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Show I THE DELUGE ftr DAVID GRAHAM PHILLffiS, Author of "TXFCQSCtfMkr CHAPTER XXX. ntlnued. "I hnvo only cuntcm. or u womnii fl who trios to hold u man when he wishes to go," Matit Anlla, with quiet fl but energetic bitterness. "Hosldos " nho hesitated an Instant before going "H on "Gludya deserves hor ifuto. She H doesn't really care for him. She's H otny jealous of him. She never did Hj love him." H "How do you know?" said 1 sharp- H ly, trying to persnndo my self It was H not an ugly suspicion In mo that H lifted Its head and shot out that ques- H "Deeausu ho never loved her," she H replied. "The feeling a woman has j H for a man or a man for a woman, 'without any response, Isn't love, isn't j H worthy the name of love. It's a sort i H of bathed eovetousncss. I.ovo means H generosity, not greediness." Then H "Why do you not ask mo whether H what she said is true?" H The change In hor tone with the H , last sentence, the strange, ominous H f noto in it, startled me. H "Because," replied 1, "as I said to H her, to usk my wife such n question H would bo to insult her. If you were H riding with him, It was an accident." H As if my rude repulse of her over- H tin oh and my keeping away from her H ever since would not have justllled hor H In almost anything. B Shu (lushed tho dark red of shame, but her guzo held steady and unlllnch-H unlllnch-H lng uik)ii mine. "It was not altogether by accident," she said. And I think ulTu expected mo to kill her. 9 When u man admits and respects ( a woman's rights whoro ho is him-H him-H self concerned, he either Is. no longer H interested In her or has begun to love HJ her so well that bo can control tho H savage and scltlsh Instincts or pus-HJ pus-HJ slon. If Mowbray Langdon had been J there, I might have killed them both; hut bo was not there, and she, facing HJ mo without fear, was not tho woman HJ to bo suspected of tho stealthy and HJ traitorous. HJ "It was ho that you meant when HJ you warned mo you cared for another HJ man?" said I, so quietly that I won- HJ dered at myself; wondered what had HJ become or tho "Hlack Matt" who had HJ .used his lists almost as much as his HJ IMiraliiR In fighting his way up. H " "Yes," sho said, hor head down Hj now. H A long pause. 9 "You wish to bo freo?" I asked, and H my tone must havo been gentle. H "I wish to Tree you," sho replied vlowly and doliboratoly. H Thcro was a long silence. Then I said: "I must think It nil out. 1 ouco told you how I felt about these mattors. l'vo greatly changed my mind since our talk that night In the HJ Wllloughby; but my prejudices are HJ -still with mo. Perhaps you will not bo surprised at that you whoso prejudices pre-judices hnvo cost mo so dear." I thought sho was going to speak. Instead sho turned away, bo that 1 could no longor sco her face. "Our murilago wus a ndsernblo mistake," I went on, struggling to bo Just and Judicial, and to seem calm. "I admit it now. Fortunatoly, wo are both still young you very young. Mistakes In youth aro never fatal. Hut, Anita, do not blunder out or ono mlstnko into another. You are no longer n ohlld, as you were when I married you. You will bo cnrerul not i to lot Judgments formed or him long Ijf'ligo decldo you Tor him ns they decided de-cided you against mo." "I wish to bo freo," she said, each word coming with an effort, "as much on your account as on my own." Then, nnd It scorned to me merely a truly fomlnlno attempt to shirk responsibility, re-sponsibility, sho added, "I am glad my going will ho a roller to you." "Yes, It will bo roller," I con-fossed. con-fossed. "Our situation has becomo lntolornblo." I had reached my limit of solf-control. 