Jackson County journal., 1919-05-23

good feeling and democratic equality
and civilized peace the European war
backed IN from nowhere.
A young man from Serbia shot q
grand duke of Austria, and the world
heard of Sarajevo for the first time,
but not the last. The bullet that slew
the Austrian heir multiplied itself as
by magic into billions Of missiles. A
young shoemaker from Bavaria, to his
great surprise, killed an old Belgian
schoolteacher he had never heard of.
The schoolteacher fell into a ditch
still clasping his umbrella. The shoe
maker moved on with a strange ap-
petite for shooting.
Refugees in hordes filled the roads
with a new Pharaonic exodus. So
many children plodded along in hur
CRY flight that Herod might have been
hunting down the innocents again.
With the moral cataclySm went a
financial earthquake. The European
exchanges flung their doors shut. The
American exchanges tried to keep
their shop windows open, but had to
close them down.
Bayard Kip was among the first cas-
ualties. Before he could put in a stop
order his margins were gone. He had
| said that prices, having struck bot
tom, could go no lower. Now the bot.
tom itself was knocked out.
Prices stopped falling at last be.
cause of the closing of the markets.
Europe established a general morato.
rum. America established one OF
sentiment. Everybody owed somebody
else, and everybody gave tolerance be.
cause everybody needed it.
Night fell on the commercial world
a night illumined by horrors unknown
before. Bayard's factory could not
meet even it's diminished pay roll. The
president of the concern could not
borrow penny at the bank of which
he was a director. The factory shut
down, sending all it's workmen into
the hordes of the unemployed. The
office forces were reduced to q mini
mum and the salaries Of the minimum
further reduced. Clay was thrown
out of even his half-job and Bayaro
was put on half-pay.
Bayard's sober thoughts concerned
themselves with eXtricating himself
from the wreckage. It was not DOS
sible to debarrass himself of every
thing. He could not give up his ex
penslve apartment. It was leased fol
a year and half more. He could moi
dismiss his expensive wife; she was
leased for ninety-nine years. He
could not give up his character, his
costly tastes, his zeal for front, the
maintenance of a good facade.
The instinct of lovable bluff was
seen in his telegram to Leila. HI
wanted her at home to comfort him
now that he had no business for he1
to hamper. Besides, he could not af
ford to keep her at Newport. Out OF
his ominously small funds he tele
graphed her liberal sum to pay hel
bills and her railroad fare and parlo]
car fare. He met her and found he1
astonishingly beautiful in her million
aire uniform.
He felt like the pauper who received
a white elephant for a present. Bu
she was gorgeous in her trappings
They embraced with mutual approval
He laughed:
Il was going to begin economy b.
cutting out the taxi business, but
couldn't carry a Cleopatra like you i,
the subway. You look like all tn,
money in the world. And you're wortl
it, In the taxicab he crushed her t,
him again in a dismal ecstasy an,
sighed gayly: "You're too grand fo
me, honey. I'm busted higher than
Kite. You didn't bring home an,
change, of COURSE"
Il did better than that" she beamed
and, being married to him, made n
bones about bending and disclosing
one entire silk stocking most ele
gantly repleted. 1t was Transparent
translucent, indeed, like gossame
over marble, and of a sapllng sym
metry except for one unsightly kno
which she deftly removed and place
IN the hand of Bayard.
: He did not need to glance a, ~
palm to tell that it was full of bank
notes.
- What's all ths'" h. said.