Show betm 1 KW fiall I 1 ra OH MY godl synopsis dick morgan ot sira cuse N T a allure in alte enlisted in the foreign legion of the french army under the nania of henry Is by shrapnel the french surgeons ask or a photograph to guide them in restoring his ace in his rage against life he offers in derision a picture postcard bearing the radiant ace 0 christ the surgeons do a good job on hla way back to america he meets martin a new york broker the result la that morgan under the name of goes back to syracuse to sell a mining stock he 19 deter mined to make good he tells people ot the death of morgan he finds in angela cullen a loyal de tender of dick morgan he meets carol durant who had refused to marry him she does not hesitate to tell him that she had loved mor gan Hlll lard finds he still loves her and Is tempted to confess lift hard tempts cullen his former cm aloer with his mining scheme he dl a rl al for carol s love in a nice young fellow named armstrong Hlll lard betrays his love to carol and Is told he has one chance in a thousand he sells large blocks of mining stock to cullen and others unexpectedly arrives in syracuse ai CHAPTER IX continued 10 thank you and you might take these drafts now three of em well any developments what tapped his alg arette case in the palm of hla left hand oh you mean the totne Hlll lard nodded yes have you gone any further with the shaft yeta two or three of the more cautious men are holding back until something bap pens with hat shaft was puzzled what shaft he placidly stowed away the drafts 1 I m not sinking anny new shafts at tills stage of the game it was s turn to be puzzled why I 1 mean the old shaft on sll no 1 latte you gone any further with it lie told these people we were just starting right it laughed noisily oh that shaft I 1 dont you think its a little early to begin on that bay about ninety thousand dollars too early As sat gazing at him in profound bewilderment a waiter slid up alongside him and coughed tor ills at gentleman wants to speak to you outside mr Hlll lard in the lobby says its important oh I 1 drew the back of ills hand across his forehead tell him I 1 II 11 come right out will you ex cuse me a moment mr II armon sure I 1 go ahead the promoter sat back comfortably and gave him a wave of dismissal his pupils narrowing went out to the doorway A pace or two distant one of the ice presidents of the trust and deposit company a friend of cullen s and a very good roan to know was loitering restively Ilc llo he said wrinkling his forehead how are you look here it a none of my business of course but I 1 help wondering how much you know about that clial sou re sitting ath dont be offend rd ita a friendly question simply ny interest in sou as one of our clients why I 1 know a good deal about bilm the banker continued solemnly you probably know a lot more about him than I 1 do then but just the hinline inline I 1 wanted to make sure nil he turned but willlard stopped him well you know about him before I 1 answer thatis he a friend of yours the question was too blunt to be diplomatic and too sus to be disregarded mt exactly that hes a rather food acquaintance though in a busl ness way what he Is socially I 1 dont know and I 1 don t think I 1 much are so ou dont need any about his business connections hy I 1 think not iio was nettled b the bankers manner the only thing about it said the vice president nettled in ills turn by s brevity Is that it ou d said son know him ery well id hare offered you some suggestions 0 d lieve expected you to thank roe I 1 really would under the t I 1 can t t cry well RO any further than this sorry I 1 interrupted oa no but wait a minute 1 I 1 the vice presidents refusal was firm and definite 1 I ann cnn t say word not an other one it you know him tufu clent and lie strode away across the lobby dum far mr II amion smiling broadly half awe from bis chair as the bisquer ader came slowly back to the table and sat down hard ell he said more business shook his head on the contrary ills voice had in it a curious dullness which the broker vi ai to catch 0 o bad news I 1 hope I 1 m not sure let s go on discussing the mine bisot enuch else to discuss Is there its the same old mine he looked intently at hats got into iou anyway in the last coupee of louve loat all lour pep lou look as though e seen a ghost mayhe I 1 have said with a short laugh ell lanilard lin ilard regarded him with an odd intermingling of respect and alarm the respect was a holdover from the past from the carl impression he had formed from s rep lend ent offices in new york and s contempt for money he had conald ered his employer at vorst a weak principled vendor of legitimate ties mr said reluctantly luct antly im in a mighty awkward position e cant afford to let anything spoil this campaign can we not if we can very well help it bothering yau for over ten weeks now ive been building up a reputation you know what ive been doing ou know how much depends on it your name been mentioned once ive been selling this thing on my own personality holding myself out as the principal ell the man who called me outside just now ana nes one of the solid banking crowd up here he spoke of you as though lie knew you in fact to be perfectly biank he called me out there to ask me about you now I 1 dont know what