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Show I THE BELUGE. ir DAVID GRAHAM PtmUPS,AiKtro,"77'CasZcc (e&i&anr but & so. jzsmtzt cu-avyj w TRAPPEO AND TRIMMED There an' two Kind of dniig"riu temptations ilio.i. ilia' tiuipr tn and those that ilcin i Hum thin don Klve u h fHlno tiitlluii of our loalstlng power, anil o modi us easy Hellion of the others I thought I knew ni.i aelf irtlt thoroughl). utiil I ledloved there was nollilnic tlmt cnulil tempt me In neglect m business Willi thta delusion of ni strength llrnil) In I inlnil, whin Anlla became a tempts tlon to neglect htislneaa. i aalil to my Belt: "To go tip town during business hour fur long lunches to iend tho mornlnita selecting (lowers ami pro cnla for her Iheso things look like neglect of liuslu.-ss uml would lie so In anmu men Hut 1 couldn't neglect business I iln tlii'in because in) nT fair nro an well ordered that n few boura of almond! now and then make no difference prolwbl) send mo lack fresher ami clearer " When I loft tlio nfflre .it half past twelve on that falofnl Wednesday In - ' Juno, my business una never In boltir l!inM Textile roniinoii had dropcd a iwlnt nml n quarter In two daya evidently It was at Inat ou Ita way lowly down toward whom I could freo in) self ami tako prollta Aa for tho coal enterprise nothing could l-albly l-albly Impiicn to disturb It, I nil ready for tho llrat of Jul) announce-ment announce-ment and boom Never did I havo t lighter lirart thun when I Joined Anita and her frlonda at Shorn a It aocmed to mo her friendliness wn loaa ier-f ier-f unctory, lea a nialtcr of upponrancua. And tho aun was bright, tho air dell-clous, dell-clous, tn) health orfoct It took all tho strength of oil the atra Mnnaon lmd put on m n itur.il spirit to keep tno from being exuberant I had flnall) Intomlod to bo back at my oinco half an hour boforo tho ox- !chnngo cloned thla In addition to tho obvious precaution or leaving order that the) woro to telephone tun If any thlnB aliould occur uIhmiI which they had tho limit iloiiht Hut ao comfort nblo did my tnllv nioko me that 1 forgot to look at m watch until n quarter to Ihiee 1 hnd n niomontor) qualmi then, reassured, I asked Anltn f to tako a walk with mo. Ileforo wo act out I telephoned my right-band man and iiartner. Hall Aa I had thought. ovoothfng wna quiet, tho exchange wn closing with textile lug-rjlsh lug-rjlsh and down a quarter Anita and I took a car to tho pirk We. walked for an hour talking with leaa constraint and more friendliness than over before, and when I left her I. for the llrat time fell that I had left n good Impreiialon When I entereil my nlllreii I, from force of habit, mechanlcnll) went ill reel to tho ticker and dropped all In an lualant from lb" plnnnclo of heaven Into a boiling Inferno Kor tho ticker waa Just spelling out thcao wonla "Mowbray Ijingdnu, president of tho Textllo aaaoclatlon, aallod tin oxpeotedly on tho Kulsor Wllhelm nl noon A 2 per cent rulse of the dividend divi-dend rnlo of textllo mnimon, from tho present t per cent to fl has beon determined upon " And I had slaked up to, perhaps bn rond my limit of safety that textllo would fall! Hall was watching narrowly for some sign lint the now was as bad ns ho reared Hut It cost me no effort to keep my faee exprcaslonlee; I was llkn n man who has been killed b) lightning and Ilea dead with the look i on Ilia face that ho had Just beroro tho liolt alniek hlin ! "Wit) didn't you tell mo thla." sold i t to Hall, "when I hnd )ou on the phone?" My lone was quiet enough, but the very question ought to lime how n Mm that m) brain wns like a schooner I" c clone "Wo heard It lust after )ou tnn off." waa his lepl) "Wu've lieen try In to get you ever since I've gone everywhere after textile stock Ver) few will sell, or even lend, and they I i ask the best prlee waa ten polnta ' nbove tieday's closing A atrong lip's ; I out that textiles aro to be rocketed ' j