The evening world. Newspaper, May 25, 1914, Page 17

“== THE S The Evening World Daily Magazine, Monday: May 25, 1914 ENEMIES 11 ROA AESOP He AO RAY THE, KING OF NOBODY’S ISLAND [A Compl Novel Each Week in The Evening World HAR AIR RAR: BRI RIA KAN IRR R MAR TR NITRA RRA TORR TF RRA AAR RGA RMT INI RIOTS BIR IOR INITIATE, (Copyright, 1900, by the Gibson Publishing Company. CHAPTER I. t The Millionaire. JOHN DOUGLASS stood in the doorway of the Chicago Board of Trade, deep in reflection. The tumult which had surged and swelled in that Temple of Mammon through the day had died away; the place was deserted now, save for a few laborers and . & little army of clerks, or perhaps here and there a white-faced sitting alone at his desk wondering how he could face the future. For Douglass the day had been a igen} one. He had just completed “el &@ most satisfactory campaign in whea' ned up"—bought in the ‘cl last bushel of his short line, and what had been paper profits before were Sew pecure and tangible. A million dollars—that had been his mark, and he had reached it. He had been a gambler all his life, with alternating periods of success and failure; but failure had never made a coward of him, and he returned to new battle bolder than befor realizing shrewdly that caution is a for a gambler to exercise only when he is a winner. ugiass had always told himself "a million’ was enough, that when hed that golden goal he would feave business, with all its perplexi- tyip'and cares, behind him. He smiled noWrat the fervor of that vow. He knew that there was nothing else in roria for him but busin Bi ut speculation. Well he rds of the game, knew ssed ample means to his tastes and desires, that his fortune might be swept y again; but realizing all this carly he knew that to-morrow—the aay after, he would again enter the 7 He was no money lover, this thin, faced man of the world; he wv 4d money for what it would buy B@ Wanted enough to gratify his ex- pensive tastes; but beyond all, he ‘wanted the game. He wanted money the sake of making It. He played wheat as he played whist, boldly, in- ntly, and he loved to win. man realized as he stood there that he was not at all the ideal mil- Nonaire; he owned no real estate, he had«no large business Inter everything he had was money bonds and shares which he could convert into cash on an hour's notice. He kept no stable, no mansion, and only one servant; he did not care for ‘’my of those things. He lived ‘apne, to take his pleasures where he might find them, and they were be- coming more and more difficult to {™d, Even now he was wondering what lethe he could find to-night, all the old dissipations had grown Je. With a diffident nature, al ul craved companion: few friemis, In speech and almost cold— Wanked. He drank deeply, and was one of those dangerous drunkards who are never noticeably drunk. He lived on excitement and whiskey, yet’ no man had ever seen him ex- Fo or drunk. fe revolved in his mind the possibil- ites of the evening; if he went to the club some man he did not like would to him on a subject he cared noth- ‘about, or Buller would want to sell him real estate which he did not want to buy. The theatre had long ago béden placed among the impossibilities, and as for a social call—that was as bad af the theatre, too much that was uninteresting, and too much time be- tween drinks. Women did not enter into his calculations; he knew that he was no favorite with the sex; his money and Hberality would buy favors course, but the thought that he If was of no Consequence had ‘ago sickened him of these liaisons. was nothing for it but to der about from one old haunt to her, chat with an acquaintance 4 there—and drink, Perhaps inspiration would come. SPle crossed the atrect leisurely, and ing a handsome barroom seated if in one of the little upholster- ° that lined the aide of the An attendant brought a de- canter and a glass without an order —=Dougiass always drank the same tiling, straight whiskey. ‘As he drank he looked about the reom and nodded to one or two men one there with whom he cared wehobnod. There was Howard with hig side-whiskers and his insufferable English accent, and Porter, who horse forever, and Beardsley, ‘had read Burns to the exclusion of all other poet: nd who would mote “Holy Willie's Prayer” at th glass, and "Tam o’ Shanter” at the tenth, pausing between verses to explain the meaning of the lines; and Morton, who had two millions in Setocks, and who talked not at all, and , Cramer, who was always going broke ¢ and always giving other people ad- Ma one worth while but Morton, and that individual sat, fat and phieg- \ matic, with a goblet half full of bran- °° before him, making wet rings on me table with the bottom of his glass and never looking up from his ab- bing task. a Crane? rose at last and walked ward Douglass. temntello, Dougia: he sald, “What's the d word?" Douglass greeted him politely; he ‘was never Mier to any one, but he groaned inwa' '. 