Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-04

| lines that proclaimed his own guilt.
| TOO bad about Mr.. Brent, sir.
Standish started violently. II was
the waiter at his elbow.
| MY brother was hts chauffeur. SIR.
| He says he don't believe MIR. Brent
shot himself, sir.
Yes, yes. No. Perhaps not
| Standish pushed back his chair and.
| leaving his breakfast unfinished. went
| around to the garage and got out his
! car. lie longed to ride and ride III
| he should reach u place where no one
! knew him. But he recognized that
this would be a mistake. SO he bowled
along instead to his stock brokers'.
When he had mailed his orders to
| the five brokers To sell Consolidated
| short he had at the same time In.
structed them to buy in when the
market had dropped 20 points. He
had figured that it would drop much
more than that, but 20 points would
| net him handsome amount.
| He pushed into the room where two
boys were marking columns of chalk
| figures on the blackboard as a mar
called them off from the ticker Stand
ish joined the group In front of the
Consolidated Steel Foundries quota
tons.
THE long row of figures Indicated
that this stock was very active.
But to his establishment it had gone
| off only 3 points. He remarked upon
this to a stout man standing next to
| him.
/ II thought Brent's death would
| have caused il to break" Standish
ventured
80 did everybody else" agreed the
| man. 1t may break yet. But it's
receiving unexpected support at the
opening. We are waiting for bull
1 letin"
! This important miscarriage of the
| principal aim of his plan, even though
it might be only temporary, made him
feel i'll. lie left the brokerage rooms
and drove TO his offices. Here he found
that the green curtain was still down
in his private office. He shot 1t up,
| opened his scanty mail and dictated
a few letters to his stenographer.f
Unable to stand the strain of not
knowing what Consolidated stock was
! doing, he went out and drove again
| to his brokers'.
lie could not believe the quotations
| that he saw marked up under Con
solidated as he pushed into the crowd
1 ed room. Instead of being 5 points
l
! it was now up 10 points 1t had gone
up 10 points within an hour. Instead
OF being ahead of the game, at these
prices he had lost $40 on every share
| or stock. AS he was working on a
| 2U-polnt margin, half OF his entire
capital already had been wiped out.
Keeling numb 70 the finger.tips. he
| crossed the room and read the latest
bulletin. 1t said:
y, CONSOLIDATED E staei Foundrles has gone
t T,at Rra mere w, 10 On unconfirmed rumor
T T, have cost the Consolidated dearly
the say 81 a ami eaasea his suede
mat, that showed vwnsd .Consoljdated to be worth
| street believes IT. and
Stan'iish read no more. He turned
and dashed through the Offices. nearly
bowling over two dignified customers.
Across the street was a telegraph of
nee. Careless of concealment he ran
over and wrote off five kilograms, one
TO each of his brokers, signing them
with his assumed names.
He ordered them to buy. buy at
once, buy at the market Anything
TO close out his account before the bal.
ance should be wiped off. leaving him
penniless.
He felt that he could not bear the
agony of watching the quotations
without knowing at what price his
brokers had been able to buy. So he
climbed in his car and drove back to
| his office.
He realized that he was becoming
overwrought. He remembered that,
of all things. he must retain his poise.
Two days before he had thought
| his nerves were of steel. Now his
mind searched for some one he could
so to for relaxation. But he could
not decide. He had no genuine
friends. He loved no one. he hated no
one. 1t had been his plan of life
Emotion. he had claimed, confuses the
| judgment.
lie dropped his head into his palms
to try to quiet his racing thoughts.
Just then he heard some one open
the outside door and come in.
He looked up into the eyes of Irv-
ing Brent. For a moment he could
have screamed. Then he saw that
the man was Irving Brent's brother,
with the same prominent brown eyes.
His inward tumult seemed about to
shake him into pieces. But he got
to his feet. and he heard his own
voice speaking with astonishing calm.
Come in, Brent. Excuse my star
ing, but you looked so much like your
brother I was startled. Come in and
sit down."
! X x x
WALTER BRENT came in and sat
w down in the chair across the desk
from the one at which his brother
had been shot. Shadows beneath his
eyes and white. tense lines about his
mouth showed the strain that he had
been under.
| II don't know whether you can
help me, Standish," he began slowly.
| But the elevator man says you were
here last night, and thought perhaps
you had seen Irving
mo, was here till 1890, but I
didn't happen to pass him as l came
in or went out"
did you see him yesterday at all?''
mo. I'm sorry"
"When was the last time you saw
him."
Standish thought for a moment.
about a week ago. At the club. But
I did not see him then to speak to.
Bent got heavily to his feet
II hope you realize how you have
nv sympathy" said Standish. III
there is anything can do"
Brent made slight gesture, and
with bowed head went out the door
The, hours that interviewed before
bedtime were blurred to Standish, like
a moving picture that is run too fast
1t was with a tremendous relief
that, in his rooms at O'Clock, he TOOK
an almost excessive dose. of the sleep
ing tablets and fell into a drugged
slumber
He arose late the next morning
breakfasted hastily and drove to the
post office.
His five different lock-boxes each
contained letter from a stock-broker
He took out the letters and opened
them one by one. Three Of them told