The Oklahoma miner. [volume] (Krebs, Okla.) 1912-192?, 1920-07-08

the hat, then settled himself in the
chair and rested his feet on the steam
radiator. He lighted cigar, exhaled
swirl Of fragrant smoke, and took
magazine from a pile on the table.
He had barely reaG the table of CON
tents, however, before there was a
tap at the corridor door, and he ad-
mitted messenger-bOy, who handed
him an envelope and departed. Upon
reading the dispatch he tore the paper
to small bits and hurried into the adj
Joining room, throwing off his vest
and lOosening his tie and collar as
he ran.
In ten minutes he reappeared. He was
completely metamOrphosed. Instead
of the smart morning coat, he now
wore long tan "duster;" instead of
! the stylish derby hat, he wore a broad
hrimmed yellow one; and he wore
soft flannel shirt with attached col.
lar, and rough trousers and dusty
shoes. Under one arm he carried
horsewhip. In fine, he was a typical
rancher just arrived in Chicago with
load Of cattle and a big wallet for
the thOusand-dOllar bills. Even his
beard was maglcally changed: 1t was
touslctl and all askew, and against
the "sunburn" on his face appeared to
be that of man sadly in need Of
shave rather than of one recently
! harbered.
a few minutes later he entered the
customers room" of Quigg 4 Peevy.
Free and easily, as beftted one Of
| untrammeled life, he strobe across the
floor toward Quigg's private office,
with great, awkward movements Of
his. long body, ficking his whip
against his thick trousers and putting
like a tugboat at his evil cigar.
Ostensibly, Quigg & Peevy were
brokers. In reality they were swim
dlers. A superficial observer, visiting
their offices, would have supposed
their customers to be La Sale street
| spectators. A rigid investigator
would have discovered their only
patrons were victims Of the get-rich-
! quick fever. The chief business Of
! Qulgg 4 Peevy was the selling of
| worthless stock. The rows of chairs
In the customers room" and their Oc-
| cupants, the rushing messenger boys,
| the long blackboard and the phleg-
| matte youth chalking cabaIistic fig
ures, the Chattering telegraph instru-
ment, operated automatically not
twenty feet away, were nothing more
than stage properties and players, en-
| ployed for the sole benefit of the suck
ers who made them possible
And upon this opera bOuffe stage of
sham and hypocrisy strutted Daniel
! Fitzhugh, dreamer and actor. His
roles were many and varied, but he
| portrayed them all with unerring ac-
| curacy-and, yes, even art. When he
was Informed that 1t was time for an
! other entrance" he never knew, until
! the messenger came with directions.
what part he would be called upon to
! enact. Now it was that Of a West
ern millionaire, bluff ungrammatical
/ breezy; again that of a French finan-
cier, suave, polite. tanglng his Eng
| IiSh; anon 1t was some great banker
from Liverpool, frigid and precise
| But the character he most often pOr-
| trayed was the Eastern capitalist"
Peevy was a thin, pale man, of n
dropping eye and & pointed chin, and
was deeply attached to a small brlar
pipe. His business was to "round up
the boObs and steer 'em in" Qulgg,
aided by Fitzhugh, did the rest.
After the second week Fitzhugh be-
gan to conceive a Sinking dislike for
the knavery he was abetting. After
the third he began to hate it. Capa-
bilities were stirring within him
capabilities which told him he was
worth infinitely more than one hun
dred dollars week, and that every
week ke worked for that sum he was
| throwing away money. 1t was near
the CGd Of the first month that he
asked his slippery employer for a hun
dred-dollar weekly increase. He was
little surprised when it was prompt
ly granted him.
~ was thinking about increasing
your pay. Fitz," said Quigg in his
large, careless way. you're worth
two hundred week to me-"
But when three weeks later the
CRATER was told it was four hundred
| dollars a week or nothing he frowned
pinched the pink roll of flesh under
his chin with his chubby fingers, and
rocked himself gently In his swivel
chair. "Pll tell you what, Fltz I'm
about to tackle the biggest thing I've