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Show IFbL, IN D FOLDED BY EARLE ASHLEY WALCOH Copyright. 1906, by Th Bobbs-MerrlU Company. most unaccountable young woman. And then there dashed over me a sickening realisation of what I had done, of what X had promised, and of how impossible it was that I should ever reveal to her the secret I guarded. I cursed the mad folly and crime of her father, for they stood between her and me. Yet under the subtler influence that she cast upon me I felt the bonds of duty relaxed and slipping slip-ping away. I had now to confess to myself my-self thst I loved Luella Knapp. And she? I hoped and feared, and ran over in my mind every incident of my later vlstts that might tell In what ' regard ' I was held the tones, the words, the manner, that ran from deep Interest to indifference. indiffer-ence. And trying to untangle the skein, J -"vas a good deal startled to feel a touch on my arm as I reached the sidewalk. side-walk. "Oh. it's you. Porter, is it?" I exclaimed, ex-claimed, on recognising my retainer. "Is Barkhouse here?" "Yes, sir. An' here's Wilson with a message for you." "A message for me! From whom?" Wilson took me aside, and thrust an envelope Into my hand. "That come to your room about o'clock, I reckon." he said. "Leastways, that's the first we saw of it An' Mother Moth-er Borton was there, an' she says she must see you tonight, sure. She wouldn't stay, but saya you was to come down there before you goes to bed. sure, if you wants to keep out of trouble." I looked at the envelope, and in the flickering light from the street lamp I could make out the address to Henry Wilton. By the handwriting and by the Indefinable scent (hat rose from the paper. pa-per. I knew it for a message from the unknown who held for me the secrets of life and death. (To Be Continued.) CHAPTER XX. I walked down the steps and Joined my waiting guards with a budget of new . thoughts and feelings to examine. The three days that followed were days i of storm and stress in the market; a time ; of steady battle in the Stock exchange, ' of feints and sallies on stocks which we . did not want, of "wash sales" and bogus , bargains, of rumors on rumors, of : stratagems on stratagems altogether a harvest season for the- Father of Lies. Doddridge Knapp fought for the control ' of Omega, and the Decker syndicate fought aa stubbornly for the same end. I ; was forced -to admlre the fertility of re-j re-j source displayed by the king of the . street. He was carrying on the fight I with the smaller capital, yet by his at-! at-! tack and defense he employed his- re-' re-' . sources to better result. The weakness ; of the syndicate lay In Its burden of Con-; Con-; fldenca and Crown Diamond. Doddridge ; Knapp had sold out his holdings of both ; at a handsome profit, but, so far from - ceasing his sales of these stocks, as I ; had expected, he had only beun. He suddenly developed Into a most pro-4 pro-4 nounced "bear." and sold both stocks for future delivery in greet blocks. He was cautious with Confidence, but his assaults as-saults on Crown Diamond were ruthless. " At every session he sold for future delivery de-livery at lower and lower prices, and a 4 large contingent of those "on the street" i Joined in the bear movement. Decker ; and his brokers stood gallantly to the defense de-fense of their threatened properties snd ' bought heavily. Yet it was evident that ; Omega, Crown Diamond and Confidence , together made a little heavier burden than even the El Dorado bank could i carry. In spite of their efforts to buy everything that was offered. Crown Dia-1 mond "futures" fell to forty, thirty, twenty-five, and even to twenty, closing at the afternoon session at twenty and three-fourths. But the king of the street was less successful suc-cessful in his manipulation of Omega. Despite his efforts, despite the rumors that .were industriously spread about of the "pinching out" of toe great veins, the - price continued to go up by leaps and bounds. The speculating public- as well as Decker and Company were reaching out for the stock and it was forced up ten and twenty points at a time, clos- ,rlng on Saturday afternoon at three hun-dred hun-dred nd twenty-five, t '"This is merry war," gasped Wall-Abrldge Wall-Abrldge at the close of the last session. "I wouldn't have missed this for five 1 years of my life. Doddridge Knapp is the boy for making the market hum when he takes the notion. By George! we've had a plcnlo this week. And last Monday I thought everything was dead, too!" "Doddridge Knapp!" I exclaimed. "Is he In this deal, too?'' Wallbridge looked at me In a little confusion, con-fusion, and mopped his head