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diff --git a/old/60001-8.txt b/old/60001-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index a02988a..0000000 --- a/old/60001-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,12369 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of John Rawn, by Emerson Hough - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: John Rawn - Prominent Citizen - -Author: Emerson Hough - -Illustrator: M. Leone Bracker - -Release Date: October 26, 2019 [EBook #60001] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN RAWN *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines - - - - - - - - - -[Frontispiece: (Rawn and Laura)] - - - - JOHN RAWN - - Prominent Citizen - - - _By_ - EMERSON HOUGH - - _Author of_ - The Mississippi Bubble, 54-40 Or Fight - The Purchase Price, Etc. - - - - WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY - M. LEONE BRACKER - - - - INDIANAPOLIS - THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY - PUBLISHERS - - - - - COPYRIGHT 1912 - EMERSON HOUGH - - - PRESS OF - BRAUNWORTH & CO. - BOOKBINDERS AND PRINTERS - BROOKLYN, N. Y. - - - - - TO - WOODROW WILSON - - ONE OF THE LEADERS IN THE THIRD WAR OF - AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE - - - - - Contents - - - BOOK I - - Chapter - - I Certain Notable Details in Genesis - II Purely Incidental - III In Victory Generous - IV In Love Successful - V In Adversity Triumphant - VI Mr. Rawn Announces His Arrival - VII The Difference Between Men - VIII Power - IX Change in Kelly Row - X The Woodshed in Kelly Row - XI The Test - XII The Helpmeet - - - BOOK II - - I The New Mr. Rawn - II Graystone Hall - III The Competencies of Miss Delaware - IV At Headquarters - V Their Master's Voice - VI In Proper Person - VII John Rawn, Prominent Citizen - VIII A Princely Generosity - - - BOOK III - - I The Extreme Monogamy of Mr. Rawn - II Asparagus, Also Potatoes - III The Silent Partner - IV The Baker's Daughter - - - BOOK IV - - I The Royal Progress of Mr. and Mrs. Rawn - II Four Being No Company - III The Step-Mother-in-Law - IV The Second Current - V Means to an End - VI An Informal Meeting - VII They Who Sow the Wind - VIII They Who Water With Tears - IX What Cheer of the Harvest? - X Those Who Reap the Whirlwind - XI The Means--And the End - XII The Great John Rawn - - - - -JOHN RAWN - - -BOOK ONE - - -CHAPTER I - -CERTAIN NOTABLE DETAILS IN GENESIS - -I - -One John Rawn is to be the hero of this pleasing tale; no ordinary -hero, as you might learn did you make inquiry of himself. His history -must be set down in full, from beginning to culmination, from delicate -flowering to opulent fruitage, from early obscurity to later fame. -Such would be his wish; and the wishes of John Rawn long have been -commands. - -For the most part the early history of any hero is of small -consequence. We are chiefly concerned that he shall be tall and -shapely, mighty in war and love, and continuously engaged therein from -the first moment of his entrance on our scene. Granted these -essentials, we customarily pass carelessly over any hero's youth, even -as lightly, perchance, over his ancestry. Not so in the case of John -Rawn. He himself would say, if asked, that no hero of so exceptional a -merit as his own could be thus lightly produced; that indeed not even -the three generations accorded to the making of a gentleman could be -called sufficient for the evolution of a personage of mold such as his. -Let us yield to a will so imperious, a wish so germane to our own -amiable intent. Mr. Rawn shall have all the generations that he likes. - - - -II - -John Rawn might, in the caretaking plans of the immortal gods, have -been born at any time in the world's history, at any place upon the -world's surface. He himself, had he been consulted, might have -suggested Rome, Greece, or mediæval England, as offering better field -for one of his kidney. He might have indicated certain resemblances -between himself and persons who, through virtue given of the immortal -gods, have attained the purple, who have held permanent and admitted -ascendancy over their fellow-men. As a matter of fact, however, John -Rawn was born in Texas--and of Texas at the very spot where, had it -been left to his own candid opinion, no John Rawn, no especial hero, -ought ever to have been born. The village he honored by his birth--one -of seven which now contend over that claim to fame--was the very home -of democratic equality; and how could the home of democratic equality -be called typical environment for the production of a man believing in -the divine right of a very few? - -Neither, had John Rawn been consulted in the matter, would he have -indorsed the plans of fate in respect to his ancestry any more than he -did the workings of the misguided stars in regard to his environment. -By right he should have been the offspring of parents for long -generations accustomed to rule, to command, to sway the destinies of -others. Yet far from this was the truth in our hero's case. - -Which of us can tell what is in an infant's mind? At what day or hour -of a child's life does the consciousness of human values in affairs -first impinge upon the embryonic mentality? At what date, first -feeling itself human and not plant, not oyster nor amoeba, can it -logically begin that reproach of its own parentage which to so many of -us is held as a personal right, convenient and pleasant because it -explains away so many things by way of human failures? At what time, -at what moment of John Rawn's life did he, lying in his cradle, and -looking up for the first conscious time into the faces solicitously -bending above him, realize that after all, in spite of all the plans of -the watchful fates, here were no king and queen, no emperor and empress -assigned to him as parents, but only an humble Methodist preacher and -his still more humble wife? - -Truly here was hard handicap even at the start, that of both birth and -environment, as he himself would have been first to admit. Not that it -could daunt him, not that it could cause a soul like his to feel the -pangs of despair. No; it meant only that much further to travel, that -much higher to climb. This American republic was expressly framed for -such as Mr. Rawn. The issue never was to be called in doubt. From -that first hour of consciousness of his ego which marks the real birth -of a human soul, John Rawn must have said to himself that success was -meant for him; that not all the hostile array of circumstances, birth, -heredity and environment, could do more than temporarily balk his aim. -From the cradle, indeed for generations uncounted--as many as he -likes--before the cradle, John Rawn believed in himself. How can we -fail to join him in that belief? - - - -III - -It was rarely that ever a smile enlivened the somewhat heavy features -of young John Rawn, even in the earliest stages of his babyhood. -Rarely did the mirth of any situation bring up in his face an answering -dawn of appreciation. He was a serious child, as all admitted even -from the first. He grew to be a grave boy, a solemn youth. He made no -jests, nor smiled at those of others. There was a corrugation between -his brows before he was twenty years of age. In his declamations at -the exercises of the village school, his hand went instinctively into a -bosom not yet ten years of age; his forelock fell across his brow -before he was twelve; already his gestures were large and wide, his -voice prematurely deep before he had reached fourteen. He was of that -temperament which, in accordance with the term, takes itself seriously. -It is astonishing what virtue lies in that habit. The world, sometimes -for many years, indeed sometimes permanently, accepts seriously those -who seriously accept themselves. Many of the most colossal asses ever -born have not "Ass" written on their tombstones, where righteously it -so very frequently belongs in the history of the great. - - - -IV - -Curious persons might have found certain explanations for these traits -in the calling, the temper and training of the father of John Rawn. In -that time and place, a minister of the gospel was a man of whom all -stood in awe. He was not much gainsaid, not much withstood, not much -disapproved. His conclusions were announced for acceptance, not for -argument. At best he was only to be avoided, if one dreaded the look -of the clerical eye, the denunciation of the clerical tongue. Other -men might be met, might be antagonized, might be overcome by fist or -thumb or firearms, per example; not so the parson of the village church. - -It is an excellent profession; that of minister of the gospel. The -ranks of none offer better men than the best types of that profession, -large men, strong men, just men, not doing preaching for a business, -but really wishing to counsel and aid frail humanity as it marches -among the perpetual pitfalls, the perpetual hardships of human life. -It is an exceedingly good religion of itself, that merely of helping -your fellow-man, of saying something to soften and better him, of -giving to him something of hope and courage when he is in need of them. -Let us not argue whether or not a divine spirit can become mortal, -whether or not Christ was divine. We know by virtue of abundant human -testimony that He was a great and kindly Man, a great and adorable -Human Being, the greatest of whom we know in all our human history. -And that man who makes the creed of the greatest of us all his own, who -lives kindly and helpfully and modestly, with no blare of trumpet, -doing simply and silently that which his human hands find to do; that -man nearest to the greatest Man of whom we know, the one who went -closest to making human life endurable, who took humanity farthest away -from the cruel creed of the jungle--that minister of the gospel, let us -say then, who lives as is possible for one of his calling to live, and -attains in that calling what may be attained, may be, and not -infrequently is, a splendid human being. - -But he is worth our admiration when he is worth it; not necessarily -otherwise. A minister of the gospel may not always be the central -figure of that religious fervor which has come sporadically and -spasmodically to men under many creeds, since man began to think aloud, -to doubt and despair in public, and to pray in company. Besides, there -are ministers and ministers. Some are men naturally large and are so -accepted. Others, alas! bulk larger than really they are, by virtue of -the fact that always they apparently have prevailed; whereas, in truth, -they only have met small opposition. - -'Tis a sweet fashion of life which allows us always to have our own -way! Nor is it to be denied that when the preacher stands before the -flock, his disordered hair falling above his brow, his eyes flashing, -his breath sobbing in his emotion; when he hurls out questions to which -he knows there will be no answer; when he makes one assertion after -another to which he knows there is to be no contradiction; when he -rules, sways, expounds, glorifies, waxing greater in stature out of the -very situation in which he stands--let us not deny that he is then in -the way--the simple and forgivably human way--of coming more and more -into the belief that he himself is as great as the doctrines which he -expounds. There are martyrs in history because of human convictions -which led them to contradict the church. There are other and far more -numerous martyrs, made such because they dared not contradict it. - -Given, then, a man of rawboned frame, of virile physical health, and of -pronouncedly good opinion of himself, this is perhaps the very -profession of all others which would be most apt to build up that man -in his own eyes into a personage of considerable stature. Such a man -might easily regard himself as set apart from his fellow human -beings--a feeling which Christ Himself never had, nor any great man in -or out of history before Him or after Him. It is understandable that -such a man, of such a profession, might be the very one to find his -philosophy feeding upon itself; with the net result of an inordinate, -ingrown egotism. And this ingrown egotism in himself might, in the -case of his son, become an egotism congenital. There are ministers of -the gospel, and other ministers of the gospel. John Rawn, Senior, was -of this particular and less desirable sort. We mention him, having -promised our hero all the analysis and all the generations he may -desire; and being, moreover, commendably anxious fully to account for -him and his many noteworthy peculiarities. - - - -V - -Had John Rawn, our hero, been able in his childhood to figure out that, -after all, God and the undying stars had no special grudge against him -in assigning his birth to a humble inland village; had he been able to -picture to himself his real value as a human unit; had he been able to -understand his own explanation,--that is to say this explanation of him -which we so patiently have given--had he been able to qualify his own -mind as that of a congenital egotist, and hence to see himself -naturally come by certain phases of his character--he might have smiled -and have been different. He might one day have extended his hand to -his fellow-man understandingly, might have gone through life much as -other men indeed, dying simply and without much outcry about it, as -most of us do, and living with small disturbance of the world's -equilibrium, as most of us also do. But in that deplorable case there -would have been no John Rawn as we know him, and no story about him -worth the telling. Let us, therefore, beg to disagree even with him, -and not hold it as entire misfortune that he was born in an unstoried -spot, and of parents one of whom, by reason of his natural character -and of his calling, was wont to consider himself the partner, and not -necessarily the junior partner, of a Divine Providence. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -PURELY INCIDENTAL - -I - -To be sure John Rawn had a mother, but that is merely an incidental -matter for one who really was brooded among the spheres, and who -accepted a mother only as a necessary means to incarnation. We need -accord no more than scant time to a mere mother. - -There was in the character of the elder Rawn's wife little to offset -the tendencies transmitted by the father. Had she herself been a trace -further removed from the blind submission of a jungle past in -womanhood, it might have been that the offspring of these two had been -accorded a better insight into the real situation of mankind, might -perhaps even have been given a saving sense of humor, a better -valuation of human affairs as pertaining to himself, and of himself as -related to human affairs. The truth, however, is that Mrs. Rawn, the -preacher's wife, was simply a preacher's wife. She was a machine for -gratifying a certain part of her husband's nature, a well-nigh apogamic -contrivance for rearing children, an appliance for tending tables and -sweeping carpets, and going to prayer meetings, or perhaps--on rare and -much-coveted occasions--for acting as witness in parsonage marriage -ceremonies, the which might haply produce a fee from the bridegroom, -temporarily generous; which fee, in a moment of aberration, might even -pass from parson to parson's wife. It is decreed that the background -of a ministerial life shall be of neutral hue, in order that the more -brilliantly shall shine the central figure of the scheme. The minister -himself, unctuous, bland, grows less unctuous and bland as he turns -from some comelier sister to his own partner in life, colorless, -silent, dutiful, devoted. There is but one family perihelion, and he -is the one planet thereat. At most a pale and distant moon may circle -about him, perhaps concerned with domestic tides, but not admittedly -related to the affairs of night and day. - -It is not known, nor is it important, whence Mrs. Rawn came, or how she -happened to marry her lord, John Rawn, Senior, the Methodist preacher -in the little Texas town. They were married when they arrived at this -place, and had been for some years. No one knows whence they came, no -man can tell whither they have gone. John was the first child granted -to them as answer to his father's grumbling; the latter, very nobly and -righteously, dreading what calamity the world must suffer did none come -to perpetuate his race. He was a great preacher. He had swayed his -multitudes. He had seen a hundred souls, as he termed them, grovelling -upon the floor in the height of some revival when the grace of the Lord -had moved itself mightily upon the people, thanks to him, partner upon -the ground, whose voice had prevailed thereabout. It would cause any -just man to shudder--the mere thought of such merit lacking progeny. -But the prayers of the righteous avail much. He had, at last, a son, -our hero; none less. - - - -II - -These necessary and essential preliminaries now all stand adjusted; and -we are able finally to say that John Rawn at least and at last was -born, silently, quietly, with small rebellion on the part of his -mother. He lay there in his first cradle, silent, a trifle red, a -slight frown upon his face, a trace of gravity in his features, as he -ventured an introspective look within the confines of his couch, and -for the first time discovered that wholly interesting, remarkable, -indeed wonderful human being, Himself. - -Having assured himself that he was here, John Rawn sighed, turned over -in his cradle, and presently fell asleep, well assured that, although -He had selected Texas for this event, God after all was in His heaven, -and that, in the circumstance, all in due time would be well with the -world. Could any hero of his years have acted with a finer, a larger -generosity? - - - - -CHAPTER III - -IN VICTORY GENEROUS - -I - -The youth of John Rawn early began to show that consistency in -character which marked him later in his life. From the first, as we -have said, he took himself seriously; indeed, regarded himself with a -reverence akin almost to solemnity. Plain wonder possessed his soul -when any event fell not wholly to his liking. If the hand that rocked -his cradle failed from weariness, his reproof was not so much that of -anger or expostulation as that of an aggrieved surprise. When first he -began to walk he gravely reserved to himself the spotlight of all solar -or sewing circles. Ladies visiting the parsonage unconsciously -accepted his estimate of himself, even in those days. Familiarities -were not for such a child as this. It began to be rumored about that -here was one set apart for great things. Most frequently parents are -alone in this manner of belief as to their offspring; but the severity -of countenance, the grave assuredness of young John Rawn, forced this -belief upon the entire community. A calm, serene certainty of himself -was written on his brow. - -Youth is for the most part irreverent of other youth, that is true, and -at times young Mr. Rawn was rudely handled by others of his age. In -such cases tears came to his eyes forsooth, but not tears of mere anger -or anguish. They were tears of surprise, of regret, of wonder! His -protest, when he fled to the comfort of his mother's bosom, was not of -unmanly weakness, but of astonishment and incredulous surprise that any -should have smitten the Lord's anointed. This surprise for the most -part prevented him either from turning the other cheek, or smiting the -cheek of the oppressor; one or the other of which courses, it must be -admitted, commonly is held admirable among men, and especially among -heroes. - -In his younger school-days there was a way about young Mr. Rawn. He -did not really care for plodding, yet he was aggrieved if not accorded -rank among his fellow pupils. His spelling, not of the best in the -belief of others, seemed to him quite good enough, because it was his -own. When sent to the foot of the class he departed thither with a -bearing wholly dignified and calm. - -Even in these early days his features were in large mold, even then his -abundant hair fell across his brow. His eyes were blue and prominent, -his nose distinct, his lower lip prominent, protruding and in times of -great emotion semi-pendulous. Even thus early he seemed old, serious, -foreordained. To tell a being such as this that he could not spell was -mere _lèse majesté_. He stalked through school, set apart by fate from -his fellow-beings, amenable to few rules, superior to such restrictions -as commonly hedge in lesser souls orthographically, socially, or -otherwise. - -Much of this might have been remedied by kindly application of -educational or parental rod, but young Mr. Rawn remained largely -unchastened. His parents did not care to punish him, and his teacher -did not dare to do so. Was he not the minister's son? If his mother -had misgivings they were well concealed. She herself only shuddered in -her soul when she heard the orotund voice of the master of the house -explain, in contemplation of his first born, "How much he is like me!" -Yes, he was like. His mother knew how like. - - - -II - -At that time and in that part of the country this little western -village might have been called almost a little world of itself. -Estimates of men and affairs were such only as might grow out of the -soil. The great world beyond was a thing but vaguely sensed of any who -dwelt here. The town was apart from the nearest railway, in a section -where rural simplicity amounted at times almost to frontier savagery. -Now and then a lynching broke the quiet of the community. The local -vices and virtues came out of a life but recently individual and -unrestrained. It seemed only chance that young Rawn did not run wild, -like many other of the youth of that town, who, trained by custom in -arms and excess, disappeared from time to time, passing on to the -frontier, then not remote. - -Why did not John Rawn naturally trend toward violence, why did the -frontier not call out to him? There was one great reason--he was a -coward. - -Cowardice is a trait sometimes handed down from father to son, indeed -most usually it comes of heredity or ill-health. Sometimes it is -fought down by reason, sometimes it is long concealed by artifice. -Often it is hidden behind physical stature. Most frequently it is left -unsuspected, sheltered behind an air of dignity. Money conceals much -of it. Young Rawn was much like his father before him. Perhaps his -father never had stopped to think that personal conclusions were -matters he had never been called upon to carry to an end with any -fellow-man. Peter Cartwright was no saint of his. There was no need, -in his belief, to put spiritual or mental questions to the acid and -unpleasant test of physical contact. The son, given by nature a -considerable stature and gravity for his years, continued in the same -fiction, not suspecting that it was fiction. There were larger boys -than he, but chivalry restrained these. There were smaller boys than -he, but these feared him by reason of the valor which it was supposed -he owned. The ranks of life opened before him readily and easily. He -stalked forward, with small opposition, accepted at his own estimate of -himself; as presently we shall set forth in many valuable instances. - - - -III - -It may be supposed that, in a rural community of this sort, living was -cut down pretty much to the bone of actual necessities. There was no -excess of comfort, and, although there was little lack, luxury was a -thing undreamed. Transportation was in that day costly and -inefficient, the world not so small then as it is now, so that there -was less interchange of the products of distant countries and -localities. For instance, there were orange groves within three -hundred miles of this little village, yet rarely was an orange to be -seen there. Flour, salt, coffee, bacon, Bibles, six-shooters, -essential things, were carried thither, not luxuries and trifles. The -family was its own world. In large part, it tilled its own fields and -ran its own factories. Mrs. Rawn molded the candles which made the -bedroom lights and those by which she sewed--though not that by which -her husband read and wrote--in a kettle in the backyard at butchering -times, when suet came the parson's way. She made her husband's long -black coats, building them upon some prehistoric pattern. She made, -mended and washed his shirts, hemmed his stocks and darned his socks -for him. Using the outworn ministerial cloth in turn, she made also, -in due time, the garments of the son and heir, even building for him a -cap, with ear-lappets, for winter use. Her own garments might have -been seen by the most casual eye to have been the product of her own -hands. Yet, this home was not much different from others, where -countless things then were done domestically which now are fabricated -in factories and purchased through many middlemen. The lockstep of our -civilization was not then so fully in force. - -Money was a rare commodity in any such community, and any manner of -personal indulgence was for but few. If, for instance, there was beef -on the parsonage table, it was the parson alone who ate it, not his -wife. Once he came home with two lemons, which had been given him, -perhaps as a peace-offering, by a generous storekeeper. These he -ordered made forthwith into lemonade; the which, forthwith also, he -himself drank, offering none to the sharer of his joys; nor did she -find anything either unusual or reproach-worthy in this act. You -wonder at these things? They happened in another day, among people -with whom you could not be expected to be familiar--your fathers and -mothers; persons not in the least of our class. - - - -IV - -In these circumstances--since we have promised value in some specific -instance--a certain interest attaches to a little event which nowhere -else, save in some such village, would have been noted or could have -been possible. The leading local merchant, in a burst of enterprise, -had imported a couple of clusters of bananas from New Orleans, the -first ever brought into the town. For a time none of the citizens -purchased, and, indeed, it required the grudging gift of a banana or so -to establish a local demand. Then--builded on the assurance of a wise -and much-traveled citizen who had once eaten a banana at Fort -Worth--the rumor of the bananas passed rapidly through the town. -Swiftly it became an important thing to announce to a neighbor that one -had eaten of this fruit. In time, even children partook thereof. - -At this time young Mr. Rawn was six years of age, and by reason of his -years and his social position at least as much entitled to bananas as -any of his like thereabout. Yet, he had none. The tragedy of this -wrung his mother's soul. Was it to be thought that this, her son, -should be denied any of the good things of life, that he should have -less than equal enjoyment of life's privileges in the company of his -fellows? The climax came when young Mr. Rawn himself approached his -mother's knee, with wonder and surprise upon his face, inquiring why -others had bananas, while he himself, the Lord's anointed, and son of -the Lord's anointed, had none. It was at that time that his mother -somewhat furtively stole away down the village street. She had a few -coppers, saved by such hook and crook as you and I may not know, and -these she now proposed to devote to a holy cause. - -It was at about this same time, also, that there chanced to pass by, on -the sidewalk in front of the parsonage, two boys younger than John Rawn -himself. These he regarded intently, for he saw from a distance that -each had some suspicious object in his hand. His own suspicions became -certainties. Here was visible proof that they, mere common persons, -were owners of specimens of that fruit whose excellence was rumored -throughout the town. They ate, or were about to eat, while he did not! -They had luxuries while he had none! They had not asked his -permission, yet they ate! Form this picture well in your mind, oh, -gentle reader. It is that of John Rawn and ourselves. - -With great gravity and dignity young Mr. Rawn stalked down the brick -walk to the front gate of the parsonage yard. Calmly, with no word, -but with uplifted hand--nay, merely by his stately dignity--he barred -the progress of these two. They paused, uncertain. Then he held out -his hand, and, with a growl of command, demanded of these others that -which they had regarded as their own. He took it as matter of course -that Cæsar should have the things that were Cæsar's; and they who give -tribute to our Cæsars now, gave it then. - -Having possession of these bananas, which as yet remained unbroken of -their owners, young Mr. Rawn showed them that, although these fruits -were unfamiliar to their former owners, they made no enigma to a person -of his powers. As though he had done nothing else all his life, he -broke open the tender skin and removed the soft interior contents. -After this he handed back to each of his young friends the disrupted -and now empty skins. Yet, with much kindness, he explained to both -that at the bottom of each husk or envelope there still remained some -portion of edible contents which, with care upon their part, might yet -be rescued. They departed, wondering somewhat, but glad they had been -shown how this thing was done; even as you and I humbly thank our great -men for robbing us to-day. - -Young Mr. Rawn, age six, turned now with much dignity back to the -gallery from which he had with much dignity come. He seated himself -calmly upon the chair and began to eat that which had been given him of -fate, that which had been brought to Cæsar as a thing due to Cæsar. He -ate until at last, wearied with his labors, he fell asleep. - - - -V - -Note now our humble moral in this short and simple detail of our hero's -early years. He was at this moment more nearly full of bananas than -any other human being in all the village at that time. Yet he had -attained that success at no price save that of the exercise of the -resources of his mind. That is genius. Let us not smile at young Mr. -Rawn. - -His mother, stealing home by the back way with yet other bananas -concealed in her apron, presently came upon him and discovered that, -after all, her solicitude had not been, needful. Her son slept, his -lower lip protruding, his features grave, his legs somewhat sprawled -apart, his mid-body somewhat distended, his head sunken forward, his -hands drooping at his side. In one hand, clutched so tightly as to -have become a somewhat worthless pulp, his mother discovered the bulk -of several bananas; in short, the full quota which had been assigned to -two of his fellow-beings. It was genius! - -Even at that time there departed up the village street those which had -given tribute to Cæsar. They regarded with a certain curiosity the -empty husks which had been returned to them--even as you and I regard -the husks accorded us by overgreat men to-day. From time to time each -nibbled, with small return, although as per instructions, at the base -from which the main fruit had been broken. Witness the difference -among men. These had bananas for which something had been paid. John -Rawn had many, better and bigger bananas, for which nothing at all had -been paid! In return for them he had shown their late owners how to -open a banana. For the later opening of that which in our parlance we -call the melon, John Rawn was now decently under way. Already he was -showing himself to be a captain among men. - -His mother looked upon him as he slept sprawled in his repletion and -made no attempt to remove the uneaten fruit from his hands; indeed, -made no query as to where he had obtained it. She did not disturb his -slumbers. "How like his father he is!" she whispered to herself, -mindful of certain lemons, certain beefsteaks, certain wedding fees, -certain gone and wasted years. She did not say: "How dear he is, how -sweet, how manly, how brave, how decent, how chivalrous!" No, with a -slight tightening of the lips as she turned back to find her belated -sewing, she spoke, as though to herself, and with no peculiar glorying -in her voice, "How like he is to his father!" And so took up her -burden. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -IN LOVE SUCCESSFUL - -I - -"But, my dear--but Laura, you don't stop to think!" exclaimed a certain -young man to a certain young woman, at a somewhat interesting and -important moment of their lives. "You certainly do not mean to say--to -tell me--to tell me! Why--!" - -He ceased, a gasp in his throat at the unbelievable effrontery of the -woman who faced him in this situation. All he had asked of her was to -marry him. And she had hesitated. It was a thing incredible! - -It was Mr. Rawn, our hero. It could have been almost no one else who -could have sustained precisely this attitude at precisely such a time. -It was not despair, disappointment, anger, chagrin, pique, regret or -resentment that marked his tones, but surprise, astonishment! Yes, it -must have been John Rawn. - -As to the young woman herself, who now turned a somewhat pale face to -one side as she left her hand in his, she might have been any one of -many thousand others in that city. Her hair was brown, her features -regular enough, her complexion nondescript, her garb non-committal. -Not a person of ancient lineage, you would have said, or of much -education in the world's ways, or of much worldly goods--these things -do not always come to a saleswoman of twenty-five, whose salary is six -dollars a week. Yet her face had in it now a very sweet sort of -womanliness, her mouth a tender droop to it. Her eyes shone with that -look which comes to a woman's eyes when first she hears the declaration -of man's love--the most glorious and most tragic moment in all a -woman's life. - -The fates ordain which of these it shall be--glory or tragedy. Laura -Johnson could not tell, cry in her soul as she might for some forecast -shadow from the land of fates to show, visibly, upon the subconscious -screen hidden in a girl's heart, the figure of the truth. All this was -different from what she had pictured it to be. She had thought that -love would come in some tender yet imperious way, that she would know -some sudden wave of content and trust and assuredness. There was on -her plain, severe face, now a wistfulness that almost glorified it -after all. For, indeed, our human loving is most dignified and -glorious in what it desires love to be. - -He leaned again toward her, insistent, frowning, imperious. This was -as she had planned. What, then, lacked? If she had sought for some -strong man to sweep her from her calm, why was she now so calm? She -asked this swiftly, vaguely, wonderingly, demanding to be told by these -same fates which had implanted doubt in her heart, whether this was all -that she might ever hope, whether this insufficient fashion was the way -in which it came to all women--had come, always, to all the women of -the world. - -"You surely do not stop to consider," he renewed. "Why, look at me!" - -She did look at him, turning about, pushing him away from her that she -might, in that one moment of a woman's privilege, look at the being -demanding of her her own life. What she saw was not an ill-looking -young man of twenty-nine, of rather heavy features, rather a frowning -brow, a somewhat prominent light eye, a somewhat pendulous lower lip, -abundant darkish hair, abundant confidence in himself. He was tallish, -well built, strong, seemed somewhat of a man, yes. And he loved her. -At least he had said he did. - -Laura Johnson did stop to consider. She considered the face which she -saw in the glass beyond his shoulder--her own face, not strikingly -handsome. "I might be any one of a hundred girls," she said to -herself. "I might be any one of those other hundreds who might be -sought out instead of myself," said she. "A girl of my looks and place -in life is not apt to have hundreds of opportunities. And I am tired, -and puzzled. And I want a home. I want to stop worrying for myself. -I would rather worry for some one else. I want to be--" There she -paused. - -She wanted to be a wife, loved, cherished, supported, comforted and -protected. That was what she wanted, though the young of the female -sex do not know what they want or why they want it. And certainly she -could choose only among the opportunities offered her. This was her -first opportunity. It might be her last. Besides all of this, she was -a woman. She had always obeyed men all her life, at home, in her daily -labors, everywhere. And this man was so insistent, so assured, so -confident that this was the right and inevitable course for her--why, -he said it again and again--that surely--so she reasoned--she must be -crazed not to see that this was the appointed time, that this was the -appointed man. - -She sighed a trifle as she laid aside the garment of her girlhood, -which had kept her sweet and clean for five and twenty years. She -folded both her worn and rather bony hands, put them both in his, and -said, with a little smile that ought to have wrung his heart, "Well, -John, if--if it must be!" - -He did not catch the little sob in her voice. He never knew, either -then or at any other time in his life, what it was that lacked in her -voice, her face, in her heart, indeed. He never knew, then or at any -other time, what a woman is, what she covets, longs for, craves, -desires, demands, requires passionately, prizes agonizingly to the -last, the very last. He did not waste time to query over these -unimportant things. He drew her to him with rude care, kissed her fair -and full, and then rose. - -"Well, then, I'm sure we're going to do well together, Laura, dear." - -She did not answer, but sat waiting, longing eagerly for something she -lacked, she knew not what. - -John Rawn looked at his watch, turned for his hat, and remarked, "I'll -be here to-morrow night, dear, at half-past seven. Right after supper." - - - -II - -Our hero, John Rawn, had grown up much as he was planned to be. Since -we have been liberal in regard to his genesis before he arrived in the -little Texas town, let us be niggardly as to his exodus therefrom, for -that is less in importance. It may be seen that he has grown, through -what commonplace conditions let us not ask. As he himself never -stopped to think, after his arrival in St. Louis to seek his fortune, -whether or not his parents still were living, we ourselves need ask no -more than he. Since he by now had well-nigh forgotten the scenes of -his youth, so may we forget them. He had come to this northern city to -seek his fortune. Here was a part of it, as he coolly reasoned. What -is especially worth noting is that he still mentioned his evening meal -as supper--and not as dinner. - -These twain, about to be one flesh, as witness their sober speech, both -ate supper, and not dinner, and had done so most of their lives. They -came out of middle class circumstances, very similar in each case. -Their lives had been much similar. They both had come to the city to -seek their fortunes. She had found hers behind a dry-goods counter, he -his--temporarily and in sufferance, of course--as an ill-paid clerk in -a railway office. They met now and then as they passed out for -luncheon, met betimes at evening as they started home. For a time they -met also in the same boarding place, where they had rooms not far -apart. It was perhaps propinquity that did it. When this thought came -to Laura Johnson, with her first realization that perhaps this young -man was making love to her, or was apt to do so, she changed her -boarding place at once, actuated by some indefinable feeling of -delicacy. She wanted to see if there were no better reason for -love-making than that of mere propinquity. But he had followed; and -she was pleased at that, almost to the point of ascribing to herself -some charm which she herself had not suspected. He came again and -again, daily, each night after supper, as he had said, in fact. She -did not deny that she had made all pleasant for him to the best of her -ability. And now he was going to come again, after the next supper; -only in a different rôle, that of her accepted suitor. - - - -III - -That was almost all there was about it. What would you expect of two -ill-paid clerks, twenty-nine and twenty-five years of age? What might -they have to hope for, more than for each other? Why should the -ambition of either leap beyond what was there present, in its own -comprehensible world? Why should they not keep on meeting day after -day, after supper? - -Romance is by no means a necessary thing. The truly necessary thing is -supper. John Rawn knew this. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -IN ADVERSITY TRIUMPHANT - - -I - -It might with some justice be urged that, thus far in his life, Mr. -Rawn has shown little to distinguish him from his fellow-men; that -indeed his career has been commonplace almost to the point of lack of -interest to others. There are many of us who have been born in this or -that small community, who have lived somewhat humdrum lives, have -married in a somewhat humdrum way, and who have, in like unspectacular -fashion, failed to achieve any distinguished success in affairs. Yet, -did we restrict ourselves to this point of view, we must fail of our -purpose herein, just as Mr. Rawn himself would have failed had he -allowed himself no imagination in his view of himself. For the man who -is commonplace and who is aware of the fact, the future is apt to have -but little hope, nor is his story apt to hold any interest. In the -case of Mr. Rawn the reverse of this was true. He did not rate himself -as commonplace. Always he pictured himself as central figure in some -large scene presently to be staged. His life was much like ours, and -ours are for the most part of small concern to others. But John Rawn -heard Voices. They spoke of himself. He saw a Vision. It was of -himself. The trouble with us others is that we bashfully still the -voices and timidly wipe the image from our mirrors. Let us pass all -these matters with reference to them as small as was Rawn's own. - -John Rawn, then, married Laura Johnson, and they lived unhappily ever -after. That is to say, she did. As for her lord, he did not notice -his wife to any great extent after once they had settled down together, -but came to regard her as one of those incidents of life which classify -with food, clothing, the need of sleep. He looked upon his wife much -as he did upon the weather. Both happened, and both for the most part -were to be condemned. Still, he took no active measures for the -abolishment of either. - -He was a solemn man in his home, or at least for the most part a -silent. Yet at times he became almost cheerful--when the talk fell -upon himself; indeed, he would explain to his wife, with much care and -elaboration, himself, his character, his virtues and his plans. In his -household life he kept up the traditions in which he had been reared. -He ate all the beefsteak there was on the table when there was but -enough for one, which latter often was the case, for his wife had need -to be frugal. At times he would purchase a solitary ticket to the -theater and go alone. Yet he was generous, and always after his return -home he would with fine feeling tell his wife what he had seen. -Sometimes he spent a Sunday in the country, but, as he himself had been -first to state, he was never selfish about this. He always would tell -his wife how green the grass had been, how sweet the songs of the -birds, how bright the sky. Most of all he would tell of the song of -one small bird which sang continually in his ear, telling him of a -success which before long, in some way, was to be their own. The -passing years left his wife a trifle thinner, a trifle more gray. He -himself continued fresh, stalwart, strong. Sometimes, coming back from -the theater or the country, after listening to the voice of this small -bird at his ear, he would smite with a heavy fist upon the family table -and say, "Why, Laura, look at me--look at me!" After which a heavy -frown would come upon his face as of one conscious of tardiness in the -fashion of fate. But he knew that he was a great man. - - - -II - -Now, what Laura, his wife, knew is not for us to say. She held her -peace. Never a word of complaint, or taunt, or reproach, or of longing -came to her lips. Never did she repine at the situation of life which -held them for more than a dozen years after they were married--one of -perpetual monotony, of narrow, iron-bound restraint. After some -incredible, some miraculous way of womankind, she managed to make the -ends meet, indeed even to overlap a trifle at each week-end. She -smiled in the morning when he went away, smiled in the evening when he -returned, and if meanwhile she did not smile again throughout all the -day, at least she did her part. A great soul, this of Laura Rawn; but -no greater than that of many another woman who does these things day -after day until the time comes for the grave, wherein she lies down at -last with equanimity and calm. Without unduly flattering the vanity, -without overfeeding the egotism of her lord and master, at least Laura -Rawn was wise enough to see he could not be much changed. Finding -herself thus situated, she accepted her case and spent her time doing -what could be done, not wasting it in seeking the impossible. He was -her husband, that was all. She knew no better way of life than to -accept that fact and make the most of it. Which is tragedy, if you -please. - - - -III - -After the birth of Grace Rawn, their daughter, which occurred within -the first year of their wedded life, Laura Rawn had something to -interest her for the remainder of their days. Her horizon widened now -immeasurably; indeed to the extent of giving her a world of her own -wherein she could dwell apart quite comfortably; one in which her -husband had no part. Simple and just in her way of thought, she -accepted the truth that without married life, without her husband, this -new world could not have been her own. Wherefore she credited him, and -in her child, somewhat reverenced him. She was an old-fashioned wife. - -As to the child herself, she grew steadily and normally into young -girlhood, in time into young womanhood, not given to much display, -reserved of judgment as well as of speech, ofttimes sullen in mood, yet -withal a step or so higher than her mother on the ladder of feminine -charm. She had a clean, good family rearing, and a good grammar school -education. At about the time her father came to be a man of middle -age, Grace fell into her place in the clerical machine of the railway -office where he worked; for very naturally, being an American girl of -small means, she took up shorthand, and was licensed to do violence. -At home she joined her mother in regard and attention for the master of -the house. - - - -IV - -Here, then, was simply a good, middle-class American family, offering -for some years little to attract the attention of those who dwelt about -them. The head of this family, as he attained additional solidity of -figure, grew even heavier of brow, trod with even more stateliness -about his appointed duties. It was a privilege for the other clerks -who labored near him to see such calm, such dignity. On the street -John Rawn asked no pardons if he brushed against his fellow-man. In -his business life, in his conduct upon the street-car, at the -restaurant table, anywhere, he helped himself as though of right, and -regarded the rights or preferences of others not at all. The community -cream, the individual butter, he accumulated unto himself unsmilingly, -as once he had bananas in his youth. Broad hints, deprecating smiles, -annoyed protests, all were lost upon him. At forty-seven years of age -his salary was but one hundred and twenty-five dollars a month. That -showed only the lack of wisdom of others, not unfitness in himself. -Had this been Greece, or Rome, or mediæval England, he would have shown -them who was entitled to the throne! Indeed, he would show them that -yet. He often told his wife and daughter as much. - -Did we not know the genesis of Mr. Rawn, and did we not know full well -the divine right of kings, we might call this rather a curious frame of -mind for a man who dwelt in a small house with green blinds and a dingy -back yard, for whose conjoint charms he paid but twenty dollars a -month, on whose floors there was much efflorescence of art square, upon -whose be-lambrequined mantels showed few works of art beyond a series -of bisque shepherdesses and china dogs, on whose parlor table reclined -a Dying Gaul, and on whose boudoir walls hung an engraving of the Rock -of Ages. But John Rawn bided his time. He went on year after year, -grave and dignified, perhaps one new cross wrinkle coming in his -forehead with each Christmas, recorded by one more annual shepherdess -upon the family mantel. - - - -V - -And yet all this time success was lying in ambush, as it sometimes -does, ready to spring forth at the appointed hour. At about this time -there occurred changes in the arrangement of the planets, the -juxtaposition of the spheres, which meant great alteration in the -affairs of John Rawn, of Kelly Row, who dwelt in a brick house six -miles out from the railway office where he had worked for twenty-four -years, and where he had risen in so brief a time all the way from forty -to one hundred and twenty-five dollars per month. - -Let us dwell upon the picture for a moment, deliriously. Could it be -possible that this man in time would own a large part of this railway -and of others? Was it possible to predict a day when an army of clerks -and others, here or there, would stand ready to jump when Rawn cracked -over them a whip whose handle well fitted in his hand? Could the time -be predicted, dreamed, imagined, when the president of this road, the -great Henry Warfield Standley, would spring to open the door for John -Rawn, twenty-four years a clerk, of whose existence he had not long -known? - -Yet all these things actually did occur. They could occur only in -America; but this is America. They could occur only at the summons of -a megalomaniac selfishness, an inordinate lust of power; but here were -these, biding their time, in the seriously assured mind of an American -man; a man after all born of his age and of his country, and -representative of that country's typical ambition--the ambition for a -material success. - -The lust of power--that was it! The promise of power--that was what -the small bird had sung in John Rawn's ear! The craving and coveting -of power--that was what quivered in the marrow of his bones, that put -ponderousness in his tread, that shone out of his eyes. - -It was this, it was all of these, focused suddenly and unexpectedly by -the lens of accident into a burning point of certainty, which marked -the air and attitude of John Rawn one evening on his return to his home -at the conclusion of his day's work. He almost stumbled as he entered -the door, heedless of the threshold. He paced up and down the narrow -little hall, trod here and there almost as in a trance, muttering to -himself, before at last he stood in front of his wife and spread out -his arms--not for her, but for the imaginary multitude whom he -addressed in her. - -"Laura," said he, "Laura, it's come! I've got the idea. It's going to -win. We're going to be rich. I've believed it all along, and I know -it now! Laura, look at me--didn't I always tell you so--didn't I know?" - -He stood before her, his shoulders back, his chin up, his brow -frowning, his lips trembling in simple, devout admiration of himself. -It was not defiance that marked his attitude. John Rawn did not defy -the lightning. He only wondered why the lightning had so long defied -him. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -MR. RAWN ANNOUNCES HIS ARRIVAL - -I - -For some time Mrs. Rawn said nothing in answer to her husband's -declaration. She had known such things before. Indeed, with woman's -instinct for deliberate self-deception, she sometimes in spite of her -own clear-sightedness had persuaded herself to feel a sort of -resentment at the conditions which so long had held her husband back; -had been sure, as so many wives are, that only a conspiracy of -injustice had thwarted him of success. If only he could get his -chance! That was the way she phrased it, as most wives do--and most -husbands. - -But to-day there was something so sincere in his air as to take her -beyond her own forced insincerity with herself. She caught conviction -from his tone. There fell this time upon the sensitized plate of her -woman's nature some sort of shadow of events to come which left there a -permanent imprint as of the truth. - -"What is it, John?" she demanded. Her eye kindled, her voice had in it -something not of forced or perfunctory interest. He caught these also, -in his exalted mood almost as sensitive as herself. - -"Then you believe it at last!" he demanded, almost fiercely. It was -the voice of his father speaking, demanding of a sinner whether or not -she had repented of her former fallen state. "You begin to think that -after all I'll do something for us both? Oh, well, I'm glad--" - -"Why, John, I always thought so," she eluded mildly. "When did I -ever--" - -"Oh, I don't know that you ever said it in so many words," he grumbled, -"but of course I knew how you felt about it. I suppose a woman can't -help that. It was my part to succeed somehow, some time, in spite of -you. I always knew I would." - -He paced up and down, his coat tails back of the hands which he thrust -deep into his pockets. "I'll tell you again, since I have never spoken -of this--for fear you'd think me just a little conceited about -myself"--he smiled in a manner of deprecation, never for an instant -catching the comedy of this, more than she herself displayed proof of -her own wish to smile--"I'll tell you anyhow, though you may think I've -got a bit of vanity about myself. The truth is, I've always believed -in myself, Laura! I've kept it hidden, of course--never let a soul -know that I thought myself the least bit different from anybody else. -_You_ didn't know it, even--and you're my wife. I've been considered a -modest man all, my life. Yet, Laura, here's the truth about it--I -_wasn't_, really! I _did_ feel different from other men. I didn't -feel just like an ordinary man. I _knew_ I was not--and there's the -truth about it. I don't know exactly how to tell you, but I've always -known, as sure as anything, that some day I'd be a rich man." - - - -II - -She sat looking at him seriously, her elbows resting on the table, her -gray eyes following him as he walked, his face serious, the imperious -lock of hair now fallen across his forehead. - -"Not that I would let money itself be the only thing, my dear, as you -know," he went on nobly. "I wouldn't do that. Any man worth while has -larger ambitions than merely making money. After I've made money -enough, for us--more than you ever dreamed about--after I've succeeded -and proved myself--then I'm going to do something for other men--my -inferiors in life, you know--the laboring men. I suppose, after all, -people are pretty much alike in some ways. Some men are stronger than -others, more fit to succeed; but they ought to remember that after all -they are the agents of Providence, that they are custodians, Laura, -custodians. No man, Laura, no matter what his success, ought to be -wholly selfish. He oughtn't to be--well, conceited about himself, you -know. He ought to be _humble_." - -She still looked after him, wondering whether, after all, he might not -be a trifle off his head; but the seriousness of his eye daunted her. - -"As for us, we'll move up to Chicago first, in all likelihood; maybe -later to New York, for I suppose business will take us there a great -deal of the time. As to where we'll make our home eventually, I hardly -know. Sometimes I think we'll come back here and build a real house, -just to show these people who we were all the time. Wherever we build, -we'll furnish, too. I'm going to be a spender. Oh, I've _longed_ for -it all my life--the feel of money going out between my fingers! Not -all for ourselves, mind you. Maybe you don't quite understand about -that--I couldn't expect you to. But after I've done something for the -common people, I want to _build_ something--churches, monuments, -something that will stick and stay after you and I are gone, and tell -them who John Rawn was. I want them to say, most of all, that he was a -_modest_ man, that he was a kind man, and not a selfish one--not a -_selfish_ man, Laura." - - - -III - -She nodded, looking at him fixedly, large-natured enough to be just in -the assembling of these crude and unformulated ambitions which she knew -tormented him. "Yes, John," she said quietly. - -The next instant his mood changed. - -"But one thing they'll have to do!" he said, smiting a fist into his -palm. "They'll have to admit that I _was_ John Rawn! They'll have to -realize that success comes where it belongs. _My_ brain, _my_ energy, -_my_ point of view, _my_ ability to command men, _my_ instinct for -leadership--they'll have to recognize all that. I'll make them see who -we were all the time. Why, Laura, we've just been walking along a flat -floor, more than twenty years, and now we're going to take the -elevator. We'll go _up_ now, straight and fast. - -"I'm going to make you happy now," he mused. "You've been a good -enough wife. I always said that to myself--'She's been a good wife.' -I'm going to show you that you didn't make any mistake that night when -you took me, only a railway clerk, with a salary of forty a month." - -She did not remind him that, so far as she knew, he was still a railway -clerk, with a salary which in twenty years had not grown abnormally. -But now her own ambitions began to vault: first of all, the ambition of -a mother for her child. She accepted all these vague statements as -convincing truths; for where we hope we are easily convinced. - -"But how soon, John? You see, there is Grace, our girl." - -"She'll wear diamonds and real clothes." - -"I wasn't thinking of that. I was thinking of her education. Grace -ought to go to some good girls' college in the East. You see, you and -I didn't have so very much education, John," she smiled. - -He frowned in answer. "We didn't need so much, so far as that goes. -Books are not everything. There's plenty of college men who don't -amount to anything." - -"I didn't so much mean books. But you see, John, we've lived rather -carelessly. We've not been very conventional, we don't know very many -people, and--maybe--we don't know much how things are _done_, you see. -Now suppose we were giving a dinner, and you had to take out the guest -of honor--" - -"Nonsense! I reckon any guest'd feel honored enough to come to my -house. I'm not worrying about that. Cash in the bank is the main -thing for the guest of honor. As for the girl, she'll have as much -education as we had, and that's enough." - -"But I want her to be a lady, John." - -"Can't she be?" - -"I'll want her to marry well, John." - -"Won't she? If she has money, can't she?" - -"But I want her to be prized for herself, for what she is." - -"She'll be our daughter, and won't that be enough?" - -"But herself!" - -"She's our girl. I don't see where she'd find better parents." - -"I was just thinking--about her education--that a little finishing -would help her. We wouldn't always live just as we are living now, and -she ought to be prepared for better things. We read about things, but -what do we know about them? Grace ought to know." - -"I don't really join in your anxiety, Mrs. Rawn," said he largely, "but -that'll all come, if it's needful." - -"It's needful now. Grace'll be a young woman before long. You see--" -she flushed painfully as she spoke--"I don't want to see her grow up -awkward. I don't want her to feel as though she hadn't been used to -things, you know--to be ashamed of herself and her--her parents. Not -that I care so much for myself--" - -There were tears in her eyes--tears of reaction, of hope however badly -founded. She had toiled long and patiently. - -"Why, what's the matter, Laura?" asked her husband. - -"I'm getting to be almost old, John--I'm almost an old lady now! I've -got gray hairs. I'm forty-five." - -He shook her by the shoulders playfully. "Nonsense! We're almost of -an age, and I'm just beginning life. Grace is only a child." - -"She's eighteen past. That's why I asked you how soon--tell me, have -they really raised your salary, John? If we could only have two -thousand dollars a year it would be all in the world I should ask." - -"Salary!" he guffawed. "Two thousand dollars a year! Say that much a -month, a week, a day!" - -"You're crazy, John! What do you mean?" Indeed, some doubt of his -sanity now began to enter her mind. - -"Read in the papers about the daily incomes of those big chaps, those -really great men back East, the fellows who run things. Every one of -them made it out of nothing--not one of them had any one to give him a -start. We've no right to say that I can't do as well as they have. -The start's the thing." - -"But what has happened, then? I never saw you so stirred up before in -all my life, John." - -"I never have been." - -"But what is sure--what can I depend on for Grace?" - -"Death, taxes, and a woman's curiosity are all the sure things. I -don't know anything else that is sure. No man can give all the details -of his life in advance." - -"In advance?" - -"Oh, it hasn't all actually happened yet, of course. I won't begin -wheeling home a wheelbarrow full of gold every night for quite a while. -But some day I may!" His lips closed grimly. - - - -IV - -"Grace'll be a young woman before long," his wife still mused, -irrelevantly. - -"Let that take care of itself. I'll deliver the goods." - -She allowed herself a smile. "They are not delivered?" - -He flushed at this. "You think they never will be? Very well, I'll -fight it out alone. At least I believe in myself." - -"But what's _happened_? What do you mean, after all?" She put her -hand upon his arm as he passed. He flung himself into a chair opposite -her, his own elbows on the table as he faced her. - -"You can't understand it, Laura; but listen. There are two ways of -getting rich. You can make money without brains in real estate, other -people building you up rich. That's luck, not brains. A great many of -the great fortunes--take Astor's, for instance, in New York--have been -made in that way. But that's a fortune which you O.K. after it's made, -and you don't know anything about it in advance--it's too far in the -future. You don't hear of the ones that are not made. Astor used his -best judgment and bought land up the island, where he thought people -would go, but he didn't know they'd go there. That's as much luck as -brains. We call luck brains when it makes good. - -"But there's another way of getting rich. That means real _brains_, -and not luck. It means deliberately figuring out what people are going -to do. There is only so much room on the surface of the earth. But -there's room in the air for millions and millions of basic ideas." - -He gloomed across at her, but she kindled, as ready as ever to travel -with his thought. - -"Look at a few of the big ideas which have paid," he said. "Give the -people something they haven't had; get them so they have to have it! -Cinch it first, and sell it afterward--and you're going to get rich. -Granted an idea which takes hold on the daily life of the whole people, -and there's no way of measuring the money you can make. - -"For instance, you couldn't put the world back to the place where it -could get along without refined oil, without steam and electric -transportation, and the telephone, and a thousand other things which -have made men rich--inventions which seemed little at first, but which -were universal after a while. Oil, water, iron, wood, steel--we have -to have those things. Cinch them and sell them. That's the way to get -rich, my dear. Get an idea, get to it first, and cinch it for your -own. Then sell it. Keep on selling it. Give 'em something they've -got to have, after showing 'em they've got to have it. Teach 'em what -they ought to have known without any teaching. Some men teach and -others pay them for it. After that, all you've got to do is to take it -away from them. When you've taken away enough, make 'em crawl--make -'em _admit_ that you were greater than they were. Then build your -monument and make them keep on remembering you. After that--" - -"And after _that_, John?" she said gently. - - - -V - -He did not hear her. He sat staring, as though in the mirror of his -own mind. At last he let his hand drop across the table. She dropped -her own into his, timidly. - -"Listen, Laura," he went on. "I'll tell you a little of what I mean." - -"Yes, John, I'm sure you will." - -"What's the distinguishing thing about life to-day, my dear--the thing -that makes it different from that of the past?" - -"Why, I don't know." - -"A great many don't know. They don't stop to _think_! That's why so -many pass by the open door of success and never get inside. Listen, -Laura. Wait a minute--don't interrupt me. _Speed_ is the thing -to-day. Speed, speed, speed; and power! Don't you see it all around -you, don't you feel it? Can't you almost smell it, touch it, taste it? -It's on the street, in the house, in business, everywhere--we can't go -fast enough. But we're going faster. We'll go twice as fast." - -"How do you know? What do you mean? Who told you, John?" - -"That's my business. That's my idea. That's my invention. That's how -I'm going to get rich. - -"Laura, I'm going to make it possible to gear up our national life, to -double its present speed," he went on savagely. - -"When they've got it, they'll think they always had it, and after that -they all will always have to have it. I'll be there first. I'll cinch -it, and I'll sell it. That's my idea. That's not luck. It's brains, -brains, _brains_, Laura!" - - - -VI - -She leaned back in her chair, sighing. "Do you think I could have a -silk dress, John?" she said at length, her mind overleaping vast -intermediate details. - -"My God, woman!" - -"Could we go to the theaters--I've always wanted to so much. Could I -go into the country once in a while, where things are green?" - -He made a despairing gesture at her inability to grasp the future. - -"We could travel--could we go over to Europe--could we take Grace -there, John?" - -"As often as you liked!" - -"Could we have a new gate in the picket fence, if the landlord still -refused?" - -"Oh, my God!" - -She sat, trying to rise to the pitch of such ambition, but succeeded -only in remaining commonplace. "How did you come across it, John?" she -asked after a little. - -He smiled. "What did I say about death and taxes and a woman's -curiosity? The truth is, I picked it up from a word or so I heard in a -chance conversation--two young fellows from the engineering department -were talking something over. That young chap named Halsey, just out of -some college, full of fads, you know. He'd been reading something his -old professor had been monkeying over. I got my idea then--the idea of -making any automobile go twice as fast as it does, any railway train, -anything else--of cutting out a lot of useless human labor, and setting -the power of gravitation to work." - -"I thought you said this was your own idea?" - -"It _is_ my own. What is thrown away deliberately, and picked up, is -mine, if I see the value in it. Young Halsey didn't know. He's just a -visionary--nothing practical about him. He couldn't see into this." - -"Halsey--Charley Halsey of the offices? He's been here--I think -Grace--you see, the Personal Injury office, where she works, is just -across the hall from the Engineering--" - -"Well, it's no difference. I'm going to take care of the affair -myself. But it might be just as well if he came, once in a while. -Grace might do worse." - -"But you heard him speak of it first?" - -"I've just told you, yes, woman! But there was nothing worked out. -I've got to furnish the time and money and brains and the plan of -working it out. I've never said a word to him yet, of course, and I -don't want you to say a word." - -Her face fell. "I'm afraid I can't understand all these things, John. -But I should think you'd take Charley in as a partner. That is, if -Grace-- Maybe he could help." - -"A partner? With me? Laura, John Rawn has no partners." - - - -VII - -She rose after a time, her eyes not seeking his. - -"Grace will be coming home directly," she said briskly. "I must get -supper ready." - -"One thing"--he raised a restraining hand--"keep quiet about this. -I've told you too much already." - -For half an instant Laura Rawn almost wondered whether this thing might -not be true. Such things had happened in this country. Was there not -daily proof before her eyes? And might not fortune reverse her wheel -for them also; might not lightning choose, as sometimes elsewhere it -had chosen, a humble and unimportant spot for its alighting? Who can -read the plans of the immortal gods? asked the pagans of old. Who, -asked Laura Rawn, devout Christian, can foresee the plans of a Divine -Providence? - -As for John Rawn, he troubled but little over the immortal gods or over -a Divine Providence, feeling small need of the aid of either. He had -himself. