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diff --git a/old/68605-0.txt b/old/68605-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 406ac7e..0000000 --- a/old/68605-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5128 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of A corner in corn; or How a Chicago boy -did the trick, by Self-Made Man - -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 -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: A corner in corn; or How a Chicago boy did the trick - Fame and Fortune Weekly, No. 3, October 20, 1905 - -Author: Self-Made Man - -Release Date: July 24, 2022 [eBook #68605] - -Language: English - -Produced by: David Edwards, SF2001, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (Northern - Illinois University Digital Library) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CORNER IN CORN; OR HOW A -CHICAGO BOY DID THE TRICK *** - - - - - - Fame and Fortune Weekly - - STORIES OF BOYS WHO MAKE MONEY - -_Issued Weekly--By Subscription $2.50 per year. Entered according to -Act of Congress, in the year 1905, in the office of the Librarian of -Congress, Washington, D. C., by Frank Tousey, Publisher, 24 Union -Square, New York._ - - =No. 3= OCTOBER 20, 1905. =Price 5 Cents= - - - A Corner in Corn; - OR, - HOW A CHICAGO BOY DID THE TRICK. - - =By A SELF-MADE MAN.= - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -IN THE ROOKERY BUILDING. - - -“Has Vance returned yet?” asked Jared Whitemore, a stout, -florid-complexioned man of sixty-five, opening the door of his private -office and glancing into the outside room. - -“No, sir,” replied Edgar Vyce, his bookkeeper and office manager--a -tall, saturnine-looking man, who had been in his employ several years. - -“Send him in as soon as he comes back.” - -The bookkeeper nodded carelessly and resumed his writing. - -“Miss Brown,” said Jared to his stenographer and typewriter, a very -pretty brown-eyed girl of seventeen, the only other occupant of the -room, whose desk stood close to one of the windows overlooking La Salle -Street. - -She immediately left her machine and followed her employer into the -inner sanctum. - -Mr. Whitemore was a well-known speculator, one of the shrewdest and -most successful operators on the Chicago Board of Trade. - -He owned some of the best business sites in the city, and his ground -rents brought him in many thousands a year. - -Accounted a millionaire many times over, no one could with any degree -of certainty say exactly what he was worth. - -His plainly furnished office was on an upper floor of the Rookery -Building. - -He did business for nobody but himself. Jarboe, Willicutt & Co., whose -offices were on the ground floor of the Board of Trade Building, were -his brokers. - -The office clock chimed the hour of five as the bookkeeper, with a -frown, laid down his pen, rested his elbow on the corner of his tall -desk and glanced down into the busy thoroughfare. - -At that moment the office door opened and a messenger boy entered. - -Mr. Vyce came to the railing and received an envelope addressed to -himself. - -He signed for it, tore it open, read the contents, which were brief, -with a corrugated brow, and then, with much deliberation, tore the -paper into fine particles and tossed them into the waste-basket. - -For a moment or two he paced up and down before his desk, with his -hands thrust into his trousers pockets, and then resumed his work -just as the door opened again and admitted a stalwart, good-looking -lad, with a frank, alert countenance and a breezy manner, who entered -briskly with a handful of pamphlets and papers. - -“Mr. Whitemore wants you to report in his office at once, Thornton,” -said the bookkeeper, in a surly kind of voice, accompanied with a look -which plainly showed that he was not particularly well disposed toward -the boy. - -“All right,” answered Vance, cheerily, turning toward the private -office, on the door of which he knocked, and then entered on being told -to come in. - -“I hate him!” muttered Mr. Vyce, following the boy’s retreating figure -with a dark scowl. “He’s a thorn in my path. He’s altogether too thick -with Whitemore. I can’t understand what the old man sees in him. For -the last three months I’ve noticed that my hold here is slipping away, -and just when I need it the most. Just when things were coming my -way, too. Now, with a fortune in sight, this boy is crowding me to -the wall. Curse him! I can’t understand what it means. Is it possible -Whitemore suspects me? Pshaw! Am I not an old and trusted employee? -I’ve always been in his confidence to a large extent, but of late he -has been keeping things from me--matters I ought to know--especially in -reference to this deal he has on. Those corn options are on the point -of expiring, and I expected ere this to have been sent West to settle -with the elevator people and get the receipts, for corn is on the rise -and the old man is ahead at this stage of the game. I strongly suspect -he means to corner the market this time. He’s got the dust to attempt -it with, and already he holds options on nearly half of the visible -supply in Kansas and Nebraska, besides what he has stored here. There -is no telling what he has been doing during the last thirty days, as -not a word about corn has passed between us during that time. It’s not -like Whitemore to act this way with me. Something is up, and by George! -I’ll find out what it is.” - -Mr. Vyce drove his pen savagely into a little glass receptacle filled -with small shot and turned to the window again, after glancing at the -clock. - -Bessie Brown came out of the inner office with her notebook in her hand -and sat down at her machine to transcribe her notes. - -In a few moments Mr. Vyce came over to her desk and, taking up his -station where he could catch a glance of what she was writing, remarked: - -“Are you working overtime to-night, Miss Brown?” - -“Excuse me, Mr. Vyce,” she said, covering the paper with her hands, -“this is strictly confidential.” - -“I beg your pardon,” he said, between his teeth, altering his position. -“But you haven’t answered my question.” - -“I expect to be busy until six,” she replied, without looking at him. - -“I have tickets for McVickar’s,” he continued. “Would you honor me with -your company there this evening? It is not necessary that you return -home to dress. We can dine at Palmer’s.” - -“You must excuse me,” she replied, with a heightened color, “but I -never go anywhere without my mother’s knowledge and permission.” - -“But you went to the Auditorium two weeks ago with Thornton,” he said, -in a tone of chagrin. - -“Mr. Thornton asked mamma if I could go, and she consented.” - -“You never invited me to call at your home, so I could become -acquainted with your mother,” persisted Mr. Vyce, who was evidently -jealous of the intimacy which existed between Vance and the young lady. - -Bessie said nothing to this, but applied herself more attentively to -her work. - -“Aren’t you going to extend that privilege to me, Miss Brown?” he -continued, fondling his heavy black mustache. - -“Mr. Vyce, I am very busy just now,” she replied, with some -embarrassment. - -The bookkeeper gave her a savage glance and then walked away without -another word. - -Much to her relief, he soon put on his hat and left the office -abruptly, shutting the door with a slam. - -At the same moment Vance came out of the private office and stepped up -beside the pretty typewriter. - -She looked up with a smile and did not offer to hide from his gaze the -long typewritten letter on which she was engaged. - -Evidently there was nothing there Vance ought not to know. - -“Will you please turn on the light, Vance?” she asked, sweetly, her -fingers never leaving the keys for a moment. - -“Certainly, Bessie,” he replied, with alacrity, raising his hand to the -shaded electric bulb above her machine and turning the key, whereupon -the slender wires burst into a white glow. “How much more have you to -do?” - -“Another page, almost,” she answered, with another quick glance into -his bright, eager young face. - -“I won’t be able to see you to the car to-night,” he said, regretfully. - -That was a pleasure the young man had for some time appropriated to -himself and Bessie as willingly accorded. - -“You are going to stay downtown, then, for a while?” she asked. - -“Yes; I shall be here for an hour yet, perhaps. After supper I’ve got -to meet Mr. Whitemore in his rooms at the Grand Pacific. I’ve got to -notify mother of the fact by telephone.” - -Vance went over to the booth in the corner of the office and rang up a -drug store in the vicinity of his home, on the North Side. - -Outside the shades of night were beginning to fall. - -From the windows of the office one could see directly up La Salle -Street. - -The cars, as they made the turn into or out of the street at the corner -of Monroe, flashed their momentary glares of red and green lights, and -filled the air continually with the jangle of their bells. - -The sidewalks were filled with a dense crowd that poured out -continually from the street entrances of the office buildings. - -They streamed out of the brokers’ offices and commission houses on -either side of La Salle Street, and the tide set toward the upper end -of the thoroughfare, where stood the girders and cables of the La Salle -Street bridge. - -Vance took all this in with a brief survey from the window, after he -had sent his message across the river. - -“What do you think?” said Bessie, as he paused once more beside her. -“Mr. Vyce asked me to go to the theatre with him to-night. Hasn’t he a -cheek?” - -“Of course you accepted?” said Vance with a grin. - -“Of course I did no such thing,” she answered, pausing for an instant -in her work, as she looked up with an indignant flush on her creamy -cheeks. “You know better than that, Vance. You just want to provoke -me,” with a charming pout. - -“That’s right,” he answered, with a quiet chuckle, “but you mustn’t -mind me.” - -She smiled her forgiveness and went on with her work. - -“There, that’s done,” she said, in a few moments, pushing back her -chair. “I hope I haven’t made any mistakes,” as she rose to take the -sheets into the inner office. - -“No fear of that, I guess,” said the boy, encouragingly. “You’re about -as accurate as they come, Bessie.” - -She paused on the threshold of the door to flash him back a look of -appreciation for the compliment and then disappeared within. - -Presently she returned and started to put on her things. - -“It looks a little bit like rain, doesn’t it?” she asked, glancing at -the darkened sky, where not a star was visible. - -“You can have my umbrella, if you wish,” Vance offered, “but I guess it -won’t rain yet awhile.” - -“Never mind; I’ll chance it. Good night, Vance.” - -“Good night, Bessie,” and the outside door closed behind her. - -Vance returned to his desk and proceeded to make copious extracts from -a pile of pamphlets and reports he had taken from a closet. - -In half an hour Mr. Whitemore came out of his sanctum with his hat on. - -“You’d better go to supper now, Vance. Meet me promptly at eight -o’clock at my rooms,” he said, “and bring everything with you.” - -“Yes, sir.” - -Mr. Whitemore left, and the lad, making a bundle of his notes and such -papers as he knew were wanted by his employer, turned out the electric -lights and locked up the office. - -He didn’t know it then, but this was the last time for many days he was -to see the inside of the Rookery Building. - -Nor did he dream of the tragedy that awaited his return to the office. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -BOUND WEST. - - -Vance went to a Clark Street restaurant and had supper. - -It was all right, but the boy did not enjoy it as much as he would have -done at home. - -The Thorntons lived in a small house, one of a row, on the North Side, -which Mrs. Thornton owned. - -They had once been wealthy, for Mr. Thornton had at one time been a -successful member of the Chicago Board of Trade. - -But a few months before his death, which had occurred ten years -previously, he had been caught in a short deal and squeezed. - -He extricated himself at the cost of his entire fortune. - -Everything was swept away except the one little house, the property -of Mrs. Thornton, to which the family immediately moved, and a few -thousand dollars banked in the wife’s name. - -After Mr. Thornton’s death the widow devoted herself to her children, -and when Vance graduated from the public school, she made application -to Mr. Whitemore, with whom her husband had had business relations, for -a position for her son in his office. - -The application being made at a lucky moment, the lad was taken on, and -had in every way proved himself worthy of Jared Whitemore’s confidence. - -Promptly at eight o’clock Vance was shown up to Mr. Whitemore’s rooms -in the Grand Pacific Hotel. - -The corn operator was in his sitting-room before a table that was -scattered over with papers and telegraph blanks. - -It was a cool evening, but Jared Whitemore was in his shirt sleeves, -and, although the windows were down at the top, his face was red and he -was perspiring furiously. - -A half-smoked cigar projected between his lips, and several discarded -stumps lay on a lacquer tray that held one of the hotel pitchers of ice -water. - -“You have the government report on the visible supply in that bundle, -have you?” asked Jared Whitemore, as soon as he became aware of the -boy’s presence in the room. - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Let me have it,” with an impatient gesture. - -Vance had it before his employer in a twinkling. - -“Your notes, please,” said the operator, after he had studied the -report for several minutes. - -The boy laid them before him. - -“Put the pamphlets down there. Now, take the evening paper and go over -there by the window and sit down.” - -Vance did so, and there was perfect silence in the room for the next -half hour, when it was broken by a knock on the door. - -“See who that is,” almost snapped Whitemore, jerking his thumb in the -direction of the entrance. - -Vance found a telegraph boy outside, signed for the yellow envelope and -brought it to his employer. - -Two more dispatches arrived before the little marble clock on the -mantel chimed the hour of nine. - -Another half hour of almost perfect silence ensued, during which two -more cigar stumps were added to the collection on the dish; and Vance -was beginning to wonder why he was being held there by Mr. Whitemore, -when the operator rose from his seat, mopped his forehead with his -familiar bandana handkerchief and then sat down again. - -“Vance.” - -“Yes, sir,” answered the boy, springing up. - -“Come here.” - -The tones were short, sharp and incisive. - -“Sit down here alongside of me.” - -Vance obeyed this order with military promptness. - -“When can you start for Omaha?” - -“Sir!” said the boy, almost speechless from amazement. - -“I asked you when you could leave for Omaha?” repeated the operator, -brusquely. - -“By the eight o’clock train in the morning, if you particularly wish -it,” answered the astonished lad. - -“Very well; make your arrangements to that effect. Now, Vance, I want -to speak to you. Heretofore I have always closed my dealings with the -elevator people through Mr. Vyce. For reasons which I need not discuss -with you I am going to send you to do the business for me this time.” - -The boy’s eyes expanded to the size of saucers at this information. - -It simply meant a most remarkable expression of confidence on Mr. -Whitemore’s part in his youthful office assistant. - -Confidence not only in the boy’s business sagacity, but even more so in -his integrity, for he would be obliged to handle checks signed in blank -for a very large sum of money; just how large would, of course, depend -on the amount of corn the options covered. - -That it ran into several millions of bushels the lad already knew. - -“I am taking this unusual course,” continued Mr. Whitemore, lighting -a fresh cigar and regarding Vance keenly, “for several reasons. To -begin with, since I started this deal I have in hand I have met with -opposition from a most unexpected quarter. It could only have developed -through information furnished by some one who had an insight to my -plans. In order to test the accuracy of my suspicions in a certain -direction I cut off all information from that quarter. The result -has been confusion in the ranks of the opposition. I’m, therefore, -convinced I can at any time put my finger on the traitor to my -interests. To continue the further development of my scheme, I have -decided to substitute you for Mr. Vyce, so far as the settlement of -my Western corn options are concerned. During the last five or six -weeks you have probably noticed that I have employed you on business -of a confidential nature. This was to test you for the purpose I had -in view. On one occasion I so arranged matters that you were forced to -retain in your possession over Sunday a very large sum of money. I had -no doubts as to your honesty, but I wished to see how you would proceed -under the responsibility. The result was perfectly satisfactory to me. -Vance, I knew your father well. We had many business dealings, and I -found him a man on whom I could implicitly rely. I believe you are his -duplicate.” - -“Thank you, sir,” said Vance, gratefully, as Mr. Whitemore paused for a -moment. - -“Now to business. Here is a power of attorney, which will give you all -the necessary authority to represent me on this Western trip. Here are -your general instructions,” and he handed Vance the two typewritten -pages Bessie Brown had executed just before she left the office for the -night. - -“You will go to Omaha first, thence to Kansas City, and so on. Here -are letters of introduction addressed to the elevator firms. Some of -them are personally acquainted with me. These are the vouchers for the -options. You will insist on all settlements at the figures given in -the options, which, as you will see, are below the market quotations. -Now, as to the payments of the balances, here is a small check-book of -the Chicago National Bank. I have made out and signed sixteen checks -in blank, one of each payable to the order of the elevator firm; all -you will have to do is to fill in the amount after the difference has -been computed. Immediately after each settlement you will mail me -by registered letter, care of the Chicago National Bank, the firm’s -receipt for the amount of money represented by the check, together with -the warehouse receipt. Now, read your instructions over carefully, and -if there is anything you have to suggest, I will listen to you.” - -Vance went over the two-page letter and found that it covered every -emergency, so far as he could see. - -The boy was especially directed to visit certain out-of-the-way places, -where elevators, reported as disused or empty, were known to exist, and -to ascertain by every artifice in his power whether any corn had been -received there for storage during the past three months. This was one -of the most important objects of his journey. - -“Here are a couple of hundred dollars to cover incidental expenses,” -said Mr. Whitemore, handing Vance a roll of bills. “I hardly need to -tell you that I am reposing an almost unlimited confidence in your -honor and business sagacity--a somewhat unusual thing to do with one so -young as you. But I am rarely mistaken in my estimate of character, and -I feel satisfied you will fill the bill to the letter. I may say right -here that you have studied the corn market to advantage. Such details -as I have asked you to look into for me you have gone over and reduced -to practical results with astonishing clearness and dispatch for one -of your years and limited experience with Board of Trade methods. You -seem to be a born speculator, like your father. I have long wished to -associate with me a young man of nerve and accurate foresight in whom -I could thoroughly depend. You appear to combine all the qualities in -question. On this trip you are bound to acquire knowledge of the most -confidential nature--information that could not but seriously embarrass -me if it became known to my business opponents. Do you understand?” - -“Yes, sir,” said Vance, with a serious face. - -“You see how much I depend on your loyalty?” - -“You need have no fear but I will fulfil your trust down to the -smallest degree,” answered Vance, earnestly. - -“I am sure of it, Vance. The proof of the pudding is that I am sending -you West on this business. One thing your age, and, I hope, your wit -and cautiousness, are particularly adapted to, and that is acquiring -the information about the possible contents of those elevators reported -to be empty. On the thoroughness of your report as regards these -properties will depend one of my most important moves on the corn -market.” - -“I will find out the truth, if that be within the bounds of -possibility.” - -“Now, Vance, another thing. Your mother will naturally want to know -where you are going, but it will be necessary for you to withhold -that information, for I have an idea that as soon as your absence is -noted at the office she will be approached on the subject by some one -interested in tracing your movements. You will simply tell her you are -going out of town on business for me and will be back in a few days. -Do not write to any one in Chicago, not even your folks, while you are -away. Do you understand me?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Should you find it necessary to communicate with me at any time, call -up Mr. Walcott, of the Chicago National Bank, on the long-distance -telephone, and he will send for me.” - -“Very well, sir.” - -“I believe there is nothing further, so I will say good -bye till I see you at the office after your -return.” - -“Good-bye, sir.” - -Vance took up his hat, after carefully putting all the papers and the -check-book of the Chicago National Bank in an inside pocket of his -coat, and left the hotel. - -When he reached home an hour later he duly astonished his mother and -sister with the information that he was going out of town on business -for his employer. - -Of course the first thing they wanted to know was his destination. - -“I am sorry, mother, I can’t tell you. Where I am going, as well as the -object of the trip, is a business secret.” - -“But we ought to know, Vance,” expostulated his pretty sister Elsie. -“Unless you tell us we shall be worried to death about you.” - -“Sorry, sis,” he replied, taking her face in his two hands and kissing -her cherry-red, pouting lips; “but I am under strict orders not to say -a word about it.” - -“It’s real mean of you. You know neither mamma nor I would say a word -if you told us not to,” she persisted, throwing her arms about his neck -coaxingly. - -“Don’t blame me, Elsie--blame the boss. Let me tell you one thing, -dear. I feel sure this trip is the chance of my life. Mr. Whitemore as -good as said so.” - -And with that the gentle mother and loving sister had to be content. - -Next morning Vance boarded a Pullman drawing-room car and left Chicago -over the C. B. & Q. railroad for Omaha. