Show Jm m filE DELUGE jMJ GRAHAM PIHLLIRS 4uhar of THE COSTfc < cyGfr tsar 4br Ba T1dZ J z CHAPTER XXXIII Continued issued a clear statement of tho J tlonj I showed In minute detail l < r tile people > standing together un leadership of the honest men riM perty could easily force tho big ms to consent to nn honest Just Hounded hun built reconstruct b jy statement appeared in all morning papers throughout the t Turn hack to It read it You 1s1Y i that I was right Well oward two oclock Inspector Craw came Into lilY private office es ed by joe I saw in Joes seamed ngray face that some new danger risen Youve got to get out of said ho Tho mob in front of place fills the three streets Its I je up of crowds turned away from suspended hanks remembered I the sullen faces and UsseS as I entered the office that jalng earlier than usual My win II were closed to Keep I out the et t noises but now that my mind tp from the work In which I had i absorbed I could hear the sounds many voices oven through the thick e glass Were got 200 policemen here d the Inspector Five hundred e are on tho way Hut really Blacklock unless wo can got you iy therell be serious trouble damn uewspapora Every one them denounced you this morning dtbe 1 people are in a fury against i tent toward the door Hold on Matt cried Joe spring at me and seizing me Where you going To tell them what r think of them led I sweeping him aside For r blood was up and I was enraged must the poor cowardly fools For Gods sake dont show your T he begged If you dont care your own lire think of the rest is Weve fixed a route through dings and under streets up to dway Your electric Is waiting you there It wont do I said Ill face em iii the only way I lent to the window and was about throw up ono of the sunbllnds a look at them Crawford stopped Theyll stone the building and a storm it said he You must at once by the route weve arced ar-ced Eten If you toll them Im goner gone-r wont believe it replied I TVe can look out for that said eager to save me and caring hang about consequences to him I But I had unsettled the In actor Send for my electric to come down t said I Ill go out alono and min It and drive away Thatll never do cried Joo But the Inspector said Youre It Mr Illacklock Its a bare IIIce You may tako em by sur se Again some fellow may yell throw j a stone and lIe did not 1 to finish Joe I < looked wildly at mo You Jtat do it Matt ho exclaimed Dull precipitate a riot Crawford rou > permit this But t the Inspector was telephoning my electric Then he went into Joining room where ho com tiled a view of the entrance ace between Joo and mo until he lined The electric is coming down the et t said he I rose Good said I Im ready walt until tho other police get V advised Crawford If the mob Is In the temper you > Crlbe said I the less thats done rotate It the bettor I must go out if I hadnt a suspicion of danger The Inspector old mo with un Cession tint was highly flattering lUy vanity 111 go with you said Joo startup start-up fioni his stupor So I replied You and tho other bas can take the underground teif Its necessary It t wont bo necessary put In tho rector 1a goon ns Im rid of you have ny additional force Ill Ir the streots Ho wont to thor tho-r Wait Mr Illacklock until Ive time to get out to my mon er aua ten seconds aftor ho dlsap red I without further words put That lit n cigar shook Joes wet lULling hand loft In It my private 1 1 i and the memorandum of tho Wnatkm of my private vault I1 I sallied forth had always had n ravenous appo t for excitement and I had been many a tight place but for tho it tine thoro Boomed to mo to bo Willbrlnm between my m Internal Ir p and the outside situation As ° PPed from my street door and DCIll about mo 1 hud no feeling danger The whole situation led so lilmplo There stood tho rle Just across tho narrow itch 1 or sldowalk thoro were the Police under Crawfords orders mired everywhere through tho A bland Roodnaturcdly jostling andS and-S to create distraction With out haste I got into my machine I calmly met tho gaze of those thousands thou-sands quiet as so many barrels of gunpowder before tho explosion Tho chauffeur turned the machine Go slow I called to him You might hurt somebody But he had his orders from tho Inspector In-spector Ho suddenly darted ahead nt full speed The mob scattered In every direction and we were In Broadway Broad-way bound up town fulllilt before 1 or the mob realized what ho was about I called to him to slow down He paid not the slightest attention I leaned from tho window and looked up at him It was not my chauffeur it was u man who had the unmistakable unmistak-able but indescribable marks of tho plainclothes policeman Where are you going I shouted Youll find out when we arrive ho shouted back grinning I settled myself and waitedwhat else was there to do Soon I guessed we were headed for