f Ten joints up alreadv on th mere 1 rumor1 Alieady ten dollar to pay on I every share I w aa "short" and I abort if ' more than two hundred thousand' I felt the claw of the liend Hulii sink U Into the flesh of my shoulder Hall I doesn't know 1 nw I'm fixed," I reinem ber I thought, "and he mustn't know" ' I lit a olgar with a stead) hand and walteil for Joe's next worda "I went to see lenklna nt once ' ho went on Jenklna wns then tlrsl lee-' lee-' president of the textile trust 'He's alt cut up because the news got out 84) Lnngdon and ho wero tho only ones who knew, so he Biiiipored snya the announcement wasn't to have been made for n month not till Uing don returnod He has had to confirm It. though That waa tho only way to free Ma crowd from suspicion of In tending tJ rig tho market " "All right." said I "llaa )ou seen the afternoon pa pert" ho asked As he held It out to me, my e) caught big textile head tint, then flashed to some others-something others-something about my going to marry Mlis Klleral) "All ll, hi ,,!,) , w, tn pain r In n h Ui.l . m i(l iny oiilalile I'lllie I kipt on toward my Inner of-Hie of-Hie ialn itr iu nhouldor to tho aiiiiogniidier Dun i l,. hii)ImkI) In temipt me Hi bin,) n,,. KUnm and locked diHir in) hod) tentured to aome to life uualu and my face to reflect as much a It emild of the chaos that was heaving In me like ten thousand warring devils Three months before, In the same situation, my gambler's Instinct would probably hae helped me out. ttir I , had not been gambling In the great American .Monte Carlo all those )eara without gelling need to the downs aa well aa to the ill I hail not and lme not an) thing of tho bualneiM liinu In ni) eoniKHililon To mo, It was whnll) finance, wholly n game, with excitement tho chief factor nnd the sure winning, whether tho little bait rolled my way or not I wns the financier, the gambler nnd adventurer; adven-turer; nnd that hnd been my principal asset. Kor, the man who wins In tho long run nt nny or the great games of life and they nre all alike Is tho man with tho cool head; nnd the only man whoso head la cool Is ho who pla)B for tho game's sake, not caring Rung myself down again and duintH) land helphsalt Implied the rein ol inv projects or iiithir. the ruin of I the one iui)oct uon wl Ich I had my heart set I had known I cared for her, but It had seemed to me she was slmidt one tuoie the latest of the objects on which 1 was In the habit of living niv will fmni time to time to make the game more deeply Interest Ing I now saw that never before had I ralh been In tamest about any thing that on winning her I had staked mi self and that myself was a whollv different iieranii from what I had In-en Imagining In a wont I sat faee to faee with that unfathomable tin steiy of sexstflnlt) that ever) man i liugha at and mocks another man for believing In. until he has himself felt It drawing him against will, agalnat reason and sense, and Interest, mer tho brink of destruction yawning be fore hla eyea drawing him a the magnet mountain drew- Hlndliad and his ship Hut it Is mil In me to desialr There neer )et wna an Itniwnelrable siege line, lo obchim-, It Is only necea sar) b) craft or by chance In hit uin the moment and tho spot for the sor tie ' Itiilneil'" I aald aloud 'I rapped and trimmed like the stupidest sucker that eer wandered Into Wall street' A dead one. no doubt, but 1 1, see to It that the) dim t enjoy in) funeral NVI A OENTEEL "HOLDUP." In m) childhood at home, tny lather was often nwn) for a week or longer, working or looking for work. My mother had n notion Hint n hoy should bo punished mil) by hi father, so, whenever she caught me In what she regarded ns u serious trnnsgreiwlon. she useil lo sa) You will get a good whipping for this, when )our father come home" At first I used to watt passhel), suffering the torments of ten thrnshlnga before the "good whli-plng" whli-plng" enma to pass Hut