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Show I "The Fighting Trail" PM Episode 1 "The Priceless Ingredient." HK V.. BBJ Baltorman leaned forward lm- BK proBSlvoly In his chair. BH "There Is nothing further to be BK loft to doubt, gentlemen," ho said. B "Only ono thing remains : Wo must H go ahead, though tho cost bo mllll- H ons. Do you ogreo with mo 7" W Tho others about tho directors' K tablo merely etarod. Thoy wero B afraid to answer. Men of millions, H rulers In tho world' of flnanco, enpa- m bio of hurling tho Stock Exchange m into furious panic by a moro uttor m nnco, thoy feared to say tho words H that would start tho whools of a na- E tton turning to 'carry out n mighty H aim. Still, nn thoy utarud across tin K tablo nt ilalterman, thoy Rlirdnk, E Strong, wealthy; poworful as i thoy B wero, nalterman wad groufor. Ho H glared at thorn a moment and spoka H again. H "I rfpoat, gentlomsn, what I havo just said." His words wero quietly HgtA spoken and calm, but thoy carrlod MTMho wholo forco of his character. IIo fluttorcd tho yollow shcot of a cnblo-I cnblo-I gram In his fingers. "This messago B la ilociRlvo. It tnonn9 possibly' con-B con-B quest for our countrj'. Mono, it Is B onough for mo. You know, all of you, that wo control tho groatost I oxploslTo In oxl3tenco; you woraprcs- ont whon tho govornmont tosts wero mado and nnnouncod successful. You 8 know, also, that cinnabar Is a nccov I eary Ingrodlont of that explosive Wo I must briTO cinnabar, and, gontlomon, 1 I Intond that wo nhall Imvo It. V 1 "Tho unpply of California ban boon I worked to tho Ilmtt. Spain haa omp- I tied lta m In 08. Erory known ro- I sourco ban boon oxhancitod. Tlioro Is but ono man who can fill our orders. Wo must onllst tho aid of John Gwyn. I do not know where ho obtains the supply, and I don't care. I know that ho can meet our demands, and I know that ho Is honest. I am satisfied. sat-isfied. Qcntlemcn, what do you say?" It took but a momont, after tho do-clslon do-clslon had been reached by his con-forces, con-forces, for him to pick up tho tele-phono tele-phono and call a numbor. IIo did not delay an instant. Tlmo, at this moment, meant llvos. IIo roachod CJwyn's secretary, then Gwyn. "Mr. Gwyn?" ho questioned. "This 13 Baltormnn. Wo would llko to sco you Immediately on n matter of grave fniportnnco. Wo shall wall for you, Good'" Ualtorman In tig -up the revolver re-volver and turnod again to tho men about tho tablo. ""Gwyn Is coming right over. You can tako him absolutely ab-solutely into your confidence. Ho Is surprisingly 'young for the Influence which ho wields, but tho point to re-momber re-momber is that ho la Jnst as big as his Job. And ho'n on tho Iorol," Tho othors noddod. It was less than fifteen, mlnutoa bo-foro bo-foro Gwyn was announced. Ho came into tho room with n briskness that contrasted sharply with tho august dignity of tho dlroctore who wero do-llboratlng do-llboratlng over snch a wolghty prob-lom, prob-lom, nnd shook naltorman hoartily by tho hand. Daltorman lost no tlmo In gottlng to tho point. "Wo havo boon oonferrlne about our now oxploslve," ho JannonncaA. "Yon no doubt havo hoard of It Thoro aro cortaln fncrodlonts whJh aro ossontlal in tho manufacturo of It and which wo are doBlrotts of ob taining. ,One of theso Is cinnabar. It Is Imperative that all our plan3 and operations bo absolutely confidential, confi-dential, for there will bo much In our actions that would bo Invaluablo to the Central Powers. Wojreallzo that ,our every move, desplto tho discretion discre-tion with which It Is made, Is closely followed by the agents of those Powers. Pow-ers. You, Gwyn, aro tho man wo have chosen to supply us with cinnabar, cinna-bar, as we understand that you havo ,an unlimited supply and becauso wo jknow that we can rely upon your confidence." "I thank you for tho honor of taking tak-ing mo into your confidence," Gwyn replied, "and I can assure you that It has not been mlsBlacod. I appreciate, appre-ciate, however, as you must, tho vastness of this task to which you are assigning me. Your demand alone will surpass all others that I havo been receiving In tho pant it will necessitate improvements and enlargements at tho source of my supply sup-ply in order for mo to meet It, and 1 shall havo to cancel Immediately all orders for the future." "Hut we shall pay you well," reminded re-minded Dalterman. "However," continued Gwyn firmly, firm-ly, sweeping the assemblage with his eyes, "slnco wo are agreed on tho most Important point, I can supply you with what you require. I happen hap-pen to know, gentlemen, no matter through what channels of Information, Informa-tion, that you cannot manufacture your new explosive without cinnabar I believe, also, that I am tho only man on earth who can locato tho hit ter. Therefore, while yau can exploit ex-ploit your explosive the greatest In