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Show 1 9v DAVID GRAHAM PHILLIPS, Author of "ZHFCQSa&c !MR. BLACKLOCK. When Napoleon was about to crov.'u 'nlmsolt so I have somowhero road thoy submitted to him the royal geno-nlogy geno-nlogy they had caked up for him. Ho crumpled the parchment and Hung It In the face ot the chleC herald, or trltrv ever It was. "My lino," s-wi he,' "dates from Montenytte" And so 1 say, in lino dates Iron, the campaign that ci' mpletcd and established my fame liom "Wild Week." I shall not p.iuso to rcclto tho details de-tails o tho obscurity from which I emerged. It would bo an Interesting, n romantic story; but It Is a familiar Btory, also, In this land which Lincoln so finely and so fully described when ho said: "Tho republic Is opportunity." oppor-tunity." Ono fact only: I did not tako tho namo lllacklock. I wbb born Hlackloclc, and christened chris-tened Matthew; and my hair's being very black and growing so that a lock m of It often falls down tho mldfllo of my forehead Is a coincidence. Tho malicious and Insinuating story that I used to go undor another name arose, no doubt, from my having been a bootblack in my early days, and I having let my customers shorten my j namo Into Matt IJlack. But, ns soon i nB I graduated from manual labor, I resumed my rightful namo and have borno It 1 think I may say without vanity In honor to honor. Wild Wcok! Its cyclones, rising fury on fury to that historic climax of chaos, sing their mad Bong in my ears again as I wrlto. Hut I shall by no means confine my nnrratlvo to business nnd finance. Tako a cross-section cross-section of life anywhere, and you havo a tangled Intorweavlng of tho action nnd reaction of men upon men, of women upon women, of men and womon upon ono another. And this shall bo a cross-section out of tho very heart of our llfo to day, with its big j! nnd bold oncrglcs and passions tho t swiftest and intonsest life over lived t by tho human race. I To begin: j i " f IN THOSE DAYS AROSE KINGS. ' , Imagine yoursolf back two years nnd a half boforo Wild Wook, back nt tho tlmo when tho kings of llnanco had Just completed their apparently tlnal conquest of tho Industries of tho country, when thoy woro seating themselves upon thrones enclrclod by vast armies of capital and brains, when nil the governments of the nation na-tion national, state and city wero prostrato under their Iron heels. You may remember that I. wus a not Inconspicuous flguro then. Of nil their financial agents, I was tho best-, known, tho most trusted by them, tho most bolloved In by the people I had a magnificent suite of offices In tho building that domluatos Wall and Droad streets. Boston claimed mo ulso, and Chicago; and In Philadelphia, Philadel-phia, Now Orleans, St. Louis, San Francisco, In tho towns and rural districts dis-tricts tributary to tho cities, thousands thou-sands spoke of Lllacklock as their trusted adviser In matters ot finance My enemies and I had them, numerous numer-ous and venomous enough to provo mo a man worth while my Gnomics spoke of me as tho "biggest buckot-ahop buckot-ahop gambler In tho world." Gambler I was llko all the other A) manipulators of the markets. Hut "bucket-shop" I never kept. As the kings of finance wero tho representatives representa-tives of the great merchants, manufacturers manu-facturers and Investors, so was I tho representative of tho masses, of those who wished their small savings properly prop-erly Invested. Tho power of tho big fellows was founded upon wealth and tho braliiH wealth buys or bulllos or uoducos Into Its service; my powor 1 was founded upon tho hearts and ' homos of tho peoplo, upon faith in my frank honesty. How had I built up my powor? By rocognlzlug tho possibilities of publicity, pub-licity, tho chance which tho broadcast broad-cast sowing of newspapers and magazines maga-zines put within tho reach of tho individual in-dividual man to Impress himsolf upon tho whole country, upon tho whole civilized world. The kings of finance rolled upon tho assiduity and dexterity dexter-ity of sundry paid agents, operating thro.ugh tho stealthy, clumsy,' old-fashioned old-fashioned channel for tho exorcise ot ' power. I rolled only upon myself; I had to trust to no