Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-11-29
FLOWING GOLD
BY REX BEACH
CHAPTER XXIII-Continued

~ ELL NELSON was even more dlsmayed
| X at the prospect than was his son, for
| ~ upon him fell the necessity of raising
the money. Hell of note the old fellow
| grumbled, when wet well puts crfmp
| in us! A little more good luck like this and
We'll go broke
1--WE can't afford to let go, or to sub
cot course not, after the stand we've
taken. There's talk on the street about the
| bank, now, apd-Fd give good deal to
! know where it comes from" The junior
Nelson had heard similar echoes, but he held
| his tongue. 81 never did like your way of
doing business the speaker resumed, fret
| fully. We've overreached. You wanted it
all and-ths is the result"
Now Henry Nelson was warranted in re-
senting this accusation, for it had ever been
| Bells way to pursue grasplng policy, there
| fore he cried, angrily:
That's right; pass the buck. You know
you wouldn't listen to anything else. Ii
| we're in deep, you're more to blame than TX
Nothing of the sort" Old Bell began a
| profane denial but the younger man broke
| in, irritaby:
1--WE never won an argument with you.
| so have it your own way. But while you re
| raising money for the 'Avenger offsets, you'd
better raise plenty, for Gray is going to
punch holes as fast as ever he can"
"Who is this Gray? What's he got against
your"
1--WE didn't get along very we'll in France"
"Humph! 1 suppose that means you
| fought like hell. And now he's getting even.
| By the way, where am l going to get this
| money!"
| "That is up to you" said Henry, with a
| disagreeable grin, whereupon his father
! stamped into his own office in fine fury.
/ Not long after this father and son quar-
| relied again, for of sudden perfect ava
| lanche of lawsuits released the mys-
| terious origin and purpose of which COM
| pletely mystified Old Bell. The Nelson's, like
| everybody else, had unsuccessfully dabbled
| in oil stocks and drilling companies for some
| time before the boom started, also during its
| early stages, and most of those failures had
been forgotten. They were painfully brought
| to mind, however, when Henry was served
| with dozen or more citations, and when in
| quiry elected the reluctant admission from
the banks attorney that genuine liability
eXisted-a liability which included the entire
debts of those defunct joint-stock associa-
| lions in which he and his father had in
vested. This was enough, to enrage saint
Henry argued that he had invariably
signed those articles of association with the
words, in parenthess, "No personal 1iabili-
ty, and he was genuinely amazed to learn
that this precaution had been useless.
The driller he had sent up to Arkansas in
charge of his rig one day came into the Of
| fee in great agitation. The mans story
caused his employers face to whiten.
"SaIted! I don't believe it." Nelson seized
his head IN his hands. ooh, my God" he
gasped Misfortunes were coming with
swiftness Incredible Sailed! VictimiFed,
like the greenest tenderfoot! A small for
tune sunk while the whole country was still
kchuckling over the jackson scandal! IhlS
was a nightmare.
Henry was glad that his father was in
Tulsa in conference with some other bankers
over that Avenger offset money. otherwise
there was no telling to what extreme the OLD
mans rage would have carried him at this
final calamity. And that whining, coughing
crook that bogus farmer, was in Arizona
or elsewhere--out of reach of the law!
Does anybody know" Henry inquired,
after he had somewhat recovered his equl-
| librium
>S'Nobody but us fellows.
'You-you mustn't shut down. You've got
! to keep up the bluff until-until I get time
| to turn"
"You going to bump off that land to some
| body else?"
what do you think I'm going to dor
Nelson was on his feet now and pacing his
! office with ierky strides
"Well-t's worth something to turn a
| trick like this"
How much?"
But the field man merely smiled and
shrugged So with a grunt of understand
| ing Henry seated himself and wrote out
check to bearer, the amount of which
caused him to grind his teeth.
| Now it was impossible to dispose of
l
! moments notice. In order to- evade
suspicion, it was necessary to go about 1t
slowly. tactfully, hence the financier NOV
| ed with as much circumspection as posi-
BILE His careful plans exploded, however
when he met Calvin Gray a day or so
| later.
Gray had made it an invariable practice
to speak affably to his enemy in passing
mainly because it so angered the latter,
this time he insisted upon stopping.
! $50 your luck has changed, hasn't 1t?
That Avenger we'll of mine has put good
value on your property. congratulate
YOU colonel"
"Humph! I don't believe in luck" Mel J.
son mumbled. And the Avenger isn't
enough of a we'll to brag about"
80? You don't believe in luck? 1t seems
to be our lot invariably to differ, doesn't
it? Now, my dear colonel, I'm not asham-
ed to confess that I am deeply superstitu-
Gus, and that I believe implicitly in signs
and prodgies. You see, I was born under
happy star; at hy nativity the front
of heaven was full, of fiery shapes as 1t
were. = Comfortable feeling, [ assure you.
F.! Take that incident at Newtown, not long
ago; doesn't that prove my contention?"~
What incident?"
Gray's brows lifted whimsically. "Of
course. How should you know? There
was a clumsy attempt to do me bodily
harm, to--assassinate me. Funny, isn't it?
SO i'll considered and so impracticable. But
inconvenient to \offset my wells as fast
as I put them down, perhaps you'd con-
slider selling"
Inconvenience" Nelson felt the blood
rush to his face at this insufferable insult,
but he Gained himself with the thought
that his opponent deliberately goading
him. After all it served him right for per-