1 WNorhing new,” he answered; “will you have a drink?’ ~ “Cramer seated himself and Douglass rang for another glass. "How do you feel on wheat now,” Cramer asked. "m out of the market, cleaned up torday. I don’t know what to think; it’s about low enough, but I wouldn't it to buy it.” tell_you it's going a good deal r Cramer eald; “it'll go to fifty in rwhy, I thought you were bullish.” “So I was; I bought the etuff from inety-five down, but I've switched. fn bear now. You must have Jor He money on this break.” ‘Yes, I di + “Well, let me tell you, old man, you hang on to it. If I ever get what u've got they'll never get it away From mi Doug! was angry, but made no reply. This man belonged to the class who can alwaye tell a man what to 4o, but cannot accomplish anything maelves. It irritated Douglass at he should assume that he did WOULD YOU RISK UNSEEN PERIL AND ALMOST CERTAIN DEATH BY IMPERSONATING SOME ONE ELSE FOR THREE WEEKS IN RETURN not know how to take care of “If you ever let them get from you.” Cramer you ought to lose it.” “Where would you stop if you were make a lot of money?” Douglass himeelf. it to ry na © ‘You're talking nonsense; no man ever stops; when he gets a hundred thousand he wants a million, and so on forever; you had @ hundred thou- sand twice, and you didn’t sto ‘I know, but I will the next time. 'No, you won't; It simply looki to you from the present point of v! When I started trading with t door to nothing, I jd that when I made twenty thou I would quit; T made it and lost it trying to m fifty thousand, I got another and made fifty thousand, trying to make it ai Now I've got a@ million lose that. Of bas T might.” orton, glancing up f metrical ‘studies, “caught Dougiaas eye and nodded. Then he rose heav- ily and crossed to him. He looked at Cramer coldly and gave him a barely perceptible recognition, Douglass,” he said, “want to speak with you @ minute before you go. Cramer rose hastily and bade them good night, and Morton wedged him- Paci Donderously, into the vacant id I might course, I don’t think 20, u got out of your wheat = he said inquiringly. vil one a I'm out of the market.” ell, you're wise, it's market now.” pie as “I suppose you got out, too; your men buying. bg as of as anything speculative can Douglas pricked up his ears; Bruce was a great manipulator in New York. What was Morton leading up to? Something certainly; he never multiplied words needlessly, The big man mused for a moment. making the interminable rings on the wet table with the foot of his gla then he said slowly: “Tell you what I'll do, Douglass, I'll put you in on this if you like. We want another man; we are going to form a pool of two and a half million dollars, four of us—Bruce, Green, Hadiey and myself. We are going to let Bruce work the thing in a certain Btoc! Douglass sald nothing; he did not ask what stock. He knew little of Wall street, but he understood the ethics of the game. “It's not exactly a blind pool,” Mor- ton continued. “We each agree to take up a lot of the certificates to create a scareity; we hold those shares with the understanding that no one sells until the word is given, 80 we all get an equal chance. The cash shares will absorb half the pool money, and Bruce operates on mar- gin with the balance.” The two men sat silent for a time. Douglass was flattered. He had al- ways been alone before, and this was the first time he had consid- ered by one of the big men. At length he said: “I'll consider the matter, and give you an answer to-morrow.” “All right. Of course, I can’t enter into details now, but you know who in the pool are, and who 1 call at your office at 3 ry well, good-night,” and ex- tricating himself with difficulty from the space between the table and the seat, Morton walked away, leaving the little table covered with an elab- orate network of wet rings. For a few minutes Douglass sat thinking of the interview, then he rose and left the barroom. He walked slowly north on La 4d Salle street and entered the Stock Exchange, In the