VVYNDI 
 
 TYN
 
 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING
 
 He grew conscious of her meditations concerning him. 
 FRONTISPIECE. See page 155.
 
 ALL THE WORLD 
 TO NOTHING 
 
 BY 
 WYNDHAM MARTYN 
 
 AUTHOR OF "THE MAN OUTSIDE," ETC. 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY 
 
 H. H. LEONARD 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 
 1912
 
 Copyright, 
 BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. 
 
 All rights reserved 
 
 Published, September, 1912 
 Reprinted, September, 1912 
 
 THE COLONIAL PRESS 
 C. H. SIMONDS 4 CO., BOSTON, U. 8. A.
 
 TO THE BEST FRIEND I EVER HAD 
 
 2137260
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. THE GODS OF MISCHANCE ... I 
 
 II. THE BARRED DOOR .... 20 
 
 III. THE UNFORTUNATE AVENGER . . 37 
 
 IV. AMAZING MATRIMONY .... 56 
 V. THE BEGINNING OF CONQUEST . . 83 
 
 VI. MILLIONAIRES AND MINES . . .115 
 
 VII. CONCERNING TOMCOD .... 133 
 
 VIII. CAPTAIN OF His SOUL . . . .150 
 
 IX. BLUDGEONINGS OF CHANCE . . . 179 
 
 X. A TICKET TO UTOPIA .... 199 
 
 XI. UNDER QUEENSBERRY RULES . . 212 
 
 XII. CHESTER MEETS His LADY . . . 234 
 
 XIII. His RESURRECTION 246 
 
 XIV. THE KINGDOM OF LOVE .... 280 
 XV. Louis SEIZE AGAIN 300 
 
 XVI. THE BUSINESS MAN . . . .315 
 
 XVII. WAR DECLARED 332 
 
 XVIII. THE BRIGHTER SIDE .... 349 
 
 XIX. JOHN CHESTER'S OFFER .... 363 
 
 XX. IN THE BALANCE 379 
 
 XXI. RENALLS' DEFEAT . 396
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 He grew conscious of her meditations con- 
 cerning him Frontispiece 
 
 " Come out," she commanded in firm, dis- 
 tinct tones PAGE 56 
 
 Renalls looked at the girl keenly; there was 
 
 no mistaking the flush on her face . . " 248 
 
 " Don't let us quarrel," she pleaded . . " 339
 
 ALL THE WORLD TO 
 NOTHING 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE GODS OF MISCHANCE 
 
 "Every error in life implies a contradiction; for, since he who 
 errs does not mean to err but to be in the right, it is evident that 
 he acts contrary to his meaning." Epidetus. 
 
 THERE was tense silence in the room as 
 the last card fell. Until then there had 
 been the possibility that the luck which 
 had gone so grimly against Richard Chester might 
 in a measure at least smile upon him and offer 
 the chance of a partial recovery. But the final 
 game found him still the loser and he, alone of the 
 four, had cause to regret the suggestion made 
 idly at luncheon that they should play until 
 dinner time. 
 
 Outwardly he seemed the least perturbed of
 
 2 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 them all. Even Wardour Enderby's legal calm 
 was dissipated by his winnings, and young Frankel, 
 with the instincts inherited from a stock-gam- 
 bling father, was openly elated. The other man, 
 Billy Osmund, richer than them all, swept the 
 few thousands that meant so little to him into his 
 pocket and looked across at his friend uneasily. 
 Companions from the day they met at the pre- 
 paratory school which sent them on to Yale, he 
 admired Chester more than any man he knew and 
 there were rumors that financially his friend was 
 hard hit. 
 
 " We'll give you your revenge whenever you 
 like," he said. 
 
 ' There's plenty of time for that," his host re- 
 turned carelessly. " Have a drink before you go." 
 
 Osmund poured himself out a stiff whiskey; 
 he was wondering whether Chester was bluffing 
 or not. Hard as flint to most men, he would have 
 gone to any length to oblige one for whom he 
 cared. 
 
 Enderby lighted a cigar. " I'm afraid you 
 were rather badly hit," he said. 
 
 1 You can bet your life he was," Frankel as- 
 serted. " He never had a look in all the after- 
 noon."
 
 THE GODS OF MISCHANCE 3 
 
 He prattled on with the joyous assurance of a 
 boy whose play seldom entitled him to win; but 
 his companions in fortune, older than he, sat silent 
 with a sense of constraint upon them. They 
 both suspected that Chester's careless manner 
 concealed disaster. It was true they had been 
 paid in currency and not in checks or notes, but 
 unlike them, he had no longer any property to 
 fall back upon of all that had been left him. 
 
 He was a descendant of the famous Colonel 
 John Chester of Port Chester who, torn between 
 loyalty to an absent king and love for his new 
 country, was suspected and denounced by both 
 parties, suffering therefrom confiscation of his 
 immense grant. But at the death of the old Tory 
 the estate had been won back by his son and 
 held with much honor. The present incumbent, 
 Richard's only brother, finding Greater New 
 York creeping about his gates, had sold much of 
 the land to real estate speculators; and trolley 
 lines and small houses and factories were set 
 among the oak woods and green meadows where 
 the Chesters had once followed their hounds. 
 
 John Chester, fifteen years his brother's senior, 
 had carefully conserved the family fortunes. That 
 the two brothers were estranged was common
 
 4 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 property, but few had asked the reason. The 
 Chesters were ill men to cross; and the mention 
 of one brother to the other brought a tightened 
 mouth and a look which banished questioning. 
 It was well known that Richard, after coming 
 into his lesser share of the property, had been 
 prodigal in the spending of it. He had taken a 
 big New York theatre for the season, and then as 
 suddenly fitted out a South American expedition 
 for the discovery of that apocryphal creature, the 
 giant sloth. Notoriously ready to gamble on 
 anything and at any stake, his elder brother had 
 not been slow to trace a likeness between him and 
 that Sir Richard Chester who followed his debon- 
 nair king into exile at De Zeven Toren and after 
 the Restoration fought for him when with the 
 fourteenth Louis of France he was leagued against 
 the United Provinces. 
 
 In the current history of the period there were 
 accounts of this Chester's doings which seemed 
 to point that, although but a simple knight amid 
 great nobles, he was a commanding figure. Sir 
 Richard it was, fired by the story of an unwilling 
 bride and an old lord of Flanders, rescued her 
 and gave her to her true love with a dowry which 
 he had looted from neighboring Brabant. And
 
 THE GODS OF MISCHANCE 5 
 
 it was this same Sir Richard who gamed for three 
 days with the Due d'Hauteville, marshal of the 
 French king's army, and won all that he had even 
 to his estates in distant Picardy, and then incon- 
 sistently sent him back to his camp loaded with 
 presents and free of his debts. 
 
 And there were stories of him, too, which may 
 not be related here although the manners of the 
 times excused them. The anecdotes concerning 
 him end abruptly. The writer, an abbe with a 
 pretty taste for elegant writing, evinces a certain 
 disappointment when he relates how the knight 
 met with a beautiful maid, overcame her brother's 
 objections with his good sword and carried her 
 away to his manor in Buckinghamshire, there to 
 live happily until death claimed them. " Thus," 
 wrote the churchman piously, " may Almighty 
 God vouchsafe to woman, the weaker vessel, the 
 power to sheathe the sword of the turbulent 
 man and bring him to a content in His grace." 
 
 Old Sir Richard's imagination had been fired 
 at the accounts of the New Netherlands conquered 
 during the first war between Holland and Eng- 
 land, and it had been his intention before he 
 met this lady to go to the North as his coun- 
 trymen Raleigh and Gilbert had to the South;
 
 6 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 but with his marriage his roving habits under- 
 went a change and it was his son, inheriting 
 them, who was to seek the new country. 
 
 The American Richard Chester, kin in blood 
 and spirit to the gallant old adventurer, bade 
 his friends farewell with never a suspicion of 
 gloom upon his face or an inkling of the depres- 
 sion that had gripped him. He sat silently for a 
 while when he was alone and then rang for his man. 
 
 " Collect all the outstanding bills," he said, 
 " and bring them to me at once. I don't think 
 they amount to much but I want to see how I 
 stand." 
 
 When he had finished his solitary dinner, 
 Meadows handed him a neat packet of accounts. 
 Chester looked through them carefully. 
 
 " And there's your wages, Meadows," he said. 
 " You haven't been paid for three months. I'll 
 give you a check in the morning." 
 
 " I'm afraid, sir," said the man, almost timidly, 
 " that luck's been against you lately." 
 
 " Everything's gone wrong," his employer re- 
 turned. "Why?" 
 
 " I am sorry," said Meadows, simply. " I had 
 hoped things would clear up so that I could leave 
 you more happily."
 
 THE GODS OF MISCHANCE 7 
 
 " Leaving! " cried Chester. " You're giving 
 me notice then! " 
 
 " At the end of a month," said the man. 
 
 Richard looked at him with unconcealed scorn. 
 " So that's it," he cried. " Leaving the sinking 
 ship! I thought you trusted old English serv- 
 ants never deserted. Have I treated you badly? " 
 
 " I never served under a better master," Mead- 
 ows retorted earnestly. 
 
 " Yet when things are going badly you gather 
 yourself together and try to land on good ground." 
 He sighed a little wearily. " I don't blame you, 
 Meadows. You've got to look out for your end 
 of it, too." 
 
 The man looked at him gravely. There was a 
 certain dignity in his carriage and a tinge of 
 regret in his voice. 
 
 " I hope, sir," he said, " I have never seemed 
 careless of your interests." 
 
 " I know," said Chester. " I didn't mean to 
 hurt your feelings. I've never had a man half 
 as good as you, but just now I'm on edge and I 
 see nothing for it but starvation or an appeal to 
 my brother, and I'm for starvation every time, 
 if that's the alternative. You'd have had to 
 go in any case but it brought things rather too
 
 8 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 forcibly home when you turned on me and said 
 you must go." 
 
 Meadows, five and fifty, experienced in the 
 ways of his world and of the world he served, 
 looked at his employer with genuine affection. A 
 first-class valet and courier, he had been able to 
 choose his master; and ten years before he had 
 elected to take service with this young American 
 for his bright, sunny way, his care-free dispo- 
 sition and dashing outlook on life. For Meadows, 
 timid by nature, conservative by instinct, and 
 a slave of caste, would, had the magic power been 
 offered him, have become a reincarnated Richard. 
 In the decade of his service he had watched the 
 gradual dispersion of his master's fortune; he had 
 seen the care-free disposition changing into a 
 certain suspicious man-of-the-world air, conse- 
 quent on the disillusioning processes which come 
 to rich and generous men who start life with fer- 
 vent beliefs in their fellows. For Richard, when 
 once his sympathies were aroused, spared neither 
 strength nor money in what he felt was a just 
 cause. It was a strenuous belief that New York 
 critics were leagued against the greatest actress 
 in the world that led him to take a theatre and 
 let the lady ramble through Shakespeare for a
 
 THE GODS OF MISCHANCE 9 
 
 costly season. He learned when he grew older 
 that she was not even second-rate. 
 
 Meadows' voice broke in upon him. " May I 
 ask what you are going to do? " 
 
 " I hardly know," he returned gloomily. " Do 
 you remember my Uncle Theodore? " 
 
 " I do, sir," Meadows replied. 
 
 " Lord! How I loathed that man," Chester 
 said meditatively. " But I'm not at all sure that 
 he didn't form a perfectly just estimate of me." 
 
 " I can't agree with that, sir," cried Meadows, 
 hotly. He, too, had loathed Uncle Theodore. 
 
 " The last time he came to see me," continued 
 Chester, " I had just bought a gold mine or a 
 silver mine or something of the sort and thought 
 I knew all there was about it. Uncle Theodore 
 had cold, fishy eyes. ' Unstable as water, thou 
 shalt not excel,' he told me. It's a quotation 
 from some one or other, I believe, but it's a devil- 
 ish nasty sentence to have ringing in one's brain, 
 Meadows, night and day ' Unstable as water, 
 thou shalt not excel.' ' 
 
 " It's false," cried the loyal Meadows. 
 
 Chester shook his head. " I'm afraid," he 
 insisted, " that Uncle Theodore was a truer 
 prophet than we gave him credit for."
 
 10 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " But what will you do, sir? " Meadows asked. 
 His employer's words had startled him. That 
 he might be temporarily hard up was no new 
 thing; but this talk of settling bills and starving, 
 filled him with anxiety. 
 
 Chester smiled deprecatingly. " I don't want 
 to seem to boast," he said, " but I had thought 
 of working." 
 
 " At what? " demanded the man. 
 
 " That will settle itself," returned Chester 
 with something of his old airy manner. Meadows 
 noted a return of the gay, boyish manner which 
 had fascinated him ten years ago. " New York 
 is big and holds more hopes than all the other 
 big world cities put together." 
 
 Meadows shook his head. He had known men 
 out of work in New York who had labeled her 
 anything but a city of realized hopes. " Perhaps 
 if you could buy an interest in something," he 
 hazarded. 
 
 "But I can't," Chester returned. "That's 
 the curious part of it, Meadows. I have just 
 enough to pay up and then lose myself in busier 
 circles. If we had played ten minutes longer 
 this afternoon, I might have had to declare my- 
 self unable to pay. You know what that means
 
 THE GODS OF MISCHANCE 11 
 
 social extinction with never a reparation 
 possible." 
 
 Meadows took up the sheaf of bills and glanced 
 through them. " I come of a different class from 
 you, sir," he said at length, " and I dare say I 
 see things in different lights, but this talk of 
 paying everybody in full seems a bad move. 
 Here's Schmalz's bill for flowers. He has charged 
 eighty dollars for what is worth thirty. The 
 taxicab bill says you owe sixty; I don't recall 
 half of these items. And there's others, too." 
 
 " Well, what about it? " Chester demanded. 
 
 " This much," said the man. " You need the 
 money and they don't, so why not pay them when 
 it's convenient? " 
 
 Chester shook his head. " I don't think so. 
 I'm not posing as a very upright specimen. You 
 know me too well for that and there's a certain 
 proverb which disposes of that idea, but I have 
 a certain fancy to leave New York, or at any rate 
 my present position here, in good order. If I 
 were living in any other city it might be different 
 but I'm rather fond of New York, Meadows. I've 
 a notion to leave it with a clear conscience. 
 There aren't six families in America today which 
 have a better right to call it their city than we
 
 12 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 Chesters have. There's something, I don't know 
 how to define it, which binds me to the old place 
 and some day, if I ever get back again, I want to 
 live and die in peace and without the fear of old 
 follies. You meant it kindly, Meadows, but I 
 must find some other way than that." 
 
 " But it's a hard city for a man who hasn't 
 worked," the other persisted. " Unless," he added 
 more hopefully, " some of your rich friends will 
 help you." 
 
 " A poor man has no rich friends," his employer 
 told him. " So long as I was Richard Chester 
 with plenty of money, it was well enough, but 
 now " he shrugged his shoulders " now I 
 shall be a casual acquaintance. I shall be Richard 
 Chester looking for work." 
 
 " Nobody will believe it," said Meadows 
 firmly. 
 
 " They won't know it," said Chester. " Pm 
 not going begging for company secretaryships." 
 
 Meadows looked at him aghast. He had never 
 served a more particular man than this same 
 Richard Chester, who spoke so gaily about going 
 to work. And to the servitor who had come 
 of a long line of men devoted in their several 
 spheres to the service of great families, there was
 
 something almost sacrilegious in his Mr. Chester 
 competing with the crowds of men who flock to 
 the great centres in search of fortune. " I don't 
 like it at all," he said at length. " It isn't befit- 
 ting for you." 
 
 " You can't sin without paying," said his 
 employer decisively. " I've broken laws and must 
 serve my sentence." 
 
 Meadows looked apprehensive. " Broken laws, 
 sir? " he asked. 
 
 " The laws of economy and that sort of thing. 
 I don't claim it as original; I read something of 
 the kind at Yale but I never applied it till now." 
 
 " There's your brother," suggested Meadows. 
 " He had great interests here." 
 
 " I should welcome starvation rather than 
 appeal to him," snapped the younger Chester. 
 Meadows sighed; he knew the fighting light that 
 shone in his master's eye at this mention of 
 John. Meadows had never been able to fathom 
 the nature of the quarrel which turned the two 
 men from fair friends to bitter foes. " But what 
 can you do? " he asked. " You've no profession." 
 
 " One doesn't need that nowadays," Chester 
 returned easily. " From newspaper biographies 
 nearly all of our great men owed their fortunes
 
 14 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 to luck as well as pluck. It's a young man's age 
 and these great capitalist fellows size one up pretty 
 quickly. I thought of applying to some of the 
 mining magnates. I know something of mining, 
 remember." 
 
 Meadows was still dubious. " You owned the 
 mines, sir," he said, " and that makes all the 
 difference. I doubt if any one would employ you 
 in a responsible capacity." 
 
 " Your faith in me," said the other, drily, " is 
 not of a torrential nature." 
 
 " I've every faith in you," the man cried eagerly. 
 " What you make up your mind to do, you will 
 do, but you've got to get your chance first." 
 Meadows was suffused with a gloom that was 
 born of knowledge of the world. " There's many 
 a good man who gets his heart broken looking 
 for work here." 
 
 " Not all of them," Chester declared. " But 
 I don't suppose it will be altogether pleasant." 
 
 " If you'll excuse me," said Meadows with 
 great earnestness, " it will be hell! " 
 
 Chester's voice took a note of impatience. 
 " Do you propose that I should commit suicide 
 then? I have told you that an appeal to my 
 brother is out of the question, and since I've
 
 THE GODS OF MISCHANCE 15 
 
 certain prejudices against dishonesty, I see noth- 
 ing ahead but work. And I'm not sure," he con- 
 cluded, " that it doesn't take a lot more brains to 
 get on dishonestly." He looked at his man 
 shrewdly. " Have you got something up your 
 sleeve? " 
 
 " If you only had a little money to buy an in- 
 terest in something." 
 
 " I've told you I have not," Chester said. 
 
 Meadows still seemed unconvinced. " There's 
 the automobile," he suggested. " There's a 
 bill against it at the garage, but if you sold it, you 
 would have a tidy sum." 
 
 " Try again," said Chester. " At five minutes 
 past six I lost it to Mr. Adolph Frankel. The 
 only redeeming feature in the whole business is 
 that he takes the bill, too." 
 
 Meadows suffered from an attack of diffidence. 
 " You've paid me very good wages while I've 
 been with you," he commenced, " and I've been 
 able to put by most of it. In fact," cried Meadows, 
 in a burst of confidence, " it's more than I want. 
 Now I was thinking if I took the liberty of lend- 
 ing you, say a thousand dollars, you wouldn't 
 have to waste a long time on uncongenial 
 work."
 
 16 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 He paused, rather alarmed at his temerity. His 
 employer was regarding him steadily with a look 
 that was strange to him. 
 
 " Have I ever shaken hands with you, Mead- 
 ows?" he demanded. 
 
 " Certainly not, sir," the man hastened to 
 assure him, " I hope I know my position too well 
 for that." 
 
 " Try and forget it now," Chester said, holding 
 out his hand. 
 
 Meadows gripped it almost timidly but his 
 pale face flushed with gratification. " Then you'll 
 take the money? " he asked. 
 
 Chester shook his head. " I think not," he 
 responded. " You mustn't feel offended, Mead- 
 ows. I shall always remember that one man had 
 confidence in me. It's a good thing to know, but 
 I won't borrow from any one. Perhaps some of my 
 friends might help if I asked, but I won't ask 
 them, for the same reason that I refused your 
 aid. You see I've expected this to happen for 
 some time now. It came quicker than I antici- 
 pated but one can't go on living on capital for 
 ever." He sighed. " I've played the fool most 
 of my days with eminent success and the eco- 
 nomic laws have sentenced me to poverty and
 
 work. I look on it as some good folk do on pen- 
 ances what must be undergone before attain- 
 ing better things. I don't anticipate a lifelong 
 penance." He laughed lightly and the other's 
 heart rejoiced at the pluck he evinced. " I'm 
 even now peering beyond the penance stage into 
 the future and I've got enough conceit to think 
 that it isn't going to be a black one." 
 
 Meadows knew it was impossible to alter the 
 younger man's intention. What was firmness from 
 a Chester point of view passed for obstinacy 
 among Chester foes. " My offer always holds 
 good, sir." Meadows turned to pick up some of 
 the bills which had fluttered to the floor and 
 he was not sure whether a suspicious moisture 
 in his eye might not be observable to his em- 
 ployer. 
 
 " You're a white man, Meadows," Chester 
 cried impulsively, " and I sha'n't forget it, but 
 I wish you'd tell me why you wanted to give 
 notice. I know now that it isn't the ungenerous 
 reason I thought." For the second time in his 
 ten years of service, Chester beheld a blush on 
 the pallid cheek of his man. 
 
 " Love," he explained in a weak voice. " Love 
 has crept in."
 
 18 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " Love! " ejaculated Chester. " Love has crept 
 in?" 
 
 " A widow with a hotel," Meadows elaborated. 
 " A select hotel, you understand, sir, appealing 
 only to the best families in search of rest." The 
 ardent soul, encouraged by what he hoped was 
 encouragement on his master's face, waxed bolder. 
 " Do you know much of the female heart? " he 
 inquired, gently. 
 
 "From what point of view?" the other de- 
 manded. " The anatomist's or the poet's? " 
 
 " Oh, the poet's, sir," Meadows returned, prop- 
 erly scandalized. 
 
 Chester stooped to light a cigar. " I hope you 
 will be happy," he said. 
 
 In his enthusiasm, Meadows failed to observe 
 that Chester's interest had received a sudden 
 check. Meadows had often deplored that his 
 master took so little interest in the society of 
 women. A brilliant marriage, as he wished often 
 he dared to suggest, would rehabilitate his mas- 
 ter's fallen fortunes. He timidly offered it now. 
 
 " I've often thought," he ventured, " that if 
 you had married like Mr. John, it would have been 
 a good thing." 
 
 " I think otherwise," he said slowly. He looked
 
 THE GODS OF MISCHANCE 19 
 
 at the clock. " I sha'n't want you any more to- 
 night. You can go out if you wish." 
 
 Meadows bowed and withdrew. He understood 
 that he was dismissed.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE BARRED DOOR 
 
 " Though a man may be wicked, yet, if he adjust his thoughts, 
 fast, and bathe, he may sacrifice to God." Mencius. 
 
 WHEN he was twenty-one and newly come 
 into possession of his fortune, Richard 
 Chester had become engaged to Marion 
 Griffiths. A year his junior, she was a great heiress 
 and a beauty and noted in a circle of attractive 
 girls for a certain seriousness of disposition which 
 is not usually found in the younger members of 
 fashionable sets. Many there were who admired 
 her and none more openly than John Chester, 
 who presently lost what chance he had of making 
 her his wife by reason of the impetuous wooing 
 of the more dashing Richard. 
 
 It was at this time that Richard was engaged 
 in working out the dramatic destinies of the lady 
 who maltreated Shakespeare's plays. His youth- 
 ful ardor was not born of any love for the lady 
 her affections were otherwise secured but rather 
 of the conviction that New York critics were
 
 21 
 
 venial and biassed in attempting to deny his star's 
 abilities compared with those imported from the 
 continent of Europe. It was a situation which 
 John Chester used very neatly against his rival. 
 And, indeed, the sophisticated might be pardoned 
 for thinking that Marion had cause for righteous 
 anger. Her impetuous Richard, disdaining reply 
 to such insinuations, left the matter so much in 
 doubt that the poor girl, wearing the unwonted 
 character of haughtiness, told her lover he must 
 choose between Thespia and her. Conscious of 
 no offense and ignorant of the manufactured 
 evidence with which she had been supplied, Rich- 
 ard grew every whit as wroth as she and left her, 
 declaring no love was genuine which did not 
 cast out doubt. 
 
 Within a week he was en route for South 
 America and fabled monsters. He returned just 
 a year later. Twelve months of hard thinking 
 and the written hints of certain friends had given 
 him a clearer idea of the reasons leading to his 
 estrangement with Marion. John Chester, a tall, 
 gaunt man, with suspicious eyes, listened unmoved 
 to his accusations. " Appearances were against 
 you," he said. " You were justly punished." 
 
 " But you knew there was nothing in it," the
 
 22 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 younger cried, hotly. ;< Who knows me better 
 than you, John? When I gave you my word of 
 honor there was nothing in the rumor, you might 
 have staked your soul on it." 
 
 He wondered at the lack of resentment, almost 
 of interest evinced by the brother who was as 
 hot-tempered as he himself. 
 
 " I shall find her," said Richard, " and tell her 
 how you lied; and I shall tell her you are no more 
 a brother of mine." 
 
 " Do you know where she is ? " John demanded. 
 
 " It won't be hard," Richard snapped. 
 
 " Harder than you think," said John quietly. 
 
 " I don't expect your help," cried the younger. 
 
 " I'll give it to you unasked," John returned. 
 He wrote for a minute on a pad and handed 
 the sheet of paper to the other. 
 
 " If you take the night mail to the South," he 
 said, " you may be in time." 
 
 " In time? " Richard echoed. 
 
 " In time," his brother repeated. He pointed 
 to a grip standing in the corner. * You can take 
 my place; I was going." From his pocketbook, 
 he took a plain card on which was written in 
 shaky characters the name " Mr. Chester." This 
 he handed to Richard, who looked at it puzzling.
 
 THE BARRED DOOR 23 
 
 " What's this mean? " he demanded. 
 
 The elder Chester passed his hand across his 
 face wearily. Not until then had Richard per- 
 ceived how ill and tired he looked. 
 
 " The card," he said, " is one of admission to 
 a function at which Miss Griffiths attends. It 
 is fitting after your absence that you should go. 
 I resign my card to you. It will admit you. On 
 the piece of paper you will see the name Beaulieu 
 Abbey. It is three miles outside Charleston, 
 South Carolina. Marion," he paused and 
 Richard was not sure whether it was a spasm of 
 merriment or of pain which passed over his thin 
 face, " Marion is staying there." 
 
 " But I don't understand," Richard protested. 
 
 Chester looked at him coldly. " I am not 
 concerned with your lack of comprehension," 
 he said, " but I do know that if you don't instantly 
 set out for Beaulieu, I shall." 
 
 " I'll go," Richard returned, " and it's pretty 
 good of you, John, after all, to put no obstacles 
 in my way. Perhaps I spoke hastily; I'm sorry." 
 
 " We can discuss that when you return from 
 the South," said John with the look that spoke 
 almost of physical suffering. 
 
 Beaulieu Abbey proved to be a conventual
 
 24 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 establishment of some antiquity. He had no 
 difficulty in getting a carriage from the depot 
 at Charleston, and drove to Beaulieu, still at a 
 loss to explain adequately the reason of his coming. 
 When he handed his card at a door by which many 
 other people were entering, he found himself 
 assigned to a seat in the chapel whereon his name 
 was affixed. The services commenced as he 
 entered the building. But since he was of an alien 
 faith, the ritual brought him little enlightenment. 
 Yet the number of celebrants and the magnificence 
 of their vestments argued some function of es- 
 pecial import. He watched the Bishop of the 
 Diocese and his attendants pass down the aisle 
 and pause outside the lay sisters' chapel. Slightly 
 inclining his head, he could see them waiting there 
 until a moment later the door was opened. And 
 when the Bishop, the Deacon and the Sub- 
 Deacon turned again in their solemn procession 
 to the high altar, he noticed that they were fol- 
 lowed by a group of girls in white. But there 
 was only one of them all whom he saw and that 
 one was Marion Griffiths, dressed in the beauti- 
 ful costume of a fashionable bride. And there 
 followed her five bridesmaids, three of whom were 
 her sisters and two friends whom he had known.
 
 THE BARRED DOOR 25 
 
 Was this, he wondered, his heart thumping 
 and his brain awhirl, his brother's revenge, this 
 strange errand to the wedding of the woman they 
 both had loved? 
 
 From the row of people nearest the altar, Mr. 
 Griffiths, arrayed in the garb of convention, rose 
 and took his place by his daughter's side. With 
 burning eyes, Richard looked about him for the 
 man who had supplanted him. He could see none. 
 He could gather from the service but little. He 
 knew that the creed was being sung. And after 
 this, he saw Marion with a tall, lighted candle 
 in her hand, which she offered to the Deacon, who, 
 taking it, placed it upon the altar. And then it 
 was that the solemn, devotional air and reverent 
 attitude of the congregation brought to him the 
 conviction that this ceremony foreshadowed the 
 enclosed life. Filled with an emotion that was 
 new to him and gripped by the feeling that here 
 was what he was powerless to resist, a course of 
 events maturing thus on another plane, he lis- 
 tened half-numbed to the service. 
 
 He was presently conscious that the wicker 
 basket he had seen borne by the youngest brides- 
 maid was offered to the Bishop, who sprinkled it 
 with holy water and then, leaning forward,
 
 26 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 touched the rich wedding gown. And at this 
 action, the four waiting sisters came and stripped 
 it from her, leaving a plain white linen slip be- 
 neath. Then they clothed her in the habit of a 
 novice. And while she lay prostrate before the 
 altar, Chester passed through the bitter hour of 
 his life. No man would have fought more gal- 
 lantly than he for what was dear to him; neither 
 danger nor hardship had power to stay his im- 
 petuous course, but here was something before 
 which he must bow his head in silence and own 
 himself conquered by what he must not resist. 
 The people at his side looked at him in kindly 
 sympathy. They saw a white-faced man shaken 
 with those terrible sobs that seem almost like the 
 pains of death. 
 
 After the Mass, she rose from the ground and 
 on her head was placed a crown of flowers; and 
 she was led to the door of the lay sisters' chapel, 
 where the Bishop blessed her. And it seemed to 
 Richard Chester as he saw her pass through the 
 great door and out of his life that he had looked 
 upon a saint. 
 
 Later, there were those of his friends who bade 
 him take heart. They told him that the novice's 
 vow was not binding; that if she found she had
 
 THE BARRED DOOR 27 
 
 no vocation, or the mistress of the novices feared 
 hers was not the nature to become happily a 
 member of the order, she could return to the world 
 without incurring any disgrace. 
 
 But Richard, who knew the innate seriousness 
 of her disposition and could never forget the look 
 of ecstasy he had seen on her face, shook his head. 
 And he was right. A year later he saw her take 
 the second habit and heard her repeat those ir- 
 revocable vows which banished what hopes he 
 had treasured that she might return to the world. 
 " Paupertetem, seu carentiam proprii, necnon clau- 
 suram perpetuam in hoc claustro. . . ." 
 
 She had taken upon herself perpetual poverty, 
 renouncing all right to possess, and had accepted 
 perpetual enclosure within the little convent 
 cloister. 
 
 There were some who imagined Richard Ches- 
 ter's freedom from any entanglement with women 
 was due to the result of ingrained cynicism fol- 
 lowing on some unfortunate love affair. Very 
 few knew the truth or by what name in the world 
 Sister Agatha of Beaulieu Abbey had been called. 
 And when monetary difficulties possessed him and 
 the years were lengthening between the time he 
 had seen his sweet-faced nun pass to her clois-
 
 28 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 tered life and his era of difficulties, he grew to 
 think of her vows as a very blessed thing. What 
 sort of a husband would he have made, he some- 
 times asked himself, who had conserved his own 
 property so ill? 
 
 Until Meadows had, all unwittingly, brought 
 back to his mind more vividly those days now 
 ten years dead, he had always assumed that she 
 was better in the peaceful existence she had chosen. 
 But tonight, when a sense of loneliness never 
 before experienced fell upon him, he thought of 
 what his brother's trickery had bereft him. Why 
 could not this gracious woman have brought him 
 to a fuller sense of his duties, his responsibilities, 
 his possibilities? 
 
 The mood with which he welcomed the op- 
 portunity to work and had even jested with 
 Meadows as to his probable hardships passed 
 away, leaving him to nurse his implacable griev- 
 ance against his brother. It was preposterous 
 that at one and thirty he should have to start 
 to work for a living in competition with immi- 
 grants who had known from youth but the hard- 
 est toil and conceived of no existence where it was 
 not. As a rule of a temperate nature, tonight 
 psychic pressure led him to seek relief in whiskey.
 
 THE BARRED DOOR 29 
 
 And as he drank there was visible none of the ordi- 
 nary effects of alcohol. All his energy was bent 
 in bitter contemplation of his brother's injustice. 
 And as he sat thus alone, other images were 
 conjured up. First and foremost came that of a 
 money-lender with whom he had costly dealings, 
 an evil, cynical old reprobate who loaned money 
 to rich men's sons at incredible interest. David 
 Auge's hold on Chester had been shaken off after 
 an all night session at auction bridge at five dollar 
 points and a triumphant day at Belmont Park. 
 He took from a drawer the memoranda relating 
 to Auge and was looking at them with frowning 
 face when Wardour Enderby was announced. He 
 put the papers away and welcomed his friend. 
 
 " Come in," he said. " I'm feeling as dull as 
 ditch water. Drink, my dear man, and banish 
 that air of worry." 
 
 Enderby looked at him shrewdly. The flushed 
 face that he saw was not usually associated with 
 Chester. 
 
 " Not yet," he said, sitting down. " Later." 
 
 He looked through gold-rimmed glasses at his 
 friend with friendly scrutiny. Considerably older 
 than Chester, he affected the society of young 
 men because he had preserved a certain youthful-
 
 30 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 ness of taste not shared by those of his own age 
 as a rule. 
 
 " You'll be wanting that revenge pretty soon, 
 I suppose?" he hazarded. 
 
 Chester shook his head. " I don't think 
 so." 
 
 " What! " cried the other, " you let us win all 
 that money and don't pine to get it back? " 
 
 " I pine all right," laughed Chester, " in fact 
 it almost hurts me, but I'm not after revenge all 
 the same." 
 
 " Is there any explanation ? " Enderby asked 
 quietly. 
 
 Chester looked at him with a smile. " My dear 
 man," he said, " it is not considered good form 
 to play for money if one hasn't the wherewithal 
 to pay in the event of losing. I believe in the 
 vigorous West they reward one with sudden death 
 for that sort of thing but even here it can be 
 unpleasant." 
 
 Enderby looked genuinely concerned. " You 
 don't mean to tell me ' he began. 
 
 Chester interrupted him. " I most assuredly 
 do. I can't explain this to the other men but I 
 tell you because you're certain to keep your mouth 
 shut"
 
 THE BARRED DOOR 31 
 
 " This worries me," Enderby exclaimed impul- 
 sively. 
 
 " I'm not setting it to ragtime music, either," 
 Chester assured him. 
 
 " Why didn't you stop playing? " Enderby 
 demanded. " Surely you knew it was your bad 
 day?" 
 
 " We agreed to go on until seven," Chester 
 reminded him, " and the time went most dam- 
 nably slow. That's all." 
 
 " What are you going to do, then? " 
 
 " Cut out cards for good and look for work." 
 
 " It's a hard game," said Enderby earnestly. 
 
 Chester looked at him plaintively. " Can't 
 you tell a cheerful lie and say there never were 
 times when bright young men were more certain 
 of reward? Meadows fills me with cold cheer 
 and you commence to harp on the same minor 
 string. I'm not proposing this in the smoking 
 room of a London club where it would be absurd. 
 I'm talking twentieth-century Manhattan where 
 I've been led to believe a man can get on if he 
 tries hard enough. I'm going to try hard." 
 
 Enderby waved his hand impatiently. " Oh, 
 the theory's all right. I've often talked those easy 
 platitudes myself, but you've got to start de novo."
 
 " No prejudices to hamper me," Chester af- 
 firmed. 
 
 Enderby was still unconvinced. " Your habits 
 of life are all against it," he asserted. " Bred in 
 luxury, used to all kinds of extravagances and the 
 sports and pleasures of the rich, you calmly pro- 
 pose to get a job at a wage that wouldn't keep 
 you in cigarettes. Can you picture yourself get- 
 ting up at seven, shaving, eating a tasteless meal 
 and punching a clock at half past eight? " 
 
 " That won't last long," retorted the other. 
 " One might begin like that, but one would soon 
 rise." 
 
 Enderby shrugged his shoulders. " I don't 
 want to depress you," he said, " but that about 
 rising so easily is the silliest notion. You'd expect 
 if you condescended to work to be taken into 
 partnership the next week! New York's chock 
 full of bright young men who work hard all their 
 blameless lives and think themselves lucky if they 
 own an eight-room house when they're sixty. I 
 have a proposition to put to you that I've often 
 thought of but never felt it was advisable to talk 
 of before. I've got a big law practice, Richard, 
 a bigger one than I know how to take care of, and 
 if I had a partner I could trust, it would be a great
 
 THE BARRED DOOR 33 
 
 help to me. How does Enderby and Chester 
 strike you for the firm name? " 
 
 " What on earth do I know about law? " the 
 other demanded. 
 
 " You'd have to get admitted to the bar," said 
 Enderby, " but that isn't difficult." 
 
 " That's very white of you, Enderby," Chester 
 exclaimed with gratitude, " but I have no money 
 for three or four years' law study." 
 
 " I should be prepared to advance the money," 
 Enderby returned. 
 
 " No, old man," cried Chester, " I'm not going 
 to do things that way. If I'm man enough to 
 earn the money, I'll come and ask if your offer 
 stands good." 
 
 Enderby made a gesture of despair. He knew 
 his friend too well to make the mistake of fur- 
 ther argument. " I don't go back on what I 
 say," he asserted. " When you are ready, I shall 
 be waiting for you." 
 
 " It's a fine prospect," said Chester slowly. " I 
 once thought of taking up law when I left Yale 
 but something got in the way. I'll earn the 
 money, Enderby, and I'll take a law course." He 
 looked at him with a kinder light in his eyes. 
 " And I think it's uncommonly good of you that
 
 34 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 you haven't offered a lot of platitudinous rot, 
 miscalled advice, which most of us have on tap." 
 
 " A lawyer doesn't offer advice for nothing," 
 the elder man returned, " as you'll remember 
 when it's Enderby and Chester. They pay us 
 for it." 
 
 " That's true," admitted Chester, and was si- 
 lent for a moment. Presently he asked, " Will 
 you give me a little gratis? " 
 
 " Fire ahead," said Enderby. " Company law 
 is my strong point and I'm considered an expert 
 on bankruptcy." 
 
 " This is simple," Chester told him. " I only 
 want to know what's the legal rate of interest in 
 this State?" 
 
 " Six per cent," Enderby said shortly. 
 
 " But what about special contracts ? " 
 
 David Auge, money-lender to the foolish rich, 
 always told his clients, when he had a particularly 
 iniquitous agreement, that special contract rates 
 were legally correct. 
 
 " The same," said the lawyer; " nothing above 
 six is legal." 
 
 " But they do it," Richard cried. 
 
 " They do a whole lot of things," said Enderby, 
 " and get away with them, too, but the State law
 
 THE BARRED DOOR 35 
 
 says six per centum all the same. And not only 
 that, but it further decrees that usury shall be 
 punished with loss of the principal, fine and im- 
 prisonment." He laughed. " If all men knew 
 the laws on usury, there wouldn't be much chance 
 for money-lenders and the baser sort of instal- 
 ment houses in this merry city." 
 
 Chester looked at him with kindling eyes. 
 " Suppose A borrows a hundred dollars from B," 
 he commenced, " and pays it back at the rate of 
 fifty per cent., he's paying forty-four per cent, 
 more than the law allows." 
 
 " That is so," Enderby admitted. " What in- 
 terests you in this ? " 
 
 " Only that I've paid back thousands more 
 than I should have done." 
 
 " We all do," asserted the lawyer. " I've done 
 it and most of the big financial geniuses have done 
 it, too. If you want a lot of money and want it 
 in a mighty hurry, it's worth more than six per 
 cent." 
 
 Chester made a calculation on an envelope. 
 " Is it worth one hundred and sixty? " he de- 
 manded. 
 
 " That's just rank usury," he was told. " Who 
 charged that? "
 
 36 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " I'm stating a supposititious case," Chester 
 answered, " and taking my first lesson at Gama- 
 liel's feet." 
 
 Enderby rose to go. " Don't do anything silly, 
 Richard, before you consult me. My advice is 
 yours when you want it and there's more than 
 advice, too, if you can be brought to regard things 
 like a wise man." 
 
 " You're a good sort," said Chester, wringing his 
 hand. " And if anything puts heart into a man, 
 it's the knowledge that he has friends like you."
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE UNFORTUNATE AVENGER 
 
 " Life is short, art is long, opportunity fugitive, experiment- 
 ing dangerous, reasoning difficult." Hippocrates. 
 
 DIRECTLY Enderby was gone, Chester 
 seated himself at the table and went 
 carefully through all the memoranda 
 of transactions between him and Auge, transac- 
 tions extending over three years. Still smarting 
 from these recollections and a natural anger, 
 strengthened by the stimulant he had taken, he 
 presently found himself determined to seek out 
 the money-lender and demand some explanations. 
 The amount he had overpaid Auge came to 
 nearly seven thousand dollars. It was a sum he 
 calculated more than sufficient to win his legal 
 diploma, and legally it was his own. He would 
 go to the usurer's home and threaten him with 
 exposure. He had heard that such men feared 
 more than anything publicity, and there was one 
 of New York's magistrates who had earned for
 
 38 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 himself some fame by denouncing such prac- 
 tices. He would threaten Auge with this Draco 
 and an understanding would be reached. In his 
 present mood there seemed nothing out of the 
 way in the scheme. He would be willing to accept 
 five thousand dollars. And if Auge refused, as 
 would be not unlikely, then there should be all 
 the publicity possible. Richard chuckled to think 
 of the matter reaching his brother by way of the 
 yellow press. John had a fastidious horror of 
 notoriety. 
 
 When he had committed himself to this ad- 
 venture Richard's spirits rose amazingly. But 
 he did not neglect to take certain precautions. 
 He was not anxious to be recognized, and if by any 
 chance Auge proved obstinate and talked of police 
 and blackmail some disguise would be profitably 
 employed. 
 
 There was a long, heavy, mustard-colored coat, 
 owned by Meadows and used by him in traveling. 
 It enveloped Chester completely and was so ut- 
 terly unlike his own perfectly fitting garments 
 as to be a disguise in itself. He put on the coat 
 and took a traveling-cap and looked at himself 
 in the mirror. Only a close observer would know 
 him. In Meadows' pocket was a small package
 
 on which was affixed the label of a London firm of 
 wigmakers. It was, in fact, that partial apology 
 which the valet wore for nature's unkindness in 
 depriving him of hair at an early age. It was a 
 thinly covered pink dome surrounded by deco- 
 rous fringe and gave its wearer a grave and digni- 
 fied mien. It was apparently new, and still filled 
 with the spirit of his adventure and conscious 
 that the ending might not be propitious, Chester 
 clapped the thing on his own closely shorn head. 
 And he saw, staring back at him from the glass, 
 a middle-aged man with a flushed face and strained 
 tired eyes. For a moment he stared back at this 
 apparition half in alarm; but his mood at the 
 sight turned from bitterness to a certain devil- 
 may-care gaiety. Assuredly he could gain access 
 to Auge as a complete stranger. He chuckled to 
 think of the money-lender's surprise when he found, 
 not a new victim, but an old one come for a reck- 
 oning. Ordinarily, Chester would have regarded 
 the expedition as doomed to obvious failure, but 
 this night was the culmination of many bitter 
 hours of anticipation and he was lost to the ab- 
 surdity in the desire to start a new life equipped 
 with the money that was justly his but held il- 
 legally by the usurer.
 
 40 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 He watched his opportunity and walked the 
 seven flights of stairs to the hall. His apartments 
 were in a building famed for its quiet and absence 
 of the rush and bustle of the modern apartment 
 houses. Nobody was in the waiting-room and the 
 man at the telephone, seeing only the mustard 
 coat,, fancied that Meadows was gone for his nightly 
 exercises; master and man were much of a size 
 and there was nothing to make the attendant 
 suspect that a masquerade was begun. 
 
 Auge in a confidential moment had confessed 
 to Chester that he lived at the top of a humble 
 apartment on the West Side. He had taken a 
 mental note of the address and easily called it 
 to mind. It was 678 W. 76th Street. True, such 
 an address had little sound of poverty in it, but 
 Chester knew that New York's streets were 
 strangely unequal and imagined it to be one of 
 the cheaper apartments to which Riverside Drive 
 turns a cold shoulder. B ut it proved to be a resi- 
 dential hotel of considerable pretensions set on 
 the Drive itself. The beautifully carpeted lounge, 
 the excellently appointed waiting-room and the 
 broad stairway were superbly decorated. There 
 were few better houses in the city of apartments. 
 This, thought Chester, sourly, was the poor apart-
 
 THE UNFORTUNATE AVENGER 41 
 
 ment, the humble lodging the money-lender spoke 
 of so suavely. There were many people in the 
 hall and he passed unnoticed among them and 
 commenced his unseen ascent of the stairs. At 
 each floor he carefully scanned the names, and 
 gradually ascended to the top. And one of the 
 two there were but two twelve-room suites on 
 each floor bore no name on the door. It would 
 be just like Auge to conceal his identity. He was 
 filled with a certainty that at last he had run the 
 man to his home. Auge had always been unwilling 
 to disclose where he lived and it was more an 
 accidental happening than anything else that he 
 had gained a knowledge of the address. 
 
 Before pressing the bell he tried the handle of 
 the door; to his surprise it was open and he found 
 himself a moment later standing alone in a large, 
 square hall papered in rich red and furnished in 
 black Flemish oak. There was a shelf running 
 the whole way round, on which were rare specimens 
 of old pewter. By each side of the open grate 
 stood suits of fifteenth-century Spanish armor. 
 At a glance his experienced eyes told him that 
 there was a considerable outlay of money. And 
 he hardened his heart at the thought. There 
 was still no sound and he made his stealthy
 
 42 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 way to a slightly opened door at the right. He 
 was determined to come upon Auge unannounced, 
 and fate had been, so far, kind. He must do this 
 or take the risk of being considered as a burglar. 
 Meadows' coat was in no sense indicative of a 
 fashionable prosperity. 
 
 And as he paused, conscious of a certain irreso- 
 lution, a distant door opened and footsteps ad- 
 vanced toward him. They were quick, short steps, 
 utterly unlike Auge's elderly dragging stride. 
 Since it would not suit his purpose to be discov- 
 ered by a servant, he moved silently to the door 
 and passed through it. As he did so the footsteps 
 died away and he found himself alone in a large 
 dimly lighted apartment. If he had been sur- 
 prised at the wealth and taste shown in the fur- 
 nishing of the hall, he was staggered at what this 
 room showed. It was an exquisitely furnished 
 Louis Seize salon. 
 
 There is no style of the many which have 
 marked the French genius for interior decoration 
 more perfect than that which bears the name of 
 the unfortunate king who paid the penalty of his 
 predecessor's misgovernment. It has been said 
 that this style was inspired by the Grecian art 
 of the glorious period three centuries before
 
 THE UNFORTUNATE AVENGER 43 
 
 Christ, just as that of its immediate predecessor 
 that of Louis Quinze, was built upon the Ro- 
 man art of the second century. And as a man 
 who had lived in great houses and amid rich 
 surroundings, Chester knew instantly that this 
 was no modern imitation but indeed the genuine 
 article. As he looked at it, he wondered what 
 proportion of his own overpayment had gone to 
 pay but a tenth of its value. He was startled 
 out of this profitless musing by a voice at a tele- 
 phone hard by and he observed that at right 
 angles to this room was another into which he 
 could not see. It was a girl's fresh, clear voice. 
 " Send Mr. Cosway here at once," she said. Then 
 she rang off and left the intruder to ponder on his 
 course of action. If Mr. Cosway were to be 
 shown into the Louis Seize room there would 
 clearly be trouble. He began to be less definite 
 in his belief that this was Auge's flat. Afraid to 
 move until the girl in the other room was gone, 
 he delayed too long, and heard with despair the 
 ring of the outside bell. Escape by the way he 
 had come was plainly impossible. 
 
 Their voices in the hall grew louder as they 
 approached his room, and in desperation he looked 
 about him for a way of evasion. In a panic he
 
 44 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 espied in a distant corner a tall screen all gilt and 
 splendor and behind this he hid himself, thank- 
 ful that Meadows' mustard-colored coat in the 
 dim light was not too markedly different in hue 
 to be discovered through the hinge's chink. The 
 possessor of the most unusual amount of savoir 
 faire might be pardoned the reasonable flurry 
 in which Richard Chester found himself. Sud- 
 denly stripped of his excuse to be in the building 
 at all and face to face with an exposure which 
 must inevitably lead to the police station and the 
 glare of the yellow journals, he chose what seemed 
 at the moment the only means of safety. He was 
 no longer a believer in his destiny. Fortune, he 
 ruminated from his retreat, was behaving meanly. 
 
 When the door opened there entered a white- 
 haired old man carrying in his hand a leathern 
 portfolio. Chester prayed fervently that he would 
 betake himself to the other apartment wherein 
 was the telephone, but he sank into a near-by 
 chair, evincing fatigue, rising a minute later to 
 greet the girl who had spoken over the telephone. 
 While she was standing Chester had a very fair 
 view of her. 
 
 Rather below the middle height, she was slen- 
 derly and daintily made, with a charming figure
 
 THE UNFORTUNATE AVENGER 45 
 
 and complexion. Her hair was of that rare shade 
 of golden brown which owes nothing of its beauty 
 to dye or bleach. Whether her eyes were blue 
 or gray he was unable to determine, but they were 
 large and fringed with black lashes, and she was 
 worthy of the word lovely. Chester was not one 
 of the men who are ignorant of the costumes of 
 women. He had found out years before that 
 women do not covet a blind admiration for their 
 costumes on the part of men, but appreciate a 
 trained and intelligent appreciation; and he never 
 made the mistake of supposing that a simple 
 gown must be an inexpensive one. This girl wore 
 a tunic of lace over a robe of light blue silk; and 
 lace, as he knew, might represent enormous value. 
 
 " I'm immensely relieved that you are here," 
 she said, shaking the old man's hand. " I'm in 
 terrible trouble." 
 
 Mr. Cosway sighed. " Why weren't you con- 
 tented to leave business and stock markets 
 alone?" 
 
 " Blame my ancestors," she returned. " Some 
 women prefer bridge at quarter points; I've found 
 no excitement like managing one's own affairs." 
 
 " But you didn't bring me post haste from 
 Chicago to tell me that? "
 
 46 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " You've brought me a copy of that hateful 
 will? " she demanded. 
 
 " Naturally," he said gravely. " Am I to un- 
 derstand that you mean to comply at last with 
 its provisions ? " 
 
 " Perhaps I may have to," she answered so- 
 berly. 
 
 " You swore nothing should make you." 
 
 " I never contemplated poverty," she retorted. 
 " I may as well admit it, but the markets and 
 everything else have gone against me. If I can't 
 get enough money to carry me over at my brokers 
 and finance my Brazilian mine I shall have to 
 call a meeting of my creditors." 
 
 "What would your father say?" groaned the 
 old lawyer. 
 
 " He wouldn't say anything," the girl cried. 
 " He'd do something." 
 
 " It's fortunate you've been brought to taking 
 a sensible view of your grandfather's will, then," 
 Mr. Cosway commented drily. 
 
 " I haven't," she said. " I still think its condi- 
 tions abominable and I loathe the very thought 
 of my grandfather. Why should he want to lay 
 it down that we women are the weaker vessels, 
 when it isn't true? "
 
 THE UNFORTUNATE AVENGER 47 
 
 " Why a woman should want to compete with 
 men in the business world is equally beyond my 
 comprehension," said old Cosway. He had 
 watched this wayward girl go deeply into schemes 
 that were beyond his limits and bring them to 
 successful issues in a manner that confounded 
 him and his estimate of her abilities. This was 
 the first time in the years he had known her that 
 he had been able to reflect that his prognostica- 
 tions had a measure of truth in them. 
 
 " We can never agree on that," she retorted 
 quickly, " so why argue? I am perfectly certain 
 that if I get my grandfather's money, I shall be 
 worth twice as much in three months' time as 
 ever I was. I have borrowed all that I could and 
 am absolutely driven to comply with the degra- 
 ding terms of the will." 
 
 The old man looked at his watch. " You 
 haven't much time," he said. " It is ten o'clock 
 and the term set by the late Mr. Simon Ellis ex- 
 pires at midnight." 
 
 " I have enough not to need to hurry," she 
 returned. " In the dining-room you will find a 
 little supper all ready for you. I haven't forgotten 
 that you don't like eating on the train and I 
 shouldn't be surprised to hear you've had practi-
 
 48 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 cally nothing since you left Chicago. At half 
 past ten the motor will be ready and we shall go." 
 
 "Where?" he questioned. 
 
 She made a little move of disgust. " To fetch 
 my husband." 
 
 " I hope he will be a good man and a true hus- 
 band." 
 
 " One hardly ventures to expect so much," she 
 said. " But whether he is or not doesn't really 
 matter much." 
 
 Old Cosway looked at her reproachfully. " You 
 have altered very much of late, I fear," he com- 
 mented. He could not bear jesting on what he 
 felt was a very solemn business. " May I ask his 
 name? " 
 
 " I have no more idea than you have," she re- 
 turned. 
 
 "What!" he cried. "You don't know the 
 name of your husband to be? You can't tell me 
 who it is who will give you your grandfather's 
 fortune with his name? " 
 
 " I haven't the slightest idea," she said simply. 
 " I am going to look for one and I need you both 
 as a chaperon and counsel. I have decided first 
 on the bread line." 
 
 Cosway grew red with indignation and he rose
 
 THE UNFORTUNATE AVENGER 49 
 
 to his feet. " Do I understand that you and I 
 go husband hunting at this time of night among 
 the dregs ? " 
 
 " Why not? " she said. " And as to the bread 
 line being composed solely of dregs, I'm led to 
 suppose that there are all sorts and conditions 
 there. Men who have university educations and 
 yet can't get anything to eat. Some of these 
 won't object to earn money." 
 
 " I absolutely refuse," cried the other. 
 
 She shrugged her shoulders. " Very well, I 
 must take my maid instead." 
 
 " It's preposterous," he fumed. 
 
 "Then you'd rather have me a beggar?" she 
 asked. 
 
 " It can't be as bad as that," he objected. 
 
 " Every bit," she said steadily. " I'm not 
 likely to exaggerate things at a time like this. 
 You know I determined to be a rich woman so 
 that I should never feel cause to regret not com- 
 plying with the will. I have prospered, as you 
 know, and but for the panic I should be worth 
 a million. Lots of capitalists have been abso- 
 lutely wiped out, but I just escaped. With the 
 quarter of a million that will be mine tomorrow 
 I can weather the storm. Otherwise I spend
 
 50 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 the rest of my days in a cheap continental pen- 
 sion." 
 
 " I am very much distressed to learn this," 
 Mr. Cosway admitted. 
 
 " Do you suppose I'm overjoyed? " demanded 
 the girl. She looked at him with a pathetic smile 
 that touched him. He could see that her pretense 
 of carelessness hid a heart that had little mirth 
 in it. 
 
 " But marriage is so serious," he said, " such 
 a solemn thing." 
 