tho pier off which my yacht was anchored As we dashed on to It I saw that It was filled with police both In uniform and In plain clothes I descended A detective de-tective sergeant stepped up to me Wo are here to help you to your yacht he explained You wouldnt be safe anywhere In New York no taxes than ever and a vaster and moro expensive and more luxurious army of their parasites The people had risen for financial and Industrial freedom they had paid Its fearful price then In senseless panic and terror they Hung It away 1 have read that one of the Inscrip tions on Apollos temple at Delphi was Man the foot of the farce Truly tho gods must have created us for their amusement and when Olympus palls they ring up the curtain cur-tain on some such screaming comedy as was that It makes tho fancy chuckle whilst the heart doth ache CHAPTER XXXIV BLACK MATT8 TRIUMPH My enemies caused It to be widely believed that Wild Week was my deliberate contrivance for tho solo purpose of enriching myself Thus they got mo a reputation for almost superhuman daring for satanIc astuteness astute-ness at coldblooded calculation I do I not deserve the admiration and respect that my success worshiping follow countrymen lay at my feet True I did greatly enrich myself but not until the Monday after Wild Week Not until I had pondered on men and events with the assistance of tho newspapers my detective protectors and Jailers permitted to be brought aboard not until the last hopo of turning Wild Week to the immediate public advantage had sputtered out like a lost mans last match did I think of benefiting myself of seizing tho opportunity to strengthen myself for the future On Monday morning I said to Sorgt Mulholland I want to go ashore at once and send some telegrams The sergeant Is one of the detective bureaus dresssuIt men lIe is by nature phlegmatic and cynical His experience has put over that a veneer of weary politeness Wo had become great friends during our enforced inseparable in-separable companionship For Joe who looked on mo some what as a mother looks on a brilliant but erratic son had as I soon discovered elaborated elab-orated a wonderful programme for I t I I I aF r r r r 1 i al III I V I I M504 I j 39 N c i OO BLOW I CALLLIU TO HIM YOU MIGHT HUNT SOMEUODY more would the place that harbored you youHo bad both common sense and force on his side I got Into tho launch Four detective sergeants accompanied ac-companied me and went aboard with mo Go ahead said one of them to my captain He looked at mo for orders or-ders We are in tho hands of our guests said I Let them have their way Wo steamed down the buy and out to sea From Mnlno to Texas the cry rose and swelled Ulacklock Is responsible What does It matter whether ho lied or told tho truth Seo the results of his crusade Ho ought to be plIorled Ho ought to t bo killed Ho Is tho enemy of the human race He has almost plunged tho wholo civilized world Into bankruptcy and civil war Ami they turned eagerly to tho very autocrats who had been oppressing for them You havo the genius finance and Industry Savo usl If you did not know you could guess how those patriots with tho genius for finance and Industry responded re-sponded When they had done when their programme was in effect Lang don Molvlllo and Updegraff were the three richest men In tho country and Octavluu Antony and as powerful as I Lopldus after Philippi They hUll saddled upon the reorganized finance I atid Industry of tAe nation heavier me It Included a watch on mo day and night lest through rage or despondency de-spondency I should try to do violence vio-lence to myself A line character that Joo Hut to return Mulholland answered my request for shoreleave with a soothing smile Cant do It Mr Blacklock ho said Our orders are positive Hut when wo put in at Now London and send ashoro for further fur-ther Instructions and for the papers you can send In your messages As you please said L And I gave him a cipher telegram to Joean order or-der to Invest my store of cash which moant practically my whole fortune In the giltedged securities that were to bo had for cash at a small fraction of their value This on tho Monday after Wild Week please note I would have helped the people to deliver themselves them-selves from the bondage Of the bandits ban-dits They would not havo it I would oven have sacrificed my all In trying to save them in spite of themselves them-selves But what IB one sane man against u stampeded multitude of maniacs mani-acs For confirmation of my disinterestedness disin-terestedness I point to all those weeks and months during which I waged costly warfare on The Seven who would gladly have glvon mo more than I now havo could I have been bribed to desist Hut when I was compelled to admit hat I had overestimated over-estimated my folio men that the pooplo wear the yoktj because they I hnvo not yet