So Montague visited the Snow Palace again, and met Winton Duval, the
+banker,--a tall, military-looking man of about fifty, with a big
+grey moustache, and bushy eyebrows, and the head of a lion. His was
+one of the city's biggest banking-houses, and in alliance with
+powerful interests in the Street. At present he was going in for
+mines in Mexico and South America, and so he was very seldom at
+home. He was a man of most rigid habits--he would come back
+unexpectedly after a month's trip, and expect to find everything
+ready for him, both at home and in his office, as if he had just
+stepped round the corner. Montague observed that he took his
+menu-card and jotted down his comments upon each dish, and then sent
+it down to the chef. Other people's dinners he very seldom attended,
+and when his wife gave her entertainments, he invariably dined at
+the club.
+
+He pleaded a business engagement for the evening; and as brother Dan
+did not appear, Montague did not learn any bridge. The other four
+guests settled down to the game, and Montague and Mrs. Winnie sat
+and chatted, basking before the fireplace in the great
+entrance-hall.
+
+"Have you seen Charlie Carter?" was the first question she asked
+him.
+
+"Not lately," he answered; "I met him at Harvey's."
+
+"I know that," said she. "They tell me he got drunk."
+
+"I'm afraid he did," said Montague.
+
+"Poor boy!" exclaimed Mrs. Winnie. "And Alice saw him! He must be
+heartbroken!"
+
+Montague said nothing. "You know," she went on, "Charlie really
+means well. He has honestly an affectionate nature."
+
+She paused; and Montague Said, vaguely, "I suppose so."
+
+"You don't like him," said the other. "I can see that. And I suppose
+now Alice will have no use for him, either. And I had it all fixed
+up for her to reform him!"
+
+Montague smiled in spite of himself.
+
+"Oh, I know," said she. "It wouldn't have been easy. But you've no
+idea what a beautiful boy Charlie used to be, until all the women
+set to work to ruin him."
+
+"I can imagine it," said Montague; but he did not warm to the
+subject.
+
+"You're just like my husband," said Mrs. Winnie, sadly. "You have no
+use at all for anything that's weak or unfortunate."
+
+There was a pause. "And I suppose," she said finally, "you'll be
+turning into a business man also--with no time for anybody or
+anything. Have you begun yet?"
+
+--"Not yet," he answered. "I'm still looking round."
+
+"I haven't the least idea about business," she confessed. "How does
+one begin at it?"
+
+"I can't say I know that myself as yet," said Montague, laughing.
+
+"Would you like to be a protege of my husband's?" she asked.
+
+The proposition was rather sudden, but he answered, with a smile, "I
+should have no objections. What would he do with me?"
+
+"I don't know that. But he can do whatever he wants down town. And
+he'd show you how to make a lot of money if I asked him to." Then
+Mrs. Winnie added, quickly, "I mean it--he could do it, really."
+
+"I haven't the least doubt of it," responded Montague.
+
+"And what's more," she went on, "you don't want to be shy about
+taking advantage of the opportunities that come to you. You'll find
+you won't get along in New York unless you go right in and grab what
+you can. People will be quick enough to take advantage of you."
+
+"They have all been very kind to me so far," said he. "But when I
+get ready for business, I'll harden my heart."
+
+Mrs. Winnie sat lost in meditation. "I think business is dreadful,"
+she said. "So much hard work and worry! Why can't men learn to get
+along without it?"
+
+"There are bills that have to be paid," Montague replied.
+
+"It's our dreadfully extravagant way of life," exclaimed the other.
+"Sometimes I wish I had never had any money in my life."
+
+"You would soon tire of it," said he. "You would miss this house."
+
+"I should not miss it a bit," said Mrs. Winnie, promptly. "That is
+really the truth--I don't care for this sort of thing at all. I'd
+like to live simply, and without so many cares and responsibilities.
+And some day I'm going to do it, too--I really am. I'm going to get
+myself a little farm, away off somewhere in the country. And I'm
+going there to live and raise chickens and vegetables, and have my
+own flower-gardens, that I can take care of myself. It will all be
+plain and simple--" and then Mrs. Winnie stopped short, exclaiming,
+"You are laughing at me!"
+
+"Not at all!" said Montague. "But I couldn't help thinking about the
+newspaper reporters--"
+
+"There you are!" said she. "One can never have a beautiful dream, or
+try to do anything sensible--because of the newspaper reporters!"
+
+If Montague had been meeting Mrs. Winnie Duval for the first time,
+he would have been impressed by her yearnings for the simple life;
+he would have thought it an important sign of the times. But alas,
+he knew by this time that his charming hostess had more flummery
+about her than anybody else he had encountered--and all of her own
+devising! Mrs. Winnie smoked her own private brand of cigarettes,
+and when she offered them to you, there were the arms of the old
+ducal house of Montmorenci on the wrappers! And when you got a
+letter from Mrs. Winnie, you observed a three-cent stamp upon the
+envelope--for lavender was her colour, and two-cent stamps were an
+atrocious red! So one might feel certain that it Mrs. Winnie ever
+went in for chicken-raising, the chickens would be especially
+imported from China or Patagonia, and the chicken-coops would be
+precise replicas of those in the old Chateau de Montmorenci which
+she had visited in her automobile.
+
+But Mrs. Winnie was beautiful, and quite entertaining to talk to,
+and so he was respectfully sympathetic while she told him about her
+pastoral intentions. And then she told him about Mrs. Caroline
+Smythe, who had called a meeting of her friends at one of the big
+hotels, and organized a society and founded the "Bide-a-Wee Home"
+for destitute cats. After that she switched off into psychic
+research--somebody had taken her to a seance, where grave college
+professors and ladies in spectacles sat round and waited for ghosts
+to materialize. It was Mrs. Winnie's first experience at this, and
+she was as excited as a child who has just found the key to the
+jam-closet. "I hardly knew whether to laugh or to be afraid," she
+said. "What would you think?"
+
+"You may have the pleasure of giving me my first impressions of it,"
+said Montague, with a laugh.
+
+"Well," said she, "they had table-tipping--and it was the most
+uncanny thing to see the table go jumping about the room! And then
+there were raps--and one can't imagine how strange it was to see
+people who really believed they were getting messages from ghosts.
+It positively made my flesh creep. And then this woman--Madame
+Somebody-or-other--went into a trance--ugh! Afterward I talked with
+one of the men, and he told me about how his father had appeared to
+him in the night and told him he had just been drowned at sea. Have
+you ever heard of such a thing?"
+
+"We have such a tradition in our family," said he.
+
+"Every family seems to have," said Mrs. Winnie. "But, dear me, it
+made me so uncomfortable--I lay awake all night expecting to see my
+own father. He had the asthma, you know; and I kept fancying I heard
+him breathing."
+
+They had risen and were strolling into the conservatory; and she
+glanced at the man in armour. "I got to fancying that his ghost
+might come to see me," she said. "I don't think I shall attend any
+more seances. My husband was told that I promised them some money,
+and he was furious--he's afraid it'll get into the papers." And
+Montague shook with inward laughter, picturing what a time the
+aristocratic and stately old banker must have, trying to keep his
+wife out of the papers!
+
+Mrs. Winnie turned on the lights in the fountain, and sat by the
+edge, gazing at her fish. Montague was half expecting her to inquire
+whether he thought that they had ghosts; but she spared him this,
+going off on another line.
+
+"I asked Dr. Parry about it," she said. "Have you met him?"
+
+Dr. Parry was the rector of St. Cecilia's, the fashionable Fifth
+Avenue church which most of Montague's acquaintances attended. "I
+haven't been in the city over Sunday yet," he answered. "But Alice
+has met him."
+
+"You must go with me some time," said she. "But about the ghosts--"
+
+"What did he say?"
+
+"He seemed to be shy of them," laughed Mrs. Winnie. "He said it had
+a tendency to lead one into dangerous fields. But oh! I forgot--I
+asked my swami also, and it didn't startle him. They are used to
+ghosts; they believe that souls keep coming back to earth, you know.
+I think if it was his ghost, I wouldn't mind seeing it--for he has
+such beautiful eyes. He gave me a book of Hindu legends--and there
+was such a sweet story about a young princess who loved in vain, and
+died of grief; and her soul went into a tigress; and she came in the
+night-time where her lover lay sleeping by the firelight, and she
+carried him off into the ghost-world. It was a most creepy thing--I
+sat out here and read it, and I could imagine the terrible tigress
+lurking in the shadows, with its stripes shining in the firelight,
+and its green eyes gleaming. You know that poem--we used to read it
+in school--'Tiger, tiger, burning bright!'"
+
+It was not very easy for Montague to imagine a tigress in Mrs.
+Winnie's conservatory; unless, indeed, one were willing to take the
+proposition in a metaphorical sense. There are wild creatures which
+sleep in the heart of man, and which growl now and then, and stir
+their tawny limbs, and cause one to start and turn cold. Mrs. Winnie
+wore a dress of filmy softness, trimmed with red flowers which paled
+beside her own intenser colouring. She had a perfume of her own,
+with a strange exotic fragrance which touched the chorus of memory
+as only an odour can. She leaned towards him, speaking eagerly, with
+her soft white arms lying upon the basin's rim. So much loveliness
+could not be gazed at without pain; and a faint trembling passed
+through Montague, like a breeze across a pool. Perhaps it touched
+Mrs. Winnie also, for she fell suddenly silent, and her gaze
+wandered off into the darkness. For a minute or two there was
+stillness, save for the pulse of the fountain, and the heaving of
+her bosom keeping time with it.
+
+And then in the morning Oliver inquired, "Where were you, last
+night?" And when his brother answered, "At Mrs. Winnie's," he smiled
+and said, "Oh!" Then he added, gravely, "Cultivate Mrs. Winnie--you
+can't do better at present."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+
+
+
+Montague accepted his friend's invitation to share her pew at St.
+Cecilia's, and next Sunday morning he and Alice went, and found Mrs.
+Winnie with her cousin. Poor Charlie had evidently been scrubbed and
+shined, both physically and morally, and got ready to appeal for
+"one more chance." While he shook hands with Alice, he was gazing at
+her with dumb and pleading eyes; he seemed to be profoundly grateful
+that she did not refuse to enter the pew with him.
+
+A most interesting place was St. Cecilia's. Church-going was another
+of the customs of men and women which Society had taken up, like the
+Opera, and made into a state function. Here was a magnificent
+temple, with carved marble and rare woods, and jewels gleaming
+decorously in a dim religious light. At the door of this edifice
+would halt the carriages of Society, and its wives and daughters
+would alight, rustling with new silk petticoats and starched and
+perfumed linen, each one a picture, exquisitely gowned and bonneted
+and gloved, and carrying a demure little prayer-book. Behind them
+followed the patient men, all in new frock-coats and shiny silk
+hats; the men of Society were always newly washed and shaved, newly
+groomed and gloved, but now they seemed to be more so--they were
+full of the atmosphere of Sunday. Alas for those unregenerate ones,
+the infidels and the heathen who scoff in outer darkness, and know
+not the delicious feeling of Sunday--the joy of being washed and
+starched and perfumed, and made to be clean and comfortable and
+good, after all the really dreadful wickedness of six days of
+fashionable life!--And afterward the parade upon the Avenue, with
+the congregations of several score additional churches, and such a
+show of stylish costumes that half the city came to see!
+
+Amid this exquisite assemblage at St. Cecilia's, the revolutionary
+doctrines of the Christian religion produced neither perplexity nor
+alarm. The chance investigator might have listened in dismay to
+solemn pronouncements of everlasting damnation, to statements about
+rich men and the eyes of needles, and the lilies of the field which
+did not spin. But the congregation of St. Cecilia's understood that
+these things were to be taken in a quixotic sense; sharing the view
+of the French marquis that the Almighty would think twice before
+damning a gentleman like him.
+
+One had heard these phrases ever since childhood, and one accepted
+them as a matter of course. After all, these doctrines had come from
+the lips of a divine being, whom it would be presumptuous in a mere
+mortal to attempt to imitate. Such points one could but leave to
+those whose business it was to interpret them--the doctors and
+dignitaries of the church; and when one met them, one's heart was
+set at rest--for they were not iconoclasts and alarmists, but
+gentlemen of culture and tact. The bishop who presided in this
+metropolitan district was a stately personage, who moved in the best
+Society and belonged to the most exclusive clubs.
+
+The pews in St. Cecilia's were rented, and they were always in great
+demand; it was one of the customs of those who hung upon the fringe
+of Society to come every Sunday, and bow and smile, and hope against
+hope for some chance opening. The stranger who came was dependent
+upon hospitality; but there were soft-footed and tactful ushers, who
+would find one a seat, if one were a presentable person. The
+contingency of an unpresentable person seldom arose, for the
+proletariat did not swarm at the gates of St. Cecilia's. Out of its
+liberal income the church maintained a "mission" upon the East Side,
+where young curates wrestled with the natural depravity of the lower
+classes--meantime cultivating a soul-stirring tone, and waiting
+until they should be promoted to a real church. Society was becoming
+deferential to its religious guides, and would have been quite
+shocked at the idea that it exerted any pressure upon them; but the
+young curates were painfully aware of a process of unnatural
+selection, whereby those whose manner and cut of coat were not
+pleasing were left a long time in the slums.--On one occasion there
+had been an amusing blunder; a beautiful new church was built at
+Newport, and an eloquent young minister was installed, and all
+Society attended the opening service--and sat and listened in
+consternation to an arraignment of its own follies and vices! The
+next Sunday, needless to say, Society was not present; and within
+half a year the church was stranded, and had to be dismantled and
+sold!
+
+They had elaborate music at St. Cecilia's, so beautiful that Alice
+felt uncomfortable, and thought that it was perilously "high." At
+this Mrs. Winnie laughed, offering to take her to an afternoon
+service around the corner, where they had a full orchestra, and a
+harp, and opera music, and incense and genuflexions and
+confessionals. There were people, it seemed, who like to thrill
+themselves by dallying with the wickedness of "Romanism"; somewhat
+as a small boy tries to see how near he can walk to the edge of a
+cliff. The "father" at this church had a jewelled robe with a train
+so many yards long, and which had cost some incredible number of
+thousands of dollars; and every now and then he marched in a stately
+procession through the aisles, so that all the spectators might have
+a good look at it. There was a fierce controversy about these things
+in the church, and libraries of pamphlets were written, and
+intrigues and social wars were fought over them.
+
+But Montague and Alice did not attend this service--they had
+promised themselves the very plebeian diversion of a ride in the
+subway; for so far they had not seen this feature of the city.
+People who lived in Society saw Madison and Fifth Avenues, where
+their homes were, with the churches and hotels scattered along them;
+and the shopping district just below, and the theatre district at
+one side, and the park to the north. Unless one went automobiling,
+that was all of the city one need ever see. When visitors asked
+about the Aquarium, and the Stock Exchange, and the Museum of Art,
+and Tammany Hall, and Ellis Island, where the immigrants came, the
+old New Yorkers would look perplexed, and say: "Dear me, do you
+really want to see those tilings? Why, I have been here all my life,
+and have never seen them!"
+
+For the hordes of sightseers there had been provided a special
+contrivance, a huge automobile omnibus which seated thirty or forty
+people, and went from the Battery to Harlem with a young man
+shouting through a megaphone a description of the sights. The
+irreverent had nicknamed this the "yap-wagon"; and declared that the
+company maintained a fake "opium-joint" in Chinatown, and a fake
+"dive" in the Bowery, and hired tough-looking individuals to sit and
+be stared at by credulous excursionists from Oklahoma and Kalamazoo.
+Of course it would never have done for people who had just been
+passed into Society to climb upon a "yap-wagon"; but they were
+permitted to get into the subway, and were whirled with a deafening
+clatter through a long tunnel of steel and stone. And then they got
+out and climbed a steep hill like any common mortals, and stood and
+gazed at Grant's tomb: a huge white marble edifice upon a point
+overlooking the Hudson. Architecturally it was not a beautiful
+structure--but one was consoled by reflecting that the hero himself
+would not have cared about that. It might have been described as a
+soap-box with a cheese-box on top of it; and these homely and
+familiar articles were perhaps not altogether out of keeping with
+the character of the humblest great man who ever lived.
+
+The view up the river was magnificent, quite the finest which the
+city had to offer; but it was ruined by a hideous gas-tank, placed
+squarely in the middle of it. And this, again, was not
+inappropriate--it was typical of all the ways of the city. It was a
+city which had grown up by accident, with nobody to care about it or
+to help it; it was huge and ungainly, crude, uncomfortable, and
+grotesque. There was nowhere in it a beautiful sight upon which a
+man could rest his eyes, without having them tortured by something
+ugly near by. At the foot of the slope of the River Drive ran a
+hideous freight-railroad; and across the river the beautiful
+Palisades were being blown to pieces to make paving stone--and
+meantime were covered with advertisements of land-companies. And if
+there was a beautiful building, there, was sure to be a tobacco
+advertisement beside it; if there was a beautiful avenue, there were
+trucks and overworked horses toiling in the harness; if there was a
+beautiful park, it was filled with wretched, outcast men. Nowhere
+was any order or system--everything was struggling for itself, and
+jarring and clashing with everything else; and this broke the spell
+of power which the Titan city would otherwise have produced. It
+seemed like a monstrous heap of wasted energies; a mountain in
+perpetual labour, and producing an endless series of abortions. The
+men and women in it were wearing themselves out with toil; but there
+was a spell laid upon them, so that, struggle as they might, they
+accomplished nothing.
+
+Coming out of the church, Montague had met Judge Ellis; and the
+Judge had said, "I shall soon have something to talk over with you."
+So Montague gave him his address, and a day or two later came an
+invitation to lunch with him at his club.
+
+The Judge's club took up a Fifth Avenue block, and was stately and
+imposing. It had been formed in the stress of the Civil War days;
+lean and hungry heroes had come home from battle and gone into
+business, and those who had succeeded had settled down here to rest.
+To see them now, dozing in huge leather-cushioned arm-chairs, you
+would have had a hard time to guess that they had ever been lean and
+hungry heroes. They were diplomats and statesmen, bishops and
+lawyers, great merchants and financiers--the men who had made the
+city's ruling-class for a century. Everything here was decorous and
+grave, and the waiters stole about with noiseless feet.
+
+Montague talked with the Judge about New York and what he had seen
+of it, and the people he had met; and about his father, and the war;
+and about the recent election and the business outlook. And meantime
+they ordered luncheon; and when they had got to the cigars, the
+Judge coughed and said, "And now I have a matter of business to talk
+over with you."
+
+Montague settled himself to listen. "I have a friend," the Judge
+explained--"a very good friend, who has asked me to find him a
+lawyer to undertake an important case. I talked the matter over with
+General Prentice, and he agreed with me that it would be a good idea
+to lay the matter before you."
+
+"I am very much obliged to you," said Montague.
+
+"The matter is a delicate one," continued the other. "It has to do
+with life insurance. Are you familiar with the insurance business?"
+
+"Not at all."
+
+"I had supposed not," said the Judge. "There are some conditions
+which are not generally known about, but which I may say, to put it
+mildly, are not wltogether satisfactory. My friend is a large
+policy-holder in several companies, and he is not satisfied with the
+management of them. The delicacy of the situation, so far as I am
+concerned, is that the company with which he has the most fault to
+find is one in which I myself am a director. You understand?"
+
+"Perfectly," said Montague. "What company is it?"
+
+"The Fidelity," replied the other--and his companion thought in a
+flash of Freddie Vandam, whom he had met at Castle Havens! For the
+Fidelity was Freddie's company.
+
+"The first thing that I have to ask you," continued the Judge, "is
+that, whether you care to take the case or not, you will consider my
+own intervention in the matter absolutely entre nous. My position is
+simply this: I have protested at the meetings of the directors of
+the company against what I consider an unwise policy--and my
+protests have been ignored. And when my friend asked me for advice,
+I gave it to him; but at the same time I am not in a position to be
+publicly quoted in connexion with the matter. You follow me?"
+
+"Perfectly," said the other. "I will agree to what you ask."
+
+"Very good. Now then, the condition is, in brief, this: the
+companies are accumulating an enormous surplus, which, under the
+law, belongs to the policy-holders; but the administrations of the
+various companies are withholding these dividends, for the sake of
+the banking-power which these accumulated funds afford to them and
+their associates. This is, as I hold, a very manifest injustice, and
+a most dangerous condition of affairs."
+
+"I should say so!" responded Montague. He was amazed at such a
+statement, coming from such a source. "How could this continue?" he
+asked.
+
+"It has continued for a long time," the Judge answered.
+
+"But why is it not known?"
+
+"It is perfectly well known to every one in the insurance business,"
+was the answer. "The matter has never been taken up or published,
+simply because the interests involved have such enormous and widely
+extended power that no one has ever dared to attack them,"
+
+Montague sat forward, with his eyes riveted upon the Judge. "Go on,"
+he said.
+
+"The situation is simply this," said the other. "My friend, Mr.
+Hasbrook, wishes to bring a suit against the Fidelity Company to
+compel it to pay to him his proper share of its surplus. He wishes
+the suit pressed, and followed to the court of last resort."
+
+"And do you mean to tell me," asked Montague, "that you would have
+any difficulty to find a lawyer in New York to undertake such a
+case?"
+
+"No," said the other, "not exactly that. There are lawyers in New
+York who would undertake anything. But to find a lawyer of standing
+who would take it, and withstand all the pressure that would be
+brought to bear upon him--that might take some time."
+
+"You astonish me, Judge."
+
+"Financial interests in this city are pretty closely tied together,
+Mr. Montague. Of course there are law firms which are identified
+with interests opposed to those who control the company. It would be
+very easy to get them to take the case, but you can see that in that
+event my friend would be accused of bringing the suit in their
+interest; whereas he wishes it to appear, as it really is, a suit of
+an independent person, seeking the rights of the vast body of the
+policy-holders. For that reason, he wished to find a lawyer who was
+identified with no interest of any sort, and who was free to give
+his undivided attention to the issue. So I thought of you."
+
+"I will take the case," said Montague instantly.
+
+"It is my duty to warn you," said the Judge, gravely, "that you will
+be taking a very serious step. You must be prepared to face
+powerful, and, I am afraid, unscrupulous enemies. You may find that
+you have made it impossible for other and very desirable clients to
+deal with you. You may find your business interests, if you have
+any, embarrassed--your credit impaired, and so on. You must be
+prepared to have your character assailed, and your motives impugned
+in the public press. You may find that social pressure will be
+brought to bear on you. So it is a step from which most young men
+who have their careers to make would shrink."
+
+Montague's face had turned a shade paler as he listened. "I am
+assuming," he said, "that the facts are as you have stated them to
+me--that an unjust condition exists."
+
+"You may assume that."
+
+"Very well." And Montague clenched his hand, and put it down upon
+the table. "I will take the case," he said.
+
+For a few moments they sat in silence.
+
+"I will arrange," said the Judge, at last, "for you and Mr. Hasbrook
+to meet. I must explain to you, as a matter of fairness, that he is
+a rich man, and will be able to pay you for your services. He is
+asking a great deal of you, and he should expect to pay for it."
+
+Montague sat in thought. "I have not really had time to get my
+bearings in New York," he said at last. "I think I had best leave it
+to you to say what I should charge him."
+
+"If I were in your position," the Judge answered, "I think that I
+should ask a retaining-fee of fifty thousand dollars. I believe he
+will expect to pay at least that."
+
+Montague could scarcely repress a start. Fifty thousand dollars! The
+words made his head whirl round. But then, all of a sudden, he
+recalled his half-jesting resolve to play the game of business
+sternly. So he nodded his head gravely, and said, "Very well; I am
+much obliged to you."
+
+After a pause, he added, "I hope that I may prove able to handle the
+case to your friend's satisfaction."
+
+"Your ability remains for you to prove," said the Judge. "I have
+only been in position to assure him of your character."
+
+"He must understand, of course," said Montague, "that I am a
+stranger, and that it will take me a while to study the situation."
+
+"Of course he knows that. But you will find that Mr. Hasbrook knows
+a good deal about the law himself. And he has already had a lot of
+work done. You must understand that it is very easy to get legal
+advice about such a matter--what is sought is some one to take the
+conduct of the case."
+
+"I see," said Montague; and the Judge added, with a smile, "Some one
+to get up on horseback, and draw the fire of the enemy!"
+
+And then the great man was, as usual, reminded of a story; and then
+of more stories; until at last they rose from the table, and shook
+hands upon their bargain, and parted.
+
+Fifty thousand dollars! Fifty thousand dollars! It was all Montague
+could do to keep from exclaiming it aloud on the street. He could
+hardly believe that it was a reality--if it had been a less-known
+person than Judge Ellis, he would have suspected that some one must
+be playing a joke upon him. Fifty thousand dollars was more than
+many a lawyer made at home in a lifetime; and simply as a
+retaining-fee in one case! The problem of a living had weighed on
+his soul ever since the first day in the city, and now suddenly it
+was solved; all in a few minutes, the way had been swept clear
+before him. He walked home as if upon air.
+
+And then there was the excitement of telling the family about it. He
+had an idea that his brother might be alarmed if he were told about
+the seriousness of the case; and so he simply said that the Judge
+had brought him a rich client, and that it was an insurance case.
+Oliver, who knew and cared nothing about law, asked no questions,
+and contented himself with saying, "I told you how easy it was to
+make money in New York, if only you knew the right people!" As for
+Alice, she had known all along that her cousin was a great man, and
+that clients would come to him as soon as he hung out his sign.
+
+His sign was not out yet, by the way; that was the next thing to be
+attended to. He must get himself an office at once, and some books,
+and begin to read up insurance law; and so, bright and early the
+next morning, he took the subway down town.
+
+And here, for the first time, Montague saw the real New York. All
+the rest was mere shadow--the rest was where men slept and played,
+but Jiere was where they fought out the battle of their lives. Here
+the fierce intensity of it smote him in the face--he saw the cruel
+waste and ruin of it, the wreckage of the blind, haphazard strife.
+
+It was a city caught in a trap. It was pent in at one end of a
+narrow little island. It had been no one's business to foresee that
+it must some day outgrow this space; now men were digging a score of
+tunnels to set it free, but they had not begun these until the
+pressure had become unendurable, and now it had reached its climax.
+In the financial district, land had been sold for as much as four
+dollars a square inch. Huge blocks of buildings shot up to the sky
+in a few months--fifteen, twenty, twenty-five stories of them, and
+with half a dozen stories hewn out of the solid rock beneath; there
+was to be one building of forty-two stories, six hundred and fifty
+feet in height. And between them were narrow chasms of streets,
+where the hurrying crowds overflowed the sidewalks. Yet other
+streets were filled with trucks and heavy vehicles, with electric
+cars creeping slowly along, and little swirls and eddies of people
+darting across here and there.
+
+These huge buildings were like beehives, swarming with life and
+activity, with scores of elevators shooting through them at
+bewildering speed. Everywhere was the atmosphere of rush; the spirit
+of it seized hold of one, and he began to hurry, even though he had
+no place to go. The man who walked slowly and looked about him was
+in the way--he was jostled here and there, and people eyed him with
+suspicion and annoyance.
+
+Elsewhere on the island men did the work of the city; here they did
+the work of the world. Each room in these endless mazes of buildings
+was a cell in a mighty brain; the telephone wires were nerves, and
+by the whole huge organism the thinking and willing of a continent
+were done. It was a noisy place to the physical ear; but to the ear
+of the mind it roared with the roaring of a thousand Niagaras. Here
+was the Stock Exchange, where the scales of trade were held before
+the eyes of the country. Here was the clearing-house, where hundreds
+of millions of dollars were exchanged every day. Here were the great
+banks, the reservoirs into which the streams of the country's wealth
+were poured. Here were the brains of the great railroad systems, of
+the telegraph and telephone systems, of mines and mills and
+factories. Here were the centres of the country's trade; in one
+place the shipping trade, in another the jewellery trade, the
+grocery trade, the leather trade. A little farther up town was the
+clothing district, where one might see the signs of more Hebrews
+than all Jerusalem had ever held; in yet other districts were the
+newspaper offices, and the centre of the magazine and
+book-publishing business of the whole country. One might climb to
+the top of one of the great "sky-scrapers," and gaze down upon a
+wilderness of houses, with roofs as innumerable as tree-tops, and
+people looking like tiny insects below. Or one might go out into the
+harbour late upon a winter afternoon, and see it as a city of a
+million lights, rising like an incantation from the sea. Round about
+it was an unbroken ring of docks, with ferry-boats and tugs darting
+everywhere, and vessels which had come from every port in the world,
+emptying their cargoes into the huge maw of the Metropolis.
+
+And of all this, nothing had been planned! All lay just as it had
+fallen, and men bore the confusion and the waste as best they could.
+Here were huge steel vaults, in which lay many billions of dollars'
+worth of securities, the control of the finances of the country; and
+a block or two in one direction were warehouses and gin-mills, and
+in another direction cheap lodging-houses and sweating-dens. And at
+a certain hour all this huge machine would come to a halt, and its
+millions of human units would make a blind rush for their homes.
+Then at the entrances to bridges and ferries and trams, would be
+seen sights of madness and terror; throngs of men and women swept
+hither and thither, pushing and struggling, shouting, cursing
+--righting, now and then, in sudden panic fear. All decency was
+forgotten here--people would be mashed into cars like football
+players in a heap, and guards and policemen would jam the gates
+tight--or like as not be swept away themselves in the pushing,
+grunting, writhing mass of human beings. Women would faint and be
+trampled; men would come out with clothing torn to shreds, and
+sometimes with broken arms or ribs. And thinking people would gaze
+at the sight and shudder, wondering--how long a city could hold
+together, when the masses of its population were thus forced back,
+day after day, habitually, upon the elemental brute within them.
+
+In this vast business district Montague would have felt utterly lost
+and helpless, if it had not been for that fifty thousand dollars,
+and the sense of mastery which it gave him. He sought out General
+Prentice, and under his guidance selected his suite of rooms, and
+got his furniture and books in readiness. And a day or two later, by
+appointment, came Mr. Hasbrook.
+
+He was a wiry, nervous little man, who did not impress one as much
+of a personality; but he had the insurance situation at his fingers'
+ends--his grievance had evidently wrought upon him. Certainly, if
+half of what he alleged were true, it was time that the courts took
+hold of the affair.
+
+Montague spent the whole day in consultation, going over every
+aspect of the case, and laying out his course of procedure. And
+then, at the end, Mr. Hasbrook remarked that it would be necessary
+for them to make some financial arrangement. And the other set his
+teeth together, and took a tight grip upon himself, and said,
+"Considering the importance of the case, and all the circumstances,
+I think I should have a retainer of fifty thousand dollars."
+
+And the little man never turned a hair! "That will be perfectly
+satisfactory," he said. "I will attend to it at once." And the
+other's heart gave a great leap.
+
+And sure enough, the next morning's mail brought the money, in the
+shape of a cashier's cheque from one of the big banks. Montague
+deposited it to his own account, and felt that the city was his!
+
+And so he flung himself into the work. He went to his office every
+day, and he shut himself up in his own rooms in the evening. Mrs.
+Winnie was in despair because he would not come and learn bridge,
+and Mrs. Vivie Patton sought him in vain for a week-end party. He
+could not exactly say that while the others slept he was toiling
+upward in the night, for the others did not sleep in the night; but
+he could say that while they were feasting and dancing, he was
+delving into insurance law. Oliver argued in vain to make him
+realize that he could not live for ever upon one client; and that it
+was as important for a lawyer to be a social light as to win his
+first big case. Montague was so absorbed that he even failed to be
+thrilled when one morning he opened an invitation envelope, and read
+the fateful legend: "Mrs. Devon requests the honour of your
+company"--telling him that he had "passed" on that critical
+examination morning, and that he was definitely and irrevocably in
+Society!
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+
+
+
+Montague was now a capitalist, and therefore a keeper of the gates
+of opportunity. It seemed as though the seekers for admission must
+have had some occult way of finding it out; almost immediately they
+began to lay siege to him.