 " It won't be with me," she cried. " I shall 
 just marry him, and then give him a sum of money, 
 and that will end my marriage romance. Do you 
 suppose that I am the sort of woman to take a 
 man from the gutter and cling to him? " Chester 
 noted with admiration the spectacle of her superb 
 scorn. 
 
 " But your grandfather meant more than that," 
 he urged. 
 
 " He was a bad lawyer, then," she laughed, 
 " for the will as I remember it says nothing more 
 than that I am to marry. Read it." 
 
 Cosway drew a document from the portfolio 
 and moved toward one of the Mansoorah lamps 
 which lighted the room. He presently came to
 
 THE UNFORTUNATE AVENGER 51 
 
 the clause in question and read it aloud. ' To 
 my granddaughter, Norah Ellis, I bequeath the 
 sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars on 
 attaining her twenty-fifth birthday provided that 
 she shall be married. In the event of her remain- 
 ing single, the said sum of two hundred and fifty 
 thousand dollars s,hall go to Dartmouth College to 
 be used as the governors of that institution deem 
 fit and proper. I am led to make this stipulation 
 with regard to my granddaughter, Norah Ellis, be- 
 cause I feel that the independent spirit evinced by 
 the rising generation of women and their lack of 
 reverence toward the institution of holy matri- 
 mony is against the best interests of national pros- 
 perity." 
 
 Cosway put the will down and looked at his 
 client. " Yes," he commented, " you are right." 
 
 " Of course I am," she said in triumph. " Do 
 you think I haven't given plenty of time to it? 
 And I'm right in my estimate of my grandfather. 
 Holy matrimony indeed! What reward had my 
 poor meek, broken-spirited grandmother for her 
 devotion to him and his whims? He left her half 
 of what I shall get and then advertised himself in 
 charitable bequests to colleges and things that 
 hadn't any need of them. I'm not a suffragette or
 
 52 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 anything militant like that, but I think that will 
 is an unwarrantable stricture on my sex. Do you 
 suppose I'm content to marry a man and then 
 admit tacitly there's an end of my individuality? 
 I'm not a misanthrope; there are plenty of men 
 I like, but not well enough to marry." 
 
 " I'm afraid you are rather cynical," said the 
 overwhelmed lawyer. 
 
 " Not a bit," she returned more brightly, " I'm 
 just a woman like all the rest of my sex; when I 
 was romantic and eighteen, I really fell in love 
 with a man who never looked at me, and I lost 
 weight and felt poor Marie Bashkirtseff was a 
 kindred soul. Some day I may meet a man I 
 shall love, but I don't think it's likely; I'm very 
 well satisfied with things as they are." 
 
 " I hope this hasty action may not bring sor- 
 row to you," said the other. His reproaches were 
 dying and he could not but feel an admiration 
 for the girl. The late Simon Ellis had not been 
 of a lovable nature. 
 
 " One never knows," she admitted with philo- 
 sophical calmness. " But meanwhile your supper 
 awaits you." 
 
 " I don't like it," he muttered, " it's so irregu- 
 lar."
 
 THE UNFORTUNATE AVENGER 53 
 
 " Not a bit," she corrected. " It's all en regie. 
 Dr. Plumm, the hotel chaplain the man who 
 marries more people in haste than any other 
 living chaplain is at my disposal till midnight, 
 and the whole thing is arranged. Now, my dear, 
 good man, to your well earned meal." 
 
 From his hiding place Chester watched the 
 girl link her arm within the old man's and pass 
 out of sight. It was his Heaven-sent opportunity 
 to efface himself, and when he was assured that 
 the twain had gone, he crept into the open. But 
 Meadows' heavy trailing coat caught the base 
 of the screen and a crash was only averted by his 
 catching the thing and replacing it. And it was 
 with this he was occupied when footsteps were 
 heard and he crept back into security just as the 
 girl re-entered the room. 
 
 So near to him she sat that he could see how 
 tired she looked, and now that she was supposedly 
 alone, so anxious. His position was almost intol- 
 erable. Every instinct of his nature revolted 
 against the unwitting sight of a woman in distress. 
 He had divined with far more readinesss than the 
 elder man with what fierceness she must have 
 battled and how tragic was the loss which made 
 her submit to the conditions of a legacy H-hich
 
 54 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 she regarded as intolerable. And Richard Ches- 
 ter's heart ever went out to a good loser. There 
 was to him something almost nobler in bravely 
 accepting defeat than in the gaining of contests. 
 In other ages the Chesters had gone gaily to the 
 tourney to defend the beauty and fame of their 
 ladies. And never in his life had his ready sym- 
 pathy been so instantly captured as by the ex- 
 quisite girl sitting not a yard from him. 
 
 He was utterly without plans as to what he 
 must do. To hear more of her private history 
 seemed black dishonor; to disclose himself spelled 
 disgrace. It would be safer, he concluded pres- 
 ently, to wait until she and Cosway were gone 
 and then make a dash for the door. He was afraid 
 from so short a distance that she must hear his 
 breathing, and he peered anxiously through the 
 crack to see what were her immediate plans. And 
 what might have been Richard Chester's ultimate 
 fate if he had pursued this plan and crept unob- 
 served into the night are but idle conjecture. He 
 looked upon a woman's tears as many a man be- 
 fore him, and it is to be hoped, for the chivalry of 
 his sex, many a man after him; his prearranged 
 schemes came to naught, and what the romantic 
 call by such names as Providence and destiny
 
 THE UNFORTUNATE AVENGER 55 
 
 stood by him and took command of the situation. 
 Richard saw that she was crying softly. Down 
 the exquisite oval of her cheeks the tears rolled 
 rapidly. It filled him with an emotion so poign- 
 ant that he clenched his hands and bit his lips 
 to prevent his uttering an exclamation. And as 
 he did so his hand struck the screen.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 AMAZING MATRIMONY 
 
 " The sense of shame is to a man of great importance. When one 
 is ashamed of having been without shame, he will afterwards not 
 have occasion for shame." Mencius. 
 
 INSTANTLY the girl sprang to her feet and 
 came forward and saw him crouching in 
 mustard-hued shame in a shadowy corner. 
 
 " Come out," she commanded in firm, distinct 
 tones. 
 
 For the first time in his life, Chester did not 
 care to look a woman in the eye. 
 
 " What were you doing there? " she demanded. 
 
 " It was a mistake," he said lamely. " I came 
 to the wrong apartment." 
 
 " Innocent men don't hide in corners," she 
 snapped. " What did you come for? " There was 
 a veiled threat in her voice. " It would be better 
 to tell the truth." 
 
 He recovered his balance in a measure and 
 spoke more easily. " What I said was true," he
 
 >*' 
 
 " Come out," she commanded in firm, distinct tones. 
 Page 56.
 
 AMAZING MATRIMONY 57 
 
 asserted. " Let me join my apologies to my 
 excuse." 
 
 " I think," she said slowly, " if you knew how 
 much appearances were against you, you would 
 not try to brazen this out." 
 
 " But, my dear lady," he protested, " I'm tell- 
 ing the simple truth. The very halting of the 
 narrative should convince you of that. Only a 
 lie needs to be plausible." 
 
 She frowned for a moment and then turned on 
 him with angry eyes. " Perhaps you are a jour- 
 nalist? " she cried. 
 
 " Nothing half so useful," he made answer. 
 He had recovered his imperturbable good humor 
 again. " I assure you I am neither journalist 
 nor detective. I'm merely the victim of a mis- 
 take. My error consists in being found out." 
 
 " No doubt," she said drily. " I imagine that 
 is the worst thing that can befall gentlemen of 
 your profession." 
 
 " My profession? " he echoed. 
 
 " Can you expect me to believe you are here 
 for any honest purpose? " 
 
 Nobody had ever infused such scorn in a speech 
 to him as this slim girl, and he felt himself flushing. 
 To be mistaken for a second-story man!
 
 58 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " I'm not so hopelessly silly as to imagine you came 
 in by accident and concealed yourself ingenuously." 
 
 " It certainly does sound a silly excuse, doesn't 
 it?" he observed meditatively. "I wouldn't 
 believe it for a moment if you told it to me." 
 
 " And yet you hope I shall credit it." She 
 looked at him indignantly. 
 
 " I rely on your woman's intuition," he re- 
 sponded, " that wonderful sixth sense which makes 
 you our superiors. Tell me frankly, do I look like 
 a burglar? " 
 
 Chester was not a vain man, but he knew him- 
 self as possessing youth, health and a frank bear- 
 ing, not habitually seen on criminal countenances. 
 He had always made friends easily and he was 
 sure this girl would see that he was no low ruffian 
 intent on larceny. 
 
 The girl looked at him critically. She saw a 
 tall, red faced, elderly man wearing but little 
 hair on a polished dome. Richard's eyes fell 
 before her cold glances. " Really," he exclaimed, 
 " you make me nervous. I'm only asking you 
 to assure me that I haven't the physiognomy 
 of the crook." 
 
 " I detect," she said, " no redeeming features 
 whatsoever."
 
 AMAZING MATRIMONY 59 
 
 " If I'm prejudged," he said, " no purpose is 
 served by talking. I can only repeat that I came 
 to a wrong address and concealed myself stupidly 
 rather than own up." 
 
 She looked at him with less hostile eyes. His 
 voice, low-pitched and pleasant, attracted her, 
 but she stifled this feeling and wondered what 
 had best be done. Ordinarily since she shared 
 no maudlin sympathy with the criminal classes 
 she would have summoned a policeman. But 
 her cheeks burned when she reflected that he 
 must have overheard the whole of her conversa- 
 tion with Mr. Cosway. It would not need an 
 intelligence above the normal to see in this a story 
 which might be sold with profit to competing 
 editors. The clipping bureau to which she sub- 
 scribed sent her every morning what balked 
 journalists sent out to get a story at any price 
 had to say of her. It was notorious that even the 
 mildest of journalists, when he was denied entrance 
 to his victim with scorn and contumely, evolved 
 from his subliminal self details which did not 
 flatter. She had been variously described as a 
 man-hater, a neurasthenic, a superwoman and 
 a stock gambler who lost badly. How the special 
 story and rewrite men would pound their type-
 
 60 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 writers in fierce glee to get such a story! She 
 could see herself cartooned as the bread-line 
 bride and laughed at, the continent over. A sense 
 of humor that attribute denied one's enemies 
 deserted her. There was no glimmer of bright- 
 ness in the whole wretched episode. She looked 
 at him with a distaste that was not pleasant. 
 
 " What will you do if I let you go? " she asked. 
 
 " Depart with speed," he retorted, " and turn 
 out my pockets to show my innocence." 
 
 Mr. Cosway's heavy tread was heard and a 
 moment later he looked into the room, withdraw- 
 ing directly he saw that his client was engaged. 
 The sight of him brought back to the girl the 
 purpose for which he had come, a purpose which 
 the excitement of her encounter with Chester 
 had banished. And Chester, still looking at her, 
 wondered why, without apparent reason, she 
 should cast down her brilliant eyes and blush like 
 a schoolgirl. He could not guess her feverish 
 anxiety to believe his improbable story. 
 
 "Whom did you expect to meet here?" she 
 demanded. 
 
 " His name is David Auge." 
 
 " No one of that name lives here," she re- 
 turned, disappointed,
 
 AMAZING MATRIMONY 61 
 
 " It's the address he gave me," said Chester. 
 
 " Come with me to the telephone," she com- 
 manded. Obediently he followed her into the 
 adjoining room and watched while she called 
 up " information." Information was in a docile 
 mood and vouchsafed that Auge's address was 
 678 W. 1 76th Street. 
 
 " I wonder if you are telling the truth," she 
 murmured. 
 
 " It's a day of mistakes for me," he returned 
 gloomily. 
 
 "What did you want with him?" she de- 
 manded suddenly. 
 
 " I wanted a reckoning," he declared, his man- 
 ner changed. 
 
 She motioned him to a seat and took another 
 opposite. " I am not justified in letting you go 
 until I have some corroboration of this. If you 
 care to explain in any way I may think differ- 
 ently." 
 
 " He's a money-lender," explained Chester, 
 " and he has charged me outrageously illegal in- 
 terest and I was going " he paused for a mo- 
 ment, " I was going to suggest ,that he return 
 it." 
 
 "How?" she asked,'
 
 62 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 He smiled at her judicial manner. It consorted 
 so ill with the daintiness of her appearance. 
 
 He hesitated a moment. " I hardly know," he 
 admitted; " it all depended on how he received 
 me." 
 
 " Then you may have been prevented from 
 committing a crime," she asserted. " It's very 
 fortunate you made this mistake." 
 
 " Perhaps," he assented dubiously, " if I am 
 allowed to depart I may think so, but at present 
 I don't quite understand what your plans are." 
 
 Again there was the transient blush for which 
 he could not account. " I want you to clear 
 yourself," she said. " I want to feel perfectly easy 
 in my conscience at letting you go." 
 
 " I hope that won't be difficult," he returned. 
 Her manner had become so gracious that he felt 
 she understood and condoned the mood which 
 had led him to the wrong house. It was very 
 charming of her not to have had hysteria and 
 summoned police aid. And she looked exceedingly 
 attractive in her tunic of point de Venice a reseau. 
 
 " I suppose you were hard up? " she hinted. 
 
 " Horribly so," he smiled back at her. " In 
 fact I was so miserable about it that I determined 
 on what now seems a very silly scheme,"
 
 AMAZING MATRIMONY 63 
 
 " These wretched money-lenders do a great 
 deal of harm," she said. " One hears often of 
 how they exact huge interest because they know 
 men in offices or stores are afraid of their employ- 
 ers learning of it." 
 
 " That's very true," he agreed. 
 
 She looked at him keenly. " I suppose that's 
 how it was with you? " 
 
 He hesitated; it would serve no good purpose 
 to explain that he was not of those fearing em- 
 ployers' anger. 
 
 " Something like it," he admitted. 
 
 " It is grossly unfair," she exclaimed, " the 
 wives and families suffer so. This must distress 
 your wife very much." 
 
 " Thank God," he cried with a fervor she could 
 hardly doubt, " I never took to myself a wife." 
 
 " Have you any work, any permanent work? " 
 she demanded. 
 
 " Not yet," he returned. " Tomorrow I set 
 forth to conquer the world." 
 
 She looked at his thinning locks for a moment. 
 " It's the metier of young men." 
 
 " It certainly is," he agreed heartily, unaware 
 of the extra years he was supposed to carry. 
 " And I'm not so old after all." Meadows' de-
 
 64 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 corous wig was forgotten. It rested snugly on his 
 well-shaped head, no super-incumbent weight to 
 remind him of it. He was betrayed by her in- 
 terest into a certain boyish frankness. " Of 
 course," he added, " I'm not expecting to do any- 
 thing wonderful at first." 
 
 "But one needs money, doesn't one?" she 
 asked. 
 
 He warmed to her for the kindly interest dis- 
 played. It was delightful to sit talking to a 
 beautiful woman instead of going as he had 
 confidently expected five minutes before into 
 the night, with gyves upon his wrist like the luck- 
 less Eugene Aram. 
 
 He shrugged his shoulders. " I must make it." 
 
 " But your relatives," she objected, " they will 
 help?" 
 
 " I have none," he told her, eliminating his 
 brother. " I am a waif and stray with nothing 
 but hope." 
 
 She regarded this elderly waif with some satis- 
 faction. The Gods of Chance had brought this 
 naif world-conqueror to her at a time when he 
 was needed. And Richard felt the unusual desire 
 to become strangely confidential but checked him- 
 self; he must not trespass upon her kindness.
 
 AMAZING MATRIMONY 65 
 
 " Am I allowed to go? " he asked, rising. And 
 even as he added it, it seemed that the look of 
 interest died from her face. There gazed at him 
 instead a rather haughty-looking woman with 
 cold eyes. 
 
 " Not yet," she said. 
 
 " Why not? " he demanded. " I thought since 
 you were satisfied to believe me neither burglar 
 nor journalist, but only- ' he hesitated, "only 
 a luckless wight in search of work, I might go." 
 
 " It's the very reason why you may not," she 
 retorted. 
 
 " Why? " he asked. " I give it up." 
 
 " Because you are going to marry me," she said. 
 
 He looked at her, flushing; she had out-ma- 
 noeuvred him and invited these confidences only 
 to one end. He understood now why she had 
 altered. 
 
 " And if I refuse? " he queried. 
 
 " I shall charge you with attempted burglary, 
 and press the charge." 
 
 " You are certainly a very clever young 
 woman," he commented, " but as for pressing the 
 charge, do you think you have the courage? " 
 
 " I should have to," she said. 
 
 " I suppose you would," he said, reflecting.
 
 66 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " You think I know too much. And I'll confess 
 too," he added, " that I am not anxious to figure 
 as a thief. I fancy one goes to BlackwelPs Island 
 for a time on a charge of this sort." 
 
 " You will be suitably rewarded," she said. 
 
 " You are most kind," he returned. 
 
 " And as you heard what passed between Mr. 
 Cosway and me you know that the marriage is the 
 merest form. He will arrange all the other de- 
 tails. What do you say? " 
 
 " Call the excellent Cosway in," he said. " I 
 agree." 
 
 Mr. Cosway looked at him with no obvious 
 favor. " What is the name? " he asked. 
 
 " Dick," the younger man told him, " Mr. 
 Chester Dick of New York. Perhaps you know 
 the Dicks of New York? " 
 
 " I do not," said Cosway shortly. His nature 
 revolted at the night's work. His attitude plainly 
 indicated that under no conditions would a re- 
 spectable person know such a family. 
 
 Until the marrying chaplain came at the tele- 
 phone call, there was uncomfortable silence in 
 the room. Chester, genuinely sorry for the girl, 
 forgave her treatment of him, and had no mind 
 to worry her with conversation. The Reverend
 
 AMAZING MATRIMONY 67 
 
 Marcus Plumm had run the gamut of the denomi- 
 nations in an effort, as he frequently explained, 
 to broaden his spiritual and intellectual life. He 
 was short, stout, red-faced and a worshipper of 
 Mammon. He possessed great tact and con- 
 stantly deplored the passing of the age of domes- 
 tic chaplains. And he never married a rich man 
 without looking on him as a possible patron; his 
 silence was to be bought with a suitable honora- 
 rium. Dr. Plumm his degree was obtained 
 from an obscure college no longer allowed to dis- 
 pense them had looked forward with some ex- 
 citement to meeting the husband of the wealthy 
 Miss Ellis, and the disappointment he experienced 
 at a sight of the tall, middle-aged man in the 
 shabby mustard-colored coat was bitter. Gone 
 were his dreams of social advancement thereby, 
 and he bowed very coldly to Chester Dick. 
 
 " My friends," he said, " are we ready to com- 
 mence this solemn ceremony? " 
 
 Lacking the customary ring, Richard Chester 
 drew a much worn signet from his little finger 
 and presently Norah Ellis found it slipped upon 
 the third finger of her left hand. Then there 
 were the necessary papers to be signed and wit- 
 nessed. An elderly maid servant was the lawyer's
 
 68 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 fellow witness, and the whole matter was arranged 
 with expedition. When Dr. Plumm, filling in the 
 certificates, heard Chester Dick give his age as 
 thirty-one, he frowned heavily and added a dec- 
 ade. He had finished his work, handed the docu- 
 ments to Mr. Cosway and pocketed his comfort- 
 able fee, when voices were heard in the hall out- 
 side. The girl looked disturbed and frowned when 
 a knock was heard on the inner door. 
 
 She turned to Cosway and the chaplain. " It's 
 my aunt's voice," she said. " Not a word of this, 
 remember." 
 
 She beckoned Chester to the inner room and 
 placed something in his hand. " Please go out 
 that way," she said, indicating a door. " It leads 
 into the hall. Mr. Cosway will communicate with 
 you." She turned abruptly and left him gazing 
 after his wife and the rewards of matrimony. 
 
 He looked at the roll of bills and smiled. ; ' I 
 think not," he muttered. To be tipped like a 
 lackey and then steal away like a man ashamed 
 was no part of Chester's conception of his place 
 in the universe. Assuredly his wife was a surpri- 
 sing woman, and since after tonight he would never 
 see her he must bid her a decent farewell and 
 return the money.
 
 AMAZING MATRIMONY 69 
 
 He slipped off Meadows' coat and stood re- 
 vealed as a tall, straight man clad in perfectly 
 fitting evening clothes. Slowly he sauntered into 
 the other room and was in time to witness the 
 entrance of a rather stout, imperious woman of 
 middle age. He knew her as a Mrs. Monmouth, 
 a society leader of breeding and wealth, who ruled 
 absolutely one of the many smart sets into which 
 New York was divided. It had not been his set 
 and he had never been presented to the lady, but 
 he knew of her. She was followed by her daugh- 
 ter Ivy and her youngest son Ronald, neither of 
 whom Chester had seen before. 
 
 " My dear," she cried to her niece, " we are 
 on our way to the Boultons' dance and we've 
 punctured a tire outside. I wouldn't allow them 
 to announce us; I thought it would be a complete 
 surprise." 
 
 Her eyes fell upon Dr.Plumm, who stood smiling 
 and bowing. " And who may this be? " she de- 
 manded, surveying him through jeweled lor- 
 gnette. 
 
 " My name, dear lady," said the chaplain, " is 
 Plumm. P, L, U, double M, Plumm. I have the 
 
 % 
 
 privilege to be your charming niece's spiritual 
 director."
 
 70 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 Mrs. Monmouth looked at him without enthu- 
 siasm and her glance fell upon Mr. Cosway. 
 " There's the good Cosway," she said graciously, 
 extending her hand. " And who is the other 
 gentleman?" she asked. 
 
 Norah turned to perceive her newly taken hus- 
 band bereft of an ill-fitting coat and advanced 
 thereby to greater social distinction. For the 
 moment she was too flustered to speak but Chester 
 relieved her of the necessity. " I am an old friend 
 of the worthy Plumm's," he said easily. Plumm's 
 gesture betrayed annoyance at this but he held 
 his peace. 
 
 "Mr. Chester Dick Mrs. Monmouth, Miss 
 Ivy Monmouth, Mr. Ronald Monmouth," said 
 Norah, recovering her self-possession. Both Ches- 
 ter and Plumm bowed formally. The former in- 
 stantly set himself to capture the interest of the 
 society leader and Plumm was disturbed to hear 
 from time to time scandalously inaccurate anec- 
 dotes concerning his early days retailed freely 
 by the man whom an hour before he had not 
 met. 
 
 Disliking Plumm's pompous manner, Richard 
 Chester made open fun of him and had rescued 
 him from cannibal cauldrons in southern seas.
 
 AMAZING MATRIMONY 71 
 
 when Mrs. Monmouth turned to the chaplain with 
 deeper interest. 
 
 " You are evidently more interesting than you 
 look," she asserted. " Pray what are your hob- 
 bies now? " It was the chance he had longed 
 for. 
 
 " Chorus girls," he retorted. 
 
 " And you confess it? " she cried. 
 
 Dr. Plumm was much disturbed by her inter- 
 pretation. " My dear lady," he wailed, " I beg of 
 you to believe that it is not that way at all. Their 
 welfare is my hobby, if I may be permitted to 
 call it so." 
 
 " How? " demanded Ronald Monmouth suspi- 
 ciously. He also was interested in the welfare of 
 chorus ladies. " What do you mean? " 
 
 " I have started a society for the provision of 
 chaperons for them," he began eagerly. " Few 
 people are so misunderstood as they. If they go 
 unattended to our summer resorts, tongues wag 
 wickedly. If they have only male escorts they are 
 dubbed adventuresses. My scheme supplies them 
 with chaperons of proved probity and also pro- 
 vides free medical attendance and other features 
 which will interest you." Plumm made the run- 
 ning rapidly. " Everything is ready but a presi-
 
 72 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 dent, who must be a social power. Mrs. Mon- 
 mouth, you are she." 
 
 But Mrs. Monmouth, although proud of the 
 fact that she was president of more societies than 
 any other woman in the world, had nevertheless 
 learned caution in her dealings with them. " What 
 funds have you? " she demanded. 
 
 " Nothing as yet," returned the fervent Plumm. 
 
 ' That doesn't sound encouraging," she com- 
 mented. 
 
 " Directly it is known you have accepted the 
 presidency, they will come rolling in," he assured 
 her. 
 
 " I wonder," she told him. 
 
 " I am sure of it," Chester remarked. Plumm 
 looked at the interrupter sourly. From his pocket 
 the younger man took a roll of bills and flung 
 them to the red-visaged clergyman. " To start 
 the ball rolling," he said carelessly. Plumm un- 
 rolled ten fifty-dollar bills with something like 
 reverence. " My very dear friend," he said, " I 
 misjudged you." 
 
 " I call it exceedingly liberal of Mr. Dick," said 
 Mrs. Monmouth. She saw in him a future con- 
 tributor to some of her pet charities. When a 
 telephone message announced the automobile to be
 
 AMAZING MATRIMONY 73 
 
 ready she rose to go as the president of Plumm's 
 benevolent concern. She shook hands with them 
 all cordially and kissed her niece affectionately. 
 " I've enjoyed myself so much," she declared. 
 " One always meets such queer people here." 
 
 Ivy Monmouth detected the Chester signet 
 ring on her cousin's finger and seized the hand. 
 " I've never seen this before," she cried, trying 
 to decipher the motto. The Chester wyverns 
 were almost erased by time, but the deeply cut 
 motto was still visible. " Manu forti," she read. 
 " Ronald, what does that mean? " 
 
 " By the strong hand," he answered. " Just 
 the sort of a motto she would choose." It had 
 been his early ambition to marry Norah but she 
 had other plans. 
 
 Cosway, left alone with the two strangely mar- 
 ried people, felt his presence in the Louis Seize 
 room unnecessary and took his papers into the 
 adjoining apartment. His mind, never adaptive, 
 was too thoroughly bewildered by the events of 
 the hour to make him welcome conversation. He 
 was an old man and feeble, and his journey had 
 fatigued him. 
 
 Chester broke the silence. " I did not choose 
 to be sent away like that," he said deliberately.
 
 74 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 : ' Why did you give the money away?" she 
 demanded. 
 
 " I am not to be tipped like a waiter," he an- 
 swered. 
 
 " It was money paid for services rendered," 
 she retorted. " To give it away like that to that 
 absurd man was a breach of promise." 
 
 " I made none," he said steadily. 
 
 " It was a breach of trust, then," she insisted. 
 " I was in urgent need and you agreed to help me. 
 I paid you not only as a reward for your trouble, 
 but to feel that I was under no sort of obligation 
 to you. And you deceived me into thinking you 
 were a poor man." 
 
 " I spoke only the truth to you," he replied. 
 " I am a poor man." 
 
 " But your clothes," she objected. 
 
 " Are all I have left," he said. 
 
 She looked at him almost angrily. She was 
 thoroughly angry with herself and with the man 
 whom the law regarded as her husband. So long 
 as she supposed him to be a poor man in debt 
 to money-lenders she had held the whip hand. 
 But he was plainly her social equal and she 
 had detected faint gleams of amusement in his 
 eyes. She felt suddenly very young and with-
 
 AMAZING MATRIMONY 75 
 
 out experience. But she determined to have her 
 way. 
 
 " I shall give you the money again," she de- 
 clared. 
 
 " I shall not accept it," he said. 
 
 She stamped her foot angrily. " You are a 
 thoroughly odious man," she cried. " It is not 
 often American men embarrass women deliber- 
 ately." 
 
 " Some day," he answered quietly, " I hope 
 you will believe it is for the very reason that I 
 am an American that I will not be bribed to forget 
 it." 
 
 " As you will," she answered stiffly. " But may 
 I ask you, by the honor I suppose you once had, 
 never to presume to remember me if we should 
 ever meet? Remember that I purchased your 
 help and you chose to give the money away to a 
 stupid charity." 
 
 He looked at her coldly as she gazed upon him. 
 He was not proof against her scorn. 
 
 " By the honor you suppose I once had, I prom- 
 ise," he said. 
 
 She bowed her thanks. " If you will wait a 
 few minutes I will send Mr. Cosway to you ; there 
 will be certain matters to arrange, I imagine."
 
 76 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " I had forgotten," he returned. " You mean, 
 of course, our divorce. By all means send him 
 in." He looked at the girl with a certain pity 
 in his gaze. He had not forgotten her tears and 
 he could guess dimly what humiliation this hour 
 had been to her. 
 
 " Why," he said, " should we part with frowns? 
 Isn't it better not to quarrel since we are never 
 to meet again ? On my honor I have lived a fairly 
 decent life, and when you are yourself again, you 
 will understand that a man cannot be paid for 
 what I did. You will say that you forced me into 
 it against my will. My dear lady, you didn't do 
 anything of the kind. I come of obstinate stock 
 and we are only driven where we want to go. I 
 had heard your story and I thought you the plucki- 
 est girl I had ever known, and if I helped you to 
 defeat that old scoundrel of a grandfather, that's 
 all the reward I want. I tell you this because I 
 don't want you to think of me as a possible black- 
 mailer. Divorce me as quickly as you can and 
 never think you owe me a single thought." 
 
 " But I do," she cried with a pretty eagerness. 
 " I do. You have saved my fortune and in return 
 I've said some unwarrantable things. I do owe 
 you something."
 
 AMAZING MATRIMONY 77 
 
 " Very little," he returned. " Think of my 
 competitors in the bread line." 
 
 " I'm serious," she said. ' You helped me and 
 I do owe you something. But you do understand 
 that it was desperation that made me do it, don't 
 you?" 
 
 " I know," he said soothingly. " I understand 
 it absolutely, and that's why I don't want to be 
 frowned off the stage if it isn't absolutely neces- 
 sary." 
 
 " And you won't bear any hard thoughts of 
 me? " she asked. Her voice was not very steady 
 and she looked like a slim child. " I'm not 
 very proud of myself." She held out her hand. 
 " Good-bye." He bent over it gallantly, and 
 before she could withdraw it, had pressed a kiss 
 upon it. 
 
 " Good-bye," he said, and sighed as she passed 
 from the room. For the second time that night 
 he wondered what sort of a man he might have 
 become with a woman at his side whom he loved. 
 
 Mr. Cosway, bustling into the room, looked 
 over his spectacles at Chester. " I want you to 
 understand," he said in tones that were the re- 
 verse of cordial, " I utterly disapprove of the 
 whole business." Chester looked at him sourly
 
 78 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 and Cosway felt uncomfortable before the un- 
 expected glance of his eyes. 
 
 " I am in no way concerned with your view 
 of the case," the younger man said shortly. 
 " If you are here as a lawyer, please talk on legal 
 matters and leave the other aspects alone." 
 
 " In fairness to myself, I must repeat that I 
 disapprove." 
 
 'Then why are you stage-managing it?" 
 Chester demanded. 
 
 Cosway looked confused. " I am doing what I 
 can to relieve a wilful woman from the conse- 
 quences of her folly." 
 
 " It's a sentiment in melodrama which always 
 gets a round of applause," Chester sneered. He 
 resented the imputation of blame which the old 
 man laid upon the girl. Cosway understood that 
 he had no tractable being to browbeat. " Miss 
 Ellis tells me," he commenced. 
 
 " Mrs. Chester Dick," the other corrected. 
 
 " As you will," said the old lawyer; " she tells 
 me she has implicit confidence in you why, I 
 don't pretend to fathom and that you have 
 agreed to be no hindrance to her. As I must 
 serve you with certain papers in due time, may 
 I ask for your address? "
 
 AMAZING MATRIMONY 79 
 
 " My lawyer's address must do," said Chester. 
 " Wardour Enderby, One Wall Street. Anything 
 more ? " 
 
 " That will do," said old Cosway, bowing. 
 " Good night, Mr. Dick." 
 
 Chester rose to his feet, assumed once more 
 the dismal-hued coat, and was prepared to take 
 his leave when on the mantelpiece he noticed 
 a charming miniature of his wife in an oval gold 
 frame. He looked at it in silence. The painter 
 had caught something of the exquisite lines of 
 her profile and had reproduced her coloring 
 exactly. Chester looked at it and sighed. Ca- 
 pricious memory alone would retain some recol- 
 lection of the woman into whose life he had hap- 
 pened so strangely. 
 
 Old Cosway, full of the irritable impatience of 
 old age, wanted him to be gone. " Good night," 
 he repeated twice, and felt his anger rising at the 
 other's immobility. But he was stricken with 
 horror when Mr. Chester Dick took the minia- 
 ture and carefully put it in his breast pocket. 
 
 " Put that back at once," he shouted. 
 
 Chester turned to him with a smile. " I think 
 not," he said. 
 
 Cosway's ill temper, roused by the unprece-
 
 80 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 dented events of the night, lent him unwonted 
 activity. " Am I to make you? " he demanded, 
 rising. Chester laughed, with no appearance of 
 ill humor. The possession of the miniature 
 brought with it a sense of rest. " My dear man," 
 he observed, " why not take a reasonable view 
 of things? I'm years younger than you; at Yale 
 I held for three years the heavy-weight boxing 
 championship and I'm in moderately good con- 
 dition even now. I am not going to part with my 
 wife's portrait, and I should be more than sorry 
 to have to tussle with an old man, but of the two 
 alternatives I should choose the latter." 
 
 Cosway made a dive for the bell. " We'll 
 see if there are any other strong-arm men down- 
 stairs who can beat you at that," he cried. 
 
 Very gently Chester deposited him in a chair. 
 " Have you considered," he asked, " what a 
 splendid newspaper story this would make for 
 the papers? Would it help professionally to let 
 the authorities into it?" 
 
 The old lawyer pointed to the stairs. " Go," 
 he commanded. " My conscience tells me I am 
 not to blame for the company I am in." 
 
 " I quite understand your position," said 
 Chester genially, " and it's not an easy one. But
 
 AMAZING MATRIMONY 81 
 
 have you thought of mine? Here am I by a series 
 of accidents married to that entrancingly pretty 
 girl and then bidden to depart without a single 
 recollection of her. Wouldn't you want just 
 such a remembrance as I've got in my pocket? " 
 
 The old man looked up into the pleasant face 
 of the stranger and forgot, in the sound of the 
 even, well-modulated voice and the sight of the 
 erect young figure, the head from which the hair 
 was receding. And his own vanished youth, these 
 fifty years gone, seemed like a pleasant green 
 spot in a parched land. He sighed and his face 
 softened. " It's a bad business," he muttered. 
 
 " But you'd have done the same? " Chester 
 insisted. " Wouldn't you ? " 
 
 " I'm afraid I should," he admitted; then he 
 became more serious. " But I shall have to 
 tell her," he said. " She'll know it has been 
 taken." 
 
 Chester took the old man's hand. " You are 
 bound by no oaths of secrecy." As he shut the 
 door after him Chester perceived that the eleva- 
 tor was waiting opposite and he crossed the corri- 
 dor and entered it. He was the solitary passenger. 
 On the downward journey he glanced idly into 
 the mirror opposite and saw staring back at him
 
 82 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 a stranger. He clapped his hand instantly to 
 his head. 
 
 " Good heavens ! " he cried aghast. " Meadows' 
 wig!" 
 
 And since the sons of men have at the age of 
 one and thirty still some share of natural vanity, 
 he heaped maledictions on the fate that had left 
 the invaluable Meadows hairless and himself the 
 sport of ironical fate. No wonder, he thought, 
 that she hinted he was full old for the beginning 
 of a career!
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE BEGINNING OF CONQUEST 
 
 " Difficulties are the things that show what men are. For the 
 future, on any difficulty, remember that God, like a master of exer- 
 cise, has engaged you with a rough antagonist." Epictetus. 
 
 WHEN the excellent Meadows, on his way 
 to hotel and wife, bade a sorrowful 
 farewell to the man he had faithfully 
 served for ten years, he was not without hope 
 that Chester's dreams of success were to be real- 
 ized. When all the many bills were paid, Chester 
 found himself with an ample wardrobe and the 
 sum of two hundred dollars. What immediate 
 course to pursue exercised him greatly. He knew 
 that his knowledge of horseflesh and the like 
 was insufficient in competition with professionals 
 to gain him more than a living wage. With a 
 larger capital he would have set out for Alaska, 
 where men with a little money and rugged health 
 may make careers; but he had been warned that to 
 reach this distant land with nothing left was but 
 to sell his strength to more fortunate adventurers.
 
 84 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 The acquisition of wisdom is proverbially 
 worth buying with good coin, and Chester found 
 that his two hundred dollars was enough merely 
 to gain a. clearer knowledge of his position in a 
 sphere where no excuse was accepted, no influence 
 known and no mistake overlooked. In the baking 
 days of a summer that saw him tramping in 
 search of work from the Battery to the Bronx, 
 instead of spending it comfortably playing polo at 
 Point Judith, he learned that Meadows had been 
 wise in his doubts, and Enderby sincere when he 
 advised him to disabuse his mind of the idea that 
 fortune-making in competition with better trained 
 men was an easy matter. 
 
 He had dropped out of the world that was 
 formerly his, without difficulty. Since most young 
 men of fortune adopt more or less stereotyped 
 sports, customs, resorts, and places of exercise, 
 he was able to avoid the thoroughfares in which 
 they would be met. It was a week after his 
 marriage, when he was still sanguine and equipped 
 with funds, that he paid his first down-town visit 
 to Wardour Enderby. To his surprise, he was 
 not instantly ushered into the lawyer's presence, 
 but bidden, curtly, to wait his turn. This was 
 little enough to bis liking; but when Enderby,
 
 BEGINNING OF CONQUEST 85 
 
 passing from one office to another, greeted him 
 with a brief nod, he ascribed it to the fact that 
 he was no longer Chester of Clubland and Society, 
 but a penniless struggler. In reality, Enderby's 
 attitude was that of any busy man towards one 
 calling idly to see him during a full day. Half 
 an hour later, when Richard, after fuming in an 
 outer office, was shown into the lawyer's inner 
 room, his frame of mind was not an equable one. 
 
 He returned Enderby's greeting without any 
 show of cordiality. 
 
 " I hope I can guess what you've come about," 
 said the man of law. 
 
 " And I hope you can't," Richard retorted. 
 
 " Isn't it to say you want to hear more about 
 the firm of Enderby and Chester, then? " 
 
 " Something absolutely different," Richard in- 
 formed him. " I want to know if you'll act for 
 me in a delicate matter. It's not exactly your 
 line, I suppose, but there's nobody else I could 
 trust it to." 
 
 " Glad to," said Enderby, briefly. " Fire 
 ahead." 
 
 " My wife," returned Chester, calmly, " is 
 suing me for divorce, and I am making no defense. 
 Cosway and Cosway are acting for her."
 
 86 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " You married! " cried Enderby. 
 
 "Isn't that essential to divorce?" Chester 
 said. 
 
 " Tell me about it," the lawyer commanded. 
 
 " I'm afraid I can't," his client observed. 
 " It's a matter which I cannot mention even to 
 you. I know it is an unprofessional thing for a 
 man of your standing to attend to, but when I 
 had to give Cosway the address of my representa- 
 tive, I thought of you, and perhaps presumed too 
 much on our old acquaintance." He looked at 
 the other sharply. " It's not too late for you to 
 refuse." 
 
 Enderby waved his hand impatiently. '' Who 
 spoke of refusing? " he snapped. " It isn't that, 
 Chester, it's a sudden feeling that I can never 
 really have known you." His was a profession 
 which showed men and women at their worst. 
 He had welcomed men of reputed probity in this 
 very room and seen them strip off every vestige 
 of honor and disclose themselves unashamedly bad. 
 Few illusions were left to him. He had loved and 
 lost, and the Tennysonian couplet about the ad- 
 vantages of this awoke but undisguised con- 
 tempt in him. The best part of his nature was 
 centred in his friendship for two or three men,
 
 BEGINNING OF CONQUEST 87 
 
 of whom Richard Chester came first. When he 
 had proffered a partnership in his firm, it was as 
 much that by so doing he would not lose sight of 
 him, as hope that the partnership would financially 
 benefit him. There was no man he thought he 
 knew so intimately until this moment. He had 
 admired Chester for the supposed cleanness of 
 his life in a set where too much money had not 
 always made for virtue, and now it was a shock to 
 find that there was some skeleton in his closet. 
 And that his friend of many years should have 
 confided in him so little and kept back so much 
 savored too nearly of the client and too little of 
 the comrade. 
 
 " Of course I'll act for you," he said at length. 
 " What's your address? " 
 
 Chester thought he detected a lack of cordiality 
 and interest, and rose to his feet in his stiffest 
 manner. 
 
 " He's ashamed for having trusted me so little," 
 sighed poor Enderby, " for having deceived me 
 so much! " 
 
 " He's ashamed of knowing a man who is down," 
 thought Chester. " I have no permanent address," 
 said he aloud; " I thought if I called in here oc- 
 casionally, I could see how things were going on."
 
 88 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 Enderby made some notes on a pad. " All 
 right," he said; " if I'm not in, ask for Biggs, the 
 office manager." 
 
 Chester shouldered his way along Wall Street, 
 cherishing for the first time, hard thoughts of 
 his friend. His acquaintance with Enderby had 
 begun in a curious manner. Six years ago, he 
 had been at the Mineola Horse Show and had 
 seen from the programme that a new entrant 
 was competing in the class devoted to park fours. 
 An exceedingly good whip, and at this time owner 
 of four chestnuts which were earning blue ribbons 
 at the important shows, he strolled round to see 
 the new man's turn-out. Long-barreled beasts 
 with hardly a point of the typical coacher about 
 them, they were equine caricatures. As he gazed 
 at them, a short, kindly-faced man with gold 
 rimmed glasses came timidly toward him. En- 
 derby had seen Chester often enough to know all 
 about him. 
 
 " What do you think of them? " he asked. 
 
 Chester had neither seen nor heard of Enderby 
 it was before the wealthy lawyer had made his 
 bid for clubland popularity and was possessed 
 of the most decided opinions on horseflesh. 
 
 " If I were of a nervous disposition," he re-
 
 turned, brutally, " I should go into hysterics. 
 Whose collection has been robbed?" 
 
 " They're mine," said Enderby apologetically. 
 " I bought them from one of the biggest dealers." 
 
 "That's nothing," said Chester. "They'll 
 sell you Percherons and call them polo ponies, 
 if you don't know the difference. Called these 
 true to type English coach horses, I suppose? " 
 
 " He did," admitted the other, now thoroughly 
 uncomfortable, " and my man, who came well 
 recommended, said they were too." 
 
 " My dear sir," said Chester, who had little 
 pity for men deceived so obviously, " did you ever 
 reflect that your man might have got as much in 
 commission as you would pay him in six months? 
 I'm in the same class as you park fours and 
 I've nothing to fear from your exhibit, but if you 
 don't want to be laughed at, just withdraw them." 
 
 " What shall I do? " asked Enderby, shorn of 
 his hopes. 
 
 Chester looked them over critically. ' They 
 have their good points," he conceded, " and you 
 needn't give them away, but as a matched four 
 they're impossible. If you want to exhibit, 
 buy others." 
 
 " How can I? " demanded the lawyer, anxiously.
 
 90 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 Chester took his visiting card, and scribbled on 
 it the name of a dealer. 
 
 " Tell him if he doesn't fix you up with a team 
 I should be proud to own, he'll get no more busi- 
 ness with me." 
 
 Enderby had been absurdly grateful to Richard 
 for this and had later become an intimate friend. 
 And it was of this incident that Chester thought 
 as he made his way back to his room. It spurred 
 him to a new ambition. He banished a legal 
 future and thought more of that rich, bleak 
 Northwest where he might found a fortune and 
 return to those habits of life he even now began 
 to miss exceedingly. 
 
 He thought he could see in Enderby's manner 
 an expression of disbelief in his powers to make 
 his way. He gritted his teeth and swore that to 
 nobody would he owe gratitude for help. It 
 should never be his lot to come with hard luck 
 stories to old friends. It was an admirable reso- 
 lution, but it left him still hungry and he made his 
 way to the Astor Library, there to plan his moves 
 for tomorrow. He had found that in this great 
 building he was never likely to meet a former 
 friend. It proved a refuge to him alike in heat 
 and in cold and was as near an approach to a
 
 BEGINNING OF CONQUEST 91 
 
 club as he could afford, and he was accorded per- 
 fect courtesy so long as he obeyed the rules. Retri- 
 bution came, to such as offended, in the person of 
 a middle-aged, gray-bearded man who appeared 
 now and again and scanned the room with a critical 
 eye. To those who were reading newspapers a 
 heinous sin in the sight of the library authorities 
 or raised their voices above a whisper, or made 
 bold to snatch hasty refection at the tables, 
 verbal reproof was justly administered. 
 
 One Sunday, when the answering of unsuitable 
 advertisements had bereft him of time and money 
 and his old life lay three months behind and his 
 knowledge of specious cries for help prevented 
 him any longer from striving to be one of the 
 gentlemen of good address to whom large salaries 
 were offered, he came upon an advertisement 
 which he considered in a favorable light. 
 
 "Wanted, a gentlemanly man over twenty 
 in a publishing house. Must be willing to 
 start at bottom and work way up. Splendid 
 opportunity for right man. X E. igth St., 
 City." 
 
 It said honestly that he must work. Well, he 
 was willing to work, and by this time, from the 
 bottom up. It hinted at opportunities, and better
 
 92 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 still, there seemed no likelihood of his having to 
 sell something. He had answered hundreds of 
 advertisements which had the word salesman con- 
 cealed in them, and he had no inspirations as to 
 success in this line of activity. In reply to his 
 letter, he was bidden to call upon the firm, and 
 found to his regret that it was not a house of 
 national repute, but one of which he had never 
 heard. In an outer office were some twenty 
 men, all willing to start from the ground up. 
 They bore for the greater part the marks which 
 hopelessness and shabbiness lend. One applicant 
 there was distinguished by better clothes and 
 a better bearing, and with him Chester was sent 
 into the office of the sales-manager. They were 
 motioned to the two chairs the little compartment 
 boasted and the manager turned in his seat and 
 surveyed them closely. 
 
 " Now," he said easily, " I wonder if you two 
 know how many answers I had to my advertise- 
 ment." He paused impressively. " It was way 
 up in the three hundreds. I couldn't waste time 
 to open 'em all, but of what I did read, yours 
 pleased me the best because they were well 
 written. I don't mean penmanship that cuts 
 no ice on this job but I mean expressed."
 
 BEGINNING OF CONQUEST 93 
 
 : ' What is the proposition?" asked Chester's 
 companion. " Book agent? " 
 
 The sales-manager nodded. " Yep, but not 
 the ordinary style. This is the greatest book 
 proposition on the market, and if you fellows 
 arc half as sharp as I think you are, you can easy 
 make a hundred dollars a week." 
 
 Chester looked doubtful. " I thought it was 
 indoor work," he returned. 
 
 " And what would you be worth at indoor 
 work? " demanded the other. " I see by your let- 
 ter you've had mighty little experience. Where's 
 the easy mark to offer you the chance of earning 
 a hundred dollars a week for indoor work? In- 
 doors you'd be worth just about five dollars to me, 
 but outside there's no limit to what you might 
 earn." He ran his finger down a ruled column. 
 " Now here's a man," he asserted, " who cleared 
 a hundred and fifteen last week and ninety-five 
 the week before. He's one of the Jersey City 
 bunch and never sold a thing till he came with me. 
 He wanted indoor work, too. I'm going to pro- 
 mote him." 
 
 Chester pricked up his ears. Here were the 
 opportunities the advertisement modestly hinted. 
 " How? " he demanded,
 
 94 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " Make him manager of a branch agency," 
 said the other, " and give him a commission on 
 each salesman's work. I shall get a commission 
 on you two, if you make good." He laughed in 
 triumph. " I done pretty good last year on a 
 proposition not near as good as this and bought 
 an eight-room house with all conveniences in 
 Jersey." 
 
 Chester was not sure whether to regard this 
 as a warning or an inducement; but the thought of 
 the Jersey City agent who had his own ideas about 
 indoor work and earned two hundred dollars in 
 a fortnight, had a comforting sound. He had 
 found in his search for work that the indoor man 
 has no opportunities at all commensurate with 
 those offered to the successful salesman, whether 
 he sold shares or soap. And he did not know 
 that the special pains the sales-manager took with 
 him was due entirely to his assured manner and 
 the very excellent cut of his clothes. The difference 
 between the well dressed seller and the poorly 
 clad one is marked. One is a salesman and the 
 other a peddler. 
 
 Chester's companion Everard Peck, late of 
 Cornell had attempted selling before and ex- 
 pressed himself anxious to hear fuller particulars.
 
 BEGINNING OF CONQUEST 95 
 
 The sales-manager thereupon drew from a leath- 
 ern cover a handsomely bound, slim book and 
 cleared his throat. 
 
 " This," he commenced, " contains specimen 
 pages and the most attractive illustrations of 
 the work you are to sell. It will be complete in 
 fifty-two volumes, each containing seven hundred 
 and fifty pages of reading matter and one hundred 
 and sixteen full page illustrations, many of which 
 are in four colors. It is the standard history of 
 the human race, depicting all that is known to 
 modern ethnologists of the early life of pre- 
 historic man down to the achievements of Edison, 
 Kelvin and Curie. While stocked in the repletest 
 manner with the wisdom of our staff of university 
 professors, and while it is welcomed by the cul- 
 tured, it is yet of such entrancing nature as to 
 hold in rapt attention the lisping child who has 
 but lately learned to read. To those who have 
 had no proper educational opportunities, to those 
 whose commercial exigencies have banished col- 
 lege studies, to the busy journalist, the statesman, 
 the business man or mechanic, this work comes 
 as a godsend. To the student at college or the 
 pupil at school there has never been such an op- 
 portunity to acquire exact knowledge written
 
 96 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 in an easy, flowing style, and it is not too much 
 to say that the dissemination of such a work will 
 do more to promote national culture than a mi- 
 nute study of the hundred best books devised 
 by the wit of man." 
 
 The sales-manager paused for breath and 
 reached for some blank forms, which he handed to 
 his auditors. " These give all the information 
 you need to know. Study it out and come back 
 and see me this afternoon. I shall expect Chester 
 at three and Peck at half-past. And let me tell 
 you this," he added, " if you've got sand, you can 
 knock five hundred a month out of this." 
 
 Chester found himself the victim of unusual 
 enthusiasm and beheld Alaskan scenery drawing 
 near. To be singled out of three hundred appli- 
 cants and offered such opportunities, convinced 
 him, that his luck had turned. Peck listened to 
 him less sanguine of triumph. " It's a hard 
 game," said Peck, late of Cornell. 
 
 Chester rebuked his lack of faith. " Surely 
 not when we have a genuinely good thing to sell." 
 From which it will be seen that he was but new 
 at the game and ripening for disappointment. 
 
 At three o'clock, the sales-manager received 
 him as an old and valued friend. He leaned
 
 BEGINNING OF CONQUEST 97 
 
 back in his chair and discoursed on what he was 
 pleased to call the psychology of salesmanship. 
 " As you get wise to the game," said this talented 
 man, " you'll find your own line of talk. I don't 
 care how you slip it so long as you've the idea to 
 rights. You can't coax a man into buying and 
 you can't bully him; you've just got to make 
 him feel that he's been waiting for these books 
 and you're the first guy to blow in and give him 
 the chance." He looked at Chester with a smile. 
 " Seems kind of easy to sit here and sell books in 
 your mental vision, don't it? But I want to tell 
 you right here that it's a hard game. I don't 
 say that to discourage you but because I don't 
 want you to think that you've just got to let 
 loose your eloquence and then make a certain 
 sale. The other fellow never wants to buy. 
 Just let that soak in, will you? He hates like 
 hell to part with his ready money, but you've 
 got to work him up to it. It's just a game the 
 way I look at it. How does it strike you? " 
 
 " As hard," returned Chester. 
 
 : ' It is," assented the other. " The only things 
 you can sell easy in little old New York is gold 
 bricks, and they go like hot cakes when a swell 
 dresser hands 'em out with a fine line of patter.
 
 98 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 But there's more in books in the long run. I got 
 my chance on subscription books and now I've 
 a modern, eight-room house, all improvements, 
 on Fourth Street, Union Hill. You must come up 
 some Sunday and meet the boys. When I started 
 out I knew as much about selling books as you 
 do. See here, now, you pretend to sell me these 
 books. Let's see what you make of it." 
 
 Chester looked at him dubiously. In cold blood 
 the thing seemed far from easy, but he recognized 
 it as a test that must be undergone. 
 
 " Do you want to buy " he commenced. 
 
 " Cut it out," said his mentor. " Nobody 
 wants to buy. Try again." 
 
 " I have an excellent set of books," Chester 
 began. 
 
 " Forget it," cried the manager. " Now, my 
 boy, you just listen to me and put in all the ob- 
 jections you can think of and you'll see how I 
 answer them." 
 
 Chester listened amazed. The man talked at 
 an astonishing pace. Like the bishop in the Bab 
 Ballads, he " argued high, he argued low, he also 
 argued round about him." Chester's feeble pro- 
 tests that he had neither time nor money were 
 swept aside like snow before summer suns. In
 
 BEGINNING OF CONQUEST 99 
 
 five minutes, he was absolutely convinced that 
 his only hope for success in this life and salvation 
 in another was to subscribe instantly. The sales- 
 manager listened carelessly to the tribute afforded 
 him. The victory was too easy to think of with 
 pride. 
 
 " I don't expect you to do it as well as me, yet," 
 he said, " but if you've the savvy to learn from 
 your mistakes, you'll do." He looked at his watch. 
 " I've got five minutes before I see your friend 
 and you just fire ahead and ask for help on doubt- 
 ful points. That's what I draw my salary for, 
 to help my agents." 
 
 Rapidly Chester thought of possible situations. 
 " Supposing," he asked, " I get talking to two 
 people, man and wife say, do I stick to one or try 
 to interest them both?" 
 
 " A few skilful questions will show who's 
 master," the other said, " and when you find out, 
 aim all your shot at that one. Never waste ammu- 
 nition on a dead one. And there's another thing 
 \vorth remembering; always look at the hats and 
 coats in the hall. That ought to be a guide as 
 to whether there's children. If there is, it makes 
 the sale easier. This is a kid's age." 
 
 " But there's nothing to be said in some cases.
 
 100 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 If a woman says she must consult her husband, 
 who is not at home, for instance." 
 
 " Easy, my boy," cried the sales-manager, 
 " dead easy. You can most always tell when that 
 old lie is coming and then you get in your fine 
 work. Just put on a smile and tell her what a 
 mistake you made with the lady who's got the 
 flat upstairs. Tell her when you suggested that 
 the other woman, before she signed the contract, 
 might want to consult her husband, your party 
 went up in the air and said ' Do you suppose I 
 have to consult my husband about twenty-five 
 cents a week?' The sales-manager smiled. "That 
 does the trick." 
 
 Under the glamor of this talk and the thought 
 that through the dissemination of literature he 
 might win to Alaska, Chester took his specimen 
 pages and order blanks and was allotted as 
 territory the apartment houses between Columbus 
 Avenue and Central Park, West, from looth 
 Street to ic>4th Street. 
 
 " There's one thing more," said the manager, 
 handing him three closely typed pages. " I've 
 had these instructions to agents written out as 
 a help. It's a few hints I found useful, and you 
 had better adopt them, till you're wiser. They're
 
 BEGINNING OF CONQUEST 101 
 
 private and must be returned to me personally. 
 Report tomorrow at five o'clock." 
 