soon my "III! llli:U' W1IITI!. A amiri.v wiiito'i greatly whother ho wins or lose on uti) one play, becauso ho feels Hint II ho wins lo-da, ho will luse to-mnr-iow Hut now n new factor hnd come Into the gnma. I spread out the paper and stured nt the headline "Hlnck Matt To Wed Society Hollo 'l he Hucket Shop King Will Lead Anltn HI leraly To Tho Altar " I tried to read tho ulnar article under whoso wilgar Hues, but I could not. I wna sick, sick In body and In mind. My "nor)o" wns gono I waa no longer tho freo lance. I had responsibilities That thought drugged nnothor In its train, mi ugly, grinning Imp tlmt leered nt tuu nnd sneered: "Hut she won't hate jou now I" "81m will! She must!" 1 cried aloud, starting up And then tho storm burst I raxed up and down tho lloiir, slinking my clenched lists, annulling my teeth, muttering all kinds of furious commands nnd threats a truly ridiculous exhibition of Impotent rage For luroui,li It ull I saw clearly enough that she wouldn't havo me, that all theso people I'd been tr)lng to climb up among would kick Ioodo my clinging hands and laugh as they watched mo disappear. Tlioy who wero nono too emtio and slow In disengaging themselves from those at their own lifelong associates who had reverse of fortune what consideration consid-eration could 'Hlack Matt" oxpect from them? And she tho necessity and the ability to decehe ninelt had gone, now that I could not pay tho purchaso prlco for her. Tho full hid eousness of my bargain for her dropped Its )ell and stood naked boforo bo-foro mo. At last, disgusted and oxhauiU4, I I mind began to employ tho Interval more profitably, 1' would scheme tn escupu oxoaitlou of sentence, and though my mother was a determined womun, many' tho time 1 oontrlted to chuugo her mind. I nm not . ecom mending to parents tho a) stem of d lay In execution of sentence, but 1 must any that in my case It was re sensible for an Invaluable discipline discip-line Kor example, tho textile tangle I know 1 wns In ull human pruua blllty doomed to go down before the stock oxchnngo had been open tin huur tho noxt morning. All textile steel" must start muny point higher than they hud been at tho close, must go steadily and swiftly up, Kntnngled as m resorvo resource were In Hie coal deal, I should hato no chance to cover my shorts on nny terms less thnn tho loss of all I had At most, I could hope only to save myself from criminal bankruptcy. Theio was no signal of distress Is my volcu ns I telephoned Corey, presl; dent of tho Interstate Trust comimni to stay at his olllce until I catno. ihefj was no signal of distress In in) utff nor as I sallied forth and went do? to tho I'owor Trust building, nor dg I show or suggest thut I had heaja tho "Bhot nt sunrlso" sentence, ajl strode into Ituobuck'a presence Wd greeted him I was assuming, by wf of precaution, that aome rumor abjit mo either had reuched him or "''I soon reach him. I knew he liadn 0)0 In every secret of finance and Industry, In-dustry, and, while I bclloved my )et wns wholly my own, I had too much at stako with him to bank on (hat, when I could, as I thought, so easily nassure him "I've 48fle tfi :"est Mf. Km ' buck salt! I. "I " ' l''1 mT hom -liluKloek Mi ,'ii ' -aunniinsi the nml raorBJR tarn ti' in li tiuld git- mo a trawl I'L and Mill III nj Ids hink 1 1 Mimtigo M) dallv lotto o Us I " ' Investments hae ns jro III K "t me a big (nl lowing that 'k' lp me make the flotation an aVgi i success than It s bound u k " matter who an noiimta it Md ii ' subscriptions ' As I thn pn '"I that I tie In a Jiff) (aught Htf aNuii the extremely humble ltTl 01 I'ntiil bucket shop dealer Into tk PV- ' heaven ot high flnnnri- that I1 msdo the official Bimki smaa ot "it nnanrlal guls. hi otirossloa WM at ludicrous that I al most lost Mt aWW 1 suspect, for a moment be tlMMlii I had gone mad Ills manner. MMa ho recovered him self siifflcMlll' t iixak. waa eer mini) not aallM what It