^ '- 
 
 ^- 
 
 J 
 
 V 
 
 r v
 
 
 THE 
 ROAD OF AMBITION 
 
 OF CALIF. LIBMHY, LOS AHGELBS
 
 THE ROAD 
 OF AMBITION 
 
 BY 
 
 ELAINE STERNE 
 
 Illustrated by 
 RAY N. JACKSON 
 
 New York 
 Britton Publishing Company
 
 Copyright, 1917 
 
 by 
 Britton Publishing Company 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
 Made in U. S. A.
 
 MOTHER 
 
 I want you to accept this, my first novel, as your 
 own. Your quick sympathy has made me put forth 
 my best efforts your warm interest from the mo- 
 ment it was conceived helped its growth and develop- 
 ment as nothing else would have done. 
 
 Elaine Sterne. 
 
 2133091
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. THE WORKSHOP OF VULCAN . 1 1 
 
 II. NEDDA OF THE TENDER HEART 27 
 
 III. A DREAM OF GREAT RICHES . 42 
 
 IV. NEWS FROM BENSON ... 65 
 V. DAWN OF A NEW LIFE ... 80 
 
 VI. CARES OF THE RICH ... 94 
 
 VII. MAY LARABEE'S DIPLOMACY . 102 
 
 VIII. FORTUNE RESHAPES THREE 
 
 LIVES 115 
 
 IX. THE EDUCATION OF "BiG 
 
 BILL" 125 
 
 X. THE AWAKENING OF MR. 
 
 MATTHEWS 140 
 
 XI. THE RISING STORM .... 149 
 
 XII. A BATTLE OF WITS .... 167 
 
 XIII. MAY PLAYS HER TRUMPS . . 177 
 
 XIV. COLT SETS A TRAP . . . . 185 
 XV. COLT SHOWS His COLORS . . 195 
 
 XVI. DAPHNE VAN STEER .... 205 
 
 XVII. MAY'S EYES ARE OPENED . . 219
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XVIII. THE WOMAN OF His DREAMS . 225 
 
 XIX. DISILLUSION 234 
 
 XX. THE AFTERMATH 248 
 
 XXI. MAN PROPOSES 261 
 
 XXII. THE HOMECOMING .... 276 
 
 XXIII. BILL PLANS A TEST .... 290 
 
 XXIV. THE SHACK IN THE HILLS . . 303 
 XXV. PHILIP COLT ARRIVES . . . 313 
 
 XXVI. A PARTING OF THE WAYS . .323 
 
 XXVII. DAPHNE'S DECISION .... 335 
 
 XXVIII. NEW TRIUMPHS 353 
 
 XXIX. MAY LARABEE TURNS A TRICK 369 
 
 XXX. FRIENDS FROM THE PAST . . 381 
 
 XXXI. THE BATTLE ROYAL .... 391 
 
 XXXII. THE ONLY WAY 407 
 
 XXXIII. DAPHNE LEARNS THE TRUTH . 422 
 
 XXXIV. THE ROAD OF AMBITION . .438 
 XXXV. THE DARK HOUR 449 
 
 XXXVI. THE CRISIS 463 
 
 XXXVII. THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY ..481
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 HE CAUGHT HER FACE BETWEEN His HANDS AND 
 GAZED DEEP INTO HER EYES Frontispiece 
 
 IE LOVED THE ROAR OF THE HUNGRY FUR- 
 NACES 16 
 
 THEY SAT LONG BEFORE THE FIRE, HER 
 
 CHEEK AGAINST His HAND . . 352 
 
 NEDDA DID NOT MOVE >. . . HER EYES FAS- 
 TENED ON THE WOMAN'S FACE . .488
 
 The Road of Ambition 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE WORKSHOP OF VULCAN 
 
 HpO Big Bill Matthews the Bethel Steel Works 
 * spelt Power with a capital "P" Power to fill 
 one's stomach to warm one's home to clothe one's 
 body. That row of grimy buildings, whose chim- 
 neys belched forth flame-shot smoke thrilled him 
 strangely thrilled him without his knowing why. 
 
 He loved the roar of the hungry furnaces the 
 little flame tongues, curled venomously about the 
 edges of the iron doors shut fast on them always 
 trying to get out those flames like something cap- 
 tive. That was it the feeling that you had bottled 
 up with your own two hands a devil that would finish 
 you mighty quick if ever you let it loose ! 
 
 It was not unlike a beast beautiful, treacherous, 
 sleek ready to spring at the hand that fed it 
 watching its chance to tear you to pieces to grind 
 you to bits, but cowering at the touch of a finger, 
 the glance of an eye. 
 
 Danger danger always danger. You felt its 
 hot breath on your cheek as you neared the boiling, 
 ii
 
 12 The Road of Ambition 
 
 seething steel. You heard its deafening voice in the 
 crash of the seven-ton hammer. You saw its mon- 
 strous strength as it flattened out a glowing ingot, 
 sixteen hundred pounds of white heat, at the hammer 
 driver's touch. 
 
 Power power more power. Even the pigmy 
 men thrilled to it and grinned in the face of the death 
 that lurked imminent in the rigid glowing bar they 
 tossed about like a plaything or at the heats of the 
 great basic furnace. 
 
 That was fireworks for you ! Free for all ! The 
 gush of blood-red lava sparks flying skyward 
 a molten river of death from which the men sprang 
 back with an oath, but which they guided unerringly. 
 
 It gripped Bill anew each time he saw it. It gave 
 him the feeling of triumphal strength. It proved 
 conclusively that man could do anything anything 
 he set his mind to ! If he could control steel, he 
 could control the world for steel was the world 
 when you came to think of it ! Given your two fists 
 and the thing that made you know when to use them 
 a man had everything! 
 
 Long ago he had honestly tried to hate the big 
 industry. It was on the first day he had seen the 
 Works. He was but a boy then. His father had 
 been hurt, they said his great, strong father. He 
 had followed his mother whimpering with a fear of 
 something he knew not what, but half eager to see, 
 half ashamed of his eagerness.
 
 The Workshop of Vulcan 13 
 
 They had found his father stretched out close to 
 the furnaces he had tended so faithfully. In the 
 glare of the fire the deep gash on his forehead 
 glowed like a thing alive. Bill, trembling, and sob- 
 bing, had heard the men whisper "It's got him. 
 It most always does." He had seen his mother fling 
 herself on the still form and he had wanted then 
 with all his heart to despise the Thing the cruel, 
 merciless Thing which had crushed out his father's 
 life. 
 
 But even as he tried, he knew he could not. He 
 knew he would some day come to love it to answer 
 its voice when it called him. 
 
 He heard his mother weakly cursing it, but in- 
 stead of echoing her words, he had raised wonder- 
 ing eyes to the blazing fires. Above the crashing 
 tumult he had heard in his heart the song it sang to 
 the clanging of iron against iron. "Power power 
 more power. . . ." He never forgot it. 
 
 This was fifteen years ago. Fifteen years of 
 back-breaking toil toil that stretched even his tre- 
 mendous strength to the snapping point. Toil that 
 reddened his face from the fire's glare, that knotted 
 his muscles like great bands on his bare arms, that 
 flung him staggering and weary to his bed at nights; 
 toil that did not drag him down as it had a thou- 
 sand others, but which moulded him into the giant 
 frame, the iron nerves, the superb physique that 
 made men fear and love him.
 
 14 The Road o"f Ambition 
 
 He liked to think he had served his mistress well; 
 that he had never missed a minute of his twelve 
 hours a day for seven days in the week, except when 
 his mother had answered the Great Call. After that 
 he went back to work with redoubled vigor, for from 
 that moment steel had become his one love. 
 
 And as he gave to it all of himself, unstintingly, 
 it yielded one by one, its precious secrets to him. 
 With infinite labor he set to work testing discard- 
 ing searching for the Great Process he would some 
 day discover the Process which would be his just 
 reward for years of passionate devotion. 
 
 Each day held for him a revelation and that, in 
 short, is the Lure of Steel. You think you've solved 
 its limitations its mysteries only to find you know 
 nothing about it nothing whatever! There's a 
 challenge in a game like that a game with a new 
 twist to it every day a game that flirts with death 
 that a man who's half a man will answer and 
 Big Bill was biding his time some day, he grinned 
 to himself, he'd show 'em. . . . ! 
 
 When Big Bill became foreman of the cogging, 
 his men looked to it spry no shirking in that crew 
 no grumbling about spells. They liked him too 
 well and they feared him too much to slur their 
 work. All save Ole, the "Big Swede," who sulked 
 and slipped as much of his task as he dared on his 
 fellows' shoulders.
 
 The Workshop of Vulcan 15 
 
 Ole stood six feet four in his bare feet a blond 
 viking. He had come but recently to the Works. 
 He boasted he was not afraid of man or beast 
 and he hated with a fierce, sullen intensity those 
 weaker than himself. As the men left him more 
 and more alone in his moroseness, he took his spite 
 out on Tony Tony Dufrano the white-faced boy 
 who somehow stuck at his work in spite of a racking 
 cough. 
 
 Between Big Bill and the boy was a bond. The 
 foreman lived in the same rooming house with the 
 Dufranos and Tony had a sister, Nedda. Some 
 whispered that the Big Boss was "stuck on her," but 
 others shook their heads he loved his work too 
 well. In any case, he was often at Tony's side, help- 
 ing him, encouraging him, and the crew waited. 
 Some day Big Bill and the Swede would have it 
 out, and when they did it would be a scrap worth 
 seeing. 
 
 It happened on an evening when the men were 
 working overtime bending breathless tense to 
 their tasks stripped to the waist faces black 
 with sooty streams of sweat coursing down. 
 
 Big Bill had left the building for a moment. 
 Tolifsky, the little Polish Jew, latest recruit to the 
 ranks, had caught his hand in the press and ran 
 about screaming that he would have the law on them 
 that he was a poor man with a wife and five chil- 
 dren that the pain was driving him mad It was
 
 i6 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Big Bill who had carried him off to the hospital 
 shack. Then the trouble broke loose. 
 
 Tony's spell of work was over. Gasping and 
 coughing, he wiped his forehead and moved back. 
 It was time for the Swede to take up the task where 
 he had dropped it, but Ole, his face heavy, brooding, 
 did not move from his corner. 
 
 Tony nodded toward the men leaping forward, 
 springing back leaping forward again like gnomes 
 in some fantastic fire dance, as they shot the ingot 
 along the anvil. 
 
 "Get busy!" he called, dropping down, "you're on 
 now 
 
 The Swede growled something and stood up, his 
 shoulders hunched, his head set between them. 
 
 "No my turn," he muttered. 
 
 The men watched. The air vibrated with a heavy 
 tension. 
 
 Tony, pulling a shirt over his head, did not glance 
 up. 
 
 "Sure it is," he said easily, "don't be scared to 
 work, you big stiff." 
 
 The Swede spat through his teeth and with a 
 growl reached out his arm and flung Tony to the 
 ground. The boy, gasping from the suddenness of 
 the blow, staggered up, wiping away the blood which 
 trickled down his cheek. 
 
 "You you " he sobbed, then choking, fell to 
 
 coughing.
 
 MHM 
 
 He Loved the Koar of the Hungry Furnaces
 
 The Workshop of Vulcan 17 
 
 But Ole, his little eyes, red points of hate, raised 
 his fist as though to crush the boy into a thousand 
 pieces when an arm shot out against his head with 
 a sound like the crack of a whip. The Swede reeled 
 and stumbled. The men sent up a shout, but it died 
 in their throats as they saw Big Bill's face black, 
 threatening, terrible. 
 
 The Swede turned slowly, staggering, and stared 
 at Bill. Then, with a cry, he launched himself for- 
 ward with all the weight of his great body. His 
 swing barely missed Bill's jaw, and Bill, with a swift 
 left, flung his head backward. 
 
 Ole, drunk with madness, came back with the roar 
 of a beast, but he could not reach Bill. Only once he 
 struck him a mere shoulder tap. His blows fell 
 impotent before the Big Boss' strength. 
 
 Bill met him quietly unconquerable his arm 
 shot out. The Swede's head rocked on his shoulder, 
 each sledgelike blow told. Blind from the blood on 
 his face he sank down the desire to murder 
 quenched. 
 
 Bill regarded him quietly. 
 
 "Next time you touch the kid," he said slowly, 
 "I guess I'll have to kill you," and he turned away. 
 
 Tony crouched gasping in a corner, staunching the 
 flow of blood from the ugly gash on his forehead. 
 
 "What hit you when you fell?" asked Bill as he 
 approached. "The Swede couldn't a cut you up 
 like that."
 
 i8 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Tony shook his head. 
 
 "Piece o' scale, I guess," said he, finally. 
 
 Bill stooped down and picked up a handful of it. 
 
 "Queer stuff. Ain't no feather bed to fall on; 
 hard as rocks." 
 
 "Might as well fall on a piece of pure steel 
 couldn't cut no deeper." 
 
 "That's right," said Bill, suddenly, as if struck 
 with the idea, "It had ought to be hard, hadn't it? 
 It's peeled off of pure steel " 
 
 "Hurts like the Old Nick," sniffed Tony. 
 
 Bill dropped the pieces in his pocket. 
 
 "Come on," he said. "Time for all hands to 
 knock off." 
 
 Silently, the men dropped their tools and stared 
 after him. The Swede stumbled to his feet, his bat- 
 tered face strangely grotesque in the red, wavering 
 light. 
 
 "Gawd!" whispered old Mack, the hammer 
 driver, "that weren't no fight for the Boss that 
 were play for him. He ain't even winded. You're 
 mighty lucky, Swede, that you've got a whole rib in 
 your carcass!" 
 
 The Swede did not answer. 
 
 "Some fight," nodded Eddie, his assistant 
 "wish't it had been longer though. Say, if the Boss 
 ever loosened up for fair he could lick the whole 
 works with one hand tied behind him!" 
 
 The men nodded solemnly.
 
 The Workshop of Vulcan 19 
 
 "He's got a punch that would put the champ out 
 of business I" Eddie stretched, and yawned, the ten- 
 sion at an end. 
 
 "He's all right, the Boss is, eh, fellers?" 
 
 The men agreed gravely those who did not 
 understand the words caught the meaning. They 
 watched the Swede slink away like a whipped dog 
 and were silent. 
 
 Tony dragged his cap over his eyes and, still limp- 
 ing, followed Big Bill down the muddy black path, 
 across the network of tracks to the gate. Once out- 
 side, Bill waited for him. 
 
 "He'll leave you alone after this," was all he 
 said. 
 
 Tony nodded. 
 
 "If you hadn't come along, Bill " he began, 
 
 then stopped. Bill smiled. 
 
 "Go on! If I hadn't come along most likely 
 Mack or some other fellow would have trimmed the 
 Swede in half the time eh?" 
 
 Tony drew a long breath. 
 
 "It ain't the first time you've helped me neither." 
 
 Bill patted the boy's shoulder. 
 
 "Have to help my A-i workers, don't I ? They're 
 mighty scarce." 
 
 But Tony shook his head. 
 
 "Oh, I know you always say that," he answered 
 swiftly, "but it ain't true it ain't true. I don't do 
 half a man's work and instead of firing me, along
 
 2O The Road of Ambition 
 
 you come and give me a hand that's what you do 
 and I ain't the only one." 
 
 Bill's laugh was a deep rumble. 
 
 "Awful wise tonight, ain't you, kid, just because 
 you got beat up a bit !" 
 
 Tony smiled, but suddenly he stopped short. 
 
 "Say, Bill, honest, why do you do it?" 
 
 "Do what?" 
 
 "You know what I mean the other bosses don't." 
 
 "You pin a feller down so, Tony," he laughed. 
 "Well, since you ask me, I'll hand it to you straight. 
 You're doing your levelest, ain't you?" 
 
 "Yes but " 
 
 "Well, your levelest ain't mine by a long shot, 
 is it? But is it your fault that you ain't got a con- 
 stitution like a bull? No, of course not. You do 
 the best you can with what you've got, don't you ? 
 The Lord don't expect no more of any of us." 
 
 Tony stared at the big man beside him. 
 
 "Bill," he said at length, "you're different from 
 the rest. It ain't only that you're bigger and 
 stronger, but you kind of talk like you saw ahead 
 do you?" 
 
 "Sure. I see that Nedda's got fried onions for 
 dinner and wait a minute Irish stew but it's 
 my nose telling me that. Tony, I won't lie to you." 
 
 Tony laughed, then glanced ruefully down at his 
 stained clothes. 
 
 "I look a sight!"
 
 The Workshop of Vulcan 21 
 
 Bill nodded. 
 
 "That's right, you do. Won't it give her a scare 
 though to see you cut up that way ! I tell you what, 
 I'll go ahead and break it to her easy." And he 
 plunged up the stairs of the little frame house, three 
 steps at a time. 
 
 Nedda was tiny and dark and colorful. Long 
 hours of stitching garments by the light of a flicker- 
 ing lamp had not robbed her cheeks of their red 
 glow, nor her eyes of their deep, warm glint. There 
 are some eyes blurred like a misty pane. There are 
 others in which a thousand lights dance and sparkle 
 and leap. Those were Nedda's brown pools. 
 
 Her mother had gasped out her life when Nedda 
 was still a spindly waif and Nedda had confidently 
 assumed charge of Tony. She had slaved for him 
 from the days that he clung to her hands trying to 
 balance himself on his unruly little legs. There had 
 been nothing else in her life until Big Bill loomed. 
 
 She had heard Tony speak of his Boss. The boy 
 had kept her awake when her heavy lashes drooped, 
 telling her tales of Bill's kindness, of his strange 
 power over the men. She had smothered her yawns 
 and listened to him trying to respond to his eager- 
 ness loving this big man who seemed in his quiet 
 way bent on helping her brother loving him for 
 Tony's sake. Then, quite suddenly, she loved him 
 for his own.
 
 22 The Road of Ambition 
 
 It was the winter that Tony came down with 
 pneumonia. You cannot forever sweat at a blaz- 
 ing furnace and then face a cutting north wind with- 
 out feeling it, and Tony, whimpering like a child, 
 crawled home one night with a pain like a knife- 
 stab in his lungs. But greater than the pain was the 
 fear that he'd lose his job. Night and day he prayed 
 and begged and raved for his place in Big Bill's 
 crew, and at last, because it was the only thing that 
 would save his life she snatched up her shawl and 
 ran through the chill of a gray, frosty morning to 
 the Works. 
 
 She halted the first man she met and asked him 
 to point out the Boss, and she lifted her eyes to see 
 a great giant leap forward and hurl back a man be- 
 fore a flying chip of burning steel crushed out his 
 life. 
 
 That was Big Bill. He heard her stumbling mes- 
 sage and smiled at her. 
 
 "The kid's worrying about his job, is he?" he 
 boomed. "He couldn't lose it if he tried! Tell him 
 that for me, will you ? He couldn't lose it if he tried I 
 not while I'm boss here! I'll run over myself to- 
 night to gas with him," and he turned back to his 
 work. 
 
 There were long evenings after that when Tony, 
 white and fretful, propped up by his pillows, waited 
 only for the heavy tread outside his door evenings 
 when Nedda's heart pounded in her throat and the
 
 The Workshop of Vulcan 23 
 
 quick color stung her cheeks. Bill's big presence 
 seemed to fill the little room with a warm sense of 
 security. Tony was not to worry, he thundered. He 
 was to get well if it took all winter ! and the talk of 
 the Works flew back and forth between them, with 
 Nedda forgotten, but hovering close to hear the 
 music of Big Bill's voice broken by the deeper rum- 
 ble of his laugh. 
 
 After a while he moved there. 
 
 "Guess I'm gettin' too used to your cookin', 
 Nedda. Can't seem to choke down food nowhere 
 else," he had said, and the dream that lay close to 
 her heart stirred faintly and whispered that she 
 might hope. 
 
 Tony scraped the dirt from his cheeks and fol- 
 lowed Bill slowly. Nedda turned as the door swung 
 open, and, seeing Bill, cried eagerly: 
 
 "Hello ! Look what I got for supper." 
 
 Bill nodded. 
 
 "I guessed it downstairs. Smells awful good." 
 
 Nedda's glance passed him. 
 
 "Where's Tony?" 
 
 "Coming," said Billy easily; "but he sent me up 
 ahead to tell you not to mind his black eye. He's 
 been tryin' to lick the Swede, that's all." 
 
 "Fighting! Tony? Is he hurt?" 
 
 "Not much," laughed Bill; "but the Swede's con- 
 siderable banged up."
 
 24 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "Where is he now?" 
 
 "Who, the Swede? Oh, I reckon -" 
 
 "No, no Tony ". 
 
 "There," said Bill, waving a hand toward the 
 door, and Nedda ran to her brother. 
 
 "Why'd you do It, Tony?" she cried. "Ain't I 
 nursed you through everything from teethin' to ty- 
 phoid without your startin' a scrap?" 
 
 Tony grinned at her. 
 
 "I dunno what Bill's been handin' you, but take 
 it from me, if it wasn't for him it would have been 
 'lights out' so far as I'm concerned." 
 
 She turned swiftly, her hands clasped. 
 
 "You didn't tell me," she cried. 
 
 Bill shook his head. 
 
 "Ain't nothin' to tell now, besides I'm out o' talk. 
 Got a kind of an idea hummin' round in my head all 
 of a sudden, and I want to figure it out soon as I 
 get filled up." 
 
 "Oh, but you saved him " she began eagerly, 
 then stopped. "Come on, Tony," she called. "I'll 
 fix you up before we set down." 
 
 Soon they drew up their chairs, Tony bubbling 
 over with talk, but Bill, silent, pushed back his plate. 
 
 "Ain't you hungry?" 
 
 He shook himself together. 
 
 "Sure I am. Just thinkin', that's all; queer, how 
 a little idea gets stirrin' around and won't give a 
 feller no rest."
 
 f 
 The Workshop of Vulcan 25 
 
 "What's your hunch now?" asked Tony. Bill 
 shook his head. 
 
 "It's that there scale's got my goat." 
 
 "It almost got mine," laughed Tony. Nedda 
 raised her head. 
 
 "What is it?" 
 
 "Oh, the stuff the hammer knocks off them ingots. 
 I struck a piece of it when I fell." 
 
 "Here's some," said Bill, passing her a chip. She 
 turned it over. 
 
 "What's it good for?" she asked slowly. 
 
 "You've got us there, Nedda," grinned Tony. 
 "Ain't worth nothin' much ; used in makin' glass, ain't 
 it, Bill?" 
 
 Bill nodded. 
 
 "Four pounds for a cent. But what I want to 
 know is, why ain't it worth more?" 
 
 "Ask me somethin' easy," jeered Tony; "like why 
 they don't build battleships with slag. The answer's 
 'cause it's junk." 
 
 "But it ain't. Here's stuff that comes off of steel 
 and yet don't seem to be no good. There had ought 
 to be some process to make that stuff valuable." 
 
 "Well, professor, when you discover it ask me 
 out in your auto; meantime, don't waste good food 
 frettin' over it. Gee! there's no tellin' what you'll 
 think of next." 
 
 Big Bill shook his head. He said no more, but he 
 could not throw off the spell it had cast upon him.
 
 26 The Road of Ambition 
 
 No small, still voice whispered in his ear that Fate 
 is a capricious dame who plays strange pranks on 
 her unsuspecting puppets. He could not know that 
 because one Tony Dufrano had chanced to enrage a 
 sullen Swede, he, Big Bill, was at last, after years 
 of unremitting toil, about to discover the Great Proc- 
 ess the Process toward which he had bent all his 
 energies toward which his soul had reached and 
 yearned. Instead, he slipped the pieces of scale into 
 his pocket and arose. 
 
 "I'll hike along now," he said. 
 
 Tony yawned. 
 
 Nedda smiled at them both. 
 
 "You'll wish you'd come to the Mission with me 
 when I tell you about the nice music they're going 
 to have." 
 
 Tony laughed. 
 
 "The only music for me is the whistle at seven 
 A. M. ain't that right, Bill?" 
 
 But Bill was already pounding down the stairs. 
 
 "Ain't he a pippin, though !" sighed Tony. "Don't 
 nothin' ever tire him don't nothin' ever faze him. 
 He's like one of them dinky engines a-puffing along 
 the rails. Don't matter how big his load is or how 
 steep the grade, he makes a bee-line for wherever he 
 sets out and, what's more, he gets there, too !" 
 
 Nedda shook her head. 
 
 "Wonder if I put too much salt in that stew?" she 
 said, slowly; "he ain't never passed it up before."
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 NEDDA OF THE TENDER HEART 
 
 "DILL, his hand on the knob of his door, paused 
 "^ at the sound of a song which drifted to him 
 from across the hall : 
 
 "Work, for the night is coming, 
 Work through the morning hours;" 
 
 it quavered. Not much of a voice, as voices go, but 
 Bill smiled. He knew whose it was. He knew the 
 little gray lady with the heart of a child, who fought 
 her grim battle with life alone. "Miss Ida M'Far- 
 lane, Seamstress," read the card on her door: but it 
 failed to tell of her skill in taking up the threads of 
 a frayed life of drawing them together with infinite 
 labor and pains of forming them into a pattern 
 a drab, homely pattern, but one of rarest beauty just 
 the same. 
 
 He tiptoed softly toward the sound. At length 
 he rapped. The song ended abruptly. A sharp 
 something clattered to the floor; there came the 
 quick patter of footsteps and the door flew open. 
 
 "Oh !" breathed the little old lady, who peered up 
 27
 
 28 The Road of Ambition 
 
 at him through her thick glasses; "oh it's Bill!" 
 
 "Sure it is," he laughed, "was you expectin' Mis- 
 ter Caruso to join you in a duet?" 
 
 "Did you hear me 1" she gasped, her cheeks pink. 
 "I didn't mean to sing so loud I " 
 
 "You bet I heard you," nodded Bill; "stayed out- 
 side listenin'. I tell you it sounded mighty good to 
 me that song." 
 
 "Did it?" she asked eagerly. "I don't know why 
 I sang it to-night, except that, that I had so much to 
 do I thought maybe it might help." 
 
 He shook his head. 
 
 "Got so much to do, eh? Well, look here, Mis' 
 M'Farlane, I ain't goin' to have you mendin' any 
 more of my socks an' usein' up your eyes on them, 
 let me tell you !" 
 
 "Ohl" she cried, with a quick catch in her breath' 1 
 "oh, but Hike to !" 
 
 Still he scowled. 
 
 "Well, don't you hurry none with them. It don't 
 make no difference how long you take, understand?" 
 
 "Pretty soon I'll be able to have a sewing ma- 
 chine and then the work will fly," she said, cheerily. 
 
 "Ain't you been going' to have a machine for near 
 on to ten years?" he asked. She patted down her 
 black apron before answering. 
 
 "I'll get one some day," she said at length. 
 
 "You sure will," he growled, "if I have to buy 
 one myself!"
 
 Nedda of the Tender Heart 29 
 
 She laughed, but her eyes were tender. 
 
 "Won't you won't you come in?" she asked. 
 
 "Can't do it. Got to work to-night same as you. 
 Just wanted to tell you to keep up that song sounds 
 all right to me." 
 
 "Do you mean it?" she asked, tremulously. "Do 
 you really mean it?" 
 
 "Sure," he nodded; "turn on the music it'll help 
 me think." 
 
 And he left her framed in her doorway a little 
 gray silhouette, with eyes like burned out coals. She 
 watched his door close behind him. Still she did 
 not move. She waited until she heard him strike a 
 match, until a thin ray of light crept out from be- 
 neath his door, then she re-entered her room. With 
 eager hands she dragged her rocker closer to the 
 hallway, and drew the work table, with its lamp, be- 
 side her. Then she picked up the filmy net, on which 
 she had been working, all traces of weariness van- 
 ishing as if by magic. All at once she paused, 
 dropped the work, as the light of determination 
 sprang to her eyes. She thrust its clinging daintiness 
 away from her as though its beauty cloyed. She 
 fumbled in a workbag beside her and drew out a 
 pair of worsted socks socks with jagged holes in 
 heel and toe. She slipped one of them over her hand 
 slowly caressingly then with a gesture of defi- 
 ance she flung back her head. 
 
 "Work, for the night is coming!" Her voice
 
 30 The Road of Ambition 
 
 rang loud with a new, exultant note as her needle 
 flew in and out "Work through the morning 
 hours!" 
 
 Bill, sunk deep in his chair, smiled as he heard. 
 She was right the little gray lady "Work" that 
 was the keynote of life and success! He had never 
 been afraid of it. He had answered to its spur 
 like a thoroughbred. He had taken the road at a 
 fast clip. He had never slowed down his gait. 
 
 He tried to remember just when he had first come 
 to believe he would accomplish things would some 
 day climb out of the pit into the sunlight and to re- 
 gard his crushing hours of work as a means to an 
 end. It was his enormous strength that gave him 
 the first warm glow of confidence. Men shrank 
 from his warmth and fawned for his favor, and as 
 he saw them with compassion, a stoop-shouldered 
 army of toilers, it was borne in upon him that he was 
 of different calibre. He could pass them in the race 
 if he tried. 
 
 He had set the coveted foremanship as the pin- 
 nacle of his desire. He had fought every inch of 
 the way toward it sweated blood. He had thrust 
 men aside and won the promotion through sheer dint 
 of his own untiring labor. And when the great day 
 arrived, the day on which the crew looked to him for 
 orders, he had found with dismay that the thrill was 
 gone, that he was already reaching out for some- 
 thing new, something bigger.
 
 Nedda of the Tender Heart 31 
 
 "Power, Power, more Power !" shrieked the voice 
 of the Works, and the answering chord in his soul 
 echoed it. He raised his face grimly toward the 
 Heights. Man had scaled them before. Why not he ! 
 
 Nedda returning later from the Mission, plunged 
 through a cold drizzle, head bent against the storm. 
 She was glad to reach home; to pull off her damp 
 coat and hurry up the stairs. 
 
 On the second landing a lamp, dying fast, flick- 
 ered desperately in a last frantic effort to live, then 
 went out. It was late. The corridor plunged into 
 blackness, but beneath Big Bill's door shone forth 
 a yellow ray of light. Nedda, shivering, hesitated, 
 then knocked softly. There was no answer. At 
 length she turned the handle. 
 
 Bill, in his shirt sleeves, sat hunched at his table. 
 Through the open window behind him a chilly rain 
 poured. Like one in a trance he bent above the 
 pieces of scale spread out before him. Nedda, with 
 a cry, sprang forward. 
 
 "I just might 'a' guessed you'd sit there and 
 freeze!" she chided as she snapped down the win- 
 dow. Still Bill did not look up ; instead, he turned 
 the chips over and over. 
 
 "You're most chilled through !" said Nedda, gent- 
 ly; "ain't men got no sense at all!" 
 
 She bent over him and as he felt her warm pres- 
 ence behind him he turned with a start.
 
 32 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "Nedda!" he cried, "what you doin' here?" 
 
 She laughed. 
 
 "Oh, I expected you'd be wet through without 
 knowing it if you had one of your spells on." 
 
 He caught her hands. 
 
 "I think I've got it this time," he cried; "I think 
 I've got it!" 
 
 "I know what you'll get if you don't think of your- 
 self none, and it'll be the pneumonia same as Tony 
 had that's what you'll get!" 
 
 But he shook his head impatiently as though her 
 voice were an unintelligible sound which did not 
 penetrate his absorption. 
 
 "You see," he whispered, "it's a matter of heat 
 that's all a matter of heat. The fusing point'll 
 be higher than for regular steel, of course; now if 
 I can find an alloy " 
 
 But Nedda drew her hand away gently. 
 
 "Yes, I'm listenin'," she said, moving cautiously 
 toward the cot in the corner; "go on, Bill, I'm lis- 
 tenin'," and she whipped off the faded quilt, and, 
 moving behind him, wrapped it about his shoulders. 
 But Bill shook his head. 
 
 "You wouldn't understand not yet. Wait until 
 after I've tested it, then I'll tell you, but not now, 
 not now " 
 
 Nedda smiled. 
 
 "You'd better turn in, Bill," she said softly; "you 
 can't do no work to-morrow if you're all in."
 
 Nedda of the Tender Heart 33 
 
 He did not reply. Instead he drew the quilt closer 
 about him and bent over the chips. Nedda moved 
 to the door. 
 
 "Good night, Bill," she called. 
 
 She waited for his reply, but none came. She 
 smiled. "I don't believe you even know I've been 
 here," she said, softly, "blest if I do !" and she closed 
 the door gently behind her. 
 
 Big Bill lived with his theory. It was beside him 
 day and night. It gave him no rest. There were 
 days when he did not eat, nights when he did not 
 sleep. At times he threw himself down exhausted, 
 only to be seized with the idea of a process yet un- 
 tried. He would drag his weary body to the Works, 
 where the men, toiling carelessly before the red fur- 
 naces, seemed to him a disordered fancy of his brain. 
 They stared at him. 
 
 "Ain't you got enough to do, Bill, without stayin' 
 up all night?" they'd call, half-curious. But he did 
 not heed them. With that grim oneness of purpose 
 which, from the start, had distinguished him from 
 the others, he would set to work testing his latest 
 theory before the gigantic heat that shriveled men 
 and drove them back gasping. He would wait 
 breathless for a result, unconscious of the fire 
 watching that Thing which must be Steel because it 
 came from Steel, and yet for some baffling reason 
 Was Not watching it with a fierce, jealous intensity 
 that brooked no interference.
 
 34 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "You'll blow up the Works one of these days," 
 the men cautioned him; "you don't know what you're 
 handling half the time " 
 
 That was it. He didn't. Again and again he 
 cursed the environment in which he had been born, 
 the environment whose denizens counted education 
 as an unnecesary evil; who thrust their sons at the 
 helm without giving them a chart or compass ship- 
 wrecks, of course; why not? You can't bring a 
 boat through strange waters without a guide, so why 
 a man? 
 
 Education, education. . . As he sweated and 
 gasped and struggled before the searing fires night 
 after night he whispered fiercely to himself, through 
 clenched teeth, what he might have accomplished had 
 he known the rudiments of chemistry of physics 
 had he but had the access to the great company lab- 
 oratories instead of sneaking back to the Works 
 after hours like a thief in the night. But he'd find it; 
 he'd find that process if it took the rest of his life ! 
 Haggard and white and dulled he would at length 
 stumble home, the will o' the wisp which he pursued 
 as gayly elusive as ever. 
 
 Benson, chief superintendent of the great plant, 
 noticed him one night as he went the rounds. 
 
 "Isn't that Big Bill?" he asked. The men an- 
 swered him uneasily. They were afraid for Bill 
 they even whispered among themselves their suspi- 
 cions he was cracked, poor old bloke came back
 
 Nedda of the Tender Heart 35 
 
 every night and worked like a trooper too bad; 
 he'd croak himself soon. To Benson's questions 
 they replied in monosyllables. "Yes, sir, that were 
 Bill." Benson sensed from their manner that some- 
 thing was amiss. 
 
 "What's he doing there at that furnace?" he 
 questioned. 
 
 The men shrugged. They did not know. They 
 wished they could warn Bill, but dared not. Benson 
 was even then threading his way toward him. 
 
 "Evening, Bill," he said. 
 
 The big man, dragging a ladle from the flame, did 
 not reply. Some one touched his arm. 
 
 "It's the Chief," was whispered in his ear. 
 
 Bill turned and rubbed an arm across his eyes, 
 Benson, moving back from the sweep of heat, cried 
 out sharply: 
 
 "What are you doing? Do you want to be burned 
 alive?" 
 
 Bill shook his head. 
 
 "I'm all right, sir," he answered brusquely and 
 turned back, but Benson took his arm. 
 
 "Better come over here and talk a bit." 
 
 Bill shook off his hand. 
 
 "Can't. Can't stop watching it a minute don't 
 you see it's the watchin' that's goin' to prove it to 
 me." 
 
 Benson turned to one of the men standing by, mute, 
 terrified.
 
 36 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "What's he talking about?" he demanded shortly. 
 
 Severance, foreman of the basic furnace, shrugged 
 his shoulders. 
 
 "It's a process he's trying to prove, sir. Nobody 
 don't know what it is. He works at his job all day 
 and comes back here at night to try it out." 
 
 "How long has this been going on?" he asked. 
 
 Severance hesitated. 
 
 "I don't know, sir," he said at last. 
 
 "Well, tell him I want to see him at my office in 
 the morning, will you?" 
 
 Severance nodded. "I'll tell him, sir" he said. 
 
 Bill, heavy-eyed, roused himself with an effort. 
 His muscles ached. His back ached. His hands 
 were blistered. His face stung and burned. He 
 turned over and tried to slip back into the realm of 
 dreams but he could not. Something tore down 
 the walls of sleep pounded relentlessly at his con- 
 sciousness something he had to do some one he 
 had to see. "To blazes with everybody!" he whis- 
 pered through cracked lips to his pillow. He would 
 not move for the best of them! Not for old Ben- 
 son himself! 
 
 That was it! He sat up with a jerk and winced 
 at the pain in his neck and shoulders he, who had 
 laughed at pain ; but he was awake now, blinking at 
 the gray sky which merged into giant smokestacks 
 and the roofs of furnaces as he sat up higher.
 
 Nedda of the Tender Heart 37 
 
 Benson I He was to see Benson ! Who Kad told 
 him? Why did Benson want to see him? He tried 
 to remember to still the pounding in his head the 
 roaring in his ears. What was it? Then he 
 remembered. It was Severance. 
 
 He must have dreamed it. What could the super- 
 intendent want with him unless he drew a long 
 breath unless he meant to fire him ! That was it ! 
 They had caught him at the furnace last night. He 
 fought back the haze which was slipping over him 
 again. Some one had spoken to him could it have 
 been the Chief himself! If that was what Benson 
 wanted, just as he was winning out, just as the first 
 glorious test had succeeded, as the theory proved it- 
 self. Well you didn't get another job easily, 
 either ; no chance to be foreman, no chance to work 
 at the furnaces at nights no chance of anything. 
 All wasted; every hour that his body had cried aloud 
 for sleep wasted wasted. 
 
 A sob tore his throat. He'd show them they 
 couldn't discharge a man who was on the job from 
 seven to seven! He'd like to see Benson or any 
 other man fire him ! He dragged on his clothes with 
 trembling hands and pulled his cap over his eyes. 
 He wasn't afraid of Benson. 
 
 But when he tried to walk across the room the 
 floor rocked treacherously and the door seemed a 
 thousand miles away. Nonsense, that, just nerves 
 that was all. He wasn't afraid of Benson, he whis-
 
 38 The Road of Ambition 
 
 pered through white lips as he lurched forward. 
 
 Some one met him in the hall. He knew it was 
 Nedda, and yet it did not look like her; it was an 
 image indistinct and blurred, only the eyes black 
 and round with fear held him. 
 
 "Hello, Nedda," he tried to say. "Hello." 
 
 He felt her catch his arm, and it steadied him a 
 trifle. Things settled down a bit. She was talking, 
 but he did not hear all she said. He caught a word 
 here and there. 
 
 "Bill Oh, Bill ! No breakfast you must 
 
 you must!" 
 
 That was Ke worst of Nedda. She was so used 
 to ordering around that half-sick brother of hers 
 that she tried it on every one. Blamed if he would 
 have her telling him he must ! He tore his arm loose. 
 
 "Nothin' doin'," he growled ; "get out of my way," 
 and he shoved her aside. He was glad he had left 
 her behind, and yet he had an indistinct impression 
 that she was following him, calling him. He turned 
 once and saw her dark eyes, but he laughed to him- 
 self. She'd not boss him! 
 
 He staggered up the steps of the superintendent's 
 house and kept his finger on the bell. A startled 
 maid opened the door and fell back at the man's ap- 
 pearance. 
 
 "Mr. Benson," he said, thickly; "Mr. Benson's 
 expectin' me?" 
 
 She fled, and he dropped in a chair and waited,
 
 Nedda of the Tender Heart 39 
 
 his head in his hands. From far off came the peal 
 of a bell again. He heard hurried voices and one, 
 not unlike Nedda's, pleading and sobbing. What 
 was it she was saying? 
 
 "No sleep not for nights and nights working 
 all the time on the process hasn't eaten not a 
 mouthful " 
 
 He felt his head jerked back suddenly and the 
 burning sting of brandy smote his throat It cleared 
 his head. He sat up. 
 
 "Where am I?" he said, then tried to scramble 
 to his feet. 
 
 "Sit tight," said a voice. It was Benson's Ben- 
 son's big warm voice. "You're all right, Bill a 
 trifle shaky." 
 
 He stared about him. He was in the great wains- 
 coated, tapestried library of a mansion embers of 
 last night's fire glowed like red eyes in the hearth. 
 He turned his head slowly. Beside him stood 
 Nedda, her face white and drawn. Near her, Ben- 
 son and his wife. They were not dressed that was 
 queer. He shook his head. 
 
 "I must a made an awful fool of myself, sir 
 I mu s t " 
 
 "Not at all," said Benson, kindly. "You're just 
 played out. Don't try to talk. Just wait a bit." 
 
 But Bill shook his head. 
 
 "I remember comin'. Yes, you'd sent for me, 
 that was it and I was afraid I was afraid "
 
 4-O The Road of Ambition 
 
 Then his voice broke. Benson patted his shoulder. 
 
 "Of course, I sent for you. Heard you'd been 
 working on a process to turn scale back into steel. 
 Wanted to hear all about it. Always interested in 
 our men's discoveries." 
 
 Bill stared at him, fighting off the approaching 
 blackness. 
 
 "An' you wasn't goin' to fire me?" 
 
 "Fire you!" laughed Benson; "of course not. 
 You're the best man we have in the Works." 
 
 Bill held out his hand. 
 
 "You're all right," he whispered, huskily, "an' I 
 don't mind tellin' you that my process is A No. i 
 I've proved it I " 
 
 "Hold on," said Benson, "you can tell me all about 
 it when you've had a square sleep. Lie down here 
 on this couch and don't think about waking up until 
 to-morrow, at least." 
 
 Bill spoke with difficulty. 
 
 "I hadn't ought to be here," he muttered, "I 
 
 hadn't ought to do this I " but his head fell 
 
 forward on his chest and Benson caught him. Nedda 
 sprang to his side. 
 
 "Is he dead?" she whispered. 
 
 Benson shook his head. 
 
 "Nothing wrong with him, but he's dog tired. 
 He'll come around all right. Don't worry." 
 
 "Are you sure?" she asked. 
 
 He nodded.
 
 Nedda of the Tender Heart 41 
 
 "Seen them that way many a time. Don't worry. 
 He deserves a rest, and he'll get it right here and 
 now." 
 
 Nedda rose. "Oh, thanks," she whispered; 
 "thanks."
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 A DREAM OF GREAT RICHES 
 
 T ATE that afternoon Big Bill opened his eyes, 
 ^ and after his first startled glance, settled back 
 to a luxurious survey of his surroundings. He was 
 all alone in the great lamp-lit library of the mansion ! 
 He Big Bill stretched out like a king on a divan 
 of intoxicating softness. Slowly his eyes traveled 
 to the warm red splotches of light cast by the lamps 
 on the rugs, and from thence to the walls, studded 
 with books, books of all sizes and shapes; shadowy 
 volumes which breathed prosperity prosperity! He 
 drew a sharp breath. He'd have them some day, 
 too, rows of them like that reaching from floor to 
 ceiling. You didn't need to read them, not much, 
 just to own them gave you class. 
 
 His head, though clear, felt a trifle light, and he 
 dropped back on his pillows. Some one stirred be- 
 hind him. It was a butler in livery. 
 
 "Beggin* pardon, sir, but Mr. Benson said as how 
 you were to have some refreshment." 
 
 Bill stared at him. 
 
 "Hello, pard," he grinned. "Grub, did you say? 
 I could bolt hardtack and take it for ice cream!" 
 42
 
 A Dream of Great Riches 43 
 
 He ate from a dainty tray wheeled in to him. He 
 was glad the butler had left him alone. It is one 
 thing to juggle a knife at home and quite another to 
 handle it in the Chief's house. The coffee set him up 
 and he flung himself to his feet pacing. That was 
 what money could do for a man ! Books and couches 
 and food, concrete luxuries ; rugs that felt like moss 
 beneath your feet, lamps that cast a warm, rosy glow; 
 pictures. Money money! if you could only get 
 your two hands on it there was nothing you couldn't 
 have! 
 
 He drew near the shelves. He studied the titles 
 and spelled them out with difficulty: "Plutarch's 
 Lives," "The Fall of Rome," and he reached up and 
 stroked the satiny covers gingerly. No, you didn't 
 need to read them, but a gentleman had to have them 
 on his shelves. No doubt about that. He turned. 
 Some one was behind him. It was Benson. 
 
 "Well, Bill," he said, quietly, "you look ready for 
 business." 
 
 Bill flushed. What would the Chief think of his 
 fingering the books. 
 
 "I was just feelin' them. Ain't they soft, though?" 
 
 Benson smiled. "Yes, nice edition but pretty 
 well thumbed, I'm afraid." 
 
 "You mean," said Bill, slowly, "you mean that 
 you've read them?" 
 
 Benson laughed. "Of course." 
 
 Bill stared at him. That, then, was the cause of
 
 44 The Road of Ambition 
 
 the intangible something which gave men of means 
 such quiet assurance there it was again education. 
 
 "I didn't just think you did." 
 
 Benson pushed forward a chair. "Sit down," he 
 said. 
 
 Bill seated himself uncomfortably on the edge of 
 it and waited. 
 
 "I suppose you think it's a bit unusual my hav- 
 ing you here." 
 
 "Yes, sir; I reckon it is." 
 
 "Fact is, Bill, I'm interested in this discovery of 
 yours very much interested." 
 
 Bill looked up quickly. 
 
 "More so in view of the fact that the men up at 
 the lab have been plugging away for the last year 
 trying to find just what you say you have succeeded 
 in unearthing." 
 
 "You don't mean that them experts couldn't line 
 it up?" 
 
 "That's just what I mean, so that's why I wanted 
 to hear all about it, to have it tested, to put it up to 
 the board." 
 
 Bill shifted. 
 
 "You must a thought I was clean off my base last 
 night," he said; "but when I seen it comin' tERngs 
 went red I couldn't think of nothin' else." 
 
 Benson nodded. "I knew that. A man doesn't 
 work overtime night after night unless he believes he 
 has struck something. I liked your grit, Bill; you
 
 A Dream of Great Riches 45 
 
 struck me as precisely the sort of man who would suc- 
 ceed at whatever he undertook." 
 
 Bill gripped the arms of his chair. 
 
 "And and if this proves out what'll it mean, 
 sir?" 
 
 Benson did not answer for several minutes. He 
 stared at the ceiling, and at length spoke. 
 
 "I don't want to raise your hopes, Bill, as it may 
 mean nothing. But should it prove should it 
 prove, mind you it looks to me as though you might 
 become a very rich man." 
 
 Bill threw back his head. 
 
 "Me, rich!" he roared. 
 
 Benson nodded. "Other men have made their 
 fortunes through discoveries of this kind most of 
 them have worked in the drafting rooms or labs, 
 but now and then a laborer puts one over." 
 
 Still Bill was unconvinced. 
 
 "You don't mean rich like you are, Chief you 
 mean I can own my own place on Factory Street, 
 maybe, and buy some lots." 
 
 "I mean more than that. There may not be a 
 penny in it, and there may be a million." 
 
 Bill sprang to his feet. 
 
 "A million!" he shouted. "A million!" 
 
 "Exactly," said Benson. "That is a conservative 
 estimate. Don't count on it, though. Knock off 
 work to-day, and to-morrow's Sunday; so you'll be 
 in fine shape by Monday, and we can take the
 
 46 The Road of Ambition 
 
 matter up. Remember, you've got a big job as 
 foreman, and if this doesn't pan out you won't be 
 the first one to lose a bet." 
 
 "A million !" whispered Bill. "There ain't nothin' 
 I couldn't have." 
 
 Big Bill found Nedda awaiting him at the gates 
 of the mansion. Her face was pinched and white, 
 and she rubbed her hands together rather as though 
 she were chilled through. He ran to meet her. 
 
 "What is it, Bill?" she cried. She could tell from 
 his stride from the way in which he flung back his 
 shoulders that something had occurred something 
 tremendous. 
 
 "Nedda!" he shouted, "I'm goin' to be rich- 
 do you hear, Nedda? I'm goin' to be rich!" 
 
 She blew on her fingers and stared at him. 
 
 "Bill," she said at length, "you feel all right, don't 
 you?" 
 
 He laughed. "All right ain't no word for itl 
 Tip-top ! Rich. Old man Benson himself said so " 
 
 "Benson!" she gasped. "Benson!" 
 
 "Sure. Puttin' it up to the Board. Kind o' scared 
 I ain't got the goods tryin' to let me down easy 
 but I know I've got 'em, Nedda I I know I've got 
 'em!" 
 
 "You mean," she whispered, trying to follow him; 
 "that he thinks you're goin' to make a pile out of your 
 process?"
 
 A Dream of Great Riches 47 
 
 He nodded. "Bet you half a buck old Benson 'li 
 be around with the news any day!" 
 
 "But, Bill," she breathed, "Bill, what are you goin' 
 to do with it?" 
 
 He stopped and stared at her as though she had 
 rudely jerked him to earth after a golden flight 
 among the clouds. 
 
 "Do? Do? Why, everything!" Then, as his imag- 
 ination soared: "There's nothin' I can't do! I'll 
 buy I'll buy why, I'll buy you anythin' you want." 
 
 "You'll buy me anythin' I want?" she whispered. 
 
 He nodded. "Yep, you and Tony and anybody 
 else that's given me a hand." 
 
 "Oh," she said, "I thought " 
 
 Suddenly he stared down at her. He seemed to 
 see her for the first time. 
 
 "You're cold, ain't you say, Nedda, what are 
 you doin' here, anyway? Your place ain't closed 
 yet." 
 
 She shook her head. 
 
 "No, not yet." 
 
 "Well, how'd you come to be here outside?" 
 
 She did not answer for a moment. 
 
 "I was scared, Bill." 
 
 "Scared? What of ?" 
 
 "Scared you might might need me. You was 
 awful queer this morning." 
 
 "Yes; but why, Nedda, you ain't been hangin' 
 'round here all day on account of me !"
 
 48 The Road of Ambition 
 
 She nodded. 
 
 "I was afraid you might need me," she repeated, 
 slowly. 
 
 He took her hand and patted it. 
 
 "Why'd you do it?" he asked; then, without wait- 
 ing for her reply, he drew her along. 
 
 "You won't be sorry you did. Leave it to me. 
 I'll get you the swellest ring or pin or whatever you 
 want just as soon as them directors come across with 
 the coin." He was seized with a sudden idea : "Let's 
 you and me go to Levenstein's and see what they 
 got. What do you say?" 
 
 She went with him, keeping up to his big swinging 
 stride with difficulty. He glanced down at her. 
 
 "And a warm coat, too, Nedda and shoes what 
 are shoes Gee ! to think of your standin' out 
 there all day for a big stiff like me !" 
 
 "I didn't mind," she said, slowly; "I wanted to." 
 
 Levenstein's window flashing a hundred lights, 
 shone out brilliantly against the gathering dusk. 
 Factory Street, its stores yet unlighted, formed a dim 
 background. It was, perhaps, Levenstein's greatest 
 moment a moment begotten of his shrewdness 
 this glare of colored bulbs shining boldly, wantonly, 
 coaxing one to gaze at the glittering array of pre- 
 cious and semi-precious stones he displayed. 
 
 He had arranged his window with great cunning 
 Gorgeous Diamond Ring Special Price Step 
 Inside and Try It On Your Hand; or, Something
 
 A Dream of Great Riches 49 
 
 Extra Fine in Scarf pins How Would You Like to 
 See This Diamond in Your Necktie? 
 
 Each night could be found the moths drawn to 
 the flame, pushing and shoving good-naturedly for 
 a view of the coveted jewels. 
 
 As Bill drew near he turned to Nedda with a 
 grin. 
 
 "You can have it all," he said. Nedda smiled, her 
 cheeks flushed. "Come on," urged Bill, eagerly; 
 "let's look 'em over." 
 
 She entered into his gaiety with an effort. 
 
 "Ain't it late?" she protested, as he seized her 
 arm. 
 
 "Late, nothin'. You're shoppin' now with Bill 
 what's got a pile. Nothin's too good for you, 
 Nedda, what'llitbe?" 
 
 She stared down at the dazzling display, but did 
 not reply. 
 
 "Come on," he urged, "quick!" 
 
 She straightened up. 
 
 "All right, then, Bill; would that bracelet there 
 be too much?" 
 
 He scoffed at her. 
 
 "Too much! Ain't I told you I'm rich no; 
 you're goin' to have that beauty down in front." 
 
 Nedda drew her breath sharply. Twinkling up 
 at her from its bed of purple velvet lay a brooch of 
 diamonds Levenstein's piece de resistance a rare 
 piece for so garish a window, but one which Lev-
 
 50 The Road of Ambition 
 
 enstein knew would draw the crowd. It was his 
 bait. Once they feasted their eyes upon it they 
 would let their gaze drift to the least costly articles. 
 He never expected to sell it, but it served its pur- 
 pose. 
 
 "Oh, not that!" gasped Nedda, as though she 
 feared Bill, in his new madness, would charge the 
 store and purchase it then and there. "Not that!" 
 
 "Sure!" he cried, delighted. "Just the thing!" 
 
 In an instant he was tired of this game and ready 
 for something new. He turned away. "Look over 
 there at the Bee Hive they're lighting up. 
 Dresses let's see what kind you want." 
 
 Nedda followed him, tolerant of his bubbling en- 
 thusiasm humoring him tenderly. 
 
 "Pipe the red one !" he cried. "You'd look great 
 in that!" 
 
 She shook her head. "Not much, I wouldn't." 
 
 But he nodded. "I'd like to see you in it. It's 
 just the color of the steel at the big heat red as 
 blazes swell color, that!" 
 
 But the mood passed and he caught her arm. 
 
 "Come on, let's hurry home and tell Tony he 
 ain't heard it yet nor Mis' M'Farlane. Nedda, 
 you think I'm crazy, but just you wait." 
 
 Tony listened with shrieks of excitement with a 
 torrent of eager questions, but Nedda left them 
 shortly after supper and ran downstairs. It was cold
 
 A Dream of Great Riches 51 
 
 out The wind whipped a sharp color to her cheeks 
 and tore at her skirts. She hurried to the little dry 
 goods store on the corner of Factory Street. 
 
 "I'm goin' to make a dress," she said breathless- 
 ly to Annie, who waited on all customers; "a red 
 one." 
 
 Annie measured out the lengths of glowing cloth 
 without comment. 
 
 When Nedda reached home Bill had gone, but 
 Tony, his eyes still shining^ hugged his knees de- 
 lightedly. 
 
 "Ain't it immense?' he cried; "Bill puttin' one 
 over on the big guys he's goin' to be rich, Nedda." 
 
 "Well, he ain't yet," she said, slowly; "he ain't 
 yet." 
 
 "And he says we're goin' to walk to-morrow 
 the three of us guess where." 
 
 Nedda snapped the cord of her parcel and re- 
 fused to guess. 
 
 "We're goin' across the tracks!" 
 
 She stared at him. "You're crazy!" she said, 
 sharply. 
 
 He shook his head. "Nope. Bill says we are, 
 and what's more, he's goin' to pick the place where 
 he's goin' t' build his house." 
 
 "Don't he know the rich folks over there don't 
 want us factory hands trampin' over their grounds?" 
 
 Tony chuckled. 
 
 "Don't make no difference to Bill. Do you
 
 52 The Road of Ambition 
 
 know what he says? He says: 'Why can't we go 
 there, I'd like to know! Them swells would have 
 mighty few gardens and houses to look at if it 
 wasn't for us sweatin' day and night to make 'em 
 rich' and he's right, too." 
 
 Nedda threaded a needle. 
 
 "He's just talkin'," she said; "he won't really 
 
 go." 
 
 "Sure he will," said he, confidently; "he always 
 does what he sets out to." 
 
 Nedda spread the goods on her knees. 
 
 "What's that for?" asked Tony, curiously. She 
 folded it deftly. 
 
 "Oh, only a dress " 
 
 "You ain't never had one that color before. What 
 made you get it?" 
 
 "It's the color of the steel at the big heat," she 
 said softly. "I like it." 
 
 Next morning Bill called for them. 
 
 "Are you ready?" he shouted. 
 
 Tony swung the door open. "Sure," he nodded. 
 "Come on in." 
 
 But Bill shook his head. "Ain't got time. We've 
 got a long tramp ahead of us." 
 
 "Hear that, Nedda?" called Tony over his 
 shoulder. Then he whispered to Bill: "Wait until 
 you see her dress. It's a new one. She sat up all 
 night makin' it."
 
 A Dream of Great Riches 53 
 
 Bill laughed. "She'll need it to-day." 
 
 At that moment Nedda appeared. She stood 
 framed in the doorway, her cheeks flushed, her eyes 
 shy with a warm, deep gladness. 
 
 "Oh, Bill!" she cried; "ain't it too early to 
 start?" 
 
 He turned and stared at her at the dress flaunt- 
 ing its daring poppy color at the soft coil of her 
 hair black as night against the smooth whiteness of 
 her throat. She had tucked a flower at her breast. 
 Its petals trembled as her bosom rose and fell with 
 quick breaths. 
 
 "Do you like it?" she asked, eagerly. 
 
 Bill caught her hands. 
 
 "Do I? Why, Nedda, it's like it's like what I 
 told you last night the furnaces at full blast!" 
 
 She tossed her head. "As if I wanted to look 
 like an old furnace ! I think it's more the color of 
 the sunset at closin' time you know, when the sky 
 is so soft and red you'd like to well, to reach up 
 and stroke it!" 
 
 Bill laughed. "I guess you're right. Sunsets 
 beat furnaces all hollow, don't they?" 
 
 He led the way down the stairs and out into the 
 cool, sweet air. Nedda spoke shyly. "I know an 
 awful pretty place over by the Duck Pond." 
 
 Bill shook his head. "No Duck Pond for us to- 
 day," said he, squaring his shoulders as a diver does 
 before a plunge. Tony grinned.
 
 54 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "What did I tell you?" he whispered. Still she 
 was unconvinced. 
 
 "To Cranfort?" she asked. Bill shook his head. 
 
 "No, not there." 
 
 "To Baker's Woods?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 "To Livingston?" 
 
 "No I guess you know where we're goin', all 
 right. Tony told you, didn't he?" 
 
 "Sure I did," cried Tony, "only she won't believe 
 it." 
 
 "Well, it's true. It's across the track for us to- 
 day forward, march!" But Nedda hung back. 
 "I don't want to," she said, at length. "Let's go 
 to the Duck Pond instead it's a real pretty walk 
 there." 
 
 Bill laughed at her and drew her hand through 
 his arm. 
 
 "It's 'cause you're scared of the swells, ain't it? 
 You think we ain't got a right to walk around their 
 streets, seein' as we're factory folks? Well, you 
 might as well get used to it you'll be visitin' up 
 there pretty regular once I get my house built !" 
 
 Nedda shook her head. 
 
 "You're foolin', Bill you know, same as I do, 
 that Mr. Colt's got a sign at the Works sayin' as it's 
 private property over there and that he'll send any 
 one up for trespassin'." 
 
 "Well, walking along the sidewalk ain't trespass-
 
 A Dream of Great Riches 55 
 
 in', is it? You'll like it once you get there you 
 know you will." 
 
 "Sure she will," echoed Tony. "Don't you want 
 to see the houses that belong to them black and 
 white awnings?" 
 
 "And the folks that belong to the houses?" fin- 
 ished Bill. Then he smiled at her. "There won't 
 be one of them can hold a candle to you, though 
 not the best of 'em won't !" 
 
 She did not answer. 
 
 As though crossing the Rubicon, they stepped 
 over the grass-grown tracks. A flush of excite- 
 ment crept into Tony's pale cheeks. 
 
 "Once, when I was a kid, I come over here. It 
 was when Pop and the other men brought a peti- 
 tion to Judge Van Steer to sign he was the whole 
 cheese then, before the Big Four squeezed him out. 
 Well, I followed them. I don't remember the road 
 'ceptin' it was steep and awful dark but the Judge's 
 house I'll never forget that." 
 
 "His little girl was havin' a party, wasn't she?" 
 broke in Nedda. Tony nodded. 
 
 "You bet she was. When the front door opened 
 I could see inside. I could see a bunch of kids all 
 dressed up sittin' at a big white table covered with 
 flowers and ribbons and at the head of the table 
 was the prettiest little girl I ever laid eyes on." 
 
 "It was Miss Daphne," said Nedda. 
 
 "Yep. It was her party, and she was just cuttin'
 
 56 The Road of Ambition 
 
 cake a whopper of a cake all silver and pink 
 with candles on it. Her father was sittin' 'longside 
 of her all dressed up, too; but when they told him 
 the men was outside he come out to talk with them, 
 and they went into another room, but they forgot 
 about me, an' I stays there watchin', an' when they 
 begins pullin' out them paper caps and makin' the 
 snappers go bang I claps my hands gee ! but I cer- 
 tainly wanted to mix with that crowd." 
 
 "An* the judge's little girl seen you," prompted 
 Nedda. 
 
 "Sure. She pipes me peekin', and she says: 
 'Who's that little boy?' I guess them swell gents 
 servin' would a give a whole lot to chuck me out, 
 only she stops them. 'He's come to my party, too,' 
 she says; 'so you're to give him cake and ice cream 
 same as the rest.' They tries to sidetrack her, but 
 a queen had nothin' on her. At last she got mad 
 and stamps her foot at them, and, cuttin' a big hunk 
 of cake, climbs down from the table and brings it 
 to me herself. I was so scared I couldn't say a 
 word you know how kids are but I just keeps 
 my eyes glued on that little fairy. 'Here, boy, this 
 is for you you can have as much as you like.' 
 
 "Just then the meetin' was over and Pop, he 
 catches sight of me and makes a grab for me. I 
 must have hollered, but it didn't do no good; Pop 
 wasn't strong for havin' me mix with the 'ristocrats, 
 and I never did get that ice cream."
 
 A Dream of Great Riches 57 
 
 Bill laughed. "Only shows what I've always held 
 that rich folks ain't so hard-hearted given a fair 
 chance it's just that they're different from us. 
 They ain't never been poor, or cold, or hungry, or 
 wet, so you can't expect 'em to know how it feels." 
 But Nedda was not listening. "Ain't that pretty!" 
 she cried, suddenly. They had reached Bethel 
 proper. 
 
 Bethel's Main Street was bathed in a warm, rich, 
 Sunday morning sunlight. The shades of its shop 
 windows drawn, like discreet eyes, veiling their curi- 
 osity behind lowered lids. A comfortable hush hung 
 over all a hush betokening work well done rest 
 deserved a luxurious hush. 
 
 The street lost itself in a sharp ascent, screened 
 by an avenue of maples which arched overhead and 
 through whose leaves the sun, with a royal prod- 
 igality, spilled a million tiny replicas of himself. 
 
 Bethel proper, in the last analysis, was not unlike 
 any other small city in the East. On the Upper 
 Ridge perched the mansions of the First Families 
 the stucco Clubhouse the eighteen-hole course. 
 
 On the Lower Ridge settled the be-cupola-ed, be- 
 eaved homes of the Old Families a generation of 
 Bethelites behind them. 
 
 And across the track a blot on the landscape 
 sprawled the Works the Works, whose dust-laden 
 grime was the food on which Bethel had thrived. 
 Out of its squalidness its smoke its slums, out of
 
 58 The Road of Ambition 
 
 its cinders its slag its soot had risen the proud 
 city on its hillside. 
 
 The Upper Ridge sported underslung roadsters 
 which shot down the hill both morning and evening 
 and congregated in a gaudy group before the doors 
 of its office buildings. The Lower Ridge still drove 
 to market in open victorias and pony phaetons, but 
 across the tracks one was content to walk to work 
 and back again day in and day out, until the be- 
 ginning and the end of the world was reckoned by 
 the shriek of the whistle at dawn and at sundown. 
 
 Verily, heaven and earth were never so far apart 
 as these three . 
 
 Bill stared about him. He threw back his shoul- 
 ders. He flung up his head. He had always want- 
 ed to come there. He had always promised himself 
 that some day some day before he was too old 
 he would gaze at the homes of the Big Four the 
 men who controlled the Works the town the 
 country Cyrus P. Colt and the rest. But he hadn't 
 come. He had put it off from year to year as 
 though he were unconsciously waiting for something 
 that would turn his footsteps there But now he 
 knew why he had waited it was in preparation for 
 this golden day when he could come to gaze at this 
 coveted place and know that it might be a possible 
 home for him Bill Bill ! He must be asleep! 
 You read about folks who strike it rich now and 
 then, but you never were the lucky bloke yourself!
 
 A Dream of Great Riches 59 
 
 He grinned appreciatively at the people passing 
 by respectable folks all togged out for Sunday. 
 They drew away from him with sidelong glances. 
 Sure, why shouldn't they? he chuckled. He was tre- 
 mendous, uncouth, shabby but they'd be speaking 
 to him soon, he told himself, every last one of them ! 
 
 Then he jerked himself up. He was dreaming 
 he must be ! Why should he suppose he could mix 
 with them it took something else breeding. But 
 whatever it was money could buy it money could 
 do anything 
 
 He'd have a house Jiminy! he'd have a house 
 like the big white one they were passing. He heard 
 Tony shout back to them to look at it, and he 
 nodded Gleaming white pillars a spread of lawn 
 that looked like velvet a cluster of orange mari- 
 golds great, that! How would it feel, he won- 
 dered, sucking in his breath sharply, to walk up that 
 long avenue, to know that every inch of it was yours 
 every tree every shrub every blade of grass 
 and yet there was something lacking something 
 vital what was it? 
 
 As he gazed, a woman with a little boy clinging 
 to her hand stepped out on the porch. The child 
 threw a ball and the woman sprang after it, laugh- 
 ing. Bill stopped short a woman, by God! that 
 was just what that big white barn of a house need- 
 ed! A woman and a little tyke in knickers ! He 
 had never thought of that before never!
 
