The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1916-02-10
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8yGE0RGT RANDOLPH CII[ST[R.
and LILLIAN CHESTER wv
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among the real estate ads. II began
early in the morning and it continued
until late at night. fresh details piling
upon each other In mad profuslon
their importance limited only by the
restrictions of typel
Extra! The trick by which the A.-P.
ran through the mountains over the
Inland Pacific track!
: Extra, extral The compulsion by
which the Midcontinent was brought
TO complete the big gap in the new
A..P. system!
Tremendous extral The contracts
OF freightage, subject strictly to the
interstate commerce law, between
A..P. and the cereal trust, the metal
trust, the fuel trust the cloth trust,
and all the other iniquitous combina.
tions in restraint of everything! Wowl
zowiel That was the hot one The
A.-P was the main stem, and within
thirteen seconds of the appearance on
the streets of the tremendous extra,
every other fragile branchlet OF rail.
road not under the immediate protec.
tion OF the A.-P., was reduced to a
shriyel, and its stocks began to drop
with the sickening plunge of an un.
opened parachutel
Gail Sargent kept Nanette on the
rush for extras from the first yell on
the streets, and she read every word
including the underlines on the miscel
laneous portraits Of Allison and the
funny pi-lines which invariably oc-
Cured in the middle OF the most inter.
esting sentences.
It was true, all truel Here was the
first step In Allison's tremendous prof
ect an accomplished fact. The rest Of
it would be gradually revealed from
day to day, as suited his needs, and
the empire he had planned would
spread, until its circle touched, and
oyerlapped, and broke into an intricate
webbing, over all the land and water
Of the earthl And she was to be the
empress!
Was she? Through all the night she
had battled that question, and the bat
tie had left traces Of darkness around
her luminous eyes.
Late in the afternoon Jim Sargent
came home, drawn, tagged, and with
hollows under his eyes. He had a vio-
lent headache, and he looked ten years
older. He walked slowly into the II.
brary where Mrs. Sargent and Mrs.
Davies and Gail were discussing the
future Of vedder court, and dropped
into a chair
Grace Sargent rang a bell instantly.
When Jim felt that way, he needed a
hot drink first OF all.
what is the matter?" she asked
him, the creases Of worry flashing into
her brow.
IT'S been hard day" he explained
forcing himself, with an effort to an.
swer. Years of persistent experience
had taught him to follow the line of
least resistance. There has been a
panic on change. Railroads are going
to smash all up and down the line. Al.
lison's new A.-P. road. It's the star
piracy Of the century. Allison has
brought into the railroad game the
same rough-shod methods he used in
his traction manipulations."
Has your company been hurt. Jim?"
asked his wife, fully prepared for the
worst, and making up her mind to
bear up brayely under 1t.
Not yet" replied Sargent, and he
passed his hand over his brow. He
was already making a tremendous eff
fort to brace himself for tomorrow's
ordeal 81 escaped today by an accl
dent. By some mistake the Towando
Valley was mentioned as belonging to
the new A.-P. combination. or course
] didn't correct it, but tomorrow they'll
know"
Mr. Allison was responsible for thai
statement" Gall serenely informed her
uncle. He promised he'd take care Of
you"
Great guns!" exploded her uncle
What did you know about this
thing?"
IAN Of it." smiled Gail. She had
known that Allison would keep his
word, but it gave her a strange sense
OF relief that he had done so.
Her Aunt Helen turned to her with
a commanding eye; but Gail merely
dimpled.
"of course | couldn't say anything"
went on Gail. 1T was all in conf.
dence. Isn't It glorious Uncle JIM"
you wouldn't have thought so "
you'd been down town today" respond.
ed her uncle, trying again to erase
from his brow the damage which har
been done to his nerves. "They wanted
to mob Allison! He has cut the
ground from under the entire railroad
business Of the United Statesl Their
stocks have debated an aggregate of
billions Of dollars. and the slump is
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