corridor a tall, clear-eyed man of about forty-five costed him: “Hello, Doug, looking for me?” “Hello, Billy Matthews; no, thank heaven; you lawyers are always smelling trouble. I'm glad to see you, though, Billy, it's been an age. “Not my fault, come over to thi house this evening.” “Not to-night, Billy, I'm tired; I don't feel very chipper lately.” “You don't look well.” The lawyer's eyes were shrewdly taking in the thin face, the listless droop of the shoul- ders, and the blue rings about the eyes. “You need rest, Doug, need it bad. “Do you know, Billy, as much as I love you, I always feel a bitter re- sentrent toward you when I meet you—you always criticise me,” Matthews looked surpri: “I don't mean in words,” Douglass continued, “but I can feel it. You don't deny it,” “It isn’t criticism; I can't see an old friend wearing himself out without thinking about it. This speculation and late hours”-—— “And whiskey,” Douglass added ‘don't forget the whiskey.’ that’s bad, too—it’s burning the candle at both ends, and there's nothing in It.” Douglass smiled. “Many men of many minds,” he sald, “No, we're all pretty much alike; I lived on my nerves for years just aa you are doing now—they were bad years, lost years.” “And then you quit drinking, and you went out into the woods and fished and hunted and made pictures and found new things under the sun and realized that there were lots of things in the world bigger than a ten-dollar bill,” quoted Douglass, smilingly. Matthews laughed. “You've got it go crazy without some kind of eccupation for an hour I'm unhappy; that wouldn't do for me.” “Try it sometime some in the woods it Isn't lone- emiled as Matthews ‘ay. “Dear old boy, bi visionary as the de’ * he hims At the entrance Matthews turned and looked back as his friend walked lowly along the corridor and turned into the bar. “A good brain and a good heart,” he mused, 0 bad; too bad; but he'll find himself eome —if he lives.” CHAPTER II. The Little Deal. DOUGLASS awoke the next morning, y-eyed and sick; twice he sat up on the side of the bed, only to lle down again and try to sleep, but the active brain would not rest, and with a final determined effort he arose and walked at once to a small buffet that stood in the room. He cursed softly when he. found the decanter empty; he remembered now that he had finished its cohtenta the night before, All other entertain- ment failing him, he had come home early with a new book, and seating himself, with the decanter on the table beside him, had read and drank until the page blurred before him, and the decanter was empty. There is no time when a man who lives on liquor wants his drink so badly as when he first rises. Doug- lass rang hi ply, and almost before its echo had died away, rang it again. His servant appeared with the bottle ready in his hand—he knew how to interpret the bell. Fever- ishly, Douglass poured a full glass of the whiskey and drank it quickly, then gnother. He was sick, sick— scarcely able to stand—but he had been sick for y He knew the and the cure. He walked about the room for a few moments. Slowly the color atole into hia cheeks, his hands ceased trem- Diing, and the awful feeling of sink- ing and depression left him. Then ho took a third drink, a smaller one, and entered his bath. He dreased himself with the acru- pulous care for which he was noted, and when he left his apartments he was as much himself as a man who lives on stimulants e' Down- stairs he entered the cafe and seat- ing himself at a table, opened bis newspaper. Breakfast, with him, w: @ mere concession to old habits and conventions. Sometimes he ate a tew bites, usually nothing at all. On this particular morning he nibbled a bit of toast, sipped a little coffee and then rose and walked Into the street. He looked at his watch—ten o'clock. What in the world should he do un- til three, the hour of his appoint- ment with Morton? He had a little business with his brokers and at the bank—that would occupy him for an hour; what then? He walked down State street and gazed without tn- terest into the windows; he smiled as he recalled that years ago he had often stood before these windows and dreamed of what he would buy if h could afford it. Now he wished there was something that he could wish to buy, But no, his million reposed in the bank, lifeless, impotent dollars, mere counters in the great game of beggar my neighbor. At Madison street he paused to listen to an altercation between a blustering policeman and a frightened