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEN - -I - -Thus far, the Rawn planet had moved but in restricted orbit, to wit: -one bounded as to one extremity by the dingy yard and narrow walls of a -home rented at twenty dollars a month; at the other, by the still -dingier and more prosaic business surroundings of a railway's general -offices. Narrow and dull enough the Rawn life had been, and in such a -life, lived on into middle age, you scarce could have blamed a man had -he settled back for ever into the grip of the upreaching fingers of -monotony. The half mechanical and parrot-like repetition of set -phrases in a restricted line of business correspondence for Rawn -himself, day after day; the dull and endless round of homekeeping -duties for the wife--what but narrowness and dullness could come out of -life such as this? Wherefore you should not have been surprised had -you been told that Grace Rawn was simply the outgrowth of this sort of -home, this sort of life, not much different from other girls of her -class. - -We are coming more and more in America to use that word "class." The -theory is that we came to this continent to escape class; but surely -class has followed us, and restricted us, and counted us out into elect -and damned, into those above and those below the salt. Rather let us -say the truth, which is that class has followed us because we ourselves -have followed after class. - -But continually the great laws of survival go on after their own -fashion. In the production of human beings there continually are at -work the five laws of evolution, the five factors of heredity, -environment and selection, blended with variation and isolation. These -five factors build human characters, continue ever to do their amazing -sums in life and success and survival. Sometimes they produce a Grace -Rawn. - - - -II - -Perhaps it was the very factor of isolation that gave Grace Rawn her -quality. She was a silent girl, somewhat reserved. Silence and -reserve she got from her father's solemn self-absorption, her mother's -quiet self-abnegation. She was softened in part by the gentle training -of her mother, who talked most when her husband was not present. - -Grace Rawn stood two inches taller than her mother, and had a certain -severe distinction which covered many sins in shorthand. Her brows -were dark and met above her eyes; and the latter, being somewhat -myopic, usually were covered by glasses--which also not infrequently -shield yet other multitudes of sins in stenography. Her chin was well -out and forward. Her jaw was rounded, her teeth white and good, her -carriage also good, if still a trifle stiff and awkward. In air she -was slow and deliberate. Her eyes were gray like her mother's, her -voice deep like her father's. She was what would be called old for her -years, indeed a woman at sixteen. Most would have placed her age some -years further on than the eighteen years which really were hers at this -time. - -Grace Rawn could not be said to have any circle of friends. Her soul -was eclectic. In short, isolation, selection and variation, the three -less known laws of growth, had done as much for her as the more vaunted -factors of heredity and environment. Self-contained, adequate enough -in appearance, although lacking that sort of magnetism which draws men -to women, she would have passed with small notice in the average -collection of her sex. For such as these, propinquity comes as a -blessing in so far as natural selection is concerned. - - - -III - -In St. Louis, natural selection operated much as in the Silurian or the -Elizabethan, or eke the Jeffersonian age, choice being made from that -which offered at the family doorstep in either era. In Kelly Row good -folk sat upon the doorstep of an eventide. The evening assemblage upon -the Rawn front doorstep in Kelly Row grew larger as Grace grew older. -Certain young men came. Why did they come? Why do we walk about and -around a tree that hangs full in fruit not yet ripened, watching the -bloom on this, the texture of that, the size or probable flavor of -yonder example hanging as yet unfinished in the alchemy of the summer -sun? At least the little company at times was larger on the Rawn front -stoop of an evening. It all went on in the easy, careless, hopeful, -unconventional fashion of families of the Rawn class. Let it be -remembered that class really is class in this country. There seemed -little hope for Grace, therefore, other than in a marriage after the -stereotyped fashion of Kelly Row. Perhaps if good fortune attended, -she might marry a man who, at middle age, might, like her father, be -drawing a salary of one hundred and twenty-five dollars a month; a -great man in the eyes of the world of Kelly Row, which lived on an -average of half that per month. - - - -IV - -In this evening company, as Laura Rawn had mentioned, occasionally -might have been found one Charles Halsey, himself now some twenty-four -years of age at next spring's lambing-time; as his father, a Missouri -farmer, would have said. Halsey had come to the city, a serious-minded -youth, to seek his fortune, just as John Rawn had done at about the -time Halsey himself was born. But whereas Rawn had concerned himself -little in books, Halsey had, by such means as only himself could have -told, managed a degree in engineering in what New England calls a -freshwater college, the same not so good as salt, yet, in Halsey's -belief better than none and cheaper than some. Once out of college and -finding himself belated, he had thrust into the thick of the fray of -the business world to the best of his ability, though to his surprise -not setting the world into any conflagration. These four years now, as -chance had had it, he had been engaged in the drafting department of -the engineer's offices in the same railway which employed John Rawn. A -thoughtful young chap enough, and one held rather student than good -fellow by his fellow clerks, because for the most part he did not join -them in their dissipations, their cheap joys, their narrow ways of -thinking. Also a chap regarded as not wholly desirable because he read -much, and because he had ideas. - -Charles Halsey, as well as Grace Rawn, in some sort seemed to set the -laws of heredity and environment at defiance in favor of the lesser -factors in evolution. He had originally no right to be anything but a -farm lad, yet he had dreams, and so had fought his way through college. -There, in the world of books, close to the world of thought, not far -from the world of art, he had become what some of us might have called -an idealist, what most of us would have called a fool, and now what all -of us would have called a failure. - -A studious bent, a wide and unregulated way of reading, a vague, -inexact and untrained habit of mentality, took young Halsey, as it does -many another unformed mind, into studies of social problems for which -he was but little fitted, to wit: into imaginings about human -democracy, the inherent rights of man, and much other like folly. The -questions of socialism, the rights and wrongs of capital, the -initiative, the referendum and the recall; the direct primary, the open -shop, and the living wage scale under the American standard--all these -and many other things occupied him as much as tangents, curves and -logarithms. As a result of his inchoate research, he started out in -young manhood well seized of the belief--finely expressed in a certain -immortal but wholly ignored document known in our own history--that -there is a certain evenness in human nature before the eyes of the Lord. - -A young engineer with small salary, and a theoretical cast of mind, -even though he reads text-books out of hours, has only himself to trust -for his upward climb in life. Surely he might be better occupied in -wondering rather about his pull with the boss than about the eyes of -the Lord as bearing upon the future of this republic. But, at any -rate, such was the plight of young Mr. Halsey. And, such being the -nature and disposition of the doorstep-frequenting young, it chanced -that, although Grace Rawn really was not yet fledged beyond the -blue-tip stage of her final feathering, and although Mr. Halsey of the -Engineering, draftsman, himself still lacked the main quills which -support a man in his ultimate flight through life, they came more and -more to meet each other; after which, each in separate fashion came to -enjoy the meeting and to look forward to the next. - -It was not unusual for Mr. Halsey, faring homeward from the office, to -meet Grace, also faring home, at the turn of the car track on Olive -Street. Taking the same car they would travel, somewhat shy and -silent, until they reached the distant corner where those bound for -Kelly Row must leave the car. Then, himself obliged by this to walk -perhaps a mile farther, he would join her, still shy and more or less -silent; and so perhaps again wander to that certain door in Kelly Row -where by that time, perhaps, both Mr. Rawn and his helpmeet were -sitting on the narrow porch. He was always welcome there, because Rawn -knew him for a steady chap; and because, in Halsey's eyes, John Rawn -was considerable of a personage. Rawn was aways ready to be consulted -by the young, and, like most failures, was not averse to giving -abundant good advice to others as to the problems of success. Halsey, -reserved and not expansive of nature, a poor boy in college, always had -had a social world as narrow as this of Kelly Row; so that after all -the parties of both the first and the second part were traveling mostly -in their own class. On the whole it was rather a dour assemblage, that -on the porch in Kelly Row. None seemed to have any definite plan or to -suspect another of plan. Life simply was running on, in the bisque -shepherdess, china dog, Dying Gaul and Rock of Ages way. - - - -V - -Let us except John Rawn. He now had certain wide plans of his own, as -we shall see--indeed, as we have seen--and these had somewhat to do -with young Mr. Halsey himself. - -Mr. Halsey himself was disposed at times rather to moroseness, not yet -having discovered the full relation of liver and soul--a delicate and -intimate association. Sometimes despair oppressed him. - -"Once in a while I get an idea," said he, one evening, "and I think it -might make good if I had a chance to put it over. But what's the use? -I couldn't do anything with the best idea in the world, because I have -no time nor money to work one out. I tell you, you've got to have -money or pull to get anywhere to-day. This country's getting into a -bad way. It doesn't look quite right to me, I tell you, the way human -beings are ground under to-day." - -And yet it was out of precisely such talk as this that John Rawn -originally got the reason for the enthusiastic conversation with his -wife which earlier has been chronicled. Behold the difference among -men! Here was one who wanted to set all the world right, to discover -some panacea by which all men might rest in happiness for ever, by -which all men might succeed, might indeed prove themselves free and -equal, and entitled to, say, ten minutes out of the twenty-four hours -for the pursuit of happiness--innocent happiness, such as reading books -on electricity, socialism, the steaming quality of coke, or the -tortional strength of I-beams laid in concrete. Here also, one lift -above him on the doorstep of Kelly Row, was another man, John Rawn, -who, thinking he was full of ideas, had none, but who had every -confidence in himself; a man who early in his youth had proved his -ability to leave to others the skin of their bananas while he himself -took the meat, and paid naught therefor. Not much of a stage, thus set -in Kelly Row. But this is the stage as it was set. - - - -VI - -Among these, there was one idea waiting to be born. For, look you, the -air is full of ideas--even as John Rawn in ignorant truthfulness had -said. They float all about us, unborn children in the ether of the -universe, waiting to be born, selecting this or that of us--you, me, -gently, for a parent; the most of them to be pushed back unknown, -unrecognized, into the frustrate void, and so left to await a better -time. I doubt not that, at this time or that, each of us has had -offered to him, thus gently, thus unknown, some idea which would have -made any of us great, set us far above our fellow-man; ideas which for -all of that, perhaps would have revolutionized the world. But we did -not know them. What great things are left unborn, what great -discoveries remain unmade, no man may measure. We do not lay hold upon -that thin and vaporous hand which touches our shoulder. We do not -wrestle unwearied with the angel unto the coming of the dawn. So we go -on, bruised and broken, and at length buried and forgot, most of us -never grasping these unseen things, not even having a hint of their -immaterial presences. It is only as the jest-loving fates have it -that, once in a while, something in revolutionary thought drops to -earth, is caught by some materialistic mind, bred up by some -materialistic hand. - -It must have been first at some chance meeting here on the doorstep in -Kelly Row that young Halsey let drop reference to an idea. It was the -whisper of some passing wing in the universal ether, but he did not -know that. It is not always the mind of the idealist which produces. -But now this thin, faint, mystic sound had fallen upon the material -mind of John Rawn, covetous, eager, receptive of any hint to further -his own interest, concerned not in the least with science, not in the -least with altruism, troubling not in the least over the fate of this -republic or the welfare of mankind, concerned only with his own fate, -interested only in his own welfare. Whereupon John Rawn--barring that -certain prophetic outburst of his egotism with which he favored his -wife but recently--in silence had accepted this sign and taken it as -his own, devised for his use and behoof, and for that of none other -than himself. - - - -VII - -This difference, then, lay between Rawn of the Personal Injury -department of the railway office, and Halsey of the drafting offices; -Rawn believed in himself, Halsey had not yet figured out whether or not -he believed in anything. They met on the doorstep at Kelly Row, and -out of their meeting many things began in Kelly Row which matured -swiftly elsewhere, and in surprising fashion. - -We now come on, sufficiently swiftly, to the history of the birth and -organization of the International Power Company, Limited; a concern -which grew out of nothing except the five factors of -survival--environment, heredity, variation, selection and isolation. -Its cradle was in Kelly Row. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -POWER - -I - -"Charles," said John Rawn one evening, with that directness of habit -which perhaps we have earlier noted, "I have been thinking over some -scientific problems." - -"Yes?" replied Halsey. "What is it--a patent car coupler? There isn't -a fellow in our office who hasn't patented one, but I didn't know it -was quite so catching as to get into the Personal Injury -department--they only settle with the widows there." - -"In my belief," went on Rawn, frowning at this flippancy, "I am upon -the eve of a great success, Charles." - -"What sort of success, Mr. Rawn?" inquired Halsey, more soberly. - -Rawn smiled largely. "You will hardly credit me when I tell you, -almost all sorts of success! To make it short, I have formed a power -company--a concern for the cheap generation and general transmission of -power. In the course of a few months we'll proceed in the manufacture -of electrical transmitters and receivers for what I call the lost -current of electricity." - -Halsey stood cold for a moment, and looked at him in amazement. - -"You don't mean to say--why, that's precisely what _I've_ been thinking -of for so long." - -"I don't doubt many have been thinking of it," rejoined Rawn. "It had -to come. These things seem to happen in cycles. It's almost a toss-up -what man will first perfect an invention when once it gets in the air, -so to speak. Now, this invention of mine has been due ever since the -developments in wireless transmission. In truth, I may say that I have -only gone a little beyond the wireless idea. What I have done is to -separate the two currents of electricity." - -Halsey leaned against the wall. "My God!" he half whispered. He -smiled foolishly. - -"Why, Mr. Rawn," he said finally, "I've been studying that, I don't -know how long--ever since the researches in my university were made -public. I thought for some time I might be able to figure it out -further than our professors have as yet. Pflüger, of Bonn, in Germany, -has been working for years and years on that theory of perpetual motion -in all molecules." - -"Mollycules? I don't know as I ever really saw any," hesitated Rawn. - -"Very likely, Mr. Rawn!" - -"I've never cared much for mere scientific rot," said Rawn, coloring a -trifle. "That gets us nothing. But what were you saying?" - -Halsey's enthusiasm carried him beyond resentment and amusement alike. - -"Molecules are everywhere, in everything, Mr. Rawn," he explained -gently; "and now we know they move, though we can see them only in mass -and as though motionless." - -"I don't see how that can be," began Rawn; but checked himself. - -Halsey smote his hand against the solid wall. "It moves!" he -exclaimed. "It's alive! It vibrates--every solid is in perpetual -motion. The dance of the molecules is endless. It's in the air around -us, above us--power, power--immeasurable, irresistible power, -exhaustless, costless _power_! All you have to do is to jar it out of -balance." - -"Yes, I know. That's what I've been getting at, precisely--" - -"I was going to figure it out sometime," said Halsey ruefully. - -"I _did_ figure it out!" said John Rawn sententiously. "Moreover, I've -got the company formed." - - - -II - -"_You_--Mr. Rawn? How did you manage that? I didn't know that you--" -Halsey at last spoke. - -"A great many haven't known about a great many things," said Rawn, -walking up and down, his hands in his pockets, his air gloomily -dignified. "A few men always have to do the things which others don't -know about. For instance, what did all the work of your -professors--what-d'ye-call-'ems--amount to? Nothing at all. Maybe -they'd print a paper about it. That would about end it, just as it -ended it for you. You admit you got the idea from them; but I say it -wasn't any idea at all. I saw it--in the papers. Didn't pay much -attention to it, because there's nothing in this scientific business -for practical men like me." - -"I know, I know," Halsey nodded. "That's true. Here it all is." He -took from his coat pocket a creased and folded newspaper page of recent -date. "Here's the story--I was proud, because it was my own university -did the work: - -"'That the molecules composing all material substances are constantly -in rapid motion, ricocheting against one another in the manner of a -collection of billiard-balls suddenly stirred up, the speed of the -air's components being about half that of a cannon ball, was the proof -announced to-day from the University of Chicago as a further -development of the experiments by Professor R. A. Threlkeld, which for -the last year have been attracting the attention of scientists from all -parts of the world. The absolute nature of the proof, upon which -physicists all over the world have been working without result for -several years, was assented to by Professor Pflüger, of Bonn -University, Germany, who arrived in Chicago last Monday to witness the -demonstration.'" - -He paused in his literal reading from the printed page. "I told you -about Pflüger," he began. - -"Yes, some Dutchman," assented Rawn graciously. "They're great to dig." - -Halsey, being in the presence of the man whom he proposed making his -father-in-law, was perforce polite, although indignant. He went on -icily, with his reading, since he had begun it: - -"'The belief that the molecules of which all matter is composed are in -a perpetual dance of motion has been held tentatively by scientists for -several years, but, owing to the general inability to make any progress -in proving it, considerable skepticism has developed among the -physicists of several of the leading scientific nations. It was -generally known as the kinetic theory. Professor Threlkeld's proof is -a further development of his experiments, showing electricity to be a -definite substance, which were announced last year and were pronounced -the most important discovery concerning the nature of electricity since -Benjamin Franklin. - -"'The simple expedient of performing his experiments in almost a -complete vacuum--a method which had not occurred to scientists -before--was given by Professor Threlkeld as the foundation stone of his -discovery. Minute drops of oil, sprayed into a vacuum chamber, one -side of which is of glass, demonstrate by their own motions the truth -of the theory. - -"'Surrounded by the ordinary amount of air, the oil drops are bombarded -by moving air molecules in so many thousand places at once that their -motion is so rapid as to be invisible. With few molecules of air -surrounding them, the drops are driven back and forth as though being -used as a punching-bag. - -"'By reference to his previous experiments with drops of oil bombarded -by electrical ions, the motion of the oil drops has been found to be -precisely the same, showing the cause of the motion to be similar in -both cases.'" - -"That's all right," said John Rawn, "all very well as far as it goes, -but it doesn't go far enough." - - - -III - -Halsey smiled. "Well, here's what the discoverer says about it," he -commented. "I reckon that's plain, too, as far as it goes: - -"'For the benefit of the general public, Professor Threlkeld has -prepared the following statement concerning the experiments he has been -conducting: - -"'"The method consisted in catching atmospheric ions upon minute oil -drops floating in the air and measuring the electrical charge which the -drops thus acquired. This year the following extensions of this work -have been made: - -"'"The action of ionization itself is now being studied, each of the -two electrical fragments into which a neutral molecule breaks up being -caught upon oil drops at the instant of formation. This study has -shown that the act of ionization of a neutral air molecule always -consists in the detachment from it of one single elementary charge -rather than of two or three such charges. - -"'"By suspending these minute oil drops in rarefied gases instead of in -air at atmospheric pressure, the authors have been able to make the oil -drops partake of the motions of agitation of the molecules to such an -extent that they can be seen by any observer to dance violently under -the bombardment which they receive from the flying air molecules. - -"'"By measuring accurately the amount of the motion of agitation of the -oil drops and comparing it with the motions which they assume under the -influence of an electrical field because of the charge which they -carry, the authors have been able to make an exact and certain -identification, with the aid of computations made by Mr. Fletcher, of -the electrical charge carried by an atmospheric ion (and measured in -their preceding work), with the electrical charge carried by univalent -ions in solution. - -"'"This work not only supplies complete proof of the correctness of the -atomic theory of electricity, but gives a much more satisfactory -demonstration than had before been found of the perpetual dance of the -molecules of matter."'"* - - -*With but a change of name, Mr. Halsey quoted literally from the -journal--The Author. - - - -IV - -"Fine! Fine! Charley!" interrupted Rawn sardonically. "Everybody's -read that who cared to read it. It's too dry for most folks. It's -public; it's wide open, no secret about it. But who wants it? What -use has a mollycule and a drop of oil in a glass jar got in actual -business? What ice does it cut?" - -"I know--I know, Mr. Rawn; very little indeed. But, one idea grows out -of another. Now, what I was experimenting with was this same second -current of electricity--whatever it is. It's got something to do--I -don't just know what--with this same movement of the molecules. Now, -can't you see, something has got to move them. If you've got perpetual -motion, you've got a perpetual power somewhere back at it, and a power -that is endless, universal-- - -"Mr. Rawn," he resumed earnestly, "when I got that far along, I got -to--well--sort of dreaming! I followed that dance of the atoms on -out--into the universe--into the manifestation of--" - -"Well, of what?" - -"Of God! Of Providence! Of Something, whatever it is that begins and -perpetuates; _something that plans_! Something that created. -Something that intends life and comfort and joy for the things It -created." - - - -V - -Rawn eyed him coldly. "Charley," said he, "you're talking tommyrot! -You can't run this world into the spiritual world. That's wrong. It's -irreligious. Besides, it's rot." - -Halsey hardly heard him. "So then I began to wonder what we'd find -yet, when we had that vast, universal power all for our own--all for -man, you know, Mr. Rawn. Living's hard to-day, Mr. Rawn. There's a -lot of injustice in the world nowadays. So--well, I wondered if it -weren't nearly time that things should change. We've always moved on -up--or thought we did, anyhow--so why shouldn't we keep on moving, keep -on making discoveries?" - -"That's what _I_ thought, Charley!" - ---"Something that would lighten the world's labor, and give the world -more time to think, more time to _grow_--to enjoy--well, to _love_, you -know--" - -"Charley, you're nothing better than a damned Socialist! You're siding -with the lower classes. Labor!--There's always got to be labor, long -as the world lasts--always has been and always will be. And some do -that sort of work, while others don't. There are differences among -men. Look at those professors--look at you! A mollycule in a glass -jar--what'd it get you? Did any of you form a company for the -perpetual sale of something that's everlasting and that don't cost -anything? You didn't. But _I_ did." - -"Yes. And it was my dream--but not as you state it, Mr. Rawn. I -didn't want to sell it. I wanted to _give_ it. I wanted to do -something for the people, for humanity--for the country--you see. That -is--" - -"Humanity be damned!" broke in John Rawn brutally. "You _can't_ do -anything for humanity--you can't make the weak men strong--it's God -A'mighty does that, Charley. _Give_ it away, eh? Well, let me have -the second current that costs nothing, and let me sell it for ever at -my own price--and I reckon I'll let you and your professor and Mr. -Dutchman, whatever his name is, trail along any way you like with your -mollycule in the glass jar. I want canned _power_--definite, -marketable, something you can wrap up in a package and _sell_, do you -understand--_sell_ to those same laboring men that you're wasting your -sympathy on. Work for _yourself_, my son, remember that; never mind -about humanity. And I'll give you a chance, Charley--in my company," -he added. - - - -VI - -"Is it a big company?" queried Halsey wearily. - -"Twenty-five million dollars," answered John Rawn calmly. And it is to -be remembered that at this time John Rawn was drawing a salary of one -hundred and twenty-five dollars a month, the highest pay he had ever -received in all his life; also that he was at this time a man -forty-seven years of age. We have classes in America, but occasionally -the lines that separate one from the other prove susceptible of -successful attack at the hands of a determined man. As Rawn stood -before Halsey, who only goggled and gasped at such statements as his -last, he seemed a determined man. - -"We are going to dam the Mississippi River, a couple of hundred miles -above here at the ledges," Rawn remarked casually. "For the time, that -will be our central power plant. We will contract for a million and a -half dollars' worth of power each year in St. Louis alone. That comes -down by regular wire transmission. That is nothing, it's only a drop -in the bucket. Our big killing is going to be with the other -scheme--the second current--the same idea you've been trifling with. -We'll go East with that." - -"You seem to mean almost what I mean, when I talked with you long ago--" - -"Do you think so?" Rawn's tone was affable and he held out his hand. -"I should be happy indeed to think that we had been studying along the -same lines, Charles. That will enable you all the better to understand -my own ideas and my business plans. Of course--and I'll be frank with -you, Charles--Mrs. Rawn and I have doubted the wisdom of Grace's -engagement to a young man without means or prospects. But I can give -you prospects, and you can make your own means. I'll put you in our -central factory. We need good men, of course, and I need you -especially, Charles. In fact, I've had you in my eye." - -"How do you mean?" - -"Well, I shall be president of the concern." - -Halsey smiled sardonically. "The difference between men!" - -"Pardon me, but you seem to think that you ought to stand in my shoes -in this matter, Charles. I don't recall any warrant for that." Rawn -spoke with asperity, aggrieved. "Of course, we speak loosely of -certain things, all of us, and all of us have unformed wishes, all that -sort of thing. I'm willing to admit, too, as I said before, that when -the time comes for a great idea to be discovered, it may be almost by -accident that it is discovered by this man or that. - -"But now, as I take it, Charles," he continued, "you never had any -definite and exact idea of handling the unattuned current of -electricity which runs free in the air, and which--according to my -theory--can be taken down by the proper receivers and used -locally--harnessed, set to work; and retailed at a price. That's the -wireless idea, of course, in one form. It's the one big thing left for -big business to discover. There's nothing left in timber, mines, -irrigation, railroads; cream's all off the country now. But now here -comes this idea of mine, and it's bigger than any of those old ones. -_Money?_" He threw out his hands. "Were you working on this yourself, -my son?" he concluded. "How singular! But it's in the air." - -"Not very much," said Halsey honestly. "I didn't have time to work -steadily at it. We're pretty busy in the office. I did make a little -model, though. I spent quite a lot of time on it, as I could." - -"We are busy in our office, too," said Rawn grimly. "But _I_ found -time. We'll look over your model together, some day." - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -CHANGE IN KELLY ROW - -I - -Unless the Day of Judgment shall, in its extraordinary phenomena, -accomplish that result, it is scarcely to be held probable that any -cataclysm inaugurated by God or man ever will essentially disturb the -placid business of simply being alive. Vesuvius erupts; a few human -ants are scorched. A city burns, and a few ant-hills perish. An -earthquake rocks half a continent; the other half stands firm. Nothing -much matters, and nothing happens. That men fly in the air, that men -talk across seas by machines--as right presently they will talk mind to -mind, free of all mechanical hindrance--attracts no attention beyond -passing chronicle in the argot of the day. The large things of the -age, of course, are the ball games and the encounters of the prize -ring. Why should we think? Why should we feel apprehension, whereas -we know full well that, come what may--unless that shall be, to wit: -the ball game, the prize fight, or the Day of Judgment--nothing really -can much matter, and nothing much can happen? - -Nothing much happened in Kelly Row. The old monotony of business and -domestic routine went on with no alteration. Grace went with her -father daily to the common and accustomed scene of their labors; Mrs. -Rawn baked bread, roasted meat when meat could be afforded--for this -was in the America of to-day--swept the hall carpet and dusted off the -Dying Gaul; while as to Charles Halsey, he still read late at night and -made none too good use of India ink, try-square and straight-edge by -day. No great disturbance was to be noted anywhere. All that was -proposed was that the people should be--with a very commendable -benevolence--offered the opportunity of purchasing for ever, to the -behoof of a very few, something that had been given them free and for -ever by the will of God. A simple thing, this, and of no consequence. -It ranked not even with an earthquake; certainly not with a ball game. - - - -II - -Yet, with sufficient steadiness, the plans for all this went forward, -and that with a commendable celerity also; for John Rawn now proved -himself no idler in a matter where his own welfare was concerned. He -and Halsey very often, in their daily meetings, discussed their future -plans; Halsey none too happily. Rawn consoled him. - -"Never mind about it, Charles. You shall be my right-hand man. You'll -be able to understand my plans more perfectly than anybody else. And -listen, Charles--" he laid a hand on the young man's shoulder, "I'm not -going to stand in the way of your own plans. You and Grace shall marry -as soon as you like, after we get this thing going. It won't be long. -I shall have abundant means." - -"How ever _did_ you do it?" demanded the young man, even as his face -lightened at what seemed to him the most desirable news in the world. -He had just gained Grace's consent and her mother's, but dreaded to ask -that of her sterner parent. "How in the world did you manage it, Mr. -Rawn? You hadn't any money, and you hadn't any influence." - -"I did it by force of conviction," answered John Rawn severely, setting -his knuckles on the table and leaning forward as he faced him. "I did -it by my own original thoughts. I impressed these other men with the -importance of my invention." - - - -III - -He strode up and down now, as he went on: "I'll tell you, Charles, so -that you can understand these things. I suppose you do a certain -amount of reading on current events. You must know, as we all do, what -a keen search there has been made by capitalists all over the country -for water power sites? There are few who know to what extent the -greater power sites have been monopolized already--that's kept quiet, -and the people don't care. Oh, I admire them, those leaders--those men -who see into the future--those men who are our kings in industry. It's -_there_ I've wanted to stand all my life--among them, in their company, -shoulder to shoulder with them, even-up with them--or better. - -"Of course, you know the newspapers and the magazines--all of them -managed by a lot of reformers who have no weight in the world of -affairs--have done all they could to thwart the plans of these brainier -men. But they can't stop what's going to happen. A few men are going -to control the resources of this country. A few men are going to -administer the business affairs of this country. It can't be stopped. -Even the Supreme Court realizes that now. Congress learned it long -ago--the Senate proves it every day of the week. My son, this -invention of mine is going to make that likelihood a certainty, a -certainty! I want my place among those men, those few leaders who are -to control this country. And I'm going to have it!" - -Young Halsey, dull white, simply sat staring at him as he went on. - -"We all know what the old ideas of fuel and power are--they're -obsolete. Electricity is the power of the future, the power of to-day. -_Speed, speed, speed_ is what we want. _Power, power, power_ is what -every industry needs, as well as what every man craves. - -"Now, heretofore, the only question has been to get electricity over -the country, to distribute it cheaply. The water powers manufacture it -well enough, but even water powers cost money; and there has always -been a limit to the range of transmission. Now, when I set aside all -these old, costly, inefficient methods, and hand, ready-made, to the -great capitalists of this country the very answer to the last question -they have been asking, what is going to be the natural result? When I -tell them that I can wipe out all this enormous industrial waste that -has been going on in power, what are they going to say to me? Are they -going to kick me out of their offices? - -"They didn't kick me out. When I went to them--a few of them, men who -run our road--and told them that I could separate electricity into two -parts, two sorts, common and preferred, old and new, costly and cheap, -localized and wholly mobile--what were they going to say to me? They -didn't kick _me_ out of the office! They got up and locked the office -door. That's what they did. They were afraid I'd get away from them! - -"They had thought of these things before--about as much as you have, I -reckon. That is, they had _hoped_ something would be discovered some -time, by somebody. But I told them that I could send one-half of this -divided power up into the air, now! I said I could store it in the air -without cost to any one, and then take it down, at any manufacturing -plant, anywhere, any lighting plant, any enterprise using power, -whenever and wherever I pleased, at a cost not worth mentioning--and -now! It was then they locked the office door, for fear I'd get away." - - - -IV - -"It's wonderful," said Halsey, warmly as he could. - -"I told them that, as certainly as anything is certain, I could take -that stored charge out of the air, and set it at work in Chicago, or -Cleveland, or Pittsburgh, or Minneapolis, or where I liked. I said I -could put in the scrap heap every factory run under the old and -obsolete power methods. Then they began to sit up. I had 'em pale -before I got through! I tell you, Charles, I saw the president of this -railroad we have been working for look pale and sick when I, I, John -Rawn, one of his underpaid clerks--a man who had had enough trouble to -get to see him--who had to make some excuse to get to see him--stood up -right to his face and proved these things." - -Halsey, duller white, listened on as Rawn talked on. - -"Of course, they didn't believe it--he called in his crony, the general -traffic manager--that beast Ackerman--you see, they have some side -lines of investment together, on their personal account--and it makes -'em a lot more than their salaries. But they were afraid not to -believe what I said. They tried to talk and couldn't. About all they -could say to me at the end of an hour or so was 'How much?' - -"Then I _told_ them how much," concluded John Rawn. - -"How much was it, then?" Halsey tried to smile, palely. - -"That is not for me to say. Business men handling large matters are -pledged to mutual secrecy. The president of this railroad left for New -York yesterday. I'm taking chances in telling you this much, and -promising you as much as I have. I would not do it if I did not regard -you as one of my own family. You must keep close in this, or else--" -A savage look came into Rawn's face, which he himself would scarcely -have recognized, a new trait in his nature, kept back all these years; -the savagery of the stronger having a weaker being in its power. - -"Breathe a word of this, even to Grace," he said, "and it'll cost you -Grace, and it'll cost you more than that." - - - -V - -Halsey made no answer but to sit looking at him, his eyes slightly -distended. He loved this girl. If he must pay for that love, very -well. Love was worth all a man could have, all a man could do. He -loved a girl, and he was young. Any price for her seemed small. - -Rawn allowed his last remark to sink in before he resumed: - -"It was some time ago that I went to these men. They sent for me often -enough after that--" - -"And could you prove it out?--" - -"Wait a minute--don't interrupt me when I'm speaking." Rawn raised an -imperious hand. "They sent for me, yes; until at length the president -told me they hadn't known they had had this big and brainy a man right -at their elbows all the time. - -"Then," he went on blandly, unctuously, "they showed me how -large-minded and generous great business men can be when you come to -know them. The people don't know these great business men--why, -they're just as simple, and human, and kind! They said they wanted to -identify me with their own fortunes. For instance, they put me in for -five thousand shares of stock in a rubber company they are floating, -and some automobile stock. The automobile industry is sure to grow. -That rubber stock alone would make me rich, I have no doubt." - -"But what have you _done_?--" - -"Wait a minute! These men, it seems, are in with a lot of other -railroad men who are developing an oil field in lower California. They -have been waiting till things got ripe. They've got two or three -gushers capped out there that they're holding back until they get -ready. They'll make millions out of that alone. These men play in -with Standard Oil, and you know how strong their hold is since the -Supreme Court threw down the cards. A salary! _I_ a salary--what did -I make? They have _their_ salaries, but what do such sums count with -men of real genius in affairs? - -"Well, they put me in for some of those oil shares, too. That alone -would make me rich. I could stop right here, taking no chance, and be -_rich_, now, to-day. It pays to trail in with the right bunch. What -can the muckrakers do toward stopping men like that? - -"I'm telling you things which of course I ought not to, but I know I -can trust you, Charles. And, as I told you, I'm going to keep you -about me in the business. I believe in you, my son. We'll have plenty -of work to do together." - -"Have you laid before them a complete plan, then, Mr. Rawn--how did you -figure it all out so soon? I've worked on this a bit, and I never got -much beyond a model that didn't quite turn the trick." - -"I would hardly be foolish," smiled John Rawn. "They do not have my -secrets. Let them complete their own plans. Let them raise their -money. Let them form their company. Let them give me legally my -fifty-one shares of International Power for control--then I'll tell -them, not before. It's a question whether they're big enough to stack -up in my class, that's all." - -"Why, you're like the Keeley motor man!" grinned young Halsey. "It -lasted--for a while. But can you keep on putting this over with these -people?" - -"The president of this railroad started for New York yesterday, I told -you! We've not been idle. Two months ago we told our Senators in -Congress what we wanted in the way of laws in the matter of our great -central power dam. Work is going on in the state legislatures, both -sides of the river. Money? There's no trouble raising money in -America when you have a valid idea--no, not if it's only one-tenth as -good as this. And this is the best and biggest monopoly this country -ever saw. They'll _pay_ for an idea like this!" - - - -VI - -"It's an idea that'll rivet chains on this country!" broke out Halsey -suddenly, starting up. "It's an idea that'll make still worse slaves -of this American people!" - -"Yet just a while ago," said Rawn, with a fine air of Christian -fortitude, "you said that you were trying to get hold of this very same -idea." - -"Yes, yes, I was! I am! I did! But I wanted to take a burden off -from the shoulders of the world, not to put a greater there. I wanted -to lessen the dread and despair that our people feel to-day. I wanted -to work it out, I say, so that every man could have the benefit--and -_free_!" - -"Every man is going to have it," remarked John Rawn grimly, "but _not_ -free. What did I tell you a while ago? Get an idea, cinch it--and -then sell it! The people can have this benefit, yes; but they'll _pay_ -for it. That's the way success is made." - -"Ah, is it so?" was Halsey's answer. He flung himself against the -table, his pale face thrust forward over his outspread arms. "Success! -You mean only that the corporation grip on this country will be -stiffened more than any one ever dreamed. That's what your idea means, -then? That's your success?" - -Rawn nodded. "Of course. That has to be. Business conditions have -changed. I told you, a few men are to control the destiny of this -country. Individual competition--it's foolish now. There are -differences among men. We have to take the world as we find it, and -improve it if we can. When a fortunate man hits upon some great -improvement in the living conditions of humanity, he gets rich. That's -the way of life. Why fight it? Why not get on the right side, instead -of the wrong side of the world? Why not trail in with the main bunch, -if that's where the money is?" - -"Go on, then, go on!" said Halsey after a long while, the expression on -his face now changing. "I'm going to trail in, as you say. When does -the riveting begin?" - -"The public will be taken in when the larger interests have completed -all their plans," answered John Rawn. "The stock of International may -not go on the market for some time; indeed, I doubt if much of it ever -gets out beyond our fellows,--it's too good a thing to share with the -public. I know what'll happen with my fifty-one per cent.--it'll stay -in my safety-box until John Rawn is in need of bread. - -"We start with fifteen million bonds," he continued, "thirty millions -preferred stock, with a forty per cent., common, as a bonus. It looks -as though the thing would be all inside. The management--" - -"But you?--You'll think me personal--" - -"Not at all. I'll hold the control." - -"Of what?" - -"_Of all of it_," said John Rawn, gently smiling, as he leaned his -knuckles on the dingy table in the dining-room in Kelly Row. - -Halsey smiled at him, tapping his finger on the side of his head. "I -see," said he. - -"No, I'm not crazy. _What_ do you think you see?" - -"Things don't happen in that way, Mr. Rawn. Inventors don't get off in -the money like that. Don't tell me that." - -"Right you are," said Rawn, dropping a clenched fist on the table top. -"_Inventors_ don't! But men of that same class--men of grip and -grasp--_they_ do get off where the money is! I'll show you. They -won't rob John Rawn!" - - - -VII - -"Did they take it easy?" queried Halsey finally. - -"Threatened to kill me, that was all! As I said, they locked the door. -It was the traffic manager, Ackerman, who took it roughest. We both -looked along his pistol barrel. 'All right,' I said. 'Shoot. Kill -me, and what is there left? You _can't_ take me in with you--it's only -a question whether I'll take _you_ in with _me_! - -"'Now, you listen,' I said to Standley and Ackerman--and I wasn't -afraid of them--'I'll show you how to make something that everybody has -to have. I'll put speed into the work of every laboring man--I'll -double his efficiency, double his hours and halve his pay, and I'll cut -off his ability to help himself. I'll make labor unions impossible. -I'll gear up, pace up, stiffen up the whole theory of life and work, I -tell you, gentlemen,' said I, 'so that one hour will count for two, one -man will count for two, one wage will count for two! Do you get me, -gentlemen?' I asked of them--just those two were in the office then, -and the door was locked behind me. 'You're big men,' said I, 'but -you're not as big as I am. It's a cheap bluff about that gun,' I said -to Ackerman. 'Put it up. You wouldn't dare kill me, or dare do -anything I didn't want you to. I came to you because it was easier to -walk down this hall than it was to walk across the street. Do you want -me to walk across the street?'" - -Rawn chuckled gently; and now indeed he did present the very image of -self-confidence. "Well, then, they saw it," said he finally. "They -didn't want me to walk across the street! Standley laughed at -Ackerman. 'No use to kill him yet,' says he. I laughed then, we all -laughed. 'No, it wouldn't be any use,' said I to them. 'The question -is, how much I ought to give you.' - -"Ackerman took it hard. He's a bulldog sort of man. 'You're damned -impudent!' said he. 'I'll have you fired.' - -"'I'm fired now!' says I to them. 'You think I'm only a common clerk. -Didn't both of you come up from clerking? Can't I take you higher yet -than where you are now?' The Old Man, Standley, nodded then; and -pretty soon he reached out and took my hand. 'Come in, son,' says he. -'You're on.' - -"Well, that's nearly all there was about it, Charley. I say to you, -too, 'Come in, son--you're on.' - - - -VIII - -"Now then," he went on in his monologue, "we're up to the wait while -the laws are being made, and while all the plans for financing the -proposition are going through. We'll have to pro-rate this stuff with -the big railway companies, of course, and with the oil and steel -industries, and some of the other leading combinations--Standley and -Ackerman'll have no trouble, with their acquaintance among the big men -of the East. You can't stop such men. Give them this idea of mine and -you can't keep them from controlling this country. These are things -that can't be altered." - -"But it will alter the world!" exclaimed young Halsey, at last -beginning to arouse. "Who knows how much power there is in the water -of even one big river? You can use it over and over again. Why, on -that one river--" - -"Our river," said John Rawn, smiling. - -"The people's river!" retorted Halsey fiercely. "Their river! God -made that river, and all the rest of them, for something, I don't know -what. But it wasn't for this." - -"It'll have to work," answered John Rawn. "That river'll have to work -to earn its keep--they'll all have to!" - -"And the country--the republic--what will become of it?" - -"The republic? That was a compromise. We perhaps had to live through -that. Conditions in government change." Mr. Rawn spoke largely, -finely, with a nice appreciation of all values. - -"My God!" whispered Halsey. "What do you mean?" - - - -IX - -Rawn paid small attention to him, and he broke out yet more vehemently. -"But it is an enormous thing--you are dealing with the power of powers! -The great force of the world is gravitation. It makes the world move, -keeps the sun in its place. Water running down hill never tires. _It_ -doesn't know any eight-hour day." - -"That term will cease to exist within two years," said John Rawn -grimly. "It is a detestable thing. It has hampered business long -enough." - -"What do you mean?" - -"There's no such thing as an arbitrary length for a day's work. The -agreed day has lasted long enough. Money is made by setting other men -to work for you, and then seeing that they do work. When you have -something every man must use, when you've got the final whip-hand, it's -you who set the working day, and not those who work for you." - -"You're talking of using what God gave to human beings, and talking of -making worse slaves of them to that gift. That's monstrous, Mr. Rawn!" - -"Is it, then? To our notion it has been monstrous what these labor -combinations have tried to do. Our great industrial leaders have been -used unjustly. Yet labor is only mechanical power, that has to eat, -and sleep, and wear clothes. _Our_ kind of power doesn't have to do -those things." - -"But, Mr. Rawn! if that were true--of course it can't be true--what -would there be left for the average man? I say that a man has a right -to work when he likes, and a right to stop when he likes." - -"Precisely; but the labor unions say that he must stop when they like. -Why don't you use your brains, Charles? The old war was between -capital, that is to say, concentrated power, and labor, which is -unconcentrated power. That war has held back business in this country -for years. Now, when I told these men, Standley and Ackerman, that I -had something which would wipe out every labor union within a few -years--well, they _had_ to come in with me, that was all. They _had_ -to. - - - -X - -"The trouble with you," contended Rawn, himself now speaking fiercely -as he loomed and lowered above Halsey, "the trouble with all you -dreamers is that you have no real imagination. What's the use talking -about the rights of the average man? When did the average man ever -start or stop a revolutionary idea? When these things come, they come, -and you can't help them. They had machinery riots in Great Britain a -generation or two ago, but the spinning jennies stuck. It's always -been so--progress sticks. The people have to adjust. But why should -capital keep on fighting labor, or truckling to it, or treating with -it, when we can take labor for nothing, as you just said, out of the -power of gravitation--send it where we like, practically for -nothing--labor that is power, labor that doesn't have to eat and -doesn't have to be paid wages? I say if you had any imagination in -your soul, my son, you'd _rise_ to a thought like that." - -"But that average man still must eat," said Halsey bitterly. - -"Let him eat from our hands, then!" croaked John Rawn harshly. "I tell -you, when I explained this thing--when I showed them what we had in our -hands, those big men broke into a sweat. They could see it, if you -can't. - -"But as for me," he continued, standing erect and spreading apart his -hands, his voice softened almost to tremulousness, "when I saw where -this thing really was going to put us all--in control of the labor -question--beyond the attacks of the muckraking brigade--beyond the -Supreme Court, if the time ever came for that--when I saw what perfect -political, legislative, and industrial control we'd have in all this -country--I say, when I realized what all this meant, I felt small and -_humble_--I did indeed. I saw that I was only an instrument of -Providence, that's all. The people? Why, we'll be the custodians of -their welfare, that's all. Some men are set apart, devoted to that -duty--humble agents of Providence, my son." - - - -XI - -A frown of consecrated unselfishness sat upon the brow of John Rawn. -The younger man sat looking at him, wondering whether there were not -here really some Homeric jest. "I didn't know it was in you," said he, -rather unfortunately, at last, and hastened to cover: "That's right--it -_is_ imagination!" - -Rawn raised a hand magnificently. "Never mind as to that, Charles. A -great many didn't know it was in me. Why, a few months ago I told my -wife something of this. She asked if I'd ever be rich enough to give -her a silk dress! When the factory's up and the wheels are -moving--then I'll take her out to the place, and I'll say to her just -what you said to me--'You didn't think it was in me, did you? But it -was!' Women nearly always think their husbands can't do anything in -the world. A silk dress! My God! And she wanted a new gate in the -picket fence, too." - -"I didn't know that about women," said Halsey simply. "I thought it -was the other way about." - -"Well, well, I hope it may be that way in your case. Listen, Charles. -I love my girl, Grace. She has always been a good child. I'm putting -you in a place where you can take good care of her. I want you to -stick to her for ever, through thick and thin. Remember, my son, that -your wife is your wife, and that nothing must separate you from her." - -"Maybe it'll work out something after my idea, after all." Halsey -spoke pleasantly as he could at this mention of Grace. - -"We'll take our chances but what it will work out our way!" said John -Rawn, grinning in return. "You want to work for _man_, do you? Well, -I want men to work for _me_!" - - - -XII - -"But we've no quarrel," he said suddenly, wheeling about. "We'll be -partners from the start. There are some minor particulars to work out. -I've got to have some sort of shop out in the back yard. Bring your -little machine there--the model you said would not quite work." - -"How long before we begin, Mr. Rawn?" asked Halsey simply. - -"I have my last pay envelope in my pocket now, to-day." - -"Didn't they give you any capital to start with?" - -"I did not dare ask it." - -"But how much funds have you of your own?" - -"Mighty little. I've been kept down all my life. It's been pretty -much week to week with me, although Laura's been a wonderful manager, -I'll say that." - -"I've saved a little money," said Halsey, quietly as before. "I even -believe Grace has saved her salary--eight a week. You see, we were -making plans--here's my bank-book. A little over five hundred. How -much would you need, Mr. Rawn, to take care of you for the next few -days that you require for this work?" - -"I've got to have some working models made, and it'll take some cash," -said Rawn. "I've hardly had time to work out all these things as yet. -All right. All the more pleasure for you to feel that you had a hand -in it." - -He reached across the table and took the dog-eared bank-book which -Halsey extended, and ran his eye down the column of pitiable figures. -The total was more than he himself had ever saved in all his life. Yet -John Rawn stood there now calm, large and strong, and spoke in millions. - - - -XIII - -"All right, Mr. Rawn," said Halsey cheerfully. "Take it along. I'll -draw the balance out for you. I reckon Grace and I won't have to wait -any longer this way than we would the other." - -"Well, be mighty careful to keep things to yourself, that's all!" was -Rawn's answer. "If you're going to be my son-in-law, you're going to -be loyal to my ideas. One of my ideas is that a man has a right to -what he can take." - -"Mr. Rawn, do you know anything about socialism?" asked Halsey suddenly. - -"Not very much. Why should I?" - -"There's sort of a brotherhood, or chapter, or society, or what you'd -call it here, you know." - -"I've heard so." - -"And they let anybody who is interested come to the meetings--I've been -there often--did I ever tell you? Our rooms are up-stairs over a -saloon, up under the rafters. We have lanterns there, the way the -revolutionists used to have over in Europe, when they had to meet in -secret. We have speakers there sometimes--from Milwaukee, New York, -even from Europe. And I want to tell you it's astonishing what a talk -you'll hear there sometimes, from some chap that you wouldn't think had -it in him--just rough-dressed fellows that look as if they hadn't a -dollar in the world." - -"They usually haven't," said John Rawn coldly. "They want to get the -dollars of men like myself and my friends, who really have done -something in the way of developing this country. But one thing sure, -you'll cut out that brotherhood business when you go to work with us. -The rights of man!--the future of this country! Why, good God, boy, -with the grip you can get on business, with us to help you, what -difference does it make to you whether you call this a republic or -anything else? What _is_ this republic? That is, what _was_ it?" - - - -XIV - -Halsey sat staring at him fixedly for some time, without making answer. -Rawn, carelessly buttoning up in his pocket the bank-book, as though it -had been his own, rose at length and held out his hand. - -[Illustration: (Halsey and Rawn)] - -"You're a good boy, Charles," said he. "You've done the best you knew, -and that's about all I've done. You couldn't say, of course, that our -ideas have been the same in regard to this discovery, so I suppose we -can't wonder they are not the same in regard to its eventual -application. Let's not argue about that. We'll start out with our -little shop, the first thing." - -The young man still looked at him, still withheld comment. Rawn, once -more full of himself, almost forgot him now. He stood erect, his arms -spread out, in a favorite posture, as though exhorting a multitude. A -pleasant, gentle, generous smile spread over his countenance, a smile -which showed his content with himself, his future prospects, his past -performances. - -"You ought to have been there with me, Charles, when I talked to old -Standley and his side partner, Ackerman. _That_ was the big scene of -my whole life!" - -"The big scene?" said Halsey, half musingly. "No! Maybe not. We -don't know what there may be on ahead." - -"Isn't that the truth!" assented John Rawn graciously. "When a man of -brains and energy gets his start, there's no telling where he won't go, -or what he won't do. Yes, that's the truth!" - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE WOODSHED IN KELLY ROW - -I - -The one astonishing thing about life, as we have but now mentioned, is -its utter commonplaceness. It is a terrible thing to die, to end our -connection with life as we know it; yet folk die, and the world accepts -the fact with not more than a few hours' concern. Folk are born, a -very wonderful thing, yet a common. We flash messages across the -sea--as soon we shall across the ether, to other planets. The latter -event will be but of brief interest. We travel by impounded steam, and -have long ago ceased to marvel at that miracle. Soon we will travel by -means of other power, at speeds inconceivable to-day. Were that time -here we would not wonder. It is all, all commonplace. And none of us -does much thinking. It is only over the unimportant things that we -ponder. Thus, over a revolution in politics we chatter excitedly; but -the revolution in principles excites us not at all. The revolution in -science, in thought, in life, is accepted, when it comes, with no -concern, as though belonging to us from time immemorial; as indeed it -did. - -It was wholly within human practice that affairs should now go on at -Kelly Row much as they had always gone, in spite of the fact that Kelly -Row now harbored, in a certain woodshed back of the dingy Rawn abode, -ideas and deeds that had not earlier been known in Kelly Row routine. -Here Mr. Rawn and his intending son-in-law were carrying on experiments -whose most immediate result, in case of success, would be the -extrication of Mr. Rawn from rather an awkward situation; because, -although Mr. Rawn, in the usual and commonplace human fashion, had -taken as his own an idea when he saw it, he negligently had done so -forgetful of the fact that it still lacked many features as a definite -commercial proposition. - - - -II - -Rawn had told the truth regarding his resources. He had but one -month's salary in his pocket when these final experiments began, and -for this money there was just as much need as there ever had been in -any other month; for Laura Rawn had quite as much use, at the going -scale of living, for one hundred and twenty-five dollars a month now, -as she had had for seventy-five dollars a month five years earlier. -Yet when Laura Rawn suggested a deferred payment on certain weekly -bills, the shopkeepers to whom she had been paying her stipend daily -for years demurred sorely. The truth is that the poorest way in the -world to establish a credit is to pay bills in cash. Foolishly allow a -man to see your cash, and he can see nothing else. Pay him partly in -cash, partly in good checks, partly in bad ones, and partly not at all, -and he will trust you largely; this being a commercial truth not known -of all men, although worth knowing. It may be seen, therefore, that -young Halsey's little capital of five hundred dollars was as important -as young Halsey's original idea; which latter Mr. Rawn had also -appropriated. - -So now these two bought very considerable bundles of copper wire and -other things, and made several machines of this and the other shape, -and tried divers experiments which need not be set down here. In all -this work young Halsey's manual skill and technical training -continually was in quest, John Rawn for the most part standing by and -frowning heavily, watching Jacob labor for the earning of Rachel: for -Halsey knew this surrender of his idea was the price of Grace. Halsey -had little hope of ultimate success in his appliances. Not so Rawn. -He had something akin to a feeling of certainty. - - - -III - -Differing thus--yet who shall say they were not partners, after all, -since all these things were true regarding them?--they at last emerged -from the woodshed in Kelly Row, after many long weeks, whose deeds we -need not further chronicle. They carried into the front room of the -Rawn house in Kelly Row a small machine, which presently was to do -large things; that is to say, to save the self-respect of certain -prominent railway men who by this time were convinced that they had -been hypnotized to their disadvantage; and also to save the face of -John Rawn, although he had not known his face had needed saving. - -This novel and mysterious little machine, with a glass jar underneath, -many coils and wheels within, and an odd, toothed crest of little -upreaching metal fingers, had been produced only at great cost, great -sacrifice. It had seemed wholly right and reasonable that all of young -Halsey's five hundred dollars should disappear little by little, and it -had done so, long ago. It seemed proper that the small savings which -Grace had deposited in a tin baking-powder can--for she was like her -mother, part ground-squirrel, and secretive--should also disappear -little by little, and they also had gone. In some way, only the women -knew; how, they all had had enough to eat, so far as that meant -actually necessary food; but the entire Rawn family were a gaunt and -haggard, as well as a wearied and anxious quartette, when finally they -gathered about the little machine out of the woodshed. Their play was -on one card, and the card was turned. What was it? - -If either of the women doubted, she held her peace. Rawn did not -doubt. He had been sure all along that Charles Halsey, engineer, would -work out his, Rawn's, idea. - -And young Halsey, engineer, had done that very thing. There is no roof -in all the world ever has covered a vaster and more epoch-making -thought than did the patched cover of the woodshed in Kelly Row. - -On the afternoon of the day wherein they emerged from the woodshed, -these two, none too well clad, took the street-car to the city, Halsey -with a newspaper bundle under his arm. In it was what Mr. Rawn called -his second-current motor, which comprised the basic idea of -International Power, soon to loom large in the business world. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -THE TEST - -I - -In the most commonplace way in the world, and quite as though he had -always done this very thing, Mr. Henry Warfield Standley, president of -the I. & D. A. Railway Co., warned in advance by Mr. Rawn's telephone, -came to the door himself. Presently the three, Rawn, Halsey and the -president of the company for which both so long had worked, sat at the -long glass-covered table, where lay many papers. The president pushed -a button and ordered the attendance of Mr. Theodosius Ackerman, the -general traffic manager; so that now they made four in company. The -G.T.M., as he was known, had suffered great abrasion of the nerves by -the delay of Mr. Rawn to produce a machine done up in a newspaper or in -any way whatsoever, and he had joined the president in a disgusted -belief that in some way he had been made foolish. He frowned now -savagely at John Rawn, and John Rawn now, his hat on his head, frowned -quite as savagely at him. - -Very little was said, but after a time young Halsey nervously removed -the newspaper from his little machine, and displayed it uncovered on -the table, a ribbed and coiled and toothed little model, showing file -marks here and there, and resembling nothing in particular in the -world. They four regarded it calmly, curiously, this machine destined -in the belief of some to double the length of the workman's day, to -halve the distance around the world, to make or break fortunes, to make -or break a country. The president started to jest, but his voice shook -a trifle after all. To the general traffic manager the contrivance -seemed absurdly small and inadequate. He choked so much he could not -talk. Rawn did not smile. He continued his heavy frown. Young -Halsey, tacitly elected spokesman by Rawn, cleared his throat as he -addressed the president of the road, for whom he still felt naught but -awe. - -"We have put our receiver in tune with the dynamo in the basement of -this building, Mr. Standley," began he, finally. Both the magnates -frowned at Mr. Halsey's presumption and turned to Mr. Rawn. The latter -waved a large gesture. - -"I forgot to say, gentlemen, that Mr. Halsey has aided me in working -out my model, and it is just as well he should explain my idea." -Halsey therefore went on: - -"And now you can see right here, on the table before you, about all the -rest of it that we have. It isn't attached to anything at all. There -is no wired connection of any sort whatever. Now if we can run that -electric fan over there with 'juice' that we can take right out of the -air--with the second current which we take out of the motor in the -basement--just as well as the primary current wired to the fan will run -it, why, then, it looks to me as though our receiver here ought to be -accepted as a working device." - -The room was silent now. They sat looking at him. He resumed: - -"Besides, this receiver is more powerful than you think. I suppose I -could burst that fan wide open with it, by just wiring the two, after -disconnecting the original wiring of the fan to the house dynamo." - -Halsey spoke very calmly, yet the hands of the president of the road, -resting on the edge of the table, trembled slightly. The fighting red -had disappeared from the face of the G.T.M. He was bluish gray, as -though deathly ill. He was, however, the first to recover. "Well, why -_don't_ you burst it, then?" he exclaimed savagely, mopping at his -forehead. - - - -II - -"Very well," said Halsey quietly. "But first I suppose I ought to -explain just a little about the basic idea under this whole -proposition. You see that table there--we regard it as motionless. As -a matter of fact, it is full of nothing but motion, so tremendously -rapid that we are unconscious of it. That wall yonder is nothing but a -continuous series of vibrations, of inconceivable rapidity. This floor -is full of force, of energy. It's all around us--energy, force, motion. - -"In your studies in physics, gentlemen, you learned that heat and -motion are convertible. And you learned about the resultant of -power--which always, so far as any accepted law of physics goes, is in -ratio to the distance through which applied. - -"Now, what I've done," said Halsey--John Rawn frowned and coughed -heavily, but no one noticed him, and Halsey himself was unconscious of -using the first personal pronoun--"is just to cut off all need of -considering the distance through which force is applied. Now, I don't -know whether I can make it entirely plain to you, except by physical -demonstration, but what I've done here is to carry further the idea of -wireless telegraphy. We have here, to use an understandable figure of -speech, a receiver which is the equivalent of a sounding-board--a -sounding-board in tune to the vibrations of the second or free current -of electricity. - -"Gentlemen, our idea was, in terms, that of harnessing up molecular -activity. If we have done that, we have, of course, tapped the one -exhaustless reservoir of power." - - - -III - -The president of the railway had grown yet paler; but he nodded wisely, -and Halsey went on: - -"There isn't any miracle in science that ought to cause us any wonder. -It took science a long time to learn that heat and motion are -interchangeable. I strike a cold piece of iron with a moving hammer, -and the iron gets hot. It was cold before, and there hasn't been any -fire near it. That's just as wonderful a thing--although we all accept -it without question--as all that I've got here on the table before you. -If I can stop some of the free energy that is vibrating all around us, -I'm going to get either motion or heat out of it, and that's simple. -We have gone far enough to know that this little receiver here, -gentlemen, will arrest the free current of electricity, force, energy, -whatever you care to call it, that's in the air and which can be -multiplied and transmitted through the air. Why and how it does that, -I can't just tell, myself. No one has ever been able to explain -everything about the magnetic needle, but we use it just the same. We -don't so much care what it is if we can use it." - -"Not a damned bit!" growled the G.T.M. "But can we? Why don't you get -busy with that fan?" - -Halsey rose and went over to the electric fan and snipped off a length -of the wire, so that the fan stood free and unattached on its shelf. -The loose wire he now busied himself in attaching to the fan and in -turn to the little model on the table. - -"To my mind," said he, after finishing this work, and arresting a -finger above a little connecting lever in the side of the receiver, -"it's a very beautiful thought that underlies all this. The forces -which run through this receiver will never grow tired. Labor will be a -joy for them, a delight, as labor ought to be in any form. Mr. Rawn -and I don't always quite agree about that," he smiled, still with his -finger above the little lever. "What I hope to do is to change the -working-man from being an object back into being a man, so that labor -may be a joy and not a dread." - -"Then we don't want it," grinned the president, feebly essaying a jest. -"Mr. Rawn and I were agreed that it would do just the other thing!" - -"Well, go on with it!" growled Ackerman. "I'm a busy man. To hell -with the story! We want results!" - -Every man present sprang back from the little instrument on the table. -There came a slowly increasing purr of the motor, a series of intense -blue sparks showing at the toothed points of reception. The blades of -the fan began to revolve faster and faster; so fast that at length both -eye and ear ceased to record their doings. Then, after sight and sound -had failed to serve, there came a crash! - -There was no fan on the shelf where it had stood. Fragments of metal -were buried in the woodwork, in the wall. John Rawn wiped the blood -from a cut on his cheek. No one said anything. It was quite -commonplace, after all. - - - -IV - -"You wished to see what it would do," said Halsey grimly. "The power -seems to be there. Any time you like, any amount you like. And you -saw that it didn't come in here by wire--it was only transmitted from -the receiver, not to it. The fan is broken, but the receiver is just -the way we left it. Well, it looks as though we had settled a few -questions, doesn't it?" - -Standley, pale, could only gasp, "Why, it's--it's dangerous!" he said. -"It's devilish! Look there!" He pointed at the blood on Rawn's face. -Rawn remained silent. - -"There is no use applying undue force to a minor purpose," said Halsey, -"any more than there is in throwing on the high speed of a car going -down hill. But our reserve is there, gentlemen, just the same. By -increasing the size of our receivers we can develop power to turn any -amount of machinery that can be geared together--any number of -machines, large or small, at any place. I only wanted to show what the -real power is in this device of ours. Our receiver is very small, you -see." - -They all remained silent for a time. Standley at last drew a long -breath. - -"We're saved!" said he. "What do you say to it, Jim?" This to -Ackerman. - -"It looks like a go," said the latter, drawing a deep sigh. "We've -seen enough right here to make good with our people back East; and -we've got enough right now to get the public in." - -The president turned an agitated eye upon John Rawn. "Mr. Rawn," said -he, "referring to the tenor of our earlier conversation, I desire to -say that we are not in the habit of giving the lion's share to -anybody--" - -"Suit yourself," said John Rawn, smiling. - -"But in this case, as I said to you at first, there's so much in this -if there's anything at all, that there's no use splitting hairs over -it." He receded rapidly from the position he coveted but saw he could -not hold. - -"We ought to begin work at once. Er--Mr. Rawn, do you happen to have -any present need for any money--personally?" - -"No," answered John Rawn calmly, "I am in no need of funds. When the -organization is completed, and I begin my work as president of the -power company, I shall be glad to go on the pay-roll, of course. I -should add now that I expect Mr. Halsey to be my general manager in the -mechanical department." - -"In regard to salaries," said the president, hesitating, "we might -roughly sketch out something--" - -"My own salary will be a hundred thousand dollars a year," said Mr. -Rawn quietly. "I don't think we should ask Mr. Halsey to work for less -than five thousand. Do you, gentlemen?" - -"I've worked for less, myself," said Ackerman grimly. - -"There shall be no haggling, gentlemen, no haggling," said the -president blandly. "It shall be as Mr. Rawn suggests. By the way, a -near call that, Rawn." - -He waved a hand at the bloody cut on our hero's face. That gentleman -drew a half sigh of unconscious triumph. It was the first time any one -in that office had ever dropped the "Mister" from his name! He saw -himself entering into the charmed circle. - -"Suppose it had come a half inch closer?" suggested the president. - -"It didn't," said John Rawn. "It was never meant to." - -"That's the talk!" drawled Ackerman. "I'll tell you, Rawn, come in -to-morrow. We'll get the patent lawyers and our corporation counsel, -and begin work on this thing." - - - -V - -That was all there was about it, the proceedings being wholly prosaic -and commonplace. Mr. Halsey found again his newspaper, again wrapped -up his machine therein, took it under his arm, and hesitatingly turned -toward the door, the palest now, and most unhappy of them all. He had -denied his own first-born. He had publicly disclaimed ownership in -this idea. Rawn was to have a hundred thousand dollars a year, he only -a twentieth of that. Just where and how was Rawn twenty times as -valuable as himself, when all the time it had been he.--But then, what -matter? Five thousand dollars a year and Grace! What more could any -man desire than that? He forced that to console him, forced himself to -believe it sordid to haggle on the price of love; and so passed down in -the elevator, out through the corridors to the street, without much -further speech to any. - -"Charles," said his intended father-in-law, as they approached the -nearest corner, "do you happen to have a quarter left? I feel somewhat -hungry, and for the time I have no money at all with me." - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -THE HELPMEET - -I - -After all, Charles Halsey still was young enough to be happy. There -are really very few delights for the man nearing middle age. The -period of joy in living is confined to what time, passing upon the -crowded street, the young man notes the sidelong, half-concealed glance -of the unknown young woman, unconsciously taking in his goodliness, his -god-like-ness, such as that may be; or to what time the young woman, in -turn, after some such incident, turning by merest chance to look at -some passing cloud, or to note the brightness of the sky, finds that -some young man whom she but now passed also has turned about, by mere -chance, to examine the colors of the sky, and so by accident has -fastened gaze upon her instead! As the grasshopper cometh on to be a -burden, the time arrives when this or that gray-browed man may gaze at -passing damsel and elicit no reward in turn. Sitting in crowded -vehicle he glances above the rim of his paper, and suddenly smiles to -himself that his mature charms have riveted the attention of the young -girl across the aisle. Happy moment--were it not that closer scrutiny -would prove the young girl's eye to be fixed, not upon middle age, but -upon ruddy-faced youth in the seat beyond! - -No hope for Graybeard after middle age, when the grasshopper is a -burden; save such hope as may be his through the power of money. -Thenceforth perhaps remain for him only such self-deceits as that money -may purchase fidelity, joy, love, happiness of any sort; which deceits -end later on, in that hour of severe self-searching which remains for -each of us just before we depart for other spheres. As for this -particular obloid sphere and its tenantry, there are two seasons--a -season of growth and flower, a season of seeding and decaying. As for -delights, life passes at that indefinite period, from twenty-five to -fifty-five years of age, let us say, when the opposite sex, passing us -unknown upon the street, turns no longer the inadvertent sidelong gaze! - - - -II - -When John Rawn walked toward his home after the events of the meeting -last foregoing described, he cast few sidelong glances, and received -few. If that were faithfulness to a worthy wife, make the most of it. -Upon the other hand note that, as Mr. Halsey trod the air on his way to -Kelly Row, his newspaper bundle under his arm, there did not lack -abundance of young women who saw him from the corner of the eye as he -passed on. Forsooth, he was a young man of very adequate physical -appearance, clean, hard, high of cheek, square of shoulder, his hair -dark and long, his eye gray, direct, kindly. His life hitherto had -been so narrow that he had lived well and wisely. His powers were well -preserved, he remained physically clean and fit. Rather a decent chap, -you would have called him, as he passed now, his strong chin well -forward, his eye shaft-like and strong in its glances. Not an -extraordinary young man, perhaps, but certainly serving well enough to -show that youth speaks to youth; and that, when youth is past, all is -past. Excepting--as John Rawn would have noted--the making of money; -which means not much to youth itself, but which means all to middle age. - -Of all this very wise and useful philosophy, be sure, Mr. Halsey was -ignorant, or regarding it, was indifferent. He had forgotten that -almost his last silver coin had furnished Mr. Rawn his last meal, in -which Halsey himself had not joined. Grace! That was in his mind. He -was young. Success was now at hand; because presently he should have -five thousand dollars a year in salary, and be married to the dearest -girl in all the world. It is, always the dearest girl in all the -world, for men when they are less than thirty-five, say twenty-five -years of age. But Halsey did not philosophize. He was guided only by -some unconscious cerebration when he descended from the street-car and -bent his way toward Kelly Row. He pulled up at the stoop of the third -house in that homely procession of brick abodes which rented for twenty -dollars a month--with no repairs by the landlord. - - - -III - -He found Grace at home, Mrs. Rawn also at home. They came to meet him, -laid hold of him before he was well into the narrow little hall. There -was that in his face, in his eyes, in his soul which told them that -success at last had come to Kelly Row. - -He put his hand in Mrs. Rawn's, his arm about Grace's waist. They two -were young, they were very happy. Their hands were interclasped when -presently they all passed from the hall into the little parlor. The -eyes of Grace Rawn became soft, luminous, tender. The young man had -come into her life. She was very happy. She was young. Ambition was -as yet unknown to her. Her coin-current was not yet money; which of -all things has the very least of purchasing power. She was almost -beautiful now. - -Mrs. Rawn, grave, thin, careworn, bent by many trials, her hair gray -above her temples, her eyes dark-rimmed and, sunken somewhat under her -dark-arched brows, had seated herself upon the opposite side of the -room, waiting, her own joy visible in the silent illumination of her -face. She, too, was very happy in her way; or rather, mildly -contented. While almost every woman, at one or other period of her -life admires what is known as a wicked young man; the average mother -having a daughter about to be married admires rather what is known as a -good young man. And Charles Halsey was what may be called comprised -within that loose and indefinite description, not always covering -admirable or manly qualities, but in this case serving very well. - -"You've won, Charley," said Laura Rawn at last. "It is true! Thank -God!" - -For these blessings about to be received, Mr. Rawn thanked himself; -Grace thanked Charles; Charles thanked Grace; only Laura Rawn had -nothing left to thank excepting an impersonal and remote deity. - - - -IV - -They sat for a time thus in the little parlor, amid an abomination of -desolation in black walnut horrors, tables done after a French king who -must have revolved in his grave at contemplation thereof, chairs -requiring nice feats in balancing upon their slippery haircloth floors, -a sofa of like sort, too large for one, yet not large enough for two. -There gazed down upon their love--as though in admiration as to love's -consequences--rows of bisque shepherdesses and china dogs. The Dying -Gaul also bent on them a saddened gaze. None the less, in spite of -all, young Halsey shamelessly maintained his position on the perilous -sofa, an arm around young Miss Rawn's waist. - - - -V - -Laura Rawn sat across the room, something still dangling from her grasp -which had been there when she met Halsey in the hall. Halsey at length -caught sight of this object. Glancing from the mother's hands toward -those of the daughter, Halsey caught up the latter, looking with close -scrutiny at what was now to be his own. He found the ends of Grace's -fingers blackened and rough. He glanced back again to her mother's -hands, worn with toil. The ends of her fingers, also, grasping this -loose something, were blackened and rough. - -"No more work for Grace," said he, lovingly tightening his clasp on the -fingers in his own. - -"But I say--" this to Grace--"what makes your fingers so rough, dear? -I never did notice that before." - -"You've not noticed anything for two months!" said Grace chidingly. -"Why, it's sewing, of course, that does it. A needle roughens up one's -finger in spite of a thimble, don't you know?" - -"You were sewing--for _us_?" he ventured daringly, yet blushing as he -spoke. "A girl has a lot of sewing to do, I suppose--when -she's--getting ready. But, Grace--I'm to have five thousand dollars a -year! Five thousand! No more sewing then for Grace, I'm thinking." - -"Yes?" said Grace, smiling in her slow way. "I think Ma and I would be -glad to believe we'd never have to see a needle again. _She_ kept me -at it. You see, Charley, we've been keeping the wolf from the front -door and the kitchen door, while you and Father were guarding the -woodshed." - -"What do you mean?" Then suddenly, "You don't tell me--you don't mean -that--? Was _that_ what made your hands so rough, yours and Mrs. -Rawn's yonder? What have you got there, Mrs. Rawn--something in silk? -Oh, a pair of braces, eh? For me? How nice of you." - -Grace smiled again. "I'll be jealous of Ma. Shall I go and get my own -work to show you?" - -"You mean for your father, of course--" - -"Indeed, no. Neither Pa nor you can afford silk embroidered braces, -Charles! I've done six pairs this week, and Ma--well Ma must have done -a dozen. She's wonderful." - -"But what do you mean?" asked the young man, still puzzled. Grace said -nothing further, but held up her blackened finger-tips and looked him -in the eye. A blush of comprehension came to his face. - -"You women!" he exclaimed. "You've worked as hard as we did; and we -didn't know!" - -"We had to do something," said Mrs. Rawn quietly. "I tried a number of -things. We could earn practically nothing in the sweatshop work. -Grace addressed envelopes here at home at night, for a while--but -that's what every other girl in all the city's doing, I think. I saw -some of these embroidered things in the window of a men's furnishing -shop. I went in and told the man I could do them as well as that for -twenty-five cents a pair. We've had as much as thirty cents for some -of our best ones. Why, dear me! I hadn't done any work in silk for -years and years; but it all came back. We earned quite a bit here. It -kept the table." - -"My God!" said Halsey. "And I've been eating here!" - - - -VI - -"It was our part," said Laura Rawn. "It was all we could do. A woman -just has to do the best she can, you know. Well, we helped." - -"A woman has to do the best she can," repeated Laura Rawn gently, -seeing that this left Halsey awkward. "If she's a true woman, she -tries to help. I want that Grace should always think of it in just -that way." - -That, it seemed, was the foolish philosophy of Laura Rawn; a philosophy -not often written on the docket of divorce courts, to be sure. Perhaps -it is--or once was--inscribed on dockets elsewhere. - - - -END OF BOOK ONE - - - - -BOOK TWO - - -CHAPTER I - -THE NEW MR. RAWN - -I - -Some wise man has said that a man changes entirely each seven years of -his life, becoming wholly different in every portion, particle and atom -of his bodily bulk and losing altogether what previously were the -elements, parts, portions or constituent molecules which made himself. -So much as to the physical body. In respect of epochal changes in a -man's character we may wholly approve the dictum of the philosopher, -though perhaps not agreeing to any specific seven-years period. Thus, -in the case of John Rawn, the first stage of his career, in which he -lived without any very great alteration, occupied some seven and forty -years. Yet it was a wholly different John Rawn who, at forty-eight, -found himself seated at the vast and shining desk of the president of -the International Power Company, in the city of Chicago. The past was -so far behind him that he could not with the utmost mental striving -reconstruct the picture of it. He was a wholly new, distinct and -different man. The old and deadly days were gone. There never had -been such a place as Kelly Row. Fate had performed its miracle. Here -was John Rawn, where alone he ever could have belonged--in a place of -power. - -Surrounded by a delicious sense of his own fitness and competence, -smug, urbane, well-clad, basking in the balmy glow of his own glory, -exulting in his own proved ability to conquer fate, John Rawn, on his -first day as chief executive of the International Power Company, paused -for a time and leaned back in his chair, giving himself over to -luxurious imaginings. - - - -II - -There is no peculiar delight in owning power unless one may exercise -that power. There being no dog present which he might kick out of the -way, John Rawn essayed other divertisements. The harness of business -system was still rather new to him, at least the harness which pertains -to this stage of a business system. He was happily unaware that he was -a lay figure here, with few actual duties beyond those of looking -impressive--happily ignorant that shrewder and more skilled minds than -his had seen to it that his official duties should be few and well -hedged about. He had not as yet ever worked at a desk blessed with a -row of push buttons, and was ignorant as yet, and very naturally, in -regard to the particular function of each of these several buttons -whose mother of pearl faces now confronted him. Resolving to take them -seriatim, he pushed the one farthest to the right; which, as it -chanced, was the one arranged to call to him his personal stenographer. - -The door opened silently. John Rawn, looked up and saw standing before -him a young woman whom he had never seen before. "I beg pardon, -Madam," said he, half rising. "I didn't know you were there. How -did--is there anything I can do for you?" - -"I am the stenographer assigned for your work, Mr. Rawn, until you -shall have concluded your own arrangements in the office," answered the -young woman. Her voice was even and well controlled, her enunciation -perfect. She was not in the least confused over this _contre-temps_, -else had the self-restraint not to notice it. She stood easily, -note-book in hand, with no fidgeting, in such fashion that one must at -once have classified her as a well-poised human being. - -Or, again, one might have said that here was a very beautiful human -creature. She was almost tall, certainly and wholly shapely; young, -but fully and adequately feminine; womanly indeed in every well curved -line. Her hands and feet, her arms--the latter now disclosed by half -sleeves--all were of good modeling. Her hair, piled up in rather high -Grecian coiffure and confined by a bandeau of gold-brocaded ribbon, was -perhaps just in the least startling. But you might not have noticed -that with disapproval had you seen the shining excellence of the hair -itself, brown, either dark or blonde as the light had it. Her forehead -was oval, her chin also oval, the curve of the cheek running gently -into the chin like the bow moulding of a racing yacht. Her teeth were -even and brilliant, her lips well colored, her eyes large and just a -trifle full, with thin lids, and in color blue; as you might have said -with hesitation, just as you might have been uncertain regarding the -blondness of her hair. Over the eyes the brows were straight, brown, -well-defined. Her nose--since one must particularize in all such -intimate matters--was a trifle thin, high in the bridge; thus -completing what lacked, if anything, to convey the aspect of a woman -aristocratic, reserved and dignified. - - - -III - -Virginia Delaware, Mr. Rawn's personal stenographer, was born the -daughter of a St. Louis baker. She had, however, passed through that -epoch of her development and by some means best known to herself and -her family, had attained a good education, ended by three years in a -young ladies' finishing school in the East. By what process of -reasoning she had considered that this was the proper field for her -ambitions, is something which need not concern us. She was here; and -as she stood thus, easy, beautiful, competent, she was as much a new -and different Virginia Delaware from the Virginia Delaware of seven -years earlier date as was this new John Rawn different from the old. -The world moves. Especially as to American girls does it move. - -"I am the stenographer assigned to you, Mr. Rawn, until you shall have -concluded your own arrangements." She spoke very quietly. Rawn -recovered himself quickly. - -"I was just about to say," he went on, "that I intended to have the boy -get my car ready. Would you tell him to have it at the door in fifteen -minutes? Then come back. There are one or two little letters." - -A few moments later the young woman was seated at a small table near -the end of the desk. Without any nervousness she awaited his pleasure. - -"I'll trouble you for that newspaper, if you don't mind, Miss--?" - -"Miss Delaware." - -"Yes, Miss Delaware. Thank you!" - -He glanced down the columns of the market reports. "Take this," he -said, turning to the young woman. - - -"Chandler and Brown, Brokers, City. Dear Sirs: Sell me two hundred -Triangle Rubber at three forty. Yours truly." - - -She was up with him before he had finished his first official act. He -turned again: - - -"Kitter, Moultrie & Johnson, Bakersfield, California. Gents: Cinch all -the Guatemala shares you can at eight cents and draw on me if you need -any money. Yours truly." - - -Mr. Rawn could not think of anything else. Few details had been -allowed to reach his desk. He was the last sieve in a really -well-arranged series of business screens. But even in this brief test -he had a feeling that the new stenographer would prove efficient. In -three or four minutes more he was yet better assured of that fact; for -before he could find his coat and hat she entered gently and laid the -completed letters on his desk: - - -"Messrs. Chandler and Brown, 723 Exchange Building, Chicago: Gentlemen: -Please sell for my account two hundred (200) shares Triangle Rubber, at -three hundred and forty dollars ($340) or the market, obliging, Yours -very truly." - - -"Messrs Kitter, Moultrie & Johnson, Bakersfield, California. -Gentlemen: Please buy for my account all the Guatemala Oil which you -can pick up at eight cents (8c). You are at liberty to draw on me as -you require funds. Allow two points margin. Yours very truly." - - -"Very good," said Mr. Rawn. A slight perspiration stood on his -forehead. The young woman silently disappeared. "Two points!" said -Mr. Rawn. "By Jove!" - - - -IV - -Mr. Rawn remained well assured of several things. First, that he was -going to make sixty-eight thousand dollars out of the Triangle Rubber -shares, which had been given him practically as a present, or as -"bonus," or as tribute, by Standley and Ackerman and their friends at -the inception of the International Power Company; second, that he might -perhaps make a quarter of a million out of his inside knowledge derived -from these same sources, regarding plans in Guatemala Oil; third, that -his new stenographer seemed to have a good head, and was not apt to be -forward. - -Whereupon, having concluded his first wearying day's labor, Mr. Rawn -donned his well-cut overcoat and shining top hat, and with much dignity -passed out the private door of his office. The elevator was crowded -with common people, among them, several persons of the lower classes. -Mr. Rawn felt that the president of a great corporation like -International Power ought by all rights to have an elevator of his own. -This conviction of the injustice wrought upon presidents was so borne -in upon him that, when he stepped up to the long and shining car which -the chauffeur held at the curb, his face bore a severe frown and his -lower lip protruded somewhat. Feeling thus, he rebuked the chauffeur, -who touched his hat. - -"You kept me waiting!" said John Rawn, glowering. "I wait for no one." - -The chauffeur touched his hat again. "Very good, sir. If you please, -where shall I drive?" - -"Take me to the National Union Club," growled Mr. Rawn. Already it may -easily be seen that one of Mr. Rawn's notions of impressing the world -with his importance was to be rude to his servants--a not infrequent -device among our American great folk. - -The chauffeur touched his hat once more and sprang to his seat after -closing the door of the car. In a few minutes Mr. Rawn was deposited -at the wide stairway of one of the most estimable clubs of the city; -where his name had been proposed by members of such standing in the -railway and industrial world that the membership committee felt but one -course open to them. - -A boy took his hat and coat, following him presently with a check into -a wide room, well furnished with great chairs and small tables. Rawn -stood somewhat hesitant. He knew almost nobody. Moreover, his club -frightened him, for it was his first, and it differed largely from -Kelly Row. A fat man in one group gathered about a small table -recognized him and came forward to shake his hand. "Join us, Mr. -Rawn?" he asked. Some introductions followed, then another question, -relative to the immediate business in hand. - -"You may bring me a Rossington," said Mr. Rawn, with dignity, "but -please do not have too much orange peel in it." He spread his coat -tails with perhaps unnecessary wideness as he pushed back into the -great chair. You or I might not have had precisely his air in -precisely these surroundings, but John Rawn had methods of his own. - -"I've never liked too much orange peel," said he gravely, putting the -tips of his fingers together. "The last time, I thought they had just -a trace too much. A suspicion is all I ever cared for." - -They listened to him with respect. As a matter of fact, Mr. Rawn had -never tasted alcoholic beverages of any sort whatever until within the -year last past. All the better for his physique, as perhaps one might -have said after a glance at these pudgier forms adjacent to him now. -All the better, too, for his nerves. But it is not always the case -that the beginner in alcohol can drink less than one of ancient -acquaintance therewith; the reverse is often true. In John Rawn's -system strong drink produced only a somber glow, a confident -enlargement of his belief in his own powers. It never brought levity, -mirth, flippancy into his demeanor. - - - -V - -His acquaintances saw now in Mr. Rawn, the last member received into -their august affiliations, a man of breeding, long used to good things -in life, and trained to a nice discrimination. Perhaps the fact that -he was the new president of the new International Power Company, a -concern capitalized at many millions and reputed to have one of the -best things going, may have brought added respect to the attitude of -some of those who sat about the little table. Thus, one passed a gold -cigarette-box; yet another proffered selections from divers cigars, of -the best the club could provide; which was held thereabouts to be the -best that any club could provide. - -"I was just telling Mason, here, when you came in, Rawn," said the -large man who had risen to greet him, "that at last it looks as though -that jumping-jack, Roosevelt, was down and out for good. I always said -he'd get his before long. Good God! When you stop to think about it, -hasn't he been a menace to the prosperity of this country?" - -"He certainly has been, the everlasting butter-in," ventured a -by-sitter. - -"In my belief," said Rawn solemnly, "he hasn't the ghost of a show for -the nomination--not the ghost of a show!" - -"Certainly not," assented the large man. "He's been politically -repudiated in his own state and city for years, and now it's just -soaking into the heads of western men that he won't do. He's been the -Old Man of the Sea on all kinds of business development. In my belief, -half the labor troubles in this country are traceable to him--anyhow to -him and the confounded newspapers that keep stirring things up. -Progress! If these progressives had their way, I reckon we'd all be -progressing backwards, that's where we'd be. Look at all these new -men, too! It makes me sick to think how our Senate is changing." He -spoke of "our" Senate with a fine proprietary air. - -"But there is talk that Roosevelt'll run again," said another speaker, -reaching for his second cocktail. - -"No chance!" said the large man, who had had his second. "This whole -fool movement for unsettling business is going to come to an end. -There never was a time when unsuccessful people were not discontented. -Let the people growl if they like. They haven't got any reason. -Talk's cheap. Let 'em talk." - -"Money talks best," ventured John Rawn oracularly, nodding his head. -The others solemnly assented to this very original proposition. - -"The business of this country," went on the large man, "has got nothing -to do with Teddy's ten commandments." - -"I have no doubt," said John Rawn, "that Mr. Roosevelt has, as you say, -been the most disturbing cause in the unsettling of labor conditions -all over the country. I've been following his speeches. He's always -putting out that same old foolish doctrine about the equality of -mankind--a doctrine exploded long ago. It's nothing short of criminal -to talk that way to the lower classes to-day--it only makes them more -unhappy. What's the use in misleading the laboring man and making him -think he's going to get something he can't get? I tell you, I believe -that at heart Roosevelt is a Socialist. Anyhow, he's a stumbling-block -to the progress of this republic. Why, in our own factory--" - -"You're right," interrupted the first speaker. "Absolutely right. -That sort of talk means ruin to the country. I'd like to know what all -the men that make up these labor unions would do if we were to shut -down all the mills and factories and offices--where'd they get any -place to work if we didn't give it to them? Yet they bite the very -hand that feeds them." - -"It sometimes looks as though we'd lost almost the whole season's work -in the Senate," gloomily contributed another of the group. "We've got -the tariff framed up to suit us, but how long will it last? Besides, -what's the use of a tariff, if we're going to have strikes that -practically are riots and revolutions, all over the country? Our -laboring men are not willing to work. That's the trouble, I tell -you--all this foolishness about the brotherhood of man. Oh, hell!" - -"You have precisely my attitude, my friend," said John Rawn, turning to -him gravely. "Precisely. I have always said so." - - - -VI - -They all nodded now gravely as they sipped their second or third -cocktails. Here and there a face grew more flushed, a tongue more -fluent. The large man, colder headed, presently turned to Mr. Rawn. - -"By the way, Rawn," said he, "I hear it around the street all the time -that you've got about the best thing there is going--this International -Power. What's the meaning of all this talk, anyhow? It's leaking out -that you're going to revolutionize the business world with all this -power-producing scheme of yours. Some crazy newspaper child got lit up -the other day and printed a fake story about your plan of running wires -from the river over to Chicago! Anything in that?--but of course there -isn't." - -"Not as you state it," said John Rawn. "We have a very desirable -proposition, however, in our belief." - ---"Say yes!" broke in the smaller man across the table. "But it looks -like you've got the Ark of the Covenant concealed, you keep it so -close. None of the stock seems to get out. You haven't listed -anything, and nobody can guess within a million dollars what a share is -worth." - -"No," said John Rawn sententiously, "you couldn't. I couldn't, myself. -I couldn't yet guess large enough." - -"But they tell me it's reviving commerce all up and down the river--in -the old towns." - -Mr. Rawn nodded assentingly, smiling. - -"Newspaper story was that there was going to be some fly-by-night, -over-all, free-for-all _wireless_ transmission, and all that! I say, -that was deuced good market work, wasn't it! We all want in on that -killing when it comes. But how are we going to get in on the killing -if there isn't any stock to be had, and if it isn't listed so the -public can be got in?" - -"Standley and Ackerman got the lion's share," grumbled the large man, -explanatorily. - -"Did they?" smiled John Rawn, showing his teeth a trifle. - -"Well, of course that's the talk--I don't know anything about how the -facts are. But when the time comes, let us in." - -"Certainly," said Rawn easily. "But we're not saying much just yet, of -course. Just beginning." - -"But now, was there anything in that crazy fool's newspaper story?" - -"We're working on that idea," Rawn admitted, still smiling. - - - -VII - -They threw themselves back in their chairs and joined in a burst of -laughter. "You're a wonder, Rawn!" said the large man admiringly. - -The second cocktail had served to steady John Rawn. "Why?" he inquired -evenly. - -"Why, according to that story, every one of us manufacturers would be -put out of business. We'd literally have to come and feed from your -hand when we wanted power, according to that." - -"It would figure that way on one basis," admitted Rawn. "That _would_ -be something, wouldn't it? Almost rather." - -"Almost rather!" repeated the small man. "I say, that's pretty good, -isn't it? Well now, I'll tell you what; we'd almost rather you'd let -us in on the ground floor, m'friend! No more coal bills, no more -walking delegates, no more strikes, no more Roosevelt 'n LaFol't! Just -touch button. Too bad, Rawn, you didn't go into fiction yourself--it -must have been you 'nvented that newspaper story, o' course." - -"You have another guess," said John Rawn. "But you haven't guessed big -enough yet. I told you, I myself couldn't guess big enough." - -The large man laughed, reached into his pocket and handed out a bunch -of keys. "Take 'em along," said he. "I might as well give you the key -to my office, also to my home--and maybe one or two others." Some -smiled at this last remark. - -"My keys against yours," said John Rawn keenly. "You can take -everything I've got if the time doesn't come when our company will do -everything you're laughing at now. But we're not after our friends. -Why couldn't we get together--and together get the public?" - -"Fine! _Now_ you converse," smiled the large man. - -"I don't deny I've got an idea up my sleeve, and have had," continued -Rawn. "I don't deny that we may make some tremendous changes in -business methods. When you tell me we can't do these things, that my -idea won't make good, and all that, why, you almost make me talk. Not -that I'm a talking man. But International Power isn't after its -friends. - -"But I'm just starting home now," he concluded. "I only dropped in for -a moment. We're just getting things begun and I'm rushed day and -night. I'm rather a new man here in town as yet. But I'll see you -often." - -"The central offices will be here, then?" inquired the large man. - -"Yes, our main headquarters will be here for a time." - -"Oh, joy! I'll drop in some time and have you do me up a choice line -of philosopher's stones, so that I can turn things into gold. Why pay -rent?" The large man laughed largely. - -"Oh, all right," rejoined Rawn, also laughing. "But our invention is -not so very wonderful. The only wonder is, that 't hasn't been thought -of before. Nothing is wonderful, you know." - -"By Jove! I'm just going to come in with you there," assented the last -speaker, suddenly sitting up in his chair. "There isn't anything -stranger in the world than things that happen right along, every day. -Look here." - -He pulled out of his waistcoat pocket some blue strips of paper. -"Tickets to the Aviation Meet. Fifty-cent gate. What do you see? -Why, you see men doing what men couldn't have been supposed to do a -little while ago. It's easy now--and they do that--they really fly. I -tell you, fellows, when you get about four drinks in you and begin to -think, this ain't just the world our daddies knew; and if it ain't, -what sort of world is it going to be that our sons will know?" - -"Precisely," assented John Rawn, with affability. "For instance, I'm -going out now to take my car home. Nobody wonders at that. What would -we all have thought of such speed ten or twelve years ago? Speed, -gentlemen, speed--and power! The man who has those has got the world -in the hollow of his hand." With a nod, half negligent, he turned away. - - - -VIII - -"_Ave Cæsar!_" irreverently remarked a man with a gray mustache as Rawn -passed toward the cloak room. - -"He sets me thinking, just the same," commented the large man -grumblingly. "That fellow's a comer. He's building him a fine place, -up the North Shore, they tell me. His family must have had money, -'though it's odd, I never heard of him till just lately. Who's going -to pay for his house? Why, maybe we are!" - -"Believe I'll go home for dinner to-night myself. Haven't been home -for three days," yawned one. - ---"And nights," added a smiling friend. - -"Naturally. But let's have another little drink. I'm telling you, -fellows, that fellow Rawn has got me guessing, too." - - - - -CHAPTER II - -GRAYSTONE HALL - -I - -Mr. Rawn's long and shiny car was waiting for him when he stepped with -stately dignity down the broad stair of the National Union Club. His -chauffeur once more touched his hat, as he saw the hat of Mr. Rawn, so -much taller and shinier than his own. - -Threading its path through the crowded traffic of the side streets, the -car presently turned up the long northbound artery of the great western -city. Surrounded by a large and somewhat vulgar throng of similarly -large and shiny cars, it floated on, steadily, almost silently, until -most of the noises and the odors of the city were left behind; until at -last the blue of the great lake showed upon the right hand through -ranks of thin and straggling trees, supported by a thin and sandy soil. -Now appeared long rows of mansions, fronting on the lake, their -amusingly narrow and inadequate grounds backing out upon the dusty -roadway with its continual traffic of long, shiny and ofttimes vulgar -cars. Miles of cars carried hundreds of men to miles of mansions. In -less than an hour, from town to home, John Rawn also pulled up at the -entrance to his home. Speed limits are not for such as Mr. Rawn. This -residence, yet another of these pretentious mansions, top-heavy on its -inadequate delimitations, and done by one of the most ingenious -architects to be found for money, was as new, as hideous, as barbarous -as any that could be found in all that long assemblage of varied proofs -of architectural aberrations. It was as new as Mr. Rawn himself. The -brick walks were hardly yet firmly settled, the shrubs were not yet -sure of root, the crocus rows in the borders still showed gaps. Large -trees, transplanted bodily, still were sick at heart in their new -surroundings. The gravel under the new _porte cochêre_ still was red -and unweathered. As to the house itself, it combined Japanese, -Colonial and Elizabethan architecture in nice modern proportions, the -architect having been resolved to earn his fee. Many who passed that -way turned and pointed approving thumbs at the residence of Mr. John -Rawn, president of the International Power Company, a new man who had -come in out of the West, and who evidently was possessed of wealth and -taste. - - - -II - -Mr. Rawn knew that many occupants of other cars were noting him. His -dignity was perfect as he left his car, not noticing that the chauffeur -once more touched his hat. His dignity remained unbroken as he walked -up the Elizabethan steps, flanked by Japanese jars, and paused at the -Colonial door. The door swung open softly. His dignity was such that -he scarcely saw the man who took his coat and hat, and who received no -greeting from his master. Calm, cold and scornful, as one well used to -such surroundings, he passed through the long central halls and stood -before the doubly glazed French window whose wide expanse fronted upon -the lake. He came from inland parts, and he enjoyed this lake view he -had bought. He did not hear the quiet footfall which approached over -the heavy rug. Laura Rawn needed to speak to him the second time. - -"Well," said he, turning and sighing, "how's everything?" - -"Very well, John." - -"Not so bad, eh?" He jerked a thumb to indicate the lake. - -"It's grand!" said his wife, yet with no vast enthusiasm in her tone. - -"I should say it was grand! Anyhow, there's nothing grander around -Chicago. There's not very much here in the way of scenery. Of course, -in New York--" - -"Oh, don't let us talk of New York, John." - -"Why?" - -"I don't see how I could stand anything bigger or grander than this." - -"Stand anything more? Ha-hum! Well, that's just about what I expected -you to say, Laura. Sometimes I wonder if there ever was a man more -handicapped than I am. Look at this! What have I done for you? Why, -I changed your whole life for you, as much as though you'd died and -been born into another world. You couldn't have had all this if it -hadn't been for me. You don't enjoy it. You've got no use for it. I -don't set even this for my limit. I've got ambition, and I'm going up -as far as a man can go in this country. If that means New York, all -right, when the time comes. But what does my wife say? 'Oh, I -couldn't stand that!' Stand it--why, I half believe, Laura, you wish -you were back in Kelly Row right now--I believe that's right where -you'd be this minute, if you had your choice." - -"I would, John; if things could be the way they once were." - -He only growled as he turned away petulantly. - -"Of course I want to see you do well, get ahead, John, as far as ever -you can go. And of course you'd never be happy to go back there again." - -"Happy?--me--Kelly Row? You'd see John Rawn dead and buried first! -I'd go jump in the lake if I thought I'd ever have to live again the -way we used to." - -"I wonder how they are doing back there now," said Mrs. Rawn, in spite -of all, as though musing with herself. "It's evening now, and the men -are just coming home from work. I wonder if Jane English, next door to -us, has another baby this year. She always had, you know. And there's -the young woman, Essie Hannigan, who always used to wait on the steps -for her husband. And the dogs; and the babies in the street. And the -little trees without very many leaves on them--why, John, I can see it -all as plain as if it were right here. This house of ours here is so -grand I can't understand it. How did we get it, John?--when we worked -so long, so many years, and lived just like those others there? It all -came at once. Have you earned all this--in a year or so? And how did -you get it almost finished, before we moved up here, while we still -were living in St. Louis--without either of us being here to watch the -carpenters?" - -"I did it with _money_, Laura, that's how. If you have money you can -get anything done you want; and you don't have to do it with your own -hands. But don't say 'carpenters'--it was an _architect_ built this -house." - -"It cost a _lot_ of money!" - -"Not so much--I've not got in over two hundred and fifty thousand -dollars yet, even with most of the furnishings in." - -"You're always joking nowadays, John. Of course, you haven't made that -much." - -"Well, no; that's a lot of money to take out of the investments of a -beginner. I had to get accommodation for three-fourths of it." - -"Accommodation?--" - -"Well, mortgage, then--that's what they'd call it in Texas or Kelly -Row. I couldn't tie up all my capital--that isn't business. But what -does it amount to? My salary is a hundred thousand a year; and I'm -making more than that on the side. I didn't propose to come up here, -president of the International Power Company, and go to living in a -six-room flat. I wanted a _house_. You see." He swept a wide gesture -again. - -"It's not much like our little seven-room house in the brick block, is -it, John?" - -"And you wish you were back there? That's fine, isn't it? How can I -do things for you if that's the way you feel? You've never got into -the game with me, Laura,--you've never helped me; I've had to do it -all. Yet look what I've done in the last two or three years!" - -"Yes, John, I know I couldn't do much." - -"You didn't do _anything_! You don't do anything now! You don't try -to go forward, you never _did_ try, you always hung back! You've -always thought of your own selfish pleasure, Laura, and that's the -trouble with you. A man busy all day with large matters, who comes -home tired and worn out, looks for a little help when he gets home. -What do I hear? 'I wish I was back in Kelly Row!' Fine, isn't it? -I'll bet you a million dollars there isn't another woman in Chicago -that would feel the way you do. You ought at least to have some sense -of gratitude, it seems to me." - - - -III - -Grieved at the injustice of life, Mr. Rawn turned his troubled face and -gazed out over the unexpressive expanse of water. Laura Rawn said -nothing at the time, being a woman of large self-control. At length -she laid a gentle hand upon her husband's shoulder. - -"Why, John," said she, "I'd go to New York, if it was for the best. -You ought to know that I have your interests at heart--really, you -ought to know that, John. I don't want to hinder you, not the least in -the world, John." - -"But you _do_ hinder me. You make me feel as though you were not in -the game with me, that you were holding back all the time. I'm going a -fast gait. I'm a rising man; but you ought to be in my company. A man -doesn't like to feel that he's all alone in the world!" - -"Why, John! Why, _John_!" - -But he never caught the poignant anguish of her tone. "Why don't -people come here to see you?" he demanded. "It's like a morgue. And -by the time this place is done it'll cost pretty near another quarter -of a million." - -"John!" she gasped. "Where will you get it?" - -He turned and waved at her an aggressive finger. "I made it!" said he, -"and I'll make it. I made a clean sixty-eight thousand dollars, -to-day, with a turn of my wrist. I'll make the price of this house in -another two years, if all goes well. When it starts, it comes fast. -There's nothing grows like money. It rolls up like a snowball--for a -few men; and I'm one of the few! It's easy picking for strong men in -the business world of America to-day--the game's framed up for them, -when they get in. And one of these days I'm going in further. We'll -see a life which will make all this"--he swept a wide hand about -him--"look like thirty cents." His pendulous lower lip trembled in -emotion, precisely as might that of his father have trembled when he -addressed assembled and unrepentant gatherings of sinners. - -"Well, John," said Laura Rawn, dropping into a chair and crossing her -hands in her lap, "you've done a lot for me, that's sure, more than I -have had any right in the world to expect. I can't do much. I'm only -going to try just all I can to keep up with you. But now let's not -bother or worry any more about things. Supper is just about ready." - -"Dinner, you mean. _Dinner_, Mrs. Rawn!" - -She flushed a trifle. "As I meant, dinner, yes. You'll have time to -dress for dinner, if you like, but I wish you wouldn't, John. I don't -mean to. The truth is, I had the cook make to-night something you used -to be very fond of in the old days--a pot roast--shoulder of pork with -cabbage. Somehow, it seemed to me that we wouldn't want to dress up -just for that, John." - -"My God, no!" The suffering John Rawn fell into a chair and dropped -his face between his hands, shaking his head from side to side. - -"Isn't it all right, John?" she asked anxiously "What else should I -get?" - -"Leave it to the cook, Laura--I mean the chef. That's what he's _paid_ -for. Is there anything too good for us?" - -"Not for you, John. But I sometimes think," she went on slowly after a -while, "that I'm not entitled to so much as we have, when others have -so little--the same sort of people that we once were. I don't -understand it. I don't see where we _earned_ it. Why, back there -where we came from, life is very likely just as hard as it ever was." - -"Haven't _earned_ it!" gasped John Rawn--"I haven't _earned_ it? Well, -listen at that, to my face! Well, I'd like to ask you, Laura, if I -haven't earned this, what man ever _did_ earn his money?" - -"Don't take me wrong, John dear. I was just wondering how anybody -could ever earn so much." - -"Well, don't get the habit of wondering." - -"I like my things," said she softly, gazing about her. "I've always -wanted nice things, of course. I never thought we'd have a place like -this. Then the trees, and the lake--why, it's like fairyland to me!" - - - -IV - -But Rawn turned a discontented face around at the ill-assorted -furnishings of Graystone Hall--as he had named his quasi-country place. -As in the case of the architect, the house decorator and furnisher had -had full license, and each had done his worst. - -"Somehow these things don't seem just the way they are down at the -club!" he grumbled. "I've been at other houses along in here, once in -a while, and somehow our things don't seem just like theirs. It's not -my fault. Surely you must see how busy I am all the time--I've not got -the time to take care of household matters, too." - -He got up and took a turn or so about, gazing with dissatisfaction at -his household goods. "They tell me that J. Pierpont Morgan picks up -what they call collector's pieces. I've heard that lots of the big men -have in their houses these collector's pieces. We've got to have some -of them here. It won't do to have them say of us that we're anything -back of Morgan or anybody else. If they think that of me, they don't -know John Rawn." - -"Dinner is served, Mrs. Rawn," said a low voice at the farther side of -the room. The butler stood respectful, at attention. - -"_Mrs._ Rawn!" grumbled the master of the place. "I'll train him -different! Why don't he tell _me_?" - -They passed into the wide dining-room, the butler now silently drawing -together the double curtains which covered the windows fronting the -lake. Rawn seated himself frowningly at the table, with the customary -grumbling comment which he used to conceal his own lack of ease. In -truth, he had never yet enjoyed a meal in his great house, and would at -this moment have been far more comfortable in his shirt sleeves at the -little table in Kelly Row, with the nearest butler a thousand miles -away for all of him. The presence of this shaven, priest-like -personage behind him always sent a chill up his spine. He half jumped -now as that icy individual coughed at his side, poured a little wine -into his first glass, and passed on to Mrs. Rawn. Laura Rawn declined, -as was her custom, and the butler turned to fill his master's glass. - -"You ought to drink wine, Laura," said the owner of Graystone Hall, -regardless of the butler's presence. "Practically all the women do, I -notice. Some smoke--cigarettes, I mean; not a corn-cob pipe. But -then--" he raised his own glass and drained it at a gulp. The butler -filled it again, and passed silently in quest of the beginnings of the -banquet whose _pièce de résistance_ had caused him and the second maid -to exchange wide grimaces of mirth beyond the door. - - - -V - -It could not have been called a wholly happy family gathering, this at -Graystone Hall. Indeed, it lacked perhaps three generations, possibly -three aeons, of being happy. - -With little more speech after the evening meal than they had had -before, an hour, perhaps, was passed in the room which the architect -called the library, Mrs. Rawn called the parlor, and Mr. Rawn called -the gold room. Then Laura Rawn, as was her wont, passed silently -up-stairs to her own apartments--or her bedroom, as she called -it--widely removed, in the architect's plans, from those of her -husband. One room, one couch, had served for both in Kelly Row. - -The gray lake throbbed along its shore. Night came down and softened -the ragged outlines of the scrawny trees which stood sentinels along -the front of this pile of stone and steel and concrete and wood, which -paid men had striven so hard to render into lines of home-likeness. A -soft wind passed, sighing. The lights of Graystone Hall went out, one -by one, while the evening still was young. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE COMPETENCIES OF MISS DELAWARE - -I - -Two-thirds of the inhabitants of this world live in that unreal -atmosphere best described by the vulgar word of "bluff." About -one-half the other third know that fact. The first two-thirds, not -being able to determine which that latter half may be, exist in -continual fear that they may guess wrongly in these vulgar fractions, -and so make pretense where pretense is of no avail. Shoddy fears -nothing so much as what vulgarly is called "the real thing;" but the -trouble with shoddy, the anxiety, nay, the agony of shoddy, bluff, -pretense, insincerity, whatever you care to call it, lies largely in -the fact that shoddy can not always tell when it has been discovered to -be shoddy. - -There did not lack times in John Rawn's social life when he felt a very -considerable trepidation regarding himself. He often looked at the -tall mansion houses which he passed on his daily journey to and from -his home, and wondered whether the occupants of some of them did not -live a life of which he was ignorant. He wondered if, after all, there -might not be something money could not buy. - -For instance, in regard to those collector's pieces of which he had -heard. How could they be distinguished from other and less preferred -articles of furnishing? Since he and his wife lacked judgment in such -matters, what was the remedy? How could he set matters right without -discovering his own ignorance? He was like an Indian, ashamed to learn. - - - -II - -Mr. Rawn was in an unusually abject mental state, one morning, some -months after he had taken charge of the headquarters offices of the -International Power Company. It was not often he had much recourse to -spleen-venting beyond that of the disgruntled man, who most frequently -takes it out on the minor office force. By this time he had learned -his battery of buttons, and now he pressed one after the other, in -order that he might express to the entire personnel of the office staff -his personal belief of their unfitness to exist, let alone to execute -business duties in a concern such as this. - -He reserved one button for the last--the one farthest to the right upon -his glass-topped desk. He knew what pressure upon that button would -bring, and he felt a curious shrinking, a timidity, when he reflected -upon that fact. He knew he could cause to stand before him a vision of -calm, cool and somewhat superior femininity. In a few short months Mr. -Rawn had learned to trust, to respect and to dread his assistant, Miss -Virginia Delaware. In fact, it occurred to him at this very moment -that she might perhaps be one of that half of the other third who can -distinguish between pretense and the actual, between shoddy and the -valid article. - -Yet though this thought gave him a manner of chill, there was with it -an attendant thought which caused him to glow with the joy of power. -By simply dropping his finger, he, John Rawn, could summon into his -presence the figure of a beautiful young woman--a woman not yet grown -old and gray; a woman of personal charm; a woman calm, cool and -superior. He stretched his own large limbs, glanced at his rugged -frame, his somewhat lined face in the glass of the cloak-room door. He -looked upon himself and saw that he was good; as God looked upon the -world when He made it. He was of belief that a little gray hair at the -temples was no such bar after all in a man's appearance. - - - -III - -Rawn had lived a life singularly clean and innocent. His youth had -been gawky, his manhood ignorant. But now, somehow, somewhere, deep in -some unsuspected corner of his nature, John Rawn felt glowing something -heretofore unknown to him. He did not know what it was. At times it -seemed to him he could see opening out before him a new world of wide -and inviting expanses, a world of warmth and light and luxury and -color; in short, a world as unlike Kelly Row as you may well imagine, -inhabited by beings wholly different from those obtaining in Kelly Row. -And there, among all these, one.... It is to be seen, in fact, that -the life of the city began to open before John Rawn. The soul of the -city is woman, as it was the soul of Rome. Rawn was learning what -hitherto he had small opportunity to learn. At times he leaned back in -luxurious realization of the fact that he, John Rawn, late railway -clerk, but born to the purple, could by a touch upon this certain plate -of mother-of-pearl call before him in reality a vision which sometimes -he saw within his mind. - -John Rawn reached out and touched the last button to the right in the -row. She appeared before him a moment later, silently, as calm, as -cool, as unsmiling and as dignified as was her wont. Not even the -quiver of an eyelid evinced concern as to what her next duty was to be. - - - -IV - -In appearance Virginia Delaware might have won approval from a closer -critic than John Rawn. Her face really was almost classical in its -lines, her poise and dignity now might have been that of some young, -clean-limbed wood-goddess of old. She always seemed unfit for humdrum -duties. Surely she had won the vast hatred of all her associates, who -had experienced no raise of salaries whatever, under the new régime; -whereas, it was well known that the president's secretary had had one, -two, or perhaps several. These others detested all forward and -superior persons; as was their irreverent and wholly logical right. - -"We have some letters this morning, Miss Delaware," began Rawn. "You -couldn't quite take care of them all, eh?" - -"We handled all we could, Mr. Rawn, I have referred a large number to -proper department heads, and answered quite a number. It seemed better -to refer these for your own action." - -"Business growing, eh?" said Rawn, turning around to his desk. The -girl's reply was just properly enthusiastic for the business: - -"It's wonderful the mail we get. Inquiries come from all over the -country. Yes, indeed, it seems to grow. The idea goes like wildfire. -I never knew anything like it. When we really have the installations -made, it will be only a question of administration." - -Venturing nothing further, she seated herself at her table, book and -pencil in hand, ready to begin. She did her work with a mechanical -steadiness and lack of personality which might have classified her as -indeed simply a cog in the vast machinery of the International Power -Company. Rawn had gained facility in his own work, and had found in -himself a real faculty for prompt decision and speedy handling of -detail. He went on now smoothly, mechanically, rapidly, almost -forgetful of everything but the series of problems before him, and -forgetting each of these as quickly as he took up the other. He cast a -look of unconscious admiration of the girl's efficiency when at last, -finishing, he found her also finished with her part, and without having -caused him delay or interruption. With no comment now, she took up the -finished letters which had been left for his signature. Standing at -his side, she literally fed them through the mill of his desk, taking -away one signed sheet as she placed the other before him, smoothly, -impersonally, swiftly. The work of the morning was beautiful in its -mechanical aspect. - - - -V - -The business system of "International" was shaking down into a smooth -and easy-running efficiency. At the close of this work, Miss Delaware -remained wholly unruffled. Turning toward her at last, John Rawn felt -that curious old feeling, half made up of chilling trepidation, half of -something quite different. There seemed to be something upon his mind, -some business still unfinished. - -"I was about to say, Miss Delaware," he began at length, "that I am, as -you know, a very busy man." - -"Yes, sir," she said, evenly and impersonally. - -"I have so many things to do, you see, that I don't get much time to -attend to little things outside of my business. A man's business is a -millstone around his neck, Miss Delaware. We men of--ahem!