falllblo, perhaps traitorous, understrappers; through tho megaphouo of tho press I spoko directly to tho people. t My onomlos charge that I always A havo been unscrupulous and dlahou-' dlahou-' ost So? Then how have I llvod ond thrlvod all those yoars In tho glare I and blaro of publicity? It Is halt-pust three o'clock on a May aftornoon; u dismal, dreary rnlu' Is being whirled through the street by as nasty u wind ns ever blew out of tho oast. You aro in tho private otllco of that "'kings of kings," Henry J. Hoebuck, philanthropist, eminent churchmau, lending citizen and In buslnoss bb corrupt a creature as evor used tho dom'no of rospectnbll-tty. rospectnbll-tty. That ofllco Is c.u tho twolfth Moor 3f the Powor Trust building and the. Powor Trust is Roobuck, and Koobuck is tho Powor Trust. Ho Is seated at his desk and, thinking I do not see him, is looK'Jg nt mo with nn expression expres-sion of benevolent and melancholy pity tho look with which ho nlwnyB regarded any ono whom tho Roobuck God hnd commanded Hoebuck to destroy. de-stroy. Ho nnd hlfl 'God wero In constant con-stant communication; his God never did anything oxcept for his benefit, lis never did anything except on tho direct counsel or command of his God. Just now his God Is commanding him to dostroy me, his confidential agent in shnplng many a vast Industrial enterprise en-terprise and in Inducing tho public to buy by tho million its bonds nnd stocks. I Invited tho angry frown of tho Roobuck God by saying: "And I bought In tho Manasqualo mines on my own account." "On your own account!" said Roo-buck. Roo-buck. Then ho hnstlly effneed his In-voluuntnry In-voluuntnry nlr of tho engineer startled by sight of an unexpected red light. "Yes," replied I, as calm as If I wero not realizing tho tremendous significance signifi-cance of what I had announced. "I look to you to let mo participate on equal torms." That Is, I had decided that tho tlmo had como for mo to tako my place among tho kings of finance. I had decided to promote mysolt from agent to principal, from prlmo minister to king I must, myself, promoto myself; fcr In this world all promotion that is solid comos from within. And In : furthoranco of my object I had bought I this group ot mines, control of which I was vital to tho Roobuck-Langdon-Molvlllo comblno for a monopoly of tho coal of tho country. "Did not Mr. Langdon commission you to buy them for him and his friends?" inquired Roebuck, in that slow, placid tone which yet, for the attontlvo ear, had a noto In It llko tho scroam of a Jaguar that comos homo and finds Its cubs gono. "But I couldn't got thorn for him," I explained. "Tho owners wouldn't soli until I engaged that tho National Coal and Railway company was not to havo them." "Oh, I aoo," said Roebuck, sinking back rollovod. "Wo must got Browne to drnw up somo sort of porpotual, Irrovocablo powor of attomoy to us for you to sign." "But I won't sign It," said I. Hoobuck took up a sheet of paper and begau to fold it upon Itself with great caro to got tho odgos atrnlght. Ho had grasped my moaning; ho was deliberating. I "For four years now," I wont on, "you people havo boon promising to tnke mo In as n principal In somo ono of your deals to givo mo recognition by making mo president, or chnlrman of an oxecutlvo or flnnnco committno. I nm an Impatient man, Mr. Hoobuck. Llfo Is short, mid I havo much to do. So I have bought tho Mnnasqualo nilnoa and I Bhall hold thoni." Hoobuck coutiiiuod to fold tho papor upon ltsolf until he had reduced It to a short, thick strip. This ho slowly ! twisted between his cruol flngora w tit It was In two vtooss. Ho dropped them; ono nt n time,-Into thewabto basket, then smiled bonovolenUy at me. "You nro right," ho said., 'You shall havo whnt you want. You havo seemed such a more boy to mo that, In spito of your giving ngMn nnd again proof of what you nro, I havo been putting you off. I will tnlk tho matter, ovor with Lnngdoli and Molvlllo. Mol-vlllo. Rest assured, my boy, thnt you Will bo satisfied." Ho got jp,.put his arm affectionately rounc my Bhoul-ders. Bhoul-ders. "Wo nil llko you. I nnvo a feeling feel-ing toward you aa If you voro my own son. I am getting old, nnd I Ilka To seo young mon about me, growing up to