Show avit it w 11 nv M A y j THE BALL OF FIRE by RANDOLPH CHESTER and LILLIAN CHESTER illustrated BY C D RHODES t ht 1914 by the hed book corporation CHAPTER I 1 no place for sentiment silence pervaded the dim old aisles of the market square church the win ter sun streaming through the clerestory windows cast on the floor and on the vacant benches patches of ruby and sapphire of emerald and of topaz these seeming only to accenti ate the dimness and the silence in that silence the vestry door creaked it opened wide and it was as if a vision had suddenly been set there bathed in the golden light from the transept window brown haired brown eyed rosy checked cheeked stood a girl who might have been one of the slender stained glass virgins come to life the golden light naming the edges of her hair into an aureole she stood timidly peering into the dimness and on her beautifully curved lips ft as a half questioning smile uncle jim she called and there as some quality in her low voice which was strangely attractive and disturbing by george gall I 1 forgot that you were to come for me eald jim sar gent rising from amid the group of men in the dim transept we 11 be through in a few minutes allison you were about to prove something to us I 1 think prove Is the right word agreed the built man who had evi dently been addressing the vestry he was acutely conscious of the presence of gall as they all were your rec tor suggests that this Is a matter of sentiment ou are anxious to have fifty million dollars to begin the arec tion of a cathedral but I 1 came here to talk business and that only grant ing jou the full normal appreciation of our vedder court property and the normal increase of your aggregate rentals you cannot have at the end of ten years a penny over forty two millions I 1 am prepared to offer you in cash a sum which will at three and a half per cent and in ten years produce that exact amount to this I 1 add two million how much did you allow for in crease n the value of the property asked nicholas van whose only knowledge for several generations had been centered on this one question the original van bad bought a vast tract of manhattan for a dollar an acre and by that stroke of tower tag genius had placed the family of van for all eternity beyond the necessity of thought for answer allison passed him the envelope upon which be had been fig aring checking off an item as he did so he noticed that gall s lips twitched with suppressed mirth she turned abruptly to look back at the striking transept window and the three vestryman vestrymen vestry men in the rear pew am mediately eat cun who was a bachelor hastily smoothed his vandyke he was so rich by inheritance that money meant nothing to him not enough grunted van banding back the envelope and twist ing again in be general direction of gall ample retorted allison you can t count anything for the buildings while I 1 don fc deny that they yield the richest income of any property in the city they are the most decrepit tenements in new york they 11 fall down in less than ten years you have them propped up now jim sargent glanced at gall but she did not seem to be bored not a particle 1 they are passed by the building inspector annually pompously stated W T chisholm his mutton chops turning pink from the reddening of the skin beneath he bad spent a lifetime in resenting indignities be fore they reached him building inspectors change bated allason politics la very uncertain four indignant vestryman vestrymen vestry men clerked forward to answer that insult gentlemen this a a vestry meet ng 1 sternly reproved the rev smith boyd advancing a step and seeming to feel the need of a gavel his rich deep explained why be was rector of the richest church in the world galls eyes were dancing but other wise she was demureness demur enesa itself as she studied in turns the members of the richest vestry in the world she estl mated that eight of the gentlemen then present were almost close enough lo 10 the anger line to swear they num bared just eight and they were most interesting and this was a vestry meeting the topic of debate was money I 1 believe suggested rufus manning rescuing bis sense of humor from somewhere in bis beard he was the infidel member suppose oae we return to it Is offer worth conail erang why t inquired the nasal voice of clean shaven old joseph G cook who was in money matters the standard cereal company had attained ita colossal dimensions through re titles and he bad invented the de vice the only reason wed sell aillston would be that we could get more money than by the normal return from our investment ive allowed two million or profit of market square church in dealing with me stated aillston again proffering the envelope which no one made a move to take I 1 will not pay a dollar more W T was suddenly reminded that the vestry had a moral obligation in the matter under discus slon he was president of the bajes tic trust company and never forgot that fact to what use would you devote the property of market square church he gravely asked the erection of a terminal station for all the municipal transportation in new york answered aillston subways elevate ds surface cars traction lines I 1 the proposition should have the hearty operation cooperation co of every catl zen simple little