The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1913-02-18
Of THE MISSISSIPPI BUBBLE; $40 OR FIGHT
ILLUSTRATIONS by Ray Walters


the first motor made in the Kelly row
woodshed. 1t was risky, but for once
Rawn dared make no desperate move.
Halsey talked little He was very sad
since the birth Of his hunchbacked
child. Sometimes he talked to Vir-
einia Delaware about it; never to his
wife, Grace.
And still the seven days wonder OF
International Power remained to puZ-
zle the industrial world. No inkling
of the real intention Of the company
ever got out There was, as RaWn nao
predicted, no market for the stock, for
the reason that it was not listed and
for the further reason that 1t was not
sold. It was held in a close com
nunion Of hard-headed and close
mouthed men, and there were no con-
fdences betrayed. The thing was TOO
big to conform to ordinary rules. In
the center Of all this stood the figure
of John Rawn, suddenly grown large
and strong He ruled his ARM, oHl-
GERS, staff and line, cavalry, infantry
and auXiliaries, as one born originally
to command. He brooked neither
parleying nor thwarting of his will
except in one instance. He never made
any demands on Halsey, never gave
him any peremptory orders after that
one day in the Office, months earlier,
before Halsey made his first trip to
New York.
These months seemed to have aged
John Rawn, none the less. He grew
grimmer and grayer, more taclturn
and reserved. At the clubs he was
one of the most talked-of men in town,
and one who talked least himself. AS
his hair grew grayer at the temples,
his Jaw grew harder, at the corner Of
his chin coming the triangular
wrinkles which go with hard-faced
middle age. Enigmatic, self-centered,
he could not have been called happy
man. He smiled but rarely, joked not
at all, engaged in no badinage, told
no stories, found no lighter side OF
life, played no golf, had no vacations.
Like some vast engine Of tremendous
driving power he welt on his way, ad-
mired in a city and country full OF
able men, as one competent to hold
his own with the best and strongest OF
them all. And still of ali his traits
stood out the one Of self-conhdence.
He played a game Of enormous and
continuous risk-fundamental risk by
reason of Halsey, Incidental by reason
of his widely ballooned market opera
tons; yet his nerve held, Moreover,
he was learning the price of success
an absolute devotion to the means Of
success. When he learned that the
child of his daughter was not a son,
but a girl, and that it was hunch-
back for life, a sad-faced, unsmiling
child-he set his jaws for moment,
but said few words Of coincidence,
either to his daughter or her husband.
He did not smile for three months aft
er that, and never referred to this sub
iect again, after it's first discussion
with his wife at Graystone hall; but
it cost him no time and no energy lost
from business. It only deepened in
his soul his growing hatred for Charley
Halsey, the man whom he dared not
chide.
In the headQuarter Offices a vast,
smooth\running business machine had
now been built up. Rawn was an or
ganizer. The laXness and looseness OF
the old railway Offices in ST. Louis,
where he had got his business school
ing. were missing in the headquarters
of international Power. Employees had
small time to gossip in business hours.
Out OF business hours, it is to be con-
fessed, once in a while there was dis
cussion as to the salary Of Miss Vir-
ginia Delaware, which was reported a
wholly Unstable affair. 1t was ru-
mored in stenographic circles that she
had taken to wearing very stunning
evening gowns. Yet not the most cap
tious-though willing >ss did not lack
could raise voice gaiDst her, or
couple her name with any other Rawn
and she were never seen together ex-
cepting during business hours; he new
er mentioned her name in any COM
pany. Once or twice laughing voice
at the National Union, where rich men
met in numbers, tried to create some
sort Of discussion over Rawns beau
tiful private secretary, but it was so
ID by Rawn himself
IL; i 81 ~,,s resumed
U2en Tic o;ner hand, few could
speak in definite knowledge regarding
the domestic matters Of John RaWn.
He was a man o. mystery, though one
OF known and admitted power He
held what he gained; and, as there
must have been accorded to him
strength of soul. grasp, readiness,
courage, he began to be accepted as
one of the large figures of his day
alike in industry and finance. He had
by this time fully arrived in the
prominent citizen class in his chosen
metropolis. Did firemen perish, John
Rawn joined the list Of those who aid
ed the widows. Was some neighbor-
ing city swept by flames, again he