OCR Text |
Show H G"c JVebo Mayor H Biltd on G. II. Bratdhwil'i Succcittul I The Man TheHour . H By ALBERT PAYSON TERHUNE. H tc'op) right, 1007, uyUeorgell. llroadliurnt. chaptek xv. WILLIAMS filtered with Itob-crts Itob-crts In tow. The Intter wore it haggard, troubled look, and his mitiirnl ncrvousiicfi had M Islhly deepened, so iimcli so Hint lie H lind not even noted Phelan's appear- H t mice In the corridor (is lie passed Into Horrlgan's private room. H "Good evi-nliiK. ntderinan," suld Hor- M rlgan civilly. H "Ciood evening. Hlr." nnswered Bob- B ert palpably III lit ease. H "I tindcistaud tlieie'H n full meeting H today, Fvcn Fills came hack from H the south to lie here. You're the only H man missing." H "I couldn't get here sooner. I" H "I see. That'8 all. Williams. You H needn't wait. Roberts ami I want a H little tnlk before he goes In. Now. H then," went on the boss, with a com B pletc change of manner as Williams H ' left the room, "what's the matter with H you?" ( M "1-1 enn't"- H "Can't whnt? Speak out, man! H Don't stand there and mumble at me!" H "I enn't vote for the Borough frnn- M chlse bill." H "Can't, hoy?" roaretl Ilorrlgan. M "Why not?" H "Because because" faltered Uou- H i crts; then, 'with n rush of hysterical H emotion that blotted out his fenr. be H cried: H "Have you heard what that man Ben- H' nctt has done? He organized n voters' H' committee In my ward and sent them H , to ask me at my own house what I was H going to do about that bill. They had H been stirred up by Dennett till they H looked on me as n crook and on the bill H ns n personal robbery. They told me H If I voted for It they'd know I was ii H dirty thief and grafter and that they'd H kick me out of the ward." H "Well, well!" rumbled Ilorrlgan H soothingly, as though trying to calm n H fractious drunkard. "What do you H cure? When they've forgotten all H about the bill you'll still have the H dough, won't you? Folks won't ask 1 'Ilow'd he get It?' All they'll cine ,tii H know Is 'Has he got It?'" ' "That Isn't nil!" Iloberts blundered H on, scarcely heeding the Interruption. H "Bennett's next step was to organize H a committee of voters' wives, and they H came to sec my wife this mnriilug H when I was out and told her they'd H . heard I was going to sell myself and H vote for a dishonest bill. My wife H, my wife thinks I'm the squares) H; noblest man on earth. Oh, you needn't M sneer! Her trust means everything to me. She Mold the women I wouldn't H, stoop to any deed that wasn't honest. H and they nnswered: 'Our husbands bo. H Hove Mr. Itoherts Is n crook. If he Is H really honest he'll vote against that H' hill, ns he dttl before.' Then on ray M way home this noon I met my little H' hoy. He was crying. I nsked him M ' what the matter was. He said that R some boys had told him I was n grnft- H' er. I tell you," his voice rising almost M to n scream, "Bennett's made my life B a hell. I'm no crook. I'm honest M "Sure you're honest!" Ilorrlgan ex- M claimed, as though to n cross child. m "Honest as the day! That's why B you're voting for our bill. tBecausc the H crooked clauses have been cut out of M It. and In its present form It's a bcuctlt B to tho city." M" "That Isn't why I promised to vote 1 for It," contradicted Iloberts, with n M despnlrlng dnsli of courage. "It was B Itemise I because" "Never mlud'wnj. then, hut Just go ahead and do It" ' , "I won't! I dare not" ) "You'll iXtt It, I say!" stormed Horrl- j Ran. "Youcan't welch on mo at this stngo of tho game. Those Sturtcvant Trust company notes of yours wcro sent to you nnd" "And I won't take theml" declared Roberts, slamming two slips of paper down upon the tabic "There! Take them back!" "What do I wnnt of them?" argued HorrlganTcraftlly. "They belong, to you." "They don't. 1 won't keep them." "You'll have to I keep you to youi promise." "What promise?" asked n voice behind be-hind them. Ilcnnett, hastily summoned by The-Ian, The-Ian, had entered tho room unobserved by cither of the excited men. "What promise?" he asked again "A promise to" "What are you doing here?" bellowed bellow-ed Ilorrlgan In fury. "You called me down once for coming Into your private pri-vate