--of affairs -are little better than slaves." - -"Yes, Mr. Rawn," she said gently. "I can understand that." - -"For instance, I don't even know, as long as I have been here in -Chicago, the names of the best firms of decorators, house furnishers, -that sort of thing--" - -"Doesn't Mrs. Rawn get about very much, sir?" - -"Mrs. Rawn unfortunately is not very well. Also she has the habit of -delaying in such matters. Then, as I don't myself have the time to -take care of everything--why, you see--" - -Her eyebrows were a trifle raised by now. - ---"So I was just wondering whether I couldn't avail myself of -your--your--very possible knowledge of these stores--shops, I mean." - -"Oh, very well. Yes, sir. But I don't quite understand--" - -"Well, I want to pick up some collector's pieces for my home, you see." - -"Good pieces? Yes, sir. Of what sort?" - -"Why, furniture--or--yes--some china stuff, I suppose. Maybe--er--some -pictures." - -"I see. You've not quite finished the decorations of your new home, -Graystone Hall." - -"Oh, you know the place?" - -"Every one knows it, Mr. Rawn. It is very beautiful." - -"It ought to be beautiful inside and out. To be brief about it, I know -I oughtn't to ask an assistant who is only receiving forty-five dollars -a week salary to act as expert for me in house decoration -matters--that's entirely outside your business, Miss Delaware. At the -same time--" Miss Delaware checked herself just in time not to mention -the salary figure which Mr. Rawn had stated. If her oval cheek flushed -a trifle, her long lashes did not flicker. This was ten dollars a week -more. She had herself never once mentioned the matter of salary. - - - -VI - -"Of course, Mr. Rawn, I'd be willing to do anything I could," she said. -"I know the city pretty well, having lived here for some time. If you -would rather have me use my time in that way, it would be a great -pleasure. I like nice things myself, though of course I could never -have them. I've just had to flatten my nose against the window-pane!" -She laughed, a low and even little burst of laughter, rippling; the -most personal thing she ever had been guilty of doing in the -office--then checked herself, colored, and resumed her perfect calm. - -"Never mind about your other duties. Take any time you like. Go see -what you can find me in this town." - -"As in what particular?" - -"Well, take china. I shouldn't mind having some ornamental jars, -vases--that sort of thing, you know." - -"China's difficult, Mr. Rawn--one of the most difficult things into -which one can go. There's a terrible range in it, you see. It can be -cheap or very expensive, very grotesque or very beautiful. There are -not many who know china. I suppose we mean porcelains?" - -"Yes, I know. But what would you suggest, for instance, for my large -central room, which opens out upon the lake?" - -"What is the color scheme, Mr. Rawn?" - -"About everything the confounded builders and decorators could think -of," said Rawn frankly. "I think they called it a gray-and-silver -motive. I know there's something in white, with dark red for the doors -and facings." - -Miss Delaware sat for a moment, a pencil against her lip, engaged in -thought. - -"Well," said she at length, "I'm sure almost any of the good houses -would send you up what you liked. There's everything in accord. You -don't want anything that will 'swear,' as the phrase goes. If I were -in your place, I would select a few really good pieces, and try them in -place, in the rooms." - -"Yes, yes! But where'll I get them? How will I find them? That's -why--" - -"Mr. Rawn, there is really only one good selection in Oriental -porcelains in town to-day. The large shops have their art rooms, of -course, but they're horrible, for the most part, although most of our -'best people' buy there--because they're fashionable. There's a little -man on ---- street. I just happened to see the things in his window as -I went by one day. He has some beautiful pieces." - -"And beautiful prices?" - -"Much higher than you would need to pay at any of the larger places, -because these are genuine. None of them ever had such pieces as -these--they wouldn't know them when they saw them. You must remember, -Mr. Rawn, that if a piece of porcelain were only worth two dollars a -thousand years ago, and it was one, say, of a thousand others just like -it at that time, the loss by breakage of the other duplicates, and the -lowest kind of compound interest from then till now, would warrant -almost any sort of price you'd care to put on a real work of art--one -that has come down from so long a time ago." - -"You've got a good business head! You know the value of interest, and -few women do. Now, all I want to know is, that I'm not being done. I -don't so much care about the price. But has this man anything in the -real goods, and if so, what would you suggest?" - - - -VII - -Miss Delaware's answer might have proved a trifle disconcerting, even -to one more critically versed than her employer. "In my own taste, Mr. -Rawn," she said judicially, "there is nothing in the world so beautiful -as some of the old Chinese monochromes. They come sometimes in the -most beautiful pale colors. There is the _claire de lune_, for -instance--this little man has some perfectly wonderful specimens, three -or four, I think; one good-sized jar. These pale blues grow on you. -They don't seem so absolutely stunning at first, but they'll go -_anywhere_; and they are beyond reproach in decoration. The pieces I -saw are of the Sung dynasty; so they can't have been made later than -1300. They came from U-Chon, in the Honan province. I thought them -very fine, and from my acquaintance with porcelains, I believe them to -be genuine pieces." - -"I know," said Rawn--he was perspiring rather freely--"But I confess I -never was very much in love with Chinese art." - -"But we owe so _much_ to it, Mr. Rawn," she said with gentle -enthusiasm. "We learned all we know of underglaze and overglaze from -the Chinese--the best of our old English china was not made in England, -but imported from the Orient, as you know. Chippendale got many of his -own ideas in furniture decorations from the Chinese, and so did the -French--why, you'll see Parisian bronzes, ever so old, and you couldn't -tell whether they were made in France or China. And _old_! The man at -this little shop has one piece which he says certainly was made before -the Christian era. If I were in your place, however, I would adhere, -say, to the Ming dynasty. Then you'll get as low as 1644." - -"You mean apiece?" - -"Oh, no, sir," she said gently, not smiling at his mistake. "I mean, -the Ming dynasty ended in the _year_ 1644." - -"Of course--you didn't understand me." Mr. Rawn perspired yet more. - - - -VIII - -"No--well, at least you'll find some good jars and vases of that -period," continued Miss Delaware. "For instance, the Ching period of -that dynasty is very rich in the _famille-verte_, as the French -describe it--some splendid apple-greens can be had in this. Then -there's one piece of that same period, I believe, of the -_famille-rose_. It's a wonderful thing in egg shell porcelain, and I -don't believe its like can be found to-day in all the Lake Shore -Drive--or even Drexel Boulevard; and say what you like, Mr. Rawn, there -_are_ fanciers there! In colors there is nothing to equal some of -these fine old pieces. I wouldn't, of course, suggest the bizarre and -striking ones, but I'd keep down to the quiet and solid colors, of some -of the old and estimable periods. I don't know much about art, of -course, but I've just happened to study a little bit into the old -porcelains. I'd like to buy a few--for _somebody_! I couldn't go very -far myself--when they come at a couple of thousand dollars apiece, for -some of the better examples!" - -Rawn did not lack in gameness, and no muscle in his face changed as he -nodded. - -"The main thing is not to make the wrong selection, Miss Delaware," -said he. "I wish you'd go around there to-morrow, if you find time, -and see if this man will not send up four or five of his better pieces. -I'll pass on them then." - -"You may be sure of one thing, Mr. Rawn," said Miss Delaware, nodding -with emphasis, "they will be real collector's pieces, and any one who -knows about them will see what they are worth." - -"All right, then. You'll be saving me a lot of time if you'll take -care of that, Miss Delaware. Now another thing. As I told you, Mrs. -Rawn is ill a great deal of the time. I want to make her a little -present--she must have--that is to say, I am desirous of sending her, -for her birthday, you know, something like a ring or a pendant, in good -stones. Could you drop in at Jansen's and have their man bring me over -something this afternoon--I'll not have time to get out, I fear." - -"Certainly, Mr. Rawn. I'll be very glad, if I can be spared from the -office." - -"That's all, Miss Delaware." - -She passed out gently, impersonally. Rawn found himself looking at the -door where she had vanished. - - - -IX - -It was perhaps an hour later that he re-opened the door himself in -answer to a knock. Miss Delaware stood respectfully waiting. "There -is a man from Jansen's waiting for you, Mr. Rawn," said she. - -"Tell him to come in," said Rawn. There rose from a near-by seat a -gray-haired, grave and slender man, of sad demeanor, who presently -removed from his pocket and spread out upon the glass top of John -Rawn's desk such display of gems as set the whole room aquiver with -light. Rawn felt his own eyes shine, his own soul leap. There always -was something in diamonds which spoke to him. - -"Ah-hum!" said he, feigning indifference, "some pretty good ones, eh?" -He poked around among them with the end of his penholder, as the gray -and grave man quietly opened one paper package after another, and -exposed his wares. - -John Rawn reached out and pushed the button farthest to the right in -the long row on his desk. Miss Delaware came and stood quietly -awaiting his command. - -Her eyes caught, in the next moment, the shivering radiance which now -flamed on the desk top, as Rawn poked around among the gems that lay -under the beams of the westering sun which came through the window. -Rawn turned quickly. He thought he had heard a sigh, a sob. - -Something in the soul of Virginia Delaware leaped! For the first time -her eyes shone with brighter fire; for the first time she half-gasped -in actual emotion. There was something in diamonds which spoke to her -also! - -"Essence of power!" said John Rawn calmly, poking among the gems. The -girl did not answer. The salesman coughed gently: "I should say a -hundred and fifty thousand dollars worth there, Mr. Rawn," said he -respectfully. - -The man whom he addressed turned to the girl who stood there, her eyes -dilated. He half smiled. "They're lovely!" said Virginia Delaware, in -spite of herself, and now unmasked. "Absolutely lovely! I love them!" - -"Pick out two things there," said John Rawn sententiously, pushing -himself back from the desk. "I should say this pendant. Take a guess -at the rings. What would Mrs. Rawn like; and what would about suit -Mrs. Rawn?" - -She bent above the desk, her eyes aflame at the sight of the brilliance -that lay before her. Something laughed up at her, spoke to her. Her -bosom heaved a bit. - -"I should say your choice is excellent, Mr. Rawn," said she at length, -gently, controlling herself. "The pendant is beautiful, set with the -emeralds. See that chain in platinum--it is a dear! It's like a -thread of moonlight, isn't it? And as for the rings, I'd take this -one, I believe, with the two steel-blue stones." - -"How much?" said John Rawn, turning to the grave and gray salesman. - -"The two pieces would cost you twenty-eight thousand dollars, sir," the -latter replied, gravely and impersonally. - -"Miss Delaware," said John Rawn, taking from his pocket his personal -check book, "oblige me by making out a check for that amount. Bring it -in to me directly--and have the boy call my car." - - - -X - -When John Rawn ascended the steps of his mansion house that night, he -fairly throbbed with the sense of his own self-approval. There was -that in his pocket which, he thought, when worn by the wife of John -Rawn at any public place of display, would indicate what grade of life -he, John Rawn, had shown himself fit to occupy. He lost no time in -summoning his wife, and with small adieu put in her extended hand the -little mass of trembling, shivering gems. She gazed at them almost -stupefied. - -"Well, well!" he broke out, "can't you say anything? What about it? -They're yours." - -"Oh, John!" she began. "John! What do you mean? How could you--how -could I--" - -He flung out his hand in a gesture of despair. "Oh, there you go -again! Can't you fall into line at _all_?" - -"But John! I've never done anything in all my life to deserve them, of -course. Besides, I couldn't wear them--I really couldn't--I'd be -afraid! And they wouldn't seem right--on me!" - -"You've _got_ to wear them!" he retorted. "We've got to go out once in -a while if I'm to play this game--we've got to go to shows, theaters, -operas, somewhere. They've got to sit up and say that we've got some -_class_, Laura, I'm telling you!" - -"But, John! How would I look decked out in things like that? I'm so -plain, common, you know." - -"That's not the question. Do you know how much these cost?" - -"Why, no--maybe a thousand dollars, for all I know!" - -"A thousand dollars!" groaned Rawn. "Maybe they did! Do you know what -I paid for what you've got in your hand, Laura? Twenty-eight thousand -dollars! That's all." - -Impulsively she held out her hand to him. "Take them back!" she -whispered. "It isn't right." - -For one moment he looked at her, and she shrank back from his gaze. -But Rawn's anger turned to self-pity. - -"My own wife won't wear my diamonds," said he. "This, for a man as -ambitious as I am, and a man who has done as much as I have!" - -She came now and put her arms about his neck, the first time in years; -but not in thankfulness. She looked straight into his eyes. "John!" -she said. "Oh, _John_!" There was all of woman's anguish in her eyes, -in her voice. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -AT HEADQUARTERS - -I - -The International Power Company remained a puzzle in suspended -animation before the business world. Its campaign, whatever it was, -went on behind closed doors and closed mouths. The men who were -backing John Rawn were doing so with daring and courage, yet with -business discretion and business eagerness for results. There was no -leak anywhere, but the capitalists who were showing their faith in the -basic idea of the company began to grow impatient because of the slow -advancement of the most important of their plans; those bearing on -wireless transmission from the central generating station on the -Mississippi River. - -Rawn's duties at the central offices, as president of the company, -although steadily increasing, were still to very large extent -perfunctory matters of routine; but the president's office evinced very -early a singular efficiency in executive affairs. Rawn's directors -looked on him with mingled approval and cautiousness, coming almost to -the belief that, if the progress of the central distributing plant, or -"Wireless No. 1," as it was known in the company's literature, did not -seem all it should be, at least the president of the company was not to -blame therefor. They turned to the department of mechanical -installation; which brought Charles Halsey under investigation. - - - -II - -Halsey and his wife, John Rawn's daughter, had taken up their residence -in the small Chicago suburb in which the central plant had been -located. Their cottage was a small one, and it was furnished much like -other cottages thereabout, occupied by salaried men, mechanics, persons -of no great means. It retained something of the complexion of the old -quarters in Kelly Row. The furniture was of imitation mahogany, the -pictures had been, for the most part, bought by mail, the decorations -were a jumble of inharmonious inadvertencies. The two young folk, -their means as small as their tastes were undeveloped, gave themselves -small concern over architects' plans and "collectors' pieces." They -were busy as are most young couples in the delights of their first -experiment in housekeeping; and Halsey himself now was deep in the -strong and somber delight of developing a beloved idea. - -Naturally, Halsey was often taken to the central offices in the city -for conferences with the president of the company. He frequently met -there Virginia Delaware, even at times gave dictation to her--a thing -he never failed to remember, but never remembered to mention in his own -home. As do many men even in this divorceful age, he set aside -comparisons, forced himself into loyalty. Moreover, he yet was very -young in married life, and always had lived in an atmosphere where man, -married or single, coveted not that which was his neighbor's. It was -but unconsciously, as though moved only by force of gravitation, that -he drifted to Miss Delaware with his correspondence. He said to -himself that it was because she was so efficient. Yes, that was it, of -course, he assured himself, frowning when, once upon a time, he -detected a flush on his face in answer to a sudden question of his -soul. Thereafter he went not infrequently to the general offices. - - - -III - -On one such occasion he found himself in the position known among -salaried workers as being "called upon the carpet" before "the old -man." Rawn held a letter in his hand to which he referred as he chided -Halsey for the delays in his department of the work. - -"Do you suppose I can stand for this sort of thing coming from New -York?" he began. "What's the matter out there with you?" - -"Just what we might expect," Halsey replied coolly. "I've tried to cut -down the expenses, but the men won't take the cut in wages." - -"Why won't they?" - -Halsey smiled. "They have a hundred answers for that. One is, that -they can't live on the wages, and another is, that they want the union -scale." - -"They'll never unionize our factory, Mr. Halsey! If they did, we might -as well throw away all our money and tell them our secret at the -start--we'd be working for them, not they for us." - -"That's all right, sir. I think, myself, an open shop is safer for us. -But the unions make all sorts of disturbances. I can't keep on a -steady crew; and unless I do, I have to start in and educate a new set -of men every week, or every day; and I have to be careful what I let -any of them know. I can't help it, Mr. Rawn." - -"Well, we'll _have_ to help it, that's all," Rawn retorted grimly. "If -the unions want fight they can have fight, until we get to the place -where we can take all the fight out of them. These laboring men want -to stop the whole progress of this country--they're a drag on the -industry of this country, a continuous tax on all consumers. I'll show -them! Once we get those motors installed, I'll make them crawl." - - - -IV - -"And yet, do you know, Charles," he went on a little later, his voice -almost trembling, "the _injustice_ of this conduct is what cuts me. -I've had it in my mind to _do_ something for the laboring men of this -country. Of course, I've seen all along that the general introduction -of our motors into all sorts of industrial uses would throw hundreds -and thousands of laboring men out of employment--put them on the scrap -heap permanently. What are they going to do then? Some one's got to -feed them just the same, as you once said to me, long ago. You talk -about problems!--Why, we haven't got to the great ones in this country -yet. The cost of living certainly will climb when that day comes. And -the scale of wages will go down, when we abolish the man who has only -muscle to sell. How are they going to eat? - -"Now, I've foreseen something of this, and planned for it. These -people can't plan for themselves, and it's always got to be some -stronger mind that does the thinking. You know, I was born in Texas. -I've always resolved to do something for that state; and, as I've just -told you, I've always had it in mind to do something for the laboring -man--that is to say, the man who sees himself just as he really is, and -who doesn't rate himself worth just the same as the fellow next door to -him, so much and no more. - -"I've had my eye for some time on a tract of land down in Texas, forty -thousand acres. It shall never be said of John Rawn that he forgot -either his state or his fellow-man in the time of his success. When we -get our motors going here--it will be, of course, a few years before -the full effect of it all is felt--why then I'm going to colonize -hundreds of these discarded workmen on this land in Texas. They can -put in their labor there, where it will be useful, and can produce a -living for themselves and a surplus for others. In short, it has been -my plan to put them where they could continue to be useful to society. -I wouldn't want to see them _starve_!" Mr. Rawn's lip quivered at this -thought. He felt himself to be a very tender-hearted man. - - - -V - -"Yes," said Halsey grimly, "the Czar of Russia had some such notion -regarding the serfs. Yet he freed them eventually." - -"Nonsense! They'll be not in the least serfs, but will simply be men -transferred by a higher intelligence to a plane of life which otherwise -they could not reach--a plane where they can be of use not only to -themselves but to others." - -"You're always talking, my son," went on Rawn, harshly, "about helping -your fellow-man, loving him like a brother--human equality, and all -that sort of rot. What have any of _you_ ever really done for each -other, I'd like to know, except to meet up there in garrets, with -lanterns hanging around, and discuss plans for taking away from -stronger men the property they have accumulated? Now, I'm not going to -take it out in _talk_--I'm going to _do_ something for these people. -I'm going to make Texas the place for my colony, because I don't want -to deprive my native state of the credit of producing a man who had two -big ideas--cheap power, and common sense in labor. There's two _big_ -ideas." - -"I wouldn't dare tell the men anything of that," was Halsey's comment. -"It's hard enough as it is." - -"No, certainly not. We'll just go on and take our chances with these -men; and they take their chances with us. You have my instructions to -discharge any man who kicks on the wage cut, if he doesn't fire -himself. The town's full of men with families, who aren't earning -enough to eat. You can get all the help you want. Tell them we're -open shop, and if they don't like it they can do their worst. Let them -bring on their dynamite, if they want to try that--they can have all -the fight they want; and I'll stay with it until I see them crawl." - -"There's something I don't understand about it, Mr. Rawn. The men are -very sullen. The foremen tell me that they never had so much trouble. -Of course, they don't understand it themselves, but it's just as though -our secret was getting out, and as if the men were afraid of cutting -their own throats when they build these machines. Not that they -understand what it's all about--it's air tight yet, that's sure." - -"You begin to see some of the practical results of your infernal -socialistic ideas, don't you, then? You'll come to my notion of life -after a while." - -"Mr. Rawn, what's the end of that? What's the logical conclusion?" - -"Well, I'll _tell_ you! One end and logical conclusion is going to be -that I'll get some one to handle that factory if you can't; and he'll -handle it the way I tell him!" - -"You want my resignation now?" - -"I'd very likely take it if it weren't for Grace. Besides, we've -started on this thing together; and moreover again, I want you, when I -go to New York, to see the directors and explain to them that their -impatience is all wrong." - -"Is there much dissatisfaction down there?" - -"Yes. We've both got to run down East to-morrow night. Go on out now, -and reserve four compartments on the limited." - -"Four?" - -"Yes--we'll want a place to eat and work on the road. I've got to take -a stenographer along, of course. Next year I'll have a car of my own." - - - -VI - -Halsey cast a quick glance at him, but still hesitated. "I don't see -how I can well leave Grace right now," said he. "It's near her time." - -"You both take your chances about that," growled Rawn. "Business -enterprises have to be born, as well as children. The important things -come first. The one important thing for you and me is to get down -there and see those cold-footed Easterners and tell them where they get -off in this business." - -"Say three days--maybe I can get back in time, Mr. Rawn. But I must -say that they're asking us both to show a good deal of loyalty to this -company." - -"It's the only way to get success--fidelity to your employers, no -matter what comes. Of course, I know how you feel, but business can't -wait on women." - -"A woman doesn't always understand about business, Mr. Rawn. They're -rather strange things, don't you think? Grace doesn't talk much to -me--she never has. Sometimes--" - -Rawn raised a hand. "Charles, never let me hear a word of doubt or -disloyalty regarding your wife! No daughter of Grace's parents could -be anything but faithful and worthy. You should return such loyalty -with love. Never let anything shake you out of your duty to your own -wife--my girl Grace." - -"Why do you say that? We're married, and we're happy--and as you -know--" - -"Very well. I like to hear you speak in that way. Always be gentle -and kind to your wife. Of course, marriage may not seem always as it -was in the honeymoon days, my son." - -"That's true," said Halsey suddenly. "Do you know, I've thought that." - -"What _right_ had you to think it?" - -"Mr. Rawn, Grace is my wife and I love her. But I'll confess the truth -to you--she acts as though we'd been married forty years. She runs the -house well, but she--I can't explain to you what I mean. She doesn't -seem _contented_ any more. Of course, she loves me, and of course I -love her, and we're married, and all that; and then--" - -"Charles, you surprise and grieve me. Grace is my daughter. She may -have self-respect and dignity, but she will never lack in dutifulness. -Did you ever stop to think, Charles, that you owe your place in life to -her?" - -"I wasn't thinking of business, Mr. Rawn, and if you please, we'll not -discuss that. I only spoke freely because of what we both know--in -fact, I'd rather stay home than go to New York with you. If you took -along your assistant--Miss Delaware, I suppose?" - -Rawn nodded. "Yes, she has the details of the sub-companies well in -hand. I want her along, just as I want you, so that all questions can -be answered as to details of the office and factory work, in case I -should not personally be familiar with them--as I think I am, for the -most part." - -"Then you couldn't use the stenographer on the train--I mean the -regular one?" - -"I could not, Mr. Halsey," said John Rawn icily. "What business is it -of _yours_?" - -"None in the least. I was only thinking about any possible talk. -She's a very beautiful girl, and very--stunning. Yes, on the whole, -Mr. Rawn, I think it better for me to go. One day in New York ought to -do us, ought it not?" - -Rawn nodded. "Yes, we'll be back here on the fourth day, at worst. -I've got to have you down there to explain the different installations. -I am as impatient as anybody else. I want to get to the place where -I'll be making some real money." - -"I thought you had been," grinned Halsey. "Your house, for instance?" - -"Over a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in there now, and as much -more to go in later," said Rawn. "I've spent over a half million -altogether, private, overheads and investments, since I went in with -this company. My salary is only a hundred thousand, and no man ever -lives on his salary and lays up any money--he's got to make his start -on the side. I've not done badly in that way. I'm learning the market -from the inside. I've had one killing after another--Oil, -Rubber--awfully good luck. Charles, the next ten years in all -likelihood will see me a rich man, very rich. I've not done badly now, -for the son of a Methodist preacher out of a little Texas town. Let me -tell you something. Money is easy to make when you get the start. It -rolls, I tell you, it rolls up like a snowball. It grows and -spreads--there's nothing like it in its power. It's power itself!" - - - -VII - -Rawn rose, soon pausing in his excited walk, in his wonted posture, -feet apart, hands under his coat tails. Halsey looked at him, frowning -half sullenly, as he went on. - -"Ah, Charles, there's nothing like money as an ambition for a man! -When I hear you talking your folly, about this brotherhood of man--when -I see you worrying your small head about the future of this republic, -you make me smile! What difference about the rest of the world if you -take care of _yourself_? There's one brotherhood that's worth while, -and only one, and it isn't that of laboring men, of common men--it is -the brotherhood of big men who have made big money. There's a union -for you, son! It does not break, it does not snitch, it does not -strike. It sticks, it hangs together--the union of big business men is -the only one worth while. Come with me, and I'll show you some proof -of that." - -Halsey looked at him, his eyes glittering, words of scorn rising to his -tongue; but he controlled himself. "All right, Mr. Rawn," said he, -"I'll be ready to start to-morrow, and I'll count on getting back here -by the last of the week, at least. Good day, sir." - -He left the room quietly. He was a handsome, stalwart young man, but -in some way his face did not look happy. Rawn sat staring at the door -through which he had disappeared. There came over his feelings some -sort of vague dissatisfaction or apprehension, he knew not what. - -"I'm scared at something, just like those laborers," said he; "and when -there's no reason in the world, so far as any one can tell. Pshaw!" - - - -VIII - -He flung himself around to his place at his desk, and in doing so -struck his hand against the pointed letter-opener which lay there. A -tiny trickle of blood appeared, which he sought to staunch with his -handkerchief. At last he raised his head with a grin, and remarked -half aloud, to himself, "When in doubt, touch the right-hand button!" - -"Miss Delaware," said he an instant later, as his assistant appeared, -"I've cut my hand a little. I wish you'd tell one of the boys to bring -me a basin of hot water, or some sticking plaster or something." - -"If you will allow me, Mr. Rawn," she answered respectfully, "I think I -could fix that without trouble. I have a little liquid ether and -collodion in my desk. It usually will stop any small cut, and it keeps -it clean. - -"All right," said Rawn, "anything to stop the bleeding--I must get to -work." - -She reappeared a moment later with a small bottle and a pencil brush, -and bending over, proceeded to touch the tiny wound with the biting -liquid, with slight "Tch!" as she saw the hand wince under the -temporary sting. Rawn looked at her with a singular expression. - -"It's odd, Miss Delaware," said he, "that I was just saying to myself a -minute ago that I'd bet a thousand dollars that you had something -ready, at just the right time! Thank you very much." - -"By the way," he added, "I was just telling my son-in-law Mr. Halsey, -the superintendent of our works, that it's going to be necessary for -all three of us--that is to say, myself, Mr. Halsey and you--to start -for New York to-morrow afternoon. I'll probably have to do some -letters on the train, and you would better see that a typewriter is -sent on--Mr. Halsey will give us the berth numbers in the morning, I -suppose. Sorry to take you out of your work, but then--" - -"I should like to go, above all things, Mr. Rawn," replied the young -woman, still respectfully. - -"All right. Of course, you go on company account. Maybe you'll like -the change of work and scene. Please bring along all the reports on -those Lower Valley instalments, and all the estimates we've been -working on here for the last few days. It might be a good plan to have -your files for the last month go along, with your card indexes. We've -got to show those people down there a thing or two. - -"I suppose you know our superintendent, Mr. Halsey--my son-in-law," he -added. "He's going, too." - -"Oh, yes. He's here often. Sometimes I've done work for him, you -know. He does a good, clear letter--but rather long. He can't get -through so much in an hour as you can, Mr. Rawn." - -When she had retired, Rawn was seized with an impulsive desire to raise -his secretary's salary again; but he reflected that it would hardly -do--although he was convinced that he had the most efficient assistant -on the Street. He did not know she was thinking of Halsey at that -moment. - -Singularly enough, Charles Halsey was thinking of Miss Delaware at -about that same time. He was saying to himself, as he passed into the -hall after nodding to her: "By George, isn't she efficient!" -Practically all the male clerks would have agreed with him had they -heard him. With equal strenuousness, all the female clerks would have -dissented. After he had said to himself that Miss Delaware was -efficient, Halsey checked himself on the point of adding that she was -also something besides efficient. He stopped the thought so sharply -that it stopped his stride as well. There came to his mind the picture -of his wife, now soon to enter into woman's valley of the shadows. He -paused, obliging his soul to render to his wife all honor, all homage, -all loyalty, all duty--indeed, all those things which a wife will trade -_en masse_ for just a little real spontaneous love. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THEIR MASTER'S VOICE - -I - -"That may all be very well," commented one of the members at the -directors' meeting of the International Power Company, held on the day -of Rawn's arrival in New York; "that may all be true, but what do we -know about the practical application? I've heard of extracting gold -from sea water--and the fellow proved it right before your eyes! The -world is full of these things, getting rich all at once, but usually -when we get to the bottom of it, there's the same old gold brick." - -The speaker was rather a slight man, with dark pointed beard, a man -whose name swayed railway fortunes, but whose digestion was not worth -mentioning. Silence greeted his comment. A dozen pairs of eyes turned -toward John Rawn from different points about the long directors' table. -The speaker went on: - -"I am ready to back anything I believe in, of course, and I must say I -believed in this--maybe because I wanted to, it looked so good. It's -the pinkest, prettiest, sweetest scheme I ever saw, and that's the -fact. But we don't _get_ anywhere with it. We've been pouring money -into these Chicago works, and there's nothing doing. We've been paying -you a pretty stiff salary, Mr. Rawn, and our total expenses have footed -up enormously. We've got the work on the dam and on the central -transmission plant to show, yes, but that's all. And that wasn't why I -went into this thing. For one, I want to be shown a few things about -the Chicago installations. It's that wireless receiver that's got us -all into this, and I want to know about that." - -John Rawn made characteristic answer: "How much is your stock worth, in -your opinion, Van?" he demanded quietly. - -"I'll just about call that bluff right here," broke out the dyspeptic -financier. "I'll take sixty for all my holdings." - -"How many shares?" - -"I'm only in for three thousand." - -"Push me that pen, Charles," commented John Rawn casually. "I'll make -a memorandum of that," said he. "It's a sale. Will you please initial -it? You shall have my check in due course." - -The dyspeptic director hesitated for an instant. "Put up or shut up!" -exclaimed John Rawn roughly. "I'm going to buy you out, and throw you -out, right here. We don't want any cold-foot sitting here with us. -This has got to be a bunch of fighting men, and we don't want any -quitters." - -"I'll not stand for that!" began the dyspeptic. "I want to say--" - -"You'll say nothing, and you'll stand for that," retorted Rawn. "I'll -get you the cash here in copper pennies if you like, inside of five -minutes. O.K. that paper, and cancel your right to vote. The meeting -isn't called to order yet, and the books are not closed." - -"That's the talk!" growled a deep voice farther toward the end of the -table. The general traffic man of earlier days, Ackerman, of St. -Louis, was the speaker. "I'll take half of that myself, Rawn." - -"Yes, and divide it with me, Ackerman," nodded Standley, the railway -president to whom Rawn had first brought his device. - -The dissatisfied director paled yet more. "Oh, well," said he, "if -that's the way you feel about it, I'll just call your bluff. Here's my -initials; and you're welcome to my stock." - -"Record it!" said Rawn tersely, throwing the memorandum across to the -treasurer. "Have you got the stock here?" - -"Yes, right in my inside pocket," retorted the other savagely. - -"Pass it to the treasurer, then, if you please--that is to say, if you -will take the assurance of myself and these gentlemen that we'll take -up this memorandum." - -"Oh, of course I'll do that," assented the other grudgingly. - -"Then that'll be about all," said Mr. Rawn. "And as this is to be a -directors' meeting, why, maybe--" - -The dyspeptic financier was already reaching for his hat and coat. - - - -II - -"I want _all_ you gentlemen to feel," said John Rawn calmly, "that -there's a chance to lay down right here, if your feet are getting cold. -Better quit now than later on. I won't work with men who haven't got -heart in this thing. If any of you are scared, let me know. I -couldn't take over all your stock myself, of course, but if you want to -let go, I believe I can swing another company organization." - -They looked at him silently, here and there a gray head shaking in -negation. Rawn's eye lighted. - -"That's the idea!" said he; "we'll all sit tight." - -He turned to catch the eye of the late director, who was now passing -toward the door. "I'm going," said the latter importantly. - -"And good riddance!" said John Rawn calmly. - -"I'll take care of you for that, one of these days, Mr. Rawn!" - -"Why not now?" - -"You'll see what I'll do to you in the market!" - -"The market be damned!" said John Rawn evenly. "There isn't any -market. There isn't anything to buy or sell. If there is any stock -offered, I'm the market, right here and now. Go on and do what you -can. The more you talk of what you don't know about, the more you'll -boom this thing; so turn yourself loose, if you feel like it. I've got -our superintendent here to prove this thing out--to the _directors_ of -this company, Mr. Van. The meeting is informal, but it may be -instructive. We can fill any vacancy on the board at some other time, -maybe." - -A large, bearded man, with drooping lower eyelids, who sat across the -table, chuckled to himself gently as the ex-director slammed the door. - -"Well, then--" said a tentative voice. - -All these men were men of large affairs. They would have spared no -time for this meeting had it not seemed to them much worth their while. - -"Van's going to talk," said one voice. - -"Let him talk about what he likes," rejoined Rawn. "It's close -communion for the rest of us. Well, then, have we all got cards?" he -demanded. - -There was a grim look on each face along the table which suited the -fancy of the speaker. "All right, then," said he. "There are only two -or three of you who ever saw our device actually at work. I've got my -report all brought up to date. Mr. Halsey will tell you what he has -been doing in the works, how he has been handicapped, why we can not -turn over at once a completed installation of one of our motors. We -know perfectly well that a great deal of money has been expended. We -don't want you to put in that money unless you are satisfied of -returns, big returns. Gentlemen, are you ready to see the gold brick? -Would you like to look at the little joker, or see if you can find the -pea under the shell? If so, there will be further opportunity for -those who want to drop out. But I'd very much prefer you'd drop out -now and not after our experiments." - -There was no answer, beyond a growl from Ackerman, a twitched hand of -the bearded man. - - - -III - -Halsey rose and placed on the table the little model which he took from -the case at his side. In principle, it was the same which had been -shown in the original demonstration at St. Louis, long before, although -in workmanship it was in this instance a trifle more finished, showing -more of shining brass and steel. Halsey looked about hesitatingly. - -"Shall we use the fan again?" he inquired of Mr. Rawn. - -"Not on your life!" cried out Ackerman. "No more fan bursting goes. -You'll put on the little railway, here on the table, as you were -showing me the other day." - -"You gentlemen all know the general theory of the invention," Halsey -went on, again assuming the post of lecturer, which Rawn once more -graciously surrendered to him, waving a hand largely in his direction -as though in explanation to the others. "It's simply the attuning of a -motor to the free electrical current in the air--the wireless idea, of -course. You're posted on all this. Now, I've got some little things -here which will show some of the applications of our idea. We'll make -a little track, for a railway train, and we'll run its motor here with -current of our own, simply by our receiver for the free current. - -"I've often thought of the applicability of our receivers to the use of -automobiles. Any man could have one of these receivers in his own -garage, and could charge his own machine as he liked. That's only one -use of the idea. What is true regarding auto cars is true also of -plows, wagons, nearly all farm machinery. One of these receivers which -you could carry around under your arm would do the work of many men, of -many horses. With this model here I can, as Mr. Ackerman and Mr. -Standley will agree, burst that electric fan wide open, and with no -wire attachment for any current whatever. And I think we can run this -little train of cars." - -A sigh went around the table at these calm words. These grave, gray -men looked intently, bending forward at the edge of the table as young -Halsey completed his mechanical arrangements. - -"If this thing works," said the large, bearded man, leaning forward, -"where does it leave railway transportation?" - -"It leaves it with us!" interrupted John Rawn. "With us absolutely!" - -"What's to hinder anybody from building all the railroads they want, -and making all the cars they want, and taking all the power they want -out of the air, as you say?" - -"Nothing in the world to prevent," said John Rawn, "except the -solidarity of the railway men of this country. If we take you all in -and if you all stand pat, what chance has any one else got, except -through buying power of us? Of course, this thing would break us if -used against us. But we don't propose to see it used that way. Our -patents protect us." - -"Go on," said the bearded man. "Let's see the wheels go 'round." - -They saw as much, and more. Halsey's little car repeated its circuit -about the long table again and again, tirelessly, operated by power -taken from the unwired receiver. Where the receiver got its power -Halsey explained in detail as he had done before. - -The thing was there to show for itself. As to the breadth of its -application, these men needed no advice. They were accustomed to the -look ahead, to the weighing of wide possibilities. - -"It's like the French conjurer, gentlemen," said John Rawn smiling. -"He operates with his sleeves rolled up. 'There is no _déception_, by -friends,' says he. There's the whole works on the table right before -us. If it isn't a tremendous thing I'm the worst fooled man in all -this world, and I'll be the worst broke man in the world." - -"Toot! Toot!" remarked a jovial voice from Standley's end of the -table. "Start her up again, son--I never get tired of seeing that -thing go like the Chinaman's cable car." Levity was a relief to them. -There is a certain strain, after all, in planning for the ownership of -a people, a republic. - -Halsey again pushed down the lever, and again the dummy car ran around -and about the table on the curved track which had been laid for it. - -"That's the travel of the future, gentlemen," said John, Rawn soberly, -at length. "They can take it or leave it. So can you." - - - -IV - -Silence fell on that group of gray, grave men. The thing seemed to -them uncanny, although so simple. They looked about, one at the other. -A sort of sigh passed about the room. There sat at the table men who -represented untold millions of capital. They were looking upon a -device which in the belief of all was about to multiply these millions -many-fold. Their hands already inordinately full of power, they -contemplated yet more inordinate power. They sat fascinated, silent, -sighing at the prospect, in a delicious half-delirium. The forehead or -the upper lip of each was moist. - -"You can't get away from it, fellows," said Standley, of St. Louis. -"I've tried to, my best, and I can't. I felt just the way you do when -it was first put up to me--I didn't want to face the truth, it was so -big. As soon as these two men went away from me my feet got cold; but -if they hadn't come back, I think I'd have jumped in the river. I -_want_ to let go of this thing right here--it scares me. But I just -can't, that's all." - -They made no comment. The atmosphere seemed strangely strained, tense. -An old and beardless man, thin, pallid, leaned against the table, his -eyes staring, his face almost corpse-like. No voice was raised in -criticism or indeed in comment, but all sat weighing, pondering. Rawn -was the first to break the silence. - -"Gentlemen," said he, "of course this is the big part of our company -patents, and it is over this that we've met to-day. You've been -doubting my executive ability. I have shown you what the prize is that -we're working for---there it is on the table. As to the difficulties -of pulling off a thing as big as this, they are bigger in this case -than could be expected or figured out in advance. Our superintendent, -Mr. Halsey here, tells me that he is having a great deal of trouble in -labor matters. The men are discontented, and what is worse, they're -_curious_, all the time. We can't employ just any sort of -irresponsible labor, and we can't complete one machine--we've got to -bring them _all_ through, at once, together--indeed, got pretty near to -finish them all ourselves. We can't take any people in on this secret, -of course. It all takes time, and it all takes money. - -"I've got my report here, all these pages, which I'll not trouble you -to read unless you like. What I want to say is this: we've got our -power plant, and our wire transmitter system, and we're making money on -that, as everybody knows. We can pay dividends on the old way of -transmitting power, developing the 'juice' by water power and peddling -it out by wire. We can pay ten per cent., and a stock dividend every -year, for we are earning nineteen and eight-tenths per cent. now, on -wire work alone, not mentioning our exclusive franchises. Nobody can -put a value on those. Up to this time most of us have been contented -to reach out and get hold of water powers in the old way--that didn't -look so slow to us then as it does now. If we should throw away, -entirely, this part of our device, we still would stand just as safe as -we ever would have stood. - -"Again, suppose we wanted to play the market, and throw away every idea -of using this second current of electricity. We could list this stock -to-morrow and make it the most active issue on the Street. That's -plain to all of us. - -"Again, let's reason over this matter and see whether it isn't -impatience and not distrust which is troubling all of us. We haven't -really spent so very much money in the receiver installations. There -isn't a stockyards firm in Chicago which doesn't put aside a bigger -appropriation every year for scientific experimenting than we're -putting into what is no experiment, but a certainty. It is a drop in -the bucket, as my figures here show distinctly. - -"Now, since these things are true, I just came down here to ask you -gentlemen what it is that you want? You've been criticizing me. We've -thought enough of this thing to plan legislation in Congress and in the -adjoining states where we are working. We've been at a lot of trouble -one way or other. We've wanted to get a grip on this country which -couldn't be shaken off by any political or industrial changes. That's -just what I'm offering you here, gentlemen. Pretty much the whole -business world will be yours. _I_ brought you this, didn't I? Now, do -you want a nice gold fence around the world with diamond tips to the -pickets; or what is it that you do want? Up to this time you've wanted -what was impossible. Now I've shown you that the impossible _is_ -possible. Here it is, on the table in front of you--here's the proof. -Unless I am drunk or crazy, the future governors of the United States -of America are sitting right here at this table." - -He touched the glass top lightly, gently, with his finger-tips, which -had no tremor in them. John Rawn was completely master of himself. - - - -V - -"But it _has_ cost a lot of money, Rawn," began one director -hesitatingly. - -"That's a relative term," answered Rawn. "I have all the details here -among my figures. It is much or little, as you care to look at it--it -doesn't seem much to me. We've run this thing down to rock-bed economy -all the time. We cut our men a dollar a week last month, and it -started a riot. We're trying to save all the money we can, of -course--it's my money that is being spent just the same as yours, my -time that is wasting, just the same as yours. I'm as eager as you to -get my hands on this thing, and to get its hands on this country. But -there's such a thing as losing by lack of confidence, and many and many -a good thing has been lost by lack of money backed by nerve. What do -you want, gentlemen? I can't do much more than I have done." - -"And it's enough!" cried the bearded man, his voice harsh, strident -with his emotion. "We've got to have it! Let's stick, let's stick, -fellows! They'll never shake us off. There is absolutely no limit to -this thing." - -"Is that still the way you feel, Jim?" asked Standley from his end of -the table. - -"Yes, it is; how about it, gentlemen?" answered Ackerman's deep voice. - -His eyes turned from one to the other, and found no dissent, although -the air of each man was earnest, almost somber. - -"Shake hands, then!" called out the bearded man with enthusiasm, a man -who had swayed millions by the force of his own convictions before that -time. - -"Let's all shake hands, then, gentlemen," said John Rawn. - -They did so, each man reaching out his hands to his neighbor; Halsey, -of course, stepping back as not belonging to that charmed circle. They -made a ring around that table of countless, untold millions, of -uncounted, unmeasured power. Their faces would have made study -sufficient for the greatest painter of the world. There was not a -young man present, not one whose face did not show lines deep graven, -whose hair was not white, or gray, or grizzled. Many faces there were, -but from the eyes of each shone the same light. The grasp of the hand -of each meant the same thing. They stood, hand clasped to hand, soul -clasped to soul; greed and power clasped to greed and power. - -"Move we 'journ," said Ackerman. The president dropped the gavel on -the table top. - - - -VI - -Rawn finally escaping from the crowd of importunate reporters who -waited in the halls, at length broke away to go to his rooms. He met -Halsey in the lobby. The latter had in his hand a telegram, which -shook somewhat as he extended it. - -"Well," said Rawn, turning toward him with a frown, "what is it?" - -He read: "Charles S. Halsey, The Palatial, New York: Your child is a -girl. The mother is doing well. You would best return at once. There -is a slight deformity. You must share this grief with the mother when -she knows--" - -Rawn dropped the message to the floor. Halsey's face looked so -desperately old and sad that for one moment Rawn almost forgot his own -grief. "You'd better go on home, Charley," he said. "Too bad--to get -such news now! But isn't that just like a woman!" - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -IN PROPER PERSON - -I - -John Rawn stood looking at the unceasing throng which surged confusedly -through the corridors of the gilded hotel. Warmth, music, a Babel of -voices, were all about. There approached a little group of laughing -men coming from the carriage entrance, bound, no doubt, to a banquet -hall somewhere under the capacious roof. One voice rose above the the -others as the group advanced. There appeared, rapidly talking and -gesticulating as he came, a ruddy-faced, stocky figure, with head -close-cropped, jaw undershot, small eyes, fighting terrier make-up. - -"I tell you, gentlemen, I'll compromise not in the least on this -matter! It makes no difference what they do with the ticket or with -me. There's only one way about these matters, and that's the right -way! I care nothing whether this man be a rich man or a poor man. The -only question is, whether he is _right_. If he is not right, he will -never--I say to you, gentlemen--" this with close-shut jaw and fist -hard smitten into palm--"I say to you, it makes no difference who he is -or what he is, he'll never win through; and in the event you suffer -from us--" - -He passed on, gesticulating, talking. Men commented audibly, for there -was no mistaking a man idealized by some, dreaded by others, scorned by -none, anathematized by not a few. He was to address that night a -meeting of independent politicians, so-called, here in the very house -of individualistic power, and many old-line members of his party had -their doubts, the fear of a new party being ever present in the -politician's mind--the same fear professional politicians, Whig, -Democrat, what-not, had of the new party formed before the Civil War at -the command of a people then claiming self-government as their ancient -right--as now they begin again to do, facing our third War of -Independence. - -"Going strong, isn't he?" commented one sardonically, within Rawn's -hearing. - -"That's all right, my friend," was the smiling answer of yet another. -"Strong enough to make a lot of you hunt your holes yet. There's quite -a few people in this little old country outside this island--and -he'll--" - -"Nonsense! No chance, not the least chance in the world!" - -"You underestimate this new movement," began the other. - -"New movement!--you're 'progressive,' eh? Got that bee? A lot of good -it'll do you. It will be simply a new line-up following our old and -time-tried political methods--it all comes to that, take my word. The -people aren't in politics. A lot of professionals do our governing for -us." - -"All the same, there goes the people's candidate!" - -"Take him and welcome," was the answer. "Take your candidate. We'll -eat him up--if he runs." - -They also passed on down the hall, gesticulating, their voices -swallowed up with others, arising confusedly. This and that couple or -group passed by, also talking, among them many persons obviously of -notoriety, importance or distinction, though unknown to their observer. -Rawn stood and watched them all. The scene was to his liking. The -stir, the confusion, appealed to him. The flowering of the great -city's night life was here, such as that is. It was the focus of our -country's civilization, such as that is. Men worth millions passed, -shoulder to shoulder, a wondrous procession, such as that is. - - - -II - -And here and there, always moving and mingling with those men whose -reception or whose raiment announced them as persons of importance, -moved women, beautiful women, floating by, brightly, radiantly, -rustlingly--women blazing with jewels, women with bright eyes, women -whose apparel bespoke them as accepted integers of the city's vast -human sum. - -Rawn stood studying the procession for a long time, eying group after -group carefully. A conclusion was forming in his mind. He was -learning that when a man has achieved power, success, wealth, notoriety -even, he turns with his next thought to some woman; and finds some -woman waiting. - -Not, as he reflected, a woman grown old and gray. Not a woman with -finger-tips blackened and roughened, of bowed figure and ill-fitting -garb, of awkward and unaccustomed air--not to that sort of woman who -would be noticed here for her lack of fitness in this place. No, -rather, as he noticed, men of influence or position or power turned to -such women as these about him now--of distinct personality, of birth -and breeding, or at least of beauty; women shimmering in silks, blazing -in gems, women who looked up laughing as they passed, women young and -beautiful, whose voices were soft, around whom floated as they walked -some subtle fascination. - -Rawn pondered. He saw passing a few men whom he knew, all with women -whom he did not know. In each case his new-formed rule seemed to hold -good; the exception being noted only in the bored and weary faces of -men accompanied by women perhaps rustling and blazing in silks and -diamonds, but not owning youth and fascination. - -John Rawn found that power and beauty go hand in hand; that money and -beauty also go hand in hand--which is to say the same thing. He began -to ponder upon youth, beauty and love as appurtenances of wealth, -success and power. - -"That's the game!" he said half to himself. "Why, look at those chaps. -They look pretty much alike, act pretty much alike, too. When a man -has money to burn, there is only one way--and there it is!" - - - -III - -And then it occurred to John Rawn with sudden and unpleasing force -that, although he was among this throng, he was not of it. Himself a -man of power, success, yes, even of wealth, he lacked in certain -betokening appurtenances thereto. A not unusual wave of self-pity -crept slowly over him. Why should he, a man of his attainments, lack -in any degree what others had? - -He stood pondering, not wholly happy, until presently he felt, rather -than saw, a glance bent upon him by a man who passed, a stately and -well-garbed young woman upon his arm. He was a man now in faultless -evening dress, yet easily to be recognized--none less, indeed, than the -dyspeptic director who so summarily had been dismissed by John Rawn -himself not three hours ago. His dark face became even darker as he -saw the victor of that controversy standing here alone. He smiled -sardonically. To Rawn it seemed that he smiled because he saw the -solitary attitude of a man as good as himself, as fit as himself for -all the insignia of power, yet publicly self-confessed as lacking all -such insignia. He started, flushed, frowned. He had shown these men, -these influential magnates in New York, that he could be their master -upon occasion--he had mastered this man passing yonder. Yet now he -stood here alone, with no woman to advertise his power to the world; -and men laughed at him! No woman wore his silks, displayed his jewels. -He was John Rawn, born to the purple; yet he might be taken here for a -country merchant on his first trip from home.... - -He turned to the key-counter. The clerk, with infallible -instinct--without his request--handed him the key to his room, not -lacking acquaintance with men of Mr. Rawn's acquaintance, and knowing -money when he saw it.... Rawn passed down the hall, went up two -flights in the elevator, turned into the left-hand corridor, and at -length knocked deliberately at a door where a light showed. - - - -IV - -"Come!" called a soft voice. He knocked again, a trifle hesitant, and -looked down the corridor, each way. The voice repeated, "Come!" He -pushed open the door. - -Virginia Delaware stood before her dressing-glass, her toilet for -evening completed except perhaps for a touch or two about her coiffure. -She turned now, and flushed as she saw her visitor. - -"Mr. Rawn!" she exclaimed; "I thought it was the maid! I had just -called her." - -Rawn turned and shut the door. "Never mind her," he said. "I will be -gone in a minute. I just wanted--" - -"You must go!" she exclaimed. "You ought not to have come--it is not -permitted--it is not right!" - -"How stunning you look, Miss Delaware!" was all he said. He had never -before seen her arrayed in keeping with these other lilies of the -field. Indeed, his life had given him small acquaintance with -conventions, or those who practised them. He had no mental process of -analysis as he gazed at her now, or he might have seen that after all -the young woman's costume was no more than one of filmy blue, draped -over a pure and lustrous white. He could not have named the fashion -which drew it so daringly close at hip and hem as to reveal frankly all -the lines of a figure which needed not to dread revelation for its own -sake, whether or not for other sake. He could not have guessed what -skill belonged to the hand that fashioned this raiment, could not have -told its cost. To him the young woman was very beautiful; and he was -too much confused to be capable of analysis. The corsage of the gown, -cut square and daringly deep, displayed neck and shoulders white as -those of any woman of any city. Her figure gave lines had her costume -not aided. She was beautiful, yes. - - - -V - -And there was something more, Rawn could not tell what. There was some -air of excitement, of exaltation, some sort of fever about her, upon -her. In her eyes shone something Rawn had never noticed there before. -Hastily he made such inventory as he might of unanalyzed charms. He -arrived at his conclusion, which was, that Virginia Delaware would do! - -"You could travel in fast company, my dear girl," said he approvingly. - -"What do you mean?" She turned upon him. - -"That you could go quite a considerable pace, my dear girl. You'll -_do_. Let me see your hands!" he demanded. And in spite of her he -coolly took up a hand, examining the shapely finger-tips. He sighed. -No needle had blackened or roughened them, the typewriter keys had not -yet flattened them. He stepped back, looked at her from head to foot, -appraising all her graces, valuing her height and roundness of figure. -There was small light in his eye other than that of judicial approval. -She bore out his theory. - -"You surprise me!" was all he said. - -"How do you mean, Mr. Rawn?--But you must go, you really must!" - -There came a knock at the door. Rawn's negative gesture was positive. -After a moment's hesitation the girl stepped to the door and spoke to -the maid. "You may return again in a little while, maid," she said. -"I'm not quite ready now." In turn she stood with her back against the -door, her own color rising. - -"Oh, don't be uneasy," said John Rawn smiling. "This is quite -considerable of a hotel, taking it as it is. There won't be any -scandal over this." - -"I don't think I understand you." - -"I'm going in just five minutes. But I want to say something to you in -the way of a business proposition, Miss Delaware." - -"I'm sure I don't know what you mean." Her head was high, her color -still rising. - -"Nothing in the least wrong, my dear girl," said John Rawn. "It's -simply a matter of business, as I said. You're here as my assistant, -of course. But did it ever occur to you that as you stand there now, -and as I stand here, we might pass in that crowd below there and not be -known by _any one_?" - - - -VI - -She still stood looking at him, her color high, undecided as to his -meaning even now as he went on. - -"It would be rather a pleasant experience, perhaps, for you--as it -would be for me--just to mingle with that giddy throng--say, for -dinner. Would you like to be part of it? It's just a foolish thought -that came to me." - -She turned to him, her eyes bright, her face eager. "Could we, Mr. -Rawn?" she said. "I'm crazy over it!" - -"I see," he commented dryly. "You were dressing to go down to dinner?" - -"No, no, I couldn't afford to do that, of course. I couldn't go alone, -and I had no company. I wasn't going down at all. I just dressed -up--to--to--" - -"Just to look at yourself in the mirror, isn't that it, Miss Delaware?" - -"Yes, it's the truth!" She turned to him calmly at last, well in hand -again. "I couldn't be one of them--couldn't be like those people down -below, so I did the best I could up here--I dressed as much like them -as I knew how. I--I--I _imagined_! I dreamed, Mr. Rawn. I've never -known a real evening of that sort in all my life--but it's in my blood. -I want to go, I want to dine, and drink, and dance--I'm mad about it, I -know, but it's the truth! I want what I can't have. I want to be what -I'm not. I don't know what's the reason. It's in the air--maybe it's -in the day, in the country!" - - - -VII - -"Yes, it's the country," said John Rawn. "We're all going a swift -pace, men and women both. I don't blame you. I understand you. Now I -know what you want." - -"What do you mean?" - -"You want just about what _I_ want." - -"But, Mr. Rawn--" - -"It's the same thing--it's _power_ that you want, just as I do. I feel -it in the air when I come near you. You feel the same way when you -come near me!" - -She nodded rapidly, her eyes narrowing. "Yes, it's true!" she said. -"That's true." - -"You want to have it within your ability to influence men, just as I -do, don't you, Miss Delaware? That's what was in your soul when you -stood before your mirror there when I came in, wasn't it, Miss -Delaware? You want to win, to succeed, to triumph, don't you, Miss -Delaware--you've got _ambition_? Wasn't that your dream--isn't that -what you were imagining, as you stood there and looked in your glass?" - -"Yes, yes, it's true, I know it!" she admitted panting. "I know it, my -God! yes, I can't help it! But what chance have I?" - -"All sorts of chances, my dear girl. I don't make mistakes. I told -you this is a business proposition. Now, then, tell me, why did you -tog out this way?" - -"I did it because I had to. I told you I couldn't help it. It was in -my blood to-night!" - -"Any man waiting anywhere, Miss Delaware?" - -"On my word, no! I wasn't even going downstairs. But I told you I was -mad to be in that crowd, where the rich people are. I wanted to hear -the music, I wanted to see them--I wanted to pretend for one night that -I was a part of it all!" - -"You wanted to win--you coveted power! Is it not true?" - -"Yes!" she blazed fiercely. And indeed at that moment the room seemed -full of some large influence, moving, throbbing all about them. - - - -VIII - -"I wanted that," the girl admitted. "All the world does!" - -"I suppose you wanted to see some strong man fall on his knees and beg -of you?" - -"Yes." - -"I am sorry, my dear, but I'll not do that. But I understand. So you -searched out these glad rags and tried yourself out before the mirror -there! Very good! You'll do! Believe me--or ask any man in all this -city." - -She nodded rapidly. "Yes, you know it, now." - -"Now, you're no more mad than I am," said John Rawn. "You're as -cool-headed as I am, if I know women at all. We think alike. You're -young. I'm young enough. Where'd you get that gown?" - -"I had it made--in an alley, in the city back home. It cost as much as -I could afford. Thirty dollars!" She flung out the words scornfully. - -"It looks three hundred; and I've seen worse below to-night that -probably cost three thousand. But it's not yet quite complete--your -costume." - -"It was the best I had. You ought not to taunt me. I stood here -facing myself. I felt disappointed, bitter! Yes, I'll admit that." - -"You needn't be," said Rawn calmly. He nodded to her bare and -unadorned neck, her hair which lacked brilliants, her fingers left -unjeweled. The girl caught his meaning without further speech, and it -hurt her yet more. - -"What could I do? Why did you bring me here, Mr. Rawn? You've made me -unhappy. I've seen it, and I can't be a part of it. It doesn't seem I -can go back there to work and be just the same any more, after seeing -the city here! I tell you, it's got in my blood, all at once." - -"No," he said evenly, "not again just the same. We outgrow ourselves, -and can't go back. I'm not the same man I once was." He -half-unconsciously shifted to get a glimpse of himself in the mirror. - -"But now, my business proposition is very simple. It holds good for -one evening, Miss Delaware. I was just going to propose that we forget -all this unhappiness, and do a little pretending for one night, say for -one hour or so." - - - -IX - -He fumbled in his waistcoat pocket, and drew out something which -suddenly flamed into dancing points and rays in the light that fell -upon it. She stood motionless while he passed about her neck a tiny -thread, delicate as if spun of moonlight. She held out her hand, and -he slipped over it a gleaming ring of gems. She bent her head, and he -placed a sparkling ornament in her hair. She had seen these jewels -before. She turned to the glass now, her bosom heaving as she saw them -gleam at her own neck, her own hands, in her own hair. She held out -her hands to look at them now, and the gems flashed back challenge to -her eyes, sparkling yet more brilliantly. - -"It was nothing," said John Rawn tersely. "That's all that lacked. -You're good as the best now. I've seen no woman in this city that is -your equal in beauty. You were born for this life. Now do you -understand what I mean? I say, you can carry it off!" - -She turned to him, another woman, changing on the instant, something in -her eyes he had never seen before. But in his own eyes there was at -the time nothing save the original calm and purposefulness. - -"As I was saying, then, since we can both carry it off, why not do so -for an hour or so? I've read somewhere of masquerades. Why not try -it?" - -She turned to him, flushed, radiant, but slightly frowning, puzzled, -studying him. Rawn felt the query of her look, felt also something -stirring down in his nature which he grappled at once and was able to -suppress. His voice was cool and low as it was before. - -"It's a big crowd below, and we'll be lost in it. I've learned already -that you can be discreet. We'll drop down in there, where no one knows -us. We'll try ourselves out, and see whether we'll do, here where the -test is hardest. You're ambitious? So am I. This is the heart of the -world--the place of gratified ambitions. What do you say, Miss -Delaware? I've been looking around down there, and as nearly as I can -see, I'm the only man in this avenue worth a million dollars who at -this precise moment of the day isn't talking to some good-looking -woman!" - -"You flatter me!" commented the girl. He did not endeavor any analysis. - -"Not in the least! I simply talk sense and business to you. I covet -what you covet, love what you love, want what you want. Things which -are equal to the same thing ought to be equal to each other--for just a -little while, Miss Delaware. Isn't it true? If it is only play, why, -let's play at it. - -"I forgot to tell you," he added, "that my son-in-law, Mr. Halsey, has -gone back to Chicago. He was summoned by wire. No one else knows us -both. There wouldn't be one chance in many of our being seen by any -one here who knew either of us, and if so, what harm? We'll go and -dine as well as the best of them, in the main room. What do you say, -Miss Delaware?" - - - -X - -She stood facing him now, seeming years older than she had a few -moments before. A very skilled observer might possibly have suspected -a certain new quality in the calmness of her eye. Beautiful she -certainly was; alluring, irresistible in the ancient appeal of woman, -she certainly ought to have been, and would have been to any but this -particular man who now stood facing her, half smiling; a man of middle -age, gray about the temples, of heavy-browed eyes, strongly lined face, -of strong and bony frame; not an ill-looking or unmanly man one might -have said, though years older than this young woman who stood now -threading between her fingers the filmy moonshine chain which suspended -the points of flame that rose and fell upon her bosom. - -At last she said, hesitating, and holding up the flaming pendant, "I'm -not to keep them?" - -"No, Marguerite!" he smiled. "This particular Papa Faust retains a -string on those jewels. They have been seen elsewhere, my dear girl. -No, one night's use of them is all this business proposition carries, -my dear." - -He began to be just a shade more familiar; but she looked at him, still -curiously helpless, because she found him strong where most men are -weak and defenseless. He caught some sort of challenge in her attitude -and in spite of himself trod a half step forward.... She evaded him. -He heard her laughter rippling in the hall, and followed.... Soon they -were in the crowded lift, packed in against shirt front and aigrette, -silks and jewels, arms and bosoms bared for the evening's fray. - - - -XI - -It may be true that no gentleman is grown in less than three -generations, but it is not the case that it requires three generations -to produce an aristocrat; and here was simple and perfect proof of that -assertion. Head waiters make no mistakes! The head-waiter of the main -hall unhesitatingly took John Rawn and his companion to as good a table -as there was in the room. He knew the air of distinction when he saw -it! - -Heads, in plenty, of men and other women, turned as they passed through -in that careless throng of the world-wise and blasé. They walked by -quietly, simply, took their places with no ostentation. John Rawn had -bethought him earlier as to the dinner order. He gave his directions -now quietly, without hesitation. - -The two ate and drank discreetly, comported themselves, in fact, easily -as any of these scores of others. They did not lean toward each other -and obviously talk secrets, they did not laugh uneasily and stare -about. Among the many well-bred women in that room--where at least a -few such were present--none showed an easier accustomedness than -Virginia Delaware. Her eagerness, her feverish anxiety, all now were -gone. She was perfectly in hand. It was her pleasure now only to -prove her fitness for such a scene, to comport herself as though she -had known no other surroundings than these in all her life. Once more -the miracle of possibility in the young American woman was shown. - -Rawn, discreet as his companion, looked on with approval. "You're -_it_!" he once whispered across the table, as he bent above the menu. -"You _are_ the part!" Suddenly there came to him out of this occasion -an additional surge of self-confidence. Yes, he said to himself, he, -too, could travel this gait. He could step easily into this life, the -summit of life in America--as he thought--as though born to it. He -could spend money with the best. He could obtain for himself as -beautiful a woman to wear his jewels as any man here in all this great -city. He could as widely advertise his power, his wealth, as any of -these. Did he not see envious eyes bent upon his companion and upon -himself? It was done! He had won! He had succeeded! - - - -XII - -After all, it had been easy, as he had found so many things easy in the -test. As to the young woman with him, John Rawn's cold heart went out -in admiration. "By Jove!" he said, "she's a _lady_, that's what she -is. She'd be--" Yet it is to be noted that his admiration for this -young woman was primarily based not upon the usual impulses of men so -situated, but upon a vast self-respect, for that _he_ had placed her -here and so proved his own judgment to be good. Some souls are slow to -any love but that of self, the approbation of self being the breath of -life to them. Even the beauty of Virginia Delaware--and she was -beautiful--was swallowed up in John Rawn's love and admiration for -himself. - -There was, thus far, no suggestion of impropriety between them, now or -later. They dined long, deliberately and well. Miss Delaware drank no -wine, Rawn himself only abstemiously. The keenest delight of the -evening felt by either came not of food or drink. The intoxication of -the city's night life fell upon them, entered their souls. Distant and -low-voiced musical instruments set the air athrob with sensuous melody. -Flowers bloomed, jewels blazed, soft voices rose, wine added its -stimulus here and there. Cut beyond this luxury, this sensuousness, -beyond the novelty of it, beyond the vague impulses of a common -humanity which runs through all the world, they felt the last and -subtle delight which comes with an admitted assuredness of self--the -consciousness of power and ability to prevail, the certainty of knowing -all the path, all the full orbit of the great. - - - -XIII - -As they sat thus calmly, apparently, as most might have said, old -habitués of scenes like this, apparently persons of wealth and -distinction, Rawn felt once more bent upon him the look of a passer-by. -There approached the table where they sat the couple he had seen -earlier that evening, a stately and beautiful young woman, whose -features now were a trifle more animated, whose eyes were brighter; and -with her the same dyspeptic director, sallow, with pointed dark beard. -His face flushed still more as he saw John Rawn and his companion. He -turned an admiring gaze upon the latter, whom of course he did not -recognize. Rawn caught the gaze. It was the keenest delight of his -evening that he could smile back, showing his own teeth also. - -"By Jove!" muttered the ex-director to himself. - -"I beg pardon!" haughtily commented his own fair companion, who had -caught his gaze aside. "You know that person? Who is she?" - -"I don't know, my dear--I'm just trying to think. Her face--it looks -like the goddess on some stock certificate I've seen--" - -"Indeed?" - -"Yes, goddess with a handful of lightning bolts." - -"Indeed?" - -"Yes. We might call her the 'Lady of the Lightnings' to-night. She -surely does shine like the bright and morning star, the way she's -illuminated--eh, what?" - -"Indeed?" - -"Well, hang it all! Yes. She's a looker, too!" - -"Indeed?" - -"Yes, _indeed_! And they both look like ready money." The ex-director -gave a little laugh. - -"You don't know them?" asked his companion, more placated as they -readied the corridor, where Virginia Delaware was at last out of sight. - -"No, I don't know her--never saw her before, unless, as I said, in an -engraving. Don't worry--I haven't got any of the engravings--now." - -"Who is he?" - -"Fellow by name of Rawn, from Chicago." - -"Oh!" - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -JOHN RAWN, PROMINENT CITIZEN - -I - -The blare and blaze of American life went on in all its capitals of -industry. Buildings sprang up, factories poured their smoke -unceasingly into the sky. Men ran hither and thither like ants, busy -about what seemed to them of importance. Vast hives of heaped-up stone -twice daily poured out their population of small creatures, some of -them crippled, hurt, shorn in the battle of life, their faces pale, -their forms bowed and stunted before their time. Out of the rich West -poured always a steady stream of the products of the soil and of the -mines, wealth unspeakable, dug from the resources of this admirable -country of ours. Many produced it, a few controlled it, all required -it. - -But there came a sort of hush over all the country, as though an -eclipse were passing, or some gloom cast by a cloud coming between -these cities and the sun. Men said that business was not so good as it -should be, though the country was richer than ever. None understood -the popular unrest. Many pondered, many attempted to explain, but they -found all save the easy and obvious explanation. The masses remained -morose, dissatisfied. Pamphlets appeared. In the journals pretending -to give voice to popular trend of thought there were now to be seen -many screeds from many unknown men. Some men said that prices should -rise, others that rates of transportation should rise, but that wages -should decrease. Others said that wages should increase--a few only of -these, not many; for those who needed most a larger wage were those -most dumb of expression, least able and least apt to make any public -protest. Our proudest may be our poorest--our neediest our most silent. - - - -II - -In John Rawn's slowly growing factories near the western capital wages -did not rise. He kept on his fight with the labor organizations. For -this reason he met additional expense and additional delay in carrying -on his plans, but still waged war, relaxing not at all, meeting pickets -with policemen, force with force. The popular discontent of the day -meant nothing to him. His eye was fixed ahead. To Halsey's complaints -on the one side, his directors' discreet grumbling on the other, he -paid as little attention on the one hand as upon the other. John Rawn -had a dream, and he knew that his dream must come true. His dream was -one of a wide-reaching and relentless power, shared by those few men -destined by fate to own the so-called American republic. Let the -people do what they would, all they could. This was his dream. It had -come to him in all its fullness one evening in the great city of the -East. He exulted. - -As to the industrial situation in International Power, Rawn now began -to prove himself a good business man, and he received more and more the -grudged confidence of his associates, who came from almost every rank -of big business. Through the aid and advice of these, his private -fortune began to mount up enormously. So also did International Power -make money. The only sore place of the directors' overstrained nerves -centered in affairs at the gaunt building in the suburb, where a dozen -mysterious machines, toothed and armed, cogged and coiled, still stood -in a state of half-completion, as inchoate and mysterious now as they -had been at their inception. None of the workmen, none of the foremen, -could guess what they would look like when completed. - -There was something else, which not the most suspicious guessed--_John -Rawn himself did not know!