The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1916-04-27
CHAPTER XIII.
Gall First.

Allison, ~springing forward with .
jerk as he left Jim Sargent's house.
headed his long. low runabout up the
avenue. He raced into the park. and
glanced up at the lookout house as
he sped on past; but II was only .
Meeting look. He needed no reminder
OF Gail. AS he passed Roseleaf inn.
he slowed down. The rosdhouse may
have given him. and probably did. IN
other reminder Of Gail. in such a man
ner as to concrete him into logical
thought; for he slowed down the ter
rife speed which had been the accom-.
paniment of his unreasoning emotion.
The driving required too much con
centration for specific thought.
With this turning Of his mental atti-
tude. eve the slow running Of the car
seemed to disturb him. and. about
half a mile past Roseleaf inn, he came
slowly to a stop. sitting at the wheel.
with his head bent slightly forward,
and staring At the spot where the road
way had ceased to roll beneath his
machine. Presently he became aware
Of the cold. and running his car to the
side OF the road, he stepped out. and.
b~uttoning his coat around him, crossed
q fence and walked through the ar
row strip Of trees to the river bank,
where he stood for a moment looking
out upon the misty Hudson. sparkling
under the moonlight. He began to
walk up and down the bank presently,
the turf sinking ~spongily under his
feet, and 1t was noticeable that his
pace grew more and more rapid, until
he was striding at . furious rate of
speed.
The man was in . torment of PAS
sion. He had spent q lifetime in the
deliberate acquisition of everything
upon which he had set HIS will; and It
was one of the things upon which he
had built his success, that. once he
had fixed his desire deliberately upon
anything. he had held ~unwaveringly to
that object, employing all the forces Of
which strong men are capable; patient
waiting, logged persistence. or vicious
graphing, whichever was best adapted
to gain his ends.
Gail! II there had been tender
thoughts of her. they were gone now.
II was so that he had centered his
mind upon her. and himself and his
will, until. In all creation. there a
nothing else but that was trivial: am.
bition. power, wealth. fame, the com.
mand of empires and of men, were
nothing. except as they might lead to
her!
So It was that he had come this far.
and the roadway to his present height
was marked by the cripples he had
left behind him. without compunction.
without mercy, without compassion.
Bankrupts strewed his way, broken
men OF purpose higher than his own.
useful factors In the progress OF hu-
man life, builders and creators who
had advanced the interest OF the COM
monwealth. but who had been more
brilliant In construction than they had
been In reaping the rewards Of their
building. II was for Allison to do this.
1t had been his speciality; the reaping
Of rewards. II had been his faculty to
permit others to build, to encourage
them In IL. and then. when the build
ing was done. to wrest Il away from
the builders. That marked him as the
greatest commercial genius Of his
time: and he had much applause for 1t.
Women. Yes. there had been wom-
en-, creatures Of q common mold with
whom he had amused himself. had
taken them In their freshness, and
broken them. and thrown them away;
his In has earlier years. But In his
maturity. he had bent all his strength
70 . greater passion; the requirement
OF all those other things which men
had wanted and held most dear. among
them acquisition. and power. and sue
cess Perhaps Il had been bad for him.
this concentration. for now Il left him
at the height Of his maturity. with mis-
taken fanciss. with long pent fires.
With dispr0portionate sdesirsa- Rrips.
Ing to thess. he haa the tremeadously
abnormal moral efEect OF never hav.
ms been thwarted In q thing npon
which he had set his mind. and az H.