olllce without knocking. Wh.it d'you menu by coming Into mine?" "Yours?" queried Alwyn. "I had an Idea It was tho city's. The time Is past when the words 'Ilorrlgan' nnd 'city' meant the same thing. Well, Roberts, how are you going to vote? I want to believe you honest, and Why, what's nil this?" his eyes fulling on the forgotten notes on tho table. "Nothing of yours!" shouted Ilorrlgan, Ilorrl-gan, making n futile, furious grab for the documents which Alwyn was picking pick-ing up. "Drop tbctn! Drop them. I say, or you'll "Why should I?" asked Dennett calmly, calm-ly, his quick eyo taking In the nature of the slips of paper even as his alert brain grasped In full the meaning of tho transaction In which they figured. "Do they belong to you?" "They don't belong to you anyway," retorted Ilorrlgan. "and If you dare read them" "I've already read them. Roberts," ho added In a kinder voice, turning to tho shaking alderman, "these were to have been your bribe, weren't they, for voting for the Borough bill?" Ills quietly compelling tone and glance forced from Roberts a frightened "Yes" before Ilorrlgan could Interfere. "I thought so. Be quiet, Ilorrlgiiu," ho commanded ns the Infuriated boss sought to speak through his choking wroth. "This Is between Roberts nnd me. Now, then" "I returned the notes to him!" pleaded plead-ed Roberts In panic. "Honestly. I did! Just before you came In. I could hnve kept them, nnd he couldn't have pre- vented me even If I voted against the" hill. But I'm square and" "You nro square!" nfllrmcd Bennett, gripping tho alderman's cold, moist hand In friendly reassurance. "I knew all along you were honest at beart.t Ilorrlgan wnutcd to bribe you, and you wouldn't be bribed. Now, I wnnt you to go Into the council room nnd Vote ns your manhood tells you to." Roberts, comforted, yet still trembling, trem-bling, obeyed, not venturing a second look nt Ilorrlgan. "Now. my friend," said Bennett pleasantly when he nnd the boss were alono together, "what nre you going to do nbout It? It seems to me your game Is up." "I want those notes!" panted Ilorrlgan, Ilorrl-gan, finding coherent sieech with an effort through his red mist of rage. 1 "Why? They're not yours. They aren't made over to you, and there Is no cancellation stamp on them. They are the property of the Sturtcvaut Trust company, nnd I'll send them back there tomorrow after l'vo had I theut photographed." "You'll give them to me." shouted Ilorrlgan. his mighty body vibrating with fury, "or you'll never leave this rnnin jillvi!" You're n fool, Ilorrlgan." remarked Bennett, with condescending calm, "for tjou don't even know the right man to bully!" tlluchlugly Into t h e maddened little eyes of tho boss, nnd so for n moment trlclnn and proletariat pro-letariat In tho world old struggle strug-gle of the two for supremacy. II orr lgan's fnco was scarlet, scar-let, distorted, m u rderous; 7i5C. Bennett's pale. S cold, deadly In Then iwiuai the battle Its repose, of u'lils, buth men A n d then tUindlny motionless, waged the battle bat-tle of wills, both men standing motionless, mo-tionless, tense, vibrant with dynnmlc force. Slowly, little by little, Horrlgan's eyes dropped. He moved awkwardly to one sldo from his position In front of tho door nnd Bennett, without so much as a backward look, passed out. The boss, like a mau In a daze, sank heavily Into a chair and gazed straight ahead of him, his usually red face gray and pasty. But he was not to enjoy even the scant boon of solitude. From the anteroom ante-room (II Libs strolled In. "They're going over omo unimportant unimpor-tant preliminary business," remarked tho broker, "so I came out for n breath of fresh air. How aro things going?" "We're beat," grunted Ilorrlgan, not looking up. "Bent?" screamed Glbbs, ashen and Inert at tho news. "You don't mean It! You can't m,enn It! Grent heaven!" The sight of tho other's cowardly emotion seemed to rouse Ilorrlgan from hlu apathy, "If I enn stand It, you can!" be snarl ed. "Ycu ouly lose your percenUfo on the deal, while I" "A percentage?" echoed Glbh. tn., panic stricken to heed his own Indiscretion. Indis-cretion. "Every cent I had in the world! I"- He checked