Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1916-08-03

handshakinG. 1t pleased him to see
that they understood from what hard
ships and disappointments he had
saved them, and he was doubly crate
full when Walsh rounded up his crew
and announced that the night shift
would resume work at midnight.
He escaped at last, leaving the men
grouped ~contentedly about huge pans
Of smoking %doughnuts and pots Of cof-
fee, which the cook boys had brought
in. Liquor was taboo in the camp
but he gave orders that unlimited CT
CARS be distributed.
The news OF the White river tiasco
reached Curtis Gordon in Seattle.
whittier he had gone in a final attempt
to bolster up the lettering fortunes Of
the Cortez Home railway. His disap-
pointment was keen. yet O'Neil from
the beginning had met his attacks with
such uniform success that new failure
did not really surprise him. 1t had
been a forlorn hope at best. Strangely
enough, he had begun to lose some
thing of his assurance of late. AL
though he maintained his outward ap-
pearance of confidence with all his
Old skill. within himself he felt Il grow
ing uncasincss, a lurking doubt of his
abilities. Outwardly there was rea-
son enough for diScouragcment, for.
while his cooperative railroad scheme
mad begun brilliantly. its initial sue
cess had not been sustained. AS time
passed and Eliza Appleton's exposure
remained Unrefuted he had found it
ever more difficult to enlist support.
His w denials and explanations
seemed poWerleSs to affect the public
mind, and as he looked back he dated
his decline from the appearance of her
first article. 1t had done all the mis-
chief he had feared. Not only were
his old stockholders dissatisfied. but
wherever he went for aid he found q
disconcerting lack of response, a half
yelled skepticism that was m%addening.
Ie his immediate business worries
were not all nor the worst of his
troubles. His physical powers were
waning. To all appearances he was
as strong as ever, but IL strange bodily
lassitude hampered him. He tired
easily. and against this handicap he
was forced to struggle continually. He
had never rightly valued his amazing
equipment of energy until now, when
some subtle ailment had begun to sap
1t. The change was less in his mus
cular strength than in his nerves and
his mental vigor. He found himself
growing peculiarly irritable. His fail
ures excited spasms of blind fury
which left him weak and spent. He
began to suffer the depressing tortures
of insomnia. At times the nerves in
his face and neck twitched unaccount-
ably, and this distressing affection
spread.
A week or two Of disappointments
should have shown him the futility Of
further effort; at any other time it
would have set him to putting his
house in order for the final crash, but
now it merely enraged him. He re-
doubled his activity, launching a new
campaign Of publicity so e~xtravagant
and ill timed as to repel the assistance
he needed. He had lost his fnesse:
his nicely adjusted financial sense had
gone.
b outcome was not long delayed; it
came in the form of a newspaper dis
patch to the effect that his CorteZ bank
had suspended payment because of Il
run started by the dissatisfied employ
ees Of the railroad. Through Gordon's
t1amboyant advertising his enterprises
We're so we'll known by this time that
the story was featured despite his eff
forts to kill it. His frantic cables to.
CorteZ for Il denial only brought as
surances that the report was true and
that conditions would not mend unless
a shipment of currency was immedi-
ately forthcoming.
Harassed by reporters, driven on by
the need for Il show of action, he set
out to raise the money, but the support
he had hoped for failed him When il
TRANSFERRED that his banks assets uon-
sisted mainly Of real estate at boom
prices and stock ill his various compa-
MES which had been inflated to the.
bursting point. Days passed, a week
or more; then he was compelled to re-
linquish his option on the steamship
line ne had partly purchased and to-
sacrifice all that had beer paid in on
the enterprise. This, too, made a big
story for the newspapers. for it pun
tured one Of the most imposing corp
rations in the famous Gordon 81
tenn" 1t likewise threatened to ILL
volve the others in the general crash.
Hope Consolidated. indeed. still re-
manned, and Gordon's declaration that
the value Of its shares was more than
sufficient to protect his bank met with
some credence until, swift upon the
heels of the other disasters, came an
application for a receiver by the stock
holders, coupled With the promise of.
a rigorous investigation into his va
rious financial manipulations. Them
at last Gordon acknowledged defeat.
Bewildered as he was. half crazed,
with anxiety, Gordon knew that the
avalanche had not only wrecked his.
fortunes, but was bearing him swiftly
1 tnyvar1 tha noritorti,rv J+o ,o&>o