 6o The Road of Ambition 
 
 "She must be his mother," whispered Nedda. 
 
 The woman, stopping in the midst of the play, 
 had suddenly swept the little boy with fierce tender- 
 ness to her heart her lips against his fair hair. 
 "Ain't they happy, though!" 
 
 He looked at Nedda and his heart beat a trifle 
 faster Nedda in her dress of warm red her lit- 
 tle black head her slender throat her eager, 
 parted lips yes, you needed a woman. He made 
 up his mind in a flash. 
 
 "I'm a-goin to have a house just like that," he 
 declared. 
 
 "Are you, Bill?" said she, without turning. She 
 was still watching the woman and the little boy. 
 
 "It'll be a big house, Nedda," he said, slowly, 
 "an' an' I reckon it'll be a lonely one unless 
 
 unless " he stopped. She turned quickly, and 
 
 her eyes leaped to meet him. In them he read his 
 answer. 
 
 "Unless what, Bill?" she whispered, her hands 
 clasped. But at a sudden shout from Tony, Bill 
 whirled. 
 
 "Come here, quick," he called. "Machine stuck 
 in the mud want your help hurry " 
 
 Nedda laid a hand on his arm. "Wait, Bill," 
 she pleaded; "you can go after after you finish." 
 
 But the spell was broken and he shook his head. 
 
 "Not now, Nedda," he said, brusquely. "Some 
 one's in trouble come on."
 
 A Dream of Great Riches 61 
 
 A turn in the road disclosed a long gray touring 
 car tipped to one side, its rear wheel caught in a 
 rut. About it fussed an anxious little chauffeur in 
 livery. Tony was offering useless advice. 
 
 There was a woman in the car, but her face was 
 averted, rather as though the slight mishap were 
 beneath her notice and entirely for menials to ad- 
 just. Tony greeted Bill with: "He's waitin' for a 
 tow don't many cars come up this hill." 
 
 Bill examined the wheel carefully, then he turned 
 to the chauffeur: 
 
 "Have you tried backin'. You had ought to pull 
 out." 
 
 The chauffeur gulped and nodded. "Everything 
 that could be done's been done it just won't 
 budge." 
 
 Then a voice came to them a cool, measured 
 voice. "You'll have to budge it, Johnson. I told 
 you I must be there by one." That was all, but 
 Nedda had caught a glimpse of the cheek, turned 
 toward them for an instant to deliver the ultimatum 
 and she gave a gasp. 
 
 "I know who that is," she said, breathlessly. Bill 
 laughed. 
 
 "So do I. It's the Empress of Inja " 
 
 But Nedda shook her head. "It's Miss Van 
 Steer Miss Daphne Van Steer I seen her pic- 
 tures in the papers." 
 
 Bill straightened up. Miss Van Steer! The
 
 62 The Road of Ambition 
 
 daughter of the dethroned Steel King the steel 
 princess 1 She was like a princess, when you came 
 to think of it her chin uptilted,her slim little shoul- 
 der toward the group. Bill grinned to himself. He 
 was going to speak to her to make her answer 
 him to make her thank him. He approached. 
 
 "Excuse me, ma'am," he said; "but did I hear 
 you say you had to be somewhere by one?" 
 
 She turned, and Bill drew a quick breath. He 
 had never known a woman could be so beautiful 
 it was not only her eyes and coloring and hair it 
 was the royal poise of the little head beneath its 
 tiny blue hat the white transparency of her skin 
 the moulding of her lips the long slenderness of 
 her fingers. 
 
 "If there is anything you can do," she was saying, 
 a bit patronizingly, "you will be well repaid." 
 
 At that Bill grinned, though something gripped 
 him, held him fast. That was a woman for you ! 
 With blue blood in every vein a woman who could 
 look at a man through half-shut lids as though she 
 did not see him could speak to him with freezing 
 politeness which meant nothing. He wondered what 
 her smile must be like her laugh. 
 
 He was conscious of his intense stare by her 
 words: "Do you intend doing anything or are you 
 merely impertinent ?" 
 
 He smiled. Impertinent! No no a thousand 
 times no! It was as though he had looked upon a
 
 A Dream of Great Riches 63 
 
 shrine as though a marble statue had spoken. 
 That would be a woman worth possessing! a 
 woman worthy of the house of the gleaming pillars 
 that was the sort of woman a man needed a 
 woman with ice in her voice a voice as mellow 
 and rich as the tone of an organ. He whipped off 
 his coat do anything? He'd show her! 
 
 "You can't lift it, you're crazy!" protested Tony. 
 Bill did not heed him. He saw only level green eyes 
 and tendrils of hair the color of melted gold 
 he did not hear Nedda's voice 
 
 "Bill, remember, you ain't strong yet you " 
 
 Strong! Why, he'd never been so strong in his 
 life as he was with this new fire of purpose coursing 
 through his veins. Here was his chance to prove 
 himself to the woman beautiful. 
 
 "Get out of my way," he heard himself saying 
 to the little chauffeur, and then Miss Van Steer 
 spoke : 
 
 "You'd better not try to lift it alone you may 
 hurt yourself." 
 
 She was afraid for him for one minute in her 
 life she had paused to be afraid for him Big Bill. 
 He put his shoulder to the car, caught his breath, 
 and exerted all the force of his tremendous strength. 
 Slowly the car moved he lifted it it cleared the 
 ground. He set it down again on the dry road. He 
 stepped back, breathing fast, mopping his forehead. 
 
 The chauffeur was the first to break the silence.
 
 64 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "You must be some strong," he gasped; "I never 
 did see no one do a thing like that before !" 
 
 Miss Van Steer was fumbling in her gold bag. 
 
 "I can't tell you how much I thank you," she said, 
 earnestly. He shook his head. 
 
 " 'Twasn't nothin'." 
 
 She held out a coin and he moved forward. 
 He'd take it some day he'd show it to her. She 
 dropped it in his hand and he felt her cool fingers. 
 Then she smiled! 
 
 The car shot forward with a sudden impulse. 
 She turned and glanced back. Bareheaded in the 
 road stood the great giant of a man staring after 
 her as one in a dream!
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 NEWS FROM BENSON 
 
 A WEEK passed by and then two. Big Bill had 
 ^ * become a familiar figure in the chief's outer of- 
 fice. The force were very cordial to him. They as- 
 sured him the matter was before the Board. A few 
 more days a little patience No, Mr. Benson could 
 not see him just then he was in conference those 
 things took time. 
 
 Time! Bill clenched his fist. Time! Did they 
 expect a man to wait forever? Couldn't they give 
 him an answer a hint of an answer Of course, he 
 told himself, it would be all right it would all come 
 out O. K. ; but there was always that little gnawing 
 in one's heart of hearts that teasing fear lest some- 
 thing go amiss of course, it wouldn't and yet 
 
 Nedda saw the strain beneath which he labored 
 saw it and was afraid for him, but he laughed at her. 
 
 "I ain't worryin', so why should you? I'm lucky 
 to have them give it the once over, ain't I ? Don't 
 you suppose I know it'll take a blamed long time?" 
 
 And yet each night he found some excuse to pass 
 the office to pause irresolute, half hoping Benson 
 would come out half fearing what news the chief 
 65
 
 66 The Road of Ambition 
 
 would bring him if he did. He didn't sleep well, 
 either. You couldn't exactly, with so much hang- 
 ing in the balance and he tried to forget by 
 plunging into work each day with a snap that left 
 him limp at nights. He decided that the thing to 
 do was to work until he was dog-tired then he 
 would be able to sleep that was his system but he 
 reckoned without his host. 
 
 It was on Monday of the third week a week that 
 found him grimly determined to beard Benson in his 
 den to learn the best or the worst a black Mon- 
 day. His legs felt heavy his arms felt heavy his 
 head was like lead. He tried to buoy himself up 
 with the hopes on which he had lived, but he could 
 not. 
 
 He was in an ugly mood. The noise of the Works 
 jarred on his ragged nerves. The heat made his 
 head swim. There was a big job on hand a rush 
 order. He took his place at the head of the crew 
 and drove his men as he had never driven them be- 
 fore. Choking from the dust-filled air the bursts 
 of heat the grime they scurried to and fro at his 
 sharp commands whipped to action by the note in 
 his voice harsh rough. There was a new man in 
 the gang a man to replace Polifsky, of the sev- 
 ered hand. The man was slow cautious. Big Bill 
 watched him with an irritation that he tried in vain 
 to conquer. Every man was slow at first he'd soon 
 get the hang of it but his resentment swelled th
 
 News from Benson 67 
 
 fellow was a drag held back the work when there 
 was so much to do. They must hurry hurry the 
 fever in his blood demanded speed speed speed 
 more speed. 
 
 He watched the man with growing anger. He 
 spoke to him gruffly. 
 
 "What you scared of?" 
 
 The man did not understand English, but he 
 shrank back from the glare in Bill's eyes bloodshot 
 heavy. Bill scowled. "You're no good, savez? 
 no good. Here!" he growled; "give me that. I'll 
 show you." 
 
 He seized the tongs roughly from the man's hands 
 and thrust him aside. 
 
 "Do like this, do you get me? Or I'll knock your 
 bloomin' block off. Think the company's payin' you 
 for loafin'?" 
 
 The man's drawn white face infuriated him his 
 blank stare his effort to speak which ended with a 
 rapid moistening of his lips. Bill swore at him. 
 Why the devil couldn't they talk English instead of 
 jabbering gibberish? he'd make him understand! 
 
 "Don't look at me!" he thundered. "Look at 
 this!" He pointed to the tongs the man dropped 
 his eyes with an effort. Bill sprang forward. He 
 wished his arms did not tremble so that his head 
 was clearer. The crane, with leisurely nonchalance, 
 was swinging its glowing bar directly above him. 
 
 "Now, watch me !" he shouted, raising the tongs,
 
 68 The Road of Ambition 
 
 and then it happened his knees gave way under him 
 he heard Eddie's shriek. 
 
 "Jump jump for God's sake ju " 
 
 He felt a brand of fire sear his shoulder he 
 pitched forward, grateful for the darkness which 
 closed in on him from all sides. 
 
 When he opened his eyes it was dusk there was 
 a sharp pain in his neck and shoulder. Some one was 
 bending over him. It was Nedda no; it was Miss 
 M'Farlane no it was the Beautiful Lady of the 
 gray touring car. 
 
 "I knowed you'd come," he whispered; "when I 
 
 showed you how strong I was It wasn't nothin' 
 
 to lift that car gee ! but you're a queen, all right 
 only when you smiled " 
 
 She seemed to recede. He heard a voice tense 
 full of agony. 
 
 "It's me, Bill it's me don't you know me it's 
 Nedda " 
 
 He thrust her away now the Beautiful Lady was 
 returning. 
 
 "I'll build you a house," he told her; "same as the 
 one I saw did you think I wanted your money? do 
 anything! I'll show you!" 
 
 And he lapsed back once more into unconscious- 
 ness. 
 
 Nedda was not afraid. He would not die. He 
 could not! She would fight for his life with her 
 last breath. He had burned his shoulder cruelly,
 
 News from Benson 69 
 
 and that, together with the strain of the past weeks, 
 had brought on the fever. She was strong. She had 
 nursed Tony through many illnesses and now, for 
 the space of a few days or weeks, Big Bill would be 
 hers. During the day she reluctantly surrendered 
 him to Miss M'Farlane jealous even of her care 
 but at night it was Nedda's voice that answered 
 when he called the woman of his dreams her hand 
 that soothed him. Hers hers ! No one could take 
 him away from her now this great, helpless man 
 who shouted another woman's name in his delirium 
 but was quieted not by that woman's voice but by 
 hers Nedda's ! 
 
 And at last the day came when he was once more 
 himself. Weak, and gaunt, and white, he had opened 
 his eyes on a normal world. He had lain quiet a 
 long while trying to remember to think and he 
 had at length turned his head a trifle but enough 
 to see Miss M'Farlane beside him bending over 
 her work her needle flying in and out at a twitch of 
 her wrist. He smiled. 
 
 "Ain't had to do my socks for some considerable 
 time, have you?" he managed to whisper. 
 
 She sprang up and ran to him. 
 
 "Bill!" she cried; "Bill! You're better!" 
 
 Then she would allow him to say no more, but in 
 answer to the question in his eyes she told him he 
 had been ill for many long weeks that Nedda had 
 nursed him at nights that there had been no news
 
 jo The Road of Ambition 
 
 from the Works none at all. He closed his eyes. 
 After all, it did not matter. Nothing mattered much 
 when a fellow was so all-fired weak. 
 
 Along toward supper time he saw Nedda. It 
 seemed to him that she looked unusually white, with 
 dark shadows under her eyes, but when he spoke 
 of it she laughed. "I'm all right," she assured him. 
 Then she drew her chair close to his bed and told 
 him all he had been longing to hear that the men 
 had blundered along as best they could without him 
 were impatient for his return. 
 
 "Benson?"' he whispered. She did not meet his 
 eyes. 
 
 "Not yet," she said. He went to sleep with a sigh. 
 
 "It was a slow process getting well. He came to 
 hate the four walls of his little room with a fierce 
 intensity. He hated the crack in the ceiling that he 
 must perforce stare at as he lay on his back. He 
 hated the dark square of wallpaper where a previous 
 tenant's picture had hung. He hated the blistered 
 window-sill the warped door. And as the strength 
 ebbed once more through his veins he resented the 
 doctor's ordftrs. He pleaded with Tony to send 
 word to Benson that he must see him. Tony evaded 
 him. Benson was away. No one knew when he 
 would return. Bill was to get strong and worry 
 afterward. 
 
 Get strong worry afterward did they take him
 
 News from Benson 71 
 
 for a blamed kid ! The Company doctor grinned at 
 his impatience. "You're not going to see any one 
 until that shoulder of yours has healed, so cheer up." 
 
 If it had not been for Nedda, he told himself over 
 and over, he could never have lived through the dark 
 hours of his convalescence. She, at least, could 
 let a man talk things over with her without choking 
 him off she could sympathize could understand. 
 
 At last the day came when he could sit up in a 
 chair an easy chair borrowed from the landlady 
 a chair filled with cushions. Bill flung the cush- 
 ions to the floor but Nedda smiled at him. 
 
 "Leave 'em back of you for a while," she coaxed; 
 "just to please me." 
 
 He did with a growl. He would not have ad- 
 mitted for the world that they felt good that they 
 eased the pain. 
 
 Nedda and Tony had gone to work. Miss M'Far- 
 lane had hurried away to match some materials, and 
 he was left alone. Nothing to do. Wasn't even to 
 read! He'd show them if he'd sit there like a 
 mummy in a case ! But his legs would not bear his 
 weight and he dropped back with the angry tears 
 stinging his eyes. If they'd only tell him what had 
 happened if Benson would only drop around even 
 if it were only to break it to him that his process 
 was a frost if some one would only end the sus- 
 pense one way or the other he could bear it. 
 
 He drew in his breath sharply. Some one was
 
 72 The Road of Ambition 
 
 mounting the stairs. Some one with a measured 
 stride. Not Nedda's patter, or the doctor's brisk 
 tread no some one else. The footsteps paused 
 outside his door. There was a moment's silence 
 then a rap. 
 
 Bill swallowed. "Come in," he said. The door 
 swung open. Bill gave a cry, and then stared at the 
 man before him. 
 
 "Benson!" he whispered. 
 
 Benson entered. He shut the door carefully be- 
 hind him. He came forward with a smile, and yet 
 his eyes were grave. 
 
 "Well, Bill," he said, slowly, "you've pulled out 
 at last." 
 
 Bill did not reply. He kept his eyes on the man's 
 face watching watching for a sign one way or the 
 
 other. He wished he did not feel so weak If he 
 
 could only fling himself up from his chair and stamp 
 up and down the room anything but sit there and 
 wait. Benson dropped into the little straight-back 
 chair opposite him. 
 
 "Suppose you wonder why I didn't come before 
 this." 
 
 What did it mean, this evasion of the subject. 
 Did you have to play a game before getting down to 
 brass tacks? Well, if you did by Jiminy, he'd play 
 it ! He wouldn't be the first to call the hand. 
 
 "No, sir," he heard himself say; "Tony said you'd 
 been away."
 
 News from Benson 73 
 
 "Tony was told to say that," said Benson; "I've 
 been here all along." 
 
 What was that a cue for? Was he supposed to 
 ask point-blank what had happened or was it sim- 
 ply a letting-down process? He waited. Benson 
 looked him over critically. 
 
 "I suppose you know you've been pretty sick." 
 
 He had to say something. "I guess I'm all right 
 now, sir." The chief nodded. 
 
 "That's what the doctor told me. 'You can go 
 around and see him,' he said; 'only make him take 
 things slowly.' " 
 
 Slowly slowly what did they suppose he had 
 been doing all these long, blank weeks? 
 
 "So at last I've come to tell you " 
 
 He stopped. Bill knew in a flash what had hap- 
 pened. This man before him was struggling to spare 
 him^ afraid the shock might set him back but more 
 afraid to keep it from him longer. He gave a groan. 
 
 "Go on !" he snapped through his teeth. "It ain't 
 a-goin' to hurt me. Get it over with. You come to 
 say the process wasn't no go didn't you? See, I 
 knowed it all the time " 
 
 He dropped his head in his hands. He wasn't 
 going to see the pity in the chief's eyes not by a jug- 
 ful. But Benson was speaking speaking in a crisp, 
 cheerful tone : 
 
 "On the contrary, Bill your process has proved 
 itself beyond our greatest expectations."
 
 74 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Proved itself! Proved itself! Bill drew in his 
 breath with a sob and stared at him. 
 
 "Say that over !' he gasped. "Say that over I" 
 Benson smiled. "Not unless you calm down a 
 bit. It was just what we were afraid of you're get- 
 ting too excited, I mean. It's as bad one way as the 
 other." 
 
 But Bill did not hear him. "Proved itself!" he 
 whispered; "and you kept me guessin' and stew- 
 in' " 
 
 "Had to," said Benson briskly; "doctor's orders. 
 Didn't even tell your friends. Afraid they might 
 not be able to keep it. They know it now, though. 
 It's all over the Works by this time!" 
 
 Bill caught his breath. "And I'll be rich?" 
 Benson nodded. "It looks that way." 
 Bill stared at him. Rich ! Rich ! The golden dream 
 had come true ! He wanted to shout to laugh to 
 toss his pillows in the air. But he could not. Men 
 didn't do that sort of thing. Instead he steadied his 
 voice and leaned toward Benson. 
 
 "You ain r t stringin' me?" he asked, suddenly; 
 "are you?" 
 
 When Benson left him he sat like one turned to 
 stone. From a distance was borne to him the long 
 screech of the whistle the calls and cries of men re- 
 leased from work and closer, the whining of the 
 puny baby on the floor above a woman's voice be-
 
 News from Benson 75 
 
 neath his window, shrilly bickering with a huckster 
 life surging about him with its close-of-day tumult 
 but leaving him unmoved untouched. Power 
 Power more Power everything would be his now 
 everything his heart desired and the vision of 
 a woman, her cheek averted, sprang before his eyes. 
 "Yes," he said through his teeth, "even you !" 
 
 He heard a chorus of voices below shrill eager 
 they were calling him. "Bill Bill" they shout- 
 ed. He sat erect. The men were coming Benson 
 had said the news was all over the Works by this 
 time they knew. 
 
 "What's the matter with Big Bill?" yelled a voice 
 only to be lost in the swelling clamor; "He's all 
 right!" 
 
 They pounded up the stairs, Tony at the head. 
 They tore open the door and poured into his room. 
 His own crew, grimy and black from work their 
 teeth shining white as they stared at him for an awk- 
 ward moment. 
 
 "Gee! Bill, how does it feel to be rich?" 
 "Don't forget your old friends, Bill!" 
 "Always knew you'd put one over!" 
 
 "Say, Bill, you ain't quittin' the Works " 
 
 He grinned at them at Eddie, wiping his face 
 on his ragged shirt sleeve in an agony of embarrass- 
 ment at old Mack, still panting from the long climb 
 at Tony, whose eyes were startlingly like Nedda's 
 in their snapping excitement.
 
 76 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "How did you find out?" he asked them. 
 
 The answer was a confused roar still the men. 
 flocked in. Severance and his gang the boys from 
 the rolling mills Bill could see their bobbing heads 
 as far as the eye could reach, and the hum of voices 
 told him of more below. 
 
 "You tell him, Tony," shouted Eddie above the 
 tumult. 
 
 Reluctantly, they yielded the floor to Tony Tony 
 perched on top of the table. 
 
 "It was this mornin', Bill when word come from 
 the chief's office kind of slipped out, I guess " 
 
 "Donohue tol' me " 
 
 "He wasn't to say nothin' until after the chief had 
 been over here " 
 
 "Shut up!" stormed Tony; "ain't I elected 
 speaker?" 
 
 They laughed good-naturedly. 
 
 "Anyway, everybody was sayin' as how the com- 
 pany had took up your process. I said they was 
 crazy didn't I know that Benson had turned it 
 down " 
 
 "An' you went over to the office " 
 
 "Who's tellin' this?" cried Tony; "the meetin' 
 will please come to order. I says to the fellers, I 
 says, I'll pike over to the office " 
 
 "An' you did " 
 
 "An' they says it was straight " 
 
 "Yes O. K. chief himself payin' his respects
 
 News from Benson 77 
 
 to the new inventor, Mr. William Matthews other- 
 wise Big Bill " 
 
 "Three cheers for him, fellers " 
 
 "And three more after that!" 
 
 Their voices shook the walls heads flung back 
 shouting but in the midst of their cheer they heard 
 a woman's voice shrill commanding: 
 
 "Say, is the whole bunch of you crazy! Do you 
 want to kill Bill just when he makes good? Ain't 
 you got no brains at all, crowdin' in on him this 
 way " 
 
 It was Nedda. Her eyes flashing, her breath in 
 gasps. They fell back before the fury in her eyes. 
 
 "I should think the whole lot of you would have 
 better sense than to start a rough house here." 
 
 Eddie approached her sheepishly. 
 
 "Aw, say, we didn't mean no harm " 
 
 But she shook her head. "Don't make no differ- 
 ence it's out you go no back talkin', neither." 
 
 They grinned at her commanding them a little, 
 willowy sprite, no taller than a man's shoulder, and 
 they backed out of the room slowly. 
 
 "Guess we're in wrong, Bill !" they shouted. 
 
 "We'll call again when the nurse ain't here." 
 
 "S'long, Bill tickled to death to see you " 
 
 Nedda turned to Tony, hanging behind. "An* 
 you can get, too," she said, severely. "You're worse 
 than all the rest put together, 'cause you know how 
 sick he's been."
 
 78 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Bill was glad they had gone glad of the peace 
 which stole over the little room like a cool breath. 
 Nedda stirred about softly. She poured out his med- 
 icine and held it to his lips. "Drink this," she said. 
 He took it slowly. She patted the pillows behind 
 him and drew the quilt over his knees. He did not 
 have to see her to know she was setting the room to 
 rights he heard the brisk swish of her broom as 
 she swept out the last grimy footprint. She flung 
 open the window. 
 
 "A breath won't hurt you," she said. There was 
 the sharp fall tang to the air. He sniffed it hun- 
 grily. 
 
 "That's great," he said. 
 
 She drew up a footstool beside him and dropped 
 on it. He noticed for the first time that she had 
 not removed her little worn jacket, or her green hat 
 with its stiff black quill, or even her gloves 
 
 "Ain't you goin' to stay awhile?" he teased. 
 
 She did not answer. Instead she dropped her chin 
 into the palm of her hand and stared through the 
 little window at the darkening sky. All at once she 
 seemed very tired there was infinite weariness in 
 the droop of her red lips the slouch of her shoul- 
 ders. He did not notice. 
 
 "Nedda," he whispered, eagerly; "it's come true 
 it's all come true " 
 
 She did not reply. He doubted if she had heard. 
 He leaned back and closed his eyes. After a long
 
 News from Benson 79 
 
 silence she raised her head and gazed at him at the 
 smile which touched the corner of his lips. She laid 
 her hand lightly over his. 
 
 "I'm glad, Bill," she said, and her voice was like 
 a caress. "I'm awful glad for your sake."
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 DAWN OF A NEW LIFE 
 
 TI^HEN the first check arrived Bill, after a hur- 
 ried glance at it, let it flutter to the ground. It 
 lay, a little spot of green, on the floor. He did not 
 touch it; instead, he shook his head confusedly and 
 brushed a hand over his eyes. There was some mis- 
 take, he told himself there must be. They could 
 not possibly mean to send him that much money. At 
 length he picked it up and stared once more at the 
 slip of paper bearing his name right enough at the 
 figures in the bookkeeper's cramped hand! 
 
 He had often wondered how it would feel to han- 
 dle it to scratch his name boldly across the back of 
 it and now that he held it now that it was actu- 
 ally in his fingers, he was conscious only of that aloof 
 sensation as though something were happening 
 something stupendous but it was not happening to 
 him it was all very confusing. 
 
 He glanced at the little clock on the shelf it 
 would be hours before Nedda and Tony would re- 
 turn hours before he could show it to them and 
 have them convince him that it was he, Big Bill, for 
 whom it was intended. He thought of Miss M'F^ir- 
 80
 
 Dawn of a New Life 8l 
 
 l ane he would tell her about it would flash it be- 
 fore her eyes. Then he stopped short, delighted 
 with a new idea that occurred to him. Why not go 
 out? Why not surprise them all? 
 
 There was plenty of time; besides, he felt much 
 stronger now. There was nothing to keep him there, 
 staring like a ninny at a check that Fortune had 
 dumped in his lap. He had been out on one or two 
 occasions with Nedda and Tony on either side of 
 him helping him walk it certainly got you the way 
 you forgot how to use your legs had to be taught 
 all over again. He was perfectly able to go out 
 alone, and if he felt tired he could hire a hack like 
 a gentleman! 
 
 He grinned at himself in the cracked glass on his 
 wall hire a hack! why, he could buy a whole one 
 coachman thrown in for good measure with that 
 slip of green paper in his hand! 
 
 There was no cab stand near Factory Street its 
 residents, except at funeral times, being unaccustomed 
 to any mode of transportation save by foot. But be- 
 fore the swinging door of a Factory Street saloon 
 might occasionally be found an old horse, hitcheft to 
 its dingy wagon, head down, resting wearily. 
 
 There was none in sight. But at the station Bill 
 discovered a line of them drawn up awaiting the 
 afternoon train. He hailed one. He was not sure 
 how one did it, but he whistled and beckoned, and 
 the driver flecked his whip over the horse's thin
 
 82 The Road of Ambition 
 
 flanks and drove toward him at high speed. He 
 hesitated when he saw the big man in his rough 
 clothing. 
 
 "You don't want a ride, do you?" he asked, sus- 
 piciously. Bill laughed. 
 
 "Sure, I do, partner; want to hire you by the 
 hour maybe by the day money ain't no object," 
 and he waved his hand. 
 
 The driver scowled and gathered up his reins. 
 
 "Aw, cut the comedy!" he growled; "I've lost my 
 place now just on account of you !" 
 
 But Bill shook his head. 
 
 "I ain't stringin' you. I mean it. I'm rich 
 real money an' I want you to drive me to well, 
 I reckon to the Bethel bank first of all." 
 
 The driver stared at him. "You to the Bethel 
 bank!" 
 
 Bill nodded. "Sure. Straight ahead. Full speed." 
 
 He climbed in and sank down on the old cushions 
 the driver, still distrustful, chirped to his horse, 
 and Big Bill, with a chuckle, leaned back luxuriously. 
 To spin along the street on wheels to see the pe- 
 destrians scurrying out of your way to know you 
 have enough money in your pocket to pay a thousand 
 times over for your pleasure this was life glo- 
 rious rich thrilling ! The driver drew up abrupt- 
 ly and turned his head. 
 
 "This here's the bank," he said. Bill stepped 
 down, then he looked back over his shoulder.
 
 Dawn of a New Life 83 
 
 "I'll be back in a jiff," he said with a grin. 
 
 He had no difficulty in the bank. The officials 
 had heard of him had heard of the foreman at the 
 Works who, rumor had it, would clean up a big for- 
 tune with his process, and when word spread that he 
 was there the clerks hurried from their books to peer 
 at him, whispering and snickering. But Bill did not 
 heed them. He was fingering the fresh notes which 
 had been paid him fingering them with trembling 
 hands. He had never in all his life seen so much 
 money as that which he held in his two fists green 
 crisp. 
 
 "Got quite a pile there," said the cashier; "what 
 you going to do with it?" That's what Nedda had 
 asked him almost her words. Bill did not answer. 
 He could not have spoken just then not for the life 
 of him something within him welled up and threat- 
 ened to choke him. All the money he wanted had 
 ever dreamed of wanting what would he do with it 
 he'd show them ! 
 
 He stuffed the bills into his pockets. His cabby 
 was awaiting him anxiously. Bill waved a goldback 
 beneath his nose. 
 
 "Drive me to Levenstein's and maybe you'll get 
 this!" he shouted. 
 
 The driver became action electrified he snapped 
 his whip, he clucked through his teeth; the horse 
 sprang forward already Big Bill was to learn the 
 power of money.
 
 84 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Levenstein himself waited on him little and bent 
 and sallow. 
 
 "Something nice in scarfpins?" he whined; "or 
 maybe a ring, yes?" Bill shook his head. 
 
 "No; none o' that junk," said he. "Let's have a 
 look at that sparkler." He pointed to the brooch in 
 the window. Levenstein hesitated, his eyes little 
 pinpoints of shrewdness. He concluded he could not 
 have heard aright. 
 
 "You mean dis von in de case " 
 
 Bill was impatient. "I mean the one down in 
 front there that daisy " 
 
 Levenstein shook his head. "Oh! dat's not for 
 sale I mean, it's very dear it " 
 
 "I don't give a shoot how much it costs," Bill 
 growled; "I want it, and I want it quick!" 
 
 Levenstein lifted it from its place and laid it on the 
 counter. "I'm glad to show it to you, sir, but " 
 
 Bill drew out a handful of bills. "What's the 
 price?" he asked. Levenstein sucked in his breath 
 and spread out his hands. 
 
 "Oh, if you pay cash, it vill be " he hesitated. 
 
 "I know it's comin' steep," said Bill, easily; "but 
 I'll take it at any price." 
 
 When Levenstein had wrapped it up for him Bill 
 turned to go. But the little Jew, his eyes full of 
 eagerness, tried to keep him. 
 
 "Chust a minute," he pleaded; "here's somethin' 
 fine "
 
 Dawn of a New Life 85 
 
 But Bill shook off his grip. "Nothin' doin'," he 
 said, gruffly; then he paused. Beneath the glass 
 counter lay a bracelet coiled snakes their two 
 heads of jade green, lustrous. 
 
 "I like that," said he suddenly. "Let's see it." 
 But Levenstein was out for bigger game 
 
 "That ain't no good chust imitation jade now 
 over here " 
 
 But Bill shook his head. 
 
 "Ain't nothin' else in your whole joint I want ex- 
 cept that." 
 
 Levenstein lifted it out protestingly and laid it in 
 Bill's hand. 
 
 "If you let me show you vat I've got " But Bill 
 
 dropped it in his pocket. 
 
 "This'll do," he said, shortly; but his face was 
 alight with eagerness. "Queer, ain't it that color?" 
 He paid Levenstein and left the shop. 
 
 Nedda, hurrying home from work, paused at Bill's 
 door and called softly. There was no answer, and 
 she turned the handle, only to fall back with a cry. 
 "He's gone !" Tony, behind her, stared at the empty 
 room. She whirled on him: "We've got to find 
 him!" she cried; "he ain't fit to be out he ain't 
 stronger than a baby go get Miss M'Farlane 
 quick she may know." 
 
 But Miss M'Farlane did not. She returned with 
 Tony, her face pinched with anxiety. "He's not well
 
 86 The Road of Ambition 
 
 by any means," she said, slowly. Nedda shook her 
 head. 
 
 "He hadn't no business to go out alone he may 
 be off his head again." 
 
 She picked up the quilt he had dropped to the floor 
 and an envelope fell from its folds. "Wait a min- 
 ute," cried Tony; "let's see it." 
 
 Nedda looked over his shoulder. "It's from the 
 Works," she said. "I hope there ain't nothin' 
 wrong." But Tony shook his head. 
 
 "He'll turn up, all right." 
 
 She moved to the window. It was dark out a 
 misty night. The lamp at the foot of Factory Street 
 cast its eerie glow a circle of light on the damp 
 earth. Nedda shivered. Then she leaned forward 
 tensely. 
 
 "What's that?" They hurried to her side. A 
 hack was turning the corner a hack drawn by an 
 old white horse and as it passed for an instant be- 
 neath the light Nedda gave a cry. 
 
 "It's Bill," she whispered, "ridin' in it all by him- 
 self!" 
 
 Tony whistled. "Pipe the new overcoat and hat 
 _ an d " 
 
 As the hack drew up at the door he turned to her 
 eagerly : 
 
 "I'll beat it down and help him up maybe you'd 
 better come, too." 
 
 But Nedda did not stir from her post at the win-
 
 Dawn of a New Life 87 
 
 dow. She pressed her cheek against the pane. She 
 saw Bill enter with his arms full of bundles. Miss 
 M'Farlane fluttered excitedly about the room. 
 
 "Where'll he put all the things?" she said; "do 
 you suppose his money could have come?" 
 
 Nedda shrugged : "I don't know," she said, dully, 
 "I expect it has." 
 
 They heard Tony's shout as he greeted Bill: 
 
 "Well, what are you all dressed up for?" 
 
 They heard the shrill voice of the cabby thanking 
 Bill again and again for something and then came 
 Bill's roar: 
 
 "All ready for a surprise up there? Where's 
 Nedda? Where's Miss M'Farlane?" 
 
 At the sound of his voice Nedda drew herself up 
 rather as though she was bracing herself for a shock 
 but Miss M'Farlane ran to the banisters and 
 leaned over. 
 
 "Tony's got his arms full of parcels, too," she 
 cried. "My! my! if this isn't exciting!" 
 
 Nedda drew back when she saw Bill, but Tony 
 burst out eagerly : 
 
 "Hat shoes overcoat suit ain't nothin' that 
 ain't brand-new ! What do you think of him? He's 
 a gent, now that's what he is a real gent!" 
 
 Bill grinned sheepishly. "They're all right, ain't 
 they?" he asked, anxiously. Tony dropped his bun- 
 dles on the table and stood back, head cocked on one 
 side admiringly. "Immense, so far. Regular swell.
 
 88 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Got a check this mornin', and what does he do but 
 go right out and blow himself good and proper." 
 
 Nedda smiled through stiff lips at the big man be- 
 fore her it was Bili, and yet it was a stranger, this 
 well-dressed gentleman. He was speaking: "And 
 I won't be the only swell, either; open her up, Tony." 
 
 Tony whipped out his penknife and cut the strings. 
 Miss M'Farlane clasped her hands : "Well, if it isn't 
 another overcoat " 
 
 "For you, Tony," said Bill; "ain't goin' to have 
 you freezin' to death this Winter." 
 
 "For me!" gasped Tony. 
 
 Bill nodded. "Try it on," said he. And Tony 
 slipped his arms into it. His pale face had gone a 
 shade whiter. "Gee, Bill, you hadn't ought to do 
 this." 
 
 Bill laughed. "What do you suppose a guy wants 
 money for unless he can?" he said. He cut the 
 strings of another package. He patted it. "Yours, 
 Miss M'Farlane," he said. 
 
 She opened it with shaking hands: "What can 
 it be ?" Her fingers told her before the last fold fell 
 away. Her hands dropped to her sides, slowly she 
 turned her face toward Bill. It was aglow with eager 
 light. She spoke softly : 
 
 "I won't have to ruin my eyes any more." Then, 
 without warning, she caught his hand and pressed 
 her lips to it. 
 
 "Say," he growled, dragging his hand away;
 
 Dawn of a New Life 89 
 
 "you'd think I'd given you a house and lot instead of 
 a hand sewin' machine !" 
 
 Her eyes were full of tears. "To think after wait- 
 ing all these years " she said at last. 
 
 "Yes, an' it ain't the only thing you're goin' to get, 
 either," he cried. "See how you like this!" His 
 voice was exultant, his cheeks flushed. He could 
 give them what they wanted now these friends who 
 had stood by him. He could gratify their whims. 
 He'd like to meet the poor bloke who said money 
 was a curse a curse! Why, it was the greatest 
 blessing a man could have the only thing on earth 
 that could give you that feeling of almighty power 
 of happiness. 
 
 Tony was tearing at the wrappings, holding up 
 the warm coat the sets of furs. 
 
 "I don't know what all's there," said Bill; "I just 
 told them to throw in the stuff girls were strong for." 
 Then he turned to them eagerly: 
 
 "To-morrow we're goin' to celebrate for fair 
 every one dressed up and dinner at a restaurant 
 no food-slinger but the real thing!" 
 
 But Tony shook his head. "Aw, say, Bill, we 
 wouldn't know how to act!" 
 
 "Don't have to know how," said Bill, "as long 
 as you can pay the bill." Then he turned to Nedda. 
 "I've got something for you, too." 
 
 She came toward him. She moistened her lips. "I 
 wish you hadn't of," she said.
 
 90 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Bill laughed. "You'll like it" and he drew from 
 his pocket the box. 
 
 "It's jewelry!" cried Tony. Miss M'Farlane 
 dropped the muff she was stroking and ran to Ned- 
 da's side. "Open it, quick!" 
 
 But Nedda held it in her hand and her fingers 
 closed over it. "I can't," she said; "I just can't." 
 
 "Let me, then," said Bill. 
 
 She gave it to him, her eyes on his face eager 
 boyish carried away by the enthusiasm of this new 
 game he was playing the game of benefactor. 
 
 "It is jewelry!" shouted Tony. "It's from Leven- 
 stein's !" the blue velvet case lay revealed. Bill held 
 it out. 
 
 "Go ahead," he urged. But Nedda shrank back. 
 
 "I can't, Bill I can't you hadn't ought to have 
 got it for me." 
 
 Tony stared at her. "Are you crazy? Why don't 
 you open it and see what it is?" 
 
 Bill pressed the spring. Tony fell back with a 
 cry, but Nedda stood motionless, her bosom rising 
 and falling quickly her eyes on the sparkling treas- 
 ure in his hand. Bill smiled at her. 
 
 "It's for you," he said, gaily; "didn't I tell you 
 I'd get it?" 
 
 Still she did not move, and Tony jerked her elbow 
 sharply "Take it," he whispered. 
 
 She shook her head. "I don't want it," she said, 
 quickly; "it's too grand for me it's "
 
 Dawn of a New Life 91 
 
 / 
 
 "It's what I said you'd have and what I say 
 goes!" grinned Bill. He lifted it from its bed of 
 white satin and held it by its chain of platinum. "I'll 
 put it on you come here." 
 
 She moved toward him and lifted her chin. He 
 clasped the chain about her white throat and let the 
 splendid cluster of diamonds rest in the hollow of her 
 neck. Suddenly she caught his arm. 
 
 "Bill," she said, breathlessly; "Bill, you want me 
 to have it, don't you?" 
 
 "%re," he laughed; "ain't I been tellin' you 
 
 J> 
 
 v cr> , 
 
 "Yes; but you want me to have it because be- 
 cause well, why do you?" 
 
 He was frankly puzzled. "Why does any one 
 give presents like that? first of all, because I said 
 I would and I wanted to make good and then 
 because I well I knew it would look great on you 
 and then because you hadn't never had anythin' 
 like that before and I thought you had ought to 
 have the best I don't know no other reasons." 
 
 "Well," said Tony, "that ought to be enough to 
 please anybody!" 
 
 But Nedda was silent, fingering the brooch 
 thoughtfully. Miss M'Farlane gathered up her new 
 possessions. 
 
 "I'll get my sewin' done in half the time," she 
 said, eagerly. "God bless you, Bill." Tony picked 
 up her machine.
 
 92 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "Let me carry it over for you," he said. He led 
 the way into the hall, chatting eagerly. Bill turned 
 to Nedda. 
 
 "It looks fine," he said. She nodded. 
 
 "It's beautiful, Bill but I'm afraid of it I wish 
 I knew " 
 
 "Knew what?" 
 
 "Knew if you'd given it to me, because " she 
 
 stopped, her cheeks crimson. 
 
 "Ain't I told you why I did?" 
 
 She nodded; "Yes only you didn't say you gave 
 it to me because you liked me " 
 
 He stared at her. "Well! I'll be blowed! I 
 don't need to tell you that, do I Nedda ? Don't you 
 know you're the greatest pard a feller ever had? 
 Like you ! Why, you know blame well I do !" 
 
 She caught her breath. "Then I'll keep it, Bill," 
 she said, "and I'll love it!" Turning abruptly, she 
 ran from the room. 
 
 He drew off his overcoat and stroked its rough, 
 warm cloth he turned his new hat over. He had 
 never hoped to possess a coat and hat like these. He 
 dropped his hand in his pocket plenty of loose 
 change jingling through his fingers and a soft roll 
 of bills and something else what was it? oh, 
 yes the bracelet. Queer color, that. He drew it 
 out and gazed at it. Just the color of a pair of eyes 
 the eyes of the lady of his dreams. He'd keep it 
 just to remind himself of her.
 
 Dawn of a New Life 93 
 
 Then he flung himself down in his chair and 
 stretched luxuriously. A hack was certainly the only 
 way for a man to travel he might even take a taxi 
 some day who could tell ?
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 CARES OF THE RICH 
 
 'HP HERE followed weeks of festivities such as 
 * Nedda and Tony had never dreamed of seeing 
 as Miss M'Farlane vaguely remembered in a hazy, 
 distant past. Dinner at the restaurant had not proved 
 altogether successful had been too great a strain on 
 the four, and it was abandoned after the first at- 
 tempt. After all Nedda's cooking was better than 
 any you could buy. But there were rides and 
 theatres. Nedda's anxious fear lest he spend too 
 much was quickly hushed. What did a fellow want 
 with money if not to spend it! There was plenty 
 more coming Benson had said so. And yet, with 
 all the revelry, with all the exhilaration of the sport, 
 something began to go wrong. They had visited 
 Bethel Parkway they had driven into the country 
 but Bill found himself suddenly tired of it that 
 was nonsense, of course one didn't get tired of 
 spending money and yet if there were only some- 
 thing new for a man to do new people new 
 
 places 
 
 He had resigned from the Works resigned amid 
 a tumult of protest his men crowding about him de- 
 94
 
 Cares of the Rich 95 
 
 manding he stay and he found the time dragging 
 heavily on his hands you couldn't keep on buying 
 eternally you couldn't always ride around the coun- 
 try with Nedda and Tony and Miss M'Farlane. 
 What the devil was it he wanted? 
 
 To quell the rising restlessness he set out on an- 
 other exploration tour of the shops he bought quan- 
 tities of furniture rugs pictures he would fix up 
 his place. For a time it amused him tremendously 
 Nedda's ecstatic joy at each new treasure delighted 
 him; her eager suggestions as to the placing of them 
 but when it was finished when the rug was laid, 
 the pictures hung his enjoyment of it vanished. 
 Queer, too, that it should not please him the best 
 stuff in Smith's Furniture Shop but it didn't. He 
 pondered over it, gazing at the new buffet, with its 
 punch bowl and glasses. Suddenly he knew what 
 grated. It wasn't like Benson's that was it that 
 was what he wanted something rich and handsome 
 and homelike not this glaring oak these bla- 
 tant lamps that table full of glassware did a man 
 ever know what it was he desired? What under the 
 sun was wrong with him ! 
 
 He sought Nedda. She was making over a dress. 
 She dropped her sewing in her lap when he entered, 
 her cheeks flooded with color. 
 
 "Want to go out?" he said. 
 
 She shook her head. "Not to-night, Bill, it's so 
 nice to sit here and think."
 
 96 The Road of Ambition 
 
 He moved restlessly. "Wish I thought so." 
 
 "Don't you?" she asked, quickly. 
 
 He shook his head. "Can't seem to settle down 
 to nothin'. Seems every morning when I hear the 
 old whistle as if I ought to hop out of bed and be off 
 to the Works. I hate to see the men startin' out 
 won't look at 'em." 
 
 She smiled. "You'll get over that." 
 
 "Not as long as I stay here." 
 
 She looked up quickly. "You weren't thinkin' of 
 goin' away, were you?" 
 
 "Why not?" he asked. 
 
 She did not reply. He slipped his hands in his 
 pockets. 
 
 "Seems sort of queer, a feller like me gettin' what 
 he wants and bein' so all-fired sore about everythin'. 
 Nedda," he said, suddenly, "what's wrong with me?" 
 
 She raised her head and her dark eyes met his, 
 but she did not answer him. 
 
 "Reckon every one feels this way that's worked all 
 his life," he went on. "Sittin' 'round twirlin' your 
 thumbs ain't no cinch. Think I'll go 'way some- 
 wheres only I don't know where to go and it 
 wouldn't be fun alone !" 
 
 "What is it you want to do?" she asked at length. 
 
 He tried to put it plainly: "I want to do big 
 things, and see big places, and know big people. I 
 reckon that's it, Nedda; only I don't know how to 
 go about it."
 
 Cares of the Rich 97 
 
 She was silent a long time. Then she straight- 
 ened her shoulders. "I suppose when you do," she 
 said, "you'll forget all about us." 
 
 "How can I? Ain't you my best friends don't 
 I come to you with all my troubles " 
 
 "You do now," she said. 
 
 He smiled : "And always will. I'll get hold of my- 
 self soon, then it will be clear sailin'." He turned 
 toward the door. "Well, if you won't go out I 
 reckon I'd better go alone." 
 
 Sfre let him go. She listened to his footsteps, 
 growing fainter, and when they had died away she 
 sat idly, the work in her lap, her hands loosely 
 clasped; then, with a shudder, she pushed the dress 
 away from her and covered her face with her hands. 
 Tony found her thus, but when he asked her what 
 was wrong she did not answer. At length, as he 
 persisted, she said it was her eyes they were always 
 bad at rush season, and she went to her room. 
 
 When Bill received a summons to appear at Ben- 
 son's office he felt the first thrill of returning in- 
 terest. Perhaps the chief had a big job for him 
 was going to put him to work again was going to 
 forget that he was making money from a process 
 which seemed to be steeped in gold. 
 
 He set out eagerly. He was admitted at once. 
 It was good to see the chief again. Benson held out 
 his hand.
 
 98 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "How goes it?" he inquired. 
 
 Bill grinned. "Can't get the hang of it yet," he 
 said; "but reckon I'll pull out all right only I wish 
 I had something to do." 
 
 Benson regarded him thoughtfully. "I knew you 
 would I proposed to give you three weeks of play 
 and see what happened." 
 
 Bill glanced up quickly. "You mean you doped 
 it all out that I'd be sick of it that soon?" 
 
 Benson nodded. "Feeling kind of restless, weren't 
 you ? Ready for something else ?" 
 
 Bill leaped up. "How'd you guess it, chief? Holy 
 smoke, I didn't think I could stand it another day 
 honest I've went out and blowed myself to every- 
 thin' I ever wanted but it didn't do no good 
 nothin' did and here you are sizin' me up right off 
 the bat." 
 
 Benson smiled. "Sit down, he said; "I have some- 
 thing to say to you." 
 
 Bill dropped in his chair. 
 
 "I once told you," said Benson carefully, choos- 
 ing his words, "that you would be a very rich man." 
 Bill nodded. "I didn't tell you how rich I couldn't, 
 then; but I can now. Bill, you will have so much 
 money that it would not be safe for you to be the sort 
 of citizen you are at present." 
 
 "What do you mean?" asked Bill, shortly. 
 
 Benson puffed his cigar in silence, then he leaned 
 forward.
 
 Cares of the Rich 99 
 
 "I mean just that. Men with fortunes in this 
 country must know how to manage them to meet 
 other rich men. Education that's it, Bill, educa- 
 tion." 
 
 "Well!" he growled; "how can I get it now?" 
 
 Benson smiled. "Men who make a big pile do it 
 as a rule gradually get time to soak in the things a 
 man has to know; but yours has come in a rush and 
 left you floundering you've done all you can with 
 your money so far, and yet you aren't satisfied. Why 
 not? Because you want those other things, too 
 you want to be one of the big men, to be able to 
 talk and walk and act like one why shouldn't you? 
 You're a born leader." 
 
 Bill stared at him. "Well," he said, "all this talk 
 don't get me nowheres." 
 
 Benson smiled. "That's where you're wrong. I'm 
 going to undertake to make you one of the biggest 
 figures in this country, Bill Matthews!" 
 
 Bill drew in his breath. 
 
 "I mean it," Benson continued; "I've watched you 
 sail ahead of other men at the Works; I've watched 
 you boss big jobs; I've seen men jump to do what 
 you tell them to. That means you've got power, 
 Bill and power with money is a dangerous thing, 
 unless you have education besides get me?" 
 
 Bill nodded. 
 
 "You're going to put yourself in my hands for a 
 period of one year yes, I think I can do it by then.
 
 10O The Road of Ambition 
 
 By the end of that time you are going to be one of 
 the men that make history. I'm not saying this with- 
 out thinking it out first but I've seen what you can 
 do, and I'm willing to stake my last dollar on you." 
 
 Bill stared at him at the big man puffing his 
 cigar tipped back in his chair smiling at him, and 
 as he gazed he felt a thrill steal over him his blood 
 pounded in his veins to do to conquer to be 
 worthy of this trust placed in him command men? 
 Of course he could! A power a money king 
 that was what this man proposed to make him 
 that was what he had wanted. What a fool not to 
 have guessed it long before. He held out his hand. 
 "I'm on," he said, huskily. Benson gripped it. 
 
 Nedda heard the story that he told with stumbling 
 haste heard it without speaking. 
 
 "I'm goin' to Benson's for a while and 
 then " 
 
 "Then what?" she asked, her eyes on his face. 
 
 He caught her hands. "Then I'm goin' to lick 
 the money pirates at their own game sail in and 
 show them a thing or two. I'll make you proud of 
 me." 
 
 He drew her after him to his room. "You can 
 have all this," he said. "Pictures, rugs everything. 
 Gee, Nedda, to think the Big Chief himself is goin' 
 to do this for me !" 
 
 "Bill," she said, breathlessly; "you will come back 
 and see us you will, won't you?"
 
 Cares of the Rich 101 
 
 He nodded. "Sure. I'll tell you everythin' that's 
 happenin'. Reckon I'll have to learn a lot, and I'll 
 teach it to you, too. Benson says money's a re- 
 sponsibility. Nedda, Nedda that's what was 
 wrong with me and I didn't know it there I was 
 just achin' to get into the big game and couldn't 
 find the way." 
 
 "That's all you wanted, ain't it, Bill?" 
 
 He nodded. "Everything in the world. Wasn't 
 I crazy not to know it." 
 
 "And there wasn't nothing else you'd like to 
 have?" 
 
 "What else is there?" he cried. "Tell me that !" 
 
 But she did not answer. Instead, she moved to 
 the window, her back to him. 
 
 "You'll need some new things, Bill," she said, 
 slowly, "if you're goin' there. Suppose I make out 
 a list for you." 
 
 "Great idea !" he cried. "Nedda, you sure are a 
 pal for a feller." 
 
 "Am I, Bill?" she whispered, as she drew a pad 
 and pencil toward him. 
 
 He nodded. "Now, then, what do I need in a 
 swell house like that?" 
 
 She looked at him with a half-smile, as though she 
 were about to say something, but she changed her 
 mind. 
 
 "Let's start from the beginnin', Bill," she said, 
 abruptly, and they set to work.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 MAY LARABEE'S DIPLOMACY 
 
 "DETHEL'S Old Families regarded the hilltop 
 "^ dwellers as Upstarts. True, the Upstarts lived 
 in palatial homes, with sweeps of velvet lawn and 
 long avenues of trees but this, if anything, was an 
 added count against them. The Old Families could 
 never quite forgive them for wresting from them the 
 wealth that was once theirs. 
 
 In the days when Bethel's swamp was first con- 
 verted into farm land -when the Works consisted 
 of a small shack full of rusty machinery Andrew 
 Van Steer ruled the land. There was no question 
 as to his power in the growing community. He 
 came from the South, with n formidable host of 
 ancestors behind him; but that did not deter him 
 from marrying the daughter of Bethel's innkeeper. 
 
 What one needed in those days was a strong, 
 healthy woman a woman able to work side by side 
 with you after that she might be pretty yes, and 
 of good birth. Brains were not essential. The man 
 of the house did all the thinking for the family. 
 
 But as Van Steer's wealth grew by leaps and 
 bounds his wife ceased dressing in calico and driving 
 102
 
 May Larabee's Diplomacy 103 
 
 to market behind a jogging old horse, and endeav- 
 ored to recline, as though she were accustomed to 
 it, on tEe satin cushions of a victoria, behind the 
 smartest team of Kentucky-bred bays in the country. 
 
 It was said she acquired a certain amount of poise 
 along with her Paris stays and bonnets but her 
 cleverness lay in never opening her pretty mouth in 
 public except to say "yes" or "no" Van Steer did 
 the rest with an eloquence equalled by few and sur- 
 passed by none. 
 
 Great days, those when the old Van Steer house 
 was ablaze each night with a thousand candles 
 when the door swung wide to admit a stream of gaily 
 clad folk when the swish of silk skirts whispered 
 through the long hallways and the tapping of high 
 heels rang out on the stone corridors. 
 
 Van Steer's dinners were famed throughout the 
 countryside. It was said that his tables groaned be- 
 neath their load of good things; that his wine flowed 
 like water; certain it was that Van Steer, flushed and 
 triumphant, would stagger to his feet, waving his 
 glass, and urging his guests to stay as long as they 
 chose. 
 
 "Open house 1" he would cry. "Open house and 
 room for all! Eh, darling? Room for all!" And 
 his wife, nodding and smiling, would whisper "Yes." 
 And stay they did for weeks at a time. 
 
 Van Steer and his shrewd side-partner, Wilbur 
 Newcomb, held the town in the hollow of their
 
 1O4 The Road of Ambition 
 
 hands, and the second generation of Van Steers and 
 Newcombs were ushered into the world with the pro- 
 verbial golden spoons in their mouths. 
 
 The Van Steers delivered a son to the Bench 
 an impractical dreamer, who had inherited his moth- 
 er's golden gift of silence; who shrank with terror 
 from the tumult of the great throbbing industry his 
 father loved. The boy stumbled through law school, 
 hating briefs with a passion only surpassed by his 
 father's indomitable ambition for him. 
 
 As for Newcomb's son at an early age he showed 
 signs of possessing all his father's coarseness and 
 none of his brains. It was to these two youths that 
 Bethel looked for a continuance of its brilliant social 
 life. But the Judge soon retired ingloriously from 
 the Bench and settled down to his books and his cards 
 quite content to let the family fortune drip through 
 his slender, aristocratic fingers. 
 
 As for young Newcomb, he sold out his interest 
 in the Works and flung all the money on the Street 
 in a wild orgy of speculation was wiped out in the 
 course of one memorable afternoon and wound 
 up the day by shooting himself before the eyes of 
 his wife and two children. 
 
 It was right there that the First Families stepped 
 in. With an eye on the Works as the coming steel 
 center of the country, Cyrus P. Colt and his three 
 henchmen, Ellsworth Decker, Isaac Pattison and Na- 
 thaniel Rogers, swept up what little stock the Judge
 
 May Larabee's Diplomacy 105 
 
 still held assuring him it was worthless and after 
 enlarging the Works, proceeded to clean up a volume 
 of business and swing gigantic deals that left 
 Bethel gasping, and poured a shower of gold into 
 their coffers. It did more than that it earned for 
 them in the world of finance the name of "The Big 
 Four." 
 
 It was a matter of pride with them that they clung 
 to Bethel no they were fond of assuring each 
 other flushed with their success they were not 
 snobs. Some men, when they made a pile, pulled up 
 stakes and moved to a colony of millionaires but 
 not they no, sir ! Bethel was the place where they 
 had made their money and Bethel was good enough 
 for them and theirs! And to prove their devotion 
 Colt presented Colt Park to the township, while 
 Decker followed with Decker College, and Pattison 
 gave the stately Library and fountain which bore 
 his name. As for Rogers, he built the Rogers Me- 
 morial Church, whose organ had the largest num- 
 ber of stops east of Salt Lake. 
 
 And as Bethel grew and waxed exceeding strong 
 its social life became gayer madder. Its house 
 parties consisted of trainloads of guests from neigh- 
 boring cities gaily-sweatered folk, with nervous, 
 high-pitched voices and tired eyes and the music of 
 the First Families' dances lasted until late into the 
 mornings. 
 
 With its social life, its financial life grew the
 
 lo6 The Road of Ambition 
 
 controllers of great industries joined their women 
 folk for week-ends and left them to their own de- 
 vices, while they smoked the Big Four's cigars and 
 lounged in their deep leather chairs, thrashing out 
 the cornering of a stock, the purchase of a railroad, 
 the crushing of a competitor to the faint strains of 
 a waltz, or to the laughter of young voices. 
 
 And, like a dank weed springing up in soil too 
 rich a political life crept into Bethel. There were 
 twenty thousand voters. They might swing the State 
 in any election a big factor and there were rich 
 men standing ready to back a party which offered 
 enough inducements until at last the Boss himself 
 Dugan, the man who ruled the party found his 
 way there. 
 
 He lived very quietly in a rambling old house set 
 back from the road but his great, pudgy fingers 
 were ever on the pulse of his Party sensing every 
 throb prescribing for every ill curing or killing 
 as he saw fit. He was occasionally seen at the tables 
 of the Big Four, but more often on Bethel's links, 
 serenely pursuing a little white ball. Never talked 
 much, did Dugan didn't have to a citizen whom 
 the Big Four's wives heartily detested as an out- 
 sider who dared know too much but whom they 
 feared too greatly to offend. 
 
 Socially and financially Bethel was on the map 
 Dugan's being there put it on politically in big 
 letters.
 
 May Larabee's Diplomacy 107 
 
 Wilbur Newcomb's grandson, Monty, still lived 
 in Bethel. Not in the old house, though that had 
 been torn down to build Bethel Inn but in an ob- 
 scure little cottage, half way up the hill, Monty 
 existed on past glories. He seemed to have been 
 born hating all people of means. He lived over the 
 days his father had told him about the days when 
 the name of Newcomb was a signal for the turning 
 of heads and craning of necks. Monty had gone 
 through forty years in this manner. 
 
 He was able to foster his dislikes to the exclusion 
 of all other forms of labor by the aid of a slender in- 
 come from some timber lands which Newcomb pere, 
 in his mad fever of speculation, had entirely over- 
 looked and neglected to sell. 
 
 Once or twice Monty had roused himself to the 
 point of beginning a biography of his paternal grand- 
 father had even sharpened pencils and laid in a 
 supply of paper for the Herculean task; but his sis- 
 ter discouraged him. 
 
 "Grandfather was a mighty rough specimen," she 
 assured him. "Brains, yes ; culture, no ! I remember 
 him well; used to swear more in one minute than 
 any other man in a hundred years. Better leave 
 his history unwritten too many people in this part 
 of the country know too much about it." 
 
 May, along with the Newcomb nose and feet, had 
 inherited all the brusqueness of her father's side of 
 the house ; but unlike Monty, she did not hate wealth,
 
 io8 The Road of Ambition 
 
 she courted it prayed for it determined grimly 
 to go out after it and get it by hook or crook. 
 
 She would stare in the mirror at her sharp little 
 face for hours at a time. 
 
 "Not bad," she would say. "If I didn't look so 
 much like a fox!" 
 
 She had married Jim Larabee a man twenty 
 years older than herself only to discover that the 
 money he had told her about was not his that as 
 his wife she would be even more wretchedly hard 
 up than before. She did not hesitate. She left him 
 inside of a week. Later, when he inherited a for- 
 tune, she endeavored to make it up, but he refused 
 to see her, and shortly afterward died, having willed 
 every penny to the monastery of St. Ignatius 
 "which," he added spitefully in that biting docu- 
 ment, "is at least one place where a man can be sure 
 his money will not be squandered on the Useless Sex." 
 
 "I was a fool once," she remarked bitterly at the 
 time ; "but if I ever get my two hands on money again 
 they'll have to kill me first to rescue it!" 
 
 The brother and sister lived in the little house she 
 had coaxed Monty to buy, hoping against hope that 
 the First Families would take her up and that she 
 might thereby improve her chances but they had 
 not, although for a time Colt's only son and heir, 
 Philip, took to dropping in on his way to and from 
 the center. He even got to the point of confiding 
 his follies to her when his father learned of his calls
 
 May Larabee's Diplomacy 109 
 
 and forbade him to put his foot in Newcomb's house. 
 
 "Do you suppose I want you to get mixed up with 
 that blood'!" he thundered; "if you must go making 
 a fool of yourself over the Old Families in this town 
 run after Van Steer's daughter at least there's 
 breeding there!" 
 
 That ended May's chances as far as the First Fam- 
 ilies were concerned. As for Monty, he grew more 
 sullen and difficult to live with day by day, and her 
 daring gowns became a trifle shabby, while the New- 
 comb feet, of which she was inordinately proud, were 
 clad in oft-resoled shoes. 
 
 And then, at the ebb of their fortunes, when 
 Monty had been unusually trying and fretful when 
 she had been forced to contemplate selling a vase or 
 two to make her Winter wardrobe presentable, Ben- 
 son, manager of the Works, stopped his car before 
 their door and asked to see her brother. 
 
 May heard the big red roadster chugging at the 
 curb and her heart leaped with hope. She hid be- 
 hind the portieres to better catch what he was say- 
 ing. She knew Monty would make a fool of himself 
 if it came to a proposition that required an answer, 
 and it was just as well that she be within listening 
 distance. 
 
 Monty, in a saffron dressing gown, received Ben- 
 son. He liked Benson as an efficient employee, who 
 respected him as the grandson of a great man. He 
 bowed him into a chair. Benson smiled at him.
 
 no The Road of Ambition 
 
 "Well, Mr. Newcomb, how goes it?" 
 
 There was really no need to inquire. One had 
 only to glance at the patched curtains, the faded 
 rugs, the general air of decadence, but Monty flicked 
 the ash from his cigarette and crossed his knee. 
 
 "Splendid, Benson; never better. What would 
 you expect?" 
 
 Benson nodded. "Glad to hear it." 
 
 There was a pause. Benson was very evidently 
 struggling to say something was not exactly sure 
 how best to begin. Newcomb waited indifferently. 
 
 "By the way," said Benson, clearing his voice; 
 "have you heard about Big Bill Matthews?" 
 
 Newcomb raised his eyebrows. "Really, I don't 
 think so," said he, wrinkling his forehead. "Who is 
 he?" 
 
 Benson smiled. "Every one's talking about him. 
 You know, the foreman at the Works, who played 
 around with scale until he found a process to turn 
 it back into steel." 
 
 Monty nodded. "Sure enough. Did hear some- 
 thing about him. Quite remarkable, wasn't it?" 
 
 Benson brought his fist down on the arm of his 
 chair. "Remarkable isn't the word stupendous! 
 The man's made a pile already, but that's nothing to 
 what he's going to make 1 He's slated to clean up 
 a fortune or I lose my bet!" 
 
 Monty's thin lips compressed. "A fortune, eh? 
 A laborer?"
 
 May Larabee's Diplomacy ill 
 
 Benson nodded. "More money than he knew was 
 in the world. Think of that, will you! A fellow 
 who has worked for us since he was a boy and he 
 can buy and sell most of us now !" 
 
 A note in Benson's voice irritated Monty. It was 
 as though he were trying to rouse some sort of en- 
 thusiasm for this man who had by some lucky twist 
 stumbled upon a fortune he was wholly unfit and in- 
 capable of managing a fortune that Monty, as a 
 Newcomb, knew he was essentially qualified to 
 handle with dexterity and skill. Most annoying, 
 those things always happening, though. He 
 shrugged and dismissed the subject. 
 
 "And how are things going with you, Benson?" 
 he inquired generously. Benson must not be made to 
 feel that he was an inferior. Good brain there fine 
 superintendent just the man for the place. 
 
 But Benson was growing red actually stammer- 
 ing his embarrassment. 
 
 "Look here, Mr. Newcomb," he exploded; "I'm 
 going to come right out with it!" 
 
 Newcomb turned to survey him. "Really, Mr. 
 Benson, I don't understand you. Come out with 
 what?" 
 
 "With my reason for calling," he said; "for speak- 
 ing about this man, Bill Matthews." 
 
 "I can't see," said Monty shortly, "what this man 
 can have to do with your coming to see me." 
 
 Benson gripped the arms of his chair. "It's this
 
 112 The Road of Ambition 
 
 way: Matthews will have a lot of money it may 
 run up into the millions. He hasn't had much school- 
 ing. He can't even talk correctly; but he's a tre- 
 mendous force a tremendous power. The boys 
 under him recognized it and worked like slaves for 
 him. We men higher up saw it and promoted him. 
 Now, then, with all this power and all this wealth 
 I'm afraid he'll run amuck unless he has the train- 
 ing necessary to a man of means and " 
 
 But Monty had risen. "I'm sorry to cut this 
 short, Mr. Benson," he said, "but the man's welfare 
 is of no faintest interest to me none whatever. 
 Men of that calibre are most distasteful to me can't 
 talk of them boors. If you want some one's advice 
 as to what to do with him, I would suggest you go 
 elsewhere my time " 
 
 "I don't want anyone else's advice," said Benson, 
 with a dogged persistence, though the red stained 
 his face, "I want yours I want to know if you will 
 undertake making this man into a gentleman " 
 
 "If I " Monty choked with an anger he 
 
 scarcely knew he was capable of feeling. "If I 
 the grandson of Wilbur Newcomb will undertake 
 the education of a laborer " 
 
 "Wait just a moment," pleaded Benson. "The 
 man has fine instincts he's clever; he's eager to 
 learn; I haven't time or I'd take him in hand myself; 
 but since I can't, he's willing to pay any amount you 
 name, if you will "
 
 May Larabee's Diplomacy 113 
 
 Monty's face was livid. "Payl" he shrieked. 
 "Pay ! And you think that for his dirty, miserable 
 roll of bills he can buy what I " 
 
 This was May's cue, and dashing back the cur- 
 tain she entered breezily. 
 