 Peck, of Cornell, waiting his turn, saw Chester's 
 package and his new look of hope. " Bully for 
 you," he exclaimed, " and good luck." 
 
 The instructions to salesmen were diffuse and 
 contained a great deal of rugged sense. " Look 
 pleasant," was one of the axioms, " and smile 
 when you're telling your proposition. Owls look 
 solemn but they don't make sales." " Be enthusi- 
 astic," another commanded him. " A salesman 
 who can't get good and enthusiastic, couldn't 
 sell harp strings in heaven." 
 
 Chester digested these and the specimen pages 
 of his book with much diligence. He had never 
 perused a work which told him so many useful 
 things he didn't know. He had been bidden to 
 start working his territory at half-past nine; 
 it seemed scandalously early, but his instructions 
 were definite. The smile which he had been com- 
 mended to assume and study in the mirror was 
 tried on the car conductor, who scowled in return 
 as though his passenger were taking an un- 
 warrantable liberty. An excusable trepidation 
 took hold on him when he came to his first apart- 
 ment house, but even here his vade mecum was
 
 102 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 of service. " Never," said this invaluable guide, 
 " pause in the hallway as if you were in doubt 
 or ashamed of yourself. You are not peddling 
 shoe laces; you are advancing the great cause of 
 education. But if the janitor gets on to your game, 
 go next door first. N. B. It's more difficult work- 
 ing elevator apartments. Wait till the elevator 
 goes up and then try the stairs. Colored boys 
 get on to you quicker than white ones." 
 
 But the first house had neither disturbing jani- 
 tor, nor scrutinizing elevator boy. Copying the 
 tenants' names as per instructions, he ascended 
 to the top floor and paused before what, if he 
 had not been misled by names, was the dwelling 
 of Mrs. Brannigan. He remembered his introduc- 
 tory phrases perfectly; these were what he must 
 use until he found his own line of talk. Mrs. 
 Brannigan, untidy beyond belief, opened the 
 door. He cleared his throat. 
 
 " Good morning, Mrs. Brannigan," he com- 
 menced. " Doubtless you have noticed that the 
 children have quite a deal to do at school, now." 
 
 His monitor followed this phrase with the ad- 
 vice, " Here pause and get a line on her thoughts." 
 
 The lady looked at him chillingly. " I'm Miss 
 O'Grady," she snapped, " and I never had no chil-
 
 BEGINNING OF CONQUEST 103 
 
 dren." And then she slammed the door in his 
 face before he could point out that either her 
 grammar or her morals must be at fault. He 
 looked through his book for aid on a situation 
 like this but there was nothing to help him. 
 But he noticed that he had made a grave mistake. 
 These words stared him in the face: " Never talk 
 at the door; you can make your best impression 
 in the parlor." He pictured Miss O'Grady in 
 her parlor forgiving his dower of children and 
 becoming by degrees as enthusiastic as he over 
 the book. 
 
 The next lady, Mrs. Vitale of Northern Italy, 
 was highly suspicious; and when Chester made a 
 move for the parlor, she headed him off into a 
 little cupboard where were brooms and potatoes 
 and a child's express wagon. 
 
 " Good morning, Mrs. Vitale," he commenced 
 courteously. " Doubtless you have noticed that 
 the children have quite a good deal to do at 
 school, now?" He made the necessary pause 
 but got no line on her thoughts. He felt that 
 she was not playing the game fairly and produced 
 his wares and spoke of the joy to be obtained by 
 their possession. The children looked eagerly 
 at the pictures and were his eloquent supporters.
 
 104 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 r 
 
 But they soon deserted him when their mother 
 told them, in Italian, that tomorrow she would 
 buy them something better at the ten cent store. 
 
 With the lady on the next floor he had even 
 less success. He was, perhaps, too feverishly 
 eager to gain the parlor to inspire her with belief 
 in his integrity. She eyed him coldly and gave 
 him one minute to leave her premises and spoke 
 scathing things concerning education. 
 
 The next victim listened to his first phrase and 
 then remarked, "They don't get enough to suit 
 me. Why, when I was a girl up in Vermont 
 Her reminiscences, though interesting, promised 
 him no sale, and he paused before another door and 
 rallied his fleeting courage. " I will," he muttered 
 with gritted teeth, " I will get into that con- 
 founded parlor." And in his eagerness, he forgot 
 to use the opening phrase until he had won the 
 haven. The woman followed him and listened 
 amiably. " I thought you was the gas man," she 
 remarked simply. " Have a seat, young man." 
 
 Chester was inspired. He talked of all the great 
 men whose lives mirrored in this wondrous work 
 would aid all young Americans to do great and 
 noble things. When he had finished he was 
 hoarse. He wiped a perspiring brow when what
 
 BEGINNING OF CONQUEST 105 
 
 the sales-manager had called the " pyscholog- 
 ical moment," arrived. The lady received the 
 contract blank without aversion. " My daugh- 
 ter's spending the day with some friends out in 
 Jersey," she remarked. " Come around again 
 tomorrow." 
 
 Repetitions of these interviews followed and he 
 shook off the dust of the building and walked a 
 block East to start anew. He was conscious that 
 he had made many mistakes and was grateful for 
 this cheering sentence in his book, " If," he read, 
 " you made one sale in three without fail, you'd 
 have old John D., Andy and J. Pierpont giving 
 up the trust business and applying for your job." 
 Wise counsel, this, in the hour of need. The 
 next apartment house was of a better class and he 
 dodged the elevator boy successfully and came to 
 the top floor. He drew blank and descended to 
 the next landing. Here he experienced a surprise. 
 As he knocked, the door flew open and a volumi- 
 nous Juno, clad in a heliotrope colored kimono 
 opened it, her countenance the while irradiated 
 with a seraphic smile which far eclipsed his own 
 stereotyped effort at light-heartedness. But it 
 faded away quickly when she saw the man at the 
 door was not the one she expected and Chester
 
 106 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 judged her irritation would beget a mood wherein 
 his salesman efforts would be unwelcome. 
 
 Presently he came to a man newly risen from 
 bed. " I work all night," said the man, glaring 
 at him fiercely, " and I try to sleep all day, and 
 so I could but for you damned book agents. You 
 fellers just drive me crazy. You ought to be 
 ashamed of yourself." 
 
 " I am," said Chester sadly, leaving him, a 
 wrathful apparition, framed in the open door- 
 way. 
 
 In the next apartment a man and a woman were 
 breakfasting. A little servant opened the door 
 and offered frail opposition to his desire to reach 
 the parlor. He paused awkwardly when he dis- 
 covered the trespass. From the many photographs 
 about, he judged the couple to be in some branch 
 of the theatrical profession. They gazed at him 
 with annoyance. It was an anxious moment. The 
 book told him by adroit questioning he was to 
 find out who was the stronger spirit and address 
 remarks to that one. " Good morning," he said 
 presently, and made the fatal error of allowing 
 his specimen book to be seen. " Doubtless " 
 " Get to hell out of here," roared the man. 
 Chester had discovered the master mind. The
 
 BEGINNING OF CONQUEST 107 
 
 man turned to a slumbering bull dog. " Sic him," 
 he cried. But the intruder was friend to all 
 dogdom and the animal, after yawning, arose and 
 licked his hand and even prepared to accompany 
 him in his retreat. 
 
 The afternoon's experiences were no brighter 
 than those of the morning. There seemed a 
 concerted effort on the part of these people to 
 exclude invaluable volumes from their homes, and 
 he reported at five o'clock, feeling that the sales- 
 manager would be much disappointed. 
 
 " I haven't sold a subscription," he said dis- 
 mally. 
 
 The other laughed. " I didn't suppose you 
 would," he retorted. " Or tomorrow, either, for 
 that matter, but you've just got to go on trying. 
 You can't break into a paying game like this, 
 directly you take it up. Why, that agent in Jersey 
 City what I told you about didn't make any sales, 
 till he'd been with me two weeks.- Wanted to 
 give it up a dozen times and get back to Squee- 
 dunk and the farm. Then he struck his gait 
 same as you will and went along like a house 
 afire." 
 
 These words were balm to Chester and he ab- 
 sorbed fresh counsel and started with fresh hope
 
 108 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 on the morrow. But each day of the week 
 was like the first. Everywhere he was coldly 
 received and often insulted. Occasionally he 
 thought he was near a sale but such hopes never 
 came to fruition. People were interested in him 
 but not in his proposition, and he lacked that 
 convincing quality without which one may not 
 be a salesman. Fellow workers said critically 
 of him that he had not " gall " enough and, at 
 the end of ten days' failure, he was fain to adopt 
 this view. He risked no final interview with the 
 comforting manager of sales but returned his 
 specimen and contract blanks by the office boy and 
 walked to Central Park. It was the last week in 
 September, when wealthy New Yorkers were, 
 for the most part, still away from town and he 
 was likely to meet nobody who knew him. He 
 was surprised with what ease he could avoid the 
 friends of other days. Had he been a seeker 
 for work from an alien land, he could not have 
 been more alone. 
 
 He walked aimlessly through the Park, no 
 longer in the motor era the throng of fashion, 
 and presently came to the little lake hard by one 
 of the Fifth Avenue entrances, and sat down 
 by it.
 
 BEGINNING OF CONQUEST 109 
 
 His thoughts went back to the day a few 
 months earlier when he had cheerfully protested 
 his hope of salvation by work. They had been 
 right who had doubted him, he mused, and the 
 world was no nearer the conquering. With this 
 black mood upon him, he paid little attention 
 to his surroundings and was startled presently 
 to hear a squeak and behold almost at his feet 
 a gray squirrel regarding him with friendly eyes. 
 A minute later the little animal had sprung on 
 the seat and come boldly toward him, suffering 
 his back to be stroked. Then came another as 
 free from fear as the first and perched on his 
 shoulder. And a third, leaping over the grass, 
 joined his fellows and looked at him with bright, 
 beady eyes. And they brought a strange, pleasant 
 sense of companionship with them that lightened 
 his heart and took his black mood away and let 
 him see the beauty of the day. 
 
 He looked at them with a tenderness that sur- 
 prised him and felt as perhaps the gentle, brown- 
 habited Saint of Assisi had felt seven centuries 
 before toward his little brothers, the birds of the 
 air. ' You're good little chaps," he assured them 
 when he found that they had constituted them- 
 selves his friends, " and if ever I can, I'll make
 
 110 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 a change in the Chester arms. We've got three 
 stupid wyverns on a shield. I'll have three 
 squirrels instead. Hallo, what's the matter? " 
 
 They had scampered down from the seat and 
 were making toward some friendly trees. Chester 
 looked up to see a small boy running toward him, 
 breathless. Park squirrels have no especial con- 
 fidence in unattended small boys and Chester 
 did not look amiably at the disturber. " Well? " 
 he demanded not very amiably. " What's the 
 trouble?" 
 
 ' 'Ginia's got a nail in her shoe and can't 
 walk," the small boy declared. 
 
 "Who's 'Ginia?" Chester asked more kindly; 
 he was now convinced that the lad was not guilty 
 of hard thoughts to the new ornaments to the 
 Chester coat of arms. 
 
 " My sister," returned the small boy. " She's 
 only a little girl. You've got to carry her." 
 
 "That's the idea, is it? Where shall I carry 
 her?" 
 
 The child waved his hand airily to the tall 
 houses over the road. " We live there," he said. 
 
 " But where's your sister? " Chester asked. 
 
 The boy put his hand in the other's and led 
 him along the path, chatting the while excitedly.
 
 BEGINNING OF CONQUEST 111 
 
 " You see," he explained, " if she walks, she'll 
 get lockjaw very likely. You generally get lock- 
 jaw if a nail goes into your toes; and if she gets 
 it, she'll have to have her teeth knocked in to 
 get the food down. I suppose you've seen heaps 
 of people with lockjaw." 
 
 " Not one." Chester could see that his answer 
 had disappointed. 
 
 " And if it's not lockjaw, it will be blood-poison, 
 and then she'll have her leg cut off. Have you 
 ever seen a very little girl with a wooden leg? " 
 
 " I'm afraid not," returned Chester with an 
 air of apology. 
 
 'Ginia proved to be an exceedingly pretty 
 little child of five, very richly dressed. There were 
 tears, hardly dry, upon her face. It was incon- 
 ceivable to Chester that they should be unat- 
 tended. 
 
 " Where's your nurse? " he demanded. 
 
 " We ran away from her," 'Ginia answered com- 
 posedly. " She wasn't interesting. She wouldn't 
 let me put my feet in the water. You would, 
 wouldn't you? " 
 
 Chester refused to be drawn into a conversa- 
 tion which reeked of disrespect toward proper 
 authority. " What about your foot? " he asked.
 
 112 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " I can't walk," she said; " there's a nail in 
 my toe." 
 
 The boy assumed a professional air. " And 
 that's why I think it's lockjaw," he said. 
 
 Chester unbuttoned a little, white suede shoe 
 and saw on the ball of the toe a red spot of blood. 
 He looked at it, critically. 
 
 " What do you think it is ? " the boy demanded. 
 " Lockjaw or blood-poison? " 
 
 " Neither," Chester asserted with the air of 
 a consulting surgeon. " All it wants is to be 
 bathed with hot water." 
 
 " Sha'n't I get chicken broth and port wine 
 jelly?" 'Ginia asked with an appearance of 
 anxiety. 
 
 " I hope so," he returned. " I should insist 
 on it, if I were you. Now, as it will soon be your 
 bedtime, I'll take you home." He put the shoe 
 in his pocket and lifted the girl to his shoulder 
 and followed the boy out of the entrance gate 
 and up Fifth Avenue. Presently the boy gave 
 a shout of delight. " There's auntie," he said. 
 " She always comes to find us when we get lost." 
 
 " And never calls us mischievous little devils," 
 'Ginia observed calmly. " I once asked God to 
 make her our mother," she continued, " but I
 
 BEGINNING OF CONQUEST 113 
 
 spoke too late, as usual." She had a singularly 
 sophisticated air for her years. Chester was 
 glad to see that the boy had run to meet his aunt. 
 She would be the earlier relieved of fearing a 
 serious accident. He could see that the aunt was 
 beautifully gowned and bore out his belief that 
 the children were of the wealthy classes. But when 
 she looked at Chester he nearly let his burden 
 drop, for the lovely girl gazing up at 'Ginia was 
 the woman he had married. He was conscious 
 that she was thanking him and that an answer 
 was demanded. He was too confused to notice 
 what she was saying. He narrowly prevented 
 himself from uttering the fatuous phrase which had 
 prefaced his conversations of the last ten days. 
 
 " You must let me carry her," said the girl. 
 
 He looked at her slight figure and shook his 
 head. " I'm so much better fitted for it," he 
 answered, and marched on to the great house 
 where the children lived. 
 
 Would she recognize him, he wondered, and 
 think this part of a plan to see her and break his 
 promise? She had looked at him without any 
 suspicion, thinking merely that he was a kindly- 
 disposed young man of the class to which she be- 
 longed, who had taken pity on her niece.
 
 114 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 He looked at her when he was become more 
 composed with a growing admiration. In anima- 
 tion her face was lovelier than ever and the well 
 fitting dress she wore made her infinitely attract- 
 ive. And he sighed when he thought how much 
 greater distance she was now from him than he 
 had ever deemed possible. 
 
 At the door she held out her hand. " I'm sure 
 their mother, Mrs. Godfrey, would be very glad 
 to thank you if you care to come in," she said. 
 
 " Thanks, I won't trouble her," he returned and 
 took his leave.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 MILLIONAIRES AND MINES 
 
 " When we are invited to an entertainment, we take what we find; 
 and if any one should bid the master of the house set fish or tarts 
 before him, he would be thought absurd. Yet, in the world, we ask 
 the gods for what they do not give us, and that though they have 
 given us so many things." Epictetus. 
 
 CYRIL and Virginia Godfrey were the 
 children of Norah's first cousin, who had 
 died when the younger was only a few 
 months old. His widow had not taken another 
 mate, fearing any responsibilities which might 
 interfere with her lazy and aimless existence. 
 She was profoundly grateful that Norah Ellis, 
 when her grandfather's legacy put her in a hap- 
 pier financial state, had consented to give up her 
 apartment and reside in the Godfrey house, as 
 Norah was so much better able to take charge 
 of a large household than Mrs. Godfrey, who did 
 not inspire servants with love or esteem. 
 
 It was Norah who, when the tearful nurse made 
 her way back without her charges, calmed the 
 mother's anxieties and sallied forth to find them.
 
 116 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 And when in triumph she took them to their 
 mother she was fulfilling only what was confidently 
 expected of her. When she had fondled them and 
 threatened dire punishments for similar future 
 offenses, she sent them to bed and turned to her 
 cousin. 
 
 " Charlie Renalls 'phoned to say he would dine 
 here tonight," she said. " That's the second 
 time this week." 
 
 " We've no one to meet him," returned Norah; 
 " that's a pity." 
 
 Mrs. Godfrey laughed. " He won't consider 
 it as such." 
 
 Charles Renalls was one of the younger men in 
 the financial world content to wait without 
 visible impatience for the fall of septuagenarian 
 giants. Of obscure origin and moderate educa- 
 tion, he had forced himself to be respected by 
 great capitalists. Starting as a company pro- 
 moter in a small way, he was now president of 
 the Inter-State Trust Company and known to 
 be one of those far-seeing capitalists who believed 
 in the great future of South America. The Di- 
 rectory of Directors showed him to be the presi- 
 dent of five mining companies in Brazil and 
 the Argentine.
 
 MILLIONAIRES AND MINES 117 
 
 An ugly man, but with power in every line of 
 his face, that made him of more than common 
 interest, he had two hobbies. As a pigeon-shot 
 he was absolutely first class, and there were few 
 better amateur violinists. His collection of 
 violins was world famous. 
 
 Although known as a bold speculator, he was 
 never associated with any of the get-rich-quick 
 schemes that have undone so many young finan- 
 ciers of talent. He had seen that crooked courses 
 and shady episodes in the lives of great capital- 
 ists do not bring them to the place of honor he 
 coveted. Long before she had known him, 
 Norah Ellis had admired his fighting qualities. 
 There was in her the capacity for understanding 
 that soldiers of finance have their campaigns, 
 their skirmishes, pitched battles, victories or re- 
 treats much as do their brothers of the tented 
 field. And to her there was something infinitely 
 more entrancing in the spectacle of the financial 
 fighter living always amid war's alarms, than of the 
 other to whom war was but an occasional incident. 
 
 Someone had pointed Renalls out to her at an 
 Ysaye concert as a foolish young man who had 
 dared to assert himself. He was a child among 
 sage men, her companion affirmed, and would be
 
 118 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 broken. She watched the newspaper accounts of 
 the fray and rejoiced to see that Renalls won. 
 He did not win because he was a better man than 
 his antagonists but because they had gone into 
 battle with insolent unpreparedness. He was wise 
 enough after this not to cross swords with them, 
 and it was after this warning that he turned to 
 South American fields not pre-empted by this 
 ring of financial aristocrats. He was so frequently 
 quoted as the South American mining magnate 
 that people lost sight of his growing power in 
 Manhattan. 
 
 And had it not been for that rich and ancient 
 colony of Portugal, Brazil, he might never have 
 met with Norah Ellis. There had come to him 
 one day a young man, Juan Mendoza, by name, 
 clerk in a great Rio banking house, and repre- 
 senting his cousin, Esteban Mendoza, until re- 
 cently engineer in charge of a section of the Bra- 
 ganza State Railroad, then in course of construc- 
 tion. Working under this engineer was an Indian 
 foreman of negroes whose frequent lapses into 
 drunkenness had led to his dismissal. Failing of 
 reinstatement, he appealed over the head of his 
 section boss to the man in charge. Mendoza 
 refused to interfere. When the Indian saw that
 
 MILLIONAIRES AND MINES 119 
 
 he would not be able to buy the vile spirit sold 
 to the men, he drew from his pocket a nugget of 
 gold of the size of a hen's egg and asked Mendoza 
 to purchase it. He asked five dollars for this. He 
 was offered twice that if he would say where it 
 was found. 
 
 " I know," said the man, " a mountain of it." 
 Mendoza procured leave of absence and verified 
 the native's statement. And from that moment 
 until, six months later, he died of alcoholic 
 poisoning, the Indian was never sober. Mendoza 
 was thus the sole repository of the secret. All 
 this incredible story Juan Mendoza poured into 
 Renalls' ears. His cousin, he said, could not get 
 the attention of the great capitalists, who re- 
 fused to believe that gold could be found in any 
 part of Brazil except the state of Minaes Geraes, 
 which has been worked since the earliest days. 
 He dared not give information which would lead 
 to prospecting parties being organized and the 
 gold discovered. He was forced to wait until 
 some rich men believed him and financed the 
 undertaking. And it was of Charles Renalls he 
 had thought. 
 
 The New Yorker listened to this tale as he had 
 listened to many others of similar nature. The
 
 120 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 first inkling that there might be something in it 
 was the large sum Esteban Mendoza wanted for 
 his concession. As a rule the humble inventor 
 or discoverer was a timorous individual, but 
 Mendoza wanted a great price and would not 
 abate one jot of it. 
 
 Renalls treated the South American, used to the 
 almost exaggerated courtesy of his kind, with his 
 usual lack of manners. " Come back in the morn- 
 ing and I'll talk to you," he said, " and keep your 
 mouth shut, if you want to do business with me." 
 
 But Juan Mendoza never went back. He had 
 arranged to use the code of his bank to cable to 
 his cousin and went straightway to the New York 
 counsel of the bank - a Mr. Cosway to write 
 his wire. While he was thanking the lawyer for 
 his courtesy and exhibiting the great nugget, 
 Norah Ellis chanced to come into the office and 
 straightway took fire at the story and made 
 provisional agreement with Juan acting for his 
 cousin. In vain did the conservative Cosway 
 urge fuller consideration; but his client had her 
 own way of doing things and within a month 
 was part owner of the North Brazil Goldfields 
 and possessed of the greatest belief in its future. 
 
 Renalls, waiting impatiently for the Portu-
 
 MILLIONAIRES AND MINES 121 
 
 guese to return, learned that he had been beaten 
 by a woman and was furious. Mendoza's story 
 had not been without its fascination even for him 
 and he swore to get even with her. When an op- 
 portunity arose to meet her at a social function 
 he accepted, supposing that he would discover a 
 middle-aged woman of few attractions. Instead 
 he met Norah Ellis and fell in love with her. 
 The North Brazil Goldfields would come to him 
 just as easily through marriage, he concluded. He 
 was a constant visitor to the Godfrey house now 
 Norah was living there, and it was in the charac- 
 ter of a suitor avowed that he was dining there 
 tonight. Mrs. Godfrey always thought of him 
 as a relative by marriage, of whom she could make 
 use. Inspired by Norah's success as a business 
 woman, she attempted little operations in the 
 stock markets, which came to naught so long as 
 she relied upon her own judgment. Charles 
 Renalls seemed always ready to advise her when 
 she asked him; and since his counsel always 
 brought her good fortune, she was anxious to 
 keep his friendship. She was sometimes a little 
 annoyed that Norah seemed indifferent to his 
 feelings for her. 
 
 " You ought to be flattered," she said. " He
 
 122 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 doesn't care to dine at many houses. A lot of 
 women run after him." 
 
 " Very creditable of them," Norah commented. 
 " It must increase his respect for our sex." 
 
 Renalls had been in the house a few minutes 
 only when young Ronald Monmouth was an- 
 nounced. The financier looked at him sourly. 
 He was not jealous of him, since it was no secret 
 that he was of the rejected, but while he stayed 
 there were none of the little intimate conversa- 
 tions that were so sweet to the older man. For 
 Monmouth's father Renalls had a certain respect, 
 but for his sons, who were merely ornamental, 
 he had none. And Monmouth, none too pleased 
 at this opinion openly expressed, and seeing in 
 the other a man who might succeed where he 
 had failed, experienced always a sense of grati- 
 fication if he could stir up jealousy in him. 
 
 The dinner found Renalls in his usually quiet, 
 contained mood. He had not always rejoiced 
 in this self-possession. As a younger man, at a 
 Chamber of Commerce dinner he had rallied 
 with good-humored contempt a great scholar 
 who sat opposite to him, silent through the many 
 courses. Renalls in those days was not used to 
 champagne or the company of Wall Street mag-
 
 MILLIONAIRES AND MINES 123 
 
 nates and, as the dinner wore on, felt eloquent 
 stirrings within him. He was always impatient 
 of the learning which some men pretended to 
 respect but which yet brought its possessor no 
 temporal benefits. The silence of the old man 
 opposite him became oppressive and he leaned 
 over the table and asked him whether it was 
 from want of words or from folly that he remained 
 so quiet. The old man looked at him from under 
 heavy, gray eyebrows. ' There was another 
 young man who asked the great Solon that," 
 he answered. 
 
 "What did Solon say?" demanded Renalls, 
 and many listened for his answer. 
 
 The old man regarded him with a grim look. 
 "'No fool,' said Solon, 'can be silent at a 
 feast.' " 
 
 It was a lesson which Renalls never forgot; 
 and when the savant, from the failure of his pub- 
 lishers, fell upon evil days, and a subscription 
 was raised to assure his euthanasia, the thousand 
 dollars sent anonymously to the fund came from 
 the man he had publicly rebuked. 
 
 Renalls listened to Mrs. Godfrey's account of 
 the accident to Virginia and regretted that she 
 had not thanked the heroic rescuer. He always
 
 124 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 professed deep interest in the Godfrey children, 
 and remarked that he was glad no worse accident 
 had happened. 
 
 Norah interrupted a little impatiently. " It 
 was not such a hard task to carry Virginia a 
 few hundred yards." 
 
 " Was he young and handsome? " Ronald 
 Monmouth demanded. 
 
 " I really hardly noticed," she returned. " He 
 seemed a tall, well dressed man of twenty-eight 
 or so." 
 
 " It's extraordinary the way you meet mys- 
 terious strangers," he commented. 
 
 "What do you mean?" demanded Renalls. 
 "How does she meet mysterious strangers?" 
 He looked suspiciously at Monmouth. 
 
 Ronald had intended such a question should 
 be asked. " Just before Norah left the Beau 
 Sejour to come here we called in one night and 
 met a curious collection. Mother has already 
 annexed one named Plumm and asks him in 
 when she's dull and wants amusing. The other 
 sportsman was disguised as a gentleman and 
 wore a wig." 
 
 " He didn't," the girl exclaimed. 
 
 " I'll bet you what you like he did," said Mon-
 
 MILLIONAIRES AND MINES 125 
 
 mouth. " I thought at the time there was some- 
 thing curious about his make-up, and when I 
 saw a man behind the scenes at the Broadway 
 Theatre the other night making up, I knew what 
 it was. Don't you remember how young his voice 
 was, and wasn't his figure a young man's? " 
 
 Renalls looked at her intently. " Is he talking 
 nonsense? " he asked. 
 
 " Doesn't he always? " she retorted. She won- 
 dered if by any chance her cousin could be right; 
 there had been something curiously young about 
 this man, radiant with the hope that he could 
 carve out a career. 
 
 ''Where did you meet him, Norah? " Mrs. 
 Godfrey asked. 
 
 " He was brought there," she replied. 
 
 "Not by Plumm," Monmouth told them: 
 " Plumm says he never met him before. Plumm 
 is looking for him all the time. This mysterious 
 stranger," Monmouth informed his listeners, 
 " had a habit of flinging little packets of bills - 
 five hundred at a time toward anyone who 
 needed help. Mother was quite angry with Plumm 
 for not producing him. She has fifty-five chari- 
 ties all needing help." 
 
 " I didn't say Dr. Plumm brought him," the
 
 126 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 girl said rather lamely. She was not anxious to 
 have the events of that evening discussed. 
 
 " You mean old Cosway," Monmouth ex- 
 claimed. " Poor old Cosway! Who'd have 
 thought that he was to die in a week! Made me 
 feel serious when I heard about it. I was con- 
 vinced of the evils of idleness, Renalls. I nearly 
 came and asked you to get me a job. Cosway's 
 death must have put you in a hole, Norah." 
 
 " On the contrary," she said, " he was ex- 
 tremely methodical and left all his affairs in order. 
 Everything goes like clockwork." 
 
 " North Brazil Goldfields and all? " demanded 
 Renalls. 
 
 " Mr. Cosway had nothing to do with that," 
 she said. " He had to do with my more intimate 
 affairs." 
 
 " He was a good lawyer," Renalls declared. 
 " Once, more to pass the time than anything 
 else, I asked him something about your affairs, 
 Norah. He shut me up in quick time and said 
 your affairs were not to be discussed." 
 
 " All the Ellises are secretive," Mrs. Godfrey 
 remarked. " Nobody knows the slightest thing 
 about them." 
 
 Norah observed Renalls closely during this
 
 MILLIONAIRES AND MINES 127 
 
 speech. The will of Simon Ellis was open to the 
 world to read, or at any rate to the world's lawyer, 
 but she relied on the fact that it had been proved 
 ten years before and long before she had met 
 Renalls. Its curious provision, Mr. Cosway had 
 assured her, was forgotten by this time and she 
 need fear no publicity. 
 
 Renalls judged from a certain constraint in 
 her manner that she was worried about something 
 but assumed it to be her mining venture. He 
 knew that it had already caused her much worry. 
 Occasionally she had broached the subject to him 
 but he had never offered any advice. Often she had 
 hoped he would; sage counsel such as his would 
 often have been invaluable but she had too much 
 pride to ask where he seemed disposed not to give. 
 There had been many misadventures. One of them 
 was in part responsible for her determination to 
 take advantage of her grandfather's legacy. 
 
 When the mine was ready to be operated on a 
 larger scale she had bought stamps and necessary 
 heavy machinery. Finding freight charges so 
 high, she had chartered a small British tramp 
 steamer and sent her cargo direct to a nearer 
 landing than could be made by ordinary freighters. 
 Against advice, she did not insure the cargo, and
 
 128 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 from the time the vessel passed Sandy Hook she was 
 not spoken with or heard of. New stamps were 
 imperative, and with her new fortune she sent out 
 an expert to construct a cyanide plant. She and 
 Mendoza had determined that the thing was too 
 big for them to run successfully and they purposed, 
 when the new equipment was in operation and 
 the output increasing, to throw the shares on the 
 market, realizing thereby a fortune. Mendoza 
 had found himself unfitted for the conduct of so 
 large an undertaking and his partner was already 
 wearied of having to concentrate so much atten- 
 tion upon it. 
 
 She took up Mrs. Godfrey's remark about her 
 secretiveness. " That's because I won't talk 
 about the mine. My dear Alice, one is never a 
 prophet in one's own country. Nobody here be- 
 lieved in the thing, so why should I risk your 
 scorn? " 
 
 " I believe in it," Ronald Monmouth declared, 
 " and so do a lot of men I know. They say you're 
 the cleverest woman in America." 
 
 " And others," said Renalls, " declare the whole 
 thing is a fake." 
 
 Mrs. Godfrey felt bound to contribute her share 
 of knowledge. " And I read a paragraph in the
 
 MILLIONAIRES AND MINES 129 
 
 Financial Leader last week which said there was 
 no gold in North Brazil." 
 
 " I know the man who wrote it," Norah ex- 
 claimed contemptuously, " and when I want him 
 to write my side he'll do it for the same price. 
 Surely, Alice, you don't believe in those inspired 
 articles? " 
 
 " There's often something in them," her cousin 
 returned vaguely. 
 
 " I'm content to put my all in it," the girl said 
 confidently. 
 
 " It isn't wise," Renalls objected. 
 
 " It proves my faith," she replied. 
 
 " It's too big for you to handle," Ronald 
 commented. " You're only a girl." 
 
 " One takes that as a compliment at a quarter 
 of a century," she laughed. " And as for the 
 capability, I'm far more fit than you, Ronald, to 
 look after business matters." 
 
 "Pooh!" Ronald declared airily, "I'm like 
 Renalls, I pay people to do it for me." 
 
 " I'm pleased to think," Renalls told him point- 
 edly, " that you resemble me in very few things." 
 
 Monmouth looked at him a trifle spitefully. 
 " More than you think," he observed. " Norah 
 has turned us both down, hasn't she? "
 
 130 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 When Monmouth had gone, Renalls refused to 
 play as was his custom to the girl's accompani- 
 ment. " That young ass was right," he said. 
 " You have turned us both down, Norah," he 
 continued. " Why won't you marry me? " 
 
 " No use," she said. " I'm not for marrying 
 just yet, and if ever I do, I don't think you'll 
 be my type, Charlie." 
 
 He said nothing for a moment; then he looked 
 at her hard. " I wouldn't be too sure of that," he 
 observed. " I want you as I want nothing else 
 on God's earth, and I have never failed yet in 
 getting what I wanted." 
 
 There were people who termed him, for want 
 of a better word, magnetic; and he had strange, 
 compelling eyes that people did not always 
 wish to meet. There was a certainty, too, in 
 his manner which was disquieting, and she some- 
 times allowed herself to wonder if ever his strong 
 personality would dominate her to the extent 
 that he would be able to win her. 
 
 Tonight the old signet ring, which every day 
 she determined to lay aside, seemed to give her 
 strange comfort. She turned it round nervously. 
 While she wore it and had not divorced its owner it 
 promised her immunity she was safe from him.
 
 MILLIONAIRES AND MINES 131 
 
 " What ring is that? " he demanded. 
 
 She looked at him steadily, her courage re- 
 turning. " Perhaps it's an engagement ring," 
 she said. 
 
 " I hope not, for the man's sake," he returned 
 grimly. There was on his face a look that was 
 pitiless. She was reminded of his statement that 
 he fought his enemies with the relentless fury 
 that his frontier forefathers battled with their 
 foes, those renegade red men who were known 
 as the Indians of the Plains. 
 
 " You haven't any right to say that," she cried, 
 resentment in her voice. 
 
 " Why not? " he asked. " You say you are 
 not going to marry, so I shall never have your 
 husband to hate, shall I ? " 
 
 " I wish you'd be sensible, Charlie," she said, 
 slowly, " and not talk to me about marriage. I 
 could never love you; and knowing this, you surely 
 wouldn't want to marry me? It's unthinkable 
 to my mind." 
 
 He laughed a little. " But not to mine. Do 
 you suppose I don't think of it all the time? I 
 never made any pretense to know what women 
 are, or what they think, but I know what they 
 do and that's enough. You'll marry me some
 
 132 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 day, Norah, and you'll be happy. That's a proph- 
 ecy." 
 
 " But not one to be fulfilled," she cried. 
 
 He left the luxurious home with his customary 
 manner and looked up at it from the sidewalk. 
 It was a beautiful home, and Norah, as he knew, 
 reveled in the luxury attainable only through 
 wealth. It was one thing to refuse him when she 
 was herself able to live in her own world, but 
 what, he wondered, would she say on the day that 
 saw the downfall of her hopes and he as her hus- 
 band alone offered her the way of escape? 
 
 He walked to his hotel happily enough reveling 
 in the thought that the woman he loved would 
 inevitably have to accept him. He was pos- 
 sessed of the strength of the ardent, impatient 
 man controlled and concealed from the world by 
 indomitable force of will. Men called him a rock 
 of strength when he was in reality a living vol- 
 cano.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 CONCERNING TOMCOD 
 
 " Remember that you are an actor in a drama, of such a kind as 
 the author pleases to make it. If short, of a short one; if long, of a 
 long one. If it be his pleasure that you should act a poor man, a 
 cripple, a governor, or a private person, see that you act it naturally. 
 For this is your business, to act well with the character assigned 
 you; to choose it is another's." Epictetus. 
 
 A 
 
 BOUT a week after his defeat as a book 
 agent, an advertisement in the Times 
 attracted Chester's notice. It ran thus: 
 
 Discreet person of high moral character 
 wanted to act as companion to a gentleman 
 addicted to drink. Apply, etc. 
 
 By this time Chester had learned that modesty 
 as to personal merit should not be used in answer- 
 ing help-wanted advertisements. He indicted 
 a letter in which he set forth his reasons for con- 
 sidering himself suitable for the place and re- 
 ceived two days later an answer. He was bidden 
 call at Haven Avenue, Harlem, and there found 
 an elderly woman by the name of Mrs. Congdon, 
 who awaited him. Briefly she admitted that her 
 son Alfred, aged four and forty, had inherited an
 
 134 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 appetite for alcohol which divers companions had 
 been unable to eradicate. Chester's appearance 
 and physique pleased her and he was engaged 
 without references (all her worst young men had 
 come best equipped with them, she explained) at 
 a salary of thirty dollars per month. 
 
 That night his baggage was transferred from 
 his room and he entered upon his duties. Alfred 
 Congdon, called invariably by all his friends Al, 
 proved to be a rosy-faced, cheerful little man, 
 whose one aim was to procure alcoholic stimulant. 
 He declared without shame that but for his 
 mother's view he would prefer to live and die in 
 one glorious orgy of intoxication. Good rye, he 
 averred, and his mother was fain to agree with 
 him, developed musical possibilities which so- 
 briety allowed to remain unsuspected. But for a 
 fund of salacious anecdotes, Congdon was a pleas- 
 ant enough companion and grew attached to his 
 stronger minded cicerone. The Congdon home 
 life, typical of the middle class, was happy if dull. 
 The old lady was exceedingly fond of her son and 
 thought she could not prove it better than by 
 striving to please him with her cooking. When 
 she was not overloading his stomach she was 
 thinking of what she was pleased to term his poor
 
 CONCERNING TOMCOD 135 
 
 soul. Chester had been three days there and had 
 seen no sign of Al's passion for liquor being offered 
 an opportunity to develop. The man was al- 
 lowed no money and it seemed he was happy 
 enough, without. Mrs. Congdon, hearing this, 
 shook her head. " You watch," she said, " and 
 I will pray." 
 
 Al's one hobby was fishing. For hours on end 
 he would sit at the river's side in Fort Washington 
 Park hardby his house and fish for tomcod. There 
 were other hopeful anglers to be seen all engaged 
 on this rare pastime. Shad have well-nigh de- 
 serted the lordly Hudson, and only the tomcod 
 braves the waters that once ran in fresh from the 
 sea but are now polluted from oil tanks, sugar re- 
 fineries, glucose and chemical factories and other 
 marks of commercial prosperity. Possibly to 
 some reflective, meditative minds a pleasure may 
 be gained from the capture of these bony, ugly 
 little fish, but it was a tame sport to a man like 
 Chester, who had whipped Adirondack streams for 
 trout, killed salmon in Scottish lochs, sturgeon in 
 Norwegian fjords and fished Florida waters for 
 tarpon. But Al was a sanguine angler, although 
 possessed of mean skill in his hobby, and not a 
 tomcod in the river but knew his bait and nibbled
 
 136 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 at it with leisurely indifference. Al lived in the 
 hope that some day he would catch a tomcod and 
 take it home in triumph to his mother. 
 
 As Chester sat there many an idle morning 
 staring at the Jersey shore opposite, he found 
 himself becoming interested in its beauties. Far 
 to the south the Edgewater ferry crawled back- 
 ward and forward, and tall chimneys spoiled the 
 little settlement that the New York of another 
 generation knew as Pleasant Valley and earlier 
 still as Tillietudlem. 
 
 To the north of it the rising road merged into 
 the Palisades, now covered with luxuriant autumn 
 foliage. He had often ascended the winding road 
 in his automobile and remembered it principally 
 as a weary way where speed must be controlled and 
 high-powered cars trailed closely by a policeman 
 on a little barking motor cycle. But with the aid 
 of Al's telescope he perceived from Washington 
 Point beauties which were new to him, and sweep- 
 ing the ridge day after day, came to feel an interest 
 in them. Directly opposite, on a fine promon- 
 tory, stood the ruins of what seemed an old stone 
 building; and below this and utterly without 
 communication with the upland world, so far as 
 he could see, was a little village under the Pali-
 
 sades, hidden among tulip trees and sumach and 
 old fruit trees. It was a little settlement whose 
 white houses ran to the water's edge and had each 
 a pier running out into the river. There was never 
 a sign of life to be seen and only ascending spirals 
 of smoke showed them to be inhabited dwellings. 
 
 " Al," he said one day, " have you ever been 
 over there?" He pointed to the hidden village. 
 
 Al shook his head. He had the New Yorkers' 
 tolerant scorn for Jersey. ' This," said Al, intent 
 on his line, " is good enough for me." A moment 
 later, seeing that Chester was still gazing at the 
 shore opposite, he elaborated, " Campers go over 
 there in the summer." 
 
 " Shall we take a boat and explore? " Chester 
 asked. 
 
 " Not for me," Al remarked firmly. 
 
 A day or so later his keeper perceived that Al 
 had managed to obtain some forbidden stimulant 
 and guessed that an elderly angler who sat close 
 by had been generous. When this proved to be 
 the case the man was warned and poor Al dragged 
 from his favorite perch and taken out of tempta- 
 tion's zone. For two days Al sulked and tried 
 to outwit the other, but there was never a ruse 
 but Chester found it out, and he gradually grew
 
 138 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 more content and listened eagerly to a proposi 
 tion which had the capture of fish for its end. 
 
 " They tell me," Chester began, " that tomcod 
 are running fewer every year." Al assented. 
 " That is so," he remarked regretfully. 
 
 " It's easy to see why," Chester told him. 
 " There are too many fishermen this side of the 
 water and too much traffic. The tomcod, I judge, 
 is a wily beast and knows that as well as we do, 
 and he spends his happy days on the Jersey shore. 
 They probably lie over there by the shoal." 
 
 " I wonder if they do," Alfred mused. He 
 looked at the unknown village with interest. It 
 had been his ambition for years to carry home 
 a string of tomcod victims to his prowess. Ches- 
 ter's manner greatly impressed him. 
 
 " I believe you're right," he said with convic- 
 tion. 
 
 : ' We'll get a boat and row over," Chester af- 
 firmed, " and Heaven only knows what other fish 
 we'll catch. I'll talk to your mother about it." 
 
 Mrs. Congdon reposed more confidence in him 
 than in any previous companion engaged for her 
 son. She gave consent, hoping that her boy's 
 soul and body would benefit by the change. The 
 following day saw the two men heading for the
 
 CONCERNING TOMCOD 139 
 
 other shore, Al a little anxious lest while he was 
 absent some friend might make an unparalleled 
 catch, and Chester openly elated at leaving the 
 monotony of Point Washington behind. 
 
 Half an hour later they tied up the boat at one 
 of the piers at the little village of Undercliff and 
 received permission from the owner to fish there- 
 from. He was an old man who saw few strange 
 faces nowaday, and welcomed the opportunity, 
 so dear to such ancients, to talk of other days when 
 the opposite shore was barer of buildings and only 
 great estates marched to the water's edge. In 
 his pleasure at being relieved from Al's sole com- 
 pany Chester's pouch was at the other man's 
 service, and Al, whose nature was not acquisitive, 
 settled himself down to fish. It was a day in his 
 after life often referred to with reverence; for his 
 enticing hook had no sooner settled down into 
 Jersey ooze than a foolish eel, dissatisfied with his 
 condition in life, seized on it and was hauled to 
 the surface, the first of his kind that ever left the 
 water tribute to Al's anglership. A new Al was 
 born. The tomcod, bony, execrable fish, hard to 
 find and worthless when found, was eliminated 
 from Congdon's mind. " Let him," said Al, whose 
 turgid thoughts might hardly find fitting expres-
 
 140 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 sion in words, " let him roam the river uncared 
 for. I have a nobler quarry." These thoughts 
 passed through Al's mind with lightning rapidity, 
 but what he translated for Chester's benefit was 
 more colloquially expressed. " Me," said Al con- 
 cisely, " for eels from now on." He decided to 
 take eels of all sizes, colors and dispositions to his 
 mother, that she might exercise her skill on their 
 preparation for the table. Al was hoarse with 
 emotion. He called Chester to him. " There's no 
 room for passengers in our boat," he said darkly, 
 nodding in the direction of his old haunt, where 
 benighted men still fished for tomcod. 
 
 With easy mind Chester left him and started 
 to explore. It was late autumn and the foliage 
 was still beautiful in its many tones of red and 
 gold, and he explored the narrow path until it 
 wound gradually to the Englewood road at the 
 Palisade's summit. Old and untouched by modern 
 improvements, the white cottages of the hidden 
 village, sheltered by enveloping trees from a too 
 close observation, were utterly unlike anything 
 in the neighborhood of New York. He sat down 
 and puffed at his pipe with calm enjoyment. 
 Sometimes the crackling branches overhead spoke 
 of the passage of the thrifty squirrel garnering
 
 CONCERNING TOMCOD 141 
 
 stores against the coming winter. And the rus- 
 tling of the undergrowth near him aroused his at- 
 tention and he saw a red fox cross the path, chicken 
 in mouth, and disappear into the denser brush 
 that lay in the shadows of the tall cliffs. A few 
 minutes later an angry woman, axe in hand, ran 
 toward him, lamenting that reynard had slain 
 six pullets. And just across the river lay bustling 
 New York and the tall apartment houses of Har- 
 lem. 
 
 And one morning he came upon a little grave- 
 yard filled with the mouldering tombs of villagers 
 who had been a century dead, men perhaps who 
 remembered the Revolution and when New York 
 lay far to the south and their village had boasted 
 better fishing and more inhabitants. But now it 
 was a forgotten hamlet whose place in the world 
 of work was taken from it, and like the yellow 
 leaves of autumn was passed into decay. Fifty 
 years before, when the shad fishers had come there 
 from the south and their boats were moored at the 
 piers, it had been a place of fierce passions and 
 lawless brawls. But kindly time had left it as 
 peaceful and gentle as the old villagers themselves, 
 an ideal place for quiet picnicking and woodland 
 rambles.
 
 142 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 The ideal weather made these daily excursions 
 very pleasant. Al was happy, and the motor boats 
 which came close to the other shore never both- 
 ered him here. One day, when they were cross- 
 ing and Al was at the oars, a fast motor launch 
 nearly ran them down. Chester turned his glass 
 on the craft and opened his mouth to shout a 
 fitting rebuke, but thought better of it and en- 
 couraged Al to fresh efforts. Presently Chester 
 saw that the offending launch had turned and 
 was coming down the river again. He thereupon 
 relieved Al of his labor and rowed across with 
 even sweep. But as the launch neared him he 
 caught a crab and lost an oar. Al's sense of humor 
 seized on the occasion but was banished when he 
 was informed that with only a single oar he had 
 an excellent chance of drifting into the path of a 
 big boat. At once he raised his voice, and the 
 fast launch slowed down and came toward them. 
 The only occupants were a slim golden-haired 
 girl and two excited children. 
 
 Al experienced a greater respect when the chil- 
 dren spoke to Chester as a long lost friend and 
 even the lady bowed. Al was not to know that a 
 premeditated accident had brought disaster on 
 a finished waterman.
 
 CONCERNING TOMCOD 143 
 
 " I've just lost an oar," said the unblushing 
 Chester. " I think if you'd be so kind you could 
 get it for us; otherwise we may drift out to sea." 
 
 " Certainly," the girl answered graciously and 
 then a look of hopelessness came over her face. 
 " The engine has stopped," she ejaculated. 
 
 "It only wants cranking," Chester said. 
 
 " I'm afraid of that horrid wheel," she con- 
 fessed. " Sometimes it goes off with such a jerk 
 that it nearly breaks one's arm, and sometimes 
 it backfires." 
 
 Chester knew of the contrary ways of marine 
 motors and the danger often attending the crank- 
 ing of high-powered ones. She had been running 
 her engine light and had turned off too much of 
 the mixture. He tied his little boat to the stern 
 rail of the launch, and climbed aboard, motioning 
 Al to stay where he was. The heavy fly-wheel 
 went off with a whirr at half a turn. The oar 
 was recovered without difficulty and Chester 
 found himself possessed of a strong disinclination to 
 leave the company of the woman he had married. 
 
 " How long does it take you to get to Yonkers 
 from the Point? " he asked. 
 
 " I've never tried it," she said. She looked at 
 him for a moment and then asked with a mo-
 
 144 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 mentary hesitation, " Would you care to time it 
 now? " 
 
 " Thank you," he returned gravely, taking out 
 his watch. 
 
 She glanced astern at Al. " Your man will see 
 that that painter doesn't foul the propeller as we 
 turn, won't he?" she asked. 
 
 He allowed the phrase " your man " to pass 
 and ordered the gratified inebriate to exercise 
 due care. Then he fell to bitter reflection that, so 
 far from Al being his man, the position was re- 
 versed. The mistake she made was easily ex- 
 plained. Chester was extremely well dressed, 
 while the other exercised a lack of care which 
 might well enough pass in a boatman. She no- 
 ticed presently that there was a string of fish in 
 the little boat. 
 
 " Have you been fishing? " she asked. 
 
 " He was," returned Chester. " I was ashore 
 exploring a lost village." He waxed enthusiastic 
 in its description. 
 
 " How quaint," she commented, " and to think 
 I've never been there." 
 
 '* Why don't you run the launch over there 
 some day and prove my words true? " he in- 
 quired eagerly.
 
 CONCERNING TOMCOD 145 
 
 " Some day I may," she said. " Anything that 
 offers rest appeals to me." 
 
 He wondered if her business worries still op- 
 pressed her. It was very strange to sit there 
 knowing so much of her affairs and unable to say 
 whether or not she was still his wife. He had not 
 been to see Enderby for some time and although 
 there had been no communication from Mr. Cos- 
 way up to that date, much might have occurred 
 since then. He did not know what formalities it 
 might be necessary for him to take. He only 
 knew that it would be unnecessary for him to 
 make an appearance. She was probably still Mrs. 
 Richard Chester. 
 
 " Here is Yonkers," she said, breaking in upon 
 his thoughts. 
 
 He looked up with a sigh. Ten years ago, when 
 he had come of age, much of his income was de- 
 rived from land in the prosperous riverside town. 
 He remembered mortgaging two acres of land 
 behind the ugly sugar refinery to finance some 
 wildcat scheme that caught his youthful fancy. 
 
 It should, had he not played the fool, have be- 
 come his wife's and passed to the children in- 
 heriting his ancient name. And, he wondered, 
 would he ever meet a woman who embodied in so
 
 146 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 charming a personality such courage and strength 
 as this girl standing at the wheel of her fast boat 
 almost at his side. He cursed himself for a coward 
 that he had not strength enough to avoid tempta- 
 tion. It had been a deliberate running into temp- 
 tation, he told himself. He was scathing when this 
 mood settled on him. With what high hopes had 
 he not left this girl on that eventful night, and 
 to what had his efforts brought him? To be a 
 keeper to smug bourgeois Al, riding contentedly 
 astern! It was a mood of desolation and depre- 
 ciation which allowed him to call no witnesses for 
 the defence. In reality his life had many things 
 which proved him of high courage and honor, 
 but these were lost sight of in the contemplation 
 of the disasters to which carelessness had brought 
 him. He looked at the two pretty children and 
 thought that here was something cut out of his 
 life which might have helped him. 
 
 As she passed UnderclifF, the girl ran in under 
 the Jersey shore. " I think I shall take your 
 advice and explore," she exclaimed. " Shall we? " 
 she asked of the children. 
 
 "Are there bears there?" Cyril demanded. 
 
 " I saw a fox there only this morning," said 
 Chester.
 
 CONCERNING TOMCOD 147 
 
 " I hope you aren't exaggerating," the girl said. 
 
 " Truth tempered with enthusiasm," he re- 
 turned. " That only." 
 
 " Then I shall come," she answered. " I sup- 
 pose my mechanician will try to dissuade me - 
 he always does but if it's fine I shall come." 
 
 "Why bring an unconvinced mechanician?" 
 he demanded. 
 
 " Cranking," she said briefly. " The engine gets 
 too hot if I run her all the time I shall be ashore." 
 
 " It so happens," he said eagerly, " that I shall 
 be there tomorrow, and I shall revel in cranking, 
 if I may." 
 
 " I really couldn't think of bothering you," she 
 answered a little stiffly. She suddenly recollected 
 that she knew absolutely nothing of this rather 
 assured stranger. His face fell and she grew more 
 gracious. She remembered that he had been very 
 kind to 'Ginia. 
 
 " If I come I may be glad of your aid." 
 
 " Thank you," he said brightly. " I'm sure 
 Cyril will enjoy it." He stepped from the launch 
 and cast off in a happier frame of mind. She 
 had just the amount of dignity and just the 
 amount of vivacity that he admired in a woman. 
 Al gazed after her in evident admiration.
 
 148 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 "Who's your little lady friend?" asked Al 
 with a knowing wink. " Didn't introduce her 
 because you was afraid I'd cut you out, I sup- 
 pose? " 
 
 " Al," Chester warned him gravely, " when 
 you speak of that lady, let me hear more respect 
 in your voice." 
 
 "And if not?" Al retorted with a species of 
 weak defiance. 
 
 " If not," Chester returned, " I shall drop you 
 overboard and see you sink to tomcod land with- 
 out a qualm." 
 
 " I believe you'd do it," Al declared. He was 
 a little afraid of his keeper. 
 
 The next day Al, industriously angling for re- 
 luctant eels, waxed conversationally inclined and 
 indulged his fancy in dreams of what he would do 
 with Rockefeller's wealth. But he found no sat- 
 isfaction in describing his doings under those 
 happy circumstances to a man who was not lis- 
 tening. He wondered why his companion gazed 
 so steadfastly to the southeast. The fast motor 
 boat answered him and he beheld Chester row 
 out to it and bring the three passengers ashore 
 in the small boat, tying the power launch to a 
 mooring.
 
 CONCERNING TOMCOD 149 
 
 Norah gave Al a pleasant smile as she passed 
 but Cyril caught sight of an eel who was an un- 
 conscionable time a-dying. Its struggles fasci- 
 nated him. " May I stay and fish? " he pleaded. 
 
 " Sure you can, if the lady don't mind," returned 
 the gratified Al. 
 
 " It will be quite safe," Chester assured her, 
 and Cyril glanced at him with gratitude. He had 
 often longed to dangle his legs over deep water or 
 water at least deep enough to drown him, and here 
 was an opportunity! When his aunt and the 
 others had disappeared, he opened rapid-fire 
 questions on his companion; and Al, for the one 
 time in his career, found a listener who credited 
 him with a knowledge piscatorial and listened 
 with respect when he talked of the capture of eels 
 and the wiles of the tomcod.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 CAPTAIN OF HIS SOUL 
 
 " At what do you gaze? " asked the Sage. " For clouds with 
 silver linings," said the young man. " Well, it is to aim high," the 
 Sage replied, " but do you not see that the earth on which you stand 
 has grains of gold? " 
 
 NORAH was simply dressed and Chester 
 thought he had rarely seen a girl look 
 more charming and care-free. She was 
 tanned by the sun into that golden, unfreckled 
 brown so rarely seen in blondes, and on her small 
 brown hand was his signet ring. When she caught 
 him gazing at it she unobtrusively drew her hand 
 away. What interpretation might he put on such 
 an action, he pondered. 
 