idea gasn wasn t it gall had to think successively to comprehend what a stupendous enterprise this was and the man talked about it as modestly as if he were planning to and athla wa a vestry meeting sod a lawn more sol why back home if a man dreamed a dream so vast as that he just talked about it for the rest of and they put a poet s wreath on his tombstone now you re talking sentiment retorted stubby mustached bed jim sargent you said a while ago that you came here strictly on business so did we this Is no place tor sentiment rufus manning with the up of bis silvery beard in his fingers looked up into the delicate groining of the apse where it curved gracefully forward over the head of the famous henri dupre s crucifix and he grinned gal sargent was looking contemplatively from one to the other of the grave ves thymen you re right conceded aillston curtly suppose you fellows talk it over by yourselves and let me know your best offer very well assented jim sargent with an indifference which did not seem to be assumed we have some other matters to discuss and we may as well thrash this thing out right now we 11 let you know tomorrow gall looked at her watch and rose energetically I 1 shall be late at lucile s uncle jim I 1 don t think I 1 can wait for you be very happy to take miss sargent anywhere shed like to go offered allison almost instantaneously much obliged aillston accepted sargent heartily that is if she 11 go with you thank you said gall simply as she stepped out of the pew the gentlemen of the vestry rose as one man old nicholas van aloon even attempted to stand gracefully on one leg while his vest bulged over the back of the pew in front of him I 1 1 I think well have to make you a permanent member of the vestry smiled manning the patriarch as he bowed his adicus adieus weve been need ing a brightening influence for some time V tills cunningham the thoughtful one wedged his vandyke between the heads of standard cereal dark and banker we hope to sea you often miss sargent was bis thoughtful remark 1 I mean to attend services returned gall graciously looking up into the organ loft where the organist was making bis third attempt at that baa fling runan the bach prelude you haven t said how you like our famous old church suggested the rev smith boyd with pleasant ease though he felt relieved that she was going the sudden snap in gall s eyes fair ly scintillated it was like the shat terling of fine glass in the sunlight s s it seems to be a remarkably lucra live enterprise she smiled up at him and was rewarded by a snort from manning allason frankly guffawed guff awed the balance of the sedate vestry was struck dumb by the impertinence gall felt the eyes of the hev smith boyd fixed steadily on her and turned to meet them they were cold she bad thought them blue but now they were green 1 she stared back into them for a moment and a little red spot came into the delicate tint of her oral cheeks then she turned bellber abely to the marvelously beautiful big transept window it had been designed by the most famous stained glass artist in the world and its sub eject lent itself to a wealth of color it was christ turning the money changers out of the CHAPTER II 11 why exclaimed gall in delight turning up her face to the delicate flakes and the sun shining that means snow tomorrow allason helped her into his big pi looking runabout and tucked her in as if she were some fragile hot house plant which might freeze with the first cool draft the pretty white snow Is no friend of mine he assured her as he took the wheel and headed toward the avenue he looked calculatingly into abo sky this particular downfall Is likely to cost the municipal Tran tation company several thousand dol lars I 1 m curious to know the commer caal value of a sunset in new york gall smiled up at him allason bad the impression that under the cover of her exquisitely veined lids she was looking at him and having a great deal of fun all by herself we haven t capitalized sunsets yet but we have hopes he laughed then there s still a commercial opportunity port unity she lightly returned I 1 feel quite friendly to money but its so intimate here I 1 ve heard nothing else since I 1 came on monday even in church he chuckled you delivered a reckless shock to rev smith doyd s vestry well she demanded be ask my opinion I 1 don t think hell make the mis take again and allason took the cor ner into the avenue at speed which made gall unused to bare inches of leeway class allason as a demon driver the tall traffic policeman around whose upraised arm they had circled smiled a frank tribute to her beauty and she felt relieved she had cherished some feeling that they should be arrested however even a church must als cuss money went on allason as if he had just decided a problem to which he had given weighty thought fifty millions isn t mere money retorted gall its criminal wealth if no man can make a million dollars honestly how can a church allason swerved out into the center of the avenue and passed a red lemou sine before be answered he bad noticed that everybody in the street stared into his car and it flattered him immensely to have so pretty girl with him the wealth of market square church Is natural and normal be explained it arises partly from the increase in value of property