himself nn Instant too late. "So?" drawled Ilorrlgan, his keen little eyes scaring the other with boundless contempt "So It was you who were secretly buying up tho stock and tailing In on to our game, hey?" "I'm mined! Broke! And" "And you've got It coming to.you, you whining trnltor! The man who goes bnck on his partners' deserves all tho kicking lie gets." "I I dldii't menu any bnrmj" mumbled mum-bled the crushed Gtbbs. "It couldn't hurt you people to have me buy Borough Bor-ough stock for myself, and I'd have cleared up a million and more. Oh. don't glower like that. Ilorrlgan, but try to think out some way of" "Of what, you cur?" "Isn't there, any way even now to make Bennett let up on bis fight?" "If there was you couldn't bo of use to us, so why should I talk nbout It to you?" "But I'd do nnythlng Id the world anything" "You would?" cut In Ilorrlgan sharply. "Yes, yes! Only give mo n chance! I'd"- Horrlgan considered, then said reflectively: re-flectively: "No chance Is too slight to take at a time like this, and nobody's too rotten to.be of use. I've found there are three things, ouc of which will always buy any man a woman, ambition or cash. We've tried Bennett on ambition; ambi-tion; be doesn't need money, so only the first of the thrco remains." "A woman? I don't understand." "Miss Walnwrlgbt" "But"- "Llsten here. Bennett's in love wltb Walnwrlght's niece. You've cut him out Go nnd tell blm If be'll let our bill alone you'll smash the engagement and leave her free to marry blm. Seer "I can't! I hold on, though! Afterward After-ward 1 could deny the whole thing, couldn't I? It'd be his word against mine, and she'd never believe I could do such a thing. I I might try." "Yes," growled Ilorrlgan, "yon might A cur that's lost all his nerve can try things that even an ordinary crook , would balk at." But Glbbs did not bear. lie had returned re-turned to the corridor In search of Bennett Tho mnn scarcely deserved tho opprobrium heaped on Him by Ilorrlgan. Ilor-rlgan. A brilliant, daring operator, be was, unknown to himself, a rank coward cow-ard at heart. For the first time In his life the cowardice bad cropped out. and, to do? Glbbs 'Justice, It had driven blm temporarily Insane. In his uor-mnl uor-mnl senses he wouiif never have stooped stoop-ed to the plan he was novv.Va eager to. carry out. It Was a putrid bit of Jetsam Jet-sam at which n financially drowning mnn did not scruple to clutch. Ilorrlgan followed him from the room, his own splendid nerve quite recovered re-covered from the crushing blow bis bones bad received. He bad staked heavily on the deal. Moreover, its failure, fail-ure, us he knew, meant tho wreck of that mighty political prestige he had so long and wearisomely built up. It might even, If Alwyn fulfilled his threat about the notes, lead to graver personal consequences. Yet the bulldog bull-dog pluck that had carried this man of Iron from the gutter to the summit of political power did not desert blm, nor did he show the loss of one lota of his customary monumental calm. Scarcely had Ilorrlgan quitted the room when Perry nnd Dallas entered It "You could cut the atmosphere In, there with a cheese knife." Perry was saying. "Williams doesn't tbluk the Borough bill will como up for half an hour or so. We'd better spend the time till then In here than to stay there and turn our lungs into u microbe zoo." Dallas did not .answer. She sat down by the tnble and rested her "bead dejectedly de-jectedly on one little gloved baud. The sight of Bennett, his grave, hopeless appeal to her; tho calm, utter despair of his brave face all these had affected affect-ed her deeply. Perry noticed with brotherly concern her look nnd attitude. "Feeling fnlut?" he asked. "No. J'm all right, thanks." "You look pretty near ns blue ns Alwyn. Al-wyn. He" v "Don't let's talk of him, please." she begged. "Why not? lies the whitest chap this side of Whltovllle." "That's what I use to think, but I know better now," "Then, miss." broke In n voice from the doorway, "you'ro entitled to nnoth-cr nnoth-cr 'know,' " I'helnu, who, passing down the corridor, cor-ridor, had beard her last words as he reached the threshold, turned Into the room. "Kxcusc me for buttlu' In on n fiim lly chat" ho remarked, coming forward, "hut I'm pretty well posted on his honor's character, an when I; hear nny one knockln' him It's me to the bat What havo you got ngalnM Mr. Bennett? Ben-nett? 