becou liitellgmA auto competent enough to bo froo then and not until then did I abandon tho hopeless struggle And I did not go over to the bun I dlts I ulinply resumed my own 11t11 ected personal ntTnlrs and mall Will Week lit least a personal triumph There IB nothing of the spectacular In my nmkeui I luivo no belief In he value of martyrs and martyrdom Onuses are not won and In nay hum Mo opinion never have been wonIn ho graveyards Alive and afoot and armed and true to my cause I am tho dreaded mennee to systematic and respectable robbery What posslblo good could have come of mobs killing mo and the bandits dividing my estate Hut why should I seek to justify myself I care not a rap for the opinion of my fellow men They sought my life when they should have been hailing me as a deliverer now they look up to me because they falsely false-ly I believe me guilty of an Infamy My guards expected to bo recalled on Tuesday But Melville heard what Crawford had done about mo and straightway used his influence to have mo detained until the new grip of the old gang was secure Saturday afternoon wo put In at Newport for the dally comunlcntlon with tho shore When tho launch returned Mulholland brought the papers to me lounging aft In a mass of cushions under time awning We are going ashore said he Tho order has come I had a sudden sense of loneliness Ill tako you down to New York said I I prefer to land my guests where I shipped them As we steamed slowly westward I read the papers The country was rapidly readjusting Itself was returning return-ing to tho conditions before the upheaval up-heaval The financiers tho same old gang except for a few of the weaker brethren ruined and a few strong outsiders who had slipped In during the confusIonwere employing all the old familiar devices for deceiving deceiv-ing and robbing the people Tho upset up-set mllklngstool was righted and the milker was sealed again nd busy tho good old cow standing without so much as shake of horn or switch of tall Mulholland said I what do you think of this business of dying Ill tell you Mr Ulacklock said he I used to fuss and fret a good deal about It Hut I dont any more Ive got a house up In the Bronx and a bit of land round It And theres Mrs Mulhollnnd and four little Mulhol lands and me thats my country and my party and my religion The rest Is ofT my beat and I dont give a damn for it I dont care which fakir gets to be president or which swindler swin-dler gets to bo rich Everything works out somehow and the best any man cn do Is to mind his own business Mulholland Mrs Mulholland four little Mulhollands said I reflectively Thats about as much as ono man could attend to properly Andyou are on the level arent you Some say honestys tho best policy pol-icy replied he Some say it Isnt I dont know and I dont care whether wheth-er It Is or It Isnt Its my policy And we six seem to have got along on It so far I sent my guests ashore the next morning No Ill stay aboard said I to Mulholland as ho stood aside for me to precede him down the gangway from tho launch I went Into tho watchpocket of my trousers and drew out the folded two l000blllsI always carried it was a habit formed in my youthful gambling days I handed him one of tho bills He hesitated For tho four little Mulhollands I urged Ho put It In his pocket I watched I him and his men depart with a heavy I heart I felt alpno horribly lone without a tie or an Interest Somo of the morning papers spoke respectfully respect-fully of me as one of tho strong mon who had ridden tho flood and had been landed by It on the heights of wealth and power Admiration and envy lurked oven In sneers at my unscrupulous plotting Since I had wealth plenty of wealth I did not need character Of what uso was I character In such a world except asa as-a commodity to exchange for wealth I Any orders sir interrupted my captain I I looked round that vast and vivid scone of sea and land activities I I looked along the citys titanic skyline tho mighty fortresses of trade and commerce piercing the heavens and I flinging to tho wind their black banners ban-ners of defiance I felt that I was I under tho walls of hell Itself To get away from this replied Ito I-to tho waiting captain Go back I down tho Soundto Dawn Hill I 1 Yes I would go to the peaceful I soothing country to my dogs and I I horses and those faithful servants i bound to ino by our common lovo for I I the same animals Men to cross i swords with to amuse oneself with I mused but dogs and horses to live with I pictured myself at the kennels tho Joyful uproar tho instant Instinct warned tho dogs of my comIng com-Ing how they would b > ap and bark and tremble In a very ecstasy of do I light as I stood among them how Jealous all tho others would be as I I selected ono to caress I I Send her ahead as fast as nho1 I go I called to the captain I To bo Continued |