_ His success was a vast bubble. Halsey was -the only man who ever had known the full secret of mantling one of the -miraculous receivers which they all had seen and all had accepted. -Rawn, bold enough, kept this to himself, although he feared to go to -Halsey and make any demands. Halsey held grim peace for -months--indeed, for more than four years in all, counting from the -first motor made in the Kelly Row woodshed. It was risky, but for once -Rawn dared make no desperate move. Halsey talked little. He was very -sad since the birth of his hunchbacked child. Sometimes he talked to -Virginia Delaware about it; never to his wife, Grace. - -And still the seven days' wonder of International Power remained to -puzzle the industrial world. No inkling of the real intention of the -company ever got out. There was, as Rawn had predicted, no market for -the stock, for the reason that it was not listed and for the further -reason that it was not sold. It was held in a close communion of -hard-headed and close-mouthed men, and there were no confidences -betrayed. The thing was too big to conform to ordinary rules. In the -center of all this stood the figure of John Rawn, suddenly grown large -and strong. He ruled his army, officers, staff and line, cavalry, -infantry and auxiliaries, as one born originally to command. He -brooked neither parleying nor thwarting of his will--except in one -instance. He never made any demands on Halsey, never gave him any -peremptory orders after that one day in the office, months earlier, -before Halsey made his first trip to New York. - - - -III - -These months seemed to have aged John Rawn, none the less. He grew -grimmer and grayer, more taciturn and reserved. At the clubs he was -one of the most talked-of men in town, and one who talked least -himself. As his hair grew grayer at the temples, his jaw grew harder, -at the corner of his chin coming the triangular wrinkles which go with -hard-faced middle age. Enigmatic, self-centered, he could not have -been called a happy man. He smiled but rarely, joked not at all, -engaged in no badinage, told no stories, found no lighter side of life, -played no golf, had no vacations. Like some vast engine of tremendous -driving power he went on his way, admired in a city and country full of -able men, as one competent to hold his own with the best and strongest -of them all. And still of all his traits stood out the one of -self-confidence. He played a game of enormous and continuous -risk--fundamental risk by reason of Halsey, incidental by reason of his -widely ballooned market operations; yet his nerve held. Moreover, he -was learning the price of success--an absolute devotion to the means of -success. When he learned that the child of his daughter was not a son, -but a girl, and that it was a hunchback for life, a sad-faced, -unsmiling child--he set his jaws for a moment, but said few words of -condolence, either to his daughter or her husband. He did not smile -for three months after that, and never referred to this subject again, -after its first discussion with his wife at Graystone Hall; but it cost -him no time and no energy lost from business. It only deepened in his -soul his growing hatred for Charley Halsey, the man whom he dared not -chide. - - - -IV - -In the headquarter offices a vast, smooth running business machine had -now been built up. Rawn was an organizer. The laxness and looseness -of the old railway offices in St. Louis, where he had got his business -schooling, were missing in the headquarters of International Power. -Employees had small time to gossip in business hours. Out of business -hours, it is to be confessed, once in a while there was discussion as -to the salary of Miss Virginia Delaware, which was reported a wholly -instable affair. It was rumored in stenographic circles that she had -taken to wearing very stunning evening gowns. Yet not the most -captious--though willingness did not lack--could raise voice against -her, or couple her name with any other. Rawn and she were never seen -together excepting during business hours; he never mentioned her name -in any company. Once or twice a laughing voice at the National Union, -where rich men met in numbers, tried to create some sort of discussion -over Rawn's beautiful private secretary, but it was so suddenly stopped -by Rawn himself that it never was resumed. - -Upon the other hand, few could speak in definite knowledge regarding -the domestic matters of John Rawn. He was a man of mystery, though one -of known and admitted power. He held what he gained; and, as there -must have been accorded to him strength of soul, grasp, readiness, -courage, he began to be accepted as one of the large figures of his day -alike in industry and finance. He had by this time fully arrived in -the prominent citizen class in his chosen metropolis. Did firemen -perish, John Rawn joined the list of those who aided the widows. Was -some neighboring city swept by flames, again he joined--on the front -page of the papers--those who gave succor for the needy. Did a famine -in India or China sweep off a million souls, John Rawn--on the front -page--aided the survivors. He was a member of the leading clubs of the -city, a director of the board of the art institute. He bought if he -did not occupy a box at the opera, and allowed his name to be mentioned -at the banquets offered by eager souls to celebrities of one sort or -another who proved themselves amenable to receptions, banquets, -addresses of welcome, and what-not, anything to bring lesser names into -print on any page, tails to any kite. In short, John Rawn comported -himself as a prominent citizen should. Ever he was the kite, never the -tail. He loomed a large and growing figure in his little world. - - - -V - -Above all, there seemed something uncanny in the unvarying facility -with which Rawn made money. There is no real explanation of the -difference in money-making power, except that some men make money and -some do not. Rawn did, without any doubt or question. Not lacking -ability and calmness in judgment, and not lacking full information such -as is accorded those said to be upon the sacred inside of the market, -he was in and out of Rubber, Coppers, Steel, at precisely the right -time. His oil investments in California, played up and down in proper -symphony, had made him more than a million dollars, smoothly, easily, -simply. The railways market was an open book to him, and Public -Utilities seemed something he could gage while others stood and -wondered. There are times when some men win. Rawn could not lose, -whether he dealt in Ontario Silvers, Arizona Coppers, anything he -liked. He was in with the pack when, in these last fierce days of -individual and corporate greed, it finished pulling down a republic, -and battened, guzzled at the bowels of the quarry. He partook with -these of a broad knowledge of the narrowing raw resources of the -country, and was in with them at the death. He was one of those to get -hold of large acreages of the passing timber lands, he was counted with -those who sought the great coal fields for their own; ran true to -scent, with these, the trail of monopoly in any commodity which the -people more and more must need. In the one matter of his relations -with a certain transcontinental railway, Rawn made a quarter million as -his share of the three-quarters of a billion taken in sales of mineral -lands from the railway's land-grant holdings. That the grants had -covered only agricultural lands mattered little, for when the sleepy -government at Washington reluctantly took the trail, it was shown a -law, cunningly passed a few years earlier, which barred the republic, -by virtue of a six-year statute of limitations, from recovering any of -its own property! John Rawn often laughed over that. He laughed also -when the "suckers," as they called them, bit just as eagerly at -irrigation as they had at mines. He often laughed--it was all so -ridiculously easy to pull down a country, when the running was in good -company! He was a prominent citizen. - -[Illustration: (Rawn and Laura)] - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -A PRINCELY GENEROSITY - -I - -Mr. Rawn went on with the pack. He was in and out of the market. His -money grew. His ambition also grew. He felt coming now upon him -another change. He said to himself that he was now about to pass up, -into yet another era of his development. - -One day, after his usual day's routine, he closed his office door, took -his car at the curb, dropped in at his club, imbibed the two cocktails -which were now his evening wont, and again emerging, nodded to his -chauffeur in the fashion which meant "Home!" They passed on out again -through the floating crowd of various and often vulgar vehicles, -northbound--shrieking aloud in a vast united chorus, demanding speed, -speed, and yet more speed--along the throbbing arteries of the city's -population. At last he stopped once more at the front of Graystone -Hall. "Forty-five minutes, Dennis," said he to his driver, snapping -his watch. "Twenty-one miles; you'll learn it after a while." - -Mr. Rawn was in exceptional good humor. He was at peace with the world -and with his conscience. He looked about him now calmly, with -approbation in his gaze. His gardeners had done wonders. The walks -were solid and well kept, the greensward sound and flourishing. These -late stubbed and desolate trees were now wide, green and branching. -The crocus borders were unbroken, the formal monochrome beds, here and -there upon the lawn, showed clean-cut and distinct. The tall pillars -of his motley house even had a green veiling of ivy, swiftly grown by -art, and not by time. On a terrace a bed of foliage plant, thirty feet -long, grew in the shape of a word--a magic word--"_Rawn_." If any -passer-by wished knowledge as to the creator of all this, he might read -as he ran--"_Rawn_." - -Rawn passed up the steps and looked out through the long hallway from -the rear of the house, or rather its real front, which lay upon the -lake shore. Beyond, he could see the faint curl of the distant -steamers' smoke against the horizon. He stopped for a moment, drinking -in the scene, of which he never tired. There were birds twittering -softly in the trees about him. He caught the breath of flowers, coming -to him from the halls within. Yes, it was an abode suited for a -prominent citizen. - -There came to meet him now the quiet footfall which he had come to -expect, not always patiently or with pleasure, as the natural end of -his day's labors; his wife, Laura, had never forgotten this daily -greeting of the old-fashioned wife to her husband, as the latter -returned at the close of his day's labor. - - - -II - -He stopped as he heard her slow tread upon the stair. She was coming -to meet him. She always did. He, John Rawn, controller of men, a man -born to succeed and going yet higher, had only, after all, an -old-fashioned wife! - -It was an emergency this evening. He was accustomed to meet -emergencies. He had come to-night prepared to meet this one. - -"Laura," said he, after the servants had drawn the curtains and left -them alone in the central room, whither they had repaired after dinner; -"sit down here, I want to talk to you a while." - -"Yes, John," said she quietly. But she looked at him startled. Her -face grew suddenly grave. Be sure the brute advancing to the poll-ax -knows its fate. That was the look in Laura Rawn's face now. "Yes, -John," she said, knowing what blow was to be hers. - -He motioned her to a seat beyond the little table and seated himself -opposite. Reaching into a bulging pocket, he brought out a thick -bundle of folded papers; long, narrow papers, most of them green, -others brown, or pale pink. He pushed this bundle across the table, so -that his wife must see it. She reached out a hand, but did not look at -it. - -"What is it, John?" she said. Her hand tarried, her face went still -more weary and gray, became even of an ashier pallor than was its wont. - -"It's a trifle, Laura," said John Rawn. "Look at it. There's bonds -and gilt-edge dividend-payers for just exactly _one million dollars_!" - -"One million _dollars_, John! What do you mean?" - -"Look at it, see for yourself." - -"But, John--what does it mean?" - -"It means a great deal, Mrs. Rawn, a great deal for you. It took some -work to make it on my part. There are not ten men in this town to-day -who could draw out of their business clean, unhypothecated securities -for a million dollars. I've seen to it that all these are registered -in your name. It's my gift to you, without reservation." - -"John, how could I thank you--but I don't want it! I've not earned it, -I wouldn't know what to do with it. You're always so--so kind, John, -with me. But I can't take it! It's not mine!" - -"It is yours, Laura. And you've got to take it!" - -"But I don't want to!" - -"I want no foolishness," he said sternly. "That money is yours. You -can use it as you like. Of course, I will counsel with you as to -reinvestment the best I can. I don't want to see the interest wasted. - -"I don't ever want to see you in need," he went on. "I don't counsel -loose investments. My lawyers will also tell you what to do with your -money, and they'll put up to you a list of good, safe, savings-bank -investments, the kind that fools and sailors ought to have. I'll help -you choose, if you like. I don't want to be ungenerous. This is your -estate." - - - -III - -"My _estate_!--But, John, I'm your wife! I don't care for this money. -I don't understand it, and I don't want it. I want to be your _wife_, -John, the way I always was--I want to help--I want to be useful to you -all the time, as I've always tried to be." - -"Precisely, Laura, and I appreciate that feeling very much. I feel the -same way. I want to be as useful as I can to you. We have always been -loyal to each other, faithful with each other; I know that. There are -not ten men worth my money in this town to-day who can say what I -can--that they've been faithful to their wives as I have been to mine. -You've been a good woman, and you've worked hard. You say you haven't -earned this money, but I think you have. We've been useful, yes, to -each other. But when we can't be any more, Laura, why then--" - -The tears burst from her eyes now. He frowned, that she should -interrupt him, but went on. - -"It shall never be said that I was unkind to you, Laura. Indeed, I -shall always feel kindly to you--always remember what you have done." - -"But you don't, you _don't_, John!" - -"I don't? What do you mean by that, Laura? Isn't there the proof? -Isn't there a _million dollars_ lying right in front of you on that -table? And you say this to me, who have just given you a cold -_million_!" - -"That's it, it's a _cold_ million, John," said she bitterly. "It's -_cold_!" - -"Good God! The unreasonableness of woman!" said John Rawn, upturning -his eyes. "Now I've thought all this out as carefully as a man can. -I've denied myself, to take this much capital out of my investments and -set it aside for you. I can make five millions out of that money in -the next five years. But no, I reserve it, and I give it to you -without stint. I give it to you for your estate, so that you shall -never know want--more money than you ever had a right to dream of -having. You do that for a woman, and what does she say? Why, she -doesn't _want_ it! Good God!" - - - -IV - -"John," she said, struggling for her self-control, "you might at least -tell the truth." - -"What do you mean--the truth?" - -"It's some other woman, of course!" - -"I swear to you, Laura, it's nothing of the sort. I've been guilty of -no act with any one--" But she shook her head. - -"Don't I know?" she said. "It's always another woman. She's a young -woman, whoever she is. Why don't you come out and tell me the truth, -John? How long before you're going to be married?" The tears were -welling steadily from her eyes, under the last of the many and bitter -torments which are so often a woman's lot. - -"I say to you again, Laura, there are no plans of that sort in my mind!" - -"Then how long will it be before our--our--" She could not say the -word "divorce." She had been an old-fashioned wife. - -"I've no plans as to that. I was only wanting to discuss the matter -quietly to-night, without any disturbance." - -"No," she said, "I must not break down! Tell me, when does it come, -John?" But still the tears came, steadily, and she made no effort to -stop them. - -"When you like. I would suggest that you quietly go to some other -place, Laura. That will be best for me. Why--" he added this in a -burst of confidence, "--there wouldn't be twenty people around town -would know you'd gone! I can keep a close tongue, and so can you." - -"But, John, why should we? I've never crossed you in any way. I've -always tried to do what you liked. Why should we part? I'll be -willing just to live along here quietly. I can't bear to think of -going away. I like my things. John," she said suddenly, and seemingly -irrelevantly, "who told you about all these things, these collectors' -pieces that you've been getting for so long?" - -He winced with sudden self-revelation, astonished at this intuition on -her part. He had been sincere in his statement that there was no other -woman in his affections. He had only forgotten that he had no -affections. He flushed now, but tried to pull together. - -"Very well, Laura," said he; "you only prove to me what I've felt for -some time. You can't understand me, you simply are not up to my -requirements. I'm willing to say _you'd_ be content to live along -here, just as we did at Kelly Row. _I_ am not content to do anything -of the sort. I've been thinking over this, studying over it for some -time. There's the answer." He nodded toward the bundle which lay upon -the table. - - - -V - -"It's no use trying to make the world all over again, Laura," he said -after a time. "We've both done our best, but our best didn't tally. -We've hung together. What's right is right. Is it right for me to be -dragged down by your own limitations--ought I to stop in my own career -to conform to that? Would that be right, now, Laura, for a man like -me?--Is it right for any man? If you can't go forward, ought I to go -back? If we can't both travel the same gait, whose gait ought to -govern? Whatever you do, don't blame me, that's all. But you _did_ -blame me--you do now." A grave look sat upon his face. He felt -himself an injured man. - -"Yes, John," she said. "I do." - -"Of course, of course! That's the reward a man gets for loving his -wife, treating you as I have. Well, we're not the first to face a -situation of just this kind. Things travel swifter now than they did -when we were children, or when we were married. What did then will not -do to-day. Why blame ourselves for that?--blame the time, the way of -the world, the way things go to-day. This country has changed--it goes -faster every year. We've got to keep the pace, I tell you, when we get -into it. Those who can't must drop out, and that's all there is about -it. I was born for the front, and that's all about that. Don't blame -me. I've never blamed you!" - -"Then, what _do_ you blame, John?" - -"Nothing, I say. It's the way life runs. We're married, why? Because -we thought we were to have some property to protect. There is much to -be said in favor of the marriage institution. It holds property safe -under its contract. _Property_--that's the sign of power! _Property_ -is the only reason for marriage; or for government, when it comes to -that. _Property_ is the token of power. I've got that! But something -else goes with it! Why, Laura, when I look at us both I wonder that -I've been patient so long, held back as I have been by your own narrow -ideas. If you'd had your way, you'd have set up Kelly Row right where -we are now!" - - - -VI - -"I'm old-fashioned, John," said she, her head high, though her tears -fell free, "I'm just an old-fashioned, worn-out wife, that's all. I'm -not so very much, John, and I never thought I was very much. I just -did the best I could, all the time. I couldn't seem to do any more, -John. I don't know how. I did my best!" - -"We all do!" said John Rawn philosophically. "We all do our best. But -when our best isn't good enough to keep us up, we go down!" - -He spoke generously, gravely, judicially. He was arbiter, in his own -belief, not husband. The country had changed since they two had -married. - -"Yes, there's much to be said for the institution of marriage, Laura," -he repeated after a time. "In fact, it is a necessity, as society is -organized. But divorce is a natural corollary of marriage. There are -contracts, and broken contracts. That's all!" - -"What is a--a corollary, John?" she asked. - -"It's a consequence; it is something that follows. I meant to say, -that if it is right for two people to be married, it is right for them -to be divorced when the time comes. It's _property_, and the -consequences to property, which sometimes determine that!" - -"But we said, John, when we were married--I swore it with all my -heart--'Till death do us part!' It isn't death. I wish it were!" - -"No, it's property," said John Rawn. - - - -VII - -"But all this serves no purpose," he continued. "I don't want to have -you make this hard for me!" - -"Ah, God! How you've changed, John, since the old times! How you've -changed!" - -"So that's it, is it?" he rejoined bitterly, "I've only changed, and -you're sorry that I changed. Well, suppose we agree to that. I _have_ -changed!" - -"What do you want me to do, John?" she asked after a time, her breath -still, in spite of herself, coming in sobs. "When do you want me to -go?" - -"To-morrow, Laura. There's no use waiting." - -"Very well; where shall I go?" - -"Why, I don't dictate to you, Laura--I leave that all for you to -determine. You can be happy as you like, and where you please. I -would only suggest, if you ask me, that you take up a residence in some -quiet community, a sort of place that seems to suit you." - -"Very well, John; I've not many friends here to leave, that's true. -I've not been happy here; I never would be. I'll agree to that much. -I believe I'll go back to our old town--I'd feel better there!" - -"You've good judgment, Laura," he noted with approbation. "What you -say has good sense about it. Very likely you'd be more happy there -than here. But wherever you go, don't forget your old husband, John. -Deep in my work as I shall be, I will always think of you, Laura, with -nothing but kindness. I want you to think that way of me--to remember -that I've been kind to you, always. You will, won't you, dear?" - -She did not seem to hear. Her face was bowed down upon her arms, flung -out across the table. She was an old-fashioned woman, and still silly -enough to pray to the God who had placed her in this world of puzzles. - - - -END OF BOOK TWO - - - - -BOOK THREE - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE EXTREME MONOGAMY OF MR. RAWN - -I - -It is always more or less annoying to put away a wife. Even if the -expense of the process be little, as in these modern days it has come -to be, and even if consent thereto be mutual, as is so often the case, -there are in practically all cases so many unpleasant attendant -features as almost to dispose one to favor the abolishment of the -marriage idea, and to condemn it as one not destined to survive in -these days of modern competition. This, the more especially as regards -that monogamic idea of marriage which the government at Washington -harshly seeks to extend over our entire domain. As to the idea of -polygamy, much may be said in its favor. Thus, if one be tired of one -wife, or bored by another, in polygamy it is easy to shift the domestic -scene to a third, and that in wholly good-humored fashion. The idea of -divorce has about it something almost personal, as though one were -displeased over some matter, as though one held in one's heart -something actually of criticism, or dissatisfaction, or mayhap -condemnation of one's own earlier judgment in the selection of a -helpmeet. - -Again, even after divorce has been consummated, there are so many small -habits to be broken, heritage and hold-over of relations but recently -sundered. For instance, if one has been accustomed every Friday -evening to have shoulder of pork and boiled cabbage at table, and if -only one woman has evinced ability to prepare shoulder of pork and -cabbage in the proper manner, and if that woman has chanced to be one's -lately current wife, it is, let us repeat, an annoying thing to find -that that particular woman, after deliberately forming and fostering in -one a craving for shoulder of pork and cabbage--after having -established an addiction, as it were, in one's soul for that viand--has -with shameless disregard of wifely duty and domestic decency obliged -one to divorce her, perhaps _ex vinculo_, or at least _ab mensa et -thoro_. - -And again there may be yet other habits upon the one hand or the other -which must be broken or readjusted. If one's wife--or one of one's -wives--has been in the habit of leaving her tatting each afternoon on -the top of the table near the best view out of the bow window, and if -one sees continually this abandoned tatting permanently left there in -the confusion of her permanent departure--it is annoying, let us -repeat, to be reminded of a habit to whose creator we have said -farewell. It causes a mental ennui constantly to be removing tatting -or embroidery. - -Or, if one's current wife has had the old-fashioned and not wholly -well-bred habit of meeting one at the door of an evening, at the close -of the day's labors--just as in the evening the cave woman greeted her -man at the mouth of the cave to ask him what had been the fortune of -the day's hunt--and if now that footfall, ill-bred, yet after all -habitual--and was it wholly unwelcome, after all?--shall have ceased -for ever, with what equanimity, let us ask, can we regard the memory of -the woman who formed that habit and handed down an annoying expectation -to her husband, impossible of fulfillment after her departure? - -It is, as John Rawn wisely has said, true that much may be said in -favor of the idea of marriage; yet upon the other hand, how very much -there is that could be said against it, or at least against it as -implying an unrestricted continuance, offering no change in -association. The which is by way of saying something to prove John -Rawn's excellently philosophical course in life to have been quite -correct. There could have been no doubt as to the wisdom of his -marrying Laura, his wife, in the first place, no doubt as to the wisdom -of continuing the marriage relation with her for many years; but, upon -the other hand, it is obvious that his idea of the timeliness of the -divorce in due season was equally wise. Indeed, the only reservation -in his mind in regard to this latter matter was one of censure for a -woman who, having entered into the holy state of matrimony with a -gentleman of his parts, had had the temerity to create in his soul an -addiction for shoulder of pork and cabbage; who had left her tatting -upon the table; and who, departing, had given no future address whither -her tatting might be sent! Yes, Laura Rawn had been, without doubt or -question, an unreasonable and unkind wife. - -Above all it was wrong for a woman to go away and leave her late -husband feeling so much alone. Why should he, John Rawn, be allowed to -become conscious of a feeling of lonesomeness? Why should he be left -to dread the drawing of the curtains at night, when there remained only -the pound of the surf along the wall, the wail of the wind in the -cornice? One chloroforms a formerly prized dog, but misses it. It is -much the same way with the divorced wife. Too many unpleasant features -attend the process of such separation. Any civilization worth the name -ought to devise some method less annoying for this which Mr. Rawn has -so fittingly described as the corollary of the marriage rite. Surely -our boasted age has its drawbacks, its shortcomings! - - - -II - -Some men in such circumstances brood; some drink; others search out the -other woman or women. John Rawn was cast in different mold. He had, -in short, spoken truth when he told his wife that he had no new -matrimonial plans. Situated thus, yet handicapped thus in his -new-found solitude, but a few days had passed before he sent over for -his daughter, Grace, and her husband, Charles Halsey; there being in -his mind a plan to mitigate certain unpleasant features of his life as -he now found it ordered. - -He greeted Halsey and Grace at the door gravely, with dignity, when -they came one evening in response to his invitation. They entered, -just a trifle awed, as they always were, by the august surroundings of -Graystone Hall, so different from their own cottage near the factory. -The owner of the place looked well the part of owner here. John Rawn -still was large and strong, the city had not yet much softened his -lines. His hair now was whiter about the temples, but its whiteness -left his appearance only the more distinguished. You scarce could have -found in all the haunts of prominent citizens a better example of -prominent citizen than himself, John Rawn. - -The major domo took the wraps of the young people and vanished -silently. Rawn, waiting for them in the drawing-room--not in the hall, -as once he would have done--with dignity motioned them to places in his -presence, even brought a low chair himself for the sad-faced, -hunchbacked child which represented the Rawn succession in the third -generation. - -"Go kiss grandpa, Lola!" said Grace to her daughter; and went to show -her the way. But the child, turning suddenly, only hid her face in her -mother's skirt. - -"Laura's timid," apologized the mother. The disapproval on her -father's face was obvious enough. He had passed bitter hours alone, -pondering over this child, hesitating whether to love it or to hate it, -whether to accept it or to regard it as a blot upon his life. He had -hoped a grandson, since he no longer might hope a son of his own. This -crippled child was the sole Rawn succession. His pendulous lower lip -trembled for a time in the self-pity which now and again came to John -Rawn. It seemed hard enough that he, John Rawn, president of the -International Power Company, should have no better evidence of -gratitude on the part of fortune. He hated Halsey all the more. - - - -III - -But now he did not lack directness. "Grace," he said, "I've called you -over to-night because to-morrow, as you know, is Friday." - -"Yes, Pa." - -"And as you know, Grace, your mother--that is to say, the late Mrs. -Rawn, always had the way--in short, I may say that she induced me to -depend upon--I mean to say that always she had shoulder of pork and -cabbage for Friday evening. Now, I am left alone, helpless--it is too -much!" - -Mr. Rawn made no attempt wholly to conceal his just emotion. "Now look -at me," he resumed. "Your mother went away, and selfishly neglected to -take into consideration this habit, or to provide any means for meeting -it. My chef has tried often to prepare this dish. I must say he -always has failed." - -"Why don't you write to Mrs. Rawn and ask her for the recipe?" asked -young Halsey soberly. - -"That is not practical," rejoined Mr. Rawn icily, "even did I know that -lady's present address; as I do not." - -His daughter sat gazing straight at him, under her heavy brows, but -made no comment. Grace had not improved with years. Her face was -heavy, pasty, her expression morose. The corners of her mouth turned -down, and deep vertical frown-wrinkles sat between her dark eyebrows. - -"But I do not wish that name mentioned again," said John Rawn raising a -hand. "I dismissed that thought of asking her aid as something -unworthy of me. Let Friday come. I shall seek no aid outside of those -from whom it may fitly be expected." Ah, hero! - - - -IV - -"Now, Grace," he continued later, turning toward her, "I know very well -you're a good housekeeper." - -"She is that!" Halsey nodded. Continually he forced himself into such -approval of his wife as he could compass. Continually he refused -comparisons. - -"Precisely, and skilled in all the dishes which the late Mrs. Rawn had -as specialties. You do not know how things are running here, Grace. I -can't get anything done on time, I'm at untold expense all the time, -and am deprived of what I really want. Grace, I need a housekeeper!" - -"Surely, Pa. Why don't you hire one?" - -"How much better off would I be in that case? None in the least. No, -I want you. You'll have to come over here to live!" - -The young couple sat gazing at him for a time before making reply. - -"That's impossible, Pa," said Grace. "I have a home of my own, and -it's more than twenty miles from here." - -John Rawn raised a hand. "I have thought all that out. You reason -now, as so many do, when any distinct change of life is proposed to -them. You let the little things outweigh the larger ones. It was a -fault your mother had. Now the large matter, the really important -thing, is this--that I can not be allowed to live on here in this way -with all these annoyances. Too much depends upon me, in business, for -me to have the quiet and peace of my life interfered with. I've got to -have a clear head--especially on Saturday. Now, then, if you can step -in here, my daughter, and establish in some measure the sort of life I -have always been used to, evidently that is your duty, and you ought -not to balance against it the small inconveniences which that course -would cause you and your husband. I'm quite sure you can teach that -chef--" - -"But, Mr. Rawn, I've got to be at the factory almost day and night!" -broke in Halsey. - -"Precisely. I do not mean for you to make your home here, only Grace. -You'll have to stay on where you are. Of course, you can come here at -times to report, at least once or twice a week--say Friday night. Very -much depends on you, Charles. You know how much I value you, how much -I rely on your services. Really, it all depends on you, our success as -a company. We've been very patient, although I must say--" - - - -V - -Halsey muttered something under his breath and turned away. His -attitude angered Rawn to the point of forgetting himself. - -"Never mind what you think about it, young man! It's what _I_ think -about it that counts. Grace belongs here, anyhow. She will have a -wider life with me. It's time she had some things which she has never -known. It may be necessary for us to travel, to see something of this -country and Europe. Besides, this child needs care. All these things -cost more money than you can afford, young man. Don't try to balk me -in what I suggest. It is obviously the right thing to do." - -"But how long--" - -"Indefinitely!" - -"And you want me to break up my home 'indefinitely'? Well, I must -confess I don't in the least see it that way, Mr. Rawn." - -"You're selfish, and that's why you can't see it, Charles. Above all -things you ought to avoid the vice of selfishness. You are not parting -from your wife, but only helping her to a better grade of living. -Meantime, of course, your duty to her and to the company is to make a -success of your work. Think of your business, my son. There is no -good comes of selfishness. Try to be just. And for God's sake, also, -try to get one of those machines done!" - -Halsey only sat and looked at him darkly for a time, making no reply. - -"It seems to me that I can never get you to understand, Charles," -resumed Rawn, "that things are not the way they used to be before we -came here to Chicago. I'm a bigger man now than I was then. I've -grown these last two or three years, my boy. I should not be surprised -if eventually I were obliged to make my residence in New York, if -indeed not abroad. We are rising in the world, rising very fast, -Charles. Do you want to go up with the Rawns, or stay down with the -Halseys of this world? Besides, in this case you ought to respect the -wishes of your own wife. You want to remember, my dear boy, that my -daughter, Grace, is half Rawn as well as half Johnson. The only -trouble with her is, the Rawn half has not yet had its innings." - - - -VI - -Halsey turned and stared at his wife. He found her sitting with her -dark eyes fixed, now on her father, now wandering hither and yon over -the rich surroundings in her father's home. To his intense surprise, -she had as yet issued no veto to this calm proposal to which they all -had listened. In his surprise he forgot comment of his own. What -caused him greatest surprise of all was his secret feeling that he was -not so reluctant to this arrangement as he ought to be! He pondered -Grace, her sour visage, her morose air. He recalled countless angry, -irritated, irritating words. He looked, and saw no longer any feminine -charm. It took all his resolution not to question why he had ever made -this choice. Almost he began a certain comparison. - -"Now let this end it," resumed John Rawn. "Let comforts, and let -luxuries, come where they have been earned. It's the Rawn half of -Grace that has earned the luxuries, Charles, if I am willing to give -them to her. Take what you can get, my son, of comfort and luxury in -this life--after you've earned them. But earn them first. Your place -is over there at the works. This is your opportunity. Fall in with my -plans and I'll carry you along. Don't try to hold Grace over there -when she belongs here. Don't be selfish, Charles." - -He relented just a trifle. "I don't say this is going to last for -ever. Pull off success over there for us. I'll tell you what I'll -do--the day you can charge a storage battery car from one of our second -current receivers--finished and in place there in the factory--and run -it from the factory up here, I'll make you a present of fifty thousand -dollars." - - - -VII - -"And about Grace--?" Ah! that comparison-- - -"She'll be a good deal closer to you then than she is now. She's half -_Rawn_, I tell you, Charles; and love in a cottage does not suit the -Rawn blood to-day! - -"But I'll tell you--" his face lightened a bit at the jest--"you can go -on with your brotherhood of man ideas over there at the factory. I -hope you love them--those brothers who are trying to ruin me and this -company! Try them out--associate with them--love them all you can. -Compare that life with this, my boy; and when you've done your work, -for which you are paid--when you can charge one car at one receiver, -and come from that life to this, on the strength of your brains and -your own ability, as I have come here myself--why, I say I'll give you -a slice of a million dollars! Then you can compare that life with -this, and see how you like the two. I've made up my mind already about -that! So has Grace." - -Halsey turned once more to his wife. She had changed in the last few -minutes. Her eye was brighter, her color higher. She was gazing not -at her husband nor at her child, but at these rich surroundings. - -"I wonder if I could play one of my old pieces on the piano any more -now?" she said gaily, rising and walking to the seat of the grand piano -which stood across the room from them. "I've been so _busy_--" - - - - -CHAPTER II - -ASPARAGUS, ALSO POTATOES - -I - -What is written is written. Grace moved to Graystone Hall and Halsey -remained at the factory cottage; nor did the separation, which was -regarded by both as merely temporary after all, afflict either to the -extent that both had supposed it would. Grace now became acting -mistress of a large and elaborate _ménage_. As to her husband, his -domestic affairs fell into the hands of Mrs. Ann Sullivan, wife of Jim -Sullivan, Halsey's most trusted foreman in the factory. - -Mrs. Sullivan, blessed with six children of her own, alleged that it -would be no trouble whatever to her to take on the sweeping, mending, -and all else for an additional household, and to furnish meals for the -solitary head thereof; and such was her ability to make proof of all -these statements that she in part was to blame for the sad truth that -Halsey was not as unhappy as he ought to have been. - -The chief reason for Halsey's easy readjustment, however, lay somewhere -in his comparison of the Halsey blood with blood half Rawn. Grace had -been cold, after all. She had openly been discontented, and especially -unhappy since the birth of the deformed child. She had left him and -gone to her father with no great protest; nor did she, at the occasions -of their rare and lessening visits, display more than lukewarm interest -in her husband and her former home. Within six months she was -beginning to blossom out in raiment, in demeanor. She spoke of things -not in his knowledge though in hers. She was changing. She was going -up in the world. He, for the time at least, was doing no better than -to stand still; as the factory now was doing, and International Power, -also--marking time, waiting for something. - - - -II - -Ann Sullivan was not a bad philosopher, besides being a good cook, and -at times she did not hesitate to engage Mr. Halsey in conversation when -they met at this or that time of the day; as when by chance, one -noontide when he came home for lunch, he found her sweeping down the -front stair. - -"You're lookin' lonesome to-day, Mr. Halsey," she remarked without much -preliminary. "You're fair grievin' for your wife, I suppose? But why -should you expict anny woman to stay here whin she has such a Pa, with -such a house as her Pa has?" - -"Would you have gone over there, Mrs. Sullivan?" asked Halsey, stopping -and feeling in his pocket for a pipe of tobacco. It was a question -they often had discussed. - -"Would I? In a minnit! I'd lave Jim Sullivan for iver if I'd one -chanct such as your wife had." - -She grinned, but her look belied her speech. - -"What I'm wantin', Mr. Halsey," she went on, "is what anny woman wants. -I want a di'mond star to wear on me head whin I'm sweeping flures. I -need di'mond earrings and bracelets to wear whin I'm makin' your beds, -you mind; and a silk dress that hollers 'I'm a-comin'!' whin I start -out to scrub the steps. Ain't it the truth, Mr. Halsey? Ain't that -what ivery woman in the wurrld, at laste in America, is wantin'?" - -"Sure," nodded Halsey. "Don't forget the automobile while you're -wishing." - -"True it is! Whut woman of anny social position has not got her -awtomo_beel_ to-day? Luk at me. If I had me rights, I'd have me -electric bro'om brought to the coorb ivery mornin' for me to go to -market; and ivery evenin', after I'd got me sweepin' done, I'd have me -long gray torpedy corm around to take me and Jim out fer a fast spin up -the bullyvard. Me with di'monds on my hair, with rings on me fingers -an' bells on me toes, a-settin' there an' lukkin' scornful. Oh, I was -born in Ireland, but I'm American now. The day Jim Sullivan gives me -what is me due, and I git me first awtomo_beel_, 'twill be the proud -day fer me--the day whin I'm first fined fer vi'latin' the speed law of -the city. 'Tis a great counthry this!" - - - -III - -Mrs. Sullivan grinned happily at her romancing; but presently set her -broom against the door-jamb and turned to speak more in her real mind. - -"Anny woman wants to blackguard a little once in a while, Mr. Halsey, -sir, and all women like to lie twice in a while. I'm just lyin' to you -now, because the birds is singin' and the weather is so fine. - -"Listen! Anny woman that's goin' to be happy is goin' to be happy -because of the stomach she has for eatin', and the joy she has for -dancin', and the heart she has for love of her man and her childern. -And anny woman that has her heart in the right place is goin' to stand -by them and not by herself; and not by anny one ilse. Try me and see -if I'm lyin' now! You're the boss. Fire Jim Sullivan to-day, and see -do I stick with him, or do I go with some man that gives me di'monds, -and awtamo_beels_. I'd stick--and so'd anny other woman that loved her -man and her childern." - -"I'm glad you think so, Mrs. Sullivan." - -"You know I think so! Oh, maybe it's because I wasn't born in this -country. Over there, 'tis the woman helps to make the stake. Here, -she helps to spend it. 'Tis a fine counthry this--fer policemin. So -far as bein' happy in it's concerned, I dunno! Maybe it's the Irish in -me that's happy, and not the American. I dunno again. 'Tis all a -question which you want to be, rich or happy!" - -"Or useful!" ventured Halsey. - -"They're the same. Bein' useful is bein' happy. Ain't it the truth?" - -Halsey nodded again and Mrs. Sullivan reached once more for her -implement of industry. - -"Jim Sullivan fits in his job," said she. "He's strong and can hold -his job all right. I'm strong, and I can hold mine here, just the -same. We've only six childern, and I wish 'twas a dozen. No, it's no -trouble to take care of this house, too. I'm only thinkin' of that -little lamb of yours she tuk away with her. 'Tis a mother she nades." - -"Please don't, Mrs. Sullivan," said Halsey quietly. - -"I mane no harm, and I'm feelin' fer you, me boy, you havin' a crippled -child to face the world where even the strong has hard enough times -ahead. Still, she'll have money, maylike!" - -"Well, Mrs. Sullivan, I'm not sure of that--" - -"Of course it's none of me business--of course not. But only look at -the sky and only hear the birds this mornin'! You're young, and God -may give you two yet the dozen that I have longed for, denied as I do -be with only six. You'll be goin' up yerself some day, with all thim -rich folks, Mr. Halsey, boy. I'm stayin' here with Jim Sullivan. Whin -we can't afford sparrowgrass we eats potaties." - - - -IV - -"But tell me, Mr. Halsey," she went on shrewdly, "how long will we be -havin' even potaties to eat? Ye don't keep min there in the factory -long--there's not many at wurrk now. Besides, there's no smoke in thim -chimbleys! And 'tis time. _What's the mystery there, boy?_" - -"A good deal of labor troubles," commented Halsey non-committally. - -"More than _that_!" she insisted, drawing close to him. "Listen! I -mean well to you, boy, and so does Jim. He'll stick. But Jim told me -the night that he could walk out, and pick up a clean tin thousand -dollars fer the walkin'!" - -Halsey controlled himself. This was news of staggering sort. "Why -doesn't he, then, Mrs. Sullivan? That's a good deal of money," he said -quietly. - -"Yes, why doesn't he?--with me half American and gettin' more so aich -year,--me a-needin' di'monds and awtomo_beels_! The fool Irish! 'Tis -maybe his ijiotic idea he ought to stick." - -Halsey made no answer except to look over at the gaunt factory -buildings. A blue-coated figure was pacing back and forth before the -door. - -"There's Jim Sullivan workin' inside, and there's Tim Carney walkin' -beat outside," she resumed; "and the pickets tryin' to break in, and -some one _else_ tryin' to break in. What's it about, Mr. Halsey? For -the company? _What's_ the company?" - -"It furnishes asparagus for some, and potatoes for others, Mrs. -Sullivan." - -"Oh, does it, thin? Does it mind that potaties costs more than they -did, and so pay us better, or worse, for what we do? If what we eat -goes up, we can't live; and if we can't live, them that can has got to -support us somehow. Ain't it the truth? What's the ind of it, me boy? - -"I'm not askin' about the justice of it, but about the business of it. -If our men starve, what'll we do? Mr. Halsey, sir, we'll raise hell! -That's what we'll do! Too much asparagus in this country, and too few -potaties, and thim of a bad class, is goin' to raise hell in this -counthry. Ain't it the truth? - -"Luk at Jim workin' there. And luk at Tim protectin' of him. 'Tis -fine, isn't it? I'm thankin' God, meself, there's birds and sunshine -in the world. If it wasn't for thim and the priest, I'm wonderin' -sometimes what us poor folks would do." - - - -V - -"The theory is that some men are born stronger than others, Mrs. -Sullivan, and so entitled to the asparagus," smiled Halsey. - -"Is it so? Jim Sullivan yonder is strong in what makes a man. In what -makes a woman I'm strong. Hasn't God got a place fer us, as well as -Mr. Rawn? And if God don't give it, haven't such as us just got to -_take_ it?--I don't mean the asparagus, but just the potaties?" - -"But I've said enough," she went on, turning suddenly. "'Tis only -because I'm fond of you, me boy, that I've said so much. There's -devilment and mystery goin' on here. I don't ask you what your mystery -is, so don't ask me what is mine. Jim's likely to stick, and so am I. -'Tis likely we can be useful in the world, and as for bein' strong, -we're strong enough to have each other. And as I was sayin', we've the -birds and the sunshine--and the priest! So take your mystery you've -got in there, and match it up with mine. L'ave Jim Sullivan alone, and -when these two mysteries git together, yours and ours, why, maybe -there'll be _hell_!" - -Halsey did some thinking when he was alone. He knew now, and had -known, that something, somebody besides the pickets of the labor -unions, had an eye on this mysterious factory of theirs. He had felt -for a long time that there was an enemy working somewhere, that a spy -was making definite attempts to get secret information. Now, this -unknown enemy was able to offer ten thousand dollars bribe money. The -case was serious enough. - -It was worse than serious. He had been sufficiently warned. Why, -then, his pipe cold in his teeth, did he sit staring now and think of -things altogether apart from the factory? Why did he dream of the -birds and the sunshine? Why did comparisons still force themselves -into his mind, and why did he long for something life had not yet -brought to him--something that Ann Sullivan and her man owned, though -they had so little else? - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE SILENT PARTNER - -I - -There are men who make a living, sometimes a very good one, through the -process of teaching others to do what they themselves can not do. You -can purchase for a price in any of many quarters printed maxims -embodying full formula covering the secret of success; in each case -from one who has not succeeded. Nothing is cheaper than maxims, in -type, in worsted, or in transparencies. To be in the fashion you -should have certain of these above your desk, and should incline your -ear to those who profess to teach what can not be taught even by those -most nearly fitted to teach. - -John Rawn cared little for maxims, being above them, in his own belief, -at least. In all likelihood he had never read the advice of the -philosopher, to wit: that each man should hitch his wagon to a star. -No, he knew something better. He hitched his to a river. - -Very naturally, John Rawn selected the largest river that he could -find. His silent partner was none less than the Father of the Waters! - -There is this to be said about a river, that it is wholly tireless and -immeasurably powerful; that it enters into no combinations against -capital, and does its work without unseemly disturbances. Rawn was -wise enough to know these things, nor asked any maxims to advise him -therein. In his belief it was better to allow this sort of silent -partner to furnish the industry and the economy. - - - -II - -Who shall measure the power of a river, for ever falling to the sea? -How many millions of horses and men has it equalled in its wasted power -in each generation, in each decade, in each year? Certainly sufficient -to lift the entire burden of labor from the shoulders of the world. - -What mind can measure the extent of such a force, or dream the -possibilities of its application, if it could be set to work? What -equivalent of human brain and brawn could be valued against this -careless, ceaseless power, derived endlessly from the air and the -earth--power given to the peoples of the earth before the arrival of -our present political and industrial masters; given them in the time -when the earth was the Lord's and the fullness thereof. The minerals -under the earth, the food produced in the soil, the waters offering -paths and power--before the earth and its fullness passed from the -hands of the Lord into those of our present masters, these, it may be -conceived, were intended as the Lord's gift to the peoples of the -earth. That, however, was quite before the advent of John Rawn. - -Toil has always been the human lot. We have carried the mechanical -burdens as well as the mental burdens of life on our own human bodies -and souls; although all the time thousands of patient giants were -waiting, willing to serve us. John Rawn could see them waiting. He -knew to whom one day would be due the power, and the kingdom, and the -glory. He could look toward the white-topped mountains, foreseeing the -day when they would be put under tribute, because they breed tumbling -waters of immeasurable strength and utility. Their heritage of beauty -and majesty is naught to minds such as that of John Rawn's. Utility is -the one word in the maxims of such as these, men beloved of the -immortal gods. - -We speak of kings, of emperors, but what emperor in all the history of -the world had servants such as these, submissive giants such as these, -to work for him? We speak of miracles of old. What miracles ever -equaled the business wonders, the money-piling miracles, of the last -twenty years in America? - - - -III - -Where gat this silent partner of John Rawn's its own tremendous power? -Out of the sun and the earth, the parents of humanity. The raindrop on -the leaf, shot through with the shaft of the sun, fell to some near-by -rill and, joined by other rills, marched on, alive, tireless, -tremendous, toward the sea. Even far up toward their source, had your -little boat lodged, counter to the current, on some rock or snag, and -had you attempted to push it back against the thrust of the downcoming -waters, you might have got some knowledge of the power of even a little -stream. Ten feet below you, that power again would have been quite as -great; and ten feet below that again as great; and so on, to the sea. -It required the advice of no professional maxim makers to teach a few -of our great men, our specially endowed superiors, John Rawn first -among them, that this power one day must be used. In accordance as it -shall be used, the burden of humanity may be lifted from human -shoulders, or thrust crushingly down upon them until indeed humanity -shall cease to hope. The earth and its fullness are no more the Lord's -to-day. They are John Rawn's. - -The simple plan of the International Power Company, was to make some -strong obstruction inviting the enormous resistance of the Father of -the Waters, tantalizing that power into being. Thus, in a manner -perfectly simply, this force, once evoked and utilized, would turn -numberless wheels endlessly, tirelessly. So much for the material side -of manifested power. The essence, the soul, the intangible spirit of -that material power was, in the plans of International, to be -transmitted by wire at first, and later through the free air. Its sale -in definite and merchantable quantities would come as near to the -solution of the problem of perpetual motion and perpetual profit as may -be arrived at in this world of limitations. - - - -IV - -Rawn asked nothing better than this idea. It was beautiful, and he -valued it over all his many and various other ventures. He could let -his silent partner put other men out of work; and so these could be -rehired at such price as he himself cared to set. He saw the time -approach when he would be able to retail at a price, remote from his -silent, tireless partner's labors, merchantable packages of power, to -feed a cart, a plow, a wheel of any sort; power to lift and labor, to -toil ceaselessly _without remonstrance_. It was and is a splendid -dream. Its bearing is as you be Rawn or Halsey. That power shall -labor for or against mankind as ourselves shall say. - -Shall we blame ourselves, or John Rawn, in this republic, that he saw -on ahead only limitless personal power, limitless gold, jewels, wine, -women, personal indulgence of any sort that appealed to him? Shall we -blame Halsey for dreading the issue of these plans, delaying them all -he could; clinging to the belief that the earth was the Lord's and the -fullness thereof; and that the Lord gave it to all mankind? And shall -we blame the stock-holders for being impatient at renewed delays? The -wire transmission was installed, making every man in the International -rich. Yet every man in the secret of the real ambition of this company -burned inwardly at this enforced secrecy and this unseemly delay. The -mysterious factory at the edge of the great inland city still was -silent. The directors raged. They wanted to drain to the last drop -the strength even of this tireless giant. They wanted to begin to -bottle, measure and sell, sell for ever, the very force which holds the -spheres in their places! In time we shall perhaps see completed what -these men planned. There is no logical reason why, if one planet can -be owned by a John Rawn or so, yet others should not! - - - -V - -For a long time Jim Sullivan, foreman at the factory of the -International, wondered and pondered as to the real intent of these -strange machines which he saw little by little growing up under the -uncommunicative direction of the superintendent, Halsey. He had never -seen anything like them, with their vast coils of insulation, their -intricate cogs and wheels, their centrally-hidden huge glass jars, and -the long, toothed ridge, like a delicate metal comb, which surmounted -the top of each. There was something mysterious about it all. He was -sure that Halsey did something with these machines when the men were -not about. The very air seemed throbbing with some tense quality of -mystery. The men themselves were suspicious, irritable. Never was the -air in any factory more surcharged alike with ignorance and with -anxiety. Man after man, good mechanic though he was, quit the place -simply because he did not know what he was doing. The feeling of -mystery was tense, oppressive. - -On one certain Sunday morning Jim Sullivan strolled over to the vacant -factory. He knew that the superintendent had spent almost the entire -night there working alone on one of these mysterious machines. It -stood there now. And--yes! it was different from what it had been when -Sullivan last saw it! It was now apparently complete, so far as he -could tell. There was no one near it. Halsey had gone home, to bed. -Of late he had been very tired, pale, haggard; and he always was at his -work in the factory, when good men slept, and knew light-winged dreams. - - - -VI - -Jim Sullivan, stood now looking at the grim, uncanny machine, hands in -his pockets, wondering. He looked about him, superstitiously. There -seemed to be something in the air, he could not explain what. He -turned, looking behind him, and tiptoed to the front door, where Tim -Carney, the blue-coated guardian, stood leaning against the wall. - -"Tim!" he whispered, although there was none to hear. "Come on in -here!" - -"What is it, Jim?" asked the watchman. - -"I dunno; that's why I'm callin' you." - -"Has anny wan broke into th' place?" - -"Not as I know, but somethin's happened here. I'm figurin' 'twas the -boss done it. Come in and have a luk, now. He's gone home." - -They stepped gingerly on across the floor, along the row of unfinished -machines, and paused at the one farthest from the door, which had -excited Jim's curiosity. - -"Here's where the boss worked all last night!" whispered the foreman -hoarsely. "'Twas daybreak when he come home, an' he was all in. He's -been workin' on her before now, I know that. I'm thinkin' she's about -done, belike!" - -"Whatever kind of a spook joint is this, anyhow, Jim?" demanded the -watchman. "What's she for, do ye think now?" They two, bullet-headed, -hairy, heavy and powerful, stood looking at this contrivance, whose -growth through many months they had been watching. The value of it -either could measure in comprehensible terms. It was worth ten -thousand dollars to either of them who would--and could--tell a certain -man how it was made. - -"I dunno what she's for," answered Jim slowly, "but I'm thinkin' it's -no good at all. It's the devil, maylike. Not that she's so big -neither. I could almost turn her over with a pinch bar." He pointed -to an arm, or lever, which stood at the side of the machine. "She -looks somethin' like one o' them drills I used to run in th' tunnel, -time Hogan was mayor, do ye mind? Whin we wanted to throw her in we -pushed down an arm, somethin' like this." - -"Sure, Jim, 'tis you have the head fer machines. I dunno about thim at -all," rejoined Tim, scratching his head. "But 'tis a shame we can't -throw her in, now. Manny a time I've wondered what 'twas all about in -here. Why shud strangers be so anxious as to--" - -"She luks like a patent gate in a fince, as much as annything else," -commented Jim. "But as fer throwin' her in, how cud we? She's -attached to nothin' at all, so there's nothin' to throw her into. -She's got no wire or cord runnin' to her, unless belike it comes up -through the flure. She looks like she was some sort of motor, but how -she's to run I dunno. Now if she was geared to annything, you cud -throw her in, most-like, by this thing here. It luks like she was -done, and if she is, I don't know why the boss wud go away and leave -the roof open over her." He pointed to a sliding window in the roof -directly above the machine. He then reached out and swung some of his -weight upon the end of the engaged arm or lever. Then, to the joint -surprise of the two observers, a very singular thing forthwith occurred. - - - -VII - -What happened, as nearly as either of them later could describe it, -might have been called a duplication in large of the phenomena of -Halsey's original motor, with which he burst the fan in the railway -office at St. Louis. There was a low crackling in the air, a dancing -series of blue flame points along the toothed ridge. Then began a low -purr, as of a motor in full operation. They could see sparks emitted, -somewhere at the interior of the intricate machinery. A living, -splitting, crackling roar filled the air about them--the roar of the -shackled river, far away, raging at the violence done it! A projecting -shaft, fitted with a pulley head, began to revolve, faster and faster, -until its speed left it apparently motionless. - -Something had happened, they knew not what. The machine was alive! -Some force seemed to come down out of the air, to locate itself -somewhere within this intricate mechanism. They stood, two -bullet-headed, hairy, powerful men, looking at what they had done. - -"Do ye mind _that_ now?" gasped Jim Sullivan, and wrenched at the -lever, restoring it to its original position. The purring of the motor -ceased, the blue sparks disappeared, the roar subsided growlingly. - - - -VIII - -"What was it?" demanded Tim Carney. "Throw her in again, Jim!" - -"Not on yer life!" gasped Jim Sullivan. "I dunno what 'tis, but I'll -take no chances with the divil an' his works, on a Sunday leastways. -There's somethin' _wrong_ in here, I'm tellin' you, Tim. What made her -go, I dunno. She's under power, same like a compressed air drill--but -where'd she _git_ her power?