 "Mr. Benson," she cried, with outstretched hand, 
 "how delightful !" 
 
 Monty stared at her suspiciously, then straight- 
 ened up. 
 
 "Mr. Benson and I," he snapped through white 
 lips, "are concluding a little interview you will ex- 
 cuse us " 
 
 But May shook her head. "Indeed not," she 
 said gaily; "for I couldn't help hearing part of 
 what he said as I came through the other room 
 you shouted so, Monty, dear and I do think it's a 
 most charming idea of Mr. Benson's " 
 
 "Charming idea!" cried Monty; "charming idea 
 , M 
 
 "To educate a millionaire in the rough think of 
 moulding a man of the people " 
 
 "You don't know what you're saying," Monty 
 ripped out. But she nodded: 
 
 "Indeed I do and I consider it very nice of Mr. 
 Benson to think of us in this matter oh, it's no use 
 raving, Monty," she laughed, as he opened his mouth 
 to protest. "It would be perfectly ridiculous to pre- 
 tend in this town, where every last person knows us, 
 that we had a cent of money and that we should not
 
 114 The Road of Ambition 
 
 be grateful for Mr. Matthews' bounty in return for 
 shall I say social polish?" 
 
 Benson turned to her. "At least, think it over," 
 he said. 
 
 She held out her hand. "Think it over nothing ! 
 Consider it settled. Monty'll calm down once you're 
 gone," and she followed him to the door. "I'll write 
 you when he may come," she whispered as he left 
 her. 
 
 Monty awaited her with blazing eyes. 
 
 "How dared you " he breathed, but she 
 
 snapped her fingers. 
 
 "Nonsense, Monty save your temper for some 
 one who will be properly impressed. I'm on my 
 way to look over the house linen so that Mr. Mat- 
 thews' room will be in the pink of condition for 
 him." 
 
 "You mean that you'll have that that factory 
 hand sleeping in our beds eating at our table " 
 
 "I'll do more than that," said May, her foot on 
 the stairs; "I'll marry him " 
 
 "Marry him!" gasped Monty. She laughed. 
 
 "Oh, not until he's well able to write, dear until 
 he can sign checks without a quiver don't worry 
 about that!" and she ran up the stairs.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 FORTUNE RESHAPES THREE LIVES 
 
 T> ILL arrived on an afternoon when Monty was 
 *-* out. May arranged that. She also arranged 
 a fragrant wood fire that leaped in the grate in- 
 deed, in the warm, red glow of the flames the shabby 
 little room appeared quite cheerful and cozy. 
 
 She had dressed with infinite care in a close-fitting 
 black gown a gown that emphasized her slender- 
 ness, and she had slipped her feet into her one re- 
 maining pair of black satin slippers. Behind her 
 chair a basket of American Beauties reared their 
 splendid heads she was perfectly conscious of the 
 rich background the flowers afforded her dark little 
 face. 
 
 At four-thirty the bell rang. She dropped down 
 in the low rocker close to the fire and drew toward 
 her the tea table, lighted the wick beneath the cop- 
 per kettle and signalled her maid to open the door. 
 
 She heard the rumble of men's voices the maid's 
 low replies and she turned to greet them. But she 
 was not prepared for the great bronzed giant who 
 followed Benson into the room no she had never 
 dreamed he would look like that that his head
 
 1 1 6 The Road of Ambition 
 
 would be so fine, his eyes so deep set his mouth so 
 splendid his shoulders so broad. Benson might 
 have told her. She gathered herself together and 
 held out her hand 
 
 "Well," she said, smiling, because she knew her 
 teeth were extremely pretty and well-shaped; "so 
 you've come at last." 
 
 Benson caught her hand and turned to Bill 
 "This is Newcomb's sister, Bill This is Mrs. Lara- 
 bee." But Bill was staring at her rather as though 
 he were examining a work of art a rare painting 
 this little, dark woman, with her gown whipped close 
 about her form with her white hands and smiling 
 lips this was the sort of woman he was henceforth 
 to know. From now on he would meet only women 
 whose voices were soft and rich whose manner was 
 one of utmost ease and elegance. At Benson's nudge 
 he rubbed his hand on his coat and held it out. 
 
 "Glad to meet you, ma'am," and his hand closed 
 over hers. 
 
 "Sit here," she said to Bill, and he dropped obedi- 
 ently into the chair beside her, endeavoring not to 
 gaze too hard at her at the tiny feet, no bigger 
 than a man's fist, thrust out beneath the hem of her 
 skirt at the flowers behind her. Great, those 
 must have cost a penny they were the kind you saw 
 in the florists' windows roses that was it roses. 
 She followed his gaze. 
 
 "You like them?" she asked.
 
 Fortune Reshapes Three Lives 117 
 
 He nodded. "Sure," he said, then wondered what 
 one did with one's hands, if it were not gentlemanly 
 to slip them in one's pockets. But he forgot his hands 
 in listening to the music of her voice as she chatted 
 with Benson. 
 
 "I almost gave you up it was growing so dark 
 doesn't it grow dark early these days, Mr. Mat- 
 thews? But then I knew you would have called me 
 up if you hadn't been coming. Tea, Mr. Matthews?" 
 
 Bill moistened his lips. "No, ma'am," he said. "I 
 guess not." 
 
 She was all regret. "You don't like it? How 
 stupid of me. You like something stronger. There, 
 I know you do!" 
 
 But Bill protested: "Don't want nothin', ma'am; 
 just had a big feed I mean lunch Mr. Benson, he 
 blew me." 
 
 She laughed. "So that's why you're not hungry. 
 Very well, but you won't mind watching us eat, 
 will you?" 
 
 Mind watching her! He could hardly tear his 
 eyes from her he was completely captivated by the 
 skillful manner in which she handled the teapot, the 
 fragile cups. At last, she leaned back. 
 
 "So you're going to stay with us awhile, Mr. Mat- 
 thews?" 
 
 He hesitated. "I'd a great deal rather you called 
 me Bill, ma'am, if it's all the same to you that Mr. 
 Matthews' stuff don't sound real to me."
 
 ii8 The Road of Ambition 
 
 She smiled. "I'd a great deal rather call you 
 Bill," she nodded. "Now, then, Bill, you're going 
 to teach us some things we don't know, and in ex- 
 change we are going to teach you some things we do 
 know is that it?" 
 
 He shook his head, puzzled. "Teach you things? 
 There ain't nothin' I could teach you " 
 
 She laughed. "Oh, yes, there is. Just heaps. You 
 can teach me about the Works and the men I've 
 always wanted to know a great deal more about 
 them you see, my grandfather was a business man, 
 and ever since I can remember I've wished I'd been 
 born a boy instead of a girl. Then I could have 
 rolled up my sleeves and gone to work." 
 
 Bill looked at her admiringly at the round white 
 arms, veiled by a film of chiffon. He shook his head. 
 
 "Hadn't ought to be sorry," he said at last, "bein* 
 a girl just about seems to suit you." 
 
 "I only wish I had had Monty's chances," and 
 she sighed. Suddenly she turned to Bill and leaned 
 toward him confidentially. "You musn't mind, 
 Monty," she said. "Mr. Benson may have told you 
 what an old bear he is he'll probably say the most 
 dreadful things to you, but he doesn't mean them 
 not a word of them." 
 
 Benson smiled. "I've prepared him," he said. 
 
 Bill nodded. "I don't scare easy," he grinned, 
 "reckon I'll take him as he comes. It's mighty nice 
 of him to have a rough like me mussin' up his house."
 
 Fortune Reshapes Three Lives lie, 
 
 May smiled at him. "We're going to love having 
 you here," she said as Benson rose. 
 
 "It looks as though I were leaving you in safe 
 hands, Bill," he said. Bill nodded. "I reckon I'll 
 make out first rate." 
 
 After Benson had gone, May led the way to the 
 library and flung herself on a chaise lounge, a pile 
 of pillows under her tiny head. 
 
 "Now then, Bill," she said, leaning her chin on 
 her hand, "let's talk." 
 
 She looked very charming in the dim light, the 
 fire's red glow on her slender body, her face half in 
 shadow. 
 
 "I'd a heap rather look," he said, blushing at his 
 own daring, but she shook her head. 
 
 "No talk. Or at least I'm going to, for Mon- 
 ty'll be here any minute. Of course you understand, 
 Bill, that this is something we have never done for 
 any other person." 
 
 He nodded. "I figure you'll be glad to back out 
 of it in no time." 
 
 She smiled at him. "I don't believe so, but it's 
 going to be hard at first. Hard for you to take the 
 criticism hard for us to offer it, but it will be worth 
 it in the end and you'll learn so quickly why, even 
 since you've been in this room you've unconsciously 
 caught Mr. Benson's manner. When you first came 
 in you were nervous and ill at ease, weren't you? I 
 knew it by the way you moved your hands and sat
 
 12O The Road of Ambition 
 
 on the edge of your chair, then you watched him and 
 saw that the thing to do was to lean back and cross 
 your knees and fold your arms and here you are 
 doing it!" 
 
 He sat up with a jerk. "Holy Jiminy ! How did 
 you figure all that out?" 
 
 She laughed. "I was watching you and I saw. 
 That was right, Bill. That told me that you had a 
 mind a quick one. Oh, teaching you is going to be 
 great fun I wonder if you'll enjoy teaching me as 
 well." 
 
 He caught his breath. "You make a man feel so 
 ding-fired easy," he grinned. "I guess that's part 
 of bein' a lady. ..." 
 
 But she shook her head. "Nonsense. It's just 
 that I like you and that we're going to be good 
 friends. Now then, tell me when you began working 
 at the factory." 
 
 And he found himself, before he knew it, unfold- 
 ing his life to her his vague hopes and ambitions 
 his desire to help the men who had worked for him 
 to better their condition things he had never 
 breathed aloud before had scarcely defined to him- 
 self. He did not reckon time, he was conscious only 
 of the hope that the dim firelight would last that 
 he might see the quick curve of her lips when she 
 smiled the warm flash of her eyes. He told her all 
 his dreams dreams that were rudely shattered by 
 a man's voice.
 
 Fortune Reshapes Three Lives 121 
 
 "Well," it drawled, "has your laborer turned up 
 yet?" 
 
 It was Monty. 
 
 May sprang to her feet. "Mr. Matthews has 
 come . . ." she said quickly. Monty switched on 
 the light. Bill rose slowly and faced him took in 
 at a glance the sallow, nervous face with a tracery 
 of blue veins on the forehead the light eyes, the 
 lips as colorless as marble. He caught the curt nod 
 and grinned. 
 
 "I'm here all right," he said, suddenly at ease. 
 After all that little pup gentleman or no gentle- 
 man could not tell him what was what and get 
 away with it. "Howdy." 
 
 May sprang between them. "I'll ring for tea. I'm 
 sure you're starving, Monty," she said swiftly. Her 
 brother shook his head, his eyes still on the man be- 
 fore him. 
 
 "Don't want anything. Going to my room. Send 
 up my dinner," and he turned on his heel. 
 
 "Monty," she cried, and her voice was close to 
 tears, "Monty I wish you'd wait I want you to 
 hear what Mr. Matthews has to say about " 
 
 But Monty cut her short, "Business to attend to. 
 Very sorry. You'll excuse me," and he was gone. 
 May faced Bill with flaming cheeks. 
 
 "You see," she cried, "he makes everything im- 
 possible!" 
 
 But Bill was smiling. "Oh, I don't know," he
 
 122 The Road of Ambition 
 
 said slowly, "if he don't want to parley with me, I 
 reckon I'm satisfied as long as you ain't backin 1 out of 
 the bargain." 
 
 She moved toward him; she laid her hand on his 
 arm. 
 
 "How can I thank you?" she said softly; "you 
 don't know how hard my life has been with him 
 he is always like that. ... I am glad you have 
 come." 
 
 Bill smiled at her. "So am I," said he. 
 
 He did not sleep well that night. He lay in a bed 
 of delicious softness, between sheets that felt like 
 satin sheets about which hung a faint fragrance 
 which reminded him of May Larabee. He closed his 
 eyes and tried to conjure up a picture of her as she 
 had looked in the firelight, but he could not, and at 
 length he rose and drew a chair close to the window. 
 
 Outside a sharp frost lay like a veil of snow on 
 tree and shrub. He smiled to himself as he thought 
 of the view from Factory Street the rubbish heap 
 
 the corner saloon the cobble stones He 
 
 had no trouble in calling those scenes to his mind 
 they were stamped there indelibly. With a shudder 
 he turned back to the room in which he sat soft rugs 
 tinted walls vases of flowers. He was there to 
 stay, too it was not just for a night no it was 
 to go on and on and other wonders were to come 
 wonders he had never dreamed of possessing. 
 
 He was to learn to talk like these people to be
 
 Fortune Reshapes Three Lives 123 
 
 one of them no, more than that, he was to 
 become the friend of the little dark woman who 
 had confided her loneliness her unhappiness to 
 him. . . . What would Nedda say to all this? 
 Nedda. ... I He stopped short. He had not 
 thought of her since the day he had left them all 
 since the day he had driven away in Benson's car. 
 He remembered her now how little and white 
 she had looked how bravely her lips had 
 smiled. He wondered if she missed him after all, 
 he reflected, she had Tony she would soon forget 
 him. . . . He turned back to his bed. He stroked 
 the pillows the soft quilt "and it's only the begin- 
 ning," he told himself as he crept beneath the covers. 
 
 May had followed her brother to his room. She 
 shut the door carefully behind her and stood with 
 her back to it. 
 
 "The next time you make such a fool of yourself, 
 Monty," she snapped, "I'll spoil your whole game 
 by clearing out for good do you hear me?" 
 
 He dropped the book he was reading and stared at 
 her a little white fury, with clenched hands. 
 
 "And you know what that'll mean your income 
 cut in half in half what'll you live on then? Tell 
 me that. You'll have to blow out your brains just as 
 papa did there won't be anything else for you to 
 do ! Either you treat this man decently or I leave 
 and when I go I won't come back!" 
 
 Monty yawned. "Trot along to bed," he said,
 
 124 The Road of Ambition 
 
 stretching. "You've had your way, haven't you? 
 Your foreman is sleeping in the guest room you've 
 made us the laughing stock of Bethel what more 
 do you want?" 
 
 She moved toward him. "You know what I 
 want," she said through her teeth. "I want you to 
 treat him properly or I'll do as I say as for Bethel 
 knowing who gives a hang for us or for what we 
 do? But they will care when I bring him backl" 
 
 "Bring him back?" 
 
 She nodded. 
 
 "I'm going to travel first anywheres every- 
 wheres see things places people spend money 
 throw it away. . . . Don't you suppose I want 
 to get out of this hole? Well, here's my chance to 
 do it and yours, too. Are you going to take it or 
 are you going to act like a fool and lose what little 
 you have?" 
 
 He gazed at her thoughtfully. "Suppose I'll have 
 to come around," he said at last, "anything for 
 peace sake. Now, do clear out and let me read." 
 
 She left him. Once outside the door, she raised 
 her voice it was soft and tender. 
 
 "Good night, Monty dear," she whispered. 
 "Don't read too late, will you? you know you 
 haven't been well. ..." 
 
 Monty sneered, but Bill hearing, opened his eyes. 
 Great little woman that! She was going to be his 
 friend. He smiled to himself as he turned over.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE EDUCATION OF "BIG BILL" 
 
 AY found her heaven on earth sooner than she 
 expected. It was New York. The Newcomb 
 fortune had dwindled before she was old enough 
 to travel, and while all Bethel was in the habit of 
 flying to the great metropolis for its holidays. May 
 had been forced to remain at home. So this, her 
 first taste of real metropolitan life, was exhilarating 
 to the point of intoxication. The lights the bustle 
 the noise thrilled and entranced her the allur- 
 ing shop windows the parade of fashion stimu- 
 lated her like wine. She determined to lift the cup 
 and drink deeply ere it be snatched away. 
 
 She decided after a brief survey of hotels, to take 
 a small apartment. It was better to keep Bill away 
 from the women who turned on the street and in the 
 lobbies to gaze after him. Hotels, she concluded, 
 were not safe. Monty had become quite manage- 
 able. The new sport of having enough loose change 
 in one's pocket to be worthy the name of Newcomb, 
 pleased him. As for Bill, he was amenable to any 
 suggestion. He was dazed that was it May 
 hoped the state would last long enough to enable her 
 125
 
 126 The Road of Ambition 
 
 to purchase all the hats and gowns and furs she had 
 ever dreamed of owning. It rather looked as though 
 someone had rubbed an Aladdin's lamp and set all 
 the unemployed genii to work. She told herself re- 
 peatedly it was too good to last. 
 
 From the moment Bill walked aboard the train, 
 occupied a drawing-room fit for a king and discov- 
 ered that men flew to do his bidding, from cleaning 
 his boots to fetching his drinks, he had passed into 
 a state of complete bewilderment. He was not him- 
 self. The fact was, May did not give him time to 
 think. She swept him along in her own whirlwind of 
 enthusiasm never forgetting for an instant that he 
 was to be ultimately hers that in time she was to 
 flash him before the eyes of an amazed and envious 
 Bethel that he must be made ready for the Great 
 Day when a Newcomb should return to Her Own. 
 
 Bill learned quickly. In a few months he had ac- 
 quired what May called "the essentials" that one 
 did not say "ain't" and "hadn't ought to" that one 
 kept one's coat on and one's feet down in the pres- 
 ence of ladies. He learned with a rapidity which 
 was amazing, but May was not content. Bethel was 
 to crawl and to make it crawl abjectly on its 
 stomach, so to speak she must have by her side a 
 man who could play the game with the best of them 
 thus his education in sports began. 
 
 Monty, after much persuasion, consented to do 
 his share by teaching Bill the drinks a gentleman
 
 The Education of "Big Bill" 127 
 
 drank to show him the art of mixing a cocktail 
 of perusing a wine list but further than that he 
 would not go. May was just as glad. She wanted 
 Bill to depend upon her to feel he must turn to her 
 with all his problems. He did. Day by day he mar- 
 velled anew at her knowledge of life her keenness 
 to grasp a situation her tact in covering up his 
 blunders. He felt overwhelmingly grateful to her 
 precisely as she intended he should feel. And when 
 one day she suggested it was high time he learned to 
 dance to drive a car to ride a horse to swing a 
 golf stick to wield a racquet, he was prepared to 
 start his several courses at once. 
 
 Tennis he never acquired and his golf was bad. 
 He snapped too many clubs in his tremendous drives 
 lost too many balls, but he liked to dance and he 
 handled a car like a veteran. He loved to feel it 
 leap beneath him to swing it at break-neck speed 
 through traffic to bring it to a quivering stop at 
 the shrill of the whistle. 
 
 "Man-sized sport that!" he'd chuckle, wiping 
 the streaks of dust from his face. "Gee, it's most as 
 good as cogging, ain't it?" But at May's light touch 
 he was all contrition. U I forgot that time I mean, 
 it's got any other game beaten to a standstill is 
 that the way you say it?" and she would nod. 
 
 Riding was harder to master. A man who's never 
 seen a horse at close range is apt to shy at mounting 
 one, but Bill allowed himself to be hoisted into the
 
 128 The Road of Ambition 
 
 saddle and once he felt the firm, sleek back beneath 
 him, he knew he would never be afraid. 
 
 "We'll get on first rate," said he, patting his 
 horse's neck. "What can he do but chuck me off 
 and it'll take a heap of chucking to finish me!" 
 
 His education was by no means complete. May 
 dragged him through the galleries which he loathed, 
 to lectures which he could not understand and to the 
 opera. This he found strangely alluring. "It ain't 
 so much the story," he said, on his return from his 
 first visit, "or them people standin' round shoutin' 
 hallelujah at you but it's somethin' gets inside o' 
 you and grips you by the throat the music, I reckon 
 queer, too, 'cause you can't follow the tune. ..." 
 
 He read, too anything he could lay his hands 
 on good books bad books indifferent books 
 books of pleasure of travel "anything with two 
 covers and reading in between," he'd say. 
 
 He could not seem to get his fill of them. His 
 thirst for knowledge was unquenchable. He read 
 late at nights, sleep banished, drowsiness forgotten, 
 irt the story unfolding before his very eyes. He mar- 
 velled that men could juggle their words with such 
 skill. He studied sentences that sounded well in 
 his ears. He tried to form better ones. He played 
 with words as with a delicate instrument. He was 
 like a thirsty traveller who has journeyed long 
 through the desert and has at length reached an 
 oasis there to find a spring of life-giving water.
 
 The Education of "Big Bill" 129 
 
 May encouraged him delightedly. This passion 
 for books was just what he needed to give him the 
 polish that lasted. It was more than she had dared 
 hope for, but she took all credit for it unto herself. 
 She told herself repeatedly that it was due to her 
 skill as a teacher. She was not afraid to proceed 
 with his education at a swift pace. 
 
 The theatres the races the churches the res- 
 taurants May always by his side, breathless, eager, 
 animated, delighting in the heads that turned to gaze 
 at her smart frocks and daring hats. It was elixir 
 to her the wine of life. Her eyes sparkled like 
 twin flames her lips were always curved her thin, 
 little face was intensely alive enchanted with the 
 present dreaming of the future when she would be 
 mistress of a mansion in Bethel. "I'll show them 
 what it is to spend money," she would whisper to 
 herself, her little hands clenched. "I'll make them 
 sit up and take notice. He'll let me, too he'll have 
 to. I've made him and I'll never let him forget it 
 never! ..." 
 
 She never did. A thousand times a day in a thou- 
 sand different ways he was brought face to face with 
 the fact that he had the tiny dark woman at his side 
 to thank for everything. She had given up all her 
 time all her thought to him she had left home to 
 travel with him she was doing it because she be- 
 lieved in him. Oh, no, he did not forget it she saw 
 to that!
 
 130 The Road of Ambition 
 
 And as he became accustomed to the strange, ex- 
 otic life he was leading a life whose creed seemed 
 to be, "Play play for tomorrow we grow old," 
 the sense of bewilderment passed. He began to find 
 himself. To delight in his new command of his 
 language his skill in tipping his ability to buy 
 good seats for a show to arrange a party. Swept 
 along on the wave of his enthusiasm for this new 
 game, he did not heed the passing of the months 
 the fact that the winter was over and spring at hand, 
 but was content to bask in the sunshine of each suc- 
 ceeding day his senses drugged by the luxury in 
 which he was steeped. Then he awoke. 
 
 They were leaving the theatre. May had worn 
 a new gown a thing of scales green, shimmering, 
 clinging. About her forehead she had clasped a 
 chain, with a single emerald between her eyes. She 
 had never looked so wickedly beautiful so entirely 
 desirable. Around her shoulders she had flung a 
 wrap of crimson velvet with a high collar of white 
 fur, above which her dark little face appeared sin- 
 gularly elf-like and sharp. Bill tucked her arm in his 
 as they left the theatre. He pressed her fingers. 
 
 "You're wonderful !" he whispered eagerly. 
 
 She smiled and swept him with her eyes this big 
 man beside her his head so sleek and smooth, his 
 face so closely shaven his manner so easy could 
 this have been the man who entered her living-room 
 in Bethel six months ago !
 
 The Education of "Big Bill" 131 
 
 "I'll wait here. See if you can find the car," she 
 told him. 
 
 He hurried forward and she watched him elbow 
 his way through the crowd head and shoulders 
 above the rest sweeping men aside like so much 
 chaff. Outside a fine rain was falling. The lights 
 of the motor lamps were blurred and dim the horns 
 shouted in a hundred hoarse keys. A fog, like a 
 gray curtain, hung low. Bill wormed his way to the 
 curb, scanned the long line of cars, paused, as he 
 heard a low whine. 
 
 "Ain't you got a penny for an old man?" 
 
 He swung about and in the dim light saw the beg- 
 gar. 
 
 "Gee !" he whistled through his teeth, "if it ain't 
 Old Mack." 
 
 The man was even then holding out his palm to a 
 woman in furs who swept by him, but her escort 
 halted before the old man. 
 
 "Out of the way," he growled. "Can't you see the 
 lady wants to get by?" and with the cane he carried 
 he thrust the old man back and hurried toward his 
 machine. 
 
 Something surged up in Bill a desire to thrash 
 the youth in evening clothes who had dared lay a 
 hand on his friend. The words that rushed to his 
 lips he fought back, but with an oath he flung him- 
 self at the man. 
 
 "What do you mean by knocking an old fellow
 
 132 The Road of Ambition 
 
 out of the way?" he cried. The man staggered 
 back, his face purple. 
 
 "Let me go 1" he shouted, "or I'll call the police !" 
 
 "You won't be able to, when I get through with 
 you," snarled Bill, as he drew back his arm, but 
 someone caught it. It was May. 
 
 "Bill Bill," she gasped, "you mustn't you 
 mustn't ..." He dropped his hand and the man 
 scrambled into his car and slammed the door. The 
 crowd moved back, smiling, and Bill turned to her. 
 
 "Lucky for him you came along," he began, then 
 stopped short at the sight of her face. "Anything 
 wrong?" 
 
 She nodded. "In front of all these people, Bill 
 what will they think?" 
 
 He grinned. "I reckon they'll think he didn't get 
 half what was coming to him ! . . . " 
 
 Still she clung to his arm. "Bill," she said, "let's 
 go home at once." 
 
 He patted her hand. "Soon as I get hold of 
 Mack." 
 
 He felt her grip tighten. "You aren't you 
 couldn't mean that you will take that man that beg- 
 gar " 
 
 He stared at her. "Why not?" 
 
 She faced him suddenly. "You don't know what 
 you're doing," she said swiftly, her face very pale. 
 "You can't know starting a quarrel with a gentle- 
 man. Let's get away, Bill. Now "
 
 The Education of "Big Bill" 133 
 
 He shook his head. "You don't understand. 
 Mack's my friend the best hammer driver in the 
 Works." He smiled as he drew his arm away. 
 "Wait here," he cautioned. 
 
 "Bill," she cried tensely, "for my sake I ask you 
 not to " 
 
 He turned for a minute, his face puzzled. "You 
 don't mean that," he said at last, "you couldn't," and 
 he was gone. 
 
 The old man had moved away from the crowd, 
 shoulders hunched against the storm, his cap over his 
 eyes. He had passed out of the gay circle of lights 
 and was plodding toward the avenue when Bill 
 caught up with him. 
 
 "Mack!" he shouted. "Oh, Mack!" 
 
 The old man turned and stared up into the face 
 of the gentleman behind him stared quizzically, his 
 eyes narrowed, his thin lips pinched, at length he 
 shook his head. 
 
 "I don't know you, sir," he said and turned away, 
 but Bill caught his hands. 
 
 "Don't know me? Don't know Bill Matthews! 
 Didn't think you'd forget me this soon, Mack! Blest 
 if I did!" 
 
 The old man fell back, staring. Suddenly he 
 reached out a hand and touched Bill's sleeve. 
 
 "I'm crazy," he muttered, "I'm just dreamin' it!" 
 
 Bill patted his shoulder. "Dreaming nothing! 
 It's Bill same as ever."
 
 134 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "And you saw me beggin' " 
 
 "Saw a big stiff shoving you out of the way and 
 I mixed up with him a bit." 
 
 "You I" gasped Mack. "Was that you ?" 
 
 Bill nodded. "Almost forgotten how to use my 
 fists but not quite." 
 
 Mack shook his head. 
 
 "Wanted to know what you meant by stopping a 
 lady, did he? Well, he pretty near found out!" 
 
 Mack shook his head. "You're Bill, an' yet you 
 ain't don't know what to make of it !" 
 
 Bill laughed. "I'm Bill all right, and you're com- 
 ing home with me to tell me all about it. Down on 
 your luck, eh?" 
 
 Mack nodded. "You said it." Still he hung back. 
 "You don't want me this way," he said slowly. 
 
 Bill took his arm. "I want you any way." 
 
 May awaited them, muffled to her eyes. As she 
 saw them approaching she stiffened, but she did not 
 speak. Bill greeted her eagerly. 
 
 "Mack didn't want to come, but I made him !" 
 
 The old man shook his head. "I'd sooner not. 
 
 In the mornin', maybe " The machine drew up 
 
 to the curb and Bill helped her in. "You next," he 
 said to Mack, then leaped in himself. May drew 
 herself into a corner as far away as she could from 
 the little old man who sat stiffly on the edge of his 
 seat, sensing her displeasure. Bill turned to her 
 suddenly, his face alight with eagerness.
 
 The Education of "Big Bill" 135 
 
 "Think of bumping into Mack here of all places. 
 Doesn't it beat all? How did it happen?" 
 
 The old man hesitated. "Got turned off at the 
 Works had to do somethin' so 1 drifted here." 
 
 Bill smiled. "All in, aren't you? Bet you're wet 
 though. I'll fix you up, though. Gad ! it does my 
 eyes good to see you I" 
 
 When they reached the apartment, May broke 
 her silence. 
 
 "I'm very tired, Bill," she said swiftly. "You and 
 Mr. Mack want to talk over old times you 
 won't mind if I run along." She did not wait for 
 his answer. Before he could frame a reply, she had 
 gone. Mack shifted uneasily. 
 
 "I reckon she don't like it my bein' here " he 
 
 Began, but Bill's laugh interrupted him. 
 
 "You've got her dead wrong, Mack, if you think 
 that. She's not that kind why, if she were, you 
 don't suppose she would have wanted to have a 
 rough like me around, do you?" 
 
 Mack shook his head. "It's different with you, 
 Bill you've got the coin." 
 
 Bill stared at him. 
 
 "What's that got to do with it?" he asked quickly, 
 then he smiled. "You're crazy, Mack you don't 
 know these high-class folks they don't do things for 
 the money that's in it they're above that sort of 
 thing." 
 
 "Then they ain't human," said Mack.
 
 136 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Bill led the way to his den, and the old man 
 paused at the doorway. 
 
 "Do you mean to say you live here, Bill?" 
 
 Bill nodded. "And what's more I can juggle a 
 knife and fork with the best of them. I tell you, 
 Mack, life's immense!" 
 
 Mack shook his head. "I wouldn't 'a' believed you 
 could run in such luck if I hadn't seen it with my 
 two eyes !" Bill poured him out a drink and flung him 
 a dressing gown. "Put that around you," he said. 
 "Then talk." 
 
 But Mack was staring at him, his eyes round with 
 wonder. 
 
 "And you act like you was used to it !" 
 
 Bill laughed. "Well, I'm not you know that! 
 Pretty soft, this, for a fellow raised on hard work. 
 That's what I'm used to, Mack hard work and 
 that's what I'm getting ready for." 
 
 "I don't get you." 
 
 "It's just this. There are two kinds of work 
 the work we fellows did with our hands and the work 
 the men over us did with their heads. Well, I can 
 do the first, can't I? but to do the second I had 
 to have training and I'm getting it I'm about 
 prime to go back into the game the right way." 
 
 Mack shook his head. "If you think of goin' to 
 Bethel, you'll find it changed." 
 
 "Changed? How?" 
 
 "Ain't you heard?"
 
 The Education of "Big Bill" 137 
 
 "Heard what?" 
 
 "About the way the Big Four are runnln' the 
 Works war orders comin' so fast they can't fill 
 'em lower wages new men turning off us old 
 fellers " 
 
 Bill stared at him. "They are, are they?" 
 
 Mack nodded. "All different now new buildin's 
 put up for makin' arms workin' night and day 
 ten-hour shifts and even at that the boys don't begin 
 to turn out as much as they used to they won't do 
 it ain't nobody there can make them they've 
 pushed 'em and swore at 'em and coaxed 'em, but six 
 heats is the most the men'll give six! why, you 
 know we used to make it seven and sometimes ten ! 
 I tell you the men are sore, an' when they turned us 
 old hands off they threatened to strike. 'Go ahead,' 
 says the bosses, 'we don't care. Plenty of scabs to 
 take your place!' " 
 
 Bill caught his breath. "Talking that way, are 
 they? Well, that won't get them anywheres. Just 
 filthy with money that's their trouble and the 
 more they have the more they want. Do they tliink 
 the men will work on starvation wages while they 
 scoop in the gold say, Mack, are they crazy? 
 Don't they know they can't get grade A work that 
 way?" 
 
 Mack shook his head. "Seems like they've lost 
 their senses. I got my notice with the rest. Too old, 
 they told me me what's given forty years to turnin'
 
 138 The Road of Ambition 
 
 out the best work I knew how too old. . . So I 
 went around huntin' a job, but you know, Bill, once 
 you've worked at the factory, ain't nothin' else you 
 can do. Nobody'd have me, so I come here after 
 a while. Couldn't get much sometimes made a 
 little mindin' folks' autos, but I wasn't spry enough 
 the youngsters beat me to them and then when I 
 didn't have nothin' left I had to beg and that's 
 how you found me, although I'd 'a' cut off my right 
 hand rather than have you see me do it !" 
 
 Bill caught his arm. "Well, you won't beg any 
 more get that through your head! I need you, 
 Mack, and I'm going to use you. Do you think I'm 
 going to stand by and see the old Works turned into 
 a machine to grind out lives? Not if I can help it! 
 I love every brick of the old place why shouldn't I ? 
 Didn't I get my start there every dollar I own 
 comes from it why, Mack, just talking about it 
 makes me wonder how I've stayed away so long 
 from the smell of hot steel ! . . . " 
 
 Mack gazed at him. "You're a swell yourself, 
 Bill," he said slowly. "You won't go back." 
 
 Bill grinned at him. "Won't I though," he cried. 
 "You watch me! ..." 
 
 Suddenly he turned to Mack. "What's become of 
 Tony Tony Dufrano?" 
 
 "He got fired long with the first lot." 
 
 Bill started. "Fired? Where'd he go? What 
 became of him?"
 
 The Education of "Big Bill" 139 
 
 Mack shook his head. "Don't no one know. He 
 and his sister give up their rooms and dropped out 
 that's all I ever heared." 
 
 Bill's face was dark. "Gone, eh?" he said slowly, 
 then he roused himself. "Mack," he said huskily, 
 "something tells me that when I go back there, 
 there's going to be the deuce to pay."
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 THE AWAKENING OF MR. MATTHEWS 
 
 TV/T AY'S maid had orders to wait up. It was the 
 A same order she had received for many weeks 
 past, so it was not altogether surprising that she 
 dozed in her chair. May caught her napping it 
 was just the spark she needed to set off the flame of 
 her pent up fury. 
 
 The girl, whimpering, shrank back from the tor- 
 rent of abuse poured down upon her, but at May's 
 sharp command she approached and with shaking 
 hands tried to unfasten the hooks her fingers 
 grown stiff and bungling in her fright. She strug- 
 gled nervously with a hidden catch, and May, whirl- 
 ing, struck her. "You little fool," she cried, "get 
 out before I kill you !" The girl fled and May tore 
 the gown from her white shoulders and flung it into 
 a corner. 
 
 She wanted to scream and stamp and swear. She 
 wanted to shriek aloud all the things she had heard 
 her grandfather Newcomb rip forth at his stormiest 
 but instead, she bit her lips until they bled and 
 clenched her hands until the nails cut deep into her 
 flesh. 
 
 140
 
 The Awakening of Mr. Matthews 141 
 
 Did Bill expect to drag in beggars from the street 
 to share his home! What could she say to him 
 how could she tell him ! She was afraid of him 
 that was it. Afraid of a look in his eyes a look as 
 though he saw her for the first time in a new light 
 an ugly one. True, in a second this had given place 
 to his old, tender deference but she dared not risk 
 rousing it again. 
 
 She paced the floor softly though very softly, 
 for Monty was in the next room, sucking contentedly 
 at his pipe. How he would crow over her if he 
 knew ! Would point out that this might have been 
 expected would insist that as Bill's wife she must 
 prepare to have dinner guests of peddlers and ladle- 
 scullers. Suddenly she stopped short. A slow wave 
 of color sweeping up intoher face there were other 
 ways of bringing a man around. . . . Bill had re- 
 fused her nothing, there was no reason to suppose 
 he would because a ragged old man from the past 
 had crossed his path. She dropped into a chair be- 
 fore her dressing table. She studied her face, in- 
 tently; suddenly she lifted her arms and tore at the 
 pins that bound her hair. It fell, a long, black coil 
 over her shoulder. Then she drew a soft gown 
 about her and rang. 
 
 Her maid, still sniffling, entered timidly. May 
 turned toward her, her rage had vanished, her lips 
 curved sweetly her eyes were dangerously soft be- 
 neath the cloud of hair.
 
 142 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "Tell me, Stella, do I look as though I had been 
 angry?" she whispered. 
 
 The maid too frightened to speak shook her 
 head. May waved her hand. 
 
 "Go to the den and tell Mr. Matthews I want to 
 see him tell him it is important." 
 
 Stella nodded and disappeared and May turned 
 back to the mirror, her chin on her hand, gazing 
 steadily into her half-closed eyes. 
 
 Bill heard the summons with surprise, but Mack 
 was plainly distressed. "If I've made trouble, I'll 
 hike along," he said, but Bill patted his shoulder. 
 
 "You're here to stay as long as you want to." 
 
 The corridor was plunged in darkness, except for 
 the ray of light beneath May's door. Bill hesi- 
 tated, wondering, and at length approached and 
 knocked. He heard the soft rustle of silk and then 
 her voice close to the door. 
 
 "Bill, is that you?" 
 
 He answered, and she opened the door. He did 
 not enter, but his eyes travelled beyond the tiny 
 figure in white to the room itself, bathed in the warm 
 glow of shaded candles. The flowered spread flung 
 back from the bed was pink the rugs the hang- 
 ings the flowers it was like a bower of roses. Bill 
 had never before seen it at night he drew his breath 
 sharply. She watched his face as she spoke. 
 
 "I wanted to see you I wanted to ask you to 
 forgive me "
 
 The Awakening of Mr. Matthews 143 
 
 "Forgive you?" his voice was a trifle husky. He 
 tried to collect his thoughts, but the warm, sweet 
 perfume of the flowers was all he was conscious of 
 that, and the tiny figure before him, a coil of blue- 
 black hair over her shoulder. She was speaking. 
 
 "I was so impatient with you to-night when your 
 friend came with us I am sorry ..." 
 
 He did not want her to be sorry. He did not 
 want to do anything as long as he lived to make 
 her sorry. What right had he to let her ask his 
 pardon this sprite with her background of pink? 
 He shook his head. 
 
 "You couldn't do wrong you couldn't " 
 
 It was not what he meant to say. He meant to 
 tell her that Mack was a good fellow and that she 
 would be sure to like him, but the words did not 
 come, instead, he gazed at her at her timid smile, 
 her anxious eyes. 
 
 "I couldn't sleep until I knew you forgave me." 
 
 He stared at her. "I've never seen you look like 
 this before," he said, heavily. "You're a little girl 
 and yet you're a woman !" 
 
 She laid a hand on his arm. "You do understand 
 then, that it was because I was tired?" 
 
 Her warm breath fanned his cheek he was 
 strangely stirred she could not know how she was 
 moving him she could not guess it. He was afraid 
 for her for himself. Afraid of the semi-darkness 
 the scent of the roses the touch of her fingers.
 
 144 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "May May," he heard himself saying. "I'd bet- 
 ter go now I'd better " 
 
 Still she clung to him. She trusted him that was 
 it! she knew he would not harm a hair of her head 
 he must live up to her trust he must battle with 
 this desire to crush her in his arms to kiss her hair 
 her eyes her lips. 
 
 "Bill," she whispered, "Bill, you do love me a 
 little." 
 
 How fragile she was how white except her 
 eyes, burning black like coals with a light behind 
 them. 
 
 "Yes, yes," he breathed. "You know I do 
 you " 
 
 "Then you'll do as I ask you to you will, won't 
 you?" 
 
 "Anything!" he cried. If he could only go he 
 must tear himself away from those clinging hands 
 he must remember that above all she trusted him 
 he must keep hold of himself. 
 
 "Then take me away from here, Bill " 
 
 Away from here ! His head cleared suddenly as 
 from a breath of cool air. Then she wanted it, too 
 was sick of the sight and sound of the big city 
 sick of this life of indolence. What a beast he had 
 been to keep her there though the whisper of Spring 
 was in the air. Away from here! He caught her 
 hands. 
 
 "Do you want to go, too?"
 
 The Awakening of Mr. Matthews 145 
 
 She nodded, quick to catch the inflection in his 
 voice something had happened she had said the 
 wrong thing in some way the spell had been broken 
 what had she done? she moved close to him, her 
 voice was like a caress. 
 
 "Away, Bill far, far away West, perhaps 
 somewheres where I can rest where we can study 
 and read and play together." 
 
 But he shook his head. "I've got a better plan 
 a much better plan we'll go back to Bethel." 
 
 He felt her fingers tighten on his arm. "Not 
 there, Bill I don't want to go there yet." She 
 waited, breathless, for his reply. She sought to hold 
 his eyes with her own, but he plunged on. 
 
 "Fact is, I'm homesick for it that's it home- 
 sick. Queer, you're wanting to get away, too, just 
 when I was ready to move on but Mack Mack 
 showed me what it was I was aching for it was to 
 get back to the Works " 
 
 She was so startled she forgot her role. Her voice 
 was sharp and crisp. "The Works? I don't under- 
 stand." 
 
 He laughed boyishly. "Of course you don't. It 
 seems things have been going dead wrong all sorts 
 of profit for the bosses and none for the men. Of 
 course, the grade of work has run down " 
 
 "But what has all this to do with you?" 
 
 "That's just it. I know the men. I know every 
 last one of them. I know what they can do and
 
 146 The Road of Ambition 
 
 what they will do and what's more I'm going to 
 make it clear to the bosses what they've got to do. 
 It'll be a job, I tell you but I've a hunch I'm the 
 man to tackle it!" 
 
 She thought quickly. There was no time to lose. 
 She must keep him away at all costs. He would ruin 
 all her plans. He would ruin himself. Try to 
 teach the Big Four! Why, it was madness! She 
 faced him. 
 
 "Bill," she said softly, "you've trusted me 
 you've left your welfare in my hands I've tried so 
 hard to help you " her voice trembled. 
 
 He stared at her, dismayed. "May, I've hurt 
 you ! I've said something I shouldn't have ! I'm a 
 brute. I am! I am!" His voice was full of con- 
 trition but it lacked the throb of passion. She was 
 not discouraged. 
 
 "I'm afraid for you," she went on, "so afraid 
 these men these big men are so powerful so cruel 
 they have played a winning game so long they hold 
 all the cards. How can you hope to meet them 
 yet? They'll conquer you, Bill they cannot help 
 but do so then where will you be? This is mad- 
 ness this going back. I know. I tell you they will 
 crush you and rob you of every penny you have 
 do you think for a minute they will let an upstart 
 tell them how to run their business? No no lis- 
 ten to me Bill to me not to the ravings of a 
 crazy beggar. ..."
 
 fThe Awakening of Mr. Matthews 147 
 
 He shook his head his teeth clinched his jaw 
 firm. "Sure they'll fight me," he said grimly, "why 
 shouldn't they? They're not going to stand for my 
 interference or any one else's but do you think that 
 will stop me? Not by a big sight! I'm not afraid 
 of them I'm not afraid to meet any of them now. 
 I said I'd show them some day and I will, by 
 Jove !" 
 
 She stared at him. "But, Bill if I want you to 
 go with me if I ask you to you won't refuse 
 you can't " 
 
 He patted her hand. "Don't fret about me, little 
 woman. I tell you you've given too much of your 
 time to me as it is. That wasn't part of the bargain 
 we made. If you and Monty want to take a run to 
 the coast, why go ahead stay as long as you like 
 but I'm going back to Bethel the boys need me 
 that's it they need me !" 
 
 She did not answer. She was struggling for a 
 mastery of herself of him. She would make him 
 bend to her will she must. All at once she knew 
 she could not that her pleading would not change 
 him a whit. She was suddenly resolved. 
 
 "I won't go without you, Bill. I can be more help 
 to you by staying." 
 
 He smiled down at her tiny dark tense no 
 taller than his shoulder. 
 
 "You won't be sorry you've done all this for 
 me!"
 
 148 The Road of Ambition 
 
 She managed to smile and he caught her hand. 
 
 "Goodnight," he said softly, "Goodnight." 
 
 She heard his tread grow fainter and she re-en- 
 tered her room. She closed the door softly and 
 dropped in a chair by the bed. She had lost. She 
 had lost by some strange twist of fate when he was 
 almost hers nothing tangible no mistake in her 
 technique but because of a beggar a spectre of his 
 former life. She clenched her hands. 
 
 "I'll marry him," she said through her teeth. 
 "I'll marry him and then he'll do things differently 
 he'll have to !" 
 
 Monty's door opened. He regarded her cur- 
 iously. 
 
 "Sparking with your factory hand?" he inquired 
 lazily. She did not answer. He waited a reasonable 
 length of time, then ventured another remark. 
 "What's the row? Must have turned down some 
 pet scheme of yours to make you so blamed sore. 
 Let's hear about it." 
 
 She hitched her shoulder and he grinned. 
 
 "Cheer up, May," he said, "there's one thing in 
 your favor. You've spent more of his money in the 
 past six months than he ever knew he had!" and 
 with a chuckle he closed the door between them, be- 
 fore she could reach him her hands like claws her 
 eyes blazing.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 A RISING STORM 
 
 TT was early June. Bethel's sun-dappled lawns 
 were fresh with the green of the new grass its 
 hedges were flowering its tree-tops a lace-work of 
 young leaves. Its old and new families agreed that 
 it was the one season of the year which must not 
 be lived elsewhere the city was so exquisitely lovely 
 in the fulfillment of Spring's promise. 
 
 On the Colt place the gardeners and under gar- 
 deners and under-under gardeners plied their spades 
 their hoes their rakes, turned the ground 
 weeded the paths trimmed the bushes. But for the 
 whirr of the lawn mower, the sharp snap-snap of the 
 clippers, the lazy shout of one gardener to another 
 no sound broke the heavy June peace which lay on 
 the great estate. 
 
 Indoors it was different. Colt had locked him- 
 self in his library with his son Philip. The library 
 was his sancto-sanctorum. In it his papers his 
 books his ledgers were inviolate. No hand save 
 his own and that of Jenkins, his secretary, touched 
 so much as a scrap. To enter here, the story ran, 
 was harder than getting into heaven itself. 
 149
 
 150 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Colt paced the floor. He paced with long strides. 
 He ran his fingers through his mop of bristly red- 
 dish hair. He was an imposing man heavy well 
 built, accustomed to instant obedience you could 
 tell it by his chin aggressive, square by his lips, 
 thin, finely cut, by his eyes, uncompromising, alert. 
 He breathed energy he emanated energy he was 
 all his son was not. 
 
 Philip, slight and graceful and indolent, watched 
 his father in amused silence. At length Colt, plung- 
 ing his hands into his pockets, whirled on him. 
 
 "What do you mean by coming around to-day? 
 Haven't I told you the meeting's at one?" 
 
 Philip shrugged. "Never can see you these days, 
 governor, unless I break in this way." 
 
 Colt strode the length of the great room and back, 
 then stopped before his son and scowled at him. 
 
 "Well, what is it? Give you ten minutes." He 
 dragged out a heavy gold watch from his pocket 
 peered at it and turned back to his son. "Go on." 
 
 Philip drew forward a chair. "Sit down, pater, 
 you know it's important or I wouldn't blow in on 
 you this way." 
 
 Colt grumbled, glanced over his shoulder jerked 
 up his coat and sat down. "Eight minutes left." 
 
 Philip smiled. "It's just this. You want me to 
 marry, don't you? You've been driving at it a long 
 time, haven't you? making me swear I'd do it be- 
 fore the year was out"
 
 A Rising Storm 151 
 
 Colt, senior, nodded. "Time you did. Every 
 young man ought to. Make you settle down. No 
 more nonsense. Paid enough for your fool scrapes." 
 
 Philip replied, "Exactly. Well, I'm going to." 
 
 "Eh? What's that?" said Colt, staring at him, 
 "what'd you say?" 
 
 Philip laughed. "I said I'm going to that is, if 
 the girl's willing you have to have her consent you 
 know." 
 
 Colt shook his head. "Stuff ! Any girl'd be glad 
 to get a Colt." 
 
 Philip nodded. "That's what I thought but 
 there's one who isn't and that's the one I want." 
 
 "Who is it?" shot Colt. 
 
 Philip paused. "Queer, but it's the girl you told 
 me to go after it's " 
 
 "Not old Van Steer's daughter?" 
 
 Philip nodded. 
 
 Colt sprang from his chair. "And you mean to 
 say she refused you refused my son that pauper's 
 daughter !" 
 
 Philip raised his hand. "Hold on. Not so strong, 
 gov, she just couldn't see me in the role of hus- 
 band that's all." 
 
 Colt stared at him. "The girl must be a fool 
 a blind little fool. She couldn't have refused you 
 she couldn't have. What has she got to refuse you 
 on? Van Steer hasn't a dollar left not a dollar 
 refused you ! Why, she ought to get down on her
 
 152 The Road of Ambition 
 
 knees and thank God she had a chance of taking 
 you!" 
 
 "Well, she doesn't on the contrary, she seems 
 quite relieved that I've quit proposing to her. Lets 
 me come around again but if I open my mouth to pop 
 it's all off. Absolutely all off." 
 
 Colt shook his head. "Something's wrong there. 
 Isn't natural. She's playing with you. She's so sure 
 of you, she's playing with you." 
 
 "That's what I thought but when I started rush- 
 ing some of the other girls she was nice to me again 
 as nice as she ever is." 
 
 Colt scowled. "What do you want me to do?" 
 
 Philip smiled. "Why, pater, I don't quite know. 
 It's this way. I marry her or no one. Understand? 
 That goes. Now if you can think up a good way to 
 make her see me as a suitor, why, I'll take your tip 
 and settle down, otherwise it's the bright lights for 
 mine." 
 
 Colt turned on him. "Don't be a fool," he 
 growled. "Of course you can marry her if you want 
 to. Any man can marry any woman. That's what 
 women are for, aren't they? to be married. Let's 
 get down to facts. What's her objection to 
 you?" 
 
 Phil laughed. "Awfully sorry to say it, gov, but 
 she says it's because I'm your son. Rough on you, I 
 know, but you see you did turn a rather shabby trick 
 on her old man."
 
 A Rising Storm 153 
 
 Colt stared at him. "You don't know what you're 
 talking about. Shabby trick! If we hadn't taken 
 away his stock someone else would have he's a 
 born idiot and idiots were never intended to handle 
 shares of Bethel Steel. What we did was an act of 
 charity. Yes," he chuckled, "an act of charity." 
 He stopped short. "So that's her objection, is it 
 well, she's never worked, has she she's never used 
 those Van Steer hands for anything but embroidery 
 and golf or whatever women do. Fortune's been 
 pretty good to her plenty of friends among the 
 Old Families and among the New. What would she 
 do if it were all swept away if she didn't have a red 
 cent left would she turn down my son because he 
 was my son I wonder I" 
 
 Philip protested. "Oh, I say, gov don't do any- 
 thing like that you know that would put me in all 
 wrong " 
 
 Colt whirled on him, "Get out of here leave me 
 alone. Didn't I tell you I'd give you ten minutes and 
 you've taken twelve. Thinks she's too good for a 
 Colt, does she? Well, we'll see." 
 
 Philip rose languidly. "Whatever you plan to do, 
 gov, go slow remember I suggest nothing." 
 
 Colt nodded, his hand on the bell. Jenkins ap- 
 peared. 
 
 "Show the gentlemen in," he said curtly, and to 
 Philip, "Now then, clear out!" 
 
 When the Big Four convened in Colt's library, it
 
 154 The Road of Ambition 
 
 was said the nation shook. Colt, with that strange, 
 unwritten etiquette of the magnate, never called on 
 any of his henchmen the man who ruled steel was 
 a king, just as the man who ruled oil or copper 
 with unlimited authority and power over the lives 
 and fortunes of his subjects. When there were ques- 
 tions to decide, laws to make, his lieutenants came to 
 him always to him. He stirred only from his 
 throne room to meet on a common ground, say at 
 the club some equally powerful sovereign of fi- 
 nance. 
 
 The rule went down the line. Decker and Patti- 
 son and Rogers, each in turn, weighed his own im- 
 portance and refused to move from his office except 
 at a summons from his chief. It was meet and right 
 so to do. America has no kings save money-kings 
 has no lords save the lord of the dollar and the men 
 who stand first in round figures, in dividends in gilt- 
 edge securities, are the men who deserve the adula- 
 tion and homage of the lesser magnates a just 
 tribute to their greater skill and shrewdness and 
 proficiency in piling up gold. 
 
 Jenkins flung open the door. "Mr. Decker, Mr. 
 Pattison, Mr. Rogers." 
 
 Colt nodded to them, and called Jenkins aside. 
 "Tell Benson to wait until I send for him." Jenk- 
 ins bowed and vanished. 
 
 The three men dropped in chairs about the round 
 table at which Colt had seated himself. Decker,
 
 A Rising Storm 155 
 
 small, with a sharp little beak and no hair to speak 
 of chewed the corner of a cigar that had gone out 
 and drummed on the table. Pattison, who was 
 mighty in size and capacity for work alike was 
 figuring on the back of an envelope, with the stub 
 of a pencil. Rogers, the youngest of the Big Four, 
 nicknamed "the Dude" by the men under him, 
 glanced at his well-kept nails, polished them on the 
 sleeve of his coat, then leaned back, his knees 
 crossed, and waited for Colt to speak. 
 
 Colt did. "Well, what have you got to say?" 
 Decker, who was all nerves and on the edge of a 
 breakdown, jumped, but Rogers ventured nothing. 
 Pattison smiled comfortably and scratched a match 
 before replying. 
 
 "Someone's been getting the stock for him sev- 
 eral agents it seems slickest thing I've seen put 
 over on Bethel Steel in many a day." 
 
 Colt turned on him with a snarl. "So you think 
 it's a joke?" 
 
 Pattison shrugged. "What can you do? He's 
 got a foothold now with the stock he holds but 
 that isn't all he has by a long shot " 
 
 Rogers leaned forward, suddenly alert. "You bet 
 it isn't. Why, he has every man in the Works swear- 
 ing by him, ready to lay down their tools and walk 
 out at the lifting of his finger goes down and talks 
 to them like a regular fellow it isn't the stock he 
 owns that I'm afraid of or the fact that he's put-
 
 156 The Road of Ambition 
 
 ting up a barn of a house next door to mine al- 
 though heaven only knows what we're coming to 
 but it's his influence over the hands that makes him 
 dangerous." 
 
 Colt glared at him. "What can he do it's just 
 talk talk made a lot of money and wants to show 
 the men he's got education besides. Show off his 
 new clothes and his new manners run him out of 
 town, I say " 
 
 Decker stirred nervously. "If I may say a word, 
 Colt," he ventured. Colt swung around on him. 
 
 "Say a word of course you can. What do you 
 suppose I asked you to come here for?" 
 
 Pattison grinned, but Decker flushed painfully 
 cleared his throat. "I heard him speak two nights 
 ago. I was passing Union Hall when sounds of 
 cheering reached me such cheering as I'd never 
 heard before. I really thought the roof would come 
 off I stopped my car a short distance up the road 
 and turned up my collar and pulled down my hat." 
 
 "The devil you did?" cried Colt. "Well, that 
 was very bright of you, Decker very. Never knew 
 it was in you to mix with the hoi polloi." 
 
 Decker flushed again, and continued. "I climbed 
 the stairs to the room above, which was packed 
 men everywhere on window ledges on chairs 
 never saw so many and this fellow was speaking to 
 them shouting at them calling them to follow 
 him."
 
 A Rising Storm 157 
 
 "Well, what did he say, Decker, what did he 
 say?" 
 
 "He said a share of the profits should be theirs 
 that they were fools to let us pay them a low scale of 
 wages for the work they did I remember one thing 
 he said that struck me as very potential. 'Are you 
 doing good work?' he asked them, and they shouted, 
 'No ! no !' and then he asked them: 'Are you turning 
 out good steel?" and again they shouted, 'No!' I 
 thought it exceedingly illuminating they are evi- 
 dently very slack over at the Works the foremen, 
 I mean I think a few changes " 
 
 Colt brought down his fist. "Haven't we changed 
 and changed and weeded until only a handful of 
 the old men remain haven't we put in efficiency ex- 
 perts to see where the leaks were and what's hap- 
 pened less work done than ever before years be- 
 hind with orders complaints that the workmanship 
 isn't up to par goods shipped back that's what 
 we're up against cancelled orders broken con- 
 tracts and there isn't a foreman in the whole plant 
 can make the men buck up and now this this ex- 
 workman arrives in Bethel and instead of settling 
 down with the money he's made out of us instead 
 of trying to live down his past and act like a gentle- 
 man he goes straight to the Works " 
 
 "He does more than that," broke in Pattison, "he 
 jumps in now and then and shows the green men how 
 to handle their tools why, they idolize him down
 
 158 The Road of Ambition 
 
 there they tell stones about his kindness of his 
 gifts to the poor, to the accident cases dangerous 
 why, the man is a menace a menace to the whole 
 plant and to cap it all he goes ahead and buys 
 Bethel through a dozen different channels so that 
 he'll have some say if it comes to a show-down." 
 
 Colt flung himself to his feet. 
 
 "We can't have a strike now it would mean 
 ruin ruin! With the Great Crucible snapping 
 up all our cancellations as it is it's Benson's 
 fault he's the one who started this man upwards 
 might have known the scoundrel would bite the hand 
 that fed him we'll see about this." 
 
 He rang. Jenkins appeared. "Send in Benson," 
 he shouted. 
 
 Benson entered slowly. The Big Four turned to 
 regard him. Colt leaned back, his eyes half shut. 
 
 "Well," he snarled, "you've got us in a nice 
 fix." Benson stood respectfully before his chief, and 
 Colt leaned forward. 
 
 "What have you got to say for yourself eh? 
 What have you got to say about this factory hand 
 who is trying to ruin the Bethel Steel Works try- 
 ing to stir up trouble to show his authority 
 impudent and ungrateful, I call it but it's danger- 
 ous, too dangerous at this time and you know it. 
 What do you mean by letting it go on?" 
 
 Benson shook his head. "Do you want to know 
 what I really think, sir?"
 
 A Rising Storm 159 
 
 "Do I?" sputtered Colt. "Of course I dowhy 
 am I sitting here why is Mr. Decker and Mr. Pat- 
 tison and Mr. Rogers sitting here why have we 
 sent for you to come here to-day ? Go on, go on 
 before I lose my temper." 
 
 Benson bowed. "Very well, sir. Then my opin- 
 ion is that Bill Matthews has no intention of stirring 
 up trouble." 
 
 Pattison stared at him. "What!" he gasped, 
 "what!" 
 
 Decker's thin little face became more pinched. 
 "Surely Benson, you have not come under this man's 
 curious spell. You can see with your two eyes what 
 damage he is causing. Surely you did not expect 
 when you took his education in hand, that he would 
 come back here and try to instigate revolt among the 
 men." 
 
 Benson shook his head. "No, sir, I didn't dream 
 he'd do it. There is not a man in ten thousand that 
 would." 
 
 Colt regarded him closely. "Just what do you 
 mean by that?" he snapped. 
 
 Benson turned to him. "I mean, sir, that no man 
 I know would have the courage or the ambition or 
 the sympathy for his fellowmen to do what he's 
 doing. He has money now he knows the good 
 things of life from the bad he's worked hard since 
 he was a boy and he can rest and play and take no 
 chance of being ruined if he wants to but instead of
 
 160 The Road of Ambition 
 
 that, what does he do he casts aside this idle life 
 he's been leading he puts on old clothes and goes 
 down to the Works a place where none of us ever 
 expected to see him again and starts in to help the 
 men as they've never been helped before " 
 
 "He's posing looking for political power " 
 
 Benson shook his head. "Any other man but Big 
 Bill might but not he just loves them, that's all 
 you can't keep him away from the Works and as 
 for his money he sees in it a way of helping the 
 men " 
 
 Rogers leaned forward. "And you can say this, 
 Benson, knowing he is firing the men with all sorts 
 of dangerous notions?" 
 
 Benson hesitated. "You won't agree with me, sir, 
 I know, when I tell you I don't think them danger- 
 ous notions." 
 
 Colt swung around. "Benson," said he crisply, 
 "you're discharged. We'll look for your resignation 
 at the end of the week. We don't want a superin- 
 tendent at this plant who holds any of that fellow's 
 radical ideas." 
 
 Benson bowed. "Very well, sir," he said. Then 
 he turned to Rogers. "I should suggest, sir, you're 
 having a talk with him. You'll see I'm not wrong," 
 and he walked out. 
 
 There was a long silence a silence broken only 
 by the sharp click of Decker's nails on the table a 
 heavy silence. At last Colt turned on him.
 
 A Rising Storm 161 
 
 "For God's sake, stop that," he shouted. Decker 
 sat up, startled. Pattison was frowning. 
 
 "I think you did wrong to fire Benson," he said 
 at length. "He is the best man we've ever had on 
 the job." 
 
 Colt did not answer. Suddenly, Rogers leaned 
 forward. 
 
 "Not a bad idea of Benson's to see this fellow, 
 eh?" 
 
 Pattison nodded. "I shouldn't wonder if we 
 could do something with him pay him off what 
 do you say?" 
 
 Decker hesitated. "I saw him, you know he's 
 he's very powerful " 
 
 Colt whirled. "The next thing you know, Decker, 
 you'll be telling us you believe his rot about 
 profit sharing profit sharing, of all the torn-foolish- 
 ness how could you make a system of that kind; 
 in one department, quality counts, in another, quan- 
 tity, in another, economy and efficiency can you 
 make a system to fit them all? I say no no No I" 
 
 Rogers persisted gently, "Let's have him over! 
 It's better to give him the facts straight. What do 
 you say?" 
 
 Colt glared at him. "Have him over ! Have that 
 puddler or whatever he was think we believe him 
 of sufficient importance to interview no he's bad 
 enough but once he gets it into his head that the 
 Big Four are afraid of him, he'll strut around like
 
 162 The Road of Ambition 
 
 a peacock for the rest of his life no, ignore him 
 ignore him and the men who follow him ! Kick them 
 out of the Works chase them and their families out 
 of town he's a revolutionary a socialist a dis- 
 turber of the peace this is the worst thing we've 
 ever encountered something must be done at 
 once!" 
 
 Pattison shook his head. "I'm afraid Benson's 
 going will make trouble, a new superintendent coming 
 in just at this time will start the very dickens of a 
 row. I agree with Rogers, we ought to see this man 
 and have it out with him." 
 
 "So do I," said Decker, suddenly. "It's the only 
 thing to do." 
 
 Colt glared at them, his shoulders hunched, his 
 face ugly. 
 
 "Very well, have him over have him over," he 
 growled. 
 
 Pattison rose. "Between us we ought to be able 
 to make him keep his meddling fingers out of Bethel 
 Steel for all time," said he. 
 
 Rogers nodded, but Colt turned on them. 
 
 "It's a mistake understand a mistake, and 
 you'll find it out, mark my words but have it your 
 own way " and he dismissed them. 
 
 Bill's office was a shabby group of rooms in a loft 
 on Factory Street. May had pleaded with him to 
 take a suite in the new office building erected in
 
 A Rising Storm 163 
 
 Bethel Proper had tried to argue him into living 
 at the Bethel Inn, but had failed as signally as she 
 had in all matters pertaining to his business. It was 
 curious his manner of refusing her he did it with 
 a charm, a deference considering all her argu- 
 ments carefully but telling her with a firmness 
 which brooked no argument that he was going to do" 
 what he had set out to to help the men not only 
 the laborers but the bosses turn out the best the 
 plant was capable of a best which no other works 
 in the country could hope to equal a best which 
 would make the nation point to Bethel as its proud- 
 est steel center. 
 
 May's first fury first rage of disappointment 
 was rapidly vanishing. In place of it came a sort of 
 astonished realization that she was regarded by 
 Bethel's First Families still at a distance to be sure 
 as a sort of heroine; the discoverer of a great fig- 
 ure a giant of industry. Bill's name crept into 
 Bethel's newspapers his exploits his charities. 
 He paid to keep it out and even that was duly re- 
 corded by a zealous reporter. 
 
 Bethel, indignant at first, became feverishly in- 
 terested in this newest seventh wonder a man who 
 had cleaned up a fortune but who scorned spending 
 it on himself who did not fawn for favors nor 
 seek the society of the First Families who was con- 
 tent to live in Newcomb's house while a mansion fit 
 for a king was rising for him on Bethel's hilltop.
 
 164 The Road of Ambition 
 
 There was something arresting about a figure of 
 this sort something which made Bethel's jaded 
 matrons nudge and whisper as he passed them on the 
 street on horseback or in his motor, or more often 
 on foot. He was certainly big and good to look 
 upon he answered quietly and correctly when 
 spoken to. He was neither afraid nor anxious to 
 be addressed. He was without question making his- 
 tory. It was even rumored the Big Four feared him 
 were ready to come to terms. 
 
 May's comfortable pride gave way gradually to 
 a feeling of uneasiness uneasiness lest this golden 
 prize a prize now ten times worth the winning 
 should escape her. That he was regarded in 
 Bethel as her property without question she knew 
 but she was afraid always afraid of some woman 
 in his past rising and confronting him again calling 
 him to her claiming him as hers. 
 
 Benson found Bill at an old-fashioned rolltop 
 desk, piled high with papers estimates embryo 
 schemes. Old Mack beside him sorted and de- 
 stroyed them at his command. When Benson en- 
 tered, Bill pushed back the letters and sprang up. 
 
 "Well, what did they want?" 
 
 Benson smiled. "They're worried about you, Bill 
 going to run you out of town and the whole 
 Works with you fact is, you've got them guessing 
 and they w r ant to see you." 
 
 Bill grinned. "Want to see me, do they? Well,
 
 A Rising Storm 165 
 
 it's because of something you've said to them. I'll 
 bet on that. How about it?" 
 
 Benson shook his head. "It's the complaints 
 they've been getting that's scaring them." 
 