assume the responsibilities ot tho Lord's work whenever Ho shall call mo to my rownrd." It will seem lncredlblo that n man of my shrewdness' nnd cxporlcnco could bo taken In by such slimy stuff at that I who know Roebuck ns only a fow Insiders know him, I who had seen him at work, ns devoid of heart as any empty spider In nn empty web. Yet I was taken In to tho oxtont thnt I thought ho really purposed to recognize recog-nize my services, to yield to tho only porsuaslon that could affect him force. I fancied ho was actually about to put me whore I could bo of tho highest usefulness to him and his associates, as well as to myself. It was with tears In my oyes thnt I shook hnnds with him, thanking him emotionally. It was with a high chin and a proud heart that I went bnck to my offices. Thoro wasn't a doubt In my mind thnt I was about to got my desorts, was about to ontor tho charmed circle of "high llnanco." ur CAME A WOMAN. In my sulto In tho Tcxtllo building, Just off tho big main room with Us blackboards and tickers, I had a small ofllco In which I spent a good deal of tlmo during stock oxchango hours. It was thcro that Sam Elloraly found mo tho next day but ono aftor my talk with Hoobuck. "I want you to sell that Stool Common, Com-mon, Matt," said ho. "It'll go Bovoral points higher," said I. "Bettor lot mo hold It and uso my Judgment on selling." "SHE LOOKED AS STRAIGHT AT ME AS I AT HER." "I need monoy right away," waa his answer. "That's all right," said I. "Lot mo givo you an order for what you nood." "Thank you, thank you," said ho, so promptly that I know I had dono what ho had boon hoping for, probably counting on. I givo this lncldont to show what our relations woro. Ho waa a young follow of good family, to whom I hnd taken n liking. Ho was a lazy dog, and ns out of placo In buslnoss as a cat In a choir. I had boon keeping him going for four years at that tlmo, by giving him tips on stocks and protecting pro-tecting him against loss. This puroly out of good naturo aud liking; for I hadn't tho remotest Idoa ho could ovor bo of uso to mo beyond helping to Uvon things up at a dinner or late supper, or down In tho country, or on tho yucht. In fact, his principal uso to mo was that ho know how to "beat tho box" woll enough to shako fairly good music out of It and I nm so fond of music that I can fill In with my Imagination whon tho porformor Isn't too bud. Thoy have charged that I dollborato-ly dollborato-ly rulnod him. .Rulnodl. Tho first tlmo I guvo him a tip and that 'vas tho second or third tlmo I ovo flaw him ho burst Into tears and said: "You'vo aavod niy llfo, BIncklocU, I'll novor toll you how much this windfall moans to rno now." Nor did with deep nuil dark doslgn koop htm iloug on tho ragged odgo. He kept himself thoro. How could I build up such a man with his hundred ways of wasting wast-ing monoy, Including throwing it awny on his own opinions of stocks-tor stocks-tor ho would gamble on his own ac count In tho bucket-shops, though 1 had shown him tlut tho Wall otrcot gamo Is played always with marked cards, and that tho only hopo of winning win-ning Is to get tho confidence of the eard-mnrkevj), unleso you ifo big enough to become a card-marker yourself. your-self. As soon n? ho got tho money, from my toller Mint day, ho was rushing away. I lollowod him to tho door that part of my sulto oponed out on tho sidewalk, for fho convenience of my croM'Js of customcro. "I'm Just going to lunch," said I. "Como with mo." Ho looked uneasily toward a smart llttlo ono horso brougham at tho curb "Sorry but I enn't," said he. "I've my sister with mo. Sho brought me down In her trnp." "That's nil right," said I; "bring hor along. Wo'll go to tho Savarln." And 1 locked his nrm In mlno and started toward tho brougham. Ho was turning all kinds of colors and was acting In a wny thnt puzzled me thon. Despite nil my years in Now York I was Ignorant of tho olnb-orato olnb-orato social distinctions thnt had grown up In Its Fifth nvenuo quarter I know, of course, thnt thero wns a fashlonablo society nnd that somo ol tho most conspicuous of thoso In It seemed unnblo to got used to tho Idea of being rich nnd wero In a stnto ol great agitation ovor their own Importance Im-portance Important