'None of your measly business.' snya you. 'Quito so.' says I. an'-, tlut beln' the case, let's hear all about It." Something that underlay the seeming Impertinence of the alderman's hluIT fpi'celi touched Dallas. On Impulse she spoke: "Mr. Bennett" said she. "Is opposing tho Borough bill, knowing wo shall be paupers If he defeats It lie also sold Borough stock short before he announced an-nounced his veto. What can one think of n mun who enriches himself nt the expense of his friends?" "Gee." cried Perry, "thut's n terrlblo thing!. Bennett's the nrjglnal man higher up, I'm afraid. I woudcr hu Isn't afraid to wear the clothes of such a wicked geezer ns himself!" "Oh, Perry! Don't Joke nbout It!" begged Dallas. "Can't yon see the serl- 'A a-V 4 oiik Hide of anything? We shall b penniless nnd dependent on" "Fear thou not. slstt-r mine!" de--clared Perry In bis best melodramatic manner. "Paupers, siiycst thou? Far 1 be It so! Little Brother Perry will gunrd thee from tho cold, shivery swats of a wintry wind. Maybe we can sell violets or start a fight club or"- "Don't!" she urged, Jarred by bis flippancy. flip-pancy. "You don't understand. P ''As for that story of his honor's sell-In' sell-In' stock short and makln' a pile of cash on bis own veto." put In Pbelan genuinely worried. "Horrlgan's looked It up nn' got enough facts to make bliu think be can prove It. lie's goln' to make Williams tell the whole story to the aldermen tonight. It's a lie. of course, but It'll hurt his honor n lot. an' the worst of It is Bennett refuses to deny it" "Ho docs, cli?" remarked Perry. "Then I'll do some, talking nbout it I'll havo to fracture a promise I made Alwyn, but I guess It's worth while." "What do you mean?" queried Dallas In wonder. "I mean Bennett lent me the money to sell enough stock short to make up for what you and I would lose If the bill was quashed, nnd he gavo me a letter to bis own broker. We carried It through, and now you and I stand pat vto win whichever wny tho cat Jumps. We're on velvet, thanks to Alwyn. "He did this for us?" gasped Dallas in amnzc. "But why didn't you tell me? Why did you let me misjudge him?" "He made me promise not'to let you know a thing about It. and" "Say. youngster," broke In Phelan. tingling with excitement, "you come chasln along with me Into the aldermen's alder-men's mcetln. I'll have you get up there an' tell what you know. It'll knock that lie of Williams and Horrlgan's Horrl-gan's so blgb It'll forget to bit groun' again. Come on. son! There's sure liable to be hot doln's In the meetin' In about eleven seconds. Come along!" CHAPTER XVI. DALLAS, left alone in Horrlgan's Horrl-gan's private room, sat at the big table, making no effort to follow her brother and Phelan., Phe-lan., A messenger, searching for Ilorrlgan, Ilor-rlgan, bustled in, looked inquiringly at the motionless, white faced girl, then passed on to the committee room beyond be-yond and on again In his senrcb until the sound of bis footsteps died. And till Dallas sat, inert, dumb. Little by little she was piecing together to-gether the facts of the long, miserable complication lit the light of what Perry Per-ry bad Just told her. It was (Asurdly easy now that she held the key of the situation. She could understand everythinghow every-thinghow Wnluwrlght bad put 1icr fortuii" Into Borough stock to Influence Influ-ence Bcnuett; bow, falling to move the latter, he bad used Alwyu's knowledge of the fact as a weapon against tho young man; how Bennett bad sought to save her fortune and why be had forbidden Perry to bias her feelings by telling of the generous act "From first to last." she murmured In unhappy contrition, "he has acted honorably nnd as he thought I would hnve wanted blm to and for my happiness. happi-ness. And I, like the wretched little fool I was, couldn't understand and publicly humiliated him. Oh, If only It weren't too Into to" A vision of Glbbs flashed before her mind, nnd she