Show Sm I C lIE DELUGE D jVfl GRAHAM PMLLJRS Author of TTcaszt 10 X1 2r dydi 8048111 YLL CtY yyyi a PTER Vlll Continued tq cHAPTER ot his house once be 11 d knew been he occupied the left ed whole of the second floor so I t dthat e it net only had a separate J but also could not be ire In tho right side ot by those ed without descending to the oC e hall and ascending the lot t ce i I C al take my card to his private lrr to Mr llathburn said I art r igngdoa has doubtless left age or t for mo ge at butler hesitated yielded the reception room off id me Into OS trance hall I waited a few sec to then adventured the stairway of Id ho had disappeared r t up which I ered the small salon in which jon led < j-on had received me on my other Ibl I From the direction of an open E I heard his voIcehe was say I not at home Theres no r la i am we I still 1 did not realize that It d he was avoiding tat auto use now Langdon I called filly Rue pardon for seeming rg rode I misunderstood didnt rye where tho servant said I wns to 1 However no harm done So Iw j Im off But I made no move i d the door by which I had en Instead I advanced a few feet C r the door from which his voice ner ome eb jer a brleta very briefpause lea came In Langdons voice laugh out ot a trace of annoyance I 1 have known Come In Matt de C ixT of LANGDON AT HOME IS s tered with an amused glanco at < t g uUer who was giving over his countenance to a delightful ex n of disgust and discomfiture S Langdons sitting room He anb ad the carved antique oak in R of a room in an old French palm m pal-m out and transported to New PM and set up for him I had made aim dy of that sort of thing and at Hill had done something toward lag my own Ideas of the aplcn at But a glance showed me that I 1 Mu ar surpassed What I had done of d In comparison like the compo H ota school boy beside an essay m ildsmlth or Hazlltt In the midst of this quiet splen at or rather lounged Langdon G 1 F g the newspapers Ho was hot dfa a dark blue velvet house I to with facings and cords of him to i shade or so lighter that tO deal I had always thought him hand he looked now like a god He lIce making a cigarette In an orlen Ider nearly a foot long but then the-n I f the room so perfect was the Ime Non Instead of being scented for I tobacco had tile odor of some i M dean slightly saline perfume nk what was in my mind must eau shown In my face must have Iit flattered him for when I 10 L d at him he was giving me i lelr of 1 genuine friendly kindliness ours Iaperrect Langdon said I think Im a Judge 11 i you like It said he trying tAle < 11 U t-Ale his satisfaction In so strong 11 1 reSslDg muleS mule-S u must take me through youi k br sometime I went on Im go ler build soon Nodont be nfrali een Itate Im too vain foe that Bu t suggestions Im not ashamei to school to a masterto any It for that matter betr y do you build said he A bass house Is a nuisance If I could hen my wire to take the children to Son 3u ry to live Id dispose Of woc its Itthe wife said I it t your have no wife At ellloi I replied with a laugh Not gultt ut Im going to have iaC1 denly I iJ my mind reverted to my 1 55 flow do you account for folio earliness of textile Langdon f returning to tho calved sitting e to aDd trying to put those sur Ill n out of my mind Jr 1 d ont account for It was his IV I UllllltIrlstd reply 701 lour people under the mar Ml loot Isnt to my interest to have It fled Is I Ito h9 ropll d < ew 1 now that I admitted Dut why ioo 1 t It drop disc c1 Jse letter ° of yours may have t SOl Ucatlt the public In conll B ToiT SUg r1Itll lto < Your follow lUg Ye the lmllt II of COlli aaler Mlovlns impllo r You say S but 1 havent written a hue arlne textile far T nearly n month now that filed to ohjct my vanity fairly err g with pllasuro n i Of f yrt the only reason I can give t bu IJ are 10 ro POrtln sure nOllO of Jour People fife stock i asked as I and not for Information for I it ltStl II 1 knew lllpy werent I trust CI w havo e16 r4 seen to that d al 1 Bke to get my holdings back d I IlIIl know rant buy until its down pC ray none of my people would UPPOrt II IlIIpO 500 tq Well then the price must break said 1 H wont bo many days bo toro the public begins to realize that there isnt anybody under textile No sharp break he said eyeless 1 > No panic Ill see to that replied I with not a shadow oC n notion or the subtlety behind his warning I hope It will break soon ho then ad adding In his friendliest voice with what I now know was malignant treachery You owe It to me to bring It down That meant that he wished mo to increase my already far too heavy and dangerous line of shorts Just then a voicea womans voice came from the salon May I come In Do I Interrupt it said and Its tone struck mo as having In It some thing of plaintive appeal Excuse I mo a minute Hlacklock said he rising with what was for him haste