 Bill smiled. "So they want me to come to them, 
 do they? To put me through a third degree with 
 Colt himself as the judge and jury. Well, Benson, I 
 won't go ! No, sir ! if they want to see me if they 
 want to learn what I and my men mean, Colt and 
 the rest of them will come here. I can talk to them 
 then. I can be myself but in a mahogany office 
 with Turkish rugs why, Benson, I couldn't speak 
 my mind, if I did the paper'd peel off the walls!" 
 
 Benson stared at him. "You don't mean that, 
 Bill. The Big Four never come to a man that's ex- 
 pected of you " 
 
 Bill nodded. "Of course it is. They think I'll 
 crawl to them lick their boots. They think I'm a 
 four-flusher, and you know it. But I'm not afraid 
 of them I'm not afraid of them because I've got a 
 system worked out that's going to help them just as 
 much as it's going to help every last man in the 
 Works, and if it's worth hearing it's worth coming 
 here to hear. Do you get me?" 
 
 Benson shook his head. "Don't go it too strong, 
 Bill. Colt's got it in for you. I'd hate to see you 
 lose out." 
 
 But Mack broke in with a chuckle. "The guys in 
 Big Bill's crew used to say as how there weren't
 
 i66 The Road of Ambition 
 
 nothin' he'd set out to do he didn't put through. 
 Blest if I don't think the whole four of 'em '11 be 
 pilin' down here afore a week's out." 
 
 Bill slapped his shoulder. "Sure they will, 
 Mack. Why not? This may not be up to their 
 Board room, but we'll be glad to see them for all 
 that. The point is, we have something to tell them 
 they want to hear. They'll come !" 
 
 Benson shook his head. "They'll try to smash 
 you, Bill, just as they're trying to smash me " 
 
 "You I" shouted Bill. 
 
 Benson bowed his head. 
 
 Bill caught his breath. "So they've canned you 
 have they? Canned the best man they ever had at 
 the Works and just because you stood by me, eh? 
 Well, by Jiminy, they'll take you back. Yes, take 
 you back with an increase in salary. That's the first 
 thing they'll do. Don't worry about it don't think 
 about it you'll be on the job inside of ten days." 
 
 Mack rubbed his hands together. "Don't worry, 
 Mr. Benson," he echoed, "it'll come out as Bill says, 
 wait and see if it don't!"
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 A BATTLE OF WITS 
 
 E thing that made the Big Four come to Bill 
 was the Rosinoff cancellation. They cursed 
 his impertinence for a week they ordered changes 
 at the Works, which went into effect at once they 
 gave the new superintendent full authority to drive 
 the men to the limit all of which resulted in the fif- 
 teen thousand hands of the Bethel Steel Works, for 
 the first time in the history of the plant, laying down 
 their tools on Friday evening and assuring their re- 
 spective bosses they had no intention of returning to 
 work if they stayed out all of the fall, winter and 
 spring. 
 
 This overwhelming catastrophe, in the face of a 
 mountain of unfilled orders, plunged the Big Four 
 and the men under them into a sweeping panic and 
 sent the stock tumbling. A strike at this time spelled 
 ruin in capital letters, too and to cap it all, the 
 Rosinoffs agents of the Russian government can- 
 celled the largest order ever placed with Bethel a 
 loss which ranged somewheres in the neighborhood 
 of seventy millions cancelled on the ground that 
 arms shipped had proved of inferior steel to quote 
 167
 
 i68 The Road of Ambition 
 
 their American representative, "were of rotten 
 stuff." 
 
 Something had to be done and done at once, but 
 it became evident that armed violence would meet 
 any attempt of the strikebreakers, the police, or the 
 Citizens Committee of Vigilantes to re-light the fur- 
 naces, now smoking ashes to start the mighty ma- 
 chinery, now stilled for the first time since the open- 
 ing of the Works. 
 
 The Big Four called a meeting of its directors 
 and laid before them the conditions, not forgetting 
 to denounce the man whose influence they felt was 
 responsible for the revolt. Colt addressed them 
 crisply. 
 
 "A committee of laborers called on Acting Super- 
 intendent Brady, and as spokesman, chose this man 
 Matthews. Brady, in accordance with our orders, 
 refused to deal with him or with any committee while 
 he was present, saying that Bethel Steel would not 
 recognize any outsider in dealing with its own em- 
 ployees. The committee withdrew and the men be- 
 came more threatening more unmanageable. We 
 concluded to see this man Matthews alone, and find 
 out what he wanted, so we sent for him, but instead 
 of coming, he refused refused point blank told us 
 to come to him, instead." 
 
 "And what did you do?" Archibald Coxe, the 
 largest stockholder in three states, had shouted. 
 "What did you do?"
 
 A Battle of Wits 169 
 
 "Do," thundered Colt, purple of face. "Why, 
 told him to go to the deuce, of course I" 
 
 Coxe rose. "Gentlemen," he said, "the sooner 
 you get off your high horse and look facts in the 
 face, the better. If the one way to save Bethel Steel 
 from devastation is to see this fellow go see him. 
 You admit he's a power you admit he's the man 
 behind the guns very well, then, the thing to do is 
 to find out what he wants and to give it to him, 
 whatever it is! Are you going to stand around like 
 a lot of sulky school boys and refuse to admit you're 
 beaten? Beaten! Why, you're licked to a pulp 
 and what's more he's got the whip handle ! For- 
 get who you are and remember only that the 
 Bethel Steel Works of America have got to resume 
 business or go to the wall ! Go to him. . . . ! Why, 
 you're lucky he'll see you at all, after the way you've 
 treated him, if you want my opinion !" 
 
 Rogers sprang to his feet. "I'm with you there, 
 Coxe," he said. "I'll go for one." 
 
 "And I," shouted Pattison. 
 
 "And I," echoed Decker. 
 
 Colt glared at them, his eyes bloodshot, his breath- 
 ing heavy. 
 
 "Go !" he shrieked. "I'd rather see the Works in 
 smoking ruins than put my foot inside that pup's 
 office!" 
 
 Coxe rose. "If you three gentlemen will proceed 
 at once, you can, I believe, meet his requests with the
 
 170 The Road of Ambition 
 
 sound judgment you have shown in all matters. My 
 car's at the door." 
 
 Mack ushered them into the shabby little 
 office. 
 
 "Here's three of 'em, Bill," he whispered shrilly. 
 Bill rose and faced them. Pattison came forward. 
 
 "I'm Pattison. This is Mr. Rogers and Mr. 
 Decker. Mr. Colt was detained in conference and 
 unable to come." 
 
 Bill smiled a trifle. "I am very glad to see you, 
 gentlemen," he said simply. "Won't you be seated?" 
 
 They were a little taken aback at his manner. 
 They had expected something quite different what, 
 they scarcely knew a certain coarseness and swag- 
 ger which was not there. 
 
 "You wished to see me?" he prompted. Pattison 
 cleared his throat. 
 
 "Matthews," he said, "the men have gone out. 
 It's the most serious situation we've ever faced. It 
 may mean ruin for us all you along with us. Have 
 you thought of that?" 
 
 Bill shook his head. "I don't believe I have," 
 said he. "There have been so many other things to 
 consider." 
 
 "What do you mean?" Bill leaned forward. 
 
 "Has it occurred to you, Mr. Pattison, that this 
 has been the most prosperous year you and your 
 partners have ever known? That the money you'll
 
 A Battle of Wits 171 
 
 make once your orders are paid in full will put you 
 in a class by yourselves as money kings?" 
 
 Pattison shrugged. "What of it?" 
 
 "Just this. You haven't stopped to figure, have 
 you, that every dollar you'll make depends not so 
 much on your own work as on the labor of some 
 man in your factory? a cog in the machinery but 
 an essential part just the same." 
 
 Pattison frowned. "What are you driving at?" 
 
 "Don't you suppose that these men you employ 
 the Greeks and Polocks and Russians and Ger- 
 mans and Scandinavians all know that you are piling 
 up gold nobody tells them but they guess by the 
 extra pressure put on them eleven-hour shifts al- 
 ways the cry for work work more work " 
 
 "We pay for overtime." 
 
 "Yes, you pay for overtime, but you don't stop to 
 consider that the unskilled workman can't live on his 
 wages to-day. Do you know that during the past 
 year the cost of food of clothing of household 
 effects, have gone up forty per cent and that wages 
 have gone up only twenty-five? Why, the cost of 
 living has jumped so high that your men can barely 
 exist on the money they are receiving!" 
 
 Pattison shrugged. "That's Socialism rank So- 
 cialism." 
 
 Bill swung about. "Then I'd like to ask you what 
 you call blacklisting workmen forbidding them to 
 organize forbidding them to write and speak their
 
 172 The Road of Ambition 
 
 opinions forcing them to vote against their con- 
 victions denying them the due process of the law 
 what do you gentlemen call that? I call it plain 
 anarchy!" 
 
 Pattison stared at him. "We resent that, Mr. 
 Matthews; we have always tried to be fair to our 
 hands" 
 
 Bill laughed, but his face was dangerous. "Fair ! 
 Do you call it fair to pay the men who slave for 
 you the same amount at the end of the week as you 
 pay the slackers? Do you call it fair to turn off 
 old and tried workmen yes, throw them into the 
 gutter fellows who have served you faithfully for 
 a lifetime?" 
 
 "There is so much to be done," said Rogers, 
 crisply; "we must have men who are able to do 
 it " 
 
 Bill sprang to his feet. "Men, did you say? 
 That's you're trouble, Mr. Rogers yours and the 
 rest of your crew you have men though you'd 
 like to forget it men with bodies and brains, that 
 can stand so much and no more and because they 
 are men they see the injustice of your methods ! 
 
 "I tell you, they're sick of living in three-room ten- 
 ements with the only furniture a bed, three chairs 
 and a stove and a table sick of being herded to- 
 gether like cattle nine or ten of them in a room 
 
 Have you ever thought of that, Mr. Rogers ? Have 
 you ever wondered how they got water to wash with
 
 A Battle of Wits 173 
 
 you, with your luxurious baths and pools well, 
 I'll tell you there's a pump a pump three flights 
 down that's how they live. Why in God's name 
 don't you provide decent homes for your workmen? 
 I'll tell you why because you forget they are men. 
 Yes, Mr. Rogers, that's your mistake yours and 
 the rest of the owners' that you employ men to do 
 your work instead of iron and steel " 
 
 Rogers stared at him. "Well," he said, heavily, 
 "what do you want us to do?" 
 
 Bill brought down his fist. "There's just one 
 thing to do one thing that will send every man back 
 on his job and make him work as he has never 
 worked before share your profits I'll show you 
 how and you'll find the result will be a grade of 
 work that will force you to enlarge your plant again 
 to fill your orders and when you are through with 
 that, clean up the Factory Street slums and turn 
 your workmen into human beings instead of 
 swine!" 
 
 "You seem mighty sure of it!" growled Pattison. 
 
 Bill smiled. "Why shouldn't I be? I worked at 
 the mill for fifteen years I tell you I'd give my life 
 for Bethel Steel why, it's the greatest plant in the 
 country and there's one way to keep it that let 
 every man, from your moulders' apprentice to your 
 president, feel he's a real part of the organization 
 that he'll be paid, and paid well, for doing twice, 
 or three times as much as the next fellow let him
 
 174 The Road of Ambition 
 
 have something to show for the product he turns 
 out skillfully with his hands, or with his brain 
 do you know what the result will be ? The men will 
 go back to work with a snap that'll put Bethel Steel 
 on top of the heap again and, what's more, keep 
 it there!" He drew in his breath sharply. "My 
 God! I wish I had the chance to do it!" Then he 
 shook his head. "I'm through," he told them; 
 "that's all I've got to say." 
 
 Their silence was impressive. At last Pattison 
 rose. "We will report on your plan to the directors. 
 They will act on it. Should it be adopted we shall 
 ask you to demonstrate its practicability; should it 
 be rejected, we shall consider the matter closed." 
 
 Bill bowed. After they had gone, he stood a long 
 while by the window staring at the Works a black 
 silhouette against a vivid sky shot with the red 
 of a June sunset. Strangely still they appeared no 
 glow from the furnaces no spiral of smoke from 
 their chimneys but before them, pacing back and 
 forth like tired sentinels, tramped the pickets on 
 guard their gun-barrels now and then catching the 
 glint of the sun. 
 
 Mack touched his arm. "Comin'?" 
 
 Bill nodded. 
 
 They turned down the stairs and into the street 
 without speaking. The sky had deepened into a pur- 
 ple haze. A group of men hurried up to Bill with 
 eager questions. He shook his head.
 
 A Battle of Wits 175 
 
 "You'll know before long, boys," he said; "leave 
 it to me." 
 
 At the corner he collided sharply with some one 
 a big man, his hat pulled well down over his eyes. 
 When he had gone on his way with a mumbled apol- 
 ogy Bill turned to Mack. "Who was that?" 
 
 Mack grinned. "Didn't you see, Bill? That were 
 Dugan the Party Boss himself." 
 
 Bill stared after him. "So it is. What's he doing 
 around here, I wonder?" 
 
 Mack chuckled. "They say there ain't nothin' 
 Dugan don't know about. Looks to me like he's 
 got his eye on you!" 
 
 Bill laughed. "You'll have him making me Pres- 
 ident next," he said. 
 
 Mack wagged his head wisely. "Dugan don't 
 never come round for nothin'," said he; "not if I 
 know what's what, he don't!" 
 
 Exactly ten days after the men had marched out 
 of the yard of the Bethel Steel Works in a body they 
 returned to their jobs. Benson was reinstated as 
 superintendent and the newspapers all over the coun- 
 try gave unlimited space and scare headlines to the 
 amazing concessions which had been granted by the 
 Company. 
 
 But the eyes of all Bethel were fastened upon the 
 man who had wrought the miracle who had brought 
 about a system which made it possible for a me-
 
 176 The Road of Ambition 
 
 chanic given a certain piece of work to do and an 
 allotted time to do it to make his regular wage and 
 to receive a bonus as well for completing it accord- 
 ing to schedule even wheeling a barrow or handling 
 a shovel, came under the new profit-sharing plan. 
 
 In the departments where quality counted the 
 open-hearth work, for instance, or the treating of 
 armor plate the men were paid by basing the com- 
 putations on tests of steel. 
 
 Nor was that by any means the end of the system 
 which revolutionized Bethel Steel. The men who 
 got results with less than the regular amount of fuel 
 the men who handled their machines so that the 
 item of repair was very low, profited accordingly. 
 
 And those higher up came in on the scheme as well 
 every penny saved from the normal cost of oper- 
 ation was shared the more money the Works made 
 the more its employees gained. 
 
 Its effect was colossal. The Big Four, skeptical 
 and bitter forced by tremendous pressure on all 
 sides to yield to Matthews grew hourly more dazed 
 by the amazing results his method secured. Their 
 confidence in him became so supreme that they gave 
 him unlimited power to carry his reforms into effect 
 were forced to bow to a man who could put 
 through a plan so gigantic and far-reaching that one 
 and all waxed rich on it.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 MAY PLAYS HER TRUMPS 
 
 "JV/TAY found herself all at once the center of 
 * Bethel's social whirl the woman whom Beth- 
 el's Old and First families expected to share the 
 Matthews fortune and name Matthews, now a na- 
 tional figure ! She had never dreamed of a triumph 
 so great. She wished with all her heart that Bill 
 would, for an instant, forget the business which 
 seemed to possess him, body and soul would forget 
 the thousand-and-one questions he was called upon 
 to answer disputes to settle problems to solve 
 and remember that it was high time he asked her 
 to marry him. 
 
 The house on the hill was rising majestically. 
 Rogers no longer grumbled about its proximity 
 was proud at the prospect of having Matthews for 
 a neighbor proud to know a man who could muster 
 an executive ability that galvanized those about him 
 like an electric battery. 
 
 The invitation to the Colt Charity Ball for Beth- 
 el's poor came in the early mail. It was the great 
 Colt's open acknowledgment of the wisdom of the 
 new move it was more than that it was planned 
 177
 
 178 The Road of Ambition 
 
 for the purpose of securing for his son Philip the 
 woman he desired but that, of course, was not in 
 evidence upon the engraved cards. 
 
 May read it with an anxious frown. Bill would 
 undoubtedly be the center of attraction at the bril- 
 liant affair would be sought after by all the women 
 of Bethel as the man of the hour. She concluded 
 that her only safety lay in securing him once and 
 for all not that he had ever so much as looked at 
 another woman but you never could tell. 
 
 She accepted for Bill and herself, and set 
 herself to the absorbing and fascinating task of plan- 
 ning her costume. She came to the conclusion that 
 it must be something costly, yet simple something 
 that would fitly represent the triumph which would 
 
 be hers Oh, yes, she would bring Bill to the 
 
 point. He had dallied long enough. 
 
 Bill sent word to her that he would not be home 
 until late not to wait up for him. She did, never- 
 theless. She let him in herself and had a tasty sup- 
 per spread out for him. 
 
 He ate it gratefully, his face pinched and a bit 
 drawn from the strain of the past weeks but his 
 eyes full of an eager, boyish light. 
 
 "It's great, May simply great : Think of old 
 Colt and the rest of the pirates coming across like 
 kings! We've got a group of model houses 
 
 planned I've been working with the architect 
 
 all afternoon "
 
 May Plays Her Trumps 179 
 
 May was distinctly bored. She wondered if he 
 would ever talk of anything save his renovated slums. 
 She shrugged: 
 
 "Well, they need them badly enough, although I 
 doubt if the creatures I saw on Factory Street the 
 day you dragged me down there will know enough 
 to look after them." 
 
 She regretted thewords the second they had passed 
 her lips. 
 
 Bill stared at her; then he smiled. 
 
 "You're tired, May, sitting up for me. That's 
 what ails you. Just let me tell you about the plans 
 for " 
 
 But she raised her hand. "Not another word until 
 you're through. I have something I want to say to 
 you then." 
 
 When he had finished she led the way to the library 
 the room he had entered for the first time almost 
 a year ago. It showed marks of prosperity, just as 
 the woman by his side bore the sign of the dollar. 
 The hangings were rich, the furniture costly, the cur- 
 tains of exquisite lace it was as though a wand had 
 touched the run-to-seed room and transformed it into 
 a bower. 
 
 Bill dropped into a deep chair with a sigh and 
 closed his eyes. She studied him intently curled up 
 on the corner of the divan, her foot tucked under her, 
 her sharp little chin in her hand, her lips snapped 
 shut.
 
 180 The Road of Ambition 
 
 He looked tired terribly tired. There were 
 shadows beneath his eyes and new lines on his face 
 lines of power, to be sure but lines just the same. 
 He was working too hard that was it working 
 when he no longer needed to. He was rich beyond 
 all his dreams or hers he was general manager of 
 the Works and yet, not content with accomplish- 
 ing what he had set out to do, he must tear down row 
 after row of grimy tenements for the benefit of a 
 lot of vacant-eyed foreigners. What could he hope 
 to gain by such a course? It never occurred to May 
 that his motive might be one of humanity. That 
 was not in her creed. 
 
 Well, she concluded, whatever he intended doing 
 she was going to have him for hers to end this 
 suspense then she would at least be mistress of the 
 house on the hill, and he could delve among his de- 
 serving poor as much as he pleased ! 
 
 He opened his eyes and smiled at her. "It's good 
 to be home," he sighed, stretching luxuriously; then: 
 "Well, what's on your mind, May?" 
 
 She traced a pattern on her gown. "Colt's giving 
 a ball," she said, without looking up. 
 
 He laughed. "Is that all? I suppose you're 
 going, eh?" 
 
 She nodded. "And so are you." 
 
 But Bill shook his head. "No parties for me. 
 I've got just about all I can do as it is without get- 
 ting into evening clothes yet awhile."
 
 May Plays Her Trumps 181 
 
 She looked up quickly. "Oh, but you must you 
 don't understand. Colt is giving it for you for 
 your work it's a Charity Ball for Bethel's poor." 
 
 He clapped his hand on his knee. "No !" he 
 cried; "you don't mean it! For Bethel's poor? Well, 
 I call that immense ! Think of the chief doing that 
 for me 1 I tell you, May, the Big Four are all right 
 I always said the trouble with the rich was not so 
 much that they were wilfully deaf as that they were 
 born with cotton wadding in their ears to avoid hear- 
 ing all unpleasant sounds. Once they take out the 
 stuffing and listen to the needs of the people they're 
 princes!" 
 
 May nodded. "Yes, I think it is very nice of 
 him I suppose all Bethel will be there." 
 
 He nodded, and a silence fell. May clasped her 
 hands tightly, her lithe little body suddenly tense. 
 "They're so interested in everything you do here, 
 Bill," he laughed, but she insisted "They are, and 
 you know it and, naturally, in me, too I mean, 
 simply because you live here." 
 
 She watched him closely, but he was staring over 
 her head at the wall, no doubt figuring the cost of 
 some beastly improvement or other! She bit her 
 red lips. Probably hadn't heard half she was say- 
 ing when she was trying so hard to tell him tell him 
 what? That he must marry her ! But how? 
 
 "Of course," she continued, in a low voice; "of 
 course, it's embarrassing for me at times "
 
 182 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "Embarrassing?" 
 
 At last! He had caught that. She sighed with 
 relief. It was going to be easy, after all. 
 
 "They ask so many questions," she said, plaintive- 
 ly. "They take so much for granted " 
 
 He frowned. "I don't understand. Take what 
 for granted?" 
 
 She smiled and, leaning forward, laid a hand on 
 his knee 
 
 "Dear, stupid, old Bill! That you're going 
 
 to marry me, of course !" 
 
 He started. "May! Do you mean can it be 
 that those impertinent busybodies " 
 
 She smiled and laid her hand on his lips. "After 
 all, why shouldn't they suppose so, Bill? They see 
 us everywhere together they know you go nowhere 
 else." 
 
 He flung himself to his feet pacing: "To think 
 you've been annoyed by these " 
 
 "But what if I'm not annoyed " 
 
 He whirled. "Not annoyed! Oh, May, 
 May " he stopped short. 
 
 She smiled again and shook her head. "I really 
 think it would be rather nice, on the whole." 
 
 "You mean " he stammered, growing red as 
 
 a schoolboy; "you mean that you'd you'd " 
 
 She nodded. "Of course, I would! Don't you 
 suppose I'm fond of you and you will need some 
 one to take care of your house " She stopped,
 
 May Plays Her Trumps 183 
 
 struck by something in his face consternation 
 
 "May," he said, swiftly, the words tumbling over 
 one another; "May, I've I've never thought of this 
 before I've been stupid blind engrossed in my 
 
 affairs while you I supposed our friendship 
 
 could go on forever I never dreamed " 
 
 She ran to him and laid her hand on his arm. 
 "Dear old Bill," she said, "don't look so alarmed. 
 I'm merely telling you what Bethel expects you to do 
 what it has made very plain to me don't think 
 another thing about it, though it just popped out 
 before I knew it. You have so much else to trouble 
 you it's different with a woman, isn't it? Nothing 
 
 else really matters to her but that I shouldn't 
 
 have bothered you indeed I shouldn't except that 
 I can't bear to meet their questioning looks and 
 shrugs I simply can't unless " 
 
 And, whirling, she ran from the room. 
 
 He stood like one turned to stone. "May," he 
 whispered through dry lips but she was gone. 
 
 What a blind fool he had been what a colossal 
 fool! Of course, her position was open to question 
 it had never dawned upon him before little May, 
 who had stood by him all these months was this 
 the way to repay her? Why under the sun had he 
 
 hesitated why hadn't he swept her to him 
 
 What was the matter with him, anyway? He had 
 read the confession in her eyes, why had no answer- 
 ing light sprang to his?
 
 184 The Road of Ambition 
 
 He plunged his hands in his pocket his fingers 
 touched something some thing he always carried 
 with him as a sort of talisman. He drew it out. It 
 was the bracelet with the jade clasp. He stared at 
 it grimly. What right had he to hold fast to an 
 image a dream-woman when the place in his 
 heart should be May's and yet 
 
 He slipped the bracelet back. There was one 
 thing to do. He must do his duty by the woman who 
 had helped him the woman who now shrank from 
 sharp questions from raised eyebrows poor little 
 
 May he'd settle it here and now He raced 
 
 up the stairs he rapped on her door she flung it 
 open and he held out his hands. 
 
 "I've been a brute, May, if you'll take me I'll 
 try to make you happy to the end of your days !" 
 
 She slipped her arms about his neck. "Dear Bill," 
 she whispered.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 COLT SETS A TRAP 
 
 issued but one command in regard to the 
 ball: No expense was to be spared aside 
 from that he washed his hands of it. It was a com- 
 mand which delighted the ears of Bethel's matrons 
 it gave them free rein to produce the affair on the 
 superlative scale they desired to make the grounds 
 and the house, both inside and out, as flagrantly gor- 
 geous as the decorator's art could achieve. 
 
 Bethel's Younger Set the daughters of the Old 
 and First Families, hoisted the flag of truce and en- 
 tered into the spirit of the great occasion with all 
 the snap of youth. It was to be a dream of Arabian 
 nights and of Babylon come true a Charity Ball 
 which should have no equal. 
 
 The hothouses of Bethel yielded their treasures 
 that Colt's home might be transformed into a bower, 
 and Colt Senior, grimly watching the men at work, 
 and hearing the hum of young voices in his rooms 
 the laughter and shouts as rehearsals proceeded, felt 
 eminently satisfied. Since Bethel's poor was to be 
 the fad of the season due to the interference of 
 one of its sons it was meet and right that the brains 
 of the Big Four should lead the movement. 
 185
 
 i86 The Road of Ambition 
 
 But Colt guarded his reflections well no one 
 should ever guess that he hated with all his soul the 
 big man who had brought it about hated him, yes, 
 but feared him as well, and that made the score 
 against Big Bill roll even higher. Cyrus P. Colt 
 had never feared another man since the day he was 
 born! 
 
 When Judge Van Steer received a letter from Colt 
 his feeling was one of amazement That was it 
 overpowering amazement. It was the first letter 
 from that source in many a year the only one in 
 Colt's own unspeakable scrawl. 
 
 "Dear Friend," it ran, in the queer, cramped, lit- 
 tle hand. "It is my desire to make this occasion the 
 greatest in Bethel's history; for that reason I am 
 asking a few of Bethel's most prominent citizens to 
 serve with me on the executive committee I want 
 you to head it. You know what Van Steer stands for 
 in this community I'd be proud to have you accept." 
 
 The Judge read the note over twice. He was puz- 
 zled. Frankly puzzled at its contents ; nothing of the 
 sort had ever before reached his desk during the 
 reign of the Big Four. But he was touched as well 
 it was decent of Colt that little line about the 
 
 Van Steer name He could do next to nothing 
 
 for Bethel if serving as chairman would help
 
 Colt Sets a Trap 187 
 
 He decided not to mention it to Daphne she 
 might raise a host of objections. Instead, he wrote 
 a formal and eloquent reply in the round, beautiful 
 hand which had not progressed one whit beyond the 
 Civil War period. He dispatched it and took up 
 Colt's note again. "Dear Friend," he re-read. It 
 was really very thoughtful of Colt, but, after all, a 
 Van Steer was a Van Steer even the Big Four had 
 to grant that he had forgotten how many years 
 they had overlooked the fact. 
 
 The letter acted precisely as Colt hoped i: would, 
 and when he summoned Van Steer to a committee 
 meeting or, rather, begged him to drop in and give 
 a valuable hint or two the Judge donned his best 
 suit, took up his hat and cane, and set out for Colt's 
 house the house in which he had sworn never to 
 set foot so long as he lived. 
 
 Colt was awaiting him in his library. There was 
 no one else present. The Judge looked about him 
 with polite surprise, but Colt waved him to a chair. 
 
 "I believe we two can decide this," he said com- 
 fortably. "Too many cooks spoil the broth. What 
 I want is your opinion, Van Steer and once you've 
 given it to me, I'll pass it on to the committee as 
 settled. What I say is, pick a man of brains for 
 chairman and he'll do the thinking for the rest." 
 
 The Judge was subtly flattered. He enjoyed the 
 insinuation he enjoyed the warm luxury of Colt's 
 library he inhaled the aroma of the fine cigar
 
 i88 The Road of Ambition 
 
 he held poised in his fingers. Colt was speaking. 
 
 "We want an address made an address to the 
 members of the Laborers' Union something about 
 the new workmen's village to be built in Bethel 
 no more tenements no more filth six-room houses 
 bath and electric lights won't cost 'em a cent 
 more than they're paying, either six dollars a 
 month electricity, four cents a kilowatt garden 
 thrown in for good measure. How's that for philan- 
 thropy, Van Steer? Can't say we drive 'em now, 
 can they? Can't say we crush 'em under our heel?" 
 He paused, smugly satisfied. 
 
 Van Steer stirred. 
 
 "Magnificent, Colt, magnificent! It's this Mat- 
 thews' idea, isn't it?" 
 
 Colt frowned. "Yes," he conceded, with an ef- 
 fort. "His and mine." 
 
 A brief silence fell, then he continued, evenly: 
 "The address must be made by the right man some 
 one who stands for something who will stir the 
 people by his presence some one influential mag- 
 netic cultured " He stopped and waited, then : 
 
 "Who could you suggest?" he flung at the Judge. 
 
 Van Steer leaned back, his fingers joined. It was 
 very evident that he had some one in mind, but 
 modesty forbade his naming him. To his way of 
 thinking there was but one eminently fitted for the 
 honor of addressing the factory hands of the Bethel 
 Steel Works he shook his head.
 
 Colt Sets a Trap 189 
 
 "I couldn't say off hand," he parried. 
 
 But Colt leaned forward. "I can," he said, short- 
 ly. "There's just one man to do it " He stopped 
 
 and waited. 
 
 "Who?" ventured the Judge. 
 
 Colt brought down his fist: "You, Van Steer 
 just you I" 
 
 Van Steer started. "Really, Colt, I don't be- 
 lieve " 
 
 "It doesn't matter what you believe it's what you 
 are that counts. You're Bethel's leading citizen 
 yes, you are we all know it. We've come in and 
 done a thing or two for the place, but you're of the 
 stock that started it put it on the map that's what 
 the people want what they look up to I tell you 
 I'd like to have you do it as a favor to me, Van Steer, 
 if not for the other reasons." 
 
 Van Steer was rigid. Into his pale lean cheeks the 
 color leaped, the blue veins at his temples throbbed, 
 his eyes glowed with a warm, deep light. 
 
 "Colt, I assure you I'm honored," he brought out 
 huskily; "you've made me very proud this afternoon 
 that I am a Van Steer prouder, I should say, than 
 usual." 
 
 Colt nodded. "You ought to be proud finest 
 name in the countryside ; what's more, it ought to be 
 kept up kept up in the old style." 
 
 "I have often wished it were possible," Van Steer 
 began.
 
 190 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Colt rose suddenly, thrust his hands in his pockets 
 and scowled. He took one or two quick turns up and 
 down the room, then stopped abruptly before the 
 Judge. "I shouldn't wonder if it would be, Van 
 Steer," he shot at him, brows drawn together; 
 "shouldn't wonder at all 1" Then : "That's a mighty 
 fine daughter you have." 
 
 Van Steer looked up, startled. "Oh, Daphne? 
 Yes Yes." 
 
 Colt smiled. "Don't mention this to her not for 
 the world; but I believe she's given my boy hope 
 my boy Philip, you know." 
 
 "Philip Daphne " gasped Van Steer. "Oh, 
 
 I hardly think so she would have spoken to me 
 she " 
 
 Colt shook his head. "No; she wouldn't not 
 yet it's rather new, the whole thing my boy has 
 only just hinted to me he's my only chick, Van 
 Steer he'll have all I possess." 
 
 The Judge rose, too. He was not sure what 
 to say. He was a little afraid of this powerful 
 man before him afraid of something he implied 
 it sounded like a bribe, that hint of the wealth to 
 come. He drew himself up. 
 
 "If Daphne loves him if it will make her happy 
 I shall be happy, also," he said. 
 
 Colt wrung his hand. 
 
 "Fine fine but don't say a word to her you 
 know how young things are easily frightened
 
 Colt Sets a Trap 191 
 
 she'll come to you about it before long they always 
 do. Now, if she had had a mother, why you'd have 
 known about it by this time but with men, they're 
 queer " 
 
 The Judge nodded. Colt no doubt was right. 
 Now that he came to think of it, he had seen Philip 
 around a good bit. He was under the impression 
 that Daphne had said she disliked him but that may 
 have been fancy there were so many others, it was 
 no doubt one of those. 
 
 "Little Daphne with a secret from me?" he mused. 
 
 Colt nodded. "We old folks mustn't spoil it, eh, 
 Van Steer? Just keep mum till she says the word, 
 then tell her you knew it all the time." 
 
 He patted the Judge's arm affectionately. "I tell 
 you, it takes our kiddies to work out our destiny for 
 us, doesn't it?" 
 
 Van Steer nodded, a bit dazed by it all. 
 
 Colt continued, warmly: "That makes things be- 
 tween us different, doesn't it? Very different. I sup- 
 pose the girl will want a big wedding." 
 
 "Of course of course," the Judge agreed, 
 rather too hastily. 
 
 Colt nodded. "I tell you when a Van Steer mar- 
 ries, it's something of an occasion in Bethel " 
 
 The Judge bowed. 
 
 "The Van Steers have always done things on a 
 big scale." 
 
 "That's what I've heard," cut in Colt. "Costs a
 
 192 The Road of Ambition 
 
 lot to get a daughter married off in good style these 
 
 days regular fortune " He stopped, smiling 
 
 broadly at the Judge. But Van Steer was not smil- 
 ing. His particularly fine, thin lips were tightly com- 
 pressed, as though a phantom had been rudely raised 
 a phantom he had resolutely banished. Colt took 
 up the thread where he had dropped it. 
 
 "A girl must have clothes, and plenty of them 
 but that's not all no, indeed parties galore, and 
 money for bridesmaids' presents take it all and 
 all, it's cheaper to have a son." 
 
 Van Steer stiffened. "Daphne shall have as fine 
 a wedding as I can give her." 
 
 Colt had moved to the window, his face partly 
 turned from Van Steer, for which the Judge was 
 grateful. It was tender ground on which they were 
 treading he hoped to find a plausible way of lead- 
 ing the conversation into more agreeable channels. 
 Colt toyed with the shade tassel and spoke over his 
 shoulder. 
 
 "Do you know what I'd like to do, Van Steer? 
 I'd like to speak out my mind to you without fear of 
 offense." 
 
 Van Steer looked up quickly. "I don't think I 
 quite understand," he said. 
 
 Colt turned abruptly. "It's just this : I want you 
 to feel free to call upon me absolutely free 
 should you need any financial support. Now do you 
 understand?"
 
 Colt Sets a Trap 193 
 
 The Judge remained rigid as a bar of iron. "I'm 
 afraid not," he replied slowly. 
 
 Colt laid his hand on his shoulder. 
 
 "You see, Van Steer, I can't help knowing how 
 things stand with you and they shouldn't stand that 
 way, not by a long sight ! I know that you want to 
 do things in tip-top style the way Van Steer al- 
 ways put across an affair. Now, then, your daugh- 
 ter is going to marry my son, and that places me in 
 a position where I can talk frankly. What I want 
 to say is this: You can call on me for any amount 
 that will see you through comfortably. I know your 
 pride, so we'll call it a, loan I'll take your note for 
 it do it any way you please but let me help you." 
 
 That was all. 
 
 Van Steer felt the hot color stinging his cheeks. 
 He moistened his lips he tried to speak, but the 
 words would not come he was stunned by this burst 
 of generosity by this sudden lifting of his burden. 
 He had wondered how on earth he was to see the 
 matter through how on earth with nothing left 
 but a house mortgaged to the last beam and here 
 was Colt offering him money on preposterous terms 
 knowing that he could never repay it, and yet 
 pouring it into his hands it was immense of him 
 it was princely! 
 
 "I can tell you, Colt " he managed to whis- 
 per through stiff lips. "This is mighty fine of you 
 mighty fine I"
 
 194 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "Stuff I" said Colt, his checkbook in hand. "How 
 much shall it be?" 
 
 And Van Steer, vaguely aware of what had taken 
 place, conscious only that Colt's check for five thou- 
 sand dollars reposed in his pocket a check for which 
 he had given a worthless scrap of paper came away 
 from the great house with the memory of Colt's 
 heavy hand on his shoulder Colt's deep voice call- 
 ing him friend.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 COLT SHOWS HIS COLORS 
 
 "T\ APHNE, the Bethel Courier in her hand, await- 
 *~* ed her father on the steps of her home. She 
 had come in from a ride across country, and the flush 
 of the exercise was still in her cheeks the sparkle 
 in her eyes. She radiated youth and health buoy- 
 antly, vividly alive. Van Steer, as he approached, 
 thought he had never seen her look so lovely as she 
 did framed in the doorway, her form slight and boy- 
 ish in its well-cut habit. 
 
 She held the paper toward him. "What does this 
 mean, Daddy?" she demanded. 
 
 He smiled on her tenderly. So he was to lose her 
 soon lose her, but gain a Colt for a son-in-law. He 
 scarcely noticed the paper she handed him in his 
 intense study of her. 
 
 "Little Daphne," he said softly. She stared at 
 him. 
 
 "What's the matter? You look as though you'd 
 seen me for the first time. What I want to know is 
 this: Is it true you're serving as chairman of the 
 Executive Committee of the Ball?" 
 
 He glanced down at the sheet in his hand. There 
 195
 
 196 The Road of Ambition 
 
 was his name in bold type, heading the list of prom- 
 inent men. He felt a glow of pride as Philip Colt's 
 father-in-law he could hope to head many such lists. 
 He nodded. 
 
 "But I don't understand," she insisted. "Colt's 
 on it, too, and the rest of the Big Four. You didn't 
 know that, did you, Daddy, when you accepted?" 
 
 He smiled at her so she was going to keep up 
 the farce until the last minute. He shot a question at 
 her: "Whom were you riding with to-day?" 
 
 "Philip Colt. But why " 
 
 "Ah!" he teased, wagging his finger at her; "so 
 you can play with a Colt, but not I is that it?" 
 
 She frowned. "It's different with you, isn't it? 
 Colt has hurt you in every possible way as for 
 Philip he isn't responsible for his father, and he 
 rides well and he has stopped proposing, so I can't 
 see what harm my going with him does." 
 
 "He's stopped proposing," chuckled the Judge 
 he thought it an exceedingly clever way of putting it. 
 "Well, well, you may be wrong about Colt Senior 
 a man in his position is often forced to do un- 
 pleasant things that are not of his own choosing 
 pressure brought to bear shapes his course for him 
 at heart he may be all right." 
 
 "Why, Daddy?" she said, anxiously; "you've 
 never talked this way before. What's he been say- 
 ing to you? What's happened to change you this 
 way?"
 
 Colt Shows His Colors 197 
 
 He pinched her cheek. "Nothing, Daphne, noth- 
 ing. Can't I do my bit toward serving Bethel as 
 well as you youngsters? Aren't you to be in some 
 tableaux or other?" 
 
 "Of course; but you, Daddy; you why you said 
 yourself you would rather be hung than be seen 
 speaking to him I" 
 
 Van Steer drew himself up. "Which proves that 
 I'm a very hasty, bad-tempered old man, I'm afraid. 
 Never jump to conclusions, Daphne, it's a sad busi- 
 ness," and he left her staring after him, her eyes 
 clouded with a fear she could not put into words. 
 
 Late that night, Philip, returning from a stag at 
 the club, found a message from his father. It re- 
 quested him to stop in at the library before retiring. 
 It was in the nature of a command and Philip 
 studied the slip anxiously. There were any number 
 of reasons why he did not particularly desire an in- 
 terview with Colt Senior just then. He went, never- 
 theless. His father, clad in a dressing gown of 
 flaming Oriental silk, was hunched in his chair, puf- 
 fing thick clouds of smoke ceilingward. This was 
 a good sign. Colt never puffed unless he were deeply 
 pleased at some achievement of his own. Philip 
 straightened up and closed the door softly behind 
 him. Colt lowered his gaze and fixed it on his son. 
 
 "Well, Philip," said he, with his nearest approach 
 to a smile; "you can sleep well to-night."
 
 198 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Philip waited, shifting from one foot to the other. 
 He knew better than to interrupt. 
 
 "Yes, sir, you can sleep well no more trouble 
 so far as that Van Steer girl is concerned I've fixed 
 her father." 
 
 Philip started. "Fixed her father? What have 
 you done?" 
 
 Colt took the cigar from his mouth and scowled 
 at his son. 
 
 "None of your business!" he snapped; then his 
 good humor returned. "If she doesn't say yes next 
 time you ask her just let me know." 
 
 Philip took a step nearer. "I think it's only fair 
 that I should " 
 
 Colt shook his head. "That's all," he replied, 
 placidly; "good night." 
 
 Philip hesitated, his lips parted; then, whirling on 
 his heel, was gone. 
 
 Colt relaxed. He eased his shoulders down far- 
 ther into the soft leather of his chair with a deep 
 grunt of satisfaction, crossed his knees. He slipped 
 the cigar into the corner of his mouth, and, sending 
 a cloud of smoke upward, shut his eyes. 
 
 As May dressed for the Colt Ball, she reflected 
 that the past weeks had been full of a thousand de- 
 lights. There was first of all the announcement in 
 the Courier. It was a three-column affair, with cuts 
 of herself and Bill and a view of the new house on
 
 Colt Shows His Colors 199 
 
 Bethel's hilltop. It was no modest account, but 
 a spread which told in full the history of the New- 
 comb family and gave a brief sketch of Bill's rise. 
 That was the beginning of May's triumph. 
 
 She enjoyed her new position as Bill's fiancee in 
 countless ways. She delighted in the whispers of the 
 clerks which her presence in the shops occasioned. 
 They were all eager to serve her to present their 
 finest stock to her their subtle assumption that 
 nothing would be too costly for her, was music in her 
 ears. 
 
 Then one after another, the wives of the Big Four 
 had called upon her. It was whispered that Bill was 
 soon to be made a partner of the great concern 
 their visits confirmed the rumor as a first step he 
 had been taken into the Bethel Steel Club a lunch- 
 eon club whose membership was limited to the 
 money-kings and their brothers a club which was 
 known to be a mighty board of trade whose unre- 
 corded transactions ran into huge figures. Where 
 deals were made and contracts signed as carelessly 
 as the lunch check. 
 
 May played her hand carefully. She knew the 
 string by which she held Bill was of the slenderest 
 his overwhelming gratitude to her alone had won 
 him. She refused his most lavish gifts he was 
 amazed at her but she insisted gently that he must 
 save the house would cost so much the furnish- 
 ings she had quite enough to thank him for.
 
 20O The Road of Ambition 
 
 She was reckless only in the ring she chose. This, 
 her badge of conquest, to be flashed before the eyes 
 of Bethel was a single pigeon-blood ruby, simply 
 set, but it glowed on her hand like a drop of blood. 
 
 As she stood beneath the soft glow of the shaded 
 candles, she turned it on her hand, this way and that, 
 catching the glint of the lights the spark of fire 
 in its depths. 
 
 "And it's only the beginning," she sighed in an 
 abandonment of content. 
 
 She permitted her maid to draw over her shoul- 
 ders the gown of which she had dreamed. It was 
 a reality now of sheerest white chiffon and filmy lace 
 simple, but breathing richness from every soft 
 fold. It was a triumph of dressmaker's art and 
 May, gazing at herself in the mirror, knew she had 
 never looked so well in her life. She studied her 
 face leaning on her hands her tiny body bent to- 
 ward the reflection then she smiled. 
 
 "Mrs. Matthews," she nodded to herself. "The 
 Mrs. Matthews yes, I think you'll do " 
 
 Even then Bill was rapping at her door. She flung 
 her cloak over one bare shoulder and called to him 
 to enter. She met his grave eyes with a smile. 
 
 "Dear old Bill why so solemn?" 
 
 He straightened up. "I was thinking, May, that's 
 all I don't get a chance to often but downstairs 
 
 waiting for you " he stopped. She watched 
 
 him.
 
 Colt Shows His Colors 201 
 
 "Yes," she prompted. He shrugged. 
 
 "I was thinking that life has a deuce of a way 
 of teasing a man hasn't it? Dangling a bunch of 
 grapes above him until he makes the supreme effort 
 to get them only to find they are sour." 
 
 She hid her alarm and slipped her arm through 
 his. "You're working too hard, Bill that's all that 
 ails you if you don't stop before long, you'll be 
 quoting Dante's Inferno to me !" 
 
 His face somewhat tense, relaxed and she turned 
 him around. 
 
 "Look at me," she commanded. "Tell me I am 
 perfectly enchanting and utterly ravishing or I 
 shall scream!' 9 
 
 Suddenly he swept her to him. 
 
 "You're a witch," he whispered roughly, "a black 
 and white witch." 
 
 She lay for a minute in his arms, then freed her- 
 self, panting. 
 
 "Heavens my hair " she gasped. But her 
 
 eyes were hard. She could call him to her by that 
 age-old appeal she felt vastly relieved. 
 
 "Are you ready?" she asked. 
 
 He nodded and she glanced back once more at her 
 mirror she smiled boldly at herself this time 
 triumphantly. 
 
 "Forward march," she sang out gaily, then: "Do 
 try to be adoring, Bill, dear; all Bethel will be 
 watching tonight to see how you act."
 
 2O2 The Road of Ambition 
 
 He nodded: "I know," as he followed her to the 
 door. 
 
 Colt's mansion was ablaze with lights from all 
 over Bethel its windows might be seen gleaming 
 through the darkness. As one approached, the 
 house, boldly outlined against a pillow of blackness, 
 was not unlike a stage set startling urbanesque 
 the long avenue of giant poplars the smooth ter- 
 races rolling up to the very steps the spray of the 
 fountains, whose drops caught the flash of the lights 
 like diamonds flung skyward. 
 
 Bill drew his breath sharply, as their machine 
 paused behind a string of cars ahead, and stopped 
 for one quivering moment at the gateway. He 
 leaned toward May she, too, was stirred her eyes 
 were unnaturally bright and her quick breathing 
 reached his ears. 
 
 "A year ago I'd have said any man was a fool 
 who told me I'd be Colt's guest tonight." 
 
 "Yes," she whispered, "and tonight there's no 
 man here of such importance as Big Bill Matthews." 
 
 The car leaped forward beneath an archway of 
 dancing lights and crept up the long hill one of 
 the endless snake line which paused for an instant at 
 the white steps to disgorge its load. 
 
 Bill felt his heart leap faster a pulse throbbed 
 in his temples. The scene was like some rare wine 
 it fired one's blood it intoxicated the heavy sweet- 
 ness of the night air the beckoning lights the
 
 Colt Shows His Colors 203 
 
 words May had said to him went to his head like 
 strong drink they seemed burned on his brain 
 he repeated them softly. 
 
 "And tonight there's no man here of such import- 
 ance as Big Bill Matthews." 
 
 This, then, was the fulfillment the moment for 
 which he had striven so hard the day when these 
 aristocrats would welcome him among them would 
 make him one of them. "I said they would and 
 they have," he breathed heavily. 
 
 Yes he was one of them now his house and his 
 fortune equalled theirs but money had done more 
 than that for him much more it had given him 
 work work it had made it possible for him to 
 help his fellows he wasn't half through yet! 
 There were ten twenty times more to do for the 
 white-faced hands at the plant. What man would 
 not give his right hand for such a chance as was his ! 
 
 And now to cap it all he had a woman a 
 woman who would grace his house who would be 
 worthy the fortune he would lavish upon her. He 
 glanced at May. He was proud of her^martness 
 the poise of her little head a Newcomb, too a 
 Newcomb to marry Bill Matthews, whose mother 
 had spent all her days over a washtub ; whose father 
 gasped out his life at the Works. A year ago he 
 would have shouted at the suggestion that he could 
 ever touch the hem of such a woman's skirt and 
 now she was giving herself into his keeping for bet-
 
 204 The Road of Ambition 
 
 ter or worse oh, life was wonderful wonderful 
 and yet yet he was not satisfied. 
 
 He moved uncomfortably. What was the matter 
 with him anyway was there nothing that could fill 
 him with that warm sense of peace of rest? He 
 caught his lip between his teeth. "I'm a fool," he 
 muttered angrily, "a fool. ..." 
 
 The car brought up before the steps. A footman 
 swung wide the door. Bill leaped out and gave his 
 hand to May. She was nodding brightly to a group 
 who were just entering her hand still possessively 
 on his arm. He smiled down at her. Gad ! It was 
 something to be able to make her happy she had 
 had a hard time of it with Monty and that husband 
 of hers he was going to make her forget it for- 
 get everything but the joy of living and then all at 
 once it struck him as peculiarly humorous that he 
 should essay to teach her that which he had so sig- 
 nally failed to learn for himself. 
 
 "I've got to work harder," he growled fiercely, as 
 he followed her into a hall transformed into an 
 Egyptian temple. "It's work that keeps a man from 
 thinking. It's work that makes him happy noth- 
 ing else." And he was caught upon the whirl of 
 voices and out-stretched hands.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 DAPHNE VAN STEER 
 
 TV/TEN he knew and scarcely knew pushed their 
 way to his side with a word about his work 
 with an unmistakable eagerness to claim friendship 
 women women in costumes in evening gowns 
 young girls with baskets full of flowers^-of fav- 
 ors stared at him or smiled shyly whispering 
 eagerly. "There he is look quick the big one 
 over there." 
 
 He returned their smiles he bought their flow- 
 ers for his buttonhole, he answered their questions 
 briefly. May had passed her arm through his, she 
 stopped him now and then to call out to a friend 
 to chat with an acquaintance. But all all of them 
 gazed at him with that strange degree of awe as 
 though a seventh wonder had been suddenly dropped 
 in their midst. "And to think he was a laborer at 
 the Works a year ago," a shrill voice rang out in a 
 sudden lull. "Oh, I don't think it could have been 
 he," another voice replied. "He looks so like a 
 
 gentleman " and at the embarrassed ripple of 
 
 laughter the two guilty ones turned crimson and 
 fled. 
 
 205
 
 206 The Road of Ambition 
 
 But Bill laughed easily. "It's true, every bit of 
 it," he said. "Isn't it, May?" She did not answer. 
 She saw Colt coming toward them Cyrus P. Colt 
 himself. Beside him was Philip the son who was 
 too good for her. She nodded to Philip slightly and 
 Colt, senior, bowed to her and turned to Bill. 
 
 "Found your way here, did you ? shouldn't won- 
 der if anyone got lost in this maze of petticoats 
 never saw such persistent girls in my life or such 
 pretty ones, eh, Matthews?" 
 
 They flocked about them the flower girls wav- 
 ing their baskets vicing for more money from the 
 two men hoping for one of Bill's smiles the 
 smiles that made his face so remarkably boyish 
 his eyes so young. 
 
 "Run along," shouted Colt, waving his hand, 
 "run along, every one of you." Then he appealed 
 to his son, "Take them away, Philip," and the bevy 
 turned to him as Colt drew Bill and May after him. 
 
 "They tell me we've cleared twenty thousand 
 already," he grunted; "most of it by subscription 
 but Bethel's pouring out money great night this, 
 Matthews they have no more cause for complaint, 
 have they?" 
 
 Bill looked at him quizzically at the man feared 
 and hated by so many underlings. Colt was a good 
 six inches shorter than he and Colt was not a small 
 man but there was a slight stoop to his shoulders 
 from counting money Bill decided with grim
 
 E>aphne Van Steer 207 
 
 amusement "Can't bend over a pile of gold forever 
 without getting a crook in your back," he told him- 
 self. Colt spoke affably. 
 
 "After the tableaux and dancing, I want you and 
 Mrs. Larabee to join us in the supper room." 
 
 May flushed with eagerness. "How nice, we'd 
 like to so much," said she; and with a bow Colt left 
 them stopping now and then to shoo away a group 
 of chattering girls who forced their wares on him 
 to speak to a man rarely to a woman to give a 
 command. Bill watched him, smiling. 
 
 "And so that's the Big Chief we were in terror 
 of," he mused. "If the men could only realize that 
 Colt is a human being just as they are two ears, 
 a nose and mouth and a body that burns and 
 
 freezes and bleeds just as theirs does By 
 
 George! if they could get that through their heads, 
 how quickly his tyranny would be at an end." 
 
 May, half hearing and wholly absorbed in the 
 excitement of the moment, nodded and led him on 
 through the crowd and wherever they passed a 
 whisper like a breath followed them "There he 
 goes that one head and shoulders above the rest 
 yes isn't he a regular giant? but so good-look- 
 ing " 
 
 Bill did not seem to hear. He had never before 
 seen so wonderful a sight he had never before 
 moved in such an atmosphere of extreme wealth and 
 fashion at the theatre he had glimpsed these exotic
 
 208 The Road of Ambition 
 
 women awaiting their carriages May was one of 
 them but he had never before seen them thus at 
 home these gay young matrons these flower-like 
 girls these queenly dowagers with gowns as low 
 and figures as svelte as their daughters yes, and 
 granddaughters. 
 
 May was chatting to a girl in flaming orange 
 the girl talked gaily, her head flung back and her 
 white teeth flashing but her eyes were on Bill. 
 
 "May," she said, "I haven't met your man yet 
 I'm dying to we all are." May turned to Bill. He 
 thought there was a flash of annoyance in her eyes. 
 
 "This is Mr. Rogers' daughter, Rosalie," she 
 said. "Little Rosalie Rogers who is quite grown 
 up now." 
 
 "Oh, quite," said the girl, "and so thrilled at meet- 
 ing a real celebrity." She held out her hand. Bill 
 took it and smiled. 
 
 "Tell me," she cried eagerly, "tell me about it 
 I mean how you began to think of discovering your 
 process I'm simply dying to hear " 
 
 May patted the girl's hand. "We can't stop 
 now," she said sweetly, "you nice, enthusiastic kid- 
 die I wish we could." 
 
 "I know you do," sighed the orange girl, but her 
 smile was for Bill. "Please," she said to him, 
 "please do come back you haven't bought a thing 
 from me have you? I'd love so to hear all about 
 it."
 
 Daphne Van Steer 209 
 
 May drew him away. 
 
 "What a pretty child," he remarked to her. May 
 shot him a quick glance. 
 
 "Child!" she snapped. "She's been out three sea- 
 sons and is trying her best to land a husband." 
 
 It wasn't like May this retort. Bill studied her 
 face, but her lips were curved sweetly and her eyes 
 were guileless. 
 
 "Dear old Bill, taken in by a bit of fluff I'll have 
 to marry you soon to rescue you from Bethel's baby 
 vampires," she sighed. Then she gave a cry. 
 
 "The fashion show that's what I must see, of 
 course come on," and she hurried to a white door 
 guarded over by two small flaxen-haired pages. 
 
 It was Colt's music room turned into a model 
 theatre. The seats were already filled. The stage 
 a raised platform was hung with a startling cur- 
 tain a futuristic effect of blue and gold pomegran- 
 ates on a background of deep purple. 
 
 The buzz of conversation was high pitched ner- 
 vous the women's voices floated lightly above the 
 low rumble of the men's. At first glance it seemed 
 as though every seat were taken, but at Bill's en- 
 trance a man leaped to his feet. It was Pattison. 
 And the pretty little woman at his side, who was 
 desperately fighting approaching old age, was his 
 wife. At his whisper she, too, rose. 
 
 "Do sit here," she called to them. "We'll all 
 move up." Pattison had reached Bill's side.
 
 21O The Road of Ambition 
 
 "You're coming to Colt's supper afterwards, 
 aren't you?" he asked with lowered voice. 
 
 Bill nodded. May was tugging at his arm. 
 "Some one has slipped in two chairs for us there in 
 front, Bill see, close to the stage hurry, or they'll 
 be gone." 
 
 Bill hesitated. There were several matters he 
 would like to run over with Pattison now was a 
 good time Pattison urged him eagerly. 
 
 "Let Mrs. Larabee have my seat you and I'll 
 go outside and smoke. Blamed nonsense dragging 
 men here it's bad enough to pay for the clothes 
 without having to look at them! Come on, Mat- 
 thews." 
 
 Mrs. Pattison smiled her mirthless smile she 
 had heard somewhere that laughter brought lines 
 she had never been known to laugh. 
 
 "Yes, run along, Patty," she urged. "Mrs. Lar- 
 abee can squeeze in here." 
 
 But May shook her head. 
 
 "They've placed those seats for us we really 
 should take them besides, Mr. Matthews wants to 
 stay I know, don't you, Bill?" 
 
 He was about to reply negatively when he felt 
 the pressure of her fingers on his arm a touch 
 no more but in an instant he had caught her mean- 
 ing. What a boor he was planning to run off with 
 Pattison and talk business of course, she wanted 
 him to stay wasn't she showing him off to Bethel
 
 Daphne Van Steer 211 
 
 what had he been thinking of! He laughed, as he 
 turned to Pattison. 
 
 "You couldn't drag me away," he said, with an 
 affectionate glance at her. "See you later." 
 
 May flashed a smile at him and moved down the 
 aisle her chin well up, her shoulders back. Bill 
 smiled to himself he wouldn't hurt her for the 
 world he wished for one swift moment that she 
 attracted him irresistibly that he could not tear 
 himself from her because of the spell she cast over 
 him then he shook his head that sort of thing 
 one read about in books did not happen outside of 
 their covers his relationship with May was a much 
 more comfortable thing those gusty passions never 
 lasted burned themselves out it was far better to 
 admire a woman immensely than to love her per- 
 haps after all he did love May how was one to 
 tell? His way of loving and another man's was 
 bound to differ there were moments when she 
 thrilled him when the nearness of her body her 
 clinging arms and red lips sent his pulses leaping 
 of course he loved her but he wished to goodness 
 she had let him have a minute or two with Pattison 
 before the supper. 
 
 They had reached the seats and even as May 
 dropped into one of them the lights grew dim and 
 the heavy curtains parted. She laid her hand over 
 his the hand on which the ruby gleamed dully, like 
 a red eye.
 
 212 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "You lamb," she whispered. "I sha'n't keep you 
 here through the long, stupid thing we'll escape 
 after the first few exhibits." 
 
 So she did understand. He patted her hand and 
 smiled then remembering she had particularly re- 
 quested him to be adoring, he closed his fingers over 
 hers, she moved closer to him, her arm touched his. 
 The fragrance of her hair reached him, his fingers 
 tightened over hers. Of course he loved her dear 
 little May 
 
 "Look," she was crying eagerly. "Isn't Betty 
 Welch too cunning for words?" 
 
 Betty Welch the tiny daughter of one of Bethel's 
 foremost bankers clad as a woodland nymph, 
 darted from behind a papier mache rock blew a 
 wealth of kisses to her delighted audience and 
 clapped her dimpled hands. Immediately the stage 
 was plunged into darkness, then the lights flashed 
 up, revealing the interior of a smart dressmaking 
 shop. A little play began to unfold itself a bride- 
 to-be greeted enthusiastically by her friends in the 
 audience entered and chose her trousseau with 
 many a sidelong glance at the adoring youth in the 
 front row. One after another bewitching model 
 was paraded before her. 
 
 Bill moved uneasily after all it wasn't the sort of 
 thing a man would enjoy he smiled to think of 
 himself there Big Bill at a fashion show. He won- 
 dered, with a grin, what the boys would say. He
 
 Daphne Van Steer 213 
 
 glanced at May. She was leaning forward eagerly 
 her cheeks flushed noting with that microscopic 
 skill of women, the cut and texture of each gown dis- 
 played. 
 
 He felt immensely relieved at her absorption he 
 could slip back to his problems to the delightful 
 contemplation of how much might be accomplished 
 with the twenty thousand dollars in hand. Building 
 could be started at once twenty thousand. . . . 
 
 They were clapping wildly. Bill, brought back to 
 his surroundings by the outburst of noise, looked 
 about him with amused interest. It was one of the 
 things that amazed him most the warm enthusiasm, 
 the almost childlike eagerness with which these sur- 
 feited darlings of the gods greeted their pleasures. 
 Surely they had seen just such shows a hundred times. 
 It was rather nice, he thought, that they were far 
 from being jaded fools they were believed to be. 
 
 They were exclaiming extravagantly leaning to- 
 ward one another eyebrows raised, lips parted. 
 
 "Isn't she wonderful? isn't she gorgeous? I've 
 never seen her look half so lovely never " 
 
 He found more amusement in watching them than 
 in the pet of society who for the moment was manni- 
 kin suddenly 'they burst into a storm of applause. 
 
 "Superb !" bawled a rosy-cheeked old man behind 
 him. "Good girl, Daphne! You look like your 
 Grandpa Van Steer," and he clapped noisily and 
 stamped his feet.
 
 214 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Bill's heart leaped to his throat. His body stif- 
 fened as from an electric shock. Daphne Van 
 
 Steer He was conscious of a sudden weakness 
 
 a trembling he who was so strong he wanted 
 to turn his head with all his soul he wanted to turn 
 his head and yet he could not. . . . 
 
 May was tapping his arm with her fan. "Bill," 
 she whispered, "for goodness' sake sit around 
 what will people think of you?" 
 
 He did glad of an excuse. Still he could not 
 raise his eyes. But he had to. He simply had to. 
 If the pounding of his heart would only cease. He 
 wondered if May could hear it. ... ! He looked 
 up, and saw before him the woman of his dreams. 
 He could not tear his eyes away he was as one 
 turned to stone the world was rocking he saw her 
 through a haze. 
 
 In a gown of filmy tulle a transparent cloud 
 kept from floating entirely away by the black straps 
 on her delicately molded shoulders, she paraded 
 saucily before the enraptured audience. He 
 noted with a fierce delight that his mental picture of 
 her had been correct yet he had never attributed 
 that mother-of-pearl whiteness to her skin or that 
 eager light to her green eyes he had never seen 
 her lips smiling so warmly, so frankly he had not 
 remembered that her hair was so like a skein of pure 
 gold. 
 
 Over the footlights the velvet-clad pages were
 
 Daphne Van Steer 215 
 
 handing her sheafs of flowers. The bride-to-be 
 pouted a trifle and glanced reproachfully at her 
 stricken suitor. But the old man behind Bill ap- 
 plauded vociferously. Bill Heard the quick whisper 
 that ran from lip to lip. 
 
 "From Phil Colt. He's simply mad about her." 
 
 A woman on his left went a bit farther. "He's 
 there morning, noon and night." 
 
 He wheeled about and glared at her, but she re- 
 turned his look with cool amusement. Philip Colt ! 
 he stormed, though his lips were mute that worth- 
 less son of a slave driver Philip Colt and that 
 Goddess 
 
 "No!" he heard himself saying, "no it can't be 
 true!" 
 
 "What?" asked May, then promptly forgot her 
 question in the thrilling excitement of seeing a bas- 
 ket of roses borne up the aisle to the popular Miss 
 Van Steer. 
 
 "She'll need a dozen cars to get them home," 
 laughed the crowd. 
 
 But Bill did not laugh he was wildly jealous 
 consumed with fury because no flowers of his were 
 among those which Daphne, helpless and protesting, 
 endeavored to carry from the stage tormented at 
 the thought that she would thank another for the 
 blossoms that idiot of a Colt. . . . 
 
 He scowled darkly scowled, when in answer to 
 the shouts and stamping she emerged once more
 
 216 The Road of Ambition 
 
 from behind the curtains ran to the footlights and 
 nodded brightly at the sea of faces. 
 
 "Speech !" shouted someone eagerly, but she shook 
 her head in sudden panic retreated, and the curtain 
 fell. 
 
 "Well," gasped the old man behind Bill, "she's 
 certainly the reigning queen of Bethel." Bill wanted 
 to turn and grasp his hand, but a woman's voice cut 
 in. 
 
 "Just think what a duck of a hostess she'll make 
 when when she marries Phil. There'll be no end of 
 parties. What a mistress for Colthenge!" 
 
 "Just like her grandfather," mused the old man. 
 "Gad! I wish I were young, then Phil wouldn't 
 have a ghost of a chance!" 
 
 May was smiling, but Bill rose. "Let's get out 
 of here," he said thickly. She opened her lips to 
 protest, but something in his face arrested her and 
 she followed him without a word. Once they had 
 reached the ballroom she questioned him. 
 
 "What was it, Bill? you looked as though you 
 had seen a ghost." 
 
 He stared at her with unseeing eyes. "Nothing," 
 he answered brusquely. "Nothing at all." 
 
 The music crashed into a syncopated melody it 
 cleared the atmosphere it lifted the tension. After 
 all, what right had he to think of her? He was in 
 love with May he had assured himself of it earlier 
 in the evening he told himself so now with a fierce-
 
 Daphne Van Steer 217 
 
 ness that would brook no argument from that tor- 
 menting inner voice yes in love with May en- 
 gaged to marry her to make her mistress of his 
 home what did he mean by getting cold and 
 hot and angry and jealous at the sight of Daphne 
 Van Steer was that playing the game squarely? By 
 Jove ! he was in love with May he'd like to see any- 
 one deny it and all the while that cruel inner voice 
 taunted him jeered at him. "She'll wear Colt's 
 flowers," it said. "Her smile will be for him." 
 "Well, it was for me once," sprang to his lips, but 
 he crushed it down with an oath. 
 
 "Let's dance," said May, impatiently. He took 
 her in his arms. She smiled up at him. 
 
 "We'll give a big house warming as soon as we 
 move in," she was saying, "and ask all these peo- 
 pie." 
 
 Ask the Colts Philip and his new wife! Bill 
 danced well as a rule, although he detested it but 
 at the stabbing thought, he lost step, trampled on 
 May's foot stopped short red with embarrass- 
 ment. May's irritation was tinged with pain. 
 
 "For heaven's sake," she snapped, "can't you keep 
 time?" 
 
 He was very humble. "I'm sorry sorry as the 
 deuce. I'm a fool, May, a clumsy fool. Let's watch 
 the others." 
 
 He drew her to one side of the ballroom, and 
 dropped down beside her on a divan. An old ad-
 
 218 The Road of Ambition 
 
 mirer caught sight of her, and came forward with 
 an offer to dance. She accepted gratefully and left 
 Bill crushed and ashamed. He watched her whirl 
 from sight. Then he rose. He would have time 
 enough to return before the dance was over but he 
 had to walk to move about to do something. He 
 wished he were at the Works again that there were 
 rush orders to fill that he might plunge into the 
 task with his whole soul until he dropped from sheer 
 weariness too tired to think. 
 