shudUered, realizing all that her rash steps had entailed. "It Is too late," she confessed to herself, her-self, fighting back the hot tears Biat seared her eyes. "But at least I can tell him I know nnd beg bis forgiveness forgive-ness and thank him." The sound of voice's In the corridor roused her from her bitter reverie. She sprang up hastily, unwilling that any should see her tear stained face, but the speakers, though they drew near, did not enter Horrlgan's olllce. Instead, they stepped into the ndjolu-Ing ndjolu-Ing committee room. The messenger bad left ajar the door between the two rooms. Realizing this and not wishing to be seen, Dallas shrank back toward the wall, fearful of detection. Then the voice of one of the speakers suddenly sud-denly arrested her notice "Well," Bennett was saying in no especially es-pecially civil tones, "you snld you wished wish-ed to speak to me in private. What have you to say?. Be brief, for I am busy." Finding herself the unwilling witness to what promised to be n coiitldentlal talk, Dallas stole townrd the door leading lead-ing to the corridor, but Ilorrlgiiu, as was bis custom, had locked It on going out She dared not enter alone the crowded nnteroom In her present state, 60 hesitatingly she paused, forced tn rcmnlu where she was. The sound of another voice chained her to the .spot, nnd, uuconsclous of eavesdropping, she stood spellbound, hearing every word distinctly through the half open doorway. door-way. "I I hardly know bow to begin," Glbbs was replying to Bennett's curt demand. "It Is a delicate subject and" "Then the sooner It Is treated to open air the better. Is" "You'o won the Borough bill fight," began Glbbs. "Is that all you have to say to mo?" "No. You'vo won. but you're lost far more. You've lost Dallas Wiitnwrlglit," "I hardly need to be reminded of that," retorted Bennett, "and it Is a subject I don't caro to discuss," "But listen," pleaded Glbbs as tho mayor mado a movo as though to leave the room. "Ono minute! I say you'vo won tho Borough fight. I've won Dallas. Dal-las. Can't wo" "Well, what.?" asked Bennett, with ominous quiet ns ho paused In his departure, de-parture, , "Can't we strike some bort of bar gain?" said Glbbs tentatively. "Explain, please," ordered Bennett, with that same deceptive calm. ' . i "Why," went on Glbbs, emboldened at the other's seeming complnccncc, "suppose you give up this Borough fight and 1 give up Dallas? I won her by a trick. She doesnt really love me. It is bcr pride, not her heart, that made ber throw you over and accept me. It Is you sho'lovcs, and I've known It all along, nnd you are tn love wltb ber." "Whnt then?" "Just this," returned Glbbs, wondering wonder-ing at Bennett's quiet reception of the strange offer,. "She will marry mo because be-cause she Isn't the sort of girl to go back on her promise, especially since she looks on me as a sort of high minded mind-ed martyr to your oppression, so If I hold ber to bcr word she will not back down. Now, If you, even now, withdraw with-draw your opposition the Borough bill fr will go through. 'vy L e t I t g o a through and I X will break my ' i engagement to 1 Dallas Wain-SJ Wain-SJ w right and , leijve her free 1-' to marry you." ' "You promise t that?" I Y "Yes!" cried Glbbs.elated. "1 I I promise on my Jb word of honor! -Uf Is It a bar-ZT. bar-ZT. gain?" -y "Glbbs." re-piled re-piled Alwyn "Oibbi, 1 didn't think slowly. "I didn't there wat to foul a thlnk there waa Sorld V1' so foul cur as you In all the world. I thought 1 understood bow utterly ut-terly rotten you were, but I didn't believe be-lieve there was a man llvlngwbo could debase himself as you've Just done." "But"- began Glbbs. In bewilderment bewilder-ment "Now you'll listen to me for a moment." mo-ment." cut tn Bennett Silencing tbe Interruption. In-terruption. "You say I'm tn love with Miss Walnwrlgbt .It is true. I love her In u way a dog like you could never understand If he tried for a lifetime. Pd give my life for one word of love from ber, but I'd sooner go forever without that word than win It by a dishonest deed that would prove me unworthy of ber. I asked ber love as a free gift and tried to deserve