Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1909-07-29
CHAPTER /.

about his nose, and his lips had
thinned into a mere line which dropped
at the corners. The drone of a type
writer in the adjoining room sound
ed above the rattle-tattle of the street
below. Through the open windows
came a vague breath of summer redo
lent of flowers and grasses; for 1t was
but eleven O'Clock of the morning, and
the smell of sun-baked brick and as
phalt had not yet risen through the
air. Far beyond the smoking, ragged
skyline Darlington could see the shift
ing, glittering river and the great
ships going down to the sea. Present
ly the ashes from his dead cigar fell
in a gray cascade down his coat and
tumbled across his knees, but he gave
no heed.
Ironica1 old world, indeed! Here,
suddenly and unexpectedly, he found
himself upon the battlefield OF love
and duty, where all honest men find
themselves, sooner or later. To pit
the heart against the conscience, i'm
pulse against calculation! Heigh-ho!
Duty is IN implacable goddess, and
those who serve her most Loyalty are
most ruthlessly driven. She buffets
us into this corner and into that, digs
pitfalls for the hesitant foot, and
brushes the vacillating.
As all men will, Darlington set
about to argue down his conscience;
the heart is so insistent a counselor.
Why should he give up the he
loved, simply because duty demanded
he should? After all, was not duty
merely social obligation? What was
it to him that the sheep were sheared?
Was it right that he, of all men,
should divide the house, throw the
black pail of dishonesty over it, de-
stroy his own happiness and hers,
when so simple a thing as a match
would crumble into ~nothingness this
monument to one mans greed and
ss%elhshness? The survival Of the fit
test; if he put aside Self, who would
thank him? Few, and many would
rcall him a fool CT a meddler. So many
voices spoke that he seemed to hear
none distinctly.
He alone had made these astonish-
ing discoveries; he alone had fol-
lowed the cunningly hidden trail of
the serpent. He could stop where
he was and acme would be the wiser.
To be sure, it was only a question OF
time when the scandal would become
public through other channels; but in
that event he would not be held re-
~sponsible for bringing about the catas-
truphe. Besides, the ways Of the ser
pent are devious and many, and other
investigators might not come SO close
to the trail.
He had gone about his investiga'
tions without the least idea where
they would lead him. At the begin
ming he had believed that the guilty
sones were none higher than petty off
,cials; but presently he found himself
going over their heads, higher ant
higher, until, behold! he was at the
Hair of the old serpent himself. A
client had carelessly dropped a bir
of information, and 1t had taken seet
with this surprising result. Henri!
sCa1enaugh, millionaire promoter
financier, trust magnate, director il
"a hundred money-gathering concerns
Henry Cavenaugh, the father OF thu
girl he loved and who loved him
Gould it be he, indeed? 1t seemed in
credible.
1t was not a case of m%isappropria
"a e,x-l, a,,o1 DC q man NAV h
guilty of when temporarily har'
7nressed. 1t was a bold and fraudulen
ipassing of dividends that rightfully be
-longed to the investors; of wrongful,
issuing statements Of bolstered e2
nenses. lack of markets, long strike
(promoted by Cavenaugh and his as
asociates!), insufficient means OF trans
portation. An annual dividend G
seven per cent. Of many millions tha
mad been dishonesty passed over. Tn
reports that there would be no div
sdends encouraged a slump in the lis
ed price of the stock, and many ha
sold under par value, thereby nettin
ITO Cavenaugh and others several M
lions. And the proof of all this la
Din his hand!
It had beer a keen hunt. Many an
many a blind trail had he followe'
,,only to come back to the start agail
All that now remained for him to
was to pass this document on to I'll
hands Of the intrepid district attorne
and Justice would be melted out to II
guilty.
Her father! The picture OF him roi
suddenly and distinctly in his min
Tall, powerfully built. a hooked nos
keen blue eyes, an aggressive chin,
.repellent mouth, Henry Cayenaugh Wi
the Disqualification of the modern Gro
ssus. Immutable in purpose, logged
perseverance, a relentless enemy,
Jesuit in that the end always %justif'
the means, he stood a pillar in Il
world Of finance, where there
sometimes justice, but never al
mercy. Thirty-five years before
had been a messenger In q stoe
brokers' office. OF his anteceden
nothing was known until he bro
one of the famous gold corners in t
seventies. when a handsome, rude
checked little 1rishman bobbed up
renely from nowhere in particular q
claimed to be the great Cavenaugl
father. But his proofs were not &
yincing, and when the son showed
decided contempt for him, he gen
subeided into oblivion and was hes
of no more. From time to time Q
rington gathered a small crumb Of
formation regarding his sweethear