thoy might bo, but not to mo. 1 know nothing ol tholr careful gradations of anobblsm Uio peoplo to know socially, the peoplo to know In a business way, the peoplo to know In ways religious and philanthropic, tho peoplo to know for tho fun to bo got out ot them, tho peoplo to prldo oneself on not knowing know-ing at all; tho norvousncss, tho hysteria hys-teria about preserving thoso disgusting disgust-ing gradations. All this, I say, wns an undreamed-of mystery to mo, who gavo and took liking In tho sonslblo, solf-rqspecting American fashion. So I didn't understand why Snm, as I almost dragged him along, was stammering: stam-mering: "Thank you but I sho tho fact Is, wo really must got uptown." up-town." By this tlmo I was whoro I could look Into tho broughnm. A glance I can see much nt a glance, as can any man who sponds ovory day of ovory yenr In nn all-day fight for big purso nnd his life, with tho blows coming com-ing from nil sides. I can boo much at a glanco; I often havo seen much; I novor saw moro than Just thon. Instantly, In-stantly, I niado up my mind that tho Ellorslya would lunch with mo. "You'vo got to eat somowhero," said I, In a tono that put an ond to IiIb nt-tompts nt-tompts to manufacture excuses. "I'll bo delighted to havo you. Don't make up any moro yarns." Ho slowly opened tho door. "Anita," said ho, "Mr. Blacklock. Ho's Invltod ua to lunch." I lifted my hat, and bowed. I kept my eyes atrnlght upon hers. And It gavo mo moro plcasuro to look into them than I had over bofore got out of looking Into anybody's. I am pas-alonatoly pas-alonatoly fond of flowers, and ot children; chil-dren; nnd hor faco reminded mo ot both. Or, rathor, It scorned to mo that what I had soon, with delight nnd longing, Incomploto In tholr freshness and beauty and charm, was now boforo bo-foro mo In tho fullness. I felt llko saying to hor: "I havo hoard of you often. Tho chtldron and tho flowers havo told mo you woro coming." Perhaps Per-haps my oyos did say it. At any rato, sho looked as straight at mo as I at hor, and I noticed that sho palod a llttlo and shrank yet continued to look, as If I woro compelling hor. But hor volco, boautlfully cloar, and lingering lin-gering In tho ears llko tho rcsonanco of tho violin nftor tho bow has swept Its strings and lifted, was perfectly aolt-poasosscd, as sho said to hor brother: "That will bo delightful If you think wo havo time" I saw that sho, uncertain whothor ho wished to accopt, was giving him a chanco to tako olthor course. "Ho has time nothing but tlmo," said I. "His engagements aro always with peoplo who want to got somothlng out of him. And thoy enn wait." I pretended pre-tended to think ho was oxpectlng me to enter tho trap; I. got In, seated my. Bolt bosldo her, said to 3am: "I've savod tho llttlo soat for you. Toll your man to tako us to tho Equitable building Nnssuu street entrance" I talked a good deal during tho first half of tho nearly two hours wo wore togothor partly becauso both Sara and his slstor scorned undor somo sort of strain, chiefly becauso I was determined deter-mined to raako a good Impression. I told hor about mysolf, my horsos, my hou80 In tho country, my yacht. I tried to show hor I wasn't an Ignoramus Ignor-amus as to hooka and art, ovon If I hadn't beon to collego. Sho llstonod, whllo Sam sat embarrassed, "You must bring your slstor down to visit mo," I said, finally. "I'll sea that you both havo tho tlmo of your llvos. Mako up a party of your friends, Sam, and como down whon shall wo say? Next Sunday? You know you wero coming nnyhow. I can chango tho rest of tho pacty." Sam grow as red ns If ho woro going go-ing Into apoplexy. I thought then ho was afraid I'd blurt out something about who wero In tho party 1 waa proposing to chango. I wua spoil to know hotter. "Thank you, Mr. Blacklock," said his slstor. "But I havo an ongage-mont ongage-mont noxt Sunday. I havo a groat many ongagomonta Just now. Without With-out looking at my book I couldn't say when I can go." This easily and naturally. In hor sot thoy certainly do lenrn thoroughly that branch ot tact which plain peoplo call lying. Sam gavo hor a grateful look, which ho thought I didn't see nnd which I dldu't rightly Intorprot thon. (To bo Continued.) |