--the divil's in it, that's all, Tim. I'm -thinkin' the best we can, do is to git away from here. Come, shut the -dure--an' watch it. Me, I'm goin' to the praste ag'in this very day! -I see now what that felly wanted!" - -Jim Sullivan locked the door and left his friend guarding it; then -hurried across the street to the superintendent's cottage. Mrs. -Sullivan, busy there about her morning duties, would have stopped him, -but Jim would have no denial, and hastening up the stairs to Halsey's -bedroom, impetuously demanded entrance. Halsey, drawn, haggard, -unshorn, greeted him, half sitting up in bed. - -"What's wrong, Jim?" he demanded. "Has anybody got into the works?" - -"Hush, boy!" said Jim, his finger on his lips. "You need tell me -nothin'. But I know what it's all about." - -Halsey sat looking at him dumbly. - -"Fire me if you like, my son," went on Jim Sullivan. "'Tis true I've -done what I had no right to do. Mr. Halsey, sir, _I throwed her in_!" - -"You did _what_?" - -"I throwed her in. An' she worked--she worked like a bird! Then I -throwed her out ag'in an' come away an' locked the door. Tim was -there, too. 'Tis none of my business. But I've come to tell you the -truth, an' you can fire me if you like! But it's hell, it's harnessed -hell ye've got in there. An' others want to stale it." - -By this time Halsey was getting into his clothing and only half -listening to what his foreman said. - -"What kills _me_ is, I can't see _how_ she works! She runs by herself -all the time, chuggin' like a fire ingin. But where does she _git_ it?" - -[Illustration: (Rawn and Virginia)] - -Halsey made no answer. He was pale as a dead man. A few moments later -they were hurrying down the stair, across the street, and through the -long, deserted room with its rows of gaunt enginery. They stood before -the completed receiver, whose motor so perfectly had caught the power -of the free second current from the air--John Rawn's costless, stolen -Power. - -"What makes her go?" demanded Jim Sullivan. "Fer what is the hole in -the roof yon?" - -Halsey turned to him. "It's the Mississippi River makes it go, Jim. -If we didn't leave a hole in the roof how could the river get through? -Now do you understand?" - -"My boy," said Jim kindly, laying a large hand on his shoulder, "you're -off your nut, of course. I don't blame ye, workin' so long as ye have, -an' worryin'. 'Tis a rest ye must be takin' now, or they'll be puttin' -ye in the bughouse fer fair!" - -"You're right!" said Halsey. "I think I'll just take a little ride -this afternoon. Jim, come here and help me. I want to see if we can -charge up this electric car. If I can do that, Jim, my boy, I'll be -richer by six o'clock than either of us ever dreamed of being!" - -Shaking his head dubiously, the big foreman lent a hand, and between -them they managed to roll the car into place. - -"Want to throw her down again, Jim?" demanded Halsey, motioning to the -lever and grinning. That worthy shook his head. - -"I'm scared of her, Mr. Halsey, that I am!" - -"And well you may be!" was Halsey's comment. He himself threw down an -arm on the opposite side of the receiver. This time the motor did not -resume its purring, the shaft did not revolve. - -"She's bruk!" said Jim. Halsey only pointed to the blue tips of -toothed ridge. "No," said he, "she's only doing another part of her -work. The power is going into the auto's motor instead of this. Two -forms, you see, Jim." - -A faint spark showed at the transmitter connection. "Come!" said -Halsey. "Let her work! We don't need to now." - - - -IX - -That afternoon, Charles Halsey took his seat at the steering wheel of -an electric car which had been charged with power taken from the air -without wire transmission. His task was done. He had accomplished -what he had started out to do. Throbbing beneath him was Power, the -power of yonder distant silent partner, power taken from the earth, and -the air, and the water; power of the elements; and power now definite, -segregant, merchantable! - -Halsey kicked in the gear and rolled out into the street. Pale, -preoccupied, he hardly noted where he was going; but found himself half -automatically directing the car through a maze of ill-paved, crowded -thoroughfares; until at length he reached the West-Side boulevard -system. Thence he crossed the river to the East, and headed north. -Strong and true, under a limit charge, the motor purred beneath him. -The mechanism of the car operated without defect. Nothing in the least -seemed wrong at any particular, nor did the car in any particular -differ in appearance from others of its humble and inconspicuous class. - - - -X - -None the less, midway of one of the large parks along the lake shore, -young Halsey suddenly disengaged the gear, cut off his power, and -applied the brakes. He was perhaps half way from his home on the -journey to Graystone Hall.... For a little time he sat in the car, -pale, almost motionless, deep in thought; careless of the passing -throng of other vehicles, the occupants of which regarded him -curiously. Then, suddenly, he threw in the gear again, turned on the -current; and, quickly turning about, retraced his course. He had been -gone less than an hour when he stood once more at the curb of his -cottage near the factory in the western suburb of the city. - -"So you're back again, sir!" commented Jim Sullivan. "An' did ye get -all that sudden wealth ye was tellin' me about, at all?" - -Halsey sat staring at him for a time. "No," said he, "I've changed my -mind. I'm going to wait a while." - -The foreman turned and tiptoed off to find his wife. "Annie," said he, -his voice low and anxious, "try if ye can get the boss to bed, an' make -him sleep as long as ever he can. He's goin' off his head, an' talkin' -like a fool. Somethin's wrong here, that's sure! Hell's goin' to -break loose, in yon facth'ry some day. But whativer comes, the boss is -crazy!" - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE BAKER'S DAUGHTER - -I - -A large part of our ambitious American population is prone boastfully -to ascribe its origin to one or other of those highly respectable, if -really little known monarchs to whom is commonly accorded the -foundation of Old World nobilities. We have built up a pretty fiction -regarding so-called blue blood, on the flattering, but wholly -unsupported supposition that royal qualities are transmissible to the -thirtieth and fortieth generation; so that 'tis a poor American family -indeed can not boast its coat of arms, harking back to royal days of -Charlemagne or William the Conqueror. It may be. Their Majesties were -active, morganatically at least no doubt, much-married men! - -But continually there arise disturbing instances to upset us in our -beliefs regarding aristocracy. There are so very many worthless -aristocrats, in whom the theory of descent did not work out according -to accepted schedule; and there are so very many worthy but wholly -disconcerting men who are not aristocrats--so continually do Lincolns -arise who, claiming nothing of birth or breeding, show themselves to be -possessed of manhood, show themselves, moreover, masters of those -instincts and practices which go with the much-abused title of -gentleman; a matter in which not all descendants of Charles or William -join them. - - - -II - -It is well known among theatrical managers that no real lady can -imitate a real lady. The highest salaries in ladies' theatrical rôles -are paid to ladies who are not ladies, but who play the parts of ladies -as they think ladies really would act in actual life. If you seek a -woman to carry off a gown, one to assume such really regal air as shall -bring the name of William or Charlemagne impulsive to your lips, find -one still owning not more than one of the requisite three generations -which are set as the lowest limit for the production of a gentleman or -a lady. - -Continually in our American aristocracy--and in that, _par -consequence_, of Europe--we find ladies whose fathers were laborers, -shop-keepers, soap-makers, butchers, this or that, anything you like. -So only they had money, they did as well as any to wear European -coronets, to assist at royal coronations. And, having proved their -powers in swift forgetfulness, they offer as good proof as any, of the -scientific fact that gentleness of heart and soul and conduct are not -things transmissible even to the third or fourth generation, either in -America or Europe. Your real aristocrat perhaps after all, is made, -not born. - -As to Virginia Delaware, daughter of the baker, John Dahlen, in St. -Louis, she started out in life with the deliberate intent of being a -lady, knowing very well that this is America, where all things come to -him or her who does not wait. In some way, as has been said, she had -achieved graduation at a famous school where the art of being a lady is -dispensed. She had, indeed, even now and then seen a lady in real -life; not to mention many supposed ladies in theatrical life, playing -the part as to them seemed fit, and far better than any lady could. - - - -III - -The soul finds its outward expression in the body. The ambition shapes -the soul. It was wholly logical and natural that, having her -particular ambition--that of many American girls--Virginia Delaware -should grow up tall, dignified, beautiful, composed, self-restraining, -kindly, gracious; these being qualities which in her training were -accepted as properly pertaining and belonging to all aristocrats. We -have already seen that, put to the test, in the midst of our best -aristocrats--those who frequent the most highly gilded and glazed -hotels in New York--she was accepted unhesitatingly as of the charmed -circle, even by the head waiters. Had you yourself seen her upon the -Chicago streets, passing to her daily occupation, you also in all -likelihood would have commented upon her as a rich young woman, and one -of birth, breeding and beauty. We have spoken somewhat regarding the -futility of mottoes and maxims in the case of an ambitious man. As -much might be said regarding their lack of applicability to the needs -of an ambitious woman. Virginia Delaware would have made her own -maxims, had she needed any; and had she been obliged to choose a coat -of arms, she surely would have selected the Christian motto of "Onward -and Upward." - - - -IV - -The best aid in any ambition lies in the intensity of that ambition. -We all are what we really desire to be, each can have what he really -covets, if he will pay the price for it. In her gentleness with her -associates, in her dignity and composure with her employer, in her -conduct upon the street and in the crowded car, in all situations and -conditions arising in her life, Virginia Delaware diligently played the -part of lady as best she comprehended that; because she had the intense -ambition to be a lady. She continually was in training. Moreover, she -had that self-restraint which has been owned by every woman who ever -reached any high place in history. She kept herself in hand, and she -held herself not cheap. Likewise, after the fashion of all successful -politicians, she cast aside acquaintances who might be pleasant but who -probably would be of little use, and pinned her faith to those who -promised to be of future value. Such a woman as that can not be -stopped--unless she shall, unfortunately, fall in love. - -If there was calumny, Virginia Delaware heeded it not. She accosted -all graciously and with dignity, as a lady should. And all this time -her great personal beauty increased to such point as to drive most of -her fair associates about the headquarters' offices to the verge of -rage. To be beautiful and aristocratic both assuredly is to invite -hatred! It is almost as bad as to be rich. Miss Delaware allowed -hatred to run its course unnoted. She needed no maxims over her desk, -required no ancestral coat of arms. She was an aristocrat, and meant -to be accepted as such. In all likelihood--though simple folk may not -read a woman's mind--she saw further into the future than did John Rawn -himself. - -There remained, then, as against the ambition of Virginia Delaware, the -one pitfall of love, and even this she easily avoided. Beautiful as -she unquestionably was, admired as she certainly was, if there had been -fire in this girl's heart for any man, she kept it either extinguished -or well banked for a later time. She had gently declined the heart and -hand of every male clerk in the office. She had chosen her own ways, -and was not to be diverted. Cool, ambitious, perfectly in hand, she -went her way, and bided her time. - -Cool, ambitious, perfectly in hand, John Rawn also went his way in -life. Two more ambitious souls than these, or two more alike, you -scarcely could have found in all the descendants of the two -bucaneer-monarchs we have named. - - - -V - -And Rawn continually found something responsive in the soul of this -young woman, something that never found its way into speech on either -side. She was the type of devotion and of efficiency. Gently, without -any ostentation, she took upon herself a vast burden of detail; and she -added thereto an unobtrusive personal service upon which Rawn -unconsciously came more and more to depend. Did he lack any little -accustomed implement or appliance, she found it for him forthwith. Did -he forget a name, a date, a filing record, it was she who supplied it -out of a memory infallible as a fine machine. From this, it was but an -easy step to the point where the young woman's unobtrusive aid became -useful even beyond business hours. John Rawn had never studied to play -in any social rôle. Did he need counsel in any social situation, she, -tactfully hesitant and modest, always was ready to tell him what he -should do, what others should do. Had he an appointment, it was she -who reminded him of it, and it was she who had made it. Were there -personal bills to pay, it was she who paid them. She presided over his -personal bank account, and there was no hour when she could not have -named the dollars and cents in his balance. Did he wish to avoid an -unwelcome visitor, it was arranged for him delicately and without -offense. Little by little, she had become indispensable, both in a -business and a social way--a fact which John Rawn did not fully -realize, but which she knew perfectly well. It had never been within -her plan to be anything less than that. She knew, although he did not, -that John Rawn also was indispensable to her. - -Rawn came from no social station himself, and as we have seen, had -grown up ignorant of conventional life, so that now he remained -careless of it, as had he originally. He made it matter of routine now -that this young woman should attend in all his visits to the East in -business matters--where, in short, he could not have got along without -her. There was talk over this--unjust talk--and much amused comment on -the fact that the two seemed so inseparable. Rawn did not know or note -it. They literally were running together, hunting in couple in the -great chase of ambition. Few knew now what the salary of the -president's private secretary represented in round figures. Certainly -she dressed as a lady. Certainly also she comported herself as one. -It was, in the opinion of John Rawn, no one's business that he -registered himself at the New York hotels, and either did not register -his companion at all, or else contented himself with the wholly -descriptive word "Lady" opposite the number of the room whose bills he -told the clerk to charge to his account. - - - -VI - -Never was there the slightest ground for suspicion of actual -impropriety between John Rawn and Miss Delaware. Abundance of bad -taste there certainly was, for Rawn, without explanation or apology to -any, always ate in company of his assistant, was constantly seen with -her on the streets, at the opera, the play. He showed, in short, that -he found her society wholly agreeable upon every possible occasion. If -this was in bad taste, if many or most, in the usual guess, put it at -the point of impropriety, John Rawn gave himself no concern. The Rawn -aristocracy began in him. He founded it, was its Charlemagne, its -William the Conqueror, as ruthless, as regardless of others, as -selfish, as megalomaniac as the best of kings. Here, therefore, were -two aristocrats! They ran well in couple. - -It is not to be supposed that a girl so shrewd as Virginia Delaware -could fail to realize the full import of all this. She let the slings -and arrows fall upon the buckler of her perfect dignity and her perfect -beauty, but she felt their impact. She was perfectly in hand, knew -perfectly well her mind, knew perfectly well the price she must pay. -She let matters take their course, knowing that they were advancing -safely and surely in one direction, that which she desired. She was -more skilled in human nature than her employer, saw deeper into a man's -heart than he had ever looked into a woman's! - -And then, at last, the life schedule of Virginia Delaware was verified. -At last, the inevitable happened. - - - -VII - -On one of these many trips to New York, Miss Delaware had been alone in -her apartments at the hotel for most of the afternoon. In the evening, -before the dinner hour, she was summoned to meet Mr. Rawn in one of the -hotel parlors. At once she noted his suppressed excitement. He scarce -could wait until they were alone, in a far corner of the room, before -explaining to her the cause. - -"I don't like to say this, Miss Delaware," he began, "but I've got to -do it!" - -"What do you mean, Mr. Rawn?" she replied in her usual low and clear -tones. - -"There's been talk!" - -"Talk? About what?" - -"Us!" - -"About us? What can you mean, Mr. Rawn?" she asked. - -"The world is so confoundedly small, my dear girl, that it seems -everything you do is known by everybody else. Of course, a man like -myself is in the public eye; but we've always minded our business, and -it ought not to have been anybody else's business beyond that." - -"You disturb me, Mr. Rawn! What has happened?" - -"--But now, to-night, now--just a little while ago--I met this fellow -Ackerman--you know him--big man in the company--used to be general -traffic manager down in St. Louis, on the old railroad where I -began--well, he was drunk, and he talked." - -"What could he say?" - -"He got me by the coat collar and proceeded to tell me how much--how -much--well, to tell the truth, he connected your name and mine. If he -wasn't drunk--and a director--I'd go down there yet and smash his face -for him! What business was it of his? Of course, men don't mind such -things so much. But when it comes to you--why, my dear girl!" - - - -VIII - -The truth has already been stated regarding John Rawn; that, -batrachian, half-dormant for almost half a century, and then putting -into business what energy most men put into love and sex, he had passed -a life of singular innocence, or ignorance, as to womankind. He had -never countenanced much gossip about women, because he had little -interest in the topic. The _grande passion_ marks most of us for its -own now and again, or is to be feared now and again; but the _grande -passion_ had passed by John Rawn. He was now approaching fifty years -of age. Married he had been, and divorced; but he had not yet been in -love. - -He now spoke to his like, his mate in the hunt, of the opposite sex, a -young woman who at that very moment was as beautiful a creature as -might have been found on all Manhattan, a woman known in all Manhattan -now as the mysterious "Lady of the Lightnings," the goddess of the -stock certificates of one of the most mammoth American corporations, a -creature over whom Manhattan's most critical libertines were -crazed--and helpless; moreover, a woman who, out of all those in the -great _caravanserai_ at that moment, might as well as any have been -chosen as the very type of gentle breeding and of gentle womanhood -alike. But she had not yet been in love. - - - -IX - -"I don't understand, Mr. Rawn," repeated she slowly. "What possible -ground could Mr. Ackerman have had? You surely don't think he could -have spoken to any one else?" - -"I wouldn't put that past Ackerman when he's drunk. If he'd talk to -me, he would to others. And you know perfectly well that when talk -begins about a woman, it never stops!" - -"No, that is the cruel part of it." - -Her voice trembled just enough, her eyes became just sufficiently and -discreetly moist; she choked a little, just sufficiently. - -"It is cruel," she said, with a pathetic little sigh, "but the hand of -every man seems to be against a woman. Did you ever stop to think, Mr. -Rawn, how helpless, how hopeless, we really are, we women?" - -He flung himself closer upon the couch beside her, his face troubled, -as she went on with her gentle protest. - -"All my life I've done right as nearly as I knew, Mr. Rawn. Perhaps I -was wrong in coming to trust so much to you--to depend on you so much. -It all seemed so natural, that I've just let matters go on, almost -without any thought. I've only been anxious to do my work--that was -all. But this cruel talk about us--well--it can have but one end. I -must go." - -"Go? Leave _me_? You'll do nothing of the sort! I'll take care of -this thing myself, I say--I'll stand between you and all that sort of -talk." - -"Mr. Rawn, I don't understand you." - - - -X - -They sat close together on this brocaded couch among many other -brocaded couches. Crystal and color and gilt and ivory were all about -them; pictures, works of art in bronze and marble and costly -porcelains. The air was heavy with fragrance, dripping with soft -melody of distant music. She was beautiful, a beautiful _young_ woman. -He caught one glance into her wide, pathetic eyes ere she turned and -bent her head. He caught the fragrance of her hair--that strange -fragrance of a woman's hair. Dejected, drooping as she sat, her hands -clasped loosely in her lap, he could see the bent column of her -beautiful white neck, the curve of her beautiful shoulders, white, -flawless. - -The flower on her bosom rose and fell in her emotion. She was a woman. -She was beautiful. She was young. Something subtle, powerful, -mysterious, stole into the air. - -She was a woman! - -Suddenly this thought came to John Rawn like a sudden blow in the face. -It came in a sense hitherto unknown to him in all his life. Now he -understood what life might be, saw what delight might be! He saw now -that all along he had admired this girl and only been unconscious of -his admiration. God! what had he lost, all these years! He, John -Rawn, had lived all these years, and _had not loved_! - -He reached out timidly and touched her round white arm, to attract her -attention. She flinched from him a trifle, and he also from her. Fire -ran through his veins as from a cup of wine, heady and strong. He was -a boy, a young man discovering life. The glory of life, the reason, -had been here all this time, and he had not suspected it. What deed -for pity had been wrought! He, John Rawn, never before had known what -love might be! He was the last man on Manhattan to go mad over -Virginia Delaware. - -She drew back from, him, seeing the flush upon his face, color rising -to her own. Indeed, the power of the man, his sudden vast passion, -were not lost upon her, different as he was from the idol of a young -girl's dreams. But Virginia Delaware saw more than the physical image -of this man beside her. She knew what he had to share, what power, -what wealth, what station. She knew well enough what John Rawn could -do; and she gaged her own value to him by the flush on his face, the -glitter in his eye. - -For one moment she paused. For one moment heredity, the way of her own -people, had its way. For one moment she saw another face, different -from this flushed and corded one bent near. It was for but a moment; -then ambition once more took charge of her soul and her body alike. - - - -XI - -The net was thrown. Silently, gently, she tightened its edges with the -silken cords. He loved her. The rest was simple. She saw the world -unrolling before her like a scroll. All else was but matter of detail. -Above all, she exulted in her strength at this crucial moment. She -knew that love is dangerous for a woman, always had feared, as any -woman may, that love might sweep her away from her own safe moorings. -She rejoiced now to see this danger past, rejoiced to find her pulses -cool and even, her voice under control, herself mistress of herself. -She did not love him. - -But she drew back now apparently startled, apprehensive. "We must go, -Mr. Rawn," she said; and would have risen. - -He put out a hand, almost rude in its vehemence. "You shall not go! -I've got to tell you. Sit down! Listen! We'll separate in one way, -yes. You're done now with your clerking days for ever. But you're -going to be my wife. I want you; and, by God, I love you!" - -His voice rose until she was almost alarmed. She looked about in real -apprehension. She turned, to see John Rawn's face convulsed, suffused, -his protruding lower lip trembling, his eyes almost ready to burst into -tears. She might almost have smiled, so easily was it all done for -her. Yet this baker's daughter dared to make no mistake in a situation -such as this! - -"Mr. Rawn," she began, casting down her eyes, although she allowed him -to retain her hand, "what can you mean? Surely you must be in jest. -Have you no regard for a poor girl who is trying to make her way in the -world? I've done my best--and now--" - -"Make your way in the world! What do you mean? It's made _now_! Look -down the list as far as you like. Is there anywhere you want to go? -Is there anything you want to do? Can you think of anything I'll not -get for you? Look at your neck, your hands--you've worn those jewels -almost ever since you selected them, and no one else has, though I told -you once there was a string to them. There's no string to them now. -The first time you wore them, down there in the dining-room, below, I -told you they were not yours, that they were only loaned to you for one -night, that we were only both of us masquerading, trying ourselves out! -I told you then you'd do; but I didn't know what I meant. I don't -believe I loved you then, although now it seems I always have. I know -I always will. Those things are nothing--you shall have everything you -want--handfuls of jewels. There's nothing you want to do that you -shall not do. You can't dream of anything that I'll not get for you! -You were made for me in every way in the world--every little way, as -I've come to know, little by little, all this time. But now, to-night, -it's all come over me at once. I don't know that I planned, when I -came here, to do more than to stand between you and talk! -But--this--caught me all at once, I don't know how. It's the truth -before God! I never loved a woman before now--I didn't know what it -was. Virginia--Jennie--girl--I love you! We're going to be married -to-morrow!" - -"Mr. Rawn," she said, her voice trembling, "I must ask you to consider -well before you make any mistake--a mistake which would mean everything -for--for me. You have no right to jest." - -"I'll show you who's in earnest!" he retorted, his hand cruelly hard on -her wrist as he forced her back into the seat. "We'll go home from -here as man and wife, that's what we'll do. We'll go from the train, -not to the office, but to Graystone Hall. I'll find a preacher in the -morning here. It's wonderful! I love you! If they want to talk, -we'll give them something to talk _about_! Let them come to the Little -Church Around the Corner--to-morrow--and see _us_, you and me!" - -He had both her hands in his large ones now, and was looking into her -eyes, intoxicated, mad. She leaned just gently toward him. Forgetful -of their situation, he caught her in his arms, and kissed her full. - - - -XII - -"Mr. Rawn, how could you!" she said at last, softly, seeking to -disengage her hand. "It's like a dream! I have worked so hard, so -long. Life has had so little for me!" - -"But you love me--you can?" he demanded. - -"Oh, Mr. Rawn!" she said, lifting her eyes to his face, then gently -turning them aside. - -"You do--you have--tell me! Confess it!" - -She laughed now, ripplingly, her color rising, and at least was spared -that instance of her perjury. John Rawn accepted it as her oath. - -They parted after a time, she scarce remembered how, he to a couch -which knew no sleep, she to one that long remained untouched. - -In her own room Virginia Delaware stood for a long time before her -mirror, in silent questioning of herself, her brows just drawn into a -faint vertical frown. At last she nodded approvingly, satisfied that -she would do. A wave of sensuousness, of delight in her own triumph, -swept across her. She stood straight, swung back her shoulders, gazed -at the superb image in the glass through half-shut eyes. There was no -question of it! She was a very beautiful woman, stately, gracious--and -aristocratic. So. It was done. She had won. She caught glimpses of -the jewels blazing at her throat. She removed them and tossed them -lightly on the dresser top as she turned to call for her maid. - -"Madam is very beautiful to-night," ventured that tactful creature when -at last she had performed her closing duties for the day. - -Virginia Delaware looked down upon her with the amused tolerance of the -superior classes. - -"You may perhaps find a little silver on the dresser, maid," said she -graciously. - - - -END OF BOOK THREE - - - - -BOOK FOUR - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE ROYAL PROGRESS OF MR. AND MRS. RAWN - -I - -So they were married. Graystone Hall at last had a mistress worthy of -its architect and decorator when--love and affection and other good -considerations moving thereto, as the law hath it--the new Mrs. Rawn -moved into the place of the old Mrs. Rawn. Thereafter matters went at -least as merry as most marriage bells celebrating the nuptials of -middle age and youth, of wealth and beauty. - -As Mr. Rawn had spent a million dollars to free himself from one wife, -he seemed willing to spend much more in the process of taking on -another. It became current rumor that the one great diamond show of -the western city was Virginia Rawn. The sobriquet, "The Lady of the -Lightnings," passed from New York to Chicago and became permanent -there. Not that that lady delighted in display; but there were -occasional operatic or theatrical events which demanded compliance with -her husband's wishes, in which event she blazed almost better than the -best. - -But, gradually, she showed the tastes of the aristocrat, as alien to -vulgar display as to crude manners. Gradually the tone, color, -atmosphere, of Graystone Hall began to change. The porcelains which -Virginia Rawn purchased were not large and gorgeous, but a connoisseur -would have called them worthy. The vast and brilliantly framed -paintings came down one by one, and one by one masterpieces went up, -selected by one who knew. The walks, the grounds, took on simpler and -cleaner lines. Rawn of the International got a new credit as a person -of taste. He was accepted as a collector, a patron of the arts, a -connoisseur, in fact, yet more a worthy and a rising citizen. - -The hospitality of Mr. Rawn's mansion house also now increased -perceptibly, and, delighted that at last numbers came to see him, Mr. -Rawn at first did not analyze those numbers very closely. Even the -fastidious, many of whom came to be amused, were unanimous in the -feeling that Mr. Rawn's house, its furnishings, its decorations, its -pictures, its works of art, its hospitality also, were beyond reproach. -The trace of _gaucherie_ was gone. The spirit of the place was -delicately reserved, dignified, yet well assured. The seal of approval -was placed upon Graystone Hall. Who, indeed, should smile at the man -who had made so meteoric a rise, who had by a few years of labor become -master of this mansion, its furnishings and its mistress? Who, upon -the other hand, might smile at that mistress, whose appearance upon the -front page of the leading journals of the city became now a matter of -course--a lady of such reserved tastes as led her to forsake the larger -marts, and to set the seal of fashionable approval upon a little -florist, a little modiste, a little milliner all her own--even a little -surgeon hither-to unknown, who honored a little hospital and made it -fashionable, by taking there this distinguished patient for a little -operation? - - - -II - -Rawn himself expanded in all this social success. He saw doors -hitherto closed, opening before him, saw his future unrolling before -him also like a scroll. A hundred times a week he walked to his young -wife, caught her in his arms, uxoriously infatuated with her youth, her -beauty, her aplomb, her fitness for this life which he had chosen. For -once he almost forgot to regard himself as a collector of beautiful -objects, although the truth was that his wife, Virginia, became more -beautiful each day, more superb of line, more calmly easy in air, more -nearly faultless of garb and demeanor. She took her place easily and -surely among the young matrons of the wealthier circles of the western -city. Whereas thousands of auto-cars had passed by Graystone Hall and -only a dozen stopped, scores now, of the largest, drove up its winding -walks and halted at its doors. The dearest dream of both seemed -realized. The hunt in couple had won! They had gained what they -desired; that is to say, self-indulgence, ease, idleness, adulation, -freedom from care. What more is there to seek? And is not this -America? - -Gradually John Rawn had been losing the rusticity which had accompanied -him well up to middle age. The city now began to leave its imprint. -The waistcoat of Mr. Rawn gradually attained a curve unknown to it in -earlier years, so that his watch fob now hung in free air when he stood -erect. His face was perhaps more florid, his hair certainly more gray. -His skin remained fresh and clean, and always he was well-groomed, -having the able assistance of his wife now in the selection of his -tailoring, as well as her coaching in social usage. They always looked -their part. At morning, at noon, or at dewy eve, in any assemblage or -any chance situation, they both played in the rôle assigned to them in -their own ambitions. Born of environment wholly unconventional, they -now took on that of conventionality as though born to that instead. -You could not have found a more perfect type of respectability than -John Rawn, a more absolutely valid exemplar of good social form than -his wife, Virginia. All things prospered under their magic touch, the -genii of the lamp seemed theirs. No problems remained for them to -solve. They had in their own belief attained what may be attained in -American life, and they were happy. Or, that is to say, they should at -least have been happy, if their theory of life and success, and of -those like to theirs, be correct. At least they were what they -were--products of a wonderful country which makes millionaires -overnight and produces out of bakeries women of one generation fit to -be the wives of princes born of forty kings. - - - -III - -We are, some of us at least, accustomed to worship such as these as -they ride by upon the high car of success, accustomed to envy and to -emulate them. If that vehicle be the car of Juggernaut, crushing under -its wheels multitudes of those who worship, it is no concern of those -who sit aloft. For a long time Mr. Rawn and his wife remained ignorant -of the fact that one victim under the wheels of their success was none -other than Mr. Rawn's daughter, Grace. - -Alas! for that young lady. She unfortunately had been now for almost a -year an aspirant in her own right to a seat upon the car of ease and -luxury; yet here she saw herself swiftly supplanted, and worse than -that, swiftly forgotten! Her year of quasi-place and power had left -her unwilling to return to her own humble home. She remained on at -Graystone Hall, now rarely visited by her husband. She found herself -calmly accepted, yet calmly neglected as well. Very naturally she -hated the new Mrs. Rawn with all her soul; a hatred which that lady -repaid with nothing better than a straight look into Grace's dark eyes, -a look innocent, calm, and wholly fearless. Grace must now see the -very jewels her own mother should have worn, blazing at the neck and -hands of her stepmother; must see that lady taking assuredly and as of -right, what Grace could now never ask or expect for herself. With an -unapproachable and wholly hateful air of distinction and good breeding -which rankled most of all in crude Mrs. Halsey's heart, Virginia Rawn -sat high on the car of Juggernaut; and the car of Juggernaut passed on. -In pride and delight over his young wife, John Rawn really forgot his -daughter. The young new wife did the same, or appeared to do so. - - - -IV - -John Rawn had told the truth to his wife when first he had declared his -sentiments toward her--he never before that time really had known love, -or at least had not known infatuated love such as that he felt for her. -He exulted in the vistas of delight which he saw before them, fancying -them endless. The very sight of his wife, cool, faultless, -self-possessed, haughty, filled him with a sense of his own importance, -making him feel that he was one of God's chosen. She was his, he had -found her, discovered her, collected her. She was his to put upon a -pedestal, to admire, to display, to worship, to load down with jewels. -He had something now which other men coveted and envied. He flaunted -his ownership of such a woman in their faces. What more can a rich man -do than that same? Is that not the dream and test of power--to secure -what others may not have, to secure special privileges in this life? -And is not the quest of beauty the first business of him who has -attained power? Of all these special privileges which had come to John -Rawn so swiftly in these late rapid years, none so delicately and -warmly filled his heart as that of being able to call Virginia Rawn his -own. Why blame him? The sultans of thirty or forty generations have -devised nothing better than this test of power. - -John Rawn, with all properly aristocratic leanings toward sultanry, -lacked certain elements of sultanhood in strength, but had others in -weakness. He did not know that in reality he was in the hands of a -stronger nature than his own. "She's got him jumping through hoops," -was the comment of one young man. "He'll sit up and bark whenever she -gives the word!" But Rawn did not know that he was barking and -jumping, his tongue hanging out excitedly. In all his mental pictures -of himself he fancied himself to be a figure of dignity, of strength, -indeed of majesty. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -FOUR BEING NO COMPANY - -I - -Happy in his newly-found domestic delights, Mr. Rawn was perhaps more -careless than otherwise he would have been regarding business affairs, -and that at a time when they needed care. The truth was that matters -still lagged at the factory, as Rawn ought to have known. Indeed, he -did know; but always his curious helplessness in regard to Halsey--who -alone knew the last secrets of the most intricate devices of the -company's property--continued to oppress him. And always here was his -wife to console him and to interest him. - -The distance between Graystone Hall and the factory apparently was -becoming greater from month to month. Sometimes Halsey came to visit -his wife, but these visits of late became fewer and fewer, as that lady -became more and more discontented, less and less eager to receive the -attentions of him who had so signally failed to place her where -Virginia sat in power. This alone left Halsey none too happy himself -at the prospect of any of his perfunctory calls; and moreover, he found -himself expected now to be more careful in his attire, in his conduct -about Graystone Hall, where full evening dress tacitly was desired at -dinner, and where an aristocratic chill was habitual at any hour; -things not customary in Ann Sullivan's household on the factory side of -the city. Not that Halsey needed to excite social misgivings. He was -a clean-faced, manly chap, lean, sinewy and strong, and might, save for -his rather toil-marked hands, have passed for any of the throng of -young men who at times came under one pretense or other to visit -Mr.--and Mrs.--Rawn. - - - -II - -These, in company with Grace, he one evening found alone, seated on the -wide gallery that overlooked the lake front. He did notice then, as he -never before at any time had noticed, a singular truth--Virginia Rawn's -eyes seemed almost reluctant to leave him. He was half her husband's -age. Moreover, there was something in the somber glow of his eye, in -the occasional look of his face--rapt, absorbed, remote, pondering on -things not made patent to all about him--which held for her ever a -stronger fascination. She wondered if things were known in his -philosophy no longer reckoned in her own; but which once might have -been germane to her as well. She often looked at him. - -The evening was clear and cool, the lake stirred with no more than a -gentle breeze. The silver ladder of the moon's light was flung down -across the gently moving waters. The breath of flowers was all about. -Calm, ease, assuredness were here. The voice of the hostess was -delightfully low and sweet. All things seemed in keeping. - -Rawn welcomed his son-in-law with his customary largeness of air. -"Come on out, Charles," said he, "join us; the evening is pleasant. -Won't you have a cigar?" He fetched with his own hands the box of -weeds--"Take several, my boy, take as many as you like. I give two -dollars apiece for these by the box at my club, and you can't beat them -in the city or anywhere else." - -Halsey listened almost absent-mindedly, and Rawn returned to his seat -near his wife, a little apart on the gallery. The master of Graystone -Hall was intoxicated more than usually this evening with her. She sat -now in the dim light, a cool, dainty and beautiful picture, in blue and -ivory Duchesse satin and filmy laces, gowned fit for a wedding or a -ball, as she always was of an evening at home, with just a gem gleaming -here and there in the occasional glimpse of light which broke through -the windows at the back of the gallery as their curtains shifted in the -breeze. At that moment John Rawn would have been glad to have the -entire world share boxes of cigars with him. John Rawn, -collector--what man on all the North Shore Drive at that moment could -claim such surroundings as these? - -"I thank you, Mr. Rawn," said Halsey, taking a single cigar from the -box which his host had placed upon the near-by tabouret. "I think I'll -be content with one. I mustn't get into bad habits; I'm afraid Jim -Sullivan and I can't afford them at two dollars apiece just yet!" - - - -III - -He moved now quietly and dutifully apart toward the end of the gallery -where sat a less resplendent figure, that of his wife, Grace. She had -not risen to meet him. - -"Well," said he, as he sank into a seat beside her. - -"Well, then?" she answered, and turned upon him a face dour, -inexpressive, pasty, almost frowning. - -"Is that all you have to say to me?" she began later, as he sat smoking. - -"I haven't had much chance yet," he commented. - -"No, I should say not! This is the first time you've been here for -four weeks! Have you stopped to think of that? You seem to care -little enough how I get on!" - -Halsey paused for a moment before replying. "That hardly seems fair to -me." - -"Why isn't it fair? It's the truth." - -"Well, I've been busy all the time, as you know. Besides again, when -it comes to that, it doesn't seem to me that you've been altogether -anxious to have me come." - -"You talk as though you worked day and night and had nothing else to -do." - -"Well, I suppose I could come over--every night after dinner--wash the -soot and the cinders from me, get out my four-hundred-dollar go-cart, -and come over here to call on my wife in my thirty-dollar evening togs, -couldn't I? She lives in Graystone Hall. Where do I live? What do I -get out of life, when it comes to that, Grace? When I do come here, -you begin to nag me before I get settled down. I always used to say -when I was a young man, that if I ever found myself married to a -nagging woman, I'd just quit her!" - -"What do you mean by that?" she demanded imperiously. - - - -IV - -Again Halsey was deliberate, although he half sighed as he replied: -"Pretty much what I say, Mrs. Halsey, since you ask me. The truth is, -you quit me when I needed you. I have had worry enough from this -business at the factory. I don't particularly care to have all other -kinds of worry on top of that. You had all this place to fall back on. -Your father's taken care of you. But he hasn't taken care of me very -well. The fact is, I've been scapegoat about long enough!" - -"You seem to have learned the factory ways of talking!" - -"Yes, I don't know but I am getting rather plain, and common, and -vulgar. It's a little different here--even from Kelly Row, let alone -our place on the West Side. I fancy you're getting the North Shore -accent, along with other things.--It all only means that we're that -much further apart, Grace. Did you ever stop to think of that?" - -"I've had time to think of plenty of things," she answered bitterly. - -"You had plenty of time to think of some of them before you came over -here," he rejoined. "You didn't like what your husband could offer -you, and you chose something better which your father did offer you. -You've quit me, practically. You've not been in our home twice since -you came to live here. I've seen that poor baby of ours only once in a -while since you left our home for this. You've not been a wife to me. -That's the truth about it--I might as well not be married! That comes -mighty near being the situation, since you put it up to me to answer." - -"Then what do you mean?" - -"The courts would make it a case of desertion, if you force me to say -that," answered Halsey. "Now, I don't want to live on this way for -ever! I'm a young man, and my career's ahead of me! I've got to -choose regarding my life before long! And I'm going to choose. I'm -not going to let things run on in this way any further." - -"That's what my father always said! Your career; your life! Where -does your wife come in?" - -"You come in precisely where you say you want to come in, Grace. We -get what we earn in this world. If you leave me and take up a life -which I can't share, if you leave my house and don't care for what I -can give you--why there's not much left to talk about as to where you -come in. You come in _here_. I belong over there." - -"You're selfish! All men are, I think." - -"I'm not going to argue about that in the least, Grace, except to say -that it's the Rawn half of you that said that. The Rawn half of you -can't see anything but its own part of the world. It wasn't the Rawn -half of you that I married. You were different, then. You're not much -like your mother, Grace! And I married the part of you that was like -your mother. She was a good woman, and a good wife." - -"You must not speak of her!" - -"Oh, yes, I must, and I shall when I like. It's all in evidence. -There's the record." He nodded toward the two dim figures at the other -end of the gallery. "She's very beautiful, yes, very beautiful!" His -eyes lingered on the figure of Virginia Rawn, faintly outlined, cool in -satin and laces. - -"She'd like to hear you say that!" sneered his wife. - -"I perceive, my dear, that you two love each other very much. But as I -was saying, you don't seem to me, Grace, to be much like your own -mother--you're more like your stepmother, over there, in some ways. -Your mother didn't change. She made good--if you'll let me use some -more factory slang--on the old ways, on her own old lines. That's what -I call class, breeding, blood, if you like--just plain North American -sincerity and simplicity. She didn't pretend, she didn't try to climb -where she knew she couldn't go. That's what _I_ call blood!" - -"Thank you! You're sincere also, at least." - - - -V - -He seemed not to hear her. He went on. "But you've changed. You -dropped me. Your head was turned with all this sort of thing.... -Since these things are true, are you coming back to me?" He found -himself wrenching his eyes away from the cool dim figure far down the -long gallery. - -She straightened up suddenly, pale. "Back!--to that? To live in that -hole--?" - -"Yes, just back to _that_, Grace. It's all I have to offer you. Just -that hole." - -"I'm not happy here." - -"Then why do you stay here? Why don't you come back to me?" - -"Because I couldn't be happy over there any more, either! I know it. -I admit it. It's got me--I couldn't go back to the old ways, the ways -we'd have to live. Why can't you come here--why doesn't Pa give us -money enough--" - -He turned to her now gravely. "I suppose it's the pace--yes, it's got -you, and a lot of others. But I'm not taking that sort of money just -yet. And that doesn't answer my question. I've come over to-night to -arrive at some understanding about us two. I want to know where I am. -There are going to be changes, one way or another." - -She turned to him suddenly again. "What's wrong over at that factory, -Charley?" she asked. "Why haven't you made good before this? My -father has been on the point of tearing up things a dozen times! He's -sore at you--awfully sore." - -"Yes? How do you know I haven't made good?" - -"Then why has Pa talked so?" - -"For the very good reason that he doesn't know any better than to talk -that way. He hasn't got any more sense. He didn't talk that way to -me." - -"Then you have got it--you've made the discovery--it'll work?" - -"Our machines not only will work, but have been working," said he -calmly. "I haven't seen fit to tell your father. I'm going to tell -you, however, that all this was _my_ idea from the first. If I haven't -been a competent manager, let him get some one more competent. I'll -take what I know with me in my own head. I'm saying to you, his -daughter, that _I_ worked out this idea, myself, and all he did was to -get the money in the first place for it. For that reason I call this -discovery mine, to do with as I like. I haven't been bought and paid -for, myself. I don't want money when it costs too much. I've just -begun to understand things lately." - -"Yes, I've worked it out into practical form," he concluded, as she sat -silent. "Your father never did and never can. He's got to come to -_me_, to _me_, right here. Since you drive me to it, I'll just tell -you one thing. I've had this whole thing in my own hands for more than -eight months! The company doesn't know it, he doesn't know it, no one -knows it. I've been just waiting--to see whether I had a wife or not." - -"You never told? Then you've been disloyal, you've been a coward! You -took his money--" - -"All right," said Halsey suddenly, grimly, "that's all I need. I see, -now. I know what to do now." - -"But you _didn't_ tell father!" she went on fiercely. "And we all knew -how much has been depending on that factory. Weren't we all in -that--didn't we all help, from the very first? Didn't I?" - -"Yes, you did, you and your mother," said Halsey. "You've had or will -have all you earned. She got divorced from her husband, you may get -divorced from me! It's a fine world, isn't it? We've all been chasing -for more money. Well, here we are! There's a couple over there, -here's another one here. Fine, isn't it?" - - - -VI - -"But, Charles!" She moved toward him and laid a hand on his arm. "You -don't stop to reflect on what you are saying! If you have that secret -in your hands, why, don't you see--don't you _see_--" - -"What do you mean?" - -"Why, even Pa _will_ have to come to you! You won't be poor then." - -"I should say he _would_ have to come to me!" said Charles Halsey -slowly. "Yes, I dare say. I dare say, also, I could make a lot of -money whether he did or didn't." - -"Listen, Charley. He's got everything, and he wants everything. He's -my father, but he doesn't care. He--he sold me out. What do we owe to -him and _her_? What did he do to my mother? I tell you, he thinks of -no one but _himself_. Yet you and I--we who found that idea and worked -it out, who have it in our own hands now, as you say--you and I have -got the whip in our own hands now, it seems to me." - -"You talk excellent business sense, Mrs. Halsey. I compliment you. It -seems that you begin to discover something in your husband and his -possibilities. It's a trifle late, but you delight me!" - -"Well, I didn't _know_, you see," she murmured, pawing at him vaguely, -in a fitful and inefficient essay at some coquettish art, grotesque in -these conditions. - -She was a woman of small feminine charm at best. She sat there now, -angular, stiff, unbeautiful, the sort of woman no clothes can make -well-dressed. Already she had disclosed somewhat of her soul. What -appeal, then, physical, emotional, moral, could she make to him--a -student, a visionary, an idealist--at such a moment? And did there not -remain that same cool distant figure from whom he had so constantly to -wrench his eyes--and his heart? Yes; and his heart! Halsey's face was -dull red. He was unhappy. The world seemed to him only a hideous -nightmare, full of disappointments, injustices, of wrongs that cried -aloud for righting. Ah, the comparison now was here, fair and full and -unavoidable! - - - -VII - -"No, you didn't know," said he slowly. "A lot of people don't. Now -let me tell you a few things more. You didn't know that something like -a year ago your father told me that he'd make me a present of -fifty-thousand dollars the day I could run a car from the factory to -this place on a charge taken from our own overhead receiver-motors." - -"A start for a million dollars!" she murmured. "You get _that_--when -you succeed?" - -"Yes, that is to say, I could have had that any day in the week these -past eight months--if he really has got that much left where he can -realize on it. He's pretty well spread out." - -"Then you have had it--what have you done with the money?" - -"I presume I look as though I'd spent or could spend a mere fifty -thousand dollars or so, don't I?" was his quiet answer. "No, I didn't -have it, and I haven't got it. I'll say this much to you, however, -that I ran my little old car over here _to-night_ on a charge taken out -of one of the overhead receiver-motors of the International Power -Company--a motor completed on my own ideas, and by my own hands. It's -mine, I tell you--_mine_!" - -"Charley!" She caught him by the wrists, with both hands, eagerly. -"You can give me the things I've got used to having! I'll go back--oh! -I'll go back--we'll go on together! I hate her so--you don't know!" - -"That's nice of you, Grace; but you've guessed wrong. I've not got -that fifty thousand yet." - -"But you _can_ have." - -"Yes, I can. What could I buy with it? For one thing, I could buy -back my wife?" - -"But Charley! We're rich! You've succeeded!" - -"No, I am poor, I've failed. I'm just beginning to see how _much_ I've -failed!" - -"If you don't tell me the truth about this I'll do it myself!" she -exclaimed fiercely. "You've not been loyal--you've taken pay!" - -"Your father took his pay from me," was his half-savage answer. "He's -been paid enough! As for me, I don't want any more of this sort of -pay." - -"What are you going to do--you're not going to sell out to some one -else?" - -"No, my dear, I'm not going to do precisely what you suggested I -_should_ do just a moment ago. I'm not going to sell out. I could do -that, too, and make more than any fifty thousand. The foreman in our -factory, who knows very little, can sell out to-morrow morning for ten -thousand dollars, maybe double or treble that now. The watchman on our -door can sell out when he likes. We can all sell out, any of us sell -out. But we haven't! If there has been any selling out it has been -done by those who built this place here--the place which you found -better than the best home I could offer you." - -She sat back stiff, silent, somber. "You--you never mean that you are -going to throw this away, then!" she asked at length. "What earthly -good will that do? Pa'll have it out of you somehow! I'll--I'm going -to tell him!" - -"Try it," said Charles Halsey easily. - -She had courage. "Father," she called out. "Pa! Come here--at once!" - - - -VIII - -Rawn rose suddenly up from his chair at the startling quality in her -voice. "What's that, Grace?" he called across the long gallery. - -"Come here, I want you! We've got something to say to you." - -Halsey sat motionless. - -Rawn approached slowly, obviously annoyed. "If it's important--" he -began. He had found love-making to his young wife especially delicious -this evening, although he mistook her strange silence and preoccupation -merely for wifely coyness. - -"It is important!" Grace exclaimed; and rising, clutched at his arm. - -"Well, then, what's it all about, what's it about? Come, come!" - -"Charley's _done_ it, he's _got_ it--he's got the machines -_finished_--over there--!" Her voice was almost a scream, hoarse, -croaking. She stood bent, tense. - -"What's that?" demanded Rawn. "What do you mean? Is that the truth, -boy?" - -"He came over in his own car, under International overhead--he told me -so, right now," she went on, half hysterically. "You owe him money--a -lot, a pile of money--he told me so right now--it's worth more than any -fifty thousand. Oh, we're going to have money too. You see!" - -Rawn shook off her arm and half flung her back in her chair. "What's -this about, Halsey?" he said. "Is it true?" - -Halsey nodded calmly, but said nothing. - -Rawn half-assailed him, his large hand on his shoulder. "_Did you get -the current?_" he demanded. "Did you really come over under power out -of one of our overheads?" - -"Yes, to-night," said Halsey calmly. "Often before." - - - -IX - -"Why, my boy, my boy!" began John Rawn. At once he stood back, large, -complaisant, jubilant. "My boy!" was all he could say. Not even his -soul could at once figure out in full acceptance all the future which -these quiet words implied. - -"Come!" he explained after a moment, excitedly. "Let's get to the -telephone! I want the wires right away! I'll make a million out of -this before morning!" - -"And write me a check for my fifty thousand to-night?" smiled Halsey. - -"Surely I will--I've told you I would--I'll do more than that--I'll -make it a twenty-five thousand extra for good measure. I'll have the -check taken care of to-morrow at my bank, as soon as I can get -down-town! Oh, things'll begin to _happen_ now, I promise you!" - -"I wouldn't be in too big a hurry to use the wire, Mr. Rawn," said -Charles Halsey quietly. "And never mind about your check." - -"What do you mean? You're going to try to hold me up?" - -"No, I'm not going to try to hold you up at all. If there's any -question about that possibility, I can get a million to-morrow as -easily as I can any fraction of a million to-night, Mr. Rawn, and it's -just as well you should know that, perhaps." - -"A million?" croaked John Rawn. "You'd sell us out?" - -"_No_, I said. I'm not going to sell you out, Mr. Rawn. And you're -not going to buy me out." - -"Of course not, of course not," laughed Rawn hoarsely. "You didn't -understand me." - -"You haven't understood me either, Mr. Rawn. Now, what would you do if -I told you that after taking my charge for the little car yonder I -turned about and dismantled every motor in the shop--destroyed them -all--locked up the secret, ended the whole game now--to-night? What -would you say to that?" - -"By God! I'd kill you!" said John Rawn. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE STEP-MOTHER-IN-LAW - -I - -On this very beautiful evening, in this very beautiful scene--as -beautiful as any to be found in all that luxurious portion of a great -city representing the flower of a great country's -civilization--Graystone Hall was a double stage. At the back of the -tall mansion house countless auto-cars passed in brilliant procession, -carrying countless men and women, personal evidences of all the ease -and luxury that wealth can bring; and of these who passed, the most -part looked in with envy at the tall mansion house beyond the curving -lines of shrubbery, brilliantly illuminated now, the picture of beauty -and ease, of peace and content. More than one soft-voiced woman -murmured, "Beautiful!" as she passed. More than one man, more than one -woman, envied the owners of this palace. - -"He's awfully gone on his wife, they say," commented one young matron, -much as many did. "Not that I see much in her myself--although she -seems to have a sort of way about her, after all." - -"Lucky beggar!" growled her husband. - -"Yes, they're both lucky." - -That both Mr. and Mrs. Rawn were lucky seemed to be the consensus of -opinion of the procession of those passing at this moment along the -great driveway, and hence looking upon the rear stage of the drama then -in progress. But they saw no drama. The evening was beautiful. The -spot was one of great beauty. Apparently all was peace and content. -There was no drama visible, only a stage set for a scene of happiness. -Yet, two hundred yards from the point of this belief, on the stage of -the dimly-lighted gallery facing the lake, the comedy of life and -ambition, of success and sorrow, moved on briskly; moved, indeed, to -its appointed and inevitable end. - - - -II - -Rawn's voice, harsh, half animal in its savagery, wakened some sudden -kindred savagery in young Halsey's soul. In a flash the spark rose -between steel and flint. The accumulated resentment of many days made -tinder enough for Halsey now. - -"All right, Mr. Rawn," said he, his head dropping, his chin extended. -"Go on with the killing now, if you like. I'm going to tell you right -here, that sort of talk will do you no good. If you kill me you kill -my secret. It isn't yours, and neither you nor any other man is apt to -set it going again." - -"You hound, you cur!" half sobbed Rawn. His daughter stood, tense, -silent, unnoticed at his elbow. - -"Thank you! Now, I'll tell you. I dismantled every motor, and I'm -never going to build them again for you. I meant every word of what I -said. Also I mean this!" - -As he spoke he rose and struck Rawn full in the face with his -half-clenched hand. The sound of the blow could have been heard the -whole length of the gallery--was so heard. An instant later, half -roaring, John Rawn closed with the younger man.... - -The women, plucking at their arms, could do nothing to separate the -two, indeed were not noticed in the struggle. As to that, the whole -matter was over in an instant. Halsey was far the stronger of the two. -He caught the right wrist of Rawn as he smote down clumsily, caught his -other wrist in the next instant, and then slowly, by sheer strength, -forced him back and down until at last he crowded him into the chair -which Grace a moment earlier had vacated. The bony fingers of his hand -worked havoc on John Rawn's wrist, on his twisted arm. Halsey was not -so long from his college athletics, where he had been welcome on -several teams. He was younger than Rawn, his body was harder from hard -work and abstemiousness. He was the older man's master. - -"Sit down!" he panted. "I don't think you'll do this killing very -soon!" - - - -III - -Rawn, for the first time in his life, faced a situation which he could -not dominate by arrogance and bluster. For the first time in his life -he had met another man, body to body, in actual physical encounter; and -that man was his master! All at once the consciousness of this flashed -through every fiber of him, bodily and mental. He had met a man -stronger than himself--yes, stronger both in body and in mind. The -consciousness of that latter truth also sank deep into his heart. It -was a moment of horror for him. He, John Rawn, master of this place, -rich, happy, prosperous--he, John Rawn, beaten--subdued--it could not -be! Heaven never would permit that! - -They all remained tense, silent, motionless, for just half an instant; -it seemed to them a long time. Halsey at length straightened and -turned toward the door. - -"I'm going," said he dully. "Good by, Grace." - -Rawn turned, confused, distracted. He cared for no more of the -physical testing of this difference. But he saw Success passing in the -reviled figure of his son-in-law. "No, no!" he cried--"Jennie--he -fouled me--but don't let him go--he'll ruin us, do you hear?" - -Halsey was within the tall glass doors and passing toward the front -entry. He heard the rustle of skirts back of him and felt a light hand -upon his shoulder. - -"Well," he began; and turning, faced young Mrs. Rawn! - - - -IV - -"I'm sorry," he stammered, "it's disgraceful. I beg your pardon with -all my heart. But I couldn't help it. He struck me first with what he -said. He threatened me. Let me go. I'll never come back here again. -I'm sorry--on your account--" - -"Charles," she said softly, "Charley, wait. Where are you going?" - -"To the divorce courts, and then to hell." - -"But you mustn't go away like this. I'm sorry, too. Wait!" - -Suddenly moved by some swift, irresistible impulse, perhaps born of -this unregulated scene where all seemly control seemed set aside, she -put both her white bare arms about his neck and looked full into his -eyes, her own eyes bright. He caught her white wrists in his hands; -but did not put away her arms. He stood looking at her, frowning, -uncertain. His blood flamed. - -"It's disgrace," he said, "I admit it. I can't square it any way in -the world. I'm sorry on your account--awfully sorry!" His blood -flamed, flamed. - -"Listen!" she said, panting, eager, her voice with some strange, new, -compelling quality in it, foreign to her as to himself. "You mustn't -go. You mustn't ruin the future of us all in just a minute of temper. -Yen mustn't ruin yourself, or--_me_. Besides, there's Grace!" - -"Oh, Grace!" - -"But she's your wife." - -"Not any longer. She's chosen for herself. She left me and would not -come back. I'm going now. I'm on my own from this time." - -"Why not?" she asked coolly. "But why wreak ruin on us all? You don't -stop to think!" - -"Yes, it will set him back pretty badly--" Halsey nodded toward the -bowed frame of Rawn, dimly visible, in the gallery's shade, through the -tall glass doors. - -"Yes," she said slowly, "he's my husband, surely." - ---"Who has given you everything." - -She nodded, her arms still about his neck. "Let me think this out for -all of us, Charley. Keep matters as they are until I have time to -think--won't you do that much--just that little--for me?" - -His hands were still upon her wrists as he looked down upon her from -his height, his eyes angry, his face frowning, disturbed. Worn almost -to gauntness, tall, sinewy, of a certain distinction in look, as he -stood there before her now an ignorant observer might have thought the -two lovers, he her lover, not her stepson, she at the least his younger -sister, surely not his mother by mixed marriage. - - - -V - -As they stood thus, Rawn turning, saw them through the tall glass door. -His face grew eager. "He's _not_ gone," he whispered hoarsely to his -daughter, who stood rigid, close at his arm. "She's got him! By Jove! -She's a wonder--my wife, my wife--she'll land him yet--she will!" - -"Do you see that?" hissed Grace at last, pointing at the door. - -"Do I see it--didn't you hear me? Yes, of course I see it!" - -"And you'll allow _that_, between your wife and my husband?" - -"Allow it--wife!