But he was too late Tho woman entered searching the room with t piercing suspicious gaze At once 1 saw behind that look a Jealousy thai pounced on every subject that came I a 41 L I r t o J 41PQ I 1 a I I I 5 a I I A l I I r i I I W l I AND IN THE MIDST OF THIS QUIET SPLENDOR SAT OR RATHER LOUNGED LANGDON Into Its view and studied It with a hope that feared and a fearthathoped When her eyes had toured tho room to be him seemed they paused upon saying Youve baffled me again but I Im not discouraged I shall catch you vet I Well my dear said Langdon whom sho seemed faintly to amuse Mr Blacklock Mr Black I Its only luck my wife I bowed sho looked coldly at me I than a was moro used her slight nod hint that sho wished to bo left alone with her husband Well Ill be off I said to him Thank you for One moment ho interrupted I Then to his wife Anything special She Hushed Nonothing special But If I am Ou I I Just came to see you disturbing youUS usual When Black Not at all said he finished Ill come to lock and 1 have you It wont bo longer than an bole or so scaled again Lang When wo wore reflective puffs at his don after a few to cigarette said So youre about man I I But as I hope so said bo sure et I cant havent asked her yet enam I wasnt BO I obvious icasons For matrimony as I had ored of the Idea of in tow moments before been a making a sensible I trust youie that said ho If the part marriage should by chance tub I be glamour ay something Scan ought to be nway thco clOllll away feel he wasnt thing to make one wholly an ass replied with em sensible I Very vwimau I need phasls I want tho her lie Inspected the coal of his cigar etto lifting his eyebrows at It Pros ently ho said And she I ° n > know how sho feels about I ItM I told you I replied curtly In spite ot ml myself > lny eyes 8hlflcl and mj skin began to burn liy the way Iangllon whats the name Ot your architect Wilder and Marcy said homey f ho-mey ro fairly satisfactory If you tell em exactly what you want and watch I em all the time Theyre perfectly I conventional and so cant distinguish between originality thats artistic and originality Hints only bizarre Theyre like most peoplethey keep to tho beaten track anti fight tooth and nail against being drawn out ot It and against those who do co out of It Ill have a talk with Marcy this very day said I Oh youre In a hurry lie laughed And you havent asked her You remind re-mind me of that Greek philosopher who was In love with Lais They asked him Hut does she love you And he said One does not inquire of the flsh one likes whether it likes oneI I flushed Youll pardon me Lang don said I but I dont like that It isnt my attitude at all toward the right sort of women He looked halfquizzical halt apolo getic Ah to bo sure said he I forgot you werent a married man And so I left him with a look In his eyes that came back to mo long afterward when I realized the full meaning of that apparently almost commonplace Interview I The same day I began to plunge on textile watching tho market closely I that I might go more slowly should L there be signs of a dangerous break for no more than Langdon did I want l a sudden panicky slump The price held steady however but 1 fool that I was certain the fall must come plunged on digging the pit for my own destruction deeper and deeper X TWO PILLARS OF SOCIETY I was neither seeing nor hearing from tho Ellerslys father or son but as I knew why I was not disquieted I had made them temporarily easy in their finances Just before that dinner and they being fatuous incurable optimists op-timists were probably imagining they would never need mo again I did not disturb them until Monsou and I had got my education so well under way that oven I always severe In self criticism and now merciless was compelled com-pelled to admit to myself a distinct change for tho better When my education seemed far enough advanced I sent for Sam He after his footless fashion didnt bother to acknowledge my note His margin account with mo was at the moment straight I turned to his father I had my cashier send him a formal typowritten letter signed Blacklock Co Informing him that his account was overdrawn and that wo would be obliged If ho would give the matter his Immediate attention The note must have reached him the following morning but he did not come until after waiting three days wo sent him a sharp demand for a check for the balance due usA us-A pleasing arIstocratic iooklug figure fig-ure he made as ho entered my office with his air of the man whose hands have never known tho stains ot toll with his manner of having always receive re-ceive deferential treatment There woes no pretense In my curt greeting my tone of dos uch jour luslnar sir and ho gone for I was both busy and much irritated against him I guess you want to see our cashier said I after giving him n hasty ab Bcnttnlndcd handshake