Halian boy who was vending plaster casts, NEXT WEEK’S COMPLETE NOVEL a == IN THE EVENING WORLD => “If I ever catch ye on this street again I'll break every one of them boy murmured something in dazed way, but did not offer to move. The policeman raised his club menacingly, “You break one of those things and you'll be off this beat to-morrow,” Douglass said in his crisp, incisive way. “Don't you see that the boy doesn’t understand?” The policeman turned red with “And who are ye?” he said. @ stranger in a strange e's got a living to make and he's trying to make it.” mM half @ mind to take ye in yer- ‘All right, go ahead.” The officer glared at him, thought better of it and moved away, Douglass felt in his pocket and brought out a@ bill, ten dollars; he handed it to the boy and was grati- fled at the look of amazed, concen- trated joy on his face, Tears came into the big, dark eyes; thea followed @ burst of voluble Italian. Doug- lass moved hurriedly away; he abom- inated emotion. At noon he visited his brokers and his banker, and after some brief transactions, started his almless wan- dering again. He chatted with a few acquaintances, watched the ticker for a few minutes, gave a boy a dollar for feeding a great, gaunt mastift was sniffiing pathetically at er’s cart, and then went back to the ticker. But even the ticker has little in- terest for the man who is out of the market, and the time dragged heavily. At last three o'clock came and he walked toward Morton's office. He had decided to enter the pool. He had thought the matter over and understood it now about as well as he expected to after the details were laid before him. He did not know what stock was to be manipulated, he did not care—he wanted to be doing something, and he wanted to be one of the insiders, As to the prospects of success, he knew that Bruce was a shrewd man- ipulator, and that Morton always had the best of a deal before he entered it. At any rate he felt unbounded confidence in his own ability to take care of himself. He had no feeling that placing half his fortune on the venture was a very important mat- ter; he was used to taking chances. ‘The big man was seated at the desk ™ in his private office, The floor around him was littered with bits of matches; he was nervous, but in such a phleg- matic way that no one noticed It. He looked down after he greeted Doug- into bite with his fingers, After a few brief commonplaces Douglass took @ check from his pocket and laid it on the desk. “I'm coming in with you,” he sald. Morton took the check and looked at it in his dull, he way, turned it over and looked at the back, started to fold it, but thought better of It and laid down again, “You understand, Douglass, I'm vouching for you In this matter. We have to exercise great care in such a deal. It's of necessity a gentleman's agreement; our success depends on god faith all around.” Douglass made no reply; he ald not Propose to cheapen himself by any assertions as to his own integrity, After a few more matches had been broken, Morton went on: “I've followed you pretty close, closer than you know, and I think you're going to make a good addi- tion to our ranks. Here are the de- tails, look them over; if you want to withdraw after you have read them, we'll tear up the check and I'll take your word for it that you won't let it leak.” Douglass was pleased at this evi- dence of confidence; he did not know that Morton, dull and prosy as he appeared, was a past master in the art of flattery. Nor did he know that the big man felt eure that there was no remote chance of his with- drawing now. He read the closely nned in Bruce’ and for surer Racrecy Briefly, the plan was this: The National Rope Company, a little trust with only $10,000,000 of capital stock, had, a yeat ago, listed its shares in Wall street. These shares had been speculative footballs, with many ups and downs. As the stock paid dividends, a great deal of it waa held by Jl investors, The present price was low, abo @ share. Bruce explained that he would buy outright about thirty-five or forty thousand shares, which would ex- haust the floating supply of stock, or at least create a scarcity of Street certificates. “These shares he would divide among the members of the pool, pro rata, with the ding that they were to be locked wp and kept out of the Street until the word was given to sell, then all would fare alike, as each man would have an equal opportunity to dispose of his shares in the open market. Meanwhi the