Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-10-13
FLOWING GOLD
BY REX BEACH
CHAPTER XII
-Four Against One


YF Gray cherished any lingering doubts
| | as to the loyalty of MallOw, erstwhile
- victim of his ruthessn ess, or of McWade
| and Stoner, the wildcat promoters, those
| doubts vanished during the next day or
| two. AS a. matter of fact the readiness,
nay, the enthusiasm with which they fell in
! with his schemes convinced him that he had
acted wisely in yielding to an impulse to
| trust them.
| At their first council Of war Gray gave
each Of them number of definite things
to do or to have done, the while he sought
certain facts; when they assembled for
second time it to compare, to tabulate
and to consider an amount OF Information
concerning the activities OF Henry Nelson
that would have greatly surprised that gen
tleman had he been present to hear it.
For some time longer the conspirators
busted themselves over the details of their
plans, and Gray was beginning to feel some
| satisfaction at his rate of progress when
an interruption took the form of a call from
a group of highly excited and indignant
purchasers of stock in the Desert Scorpion
Company, that promotion in which Profess
| sor MalloW had assisted on the morning Of
Gray'S arrival
They had been sold, victimized, film
flammed skinned; the scorpion had stung
them and the poison was boiling in their
veins. Briefly, the sWindle was this: in
VestgatiOn had shown that the land owned
by the Desert Scorpion was not where it
a mile distant therefrom, Chance alone
had brought forth the truth; the hour of
vengeance had struck.
Calvin Gray withdrew quietly from thu
hubbub and asked Mallow, Can that be
true?"
The eminent scientist shrugged; out of
the corner of his mouth he murmured:
why not? 1t all looks alike"
McWade and Stoner were not in the least
diSmayed by this amazing intelligence; as
a matter of fact, the former assumed an
air of even greater geniality than usual and
nodded careless agreement to every accu-
SatiOn hurled against him.
Right you are, men! Absolutely right.
We were yictimized, but we're ticlIed to
death to rectify the error. Mighty fortunate
with the old check book and give these
birds back their money" With alacrity
Mr.. Stoner cleared off his desk and seated
himself, pen in hand. Step up and get a
dollar a share-just what you paid Fair
enough, calls it. The banks are open and
the checks good
| Immediately the repurchase of stock be-
gan, but anger and suspicion still smolder-
ed; there were dissatisfied mutterings. One
investor field man in greasy overalls
spoke out:
"'WeIl get ours, all right. Don't worry.
But how about the other suckers? There's
fifty thousand shares out. What are you
going to do about that?"
We'll pay a dollar and half a share
Tor all you can get tomorrow"
Ihere was a stir. among the indignant
spectators; the man for whom Stoner was
writing a check inquired: whats the idea
Why not dollar and a half now"
Stoner and McWade exchanged a meaning
glance7it was not lost upon their attentive
audience-but the latter shrugged and
smiled provocatively. "That's our business, ="
ne declared lightly You ghost dancers
want your money back and we're giving it to
you. You're letting up a boiler that you
were robbed, so come and get it. The faster
you come the better it'll suit us. Scorpion
stock will close at dollar and a half or
better tomorrow night"
Bluff" somebody growled.
Stoner finished his signature with a -four
lsh, blotted it, then he hesitated. He flung
down his pen and turned deiantly upon his
partner crying:
This amt fair to these men, Mac They re
customers Of ours and we owe em the
chance to make a killing. It's up to us to
tell em the truth"
McWade was angry. His indignation
named. Vigorously he denied the charge of
untalrness A spirited argument ensued
Meanwhile it became evident that the
alarming rumcr about Desert Scorpion was
rapidly spreading, for other investors were
climbing the stairs now, and the office was
becoming crowded. The later arrivals were
IN time to witness McWade finally defer
| to his partner and to hear him announce
that rare stroke of fortune had favored
purchasers of this particular issue of stock,
Tor the land which really belonged to the
company had turned out to be much better
than that which it owned Certain informa-
! ton from the field had arrived that very day
which was bound to send the stock to two
| dollars.
The refunding of money halted there was
a deal of noisy argument. Some of the
dlsgruntled investors still insisted upon SELL
| ing out; others decided to hold on: even q
Few asked to repurchase the stock they had
| turned in, and they were reluctantly per
nltted to do so at an advance of so per cent.
When the last caller had disappeared
tray inquired, curiousy: "How are you 60
ing to make good on your assertion that the
| stock will rise?"
Easy said stoner. I'll change into
my old clothes, put four mud chains on
my car. and drive up to the exchange in
a hurry, then give some gabby guy a tin
| 10 grab Desert Scorpion for me at a dollar
and half-all he get. After that III
| shoot out of town on high, with the cut-out
open: There will be string of cars after
me inside of half an hour, and the stock
Will be up before I can get back"
Continued Tuesday. Renew your subscrin-
tl0h now so AS not to miss a chapter of this
splendid story.
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