My boy out thoro will tako you to him Tho old donothlngB face lost Its confident condescending expression Ills lip quivered and I think there wero tears In his bad dint jirnygreon eyes I suppose he thought his a profoundly pro-foundly pathetic case no doubt ho hadnt the remotest conception what ho really wasand no doubt also there are many who would honestly take his view As If the fact that ho was born with all possible advantages lid not make him nnd his plight Inexcusable Inex-cusable No my dear Hlacklock said ho cringing now ns easily as ho had condescended con-descended how to cringe and bow to condescend are taught at the samo school the one ho had gone to all hIs life It Is you I want to talk with I And first I owe you my apologies I know youll mako allowances for ono who was never trained to business methods Ive always been like a child In those matters You frighten me said I Tho last gentleman who came throwing mo off my guard with that plea was shrewd enough to get away with avery a-very large sum ot my heard earned m nor Hcsldes nnd I was laughIng laugh-Ing though not too good naturndly 1vo noticed that you gentlemen become be-come vague about business only when tho balanco is against you When Its In your favor you manage to get your minds on business long enough to collect col-lect to the last fraction of a cent Ho heartily echoed my laugh I only wish I were clever said he However Ivo como to ask your indulgence in-dulgence Id havo been hero before I but those who owo mo have been putting put-ting me off And theyre of tho sort of people whom its Impossible to press Id like to accommodate you further fur-ther said I shedding that last little hint as a cliff sheds rain but Pout account has been in an unsatisfactory state for nearly a month now Im sure youll give mo a few days longer was his easy reply as If we were discussing a trifle By the way you havent been to see us yet Only this morning my wlfo was womlerlna when joud come You quite captivated capti-vated her Blacklock Cant you dint with us tomorrow nightno Sundaj at eiijnt Woro having In a fow people I think youd like to meet Glad to come said I wishing to be rid of him now that my point vat gained Well let the account stand open for tho presentI rather think your stocks are going up Give my ro gards tothe ladles please especially to Miss Anita Ho winced but thanked mo graciously grac-iously gave me his soft fine hand tc shake and departed as eager to be oft as I to bo rid of him Sunday next at right were his last words Dont fall usthat in tho tone of n king ad dressing somo obscure person whom he had commanded to court It maybe may-be that old Ellersly was wholly unconscious uncon-scious of his superciliousness fancied he was treating me as if I were almost al-most an equal but I suspect he rather accentuated his natural manner with tho Idea of Impressing upon me that In our deal he was giving at least ns much as I My petty and Inevitable success with that helploss creature added amazingly ludicrously to that dangerous dan-gerous elation which as I scan now see had been growing In me ever since the day Roebuck yielded so readily read-ily to my demands as to National coal The whole trouble with me was that up to that time I had won all my victories vic-tories by tjie plainest kind of straightaway straight-away hard work I was Imagining myself my-self victor in contests of wit against wit when In fact no one with any especial cqlpment of brains had ever opposed me all the really strong men had been helping mo because they found mo useful Hut for my self hypnotism In the case of Roebuck I find no excuse whatever for myself Ho sent for me and told mo what share in National coal they had decided de-cided to give me for my Manasquala minIs Langdon and Melville said he think mo too liberal far too liberal lib-eral my boy But I InsistedIn your case I felt wo could afford to be generous gen-erous as well as Just All this with an air that was a combination of tho pastor and the parent I cant even offer tho excuse of not having seen that ho was a hypocrite I felt his hypocrisy at once and my first impulse was to Jump for my bieastworks But instantly my vanity got behind me held mo In the open pushed mo on toward him If you will notice almost all confidence games rely for success chiefly upon enlisting a mans vanity to play the traitor to his Judgment So Instead of reading his liberality as plain proof of Intended Intend-ed treachery I read It as plain proof of my own greatness and of tho fear It had Inspired in old Roebuck Laugh with me If I you like but before you laugh at me think carefnlly those ol you who have ever put youi helves to the test on the field of actionthink carefully whether you leave never found that your head decoration which In reality you thought a crown was the peaked and belled cap of the fool To bo Continued |