1 put out my hand. Hood-by," I said. If sho hnd wopt It might lmvo modi- ilcd my conviction thnt everything H was at an end between us. Hut she H did not weop. "Can you over torsive H mo?" sho asked. H "liOt's not talk of rorglveness," said I, and I fear my volco nnd manner Hj woro gruff, as I strovo not to break down. "Let's try to forget." And I touched hor hand nnd hastened away. H When two humnn beings sot out to HJ inlsundorstand each other, how fast anil far they got How shut-in wo are from each other, with only halting HJ meaiiB of communication thnt break HJ down under the slightest strain! H As I was leaving tho lionso next Hi , morning, I gave Sunders this noto for HJ ( her: HJ "I bave gone to live nt tho Down- HJ town hotel. When you lmvo decided HJ what conrso to tnkc, let mo know. If HJ niy 'rights' over hnd any biibstnnco, HJ they lmvo starved away to such weak HJ things thnt they collapse oven ns 1 try HJ to sot thorn up. I hope your freedom HJ will give you happiness and mo H peace." I "You aro HI, sir?" asked my old I fervont, my old friend, us ho took tho I noto. "Pi.iv with her, Sanders, as long as she wishes," said 1, Ignoring his question, ques-tion, "Then conio to me." Ills look made me shako hands with him. As I did It, wo both remembered re-membered the lust time wo had shaken hands when ho had tho roses for riiy homecoming with my bride. It seemed to mo I could Btnell thoso loses. xxxi. LANGDON COMES TO THE SUR. FACE. I shall not estimate tho vast sums It cost tho Hoobuck-I.nngdon clique to maintain tho prices of National Coal, and so glvo plausibility to tho ilctlon that the public wns buying eagerly, in tho third week of my campaign, .Molvlllo was so deeply Involved that ho had to let tho two others tnko tho whole burden upon themselves. In tho fourth week, I.ungdon enmo to mo. Tho Interval between his card nnd himself gave mo a chunco to recover from my nmnzcmeiit. When ho entered en-tered ho found mo busily writing. Though I had norved myself, It wns several seconds before I ventured to look at him. There ho stood, probably prob-ably as handsome, ns fascinating as over, certainly as aolf-ossured. Hut 1 could now, beneath that manner 1 hnd once envied, see tho puny soul, with j Its brassy glitter or tho vnnlty of i luxury and show. I had been somewhat some-what afraid or mysoir afrnld tho sight or him would stir up In me a tempest or Jealousy nnd hate; as I looked, I realized that I did not know my own nature. "Sho does not lovo this man," I thought. "If sho did or could, sho would not bo tho woman 1 love. Ho deceived hor Inexperience as ho deceived mine." "What can I do for you?" snld 1 to lit m politely, much ns if ho woro n strungor making an untimely Inter-! Inter-! ruptlou. .My look had disconcerted him; niy tone throw him Into confusion. "You keep out of tho way, now that you've becomo famous," ho began, with a ' halting but heroic attempt at his ens-i ens-i toninry easy superiority. "Aro you i living up In Connecticut, too? Sam ' ICllerBly tells mo your wlfo Is stopping thoro with old Howard Forrostor. Sam wants mo to use my good olllccs Ip making it up between you two nnd hor family. I wns completely taken aback by this cool Ignoring of the rent situation between him and mo. Impudence or Ignoranco? I could not decldo. Jt seemed Impossible that Anita had not told blm; yet It seemed Impossible, too, that ho would coino to mo If sho had told him. "Havo you any business busi-ness with mo?" said I, His eyelids twitched nervously, nod he adjusted his lips several times bo-foro bo-foro ho was ablu to say: "You und your wlfo don't caro to malto it p with the Ellersly7 I fancied so, nnd told Sam you'd simply think me meddlesome. The other matter Is tho Traveler' club. Pvo smoothed things out there. I'm going to put you up and rush yon through." "No, thanks," ttnld 1. It seemed incredible to mo that 1 bnd ever cared about that club nnd tho tilings It represented, rep-resented, ns I could remember 1 undoubtedly un-doubtedly did care. It wns like looking look-ing at an outgrown toy nnd trying to feol ngnln tlio emotions it onco excited. ex-cited. "1 nssur.o you. Matt, there wont bo tho slightest difficulty." His manner wus that of a man playing tho trump card In a despernto game ho fcols It can not lose, yet the stake Is so big that ho can not but be a llttlo nervous. ner-vous. "I do not caro to join the