The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1911-07-07

kno,,, 80 anu your FAMILY? You
know that DR.. Dexter warned Won ~
t@Ae a rest last month, and you Iangh
ed at him, and" "sH
Oh Dexter!" he derjdad nJ,
doesn't understand. Neither do vom
mttie girl. Why, whatll I do, ANYHOW
NO. His mouth Strengthened into 3
urn hard line; he had settled the
matter man-like, forgetting the orig
maj lssue-her happiness, not his own
NO, cant give it up. It would he
loollshness With-with my prospects,
my career. No, you don't understand y
ne decided to comfort her with q
platltude: "M Men must work and
women must weep you know"
why" she cried, rebelllous,v
why must we weep? Why must
men work incessantly?"
The law Of life," he told her with
portentous gravity.
Naturally enough, perhaps. the clio,
inent OF the unforeseen figures largely
IN the life of the Street. On the fol.
lowing aftrnoon, Steeles deal in Inter.
state Tunnel came to an unexpected
end-to successful elimination I'm.
expectedly sudden. The CLIQUE of men
VINO desiring to obtain control of the
interstate Tunnel Company, had com.
Dlned their interests and put Steele at
thelr head, allowing him full discre-
tlon-thereby forming what is termed
blind pool"-had calculated that his
campaign would be one of weeks, if
not OF months, before their object was
attained.
AS 1t happened, however, another
combination had been formed with
precisely the same object, thereby Gre
atlng an unusual demand for Tunnel
Common-so unusual, In fact. that the
market price went up by leaps and
bounds, and the trading in Tunnel
Common became the feature of the
day. Steele and those brokers who
acted by his orders bought steadily,
at the market; the opposition bought
as steadily, if less successfully.
But, about two o'clock in the after
noon, the ticker ceased to record
transactions in Tunnel Common; the
demand had outlasted the supply; a
natural corner" had resulted. Steele
and his opponents between them had
bought up every available share in
addition to large number of shares
In excess Of the total issue-the out
come of persistent short" selling by
the bear element.
When he realized what had hap
pened, Steele told himself that his
work for the day was done. He could
return to his office and count the
gains and receive the congratulations
of his associates. The shorts were
squealing in agony, but that was their
affair; he would settle with them to-
morrow.
AS he was about to leave the floor,
however, the staccato rapping of the
gavel on the rostrum made him pause;
he knew, or suspected, what was COM
ing, and would not have missed it for
much. A slight lull succeeding the
frenzied uproar that had prevailed in
the board room, he was able to hear
the chairman's voice as it boonred out
over the heads of the brokers, an.
nouncing the suspension of Belden &
Tausig.
Steele smiled grimly under his mus 1
tache.
"Belden will think twice, l guess,
before he monkeys with the buzz saw
again." he thought as he crossed
Broad street to the Mills building.
At the same time he was both sur
prised and disappointed to find that
he was experiencing nothing Of ella
ton; he, who had Rugged jealousy to
himself the hope of such a just ven
geance during all the years of his en-
nifty with Belden, felt the glow of &C
complishment barely warm in his |
breast. Rather, indeed, he was con-
scious of a dull depression, a listless
WEAKNESS, as though he were an old
man, drugged with years. Which
Steele was not.
Even his success In obtaining the
control of Interstate Tunnel seemed
tawdry, futile thing, He found him
self walking slowly, his step lacking
its accustomed springiness, his head
dropping and hot and heavy, his feet
like leaden weights. He was tired,
he assumed, waking up to the fact
that he had been working hard and
very steadily for many days.
And when he found Belden, the 3D.
noxious, humbly waiting him in the
ante room. the keen edge of his graft
Rcation was blunted by that same
gray apathy. He did not care-now.
1t was not until Belden approached
him with his insinuating whine that
was colored with something OF his
,ne-time patronizing disdatn-"I say
lin. my boy'-.that the change came.
4 was utterly without generalization
IN steeIe's part, something entirely
outside of his calculations. When the
,ateful accents fell upon his ear;
Steele seemed to lose control OF hlm'
elf. for the time the room swan De
ore him: he was shaken by little
rust Of febrile rage. which. ne later
considered, must have seemed cnlio'