manipulator would “milk the market,” bidding the price up to high figures and reaping profits on the way up. A million and @ quarter would bay for the floating shares, the other million and a quarter would be the manipulator’s working capital. He would first accumulate written pages, own cramped o Mix line carefully, and then good re- ports of the business of the National Rope Company would begin to fill the financial columns of the daily press: perhaps an extra dividend would be paid; he could arrange all that. Douglass read the letter carefully and understandingly. It was simple enough and pretty certain. He pi it back to Morton. “It's all eatisfactory,” he said in.” briefly; “I' \ Morton folded the check and put it fn his pocket-book. A haggard jollar deal in Wall street does not frvolve so much detail as in other Ines of business. “Dll keep you posted,” he said, “How high does he intend to put asked Douglass. “High as he can; I don’t know, he robably don’t know himself, He'll reak the price first to get his stock cheap and create a short interest.” f course; what's the atock really worth?" Morton reflected, tearing a sheet of paper into little fragments—the matches had given out. ell,” he said at longth, “to tell the truth, it ain't worth a damn, They'll be assessed inside of @ year, but that don't make much difference.” “No, I suppose not.” The little deal having been ar- t ranged, they went together to the barroom where they had met tho night before and ratified the alliance with a drink or two. Then they separated and went each his listless way. In his rooms that night Douglass sat down again to his bottle and hia book, He told himself that merely following the movements of National Rope was likely to prove a trifle tame; he would have liked it better if he had had an active part in the work. But the deal wae made, no use in objecting now to its conditions. So he strove to diamias the matter from his mind, and turned again to hie story. But he could not read to-night with the keen appreciation and quick un- derstanding which ill-health and ex- ceases had failed to conquer. A proj- ect was forming in his mind; as it took shape he let hia thoughts wan- der from hia book until he realized with a amile that he had read a dozen pages with no knowledge of what they contained. Then he latd the volume aside and began pacing the joor. “Of course,” he said to himself, “why not get in the game, I'll keep my promises, but I'll start a little Rope deal of my own and make a Killing.” CHAPTER Ill. LTHOUGH he waa under no injunction as to speculating in National Rope for his own account, Douglass knew enough about the machinery operations, if large, would interfere with Bruce's campaign. So he de- cided to go slow and keep his own counsel, His plan was simple enough: he Dog Eat Dog. of the Street to realize that his own would watch for the preliminary Are You Going Away for the Summer? When difficult an matter. costly out of town for the summer to provide yourself with the right sort of reading you may find & Ss Why send to the city for novels at $1.25 or $1.50 each or buy them at a fancy price in some country store? You can supply yourself with the best, most delightful summer reading for six cents a week. you wi subscribing to The Evening World for the summer months secure a complete novel each week. Not some old book a country dealer has not been able to sell, nrt the finest up-to-date fiction by the foremost living authors, Bear this in mind, not only for yourself but for any of friends who expect to spend the summer in the country. ial break and buy a@ line of National Rope on margin. Bruce was to re- port daily to Morton what he had Douglass did not waste any words; took a hundred-dollar tall from his vi pocket and shoved it across the table. He had done business with the boy done, and by following these advices tet he would try to deduce what would probably be done next. On this plan he would himself buy and sell under cover of his broker's name, and the tranasactiona could not #o easily be traced to their actual source, Mean- while he watched the ticker and waited. He did not have long to wait; a few days after the formation of the pool, @ statement appeared in all the daily Dapers that the National Rope Trust was to have a powerful competitor, and that their business would prob- ably be cut in two. Still later it w; hinted that the noxt quarterly atate- ment of the corporation would make & bad showing. The news alao went abroad that Bruce