Travelers' club," snld I, rising. "I must ask you to oxcuse me. I am exceedingly busr." A flush appeared In bis chocks and deepened nnd spread until his whole body must havo been afire. He seated seat-ed himself. "You know whnt I've conio for," bo said Rttllenly, and humbly, hum-bly, too. All his life be hnd been enthroned upon his wealth. Without realizing It, ho bad claimed and had received doferenco solely because he was rich. Ho hnd thought bimscir, In his own porson, most superior; now, ho found thnt like a silly child ho hnd been standing on a chair and crying; "See how tnll I am." And the nlrs, the cynicism, tho graceful condescension, which hnd been so becoming to him, woro now ub out of place as crown nnd robes on a king taking a swimming swim-ming lesson. "Whnt are your terms, lllacklock? Don't bo too hard on an old friend," said be, trying to enrry off bis frank plea for mercy wllh n smile. I should hnvo thought ho would cut bis throat und Jump off the Hattery wnll beroro ho would get on his knees TOR MONBY JUST FOR MONEY! AND I HAD THOUGHT HIM A MAN!" to nny man for any reason. And he was doing It for mero money to try-to try-to save, not his fortuno, but only an Imperiled part or it. "H Anita could see him now!" I thought. To him I snld, tho moro coldly bo-I bo-I cutiso 1 did not wish U add to his humlllutlon by showing him that I pitied him: "I can only repeat, Mr. I.ungdon, you will hnvo to excuse mo. I hnve given you all tbo tlmo 1 can sparo." Ills eyes were shirting und his hands trembling us bo snld: "I will trunsrer control of tho Coul combine to you." His tones, shameful as tho offer i they carried, made mo iiBhnmed for j him. For money Just for money! And I had thought him a man. if he hnd been u solf decolvlng hypocrite I llko Hoebuck, or u ,frunk believer In tbo right of might, llko Updegrnrr. I might possibly. In tho circumstances, havo tried to rolcaso him from my net. Hut he hnd never for un Instant deceived himself as to tho real nature of tho enterprises he plotted, promoted pro-moted nnd profited by: bo thought It "smart" to bo bad, and ho delighted In making tho most cynical epigrams on tho blnck deeds of hlmseir and his associates, 'Hotter sell out to Hoebuck," I suggested. sug-gested. "1 control til! tho Coal stock I need." "I don't enro to have nnjtblng fuithor to do with Hoebuck." I.nngdim answered. "I'vo brokon with him." "Whou n man lies to me," said I, "ho gives mo tho chnnco to suo Just how much of n fool ho thinks I um, and also tho ehnnce to sou just how much of n rool he Ir. 1 ht-sltate to think bo poorly of you us your nt tempt to Tool me ueems to compel." Hut be wns unconvinced, "l'vo found ho Intend to nbundon tho ship nnd leave mo to go down with It," ho persisted. "Ho believes he cnti usenpo and denounce nio-ns tho arch rnscal who planned tlie combine, and chn convince peoplo that I foozled him Into It." Ingenious; but 1 happened to know that it wns raise. "Pardon me, Mr. Lnngdon' said 1 with stiff courtoty. "I repent, I can do nothing for you. Good morning." And I went nt my work as If ho woro nlready gone. Had I been, vindictive, I would havo led him out to humiliate himself more deeply, if greater depths of humiliation there aro than thoso to which ho voluntarily descended. Hut I wished to sparo him; I let hlra boo tho usclcssness of his mission. Ho looked nt mo in sllenco tho look of bnto thnt can como only from n creature crea-ture weak ns well ns wicked. I think it was all his keen senso of humor could do to snvo him from a melodramatic melo-dramatic outbreak. He slipped Into his habitual poso, roso nnd withdrew without nnother word. All this fright nnd groveling and treachery for plunder, plun-der, tho loss of which would not Impair Im-pair his fortuno plunder ho had stolen with ninny a Jest nnd glbo nt IiIb helpless vIctlniB. Like most of our debonnlr dollars chasers, ho was a good sportsman only when tho gam wns with him. That afternoon ho throw bis Coal holdings on the market In great blocks. His treachery took Hoobuct completely by