 When, an hour later, they sat by the ruins of an 
 old stone-crusher, now mercifully crumbling into 
 desuetude after vandal effort to spoil the towering 
 cliffs behind it, she admitted that he made a very 
 agreeable companion. 'Ginia, immersed in the 
 creation of a drama which she was determined to
 
 CAPTAIN OF HIS SOUL 151 
 
 enact later with her brother, took little interest 
 in the conversation of the others. 
 
 " It's rather curious," reflected Norah, " that 
 I should be sitting in this new country talking to 
 a stranger, isn't it? " 
 
 " I'm not a stranger," he protested, " and be- 
 side, things are always ordained." 
 
 She looked at him apprehensively. Remarks 
 like these usually foreshadowed attempts at flirta- 
 tion. She was not sure that it was wise of her to 
 forsake the conventions as she had done in this 
 instance. 
 
 " Now follows the remark that we met in a 
 previous existence," she said. 
 
 " I haven't said that for years," he laughed. 
 " I think I left off in my teens." 
 
 " I wonder what you were like then," she said. 
 " I suppose you were in your teens once." 
 
 His face darkened. " I was a creature of silly 
 enthusiasms and blissful beliefs that came to 
 nothing." 
 
 " There are no silly enthusiasms before one is 
 twenty," she answered gently. ' There's always 
 something rather beautiful about our beliefs 
 then." 
 
 " I'm afraid my beliefs weren't very practical,"
 
 152 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 he said. "I well, I wasted my opportunities 
 in the approved fashion." 
 
 " You talk as though you'd suffered complete 
 shipwreck," she remarked. 
 
 " I have," he returned. 
 
 She looked at him sharply. " Really and 
 truly?" 
 
 " Yes," he answered, " really and truly." 
 
 " Did you strike a rock ? " 
 
 " I drifted on to it instead," he returned. " It 
 robs me of my chance to complain of bad 
 luck. There's always some excuse for the mari- 
 ner who takes his vessel along cheerily and then 
 strikes a snag, but none for the man who drifts." 
 
 "Are we being serious?" she demanded. "I 
 hadn't the smallest idea that we were going to 
 take each other seriously." 
 
 " I spoke the truth," he answered, " but I 
 should hardly count it as serious. I am not claim- 
 ing a tragical setting for my story. Farce, I im- 
 agine, is more fitting." 
 
 " If you are speaking the truth," she replied 
 gravely, " there seems little enough farce in it as 
 I understand the word." 
 
 He shrugged his shoulders. " Sometimes I 
 think that our struggles are just to give the Olym-
 
 CAPTAIN OF HIS SOUL 153 
 
 pians something to laugh at. I am sure any self- 
 respecting god on Olympus must have laughed 
 at mine." 
 
 " I don't think I like such flippancy," she re- 
 turned. " There's a false note in it. There can 
 be nothing so tragically awful as the failure of a 
 man who is not a fool, or a woman either, for that 
 matter." 
 
 " You haven't failed," he s^id. 
 
 " I'm rather afraid sometimes," she admitted. 
 " When I am triste I feel like a small boat 
 flying from pirates who will eventually overtake 
 her and sink her." She thought with some trepi- 
 dation of Renalls' failure to believe in her Bra- 
 zilian venture and wondered whether her own 
 belief in it was born merely of impatience of op- 
 position. 
 
 She turned to her companion with a smile. 
 " This is a singularly bright and entertaining 
 conversation, isn't it? I think we have both been 
 saying rather silly things." She looked at him 
 critically and found no trace of failure in his 
 appearance or dress. " I won't believe that you 
 have failed, and I won't believe that I shall 
 fail." 
 
 He pointed to the river before him; there was
 
 154 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 Al laboriously rowing upstream at the dictates of 
 his new friend. 
 
 " All that's left of my vessel," he said. 
 
 " At any rate you are still the captain of it," 
 she told him. He looked at unskilful Al sourly. 
 There was his captain, did she but know it. It 
 was a tragical farce after all. 
 
 When he looked at her again he saw that she 
 was sitting, her hands clasped around her knees, 
 staring into the distance and seeing nothing. So 
 frail and small she seemed to him that he was 
 conscious of a rush of tenderness for her. Why 
 had she been foolish enough to put to sea, he 
 wondered, and risk the shoal waters. Presently 
 her black mood vanished and she pointed to a 
 motor boat rushing by on the other shore. 
 
 " The fastest in the world," she cried. " I should 
 love to go aboard her." 
 
 " She's very uncomfortable," he assured her. 
 "And what with spray and vibration, about the most 
 miserable craft for a lady I could conceive of." 
 
 1 You've been aboard ? " she demanded. 
 
 " Often," he said, carelessly forgetting that here 
 was a page of his former life. 
 
 " Mr. Kerrison belongs to the Knickerbocker 
 Club, doesn't he?"
 
 CAPTAIN OF HIS SOUL 155 
 
 " Yes," Chester said, still intent on watching 
 the launch race by. The girl looked at* him with 
 interest. This established his social status with- 
 out question. She ventured the inquiry, " Did 
 you too? " 
 
 " Yes," he said and then stopped short. " Be- 
 fore the wreck." He was annoyed at being caught. 
 It was ludicrous to think of Al's companion as a 
 member of New York's exclusive clubs. " Of 
 course that's all in the long ago," he ex- 
 plained. 
 
 Many men had complained that she took no 
 interest in their affairs; and such a charge was 
 as a rule just, because she rarely felt sufficient 
 curiosity to warrant it, but there was something 
 about this man, of whose name even she was ig- 
 norant, which excited an uncommon degree of 
 interest. Perhaps he had indeed suffered a ship- 
 wreck. In an age when fashion marks with so 
 arbitrary a hand the habitat of the socially elect, 
 it was more than strange to meet a man like this 
 accompanied by a shabby boatman and making 
 holiday on the Hudson. And if he had suffered 
 shipwreck, why was he still pursuing the drifting 
 policy? He grew conscious of her meditations 
 concerning him.
 
 156 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 "I'm afraid I'm not very satisfactory," he 
 apologized. 
 
 " I think there exists in most women," she said 
 gently, " a mania for wanting to set things right 
 and generally to understudy Providence. I don't 
 think we ever believe that any hopes are forlorn 
 or any shipwreck complete. I don't believe it 
 of you." 
 
 " You are very good," he said gratefully. " I 
 think women are too kind in their thoughts to 
 failures, but when ever did a shipwrecked mariner 
 find the future rosy? " 
 
 " You didn't drown," she returned, " and you 
 are strong and young, and," she pointed to New 
 York, " look what lies before you! This is not a 
 desert island." 
 
 " You mean," he said slowly, " why don't I go 
 and work instead of talking ? " 
 
 " It's the only way to get even with fate," she 
 cried. 
 
 :< Would you believe I am working at the pres- 
 ent moment? " he demanded. 
 
 "How can you be?" she exclaimed. 
 
 He pointed to Al, rowing back with the tide to 
 his fishing pier. " I am that man's attendant," 
 he said. " I look after the poor little beast be-
 
 CAPTAIN OF HIS SOUL 157 
 
 cause he's weaker than I am, and I get thirty dol- 
 lars a month and my board for doing it. I'm not 
 in the least proud of it, but at least you will see 
 that I have been telling you the truth." 
 
 It was lamentable, she thought, nay, it was 
 ludicrous that such a man should come to such a 
 task. She did not know of the weary waiting 
 in outer offices and the fruitless quests for work 
 he had undertaken before coming to the Cong- 
 dons' home. She did not know how hard New 
 York can be to those without economic value, nor 
 of the grim shadow of Blackwell's Island which 
 looms before the destitute. She cast about her 
 instantly for something which might better be- 
 come him. Renalls, she supposed, would have 
 some opening, but then dismissed the thought 
 when she remembered the relation in which Re- 
 nails stood to her. He would hate this good- 
 looking assured man more than he did Monmouth. 
 It occurred to her that some opening might easily 
 be found in Brazil, where he could forget his failure 
 and start anew. But she judged from his look 
 that he might not care to feel indebted to her 
 expressed pity and interest. It would be better 
 to wait until Mendoza came over, as he was to do 
 early in the new year.
 
 158 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " I have a friend who has large mining inter- 
 ests in South America," she said. " If you care to 
 give me your address I will write to him about 
 you." For a moment he was confused. He 
 could be neither Richard Chester nor Chester 
 Dick. He fell back upon the middle name of 
 Vincent. " My address," he said, writing it 
 down, " is R. Vincent, care of W. Biggs, Number 
 One Wall St." He looked at her gratefully. 
 " It's most awfully kind of you to do this." 
 
 " Not in the least," she assured him, taking the 
 paper. 
 
 She called her little niece to her and rose to her 
 feet. On her way to the launch she said little, 
 and Richard unjustly supposed that since she 
 now knew his exact relationship to Alfred Cong- 
 don she would want no further communication 
 with him. He had not the heart to speak of 
 further exploration and took his leave of her in 
 the belief that the launch was bearing her out of 
 his sight forever. 
 
 Al watched the boat with some pride. He had 
 a personal interest in it and was amazingly taken 
 with the ingenuous Cyril. 
 
 "That's a great kid," he observed presently; 
 " he's coming tomorrow with his own tackle, and
 
 CAPTAIN OF HIS SOUL 159 
 
 I'm going to," Al's voice took on a new note of 
 pride, " I'm going to teach him how to catch 
 eels." 
 
 " They'll never come here again," Chester ob- 
 served with quiet certainty. 
 
 Al looked at him inquiringly. " Have you two 
 had a spat? " 
 
 " Tomorrow," returned Chester, " we shall go 
 over to the Bronx and study animal life in the 
 Zoo." He abandoned himself to gloomy thoughts. 
 Fading from sight was the only girl, since the day 
 he had seen Marion Griffiths enter the enclosed 
 life, who aroused the slightest interest in him. 
 He was interrupted by his companion's expostu- 
 lating voice. 
 
 " But I promised him," he urged. " He said 
 his mother was just daffy for him to lead the 
 healthy life, and he's going to tell her all about me. 
 He's going to bring his tackle and food out here 
 tomorrow and we're going to spend the whole 
 day fishing. I guess we'll cut out that monkey- 
 house business till some other day." 
 
 " He won't come," snapped Chester impa- 
 tiently. " His aunt as good as told me so. The 
 Bronx Park for us tomorrow." 
 
 Al was not possessed of a strong will; since
 
 160 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 birth he had been dominated and rarely evinced 
 powers of resistance. " I don't like going back 
 on my word," he objected. 
 
 Chester laughed gently at him. " It's all right," 
 he said. " Trust me when I say that his mother 
 won't let him come." 
 
 For the first time since Chester had known him 
 Al was stubborn at breakfast on the following 
 morning, and carried his point. Al brought un- 
 believable art to his aid. 
 
 " Me and him," he said, indicating Chester 
 with his fork, " was going into the Bronx Park 
 today, but somehow I don't feel like it. The 
 houses are hot and stuffy, and fresh air is what's 
 good for me." 
 
 " There's no necessity to enter the houses at 
 all," Chester told him. There are plenty of 
 attractions outside." 
 
 " Still I don't like the idea of all these animals 
 about," replied the evasive Al; " you can catch 
 all sorts of animal diseases nowadays," he assured 
 his mother. 
 
 " Don't go," the worthy lady said promptly. 
 
 " I won't," he returned instantly. " I'll go fish- 
 ing again. I declare that Jersey air makes me 
 feel fine as silk."
 
 CAPTAIN OF HIS SOUL 161 
 
 Chester took his defeat smiling. " Al," he said, 
 " you have a cunning I didn't credit you with." 
 
 Mrs. Congdon had gone from the room to re- 
 plenish the plate of buckwheat cakes. Al leaned 
 over the table and spoke seriously. " I don't 
 hold with breaking my word to kids," he averred. 
 " I told him I was coming." 
 
 " As you will," Chester said with assumed in- 
 difference; but as the time drew near for them 
 to set out he caught some of Al's impatience. 
 His heart beat quicker at the thought that she 
 might come after all. He told himself that he 
 would be content to sit quietly by the angler's 
 side and not expect her to go exploring. It was a 
 humble frame of mind for a Chester! There were 
 two weary hours of waiting at Undercliff before 
 Al, glass to eye, espied the launch. " I knew that 
 kid would come," he said. His glass was quickly 
 snatched from him. Chester's pilot was aboard. 
 
 " Al," he said, handing him the telescope, " you 
 are a great reader of character and this is more 
 interesting and uplifting than any Zoo in any 
 country." 
 
 Only Norah and the boy were in the boat. Vir- 
 ginia, it was explained, had gone to a children's 
 morning concert at the Waldorf-Astoria. Cyril's
 
 162 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 tackle roused great enthusiasm in the teacher of 
 angling and he was eager to get to work. Cyril 
 shared his zeal and presently turned to Chester 
 and his aunt. " Al says," he declared politely, 
 " that talking frightens the fish." 
 
 The girl looked at her companion with a smile. 
 
 " That's a sentence of banishment, I suppose. 
 Cyril demands absolute quiet. I had no idea 
 fishes were so sensitive. Exploring seems to be 
 indicated." 
 
 He followed her past the cottage and up the 
 wooden steps into the lane. " I didn't think you'd 
 come," he said, and she noticed the half con- 
 cealed gladness in his tone. 
 
 " Why not? " she demanded. 
 
 " I thought when you found that I was only " 
 
 She stopped with a gesture, imperiously. 
 " Don't be stupid," she cried. " It was a surprise, 
 but it's a proof I was right when I said yours 
 wasn't a shipwreck. Anyway," she added after 
 a pause, " I have no right to judge or offer ad- 
 vice." 
 
 ' You're worried ? " he asked sympathetically. 
 
 " I'm not complaining," she retorted. 
 
 " You're not one of that sort," he answered 
 deliberately.
 
 CAPTAIN OF HIS SOUL 163 
 
 " Why not? " she asked. " What do you know 
 of me? To you I am absolutely an unknown 
 quantity, without credentials and without confi- 
 dences. You can't know anything of me because 
 I'm no longer as frank as I was." She sighed. 
 " I'm sorry sometimes that I'm not. It's much 
 nicer to believe everyone is kind and good and 
 above all that things are coming out all right." 
 
 " So they are," he affirmed stoutly. 
 
 She looked at him reproachfully. " Oh, my 
 shipwrecked manner," she cried, " what a recan- 
 tation, what a heresy! Never was a gloomier 
 mortal yesterday than you. Whence this conver- 
 sion? " 
 
 " I was gloomy about myself, not about you," 
 he explained. " I have little belief in myself, 
 but heaps of it in you. I have tried and I have 
 failed. Can you look back on your life and see 
 some big opportunity which you avoided, or some 
 duty which you shirked ? " 
 
 " You are talking rather like a woman writer 
 in a magazine," she said. " I can see you in your 
 present mood answering questions under the nom 
 de plume of Aunt Mary or something equally 
 comforting." 
 
 He laughed in spite of himself. " You haven't
 
 164 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 answered Aunt Mary's question," he reminded 
 her. " Have you ever failed in something big? " 
 
 " Life isn't made up of big things," she an- 
 swered. " It's full of small unrelated episodes, 
 and is altogether a difficult course to steer." 
 
 They were sitting on the grassy bank within 
 a few yards of the water, and he looked at her 
 keenly to discover whether or not she was in a 
 serious mood. Leaning partly forward, with one 
 hand holding her chin, the exquisite outline of 
 her profile made a picture that was not soon for- 
 gotten. It must be a favorite pose with her, he 
 judged, since the miniaturist whose work he had 
 stolen had caught her just at such an angle. It 
 was a bitter thought that he had come to know 
 her at a time when his fortune was gone and under 
 conditions which precluded the seeking of a closer 
 acquaintance. He found himself wondering what 
 might have happened had this meeting taken 
 place two or three years sooner. He had given 
 much consideration to his promise made to her 
 on the night destiny had sent him to her dwell- 
 ing. It was, in effect, an oath not to recognize 
 her if chance brought them together again, and 
 to abrogate all claims of any kind. But, he ar- 
 gued, it was surely no breach of this faith to walk
 
 CAPTAIN OF HIS SOUL 165 
 
 with her and talk to her when she was all uncon- 
 scious of his identity. 
 
 It was cold comfort to assure himself that this 
 was probably their last meeting. Such prospects 
 as he had, made a continuance of their friendship 
 out of the question. She was rich and he was 
 poor; and there is no convention more clearly 
 defined among most honorable men than the re- 
 fusal to marry for money. Chester was one who 
 held such ideas. But he was sufficiently broad- 
 minded to view certain international marriages 
 without unreasoning dislike. There was a cousin 
 of his but for his brother his only living rela- 
 tion who had made such a match and was 
 happy. Her husband had repaired ancestral halls 
 with New York money, but Chester had always 
 held the transaction an equitable one. It was an 
 old title whose holders had held it honorably since 
 the days of Cceur de Lion's first crusade. And 
 his cousin's boy, playing in the galleries of his 
 father's castle, looked up at soldiers, statesmen 
 and courtiers who were his ancestors too, and felt 
 stirring in him a proud childish pleasure all the 
 stronger for the admixture of the virile blood of 
 the dominant people of the future. 
 
 He was roused from his musing by his compan-
 
 166 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 ion's voice. " I don't like to think that you take 
 such a gloomy view of things. This is a young 
 man's age and you needn't be always looking after 
 that curious little man. New York abounds 
 in opportunities." 
 
 " Under what nom de plume do you write? " he 
 asked with a smile. 
 
 " I hadn't the slightest intention of being 
 serious till you started it," she explained. " Life 
 is a hard business, no matter what platitudes one 
 reads, because one can never be certain that one 
 isn't blundering until it may be too late. The 
 temptations of life, for instance, are not very 
 readily seen and the great accidents and trage- 
 dies of life are not so marked from ordinary every- 
 day happenings as to be warnings to us." 
 
 She looked up at him. " Have you ever fished 
 for trout, Mr. Vincent?" 
 
 " Yes," he answered in surprise. 
 
 " The fly that lands your trout gasping on the 
 bank deceives him because it is so exactly like the 
 hundreds of other flies he had for breakfast all his 
 life long. I sometimes think we are all like the 
 poor trout that don't know the difference." 
 
 '' This isn't very cheerful," he protested. 
 
 " I blame you," she retorted. " The fact is,
 
 CAPTAIN OF HIS SOUL 167 
 
 I always try to believe that we get some credit 
 for good intentions even if we blunder. It wouldn't 
 be just to blame us for not knowing sometimes 
 which was the real fly and which the artificial one." 
 He looked at her gravely; evidently something 
 specific was in her mind. He quoted the Persian: 
 
 " Oh, Thou who didst with Pitfall and with Gin, 
 
 Beset the Road I was to wander in, 
 Thou wilt not with Predestination round 
 Enmesh me and impute my Fall to Sin? " 
 
 The girl looked at him smiling. " I love Omar 
 for that quatrain," she cried. " I often picture 
 him under the bough with the cup of wine by his 
 side and red and yellow roses all about him and a 
 great kindliness in his heart. Of all the verses he 
 wrote, he wanted most to know the answer to that." 
 
 "Why should you be serious?" Chester 
 demanded after a pause. " Haven't you every- 
 thing? " 
 
 She did not answer him immediately. She had 
 health, youth, beauty and a fortune. But her 
 fortune was embarked in a perilous undertaking 
 and she felt very deeply the need of some intimate 
 friend in whom she could confide. She had never 
 realized until his death what reliance had been 
 placed in Mr. Cosway. She was handicapped in
 
 168 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 her conduct of the Brazilian venture by her lack 
 of knowledge of the world of business. With a 
 woman's dislike to letting things get out of her 
 grasp she was fretting over details and neglecting 
 more important matters. And she was conscious 
 now and then that Renalls was watching her and 
 noting her failures. 
 
 "Why should you be serious?" Chester de- 
 manded again. 
 
 " I'm not," she cried, " and I can prove it. I 
 see on the sand, or shingle, or whatever the mud 
 on a river bank is called, innumerable bottles. 
 If you put them on the piles and give me two 
 shots to your one, I will beat you." 
 
 Chester fell into her spirit with alacrity and for 
 twenty minutes they demolished the bottles that 
 campers had left behind or the river given up. 
 She owned herself vanquished, and presently fell 
 to throwing pieces of wood into the outgoing tide 
 and speculating upon their adventures. 
 
 " If I were a Hans Christian Andersen," she 
 said, " I would write of the singular things which 
 might happen to them. Some may get to Europe 
 even." She looked at him curiously. " By the 
 way," she cried, " weren't you bound for the open 
 sea when I met you first in the boat? "
 
 CAPTAIN OF HIS SOUL 169 
 
 " If you hadn't rescued us we might have drifted 
 out to sea," he returned. 
 
 " You might have been drowned," she said. 
 
 " There would have been murder on my soul 
 if we had," he told her. 
 
 " How? " she demanded. 
 
 " That crab I caught," he explained, " and the 
 oar I lost were premeditated acts." He looked at 
 her a little anxiously. He was not sure what had 
 actuated him to confess this. He did not know 
 what he would say if she asked him the reason 
 for this strange act. 
 
 " You had no right to do so," she said rather 
 coldly. " You, possibly, can swim, but the other 
 person might have been drowned." 
 
 " Was it very sinful? " he asked. 
 
 " It was unnecessary," she returned, still stiffly, 
 " and means that in future I shall turn a deaf ear 
 to people pretending to be in peril." 
 
 And indeed his confession did not please her. 
 There had been a certain pleasure in the thought 
 that their acquaintance might ripen into friend- 
 ship. She wanted not lovers, but friends, and had 
 conceived of relations where the eternal law of 
 polarity might be forgotten in the perfect confi- 
 dence born of friendship. Chester was a man
 
 170 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 whom she liked instinctively and she was dis- 
 pleased to find it was design and not accident 
 which had brought him the second time to her. 
 She had suffered disappointment before when 
 men had sought to ask her for a deeper regard. 
 Renalls began in this way, and her cousin Ronald 
 was another. In his case an ardent desire to teach 
 her golf led to the friend's role being dropped for 
 that of the adorer. 
 
 It was true this stranger had said nothing to 
 which she could take exception, but these uncon- 
 ventional meetings, for which he had begged, in so 
 many words, might easily lead to the same com- 
 plications. She turned the Chester ring round and 
 round her finger. She had come to look upon it 
 almost as a kind of protection, a barrier between 
 her and the strong, silent menace of Charles 
 Renalls. She shot a swift glance at the man by 
 her side and found him wearing the character of 
 depression. She admitted that he had never 
 been guilty of the overconfidence which some 
 men might assume who had been favored by her 
 companionship under the circumstances. She 
 had noticed in him only a certain quiet courage 
 which she had thought of as thoroughbred. But 
 when she spoke, it was still severely.
 
 CAPTAIN OF HIS SOUL 171 
 
 "That little man might have been drowned." 
 
 " Have you considered his build ? " Chester en- 
 quired gravely. " Do you think a man of five feet 
 three inches, weighing two hundred and ten 
 pounds, could sink in salt water? " 
 
 " I think you should be serious," she reproved 
 him. 
 
 " I am," he retorted. " In my mind's eye I can 
 see him floating out to marine adventure." 
 
 " You ought at least to apologize to him," she 
 said. 
 
 " You don't mean that," he returned. " You 
 couldn't if you thought about it for a moment. 
 What should I say to him, to that poor vulgar 
 little brute, whose mind never rises above captur- 
 ing eels? Do you think I could talk to him about 
 you or explain that an overpowering desire to 
 see you again made me resort to that trick? " 
 
 There was noticeable for the first time a vibrant 
 ring of passion in his voice; but it did not frighten 
 her as a similar note in Renalls might have done, 
 or weary her as Monmouth's offered affection 
 would certainly do. It produced instead a certain 
 diffidence which she had not thought to find in 
 her nature. And after all he had transgressed no 
 law and been guilty of no offense. She turned
 
 away with a carelessness that he did not know was 
 assumed. " Why shouldn't you tell him? " she 
 asked. 
 
 " I don't think one cares to tell about what are 
 rather precious memories," he answered steadily. 
 " Most women of your world would not speak to 
 a man occupied as I am now. You have treated 
 me as though I were still the man I once was, and 
 you can never know what a help that is. I didn't 
 mean at first that you should know what I was to 
 Congdon. I was ashamed of him, but somehow 
 I became more ashamed of feeling this shame. I 
 sha'n't be with him long there are better things 
 ahead, I hope but because I met you here, it 
 will always be a pleasant remembrance, but you 
 mustn't think I am going to share it with anyone 
 else." 
 
 He rose to his feet and offered her a helping 
 hand. " I expect you will be wanting to know 
 how many eels have fallen to Cyril's skill." 
 
 There was in his manner a touch of finality. 
 It was as though he had accepted her rebuke as 
 merited and was desirous to atone by leaving her. 
 What he had said only stirred her to a deeper 
 interest. 
 
 " I'm not in the least anxious to know," she
 
 CAPTAIN OF HIS SOUL 173 
 
 declared idly, ignoring his hand. " What are 
 you going to do?" she demanded when she saw 
 him standing uncertainly before her. 
 
 " I thought of going back," he replied lamely. 
 " I had an idea you wanted to go." 
 
 " Absolutely unwarrantable of you," she said. 
 
 He looked at her, still in doubt. Was this a 
 dismissal? Did she prefer to walk back alone? 
 " Shall I go? " he asked suddenly. 
 
 " If you care to leave me alone here, unprotected 
 against whatever may lurk in the woods, by all 
 means go," she answered. : ' Personally I'm very 
 
 comfortable in this autumn sunshine." 
 
 i 
 
 He resumed his seat by her side. Women were 
 incomprehensible, he assured himself dismally. 
 She had been angry, it seemed, and now when he 
 tried to repair the error her manner still suggested 
 that he was in the wrong. 
 
 " You may run away if you have anything bet- 
 ter to do," she continued. " I'm not in the least 
 afraid of being left alone. I daresay you're quite 
 wrong about there being copperheads here." 
 
 " I don't want to go," he said vehemently. 
 
 " I'm glad you've thought better of it," she 
 returned. : ' I should have been annoyed to find 
 a being who was interesting suddenly turn tail."
 
 174 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 "Were you interested?" he asked. 
 
 " You seem like something out of real life. I've 
 never met anyone who had had to struggle be- 
 fore. You have struggled, haven't you?" she 
 demanded. 
 
 " Struggle is too dignified a name," he said. 
 " I have made spasmodic attempts to alter my 
 condition. My last was to sell books to people 
 who didn't want them." 
 
 She listened intently to his description of his 
 efforts. " What detestable people! " she cried. 
 " I should have bought a set if you had come to 
 our house." 
 
 " No well trained butler would allow me to 
 enter," he laughed. He was surprised that the 
 whole humiliating experience had lost its sting. 
 He had thought of it only yesterday with a 
 shudder. 
 
 " Was that your first position? " she asked. 
 
 " They are called jobs," he reminded her smi- 
 ling. "No; I had a previous job. I was entrusted 
 with a coffee route in Brooklyn. My duties were 
 to leave packages of coffee and tea and a new 
 and superior brand of salad dressing on my 
 customers." 
 
 " Why did you give it up? " she demanded.
 
 CAPTAIN OF HIS SOUL 175 
 
 " Evil fortune pursued me," he laughed. 
 " While I was expatiating with unusual eloquence 
 on my coffee, explaining why it was superior in 
 aroma, and cheaper to use than any other coffee, 
 some miscreant stole my hog-maned cob and shiny 
 van, and from that day to this it has never been 
 heard of. I often wonder," he continued reflect- 
 ively, " what they did with five hundred bottles 
 of salad dressing." 
 
 "Actually stole it while you were near?" she 
 exclaimed. 
 
 " Such evil is man capable of," he assured her. 
 " I was getting quite attached to that hog-maned 
 cob," he added. " She was about fourteen-three, 
 and a chestnut with fine riding shoulders. She 
 had a strained tendon, but I believe I could have 
 cured that." 
 
 " What on earth did you do? " Norah de- 
 manded. 
 
 " Walked back to my headquarters in Jersey 
 City," he told her. " It was fearfully hot and I 
 hadn't any money to ride. The owner was an 
 excitable native of Eastern Prussia, voluble be- 
 yond belief, and his eyes filled with tears to follow 
 that salad dressing in its flight. He had made me 
 deposit one hundred dollars as a surety, and that he
 
 176 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 seized. I've learned since that it was illegal, but 
 I felt properly punished and went forth from 
 his presence much abashed. Naturally that 
 made a revision of my expenditure necessary. 
 Books followed, and now Al demands my 
 care." 
 
 " You must have heaps of friends," she haz- 
 arded. " Won't they help you ? " 
 
 " I haven't asked them," he returned. " I'm 
 not proud of being what I am, and I'd rather 
 cherish kind memories of the men I used to know 
 than listen to them all saying solemnly, ' I proph- 
 esied it all long ago.' ' 
 
 " But you've helped other men, I expect," she 
 said. 
 
 " It's often easier to do that than refuse," he 
 commented. " In those days, if a man came to 
 me for advice, I knew he only wanted to be as- 
 sured that what he had done was right." He 
 shrugged his shoulders. " It's different now. 
 They'd begin to tell me things for my own good, 
 and when a man does that he's no longer your 
 friend." 
 
 " You are very bitter," she said quietly. 
 
 " I hope not," he retorted. " I know my 
 world; that's all."
 
 CAPTAIN OF HIS SOUL 177 
 
 " I have great faith in that mining man I spoke 
 of," she said presently. 
 
 " It's very good of you to trouble about me," 
 he said gratefully. " I've had a little experience 
 in mining." 
 
 ; ' Why didn't you say so yesterday? " she de- 
 manded. " What was it? " 
 
 " I took an assaying and surveying course," 
 he said. " I really worked hard at it, and bought 
 a theodolite and level and divided every public and 
 private space I could see into triangles. None of 
 my friends would believe it, but I assure you it's 
 true." 
 
 " Why not try for something in that line ? " she 
 suggested. 
 
 " I have," he said, " but they all say I've had 
 no experience. I've never held a job at it, you see. 
 I took it up then because I had a sort of interest 
 in a mine." He did not tell her that he had bought 
 it outright from the sale of some Yonkers land 
 opposite. 
 
 " Is the assay of gold difficult? " she asked. 
 
 " One of the easiest metals," he assured her. 
 " Not a quarter as bad as copper." 
 
 " My mining friend is interested in gold," she 
 said with a sigh of relief, " and I don't see a bit
 
 178 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 why you shouldn't do well with him. He might 
 want you to go to Brazil, though. Would you 
 mind?" 
 
 " I'd revel in it," he declared enthusiastically. 
 " You've put new life into me."
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 BLUDGEONINGS OF CHANCE 
 
 " A great city is the school for studying life." Johnson. 
 
 THEY found Cyril lying asleep in the sun 
 his head resting on Al's coat. The child 
 had wearied of his fishing. When he was 
 awakened he declared that he had promised Al 
 to come the next day. 
 
 " I'm afraid you can't," she said gently. " Have 
 you forgotten that we are all going to Lakewood 
 tomorrow for a week? " 
 
 " When I come back? " he pleaded. 
 
 " We shall always be here," said Al eagerly. 
 
 Chester heard her answer with a thrill of pleas- 
 ure. It would .be a dreary week alone with Al, 
 but it would pass at last. He watched the launch 
 disappear in a frame of mind happier than had 
 been his for many months. Al presently inter- 
 rupted his meditations. 
 
 " It must be great to have a kid like that," he 
 said. " I'd be a good father if I had one. When 
 he was lying by me with his head on my coat I
 
 180 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 felt like as I'd missed something." He spat into 
 the stream and muttered an oath. Chester looked 
 at him astonished; this was a new side to the man. 
 
 " I was engaged once," he continued, " but she 
 ran off with somebody else. I might have been 
 a good man now if she'd have stuck to me and I'd 
 had some kids. I took to the drink after that. 
 It'll be my finish," he concluded dully. 
 
 " Why should it? " Chester asked gently. " Why 
 couldn't you cut it out altogether? You've had 
 nothing for five days now and you're looking like 
 a new man." 
 
 " You don't know what it is," Al said firmly. 
 " I don't like it same as most men who take three 
 or four goes of whiskey a day. When I want it 
 I must have it, and I generally get it." He looked 
 at his companion genially. " I like you first rate," 
 he observed, " better than all the others bunched 
 together, but if you want to stay on with us you've 
 got to watch me mighty close. The old woman 
 won't stand for you if I get it right under your 
 nose. And that," said Al sadly, " is what I'm 
 liable to do. That's why all the rest got fired." 
 
 " ' Forewarned is forearmed,' " Chester quoted. 
 
 " Not on your life," Al assured him. " They 
 all got warned."
 
 BLUDGEONINGS OF CHANCE 181 
 
 The next morning Al complained of a cold and 
 some fever. " I knew I'd get it," he explained to 
 Chester, " when I put my coat round the little 
 fellow yesterday, but don't you tell the old lady 
 or she'll put the kibosh on our going over there." 
 By evening he had developed a thoroughly bad 
 cold and asked boldly for a large dose of quinine 
 dissolved in hot whiskey and water. This was a 
 combination in which Mrs. Congdon had great 
 faith and used it upon herself, her maid servant 
 or the stranger that was within her gates; but 
 whether to allow her son to taste of the enticing 
 spirit was a nice point. She watched his cold in- 
 creasing in severity she would have none of 
 physicians feeling that she had in the whiskey 
 and quinine a certain remedy. She was always 
 guided in her daily conduct by seeking haphazard a 
 verse from the Scriptures, and by this facile method 
 thought she received direct counsel from above. 
 A verse had seemed appropriate when she was not 
 certain whether to engage Chester or another 
 man. Today Al watched with considerable anx- 
 iety. Slowly she read out a verse as though un- 
 certain how to apply it, " Then shall the lambs 
 feed after their manner." Al instantly became 
 cheerful and the colored girl went out for a bottle
 
 182 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 of the best rye, and the lamb smiled amiably. He 
 had dreamed the night before that he would never 
 taste spirits again. He shuddered becomingly at 
 the bitter taste and was tucked into bed. 
 
 At one o'clock Chester, who slept in the same 
 large room, was awakened by the patient, who 
 could not go from it until the bed on which the 
 younger man slept was pulled from athwart the 
 door. Al explained that he was deadly cold and 
 wanted his mother's hot-water bottle filled. As 
 Chester could not fetch it he allowed Al to go, 
 listening suspiciously the while. He heard the 
 sick man's heavy steps descend to the kitchen, 
 heard him light the gas and boil the kettle. Then 
 he listened as he ascended, entered the room, and 
 crept into bed with the hot-water bottle at his feet. 
 Chester took the precaution to turn on the light 
 and go through the other's dressing-gown pockets. 
 Nothing was to be found. Al merely shook his 
 head sadly at this lack of faith and began sneezing 
 violently. 
 
 In the morning he slept stertorously and his 
 mother, bending over him, started back in alarm: 
 the lamb puffed whiskey into her face. Much 
 agitated, she commenced to upbraid Chester. In 
 defense he pointed out that the bottle was safely
 
 BLUDGEONINGS OF CHANCE 183 
 
 stowed away in her room. Examination proved 
 that the bottle was unmoved, containing approxi- 
 mately the same amount as had been left the 
 previous night. Chester removed the cork and 
 smelt the contents. Al had filled it up with water 
 and the black bottle had concealed his aim. It 
 was impossible that he could have drunk the 
 spirit, since he was of those who can take but little. 
 He was awakened and subjected to examination, 
 but he persisted in smiling happily and refusing 
 to answer. He also declined to arise, insist- 
 ing that his slumbers had been too rudely broken. 
 When taxed with concealing the whiskey, he pro- 
 fessed no repentance and gibed at his mother's 
 concern for his poor soul. He was permitted to 
 sleep on, and Mrs. Congdon's manner to Chester 
 became markedly severe. At luncheon, sounds of 
 revelry arose from the bedroom overhead and the 
 two gazed at one another in horror. Al bursting 
 into song was Al at the height of alcoholic content. 
 A curious spectacle met their gaze as they threw 
 open the door. Flushed and happy, he was empty- 
 ing the contents of the rubber warming bottle; 
 he had filled it with whiskey the night before. 
 
 Mrs. Congdon felt no need to search the Scrip- 
 tures in order to give Chester his marching orders;
 
 184 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 she declined to believe that the thing was not 
 accomplished with his connivance, and pursued 
 him to the door with slighting remarks as to his 
 future prospects. Thus it was that Chester, with 
 some twenty dollars in his pocket, found his way 
 back to his little room in East Sixty-ninth Street, 
 which was fortunately disengaged. 
 
 For some things he did not regret the change." 
 His talks with Norah had stirred him to fresh 
 ambition and he knew that his dependent position 
 with the Congdons could lead to nothing. He 
 made his way to Enderby's office on the following 
 morning and interviewed the office manager, who 
 informed him that no communications of any sort 
 had come for Mr. Chester Dick. " It's possible," 
 said Chester, " that some may come for Mr. R. 
 Vincent. If so, please hold them." 
 
 Biggs made the necessary memorandum. 
 " Want to see the boss? " he inquired. The other 
 hesitated a moment. " Thanks, no," he said, " I 
 won't take up his time." He still cherished an 
 affection for the lawyer, but he doubted if it would 
 be proof against the reception he feared he would 
 now encounter from him. Biggs reported the 
 interview to his employer, who manifested what 
 Biggs thought unnecessary temper. " You might
 
 BLUDGEONINGS OF CHANCE 185 
 
 have known I wanted to see him," he cried pet- 
 tishly. " Next time, tell me without saying any- 
 thing to him." 
 
 " He doesn't forget being kept waiting forty 
 minutes," observed the sapient Biggs. " That 
 sort never likes to wait." 
 
 Enderby waved him impatiently aside. That 
 sort, as he well knew, did not like to be kept wait- 
 ing. 
 
 Richard went from Enderby's to a large em- 
 ployment agency which had frequently, in reply 
 to advertisements, sent him its circulars. He was 
 required to expend the sum of five dollars to be- 
 come eligible for entry on the books. The emi- 
 nently suave young man who interviewed him 
 explained that the agency made absolutely noth- 
 ing on this fee and demonstrated that the name of 
 each clientwas borne in the books at an annual cost 
 of six dollars and eighteen cents. Chester joy- 
 fully filled in an application blank, and heard that 
 a lack of experience would militate against his 
 chance of success. With the fee paid the suave 
 young man lost interest and permitted himself 
 to yawn. But Chester, who was never so deter- 
 mined to get on, walked out head up and jaunty of 
 carriage. He called on other agencies, some of
 
 186 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 which asked for fees and some of which did not. 
 He filled more blanks attesting his unfitness, and 
 was highly pleased with his new found hustle 
 when he came across Peck, once of Cornell. Peck 
 greeted him cheerily. " What luck? " he cried. 
 
 " Nothing to boast of yet," Chester told him. 
 "What of yours?" 
 
 " I belong to another century," said Peck wear- 
 ily. He had walked many miles that day to save 
 carfares and he had not breakfasted well. " An 
 age of meditation would suit me. I was up at six 
 to answer an early job; they want a watchman 
 at the New Century Club, but they rejected me 
 because they didn't like my looks. How did you 
 make out with those books ? " 
 
 " I didn't," said Chester. " What about you? " 
 
 " The same story," said Peck. " They were 
 reprints anyhow, those books, and the plates were 
 old, and I suppose we aren't salesmen." 
 
 " What are you after now? " Chester demanded. 
 
 "A job," said Peck of Cornell. "Winter's 
 coming on and it's up to me to get something be- 
 fore the merry sleigh-bells jangle." 
 
 " Come and have lunch," Chester exclaimed 
 abruptly. He saw the other's pallor and made a 
 guess at its cause.
 
 BLUDGEONINGS OF CHANCE 187 
 
 Peck looked at him gratefully. " Can you af- 
 ford it? " he demanded. 
 
 " Easily," cried Chester, rich in the possession 
 of twenty dollars. " Where shall we go? " 
 
 " Chinatown," said Peck. " Mushroom chop 
 suey a quarter, rice five cents, a plate of pork ten 
 cents, and tea ad libitum for nothing. Forty cents 
 for the most satisfying meal in Christendom. You 
 can walk it in ten minutes from here." 
 
 The two men remained in the Mott Street 
 restaurant for two hours and Chester learned 
 much wisdom concerning New York and his 
 chances therein. " Economically," cried Peck, 
 consuming cup after cup of tea, " we cumber the 
 ground. If I could pound a typewriter I might 
 be worth twelve a week; but nobody will trust 
 one to me. If I could lay bricks I'd own a house 
 and lot in a year; if I could wrestle successfully 
 with double entry I should have hope, but as it 
 is, I'm like Little Mary in the hymn, ' I am always 
 in the way.' What can you do? " 
 
 Peck was not impressed by Chester's abilities. 
 ' The mining offers the best chance," he observed, 
 " if you can interest someone in you. But for that 
 we're just about the same use in the world." 
 
 " Don't try to discourage me," laughed Chester,
 
 188 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 still strong in the belief that Norah had infused 
 in him. " We shall get something." 
 
 " It's the winter I dread," Peck confessed. " In 
 the summer I'm a chirping grasshopper, but at 
 this stage of the game, I begin to think about the 
 long cold nights. In the winter, when the snow's 
 falling, New York is as near my conception of 
 Acheron as anything I know." 
 
 "What about the agencies?" Chester said less 
 confidently. " I've just put my name down on 
 Blank's books." 
 
 " You've chucked five dollars away," Peck de- 
 clared. 
 
 " Are they swindlers? " the other demanded. 
 
 " I don't exactly mean that," Peck observed, 
 " but they won't find a job for you or me. We're 
 not easy to fit. It's all right for bookkeepers and 
 office managers and so on, but the job we could 
 hold down are few and far between." 
 
 " I've met cheerier companions," Chester said 
 at length. 
 
 "And what good have they been to you?" 
 Peck asked. " What's the use of doing the Mi- 
 cawber act and waiting for things to turn up? 
 If you wait like the excellent Wilkins, you'll fetch 
 up on Blackwell's Island. The winter isn't far
 
 BLUDGEONINGS OF CHANCE 189 
 
 off, and I've spent a winter here and I know. The 
 Astor Library is a good spot till nine o'clock at 
 night, and the big hotels offer sanctuary so long 
 as you've good clothes and don't see them too 
 often, but sooner or later it's heigh ho for the open 
 street and the cold winds of early morning." 
 
 Chester's theories were being rudely shaken. 
 " But there's always manual labor," he said. 
 
 " I used to think that once," Peck told him. 
 " You and I are both big men, and I've no doubt 
 when you were at Yale you used to throw the 
 heavy weights around like a young Sandow. It 
 got our muscles up. Well and good. But what 
 chance do we have against men who would regard 
 this heavy work as every-day toil and have prac- 
 tised it ten hours a day, all their lives? Suppose 
 you put yourself against one of these fellows at 
 swinging a pick. For the first hour you'd outswing 
 him, but then your hands would go back on you 
 and they'd blister and get like rare beefsteak. 
 And as for your back if you want to feel what 
 pain is, you wait till the morning after. I know 
 what I'm talking about for I've tried it." 
 
 1 Then what on earth will you do? " Chester 
 demanded. 
 
 " Try for a cook's helper in a hotel kitchen, and
 
 190 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 if you're clever enough, you can pick up enough 
 to take a cook's job in a Third Avenue hash sling- 
 ery. It's a good healthy job and you get all you 
 want to eat, and it's warm." 
 
 " I can't say the prospect attracts me," Chester 
 remarked. 
 
 Peck leaned across the marble-topped table. 
 " And do you suppose it attracted me? " he cried. 
 " I was just as fastidious as you were, and when 
 I said I would condescend to work I thought the 
 battle was won." He laughed a trifle bitterly. 
 " I decided to carve carve is the only word - 
 a career in the belles-lettres. Verses, critiques, 
 appreciations after the manner of De Quincey, and 
 Bagehot, and written in the style of Walter Pater, 
 and Arthur Symons. Translations, essays and 
 sonnets. Lord, man, it amuses me even to think 
 of it." He sighed. * Well, here I am enjoying a 
 good dinner for once, and I ought to feel at least 
 grateful that I met you." 
 
 " Nonsense," Chester ejaculated. " Do you 
 think I like to take solitary meals?" 
 
 Peck lit a cigarette and puffed lovingly at it. 
 The brand was one which he had not smoked for 
 years. " Chinatown tea always gets into my 
 head," he declared, " and starts me talking nine-
 
 BLUDGEONINGS OF CHANCE 191 
 
 teen to the dozen. I'm by nature a poet, Vincent, 
 and I have written stuff that was good, although it 
 will never be published, dainty verse, rose leaves 
 of thought, and all that sort of thing. Do you 
 know what I've been doing for the past hour? " 
 
 " Can't imagine," Chester returned. He sup- 
 posed this fantastical friend had perhaps com- 
 posed a sonnet sequence. 
 
 " I've been eating as much as I could possibly 
 ingest, so that if there's nothing coming tomorrow 
 I can last the day out." He tapped his breast. 
 " And I write dainty stuff after the manner of 
 Alfred de Musset and hanker after Pater's golden 
 prose." 
 
 Chester saw how thin he was, and a sense of 
 pity swept through him. He had never before 
 eaten with a man who was so badly in want of food. 
 
 " Where do you live? " he asked. 
 
 " Nowhere at present," Peck returned, flushing. 
 " My landlady has a heart of brown stone and has 
 filched my latchkey." 
 
 " Come with me," Chester said. " I have a room 
 we can share, and my credit is good." 
 
 Peck shook his head. " Thank you," he said. 
 " It's very good of you, Vincent, but I couldn't 
 think of it."
 
 192 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 Chester looked at him seriously. He had not 
 noticed before how much shabbier he had become 
 since he saw him last, or how loosely the clothes 
 hung over his gaunt shoulders. " Will you let 
 your damned silly pride rob me of a friend when I 
 want one? " he asked. 
 
 Peck tried to answer, but his lips quivered, and 
 he clenched his hands to keep back the lump in 
 his throat. He had not for a year met with the 
 sympathy that understood. Chester affected not 
 to observe this, and walked leisurely to the coun- 
 ter and purchased a box of unnecessary cigarettes. 
 When he returned Peck was master of his emo- 
 tions. " It's not the sort of neignborhood one 
 would choose," said Chester, " but the room is 
 clean and the landlady has not seen better days." 
 
 The idea of sharing a room had been one he 
 never contemplated, but there was never a mo- 
 ment when he had cause to regret his offer. He 
 soon grew to cherish an affection for Peck which 
 the Cornell man was not slow to reciprocate. 
 Peck came of a family honorably connected with 
 trade and, until his father's sudden death, and 
 subsequent discovery of an involved estate, he 
 had been brought up in luxury. But he soon 
 learned, more from deduction than anything his
 
 BLUDGEONINGS OF CHANCE 193 
 
 companion actually said, that even in a country 
 boasting of no class distinction Chester came of 
 a different people, a people who played polo, owned 
 steam yachts and were persona grata in all the 
 great cities of the old world. 
 
 Under Peck's guidance Chester learned many 
 wrinkles about looking for jobs. They would go 
 to Herald Square and get a paper hot from the 
 great presses and, adjourning to a coffee stall hard 
 by, scan the help-wanted columns and write their 
 answers or call before other applicants appeared. 
 Sometimes they obtained temporary positions, 
 but it was a bad season and what money they 
 jointly made served to make living but a pitiful 
 thing. Under the influence of Chester's cheerier 
 manner, Peck took heart of grace and wore a 
 more courageous aspect. " Something," said the 
 indomitable Peck, " must turn up." And Chester 
 agreed with him. Yet he grew discouraged 
 when, despite all his efforts, success did not 
 smile. 
 
 One day he was walking along lower Broadway 
 when Biggs, Enderby's ambitious managing clerk, 
 stopped him and held out a patronizing hand. 
 
 " Come in and see me some day, Chester," he 
 exclaimed.
 
 194 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " Have you any letters for me? " the other de- 
 manded. 
 
 " Not a thing," Biggs declared. 
 
 " And nothing has occurred concerning the 
 matter I discussed with Mr. Enderby?" 
 
 Biggs shook his head. " Nothing doing. Per- 
 haps she isn't tired of you and you're going to get 
 another chance." He nodded familiarly and took 
 his farewell. Chester watched him with something 
 of a scowl. He was not yet used to being patron- 
 ized by men of Biggs' type. 
 
 It was extraordinary, he thought, that Cosway 
 had not acted. But since divorce may be obtained 
 with varying ease in various States he supposed 
 that an astute lawyer would take advantage of 
 this and he might know nothing of it until all 
 formalities were over. As for the other matter, 
 he supposed that Mendoza, the mining magnate, 
 had not been apprised of his existence. He had 
 no doubt but that he would eventually receive a 
 letter. Norah was not the kind of a woman to 
 forget. He wondered what she thought, if, on 
 her return .from Lakewood, she had run the launch 
 up the river and found him gone; or what Al's 
 version of his dismissal might be. He had been 
 tempted at first to write to her, but abandoned
 
 BLUDGEONINGS OF CHANCE 195 
 
 the idea as one he should not, in accordance with 
 his sense of duty to her, carry out. 
 
 The interest she had expressed in him had been 
 born of her pity and was not to be worked upon 
 further. His one idea was to make good; to show 
 that he was a man who could, despite the easy 
 training of early years, hold his own in competi- 
 tion with strong men. What might happen if his 
 dreams came true he did not dare to think of, 
 but as he compared his luck with Peck's he felt 
 there was much to be thankful for. 
 
 As a rule the two men took their dinner often 
 the only meal of the day at a Hungarian res- 
 taurant on lower Second Avenue kept by a courtly 
 native of the dual monarchy. For five and thirty 
 cents a four-course liberal dinner, including a 
 large glass of white or red wine, might be obtained. 
 It was a long, low room filled with tables holding 
 six people. A portrait of Louis Kossuth held 
 place of honor, and there was a big oil painting of 
 a marriage cavalcade which always took the eye 
 of the newcomer. It was a picture of a bride, 
 gay in her wedding finery, meeting in her path 
 from the church the body of her dead lover. 
 Plunging horses and gallant men conspired to 
 render the painting a spirited piece of work, al-
 
 196 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 though from the standpoint of art it was not to 
 be regarded seriously. 
 
 Peck had been looking at it one night and in an 
 unusually silent mood. " You sometimes re- 
 proach me," he said to his companion, " for not 
 taking a brighter outlook on life. Do you know 
 one of the reasons I get depressed? " 
 
 Chester shook his head. " I can't imagine," 
 he returned. 
 
 " Before my father died I was engaged to a 
 girl," Peck said, " and when it was found I had 
 nothing, her mother took her to Europe for a two 
 years' trip, which was the same thing as breaking 
 it off. Today I went into a broker's office to sell 
 or try to sell him some automobile insurance, and 
 sitting talking to him was his wife. It was the 
 girl I was once going to marry." He sighed. 
 " Like most moments of tragedy, it had a mo- 
 ment of farce. I was so upset, so absolutely con- 
 tused, that I went out leaving my hat on a chair 
 and found myself hatless in William Street. I 
 couldn't go back for it for fear of meeting her 
 again, so I bought one second hand in the Bowery 
 for a quarter." He pointed to where it hung on a 
 peg. " I'm not sure that it isn't a much better 
 one than the other, so it wasn't all to the bad."
 
 BLUDGEONINGS OF CHANCE 197 
 
 He beckoned to the waiter. " Bring me two more 
 glasses of wine." He talked but little for the 
 remainder of the evening. 
 
 A morning or two after this, Chester made his 
 round of those agencies on whose books his name 
 was. Usually he was bidden to call again, but 
 today he was shown into the offices of one of the 
 many bright young men who conducted the busi- 
 ness. This official sent for his application and 
 scanned it closely. " I'm inclined to think," he 
 began, " that we've got a job which will fit you 
 like a glove. I was going to write you if you 
 hadn't come in." 
 
 " That's good news," Chester cried. " What is 
 it? " 
 
 " We have a client now at the New Willard 
 in Washington who has been trying for three 
 months to get a companion-secretary. He wants 
 a young unmarried man to travel abroad for a 
 year and then come back here and be his confi- 
 dential man down at his commission house in 
 Leonard Street. That sounds, easy, but there are 
 a lot of qualifications essential." 
 
 " Such as? " Chester asked. 
 
 " The man he wants must be used to society 
 and know the right kind of clothes to wear, and
 
 198 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 be fond of sport, our client is a fencer and golfer 
 and crazy over automobiles. His companion has 
 got to enter into his sports and into his work. He 
 can easily get men who are on the business end 
 of it, but he wants a gentleman. He wants a man 
 who can tour Europe with him in his six-cylinder 
 car and help him out on the language end of it. I 
 see you can speak French and German well? " 
 
 Chester nodded, " Yes." 
 
 The other man leaned back and looked at him 
 satisfied. " I never had a man better fitted than 
 I think you are, and I never handled a client who's 
 willing to pay better than this one. You can 
 practically make your own terms. You go down 
 to Washington right away. Mind you, for all I 
 know the job may be filled. It wasn't up to yes- 
 terday. And you may not suit, but if I were you 
 I'd take the risk. What about it? " 
 
 " I'll go by the midnight train," Chester said, 
 " and get to him by the time he's ready for break- 
 fast." 
 
 " That's good," said the other. " I see by his 
 letter he leaves Washington tomorrow afternoon 
 for Savannah, where he joins a yachting party. 
 It's the chance of your lifetime, Mr. Vincent."
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 A TICKET TO UTOPIA 
 
 " Not our logical mensurative faculty, but our imaginative one 
 is king over us, or I should say prophet and prince to lead us Heaven- 
 ward, or magician and wizard to lead us Hellward." Carlyle. 
 
 NEVER before had Chester had the op- 
 portunity to step so happily from an 
 employment agency. As he turned into 
 Broadway he caromed into a man apparently 
 about to enter the building he was leaving. He 
 apologized and passed on. A minute or so later a 
 voice addressed him and he looked round to see 
 the man he had jolted. He was middle aged, 
 moderately well dressed and newly shaven. " I 
 think, sir," he said, " I saw you coming from the 
 Universal Employment Agency." 
 
 Chester felt already on the road to fortune and 
 was disposed to take no offense at the question. 
 " Your eyes did not deceive you," he answered. 
 
 " I am a believer in fate," said the stranger. 
 " In confidence, I was about to enter the office to 
 see, after a fruitless hunt in other directions, if
 
 200 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 I could find the right man." He infused much 
 mystery into his words. 
 
 Chester looked at him with a little suspicion. 
 " What do you want him for? " he demanded. 
 
 The stranger looked about him cautiously. 
 " I prefer not to tell you here," he said. " Let 
 us take a side street." Chester followed him in 
 silence and the man presently turned to him. 
 " Mr. er? " he asked interrogatively. 
 
 " Smith of Manhattan," returned Chester 
 promptly. 
 
 " My name," the stranger explained with a 
 touch of dignity, " is Foster, and I am a native 
 of Massachusetts." 
 
 Chester's good spirits were undimmed by this 
 news. He confided in the other that Foster was a 
 good name and he had known several who bore it. 
 