waa a bear on the shares and was aelling heavily. Under these influences, and the savage, well- timed attacks on the stock by the ® manipulator, the price fell raph fifty, then to forty-five, and iS week a | by haynes! at forty. ip latter price Douglass bought five thousand shares; he shrewdly surmised that Bruce would not go too far, he would not want to frighten too many actual holders out and bring a fresh supply of floating stock into the market. ulatora were alre tonal Rope, and this was just wha Bruce wanted—a short interest which he could equeeze, Douglass realized that the desired pessimistic senti- ment had been created. a day "or twee thes, broke tet wo, LJ ‘oke shi to 38 and immediately began « inv up. That day the closing price was 2. Two days later Morton delivered to Dougines certificates for 6,000 shares of the stock. They were w! known Property of the Douglass took the stook to josit vault and locked it up. The next day he bought 5,000 more National Rope on margin. He was bositive now that the deal was on; he could only theorize before, for in his dally reports Bruce confined himself to statements of what he had don: never told what he intended doi: Slowly the price of National Rope advanced; all the reports of formid- able competition id poor business Prenaent chika denied; of the company person stated that Business had never been @0 good, and that it was highly prob- able that the dividend rate would be rained at the next directors’ meeting. The same ging who had been ~ dioting that the stock would sell at ten dollaré a share a few wecks be- fore were now talking one hundred, When the price reached fifty-two, Douglass sold his ton thousand shares, having realized a profit of over a hundred thousand dollars. He sold on the theory that Bruce would probably take profita soon, But the price kept on advancing until eixty was reached. Douglass was Ainsatiafied; he told himself that he had played the game lke an amateur. He might have known that Bruce was not out for ten or twenty points, and, bealdes, he had gone In too cautiously. He should have bought twice ax much as he did. He wan satisfied now that there was to be further advance, go he re- purchased his ten thousand shares and an additional ten thousand. In another week seventy wan reached; then came a break to alxty-five. The next day Bruce reported that he had sold out with a quarter of a million Profit to the pool. He explained that he had attracted too many short margined followers, and haken them out” to clear the atmosphere. Dougiass studied the matter care. fully: it waa certain that the gam was not over, Bi had sald nothing about a division of the profits, nor had he given the word to sell the cash holdings, There was to be a atill further advance, Convinced of this, Douglass doubled his line; he now had forty thousand shares. Every “point” up or down meant forty thousand dollars now, and in addition to his speculative line he held six thousand shares in certifi- cates—ho waa in with a vengeance. Tho price advanced to seventy and again dropped to sixty-five. Dour- lnas began to get a little nervous; he knew he wan overdoing It, and de- cided to reduce hie line on the next upturn, At 10 o'clock one morning he went to Morton's office; the big man wan not there—his clerk stated that he had gone out for a moment—and Douglass entered his private office and sat down to await hin return. He noticed a telegraph blank lying on the floor, and, reaching to pick it up and lay tt on the desk, his eve caught the signature “Bruce.” He read the message quickly and rose and left the room. Ho went atraight to his brokers and gave an order to aell hin Na- tional Rope. He wan perplexed: the telegram to Morton read, “You have heen relling out your certificates; un- lens you assure me that your line ta intact by buying six thousand shares at once, will declare pool disbanded and nell everything.” Douglass felt sure that Morton had gone out to follow this dictum to buy the six thousand shares, but if he had not, and Bruce kept his word, thera would be a crash. He was not greatly worrled, for he felt that his stock would be disposed of around the average buying price at least. He stood for a few moments watching the ticker: National Rope was com- Ing out in small lots at sixty-five. Then he determined to find out what Morton had done, and went quickly acroas the street and called for a in the office of Morton's broker. “HIN,” he sald. “T want you to meet me in the Rathskeller, in