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -TAKING UP THE OPTIONS. - - -Vance arrived at Omaha on the following morning and registered at the -Great Western Hotel, where he had breakfast. - -Then he went to the reading-room and looked over the papers, -particularly noting the corn situation. - -It was now time for him to be about his business. - -He procured a large, oblong manilla envelope, in which he enclosed his -letter of instruction, all but one of his letters of introduction, -option vouchers and his check-book, and after removing a single -specific check marked by a perforated capital “A,” he sealed up the -package, addressed it to himself and deposited it in the hotel safe. - -Then he sallied forth on the streets of Omaha. - -The hotel clerk had directed him where to find the elevator buildings, -which were located at various points along the river front. - -He took a car to the nearest point and then inquired his way to the -office of Flint, Peabody & Co., who controlled three of the elevators. - -Their counting-room was in Elevator A. - -“I should like to see Mr. Peabody,” he said to a clerk who asked him -his business. - -“He is busy at present. Take a seat.” - -After waiting half an hour he was shown into the private office. - -“Mr. Peabody?” asked Vance of a little, white-haired old gentleman -seated at a mahogany desk alongside a window overlooking the Missouri -river. - -“Yes; what can I do for you?” - -Vance handed him his card, in one corner of which was printed Jared -Whitemore in small type. - -“Mr. Thornton, eh?” exclaimed the busy head of the establishment, -regarding him with some surprise as he sized him up from head to foot. - -“Yes, sir.” - -“I’ve been expecting a representative of Mr. Whitemore, as those corn -options expire at noon to-day. I am bound to say I looked for an older -person than you. I presume you have a power of attorney to act for -him?” said Mr. Peabody, holding out his hand. - -Vance produced the paper, which the gentleman very carefully examined. - -“How am I to know that you are really the person set forth in this -document--that you are actually Mr. Whitemore’s representative? It -may be a forgery, and you may be acting for people opposed to that -gentleman’s interests,” said Mr. Peabody sharply. - -“I have a letter of introduction which ought to cover that point,” -answered Vance, promptly producing an envelope addressed to the person -he was talking to. - -“Hum!” said Mr. Peabody, glancing it over. “Seems to be all right. -However, as his option is a large one covering grain in our three -elevators, I’ve got to be careful. Excuse me a moment.” - -“Are you going to call up Mr. Whitemore?” asked Vance as the gentleman -rose from his desk. - -“Why do you ask?” asked Mr. Peabody abruptly, casting a suspicious look -at the boy. - -“Because, for business reasons he expressly desires that you should -call up Mr. Walcott of the Chicago National Bank and ask for him. He -does not want any communication at his office direct.” - -“Very well,” replied the gentleman, who easily surmised Mr. Whitemore’s -reasons. - -The elevator magnate entered a telephone booth at the end of the room -and sat there a matter of fifteen minutes. - -“I am satisfied that you are Mr. Whitemore’s representative,” he said -as he reseated himself at his desk. “Now, young man, we will talk -business. Of course you don’t expect me to close with you except at the -market price?” - -“I expect to settle with you at the price named in the option, less the -amount paid to secure it,” said Vance promptly. - -“You ought to know that corn is several points above the figure stated -in the option. We cannot close on those terms.” - -“Do I understand that you refuse to make a settlement of this -transaction according to the terms of the option?” asked Vance, rising -to his feet. - -“Sit down, young man,” said the elevator magnate. “You have the voucher -for the option with you, I suppose?” - -“Certainly.” - -“I should like to see it.” - -“You are prepared to redeem the option now, are you?” and Mr. Peabody -glanced at the clock, which indicated close on to the noon hour. - -“Yes, sir.” - -The gentleman considered the matter for several minutes, during which -he cast penetrating looks at Vance’s clear-cut, determined face. - -“Does Mr. Whitemore propose to hold this corn in storage here?” - -“I have no instructions as to its immediate removal,” replied Vance; -“that is all I can say.” - -“Very well. Have you Mr. Whitemore’s check for the difference?” - -“I have Mr. Whitemore’s signed check, made out to your order, which I -will hand you as soon as the amount has been computed.” - -“It is possible there will be a difference in our figures,” said Mr. -Peabody, with a grim smile. - -“That’s all right,” replied Vance, briskly. “The amount has been left -to me to fill in.” - -“Eh?” exclaimed Mr. Peabody, in a tone of surprise. - -Vance repeated his remark. - -“By George, young man, he seems to place implicit confidence in you!” -and the head of the elevator firm once more looked Vance over, and with -some curiosity. - -Mr. Peabody, having decided to close up the transaction on the terms -of the option, which he was legally bound to do, since Vance could -not be bluffed into accepting less favorable ones, the differences -were calculated, and the boy filled in the check designated as “A,” -requesting a receipt for the amount, which was immediately made out and -handed to him. - -Mr. Whitemore thus became the owner of something over a million bushels -of corn stored in elevators A, B, and C. - -This completed Vance’s business in Omaha. - -On his way back to the hotel he stopped at the postoffice, and -forwarded to his employer, in care of the Chicago National Bank, the -receipt for the money covered by the check. - -Then he went to dinner, after which he spent an hour viewing some of -the sights of the western city. - -At four o’clock he took a cab for the Union Depot, bought a ticket for -Kansas City, and took his seat in a Pullman sleeper. - -He arrived at his destination about midnight, drove to one of the -principal hotels and went to bed, after taking the precaution to -deposit his valuable papers in the office safe. - -There were three different elevator firms he had to visit in this city. - -He presented himself at the first at ten o’clock. - -Here his youth was also unfavorably commented on in a transaction -which involved 600,000 bushels of grain, and the head of the firm was -inclined to hold off, until Vance insisted that he should communicate -with his employer in Chicago. - -Not being able to get Mr. Walcott on the long-distance ’phone, Vance -suggested that he call up Flint, Peabody & Co., of Omaha. - -The gentleman, after some demur, consented to do this, being personally -acquainted with Mr. Peabody, and the result of the confab was so -satisfactory that Vance completed his business with him, getting a call -on the corn, as the option did not expire until the next day. - -At the offices of the other two elevators Vance had very little -trouble, his power of attorney and letters of introduction being -accepted without question, and no attempt being made to evade the terms -of the option. - -“That winds up this town,” he said in a tone of satisfaction as he left -the last place. “It is easier than I expected. Now for the postoffice.” - -He inquired the way there, purchased a stamped envelope, and sent off -the three receipts by registered mail, according to his instructions. - -“I’ve got lots of time now, as the next option at Grainville does not -expire until Friday,” he reflected as he took a car for his hotel. -“Guess I’ll take in a show to-night.” - -He reached the hotel in time for lunch. - -While he was in the dining-room a smart, dapper-looking young man -entered the hotel rotunda and walked briskly up to the office counter. - -Taking possession of the registry book, he glanced rapidly over the -day’s arrivals. - -His nervous finger-tips paused for an instant at Vance Thornton’s name, -which, in clear handwriting, stood almost at the top of the first page. - -The young man noted the number of the room to which the boy had been -assigned, and then glanced sharply at the numbered pigeon-holes where -the room keys were deposited. - -“He’s here, all right,” he muttered, as he turned away with a singular -smile, “and is not in his room. He reached here early this morning, as -his name is right under the date. He ought to be an easy proposition -for Sadie to work. I must have those corn options and whatever -warehouse receipts he has secured. Old Whitemore was pretty slick to -send this young chap instead of Vyce, whom we depended on. But the old -fox is up against a crowd as slick as himself this time, and he’s -going to be squeezed good and hard.” - -Thus speaking to himself, the dapper young man pulled a cigar from his -pocket, bit off the end, and lit it. - -Then he walked over and seated himself in a chair that commanded a view -of the office. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -MR. GUY DUDLEY. - - -The dapper young man had almost finished his cigar when Vance came into -the rotunda from the dining-room. - -The stranger recognized the boy at once, which was not at all -surprising, since he had met Vance probably fifty times in Chicago in -the course of business. - -“Why, hello, Thornton!” he exclaimed, walking briskly up to the lad -and extending his hand in a cordial manner; “this is a surprise. What -brings you out west, eh?” - -“Mr. Dudley!” ejaculated Vance, somewhat taken back by the encounter. - -The circumstance annoyed him greatly. - -“Pshaw!” said the dapper gentleman, whose age might have been -twenty-three. “Why the handle? I’m Guy to my friends, don’t you know! -Aren’t you going to shake?” - -Common politeness compelled Vance to accept the young man’s hand, -though it was with some reluctance. - -“You’re about the last chap I’d have thought of meeting out here in -Kansas, ‘pon my word,” continued Dudley, volubly. “But I’m deuced glad -to see you, all the same.” - -The reverse was the case with Vance, though of course he did not so -express himself. - -He was inclined to regard the meeting as unfortunate. - -“I had no idea of seeing you here, either,” said Vance, with no great -enthusiasm. - -“I s’pose not,” said Dudley, showing his fine set of teeth with a sort -of feline smile. “It’s always the unexpected what happens, don’t you -know. Have a smoke?” and he offered Vance a cigar. - -“Thank you, I don’t smoke.” - -“Come over to the Criterion, then, and I’ll blow you off,” and Dudley -grabbed him by the arm in a friendly way. - -“You’ll have to excuse me. I do not drink,” replied Vance firmly. - -“You don’t mean it, do you?” said Dudley, clearly disappointed. -“A fellow can’t drink alone, don’t you know? Take a soda or a -sarsaparilla--anything, just to seem social.” - -The dapper young man did not appear inclined to be easily shaken off. - -Vance hesitated, and Dudley, taking advantage of his momentary -indecision, pressed him so strongly that the boy, not wishing to appear -rude, agreed to accompany his undesirable acquaintance across the -street to the swell establishment known as the Criterion. - -“I’ve only just come to town,” said Guy Dudley as they ranged up -alongside the mahogany bar, rather an unusual experience for Vance, -who never frequented such places in Chicago. “You see, the governor, -my father, you know, has a big interest in one of the flour mills out -here, and as he couldn’t come himself, he sent me to look after a -matter of importance which affects his control of the business.” - -Vance nodded politely. - -“I s’pose you’re here on business connected with your boss, Whitemore, -eh?” - -The speaker’s sharp eyes glinted curiously. - -“What makes you think so?” asked Vance cautiously. - -“Why, what else should bring you to Kansas City?” - -“There might be several reasons other than what you suggested,” said -Vance, sparring for a valid excuse to throw Guy Dudley off the track. -“My father had business interests here before he died which were never -settled.” - -This was strictly a fact; though Vance knew very well that the matter -at which he hinted was not in the slightest danger of ever being -settled in his mother’s favor at that late day. - -“You don’t say,” replied Dudley, an incredulous smile curling his lips. - -“As to Mr. Whitemore,” added Vance, “my experience in his employ is -that he is not accustomed to send a boy like me to execute important -business.” - -“That’s true,” winked Dudley, putting down the glass he had just -drained; “but then one can never tell just what Whitemore may do. He’s -as shrewd as they make them nowadays.” - -To this remark Vance made no answer. - -“How long are you going to stay in town?” said Guy Dudley, changing the -subject. - -“I may leave to-morrow and I may not,” replied his companion evasively. - -“A short stay, eh? Well, you ought to make it a merry one. What are you -going to do with yourself to-night?” - -“I think I shall go to the theater,” said Vance carelessly. - -“Just what I was going to propose,” said Dudley, with suppressed -eagerness. “You must come with me. There is a good show at Hyde & -Beaman’s. S’pose we go there?” - -Vance was rather taken aback at this proposition. - -He was not a bit anxious to go with Guy Dudley under the circumstances. - -But to refuse his invitation without some good reason was sure to give -offence, and Vance always considered it a wise policy not to make an -enemy if he could avoid doing so. - -So he accepted Dudley’s offer, much to the young man’s inward -satisfaction, and then pleaded a business engagement to get rid of him. - -The dapper young man, having accomplished all that he wanted for the -present, made no further effort to press his society on Vance, hinting -that he also had business to attend to; as indeed he had, but not of -the nature he would have his boy acquaintance believe. - -So they parted at the entrance to the Criterion, Dudley promising to -call for him at his hotel at about half-past seven that evening. - -Kansas City, Kansas, is a wideawake, lively town, and Vance Thornton -spent several hours that afternoon wandering about the principal -streets, an interested observer of western progress. - -Promptly at seven-thirty Guy Dudley presented himself at the hotel -office and inquired for Vance Thornton. - -“Are you Mr. Dudley?” asked the clerk. - -“That’s my name,” said the dapper young man airily. - -“You will find Mr. Thornton in the reading-room.” - -“Well, old man,” said Dudley, tapping Vance on the shoulder, where he -sat looking over the copy of a current magazine, “I see you’re all -ready and waiting. Just put on your coat and we’ll trot along.” - -Vance donned his light overcoat and the pair left the hotel together. - -“I s’pose you won’t indulge even to the extent of a cigarette?” said -Dudley, pulling out a silver case and tendering it to the lad. “No? -All right; bad practice, I know, but it’s one of my follies,” he said -lightly as he lit a match and applied a light to a gold-rimmed cylinder -of Turkish tobacco. “When one has a quantity of wild oats to sow the -quicker he puts ’em under the ground the better,” he added with a laugh. - -“You appear to be one of the boys,” said Vance, for want of something -better to say. - -“Yes, I make it a point to see my share of life occasionally,” the -dapper young man admitted with a grin. “You don’t go around much, do -you?” with a slight sneer. - -“No,” said Vance with a shake of his head. “One needs to keep his wits -clear in our line, and I don’t see how that can be done if you stay up -three-quarters of the night chasing the elephant.” - -“Pshaw! When a fellow wakes up in the morning feeling a bit rocky a -dose of bromo-seltzer will fetch him around all right. All work and no -play makes Jack a dull boy. If I didn’t take a run out of a night with -the boys once in awhile I wouldn’t be worth shucks. You don’t know what -you lose, old chap. Still, you’re young yet.” - -“I believe in enjoying myself in a rational manner, Mr. Dudley,” said -Vance. “Drinking and smoking and billiards and card-playing don’t quite -fall in with my idea of a good time.” - -“All right,” remarked Dudley carelessly; “every one to his taste. Well, -here we are,” and he turned in at the entrance to Hyde & Beaman’s -theater, followed by Vance. - -Dudley had secured good seats in the orchestra, and as the performance -was above the average Vance thoroughly enjoyed it. - -“You don’t object to having a bite, do you?” asked Guy Dudley after the -show. - -“I don’t usually eat late at night,” replied Vance, “but I have no -objection to joining you. Where will we go?” - -“There’s a famous English chop-house on Blank street,” said the dapper -young man, with a glint of satisfaction in his eyes; “we’ll take a cab -and go there.” - -“Why wouldn’t the place over the way do as well?” asked the boy. “It -looks to be a first-class restaurant.” - -“So it is, but it isn’t on a par with Bagley’s. They have a fine -grill-room there, and though the bill of fare is limited, it’s English -from A to Z. I guess you’ve never been in one of those establishments.” - -“I don’t think I have,” admitted the boy. - -“Then it will be my pleasure to introduce you to something worth while. -Hi, there!” beckoning to a cab driver who sat muffled up on his box. - -“Get in,” to Vance as the jehu sprang down and opened the cab door, -and the boy allowed the accomplished Mr. Dudley to push him into the -vehicle. “Bagley’s on Blank street,” said the dapper young man to the -driver, and a moment later they were on their way to that notorious -Kansas City resort. - -Fifteen minutes later the cab drew up before the entrance to Bagley’s, -a dingy looking building situated in a narrow alley off one of the -business thoroughfares. - -Vance had expected to see a brilliantly lighted establishment, with big -plate glass windows and every sign of a high-toned restaurant. - -The contrary was the case. - -Not even a sign distinguished Bagley’s place from that of the other -buildings in the vicinity, though a red light suspended over the door -served to indicate that it had other uses than those of an ordinary -dwelling. - -A light rain was now falling, and before the boy had time to ask his -companion if some mistake had not been made in the place Dudley opened -the door and pushed him inside. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -THE PLOT THAT FAILED. - - -Vance found himself in a narrow, dimly-lighted hallway. - -But before the sense of disappointment, not unmixed, perhaps, with a -feeling of uneasiness, had time to assert itself, Dudley brushed by -him and opened a door which admitted them to a long, low-ceiled room, -painted a dull, smoky color, but brilliantly illuminated with many gas -jets enclosed in colored globes, which threw a subdued and fantastic -glow about the room. - -There was a kitchen in the rear and a bar along one side near the door. - -The rest of the room was taken up with round, well-polished mahogany -tables of different sizes, for large or small parties. - -It was a restaurant all right, but entirely different from anything -Vance had ever before visited. - -The tone of the place was wholly English, as Dudley had intimated to -his companion, and the bill of fare was limited to broiled meats and -fish, fowl, oysters and rarebits. - -The place was chiefly noted for its fine old English ales. - -For all that, Bagley’s was a notorious place. - -Its frequenters were mostly crooks, gamblers and politicians. - -Curiosity and its famous cuisine, however, brought thither a sprinkling -of the better classes--men about town, salesmen and their out-of-town -customers, lawyers, brokers, merchants, and the sons of rich parents -who thought it the correct thing to be seen there. - -The upper floors were divided into supper rooms for ladies and their -escorts, and it was quite a fad among the upper crust of Kansas City -aristocracy to drop in there after the theater. - -Mr. Bagley himself, rotund and red-faced, lounged in a big easy chair -behind the cashier’s desk near the entrance. - -The room was nearly crowded at that hour, and while Vance was surveying -the place with much interest a waiter approached Dudley and handed him -a card. - -“We’ll go upstairs, Vance,” said the dapper gentleman gaily. “I’ll -introduce you to a friend of mine.” - -Thus speaking, he hooked his arm in Thornton’s and, preceded by the -waiter, they passed out again into the entry and walked up a couple of -flights of richly-carpeted stairs, down to the end of a corridor, where -a window opened on a gloomy prospect of dark roofs and irregular black -voids. - -The waiter rapped on one of the doors that lined this corridor, and a -voice shouted, “Come in.” - -The attendant stepped aside and permitted Dudley to usher Vance into a -well-lighted room and the presence of a dark-complexioned gentleman in -full evening dress and a young lady of unquestioned beauty, that was -heightened by her chic air. - -They had just been served with supper, the chief dish being grilled -bones. - -There were bottles of wine and ale on the table, and the couple seemed -to be enjoying themselves hugely. - -“Hello, Dudley! You’re just in time. You’ll have supper with us, of -course--you and your friend. Waiter, take the order.” - -“Sure,” responded the dapper young man; then, turning to the lady, whom -he evidently knew, he said, “Miss Miller, this is Vance Thornton.” - -The young lady bowed with a sweet smile and a fascinating glance. - -“Carrington,” continued Dudley, turning to the gentleman, “let me make -you acquainted with my friend Thornton. Vance, this is Sid Carrington.” - -“Glad to know you, Thornton,” said Carrington, rising and extending his -hand. - -The boy acknowledged both introductions in a suitable manner and then -took the seat pointed out to him, which was close to Miss Miller. - -“Vance, like myself, is merely paying a flying visit to Kansas City on -business,” explained Dudley, and then he and Carrington began to talk -together, leaving the boy and Miss Miller to entertain themselves. - -There was nothing backward about Miss Miller, for after Vance had given -a modest order to the attendant she proceeded at once to make herself -agreeable to the lad. - -“So you’re a stranger in Kansas City, Mr. Thornton? Are you from -Chicago?” - -“Yes,” replied Vance, who was not a little impressed by the lady’s -loveliness, as well as her fascinating ways. - -“Chicago is a most delightful city,” she exclaimed gushingly. “I lived -there for many years myself. The young men of Chicago are so bright and -manly; it is really a pleasure to meet one of them way out here,” and -she flashed such a look at Vance as almost took his breath away. - -During the twenty minutes the newcomers had to wait to be served the -lady ate but little, but she talked and laughed enough to make up the -difference. - -Every little charm she possessed she threw into her conversation, and -she made many adroit inquiries of Vance as to when he left Chicago, -where he had been before he came to Kansas City, where he expected to -go next and when, what his business was, and many other suggestive -queries, all of which the boy parried skilfully or replied to as he -thought prudent, though he had not the slightest suspicion that the -lady had any other object than mere womanly curiosity in asking them. - -An acute observer would probably have noticed that she was not entirely -pleased with the result when the conversation became general. - -An almost imperceptible signal passed between her and Sid Carrington -when that gentleman finally favored her with a significant look of -inquiry. - -He understood at once, and made a remark to Dudley in a low tone, at -which the dapper young man shrugged his shoulders. - -“What do you drink, Thornton?” asked Carrington as the waiter stood -by expectantly. “You can have anything you want, but this house is -particularly noted for its imported ales. I’ll order a bottle for you.” - -“I’m sorry,” Vance hastened to say, “but I really don’t drink anything.” - -“What!” exclaimed Sid, a slight cloud forming on his brow, while Miss -Miller looked up in great surprise. - -“That’s right,” interposed Dudley. “He doesn’t touch anything in that -line. I found that out to-day at the Criterion. You’ll take coffee, -however, won’t