 " I take it," said Foster of Massachusetts, " that 
 you are seeking a position? " 
 
 " I was," returned the younger man, " but I 
 think I have just secured one." 
 
 Foster plainly evinced disappointment. He 
 sighed. " You impress me as being just the man 
 to whom I could have made a splendid offer. 
 Well, I suppose I'm wasting your time as well as 
 my own."
 
 A TICKET TO UTOPIA 201 
 
 A touch of caution came to Chester. " I haven't 
 got it yet," he said, " and when it comes right 
 down to it I don't know that I shall get it either." 
 
 " Mr. Smith," said Foster impressively, " I 
 need a man of breeding, a man of the world, and 
 above all a man of high personal courage." 
 
 " You're a most remarkable person," said the 
 other. " Pray, Mr. Foster, have you ever fallen 
 in with Prince Florizel of Bohemia ? " 
 
 Foster looked at him closely. " I don't recall 
 the name," he answered. " To return to my mis- 
 sion I may tell you in confidence I am acting 
 for a bigger man than I; a man who controls 
 millions, whose name is a household word. At 
 present he is away from the city but I keep in 
 close touch with him and act for him. In fact," 
 Mr. Foster of Massachusetts affirmed, " I am 
 his fidus Achates. If you fulfill the conditions I 
 lay down, my proposition will interest you, but 
 if for all your bold exterior, you have no appetite 
 for danger, say so and we will go our several 
 ways." 
 
 " Really," said Chester doubtfully, " one can't 
 exactly advertise one's self as possessing the neces- 
 sary courage without overstepping the bounds of 
 the breeding which is also a condition."
 
 202 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " I could wish for no better answer," the elder 
 man exclaimed. " You could not have pleased 
 me better. To come to the point, will you dine 
 with me tonight at my hotel at half-past seven ? " 
 He named a great uptown hostelry which, although 
 the most exclusive classes did not frequent it, 
 was yet very expensive and modern. " Just ask 
 for me," said Foster, " and if I'm not waiting for 
 you, come up into my rooms." 
 
 Chester stared after him in amazement. To 
 be offered two such chances within the hour was 
 staggering. He could dine very well at the hotel 
 and go on to Washington as he had arranged, if 
 he had not already secured this mysterious ap- 
 pointment. 
 
 Peck, hearing the joyous news, prophesied great 
 things, and demanded to be given the position 
 which his friend discarded. It was with difficulty 
 that the necessary money was raised for the 
 transportation and the possible expenses in the 
 Capital. Funds by this time were almost ex- 
 hausted and Chester had parted with much of his 
 wardrobe. 
 
 Mr. Foster was waiting in the gorgeous lobby 
 and steered him to a secluded seat in the corner of 
 the over-ornate dining salon. " We sha'n't be
 
 A TICKET TO UTOPIA 203 
 
 overheard here," he said. Then calling the head 
 waiter by his first name, he demanded the wine 
 list, and looked down it carefully. He scanned 
 it for a few moments in silence and then turned 
 suddenly to his companion. " Can you order a 
 good dinner? " he asked. 
 
 Chester smiled. " I have some skill in it," he 
 said. 
 
 " I shall test it," said Foster. " Between our- 
 selves, my client is rather fond of the pleasures 
 of the table and will appreciate your discernment, 
 on which I shall report." 
 
 The head waiter found in Chester a man who 
 did indeed know how to order a dinner, and ap- 
 preciated such knowledge. There were too many 
 of the great hotel's customers who enjoyed 
 dinners only when they cost inordinately. And 
 since Foster insisted that no expense was to be 
 spared the best brand of champagne, though not 
 the one most advertised, was opened. 
 
 " I am extraordinarily hungry tonight," said 
 the Massachusetts man, who had spoken little 
 during the course of the meal. He did not wax 
 communicative until dessert brought with it a 
 bottle of tawny port which had lain in cobwebs 
 since 1863. Then he selected the most expensive
 
 204 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 of the cigars brought for selection and demanded 
 that the box be left upon the table. He leaned 
 back in absolute satisfaction and fixed Chester 
 with a glittering eye. " When you know the 
 character and calibre of the man with whom you 
 will be associated, you will be surprised." 
 
 " I'm that already," said Chester. " I wish 
 you'd be definite. It's getting late and I have 
 a train to catch." 
 
 Foster smiled. " I prophesy that you won't 
 catch it," he said. " Now, to business. Do you 
 know anything of Dutch Guiana?" 
 
 " Not a word," Chester returned. 
 
 " That's of no moment," Foster said. " I'll 
 tell you, Dutch Guiana is a country about as big 
 as this State and it's incredibly rich." He tapped 
 his breast pocket. " I have here a letter from 
 my friend, who will be in New York at latest in a 
 week's time, saying that he has at last got the con- 
 cession he's been after from the Holland Govern- 
 ment. It makes my friend incredibly rich; I 
 shall become merely a millionaire and as to you 
 if you make good, by this time next year you 
 will be drawing a salary of twenty-five thousand 
 dollars a year." 
 
 " But what for? " Chester asked.
 
 A TICKET TO UTOPIA 205 
 
 " You will be out there in Guiana acting as our 
 confidential man." 
 
 " But the salary is gigantic," he objected. 
 
 " So will your risks be," said Foster. " There 
 are hostile natives, and we have to protect our 
 miners, our gold, our machinery, our lives from 
 them, and it isn't easy. There's a party in the 
 Dutch parliament opposed to us, and if they get 
 an inkling that a few niggers have been executed 
 for murder they'll raise a popular agitation and 
 we shall lose our concession. We want a man 
 who can command. We want a man who can 
 gain the respect of the high Dutch officials, and 
 we want a healthy man who won't die of fever. 
 Mr. Smith, do you think we can pick up a man 
 like that for twenty-five dollars a week? " 
 
 Unmistakable enthusiasm shone in Foster's 
 eyes. " If we could we should have hired him 
 long ago. The man will have the handling of 
 millions he will be absolute master; he will 
 have to account for everything. Is it likely we 
 could find that man waiting for us in every 
 agency? " 
 
 Auriferous dreams chased themselves through 
 Chester's brain. It was a chance here offered 
 compared with which the commission merchant
 
 206 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 in Leonard Street faded away to insignificance. 
 But he had a remnant of caution left. " But why 
 in these five and a half millions did you pick on 
 me?" he demanded. 
 
 " Personality," returned Foster. " I liked your 
 personality and I am also a believer in luck. I 
 was thinking I should never find the man I wanted, 
 when there you were standing before me like 
 magic, so to speak. I shall of course have to in- 
 vestigate you, but that you won't mind." 
 
 " I haven't had much business experience," 
 Chester said dubiously. 
 
 " You can hire men to attend to details," Foster 
 said impatiently. " You are wanted for something 
 bigger than that. Do you suppose I can't get all 
 the good business men I want by putting an ad 
 in the Sunday Herald? " 
 
 He sat for a moment in thought. " Look here," 
 he said with a change of voice, " I like you, 
 Smith, and I'll be a friend to you. If you trust me 
 blindly and place whatever sum of money you 
 may be able to raise into my hands at once, say 
 a thousand dollars, within thirty days this in- 
 vestment will more than surprise you." 
 
 Chester's heart sank and he cursed himself 
 for a fool that he had been so taken in. " I
 
 A TICKET TO UTOPIA 207 
 
 couldn't raise any sum of money at all," he said 
 shortly. 
 
 Foster's face betrayed no disappointment. 
 " That's a pity," he said. " Pm sorry. I'm in 
 this thing up to the limit and I wouldn't advise 
 anyone to go into a scheme that wasn't good 
 enough for me." 
 
 " I suppose the thing's off then ? " Chester 
 asked quietly. 
 
 " Nothing of the kind," returned Foster. " This 
 was merely an opportunity for you to make a bit 
 apart from that. It was an offer to come in as a 
 kind of partner instead of drawing your salary 
 as an official alone. I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll 
 back you to the extent of nine hundred dollars. 
 That means you have only to get one hundred by 
 tomorrow at midday. I shall ask no obligation 
 from you for the sum I lend. You can pay me 
 back when it is convenient." 
 
 Chester rose to his feet. " If you'd only said 
 this when we first met, this misunderstanding 
 could have been saved. I have no hundred dol- 
 lars to invest. I haven't anything." 
 
 " I didn't know when I met you this morning 
 that I would care to let you in on this," Foster 
 answered. " It only occurred to me a few min-
 
 208 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 utes ago. Sit down, sit down, there's plenty of 
 time." 
 
 " Let's have a better understanding," Chester 
 said gravely. " I repeat that I have not one cent 
 to invest. How does that affect my chances to 
 go out to Dutch Guiana at a big salary? " 
 
 " In no way whatever," Foster cried. " My 
 dear young man, what a low opinion you must 
 have of me! No, no, don't apologize," he con- 
 tinued. " It's the sort of caution you must have, 
 to be the help to us I anticipate." He handed the 
 cigars to the other and then slipped half a dozen 
 in his vest pocket. As he did so he showed them 
 to the head waiter, who was passing. There was 
 no thought of concealment, as Chester saw. 
 
 " This is the brand I always smoke," he said. 
 " And we mustn't run out of them on our little 
 walk down Broadway. Now," he continued, 
 rising, " up in my room I have a plan of our con- 
 cession and when you are in Washington you 
 might get a few particulars from a friend of mine 
 there on the legal complications that might 
 arise " He broke off. " I guess I won't worry 
 you about that now. It will do later if you run 
 down and see him. But I'll get that map all the 
 same. Wait just two minutes."
 
 A TICKET TO UTOPIA 209 
 
 Chester almost welcomed his absence and 
 sipped his coffee in a mood incomprehensibly 
 glad. And his thoughts of advance in Guiana 
 brought him to Norah. She would be glad. She 
 had always said he could make good and would 
 some day be offered a great opportunity. The 
 odd jobs he had done so far were not opportuni- 
 ties at all. This was the fate-directed chance. 
 As a distant tribute to Dutch progress, he ordered 
 two curacaos. He was not so much conscious of 
 Foster's absence as of the fact that the head 
 waiter kept making unnecessary visits to the 
 table. At last Chester grew uneasy and beckoned 
 the man. " You'd oblige me," he said, " by send- 
 ing to Mr. Foster's room and telling him his coffee 
 is getting cold." 
 
 " What name shall I say? " he asked. 
 
 Chester smiled. " Say Mr. Smith of Man- 
 hattan," he answered. 
 
 The head waiter speedily returned. ' There is 
 no such guest in the house," he said icily. 
 
 " That's absurd," cried Chester. " He lives here. 
 You surely know him by sight? He dines here 
 habitually." 
 
 " What sort of a game do you think you're 
 putting up ? " demanded the head waiter. He
 
 210 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 took the bill from a subordinate and handed it 
 to Chester courteously. " I see you had ten of 
 those cigars," he said. " They're a dollar 
 apiece." 
 
 " But I was his guest," protested Chester. " I 
 was asked to dine with him." 
 
 " You ordered the dinner," said the other. " It 
 comes to thirty-three dollars and fifty cents," he 
 concluded. 
 
 A stout gentleman at the adjoining table heard 
 this conversation and called his companion's at- 
 tention to it. " Gee," he declared admiringly, 
 "if I only had that fellow's gall!" Unfriendly 
 eyes watched Chester go through his pockets. 
 There was just half the amount of the bill. It 
 represented his entire fortune. He looked at the 
 head waiter, who was used to fraud of most kinds. 
 " I haven't another cent," he told him. 
 
 " But you can no doubt get it," the man sug- 
 gested. "What is your address?" 
 
 His face hardened when he heard it. People 
 living on East Sixty-ninth Street between First 
 and Second Avenues are not wont to order lavish 
 dinners and smoke dollar cigars. He signaled to 
 a neatly dressed man, who came over to Chester's 
 side and showed his detective's badge. " It's no
 
 A TICKET TO UTOPIA 211 
 
 use in making trouble," said the quietly dressed 
 man. " It looks bad and don't help any." 
 
 As the Washington Limited pulled out of Jersey 
 City an hour later, Chester was sharing a police 
 cell with joy-riding chauffeurs and outcasts in 
 various stages of intoxication. In the morning he 
 was permitted to send for Peck, who came in hot 
 haste. He promised to see the hotel proprietor 
 and see if the case could be settled. And this he 
 did, for when the case was called no witnesses ap- 
 peared against him and Chester was discharged. 
 The formerly sanguine young man at the employ- 
 ment agency regarded his chance of ultimate suc- 
 cess as small. " You might get him at Savannah," 
 he said, " but it's a risk. Do you care to try it? " 
 
 Chester shook his head. " I can't afford to," 
 he said. 
 
 " I'll write," the other told him, " and if any- 
 thing turns up I'll let you know. Call in again. 
 Good morning." 
 
 Thus it was that the commission business in 
 Leonard Street and the concession in Dutch 
 Guiana showed smiling faces for a moment, then, 
 like mirages in the desert, faded away.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 UNDER QUEENSBERRY RULES 
 
 " When Heaven is about to confer a great office on any man, it 
 first exercises his mind with suffering, and his sinews and bones with 
 toil. It exposes his body to hunger, subjects him to extreme poverty, 
 and confounds his undertakings. In all these ways it stimulates his 
 mind, strengthens his nature, and supplies his incompetencies." 
 Mencius. 
 
 THE two comrades found themselves re- 
 duced to a sorry plight. Without money, 
 without position, with the thermometer 
 dropping and the rigors of winter upon them, they 
 began to suffer. They experienced to the full 
 those hardships inseparable from their condition 
 in a city over-thronged with applicants for work 
 who were better fitted than they for the compe- 
 tition. Now and then they secured temporary 
 jobs, often at work which was repulsive, and man- 
 aged to keep their room and partake of a meal a 
 day, but it was a bitter struggle that sapped 
 even Chester's hope at times. Each week he 
 would inquire from Biggs if any communications
 
 UNDER QUEENSBERRY RULES 213 
 
 had come for him, but the answer was always the 
 same. Latterly he had taken to spending a nickel 
 for a telephone call; he did not want Enderby to 
 see that he was becoming shabby. Unjustly, he 
 still blamed his old companion for lack of interest 
 now that he was fortuneless, not knowing that 
 there were many weary hours when the lawyer 
 thought of him with affection and regret. 
 
 It was always after this call at Enderby's 
 office that his old life was brought back with 
 peculiar vividness. He knew that no one man was 
 ever indispensable to the happiness of a set, but 
 he was not guilty of conceit when he admitted that 
 he had always been a leader in pleasures and 
 sports. The Meadowbrook men must miss him, 
 the polo enthusiasts at Point Judith must wonder 
 what had become of their famous number two, 
 and he would be talked about in those great Long 
 Island country houses where he had always been 
 ready to dance till daybreak or organize theatri- 
 cals or arrange gymkhanas. 
 
 And his defection, his inexplicable dropping 
 out, had, indeed, brought sorrow to more than one 
 old friend. Many conjectures were made as to the 
 cause but the data they had to go on was small. 
 At the last game of cards Chester had been abso-
 
 214 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 lutely sober and had paid his very large losses 
 with his customary air of good humor. Osmund 
 and Frankel spoke of it openly and had no definite 
 reasons for attributing his absence to their gains. 
 Only Enderby, when appealed to, developed a 
 certain air of irritation. " When he feels good and 
 ready," he snapped, " Chester will come back." 
 The lawyer told nobody of the interview after 
 the card game or the visit to his Wall Street office. 
 It would argue, he felt, a certain ungraciousness 
 on his friend's part, and he was too loyal to wish 
 this idea to get abroad. 
 
 Very often, during the dreary months, Chester 
 would come by night to Norah's house and look 
 up, from the shadow of the trees opposite, to 
 the great house whose windows were brilliantly 
 lighted. A shadow at a blind made his heart 
 beat quicker. It might, he thought, be the slim 
 figure of the girl who was responsible for the fact 
 that he had not yet lost his courage. He was no 
 longer tempted to write to her. He was confi- 
 dent that when the time was ripe the mining 
 man she spoke of would send for him. To that 
 end he spent many hours in the Astor Library 
 and the reading-room of the Cooper Union a 
 less pleasant resort but open sometimes at more
 
 UNDER QUEENSBERRY RULES 215 
 
 convenient hours where he read eagerly books 
 on mining and metallurgy. 
 
 Once when he was watching the house in Fifth 
 Avenue the door opened and he saw some ladies 
 in opera cloaks descend to the limousine car in 
 waiting. He hurried off lest she might catch 
 a glimpse of him and be disappointed at his 
 raiment. He wanted her to think of him as one 
 who was succeeding. This weary waiting for 
 better things was little to a Chester's liking, but 
 it was a discipline which insensibly gave him a 
 steadfast strength which had never been his 
 before. And he gained, too, in those months a 
 broader sympathy with his fellows and a knowl- 
 edge of life which could never allow him to sink 
 back into the careless existence that lay behind 
 him. 
 
 Peck was the first of them to get work. He 
 came in radiant to the Second Avenue restaurant 
 one night to explain that he had been appointed 
 as a member of a crew of men who were deliver- 
 ing samples to various cities. The art of deliver- 
 ing samples, he explained, was not one which re- 
 quired technical training, but more than appear- 
 ance, celerity or personality was a character for 
 honesty. He had been informed by the man who
 
 216 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 engaged him that the samples and literature of 
 advertising campaigns were oftentimes not dis- 
 tributed at all but dropped into some neighboring 
 sewer. The men with whom Peck was to travel 
 had been vouched for as reliable. He would re- 
 ceive one dollar a day and all expenses, and his 
 rail fare would be paid to Philadelphia, the first 
 city of his activities. He was sorry to leave Ches- 
 ter and grieved that he could not get him a simi- 
 lar position, but swore to report the first reprehen- 
 sible act of his companions and recommend his 
 friend for the vacancy. 
 
 New York without his friend was very dull to 
 Chester, who lived for a fortnight after his depart- 
 ure on the remnants of his wardrobe; every night 
 found him feverishly rubbing up his surveying 
 and assaying. Then, unexpectedly, he obtained a 
 job. He was wandering along Greenwich Street 
 one day when outside a trucking stable he saw a 
 sign hanging, " Driver Wanted." 
 
 He went into the yard and was interviewed by 
 the " boss," who was always associated in his 
 mind with a red tie, a stub of evil-smelling cigar 
 and a large ear constantly glued to the telephone. 
 The boss glanced at the applicant without en- 
 thusiasm. He had just interviewed two others
 
 UNDER QUEENSBERRY RULES 217 
 
 far more to his liking, but they had sundry bad 
 records against them. One in moments of alco- 
 holic aberration was used to dispose of his horses 
 to the highest bidder and with cronies of his kind 
 imbibe the proceeds. The other had been in 
 state prisons and was under the constant super- 
 vision of the police. Green men, new to the city, 
 were easily to be had there were employment 
 agencies for aliens at every corner, but he needed 
 a man who knew the city. Finally, since time was 
 an object, he took Chester on probation and led 
 him into the stable and he was shown his 
 team. 
 
 They were great seventeen-hand bays in excel- 
 lent condition, and one of them he was roman- 
 nosed and had over-much white in his eyes - 
 possessed a savage disposition. He evinced 
 this when, at the foreman's command, his new 
 driver started to harness him. This was, strictly 
 speaking, not a driver's work, but the boss in- 
 variably chose this as a test for sizing up a new 
 man. Caligula for so Chester called the bad- 
 tempered bay, and thus named he still frets his 
 way along West Street seeing a new man, es- 
 sayed his usual disquieting tricks, while his stall- 
 mates and the stable hands watched gleefully.
 
 218 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 Caligula's equine sense of humor was in its essence 
 unkind. There was nothing he enjoyed so much 
 as when the halter was taken from him as penning 
 his man in a corner of his box and there biting at 
 him. And had Chester been a man unused to 
 horses he might have provided more sport, but 
 he noted the bay's wicked eye and suddenly 
 gripped him by the tender part of the nozzle and 
 slipped the bridle over his head and bitted him 
 before the animal could understand what had 
 happened. 
 
 " Ain't the first time he's been near a horse," 
 the boss grunted. The yard foreman said nothing. 
 He disliked the new man at first sight. He was 
 wont to assert that any fool could drive a carriage 
 and pair, but it took a driver to steer a truck in 
 lower Manhattan. And Chester found he was 
 right, for the heavy van with its loose-swinging 
 pole demanded a knack with which he was as 
 yet unfamiliar. He showed this when driving out 
 of the yard, for Caligula, going furiously at his 
 collar, swung the truck round at a dangerous 
 pace. Lacking an overcoat for Peck had one 
 and a pawnbroker the other Chester made 
 himself a cloak of sacking and started upon his 
 day's work. It was so cold that he was forced to
 
 UNDER QUEENSBERRY RULES 219 
 
 expend a grudged thirty-five cents for a pair of 
 driving gloves. 
 
 Early in the afternoon of his first day he dis- 
 covered an ancient enemy in the shape of the 
 policeman regulating traffic by the Barclay 
 Street crossing on West Street. A few weeks pre- 
 viously he had engaged in an altercation with him 
 over a gross case of cruelty to animals. His 
 ready sympathies had been engaged at the sight 
 of an old white horse driven by a Greek. Spavined, 
 laminitic, with capped knees and hocks, the poor 
 beast suffered from every equine infirmity and 
 was even to a child's eye unfit for work. When 
 the officer refused to interfere, Chester gave him 
 such a tongue-lashing that he narrowly escaped 
 arrest. It was this inefficient policeman who 
 observed with glee Chester handling his team of 
 bays. An officer's power is great on West Street 
 and he proceeded to make his enemy's life a 
 burden. 
 
 To one like Chester, who, although a New 
 Yorker, did not know the various ferries used by 
 the many express companies or the docks usually 
 driven to by them, there was much to learn. And 
 this lack of knowledge brought his horses into dire 
 peril of collision. Fate usually halted him for
 
 220 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 one reason or another directly before the jubilant 
 constable. 
 
 He would raise a hand and stay Chester's course 
 while a score of other vans were allowed passage. 
 And when other truckmen learned that the auto- 
 crat of the crossing " had it in " for the new man, 
 whom they disliked on general principles, they 
 aided him. There were certain hours in West 
 Street when the traffic was especially dense, a 
 mass of horses and vans, with the little horse-cars 
 sandwiched whistling in between. In those mo- 
 ments the harried pedestrian would seek the 
 shelter of the wood islands of refuge and thus 
 escape the hurrying streams. It became a very 
 merry sport among the younger truckmen to 
 drive Chester at the expense of his bays' legs di- 
 rectly in front of these islands and there keep him 
 nursed until traffic ceased. 
 
 Few cities have thoroughfares where heavier 
 vehicular traffic is seen than New York's West 
 Street, and fewer still have more abominable 
 paving. Hardly to be escaped are the many con- 
 cavities wherein wheels may sink, and a heavily 
 laden truck may remain there, a wheel in a hole, 
 the driver finding a difficulty in extricating it 
 without extraneous aid. As a rule some good
 
 Samaritan comes along and by his own initiative 
 or the request of a policeman who as a rule 
 manages these things admirably hitches an 
 empty van to the laden one and hauls it from its 
 predicament. 
 
 Hauling a heavy load of canned goods one day 
 Chester's wheel found such a pit and he stood in 
 need of help. He was so grateful to a man with 
 a three-horse empty truck that he did not notice 
 the assisting rope formed an obtuse angle with his 
 pole. Consequently when the three horses went 
 off with a jerk, instead of being helped, Caligula, 
 straining at his collar, was thrown off his balance 
 and fell with the benign Julius Caesar on top of 
 him. The incident was richly humorous to the 
 onlookers and gave the chuckling policeman in- 
 numerable opportunities of airing a nimble wit. 
 The horses, fortunately, were undamaged and the 
 harness was not much the worse. The foreman's 
 quick eye noticed it, however, and he said things 
 which Chester strove not to answer. But his 
 temper was not improved by the physical suffering 
 brought about by hunger and fatigue and he 
 presently gave the man the lie direct. For a mo- 
 ment he thought the foreman was going to spring 
 at him but the incident passed without blows.
 
 222 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 The following night when he brought his horses 
 into their stable and was supplementing the 
 stableman's efforts to groom them, the foreman, 
 Boyle by name, called out, " Hi there, you, I 
 want a word when you're through." 
 
 "All right," Chester responded briefly; he 
 supposed it had to do with the morrow's work. 
 ; ' Well? " he demanded a minute later, " what is 
 it? "' He was tired, sore from lifting heavy weights, 
 and he desired sleep more than anything else, and 
 wanted to hasten back to his room and forget his 
 surroundings. 
 
 " You called me a liar last night," snarled 
 Boyle. " Did you mean it? " 
 
 Chester saw that half a dozen other men were 
 gathered near; something evidently was pre- 
 meditated. " Yes," he said squarely. He flushed 
 at the remembrance of the quarrel. 
 
 " No man calls me a liar and gets away with 
 it," said Boyle slowly, " and you ain't going 
 to neither." 
 
 " What are you going to do about it? " Ches- 
 ter asked. 
 
 " I'm going to lick you," the foreman said. 
 
 Chester cast his eye over the other's form and 
 was not reassured thereby. Of his own height,
 
 UNDER QUEENSBERRY RULES 223 
 
 the man was tremendously broad, with great arms 
 and shoulders promising abnormal strength; he 
 remembered seeing the man lift some lead piping 
 that two others were straining with. Ranged 
 behind the foreman were now a dozen men, drivers, 
 stable helpers and hangers-on, all playing for 
 popularity with the bully. They regarded this 
 raw hand as another chopping block for their 
 champion. 
 
 The foreman was certain of victory and offered 
 an alternative. " If y'er afraid," he sneered, 
 " you can apologize. Get right down on your 
 knees and tell the boys you are a dirty liar and 
 I'll let yer go." He spoke with a sudden snarl 
 that showed his strong yellow teeth. " Which is 
 it? " 
 
 " It won't be apologizing," returned Chester, 
 still outwardly calm. 
 
 " You want a licking then! " 
 
 " It won't be that either," his driver told him. 
 There was a look of consternation on the face of 
 his audience. Were they to be cheated of their 
 sport? Was he going to call police aid and escape? 
 
 Boyle grinned. " That won't work," he cried. 
 " All the doors is locked and you can't get out." 
 
 Chester looked at him with a scorn that stung.
 
 224 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " If you were a little thicker in the head," he re- 
 marked, " there wouldn't be any room for your 
 eyes in your skull. Do you suppose I want to 
 run away from a broken-down tough like 
 you?" 
 
 " You will before I'm through with you," 
 Boyle cried. " We usually pull these little events 
 off in the loft overhead. That agreeable? " 
 
 " I don't mind where you're licked," returned 
 Chester. He was filled with a rage that was 
 almost ungovernable. Weak in body, with blis- 
 tered hands and absolutely out of condition, he 
 was to be butchered to make a truckmen's holiday. 
 A year ago he would have taken odds on himself 
 with easy mind; but a year ago he was in train- 
 ing and weighed a hundred and ninety pounds. 
 Today, with months of insufficient feeding, he 
 turned the scale at thirty pounds less. He deter- 
 mined to try the professional scheme of making 
 his opponent blindly angry. 
 
 " It would be safer," he said urbanely, " to 
 get yourself a padded floor before I start." 
 
 Boyle was too astonished to be angry. He was 
 not acquainted with that phrase of the unknown 
 poet which runs, " Quern Jupiter vult perdere 
 dementat prius," but he had his own adaptation
 
 UNDER QUEENSBERRY RULES 225 
 
 of it. He turned to his friends. " The guy must 
 be nutty," he exclaimed. 
 
 The large loft was well lighted with gas and an 
 improvised ring answered the purpose well enough. 
 A sporting saloon-keeper from West Broadway, 
 who was introduced facetiously as Mr. O'Grady 
 a well known Parisian referee, consented to act 
 in an official capacity. He had refereed other 
 fights in this big room, which was conveniently 
 set back from the street, and arranged details 
 quickly. 
 
 The spectators, used to seeing their foreman 
 victorious, were sorry for Chester in a sneaking 
 way and many of them cordially hated Boyle, but 
 they could not afford to seem other than his 
 partisans. Boyle's word always " went " with 
 the boss, and they were all men with families and 
 nothing saved. 
 
 Chester, white-faced but smiling, stripped but 
 poorly when compared with his burly enemy. He 
 kept up a stinging fire of taunts, but they were 
 either too subtle for the other or else Boyle was 
 too confident of triumph to heed them, for they 
 had not apparently worried him. He would know 
 as soon as they started what chance he had, and 
 the time listening for O'Grady's signal passed like
 
 226 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 hours. The only sound he could hear was the 
 thumping of his heart against his ill covered 
 ribs. 
 
 Chester soon found that his foe was slow and 
 knew nothing of foot-work or the finer points of 
 the game: but he was overwhelmingly strong 
 and swung thick arms like flails about him. On 
 points in a limited bout even in his present con- 
 dition Chester knew he could outpoint him, but 
 this was to be a finish fight under Queensbeny 
 rules and his reserve of strength could not last 
 many rounds. 
 
 Boyle's usual opponents were vigorous men like 
 himself, who waded in and took and gave all 
 the punishment that strength unaided by science 
 could inflict. But here was an adversary who 
 easily evaded his terrific swings and gibed at him 
 the while and pecked him daintily on the mouth, 
 nose and eye. It was true that these blows lacked 
 force, but they stung and after a time he felt his 
 left eye was closing. He became irritated beyond 
 measure and shouted, " Why don't you stand up 
 and fight? What are you running away for? " 
 
 Chester ducked a furious jab and asked with 
 his sneering smile, " Were you trying to hit me? " 
 
 Boyle, whose idea of defensive fighting was
 
 elementary, abandoned whatever of caution his 
 adversary had inspired in him and made terrific 
 efforts to beat down Chester's guard. By this 
 time the men were cheering wildly. Those who 
 saw in Boyle's cut and bleeding face, defeat, now 
 openly cheered for Chester. But Chester knew, 
 and O'Grady and such as were skilled in ring 
 craft, that it would take more than this to stop 
 the big man, whereas Chester imperceptibly 
 was slowing down. His nimble foot-work had its 
 disadvantages. 
 
 Suddenly Chester changed his tactics and the 
 fight to the onlookers became less spectacular. If 
 he was thin from want of food, Boyle was plainly 
 a sinner in the other direction. Chester now di- 
 rected all his attention to body punishment and 
 abandoned to some extent his defensive methods. 
 Three times Boyle's swings caught him, each 
 time inflicting heavy punishment, but steadily 
 he played his game, and soon Boyle was grunting 
 in discomfort. 
 
 At first this play for the body hurt Chester 
 more than his opponent. Under the vest which 
 he had not deigned to take off Boyle wore sus- 
 penders with cruelly large buckles and they cut 
 Chester's knuckles when a blow landed on them.
 
 228 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 O'Grady saw the danger and yelled, all regard- 
 less of the etiquette of the referee, " Look out 
 for your kidneys, Jim." 
 
 But Jim was too maddened with desire to smash 
 the loathed face of his sneering enemy, to take 
 this counsel. And a sickening fear was added to 
 his rage when he felt fainter and knew that his 
 blows lacked force. He made a gallant effort 
 to finish the fight before it was too late but he 
 was not of the stuff to do so. When the last call 
 for supreme endurance came it was the thorough- 
 bred who responded. When the last round was 
 begun Chester stepped into the middle of the 
 ring; all the lights in the room seemed like red 
 stars a long way off and the faces of the men were 
 blurred and out of focus and the noise had died 
 away to a silence like that of death. As Boyle 
 hurled himself in a despairing effort against his 
 frailer antagonist, Chester nerved himself for the 
 supreme effort. When his last blow flashed into 
 Boyle's gross body and the bully fell, he could 
 himself barely stand upright. Slowly, reluctantly 
 he heard O'Grady count out the fallen man. And 
 it was not until then that he fainted. 
 
 Toward the early hours of the morning he tossed 
 on his bed almost delirious. He thought Mr.
 
 UNDER QUEENSBERRY RULES 229 
 
 O'Grady was torturing him with red hot irons 
 and found that his hands had swollen up to an 
 incredible size. It took him an hour to dress. 
 His clumsy fingers could not fasten his collar 
 and it was impossible to hold a razor. For the 
 first time in many years he started the day 
 unshaven. 
 
 There were few men about when he came to 
 the yard. Old Mac, a stableman who had never 
 before spoken, offered him a plug of tobacco to 
 chew but his facial inequalities precluded the 
 acceptance of it. His horses seemed that morning 
 to be imbued with a great joy of living and lifted 
 their feet as though they were hackneys. This 
 activity on their part added to the torture of 
 holding the reins, and he had never suffered so 
 acutely. 
 
 Union Square at this time stood out among 
 New York's streets as monumentally bad for 
 driving. Some repairs to the car tracks had 
 dropped the level of the road four inches from 
 them and there were many obstacles to encounter. 
 It so happened that to avert a collision with a 
 trolley Chester was forced to take this lower 
 level. The jerk almost threw him off his seat and 
 the reins, hanging for the moment loose on his
 
 230 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 horses' backs, gave them the opportunity they 
 desired and they raced up Fourth Avenue at 
 speed. Phaethon was no more able to check the 
 steeds of Helios than Chester to control his great 
 bays. 
 
 An unlucky express wagon drawn by a single 
 horse crossed them at Eighteenth Street. Seeing 
 it, Caligula, infusing Julius Caesar with his spirit, 
 sprang forward. Like the reincarnated steeds of 
 some ancient British war chariot they bore down 
 on the obstructing van and wrecked it instantly. 
 It was not until his team was at the mouth of the 
 tunnel by the Park Avenue Hotel that Chester 
 got them under control. Then, without making 
 inquiry as to the inflicted damage, he called at 
 his destination on the East Side. 
 
 He heard nothing of the accident when he re- 
 turned to the yard and hoped that it would go 
 unreported. It was a rich company whose van 
 he had smashed and he could ill afford to confess 
 his share in the matter. On Saturday, when he 
 was back from a long and wearisome day's work, he 
 saw the boss casting surly looks at him. At seven 
 he had cleaned his horses and himself and went 
 to the office; it was the happy moment when he 
 would receive the twelve dollars due to him. The
 
 office was small and wholly occupied by the boss, 
 the telephone and the cuspidor. 
 
 " Why didn't you report that accident? " the 
 boss demanded. 
 
 " I hoped they wouldn't find out who did it," 
 Chester returned. 
 
 " Well, they did, see," snapped the other, 
 " and I've got to pay for a half-baked sissyfied 
 college boy like you." Any mark of unwelcome 
 refinement was stamped by the boss as proceeding 
 from a centre of the higher education. 
 
 "When you come in," he continued, " I could see 
 you was no good, but I was kind 'er sorry for you so 
 I put you on. What did you do in return ? YouVe 
 broke two of Boyle's ribs and he's out of business for 
 a month, and then you go and let me in for three 
 hundred and fifty dollars worth of damages." 
 
 " I'm sorry," said Chester simply. "It was 
 an accident pure and simple." 
 
 " Who the hell cares for your sorrow," snapped 
 the boss. " Is that going to pay me three hundred 
 and fifty dollars?" He tossed the pay envelope 
 to the other. " I ought to hold this up on you but 
 you might come around worrying and I'd pay 
 twice that never to see your face again." He 
 lashed himself into a fury, " See here, pinhead, if
 
 232 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 ever I give a job to a feller like you again, I'll be 
 chained to the hottest part of hell. No, sir, I 
 wouldn't, not if you was to come with your tongue 
 hanging out of your mouth." 
 
 The boss concluded with a string of polychro- 
 matic oaths which commanded attention if not 
 respect. It was a fine piece of invective and Ches- 
 ter told him so. 
 
 The boss looked at him sourly. " Get out," he 
 said. " It gives me a pain to hear your voice." 
 
 As Richard Chester passed into the streets, he 
 perceived a knot of men outside and recognized 
 them as belonging to the employ he had just left. 
 For a moment his heart was in his mouth; he 
 imagined this to be another hostile demonstra- 
 tion and he was faint from hunger and had not 
 enough strength left to fight a blind centenarian. 
 From the group, old Mac stepped out, old Mac 
 who had that morning offered him a chew of plug. 
 
 The old man held out a hand and took Chester's 
 in with a grip that made him wince. " Say, young 
 feller," he observed, " you're all right. Me and 
 the boys want you to have a little supper on us. 
 We none of us hadn't no use for you at first, but 
 the way you trimmed that unmentionable Boyle 
 was all right."
 
 The others crowded about him and his wounded 
 hand burned from the vigor of their grasps. He 
 had leaped into popularity and it was pleasant and 
 strange to him to see that he was regarded with 
 wholly friendly feelings. To some underground 
 bar hardby they took him, and since his swollen 
 jaws made eating steak a hardship, they filled him 
 with clam chowder and beer. He found that the 
 elimination of their late foreman was indeed an 
 emancipation for them. Many had tried to down 
 him but until now he had always won. He had for 
 some years extorted from each man a percentage 
 of his weekly pay and this day was the first time 
 they had ever been able to keep the whole of 
 what they had earned. Chester they hailed as a 
 deliverer. There would be time enough in the 
 weeks of Boyle's convalescence to get the ear of 
 the boss, and this night was their festival of de- 
 liverance. He was not allowed to buy a drink 
 or to expend a nickel of his pay and he found him- 
 self escorted to his dwelling by a set of men who, 
 although before his forced inclusion in their 
 midst they would have seemed to him coarse and 
 depraved, he now allowed to be good honest men 
 and loyal comrades.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 CHESTER MEETS HIS LADY 
 
 " A principal fruit of friendship is the ease and discharge of the 
 fulness and swellings of the heart." Bacon. 
 
 CHESTER passed most of Sunday in bed 
 and arose on the following day easier in 
 body and happier in the possession of 
 sufficient money to pay his room rent, get his 
 overcoat from sheltering avuncular care and look 
 about for work again. But when he was up, he 
 found that he was still weak and took his way into 
 Central Park. He told himself that he would 
 bask in the companionship of squirrels but his 
 heart beat the faster as he came to the area in 
 which alone the Godfrey children were allowed to 
 play. It was a mild, balmy day succeeding, with 
 that sudden change for which New York weather 
 is noted, one of cold and gloom. 
 
 The children were there, bored from the stu- 
 pidity of a well-meaning nurse, and ran to greet 
 him eagerly. He could be relied upon to tell them
 
 CHESTER MEETS HIS LADY 235 
 
 stories that were not hackneyed and Cyril shared 
 with him equine tastes. 
 
 It was while he was thus engaged all oblivi- 
 ous of squirrels that Mrs. Godfrey, training a 
 powerful pair of binoculars upon the seat which 
 he had chosen, saw they were talking to a strange 
 man. Her exclamation brought Norah to her 
 side. She instantly knew it was Chester and with- 
 out saying anything to her cousin, dressed and 
 walked toward the group. She had often wondered 
 what had happened to the man who so interested 
 her and felt genuine pleasure at the opportunity 
 of meeting him again. As he rose to his feet and 
 bowed over her hand, she felt she was flushing. 
 It was annoying to find that she could not pre- 
 serve with this man the equanimity which had 
 been the despair of so many. It had been her 
 intention to admit having seen him from the 
 window, but might not such a course, she argued, 
 make it appear that she was too glad to see him ? 
 What she did say was, " How surprising to find 
 you here! " 
 
 " The beautiful day tempted me," he answered, 
 " and I brought a bag of peanuts for the squirrels." 
 
 She looked very radiant and young, he thought. 
 The hand clasp, which by reason of his bruised
 
 236 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 hands still brought him discomfort, gave him a 
 pang which was more than physical pain; it re- 
 minded him of the immeasurable distance between 
 him and this rich girl between the day manual 
 laborer and the heiress. He knew that such toil, 
 while it had no power to debase him, must place 
 him poles apart from her. The squirrels were 
 transparent inaccuracies, he admitted to himself. 
 He had come to this spot, hoping to see Cyril 
 and hear of Cyril's aunt, and now his wish was 
 gratified, he did not know what to say. 
 
 "How thin you are!" she exclaimed impul- 
 sively. " Have you been ill? " 
 
 " Not at all," he responded. He supposed hard 
 work and one meal a day must have made a 
 difference in his appearance as well as his feelings. 
 
 " I'm just going for a stroll," she said. " I 
 haven't been out all day. Will you come, too ? " 
 
 " I'd be delighted to," he said eagerly. It 
 seemed a good fortune to which he had not dared 
 to look forward. 
 
 " I'm afraid you have been ill," she said, when 
 they were out of earshot of the nurse and chil- 
 dren. She looked at him closely. " And haven't 
 you been in some accident? " 
 
 He laughed. " The children would have it
 
 CHESTER MEETS HIS LADY 237 
 
 that I'd been thrown out of an automobile but 
 it wasn't anything of the kind. One evening, I 
 ran against a hard substance and rather jarred 
 my face." 
 
 She walked on wondering what it was that had 
 wrought such a change in him. When last she 
 remembered him he was tanned brown, was fuller 
 in the face and without the look and lines of 
 suffering she now saw. She did not refer to him 
 again until she was within sight of her house. 
 
 " I live with my cousin," she said, " Mrs. 
 Godfrey, the children's mother. She always pre- 
 serves very kindly memories of you. Will you 
 lunch with us some day soon? " 
 
 " That's awfully kind of you," he said. " I'd 
 like to immensely but I'm afraid I can't." It 
 thrilled him with gratitude that she proposed to 
 introduce him to her family life; it banished the 
 idea that her interest in him was one wholly of 
 charity. 
 
 " Why not? " she demanded. " Do you want 
 to disappoint me? " 
 
 He looked her straight in the eyes. " If you 
 know how much more disappointed I am, you 
 wouldn't think that." 
 
 " But," she persisted, " why won't you? "
 
 238 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " For the last week," he said, " I have been 
 doing heavy work trucking work and my 
 hands are blistered and the nails cracked and I 
 could never allow them to be seen at your table." 
 
 They walked on in silence for a hundred yards 
 and she looked at him with a smile. " Then it 
 wasn't shipwreck," she whispered. '' You've 
 stopped drifting, just as I knew you would." 
 
 " Did you," he said, eagerly, " did you really 
 think I would? " 
 
 " I was convinced of it," she returned. " But, 
 Mr. Vincent, you can't get out of it as easily as 
 that." 
 
 " What do you mean? " he asked. 
 
 " If you can't come to lunch or dinner, you 
 shall come to a dance and wear white gloves, and 
 nobody but I will know and I shall be proud of 
 you. Are you going to disappoint me? " 
 
 " I should just love to come," he cried, 
 " but " 
 
 She made a little gesture of despair. " Really 
 you are the most difficile person I ever invited. 
 But what? " 
 
 " My old world," he said gravely, " I am not 
 anxious to meet it. There may be people who 
 knew me a year ago. I want to avoid them."
 
 " I'll give you a list at once," she said, " if 
 that's the only trouble." She repeated thirty 
 names of people unknown and then added at 
 last Marjery Rosse and Billy Osmund. 
 
 " Osmund is one of them," he said, " who 
 knew me. I think meeting him would rather 
 unsettle me." 
 
 " I'll drop him," she returned, betraying no 
 further interest in the name. " I shall invite 
 them for next Wednesday week." She hesitated, 
 " I expect my cousin will give a dinner party be- 
 fore the dance. Is it out of the question for you to 
 accept? " 
 
 He thought of his hands, bruised, cut, dis- 
 figured, unsightly. It would take a month to get 
 them presentable again. " I should prefer to 
 come in after the dinner," he answered. 
 
 " We shall begin at ten," she told him. " It 
 won't be a formal supper but one that one can 
 take into odd corners and eat." 
 
 He looked at her gratefully. " I sha'n't have 
 to unmask, you mean." 
 
 " It will be delightful," she cried, her eyes 
 sparkling; " we have a perfect floor and nearly 
 all the men dance well." 
 
 " May I have the supper dance? " he asked.
 
 240 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " Aren't you rather impatient? " she returned. 
 
 " Consider my disabilities," he cried. " The 
 men who will be dining will be certain to ask 
 you, and when I come later, everything will be 
 gone." 
 
 " I suppose I'd better," she smiled. " Well, 
 I'll save the supper dance." 
 
 " I want more than that," he exclaimed. 
 '' What is one dance? I know perfectly well 
 that by ten there won't be a blank line on your 
 programme." 
 
 " Not if I save one for you," she said. 
 
 "Will you?" he cried eagerly. She thought 
 how young he had become in the last hour. 
 
 " If I remember it," she said. " Really, Mr. 
 Vincent, don't look so distressed. I'm not nearly 
 so much in request as you seem to think." 
 
 " Dare you to prove it by leaving three dances 
 open? " he demanded. 
 
 " If you are not a very good dancer, I shall 
 repent," she said. " I'm most inconsiderately 
 impatient of a clumsy partner, however well 
 meaning he may be. I will save the dances under 
 the condition that if you don't come up to my 
 standard, you must surrender me to a better 
 dancer."
 
 CHESTER MEETS HIS LADY 241 
 
 " Done," he cried, " I agree." 
 
 " Aren't you rather sure of yourself? " she 
 asked. 
 
 " It sounded conceited of me, I admit," he 
 told her, " but I've danced so much that I can't 
 help being as good as the average." 
 
 " I am anxious to see what your average is," 
 she returned. She looked at him fixedly for a 
 moment. " I sometimes wonder if I have met 
 you before. Once or twice I have thought there 
 was something familiar in your voice. It might 
 have been at a dance; if it was I shall remember 
 on Wednesday week. I have a good dancing 
 memory." 
 
 He had always dreaded that she might make 
 some such remark and often wondered why she 
 had not. Surely, he sometimes felt, she must re- 
 call that night at the Beau Sejour. 
 
 " If I had ever danced with you," he prevari- 
 cated, " I should never forget." 
 
 He was almost thankful that her nearness to 
 the Godfrey house prevented further questioning. 
 " Au revoir" she said, holding out her hand. He 
 watched her till the door shut her from his view. 
 Then he walked down the avenue no longer de- 
 pressed, bruised in body and hopeless of the fu-
 
 242 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 ture. She was still his friend and not ashamed 
 of him. 
 
 Peck awaited him, Peck of Cornell, who had 
 blithely gone forth to deliver samples. He un- 
 folded a tale of woe. After two weeks of work, 
 he had been paid off, and a fellow craftsman 
 whose probity was not what was represented 
 had stolen his money and the return ticket to 
 New York. Peck had beaten his way home 
 exhausted. 
 
 Chester, whose world was now rosy-hued, 
 declined to allow his friend to brood over such 
 trifles. It would be added copy for the auto- 
 biography he must some day write, and he 
 haled his companion to the cheerful Hungarian 
 restaurant and brought him back into a contented 
 frame of mind. And when Peck had eaten well, 
 and a tall glass of red wine, all for thirty cents, 
 had accompanied the meal, he outrivalled anyone 
 Chester had ever met in planning auriferous 
 futures. And as they climbed up the steps into 
 Second Avenue, Peck chortled gleefully at the 
 gently falling snow. 
 
 " Whence this merriment? " his friend de- 
 manded, who saw in it only discomfort. " Is 
 your poet's fancy charmed? "
 
 CHESTER MEETS HIS LADY 243 
 
 " Poet's fancy be hanged," cried Peck, " I 
 see ten dollars each for us, if this keeps on long 
 enough. It isn't so bad," he added, " so long as 
 we have good stout shoes. That is, of course, if 
 you're game." 
 
 " Do you suppose a true blue son of old Eli 
 is going to back down to any Cornell man who 
 ever swung a shovel? " he demanded. 
 
 But it was bitter work, all the same, yet noth- 
 ing else offered itself and he was not of those who 
 could accept charity. Working on lower Broad- 
 way, he saw Enderby, fur-coated, cross the street 
 before him. The lawyer did not glance in his 
 direction. He was too busy at the moment 
 thinking of his former friend, Richard Chester, to 
 spare any time to scan the groups of snow-shovel- 
 lers. 
 
 At the end of the week and the fall was heavy 
 for early winter Chester and Peck had earned 
 ten dollars. Of this, some went to placate a 
 foreman; but they were well used by this time 
 to petty graft, and protest was always useless. 
 
 When Wednesday came, Peck watched with 
 some astonishment his companion laying out the 
 paraphernalia of evening dress; he said nothing 
 for a while as Chester selected gloves and tie with
 
 meticulous care. At last he blurted out, " Are 
 you going to a wedding? " 
 
 " I am setting out my funeral apparel," Ches- 
 ter said gravely. 
 
 During the long hours he had worked in the 
 snow, he had come to a certain determination 
 which was to guide him in his relations with 
 Norah. 
 
 It was imposing upon her good nature to keep 
 up this strangely begun acquaintance and it 
 was a discipline which he was not strong enough 
 to bear, if his vow to keep silence was to be ob- 
 served. 
 
 He thought of her with a feeling that was 
 compounded of love and adoration. When she 
 knew he was the paid employe of coarse Alfred 
 Congdon, she had not shrunk from him. And 
 when he had told her his hands, calloused from 
 rough work, could not be seen at her table, she 
 had still preserved her air of charming friend- 
 liness and comprehension. And he was too thor- 
 oughly a man of the world not to gauge accu- 
 rately the sweetness of her nature. And with the 
 caution that was being daily impressed upon him 
 he saw how, were he an unscrupulous man, she 
 had acted with great unwisdom.
 
 CHESTER MEETS HIS LADY 245 
 
 It would be better for both of them were he, 
 after the dance to which he looked forward with 
 an intensity of delight, to drop out of sight. If 
 he could make good, and if the mining man really 
 made him a proposition, he would work with all 
 the strenuousness with which he had once played 
 and there might be a future too dazzling to think 
 of. But until he heard from Norah's friend, he 
 would apply himself to brushing up his old time 
 knowledge and keep away from her. 
 
 " Yes," he said, when Peck betrayed astonish- 
 ment at his answer, " I am laying out my funeral 
 raiment."
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 HIS RESURRECTION 
 
 " First say to yourself what you would be, and then do what 
 you have to do. For in almost everything else we see this to be the 
 practice. Olympic champions first determine what they would be 
 and then act accordingly. To a racer in a longer course there must 
 be one kind of diet, walking, anointing and exercise; to one in a 
 shorter all these must be different, and to a pentathlete still more 
 different." Epictetus. 
 
 TEN of the twenty couples invited to 
 Norah's dance were bidden to dinner, and 
 among them, Renalls and Ronald Mon- 
 mouth. Although by this time the latter was sure 
 that his cousin did not care for him and he was 
 himself under the influence of a leading light of 
 the musical comedy stage, he still delighted in pay- 
 ing her attentions which annoyed the financier. It 
 was a sign of emasculation, Renalls contended, 
 this undue reverence to women, and he secretly 
 deplored the politeness which men of a higher 
 social circle than his own, were used to assume to 
 their womenfolk. 
 
 Monmouth had asked for her programme and
 
 HIS RESURRECTION 247 
 
 been refused. " Wait till we get into the ball 
 room," she laughed. 
 
 ' Were you saving it as a birthday present 
 for me? " Renalls demanded a little later when he 
 secured a quiet moment with her. 
 
 " Is it your birthday? " she inquired. 
 
 " Didn't you remember it? " he said almost 
 wistfully. " I'm forty today." 
 
 " May you live to be a hundred! " she cried. 
 
 " But your programme? " he protested. 
 
 '' What is the good of filling it before the dance 
 commences?" she said. " Of course I shall dance 
 with Ronald and you but I'm not going to allow 
 you or him to take up more than I can spare." 
 She was not anxious for him to see Chester's 
 initials occupying so many dances. 
 
 " I'll take my chance then," Renalls returned, 
 unflurried. 
 
 It was not a large ball room but it was perfect 
 in its proportions and the decorations had been 
 entrusted to a florist who was also a color artist. 
 At ten o'clock all the guests were there except 
 Chester and another couple, and in the minstrels' 
 gallery the musicians were tuning their instru- 
 ments. She was bitterly disappointed at this de- 
 fection but the dance could not be postponed.
 
 248 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 Ronald Monmouth was the first to notice the 
 initials R. V. "Who is R. V.?" he demanded 
 with a cousin's privileged intimacy. Renalls, 
 standing by her, looked into her face as the 
 question was asked. 
 
 She answered without hesitation. " A Mr. 
 Vincent," she returned. 
 
 " Never heard of him," her cousin declared. 
 " Where does he come from? " 
 
 " I never press my friends for their antece- 
 dents," she retorted. " I thought that was the 
 custom of the nouveaux riches." 
 
 Monmouth turned to the financier. " You'd 
 better look out, Renalls; I told you of her liking 
 for mysterious strangers." 
 
 " What's that? " Renalls demanded. 
 
 " Ronald's exaggerations, merely," she told 
 him. 
 
 " Not a bit of it," her cousin answered. " First 
 there was the mysterious gentleman with the red 
 face, the husky voice and the wig. His passion 
 was for flinging money, whenever asked, for fool 
 charities. Next was the unknown disciple of 
 Isaac Walton who passed his blameless life pad- 
 dling about the Hudson in a small boat." 
 
 Renalls looked at the girl keenly; there was no
 
 Renalls looked at the girl keenly; there was no mistaking 
 the flush, on her face. Page 248.
 
 HIS RESURRECTION 249 
 
 mistaking the flush on her face. " Who was it? " 
 he snapped. 
 
 She turned to Monmouth. "Who told you?" 
 she inquired. 
 
 "Cyril and 'Ginia," he returned. "Don't 
 blush, my dear child, I think these mysteries 
 are the spice of life and I'm bent on establishing 
 your reputation for the mysterious. Mr. Renalls, 
 with that hard-headed common sense which marks 
 him out as a leading representative of our coun- 
 try's financial life, seems to doubt me. Perhaps 
 he knows this unknown R. V. who has absorbed 
 so much of your programme. I confess I 
 don't." 
 
 She looked at him with heightened color. " I 
 must introduce you," she said. Coming toward 
 her, cool and debonair and garbed with the quiet 
 perfection which can mark masculine costume no 
 less than that of women, was Richard Chester. 
 She smiled and held out her hand. 
 
 " Let me introduce Mr. Renalls to you," she 
 said, " and my cousin, Mr. Monmouth. This is 
 Mr. Vincent." 
 
 The three exchanged formal suspicious greet- 
 ings. Ronald had noticed that she made the fine 
 distinction of introducing him and Renalls to this
 
 250 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 stranger and not the stranger to the two leaders 
 of social life and high finance. Renalls was not 
 one to notice this. There was a look on his face 
 which Monmouth had never seen before. For the 
 moment glaring jealousy flamed up and trans- 
 formed the usually quiet face into a mask of all 
 the passions. Monmouth was almost startled. 
 "Good God!" he muttered, "That's the true 
 Renalls, is it?" 
 
 There was another incident strangely disturbing 
 to the girl which happened almost at this moment. 
 She had barely introduced Chester to her cousin 
 and co-hostess when the other late comers ar- 
 rived. The girl was a dainty, petite creature 
 named Marjery Rosse and the man was none 
 other than the Billy Osmund whose name she 
 had excised from her list. The man had been 
 intercepted by another group of people but the 
 girl pressed on. " Isn't my bringing Billy a 
 surprise? " she demanded. 
 
