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JOHN I PROMN By EMERSC AUTHOR a" [THE MISSISSIPPI ILLUSTRATIONS by Ra COPYRIGHT 1912 BY EMERSOl i SYNOPSIS CHAPTER I?John 3avb la bora M Texas. Karly In life he shows siffns ok masterfulness and Inordinate selfishness. CHAPTER II?He marries Laura Johttaon. He Is a clerk in a St. Louis railway gffice when his daughter Grace Is horn. Tears later he hears Grace's lover, a TOttnjj engineer named Charles Halseyt peak of & scheme to utinze xne job*. cw Wat of electricity. With his usual un erupulousness he appropriates the Idea is his own and Induces Halsey to perfect An ?xperidental machine. He forms a company, with himself as president, at a alary of $100,000 a year, and Halsey as superintendent of the works at a salary ?f $5,000. CHAPTER #1?Rawn takes chhfrge of the office In Chicago. "Virginia Delaware, * beautiful, capable and ambitious young woman, is assigned as his stenographer, 6he assists In picking the furniture and decoration for the princely mansion Rawn has erected. Mrs. Rawn feels out of place in tKe new surroundings. CHAPTER IV?Halsey goes to New York with Rawn and Miss Delaware to explain delays in perfecting the new motor to tb^e impatient directors. He gets a message that a deformed daughter has been born to his wife. Grace Rawn. He rsturns to Chicago. CHATTIER V?Rawn bargains with Miss Delaware to wear his Jswelry and ^appear ia public with him, a* **. means w him in a business way. CHAPTER VI?Rawn it fortunate In aarket speculations, piles up wealth and attains prominence. CHAPTER Vn-He frets because his Irlfe does not rise with him in a soclaj way. He gives her a million dollars to leave him. *TER IX?Grace moves to Graynall, and Halsey continues to live in the cottage near the works. CHAPTER X?Halsey's machine proves a success, but he keeps the fact a secret. CHAPTE A XI?Virginia Delaware beeomee* more and more indispensible to Pawn. He takes her to New York on a tasiness trip. Idle talk prompts him to offer her marriage. CHAPTER XII?They are married. Through Virginia's tact and ability they pake a place for themselves in the sociaj CHAPTER XTTX?Halsey threatens to get a divorce because his wife refuses to return to him. He tells Rawn that he has broken up all the machines after proving Am success of the Invention. Rawn, In a great rage, threatens to Wll him. CHAPTER XIV?Halsey declares he will never build another machine foi ?nwn and slaps his face. Vlrslnia Rawn tercepts Halsey as he Is leaving the house and. with arms about his neck. Implores him to reconsider, because his decision will ruin them all. CHAPTER XT?Halsey tells Virginia that he has abandoned his Invention because It would put a gTeat power in the hands of a few to the detriment of the many. r "But o? course,^"he added, frowning | again in helpless perturbation, "we've got to get him in hand. Grace couldn't do it." "No; on the contrary, I can?if I pay!" "Then pay!"'he snarled suddenly, his voice harsh, half choking. "What's the price?nothing worth mentioning. But it's got to be paid, no matter what it is. We're caught, and we're -squeezed! We've got to pay, no matter what it is, Jennie!" "Is it no matter to you, Mr. Rawn?" "How can it be? I'm almost crazy to-night! Do it, that's all, and draw on me to the limit!" "To the limit, Mr. Rawn?" "To the limit!" He looked her straight in the eye, and she met his gaze fully. She shivered slightly again, but her delicately clean-cut face showed no further sign. Only she shivered, and pulled her wrap a trifie 'closer about her shoulders. "Very well," she said. "I may have to draw on vou?and myself, too." "It's all in the game, Jennie?we've got to play it together?we're two of the same sort?we've got to climb, to succeed. We rim well together. One must help the other's hand." : "Yes, it's a game," she answered; and so rose, and left him without further word. r John Rawn followed her up the stair, mumbling some sort of conjugal affec tion, but she left him at the landing j and passed toward her own apart ments down the hall, giving him hardly even a look of farewell. He followed her with his eyes, standing a little time, his hand resting on the lintel of his own door. Alnrio Rflwn spfltpd himfiplf in the Elizabethan arm-chair devised by his most favored decorator as fitting for this Elizabethan room. A vast oak bed, heavily carved, with deep and heavy curtains, represented the decorator's idea of what the Virgin Queen preferred. The walls were deeply carved in wainscot and cornice. A rude attempt was made at strength and simplicity in this, the sanctum of the master of Graystone Hall. Granted the aid of a lively imagination, this might have been the apartment of j some ieuaai loru m auuiua uaj, ao the designer and architect had not failed delicately to suggest to Mr. Rawn. It is possible that in the time of Elizabeth pier glasses with heavily carved frames were not common in the size affected by Mr. Rawn in his private apartment. He stood before the great glass now and gazed at what he saw; a face haggard and lined, shoulders stooping a little forward, body a little stooped, a little heavy, a little soft; the watch charm hanging In free air?the ficrure of a man no longer athletic, if erer S9. j {AWN JENT CITIZEN IN HOI ir.H BUBBLE; 54-40 OR FIGHT iy Walters THOUGH Hawn stood engaged in "his regular nightly devotions?he made no prayers of eventide beyond that to his mirror. But now nething he sawcaused him to fling . iiself into a seat at a smaller glass, where the light was better. He gazed into this also, Intently. Something seemed strange oknnl >?