you, Vance?” - -Vance nodded. - -“A bottle of your XXX ale, waiter, and a cup of coffee for this -gentleman,” said Guy Dudley briskly. - -The attendant bowed and departed. - -“So you really don’t drink?” said Miss Miller with an artful smile. -“This is quite a surprise to me, for I thought every gentleman indulged -in something or other. Now, couldn’t I prevail on you to take just a -thimbleful of this light Madeira? As a special favor, with me, you -know?” - -She favored Vance with an arch look as she filled two small wineglasses -with the amber liquid, as if to imply it was an honor she was -especially according him. - -“Really, Miss Miller----” protested Vance, feeling much embarrassed. - -“You will oblige me, won’t you?” - -She placed one of the glasses close to his fingers and raised the -other toward her ruby lips, with a look so seductive as to be almost -irresistible. - -Vance was confused at his position and somewhat bewildered by the -coquettish and persistent attitude of the fair lady at his elbow. - -He felt, without actually seeing, that the eyes of the two gentlemen -were fixed upon him at that moment. - -As his fingers grasped the slender stem of the wineglass and he half -drew it toward him, a gleam of unholy triumph seemed to dart from three -pairs of eyes. - -But their satisfaction was premature. - -Suddenly before Vance’s vision passed the face of his gentle, -white-haired mother in Chicago, whom he had promised faithfully that he -would never drink a drop of intoxicating liquor. - -He drew back his hand. - -His muscles tightened, and he looked his fair tempter squarely in the -face as he said: - -“I regret I cannot oblige you, Miss Miller; but I promised my mother I -would not drink, and it is impossible that I can go back on my word.” - -Vance Thornton was himself again. - -Sadie Miller had not found him such an easy proposition after all. - -A look of chagrin rested for a moment on the lady’s face, while Sid -Carrington uttered a strong invective under his breath. - -But the affair was instantly passed off with a laugh, and the boy found -himself once more at his ease. - -The coffee for Vance and the ale for Dudley presently arrived, and then -another slight signal was made by the host which the girl understood. - -The conspirators were about to play their last card. - -In the most natural way imaginable Dudley attracted Vance’s attention -for a moment, and the boy half turned away from Miss Miller. - -During that instant she leaned slightly forward, extended her arm and -dropped something into the coffee. - -It was all done in a moment, and when Vance turned again to the young -lady she was in the act of drinking from her own glass of Madeira. - -He drank the coffee at intervals as he polished off a grilled bone, -quite unsuspicious that he had fallen into the snare at last. - -The effects of the drug became evident to the watchful eyes of the -three conspirators before Vance began to realize there was anything the -matter with him. - -At length he experienced the insidious feeling of heaviness and torpor -characteristic of a dose of chloral or knockout drops. - -“Hadn’t we better--go?” he blurted out in a thick, hesitating tone to -Dudley, who was talking to Carrington. - -“What for? There’s no hurry. We’ll all go together presently,” was the -reply of the dapper young man. - -Vance looked helplessly at Miss Miller, his eyes, hitherto so alert and -bright, now half closed and dull. - -He half rose in his chair with a muttered exclamation, sank back, -swayed a bit to and fro, and then utterly collapsed. - -“He’s safe!” cried Carrington with sudden energy, rising to his feet. -“Quick, Dudley; see if he has the papers on him, and secure them before -the waiter turns up.” - -In an instant Vance’s treacherous companion was searching him with a -swiftness called forth by the urgency of the occasion. - -But pocket after pocket failed to yield the desired results. - -The option vouchers not yet presented for settlement, and such -warehouse receipts as the boy was supposed to have about his person, -were not to be found. - -In fact, not a document of any kind relating to his trip was in -evidence. - -“Curse the luck!” exclaimed Carrington, who appeared to be engineering -the conspiracy. “We’re euchred after all! What has he done with them?” - -Miss Miller, who had been watching the abortive efforts of Guy Dudley -with a slight curl on her pretty lips, now spoke. - -“Evidently the boy is smarter than you have given him credit for,” she -said with a tantalizing laugh. “I suspected it almost from the start. -Why, he didn’t give a single thing away the whole time I was doing my -best to pump him. You’ll have to try something else, Sid, if you expect -to reach results.” - -Just then the waiter appeared at the door with the bill. - -“What’s the number of your cab, Dudley?” asked Carrington as he handed -the attendant a bill. - -“No. 206.” - -“Call up 206 and 93, waiter, and then you’ll have to help us get our -friend here to the walk. Your coffee has been too much for him.” - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -ELEVATORVILLE. - - -Vance woke up next morning with a severe headache. - -He was in bed in his room at the hotel. - -His thinking powers were somewhat mixed, and he wondered what had -occurred to him. - -“I don’t recollect coming to bed,” he muttered in a perplexed tone. -“Where was I last night?” - -He did not even remember that he had been to the theater. - -After lying motionless in bed a good fifteen minutes staring at the -ceiling he gave the problem up for a bad job. - -“What time is it, anyway?” - -“Gee! Nearly ten o’clock! I’ll have to hustle if I am going to get any -breakfast in this house to-day. Something is wrong with me, that’s -sure. I never felt this way before.” - -He began to dress, and then gave his face and head a good sousing, -which made him feel better. - -“I look as if I had been out with the boys all night,” he said, -observing his bloodshot eyes and pallid expression. “I’d give something -to know what has knocked me out.” - -He did not feel hungry, but he believed a cup of coffee would do him -good. - -On his way from the elevator to the dining-room he stopped at the -office and asked the clerk if he had any idea when he came in last -evening. - -“You’ll have to see the night man about that,” replied the spruce young -man with a quizzical smile. “Been having a good time, I suppose. Better -get a bromo-seltzer before you eat. Step into the drug store, right -through the corridor, and he’ll fix you up all right.” - -Vance thought the clerk’s advice was good and he followed it, after -which he went into breakfast. - -It was not long before the events of the preceding evening began to -fashion themselves in his brain, and the situation dawned upon him. - -“But I didn’t drink anything at that place,” he persisted to himself, -“that is, nothing but a cup of coffee. Perhaps strong coffee at -midnight doesn’t agree with me, as I’m not used to it. All the same, -it’s funny I don’t remember a thing about how the affair wound up, or -how I got back and into my bed upstairs.” - -The reflection annoyed him a good bit. - -“That Miss Miller is a fine looking girl, all right,” he mused, trying -to devote his attention to the morning’s report about the corn market; -“I don’t think I ever met such an attractive person. Still, I think I -prefer Bessie. And the chap that was with her--I forget his name--he -seems to be a pretty swell party. Seems to me I’ve seen him before. -If I have, of course it was in Chicago. I wonder if Dudley will be -around looking for me this morning? I don’t fancy him much, although he -certainly treated me away up in G. I’m sorry on the whole I met him, -for if he returns to town before me he’ll probably mention that he met -me out here, and that’s just what Mr. Whitemore doesn’t want. If it -should get about that I was on a night racket with him it’s bound to -hurt me. I guess I’d better cut Dudley out by taking an early train for -Grainville.” - -As this seemed to be good policy, Vance hastened to settle with -the hotel people, and having found that he could get a train for -his destination at 1:30 p. m., he snatched a hasty lunch, hired a -cab, and reached the station in plenty of time to board the through -accommodation. - -Arrived at Grainville, he went to the best hotel in town and -registered, depositing his documents, as usual, in the office safe. - -Next morning he visited the two elevator concerns he had to do business -with, settled the differences without trouble, and took a call on the -grain, sending his vouchers off to Chicago in the usual way. - -From there he went to other important grain centers in Kansas, where -the balance of his options were to be settled, closing up that part of -the business finally in Jayville, Missouri. - -“There, that winds up the option business,” he remarked with an air of -relief as he registered the last of his vouchers for Chicago. - -Consulting his letter of instructions, he found that he had to proceed -to a town called Elevatorville, on the Mississippi, facing the State of -Kentucky. - -The branch railroad that connected the place with the nearest trunk -line was a rocky affair, and had fallen into the hands of a receiver -owing to a default in the interest on its first mortgage bonds. - -Evidently transportation business had fallen off badly in that section. - -Vance made cautious inquiries at the junction as to whether much grain -had passed over the branch road lately, but nobody seemed to know -anything about the matter. - -The regular station agent was sick in bed, and the substitute assured -Vance that there was nothing doing in that line. - -The boy took the late afternoon train for Elevatorville, arriving at -the town long after dark. - -A solitary, worn-out hotel ’bus was backed up against the station -platform. - -Vance, grip in hand, was stepping over to take it, when it suddenly -struck him that perhaps he had better not go to the hotel. - -If he could obtain accommodation at some house in the suburbs his -presence in the place would probably attract less attention. - -There might be nothing in it after all, but he proposed to omit no -precaution having a bearing on his secret mission. - -So he asked a husky looking boy he noticed standing around if he knew -of any place in the vicinity where he could find board and lodging for -a few days. - -“I’ll show you a place, mister.” - -The country boy took him around to an unpretentious cottage, where he -secured what he wanted at very reasonable terms. - -Feeling that some excuse was in order, he explained to the elderly -spinster who owned the house that he thought Elevatorville might -improve his health. - -“You don’t look a bit sick,” she ventured, looking him over with -critical consideration. - -“That’s right, madam; but you can’t always tell by appearances,” -replied Vance with a politeness that quite charmed her. - -“True,” she answered. “I remember my niece Mary Ann looked the very -picture of health when she came here to visit me, and before she was -here a week she took down sick with liver complaint and nearly died.” - -“Just so, madam,” said Vance, with an amused smile. - -“I hope you won’t be sick, young man,” she continued anxiously; “but -if you should be, I can recommend my nephew, who is the best doctor in -town.” - -“I’ll bear your relative in mind if I should need his services,” -replied the boy, stifling a grin. - -“I s’pose you feel kind of hungry, don’t you? Come by the train, didn’t -you?” - -Vance admitted that he could eat a trifle if she would be so good as to -prepare something. - -“The fire is out, but I can light it up again. I can’t promise you -any delicacies, but we don’t stint ourselves. I’m right glad to get a -boarder these hard times, and will make you feel at home. It’s a wonder -you didn’t go right to the hotel, though if you can’t afford it you’ve -done right to come here.” - -If the lady was surprised at Vance’s healthy appetite, she discreetly -made no reference to it, beyond remarking that she was glad to see he -enjoyed the meal. - -Vance was up early next morning, and after a satisfactory breakfast -sallied out on a tour of observation. - -The place wore a dormant air, a surprising fact for a western river -town. - -Vance judged that it had been struck by a temporary setback of some -sort, which happened to be the fact. - -The boy saw the outlines of five big elevator buildings in the distance -down by the river, and he strolled over in that direction. - -He avoided the main business streets, going toward the great -Mississippi by a roundabout way that brought him to the river bank a -mile above the objects that he aimed at. - -He smiled to himself at the idea of taking so much trouble, which in -the end might prove to have been time spent to no purpose; but when he -drew near to the doorway leading to the office of the first elevator he -suddenly came to a different conclusion. - -For there, sunning himself on an inverted cask outside of the entrance, -he spied a familiar figure. - -A quick glance at the person’s face enabled Vance to identify him. - -It was the dapper young Chicagoian, Guy Dudley, as large as life. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -THE REASON WHY VANCE THORNTON WAS TICKLED ALMOST TO DEATH. - - -“What the dickens is he doing in Elevatorville?” ejaculated Vance in -great astonishment. “I thought he was attending to business for his -father in Kansas City.” - -Just then a man in a sack-coat and wearing a smart-looking fedora hat -came to the door and entered into conversation with Dudley. - -Presently the dapper young man jumped off his perch, and the two began -to walk toward the spot where Vance stood regarding them with some -curiosity. - -“It will never do for him to see me here,” muttered the boy, backing -out of view and then walking rapidly down a path that led to that end -of the elevator which faced the water. “He’d ask no end of embarrassing -questions which I never could answer.” - -When Vance reached the corner of the elevator building he found that -further progress in that direction was blocked by the water, unless -he chose to crawl over the damp sand under the ground floor of the -edifice, which was raised several feet on spiles. - -So he concluded to wait where he was until the coast was clear again. - -He looked back to see if Dudley and his companion were continuing on up -the street, but to his dismay he saw they also had turned into the path -leading down to the river end of the building. - -There was nothing now but to get out of sight under the corner of the -elevator and wait for them to retire. - -“How long do you expect to stay in this burg, Mr. Dudley?” the man in -the fedora hat was saying as the pair came within earshot of Vance’s -post of concealment. - -“Give it up,” returned the dapper young man, with a yawn. “It’s -precious dull here, all right; but I’ve got to stick here until I -find out whether that Thornton chap”--at these words Vance pricked -up his ears and was instantly on the alert--“is coming down here on -a reconnoitering expedition for his boss, old man Whitemore, or not. -Those are my orders, and I got them right from the shoulder, too.” - -“What makes you think he is coming here?” asked the elevator man -curiously. - -“We have our reasons,” replied Dudley significantly, “and we’re not -taking any chances. I’m watching every train that comes in.” - -“I didn’t see you at the depot last night.” - -“I don’t have to go to the depot. He’ll go to the hotel as sure as -guns, or to the Stag House.” - -“Or to the Parker House,” suggested the man in the fedora. - -“Scarcely there. He’s got plenty of money and will want the best that -is to be had. However, I don’t care where he goes; the moment he -registers at any of these places I shall be informed.” - -“Well?” said the other interrogatively. - -“Then I’ll point him out to you, and it will be up to you to see that -he’s blocked at every point.” - -“As every one of our men down here has been fixed, I don’t think -he’ll find out a heap,” remarked the elevator official in a tone of -conviction. - -“However, there’s nothing like making assurance doubly sure, Mr. -Taggart,” said Dudley, taking out his cigarette case. “Have a smoke?” - -“Thanks,” and his companion helped himself to one. - -“The whole trouble seems to have developed from the fact that our ally, -Vyce--that’s old Whitemore’s bookkeeper--has come under the suspicion -of his employer, though it isn’t likely anything can be brought against -him. When the combination was forming Carrington found out Vyce could -be bought. He had his price--most everybody has--and an arrangement -was effected by which he was to keep the opposition pool informed of -Whitemore’s operations in this new deal of his as far as he was able to -find them out.” - -“That was a great advantage,” said Mr. Taggart, wagging his head -sagaciously. - -“Well, say, you’ve no idea what it counts for. Whitemore has been -dominating the bull clique for years. All sorts of jobs have been put -up to him, but he has managed to wriggle out somehow. This time we -believe it is his object to corner the market, and the combination -which is after his scalp is backed by one of the strongest banks in -Chicago. I fancy it is strong enough to squeeze him. If we should catch -him we’ll wring him bone-dry. We’ll bankrupt him as sure as my name is -Guy Dudley.” - -The dapper young man lit another cigarette and continued: - -“As I was saying, Vyce, our source of information on the inside, has -suddenly dried up. Whitemore hasn’t accused him of any underhanded -dealings, but the very fact that he has shut up tighter than a clam -toward his confidential assistant, and has sent young Thornton--a -mere boy, you might say--west to close up his corn options, is a sure -sign that the old man is suspicious of Vyce. Ever since that boy left -Chicago we have reason to suspect that Whitemore has been quietly -buying every bushel of corn that is offered, though his regular brokers -do not appear in these transactions. If this is a fact, he must own -more than half of the visible supply on the market.” - -“He must have a barrel of money.” - -“I’d be satisfied with half of what I could raise on his real estate. -It was a slick and farseeing move on the part of the pool to sneak -five million bushels down here without the fact getting out. That was -accomplished early in the game by working our pull with the Mississippi -Transportation Co. Nothing like having an influential director or two -at your back.” - -The man in the fedora hat nodded. - -“These elevators have been duly reported out of business for one reason -or another.” - -“I can’t see how you managed to keep the papers in the dark. What they -can’t ferret out isn’t worth knowing.” - -Guy Dudley laughed sardonically. - -“The combination simply bought up half a dozen of the leading papers, -and own them body and soul. They print only what we want on the corn -question. They mold public opinion, as it were. The other papers copy -our news, and there you are--see?” - -Mr. Taggart thought he saw, for he rubbed his hands and laughed. - -“But in dealing with such an artful old fox as Jared Whitemore we have -to provide against the unusual and the unexpected. It was distinctly -unusual for him to send a boy like Vance Thornton to close up his -options--yet that is what he has done, and we should never have got on -to it if it had not been for the uncommon shrewdness of our man Vyce. -If he has done this, there is no reason why he hasn’t instructed the -boy to come down here after he has finished with the options and try -to find out whether the press reports concerning these elevators are -really founded on facts, or whether they have been cooked up by the -opposition forces.” - -“And do you think that young fellow Thornton is smart enough for such a -slick job as that?” asked Mr. Taggart, with a sneer. - -“Do I? Well, say, he’s all right, and don’t you make any mistake on -that head,” said Dudley in a convincing tone as he gave the rim of -his hat a flip backward. “Carrington says he’s smart enough to be -dangerous, and Carrington is no fool.” - -“Yet he’s only a boy, you say?” said Mr. Taggart, skeptically. - -“That’s all right. He was clever enough to block a little game we put -up on him in Kansas City, and he didn’t even suspect our intentions, -either.” - -“How was that?” asked Mr. Taggart, with some interest. - -“Carrington came down himself from Chicago to help the thing along, and -brought one of his handsomest lady stenographers along to pump the boy -dry. And she did it, too; oh, yes, she did it--nit! And we thought he -would be such an easy proposition. We wanted to find out all his plans -and get possession of the options we supposed he carried about in his -clothes.” - -“And you failed, eh?” - -“We failed all right. He didn’t have as much as a toothpick about -him, and so, after dosing his coffee, for he doesn’t drink a drop of -liquor, we had all our trouble for nothing. The girl went into a spasm -of admiration over Thornton’s cleverness in being prepared for the -unexpected, while Carrington was madder than a whole nest of hornets. I -took him to his hotel and put him to bed, and that’s the last I’ve seen -of him.” - -“Well, now, you hear me,” said the man in the fedora hat, thumping the -side of the bunch of spiles behind which Vance was listening to this -enlightening conversation, “if he comes down here and gets away with a -grain of information as big as one grain of those five million bushels -stored in these, five elevators, I’ll give you leave to kick me from -here to the mouth of the Mississippi.” - -The remark was emphatic and forcible, and there was not the slightest -doubt that Mr. Taggart meant every word of it, yet is it any wonder -that Vance Thornton, under the circumstances, grinned as he had never -grinned before in all his life? - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -THE MAN FROM THE WEST. - - -If Guy Dudley and Mr. Taggart, the manager of the five elevators of -Elevatorville, only suspected the injury they had inflicted on their -cause by coming down to the water’s edge of that particular elevator -under which Vance Thornton happened to be concealed at the time, and -there telling all they knew to the winds, as they thought, there is -not the least doubt that they would have felt like going to some quiet -place and kicking themselves off the earth. - -The dapper Mr. Dudley thought himself as smart as they make them in -Chicago, but really he had lots to learn. - -He was satisfied that young Thornton could not poke his nose into the -town without he (Dudley) becoming immediately aware of the fact. - -Yet Vance had already been more than twelve hours in Elevatorville -without the dapper young man’s knowledge, and had practically -accomplished the object of his visit through the indiscreet loquacity -of the gentlemen who were “laying” for him. - -The only really good thing that Dudley had been guilty of was his -admission of Thornton’s cleverness. - -Dudley and the manager of the elevators, having unwittingly put Vance -Thornton in possession of more information even than he had expected to -pick up in that western river town, walked back the way they had come -and parted at the corner of the street, the dapper young man returning -to his hotel. - -“Well,” murmured Vance, as he emerged from his place of concealment, -“if this hasn’t been the greatest piece of luck I’ve ever heard tell -of, I don’t know what luck is. So there’s actually five million bushels -of corn in these elevators, while they are officially reported as -empty? I’m much obliged to you, Mr. Taggart, for the information,” -and he looked after the retreating figures of the manager and his -companion. “So