+
+About a week after his cheque arrived, Major Thorne, whom he had met
+the first evening at the Loyal Legion, called him up and asked to
+see him; and he came to Montague's room that evening, and after
+chatting awhile about old times, proceeded to unfold a business
+proposition. It seemed that the Major had a grandson, a young
+mechanical engineer, who had been labouring for a couple of years at
+a very important invention, a device for loading coal upon
+steamships and weighing it automatically in the process. It was a
+very complicated problem, needless to say, but it had been solved
+successfully, and patents had been applied for, and a working model
+constructed. But it had proved unexpectedly difficult to interest
+the officials of the great steamship companies in the device. There
+was no doubt about the practicability of the machine, or the
+economies it would effect; but the officials raised trivial
+objections, and caused delays, and offered prices that were
+ridiculously inadequate. So the young inventor had conceived the
+idea of organizing a company to manufacture the machines, and rent
+them upon a royalty. "I didn't know whether you would have any
+money," said Major Thorne, "--but I thought you might be in touch
+with others who could be got to look into the matter. There is a
+fortune in it for those who take it up."
+
+Montague was interested, and he looked over the plans and
+descriptions which his friend had brought, and said that he would
+see the working model, and talk the proposition over with others.
+And so the Major took his departure.
+
+The first person Montague spoke to about it was Oliver, with whom he
+chanced to be lunching, at the latter's club. This was the "All
+Night" club, a meeting-place of fast young Society men and
+millionaire Bohemians, who made a practice of going to bed at
+daylight, and had taken for their motto the words of Tennyson--"For
+men may come and men may go, but I go on for ever." It was not a
+proper club for his brother to join, Oliver considered; Montague's
+"game" was the heavy respectable, and the person to put him up was
+General Prentice. But he was permitted to lunch there with his
+brother to chaperon him--and also Reggie Mann, who happened in,
+fresh from talking over the itinerary of the foreign prince with
+Mrs. Ridgley-Clieveden, and bringing a diverting account of how Mrs.
+R.-C. had had a fisticuffs with her maid.
+
+Montague mentioned the invention casually, and with no idea that his
+brother would have an opinion one way or the other. But Oliver had
+quite a vigorous opinion: "Good God, Allan, you aren't going to let
+yourself be persuaded into a thing like that!"
+
+"But what do you know about it?" asked the other. "It may be a
+tremendous thing."
+
+"Of course!" cried Oliver. "But what can you tell about it? You'll
+be like a child in other people's hands, and they'll be certain to
+rob you. And why in the world do you want to take risks when you
+don't have to?"
+
+"I have to put my money somewhere," said Montague.
+
+"His first fee is burning a hole in his pocket!" put in Reggie Mann,
+with a chuckle. "Turn it over to me, Mr. Montague; and let me spend
+it in a gorgeous entertainment for Alice; and the prestige of it
+will bring you more cases than you can handle in a lifetime!"
+
+"He had much better spend it all for soda water than buy a lot of
+coal chutes with it," said Oliver: "Wait awhile, and let me find you
+some place to put your money, and you'll see that you don't have to
+take any risks."
+
+"I had no idea of taking it up until I'd made certain of it,"
+replied the other. "And those whose judgment I took would, of
+course, go in also."
+
+The younger man thought for a moment. "You are going to dine with
+Major Venable to-night, aren't you?" he asked; and when the other
+answered in the affirmative, he continued," Very well, then, ask
+him. The Major's been a capitalist for forty years, and if you can
+get him to take it up, why, you'll know you're safe."
+
+Major Venable had taken quite a fancy to Montague--perhaps the old
+gentleman liked to have somebody to gossip with, to whom all his
+anecdotes were new. He had seconded Montague's name at the
+"Millionaires'," where he lived, and had asked him there to make the
+acquaintance of some of the other members. Before Montague parted
+with his brother, he promised that he would talk the matter over
+with the Major.
+
+The Millionaires' was the show club of the city, the one which the
+ineffably rich had set apart for themselves. It was up by the park,
+in a magnificent white marble palace which had cost a million
+dollars. Montague felt that he had never really known the Major
+until he saw him here. The Major was excellent at all times and
+places, but in this club he became an edition de luxe of himself. He
+made his headquarters here, keeping his suite of rooms all the year
+round; and the atmosphere and surroundings of the place seemed to be
+a part of him.
+
+Montague thought that the Major's face grew redder every day, and
+the purple veins in it purpler; or was it that the old gentleman's
+shirt bosom gleamed more brightly in the glare of the lights? The
+Major met him in the stately entrance hall, fifty feet square and
+all of Numidian marble, with a ceiling of gold, and a great bronze
+stairway leading to the gallery above. He apologized for his velvet
+slippers and for his hobbling walk--he was getting his accursed gout
+again. But he limped around and introduced his friend to the other
+millionaires--and then told scandal about them behind their backs.
+
+The Major was the very type of a blue-blooded old aristocrat; he was
+all noblesse oblige to those within the magic circle of his
+intimacy--but alas for those outside it! Montague had never heard
+anyone bully servants as the Major did. "Here you!" he would cry,
+when something went wrong at the table. "Don't you know any better
+than to bring me a dish like that? Go and send me somebody who knows
+how to set a table!" And, strange to say, the servants all
+acknowledged his perfect right to bully them, and flew with
+terrified alacrity to do his bidding. Montague noticed that the
+whole staff of the club leaped into activity whenever the Major
+appeared; and when he was seated at the table, he led off in this
+fashion--"Now I want two dry Martinis. And I want them at once--do
+you understand me? Don't stop to get me any butter plates or
+finger-bowls--I want two cock-tails, just as quick as you can carry
+them!"
+
+Dinner was an important event to Major Venable--the most important
+in life. The younger man humbly declined to make any suggestions,
+and sat and watched while his friend did all the ordering. They had
+some very small oysters, and an onion soup, and a grouse and
+asparagus, with some wine from the Major's own private store, and
+then a romaine salad. Concerning each one of these courses, the
+Major gave special injunctions, and throughout his conversation he
+scattered comments upon them: "This is good thick soup--lots of
+nourishment in onion soup. Have the rest of this?--I think the
+Burgundy is too cold. Sixty-five is as cold as Burgundy ought ever
+to be. I don't mind sherry as low as sixty.--They always cook a bird
+too much--Robbie Waiting's chef is the only person I know who never
+makes a mistake with game."
+
+All this, of course, was between comments upon the assembled
+millionaires. There was Hawkins, the corporation lawyer; a shrewd
+fellow, cold as a corpse. He was named for an ambassadorship--a very
+efficient. man. Used to be old Wyman's confidential adviser and buy
+aldermen for him.--And the man at table with him was Harrison,
+publisher of the Star; administration newspaper, sound and
+conservative. Harrison was training for a cabinet position. He was a
+nice little man, and would make a fine splurge in Washington.--And
+that tall man coming in was Clarke, the steel magnate; and over
+there was Adams, a big lawyer also--prominent reformer--civic
+righteousness and all that sort of stuff. Represented the Oil Trust
+secretly, and went down to Trenton to argue against some reform
+measure, and took along fifty thousand dollars in bills in his
+valise. "A friend of mine got wind of what he was doing, and taxed
+him with it," said the Major, and laughed gleefully over the great
+lawyer's reply--"How did I know but I might have to pay for my own
+lunch?"--And the fat man with him--that was Jimmie Featherstone, the
+chap who had inherited a big estate. "Poor Jimmie's going all to
+pieces," the Major declared. "Goes down town to board meetings now
+and then--they tell a hair-raising story about him and old Dan
+Waterman. He had got up and started a long argument, when Waterman
+broke in, 'But at the earlier meeting you argued directly to the
+contrary, Mr. Featherstone!' 'Did I?' said Jimmie, looking
+bewildered. 'I wonder why I did that?' 'Well, Mr. Featherstone,
+since you ask me, I'll tell you,' said old Dan--he's savage as a
+wild boar, you know, and won't be delayed at meetings. 'The reason
+is that the last time you were drunker than you are now. If you
+would adopt a uniform standard of intoxication for the directors'
+meetings of this road, it would expedite matters considerably.'"
+
+They had got as far as the romaine salad. The waiter came with a
+bowl of dressing--and at the sight of it, the old gentleman forgot
+Jimmie Featherstone. "Why are you bringing me that stuff?" he cried.
+"I don't want that! Take it away and get me some vinegar and oil."
+
+The waiter fled in dismay, while the Major went on growling under
+his breath. Then from behind him came a voice: "What's the matter
+with you this evening, Venable? You're peevish!"
+
+The Major looked up. "Hello, you old cormorant," said he. "How do
+you do these days?"
+
+The old cormorant replied that he did very well. He was a pudgy
+little man, with a pursed-up, wrinkled face. "My friend Mr.
+Montague--Mr. Symmes," said the Major.
+
+"I am very pleased to meet you, Mr. Montague," said Mr. Symmes,
+peering over his spectacles.
+
+"And what are you doing with yourself these days?" asked the Major.
+
+The other smiled genially. "Nothing much," said he. "Seducing my
+friends' wives, as usual."
+
+"And who's the latest?"
+
+"Read the newspapers, and you'll find out," laughed Symmes. "I'm
+told I'm being shadowed."
+
+He passed on down the room, chuckling to himself; and the Major
+said, "That's Maltby Symmes. Have you heard of him?"
+
+"No," said Montague.
+
+"He gets into the papers a good deal. He was up in supplementary
+proceedings the other day--couldn't pay his liquor bill."
+
+"A member of the Millionaires'?" laughed Montague.
+
+"Yes, the papers made quite a joke out of it," said the other. "But
+you see he's run through a couple of fortunes; the last was his
+mother's--eleven millions, I believe. He's been a pretty lively old
+boy in his time."
+
+The vinegar and oil had now arrived, and the Major set to work to
+dress the salad. This was quite a ceremony, and Montague took it
+with amused interest. The Major first gathered all the necessary
+articles together, and looked them all over and grumbled at them.
+Then he mixed the vinegar and the pepper and salt, a tablespoonful
+at a time, and poured it over the salad. Then very slowly and
+carefully the oil had to be poured on, the salad being poked and
+turned about so that it would be all absorbed. Perhaps it was
+because he was so busy narrating the escapades of Maltty Symmes that
+the old gentleman kneaded it about so long; all the time fussing
+over it like a hen-partridge with her chicks, and interrupting
+himself every sentence or two: "It was Lenore, the opera star, and
+he gave her about two hundred thousand dollars' worth of railroad
+shares. (Really, you know, romaine ought not to be served in a bowl
+at all, but in a square, flat dish, so that one could keep the ends
+quite dry.) And when they quarrelled, she found the old scamp had
+fooled her--the shares had never been transferred. (One is not
+supposed to use a fork at all, you know.) But she sued him, and he
+settled with her for about half the value. (If this dressing were
+done properly, there ought not to be any oil in the bottom of the
+dish at all.)"
+
+This last remark meant that the process had reached its climax--that
+the long, crisp leaves were receiving their final affectionate
+overturnings. While the waiter stood at respectful attention, two or
+three pieces at a time were laid carefully upon the little silver
+plate intended for Montague. "And now," said the triumphant host,
+"try it! If it's good, it ought to be neither sweet nor bitter, but
+just right."--And he watched anxiously while Montague tasted it,
+saying, "If it's the least bit bitter, say so; and we'll send it
+out. I've told them about it often enough before."
+
+But it was not bitter, and so the Major proceeded to help himself,
+after which the waiter whisked the bowl away. "I'm told that salad
+is the one vegetable we have from the Romans," said the old boy, as
+he munched at the crisp green leaves. "It's mentioned by Horace, you
+know.--As I was saying, all this was in Symmes's early days. But
+since his son's been grown up, he's married another chorus-girl."
+
+After the salad the Major had another cocktail. In the beginning
+Montague had noticed that his hands shook and his eyes were watery;
+but now, after these copious libations, he was vigorous, and, if
+possible, more full of anecdotes than ever. Montague thought that it
+would be a good time to broach his inquiry, and so when the coffee
+had been served, he asked, "Have you any objections to talking
+business after dinner?"
+
+"Not with you," said the Major. "Why? What is it?"
+
+And then Montague told him about his friend's proposition, and
+described the invention. The other listened attentively to the end;
+and then, after a pause, Montague asked him, "What do you think of
+it?"
+
+"The invention's no good," said the Major, promptly.
+
+"How do you know?" asked the other.
+
+"Because, if it had been, the companies would have taken it long
+ago, without paying him a cent."
+
+"But he has it patented," said Montague.
+
+"Patented hell!" replied the other. "What's a patent to lawyers of
+concerns of that size? They'd have taken it and had it in use from
+Maine to Texas; and when he sued, they'd have tied the case up in so
+many technicalities and quibbles that he couldn't have got to the
+end of it in ten years--and he'd have been ruined ten times over in
+the process."
+
+"Is that really done?" asked Montague.
+
+"Done!" exclaimed the Major. "It's done so often you might say it's
+the only thing that's done.--The people are probably trying to take
+you in with a fake."
+
+"That couldn't possibly be so," responded the other. "The man is a
+friend--"
+
+"I've found it an excellent rule never to do business with friends,"
+said the Major, grimly.
+
+"But listen," said Montague; and he argued long enough to convince
+his companion that that could not be the true explanation. Then the
+Major sat for a minute or two and pondered; and suddenly he
+exclaimed, "I have it! I see why they won't touch it!"
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"It's the coal companies! They're giving the steamships short
+weight, and they don't want the coal weighed truly!"
+
+"But there's no sense in that," said Montague. "It's the steamship
+companies that won't take the machine."
+
+"Yes," said the Major; "naturally, their officers are sharing the
+graft." And he laughed heartily at Montague's look of perplexity.
+
+"Do you know anything about the business?" Montague asked.
+
+"Nothing whatever," said the Major. "I am like the German who shut
+himself up in his inner consciousness and deduced the shape of an
+elephant from first principles. I know the game of big business from
+A to Z, and I'm telling you that if the invention is good and the
+companies won't take it, that's the reason; and I'll lay you a wager
+that if you were to make an investigation, some such thing as that
+is what you'd find! Last winter I went South on a steamer, and when
+we got near port, I saw them dumping a ton or two of good food
+overboard; and I made inquiries, and learned that one of the
+officials of the company ran a farm, and furnished the stuff--and
+the orders were to get rid of so much every trip!"
+
+Montague's jaw had fallen. "What could Major Thorne do against such
+a combination?" he asked.
+
+"I don't know," said the Major, shrugging his shoulders. "It's a
+case to take to a lawyer--one who knows the ropes. Hawkins over
+there would know what to tell you. I should imagine the thing he'd
+advise would be to call a strike of the men who handle the coal, and
+tie up the companies and bring them to terms."
+
+"You're joking now!" exclaimed the other.
+
+"Not at all," said the Major, laughing again. "It's done all the
+time. There's a building trust in this city, and the way it put all
+its rivals out of business was by having strikes called on their
+jobs."
+
+"But how could it do that?"
+
+"Easiest thing in the world. A labour leader is a man with a great
+deal of power, and a very small salary to live on. And even if he
+won't sell out--there are other ways. I could introduce you to a man
+right in this room who had a big strike on at an inconvenient time,
+and he had the president of the union trapped in a hotel with a
+woman, and the poor fellow gave in and called off the strike."'
+
+"I should think the strikers might sometimes get out of hand," said
+Montague.
+
+"Sometimes they do," smiled the other. "There is a regular procedure
+for that case. Then you hire detectives and start violence, and call
+out the militia and put the strike leaders into jail."
+
+Montague could think of nothing to say to that. The programme seemed
+to be complete.
+
+"You see," the Major continued, earnestly, "I'm advising you as a
+friend, and I'm taking the point of view of a man who has money in
+his pocket. I've had some there always, but I've had to work hard to
+keep it there. All my life I've been surrounded by people who wanted
+to do me good; and the way they wanted to do it was to exchange my
+real money for pieces of paper which they'd had printed with fancy
+scroll-work and eagles and flags. Of course, if you want to look at
+the thing from the other side, why, then the invention is most
+ingenious, and trade is booming just now, and this is a great
+country, and merit is all you need in it--and everything else is
+just as it ought to be. It makes ahl the difference in the world,
+you know, whether a man is buying a horse or selling him!"
+
+Montague had observed with perplexity that such incendiary talk as
+this was one of the characteristics of people in these lofty
+altitudes. It was one of the liberties accorded to their station.
+Editors and bishops and statesmen and all the rest of their
+retainers had to believe in the respectabilities, even in the
+privacy of their clubs--the people's ears were getting terribly
+sharp these days! But among the real giants of business you might
+have thought yourself in a society of revolutionists; they would
+tear up the mountain tops and hurl them at each other. When one of
+these old war-horses once got started, he would tell tales of
+deviltry to appall the soul of the hardiest muck-rake man. It was
+always the other fellow, of course; but then, if you pinned your man
+down, and if he thought that he could trust you--he would
+acknowledge that he had sometimes fought the enemy with the enemy's
+own weapons!
+
+But of course one must understand that all this radicalism was for
+conversational purposes only. The Major, for instance, never had the
+slightest idea of doing anything about all the evils of which he
+told; when it came to action, he proposed to do just what he had
+done all his life--to sit tight on his own little pile. And the
+Millionaires' was an excellent place to learn to do it!
+
+"See that old money-bags over there in the corner," said the Major.
+"He's a man you want to fix in your mind--old Henry S. Grimes. Have
+you heard of him?"
+
+"Vaguely," said the other.
+
+"He's Laura Hegan's uncle. She'll have his money also some day--but
+Lord, how he does hold on to it meantime! It's quite tragic, if you
+come to know him--he's frightened at his own shadow. He goes in for
+slum tenements, and I guess he evicts more people in a month than
+you could crowd into this building!"
+
+Montague looked at the solitary figure at the table, a man with a
+wizened-up little face like a weasel's, and a big napkin tied around
+his neck. "That's so as to save his shirt-front for to-morrow," the
+Major explained. "He's really only about sixty, but you'd think he
+was eighty. Three times every day he sits here and eats a bowl of
+graham crackers and milk, and then goes out and sits rigid in an
+arm-chair for an hour. That's the regimen his doctors have put him
+on--angels and ministers of grace defend us!"
+
+The old gentleman paused, and a chuckle shook his scarlet jowls.
+"Only think!" he said--"they tried to do that to me! But no,
+sir--when Bob Venable has to eat graham crackers and milk, he'll put
+in arsenic instead of sugar! That's the way with many a one of these
+rich fellows, though--you picture him living in Capuan luxury, when,
+as a matter of fact, he's a man with a torpid liver and a weak
+stomach, who is put to bed at ten o'clock with a hot-water bag and a
+flannel night-cap!"
+
+The two had got up and were strolling toward the smoking-room; when
+suddenly at one side a door opened, and a group of men came out. At
+the head of them was an extraordinary figure, a big powerful body
+with a grim face. "Hello!" said the Major. "All the big bugs are
+here to-night. There must be a governors' meeting."
+
+"Who is that?" asked his companion; and he answered, "That? Why,
+that's Dan Waterman."
+
+Dan Waterman! Montague stared harder than ever, and now he
+identified the face with the pictures he had seen. Waterman, the
+Colossus of finance, the Croesus of copper and gold! How many trusts
+had Waterman organized! And how many puns had been made upon that
+name of his!
+
+"Who are the other men?" Montague asked.
+
+"Oh, they're just little millionaires," was the reply.
+
+The "little millionaires" were following as a kind of body-guard;
+one of them, who was short and pudgy, was half running, to keep up
+with Waterman's heavy stride. When they came to the coat-room, they
+crowded the attendants away, and one helped the great man on with
+his coat, and another held his hat, and another his stick, and two
+others tried to talk to him. And Waterman stolidly buttoned his
+coat, and then seized his hat and stick, and without a word to
+anyone, bolted through the door.
+
+It was one of the funniest sights that Montague had ever seen in his
+life, and he laughed all the way into the smoking-room. And, when
+Major Venable had settled himself in a big chair and bitten off the
+end of a cigar and lighted it, what floodgates of reminiscence were
+opened!
+
+For Dan Waterman was one of the Major's own generation, and he knew
+all his life and his habits. Just as Montague had seen him there, so
+he had been always; swift, imperious, terrible, trampling over all
+opposition; the most powerful men in the city quailed before the
+glare of his eyes. In the old days Wall Street had reeled in the
+shock of the conflicts between him and his most powerful rival.
+
+And the Major went on to tell about Waterman's rival, and his life.
+He had been the city's traction-king, old Wyman had been made by
+him. He was the prince among political financiers; he had ruled the
+Democratic party in state and nation. He would give a quarter of a
+million at a time to the boss of Tammany Hall, and spend a million
+in a single campaign; on "dough-day," when the district leaders came
+to get the election funds, there would be a table forty feet long
+completely covered with hundred-dollar bills. He would have been the
+richest man in America, save that he spent his money as fast as he
+got it. He had had the most famous racing-stable in America; and a
+house on Fifth Avenue that was said to be the finest Italian palace
+in the world. Over three millions had been spent in decorating it;
+all the ceilings had been brought intact from palaces abroad, which
+he had bought and demolished! The Major told a story to show how
+such a man lost all sense of the value of money; he had once been
+sitting at lunch with him, when the editor of one of his newspapers
+had come in and remarked, "I told you we would need eight thousand
+dollars, and the check you send is for ten." "I know it," was the
+smiling answer--"but somehow I thought eight seemed harder to write
+than ten!"
+
+"Old Waterman's quite a spender, too, when it comes to that," the
+Major went on. "He told me once that it cost him five thousand
+dollars a day for his ordinary expenses. And that doesn't include a
+million-dollar yacht, nor even the expenses of it.
+
+"And think of another man I know of who spent a million dollars for
+a granite pier, so that he could land and see his mistress!--It's a
+fact, as sure as God made me! She was a well-known society woman,
+but she was poor, and he didn't dare to make her rich for fear of
+the scandal. So she had to live in a miserable fifty-thousand-dollar
+villa; and when other people's children would sneer at her children
+because they lived in a fifty-thousand-dollar villa, the answer
+would be, 'But you haven't got any pier!' And if you don't believe
+that--"
+
+But here suddenly the Major turned, and observed a boy who had
+brought him some cigars, and who was now standing near by,
+pretending to straighten out some newspapers upon the table. "Here,
+sir!" cried the Major, "what do you mean--listening to what I'm
+saying! Out of the room with you now, you rascal!"
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+
+
+
+
+Another week-end came, and with it an invitation from the Lester
+Todds to visit them at their country place in New Jersey. Montague
+was buried in his books, but his brother routed him out with
+strenuous protests. His case be damned--was he going to ruin his
+career for one case? At all hazards, he must meet people--"people
+who counted." And the Todds were such, a big money crowd, and a
+power in the insurance world; if Montague were going to be an
+insurance lawyer, he could not possibly decline their invitation.
+Freddie Vandam would be a guest--and Montague smiled at the tidings
+that Betty Wyman would be there also. He had observed that his
+brother's week-end visits always happened at places where Betty was,
+and where Betty's granddaddy was not.
+
+So Montague's man packed his grips, and Alice's maid her trunks; and
+they rode with a private-car party to a remote Jersey suburb, and
+were whirled in an auto up a broad shell road to a palace upon the
+top of a mountain. Here lived the haughty Lester Todds, and
+scattered about on the neighbouring hills, a set of the
+ultra-wealthy who had withdrawn to this seclusion. They were
+exceedingly "classy"; they affected to regard all the Society of the
+city with scorn, and had their own all-the-year-round diversions--an
+open-air horse show in summer, and in the fall fox-hunting in fancy
+uniforms.
+
+The Lester Todds themselves were ardent pursuers of all varieties of
+game, and in various clubs and private preserves they followed the
+seasons, from Florida and North Carolina to Ontario, with occasional
+side trips to Norway, and New Brunswick, and British Columbia. Here
+at home they had a whole mountain of virgin forest, carefully
+preserved; and in the Renaissance palace at the summit-which they
+carelessly referred to as a "lodge"--you would find such articles de
+vertu as a ten-thousand-dollar table with a set of
+two-thousand-dollar chairs, and quite ordinary-looking rugs at ten
+and twenty thousand dollars each.--All these prices you might
+ascertain without any difficulty at all, because there were many
+newspaper articles describing the house to be read in an album in
+the hall. On Saturday afternoons Mrs. Todd welcomed the neighbours
+in a pastel grey reception-gown, the front of which contained a
+peacock embroidered in silk, with jewels in every feather, and a
+diamond solitaire for an eye; and in the evening there was a dance,
+and she appeared in a gown with several hundred diamonds sewn upon
+it, and received her guests upon a rug set with jewels to match.
+
+All together, Montague judged this the "fastest" set he had yet
+encountered; they ate more and drank more and intrigued more openly.
+He had been slowly acquiring the special lingo of Society, but these
+people had so much more slang that he felt all lost again. A young
+lady who was gossiping to him about those present remarked that a
+certain youth was a "spasm"; and then, seeing the look of perplexity
+upon his face, she laughed, "I don't believe you know what I mean!"
+Montague replied that he had ventured to infer that she did not like
+him.
+
+And then there was Mrs. Harper, who came from Chicago by way of
+London. Ten years ago Mrs. Harper had overwhelmed New York with the
+millions brought from her great department-store; and had then moved
+on, sighing for new worlds to conquer. When she had left Chicago,
+her grammar had been unexceptionable; but since she had been in
+England, she said "you ain't" and dropped all her g's; and when
+Montague brought down a bird at long range, she exclaimed,
+condescendingly, "Why, you're quite a dab at it!" He sat in the
+front seat of an automobile, and heard the great lady behind him
+referring to the sturdy Jersey farmers, whose ancestors had fought
+the British and Hessians all over the state, as "your peasantry."
+
+It was an extraordinary privilege to have Mrs. Harper for a guest;
+"at home" she moved about in state recalling that of Queen Victoria,
+with flags and bunting on the way, and crowds of school children
+cheering. She kept up half a dozen establishments, and had a hundred
+thousand acres of game preserves in Scotland. She made a speciality
+of collecting jewels which had belonged to the romantic and
+picturesque queens of history. She appeared at the dance in a
+breastplate of diamonds covering the entire front of her bodice, so
+that she was literally clothed in light; and with her was her
+English friend, Mrs. Percy, who had accompanied her in her triumph
+through the courts and camps of Europe, and displayed a famous
+lorgnette-chain, containing one specimen of every rare and beautiful
+jewel known. Mrs. Percy wore a gown of cloth of gold tissue, covered
+with a fortune in Venetian lace, and made a tremendous
+sensation--until the rumour spread that it was a rehash of the
+costume which Mrs. Harper had worn at the Duchess of London's ball.
+The Chicago lady herself never by any chance appeared in the same
+costume twice.
+
+Alice had a grand time at the Todds'; all the men fell in love with
+her--one in particular, a young chap named Fayette, quite threw
+himself at her feet. He was wealthy, but unfortunately he had made
+his money by eloping with a rich girl (who was one of the present
+party), and so, from a practical point of view, his attentions were
+not desirable for Alice.
+
+Montague was left with the task of finding these things out for
+himself, for his brother devoted himself exclusively to Betty Wyman.
+The way these two disappeared between meals was a jest of the whole
+company; so that when they were on their way home, Montague felt
+called upon to make paternal inquiries.
+
+"We're as much engaged as we dare to be," Oliver answered him.
+
+"And when do you expect to marry her?"
+
+"God knows," said he, "I don't. The old man wouldn't give her a
+cent."
+
+"And you couldn't support her?"
+
+"I? Good heavens, Allan--do you suppose Betty would consent to be
+poor?"
+
+"Have you asked her?" inquired Montague.
+
+"I don't want to ask her, thank you! I've not the least desire to
+live in a hovel with a girl who's been brought up in a palace."
+
+"Then what do you expect to do?"
+
+"Well, Betty has a rich aunt in a lunatic asylum. And then I'm
+making money, you know--and the old boy will have to relent in the
+end. And we're having a very good time in the meanwhile, you know."
+
+"You can't be very much in love," said Montague--to which his
+brother replied cheerfully that they were as much in love as they
+felt like being.
+
+This was on the train Monday morning. Oliver observed that his
+brother relapsed into a brown study, and remarked, "I suppose you're
+going back now to bury yourself in your books. You've got to give me
+one evening this week for a dinner that's important."
+
+"Where's that?" asked the other.
+
+"Oh, it's a long story," said Oliver. "I'll explain it to you some
+time. But first we must have an understanding about next week,
+also--I suppose you've not overlooked the fact that it's Christmas
+week. And you won't be permitted to do any work then."
+
+"But that's impossible!" exclaimed the other.
+
+"Nothing else is possible," said Oliver, firmly. "I've made an
+engagement for you with the Eldridge Devons up the Hudson--"
+
+"For the whole week?"
+
+"The whole week. And it'll be the most important thing you've done.
+Mrs. Winnie's going to take us all in her car, and you will make no
+end of indispensable acquaintances."
+
+"Oliver, I don't see how in the world I can do it!" the other
+protested in dismay, and went on for several minutes arguing and
+explaining what he had to do. But Oliver contented himself with the
+assurance that where there's a will, there's a way. One could not
+refuse an invitation to spend Christmas with the Eldridge Devons!
+
+And sure enough, there was a way. Mr. Hasbrook had mentioned to him
+that he had had considerable work done upon the case, and would have
+the papers sent round. And when Montague reached his office that
+morning, he found them there. There was a package of several
+thousand pages; and upon examining them, he found to his utter
+consternation that they contained a complete bill of complaint, with
+all the necessary references and citations, and a preliminary
+draught of a brief--in short, a complete and thoroughgoing
+preparation of his case. There could not have been less than ten or
+fifteen thousand dollars' worth of work in the papers; and Montague
+sat quite aghast, turning over the neatly typewritten sheets. He
+could indeed afford to attend Christmas house parties, if all his
+clients were to treat him like this!
+
+He felt a little piqued about it--for he had noted some of these
+points for himself, and felt a little proud about them. Apparently
+he was to be nothing but a figure-head in the case! And he turned to
+the phone and called up Mr. Hasbrook, and asked him what he expected
+him to do with these papers. There was the whole case here; and was
+he simply to take them as they stood?
+
+No one could have replied more considerately than did Mr. Hasbrook.
+The papers were for Montague's benefit--he would do exactly as he
+pleased with them. He might use them as they stood, or reject them
+altogether, or make them the basis for his own work--anything that
+appealed to his judgment would be satisfactory. And so Montague
+turned about and wrote an acceptance to the formal invitation which
+had come from the Eldridge Devons.
+
+Later on in the day Oliver called up, and said that he was to go out
+to dinner the following evening, and that he would call for him at
+eight. "It's with the Jack Evanses," Oliver added. "Do you know
+them?"
+
+Montague had heard the name, as that of the president of a chain of
+Western railroads. "Do you mean him?" he asked.
+
+"Yes," said the other. "They're a rum crowd, but there's money in
+it. I'll call early and explain it to you."
+
+But it was explained sooner than that. During the next afternoon
+Montague had a caller--none other than Mrs. Winnie Duval. Some one
+had left Mrs. Winnie some more money, it appeared; and there was a
+lot of red tape attached to it, which she wanted the new lawyer to
+attend to. Also, she said, she hoped that he would charge her a lot
+of money by way of encouraging himself. It was a mere bagatelle of a
+hundred thousand or so, from some forgotten aunt in the West.
+
+The business was soon disposed of, and then Mrs. Winnie asked
+Montague if he had any place to go to for dinner that evening: which
+was the occasion of his mentioning the Jack Evanses. "O dear me!"
+said Mrs. Winnie, with a laugh. "Is Ollie going to take you there?
+What a funny time you'll have!"
+
+"Do you know them?" asked the other.
+
+"Heavens, no!" was the answer. "Nobody knows them; but everybody
+knows about them. My husband meets old Evans in business, of course,
+and thinks he's a good sort. But the family--dear me!"
+
+"How much of it is there?"