which was donated when practically worth less judicious investment Is cespon elble for the balance oh bother and gall glanced at him impatiently your natural am pulse Is to defend wealth because it Is wealth but you know that market square church never should have had a surplus to invest the money should have been spent in charity why are they saving it allason began to feel the same respect tor gall s mental processes which he would tor a man s though when be looked at her with this thought in mind she was so thoroughly feminine that she puzzled him more than ever market square church has an am botlon worthy of its vestry he in formed her bringing his runabout to rest with a swift glide just an acau rate three inches behind the taxi in front of them when it has fifty mil lion dollars it proposes to start building the most magnificent cathedral on american soil why she pondered will a fifty million dollar cathedral save souls in proportion to the amount of money in vested allason enjoyed that query thor you must ask rev smith boyd be chuckled you talk like a hea theal oh no returned gall gravely and with a new tone I 1 pray every morning and every night and god bears me the note of reverence in her voice was a thing to which gave instant respect I 1 have no quarrel with religion why mr aut son I 1 love the church her eyes were glowing the same eyes which had closed in satirical mischief now they were rapt what a stunning coll lel she suddenly exclaimed All laon who bad followed her with admiring attention bis mind accod panyong hers in eager leaps laughed in relief after all she was a girl and what a girl the exhilaration of the drive and of the snow beating in her face and of the animated conver bad set the clear skin of her face aglow with color her deep red lips exquisitely curved and half part ed displayed a row of dazzling white teeth and the elbow which touched his was magnetic allason refused to believe that he was forty alval you re fond of collies be guessed surprised to find himself with an ea ger interest in the likes and dislikes of a young girl it was a new expert ence I 1 adore them she enthusiastically declared back home I 1 have one of every marking but a pure white there was something tender and wistful in the tone of that back home no doubt she had hosts or friends and admirers there possibly a favored suitor it was quite likely A girl such as gall sargent could hardly escape 11 if there was a fa bored suitor allason rather pitied him for gall was in the city of strong men busy with an entirely new and strange group of thoughts allason turned into the park and gall uttered an ercla matlon of delight as the fresh keen air whipped in her face the snow was like a filmy white veil against the bare trees and enough of it had clung by now to outline with sliver point ing the lacework of branches on the turf still green from the open win ter it lay in thin white patches and squirrels clad in their sleek winter garments were already scampering to their beds crossing the busy drive with the adroitness of accomplished metropolitan pedestrians their bushy tails hopping behind them in ungainly loops the pair in the runabout were silent for the east drive at this hour was thronged thron ged with outward bound ma chines and the roadway was slippery with the new fallen snow steady of nerve keen of eye firm of handl gall watched the alert figure of achson tensely and yet easily motionless in the seat beside her perhaps feeling the steady gaze al lison turned to her suddenly and tor a moment the gray eyes and the brown ones looked into each other then there leaped from the man to the a something which held her gaze a full second longer than she would have wished airs great he said with a smile glorious I 1 she agreed 1 I don t want to go in dont he promptly advised her a simple enough solution and her laugh in the snow laden air reminded him in one of those queer flashes of memory of a little string of be bad owned as a young ster however I 1 promised cousin luclle well stop at the house long enough to tell her you re busy sug allason as eager as a boy lets cried gall and with a laugh which be bad discarded with his drat business promotion allison threw out another notch of speed and whirled from the seventy second street entrance up the avenue to the proper turning and half way down the block where he made a swift but smooth stop bringing the step with marvelous accuracy to within an loch of the curb she flashed at him a smile and ran up the steps she turned to him again as she waited for the bell to be an and nodded to him with frank two vivacious looking gall watched the alert figure of al alfon tensely le betide her women one tall and black haired and the other petite and blonde and both fashionably slender and both pretty rushed out into the hall and sur rounded her for an instant edward E altison bad a glimpse of her in her garnet and turquoise flanked by a sprightly vision in blue and another sprightly vision in pink and he thought be heard the suppressed sounds of titter ing then the door closed and the lace curtains of the hall windows bulged outward and gall came tripping down the steps they raced up and into the park and around the winding driveways with the light hearted exhilaration et children and it there was in them at |