the third wine room from the door, miht away." “All right." was the response, and Douglass made his way quickly to the apmointed meeting place. He had hardly seated himself before Hill appeared. ‘The clerk was a shewd looking, sharp eyed youth “HU,” he said tersely, to go right back to the office and find out what orders Morton gave this morning, and phone me here at on The clerk took the ball, folded it and placed it in his pocket cooll: “L don’t need to phone yo said; “L took Morton's order myself. He has been in the office only once shia morning, and he gave an order to buy six thousand Ro “All right; that’s all. You'd better fa? What was Rope whea you eft “Sixty-four and a half.” “Thanks.” After the young man left the room Vougiaas sat for a few minutes re- volving in his nimble brath the events of the morning and trying to decide what would happen. ‘he thing looked all right on the face of it; Morton had tried to slip out of his certificates quietly, and Bruce hed ia me way discovered it and issued a prompt and practical edict. So far, go good; but Douglass didn’t like this kind of thing—a fight among the members of the pool. He was op- Pressed with @ sense of impendii disaster, He rose and made Bis way quickly He Grew the tape through bis fingers and started with feet: T id the ticker was da@cing madly. ed it for a mement: forty- five and a half, forty-five, a thousand shares at forty-four and three-quar- tera, A boy ran in with @ ti Dougiass tore it he pag hurriedly “Pool disbanded, bad faith among the membera, Am selling holdings; | eell your certificates.—Bruce. Reaching to the telephone, rang up his brokers quick; “Bell six thousand @ehares Rope at the market; I'll bring you the cerin- cates in a few minutes, What did you Ny for 2. forty thousand?” “All kinds of prices, everybody try- ing to @ell at once. It will average you about fifty-one. eelling.” Douglass walked to the bank delib- erately. There waa no need to hurry now. He estimated his losses as he walked along—at least half a million. Ho had been badly beaten, and it was @ bitter pill to swallow. He decided that he would say nothing until he heard what Bruce had to say, He took the certificates from hie box and carried them to his breker, That individual received them joy- fully; he believed Dougiaas to be good for anything he did, but in the spece ive arena no one ia ever sure of man’s solvency. ' “What did you get for these?” Pirie ‘broker ald je broker a alfp with @ of prices before him, “All t se from forty-two to thirty-five.” Douglass made some brief computa- tions on the all ‘All right,” he said, “that will leave me a Dalanc: you, I'll call for it to-morrow.” He crossed the street to the barroom where the National Rope deal had been formulated. Morton was sitting in one of the recemes making rij on tl jal he beckoned to Do “This turns out badly,” he said, “we will lose about a hundred thousand apiece, I guess. The last report Bruce made shows that he had a long. ie accuses some one of bad faith. "Yea, so hi " Morton sald, al ways looking down at his fret-work, “Sorry I got you into thi You can guess. It's the fortunes made a brief reply and moved awa: ‘e did not care to tell Morton that he had read bis mes- sage; neither did he care to speak of au Incepensies operations. He would wait, The next morning he received a statement and a check from Bruce; @ brief letter accompan!sd the docu- ments stating that he had thought. best to disband the pool and sell its” holdings, There had been a very savage rald on National Rope, and he had found it unsafe to proceed ftur- ther, so had sold the pool's holdings in the open market as per statement inclosed, Nothing about Morton, The statement was a long one cov. ing several sheets of paper. It showed that the pool had suffered a net lose of something over half @ million dol- lars. Douglass's personal share of this was therefore about one hundred thousand, In the cash certificates he had lost very little, but his indepen- dent transactions had cost him four hundred = thousand million time or words in useless protest. Af. ter his first bad quarter of an hour he had taken the matter philosoph- ically, But neither was he a man to alight the details of the wanted to understand it. He went to his office und examined the statement carefully, co not begun selling until the price reached fifty. Then h id the ment aside and lighted a cigar, lea back in his chair, put his feet on the table and for two hours did not move except to