that was a put-up job on me at Bagley’s chop-house, eh? -And I never dreamed of it. At last I am on to you, Mr. Guy Dudley, -and I think you’ve done all the damage you’re likely to do to Mr. -Whitemore. And our respectable bookkeeper, Mr. Edgar Vyce, is a snake -in the grass. I’ll have to lose no time in putting Mr. Whitemore next -to all these important facts. When he learns the real state of affairs -I guess Mr. Vyce will have to join the opposition in person as well as -in spirit. I never did like him much, and now I certainly despise him. -A sneak and a traitor ought always to be handled without gloves.” - -By this time the road was clear for Vance to retire without attracting -special attention to himself, and half an hour later he was seated at a -table in the cottage writing a letter to his employer. - -That afternoon he left Elevatorville by a river boat that carried him a -few miles up the Mississippi to another town that boasted of a pair of -dismantled elevators. - -He had no difficulty in personally examining these buildings, and found -that the newspaper report as to their condition was strictly true. - -Vance added a postscript to his letter, setting forth the facts as he -had found them, and then forwarded it by registered mail, as usual. - -“I suppose Guy Dudley is watching for the train to deposit me in -Elevatorville this evening,” he grinned as he sat on the hotel veranda -after supper. “Gee! It was a lucky thought of mine not to go to the -hotel last night. Had I done so my name would probably have been mud, -so far as finding out what I came for, and then I should never have -found out those other little matters. It’s better to be born lucky than -rich.” - -Next morning Vance left for a railway junction town in Missouri, the -last point he had on his list. - -It is unnecessary to go into the particulars of his business at this -place. - -It is enough to say that it had a direct bearing on his employer’s -plans, and the boy managed to obtain all the necessary information to -be got. - -“Now for Chicago and home,” said Vance, in a happy frame of mind, after -he had boiled down his statistics in a succinct letter to Mr. Whitemore -and sent it off. - -The boy uttered these words as he was coming out of the postoffice, -which was located on the corner of two streets. - -Immediately preceding him was a tall and commanding man, with a swarthy -complexion and black eyes. - -Vance had noticed him inside posting a letter. - -He wore a soft felt hat of generous proportions, and his manner was the -free and easy way of the wide west. - -The boy stopped and watched him with some curiosity as he started to -cross the street. - -At that moment a noisy racket arose around the corner, and there -suddenly came into view a team of horses attached to a heavy wagon of -produce. - -Evidently the animals were frightened, and were dashing about in a -blind, purposeless race. - -The stranger was right in their path, and seeing his peril, he sprang -back. - -But in some unaccountable way he missed his footing, slipped and fell -upon the roadway. - -A dozen or more people besides Vance noticed his mishap, but only the -boy seemed to have presence of mind enough to take any action. - -The frenzied horses were almost upon the fallen man when Vance, darting -out from the sidewalk, seized the near animal by the bridle-rein, as -well as getting a secure grip on the harness with the other hand, and -succeeded in slightly veering the team out of its course. - -Off course he was instantly carried off his feet and placed in an -exceedingly dangerous situation, but he had accomplished his object. - -The wheels of the heavy wagon barely grazed the stranger’s head as it -flew by, but he was saved--saved by Vance’s remarkable nerve and quick -movements. - -The runaways, handicapped by his weight, and headed off by several men -who now jumped into the roadway and waved their coats and hats, lost -their speed and were presently brought to a standstill. - -“Young man,” exclaimed a broad-shouldered Missourian, grasping Vance by -the hand, as with rumpled clothes and minus his hat he let go his hold -and staggered back from the restive and trembling horses, “that was one -of the pluckiest things I reckon I’ve seen for a long time.” - -“That’s what it was, so help me Bob!” cried another demonstrative -individual, pressing himself to the fore. “Shake, youngster!” - -A crowd quickly gathered around the boy, and everybody wanted to take -him by the hand and tell him what they thought of his feat. - -“Here’s your hat!” cried some one on the outskirts of the circle. - -Half a dozen willing hands were extended to grasp and restore it to its -owner. - -It was really extraordinary what an interest the onlookers had suddenly -taken in the Chicago boy. - -“Oh, come now,” objected Vance, trying to disengage himself from his -well-meaning admirers, “I’m really much obliged to you; but I think you -might let a fellow go now.” - -“But you’ve got to drink with us before we can let you part company,” -cried one officious six-foot native. - -“You must excuse me,” said Vance, moving off, “but I don’t drink.” - -“You don’t drink!” exclaimed several of the men in a breath, falling -back at what seemed to them a most unheard-of statement. “Did you say -that you didn’t drink?” - -“That’s exactly what I did say, and I generally mean what I say,” -answered the boy in a firm tone. - -As Vance elbowed his way clear of the mob every one looked at him -with the same curiosity they might have bestowed upon some new and -extraordinary animal which had unexpectedly dropped in among them. - -A fellow that did not drink was decidedly something out of the common -in Missouri. - -Vance, however, was rescued from this disagreeable situation by the man -whose life he had saved. - -The big fellow stepped up, and linking his arm with the lad’s, drew him -off down the street, saying, in a very pleasant and somewhat musical -voice: - -“Let us get away from this mob, my young friend; I fancy their -well-meant intentions are not particularly agreeable to either of us. I -can see that you don’t care to be made a hero of, though I never knew -one who more deserved the honor.” - -He spoke in such a breezy, whole-souled way that Vance was instantly -prepossessed in his favor. - -Though he showed the flavor of the untrammeled West in every movement, -yet there was nothing rough about him. - -He was a gentleman from heel to crown. - -“I am very glad you were not injured by the runaway, sir,” said Vance -sincerely. - -“Thanks to your nerve and presence of mind, I was not; but I had a -narrow call for my life. I owe my preservation to you, my brave lad, -and I wish you to understand that I am deeply grateful to you. You must -let me know your name, for I insist that we shall be better acquainted.” - -“My name is Vance Thornton.” - -“Thank you; and mine is William Bradhurst.” - -“I am pleased to know you, Mr. Bradhurst,” said Vance heartily. - -“Not more than I am to know you,” replied the man from the West. “You -are a stranger to this town, I should judge.” - -“Yes, sir; I am from Chicago.” - -“You interest me. I am bound for that city myself. I expect to take the -afternoon train for St. Louis, to connect with the Panhandle road.” - -“I intend to leave to-day for Chicago by the same route,” said Vance, -pleased with the prospect of having so agreeable a companion. - -“I am delighted to hear it, my dear fellow,” answered the westerner, in -a tone which indicated his satisfaction. “We will go together, if you -have no objection.” - -“I shall be glad to have your society,” assented the boy. - -“Good. I was wondering how I would relieve the monotony of the trip. -You have settled the matter in the way I should have preferred.” - -By this time they were several blocks from the scene of their thrilling -adventure. - -“Where are you stopping?” asked the big fellow. - -“At the Planters’ House.” - -“Why, that’s where I have put up. If you don’t mind we’ll go there now. -It is nearly lunch hour. Anyhow, I’d like to have a talk with you.” - -To this invitation Vance offered no objection, and ten minutes later -they were ascending the hotel elevator together. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -DAME FORTUNE TAKES VANCE THORNTON UNDER HER WING. - - -“Well, Thornton, I trust that you and I will be good friends,” said Mr. -Bradhurst, as he motioned Vance to a seat by the window after they had -entered one of the best suites of rooms in the house. - -“I hope so, sir,” replied the boy in a cheery tone, which indicated -that he saw no reason, at least on his part, why they should not. - -“It isn’t every one that I take a fancy to,” said the broad-shouldered -man; “but I am bound to say that, even apart from the natural -friendliness I feel toward one to whom I am so largely indebted as -yourself, I have taken a liking to you on general principles.” - -“You are very kind to say so,” returned Vance; “I can say the same -thing as regards yourself.” - -“Then we appear to be mutually pleased,” said Bradhurst with a breezy -laugh. “The fact of the matter is, young man, I have lived for the -last eight years in a sort of rough-and-ready community, where a man’s -character comes to the surface without much effort on his part to hold -it down. We soon learn to size up those with whom we are thrown into -contact, and sift the honest fellow from the worthless scamp.” - -“You have lived in the mining districts, I suppose?” - -“You’ve hit it right at the first guess, though I hardly suppose I -resemble a cowboy.” - -“No,” said Vance; “still, you could easily be taken for a prosperous -ranch owner, or something of that sort.” - -“That’s right enough, too. I don’t look much as though I was afflicted -with consumption, do I?” asked Bradhurst, with a smile. - -“Why, no,” replied the boy in a tone of surprise. - -“Well, eight years ago, a few years after I graduated from Yale College -and was beginning the life of a business man in New York, my friends -came to the conclusion that I was marked for an early grave. I had the -disease, all right, so the doctors I consulted said, and was treated -for it; but I went from bad to worse, until it seemed only a question -of time when I was expected to step out. As a last resort I was advised -to give up everything and go to Colorado. Well, I went.” - -“And coming West cured you?” - -“I don’t fancy so; it was the new life I lived. I kept away from large -towns and went into the wilderness. I lived out in the open air. I -bought a horse and rode about a great deal. After awhile I found my -strength returning and my chest expanding, and in two years I could -afford to laugh at doctors.” - -“And you never had a return of the old symptoms?” - -“Never. I think it is perfectly safe for me to return to civilization -again.” - -“It must give you a great deal of satisfaction to know that you have -cheated the undertaker out of a job,” said Vance with a laugh. - -“I leave you to judge of that. But while it was solely for the purpose -of recruiting my health I came West, I have also accomplished another -satisfactory result.” - -“And what is that?” - -“I have made a fortune--and a mighty big one at that.” - -“In eight years?” - -“In six years. If you have fortune on your side a good deal of money -can be picked up in the wild and woolly districts, as they are -sometimes called.” - -“I have often heard so,” admitted Vance interestedly. - -“I was always interested in metallurgy, and studied the subject pretty -exhaustively before I had any idea of putting my knowledge to practical -use. While wandering about at my own sweet will I used to do a little -prospecting for the fun of the thing, but I can’t say that I met with -any success. My luck began when I took up my habitation in the Dead -Man’s Creek mining district, Colorado. By that time I had grown tired -of doing nothing. I was induced to buy an interest in a claim that -at first looked to be a good thing, but soon petered out. Still, my -mining information encouraged me to believe there was a future in -it. I bought my partners out for a trivial sum, and from that moment -superintended the working of the mine myself. One day we struck a fine -pay streak, and when the news circulated I was beset with offers from -promoters who came there to examine into it. I refused to sell, but was -finally persuaded to form a company, and dispose of a few shares at a -high figure. That was four years ago. The mine turned out to be a real -bonanza, and my profits from the ore taken out up to a month ago have -been over $2,000,000.” - -“Gee!” exclaimed Vance, opening his eyes; “you don’t say!” - -“I continued to hold ninety per cent of the stock, and this I disposed -of a little over a week ago for the par value of $100 a share to a -clique of wealthy men. I realized $9,000,000.” - -“Nine millions!” gasped Vance, who was astonished at the sum, although -he was accustomed to move in a business atmosphere where transactions -involving millions were a common occurrence. - -“Exactly--nine millions,” nodded Bradhurst, enjoying his young -acquaintance’s amazement. “So you see you saved the life of a man -actually worth $11,000,000 in cash and securities. If my head had been -smashed by that truck those millions would have had no further interest -for me. While every man’s life is presumed to be his most precious -possession, mine has more than a usual value.” - -“I should think it had,” said the boy, regarding his new friend with a -fresh interest. - -“Under these circumstances, Thornton, you will understand that if I -presented you with a couple of millions in consideration of what you -have done for me I shouldn’t be doing any too much to express my -gratitude, and I should still have more money on my hands than I could -ever reasonably hope to spend.” - -“I hope you don’t think of doing such a foolish thing as that,” said -Vance, not a little disturbed at the mere idea of being presented with -such an enormous sum. - -Perhaps the average person would have entertained different views on -the subject, but then Vance Thornton was young, and had imbibed the -idea that a man ought to earn in a legitimate way all that he acquires. - -He had full confidence in his own powers to accumulate a million or two -within the next few years, as soon as he got well in harness. - -Perhaps he was right. - -Many a young man has been ruined, not only financially, but morally, by -getting next to a fortune without the necessity of earning it. - -Mr. Bradhurst possibly neglected to think of that side of the question, -for he said, with a smile: - -“Why not?” - -“Because I wouldn’t accept what I haven’t earned,” replied the boy -stoutly. - -The western man regarded him with an amused smile. - -All the same, he began to look upon the lad with a new and increased -respect. - -“Well,” he said in an altered tone, “we’ll defer the discussion of such -a thing to another time. As a matter of fact, my life, which you have -presented to me, I may say, is worth more than two millions. In fact, -it is quite beyond any financial value. Will you permit me to bestow on -you in return for it a lifelong friendship?” - -There was no doubting the feeling which actuated those words. - -“I shall be only too glad to accept that,” replied Vance, his strong, -young face lighting up with pleasure. - -“It’s a bargain,” said Bradhurst, extending his hand. “Shake on it.” - -Vance grasped his big brown hand, and with that handclasp the -glittering goddess of fortune hovered for an instant over the boy’s -head and touched him with the point of one of her golden wings. - -“I hope I haven’t talked you to death, Thornton,” said the man from the -golden West, rising and slapping the lad familiarly on the back; “but -as it is lunch hour, I think we may as well go down to the dining-room -and have a bite.” - -“I second the motion,” laughed Vance, getting on his feet. - -“The motion having been duly made and seconded, I declare it carried, -and this meeting stands adjourned pro tempore.” - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -STRUCK DOWN. - - -Vance Thornton and his new friend William Bradhurst, the many-times -millionaire, expected to reach Chicago over the P. C. C. and St. -L. railroad at about seven o’clock on the morning following their -departure from the Missouri junction town. - -Their calculations were correct, and the train was entering the Union -Depot, corner of Adams and Canal streets, when Jared Whitemore, after a -visit to the Chicago National Bank, where he had received and perused -Vance’s last letter, mailed after his departure from Elevatorville, was -ascending to his office in the Rookery building. - -Bessie Brown looked up as Mr. Whitemore entered the outer office, so -also did Mr. Vyce, the bookkeeper. - -Both noticed that their employer looked unusually stern. - -The assistant bookkeeper was out attending to matters that usually fell -to Vance to transact. - -Without looking either to the right or left, Mr. Whitemore entered his -private room. - -Presently Bessie’s electric alarm buzzed, and she hastened into the -boss’ sanctum. - -In a few minutes she returned to her machine, copied a short letter -addressed to Jarboe, Willicutt & Co., locked up her notebook and -proceeded to put on her hat, an unusual circumstance at that hour. - -“Are you going out, Miss Brown?” inquired Mr. Vyce in some surprise. - -“Yes, sir,” answered Bessie coldly. - -“Rather early for lunch, is it not?” he asked, coming to the end of his -desk and regarding her movements curiously. - -“I am not going to lunch.” - -“Then you are going out on business for Mr. Whitemore, I take it?” - -Bessie made no answer, but having got her hat on straight, she -deliberately walked to the outer door and passed into the corridor. - -“You seem to be putting on a whole lot of airs with me, young lady,” -snarled the bookkeeper to the empty office; “all of a sudden, too. -You haven’t spoken a civil word to me since that young cub Thornton -went away on confidential business for the old man. I shall make it -my business to take you down a peg or two. If I am not mistaken in -my calculations, you’ll be looking for a new job before long, Bessie -Brown--you and that young imp, curse him! If I can keep you both out of -the financial district you may depend upon my exertions to that effect.” - -At that moment his alarm went off, and sticking his pen into the rack, -he walked into the private office. - -“Sit down, Mr. Vyce,” said the big corn operator curtly. “You have been -in my employ a matter of six years, I think?” - -“About that time,” replied the bookkeeper, rather taken back by the -question, which bore a fatally significant bearing. - -“During the last three years you have enjoyed a considerable degree of -my confidence, which has, if anything, increased since the first of the -year. How have you returned this trust I reposed in you, sir?” - -“How, sir?” faltered the bookkeeper, his guilty conscience flying into -his sallow face. “Why----” - -“Mr. Vyce, for some weeks past I have had reason to believe that some -one conversant with certain plans of mine was giving information to the -clique that is opposing me in the market. You are the only one to whom -I have opened my lips in this office. I have long regarded you as my -right-hand man--a man I thought I could trust.” - -“Is it possible that you accuse me, Mr. Whitemore?” asked the -bookkeeper, with an injured air. - -“I do accuse you, Mr. Vyce, of playing the part of traitor to my -interests,” said the corn operator sternly. - -“But, sir, unless you have some proof it is unfair----” - -“I have the words of a certain Mr. Guy Dudley as evidence that you sold -yourself to the pool headed by Jarrett, Palmer & Carrington.” - -At the mention of Dudley’s name Mr. Vyce turned as pale as death. - -“Guy Dudley!” he exclaimed in a trembling voice. “Why, how could you -have seen him? He is not in Chicago.” - -“I know that,” replied the operator sharply. “Perhaps you can inform me -where he is, since you and he appear to be hand in glove.” - -“As you have not seen him, how can you say you have his evidence----” - -“We will not argue that point. But if you are curious to know how I -obtained my information, I will say that a confidential messenger of -mine ran across your friend Dudley and heard from that gentleman’s lips -enough to convict you of the charge I bring against you. If you have -anything to say in your defence that your conscience would advise you -to bring forward I will listen to you, otherwise I will have to ask you -to bring your connection with this office to an immediate close.” - -“You wish me to understand that you have received this information -through Vance Thornton?” asked Mr. Vyce, with compressed lips and -lowering brow. - -“I have mentioned no name.” - -“But you sent him out West.” - -“How do you know that?” asked Mr. Whitemore curtly. - -“He has been absent from the office for some ten days, and as those -options of yours were on the point of expiring, I supposed----” - -“Isn’t it a fact that you advised Mr. Sidney Carrington at once of -Vance’s absence from this office, and suggested your idea of his -destination and purpose? And don’t you know that Mr. Carrington, Mr. -Dudley, and a woman connected with their office, went to Kansas City -for the express purpose of blocking the boy’s mission by getting -possession of my options by foul means?” - -“As you seem predisposed to my guilt, I see no use in making any -answer to your questions. I wish you to understand that I brand your -informant--whether he be Vance Thornton, as I believe, or somebody -else--as a liar.” - -Mr. Vyce rose to his feet and walked out of the private room. - -He was furious with suppressed passion. - -Mr. Whitemore followed him out almost immediately, and went to the -office safe, where he proceeded to unlock a special compartment to -which he only had access. - -Edgar Vyce watched him with set white face and venomous eyes. - -Suddenly an evil suggestion entered his soul and took lodgment there. - -He knew that documents of the greatest moment in connection with the -corn market were deposited in that inner safe. - -If he could only get possession of them he could make his own terms -with the pool in whose interests he had practically lost his position. - -If he could get possession of them! - -There was nobody in the office at that moment but he and Mr. Whitemore. - -Suppose---- - - -For a moment the blood congealed around his heart, and he clutched at -the desk to support himself. - -The corn operator was about to relock the steel door. - -It was now or never if he was to do anything. - -Without waiting for the fiendish suggestion to cool he seized a heavy -ruler and, with a muttered imprecation, sprang at the operator from -behind. - -Mr. Whitemore heard him and gave a startled glance backward. - -But he was at the infuriated man’s mercy. - -Thud! - -The ruler descended on the old operator’s head, and he went down on the -carpet like a stricken ox at the shambles. - -At that identical instant Vance Thornton, dusty and travel-stained, -appeared at the office door. - -He was a witness of the murderous attack. - -With a cry of horror he sprang forward to aid his now insensible -employer. - -“You here!” cried Vyce, turning on him with the rage and despair of a -man detected in the commission of a desperate crime. “You shall never -live to tell the story.” - -In a moment they had grappled in a terrible struggle. - -The boy, encumbered by his light overcoat, was at a disadvantage. - -The bookkeeper was strong, agile and desperate. - -They swayed to and fro within the brass railings near the safe, Vyce -trying to get a grip on Vance’s throat. - -At length the bookkeeper succeeded in tripping Thornton so that he fell -across the railing, and then he began to pound the boy over the head -and face with his fist. - -The result was now no longer in doubt, for Vyce clearly had the upper -hand. - -He intended to kill the lad, for he hated him as only such a malignant -nature can hate. - -But fate willed it otherwise, else this story would not have been -written. - -The outer door suddenly opened, and Bessie Brown appeared in the -opening. - -With dilated eyes she looked a moment on the scene. - -She recognized Vance Thornton and the awful situation he was in. - -Uttering a piercing scream that echoed through the corridors, Bessie -seized the first thing that came to her hand, which happened to be a -cane forgotten by a morning visitor, and jumped to Vance’s assistance. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -THE CORN SITUATION. - - -The appearance of Bessie on the scene altered the state of affairs -materially. - -Vyce realized that the scales had turned against him, and that if he -expected to evade the consequences of his rash actions he had not a -moment to lose. - -With a bitter curse he cast the half-stunned boy from him, grabbed his -hat and coat, and started for the door. - -Vance had fallen to the floor, and Bessie, paying no further attention -to the bookkeeper, ran to the boy, and lifting his head in her arms, -begged him to speak to her. - -As Vyce passed hurriedly out into the corridor he brushed against two -clerks from an adjacent office who had been attracted to the spot by -the girl’s scream. - -Before he reached the stairway he ran against others. - -In fact, the entire floor had by this time been alarmed, and a score of -men were hurrying toward Mr. Whitemore’s office. - -“What’s the excitement about, Mr. Vyce?” asked the elevator boy as the -bookkeeper pushed himself into the descending cage, which had stopped -at his signal. - -“An accident has happened to Mr. Whitemore,” he answered in a hoarse -voice. “I’m going for a doctor.” - -By this ruse he managed to effect his escape from the building. - -In the meantime, while the office was filling with excited people -anxious to find out what had occurred, Vance gradually recovered -himself. - -As soon as he could sit up Bessie got him a glass of water, which he -swallowed greedily. - -Then he got on his feet. - -“Thanks, Bessie; I feel all right now. Don’t crowd in here, gentlemen,” -he said, waving back the mob. - -“What’s happened to Mr. Whitemore?” asked a stout broker, peering over -the railing at the unconscious corn operator. - -“He’s been hurt,” answered Vance. “I’d be obliged to you, Mr. Bradley, -if you will come inside and help me get him into his private office.” - -At that moment the assistant bookkeeper returned, and was, of course, -astonished to see such a crowd and commotion in the place. - -“You back, Vance?” he ejaculated. “What’s occurred here?” - -“Trouble,” replied the boy shortly. “Go out and fetch a doctor for Mr. -Whitemore. I’m afraid he’s seriously injured.” - -Vance and the stout broker having carried the corn operator into his -sanctum, they, with Bessie’s help, tried to bring the insensible man to -consciousness. - -“Looks as if he had been struck by some heavy, blunt instrument,” -remarked Broker Bradley, examining the jagged wound on Mr. Whitemore’s -skull. - -“He was hit with the heavy office ruler,” said Vance soberly. - -“Indeed!” exclaimed the broker in surprise. “How did that happen?” - -“I will tell you, but for the present I hope you will let it go no -further.” - -In the fewest words possible the boy told him what he had seen as he -entered the office; also how he had been attacked by Vyce, and but for -Bessie’s arrival would probably have been fatally injured. - -“The scoundrel! He must have been crazy!” - -“Not at all,” replied Vance. “I can easily understand how it came -about; but for the present it is better I should say nothing on the -subject. Mr. Whitemore will know how to deal with him when he recovers.” - -“The police ought to be notified. I don’t like the looks of Mr. -Whitemore. He is a long time coming to.” - -“We shall have a physician here soon,” said Vance. - -“He breathes very hard,” said Bessie anxiously. - -She had been bathing the operator’s face and chafing his temples and -hands with no satisfactory results. - -In a few minutes the assistant bookkeeper appeared with a doctor, who -was immediately taken into the private office. - -Vance took advantage of this opportunity to clear the outer office of -those drawn there by curiosity and other reasons. - -He restored the ruler to its original position, locked the private -compartment of the safe and put the key in his pocket. - -Then he returned to the private room in time to see his employer sit up -with some difficulty. - -The physician looked serious, as if he did not like the aspect of the -case. - -“He had better be removed to his home at once and his regular doctor -sent for. His condition will not bear trifling with.” - -Mr. Whitemore’s eyes rested on Vance. - -He beckoned him to his side. - -“I am thankful you are back,” he whispered with great difficulty. “I’m -afraid I’m in a bad way. I’ve been struck down at a critical moment. -I depend on you to look after the office. See my brokers. All my -important papers are in the inner compartment of the safe. Write an -order that I empower you to act for me until further notice and I will -sign it.” - -“Don’t lose a moment in doing it, young man,” said Broker Bradley, who -was supporting the stricken corn operator. “He seems to be growing weak -fast.” - -Vance drew up the paper, which was signed with great trouble by Mr. -Whitemore and witnessed by Broker Bradley and Bessie. - -“Now the check-book,” he gasped feebly. “I will sign in blank. Fill -it up by and bye with the amount of my entire balance at the Chicago -National.” - -“He has wonderful confidence in you, Thornton,” Mr. Bradley said, in -great astonishment. - -But the check was fated never to be signed. - -As the pen was placed between the old corn operator’s fluttering -fingers he uttered a sudden groan, his head fell back, and he became -unconscious once more. - -In this state he was taken home. - -Under these considerations Vance saw that the responsibility of -notifying the police rested on him. - -Accordingly, he visited headquarters and interviewed the chief of -police. - -Detectives were at once furnished with an accurate description of Edgar -Vyce and despatched to hunt him up and arrest him. - -Vance then visited the offices of Jarboe, Willicutt & Co., in the Board -of Trade building, and explained the situation. - -Mr. Jarboe, the head of the firm, was very much concerned over the news. - -“The affair will be printed in all the afternoon papers and will -certainly have a bad effect on the market. With Mr. Whitemore down and -out the Jarrett, Palmer & Carrington crowd will have a clean sweep. In -which case Mr. Whitemore’s losses will be immense. It is very bad, very -bad indeed,” said Mr. Jarboe, shaking his head dismally. - -“I have authority to act for Mr. Whitemore,” said Vance, producing the -paper which had been signed by the stricken corn operator. - -“That’s all right as far as it goes,” said Mr. Jarboe. “It gives you -the right to act for Mr. Whitemore, but what can you do without money, -even supposing you to be capable of intelligent action on the big -interests involved?” - -“You are right, Mr. Jarboe; I’m afraid my hands are tied. Mr. Whitemore -intended to transfer his Chicago National balance to me by check, but -he lapsed into insensibility at the critical moment.” - -“Is that really the fact?” asked the senior partner, looking his -astonishment. - -“Mr. George Bradley was present when Mr. Whitemore asked for his -check-book and expressed his intention.” - -“Well,” said the broker, “such a mark of confidence in your honesty and -business capacity is remarkable. It is true I have lately heard him -speak about you in terms of the greatest praise, but--however, it is -useless to discuss the matter. He was prevented from signing the check, -you say, so you cannot touch a cent of Mr. Whitemore’s money, even if -your handling of that money would save him from ruin.” - -“True,” admitted Vance dejectedly. - -“I will have to consult with my partners as to what is best to be done -under the circumstances,” said Mr. Jarboe, “and will advise you as soon -as possible. We recognize your authority in the premises, and of course -can make no move unless authorized by you in writing.” - -“The bear pool will certainly try to break the market,” said Vance. - -“Undoubtedly. Corn is high, and, but for this unfortunate affair, -likely to go higher. Mr. Whitemore’s holdings have dominated the market -and controlled the price. He has stood ready to buy every bushel -offered. Probably half the visible supply of corn stored in the Kansas -and Nebraska elevators is owned by him--a fact you should be familiar -with, as you have just been out in that part of the county in his -interest. Jarrett, Palmer & Carrington most likely have a quantity of -grain which they have been holding back for a coup. Mr. Whitemore has -suspected its existence, but has failed to discover any evidence to -prove the fact. All reports point to the contrary supposition.” - -“I have thrown a little light on that point, Mr. Jarboe,” said Vance. - -“What do you mean?” - -“Mr. Whitemore directed me to investigate the true state of the corn -situation at Elevatorville, Missouri.” - -“Well?” - -“There are five elevators in that place. They have been reported out of -business temporarily.” - -“So I understand. Are they not?” - -“Possibly they may be,” replied Vance, “but all the same Jarrett, -Palmer & Carrington have five million bushels of corn stored in them at -this moment.” - -“Five million bushels?” almost gasped Mr. Jarboe. - -“Yes, sir--five million bushels.” - -“If this is the fact,” said Mr. Jarboe, greatly excited, “we are beaten -to a standstill. Without money we cannot take a dollar of that corn -which the pool will throw on the market at once, now they have learned -of Mr. Whitemore’s misfortune. Thornton, as sure as you sit there, -there will be a panic in the corn pit to-morrow morning.” - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE. - - -Vance returned to the Rookery Building in a very depressed state of -mind. - -His interview with Mr. Jarboe seemed to indicate that nothing short of -absolute ruin now faced his employer--the old man who at that moment -lay at his home almost at the point of death. - -The afternoon papers contained an account of Mr. Whitemore’s -misfortune, and hinted at its probable bearing on the next day’s corn -market. - -Several reporters were waiting to interview Vance on his return. - -To these gentlemen he was courteous but extremely reticent. - -He insisted that the published reports were grossly exaggerated, and -put as bright a complexion on the situation as he could. - -But he was up against the fact that other reporters had visited Mr. -Whitemore’s residence and had learned that his condition was critical. - -“Poor Mr. Whitemore,” said Bessie, with tears in her eyes, “it is awful -to think he may never recover from that cruel blow.” - -“Perhaps it will be as well he does not,” said Vance gloomily. - -“Why, Vance!” exclaimed Bessie in unfeigned surprise. “What do you -mean?” - -“I mean, Bessie, that his absence from the office at this time spells -ruin in capital letters.” - -“But he has put you in charge of everything,” said Bessie, whose -confidence in Vance’s abilities was supreme. - -“But I can’t do a thing without money. I should need a great deal of -money.” - -“He intended to sign a check for you,” she said, “but----” - -“Exactly, but he was unable to do it.” - -“Why couldn’t I go to his house,” she said suddenly. “He may have -recovered his senses. Give me the check-book. If the thing is possible -I will get his signature and bring it back to you.” - -“Bessie, you’re an angel!” cried Vance, his face lighting up with a new -hope. “What a chump I am not to have thought of that! The fact of the -matter is, Mr. Jarboe’s view of the situation knocked me endwise. I -ought to go myself instead of sending you, but I have lots to do here, -and I guess you’ll do as well.” - -So Bessie took the check-book and started for Michigan avenue, on the -South Side. - -While she was absent Vance brought all of his employer’s documents -relating to corn matters from the safe to the inner office, and sat -down to study them in connection with printed reports and other sources -of information he found on Mr. Whitemore’s desk. - -It was nearly dark when Bessie returned. - -Vance saw at once from her face that she had failed in her mission. - -“You did not get his signature?” he said anxiously. - -She shook her head sadly. - -“It is feared by his physicians that Mr. Whitemore may die before -morning,” she said. “He has not recovered consciousness at any time -since he was taken home. I left the check-book, after explaining -matters to Mrs. Whitemore, and she said if he regains his senses she -will try to get her husband to sign.” - -“Thank you, Bessie,” replied Vance gratefully. “You have done all that -I could have done myself under the circumstances. I have been studying -the situation, and feel confident if I had enough money I could save -Mr. Whitemore. Unless I get it before business opens on the Board of -Trade in the morning I fear it will be too late.” - -There was a painful silence for some moments. - -“I am glad you have returned, Vance,” said Bessie at length. “I don’t -know what I should have done under these conditions had you still been -away. I think I should have gone home at once and stayed there.” - -“It would have been harder for you, I suppose. I hope we shall always -be such good friends, Bessie,” said the boy earnestly. - -“I’m sure there is no reason why we should not be,” she replied. -“Now you must tell me where you have been, unless, of course, it’s a -business secret.” - -“I have been West on important business for Mr. Whitemore. As soon as I -get the chance I will tell you a good many interesting particulars of -my trip. It is time now that you went home for the day.” - -“Why, how did you get that scar on your forehead?” she asked, laying -her fingers gently on a small abrasion of the skin. - -“That,” he replied, with a little laugh; “oh, I got that down in -Missouri yesterday morning while butting in against a runaway team. -I saved a man’s life and made a good friend. His name is William -Bradhurst, and he’s a millionaire eleven times over. He--why, by -George!” - -Vance stopped and stared at the girl. - -“Eleven millions!” he muttered. “Eleven millions in cash and -securities, that’s what he said.” - -“Vance, what are you talking about?” asked Bessie nervously. - -“Eleven million dollars! Why, Great Caesar! If I could induce him to -back me up, with Mr. Whitemore’s enormous corn holdings I should win -out. Mr. Whitemore would be saved financially, while Bradhurst himself -would almost double his capital, for if we cornered the market--and -with the start the boss has made we ought to be able to do it--we could -surely control the price. We could easily buy up every bushel of that -five million at Elevatorville. That would keep that lot from being -moved to Chicago until we chose to have it put in motion. With scarcely -any corn in transport the market would soar to--good gracious, I dare -not think of it. I haven’t a moment to lose. I must see Mr. Bradhurst -at once.” - -And Vance, for the first time in his life utterly ignoring Bessie, -rushed for his hat. - -“Vance--Vance!” she cried, running after him. “You haven’t gone crazy, -have you?” - -“Crazy!” he cried almost fiercely, turning full upon her. “Yes, I have! -I’m crazy--crazy with a scheme that means millions to us. Go home. -I can’t see you to the car. I’ve got to go to the Grand Pacific on -business.” - -“Vance!” and then Bessie broke down. - -“Why, what are you crying about?” he said with an abruptness unusual -with him. - -“Because (sob) you are so (sob) rough with me.” - -He looked at her a moment without speaking, and then seemed to realize -how he had been acting. - -“Forgive me, Bessie, for making you cry; but I’ve thought of a plan by -which I hope to save Mr. Whitemore, and perhaps corner the market as -he had started out to do. If I put it through--there, I’m so excited -over the bare idea you must excuse me saying anything more. Everything -depends on my finding Mr. Bradhurst at his hotel to-night, so you -see I mustn’t delay a moment. There, I wouldn’t offend you for the -world,” he continued, as he led her out of the office and locked the -door; and then, as she turned her tear-stained face before him in mute -forgiveness, he quite forgot himself and actually kissed her. - -“Oh, Vance!” she exclaimed, blushing violently. - -It is possible the boy was somewhat astonished at his own audacity, -but, if the truth must be told, he was not a bit repentant, and would -have repeated the performance if he had dared. - -Twenty minutes later Vance was in Bradhurst’s apartments in the Grand -Pacific Hotel, talking with a purpose and earnestness which he had -never before displayed in his life. - -Bradhurst had been looking about him for something in the line of -business that would engage his attention, for the mere idea of spending -his wealth simply to amuse himself by leading a life of ease was -extremely distasteful to him. - -He was a man of active habits and a busy brain, and the boy’s plan, -which Vance laid down with convincing directness, appealed to his fancy. - -“Come over to the office, Mr. Bradhurst, and I will show you the -documents and the proofs. I can there better explain what has been -done, what our position is to-night, and what we shall be able to -accomplish. I have been studying Board of Trade methods ever since I -entered Mr. Whitemore’s office. With the grasp on the market I have at -this moment, through my employer’s holdings, I see my way clear, with -your backing to corner the product and force the price to almost any -figure within reason. In a week the Jarrett, Palmer & Carrington pool -won’t have a leg to stand on.” - -“All right; I’ll go over with you, Vance. But before we go we’re going -to have dinner. You look as though you needed a square meal.” - -“I’ve scarcely had a bite all day,” admitted the boy; “but I don’t feel -hungry at that.” - -“That’s because you’re all worked up over this matter and the -unfortunate affair at your office. Take a wash and we’ll go down to the -dining-room.” - -The clock in Mr. Whitemore’s office struck the hour of midnight when -the conference between Vance and William Bradhurst came to an end. - -“If for no other reason than because I owe you a good turn I’ll see you -through this, my boy,” said the big man cheerfully. “But in addition to -that, I see the opportunity for both of us to make a million or more -easily.” - -“You are risking the money, Mr. Bradhurst, and the profits over and -above the figure at which corn closed to-day will rightfully be yours. -I am satisfied to save Mr. Whitemore’s interest as it now stands.” - -“Vance Thornton, I am backing your information and experience with my -money. It is a fair partnership. If we win out the profits are to be -evenly divided, do you understand? Only on that condition will I go in.” - -“But,” almost gasped the boy, “the profits may run into----” - -“Millions. Exactly. In which case you will be a millionaire at -eighteen. Do you object?” - -The boy was too much stunned at the prospect to reply. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -WHO HOLDS THE ACE? - - -Rats, they say, will leave a sinking ship. - -Perhaps it would hardly be fair to compare the solid brokerage firm -of Jarboe, Willicutt & Co. with the rodents in question, but Tennyson -Jarboe, after his interview with Vance Thornton and a careful study -of Mr. Whitemore’s condition from the latest reports in the evening -papers, decided, in consultation with his partners, that Jared -Whitemore was as good as done for, both physically and financially. - -With five million bushels of corn ready to be shipped to Chicago at -their nod, it was reasonable to expect that the Jarrett, Palmer & -Carrington clique would jump into the pit the next morning and, with -little opposition to fear, hammer the market to pieces. - -In the ensuing panic corn would tumble like the famous Humpty Dumpty of -fairy fiction, and it therefore behooved Jarboe, Willicutt & Co., with -the pointer they had got from Vance, to sell a million or so bushels -short for their own private account. - -It would be perfectly fair, since Mr. Whitemore’s boyish representative -could do nothing toward stemming the current without money. - -So when Vance Thornton reached Mr. Whitemore’s office on the following -morning he found a letter addressed to himself and signed by Mr. -Jarboe, in which that gentleman expressed his regret that the firm saw -no way of saving their old customer from the expected crash unless -something tangible in the way of money was forthcoming, and as this -seemed to be out of the question, Jarboe, Willicutt & Co. could hardly -be expected to execute any further commissions for Mr. Whitemore. - -“All right,” exclaimed Vance, coolly; “you have deserted the ship just -a moment too soon for your own good, Mr. Jarboe. I’m only a boy, it is -true, but I’m not taking off my hat to you after that.” - -Thrusting the letter in his pocket, he put on his hat again. - -“I’ll be back in half an hour,” he said to Bessie. - -He rushed over to the Grand Pacific and sent his card up to William -Bradhurst. - -“Read that,” he said to his new friend, handing him Mr. Jarboe’s letter. - -Mr. Bradhurst had finished breakfast, and was preparing to go over to -Mr. Whitemore’s office according to arrangements entered into the night -before. - -“Cool, I must say,” he remarked, as he handed it back. “Well, what are -you going to do?” - -“Get another broker,” replied Vance decidedly. - -“Quite right. Have you selected one yet?” - -“I have a firm in my eye. It’s young, but I know them both. They’re -square as a die. This deal will be the making of them, and I’m glad to -put it in their way. Come, let us go over to their office. We haven’t -any time to lose to-day.” - -Mr. Bradhurst and Vance went to a brokerage office on La Salle street. - -It was on the third floor front, and the sign on the door read Fox & -Mason. - -“Hello, Thornton,” was Mr. Fox’s greeting as the boy entered his -private office with his friend. “Glad to see you. Where’ve you been for -the last two weeks, and may I ask how your employer, Mr. Whitemore, is -this morning?” - -“I’ve been out of town. As to Mr. Whitemore, the latest reports are -not encouraging. Allow me to introduce you to Mr. William Bradhurst.” - -“Glad to know you, Mr. Bradhurst,” said Fox, genially. - -“Now, Mr. Fox, I wish your earnest attention. I’m going to put a good -thing in your way,” said the boy in a business-like tone. - -“Thanks. All favors thankfully accepted,” and he looked at Mr. -Bradhurst as if he judged he was the good thing suggested. - -“Read this,” said Vance, and he handed him the paper which authorized -him to act for Mr. Whitemore. - -Mr. Fox read it with some surprise. - -“Now read this,” and Vance produced Mr. Jarboe’s letter. - -“Phew!” was the broker’s comment after he had perused it. - -“Under those circumstances I have decided to employ new brokers. I have -selected Fox & Mason. Mr. Jarboe has made a slight miscalculation. -Instead of having no money, I have a backing representing $11,000,000.” - -“What’s that? Say that again, please!” ejaculated Fox in amazement. - -Vance repeated the amount. - -“Say, you’re not joking, are you?” said Fox with a smile. - -“Never more serious in my life,” replied the boy earnestly. “This -gentleman, William Bradhurst, is worth exactly that sum, and he is -backing me. He is ready to give you a check on the Bankers’ National -Bank now to cover my first transaction, which is an order to purchase -any part of five million bushels of corn as soon as it is offered in -the pit this morning.” - -“Five million bushels!” exclaimed Fox, staring hard at Vance. - -“That’s what I said. Please call up the Bankers’ National on your -’phone and verify my statement. Don’t lose a minute, please.” - -Jack Fox, still somewhat bewildered by such an order, did as Vance -requested him, and returned to his desk perfectly satisfied with the -result. - -“Now we’ll get down to business,” he said. - -And they did. - -“After the close of the board to-day come to Mr. Whitemore’s office, -and you will find Mr. Bradhurst and myself on deck. I will then go -over certain plans I have in view and make clearer our future business -relations.” - -Vance and his friend then left, while Fox, after leaving a note for his -partner, seized his hat and made straight for the Board of Trade. - -It was twenty minutes past nine when Vance’s broker entered the board -room. - -The gong which started business would sound in ten minutes, and already -the floor was filling up, while groups in earnest consultation were to -be seen on the steps of both the wheat and corn pits. - -Sid Carrington and Abe Palmer were standing aloof on the steps of the -latter. - -A triumphant smile played about the mouths of each of these bear -operators. - -For weeks they had been laying their plans, joining together subtle -schemes for the overthrow of Jared Whitemore, but they had made but -little way against the acute old fox, who had been gradually drawing -together his control of the corn market. - -Now the one man they had feared--the man who stood like a stone wall -between them and the accomplishment of all their carefully conceived -plans--had been suddenly put out of the fight. - -Their chance had come at last, and they did not intend to do a thing -with the corn market that morning. - -Everybody interested was talking about the sudden misfortune which had -occurred to Jared Whitemore, and not one but felt sure that one of the -biggest slumps in the history of the board was about to set in. - -Consequently there was a subdued feeling of excitement in the air. - -Brokers with their pockets crammed with selling orders constantly came -on the floor, adding to the din. - -Eyes were cast frequently and nervously at the clock, noting the slow -crawling of the minute hand toward the half-hour mark. - -Representatives from Jarboe, Willicutt & Co. were ready to sell the -minute the gong opened proceedings. - -Apparently all bulls had sought cover on this fateful morning. - -From the Western Union desks, located in a great railed-in space in -the northwest angle of the floor, came an incessant ticking of the -telegraph sounders, and messenger boys pushed their way hither and -thither across the floor with yellow envelopes in their hands. - -From the telephone alcoves sounded the almost continuous ringing of the -call bells. - -Suddenly, with startling distinctness, came the single stroke of a -great gong. - -Instantly, with a strident roar, the battle was on. - -Corn in lots of five thousand was offered at once at half a point below -the previous day’s figures. - -Not at first by Carrington and Palmer--they were holding back, like men -whose positions were unassailable. - -The attack on corn was begun by the smaller fry, from the outposts, as -it were, of the bear army. - -Carrington and Palmer were holding their immense forces in reserve for -the real attack that was to carry everything down before the onslaught. - -But the first real surprise developed at once. - -Jack Fox, one of the new traders on the board, accepted every bid -offered. - -He was immediately the center of a furious vortex that hurled corn in a -flood at his head. - -But with a confident smile on his face, that soon began to be noted -with some uneasiness by cautious brokers, he welcomed the rush with -open arms. - -The result was that the grain began to recover and present a bold front -to the bears. - -“What in thunder does this mean?” growled Abe Palmer to his partner. - -“Some fool has lost his head, that’s all,” sneered Carrington. - -“We’d better get in and send him where he belongs--to the asylum,” said -Palmer with a menacing toss of the head. - -Then Palmer and Carrington took a hand, and the excitement grew to -fever heat. - -In spite of it all, Jack Fox, calm and serene amid the babel and -confusion, stood firm, and welcomed all selling orders as he would a -much-loved relative. - -Around and around the pit went the question: Who is Fox buying for? - -Nobody could guess. - -Suddenly there dawned the suspicion that Jared Whitemore was still in -the fight. - -It must be so. - -Who else could be loading up in the face of such adverse conditions? - -But the most astonished of all men were Jarboe and Willicutt as the -telephone conveyed the astounding intelligence to their offices. - -Already their representatives had, according to orders, sold a million -bushels of grain they did not own, but hoped to be able to get later on -at a low rate. Jack Fox was the buyer of this lot. - -Some one had clearly come to Mr. Whitemore’s rescue. - -It apparently was some one able to resist the great bear clique. - -He must have recovered in time to furnish Vance Thornton with the -sinews of war to carry on the fight until he could get down himself. - -If this was true, then Jarboe, Willicutt & Co. had made a big blunder. - -Not only had they placed themselves in a bad light with their old -client, but they were liable to face a big loss, since they knew only -too well that if the Whitemore forces were still back of the fight they -stood a poor chance of getting any corn when they wanted it. - -So Jarboe hastened to try and square himself. - -He made a personal call on Vance. - -“I received your letter,” said the boy coldly when the big broker -had been admitted to Mr. Whitemore’s sanctum, where Vance now ruled -supreme. “The only thing for me to do was to hire a new broker. I have -done so. From the looks of things,” he said, with a significant smile, -“I still hold a grip on the market in spite of the Jarrett, Palmer & -Carrington clique.” - -Bessie knocked at the door, then entered and laid a slip on the desk -before Vance. - -“I have bought over three million bushels this morning, and I am ready -and anxious to take in every grain that may be offered.” - -“Great heavens, young man!” exclaimed Mr. Jarboe in utter amazement, -“where have you got the money from to do this? Has Mr. Whitemore come -to his senses and signed his balances over to you?” - -“I am obliged to refuse you this information, Mr. Jarboe, as you have -ceased of your own accord to represent me. All I can say is this: I am -at the head of the deal from this on. I control all of Mr. Whitemore’s -holdings. I mean to control the price as he has done. No corn will be -moved east that amounts to anything until I say the word. If you think -you can beat me, Mr. Jarboe, sell a million short and see. Good-day.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -THE SCHEME THAT DIDN’T WORK. - - -It had been a day of surprise on the Board of Trade. - -Instead of the price of corn going on the toboggan it had closed a -couple of points to the good when business ceased for the day. - -Everybody was talking about the new factor that had entered the fight. - -The newspapers were full of surmises and hints and rumors. - -There was no doubt whatever that Mr. Whitemore was out of the running. - -Every afternoon paper published an authentic bulletin of his condition, -which was given out by reputable physicians as practically unchanged. - -A clot of blood or a bone was pressing on his brain, and the chances -that he would ever recover were extremely doubtful. - -Reporters, however, began to nose out the fact that Vance Thornton, -as Mr. Whitemore’s representative, was the power that had made itself -felt that day, and from present indications was likely to continue to -dominate the market. - -Already he had gathered in the greater part of the clique’s five -million bushels, which everybody now knew were stored in the elevators -of Elevatorville. - -At this rate he would soon have absolute control of corn. - -But Jarrett, Palmer & Carrington were not beaten yet, by a long chalk. - -All during the rest of the week corn was thrown at Jack Fox and -accepted. - -Every effort was made by the clique to overwhelm the young operator, -but it failed. - -The Sunday editions now hailed Vance Thornton as the coming corn king. - -His picture was printed on the first page, and a copious account of his -young life up to date was published in double-leaded type to increase -its importance. - -Thereafter Mr. Whitemore’s office was filled day after day with eager -traders anxious to gain his ear. - -Nobody paid any attention whatever to the personality of William -Bradhurst, who studiously kept himself in the background and watched -with the most profound interest and admiration the working out of the -gigantic deal by his young friend. - -“You’re a wonder, Vance,” he said to the boy one day as the two were -getting ready to go to dinner. “A born speculator. Why, I haven’t seen -you ruffled a bit since you took hold of this thing.” - -“Yet it takes every minute of my time,” replied Vance, with a smile -that covered the weariness inseparable from the control of the -tremendous forces latent in a line of fifty million bushels of corn. - -“Necessarily,” admitted the millionaire, “but, boy, you are stronger, -bigger and shrewder than the great bear clique pitted against you. -You’ve overtopped the whole crowd--the biggest men of the Board of -Trade. A few days more will show the world that you are really the new -corn Monte Christo. A few days more and these bears will wake up to the -fact that the corn they have promised to deliver before they had it in -hand is not to be got, except from you--and at the price you choose to -impose. Jarrett, Palmer, Carrington, and others, not to speak of your -dear friends, Jarboe, Willicutt & Co., will have to pay or go bankrupt.” - -“Good gracious, Mr. Bradhurst! That can have only one meaning.” - -“Exactly. You will actually have cornered the product.” - -“I can’t realize it,” said Vance, pressing his hand to his head. “And -yet that is the very point I have been aiming for. I am in it now up -to my neck--both of us are. Were we beaten at this stage you would be -absolutely ruined. And yet I have never for a moment seen you weaken -when I called for million after million of your money. Do you actually -realize to what extent I have involved you?” - -“I do,” replied William Bradhurst coolly. “But I entered this affair on -the principle of the whole hog or none. To do otherwise was to invite -disaster. No halfway measures will answer in a deal of this kind. You -must risk all or better stay out.” - -“That’s right. I fear that even Mr. Whitemore would never have -succeeded in doing what we have done. We have half his capital at our -back as it is.” - -“By the way, how is Mr. Whitemore now?” - -“I believe he will recover after all. He was taken to a sanitarium a -few days ago. He is a wreck at present, and it will be some time before -he recovers his grip again, if he ever does.” - -“And that rascally bookkeeper that struck him down has not been -arrested?” - -“No. The police have not been able to locate his whereabouts. He may -have fled to Canada. Probably he is hiding out in the wilderness -somewhere.” - -“Possibly; but you can’t tell. There are hiding places in this city -where, by the aid of confederates, he could lie low in comparative -safety. You know he was working in the interests of the Jarrett, Palmer -& Carrington clique at the start, and but for you taking hold his crime -would have proved of enormous advantage to them. Doesn’t it strike you, -then, that they haven’t deserted him--that his immunity from arrest is -largely due to their influence and pull with their political friends?” - -“I didn’t think of that,” replied Vance thoughtfully. “Your idea is -reasonable, I am bound to admit.” - -“Some day you may find I have hit the mark,” said Bradhurst -significantly. - -That the millionaire was correct in his deduction Vance Thornton had -reason to know ere many hours passed over his head. - -While Bessie’s admiration for Vance now increased daily as she saw how -he controlled the vast business enterprise he had called into action, -still, as he seemed to drift farther and farther away from her--for -he had little time now to talk to her, except upon cold matters of -business--her gentle, loving heart grew sore and despondent within her. - -She felt that she had lost something that might never again be hers. - -And the reflection grieved her to the depths of her nature. - -Yet the morning and evening smile she daily bestowed on him was just as -bright, just as winsome as ever. - -Her sorrow was her own. - -It was not for Vance to suspect what was passing in that true little -heart. - -Vance Thornton had returned from his lunch and was shut up in his -private office, as usual. - -In the last thirty-six hours corn had advanced three cents and the -market was in a turmoil. - -Bessie appeared at the door of the inner sanctum. - -“There’s an old man out here who wants to see you on business of -importance. He wouldn’t give his name.” - -“Very well; let him come in.” - -It was a noticeable fact that the pretty stenographer did not address -the busy young operator as Vance any more; and the boy was too much -preoccupied these days to observe the omission. - -He was a curious character, the man who entered and stood humbly bowing -to the young Napoleon of La Salle street, as many of the dailies called -Vance in their scare-heads. - -He was not exactly seedy, though he certainly was not well dressed. - -He was bent over, as if like Atlas he had been condemned to carry the -world on his shoulders, but had forgotten to bring it along on this -occasion. - -But he had extremely bright eyes, which belied his other marks of age, -and they peered out in a restive manner from under a pair of heavy, -beetling brows. - -“Take a seat, sir,” said Vance, pointing with his pen to a chair. “How -can I serve you? Make your errand brief, for time with me is money.” - -“Do you want to buy any corn?” asked the venerable visitor in a shrill, -squeaky voice. - -“How much have you for sale?” asked the boy carelessly. - -“Six million bushels.” - -“What!” ejaculated Vance, wheeling about in his chair and facing the -old man. - -“Six million bushels.” - -“Is this a dream? I have no time for nonsense,” and Vance wondered if -he was not up against a lunatic or a crank. - -“You will find this no dream, but stern reality, Vance Thornton,” said -his visitor in a familiar voice, sitting erect. - -Tearing off his snow-white whiskers and pushing back his old sunburned -felt hat, he sat revealed as Edgar Vyce. - -It cannot be denied that the boy operator was thoroughly astounded at -the rascal’s audacity in thus venturing back on the scene of his crime. - -But he recovered his presence of mind in a moment. - -His fingers moved to one of the electric buttons on the end of his desk. - -“Stop!” commanded Vyce, in a low, concentrated tone, raising one hand -which held a brown, cylinder-like missile. “Move another inch and I’ll -blow you and your desk into La Salle street, and the wall with you.” - -Vance instinctively paused. - -“That’s right. I see you’ve got some common-sense,” said Vyce grimly. - -“What brought you here?” asked the boy, playing for time. - -“Business?” - -“Well?” - -“You observe this cylinder? It contains a small stick of dynamite. If -you do what I tell you it goes back into my pocket; if you refuse--the -newspapers will have a new sensation, that’s all.” - -“You seem to forget,” said Vance, coolly, “that dynamite is like an -overloaded shotgun--it works at both ends. If you drop that thing in -this room there isn’t a ghost of a chance for you to escape yourself.” - -“That needn’t worry you,” retorted the rascal angrily. - -“What do you want of me, anyway?” asked the boy impatiently. - -“I want you to sign that paper.” - -He pushed a document to Vance. - -It was a delivery slip for six million bushels of corn, made out in -favor of Sidney Carrington. - -“So that’s your game, is it?” said Vance Thornton slowly. - -“Yes, sir; that’s my game.” - -“Much obliged, Mr. Vyce. You’ve shown me the men who are at your back.” - -“Precious little good that will do you. You’ve got to sign that paper -and swear to drop out of the market, or----” and Edgar Vyce made a -significant movement with his arm. - -“That’s your ultimatum, is it?” - -“That’s what it is.” - -“Very well; I’ll do neither.” - -“Are you mad?” exclaimed Vyce, furiously, feeling that the object of -his visit was a failure. - -“Not at all,” replied the boy calmly, though every fibre of his body -shook inwardly at the probable risk he was facing. “But do you fancy I -would put myself into the power of any crank, not to say scoundrel like -yourself, that chose to call and threaten me into doing something he -wanted. Not on your life!” - -“I don’t see how you can help yourself!” sneered Vyce, eyeing him -savagely. - -“Look behind you and you will see.” - -Vance’s tone and manner threw the villain off his guard an instant. - -He started up in his chair and looked around, as though he expected -some one stood behind him. - -Before he realized the trap that had been sprung on him Vance had -seized and wrenched the cylinder of pressed dynamite from his hand. - -“Now, Edgar Vyce, you’re my prisoner.” - -He drew a small revolver from his pocket and covered the scoundrel. - -Fifteen minutes later Edgar Vyce was in the hands of the Chicago -police, and ultimately he was tried, convicted and sent to the prison -at Joliet for a long term. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -WHAT SID CARRINGTON AND HIS PARTNER THOUGHT OF THE CORN SITUATION. - - -That same afternoon Abe Palmer and Sid Carrington were closeted -together in their private office on La Salle street. - -Business on the Board of Trade was over for the day. - -The former held a copy of an afternoon paper in his hand. - -“That bluff didn’t work, I see, and Edgar Vyce is in jail,” he said -gloomily. - -“I see he is. I took him for a cleverer man than that,” replied -Carrington, with a muttered curse. “However, we’ve got to get him clear -somehow, or he’s liable to blab, which would never do at all.” - -“I should say not. It would simply ruin us.” - -“It would for a fact. We would have to get out of business here for -good and all. I’ll see the leader of my district to-night.” - -“It looks as though we’ll have to throw up our hands, anyway, Sid,” -said Palmer, with a moody glance at the decorated ceiling. - -“Throw up nothing!” growled Carrington, with an impatient wave of his -right hand, on the little finger of which glowed a valuable ruby ring. - -“It’s easy to say that,” returned Abe, “but I don’t see any chance of a -turn. The pool is six million bushels short, and the market remains as -stiff as a poker.” - -“Suppose it is. How can we tell but that this infernal young monkey, -Vance Thornton, may be at the end of his tether also? It has taken an -enormous amount of money for him to swing this deal. What I want to -know is where did he get it?” - -“That is what has bothered us right along. With all our sagacity and -our pet spy system we have not been able to find out.” - -“No, we haven’t. Who would ever have supposed that boy would turn out -such a hard proposition?” - -“He’s a smart kid. He can’t be more than eighteen. Why, it’s my opinion -he could give old Whitemore points in the business, as foxy as that old -codger was.” - -“It goes against my grain to give in to that boy,” said Carrington -bitterly. - -“Well, if you can see any way out of it I’ll be glad to hear of it. The -fact remains that it has become exceedingly difficult lately to get -corn at all. Nobody seems to be selling. Why, to-day even the bulls -were bidding against one another, with no sales under a full point -advance.” - -“That’s right,” admitted the elegantly dressed Sid. - -“When we sell the price will go down a bit, but the moment we try to -recover there seems to be no corn for sale, and the market rebounds -like a rubber ball.” - -“It certainly is rotten,” replied Carrington, in a disgusted tone. - -“There’s only one thing I see to do,” said Abe Palmer, in a -confidential whisper. - -“And that is?” asked Sid, eyeing him closely. - -“To get out ourselves the easiest way we can and let the ring go to -smash.” - -“Which means at the least calculation a loss of about half a million -apiece, not to speak of going back on the bunch. If they should find -out they’d never forgive us.” - -“We’re not going to tell ’em. At any rate, if we’re going to save -anything from the wreck it’ll have to be every man for himself; do you -understand?” - -“All right, Abe. I daresay you’re right. That boy seems to have got us -at last where the shoe pinches. But I hate to give up the fight.” - -“So do I; but if we hold on much longer we won’t be able to get out at -all, except on Thornton’s own terms--and what they will be the Lord -only knows. I don’t believe he has any great love for either of us, -especially you, since I understand he got on to the true inwardness of -the Kansas City job you put up on him.” - -“If I’d only dreamed of what was coming I’d have pickled him for keeps -that time,” said Sid, smiting the arm of his chair savagely. - -“You wouldn’t have killed him, Sid?” the other said, aghast. - -“Oh, no. I’m no murderer. But there are ways of putting a chap out of -the way for a time that answer quite as well.” - -So it was arranged between these two gentlemen before they went home -for the day that they should quietly begin to cover their own personal -sales--their share of the six million bushels sold by the ring--without -any reference to the obligations they owed their partners in distress. - -Jarboe, Willicutt & Co., however, still hung on, hoping for a turn in -the market at any moment. - -Long ago they had clearly seen that it was not Jared Whitemore who was -backing Vance Thornton. - -As day by day Jack Fox, Vance’s known representative, settled promptly -for the corn he had bought, they wondered how long his resources would -hold out. - -Certainly there was a limit to everything in this world, and when Vance -reached his, why then--at that stage of his reflections Mr. Jarboe -always smiled grimly. - -But as day succeeded day, that desirable point never seemed to be -reached. - -Thornton met all his engagements to the minute, and Jack Fox continued -to wear the same confident smile he had sported the morning he first -went into the pit to buck against the bear traders. - -The same thorn annoyed Mr. Jarboe that bothered the rest of the -combination. - -Where did Vance’s money come from? - -For good and sufficient reasons, insisted on by Thornton after the -first week of their partnership, William Bradhurst had kept discreetly -in the background, meeting Vance only when necessary, and then each -time at a different rendezvous. - -No one who saw Bradhurst lounging at times about the office door of the -Grand Pacific Hotel would have suspected that impenetrable man had a -dollar at stake in any precarious scheme. - -Yet there were moments when he had reason to fear that even his eleven -millions, now almost swallowed up in the insatiable maw of the corn -market, would not be enough to stave off ultimate disaster. - -But never for a moment did he lose confidence in the boy who was making -such a shrewd fight against the combined bear interests of the Board of -Trade. - -Mr. Bradhurst had come to be a frequent visitor at the Thornton home, -where he had been introduced by Vance the evening following their -partnership arrangement. - -Mrs. Thornton and Elsie received him with all the courtesy that -well-bred people are wont to extend to a warm personal friend of the -son of the family. - -To a man who for eight years had been debarred from the ideals of -civilization the pleasant home picture was restful and refreshing. - -Possibly the lovely personality of Elsie Thornton had much to do with -it. - -At any rate, he found it agreeable to go there often. - -“We see so little of Vance now,” Elsie said to him one evening as they -sat together in the pleasant sitting-room. “You can scarcely imagine -how much mother and I miss him,” and a tear-drop glistened in her eye. - -“I presume you hold me largely responsible for this change in your -domestic circle,” said Bradhurst, with almost a feeling of remorse. - -“No, Mr. Bradhurst, we do not hold you responsible,” she answered, -favoring him with such a bright glance that his blood quickened in his -veins. - -“And yet, by backing him in this enterprise I have actually kept him -away from all the comforts of his home.” - -“We do not look at it in that way. Rather we are grateful to you for -what you have done and are still doing for Vance.” - -“I am glad to see that you do not regard me as an undesirable factor in -the case,” said the millionaire in a tone of pleasure. - -“No, indeed,” she answered softly. “With his growing responsibilities -Vance seems to have ceased to be a boy any longer. Not that we regret -the change, but it would have pleased us better if the change had been -more gradual.” - -“I can understand your feelings,” said Bradhurst sympathetically. “But -the end is almost in sight, Miss Elsie. It seems to be only a question -of a few days now when Vance’s control of the corn market will be so -complete that the whole country will recognize it.” - -“Isn’t it wonderful to think what he has accomplished?” cried Elsie, -enthusiastically. “Why every day the papers have something to say about -him. This morning the Record referred to him as the ‘young corn king.’ -Think of that!” - -“And so he will be, I daresay, inside of forty-eight hours. Your -brother has a wonderful head for speculative ventures. For that reason, -and because I owe my life to his pluck and presence of mind, I decided -to see him through, if it took the last dollar I possessed.” - -“You were very good--very generous! We can never thank you enough for -the interest you have taken in Vance.” - -“I hope you won’t let the matter worry you any, Miss Elsie,” said -Bradhurst, with a glance of unfeigned admiration for the girl. - -She noticed the look and dropped her gaze to the carpet. - -From that moment an increasing sympathy grew between the two. - -Elsie recognized and was grateful for what Mr. Bradhurst was doing for -her brother, whom she dearly loved, while the millionaire found a new -pleasure in talking to and encouraging the lovely girl for whom he was -beginning to feel a warm regard. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -A CORNER IN CORN. - - -It was a bright, sunny morning, thirty-six hours later, that William -Bradhurst came downstairs and purchased the morning paper at the -news-stand in the lobby of the Grand Pacific. - -He opened it and cast his eye rapidly over the first page. - -A leading article arrested his attention. - -It was headed “A Corner in Corn.” - -“By George!” he exclaimed, with no little excitement. “At last!” - -On crowded La Salle street a few hours later everybody was talking -about it. - -There could no longer be any doubt that Vance Thornton, the Boy Corn -King, had got hold of every bit of corn there was; - -That he had actually cornered the visible supply. - -That a mere boy could do this was simply astounding. - -That he actually had done so was not now denied. - -The news, fully verified, had by this time been wired all over America. - -Vance Thornton’s name was that morning on every business man’s lips -from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of -Mexico. - -Traders who must buy the grain to fulfil their contracts now began to -call at Mr. Whitemore’s office in the Rookery Building. - -They inquired deferentially for the boy who held the market in his -hand, and bowed to his mandate when he dictated the price. - -Among the brokers who dropped in that morning was Mr. Jarboe, the -dignified head of the firm of Jarboe, Willicutt & Co. - -“I’ll see him,” said Vance when his name was handed in. - -“Good-morning, Mr. Thornton,” said the trader, as politely as his -feelings would permit. - -“Good-morning, Mr. Jarboe. What can I do for you?” - -“The fact is, young man,” answered the broker, hesitatingly, “we are -short to you one million bushels at (here he named a figure) a bushel. -I want to know how much it is going to cost us to get out of your -corner.” - -To get out those words was worse than if he had to swallow a bitter -pill. - -Vance looked at him with a quizzical smile. - -“It seems to me it would have been better for you if you had stuck by -the sinking ship, Mr. Jarboe. You see, she was only waterlogged for the -moment, and a golden pump put her on an even keel again.” - -“All men make mistakes,” responded Mr. Jarboe abruptly. “What is the -figure?” - -“In consideration of your long connection with Mr. Whitemore,” said -Vance, “I’ll let you off easy,” and he named a price. - -“Vance Thornton,” said Mr. Jarboe, his dignity suddenly melting -away, “you have acted like a man. Allow me to shake you by the hand -and congratulate you on the wonderful ability you have displayed -in engineering so gigantic a deal. I am proud to acknowledge your -acquaintance, and I may say the same for my partners. Instead of -crowing over a firm of solid old traders whom you have caught in the -toils, and squeezing us badly, as you have the power to do, you have -acted with the utmost fairness. Our loss is considerable, it is true, -but no more than we deserve under the circumstances. The only favor -I will ask of you is that you will keep this a secret. It would be a -blow to Mr. Whitemore, who I understand is nearly recovered from his -trouble, and expects soon to be back among us, if he should learn the -true facts of the case.” - -“It shall go no further, Mr. Jarboe,” Vance assured him. - -“Thank you,” and Mr. Jarboe took out his check-book and signed a check -covering the sum due to Vance. - -Then, with a bow and another handshake, he left the office. - -It was closing-up time. - -All the working force of the office had gone out but Miss Brown, who -was adjusting her hat preparatory to her departure. - -Vance appeared at his office door. - -“Bessie,” he said, “I’d like to see you.” - -She entered the private room, and stood before him in readiness to take -any order he wished to give her. - -It was not the old Bessie, but the new one, who always addressed Vance -now as Mr. Thornton. - -“Bessie,” said Vance, taking both her hands suddenly in his, “aren’t -you glad?” - -She looked at him in surprise, and then her gaze dropped. - -“Aren’t you glad it is all over?” he repeated eagerly, in the old -voice that seemed to come to her like an echo from the dead past. - -“I don’t know,” she answered, in a trembling tone. - -“You don’t know?” he said, almost plaintively. “Don’t you care?” - -She half turned away from him, but Vance seized her by the shoulders -and swung her back again. - -“It is true that I’m not the same old Vance in some respects. -I’m to-day the king of the corn market, and I’m worth several -millions--just how many I can’t say as yet. I went into this thing -because it was my duty to try and save Mr. Whitemore’s interests. If -I’ve done more than that it was because once I took hold I couldn’t let -go. I had to stick to my post--sink or swim on the ultimate result. -Well, I’ve come out ahead. The papers call me the Corn King, and they -tell the truth. But Bessie,” and tears came to his eyes as he spoke the -words, “I’d give every dollar of my winnings--every cent I have made in -this deal--to hear you call me Vance once more as you used to do, to -know that you still think of me as you once did.” - -There was a pause, and then the girl gradually lifted her eyes to his -face. - -“Vance!” she said softly. - - * * * * * - -Before Mr. Whitemore returned to his office a well man again he heard -enough about that famous corner in corn to feel assured that Vance -Thornton was the smartest boy who ever walked in shoe leather. - -The full particulars of the deal he learned as soon as he and Vance -came together again, and the result was that the sign on the office -door was altered to Whitemore & Thornton, and nobody was surprised when -they saw it. - -That fall there was a quiet wedding at the Thornton home, on which -occasion Elsie Thornton became Mrs. William Bradhurst, and Vance was -the best man. - -Bessie Brown was among those present, and the pronounced attention she -received and accepted with pleasure from Vance Thornton seemed to augur -well for another wedding at no very distant day, when the sweet little -stenographer might be expected to make happy for life the boy who had -effected A CORNER IN CORN. - - -THE END. - - * * * * * - -Read “A GAME OF CHANCE; OR, THE BOY WHO WON OUT,” which will be the -next number (4) of “Fame and Fortune Weekly.” - - * * * * * - -SPECIAL NOTICE: All back numbers of this weekly are always in print. If -you cannot obtain them from any newsdealer, send the price in money or -postage stamps by mail to FRANK TOUSEY, PUBLISHER, 24 UNION SQUARE, NEW -YORK, and you will receive the copies you order by return mail. - - - - -PLUCK AND LUCK. - -CONTAINS ALL SORTS OF STORIES. EVERY STORY COMPLETE. - - =32 PAGES.= =BEAUTIFULLY COLORED COVERS.= =PRICE 5 CENTS.= - - -=LATEST ISSUES:= - - 314 Red Light Dick, The Engineer Prince; - or, The Bravest Boy on the Railroad. - By Jas. C. Merritt. - - 315 Leadville Jack, the Game Cock of the West. - By An Old Scout. - - 316 Adrift in the Sea of Grass; - or, The Strange Voyage of a Missing Ship. - By Capt. Thos. H. Wilson. - - 317 Out of the Gutter; or, Fighting the Battle Alone. - A True Temperance Story. By H. K. Shackleford. - - 318 The Scouts of the Santee; or, Redcoats and Whigs. - A Story of the American Revolution. By Gen’l Jas. A. Gordon. - - 319 Edwin Forrest’s Boy Pupil; - or, The Struggles and Triumphs of a Boy Actor. - By N. S. Wood, the Young American Actor. - - 320 Air Line Will, The Young Engineer of the New Mexico Express. - By Jas. C. Merritt. - - 321 The Richest Boy in Arizona; or, The Mystery of the Gila. - By Howard Austin. - - 322 Twenty Degrees Beyond the Arctic Circle; - or, Deserted in the Land of Ice. By Berton Bertrew. - - 323 Young King Kerry, the Irish Rob Roy; - or, The Lost Lilly of Killarney. By Allyn Draper. - - 324 Canoe Carl; or, A College Boy’s Cruise in the Far North. - By Allan Arnold. - - 325 Randy Rollins, the Boy Fireman. A Story of Heroic Deeds. - By Ex-Fire-Chief Warden. - - 326 Green Mountain Joe, the Old Trapper of Malbro Pond. - By An Old Scout. - - 327 The Prince of Rockdale School; or, A Fight for a Railroad. - By Howard Austin. - - 328 Lost in the City; or, The Lights and Shadows of New York. - By H. K. Shackleford. - - 329 Switchback Sam, the Young Pennsylvania Engineer; - or, Railroading in the Oil Country. By Jas. C. Merritt. - - 330 Trapeze Tom, the Boy Acrobat; or, Daring Work in the Air. - By Berton Bertrew. - - 331 Yellowstone Kelly, A Story of Adventures in the Great West. - By An Old Scout. - - 332 The Poisoned Wine; or, Foiling a Desperate Game. - By H. K. Shackleford. - - 333 Shiloh Sam; or, General Grant’s Best Boy Scout. - By Gen’l. Jas. A. Gordon. - - 334 Alone in New York; or, Ragged Rob, the Newsboy. - By N. S. Wood (The Young American Actor). - - 335 The Floating Treasure; or, The Secret of the Pirate’s Rock. - By Capt. Thos. H. Wilson. - - 336 Tom Throttle, The Boy Engineer of the Midnight Express; - or, Railroading in Central America. By Jas. C. Merritt. - - 337 The Diamond Eye; or, The Secret of the Idol. - By Richard R. Montgomery. - - 338 Ned North, The Young Arctic Explorer; - or, The Phantom Valley of the North Pole. By Berton Bertrew. - - 339 From Cabin to Cabinet; or, The Pluck of a Plowboy. - By H. K. Shackleford. - - 340 Kit Carson’s Boys; or, With the Great Scout on His Last Trail. - By An Old Scout. - - 341 Driven to Sea; or, The Sailor’s Secret. - A Story of the Algerine Corsairs. By Capt. Thos. H. Wilson. - - 342 Twenty Boy Spies; or, The Secret Band of Dismal Hollow. - A Story of the American Revolution. By Gen’l. Jas. A. Gordon. - - 343 Dashing Hal, the Hero of the Ring. A Story of the Circus. - By Berton Bertrew. - - 344 The Haunted Hut; or, The Ghosts of Rocky Gulch. - By Allyn Draper. - - 345 Dick Dashaway’s School Days; or, The Boy Rebels of Kingan College. - By Howard Austin. - - 346 Jack Lever, the Young Engineer of “Old Forty”; - or, On Time with the Night Express. By Jas. C. Merritt. - - 347 Out With Peary; or, In Search of the North Pole. - By Berton Bertrew. - - 348 The Boy Prairie Courier; or, General Custer’s Youngest Aide. - A True Story of the Battle at Little Big Horn. By An Old Scout. - - 349 Led Astray in New York; - or, A Country Boy’s Career in a Great City. - A True Temperance Story. By Jno. B. Dowd. - - 350 Sharpshooter Sam, the Yankee Boy Spy; - or, Winning His Shoulder Straps. By Gen’l. Jas. A. Gordon. - - 351 Tom Train, the Boy Engineer of the Fast Express; - or, Always at His Post. By Jas. C. Merritt. - - 352 We Three; or, The White Boy Slaves of the Soudan. - By Allan Arnold. - - 353 Jack Izzard, the Yankee Middy. A Story of the War With Tripoli. - By Capt. Thos. H. Wilson. - - 354 The Senator’s Boy; or, The Early Struggles of a Great Statesman. - By H. K. Shackleford. - - 355 Kit Carson on a Mysterious Trail; or, Branded a Renegade. - By An Old Scout. - - 356 The Lively Eight Social Club; or, From Cider to Rum. - A True Temperance Story. By Jno. B. Dowd. - - 357 The Dandy of the School; or, The Boys of Bay Cliff. - By Howard Austin. - - 358 Out in the Streets; A Story of High and Low Life in New York. - By N. S. Wood (The Young American Actor.) - - 359 Captain Ray; The Young Leader of the Forlorn Hope. - A True Story of the Mexican War. By Gen’l. Jas. A. Gordon. - - 360 “3”; or, The Ten Treasure Houses of the Tartar King. - By Richard R. Montgomery. - - 361 Railroad Rob; or, The Train Wreckers of the West. - By Jas. C. Merritt. - - 362 A Millionaire at 18; or, The American Boy Croesus. - By H. K. Shackleford. - - 363 The Seven White Bears; or, The Band of Fate. A Story of Russia. - By Richard R. Montgomery. - - 364 Shamus O’Brien; or, The Bold Boy of Glingall. - By Allyn Draper. - - 365 The Skeleton Scout; or, The Dread Rider of the Plains. - By An Old Scout. - - 366 “Merry Matt”; or, The Will-o’-the-Wisp of Wine. - A True Temperance Story. By H. K. Shackleford. - - 367 The Boy With the Steel Mask; or, A Face That Was Never Seen. - By Allan Arnold. - - 368 Clear-the-Track Tom; or, The Youngest Engineer on the Road. - By Jas. C. Merritt. - - 369 Gallant Jack Barry, The Young Father of the American Navy. - By Capt. Thos. H. Wilson. - - 370 Laughing Luke, The Yankee Spy of the Revolution. - By Gen’l Jas. A. Gordon. - - 371 From Gutter to Governor; or, The Luck of a Waif. - By H. K. Shackleford. - - 372 Davy Crockett, Jr.; or, “Be Sure You’re Right, Then Go Ahead.” - By An Old Scout. - - 373 The Young Diamond Hunters; or, Two Runaway Boys in Treasure Land. - A Story of the South African Mines. By Allan Arnold. - - 374 The Phantom Brig; or, The Chase of the Flying Clipper. - By Capt. Thos. H. Wilson. - - 375 Special Bob; or, The Pride of the Road. - By Jas. C. Merritt. - - 376 Three Chums; or, The Bosses of the School. - By Allyn Draper. - - 377 The Drummer Boy’s Secret; or, Oath-Bound on the Battlefield. - By Gen’l. Jas. A. Gordon. - - 378 Jack Bradford; or, The Struggles of a Working Boy. - By Howard Austin. - - 379 The Unknown Renegade; or, The Three Great Scouts. - By An Old Scout. - - 380 80° North; or, Two Years On The Arctic Circle. - By Berton Bertrew. - - 381 Running Rob; or, Mad Anthony’s Rollicking Scout. - A Tale of The American Revolution. By Gen. Jas. A. Gordon. - - 382 Down The Shaft; or, The Hidden Fortune of a Boy Miner. - By Howard Austin. - - 383 The Boy Telegraph Inspectors; - or, Across The Continent On A Hand Car. By Jas. C. Merritt. - - 384 Nazoma; or, Lost Among The Head-Hunters. - By Richard R. Montgomery. - - 385 From Newsboy To President; or, Fighting For Fame And Fortune. - By H. K. Shackleford. - - 386 Jack Harold, The Cabin Boy; or, Ten Years On An Unlucky Ship. - By Capt. Thos. H. Wilson. - - -For sale by all newsdealers, or will be sent to any address on receipt -of price, 5 cents per copy, in money or postage stamps, by - - =FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, 24 Union Square, New York.= - - -IF YOU WANT ANY BACK NUMBERS - -of our Libraries and cannot procure them from newsdealers, they can be -obtained from this office direct. 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Most -of the books are also profusely illustrated, and all of the subjects -treated upon are explained in such a simple manner that any child can -thoroughly understand them. Look over the list as classified and see if -you want to know anything about the subjects mentioned. - - * * * * * - -THESE BOOKS ARE FOR SALE BY ALL NEWSDEALERS OR WILL BE SENT BY MAIL TO -ANY ADDRESS FROM THIS OFFICE ON RECEIPT OF PRICE, TEN CENTS EACH, OR -ANY THREE BOOKS FOR TWENTY-FIVE CENTS. POSTAGE STAMPS TAKEN THE SAME AS -MONEY. Address FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, 24 Union Square, N.Y. - - -MESMERISM. - -No. 81. HOW TO MESMERIZE.--Containing the most approved methods of -mesmerism; also how to cure all kinds of diseases by animal magnetism, -or, magnetic healing. By Prof. Leo Hugo Koch, A. C. S., author of “How -to Hypnotize,” etc. - - -PALMISTRY. - -No. 82. HOW TO DO PALMISTRY.--Containing the most approved methods of -reading the lines on the hand, together with a full explanation of -their meaning. Also explaining phrenology, and the key for telling -character by the bumps on the head. By Leo Hugo Koch, A. C. S. Fully -illustrated. - - -HYPNOTISM. - -No. 83. HOW TO HYPNOTIZE.--Containing valuable and instructive -information regarding the science of hypnotism. Also explaining the -most approved methods which are employed by the leading hypnotists of -the world. By Leo Hugo Koch, A.C.S. - - -SPORTING. - -No. 21. HOW TO HUNT AND FISH.--The most complete hunting and fishing -guide ever published. It contains full instructions about guns, hunting -dogs, traps, trapping and fishing, together with descriptions of game -and fish. - -No. 26. HOW TO ROW, SAIL AND BUILD A BOAT.--Fully illustrated. Every -boy should know how to row and sail a boat. Full instructions are given -in this little book, together with instructions on swimming and riding, -companion sports to boating. - -No. 47. HOW TO BREAK, RIDE AND DRIVE A HORSE.--A complete treatise on -the horse. Describing the most useful horses for business, the best -horses for the road; also valuable recipes for diseases peculiar to the -horse. - -No. 48. HOW TO BUILD AND SAIL CANOES.--A handy book for boys, -containing full directions for constructing canoes and the most popular -manner of sailing them. Fully illustrated. By C. Stansfield Hicks. - - -FORTUNE TELLING. - -No. 1. NAPOLEON’S ORACULUM AND DREAM BOOK.--Containing the great -oracle of human destiny; also the true meaning of almost any kind of -dreams, together with charms, ceremonies, and curious games of cards. A -complete book. - -No. 23. HOW TO EXPLAIN DREAMS.--Everybody dreams, from the little child -to the aged man and woman. This little book gives the explanation -to all kinds of dreams, together with lucky and unlucky days, and -“Napoleon’s Oraculum,” the book of fate. - -No. 28. HOW TO TELL FORTUNES.--Everyone is desirous of knowing what his -future life will bring forth, whether happiness or misery, wealth or -poverty. You can tell by a glance at this little book. Buy one and be -convinced. Tell your own fortune. Tell the fortune of your friends. - -No. 76. HOW TO TELL FORTUNES BY THE HAND.--Containing rules for telling -fortunes by the aid of lines of the hand, or the secret of palmistry. -Also the secret of telling future events by aid of moles, marks, scars, -etc. Illustrated. By A. Anderson. - - -ATHLETIC. - -No. 6. HOW TO BECOME AN ATHLETE.--Giving full instruction for the -use of dumb bells, Indian clubs, parallel bars, horizontal bars and -various other methods of developing a good, healthy muscle; containing -over sixty illustrations. Every boy can become strong and healthy by -following the instructions contained in this little book. - -No. 10. HOW TO BOX.--The art of self-defense made easy. Containing over -thirty illustrations of guards, blows, and the different positions of a -good boxer. Every boy should obtain one of these useful and instructive -books, as it will teach you how to box without an instructor. - -No. 25. HOW TO BECOME A GYMNAST.--Containing full instructions for all -kinds of gymnastic sports and athletic exercises. Embracing thirty-five -illustrations. By Professor W. Macdonald. A handy and useful book. - -No. 34. HOW TO FENCE.--Containing full instruction for fencing and -the use of the broadsword; also instruction in archery. Described -with twenty-one practical illustrations, giving the best positions in -fencing. A complete book. - - -TRICKS WITH CARDS. - -No. 51. HOW TO DO TRICKS WITH CARDS.--Containing explanations of the -general principles of sleight-of-hand applicable to card tricks; of -card tricks with ordinary cards, and not requiring sleight-of-hand; -of tricks involving sleight-of-hand, or the use of specially prepared -cards. By Professor Haffner. Illustrated. - -No. 72. HOW TO DO SIXTY TRICKS WITH CARDS.--Embracing all of the latest -and most deceptive card tricks, with illustrations. By A. Anderson. - -No. 77. HOW TO DO FORTY TRICKS WITH CARDS.--Containing deceptive Card -Tricks as performed by leading conjurors and magicians. Arranged for -home amusement. Fully illustrated. - - -MAGIC. - -No. 2. HOW TO DO TRICKS.--The great book of magic and card tricks, -containing full instruction on all the leading card tricks of the day, -also the most popular magical illusions as performed by our leading -magicians; every boy should obtain a copy of this book, as it will both -amuse and instruct. - -No. 22. HOW TO DO SECOND SIGHT.--Heller’s second sight explained by his -former assistant, Fred Hunt, Jr. Explaining how the secret dialogues -were carried on between the magician and the boy on the stage; also -giving all the codes and signals. The only authentic explanation of -second sight. - -No. 43. HOW TO BECOME A MAGICIAN.--Containing the grandest assortment -of magical illusions ever placed before the public. Also tricks with -cards, incantations, etc. - -No. 68. HOW TO DO CHEMICAL TRICKS.--Containing over one hundred -highly amusing and instructive tricks with chemicals. By A. Anderson. -Handsomely illustrated. - -No. 69. HOW TO DO SLEIGHT OF HAND.--Containing over fifty of the latest -and best tricks used by magicians. Also containing the secret of second -sight. Fully illustrated. By A. Anderson. - -No. 70. HOW TO MAKE MAGIC TOYS.--Containing full directions for making -Magic Toys and devices of many kinds. By A. Anderson. Fully illustrated. - -No. 73. HOW TO DO TRICKS WITH NUMBERS.--Showing many curious tricks -with figures and the magic of numbers. By A. Anderson. Fully -illustrated. - -No. 75. HOW TO BECOME A CONJUROR.