It She refused, and I won't try to buy whnt sho won't give me, especially since the prlco would make me as unworthy of ber as you yourself are." "But you take the wrong view of it You see, If" "I sec this much: I'll have to speak plainer to get my view of the case Into your vile mind. If ever again you meet me, stand out of my way. Don't speak to me or come where I am, for 77ic eavesdropper, if you cross ray path again I'll treat you ten thousand times worse than when I thrashed you In that football game. That's nil." Bennett, restraining his wrath with a mighty effort, turned on his heel nnd strode off Into the corridor, leaving Glbbs staring after him In dumb. Impotent Im-potent despair. When the broker had recovered himself him-self sufficiently to start from the room Dallas Walnwrlsht stood before him. barring the exit, Her face wns dead white, her big dark eyes ablaze. "Walt!" she commanded. "1 must speak to you for tho last time." "Dallas!" gasped the desperate man. his drawn face turning positively yellow. yel-low. "You were you you heard?" "Mr. Bennett Just now called 'you the foulest cur In all the world.'" said Dallas, ber voice scarcely louder than a whisper, yet every syllable stinging as a whiplash. "He put It too mildly." "But, sweetheart" " 'Miss Walnwrlgbt,' please. I lienrd you offer to sell me to him In exchange for his conscience. If my own brother had told mo such n thing I would no't have believed him, but I myself heard It And I heard his splendid nnsver" "But, you know, I was Joking! That It wns Just a trick to" . "Just such n trick that made me promlso to be your wife? Yes. hut this tlmo you had to do with a iimn-n iimn-n man In n million not with n poor, credulous little Idiot like me. And he nnswered you ns I should have answered an-swered you had my eyes been opened in time I"- "Dallas," groaued Glbbs. "for heaven's heav-en's sake don't look nt me like that! I can't bear It! I Jove you! And I" "And I In my criminal folly prom ised to' mnrry you!" she stormed. "1 ict you kiss me. My lips nro degraded forever by that touch ot y,ours. I let 'you speak words of love to me. I broke a brave man's heart for your worthless sake. Oh, the shame the horrible shame of It all! But I shall thank God on my bended knees that I hnve found out tbe truth before It wns too late." "Too late?" he echoed In horror, his voice rising almost to n scream. "Dal- las, you're not going to throw me over? Ye "ScottGlbbs," she nnswered a quietly, n world M of wondering scorn in her level tones, "you do not even know how vile a thing you are. Now leave me, plense. Your presence sickens sick-ens me." - j. He tried to "?y speak, but some-y some-y thing of the In effable con-"Jvota con-"Jvota I caw wc, plense. tempt lit her Your prcsenve tick- Kteuily g,. en.mc." lenced blm. Without a word he slunk out of tho room and out of her life. Phelan, agog with eagerness for the coming struggle in the nldcrmnnlc chamber, bustled past through the corridor. cor-ridor. Tho nldermau had many duties today, and as tho performance of each brought him nearer to his longed for revenge on Ilorrlgan he was positively beaming with righteous bliss. Dallas caught sight of blm. "Alderman!" she called faintly. I'helan halted, still In baste to fulfill bis mission. "Could could 1 see Mr. Bennett?" she nsked, a new timidity transforming her rich voice. "Do you know where I can find him?" "Is It luiHirtnut? He's pretty busy." "Very Important!" she pleaded. "I must see him at once." "I'll look him up," agreed Phelan, "but I warn you he's too busy to see you Just yet S'pose you let me take you back to tbo mcetln'? Our bill's comln' up in n few minutes now, an' you don't want to miss It. Then I'll scare up his honor for you as soon as he's got a spare minute an' bring you back here to him. Sorry to keep you waltln'," he went on ns they started toward the council chamber, "but before be-fore this session's over nil sorts of things Is due to explode, uu' i Ain't hardly nt the bcglunln' of the extlio-ment extlio-ment yet. Wr'ie goln' to make u Fourth of July celebration in a gl.int powder fact'ry look like n denf mute-ruu'ml mute-ruu'ml by the time we're dune." |