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About The Nebraska advertiser. (Nemaha City, Neb.) 18??-1909 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 1907)
CHAPTER VIII. Continued. "All right, Prod," 1 answered. "I Will go over to Bob's right now. I hate to do It, but there Is no other hope." I dropped the receiver and started for Bob's office. As I went through his counting-room one of the clerks aald, "They have just broken Anti People's to 90 on a bullotln that Tom Itelnhart'8 wife and only daughter have been killed In nn automobile ac cidont at their place In Virginia. They first had It that Rclnhart himself was killed. That has been corrected, al though the latest word Is that, he Is prostrated." I rapped on Bob's prlvato-ofllco door. I felt the coming struggle as I heard his hoarse bellow, "Come In." He stood at the ticker, with the tape in one hand, while with the other he hold the telophono receiver to his ear. My God, what a plcturo for a stage! His magnificent form was erect, his feet were as firmly planted as If he were made of bronze, his shoulders thrown back as If ho wore withstand ing the rush of the Stock Exchange hordes, his eyes afire with a sullen, smouldering blaze, his jaw was set In a way that brought Into terrible relief the new, hard lines of desperation that had recently come Into his face. His great chest was rising and falling as though ho were engaged In a physi cal struggle; his perfect-fitting, heavy T)lack Melton cutaway coat, thrown back from tho chest, and a low, turn-down white collar formed tho setting for a throat and head that re minded one of a forest monarch' at hay on the mountain crag awaiting the coming of the hounds and hunters. I hesitated at the threshold to catch my breath, as I took in the terrific figure. Had Bob Brownley been an enemy of niino I should have backed out In fear, and I do not confess to more than my fair share of coWardlco. Inwardly I thanked God that Bob was In his office instead of on the floor of the Exchange. His whole appearance was, frightful. He showed In every line and lineament that he was a man who would hesitate at nothing, oven at killing, If he should find a human obstacle In his road and his mind should suggest murder. Ho was the personification of the most awful mad ness. Even when he caught sight of mo, he hardly moved, although my coming must have been a surprise. "So It is you, Jim Randolph, is it? What brings you here?" His voice was hoarse, but it had a metallic ring that wont to my marrow. Bob Brown ley In all the years of our friendship had never spoken to me except in kind and loving regard. I looked at him, stunned. I must have shown how hurt I was. But if ho saw it, he gave no sign. Ills eyes, looking straight into mine, changed no more than If he had been addressing his doadllest enemy. Again his voice rang out, "What brings you here? Do you come to plead again for that dastard Reinhart after the warning I gave you?" I clenched both hands until I felt the nails cut the flesh of my palms. I loved Bob Brownley. I would have done anything to make him happy, would willingly have sacrificed my own life to protect his from himself or others, but this madman, this wild brute, was no more Bob Brownley as I had known him than the howling northeast gale of Decombor Is tho gentle, welcome zephyr of August; and I felt a resentment at his brutal speech that I could hardly suppress. With a mighty effort I crushed It back, trying to think of nothing but his awful misery and the Bob of our college days. I said In a firm voice, "Bob, is this tho way to talk to me In your own of fice?" At any time before, my words and tone would have touched his all generous southern chivalry, but now he said harshly "To hell with senti ment. What" Ho did not take his eyes, from mine, but they told mo that he was listening to a voice in the re ceiver. Only for a second; then he let loose a wild laugh, which must have penetrated to the outer office. "Eighty and coming like a spring freshet," ho said into the mouthpiece, "and the boys want to know If I won't lot up now that Reinhart Is down? Go back and smother them with all they will tako down to GO. That's my an swer. Tell them If Reinhart had ten moro wives and daughters and they were all killed, I'd rend his damned trust to help him dull his sorrow. Give tho word at every pole that I will have Reinhart where he will curse his luck that he was not in tho auto mobile with tho rest of his tribe "To bell with sentiment!" He was speaking to mo again. "What do you want? If you are hero to beg for Reinhart and his pack of yellow curs, you've got your answer. I wouldn't let up on that fiendish hyena, not If his wife and daughter and all tho dead wives and daughters of every 'System' man catno back In their gravo