--why! damn you, girl, what are you _talking_ -about--wives and husbands?--what's that to do with this? There's many -a million dollars up now, I tell you, on those two standing there. You -make a move now--say a word--and I'll wring your neck, do you hear?" -He caught her by the wrist. She sank into a chair, sobbing bleakly. - -A moment later the two figures beyond the door stood a trifle apart. -The arms of Virginia Rawn dropped from Halsey's neck. She laid a hand -upon his arm and, side by side, neither looking out toward the gallery, -they drew deeper into the room, behind the shelter of a heavy silken -curtain which shut off the view. - -It was a beautiful night. The long ladder of the moon still lay across -the gently rippling lake, which murmured at the foot of Graystone -Hall's retaining sea-wall. The scent of flowers was about. It was a -scene of peace and beauty and content. John Rawn and his daughter -remained upon the gallery for a time. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE SECOND CURRENT - -I - -"Charles," said Virginia Rawn, "Charley--" And always her white hand -touched his shoulder, his arm, his hand--"You really mustn't go. -Believe me, you'll both be sorry to-morrow. You don't know what you're -doing! You're only angry now. You'll both be sorry." Her eyes -glowed, evaded. - -Halsey shook his head. "It's all over, so far as I'm concerned." His -eyes, glowing, sought hers. - -"Why, Charley, boy, that's all foolishness. Don't you know how wrong -it is to talk in that way? What hasn't Mr. Rawn done for you? And -she's your wife!" - -"He has done little for me and much for himself," he answered hotly. -"As for her, his daughter, she left me for him and what he could give -her. She liked this sort of thing rather better than what I could do -for her. She weighed it up, one side against the other, and she chose -this. Most women would, I suppose." - -"Charley, how you talk!" Her voice, reproving, none the less was very -gentle, very soft. "One would think you were a regular misanthrope. -The next thing, you'll be saying that I was that sort of a woman -because _I_ live here. Of course, other things being equal, any woman -likes comfort. But you seem to think that we all would choose luxury -to love." - -"_Don't_ you--don't you all?" demanded the unhappy youth. "Some do, of -course. Would you? Haven't you?" He was reckless, brutal, now. The -young woman before him started, shivered. She passed a hand gropingly -across her bosom, across her brow. - - - -II - -There was a strained, very strong quality in the air of Graystone Hall -that evening. Thought seemed to leap to thought, mind to mind, -swiftly, without trouble for many words. These two at last looked at -each other face to face, deliberately, she gazing beneath heavy, -half-closed lids, a superb, a beautiful woman, a creature for any man's -admiration. He was a manly young chap. He stood a victor, as she had -seen but now. He gazed at her out of eyes open and direct. Reckless, -brutal in his despair, he now allowed--for the first time in all their -many meetings--his heart to show through his eyes. For the first time, -their eyes met full. - -"You must not ask that," said she quickly. "I wouldn't want to tell -you anything but the truth about it." She was breathing faster now. - -"What is the truth about it? I want to know if any woman is worth -while. I'm down and out myself, and it doesn't matter for me. I just -wondered." - -"I used to see you often about the office," said she irrelevantly, -"when you came in to see Mr. Rawn. I rather thought Grace was lucky, -then! I was just a girl then, you know, Charley." - -"What do you mean, Mrs. Rawn?" - -"Nothing. What did you think I meant?" - -"I didn't know. I've never dared think much. I supposed everything -was going to come out right somehow. Now it's come out wrong. I don't -know just where it began. Don't you see, Mrs. Rawn, it's all like a -faulty conclusion in logic? It builds up fine for a long time. Then -all at once things go wrong--it's absurd, and you wonder why. Well, -it's because there's what you call a faulty premise somewhere down -close to the start. If that's the case, there isn't anything in all -the world is ever going to make a conclusion come out right. I reckon -there's a wrong premise somewhere down in my life, or ours, or in -this!"--He swept an arm, indicating Mr. Rawn's opulent surroundings. - -"I'm only a woman, Charley. Maybe I don't understand you." - -"Well, I'll tell you. There's wealth, luxury, everything here. Where -did they get it? They took more than their share." - -"Now you're talking like a Socialist. Mr. Rawn tells me you are a -Socialist, Charley." - -"I don't believe I am. But I believe a good many would be if they'd -gone through what I have. Now, what those two took, they took from -me--what you've got here you got from me. I don't mind that. The big -trouble is--the wrong premise about it is--that what they took they -took from this people, this country. And there are so many who even -are hungry." - -"Oh, we'd never get done if we began that way! All success does that -way, you know that. Not all can be rich." Her eyes still came about -to him. - -"Yes, all success succeeds--until that wrong premise comes out. Then -there's trouble!" - - - -III - -"Are you going to sell us out, Charley?" she demanded suddenly. - -"I never sold out anybody. I'm the one that's been sold out." - -"Aren't we your real friends?" - -"No. You ought to be, but you aren't. The only friends I've got are -over there in the factory--Jim and Ann Sullivan, Tim Carney--a few of -the working-men that stuck it through. They've killed five men for us -over there. Their sluggers are out all the time. As for me, I don't -fit in, either there or here. Look here, Mrs. Rawn," he went on, -turning upon her suddenly and placing his hand impulsively on hers. -"Let me tell you something. I haven't sold out--I'm not going to. -Where do you stand yourself?" - -Her eyelids fluttered. "Charley," said she, "you know better than to -ask me that." - -"Yes, I suppose I do," he answered slowly and bitterly. "You stand for -this place, for everything that money can buy. Have they made you -happy? I often wonder--does money really make people happy? Are you -happy?" His eyes were very somber, very direct. - -"I wonder if I am," said she suddenly; "and I wonder how you dare ask -me. Oh, I'll admit to you I've been ambitious, and always will be. -But do you know, some time I'd like to talk with your friend--with Ann -Sullivan!" - -"_Then_ you'd begin to get at life. You'd be getting down to premises, -then, that aren't wrong--with Ann Sullivan and her sort!" - -"What do you mean?" - -"Oh, well, I reckon you'd only find a little sincerity and honesty, -and, well--maybe--love, that's all. Just the things I didn't get -myself. Have you?" - -"Why didn't you?" She ignored his brutal query. - -"Because I'm a theorist. Because I'm a visionary and a fool, I reckon. -Because I like to see fair play even in a dog fight, and the people of -this country aren't getting fair play. Because I'm the sort of fool -that Mr. Rawn isn't. There's the difference! - -"Are you happy, Mrs. Rawn?" again he demanded suddenly, since she still -was silent. "Tell me the truth. I think you know I'm not going to -talk. I'm going away somewhere--anyhow for the summer. I suppose, -maybe, this is the last time I'll ever see you--in all my life." - -She felt the candor of his speech and replied in like kind, smiling -slowly. "No use my lying," she said. "You know I'm not happy. And, -yes, I know you'll not talk. Who _is_ happy? We all just get on just -the best we can. I can take my joy in making other women envy me. -Isn't that about what all women want? Isn't that the height and limit -of their ambition? Isn't that success, so far as a woman is concerned? -Don't they cling to it, all of them--till they get old? I suppose so, -but I know it isn't happiness. Yes, I'll admit to you I do miss -something." His eyes rested upon her, searching. - -Unconsciously she looked down at her wrists. The red mark of his -fingers still lingered there. "I'll have to ask Ann Sullivan some -time," she laughed. - -"One thing," answered Halsey. "She'd tell you that she isn't trying to -get the envy of her neighbors. I don't believe she'd be happy in that!" - -"Oh, but she's fresh over--she's not American yet, don't you see? She -hasn't had a chance--you can't tell what she would do if she were rich." - - - -IV - -"There are two ways of looking at it," said Halsey musingly, his anger -passing, now leaving him meditative, relaxed. They were talking now as -though there were not two others, unhappy, waiting on the gallery near -by. "I'll tell you something, if you'll let me talk about myself, Mrs. -Rawn." - -"Go on; I'm glad!" - -"I don't suppose you care for things that interest me. You called me a -Socialist. I'll admit that I studied a lot about that, attended their -meetings, all that sort of thing. Maybe that made me think. It seems -to me that money is rolling up too fast in this country now--we're all -mad about money. It's like the big apple with no taste to it. I had -it offered me to choose between those two, and I took the little apple -that to me seemed sweeter. - -"Now, I've perfected that invention. It'll make somebody rich any time -I say the word--any time I like that big apple and not the little -one--any time I like that success which comes from outside and not from -inside. But I've figured that that doesn't mean happiness. Maybe I'm -wrong. I don't know. Somehow I believe that Abraham Lincoln, or John -Ruskin, or Jim Sullivan, or Tim, or Ann, or Sir Isaac Newton--any -thinking person--any philosopher--would come in with me about this. I -broke up the machines." - -"Why--where it meant ruin?" - -"Because they'd tighten up the grip of a few men on the neck of the -people! I don't know whether you call that being a Socialist or not, -and I don't care. Change is coming. It's not the fault of the poor -that it's coming. It's the fault of the rich. I broke them -up--because things can't go on this way, money rolling Up all the time -for a few, and life getting harder all the time for so many. God -didn't make the rivers and the mountains and the forests for that -purpose--to give them to a few. We've got to make changes, and big -ones, in this government, or we're gone. I'm no Socialist at all. I -don't want what some one else has won--if he's won it _fair_. But the -wrong is in our government--the very one of all on earth that meant -fair play. We don't get it--now. Some day we must. I don't see what -difference it makes what name you give the new form of government. -There must be _change_, that's all; or else we're gone! - -"Well now, what they wanted me to do was to give that all to a few. I -couldn't do it! By God! Mrs. Rawn, I faced it and I tried, and I -_couldn't_ do it! Maybe I was wrong. Anyhow, here I stand." - -[Illustration: (Rawn and Virginia)] - - - -V - -"Do you know," she said at length, slowly, "these are things that never -came to my mind in all my life? I never in all my life thought of any -of these things. I only wanted--" - -"You wanted to win. You wanted what most American women -do--money--station--power--to be envied; that's what you played for. -Well, you've won! Look at all this about you. I don't suppose there's -a woman in this town more admired by men or more envied by women than -you. You've got what you craved, I reckon." - -"I thought I had. But now, to-night, I'm not so sure!" - -"You couldn't give it up," he sneered, "any more than Grace could, and -she couldn't any more than a leopard could change its spots. It goes -too deep. You couldn't expect anything different. - -"I told you I was a student, Mrs. Rawn," he went on after a time. "I -haven't got much mind. But somehow, while I don't suppose religion can -change business very much, I think of those twelve disciples and their -Master, trying to lift the load off of human beings, trying to lift the -people of the world up above the day of tooth and claw. I don't reckon -they can do it. But you see, each fellow has to choose for himself. -I've had this put before me. I could have thrown in with Rawn---I can -do so yet, right here, now, as you know. I can hold him up, as he -would hold me up, or any one else--I can take his -money--fifty-thousand, a million--I don't think he's really got as much -money as most people think. He's in debt, deep. That's all right so -long as your credit is good. He has had all sorts of credit--and it -depended on _me_--on my invention. It wasn't his. It isn't going to -be. I've told you why.--But you see, I could make him divide even with -me--make him take a third, a fourth, of what I'd won. He'd have to -come to terms. He knows that. All right, I'm not going to do it! -Failure as I am, I've got a few ideas which I think are right. Maybe I -got them from Ann Sullivan--I don't know! Go ask her about things." - -"And you won't put back the machines? Not even for me?" - -"Not even for you," he smiled. "Not that I know what you mean by -that." He looked at her keenly. His toil-stained hands twitched -uneasily in his lap. - - - -VI - -"You're talking about things that never came into my thoughts in all my -life," said she, with the same strange deliberation, the same strange -direct look at him. "But you couldn't expect an ignorant woman to -learn it all in one night, could you?" - -"I'm not trying to convert you, Mrs. Rawn. I'm going to leave this -place. You'll not see me again. But I'm not trying to change _you_. -I wouldn't--" - -"Listen!" she broke out sharply. "I'm set to do that for you--I'm -expected by him, out there, to change you. Isn't that the truth? -Didn't you see?" - -"Yes, it's easy to see," he answered grimly. "It's up to you." - -"It's up to you and me, Charley, yes. You can ruin me and all of us by -walking out that door. You can break the lives of those two people out -there, and mine, yes, of course you can, and your own.--You can do all -that. You can make me come down from this place where you say -everybody envies me, and you can have everybody laughing at me and -forgetting me in less than six months' time. You can get me snubbed, -if you like; you can make me wretched and miserable, if you like. Of -course you can. Do you want to do that?" - -"It isn't fair to put it before me in that way." - -"I do put it before you in that way. But that isn't the worst of what -you could do--you'd leave me unsettled and unhappy for ever if you went -away to-night that way--Charley!--" - -"What can you mean--?" - -"Things are moving fast to-night, Charley, and we're discussing matters -pretty openly--" - -"Yes," he nodded. "I don't want to set a wife against her husband. -Neither must you. But the truth is, Mr. Rawn is not what a good many -think he is--" - - - -VII - -"Do you think that's news to me?" she asked of him, and looked full -into his eyes. - -"Good God, Mrs. Rawn! What do you mean?" - -"Much what you do!" - -"But you loved him--you married him!" - -"Oh, yes, surely. That was some months ago. But you see, there's a -distinction between master and superior." - -"I'm very miserable," was his simple answer. "Things are getting too -much confused for me. And now you say you'd never be happy if I left -you now, to-night--" - -"Then why go, so long as we are so confused? Why don't you wait? I've -asked you to! Do you expect to settle all this in a half-hour's time, -in a passion of anger? Now listen. Although he's my husband, and -she's your wife, I don't blame you. I'm only asking you to wait a -little. I'm making it personal, Charley!" - -"How dare you do that, Mrs. Rawn?" - -"Because I have the right to do it! I don't intend to have you make me -more unhappy than I am. I've just told you I'm not happy. I don't -know--" she laughed a little amused ripple of laughter--"but I'd have -been happier if he had handled you as you did him! I'm not talking -just the way I meant to when I came through those doors to stop you. -I'm like you--it's all confusing--_I'll_ have to wait, the same as you. -There's a lot of things to be figured out! I'm covetous of -_everything_ in the world--that _any_ woman ever had--from the Queen of -England to Ann Sullivan! Yes, I'm ambitious, I'll admit that. And -you've set me thinking--I'm wondering--wondering what really _is_ the -best a woman can get out of life." - -"Mrs. Rawn, you've got success as you understand it, by marrying a -middle-aged man. You're young." - -She shook her head. "It isn't possible," said she frankly, catching -his thought. "I'm far enough along to see that!" - -"You know what Mr. Rawn did when _he_ wished to change--he put away -what he had, and reached out for that which he had not. For my own -part, I don't see how any woman could be happy with him. He ruined the -life of one woman, his wife; of another, his daughter. Now, you tell -me he hasn't made an absolutely happy life for yet another -woman--yourself. Oh, it's brutal for me to say it, but it's true, and -you've just said it's true." - -"If only it could come to the question of what a woman really wanted--" -she resumed, pondering. - -"That's for each woman to figure out for herself, Mrs. Rawn. I've only -said what most American women want. We're living in a wholesome and -beautiful age, Mrs. Rawn!" - -"I thought I was right!" said she suddenly, looking up. "Now I believe -I was wrong. Charley!--" - - - -VIII - -"It's in the air," she said, as though to herself, after a time, -finding him silent, troubled, pale. "Don't you know, Charley--" She -turned to him. - -He leaned toward her now, his lined young face illuminated with sudden -emotion. "I wish I could explain that to you, Mrs. Rawn," said he. "I -feel it, too! Now maybe we _can_ understand! How did I drive my car -over here, charged from one of our overhead motors? Ah, that's my -secret. But I took it out of the air! That motor of ours was in -_tune_ with it--the great power that's in the air, everywhere. Mrs. -Rawn, it's getting in _tune with the world_ that makes you happy. -Nothing else is going to do it! Get in tune with the _plan_! All I've -ever done in my receiving-motor has been to get in tune with the hills -and the rivers and the forests--with _life_." - - - -IX - -She leaned toward him now, that on her face which he had never seen -there before. He looked her fair in the eyes and went on, firmly, -strongly. - -"I've done that; and I've said to myself that I wasn't going to throw -that away and give it to a few, when it belonged to everybody. I am -unhappy as you are; more so. _I'm_ not in tune with life as we live -it. No, I certainly am not. But I know that to be perfectly happy -we've got to get in tune with the purpose of the world. What is it? -What _is_ that second current? I don't know. What is it? You tell -me--" - -"I'll tell you what I believe," said Virginia Rawn slowly, her hands -dropping in her lap, her face pale. "I shouldn't wonder if it -was--love!" - -"And _that_ belongs to everybody, not just a few--to every one--not -just to the rich men, with money to buy what they want?" He was -looking at her keenly now. - -"To everybody?" She shook her head. "Not always, Charley." - -"Why not--Virginia?" - - - - -CHAPTER V - -MEANS TO AN END - -I - -"Well, he's gone, then?" - -Rawn turned toward his wife a face years older than it had been an hour -ago, a face haggard and lined, pasty in color. His bitter agitation -was evident in his voice, in his expression, in the stoop of his -shoulders--in a score of signs not usual with him. Virginia was even -more noncommittal than her wont as she faced him. Grace had -disappeared. - -"What did you do--how did you handle him, Jennie?" he began--"you were -talking for over an hour there! Did you manage to hold things -together--will he let up?" - -She faced him full now, as he stood in the blaze of the electric lights -in the interior of the house, where Halsey had left her, in the chair -from which she had not moved since his departure. Every delicate, -clear-cut feature was fully visible now. Her lips just parted to show -the double row of her white teeth in a faint smile. Her chin was a -trifle up, her head high. - -"He will wait a little while," she answered quietly. "At least, I -think so." - -"Good! Fine! I knew you'd do it, Jennie! You're a wonder!--I don't -think there's a woman in all the world like you!" He advanced toward -her. - -"Don't paw me over!" she exclaimed, drawing back. - -"Well, now, then--I only meant--" - -"I don't want to talk," she said. "He's gone, yes, and he'll not do -anything for a little while, I think. It's enough for to-night--I'm -tired. This has been a horrible evening for me. I never thought to -see a time like this!" - -"Horrible for all of us!" exclaimed John Rawn. "That man took -advantage of me out there--I ought to have wrung his neck for him, and -I would have done it if it hadn't been for you two women. Of course, -we don't want scenes if they can be avoided, for there's no telling -what talk might run into if it got out. But just the same, Jennie, -don't you see--" and his face assumed a still more anxious look--"he -can ruin us all whenever he gets ready, and he's wise enough to know -that. I can't do anything with him now. Something's gone wrong with -him, and I don't know what!" - - - -II - -"No, you don't know what," she said slowly. "I don't think you in the -least imagine what!" - -"Do you, then?" he demanded. "If you do, why don't you tell? Do you -know that everything we've got in the world is up at stake on this? He -can kill my credit, he can split this company wide open, he can break -me in spite of all. See what he's done in return for what I've done -for him! Sometimes I wonder if there's such a thing as honor left in -the world!" - -"So! Do you?" She rose now, and would have left him. - -"Well, I want to talk this over with you. Please, Jennie. Sit down," -he said. "Tell me what you said. I want to know where things are, so -I can act to-morrow--or maybe even before to-morrow. You don't realize -what a hole I'm in." - -"What did I say to him?" she repeated, looking down at her wrists. -"Nothing very much. I told him if he went on he'd ruin us all; that it -wasn't right for him to do it. I told him we wanted him--I wanted -him--to wait--for my sake." - -"For your sake?" - -"Yes, I did," she answered calmly. "I said that." - -"It was best!" he cried, rising and walking up and down excitedly. -"What a mind you have, Jennie--what a woman you are! Where'd I be -without you, I wonder now? Why, of course, that was the way! Any man -will do anything that _you_ tell him to, especially a young man--of -course, of course!" - -"Thank you," she commented coldly; "thank you very much." - - - -III - -He sought to put a consoling or an explanatory hand on her shoulder, -but she shook him off, shivering. - -"I don't mean anything," he began confusedly. "Get me straight, now. -I only wanted to say that when you work for me in this you are working -for your own sake also. It's all up to you, Jennie, right now. If you -can't land him, we're gone--it's no use my trying to do anything with -him. Do you know, I'm _going to send you out after him_." - -"Send me out?" - -"Yes; things have to be done the best way they can be done. That -fellow can say one word which'll ruin us in one day's time. He can -break the values in International more than we can mend in months. Our -men would begin to cover as soon as they caught a hint that anything -was really wrong. As for me, I'm spread out for millions in the -general market. If they began to hammer me I couldn't come through--I -wouldn't last a week. The thing to do is to keep this news safe until -I can protect myself--until I can protect us all. Now it's you, -Jennie, that's got to do that--it's you! I'm sending you out after -him." - -"I always thought, Mr. Rawn," said she, "that you played a dangerous -game, so long as you simply trusted that he'd do anything you told him." - -"Yes, I see it now. But he always was odd--he always held something -back. I tell you, he's crazy! Now, he's either just crazy over his -fool Socialist ideas, or else he's going to hold out for a squeeze. In -the first case you can handle him. In the second, I can. - -"You see--I couldn't tell our directorate," he went on; "but there was -always something lacking which I couldn't handle myself. _We_ need -him, and we've got to have him! You can get him, I know you can. You -can do anything you like. You're wonderful!" - -She sat and looked at him, her lips still parted in the same enigmatic -smile which he did not like to see; but she made no answer. - -"What's wrong with him?" he went on immediately. "What does he _say_ -is the trouble, anyway? And is it the truth that he's got the overhead -current?" - -She nodded. "Of course, I know something about it from my work in the -office. Yes, he told me that he had done what you have all been trying -to do so long. He said he came over under power from the -overhead--just as he told you." - -"He may be lying, for all we know. You can't look at a car and tell -where its charge came from. Electricity is electricity, to all intents -and purposes. What I want to know is, what he's got against us, -anyhow, Jennie?" - -"Well, for one thing, he seemed troubled because Grace would not go -back with him. He seemed to think that you and the life you could give -her had been the reason for her abandoning him." - -"Why, what nonsense! Grace hasn't abandoned him! And I only got her -over here because I needed her myself--before--well, before we were -married. Who was to take care of _me_, I'd like to know? And you say -he complains of _that_!" - -"That was one of the things." - -"But Grace would go back! She's none too well pleased now, since you -and I have taken charge here. She'd go back to Charley to-morrow if he -asked her--why, I'd _make_ him take care of her, of course. The -trouble with him is, he values his own personal affairs too much. -That's no way to begin in the business world. A man has to bend -everything to the one purpose of _success_. Look at me, for instance." - - - -IV - -She did look at him, calmly, coldly, without the tremor of an eyelid, -without raising a hand to touch him as he stood close by, without -indeed making any verbal answer. A slight shudder passed over her, -visible in the twitch of her shoulders. - -"It's getting cooler!" he exclaimed. "I'll fetch a wrap for you." And -so hastened away, obsequious, uxorious, as he always was with her. - -"But Charley never would take any counsel from anybody," resumed he -presently. "He's always been tractable enough, that's true; never -raised much of a disturbance until to-night--I don't see why he cut up -so ugly now. He's not crazy over Grace, and if the truth be told, -Grace isn't the sort of girl that a man _would_ get crazy over. You're -that sort." - -"Perhaps not," she smiled faintly. "Just the same, Grace's attitude -may have started him to thinking. When he began thinking he seemed to -conclude that all the world was wrong." - -"And he's starting in to set it right! He's going in for the uplift -stunt, eh? That's the way with a lot of these reformers! They want to -set the world right according to their own ideas. They don't pay any -attention to the men who keep them from starving. I _made_ that -boy--what he's got he owes to me." - -"Indeed! How singular! He says that it's just the other way about; -that what you have you took from him! He says you want to take -more--more than your share--from things that belong to everybody." - -"What's that! What's that! Well, now, of all the insane idiocy I ever -heard! Good God, what next! Him, Charles Halsey, the man I brought up -with me! Jennie, I never heard the like of that in all my time." - -"But if that's the way he feels, now's not the time to argue that with -him!" - -"But, good God, the effrontery--" - -"All the world is full of effrontery, Mr. Rawn," she said--continuing -to address him formally, as she always did. "It's buy and sell. -Everything we get we pay for in one way or another. Even if we took -power out of the air by our overhead motors, we'd pay for that, one way -or another--nothing comes from nothing--we pay, we pay all the time, -Mr. Rawn!" - -"_You_ don't need to go into theories and generalizations," said he -testily. "We've had enough of that from him. We are both practical. -You simply get that man and bring him back into the fold, that's all! -Do your share." - - - -V - -"My share? It's easy, isn't it?" She smiled at him again annoyingly. - -"But you can do it?" - -"Yes, I can do it. But I can't evade the truth I just told you. I'd -have to pay. You'd have to pay." - -"We're beggars, and can't choose," said John Rawn savagely. "Besides, -there's no harm done--I'm not asking you to do anything improper, -anything to compromise yourself--but _get_ him, that's all! And when -we've got him in hand--when I know what I want to know--I'll wring him -dry and throw him on the scrap heap. That's what I'll do with him!" - -"Yes, I think you would," she said. - -"It's the only right thing to do," Rawn fumed. "He'll get what's -coming to him. He's been throwing down his one best friend." - -"Are there any best friends in business, Mr. Rawn?" she asked. - -"Of course there are. Haven't I been a friend to him; haven't I got a -lot of friends of my own?" - -"What would they do for you to-morrow, Mr. Rawn?" - -"Well, that's a different matter; they might take care of themselves--I -would take care of myself. But this fool here that I'm asking you to -handle isn't taking care of himself or any one else. He's crazy, -that's all about him! Did he hand you out any of this talk about the -rights of man? I more than half suspect him of sympathizing with these -labor unions. He's a Socialist at heart, that's what he is!" - -She nodded her head a little. "Names don't make much difference in -such matters." - - - -VI - -"Isn't it a funny thing," he rejoined, turning to her in his walk, -"that the very men who have failed, the very ones who most need help -themselves, are the ones who are out to help everybody else! The blind -always want to lead the blind! These labor unions depend on us for -their daily bread and butter, yet they want to fight us all the time. -There's no trust in this country so big as the labor trust, and there's -no ingratitude in the world like that of the laboring man's. - -"Why, look at me, Jennie--you know something of my plans. This very -month I was going to put fifty thousand dollars more into my -cooperative farm in the South, a thing I have been working out for the -benefit of my laboring people. I'm going to do more than old Carnegie -has done! You and I ought to have set up some kind of prizes, -medals--start some sort of hero competition. Helping colleges is old, -and so are libraries old. I don't place myself any station back of -Rockefeller himself. The Rockefeller Foundation was a great idea. -Just wait! I'll raise him out of the game! When I get all my plans -made, they'll speak of John _Rawn_ when they mention philanthropy! - -"And just to think, Jennie," he went on excitedly, "that all such big -plans as that, plans for the good of humanity, should come to nothing! -To be held up and handicapped by the folly of a man who has never been -able to do anything for himself or any one else! It makes me sick to -think of it. He claims to be a friend of the laboring people, and here -he's tying the hands of the greatest friend of the laboring men in this -town to-day--myself, _John Rawn_, standing here! Why, if I'd hand this -country the John Rawn Foundation for industrial assistance, all thought -out, all financed, all ready to go to work to-morrow, that crazy fool -there, with his Socialist ideas, would block it all. He's _going_ to -block it all. - -"Now, it's up to you. You're the only one that can keep him from doing -that very thing. Don't you see, it isn't just you and me he's ruining. -It isn't himself he's ruining. He's going to hurt the whole _country_. -Jennie, there's a considerable responsibility on you to-night. Where -he is wrong is in thinking that the weak can help the weak. It's the -other way about--it's the strong that can help--Power!--that's what -counts! It's for you to show him that. Jennie, girl--it's not so much -myself. But think of your country." - -"Yes," she nodded, "that's precisely it!" - -"But he didn't affect you in the least, Jennie--he didn't get _you_ -going with that kind of foolishness." - -"I never heard any one talk just as he did, before," said she slowly. -"You see, I hadn't thought of these things myself, for I'm only a -woman. He said that all this power, taken from the hills and the -forests and the air and the rivers, belongs to _everybody_--to all the -world--" - -"But he didn't impress _you_ with that nonsense, Jennie?" - -"He said things--I told him that I'd never thought of life just that -way. And I haven't, Mr. Rawn. I told him, as I admit to you, that I -hadn't thought of anybody much but myself--I just tried to climb. I -think all women do." - -"It's right they should, it's the only way. Selfishness is the one -great cause of the world's progress, my dear." - -"Well, I told him that his way of thinking was so new to me, that I -needed time to think it over." - -"But you didn't believe a word he said--you never would!" - - - -VII - -"Mr. Rawn," said she, looking him full in the face, "we've both of us -climbed pretty fast. I always put my family out of memory all I could. -But somehow I seem to recollect that my father used to talk of things a -good deal as Mr. Halsey does. I begin to realize what I told you a -while ago--no matter how or where we climb, we pay for what we get, -sometime, somewhere, somehow! - -"But listen," she leaned toward him with some sudden access of emotion. -"I can do this much! I'll agree to bring in Charley Halsey, bound hand -and foot! You can throw him and me, too, on the scrap heap when the -time comes! It's a game. I'll play it. I'll take my chance." She -half rose, thrilling, vibrant. - -"I knew you would, Jennie." - -"Yes, but you'll have to pay." - -"Have I ever said I wouldn't? Didn't I just get done telling him I'd -make him rich the minute he said the word?" - -"It doesn't seem to be money he wants. I--don't--believe--that's what -the pay would have to be." - -"What do you mean? You're getting too deep for me now. I'm only a -plain man, my girl!" - -She smiled at him, still enigmatic, still cool and calm, still almost -insolent, as she often was with him. "He's been talking all sorts of -folly about getting things in tune--getting gravitation in tune with -labor--all sorts of abstractions. Well, don't you see, if I got in -tune with his notions, I might be able to influence him!" - -Rawn grew cold and hard. "There's one thing we can't do, Jennie," said -he. "We can't side in with any of his socialistic talk. What _he_ -wants to do is to give to the people of this country for nothing what -this International Power Company is planning to _sell_ them for ever. -What _we_ want is monopoly! I've been gambling everything I've got on -the certainty of that monopoly. I'm in soak, in hock, up to my eyes on -the market, this minute. I'm margined to the full extent of my credit. -The biggest men of America are back of me. I'll be rich if this thing -goes through--one of the richest men in America. But I'd almost rather -lose it all than to see you side in with him, or listen for five -minutes to his rotten talk about the 'rights of man.' There _are_ no -rights of man except what each man can take for himself! As for him, -I'd kill him, or get him killed, if I knew first how he got that -current through the receivers. Give me that, and I'll let the rights -of man wait a while. I'll show them a thing or two! - -"But of course," he added, frowning again in helpless perturbation, -"we've got to get him in hand. Grace couldn't do it." - -"No; on the contrary. I can--if I pay!" - -"_Then pay!_" he snarled suddenly, his voice harsh, half choking. -"What's the price--nothing worth mentioning. But it's got to be paid, -no matter what it is. We're caught, and we're squeezed! We've got to -pay, _no matter what it is_, Jennie!" - -"Is it no matter to you, Mr. Rawn?" - -"How can it be? I'm almost crazy to-night! Do it, that's all, and -draw on me to the limit!" - -"To the limit, Mr. Rawn?" - -"_To the limit!_" He looked her straight in the eye, and she met his -gaze fully. She shivered slightly again, but her delicately clean-cut -face showed no further sign. Only she shivered, and pulled her wrap a -trifle closer about her shoulders. - -"Very well," she said. "I may have to draw on you--and myself, too." - -"It's all in the game, Jennie--we've got to play it together--we're two -of the same sort--we've got to climb, to succeed. We run well -together. One must help the other's hand." - -"Yes, it's a game," she answered; and so rose, and left him without -further word. - - - -VIII - -John Rawn followed her up the stair, mumbling some sort of conjugal -affection, but she left him at the landing and passed toward her own -apartments down the hall, giving him hardly even a look of farewell. -He followed her with his eyes, standing a little time, his hand resting -on the lintel of his own door. - -Alone, Rawn seated himself in the Elizabethan armchair devised by his -most favored decorator as fitting for this Elizabethan room. A vast -oak bed, heavily carved, with deep and heavy curtains, represented the -decorator's idea of what the Virgin Queen preferred. The walls were -deeply carved in wainscot and cornice. A rude attempt was made at -strength and simplicity in this, the sanctum of the master of Graystone -Hall. Granted the aid of a lively imagination, this might have been -the apartment of some feudal lord of another day; as the designer and -architect had not failed delicately to suggest to Mr. Rawn. - -It is possible that in the time of Elizabeth pier glasses with heavily -carved frames were not common in the size affected by Mr. Rawn in his -private apartment. He stood before the great glass now and gazed at -what he saw; a face haggard and lined, shoulders stooping a little -forward, body a little stooped, a little heavy, a little soft; the -watch charm hanging in free air--the figure of a man no longer -athletic, if ever so. - -Rawn stood engaged in his regular nightly devotions--he made no prayers -of eventide beyond that to his mirror. But now something he saw caused -him to fling himself into a seat at a smaller glass, where the light -was better. He gazed into this also, intently. Something seemed -strange about his eyes, about his mouth. He turned his face slightly -sidewise and studied the deep triangular lines at the corner of the -chin. He saw a roll of fat at the back of his neck, and observed a -certain throatiness, a voluminousness of flesh below the chin. The -latter stood out distinct, pushing forward;--the rich man's chin, the -old man's chin. He lifted a finger and touched the arteries on his -temples. They were firmer to the touch than once they had been. He -looked at the veins on his hands, and realized that they stood fuller -than was once the case. His nose, large, just a trifle bulbous, seemed -to him to have gained somewhat in color in late years. He looked at -his eyes in eager questioning. Yes, they belonged to him! But for -some reason they lacked brilliance and fire. They were colder, less -impressive, less responsive;--the rich man's eyes, the old man's eyes. -He looked at his hair, now almost white at the temples. He hesitated -for a moment, then picked up a hand glass and deliberately turned his -back to the mirror. Yes, it was there, a shiny spot of naked -epidermis. He knew that, but always he shunned the knowledge and the -proof. For many years his thick mane of wiry hair had been his pride. - -John Rawn turned and put the hand mirror on the dresser top again. He -looked full into the glass at his image once more. His pendulous lower -lip drooped, tremulously. He saw his eyes winking. He saw something -else. Yes, to his wonder, to his gasping horror, he saw something -strange and revolutionary! A tear was standing in the corner of his -eye! It dropped, it trickled down his cheek. - -John Rawn for the first time in his life was learning what the one game -is--and learning that time is the one winner in that one game! He was -old. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -AN INFORMAL MEETING - -I - -It must surprise those simple folk, Messieurs Washington, Jefferson, -and their like, were they to return to life at this advanced day and -gaze upon the admirable republic which they fancied to be founded on -immutable principles. As in politics to-day those principles would -seem proved to have been not quite immutable, so, in commerce, men and -methods would appear wholly different from those known in that earlier -day. For instance, in commercial matters, the men of that day would -now find in daily application a fourth dimension of affairs once wholly -unknown; the sixth sense of the modern business man, a delicately -differentiated faculty evolved in the holy of holies where events cast -their financial shadows far in advance of themselves. John Jay, or any -financier of Revolutionary time, very likely lacked in that regard, and -had but his five senses. - -This keen sense of prophecy, property of modern leaders in finance, was -not lacking in the case of the directors of the International Power -Company, all and several; and more especially several. Capitalists -hunt in packs--but only up to a certain point. The _sauve qui peut_ -has small chivalry about it even in the holy of holies. - -Within a few days after the turbulent scenes which took place in the -quiet surroundings of Graystone Hall, there was held, quite informally, -indeed on a wholly impromptu basis, a meeting of the greater portion of -the directors of the International Power Company. It was a meeting not -called by the president, and the president knew nothing of it. It was -not set for the usual headquarters in the East; on the contrary, by -merest chance, these keen-witted men met by accident in the western -city where were located the works and central operating offices of the -International Power Company. They made their stopping place, as usual, -at the National Union Club, where they were less certain to become the -prey of prying reporters--a breed detested above all things by these -and their like. - - - -II - -There was, this afternoon, casually present, a certain gray-haired, -full-bodied man, of full beard and rather portly body. He was speaking -with President Standley, of St. Louis, who also by merest chance -happened to be in town. To them presently came the former general -traffic manager of Mr. Standley's road, Ackerman, also present by -merest accident. Two or three others, moreover, by mere accident, -joined them, figures which were familiar at the long table in the New -York headquarters. They looked at one another frankly, and laughed -without much reservation. - -"Well," said Ackerman, after a time, "let's sit down and have a little -powwow--informally, you know." - -The gray-haired man grinned pleasantly again and said nothing, but drew -up a chair. - -"Of course, you know," said Standley, as he seated himself, "that our -dissatisfied friend, Van, is here in town to-day?" - -The full-bearded man nodded, and an instant later jerked his head -toward the door. "He's here in the club, too," said he, and smiled. -"Just happened in, I suppose." Indeed, as they turned to look they saw -advancing, talking animatedly, a rather slender, youngish man of brown -eyes and pointed beard; none less than the disgruntled director who had -long ago been so summarily handled by John Rawn, president of the -International Power Company. - -"Hasn't he got the nose for news, though?" commented Standley -admiringly. "Now, who told him there was anything doing!" - -"He didn't need to have anybody tell him," growled Ackerman. "He can -take care of himself. And by Jove! I'm half inclined to think that he -was the lucky one--to get out the way he did, and when he did." - -"Yes, he's lucky," said Standley gravely. He turned to see the vast -round belly of the gray-bearded man heaving in silent mirth. The -railway magnate obviously was amused. - -"I don't know!" remarked Ackerman suddenly. "_Others_, eh?" - - - -III - -"Well, boys, why not admit it?" rejoined the older man. "We all know -the facts. We all know why we're here. As you said, Ack, let's hold a -little informal meeting, and talk over what we had better do!" - -"How much did you sell!" demanded Standley casually. - -"Twenty thousand last week. You sold about double that." - -"Yes, it's leaking out, no use denying that! You don't need to list -this thing--it leaks!" - -"Of course, Van's buying it," said Standley, nodding toward the slender -figure of the ex-director. "First time I ever knew him to go out for -revenge. It doesn't very often pay." - -"Well, I can't figure it out," ventured Ackerman. "The stock won't do -him any more good than it does us. He can't get the control over that -old bonehead Rawn--I mean our respected president--anyhow, any more -than we can. He's sitting tight, with the papers in his box. I admit -that I let go a little, because I figured it was time we were doing -something better than six per cent. with that stock, and all Rawn has -done is to make one explanation on top of another. He can't keep on -putting that across with me, anyhow. But he can sit there, as I say, -with the control in his hands, looking at those nice pictures of the -Lady of the Lightnings, which he had engraved as our trademark." - -"He's awfully gone on her," spoke up one. "Not that I blame him, -either. I hate to sell my stock, because I like the looks of our -engraved goddess so much!" - -"There's most always a lady standing around somewhere, with the -lightning in her hands," ventured the gray-bearded man solemnly. They -looked at one another again suggestively, but no one spoke more -definite words than that. - - - -IV - -"Well, we've had high-sounding talk put up to us about long enough," -commented Ackerman, at length. "I was one of the first to go in for -this, and I believe in it yet, but I don't want this thing with Rawn in -control. Why, look at him,--he was just a clerk when he came to us, -and here he's putting on more side than any other man in the town. -He's taken advantage of his situation to play the market in and out, -all the time, which he couldn't have done if it hadn't been for friends -like us. He squeezed us into backing him--after we gave him that first -little flyer in Rubber, and some Oil--that hadn't cost us anything and -didn't look worth anything. In return he's handed us promises and -explanations and hot air, and nothing else. I've just got an idea that -there's a man-sized nigger somewhere around this woodpile. For me, I -prefer being hung as a little lamb rather than as a full-sized goat. -Yes, I let go a little International--to Van--I'll admit. Time enough -to get back into the game when we've put Rawn out!" - -Standley nodded slowly. "That's a good deal the way I felt about it," -he said. "It riles me to see the airs that fellow puts on. I remember -him when he didn't have two suits of hand-me-down clothes to his name, -and now he seems to have a hundred, all done by the best tailors in New -York. He used to tie his drawers with white tape strings, and now he -wears specially shaped silks. Where'd he get it? You talk about the -Keeley motor--this thing has got it beat a mile for mystery. And we -fellows have been standing for that! That is, unless we can stand from -under, somehow." - -"Yes, seemingly," ventured the last speaker. "But how is that somehow? -There isn't any market for International." - -The gray-bearded man laughed jubilantly at this. "Have you found that -out?" - -"Yes, I certainly have found it out. Of course, the market has been -Van yonder. But he won't take on over a certain amount. He wants to -break the control, of course. But he's going to wait until he gets up -to the point and then do something quick. He's not going to hold our -bag for us--oh, no! Not him!" - -"Well, I've a suspicion," said the older man finally, "that that secret -we've been after has been in the hands of our superintendent for a long -time." - -"Why didn't Rawn tell us, then?" demanded one of his companions. "Has -he sold us out?" - -"No, Rawn hasn't sold us out. At least I don't think so." - -"Who has, then?" - -"I don't know. The young man who made the wheels go for us whenever -Rawn wanted him to--he's the real key to this situation, if I'm a good -guesser. There's your contraband, and you can locate him somewhere in -this particular woodpile, or I'm no judge." - -"Rawn's pretty well spread out in the general market," quite -irrelevantly suggested Standley. - -"I should say he was!" growled Ackerman. "He's been in on all the good -things in the last two or three years. He must have made millions--I -don't know how much." - -"In the general market--not International, of course. He's got all his -holdings in that. He has been spending money, though!" Standley -wagged his head. - -"For instance, on the Lady of the Lightnings?" suggested Ackerman, -grinning amiably. - -"Yes, on his young wife, and his new house, and his boats, and his -automobiles, and all the regular things. He can't have done it out of -International dividends, that's sure!" - -"All the better that he hasn't," ventured Standley. The old man nodded. - -"Go over there and call Van," he said simply. - - - -V - -The slender man with pointed beard came up pleasantly, his eyes -twinkling. "Well, my fellow sports and department heads!" he said. -"What's the good word this morning?" - -"Sit down," said the gray-bearded man. "We know why you're here, and -why you've been hanging around here for the last six months. It's -foolish of you, son, to be out for revenge--nothing in that!" - -"I'm not after revenge," smiled the other, his eyes still twinkling. -"I've made my peace!" - -"Yes," commented Ackerman. "The friendship of some of you gladiators -is surely a wonderful thing! Rawn hates you, and you hate Rawn. Don't -your ears burn?" - -"No, my heart!" He laid a hand on that organ with mock gravity. - -"What could you do with the Lady of the Lightnings, Van?" asked -Standley discreetly. - -"Nothing, absolutely nothing." - -"Hasn't she any social instincts?" - -"Plenty, but all gratified; that's the trouble. There isn't anything -those people want that they haven't got. No, I must say his position -is pretty strong." - -"But it's not impregnable, Standley," cut in the gray-bearded man, -stopping the twiddling of his fingers above his round-paunched body. -"Now, look here, we're all friends together, when it comes to that. -You belong with us a lot more than you do with that Jasper from the -country. Of course, you split with us, got mad, took your dolls and -all that sort of thing--we're all used to that--and we all sat tight -because it looked good. It looked better than it does now. So, we're -friends again." - -"Of course," nodded the slight man. "I understand that." - -"Sure you do! Now, it's plain that when it comes to being on the -inside, you're there as an ex-director just as much as we are as real -directors--maybe more so, for all I know." - -"Maybe more, yes, that's so," smiled the slender man, his brown eyes -twinkling yet more. - -"How much more, then?" - -"Why, a whole lot more!" - -"What do you know?" - -"I know what I've learned for myself and by myself. Gentlemen, it's on -the table! Play the game! I did. I've had some of those college -professors at work for me--they're the people that first got us locoed, -anyhow. Rawn, or rather his son-in-law, got his first notion from his -own professor in his college." - - - -VI - -"The real trouble with business to-day," interrupted the gray-bearded -man, reverting to his universal and invariable grievance, "is that -things are all going wrong with the American people. These -Progressives down there at Washington have set this whole country by -the ears--not even the Supreme Court can square things any more. The -suspiciousness of the average man is getting to be almost criminal, -that's what it is. The public thinks every man with money is a rascal. -The public is damnably ungrateful. Look what we have done for this -country, this little set of men sitting right here--what we've built -for them, what we've paid out to them for wages! What are we getting -in return? They envy us our daily bread, and by the Eternal! they'll -come near putting us where we can't get that much longer! Look at the -railway rate cases--it's robbery of the railways. Capital hasn't any -chance any more! The public seems to be getting ready for anarchy; -that's all." - -"Isn't it the truth?" remarked the slender man sympathetically. -"Still, we have to handle men as we find them, my friends. In my own -case, I've been fighting the devil with a little of his own fire." - -"How's that?" - -"Well, for instance, I went out to see if I couldn't land that little -secret of the receiving motor myself, as I just told you. If -International doesn't want to take me in, or if I can't break in, maybe -there can be another company formed--there's considerable corporation -room left in New Jersey. You folks on the International have been -having your own troubles with labor, haven't you?" - -"Well, rather!" growled Ackerman. "We put that up to old Colonel J. R. -Bonehead, our president! He seems to have got in about as nearly wrong -as any one could with our esteemed friends of the labor unions!" - -"Naturally; well, I'll make a confession, since we're all friends -together--I've had men conferring with your horny-handed citizens and -suggesting that the International Power Company was 'unfair,' and a bad -outfit to work for!" - -"That was nice of you!" growled Ackerman, getting red in the face. -"_Fine_ business, for you to come snooping around our works." - -The slender man smiled at him pleasantly. "How else could I get -information?" he inquired. "You must remember that I'm no longer on -the board! But you must remember, also, that of late I have picked up -an occasional dollar's worth of International. I wanted to know how -about certain things!" - -"Well, how about them, then?" demanded Standley fiercely. "Where do we -stand?" - -"You want me to incriminate myself!" - -"Oh, fiddlesticks about incrimination! Cut out that part of it!" - -"All right, I will," said the other grimly. "Well, then, I've tried my -best to bribe your people, and I've got little out of it. I've tried -the foreman, the night watchman, and everybody else. I've had a dozen -of your workmen slugged for scabbing, and four or five of them shot, -one or two at least, for a good, permanent funeral. And I paid the -funeral expenses! You didn't know that? Well, that's the truth of it!" - -"Well, _what_ do you know about that!" gasped Standley, aghast. - -"I know a good deal about it, my Christian friend," said the slender -man relentlessly. "I can tell you what you already know, that your -motors are dismantled to-day. I can tell you also that there's a very -good chance that the secret we've been after is in the hands of one -man, and he's holding it up for some reason best known to himself. -We've got nothing on him! I can also tell you that if he won't give -up--though _why_ he won't, I can't imagine--it's possible we can work -out a receiver of our own elsewhere, without him." - - - -VII - -"Well, what does he want?" This from the old man. - -"That's the everlasting mystery and puzzle of it. He doesn't want -anything, so far as I can learn. There's some factor in him that I -can't get my hands on, try the best that I can. Not that I don't -expect to break you wide open eventually, my friends." - -"Now why do you want to do that?" asked the older financier. "Why not -join in with us and break the bonehead?" - -"Fine! But how can we do that? He's sitting pretty tight. The man's -played in fine luck. I admit I rather admire him." - -"Bah, that's the way with all the new ones; they all play in luck for a -time. Each Napoleon has his boom, but after a time boom values -shrink--they always do. This chap'll find his level when we get ready -to tell him." - -"For instance?" - -"Well, for instance, then! He's sitting there with a small margin of -control in the International. That gave him his start, and he's wise -enough to hang on to that. But it didn't give him his money--he's only -made dividend money out of that; and who cares for dividend money? He -doesn't own control in the Guatemala Oil Company, does he? He's made a -lot out of Arizona and Utah coppers, but he doesn't own control in a -single company there, does he? He's in with the L.P., but he borrowed -to get in. He's made a big killing in Rubber, but he doesn't own any -Rubber control of his own, does he? Now, you follow him out in every -deal he's made---iron, copper, steel, oil, rails, timber, irrigation, -utilities, industrials--and you'll find he's simply been banking on his -inside information and his outside credit. Who gave him both of those -things?--Why, we did, didn't we? All right! Suppose we withdraw our -credit. What happens?" - - - -VIII - -They went silent now, and grouped a little closer about the tabouret -which stood between them. The old man's voice went on evenly, with no -excitement. Their conversation attracted the attention of none in the -wide lounging room, where large affairs more than once had been -discussed--even the making of Senators to order. - -"I'll tell you what happens," the old man resumed. "He quits using us -for a stalking horse, and he comes down to his own system. He's spread -out. Banks are all polite, but--well, he has to put up collateral; and -then some more. If he doesn't want to put up International, he's apt -to find that a bunch of automobiles is poor property when sold at -twenty per cent. their cost. He turns off two or three butlers, but -still that doesn't serve for margins. The market doesn't suit his book -any more. - -"He's discovering now the great truth of something any old friend Emory -Storrs used to say--Emory always was in debt, or wanted to be, and says -he: 'There's no trouble about prosperity in this country; there's -plenty of money--the only trouble is in the confounded scarcity in -_collateral_.' Well, he goes over to this young man, who is standing -out for some reason best known to himself, and he tries to get him to -come through, and he doesn't come through. What's left? Why, the -diamond lightnings of the Lady of the Lightnings--and his International -Power stock. - -"Meantime, all this thing can't be kept entirely secret; that is to -say, the market part of it can't be. But we sit tight, all of us. We -hold our regular directors' meetings of the International board, and we -smile, and look pleasant. We don't know a thing about his hot water -experiences in the open market. He explains to us why this and that -happens, or doesn't happen, in International; and we smile and look -pleasant, and we don't know a thing. After a time it's up to him and -the Lady of the Lightnings. Something pops! He's up against it, all -except his International Power. Then Van, and you, Standley, and you, -Ack, and you, and you and I, and all of us--why we're still pleasant as -pie to him and we say, 'Well, Mr. John Rawn, if you'd only sell us two -or three shares of International, we'd pay you twenty times what it's -worth--but it's very much cheaper now--by reason of Van's competing -company!' - -"That's about all, I think!" - -The others nodded silently. The game was not new to them, and even in -its most complicated features might have been called simple, with -resources such as theirs. If these resources had made Rawn, they could -unmake him. It was all in the day's work for them. - -"So I'll tell you what we'll do," concluded the old financier after a -time. "We'll just let you and Van look around here a little bit and -see what more you can learn. You're one of the real directors of -International Power to-day, Van. Mr. Rawn is on the minority and the -toboggan list, or is going to be there. We'll take the first steps -when we see the boys down East. The country's getting right now for a -little speculation--things have been dead long enough. There'll be a -market. When the market starts, I think you know which way it will go -for a certain person I needn't name." - - - -IX - -They rose, stood about loungingly for a time, and at length slowly -separated, the older man and the ex-director with the pointed beard -falling back of the others for just an instant. - -"What's the truth about the row, Van?" demanded the old man, laying a -large, pudgy hand on the other's shoulder. - -"I don't know, honestly, what it is. I can tell you this much--your -factory is closed. Your superintendent, Halsey, has quit his work and -left his old residence. Didn't Rawn tell you _that_?" - -"No! What's up now--some trouble with a woman? Wasn't he married to -Rawn's daughter?" - -"Yes, and she went to live with Papa. Papa had the coin." - -"And the superintendent is going the chorus girl route here or in New -York?" - -"No, sir, not in the least,--nothing of the sort. You can't guess -where he's gone." - -The other shook his head. - -"Well, I'll tell you then, since you are one of the directors of the -International and I'm not! He's gone and taken his other pair of pants -and his celluloid collar, and moved over to the North Shore! He's -living in the same house with Papa J. Rawn right now;--that is to say, -he has been for two or three weeks." - -"Well, what do you know about that, too!" commented his friend. - -"I don't know much about it. As I told you, there's something in here -I don't understand. I can't for the life of me figure out that chap -Halsey's motives or his moves. But I don't care about him. It's Rawn -I'm after--and I'm going to get him!" - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THEY WHO SOW THE WIND - -I - -The information given by the ex-director in regard to the whereabouts -of Charles Halsey was substantially, if not circumstantially, correct. -He had, indeed, done the most unlikely thing. He had taken up his -abode, for the time at least, at the very place to which he might have -seemed least apt to return; that is to say, the home of his -father-in-law, John Rawn. - -Many things moved Halsey to this action. In the first place, having -ended his labors, he found no reason for any pretense of continuing -them. Again, although he fully intended to bring divorce proceedings, -and fully intended to leave the city, he was unwilling to depart -without seeing once more his wife and their child, because news came to -him of the little cripple's serious and continued illness. In point of -fact, Grace Halsey, unhappy, morose, and now jealously suspicious, had -brooded over her unfortunate situation in life until she also really -was ill. Halsey grieved over this, in spite of all. As to the little -hunchback, Laura, she had known only illness all her life; and Halsey, -father after all, felt some foreboding which made him unready to leave -for yet a time. - -Halsey, in spite of his own bitterness of soul, realized that Rawn -himself was well-nigh crazed by the business situation, and his -conscience misgave him when he reflected upon the sudden consequences -of his own acts. His sense of business honor and of personal justice -told him he owed even so unreasonable a man as Rawn some sort of -definite accounting for his own stewardship, unwelcome as another -meeting between them must be to both. - -Lastly, it may be added, Virginia Rawn had sent for him. - -When he received her message he spent a night resolving that he would -not go, that he would never again see either her or Grace; never again -would set foot on ground belonging to John Rawn, come what could, let -be lost what any of them all might lose. In the morning he changed his -resolution. By evening of the next day he was at Graystone Hall. - -To his surprise, he found it not immediately necessary to patch a peace -with the master of Graystone Hall, for Rawn was absent. The great -mansion seemed strangely and suddenly changed. An air of anxiety hung -over all, the place was oddly silent. The servants went slipshod about -their duties, and their mistress did not chide them. Swift -disintegration of the domestic machine seemed to threaten; mysterious -danger seemed to menace the very structure itself, long of so bold and -indomitable front. Halsey still hesitated--and still remained. - - - -II - -Rawn customarily divided his time between the operating headquarters in -the western city and the general offices in the eastern capital, but -now he had found it needful immediately to transfer all his activities -to the latter scene. He did not know of his wife's invitation to -Halsey, for he had started from his office, without even advising her -of his intention, and even without conversation with her by telephone. -He telegraphed from the train, stating that he had been called East on -urgent matters. After that, no word at all came from him. It was not -known when he would return. Halsey could only wait. In truth, he was -little better than a man gone mad himself, and Rawn was worse than such. - -Gradually, day by day, hour by hour, the terrible strain of this -suddenly developed situation began to show its effects upon Rawn. He -slept but little after his arrival in the East, showed himself more and -more untidy in personal habits; and lastly, began to seek the false -strength of intoxicating drink. His demeanor in his relations with his -urbane associates daily lost its usual arrogance. John Rawn, late -dictator, became explanatory, conciliatory--a change of mind which had -visible physical tokens. His eye became weaker and more watery, his -shoulders more drooped, his voice more quavering, his address less -abrupt and domineering. - -John Rawn was a broken man, and began to show it. Wherefore his late -friends exulted. The wolves, ranged in circle, lick their chops when -the wounded bull totters upon his uncertain legs. Certain large -financial figures in the eastern city licked their chops, and smiled -grimly, wolfishly, in contemplation of John Rawn as he tottered. - - - -III - -Yet Rawn himself could get no direct proof of the identity of those now -secretly assailing him. At the directors' meetings of the -International he was received politely and respectfully--with too much -politeness and respect, as he felt, although himself unlike the man -once wont to rule there with an iron hand. He did not dare tell them -of Halsey's defection, could not doubt that they already knew of it; -but he met no queries regarding that or anything else in the conduct of -the western factory's business. No one seemed to know that the most -important of all their factories was closed, after a tedious term spent -in incompletion. His associates all were as polite as himself, indeed, -more so; as ready as himself to discuss gravely and earnestly any -detail of the business which now, as all politely agreed, seemed -"somewhat involved," or "somewhat delayed." No one offered any -criticism of the executive. - -But, what was far more deadly to him, the market seemed most onerously -and cruelly oppressive upon the outside investments of John Rawn. -International Power was not hammered, for the reason that there was -little of it out to hammer. The Rawn stock in International, of -course, did not come upon the market. Rawn intended to hold on to that -grimly, fighting for it to the last gasp, trusting to chance to mend -matters for him at the eleventh hour. But ruin in the general market -faced him; and he knew that, with credit gone, the courts would take -for his former creditors whatever property he could be shown to have. -He saw the shadowy circle of the wolves of high finance. Almost he -felt their fangs snapping at his hamstrings. - - - -IV - -In these savage hours the mind of John Rawn cast about for rescue, for -hope. No rescue, no hope, appeared except one last desperate -alternative, purchasable not now with cash or power or influence--since -these were gone--but with what other and dearer things remain to a -man--things some men, not rotted with the love of self, keep through -any or all disaster, prize, even above life and all a life's business -success. Halsey! Ah! Halsey was the savior of Rawn--Halsey, the man -who had humiliated him in his own home. How could Halsey be secured? -There might be brought to bear upon him one influence--that of a -beautiful and fascinating woman! What matter if the one woman, was his -wife, Virginia Rawn? He had already hinted to her of her duty. He -wondered now continually whether she had really and fully understood. -He wondered what she was doing with Halsey. - -As to Halsey, who knew little or nothing of all these turbulent -emotions, all these crowding incidents, he found his situation in the -great house of John Rawn one wholly to his dislike. He saw little of -his wife Grace after the first conventional greeting on his arrival, -and as to the young mistress of Graystone Hall, she seemed so regularly -to have matters demanding her own presence elsewhere, was so busy with -other matters, as to have small time for him. The disturbed condition -of the stock market was creating a furor in the business world, -reflected, of course, in the daily markets of the western city; but -Halsey had never had many investments, had watched the markets little; -and now, isolated at Graystone Hall almost as much as though upon a -desert island, and too much disturbed and distracted in his own mind to -find any definite interest in business matters, was hardly conscious of -the storm that raged. He simply waited on, unhappily. It seemed to -him there was no place for him in all the world. Why did Virginia -remain aloof? - -Rawn, absent in New York, imagined his wife engaged continuously in the -struggle of persuading Charles Halsey to see the light of reason, -although he did not know Halsey was living under the same roof with -her. As a matter of fact, Halsey and she met but rarely. Virginia -breakfasted for the most part in her own rooms, and found, or pretended -to find, something to occupy her for the most part of the day. Not -once did she ask his attendance, not once did she speak with him, when -by chance she saw him, upon any but casual or conventional matters. -She seemed always to evade him; and because she did this, he, -rebelling, sought her out all the more, even while continually -resolving to take his departure, and never again to see this place, or -her, again. He wondered at her reticence, her avoidance of him. He -wondered why she was so pale. He loitered about, unhappily, in this or -that common meeting ground of the great mansion house, waiting to hear -the rustle of a gown upon the stair, the sound of a light foot on a -floor, the touch of a white hand, the sound of a voice--all things -belonging, not to his wife, but to his young stepmother by law. - - - -V - -Yes. Without his wish, in spite of her wish, these had become things -desired, the only things desirable any more in his distracted life. He -lived under the same roof with two women, saw either rarely, and rarely -thought of but one--the wrong one. To atone, Halsey lavished all his -time and care on his little hunchback daughter, and had her with him as -much as the nurse and doctor would allow. The child, undersized, pale, -deformed, silent and wistful, and pathetic always, now was listless and -weak, obviously very seriously ill. It wrung her father's heart to see -her. But Charles Halsey wanted it wrung. He wanted to do bitterest -penance for what he now knew was his secret sin. So the ways of -inordinate power, the consequences, for this one or that one, which -follow on inordinate greed, worked themselves on out toward their sure -and logical ending, the mill of fate grinding those primarily, -secondarily, even incidentally guilty. - -At this time, had Virginia Rawn asked of him to recant, to relent, to -change, there is likelihood he would have done so. John Rawn, cuckold, -was right in his despicable reasoning. There are many prices which -purchase principles. The weakness which had prompted Halsey to remain -at Graystone Hall on such a tenure--which held him there now, waiting -for a voice, listening for a footfall--was the ancient weakness of -youth before youth, of strength before beauty, of the empty heart -before one offering love, of the mind finding perfect echo in another -mind. - -With all his starved heart, all his repressed soul, all his mutinous -body, Charles Halsey loved Virginia Rawn. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THEY WHO WATER WITH TEARS - -I - -As at last the news of John Rawn's collapse broke full and -fair--disastrous enough to please even his late warmest friends. The -stock markets, East and West, became scenes of riot. The truth, of -course, had leaked out regarding Rawn's fight in the last ditch. The -newspapers swarmed upon Graystone Hall, besieging any who could be -found. Halsey refused to talk, and moreover, Rawn could not be found. -This threw them upon their own resources, and what they did not know -they imagined. Even thus, the wildest of them all could not imagine -half; the shrewdest of the journalists could not get their hands on the -"inside story" here. No one in or around or back of the stock -exchanges could be found possessed of secret information which he was -willing to impart. Throughout wild hours of hurrying, telegraphing, -investigating, the papers kept up their frenzied search for the truth, -and found it not, and knew they had not found it. - -Halsey, one morning after a sleepless night, more than a week after -Rawn's departure to New York, secured copies of each of the morning -papers. He stood uncertain, in the great central room of Graystone -Hall, with these black and frowning messengers of fate in his hands, -scarce daring to look at them. He felt some sense of definite disaster -at hand. He glanced at last at one, and started as though struck. -Calling a servant, he sent word to Mrs. Rawn inquiring if he might meet -her at once. - -She joined him presently, smiling faintly, giving him her hand, then -leading him to a breakfast table on the long gallery facing the lake -front, a favorite spot with her. She gave the butler orders to serve -them breakfast here at once; for she now learned Halsey had neither -slept nor eaten. Halsey did not learn that the same also was true of -her. - - - -II - -They seated themselves and for the time said nothing, each gazing out -over the lake. The morning was calm and beautiful. The blue lake, -just dotted with little whitecap rolling waves, seemed in amiable mood, -and purred gently along the sea-wall, below the green and curving -terrace which ran down from the gallery front. A bird chirped here and -there. - -Little enough the peaceful scene reflected the feelings of these, its -only human figures. Virginia Rawn was pale. Dark rings showed below -her eyes. Her mouth drooped just a trifle, plaintively, in a way not -usual with her. She was pale, paler than her usual clean and clear -ivory. Yet she was coolly beautiful in her morning gown of light -figured lawn, with its wide, flowing sleeves, showing her round white -arms. Halsey, frowningly serious, felt the charm of her rise about -him, overwhelm him. He knew that the hour had come for him in more -ways than one; that hers, for ever, was the one face and figure and -voice and presence for him, hopeless and unhappy, and doomed for ever -so to remain. She was not his wife. She was the wife of another -man--of his enemy; the man in all the world least like himself; the man -who, by virtue of that unlikeness, had won this woman for his own. -What hope for him, Charles Halsey, for whom was no place in the world? - - - -III - -Without much comment he placed before her the morning papers, with -their glaring head-lines. - -"Well," said he, "it is the end." - -"Yes?" said she, smiling; "I suppose now we can learn all about our -earlier life and career?" - -"Quite so. Here is the entire history of Mr. Rawn's career--what he -did when he was a young man, where he came from, how he rose to power, -how he failed and fell--it's all here. Here's the story of the -International Power Company--they claim it was intended as a merger of -all the traction companies of the eight leading cities of the country! -Bond issue one to eight billion dollars, capitalization one to two -hundred billion in stocks--you can take your choice in crazed figures. -Here are biographical histories of all the known and unknown -stock-holders. Here, Mrs. Rawn, is a picture of yourself, as well as -one of Mr. Rawn and one more of the house here--a new view, I think. -The photographer must have made a flashlight of the grounds." - -She smiled as he tried to jest, following his pointing finger along the -blurred, brutal head-lines, shrieking their discordant, impossible and -inconsistent tales. The first paper, the _Forum_, declared the ruin of -John Rawn's fortune to be now beyond all hope of repair. Rawn -himself--really at that time often in a helpless stupor in a New York -hotel room--was reported to have fled the country. Halsey, his -son-in-law, and Halsey's wife, who really had only denied themselves to -visitors and reporters--were declared to be in hiding in some secret -apartments of the great castle on the North Shore, a place actually but -little known to any member of the select North Side society in which -Rawn had been, more or less on sufferance, received. Rawn's wife was -also located here, in a condition verging on insanity; according to the -imagination of the writers, which, after all, was fatefully near to the -truth. - -Virginia Rawn smiled, and turned the pages. The next journal had -little else but detailed discussion of the Rawn collapse. It also -asserted the scheme of the International Power Company was the most -bold and rapacious fraud of the day. With journalistic vaticination it -insouciantly declared that the intention of the company was to -establish central distributing points for power stolen from the -public's great water powers, and the retail of what the journal in the -argot of the day called canned power, in cheap and portable small -motors applicable to countless semi-mechanical uses, all with an end of -abolishing the need for horse power and for man power alike. The -result, it pointed out, would be the throwing out of work of countless -thousands of laboring men by the use of electricity stolen from the -people themselves. The gigantic combination already was covering the -main water powers. The people's present openly had been disregarded, -the people's future openly and patently had been put in the gravest of -peril. The entire system of government had been laid by the heels. -The name of the republic had been made a mockery. Above all, it was -asserted, the most intimate intent of the International Power Company -had been the throttling of the labor unions--against which John Rawn -was known to be personally bitterly opposed--the very essence and soul -of the conspiracy having been this device whose aim was to wipe out the -need of unskilled labor, and to make useless and unpaid the power of -human brawn. - - - -IV - -Following these assertions--which after all were not in the least bad -journalism, however good or bad had been the design of International -Power--the same journal exultantly declared that labor need not yet -despair, for that the gigantic conspiracy now had fallen in ruins; its -leader had abdicated and fled, and his ill-gotten gains had been -dissipated in his last desperate attempt to save his holdings in other -stocks. In his ultimate fight he had surrendered the control of the -International, so long and desperately held in his ownership, and now -was ousted from the presidency, other managers being left in charge of -the wreck of a desperate marauder's attempt to throttle a republic and -to rule a country. And so forth, to many extra pages, all deliciously -explicit, and wondrous welcome alike to those who purchase and those -who purvey the news. - -The chronicle of all this was accompanied in this journal not only with -pictures of Graystone Hall, but of the abandoned factory of the -International Power Company; also with portraits of Rawn and his wife -and of Charles Halsey, late superintendent of the company; as well as -those of Jim Sullivan, the foreman, Ann Sullivan, his wife, and other -labor leaders sometimes concerned about the mysterious factory which -had housed the desperate secret of International Power. As it chanced, -the portraits of Ann Sullivan and Virginia Rawn had been exchanged, so -that the beautiful Mrs. Rawn appeared as a hard-featured Irish woman of -more than middle age; whereas Mrs. Sullivan, wife of the well-known -labor leader, presented a somewhat distinguished figure in her -eminently handsome gown and obviously valuable jewels. - - - -V - -Virginia Rawn looked calmly, smilingly, over these and many other -varying details of these closing scenes in her career. "Very well," -said she, pointing to the likeness accredited to her name, "this is the -last time my portrait will appear in print, I suppose. What difference -does it make? The older and uglier I am, the better the story! -Perhaps for once Mrs. Sullivan, when she sees her picture--young, rich, -with plenty of jewels--will think her dreams have come true! Maybe -she's dreamed--I know I did; and I know what I am. The names and -pictures are right, just as they are. She wins, not I. - -"But yes, I suppose this is the end of it all, as you say," she added -wearily, almost indifferently. "Of course, we've known it was coming. -I suppose there was nothing else _could_ come of it all." - -Halsey at first could make no answer except to drop his face in his -hands. A half groan escaped him, in spite of his attempt to rival her -courage or her indifference, whichever it might be. - -"_I've_ done this," he said at last; "_I've_ brought all this on you. -It's all my fault, and it's too late now for me to help it. We -couldn't straighten out things in the business now, even if I went back -to work. It's too late. I've ruined you, Mrs. Rawn." - -"Yes, that's plain," she answered quietly. "But isn't this just what -you wanted? Haven't you always resented the success of others, -deprecated the wish of some men to get money at any cost? Aren't you a -Socialist at heart? Didn't you want this--just this?" - -"Want it? No! How could I want anything which meant harm for _you_? -If only you had come to me and asked me to go back--asked me to get -into line!" - -"You'd have done it, wouldn't you, Charley--for me?" She smiled at -him, her small, white teeth showing. But back of her smile he felt the -pulse of a mind. - -"I don't know--how could I have helped it?" - -"Then you'd have forgotten all your loyalty to those people over there? -You'd have forgotten all about the rights of man of which you told me, -and your devotion to the principles of this republic of which you -talked--is that true? You'd have forgotten all, everything, for _me_?" - - - -VI - -"Yes, I would!" He looked her fair in the eye, truthfully. "I know -that, now--I didn't know it then, but I do now. Yes, I would. Just as -I told him--Mr. Rawn." - -"You told him, what?" - -"Why, that we all have our price. I suppose I had mine." - -"So you'd have done that if I had asked you?" - -"Then in God's name why did you not ask me? At least, I'd have saved -you _this_!" He smote on the paper with his clenched fist. "Why -didn't you ask me to save you this humiliation?" - -"I did not, because I knew all along what you'd do if I did ask you." - -Silence fell between them now. "Why didn't you?" he once more -demanded, half-whispering. "You'd already won. You'd have won me--my -principles--my honor." - -"Because I did not _want to win_!" she answered sharply. - -"Win what?" - -"I was sent to bring you into camp, to 'get' you, Charley. I did not -want to--I did not! I was afraid I _would_!" - -"I don't think I quite understand." - -His face was white, his voice low and clear, his eye full on hers. - -"I was sent out for you, Charley--by my own husband! You know it, we -both knew it. I suppose he's been waiting somewhere for me to get word -to him that I had done what I was told to do--that I had got you in -hand, willing to renounce everything that you held good in your own -life. Well, it's too late, now! I'm glad!" - -"He sent you out after me!--With what restrictions--?" - -"None. He didn't care how. He told me he didn't. That's why I've -been keeping away from you. I was afraid I'd win--I was afraid I'd -save all this." - -She nodded her head, including the splendors of the mansion house, its -view of the lake, all the gracious, delicate ministries of Wealth. - - - -VII - -"Good God!" Halsey broke out. "The man who would do that is not worth -a woman's second thought." - -"Of course not. And the woman who would do that--?" - -"Don't ask me about that; I can't think. All I know is that if you had -asked me to do anything in the world, I think I'd have said yes." - -"For me?" - -"Yes, for you. It's the truth. It's all out, at last! There's the -whole story now of John Rawn--all of it, in black and white! Here's -all _my_ story--to you. You must have known--" - -"Yes," she nodded; "of course. That was why, I said, that I've evaded -you so long. It was very hard to do, Charley; a hundred times I've -been on the point of sending for you. But I didn't." - -"I'm glad, too," he said simply, seeing it was to be soul facing soul, -between them now. "I've missed you. I've never passed such days in my -life as I have here. There's Grace hating me, you ought to hate me--I -ought to hate you! Oh, Rawn, man! Where would you have stopped, to -get money, to get power? Oh, excellent!--to set your wife as a trap -for another man! But it worked! It could have been done!" He looked -her frankly in the face as he finished. "I love you, Virginia," he -said simply. "I suppose I have all along. It's cheap, after all--at -this price. But for all this, I never could have told you. - -"But one thing I will say,"--the unhappy young man added, after a long -time; "it's the one thing I can claim for an excuse. _My_ price was -love for you, and _good_ love. It was the whole love of man for -woman--I never knew before what that meant! It wasn't for money, but -for you. That great, mysterious second current--what you yourself said -was the one vast power of all the universe--that belonged to -_everybody_--love--love--I thought _that_ belonged to me, too. I can't -see even now where that is wrong. I can't think, I don't know. If it -is wrong, then I've been wrong. We're down in the mire together! I -dragged you there. And once I dreamed of doing something to lift -people up--that was why I mutinied and tore up the motors. And I had -my own selfish price.... I can never lift up my head again. But I -love you!" - - - -VIII - -She looked at him, her lips parted, her bosom agitated now, her eyes -large, her color slowly increasing. "You must not!--Stop, we must -think! Charley--" - -"But why didn't you?" he demanded fiercely. "Why didn't you finish -your work as you promised?" - -"I never promised. I didn't finish it--because I knew I _could_. I -told you--it was--Charley--yes--it was--love!" - -"For me?" - -He half started up now, but she raised a hand to restrain him. - -"The servants!" she whispered. Indeed, even as she spoke she saw the -livery of the butler disappearing at the tall glass doors letting out -to the gallery. She did not know that the butler had seen much and -heard somewhat; that being a butler he was wise. - -"But it's got to be--we've got to go through now!" he went on savagely. -"Why did you start this, then? Why did you let me know?" - -"It was he who started it in me--ambition! No, I always had it. From -the day I was born I wanted to climb, to win, to be rich, to have -things in my hands. All girls want that, I suppose, till they know how -little it is. So I married him--I tried to, and I did. I knew he had -money.... But then there was more I wanted, after all. I only wanted -that something _else_, too, that any woman wants--what she's got to -have, once in her life, rich or poor, because she's a woman--some one -who truly loves her for herself as she is, because she is what she -is--because she's a woman! - -"Oh, I looked all around me here, a long time after I came here, for -what I'd missed. I've never been happy here. I didn't have it. I -wanted it. At last I saw it. I wanted it. Its price is ruin--for -two, you and me. I'm like you. If it's wrong, I don't know where the -wrong began! I didn't mind, so far as I was concerned. Let a woman -love you, and she'll do anything, no matter how it hurts--herself. But -not _you_--not the man she loves and wants to respect, Charley." - -"But--me? I am not good enough for you!" - -"Oh, boy! How sweet that sounds to me! Say it over again to me! You -make me think I might some day be worth a man's love. It's got away -from us now. It's all too late. Everything's too late. When he--Mr. -Rawn--comes back, we've got to tell him. I've done what I was set to -do--but not the way he thought, not the way any of us thought!" - - - -IX - -"Yes, he must know!" Halsey nodded. He held her hand now in his own. -They swept on, as upon some vast wave, helpless, clinging to each -other, he doing what he could to save her. - -"I don't know how to tell him," she wailed. "There was something Pagan -in me and I didn't know it. I thought I was in hand, but I wasn't! I -started low, and I wanted to climb up--and up--and up! Oh, Charley, -look!" She leaned toward him across the table, pleading. "I was just -ambitions, just like any American girl--like every woman in the world, -I suppose. If I sold out, I didn't know it. I didn't _want_ you to -care for me. But you did, you do! I kept away from you, so that you -wouldn't, so that we _couldn't_--so that I'd always feel that _you_, at -least--" - -"Where can it end?" he asked quietly. - -"I don't care where it ends, that's the worst of it; I don't care! One -thing only is to my credit. I've kept my bargain--with him. I've paid -the price I agreed to give. There is no scandal about me--yet. And -there might have been!" - -"Yes." - -"But some way, when he sent me out for you, talked to me as he did, -treated me like a piece of merchandise as he did--for once I wavered. -For once, Charley, it seemed to me that I was released from all -obligations to him, that I was where I ought to have a chance for my -own hand, to see life as life could be for itself, to have the love -that's life for a woman. I wanted to be wooed and won by some one who -loved me, just as any woman wants to be, Charley, some time! And I -wasn't--I wasn't.... It was horrible.... It was horrible.... I -wanted to give love for love. I wanted what I couldn't get, and saw it -was too late to get it fair. And when I saw that you--that even you'd -sell out for _me_--why, where was the good, clean thing left in all the -world? I couldn't tell. I didn't know what to do. I don't know now. -But you put these papers before me now, and you expect me to shed tears -over them. I can't. I don't care. The worst was over for me before -now. It came when I knew you'd love me if I'd raise a finger to you. -Why didn't you make me love you first--long ago? _Then_ all would have -come right. Back there--at first--" - -"They'll say that when your husband lost his fortune he lost his wife. -Yes--" he nodded. "They'll say that and believe it! That isn't true!" - -"No, that isn't true. I was done with him the moment he set this -errand for me. No woman can love a man who will do that. But I was -done with him--from the first I never loved him, I never did--I only -married him! I sold out--what I had to sell, myself, my fitness for a -place like this. That was what I called success! I wanted to be some -one in the world! Look at me now--" - - - -X - -They sat, two figures in an inexorable drama that swept relentlessly -forward; tasting of a part of ambition's ripened fruit; yet hungering -with the vast, pitiful, merciless human hunger for that other fruit -that hung in a garden once not lost. - -"If it costs my soul, I'll stand by you," he said at last; and he -reached out a hand to her suddenly. - -"No, no!" she cried. "Wait! Wait! I want to think!" - -A discreet cough sounded. The butler approached bearing coffee. He -wore a half sneer on his face now, the sneer of the unpaid mercenary. -He doubted, and had cause to doubt, whether the last month's salary -would be forthcoming; for butlers read morning papers. "Ah, er, Mrs. -Rawn--" he began. - -"What do you want? How dare you speak to me!" she rejoined. "I do not -care to be disturbed! You may go!" - -He did go; and this was on an errand of his own, an errand which ended -in Grace Halsey's chambers. For butlers sometimes take ingenious -revenge. - - - -XI - -Halsey and Virginia Rawn sat on for a time at the table, the almost -untasted breakfast before them. The sun grew warmer. After a time she -rose, and they passed from the gallery toward the interior of the -house. The tray upon the hall table held a scanty morning load for -it--one letter and a telegram; the former addressed to Mrs. Charles -Halsey, the latter to herself. - -"Shall I?" she asked, and tore the envelope across. - -"It must be from him," he said. She tossed it to him. - -"Home to-night. JOHN RAWN." - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -WHAT CHEER OF THE HARVEST? - -I - -The blood of youth is hot. He followed her, in spite of all, -forgetting all. They had advanced across the hall toward the gold -room, or library. - -"Oh, Charley, Charley! Don't begin, wait a little," she wailed. "At -least till to-night, till afternoon. I don't know what to say yet. I -don't know what to do! Let us see him first, and tell him." - -"Look about you," he commented grimly. "You're going to lose all -this--all these splendid, beautiful things." - -"I don't mind losing them. I want to be poor. Oh, my God! Just to be -loved, and clean! Charley, can we?" - -"But why choose me? There are so many others!" - -"All like Mr. Rawn himself--men crazed of money, power, selfishness. I -wanted something different. Do you think it could have been my -father's old ideas coming out in me, so late? He came of a family of -revolutionists--independents; 'Progressives,' they call them now. -Something of his beliefs--I don't know what it was--" - -"But you'll have to leave him in any case. Divorce is simple enough. -You know what I would have done, and done, also, in any case. Grace -and I--" - -"Yes, I know all about everything. Everything's past," she said -despairingly. "We're dead. It's all over!" - -"I ought to go?" he asked vaguely. - -"Yes, pretty soon. But I suppose you'll have to see Grace, -and--to-night I'll have to see--" - -He bowed his head. "Yes, we've got to pay that part first. The best -we can do and all we can give ought to be enough for him." - - - -II - -She turned, left him, passing through the great doors to the central -rooms within. Following her still, he found her at the stair and -joined her. There approached them now, with hasty tread and face -somewhat excited, the medical man who had been for so many days now in -attendance upon Grace Rawn and her child. He had come on his morning -visit unnoticed by them. - -"Ah," he began, "I'm glad to find you, Mrs. Rawn--and you, Mr. -Halsey--I've been looking for you--Come! Come quickly!" His face -showed plainly his agitation. - -"Is there anything wrong?" demanded Halsey sharply. "What's the -trouble?" - -"It is my duty to tell you the truth," began the doctor. "Your wife is -a very sick woman, indeed." - -"I know that, yes." - -"But not the worst until this morning, until just now. Something--" - -[Illustration: (Virginia and Halsey)] - -"I've been here in the house waiting--why did you not call me?" began -Halsey clumsily. - -"You must not _wait_!" the doctor interrupted him, taking him by the -arm and hastening toward the stairway. - -They followed him up the stair, down the upper hall, to the rooms which -had been set apart of late days for Grace and her child, quarters all -too unfamiliar to Halsey himself. - -They found Grace Halsey, faint and gasping, half sitting in her bed, -clasping the child in her arms, herself too weak now longer to hold it -up. Halsey, stricken with sudden horror, ran to take the child in his -own arms. - -The truth was obvious. Even as he lifted the poor crippled form in his -arms, the head fell back, helpless. The eyes glazed, turned back -uncovered. Halsey cried out aloud. He turned about, dazed; horror and -helplessness were on his face. It was to Virginia Rawn he turned, as -to the other part of himself. - -It was Virginia Rawn who took from him the feeble, misshapen body, -gathering it into her own arms. She gazed intently, frowning, grieving -a woman's grief over suffering, bending over its face; her own face -held back over it when she saw the truth. Then she passed him and -placed the body of the child upon its cot near-by, covering it gently. - - - -III - -"Grace, Grace!" sobbed Halsey. He fell upon his knees at his wife's -bedside. She did not see him, did not recognize him, although she -turned a questioning face toward him. "Me, too!" he cried. "I want to -go! I want to die and end it! Everything's wrong..." - -"Come," said the doctor presently; "it's too late now. I'll call for -you after a time." He took Halsey by the arm and led him from the -room. Returning, he signed for Virginia Rawn also to leave the sick -chamber. Left alone, the medical man turned to the professional nurse -in attendance. "Keep it quiet," he said. "It would hurt my -practice--do you hear?" - -He kicked beneath the bed a small broken vial, and wiped away the stain -from the lips of the dying woman. - -The doctor, of course, had his guess, the public its guess, the daily -papers theirs. The truth was, Grace Halsey, by butler route, had -learned of the _tête-à-tête_ of her husband and her stepmother a half -hour before this time. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THOSE WHO REAP THE WHIRLWIND - -I - -Grace Halsey, dead, her crippled child dead beside her, never knew the -contents of the letter which had been received for her that morning. -It still laid on the hall table unnoticed. There was almost none to -pay attention to the many duties of the household. The last servants -had begun to pass, scenting disaster even as had others. The magic -which had builded this mansion house now lacked strength to hold its -tenantry. There remained now only one man--the butler, lingering for -his pay. Only two persons might still be said to be actuated by any -sense of loyalty or duty to Graystone Hall and its owner--Halsey and -Virginia Rawn. - -Of duty--to what and to whom? They dared not ask, dared not think. -They waited, they knew not for what. The master of this mansion house -was forth upon his business. Somewhere, he was hastening toward his -home. When he might be expected they did not know. Nor did the master -know what news awaited him upon his coming. - - - -II - -The evening dailies came out upon the streets, reeling and reeking with -the last accumulating sensations of the Rawn disasters. The business -world continued to rub its eyes, the social world continued to exult. -Many and many a woman smiled that evening as she contemplated proofs of -the downfall of one whom once she had envied. The Rawns, it now -seemed, had all along been known, by everybody who was anybody, to have -been nobody at all. They who had sown the wind, had the whirlwind for -their reaping. This was the general day of harvest for Graystone Hall. - -But the day passed on. Shadows lengthened beyond the tall towers and -softened as they fell toward the east. The soft airs of evening, -turning, came in across the open gallery front. Night came, night -unbroken by more than a few lights in all the myriad windows of this -stately monument which John Rawn had builded as proof of his personal -success. Vehicles, passing slowly, held occupants staring in curiosity -at this vast, vacant pile. Human sympathy lacked, human aid there was -not. - - - -III - -Thus it chanced easily that there passed up the long driveway of -Graystone Hall, almost unnoticed, a vehicle carrying one who seemed a -stranger there; an elderly, rather tall woman of gray hair and -unfashionable garb, who made such insistence with the servant at the -door that at length she won her way through. - -Her errand seemed not one of curiosity, nor did she lack in decision. -She left upon the table an old-fashioned reticule, and following the -advice given her, in reply to her question, passed up the stair and -down the upper hall, to the room where lay Grace Halsey and her child. -There, unknown by any of the household and accepted by those whose -professional duties took them thither, she remained for many hours. -Halsey and Virginia Rawn did not know of her coming. - -It was a cold home-coming, also, which awaited John Rawn. But he came -at last, to meet that which was for him to encounter. It was night. -The lights were few and dim. None greeted him at his own gate, none -even at his own door, which was left unguarded. At length he found the -solitary footman-butler, asleep in a chair, the worse for wine. - -"Where is she?" he demanded. "Where is Mrs. Rawn?" - -He turned before he could be coherently answered, and passed down the -hall toward the library, through whose closed doors he saw a faint -light gleaming. - - - -IV - -Something impelled John Rawn to hesitate. He stood, himself the very -picture of despair, his face drawn, haggard, unshaven, his hair -disordered, his hands twitching. He must find his wife, he said to -himself; he must ask her what success she had had with their last hope. -Yes, yes, it must be true! With Halsey's aid he would yet win! If she -had won--Halsey would yet be on his side--Halsey would tell him--Halsey -would go back to the factory-- - -But John Rawn hesitated at this door. He felt, rather than knew, -believed rather than was advised, that his wife was beyond that door. -He waited, apprehensive, but kept up with himself the pitiful pretense -of self-deception. Ah, power, control, command!--those were the great -things of the world, he reasoned. True, he knew his daughter lay dead -in her room on the floor above--the paper he held in his hand told him -that; for at last the doctor had prepared his statement regarding Mrs. -Halsey's death by "heart failure"--the rich and all akin to them always -die respectably, in a house so large as Graystone Hall. But it was too -late to save her, Rawn reasoned. Let the dead bury the dead. The -larger things must outweigh the small. He first must know what his -wife had done with Halsey. - -To the tense, strained nerves of John Rawn the truth was now as -apparent as it had been to the sensibilities of all these others, late -friends, servants, sycophants. Ruin was here, in his citadel, his -castle of pride. Only one thing could save him.... He hesitated at -the door, held back from that which he knew he was about to face.... -But no, he reasoned, she was there alone, he _must_ see her! - -He flung open the folding doors and stood holding them apart. - - - -V - -Yes, she was there! John Rawn's face drew into a ghastly smile. Yes, -she had won! She, the wonderful woman, had triumphed as he had planned -for her to triumph. She had won! ... - -They stood before him, those two, silent, face to face, embraced; their -arms about each other even as he flung wide the door. They turned to -him now, stupefied, so weary, so overstrained, that their arms still -hung, embraced. The face of each was white, desolate, unhappy; more -hopeless and desperate than terrified, but horrible. They were lovers. -They loved, but what could love do for them, so late? They had -paid--but what right had they to love, so late? - -John Rawn, the man who had wrought all this, stood and gazed, ghastly, -smiling distortedly, at his wife's face. Why, then, should she be -unhappy? What was to be lost save that which he, John Rawn, was -losing--or had been about to lose? - -But he was startled, stupefied, himself, for one moment. He turned -back, hesitating; and so tiptoed away, leaving them, although the joint -knowledge of all was obvious. They had not spoken a word, had not -started apart, had only gazed at him like dead persons, white, silent, -motionless--not lovers; no, not lovers. - -For one-half instant, alone in the wide and darkened hall, Rawn -straightened himself up, threw his chest out. Yes, she had won--she -had done her task! She held Charles Halsey fast--there--in her -embrace. He, John Rawn, multimillionaire, collector of rare objects, -one of God's anointed rich, had the shrewdest wife the world had ever -seen, the most beautiful, the most successful! - -Had he not seen--was it not there before his eyes? She had his one -enemy netted, in her power--there--had he not seen? She brought him, -bound hand and foot, to him, John Rawn! Could a man doubt his eyes? -They had hunted well in couple, he and his wife, and now she had pulled -down their latest victim! ... - -What mattered the means?--there was but one great thing. And the great -things must outweigh the small. He was a man of power. He had been -born for success. He was-- - - - -VI - -He stood, half in the shadow, hesitant. Then he heard other feet -approaching him slowly. His wife, Virginia, came and took him by the -arm and had him within the door; closed it back of him; and, leaving -him, advanced to where Halsey stood. She took Halsey by the hand.... -It seemed a singular thing to Rawn, this performance; in fact, almost -improper, if the truth were known.... So it seemed to John Rawn's -mind, a trifle clouded with distress and drink. - -"Well," said she apathetically; and held her peace as he frowned and -looked at her dumbly. - -"Well!" he broke out at last; "I'm back again!-- You're _here_, I -see." This last to Halsey. - -They two stood and regarded him without comment. Halsey kept his eye -on Rawn's hand, expecting some sudden movement for a weapon. He was -incredulous that any man could sustain Rawn's attitude toward him. -War, and nothing but war, seemed inevitable between himself and Rawn, -the man whom he had wronged, the man who had wronged him. - -"I suppose--I see--" began Rawn clumsily, after a while. "Of course, -you have probably been here all the time, Charley. I came back as soon -as I could. I've been having all kinds of trouble in St. Louis and New -York. Everything's all gone to pieces." - -They did not answer him, and he shuffled. - -"Have you anything to say?" he demanded of his wife; "Has Mr. -Halsey--Charley--agreed?--Have you persuaded him to--" - -"You wish to know, whether I have done what I was told to do--is that -it?" she demanded of him coldly. - -"Yes; have you?" - -"I have. Here is Mr. Halsey. I have kept my word. You have seen. I -told you I could bring him in, bound hand and foot. Kiss me, Charley," -she cried. "Oh! kiss me!" And he did kiss her. Cold, white, hand in -hand, dead, they then faced him again. - - - -VII - -"Is it true?" began Rawn. His eyes lighted up suddenly. "He has -agreed?" - -Halsey broke in now. "It is true, Mr. Rawn," said he. "I love her. I -love your wife; I can't help it. I have told her so. You see." - -"You love her!" John Rawn burst out into a great, croaking-laugh. -"You _love_ her? I say, that's good! That's good news to tell me, -isn't it? Why--I sent her--I used her, to _make_ you love her! You -see reason now at last, do you?--every man does at last--every man has -his price. You'll go back to work to-morrow? There's a lot to do, but -we can save it all yet. We can whip them, I tell you--we'll get -everything back in our own hands before to-morrow night!" - -"--But, Mr. Rawn! Listen! You do not know! Surely you do not -understand--" - -"Understand? What is there left to understand? Didn't I see you both -just now? Didn't you--right now--haven't you _got_ to come across now? -Hasn't she done what I told her to do; what she said she'd do? I told -her to bring you back to us again, and she's done it, hasn't she? - -"But come on, now," he resumed, as though reluctantly--"I suppose we've -got to go up there--Grace--? Too bad.... But I wanted to see Jennie -first." - -"My God!" whispered Virginia Rawn, shuddering. "Oh, my God!" - - - -VIII - -"Rawn," said Halsey directly, abandoning even any pretense at courtesy; -"the end of the world has come for you, for us all. My wife is -dead--she's lucky! My child is dead, too, and that's lucky. It had no -life to live, crippled as it was. She killed herself and the baby. I -don't seem to care as I ought to care. And now your wife has told me -that she loves me. It's true! She doesn't love _you_; she never has. -She has not taken me a prisoner any more than I have her. We're both -in this to-night. We're both to blame. But, at the bottom, you are to -blame--for _all_ of this." - -"Of course! Of course!" smiled John Rawn sardonically. "What would -you expect? I am sorry. But I'll never tell any one about it, you can -depend on that!" - -"You'll never tell!" went on Charles Halsey slowly. "You'll never -_need_ to tell. But here's what I want to tell _you_, once more. -Whatever this is--and it's about bad enough--it's come because of -_you_. You--you were the cause of this!" - -"_You blame me_--why, what do you mean!" burst out John Rawn. "Where -have _I_ been to blame, I'd like to know! What do you mean, young man?" - -"Every word I have told you, and more than I can tell you. You'll not -think--you don't dare to face the truth; but there's the real truth. -If you can't understand that, take what you can understand. Your wife -isn't to blame--I'm to blame. Love is to blame. I love her. I've -done this." - -"You have done--what?" - -"I've taken your wife away from you, can't you understand, you fool? -She's going to marry me as soon--" - -"_Jennie_!--what's this fellow talking about?" The veins on John -Rawn's forehead stood high and full. - - - -IX - -"He is only telling you the truth," she said calmly, wearily. "I don't -care one picayune whether or not you know it, whether or not the world -knows it! I'm tired! I'm done with all this sort of thing! Yes, I'm -going to marry him as soon as we can get away. As soon as it's decent, -if anything's decent any more!" - -"And you love him, you'll rob _me_, you'll leave _me_--you'll--why, are -you all crazy? What are you talking about? When I've given you -everything you've got--when you were so much to me! _Jennie!_" - -"No, no!" she raised a hand. "Don't talk about that! It's all over -now." - -She tore at her throat, at her fingers, heaped up in his hands the gems -she wore even then, the gems she had put upon her person to protect -them from uncertain servants, gems which left her blazing like some -waxen queen in her tomb--white, dead, enjeweled. - -"Take them!" she cried. "I don't want them." She went on, piling his -hands full of glittering, flashing things. He stood gazing at her, -stupefied. Then, slowly, the burden of years, the burden of business -failure, and lastly this--the burden of the worst of man's -discomfiture, the worst of a man's possible losses--began to weigh down -upon him. He shortened visibly; shriveled; drooped. - - - -X - -They had no pity for him. Youth has no pity for age, love no pity for -a mate's inefficiency; but after all some sort of contempt, at least, -seemed due him. - -"Rawn," said Halsey, "it's pretty hard. We're all of us paying a hard, -heavy price for what we thought we had. But we can't evade it, any -part of it. It was your fault that Grace left me. We were going to -part. You sent your wife after me, as you call it. I suppose Grace -found that out. You know what she did then. I said I blame you, and -so I do. But I was going to get a divorce--" - -"Divorce!--you divorce my daughter! John Rawn's daughter!" - -"Did you not divorce her mother--you, yourself?" - -"But I loved--my wife--I mean, this woman--Jennie, here!" - -"So do _I_ love her; more than you do or ever will know how to do! -What you have done we'll do. Is it worse for us than it was for you? -What's the difference?" - -"But she's my _wife_! Why, _Jennie_!" He held out a hand to her. - -"So was Laura Rawn your wife, my wife's mother," went on Halsey. -"What's the difference?" - -Virginia Rawn stepped between the two. "I'm as much to blame as any -one of us all," she said quietly. "I sold out to you, didn't I, Mr. -Rawn--down there in New York? I married you, didn't I? Very well, -what you did, I have done. No more, and not without equal cause. I -love him. I'm going to marry him. You and I are going to be -divorced--if we were not I'd go to him anyhow. I hate you, I loathe -you! My God! how I detest and loathe the sight of you! Go away--go -away from us! You're not any part of a man!" - - - -XI - -"It's true!" gasped John Rawn to himself; "My God, it's true! She said -that--I heard her--to me? What have I done to deserve this? ... I -ought to kill you," said he to Halsey slowly. - -"Of course you ought," said Halsey. "If you were any portion of a man -you would. But you've tried that, and you know where you ended." - -"But Halsey--Charley!--you don't stop to think!" began Rawn pitifully. -"You will go back--you will go back to the factory, in the morning? -You will help me pull it together, won't you?" - -"No, not one step back to the factory--never in the world! I'm done -with that. I'm going away somewhere, and she's going with me, I don't -know where. Let some one else work out what you thought we could do, -and let some one else take the consequences--it's not for me. You've -got what you earned--I suppose I'll get what I've earned, too. I don't -care about that any more." - -Rawn could not answer the young man as he went on, slowly, dully, -bitterly. "If I've been traitor to any of my own creed I reckon God'll -punish me. Very well; I will take my punishment on my shoulders. I've -no apologies to make in a place like this. - -"Haven't you gone up--oughtn't we to go up now--up-stairs?" he added at -last. He put down Virginia's arms from his shoulders; for once more -she had come to him. - -Rawn sighed. "I suppose I must go up there," he said vaguely. - -He turned and walked away, heavy, stumbling. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -THE MEANS--AND THE END - -I - -Halsey turned toward Virginia. They did not again embrace, but stood -silent, almost apathetic now. Passion was far away from them, indeed -had never fully seized them. The despair in human love was theirs; and -love is half despair. She might have been some beautiful statue in -white marble, so cold was she; and as for the man who faced her, his -anger gone, he himself might have been the image of hopelessness. -Central figures of an irreparable ruin, and seeing no avenue to -happiness, for the time neither had word for the other. - -At last Halsey raised his head, as some sound caught his ear. "What's -that?" he said. - -"I heard it," said she. "I think it's some one coming up the walk." - -"Yes," he answered. "Listen! Why, it sounds like a crowd. What can -that mean, now? Wait." - -He left her and hastened out to the front door. He stood there, -outlined fully by the hall lights behind him. Those who approached -recognized him. He was greeted by a derisive shout, half-maudlin, -scarce human in its quality. The solitary servant rushed up, excited. -"What is it, Mr. Halsey?" he quavered. "Is there going to be any -trouble? Oh, I ought to have gone away with the others!" - -"Get out of the way," replied Halsey calmly. "Get back behind the -door. I'll go out and meet them." - -"Here, you men!" he called out in sudden anger to the visitors. "What -do you mean, coming here this way?" He was advancing toward them now, -down the steps, into the curving walk, almost to the rim of the circle -of light cast by the house lights. - -"Don't you know any better than to come here at this time, you people? -There's trouble in this house. There's death in here. Go on away, at -once!" - - - -II - -The leader of the scattered group of ill-dressed men stepped forward. -"No, we'll not go on away at once. We know who you are, all right, Mr. -Halsey. Trouble! We're in trouble, too! We're lookin' for some more -trouble, now." - -"Well, I'm not to blame for that. What do you mean? Who are you, -anyway?" - -"You ought to know us! We've done up some of your damned sneaks. You -cut your workmen down to the last copper in wages, and you didn't pay -them that. Then when the pinch came, you shut the doors and slunk off, -like the coward you was! Then they came over to us, at last! Your -scabs is in the unions now." - -"I haven't done anything of the kind!" retorted Halsey hotly. "I -haven't been to the factory for days. When I left there, every cent -was paid up. That wasn't any of my business anyhow--I was not cashier, -but factory superintendent." - -"It's a lie, you know it's a lie! We've come to show you up. We've -come to take old man Rawn and you out of this place. We ought to ride -him on a rail, and you with him! That's what we ought to do! We want -that money." The leader advanced toward him menacingly. - -"Why, men, I have not got your money--" expostulated Halsey. "If I -had, this isn't the way to get it from me! I've always used you -fellows square! You've got to act that way with me. I'm in trouble -now, I tell you. My wife's dead, and my baby--to-day--in here. You -are accusing the best friend you have got! Where's Jim Sullivan? -Where's Tim Carney? Where's any of you men that used to work with me -there in the factory? Any one of you ought to know better." - -"They ain't here; but don't talk that to us! We know what you was -doing with them machines. We know what you was up to. You wanted to -take the bread out of our mouths! We seen it all in the papers, the -whole thing, plain enough. No wonder you kept it all blind as you -could--you wanted to put us off the earth." - -"It's a lie!" cried Halsey sternly. "I broke them up. I threw up my -job. I quit because I didn't want to see the bread taken out of your -mouths. I stood between the company and just what you say. I wouldn't -allow them to make it harder for you than it was. I never lost you a -cent of wages--I stood for you all the time, I'm with you now. Why, -men, I've been at your meetings, I'm one of you! Don't you know? -Don't you remember? You've never asked a thing of me I haven't tried -to do, that was in reason. You know me! What difference about the -union if I'm your sort?" - -"Yes, ve _do_ know you!" broke in a squat and pallid Jew, forcing -himself through the thick to the front, and usurping the place of the -wavering leader. "By Gott, ve do know you, Mister Halsey! You'fe lied -to us, that's vat you'fe done! You'fe been to our meetings, yess, but -you'fe betrayed us! I seen you there, yess!" - -"That's not true!" answered Halsey hotly. "There isn't a word of truth -in it! I've lost everything in the world I've got just _because_ that -isn't true. My wife's lying dead in that house back there--just -because of that! My child's dead there too--just _because_ of -that--I've lost everything in the world I have got--just _because_ that -isn't true!" - - - -III - -The Jew shrieked aloud, half-insane. "To hell vith this country!" he -said. "To hell vith the rich that rob us. If your vife's dead, it iss -vat's right. My vife, she'll die too, she's starring. To hell vith -Rawn and all like him!" - -"Look here, my men, that's about enough of that!" rejoined Halsey. -"You're drunk or crazy, and we're not going to stand for that here. -It's no place for this kind of talk. I tell you, I've done all I could -for you. I haven't sided with Rawn. If I had, I could be rich to-day." - -"You are rich!" cried the Jew; "and ve are poor. You eat fat, you -sleep soft. You _are_ rich! But vat do ve get? I'm hungry! My -folks--they are starfing! Ve haf no money. Ve get no money for vork -ve did so long. It buys us nothing now. Meat is no more for us; -breat, hardly. This _iss_ no country for the people. This _iss_ no -land vere laws are just. This _iss_ no republic of man. Jehovah, send -Thy power! Smite and spare not, this so wrong a land!" - -"You damned fanatic, shut up!" began Halsey savagely. "Get on out of -here. You don't know your own friends! Who's to blame for your -troubles? Haven't you got heads of your own? Haven't you got votes of -your own? Can't you right your _own_ wrongs, the first minute you get -ready to do it, I'd like to know? I'm _for_ you, do you understand; -but you make it hard for any one to help you. You've had sluggers -after our men all the time over there, and now you come and want us to -pay you for that. You're over here to make trouble to-night, maybe -slug me--perhaps that's what you are trying to do to me--and you want -us to pay you for _that_. You talk about monopolies and trusts--what -you're trying to do is to make the worst trust in the country--a -monopoly in ignorance and savagery. Go on home and let me alone! I -tell you, my wife is dead. I am going back to her!" - -"He's lying to us!" cried out a voice in the crowd. "He's trying to -get us sorry for him!" - -"That's it!" screamed the Jew, who had edged to the front and who now -stood crouched, menacing, not far from Halsey's erect and irate frame. -"That's vhat he iss. He'ss only trying to fool us. Kill him! Ve've -vaited long enough! Gif it to him!" He sprang to one side, crouching. - - - -IV - -Those back of them, at the gallery, in the rear of the entry, heard -some sort of scuffle, a snarling of voices, curses. There were sounds -of blows. Then came a flash, a shocking report; after that, a -half-instant of silence, and the sound of scattering and departing -footsteps. - -There remained only one figure, lying outstretched on the gravel. To -render succor to this, to offer aid, there was now only one human being -left in all that place--she who now came hurrying forward. - -Virginia Rawn half raised Halsey as he lay. "Charley!" she said -quietly. "Can you talk?" - -He gasped and nodded. "Through here!" He touched his chest. "I guess -I'll not--be able--" - -She called out, to any back of her, for aid. The frightened servant -came, and between them they got him somehow into the house, dragging -him to the gold-room library which they had but lately left. They -placed him there upon a couch. Virginia Rawn rose and waved the man -away. He hurried after help. - -"Charley!" she said, turning to him; "can you talk?" - -"A little. What is it, Jennie?" - -"You're hurt bad--very bad." - -"Through here," he said again, and touched his chest. His breath was -hard. His garments were soaked with blood. His face was bluish-gray. - - - -V - -She looked into his soul the query of her own. Perhaps there was -something not wholly unworthy in the bond between them, since now it -enabled them to talk, one soul with the other, almost without words.... -The great, secret, all-powerful, world current, interstellar, not -international, the one great power--of love, as she once said--was -theirs.... Yes, it was theirs, if only for a little while. - -"They've killed me," he began after a time--"I tried to do something -for them. He--Rawn--would have used it for himself. I didn't want -to.... - -"Jennie," he said, after a time; "I beg pardon, Mrs. Rawn--I -forgot--would you take the doll, the little rubber one on the table -there, up to the baby? Poor little thing! Oh, well! ..." - -He sighed. She quietly laid him back upon the couch. She heard the -blood drip, drip, through and across the brocaded couch, falling at the -edge of the silken rug, on the polished floor, eddying there; -thickening there. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -THE GREAT JOHN RAWN - -I - -Far off, deep in the underground regions of the city at the focus of -the republic's vast industrialism, the presses were reeling and -clanging again, heavy with their story of disaster. The civilization -of the day went on. - -Somewhere out upon the mountain tops, somewhere in the forests, the -forces of nature gathered, marched on toward the sea. Somewhere -dumbly, mutely, uncomplaining, the great river and its mate the great -power, inter-stellar, not international--they two, as he but now -vauntingly had dreamed, erstwhile silent partners of John Rawn--did -their work.... For whom? For what? Answer that, my brothers. The -answer is your own. As you and I shall speak in that answer, so shall -our children eat well sleep well, in days yet to come, in this country -which we still call our own, now all too little ours. - - - -II - -It was far past midnight when John Rawn again came down the stair, -sobered and whitened by what he had seen in the death chamber. He -tiptoed now back to the library door, through which and beneath whose -silken curtains still there pierced a little shaft of light. He opened -the door, peered in. - -He saw Virginia sitting there silent, white, unagitated, her features -cameo-sharp, her skin waxen, indeed marble white, a woman as -motionless, as silent, apparently as little animate as the one he had -left behind him in the death chamber beyond the stair. She turned her -eyes, not her face, toward him, but did not speak. The edge of her -gown was moist, stained. - -John Rawn looked in turn at the long figure upon the couch, motionless, -silent, its hands folded. Neither did it speak to him. Suddenly -oppressed, suddenly afraid, he turned once more away. Irresolution was -in his soul, uncertainty. - -Rawn was hardly sure that he still lived, that he still was the same -John Rawn he once had known. It seemed impossible that all these -things could have fallen upon him, who had not deserved them! He -pitied himself with a vast pity, revolting at the many injustices of -fortune now crowding upon him, a wholly blameless man. Why, a day -before, he had held in his hand power such as few men could equal; had -had, presently before him, power none other ever could hope to equal. -That opportunity still existed. But how now could he avail himself of -that opportunity, how could he go on to be the great John Rawn, if this -figure on the couch could not arise, could not speak to him, could not -perform the obvious duty of rendering needful assistance to him, John -Rawn? The cruelty of it all rankled in the great and justice-loving -soul of Mr. Rawn. Why, he was penniless--he--John Rawn! He was not -even sure about his wife, yonder. She had said things to him he could -not understand, could not believe. - -He left the room, and walked still farther down the hall, his head -sagging, his lower lip pendulous, his face warped into a pucker of -self-pity--so absorbed, that at first he did not heed an approaching -footfall. He paused almost in touch of some one who approached him in -the half-lighted hall; some one who was coming down the stair and along -the hall with steady tread. - - - -III - -There stood before him now the same tall, gray-haired, unfashionably -dressed woman whom so recently he vaguely had noted at a distance in -the hall above; some woman apparently busy with duties connected with -the death chamber, as he had reflected when he saw her; some neighbor, -he presumed, and certainly useful! It was kind of her to come at this -time. He could not, at the time, recollect that he had seen her -before. Yes, he would reward her--he would express his thanks. - -He looked up at her now sharply, and gasped. - -"_Laura!_" he exclaimed. "Is it you?" - -"Why, yes, John," answered the tall, gaunt woman gently. "Didn't you -see me, up there? I suppose you were too much troubled to notice me, -John. Yes, I'm here. I thought maybe I ought to come. - -"But you see--this--" she held out to him the letter she had picked up -from the hall table. "This didn't get to her--Grace--not in time. She -died this morning, before noon, they tell me. She never knew her -mother was coming to her when she was in trouble. She hadn't seen my -letter to her, telling I was coming. I knew she was in trouble--and I -saw all the stories in the papers. I thought I'd tell her I was coming -to her--and you, John. She was my girl, after all! I knew she was in -trouble." - -"How did you know?" - -"Why, she wrote to me, of course. A girl always writes to her mother -when she's in trouble. She wrote to me right often. She wasn't--well, -she wasn't happy, John, and she often told me that. Something wrong -was going on between her and Charley, I don't know what." - -He stood looking at her, stupefied, as she went on, simply. - - - -IV - -"John, married folks oughtn't to be apart too much. They sort of get -weaned from each other. Grace was too ambitious. She'd got, here, -what she thought her husband couldn't get, what she'd come to think she -had to have. I might have told her better, but I wasn't here. Not -that I'm reproving you, John, not at all. Besides, we have all got to -go, some day. But I loved her.... And the baby." - -"So did I love her, and the baby," he began. Tears were in his eyes. -"Laura, I have had nothing but trouble. And now you have come here--" - -"Yes, I know; it must seem a little queer to you, John; so I'm going -right away again, to-night--before morning, if there's any way I can -get down-town." - -"Yes, yes!" - -"--Because, I know if I was seen around here, and people found out who -I am, who I--was--there might be some sort of talk which would be hard -for you, John. I reckon you have trouble enough without that. I -didn't want to bother you. I came mostly because of Grace. But--John, -I always did like to tell the truth, and I have got to tell it now--I -came a little, too, because of you!" - -"Of me? Why Laura!" - -"Yes, I did. I read the papers, of course, all the time. I have known -about you, although you haven't heard of me. You have moved up in the -world, John, and as for me--well, I have just gone back to Kelly Row, -where we used to live. Of course, I'm glad you have been lucky. But -then, lately, the papers all began to say you were in trouble. I've -read all kinds of things about you. I heard you were ruined--that you -hadn't a dollar left in all the world!" - -"It's true," he growled; "as near as I know, it's true. There is no -hope for me now. It's all up!" - -"But, John, you had so _much_ money!" - -"Yes, but it's gone now. It doesn't take it long to go when it starts -the other way. The market makes a man, and it breaks him just as -quick, and a lot quicker. It's done me, Laura. I'm ruined. I haven't -a thing left in the world; not even my wife. Have you come here to -twit me with it? What do I owe _you_, that I have to listen to you?" - -"Why, nothing, John, that's true; nothing at all, not in the least. I -have no right here at all, I know that. I understood _that_, when -I--when--I went away from here. But that wasn't why I came back -to-night." - -"Then why _did_ you come? You always had the faculty, Laura, of doing -the wrong thing. You've been a curse to me all my life!" - -"Some of that's true, John," she answered simply, "and a good deal of -it isn't. Maybe I said the wrong thing sometimes, or did the wrong -thing. I never had much training. I was meant for Kelly Row, I -reckon--I'd never have fitted in here. We tried it! But I didn't come -to glorify myself because you've lost this place, and everything you -had. I just thought--" - -"Well, Laura, what was it that you just thought? I can't stand here -talking all the time. It isn't right, it isn't proper. I'm worn out!" - -"Of course it isn't, John. I'm going right away. But you see, when I -came away I just thought this way--here am I, an old woman that don't -need much money any more. And there's Grace;--and maybe now John has -need for money when everybody's turned against him. And if he does -need money, why--" - - - -V - -"What do you mean, Laura?" gasped John Rawn. "What's that you said -about _money_?" - -"How much would do you any good, John?" she asked, fumbling in her -bulging hand-bag. - -"I might as well wish for the moon as for a dollar," he said bitterly. -"If I had a million, or a half million, to-morrow, I'd pull it all -together, even yet." - -"A half million, John?" she said, taking out of her bag a little, -wrinkled, flat _porte-monnaie_ such as women sometimes use for carrying -change in their marketing; but still continuing her fumbling at the -portly bag. - -"Yes, if I had a half million I could put this company on its feet, -even yet--the secret's out that Halsey had,--but I'd get it somewhere. -I more than half believe those fellows _have_ got it, somewhere else, -somehow--that fellow Van's deep. You see, they've been fighting me, -Laura--made up a gang against me! I know who it was. If I had a half -million I'd throw in with Van--he's got this secret somehow--he knows -something about it. I'd throw in with him, and we'd whip the others, -even yet! I'd get it all back in my hands even yet, I tell you! - -"But my God! Why do I stand talking about such things? What's the -use? I'm down and out! I'd just as well be dead!" - -"Well, John, what I always said of you was, that you seemed to know how -to get things around the way you wanted them. I said to myself, what a -shame it was he should have no money, when he needed it, and I should -have so much when I didn't need it. I've got enough set aside to keep -me, I reckon, for my few years. And here's what you gave -me;--although, Grace--of course, John, I want enough used to put Grace -and the baby away. The rest is yours." - -He stood looking at her dumbly, as at last she extricated from the bag -a thick bundle of folded papers, green, brown, pale pink. - -"I got the bank to keep them for me," she said simply. "It is what you -gave me--when--when I left here--" - -He still stood looking at her, choking. - -"Laura!" said he. "Has God come to my aid? This--I can't believe it! -It's a million dollars! _It's a million dollars!_" His voice rose, -breaking almost to a shriek. "It's a-- It's--a--million--_dollars_!" - -"Well, take it, John, it's yours; you're welcome to it. I don't want -it. It's done me no good. It's done none of us any good. All I want -is, that you should take care of Grace's funeral, for that's only -right, John. She was my girl, my baby, my baby! Take care of her. -John, I have got to go back--home!" - - - -VI - -In the next ensuing moment or so, what swift changes now were wrought -in the late despair of our friend and hero, Mr. John Rawn, master of -the International Power Company, already in imagination controlling in -good part the destinies of a people--the great John Rawn, -philanthropist, kindly employer, wise friend of the less favored ones -of earth; the beneficent, kindly, omnipotent John Rawn? Why had he -despaired, why had he ever doubted, why had he ever set himself even -momentarily apart from that original destiny which always he had -accorded to him-self? Was he not a leader--had he not been devised to -be so in the plans of the immortal gods, ages ago? Was he not one of -the few select ones assigned to rule his fellow-men? - -John Rawn stood before the old, gray woman, and scarcely heard her last -words. He sighed deeply. His self-respect was coming back to him in -waves, great, recurrent waves. At last a smile crossed his face. The -imperious glance of the born ruler, of one better than his fellow-men, -the look of the man set apart and licensed to rob and rule--returned -once more to his eye. - - - -VII - -"_It's a million dollars!_" he cried aloud, exultantly, once more. -"It's God has sent it to me! I'll take it as a sign. Watch me in the -morning! I'll make them hunt their holes yet. By God! I will!" - -"John, John, you mustn't swear, it isn't right! John!" - -"I beg your pardon--er--er--Laura," he rejoined, with fine -condescension, every instant now becoming more himself. "In fact, I -want to thank you--it's clever of you, I must say. It isn't every -woman who'd have done what you have done, I'm sure." - -"Why wouldn't they, John? It isn't money a woman wants to make her -happy. I've tried that. Grace tried it. It doesn't work. It takes -something else besides money, I reckon. We're lucky when we find that, -any of us, I reckon. If we don't, we've got to take just what God -gives us. But money doesn't buy everything in the world. John, -sometimes I think it buys about as little as anything you can think -of!" She gulped just a little in her thin throat. - -"All the same," said he firmly and generously, by this time almost -fully the great John Rawn once more, "it was very decent of you, Laura." - -"Well, never mind about that, John. It was you who made it. I never -did understand how you earned it so fast. I'm glad if it will do you -any good--if you're sure it will do you any good. And see, John," she -added shyly, fumbling again in her bag, "I brought you a little -present, John. I've been doing these, you see. I make quite a lot out -of it. I never used any of that money you gave me, at all--I did these -things--the way I did before, when we were getting our start together, -John, you know. I thought--maybe--you'd like a pair." - - - -VIII - -She held out to him a pair of braces, embroidered carefully in silks. -He took them in his hand. She also looked at them closely, in -professional scrutiny, her steel bowed spectacles on nose. She -pronounced them good. - -"But, John," she added curiously--"you know, while I was up there, -doing what I could for Grace and the baby--it seemed to me like as if I -heard some funny sort of noise down here--something like a shot. What -was it?" - -"It was some of those confounded laboring people," said John Rawn, -frowning. "Yes--they came here after Halsey." - -"Yes? But was anybody hurt?" - -"Well," said John Rawn, "Halsey--Charley Halsey--you remember him, I -believe? Well, they shot him. - ---"Good-night, Laura," he added suddenly, and held out his hand to her, -generously, nobly. "I'm very sleepy. I've been up so long--and I've a -lot to do to-morrow. After all, there's no use in _our_ having hard -feelings. Good-by." - - - -THE END - - - - -[Transcriber's note: - -The source book's illustrations had no captions. The in brackets were -added by the transcriber. 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