wiild hate In-en bad M f"'l himself alone before be-fore a daatartts lunatic who waa armed with a bsrnh You know Istw an i Inns I am to help you, to fftlior tour Interests, Matthew," salt! he whoedllngly. "1 know no maa the has a brighter til lure Hal so fast, not so fast, young man. " course. )ou will a pear as one of the reorganising com mlttee hut w could not afford in have the anaosaceinrnl come through any leaa BtrWajt and old eatabllahed lioiiso tlian tbe National Industrial liank " "At Ut. JM ran make me Joint announcer with them," I urged "I'erlinp Jes - naslbly we II see," said he Mothlngl) "Ihere is plent) of tlmn" "Plenty of time,' I assented, as It quite content "I mil) wanted to put tho matter befere ou " And I aroeo to go. "Ilan you heinl the newa of textllo common?" he atted "Yea," said I rare IcmI) 'I hen, all In nn Instant, a plan took shape In my mind. "I own a good deal of tho stock, ami I most sa), I don't Ilka thla talso." "Why?" ha Inquired "llecauto I m sure It's n stock Jo lilng Bcheme," replied I iwldly. "I know the dlrldend wasn't earned I don't llko tint sort of thing, Mr Hon buck. Not because Ita unlawful th laws nro an clumsy that n praotlca! man often iat disregard them. Hut becauso It It tampering Willi thn repit tntlon and tho stability of n great en terprlso for the sake of a few million! of dishonest profit I m surprised nt l.nugdon." "I hope you're wrong, Matthew," was lloebuck's only comment llo questioned ic no further, nnd I went away, confldent that, when the crash came In Hit morning, If come It must, there would be no more astonished man In Wall street than Henry J Hoe-buck. Hoe-buck. Hot he must hnvo laughok, or, rather, wiald havo laughed. If his sort of human hyena expressed Its emotions emo-tions In tie human way. ) hltenrn &'rTTieTriiMiMUW bulldlnx ' I wtnt )ou to send for tho news-iispor news-iispor rciMirter nt once," said I to Klslur.'nnd toll them that In my bo-half bo-half yen nro going to apply for un In-JunctlM In-JunctlM against tho textllo trust, lor-blddlM lor-blddlM them to take Any further steps toward that Inc tase nt dividend. divi-dend. Tell them I, as a largo stockholder, stock-holder, and representing n group of large stockholders, purpose to stop the pvlng of unearned dividends ' Ffsser know how closely connected my fttuso and the textllo trust hail been; but ho showed, and probably felt n astonishment, llo waa too ex periMCcd In tho way of Iln unco and llaiMlera. It was n matter ot Indifference In-difference to him whether I wna trying lo sHnsslnnto my friend nnd ally, ur was feinting at I-angdon, to luro tho public within reach so that wo might, togflhcr, fall upon It and make a Inline. .S'ot without somo regret did I thus arrsngo to attack my friend In hla nli-sescu. nli-sescu. "till," I reasoned, "hla blunder, blun-der, In trusting some leaky person wn his Bccrt't Is the cause nt my pull and I'll not have to Justify my-m& my-m& to Mm for to Ing to save myself." Vrlot effect my Injunction would havo I gbuld not foresee Certainly It could tik save me from the loa of my for-tato; for-tato; bill, lusslbl). It might check tho ujward course of tho stock long sfnugh to enable me to snatch myself (gm ruin, and to cling to llrm ground At 1 1 the coal deal drew ma up to sTroty. My next iall waa at the Interstate trust company. I found Corey wait-K wait-K for mo In a most uneasy state of nlnd. f "I thero nny truth In thla story tbout ou?" waa tho question liu IIuiuimmI nt me ) "What atory" aald I, and a hard Ight I hnd to keep my confusion and Alarm from tho surfare Tor, apparently, appar-ently, my secret wna nut "That xm'ro on tho wrong side of the textllo" 80 It waa out! "Some truth," I admitted, ad-mitted, stneo denial would hate been useleas hern "And I've come to you for tho money to tide me over ' Ho grow- white, n sickly white, and Into hla o)o came n horrible, drowning drown-ing look (To bo Continued ) |