with comical comi-cal abandon. Then he winked a most diabolical wink, and chuckled. "Of course, a secret's a secret; but when the whole street's talking about it, you can't exactly call it a close-corporation secret," he explained apologetically. I assured the stout little broker solemnly thst Doddridge Knapp was to know nothing of my dealings. "I'll do anything for a good customer . like you," he gasped. "Lord, if it wasn't for the lying, where would the market be? Dead, sir. dead!" And Wallbridge shook-his head merrily over the moral degradation Of the business that chained his thoughts by day and his dreams by nlfht. I Joined Doddridge Knapp st the office and confided to him the fact that the cat was out of the bag. The king of the street looked a little amused at the announcement. an-nouncement. "Good Lord, Wilton! Where are your ears?" he said. "The street had the whole story on Friday. Decker was sure of it on Wednesday. But I kept under cover long enough to get a good start, and that was as much as I expected." "How do we stand now?" I asked. I knew- that our purchases had not been progressing very well. "There's five hundred shares to get." said the king of the street thoughtfully; "five hundred and thirty-six, to be accurate." accu-rate." "That's not a very promising outlook," I suggested, remembering that we had secured only four hundred shares in the whole, day's struggle. "Well, there'll be an earthquake In the street if we don't get them, and maybe there'll be one If we do. ' Decker is likely like-ly to dump all his shares on the market the minute we win, and It will be the devil's own Job to keep the bottom from falling out if he does.' The king of the street then gave some brief directions. "Now." he continued, "you are to be at ' the exchange without fall on Monday morning. I'll be there to give you your orders. Don't be one minute behind hand, or there may be Tophet to pay." And he emphasised his words with sn impressive im-pressive growl that showed the wolf's fangs. Til be on hand." I replied. "Well, then, go," he growled: "and see that you come with a clear head on Monday. Mon-day. Keep your thirst until-after the game is over." A few hours later I was at the house of the wolf, but I forgot to ask for .Doddridge .Dodd-ridge Knapp. Luefia received me with apparent indifference that contrasted sharply with her parting, and I was piqued. Mrs. Knapp was gracious, and sailed between us before I had received a dosen words. "Where are your spirits tonight?" she asked ralllngly. "Have you left them in lower Pine street?" "I have a heart for any fate," I returned re-turned lightly. "Am I too grave for the occasion? "You're always under orders to be cheerful," LueWa broke In, "or at least to explain the reason why." ' "He can't explain," retorted her moth-er. moth-er. "Mr. Knapp won't let him." It struck me, cn watching mother and daughter, that It was they who were grave. Luella gave an occasional flash of brightness, but seemed tired or depressed. de-pressed. . l-lle Mrs. Knapp appeared to Struggle against some insistent sorrow. But I. we found a subject In which 1 .. roused her interestrand her bright miii.l and ready wit drove away tne fancy that had first assailed me. Then some caller claimed the attention of Mrs. Knapp, and I was content to monopolise Luella'B conversation for the evening. At last I was constrained to go. Mrs. Knapp was still busied In conversation with her visitor, and Luella followed me once more into the hall. Again her animation left her, and she was silent; and I, on my side, could think of-nothing to say. Then her deep gray eyes flashed upon me a look that sent my pulses throbbing, an Indefinable, pleading plead-ing glance that shook my soul. Can't you tell me won't you tell me'" she said In a low tone that was the complement com-plement of the silent speech of the eyes "I wish I could," I whispered. "I know It must be right It Is right " she said In the same tone. "But I wish that I might know. Will you not tell me?" t'l will tell you some day." I said bro-VVly. bro-VVly. "Now It is snother's. and I can- I But It shall all be yours." -I! Kll?" Everything." In another moment I know not what I should have done, so stirred and tempted was I by her tone and look. But In an Instant her manner changed, and she exclaimed ex-claimed In a mocking voice: "Now I have your promise, so I'll let you go. You'd better not linger, or mamma mam-ma will certainly have some business to talk over with you." And before I could touch her hand she wss gone, snd her laughing "good night" echoed down the hall.. 1 was puzzled' by these changes of mood . and decided that Luella Knapp was a ' . ' . 0 |