Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1912-01-19
CHAPTER VII.

CHAPTER VII.
IN no blaze Of glory did Burning
Daylight descend upon San Francisco.
Not only had he been forgotten, bat
the Klondike along with him. The
world was interested in other things,
and the Alaskan adventure, like the
Spanish War. was IN old story. He set.
tied down in st. Francis Hotel. was
interviewed by the cub-reporters on
the hotel-run, and received brief para.
graphs Of notice for twenty-fouI
hours.
Several months passed in San Fran
cisco, during which time he studied
the g%me and its rules, and prepared
himself to take a hand.
firing of being merely an onlooker
he a up to Nevada, where the new
%gold-mining boom was fairly started
"just to try a flutter," as he phrased
It to himself. The flutter on the To
nopah Stock Exchange lasted just ten
days, during which time his smash.
ing, wild-bull game played ducks and
brakes with the more stereotyped
gamblers, and at the end Of which
time, having gambled Floridel into
his fist. he let 60 for a net profit Of
half a million. Whereupon, smackme
his lips, he departed for San Fran
cisco and the St. Francis Hotel. II
tasted good, and his hunger for the
game became nor acute.
And once more the papers sensa
ftiOnalized him. BURNING DAYLIGHT
was a big-letter headline again. In
lterviewers 1ocked about him. Ole
,hles Of magazines and newspapers
were searched through, and the 70
mantle and historic Elan Harnish
Adventurer Of the Frost, King of the
Klondike, and Father of the Sour
coughs, strobe upon the breakfast ia
BILE Of a million homes along with the
toast and breakfast foods. Even be
fore his elected time. he was forcibly
launched into the game. Financiers
and promoters, and all the flotsam and
tetsam Of the 9 of speculation
surged upon the shores of his clever
millions. In self-defence he was com
PEELED 10 open Offices. He dabbled In
little things at first-"stalling fol
time" as he explained It to Holds
worthy. a friend he had made at the
Aita-Pacific Club. Daylight himself
was a member of the club, and Holds
worthy had proposed him. And 1t was
well that Daylight played closely al
11rst, for he was astounded by the
NJ attitudes of neutrality-suspicious.
NJ called them-that flocked about
him. He saw through their schemes
readily enough, and even marveled
That such numbers of them could find
sufficient prey to keep them going
Their rascality and general dubious
q was SO transparent that he could
not understand how any one could be
taken in by them.
So It was that he resolved to leave
the little men, the Holdsworthys
alone; and, while he met them in good
fellowship, he chummed with none
and formed no deep friendships. He
did not dislike the little men, the men
OF the Alta-Pacifc, for instance. He
merely did not elect to choose them
for partners in the big game in which
he Intended to play. What this bic
game was, even he did not know. He
vas waiting to find 1t. And in the
meantime he played small hands, in.
vesting IN several arid-lands reclama'
tion projects and keeping his eyes
open for the big chance when II
should come along.
And then he met John Dowsett, the
great John Dowsett. 1t was the first
big magnate Daylight had met face to
face, and he was pleased and charmed,
There was such a kindly humanness
about the man, such a genial demo.
craticness, that Daylight found 1t hard
to realize that this was the John Dow
set, president Of a string Of banks
insurance manipulation, reputed ally Of
the lieutenants of Standard OIL. and
known ally Of the Guggenhammers,
Nor did his looks belle his reputation
and his manner. Physically. he guar
anteed all that Daylight knew Of him
Despite his sixty years and snow
white hair, his h%and-shake was firmly
hearty, and he showed no signs OF
decrepitude, walking with a quick,
snappy step, making all movements
definitely and decisively.
Il was not long afterward that Day
tight came on to New York. A letter
from John Dowsett had been the
csuss--a simple little typewriter let
aay II esvgRal lines. But Daylight