+
+"Why, there's the old lady, and two grown daughters and a son. The
+son's a fine chap, they say--the old man took him in hand and put
+him at work in the shops. But I suppose he thought that daughters
+were too much of a proposition for him, and so he sent them to a
+fancy school--and, I tell you, they're the most highly polished
+human specimens that ever you encountered!"
+
+It sounded entertaining. "But what does Oliver want with them?"
+asked Montague, wonderingly.
+
+"It isn't that he wants them--they want him. They're cumbers, you
+know--perfectly frantic. They've come to town to get into Society."
+
+"Then you mean that they pay Oliver?" asked Montague.
+
+"I don't know that," said the other, with a laugh. "You'll have to
+ask Ollie. They've a number of the little brothers of the rich
+hanging round them, picking up whatever plunder's in sight."
+
+A look of pain crossed Montague's face; and she saw it, and put out
+her hand with a sudden gesture. "Oh!" she exclaimed, "I've offended
+you!"
+
+"No," said he, "it's not that exactly--I wouldn't be offended. But
+I'm worried about my brother."
+
+"How do you mean?"
+
+"He gets a lot of money somehow, and I don't know what it means."
+
+The woman sat for a few moments in silence, watching him. "Didn't he
+have any when he came here?" she asked.
+
+"Not very much," said he.
+
+"Because," she went on, "if he didn't, he certainly managed it very
+cleverly--we all thought he had."
+
+Again there was a pause; then suddenly Mrs. Winnie said: "Do you
+know, you feel differently about money from the way we do in New
+York. Do you realize it?"
+
+"I'm not sure," said he. "How do you mean?"
+
+"You look at it in an old-fashioned sort of way--a person has to
+earn it--it's a sign of something he's done. It came to me just now,
+all in a flash--we don't feel that way about money. We haven't any
+of us earned ours; we've just got it. And it never occurs to us to
+expect other people to earn it--all we want to know is if they have
+it."
+
+Montague did not tell his companion how very profound a remark he
+considered that; he was afraid it would not be delicate to agree
+with her. He had heard a story of a negro occupant of the "mourners'
+bench," who was voluble in confession of his sins, but took
+exception to the fervour with which the congregation said "Amen!"
+
+"The Evanses used to be a lot funnier than they are now," continued
+Mrs. Winnie, after a while. "When they came here last year, they
+were really frightful. They had an English chap for social
+secretary--a younger son of some broken-down old family. My brother
+knew a man who had been one of their intimates in the West, and he
+said it was perfectly excruciating--this fellow used to sit at the
+table and give orders to the whole crowd: 'Your ice-cream fork
+should be at your right hand, Miss Mary.--One never asks for more
+soup, Master Robert.--And Miss Anna, always move your soup-spoon
+from you--that's better!'"
+
+"I fancy I shall feel sorry for them," said Montague.
+
+"Oh, you needn't," said the other, promptly. "They'll get what they
+want."
+
+"Do you think so?"
+
+"Why, certainly they will. They've got the money; and they've been
+abroad--they're learning the game. And they'll keep at it until they
+succeed--what else is there for them to do? And then my husband says
+that old Evans is making himself a power here in the East; so that
+pretty soon they won't dare offend him."
+
+"Does that count?" asked the man.
+
+"Well, I guess it counts!" laughed Mrs. Winnie. "It has of late."
+And she went on to tell him of the Society leader who had dared to
+offend the daughters of a great magnate, and how the magnate had
+retaliated by turning the woman's husband out of his high office.
+That was often the way in the business world; the struggles were
+supposed to be affairs of men, but oftener than not the moving power
+was a woman's intrigue. You would see a great upheaval in Wall
+Street, and it would be two of the big men quarrelling over a
+mistress; you would see some man rush suddenly into a high
+office--and that would be because his wife had sold herself to
+advance him.
+
+Mrs. Winnie took him up town in her auto, and he dressed for dinner;
+and then came Oliver, and his brother asked, "Are you trying to put
+the Evanses into Society?"
+
+"Who's been telling you about them?" asked the other.
+
+"Mrs. Winnie," said Montague.
+
+"What did she tell you?"
+
+Montague went over her recital, which his brother apparently found
+satisfactory. "It's not as serious as that," he said, answering the
+earlier question. "I help them a little now and then."
+
+"What do you do?"
+
+"Oh, advise them, mostly--tell them where to go and what to wear.
+When they first came to New York, they were dressed like paraquets,
+you know. And"--here Oliver broke into a laugh--"I refrain from
+making jokes about them. And when I hear other people abusing them,
+I point out that they are sure to land in the end, and will be
+dangerous enemies. I've got one or two wedges started for them."
+
+"And do they pay you for doing it?"
+
+"You'd call it paying me, I suppose," replied the other. "The old
+man carries a few shares of stock for me now and then."
+
+"Carries a few shares?" echoed Montague, and Oliver explained the
+procedure. This was one of the customs which had grown up in a
+community where people did not have to earn their money. The
+recipient of the favour put up nothing and took no risks; but the
+other person was supposed to buy some stock for him, and then, when
+the stock went up, he would send a cheque for the "profits." Many a
+man who would have resented a direct offer of money, would assent
+pleasantly when a powerful friend offered to "carry a hundred shares
+for him." This was the way one offered a tip in the big world; it
+was useful in the case of newspaper men, whose good opinion of a
+stock was desired, or of politicians and legislators, whose votes
+might help its fortunes. When one expected to get into Society, one
+must be prepared to strew such tips about him.
+
+"Of course," added Oliver, "what the family would really like me to
+do is to get the Robbie Wallings to take them up. I suppose I could
+get round half a million of them if I could manage that."
+
+To all of which Montague replied, "I see."
+
+A great light had dawned upon him. So that was the way it was
+managed! That was why one paid thirty thousand a year for one's
+apartments, and thirty thousand more for a girl's clothes! No wonder
+it was better to spend Christmas week at the Eldridge Devons than to
+labour at one's law books!
+
+"One more question," Montague went on. "Why are you introducing me
+to them?"
+
+"Well," his brother answered, "it won't hurt you; you'll find it
+amusing. You see, they'd heard I had a brother; and they asked me to
+bring you. I couldn't keep you hidden for ever, could I?"
+
+All this was while they were driving up town. The Evanses' place was
+on Riverside Drive; and when Montague got out of the cab and saw it
+looming up in the semi-darkness, he emitted an exclamation of
+wonder. It was as big as a jail!
+
+"Oh, yes, they've got room enough," said Oliver, with a laugh. "I
+put this deal through for them--it's the old Lamson palace, you
+know."
+
+They had the room; and likewise they had all the trappings of
+snobbery--Montague took that fact in at a glance. There were
+knee-breeches and scarlet facings and gold braid--marble balconies
+and fireplaces and fountains--French masters and real Flemish
+tapestry. The staircase of their palace was a winding one, and there
+was a white velvet carpet which had been specially woven for it, and
+had to be changed frequently; at the top of it was a white cashmere
+rug which had a pedigree of six centuries--and so on.
+
+And then came the family: this tall, raw-boned, gigantic man, with
+weather-tanned face and straggling grey moustache--this was Jack
+Evans; and Mrs. Evans, short and pudgy, but with a kindly face, and
+not too many diamonds; and the Misses Evans,--stately and slender
+and perfectly arrayed. "Why, they're all right!" was the thought
+that came to Montague.
+
+They were all right until they opened their mouths. When they spoke,
+you discovered that Evans was a miner, and that his wife had been
+cook on a ranch; also that Anne and Mary had harsh voices, and that
+they never by any chance said or did anything natural.
+
+They were escorted into the stately dining-room--Henri II., with a
+historic mantel taken from the palace of Fontainebleau, and four
+great allegorical paintings of Morning, Evening, Noon, and Midnight
+upon the walls. There were no other guests--the table, set for six,
+seemed like a toy in the vast apartment. And in a sudden fash--with
+a start of almost terror--Montague realized what it must mean not to
+be in Society. To have all this splendour, and nobody to share it!
+To have Henri II. dining-rooms and Louis XVI. parlours and Louis
+XIV. libraries--and see them all empty! To have no one to drive
+with or talk with, no one to visit or play cards with--to go to the
+theatre and the opera and have no ono to speak to! Worse than that,
+to be stared at and smiled at! To live in this huge palace, and know
+that all the horde of servants, underneath their cringing deference,
+were sneering at you! To face that--to live in the presence of it
+day after day! And then, outside of your home, the ever widening
+circles of ridicule and contempt--Society, with all its hangers-on
+and parasites, its imitators and admirers!
+
+And some one had defied all that--some one had taken up the sword
+and gone forth to beat down that opposition! Montague looked at this
+little family of four, and wondered which of them was the driving
+force in this most desperate emprise!
+
+He arrived at it by a process of elimination. It could not be Evans
+himself. One saw that the old man was quite hopeless socially;
+nothing could change his big hairy hands or his lean scrawny neck,
+or his irresistible impulse to slide down in his chair and cross his
+long legs in front of him. The face and the talk of Jack Evans
+brought irresistibly to mind the mountain trail and the prospector's
+pack-mule, the smoke of camp-fires and the odour of bacon and beans.
+Seventeen long years the man had tramped in deserts and mountain
+wildernesses, and Nature had graven her impress deep into his body
+and soul.
+
+He was very shy at this dinner; but Montague came to know him well
+in the course of time. And after he had come to realize that
+Montague was not one of the grafters, he opened up his heart. Evans
+had held on to his mine when he had found it, and he had downed the
+rivals who had tried to take it away from him, and he had bought the
+railroads who had tried to crush him--and now he had come to Wall
+Street to fight the men who had tried to ruin his railroads. But
+through it all, he had kept the heart of a woman, and the sight of
+real distress was unbearable to him. He was the sort of man to keep
+a roll of ten-thousand-dollar bills in his pistol pocket, and to
+give one away if he thought he could do it without offence. And, on
+the other hand, men told how once when he had seen a porter insult a
+woman passenger on his line, he jumped up and pulled the bell-cord,
+and had the man put out on the roadside at midnight, thirty miles
+from the nearest town!
+
+No, it was the women folks, he said to Montague, with his grim
+laugh. It didn't trouble him at all to be called a "noovoo rich";
+and when he felt like dancing a shakedown, he could take a run out
+to God's country. But the women folks had got the bee in their
+bonnet. The old man added sadly that one of the disadvantages of
+striking it rich was that it left the women folks with nothing to
+do.
+
+Nor was it Mrs. Evans, either. "Sarey," as she was called by the
+head of the house, sat next to Montague at dinner; and he discovered
+that with the very least encouragement, the good lady was willing to
+become homelike and comfortable. Montague gave the occasion, because
+he was a stranger, and volunteered the opinion that New York was a
+shamelessly extravagant place, and hard to get along in; and Mrs.
+Evans took up the subject and revealed herself as a good-natured and
+kindly personage, who had wistful yearnings for mush and molasses,
+and flap-jacks, and bread fried in bacon-grease, and similar
+sensible things, while her chef was compelling her to eat pate de
+foie gras in aspic, and milk-fed guinea-chicks, and biscuits glacees
+Tortoni. Of course she did not say that at dinner,--she made a game
+effort to play her part,--with the result of at least one diverting
+experience for Montague.
+
+Mrs. Evans was telling him what a dreadful place she considered the
+city for young men; and how she feared to bring her boy here. "The
+men here have no morals at all," said she, and added earnestly,
+"I've come to the conclusion that Eastern men are naturally
+amphibious!"
+
+Then, as Montague knitted his brows and looked perplexed, she added,
+"Don't you think so?" And he replied, with as little delay as
+possible, that he had never really thought of it before.
+
+It was not until a couple of hours later that the light dawned upon
+him, in the course of a conversation with Miss Anne. "We met Lady
+Stonebridge at luncheon to-day," said that young person. "Do you
+know her?"
+
+"No," said Montague, who had never heard of her.
+
+"I think those aristocratic English women use the most abominable
+slang," continued Anne. "Have you noticed it?"
+
+"Yes, I have," he said.
+
+"And so utterly cynical! Do you know, Lady Stonebridge quite shocked
+mother--she told her she didn't believe in marriage at all, and that
+she thought all men were naturally polygamous!"
+
+Later on, Montague came to know "Mrs. Sarey"; and one afternoon,
+sitting in her Petit Trianon drawing-room, he asked her abruptly,
+"Why in the world do you want to get into Society?" And the poor
+lady caught her breath, and tried to be indignant; and then, seeing
+that he was in earnest, and that she was cornered, broke down and
+confessed. "It isn't me," she said, "it's the gals." (For along with
+the surrender went a reversion to natural speech.) "It's Mary, and
+more particularly Anne."
+
+They talked it over confidentially--which was a great relief to Mrs.
+Sarey's soul, for she was cruelly lonely. So far as she was
+concerned, it was not because she wanted Society, but because
+Society didn't want her. She flashed up in sudden anger, and
+clenched her fists, declaring that Jack Evans was as good a man as
+walked the streets of New York--and they would acknowledge it before
+he got through with them, too! After that she intended to settle
+down at home and be comfortable, and mend her husband's socks.
+
+She went on to tell him what a hard road was the path of glory.
+There were hundreds of people ready to know them--but oh, such a
+riffraff! They might fill up their home with the hangers-on and the
+yellow, but no, they could wait. They had learned a lot since they
+set out. One very aristocratic lady had invited them to dinner, and
+their hopes had been high--but alas, while they were sitting by the
+fireplace, some one admired a thirty-thousand-dollar emerald ring
+which Mrs. Evans had on her finger, and she had taken it off and
+passed it about among the company, and somewhere it had vanished
+completely! And another person had invited Mary to a bridge-party,
+and though she had played hardly at all, her hostess had quietly
+informed her that she had lost a thousand dollars. And the great
+Lady Stonebridge had actually sent for her and told her that she
+could introduce her in some of the very best circles, if only she
+was willing to lose always! Mrs. Evans had possessed a very homely
+Irish name before she was married; and Lady Stonebridge had got five
+thousand dollars from her to use some great influence she possessed
+in the Royal College of Heralds, and prove that she was descended
+directly from the noble old family of Magennis, who had been the
+lords of Iveagh, way back in the fourteenth century. And now Oliver
+had told them that this imposing charter would not help them in the
+least!
+
+In the process of elimination, there were the Misses Evans left.
+Montague's friends made many jests when they heard that he had met
+them--asking him if he meant to settle down. Major Venable went so
+far as to assure him that there was not the least doubt that either
+of the girls would take him in a second. Montague laughed, and
+answered that Mary was not so bad--she had a sweet face and was
+good-natured; but also, she was two years younger than Anne; and he
+could not get over the thought that two more years might make
+another Anne of her.
+
+For it was Anne who was the driving force of the family! Anne who
+had planned the great campaign, and selected the Lamson palace, and
+pried the family loose from the primeval rocks of Nevada! She was
+cold as an iceberg, tireless, pitiless to others as to herself; for
+seventeen years her father had wandered and dug among the mountains;
+and for seventeen years, if need be, she would dig beneath the walls
+of the fortress of Society!
+
+After Montague had had his heart to heart talk with the mother, Miss
+Anne Evans became very haughty toward him; whereby he knew that the
+old lady had told about it, and that the daughter resented his
+presumption. But to Oliver she laid bare her soul, and Oliver would
+come and tell his brother about it: how she plotted and planned and
+studied, and brought new schemes to him every week. She had some of
+the real people bought over to secret sympathy with her; if there
+was some especial favour which she asked for, she would set to work
+with the good-natured old man, and the person would have some
+important money service done him. She had the people of Society all
+marked--she was learning all their weaknesses, and the underground
+passages of their lives, and working patiently to find the key to
+her problem--some one family which was socially impregnable, but
+whose finances were in such a shape that they would receive the
+proposition to take up the Evanses, and definitely put them in.
+Montague used to look back upon all this with wonder and
+amusement--from those days in the not far distant future, when the
+papers had cable descriptions of the gowns of the Duchess of Arden,
+nee Evans, who was the bright particular star of the London social
+season!
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+
+
+
+
+Montague had written a reluctant letter to Major Thorne, telling him
+that he had been unable to interest anyone in his proposition, and
+that he was not in position to undertake it himself. Then, according
+to his brother's injunction, he left his money in the bank, and
+waited. There would be "something doing" soon, said Oliver.
+
+And as they drove home from the Evanses', Oliver served notice upon
+him that this event might be expected any day. He was very
+mysterious about it, and would answer none of his brother's
+questions--except to say that it had nothing to do with the people
+they had just visited.
+
+"I suppose," Montague remarked, "you have not failed to realize that
+Evans might play you false."
+
+And the other laughed, echoing the words, "Might do it!" Then he
+went on to tell the tale of the great railroad builder of the West,
+whose daughter had been married, with elaborate festivities; and
+some of the young men present, thinking to find him in a sentimental
+mood, had asked him for his views about the market. He advised them
+to buy the stock of his road; and they formed a pool and bought, and
+as fast as they bought, he sold--until the little venture cost the
+boys a total of seven million and a half!
+
+"No, no," Oliver added. "I have never put up a dollar for anything
+of Evans's, and I never shall.--They are simply a side issue,
+anyway," he added carelessly.
+
+A couple of mornings later, while Montague was at breakfast, his
+brother called him up and said that he was coming round, and would
+go down town with him. Montague knew at once that that meant
+something serious, for he had never before known his brother to be
+awake so early.
+
+They took a cab; and then Oliver explained. The moment had
+arrived--the time to take the plunge, and come up with a fortune. He
+could not tell much about it, for it was a matter upon which he
+stood pledged to absolute secrecy. There were but four people in the
+country who knew about it. It was the chance of a lifetime--and in
+four or five hours it would be gone. Three times before it had come
+to Oliver, and each time he had multiplied his capital several
+times; that he had not made millions was simply because he did not
+have enough money. His brother must take his word for this and
+simply put himself into his hands.
+
+"What is it you want me to do?" asked Montague, gravely.
+
+"I want you to take every dollar you have, or that you can lay your
+hands on this morning, and turn it over to me to buy stocks with."
+
+"To buy on margin, you mean?"
+
+"Of course I mean that," said Oliver. Then, as he saw his brother
+frown, he added, "Understand me, I have absolutely certain
+information as to how a certain stock will behave to-day."
+
+"The best judges of a stock often make mistakes in such matters,"
+said Montague.
+
+"It is not a question of any person's judgment," was the reply. "It
+is a question of knowledge. The stock is to be MADE to behave so."
+
+"But how can you know that the person who intends to make it behave
+may not be lying to you?"
+
+"My information does not come from that person, but from a person
+who has no such interest--who, on the contrary, is in on the deal
+with me, and gains only as I gain."
+
+"Then, in other words," said Montague, "your information is stolen?"
+
+"Everything in Wall Street is stolen," was Oliver's concise reply.
+
+There was a long silence, while the cab rolled swiftly on its way.
+"Well?" Oliver asked at last.
+
+"I can imagine," said Montague, "how a man might intend to move a
+certain stock, and think that he had the power, and yet find that he
+was mistaken. There are so many forces, so many chances to be
+considered--it seems to me you must be taking a risk."
+
+Oliver laughed. "You talk like a child," was his reply. "Suppose
+that I were in absolute control of a corporation, and that I chose
+to run it for purposes of market manipulation, don't you think I
+might come pretty near knowing what its stock was going to do?"
+
+"Yes," said Montague, slowly, "if such a thing as that were
+conceivable."
+
+"If it were conceivable!" laughed his brother. "And now suppose that
+I had a confidential man--a secretary, we'll say--and I paid him
+twenty thousand a year, and he saw chances to make a hundred
+thousand in an hour--don't you think he might conceivably try it?"
+
+"Yes," said Montague, "he might. But where do you come in?"
+
+"Well, if the man were going to do anything worth while, he'd need
+capital, would he not? And he'd hardly dare to look for any money in
+the Street, where a thousand eyes would be watching him. What more
+natural than to look out for some person who is in Society and has
+the ear of private parties with plenty of cash?"
+
+And Montague sat in deep thought. "I see," he said slowly; "I see!"
+Then, fixing his eyes upon Oliver, he exclaimed, earnestly, "One
+thing more!"
+
+"Don't ask me any more," protested the other. "I told you I was
+pledged--"
+
+"You must tell me this," said Montague. "Does Bobbie Walling know
+about it?"
+
+"He does not," was the reply. But Montague had known his brother
+long and intimately, and he could read things in his eyes. He knew
+that that was a lie. He had solved the mystery at last!
+
+Montague knew that he had come to a parting of the ways. He did not
+like this kind of thing--he had not come to New York to be a
+stock-gambler. But what a difficult thing it would be to say so; and
+how unfair it was to be confronted with such an issue, and compelled
+to decide in a few minutes in a cab!
+
+He had put himself in his brother's hands, and now he was under
+obligations to him, which he could not pay off. Oliver had paid all
+his expenses; he was doing everything for him. He had made all his
+difficulties his own, and all in frankness and perfect trust--upon
+the assumption that his brother would play the game with him. And
+now, at the critical moment, he was to face about, and say; "I do
+not like the game. I do not approve of your life!" Such a painful
+thing it is to have a higher moral code than one's friends!
+
+If he refused, he saw that he would have to face a complete break;
+he could not go on living in the world to which he had been
+introduced. Fifty thousand had seemed an enormous fee, yet even a
+week or two had sufficed for it to come to seem inadequate. He would
+have to have many such fees, if they were to go on living at their
+present rate; and if Alice were to have a social career, and
+entertain her friends. And to ask Alice to give up now, and retire,
+would be even harder than to face his brother here in the cab.
+
+Then came the temptation. Life was a battle, and this was the way it
+was being fought. If he rejected the opportunity, others would seize
+it; in fact, by refusing, he would be handing it to them. This great
+man, whoever he might be, who was manipulating stocks for his own
+convenience--could anyone in his senses reject a chance to wrench
+from him some part of his spoils? Montague saw the impulse of
+refusal dying away within him.
+
+"Well?" asked his brother, finally.
+
+"Oliver," said the other, "don't you think that I ought to know more
+about it, so that I can judge?"
+
+"You could not judge, even if I told you all," said Oliver. "It
+would take you a long time to become familiar with the
+circumstances, as I am. You must take my word; I know it is certain
+and safe."
+
+Then suddenly he unbuttoned his coat, and took out some papers, and
+handed his brother a telegram. It was dated Chicago, and read,
+"Guest is expected immediately.--HENRY." "That means, 'Buy
+Transcontinental this morning,'" said Oliver.
+
+"I see," said the other. "Then the man is in Chicago?"
+
+"No," was the reply. "That is his wife. He wires to her."
+
+"--How much money have you?" asked Oliver, after a pause.
+
+"I've most of the fifty thousand," the other answered, "and about
+thirty thousand we brought with us."
+
+"How much can you put your hands on?"
+
+"Why, I could get all of it; but part of the money is mother's, and
+I would not touch that."
+
+The younger man was about to remonstrate, but Montague stopped him,
+"I will put up the fifty thousand I have earned," he said. "I dare
+not risk any more."
+
+Oliver shrugged his shoulders. "As you please," he said. "You may
+never have another such chance in your life."
+
+He dropped the subject, or at least he probably tried to. Within a
+few minutes, however, he was back at it again, with the result that
+by the time they reached the banking-district, Montague had agreed
+to draw sixty thousand.
+
+They stopped at his bank. "It isn't open yet,--" said Oliver, "but
+the paying teller will oblige you. Tell him you want it before the
+Exchange opens."
+
+Montague went in and got his money, in six new, crisp,
+ten-thousand-dollar bills. He buttoned them up in his inmost pocket,
+wondering a little, incidentally, at the magnificence of the place,
+and at the swift routine manner in which the clerk took in and paid
+out such sums as this. Then they drove to Oliver's bank, and he drew
+a hundred and twenty thousand; and then he paid off the cab, and
+they strolled down Broadway into Wall Street. It lacked a quarter of
+an hour of the time of the opening of the Exchange; and a stream of
+prosperous-looking men were pouring in from all the cars and ferries
+to their offices.
+
+"Where are your brokers?" Montague inquired.
+
+"I don't have any brokers--at least not for a matter such as this,"
+said Oliver. And he stopped in front of one of the big buildings.
+"In there," he said, "are the offices of Hammond and
+Streeter--second floor to your left. Go there and ask for a member
+of the firm, and introduce yourself under an assumed name--"
+
+"What!" gasped Montague.
+
+"Of course, man--you would not dream of giving your own name! What
+difference will that make?"
+
+"I never thought of doing such a thing," said the other.
+
+"Well, think of it now."
+
+But Montague shook his head. "I would not do that," he said.
+
+Oliver shrugged his shoulders. "All right," he said; "tell him you
+don't care to give your name. They're a little shady--they'll take
+your money."
+
+"Suppose they won't?" asked the other.
+
+"Then wait outside for me, and I'll take you somewhere else."
+
+"What shall I buy?"
+
+"Ten thousand shares of Transcontinental Common at the opening
+price; and tell them to buy on the scale up, and to raise the stop;
+also to take your orders to sell over the 'phone. Then wait there
+until I come for you."
+
+Montague set his teeth together and obeyed orders. Inside the door
+marked Hammond and Streeter a pleasant-faced young man advanced to
+meet him, and led him to a grey-haired and affable gentleman, Mr.
+Streeter. And Montague introduced himself as a stranger in town,
+from the South, and wishing to buy some stock. Mr. Streeter led him
+into an inner office and seated himself at a desk and drew some
+papers in front of him. "Your name, please?" he asked.
+
+"I don't care to give my name," replied the other. And Mr. Streeter
+put down his pen.
+
+"Not give your name?" he said.
+
+"No," said Montague quietly.
+
+"Why?"--said Mr. Streeter--"I don't understand--"
+
+"I am a stranger in town," said Montague, "and not accustomed to
+dealing in stocks. I should prefer to remain unknown."
+
+The man eyed him sharply. "Where do you come from?" he asked.
+
+"From Mississippi," was the reply.
+
+"And have you a residence in New York?"
+
+"At a hotel," said Montague.
+
+"You have to give some name," said the other.
+
+"Any will do," said Montague. "John Smith, if you like."
+
+"We never do anything like this," said the broker.
+
+"We require that our customers be introduced. There are rules of the
+Exchange--there are rules--"
+
+"I am sorry," said Montague; "this would be a cash transaction."
+
+"How many shares do you want to buy?"
+
+"Ten thousand," was the reply.
+
+Mr. Streeter became more serious. "That is a large order," he said.
+
+Montague said nothing.
+
+"What do you wish to buy?" was the next question.
+
+"Transcontinental Common," he replied.
+
+"Well," said the other, after another pause-,-"we will try to
+accommodate you. But you will have to consider it--er--"
+
+"Strictly confidential," said Montague.
+
+So Mr. Streeter made out the papers, and Montague, looking them
+over, discovered that they called for one hundred thousand dollars.
+
+
+
+"That is a mistake," he said. "I have only sixty thousand."
+
+"Oh," said the other, "we shall certainly have to charge you a ten
+per cent, margin."
+
+Montague was not prepared for this contingency; but he did some
+mental arithmetic. "What is the present price of the stock?" he
+asked.
+
+"Fifty-nine and five-eighths," was the reply.
+
+"Then sixty thousand dollars is more than ten per cent, of the
+market price," said Montague.
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Streeter. "But in dealing with a stranger we shall
+certainly have to put a 'stop loss' order at four points above, and
+that would leave you only two points of safety--surely not enough."
+
+"I see," said Montague--and he had a sudden appalling realization of
+the wild game which his brother had planned for him.
+
+"Whereas," Mr. Streeter continued, persuasively, "if you put up ten
+per cent., you will have six points."
+
+"Very well," said the other promptly. "Then please buy me six
+thousand shares."
+
+So they closed the deal, and the papers were signed, and Mr.
+Streeter took the six new, crisp ten-thousand-dollar bills.
+
+Then he escorted him to the outer office, remarking pleasantly on
+the way, "I hope you're well advised. We're inclined to be bearish
+upon Transcontinental ourselves--the situation looks rather
+squally."
+
+These words were not worth the breath it took to say them; but
+Montague was not aware of this, and felt a painful start within. But
+he answered, carelessly, that one must take his chance, and sat down
+in one of the customer's chairs. Hammond and Streeter's was like a
+little lecture-hall, with rows of seats and a big blackboard in
+front, with the initials of the most important stocks in columns,
+and yesterday's closing prices above, on little green cards. At one
+side was a ticker, with two attendants awaiting the opening click.
+
+In the seats were twenty or thirty men, old and young; most of them
+regular habitues, victims of the fever of the Street. Montague
+watched them, catching snatches of their whispered conversation,
+with its intricate and disagreeable slang. He felt intensely
+humiliated and uncomfortable--for he had got the fever of the Street
+into his own veins, and he could not conquer it. There were nasty
+shivers running up and down his spine, and his hands were cold.
+
+He stared at the little figures, fascinated; they stood for some
+vast and tremendous force outside, which could not be controlled or
+even comprehended,--some merciless, annihilating force, like the
+lightning or the tornado. And he had put himself at the mercy of it;
+it might do its will with him! "Tr. C. 59 5/8" read the little
+pasteboard; and he had only six points of safety. If at any time in
+the day that figure should be changed to read "53 5/8"--then every
+dollar of Montague's sixty thousand would be gone for ever! The
+great fee that he had worked so hard for and rejoiced so greatly
+over--that would be all gone, and a slice out of his inheritance
+besides!
+
+A boy put into his hand a little four-page paper--one of the
+countless news-sheets which different houses and interests
+distributed free for advertising or other purposes; and a heading
+"Transcontinental" caught his eye, among the paragraphs in the Day's
+Events. He read: "The directors' meeting of the Transcontinental
+R.R. will be held at noon. It is confidently predicted that the
+quarterly dividend will be passed, as it has been for the last three
+quarters. There is great dissatisfaction among the stock-holders.
+The stock has been decidedly weak, with no apparent inside support;
+it fell off three points just before closing yesterday, upon the
+news of further proceedings by Western state officials, and widely
+credited rumours of dissensions among the directors, with renewed
+opposition to the control of the Hopkins interests."
+
+Ten o'clock came and went, and the ticker began its long journey.
+There was intense activity in Transcontinental, many thousands of
+shares changing hands, and the price swaying back and forth. When
+Oliver came in, in half an hour, it stood at 59 3/8.
+
+"That's all right," said he. "Our time will not come till
+afternoon."
+
+"But suppose we are wiped out before afternoon?" said the other.
+
+"That is impossible," answered Oliver. "There will be big buying all
+the morning."
+
+They sat for a while, nervous and restless. Then, by way of breaking
+the monotony, Oliver suggested that his brother might like to see
+the "Street." They went around the corner to Broad Street. Here at
+the head stood the Sub-treasury building, with all the gold of the
+government inside, and a Gatling gun in the tower. The public did
+not know it was there, but the financial men knew it, and it seemed
+as if they had huddled all their offices and banks and safe-deposit
+vaults under its shelter. Here, far underground, were hidden the two
+hundred millions of securities of the Oil Trust--in a huge
+six-hundred-ton steel vault, with a door so delicately poised that a
+finger could swing it on its hinges. And opposite to this was the
+white Grecian building of the Stock Exchange. Down the street were
+throngs of men within a roped arena, pushing, shouting, jostling;
+this was "the curb," where one could buy or sell small blocks of
+stock, and all the wild-cat mining and oil stocks which were not
+listed by the Exchange. Rain or shine, these men were always here;
+and in the windows of the neighbouring buildings stood others
+shouting quotations to them through megaphones, or signalling in
+deaf and dumb language. Some of these brokers wore coloured hats, so
+that they could be distinguished; some had offices far off, where
+men sat all day with strong glasses trained upon them. Everywhere
+was the atmosphere of speculation--the restless, feverish eyes; the
+quick, nervous gestures; the haggard, care-worn faces. For in this
+game every man was pitted against every other man; and the dice were
+loaded so that nine out of every ten were doomed in advance to ruin
+and defeat. They procured passes to the visitors' gallery of the
+Exchange. From here one looked down into a room one or two hundred
+feet square, its floor covered with a snowstorm of torn pieces of
+paper, and its air a babel of shouts and cries. Here were gathered
+perhaps two thousand men and boys; some were lounging and talking,
+but most were crowded about the various trading-posts, pushing,
+climbing over each other, leaping up, waving their hands and calling
+aloud. A "seat" in this exchange was worth about ninety-five
+thousand dollars, and so no one of these men was poor; but yet they
+came, day after day, to play their parts in this sordid arena,
+"seeking in sorrow for each other's joy": inventing a thousand petty
+tricks to outwit and deceive each other; rejoicing in a thousand
+petty triumphs; and spending their lives, like the waves upon the
+shore, a very symbol of human futility. Now and then a sudden
+impulse would seize them, and they would become like howling demons,
+surging about one spot, shrieking, gasping, clawing each other's
+clothing to pieces; and the spectator shuddered, seeing them as the
+victims of some strange and dreadful enchantment, which bound them
+to struggle and torment each other until they were worn out and
+grey.