 "So you've played hookey, too," said a voice 
 cheerily. It was Pattison. Bill looked up with re- 
 lief he did not know he could feel. "Mighty slow 
 show," grunted Pattison, "although the little Van 
 Steer girl did stir things up some distinctly in the 
 peach class, isn't she?" 
 
 Bill resented his tone his words. "Come on," 
 said Pattison, unconscious of his danger, "Let's have 
 a drink."
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 MAY'S EYES ARE OPENED 
 
 TI^HEN they came back to the ballroom the 
 * * music was dropping into its closing bars. Bill 
 turned to Pattison. 
 
 "I'll run over and find May." 
 
 Pattison, intensely genial and slightly flushed, 
 slapped him on the shoulder. "My wife's in the far 
 corner bring Mrs. Larabee over there." Bill 
 bowed, turned away, then stopped short. . . . Di- 
 rectly in his path was a crowd of men a crowd of 
 men clamoring for dances and in their midst stood 
 Daphne. She wore the daring, bizarre costume of 
 the Fashion Show and to her corsage she had 
 pinned a bunch of flaming roses. At her side hov- 
 ered Philip Colt, a light of annoyance in his eyes at 
 the persistent requests of the others. 
 
 The scene was indelibly printed on Bill's mind 
 photographed there so that in after years he was 
 always able to recall at will the girl in her gown of 
 green chiffon her beauty enhanced by her excite- 
 ment, flushed and radiantly lovely her eyes full of 
 eager amusement at the men's struggles to outbid 
 each other of Philip, like some dark shadow at 
 219
 
 22O The Road of Ambition 
 
 her side, his face clouded with a lover's jealousy. 
 
 Bill determined to go to go at once even then 
 the music was rising to its last grand crescendo it 
 stopped amidst a thunder of applause and rose 
 once more in a reluctant encore. There was yet 
 time for what? . . . His mind worked in flashes. 
 He swung about. "Pattison!" he called. Pattison, 
 already several paces away, turned at the sound of 
 his name and ambled back amiably. Bill tried to 
 speak very calmly, to keep the tremor from his voice. 
 
 "Miss Van Steer . . . " he said swiftly; "I'd like 
 to meet her. ..." 
 
 Pattison glanced at him shrewdly. "You hit, 
 too?" he chuckled. "Hang it! if she doesn't bowl 
 over every man in sight !" 
 
 Bill did not resent this. He did not resent any- 
 thing that would permit him to grasp her hand to 
 take her attention from that crowd of yapping 
 youths. Pattison was drawing him forward. 
 
 "Daphne," he sang out, "behold the conquering 
 hero This is the famous Mr. Matthews." 
 
 The men moved back with frank curiosity in 
 their gaze and that same degree of awe even 
 Phil's face lost its petulance in a flash of interest 
 but Bill did not see them, he saw nothing but the 
 smile that touched her lips and the warm welcome 
 in her eyes as she held out her hand. 
 
 "I'm so glad to meet you," she was saying ; "you've 
 done so much for Bethel ..."
 
 May's Eyes Are Opened 221 
 
 He dropped her hand in an instant, but he tingled 
 from head to foot he struggled for a trite phrase 
 he knew they were waiting for him to speak he had 
 never felt this way before tongue-tied awkward 
 Pattison came to his rescue with his elephantine 
 humor: 
 
 "He wants to ask you to dance, Daphne, but he 
 doesn't dare." 
 
 Bill turned to him gratefully: 
 
 "That's just about it," he nodded. 
 
 Daphne smiled again. "Of course I'll dance with 
 you," she said. "I shall be proud to the very next 
 one," and the youth to whom she had promised the 
 waltz sulked in silence. Bill bowed himself away. 
 He was afraid to stay afraid of himself Pattison 
 still lingered about the bright flame, bantering with 
 the ease of long friendship. 
 
 "Lucky boy," he called out to Bill as he retreated. 
 Bill nodded and tried to smile. 
 
 He could not return to May he didn't dare meet 
 her torrent of questions he was afraid of what his 
 answers might be he wanted to think and, curi- 
 ously enough, thought was pushed aside crowded 
 out by the pounding of his heart and the leap- 
 ing of his pulses as he imagined himself guiding 
 her. Then he turned on himself angrily what sort 
 of man was he to ask one woman to marry 
 him and to make a fool of himself over another 
 was there no honor in him? did he not owe it to
 
 222 The Road of Ambition 
 
 May to tear himself away from this girl who had 
 stamped her image on his heart? That was it 
 
 tear himself away go before it was too late 
 
 He turned on his heel his face grim his lips tight 
 shut it was only fair to May to little May. . . . 
 
 The music swung into the plaintive measure of the 
 waltz the 'cello called softly the violin coaxed 
 the rhythm of the music beat like a quickened pulse. 
 Bill paused. After all just this once perhaps 
 never again so long as he lived would this chance 
 come no he told himself it musn't he would 
 see that it didn't he would sell the house on the hill 
 they would go away from Bethel far away 
 But just this once. . . He made up his mind in a 
 flash he thrust the crowd aside. He found Daphne 
 waiting, surrounded by her admirers; she came to 
 him at once, with a little smile of welcome; he drew 
 her after him, then she rested her hand in his he 
 hoped he could dance he hoped he could keep time 
 hoped with all his soul he would not make a fool 
 of himself there before all Bethel but he was acute- 
 ly conscious only of her cool fingers in his own 
 the nearness of her head to his shoulder a great 
 
 light smote him This, then, was being in 
 
 love. . . . 
 
 They danced well together. Bethel's matrons 
 raised their lorgnettes and eyebrows. U A handsome 
 couple I wonder how dear May likes it." 
 
 May didn't. Having captured the old admirer,
 
 May's Eyes Are Opened 223 
 
 she thought to tease Bill by his presence, and had 
 returned with him triumphantly in tow only to find 
 Bill gone. She was uneasy a minute a picture of 
 Rosalie Rogers' provocative smile rising but see- 
 ing Rosalie whirl past on the arm of an elderly beau 
 she settled back content he had met some men, no 
 doubt still she blamed herself a trifle uncomfort- 
 ably for having left him alone. Then her partner 
 gave a low whistle 
 
 "By Jove, there's Daphne dancing with your man 
 stunning couple, aren't they?" 
 
 May's spine shot to an intent vertical the color 
 leaped to her cheeks her eyes were little balls of 
 fire. 
 
 "Where?" she snapped. She did not need to ask. 
 They swung into her line of vision she noted with 
 fury that they kept step perfectly Bill did not seem 
 awkward or bungling but his face, above all, she 
 observed it was radiant. At something Daphne 
 said he laughed with boyish eagerness. May bit her 
 lips and clenched her little hands until the nails cut 
 into the flesh so that was it. . . Daphne Van 
 Steer. . . She was not content with snapping up 
 Philip, but she must needs try to capture Bill, too. 
 May's face was white with the raging fury within 
 with the effort to suppress it she told herself that 
 she'd marry Bill that very night if it became neces- 
 sary then the ugly thought flashed upon her that he 
 might not agree something in his face told her so.
 
 224 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Her partner blundered on unconsciously : "Daphne 
 comes to his shoulder. Gad! he's a giant, isn't he 
 everyone's looking at them. Wonder if he knew her 
 before?" 
 
 The same query flashed across her mind. She 
 remembered suddenly Bill's perturbation at the Show 
 after Daphne had appeared was it possible? 
 But she laughed the thought to scorn she had been 
 with him every instant it was simply the infatu- 
 ation of the minute. . . . Stop it! she would stop 
 it if it took her right hand. . . .
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 THE WOMAN OF HIS DREAMS 
 
 A I ^HE music whispered plaintively Bill answered 
 * Daphne's questions in a voice a trifle husky he 
 marvelled that he answered them at all, he did not 
 half hear what she said what he noted in his intense 
 absorption, was the proud tilt of her chin the green 
 light in her eyes the smooth beauty of her brows 
 he replied with an effort more obvious every min- 
 ute. She noticed it anxiously. She wondered if it 
 were difficult for him to talk while dancing she re- 
 solved to settle it. 
 
 "We can't chat very well this way, can we? I 
 wonder if we couldn't sit out the rest?" 
 
 He leaped at the suggestion. She was a trifle re- 
 gretful. He danced so well and she was pleasantly 
 conscious of admiring glances cast at them she had 
 never seen a man so big so well set up. He fol- 
 lowed her like one in a dream he was not at all 
 sure it wasn't a dream perhaps he would wake to 
 find himself once more in Factory Street. 
 
 The decorators, with an eye to aiding proposals 
 of all kinds had erected tiny alcoves, had screened 
 them with flowers and left them in delicious semi- 
 225
 
 226 The Road of Ambition 
 
 darkness. They found one of these. Daphne sank 
 down on a bench, her chin in her hand. 
 
 She turned puzzled eyes on him. "Do you know," 
 she said, "I've been wondering where I've met you 
 before." 
 
 He did not answer, and she continued thought- 
 fully: "I can't seem to remember it's stupid of me, 
 isn't it? but when I saw you to-night I felt sure it 
 
 wasn't the first time " Then she straightened 
 
 up. "I must have mistaken you for someone else 
 we couldn't have met, could we and yet ..." 
 
 He nodded briefly. "You're right. I've spoken 
 with you just once before." 
 
 "I knew it!" she cried. "I can't recall when or 
 how I was certain of it. Where was it?" she 
 asked suddenly. "At the club ?" 
 
 He shook his head, he did not trust his voice in the 
 exhaltation of the thought that she remembered him ! 
 That would have been enough for him yesterday 
 an hour ago but now now he wanted to force 
 her to recall it all bit by bit. She caught his intention 
 and laughed. 
 
 "Do I have to guess?" He nodded, and she puck- 
 ered her forehead. "No not at the club or at 
 parties, or any place like that. Maybe it was on 
 some visitors' day at the Works you were super- 
 intendent, weren't you? Or was it draftsman?" 
 
 He grinned. "Draftsman! I never saw the in- 
 side of a drafting room until after I'd left the plant.
 
 The Woman of His Dreams 227 
 
 As for being superintendent I'd sooner have be- 
 lieved I could be Emperor of India !" 
 
 She was suddenly confused afraid she had 
 offended him had made an error. "I thought I 
 understood that you used to be there of course, if 
 I've made a horrible mistake and you were a director 
 or something " 
 
 "Director!" he shouted, "Director! The nearest 
 I came to being a director was when I was made 
 foreman of the cogging." 
 
 "You ... a foreman ..." 
 
 He nodded eagerly. "Yes, foreman of the best 
 gang in the Works, and before that a day laborer 
 for fifteen years and before that a little tyke 
 who used to help my father stoke furnaces." 
 
 "Help your father stoke furnaces? ..." She 
 stared at him blankly stared at his hands his well- 
 kept nails at his clothes his face. He did not see 
 her. His eyes were full of the past his heart sing- 
 ing a song of joy. . . . He had never dreamed this 
 day this hour would come when he could tell her 
 of his life. He heard her voice cool, direct, per- 
 sistent : 
 
 "But you say you met me spoke with me I 
 don't see how " 
 
 He drew from his pocket his watch. From its 
 chain swung a piece of money. "See this?" he 
 asked. 
 
 She nodded.
 
 228 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "Do you remember it?" 
 
 She shook her head, her eyes on his face. 
 
 He leaned forward eagerly, his voice vibrating in 
 the deep organ notes of a great moment: 
 
 "Do you remember a Sunday a Sunday morning 
 you were in a motor a long, gray car caught in 
 a rut your chauffeur couldn't move it " 
 
 She sprang to her feet, her face a trifle pale her 
 hands twisting her handkerchief nervously. "Yes 
 yes now I know ! Now I remember ! It was you I" 
 Then she shrank from him suddenly. "But it 
 couldn't have been it simply couldn't have been!" 
 
 He was speaking eagerly: "It was queer meeting 
 you that day I had just heard I might be rich I'd 
 never crossed the tracks before and when I saw 
 Bethel proper saw the houses on its hillside, I 
 made up my mind I'd own one I made up my mind 
 that I'd make myself fit to live in it to have those 
 people for my friends and then I found you I 
 knew who you were I had heard your name a hun- 
 dred times as the granddaughter of the Van Steer 
 who started the Works you were as high above me 
 as the stars in the sky just about as remote I had 
 never seen anyone half so beautiful I had never 
 seen anyone half so proud and I knew I knew 
 
 from that moment " He stopped short. What 
 
 was he saying? What in God's name trembled on 
 the tip of his tongue! He was engaged to May 
 May Larabee. . . .
 
 The Woman of His Dreams 229 
 
 She was staring at him. "There was another man 
 with you and a girl a girl in a dreadful red dress" 
 he winced at that, but she continued breathlessly, 
 as though something impelled her to speak against 
 her will: "You pushed Johnson aside and lifted 
 the car yourself it didn't seem at all hard for you 
 to do." Suddenly she shuddered. "But you're not 
 the same you can't be the man who did that was 
 a giant a great, uncouth, insolent giant and you 
 you " 
 
 He studied her curiously. "Did you think I was 
 always this way?" 
 
 She avoided his eye. "I didn't know I had heard 
 so little about you just a word here and there 
 naturally, I supposed as long as you were here as 
 long as you were engaged to May Larabee, that you 
 were that you had always belonged to her set." 
 
 He laughed a bit at this. "Her set! I? Up to 
 a year and a half ago I was a factory hand working 
 from seven in the morning until seven at night 
 with no prospect of a raise beyond foremanship. I 
 couldn't speak English correctly nor read much 
 nor write decently. The fact that I'm square I owe 
 to my mother, who spent all the days of her life 
 over a washtub and to my father, who died at the 
 side of the furnace he tended a life-time. What I've 
 learned since the money came is due to May Lara- 
 bee; before she took me in hand I was the man you 
 met on the road I'm the same man still, but I know
 
 230 The Road of Ambition 
 
 enough to say aren't instead of ain't and that's 
 about the only difference it doesn't seem to get 
 you anywheres, though this culture the only rea- 
 son I'm glad I've acquired this much is that I seem 
 to be able to help the boys a bit more aside from 
 that I reckon I'd be happier if I'd stayed the man 
 I was when I met you. I shouldn't wonder." 
 
 She stared at him, her breath coming quickly. She 
 did not know what to say. She did not know what 
 to do. Here was a man whom she had paid for a 
 service rendered who had accepted her money 
 a man she had regarded as an inferior a few months 
 ago. Did he expect her to greet him as an equal 
 simply because by a lucky twist of fortune he was now 
 rich? She had to say something. He was waiting, 
 his face tense, his jaw set. 
 
 "I'm sure it's very interesting," she ventured. 
 Then stopped. He was smiling but she saw that 
 his eyes were hurt she had seen just that look in 
 the eyes of wounded animals. She did not wan* to 
 make him suffer she wondered resentfully that she 
 should have the power of doing so. She wanted to 
 run away to escape the awfulness of the situation 
 but she could not. He was waiting, . . . She 
 moved toward him and at that moment both Philip 
 and May Larabee entered and took possession of 
 the scene. 
 
 Philip nodded to Bill and strode to Daphne's side. 
 
 "This is our dance," he growled. She gasped with
 
 The Woman of His Dreams 231 
 
 relief and took his arm. She glanced at Bill. He 
 had not moved. He did not seem to see May or 
 Philip or even herself. He still stared through 
 rather than at her with that curious half-smile hov- 
 ering about his lips and the pain in his eyes. May 
 greeted Daphne warmly, then she laid her hand on 
 Bill's arm. Seeing her, he recovered himself 
 abruptly. 
 
 "I'm going home," she announced; "I have such 
 a headache." Bill followed her silently and Daphne 
 looked after him with distress. 
 
 "I've been a beast!" she cried; "but what on earth 
 could I do?" 
 
 May did not address Bill directly until after they 
 had left the Colt house. She made her excuses to 
 Colt, senior, she spoke of her concern at having to 
 go at having to drag dear Bill away. Pattison 
 tried to persuade her to remain to corner Bill and 
 ask him why the dickens he didn't take her home and 
 come back. But Bill was strangely unresponsive. 
 Pattison concluded with a shrug that they had had a 
 row after all, what could one expect of May Lar- 
 abee? by Jove, perhaps she had seen Bill and 
 Daphne together the idea was too delicious to keep 
 to himself he spread it broadcast. "Gad ! but she'll 
 never let him hear the end of it Newcomb temper, 
 you know poor Bill !" 
 
 May settled herself in the machine, tucked the
 
 232 The Road of Ambition 
 
 robe under her knees, and waited. Of course he 
 would say something, now that they were alone 
 would attempt an apology which she would accept 
 after a time but he did nothing of the sort. In- 
 stead, he sat erect his lips tightly shut his face 
 rather grim, she thought. 
 
 She waited a reasonable length of time she 
 tapped her foot impatiently then she decided on the 
 best method of attack, and said softly: 
 
 "Why, Bill, I didn't know you knew Daphne Van 
 Steer why didn't you tell me?" 
 
 He smiled at her but even in the darkness she 
 could see that his eyes did not smile she had seen 
 them look just that way when he was making up his 
 mind to do something something tremendous. 
 
 "It happened a long time ago when I was at the 
 Works I was able to do a slight service for her 
 for which she tipped me liberally that was all." 
 
 But May was intensely alarmed alarmed and 
 angry and determined. So that was it. He had not 
 forgotten Daphne perhaps he had thought of her 
 often planned to see her and now now it had 
 happened she resolved to be careful oh, so care- 
 ful but her voice was sharp. 
 
 "That's positively romantic, Bill it's rather too 
 bad that she's engaged to Colt, isn't it and that 
 you're engaged to me?" 
 
 "Don't, May, not now," he whispered through 
 white lips.
 
 The Woman of His Dreams 233 
 
 She was glad that matters had taken this turn 
 he was hard^hit, of course but he had evidently 
 decided to go through with things as planned she 
 had said enough she did not dare anger him not 
 yet ! She moved closer, dropped her hand lightly on 
 his, her voice was thrillingly soft, her eyes like bright, 
 hard little diamonds. 
 
 "Do you know, Bill, when I saw you together 
 I was afraid for a moment she is younger than I, 
 
 and so beautiful " She paused. He did not 
 
 speak, and she 'hurried on: "I was afraid. . . It 
 was silly of me, of course, wasn't it? But she has 
 so much to make her happy so much admiration 
 so many friends and now Colt, with all his millions, 
 at her feet and I I have only you." 
 
 She felt him stiffen beneath her light fingers felt 
 him brace himself to rise to her appeal. He mois- 
 tened his lips: 
 
 U I won't fail you, May," he said slowly; "I won't 
 fail you. ..." 
 
 She settled back with a little sigh she had really 
 managed that rather well. She snuggled down com- 
 fortably and yawned. It was too bad to have had to 
 miss the Colt supper I
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 DISILLUSION 
 
 and his court left the dancing mob below 
 and adjourned to the Jacobean suite the su- 
 perb chain of rooms of which the "State Dining 
 Room" was the crown jewel. It was a hallowed 
 spot, set apart for the exclusive use of the Big Four. 
 Around its board were held banquets to visiting po- 
 tentates across its table their wives entertained the 
 wives of neighboring money kings in the shelter 
 of its four walls their daughters had announced their 
 engagements and made their bow to society. It was 
 an unwritten law that it was never to be used except 
 for an occasion of importance. And the guests who 
 crowded into it eagerly were all agog with curiosity 
 certain that Colt was about to inform them that 
 Daphne, after much dangling, had at last taken his 
 son the catch of Bethel. 
 
 They were all there. Decker, pinched and ner- 
 vous his wife who had grown plump on the Bethel 
 Steel dividends and their cub of a son, Archie, 
 who was fast acquiring an avoirdupois equalling that 
 of his mother. Pattison had left his wife's side to 
 hover with a group of men about Rosalie Rogers. 
 234
 
 Disillusion 235 
 
 She was enjoying her little triumph stood close to 
 her father, whom she affectionately dubbed "Nat," 
 and who looked ridiculously like an elder brother. 
 
 "Aren't we ever going to eat?" she complained, 
 with a glance at the tempting table. 
 
 "We're waiting for the blushing couple," averred 
 Pattison. "Wonder what's keeping them." 
 
 Colt wondered, too with a heavy scowl he shot 
 commands at his servants and pulled out his 
 watch. 
 
 "Seen Phil?" he snapped at Decker, who was la- 
 boriously measuring out the drops of his digestive 
 medicine. Decker, startled, dropped the bottle and 
 an angry red stain crept over the cloth. "Ells- 
 worth!" gasped his wife. The servants sprang for- 
 ward and Decker, mopping his face, shook his head. 
 "No," he mumbled. "Haven't . . .'" Then the 
 confusion gave way to poignant regret. "That's the 
 last drop of pepsin I have," he mourned. 
 
 The suppers were always served on the instant 
 set. They were stupendously dull affairs which the 
 younger set dreaded and escaped from as soon as 
 possible. Colt presided over them, invariably turn- 
 ing the conversation into the channels of his own 
 choosing heavy discussions of stock transactions 
 made endurable only by a spicy undercurrent of gos- 
 sip far more thrilling than usual because of the 
 great caution required to keep voices lowered and 
 faces grave. Invitations to the suppers were pearls
 
 236 The Road of Ambition 
 
 of great price coveted by the Great Uninvited of 
 Bethel who yearned for a chance to sit about the 
 Round Table and wondered enviously what baccha- 
 nalian sports were indulged in behind the great 
 carved doors by the Inner Circle. 
 
 Colt never drank after twelve, but Rosalie ecstatic- 
 ally spied bottles of iced wine. 
 
 "Nothing short of a wedding could make corks 
 pop here!" she cried. "Why under the sun can't 
 we start?" 
 
 Colt paced angrily then he wheeled on his 
 guests. 
 
 "Sit down," he commanded. "I'll find out what's 
 keeping Phil." 
 
 "I know," said Rosalie, pertly, a cigarette between 
 her red lips. "I saw him a-courting Daphne in one 
 of those nice little cubby holes downstairs, and 
 judging from the sounds I heard, it was a rather 
 stormy proceeding." 
 
 Colt frowned and Rogers nudged his daughter to 
 silence, but she only laughed. "Phil was red and 
 wrathy and Daphne cool and haughty. What the 
 dickens could they have been scrapping about?" 
 
 Pattison, seated opposite, roared at her insolence. 
 She was the only person who did not in the least 
 fear Colt's anger. She smiled at Pattison brightly 
 and rattled on. "I do hope they've made it up and 
 will be here soon I'm starving, aren't you, Patty? 
 and Nat's mouth is watering for the wine." Her
 
 Disillusion 237 
 
 father glared at her the rest of the table listened, 
 entranced, to her chatter. "Really, if Daphne knew 
 that I was pining to ask her how she got that nice 
 Matthews man away from May Larabee long 
 enough to dance with, I know she'd hurry. I heard 
 her call Phil a brute isn't that too silly, think of 
 poor, dear Phil being a brute to anyone, least of 
 all " 
 
 "Rosalie I" shouted her father. She turned inno- 
 cent eyes upon him, and upon Colt's purpling face. 
 "Oh, dear," she pouted, "I can't see what you're all 
 so solemn about. Thank goodness, Patty's here. 
 He always laughs at my jokes." 
 
 Pattison did, then he pointed to the door. "There 
 they are no by Jove ! It's Phil all alone !" 
 
 Rosalie turned swiftly to regard Colt's son. She 
 noticed in a flash his dark scowl his flushed face. 
 
 "Well, what under the sun have you done with 
 Daphne?" she shot at him before her father could 
 stop her. 
 
 "She's gone home," muttered Phil, without rais- 
 ing his eyes. 
 
 There was an instant's silence, then Colt, senior, 
 rapped out sharply: 
 
 "Gone home ! You mean " 
 
 Phil nodded. "I'm off to bed," he said shortly 
 and turned on his heel. No one spoke. Rosalie and 
 Pattison exchanged glances which Pattison's wife, 
 seated far down the table, caught with cynical amuse-
 
 238 The Road of Ambition 
 
 ment. Colt rose heavily. "I'll be back directly." 
 
 He went to his telephone cabinet. His hand 
 trembled a trifle. His voice was hoarse. He asked 
 for a number, then cleared his throat. 
 
 "That you, Van Steer?" he demanded. "Great 
 speech of yours. Wanted to tell you so myself. I 
 knew you were the man to do it." Then he pro- 
 ceeded with a degree of caution : 
 
 "Daphne home yet?" She wasn't and Colt 
 breathed more easily. "She'll have some news for 
 you tonight, Judge some big news we tried to 
 keep her here but she wouldn't stay said she 
 wanted to race home and tell you. Yes, it's all right 
 between her and Phil you can tell her you knew it 
 all the while yes yes I'm immensely pleased. 
 And, oh, about that money forget it. She'll need 
 every penny of it dressmakers tailors milliners 
 hairdressers and what not! You can tear up 
 the note yourself if you like next time you come here 
 oh, it's nothing absolutely nothing of course, 
 if she had turned Phil down I should have been 
 ugly. The Colts are used to having their way but 
 it's come out splendidly splendidly. Oh, she's 
 there, is she? Well, tell her I send her my love." 
 
 He hung up slowly. His face was flushed. He 
 did not return at once to his guests he sat with his 
 hand clinched rather as though he were crushing 
 something in his powerful grip. Then he flung back 
 his shoulders and sauntered in to them.
 
 Disillusion 239 
 
 Van Steer looked up from the telephone to see 
 his daughter swiftly crossing the room to his side. 
 Her face looked strangely white and tense. 
 
 "Daddy!" she cried, when she saw him, "I'm so 
 glad you're home." 
 
 Van Steer rose and took her in his arms. 
 
 "Tell me all about it," he said tenderly. He 
 could not conceal the proud ring to his voice. "Not 
 that I haven't known it all the time." 
 
 She started back from him. "Known what? 
 how could you know, when it only happened to- 
 night." 
 
 He laughed at her, but he wondered a little that 
 she seemed so deeply moved. He took her face be- 
 tween his hands and smiled down at her. 
 
 "And so it happened tonight! Come! Come! 
 It's time you stopped playing with me and told me 
 the truth. I've guessed it, though and Colt himself 
 just called up to say it was all settled !" 
 
 "Colt just called up all settled what are you 
 talking about?" 
 
 He humored her. "You tell me in your own way, 
 from the beginning." 
 
 She spoke rapidly, breathlessly. "Tonight when 
 Philip and I were alone he began again I sup- 
 pose he thought he had a right to he had sent me 
 a great many flowers and then I think he had 
 been drinking a little. You know he had promised 
 he would not ask me again I told you that but he
 
 240 The Road of Ambition 
 
 did I tried to stop him to get away but he 
 wouldn't let me he caught me in his arms he 
 oh I can't bear to think of it." She covered her 
 face with her hands and began to sob softly. Van 
 Steer did not move he continued staring at her 
 stiffly, awkwardly as though he had not heard she 
 raised her head at length and met his gaze. 
 
 "As soon as I knew realized that he was a 
 beast I fought with him I freed myself some- 
 how and then I ran of course, he couldn't follow 
 me there in front of all those people so he let me 
 go. Someone called my carriage for me and here 
 I am." Then as if aware for the first time of the 
 heavy silence, she glanced at her father. "What is 
 the matter?" she asked quickly. "What's hap- 
 pened?" 
 
 He shook his head in a dazed fashion. "I don't 
 understand. Colt telephoned. He said you and 
 his son were to be married that you had come home 
 to tell me." 
 
 "That I had come home to tell you that! . . . 
 Oh, you couldn't have heard right you couldn't 
 have what did you say to him?" 
 
 Van Steer did not answer her, instead he shot 
 another question at her. "But you have been en- 
 gaged to Philip?" 
 
 "I to Philip ! Didn't I tell you I'd never marry 
 him, never so long as I lived!" 
 
 "But he I " Then he groped his way to
 
 Disillusion 241 
 
 his chair. "I don't understand," he whispered, sink- 
 ing down. She stared at him. 
 
 "What was it Colt said? You haven't told me 
 all. I was afraid of him afraid of your going 
 there it happened then, didn't it? The day he sent 
 for you?" 
 
 Van Steer rubbed his hand across his eyes and 
 spoke dully. "Colt said it was a secret that you 
 yourself would tell me later. I was not to mention 
 it and so I haven't. And just before you came in 
 he telephoned me that it was all settled and now 
 you say it isn't true none of it " 
 
 Suddenly he pushed her away. 
 
 "My God!" he cried. "What am I to do I What 
 am I to do !" 
 
 She stared at him. "What difference does it make 
 what he said what can he hope to have gained by 
 telling you it isn't as though he had lent you money 
 
 or " Something in her father's face stopped her 
 
 short. She drew her breath in sharply. "So that's 
 it and from Colt. ..." 
 
 Her father bowed his head. "He said it would 
 buy your trousseau I had so little he made every- 
 thing easy " 
 
 She shook her head impatiently her face white 
 as marble. 
 
 "Yes yes he would of course it's a trap a 
 trap to force me to marry Philip. How much did 
 he lend you?"
 
 242 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Van Steer's lips moved. "Five thousand," he 
 whispered. 
 
 "You still have most of it, haven't you?" 
 
 He shook his head. "There were so many debts 
 it seemed like a godsend Colt said there would 
 be more whenever I wanted it I couldn't know that 
 he that you " 
 
 "Oh, but you should have told me this I" she cried. 
 "You should have told me this!" She paced the 
 room restlessly, swiftly, then she stopped before her 
 father. He was hunched in his chair, his head bent, 
 his fingers plucking at his lips. He looked like a 
 very old man. 
 
 Her eyes filled with quick tears and she flung her 
 arms about his shoulders. 
 
 "Don't worry !" she said gently. "I'll get it some- 
 how find something left to sell or or marry 
 someone who will pull us out of this hole I'd rather 
 take a day laborer than Colt's son." 
 
 She stopped short and laughed a little as though 
 the idea struck her as rather humorous. "No," she 
 amended half to herself, "I don't believe I'd do that 
 either," and she laid her cheek against her father's 
 head. "There must be some other way." 
 
 May did not again broach the subject of Daphne. 
 When they reached home she said a few words about 
 the abominable pain in her head, which she remem- 
 bered she was supposed to have told Bill not to sit
 
 Disillusion 243 
 
 up late as he was tired out, then ran lightly up the 
 stairs, leaving him to himself for what she knew 
 would be a fight to the finish. 
 
 He started after her almost as though he in- 
 tended calling her back. He did not want to remain 
 below alone. He thought, a trifle resentfully, that 
 she might have sensed his unhappiness and stayed 
 to cheer him up to help him through the dark hours 
 before him. And yet that was unreasonable. Why 
 should he suppose she could know what he was pass- 
 ing through she must not guess it never she 
 must be forever shielded from the knowledge that 
 he had discovered too late he loved another. If he 
 were only free ! free to bring Daphne to her knees 1 
 
 He flung himself up and down the room with 
 great strides, his hands clasped behind him. So he 
 wasn't good enough for her once she learned his 
 origin ! somehow it had never occurred to him that 
 she might take the news that way. No one else had. 
 All the men and most of the women of Bethel knew 
 his history. They had accepted him, but she shrank 
 from him because he had stoked furnaces he'd like 
 to make her sorry for that there was but one way 
 to do it one glorious way to make her love 
 him, as he loved her to make those proud lips be- 
 come tender, pleading to press his own against 
 them when they surrendered that would be a 
 triumph! that would be snatching a star from 
 heaven and bringing it to earth !
 
 244 The Road of Ambition 
 
 He paused before the window, breathing fast, his 
 hands clinched. If he were only free ... 1 
 
 He flung open the window, as though the very air 
 stifled him, he leaned far over and drank in the 
 sweet, cool of the night. It brought him back to 
 his senses with a shock that set him to trembling 
 it soothed his overstrung nerves like a balm. 
 
 He sank down in a chair and gripped its arms 
 fiercely he'd have it out with himself then and 
 there and settle it he ground out angrily, between 
 his teeth settle it, so that he would never again be 
 tortured by visions of what might have been his had 
 he won the woman of his dreams. 
 
 He forced his mind to think, when his senses cried 
 aloud to him he went over each minute of his inter- 
 view with Daphne reviewed it coldly save that 
 his hands shook and his heart beat like a drum in his 
 ears. In the first place the Colt man was to marry 
 her every one said it Colt had family position, 
 and she as the last Van Steer had chosen this man 
 for her mate. How yielding her body had felt in his 
 arm! . . . How cruelly tempting her soft white 
 throat and the splendid sweep of her shoul- 
 ders ! . . . He called himself up with a jerk. 
 
 Secondly, he resumed, with grim intensity, she had 
 shown her aversion to him the instant he had told the 
 truth about himself it was her blood speaking 
 what in heaven's name had he expected her to do? 
 wasn't it enough that he had danced with her once
 
 Disillusion 245 
 
 hadn't he sworn that would satisfy him? Why did 
 the mere thought of her send the color flaming into 
 his face? 
 
 Thirdly thirdly, there was May. May, to whom 
 he owed everything who had suffered humiliation 
 for months because he had not known enough to ask 
 her to marry him who had been forced to broach 
 the subject herself. He had told her he would make 
 her happy he had even planned an alluring future 
 for them both a future full of work and accom- 
 plishment and friendship if only he had not seen 
 Daphne or seeing her had known enough to avoid 
 her. Still, he argued with himself, how could he 
 have guessed that the mere touch of her fingers 
 would kindle his soul to sudden flame that was it 
 a burning desire to go to her to be with her 
 to make her care for him in spite of the fact that he 
 was not of her world if he was only free ! . . . 
 
 He sprang to his feet with horror would his 
 mind ever travel in any save that eternal circle a 
 circle that spelled unhappiness for himself for 
 May he wished May were there beside him. He 
 felt sure that the pressure of her little hands might 
 awaken in him the honor which seemed suddenly 
 swept away he wanted her he would tell her what 
 he was passing through no, that would never 
 do he would make her talk of casual things of 
 their plans of their hopes just the sound of her 
 voice would bring him back to himself.
 
 246 The Road of Ambition 
 
 He hurried up the stairs. He remembered, with 
 a sharp stab, how he had raced to her door to tell 
 her he was to make her happy as long as she lived 
 he wondered if men other men he met and talked 
 with passed through such crises as these he won- 
 dered if Pattison, for instance or Decker He 
 
 had reached the top of the stairs and paused a min- 
 ute collecting himself, steadying his nerves. 
 
 Then he found himself listening to a voice. It 
 was May's and yet he was not sure it was so stri- 
 dent so full of venom. He listened rooted to 
 the spot, unable to move, his fingers on the handle 
 of the door. 
 
 "I tell you he's wild about the woman didn't 
 I see his face when he danced with her do you 
 think I'm a fool!" 
 
 Monty's voice interrupted with a tormenting 
 drawl, "Well, what of it? You can't prevent him 
 falling in love with another woman, can you ? take 
 my advice and tie him up hand and foot before he 
 gets wise to you " 
 
 She answered him shrilly, "Shut up, Monty. I've 
 handled this business pretty well, haven't I? I'm 
 not going to let him get away from me now, am I ? 
 Do you think I put up with a factory hand for noth- 
 ing? I told you before he came that I was going to 
 marry him and I will! Once we're back from the 
 altar he'll find he's lucky to have any of his own 
 money to spend."
 
 Disillusion 247 
 
 Bill staggered back. His face was white. He 
 groped his way down the stairs. He stumbled back 
 to his room he had just left and dropped into the 
 chair beside the window. He was still there when 
 day broke.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE AFTERMATH 
 
 1\/TAY rose early to join Bill at breakfast. It was 
 
 A her theory that there was nothing like giving 
 a man a taste of what he might reasonably expect 
 afterwards as a steady diet, and however unpleas- 
 ant the task, she made it a point to be on hand in a 
 dainty negligee to ppur his coffee. The fact that 
 she knew herself to be at her best in billowy chiffon 
 and lace may have had something to do with it. 
 
 After they were married, she assured herself re- 
 peatedly, when slipping reluctantly from beneath the 
 warm covers to stand shivering under the sting of a 
 cold shower after they were married, she'd stay 
 in bed as long as she pleased all day if she chose 
 but now 
 
 She selected a filmy gown of shell pink, with its 
 froth of lace at neck and wrist. She bound her black 
 hair tightly about her small head she never wore 
 boudoir caps her head was entirely too well 
 shaped. Then she surveyed herself in the glass. 
 
 "Even Daphne couldn't look better at eight A. 
 M.," she yawned, and flinging open her door, ran 
 downstairs. 
 
 248
 
 The Aftermath 249 
 
 Bill was awaiting her in the breakfast room. She 
 nodded to him brightly and re-arranged the roses 
 on the table. It was one of her beliefs that a woman 
 who played with flowers and children appealed to 
 a man as charmingly maternal she never failed to 
 make the appeal when possible. She dropped into 
 her place and waved her hand to his chair. 
 
 "Fruit's all ready," she called then glanced up. 
 He was standing in the doorway, his hands in his 
 pockets. His face rather terrible, she thought, hag- 
 gard that was it with blue shadows under his 
 eyes and an ominous tenseness about his jaw. 
 
 "Bill!" she cried, leaping to her feet, "Are you 
 ill? You look you look " 
 
 "No," he said slowly. "No, I'm not ill. I haven't 
 slept, that's all." 
 
 "Oh !" she cried, "you poor boy ! Let me get you 
 some coffee or or " 
 
 He shook his head. "I don't want anything. I'd 
 like to talk with you that's all." 
 
 She stared at him, a sudden fear gripping her 
 heart. "Oh, Bill!" she gasped, "has anything gone 
 wrong? Has the money you invested " 
 
 He smiled. "Not that it's something else." 
 
 She dropped back and hid the relief in her eyes by 
 lowering them. She wished to goodness he would 
 hurry and get it over with. It was so unpleasant and 
 inconsiderate to start a discussion before having had 
 a mouthful of food to sustain one.
 
 250 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "May," he said heavily, "I won't beat around the 
 bush. There's no reason to. I heard what you said 
 about me last night." 
 
 She sprang to her feet. "You heard !" Then 
 
 she recovered herself and laughed. "Oh, my fiend- 
 ish temper makes me say such monstrous things! 
 You mustn't mind me, Bill. I never mean a syllable 
 of them ! never " 
 
 He shook his head impatiently, as though she 
 were interrupting a speech he had rehearsed a hun- 
 dred times. 
 
 "I heard you last night. I didn't intend to listen. 
 I was coming to ask you if you'd mind sitting up a 
 bit with me. I was having a rocky time of it down 
 here alone, and I wanted you. I was just about to 
 knock when I heard your voice I stayed, when I 
 found out it was I you were talking about and now 
 I want to tell you that I'm going away " 
 
 "Going away!" she shrieked, "going away! You 
 can't do that ! You can't do that ! You've promised 
 
 to marry me " She caught her breath, and her 
 
 eyes widened. "I'll sue you that's what I'll do 
 
 I'll ruin you ! I'll " She was trembling and 
 
 sobbing, her face distorted with fury. He regarded 
 her with a cool impersonal interest that maddened 
 her it was as though she were a curious specimen of 
 something he had heard about but never before en- 
 countered. 
 
 "I've been thinking it over. At first I decided to
 
 The Aftermath 251 
 
 leave at once but I couldn't do that, and now I'm 
 prepared to pay you any amount in reason for your 
 services to me in the past. If you do not accept it 
 if you insist upon dragging this matter into court I 
 shall have to repeat what I heard you say. If you 
 are sensible you will take the money and go away." 
 
 Her face was livid. "Take the money go 
 away!" she screamed. "Do you think I am a fool! 
 Do you think I am blind ! It isn't what you heard 
 me say that's making you do this ! I know what it 
 is yes, I do ! It's that Van Steer girl. You want 
 her now you want to dangle your fortune and your 
 house and your motors before her eyes you who 
 couldn't use a knife and fork decently until I showed 
 you how!" 
 
 He gripped the back of a chair. His fingers were 
 white. "Take care !" he rapped out, "I haven't been 
 a gentleman very long, and if you drag her 
 name into this I'll treat you exactly as the men I came 
 from treat a woman who's proved false to them!" 
 
 She shrank from him but her lips would not be 
 stilled. "You think she'd take you you think she'd 
 put up with what I have! I tell you she wouldn't 
 look at you if she knew where you came from ! She's 
 stone ! she's ice ! But that's not all ! She's as bad 
 as I am yes, she is for she hates Phil Colt, but 
 she's marrying him for his money all the same! 
 You think you can buy her, don't you? You think 
 because you have money you can have any thing
 
 252 The Road of Ambition 
 
 you please J Well, you'll find she'll have you 
 ordered off the place when she discovers that you 
 and your father and his father before him were poor 
 ignorant folks who didn't know enough to write their 
 own names!" 
 
 The chair back snapped beneath his fingers and he 
 flung it from him. He took one step toward her, 
 then his clinched hands dropped to his side, his white 
 face relaxed a trifle and he straightened up. 
 
 "I will mail you a check for any amount you 
 name in reason," he repeated slowly. "You can 
 send my things to my office," and he was gone. 
 
 May stared after him. She did not move for a 
 long while it was as though at a signal every nerve 
 in her body had suspended action. Even her power 
 to think coherently seemed suddenly to have deserted 
 her. She remained inert immovable. The maid 
 venturing in, bent over her. 
 
 "Are you feelin' sick, ma'am?" she whispered. 
 
 May moistened her lips. "All right," she man- 
 aged to say, "leave me alone." 
 
 The girl tiptoed out and May turned her head 
 slowly. Bill's grape fruit in its cup of ice stood 
 awaiting him. His tumbler was filled with cold 
 water, his chair half drawn out. A slow smile curved 
 the corner of her lips an ugly smile. She leaned 
 confidently toward the empty chair as though he were 
 there, then she spoke. 
 
 "I'm not through with you yet," she said with a
 
 The Aftermath 253 
 
 little laugh and nod. "Not through with you 
 yet. . . . !" 
 
 As far as the public were concerned, the engage- 
 ment between May Larabee and Big Bill Matthews 
 was broken off by mutual consent. A few of the 
 older members of the Old Families clung to the be- 
 lief that May, being a Newcomb, found she couldn't 
 possibly marry a man of the people when it came to 
 a showdown. But Bethel's younger set, knowing 
 May for what she was, speculated wildly on the 
 cause of the break. In fact, all Bethel hummed with 
 the news which the crisp little column in the Courier 
 announced. There was no answer to the thousand 
 and one questions on every lip, for the Newcomb 
 house was closed over night and the old caretaker 
 installed knew only that May and Monty had left 
 for parts unknown. As for Bill, he lived in an ante- 
 room of his dingy office a room rigged up with 
 a cot and bureau, until the palace on the hill should 
 be ready for his solitary occupancy. 
 
 The matrons of Bethel with marriageable daugh- 
 ters, passing the huge pile of stone and marble, 
 gazed upon it covetously and returning home pep- 
 pered Bill with invitations to their dinners and 
 dances. He did not accept, however. He replied to 
 their impassioned telephones briefly the new row 
 of workingmen's houses was going up on Factory 
 Street and he had to be there himself night and day
 
 254 The Road of Ambition 
 
 to see that the job was well done Bethel's matrons 
 were discouraged, but they did not despair. 
 
 Mack noticed the change in him. Noticed it and 
 shook his head. 
 
 "It don't do to work all the time," he cautioned, 
 but Bill did not heed him. He rejoiced in his work. 
 It gave him no time to think to remember the vile 
 torrent of words that had fallen from May's lips 
 the distorted hatred of her face the sudden aver- 
 sion in Daphne's eyes. 
 
 His faith in these women of his new world was 
 cruelly shaken shaken from its very foundation. 
 These creatures, with soft, modulated voices which 
 were in themselves a caress said things they did 
 not mean and meant things they did not say how 
 was one to trust them ? Was that playing the game 
 squarely? No, he did not believe in them. They 
 were all alike. And he retreated into a shell of stern 
 indifference, which rebuffed all attempts at friend- 
 liness. 
 
 Pattison alone invaded his office and gossiped 
 about things in general. He had a keen curiosity 
 to find out just what it was that had changed Bill. 
 He could not believe it was the break with May 
 a man should offer a prayer of thanks for that! He 
 was determined to ferret it out. Something had 
 hurt the big man incalculably. What the dickens 
 could it have been? 
 
 And because he saw his one salvation in work
 
 The Aftermath 255 
 
 in gruelling unsparing work Bill plunged anew 
 into the whirl. There were problems arising each 
 day no longer the old one of filling orders at the 
 Works never had its laborers turned out such 
 quantity and quality of steel as under the new sys- 
 tem. The imminent question was one of shipment 
 it was that which started in Bill's mind the plan 
 which resulted in forming the Bethel Transatlantic 
 Company a company which came to astound the 
 world by its very magnitude and daring. It began 
 simply. Bill had asked Pattison to drop around 
 had something to talk over with him, and Pattison, 
 knowing Bill's summons meant business, came. 
 
 It was an evening in fall. Pattison found Bill at 
 his desk, still deep in work. 
 
 "Well," he said, "what's up?" Bill dismissed the 
 yard superintendent who had brought his report for 
 O. K., told Mack to admit no one and pushed back 
 his chair. 
 
 "A little proposition I've framed up. Just want 
 to run over it with you." 
 
 Pattison settled himself to listen and Bill waved 
 his hand toward a pile of papers Before him. "See 
 them," he said, "stack of complaints that's what 
 they are about supplies being held up kicks all 
 around more of them every day. I've been get- 
 ting so many that I've tried to figure out something 
 to meet the difficulty. I've smoked over it and slept 
 over it and I've come to one conclusion "
 
 256 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "Which is ?" prompted Pattison. 
 
 "Which is that the thing to do is to charter some 
 old boats, and have our own little independent trans- 
 atlantic delivery service which can ply back and 
 forth, no matter who's at war with who." 
 
 Pattison reflected. "There was some talk about 
 it, but we concluded we'd always let the foreign 
 lines take care of our stuff, so why not continue?" 
 
 Bill hitched his shoulders impatiently. "There's 
 a good reason. The best in the world. Aren't the 
 powers abroad calling in more and more of their 
 ships every day they're probably grinning at us 
 by this time for a lot of fools who are content to 
 sit back cheerfully and let them kill our business for 
 us instead of getting out and lining up a bunch of 
 vessels of our own." 
 
 "Well, how do you know you could get hold of 
 any boats that would carry a good sized cargo ?" 
 
 "I know, because I've been in touch with some 
 ship brokers who have tipped me off to some lake 
 steamers. In fact, I'm going to take a run up to 
 the Great Lakes and look them over as a starter." 
 
 Pattison considered. "Why not build your own 
 boats?" 
 
 "Can't. The conditions in the shipyards are such 
 they couldn't lay down a ship inside of two years." 
 
 Pattison whistled. "Looks as if you're not the 
 first one to think of this. What are you going to 
 do next?"
 
 The Aftermath 257 
 
 "If the proposition looks good to me, I'm going 
 to form a company that will make the whole world 
 sit up and take notice provided I can get one thing 
 I'm after. No, I won't tell you yet. Once the com- 
 pany's formed, and I find the Lake boats all right, 
 I'll bring them down the St. Lawrence and put them 
 in shape?" 
 
 "How do you mean?" 
 
 "Knock out their condensers and boilers. Can't 
 use fresh water engines in salt water." 
 
 "That's right," nodded Pattison. "Displace- 
 ment's greater, isn't it? You'll have to change the 
 plimsoll, too. It'll take more cargo in salt." 
 
 Bill nodded. "They tell me the boats have a big 
 cargo hold made for carrying freight, and we can 
 board up the state rooms." 
 
 "They sell by tonnage, don't they?" 
 
 "Yes," said Bill, "so much per gross ton." 
 
 "What do they run by, gasoline?" 
 
 "No, crude oil engines full rigged ships you 
 know, and the engine allows them to get in and out 
 of port without being towed reduces towing 
 charges right there just start your engine up and 
 chug into any harbor." 
 
 Pattison was intensely interested. "By George I 
 you certainly have gone into the thing, haven't you?" 
 
 Bill nodded. _ "It's been coming a long time and 
 from the looks of things now the sooner I put it 
 over the better."
 
 258 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "What do you figure doing? Buying the ships 
 outright?" 
 
 Bill shook his head. "Not at present. Price is 
 too high. You can charter right now for about a 
 hundred thousand a month the owner stands the 
 expense of the crew and feeding and the company 
 puts up the money for coal, port charges, insurance 
 and wharfage." 
 
 "Look here," said Pattison. "Care if I come 
 along when you run up to the Lakes?" 
 
 Bill smiled. "I was going to ask you to. I'm 
 leaving in a few weeks." 
 
 "Right!" said Pattison. "There'll be no trouble 
 about raising capital for that little scheme it lis- 
 tens good." 
 
 "I haven't told you all of it," Bill concluded, "but 
 I will as soon as I line it up." 
 
 Pattison sprang up. "Look here, I've got to 
 meet Decker for dinner at the club why not come 
 along and slip it to him?" 
 
 Bill shook his head. "Not yet; besides I've got 
 a lot of work to clean up here tonight." 
 
 Pattison lakl his hand on his shoulder. "Don't go 
 it too hard, old man ruins your disposition and 
 digestion. Think of Decker and his tablets think 
 of Colt and his grouch 1" 
 
 Bill smiled. "If hard work's responsible for 
 that, here's where I retire." 
 
 Pattison shook his head. "It isn't hard work
 
 The Aftermath 259 
 
 that's souring Colt so much as it is that scrapegrace 
 son of his. He's in no end of hot water just now." 
 
 Bill started. "Why, I thought I understood he 
 was to marry " 
 
 Pattison laughed. "Oh, haven't you heard? I 
 mean about Daphne Van Steer throwing him and his 
 millions down flat ! Just like her, too. Plucky little 
 thing. Hasn't a cent to her name the old man let it 
 slip through his fingers and in spite of it she won't 
 marry the only son and heir of the Colts. I call that 
 ripping!" 
 
 Bill stared at him. "Thrown him over! You 
 mean that in spite of all his money she has sent him 
 away!" 
 
 Pattison grinned with delight. So he had struck 
 it at last. It was Daphne the man wanted. 
 
 "I don't know what the dickens she's going to do 
 now. She has had everything all her life, but it 
 seemed the Judge has become mixed up in some way 
 with Colt. Owes him a lot of money. I'd like darn 
 well to help her out, but she won't take it from me, 
 says she'll work. Isn't it immense the way women 
 like her face a thing no squirming look it smack 
 in the eye even if it's a knock out!" 
 
 Bill sprang to his feet and whirled on Pattison, 
 his eyes filled with a warm, glad light the tired 
 lines the hardness about his mouth had vanished 
 as though by magic. He grinned boyishly. 
 
 "I've been a fool, Pattison!" he snouted, "a
 
 260 The Road of Ambition 
 
 fool and I've you to thank for proving it to me! 
 God bless you!" and he grasped his hand eagerly. 
 
 Pattison stared. "I don't get you," he lied, "but 
 whatever it is, you're welcome. Coming?" 
 
 Bill smiled. "No, I can't. I'll look you up to- 
 morrow, but not " 
 
 "Oh, all right," nodded Pattison as he picked up 
 his hat, "but remember that all work and no 
 play 
 
 Bill laughed. "I'll remember," he promised. 
 
 Once outside Pattison shook his head. "Oh, 
 Lord!" he sighed, "I suppose I should have stopped 
 him. It's a shame to think what she'll do to him ! 
 Bill Matthews and Daphne Van Steer! Why 
 won't men with heads on their shoulders know their 
 own limitations? Poor Bill!" 
 
 Bill remained a long while at his desk, his chin 
 on his hand. Then he rose slowly. He squared his 
 shoulders as a diver does before a plunge. He drew 
 on his coat and switched off the light. He was not 
 precisely sure just what he intended doing it did 
 not much matter he was like a man who is drugged 
 who floats blissfully on the crest of the waves of 
 thought he would let his footsteps guide him. He 
 was so happy he wanted to shout and laugh and 
 sing. Instead, he plunged his hands in his pockets 
 and ran down the stairs. He was not surprised to 
 find himself moving toward Bethel proper. He won- 
 dered if she would be at home. . . .
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 MAN PROPOSES 
 
 IT) ILL mounted the steps of the Van Steer home 
 *"* slowly. Even as he noted the beauty of its co- 
 lonial simplicity, he observed its genteel shabbinsss. 
 It needed paint badly, and yet, without it, it rose 
 stately and arresting. He rang the bell. An old 
 butler in dingy livery flung open the door. He hesi- 
 tated at Bill's impetuosity. He drew back mumbling 
 that he was not sure if Miss Van Steer was in. He'd 
 see. He admitted him grudgingly. There was a 
 quality about Bill which the old man resented, he 
 was too intensely alive too vital he had no busi- 
 ness to come to Judge Van Steer's. They had done 
 
 with energy there 
 
 He left Bill in the massive library, the handsome 
 room whose books had once been ranked among the 
 world's greatest volumes. Bill gazed about eagerly. 
 So this was her home. The place where she had 
 played at being grown up and had finally emerged 
 into the splendid creature he knew. It was like her 
 this room beautiful but cold but full of unex- 
 plored wonders its volumes containing tears and 
 
 laughter and warm, throbbing passions 
 
 261
 
 262 The Road of Ambition 
 
 On the table a cluster of golden rod reared their 
 yellow heads that was like her, too the unstudied 
 simplicity. May would have chosen sunset roses, or 
 white orchids, but golden rod. . . . 
 
 "Did you wish to see me?" Fie turned with a 
 guilty start to find Daphne behind him. He was 
 almost afraid she might read his thoughts. 
 
 She faced him gravely. He thought she looked 
 pale and very tired but her lips smiled cordially 
 and she held out her hand. He took it in an agony 
 of embarrassment. What could he say to her, to 
 this princess in her castle? He did not know how 
 to begin if only one did not need words if one 
 could but cast them to the four winds 
 
 She dropped in a low chair and nodded to another. 
 
 "I am very glad you have come, Mr. Matthews. 
 I don't know why you should or what your errand 
 may be, but it gives me the opportunity to say some- 
 thing I have been wanting to say for a long while 
 ever since that night " 
 
 He waited and she continued earnestly, her eyes 
 on the window behind him : 
 
 "You were kind enough to tell me a little about 
 yourself that evening. I don't know why you did. 
 I suppose it all came about through my recognizing 
 you, and after you had told me all, I I didn't 
 quite know what to say," she smiled at him. 
 "I had never met any one like you before and 
 I thought I supposed oh, what I want to say
 
 Man Proposes 263 
 
 is that I'm sorry I acted as I did and that I admire 
 you very much for all you have accomplished." Her 
 eyes met his, and she was smiling frankly now. 
 "There. Now you must tell me what you want. I 
 know you won't mind if I don't give you a great deal 
 of time because my father is not well, and can do so 
 little toward helping with the packing, so I " 
 
 "Packing!" he cried. "Are you going away?" 
 
 She nodded without meeting his eye. "Yes, I 
 think it best. Father's health ... so we're closing 
 the old house and " she stopped suddenly. 
 
 "But you're coming back?" he pursued. 
 
 She shook her head. "No, I don't think so. You 
 see we are selling the things we won't have any 
 place for them where we are going, and the house 
 is so large it would be foolish to keep it, wouldn't 
 it?" Again she paused, her head bent, then she 
 raised it quickly. "But here I am talking about my- 
 self and you haven't said a word, have you? Now 
 then, Mr. Matthews, what is it you want?" 
 
 He looked at her gravely she was so slight 
 so beautiful. She was fighting this battle so bravely 
 her kind of women always did thoroughbreds to 
 the backbone. He resolved on a desperate step. 
 "There is just one thing I want, Miss Van Steer," 
 he said slowly "and that is yourself." 
 
 She stared at him with startled eyes. "I don't 
 understand," she said at length. He leaned forward. 
 
 "I know you don't. I scarcely understand my own
 
 264 The Road of Ambition 
 
 courage in telling you this. I don't believe I would 
 dare except that I am afraid you may slip away 
 somewhere before I can say it. I started to tell 
 you that night. Then I stopped. I stopped be- 
 cause I was bound to May Larabee, and I had heard 
 that you were to marry Colt's son. It seemed then 
 that you were further away than ever and yet some- 
 thing told me that all obstacles would be swept aside 
 that we would come face to face this way some 
 day and that I would be able to ask you to become 
 
 my wife " He waited for her to speak but she 
 
 did not, so he plunged on boldly : "In spite of the fact 
 that my people have always worked for yours 
 that I am nothing to you but a laborer who has a 
 smattering of education in spite of that in spite 
 of everything I'm going to have you. Yes, I am. 
 You can't say no. You can fight against it any way 
 you choose, but you are the woman I want. And 
 
 what's more I'm going to make you proud to 
 
 bw 
 e 
 
 He stopped before the horror in her eyes. "How 
 dare you! she gasped. "How dare you say such 
 things to me!" 
 
 He smiled at her. He was not afraid now. No, 
 he was carried on by something that swept fear 
 aside. He wished he could take her in his arms, just 
 once. 
 
 She had leaped to her feet. "I want you to go !" 
 she was crying, her face scarlet. "I have done
 
 Man Proposes 265 
 
 nothing to let you suppose you could say could 
 think " 
 
 "You are going to marry me!" he cut her short. 
 "I always get what I set out to, and from the mo- 
 ment I saw you in your car I wanted you. I wanted 
 you first of all because you were the sort of woman 
 I felt I could never have because you would be an 
 ornament to the house I planned to build, because I 
 could be proud to have you beside me in the 
 motors I planned to own. But now I want you for 
 one reason and nothing this side of heaven will 
 stop my getting you. I want you because I love 
 you " 
 
 "Oh," she panted. "Oh !" then she burst 
 
 into tears, covering her face with her arm like a 
 little girl. He took a step toward her, then stopped, 
 his face white. 
 
 "I wouldn't make you cry for the world. I 
 wouldn't hurt you for all the gold in creation. I 
 don't want to frighten you. If you come to me I 
 swear I'll never touch you until you ask me to. 
 Never but you will and when you do when you 
 
 do! . . r 
 
 He stopped, but she did not speak; and turning on 
 his heel he left her. He did not dare remain another 
 instant. When he reached the door he looked back. 
 She seemed so little and alone in the cold shelter of 
 the great room. "Don't be afraid," he whispered, 
 "remember always I love you too well to hurt you."
 
 266 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Somehow he gained the street he tried to re- 
 member what he had said but he could not it was 
 all confused strange. 
 
 In the days that passed, his mind was in a state 
 of turmoil. For the first time in his life he was not 
 sure how to proceed. He was not sure of anything 
 save that he must let her know that he was in earn- 
 est that he wished to help her. A dozen times a 
 day he framed a letter to her that would explain his 
 outburst only to tear it to pieces. A dozen times 
 he lifted the receiver to speak the words that burned 
 on his lips but dared not. There were moments 
 when he was grimly amused at himself. He had be- 
 lieved that love was a state which existed in books 
 alone well, he was learning each day what it meant 
 to want a woman with one's whole heart and soul 
 to want her on any terms, so long as she came. . . . 
 
 Once he had caught sight of her in Bethel Proper. 
 Had hurried toward her with a thumping heart, but 
 she averted her head he was not sure she had 
 seen him not sure until the sweep of crimson that 
 flooded her throat and cheeks gave her away. 
 
 He wondered how under the sun he was to ap- 
 proach her! if there were only someone to inter- 
 cede for him ! Then as though in answer to his un- 
 spoken prayer, he remembered Pattison's words 
 her father was in money difficulties with Colt the 
 thing to do was to see Van Steer gain his confi- 
 dence.
 
 Man Proposes 267 
 
 He wasted no time. He learned from Pattison 
 that the Judge might be found at the Bethel Steel 
 Club, where he had gone in search of Colt. 
 
 Bill hurried around. Yes, a page assured him 
 Mr. Colt was there with Judge Van Steer. They 
 had gone upstairs he guessed they were in con- 
 ference. Bill brushed the boy aside. He knew that 
 Van Steer had come there for just one reason to 
 beg for mercy Colt would refuse and that was the 
 psychological moment to step in. 
 
 He found the room. He could hear Colt's curt 
 growl the words he did not catch, but he gathered 
 from the tone that Colt was ugly ugly and exceed- 
 ingly irritated. He waited impatiently for the inter- 
 view to end. It did. Rather more suddenly than 
 he had expected. Colt flung open the door. 
 
 "Don't come here again, understand," he was 
 snarling, when he caught sight of Bill. For an in- 
 stant his eyes narrowed but the moment's suspicion 
 was swept aside. "Well, Matthews," he said pleas- 
 antly, "want to see me?" 
 
 "No," said Bill, quietly, meeting his eyes squarely. 
 "Judge Van Steer." 
 
 Colt studied him a minute without speaking, then 
 he bowed. "He's inside." 
 
 Bill waited until Colt had begun to descend the 
 stairs he did not wish an eavesdropper then he 
 entered the room and slowly closed the door be- 
 hind him.
 
 268 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Van Steer was huddled in his chair. His face was 
 gray. His lips dry. He mopped his forehead with 
 nervous taps. Bill stood before him and the Judge 
 raised his eyes. They were bloodshot hunted. 
 
 When he saw it was a stranger he scrambled to 
 his feet. 
 
 "You you want Mr. Colt, don't you?" he began 
 hurriedly. u He was here a minute ago he " 
 
 Bill shook his head. "I've come to talk to you, 
 Judge," said he. 
 
 Van Steer hesitated. "I don't know you." He 
 wondered with fluttering heart what this big man 
 wanted of him. He wondered if he owed him 
 money. But the man was smiling and Van Steer, 
 miserable and ill at ease, waited. 
 
 "I reckon you know me, Judge," he said slowly. 
 "I'm Bill Matthews, of Bethel Steel." 
 
 The Judge peered up at him with anxious eyes. 
 "To be sure," he said. "My eyes are so bad I'm 
 afraid there's nothing I can do for you, Mr. Mat- 
 thews." He was pitifully anxious to get away 
 away from his bitter humiliation, but Bill was speak- 
 ing. 
 
 "Well, perhaps there is something I can do for 
 you," he said easily. "I thought so or I wouldn't 
 have come around." 
 
 "I don't see " broke in the Judge, but Bill cut 
 
 him short. 
 
 "It's this way. I can't help having heard a thing
 
 Man Proposes 269 
 
 or two in Bethel about your being tied up with a deal 
 that's going wrong. I'm not offering sympathy 
 nothing like that, but I've come here to say I want 
 to help you." 
 
 The Judge had drawn himself up, his thin cheeks 
 flushed. 
 
 "I can't see, sir, why you as a stranger should 
 suppose I would accept assistance from you!" 
 
 "You can, when I tell you that I am doing this 
 because I care for your daughter I want to marry 
 her that gives a man a right to come to a woman's 
 father in time of trouble, doesn't it?" 
 
 The Judge stared at him. "You say you care for 
 my daughter?" he repeated, then he shook his head. 
 "There must be some mistake, sir. I have never 
 heard her speak of you." 
 
 Bill smiled. "I didn't expect her to you see, my 
 people and yours are as far apart as the poles." 
 
 "Your people? I don't understand " 
 
 "Don't misunderstand me. I'm as proud of my 
 ancestors as you are of yours the only difference 
 is that mine worked as wage earners in the factory 
 that yours built and owned. Your daughter won't 
 overlook that fact." 
 
 "But there is nothing I can do if she " 
 
 "You're wrong there. You can. You can tell her 
 what she will not give me a chance to say you can 
 tell her that the one reason I want her is because she 
 is the only woman I ever have cared for. Because
 
 270 The Road of Ambition 
 
 I am certain that I can make her care for me 
 
 You can tell her that I want her now because she 
 is in trouble and it will be my right to shield 
 and help her you can tell her that as my wife she 
 will be absolutely free to live her own life until she 
 is content to give herself to me. My record is clean 
 I've worked hard all my life and I'm not 
 ashamed to come to her or to you " 
 
 He stopped suddenly. After all, what reason had 
 he to suppose Judge Van Steer would care there 
 were other men in Daphne's life. Had he aimed too 
 high was she beyond him? He flung himself to his 
 feet. 
 
 "Look here," he shot out passionately, "if you 
 loved a woman it wouldn't matter how you went 
 about it so long as you got her, would it? well, 
 that's about the size of it. I'm going to have her 
 and I want you to help me what's the answer?" 
 
 The Judge was staring at him he was amazed 
 bewildered but he was also impressed impressed 
 and carried away by relief. What in heaven's name 
 did Daphne want? Here was a man whose name 
 was on every lip a genius of finance a steel wiz- 
 ard a man who was a man ! 
 
 "I can promise nothing," he found himself say- 
 ing. "She has a mind of her own in these matters." 
 
 Bill's face flushed eagerly. "Then you will talk 
 to her tell her what I have said?" 
 
 The Judge bowed. "I see no reason why she
 
 Man Proposes 271 
 
 should not hear what you have just told me," and he 
 held out his hand. Bill grasped it warmly. 
 
 u Thank you," he cried boyishly. "Thank you." 
 
 Daphne was amazingly non-committal as she lis- 
 tened with flaming cheeks to her father's recital. 
 Then she turned on him. 
 
 "The man's impudence is monstrous if he 
 weren't an upstart if he weren't " 
 
 The Judge's thin face was pinched with anxiety. 
 
 "Well, what are we to do?" he demanded, queru- 
 lously. 
 
 She faced him. "I said I would work. Once 
 we're away from Bethel I shall find a place there 
 must be a hundred things for a girl to do." 
 
 "Yes, but you haven't thought what will become 
 of me all the long days that you are away from me, 
 have you? You haven't thought how I shall man- 
 age to exist in some little room in a lodging house 
 hour after hour alone I, a Van Steer you haven't 
 thought of that, have you ? Surely, Daphne, it's time 
 you considered someone beside yourself!" 
 