clothes and begged. I wouldn't let up a share." I. gasped in horror. "When did these robbers of men and despollers of women and children ever let up because of death? When were they ever known to wait oven (111 the corpse stiffened to pluck out tho hearts of tho victims? It is my turn now, and If I lot up a hair may I, yes, and Beulah, too, bo damned, eternally damned." I could not stand it. If I stayed, I, too, should become mad. I reached for the doorknob, but before I could swing tho door open Bob was upon mo like a wolf. He grasped mo by the shouldors and with the strength "No, You Don't Jim Randolph, No, You Don't.1 of a madman hurled mo half across the ,room. I sank Into a chair. "No, you don't, Jim Randolph, no, you don't. You came here for some thing and, by heaven, you will tell me what It is! You know me; you are the only human being who does. "You know what I was, you see what I am. You know what they did to mo to make me what I am. You know, Jim Randolph, you know whether I deserved It. You know whether In all my life up to tho day those dollar-frenzied hounds tore my soul, I had done any man, woman, or child a wrong. You know whether 1 had, and now you are going to sneak off and leave me as though I were a cur dog of the Relnhart-'Standard Oil' breed gone mad!" . Ho was standing over iiio, a ter rible yet a magnificent figure. As ho hurled these words at me, I was sure he had really lost his mind; that I was In the presence of a man truly mad. But only for an Instant; then my horror, my anger turned to a great, crushing, all-consuming agony of pity for Bob, and I dropped my head on my hands and wept. ' It Is hard to admit It, but It Is truo I wept uncontrollably. In an Instant tho room was quiet except for the sound of my own awful grief. I heard It, was ashamed of It, but I could not stop. The telephone rang again and again, wildly, shrilly, but there was no answer. Tho stillnoss became so oppressive that even my own sobs quieted. I gaBped as tho lump In my throat choked me, then I slowly raised my eyes. Bob s towering figure (was In front of me. His head had fallen forward, and his arms woro folded across his breast. But that he stood erect I should have thought him dead, so still was ho. I Jumped to my feet and looked into his face, down which great tears were dropping silently. I touched him on tho shoulder. "Bob, my dear old chum, Bob, for give me. For God's sake, forgive, mo for Intruding on your misery." I looked at him. I will never forget his face. No heartbroken woman's could have been sadder. Ho slowly raised his head, then staggered and grasped tho ticker-stand for support. "Don't, Jim, don't don't ask mo to forgive you. Oh, Jim, Jim, my old friend, forgive mo for my madness; forgot what I said to you, forgot tho brute you Just saw and think of me as of old, whon I would have plucked out my tonguo if I had caught it say ing a harsh word to the best and' truest friond man over had. Jim, for get it all. I was mad, I am mad, I have been mad for a long time, but it cannot last much longer. 1 know It can't, and, Jim, by all our past love, by tho memories of the dear old days at St. Paul's and at Harvard, tho dear old days of hope and happiness, when wo planned for tho future, try to think of me only as you knew me then, as you know that I should now bo, but for tho 'System's' curse." Tho clerks were pounding on the door; through the glass showed many forms. Thoy had been gathering for mlnutos while Bob talked In his low, sad tone, a tono that no one could be lieve came from the same mouth that a few moments before had poured forth a flood of brutal heart IcssueHs. Bob went to the door. The ofllco was In an uproar. Twenty or 30 of Bob's brokers were there, aghast at not getting a reply to their calls. Many were pouring In through the outer office. Bob looked at thein cpld ly. "Well, what is the trouble,? Is It possible we are down to a point where, the stock exchange rushos over to a man's office when his wire happens to break down?" They Baw his bluff. You cannot de ceive stock oxchange men, at least not the kind that Bob Brownley em ployed on panic days, but his cool ness reassured them, and when they saw me It was oddson that they guessed to a man why Bob had Ig nored his wires guessed that I had been pleading for the life of "the street." "Well, where do you stand?" Frank Swan answered for the crowd: "The panic is in . full swing. She's a cellar-to-r!dgo-po!e ripper. They'ro down 40 or over on an av erage. Anti-People's Is down to .15, and still coming like sawdust over a broken dam. Barry Conant's house and a dozen other of Kolnhart's have gone under. His banks and trust companies are going every minute. The whole streot will be overboard bofore the close. The governing com mittee has just called a