The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1920-07-08


likewise fruitless. His letters were ~
turned unopened. His gifts, too. When
they returned home in the autumn he
had ordered box of violets delivered
to Kathleen every morning The
florist was an honest man. and at the
months end he had rendered a bill
only for carriage.
But Fitzhugh died hard. For three
years he never gave up trying. Then
the last CLEAN Of hope fiickered out
She was abroad most of the time
now, returning to Chicago only at rare
intervals, and then but for brief stay.
He heard that Artfe Sparkle was often
with her, and sometimes at the club
there were rumors Of
But he laughed loudly at these. He
refused to listen. The idea was pre-
pOsterous- absurd. Yet 1t was never
theless true that this gossip of Kath-
leen's engagement to Artie Immediate
" preceded some extraordinary per
Torrance that kept the name of Fitz-
hugh on the lips of thousands for
weeks afterward. As another man
would have turned to drink, so he
turned to STACEY extravaganza. Un-
cOnventiOnality was his dissipation,
and In his own way he became intOxi.
Gated
Some four years after that day in
June-fOur years in which he had seen
Kathleen less than a score of. times
and had spoken to her less than thrice
-Fitzhugh laid the foundation of the
throne upon which he was to reign for
brief but blazing period as King of
Wheat These four years had bred an
unwholeSOme change in the man. The
amasstng of gold had become his re-
ligiOn. It's virus had entered his soul
He allowed nothing to stand between,
crushing all opposition with an iron
hand. Everything was subservient to
but one end, and that end was Money.
All his faculties, all his tireless energy
and zeal and ambition were concen-
trated upon it. Waking or asleep, the
thought Of it was always uppermost
Hunt. in the erratic meanwhile, had
cOurageOuSly pilOted the deserted ship,
knowing its rightful captain would
again take the helm when ''he came to
himself" More than any other Henry
Hunt enjoyed the full confidence of
his chief. He was one of the very few
who knew Fitzhughs real name and
family history.
At irregularIy recurring Deriods
Fitzhugh entered the wheat pit. and
while these instances were generally
emblazOned with a burst of histrion-
les, he was never for second blinded
by the glare. When he seemed most
ebullient he was really most cool-head-
ed. He fooled the pit traders They
could never quite penetrate his bluff
ing" They perceived his propensity
for posing, and made the mistake OF
thinking him too seIf-centered to be
alive to his surroundings. While thew
were plying him for his rawness his
crudities, and confidently expecting his
downfall, he would aStOnish them by,
executing some brilliant coup that sug-
gested deep-laid plans as splendid as
his daring.
When in the conflict of the pit every
fiber Of his being was quiveringIy
alert Seemingly absorbed in thinking
of himself and the effect of his DOS
lures, he was searching his opponents
faces for the slightest trace of mean
lhSs WI LISluOE VI tItdI nl2SlSQy~
piggledy turmoil escaped him. Ear
and eye were quick to grasp every
variation. He was instantly alive to
every trick, every subterfuge He was
swift TO seize upon the merest open
ing, swift to attack the first unprotect-
ed spot. He was the ghrewdest Of
them all, and he played a game none
could understand. Outwardly, the
greeneSt of bunglers at it, secretively
he Unanswered with a master hand.
It was in the winter Of this year
that Fitzhugh went deepest into the
wheat pit. He plunged in farther and
farther. and with such apparent reck-
lessnesS that many times Hunt held
back, cOunseling a slower and more
cautious gait. But the leader was OBJ
durate. He would listen to no advice.
He rushed yet deeper into the pit,
dragging his hesitating follower with
him. Ensued long months Of doubt
and uncertainty-months that ground
down the nerve Of one and tried the
mettle of the other. There were times
when it seemed they would be wiped
were tied up in the deal to the last
cent All hung in the balance. It
was the biggest thing Fitzhugh ever
engineered. If it went the wrong way
they would be crushed under it and
obliterated.