+
+But one felt these things only dimly, when he had put all his
+fortune into Transcontinental Common. For then he had sold his own
+soul to the enchanter, and the spell was upon him, and he hoped and
+feared and agonized with the struggling throng. Montague had no need
+to ask which was his "post"; for a mob of a hundred men were packed
+about it, with little whirls and eddies here and there on the
+outside. "Something doing to-day all right," said a man in his ear.
+
+It was interesting to watch; but there was one difficulty--there
+were no quotations provided for the spectators. So the sight of this
+activity merely set them on edge with anxiety--something must be
+happening to their stock! Even Oliver was visibly nervous--after
+all, in the surest cases, the game was a dangerous one; there might
+be a big failure, or an assassination, or an earthquake! They rushed
+out and made for the nearest broker's office, where a glance at the
+board showed them Transcontinental at 60. They drew a long breath,
+and sat down again to wait.
+
+That was about half-past eleven. At a quarter to twelve the stock
+went up an eighth, and then a quarter, and then another eighth. The
+two gripped their hands in excitement. Had the time come?
+
+Apparently it had. A minute later the stock leaped to 61, on large
+buying. Then it went three-eighths more. A buzz of excitement ran
+through the office, and the old-timers sat up in their seats. The
+stock went another quarter.
+
+Montague heard a man behind him say to his neighbour, "What does it
+mean?"
+
+"God knows," was the answer; but Oliver whispered in his brother's
+ear, "I know what it means. The insiders are buying."
+
+Somebody was buying, and buying furiously. The ticker seemed to set
+all other business aside and give its attention to the trading in
+Transcontinental. It was like a base-ball game, when one side begins
+to pile up runs, and the man in the coacher's box chants exultantly,
+and the dullest spectator is stirred--since no man can be
+indifferent to success. And as the stock went higher and higher, a
+little wave of excitement mounted with it, a murmur running through
+the room, and a thrill passing from person to person. Some watched,
+wondering if it would last, and if they had not better take on a
+little; then another point would be scored, and they would wish they
+had done it, and hesitate whether to do it now. But to others, like
+the Montagues, who "had some," it was victory, glorious and
+thrilling; their pulses leaped faster with every new change of the
+figures; and between times they reckoned up their gains, and hung
+between hope and dread for the new gains which were on the way, but
+not yet in sight.
+
+There was little lull, and the boys who tended the board had a
+chance to rest. The stock was above 66; at which price, owing to the
+device of "pyramiding." Montague was on "velvet," to use the
+picturesque phrase of the Street. His earnings amounted to sixty
+thousand dollars, and even if the stock were to fall and he were to
+be sold out, he would lose nothing.
+
+He wished to sell and realize his profits; but his brother gripped
+him fast by the arm. "No! no!" he said. "It hasn't really come yet!"
+
+Some went out to lunch--to a restaurant where they could have a
+telephone on their table, so as to keep in touch with events. But
+the Montagues had no care about eating; they sat picturing the
+directors in session, and speculating upon a score of various
+eventualities. Things might yet go wrong, and all their profits
+would vanish like early snow-flakes--and all their capital with
+them. Oliver shook like a leaf, but he would not stir. "Stay game!"
+he whispered.
+
+He took out his watch, and glanced at it. It was after two o'clock.
+"It may go over till to-morrow!" he muttered.--But then suddenly
+came the storm.
+
+The ticker recorded a rise in the price of Transcontinental of a
+point and a half, upon a purchase of five thousand shares; and then
+half a point for two thousand more. After that it never stopped. It
+went a point at a time; it went ten points in about fifteen minutes.
+And babel broke loose in the office, and in several thousand other
+offices in the street, and spread to others all over the world.
+Montague had got up, and was moving here and there, because the
+tension was unendurable; and at the door of an inner office he heard
+some one at the telephone exclaiming, "For the love of God, can't
+you find out what's the matter?"--A moment later a man rushed in,
+breathless and wild-eyed, and his voice rang through the office,
+"The directors have declared a quarterly dividend of three per cent,
+and an extra dividend of two!"
+
+And Oliver caught his brother by the arm and started for the door
+with him. "Get to your broker's," he said. "And if the stock has
+stopped moving, sell; and sell in any case before the close." And
+then he dashed away to his own headquarters.
+
+At about half after three o'clock, Oliver came into Hammond and
+Streeter's, breathless, and with his hair and clothing dishevelled.
+He was half beside himself with exultation; and Montague was
+scarcely less wrought up--in fact he felt quite limp after the
+strain he had been through.
+
+"What price did you get?" his brother inquired; and he answered, "An
+average of 78 3/8." There had been another sharp rise at the end,
+and he had sold all his stock without checking the advance.
+
+"I got five-eighths," said Oliver. "O ye gods!"
+
+There were some unhappy "shorts" in the office; Mr. Streeter was one
+of them. It was bitterness and gall to them to see the radiant faces
+of the two lucky ones; but the two did not even see this. They went
+out, half dancing, and had a drink or two to steady their nerves.
+
+They would not actually get thoir money until the morrow; but
+Montague figured a profit of a trifle under a quarter of a million
+for himself. Of this about twenty thousand would go to make up the
+share of his unknown informant; the balance he considered would be
+an ample reward for his six hours' work that day.
+
+His brother had won more than twice as much. But as they drove up
+home, talking over it in awe-stricken whispers, and pledging
+themselves to absolute secrecy, Oliver suddenly clenched his fist
+and struck his knee.
+
+"By God!" ho exclaimed. "If I hadn't been a fool and tried to save
+an extra margin, I could have had a million!"
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+
+
+
+
+After such a victory one felt in a mood for Christmas
+festivities,--for music and dancing and all beautiful and happy
+things.
+
+Such a thing, for instance, as Mrs. Winnie, when she came to meet
+him; clad in her best automobile coat, a thing of purest snowy
+ermine, so truly gorgeous that wherever she went, people turned and
+stared and caught their breath. Mrs. Winnie was a picture of joyful
+health, with a glow in her rich complexion, and a sparkle in her
+black eyes.
+
+She sat in her big touring-car--in which one could afford to wear
+ermine. It was a little private self-moving hotel; in the limousine
+were seats for six persons, with revolving easy chairs, and berths
+for sleeping, and a writing-desk and a wash-stand, and a beautiful
+electric chandelier to light it at night. Its trimmings were of
+South American mahogany, and its upholstering of Spanish and Morocco
+leathers; it had a telephone with which one spoke to the driver; an
+ice-box and a lunch hamper--in fact, one might have spent an hour
+discovering new gimeracks in this magic automobile. It had been made
+especially for Mrs. Winnie a couple of years ago, and the newspapers
+said it had cost thirty thousand dollars; it had then been quite a
+novelty, but now "everybody" was getting them. In this car one might
+sit at ease, and laugh and chat, and travel at the rate of an
+express train; and with never a jar or a quiver, nor the faintest
+sound of any sort.
+
+The streets of the city sped by them as if by enchantment. They went
+through the park, and out Riverside Drive, and up the river-road
+which runs out of Broadway all the way to Albany. It was a
+macadamized avenue, lined with beautiful and stately homes. As one
+went farther yet, he came to the great country estates-a whole
+district of hundreds of square miles given up to them. There were
+forests and lakes and streams; there were gardens and greenhouses
+filled with rare plants and flowers, and parks with deer browsing,
+and peacocks and lyre-birds strutting about. The road wound in and
+out among hills, the surfaces of which would be one unbroken lawn;
+and upon the highest points stood palaces of every conceivable style
+and shape.
+
+One might find these great domains anywhere around the city, at a
+distance of from thirty to sixty miles; there were two or three
+hundred of them, and incredible were the sums of money which had
+been spent upon their decoration. One saw an artificial lake of ten
+thousand acres, made upon land which had cost several hundred
+dollars an acre; one saw gardens with ten thousand rose-bushes, and
+a quarter of a million dollars' worth of lilies from Japan; there
+was one estate in which had been planted a million dollars' worth of
+rare trees, imported from all over the world. Some rich men, who had
+nothing else to amuse them, would make their estates over and over
+again, changing the view about their homes as one changes the
+scenery in a play. Over in New Jersey the Hegans were building a
+castle upon a mountain-top, and had built a special railroad simply
+to carry the materials. Here, also, was the estate of the tobacco
+king, upon which three million dollars had been spent before the
+plans of the mansion had even been drawn; there were artificial
+lakes and streams, and fantastic bridges and statuary, and scores of
+little model plantations and estates, according to the whim of the
+owner. And here in the Pocantico Hills was the estate of the oil
+king, about four square miles, with thirty miles of model driveways;
+many car-loads of rare plants had been imported for its gardens, and
+it took six hundred men to keep it in order. There was a golf
+course, a little miniature Alps, upon which the richest man in the
+world pursued his lost health, with armed guards and detectives
+patrolling the dace all day, and a tower with a search-light,
+whereby at night he could flood the grounds with light by pressing a
+button.
+
+In one of these places lived the heir of the great house of Devon.
+His cousin dwelt in Europe, saying that America was not a fit place
+for a gentleman to live in. Each of them owned a hundred million
+dollars' worth of New York real estate, and drew their tribute of
+rents from the toil of the swarming millions of the city. And
+always, according to the policy of the family, they bought new real
+estate. They were directors of the great railroads tributary to the
+city, and in touch with the political machines, and in every other
+way in position to know what was under way: if a new subway were
+built to set the swarming millions free, the millions would find the
+land all taken up, and apartment-houses newly built for them--and
+the Devons were the owners. They had a score of the city's greatest
+hotels--and also slum tenements, and brothels and dives in the
+Tenderloin. They did not even have to know what they owned; they did
+not have to know anything, or do anything--they lived in their
+palaces, at home or abroad, and in their offices in the city the
+great rent-gathering machine ground on.
+
+Eldridge Devon's occupation was playing with his country-place and
+his automobiles. He had recently sold all his horses, and turned his
+stables into a garage equipped with a score or so of cars; he was
+always getting a new one, and discussing its merits. As to Hudson
+Cliff, the estate, he had conceived the brilliant idea of
+establishing a gentleman's country-place which should be
+self-supporting--that is to say, which should furnish the luxuries
+and necessities of its owner's table for no more than it would have
+cost to buy them. Considering the prices usually paid, this was no
+astonishing feat, but Devon took a child's delight in it; he showed
+Montague his greenhouses, filled with rare flowers and fruits, and
+his model dairy, with marble stables and nickel plumbing, and
+attendants in white uniforms and rubber gloves. He was a short and
+very stout gentleman with red cheeks, and his conversation was not
+brilliant.
+
+To Hudson Cliff came many of Montague's earlier acquaintances, and
+others whom he had not met before. They amused themselves in all the
+ways with which-he had become familiar at house-parties; likewise on
+Christmas Eve there were festivities for the children, and on
+Christmas night a costume ball, very beautiful and stately. Many
+came from New York to attend this, and others from the
+neighbourhood; and in returning calls, Montague saw others of these
+hill-top mansions.
+
+Also, and most important of all, they played bridge--as they had
+played at every function which he had attended so far. Here Mrs.
+Winnie, who had rather taken him up, and threatened to supplant
+Oliver as his social guide and chaperon, insisted that no more
+excuses would be accepted; and so for two mornings he sat with her
+in one of the sun-parlours, and diligently put his mind upon the
+game. As he proved an apt pupil, he was then advised that he might
+take a trial plunge.
+
+And so Montague came into touch with a new social phenomenon;
+perhaps on the whole the most significant and soul-disturbing
+phenomenon which Society had exhibited to him. He had just had the
+experience of getting a great deal of money without earning it, and
+was fresh from the disagreeable memories of it--the trembling and
+suspense, the burning lustful greed, the terrible nerve-devouring
+excitement. He had hoped that he would not soon have to go through
+such an experience again-and here was the prospect of an endless
+dalliance with it!
+
+For that was the meaning of bridge; it was a penalty which people
+were paying for getting their money without earning it. The disease
+got into their blood, and they could no longer live without the
+excitement of gain and the hope of gain. So after their labours were
+over, when they were supposed to be resting and enjoying
+themselves, they would get together and torment themselves with an
+imitation struggle, mimicking the grim and dreadful gamble of
+business. Down in the Street, Oliver had pointed out to his brother
+a celebrated "plunger," who had sometimes won six or eight millions
+in a single day; and that man would play at stocks all morning, and
+"play the ponies" in the afternoon, and then spend the evening in a
+millionaires' gambling-house. And so it was with the bridge fiends.
+
+It was a social plague; it had run through all Society, high and
+low. It had destroyed conversation and all good-fellowship--it would
+end by destroying even common decency, and turning the best people
+into vulgar gamblers.--Thus spoke Mrs. Billy Alden, who was one of
+the guests; and Montague thought that Mrs. Billy ought to know, for
+she herself was playing all the time.
+
+Mrs. Billy did not like Mrs. Winnie Duval; and the beginning of the
+conversation was her inquiry why he let that woman corrupt him. Then
+the good lady went on to tell him what bridge had come to be; how
+people played it on the trains all the way from New York to San
+Francisco; how they had tables in their autos, and played while they
+were touring over the world. "Once," said she, "I took a party to
+see the America's Cup races off Sandy Hook; and when we got back to
+the pier, some one called, 'Who won?' And the answer was, 'Mrs.
+Billy's ahead, but we're going on this evening.' I took a party of
+friends through the Mediterranean and up the Nile, and we passed
+Venice and Cairo and the Pyramids and the Suez Canal, and they never
+once looked up--they were playing bridge. And you think I'm joking,
+but I mean just literally what I say. I know a man who was
+travelling from New York to Philadelphia, and got into a game with
+some strangers, and rode all the way to Palm Beach to finish it!"
+
+Montague heard later of a well-known Society leader who was totally
+incapacitated that winter, from too much bridge at Newport; and she
+was passing the winter at Hot Springs and Palm Beach--and playing
+bridge there. They played it even in sanitariums, to which they had
+been driven by nervous breakdown. It was an occupation so exhausting
+to the physique of women that physicians came to know the symptoms
+of it, and before they diagnosed a case, they would ask, "Do you
+play bridge?" It had destroyed the last remnants of the Sabbath--it
+was a universal custom to have card-parties on that day.
+
+It was a very expensive game, as they played it in Society; one
+might easily win or lose several thousand dollars in an evening, and
+there were many who could not afford this. If one did not play, he
+would be dropped from the lists of those invited; and when one
+entered a game, etiquette required him to stay in until it was
+finished. So one heard of young girls who had pawned their family
+plate, or who had sold their honour, to pay their bills at the game;
+and all Society knew of one youth who had robbed his hostess of her
+jewels and pawned them, and then taken her the tickets--telling her
+that her guests had robbed him. There were women received in the
+best Society, who lived as adventuresses pure and simple, upon their
+skill at the game; hostesses would invite rich guests and fleece
+them. Montague never forgot the sense of amazement and dismay with
+which he listened while first Mrs. Winnie and then his brother
+warned him that he must avoid playing with a certain aristocratic
+dame whom he met in this most aristocratic household--because she
+was such a notorious cheater!
+
+"My dear fellow," laughed his brother, when he protested, "we have a
+phrase 'to cheat at cards like a woman.'" And then Oliver went on to
+tell him of his own first experience at cards in Society, when he
+had played poker with several charming young debutantes; they would
+call their hands and take the money without showing their cards, and
+he had been too gallant to ask to see them. But later he learned
+that this was a regular practice, and so he never played poker with
+women. And Oliver pointed out one of these girls to his
+brother--sitting, as beautiful as a picture and as cold as marble,
+with a half-smoked cigarette on the edge of the table, and whisky
+and soda and glasses of cracked ice beside her. Later on, as he
+chanced to be reading a newspaper, his brother leaned over his
+shoulder and pointed out another of the symptoms of the craze--an
+advertisement headed, "Your luck will change." It gave notice that
+at Rosenstein's Parlours, just off Fifth Avenue, one might borrow
+money upon expensive gowns and furs!
+
+All during the ten days of this house-party, Mrs. Winnie devoted
+herself to seeing that Montague had a good time; Mrs. Winnie sat
+beside him at table--he found that somehow a convention had been
+established which assigned him to Mrs. Winnie as a matter of course.
+Nobody said anything to him about it, but knowing how relentlessly
+the affairs of other people were probed and analyzed, he began to
+feel exceedingly uncomfortable.
+
+There came a time when he felt quite smothered by Mrs. Winnie; and
+immediately after lunch one day he broke away and went for a long
+walk by himself. This was the occasion of his meeting with an
+adventure.
+
+An inch or two of snow had fallen, and lay gleaming in the sunlight.
+The air was keen, and he drank deep draughts of it, and went
+striding away over the hills for an hour or so. There was a gale
+blowing, and as he came over the summits it would strike him, and he
+would see the river white with foam. And then down in the valleys
+again all would be still.
+
+Here, in a thickly wooded place, Montague's attention was arrested
+suddenly by a peculiar sound, a heavy thud, which seemed to shake
+the earth. It suggested a distant explosion, and he stopped for a
+moment and then went on, gazing ahead. He passed a turn, and then he
+saw a great tree which had fallen directly across the road.
+
+He went on, thinking that this was what he had heard. But as he came
+nearer, he saw his mistake. Beyond the tree lay something else, and
+he began to run toward it. It was two wheels of an automobile,
+sticking up into the air.
+
+He sprang upon the tree-trunk, and in one glance he saw the whole
+story. A big touring-car had swept round the sharp turn, and swerved
+to avoid the unexpected obstruction, and so turned a somersault into
+the ditch.
+
+Montague gave a thrill of horror, for there was the form of a man
+pinned beneath the body of the car. He sprang toward it, but a
+second glance made him stop--he saw that blood had gushed from the
+man's mouth and soaked the snow all about. His chest was visibly
+crushed flat, and his eyes were dreadful, half-started from their
+sockets.
+
+For a moment Montague stood staring, as if turned to stone. Then
+from the other side of the car came a moan, and he ran toward the
+sound. A second man lay in the ditch, moving feebly. Montague sprang
+to help him.
+
+The man wore a heavy bearskin coat. Montague lifted him, and saw
+that he was a very elderly person, with a cut across his forehead,
+and a face as white as chalk. The other helped him to a position
+with his back against the bank, and he opened his eyes and groaned.
+
+Montague knelt beside him, watching his breathing. He had a sense of
+utter helplessness--there was nothing he could think of to do, save
+to unbutton the man's coat and keep wiping the blood from his face.
+
+"Some whisky," the stranger moaned. Montague answered that he had
+none; but the other replied that there was some in the car.
+
+The slope of the bank was such that Montague could crawl under, and
+find the compartment with the bottle in it. The old man drank some,
+and a little colour came back to his face. As the other watched him,
+it came to him that this face was familiar; but he could not place
+it.
+
+"How many were there with you?" Montague asked; and the man
+answered, "Only one."
+
+Montague went over and made certain that the other man--who was
+obviously the chauffeur--was dead. Then he hurried down the road,
+and dragged some brush out into the middle of it, where it could be
+seen from a distance by any other automobile that came along; after
+which he went back to the stranger, and bound his handkerchief about
+his forehead to stop the bleeding from the cut.
+
+The old man's lips were tightly set, as if he were suffering great
+pain. "I'm done for!" he moaned, again and again.
+
+"Where are you hurt?" Montague asked.
+
+"I don't know," he gasped. "But it's finished me! I know it--it's
+the last straw."
+
+Then he closed his eyes and lay back. "Can't you get a doctor?" he
+asked.
+
+"There are no houses very near," said Montague. "But I can run--"
+
+"No, no!" the other interrupted, anxiously. "Don't leave me! Some
+one will come.--Oh, that fool of a chauffeur--why couldn't he go
+slow when I told him? That's always the way with them--they're
+always trying to show off."
+
+"The man is dead," said Montague, quietly.
+
+The other started upon his elbow. "Dead!" ho gasped.
+
+"Yes," said Montague. "He's under the car."
+
+The old man's eyes had started wild with fright; and he caught
+Montague by the arm. "Dead!" he said. "O my God--and it might have
+been me!"
+
+There was a moment's pause. The stranger caught his breath, and
+whispered again: "I'm done for! I can't stand it! it's too much!"
+
+Montague had noticed when he lifted the man that he was very frail
+and slight of build. Now he could feel that the hand that held his
+arm was trembling violently. It occurred to him that perhaps the man
+was not really hurt, but that his nerves had been upset by the
+shock.
+
+And he felt certain of this a moment later, when the stranger
+suddenly leaned forward, clutching him with redoubled intensity, and
+staring at him with wide, horror-stricken eyes.
+
+"Do you know what it means to be afraid of death?" he panted. "Do
+you know what it means to be afraid of death?"
+
+Then, without waiting for a reply, he rushed on--"No, no! You
+can't! you can't! I don't believe any man knows it as I do! Think of
+it--for ten years I've never known a minute when I wasn't afraid of
+death! It follows me around--it won't let me be! It leaps out at me
+in places, like this! And when I escape it, I can hear it laughing
+at me--for it knows I can't get away!"
+
+The old man caught his breath with a choking sob. He was clinging to
+Montague like a frightened child, and staring with a wild, hunted
+look upon his face. Montague sat transfixed.
+
+"Yes," the other rushed on, "that's the truth, as God hears me! And
+it's the first time I've ever spoken it in my life! I have to hide
+it--because men would laugh at me--they pretend they're not afraid!
+But I lie awake all night, and it's like a fiend that sits by my
+bedside! I lie and listen to my own heart--I feel it beating, and I
+think how weak it is, and what thin walls it has, and what a
+wretched, helpless thing it is to have your life depend on
+that!--You don't know what that is, I suppose."
+
+Montague shook his head.
+
+"You're young, you see," said the other. "You have health--everybody
+has health, except me! And everybody hates me--I haven't got a
+friend in the world!"
+
+Montague was quite taken aback by the suddenness of this outburst.
+He tried to stop it, for he felt almost indecent in listening--it
+was not fair to take a man off his guard like this. But the stranger
+could not be stopped--he was completely unstrung, and his voice grew
+louder and louder.
+
+"It's every word of it true," he exclaimed wildly. "And I can't
+stand it any more. I can't stand anything any more. I was young and
+strong once--I could take care of myself; and I said: I'll make
+money, I'll be master of other men! But I was a fool--I forgot my
+health. And now all the money on earth can't do me any good! I'd
+give ten million dollars to-day for a body like any other man's--and
+this--this is what I have!"
+
+He struck his hands against his bosom. "Look at it!" he cried,
+hysterically. "This is what I've got to live in! It won't digest any
+food, and I can't keep it warm--there's nothing right with it! How
+would you like to lie awake at night and say to yourself that your
+teeth were decaying and you couldn't help it--your hair was falling
+out, and nobody could stop it? You're old and worn out--falling to
+pieces; and everybody hates you--everybody's waiting for you to die,
+so that they can get you out of the way. The doctors come, and
+they're all humbugs! They shake their heads and use long words--they
+know they can't do you any good, but they want their big fees! And
+all they do is to frighten you worse, and make you sicker than
+ever!"
+
+There was nothing that Montague could do save to sit and listen to
+this outburst of wretchedness. His attempts to soothe the old man
+only had the effect of exciting him more.
+
+"Why does it all have to fall on me?" he moaned. "I want to be like
+other people--I want to live! And instead, I'm like a man with a
+pack of hungry wolves prowling round him--that's what it's like!
+It's like Nature--hungry and cruel and savage! You think you know
+what life is; it seems so beautiful and gentle and pleasant--that's
+when you're on top! But now I'm down, and I KNOW what it is--it's a
+thing like a nightmare, that reaches out for you to clutch you and
+crush you! And you can't get away from it--you're helpless as a rat
+in a corner--you're damned--you're damned!" The miserable man's
+voice broke in a cry of despair, and he sank down in a heap in front
+of Montague, shaking and sobbing. The other was trembling slightly,
+and stricken with awe.
+
+There was a long silence, and then the stranger lifted his
+tear-stained face, and Montague helped to support him. "Have a
+little more of the whisky," said he.
+
+"No," the other answered feebly, "I'd better not."
+
+"--My doctors won't let me have whisky," he added, after a while.
+"That's my liver. I've so many don'ts, you know, that it takes a
+note-book to keep track of them. And all of them together do me no
+good! Think of it--I have to live on graham crackers and
+milk--actually, not a thing has passed my lips for two years but
+graham crackers and milk."
+
+And then suddenly, with a start, it came to Montague where he had
+seen this wrinkled old face before. It was Laura Hegan's uncle, whom
+the Major had pointed out to him in the dining-room of the
+Millionaires' Club! Old Henry S. Grimes, who was really only sixty,
+but looked eighty; and who owned slum tenements, and evicted more
+people in a month than could be crowded into the club-house!
+
+Montague gave no sign, but sat holding the man in his arms. A little
+trickle of blood came from under the handkerchief and ran down his
+cheek; Montague felt him tremble as he touched this with his ringer.
+
+"Is it much of a cut?" he asked.
+
+"Not much," said Montague; "two or three stitches, perhaps."
+
+"Send for my family physician," the other added. "If I should faint,
+or anything, you'll find his name in my card-case. What's that?"
+
+There was the sound of voices down the road. "Hello!"' Montague
+shouted; and a moment later two men in automobile costume came
+running toward him. They stopped, staring in dismay at the sight
+which confronted them.
+
+At Montague's suggestion they made haste to find a log by means of
+which they lifted the auto sufficiently to drag out the body of the
+chauffeur. Montague saw that it was quite cold.
+
+He went back to old Grimes. "Where do you wish to go?" he asked.
+
+The other hesitated. "I was bound for the Harrisons'--" he said.
+
+"The Leslie Harrisons?" asked Montague. (They were people he had met
+at the Devons'.)
+
+The other noticed his look of recognition. "Do you know them?" he
+asked.
+
+"I do," said Montague.
+
+"It isn't far," said the old man. "Perhaps I had best go
+there."--And then he hesitated for a moment; and catching Montague
+by the arm, and pulling him toward him, whispered, "Tell me--you-you
+won't tell--"
+
+Montague, comprehending what he meant, answered, "It will be between
+us." At the same time he felt a new thrill of revulsion for this
+most miserable old creature.
+
+They lifted him into the car; and because they delayed long enough
+to lay a blanket over the body of the chauffeur, he asked peevishly
+why they did not start. During the ten or fifteen minutes' trip he
+sat clinging to Montague, shuddering with fright every time they
+rounded a turn in the road.
+
+They reached the Harrisons' place; and the footman who opened the
+door was startled out of his studied impassivity by the sight of a
+big bundle of bearskin in Montague's arms. "Send for Mrs. Harrison,"
+said Montague, and laid the bundle upon a divan in the hall. "Get a
+doctor as quickly as you can," he added to a second attendant.
+
+Mrs. Harrison came. "It's Mr. Grimes," said Montague; and then he
+heard a frightened exclamation, and turned and saw Laura Hegan, in a
+walking costume, fresh from the cold outside.
+
+"What is it?" she cried. And he told her, as quickly as he could,
+and she ran to help the old man. Montague stood by, and later
+carried him upstairs, and waited below until the doctor came.
+
+It was only when he set out for home again that he found time to
+think about Laura Hegan, and how beautiful she had looked in her
+furs. He wondered if it would always be his fate to meet her under
+circumstances which left her no time to be aware of his own
+existence.
+
+At home he told about his adventure, and found himself quite a hero
+for the rest of the day. He was obliged to give interviews to
+several newspaper reporters, and to refuse to let one of them take
+his picture. Every one at the Devons' seemed to know old Harry
+Grimes, and Montague thought to himself that if the comments of this
+particular group of people were a fair sample, the poor wretch was
+right in saying that he had not a friend in the world.
+
+When he came downstairs the next morning, he found elaborate
+accounts of the accident in the papers, and learned that Grimes had
+nothing worse than a scalp wound and a severe shock. Even so, he
+felt it was incumbent upon him to pay a visit of inquiry, and rode
+over shortly before lunch.
+
+Laura Hegan came down to see him, wearing a morning gown of white.
+She confirmed the good news of the papers, and said that her uncle
+was resting quietly. (She did not say that his physician had come
+post-haste, with two nurses, and taken up his residence in the
+house, and that the poor old millionaire was denied even his graham
+crackers and milk). Instead she said that he had mentioned
+Montague's kindness particularly, and asked her to thank him.
+Montague was cynical enough to doubt this.
+
+It was the first time that he had ever had any occasion to talk with
+Miss Hegan. He noticed her gentle and caressing voice, with the
+least touch of the South in it; and he was glad to find that it was
+possible for her to talk without breaking the spell of her serene
+and noble beauty. Montague stayed as long as he had any right to
+stay.
+
+And all the way as he rode home he was thinking about Laura Hegan.
+Here for the first time was a woman whom he felt he should like to
+know; a woman with reserve and dignity, and some ideas in her life.
+And it was impossible for him to know her--because she was rich!
+
+There was no dodging this fact--Montague did not even try. He had
+met women with fortunes already, and he knew how they felt about
+themselves, and how the rest of the world felt about them. They
+might wish in their hearts to be something else besides the keepers
+of a treasure-chest, but their wishes were futile; the money went
+with them, and they had to defend it against all comers. Montague
+recalled one heiress after another--debutantes, some of them,
+exquisite and delicate as butterflies--but under the surface as hard
+as chain-armour. All their lives they had been trained to think of
+themselves as representing money, and of every one who came near
+them as adventurers seeking money. In every word they uttered, in
+every glance and motion, one might read this meaning. And then he
+thought of Laura Hegan, with the fortune she would inherit; and he
+pictured what her life must be--the toadies and parasites and
+flatterers who would lay siege to her--the scheming mammas and the
+affectionate sisters and cousins who would plot to gain her
+confidence! For a man who was poor, and who meant to keep his
+self-respect, was there any possible conclusion except that she was
+entirely unknowable to him?
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+
+
+
+
+Montague came back to the city, and dug into his books again; while
+Alice gave her spare hours to watching the progress of the new gown
+in which she was to uphold the honour of the family at Mrs. Devon's
+opening ball. The great event was due in the next week and Society
+was as much excited about it as a family of children before
+Christmas. All whom Montague met were invited and all were going
+unless they happened to be in mourning. Their gossip was all of the
+disappointed ones, and their bitterness and heartburning.
+
+Mrs. Devon's mansion was thrown open early on the eventful evening,
+but few would come until midnight. It was the fashion to attend the
+Opera first, and previous to that half a dozen people would give big
+dinners. He was a fortunate person who did not hear from his liver
+after this occasion; for at one o'clock came Mrs. Devon's massive
+supper, and then again at four o'clock another supper. To prepare
+these repasts a dozen extra chefs had been imported into the Devon
+establishment for a week--for it was part of the great lady's pride
+to permit no outside caterer to prepare anything for her guests.
+
+Montague had never been able to get over his wonder at the social
+phenomenon known as Mrs. Devon. He came and took his chances in the
+jostling throngs; and except that he got into casual conversation
+with one of the numerous detectives whom he took for a guest he came
+off fairly well. But all the time that he was being passed about and
+introduced and danced with, he was looking about him and wondering.