 " I asked Sigurd Stanton," Norah answered. 
 
 " No, darling," Marjery corrected. " You 
 asked me to bring my fiance. Billy and I only got 
 engaged last night. Mr. Stanton and I broke it 
 off the day before yesterday. Of course you don't 
 mind?"
 
 HIS RESURRECTION 251 
 
 " I'm delighted," cried Norah with sinking 
 heart. She looked up at Chester. " I couldn't 
 help it," she whispered. 
 
 " I know," he made reply. " Don't worry." 
 
 Then as Osmund was following in his fiancee's 
 wake, Chester stopped him. 
 
 " Billy," he said in a low voice, " don't say 
 anything to me. We're not supposed to know 
 each other. I'll get introduced to you directly. 
 I'm a Mr. Vincent, remember." 
 
 Without a word the other passed on. It was 
 incomprehensible to him, but Chester would 
 explain later and that was enough for him. 
 
 Meanwhile Renalls, waked from his belief that 
 Norah cared for no man and might therefore come 
 to entertain in time a tenderer regard for him, 
 took careful stock of Chester. So far as appear- 
 ances were concerned, he instantly conceded the 
 palm to the stranger. The new man was better 
 looking than he, carried himself more finely and 
 was incomparably a better dancer. From inquiry 
 he could learn nothing about him. In a room 
 where all the guests knew one another well, 
 Vincent was the only unknown. Later in the 
 evening he asked Billy Osmund, " Who is that 
 man, I wonder? "
 
 252 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 Osmund looked bored at the question. " You've 
 never met him then? " 
 
 Osmund had detected the malice in the other's 
 eye. It was well known that the financier was 
 a good hater and it was not Osmund's intention 
 to satisfy his curiosity. 
 
 " Never," said Renalls, " I've never even heard 
 of him. I can't think where Miss Ellis picked 
 him up." 
 
 " Do you usually criticise your hostess's 
 friends?" he demanded, moving from the finan- 
 cier's side to join Miss Rosse. 
 
 Renalls shrugged his shoulders and offered his 
 arm to Mrs. Godfrey, with whom he danced 
 laboriously, keeping his eye the while on Norah 
 and the stranger. There was a look of animation 
 on her face which he had never been able to evoke 
 even in the days when she admired his abilities 
 as a financial fighter. 
 
 Mrs. Godfrey, who waltzed very well and was 
 a pretty woman in her plump, opulent style, was 
 plainly piqued at his inattention. 
 
 " I sha'n't dance with you any more," she de- 
 clared. 
 
 " Why not? " he demanded bluntly. " Have 
 I trod on your toes or torn your train ? "
 
 HIS RESURRECTION 253 
 
 " You're looking at everyone but me," she 
 pouted. 
 
 " I'm trying to place that man dancing with 
 Norah," he said craftily. " Where did she meet 
 him?" 
 
 " I can't remember," she said. " At some dance 
 or another, I suppose. No," she added, " I've 
 never met him before. He's Norah's friend, not 
 mine." She had not been told yet that this was 
 the rescuer of her children. She went off at a 
 tangent. " Norah does the queerest things; she 
 arranged this dance without consulting me at 
 all and everybody accepted." She sighed envi- 
 ously. " They had to break other engagements 
 but they always do for her." 
 
 He looked at Norah critically. " You must 
 admit that she is lovely," he said. 
 
 " Of her type, yes," Mrs. Godfrey admitted. 
 She preferred that woman should have a majestic 
 presence and weigh more than the tables on weigh- 
 ing machines allow. Lack of exercise and a pleas- 
 ure in eating had robbed her neck and chin of 
 all lines of beauty and she was not pleased with 
 her escort; it was a moment, too, when she felt 
 she detested her cousin. She was rendered still 
 more impatient by the fact that Renalls ignored
 
 254 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 her remarks, gazing instead at the couple who 
 interested him. 
 
 " It would be just like Norah," she said spite- 
 fully, " to marry at a moment's notice a man of 
 whom one had never heard." 
 
 " She would if she wanted to," he agreed. 
 
 Chester had never anticipated a waltz so much 
 as the first Norah gave him and never realized 
 his anticipations so thoroughly. She danced per- 
 fectly and took him out of himself into a new 
 world. When it was over, he asked, " Am I to 
 have the other two ? " 
 
 " You've passed your examination," she 
 laughed. " You may." 
 
 When they were sitting out, she thought again 
 of Osmund. " I'm very sorry that Mr. Osmund 
 came," she said. 
 
 " It's all right," he assured her. " He is my 
 friend. I am really grateful now that I've seen 
 him." 
 
 " I'm so much relieved," she cried. " I was 
 afraid it might be some disagreeable reminder." 
 
 " Dear old Billy could never be disagreeable,". 
 he said. " We were at school together and I'd 
 trust him with my life. I look forward to being 
 introduced to him again,"
 
 HIS RESURRECTION 255 
 
 " I shall be happy to present you," she 
 said. 
 
 She felt strangely light and care-free tonight. 
 The man for whom she felt a warm friendship, 
 that was not unmixed with admiration, was not 
 in his proper sphere. Only she knew that under 
 the white gloves were the honorable scars of toil. 
 Never for a moment had she been in doubt as to 
 the outcome of this experiment. In this magnifi- 
 cent room thronged with men and women bearing 
 proud names in American society, Chester moved 
 as by right and she found herself wondering what 
 it was which brought him down. The weakness 
 she most dreaded to learn of, was that evil of 
 drink which is so marked in rich, idle young men 
 today. She had seen too many bright futures 
 wrecked by it. 
 
 There was a room leading from the great apart- 
 ment, sacred to men and fitted with every sort 
 of liquid refreshment and smoking material. He 
 would presently drift in there, she supposed, as 
 the other men did and have free access to what 
 might possibly have been the cause of his down- 
 fall. It was a kind of test which she dreaded but 
 yet wished him to undergo. There were even now 
 among her guests men whom she had known as
 
 256 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 nice-mannered, clean-minded boys who now never 
 came to a dance innocent of spirituous breath. 
 She did not like them but they were the men she 
 best knew, and immoderate drinking was not 
 solely a failing of the wealthy. It was a peculiarity 
 of her nature that she liked to test herself, her 
 friends and her possessions. If she bought a 
 hunter, she put him at higher obstacles than she 
 would encounter in the hunting field. Of her 
 friends she expected the loyalty she gave them and 
 her many disappointments in horses and men and 
 women had not made her cynical or bitter. She 
 had endowed Chester with certain attributes 
 which he might or might not possess. He had not 
 lied when he admitted he belonged to a rich set in a 
 world where work was not known. His friend- 
 ship with Osmund was proof of that. Osmund 
 moved in a set that was not the one affected by 
 the Godfreys. Whereas Mrs. Godfrey, widow of 
 a bank president, knew for the most part those 
 actively engaged in banking and allied pursuits, 
 Osmund was of the Long Island hunting set whose 
 money was made for them by long deceased re- 
 lations. It was that set in America which does 
 not encourage new members. It was but rarely 
 Osmund had been in the Godfrey house.
 
 HIS RESURRECTION 257 
 
 When the waltz was finished, Chester looked 
 at her programme. " You've only given me one 
 dance for the supper," he complained. " It's 
 always two at least. One shouldn't hurry even 
 over an informal supper." 
 
 " You should have been earlier," she returned. 
 " You were fifteen minutes late and I gave the 
 dance to Mr. Fenwick." 
 
 " Which is Mr. Fenwick? " he asked. 
 
 She pointed out a vacuous looking youth who 
 was talking to Osmund. " Excuse me for one 
 moment," said Chester, leaving her. She watched 
 his progress with interest. He bowed slightly to 
 Fenwick and entered into animated converse 
 with him. A look of indignation crossed Mr. 
 Fenwick's face which was followed by one of un- 
 easiness. Then it appeared he fell in with Ches- 
 ter's views and the two smiled pleasantly as 
 they parted. 
 
 " What on earth was all that about? " she 
 demanded as he resumed his seat. 
 
 " That Mr. Fenwick, who has intelligence de- 
 spite appearances, agrees with me that one cannot 
 snatch a too-hasty refection and be happy. He 
 was promised in your name the second extra 
 instead."
 
 258 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 "Your audacity astounds me!" she cried, 
 laughing. " Why not the first extra? " 
 
 He took her programme and pencilled his 
 initials against the first extra. " That is taken," 
 he said. 
 
 " Do you know you're a very unscrupulous 
 person, Mr. Vincent? " she exclaimed. " How 
 do you know I wasn't living for that dance with 
 him?" 
 
 " Let the second extra sustain you," he retorted. 
 
 " This is all very frivolous," she said. " I 
 depended on you to store my mind with useful 
 facts. You haven't yet offered an excuse for 
 being late." 
 
 " I hope you won't insist," he said more gravely. 
 " Believe me, it was absolutely unavoidable." 
 
 " Well, it doesn't really matter," she told him, 
 " you came in time, after all, didn't you ? " 
 
 " It does matter," he insisted. " It matters 
 very much. To come to a dance that one has 
 looked forward to, as one never did to another, 
 late, is inexcusable in a man." 
 
 And yet he could not bring himself to tell her 
 the true reason. As he was shaving in his ill 
 lighted room just before dressing, he had knocked 
 over the mirror and broken it. The landlady,
 
 HIS RESURRECTION 259 
 
 scenting loss and not sure as to the financial 
 status of the pair, demanded to know the reason 
 of the smash; and like all articles broken in board- 
 ing houses or furnished rooms, it was an heirloom 
 and she would not have had it happen for fifty 
 dollars. She insisted on immediate recompense. 
 Peck was out, and with only a dollar between him 
 and starvation, Chester was in despair. Joined 
 by her husband, the landlady became virulent 
 and derided the idea of a man dressed in evening 
 clothes not being able to produce a five-dollar 
 bill. He pacified her finally by a promise of pay- 
 ment on the morrow, but twenty minutes had 
 been dissipated by this miserable affair. He 
 designed his evening clothes for pawnbroking 
 adventures. He felt he could not tell the girl at 
 his side the miserable squalid truth. 
 
 " I'm not anxious to know," she declared. 
 " I am sure it was something that was unex- 
 pected." 
 
 He looked at her gratefully. " It was," he said. 
 
 " Now," she cried gaily a minute later, " you 
 must dance with my cousin, Alice Godfrey. I 
 hope you'll like her. We get along famously; 
 she never believes in what I do, and I never take 
 any notice of what she says."
 
 260 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 Mrs. Godfrey was disposed to like Chester. 
 He listened most intently to her views on Ibsen 
 he had read the article, too, which had inspired 
 them and found no fault with her conception 
 of modern art as set forth in the galleries and 
 exhibitions. She felt she was firmly established 
 in his mind as an intellectual and started, when 
 this end was attained, to speak of less fatiguing 
 matters. 
 
 "Do you know Charles Renalls?" she de- 
 manded. 
 
 " By name only," he answered. " I was intro- 
 duced to him but I doubt if that's knowing him." 
 
 " He's dancing with the girl in black over there," 
 she said. 
 
 Chester glanced at him. " He seems to have a 
 most offensive stare," he said. 
 
 " It's his way," she returned. " Lots of men 
 don't like him." 
 
 " I think I could easily be of their number," 
 said Chester. There could be no doubt but that 
 the financier was regarding him unpleasantly. 
 
 " This dance was really arranged up for him," 
 the other declared. She was convinced that 
 Norah would eventually marry him. " She'll 
 marry him sometime or another; he's the sort of
 
 HIS RESURRECTION 261 
 
 man who always gets what he wants; those cold, 
 patient men always do, I think." 
 
 She prattled on happily, not noticing that her 
 partner had suddenly become very quiet. 
 
 "Are they actually engaged?" he asked, pres- 
 ently. 
 
 " Hardly that," she admitted, " one might call 
 it an understanding rather." 
 
 " Do you welcome the prospect? " he demanded. 
 
 " It would be a splendid match," she said. 
 
 He raged inwardly at the unexpected tidings. 
 From what he had heard Norah say and from 
 what he knew of her circumstances, he supposed 
 her to be indifferent to men. But here was the 
 cousin with whom she lived admitting that the 
 dance was arranged for this glowering brute who 
 tried to stare him out of countenance. But de- 
 spite this rush of bitterness, he did not in any way 
 blame the girl. She had been kind to him when 
 he needed kindness; she had been a friend when he 
 was friendless, and that was all. He thought of 
 the phrase with which he had described his eve- 
 ning clothes to Peck. They would indeed be 
 funeral garments, marking the day of final banish- 
 ment from the woman he loved. Suppose Renalls 
 were to resolve himself into the mining man. His
 
 262 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 enormous South American interests were well 
 known and not inconceivably she might wish to 
 obtain the help of her future husband for the man 
 who was only a friend. If this proved to be true, 
 then good-bye to mining, he thought. He knew 
 certainly that Renalls hated him and would not 
 help, and he swore that nothing should make him 
 accept aid from her husband. He glanced at 
 Renalls with intensified interest as the dancing 
 brought them together, and Renails saw, flaring 
 back at him, the hatred which was never to be 
 stilled. 
 
 "Who is that man, Vincent?" Renalls asked 
 of Norah. 
 
 " A friend of mine," she answered, detecting the 
 covert bitterness in his voice, " who never per- 
 mits himself to ask impertinent questions." 
 
 " Is it impertinent to ask that? " he cried. 
 
 " Your tone was unpleasant," she said severely. 
 " It implied a certain criticism of a fellow guest 
 which I, as a hostess, don't like." 
 
 " I don't think you are behaving fairly," he 
 objected. " It is a perfectly ordinary question 
 that I've often asked you concerning other people. 
 I know nearly all your friends and I'm naturally 
 interested when Monmouth tells me you are in
 
 HIS RESURRECTION 263 
 
 the habit of meeting mysterious men, and then out 
 of nowhere this Mr. Vincent pops up and takes 
 half your dances." 
 
 " You'll admit he dances rather well," she said 
 calmly. 
 
 " Good Heavens! " he cried. " Is that so much 
 to boast of? Why, I can pick up three dancing 
 masters in as many blocks who could give him 
 cards and spades and a beating." She noticed for 
 the first time this evening the ring of jealousy in 
 his tones. She wondered, a little uneasily, if her 
 manner had denoted any visible preference for 
 the man whom he adjudged to be his rival. But 
 she was angry with Renalls for his evident 
 malice. 
 
 " And his skill," she continued, ignoring the 
 interruption, " at catching tomcod and crabs is 
 abnormal." 
 
 " You're making fun of me," the financier 
 said, sulkily. 
 
 " Don't spoil a whole delightful evening by 
 quarrelling, then," she urged. " Mr. Vincent, 
 whom I have known for a long time, is a perfectly 
 well behaved young man and known to friends 
 of mine, too." 
 
 " Which ones ? " he asked, quickly.
 
 264 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 She answered without thinking, " Mr. Osmund." 
 
 " I think you'd better guess again," he said. 
 " I asked Mr. Osmund a few minutes ago and he 
 said he didn't know him." 
 
 She was silent for a moment, angry at being 
 betrayed into this admission. 
 
 " Mr. Osmund doesn't like you," she returned, 
 " and your blunt rough way of cross-questioning 
 isn't popular. He probably told you what he 
 did in answer to some offensive question. You 
 know, Charlie, your manners may mark you as a 
 great man when your biography comes to be 
 written, but while you are alive, they rather 
 stamp you as a boor." 
 
 " I'm much obliged," he returned. She had 
 given him material for thought. It was true that 
 Osmund disliked him and would be ready to snub 
 him if occasion offered. If, on the other hand, 
 the girl was wrong, what was her reason for making 
 the evasion? She was impatient, as he knew, of 
 petty lies and could only have stooped to one for 
 some very special motive. The idea that she was 
 so friendly with the man Vincent was disturbing. 
 
 " I don't care a whole lot what Osmund thinks 
 of me," he said at length. " He's one of those 
 useless young men who couldn't earn five dollars
 
 HIS RESURRECTION 265 
 
 a week. If his grandfather hadn't bought a coun- 
 try house round about where Times Square now 
 stands, Master William wouldn't be where he is 
 today." 
 
 " But his grandfather did," she reminded him, 
 " and mine did very much the same thing a few 
 blocks north." 
 
 " I'm my own grandfather," he said grimly, 
 " and as for respecting the memories of those old 
 fools who founded the big families, I'd like to dig 
 up their bones and have them thrown into the 
 East River." 
 
 " The music is stopping," she said. " I'm very 
 glad. In this vindictive mood, you're not an ideal 
 partner." 
 
 A little later in the evening, Osmund, at a nod 
 from Chester, followed him into the room set 
 apart for masculine comfort. To their chagrin, 
 Renalls was lighting a cigar. He had recovered his 
 balance and nodded to Osmund with a show of 
 amiability and then glanced more keenly at the 
 man he knew as Vincent, who was mixing him- 
 self a whiskey and seltzer. Osmund, seeing pri- 
 vate conversation impossible, sauntered out. 
 
 ' You're a new friend of Miss Ellis ? " Renalls 
 asked with an appearance of friendly interest.
 
 266 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " Hardly that," was Vincent's unsatisfying 
 rejoinder. 
 
 " I thought I knew all her old friends," said 
 Renalls. " In fact I may say that I do know all 
 her old friends." 
 
 " That must give you singular pleasure," 
 returned Chester, lazily puffing at a delightful 
 cigarette, the like of which he had not smoked 
 for many moons. " But it must be boring, too, 
 at times." 
 
 "Not a bit," Renalls declared, "Miss Ellis' 
 friends are mine, too." 
 
 Chester blew a ring of smoke into the air. 
 " Friendship seems to be a kind of hobby with you, 
 then? " he inquired, blandly. 
 
 Renalls made him no answer. It was difficult 
 to keep the dislike he felt from showing. " I 
 suggest there are exceptions," Chester added. 
 
 " They don't count," Renalls snapped. 
 
 Chester turned to him the same pleasant coun- 
 tenance which he had shown. " Have you any 
 particular purpose in starting this conversation 
 with me?" 
 
 Renalls' face took a redder hue. " Politeness," 
 he said with an effort, " demands a certain cour- 
 tesy between fellow guests."
 
 HIS RESURRECTION 267 
 
 " I see," returned Chester, musing. " And 
 this is your particular idea as to courtesy this 
 attempt to question me about the length of time 
 I have known Miss Ellis! Oddly enough, I en- 
 tertain absolutely different views of courtesy. 
 You may have noticed that I asked no confidences 
 of you." 
 
 '' I did not intend to ask any questions which 
 could offend," Renalls said stiffly, " but my 
 friendship with Miss Ellis is so intimate that any 
 such curiosity is pardonable." 
 
 " When I learn this from Miss Ellis," Chester 
 said, " I shall be happy to draw up for your edifi- 
 cation a list of all the places where I've had the 
 good fortune to meet her." 
 
 Renalls felt he had met defeat. This imper- 
 turbable young man gave him no opportunities for 
 learning what he was absolutely determined to 
 know. There was an air of fashion about him 
 not to be denied. His evening dress was in cor- 
 rect style and spoke of affluence. True, he wore 
 no jewelry; but Renalls had found that a display 
 of precious stones was not characteristic of the 
 young men of the smart set. He decided upon 
 an engaging air of candor. 
 
 " I'm afraid," he said, " that what seemed to
 
 268 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 me only the pleasantries of ordinary conversa- 
 tion are offensive to you." 
 
 His manner disarmed the other. He feared that 
 he had been rude to a man whom Norah regarded 
 with warm feelings. Perhaps jealousy had be- 
 trayed him into exhibiting a side which would 
 pain the girl, were she to learn of it. 
 
 " I'm sorry to have given you that idea," he 
 returned politely. More than this admission he 
 did not feel called upon to make. He glanced at 
 the clock and rose to his feet. " I must find my 
 partner," he said. 
 
 At the door a young man whom he did not re- 
 member to have seen previously stopped him. 
 " Can you tell me if Charles F. Renalls is here? " 
 
 " In that room," said Chester, indicating the 
 apartment he had just left. 
 
 The young man thanked him and then stared 
 quickly at the other until he had passed from 
 sight. 
 
 Renalls looked up to see yet another stranger. 
 " Mr. Charles F. Renalls? " the new man asked. 
 
 " Well," said the financier, gruffly, " what 
 about it? " 
 
 It was plain that the young man was a little 
 nervous. " I have been sent," he commenced,
 
 HIS RESURRECTION 269 
 
 " by the Daily Sphere to find out whether the 
 report as to the consolidation of the Agricultural 
 Bank with the Manufacturers' Trust Company 
 is true. There's a rumor that they've amalga- 
 mated and made you president." 
 
 " There is, is there? " sneered Renalls. 
 
 " I want the story," the young man admitted 
 ingenuously. 
 
 " You aren't alone in your glory, then," Renalls 
 snapped. " You newspaper men are a damned 
 nuisance, anyway, and I've had ten of them this 
 very day cooling their heels in my outer office 
 waiting for the story you want. They are there 
 still, for all I know or care." 
 
 " It is true, then? " the other asked, eagerly. 
 
 Renalls favored him with a long, insolent stare. 
 He noted the ill fitting dinner coat, the incor- 
 rectly cut white waistcoat and the ready made 
 white tie. Here, at least, was no invited guest. 
 He was used to baiting the reporters, whom as 
 a class he detested, and he could see to what cate- 
 gory this man belonged. He was probably a 
 brainy, eager young reporter, star of his local 
 paper, in his native State, who had come to New 
 York to make his name. He had been possibly 
 one of the anxious ten waiting in the outer office
 
 270 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 that morning and alone of them had learned of 
 his destination and tracked him to it. Why the 
 servants had admitted him would be learned later 
 on. At last Renalls' black rage had found some- 
 thing upon which to vent itself. 
 
 " I know your sort," he sneered. ' You're 
 some cub reporter sent to make good where the 
 others have failed. I suppose they promised 
 you a job on the staff if you took back the story 
 or what looked to be the genuine goods. If not, 
 it's to be back to Pishtush in the Swamp for 
 keeps, eh ? " 
 
 " See here, Mr. Renalls," urged the young man, 
 " I don't want to put myself in the wrong with 
 you. I've just got to try to get my story some way 
 but I'd rather have got it from you in your office 
 than come in here like this." 
 
 Renalls looked at his clothes with a nasty 
 smile. 
 
 " How much for the night? " he demanded. 
 
 The reporter colored and answered, not without 
 a certain dignity, " I did hire them," he admitted, 
 " and it was money I could ill afford, but I don't 
 know that it's in good taste for a millionaire like 
 you to remind me of it." 
 
 " Don't talk about good taste to me," Renalls
 
 HIS RESURRECTION 271 
 
 roared at him. " What sort of taste do you call 
 it to sneak into a lady's house to a dance you 
 weren't asked to, disguised as a gentleman, just 
 to get a story for the Daily Sneer? " 
 
 " We've always treated you well, Mr. Renalls," 
 the young man assured him with the strange 
 loyalty of the average newspaper man to his 
 journal. " I only want a few particulars about 
 your amalgamation - 
 
 Renalls interrupted him. " It's your amalga- 
 mation," he reminded him. 
 
 " It's a matter of vital public interest," the 
 young man urged, " and with the public in this 
 nervous, panicky state, may reassure thousands 
 of investors." 
 
 Renalls shook his head. " Your city editor's 
 drawn a blank with you," he observed. " I guess 
 it's back to Pishtush in the Swamp for yours." 
 
 The journalist looked at him for a moment in 
 silence. He saw, plainly, that he could get noth- 
 ing from the surly financier. He realized that this 
 much-deserved opportunity to make good and 
 gain the staff was lost. 
 
 " Very well," he said, " I'll go." 
 
 " I think you'll need help," Renalls said with 
 a grin. " If I say the word, there's a couple of
 
 272 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 husky footmen who will boot you out on to the 
 sidewalk in jig time." 
 
 " You wouldn't dare do that to a newspaper 
 man," cried the other. 
 
 " You're not a newspaper man," said Renalls. 
 " You're an impostor disguised as a gentleman 
 who for all I know sneaked in here to go through 
 the guests' pockets." 
 
 " I'm as good as anyone here," cried the other, 
 now thoroughly aroused, " and a great deal 
 better than most. Why, the very man who told 
 me where you were, isn't what he seems." 
 
 He wondered at the financier's suddenly changed 
 attitude. " Which one? " he demanded, eagerly. 
 
 " A tall, dark-haired young man, clean shaven, 
 with aquiline features." 
 
 This was too indefinite for a practical man like 
 the capitalist. He rose to his feet. " Point him 
 out to me," he said. 
 
 Chester was dancing with Marjery Rosse and 
 did not see the smile of contentment that irradi- 
 ated the face of his rival. 
 
 The reporter found himself dragged back into 
 the little room and offered a drink and a superb 
 cigar. He was conscious of Renalls' powerful 
 face gazing at him with a friendliness that was
 
 HIS RESURRECTION 273 
 
 amazing. " What on earth," muttered the young 
 reporter to himself, " has happened? " 
 
 " You are probably mistaken," Renalls as- 
 serted. 
 
 " Never," declared the other, " it's part of 
 my trade to remember faces. I last saw that man 
 a few weeks ago in a police court charged with 
 beating a big hotel out of a swell feed." In sup- 
 port of his story he gave the hotel's name and other 
 details which Renalls stored mentally. He could 
 see this interested the big man and he plunged 
 into the story with what he felt sure was the best 
 Sun manner. He was young, and it gave him, in- 
 cidentally, the opportunity to air his profound 
 knowledge of the world. 
 
 Renalls was not ungrateful for this lucky 
 happening, " Now," he said, " get out that note- 
 book and take down the names of the officers of 
 the new corporation and some particulars about it." 
 
 When the reporter had gone, with all the honors 
 of war, Renalls, happier than an hour ago he 
 would have believed possible, strolled back into 
 the ball room. He was in time to see Marjery 
 Rosse introduce her partner to her fiance. A 
 minute after the two men made for the little room 
 he had quitted.
 
 274 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 Osmund wrung his friend's hand joyfully. 
 "My dear old boy," he cried, "what in Heaven's 
 name is the meaning of this mystery? We all 
 thought you had disappeared for good." 
 
 " I have," said Chester. " This is positively 
 my last resurrection." 
 
 " I won't believe it," Osmund ejaculated. 
 
 " But you must, Billy," Chester told him seri- 
 ously. " I'm no longer in the world that was ours 
 and is still yours. I lost all right to it, and after 
 tonight, I get back into a world you wot not 
 of." 
 
 " There's damned little comfort in hearing 
 that! " Osmund rejoined. 
 
 " It's got to be," Chester said. He was de- 
 pressed by the knowledge that Renalls was so 
 much to the girl as to have the right to examine 
 him on the length of their friendship. His store 
 of cheerfulness was suddenly scattered. The fu- 
 ture, which had always before offered him a fight- 
 ing hope, seemed hardly of interest. 
 
 " Yes, it's got to be," he repeated wearily. 
 " I played the fool all round, Billy. I had a 
 fortune which I blew in after the approved 
 fashion and I've got to suffer for it. Some day, if 
 I've made reparation, I'll come back."
 
 HIS RESURRECTION 275 
 
 " You talk as though you'd been a criminal," 
 Osmund objected. '' What are you accusing your- 
 self of? Have you wasted your wife's money on 
 other women like Kerrison, or drunk your chil- 
 dren's fortune like Reed? Did you ever cheat at 
 cards or hit a man when he was down? None of 
 us ever saw you do it." 
 
 Chester looked at him more cheerfully. " Billy," 
 he said, " it's good to hear you say that, although 
 you're kinder to me than I deserve. But all the 
 same I acted the absolute ass and it was time I 
 was stopped." 
 
 " Then we cleaned you out that day? " Osmund 
 demanded. 
 
 Chester nodded. " You were the instruments 
 of fate," he said. " I was swept out of existence, 
 horse, foot and artillery." 
 
 " Dick," cried the other. " It makes me feel 
 awfully bad to hear that. Why didn't you come 
 to me and ask for anything you wanted? You've 
 been mighty good to me, old man, and now it's 
 a bit of a shock to find you didn't feel friendly 
 enough to me to come and say you wanted money. 
 Haven't I enough? Haven't I a damned sight 
 too much ? " 
 
 Chester put his hands on the other's shoulders.
 
 276 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " Billy," he said, " you mustn't feel like that. 
 Others offered me money but I wouldn't take it. 
 Money wouldn't help me." 
 
 " What are you doing now? " Osmund de- 
 manded. 
 
 " Working," Chester said, " and my prospects 
 are splendid." 
 
 " You look prosperous enough," Osmund ad- 
 mitted. " But you're trained a bit on the fine 
 side." 
 
 " I used to ride ten pounds too heavy," Chester 
 remarked with conviction. 
 
 The preliminary tuning of instruments brought 
 both men to their feet. 
 
 " When you want me or money or both," said 
 Osmund, " you know where to find me. If you 
 ask anyone else instead of me, you'll hurt me, 
 Dick." 
 
 Chester gripped his hand, " I won't forget," he 
 said. 
 
 Osmund had perfect faith in his friend's ability 
 and never for a moment guessed to what straits 
 he had come. Chester had never been associated 
 in his mind with failure and he confidently ex- 
 pected him to return in trailing clouds of glory. 
 He was still thinking of him when his partner,
 
 HIS RESURRECTION 277 
 
 Norah Ellis, started to speak of Vincent. ' You 
 used to know Mr. Vincent well, didn't you? " she 
 asked. 
 
 " Yes," he admitted, at length. 
 
 " Why do you hesitate? " she demanded. " I'm 
 his friend as well as you." 
 
 He looked relieved. This air of mystery taxed 
 him somewhat. " He used to be my greatest 
 friend," he said. " He is my greatest friend now," 
 he corrected. " What do you know about him? " 
 
 " That he was a member of all the right clubs 
 and lost his money. Was it drink? " she demanded 
 suddenly. 
 
 Osmund grinned cheerily. " What put that 
 idea into your head? " he asked. " Why, when we 
 were at Yale, I got into a hard drinking set and 
 he pulled me out of it almost against my will. He 
 gave me an awful hammering once, for well, to 
 be exact, for shipping too much whiskey. He 
 can hit like a horse kicking," he added, reflecting 
 on ancient memories. " He isn't a total abstainer, 
 not by a long shot, but he keeps himself in hand. 
 Tell me what put that into your head? " 
 
 " So many men go that road," she sighed. 
 
 ' You remember Peter Harrington, who led all 
 
 the cotillions, three years ago, and is now a re-
 
 278 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 mittance man in Brussels, and Elmer Crofts, who 
 took poison a month ago. Wasn't it drink with 
 them?" 
 
 " I know, I know," he admitted uneasily, " I 
 know we all drink far too much, but I'm going 
 to cut it out when I marry and be a model hus- 
 band. Look at Marjery," he cried as she passed 
 with her partner. " Isn't she worth it? " 
 
 Norah smiled at his enthusiasm. " You're a 
 lucky man," she said. 
 
 " Vincent," Osmund went at the word care- 
 fully, " always used to say that I was cut out for 
 a happy married man. I used to jeer at him but 
 he was right. By the way," he asked curiously, 
 " where did you meet him ? " 
 
 " It was most romantic," she cried brightly. 
 " I was coming down the American Rhine in the 
 launch when he caught a crab and lost the oar; 
 his little boat was drifting out to the ocean 
 when I towed him home." 
 
 Osmund looked doubtful. " Vincent caught a 
 crab and lost an oar? " he exclaimed. 
 
 " There was another man in the boat," she 
 admitted. 
 
 " That's the chap who lost the oar," Osmund 
 declared.
 
 HIS RESURRECTION 279 
 
 " Couldn't we help him? " she asked. 
 
 The man shook his head. " Never. He's as 
 proud as Lucifer, Son of the Morning. I offered 
 him anything I had but got turned down cold. 
 But what makes you think he needs help?" he 
 added, suspiciously. " You almost give me the 
 impression that' he's down and out." 
 
 She felt a thrill of satisfaction that not even to 
 his old friend but only to her had he confided the 
 hardships he had undergone. 
 
 " He'll win yet," she said, and meant it. 
 
 " I don't like all this mystery," he returned 
 irritably. " Here's a man whose friends would 
 back him to any extent, let's say of a million, and 
 he refuses to be helped. It isn't natural." 
 
 " I think it's rather fine," she said softly. 
 " Being helped isn't fighting, is it? " 
 
 " Perhaps not," he grumbled. " But what is 
 the use of a man taking a heavy handicap volun- 
 tarily? It may prove his strength, but it wears 
 him down in the long run."
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF LOVE 
 
 " To do great things, a man must live as though he had never 
 to die." Vauvenargues. 
 
 WHEN the dance was over, she watched 
 him lead his fiancee proudly away. She 
 sighed half enviously and was aware of 
 Chester at her side. 
 
 " They'll be happy," she said, " and I'm afraid 
 there are not many to bear them company." 
 She was so full of this that his silence passed un- 
 noticed. But in the great dining room where 
 supper was served on little separate tables, she 
 became conscious of it. ' " You are very quiet," 
 she said. 
 
 " I was only giving you the opportunity to 
 reflect," he answered. 
 
 " I was reflecting about you," she observed. 
 
 " I pray they were pleasant reflections," he 
 said, formally.
 
 THE KINGDOM OF LOVE 281 
 
 " Pleasanter evidently than yours," she cried. 
 Then she noticed that he was watching her cousin 
 and Charles Renalls. 
 
 " I wish you had told me about him," he said. 
 
 " What could I tell you that you don't know? " 
 she demanded, puzzled. 
 
 " It's rather ungracious of me to mention it," 
 he returned, " because after all you were kind 
 enough to ask me here, but you half hinted in the 
 Park that you were giving this dance for me." 
 
 " Well? " she said, " what of it? " 
 
 " Why, don't you see when Mrs. Godfrey told 
 me it was all arranged for that man, I was dis- 
 appointed." 
 
 "What else did she tell you?" the girl de- 
 manded. 
 
 ' That you were going to marry him. That 
 was all, I think." 
 
 " And you believed it? " 
 
 " Naturally. I agreed with her that it was a 
 good match." 
 
 She looked him full in the race. " Why don't 
 you congratulate me, then ? " 
 
 " Do you care for empty phrases ? " 
 
 " Can't you say it from your heart? " 
 
 " No," he said, " I can't. You should have a
 
 282 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 better man than he. I don't know a man who is 
 worthy of you, but he isn't." 
 
 " You interest yourself very much in my 
 affairs," she said. " Suppose I had asked you 
 whether you were engaged, what would you have 
 said? Wouldn't it have seemed unwarranted? " 
 
 " I should have told you," he said simply, 
 " I was engaged once. She chose another life 
 the religious life I saw her take the vows. She 
 was a saint and God knows there's little enough 
 of the saint about me." 
 
 " I don't think you have ever been bad," she 
 said. 
 
 He shrugged his shoulders. " It seems to me I 
 have always played the fool." 
 
 " I wish you wouldn't talk like that," she re- 
 turned. " Surely you need not seize on this night, 
 the night of the dance that was given for you, 
 to make me miserable." 
 
 He looked at her eagerly. "Then it wasn't 
 given for him ? " 
 
 " It was given for you," she answered steadily. 
 " What Alice meant by telling you that, and," 
 she colored, " all that nonsense about my marry- 
 ing him, I can't imagine." 
 
 " Then it wasn't true? " he cried.
 
 THE KINGDOM OF LOVE 283 
 
 " I shall never marry him," she said. 
 
 Her statement brought him immeasurable re- 
 lief, although he knew it could not bring him nearer 
 to those hopes which he could hardly dare to 
 cherish. He had instantly detected in Renalls a 
 coarseness of fibre which, however he might have 
 concealed it from the girl, was patent to him. It 
 could never be that he could think of her marriage 
 without a pang but to see her sacrificed to a man 
 of the Renalls type was unbearable. 
 
 But it was later on in the evening, when the 
 dance was drawing to a close, that the full measure 
 of his resolve not to see her again impressed itself 
 upon him. 
 
 She was sitting out with him in a little sheltered 
 alcove when she realized this air of depression. 
 " I think you are wishing you hadn't come," 
 she said. 
 
 " What makes you say that? " he asked. 
 
 " You are suddenly so silent." 
 
 " It isn't that I regret coming," he assured her. 
 " It is because, when New York lies far behind me, 
 I shall be sorry." 
 
 " Are you going then? " she demanded. " Have 
 you forgotten my friend who has mining inter- 
 ests?"
 
 284 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " No," he said, gratefully, " I haven't for- 
 gotten; but when he comes, the odds are, he will 
 say like all the rest that I have no experience. 
 New York is full of men who know all there is to 
 know about subjects that I've hardly mastered 
 the elements of. I don't stand a ghost of a chance 
 with them." 
 
 He hardly understood the feeling of hopeless- 
 ness that was upon him. The gorgeous scene, 
 the rich dresses and all the thousand reminders of 
 his old life seemed farcical when he thought of 
 the existence that had been his lately and was 
 likely to be his in the future. 
 
 " That isn't very friendly of you, is it? " she 
 asked. " You make a sudden resolve to go away 
 when New York surely offers the greatest oppor- 
 tunities to a man who wants to get on." 
 
 He looked at her almost hungrily. Never had 
 she seemed so fair, so desirable and so far away. 
 She was provocative of regrets and hopes unat- 
 tainable and withal she seemed so alluring. But 
 he was a penniless man and she had great pos- 
 sessions. 
 
 " I have thought it over very carefully," he 
 answered. " I am convinced that I am right." 
 
 " Isn't friendship worth having then? "
 
 THE KINGDOM OF LOVE 285 
 
 ' There has been nothing half so sweet to me 
 as yours," he cried. " There has been nothing 
 which helped me as much. My resolve wasn't 
 made hastily." 
 
 " I am sorry," she said, simply, " I haven't 
 many friends and I shall miss you." 
 
 He glanced at her in despair. Could he not 
 let her know that he was renouncing this great 
 gift for fear of betraying himself? The reproach 
 in her voice drove all sense of caution from him. 
 
 " My dear," he said softly, " my dear, don't 
 you see that I must go, I who have no right to 
 think of you, love you so much that I dare not 
 come here again. How could I come here and talk 
 calmly and collected when my whole soul was 
 crying out for you? " 
 
 She was leaning forward in the attitude he knew 
 so well, her exquisite profile clear as a cameo in the 
 soft crimson light of the shaded lamp. She did 
 not look at him; instead, she seemed to be idly 
 playing with her fan. " Then this is good-bye," 
 she said dully. 
 
 He looked at her in despair, and the passion of 
 his longing broke through the calculated prudence 
 of his resolves and sent the blood racing through 
 his veins. The mere touch of her shoulder against
 
 286 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 his, the rare loveliness of her face and the thought 
 of what this banishment would mean to him, drove 
 him almost to madness. He clenched his hand and 
 prayed for a calmer mood but such strength was 
 not his. Instead, he put his arms about her and 
 kissed her, all unresisting, a score of times. 
 
 " Good-bye, my dear," he whispered, " and for- 
 give me." 
 
 It seemed to him that there was a wail in her 
 voice. " Oh, why did you do it? " she cried. 
 
 " Because I couldn't help myself," he answered. 
 " It was unpardonable, I know, but I shall always 
 be glad I did. I'm not going to a happy life and 
 if there is one thing that will make it livable, it 
 will be this memory. No matter what you may 
 say or think or what may happen to me, I shall 
 always remember that I held you in my arms and 
 your lips were pressed against mine and your 
 heart beat next to my heart." 
 
 Her silence oppressed him. He had risen to 
 his feet and gazed down at her. " Shall I go? " 
 he asked soberly. 
 
 " Do you suppose I shall ever forget either? " 
 she said slowly. " It was true you had no right 
 to do it, but what do you gain by going away? " 
 
 He looked at her in amazement. Instead of the
 
 THE KINGDOM OF LOVE 287 
 
 resentment which he had expected to find, there 
 was only an undercurrent of sadness. 
 
 " Don't you want me to go away? " he stam- 
 mered. 
 
 " I hardly understand myself," she said. " I 
 thought we were friends, really friends. I treas- 
 ured your friendship. I hardly know myself," 
 she added. " I thought it was friendship on your 
 part. I said to myself only an hour ago that 
 friendship was a very beautiful thing." 
 
 " And I thought so, too, at first," he said, " but 
 out of my friendship grew something more beauti- 
 ful." He looked at her sadly. " What must you 
 think of me for breaking it like this? " 
 
 " Sit down again," she told him, " I want to 
 try to think what this means." He took the seat 
 at her side. ' You have made everything so 
 difficult," she cried. " I liked you, I was sorry 
 for you, I wanted to help you." 
 
 " You gave me new life," he said. 
 
 " When you said you must go I thought you had 
 done right. I could have shaken hands with you 
 and never known what had gone out of my life, 
 if you had not taken me in your arms." She put 
 a timid hand on his arm, " I can't let you go, now, 
 my dear."
 
 288 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 There are crises in life that can be met only 
 with silence. He looked into her eyes, eyes dimmed 
 as never before he had seen them, and knew cer- 
 tainly that the kingdom of love was before him. 
 And in that divine moment he became conscious 
 of the strength within him to conquer, which can 
 only come to those who have their resting place 
 in a woman's heart. He raised her hands with 
 something of reverence to his lips. 
 
 She was the first to break the silence. Her 
 whole being was flooded with a tender pride in her 
 lover. There was no room left for suspicion or 
 doubt. He loved her and was strong and every- 
 thing must end happily. She was too happy to 
 take thought of the morrow. " How nearly I 
 missed you," she whispered. 
 
 " It was all mapped out by fate, Sweetheart," 
 he cried, " we were never meant to miss one an- 
 other." He drew her closer to him. " It was not 
 accident; it was all some merciful design." 
 
 She sighed happily. " But suppose you had 
 gone! I should have found out too late that I 
 loved you and how could I have endured life? " 
 
 He grew more serious when she spoke of the 
 future, but there was no longer the hopelessness 
 which was his but a few minutes before. There
 
 THE KINGDOM OF LOVE 289 
 
 were giants in the way but he had something to 
 fight for, someone to inspire him with a courage 
 that was stronger than anything he had ever 
 hoped to possess. She was anxiously watching 
 him. 
 
 " Why do you still look sad ? " she asked. 
 
 " I am thinking I can never love you enough," 
 he answered. He took her hands in his. " Dear 
 white, slender, strong little fingers," he cried, 
 " I kiss each one of them. How tiny they are! 
 And yet they dragged me out of the maelstrom." 
 
 She looked at him with glistening eyes. There 
 is nothing so sweet to the woman who loves as to 
 be told how she has helped. 
 
 " Did I do that? " she asked. 
 
 " Dear," he returned, " it was not only down 
 the Hudson that I was drifting when you came 
 to the rescue. Who taught you to be an enchant- 
 ress?" 
 
 " I practise my spells for my lord alone," she 
 smiled. 
 
 " And for none else? " 
 
 " I can't think of anyone else," she said. " I 
 can only think of you and that you love me." 
 
 Renalls' voice in the distance brought her back 
 to earth. She wished it had been to anyone
 
 290 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 else that the next dance was given. She felt that 
 his keen eyes must inevitably read the secret of 
 her happiness. She raised her face to her lover's. 
 " Good-bye for a little while." 
 
 Renalls, secure in the knowledge that he could 
 damn Vincent by a mere recital of the police court 
 incident, hugged his secret not decided whether 
 to use it now or to wait until other episodes could 
 be added to it. It put him in a good humor which 
 was in marked contrast to that exhibited earlier 
 in the evening. He looked at Norah critically. 
 
 " You never looked better," he exclaimed. 
 
 " I am happy," she said simply. 
 
 " Why," he asked, " is happiness something 
 new then ? " 
 
 " I love dancing," she returned, serenely, " this 
 is a favorite waltz and for once you are jiot wreck- 
 ing the careers of other couples." 
 
 And there were others who noticed her radiance. 
 Osmund commented on it regretfully to his fiancee, 
 " What she can see in a brute like Renalls beats 
 me," he exclaimed. 
 
 The financier was far too shrewd and suspicious 
 to be lulled into security by any such evasive 
 answers. He had made it his business to find out 
 that Norah had given Vincent many dances and
 
 THE KINGDOM OF LOVE 291 
 
 sat out with him this last one. And since she had 
 never before shown so decided a preference for 
 the company of any other man, it raised vague 
 alarm in him. In so much as he could banish his 
 inordinate ambition and think of anyone but 
 himself, Norah absorbed more of his thoughts 
 than any woman he had known. She was beauti- 
 ful, she was an admirable hostess and the marriage 
 would help him in many ways. No other man, he 
 swore, should have her. 
 
 He had listened keenly to the reporter's story 
 and hoped good would come of the inquiries he 
 was determined to pursue. The young journalist 
 had depicted Vincent as a professional swindler 
 whose bluff had for once been called. But Renalls 
 had gained no such impression of him. He was 
 no common swindler. He must be, Renalls felt, 
 one of the more prosperous adventurers who prey 
 upon a credulous society even to the point of 
 assuming titles and marrying heiresses. He was 
 plainly after Norah's supposed fortune. No living 
 being had so clear an idea of the state of the girl's 
 finances as Renalls. By the exercise of his skill 
 and through the financial journal which he owned, 
 the financier was able to help or hinder her in the 
 ambitious scheme of turning the Brazilian mines
 
 292 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 into a great corporation. It would be easier now 
 Cosway was out of the way and she had no reliable 
 person behind her. No one knew better than he 
 what a broken reed her partner Mendoza was. 
 
 Norah was far too much engrossed to notice his 
 silence. She was existing only for the last dance 
 with Chester. She was determined that on this 
 night, this blessed night when the love which she 
 had thought no part of her lot was vouchsafed 
 her, no disturbing elements must enter. She an- 
 swered Renalls' questions with a gentleness which 
 surprised him. Her tongue did not always spare 
 him. 
 
 But it seemed an eternity before she found her- 
 self alone with Richard. " If there had been an- 
 other dance," she said, " I should have refused to 
 dance it. I should have left my partner and tried 
 to find you." She was surprised to find with what 
 ease the reserve dropped from her. " I could 
 hardly bear it." 
 
 " And I tried to talk sensibly to people," he 
 declared, " but I'm sure I failed. Mrs. Godfrey 
 said that since she first came out, no partner had 
 ever kept looking at the clock as I did. She won't 
 forgive me easily." 
 
 " I love you for it," she cried. She looked at
 
 THE KINGDOM OF LOVE 293 
 
 him eagerly. " Have you realized that I don't 
 know anything at all about you? Don't tell me 
 anything tonight if you don't want to; but you 
 can't think how devoured by curiosity I am to 
 learn everything there is to know about you. Were 
 you a good little boy or a bad little boy ? I wonder 
 if you had any sisters and if they were nice to you. 
 I'm jealous of every woman you ever spoke to. 
 And think of it, I don't even know your Christian 
 name! I can't always call you pretty names when 
 other people are near, can I?" 
 
 " It's not a very pretty name," he laughed. 
 " Whittington of pussy cat fame bore it, too." 
 
 " Richard," she said. " And so did the Cceur de 
 Lion. I like it. Of course I shall call you Dick. 
 There's something straightforward and manly 
 about it and there are all sorts of nice little con- 
 tractions of it that I can use when I feel like it. 
 Do you know there's something rather fascina- 
 ting in knowing so little of one another. In the 
 only way that matters, we know each other per- 
 fectly, but in all the little things we have surprises 
 in store." She looked at him with a smile. " Sup- 
 pose you are disappointed in me, Richard." 
 
 "Suppose the sun never shines again!" he 
 retorted.
 
 294 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " I have many vices," she declared. " I get 
 neuralgia and evil tempers." 
 
 " I wish I were as certain of being half as good 
 as you," he said, " and I should be happier. And 
 as for dreading what I may discover, have you 
 forgotten my love for exploration ? " 
 
 " We must go there again in the spring," she 
 answered. " I can never think so kindly of any 
 spot on earth as that quaint old place." She looked 
 at him with mock reproach. " Do you know our 
 very acquaintance began in deception? Like 
 Douglas Gordon in the song, you ' threw away 
 your oar, your sail, your rudder,' and shouted 
 for help. Have I trusted you too much? " 
 
 It was truer than she knew that their first meet- 
 ing had begun with deception. It seemed years 
 ago to Chester since that night when he crouched 
 behind the Louis Seize screen and first saw her. 
 There was no fear in his mind that when the time 
 came for an explanation she would blame him. 
 How or when circumstances would permit him to 
 tell her were matters for future consideration 
 something as yet on the knees of the gods. 
 
 Her love had swept some of his old self-sufficiency 
 away. " I hope you will never think that," he 
 said. " I want all your trust and love, darling."
 
 THE KINGDOM OF LOVE 295 
 
 " You know it is all yours," she cried. " I keep 
 back nothing." 
 
 " I sha'n't much longer," he said; he knew that 
 there must be between them the absolute faith 
 born of perfect knowledge. 
 
 She stroked his hair with a caressing gesture. 
 " My poor boy," she said, " you've had hard 
 times and you've been very plucky and I am con- 
 tent to begin to know you from tonight." 
 
 " That's generous of you," he cried, " that's 
 just what I should have expected." He paused 
 for a moment. " Dear, there are many things to 
 be done before I can tell you but you must know 
 me from the beginning." 
 
 " When you like," she said, looking at him with 
 eyes of affection. " Dick, did I ever tell you I 
 thought you were handsome? I do think it. 
 There's the tiniest little wave in your hair that is 
 charming and just at the temples there are some 
 hairs hiding underneath the others as though they 
 were ashamed of being gray. Are you very old, 
 my Richard?" 
 
 " Very," he sighed. " One and thirty summers 
 have passed me by." 
 
 " A whole quarter of a century has rolled by 
 me," she returned. " I wish we were both
 
 296 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 younger; there would be more good years before 
 us. I can't bear to think we may be cheated of 
 even a moment." 
 
 " We sha'n't be," he exclaimed with conviction. 
 
 " Then you mustn't leave New York," she in- 
 sisted. 
 
 " I was only going to escape from you," he told 
 her. " I was afraid of my enchantress and of 
 myself and everything else." 
 
 " It's a promise then? " she asked. 
 
 " It's a vow," he returned. 
 
 " Life is very kind," she sighed happily. " I 
 think I have always been rather happy but now 
 I feel that, like all the stories I loved as a small 
 child, we shall end up happily and live for ever 
 afterwards." She turned to him a moment later, 
 her face graver than he had seen it. 
 
 " Did it ever occur to you," she demanded, 
 " that I might have a past? " 
 
 " I decline to hear about it," he returned plac- 
 idly. There was no doubt in his mind as to what 
 she was thinking. 
 
 " But I'm serious," she persisted. " It was one 
 of the reasons that made me sorry when I found 
 I had grown to like you. I had, you know," she 
 smiled, " even before you kissed me, but I wouldn't
 
 THE KINGDOM OF LOVE 297 
 
 admit it till now. Oh, Dick, 1117 dear, I'm afraid 
 you'll be angry. You look so frightfully stern 
 sometimes that I'm terrified to think you may be 
 angry." 
 
 " Is it trusting me fully when you assume I 
 shall be angry? " he asked, tenderly. 
 
 " But suppose it turns out to be something very 
 bad?" 
 
 ' You never did anything bad," he declared 
 with conviction, " and I wouldn't believe you if 
 you had. And if you told me still that it was bad 
 I should know that, whatever it was, there were 
 circumstances which could explain everything." 
 
 " It's very comforting to hear you talk that 
 way," she said, gratefully. " But I'm not going 
 to confess now. I hope I've never met you be- 
 fore," she continued, with sudden irrelevance. 
 
 "Why?" he asked. 
 
 " It would seem a sort of disloyalty to forget 
 you," she said. 
 
 " But you couldn't be supposed to remember 
 any casual partner at a ball," he objected, " even 
 if we had met at one, which we certainly have 
 not." 
 
 " Perhaps men don't think of these things as 
 women do," she told him; " you see I've been
 
 298 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 expecting you for years and years. I used to say 
 I should never marry and that I liked women's 
 society better than men's, but it all meant, my 
 wise Richard, that you hadn't come and kissed 
 me. So can't you see how angry I should feel with 
 myself if I thought I had met you and not known 
 you?" 
 
 He breathed more easily when she did not pur- 
 sue the subject to greater lengths. When he had 
 made good he would tell her how he had met her 
 and whose ring she wore but the time was not yet 
 come. The innate Chester pride had not been 
 tamed by poverty and manual toil. If he were to 
 confess that she was in reality his wife, how could 
 he bear to leave her and settle down into the work 
 through which alone he hoped to win her? There 
 was never a thought in his mind about giving her 
 up and his determination to make a good fight 
 was due to the desire to show himself worthy of 
 her. And it was a fine ambition and the spirit 
 of his long dead ancestor, the knightly Sir Richard, 
 lived in him and lighted up his face. The girl by 
 his side felt a great pride in him. Her voice was 
 very tender when she asked, " What are you 
 thinking of? " 
 
 " Of you," he said, " and the day when you will
 
 THE KINGDOM OF LOVE 299 
 
 be mine absolutely and I can look back on one 
 or two little years and offer them to you as gifts." 
 
 Willingly would she have dowered him with all 
 that was hers and raised him from the hard lot 
 in which she guessed him to be placed, but she 
 recognized in him the pride that would not ac- 
 cept. 
 
 " There are many things I must talk to you 
 about tomorrow," she said, " things that one 
 can't talk of now." 
 
 " When may I come? " he asked eagerly. 
 
 " Tomorrow at half-past three." 
 
 The preliminary bars of music brought her to 
 her feet. " How I grudge you those dances with 
 other women," she sighed. 
 
 " Shall I like to see other men with you? " he 
 asked. 
 
 " I hope not," she said. " I want you to be 
 impatient of everything that keeps us apart. 
 Say good-bye to me now, Dick. At the end I shall 
 only be able to give you a smile and a hand-shake." 
 She lifted her face to his. He strained her to 
 him, and she seemed slight and frail as a child. A 
 sense of infinite tenderness overwhelmed him. 
 His kingdom of love was a kingdom of certainty.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 LOUIS SEIZE AGAIN 
 
 " It's a deep mystery the way the heart of man turns to one 
 woman out of all the rest he's seen in the world, and makes it easier 
 for him to work seven years for her, like Jacob did for Rachael, 
 sooner than have any other woman for the asking." George Eliot. 
 
 NOTHING could have made more plain 
 to Chester the present social difference 
 between him and Norah, or the need to 
 gather all his energies about him in the fight, than 
 the contrast between the gorgeous rooms he had 
 left and the bare chamber which he shared with 
 Peck. 
 
 He found it so close that he flung open the 
 window to let in the cool air of early morning. 
 Peck had shut it tight for the reason that when a 
 man is forced to eat but sparely, warmth at night 
 is more comforting than healthful ventilation. 
 Chester's action awakened him and he sat up 
 yawning in bed. 
 
 "Had a good time?" he asked sleepily. 
 
 " Good is not the right word," his friend de-
 
 LOUIS SEIZE AGAIN 301 
 
 clared. " There is no word known which could 
 describe it. I'm alive again. Yesterday at this 
 time I was as those who go down to the pit; now 
 I am like twenty giants." 
 