 "Someone beside myself!" she gasped. "Oh, 
 father!" then stopped short. The weak tears of old 
 age were coursing down his cheeks. 
 
 "Here is a chance an honorable chance, to save 
 us but you won't take it no, you'd rather rob me 
 of my home my books my very life do you 
 think I can live that way it's not as though I were
 
 272 The Road of Ambition 
 
 young I'm an old man and now now I shall 
 have to give up all this. It's too hard too hard." 
 
 She was breathing rapidly. It seemed as though 
 she could not bear to see him weep as though the 
 sound of his broken sobs would wrench her heart 
 suddenly she flew to him and flung her arms about 
 his neck. 
 
 "Don't don't!" she cried. "I'll do anything 
 anything to make you happy you shall stay in 
 Bethel you shall stay here. It would kill you to go 
 yes yes I know it would. I'll marry him do 
 you hear me, I'll marry him. He has promised to let 
 me live my own life you heard him say so all he 
 wants is to boast that he has been able to to buy 
 me. I know his kind but he is better than Phil 
 or the others they wouldn't promise yes, I'll do 
 anything you want me to Daddy, write to him 
 tell him I'm ready nothing matters but you " 
 
 Bill received the Judge's letter next morning. He 
 did not open it until he had read his others he did 
 not dare. At length he broke the seal. He turned it 
 over and stared at the signature, "Trowbridge Van 
 Steer." His hand trembled a trifle as he straight- 
 ened it out and began at the beginning. It was in 
 the Judge's graceful hand an unparalled opportun- 
 ity for a rhetorical outburst. 
 
 "I have the honor to inform you that my daughter 
 Daphne has reconsidered her decision "
 
 Man Proposes 273 
 
 Bill dropped it and stared before him. Reconsid- 
 ered then that meant everything. . . . She was 
 
 to be his after all his He leaped up he 
 
 thrust his papers aside he did not answer Mack's 
 questions he caught up the letter and pulled on his 
 hat he could not remain indoors the sky alone 
 could bound his feelings. He wanted to be alone 
 to think 
 
 The crisp chill in the air filled his lungs he 
 breathed deeply his eyes alight. Oh, it was good 
 to be alive! . . . 
 
 "I have the honor to inform you that my daugh- 
 ter Daphne " His heart sang loud in his ears 
 
 he struck out he did not care where. He must 
 think that was it think of this new wonder. 
 
 It seemed to him as though all his life had been 
 a preparation for this event. The grilling years of 
 his youth the tremendous struggle to survive had 
 made his body strong his mind alert proved his 
 fitness to live and conquer. 
 
 This was his triumph. All he had striven for 
 wealth position all was but paving the way for 
 the time when she would join her hand in his. He 
 and Daphne Van Steer. . . ! He a slave at the 
 plant, she the daughter of a man who had never 
 worked in his life. . . ! 
 
 He wondered what May would say when she 
 heard. "She's stone ! She's ice ! She'll never look 
 at you when she knows where you come from!"
 
 274 The Road of Ambition 
 
 But she had! She had! 
 
 He wondered what Nedda would say little 
 Nedda of whom he had not thought of for many a 
 long month! She would be happy for him. She 
 would listen with eager eyes and folded hands while 
 he told her about it all she had always rejoiced in 
 his triumphs 
 
 He found his footsteps turning toward the Works 
 he was not surprised he wanted to go there it 
 called him as a parent her child. He wanted to con- 
 fide his joy to the roaring furnaces the shrieking 
 saws. . . . 
 
 He entered the yard he smiled at the grimy men 
 who scuttled back and forth each intent on his little 
 task perhaps they, too, had hopes and dreams of 
 power. He drew near the great basic furnaces 
 the sparks were red a sheet of flame the wave of 
 heat reached out and enveloped him he luxuriated 
 in its fierceness it was like a parent's arms folding 
 him close. 
 
 He grinned as the men sprang back he could 
 stand the scorching he had stood it for fifteen long 
 years without a quiver he wasn't going to flinch 
 before it now! It seemed to call to him to whis- 
 per to him as in the old days a refrain which 
 
 set his pulses leaping "Power power more 
 
 power " That was it ! He had set a goal for 
 
 himself in the clouds and he had reached it he 
 had said a man who could control steel could control
 
 Man Proposes 275 
 
 the world ! He had proved it ! That was what steel 
 taught her sons to be fearless to be strong or 
 go under . . . 
 
 His breath quickened his heart beat rapidly 
 in answer to the thunder of the hammer as it 
 crashed on white hot steel "Power power more 
 power," he shouted, then quite suddenly he shut his 
 eyes, "God make me good to her always," he 
 prayed. He was not sure what made him do it. He 
 had not prayed for a long while. 
 
 Two weeks later they were quietly married in the 
 library of the Van Steer home, and at nightfall Bill 
 and his bride set out for the great house on the hill 
 which shone its welcome to them from every window.
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE HOMECOMING 
 
 HP HERE was a staff of eager servants awaiting 
 * them, headed by Mrs. Kemble the house- 
 keeper a round-faced, cheery little woman. She 
 was fairly a-tiptoe with excitement. 
 
 The machine drew up at the door his door. 
 The servants ran down to assist with the robes his 
 servants and he leaped out and gave his hand to 
 the woman who had come to rule over his house 
 the exquisite creature of snow and fire who had 
 given herself into his keeping. 
 
 She let her hand rest on his arm so lightly he 
 scarcely felt it. Her eyes were weary as though she 
 had not slept for many nights but her face lightened 
 and her lips smiled as she greeted the servants 
 all curious for a glimpse of their new mistress. Mrs. 
 Kemble bustled forward importantly. 
 
 "You'll be wanting to go to your room, Mrs. Mat- 
 thews, and take your things off before you look 
 around." 
 
 "Yes, please," she said almost eagerly, and then 
 as though fearing her voice had betrayed her, she 
 turned to Bill. 
 
 276
 
 The Homecoming 277 
 
 "Shall I do that?" she asked, without meeting 
 his eyes. He nodded. 
 
 "Yes and I'll join you at supper afterwards 
 we'll stroll through the rooms, if you like." 
 
 She did not answer but followed Mrs. Kemble to 
 the lift. He watched her regal bearing the chis- 
 eled beauty of her white face. She was glorious 
 superb and she was his. . . . 
 
 He hurried to his own room he wanted to dress 
 dress for their first supper together. He had 
 chosen the east wing and had given her the south. 
 She was to be free until she came to him. He won- 
 dered if he could wait for the woman of ice to 
 melt would it not be best to sweep her to him 
 to make her feel at once the strength the fire of 
 his love? He shook his head. She had come to him 
 for one reason only to save her father from ruin 
 he had given her his word if she were only not 
 so beautiful . . . 
 
 He met her at the foot of the great stairway. She 
 had dressed in a gown of pale green that made her 
 look like a sea sprite it was a liquid color which 
 offset the red lights in her hair the whiteness of her 
 throat and arms. He stared at her for a minute and 
 she returned his gaze with eyes a trifle wide. She 
 was afraid he told himself afraid of him . . . 
 
 "Shall we go in?" he said abruptly. She nodded; 
 he thought she seemed relieved, but she did not 
 answer.
 
 278 The Road of Ambition 
 
 He had built two dining-rooms one a splendid 
 affair of beamed ceilings and carved wainscoting a 
 place for banquets and feasting. The other, a tiny 
 bower of blue tinted walls and soft hangings a 
 room created solely for the delectation of a bride 
 and groom. He entered eagerly the glow of 
 shaded candles the gleam of silver and glass- 
 ware the sheen of damask all seemed to him 
 charmingly intimate. But she hung back, as though 
 distrusting its warm coziness its dainty comfort. 
 Then she recovered herself and took her place at the 
 table. 
 
 The butler served them, and withdrew discreetly. 
 Neither spoke it was almost as though they were 
 an old, staid couple, completely at ease in each oth- 
 er's company. Bill was content to look at her he 
 rejoiced in the colors and lights in her hair the 
 sweep of her dark lashes the slenderness of her 
 throat the rise and fall of her bosom. 
 
 She did not touch her food, she toyed with it, but 
 at length laid down her fork. 
 
 "Let them bring you something else," he urged. 
 
 But she shook her head. "Nothing," she replied. 
 Her voice was so low he scarcely heard. She was 
 frightened, he concluded and what was more she 
 wouldn't show it not for the world! blue blood 
 that! scared to death but going through with it 
 like a thoroughbred ! yes, by George ! game to the 
 backbone ! He leaned toward her.
 
 The Homecoming 279 
 
 "This house is yours these servants are yours 
 you are to do whatever you please see whom you 
 please, understand?" 
 
 She raised her eyes to his. 
 
 "I shall do whatever you wish," she answered 
 him. 
 
 Whatever he wished ! By George 1 if she did that 
 she would let him catch her in his arms let him 
 press his lips to her hair her lips her throat 
 whatever he wished ! How was he going to live in 
 the same house with this woman and keep a sharp 
 
 hold on himself He had given her his 
 
 word. . . . 
 
 She must have read something of this in his eyes, 
 for she lowered her own and waited. 
 
 "You will be free to come and go as you choose 
 I shall be busy very busy for a time big scheme 
 on with Pattison there'll be days and weeks when 
 I shall have to be away I shall never interfere with 
 you but I want to say this now and then we'll 
 drop the subject forever. You're going to care for 
 me some day and when you do I shall tell you 
 all the things I should like to say to you tonight." 
 
 A warm flame of color leaped to her face but she 
 did not reply. 
 
 "You are very kind," she answered him. "I shall 
 always do as you wish," and they spoke no more. 
 
 After supper he took her through the chain of 
 rooms. She followed him quietly.
 
 280 The Road of Ambition 
 
 She was like a guest a guest who is rather diffi- 
 dent, only when she came face to face with the great 
 Van Dyck, "Mary, Duchess of Norfolk," which had 
 been purchased for him at a fabulous price from the 
 Earl of Wrexall's collection only then did her man- 
 ner change. 
 
 "Oh, how splendid," she cried, "how wonderful 
 to own a painting like that!" 
 
 He was pleased. Personally, he preferred a little 
 study by an unknown artist a thing of warm color 
 and bold strokes showing the dirt-streaked face of a 
 stoker in the red glare of a furnace fire. 
 
 They entered the music room. It was a beautiful 
 room, rising to a lofty ceiling a room in which 
 rich brown tones entered largely into the walls and 
 furnishings. A fire leaped in the hearth, the only 
 light. Before it was spread a white bear rug an 
 enormous shaggy skin, fully ten feet long. She 
 dropped on a couch back from the fire's glare half 
 in shadow but he stood before the fireplace facing 
 her. She seemed unconscious of him except for a 
 certain tension about her lithe body her hands were 
 so tightly clasped that the fingertips and nails showed 
 white. 
 
 He smiled a trifle. She did not trust him that 
 was it she was on her guard he didn't blame her 
 either he scarcely trusted himself. At last he 
 spoke. 
 
 "There is one thing I'd like you to do for me."
 
 The Homecoming 281 
 
 She looked up, startled. He could see the quick 
 fear in her eyes. He fumbled in his pocket. 
 
 "I want you to wear this " 
 
 She smiled in sudden relief as he dropped into 
 her hand the bracelet whose green stones so curiously 
 matched her eyes. 
 
 She examined it without comment. 
 
 "I bought it for you long ago very long ago I 
 hoped some day I might give it to you it's of no 
 great value but I should like to see it on your arm." 
 
 She slipped it over her fingers and wrist she 
 nodded. 
 
 "I shall be glad to wear it." 
 
 A long silence fell. The fire had changed to the 
 deep crimson glow that turns to embers the shad- 
 ows in the room had lengthened. He could not see 
 her face though her neck and arms gleamed like 
 snow and the firelight played fitfully on her skirt 
 her ankles. 
 
 Suddenly she rose. "May I go now," she said. 
 "I'm very tired." 
 
 He bowed he did not trust his voice. He must 
 hold on to himself. He was going to have a bad 
 time of it if his heart thumped every time she spoke 
 if his hands trembled . . . 
 
 "I hope you will be happy here I hope you will 
 
 not regret " he said stiffly then stopped she 
 
 had reached the door she stood framed there a 
 startled, slender creature with parted lips and stormy
 
 282 The Road of Ambition 
 
 eyes never had she seemed so adorable so utterly 
 desirable. He called himself a fool to let her go 
 from him thus on their bridal night did she think 
 that water ran in his veins instead of blood did 
 she think . . . 
 
 "Wait," he commanded hoarsely he reached her 
 side. 
 
 "After all, you are my wife " he heard him- 
 self crying, "after all the law permits " 
 
 She had not moved, only her breath fluttered 
 then she spoke swiftly desperately. 
 
 "The law permits you to do as you choose but 
 if you touch me if you touch me after what you 
 have promised, I shall hate you hate you hate 
 you as long as I live " 
 
 Her voice startled him. The flush in his face re- 
 ceded he bowed. 
 
 "Of course," he said, "you are quite right I for- 
 got for a moment the darkness your beauty it 
 was like wine. I shall not forget again. Good- 
 night " and he turned back to the fire. When he 
 
 looked around she was gone. 
 
 He paced the room swiftly it seemed narrow 
 oppressive. He must have wide spaces and the slap 
 of cold air on his face. He went outdoors. 
 
 The first frost of fall lay like a mesh of silver on 
 the ground. The moon clear and liquid rose above 
 the trees. 
 
 A night for love a night supreme and he was
 
 The Homecoming 283 
 
 alone alone with the tormenting vision of her. He 
 started quickly down the long driveway his head 
 flung back his lips grim. . . . 
 
 Late that night he returned and let himself in 
 all was still, but the warm, heavy fragrance of flow- 
 ers smote him he reached his room. His valet had 
 laid out his smoking jacket his slippers so he was 
 to be a bachelor a bachelor with the one woman 
 beneath his roof who set him on fire he must be 
 patient that was it patient she'd come to him 
 and when she did . . . That time would be well 
 worth waiting for ! 
 
 Bethel was thunderstruck by the news. At first it 
 flatly refused to believe it. What else would they 
 credit that Matthews man with doing? Marry a 
 Van Steer ! Anyone knew it was ridiculous going 
 a bit too far. But when the license bureau confirmed 
 the story when the Reverend Dr. Thomas ad- 
 mitted having tied the knot, then and only then, did 
 Bethel sit back aghast wondering with varying 
 degrees of trepidation what Bill Matthews would 
 tackle next what else was there left for him to do? 
 Had not Daphne refused. Colt's son Cyrus P. 
 Colt's only heir what was there about this big man 
 from Factory Street that had conquered where Phil 
 had failed? 
 
 The group that met at the Golf Club talked the
 
 284 The Road of Ambition 
 
 matter over eagerly before the leaping fire in the 
 billiard room Pattison was there, his golf bag be- 
 side him and Rosalie, a flash of triumph in her 
 eyes. 
 
 "Poor Phil," she grinned. "Won't it be a knock- 
 out for him?" 
 
 Pattison shook his head. "By Jove !" he muttered, 
 "It's uncanny the way Bill sails in and gets things 
 only the other day I laughed at the idea of his play- 
 ing around Daphne and now " 
 
 "Well, what'll he do next?" shouted one of the 
 men. Pattison looked up. 
 
 "That's the question. What will he do next? 
 He's just begun, hasn't he? just feeling his wings 
 if he doesn't get drunk with power or lose his 
 head there's no telling where he will land up." 
 
 "Think of May Larabee when she reads this," 
 sighed Rosalie, her chin in her hand. "I'd give 
 my brand new, blue satin, go-to-meeting dress to see 
 her!" 
 
 The men laughed, but deep in the heart of each 
 was a certain resentment toward having in their 
 midst a force so fearless and of such colossal as- 
 surance. Sometimes power was destructive as well 
 as constructive who knew in what direction Bill's 
 next drive might lie. They were not sure they pre- 
 cisely liked associating with a man who conquered 
 life's crushing forces so magnificently who suc- 
 ceeded in spite of the crushing disadvantages under
 
 The Homecoming 285 
 
 which he had been born. They had read of such 
 men -these sons of established fortunes their 
 grandfathers and great-grandfathers had been speci- 
 mens of this type but it was a different matter to 
 find one in their very midst they were a little afraid 
 of him a little uncomfortable in his presence and 
 hang it all they didn't want to feel uncomfortable 
 it was not a part of their pampered existence to 
 bow the knee to anyone granted he was a wizard 
 why the dickens couldn't he have been a remote 
 one! They shook their heads and stared into the 
 fire. What next? 
 
 Colt received the news in black silence Perkins 
 read it to him with averted eyes and lowered voice. 
 It was his custom to summarize Bethel's news while 
 Colt smoked his after breakfast cigars. Colt made 
 no remark beyond, "What's the outlook for the 
 British loan?" and Perkins withdrew. When he 
 was alone Colt picked up the sheet and skimmed the 
 announcement, then he dropped his lighted cigar and 
 stared with half shut eyes at the wall. 
 
 So he'd done it! he'd walked off with the 
 woman who had rejected his son he had made 
 the Colts the laughing stock of Bethel but more 
 than that he had saved the pride of the Van Steers 
 the pride that Colt had planned to lay low in the 
 dirt to grind beneath his heel. Well, there'd be 
 some way to get even some way he must think
 
 286 The Road of Ambition 
 
 think how to pierce this man's armor his damned 
 impudence his tremendous energy. Colt flung him- 
 self to his feet and paced. He had said this man 
 was a menace but they had not listened to him 
 no, instead, they deferred to his judgment accepted 
 his plans hung on his very words before taking ac- 
 tion this man was a giant a giant who had the 
 Big Four under his thumb was actually forcing 
 them to take him into partnership. It was inevitable 
 the other three wanted it the Board of Directors 
 wanted it the whole town of Bethel wanted it ! 
 
 Man alive ! Were they mad ! Blind ! Hypnotized 
 by this man who walked rough shod over the difficul- 
 ties that crushed other men on the way ! That should 
 by right have crushed him! The laborers adored 
 him the tradespeople adored him the very hill- 
 top aristocrats adored him. Colt clenched his fist 
 the whole town of Bethel was on its knees to him be- 
 cause he had renovated a street of slums there 
 must be an end to his increasing power his growing 
 following. . . . 
 
 And now he had won this woman by that stroke 
 he had settled all doubts as to his abilities he was 
 no longer a ruler of men but of women as well 
 he had chosen the only daughter of Bethel's oldest 
 family. How he would crow over his conquest 
 how proud of her he would be ! Colt knew why she 
 had done it. To spite him. That alone had driven 
 her into this man's arms she would soon be sick
 
 The Homecoming 287 
 
 of the bargain and when she was if Philip could 
 but be on hand . . . 
 
 He rang for Perkins. 
 
 "Send Mr. Phil here," he ordered. Philip's valet 
 returned with the news that his master was sleeping. 
 He did not meet Colt's eyes, but Colt knew. 
 
 "Drunk again?" he snapped. The valet cleared 
 his throat. 
 
 "Oh, no, sir, not that just resting he came in 
 late." 
 
 "Wake him up," thundered his father, "and send 
 him to me." 
 
 Philip appeared somewhat later, white of face 
 and dull of eye, his green dressing gown flapping 
 about his bare ankles. 
 
 "Well, what is it now ?" he grumbled. "Can't you 
 let a fellow sleep?" 
 
 His father regarded him coldly and concluded he 
 had not heard the news. He launched the blow. 
 "That Van Steer girl's married." 
 
 Phil started. "Married? Who said so?" 
 
 Colt waved his hand to the paper. "There it is. 
 She married Matthews Bill Matthews." 
 
 Phil flung back his head and roared. "Come off, 
 Dad," he shouted. "Who's been stringing you?" 
 
 For answer, Colt thrust the sheets between his 
 son's hands. Phil glanced at them and the smile on 
 his face suddenly froze. 
 
 At length he looked up.
 
 288 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "What made her do that?" he demanded slowly. 
 
 Colt could have answered that it was another evi- 
 dence of the man's strange power; instead, he 
 shrugged. 
 
 Philip dropped the sheet. "I don't believe it I" 
 he cried. "It's a lie they make mistakes some- 
 times they " 
 
 "Believe it or not it's true." 
 
 Philip turned on his father with a snarl. "It's 
 your fault yes, it is he's probably pulled her out 
 of the hole you got her into I told you to keep out 
 of it I told you you'd queer it." 
 
 Colt dropped into his chair and crossed his knees. 
 
 "Well, it's done now so there's no use growling 
 about it. Why don't you marry Rosalie and show 
 Daphne you don't give a hang " 
 
 "Show her," cried Phil. "Do you suppose she'd 
 even take the trouble to notice who I married?" 
 
 His father reflected. "I don't believe it will last," 
 he said, watching his son closely. He was repaid. 
 Phil's face suddenly cleared. 
 
 "What makes you say that?" he asked in a voice 
 he tried to make casual. 
 
 "Why," said Colt, "I figure he did it to show 
 Bethel he can have what he wants. He'll get tired 
 of her. She's not his kind. He won't know how to 
 handle her she'll get on her uppers then there'll 
 be a row. He'll go in for politics or something as 
 soon as the novelty wears off."
 
 The Homecoming 289 
 
 "That would leave her alone a good bit, wouldn't 
 it?" demanded Phil, suddenly. 
 
 Colt bit off the end of a cigar. "Yes," he said, 
 striking a match. "I expect it would."
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 BILL PLANS A TEST 
 
 1T\ UGAN, the party Boss, chose a stick from his 
 ^*^ bag, grinned at his caddie and turned to his 
 secretary, Loomis, who followed him slowly over the 
 links. 
 
 "Pretty drive, wasn't it?" he demanded. Loomis 
 nodded, his face dark. "I tell you," continued 
 Dugan with unusual loquacity, "it takes a strong arm 
 and a steady eye to play this game I've told ye 
 countless times, Loomis, that it will be the makin' 
 of ye come now, try a stroke." 
 
 Loomis shook his head. "Foggarty'll be on the 
 wire at twelve. It's quarter of now." 
 
 "Tush," grunted Dugan, frowning. "It's inter- 
 ferin' with me game, he is! Didn't you tell him I 
 was busy?" 
 
 "He says Gardner isn't strong enough to run 
 after that graft he pulled off when he was dis- 
 trict attorney he says " 
 
 "Is that what's bothering ye?" inquired Dugan. 
 "Why didn't ye say so?" 
 
 "If Gardner doesn't go up on the ticket who 
 will who else is there?" 
 
 290
 
 Bill Plans a Test 291 
 
 Dugan winked. "Sure, an' I've got a little sur- 
 prise for the party." 
 
 Loomis whirled. "A black horse ?" 
 
 Dugan nodded. "Yep. Had my eye on him for 
 two years he's a great little proposition, Loomis 
 a great little proposition I picked him for a win- 
 ner way back and what has he done but proved it 
 to me again this mornin'." 
 
 "Who is it? Dixon?" 
 
 Dugan shook his head. "No, somebody that's got 
 seventy thousand votes to start with and no end of 
 money to go on with." 
 
 "Is he in the game?" asked Loomis, puzzled. 
 Dugan laughed. 
 
 "He is not. He's like a babe unborn where 
 politics are concerned, but we'll educate him, Loomis, 
 we'll educate him." 
 
 "Who is it?" demanded Loomis, bluntly. "I 
 ought to know." 
 
 "In time," said Dugan, nodding. "Ye shall." 
 Then as though dismissing the subject he remarked, 
 lightly, "Did ye read in the mornin' paper that Judge 
 Van Steer's girl had married Bill Matthews?" 
 
 Loomis was quick to understand. 
 
 "Bill Matthews," he gasped. "Bill Matthews! 
 Well, I'll be " 
 
 "Come on," cut in Dugan, sharply, "or I'll never 
 finish this hole before lunch." 
 
 The Matthews household moved on oiled wheels.
 
 292 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Mrs. Kemble managed the staff with a degree of ef- 
 ficiency amazing in so small and amiable a body. 
 Daphne, in accordance with Bill's wish, planned a 
 series of dinners which inaugurated Bethel's fall sea- 
 son. They passed off quietly and the guests who 
 came, thrilled with the prospect of seeing a cowed 
 Daphne or a brusque Bill, found the affairs alto- 
 gether commonplace in their very smoothness and 
 elegance. 
 
 Daphne was a charming hostess lovely gra- 
 cious at ease. She fitted into the beauty of the big 
 house like a jewel in its setting. As for Bill, he 
 was the same great, quiet man they had always 
 known. When he spoke he spoke convincingly and 
 to the point, but he preferred to listen and as Pat- 
 tison put it, "Keep his eye on his wife. If any man 
 ever had a hobby, she's his !" 
 
 No, Bethel's watchful matrons could detect no 
 flaw in the happiness of the Matthews. Daphne 
 was evidently radiant perhaps she had married 
 him for love after all. Who knew? 
 
 But beneath her sweetness, her consideration for 
 his wishes, her yielding to his slightest command, 
 Bill felt the growing certainty that she would never 
 change. That she tolerated him simply because she 
 had agreed to that she would see the bargain 
 through as long as he kept to his end of it, but that 
 the instant he crossed the line drawn by her, she 
 would leave him.
 
 Bill Plans a Test 293 
 
 Never since the night of her arrival had he lost 
 his grip on himself. She had helped him by sur- 
 rounding herself with friends. She brought them 
 home to luncheons to dinners she was sim- 
 ply determined to keep up the looks of the thing 
 to foil Bethel in its effort to scent a break but as 
 he became more and more absorbed in his marine 
 plans, he urged her to go and at length she went, 
 but never without his consent and knowledge. Oh, 
 she was playing the game squarely enough all the 
 cards on the table but even at that it looked as 
 though he might hold a losing hand. 
 
 He loaded her with gifts the things women of 
 her world expected as their tribute and she accepted 
 them quietly with a studied thanks which had to 
 satisfy him. She wore the splendid jewels he gave 
 her dutifully. He was increasingly proud of her 
 filled with a fierce joy when men whispered to him 
 that he was a lucky boy and women sighed in his 
 ear that they could not expect him to look at them 
 with such a wife ! 
 
 He wondered at times, a trifle cynically, what they 
 would say if they knew that she was a stranger to 
 him that he had never held her in his arms never 
 felt the glory of her surrender. True, she was no 
 longer afraid and there were times when he wished 
 she were it looked so much as though her active 
 dislike of him were turning to passive indifference 
 anything but that !
 
 294 The Road of Ambition 
 
 He seldom saw her until dinner and then often 
 in the company of others. Only when driving home 
 from some function when alone with her in their 
 car her warm presence stirring him was he re- 
 sentful and shaken. How long? he would mutter 
 fiercely. How long? 
 
 He had a great hold on himself these days. He 
 even trusted himself with tucking the robes about 
 her knees, with adjusting the window, which neces- 
 sitated his leaning close to her and inhaling the tan- 
 talizing fragrance of her hair. How long? his soul 
 cried out in torment. 
 
 As for his business his new business of charter- 
 ing ships of interesting capital of issuing stock 
 it absorbed every minute of his waking hours. The 
 Bethel Transatlantic was materializing the skep- 
 tics were completely carried away by his boundless 
 enthusiasm and eagerness he planned he figured 
 he acted. The work was a safety valve for his 
 emotions he gave to it all of himself unstintingly. 
 
 He and Pattison left for the Great Lakes, in- 
 spected the boats paid down their ten per cent de- 
 posit and took an additional option on a group of 
 river barges. They chartered a fleet of wooden 
 schooners the auxiliary type with the semi-Deisel 
 engines boats that could make nine knots an hour. 
 They did not stop there. They chartered a fifteen- 
 hundred ton dead-weight cargo steamer and a num- 
 ber of ore-collectors prime boats for their purpose.
 
 Bill Plans a Test 295 
 
 It was about that time that Pattison was suddenly 
 smitten with panic. 
 
 "Look here," he cried. "What are we going to 
 do about a pier?" 
 
 Bill grinned. "I've thought of that already. Got 
 one I can lease from the European Dock Company. 
 We'll have to have more than one shouldn't be sur- 
 prised if we have another at Newport News maybe 
 at Baltimore and Boston later depends on how 
 things go." 
 
 And one day, flushed with triumph, he called an 
 informal meeting of the officers and laid before 
 them the crowning effort of his entire scheme. 
 
 "Do you remember," he said to Pattison, "my 
 telling you the proposition would be a great one pro- 
 vided I could get one thing I was after?" 
 
 Pattison nodded. 
 
 Bill smiled at him. "Well," he said, "I've got it !" 
 
 "Let's hear it," prompted the committee. 
 
 "It's just this," Bill told them. "Now that we 
 have our own boats we can get our stuff across the 
 water without any trouble no delay there but it's 
 when it reaches the other side that the check comes. 
 Supplies tied up for months waiting a chance to 
 dock." 
 
 "Everyone's up against that, aren't they?" put in 
 Decker. "It's one thing you can't get around." 
 
 "You can," Bill flashed, "and what's more I have. 
 I figured that what we needed was a foreign port of
 
 296 The Road of Ambition 
 
 our own an exclusive port, open only to vessels 
 flying the Bethel Transatlantic colors, so I felt 
 around, and after a time opened negotiations with 
 France." He paused. 
 
 "Well?" they caught him up. 
 
 "Well," he continued, "It looks very much as 
 though she'd consent." 
 
 "Consent to closing a harbor to all ships but 
 ours " exploded Decker. "It doesn't seem rea- 
 sonable." 
 
 "Wait a minute. It's provisional, of course. In 
 return for the use of her port, we are to agree to 
 develop it make a center of it take over our own 
 engines and trains lay our own tracks build our 
 own buildings make a city of it in short. It'll work 
 both ways. The people over there buying things 
 from us will be guaranteed delivery they'll turn all 
 their orders our way to save time." 
 
 They stared at him, and Decker his voice tremb- 
 ling a trifle leaned forward. "It would mean that 
 we could dictate our own terms to any other com- 
 pany desiring to use our port?" 
 
 "Exactly," agreed Bill. "We'll have the one and 
 only direct route and harbor rights in the world!" 
 
 "Great!" gasped Pattison. "That's immense!" 
 
 The meeting broke up late. Pattison lingered to 
 add his word of praise. "It'll make a world power 
 of you, Bill," he said. "Think you can stand it?"
 
 Bill Plans a Test 297 
 
 Bill smiled. "I'll try." 
 
 Pattison shook his head. "I don't know how you 
 get hold of such schemes. You were born thinking 
 great things. What does your wife say to it? I'll 
 have to ask Daphne how it feels to be married to a 
 genius." 
 
 Then as Bill did not answer, Pattison saw in a 
 flash the truth, and cursing his stupidity, plunged on, 
 "Or maybe you're like I am never discuss business 
 after hours. Mrs. Pattison wouldn't know a gilt- 
 edge security from a hole in the wall !" 
 
 Bill turned his head away. "I'm glad it strikes 
 you O. K.," said he abruptly. 
 
 Pattison nodded. "Right between the eyes it's 
 a knock-out!" 
 
 When Bill reached home, the butler informed him 
 that Mrs. Matthews was serving tea in the library. 
 He was glad she was at home. He felt all at once 
 very tired. He would talk to her, perhaps he would 
 tell her a very little of his plan he had never ven- 
 tured to before he had always felt she would not 
 care to hear but perhaps she might. . . . 
 
 He parted the curtains and glanced in. Then he 
 dropped them with a quick exclamation. Leaning 
 toward her, his dark, sleek head bent close to hers, 
 was Philip Colt. . . . 
 
 He hesitated, battling with the sweep of emotion 
 that overwhelmed him. He was astonished at see-
 
 298 The Road of Ambition 
 
 ing him there he was alarmed. He had looked 
 upon this man's friendship with Daphne as a closed 
 chapter of her life. What was he whispering to 
 her? How often had he been there before? He 
 was afraid to remain alone with his thoughts. He 
 was afraid to enter. He did, however, and greeted 
 Phil, cordially. Daphne made room for him beside 
 her. If it surprised her to have him return home 
 early she made no comment. 
 
 Phil held the floor. He was describing a race he 
 had seen. He did it with animation and charm. 
 Bill moved uneasily. Phil, with his easy, polished 
 way, made him feel his own crudeness no, not 
 crudeness, but his size his comparative awkward- 
 ness his deliberateness in speech Bill had never 
 developed any degree of fluency in talking with 
 Daphne. How could he? 
 
 He observed her closely. She seemed glad to see 
 Phil. Not flagrantly glad, but deeply contented as 
 one is to welcome back an old friend. 
 
 After he had gone Bill determined to allude to it, 
 but could not. He found himself tongue-tied mute. 
 He was not sure he knew what it was he wanted to 
 tell her certainly not that he objected to Phil he 
 had given her free rein to choose her own friends 
 he couldn't retract that ! 
 
 And as he struggled silently for an opening wedge, 
 she left him with a word about dressing for dinner 
 and he was alone the tea things scattered about
 
 Bill Plans a Test 299 
 
 him. Two empty cups Phil's and hers two plates 
 of half eaten cakes. He shook himself together and 
 called himself a fool didn't he trust her? Was 
 he afraid of a man like Philip Colt taking her from 
 him? and then the ugly thought crept in, in spite of 
 him. She had been reported engaged to Colt. Why 
 had she broken it off? What was the real reason? 
 Perhaps she still cared for him. . . . He sneered 
 at himself jealous well, he was a fool! and he 
 strode angrily to his room. 
 
 The next time he saw them together was in Phil's 
 racer. It was from a window of the Bethel Steel 
 Club. He was to meet Pattison there for lunch and 
 was awaiting him, when the long, red car shot around 
 the corner of Dumont Street and came to a stop 
 opposite the club. There was no mistaking the 
 occupants. Daphne's laughing face was turned 
 toward him, but she did not glance up at the club. 
 Bill's heart contracted suddenly how young she 
 looked how happy. All the wealth he had poured 
 into her lap could not make her smile thus could 
 not win for him a laugh from her lips. 
 
 That night at dinner she explained it. Not that 
 he asked it of her, but rather as a topic of conversa- 
 tion. 
 
 "I was walking to town this afternoon and Phil 
 happened along. Wasn't it good of him to give me 
 a lift? It is such a long mile !"
 
 3OO The Road of Ambition 
 
 He made no comment but he was glad she had 
 told him absurdly glad. At least she was hiding 
 nothing holding nothing back. Then in the same 
 instant he was blindly, toweringly furious furious 
 with himself. Why in thunder didn't he tell her he 
 objected! tell her he wouldn't have that whelp 
 around I tell her it was high time she stopped 
 trifling and became his wife in earnest! He didn't. 
 Instead, he left her abruptly to a group of friends 
 who had arrived and locked himself in his study. 
 
 He was in a savage mood a mood that chafed at 
 restraint a mood that longed for the days when 
 a man went out and slew a poacher. He was letting 
 her make a fool of him he was letting her surround 
 herself with a bodyguard of friends that kept him 
 at arm's length oh, yes, it was all deliberate all 
 cunningly planned. Something he could not con- 
 tend with a phase of higher civilization as success- 
 ful in guarding one's person as the thick walls and 
 moats of old. 
 
 If she wanted Colt, why the deuce hadn't she taken 
 him when she had the chance? Phil was courteous 
 where he was rough thoughtful where he was heed- 
 less quiet where he was noisy Why hadn't 
 
 she taken him. . . . ! 
 
 Perhaps in the forced, unnatural life one lived, 
 hedged in by wealth, that was the sort of man a 
 woman loved that weakling. He wondered, with 
 a grim laugh, just how Colt would seem once he
 
 Bill Plans a Test 301 
 
 were removed from the environment in which he 
 had been born once he came face to face with na- 
 ture once he stood the test of the survival of the 
 fittest. For that matter, he wondered what Daphne 
 would do, snatched from the shallow frivolity of her 
 daily life. By Jove ! if he had but lived in the days 
 when a man and a woman met simply primitively 
 he would have been able to woo her as woman was 
 never wooed before to win her by sheer strength 
 by right of his size and power. If only suddenly 
 he leaped to his feet. "Well," he cried, "why not?" 
 
 He became action electrified his heart pounding, 
 his pulses leaping but he did not falter what if he 
 failed? his inner voice pleaded, but he crushed it 
 ecstatically. "I won't I can't," he shouted. 
 
 He called his secretary to the phone. "I'm going 
 
 to Benson's shack in the hills Davis, yes He's 
 
 been wanting me to use it. I'll clean up everything 
 I can before I go and take what's left over with me. 
 It'll give me a chance to map out some plans. Find 
 out if the place is in good shape and send down a 
 camp outfit some of the servants to cook. Yes, 
 horses, of course. I want everything to be tiptop 
 so I can leave a week from today, understand?" 
 
 He rang off and sat staring into the darkness ex- 
 ultantly jubilantly. At last he had done something 
 something definite toward winning the snow 
 woman. Colt thought to gain her favor. Well, by 
 Jiminy, he'd show him I
 
 302 The Road of Ambition 
 
 He waited until after the guests had gone, then 
 he ran down and met Daphne at the doorway. He 
 spoke casually. 
 
 "I've just had word I must leave for the hills in 
 a week a sudden call can you be ready to go with 
 me then?" 
 
 For a second her eyes held his. There was a chal- 
 lenge in them a warm defiance, but he met them 
 coolly. It was his look that disarmed her. 
 
 "Yes," she said. "If you wish me to go I shall 
 be ready." Then, as though compelled, she asked, 
 "Shall we be away long?" 
 
 He shrugged. "That depends," he replied 
 vaguely, "that greatly depends "
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 THE SHACK IN THE HILLS 
 
 1T\ APHNE awoke with a start. Where was she? 
 -*-^ She sat up and stared about her. Then she 
 remembered. Benson's shack in the hills ! It was a 
 bare little room, with its cot and bureau its chair 
 and table, but there was a certain fresh cleanliness 
 about it that appealed to her; the rag rug on the floor 
 the enlarged snapshots on the wall. 
 
 The chill of the night still hung in the air, but 
 through the open window a rosy haze cut the dark- 
 ness like a knife. Daybreak. She turned her head, 
 sniffing the sharp sweetness of growing things. 
 
 They had arrived the night before very late 
 She had been unutterably tired the strain that 
 was it the wondering why he had brought her 
 what he meant to do. She had not questioned him, 
 but she dreaded the trip and yet she no longer feared 
 him. He had been very gentle to her very good. 
 
 She flung on her clothes and slipped her arms into 
 a heavy sweater, then she wound her hair about her 
 head and drew a knitted cap over it. She would 
 move about softly so as not to awaken her maid 
 sleeping in the next room she would go out and see 
 303
 
 304 The Road of Ambition 
 
 the sunrise ! She never remembered having seen a 
 sunrise in all her life! and here in the hills! . . . 
 She felt a sudden sense of exhilaration of freedom 
 it was good to be away from the wearying round 
 of pleasures from the constant effort to entertain 
 to be far up on the side of a mountain! 
 
 She opened her door carefully and listened. All 
 was still. She tiptoed along the silent hall, into the 
 living room. The fire, which upon their arrival had 
 been leaping in the great stone hearth, was a heap 
 of gray ashes. Stretched out before it was a rangy 
 pup all legs answering to the name of Scamp. 
 He stirred lazily and wagged his tail at her. She 
 stroked his head and called him softly. He ambled 
 out after her. 
 
 The sharp air challenged her. She caught her 
 breath and looked about her. To the east a ball of 
 fire was rolling up the sky was aflame the maples 
 the oak the poplars catching its radiance on their 
 upturned leaves. 
 
 The laurels the rhododendrons the blueberry 
 bushes were bowed down beneath their weight of 
 dew it glistened on every leaf like a perfect dia- 
 mond. 
 
 To the west, almost melting into the skyline, 
 stretched the mountains purple hazy shot with 
 pink in the light of the rising Sun. 
 
 She had never seen anything so beautiful! She 
 flung back her head and breathed deeply. She
 
 The Shack in the Hills 305 
 
 wanted to dance to sing to run. The dog sniffing 
 with muddy nose, yapped joyfully at an imagined 
 prey. She hushed him and moved along the path, 
 then turning, regarded the cabin itself. It was built 
 of rough logs but its size was unusual. It sprawled 
 out like a bungalow room for a dozen men a 
 shack in the woods that was meant for pleasure. 
 She smiled to herself. What a glorious place ! 
 
 She struck off on a narrow trail, thrusting aside 
 the drenched bushes, whose dew drops clung to her 
 skirt. Beneath her feet the ground gave softly. 
 Suddenly she paused beside a rock. Far below her 
 lay a valley a valley of homes of planted fields 
 of tiny houses and barns. She seated herself on the 
 rock, and stared down. Little spirals of smoke rose 
 from the house chimneys gray misty blending 
 into the blueness of the lightening sky. 
 
 They were simple homes homes where men and 
 women lived and loved and toiled a community of 
 farmers. She found the white church somewhat set 
 apart from its neighbors and the little school house 
 a square, many-windowed building, whose every 
 pane of glass flashed red. 
 
 A smile touched her lips as she gazed. Here was 
 life reduced to its simplest form. Here were rugged, 
 stutdy men content each year to plow the fields and 
 gather their harvest asking of life only fair 
 weather for their crops. Here were calm-browed, 
 firm-breasted women who guided the home year in
 
 306 The Road of Ambition 
 
 and year out, unmindful of aught save the welfare of 
 their men, and of the bare-legged, tow-headed 
 youngsters tugging at their skirts. 
 
 She stared down restlessly. "Oh," she whispered 
 at length, "how happy they should be !" 
 
 She felt suddenly lonely and restless she wished 
 she were back in Bethel's whirl where she had no 
 time to think to reflect. She had taken her 
 step and the past was behind her. The man who 
 called himself her husband had kept his end of the 
 contract she had kept hers. Why had he uprooted 
 her and brought her here? set her down amidst 
 strange surroundings and given her time to dream I 
 
 Someone was coming. The dog beside her 
 bristled and growled. She rose to meet the stranger 
 face to face, then the quick color stung her cheeks, 
 for she saw it was Bill. 
 
 "Hello," he called. "You're up early, too." 
 
 She nodded. He did not seem surprised to see 
 her had he been following her? He had reached 
 her side and was gazing down at the valley. He 
 seemed absorbed and she stole a glance at him. 
 
 He was bareheaded, his brown hair rumpled as 
 though he had run his fingers through it. She no- 
 ticed that the sunlight gave it a glint of gold. He 
 seemed to belong to the rugged beauty of the scene 
 this big man with his square jaw his fine, mobile 
 lips his straight, large-nostriled nose his steady, 
 grey eyes. Yes, he belonged there.
 
 The Shack in the Hills 307 
 
 He was patting the dog, who nosed him affection- 
 ately. 
 
 "Old rascal. So you waited for the lady, instead 
 of coming out with me !" 
 
 "Oh," said she. "You were up before I?" 
 
 He nodded. "Yes, it was still dark I wondered 
 if you could sleep when all this was happening. Then 
 I saw you come out and I knew the magic of it had 
 called you, too." 
 
 "It's a beautiful sight," she said quickly to hide 
 her surprise. "But I believe I'm hungry." 
 
 "So am I," he agreed. "Let's rouse the cook and 
 rustle some coffee and bacon and cakes " 
 
 "With maple syrup!" she interrupted eagerly, 
 then remembered herself. "You go along and tell 
 them what we want. I'll wait here." 
 
 What was the matter with her? she asked her- 
 self angrily why should she want to romp and play 
 with this big man beside her? to laugh and sing 
 was it the morning enchantment? was it the joy of 
 dropping the fetters of civilization? 
 
 "All right," he shouted, half way down the path. 
 "I'll call you when it's ready." 
 
 She dropped back on the rock and stared once 
 more at the valley. How big he looked with his 
 shoulders flung back how boyish. It was not right 
 to bring such a man into the cramped space of cities 
 he belonged outdoors, just as the oaks and pop- 
 lars and pines did yes, he was built like them, too
 
 308 The Road of Ambition 
 
 sturdy and straight and tall. Then she recalled 
 herself sharply. What had come over her? She 
 switched her train of thought deliberately almost 
 petulantly she was glad when he hallooed to her 
 that breakfast was ready what she needed, she told 
 herself, was something to eat that would knock the 
 nonsense out of her. 
 
 During the week that followed she was much 
 alone. Bill set out early each day on horseback for 
 parts unknown and did not return until late. She 
 asked no questions because it was part of her code 
 to show no interest in his coming or going, but with 
 nothing to do all day with all her playthings and 
 baubles torn from her with long hours of enforced 
 idleness and solitude her thoughts followed him re- 
 sentfully. What right had he to go off and leave her 
 without a word ! He might at least have inquired if 
 she cared to go along. Did he expect her to stay 
 there indefinitely twirling her thumbs? 
 
 True, she tramped through the woods with Scamp 
 at her side, or rode the little gray mare he had 
 bought for her but the vague uneasiness the rest- 
 lessness which began with his departure in the morn- 
 ing was not allayed until his return at night alarmed 
 her. She told herself it had nothing to do with him 
 it was simply that she had become accustomed to 
 him that she felt he should amuse her. He did 
 not. He left her more and more alone and at length 
 she spoke.
 
 The Shack in the Hills 309 
 
 They had finished supper and were seated before 
 a roaring fire in the living room. It was a big room 
 in deep reds its couch piled with pillows and 
 spread with a Navajo blanket its walls hung with 
 crossed snowshoes with old pistols in their holsters 
 with antlers. 
 
 The dog, Daphne jealously noted, nosed his muz- 
 zle into Bill's hand. That was like a dog to give 
 her his full allegiance during the day, and at the 
 master's return, desert her flat. Bill had dropped 
 on the rug before the fire, his pipe in his mouth. 
 She was curled up in a deep armchair. 
 
 The fire cracked cheerily spitting bright sparks 
 the puppy growled good-naturedly as Bill rolled 
 him over. The very warm coziness of it all irritated 
 her she wanted to run away do anything rather 
 than sit there with that man who seemed scarcely 
 aware of her presence. 
 
 "How long before we can go home?" she flung at 
 him. He looked up sharply. 
 
 "Why? Don't you like it here?" 
 
 "Like it?" she cried, "of course I don't like it! 
 I'm alone all day with nothing to do I have never 
 been alone in my life I'm I'm sick of it!" 
 
 Bill shook his head. "I don't see my way clear to 
 leaving just yet," he began. Then he smiled. 
 
 "Look here, I had a surprise for you I wasn't 
 going to tell you but if it'll make you any happier, 
 why " He stopped and gazed into the fire
 
 310 The Road of Ambition 
 
 he seemed almost to have forgotten what he had 
 begun to say she tapped her foot impatiently and 
 he turned. 
 
 "You see, I figured I'd have to be away a good bit 
 during the next few days and I gathered you 
 weren't altogether satisfied, so I invited Phil Colt 
 up here." 
 
 She stared at him. "You invited Phil Colt? ..." 
 He nodded. "Yes, I knew you were old friends 
 and his having nothing in the way of business to 
 keep him from accepting decided me. It didn't seem 
 right to leave you alone so much and he's good com- 
 pany." 
 
 Still she stared at him a flash of fear in her 
 heart. Why had he done this thing? Why had he 
 wired Phil of all people? What was he planning? 
 What did he hope to accomplish by such a course? 
 She could not see his face, it was turned toward the 
 fire. She spoke swiftly. 
 
 "Oh, you shouldn't have done that!" 
 "Why not?" he asked, "don't you want him?" 
 She did not answer. What could she say? She 
 did want him. She wanted anyone who would fill her 
 days her thoughts who would make her forget 
 when her husband left her in the morning and when 
 he returned at night. 
 
 Bill was speaking. "I can easily wire him in the 
 morning that it's all off. I never thought of asking 
 you I happened to be at the station in the valley
 
 The Shack in the Hills 311 
 
 telegraphing Pattison and it suddenly struck me 
 that I'd have so much to do for the next week or so 
 that it would make it hard for you so I sent him 
 word but if you don't want him " 
 
 She tried to fathom his meaning to read between 
 the lines but she could not. It was like Bill to do 
 something of the sort. After all, why not? Phil 
 was a great comrade now that he knew his place. 
 They would walk and talk and read together he at 
 least spoke her language was of her world she 
 leaned back. 
 
 "As long as you've sent for him, he might as well 
 come," was all she said. He did not reply. She was 
 glad he was silent, and then with sudden perverse- 
 ness she wished he would speak she moved uneas- 
 ily after aM, just what was he thinking planning? 
 Business, no doubt business that was all he lived 
 and breathed for a mysterious realm which inter- 
 ested her not a bit she was glad it absorbed him 
 and yet on that first morning it had almost seemed 
 as though he might prove a comrade a playmate. 
 Impatient with herself, she rose. 
 
 "I'm turning in," she called over her shoulder. 
 He glanced up. 
 
 "So soon? Well, good night." 
 
 She left him, half glad to get away, but before 
 she blew out her lamp she stole back for a glance into 
 the living room. He was still there before the fire. 
 In the dim light she could see the puppy an inde-
 
 312 The Road of Ambition 
 
 terminate ball, huddled close to his side she could 
 see the black smoke curling from his pipe she could 
 see his fine head and shoulders silhouetted against 
 the dying flames. She drew back and closed her door 
 softly. She was glad Phil was coming very glad 
 it would give her something else to think about.
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 PHILIP COLT ARRIVES 
 
 P>HIL received the summons with a joy bordering 
 * unto triumph. So she had sent for him. She 
 had made Bill wire him. She was sick of the farce 
 already and eager for the people she had known 
 grown up with. 
 
 He wired his acceptance and called his father on 
 the private wire direct to his rooms. 
 
 "I'm leaving for the hills," he announced. Colt, 
 senior, hid any surprise he may have felt with a 
 grunt. "Going up to Benson's place. Daphne's 
 there." 
 
 His father interrupted, "What for?" 
 
 "She sent for me. Made her husband telegraph 
 me to come. What do you know about that?" 
 
 "Humph!" grunted Colt, "I figured she'd be sick 
 of him by this time." Then he added a word of 
 warning. "Go slow. No scandal. Understand?" 
 
 "Sure," grinned Phil. "Isn't it immense?" 
 
 Bill met him at the station with an old buckboard. 
 Phil was rather taken aback. Somehow he had ex- 
 pected Daphne to be there, but Bill greeted him 
 warmly. 
 
 313
 
 314 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "I wouldn't let her come down," he explained. 
 "It's such a long drive from the top to the valley. 
 Jump in, we've a good ways to go." 
 
 Phil obeyed. He wondered what the dickens he 
 could talk about to this man what possible subject 
 to pursue, but Bill relieved him of the burden of con- 
 versation by plunging into a description of some 
 scheme for improving dynamos at the Works. Phil 
 had no opportunity for speech. 
 
 "Just rotten with business," was his mental ver- 
 dict. "No wonder Daphne wants me if she has to 
 listen to this sort of thing all day!" 
 
 It was dark when they reached the shack. Its 
 lights gleamed warmly through the dusk Phil 
 stared about him curiously. 
 
 "You certainly are far enough from mankind," 
 said he. 
 
 Bill nodded. "I think so." 
 
 Daphne met them at the door. To Phil's quick 
 gaze she appeared unusually well and happy the 
 faint lines of weariness the pallor the droop to 
 her shoulders that he had noticed in Bethel seemed 
 to have vanished. She greeted him with out- 
 stretched hand. 
 
 "Welcome to the house in the woods!" she cried. 
 He leaped out. The servants relieved him of his 
 bag he caught her hand in a hard grip. 
 
 "This is back to nature for fair," he said, trying 
 to keep his voice casual.
 
 Philip Colt Arrives 315 
 
 "Wait until you've tasted Brenda's cooking," she 
 laughed, "and you'll think that you're dining at the 
 club !" 
 
 He followed her in. The warmth and color of the 
 room stirred him. By Jove! What a spot for a 
 man and woman what a garden of Eden! the 
 sort of place you read about in books, but rarely 
 found on earth. He hid his emotion with a laugh. 
 "Do you dress for dinner?" 
 
 She shook her head. "We're barbarians here. 
 Put on old clothes in the morning and take them 
 off at night. Hurry now everything's ready you 
 must be half-starved." 
 
 They sat down to an excellent meal served by 
 the efficient Jenks. A meal which, as Daphne said, 
 might have graced the club table. Phil's spirits rose 
 in leaps and bounds the novelty of it all a dinner 
 fit for a king in a low-ceilinged room a room of 
 rough boards its very chairs made of native wood 
 the glimpse of black woods without and within the 
 silverware the candles and the best of all the host- 
 ess in a gown of turquoise blue which made her 
 look even more ethereally lovely than ever like a 
 queen, her very hair bound in coronet braids about 
 her head yes, it was strangely stirring. . . . 
 
 He had never seen her so brimming over with life 
 she answered his gay banter eagerly he won- 
 dered what had wrought the change in her. He con- 
 cluded that the light in her eyes the color of her
 
 316 The Road of Ambition 
 
 cheeks was due to the enforced rest but the buoy- 
 ancy the sparkle he attributed to his presence. 
 
 Bill spoke but little during dinner. Surly, Phil 
 decided. Engrossed in his own affairs. No wonder 
 Daphne unfolded like a flower before his attentions. 
 Bill, in his selfishness, was no doubt unendurable 
 it was possible he did not even scent the inevitability 
 of a break these fellows who were all for business 
 never could understand a woman too busy figuring 
 their profit and loss. 
 
 After dinner Daphne led the way to the living 
 room. Bill lounged in a corner, drawn occasionally 
 into the conversation but he seemed to prefer to 
 remain silent. Daphne dropped on a couch beside 
 Phil questioning him about friends in Bethel. He 
 watched her closely. By Jove ! how could she keep 
 so fit so beautiful. 
 
 He was glad when Bill left them with palpable 
 excuses there were some papers to run over some- 
 thing Pattison wanted at once business was a 
 nuisance in the woods but what could one do? 
 
 After he had gone, Daphne's spirits rose precipi- 
 tously. It seemed to Phil almost as though she were 
 defiant as though she were deliberately flinging her 
 charms at him. Had she been in love with her hus- 
 band, he would have attributed it to pique in this 
 instance he was convinced it was simply her uncon- 
 scious relief at having Bill out of the way. Phil re- 
 sponded to her mood.
 
 Philip Colt Arrives 317 
 
 "By George!" he cried, "you're wonderful, 
 Daphne you're stunning! How do you do it?" 
 
 She flashed a smile at him. "Early to bed and 
 early to rise " 
 
 He shook his head. "I've never seen you look so 
 fit. You're not going to hurry back, are you?" 
 
 She did not answer for a minute, then she 
 frowned. "I did think I wanted to until " 
 
 "Until ?" he prompted. 
 
 "Until you came," she finished. "Bill is so busy. 
 I find it rather hard to know what to do with myself 
 all day." 
 
 "Do you mean that he goes off and leaves you in 
 this wilderness?" 
 
 She laughed a little. "Oh, it isn't quite as bad as 
 all that. The servants are here if I want anything, 
 and I do love the freedom of it. In fact, I was sure 
 I'd love it at first. Think of being at liberty to do 
 exactly as you choose for the first time in your life ! 
 But I soon found I didn't want so much time on my 
 hands it isn't good for anyone, is it? Least of all 
 for me ! I simply mustn't have long hours in which 
 to think!" 
 
 Phil's face flushed he had come at just the right 
 time bored to death with her husband sick of her 
 own company there was a new Daphne a thou- 
 sand times more alluring ! 
 
 "I'm mighty glad you sent for me," he began. 
 
 "Oh, but I didn't."
 
 318 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "You didn't?" 
 
 "No, Bill did that all himself without a word to 
 me until afterwards I think he saw I wasn't alto- 
 gether happy." 
 
 "That's queer ! How did he happen to pick me 
 out?" 
 
 "I don't know, unless it was that he had heard me 
 speak of you quite often." 
 
 Phil smiled so she had spoken of him. "Well," 
 he said, with a new note in his voice, "I don't care 
 how I got here so long as I did." She did not reply. 
 
 He continued, "I suppose he's so blamed anxious 
 to plug at his work that he's glad to get you off his 
 hands!" 
 
 She spoke slowly. "I suppose he is." 
 
 Phil grinned. "Oh ! what a fool he is, giving his 
 love to iron and steel when he can give it to flesh 
 and blood instead he doesn't look like a man 
 who's a machine either that's the queer part of it 
 but did you know, Daphne, that's exactly what he is 
 a machine!" 
 
 She flushed. "You're wrong there. He's not. 
 He's fine in countless ways yes he is look at all 
 he has done for Bethel's poor no machine could 
 have done that! He raised their wages and built 
 them real homes he worked night and day over 
 them no, he's not a machine I know, be- 
 cause " 
 
 She stopped with flaming cheeks. What had
 
 Philip Colt Arrives 319 
 
 prompted her to leap to this man's defense ! What 
 madness made her sing his praises to Philip Colt! 
 These things about Bill she had never even admitted 
 to herself. Had she been thinking them all the 
 while, that they tripped off the tip of her tongue so 
 fluently! 
 
 But Phil was smiling. Gad! Daphne was true 
 blue ! No gainsaying that! Married to a man who 
 was a boor a man who ignored her who in his 
 anxiety to rid himself of her presence summoned an 
 old lover to her side! married to a selfish fool! 
 Yet she defended him too proud to let even her 
 best friends know how she loathed him ! 
 
 "I understand," he said. "I understand 1" 
 
 She had risen. "It's getting late, Phil and you 
 must be tired." He sprang to his feet. He saw 
 through her she was putting him off she simply 
 didn't feel up to defending her husband again. He 
 rose to the occasion. 
 
 "All that see-the-sunrise stuff again do you mean 
 it?" 
 
 She studied him, smiling. "No, of course not, 
 Phil. You get up just whenever you like there are 
 no rules here." 
 
 He held out his hand. "It's going to be wonder- 
 ful," he told her. "I'm glad you let me come." 
 
 She passed slowly along the hall to her own room. 
 Her maid hurried to help her but she waved her
 
 320 The Road of Ambition 
 
 away. When she had gone, Daphne loosened her 
 hair and it rippled in a golden shower to her waist. 
 She slipped off the dress she wore and drew on 
 a soft gown. Then she settled herself in a chair 
 by the table and resolutely studied the magazines be- 
 fore her re-read a group of letters from friends in 
 Bethel and when at length she found she could no 
 longer fight against the memory of things she wished 
 to forget, or shut out the turbulent thoughts clam- 
 oring for utterance she flung aside the paper with 
 an exclamation of impatience and switched off the 
 light. 
 
 She moved to the window. She pressed her cheek 
 against the pane then not content, she flung it up, 
 closing her eyes to the rush of cool air to the poig- 
 nant sweetness of the laurel to the night fragrance 
 of the ferns. Blackness stillness and above the 
 treetops the sharp twinkle of stars in a frosty sky. 
 She stared out, shivering a little, she drew her hair 
 about her shoulders like a cloak a cloak of 
 gold. 
 
 She did not know when she first became aware 
 of someone watching her a shadow darker than 
 the rest seemed to detach itself from the group 
 close to her window. She felt her heart beat swiftly 
 at the sudden consciousness of eyes upon her. Who 
 was out there alone beneath her window, staring? 
 She leaned forward a trifle trying to pierce the 
 darkness still there was no sound save the hum of
 
 Philip Colt Arrives 321 
 
 insects and the wind's voice in the trees. She caught 
 her breath and spoke softly, "Who's there?" 
 
 She heard the rustle of leaves beneath a foot and 
 the sudden scratch of a match. "It's Bill. Did I 
 frighten you?" He held the flame to his face that 
 she might see. She did not reply, but leaned against 
 the window, her hand on her heart. He had come 
 close. She saw that Scamp was beside him, snapping 
 at his heels. "I'm afraid I gave you a turn. I 
 didn't mean to. I came out here for a smoke before 
 my stroll." 
 
 "Your stroll?" she heard herself saying in a voice 
 unlike her own. "Where are you going?" 
 
 She could see his face indistinctly a white blur 
 beneath her all save his eyes, they were dark lum- 
 inous. He laughed softly. 
 
 "Anywheres under the stars to the top of the 
 hill or straight down to the old creek that runs 
 by the fork Scamp leads the way I follow want 
 to come along?" 
 
 She drew back. "Do you go every night?" 
 
 "Yes. It's great before bed to fill your lungs with 
 God's fresh air. Somehow things look different 
 don't you think so ? the sky seems nearer and the 
 trees old friends you've known forever. Sometimes 
 we light a fire and sit close to it sometimes we take 
 a run across a plateau doesn't much matter what- 
 ever Scamp wants to do eh, old boy?" 
 
 She did not speak, and he moved away. "Well,
 
 322 The Road of Ambition 
 
 since the lady won't join us, we're off." He waved 
 his hand to her and then the darkness swallowed 
 him as completely as though by the wave of a wand. 
 Still she did not move. She was fighting with all 
 her strength against the desire surging up in her 
 the overwhelming sweeping desire to go with him 
 to feel the closeness of the sky the friendship of 
 the trees to sit in a fire's glow to race across a 
 field. She was mad! mad! she had married this 
 man because her father wanted her to she had 
 done it knowing she would never care for him 
 never so long as they lived and yet she permitted 
 herself to think such thoughts feel such desires 
 why? 
 
 She turned on her light angrily. She dragged her 
 reading lamp close to the bed. She opened a book 
 at random and read fiercely aggressively until 
 her eyelids drooped and the page became a blur. 
 
 Then she switched off the light and lay staring up 
 at the darkness. She would show Phil the valley in 
 the morning she would show him the North Fork 
 she would show him and resolutely she shut her 
 eyes, but sleep was long in coming. . . .
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 A PARTING OF THE WAYS 
 
 TN the days that followed Daphne flung herself into 
 * the task of entertaining Phil. She planned the 
 walks, the rides together and even as she arranged 
 each hour of the day so that he would be at her side 
 constantly, she was fighting the growing evidence of 
 his devotion. 
 
 She argued with herself stubbornly. Since Bill 
 had seen fit to throw them together since his busi- 
 ness was such that it excluded all thought of her 
 she would amuse herself with this toy he had put in 
 her hands and the consequences be on his 
 head. . . . 
 
 At the same time she knew she was playing a 
 dangerous game a game of fire a game that re- 
 quired all her skill to stem the rising passion. There 
 were times when she resented the position in which 
 Bill had placed her she was not sure she wanted to 
 play with Phil at all she was not sure of anything, 
 that was the worst of it, except that it was better to 
 have Phil there to occupy her time than to be alone. 
 
 There were moments when she felt impelled to tell 
 him she hated her husband regretted her marriage 
 323
 
 324 The Road of Ambition 
 
 and her pride alone did not stop the torrent of 
 words but rather an innate honesty. Did she hate 
 him? Did she regret? She was in a whirl of doubts, 
 she questioned every impulse of her own and found 
 no answer. 
 
 And all the while, Phil's attentions were becoming 
 more marked. His hands trembled when they 
 chanced to touch hers his cheeks flushed. She 
 wished to heaven she could send him away she 
 thanked goodness he was there. Her nights were a 
 torture. It was only toward daybreak that she fell 
 into troubled sleep. 
 
 They rode each morning, but she no longer chose 
 the wild paths through the trees. She clung to the 
 broad trails, where they were in plain view. She told 
 herself she was not afraid of Phil if not, why did 
 she do this? 
 
 She had spent a night beside her window and the 
 morning found her drawn and irritable. Her maid 
 announced that the horses were at the door, and 
 Daphne gazed at her face in the mirror. There 
 were dark shadows under her eyes. She had looked 
 well enough before Phil came she had been fairly 
 content not disturbed by this gnawing uncertainty. 
 She blamed Bill. Why hadn't he left things alone? 
 
 She drew on her coat and gloves and picked up her 
 crop. She never wore a hat when she rode. With 
 her hair down her back in a thick braid, she looked 
 like a child a slim, boyish youngster.
 
 A Parting of the Ways 325 
 
 Phil was examining the girths. Daphne nodded 
 to him. His face lighted up at the sight of her 
 a slow flush crept up from beneath his collar. 
 
 "Shall we ride to Baldwin's Creek?" she called, as 
 she sprang unassisted to the saddle. He shook his 
 head. 
 
 "We've been there almost every day. Why not 
 cut through the trees to that little knoll?" 
 
 "I don't know the way very well," she evaded. 
 "Let's make it the creek and back by luncheon." 
 
 But he persisted. "It's just as short to the knoll 
 I remember the path come on, just this once." 
 Suddenly he grinned, "What's the matter, are you 
 afraid?" 
 
 She looked up quickly. "Afraid? Why should I 
 be?" 
 
 He shrugged. "I dare you !" 
 
 She accepted the challenge. After all, why not? 
 If her husband did not care where she went with this 
 man, why should she? She touched the horse lightly 
 with the spur and they were off. 
 
 "Good girl!" he shouted. "Always takes a 
 dare!" 
 
 They thundered across a little bridge and down a 
 brown strip of road sending a pair of rabbits frisk- 
 ing in alarm across their path. 
 
 "Here's where we turn off!" cried Phil, and 
 Daphne swung her horse with the twist of her wrist 
 from the beaten track into the woods.
 
 326 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Phil's horse plunged after her, then as the under- 
 brush became thicker, they drew rein panting 
 cheeks flushed eyes shining from the exercise. 
 
 "Your little mare can certainly set the pace," 
 laughed Phil. "Leave it to a lady every time 1" 
 
 She pushed aside a tangle of tmshes before them. 
 "The knoll's ahead," she called over her shoulder. 
 "Come on." 
 
 They found it a clearing that jutted out like a 
 tiny platform above the sweep of land valleys 
 hills mountains. 
 
 They drew the horses to a stand and shoulder to 
 shoulder stared out over the immensity of the coun- 
 try before them the hills were aflame with color. 
 The red of the maples, the gold of the oak, the ruby 
 of the sumac and ivy, and the rusty brown of the 
 fields the unfailing earmarks of late fall. 
 
 "Let's dismount," he said at last. She shook her 
 head, wheeling her horse then stopped. After all, 
 why not? The spirit of defiance with which she had 
 met the past few days, persisted. What could be 
 better than to sit there staring over miles of rolling 
 land of stooping sky. She swung herself to the 
 ground and let her horse graze. Phil was beside 
 her. 
 