+The grand staircase and the hall and parlours had been turned into
+tropical gardens, with palms and trailing vines, and azaleas and
+roses, and great vases of scarlet poinsettia, with hundreds of
+lights glowing through them. (It was said that this ball had
+exhausted the flower supply of the country as far south as Atlanta.)
+And then in the reception room one came upon the little old lady,
+standing' beneath a bower of orchids. She was clad in a robe of
+royal purple trimmed with silver, and girdled about with an
+armour-plate of gems. If one might credit the papers, the diamonds
+that were worn at one of these balls were valued at twenty million
+dollars.
+
+The stranger was quite overwhelmed by all the splendour. There was a
+cotillion danced by two hundred gorgeously clad women and their
+partners--a scene so gay that one could only think of it as
+happening in a fairy legend, or some old romance of knighthood. Four
+sets of favours were given during this function, and jewels and
+objects of art were showered forth as if from a magician's wand.
+Mrs. Devon herself soon disappeared, but the riot of music and
+merry-making went on until near morning, and during all this time
+the halls and rooms of the great mansion were so crowded that one
+could scarcely move about.
+
+Then one went home, and realized that all this splendour, and the
+human effort which it represented, had been for nothing but a
+memory! Nor would he get the full meaning of it if he failed to
+realize that it was simply one of thousands--a pattern which every
+one there would strive to follow in some function of his own. It was
+a signal bell, which told the world that the "season" was open. It
+loosed the floodgates of extravagance, and the torrent of
+dissipation poured forth. From then on there would be a continuous
+round of gaieties; one might have three banquets every single
+night--for a dinner and two suppers was now the custom, at
+entertainments! And filling the rest of one's day were receptions
+and teas and musicales--a person might take his choice among a score
+of opportunities, and never leave the circle he met at Mrs. Devon's.
+Nor was this counting the tens of thousands of aspirants and
+imitators all over the city; nor in a host of other cities, each
+with thousands of women who had nothing to do save to ape the ways
+of the Metropolis. The mind could not realize the volume of this
+deluge of destruction--it was a thing which stunned the senses, and
+thundered in one's ears like Niagara.
+
+The meaning of it all did not stop with the people who poured it
+forth; its effects were to be traced through the whole country.
+There were hordes of tradesmen and manufacturers who supplied what
+Society bought, and whose study it was to induce people to buy as
+much as possible. And so they devised what were called
+"fashions"--little eccentricities of cut and material, which made
+everything go out of date quickly. There had once been two seasons,
+but now there were four; and through window displays and millions of
+advertisements the public was lured into the trap. The "yellow"
+journals would give whole pages to describing "What the 400 are
+wearing"; there were magazines with many millions of readers, which
+existed for nothing save to propagate these ideas. And everywhere,
+in all classes of Society, men and women were starving their minds
+and hearts, and straining their energies to follow this phantom of
+fashion; the masses were kept poor because of it, and the youth and
+hope of the world was betrayed by it. In country villages poor
+farmers' wives were trimming their bonnets over to be "stylish"; and
+servant-girls in the cities were wearing imitation sealskins, and
+shop-clerks and sempstresses selling themselves into brothels for
+the sake of ribbons and gilt jewellery.
+
+It was the instinct of decoration, perverted by the money-lust. In
+the Metropolis the sole test of excellence was money, and the
+possession of money was the proof of power; and every natural desire
+of men and women had been tainted by this influence. The love of
+beauty, the impulse to hospitality, the joys of music and dancing
+and love--all these things had become simply means to the
+demonstration of money-power! The men were busy making more money--
+but their idle women had nothing in life save this mad race in
+display. So it had come about that the woman who could consume
+wealth most conspicuously--who was the most effective instrument for
+the destroying of the labour and the lives of other people--this was
+the woman who was most applauded and most noticed.
+
+The most appalling fact about Society was this utter blind
+materialism. Such expectations as Montague had brought with him had
+been derived from the literature of Europe; in a grand monde such as
+this, he expected to meet diplomats and statesmen, scientists and
+explorers, philosophers and poets and painters. But one never heard
+anything about such people in Society. It was a mark of eccentricity
+to be interested in intellectual affairs, and one might go about for
+weeks and not meet a person with an idea. When these people read, it
+was a sugar-candy novel, and when they went to the play, it was a
+musical comedy. The one single intellectual product which it could
+point to as its own, was a rancid scandal-sheet, used mainly as a
+moans of blackmail. Now and then some aspiring young matron of the
+"elite" would try to set up a salon after the fashion of the
+continent, and would gather a few feeble wits about her for a time.
+But for the most part the intellectual workers of the city held
+themselves severely aloof; and Society was loft a little clique of
+people whose fortunes had become historic in a decade or two, and
+who got together in each other's palaces and gorged themselves, and
+gambled and gossiped about each other, and wove about their
+personalities a veil of awful and exclusive majesty.
+
+Montague found himself thinking that perhaps it was not they who
+were to blame. It was not they who had set up wealth as the end and
+goal of things--it was the whole community, of which they were a
+part. It was not their fault that they had been left with power and
+nothing to use it for; it was not their fault that their sons and
+daughters found themselves stranded in the world, deprived of all
+necessity, and of the possibility of doing anything useful.
+
+The most pitiful aspect of the whole thing to Montague was this
+"second generation" who were coming upon the scene, with their lives
+all poisoned in advance. No wrong which they could do to the world
+would ever equal the wrong which the world had done them, in
+permitting them to have money which they had not earned. They were
+cut off for ever from reality, and from the possibility of
+understanding life; they had big, healthy bodies, and they craved
+experience--and they had absolutely nothing to do. That was the real
+meaning of all this orgy of dissipation--this "social whirl" as it
+was called; it was the frantic chase of some new thrill, some
+excitement that would stir the senses of people who had nothing in
+the world to interest them. That was why they were building palaces,
+and flinging largesses of banquets and balls, and tearing about the
+country in automobiles, and travelling over the earth in steam
+yachts and private trains.
+
+--And first and last, the lesson of their efforts was, that the
+chase was futile; the jaded nerves would not thrill. The most
+conspicuous fact about Society was its unutterable and agonizing
+boredom; of its great solemn functions the shop-girl would read with
+greedy envy, but the women who attended them would be half asleep
+behind their jewelled fans. It was typified to Montague by Mrs.
+Billy Alderi's yachting party on the Nile; yawning in the face of
+the Sphinx, and playing bridge beneath the shadow of the pyramids--
+and counting the crocodiles and proposing to jump in by way of
+"changing the pain"!
+
+People attended these ceaseless rounds of entertainments, simply
+because they dreaded to be left alone. They wandered from place to
+place, following like a herd of sheep whatever leader would
+inaugurate a new diversion. One could have filled a volume with the
+list of their "fads." There were new ones every week--if Society did
+not invent them, the yellow journals invented them. There was a
+woman who had her teeth filled with diamonds; and another who was
+driving a pair of zebras. One heard of monkey dinners and pyjama
+dinners at Newport, of horseback dinners and vegetable dances in New
+York. One heard of fashion-albums and autograph-fans and talking
+crows and rare orchids and reindeer meat; of bracelets for men and
+ankle rings for women; of "vanity-boxes" at ten and twenty thousand
+dollars each; of weird and repulsive pets, chameleons and lizards
+and king-snakes--there was one young woman who wore a cat-snake as a
+necklace. One would take to slumming and another to sniffing brandy
+through the nose; one had a table-cover made of woven roses, and
+another was wearing perfumed flannel at sixteen dollars a yard; one
+had inaugurated ice-skating in August, and another had started a
+class for the study of Plato. Some were giving tennis tournaments in
+bathing-suits, and playing leap-frog after dinner; others had got
+dispensations from the Pope, so that they might have private chapels
+and confessors; and yet others were giving "progressive dinners,"
+moving from one restaurant to another--a cocktail and blue-points at
+Sherry's, a soup and Madeira at Delmonico's, some terrapin with
+amontillado at the Waldorf--and so on.
+
+One of the consequences of the furious pace was that people's health
+broke down very quickly; and there were all sorts of bizarre ways of
+restoring it. One person would be eating nothing but spinach, and
+another would be living on grass. One would chew a mouthful of soup
+thirty-two times; another would eat every two hours, and another
+only once a week. Some went out in the early morning and walked
+bare-footed in the grass, and others went hopping about the floor on
+their hands and knees to take off fat. There were "rest cures" and
+"water cures," "new thought" and "metaphysical healing" and
+"Christian Science"; there was an automatic horse, which one might
+ride indoors, with a register showing the distance travelled.
+Montague met one man who had an electric machine, which cost thirty
+thousand dollars, and which took hold of his arms and feet and
+exercised him while he waited. Ho met a woman who told him she was
+riding an electric camel!
+
+Everywhere one went there were new people, spending their money in
+new and incredible ways. Here was a man who had bought a chapel and
+turned it into a theatre, and hired professional actors, and
+persuaded his friends to come and see him act Shakespeare. Hero was
+a woman who costumed herself after figures in famous paintings, with
+arrangements of roses and cherry leaves, and wreaths of ivy and
+laurel--and with costumes for her pet dogs to match! Hero was a man
+who paid six dollars a day for a carnation four inches across; and a
+girl who wore a hat trimmed with fresh morning-glories, and a ball
+costume with swarms of real butterflies tied with silk threads; and
+another with a hat made of woven silver, with ostrich plumes forty
+inches long made entirely of silvei films. Here was a man who hired
+a military company to drill all day long to prepare a floor for
+dancing; and another who put up a building at a cost of thirty
+thousand dollars to give a debutante dance for his daughter, and
+then had it torn down the day aftor. Here was a man who bred
+rattlesnakes and turned them loose by thousands, and had driven
+everybody away from the North Carolina estate of one of the
+Wallings. Here was a man who was building himself a yacht with a
+model dairy and bakery on board, and a French laundry and a brass
+band. Here was a million-dollar racing-yacht with auto-boats on it
+and a platoon of marksmen, and some Chinese laundrymen, and two
+physicians for its half-insane occupant. Here was a man who had
+bought a Rhine castle for three-quarters of a million, and spent as
+much in restoring it, and filled it with servants dressed in
+fourteenth-century costumes. Here was a five-million-dollar art
+collection hidden away where nobody ever saw it!
+
+One saw the meaning of this madness most clearly in the young men of
+Society. Some were killing themselves and other people in automobile
+races at a hundred and twenty miles an hour. Some went in for
+auto-boats, mere shells of things, shaped like a knife-blade, that
+tore through the water at forty miles an hour. Some would hire
+professional pugilists to knock them out; others would get up
+dog-fights and bear-fights, and boxing matches with kangaroos.
+Montague was taken to the home of one young man who had given his
+life to hunting wild gajne in every corner of the globe, and would
+travel round the world for a new species to add to his museum of
+trophies. He had heard that Baron Rothschild had offered a thousand
+pounds for a "bongo," a huge grass-eating animal, which no white man
+had ever seen; and he had taken a year's trip into the interior,
+with a train of a hundred and thtiry natives, and had brought out
+the heads of forty different species, including a bongo--which the
+Baron did not get! He met another who had helped to organize a
+balloon club, and two twenty-four-hour trips in the clouds. (This,
+by the way, was the latest sport--at Tuxedo they had races between
+balloons and automobiles; and Montague met one young lady who
+boasted that she had been up five times.) There was another young
+millionaire who sat and patiently taught Sunday School, in the
+presence of a host of reporters; there was another who set up a
+chain of newspapers all over the country and made war upon his
+class. There were others who went in for settlement work and Russian
+revolutionists--there were even some who called themselves
+Socialists! Montague thought that this was the strangest fad of all;
+and when he met one of these young men at an afternoon tea, he gazed
+at him with wonder and perplexity--thinking of the man he had heard
+ranting on the street-corner.
+
+This was the "second generation." Appalling as it was to think of,
+there was a third growing up, and getting ready to take the stage.
+And with wealth accumulating faster than ever, who could guess what
+they might do? There were still in Society a few men and women who
+had earned their money, and had some idea of the toil and suffering
+that it stood for; but when the third generation had taken
+possession, these would all be dead or forgotten, and there would no
+longer be any link to connect them with reality!
+
+In the light of this thought one was moved to watch the children of
+the rich. Some of these had inherited scores of millions of dollars
+while they were still in the cradle; now and then one of them would
+be presented with a million-dollar house for a birthday gift. When
+such a baby was born, the newspapers would give pages to describing
+its layette, with baby dresses at a hundred dollars each, and lace
+handkerchiefs at five dollars, and dressing-sets with tiny gold
+brushes and powder-boxes; one might see a picture of the precious
+object in a "Moses basket," covered with rare and wonderful
+Valenciennes lace.
+
+This child would grow up in an atmosphere of luxury and
+self-indulgence; it would be bullying the servants at the age of
+six, and talking scandal and smoking cigarettes at twelve. It would
+be petted and admired and stared at, and paraded about in state,
+dressed up like a French doll; it would drink in snobbery and
+hatefulness with the very air it breathed. One might meet in these
+great houses little tots not yet in their teens whose talk was all
+of the cost of things, and of the inferiority of their neighbours.
+There was nothing in the world too good for them.--They had little
+miniature automobiles to ride about the country in, and blooded
+Arabian ponies, and doll-houses in real Louis Seize, with jewelled
+rugs and miniature electric lights. At Mrs. Caroline Smythe's,
+Montague was introduced to a pale and anaemic-looking youth of
+thirteen, who dined in solemn state alone when the rest of the
+family was away, and insisted upon having all the footmen in
+attendance; and his unfortunate aunt brought a storm about her ears
+by forbidding the butler to take champagne upstairs into the nursery
+before lunch.
+
+A little remark stayed in Montague's mind as expressing the attitude
+of Society toward such matters. Major Venable had chanced to remark
+jestingly that children were coming to understand so much nowadays
+that it was necessary for the ladies to be careful. To which Mrs.
+Vivie Patton answered, with a sudden access of seriousness: "I don't
+know--do you find that children have any morals? Mine haven't."
+
+And then the fascinating Mrs. Vivie went on to tell the truth about
+her own children. They were natural-born savages, and that was all
+there was to it. They did as they pleased, and no one could stop
+them. The Major replied that nowadays all the world was doing as it
+pleased, and no one seemed to be able to stop it; and with that jest
+the conversation was turned to other matters. But Montague sat in
+silence, thinking about it--wondering what would happen to the world
+when it had fallen under the sway of this generation of spoiled
+children, and had adopted altogether the religion of doing as one
+pleased.
+
+In the beginning people had simply done as they pleased
+spontaneously, and without thinking about it; but now, Montague
+discovered, the custom had spread to such an extent that it was
+developing a philosophy. There was springing up a new cult, whose
+devotees were planning to make over the world upon the plan of doing
+as one pleased. Because its members were wealthy, and able to
+command the talent of the world, the cult was developing an art,
+with a highly perfected technique, and a literature which was subtle
+and exquisite and alluring. Europe had had such a literature for a
+century, and England for a generation or two. And now America was
+having it, too!
+
+Montague had an amusing insight into this one day, when Mrs. Vivie
+invited him to one of her "artistic evenings." Mrs. Vivie was in
+touch with a special set which went in for intellectual things, and
+included some amateur Bohemians and men of "genius." "Don't you come
+if you'll be shocked," she had said to him--"for Strathcona will be
+there."
+
+Montague deemed himself able to stand a good deal by this time. He
+went, and found Mrs. Vivie and her Count (Mr. Vivie had apparently
+not been invited) and also the young poet of Diabolism, whose work
+was just then the talk of the town. He was a tall, slender youth
+with a white face and melancholy black eyes, and black locks falling
+in cascades about his ears; he sat in an Oriental corner, with a
+manuscript copied in tiny handwriting upon delicately scented "art
+paper," and tied with passionate purple ribbons. A young girl clad
+in white sat by his side and held a candle, while he read from this
+manuscript his unprinted (because unprintable) verses.
+
+And between the readings the young poet talked. He talked about
+himself and his work--apparently. that was what he had come to talk
+about. His words flowed like a swift stream, limpid, sparkling,
+incessant; leaping from place to place--here, there, quick as the
+play of light upon the water. Montague laboured to follow the
+speaker's ideas, until he found his mind in a whirl and gave it up.
+Afterward, when he thought it over, he laughed at himself; for
+Strathcona's ideas were not serious things, having relationship to
+truth--they were epigrams put together to dazzle the hearer,
+studies in paradox, with as much relation to life as fireworks. He
+took the sum-total of the moral experience of the human race, and
+turned it upside down and jumbled it about, and used it as bits of
+glass in a kaleidoscope. And the hearers would gasp, and whisper,
+"Diabolical!"
+
+The motto of this "school" of poets was that there was neither good
+nor evil, but that all things were "interesting." After listening to
+Strathcona for half an hour, one felt like hiding his head, and
+denying that he had ever thought of having any virtue; in a world
+where all things were uncertain, it was presumptuous even to pretend
+to know what virtue was. One could only be what one was; and did not
+that mean that one must do as one pleased?
+
+You could feel a shudder run through the company at his audacity.
+And the worst of it was that you could not dismiss it with a laugh;
+for the boy was really a poet--he had fire and passion, the gift of
+melodious ecstacy. He was only twenty, and in his brief meteor
+flight he had run the gamut of all experience; he had familiarized
+himself with all human achievement--past, present, and future. There
+was nothing any one could mention that he did not perfectly
+comprehend: the raptures of the saints, the consecration of the
+martyrs--yes, he had known them; likewise he had touched the depths
+of depravity, he had been lost in the innermost passages of the
+caverns of hell. And all this had been interesting--in its time; now
+he was sighing for new worlds of experience--say for unrequited
+love, which should drive him to madness.
+
+It was at this point that Montague dropped out of the race, and took
+to studying from the outside the mechanism of this young poet's
+conversation. Strathcona flouted the idea of a moral sense; but in
+reality he was quite dependent upon it--his recipe for making
+epigrams was to take what other people's moral sense made them
+respect, and identify it with something which their moral sense made
+them abhor. Thus, for instance, the tale which he told about one of
+the members of his set, who was a relative of a bishop. The great
+man had occasion to rebuke him for his profligate ways, declaring in
+the course of his lecture that he was living off the reputation of
+his father; to which the boy made the crushing rejoinder: "It may be
+bad to live off the reputation of one's father, but it's better than
+living off the reputation of God."--This was very subtle and it was
+necessary to ponder it. God was dead; and the worthy bishop did not
+know it! But let him take a new God, who had no reputation, and go
+out into the world and make a living out of him!
+
+Then Strathcona discussed literature. He paid his tribute to the
+"Fleurs de Mal" and the "Songs before Sunrise"; but most, he said,
+he owed to "the divine Oscar." This English poet of many poses and
+some vices the law had seized and flung into jail; and since the law
+is a thing so brutal and wicked that whoever is touched by it is
+made thereby a martyr and a hero, there had grown up quite a cult
+about the memory of "Oscar." All up-to-date poets imitated his style
+and his attitude to life; and so the most revolting of vices had the
+cloak of romance flung about them--were given long Greek and Latin
+names, and discussed with parade of learning as revivals of Hellenic
+ideals. The young men in Strathcona's set referred to each other as
+their "lovers"; and if one showed any perplexity over this, he was
+regarded, not with contempt--for it was not aesthetic to feel
+contempt--but with a slight lifting of the eyebrows, intended to
+annihilate.
+
+One must not forget, of course, that these young people were poets,
+and to that extent were protected from their own doctrines. They
+were interested, not in life, but in making pretty verses about
+life; there were some among them who lived as cheerful ascetics in
+garret rooms, and gave melodious expression to devilish emotions.
+But, on the other hand, for every poet, there were thousands who
+were not poets, but people to whom life was real. And these lived
+out the creed, and wrecked their lives; and with the aid of the
+poet's magic, the glamour of melody and the fire divine, they
+wrecked the lives with which they came into contact. The new
+generation of boys and girls were deriving their spiritual
+sustenance from the poetry of Baudelaire and Wilde; and rushing with
+the hot impulsiveness of youth into the dreadful traps which the
+traders in vice prepared for them. One's heart bled to see them,
+pink-cheeked and bright-eyed, pursuing the hem of the Muse's robe in
+brothels and dens of infamy!
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+
+
+
+
+The social mill ground on for another month. Montague withdrew
+himself as much as his brother would let him; but Alice, was on the
+go all night and half the day. Oliver had sold his racing automobile
+to a friend--he was a man of family now, he said, and his wild days
+were over. He had got, instead, a limousine car for Alice; though
+she declared she had no need of it--if ever she was going to any
+place, Charlie Carter always begged her to use his. Charlie's siege
+was as persistent as ever, as Montague noticed with annoyance.
+
+The great law case was going forward. After weeks of study and
+investigation, Montague felt that he had the matter well in hand;
+and he had taken Mr. Hasbrook's memoranda as a basis for a new work
+of his own, much more substantial. Bit by bit; as he dug into the
+subject, he had discovered a state of affairs in the Fidelity
+Company, and, indeed, in the whole insurance business and its allied
+realms of banking and finance, which shocked him profoundly. It was
+impossible for him to imagine how such conditions could exist and
+remain unknown to the public--more especially as every one in Wall
+Street with whom he talked seemed to know about them and to take
+them for granted.
+
+His client's papers had provided him with references to the books;
+Montague had taken this dry material and made of it a protest which
+had the breath of life in it. It was a thing at which he toiled with
+deadly earnestness; it was not merely a struggle of one man to get a
+few thousand dollars, it was an appeal in behalf of millions of
+helpless people whose trust had been betrayed. It was the first step
+in a long campaign, which the young lawyer meant should force a
+great evil into the light of day.
+
+He went over his bill of complaint with Mr. Hasbrook, and he was
+glad to see that the work he had done made its impression upon him.
+In fact, his client was a little afraid that some of his arguments
+might be too radical in tone--from the strictly legal point of view,
+he made haste to explain. But Montague reassured him upon this
+point.
+
+And then came the day when the great ship was ready for launching.
+The news must have spread quickly, for a few hours after the papers
+in the suit had been filed, Montague received a call from a
+newspaper reporter, who told him of the excitement in financial
+circles, where the thing had fallen like a bomb. Montague explained
+the purpose of the suit, and gave the reporter a number of facts
+which he felt certain would attract attention to the matter. When he
+picked up the paper the next morning, however, he was surprised to
+find that only a few lines had been given to the case, and that his
+interview had been replaced by one with an unnamed official of the
+Fidelity, to the effect that the attack upon the company was
+obviously for black-mailing purposes.
+
+That was the only ripple which Montague's work produced upon the
+surface of the pool; but there was a great commotion among the fish
+at the bottom, about which he was soon to learn.
+
+That evening, while he was hard at work in his study, he received a
+telephone call from his brother. "I'm coming round to see you," said
+Oliver. "Wait for me."
+
+"All right," said the other, and added, "I thought you were dining
+at the Waitings'."
+
+"I'm there now," was the answer. "I'm leaving."
+
+"What is the matter?" Montague asked.
+
+"There's hell to pay," was the reply--and then silence.
+
+When Oliver appeared, a few minutes later, he did not even stop to
+set down his hat, but exclaimed, "Allan, what in heaven's name have
+you been doing?"
+
+"What do you mean?" asked the other.
+
+"Why, that suit!"
+
+"What about it?"
+
+"Good God, man!" cried Oliver. "Do you mean that you really don't
+know what you've done?"
+
+Montague was staring at him. "I'm afraid I don't," said he.
+
+"Why, you're turning the world upside down!" exclaimed the other.
+"Everybody you know is crazy about it."
+
+"Everybody I know!" echoed Montague. "What have they to do with it?"
+
+"Why, you've stabbed them in the back!" half shouted Oliver. "I
+could hardly believe my ears when they told me. Robbie Walling is
+simply wild--I never had such a time in my life."
+
+"I don't understand yet," said Montague, more and more amazed. "What
+has he to do with it?"
+
+"Why, man," cried Oliver, "his brother's a director in the Fidelity!
+And his own interests--and all the other companies! You've struck at
+the whole insurance business!"
+
+Montague caught his breath. "Oh, I see!" he said.
+
+"How could you think of such a thing?" cried the other, wildly. "You
+promised to consult me about things--"
+
+"I told you when I took this case," put in Montague, quickly.
+
+"I know," said his brother. "But you didn't explain--and what did I
+know about it? I thought I could leave it to your common sense not
+to mix up in a thing like this."
+
+"I'm very sorry," said Montague, gravely. "I had no idea of any such
+result."
+
+"That's what I told Robbie," said Oliver. "Good God, what a time I
+had!"
+
+He took his hat and coat and laid them on the bed, and sat down and
+began to tell about it. "I made him realize the disadvantage you
+were under," he said, "being a stranger and not knowing the ground.
+I believe he had an idea that you tried to get his confidence on
+purpose to attack him. It was Mrs. Robbie, I guess--you know her
+fortune is all in that quarter."
+
+Oliver wiped the perspiration from his forehead. "My!" he
+said.--"And fancy what old Wyman must be saying about this! And what
+a time poor Betty must be having! And then Freddie Vandam--the air
+will be blue for half a mile round his place! I must send him a wire
+and explain that it was a mistake, and that we're getting out of
+it."
+
+And he got up, to suit the action to the word. But half-way to the
+desk he heard his brother say, "Wait."
+
+He turned, and saw Montague, quite pale. "I suppose by 'getting out
+of it,'" said the latter, "you mean dropping the case."
+
+"Of course," was the answer.
+
+"Well, then," he continued, very gravely,--"I can see that it's
+going to be hard, and I'm sorry. But you might as well understand me
+at the very beginning--I will never drop this case."
+
+Oliver's jaw fell limp. "Allan!" he gasped.
+
+There was a silence; and then the storm broke. Oliver knew his
+brother well enough to realize just how thoroughly he meant what he
+said; and so he got the full force of the shock all at once. He
+raved and swore and wrung his hands, and declaimed at his brother,
+saying that he had betrayed him, that he was ruining him--dumping
+himself and the whole family into the ditch. They would be jeered at
+and insulted--they would be blacklisted and thrown out of Society.
+Alice's career would be cut short--every door would be closed to
+her. His own career would die before it was born; he would never get
+into the clubs--he would be a pariah--he would be bankrupted and
+penniless. Again and again Oliver went over the situation, naming
+person after person who would be outraged, and describing what that
+person would do; there were the Wallings and the Venables and the
+Havens, the Vandams and the Todds and the Wymans--they were all one
+regiment, and Montague had flung a bomb into the centre of them!
+
+It was very terrible to him to see his brother's rage and despair;
+but he had seen his way clear through this matter, and he knew that
+there was no turning back for him. "It is painful to learn that all
+one's acquaintances are thieves," he said. "But that does not change
+my opinion of stealing."
+
+"But my God!" cried Oliver; "did you come to New York to preach
+sermons?"
+
+To which the other answered, "I came to practise law. And the lawyer
+who will not fight injustice is a traitor to his profession."
+
+Oliver threw up his hands in despair. What could one say to a
+sentiment such as that?
+
+--But then again he came to the charge, pointing out to his brother
+the position in which he had placed himself with the Wallings. He
+had accepted their hospitality; they had taken him and Alice in, and
+done everything in the world for them--things for which no money
+could ever repay them. And now he had struck them!
+
+But the only effect of that was to make Montague regret that he had
+ever had anything to do with the Wallings. If they expected to use
+their friendship to tie his hands in such a matter, they were people
+he would have left alone.
+
+"But do you realize that it's not merely yourself you're ruining?"
+cried Oliver. "Do you know what you're doing to Alice?"
+
+"That is harder yet for me," the other replied. "But I am sure that
+Alice would not ask me to stop."
+
+Montague was firmly set in his own mind; but it seemed to be quite
+impossible for his brother to realize that this was the case. He
+would give up; but then, going back into his own mind, and facing
+the thought of this person and that, and the impossibility of the
+situation which would arise, he would return to the attack with new
+anguish in his voice. He implored and scolded, and even wept; and
+then he would get himself together again, and come and sit in front
+of his brother and try to reason with him.
+
+And so it was that in the small hours of the morning, Montague, pale
+and nervous, but quite unshaken, was sitting and listening while his
+brother unfolded before him a picture of the Metropolis as he had
+come to see it. It was a city ruled by mighty forces--money-forces;
+great families and fortunes, which had held their sway for
+generations, and regarded the place, with all its swarming millions,
+as their birthright. They possessed it utterly--they held it in the
+hollow of their hands. Railroads and telegraphs and telephones--
+banks and insurance and trust companies--all these they owned; and
+the political machines and the legislatures, the courts and the
+newspapers, the churches and the colleges. And their rule was for
+plunder; all the streams of profit ran into their coffers. The
+stranger who came to their city succeeded as he helped them in their
+purposes, and failed if they could not use him. A great editor or
+bishop was a man who taught their doctrines; a great statesman was a
+man who made the laws for them; a great lawyer was one who helped
+them to outwit the public. Any man who dared to oppose them, they
+would cast out and trample on, they would slander and ridicule and
+ruin.
+
+And Oliver came down to particulars--he named these powerful men,
+one after one, and showed what they could do. If his brother would
+only be a man of the world, and see the thing! Look at all the
+successful lawyers! Oliver named them, one after one--shrewd
+devisers of corporation trickery, with incomes of hundreds of
+thousands a year. He could not name the men who had refused to play
+the game--for no one had ever heard of them. But it was so evident
+what would happen in this case! His friends would cast him off; his
+own client would get his price--whatever it was--and then leave him
+in the lurch, and laugh at him! "If you can't make up your mind to
+play the game," cried Oliver, frantically, "at least you can give it
+up! There are plenty of other ways of getting a living--if you'll
+let me, I'll take care of you myself, rather than have you disgrace
+me. Tell me--will you do that? Will you quit altogether?"
+
+And Montague suddenly leaped to his feet, and brought his fist down
+upon the desk with a bang. "No!" he cried; "by God, no!"
+
+"Let me make you understand me once for all," he rushed on. "You've
+shown me New York as you see it. I don't believe it's the truth--I
+don't believe it for one single moment! But let me tell you this, I
+shall stay here and find out--and if it is true, it won't stop me! I
+shall stay here and defy those people! I shall stay and fight them
+till the day I die! They may ruin me,--I'll go and live in a garret
+if I have to,--but as sure as there's a God that made me, I'll never
+stop till I've opened the eyes of the people to what they're doing!"
+
+Montague towered over his brother, white-hot and terrible. Oliver
+shrank from him--he never had seen such a burst of wrath from him
+before. "Do you understand me now?" Montague cried; and he answered,
+in a despairing voice, "Yes, yes."
+
+"I see it's all up," he added weakly. "You and I can't pull
+together."
+
+"No," exclaimed the other, passionately, "we can't. And we might as
+well give up trying. You have chosen to be a time-server and a
+lick-spittle, and I don't choose it! Do you think I've learned
+nothing in the time I've been here? Why, man, you used to be daring
+and clever--and now you never draw a breath without wondering if
+these rich snobs will like the way you do it! And you want Alice to
+sell herself to them--you want me to sell my career to them!"
+
+There was a long pause. Oliver had turned very pale. And then
+suddenly his brother caught himself together, and said: "I'm sorry.
+I didn't mean to quarrel, but you've goaded me too much. I'm
+grateful for what you have tried to do for me, and I'll pay you back
+as soon as I can. But I can't go on with this game. I'll quit, and
+you can disown me to your friends--tell them that I've run amuck,
+and to forget they ever knew me. They'll hardly blame you for it--
+they know you too well for that. And as for Alice, I'll talk it out
+with her to-morrow, and let her decide for herself--if she wants to
+be a Society queen, she can put herself in your hands, and I'll get
+out of her way. On the other hand, if she approves of what I'm
+doing, why we'll both quit, and you won't have to bother with either
+of us."
+
+That was the basis upon which they parted for the night; but like
+most resolutions taken at white heat, it was not followed literally.
+It was very hard for Montague to have to confront Alice with such a
+choice; and as for Oliver, when he went home and thought it over, he
+began to discover gleams of hope. He might make it clear to every
+one that he was not responsible for his brother's business vagaries,
+and take his chances upon that basis. After all, there were wheels
+within wheels in Society; and if the Robbie Waitings chose to break
+with him--why, they had plenty of enemies. There might even be
+interests which would be benefited by Allan's course, and would take
+him up.
