Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-04-11
CHAPTER nI.-contlnued.

AL Il6uIf odlu L. Auu AAOA Ihot
minute l was almost silent. 1t was
something in her tone and manner
that silenced me. l suddenly realized
that l wasn't making as good an i'm
preston as / had been flattering N.Y.
self.
When a man has money and is will
ing to spend it, he can readily fool
himself into imagining he gets on
grandly with women. But I had bet
ter grounds than that for thinking
myself not unattractive to them, as a
rule. Women had liked me when l
had nothing; women had liked me
when they didn't know who l was.
I felt that this woman did not like
me. And yet, by the way she looked
at me in spite of her efforts not to do
SO, | could tell that l had some sort
of unusual interest for her. Why
didn't she like me? She made me feel
the reason. l didn't belong to her
world. My ways and my looks offend
ed her. She disliked me a good deal;
she feared me a little. She would
have felt safer If she had been graft
flying her curiosity, gazing in at me
through the bars of a cage.
Sam-not without hesitation, as l
recalled afterward-left me with her,
when / sent him to bring her brough-
am up to the Broadway entrance. AS
she and I were standing there alone,
waiting in silence, | turned on her
suddenly, and blurted out: you don't
like me-"
She Redeemed a little, smiled slight
ly. "What a quaint remark" said
she.
l looked straight at her. "But you
shall"
Our eyes met. Her chin came out
a little, her eyebrows lifted. Then,
in scorn of herself as well as Of me,
she locked herself in behind a frozen
haughtiness that ignored me, "Ah,
here is the carriage" she said. 1 fol
lowed her to the curb; she just
touched my hand, just nodded her
fascinating little head.
See you Saturday, old man" called
her brother %friendlily. My lowering
face had alarmed him.
"That party is off" said I, CURLY
And l lifted my hat and strobe away
AS l had formed the habit of dis
missing the d~isagreeable, I soon put
her out of my mind. But she took
with her my joy in the taste of things
I couldn't get back my former keen
satisfaction in all l had done and
was doing. The luxury, the tangible
evidences of my achievement, no long
er gave me pleasure; they seemed tc
add to my irritation.
| worked myself up, or rather, down
to such a mood that when my office
boy told me Mr.. Langdon would like
me to come to his Office as soon as
it was convenient, l snapped out:
r'The hell hepdoes! Tell Mr.. Langdo1
I'll be glad to see him here whenever
he calls" That was stupidity. a pre-
mature assertion of my right to bt
treated as an equal. l had Away!
gone to Langdon, and to any othel
of the rulers of finance, whenever
had got a summons. For, while
was rich and powerful, / held botl
wealth and power, in a sense, on suf
%ferance; I knew that, so long as
had no absolute control of any grea'
department of industry, these ruler,
could destroy me should they decide
that they needed my holdings or wer,
not satisfied with my use of m,
power. | was surprised when Lang
don appeared in my Office a few min
utes later.
He was a tallish, slim man, care
fully dressed, with a bored, wear
look and a slow, bored way Of talk
ing. | had always said that If / hat
not been myself | should have wished
to be Langdon.
His expression, as he came ito m,
office, was one of cynical amusement
as If he were saying to himself: "Ou,
friend Blackjack has caught the swoll
en- head at last" Not a suggestion
OF i'll humor, of resentment at my i'm
pertinence--for, in the circumstances
I had been guilty Of an imp~ertinence
Just languid, amused patience will
the frailty of a friend. Il see," sail
he, "that you have got Textile up tt
s."
He was the head Of the Textil
trust, which had been built by hi
brother-in-law and had fallen to hin
In the confusion following his broth
er-in-law's death. AS he was just thel
needing some money for his share ii
the National Coal undertaking, he ha,
directed me to push Textile up towar,
par and unload him of two or thre'
hundred thousand shares-he, o
course, to r~epurchase the shares afte
he had taken profits and Textile ha'
dropped back to its normal so.
'Tll have 1t up to 9S by the middl
of next month" said I. "And Their
I think we'd better stop"
"Stop at about 90,' said he. "Tha
will give me an 1 find Ill need TO
this Coal business. I don't want to b
bothered with hunting up an invest
ment."
l shook my head. II must put 1t Vi
to within a point or two Of par" / dc
clared. TN my public letter I've bee
saying 1t would go above 95, and
never deceive my public"
He smiled-my notion OF honest
always amused him. "As you please,
he said, with q stlrug. Then / saw
serious look-iust a leeting fash Q
warningbehind his smiling mask
ana he added carelessly: BE careful
about your own personal play.
doubt II Textile can be put an
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