--Containing tricks with Dominos, -Dice, Cups and Balls, Hats, etc. Embracing thirty-six illustrations. By -A. Anderson. - -No. 78. HOW TO DO THE BLACK ART.--Containing a complete description -of the mysteries of Magic and Sleight of Hand, together with many -wonderful experiments. By A. Anderson. Illustrated. - - -MECHANICAL. - -No. 29. HOW TO BECOME AN INVENTOR.--Every boy should know how -inventions originated. This book explains them all, giving examples in -electricity, hydraulics, magnetism, optics, pneumatics, mechanics, etc. -The most instructive book published. - -No. 56. HOW TO BECOME AN ENGINEER.--Containing full instructions how -to proceed in order to become a locomotive engineer; also directions -for building a model locomotive; together with a full description of -everything an engineer should know. - -No. 57. HOW TO MAKE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.--Full directions how to make -a Banjo, Violin, Zither, Æolian Harp, Xylophone and other musical -instruments; together with a brief description of nearly every musical -instrument used in ancient or modern times. Profusely illustrated. By -Algernon S. Fitzgerald, for twenty years bandmaster of the Royal Bengal -Marines. - -No. 59. HOW TO MAKE A MAGIC LANTERN.--Containing a description of the -lantern, together with its history and invention. Also full directions -for its use and for painting slides. Handsomely illustrated. By John -Allen. - -No. 71. HOW TO DO MECHANICAL TRICKS.--Containing complete instructions -for performing over sixty Mechanical Tricks. By A. Anderson. Fully -illustrated. - - -LETTER WRITING. - -No. 11. HOW TO WRITE LOVE-LETTERS.--A most complete little book, -containing full directions for writing love-letters, and when to use -them, giving specimen letters for young and old. - -No. 12. HOW TO WRITE LETTERS TO LADIES.--Giving complete instructions -for writing letters to ladies on all subjects; also letters of -introduction, notes and requests. - -No. 24. HOW TO WRITE LETTERS TO GENTLEMEN.--Containing full directions -for writing to gentlemen on all subjects; also giving sample letters -for instruction. - -No. 53. HOW TO WRITE LETTERS.--A wonderful little book, telling you -how to write to your sweetheart, your father, mother, sister, brother, -employer; and, in fact, everybody and anybody you wish to write to. -Every young man and every young lady in the land should have this book. - -No. 74. HOW TO WRITE LETTERS CORRECTLY.--Containing full instructions -for writing letters on almost any subject; also rules for punctuation -and composition, with specimen letters. - - -THE STAGE. - -No. 41. THE BOYS OF NEW YORK END MEN’S JOKE BOOK.--Containing a great -variety of the latest jokes used by the most famous end men. No amateur -minstrel is complete without this wonderful little book. - -No. 42. THE BOYS OF NEW YORK STUMP SPEAKER.--Containing a varied -assortment of stump speeches, Negro, Dutch and Irish. Also end men’s -jokes. Just the thing for home amusement and amateur shows. - -No. 45. THE BOYS OF NEW YORK MINSTREL GUIDE AND JOKE BOOK.--Something -new and very instructive. Every boy should obtain this book, as it -contains full instructions for organizing an amateur minstrel troupe. - -No. 65. MULDOON’S JOKES.--This is one of the most original joke books -ever published, and it is brimful of wit and humor. It contains a large -collection of songs, jokes, conundrums, etc., of Terrence Muldoon, the -great wit, humorist, and practical joker of the day. Every boy who can -enjoy a good substantial joke should obtain a copy immediately. - -No. 79. HOW TO BECOME AN ACTOR.--Containing complete instructions how -to make up for various characters on the stage; together with the -duties of the Stage Manager, Prompter, Scenic Artist and Property Man. -By a prominent Stage Manager. - -No. 80. GUS WILLIAMS’ JOKE BOOK.--Containing the latest jokes, anecdotes -and funny stories of this world-renowned and ever popular German -comedian. Sixty-four pages; handsome colored cover containing a -half-tone photo of the author. - - -HOUSEKEEPING. - -No. 16. HOW TO KEEP A WINDOW GARDEN.--Containing full instructions -for constructing a window garden either in town or country, and the -most approved methods for raising beautiful flowers at home. The most -complete book of the kind ever published. - -No. 30. HOW TO COOK.--One of the most instructive books on cooking -ever published. It contains recipes for cooking meats, fish, game, and -oysters; also pies, puddings, cakes and all kinds of pastry, and a -grand collection of recipes by one of our most popular cooks. - -No. 37. HOW TO KEEP HOUSE.--It contains information for everybody, -boys, girls, men and women; it will teach you how to make almost -anything around the house, such as parlor ornaments, brackets, cements, -Æolian harps, and bird lime for catching birds. - - -ELECTRICAL. - -No. 46. HOW TO MAKE AND USE ELECTRICITY.--A description of the -wonderful uses of electricity and electro magnetism; together with -full instructions for making Electric Toys, Batteries, etc. By George -Trebel, A. M., M. D. Containing over fifty illustrations. - -No. 64. HOW TO MAKE ELECTRICAL MACHINES.--Containing full directions -for making electrical machines, induction coils, dynamos, and many -novel toys to be worked by electricity. By R. A. R. Bennett. Fully -illustrated. - -No. 67. HOW TO DO ELECTRICAL TRICKS.--Containing a large collection -of instructive and highly amusing electrical tricks, together with -illustrations. By A. Anderson. - - -ENTERTAINMENT. - -No. 9. HOW TO BECOME A VENTRILOQUIST.--By Harry Kennedy. The secret -given away. Every intelligent boy reading this book of instructions, -by a practical professor (delighting multitudes every night with his -wonderful imitations), can master the art, and create any amount of fun -for himself and friends. It is the greatest book ever published, and -there’s millions (of fun) in it. - -No. 20. HOW TO ENTERTAIN AN EVENING PARTY.--A very valuable little -book just published. A complete compendium of games, sports, -card diversions, comic recitations, etc., suitable for parlor or -drawing-room entertainment. It contains more for the money than any -book published. - -No. 35. HOW TO PLAY GAMES.--A complete and useful little book, -containing the rules and regulations of billiards, bagatelle, -backgammon, croquet, dominoes, etc. - -No. 36. HOW TO SOLVE CONUNDRUMS.--Containing all the leading conundrums -of the day, amusing riddles, curious catches and witty sayings. - -No. 52. HOW TO PLAY CARDS.--A complete and handy little book, giving -the rules and full directions for playing Euchre, Cribbage, Casino, -Forty-Five, Rounce, Pedro Sancho, Draw Poker, Auction Pitch, All Fours, -and many other popular games of cards. - -No. 66. HOW TO DO PUZZLES.--Containing over three hundred interesting -puzzles and conundrums, with key to same. A complete book. Fully -illustrated. By A. Anderson. - - -ETIQUETTE. - -No. 13. HOW TO DO IT; OR, BOOK OF ETIQUETTE.--It is a great life -secret, and one that every young man desires to know all about. There’s -happiness in it. - -No. 33. HOW TO BEHAVE.--Containing the rules and etiquette of good -society and the easiest and most approved methods of appearing to -good advantage at parties, balls, the theatre, church, and in the -drawing-room. - - -DECLAMATION. - -No. 27. HOW TO RECITE AND BOOK OF RECITATIONS.--Containing the most -popular selections in use, comprising Dutch dialect, French dialect, -Yankee and Irish dialect pieces, together with many standard readings. - -No. 31. HOW TO BECOME A SPEAKER.--Containing fourteen illustrations, -giving the different positions requisite to become a good speaker, -reader and elocutionist. Also containing gems from all the popular -authors of prose and poetry, arranged in the most simple and concise -manner possible. - -No. 49. HOW TO DEBATE.--Giving rules for conducting debates, outlines -for debates, questions for discussion, and the best sources for -procuring information on the questions given. - - -SOCIETY. - -No. 3. HOW TO FLIRT.--The arts and wiles of flirtation are fully -explained by this little book. Besides the various methods of -handkerchief, fan, glove, parasol, window and hat flirtation, it -contains a full list of the language and sentiment of flowers, which -is interesting to everybody, both old and young. You cannot be happy -without one. - -No. 4. HOW TO DANCE is the title of a new and handsome little book just -issued by Frank Tousey. It contains full instructions in the art of -dancing, etiquette in the ball-room and at parties, how to dress, and -full directions for calling off in all popular square dances. - -No. 5. HOW TO MAKE LOVE.--A complete guide to love, courtship and -marriage, giving sensible advice, rules and etiquette to be observed, -with many curious and interesting things not generally known. - -No. 17. HOW TO DRESS.--Containing full instruction in the art of -dressing and appearing well at home and abroad, giving the selections -of colors, material, and how to have them made up. - -No. 18. HOW TO BECOME BEAUTIFUL.--One of the brightest and most -valuable little books ever given to the world. Everybody wishes to know -how to become beautiful, both male and female. The secret is simple, -and almost costless. Read this book and be convinced how to become -beautiful. - - -BIRDS AND ANIMALS. - -No. 7. HOW TO KEEP BIRDS.--Handsomely illustrated and containing -full instructions for the management and training of the canary, -mockingbird, bobolink, blackbird, paroquet, parrot, etc. - -No. 39. HOW TO RAISE DOGS, POULTRY, PIGEONS AND RABBITS.--A useful and -instructive book. Handsomely illustrated. By Ira Drofraw. - -No. 40. HOW TO MAKE AND SET TRAPS.--Including hints on how to catch -moles, weasels, otters, rats, squirrels and birds. Also how to cure -skins. Copiously illustrated. By J. Harrington Keene. - -No. 50. HOW TO STUFF BIRDS AND ANIMALS.--A valuable book, giving -instructions in collecting, preparing, mounting and preserving birds, -animals and insects. - -No. 54. HOW TO KEEP AND MANAGE PETS.--Giving complete information as -to the manner and method of raising, keeping, taming, breeding, and -managing all kinds of pets; also giving full instructions for making -cages, etc. Fully explained by twenty-eight illustrations, making it -the most complete book of the kind ever published. - - -MISCELLANEOUS. - -No. 8. HOW TO BECOME A SCIENTIST.--A useful and instructive book, -giving a complete treatise on chemistry; also experiments in acoustics, -mechanics, mathematics, chemistry, and directions for making fireworks, -colored fires, and gas balloons. This book cannot be equaled. - -No. 14. HOW TO MAKE CANDY.--A complete hand-book for making all kinds -of candy, ice-cream, syrups, essences, etc., etc. - -No. 34. HOW TO BECOME AN AUTHOR.--Containing full information -regarding choice of subjects, the use of words and the manner of -preparing and submitting manuscript. Also containing valuable -information as to the neatness, legibility and general composition of -manuscript, essential to a successful author. By Prince Hiland. - -No. 38. HOW TO BECOME YOUR OWN DOCTOR.--A wonderful book, containing -useful and practical information in the treatment of ordinary diseases -and ailments common to every family. Abounding in useful and effective -recipes for general complaints. - -No. 55. HOW TO COLLECT STAMPS AND COINS.--Containing valuable -information regarding the collecting and arranging of stamps and coins. -Handsomely illustrated. - -No. 58. HOW TO BE A DETECTIVE.--By Old King Brady, the world-known -detective. In which he lays down some valuable and sensible rules -for beginners, and also relates some adventures and experiences of -well-known detectives. - -No. 60. HOW TO BECOME A PHOTOGRAPHER.--Containing useful information -regarding the Camera and how to work it; also how to make Photographic -Magic Lantern Slides and other Transparencies. Handsomely illustrated. -By Captain W. De W. Abney. - -No. 62. HOW TO BECOME A WEST POINT MILITARY CADET.--Containing full -explanations how to gain admittance, course of Study, Examinations, -Duties, Staff of Officers, Post Guard, Police Regulations, Fire -Department, and all a boy should know to be a Cadet. Compiled and -written by Lu Senarens, author of “How to Become a Naval Cadet.” - -No. 63. HOW TO BECOME A NAVAL CADET.--Complete instructions of how to -gain admission to the Annapolis Naval Academy. Also containing the -course of instruction, description of grounds and buildings, historical -sketch, and everything a boy should know to become an officer in the -United States Navy. Compiled and written by Lu Senarens, author of “How -to Become a West Point Military Cadet.” - - - =PRICE 10 CENTS EACH, OR 3 FOR 25 CENTS.= - =Address FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, 24 Union Square, New York.= - - - - -WORK AND WIN. - -The Best Weekly Published. - -=ALL THE NUMBERS ARE ALWAYS IN PRINT.= - -=READ ONE AND YOU WILL READ THEM ALL.= - - -=LATEST ISSUES:= - - 281 Fred Fearnot’s Boy; or, Selling Tips on Shares. - 282 Fred Fearnot and the Girl Ranch Owner, And How She Held Her Own. - 283 Fred Fearnot’s Newsboy Friend; or, A Hero in Rags. - 284 Fred Fearnot in the Gold Fields; or, Exposing the Claim “Salters.” - 285 Fred Fearnot and the Office Boy; or, Bound to be the Boss. - 286 Fred Fearnot after the Moonshiners; or, The “Bad” Men of Kentucky. - 287 Fred Fearnot and the Little Drummer; - or, The Boy who Feared Nobody. - 288 Fred Fearnot and the Broker’s Boy; or, Working the Stock Market. - 289 Fred Fearnot and the Boy Teamster; or, The Lad Who Bluffed Him. - 290 Fred Fearnot and the Magician, and How he Spoiled His Magic. - 291 Fred Fearnot’s Lone Hand; or, Playing a Game to Win. - 292 Fred Fearnot and the Banker’s Clerk; or, Shaking up the Brokers. - 293 Fred Fearnot and the Oil King; or, the Tough Gang of the Wells. - 294 Fred Fearnot’s Wall Street Game; or, Fighting the Bucket Shops. - 295 Fred Fearnot’s Society Circus; - or, The Fun that Built a School-House. - 296 Fred Fearnot’s Wonderful Courage; - or, The Mistake of the Train Robber. - 297 Fred Fearnot’s Friend from India, and the Wonderful Things He Did. - 298 Fred Fearnot and the Poor Widow; or, Making a Mean Man Do Right. - 299 Fred Fearnot’s Cowboys; or, Tackling the Ranch Raiders. - 300 Fred Fearnot and the Money Lenders; - or, Breaking Up a Swindling Gang. - 301 Fred Fearnot’s Gun Club; or, Shooting for a Diamond Cup. - 302 Fred Fearnot and the Braggart; or, Having Fun with an Egotist. - 303 Fred Fearnot’s Fire Brigade; or, Beating the Insurance Frauds. - 304 Fred Fearnot’s Temperance Lectures; or, Fighting Rum and Ruin. - 305 Fred Fearnot and the “Cattle Queen”; or, A Desperate Woman’s Game. - 306 Fred Fearnot and the Boomers; or, The Game that Failed. - 307 Fred Fearnot and the “Tough” Boy; or, Reforming a Vagrant. - 308 Fred Fearnot’s $10,000 Deal; or, Over the Continent on Horseback. - 309 Fred Fearnot and the Lasso Gang; or, Crooked Work on the Ranch. - 310 Fred Fearnot and the Wall Street Broker; - or, Helping the Widows and Orphans. - 311 Fred Fearnot and the Cow Puncher; or, The Worst Man in Arizona. - 312 Fred Fearnot and the Fortune Teller; or, The Gypsy’s Double Deal. - 313 Fred Fearnot’s Nervy Deal; or, The Unknown Fiend of Wall Street. - 314 Fred Fearnot and “Red Pete”; or, The Wickedest Man in Arizona. - 315 Fred Fearnot and the Magnates; or, How he Bought a Railroad. - 316 Fred Fearnot and “Uncle Pike”; or, A Slick Chap from Warsaw. - 317 Fred Fearnot and His Hindo Friend; or, Saving the Juggler’s Life. - 318 Fred Fearnot and the “Confidence Man”; - or, The Grip that Held Him Fast. - 319 Fred Fearnot’s Greatest Victory; - or, The Longest Purse in Wall Street. - 320 Fred Fearnot and the Impostor; or, Unmasking a Dangerous Fraud. - 321 Fred Fearnot in the Wild West; or, The Last Fight of the Bandits. - 322 Fred Fearnot and the Girl Detective; - or, Solving a Wall Street Mystery. - 323 Fred Fearnot Among the Gold Miners; - or, The Fight for a Stolen Claim. - 324 Fred Fearnot and the Broker’s Son; - or, The Smartest Boy in Wall St. - 325 Fred Fearnot and “Judge Lynch”; or, Chasing the Horse Thieves. - 326 Fred Fearnot and the Bank Messenger; - or, The Boy who made a Fortune. - 327 Fred Fearnot and the Kentucky Moonshiners; - or, The “Bad” Men of the Blue Grass Region. - 328 Fred Fearnot and the Boy Acrobat; or, Out With His own Circus. - 329 Fred Fearnot’s Great Crash; or, Losing His Fortune in Wall Street. - 330 Fred Fearnot’s Return to Athletics; - or, His Start to Regain a Fortune. - 331 Fred Fearnot’s Fencing Team; or, Defeating the “Pride of Old Eli.” - 332 Fred Fearnot’s “Free For All”; or, His Great Indoor Meet. - 333 Fred Fearnot and the Cabin Boy; - or, Beating the Steamboat Sharpers. - 334 Fred Fearnot and the Prize-Fighter; - or, A Pugilist’s Awful Mistake. - 335 Fred Fearnot’s Office Boy; or, Making Money in Wall Street. - 336 Fred Fearnot as a Fireman; or, The Boy Hero of the Flames. - 337 Fred Fearnot and the Factory Boy; or, The Champion of the Town. - 338 Fred Fearnot and the “Bad Man”; or, The Bluff from Bitter Creek. - 339 Fred Fearnot and the Shop Girl; or, The Plot Against An Orphan. - 340 Fred Fearnot Among the Mexicans; or, Evelyn and the Brigands. - 341 Fred Fearnot and the Boy Engineer; or, Beating the Train Wreckers. - 342 Fred Fearnot and the “Hornets”; - or, The League that Sought to Down Him. - 343 Fred Fearnot and the Cheeky Dude; - or, A Shallow Youth from Brooklyn. - 344 Fred Fearnot in a Death Trap: or, Lost in The Mammoth Caves. - 345 Fred Fearnot and the Boy Rancher; or, The Gamest Lad in Texas. - 346 Fred Fearnot and the Stage Driver; - or, The Man Who Understood Horses. - 347 Fred Fearnot’s Change of Front; - or, Staggering the Wall Street Brokers. - 348 Fred Fearnot’s New Ranch, And How He and Terry Managed It. - 349 Fred Fearnot and the Lariat Thrower; - or, Beating the Champion of the West. - 350 Fred Fearnot and the Swindling Trustee; - or, Saving a Widow’s Little Fortune. - 351 Fred Fearnot and the “Wild” Cowboys, And the Fun He Had With Them. - 352 Fred Fearnot and the “Money Queen”; or, Exposing a Female Sharper. - 353 Fred Fearnot’s Boy Pard; or, Striking it Rich in the Hills. - 354 Fred Fearnot and the Railroad Gang; - or, A Desperate Fight for Life. - 355 Fred Fearnot and the Mad Miner; - or, The Gold Thieves of the Rockies. - 356 Fred Fearnot in Trouble; or, Terry Olcott’s Vow of Vengeance. - 357 Fred Fearnot and the Girl in White; - or, The Mystery of the Steamboat. - 358 Fred Fearnot and the Boy Herder; - or, The Masked Band of the Plains. - 359 Fred Fearnot in Hard Luck; or, Roughing it in the Silver Diggings. - 360 Fred Fearnot and the Indian Guide; - or, The Abduction of a Beautiful Girl. - - - - - For sale by all newsdealers, - or will be sent to any address on receipt of price, - 5 cents per copy, in money or postage stamps, by - =FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, 24 Union Square, New York.= - -IF YOU WANT ANY BACK NUMBERS - -of our Libraries and cannot procure them from newsdealers, they can be -obtained from this office direct. Cut out and fill in the following -Order Blank and send it to us with the price of the books you want and -we will send them to you by return mail. - -=POSTAGE STAMPS TAKEN THE SAME AS MONEY.= - - ....................................................................... - - FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, 24 Union Square, New York. ......190 - Dear Sir--Enclosed find......cents for which please send me: - ....copies of WORK AND WIN, Nos........................................ - ....copies of PLUCK AND LUCK, Nos...................................... - ....copies of SECRET SERVICE, Nos...................................... - ....copies of THE LIBERTY BOYS OF ’76, Nos............................. - ....copies of WILD WEST WEEKLY, Nos.................................... - ....copies of THE YOUNG ATHLETE’S WEEKLY, Nos.......................... - ....copies of Ten-Cent Hand Books, Nos................................. - Name.................Street and No................Town..........State.. - - - - -Fame and Fortune Weekly - -_STORIES OF BOYS WHO MAKE MONEY_ - -By A SELF-MADE MAN - - _32 Pages of Reading Matter_ _Handsome Colored Covers_ - - ☛ =PRICE 5 CENTS A COPY= ☚ - ☛ =A New One Issued Every Friday= ☚ - - -This Weekly contains interesting stories of smart boys, who win -fame and fortune by their ability to take advantage of passing -opportunities. Some of these stories are founded on true incidents -in the lives of our most successful self-made men, and show how a -boy of pluck, perseverance and brains can become famous and wealthy. -Every one of this series contains a good moral tone, which makes “Fame -and Fortune Weekly” a magazine for the home, although each number -is replete with exciting adventures. The stories are the very best -obtainable, the illustrations are by expert artists, and every effort -is constantly being made to make it the best weekly on the news stands. -Tell your friends about it. - - -THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF THE FIRST EIGHT TITLES AND DATES OF ISSUE - - No. 1.--A Lucky Deal; or, The Cutest Boy in Wall Street - Issued Oct. 6th - No. 2.--Born to Good Luck; or, The Boy Who Succeeded - Issued Oct. 13th - No. 3.--A Corner in Corn; or, How a Chicago Boy Did the Trick - Issued Oct. 20th - No. 4.--A Game of Chance; or, The Boy Who Won Out - Issued Oct. 27th - No. 5.--Hard to Beat; or, The Cleverest Boy in Wall Street - Issued Nov. 3rd - No. 6.--Building a Railroad; or, The Young Contractors of Lakeview - Issued Nov. 10th - No. 7.--Winning His Way; or, The Youngest Editor in Green River - Issued Nov. 17th - No. 8.--The Wheel of Fortune; or, The Record of a Self-Made Boy - Issued Nov. 24th - - For sale by all newsdealers, or will be sent to any address on receipt - of price, 5 cents per copy in money or postage stamps, by - - - =FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher 24 Union Square, New York= - - -IF YOU WANT ANY BACK NUMBERS - -of our Libraries and cannot procure them from newsdealers, they can be -obtained from this office direct. Cut out and fill in the following -Order Blank and send in to us with the price of the books you want and -we will send them to you by return mail. - - =POSTAGE STAMPS TAKEN THE SAME AS MONEY.= - - ...................................................................... - - FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, 24 Union Square, New York. ......190 - Dear Sir--Enclosed find......cents for which please send me: - ....copies of WORK AND WIN, Nos........................................ - ....copies of FAME AND FORTUNE WEEKLY, Nos............................. - ....copies of FRANK MANLEY’S WEEKLY, Nos............................... - ....copies of WILD WEST WEEKLY, Nos.................................... - ....copies of THE LIBERTY BOYS OF ’76, Nos............................. - ....copies of PLUCK AND LUCK, Nos...................................... - ....copies of SECRET SERVICE, Nos...................................... - ....copies of YOUNG ATHLETE’S WEEKLY, Nos.............................. - ....copies of TEN-CENT HANDBOOKS, Nos.................................. - Name.................Street and No................Town..........State.. - - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - - -A number of typographical errors were corrected silently. - -Cover image is in the public domain. - -Dittoes replaced with words meant to be duplicated. - -The third Walcott in the text was changed from Whitemore due to context. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CORNER IN CORN; OR HOW A -CHICAGO BOY DID THE TRICK *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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