 Peck looked at him and shrugged his shoulders. 
 " Enigmas," he said. " I never guess them." 
 
 Chester sat at the foot of his bed. " Not enig- 
 mas," he retorted, " miracles." 
 
 Peck shivered. " Pneumonia is coming through 
 the open window, meanwhile, double pneumonia. 
 Shut it and talk ordinary common sense." 
 
 " I'm full of it," Chester returned gaily. " My 
 dear man, I forgive everybody. I feel like a char- 
 acter in Dickens at the approach of Christmas." 
 
 " I wish the landlady did," Peck exclaimed. 
 " You've been falling foul of her, it seems." 
 
 ' There's another matter for discussion," Ches- 
 ter said, his good humor unabated. " I broke a 
 mirror. What usually happens after that? Seven 
 years of ill luck. Peck, that is a vain and idle 
 superstition, an elaborate, proverbial lie. I am 
 proof of it. Tonight has been the most splendid 
 of all my life." 
 
 " Cards ? " demanded the other. 
 
 Chester looked at him with scorn. " Your soul 
 cleaves to the dust," he said,
 
 302 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " I don't see that at all," Peck cried. " In our 
 present circumstances good luck can only take the 
 form of money. If you haven't made money, 
 justly or unjustly, I don't want to hear about it." 
 
 " I wasn't going to tell you," Chester said. " It 
 was something that had to do solely with me. 
 As to making money, I have the strength to do 
 it." 
 
 " Strength! " sneered Peck, " that's nothing. I 
 had all that a man wanted, but one meal a day 
 and disappointments soon toned that down. 
 Luck is what I'm looking for. Some people call 
 it opportunity and some, Providence, and the 
 good folks call it answers to prayer, but it's just 
 blind, fickle luck." 
 
 " I'm afraid you don't like being roused from 
 your beauty sleep." 
 
 " It was the landlady," said Peck, " she upset 
 me. I was reading a copy of Catullus that I 
 bought in the five cent box at a second-hand book 
 store when she burst in and gave me not only the 
 private opinion of her husband and herself con- 
 cerning you but the individual opinion of every 
 other roomer in the house. By reason of your 
 glad rags, you are credited with being a bunco- 
 steerer temporarily out of a job,"
 
 LOUIS SEIZE AGAIN 303 
 
 Chester was suddenly oppressed with the sor- 
 didness of his surroundings. A fierce longing to 
 break away from them took hold of him. He took 
 off his coat and hung it up. 
 
 " My glad rags are going to pay for the mirror," 
 he said, quietly. 
 
 '' We needn't pay her the five she asks," Peck 
 advised, " and it's a pity to sell those togs if you 
 can keep them. What about those cuff buttons? 
 Are they real ? " 
 
 Chester looked at them closely. " I expect 
 they are," he answered. " I found them in the 
 bottom of my trunk. I think I bought them at 
 Tiffany's." 
 
 ' There's the money right here," Peck declared 
 after examining them. " We are going to have 
 a lucky streak from now on. If you haven't got 
 news with money in it, I have. I've got a job as 
 a copy-holder in a big printing plant. Eight dollars 
 a week, my boy, and the chance to get a proof- 
 reader's job later on. I've been reading up the 
 subject and it seems perfectly simple to a man 
 with any decent education. It's a non-union 
 shop or I shouldn't get a chance. I start at eight 
 on Monday." 
 
 And Peck, who graduated artium baccalaureus
 
 with honors, chuckled at the prospect of replacing 
 a lad with a common school education. There 
 is a certain mordant humor about the competition 
 called life. 
 
 " Good man," said Chester, " that's splendid. 
 Times are going to change despite the landlady's 
 predictions and the mirror that was used on the 
 Mayflower" 
 
 " I wonder," said Peck, " if there's any chance 
 of my getting any editorial work? " It had long 
 been his aim to win such a position but his lack 
 of experience had always been his undoing. 
 
 " Very probable," Chester returned. He was 
 as ignorant as his friend of these things. They 
 neither of them knew that the proof-reader is 
 typographically considered neither fowl, flesh nor 
 good red herring, and is stuck in a small smelly 
 den amid the rattle of presses and expected, in 
 such surroundings, to catch every mistake and 
 wage unequal warfare between careless linotype 
 operators and foremen who want to cut down 
 expenses. Peck fell asleep dreaming of editorial 
 chairs but the other man was too overwrought to 
 rest. He was impatient for the daylight so that 
 he might go out and conquer where before he had 
 failed. No longer alone and bound on a journey
 
 LOUIS SEIZE AGAIN 305 
 
 that promised no successful issue, he now saw a 
 way opening before him, not without difficulties, 
 but lightened by that faith and hope of the woman 
 he loved. 
 
 He had never been so profoundly nervous as 
 when, at the time appointed, he was shown into a 
 reception room of the Godfrey house. Might she 
 not, he feared, now that the light and glamor 
 of the ball room was gone, view things differently 
 and repent? He reproached himself for these 
 thoughts savoring of treachery, but the day was 
 gray and gloomy and the full extent of her sacri- 
 fice was horribly apparent. His bare room, and 
 this great apartment! He was too nervous to sit 
 still; he wandered aimlessly about the room paus- 
 ing before bronzes and pictures without seeing 
 them. One photograph of Norah showed her 
 much the same as the miniature he had taken from 
 the Beau Sejour. He was looking at it intently 
 when the door opened and the original came in. 
 For a moment she stood still and looked at him. 
 And he read in her eyes the denial of his doubts 
 and fears and stretched out his arms to her. 
 
 " I was almost afraid to come in," she con- 
 fessed. " I stood outside and heard my heart 
 beating."
 
 306 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 "Did you feel it, too?" he cried. " I could 
 hardly bear to think about it. It seemed some- 
 thing so wonderful that it frightened me. Darling, 
 do you know you are the most beautiful girl in 
 all this dear old world? I've never dared to look 
 at you as I may now. If I had, you would have 
 guessed that I loved you." 
 
 " Do you think I should have minded it? " she 
 asked almost shyly. " Dick, I think I must have 
 loved you long before I guessed it." 
 
 Presently she rose. " I want you to come to 
 my drawing room," she said. " This is Mrs. God- 
 frey's; it's larger but you'll like mine better." 
 
 It was situated on the next floor and he knew, 
 before he entered, that it would be furnished in 
 the period of the sixteenth Louis. 
 
 " What do you think of it? " she asked. 
 
 " It is a beautiful room," he said. " I think I 
 should have chosen such a one for you." His eye 
 rested on the screen in the corner through whose 
 hinge's chink he had first seen her, and her eye 
 following his, sent a color to her cheeks and made 
 her more than ever determined to tell him what 
 was in her mind. 
 
 " I told you last night," she began, " that I 
 had something to confess."
 
 LOUIS SEIZE AGAIN 307 
 
 " I am not anxious to hear it," he returned 
 lightly. " I do not want to hear." 
 
 " But you must," she protested. " It may 
 make you hate me. I'm very serious." 
 
 He found himself in an unpleasant predicament. 
 To have to listen to a story he already knew so 
 well savored too much of hypocrisy to suit him; 
 but there was, obviously, nothing else to do. He 
 listened in silence. On the nervous fingers that 
 played with the pendent chain about her neck he 
 saw no Chester ring. When she had finished, she 
 looked at him anxiously. It was an awkward 
 moment. 
 
 " What does it matter? " he said. " You have 
 only got to divorce him and all will be well. Isn't 
 it rather strange that you have delayed so long? " 
 
 " I am forced to it," she said. " On that awful 
 night I was so beside myself with nervousness 
 and disgust that I didn't even catch the man's 
 name. My lawyer attended to all that." 
 
 " Why didn't he, then? " Chester demanded. 
 
 " He died within a week and he hadn't time to 
 start the thing. He had no children and a nephew 
 travelling in Europe is the heir. He won't be 
 back till May and won't consent to any docu- 
 ments being touched until he returns. You see
 
 308 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 Mr. Cosway had practically retired from law; he 
 only looked after my affairs out of kindness for 
 me. All my private papers are locked up and 
 sealed and I can't get at them." 
 
 " Can't you get an order from the courts allow- 
 ing your present lawyer to get at them? " 
 
 " I dare not run the risk of publicity," she said. 
 " Nobody has yet found out and I should have 
 the whole country publishing pictures of me and 
 special stories. I could never live down the dis- 
 grace, for it was disgraceful to be forced into 
 marriage like that." 
 
 " Then you must wait until May," he said 
 cheerfully. " You don't remember where er 
 where the man lived? " he asked later. 
 
 " I remember nothing," she said. " After he 
 had gone I fainted from the excitement and was 
 ill for a week. You see in cases like that, papers 
 have to be served and I can't entrust a lawyer to 
 serve them on a nameless man at an unknown 
 address." She looked at him rather timidly. 
 " Don't you despise me? " she asked, " don't 
 you think it was unwomanly and horrid of 
 me?" 
 
 " I didn't know what room there was in my 
 soul for love and admiration till now," he said
 
 LOUIS SEIZE AGAIN 309 
 
 tenderly. " Poor little girl, you've had your 
 troubles." 
 
 " But nothing like yours," she cried. " But 
 Dick, my dear, they're all over." 
 
 " And if mine are not," he said, " I can bear 
 them now all right." 
 
 " Dick," she returned, " I'm afraid you are 
 a very obstinate person. You've got one of those 
 horribly resolute jaws and you look very stern 
 at times. I'm afraid even that you are so ob- 
 stinate that you won't let the people who love 
 you, help you. Your interests are my interests 
 now and mine must be yours." 
 
 " They are," he declared. 
 
 "Then will you let me help you? I don't 
 see how, for the moment, but I can't go on living, 
 if I have to think of you suffering." 
 
 " Dearest, you won't," he said gently. "I am 
 going to get along. I feel it in my bones and you'll 
 be much gladder if I do it alone. Really and 
 truly I'm not afraid of hard work. Does this 
 sound ungracious and as though I were too proud 
 to accept anything from the woman who has given 
 me her love?" He looked at her anxiously. 
 " Dearest, it isn't that at all. It is only that I 
 feel I must work out my own salvation."
 
 310 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " I think I love you all the more for it," she 
 said slowly, " but I shall suffer. How can I be 
 happy if I think you may be digging tunnels or 
 something of that sort? " 
 
 " I am hitched to a star," he laughed. " Never 
 think of me as working underground like a mole." 
 
 " When are we to see one another? " she de- 
 manded. " I can't lose you directly I've got you." 
 
 " On Sundays," he said. " You see the week 
 may not be my own." 
 
 " Every minute of Sunday is yours," she de- 
 clared. She looked at him very tenderly. " Dick, 
 my dear, if you get ill and you shouldn't get 
 on as you want to and you lose heart and hope 
 and health and in the end I lose you through it, 
 what shall I do? Is my heart to break because 
 of your pride? " 
 
 He kissed the tears from her eyes. " My Sweet," 
 he whispered, " that can't be the ending. If it 
 should be, I shall come to you and confess I have 
 failed, but I want to come to you as a victor. 
 Wouldn't you rather I came as one who had con- 
 quered? " 
 
 She shook her head. " Don't you understand 
 that when a woman loves a man, she can love 
 the man who lost as much as the man who won?
 
 LOUIS SEIZE AGAIN 311 
 
 Sometimes I think she loves him more. You 
 would be my hero, Dick, whether the world called 
 you so or not. I think women are tenderer to de- 
 feat than men. The prodigal son said he would 
 go and ask his father for forgiveness. He knew 
 his mother would forgive him. You talk some- 
 times as though you had committed dreadful 
 sins. Dick, I forgive you for all you have ever 
 done so long as you love me." 
 
 There was something very splendid to him in 
 the complete love and trust she showed. He felt 
 abashed by it and very humble. 
 
 " What can I ever do to repay you? " he said. 
 
 " You said last night you would bring me one 
 or two years as gifts. Dick, bring them quickly 
 if you love me." 
 
 Presently she spoke of her affairs and the pos- 
 sibility that Renalls, when once he had learned 
 of her engagement, might turn from a friend to 
 an avowed enemy. 
 
 " Let him," cried Chester. " I can't bear the 
 idea of your having that man anywhere near 
 you. What is his enmity to us ? " 
 
 "My dear boy," she laughed, "my splendid, 
 reckless Dick, don't you understand his power? 
 He might wreck the North Brazil Goldfields just
 
 312 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 as they are going to be put on the open market. 
 His influence is tremendous." 
 
 " I detest him," Richard avowed frankly, 
 " and he hates me." 
 
 " I hope you won't quarrel till the thing is 
 settled," she said. She looked at the clock. 
 " I promised Alice I would take you down to 
 her room for tea. You must be very nice to her. 
 You know you were rather silent last night and 
 she thinks you are very dull and I can't have 
 anybody thinking my Richard is dull." 
 
 " She would keep talking and prevent me 
 from thinking about you," he protested. " I just 
 wanted to be let alone." 
 
 " But you can't expect a woman to want a 
 silent partner," the girl said. " I want you to 
 make amends, remember." 
 
 But he was not allowed much time to talk with 
 her. After she had given him a cup of tea, she 
 announced that Mr. Renalls was coming at five 
 o'clock. He had talked with her over the tele- 
 phone. 
 
 " He is a great friend of Norah's," Mrs. God- 
 frey said pointedly. " I sometimes wonder what 
 she would do without him." 
 
 " He is to be envied," Chester said placidly.
 
 LOUIS SEIZE AGAIN 313 
 
 It was not in Alice Godfrey's power to make him 
 jealous. 
 
 " I would much rather you two didn't meet," 
 Norah whispered to him presently. She blushed. 
 " I don't want him to know about it yet. Do 
 you mind? It will be so uncomfortable to have 
 two sulky men glaring at one another." 
 
 " Am I banished? " he asked dismally. 
 
 "There is Sunday," she reminded him. ".If 
 it is fine, shall we go to Undercliff? If it's dull 
 you must lunch here with me. Alice is going 
 away on Saturday and we shall not be bothered 
 with anyone. Will you come here for me on 
 Sunday at twelve, rain or shine? " 
 
 " I should like anyone to try to keep me away," 
 he said. 
 
 When he had bidden Mrs. Godfrey good-bye, 
 Norah walked to the head of the great stairway 
 and there they made their adieux. 
 
 " You must think a great deal of Mr. Vincent 
 to walk to the stairway with him," Mrs. Godfrey 
 said sharply. She was piqued at the lack of atten- 
 tion she considered Chester paid her. 
 
 " I do," Norah returned carelessly. 
 
 " I don't know what Charlie Renalls will say 
 to it," the elder woman remarked.
 
 " My dear Alice," said Norah quietly, " Let us 
 understand one another. I care nothing whatso- 
 ever for Mr. Renalls' opinion on the matter." 
 
 " You needn't be unpleasant about it," pro- 
 tested the other. 
 
 Norah laughed gently. " I'm not going to be 
 argumentative today. It's one of my lucky days 
 and it mustn't be spoiled. Only, Alice, please 
 remember that a man's asking me to marry him 
 gives him no right to dictate to me. Charlie 
 is getting rather censorious of late and I don't 
 care for that sort of thing."
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE BUSINESS MAN 
 
 " I have often thought upon death, and I find it the least of all 
 evils. All that which is past is as a dream; and he that hopes or 
 depends upon time coming, dreams waking." Bacon. 
 
 IT was getting very cold as Chester passed 
 down the avenue, but since he had taken his 
 things, or some of them, from pawn he was 
 warmly clad and he walked down to the Hungarian 
 Restaurant on Second Avenue living over again 
 the golden memories of the day. 
 
 Peck was not at the restaurant, and when 
 Chester waited and still he had not come, he went 
 to the Astor Library and to the Cooper Union 
 and was again unsuccessful. It had been his 
 intention to tell his friend something of the good 
 fortune which was now his and he waited till 
 seven, the dinner hour, and then had his meal 
 alone. On returning to his room it was evident 
 that Peck had not been in. The landlady had 
 seen nothing of him. In the morning, when he 
 had not returned and there was no communica-
 
 316 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 tion from him, Chester began to feel a vague 
 alarm. At the precinct police station, he was 
 bidden to search the hospitals. The sergeant made 
 a casual note on the blotter. ; ' We have heard 
 nothing," he said. 
 
 At the first three hospitals there was no sign of 
 Peck. At last he came to the grim Bellevue. 
 He was told that a man answering his descrip- 
 tion had been brought in dying yesterday after- 
 noon. He had been run over by a trolley car 
 when, in trying to board it, he had slipped on the 
 icy pavement. Chester was directed to the room 
 where three bodies lay waiting a grim, cold 
 chamber smelling horribly of disinfectants. 
 
 One was an old man with a grizzled beard, an 
 alien member of another race who had come from 
 far Lithuania to the golden city which spelled 
 freedom and wealth to him; and he had died in 
 the streets of the golden city of his dreams, of 
 starvation. The second body was that of a poor 
 hollow-chested tailor whom fate had compelled 
 to work in a sweat shop where he caught tubercu- 
 losis and died of it. It was a fate which would 
 come to his friends who were still working there 
 and reading the ironic literature of a great cru- 
 sade which directed sufferers to spend many hours
 
 THE BUSINESS MAN 317 
 
 in the open air, to eat good food and drink many 
 pints of milk. 
 
 On the third table, his white face upturned to 
 the skylight and the eager boyish look not ban- 
 ished by the last mystery, was Chester's friend. 
 
 The attendant, to whom death was no longer a 
 grim spectacle but a common fact to talk of and 
 even to jest about, turned to the man who stood 
 bareheaded by the table. " Is this your friend ? " 
 he inquired. For a moment Chester could not 
 speak. There were tears in his eyes and he gulped 
 back a sob. " He was my friend," he said simply. 
 
 Before he left the building, he asked of the man 
 what became of bodies such as Peck's whose 
 relatives were unknown. 
 
 " The unclaimed dead go to the Potter's Field," 
 he was informed. 
 
 Directed by this attendant to the office, he 
 spoke to a member of the clerical staff. " I wish 
 to make myself responsible for the funeral of my 
 friend," he said. " May I ask you to see that pre- 
 cautions are taken to that effect? " 
 
 " Sure," said the man easily, " we like to be 
 relieved from it. Murphy, on the corner, is a 
 good undertaker." He made the necessary order 
 and demanded to know when the interment would
 
 318 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 take place. " The quicker the better," he sug- 
 gested. " It will be all right," he assured Chester 
 comfortingly, " it's only the babies that get 
 changed." 
 
 In his desolate room Chester examined his 
 friend's belongings. There were no letters which 
 could give indications as to relatives or close 
 friends. There were no things of value. A few 
 books, mostly of poetry, were there, Horace, The- 
 ocritus, Vergil, Alfred de Musset, Keats, Shelley 
 and Stevenson. And open was the five-cent 
 Catullus of which the dead man had made some 
 metrical translations. Out of the mass of filth, 
 he had picked that wonderful Ode to Lesbia, 
 founded on some idea of Moschas, centuries 
 earlier, than which Catullus wrote nothing more 
 beautiful. Was it some dim prophetic instinct, 
 Chester wondered, which made his friend choose 
 the four lines of it commencing, " soles occidere 
 et redire possunt," to translate? Peck had thus 
 rendered the lines: 
 
 " With the fled day a new one's born; 
 When dies our little light, 
 There comes that long, still night 
 To sleep, that knows no morn." 
 
 There was something inexpressibly sad in the 
 pagan hopelessness of the last line. Dead in the
 
 THE BUSINESS MAN 319 
 
 moment which offered him work, and all uncon- 
 scious of the secret his friend was hoarding or 
 the effect that it might have on his future, poor, 
 loyal, enthusiastic Everard Peck came to his death. 
 
 It was with a heavy heart that Chester sat 
 down to write. And there was forced upon him the 
 feeling that fate must have some motive deeper 
 than blind chance which compelled him to write 
 of death in the first letter to his Norah. " My 
 Dearest," he wrote, " a great grief has befallen 
 me in the death by accident of the true friend of 
 whom I spoke to you. He lies now in the Morgue 
 awaiting, unless I can avert it, burial with the 
 nameless dead. The funeral will cost rather less 
 than a hundred dollars and there is no one whom 
 I can ask but you. My heart is very sad and 
 I shall want, more than you can think, your dear 
 comfort on Sunday. I am sending this by a 
 messenger whom I can trust. He will wait for 
 your answer. R. V." 
 
 There was a fifteen-year-old son of the landlady 
 who had taken a great liking to the old Yale 
 athlete and he went willingly upon the errand. He 
 came back speedily with accounts of a great man- 
 sion where footmen guarded the portal and there 
 was a luxury incredible.
 
 320 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 There were two fifty-dollar bills in the envelope 
 and a hastily scribbled note. " Darling," it ran, 
 " I am very proud that you asked me, but I am 
 very sad for you. All my love and all I have is 
 yours. Norah." 
 
 It was the generous answer he had expected and 
 lifted in a measure some of the load from his 
 heart, although there was still the disquieting 
 association of death being intertwined with this 
 beginning of a new life. But the immediate re- 
 sult was an overpowering relief that the body of 
 the man he loved was not to lie in an unnumbered 
 grave but in a brighter spot. He was buried in 
 a quiet corner of Kensico Cemetery and there 
 his friend took leave of him whose short life had 
 been blameless but unfortunate. 
 
 Sunday brought with it rain and the river 
 outing was not to be thought of. He lunched alone 
 with Norah and her sympathy in his loss revealed 
 a very tender side of the woman who loved him. 
 He was distressed to find her looking pale and 
 almost ill. 
 
 " Don't worry," she cried, reassuring him. 
 " I get dreadful colds at the beginning of the cold 
 weather and only get rid of them by going away 
 for a few weeks at a time."
 
 THE BUSINESS MAN 321 
 
 His face fell. " Going away for a few weeks! " 
 he repeated. 
 
 " I shall hate it," she said emphatically, " but 
 if I'm ordered to Jamaica as usual, I shall have 
 to rush away." 
 
 He looked very serious. " Is it anything wrong 
 with your lungs? " 
 
 " Not a bit," she said, " I'm very strong and can 
 play tennis all day long and outwalk most men, 
 but I'm susceptible to colds at this time of the 
 year and I'm sensible enough to take care of 
 myself. Don't you want me to be careful? I 
 have you to think of now, Dick." 
 
 " Oh, my dear," he cried, " if anything hap- 
 pened to you, I should die. Of course you must 
 go. I shall write to you every day." 
 
 " I shan't go without letting you know," she 
 exclaimed. " Perhaps by next Sunday I shall 
 be better and the weather finer." 
 
 " It's winter now," he returned. " Undercliff 
 must wait." He looked at her anxiously. " You 
 look so frail," he said tenderly. " In the summer 
 you were as brown as a berry and now you look so 
 white." 
 
 " I shall be well again after three days in the 
 Caribbean," she assured him, " and I shall come
 
 322 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 back tuned up for all the work and fun of the 
 winter. There'll be other dances," she reminded 
 him, " and you will have to look after me. Up 
 to now I have always boasted of my independence. 
 After all, it's rather nice to have a man to wait 
 on one and I can even see something nice in wait- 
 ing on a man. That is, of course," she added, 
 " if he is the one man of them all. If you're not 
 very careful, Dick, I shall spoil you abominably." 
 
 When he left her, after a day which banished 
 many months of loneliness, he was inspired by 
 the hope that the new week was to bring him 
 luck. 
 
 His first errand on Monday was to acquaint 
 the printing firm of which Peck had spoken that 
 death had robbed them of a copy-holder. Ignorant 
 of the exact position of the proof-reader qr copy- 
 holder in such an establishment, he bent his 
 steps to the manager's office instead of to the com- 
 posing room. He stated the fact briefly and then 
 asked if he could try to fill the position. 
 
 The manager looked at him in astonishment. 
 Chester was still dressed well and his bearing and 
 manner was not like those who seek lowly po- 
 sitions. " It wouldn't suit you at all," said the 
 manager. " To begin with, there's no money in
 
 THE BUSINESS MAN 323 
 
 it and it leads to nothing." He shook his head 
 decidedly. " You are out of a position, then? " 
 
 " I'm looking for one," Chester returned. 
 
 The manager thought for a moment. " Do 
 you know anything about printing? " 
 
 " Not a thing," said the other. 
 
 " A superficial knowledge is easily picked up," 
 the manager declared. " A day or so spent nosing 
 around and asking questions will give you all the 
 knowledge required to start. Weight of paper, 
 layouts, type and the rest come gradually and 
 there is always the estimating man to help." 
 
 " In what? " Chester demanded, puzzled. 
 
 " Why, I'll tell you. One of our city salesmen 
 has just 'phoned to say he has got a new job and 
 won't be around here again. He was fairly suc- 
 cessful and knew next to nothing about it. I'll 
 put you on in his place if you like. What do you 
 say? " The manager was a man who " hired men 
 on their faces " and Chester impressed him as a 
 man who could readily obtain an interview with 
 a client and he had need of such an one. 
 
 ' What is there in it? " the younger man de- 
 manded. He had learned by this time that eager- 
 ness to obtain a position often militated against 
 success.
 
 324 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " Ten per cent, commission," said the manager. 
 " This is a big house with a big name and we 
 don't want the sort of loafers who get a drawing 
 account and live on it. What's it to be? " 
 
 " Yes," said Chester, " but where am I to learn 
 about paper and type and the rest of it? " 
 
 " Right here," the manager asserted, touching 
 a buzzer. 
 
 " Now," he said, " you may think I'm an easy 
 mark because I hire you right off, but never think 
 that for a moment. The last man I hired came to 
 me with the best references you ever saw and 
 did nothing, and a man who'd been a school 
 teacher in Maine came here and made good. 
 We don't stand to lose on you, but if you don't 
 make good, you lose. See? " 
 
 Chester smiled. " You make it perfectly plain." 
 
 A man entered into whose charge Chester was 
 given. Under his tutelage he learned much and 
 went to his frugal luncheon with little samples 
 of paper in little books. To his room he took a 
 huge book of types and a work on electros. It 
 was a new phase of industry for him but he was 
 quick and had been told what rewards lay in 
 store for the successful salesman who was in no 
 way related to the intruding peddler of unwanted
 
 THE BUSINESS MAN 325 
 
 books. He wandered into the composing rooms 
 and learned what a linotype machine was and 
 many of the mysteries of typography were made 
 plain to him. He sat at the estimator's desk; and 
 watched intricate layouts of booklets, catalogues 
 and folders worked cleverly to completion in the 
 art department. He became gradually aware 
 that his new firm stood high and it was a lucky 
 chance that brought him there. With the other 
 salesmen he made acquaintance and found them 
 for the most part decent fellows ready to impart 
 what they knew. 
 
 On Thursday, after three full days, he asked 
 permission to try his luck. The manager, who was 
 a kindly man and interested in the new salesman, 
 furnished him with some good leads. " There's 
 the new Hotel Beau Site on the Plaza," he sug- 
 gested. " Their printing will be worth a fortune to 
 the man who gets it. We've never done anything 
 for them although I've been to see them myself, 
 but there's no reason why you shouldn't try and 
 get a part of it." He gave Chester the name and 
 address of the general manager, who bought all 
 supplies and looked after the publicity. 
 
 To this office Chester straightway betook him- 
 self. A young lady, exhibiting the latest style
 
 326 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 of coiffure, came to him and demanded his busi- 
 ness. She looked doubtful when she heard that 
 he wished to see her employer. She pointed out 
 half a dozen men who were waiting their turn. 
 " And there's someone with him now," she said. 
 
 " What shall I do? " he asked with a smile. 
 
 Now it happened that the maiden was romantic 
 and a reader of novels. He presented the ap- 
 pearance of a hero in whose exploits she was for 
 the moment much interested, a tall, dark hero 
 with clean-cut features and a fascinating way. 
 Also, this discerning damsel decided that he was 
 " class." She looked at the waiting six with 
 distaste. They were none of them six feet high, 
 most of them looked commonplace and not one 
 had vouchsafed her a fascinating smile. 
 
 " You go and sit on that chair over there," 
 she said, " by the boss's door, and when the man 
 in there comes out, you go in. Otherwise you 
 might have to wait three hours or more." 
 
 The waiting six watched his progress with in- 
 tense indignation. One of them essayed to wax 
 sarcastic with the lady in charge but was sig- 
 nally defeated. Chester, oblivious of this, took 
 the indicated seat. It was the other side of a 
 glass partition which did not go up to the ceiling.
 
 THE BUSINESS MAN 327 
 
 He could plainly hear what was going on. The 
 talk of the two men he could not see was of the 
 printing of a booklet which was to be as far su- 
 perior to other hotel booklets as the Beau Site 
 was above all other famous hostelries. Then 
 followed minute directions as to photographs and 
 the general make-up of the book. The manager 
 was used to buying printing and knew what he 
 wanted. The other man, presumably a salesman 
 of a rival house, was copying down in his notebook 
 the particulars. In that moment Chester became 
 a business man; in the neat notebook he had, he 
 copied the whole of the highly technical details 
 down. 
 
 " And now," said the manager, " when can I 
 have the estimate? That book is needed in a 
 mighty hurry." 
 
 " Let's see," Chester heard the other man reply. 
 " Today is Thursday. I'll let you have it by the 
 first mail tomorrow, Friday." 
 
 The hotel man grunted, " Can't I have it to- 
 night? " 
 
 " I'm afraid not," said the salesman. " It's a 
 big job and our estimator is working overtime." 
 
 " Funny you can't work it out yourself," com- 
 plained the other. " I wanted to take that esti-
 
 328 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 mate and prices down to my home over Sunday 
 and talk about it." 
 
 Chester waited for no more. He sauntered 
 back to the gracious maiden. 
 
 " I think I'll call back later," he said. " Shall 
 I find him in at half-past two?" 
 
 " I'll make an appointment," she smiled, 
 " What is the name? " She wrote it down. " Mr. 
 Baumgarten will see you at that hour," she said. 
 
 As fast as he could travel, Chester returned to 
 the office and found the estimating man hard at 
 work. He declined to break off from what he was 
 doing and Chester w r as in despair. Against his 
 inclination he complained to the manager, whose 
 eyes glistened when he heard of Chester's scheme. 
 He strode angrily toward the estimator. " Sack- 
 ett," he cried, " drop what you're doing and attend 
 to Mr. Vincent's business and do it quick." 
 
 Without a word the man took the particulars 
 from Chester, the number of pictures, the size of 
 the type, the weight of the stock, number of 
 words and all the rest. He worked the thing into 
 prices for from five to a hundred thousand, and 
 put it so plainly that the other could make no 
 mistake. 
 
 At half-past two he was shown into Baumgar-
 
 THE BUSINESS MAN 329 
 
 ten's office. " I'm afraid you're too late," the 
 hotel man said, " I've as good as given it to one 
 of your rivals." 
 
 " Let me give you an estimate," Chester said. 
 " You can't beat our work but our prices are high." 
 
 ;< Price has nothing to do with it," Baumgarten 
 cried. " It's a high class proposition and I want 
 the best work and I want it at once. I'm to have 
 their estimate tomorrow, first mail, and I shall 
 probably take it." 
 
 " All right," said Chester, rising. " I could 
 have given you an estimate right away and saved 
 time." 
 
 ' You could ? " cried the other. 
 
 Chester resumed his seat. " Let's hear the 
 specifications," he said. 
 
 He copied it once again and added and sub- 
 tracted innocuous figures for the space of two 
 minutes. Baumgarten watched him admiringly. 
 Chester sprang the figures on him suddenly 
 Sackett's figures. 
 
 " When should I get delivery? " 
 
 Chester was ready for him. The manager had 
 vowed if the order were to be brought in to rush 
 the job through on record time. His reply pleased 
 Baumgarten exceedingly. Chester's firm stood
 
 330 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 deservedly high and the rival firm was notoriously 
 slow in delivery. 
 
 " Very well," he said suddenly, " you get the 
 order." 
 
 Chester was stunned. It was precisely as 
 though Mr. Baumgarten had presented him with 
 the sum of fifteen hundred dollars. This repre- 
 sented the commission he had made in an hour. 
 But there was one other important thing the 
 manager had impressed on him, which he could 
 not recall. He stared at an architect's water 
 color of the Hotel Beau Site and presently re- 
 membered it. " By the way," he observed, " you 
 won't mind giving me a letter to that effect. 
 It's a custom of the house." 
 
 " I'll do it," Baumgarten said, ringing an elec- 
 tric bell, " but of course that's conditional on 
 the delivery being exactly on time." 
 
 " We are known," said Chester with what 
 calmness he could muster, " as practical, punctual 
 printers." 
 
 The stenographer took an incredible time to 
 get the letter ready. Suppose Baumgarten were 
 to become suddenly ill and the letter should 
 never be signed! But when it was handed to 
 him he found it hard to control his joy. The
 
 THE BUSINESS MAN 331 
 
 stenographer little knew what a narrow escape 
 she had of being waltzed around the sacred cham- 
 bers of her employer, but the gracious damsel to 
 whom this marvelous piece of luck was due was 
 enraptured at the gift an hour later of a gigantic 
 box of candies. The elevator man who passed 
 the time of day with Chester and remarked 
 that business was looking up, felt a dollar bill 
 thrust in his hand. " Buy a cigar," said the 
 generous stranger. The man looked at it lovingly 
 and on his way home purchased a box of them at 
 a department store and smoked two solemnly 
 every Sunday. 
 
 Chester received the especial felicitations of 
 the manager, who introduced him to the presi- 
 dent, secretary and treasurer. These gentlemen, 
 hearing of his exploit, commended him according 
 to their several manners. The president said he 
 was to be congratulated on getting with such a 
 house; the secretary remarked morosely that the 
 less one knew about printing the better chance of 
 success there was; the treasurer said that he 
 wished he had fifteen hundred dollars of commis- 
 sion coming to him.
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 WAR DECLARED 
 
 " To every man there come noble thoughts, that pass across his 
 heart like great white birds . . . alas, they do not count; they are 
 strangers whom we are surprised to see, whom we dismiss with im- 
 patient gestures." Maeterlinck. 
 
 IT was the thought of this splendid commission 
 which would shortly be his that raised his 
 spirits to such a pitch that he could hardly 
 wait until Sunday. He was afraid almost that 
 the footman who answered the bell must see 
 triumph written on his face. He looked south and 
 saw the twenty-story Beau Site rising into the 
 wintry sky with a sense of personal gratification. 
 Failure was no longer a word in his vocabulary. 
 He could think of the bitter episodes of his early 
 search for work with a smile. 
 
 The footman looked at him with a blandly 
 inquiring air. " Is Miss Ellis at home? " Chester 
 asked. 
 
 " She is not, sir," returned the man.
 
 WAR DECLARED 333 
 
 :< When will she be?" Chester asked, utterly 
 taken aback. 
 
 " She is out of town," the footman said. 
 
 "Is Mrs. Godfrey in?" 
 
 " She too is out of town." 
 
 " My name is Vincent," said Chester desper- 
 ately, " I think it very likely that Miss Ellis may 
 have left a letter for me." 
 
 " I think not, sir," the man replied. 
 
 " Please find out at once," Chester said. 
 
 " The housekeeper is out and there is nobody 
 else who could inform me." 
 
 " Where is Miss Ellis ? " 
 
 " I have not asked, sir," the footman said, as 
 though any similar inquiry savored of gross 
 impertinence. 
 
 " I will call again," said Chester. 
 
 It was plain that the man either could not tell 
 or was concealing his knowledge. If so, by whose 
 orders, Chester asked himself. Seriously dis- 
 turbed, he returned to the room he was to vacate 
 the next day and penned a long letter to Norah, 
 breathing a certain tender reproach that she had 
 not warned him or allowed him to say good-bye. 
 He had not long gone from the Godfrey house when 
 Renalls came. He was well known to the entire
 
 334 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 staff of servants and the footman who had given 
 such unsatisfying answers to Chester had for- 
 merly been in his service. 
 
 " I am going to Jamaica tomorrow," said the 
 financier, " and will take any mail." He was 
 handed a number of letters. " And this," said the 
 footman, " was left an hour ago by Mr. 
 Vincent." 
 
 Renalls added it to the others carelessly, be- 
 traying by no gesture his feelings. When he 
 read it through, he saw in it the death-knell to 
 his ambitions and postponed for a few days his 
 visit south. All the other letters but Vincent's 
 were readdressed and sent off, and he began his 
 schemes for the wreck of Norah's mines and the 
 ruin of her lover. 
 
 The girl, acting under the immediate orders of 
 her physician, had taken ship to Jamaica at a 
 few hours' notice. Telephoning on the instant 
 to Number. One Wall Street, she was soon in con- 
 nection with Enderby's managing clerk, who re- 
 plied that he knew nothing of the address of Mr. 
 Vincent, but only that he called there for mail. 
 She had only time to scribble a note to Richard 
 when the boat sailed. Monday found Richard 
 impatiently awaiting Biggs' arrival at his office.
 
 WAR DECLARED 335 
 
 He said there were no letters but that on the 
 Saturday previous a lady had called him up. 
 Richard left discouraged. The letter he sought 
 had been posted too late and reached Biggs by 
 the second delivery. 
 
 Back to his new work went Richard, strangely 
 wearied of it now he had lost his lady and 
 full of dismal boding at her silence. The day 
 passed slowly; nobody wanted to buy printing. 
 On Tuesday he received Norah's note. She gave 
 no address but said she would write instantly 
 on deciding her place of stay. Life at once as- 
 sumed a cheerful aspect and he made a small 
 sale. It seemed that men would buy more readily 
 of a cheerful seller. 
 
 The promised letter had not come by the mid- 
 dle of the week he was impatient of times and 
 tides and he sought the society pages of the 
 New York daily which gives the doings of fashion- 
 able Americans at the winter resorts. There was 
 a paragraph devoted to the West Indies. 
 
 " Mrs. Godfrey of New York, and party, are 
 staying at the Meadows Hotel, Constant Springs," 
 he read. In the column of advertising opposite 
 was an advertisement of it. " This select house," 
 it ran, " is patronized by the elite of both hemi-
 
 336 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 spheres." A limited number of guests were re- 
 ceived; he saw it was recommended for its air 
 of luxurious quiet and it was kept by Valentine 
 Faustin Meadows. It was his Meadows, the 
 excellent Meadows of ten years' faithful service, 
 that perfect valet whom envious nature had de- 
 prived of hair! The Meadows who had fallen 
 victim to the tender passion and had succumbed 
 to a widow and a select hotel! 
 
 Such a distrust had Chester conceived of the 
 suave flunkey that he was disposed to doubt 
 that his letter had been forwarded. He could 
 not banish the memory of Renalls. He wrote two 
 letters. One was to his old servant congratulating 
 him on his lot in life and asking that the enclosed 
 letter be given to Miss Norah Ellis if she were 
 at the hotel. To Norah he wrote a letter which 
 still had some ring of tender reproach in it, beg- 
 ging for word of her. He was impetuous to a 
 degree which allowed him to forget that letters 
 from the Pearl of the Caribbean take many days 
 to arrive. 
 
 Renalls was already on his way South when 
 Chester's letter was mailed. He found the girl 
 much better. The milder climate, the balmier 
 air and brighter skies had brought back the color
 
 WAR DECLARED 337 
 
 to her cheeks and endowed her with new energy. 
 She was of a disposition which craved for the sun 
 and warmth of the South but she chafed under 
 the knowledge that three more weeks must elapse 
 before she could store up enough energy to carry 
 her through the rigors of a northern winter. She 
 rather dreaded Renalls' visit but it promised her 
 relief from the boredom inflicted on her by Mrs. 
 Godfrey. She noted with gratitude that he had 
 brought a violin. She was in a mood for music; 
 and under its influence the financier allowed his 
 gentler side to be seen. 
 
 He played with especial brilliancy when, after 
 dinner, music was suggested. He began with 
 Dvorak's Humoreske, a work he had heard played 
 within the week by such artists as Mischa Elman 
 and Fritz Kreisler. He had never played it so 
 well. Usually his playing was cold and unimpas- 
 sioned but tonight there was something of the 
 Austrian virtuoso's heart and tenderness in it. 
 
 His accompanist heard the new note in it and 
 wondered. He finished by playing the Devil's 
 Trill, that fantastic, strange piece which the master 
 of evil played in one of Tartini's dreams. 
 
 " You never played more brilliantly," the girl 
 said, as he put his instrument away.
 
 338 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " I always play well when I'm winning," he 
 said with a slow smile. 
 
 " Winning what? " she demanded. 
 
 " You, Norah," he returned, softly. 
 
 " My dear Charlie," she retorted with a touch 
 of impatience, "why begin that all over again? 
 You are not winning me. I'm not to be won." 
 
 " 'A woman therefore to be won,' " hequoted. 
 He looked at her keenly, " Unless, of course, 
 someone else has already won you." 
 
 She colored. " My affairs are my own concern," 
 she said, coldly. 
 
 " And mine, too," he said. " So long as you are 
 free, I shall think of them as mine." 
 
 " Even if I tell you you have no right? " 
 
 " You can't tell me that," he returned, watching 
 her expression. Chester's letter, burned into his 
 brain, was even now in his pocket. It was like 
 reading a book to which he had the key. The girl 
 had dreaded some such scene as this. He had 
 often declared that when thwarted he was with- 
 out mercy. But it seemed a pitiful thing to have 
 to evade answering him, to seem ashamed of the 
 glory that had come to her. 
 
 " I can tell you that," she answered. " You 
 have no right."
 
 
 " Don't let us quarrel" she pleaded. Page
 
 WAR DECLARED 339 
 
 :< What is his name? " the man demanded. He 
 was amused at having her at a disadvantage, of 
 knowing certainly what she would tell him. The 
 black rage which had possessed him on reading 
 Chester's letter had, by this time, crystallized 
 into an emotion better under control. 
 
 " Have you thought what a gross impertinence 
 such a question is? " she asked. 
 
 He shrugged his shoulders. " If you are ashamed 
 of it," he began. 
 
 She interrupted him. " I'm not," she cried 
 proudly. 
 
 " It looks like it," he commented. " Here am I, 
 an old friend and the man who offers you his 
 name and fortune. I'm not a stranger. Don't 
 you think the least you can do is to tell me the 
 name of the man who has been successful where I 
 failed ? " She saw before her only the kindly 
 Renalls, who had indeed proffered name and for- 
 tune and had been her faithful friend; her anger 
 died away. " Don't let us quarrel," she 
 pleaded. 
 
 : ' Who is he? " the other demanded, still with- 
 out passion. 
 
 " It's Mr. Vincent," she returned. " You 
 met him at the little dance."
 
 340 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " Do you seriously suppose I am going to con- 
 gratulate you ? " he demanded. 
 
 " Why not? " she cried. " Aren't you big enough 
 to forgive another man? " 
 
 " A man yes," he retorted, " but not a man 
 like that." 
 
 Her sympathy for him vanished; she was no 
 longer nervous but cool and self-possessed, ready 
 to fight, with as ruthless a manner as his own, 
 for the honor of the man she loved. 
 
 " And why not? " she asked steadily. 
 
 " Norah," he returned, " if I can't get you I 
 should like the winner to be someone better than 
 this man Vincent. What do you know about 
 him?" 
 
 " These things are not measured by years," 
 she said. 
 
 " They should be measured by common sense. 
 I don't doubt your loyalty but I do doubt your 
 previous knowledge of him. I have evidence 
 to prove that he is a common swindler recently 
 imprisoned for beating hotels in the regular 
 manner." 
 
 " Do you think I believe it? " she said. 
 
 " I'm sure you don't," he retorted. " Later on 
 you'll have to; I shall furnish you with the proofs.
 
 WAR DECLARED 341 
 
 You think my jealousy is making me take his 
 character away. Well, I'll admit my jealousy, 
 but my evidence is from the magistrate's court. 
 You can see for yourself. I placed him where 
 he belonged the first time I saw him. That sort 
 makes a hit with you women because they've 
 got the devil's own nerve and can pirouette like 
 dancing masters and ride like Durland's instruct- 
 ors. They've got to make these points when they 
 are playing with honest men and then they always 
 lose." 
 
 She yawned delicately, " Your detective ex- 
 ploits must have taken up a great deal of your 
 time," she said. 
 
 He flushed a little. " I suppose you won't 
 believe they were undertaken for your benefit? " 
 
 She shook her head and smiled. " It would be 
 unbelievable," she said. 
 
 " He'll lose the last rubber," Renalls snapped. 
 
 " Then he'll lose it well," she cried. 
 
 " I'll admit that," Renalls returned. " He'll 
 carry it off with a high hand and bluff some fools 
 into thinking he's the winner, but he won't fool 
 me, and he'll lose you, Norah." He leaned for- 
 ward and spoke more slowly, with studied de- 
 liberation. " He's after your money, and he'll
 
 342 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 drop you directly he hears you are on the losing 
 side." 
 
 " But I'm not," she told him, " I'm winning." 
 
 " That's as it may be," he answered enigmat- 
 ically, " the point is the man is worthless and you 
 ought to have enough sense to see it." 
 
 "Do you think I am altogether a fool?" she 
 demanded. 
 
 " There's 'not a woman of you," he exclaimed, 
 " who can't be led away by just such a man as he. 
 It makes heroines of some but it makes martyrs 
 of most and you are the kind who'll find life has 
 a bitter taste." 
 
 She looked at him with a certain pity. Not for 
 one moment had any doubt of Chester's good faith 
 entered her mind. She saw in Renalls' attitude 
 the unscrupulous methods of the vindictive 
 loser. 
 
 " I wish you would realize," she said, " that 
 you are not serving your cause by talking like 
 this. If you choose to quarrel, I shall be sorry, 
 but I had long ago recognized it as inevitable." 
 
 " And why? " he ejaculated. 
 
 " To be frank," she returned, " my fiance has 
 no greater liking for you than you seem to have 
 for him."
 
 WAR DECLARED 343 
 
 Renalls showed his teeth, " He's afraid of me," 
 he said. 
 
 " You can't make me take you seriously," she 
 replied. " This attitude on your part is merely 
 ridiculous. You see, Charlie, I love him, and if 
 a woman does that nothing else much matters, and 
 I'm not going to be a heroine or a martyr or a 
 woman with a bitter taste in her mouth, but just 
 an ordinary, happy, contented sort of person." 
 
 " I came here," Renalls said, after a pause, 
 " to offer you the opportunity to send him away 
 and learn his true character. I shouldn't stand 
 a better chance with you now, if you did that, 
 but it might be different later on, because I can 
 play a waiting game. For the last time, will 
 you investigate his past life? " 
 
 She looked at him with a smile. " I will not," 
 she said. 
 
 " Then it must be war between you and me," 
 he cried. 
 
 " Very well," she agreed, " I am not afraid." 
 
 " Do you understand what such a declaration 
 means?" he demanded. "Have you thought 
 how it's going to affect your business interests? " 
 
 " The prospect doesn't worry me in the least," 
 she returned idly.
 
 344 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " Then you haven't thought of it," he said 
 grimly. " I'll make it clear. Since old Cosway 
 died you've had no one to restrain you from pour- 
 ing out your money in Brazil. You're now be- 
 ginning to be pinched again. I know your business 
 better than you do and if your venture isn't sub- 
 scribed to by the public, you'll have to try to 
 earn a living. Norah, do you know what sort of 
 influence I wield in New York? It's a big thing 
 and I'm at peace with the men who control what 
 I don't. If they help you, they will be throwing 
 down the gauntlet to me, and it isn't worth it." 
 He repeated the words to give them emphasis, 
 " It isn't worth it, I tell you. I can wreck your 
 North Brazil Goldfields. You've never had an 
 enemy before who bothered about it." 
 
 She grew restive under his steady stare and 
 triumphant manner. 
 
 " But why should you be my enemy ? " she 
 asked. 
 
 " Because you won't guard yourself against 
 an unprincipled adventurer." 
 
 " Let us leave his name out of it," she said. 
 " This is a matter of business not concerning him. 
 Why should you, to whom I owe so much, want to 
 bring all your might to crush me? "
 
 WAR DECLARED 345 
 
 " Because I want you," he cried, " and if I 
 can't have you when you are successful, I'll have 
 you when you are in the dust and there isn't 
 a friend of them all left to you." He bent for- 
 ward. " Do you suppose he will be there, then? " 
 
 There was menace in his tone and a something 
 which frightened her but she only smiled pity- 
 ingly in return. " If I am in the dust and my 
 friends desert me, I shall not be alone." 
 
 He sighed impatiently, that her splendid faith 
 and courage should be wasted on an object he 
 fully believed to be worthless. 
 
 " Admit for a moment," he urged, " that I 
 am right and they all leave you." 
 
 " There'll be nothing of me worth having," 
 she said simply. 
 
 " Norah, my dear," he said, " I'll take you. In 
 that dark hour that must come I'll take you and 
 worship you and I'll make you happy. Why 
 defy me? " 
 
 " It's not defiance," she returned, " it's the 
 absolute certainty I have that you are wrong." 
 
 " Very well," he said, " we are to fight. That's 
 agreed. If you run against me in my own field 
 you can't win. I see dire failure before you. I 
 want you to listen to me carefully. When you
 
 346 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 fail, when your dark hour comes and you have 
 no money and no friends and he's taken himself 
 off, I will come." 
 
 She spoke impatiently. " You haven't the 
 power to frighten me." 
 
 " But you're afraid to admit it might happen. 
 Norah, if he deserts you, will you forgive me for 
 the wounds of battle and take me? " 
 
 " If he deserts me! " she repeated. " Charlie, 
 you must be mad! " 
 
 " But if he does," Renalls demanded, " shall 
 I have a chance? " 
 
 She did not answer the question. " I'd much 
 rather have you as a friend," she said wistfully. 
 
 He shook his head. " Impossible. Remember, 
 I'm your enemy now and I shall fight any way I 
 can." He looked at her with open admiration. 
 " You're worth fighting for, Norah." 
 
 " I have been fought for and won," she said 
 significantly. 
 
 He held out his hand. " For the last time, 
 Norah. I don't shake hands or dine with foes. 
 I'll return when it's all over." 
 
 " Very well," she said, " it's to be a fight then 
 a fair fight." 
 
 " I said nothing about fairness," he replied;
 
 WAR DECLARED 347 
 
 " when I fight it's to win and I use anything that 
 is handy." He paused for a moment. " I saw a 
 play last winter where two men were fighting. 
 One flicked the sword out of the other fellow's 
 hand and then picked it up and handed it back 
 to keep on duelling. Such a fool thing I never 
 saw! I don't fight like that. I'm just warning 
 you." 
 
 Renalls walked back to his hotel, already 
 planning his attack. Before his boat sailed he 
 called upon Mrs. Godfrey. " I wanted to see you 
 particularly," he said. She was a little nervous; 
 against his advice she had plunged into Readings 
 at the wrong moment and was fearful lest he 
 should rebuke her and refuse to advise her in 
 future operations. But he did nothing of the kind. 
 From his pocket he took an envelope addressed 
 in bold, flowing handwriting to Miss Norah Ellis. 
 " Should you remember that writing again? " he 
 demanded. 
 
 " Easily," she responded. " Why? " 
 
 " It is the handwriting of the crook who passes 
 as Richard Vincent and is after Norah's money." 
 
 He elaborated in a highly colored manner what 
 of Vincent's doings he had learned from the re- 
 porter and soon brought his hearer to the verge
 
 348 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 of hysteria. That she, Alice Godfrey, had en- 
 tertained in her house a common swindler and 
 that he was engaged to Norah was almost incredi- 
 ble and wholly horrifying. " What must be 
 done? " she cried. 
 
 " We must," returned Renalls, craftily, " pro- 
 tect her against herself. If letters from him come 
 here, I should suggest that they be burned un- 
 read." 
 
 Mrs. Godfrey virtuously declared that it would 
 be beneath her to open any letters addressed to 
 others. The ethical difference between that and 
 merely destroying them seemed to her very 
 marked. 
 
 Renalls left her well content. He had no- 
 ticed a growing jealousy between the widow and 
 her cousin and he was sure that Norah's fortune 
 was coveted more than her company. He had 
 pointed out that if she lost this fortune she would 
 be dependent on relatives. And more than all 
 he had impressed upon her the necessity of get- 
 ting the mail before Norah did. This was not 
 difficult since the girl had been ordered to rest 
 well into the morning. If inquiries were insti- 
 tuted, Mrs. Godfrey could fall back upon flat 
 denial, which had often helped her before.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 THE BRIGHTER SIDE 
 
 " In choice of instruments, it is better to choose men of a plainer 
 sort, that are like to do that that is committed to them." Bacon. 
 
 THERE are men and women who, forced by 
 circumstances, come to middle age with 
 never an opportunity to display their 
 kindness of heart and innate sympathy with 
 lovers in distress. It was so with Mrs. Valentine 
 Meadows. She had served three mistresses faith- 
 fully but they had not been employers capable 
 of stirring romantic regard. They had, in fact, 
 dispelled many of her dreams, but she still re- 
 garded the world in a kindly light. Meadows, 
 bald, respectable and with a goodly sum saved, 
 was not in the least like the knightly figure which 
 as a girl she had thought upon, but he had a 
 true heart and she was very happy. 
 
 This conjunction of loving hearts, hungering, 
 for some object upon which to lavish affection, 
 found it in the furtherance of Richard Chester's 
 romance. Meadows had been overjoyed to receive 
 the letter from his old employer and had pondered
 
 350 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 much as to why he was to be known in future 
 as Richard Vincent. He took the letter straight- 
 way to the apartment occupied by Mrs. Godfrey 
 and her cousin and met the former coming along 
 the corridor. " Will you please give this to Miss 
 Ellis?" he said and thought his errand well ac- 
 complished. Not yet telling his wife of Chester's 
 note, he led the conversation to Miss Ellis. 
 
 Mrs. Meadows, it must be remembered, was 
 incurably romantic. " Poor young lady," she 
 observed, " she looks to me as though she was 
 pining for someone who wasn't here." 
 
 Her husband regarded her with pride. This 
 remarkable woman had put her finger on the spot 
 instantly, intuitively, admirably. She looked at 
 him a moment later. " It couldn't be the air 
 here," she asserted. 
 
 " Oh no," he agreed. It was an article of faith 
 with them that there existed no ailment that could 
 not be cured by the climate of Constant Springs. 
 Meadows hugged to himself the pleasurable be- 
 lief that the note he took might banish this 
 look his wife observed. Mysteriously he took 
 Vincent's letter from his pocket and handed it 
 to his helpmeet. " Not a word," he said. " Abso- 
 lutely private between us three."
 
 THE BRIGHTER SIDE 351 
 
 The next day he saw Norah and hoped that 
 she looked brighter. He made bold to speak to 
 her. " I hope you got the letter, madam," he 
 said. She looked at him eagerly. That she had 
 received no communication from Chester weighed 
 on her. Meadows saw her face brighten. " What 
 letter? " she demanded. 
 
 " Yesterday afternoon I brought a letter," he 
 said. 
 
 " From whom? " she cried, " I got none." 
 