meeting to see whether It will not be best to adjourn the exchange over to-day and to-morrow." Bob listened as if he had been a master at tho wheel in a gale, re ceiving reports from his mates. Thoro was no trace now 'of tho scene he had Just been through. Ho was cold, masterful, like the seasoned sea-dog who knows that In spite of the ocean's rage and the wind's howl, the wheel will answer his hand and tho craft Its rudder. "Jim, come over to tho exchange." The crowd fol lowed along. "We havo but n mlnuto and I want to havo you Bay you for give me," he said to me. "I know, Jim, you understand It all, but I must tell you how sorrowful 1 am that In my madness I should havo so forgot ten my admiration, respect, nnd lovo for you, yes, and my gratltudo to you, as to say what I did. I'll do tho only thing I can to ntonc. I will Btop thlB panic nnd undo ns much as possible of my work; nnd now that I havo wrecked Reinhart I am through with this game forever, yes, through for ever." Ho pressed my hand In his strong, honest ono and strode Into tho ex change ahead of tho crowd. All was chaos, although tho trading had toned down to a sullen desperation. So many houses, banks, nnd trust com panies had failed that no man know whether tho member ho had traded with early In tho day would on tho morrow bo splvent enough to carry out his trades. The man who hail, boon "long" In tho morning, and had sold out before tho crash, and who thought ho now had no interest In tho panic, found himself with his stock again on hand, becauso of the falluro of tho one to whom ho had sold, and tho price cut In two. Tho man who was "short" and who a fow minutes before had been eagerly counting his profits now knew that thoy had been turned to loss, becauso tho man from whom he had borrowed his short stocks for delivery would bo In no condition to ropay for them, tho next day, when they should bo returned to him. The "short" man was hlmsolf, therefore, "long" stocks ho had bought to covor his "short" sale. In depressing the price ho had boon working against his own pocket In stead of against tho bulls ho had thought ho was opposing. All was confusion and black despair. Thero Is, Indeed, no blacker placo than tho floor of the stock oxchango after a panic cyclone has swept It, and Is yet lingering In Its corners, whllo tho survivors or Its fury do not know whether or not It will again gather forco. (TO BI3 CONTINUKD.) Delivered the Goods. The late Senntor M. S. Quay, of Pennsylvania, kept, nil tho lottors his constituents wroto to him asking for favors, says tho Saturday Evening Post. Ho had stacks of thorn whon his last great light for tho senate camo along. Then ho sorted out tho letters, eliminating those from peoplo who woro dead and on tho back of oach lottor wroto: "Dear John or Bill: Do you remember whon you wrote mo this letter and do you remombor that I did what you asked? I want your help now In my tight for tho sonato. Can I havo it?" Tho politicians In Pennsylvania say thoso lotters mailed to tho original senders with Quay's re quest on the backs of them, had as much as any one thing to do with Quay's winning his fight. Were Superstitious, Too. A woman who takes her Bupor stltlons seriously started to enter a big department Btoro ono morning last week when she noticed a porter on a tall steplndder that stretched directly across tho doorway, says tho New York PrcsB. In spite of tho fact that thero wero five womon behind her eager to pass Into the shop she camo to a sudden halt, looked up at the lad dor and cried out, "Oh, I'll nover walk under that," saying which sho turnod and strodo aay. Beforo sho had gono far her senso of humor rose su perior to her fear of ladders, and sho looked to see if her remark had had any effect on thoso who had been within sound of her voice. Walking directly behind her were the five womon who had hoard her exclama' tlon. Officers Natural Anxiety. Sir Douglass Straight told this talo at a recent dinner of tho Journeymen Hairdressers Trade society In Lon don: When a young barrister ho went Into a barker's shop to bo shaved and was a llttje startled to seo the wom an cashlej' behind the counter star ing at him from time to tlmo through the glass door. When he got outsldo tho shop a policeman said: "I am very glad to find you hnvo como out." Tho officer explained that ho had been anxious becauso the barber had just come out of a lunatic asylum the pre vious weqk and his relatives woro wondering whether they would huvo to send him back again. Not a Reading Community. The town of Charlerol, Pa., has a Carnegie library In which thoi:o are several thousand volumes nnd tho town Is roundly taxed to support tho Institution. Last year, according to a report by tho librarian Just made public, there was ono solitary patron of tho library. TJio