dealings youve ever had with him or with anyone else up here but it struck me that if there Is anything between you and syracuse or any of its fairly big men perhaps it would be better if I 1 knew it you see this thing im selling is so darned personal aho vho was he s voice rasped embree of the trust and deposit company ah yes smoked lively yes we know each other what did he have to say it so much what he said as the way he said it I 1 suppose youve biad some disagreement with these people some disagreement admitted liar man grinning these upstate up state farm ers and I 1 love each other like a couple of strange bulldogs still if it isn t objectionable to you said hesitating id rather like to know a bit about it mr har S fr but wait a nion the subject might come up later its almost sure to now that seen you and spoken to me about you and it you ve had any quarrel with this crowd even it it ann t your fault and if it came out that im working for you and there was any talk about it you can see liow id have to be on the defensive so if you could just give me a faint idea plain english Is n lot better than n faint idea said harmon carelessly I 1 floated some steel bonds up here once prettiest bonds you ever saw in your life too oh I 1 and they turn out well not exactly the company was too much like Sll I 1 guess all float and no lode for a moment thought that he heard aright was that you said he man aged reiterated it too much Sll only they pumped the water out ot it sooner than we will that was five years ago at first wa untouched by the shock the force of it seemed to pass 01 er him entirely then all at once as he was caught by the drift of it bis hands began to tremble violent ly and his palms were clammy with sweat ills stomach seemed to drop out of him and he was nauseated by the tremendous purport of his employers cynicism air harmona Harmo nl he panted under his breath air harmon 1 the new yorker looked at him in genuine surprise chats the matter willlard nill lard you look sick 1 or d n it man if another one of your bluffs you re wasting your time you haven t worked up such a holy disposition you believe in this mine have ou he moved uneasily 1 I wish wipe that pious expression off your face or Is it glued on s voice shook la bl this this elnel he stam merca by e I 1 ve ever told you prove it its an area of mineralized schist with ats copper values and weve got 01 er a hundred acres of it and part of the shaft too lie laughed noiselessly of course altogether there s about five hundred square miles of that same sort of land in the ime sime s state but the odds as longs youre happy tell me you aren t wise rot hy you knew all about it when we were on the boat I 1 a muscles were working in hi jumps and his face w as dis ported you y youre saving y you re saying I 1 ve been selling s selling to my friends a piece of d n worthless worth jess property are OU shut cupl alie big man was dominant ugly understand me you keep your mouth shut if you know good for you I 1 dlan t you come up here to get square with your friends your friends 1 hla accent was superlatively contemptuous you know it a producing mine you you told me it was a wonderful prospect I 1 I 1 knew it was a long shot but I 1 thought there was some value there a lot of it and you said the shaft you always said the shaft was reached for another cigarette there was undisguised perplexity on his face son if sou arent a mighty good actor youre are you going to claim you know what this mine Is after all that whining and squeal i ing of yours about your getting even then what in thunder did you want to come back here for to make some money to get some fun out of it I 1 wanted to make fools of people I 1 want to swindle anybody t I 1 thought I 1 was giving cm something for their money I 1 I 1 lighted his cigarette none abo complacently the funny part about it he said slowly ls that I 1 dont honestly believe youre bluffing but you knew it was only a prospect but I 1 thought it was n good prospect 1 esever mind lie made as though to rise youve said enough I 1 m through with ou 1 the big mans jaw thrust out bel and he caught by the ann isow stop right there sit down sit down maybe you thought it was a good prospect and maybe you dlan t but you re not through with me s et not until I 1 say so don t you make any mistakes like that my boy don t you go off half shot not ye re member our contract ever heard of promoters liability id certainly hate to see you get into trouble but if youve made any wild statements about material facts was straining halt across he table you told me the ore was there and I 1 thought the worst eliat could liappes would be to tie up this money for n few years eliy a pros pacts so liard to sell 1 I 1 knew darned well it whirlwind right now but I 1 did think at least mal e something good out of it eventually even if it ah 1 said harmon sneering but vou had every opportunity to learn the facts ev ery e ry opportunity its not mv fault it ou went on half cocked I 1 don t know what youve represented to our gang up here ini not ble all I 1 know Is tant collect ed sixty two thousand dollars and guined it over to me and im to give iou stock for if and kiy ou n rebate in cash maybo you call it a commas ston its a rebate I 1 read the contract read it carefully while boure about