The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-11-06
CHAPTER XIV.

CHAPTER XIV.
T not long afterwGrd that Daylight came
I on to New York. letter from John Dowsett
J was the cause-a simple little typewriter letter
Of several lines But Daylight had thrilled as be
read II. He remembered the thrill that was his
callow youth Of fifteen, when, in Tampas Butte.
through lack of fourth man, Tom Galsworthy the
gambler. had said sect In. kid: take hand" That
thrill was his now The bald. eyp written sentences
seemed gorged with mystery. "Our Mr.. Howison
will call upon you at your hotel He is 10 De trus
ed. We must not be seen together. You will under
stand after we have had talk" Daylight conned
the words and over. That was It. The big
game had arrived. and Ii looked as he being
invited TO sit in and take hand. Surely for no
other reason would one man so peremptorily invite
another man TO make journey across the continent
They met, thanks TO "our" Mr. HOwison up the
Hudson. in a magnificent country home Daylight,
according TO instructions arrived In private motor
car which had been furnished him Whose ear it was
he did pet know any than did he know the
of th ouse. with its generous rolling tree studded
lawns DoSsett was already there and another man
whom Daylight recognized before the introduction
was begun. 1t was Nathaniel Letton and none other.
Daylight had seen his face a Of times in the
magazines and newspapers and read about his stand
ing in the financial world. he likewise struck Day.
light as a man OF power. though he puzzled in
that he could find no likeness to DOWSett Except In
the matter Of cleanliness cleanliness that seemed TO
go down TO the deepest fbres Of him. Nathaniel Letton
was unlike the other in every particular. Thin to
emaciatiOn, he seemed cold fame Of a man, a man
Of a mysterious chemic sort of fame who under a
gacerlike exterior conveyed somehow the impress
sion OF the ardent heat OF thousand suns His large
gray eyes were mainly responsible for this feeling and
they blazed out feveFishly from what almost
deaths head so thin the face, the skin of which
was a CHASTITY, dull dead white. Not than fifty
matched with sparse growth Of iron gray hair, he
looked several times the age Of Dowsett Yet Nathan
Tel Leton possessed CONTROL Daylight could see that
plainly. He thin faced ascetic living in q state
Of high attenuated calm a mOlten planet under a
aho all
of all Daylight was impressed by the terrific and al
most awful cleanness Of the man There was 10
dross In him. He bad all the seeming of having been
purged by IRE Daylight had the feeling that
healthy man oath would be a deadly offence TO his
ears, sacrilege and blasphemy.
They drank; that is, Nathaniel Lett0n took mineral
water served by the smoothly operating machine of a
lackey who inhabited the place, while Dowsett took
Scotch and soda and Daylight a cocktail Nobody
seemed to notice the unusuaness OF Martini at mid
night though Daylight looked sharply for that very
thing for be had long since learned that Martins had
their strictly appointed times and places But he liked
Martins, and. being natural man. he chose DELHI
erately TO drink when and how he pleased. Others
had noticed this peculiar habit Of his but not so Dow
set and Lection; and Daylights secret thought was-
They wouldn't bat an eye If called for glass
OF corrosive sublimate."
John Hammersmith arrived in the midst Of the
drink and ordered Scotch. Daylight studied him
curiously. This of the great Hammersmith
family; younger one, true but nevertheless one OF
the crowd with which he had locked grappes in the
cognizanee Of that old affair He complimented Day.
light his prowess. The echoes of Ophir came
down to US, you know. And I must say Mr.. Day.
Lighter, Mr.. Harnish-that you whipped US roundy
IN that affair"
EchOesl Daylight could not escape the shock OF the
phrase Echoes had down 10 them Of the fight
into which he had flung all his strength and the
strength of bis KlOndike millions The HammersIniths
sure must go some when fight Of that dimension
no more than a skrmish Of which they deigned TO
hear echoes. They sure play an almighty big game
down here" was his conclusion accompanied by
corresponding citation that it just precisely thar
almighty big game in which he about 10 be invited
to play hand For the moment he pOignantly
GREETED that not true and that his eleven
millions not in reality thirty millions Well that
much be would be frank about; he would let them
know exactly now many stacks Of chips he could buy
John Hammersmith was young and eat. Not
day more than thirty, his face save for the adum
brated puff sacks under the eyes, smooth and
lineless boys He. too, gave the impression Of
cleanness. He showed in the pink OF health: the
unbemished smooth shaver skin of the face shouted
advertisement of his splendid physs al condition. IN
the face of that perfect skin his very fairness and