librarian ex pressed the opinion that tho people of tho town were so much Interested In roller skating, baseball games, brldgo whist and poker that they"iiad no tlmo for books. Don't Annoy the Officers. Army officers In uniform abound In foreign cities, nnd In Gormany they resent being stared at by tourists, often assuming threatening attitudes In retaliation. As tho Jaw permits them to shoot civilians on provocation, it is wise not to exclto' them. It is well to remember that they do not feel obliged to turn out for podestrians, oven ladles. Travel Magaziuu. Recipe for reaslstlcksv Tor broadstlckn take two cup of scalded milk, half a cup of butter, four tablespoons ot BUgar, ono teaspoon o! salt, whites of threo eggs, one cako ot yeast dissolved In one-fourth of a cup of lukewarm water and Pevon and half cups of sifted flour. Mix the milk, sugar, butter and snlt. When lukewarm add tho flour, yeast and the whites of the eggs, well beaten. Knoad well; let rise and then, shape In Ions; thin strips, about eight inches long; and one-half Inch thick, keeping them of an equal thlcknoss. Let rise again, then bake. Have your ovon very brisk and reduce tho heat at tho end ot live minutes. Tho stlcka should be very crisp and dry. Ta rron Shirt with Collar Attaohea. To Iron a shirt front with a collar attached, when dry, It Is placed up right on tho tablo and slightly curved to enable tho front t.o lie flat on tho table. Tho front is rubbed with a damp rag, tho stitching Btrotched anil the fullness regulated. It Is then Ironed llko an ordinary shirt front, nly being detached; It, may bo Ironed on the wrong and right sldo nltcrnato ly until It is dry. It is pollshod la the same manner as collars. Old' Brooms. Brooms and scrubbing brushes that havo scon hotter dnys can bo con verted into oxcellont mop sticks. Saw off tho broomcorn and uso this for kindling; nail on to tho flat ond of tho scrubbing brush. I prefer this to tho patented ones, for you nro sparod the labor of continually unfastening and replacing tho scrubbing cloth whon wringing It out. Russian Mince. This Is a good way of using up. scrapB of a Joint. Cut up a pound of cold meat Into dice. Chop up also any vegetables, ham, bacon, or miot pud ding. Fry nil lightly in a little drip ping. Season highly with pepper, Bait, finely-chopped onionB, parsley and a tablespoonful of vinegar, stir all to gother over tho fire, and sorvo vory hot. Garnish with Blppots ot toast. Meat Pies. Cook tho bonoB and drippings of cold ronst beef and a. small sliced onion for two or throe hotirs. Strain, and to tho broth add cold roast beef cut into small pieces. Season with salt and pepper and cook Blowly until tender. Pour into a baking dish and cover with potato crust. Bake until the crust is done. How to Clean Silver. Tho best way to clean silver 1b to dissolve a lump of sodu tho slzo of an egg In a gallon of wntor, Bring It to a boll. Put the silver In a sauce pan, well covered with water; boll for ton minutes. Remove tho silver ami rub with a soft cloth. Do not use pol ish after. Lincoln Directory Aik Your Orocer For LAU BRAND Coffees, Teas, Canned doods, Etc, Pure Goods 'and Full Weight H. P. LAU CO. LINCOLN, NEBRASKA HERBERT E. GOOCH BROKER AND DEALER Grain, Provision!, Stocki, and Cotton. Main Office, aog Fraternity Bids;. Lincoln, Nebraska. Boll Phone 512 Auto Phone 26SQ LarKost House in HUte NO CURE! NO FEE! UCIJ flufferlnijr from youthful errors or vIcch of later years, 1 havo a pi sitlve and certain method of cum. No euro, no foe. Write for plan. Proofs and references. DIt. 81CAHLKH, liox mf Lincoln, Nmh. DRUMMOND & JACOBS Grain, Stocks & Bonds 1027 N STREET, LINCOLN, NEB. Write uh for full information on the markets THE LINCOLN TANNERY CUD PflJITC Established 189.r. 11111 UllA I 5 Lap Robes, Rugs and all kinds of Hides. Furs received for tanning. Highest prices paid for hides. 313 autl 315 U HI., Lincoln, Neb. Shipping tags and circulars mallod free. LINCOLN SKIRT CO. 1235 N SI. manufacturers ol HIGH GRADE PETTICOATS midt It mittuu. Write today. ETHEL E. ANDERSON, Prop. Sim; s tad prices mailed fru. CANCERS and TUMORS Cured without using knifo. Call on us beforo it is too late. 23 years in Lincoln. References. Terms reasonable. DR. V. O'CONNOR 1105 O 8TBEET LINCOLN? NEB ml I ft II T TIIAT'M ALL LIGHT LIUPI Better and cboapor than uoh or electricity. Burns Dfi per cent air. For hotels, business liousos. churclios. Indue halls, and residences. Address E. M, HOLLOW, Manager. Lincoln branch American Gas Machluo Co.. ISOi P Ht Lincoln, Neb. ' BROWN'S BUSINESS COLLEGE Twenty years experience. Our (n'aduates se cure positions at WO, 176 and fW per month. 1510 O Btreet, Lincoln, Nebraska. FREY & FREY Largest growers of FLOWERS In Nebraska, Bend ua your On' era. ICS O Bimit LINCOLN, NKBBA8KA