light one cigar at the butt of another. Then he rose and called for the official tape of the day be- fore, The tape is the long white rib- bon on which the ticker printe the record of every transaction made on the Stock Exchange, the number of shares, the price and the time of day, He drew the ribbon carefully a little at a moranda of the dealings in National Rope until he had covered the transactions of the entire day. He folded the e@heeta which he had covered with figures, and put them in his pocket. Then he lay back tn his chair and smoked three more cigars, “Crooked,” he muttered at “crooked as a grape vine. 1 don't suppose [ can make the old fox disgorge, but I ean go to New York and let him know that I'm on to hie little game, and T will « oe © @ o days later Dougl York. He went at nee to uce's Wall street office, and sent his card in to that worthy. After a Juat finished 2! ig line 94 TORY OF A WALL STREET MONEY-DUEL AND OF MYSTERIOUS ADVENTURES IN THE WILDERNESS == the room was Ly ting at a huge desk ‘writizy. ue het his features stern an4 forbidding, . ine and that be was simply of lips, ae bered that he had ern gambler with @ and had heard that he would man and consider it all in @ work. ie writ juded, turned slowly a ghate and his cold, gray eyes on Dougiaes. a f ‘ Oey ff guression appeared on Ws is off Doug 2 ee that here was ouglass hed it man to overawe people, to them Ill at ease by Bis brevity. speech and glowering harshness, he was neither overawed nor ease. He returned the look ink id waid: “You had my letter and state ment “I did, and I saw telegram to Morton also. You ordered him te buy 6,000 sh iene car nare® Of rope. He bongtt “Well?” "You sold him yours,” ye A shade of surprise crossed the manipulator’s face—it was enough— Douglass knew that he was “Well, suppose I did? H re eyed a what he part of it ie all right a clever triok, but look none jase drew the sheets of figures complied from the tape out pend and threw them shares Rope Price and fifty. selling for the reac! that ai ity-five and fifty. “You sold part of it,” Bruce ema wered composedly, anatase Sa of low iw other fifty thousand?” bass Douglass laughed eels ugiass lau, an laugh. “I do; there was rah terest in Rope except your ‘You sold that stuff short, or a part of it, and broke ¢ I suppose, if I wei wer cone re ft y it.” "You are al rt Drove ange: thi ne you oan. There wes rate = \ take the numbers Ot eke hese i cates I delivered, a: hree of members were peddling out on a a ot di your perronal love we joea sustain: your Independent transactions, x under no obligation to hall you tl i knew what you were Gotagvait m my persone ties any protest abo lonaea, been geme for twenty years, and ne T livea you know that I retood. slow flush come upon : He turned to his: desk Ht is utton, then resumed glass rose and walked to him. “I'm going,” he anid. , Into, pant ® pan! That kind of T'm going to day 1 Mt ba -% nh again.” {rain that niene Dougtase flected with grim satisfaction on Interview. He kn: fald about the pinve nae nat S58 that nothing makes that ar ee angry as to have his art CHAPTER IV. The Mocker, HEN he reached Chicago Douglass went at once his apartmehts. The: of the week had been trying, and despite hie une ruMfed demeanor the strain had tol@ on mind and body. To be naturally cool and composed is one thing, ang to repress all visible signs of agita- tion by sheer force of will ts anot! ——the latter process increases the tension, But he had been ban! those internal fires all his life, and burst of anger or loud words unknown things to him. He had been drinking even mos heavily than usual for three or fear 1d days, but now, for some reasom, Rise whiskey did not taste right—It paves’ eated him, He sat down 1a: his great leather arm-chair and tried. to: pose himself to read, but a fedling: depression and nervousness hat him, and at intervals he rose paced the floor. Once, sitting In the chair, he und of swale speaking his name sbrilly almost his ear, There was no one there, took a drink and sat is. Cate jacre be tall i and awoke with a sha , some force had lifted nia anes dropped it. He rose and the buffet, but his legs trem! der him, and be staggered walked. He steadied himself against jl and attempted to pour a di but the decanter dropped tragn trembling hand with a crash, He hia lexs giving way beneath him, preased it, fell heavily to the floor. (To Be Continued.) FOR $50,000? THAT | The Book on the Stands Will Cost You $1.28 You Get It for @ Cents