 "Daphne," he said huskily, "Have you played 
 with me enough?" 
 
 She turned, startled. "What do you mean?" 
 
 He laughed. "You know what I mean leading
 
 A Parting of the Ways 327 
 
 me on knowing I am burning to hold you in my 
 arms again as I did that night " 
 
 "Phil!" she gasped, "what are you saying? If I 
 hadn't trusted you I would never have come here 
 with you alone." 
 
 "That's not so. You knew when you came here 
 with me I'd break loose I saw it in your eyes when 
 you took my dare. You knew it, didn't you ?" 
 
 He caught her wrists. "Didn't you?" She shrank 
 back. "Why, no, Phil how could I how " 
 
 "Didn't you?" he insisted harshly. She tried to 
 free herself. 
 
 "I knew I knew you cared for me. I thought 
 you had put this sort of thing behind I be- 
 lieved " 
 
 "You're lying," he said quietly. "Ever since I 
 came here you've been deliberately leading me on. 
 Why have you done it? Because you cared for your 
 husband and wanted to make him jealous? No. 
 Because you cared for me and couldn't help showing 
 it? Yes that's what I've supposed what's led me 
 to say this because you've discovered what an ig- 
 norant fool your husband is and " 
 
 "Stop !" she cried through white lips, "if you say 
 that again I'll " 
 
 He laughed. "By Jove ! standing up for him still. 
 I'll believe you really care for him first thing you 
 know fancy your caring for that sort of man 
 why, if I imagined that "
 
 328 The Road of Ambition 
 
 She tried to turn the trend of his thoughts. 
 
 "This is madness, Phil you don't know what 
 you're saying you don't mean it. Let's get back. 
 It was wrong of me to come. I didn't want to " 
 
 "It's not madness," he cried, gripping her more 
 tightly. "It's bigger than either of us and now the 
 time has come for you to speak the truth. Do you 
 care for me or are you playing some woman's game 
 to set me on fire?" 
 
 She shook her head. "You don't understand, 
 Phil. I couldn't know you felt like like this. I 
 didn't dream " 
 
 "You knew every move of the game. Just like 
 every other woman. They all try their little bag of 
 tricks and if one won't work the other will and 
 when they have us just where you have me they 
 call a halt and want to stop playing. Well, if you're 
 that sort, I'll show you I won't be trifled with!" 
 
 "Yes, I'll tell you the truth if you like. I didn't 
 love the man I married but I took him rather than 
 let your father ruin mine! And after it was all over 
 I felt sorry for you I supposed you couldn't help 
 caring for me I saw no harm in our being friends 
 and when my husband brought you here I thought 
 you knew that there was a line you could not cross !" 
 
 Suddenly his manner changed. "I won't hurt you, 
 Daphne," he whined. "It's only that I love don't 
 you know that when a man loves a woman " 
 
 "When a man loves a woman " she caught
 
 A Parting of the Ways 329 
 
 him up, her eyes on his, "he waits until she comes to 
 him until she cares for him in just the same way !" 
 
 "No man would do that," he insisted. "He'd take 
 her when he has the chance and let her learn to 
 love him afterwards. There's no man on earth who 
 would leave her free if " 
 
 "Yes, there is," she flashed at him, "my husband 
 has done it!" 
 
 He stared at her. "Left you free?" 
 
 She nodded and his face flushed suddenly. "Well, 
 he's more of a fool than I took him for. Now I'll 
 
 show you what a man " and he leaped forward, 
 
 but not before she had swung her crop and he stag- 
 gered back under the blow a trickle of red cours- 
 ing down his cheek. 
 
 Before he could recover, she sprang to her saddle 
 and wheeling her horse crashed through the under- 
 brush. 
 
 Sobbing and cursing, he caught his bridle, fumbled 
 for his stirrup and mounting, flung himself after her. 
 The branches whipped his face, but he did not seem 
 to heed them so long as he kept her in view. . . . 
 
 Bill rode home earlier than usual. He called 
 Daphne's maid to him. 
 
 ''Has your mistress returned yet?" She shook 
 her head anxiously. "She has never been gone this 
 long before, sir," she declared. "I was told to order 
 luncheon, but she has not come back." He dismissed
 
 330 The Road of Ambition 
 
 her, his face grave. So it had reached the point 
 where Daphne forgot time forgot everything in 
 this man's company and yet he trusted her. She 
 could do no wrong. But Phil had had all the innings 
 coming to him henceforth, they were to play the 
 game shoulder to shoulder and the woman to the 
 better man. 
 
 He told Jenks to summon all the servants. They 
 assembled before him, by the living room fire, their 
 faces full of curiosity. 
 
 They were all there Brenda, the cook, her 
 kitchen maid, the laundress, Daphne's maid and 
 Jenks. Bill regarded them thoughtfully. 
 
 "There's a train leaving here tonight at seven 
 thirty. I will pay you in full for your work here and 
 you will return to the house in Bethel where Mrs. 
 Kemble will see that you are established in your old 
 places. I think the wagon will hold you all." 
 
 They stared at him blankly. "Go! tonight!" 
 He nodded. Jenks broke the silence. 
 
 "But who'll cook for you, sir? who'll serve?" 
 
 Bill smiled. "I've handled a stove or two and as 
 for serving, I doubt if there'll be much of it done 
 you had better start packing at once the boy will 
 bring around the carriage in plenty of time." 
 
 "But sha'n't I start dinner ?" gasped the cook. 
 
 "Or set the table?" ventured Jenks. 
 
 Daphne's maid was sniffling. "I'm sure I've al- 
 ways tried to please."
 
 A Parting of the Ways 331 
 
 Bill rose, the interview at an end. "I have no 
 fault whatever to find with you. You are excellent 
 servants. You will take charge in the house at 
 Bethel as you have always done. That will be all," 
 and he left them staring at one another in bewildered 
 amazement. 
 
 An hour later the wagon rolled away with them 
 all and Bill seated himself before the fire, his face 
 grim his eyes dark. He drew out his watch. It 
 was after four. Suddenly he rose to his feet, pacing. 
 Then as the silence became unendurable as the 
 clock ticked off the minutes relentlessly, he caught up 
 his hat. 
 
 "Something's wrong!" he muttered fiercely. "If 
 he's hurt her " and he flung out of the house. 
 
 His horse was still saddled and he was half glad 
 it saved a little time. He mounted and swung him 
 into the path. The ground was hard and he could 
 find no trace of fresh hoof prints, but he saw a break 
 in the bushes in the direction of the knoll and guessed 
 they had passed that way. He spurred his horse 
 through the woods. At the knoll he again found 
 fresh trace of them. A horse had pawed the ground 
 while grazing that was all. He wheeled impa- 
 tiently. Why had he let the servants go they might 
 have aided in the search. Where could they be in 
 that wilderness why had they chosen a trackless 
 path? 
 
 He studied his surroundings in the growing dusk.
 
 332 The Road of Ambition 
 
 The bushes had been trampled by horses at full 
 swing it was not difficult to follow the path of 
 beaten shrubs if only night did not fall he cursed 
 the deepening shadows and spurred his horse. 
 
 Suddenly he drew rein, clinging to a bush was a 
 wisp of white cambric a torn shred he examined 
 it closely his face suddenly grim what did it mean 
 he raised his voice : 
 
 "Daphne," he shouted. "Oh, Daphne I" 
 
 There was no answer and he pressed forward, the 
 ascent was steeper the underbrush a thick tangle 
 of thorns why had they come this way? if he had 
 harmed her 
 
 "Daphne," he shouted. He rose in his stirrups, 
 calling and the answer came a faint halloo. He 
 sank back his hands trembling she was safe she 
 was near she had heard him. ... 
 
 In a clearing beside a stream, he found them 
 Phil lay with his eyes closed, and Daphne crouched 
 beside him. She looked like a child kneeling there, 
 the long yellow braid over her shoulder, her face 
 white as snow. She did not rise, but she pointed to 
 Phil. 
 
 "See if he's alive," she whispered. 
 
 Bill leaped from his horse and ran to the man's 
 side. He examined him closely. There was a deep 
 cut on his forehead which she had tried to bind with 
 shreds torn from her handkerchief. He questioned 
 her crisply.
 
 A Parting of the Ways 333 
 
 "When did it happen?" 
 
 "Early this morning." She stooped and leaned 
 toward Bill, suddenly. "Oh," she breathed, "I'm 
 so glad you've come I knew you would " 
 
 He was examining the wound. "Something 
 struck him what was it?" 
 
 She did not answer for a moment and then her 
 eyes were lowered. 
 
 "A bough it snapped back, he fell from his horse 
 and I tried to help him but there was so little I 
 could do just bathe it and I didn't know the way, 
 we had come so far and I couldn't leave him I 
 
 was afraid to so I called and called until " 
 
 She covered her face with her hands. Bill stared at 
 her, his face white with sudden relief. 
 
 "Steady now," he said, "he's had a nasty cut 
 
 but I've seen many a worse one at the Works " 
 
 He drew from his pocket the piece of torn cambric. 
 "I found this on a bush back a ways I was afraid 
 I thought something had happened to you." 
 
 She raised her head her eyes met his then she 
 lowered them. 
 
 "No," she whispered. "I'm all right." 
 
 Bill rose. "I'll put him over my shoulder if you'll 
 lead the horses. Think you feel up to it?" 
 
 She nodded. 
 
 "You'd better mount. I'll bring them to you." 
 
 He lifted her into the saddle without further com- 
 ment, then turned to Phil again. He tore his own
 
 334 The Road of Ambition 
 
 handkerchief into strips, dipped them in the stream 
 and bound the wound anew. Then he forced some 
 brandy between the man's lips. Phil opened his eyes, 
 with a flicker of a smile. 
 
 "So you found us," he whispered. "Well, I'm 
 glad of it," and he drifted off again. 
 
 Bill swung him easily over his shoulder and or- 
 dered her to follow. 
 
 "I'll go slow and you come along behind," he 
 called. "Take all the time you need ready?" 
 
 She nodded. She could not have spoken just 
 then.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 DAPHNE'S DECISION 
 
 * I A HE shack was in darkness Daphne, swaying 
 *- in her saddle from weariness, straightened with 
 a gasp. 
 
 "The servants !" she cried. Bill paused to answer. 
 
 "They're gone all of them." 
 
 "Gone I" she cried. 
 
 "Yes. Bag and baggage." He vouchsafed no 
 more. He carried Phil into the living room, stirred 
 the fire and left her to follow. She entered, dazed, 
 numb. The logs were beginning to blaze. Scamp, 
 delighted at their return, pranced and fawned be- 
 fore them. Bill nodded his head toward the figure 
 on the couch. 
 
 "He'll come around in a little while. Don't worry 
 about him get your things off I'll start dinner." 
 
 Still she faced him. "I don't understand. The 
 servants were satisfied. What made them leave this 
 way? What shall we do without them? I am so 
 tired I " 
 
 He smiled a trifle. "You'll feel better after din- 
 ner. Go lie down until I call you." 
 
 He noticed a sudden tenseness about her as 
 335
 
 336 The Road of Ambition 
 
 though she were bracing herself for something. He 
 waited. 
 
 "And Phil won't won't die or " 
 
 So that was what troubled herl Fear for this 
 man! He smiled to himself what a fool he had 
 been to mistake the warmth in her voice her man- 
 ner to think they were for him alone I 
 
 "No," he said abruptly. "He's not badly hurt. 
 Takes more than that to kill a man." 
 
 She sighed with relief. "Oh, I was so afraid 
 he lay so still I thought help would never 
 come " 
 
 He shut his lips tightly. So her joy in seeing him 
 that glad light that had leaped to her eyes was 
 only for Phil. He straightened his shoulders. 
 
 She was studying him. "What made you come 
 after me?" she demanded suddenly. 
 
 He shook his head. "I don't know. I had no 
 real reason to, I suppose, except that it grew late 
 and I became restless I thought perhaps you had 
 been hurt " 
 
 "And and was that all you thought?" She 
 waited, breathless, for his answer. He laughed. 
 
 "Wasn't that enough? That was the worst 
 thought in all the world to me." 
 
 "Was it?" she said softly, and seemed about tc 
 add something when he broke in gruffly: 
 
 "You'd better get some rest. I'll start things 
 going," and left her.
 
 Daphne's Decision 337 
 
 He found the kitchen immaculate. Brenda, in 
 spite of her orders, had left the steak on the broiler 
 had peeled the potatoes. He wondered if he had 
 lost his knack it was months since he had turned his 
 hand to anything of this kind. He rolled up his 
 sleeves and shook the fire until the flames leaped 
 high. He rejoiced in their heat on his face. He was 
 glad when the tempting odor of cooking meat smote 
 him. He turned the steak on its other side the 
 cloud of choking smoke arose he grinned at it 
 there was no time to think now. That was what 
 God gave a man two hands for to keep his mind 
 from mischief. He wondered grimly what would 
 have happened in the week he had planned had 
 mapped out perhaps she might have learned to 
 care for him after all. . . . 
 
 He shook himself together impatiently he was 
 wrong from the start the sort of thing he had set 
 out to do wasn't practicable you couldn't trans- 
 plant a hothouse flower into rugged soil and expect 
 it to thrive no keeping her there with him with 
 a man she detested was killing her he had never 
 seen her look so frail so white. True, she had been 
 happy at first but not for long. She had begun to 
 wilt and droop and yet she had been game not 
 a complaint had crossed her lips but now he saw 
 it plainly. She had married him, loving Phil and 
 he had thrown Phil in her path and even at that 
 she had played square, although it was telling on
 
 338 The Road of Ambition 
 
 her no he would send her back to Bethel back 
 to the life she loved to the people she loved. Was 
 it her fault that she could not care for the man she 
 had married. . . . ! 
 
 He turned at the whisper of silk behind him. She 
 was there. Her face very white her eyes green 
 pools she had dressed in the gown she had worn at 
 the window on the magic night when he had watched 
 her unobserved had trembled that a woman so 
 beautiful a woman of marble and gold should 
 belong to him. 
 
 She approached him timidly. "I tried to rest, but 
 I couldn't I'd rather stay in here with you if I 
 may." 
 
 He clenched his fists yes, he would send her 
 away he would not keep her with him not when 
 his whole soul cried out for her he had been strong 
 but he had reached the snapping point. 
 
 "I'm afraid you'll have a bad time of it here with- 
 out the servants it will be hard to get others out 
 here. Perhaps you had better go back to Bethel 
 when Colt goes." 
 
 Her eyes widened, but she did not speak. He 
 did not look at her. He shrank from seeing the re- 
 lief in her eyes he turned his back. 
 
 "I've got a lot of work to do. I'll manage all 
 right with the stable boy to look after the horses and 
 start the fire, but there's nothing to keep you here 
 now."
 
 Daphne's Decision 339 
 
 She caught her breath so he wanted to get rid of 
 her as badly as that! was sending her away like a 
 troublesome child. Perhaps he had even discharged 
 the servants to precipitate such a move to give him- 
 self a legitimate excuse for dismissing her. 
 
 "So you sent them away!" she flung at him. He 
 whirled on her. 
 
 "What do you mean?" 
 
 "You sent the servants away yourself, didn't 
 you?" 
 
 He bowed his head. Her eyes were flashing. 
 
 "Well, I'll go I'll go tomorrow ! Do you think 
 I'd stay a minute an instant after this? Did you 
 think you needed to do this to drive me away? I 
 would have gone long ago had you let me !" 
 
 He stared at her dully. "You can go in the morn- 
 ing if you like or whenever you choose." 
 
 She left him, with flaming cheeks. She raged at 
 herself for her anger. After all, that was what she 
 wanted she had desired all along to return to 
 Bethel this was a golden opportunity. Phil's words 
 rang in her ears, "I suppose he's glad to get you off 
 his hands." Glad! of course he was glad! 
 
 He had married her to gratify his pride to crown 
 his series of achievements now that she interfered 
 with his work she was summarily dismissed. 
 
 Philip was right. The man was a machine a ma- 
 chine that ground out business that throve on iron 
 and steel. She would find Phil and tell him so.
 
 34-O The Road of Ambition 
 
 He was sitting on the edge of the couch, feeling 
 his head tenderly. 
 
 "Phil," she cried, approaching him, "I'm sorry 
 I'm sorry for everything I said everything I 
 did " 
 
 He stared at her stupidly. "What's happened, 
 Daphne? What's he done?" 
 
 She shook her head. "He doesn't know that you 
 that I quarreled. He thinks the bough struck 
 you I couldn't tell him " 
 
 Phil nodded. "That's right." Then he looked 
 at her curiously. 
 
 "Something's up. What is it?" 
 
 "I'm going back with you tomorrow to 
 Bethel " 
 
 "Going back you mean, Daphne " 
 
 "I mean that you were right and I was 
 wrong " 
 
 He tried to question her but she moved away. 
 She wanted to be alone and that in itself was irony 
 she had shrunk from her own company for the 
 past week and now her mood demanded solitude. 
 She went to her room and shut her door. So this 
 would be her last night in the woods with her hus- 
 band. She shrank from the darkness from the 
 very night sounds she had loved she wished pas- 
 sionately that the long, black hours were over that 
 she might go and again the torturing voice whis- 
 ^ered did she want to go? Did she want to leave
 
 Daphne's Decision 341 
 
 the side of the man she had vowed to hate the man 
 she could not banish from her thoughts? 
 
 Someone was rapping softly. She sprang up with 
 alarm. If Philip had dared but it was Bill. He 
 had brought her a tray. 
 
 "It isn't much. But you'd better take a bite. 
 Here, let me light up." 
 
 She pushed it away and shook her head. But he 
 would not be gainsaid. 
 
 "Sit down," he said. "Now you're going to eat." 
 
 She found herself obeying. He lighted the lamp. 
 He treated her like a disobedient child she won- 
 dred if he had treated his workmen that way if 
 they had done his bidding as quickly as she did. She 
 ate silently and found she relished the food. He had 
 dropped down on a chair beside her. He did not 
 seem to know he was intruding he waited quietly 
 until she had finished. At length she pushed away 
 the tray, and he rose. 
 
 "There. You'll feel better." He took it from 
 her. "You'll find everything in good shape back 
 home. I'll be detained here a while longer don't 
 worry about me, though I like it here." He 
 smiled, but his eyes were on the wall he would not 
 meet hers. 
 
 "Thank you," she said softly. "You have been 
 very kind." 
 
 When he had gone she sat as he had left her, her 
 hands clasped in her lap. She fell asleep that way
 
 342 The Road of Ambition 
 
 and the sun in her eyes, flooding her window, awak- 
 ened her. She started up what had happened? 
 She was stiff from her cramped position. Why had 
 she slept that way? Then she remembered she was 
 going away the morrow had come she was free 
 to return and because she was free because the 
 cage door was open, she unaccountably dropped her 
 head on her arm and sobbed. That was no way to 
 greet her release she stormed to herself and be- 
 cause she could not feel glad in spite of all her ef- 
 forts she cried the harder it was her pride that 
 was hurt, she concluded. It was one thing to go be- 
 cause you wished to and quite another to be sent 
 away. 
 
 The hours passed in a haze. She felt as though 
 she were a spectator of a scene in which someone 
 resembling herself played a leading part. This 
 someone who tumbled things together hastily into a 
 grip who endeavored to dress with shaking hand 
 to eat the food set before her. 
 
 Phil was in high spirits. A good sleep had set 
 him up again, and he was eager to be off. 
 
 As they sat about the spotless table in the long 
 kitchen, she found herself watching Bill's face. He 
 looked as though he had not slept his eyes were 
 lustreless profoundly tired but there was a grim 
 purpose in them. She wondered what made his jaw 
 so tense his lips so stern. 
 
 Philip alone seemed unaware of the cloud which
 
 Daphne's Decision 343 
 
 had fallen over them both he talked of trains of 
 time tables of things to be done on his return 
 and Bill, when appealed to, responded in monosyl- 
 lables but Daphne found she could not her only 
 safety lay in silence. 
 
 Phil insisted that in order to make connections 
 and reach Bethel by nightfall they must leave at 
 once. She did not seem to hear. She saw Bill's 
 hand clench suddenly as though from a spasm of 
 pain. She wondered what his thoughts were was 
 he anxious to be rid of her? to shut himself up with 
 his work. . . . 
 
 At last Phil's insistence penetrated. She must get 
 ready. The wagon would be there in a few minutes. 
 It was a good two-hours' drive. She moved away re- 
 luctantly. Bill was stirring his coffee now that she 
 thought of it, he had drunk none not a drop. She 
 thought his hand trembled, but she could not be 
 sure. 
 
 The stable boy knocked at the door. He would 
 take her bag her wraps but Bill thrust him aside 
 roughly, and lifted them into the wagon himself. 
 She followed slowly, for an instant she lingered in 
 the living room the glowing fire in the hearth the 
 splotch of yellow sunshine on the wall the pillows 
 piled on the couch tugged at her heart strangely 
 she crushed back the words on her lips. He did not 
 want her. He was sending her away. She would 
 not humble her pride to plead not though she were
 
 344 The Road of Ambition 
 
 torn at leaving for she knew it now she admitted 
 it to herself proudly. 
 
 He helped her into the wagon. Philip had run 
 back for his gloves and she waited for Bill to speak. 
 
 "If you need me at any time, wire me," was all he 
 said. She nodded. Phil hurried out watch in hand 
 and sprang in. The boy gathered up the reins 
 and the horses leaped forward. 
 
 She did not look back, but she knew he was stand- 
 ing there bareheaded in the road just as he had 
 done the first time he had seen her. He waited until 
 the carriage was lost to sight around a bend in the 
 road then turned abruptly. A thrush was sing- 
 ing on a bough close by a full-throated morning 
 song the sky's blue was deepening into turquoise 
 the very air was crisp and sweet in its newness but 
 he did not seem to see nor hear. He moved like a 
 sleep walker he stumbled into the shack. The dog 
 pawed him affectionately but he thrust him aside. 
 
 He went to her room. He flung open the door. 
 He found it cold bare impersonal the little 
 trinkets that made it hers the slippers peeping from 
 beneath the bed the brush and comb on the bureau 
 the tea gown limp on its hook were gone. 
 
 He stood awkwardly in the doorway, his hands 
 thrust deep in his pockets. She had been there last 
 night. In that very chair the lamp's glow on her 
 hair only last night why, it seemed an eternity 
 agol And now there was nothing left not one
 
 Daphne's Decision 345 
 
 small thing . . . Nothing and as he turned to go, 
 his eye caught something something sheen and 
 filmy that lay in a huddled heap on the floor. He 
 leaped toward it with a cry. It was the gown she 
 had worn the gown he loved ! 
 
 He caught it up in his arms he laid his cheek 
 against its cool silkiness and as its faint aroma 
 reached him elusive sweet he crushed it to him. 
 
 "Daphne," he cried. "I want you. ... I 
 need you. ..." It was a strong man's cry to his 
 mate but there was no answer. 
 
 The train was puffing in the station. Phil tossed 
 the boy a coin and leaped out. Daphne followed 
 with dragging steps. She hated the station she 
 hated the train panting like a thing alive tugging 
 at its leash to be off but most of all she hated the 
 man beside her who drew her forward, unresist- 
 ing who gave her no opportunity no excuse for 
 protest. 
 
 The boy lifted the grips aboard and grinned at 
 her. 
 
 "I'll look after the master," he said. "Guess I'd 
 best go now." 
 
 She watched him turn the horses. Saw him speak 
 to a village acquaintance, leaning over the dash- 
 board. She wanted to cry out to him to wait to 
 take her back with him but she could not. Instead, 
 she let Phil help her aboard. She was glad when he
 
 346 The Road of Ambition 
 
 left her for a few minutes. She settled down on the 
 red plush cushions and stared out. 
 
 Over and over again she told herself that Bill 
 wished her to go but a thought persisted in spite 
 of her suppose she were wrong suppose he 
 wanted her after all suppose She straight- 
 ened up with a start her hands clasped her lips 
 parted for in that minute it flashed on her that she 
 had to know at any cost she had to hear from his 
 own lips that he was banishing her! . . . 
 
 She rose to her feet impulsively. Phil had not yet 
 returned. She was very glad of that. She was 
 afraid her determination would not survive his ob- 
 jections. 
 
 There were yet a few minutes before the train 
 left a few minutes in which to act. She spied the 
 brakeman near the door. She turned to him. "I'm 
 going to get off," she said, "and when the gentleman 
 returns tell him I have made up my mind to go back 
 just that I have made up my mind to go back." 
 
 He looked at her, puzzled. But she continued 
 quickly. "He is not to follow me it would be use- 
 less tell him I had to go, do you understand?" 
 
 He stared at her curiously and moved aside to 
 let her alight. At the far end of the station, she saw 
 Phil. He was dickering about baggage and checks. 
 She moved back in the shadow of the station. She 
 waited her heart beating in her ears. 
 
 Then came the sharp scream of the whistle the
 
 Daphne's Decision 347 
 
 train jerked forward. Phil leaped aboard and clam- 
 bered up the steps. She stepped inside the little sta- 
 tion as the train rumbled by soon it was a mere 
 speck of black on two gleaming tracks. She drew 
 a quick breath. Well, she had done it! 
 
 She came forth cautiously almost as though she 
 feared someone might stop her question her but 
 the little group that gathered at train times had dis- 
 banded. The village street lay calm serene de- 
 serted beneath the cloudless sky. No there was 
 nothing to hinder her return nothing on earth. . . 
 
 She passed from the Main Street with its row of 
 little shops, into the dusty road that wound upwards. 
 Somewheres miles distant she knew it would 
 reach the door of the shack. She began the climb. 
 
 She felt suddenly carefree and ridiculously happy 
 as though a burden had rolled from her shoulders 
 as though she were coming into her own. She 
 drew off her hat and let the soft wind whip the 
 tendrils of her hair about her face. She rejoiced in 
 the air's freshness in the wildness of the little road. 
 She found herself humming, and laughed at the 
 sound. How did she dare when she knew not what 
 lay in store for her at her journey's end? But that 
 did not stem her song she would at least see him 
 be near him. She thought of unconsidered trifles 
 the strength of his arms. . . . 
 
 The road became steeper, but she loved its very 
 steepness. It sent the color into her cheeks she
 
 348 The Road of Ambition 
 
 laughed at her own exhaustion and plodded on. She 
 half hoped no wagon would pass she would like 
 to return to him thus, on foot every step of the way. 
 
 The song she hummed became louder as she 
 pressed forward. There was still a long ways to go 
 and at the end what? 
 
 She was forced to stop more often as the morn- 
 ing changed into early afternoon. She was dust 
 covered hungry tired but the eager light still 
 sparkled in her eyes. 
 
 She lay down beside a little stream and bathed her 
 face and hands. She did not move for a long while. 
 She was suddenly acutely aware of her weariness 
 the tension of the past weeks the sleeplessness 
 the mental torture. She closed her eyes. When she 
 awoke it was growing dark. She started up in dis- 
 may. The sun a red globe was slipping down be- 
 hind the trees. She scrambled to her feet. Why 
 had she slept when there was yet a long ways to go ! 
 It would be dark in a little while very dark. 
 
 It was late when she reached the shack. She 
 moved forward slowly. She was overpoweringly 
 weary and suddenly afraid afraid of him of 
 herself what would he think of her? what could 
 she say? 
 
 She shivered a little as she approached. There 
 was no light within, but the door was unlocked. She 
 pushed it open. She listened for Scamp's bark for 
 Bill's gruff voice but there was only silence.
 
 Daphne's Decision 349 
 
 "Bill!" she whispered, suddenly alarmed. "Bill 
 it's I Daphne I've come home!" 
 
 Still silence . . . and she knew he was out tramp- 
 ing in the woods. Suppose he should not come back ! 
 Suppose she should have to spend the night alone in 
 that black cottage. She shuddered and ran out. "I'll 
 find him!" she whispered. "I'll find him. ... 
 
 In a clearing, surrounded by a circle of trees, 
 Bill had built a fire he had built it partly as shel- 
 ter against the approaching frost but largely because 
 a fire is a friendly thing and he did not wish to be 
 alone in the darkness with his thoughts. Scamp, hav- 
 ing tramped at his heels all day, lay down gratefully 
 before the crackle of wood, content to drop his head 
 between his paws. But the man moved about rest- 
 lessly now staring grimly into the flames now 
 into the velvety darkness. He would stay there all 
 night. Sleep by the fire he could not go back to 
 the shack that shouted aloud her presence nor to 
 the house in Bethel perhaps he would go abroad 
 plunge himself in work over there he must do 
 something to distract his mind to make him forget 
 her. 
 
 "Daphne," he groaned. "I want you. ... I 
 need you. ..." 
 
 Suddenly Scamp stiffened and growled. And Bill 
 sprang to his feet. He heard the snap of a twig 
 beneath a foot. Perhaps it was the boy with a mes-
 
 350 The Road of Ambition 
 
 sage perhaps she had sent for him. Scamp leaped 
 forward with a snarl that changed to a yelp of 
 delight. Bill whirled and seeing, staggered 
 back. . . . 
 
 It was Daphne alone coming toward him with 
 a timid smile on her lips a question in her eyes. 
 He stared at her. He brushed a dazed hand across 
 his brow surely he was dreaming it dreaming it 
 
 all. "Daphne!" he whispered. "You came " 
 
 He saw in her eyes a light he had never before seen. 
 
 "Did you want me, Bill? I couldn't know " 
 
 "Want you!" he cried. "Want you . . . !" 
 
 Still she waited, eyeing him gravely but with a 
 deep brooding tenderness. 
 
 "I had to know," she whispered. "I had to 
 know " 
 
 He took a step toward her and then paused. "But 
 you I don't understand why have you done this?" 
 
 She raised her head and her eyes met his fear- 
 lessly. 
 
 "Because I love you," she said simply. 
 
 And with a cry he opened his arms. . . . 
 
 They sat long before the fire, her cheek against 
 his hand. . . . 
 
 "I was afraid," she whispered, "I thought you 
 cared for those other things that they meant more 
 to you than I " 
 
 He caught her to him. "No," he cried, "it was
 
 Daphne's Decision 351 
 
 because I dared not dream of this that I bound my- 
 self up in my work but now with you to help me 
 with you at my side I can rise to any heights 
 there's nothing I can't do nothing." 
 
 She smiled a trifle at the confidence in his voice 
 the glad, leaping confidence. 
 
 "You're so strong," she said slowly. "I've always 
 felt you needed no one really you've done so much 
 alone. Are you sure I sha'n't be in your way?" 
 
 He laughed tenderly. "I shall need you always." 
 
 "But if you don't," she insisted, "if I find I am 
 hindering you holding you back I promise to go 
 away." 
 
 "Hush !" he said sternly, "you will never leave me 
 for an instant!" 
 
 He rose. "Come, child," he said, "it's time for us 
 to go home." He gave her his hand and they stood 
 together smiling softly, their hearts beating high 
 with emotion. 
 
 "I must tell you something first something about 
 Phil!" 
 
 "Well?" he said, stiffening. 
 
 She moved closer to him. "It's about his wound 
 it was I who struck him !" 
 
 "You!" he cried. She nodded. 
 
 "He had said something against you I couldn't 
 bear it so I struck him then he came after me and 
 a bough snapping back cut deeper into the wound 
 that's how that's why "
 
 352 The Road of Ambition 
 
 But Bill bent down suddenly and lifted her in his 
 arms. 
 
 "Little Snow Woman," he cried, "you did it be- 
 cause of me?" 
 
 She nodded, her cheek against his shoulder, her 
 hair brushing his lips. 
 
 And as she lay in his arms, curiously enough the 
 prayer he had uttered at the Works, sprang once 
 more to his lips. 
 
 *'God make me good to her always," he whis- 
 pered. 
 
 She stirred comfortably and sighed in an aban- 
 donment of content, and he smiled down at her ten- 
 derly she had come to him he had conquered 
 again how supremely wonderful was life ! 
 
 Then he flung back his shoulders and strode for- 
 ward through the black woods swiftly easily 
 triumphantly.
 
 They Sat Long Before the Fire, Her Cheek 
 Against His Arm
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 NEW TRIUMPHS 
 
 "DETHEL lay in the grip of winter its trees hung 
 "^ with icicles its roads snow-choked. A large 
 number of its hilltop dwellers had migrated south- 
 ward, as was their wont and those who remained 
 behind, entered into the gayety of the winter season 
 Bethel's merriest time. 
 
 The Big Four had stayed behind even Decker's 
 susceptibility to heady colds was forgotten in the new 
 interest and excitement of launching "The Bethel 
 Transatlantic Company." Bill himself had not fore- 
 seen the enormous profits which would accrue in so 
 short a time. As president of a baby industry which 
 had grown overnight into a giant, he found himself 
 swamped with work. 
 
 The stock was snapped up he himself plunged 
 heavily, buying ten thousand shares at par, on a ten 
 per cent, margin a margin his brokers gladly took, 
 knowing the man's capabilities. No, they had no 
 fear of any enterprise handled by Big Bill Matthews. 
 He was a Croesus his touch turned clay to gold. 
 
 The venture was so tremendous so far surpass- 
 ing anything previously attempted, that the Asso- 
 353
 
 354 The Road of Ambition 
 
 dated Press, pouncing upon the news, featured the 
 progress of the new company in glaring type. Photo- 
 graphs of its docks its ships its crews were seized 
 upon. Pictures of the French port in construction 
 nearing completion were reproduced, and due hom- 
 age paid the man whose genius had again pushed 
 American initiative to the front. 
 
 Bill, as the fifth partner, became the center of a 
 system which he himself had built up. He directed 
 it like a general. Where he could not be on hand 
 himself, he saw that first class men were installed. 
 He knew the need of buying brains, and paid huge 
 sums for them. He was after "end figures" and 
 he got them ! 
 
 Desperately busy with his thousand and one 
 plans, he spent long hours in conference inves- 
 tigating ways and means, debating new methods of 
 attack. There was little time for play these days, 
 but he loved the work. He attacked it with a vim 
 and snap that amazed him. He never seemed to 
 tire. It was his giant strength, the body that steel 
 had built up the superb thing of muscle and sinew 
 that years of labor had hardened. 
 
 And the woman he loved stood by his side. In 
 the first months after their return from the hills she 
 had been afraid of the endless tasks which took him 
 from her but with a determination whose root lay 
 in her love for him, she began to acquaint herself 
 with the problems that beset him timidly at first
 
 New Triumphs 355 
 
 she knew so little of such things but gradually find- 
 ing an absorbing interest in the great game he was 
 playing the game of life. 
 
 He shrank from her help at the start afraid it 
 would tire her a little impatient of explaining his 
 business to her, as all men are but when he found 
 her able to grasp the phrases he used saw the quick 
 conclusions she drew the directness with which she 
 reached a point he took her more and more into 
 his confidence. He poured out his hopes to her. It 
 was a new Daphne that Bethel came to know. 
 
 "She's really in love with him!" they told one 
 another. "What is the secret of his power?" 
 
 It was at her suggestion that Bill secured the 
 Bethel Courier. 
 
 "Newspapers are such important allies," she had 
 urged. "Why not have one of your own in which all 
 you wish to say will be set down plans for the 
 Works for the men anything you care about hav- 
 ing published." 
 
 He negotiated and took over the paper, installed 
 his own editor, then turned to the next problem in 
 hand. 
 
 It was right there that Dugan stepped in. He did 
 it through Daphne. He had the most profound ad- 
 miration for her. He saw in her a perfect wife 
 for the future Governor a helpmate a social 
 queen. 
 
 He began his skirmishing cautiously. He was a
 
 356 The Road of Ambition 
 
 frequent guest at Matthews' home, where Daphne 
 had established a salon a meeting place for the Big 
 Four and their fellows. They accepted her invita- 
 tions because in her lovely rooms they found an un- 
 excelled opportunity to talk with people who held 
 the same views or shared the same interests. 
 Scarcely a night passed that the great house on the 
 hill was not alight its door flung open to a stream 
 of guests. Perhaps half a dozen to dinner and after- 
 ward an occasional concert a song bird on tour 
 a famous musician then a comfortable dividing up 
 into groups. 
 
 Daphne, with her extraordinary beauty and 
 charm, was eminently fitted to preside over her lit- 
 tle court. If at times she had sharp moments of re- 
 gret that the golden happiness which had been theirs 
 in the hills, could not continue, she concealed it and 
 plunged anew into the gay whirl which she knew 
 would further Bill's interests. 
 
 Dugan had watched his man long enough. It was 
 the best bet of his life. Governorship was only a 
 step if the man wanted to, he could go higher 
 much higher. Nothing daunted him, nothing 
 stopped him his conquests were colossal his prog- 
 ress cyclonic! 
 
 It was on a window-rattling, wind-whistling even- 
 ing that Dugan took the first step toward the con- 
 summation of the plan at which he had hinted on 
 Bethel's links.
 
 New Triumphs 357 
 
 Matthews' music room was filled with men and 
 women who had come to hear a pianist play a 
 famous, much courted artist from over the sea they 
 had listened to his music with polite interest they 
 were glad when it was over and they could drift into 
 corners the men, smoking and laughing exchang- 
 ing stories of the day, the women with a group of 
 younger men seated about the fire the pianist, sur- 
 rounded by a crowd of admirers, running his fing- 
 ers lightly over the keys. 
 
 Dugan, a cigar in the side of his mouth, watched 
 the scene through half shut eyes watched it with 
 a keen sense of appreciation. Here was an exquisite 
 home ablaze with light fragrant with flowers 
 the center of Bethel's social and financial life. Its 
 hostess a creature radiant, superb the pride of race 
 in the poise of her head the tilt of her chin the 
 slenderness of her blue veined hands. Its host a giant 
 steady of eye strong of jaw head and shoulder 
 above the rest dominating by sheer force of his 
 personality a man who had risen from the people 
 and fought every inch of the way. 
 
 Dugan smiled to himself that was a fellow for 
 you ! Commanding respect from any gathering 
 magnetic simple four-square. Dugan studied 
 him. Bill was frowning. Waiting impatiently for 
 one of his group to finish a statement bound to dis- 
 agree with him. Once the man had concluded, Bill 
 leaped in and scattered his reasoning to the four
 
 358 The Road of Ambition 
 
 winds, the man, chagrined, stirred uncomfortably, 
 but the others laugjied and nodded their heads. 
 
 Dugan wondered if they really agreed with Bill, 
 or if his sweeping assurance, that brooked no argu- 
 ment, carried them along in spite of themselves. 
 Whatever it was, Dugan admired it. It was just 
 the quality he wished in his man it was so ex- 
 actly what he desired that he was almost afraid to 
 broach the subject. What if Bill refused? He had 
 already seen Bill in the gubernatorial chair heard 
 his inaugural address. Who could say that Dugan, 
 the Practical, the Calculating, was devoid of imagi- 
 nation? 
 
 He sought Daphne. He found her the center of 
 a lively discussion. Graves, the new editor of the 
 Bethel Courier, a slight, pale youth with an air of 
 profound wisdom, emphasized by the horn rimmed 
 glasses he wore, was propounding his theory that 
 all men were atoms a theory violently disputed by 
 the women, challenged by them. Graves clung tena- 
 ciously to his point. 
 
 "Read the Russian or Polish folk stories," he 
 pleaded in his nervous, high-pitched voice. "Joseph 
 Conrad Dostoievsky or some of the things James 
 Huneker has said of them in his latest reviews 
 there is fascinating mysticism in them the falling 
 of a leaf or the crumbling of a dynasty being of equal 
 importance." 
 
 They disagreed noisily and Dugan, a smile on
 
 New Triumphs 359 
 
 his lips, turned to Daphne, what had she to say? 
 She was sitting close to Graves, her chin on her hand, 
 but Dugan saw that her attention was wandering, 
 once or twice her glances stole to the hilarious group 
 of which her husband was the center. 
 
 He saw her eyes rest on him and become suddenly 
 tender he saw the smile in them lighten to quick 
 eagerness as Bill, catching sight of her above the 
 heads of the men, nodded. 
 
 She turned back to her own group with a new en- 
 thusiasm a new spirit. Dugan shook his head. If 
 the man could do that to his wife a woman of such 
 spirit of pride as Daphne he could rule a nation. 
 
 He approached her. She smiled her welcome, and 
 they made room for him, but he shook his head. 
 
 "It's off for home I am," he said, "but before I 
 go will ye be showin' me the picture ye promised to 
 last time I was here?" 
 
 She knew she had promised nothing of the sort 
 and that the man before her had something to say to 
 her of deepest importance. 
 
 "Indeed I'll be glad to," she said. 
 
 The gallery was in semi-darkness and Dugan 
 begged her to let it remain so. 
 
 "It won't be distractin' me mind from what I have 
 to say." 
 
 She laughed and waited tingling with an eager- 
 ness she would not show what could he be plan- 
 ning? What new triumph for Bill?
 
 360 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Dugan stroked his chin. 
 
 "It's fishin' for an invite to dinner I am," he 
 began, smiling at her. He enjoyed watching her 
 watching changes of expression flashing over her 
 lovely face yes she was certainly the lady to fill 
 the bill. 
 
 "You can come any time you like," she said. 
 "You know that." 
 
 "Yes," he said, "but I mean alone no table full 
 of millionaires to cut me out." 
 
 Then he was suddenly serious. 
 
 "Your husband's been doin' big things," he said. 
 She clasped her hands and leaned forward. 
 
 "Indeed he has," she nodded. Dugan admired 
 that sudden earnestness that ring of pride in her 
 voice. She was the first woman he had ever seen to 
 his entire liking. He wondered if Bill appreciated 
 her. 
 
 "I'd like to see him interested in politics," was his 
 next move. 
 
 "Politics?" she said, wrinkling her forehead. 
 ''What sort?" 
 
 He smiled. Women, he had found, unless trained, 
 were always vague along these lines. Politics spelled 
 corruption to them they abhorred them well, he 
 would soon put her right. 
 
 "I mean, I'd like to see him governor of the state." 
 
 "Governor !" she breathed. "Bill gover- 
 nor !"
 
 New Triumphs 361 
 
 He nodded. "Just that. And what's more it's in 
 my power to put him there." 
 
 She did not seem to hear. 
 
 "Governor !" she repeated softly. 
 
 He watched her delightedly. 
 
 "There's no need to say that ye'll make the finest 
 governor's lady in the cpuntry." 
 
 She flashed him a smile for that, but it was plain 
 that her thoughts were centered on Bill alone. 
 
 "And you think he could get the nomination?" 
 
 "Get it!" grinned Dugan. "Sure, it's his for the 
 askin' an' that's only one step, mind you. He's a 
 great man, your husband, there's few like him, pullin' 
 himself up from nothin' by his own boot straps and 
 makin' the very kings of finance sit up and take no- 
 tice. Sure, he's a born ruler!" 
 
 She nodded. "Yes, he is, he is " 
 
 She sat silent a long while her eyes deeply re- 
 flective but her breath came swiftly through her 
 parted lips. 
 
 "And may I tell him what you have said?" she 
 asked at length. He nodded. 
 
 "Sure, all of it. It's for you to persuade him if 
 it's hesitatin' he is. Tell him Dugan never puts up 
 a man unless he's a sure winner, and that he's the 
 one man I've picked for the job." 
 
 She held out her hand impulsively. 
 
 "Oh, how can I ever thank you!" He laughed. 
 
 "By makin' him say yes."
 
 362 The Road of Ambition 
 
 She told Bill when they were alone before the fire 
 and he had drawn her into his arms. He listened 
 gravely and when he did not speak she drew his face 
 close to hers until he was forced to meet her eyes. 
 
 "Well?" she asked, impatiently. He folded her 
 close. 
 
 "I don't know," he said gravely. "I don't 
 know " 
 
 "But you can," she urged. "Dugan says you're 
 just the man for the place. Oh, Bill," she cried, 
 breathlessly, "I'm so proud of you !" 
 
 He smiled at her. "And so you want me to try 
 for it?" 
 
 She did not answer at once, she was content to 
 feel the strength of his arms about her, the rough- 
 ness of his coat brushed her cheek the rise and fall 
 of his breathing if only he had more time for this 
 these precious minutes they were few enough as 
 it was, but if he plunged into this new game what 
 then? 
 
 She flung up her head. She had said she would 
 never hold him back never for an instant! 
 
 "I want you to you're made for big things, Bill 
 and this is one of them yes yes I want you 
 to!" 
 
 "Governor " he repeated slowly, just as she 
 
 had done suddenly he bent his head and kissed her. 
 
 "Little Snow Woman," he whispered, "I love you 
 love you love you !"
 
 New Triumphs 363 
 
 She sighed happily, but when she raised her eyes 
 to his she found him staring into the fire his cheeks 
 flushed. 
 
 "Do you remember the day in the woods when 
 
 we " she began softly then paused; his lips 
 
 were framing the words again slowly almost rev- 
 erently. 
 
 "Governor !" he whispered. "Me Big Bill Mat- 
 thews 1" 
 
 She did not interrupt, but lay in his arms watching 
 the play of firelight on his face. 
 
 Dugan received Bill's acceptance with a roar of 
 approval. 
 
 "Keep it under our hat, though," he cautioned. 
 "There ain't goin' to be no slip up if I can help it !" 
 
 It was right there that Bill's course in practical 
 politics began the a-b-c's which Dugan was such a 
 past-master at teaching. There was a rich joy in 
 handling a man of Bill's calibre a man so well 
 known from one end of the country to the other 
 no need of cheap exploitation for him no need of 
 booming his name in various cities of appointing 
 him head of a State Commission to enforce Labor 
 Laws by Jiminy ! he had enforced them right there 
 in Bethel without the faintest hope of nomination 
 that was a record for you ! A man who didn't need 
 to draft a bill to become famous ! 
 
 Dugan chuckled to himself and confided in 
 Loomis. "They'll be so dumfounded when his
 
 364 The Road of Ambition 
 
 name goes up that they'll pass him cold on the first 
 ballot but I bet me new hat he'll get in on the sec- 
 ond! An' say, when he pitches into them soulless 
 corporations and tries to make 'em come across 
 with the system he's put into Bethel Steel, the pub- 
 lic'll go batty! People's governor that's what 
 he'll be he ain't only talkin' practical politics he's 
 livin' them." 
 
 No, Dugan had no fears as to the outcome and 
 Bill, carried along on a new wave of enthusiasm that 
 swept him forward at a high speed, found less and 
 less time to be alone with Daphne. He was not con- 
 scious of it indeed, he would have denied it hotly 
 he would have declared they were together evenings 
 but he forgot that the evenings were full confer- 
 ences behind closed doors Benson reporting on the 
 new locomotive cranes with their lifting magnet 
 computing the saving in handling scrap the rapid- 
 ity with which it was worked Mack discussing cases 
 of workmen's widows presenting an estimate of al- 
 lowances necessary to them in order to keep their 
 families intact Pattison noisily announcing he had 
 secured an option on a barge in Seattle or a dead 
 weight cargo steamer figuring the cubic cargo ca- 
 pacity the number of hatches the size of tanks 
 for oil storage. 
 
 Details that forced themselves upon his attention 
 that must be cleaned up and Daphne, her eyes 
 on the hearthstone, prayed it might some day be
 
 New Triumphs 365 
 
 over prayed he might have his fill of the grinding 
 work which raised a barrier between them that he 
 might again live for her alone as he had in those 
 poignantly sweet days in the hills. But she did not 
 speak of her hopes. She did not breathe them aloud. 
 Instead, she watched over him aided him where 
 she could enlarged his circle of friends made 
 peace with his enemies smoothed his path in a hun- 
 dred little ways and when he wanted her, was 
 ready to go to him at a moment's notice. 
 
 The winter slipped into spring, and the new dan- 
 ger, still but a whisper the danger of a ruthless 
 submarine warfare whipped Bill to new energy. 
 
 "Get small calibre guns," was his command. 
 "Have them ready to mount. Get the fleet into 
 shape so that we can mobilize into a trade navy 
 for coast defence. If these old tubs can't do any- 
 thing else, they can lay and sweep mines. Won't 
 wait until we need them we'll be ready aheaH of 
 time!" 
 
 The Bethel Courier announced his policy and the 
 news was snapped up by the papers of the nation-r- 
 here was a man who believed in preparedness prac- 
 tical preparedness who neither paraded nor orated 
 who acted. The result was that a host of indi- 
 viduals offered the government their motor boats 
 and yachts for defense in event of hostilities. 
 
 Dugan read, and reading, sat back and rubbed his 
 hands together.
 
 366 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "Good boy I" he grinned. 'That's the stuff. You 
 couldn't do better if you tried!" 
 
 On a soft morning with a haze of green on the 
 treetops and a whisper of summer in the air, Daphne 
 sought Bill in his office. Mack grinned at her and 
 waved his hand at the waiting men, but she would 
 not be put aside. 
 
 "I'm going to see him," she insisted and followed 
 Mack to Bill's door. Bill, behind a pile of docu- 
 ments, looked up with a frown of impatience. 
 
 "Didn't I tell you " he began, then as he saw 
 
 her, he smiled. "Oh, well, if it's you " Mack 
 
 closed the door behind them and she ran to him. 
 
 "Bill," she cried eagerly, "I've a splendid plan 
 it came to me this morning when I woke up and 
 found the sun pouring through my window. You've 
 been working too hard and so I've come to to run 
 away with you : to make you take a holiday I've 
 got the new car at the door and " 
 
 He laughed at her as he drew her into his arms. 
 
 "Run away! It's spring fever, dearest; the far- 
 thest I'll run will be from here to the club for lunch 
 and back." 
 
 She sighed in his arms, the eager light in her 
 eyes fading. 
 
 "Just for a little while, then a few hours it 
 wouldn't matter " 
 
 He kissed her, and his smile held a gentle toler- 
 ance.
 
 New Triumphs 367 
 
 "Think of planning to kidnap me when there are 
 two conferences slated for this afternoon, beside a 
 dozen men waiting to see me by appointment." 
 
 Suddenly he caught her to him did she feel well? 
 She was a bit pale why not see the doctor why 
 not run away for a few days ? 
 
 "I'd rather not," she said. "Unless you go too." 
 
 "No chance," he laughed. She slipped from his 
 arms and arose. 
 
 "You'll be home early, won't you? You remem- 
 ber it's the theatre tonight." 
 
 He was already attacking the pile of papers be- 
 fore him. 
 
 "If I can Mack will let you know." 
 
 She left him, and with a sigh of relief and a smile 
 of tenderness as he thought of her warm arms about 
 his neck her cheek against his he plunged anew 
 into work. 
 
 He cleared up the pile before him, and pressed a 
 button. Davis, his secretary, appeared and Bill 
 nodded to him. 
 
 "Let Thomas come in," he commanded, then 
 paused as the telephone tinkled at his elbow. Davis 
 lifted the receiver, spoke, and turned to Bill, cover- 
 ing the mouthpiece with his hand. 
 
 "It's a lady, sir. She says she wants to speak with 
 you." 
 
 "Name?" snapped Bill, glancing up for an instant 
 from his papers. Davis inquired, then turned back.
 
 368 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "She won't give it to me, sir; says she must speak 
 to you alone." 
 
 Suddenly Bill laughed. "It's Mrs. Matthews 
 she's probably forgotten to tell me something." 
 
 He took the instrument from Davis, a smile still 
 on his lips. 
 
 "Well ?" he inquired, "what's up ?" Then he stif- 
 fened suddenly his face set in stern lines as a 
 voice reached him : 
 
 "I knew you'd answer. I've something I want to 
 ask you something very important oh, but first 
 of all, do you know who I am?" 
 
 He did not reply for a moment he couldn't 
 but he knew in a flash that it was May Lara- 
 bee. .
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 MAY LARABEE TURNS A TRICK 
 
 "DILL waved his hand to Davis. "I'll ring when I 
 ** want you," and turned back to the telephone. 
 "Yes," he said shortly, "I know." 
 
 She hurried on. "I'm here in Bethel at the Inn 
 I want to see you I'm in trouble, Bill in a 
 dreadful fix and I don't know which way to turn. I 
 simply had to ring you up ; you will forgive me, won't 
 you?" 
 
 He tried to collect his thoughts to ask her when 
 she had returned what she was doing there to 
 remember she was a calculating woman who had 
 almost wrecked his life but at the note of pleading 
 in her voice at the appeal for help, he weakened. 
 
 "If there is anything I can advise you about " 
 
 he began, and she broke in eagerly: 
 
 "Oh, how good you are! But then that's like 
 you. Shall I come to your office? Or no, I think 
 it would be better for you to drop in on me here, 
 wouldn't it? I'll do whatever you say." 
 
 He tried to plan quickly, but the suddenness with 
 which she flung her suggestions at him, left him con- 
 fused. She was talking animatedly. "Suppose we 
 369
 
 370 The Road of Ambition 
 
 say here, then. You can stop in on your way home. 
 I'll be in the reading room. Bill, you know I should 
 never ask you to come unless I really needed you 
 you understand, don't you?" 
 
 He tried to put her off to think of an adequate 
 excuse, but before he had framed the words, her 
 bright, "Thank you a thousand times I'll be wait- 
 ing!" reached him, with a click that told him she 
 had rung off. 
 
 The instant she had gone, he regretted his impul- 
 siveness. What right had she to expect his help 
 to appeal to his pity she had forfeited all claim 
 to it, when she had shown her true colors. He called 
 Bethel Inn, and asked for her, but the clerk informed 
 him she had gone out directly after telephoning. 
 No, he was sorry, but no one knew where, and Bill 
 hung up angrily. 
 
 All day he fought the irritation that beset him, 
 endeavoring in vain to banish the thought that she 
 would be waiting for him that he had practically 
 promised to meet her. Why hadn't he told her up 
 and down he would not see her? Why . . . 
 
 The conferences lasted until late he had scarcely 
 time to fling a command to Mack, "Get Mrs. Mat- 
 thews on the wire. Tell her not to wait dinner. I'll 
 meet her at the show." 
 
 It was after seven when the last appointment was 
 fulfilled when he donned his hat and bid Mack a 
 curt good night. His car stood at the door, but he
 
 May Larabee Turns a Trick 371 
 
 dismissed it and told himself he wanted to walk. 
 He knew what he really wished was to fence for 
 time to give himself an opportunity to plan for the 
 coming interview. 
 
 He was glad it was so late. The chances were 
 that May had tired of waiting and had gone else- 
 where for help. He hoped so. That would let him 
 out, still since he had offered his help he must make 
 some sort of an attempt to see her. 
 
 He felt better after his brisk walk through the 
 soft twilight. May seemed less of a problem. After 
 all, it was natural she should turn to him there was 
 no harm in finding out what it was she wanted. 
 
 He entered the brilliantly lighted lobby of Bethel 
 Inn, nodded to a group of men and women he knew, 
 and strolled past them to the reading room. If she 
 were not there he could leave at once. He would 
 then have done his part fulfilled his contract. Next 
 time she rang up he would have Davis tell her he 
 was out or busy. . . . 
 
 He entered the long room, with its subdued lights 
 and soft rugs. For a minute his eyes, unaccustomed 
 to the dim glow, could not distinguish its occupants, 
 but once used to the semi-darkness he saw May, and 
 beside her a man there was no mistaking him it 
 was Phil. He drew back, endeavoring to escape 
 furious that she should have appealed to him, when 
 she so obviously had others to turn to, but before he 
 could go, she saw him and hurried toward him.
 
 372 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "I knew you'd come !" she cried. 
 
 He greeted her stiffly and she flashed a smile af 
 Phil. 
 
 "How lucky you happened in here I should have 
 had a long wait alone." Bill met Colt's frank stare, 
 and acknowledged his, "I haven't seen you for some 
 time, Matthews," with a short bow. It was true, 
 since the days in the shack he and Phil had not ex- 
 changed a dozen words. There was a short silence, 
 then Phil straightened up. "Well, I'll be trotting 
 a'long," he said. She did not try to keep him, in- 
 deed, she seemed relieved when he had gone. She 
 turned to Bill, eagerly. 
 
 "Shall we sit down?" He followed her to a 
 couch, in a dim corner, and waited. She leaned to- 
 ward him. 
 
 "Bill, I hated to call you up I hated to send for 
 you but I had to I simply had to there's no one 
 else I could ask no one in the world." 
 
 She waited watching him closely, through half 
 closed lids. He cleared his throat. 
 
 "If there is anything I can do I shall, of course, 
 be glad to do it, but why not ask Colt he " 
 
 "Oh, Phil " she cried, shrugging. "He's no 
 
 friend he never has been we just happened to 
 meet in here tonight. Phil can't advise me no one 
 can but you." 
 
 He knew that soft note in her voice he had often 
 thrilled to it now he stiffened his face set.
 
 May Larabee Turns a Trick 373 
 "Perhaps you'd better tell me about it- 
 
 She sighed and clasped her hands in her lap and 
 allowed her shoulders to droop with a suggestion of 
 fatigue. 
 
 "It's money," she said, plaintively. "You know 
 you gave me plenty much more than I deserved 
 oh, how I've hated myself for those dreadful words 
 you heard me say but when I read that you had 
 married Daphne I was glad yes, I was I knew 
 she'd make a far better wife for you than I. So 
 Monty and I went away and he gambled I 
 couldn't stop him I didn't even try to I was so 
 broken up you know, Bill, a woman can't get over 
 these things all at once and I didn't notice that the 
 
 money was going until until " she stopped to 
 
 fumble for her handkerchief. Bill watched her with 
 a cynical admiration how dramatically she carried 
 it off always a consummate actress even this 
 pause was effective heightening the suspense 
 "until I found that I had overdrawn! Think of it, 
 Bill all the money you gave me gone ! and I haven't 
 a penny left except the little drop that comes from 
 the estate. ... I must manage to live on that for 
 the rest of my life!" 
 
 She stopped altogether. He stirred uncomfort- 
 ably she was waiting for him to say something 
 anything. 
 
 "And what is it you want my advice about?" 
 
 "Just this what can I do with the bit I have left?
 
 374 The Road of Ambition 
 
 I must enlarge it you see that don't you? 
 I wouldn't ask you this unless I were desperate but 
 you spoiled me gave me a taste of the good things 
 of life clothes travel everything and I can't 
 bear I simply can't bear to be respectably poor 
 after that and that's what I am now respectably 
 poor I'd I'd rather lose all every penny in a 
 gamble than struggle along this way I'd rather 
 take a chance to be rich than go on knowing I can 
 never afford another suit like this or hats or 
 furs." 
 
 He was sure she was not acting now there was 
 a ring of sincerity in her voice which one could not 
 mistake. With all her luxury-loving soul, she ab- 
 horred the genteel poverty to which she had once 
 more returned. He doubted her story of Monty's 
 gambling she had probably squandered the money 
 on clothes but whatever had happened she was 
 heartily sick of it. All at once he felt sorry for 
 her after all, her temper was an inherited affair 
 she was not entirely responsible for its unleashing. 
 He thought of her as he had known her her tiny 
 self clad in filmy clinging silks her little arched feet 
 thrust into absurdly extravagant slippers her 
 rooms always heavy with the perfume of flowers. 
 
 She saw the softening in his eyes and waited for 
 him to speak. 
 
 "Better buy Bethel Steel," he said crisply; "it 
 ought to go up." She clasped her hands.
 
 May Larabee Turns a Trick 375 
 
 "Oh I shall I shall but isn't there some 
 some less widely known stock that you hold where 
 I can get in on the ground floor something good 
 which I can be sure of?" 
 
 He shook his head. 
 
 "Nothing else I know of I never go in for the 
 war babies steer clear of them. Bethel Steel is 
 safe, though, that's why I've put all my money in it 
 unless you want some shares of Transatlantic those 
 two are sound investments." 
 
 She nodded. "That Transatlantic's yours, isn't 
 it? You started it built it up. Oh, Bill! what 
 things you have accomplished since first we met!" 
 
 He did not answer. He would not respond to 
 the chord of sentimentality she was striking. He 
 rose. 
 
 "If you want to get in on Bethel, drop a line about 
 it and I'll have Hanlon, my broker, buy it for you. 
 However, if I were you, I'd leave the money just 
 where it is even the best tip is only a gamble." 
 
 She had risen too and was facing him, her hands 
 clasped. 
 
 "You understand my sending for you don't you? 
 I haven't a soul to turn to no one who cares and 
 you are such a wizard such a prince of of finance 
 that I could not resist consulting you forgive me, 
 won't you? And let me thank you." 
 
 He bowed. "Remember, I'm merely suggesting 
 an investment, you can do as you please about it;
 
 376 The Road of Ambition 
 
 personally, I believe in letting well enough alone." 
 She shook her head. "No no I'd rather lose 
 all, I tell you." She stopped short and studied him 
 a minute, her head on one side. "You've changed, 
 Bill. I scarcely knew you. You're so sure of your- 
 self so strong." Then she held out her hand, 
 "Well, I mustn't keep you, must I? Goodbye and 
 thank you." 
 
 When she was sure he had gone, she hastened to 
 a telephone booth, and called a number. After a 
 time a voice answered. 
 
 "Is that you, Phil?" she asked. Then she spoke 
 softly, almost as though she were afraid someone 
 might overhear. "Yes, I got him talking no he 
 didn't suspect a thing not a thing tell your father 
 all his money's in Bethel Steel and Transatlantic. 
 What? Yes, I'm sure positive you don't need 
 
 to I'm glad of the chance Yes, goodbye," and 
 
 she hung up slowly, a little smile still on her lips. 
 
 Daphne set out for the theatre alone. Bethel's 
 playhouse was a gorgeous affair its facade of white 
 marble. It occupied a place of prominence on Main 
 Street's busiest corner. All the hits of the great 
 cities sent their best road companies there. It was 
 a favorite stand a colony of millionaires. 
 
 The play on the boards was a popular farce an 
 amusing thing which Bethel flocked to see. Daphne
 
 May Larabee Turns a Trick 377 
 
 entered the crowded lobby, glanced about at the sea 
 of friendly faces, and wished she might have re- 
 mained at home feeling all at once strangely alone. 
 Why wasn't Bill there with her? Why couldn't he 
 tear himself away from his work as well as other 
 men? 
 
 She caught sight of Pattison and his wife true, 
 his eyes were wandering gleefully over the crowd in 
 search of a more agreeable companion but he was 
 at least there. She saw Decker edging his way ner- 
 vously to the box office, and Rogers distinguished 
 looking shoulders flung back, chin up, with Rosalie, 
 a dream in rose, clinging to his arm. Yes, they were 
 busy men, all of them, but they managed to find time 
 to be on hand with their wives and families before 
 the curtain rose. 
 
 "What ! Not alone !" She turned, a flame of red 
 sweeping into her cheeks as she beheld Phil Colt. 
 She resented his tone, his manner, his smile, and 
 nodded to him curtly. But he remained at her side. 
 
 "I shouldn't think your husband would let you 
 prowl about the streets of Bethel at night I 
 wouldn't." 
 
 She answered coldly, "I wanted to start ahead. I 
 hate to miss the opening. He's coming later." 
 
 Phil smiled. "Funny, I ran into him not so long 
 ago." 
 
 She did not reply, so he went on; "Up at the Inn 
 in the reading room."
 
 378 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "Reading room?" she said, puzzled. "Oh, I 
 think not. You must have mistaken someone else 
 for him." Phil admitted that readily. "I might 
 have thought so, if I hadn't chatted with him, but I 
 didn't stay long. I saw he and Mrs. Larabee had 
 something to say to each other, so I " 
 
 "Mrs. Larabee!" cried Daphne, before she could 
 collect herself. 
 
 Phil nodded. "Yes. May said she was expecting 
 him or maybe I'm wrong I don't know at any 
 rate, it seems nice to have her back here again. 
 She's a good sort." 
 
 Daphne drew herself up. "I remember now," 
 she said; "he told me something about it that's 
 why he's late." 
 
 "Shouldn't wonder," said Phil. 
 
 She sat tensely in her seat eyes straight ahead 
 her lip caught between her teeth. May Larabee! 
 What could he have to see her about? to meet her 
 by appointment? May Larabee. Then she 
 shrugged. After all, he would explain. They had 
 probably met by accident but that did not satisfy 
 her no. Phil had said the reading room. One 
 never went there unless for a purpose. May Lara- 
 bee! the woman he had come within an ace of mar- 
 rying! She clenched her hands. What if he cared 
 for her still ! Then she relaxed with a laugh. Non- 
 sense ! He was hers all hers ! She knew that.
 
 May Larabee Turns a Trick 379 
 
 The curtain had risen. The farce was in full 
 swing. The audience rocked with laughter, but 
 Daphne sat rigid white. Toward the end of the 
 act, Bill came. He dropped beside her with a whis- 
 per: 
 
 "Sorry as the dickens, but held up on all sides." 
 
 She nodded understandingly, a warm glow about 
 her heart now that he was there, and she felt his 
 shoulder against hers. She slipped her hand into his 
 and he smiled as his fingers closed over it. 
 
 When the lights flared again, he left her had 
 something to say to Pattison would be back di- 
 rectly. She told herself she could not expect him to 
 explain then, but when they reached home. . . . 
 
 After the performance, Rogers insisted upon their 
 joining a party bound for the Club House. He 
 promised a supper fit for a king. Bill was eager to 
 go. She saw it. He had cast aside the day's anxiety 
 and was entering into the gayety of the evening like 
 a boy. She went gladly for his sake. 
 
 It was late when they reached home. She waited 
 for him on the stairs, and they mounted together, his 
 arm about her. When they reached her little sitting 
 room, she turned, expectantly now he would tell 
 her all about it! But he suppressed a yawn and 
 smiled at her. 
 
 "Be glad to turn in," he said. "Big day ahead of 
 me." 
 
 She stared at him with quick alarm. Was it pos-
 
 380 The Road of Ambition 
 
 sible he would say nothing? She determined to 
 help him. 
 
 "Can't you tell me what you've done today?" 
 
 He took her face in his hands and gazed into her 
 eyes. 
 
 "I've worked for you, Little Snow Woman," he 
 said, smiling, "and now I'm going to get my well 
 earned repose. Don't make me talk shop at two 
 A. M., will you?" 
 
 She drew back suddenly. "No," she said slowly, 
 "if you've nothing special to tell me." 
 
 "Nothing," he laughed, gathering her into his 
 arms, "except that you are the most wonderful 
 woman in the world!" 
 