 Fortunately for the lovers Meadows possessed 
 a certain cautiousness of disposition which had 
 before rescued him from the predicaments into 
 which men of lively sympathy may fall. He felt 
 with a certainty not to be doubted that he had 
 hit upon some underhanded plot aimed at his 
 Richard Chester and this adorable young lady. 
 To tell her suddenly might precipitate matters 
 unduly. He felt in need of feminine counsel 
 but in lieu of it an inspiration was born which he 
 afterwards considered as genius. 
 
 " Are you not Mrs. Godfrey? " he demanded. 
 
 The light left her eyes. " I am Miss Ellis," 
 she sighed. 
 
 The excellent Mrs. Meadows listened eagerly. 
 " It's my belief, there's a plot," she said. " I
 
 352 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 don't like Mrs. Godfrey and I don't like that Mr. 
 Renalls. It's my conviction he's in love with 
 Miss Ellis. You must write to your Mr. Chester 
 and tell him everything." Meadows accordingly 
 indited a long letter to Chester, not without the 
 feeling that he was taking a liberty, and breathed 
 a prayer that some beneficent being would watch 
 over it as it winged its way northward. 
 
 Mrs. Meadows made a point of going in the 
 sitting room shared by Norah and her cousin but 
 usually found the two together. On one of the 
 occasions when Mrs. Godfrey was out she came 
 in for some purpose in itself an excuse and looked 
 closely at the girl. Mrs. Meadows noted the 
 weariness apparent on the exquisite face. It 
 was of Chester she was thinking. His friend, 
 young and vigorous, had been ground under the 
 wheels of a surface car and wiped out of existence. 
 And if some such accident had happened to her 
 Richard what chance had she of learning it? She 
 sighed heavily and Mrs. Meadows could stand 
 silent no longer. 
 
 " Ah, miss," she declared darkly, " if we saw 
 all the people we want to see and had all the let- 
 ters we long for, how much happier we should be! " 
 
 " Yes," said the other slowly, " how much
 
 THE BRIGHTER SIDE 353 
 
 happier we should be! " Then she turned to the 
 woman in astonishment. For a moment she had 
 not thought the remark strange, it fitted in with 
 her thoughts so well, but now she recognized it 
 as very odd. " Why do you say that? " she de- 
 manded. 
 
 " Those who have hearts, see." In the secrecy 
 of the hotel office she confided in her husband. 
 " She's breaking her heart for him," she declared. 
 
 " But I don't see that we can do anything," her 
 husband said. 
 
 " If Mr. Chester's the man you paint him I 
 think he'll come right away on receipt of your 
 letter," she said. 
 
 " Suppose he hasn't the money? " Meadows 
 hazarded. 
 
 " We could send it," she returned promptly. 
 
 The man shook his head. " He's as proud," he 
 said, striving for an apt simile, " he's as proud 
 as I should be if I were a gentleman." 
 
 " You are a gentleman," flared his wife. 
 
 " Yes, my dear," Meadows returned humbly, 
 " but I wasn't born to it." 
 
 The days passed as slowly to the Meadows as 
 to Norah. The two old people were on the tiptoe 
 of expectation when the train came in which con-
 
 354 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 nected with Kingston and the New York boat. 
 Meadows stared out of the porch pale with ex- 
 citement. " My dear," he said with shaky voice, 
 " it's him. It's Mr. Richard." There was affec- 
 tion in his tone. " It's my Mr. Richard." He 
 noted quickly that there was no trace of poverty 
 in his former employer. He was as well dressed 
 as ever. " He's made good," muttered the ex- 
 valet, proudly ushering him into his private room. 
 Mrs. Meadows purred about him in an ecstasy 
 of pleasure. It was the first time she had 
 ever assisted first hand at a meeting of parted 
 lovers. 
 
 " She's just pining for you, sir," she declared. 
 " I never saw such a lovely young lady in all my 
 born days. It's a wicked world! " she concluded 
 fiercely. 
 
 " When can I see her? " he demanded. 
 
 " Now," that excellent creature declared. 
 " There goes Mrs. Godfrey. She'll be taking 
 a walk about now and Miss Ellis will be 
 alone." 
 
 " Mrs. Meadows," Chester said, " you have a 
 heart of gold and so has your husband. Will 
 you take me to her?" 
 
 When she returned to her husband a few minutes
 
 THE BRIGHTER SIDE 355 
 
 later there were tears in her eyes. " Oh, if you 
 could have seen her face! " she cried. " They just 
 stood there for a moment looking at each other 
 and then he took her in his arms. They didn't 
 remember I was there and they didn't hear me 
 shut the door. For all they knew," Mrs. Meadows 
 concluded with perfect satisfaction, " I might 
 have belonged to the planet Mars and gone back 
 home again." 
 
 When the first greetings between the lovers 
 were over Norah looked at him with satisfaction. 
 " How well you look," she cried, " and how 
 prosperous." 
 
 " I am," he laughed, and took from his pocket 
 a little package. It was a big sapphire ring. He 
 knew it was her favorite stone. " It is the color 
 of your eyes," he said. 
 
 " Dick, how adorable of you," she exclaimed. 
 " But what a beauty! How on earth have you 
 managed it? " 
 
 " You've brought me luck," he laughed. " I'm 
 a prosperous seller of high grade printing." He 
 told her of the Beau Site order. " And the day 
 before I sailed two more orders came in just on 
 account of that wonderful booklet." 
 
 She grew serious when he told her of the letter
 
 356 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 Meadows delivered to Mrs. Godfrey. At first 
 she could not credit the treachery. " What will 
 you do? " he inquired. 
 
 " I must ask what she meant. There can't 
 be any excuse." She sighed. " I shall have to 
 give up living here. I shall miss those darling 
 children, but that Alice should behave so, makes 
 it impossible that I should remain her friend. 
 She might have separated us forever, Dick." She 
 shivered. " I can't bear to think of it! She had 
 better not see you here. I'll send for you as soon 
 as I've had it out with her. I'm sure the first 
 sight of my ring will tell her what's coming. 
 Kiss me, Dick, and then be where I can send for 
 you. I'm afraid to let you see how furious I can 
 be." 
 
 An hour later Mrs. Meadows informed him that 
 Mrs. Godfrey was leaving for Kingston and that 
 Miss Ellis was to remain. He watched from the 
 Meadows sitting room and presently beheld 
 Mrs. Godfrey, bereft of her usual self-complacence, 
 drive away. Then a message came to him from 
 Norah. 
 
 " It's over then? " he said. 
 
 " Such puerile, silly excuses," the girl retorted. 
 " That you were a bad wicked fortune hunter and
 
 THE BRIGHTER SIDE 357 
 
 she looked upon me as her young cousin in 
 need of protection. She said she burned the 
 letter." 
 
 " She must have burned two," he said. " But 
 what direct charge did she make against me? " 
 
 " They were too absurd even to remember," 
 she returned. " I don't believe in them and I 
 sha'n't repeat them." 
 
 " Do so as a favor," he begged. " If you don't 
 I shall think you fear I am unable to clear my- 
 self. I'm grateful for your generosity, dear, but 
 I want to explain things so there's never a doubt 
 about it." He listened to her brief description of 
 his incarceration in a police cell. 
 
 " Perfectly true," he admitted, " but hear my 
 side of it too." 
 
 The week that followed was one of the most 
 perfect of their lives. Like happy children they 
 explored the beautiful island and the color came 
 back into her cheeks and the brightness into her 
 eyes, and over the twain the Meadows busied 
 themselves with affectionate solicitations. 
 
 It was during this time that Norah unfolded 
 her hopes for the future of her Brazilian mines 
 and told him in detail of her struggles and the 
 imminent success, and that the mining man to
 
 358 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 whom she wished to commend him was Mendoza, 
 her partner. " So you see my wilful, obstinate 
 proud Richard, that your wife will need you. 
 Every moment you spent in those musty old 
 libraries was spent for me." 
 
 He looked at her a little doubtfully. " I don't 
 want to be a mere passenger," he objected. 
 
 " You shall be captain and owner and first 
 mate," she cried, " unless you wish me to adver- 
 tise for someone." 
 
 " It isn't that," he said earnestly. " It's a feel- 
 ing that I sha'n't be worthy of it all. I'm willing 
 to work like twenty men but I've found out 
 lately that I know very little." 
 
 " I need you," she told him gaily; she had never 
 been in more radiantly high spirits. " I need 
 you more than ever now because Charlie Renalls 
 has made an open declaration of war." 
 
 "When? "he cried. 
 
 " In this very room a few days ago. I am to 
 be brought down to the dust, he harped con- 
 tinually about this dust by the way you who 
 are only pursuing me for mere money, will in- 
 stantly desert me. Along comes King Cophetua 
 Renalls and raises me from the mire to share the 
 house he is building on Riverside Drive. He ar-
 
 THE BRIGHTER SIDE 359 
 
 ranged the whole thing and you'll admit that he 
 isn't one to talk idly." 
 
 Chester looked more disturbed than the girl. 
 " No," he agreed, " Renalls isn't an idle boaster 
 as a rule." 
 
 " Wherefore you perceive my need," she said, 
 " and if you talk any more nonsense about carv- 
 ing out a separate career while I am being des- 
 troyed by mine enemy I shall think you aren't 
 in the least like the other Richard they called 
 Cceur de Lion." 
 
 " You've put things in a totally different light," 
 he said. " Before, when I thought I should be 
 just useless, I felt I shouldn't be a man if I didn't 
 try and make good alone. But if Renalls has 
 threatened you and I am earning enough money to 
 get proper training in assaying and the rest of it 
 so that I can be worth something, why, you won't 
 find me proud. I rather like the idea of a fight 
 with Renalls." 
 
 " I'm afraid you've quite a wicked temper," 
 she laughed. 
 
 " I detest him," Chester admitted frankly. " I 
 never felt a man's hate more than his. When I 
 first met him he looked at me and I could feel 
 that he hated me. I don't wonder he hates me.
 
 If he had got engaged to a fascinating enchantress 
 with sapphire eyes and hair like imprisoned sun- 
 shine I should have blackjacked him some dark 
 night." 
 
 " You're not a business man," the girl declared, 
 looking up at him. ' You ought to be giving 
 serious thought how to circumvent him instead 
 of talking in this absurd way." 
 
 " I am not a man of business at the present 
 moment," he replied, " I am in spirit a knight 
 errant. I should have enjoyed that life," he said 
 reflectively. " I know exactly how they felt when 
 they got into their armor and made all the other 
 knights or villains they met admit that their 
 lady was the peerless damsel." 
 
 " I can quite imagine you to be a very over- 
 bearing character," she said. " I fear Mr. Mead- 
 ows can't be genuine when he talks out in that 
 extravagant way." 
 
 " Has Meadows been talking? " he demanded. 
 
 " And Mrs. Meadows too," she declared. " I 
 have your every characteristic expounded by 
 them. You are the one man who is a hero to 
 his valet!" She looked at him with a smile. " I 
 am getting horridly proud of you." 
 
 " If you knew how unworthy I am of you,"
 
 THE BRIGHTER SIDE 361 
 
 he said penitently, " you wouldn't feel proud." 
 He shook his head. " Meadows makes far too 
 much of it. He doesn't tell of the innumerable 
 times I have cursed him for my own faults and 
 called maledictions on his innocent soul, when 
 it's been my own doing all the time. Dear old 
 Meadows! Well, I shall leave you in their care 
 without fear." 
 
 She sighed. " And you must go tomorrow? " 
 
 " I only had a week's leave," he told her, 
 " exclusive of the time taken by the journey, and 
 I have several what I call prospects looking for 
 my coming. I tell you, Norah, it's different from 
 trying to sell books." 
 
 " Or salad dressing," she laughed. " How do 
 you do it? " 
 
 " Luck," he said cheerfully. " Feeling happy 
 and looking prosperous." 
 
 She was looking at her engagement ring. 
 " You're fearfully extravagant, Dick. I could 
 have done with a much simpler ring than 
 this." 
 
 " I'll buy you better ones," he laughed. " My 
 dear, I'm in for a run of stupendous luck. I shall 
 need it when Renalls has made us bankrupts. 
 And I need it for mining books and instruments.
 
 362 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 When I'm your mine manager I intend to be the 
 last thing in expert mineralogical knowledge." 
 He laughed like a happy boy. " It's rather fun 
 earning one's own living."
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 JOHN CHESTER'S OFFER 
 
 " La pire des mesalliances est celle du coeur." 
 
 HE bade her good-bye at the Kingston dock, 
 absolutely confident of happier times 
 ahead. She loved him; she had broken 
 with Renalls and he and she were going to win. 
 It was a good world and a kind one and he watched 
 the purple hills of Jamaica fade into the distance 
 as nearly perfectly happy as he had ever been in 
 his life. He settled himself to read the New York 
 papers which he had bought before sailing. He 
 found them full of his brother's divorce. John 
 Chester stared at him from the pages of the eve- 
 ning journals seemingly not a whit altered. He 
 read the accounts in much perturbation. Al- 
 though he had never met Mrs. John Chester he 
 had always heard that she lived in amity with 
 her husband. There was not a breath of scandal 
 against John Chester's name. He had been 
 granted his case in an undefended suit and the 
 papers were full of his history, his money, his
 
 364 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 brilliance as a man of affairs. There was in most 
 instances a reference to Richard. " Mr. Chester," 
 he read, " is the elder brother of the Richard 
 Chester who was formerly much in the public 
 eye as an owner of blue ribbon winners. He was 
 also an explorer of note and the old Yale full-back. 
 He disappeared from his former associations about 
 a year ago and is supposed to be with an expedi- 
 tion in Thibet." 
 
 But he could only think of the terrible blow this 
 must be to John's pride. It must have been a 
 crucifixion to find himself in everyone's mouth 
 and to be pitied for a deserted husband and a 
 wronged friend. 
 
 So soon as he possibly could after landing in 
 New York he went to Number One Wall Street 
 to get the letter that Norah had written and 
 posted after he had left for the West Indies. He 
 was passing through the picture gallery which 
 opens from the platform when his attention was 
 arrested by a painting of the mountains behind 
 Constant Springs, where Norah had ridden with 
 him but a week ago. So intent was he that he 
 failed to note that Charles Renalls was standing 
 at another easel just behind him. It was while 
 these two men were looking at their separate can-
 
 JOHN CHESTER'S OFFER 365 
 
 vases that Biggs hurried by. He had recently 
 received a raise in salary and was not without 
 hope that it might eventually be the firm of 
 Enderby and Biggs. He was not in a mood to 
 respect the fallen, as he conceived Chester to be. 
 He slapped him on the back with what he felt 
 was a man-of-the-world air, a careless manner 
 indicative of breeding. " Hallo," said Biggs, 
 " There are letters for you at the office. It's the 
 first time she's written to you. Perhaps the lady's 
 going to stick to you after all." Biggs cocked 
 his hat at a rakish angle. " It's me for single 
 blessedness every time," he asserted. ' This 
 divorce nonsense may be fashionable but I don't 
 like it." 
 
 Chester looked at him for a moment and from 
 his expression it would seem that the little man 
 before him with the padded shoulders was a dis- 
 tasteful spectacle, " Thanks," he said briefly and 
 turned away. 
 
 Biggs reddened, and turning away, came face 
 to face with Renalls. Now Biggs had always con- 
 sidered Renalls to be one of the mighty men of the 
 " Street." There was no incident in his career 
 of which he was more proud than his successful 
 service of the capitalist with a subpcena. A no-
 
 366 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 toriously difficult task, it had been Biggs' lot 
 when professional process servers had failed, to 
 succeed. And Renalls, who might just as readily 
 have kicked him from the office, laughed at the 
 ingenuity displayed and gave him a good cigar. 
 Even now the financier occasionally threw him a 
 nod, which enhanced his reputation in his own 
 forensic set. Biggs was not pleased that the man 
 whom he esteemed so highly should have wit- 
 nessed this snub, but he was reassured by the 
 financier's strange affability. 
 
 " So you are acting for him ? " he asked, nod- 
 ding after Chester's retreating figure. Not a 
 word of Biggs' remarks to Vincent had been lost. 
 
 " Yes," Biggs admitted. He was glad that a 
 clerk in another law office passed at that mo- 
 ment. " Enderby has turned his affairs over to 
 me." 
 
 Renalls drew his bow at a venture. " Look 
 here, Mr. Biggs," he said, " I don't want you to 
 violate professional secrets a man like you 
 wouldn't anyway, even if I did but I'm inter- 
 ested in his case, just as a lot of other men are. 
 It's for divorce, isn't it? " His eyes were fixed 
 on Biggs who instantly felt as a small boy before 
 a stern school teacher,
 
 " Yes," he answered meekly. 
 
 Renalls turned to the picture he had been ad- 
 miring. "Are you a judge of pictures?" he 
 asked. 
 
 " Pretty good," returned Biggs, feeling relieved, 
 " but I don't fall for these impressionists." He 
 felt certain that Renalls approved his views. 
 
 " I'm in a hurry now," said the financier, glan- 
 cing at his watch, " but I wanted to have a little 
 business talk with you. Suppose you lunch with 
 me some day next week at the Players. I'll 'phone 
 you." 
 
 He hurried off to leave the managing clerk 
 trembling with delight. He was unbearably ar- 
 rogant toward his inferiors for the rest of the 
 day. 
 
 Richard Chester had left when he reached the 
 office, taking with him two letters. One from Norah 
 and the other in a strange cramped handwriting, 
 that yet looked familiar. Norah's was not to be 
 opened in the street, it was too sacred; but he 
 cut the other envelope without hesitation. The 
 signature, John F. Chester, was the first of his 
 brother's writing he had seen for years. It was 
 dated the day before and bore the address of a 
 great New York hotel.
 
 368 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 "DEAR RICHARD:" (it ran), 
 
 " I am anxious to see you directly you can ar- 
 range to come. I am ill or would have sought 
 you out. Pray let no past disagreements prevent 
 your coming instantly." 
 
 Since Richard's business day was already 
 planned out and in his new mood for hard work 
 he allowed nothing to stand in the way, he post- 
 poned his visit to John until the morrow. 
 
 He was shown into a great suite of apartments 
 overlooking the Park, and after a few minutes' 
 wait in an outer room was ushered into a light 
 luxurious apartment where on a sofa his brother 
 lay. Except that he was gaunter and yellower 
 than he had ever seen him, the younger brother 
 noted very little alteration. John Chester had 
 ever lacked the urbanity which distinguished 
 Richard. He did not hold out his hand. Richard 
 thought he could detect the same old sneering 
 expression. John was the first to speak. " Please 
 sit down," he said. " I am recommended to lie 
 down a great deal or I would have come to see you." 
 
 As Richard looked closer he perceived that the 
 other man was much aged and wore the looks of 
 suffering.
 
 JOHN CHESTER'S OFFER 369 
 
 " I'd no idea you had been ill," he said. 
 
 " I kept that out of the papers," John retorted. 
 " Do you suppose if my wife had known that I 
 was to be dead in a year she would have been so 
 eager to get rid of me? She'd have been more 
 cautious and waited for her widow's portion in- 
 stead of hurrying into a second marriage." 
 
 " You can't be serious," cried Richard. " What 
 is the matter? " 
 
 " Death is the last thing I should jest about," 
 the elder said quietly. " What I say is true. 
 Half a dozen specialists in as many countries have 
 agreed that I have cancer and that cancer is in- 
 curable. They do not all agree on the amount of 
 life that remains to me but I have struck a 
 mean and find myself with rather less than a 
 year." 
 
 Richard was genuinely shocked by these tidings. 
 Although in recent years there had been nothing 
 in common between them, the love which had 
 come into his life gave him a closer perception of 
 the sufferings of others and a greater toleration 
 for their peculiarities. He reviewed mentally 
 the cause of their quarrel. It seemed so remote 
 and he wondered if it were treachery so to 
 regard it so trivial.
 
 370 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " John," he said, " I'm terribly upset to hear 
 this." 
 
 " I did not ask you to visit me in order to enlist 
 your sympathy. I had other reasons." 
 
 Richard detected the note of resentment in the 
 other's voice. It was plain that he did not crave 
 for friendship. 
 
 "What were they?" Richard asked, his voice 
 less sympathetic. 
 
 " Since my wife is married to someone else and 
 gave me no children, and my illness precludes 
 a second marriage, it follows that you are my heir. 
 Did you ever think of that? " 
 
 " Never till this moment." 
 
 " The fact remains therefore," said John, " that 
 you are heir to the Chester estate. Do you know 
 what it is worth ? " 
 
 " I got a million and a half," Richard re- 
 sponded. 
 
 " Less than your share," his brother retorted. 
 " Our father was not in any sense a good business 
 man. When he died the estate was much involved. 
 I have spent twenty years in straightening it out 
 and consolidating our interests. While we do 
 not rank with the richest families we have more 
 ready money and money in gilt-edged securities
 
 JOHN CHESTER'S OFFER 371 
 
 than you would believe. I shall leave not less 
 than twenty millions." 
 
 " That's news to me," his brother exclaimed. 
 
 " I've paid to be kept out of the papers," the 
 other said, " just as I imagine you must have 
 paid to have all your doings talked about a 
 few years ago." 
 
 " There you're wrong," cried Richard. " I 
 never bought publicity." 
 
 John Chester waved him down. " I'm not 
 really interested whether you did or didn't," he 
 said. " I want you to understand that I have 
 built up the Chester fortunes to a height they 
 have never before attained. It is to be your task 
 to conserve them." 
 
 Richard was conscious that his brother regarded 
 him with the cold, impersonal stare which had 
 always irked him. Against his will he felt rising 
 within him the old antagonism. 
 
 His brother spoke again. " Are you equal to 
 the task? " 
 
 " I don't know," said Richard, " I'm not at 
 all sure that I am." 
 
 " A few years ago you would have said 
 ' yes ' without a moment's hesitation," sneered 
 John.
 
 372 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " Many things may happen in a year," Richard 
 reminded him. 
 
 " That may be," returned John drily, " but 
 there's one thing I want to make perfectly clear 
 to you. I have sent for you not because I expect 
 you to bear me any affection, but because you're 
 the last of the Chesters and what the Chesters 
 have they should hold. If there had been another 
 brother I should have sent for him instead. Do 
 I make it clear ? " 
 
 " Almost unnecessarily so," Richard said. 
 
 John looked at him curiously. " Don't you 
 bear any malice ? " 
 
 " No," returned Chester slowly. " I did once 
 but that's done with." 
 
 "Why?" snapped the invalid. 
 
 " I don't think I've ever been the hater 
 you were," the younger man answered, " and 
 well, John, I'm engaged to be married 
 and that wipes out the memory of other 
 days." 
 
 "Who is she?" John demanded. "What is 
 her name? " 
 
 " That, my dear John," said Richard urbanely, 
 " is something we can discuss later." John's per- 
 emptory way galled him.
 
 JOHN CHESTER'S OFFER 373 
 
 " What are you doing now? " was his brother's 
 next question. 
 
 " I am preparing for the position of mine man- 
 ager." 
 
 " You must drop that idea now," John told him. 
 
 " I think not," said Richard, " in fact nothing 
 but death would make me drop it." 
 
 " But don't you understand," said the other, 
 "that you are to get my money? Don't you 
 understand that I shall want you here to instruct 
 you how to manage my interests till they become 
 yours?" He laughed ironically. "This stupid 
 mining scheme must be dropped. It will take you 
 a good many hours of the day to get the hang of 
 our New York real estate, but that won't be as 
 hard as this mining business." 
 
 " I'm used to hard work," said Richard. 
 
 " It was time you turned over a new leaf," said 
 John. 
 
 " There are few people who can tell a truth in 
 a more disagreeable manner than you, "the younger 
 retorted. " It's done much to make you popular." 
 
 " Come, come," cried John with a faint smile, 
 " I'm not so bad as I sound, Richard. Remember 
 I've burning hell inside me and things of late have 
 made me irritable. I understand that all this
 
 374 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 must confuse you at first but you'll see that no 
 matter what you are engaged on now, it must 
 be given up instantly." 
 
 " I'm afraid I see nothing of the sort," Richard 
 returned. " I've sworn to go through with what 
 I'm doing and I sha'n't go back on my word." 
 
 " I think you will though," John said sneer- 
 ingly. " When you stop to consider the differ- 
 ence between getting back to your own life and the 
 selling of printing you'll come off your high horse." 
 
 " What do you know about my selling print- 
 ing? " Richard demanded. 
 
 His brother pointed to a black japanned deed 
 box standing on a table, " In the top of that," 
 he said, " is a long blue envelope. I wish you'd 
 get it for me. Here," he remarked a moment 
 later, " is a fairly reliable account of the various 
 occupations which engaged your energies since 
 you parted with Meadows down to the time you 
 started as a salesman of printing. This document 
 is mostly from the pen of a detective who resided 
 for that purpose in your rooming house." 
 
 Richard glared at him angrily. " I consider it 
 a most unwarrantable piece of impertinence," he 
 cried. " What right had you to pry into my mis- 
 eries? I didn't disgrace your name."
 
 JOHN CHESTER'S OFFER 375 
 
 " It may have been impertinent," John said 
 carelessly, " but I wanted to know what my heir 
 was doing. I'm not sure that I shouldn't have 
 been glad if you had disgraced the name you took; 
 in that case I should have made Doris my heiress 
 although Lord St. Mabyn has plenty of Chester 
 money already." 
 
 Richard paced up and down the room fuming. 
 John watched him in grim amusement. " There 
 was a gentleman in your lodging house," he re- 
 marked, " who complained bitterly that your 
 habit of eating in your bedroom brought the mice 
 to his. And there was a man who shovelled snow 
 at your side who got double pay. He was paid 
 for working and paid for watching. A taciturn 
 individual whom you angered exceedingly by 
 your extraordinary activity and threats to work 
 the whole winter if the snow obliged." 
 
 Richard paused in his promenading. " Just 
 like you, John," he cried. " By Jove, John, you're 
 the same genial kind-hearted being as ever! Was 
 your spy ever as hungry or hopeless as your 
 brother, I wonder? " 
 
 John shrugged his shoulders. " You brought 
 it on yourself," he said carelessly, " and I'm going 
 to give you the opportunity to get out of it."
 
 376 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " I am out of it," flared the young man, " and 
 no thanks to you. I'm making money and I'm 
 happy." 
 
 " I shall ask for your confidences some other 
 time," John said. " At present I am rather 
 fatigued and I want to say concisely that you 
 must alter your mode of life to suit me. You 
 will have what money you need. You can take 
 up your existence where you laid it down after 
 that fatal card game." 
 
 Richard shook his head. " I'm afraid that 
 doesn't make the appeal to me it might have done 
 six months ago. I've cut adrift from that idle life 
 now. I've been in the depths as you know. I've 
 tasted starvation and misery and I've come out 
 of it a different man." 
 
 The other's smile was full of sarcasm. " I see," 
 he said, " a reformed character, a great and good 
 man." 
 
 " Not better and not greater," Richard an- 
 swered gently, " but just different. I'm making 
 enough to live on; a good woman is going to 
 marry me and I'll be no man's pensioner." 
 
 John interrupted him impatiently. " Talk 
 sense," he snapped. " Come to the point now 
 instead of by degrees. Of course you'll accept,
 
 JOHN CHESTER'S OFFER 377 
 
 and I want you plainly to understand my con- 
 ditions." 
 
 Richard looked at him in astonishment. Had 
 money and power so taken a hold on the elder 
 Chester that he could not conceive of a man who 
 would not submit to dictation! 
 
 " My conditions will not be hard," said John. 
 " You will be under my orders and what acquaint- 
 ances you have made in this submerged year 
 of yours must never know who you were. You 
 start de novo, or better still you eliminate the year. 
 I saw by a paper that you were supposed to be 
 travelling in Thibet. Very well, you were in 
 Thibet." 
 
 " Excellent," said Richard in gentle irony. " I 
 see exactly what to do. Those friends who 
 helped me in my hard year must be forgot- 
 ten." He looked at John as though in doubt. 
 " I wonder if you will approve of the young 
 woman who has consented to be Mrs. Richard 
 Chester." 
 
 " I doubt it," said John in the utmost serious- 
 ness. " In fact I think some arrangement will 
 have to be made. No publicity, you understand, 
 but you can have what money you need. Where 
 are you going? " he demanded, when Richard
 
 378 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 grabbed his hat and rose to his feet. " What are 
 you doing? " 
 
 " Thanking Heaven," returned Richard, " that 
 I remember you are an invalid and that I can 
 curb my temper. John, I never wished you were 
 a big husky man as fervently as I desire it now. 
 But since you are an invalid I must content my- 
 self with wishing you good day." 
 
 " You madman," cried John, white-faced with 
 anger, " do you know what you're doing? Do 
 you realize that you are throwing away millions? 
 You've heard my ultimatum! " 
 
 Richard controlled himself with difficulty. The 
 thought that the other had suggested that Norah 
 was to be bought off had made him furious. 
 " Damn your ultimatum! " he cried and so took 
 his leave.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 IN THE BALANCE 
 
 " A man's nature runs to herbs or weeds; therefore, let him rea- 
 sonably water the one, and destroy the other." Bacon. 
 
 THE months which followed Richard's in- 
 terview with his brother were the busiest 
 of his life. His success with the printing 
 house, while not so phenomenal as his first week 
 promised, yet allowed him to save a considerable 
 sum of money. His evenings were taken up with 
 his efforts to gain an assayer's diploma and his 
 Sundays made perfect by Norah's company. 
 
 The placing of the stock of the North Brazil 
 Goldfield on the market was delayed for many 
 reasons, not the least of them being Mendoza's 
 continued absence. There had been trouble with 
 the new cyanide plant, with the workers, with the 
 weather, with everything, but at last the thing 
 was floated and the financial and other papers 
 with columns devoted to matters financial were 
 informed of the ground floor opening they were 
 invited to share.
 
 380 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 A couple of big failures and the rumor that an 
 energetic president was about to menace great 
 corporations caused an uneasiness in Wall Street 
 which was reflected by the operations of big and 
 little investors. A leading financial publication 
 pointed out that the Brazilian goldfields were 
 worked out. And the men whom Norah hoped 
 to attract did not give themselves the trouble to 
 examine the geography of the old Portuguese 
 colony; if they had they would have found that 
 the State in which the North Brazils Goldfield 
 was situated had never shown either success or 
 failure, since it was a virgin field. Rumors as to 
 the gains of possible investment damned the thing 
 from the start. The shares were subscribed for 
 with irritating slowness and in this Norah beheld 
 the influence of her declared enemy. 
 
 But she was not of the kind to give up hope 
 and, with Chester, still had dreams of the under- 
 taking of a future. Perhaps there were few things 
 which gave her more complete gratification than 
 the Sunday Richard brought her his diploma. 
 They looked at the document with its important 
 red seal in triumph. " This is to certify," she 
 read proudly, " that Richard Vincent has passed 
 through a course of study in the Assaying and
 
 IN THE BALANCE 381 
 
 estimation of minerals for Gold and Silver by 
 fire assay from all classes of ores, also Gravimet- 
 ric and Volumetric assay of Copper from its 
 ore." 
 
 " Why did you take up copper? " she de- 
 manded. 
 
 " Alaska," he told her. " Before I knew you 
 I had dreams of Alaska and it's the richest min- 
 eral country in the world. It has a copper belt 
 one hundred and fifty miles square. Supposing 
 the Brazil scheme doesn't pan out and Renalls 
 downs us, I shall have enough to take us out there 
 to Alaska. Would you come? " he demanded sud- 
 denly. 
 
 " Do you suppose for a single moment, you 
 silly boy, that I'm going to let you out of my 
 sight?" she asked. "Of course I shall come with 
 you." She looked at him anxiously. " Are you 
 afraid we are going to lose ? " 
 
 " I want to be prepared for contingencies. I 
 saw Mowbray today," Mowbray was Norah's 
 attorney, " and he said things weren't going 
 well." 
 
 " He's wrong," she declared serenely. " I have 
 plenty of resources left. And don't forget that 
 Mr. Mendoza gets here on Tuesday. I have told
 
 382 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 him about you and you'd better see him as soon 
 as possible and bring him on here." 
 
 He walked to his rooms now no longer ill 
 furnished and obscurely situated and was in- 
 formed that a gentleman had called to see him 
 and asked permission to wait. Since the gentle- 
 man drove up in a great limousine car with a man 
 servant and peculation seemed out of the question, 
 he was allowed to remain and had been in Ches- 
 ter's apartment for half an hour. 
 
 And John Chester awaiting him had not come 
 there on any sudden impulse. Since his brother 
 had definitely derided his offer he had thought 
 much of the circumstances of the original quarrel. 
 Richard was in measure to blame, as he was com- 
 pelled to admit. And Marion Griffiths had tol- 
 erated him only because he was Richard's brother. 
 There was never a faint hope that she might care 
 for him. Never since the day he had by his lying 
 broken off the match had he known happiness. 
 His heart was in the quiet southern cloister de- 
 spite the mask of stoical, cynical indifference he 
 had shown these many years to his world. He was 
 going down to the unknown, unloved and un- 
 mourned. And as he slowly set his house in order 
 there came flocking many memories of the days
 
 IN THE BALANCE 383 
 
 when Richard was his adoring brother and a true 
 love existed between them. 
 
 As Richard entered the room he looked up 
 wondering what reception he was to receive from 
 this impetuous Chester. He admitted that if it 
 was not cordial it was courteous. Richard's 
 attitude was that of one slight acquaintance to 
 another. 
 
 " I'm afraid you've been kept waiting a long 
 while," he said. 
 
 " You are surprised I am here? " John asked. 
 
 " I can think of no good purpose being served," 
 Richard said, " by your coming to see me. Our 
 last interview was not pleasant but it defined a 
 position I still adhere to." 
 
 " Is it such an insult then for one brother to 
 want another to receive his money ? " 
 
 " We are not brothers," Richard said slowly, 
 " not brothers in spirit or sympathy. I can't 
 conceive of any silly pride entering into the re- 
 lations between father and son or brother and 
 brother when they are fond of each other. There 
 was no one I loved more than my father. From 
 him I would have accepted anything. And if 
 you and I had been the kind of brothers he hoped 
 to see us it would have been different. But we're
 
 384 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 not, John. We're not even friends. I can't ac- 
 cept anything from you." 
 
 John did not speak for a moment. " I've been 
 turning out old letters and burning them. I came 
 across the first letter you ever wrote to me. It 
 was after I gave you your first pony. You said I 
 was the best brother ever known and you would 
 love me for all time." 
 
 Richard looked at him gravely. " John," he 
 said, " I don't like now when you are ill to have to 
 say it, but whose fault was it I lost my love for 
 you and why did you turn from being my good 
 elder brother to a man who hated me ? " 
 
 " I know, I know," said the older man wearily. 
 " I lied to Marion. I wanted to win what I did 
 not think you prized enough. It was a black thing 
 to do, but haven't I been punished? I married 
 a woman who played fast and loose with my 
 honor. I lost my boy when he was a year old, and 
 now I'm dying of agony. Has my life been so 
 happy, then? " 
 
 Richard looked at him in a kindlier manner. 
 " You've had a hard time, too." 
 
 " I have come," said the elder brother, " to 
 ask your forgiveness for the wrong I did you. I 
 shall die happier if I have it."
 
 IN THE BALANCE 385 
 
 " It's yours," Richard returned gently. " I'm 
 not revengeful, John. I'm too happy to bear 
 malice." 
 
 John looked at him searchingly. " You'll ac- 
 cept my proposition now? " 
 
 " No, no! I've told you why. I'm happy and 
 I'm on the way to prosperity and I have my own 
 path to go independently." 
 
 " Richard," said the invalid with a voice that 
 shook, " I came to ask you for more than forgive- 
 ness, but you make it very hard for me." He 
 gazed into his brother's face with an expression 
 that Richard could not understand. " I'm dying. 
 There may be three months or there may be three 
 weeks left of course I ought not to be here 
 and I spend the twenty hours a day that I'm not 
 under morphine thinking about what my failure 
 of a life has been and what sort of blackness I'm 
 going to find when it's over. Richard, boy, do 
 you think I want to die without your love? " 
 
 He broke down and leaned on his arms and 
 sobbed. Immeasurably affected, the younger 
 man knelt at his side and put a strong arm about 
 his thin, shaking shoulders. In that moment 
 the bitter thoughts cherished for so many years 
 were swept away and he saw only the big
 
 386 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 brother who had loved him, now in need of his 
 help. 
 
 " My dear old Jack," he cried, " my dear old 
 chap!" He took the white hand and pressed it 
 with a woman's tenderness. He could not trust 
 himself to speak further. The spectacle of the 
 haughty, unbending John Chester broken down 
 and humbled banished on the instant what hard 
 thoughts he had harbored. 
 
 Their reconciliation, disjointed at first by emo- 
 tion, was complete, and Richard found himself 
 confiding in the elder and the elder, proud in these 
 confidences, forgot his misery. 
 
 But it was still with a certain timidity that 
 John spoke of his brother's marriage. 
 
 " I want to meet her," he said. " I want at 
 least to feel that there are people whom I can 
 care for, in what's left of my life." 
 
 Richard from a locked drawer took the ex- 
 quisite miniature. " Jack," he said impressively, 
 " I have shown this to nobody else. It's something 
 I hold too sacred to pass around." 
 
 " She is very beautiful," the other said after 
 looking long at it. 
 
 " It doesn't do her justice," said the fond lover; 
 " it's well done, I suppose, but she's heaps prettier
 
 IN THE BALANCE 387 
 
 than that." He smiled a little. " When you 
 meet her don't say anything about this. As a 
 matter of fact I stole it. In fact it's rather diffi- 
 cult to explain, but she'll expect your name to be 
 Vincent like mine. I was an ass to be ashamed to 
 work except under an assumed name but it was 
 forced upon me, as I'll tell you some day." He 
 looked at the invalid anxiously. ' You're looking 
 tired. You mustn't stay any longer. I'll come up 
 tomorrow evening after dinner and I'll bring her." 
 
 There were no happier brothers in New York 
 that night than the Chesters. John, despite his 
 added pain and the reproaches of his physician, 
 who upbraided him bitterly for his rashness in 
 venturing out, felt a peace that he had not known 
 for years. And Richard, the impetuous, easily 
 moved through sympathy, assured himself that 
 from every point of view he was the luckiest 
 man in creation. 
 
 He was chagrined to find that Norah was not 
 free to go with him to his brother's hotel on Mon- 
 day. She was dining out and the visit would 
 have to be postponed. He reserved, therefore, 
 his explanations, as better told face to face than 
 over the telephone. She was glad to learn that 
 his movements on the following day would de-
 
 388 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 pend largely on the time of Mendoza's arrival. 
 Of late she had been vaguely uneasy about her 
 Brazilian agent. His excuses to avoid the northern 
 trip did not seem genuine and his reports had 
 grown less and less satisfactory. He had finally 
 come only at her peremptory commands and she 
 had grown to have so much confidence in Richard 
 that she wanted his opinion of this man. 
 
 The Brazilian had not been half an hour at his 
 hotel when Chester asked to see him. The bell 
 boy did not even demand his card. " You're 
 the gentleman he's expecting?" he asked care- 
 lessly. 
 
 " Yes," Chester returned promptly. Norah 
 had prepared the way for him 
 
 Mendoza was a handsome, portly man of middle 
 age. He was well dressed and wore a long beard 
 and abounded in gestures that were ample and 
 expressive. He shook hands with the character- 
 istic grace of his people. " I have been expecting 
 you," he said. " In confidence, I should not have 
 taken the journey for any other reason." 
 
 Chester thanked him and wondered why he 
 seemed so obviously ill at ease. " I imagine," 
 said Mendoza, " that very little explanation is 
 necessary between us. Your reputation is known
 
 IN THE BALANCE 389 
 
 to me thoroughly, and I am not unknown to 
 you." 
 
 " I've heard nothing but good of you," said 
 Chester, not to be outdone in politeness. 
 
 " I am exceedingly sorry to have to do this," 
 said the other with an expressive shrug, " but as 
 you know, self-protection is nature's first law." 
 
 " Whatever is the man talking about? " Ches- 
 ter asked himself. " I don't exactly follow you," 
 he said. 
 
 " I am only thinking that my motives may be 
 distorted," explained the South American. " But 
 a man must think first of himself. You, sir, have 
 that reputation." 
 
 ' Who gave it to me? " Chester asked. Norah 
 could not possibly have advised her business part- 
 ner of her lover's selfishness. 
 
 " Men do not succeed as you have done other- 
 wise," Mendoza remarked. " To continue, I am 
 a man of the South with the love for gambling 
 and cards, incomprehensible to you colder men 
 of the North. I thought I had conquered it but 
 a month ago at Rio I lost my all. Then it was that 
 after refusing to treat with your agent I wrote 
 you. You understand my predicament." 
 
 Chester put his hand to his head. What this
 
 390 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 suave Brazilian was talking about was beyond 
 him. " What do you tell me all this for? " he 
 asked. 
 
 " I owe it to myself," the other said with a 
 touch of theatricalism. " I made a verbal agree- 
 ment with her not to dispose of my stock without 
 her written consent. And as I know she has no 
 money to buy me out I must accept your offer." 
 He looked at Chester anxiously, frightened by his 
 silence lest the deal for which he had come to 
 New York was not to be consummated. " Surely, 
 Mr. Renalls," he cried, " you are not going to 
 fail me?" 
 
 Chester saw in a flash the whole traitorous busi- 
 ness. The reputation the other had endowed him 
 with belonged to the Renalls whom he was sup- 
 posed to be, the man he was expecting. 
 
 " I do business in my own way," Chester said 
 grimly, apprehensive that the real Renalls might 
 appear. He seized a 'phone and demanded that 
 a taxicab await him at the hotel entrance imme- 
 diately. " We'll go right away to my lawyer," he 
 said. 
 
 " But I have not breakfasted yet," Mendoza 
 protested. 
 
 " Then you shall breakfast on gold."
 
 IN THE BALANCE 391 
 
 The Brazilian submitted gracefully. Such curt 
 answers were in keeping with Renalls' character 
 and the sooner the business could be concluded 
 the better. " Permit me to get my hat and coat," 
 he said. He felt a certain admiration for the 
 hustling ways of the man awaiting him in the 
 next room, who called up two men and made ap- 
 pointments within the minute. One message 
 went to John Chester. The other gladdened the 
 ears of Wardour Enderby, who was told to lose 
 no time in seeking the great hotel wherein the 
 invalid was living. He replied that he would go 
 as fast as his waiting car could bring him there. 
 When Mendoza reappeared he decided that the 
 manners of that eminent financier Charles Renalls 
 had been maligned. He found a cheerful, courte- 
 ous companion who took him to a suite of rooms 
 so gorgeous that the exaggerated stories of the 
 Renalls wealth appeared credible. He listened 
 to Chester's explanation that he was pinched 
 financially and was to transfer the whole of his 
 stock for cash. " By the way," the supposed 
 Renalls asked him, " what sum did we arrange 
 upon? " 
 
 " One hundred and fifty thousand dollars," re- 
 turned he, " and this, with your own holding, gives
 
 392 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 you absolute control. I shall be sorry sometimes 
 when I think of this," again the expressive shrug, 
 " but a man must think of himself first." 
 
 " There's one matter I might explain," Chester 
 said. " I am not Charles Renalls but Richard 
 Chester. Keep still," he urged at the alarm ap- 
 pearing on the other's face, " it won't affect you. 
 I have the cash and Mr. Enderby will arrange 
 everything." 
 
 " I have been deceived," cried Mendoza. 
 
 Chester spoke temperately. His manner in- 
 stantly reassured the other. " Accidentally I as- 
 sure you," he said. " You assumed that I was 
 Renalls and told me everything before I could 
 stop you. If you want the money you can have 
 it instantly. And there's another thing that 
 would make you glad of the mistake. I am a 
 friend of Miss Ellis and not an enemy. As a 
 gentleman," Mendoza bowed, " you will be glad 
 of that." 
 
 " Sir," he said grandiloquently, " it is enough. 
 Between gentlemen, all is understood. I have 
 explained that I need money and I would rather 
 have yours than his." His eyes flashed. " He 
 sent an agent to me who treated me as a dog." 
 He looked from one to the other. " It must be
 
 IN THE BALANCE 393 
 
 settled at once." Wardour Enderby rose from his 
 seat. " It shall," he said. " My car is outside 
 and we will seek your man of business instantly." 
 Mendoza bowed with the perfection of courtesy. 
 
 " One moment, Mr. Mendoza," Chester asked. 
 : ' I suppose what you said about Renalls having 
 control was true ? " 
 
 " Most certainly," Mendoza returned. 
 
 " And what was he going to do? " 
 
 :< It was all explained to me," the South Amer- 
 ican answered airily. " He was going to plunge 
 the concern into bankruptcy and then, I think 
 your expressive phrase is, ' freeze out ' the other 
 shareholders." He bowed again jauntily and fol- 
 lowed Enderby out of the room. 
 
 " I notice you didn't take his hand," said John 
 Chester, looking at his brother keenly. " Why? " 
 
 " Because tomorrow I shall take a malacca cane 
 and give him the darnedest licking he's ever heard 
 of," Richard cried with flaming eyes. " John, 
 he's the biggest traitor who ever lived. She for- 
 gave him once when he stole the mine money and 
 played it away over the roulette wheel, and now in 
 her hour of need she was to be sold to her enemy. 
 I could hardly keep my hands off that oily black 
 beard."
 
 394 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 He lit a cigarette with fingers that trembled 
 with passion and sat silent for a moment. Then 
 he looked over at his brother and smiled. " By 
 the way," he said, " you don't know what you've 
 spent all that money for. I never thought of that. 
 I was so savagely angry that I forgot that you 
 don't know the first thing about it. You just 
 shelled out a hundred and fifty thousand of your 
 money 
 
 John interrupted him. " Our money," he cor- 
 rected gently. " After Sunday night it was our 
 money, Dick." 
 
 Richard sighed with satisfaction. " If you 
 only knew how happy you've made me." 
 
 John looked at him with a whimsical smile. 
 " If you'd only tell me what it's all about," he 
 said, " I could share your happiness better." 
 John listened to the long involved story with 
 great interest. " It was the luckiest thing I ever 
 heard of," he declared. " Renalls would have 
 done what he liked with you, broken you, bank- 
 rupted you, laughed at you. I know his way of 
 fighting. If you want to do me a good turn, Dick, 
 you must let me come in on this mine." His eyes 
 brightened; he had the Chester love of fighting. 
 " It will do me good to straighten it out," he
 
 IN THE BALANCE 395 
 
 chuckled. " I foresee a pretty little conflict with 
 our friend Renalls. He holds on to things like a 
 bulldog and he has no liking for me either. When 
 do you see Miss Ellis again? " 
 
 " Thursday evening," returned the happy Rich- 
 ard. " She's at Lakewood with Mrs. Monmouth 
 till then." 
 
 " Can't you persuade her to come in here and 
 see her cantankerous, broken-down brother-in-law 
 to be? " He asked it almost timidly. 
 
 Richard laughed to hide his emotion. " Do 
 you think I'm going to let go of you any more? " 
 he asked.
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 RENALLS' DEFEAT 
 
 " Hee that holds his sweet-hart true unto his day of dying, 
 Lives of all that ever breathed most worthy the envying." 
 Dr. Thomas Campion, 1617. 
 
 RICHARD had made up his mind that on 
 the Thursday evening he would have to 
 tell Norah much that he had kept from 
 her. The reconciliation with his brother would 
 necessitate this and he had long felt it irksome to 
 hold back so much. 
 
 He found her looking all the lovelier for her 
 Lakewood visit. It was a cold April evening and 
 there was an open fire of cedar logs blazing cheer- 
 ily. From his pocket he took a long envelope 
 containing the share transfer and put it on the 
 mantelpiece. 
 
 " What is it? " she demanded. 
 
 " A wedding present," he answered her, " a 
 package containing thwarted revenge, lover's 
 luck and a happy issue out of all our trouble." 
 
 " Sometimes I think you're absolutely crazy," 
 she laughed.
 
 RENALLS' DEFEAT 397 
 
 " Sometimes I am," he said. " I went hope- 
 lessly mad on Sunday evening and I'm going to 
 tell you all about it. Sit down at my feet like an 
 obedient child and I'll make a general and par- 
 ticular confession of my life with one incident 
 excepted from infancy up to the present mo- 
 ment." It was a favorite attitude of the girl's 
 to sit on a low ottoman or cushion at his feet 
 while he sat in one of the great luxurious chairs. 
 
 " Now," she said, her hands clasping her knees, 
 and gazing into the changing flames, " now I'm 
 ready." 
 
 He kissed the tips of her little ears and the 
 waving tendrils of hair. " The fire makes your 
 hair all red gold," he said. " My dear, I am the 
 happiest mortal who ever lived." 
 
 : ' Is that your confession? " she laughed. 
 
 " That's my boast," he retorted. " I shall now 
 proceed to set forth the failures and successes of 
 a career which has up to the present not been too 
 well employed." He listened for a moment. 
 " What's that? " The door was thrown open 
 and a servant announced, " Mr. Charles Renalls." 
 The financier had bought his way in. 
 
 " A very pretty picture," he observed. " Pray 
 don't move."
 
 398 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 Norah rose to her feet and looked at him inter- 
 rogatively. " I thought you were not coming 
 here again," she said stiffly. 
 
 " If you remember our talk in Jamaica," he 
 returned, ignoring Chester, " you will not have 
 forgotten that I promised to come 
 
 She interrupted him impatiently. " You made 
 a number of stupid, veiled threats which have 
 not been fulfilled." 
 
 " You think not? " he said. " Well, we'll talk 
 of that later. How goes the stock? " 
 
 " I only got back from Lakewood an hour or 
 so ago," she answered. " I have not seen my 
 lawyers or brokers yet. Why? " 
 
 " I am interested," he returned. " I've come here 
 to acknowledge my defeat." 
 
 " Your defeat? " she queried. 
 
 He nodded. " My defeat. Mendoza sold you 
 to me and but for the fact of a stalled train on 
 the subway I should have had the North Brazils 
 Goldfield all my own by now. When I got to 
 Mendoza's hotel he wasn't there. He's sold out 
 to some other man. I know the man." 
 
 She looked at Chester in amazement and de- 
 spair. Mendoza's sale would probably affect her 
 success. " Do you think it's true ? " she said.
 
 RENALLS' DEFEAT 399 
 
 He reached down the envelope from the mantel. 
 " Open it," he said quietly, " and remember what 
 Itold you it contained." 
 
 She looked at the contents bewildered. She 
 could see that an enormous number of shares 
 had been transferred to her, an amount which 
 with her present holding gave her undisputed 
 control. 
 
 '' What does it mean? " she asked helplessly. 
 
 " It's a wedding present," Chester said. " Mr. 
 Renalls has assured you it is his thwarted revenge." 
 He turned to the financier. " I really cannot see 
 why you should come here, sir." 
 
 There were many explanations which he must 
 instantly make to the girl and the presence of 
 this black, scowling man was an affront. 
 
 " By what right do you say that? " the finan- 
 cier demanded. 
 
 " By the right of the man she is to marry," he 
 returned steadily. 
 
 Renalls laughed aloud. " Oh, no! " he cried, 
 " she won't marry you." 
 
 " Mr. Renalls," cried the girl imperiously, 
 " you've long outworn your welcome; please go." 
 
 " So you're afraid at last, are you? " he sneered. 
 " You know I should not come here to admit my
 
 400 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 defeat if I hadn't some other purpose. I want 
 you to remember whose daughter you are and 
 send him away before it is too late. Remember 
 what I told you about him! Well, I've found out 
 other things too. He's posing under a false name 
 even now. Ask him if he isn't." 
 
 She looked at him with increasing amazement. 
 His manoeuvres seemed so hopelessly clumsy, 
 so obviously the jealous ravings of a beaten man. 
 She was forced to entertain doubts as to his 
 sanity. 
 
 " He's been lying to you all along, Norah," 
 he cried, " he's been posing to you as a single 
 man. Norah, he's married and I've got the proofs 
 of it." 
 
 There had never in all the course of her life 
 come to her such an accession of anger. She 
 faced him white-faced. " How I loathe you," she 
 cried, " how I hate you! " 
 
 "Ask him," Renalls said doggedly. "All I 
 want, is for you to force him to speak. Do you 
 think I should be such a fool as to come in here 
 without any evidence? At least give me credit 
 for some sense. I tell you he is a married man 
 posing to you as single. Ask him why he waits 
 till you're nearly down and out before stepping
 
 RENALLS' DEFEAT 401 
 
 in and making you such a present. Isn't there 
 any instinct to warn you against men like that? 
 Norah, he belongs to one of the wealthiest families 
 in the country and there isn't a wish he couldn't 
 gratify." 
 
 She pointed to the door, " Must I have you 
 thrown out? " 
 
 Renalls spoke in a quieter tone. " I said when 
 you were in the dust I would come for you. 
 You're in the dust now, Norah. You've lost more 
 than money, you've lost faith in the man you 
 loved. I'm waiting for you, my dear." 
 
 She looked at him with a scorn that hurt. " As 
 if you could love! " she said. 
 
 " Be fair," he pleaded. " Be fair to me as well 
 as yourself. Ask him." 
 
 She turned her back upon Renalls and walked 
 to Chester's side and put her hands on his shoulder 
 and looked into his face with eyes of trust and 
 love. " Dear," she asked slowly, " tell him. 
 Are you a married man? " 
 
 Chester was filled with poignant emotion. 
 There must come to her a moment of suffering 
 before she could know the truth. What had to 
 be revealed must not take place before the in- 
 truder.
 
 402 ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING 
 
 " Yes," he made answer, " I am." 
 
 "Is this the time to jest?" she said, half in 
 reproach. 
 
 " It's dead earnest," exclaimed the financier. 
 " He has sense enough to see the game is up." 
 He looked at the girl in pity. " I wish I could 
 have spared you this." 
 
 She held her hands to her heart. Slowly it was 
 borne in upon her that her enemy was right and 
 she was indeed in the dust, broken and without 
 hope. She turned slowly to Renalls. " There 
 are things I must say to him which I do not want 
 you to hear. Please go. Isn't it enough to know 
 that my heart is broken ? " 
 
 When he had closed the door softly behind him, 
 she sank in a chair and covered her face with her 
 white hands. She could not bear to look Richard 
 in the eyes yet. Although in this bitter hour she 
 knew that she still loved him she knew this mon- 
 strous deception must part them eternally. She 
 did not see the love and trust in his face, the 
 steadfast light which would have warned her that 
 she was the victim of a misunderstanding. 
 
 Presently she was more mistress of herself 
 and looked at him wearily. If only there might 
 be some trivial circumstances which would alloAv
 
 RENALLS' DEFEAT 403 
 
 her in the dark years to believe that he had in 
 reality loved her. 
 
 "Haven't you anything to say?" she asked, 
 dully. 
 
 " Is love so blind? " he said, softly. 
 
 She looked at him with beating heart. " What 
 do you mean?" she cried. From his pocket he 
 took a gold oval frame from which her painted 
 face stared back at her. 
 
 She looked at it a moment blankly and then 
 some blessed consciousness stirred in her and un- 
 ravelled the twisted skeins and made plain what 
 seemed so bewildering, and she knew that here 
 was her husband. 
 
 THE END.
 
 Ill II "PI III III 1 1 III I [III 
 
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