existence I control It. My prico to you, gentlemen tho lowest I can offer Is a bonus of two million dollars dol-lars and the market prico for all the material with which I furnish you.'' "Gentlemen," asked the leader, "what disposition do you caro to make regarding Mr. Gwyn's proposition?" proposi-tion?" "It is nothing! It is everything!" Halterman shouted impatiently. "Tho prico may be redlculous, but it is also reasonable It is Important. There Is no need to dicker childishly with Mr. Gkyn. It would bo useless. He understands our situation, as ho informed us. Ho knows that wo cannot can-not secure cinnabar anywhero In the United States or anywhero on God's earth, for that matter except from him, nnd ho Intends to cliargo us for It accordingly. I don't blame him. He Is a business man. Moreover, he controls our wholo enterprise and Its success, as well as tho nation's welfare. wel-fare. And, gentlemen, Mr. Gwyn Is a man to depend on. It is worth two millions of dollars, to my mind, to have his support Instead of somo one else's. I demand, in your Interests, that you accept this proposition. If you refuse, you may carry out your own affairs I shall withdraw entirely, en-tirely, and sever my connections with this enterprise. You may do as you pleae. Gentlemen, what is your answer?" an-swer?" The effect of nalterman's throat to withdraw both his Influence nnd his capital was astounding. There wne not a moment's hesitation. Tho proposition pro-position was accepted. Balterman turned to Gwyn. "Wo nccept. Are you prepared to start for the West on tho Limited tonight?" to-night?" "I am prepared," ho answered, "to start for anywhere In ono hour. I am with you to the greatest extent of my power, and you can depend upon up-on me absolutely. I need not say that I shall expect tho same from you. I know I shall recelvo it." Karl von Dleclc, chlof representative representa-tive of the Central Powers In tho United States, laid his nowspnpor on tho desk before him and delved Into thoiiFht. Ills secretary, seated at a depk nearer tho door, tiptood quietly from tho room. Whon Von nieck th'hupht, ho thought of gravo and Im-poitnnt Im-poitnnt things, nnd his secrotary knt-w by precedent -that ho preforrod Jo bo alono. Von nieck, left nionp, proceeded to road again tho newspaper Item which had so perturbed him. It seomed to stick from tho rows of typo in words that spoiled destruction destruc-tion of his nation, of his power, of his every interest; nnd yet ho saw toward the last of It a ray of hopo the hope which ho must mako n reality. Ho read: The terrific power of tho now allied shell is marvelous. It surpasnes an thing which tho Central Powers havo yet developed devel-oped and promises to bo' tho nation's na-tion's salvation in tho present great conflict. This rnmarkablo power Is duo to tho now oxplos-Ivo oxplos-Ivo which hts rewntly beon Invented In-vented nnd, with this oxplosivo, tho munitions problem of the country will be revolutionized. Tho only drawbacls which Is truly a menacing danger is tho extraordinary small supply of cinnabar the chief ingredient of this new oxploslve. Ho rose from his chair, laughing, though moro with scorn than mirth, and passed through a door nt his back to an adjoining room. There, leaning over a long table, wero his associates, ready to do his bidding, reading tho code translation of a cabio messago thoy had Just received and deciphered. Thoy greeted their sperlor with dignity and relief. Ills mere presence and his austero mien wero comforts to them. Von nieck was handed tho cable, and ho read It carefully. Then ho smiled. Ills associates knew tho meaning of that smllo they had seen It often on previous occasions. They know, also, what tho cablegram contained. Von nieck spoko: "Tho most Important thing to our enemies, at the present time, Is tho perfection nnd supply of their now explosive. Therefore, naturally, tho most Important thing to us, at this moment, is tho destruction of this oxploslve; wo must render it Impossible Impos-sible for It to bo made. Tho easiest nnd most effective way for us to do this Is to cut off tho supply of cinnabar, cinna-bar, which Is tho chief and scarcest Ingredient UBed in tho exploslvp. It seems almost Imposslblo to obtain It. I learned but fifteen minutes ago, through a confidential agent, that tho contract for cinnabar has boen given to a young American engineer named nam-ed Gwyn. Ho has been receiving shipments of it from tho West, by the Santa Fo Railroad. If wo got Qwyn, and buy him off, or get his mine, wo shall havo accomplished our purpose. This c-blo as you know, places at our disposal flvo millions mil-lions of dollars to bo used to this end, Gentlemen, I nm going to locato lo-cato this engineer and offer him mora wealth thnn ho ever dreamed of. You shall remain hero until I ntirn or you h.ar from me. Good daj " (To no Continued.) |