+
+Montague had resolved to write and break every engagement which he
+had made, and to sever his connection with Society at one stroke.
+But the next day his brother came again, with compromises and new
+protestations. There was no use going to the other extreme: he,
+Oliver, would have it out with the Wallings, and they might all go
+on their way as if nothing had happened.
+
+--So Montague made his debut in the role of knight-errant. He went
+with many qualms and misgivings, uncertain how each new person would
+take it. The next evening he was promised for a theatre-party with
+Siegfried Harvey; and they had supper in a private room at
+Delmonico's, and there came Mrs. Winnie, resplendent as an apple
+tree in early April--and murmuring with bated breath, "Oh, you
+dreadful man, what have you been doing?"
+
+"Have I been poaching on YOUR preserves?" he asked promptly.
+
+"No, not mine," she said, "but--" and then she hesitated.
+
+"On Mr. Duval's?" he asked.
+
+"No," she said, "not his--but everybody else's! He was telling me
+about it to-day--there's a most dreadful uproar. He wanted me to try
+to find out what you were up to, and who was behind it."
+
+Montague listened, wonderingly. Did Mrs. Winnie mean to imply that
+her husband had asked her to try to worm his business secrets out of
+him? That was what she seemed to imply. "I told him I never talked
+business with my friends," she said. "He can ask you himself, if he
+chooses. But what DOES it all mean, anyhow?"
+
+Montague smiled at the naive inconsistency.
+
+"It means nothing," said he, "except that I am trying to get justice
+for a client."
+
+"But can you afford to make so many powerful enemies?" she asked.
+
+"I've taken my chances on that," he replied.
+
+Mrs. Winnie answered nothing, but looked at him with wondering
+admiration in her eyes. "You arc different from the men about you,"
+she remarked, after a while-and her tone gave Montague to understand
+that there was one person who meant to stand by him.
+
+But Mrs. Winnie Duval was not all Society. Montague was amused to
+notice with what suddenness the stream of invitations slacked up; it
+was necessary for Alice to give her calling list many revisions.
+Freddie Vandam had promised to invite them to his place on Long
+Island, and of course that invitation would never come; likewise
+they would never again see the palace of the Lester Todds, upon the
+Jersey mountain-top.
+
+Oliver put in the next few days in calling upon people to explain
+his embarrassing situation. He washed his hands of his brother's
+affairs, he said; and his friends might do the same, if they saw
+fit. With the Robbie Waitings he had a stormy half hour, about which
+he thought it best to say little to the rest of the family. Robbie
+did not break with him utterly, because of their Wall Street
+Alliance; but Mrs. Robbie's feeling was so bitter, he said, that it
+would be best if Alice saw nothing of her for a while. He had a long
+talk with Alice, and explained the situation. The girl was utterly
+dumbfounded, for she was deeply grateful to Mrs. Robbie, and fond of
+her as well; and she could not believe that a friend could be so
+cruelly unjust to her.
+
+The upshot of the whole situation was a very painful episode. A few
+days later Alice met Mrs. Robbie at a reception; and she took the
+lady aside, and tried to tell her how distressed and helpless she
+was. And the result was that Mrs. Robbie flew into a passion and
+railed at her, declaring in the presence of several people that she
+had sponged upon her and abused her hospitality! And so poor Alice
+came home, weeping and half hysterical.
+
+All of which, of course, was like oil upon a fire; the heavens were
+lighted up with the conflagration. The next development was a
+paragraph in Society's scandal-sheet--telling with infinite gusto
+how a certain ultra-fashionable matron had taken up a family of
+stranded waifs from a far State, and introduced them into the best
+circles, and even gone so far as to give a magnificent dance in
+their honour; and how the discovery had been made that the head of
+the family had been secretly preparing an attack upon their business
+interests; and of the tearing of hair and gnashing of teeth which
+had followed--and the violent quarrel in a public place. The
+paragraph concluded with the prediction that the strangers would
+find themselves the centre of a merry social war.
+
+Oliver was the first to show them this paper. But lest by any chance
+they should miss it, half a dozen unknown friends were good enough
+to mail them copies, carefully marked.--And then came Reggie Mann,
+who as free-lance and gossip-gatherer sat on the fence and watched
+the fun; Reggie wore a thin veil of sympathy over his naked glee,
+and brought them the latest reports from all portions of the
+battle-ground. Thus they were able to know exactly what everybody
+was saying about them--who was amused and who was outraged, and who
+proposed to drop them and who to take them up.
+
+Montague listened for a while, but then he got tired of it, and went
+for a walk to escape it--but only to run into another trap. It was
+dark, and he was strolling down the Avenue, when out of a
+brilliantly lighted jewellery shop came Mrs. Billy Alden to her
+carriage. And she hailed him with an exclamation.
+
+"You man," she cried, "what have you been doing?"
+
+He tried to laugh it off and escape, but she took him by the arm,
+commanding, "Get in here and tell me about it."
+
+So he found himself moving with the slow stream of vehicles on the
+Avenue, and with Mrs. Billy gazing at him quizzically and asking him
+if he did not feel like a hippopotamus in a frog-pond.
+
+He replied to her raillery by asking her under which flag she stood.
+But there was little need to ask that, for anyone who was fighting a
+Walling became ipso facto a friend of Mrs. Billy's. She told
+Montague that if he felt his social position was imperilled, all he
+had to do was to come to her. She would gird on her armour and take
+the field.
+
+"But tell me how you came to do it," she said.
+
+He answered that there was very little to tell. He had taken up a
+case which was obviously just, but having no idea what a storm it
+would raise.
+
+Then he noticed that his companion was looking at him sharply. "Do
+you really mean that's all there is to it?" she asked.
+
+"Of course I do," said he, perplexed.
+
+"Do you know," was her unexpected response, "I hardly know what to
+make of you. I'm afraid to trust you, on account of your brother."
+
+Montague was embarrassed. "I don't know what you mean," he said.
+
+"Everybody thinks there's some trickery in that suit," she answered.
+
+"Oh," said Montague, "I see. Well, they will find out. If it will
+help you any to know it, I've been having no end of scenes with my
+brother."
+
+"I'll believe you," said Mrs. Billy, genially. "But it seems strange
+that a man could have been so blind to a situation! I feel quite
+ashamed because I didn't help you myself!"
+
+The carriage had stopped at Mrs. Billy's home, and she asked him to
+dinner. "There'll be nobody but my brother," she said,--"we're
+resting this evening. And I can make up to you for my negligence!"
+
+Montague had no engagement, and so he went in, and saw Mrs. Billy's
+mansion, which was decorated in imitation of a Doge's palace, and
+met Mr. "Davy" Alden, a mild-mannered little gentleman who obeyed
+orders promptly. They had a comfortable dinner of half-a-dozen
+courses, and then retired to the drawing-room, where Mrs. Billy sank
+into a huge easy chair, with a decanter of whisky and some cracked
+ice in readiness beside it. Then from a tray she selected a thick
+black cigar, and placidly bit off the end and lighted it, and then
+settled back at her ease, and proceeded to tell Montague about New
+York, and about the great families who ruled it, and where and how
+they had got their money, and who were their allies and who their
+enemies, and what particular skeletons were hidden in each of their
+closets.
+
+It was worth coming a long way to listen to Mrs. Billy tete-a-tete;
+her thoughts were vigorous, and her imagery was picturesque. She
+spoke of old Dan Waterman, and described him as a wild boar rooting
+chestnuts. He was all right, she said, if you didn't come under his
+tree. And Montague asked, "Which is his tree?" and she answered,
+"Any one he happens to be under at the time."
+
+And then she came to the Waitings. Mrs. Billy had been in on the
+inside of that family, and there was nothing she didn't know about
+it; and she brought the members up, one by one, and dissected them,
+and exhibited them for Montague's benefit. They were typical
+bourgeois people, she said. They were burghers. They had never shown
+the least capacity for refinement--they ate and drank, and jostled
+other people out of the way. The old ones had been boors, and the
+new ones were cads.
+
+And Mrs. Billy sat and puffed at her cigar. "Do you know the history
+of the family?" she asked. "The founder was a rough old ferryman. He
+fought his rivals so well that in the end he owned all the boats;
+and then some one discovered the idea of buying legislatures and
+building railroads, and he went into that. It was a time when they
+simply grabbed things--if you ever look into it, you'll find they're
+making fortunes to-day out of privileges that the old man simply sat
+down on and held. There's a bridge at Albany, for instance, to which
+they haven't the slightest right; my brother knows about it--they've
+given themselves a contract with their railroad by which they're
+paid for every passenger, and their profit every year is greater
+than the cost of the bridge. The son was the head of the family when
+I came in; and I found that he had it all arranged to leave thirty
+million dollars to one of his sons, and only ten million to my
+husband. I set to work to change that, I can tell you. I used to go
+around to see him, and scratch his back and tickle him and make him
+feel good. Of course the family went wild--my, how they hated me!
+They set old Ellis to work to keep me off--have you met Judge
+Ellis?"
+
+"I have," said Montague.
+
+"Well, there's a pussy-footed old hypocrite for you," said Mrs.
+Billy. "In those days he was Waiting's business lackey--used to pass
+the money to the legislators and keep the wheels of the machine
+greased. One of the first things I said to the old man was that I
+didn't ask him to entertain my butler, and he mustn't ask me to
+entertain his valet--and so I forbid Ellis to enter my house. And
+when I found that he was trying to get between the old man and me, I
+flew into a rage and boxed his ears and chased him out of the room!"
+
+Mrs. Billy paused, and laughed heartily over the recollection. "Of
+course that tickled the old man to death," she continued. "The
+Wallings never could make out how I managed to get round him as I
+did; but it was simply because I was honest with him. They'd come
+snivelling round, pretending they were anxious about his health;
+while I wanted his money, and I told him so."
+
+The valiant lady turned to the decanter. "Have some Scotch?" she
+asked, and poured some for herself, and then went on with her story.
+"When I first came to New York," she said, "the rich people's houses
+were all alike--all dreary brownstone fronts, sandwiched in on one
+or two city lots. I vowed that I would have a house with some room
+all around it--and that was the beginning of those palaces that all
+New York walks by and stares at. You can hardly believe it
+now--those houses were a scandal! But the sensation tickled the old
+man. I remember one day we walked up the Avenue to see how they were
+coming on; and he pointed with his big stick to the second floor,
+and asked, 'What's that?' I answered, 'It's a safe I'm building into
+the house.' (That was a new thing, too, in those days.)--'I'm going
+to keep my money in that,' I said. 'Bah!' he growled, 'when you're
+done with this house, you won't have any money left.'--'I'm planning
+to make you fill it for me,' I answered; and do you know, he
+chuckled all the way home over it!"
+
+Mrs. Billy sat laughing softly to herself. "We had great old battles
+in those days," she said. "Among other things, I had to put the
+Waitings into Society. They were sneaking round on the outside when
+I came--licking people's boots and expecting to be kicked. I said
+to myself, I'll put an end to that--we'll have a show-down! So I
+gave a ball that made the whole country sit up and gasp--it wouldn't
+be noticed particularly nowadays, but then people had never dreamed
+of anything so gorgeous. And I made out a list of all the people I
+wanted to know in New York, and I said to myself: 'If you come,
+you're a friend, and if you don't come, you're an enemy.' And they
+all came, let me tell you! And there was never any question about
+the Waitings being in Society after that."
+
+Mrs. Billy halted; and Montague remarked, with a smile, that
+doubtless she was sorry now that she had done it.
+
+"Oh, no," she answered, with a shrug of her shoulders. "I find that
+all I have to do is to be patient--I hate people, and think I'd like
+to poison them, but if I only wait long enough, something happens to
+them much worse than I ever dreamed of. You'll be revenged on the
+Robbies some day."
+
+"I don't want any revenge," Montague answered. "I've no quarrel with
+them--I simply wish I hadn't accepted their hospitality. I didn't
+know they were such little people. It seems hard to believe it."
+
+Mrs. Billy laughed cynically. "What could you expect?" she said.
+"They know there's nothing to them but their money. When that's
+gone, they're gone--they could never make any more."
+
+The lady gave a chuckle, and added: "Those words make me think of
+Davy's experience when he wanted to go to Congress! Tell him about
+it, Davy."
+
+But Mr. Alden did not warm to the subject; he left the tale to his
+sister.
+
+"He was a Democrat, you know," said she, "and he went to the boss
+and told him he'd like to go to Congress. The answer was that it
+would cost him forty thousand dollars, and he kicked at the price.
+Others didn't have to put up such sums, he said--why should he? And
+the old man growled at him, 'The rest have other things to give.
+One can deliver the letter-carriers, another is paid for by a
+corporation. But what can you do? What is there to you but your
+money?'--So Davy paid the money--didn't you, Davy?" And Davy grinned
+sheepishly.
+
+"Even so," she went on, "he came off better than poor Devon. They
+got fifty thousand out of him, and sold him out, and he never got to
+Congress after all! That was just before he concluded that America
+wasn't a fit place for a gentleman to live in."
+
+--And so Mrs. Billy got started on the Devons! And after that came
+the Havens and the Wymans and the Todds--it was midnight before she
+got through with them all.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+
+
+
+
+The newspapers said nothing more about the Hasbrook suit; but in
+financial circles Montague had attained considerable notoriety
+because of it. And this was the means of bringing him a number of
+new cases.
+
+But alas, there were no more fifty-thousand-dollar clients! The
+first caller was a destitute widow with a deed which would have
+entitled her to the greater part of a large city in
+Pennsylvania--only unfortunately the deed was about eighty years
+old. And then there was a poor old man who had been hurt in a
+street-car accident and had been tricked into signing away his
+rights; and an indignant citizen who proposed to bring a hundred
+suits against the traction trust for transfers refused. All were
+contingency cases, with the chances of success exceedingly remote.
+And Montague noticed that the people had come to him as a last
+resort, having apparently heard of him as a man of altruistic
+temper.
+
+There was one case which interested him particularly, because it
+seemed to fit in so ominously with the grim prognosis of his
+brother. He received a call from an elderly gentleman, of very
+evident refinement and dignity of manner, who proceeded to unfold to
+him a most amazing story. Five or six years ago he had invented a
+storage-battery, which was the most efficient known. He had
+organised a company with three million dollars' capital to
+manufacture it, himself taking a third interest for his patents, and
+becoming president of the company. Not long afterward had come a
+proposal from a group of men who wished to organize a company to
+manufacture automobiles; they proposed to form an alliance which
+would give them the exclusive use of the battery. But these men were
+not people with whom the inventor cared to deal--they were traction
+and gas magnates widely known for their unscrupulous methods. And so
+he had declined their offer, and set to work instead to organize an
+automobile company himself. He had just got under way when he
+discovered that his rivals had set to work to take his invention
+away from him. A friend who owned another third share in his company
+had hypothecated his stock to help form the new company; and now
+came a call from the bank for more collateral, and he was obliged to
+sell out. And at the next stockholders' meeting it developed that
+their rivals had bought it, and likewise more stock in the open
+market; and they proceeded to take possession of the company,
+ousting the former president--and then making a contract with their
+automobile company to furnish the storage-battery at a price which
+left no profit for the manufacturers! And so for two years the
+inventor had not received a dollar of dividends upon his million
+dollars' worth of paper; and to cap the climax, the company had
+refused to sell the battery to his automobile company, and so that
+had gone into bankruptcy, and his friend was ruined also!
+
+Montague went into the case very carefully, and found that the story
+was true. What interested him particularly in it was the fact that
+he had met a couple of these financial highwaymen in social life; he
+had come to know the son and heir of one of them quite well, at
+Siegfried Harvey's. This gilded youth was engaged to be married in a
+very few days, and the papers had it that the father-in-law had
+presented the bride with a cheque for a million dollars. Montague
+could not but wonder if it was the million that had been taken from
+his client!
+
+There was to be a "bachelor dinner" at the Millionaires' on the
+night before the wedding, to which he and Oliver had been invited.
+As he was thinking of taking up his case, he went to his brother,
+saying that he wished to decline; but Oliver had been getting back
+his courage day by day, and declared that it was more important than
+ever now that he should hold his ground, and face his enemies--for
+Alice's sake, if not for his own. And so Montague went to the
+dinner, and saw deeper yet into the history of the stolen millions.
+
+It was a very beautiful affair, in the beginning. There was a large
+private dining-room, elaborately decorated, with a string orchestra
+concealed in a bower of plants. But there were cocktails even on the
+side-board at the doorway; and by the time the guests had got to the
+coffee, every one was hilariously drunk. After each toast they would
+hurl their glasses over their shoulders. The purpose of a "bachelor
+dinner," it appeared, was a farewell to the old days and the boon
+companions; so there were sentimental and comic songs which had been
+composed for the occasion, and were received with whirlwinds of
+laughter.
+
+By listening closely and reading between the lines, one might get
+quite a history of the young host's adventurous career. There was a
+house up on the West Side; and there was a yacht, with, orgies in
+every part of the world. There was the summer night in Newport
+harbour, when some one had hit upon the dazzling scheme of freezing
+twenty-dollar gold pieces in tiny blocks of ice, to be dropped down
+the girls' backs! And there was a banquet in a studio in New York,
+when a huge pie had been brought on, from which a half-nude girl had
+emerged, with a flock of canary birds about her! Then there was a
+damsel who had been wont to dance upon the tops of supper tables,
+clad in diaphanous costume; and who had got drunk after a
+theatre-party, and set out to smash up a Broadway restaurant. There
+was a cousin from Chicago, a wild lad, who made a speciality of this
+diversion, and whose mistresses were bathed in
+champagne.--Apparently there were numberless places in the city
+where such orgies were carried on continually; there were private
+clubs, and artists' "studios"--there were several allusions to a
+high tower, which Montague did not comprehend. Many such matters,
+however, were explained to him by an elderly gentleman who sat on
+his right, and who seemed to stay sober, no matter how much he
+drank. Incidentally he gravely advised Montague to meet one of the
+young host's mistresses, who was a "stunning" girl, and was in the
+market.
+
+Toward morning the festivities changed to a series of
+wrestling-bouts; the young men stripped off their clothing and tore
+the table to pieces, and piled it out of the way in a corner,
+smashing most of the crockery in the process. Between the matches,
+champagne would be opened by knocking off the heads of the bottles;
+and this went on until four o'clock in the morning, when many of the
+guests were lying in heaps upon the floor.
+
+Montague rode home in a cab with the elderly gentleman who had sat
+next to him; and on the way he asked if such affairs as this were
+common. And his companion, who was a "steel man" from the West,
+replied by telling him of some which he had witnessed at home. At
+Siegfried Harvey's theatre-party Montague had seen a popular actress
+in a musical comedy, which was then the most successful play running
+in New York. The house was sold out weeks ahead, and after the
+matinee you might observe the street in front of the stage-entrance
+blocked by people waiting to see the woman come out. She was lithe
+and supple, like a panther, and wore close-fitting gowns to reveal
+her form. It seemed that her play must have been built with one
+purpose in mind, to see how much lewdness could be put upon a stage
+without interference by the police.--And now his companion told him
+how this woman had been invited to sing at a banquet given by the
+magnates of a mighty Trust, and had gone after midnight to the most
+exclusive club in the town, and sung her popular ditty, "Won't you
+come and play with me?" The merry magnates had taken the invitation
+literally--with the result that the actress had escaped from the
+room with half her clothing torn off her. And a little while later
+an official of this trust had wished to get rid of his wife and
+marry a chorus-girl; and when public clamour had forced the
+directors to ask him to resign, he had replied by threatening to
+tell about this banquet!
+
+The next day--or rather, to be precise, that same morning--Montague
+and Alice attended the gorgeous wedding. It was declared by the
+newspapers to be the most "important" social event of the week; and
+it took half a dozen policemen to hold back the crowds which filled
+the street. The ceremony took place at St. Cecilia's, with the
+stately bishop officiating, in his purple and scarlet robes. Inside
+the doors were all the elect, exquisitely groomed and gowned, and
+such a medley of delicious perfumes as not all the vales in Arcady
+could equal. The groom had been polished and scrubbed, and looked
+very handsome, though somewhat pale; and Montague could not but
+smile as he observed the best man, looking so very solemn, and
+recollected the drunken wrestler of a few hours before, staggering
+about in a pale blue undershirt ripped up the back.
+
+The Montagues knew by this time whom they were to avoid. They were
+graciously taken under the wing of Mrs. Eldridge Devon--whose real
+estate was not affected by insurance suits; and the next morning
+they had the satisfaction of seeing their names in the list of those
+present--and even a couple of lines about Alice's costume. (Alice
+was always referred to as "Miss Montague"; it was very pleasant to
+be the "Miss Montague," and to think of all the other would-be Miss
+Montagues in the city, who were thereby haughtily rebuked!) In the
+"yellow" papers there were also accounts of the trousseau of the
+bride, and of the wonderful gifts which she had received, and of the
+long honeymoon which she was to spend in the Mediterranean upon her
+husband's yacht. Montague found himself wondering if the ghosts of
+its former occupants would not haunt her, and whether she would have
+been as happy, had she known as much as he knew.
+
+He found food for a good deal of thought in the memory of this
+banquet. Among the things which he had gathered from the songs was a
+hint that Oliver, also, had some secrets, which he had not seen fit
+to tell his brother. The keeping of young girls was apparently one
+of the established customs of the "little brothers of the
+rich"--and, for that matter, of many of the big brothers, also. A
+little later Montague had a curious glimpse into the life of this
+"half-world." He had occasion one evening to call up a certain
+financier whom he had come to know quite well-a man of family and a
+member of the church. There were some important papers to be signed
+and sent off by a steamer; and the great man's secretary said that
+he would try to find him. A minute or two later he called up
+Montague and asked him if he would be good enough to go to an
+address uptown. It was a house not far from Riverside Drive; and
+Montague went there and found his acquaintance, with several other
+prominent men of affairs whom he knew, conversing in a drawing-room
+with one of the most charming ladies he had ever met. She was
+exquisite to look at, and one of the few people in New York whom he
+had found worth listening to. He spent such an enjoyable evening,
+that when he was leaving, he remarked to the lady that he would like
+his cousin Alice to meet her; and then he noticed that she flushed
+slightly, and was embarrassed. Later on he learned to his dismay
+that the charming and beautiful lady did not go into Society.
+
+Nor was this at all rare; on the contrary, if one took the trouble
+to make inquiries, he would find that such establishments were
+everywhere taken for granted. Montague talked about it with Major
+Venable; and out of his gossip storehouse the old gentleman drew
+forth a string of anecdotes that made one's hair stand on end. There
+was one all-powerful magnate, who had a passion for the wife of a
+great physician; and he had given a million dollars or so to build a
+hospital, and had provided that it should be the finest in the
+world, and that this physician should go abroad for three years to
+study the institutions of Europe! No conventions counted with this
+old man--if he saw a woman whom he wanted, he would ask for her; and
+women in Society felt that it was an honour to be his mistress. Not
+long after this a man who voiced the anguish of a mighty nation was
+turned out of several hotels in New York because he was not married
+according to the laws of South Dakota; but this other man would take
+a woman to any hotel in the city, and no one would dare oppose him!
+
+And there was another, a great traction king, who kept mistresses in
+Chicago and Paris and London, as well as in New York; he had one
+just around the corner from his palatial home, and had an
+underground passage leading to it. And the Major told with glee how
+he had shown this to a friend, and the latter had remarked, "I'm too
+stout to get through there."--"I know it," replied the other, "else
+I shouldn't have told you!"
+
+And so it went. One of the richest men in New York was a sexual
+degenerate, with half a dozen women on his hands all the time; he
+would send them cheques, and they would use these to blackmail him.
+This man's young wife had been shut up in a closet for twenty-four
+hours by her mother to compel her to marry him.--And then there was
+the charming tale of how he had gone away upon a mission of state,
+and had written long messages full of tender protestations, and
+given them to a newspaper correspondent to cable home "to his wife."
+The correspondent had thought it such a touching example of conjugal
+devotion that he told about it at a dinner-party when he came back;
+and he was struck by the sudden silence that fell. "The messages had
+been sent to a code address!" chuckled the Major. "And every one at
+the table knew who had got them!"
+
+A few days after this, Montague received a telephone message from
+Siegfried Harvey, who said that he wanted to see him about a matter
+of business. He asked him to lunch at the Noonday Club; and Montague
+went--though not without a qualm. For it was in the Fidelity
+Building, the enemy's bailiwick: a magnificent structure with halls
+of white marble, and a lavish display of bronze. It occurred to
+Montague that somewhere in this structure people were at work
+preparing an answer to his charges; he wondered what they were
+saying.
+
+The two had lunch, talking meanwhile about the coming events in
+Society, and about politics and wars; and when the coffee was served
+and they were alone in the room, Harvey settled his big frame back
+in his chair, and began:--
+
+"In the first place," he said, "I must explain that I've something
+to say that is devilish hard to get into. I'm so much afraid of your
+jumping to a wrong conclusion in the middle of it--I'd like you to
+agree to listen for a minute or two before you think at all."
+
+"All right," said Montague, with a smile. "Fire away."
+
+And at once the other became grave. "You've taken a case against
+this company," he said. "And Ollie has talked enough to me to make
+me understand that you've done a plucky thing, and that you must be
+everlastingly sick of hearing from cowardly people who want you to
+drop it. I'd be very sorry to be classed with them, for even a
+moment; and you must understand at the outset that I haven't a
+particle of interest in the company, and that it wouldn't matter to
+me if I had. I don't try to use my friends in business, and I don't
+let money count with me in my social life. I made up my mind to take
+the risk of speaking to you about this case, simply because I happen
+to know one or two things about it that I thought you didn't know.
+And if that's so, you are at a great disadvantage; but in any case,
+please understand that I have no motive but friendship, and so if I
+am butting in, excuse me."
+
+When Siegfried Harvey talked, he looked straight at one with his
+clear blue eyes, and there was no doubting his honesty. "I am very
+much obliged to you," said Montague. "Pray tell me what you have to
+say."
+
+"All right," said the other. "It can be done very quickly. You have
+taken a case which involves a great many sacrifices upon your part.
+And I wondered if it had ever occurred to you to ask whether you
+might not be taken advantage of?"
+
+"How do you mean?" asked Montague.
+
+"Do you know the people who are behind you?" inquired the other. "Do
+you know them well enough to be sure what are their motives in the
+case?"
+
+Montague hesitated, and thought. "No," he said, "I couldn't say that
+I do."
+
+"Then it's just as I thought," replied Harvey. "I've been watching
+you--you are an honest man, and you're putting yourself to no end of
+trouble from the best of motives. And unless I'm mistaken, you're
+being used by men who are not honest, and whom you wouldn't work
+with if you knew their purposes."
+
+"What purposes could they have?"
+
+"There are several possibilities. In the first place, it might be a
+'strike' suit--somebody who is hoping to be bought off for a big
+price. That is what nearly every one thinks is the case. But I
+don't; I think it's more likely some one within the company who is
+trying to put the administration in a hole."
+
+"Who could that be?" exclaimed Montague, amazed.
+
+"I don't know that. I'm not familiar enough with the situation in
+the Fidelity--it's changing all the time. I simply know that there
+are factions struggling for the control of it, and hating each other
+furiously, and ready to do anything in the world to cripple each
+other. You know that their forty millions of surplus gives an
+enormous power; I'd rather be able to swing forty millions in the
+Street than to have ten millions in my own right. And so the giants
+are fighting for the control of those companies; and you can't tell
+who's in and who's out--you can never know the real meaning of
+anything that happens in the struggle. All that you can be sure of
+is that the game is crooked from end to end, and that nothing that
+happens in it is what it pretends to be."
+
+Montague listened, half dazed, and feeling as if the ground he stood
+on were caving beneath his feet.
+
+"What do you know about those who brought you this case?" asked his
+companion, suddenly.
+
+"Not much," he said weakly.
+
+Harvey hesitated a moment. "Understand me, please," he said. "I've
+no wish to pry into your affairs, and if you don't care to say any
+more, I'll understand it perfectly. But I've heard it said that the
+man who started the thing was Ellis."
+
+Montague, in his turn, hesitated; then he said, "That is
+correct--between you and me."
+
+"Very good," said Harvey, "and that is what made me suspicious. Do
+you know anything about Ellis?"
+
+"I didn't," said the other. "I've heard a little since."
+
+"I can fancy so," said Harvey. "And I can tell you that Ellis is
+mixed up in life-insurance matters in all sorts of dubious ways. It
+seems to me that you have reason to be most careful where you follow
+him."
+
+Montague sat with his hands clenched and his brows knitted. His
+friend's talk had been like a flash of lightning; it revealed huge
+menacing forms in the darkness about him. All the structure of his
+hopes seemed to be tottering; his case, that he had worked so hard
+over--his fifty thousand dollars that he had been so proud of! Could
+it be that he had been tricked, and had made a fool of himself?
+
+"How in the world am I to know?" he cried.
+
+"That is more than I can tell," said his friend. "And for that
+matter, I'm not sure that you could do anything now. All that I
+could do was to warn you what sort of ground you were treading on,
+so that you could watch out for yourself in future."
+
+Montague thanked him heartily for that service; and then he went
+back to his office, and spent the rest of the day pondering the
+matter.
+
+What he had heard had made a vast change in things. Before it
+everything had seemed simple; and now nothing was clear. He was
+overwhelmed with a sense of the utter futility of his efforts; he
+was trying to build a house upon quicksands. There was nowhere a
+solid spot upon which he could set his foot. There was nowhere any
+truth--there were only contending powers who used the phrases of
+truth for their own purposes! And now he saw himself as the world
+saw him,--a party to a piece of trickery,--a knave like all the
+rest. He felt that he had been tripped up at the first step in his
+career.
+
+The conclusion of the whole matter was that he took an afternoon
+train for Albany; and the next morning he talked the matter out with
+the Judge. Montague had realized the need of going slowly, for,
+after all, he had no definite ground for suspicion; and so, very
+tactfully and cautiously he explained, that it had come to his ears
+that many people believed there were interested parties behind the
+suit of Mr. Hasbrook; and that this had made him uncomfortable, as
+he knew nothing whatever about his client. He had come to ask the
+Judge's advice in the matter.
+
+No one could have taken the thing more graciously than did the great
+man; he was all kindness and tact. In the first place, he said, he
+had warned him in advance that enemies would attack him and slander
+him, and that all kinds of subtle means would be used to influence
+him. And he must understand that these rumours were part of such a
+campaign; it made no difference how good a friend had brought them
+to him--how could he know who had brought them to that friend?
+
+The Judge ventured to hope that nothing that anyone might say could
+influence him to believe that he, the Judge, would have advised him
+to do anything improper.
+
+"No," said Montague, "but can you assure me that there are no
+interested parties behind Mr. Hasbrook?"
+
+"Interested parties?" asked the other.
+
+"I mean people connected with the Fidelity or other insurance
+companies."
+
+"Why, no," said the Judge; "I certainly couldn't assure you of
+that."
+
+Montague looked surprised. "You mean you don't know?"
+
+"I mean," was the answer, "that I wouldn't feel at liberty to tell,
+even if I did know."
+
+And Montague stared at him; he had not been prepared for this
+frankness.
+
+"It never occurred to me," the other continued, "that that was a
+matter which could make any difference to you."
+
+"Why--" began Montague.
+
+"Pray understand me, Mr. Montague," said the Judge. "It seemed to me
+that this was obviously a just case, and it seemed so to you. And
+the only other matter that I thought you had a right to be assured
+of was that it was seriously meant. Of that I felt assured. It did
+not seem to me of any importance that there might be interested
+individuals behind Mr. Hasbrook. Let us suppose, for instance, that
+there were some parties who had been offended by the administration
+of the Fidelity, and were anxious to punish it. Could a lawyer be
+justified in refusing to take a just case, simply because he knew of
+such private motives? Or, let us assume an extreme case--a
+factional fight within the company, as you say has been suggested to
+you. Well, that would be a case of thieves falling out; and is there
+any reason why the public should not reap the advantage of such a
+situation? The men inside the company are the ones who would know
+first what is going on; and if you saw a chance to use such an
+advantage in a just fight--would you not do it?"