{e> avao oKrtiit file mnnth Hp U l/V U W Uto VOf H wuv JU&W UiVUVMt turned his face slightly sidewise and 3tudied the deep, triangular lines at '.he corner of the chin. He saw a roll Df fat at the back of his neck, and observed a certain throatiness, a voluminousness of flesh below the chin. | The latter stood out distinct, pushing forward;?the rich man's chin, the old man's chin. He lifted a finger and touched tiie arteries on his temples. They were firmer to the touch than once they had been. He looked at the veins on his hands, and realized that they stood fuller than was ones the case. His nose, large, just a trifle bulbous, seemed to hira to have gained somewhat in color in late years. He 1 looked at his eyes in eager questioning. Yes, they belonged to him! But for some reasou they lacked brilliance and fire. They were colder, less impressive, less responsive;?the rich man's eyes, the old man's eyes. He looked at his hair, now almost white at the temples. He hesitated for a mo ment, tnen picKea up a nana glass ana deliberately turned his back to the mirror. Yes, it was there, a shiny spot of naked epidermis. He knew that, but always he shunned the knowledge and the proof. For many years his thick mane of wiry hair had been his pride. John Rawn turned and put the hand mirror on the dresser top again. He looked full into the glass at his image once more. His pendulous lower Hp drooped, tremulously. He saw his eyes winking. He saw something else. Yes, to his wonder, to his gasping horror, he saw something strangp and revolutionary! A tear was standing in the corner of his eye! It dropped, it trickled down his cheek. John Rawn for the first time in his life was learning what the one game is?and learning that time is the one winner in that one game! He was old. CHAPTER XVII. An Informal Meeting. It must surprise those simple folk, Messieurs Washington, Jefferson, and their like, were they to return to life at this advanced day and gaze upon the admirable republic which they fancied to be founded on immutable principles. As in politics to-day those principles would seem proved to have been not quite immutable, so, in com merce, men and methods would appear wholly different from those known in that earlier day. For instance, in commerc'al matters, the men of that day would now find in daily application a fourth dimension of affairs once wholly unknown; the sixth sense of the modern business man, a delicately differentiated faculty evolved in the holy of holies wkere events cast their financial shadows far in advance of themselves. John Jay, or any financier of Revolutionary time, very likely lacked in that regard, and had but five senses. This keen sense of prophecy, propprtv nf modern leaders in finance, was not lacking in the case of the directors I of the International Power Company, \ all and several; and more especially! several. Capitalists hunt in packs?| but only up to a certain point. The sauve qui peut has small chivalry about it even in the holy of holies. Within a few days after the turbulent scenes which took place in the quiet surroundings of Graystone Hall, there was held, quite informally, indeed on a wholly impromptu basis, a meeting of the greater portion or me directors of the International Power Company. It was a meeting not called by the president, and the president knew nothing of it. It was not set for the usual headquarters in the East; on the contrary, by merest j chance, 'these keen-witted men metj by accident in the western city where j were located the works and central j operating offices of the International Power Company. They made their stopping place, as usual, at the National Union Club, where they were less certain to become the prey of prying reporters?a breed detested above all things by these and their like. There was, this afternoon, casually present, a certain gray-haired, fullbodied man, of full beard and rather " ?r l-iJL? ?UU portly Doay. tie was Bpeatuiig win* President Standley, of St. Louis, who also by merest chance happened to be in town. To them presently came the former general traffic manager of Mr. Standley's own road, Ackerman, also present by merest accident. Two or three others, moreover, by mere accident, joined them, figures which were ! familiar at the long table in the New York headquarters. They looked at one another frankly, and laughed without much reservation. "Well," said Ackerman, after a time, let's sit down and have a little powwow?informally, you know." The srroy-hniTrd p!?asantlT again and said nothing, but drew -?-? i up a chair. "Of course, you know," said Standley, as he seated himself, "that our dissatisfied friend, Van, is here in town to-day?" The full-bearded man nodded, and an instant later jerked his head toward the door. "He's here in the club, too," said he, and smiled. "Just * J T ? J nappenea in, l suppust;. luueeu, aa | they turned to look they saw advancing, talking animatedly, a father slender, youngish man of brown eyes and pointed beard; none less than the disgruntled director who had long ago been so summarily handled by John Rawn, president of the International Power Company. "Hasn't he got the nose for news, though?