surprise ror Hoebuck bolloved 1n this falr-weathor "gentle-mnn," "gentle-mnn," foul-weather coward, and neglected neg-lected to allow for that quicksand that Is always under tho foundation of tho mnn who has Inhorltod, not oarned, his wealth. Hut for the blundering credulity of rascals, would honest men ever get thcirducs. Hoobuck'a brokers hud bought many thousands of Lnngdon's shares at tho high nrtl-llclal nrtl-llclal prlco before Hoebuck grasped tbo situation that It was not my fok lowors recklessly gambling to break tho prices, but lnngdon unloading on bis "pal." As soon as ho saw, ho abruptly withdrew from tho market When tho Stock Exchnngo closed, National Na-tional Coal securities woro offered at prices ranging from 11 for the bonds to two for tbo common nnd thrco for ' tho preforrcd offered, and no takers. "Well, you've done It," Bald Joo, coming with tho nows that Thornloy, or tho Discount and Doposlt bank, had boon appointed receiver. "l'vo mado a beginning," replied I. I bad decided to conccntrato upon Hoebuck, because ho was tho richest and most powerful of "Tho Sovon." For, In my pictures of tho three main phases of "finance" tho Industrial, tho llfo Insuranco nnd tho banking-he, banking-he, as arch plotter In every kind of respectable skulduggery, was necessarily neces-sarily in the foreground. My original Intention wns to domollsh tho Power Trust or, at least, to compel him to buy back all of Its stock which ho had worked off on tho public. I had collected col-lected many Interesting fncts nbout It, facts typical of tho conditions that "flnnnco" hns established In bo mnny of our Industries. For Instance, I wns propared to show that tho actual earnings df tho Power Trust was two und half times what Its reports to stockholders alleged; al-leged; that the concealed profits were diverted Into tho pockets or Hoebuck, bis sons, 11 other relatives nnd rour or "Tho Sovon," tho lion's shnro going, go-ing, of course, to tho linn. Llko almost al-most all tho great Industrial enterprises, enter-prises, too strong for tho lnw und too remoto for tho Buporvlslon of their stockholders, It gathored in enormous revenues to disburse them chiefly In salaries nnd commissions nod ruke-offs ruke-offs on contracts to favorites. I hnd proof that In ono year it had "writton off" 12 millions of profit and loss, 10 millions of which hnd found Its way to Hocbucll's pockot. I hnd no choice I must turn asldo from Hoobuck; I must first show tha' while Toxtllo was, In n sonso, sound Just at that tlmo, It hnd been unsound, und would be unsound again ns soon ns Lnngdon bad gnthorcd in n suffl-clout suffl-clout number or Iambs to mnko a battue worth tho while- or a mnn dealing deal-ing In nothing less than seven figures. I proceeded to do so. Tho market yielded slowly. Under my first day's attack Textllo prorerred fell bIx points, Toxtllo common three. Whllo I was In tho midst of dictating my letter for tho second day's attack, I suddenly camo to a full stop. I round across my wu; Ibis thought: "Isn't It stiiinge that' Lnngdon, nftor humbling himself to you, should mnko this bold chnllengo? It's n trap!" "No more at present," snld I, to my stenographer. "And don't write out what l'vo already dictated." I shut myself in ntnl busied myholf nt tho telopbono. Ilulf an hour after I set my secret machinery In motion, a messengor brought mo an envolopo, tho addifss type-written. It contained con-tained ii sheet or paper on which appeared. ap-peared. In -typo-wrltlng. iheso words, anil nothing moro: "He Is heavily short nr Textiles." It wus Indeed a trup. The now Issue Is-sue was a blind, lie hail challenged me to attucK his stock, ami as soon as I did, ho hnd begun secortly to sell It ror u full. 1 worked nt this-now situation sit-uation until midnight, trying to get together the proofs. At that hour ror I could delay no lopgor, and my proofs were not quite complete I sent my newspapers two sentences: 'Tomorrow I shnll mtiko n disclosure dis-closure that will send Textiles up Do not sell Textiles!" (To bit Continued |