+
+So the Judge went on, gracious and plausible--and so subtly and
+exquisitely corrupting! Underneath his smoothly flowing sentences
+Montague could feel the presence of one fundamental thought; it was
+unuttered and even unhinted, but it pervaded the Judge's discourse as a
+mood pervades a melody. The young lawyer had got a big fee, and he had a
+nice easy case; and as a man of the world, he could not really wish to
+pry into it too closely. He had heard gossip, and felt that his
+reputation required him to be disturbed; but he had come, simply to be
+smoothed down the back and made at ease, and enabled to keep his fee
+without losing his good opinion of himself.
+
+Montague quit, because he concluded that it was not worth while to
+try to make himself understood. After all, he was in the case now,
+and there was nothing to be gained by a breach. Two things he felt
+that he had made certain by the interview--first, that his client
+was a "dummy," and that it was really a case of thieves falling out;
+and second, that he had no guarantee that he might not be left in
+the lurch at any moment--except the touching confidence of the
+Judge in some parties unknown.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+
+
+
+
+Montague came home with his mind made up that there was nothing he
+could do except to be more careful next time. For this mistake he
+would have to pay the price.
+
+He had still to learn what the full price was. The day after his
+return there came a caller--Mr. John C. Burton, read his card. He
+proved to be a canvassing agent for the company which published the
+scandal-sheet of Society. They were preparing a de luxe account of
+the prominent families of New York; a very sumptuous affair, with a
+highly exclusive set of subscribers, at the rate of fifteen hundred
+dollars per set. Would Mr. Montague by any chance care to have his
+family included?
+
+And Mr. Montague explained politely that he was a comparative
+stranger in New York, and would not belong properly in such a
+volume. But the agent was not satisfied with this. There might be
+reasons for his subscribing, even so; there might be special cases;
+Mr. Montague, as a stranger, might not realize the important nature
+of the offer; after he had consulted his friends, he might change
+his mind--and so on. As Montague listened to this series of broad
+hints, and took in the meaning of them, the colour mounted, to his
+cheeks--until at last he rose abruptly and bid the man good
+afternoon.
+
+But then as he sat alone, his anger died away, and there was left
+only discomfort and uneasiness. And three or four days later he
+bought another issue of the paper, and sure enough, there was a new
+paragraph!
+
+He stood on the street-corner reading it. The social war was raging
+hotly, it said; and added that Mrs. de Graffenried was threatening
+to take up the cause of the strangers. Then it went on to picture a
+certain exquisite young man of fashion who was rushing about among
+his friends to apologize for his brother's indiscretions. Also, it
+said, there was a brilliant social queen, wife of a great banker,
+who had taken up the cudgels.--And then came three sentences more,
+which made the blood leap like flame into Montague's cheeks:
+
+"There have not been lacking comments upon her suspicious ardour. It
+has been noticed that since the advent of the romantic-looking
+Southerner, this restless lady's interest in the Babists and the
+trance mediums has waned; and now Society is watching for the
+denouement of a most interesting situation."
+
+To Montague these words came like a blow in the face. He went on
+down the street, half dazed. It seemed to him the blackest shame
+that New York had yet shown him. He clenched his fists as he walked,
+whispering to himself, "The scoundrels!"
+
+He realized instantly that he was helpless. Down home one would
+have thrashed the editor of such a paper; but here he was in the
+wolves' own country, and he could do nothing. He went back to his
+office, and sat down at the desk.
+
+"My dear Mrs. Winnie," he wrote. "I have just read the enclosed
+paragraph, and I cannot tell you how profoundly pained I am that
+your kindness to us should have made you the victim of such an
+outrage. I am quite helpless in the matter, except to enable you to
+avoid any further annoyance. Please believe me when I say that we
+shall all of us understand perfectly if you think that we had best
+not meet again at present; and that this will make no difference
+whatever in our feelings."
+
+This letter Montague sent by a messenger; and then he went home.
+Perhaps ten minutes after he arrived, the telephone bell rang--and
+there was Mrs. Winnie.
+
+"Your note has come," she said. "Have you an. engagement this
+evening?"
+
+"No," he answered.
+
+"Well," she said, "will you come to dinner?"
+
+"Mrs. Winnie--" he protested.
+
+"Please come," she said. "Please!"
+
+"I hate to have you--" he began.
+
+"I wish you to come!" she said, a third time.
+
+So he answered, "Very well."
+
+He went; and when he entered the house, the butler led him to the
+elevator, saying, "Mrs. Duval says will you please come upstairs,
+sir." And there Mrs. Winnie met him, with flushed cheeks and eager
+countenance.
+
+She was even lovelier than usual, in a soft cream-coloured gown, and
+a crimson rose in her bosom. "I'm all alone to-night," she said, "so
+we'll dine in my apartments. We'd be lost in that big room
+downstairs."
+
+She led him into her drawing-room, where great armfuls of new roses
+scattered their perfume. There was a table set for two, and two big
+chairs before the fire which blazed in the hearth. Montague noticed
+that her hand trembled a little, as she motioned him to one of them;
+he could read her excitement in her whole aspect. She was flinging
+down the gauntlet to her enemies!
+
+"Let us eat first and talk afterward," she said, hurriedly. "We'll
+be happy for a while, anyway."
+
+And she went on to be happy, in her nervous and eager way. She
+talked about the new opera which was to be given, and about Mrs. de
+Graffenried's new entertainment, and about Mrs. Ridgley-Clieveden's
+ball; also about the hospital for crippled children which she wanted
+to build, and about Mrs. Vivie Patton's rumoured divorce. And,
+meantime, the sphinx-like attendants amoved here and there, and the
+dinner came and went. They took their coffee in the big chairs by
+the fire; and the table was swept clear, and the servants vanished,
+closing the doors behind them.
+
+Then Montague set his cup aside, and sat gazing sombrely into the
+fire. And Mrs. Winnie watched him. There was a long silence.
+
+Suddenly he heard her voice. "Do you find it so easy to give up our
+friendship?" she asked.
+
+"I didn't think about it's being easy or hard," he answered. "I
+simply thought of protecting you."
+
+"And do you think that my friends are nothing to me?" she demanded.
+"Have I so very many as that?" And she clenched her hands with a
+sudden passionate gesture. "Do you think that I will let those
+wretches frighten me into doing what they want? I'll not give in to
+them--not for anything that Lelia can do!"
+
+A look of perplexity crossed Montague's face. "Lelia?" he asked.
+
+"Mrs. Robbie Walling!" she cried. "Don't you suppose that she is
+responsible for that paragraph?"
+
+Montague started.
+
+"That's the way they fight their battles!" cried Mrs. Winnie. "They
+pay money to those scoundrels to be protected. And then they send
+nasty gossip about people they wish to injure."
+
+"You don't mean that!" exclaimed the man.
+
+"Of course I do," cried she. "I know that it's true! I know that
+Robbie Walling paid fifteen thousand dollars for some trumpery
+volumes that they got out! And how do you suppose the paper gets its
+gossip?"
+
+"I didn't know," said Montague. "But I never dreamed--"
+
+"Why," exclaimed Mrs. Winnie, "their mail is full of blue and gold
+monogram stationery! I've known guests to sit down and write gossip
+about their hostesses in their own homes. Oh, you've no idea of
+people's vileness!"
+
+"I had some idea," said Montague, after a pause.--"That was why I
+wished to protect you."
+
+"I don't wish to be protected!" she cried, vehemently. "I'll not
+give them the satisfaction. They wish to make me give you up, and
+I'll not do it, for anything they can say!"
+
+Montague sat with knitted brows, gazing into the fire. "When I read
+that paragraph," he said slowly. "I could not bear to think of the
+unhappiness it might cause you. I thought of how much it might
+disturb your husband--"
+
+"My husband!" echoed Mrs. Winnie.
+
+There was a hard tone in her voice, as she went on. "He will fix it
+up with them," she said,--"that's his way. There will be nothing
+more published, you can feel sure of that."
+
+Montague sat in silence. That was not the reply he had expected, and
+it rather disconcerted him.
+
+"If that were all--" he said, with hesitation. "But I could not
+know. I thought that the paragraph might disturb him for another
+reason--that it might be a cause of unhappiness between you and
+him--"
+
+There was a pause. "You don't understand," said Mrs. Winnie, at
+last.
+
+Without turning his head he could see her hands, as they lay upon
+her knees. She was moving them nervously. "You don't understand,"
+she repeated.
+
+When she began to' speak again, it was in a low, trembling voice. "I
+must tell you," she said; "I have felt sure that you did not know."
+
+There was another pause. She hesitated, and her hands trembled; then
+suddenly she'hurried on.--"I wanted you to know. I do not love my
+husband. I am not bound to him. He has nothing to say in my
+affairs."
+
+Montague sat rigid, turned to stone. He was half dazed by the words.
+He could feel Mrs. Winnie's gaze fixed upon him; and he could feel
+the hot flush that spread over her throat and cheeks.
+
+"It--it was not fair for you not to know," she whispered. And her
+voice died away, and there was again a silence. Montague was dumb.
+
+"Why don't you say something?" she panted, at last; and he caught
+the note of anguish in her voice. Then he turned and stared at her,
+and saw her tightly clenched hands, and the quivering of her lips.
+
+He was shocked quite beyond speech. And he saw her bosom heaving
+quickly, and saw the tears start into her eyes. Suddenly she sank
+down, and covered her face with her hands and broke into frantic
+sobbing.
+
+"Mrs. Winnie!" he cried; and started to his feet.
+
+Her outburst continued. He saw that she was shuddering violently.
+"Then you don't love me!" she wailed.
+
+He stood trembling and utterly bewildered. "I'm so sorry!" he
+whispered. "Oh, Mrs. Winnie--I had no idea--"
+
+"I know it! I know it!" she cried. "It's my fault! I was a fool! I
+knew it all the time. But I hoped--I thought you might, if you
+knew--"
+
+And then again her tears choked her; she was convulsed with pain and
+grief.
+
+Montague stood watching her, helpless with distress. She caught hold
+of the arm of the chair, convulsively, and he put his hand upon
+hers.
+
+"Mrs. Winnie--" he began.
+
+But she jerked her hand away and hid it. "No, no!" she cried, in
+terror. "Don't touch me!"
+
+And suddenly she looked up at him, stretching out her arms. "Don't
+you understand that I love you?" she exclaimed. "You despise me for
+it, I know--but I can't help it. I will tell you, even so! It's the
+only satisfaction I can have. I have always loved you! And I
+thought--I thought it was only that you didn't understand. I was
+ready to brave all the world--I didn't care who knew it, or what
+anybody said. I thought we could be happy--I thought I could be free
+at last. Oh, you've no idea how unhappy I am--and how lonely--and
+how I longed to escape! And I believed that you--that you might--"
+
+And then the tears gushed into Mrs. Winnie's eyes again, and her
+voice became the voice of a little child.
+
+"Don't you think that you might come to love me?" she wailed.
+
+Her voice shook Montague, so that he trembled to the depths of him.
+But his face only became the more grave.
+
+"You despise me because I told you!" she exclaimed.
+
+"No, no, Mrs. Winnie," he said. "I could not possibly do that--"
+
+"Then--then why--" she whispered.--"Would it be so hard to love me?"
+
+"It would be very easy," he said, "but I dare not let myself."
+
+She looked at him piteously. "You are so cold--so merciless!" she
+cried.
+
+He answered nothing, and she sat trembling. "Have you ever loved a
+woman?" she asked.
+
+There was a long pause. He sat in the chair again. "Listen, Mrs.
+Winnie"--he began at last.
+
+"Don't call me that!" she exclaimed. "Call me Evelyn--please."
+
+"Very well," he said--"Evelyn. I did not intend to make you
+unhappy--if I had had any idea, I should never have seen you again.
+I will tell you--what I have never told anybody before. Then you
+will understand."
+
+He sat for a few moments, in a sombre reverie.
+
+"Once," he said, "when I was young, I loved a woman--a quadroon
+girl. That was in New Orleans; it is a custom we have there. They
+have a world of their own, and we take care of them, and of the
+children; and every one knows about it. I was very young, only about
+eighteen; and she was even younger. But I found out then what women
+are, and what love means to them. I saw how they could suffer. And
+then she died in childbirth--the child died, too."
+
+Montague's voice was very low; and Mrs. Winnie sat with her hands
+clasped, and her eyes riveted upon his face. "I saw her die," he
+said. "And that was all. I have never forgotten it. I made up my
+mind then that I had done wrong; and that never again while I lived
+would I offer my love to a woman, unless I could devote all my life
+to her. So you see, I am afraid of love. I do not wish to suffer so
+much, or to make others suffer. And when anyone speaks to me as you
+did, it brings it all back to me--it makes me shrink up and wither."
+
+He paused, and the other caught her breath.
+
+"Understand me," she said, her voice trembling. "I would not ask any
+pledges of you. I would pay whatever price there was to pay--I am
+not afraid to suffer."
+
+"I do not wish you to suffer," he said. "I do not wish to take
+advantage of any woman."
+
+"But I have nothing in the world that I value!" she cried. "I would
+go away--I would give up everything, to be with a man like you. I
+have no ties--no duties--"
+
+He interrupted her. "You have your husband--" he said.
+
+And she cried out in sudden fury--"My husband!"
+
+"Has no one ever told you about my husband?" she asked, after a
+pause.
+
+"No one," he said.
+
+"Well, ask them!" she exclaimed. "Meantime, take my word for it--I
+owe nothing to my husband."
+
+Montague sat staring into the fire. "But consider my own case," he
+said. "_I_ have duties--my mother and my cousin--"
+
+"Oh, don't say any more!" cried the woman, with a break in her
+voice. "Say that you don't love me--that is all there is to say!
+And you will never respect me again! I have been a fool--I have
+ruined everything! I have flung away your friendship, that I might
+have kept!"
+
+"No," he said.
+
+But she rushed on, vehemently--"At least, I have been honest--give
+me credit for that! That is how all my troubles come--I say what is
+in my mind, and I pay the price for my blunders. It is not as if I
+were cold and calculating--so don't despise me altogether."
+
+"I couldn't despise you," said Montague. "I am simply pained,
+because I have made you unhappy. And I did not mean to."
+
+Mrs. Winnie sat staring ahead of her in a sombre reverie. "Don't
+think any more about it," she said, bitterly. "I will get over it. I
+am not worth troubling about. Don't you suppose I know how you feel
+about this world that I live in? And I'm part of it--I beat my
+wings, and try to get out, but I can't. I'm in it, and I'll stay in
+till I die; I might as well give up. I thought that I could steal a
+little joy--you have no idea how hungry I am for a little joy! You
+have no idea how lonely I am! And how empty my life is! You talk
+about your fear of making me unhappy; it's a grim jest--but I'll
+give you permission, if you can! I'll ask nothing--no promises, no
+sacrifices! I'll take all the risks, and pay all the penalties!"
+
+She smiled through her tears, a sardonic smile. He was watching her,
+and she turned again, and their eyes met; again he saw the blood
+mount from her throat to her cheeks. At the same time came the old
+stirring of the wild beasts within him. He knew that the less time
+he spent in sympathizing with Mrs. Winnie, the better for both of
+them.
+
+He had started to rise, and words of farewell were on his lips; when
+suddenly there came a knock upon the door.
+
+Mrs. Winnie sprang to her feet. "Who is that?" she cried.
+
+And the door opened, and Mr. Duval entered.
+
+"Good evening," he said pleasantly, and came toward her.
+
+Mrs. Winnie flushed angrily, and stared at him. "Why do you come
+here unannounced?" she cried.
+
+"I apologize," he said--"but I found this in my mail--"
+
+And Montague, in the act of rising to greet him, saw that he had the
+offensive clipping in his hand. Then he saw Duval give a start, and
+realized that the man had not been aware of his presence in the
+room.
+
+Duval gazed from Montague to his wife, and noticed for the first
+time her tears, and her agitation. "I beg pardon," he said. "I am
+evidently trespassing."
+
+"You most certainly are," responded Mrs. Winnie.
+
+He made a move to withdraw; but before he could take a step, she had
+brushed past him and left the room, slamming the door behind her.
+
+And Duval stared after her, and then he stared at Montague, and
+laughed. "Well! well! well!" he said.
+
+Then, checking his amusement, he added, "Good evening, sir."
+
+"Good evening," said Montague.
+
+He was trembling slightly, and Duval noticed it; he smiled genially.
+"This is the sort of material out of which scenes are made," said
+he. "But I beg you not to be embarrassed--we won't have any scenes."
+
+Montague could think of nothing to say to that.
+
+"I owe Evelyn an apology," the other continued. "It was entirely an
+accident--this clipping, you see. I do not intrude, as a rule. You
+may make yourself at home in future."
+
+Montague flushed scarlet at the words.
+
+"Mr. Duval," he said, "I have to assure you that you are mistaken--"
+
+The other stared at him. "Oh, come, come!" he said, laughing. "Let
+us talk as men of the world."
+
+"I say that you are mistaken," said Montague again.
+
+The other shrugged his shoulders. "Very well," he said genially. "As
+you please. I simply wish to make matters clear to you, that's all.
+I wish you joy with Evelyn. I say nothing about her--you love her.
+Suffice it that I've had her, and I'm tired of her; the field is
+yours. But keep her out of mischief, and don't let her make a fool
+of herself in public, if you can help it. And don't let her spend
+too much money--she costs me a million a year already.--Good
+evening, Mr. Montague."
+
+And he went out. Montague, who stood like a statue, could hear him
+chuckling all the way down the hall.
+
+At last Montague himself started to leave. But he heard Mrs. Winnie
+coming back, and he waited for her. She came in and shut the door,
+and turned toward him.
+
+"What did he say?" she asked.
+
+"He--was very pleasant," said Montague.
+
+And she smiled grimly. "I went out on purpose," she said." I wanted
+you to see him--to see what sort of a man he is, and how much 'duty'
+I owe him! You saw, I guess."
+
+"Yes, I saw," said he.
+
+Then again he started to go. But she took him by the arm. "Come and
+talk to me," she said. "Please!"
+
+And she led him back to the fire. "Listen," she said. "He will not
+come here again. He is going away to-night--I thought he had gone
+already. And he does not return for a month or two. There will be no
+one to disturb us again."
+
+She came close to him and gazed up into his face. She had wiped her
+tears away, and her happy look had come back to her; she was
+lovelier than ever.
+
+"I took you by surprise," she said, smiling. "You didn't know what
+to make of it. And I was ashamed--I thought you would hate me. But
+I'm not going to be unhappy any more--I don't care at all. I'm glad
+that I spoke!"
+
+And Mrs. Winnie put up her hands and took him by the lapels of his
+coat. "I know that you love me," she said; "I saw it in your eyes
+just now, before he came in: It is simply that you won't let
+yourself go. You have so many doubts and so many fears. But you will
+see that I am right; you will learn to love me. You won't be able to
+help it--I shall be so kind and good! Only don't go away--"
+
+Mrs. Winnie was so close to him that her breath touched his cheek.
+"Promise me, dear," she whispered--"promise me that you won't stop
+seeing me--that you will learn to love me. I can't do without you!"
+
+Montague was trembling in every nerve; he felt like a man caught in
+a net. Mrs. Winnie had had everything she ever wanted in her life;
+and now she wanted him! It was impossible for her to face any other
+thought.
+
+"Listen," he began gently.
+
+But she saw the look of resistance in his eyes, and she cried "No
+no--don't! I cannot do without you! Think! I love you! What more can
+I say to you? I cannot believe that you don't care for me--you HAVE
+been fond of me--I have seen it in your face. Yet you're afraid of
+me--why? Look at me--am I not beautiful to look at I And is a
+woman's love such a little thing--can you fling it away and trample
+upon it so easily? Why do you wish to go? Don't you understand--no
+one knows we are here--no one cares! You can come here whenever you
+wish--this is my place--mine! And no one will think anything about
+it. They all do it. There is nothing to be afraid of!"
+
+She put her arms about him, and clung to him so that he could feel
+the beating of her heart upon his bosom. "Oh, don't leave me here
+alone to-night!" she cried.
+
+To Montague it was like the ringing of an alarm-bell deep within his
+soul. "I must go," he said.
+
+She flung back her head and stared at him, and he saw the terror and
+anguish in her eyes. "No, no!" she cried, "don't say that to me! I
+can't bear it--oh, see what I have done! Look at me! Have mercy on
+me!"
+
+"Mrs. Winnie," he said, "you must have mercy on ME!"
+
+But he only felt her clasp him more tightly. He took her by the
+wrists, and with quiet force he broke her hold upon him; her hands
+fell to her sides, and she stared at him, aghast.
+
+"I must go," he said, again.
+
+And he started toward the door. She followed him dumbly with her
+eyes.
+
+"Good-bye," he said. He knew that there was no use of any more
+words; his sympathy had been like oil upon flames. He saw her move,
+and as he opened the door, she flung herself down in a chair and
+burst into frantic weeping. He shut the door softly and went away.
+
+He found his way down the stairs, and got his hat and coat, and went
+out, unseen by anyone. He walked down the Avenue-and there suddenly
+was the giant bulk of St. Cecilia's lifting itself into the sky. He
+stopped and looked at it--it seemed a great tumultuous surge of
+emotion. And for the first time in his life it seemed to him that he
+understood why men had put together that towering heap of stone!
+
+Then he went on home.
+
+He found Alice dressing for a ball, and Oliver waiting for her. He
+went to his room, and took off his coat; and Oliver came up to him,
+and with a sudden gesture reached over to his shoulder, and held up
+a trophy.
+
+He drew it out carefully, and measured the length of it, smiling
+mischievously in the meanwhile. Then he held it up to the light, to
+see the colour of it.
+
+"A black one!" he cried. "Coal black!" And he looked at his brother,
+with a merry twinkle in his eyes. "Oh, Allan!" he chuckled.
+
+Montague said nothing.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+
+
+
+
+It was about a week from the beginning of Lent, when there would be
+a lull in the city's gaieties, and Society would shift the scene of
+its activities to the country clubs, and to California and Hot
+Springs and Palm Beach. Mrs. Caroline. Smythe invited Alice to join
+her in an expedition to the last-named place; but Montague
+interposed, because he saw that Alice had been made pale and nervous
+by three months of night-and-day festivities. Also, a trip to
+Florida would necessitate ten or fifteen thousand dollars' worth of
+new clothes; and these would not do for the summer, it
+appeared--they would be faded and passe by that time.
+
+So Alice settled back to rest; but she was too popular to be let
+alone--a few days later came another invitation, this time from
+General Prentice and his family. They were planning a railroad
+trip--to be gone for a month; they would have a private train, and
+twenty five people in the party, and would take in California and
+Mexico--"swinging round the circle," as it was called. Alice was
+wild to go, and Montague gave his consent. Afterward he learned to
+his dismay that Charlie Carter was one of those invited, and he
+would have liked to have Alice withdraw; but she did not wish to,
+and he could not make up his mind to insist.
+
+These train trips were the very latest diversion of the well-to-do;
+a year ago no one had heard of them, and now fifty parties were
+leaving New York every month. You might see a dozen of such
+hotel-trains at once at Palm Beach; there were some people who lived
+on board all the time, having special tracks built for them in
+pleasant locations wherever they stopped. One man had built a huge
+automobile railroad car, shaped like a ram, and having accommodation
+for sixty people. The Prentice train had four cars, one of them a
+"library car," finished in St. lago mahogany, and provided with a
+pipe-organ. Also there were bath-rooms and a barber-shop, and a
+baggage car with two autos on board for exploring purposes.
+
+Since the episode of Mrs. Winnie, Oliver had apparently concluded
+that his brother was one of the initiated. Not long afterward he
+permitted him to a glimpse into that side of his life which had been
+hinted at in the songs at the bachelors' dinner.
+
+Oliver had planned to take Betty Wyman to the theatre; but Betty's
+grandfather had come home from the West unexpectedly, and so Oliver
+came round and took his brother instead.
+
+"I was going to play a joke on her," he said. "We'll go to see one
+of my old flames."
+
+It was a translation of a French farce, in which the marital
+infidelities of two young couples were the occasion of many mishaps.
+One of the characters was a waiting-maid, who was in love with a
+handsome young soldier, and was pursued by the husband of one of the
+couples. It was a minor part, but the young Jewish girl who played
+it had so many pretty graces and such a merry laugh that she made it
+quite conspicuous. When the act was over, Oliver asked him whose
+acting he liked best, and he named her.
+
+"Come and be introduced to her," Oliver said.
+
+He opened a door near their box. "How do you do, Mr. Wilson," he
+said, nodding to a man in evening dress, who stood near by. Then he
+turned toward the dressing-rooms, and went down a corridor, and
+knocked upon one of the doors. A voice called, "Come in," and he
+opened the door; and there was a tiny room, with odds and ends of
+clothing scattered about, and the girl, clad in corsets and
+underskirt, sitting before a mirror. "Hello, Rosalie," said he.
+
+And she dropped her powder-puff, and sprang up with a cry--"Ollie!"
+'In a moment more she had her arms about his neck.
+
+"Oh, you wretched man," she cried. "Why don't you come to see me any
+more? Didn't you get my letters?"
+
+"I got some," said he. "But I've been busy. This is my brother, Mr.
+Allan Montague."
+
+The other nodded to Montague, and said, "How do you do?"--but
+without letting go of Oliver. "Why don't you come to see me?" she
+exclaimed.
+
+"There, there, now!" said Oliver, laughing good-naturedly. "I
+brought my brother along so that you'd have to behave yourself."
+
+"I don't care about your brother!" exclaimed the girl, without even
+giving him another glance. Then she held Oliver at arm's length, and
+gazed into his face. "How can you be so cruel to me?" she asked.
+
+"I told you I was busy," said he, cheerfully. "And I gave you fair
+warning, didn't I? How's Toodles?"
+
+"Oh, Toodles is in raptures," said Rosalie. "She's got a new
+fellow." And then, her manner changing to one of merriment, she
+added: "Oh, Ollie! He gave her a diamond brooch! And she looks like
+a countess--she's hoping for a chance to wear it in a part!"
+
+"You've seen Toodles," said Oliver, to his brother "She's in 'The
+Kaliph of Kamskatka.'".
+
+"They're going on the road next week," said Rosalie. "And then I'll
+be all alone." She added, in a pleading voice: "Do, Ollie, be a good
+boy and take us out to-night. Think how long it's been since I've
+seen you! Why, I've been so good I don't know myself in the
+looking-glass. Please, Ollie!"
+
+"All right," said he, "maybe I will."
+
+"I'm not going to let you get away from me," she cried. "I'll come
+right over the footlights after you!"
+
+"You'd better get dressed," said Oliver. "You'll be late."
+
+He pushed aside a tray with some glasses on it, and seated himself
+upon a trunk; and Montague stood in a corner and watched Rosalie,
+while she powdered and painted herself, and put on an airy summer
+dress, and poured out a flood of gossip about "Toodles" and
+"Flossie" and "Grace" and some others. A few minutes later came a
+stentorian voice in the hallway: "Second act!" There were more
+embraces, and then Ollie brushed the powder from his coat, and went
+away laughing.
+
+Montague stood for a few moments in the wings, watching the
+scene-shifters putting the final touches to the new set, and the
+various characters taking their positions. Then they went out to
+their seats. "Isn't she a jewel?" asked Oliver.
+
+"She's very pretty," the other admitted.
+
+"She came right out of the slums," said Oliver--"over on Rivington
+Street. That don't happen very often."
+
+"How did you come to know her?" asked his brother.
+
+"Oh, I picked her out. She was in a chorus, then. I got her first
+speaking part."
+
+"Did you?" said the other, in surprise. "How did you do that?"
+
+"Oh, a little money," was the reply. "Money will do most anything.
+And I was in love with her--that's how I got her."
+
+Montague said nothing, but sat in thought.
+
+"We'll take her out to supper and make her happy," added Oliver, as
+the curtain started up. "She's lonesome, I guess. You see, I
+promised Betty I'd reform."
+
+All through that scene and the next one Rosalie acted for them; she
+was so full of verve and merriment that there was quite a stir in
+the audience, and she got several rounds of applause. Then, when the
+play was over, she extricated herself from the arms of the handsome
+young soldier, and fled to her dressing-room, and when Oliver and
+Montague arrived, she was half ready for the street.
+
+They went up Broadway, and from a group of people coming out of
+another stage-entrance a young girl came to join them--an airy
+little creature with the face of a doll-baby, and a big hat with a
+purple feather on top. This was "Toodles"--otherwise known as Helen
+Gwynne; and she took Montague's arm, and they fell in behind Oliver
+and his companion.
+
+Montague wondered what one said to a chorus-girl on the way to
+supper. Afterward his brother told him that Toodles had been the
+wife of a real-estate agent in a little town in Oklahoma, and had
+run away from respectability and boredom with a travelling
+theatrical company. Now she was tripping her part in the musical
+comedy which Montague had seen at Mrs. Lane's; and incidentally
+swearing devotion to a handsome young "wine-agent." She confided to
+Montague that she hoped the latter might see her that evening--he
+needed to be made jealous.
+
+"The Great White Way" was the name which people had given to this
+part of Broadway; and at the head of it stood a huge hotel with
+flaming lights, and gorgeous marble and bronze, and famous paintings
+upon the walls and ceilings inside. At this hour every one of its
+many dining-rooms was thronged with supper-parties, and the place
+rang with laughter and the rattle of dishes, and the strains of
+several orchestras which toiled heroically in the midst of the
+uproar. Here they found a table, and while Oliver was ordering
+frozen poached eggs and quails in aspic, Montague sat and gazed
+about him at the revelry, and listened to the prattle of the little
+ex-sempstress from Rivington Street.
+
+His brother had "got her," he said, by buying a speaking part in a
+play for her; and Montague recalled the orgies of which he had heard
+at the bachelors' dinner, and divined that here he was at the source
+of the stream from which they were fed. At the table next to them
+was a young Hebrew, whom Toodles pointed out as the son and heir of
+a great clothing manufacturer. He was "keeping" several girls, said
+she; and the queenly creature who was his vis-a-vis was one of the
+chorus in "The Maids of Mandalay." And a little way farther down the
+room was a boy with the face of an angel and the air of a prince of
+the blood--he had inherited a million and run away from school, and
+was making a name for himself in the Tenderloin. The pretty little
+girl all in green who was with him was Violet Pane, who was the
+artist's model in a new play that had made a hit. She had had a
+full-page picture of herself in the Sunday supplement of the
+"sporting paper" which was read here--so Rosalie remarked.
+
+"Why don't you ever do that for me?" she added, to Oliver.
+
+"Perhaps I will," said he, with a laugh. "What does it cost?"
+
+And when he learned that the honour could be purchased for only
+fifteen hundred dollars, he said, "I'll do it, if you'll be good."
+And from that time on the last trace of worriment vanished from the
+face and the conversation of Rosalie.
+
+As the champagne cocktails disappeared, she and Oliver became
+confidential. Then Montague turned to Toodles, to learn more about
+how the "second generation" was preying upon the women of the stage.
+
+"A chorus-girl got from ten to twenty dollars a week," said Toodles;
+and that was hardly enough to pay for her clothes. Her work was very
+uncertain--she would spend weeks at rehearsal, and then if the play
+failed, she would get nothing. It was a dog's life; and the keys of
+freedom and opportunity were in the keeping of rich men, who haunted
+the theatres and laid siege to the girls. They would send in notes
+to them, or fling bouquets to them, with cards, or perhaps money,
+hidden in them. There were millionaire artists and bohemians who
+kept a standing order for seats in the front rows at opening
+performances; they had accounts with florists and liverymen and
+confectioners, and gave carte blanche to scores of girls who lent
+themselves to their purposes. Sometimes they were in league with the
+managers, and a girl who held back would find her chances
+imperilled; sometimes these men would even finance shows to give a
+chance to some favourite.