** commented Standley admir T> J If a ? V "There's Most Always a Lady Standing Around Somewhere." ingly. "Now, who told him there was anything doing?" "He didn't need to have anybody tell him," growled Ackerman. "He can take care of himself. And by Jove! I'm half inclined to think that he was the lucky one to get out the way he did, and when ne did." "Yes, he's lucky," said Standlev gravely. He turned to see the vast round belly of the gray-bearded man heaving In silent mirth. The railway magnate obviously was amused. "I don't know!" remarked Ackerman suddenly. "Others, eh?" "Well, boys, why not admit it?" reJoined the older man. "We all know the facts. We all know why we're here. A3 you said, Ack, let's hold a * - * ? J little mrorcnai meeting, tiuu taia. uver what we had better do!" "How much did you sell!" demanded Standley casually. "Twenty thousand last week. You | sold about double that." "Yes, it's leaking out, no use denying that! You don't need to list this thing?it leaks!" "Of course. Van's buyine it." said Standley, nodding toward the slender figure of the ex-director. "First time I ever knew him to go out for revenge. It doesn't very often pay." "Well, I can't figure it out," ventured Ackerman. "The stock won't do him any more good than it does us. He can't get control over that old bonehead Rawn?I mean our respected presid^it?anyhow, any more than we can. He's sitting tight, with the papers in his box. I admit that I let go a little, because I figured It was I time we were doing something better | than six per cent, with that stock, and { all Rawn has done is to make one ex- | planation on top of another. He can't i keep on putting that across with me,i anyhow. But he can sit there, as I ! say, with the control in his hands, looking at those nice pictures of the Lady of the Lightnings, which he naa j engraved as our trademark." "He's awfully gone on her," spoke | up one. "Not that I blame him, either. I hate to sell my stock, because I like j the looks of our engraved goddess so much!" "There's most always a lady stand- j ing around somewhere, with the light-1 ning in her hands," ventured the gray-! ' bearded man solemnly. They looked j ??+ 11*1 nnntVioi> ooroin CIlCrCrQQHvolv Vui f CLL VJllC CLLLKJ kJubOVMv* * ViJ > wv?v no one spoke more de^.nite words than j that. "Well, we've had high-sounding talk put up to us about long enough," com| mented Ackerman, at length. "I was one of the first to go in for this, and I believe in it yet, but I don't want i this thine' with Rawn in control. Whv. ! I o - - - I look at him?he was just a clerk when \ he came to us. and here he's putting | on more side than any other man in the town. He's taken advantage of i his situation to play the market in and ; out, all the time, which couldn't have | done if it hadn't been for friends like. us. He squeezed us into backing him ?after we gave him that first littleflyer j in Rubber, and some Oil?that hadn't! cost us anything and didn't look worth ' xi-.-??- T? vvi Via'o na ! I any UUIlg. IU 1CLU1U JH<3 o uauucu no ; j promises and explanations and hot air, | and nothing else. I've just got an idea that there's a man-sized nigger somewhere around this woodpile. For j me, I prefer being hung as a little! lamb rather than as a full-sized goat. ;' Yes, I let go a little Internal al?to j Van?I'll admit. Time enough to get j ! back into the game when we're put Rawn out!" Standley nodded slowly. "That's a good deal the way I felt about it," he said. "It riles me to see tne airs iaai fellow puts on. I remember him when j he didn't have two suits of hand-me-j down clothes to his name, and now he seems to hare a hundred, all done | by the best tailors in New York. He] used to tie his drawers with white; tape strings, and now he wears spe-l i cially shaped silks. Where'd he get it? You talk about the Keeley motor ?this thing has got it beat a mi:rt ~ mystery. And we fellows havp b^or. standing for that! That is, unless we can stand from under, somehow." "Yes, seemingly." ventured the last speaker. "But how is that somehow? There isn't any market for International." The grav-bearded man laughed jubilantly at this. "Have you found that out?" "Yes, I certainly have found it out.! Of course, the market has been Van j yonder. But he won't take on over i a certain amount. He wants to break the control, of course. But he's going, to wait until he gets up to the point and then do something quick. He's not going to hold our bag for us?oh, no! Not him!" "Well, I've a suspicion," said the older man finally, "that that secret! we've been after has been in the hands . of our superintendent for a long time." j ?\Xrhv Pawn toll no then?" demanded one of his companions. "Has he sold us out?" "No, Rawn hasn't sold us out At least I don't think so." "Who ha3, then?" "I don't know. The young man who ; made the wheels go for us whenever | Rawn wanted aim to?he's the real J key to this situation, if I'm a good j guesser. There's your contraband, ; and you can locate him somewhere in ! this particular woodpile, or I'm no i judge." "Rawn's pretty well spread out in the general market," quite irrelevantl lv siip'p'pstpd StflTidlev. i I ^ . "I should say he was!" growled Ack- j erman. "He's been in on all the good things in the last two or three years, j He must have made millions?I don't j know how much." "In the general market?not Inter- I national, of course. He's got all his j holdings in that. He has been spend- j ing money, though!" Standley wagged 1 his head. (TO BE CONTINUED). For Bnrns, iirnises and Sores. The quickest and surest cure for ! burns, bruises, boils, sores, inflamma- j tion and all 6kin diseases is Bucklen's ' Arnica Salve. ,In four days it cured L. H. Haflin, of Iredell, Tex., of a sore could hardly walk. Should be in every house. Only 25c. Recommended by all druggists. iti in?? li Ik N ' ' Capital EVf ; i mmi I 70HD T^VI E*ht I step tow man has account. II increase* liability greatest one. "The Ban jJFour Per JAS. McINTOSH, ? 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