it take it to a lawyer I 1 dont care any lawyer you like if youve gone beyond the facts im mighty sorry for you but I 1 don t see how it affects me any do you had slumped wretchedly into his chair his thoughts were run nang aimlessly about the galm axis of his chicanery and and after all ive done I 1 he eald thickly after all ive oh my godl ills chin sank low and his grip on alie table relaxed was less at ease thin he pretended yell it you arent bluff ins he said presently you sure are the biggest baby for a mans sized man I 1 ever saw brace up there I 1 you pulled himself erect with a final effort and his fist gestured his accusation you know what im going to do about it don t yon yes riannon nodded as he drew the smoke deep into his lungs 1 I m going straight back to those four men and iso wagged his head can t very well do that either even it youre as shocked aa you look I 1 ook at it just a minute look at our contract theres some loopholes for me you could arlie a motor truck through but you got one as big as a knitting needle no son the best thing for you to do Is to take a brace and go get another sixty thousand while the getting is good bisot necessarily 1 Hlll lards high pitched laugh was brittle the smoke to eddy gently from his nostrils yes es you think I 1 II 11 raise my finger after this except to what do you take me for 1 I take iou dellb irately era tely for a short sighted young man in a mighty bad spot you don t want these folks up here to know the whole truth do you it wouldn t hurt me any but after the record you made and his fist gestured his acccia alon here before you got yourself kicked out tw 0 years ago oh dont gumpl you dont think ive been asleep do you I 1 dont believe you d get much sympathy not much 1 and ive invested a lot of money in you I 1 want some big returns look me in the eye son I 1 want you to calm down now theres only three parties to this deal you and me and the world you and me and the world get that and you and I 1 have got to play straight with each other you help me get the money and III help ou get whatever you want but when you throw me down I 1 throw you down and well see who comes out ahead HI bet I 1 do what do you bet shook his heid helplessly youve gaft to remember said liar mon in sardonic consolation that an awful easy man to describe lou can slip out of syracuse just as easy as you and try your dum edest to make a getaway and have pretty hard work to keep away from the for twenty four hours and ive got the evidence that cm after you so don t you plan to run away son dont do it s judgment was tottering where did he stand in relation to arm strong now well snatched at the sign of weakness and was instantly persuasive stay on another six weeks make the rest of your killing after this Is oer do want you have gonei enough io suit yourself im straight with you am I 1 not yes saad with withering sarcasm you are glowered at him don t you accuse me of double crossing you son I 1 it a the other way round ou aran t fool enough to expect me said shakily to keep on trying to sell more of this rotten stuff I 1 you arent enough of a fool tor that 1 I can and I 1 do you re in for it now and you cant lerv well go anck lome collected money ou cant get your hands on it again iou cant make any restitution lou ve lied your head off al reidy iou cant do any better now than to stick to nur first story because the trotha troths a good deal wore loud better mike bour lulling nejl make it quick and if ou open your held for just one lit tip peep flonoy end the fats in the fire well head was splitting with the horror of it he saw in a whirl ing vision of dread the people of alie city rising to denounce him not merely inexcusable masquerade so grotesquely built upon the dream of regeneration not only for his vast abuse of personal onal confidence not for the base he had upon his quondam but iso for ahls crossly profi tat e fraud ts argued just f calmed he he in harder limits A spasm of reckless fatale fata lr shook bua i II armon who had been him critically took out bis fountain pen write you your check for corn missions shall it he held the pen poised insinuatingly and then well forget this little misunderstand and start fresh shall I 1 lets see with great heness to the figures your twenty per cent la twelve thousand four hundred and that less half expense call cm five thousand even seventy four hundred lie tore a from bis pocket check book dried the ink by waving it in the air and flirted it over to put it away and let s have some lundli it joure afraid to have your friends see me down here lets have it upstairs im not sensitive son it don t pay ro said Hlll lard dully and 1 guess it never will the idea 1 now you ra talking sense t come on son buck ap and lets have swine lunch at eight 0 clock in the when rufus waring knocked at aill hards door it was opened by a triau with a face to remember afterward there were deep cut lines almost fur rows by the mouth and eyes and the eyes themselves were startlingly luminous and drawn the mans complexion was chalk white why mr I 1 exclaimed waring hat on earths the matter with you come on in said and his smile was ghastly le been waiting tor you CHAPTER X willlard nill lard wag waiting hoping praying tor a blow from fate but fate which at other times had been ready |