+
+Afterward Toodles turned to listen to Oliver and his companion; and
+Montague sat back and gazed about the room. Next to him was a long
+table with a dozen, people at it; and he watched the buckets of
+champagne and the endless succession of fantastic-looking dishes of
+food, and the revellers, with their flushed faces and feverish eyes
+and loud laughter. Above all the tumult was the voice of the
+orchestra, calling, calling, like the storm wind upon the mountains;
+the music was wild and chaotic, and produced an indescribable sense
+of pain and confusion. When one realized that this same thing was
+going on in thousands of places in this district it seemed that here
+was a flood of dissipation that out-rivalled even that of Society.
+
+It was said that the hotels of New York, placed end to end, would
+reach all the way to London; and they took care of a couple of
+hundred thousand people a day--a horde which had come from all over
+the world in search of pleasure and excitement. There were
+sight-seers and "country customers" from forty-five states; ranchers
+from Texas, and lumber kings from Maine, and mining men from Nevada.
+At home they had reputations, and perhaps families to consider; but
+once plunged into the whirlpool of the Tenderloin, they were hidden
+from all>the world. They came with their pockets full of money; and
+hotels and restaurants, gambling-places and pool-rooms and
+brothels--all were lying in wait for them! So eager had the
+competition become that there was a tailoring establishment and a
+bank that were never closed the year round, except on Sunday.
+
+Everywhere about one's feet the nets of vice were spread. The head
+waiter in one's hotel was a "steerer" for a "dive," and the house
+detective was "touting" for a gambling-place. The handsome woman who
+smiled at one in "Peacock Alley" was a "madame"; the pleasant-faced
+young man who spoke to one at the bar was on the look-out for
+customers for a brokerage-house next door. Three times in a single
+day in another of these great caravanserais Montague was offered
+"short change"; and so his eyes were opened to a new kind of
+plundering. He was struck by the number of attendants in livery who
+swarmed about him, and to whom he gave tips for their services. He
+did not notice that the boys in the wash-rooms and coat-rooms could
+not speak a word of English; he could not know that they were
+searched every night, and had everything taken from them, and that
+the Greek who hired them had paid fifteen thousand dollars a year to
+the hotel for the privilege.
+
+So far had the specialization in evil proceeded that there were
+places of prostitution which did a telephone-business exclusively,
+and would send a woman in a cab to any address; and there were
+high-class assignation-houses, which furnished exquisite apartments
+and the services of maids and valets. And in this world of vice the
+modern doctrine of the equality of the sexes was fully recognized;
+there were gambling-houses and pool-rooms and opium-joints for
+women, and drinking-places which catered especially for them. In the
+"orange room" of one of the big hotels, you might see rich women of
+every rank and type, fingering the dainty leather-bound and
+gold-embossed wine cards. In this room alone were sold over ten
+thousand drinks every day; and the hotel paid a rental of a minion a
+year to the Devon estate. Not far away the Devons also owned
+negro-dives, where, in the early hours of the morning, you might see
+richly-gowned white women drinking.
+
+In this seething caldron of graft there were many strange ways of
+making money, and many strange and incredible types of human beings
+to be met. Once, in "Society," Montague had pointed out to him a
+woman who had been a "tattooed lady" in a circus; there was another
+who had been a confederate of gamblers upon the ocean steamships,
+and another who had washed dishes in a mining-camp. There was one of
+these great hotels whose proprietor had been a successful burglar;
+and a department-store whose owner had begun life as a "fence." In
+any crowd of these revellers you might have such strange creatures
+pointed out to you; a multimillionaire who sold rotten jam to the
+people; another who had invented opium soothing-syrup for babies; a
+convivial old gentleman who disbursed the "yellow dog fund" of
+several railroads; a handsome chauffeur who had run away with an
+heiress. 'Once a great scientist had invented a new kind of
+underwear, and had endeavoured to make it a gift to humanity; and
+here was a man who had seized upon it and made millions out of it!
+Here was a "trance medium," who had got a fortune out of an imbecile
+old manufacturer; here was a great newspaper proprietor, who
+published advertisements of assignations at a dollar a line; here
+was a cigar manufacturer, whose smug face was upon every
+billboard--he had begun as a tin manufacturer, and to avoid the
+duty, he had had his raw material cast in the form of statues, and
+brought them in as works of art!
+
+And terrible and vile as were the sources from which the fortunes
+had been derived, they were no viler nor more terrible than the
+purposes for which they had been spent. Mrs. Vivie Patton had hinted
+to Montague of a "Decameron Club," whose members gathered in each
+others' homes and vied in the telling of obscene stories; Strathcona
+had told him about another set of exquisite ladies and gentlemen who
+gave elaborate entertainments, in which they dressed in the costumes
+of bygone periods, and imitated famous characters in history, and
+the vices and orgies of courts and camps. One heard of "Cleopatra
+nights" on board of yachts at Newport. There was a certain Wall
+Street "plunger," who had begun life as a mining man in the West;
+and when his customers came in town, he would hire a trolley-car,
+and take a load of champagne and half a dozen prostitutes, and spend
+the night careering about the country. This man was now quartered in
+one of the great hotels in New York; and in his apartments he would
+have prize fights and chicken fights; and bloodthirsty exhibitions
+called "purring matches," in which men tried to bark each other's
+shins; or perhaps a "battle royal," with a diamond scarf-pin
+dangling from the ceiling, and half a dozen negroes in a
+free-for-all fight for the prize.
+
+No picture of the ways of the Metropolis would be complete which did
+not force upon the reluctant reader some realization of the extent
+to which new and hideous incitements to vice were spreading. To say
+that among the leisured classes such practices were raging like a
+pestilence would be no exaggeration. Ten years ago they were
+regarded with aversion by even the professionally vicious; but now
+the commonest prostitute accepted them as part of her fate. And
+there was no height to which they had not reached--ministers of
+state were enslaved by them; great fortunes and public events were
+controlled by them. In Washington there had been an ambassador whose
+natural daughter taught them in the houses of the great, until the
+scandal forced the minister's recall. Some of these practices were
+terrible in their effects, completely wrecking the victim in a short
+time; and physicians who studied their symptoms would be horrified
+to see them appearing in the homes of their friends.
+
+And from New York, the centre of the wealth and culture of the
+country, these vices spread to every corner of it. Theatrical
+companies and travelling salesmen carried them; visiting merchants
+and sightseers acquired them. Pack-pedlers sold vile pictures and
+books--the manufacturing or importing of which was now quite an
+industry; one might read catalogues printed abroad in English, the
+contents of which would make one's flesh creep. There were cheap
+weeklies, costing ten cents a year, which were thrust into
+area-windows for servant-girls; there were yellow-covered French
+novels of unbelievable depravity for the mistress of the house. It
+was a curious commentary upon the morals of Society that upon the
+trains running to a certain suburban community frequented by the
+ultra-fashionable, the newsboys did a thriving business in such
+literature; and when the pastor of the fashionable church eloped
+with a Society girl, the bishop publicly laid the blame to the
+morals of his parishioners!
+
+The theory was that there were two worlds, and that they were kept
+rigidly separate. There were two sets of women; one to be toyed with
+and flung aside, and the other to be protected and esteemed. Such
+things as prostitutes and kept women might exist, but people of
+refinement did not talk about them, and were not concerned with
+them. But Montague was familiar with the saying, that if you follow
+the chain of the slave, you will find the other end about the wrist
+of the master; and he discovered that the Tenderloin was wreaking
+its vengeance upon Fifth Avenue. It was not merely that the men of
+wealth were carrying to their wives and children the diseases of
+vice; they were carrying also the manners and the ideals.
+
+Montague had been amazed by the things he had found in New York
+Society; the smoking and drinking and gambling of women, their hard
+and cynical views of life, their continual telling of coarse
+stories. And here, in this under-world, he had come upon the
+fountain head of the corruption. It was something which came to him
+in a sudden flash of intuition;--the barriers between the two worlds
+were breaking down!
+
+He could picture the process in a hundred different forms. There was
+Betty Wyman. His brother had meant to take her to the theatre, to
+let her see Rosalie, by way of a joke! So, of course, Betty knew of
+his escapades, and of those of his set; she and her girl friends
+were whispering and jesting about them. Hero sat Oliver, smiling and
+cynical, toying with Rosalie as a cat might toy with a mouse; and
+to-morrow he would be with Betty--and could anyone doubt any longer
+whence Betty had derived her attitude towards life? And the habits
+of mind that Oliver had taught her as a girl she would not forget as
+a wife; he might be anxious to keep her to himself, but there would
+be others whose interest was different.
+
+And Montague recalled other things that he had seen or heard in.
+Society, that he could put his finger upon, as having come out of
+this under-world. Tho more he thought of the explanation, the more
+it seemed to explain. This "Society," which had perplexed him--now
+he could describe it: its manners and ideals of life were those
+which he would have expected to find in the "fast" side of stage
+life.
+
+It was, of course, the women who made Society, and gave it its tone;
+and the women of Society were actresses. They were actresses in
+their love of notoriety and display; in their taste in clothes and
+jewels, their fondness for cigarettes and champagne. They made up
+like actresses; they talked and thought like actresses. The only
+obvious difference was that the women of the stage were carefully
+selected--were at least up to a certain standard of physical
+excellence; whereas the women of Society were not selected at all,
+and some were lean, and some were stout, and some were painfully
+homely.
+
+Montague recalled cases where the two sets had met as at some of the
+private entertainments. It was getting to be the fashion to hobnob
+with the stage people on such occasions; and he recalled how
+naturally the younger people took to this. Only the older women held
+aloof; looking down upon the women of the stage from an ineffable
+height, as belonging to a lower caste--because they were obliged to
+work for their livings. But it seemed to Montague, as he sat and
+talked with this poor chorus-girl, who had sold herself for a little
+pleasure, that it was easier to pardon her than the woman who had
+been born to luxury, and scorned those who produced her wealth.
+
+But most of all, one's sympathies went out to a person who was not
+to be met in either of these sets; to the girl who had not sold
+herself, but was struggling for a living in the midst of this
+ravening corruption. There were thousands of self-respecting women,
+even on the stage; Toodles herself had been among them, she told
+Montague. "I kept straight for a long time," she said, laughing
+cheerfully--"and on ten dollars a week! I used to go out on the
+road, and then they paid me sixteen; and think of trying to live on
+one-night stands--to board yourself and stop at hotels and dress for
+the theatre--on sixteen a week, and no job half the year! And all
+that time--do you know Cyril Chambers, the famous church painter?"
+
+"I've heard of him," said Montague.
+
+"Well, I was with a show here on Broadway the next winter; and every
+night for six months he sent me a bunch of orchids that couldn't
+have cost less than seventy-five dollars! And he told me he'd open
+accounts for me in all the stores I chose, if I'd spend the next
+summer in Europe with him. He said I could take my mother or my
+sister with me--and I was so green in those days, I thought that
+must mean he didn't intend anything wrong!"
+
+Toodles smiled at the memory. "Did you go?" asked the man.
+
+"No," she answered. "I stayed here with a roof-garden show that
+failed. And I went to my old manager for a job, and he said to me,
+'I can only pay you ten a week. But why are you so foolish?' 'How do
+you mean?' I asked; and he answered, 'Why don't you get a rich
+sweetheart? Then I could pay you sixty.' That's what a girl hears on
+the stage!"
+
+"I don't understand," said Montague, perplexed. "Did he mean he
+could get money out of the man?"
+
+"Not directly," said Toodles; "but tickets--and advertising. Why,
+men will hire front-row seats for a whole season, if they're
+interested in a girl in the show. And they'll take all their friends
+to see her, and she'll be talked about--she'll be somebody, instead
+of just nobody, as I was."
+
+"Then it actually helps her on the stage!" said Montague.
+
+"Helps her!" exclaimed Toodles. "My God! I've known a girl who'd
+been abroad with a tip-top swell--and had the gowns and the jewels
+to prove it--to come home and get into the front row of a chorus at
+a hundred dollars a week."
+
+Toodles was cheerful and all unaware; and that only made the tragedy
+of it all one shade more black to Montague. He sat lost in sombre
+reverie, forgetting his companions, and the blare and glare of the
+place.
+
+In the centre of this dining-room was a great cone-shaped stand,
+containing a display of food; and as they strolled out, Montague
+stopped to look at it. There were platters garnished with flowers
+and herbs, and containing roast turkeys and baked hams, jellied
+meats and game in aspic, puddings and tarts and frosted cakes--every
+kind of food-fantasticality imaginable. One might have spent an hour
+in studying it, and from top to bottom he would have found nothing
+simple, nothing natural. The turkeys had paper curls and rosettes
+stuck over them; the hams were covered with a white gelatine, the
+devilled crabs with a yellow mayonnaise-and all painted over in pink
+and green and black with landscapes and marine views--with "ships
+and shoes and sealing-wax and cabbages and kings." The jellied meats
+and the puddings were in the shape of fruits and flowers; and there
+were elaborate works of art in pink and white confectionery--a
+barn-yard, for instance, with horses and cows, and a pump, and a
+dairymaid--and one or two alligators.
+
+And all this was changed every day! Each morning you might see a
+procession of a score of waiters bearing aloft a new supply.
+Montague remembered Betty Wyman's remark at their first interview,
+apropos of the whipped cream made into little curleques; how his
+brother had said, "If Allan were here, he'd be thinking about the
+man who fixed that cream, and how long it took him, and how he might
+have been reading 'The Simple Life'!"
+
+He thought of that now; he stood here and gazed, and wondered about
+all the slaves of the lamp who served in this huge temple of luxury.
+He looked at the waiters--pale, hollow-chested, harried-looking men:
+he imagined the hordes of servants of yet lower kinds, who never
+emerged into the light of day; the men who washed the dishes, the
+men who carried the garbage, the men who shovelled the coal into the
+furnaces, and made the heat and light and power. Pent up in dim
+cellars, many stories under ground, and bound for ever to the
+service of sensuality--how terrible must be their fate, how
+unimaginable their corruption! And they were foreigners; they had
+come here seeking liberty. And the masters of the new country had
+seized them and pent them here!
+
+From this as a starting-point his thought went on, to the hordes of
+toilers in every part of the world, whose fate it was to create the
+things which these blind revellers destroyed; the women and children
+in countless mills and sweatshops, who spun the cloth, and cut and
+sewed it; the girls who made the artificial flowers, who rolled the
+cigarettes, who gathered the grapes from the vines; the miners who
+dug the coal and the precious metals out of the earth; the men who
+watched in ten thousand signal-towers and engines, who fought the
+elements from the decks of ten thousand ships--to bring all these
+things here to be destroyed. Step by step, as the flood of
+extravagance rose, and the energies of the men were turned to the
+creation of futility and corruption--so, step by step, increased the
+misery and degradation of all these slaves of Mammon. And who could
+imagine what they would think about it--if ever they came to think?
+
+--And then, in a sudden flash, there came back to Montague that
+speech he had heard upon the street-corner, the first evening he had
+been in New York! He could hear again the pounding of the elevated
+trains, and the shrill voice of the orator; he could see his haggard
+and hungry face, and the dense crowd gazing up at him. And there
+came to him the words of Major Thorne:
+
+"It means another civil war!"
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+
+
+
+
+Alice had been gone for a couple of weeks, and the day was drawing
+near when the Hasbrook case came up for trial. The Saturday before
+that being the date of the Mi-careme dance of the Long Island Hunt
+Club, Siegfried Harvey was to have a house-party for the week-end,
+and Montague accepted his invitation. He had been working hard,
+putting the finishing touches to his brief, and he thought that a
+rest would be good for him.
+
+He and his brother went down upon Friday afternoon, and the first
+person he met was Betty Wyman, whom he had not seen for quite a
+while. Betty had much to say, and said it. As Montague had not been
+seen with Mrs. Winnie since the episode in her house, people had
+begun to notice the break, and there was no end of gossip; and
+Mistress Betty wanted to know all about it, and how things stood
+between them.
+
+But he would not tell her, and so she saucily refused to tell him
+what she had heard. All the while they talked she was eyeing him
+quizzically, and it was evident that she took the worst for granted;
+also that he had become a much more interesting person to her
+because of it. Montague had the strangest sensatibns when he was
+talking with Betty Wyman; she was delicious and appealing, almost
+irresistible; and yet her views of life were so old! "I told you you
+wouldn't do for a tame cat!" she said to him.
+
+Then she went on to talk to him about his case, and to tease him
+about the disturbance he had made.
+
+"You know," she said, "Ollie and I were in terror--we thought that
+grandfather would be furious, and that we'd be ruined. But somehow,
+it didn't work out that way. Don't you say anything about it, but
+I've had a sort of a fancy that he must be on your side of the
+fence."
+
+"I'd be glad to know it," said Montague, with a laugh--"I've been
+trying for a long time to find out who is on my side of the fence."
+
+"He was talking about it the other day," said Betty, "and I heard
+him tell a man that he'd read your argument, and thought it was
+good."
+
+"I'm glad to hear that," said Montague.
+
+"So was I," replied she. "And I said to him afterward, 'I suppose
+you don't know that Allan Montague is my Ollie's brother.' And he
+did you the honour to say that he hadn't supposed any member of
+Ollie's family could have as much sense!"
+
+Betty was staying with an aunt near by, and she went back before
+dinner. In the automobile which came for her was old Wyman himself,
+on his way home from the city; and as a snowstorm had begun, he came
+in and stood by the fire while his car was exchanged for a closed
+one from Harvey's stables. Montague did not meet him, but stood and
+watched him from the shadows-a mite of a man, with a keen and eager
+face, full of wrinkles. It was hard to realize that this little body
+held one of the great driving minds of the country. He was an
+intensely nervous and irritable man, bitter and implacable--by all
+odds the most hated and feared man in Wall Street. He was swift,
+imperious, savage as a hornet. "Directors at meetings that I attend
+vote first and discuss afterward," was one of his sayings that
+Montague had heard quoted. Watching him here by the fireside,
+rubbing his hands and chatting pleasantly, Montague had a sudden
+sense of being behind the scenes, of being admitted to a privilege
+denied to ordinary mortals--the beholding of royalty in everyday
+attire!
+
+After dinner that evening Montague had a chat in the smoking-room
+with his host; and he brought up the subject of the Hasbrook case,
+and told about his trip to Washington, and his interview with Judge
+Ellis.
+
+Harvey also had something to communicate. "I had a talk with Freddie
+Vandam about it," said he.
+
+"What did he say?" asked Montague.
+
+"Well," replied the other, with a laugh, "he's indignant, needless
+to say. You know, Freddie was brought up by his father to regard the
+Fidelity as his property, in a way. He always refers to it as 'my
+company.' And he's very high and mighty about it--it's a personal
+affront if anyone attacks it. But it was evident to me that he
+doesn't know who's behind this case."
+
+"Did he know about Ellis?" asked Montague.
+
+"Yes," said the other, "he had found out that much. It was he who
+told me that originally. He says that Ellis has been sponging off
+the company for years--he has a big salary that he never earns, and
+has borrowed something like a quarter of a million dollars on
+worthless securities."
+
+Montague gave a gasp.
+
+"Yes," laughed Harvey. "But after all, that's a little matter. The
+trouble with Freddie Vandam is that that sort of thing is all he
+sees; and so he'll never be able to make out the mystery. He knows
+that this clique or that in the company is plotting to get some
+advantage, or to use him for their purposes--but he never realizes
+how the big men are pulling the wires behind the scenes. Some day
+they'll throw him overboard altogether, and then he'll realize how
+they've played with him. That's what this Hasbrook case means, you
+know--they simply want to frighten him with a threat of getting the
+company's affairs into the courts and the newspapers."
+
+Montague sat for a while in deep thought.
+
+"What would you think would be Wyman's relation to the matter?" he
+asked, at last.
+
+"I wouldn't know," said Harvey. "He's supposed to be Freddie's
+backer--but what can you tell in such a tangle?"
+
+"It is certainly a mess," said Montague.
+
+"There's no bottom to it," said the other. "Absolutely--it would
+take your breath away! Just listen to what Vandain told me to-day!"
+
+And then Harvey named one of the directors of the Fidelity who was
+well known as a philanthropist. Having heard that the wife of one of
+his junior partners had met with an accident in childbirth, and that
+the doctor had told her husband that if she ever had another child,
+she would die, this man had asked, "Why don't you have her life
+insured?" The other replied that he had tried, and the companies had
+refused her. "I'll fix it for you," said he; and so they put in
+another application, and the director came to Freddie Vandam and had
+the policy put through "by executive order." Seven months later the
+woman died, and the Fidelity had paid her husband in full--a hundred
+thousand or two!
+
+"That's what's going on in the insurance world!" said Siegfried
+Harvey.
+
+And that was the story which Montague took with him to add to his
+enjoyment of the festivities at the country club. It was a very
+gorgeous affair; but perhaps the sombreness of his thoughts was to
+blame; the flowers and music and beautiful gowns failed entirely in
+their appeal, and he saw only the gluttony and drunkenness--more of
+it than ever before, it seemed to him.
+
+Then, too, he had an unpleasant experience. He met Laura Hegan; and
+presuming upon her cordial reception of his visit, he went up and
+spoke to her pleasantly. And she greeted him with frigid politeness;
+she was so brief in her remarks and turned away so abruptly as
+almost to snub him. He went away quite bewildered. But later on he
+recalled the gossip about himself and Mrs. Winnie, and he guessed
+that that was the explanation of Miss Hegar's action.
+
+The episode threw a shadow over his whole visit. On Sunday he went
+out into the country and tramped through a snowstorm by himself,
+filled with a sense of disgust for all the past, and of foreboding
+for the future. He hated this money-world, in which all that was
+worst in human beings was brought to the surface; he hated it, and
+wished that he had never set foot within its bounds. It was only by
+tramping until he was too tired to feel anything that he was able to
+master himself.
+
+--And then, toward dark, he came back, and found a telegram which
+had been forwarded from New York.
+
+"Meet me at the Penna depot, Jersey City, at nine to-night. Alice."
+
+This message, of course, drove all other thoughts from his mind. He
+had no time even to tell Oliver about it--he had to jump into an
+automobile and rush to catch the next train for the city. And all
+through the long, cold ride in ferry-boats and cabs he pondered this
+mystery. Alice's party had not been expected for two weeks yet; and
+only two days before there had come a letter from Los Angeles,
+saying that they would probably be a week over time. And here she
+was home again!
+
+He found there was an express from the West due at the hour named;
+apparently, therefore, Alice had not come in the Prentice's train at
+all. The express was half an hour late, and so he paced up and down
+the platform, controlling his impatience as best he could. And
+finally the long train pulled in, and he saw Alice coming down the
+platform. She was alone!
+
+"What does it mean?" were the first words he said to her.
+
+"It's a long story," she answered. "I wanted to come home.";
+
+"You mean you've come all the way from the coast by yourself!" he
+gasped.
+
+"Yes," she said, "all the way."
+
+"What in the world--" he began.
+
+"I can't tell you here, Allan," she said. "Wait till we get to some
+quiet place."
+
+"But," he persisted. "The Prentice? They let you come home alone?"
+
+"They didn't know it," she said. "I ran away."
+
+He was more bewildered than ever. But as he started to ask more
+questions, she laid a hand upon his arm. "Please wait, Allan," she
+said. "It upsets me to talk about it. It was Charlie Carter."
+
+And so the light broke. He caught his breath and gasped, "Oh!"
+
+He said not another word until they had crossed the ferry and
+settled themselves in a cab, and started. "Now," he said, "tell me."
+
+Alice began. "I was very much upset," she said. "But you must
+understand, Allan, that I've had nearly a week to think it over, and
+I don't mind it now. So I want you please not to get excited about
+it; it wasn't poor Charlie's fault--he can't help himself. It was my
+mistake. I ought to have taken your advice and had nothing to do
+with him."
+
+"Go on," said he; and Alice told her story.
+
+The party had gone sight-seeing, and she had had a headache and had
+stayed in the car. And Charlie Carter had come and begun making love
+to her. "He had asked me to marry him already--that was at the
+beginning of the trip," she said. "And I told him no. After that he
+would never let me alone. And this time he went on in a terrible
+way--he flung himself down on his knees, and wept, and said he
+couldn't live without me. And nothing I could say did any good. At
+last he--he caught hold of me--and he wouldn't let me go. I was
+furious with him, and frightened. I had to threaten to call for help
+before he would stop. And so--you see how it was."
+
+"I see," said Montague, gravely. "Go on."
+
+"Well, after that I made up my mind that I couldn't stay anywhere
+where I had to see him. And I knew he would never go away without a
+scene. If I had asked Mrs. Prentice to send him away, there would
+have been a scandal, and it would have spoiled everybody's trip. So
+I went out, and found there was a train for the East in a little
+while, and I packed up my things, and left a note for Mrs. Prentice.
+I told her a story--I said I'd had a telegram that your mother was
+ill, and that I didn't want to spoil their good time, and had gone
+by myself. That was the best thing I could think of. I wasn't afraid
+to travel, so long as I was sure that Charlie couldn't catch up with
+me."
+
+Montague said nothing; he sat with his hands gripped tightly.
+
+"It seemed like a desperate thing to do," said Alice, nervously.
+"But you see, I was upset and unhappy. I didn't seem to like the
+party any more--I wanted to be home. Do you understand?"
+
+"Yes," said Montague, "I understand. And I'm glad you are here."
+
+They reached home, and Montague called up Harvey's and told his
+brother what had happened. He could hear Oliver gasp with
+astonishment. "That's a pretty how-do-you-do!" he said, when he had
+got his breath back; and then he added, with a laugh, "I suppose
+that settles poor Charlie's chances."
+
+"I'm glad you've come to that conclusion," said the other, as he
+hung up the receiver.
+
+This episode gave Montague quite a shock. But he had little time to
+think about it--the next morning at eleven o'clock his case was to
+come up for trial, and so all his thoughts were called away. This
+case had been the one real interest of his life for the last three
+months; it was his purpose, the thing for the sake of which he
+endured everything else that repelled him. And he had trained
+himself as an athlete for a great race; he was in form, and ready
+for the effort of his life. He went down town that morning with
+every fibre of him, body and mind, alert and eager; and he went into
+his office, and in his mail was a letter from Mr. Hasbrook. He
+opened it hastily and read a message, brief and direct and decisive
+as a sword-thrust:
+
+"I beg to inform you that I have received a satisfactory proposition
+from the Fidelity Company. I have settled with them, and wish to
+withdraw the suit. Thanking you for your services, I remain,
+sincerely."
+
+To Montague the thing came like a thunderbolt. He sat utterly
+dumbfounded--his hands went limp, and the letter fell upon the desk
+in front of him.
+
+And at last, when he did move, he picked up the telephone, and told
+his secretary to call up Mr. Hasbrook. Then he sat waiting; and when
+the bell rang, picked up the receiver, expecting to hear Mr.
+Hasbrook's voice, and to demand an explanation. But he heard,
+instead, the voice of his own secretary: "Central says the number's
+been discontinued, sir."
+
+And he hung up the receiver, and sat motionless again. The dummy had
+disappeared!
+
+To Montague this incident meant a change in the prospect of his
+whole life. It was the collapse of all his hopes. He had nothing
+more to work for, nothing more to think about; the bottom had fallen
+out of his career!
+
+He was burning with a sense of outrage. He had been tricked and made
+a fool of; he had been used and flung aside. And now there was
+nothing he could do--he was utterly helpless. What affected him
+most was his sense of the overwhelming magnitude of the powers which
+had made him their puppet; of the utter futility of the efforts that
+he or any other man could make against them. They were like
+elemental, cosmic forces; they held all the world in their grip, and
+a common man was as much at their mercy as a bit of chaff in a
+tempest.
+
+All day long he sat in his office, brooding and nursing his wrath.
+He had moods when he wished to drop everything, to shake the dust of
+the city from his feet, and go back home and recollect what it was
+to be a gentleman. And then again he had righting moods, when he
+wished to devote all his life to punishing the men who had made use
+of him. He would get hold of some other policy-holder in the
+Fidelity, one whom he could trust; he would take the case without
+pay, and carry it through to the end! He would force the newspapers
+to talk about it--he would force the people to heed what he said!
+
+And then, toward evening, he went homo, bitter and sore. And there
+was his brother sitting in his study, waiting for him.
+
+"Hello," he said, and took off his coat, preparing his mind for one
+more ignominy--the telling of his misfortune to Oliver, and
+listening to his inevitable, "I told you so."
+
+But Oliver himself had something to communicate something that would
+not bear keeping. He broke out at once--"Tell me, Allan! What in the
+world has happened between you and Mrs. Winnie?"
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Montague, sharply.
+
+"Why," said Oliver, "everybody is talking about some kind of a
+quarrel."
+
+"There has been no quarrel," said Montague.
+
+"Well, what is it, then?"
+
+"It's nothing."
+
+"It must be something!" exclaimed Oliver. "What do all the stories
+mean?"
+
+"What stories?"
+
+"About you two. I met Mrs. Vivie Patton just now, and she swore me
+to secrecy, and told me that Mrs. Winnie had told some one that you
+had made love to her so outrageously that she had to ask you to
+leave the house."
+
+Montague shrunk as from a blow. "Oh!" he gasped.
+
+"That's what she said," said he.
+
+"It's a lie!" he cried.
+
+"That's what I told Mrs. Vivie," said the other; "it doesn't sound
+like you--"
+
+Montague had flushed scarlet. "I don't mean that!" he cried. "I mean
+that Mrs. Winnie never said any such thing."
+
+"Oh," said Oliver, and he shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe not,"
+he added. "But I know she's furious with you about
+something--everybody's talking about it. She tells people that
+she'll never speak to you again. And what I want to know is,
+why is it that you have to do things to make enemies of
+everybody you know?"
+
+Montague said nothing; he was trembling with anger.
+
+"What in the world did you do to her?" began the other. "Can't you
+trust me---"
+
+And suddenly Montague sprang to his feet. "Oh, Oliver," he
+exclaimed, "let me alone! Go away!"
+
+And he went into the next room and slammed the door, and began
+pacing back and forth like a caged animal.
+
+It was a lie! It was a lie! Mrs. Winnie had never said such a thing!
+He would never believe it--it was a nasty piece of backstairs
+gossip!
+
+But then a new burst of rage swept over him What did it matter
+Whether it was true or not--whether anything was true or not? What
+did it matter if anybody had done all the hideous and loathsome
+things that everybody else said they had done? It was what everybody
+was saying! It was what everybody believed--what everybody was
+interested in! It was the measure of a whole society--their ideals
+and their standards! It was the way they spent their time, repeating
+nasty scandals about each other; living in an atmosphere of
+suspicion and cynicism, with endless whispering and leering, and
+gossip of lew intrigue.
+
+A flood of rage surged up within him, and swept him, away--rage
+against the world into which he had come, and against himself for
+the part he had played in it. Everything seemed to have come to a
+head at once; and he hated everything--hated the people he had met,
+and the things they did, and the things they had tempted him to do.
+He hated the way he had got his money, and the way he had spent it.
+He hated the idleness and wastefulness, the drunkenness and
+debauchery, the meanness and the snobbishneps.
+
+And suddenly he turned and flung open the door of the room where
+Oliver still sat. And he stood in the doorway, exclaiming, "Oliver,
+I'm done with it!"
+
+Oliver stared at him. "What do you mean?" he asked.
+
+"I mean," cried his brother, "that I've had all I can stand of
+'Society!' And I'm going to quit. You can go on--but I don't intend
+to take another step with you! I've had enough--and I think Alice
+has had enough, also. We'll take ourselves off your hands--we'll
+get out!"
+
+"What are you going to do?" gasped Oliver.
+
+"I'm going to give up these expensive apartments--give them up
+to-morrow, when our week is up. And I'm going to stop squandering
+money for things I don't want. I'm going to stop accepting
+invitations, and meeting people I don't like and don't want to know.
+I've tried your game--I've tried it hard, and I don't like it; and
+I'm going to get out before it's too late. I'm going to find some
+decent and simple place to live in; and I'm going down town to find
+out if there isn't some way in New York for a man to earn an honest
+living!"
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Metropolis, by Upton Sinclair
+
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