The Kendrick gazette. [volume] (Kendrick, Idaho) 1892-1968, 1920-11-19


had taken the next steamer. only to
miss her again, and for three months
had played battledore-and- shuttlecOck
with two defenseless women over the
major part of the continent. often stay
Ing in the same hotel, yet never catch
Ing more than q sneeting glimpse OF. the
one he loved.
All efforts at communication were
likewise fruitless. His letters we're re-
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. Their
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 Artie 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 It was never.
theless true that this gossip of Kath-
Teens engagement to Artie Immediate
~ preceded some extraordinary per.
formance 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. On.
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 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
a brief but blazing period as King Of
Wheat. These four years had bred an
.unwholesome change In the man. The
amassing Of gold had become his re-
ligiOn. Its virus had entered his soul.
He allowed nothing to stand between,
crushing oil opposition with an iron
|
hut 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 1t was always uppermost.
Hunt. In the erratfc meanwhile, had
courageOusly pilOted the deserted ship.
knowing its rightful captain would
| N mil ,H4~
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 irregularly recurring periods
Fitzhugh entered the wheat pit. and
while these instances were generally
emblazoned with burst of histrion.
les, he was never for a second blinded
by the glare. When he seemed most
ebullient he was really most cooi-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 self-centered to be
alive 10 his surroundings. While they
| were plying him for his rawness, his
crudities, and confidently expecting his
downfall, be would astonish them by
, executing some brilliant coup that sug
gested deep-laid plans as splendid al
, his daring,
. When in the conflict of the pit every
fiber of his being was Quiveringly
alert. Seemingly absorbed in thinking
: of himself and the effect of his pos
: lures, he was searching his opponents
: faces for the slightest trace of mean
!. ing. Not a tremor Of that higgledy
!, piggledy turmoil escaped him. Ea
: and eye were quick to grasp ever!
8 variation. He was instantly alive t
a every trick. every subterfuge. He wa
g swift to seize upon the 'merest open
e ing swift to attack the first unprotect
8 ed spot. he was the shrewdest o
Q them all, and he played game non
J, could understand. Outwardly tn
t greenest of bunglers at It, secretivel
+ he Unanswered with master hand.
s It was in the winter of this yea
d that Fitzhugh went deepest into tn
wheat pit. He plunged In farther an
y farther. and with such apparent rscl
: lessness that many times Hunt bel
q back, counseling a slower and NOR
~ cautious gait. But the leader was Of
g durate. He would listen to no advice
t. He rushed yet deeper into the pl
IT dragging his hesitating follower wit
<, him. Ensued long months Of dout
L. and uncertainty-months that groun
D. down the nerve of one and tried tn
mettle Of the other. There were time
X when 1t seemed they, would be wipe
out utterly. Their combined fortune
e. we're tied up In the deal to the la
n cent. All hung in the balance.
ID was the biggest thing Fitzhugh ev'
ID engineered. II It went the wrong We
s. they would be crushed under It n
&C obliterated.
re (ro BE COETINUEDJ
a. |