 Long after he slept, she lay wide-eyed tense 
 her hands clenched at her side. May Larabee 
 what if he preferred her? wished he had married 
 her instead? Daphne drew a quick breath. Well, 
 if she ever found he did not want her need her 
 
 if she ever found she hindered him Then she 
 
 closed her eyes. "I couldn't leave him!" she cried 
 with a sob, "I couldn't "
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 
 FRIENDS FROM THE PAST 
 
 Transatlantic prospered prospered out of 
 all proportion to the golden promises held out 
 by even its most optimistic promoters. "It's Mat- 
 thews' luck !" they cried and as though to affirm the 
 report, Bethel Steel rose steadily its contracts so 
 enormous that it was forced to borrow huge sums to 
 fulfill them. 
 
 Red hot days those midsummer, but not even 
 the blistering sky overhead nor the heat mists that 
 wavered up from the pavements could stem the stag- 
 gering load of work that fell on Bill's shoulders. 
 He carried it with an ease a supreme confidence 
 which left his fellows amazed, incredulous. Dugan, 
 standing behind, watched him with anxious eyes. 
 
 "You're puttin' over big things, Bill, me boy," 
 he said, "but go easy this weather ain't fit for a dog 
 to wag his tail in save yourself we'll be needin' 
 ye whole this fall!" 
 
 And Bill, grinning at him, wiped the perspiration 
 from his forehead. "This isn't work, you old 
 croaker it's fun ! And you'd better clear out and 
 let me tackle it before I throw you outl"
 
 382 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Down at his desk by nine in the morning and there 
 until late at night, he shouldered his way through a 
 mass of work that would have snowed under another 
 man. He revelled in it. This was the joy of life 
 raised to the nth power. You saw things grow 
 develop under your very eyes felt the pulse of a 
 country under your fingers always something new 
 to do something bigger! Dugan wanted a candi- 
 date with a record behind him. Well, by heaven! 
 he'd have one worthy the name ! And when he was 
 governor governor . . . here the blood would 
 pound through his veins and his muscles knot. 
 He'd show them! 
 
 He saw Daphne only at moments moments in 
 the morning, before he swallowed his coffee and 
 jumped into his car interrupted moments to be 
 sure, for the newspaper must be skimmed the con- 
 dition of the blockade the news from Washington 
 the outlook on the Street for the day ascertained 
 before reaching the office. 
 
 Daphne understood he was not afraid of that. 
 But he did not like her paleness the shadows be- 
 neath her eyes. He wished she would run away into 
 the hills and escape Bethel's heat. 
 
 "Why not take Benson's shack perhaps I can 
 get up there for a week end." 
 
 But she told him quietly she preferred to stay 
 that she was all right that he must not worry about 
 her. And he didn't. He had no time to just then.
 
 Friends from the Past 383 
 
 When he returned home at nights when at 
 length he dropped the yoke of labor he was too 
 tired to talk. Often he fell asleep in his chair but 
 there were other nights when there was figuring to 
 do when he would carry his records off to his room 
 and pour over the long columns of unintelligible 
 numbers, which pleased or angered him as it hap- 
 pened. 
 
 There were'times, when conscious of her presence, 
 when feeling her eyes upon him from the doorway, 
 he would glance up to find her there a soft gown 
 emphasizing her slenderness her hair over her 
 shoulder in two long braids. 
 
 "You up?" he would say, his finger on the place. 
 "Better get your beauty sleep, hadn't you, dear? 
 Don't fret about me, though. I've got to work this 
 thing out. I'll turn in soon." 
 
 One night when she seemed more frail more 
 flower-like than usual, she broke down. 
 
 "Bill!" she cried, her voice full of wild longing, 
 "Bill, can't you see you're not living can't you see 
 that all this this slavery is drying up your heart 
 your soul?" 
 
 He had looked up at her, startled, and because he 
 saw tears in her eyes, he pushed his papers aside and 
 caught her to him. 
 
 "Nonsense," he cried. "You're tired or you 
 wouldn't speak that way why, this is life, Daphne 
 all that I'm doing and trying to do it's creating,
 
 384 The Road of Ambition 
 
 isn't it? What else is there to life? You wouldn't 
 have me a dreamer, would you? I won't be as hard 
 at it as this for long I'll be through the worst part 
 of it soon, then we can run off together next month, 
 perhaps or maybe sooner." 
 
 But he didn't, for the work piled up the great 
 pressure continued, and Daphne, lying awake night 
 after night, stared into the blackness. 
 
 "He doesn't care for me. He doesn't need me," 
 she would repeat dully again and again until the 
 words became meaningless and sleep came. 
 
 It was on a day of colossal work that Mack 
 
 stumbled into Bill's office unheralded. Gray, of the 
 
 Interstate Commerce, was in the midst of a wordy 
 
 discussion when the door opened. Bill looked up 
 
 sharply. He saw that Mack was unusually stirred. 
 
 "Well?" snapped Bill. "What is it?" 
 
 Mack rubbed his hands. "I thought you was 
 
 through, sir. I thought the gentleman had gone, 
 
 so I came to tell you there's someone to see 
 
 "Ask him to wait unless it's Mr. Pattison " 
 
 "No, it ain't him, sir, it's it's an old friend." 
 Gray's lips were set in a smile, but his foot tapped 
 impatiently and he half drew out his watch. Bill, 
 on edge, sensing his restlessness, turned on Mack. 
 "Whoever it is, keep him away. You know bet- 
 ter than to break in on me this way."
 
 Friends from the Past 385 
 
 Mack's smile vanished. He nodded and fumbled 
 tor the door handle. There was something so for- 
 lorn about the droop of his thin shoulders, that Bill 
 was moved. 
 
 "Wait. Who is it?" 
 
 Mack turned. "It's Tony Dufrano, sir." 
 
 "Tony!" shouted Bill, a ring of eagerness in his 
 voice. "Well, well!" Then recalling himself, he 
 changed his tone. "Take him into the directors' 
 room and ask him to wait." 
 
 Mack grinned. "I knowed you'd want to see 
 him!" he said. 
 
 After Gray had gone, Bill rose quickly and smiled 
 to himself. So Tony had come from out the past. 
 What a life time it seemed since the old days! 
 since he had climbed from Factory Street to the hill- 
 top. What a full life he had lived since then ! 
 
 In the directors' room he found a tall, pale youth, 
 fumbling his hat in nervous hands. 
 
 "Tony!" he cried, his hand outstretched. "It's 
 good to see you again !" 
 
 Tony took his hand shyly and dropped it quickly. 
 He seemed miserably ill at ease painfully conscious 
 of his shabby suit his frayed cuffs. 
 
 "Why haven't you been here before?" 
 
 Tony swallowed; he was evidently struggling for 
 the proper form of address. 
 
 "I wanted to, Mr. Matthews but "
 
 386 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Bill laughed. "My name's still the same did 
 you think that had changed, too?" 
 
 Tony shook his head. "No, sir. Nedda said for 
 me to call you Bill like I used to but but when 
 I seen you I couldn't I just couldn't." 
 
 Bill laid his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Nedda 
 was right she always was, as I remember. Now 
 tell me all about her and about yourself and, oh 
 yes, and about little Miss M'Farlane who used to 
 darn my socks." 
 
 Tony sat on the edge of his chair. "There ain't 
 much to tell. She's dead bronchitis got her. 
 Nedda, she nursed her, but it wasn't no good." 
 
 "Start from the beginning, Tony. What happened 
 after I left?" 
 
 "Nothin', only I took sick and they turned me off 
 at the Works. I guess Mack told you." 
 
 Bill nodded. "I wanted to find you when I came 
 back here, but no one knew where you had gone." 
 
 "Nobody cared. I couldn't get a job in Bethel, 
 so we sold the things you give Nedda only she 
 didn't want to and went away." 
 
 "But why didn't you write me you heard I'd 
 come back." 
 
 "Sure. Nedda cuts out all about you in the pa- 
 pers she reads 'em to me sometimes, but she didn't 
 want to let you know how bad off we was 'he'll 
 have so many folks askin' for help, we ain't a-goin' 
 to bother him,' she'd say."
 
 Friends from the Past 387 
 
 "She shouldn't have felt that way," said Bill. 
 "She was my little sister my friend my pal." 
 
 Tony shrugged. "I wanted to ask you, but she 
 said no she wouldn't a-given in yet only her eyes've 
 gone back on her." 
 
 "Eyes," Bill caught up sharply. "You don't 
 mean " 
 
 "Oh, she ain't blind, or nothin' but she can't sew 
 no more for a while, and I couldn't make enough 
 for both of us, so I worked my way back here and 
 brought her along. I told her I was comin' to you 
 I told her maybe you was stuck on yourself now 
 that you'd made a pile and wouldn't want to see me 
 but I'd take the chance she didn't want me to, 
 but what else was there to do?" 
 
 "You did the right thing," said Bill, heartily. "I 
 wish you had done it long ago. Mack will find a 
 place for you here you can start in as soon as you 
 like." 
 
 Tony's pale face flushed. "Is that straight?" he 
 gasped. 
 
 Bill laughed. "Here's my hand on it." 
 
 Tony grasped it eagerly. "Gee, that's great 
 that's immense thank you, sir Bill " 
 
 "That's better. Now then, tell Nedda I want 
 to see her that I will the very first chance I get. 
 You'll find this a busy place, Tony we don't keep 
 track of the time there's too much to do but you'll 
 like it."
 
 388 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Tony nodded. "So long as I'm in your crew I 
 don't give a shoot how hard I work!" he cried. 
 
 Bill returned to his office slowly, a smile of pity on 
 his lips. What if it had been his lot to remain at 
 the foot of the ladder to beg the men higher up 
 for work ! 
 
 No, that was not for him, he had set out on the 
 road, and the path had wound ever upward until 
 he neared the summit or was there a summit? 
 There seemed always more to do much more. 
 
 He had cried out for wealth for power for 
 love and they had been given him and still he was 
 eager groping. He stretched his arms above his 
 head in an ecstacy of triumph. That very unrest 
 was what gave life its flavor what spurred him on. 
 He loved it. 
 
 Then he settled down to work. There was the 
 Wilson report to check up the labor and material 
 bills to go over why the dickens didn't Davis come 
 when you rang for him ! Didn't he know there were 
 only twenty-four hours in the day? worst luck! 
 there should have been at least forty-eight ! 
 
 Tony hurried to the boarding house on Factory 
 Street where he had left Nedda. He ran most of 
 the way and arrived breathless and panting. Nedda 
 heard his step on the stair and hurried out to meet 
 him.
 
 Friends from the Past 389 
 
 "Well?" she said. "Did you see him?" 
 
 Tony nodded, delighting in withholding for a 
 few seconds the wonderful news. Nedda her 
 white face a shade whiter caught his hands. "He 
 was angry he " 
 
 Tony grinned. "Like fun he was ! He said we'd 
 ought to have come to him before he said we'd 
 ought to have knowed he'd want to help us and he 
 give me a job, Nedda, right off the bat. I'm going 
 to work in his office !" 
 
 She caught a chair to steady herself. "Tony 
 tell me quick how did he look? Well? Happy?" 
 
 "Look?" said Tony, wrinkling his forehead, "gee, 
 I don't know. He's all dolled up and talks like a 
 regular gent but he's the same old Bill on the in- 
 side wouldn't let me call him mister " 
 
 "Yes, yes but did he smile much did he seem 
 glad of everything?" 
 
 "Sure. He laughed and jollied like he used to." 
 
 "Did he did he speak of his wife? Did he 
 tell you if he " 
 
 Tony shook his head. "You ask the blamedest 
 questions here I am tellin' you about my job and 
 you want to know about his wife. Sure, he didn't 
 talk about her, but you could see he was crazy about 
 everythin' he was doin' he said he was comin' to 
 see you." 
 
 "No, no," she cried, "he mustn't do that!" 
 
 Tony stared at her. "What's got into you,
 
 390 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Nedda? Don't you want to see him? I should 
 think you'd like to talk over old times." 
 
 She rose. "No, Tony. He mustn't see me. 
 He thinks of me as a good friend a dear friend, 
 perhaps but if he'd see me he would find how much 
 he'd changed how far behind him I am." 
 
 Tony laughed. "Well, you wouldn't think so if 
 you'd heard him callin' you his pal his little sis- 
 ter " 
 
 "Did he say that? What else did he say, Tony? 
 think think ' ' 
 
 He shrugged. "NothinV Then he burst out, 
 "Nedda, we'll be able to have a swell place our- 
 selves and you won't have to work except at the 
 Mission if you want to. Maybe I'll be rich myself 
 some day. Didn't I tell you we'd ought to go to 
 him?" 
 
 She did not answer for some time. "And he 
 looked happy?" she said at length. "You're sure of 
 that, Tony?" 
 
 He nodded absently, and she smiled. "I'm glad," 
 she said. "I'm awfully glad !"
 
 CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 THE BATTLE ROYAL 
 
 OR the first time in his life Tony Duf rano knew 
 what it was to have a full stomach and a mind at 
 rest for the first time in his life he wore good 
 clothes, slept in good lodgings and the adoration 
 he had felt from boyhood for the big man was 
 turned into a dumb worship which needed nothing 
 to feed it which grew daily of itself. 
 
 Mack had given him a place as clerk with a 
 whispered assurance that he'd do better soon. But 
 Tony, so long as he could be near Bill, serving him, 
 aiding him, asked no more of life. 
 
 At nights he raced home to tell Nedda what Bill 
 had said had done of the great men who came 
 to his office of the vast sums which changed hands 
 each day. 
 
 "And say, when he's through tellin' Nathaniel 
 Rogers or some other money grabber what he'd 
 ought to do about the other's ships in he comes to 
 my office and stands back of me. 'Well, Tony,' he 
 says, puttin' his hand on my shoulder, 'Makin' out 
 all right or do you need any help?" Believe me, 
 there's nothin' I wouldn't do for him from kickin'
 
 39 2 The Road of Ambition 
 
 the bucket, down and the rest feel the same." 
 
 And Nedda, silent tense drank in every word. 
 
 They rented a little house on Factory Street 
 
 one of the model houses Bill had put up and Nedda 
 
 plunged into the work she loved for which she had 
 
 always prayed she might have time. She became 
 
 known as the Angel of Hope Mission. 
 
 Tony, full of news, bubbling over with stories 
 of the great with whom he daily rubbed shoulders, 
 spoke no more of Bill's coming to see her. She was 
 glad he had not come she told herself so repeatedly 
 no he must not see her again never never. 
 And when the longing rose up within her when her 
 heart cried out passionately for a sight of him she 
 crushed its voice fighting her fight sternly with 
 clenched hands and steady eyes. It was better far 
 better they should never meet again. He was happy 
 that was all that mattered. 
 
 It was on the morning of August thirty-first, that 
 Colt, glancing at the Bethel Courier, shot a com- 
 mand at Jenkins, his secretary. 
 
 "Send Mr. Philip to me at once don't let any- 
 one disturb us.' 
 
 He read the news again, eagerly, his hands trem- 
 bling a little. Then he rose and paced quickly 
 lightly, like a caged beast longing to be free that it 
 might destroy kill ah, well, the key of the cage 
 was his at last !
 
 The Battle Royal 393 
 
 Phil entered slowly. "What's up?" he said. 
 
 Colt paused in his stride to growl : "Paper read 
 it!" 
 
 Phil picked it up. 
 
 "My God!" he cried, "six Transatlantic ships 
 sunk so you think " 
 
 "Think!" shouted Colt, "I don't think I know 
 I know that what we've been waiting for has come 
 at last. I tell you we've got him, Phil we've got 
 him now ! He can't go over my head with his sys- 
 tems or over my son's with his love affairs and get 
 away with it this time ! No, I've been sitting tight 
 for three years three long years waiting for just 
 such a chance as this and now, by Jove ! I'm going 
 to break him ! . . . " 
 
 His eyes were red his lips drawn back in a snarl. 
 "Break him! do you hear? Clean him out wipe 
 him off the map there won't be a ghost of a chance 
 for him to come back! Not a ghost of a chance!" 
 
 Phil stared at his father at the distorted face 
 the shaking hands. 
 
 "What can you do?" he asked sharply. 
 
 "Do! I can send Bethel Steel tumbling I can 
 unload on the market till it drops far enough to wipe 
 him out." 
 
 "Yes but I don't see " 
 
 "Don't you ? Don't you know he's bought Trans- 
 atlantic on a margin got a million dollars' worth of 
 stock for a hundred thousand and now that the
 
 394 The Road of Ambition 
 
 ships have gone down, what will happen? Why, 
 Transatlantic will drop the stockholders will be 
 panicky they'll unload as soon as the market opens 
 Matthews will have to cover his margin, won't 
 he? And how will he do it? By selling Bethel, of 
 course, and feeding it to his brokers but he won't 
 have a chance for Bethel is going down so fast 
 that there won't be any of his money left to 
 protect him do you see? Do you think I don't 
 know just how much stock he holds. Why, I've 
 kept count of every share waiting for this chance 
 and now I'm ready ready. You'll see the greatest 
 bear market in the history of the street you'll see a 
 big man wiped out clean as a whistle he can't med- 
 dle with a Colt and go scot free not by a long 
 shot!" 
 
 Phil caught his arm eagerly. "And Transatlan- 
 tic's first annual and directors' meeting is slated for 
 tomorrow night at five you can step in and " 
 
 "And depose him as president!" cut in Colt. 
 "Kick him out that's what I'll do. I'll get plenty 
 of proxies. I'll go everywhere to get them. I'll 
 have him grovelling begging for mercy. I'll have 
 him back where he started. He'll be glad to take his 
 old job at the mills !" 
 
 Phil grinned. "You can't punish him badly 
 enough to suit me. Anything I can do?" 
 
 "Yes, get hold of that Larabee woman; she can 
 help. Tell her to sell the steel stock he bought for
 
 The Battle Royal 395 
 
 her as soon as the market opens tell her to go to 
 his brokers and stay around there keep her ears 
 open she may not hear a thing and she may pick 
 up a word here and there that will let us know just 
 how hard they're hammering him. It's a chance, 
 and they won't suspect her. Now clear out. Leave 
 word where I can get you at any moment. Jenkins," 
 he bawled, u put Myers on the wire order the car 
 here in twenty minutes get Ditson on my private 
 line ring up Ship News find out if the sinking's 
 authentic. Can't cross a Colt," he muttered to him- 
 self grimly. "Can't cross a Colt !" 
 
 Bill had learned the news the night before. With 
 white face and clenched hands he had listened to the 
 message ticked out over the wires the message 
 which Davis read off to him: "Six ships lost struck 
 mine." What did it matter how they went down 
 what did anything matter but the fact that there 
 were lives on board? He waited an interminable 
 space of time for the words in answer to his query 
 they came at last yes the men had all been saved 
 picked up by passing vessels. Ah ! that was good ! 
 He wiped the sweat from his forehead and lit a cig- 
 arette now then, what was to be done ? 
 
 Stockholders would be badly scared at the news 
 no doubt about that and his brokers would be 
 shouting for money but he had Bethel ! He'd sell 
 it every last share of it to protect them. Well,
 
 396 The Road of Ambition 
 
 there was nothing more to do before morning he 
 dismissed Davis and set out for home. 
 
 He felt shaken as though the firm ground on 
 which he stood had suddenly given way as though 
 he teetered on the edge of a precipice. Then he 
 laughed away his misgivings he was done up that 
 was it he had had a nasty half hour of it before he 
 knew the men were safe a good night's sleep was 
 what he needed ! And his mind sprang to the morn- 
 ing he'd get hold of his brokers the first thing 
 lucky he had steel nice mess he'd be in if he hadn't ! 
 By Jove! Perhaps his unloading would send steel 
 down a ways, too might knock the wind out of a 
 few beggars who had put their last cent in it ! With 
 a shock he thought of May Larabee. 
 
 It was the first time she had crossed his mind since 
 the morning he had received her brief note and 
 turned her over to his broker like a flash her words 
 came back to him. "I haven't a penny except the 
 little drop that comes from the estate. I must man- 
 age to live on that for the rest of my life!" He 
 couldn't let her lose it it was all she had! He'd 
 call her up he'd tell her to unload early. Six ships 
 great guns ! What if he had put all his money in 
 Transatlantic ! 
 
 Daphne was awaiting him her eyes eager, her 
 lips smiling. 
 
 "I have a surprise for you and you're not 
 to try to guess." He drew her to him with a sigh.
 
 The Battle Royal 397 
 
 How good it was to be home to be away from the 
 strife of the office to feel the arms of the woman 
 he loved about his neck to find her warm lips raised 
 to his own. 
 
 "It's something for your dinner something you 
 
 like better than Why, Bill," she broke off 
 
 sharply, "what's wrong? You look so tired so 
 drawn has anything happened?" 
 
 He laughed at her. "No only it's been a busy 
 day an extra busy day and I'm glad to be here 
 'with you." 
 
 He would spare her she would worry so if she 
 knew he must not let her share his anxiety. Thank 
 goodness he was there to save her from just such 
 things ! 
 
 "You go wash up and change into something cool. 
 We'll have a bite in the little rose garden." 
 
 He smiled. "Sounds great I am a bit grimy 
 I'll be down in a jiff." 
 
 He mounted the steps. He would call up May 
 now there was just a chance of catching her. 
 Daphne, remembering all at once something she 
 wished to tell him, followed him but she paused in 
 the doorway as she heard his voice at the phone. 
 
 "Is this Bethel Inn? Yes, I want Mrs. Larabee 
 no no name it's important very." 
 
 Daphne recoiled as though from a blow. May 
 Larabee ! So that was why he looked so white so 
 haggard the pain of the thought was too great
 
 398 The Road of Ambition 
 
 for her to bear and she crushed it back. "Oh, no," 
 she whispered. "Oh, no it can't be that " 
 
 She heard him speaking softly, insistently. "She's 
 not in her room? Well, page her, I must speak to 
 her no I'll hold the line." 
 
 Daphne tried to go to tear herself away but 
 she could not she was as one turned to marble 
 at last she heard his impatient exclamation : 
 
 "She isn't? You're sure? no never mind 
 I'D call up again." 
 
 She stepped back as he rose she saw him hesitate 
 frowning then he ran up the stairs. She did 
 not stir for a long while but she felt suddenly 
 calm as though she had found the answer to a 
 question long troubling her as though she had 
 learned the truth at last slowly she moved across 
 the porch and down the steps. 
 
 When Bill joined her, he found her seated at the 
 little table by the rose bushes she was unusually 
 quiet, but he was glad it gave him an opportunity 
 to think to plan. He toyed with his food and she 
 leaned toward him suddenly. 
 
 "Bill, you're not eating a thing." 
 
 He looked up with a laugh. "Had a late lunch, 
 dear, not a bit hungry rather sit and look at you 
 you're a feast for the eyes." 
 
 She did not answer, but she drew a quick breath, 
 almost as though from a stab of pain. When they 
 had finished, he rose abruptly.
 
 The Battle Royal 399 
 
 "I've got to call a number. I'll be back directly," 
 and he left her. She waited a long time her hands 
 idly in her lap her body relaxed, her eyes closed, 
 as though listening to the noisy twittering of nesting 
 birds the low measured hum of the insects as 
 though drinking in the earthy sweetness of the mois- 
 tening ground the heavy perfume of honeysuckle. 
 As she saw him coming toward her she became sud- 
 denly rigid. She caught her lip between her teeth 
 but she did not alter her position. When he had 
 come quite near she opened her eyes lazily. 
 
 "Get your number?" She saw that a straight 
 line crossed his forehead. 
 
 "No," he said abruptly. "They don't answer." 
 
 "Was it someone you wanted to speak with 
 very much?" 
 
 He was tempted to tell her all about it to ask 
 her advice but he checked the impulse once she 
 knew that he was troubled about money matters she 
 would have no rest she had stood a fiery summer 
 in Bethel to be at his side he would not make her 
 carry his business burdens as well. He shrugged his 
 shoulders. 
 
 "Someone I'd like to get hold of." 
 
 "Were they stopping here in town?" she asked, 
 after a pause. 
 
 He nodded. "Yes, at Bethel Inn. It's just a mat- 
 ter of business, but it's the deuce that I can't locate 
 them."
 
 400 The Road of Ambition 
 
 She shivered suddenly. "Bethel Inn." Then she 
 rose. "I'll run along in, Bill," she said, "it's getting 
 chilly out here." 
 
 He nodded. "So it is I'll be with you presently 
 soon as I have my smoke." 
 
 He watched her as she passed into the house 
 his eyes soft his lips smiling. There was no one 
 like her in the world no one with that quick sym- 
 pathy that warm tenderness other women posed 
 or acted a part she was just herself. If May 
 had been like that and the thought of her brought 
 back his plight. Well, if he couldn't get her he 
 couldn't he'd make it up to her somehow no 
 woman would lose money through his advice if he 
 could help it. Then he dismissed her, abruptly. By 
 Jove ! if Transatlantic started down hill what a fight 
 there'd be well he wasn't afraid not much! 
 and he drew a long breath he'd pull out on top ! 
 
 Daphne opened her eyes and turning her head, 
 glanced at the little enameled watch by her bed. It 
 was ten o'clock. She sat up with a start. What had 
 made her sleep so late? Then she remembered she 
 had heard the clock strike four five six before 
 she had closed her eyes. What a night it had been ! 
 The blackness charged with vague doubts fears 
 uncertainties. She rang, and her maid appeared. 
 "Has Mr. Matthews left yet?" 
 "He left about eight o'clock, Ma'am."
 
 The Battle Royal 401 
 
 "About eight?" 
 
 The maid nodded. "He went out walkin' at six 
 and when he came in Mr. Davis was waitin' for him 
 with the car." 
 
 Daphne lay back on her pillows. Bill had never 
 before left home in the morning without waking her 
 for a brief chat something was wrong she was 
 sure of it! Her pride battled fiercely wth her over- 
 whelming anxiety if he chose to keep it from her 
 if he preferred to face an issue alone she could not 
 prevent it! He, no doubt, had other confidants 
 and in a flash she thought of May Larabee he had 
 hurried to speak with her the moment he had reached 
 home and when he failed to find her in he had tried 
 again. Well, Daphne whispered through closed 
 teeth whatever happened she would not let him see 
 how much she cared. She spread open the morn- 
 ing paper which lay on a chair beside her she 
 glanced at its headlines through a blur of tears 
 she let it fall from her hands with a cry, but the 
 words danced before her eyes ! 
 
 "Six Transatlantic Steamers Sunk Without 
 Warning!" 
 
 Her maid ran to her side but she pushed her 
 away no no she must dress she must go to 
 him at once all her grievances swept aside in a 
 rush of pity. He would be stunned by the news 
 broken. His heart and soul was wrapped up in 
 Transatlantic this would be a cruel blow for him.
 
 4Q2 The Road of Ambition 
 
 She waved aside the breakfast tray her maid 
 brought her but at her plea swallowed some coffee. 
 "Poor boy," she whispered to herself. "Poor boy !" 
 
 The car awaited her at the door and she leaped in. 
 "Mr. Matthews' office," she called. 
 
 They sped down the long drive and on to the 
 highway. The haze of midsummer hung in the air. 
 The trees by the roadside were bowed down with 
 the weight of their leaves a meadow of freshly cut 
 hay flung her its heavy sweetness as she flashed by. 
 She breathed deeply after all, it might not be so 
 bad. Surely Bill could cope with this situation as 
 he had with so many others. He was strong. 
 
 Outside the office building was gathered a crowd. 
 They eyed her curiously as she entered. She won- 
 dered what they were doing there. She hurried to 
 the elevator. The car was full, but they made room 
 for her. She was glad when it came to a stop at his 
 floor. She stepped out. The hallway seemed 
 choked with people men who spoke in loud, harsh 
 voices. Women, who listened silently intently. 
 
 She forced her way through them until she 
 reached the outer office. She paused, staring in the 
 doorway. The place was in an uproar office boys 
 flew back and forth with messages telephones tin- 
 kled a mass of men and women battled fiercely 
 with the clerks to gain entrance close to the gate 
 were several sharp-eyed youths glancing about 
 shrewdly taking notes.
 
 The Battle Royal 403 
 
 She saw old Mack, his face white and set, driving 
 them back begging them to be patient but they 
 pressed forward, a string of questions on their lips. 
 There was something sinister about their quiet per- 
 sistence in the face of so many rebuffs. 
 
 "Who are they?" she whispered to a woman be- 
 side her a little shriveled creature who had 
 thrown a shawl over her head, but who, in her haste, 
 had forgotten to change her worn carpet slippers 
 for shoes. 
 
 "Them's the reporters, I guess," she replied; then 
 sweeping Daphne's smart costume with her sharp 
 eyes, she whispered: 
 
 "Is your money in it, too?" 
 
 "In what?" gasped Daphne fearing the answer 
 feeling herself suddenly plunged into the heart 
 of a tragedy. 
 
 "In Transatlantic. All mine is and my man's, 
 too. He worked at the plant under Big Bill he 
 swore by him and when they started this here com- 
 pany he put all our savin's in every cent we'd put 
 away for twenty years. If it goes down any lower 
 we'll be wiped out. Do you suppose any of us will 
 get a chance to see the boss?" 
 
 Daphne shrank back. "Wiped out." Then she 
 caught the woman's hand impulsively. "Oh, don't 
 be afraid he'll never let that happen to you " 
 
 "But he can't help it," said the woman monot- 
 onously. "It's them boats sinkin' that's done it it
 
 404 The Road of Ambition 
 
 isn't him don't I know he's as good as gold to 
 everyone?" 
 
 "Yes, yes," cried Daphne. "He is he won't let 
 you suffer. He'll find some way to save you." 
 
 The woman looked at her curiously. "Do you 
 know him well, Ma'am?" 
 
 Daphne nodded. "He's my husband." 
 
 The woman's voice rose to a shriek. "Your hus- 
 band! Oh, please, Mrs. Matthews, go to him tell 
 him every penny we have " 
 
 The crowd stilled at the shrill cry whirled and 
 turned to stare at Daphne the reporters were the 
 first to reach her side. Then the mob closed in 
 fighting cursing imploring her to intercede for 
 them to save them from ruin. She faced them 
 her cheeks white as snow her eyes wide with hor- 
 ror. 
 
 "Don't be afraid," she cried out. "He'll take 
 care of you all he'll take care of you all." 
 
 Old Mack, with the aid of the clerks, fought his 
 way through and reached her side. 
 
 "Leave her alone, you pack of hounds," he 
 shouted. "Don't one of you dare lay hands on her 
 can't you see she's ready to faint?" 
 
 He drew her away from them, but they caught 
 her dress beseeching her to say a word for them 
 just a word and she promised breathlessly through 
 white lips her strength almost gone. 
 
 She followed Mack into his office and sank down.
 
 The Battle Royal 405 
 
 Faintly she could hear the murmur of the mob 
 the voices of the clerks commanding soothing 
 threatening. She covered her ears with a shudder. 
 
 "You shouldn't have come down here, Ma'am," 
 Mack told her, his voice trembling his face still 
 flushed with horror. "Heaven only knows what 
 they would have done to you if we hadn't got you out 
 they're stark crazy, most of 'em poor devils." 
 
 "Tell me," she cried, "is it as bad as they say 
 is it true they will lose their money?" 
 
 Mack shook his head. "It's a shame that's what 
 it is. Someone's out to break Bill and the sinkin' has 
 given them their chance." 
 
 "Is it Colt?" she whispered. Mack nodded. 
 
 "Yes the snake I knew he had it in for Bill 
 ever since the first time the three of 'em come to the 
 old office but Colt, he wouldn't come wouldn't 
 have no dealin's with Bill but he ain't forgot that 
 what Bill said went with the three no and he ain't 
 forgot that the reason Bethel Steel didn't go to the 
 wall was because Bill put it on its feet he's had a 
 grudge of long standin' Colt has and now's his 
 chance to smash the feller what put it all over him 
 and he's a-goin' to do it if he can !" 
 
 Daphne sprang to her feet. "I must see my hus- 
 band!" she cried. 
 
 Mack shook his head. "Don't do it, Mrs. Mat- 
 thews," he begged. "There's nothin' on earth you 
 can do for him now and it would weaken him to
 
 406 The Road of Ambition 
 
 have you here he's got to put up the fight of his 
 life and he needs all his strength." 
 
 She caught his arm. "But I want him to know 
 that I don't care what happens I don't care if he 
 loses everything so long as I have him he must 
 know that " 
 
 "Time enough to tell him later," said Mack. 
 "He's got to go through with his scrap to the end 
 if they lick him he'll need you to stand by him he's 
 tied up now I'm afeared to break in." 
 
 She looked about helplessly. "Then I'd better 
 
 go-" 
 
 "I think so, Ma'am." 
 
 "Oh, if there were only something I could do !" 
 
 "Nothin 1 could save him now, unless Colt would 
 stop unloadin'." 
 
 She did not seem to hear. "Remember, Mack, 
 if you can only see him just for a minute tell him 
 that nothing matters but him nothing in the 
 world." 
 
 "Yes'm God bless you I'll tell him. You'd 
 best go out this way, Ma'am and don't talk to none 
 of them reporter fellers." 
 
 She hesitated. "If he should need me or want 
 me let me know let me know at once promise." 
 
 Mack patted her hand. "I'll promise on my word 
 of honor."
 
 CHAPTER XXXII 
 
 THE ONLY WAY 
 
 OWIFTLY she ran down the stairs to her waiting 
 ^ car. 
 
 A huge crowd had gathered before the building 
 a noisy, turbulent, threatening crowd. She caught 
 a word here and there. 
 
 "He's swamped." "Bit off more than he can 
 chew." "What's the last quotation?" 
 I She moved through them unnoticed. They were 
 too absorbed to observe the white-faced woman in 
 their midst the chauffeur, talking with an eager 
 group saw her coming and sprang to his feet. The 
 crowd stared at her sullenly and someone yelled. 
 
 "That's Mrs. Matthews." But before they could 
 surround her, she had leaped in and slammed the 
 door behind her and the car glided away, leaving 
 a shouting mob behind. 
 
 She sat huddled staring so Bill was facing ruin 
 alone and they would not let her go to him! 
 Mack had believed it was Colt's doing Colt! 
 
 Perhaps it was on her account that they were ham- 
 mering Bill perhaps Philip had come home from 
 the hills with ugly stories that had set Colt's smolder- 
 407
 
 408 The Road of Ambition 
 
 ing hatred on fire perhaps she herself was to blame 
 for it all 1 
 
 The thought was too staggering to contemplate 
 she pressed her hand to her heart if it were her 
 fault she must do all in her power to rectify it be- 
 fore it was too late she must see Philip she must 
 plead with him to stop his father she was not en- 
 tirely sure just what it was Colt, senior, was doing 
 but she knew that if he kept on Mack had said Bill 
 would be smashed. She cried out sharply, "Stop 
 here!" 
 
 The car slid to the curb and she leaped out and 
 entered Bethel's National Bank. They knew her 
 there. They would let her telephone. 
 
 She heard the shrill whisper that ran from lip to 
 lip at her appearance: 
 
 "That's Matthews' wife." 
 
 They were courteous, but their eyes were full of 
 hungry curiosity. At her request, they led her to a 
 booth. 
 
 She called up Colt's house and the butler informed 
 her that Mr. Philip had gone to Bethel Inn. Yes, he 
 was sure, because Mr. Colt, senior, had left word 
 that his son should notify him throughout the day as 
 to his whereabouts. Bethel Inn yes, Ma'am. 
 
 She hurried out. "Bethel Inn," she whispered 
 through white lips. 
 
 She looked about the lobby, dazed, wondering
 
 The Only Way 409 
 
 where she could find him. A page passed and she 
 called to him. 
 
 "Have you seen Mr. Philip Colt here?" 
 
 "Yes, Madam, he's in the reading room this 
 way." 
 
 Philip, deep in a chair, his paper before him, was 
 evidently awaiting someone, but at her low whisper, 
 he sprang to his feet. 
 
 "Daphne!" he cried. "By Jove! you're the last 
 person I expected to see !" 
 
 She faced him quietly. "Phil, I must talk to you 
 can't we go somewhere where " 
 
 He shrugged. "This is as good a place as any. 
 What's the trouble?" 
 
 She dropped in the chair he had vacated and he 
 drew up another facing her and seated himself. She 
 leaned toward him. 
 
 "Phil, I don't know how to tell you I don't know 
 how to begin but your father is ruining Bill and 
 I've got to stop it somehow." 
 
 "What makes you say that?" he asked sharply. 
 
 She ignored his question. "I've got to stop it," 
 she repeated dully. "I can't let Bill go down without 
 trying to help. I've got to stop it." 
 
 "What makes you think my father is back of 
 this?" he demanded. 
 
 "I know he is!" she cried. "He's always hated 
 Bill and he's always hated me. Don't tell me that 
 what he's doing is part of the game they're all play-
 
 4io The Road of Ambition 
 
 ing and the best man wins because Bill's played 
 hard and he's played square. I won't see him 
 lose !" Phil did not answer for a minute. At length 
 he said, "Well, what did you think I could do?" 
 
 She shook her head. "I didn't know I thought 
 perhaps because of of our friendship you would 
 help me." 
 
 He studied her closely. "Granted what you say 
 is true, I suppose you know that when the governor 
 starts hammering a chap he generally goes through 
 with it!" 
 
 "But there must be some way," she cried "some 
 way " 
 
 Phil shook his head. "Nothing could save him 
 now short of a pile of money he's probably done 
 for he " 
 
 She caught his arm. "I haven't money, Phil 
 that is only a little but I have jewels would 
 they do? do you think I could use them? do you 
 think ?" 
 
 He laughed. "You are in earnest, aren't you? 
 Never thought you could care for a man as much as 
 that didn't believe you had it in you." 
 
 She did noFhalf hear. "I can go to the bank and 
 get them now at once if you think it will do any 
 good." 
 
 "No," he said suddenly. "I have a better scheme 
 I admire your pluck can't help it so perhaps 
 I'll give you a helping hand after all."
 
 The Only Way 411 
 
 "Phil !" she cried. "If you would if you 
 would " 
 
 "What would you do?" 
 
 "Anything," she cried, recklessly. "Anything to 
 save him." 
 
 "Sh,' he cautioned, "not so loud! You can't do a 
 thing today the market will close too soon, but to- 
 morrow with plenty of cash we might be able to 
 jump in and pull him out of this hole. I don't prom- 
 ise anything, remember, so don't raise your hopes. 
 Now then, get your jewels and as much money as you 
 can scrape together and if you are in dead earnest 
 about this thing if you really mean to stand by him 
 come what may bring them to me late this after- 
 noon. I'll go over them with you and if you have 
 enough we'll turn it over to his brokers the first thing 
 in the morning they can use it as margin." 
 
 "Go to you this afternoon?" she whispered. "I 
 don't understand " 
 
 He spoke impatiently. "I can't explain the whole 
 deal to you now I'm in a rush as it is expect to 
 meet someone here any minute but I can't go to 
 your place, can I? If your husband should by any 
 chance find me there he'd raise a row you know 
 that he'd never let you risk losing your jewels for 
 him, would he?" 
 
 She shook her head. "I suppose not but " 
 
 "Well, I have to go over them to see if you have 
 enough to make it worth while my father will not
 
 412 The Road of Ambition 
 
 be home until late there's the stockholders' meet- 
 ing which will last until six and the directors' meet- 
 ing which will be over by half past, but Dad's going 
 to a conference after it so if you drive over at 
 say five o'clock and ring twice I'll have you ad- 
 mitted immediately. We can run through the things 
 you bring and you can hurry home. Your husband's 
 due at the meeting, too and he'll be tied up there. 
 You needn't say a word to him, and next day he'll 
 find he has a stack of money back of him. He won't 
 question where it comes from, so long as it is there. 
 After it is all over, and you have saved him, you can 
 tell him. Now then, how about it?" 
 
 She tried to catch his eye but he was glancing at 
 his watch. "Yes or no I must be off." 
 
 "Phil, if I told you what I have " 
 
 "Nonsense," he cut her short. "If you're afraid 
 to come, that's different we'll call the matter off. 
 I'm not keen for it, anyway it's going against my 
 own father but I always liked you, Daphne, you 
 know that, and I'm willing to do my best to help 
 you out if you think I've got any little scheme " 
 
 "Oh, no, Phil," she cried. "I don't, I don't I 
 only wondered I only thought " 
 
 He shrugged. "Perhaps we'd better not attempt 
 it it may fail, you know." 
 
 But she clung to his arm. "No, no, I must try 
 I must ! I'll come. I'll bring them. I'll do what- 
 ever you say if you will only help me."
 
 The Only Way 413 
 
 "Very well," he said abruptly. "I'll expect you." 
 
 After she had gone, a shadow detached itself from 
 the surrounding darkness and came toward Phil. It 
 was May Larabee. 
 
 "Well," she said, "I thought she'd never go. 
 What did she want?" 
 
 He looked at her sharply and wondered how much 
 she had heard. 
 
 "She wanted me to rush in and save her husband 
 came to me for help." 
 
 May nodded. "I see." 
 
 Phil moved uneasily. "I'd almost given you up. 
 What's the news?" 
 
 "I got to Hanlon's office the first thing this morn- 
 ing, sold out and asked if they'd mind my watching 
 the ticker. The whole place had gone mad and when 
 steel started to drop they forgot everyone in the 
 scramble. I never saw such a riot. I stuck close 
 and listened with both ears but as for picking up 
 anything I might as well have been at home cro- 
 cheting!" 
 
 ou'd better go back," he told her. "There's 
 no telling what may come up before the market 
 closes." 
 
 "All right," she said, "if you think it's worth 
 while." 
 
 Bill, his lips white, his jaw squared, faced Patti- 
 son and Benson.
 
 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "No," he ground out. "No, not on your life! I 
 won't take your money either of yours do you 
 suppose Colt will stop short of slaughter now? If 
 I go down, I go down alone I don't drag my friends 
 with me now for the last time No I" 
 
 Pattison tried another tack. "Don't be a fool, 
 Matthews. We all know what Colt's doing." 
 
 "Yes," broke in Benson, his voice trembling. 
 "Yes I told you he'd do it I told you he'd lay 
 for you and smash you when the time came " 
 
 "Look here," shouted Pattison. "Do you sup- 
 pose Decker or Rogers are standing for this they 
 asked me to come to you to put it to you straight 
 they want to loan you " 
 
 Bill pacing, whirled. "If my brokers will carry 
 me over I'll pull out. If not, I'll go down. I'm 
 not afraid to face failure. I'm not afraid to be a 
 poor man again but the only thing I am afraid of 
 is to take money from you men who are big enough 
 fools to lend it to me on a straight proposition that 
 I believed in that I knew was a winner, I'd be glad 
 to have you stake in, you know that, but on a specu- 
 lation no! I wouldn't let you risk a red cent to 
 get me out of this not if I were ten times worse off 
 than I am not if " 
 
 "You can't be worse off," broke in Pattison. 
 "How much longer do you think your brokers can 
 holdout?" 
 
 Bill squared his shoulders. "I figure they'll see
 
 The Only Way 415 
 
 me through they've got to! The rumors that 
 Transatlantic's in bad condition are lies you'll find 
 at the meeting tonight that the earnings are big 
 that the cash on hand is big. I've told them " 
 
 The telephone tinkled. Davis sprang to it and 
 lifted the receiver. He held his hand over the 
 mouthpiece and turned a white face to Bill. "It's 
 Hanlon. He says they can't hold out." 
 
 "I knew it," cried Pattison, "tell him we'll " 
 
 But Bill' caught up the instrument. "Hanlon," he 
 cut in, "you've got to carry me through! Under- 
 stand? You've got to carry me through! It's my 
 only chance. No, don't talk. I won't listen. I'm 
 coming over there. Yes, to your office now." 
 
 He hung up and leaped to his feet, but Pattison 
 blocked his path. "They can't do it, Bill. Listen 
 to reason. It's against the rules of their house " 
 
 "Rules be damned," he grinned. "This is one time 
 they'll go in the discard, Pattison. Hanlon's going 
 to stand by me, do you hear? And what's more, he's 
 going to want to 1" 
 
 Benson sprang to his side. "You're crazy, Bill; 
 you don't know what you're doing!" 
 
 "Sorry," snapped Bill. "No time to argue. Is 
 the car at the door?" 
 
 Davis nodded, as Dugan, his face purple, burst 
 in. "Bill," he cried, "what are ye thinking of, lad? 
 Why haven't ye called on me? Don't ye know we 
 stand ready "
 
 416 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "He won't take help," Pattison shot out. "He 
 has some fool notion in his head that brokers are 
 human beings expects them to see him through." 
 
 "Bill," gasped Dugan, "ye ain't thinking that?' ' 
 
 Bill nodded. "I have to, Dugan. I've never bor- 
 row another man's money on a stock deal of this 
 kind too much chance of his being cleaned out." 
 
 "Don't say it," shouted Dugan, seizing his arm. 
 "Don't say it when it's not meanin' it ye are. 
 What's got into Bill that ye're treatin' yer friends 
 this way come here till I show ye reason." 
 
 Bill flung him aside. "Can't talk now," he called 
 over his shoulder, and was gone. 
 
 In the outer office of Hanlon & Sears a crowd of 
 shrieking men fought their way to the ticker shout- 
 ing an order in one breath recalling it in the next 
 cursing praying raving as the stock leaped 
 down. 
 
 Transatlantic had dropped twenty points Bethel 
 Steel had dropped twelve. 
 
 May, on the outskirts of the crowd, turned with 
 a shrug of disgust from the sight of wild-eyed, dis- 
 hevelled men from the sound of their voices 
 hoarse and cracked. She wanted to go home. She 
 was sick of the sight of them. She had done her 
 share for Colt and she was through. She wondered 
 if the settlement he had promised her would be forth- 
 coming. She smiled to herself at least she had paid
 
 The Only Way 417 
 
 Bill back she had said she would and she had done 
 it. 
 
 At this juncture a chalky-faced man created a mild 
 disturbance by attempting to blow out his brains. 
 
 For a minute the shrieking mob turned its atten- 
 tion to him wrested the revolver from him then, 
 as though resenting the interruption, hurried back 
 to the tape, snarling and fighting like so many ter- 
 riers over a bone, leaving him to grope his way, 
 whimpering, to the door. 
 
 May watched him with cold eyes. Just so would 
 Bill be broken crushed. She clenched her hands. 
 She had waited long for this hour and it had come 
 at last. 
 
 She glanced at her watch. It lacked fifteen min- 
 utes of closing time. She would get to Hanlon if she 
 could manage it perhaps she might learn from him 
 how badly Bill had fared. She approached a clerk. 
 She asked if she might see the senior partner. 
 
 "It would be impossible just now," he told her. 
 Then because she was smartly dressed because 
 she seemed to have none of the fever of the 
 crowd he wondered if she might not be someone 
 of importance he opened the gate. "But if you 
 will come into his waiting room you can speak with 
 him as soon as the trading for the day is over." 
 
 She smiled at the youth, and followed him. Cer- 
 tainly Colt could have no complaint to make now 
 she had not shirked her duty in any way. She chose
 
 418 The Road of Ambition 
 
 a deep leather chair and leaned back. The boy left 
 her with a slight bow, and she gave herself up to 
 the delightful task of spending the money Colt had 
 promised her. Suddenly she heard a sound of voices 
 behind her, and whirling, she beheld two men one 
 of them was Harris, the broker who had done her 
 business for her, and behind him, flushed, hatless 
 but with head thrown back and shoulders squared, 
 was Big Bill! 
 
 She caught her breath and stared at him, fasci- 
 nated. When his eyes fell on her, he gave a cry: 
 
 "Have they cleaned you out, too?" 
 
 She did not answer. She could not. Instead, she 
 gazed at him wide-eyed her breath coming in gasps 
 she had never been so afraid in her life if he 
 knew he would kill her! if he but dreamed she had 
 betrayed him! She had seen him snap a chair back 
 in two she moistened her lips. 
 
 She heard him speaking. "I swear I didn't know 
 this could happen when I told you to buy I tried 
 to reach you last night I couldn't " 
 
 Harris patted Bill's arm. "Don't worry about 
 Mrs. Larabee," he said. "She was one of the lucky 
 ones. She was down here the first thing this morn- 
 ing with an order to sell." 
 
 Bill's relief was tremendous. "Good!" he cried. 
 Still, she did not speak, measuring her distance to the 
 door, wondering if she could escape before he had 
 time to think to suspect. Harris turned to him :
 
 The Only Way 419 
 
 "I'll tell Hanlon you're here just a second." 
 
 He left them alone. Bill was pacing. 
 
 "To think you were saved ! They've got me down 
 on my back, but I'm fighting yet! I couldn't foresee 
 this thing nobody could! There was no way on 
 earth to foretell it unless you knew Colt's game 
 
 that's how so many were swamped that's why " 
 
 Suddenly he stopped. She stiffened, as she saw the 
 sudden suspicion dawning in his eyes as though a 
 new idea had occurred to him an idea born of his 
 very words he spoke gruffly : 
 
 "How did you happen to sell out before the 
 panic?" 
 
 She shook her head. "Just luck, Bill," she heard 
 herself saying. "Just pure luck. I wanted to get in 
 on another stock I'd heard of and I " 
 
 She faltered and stopped she tried to go on, 
 
 "and I " but her voice drifted off. He took a 
 
 step toward her. 
 
 "That's a lie," he ripped out. "You knew it all 
 the time, didn't you? I believe you're in the very 
 game with him that's why you played safe." 
 
 She recovered herself and faced him a white 
 fury. 
 
 "Well, why shouldn't I?" she shrieked. "Who's 
 going to look after me, if I don't look after myself? 
 What have you ever done to expect me to run to you 
 and tell you that Colt has planned to bear the 
 market?"
 
 420 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "But you did come to me for help ! You came 
 with some cock and bull story about having no one 
 else to go to yes I remember now you were talk- 
 ing with Phil Colt at the time probably framing 
 the whole thing up between you if I thought 
 that " 
 
 "Well, what would you do?" she cut in. "You're 
 trying to bully me because you're beaten. I told you 
 long ago to leave the Big Four alone I told you 
 long ago they'd never let an upstart come in and 
 show them how to run their business but you 
 wouldn't listen to me, would you? No I wasn't 
 good enough for you once you'd met Daphne Van 
 Steer not after " 
 
 "Stop !" he cried sharply. "Don't bring her name 
 into this." 
 
 "Why shouldn't I?" she flashed at him. "Is she 
 so much better than I ? Is she such a good woman 
 such a saint !" 
 
 "I tell you stop!" he commanded, drawing his 
 breath quickly through his teeth, but she was not 
 afraid now. She moved toward him. 
 
 "I'll stop, but not before I'm through not before 
 I tell you one thing one thing about your wife I 
 heard it today oh, you needn't believe it no but 
 it's true. I heard her talking to Phil Colt yes, 
 Philip Colt the son of the very man who's 
 ruining you and she arranged to go to him late this 
 afternoon when she knew you'd be away when
 
 The Only Way 421 
 
 she felt sure it would be safe. Oh, you think I'm 
 lying, do you? Well then, if she's not home at five 
 o'clock, you'll know where to look for her." 
 
 He sprang at her, as Harris, ripping open the 
 door, flew to his side. 
 
 "Matthews!" he shouted, "are you mad!" 
 
 May, in her corner, grinned at him. "Yes he's 
 mad he wants to tear me to bits because I have 
 told him the truth he wants to " 
 
 Harris turned on her. "I don't know what you've 
 been saying but you'd better go you'd better go 
 at once." 
 
 May smiled at him, her eyes snapping like little 
 flames. "I'll go," she said and glanced at Bill but 
 she shrank back before his gaze his face was white, 
 but his eyes blazed like fire she cast a startled look 
 at him and fled. 
 
 Harris caught Bill's arm. "Come this way, Mr. 
 
 Matthews, Hanlon's waiting he " But Bill 
 
 did not move only his hands twitched. Harris 
 shook him. 
 
 "Get hold of yourself," he said sharply. "Han- 
 Ion's waiting everything's at stake you can't af- 
 ford to let that woman make you see fire just now 
 that's what she'd like to do here, brace up." 
 
 Bill nodded. He straightened up but his eyes 
 were still dangerous his hands clenched. "I'm all 
 right now," he said slowly. "I'm all right now," 
 and he followed Harris from the room.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII 
 
 DAPHNE LEARNS THE TRUTH 
 
 A T three o'clock to the minute, Cyrus P. Colt 
 T*- dropped the tape he held in his shaking hand, 
 and brought his fist down on the table with a bang. 
 
 "I've done it, Jenkins!" he shouted. I've done 
 it! What do you think of that, eh? What do you 
 think of that?" 
 
 He cast aside the chewed butt he had gripped be- 
 tween his teeth, patted his forehead with his hand- 
 kerchief, and straightened his tie. He was emi- 
 nently satisfied. He rubbed his hands together with 
 a deep chuckle. 
 
 "Tell Pattison I couldn't see him?" 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 '^And Decker?" 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "And Rogers?" 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "That's right, Jenkins, that's right. Many in the 
 office?" 
 
 Jenkins nodded. "It's full, sir; they all want to 
 see you." 
 
 "Myers there? And Ditson?" 
 
 422
 
 Daphne Learns the Truth 423 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "Well, I'll see them, Jenkins, I'll see them in ten 
 minutes. Keep everyone out of here for ten min- 
 utes. I want that much time to myself under- 
 stand?" 
 
 Jenkins bowed and Colt dragged out his watch 
 and laid it on the table. "Get rid of as many of 
 them as you can, and don't let any one in who has 
 not an appointment. I'll ring when I want them." 
 
 "Very well, sir," and he withdrew. 
 
 A great stillness settled over the office. Colt 
 breathed deeply, his muscles relaxed, then he arose. 
 To him came faintly the sound of many voices from 
 the street below a swelling sound with an occa- 
 sional shrill note. He marched to the window and 
 flung it up. His office faced the Bethel Courier 
 Building. Before it an eager crowd struggled for 
 a view of the Bulletin Board. Colt glanced down 
 at them with a quick breath. That was a sight for a 
 man! Hundreds of black heads bobbing ex- 
 citedly, darting here and there in hopes of a better 
 view. 
 
 A youth in shirt sleeves, perched on a ladder, 
 spelled out with many flourishes of his brush, the 
 latest returns. To the numberless questions asked 
 him to the sea of eager, upturned faces, he re- 
 mained superbly indifferent his hand hung poised 
 over the white sheet then he began to write :
 
 424 The Road of Ambition 
 
 STEEL TUMBLES 
 
 Colt dug his hands into his pockets and smiled as 
 he read smiled with a touch of self-consciousness 
 an author of a great work who sees before his 
 very eye a multitude hungrily devouring the words 
 he has penned. 
 
 WILDEST PANIC AS PRICES DROP 
 
 He nodded his head he tingled from head to 
 .oe he felt a warm glow of pride in the thought 
 that he had caused it he alone a man just as they 
 were but with a mind that made him a master while 
 they were serfs. He listened to their mutterings tol- 
 erantly. 
 
 TRANSATLANTIC DROPS TWENTY 
 POINTS 
 
 MARKET CLOSES AT LOWEST PRICE 
 OF DAY 
 
 The youth in shirt sleeves descended from his lad- 
 der, gathered it up, and departed, unmoved, through 
 the crowd the black heads closed in more closely 
 about the board. The men pushed and elbowed des- 
 perately for a glimpse of the glaring letters.
 
 Daphne Learns the Truth 425 
 
 Colt turned back to his office with a shrug. He 
 would have liked someone to share his triumph 
 to acclaim his cleverness but he contented himself 
 with the thought of a deed well done. He had set 
 out to smash a man and he had made a good job 
 of it! 
 
 He smiled to himself, supremely pleased. But 
 that was not all. There still remained the little mat- 
 ter of the meeting where he and Matthews would 
 come face to face. Where he would have the pleas- 
 ure of deposing Matthews as president of heckling 
 him with points of law his attorneys were prepared 
 to raise. 
 
 He stretched luxuriously and dropped into a chair. 
 It had been a great day I A great dayl He chose 
 a cigar from his case, sniffed it appreciatively, and 
 lighting it, leaned back; then he puffed deeply and 
 closed his eyes. 
 
 Two minutes later, he straightened up, his face 
 alert, calculating, his body tense, ready for action. 
 He drew the papers on his desk toward him, glanced 
 them over, cast them aside, then he pressed a but- 
 ton. Jenkins appeared. 
 
 "All right. Send 'em in," Colt growled; "see if 
 Ditson has that contract ready. Did you write a 
 letter to Walsh? Call up Bagby and ask him to 
 come over as soon as he can for heaven's sake, 
 Jenkins, don't stand there with your mouth open 
 move!"
 
 426 The Road of Ambition 
 
 And Jenkins fled. Colt settled down in his chair, 
 the cigar in the corner of his mouth, a deep scowl on 
 his forehead. He was business again to his finger- 
 tips. He greeted the first man who entered with a 
 curt nod. 
 
 "Sit down," he said; "be with you in a minute." 
 
 Ditson, the greatest corporation lawyer in the 
 country, retained by the Big Four at a tremendous 
 fee, dropped like an obedient school boy in a chair. 
 At last Colt turned to him : 
 
 "Everything ready, Ditson?" 
 
 Ditson nodded. "Yes, everything." 
 
 "No slip ups," snapped Colt. "Understand that, 
 don't you?" 
 
 "I understand," said Ditson. "Matthews hasn't 
 a chance." 
 
 Colt rubbed his hand stogether. "That's right, 
 ,Ditson. No loopholes." 
 
 Ditson drew up his chair. "If you have time to 
 
 run over the facts " 
 
 , "Plenty," said Colt. "Let's hear them." He 
 smiled to himself. He had Matthews in the hollow 
 of his hand now. What chance had he to prove the 
 Transatlantic in satisfactory legal condition with 
 Ditson there to confuse him I He leaned toward the 
 attorney. 
 
 "Now then, what's the first point?" 
 
 When Daphne reached home, she went straight to
 
 Daphne Learns the Truth 427 
 
 her room. She wanted to be alone to have time 
 to think but when she had locked her door, had 
 closed herself in with her own thoughts, she shrank 
 in terror from them. She was afraid! Afraid! 
 Where was Bill? What had happened to him? 
 Why had he sent her no message? 
 
 She rang up his office, only to learn he was not 
 there. She moved away from the telephone, dazed, 
 confused, wondering which way to turn. She paced 
 swiftly. Surely Bill knew she would want to learn 
 what had taken place surely he must have thought 
 of her at some time during the day have torn his 
 mind from the big battle he was waging to plan for 
 her he cared for her yes in spite of his absorp- 
 tion in his business his problems in spite of 
 everything she felt confident of that but she must 
 find out at all costs she must know the truth I 
 
 She thought of Graves at the Courier office. Per- 
 haps he had talked with Bill. She called him up and 
 questioned him, endeavoring to keep the burning 
 anxiety from her voice. 
 
 "Things are in bad shape," he told her reluctantly. 
 "No, I don't know how bad. It's hard to say. I've 
 tried to reach Mr. Matthews, but he won't give out 
 any statement. I wish to heaven he would. He 
 hasn't said anything to you that we could use?" 
 
 Her lips smiled at that, but her eyes were full of 
 pain. To her ! Why, she had not even entered his 
 thoughts throughout that long ghastly day !
 
 428 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "No," she said quietly; "nothing!" 
 
 She glanced at her watch; it was still early there 
 might yet be time to think of something which would 
 save her from going to Phil Colt! That was it I 
 With startling suddenness she knew that the seed of 
 her terror was this man. The fact staggered her. 
 She had shrunk from facing it. Trying to reassure 
 herself in a dozen different ways assuring herself 
 that throughout the interview, he had been imper- 
 sonal his manner thoroughly indifferent that she 
 herself had forced him into the role of conspirator. 
 
 But her reasoning could not still her horror of 
 him. She had trusted him once and to cap it all 
 Bill hated him would rather have her seek help 
 from any other source. But to whom could she 
 turn? 
 
 She thought of her father. She would fly to 
 him. Pour out her story her fears but even as 
 she planned what she would say, she shook her head. 
 She could not tell him that same pride which had 
 kept her lips mute through the long months, held her 
 back no, he must never know that all was not well 
 between herself and her husband. 
 
 In her panic she decided to consult Pattison. She 
 called his office. He was there and answered her 
 stiffly. 
 
 "Have you seen Bill today?" she asked quickly, 
 afraid of his answer. 
 
 "Yes." He vouchsafed no more.
 
 Daphne Learns the Truth 429 
 
 "Does he seem to be bearing up? Oh!" she 
 cried, her pride breaking down beneath the strain 
 of the past hours "oh, can't you tell me something 
 
 about him? I haven't been able to see him I 
 
 haven't heard from him I don't know what to 
 think " 
 
 "He was all right so far as I could see," said 
 Pattison shortly. 
 
 There was a pause, while she struggled for self- 
 control suddenly she burst out impulsively: "Isn't 
 there some way that you that his friends can help 
 him?" 
 
 She waited, breathless, for his answer. 
 
 "We have done everything we could." 
 
 "What do you mean?" 
 
 "I mean that all of us have offered him all we 
 have " 
 
 "Oh!" she cried, the immensity of her relief leav- 
 ing her limp. "Oh, I might have known you would! 
 I " 
 
 "You don't understand," he cut short. "He has 
 refused it!" 
 
 "Refused your help?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Even though he knew " 
 
 "Even though he knew it spelled ruin." 
 
 "But what can he be thinking of?" 
 
 "Heaven only knows," said Pattison. "None of 
 us do."
 
 430 The Road of Ambition 
 
 She turned away with tears of disappointment in 
 her eyes. Here was an honorable avenue of escape 
 offered Bill and he had refused it ! He would have 
 been the first one to spring to his friends' aid had 
 the cases been reversed. Why had he done this 
 thing? She brushed her hand over her eyes. She 
 was immeasurably weary she felt all at once as 
 though she could not go on could not battle for him 
 thus in the dark. And yet there was nothing else to 
 do. Money might save him. If she could only 
 speak to him ask him 
 
 She called his office again. No, they told her, Mr. 
 Matthews had not returned. She asked for Mack, 
 and he answered her evasively. 
 
 "We can't none of us tell how bad things are, 
 ma'am no, I don't know where he's gone." 
 
 He was plainly distressed at having no good news 
 to tell her plainly anxious to escape her questions. 
 
 "But tomorrow," she pleaded. "Isn't there a 
 chance things will be better tomorrow? Suppose he 
 should find plenty of money to back him, what 
 then?" 
 
 Mack smiled in sheer pity, as he answered her: 
 "Money's always a help but where'll he find it, if 
 he won't take none of it from his friends?" 
 
 She hung up and clasped her hands loosely in her 
 lap. Then it was true. There might be a chance 
 for him, provided he had sufficient security. She 
 studied her jewels again, tumbling them out on the
 
 Daphne Learns the Truth 431 
 
 bed. A splendid, glittering collection. She exam- 
 ined each piece critically. Yes, they were undoubt- 
 edly of great value a small fortune. She would 
 give them all up all save the jade bracelet he had 
 asked her to wear, and a tiny locket with a snapshot 
 of him inside. She clasped its chain about her throat. 
 The rest she would give up gladly everything if 
 it would only save him ! Why didn't he call her up ? 
 Why hadn't he left word where she could reach him? 
 She struggled desperately against the dread in her 
 heart the dread lest he feel no need of her in this 
 crisis this black hour if she could only hear his 
 voice, she knew all would be well. 
 
 Philip gave his orders carefully. "A lady will 
 come here this afternoon to see me. Bring her to 
 my study. Don't let anyone disturb us. Is that per- 
 fectly clear?" 
 
 It was. The bill he pressed in the butler's palm 
 made it even clearer. The servant bowed himself 
 out. He would see that madam was not kept wait- 
 ing. 
 
 After he had gone, Philip gave himself up to a 
 close survey of himself in the mirror. His face was 
 a shade whiter than usual his lips a bit tense his 
 eyes unnaturally bright, but he had hold of himself 
 no doubt about that. If she were coming, it was 
 almost time for her to be there. He doubted if she 
 would appear at all. She distrusted him. In a mo-
 
 43 2 The Road of Ambition 
 
 ment of despair she had come to him for help. She 
 probably regretted the impulse by this time. . . . 
 
 The minutes passed slowly. He waited impa- 
 tiently, drumming on the arm of his chair. Would 
 she or would she not come? He poured himself out 
 a drink to steady his nerves, he told himself. He 
 felt better after it. Even if she didn't show up, the 
 hour of keen anticipation had been something! 
 
 He caught a cigarette up in his fingers and held 
 it poised, when suddenly he heard a light footstep 
 in the corridor. The match burned his fingers, but 
 he did not know it. The color surged into his face. 
 He answered the soft knock with a curt "Come in." 
 
 The butler entered. "The lady's come, sir," he 
 said. "Shall I show her in?" 
 
 Phil nodded. He did not trust his voice. So she 
 was there at his very threshold I By Jove! that 
 meant Bill was ruined for fair. 
 
 She never would have come, otherwise never in 
 the world ! 
 
 The servant stepped back and beckoned and 
 Daphne entered, her eyes on Philip's face. 
 
 "I'd almost given you up," he said. She nodded, 
 but did not speak. She looked very white, he 
 thought and her hands fluttered to her throat and 
 fell at her sides. She seemed waiting for his next 
 move poised as though for flight at the first threat- 
 ening step.
 
 Daphne Learns the Truth 433 
 
 He felt his way. 
 
 "Things looked pretty bad at the close of the 
 market. Worse than I thought." 
 
 She took a step toward him. He saw that she had 
 forgotten her fear in her concern for Bill. 
 
 "Oh, it must be that," she cried; "nothing else 
 would keep him silent nothing else I can't believe 
 
 he would let me suffer " she stopped as though 
 
 she feared she had said too much. 
 
 He raised his eyebrows. So Matthews had not 
 posted her as to how matters stood had kept her in 
 the dark. That was queer. He wondered what it 
 meant. He saw her distress and spoke casually. 
 
 "Suppose we run through the things you've 
 brought, what do you say?" 
 
 She did not meet his eyes, she felt suddenly 
 ashamed of her fears, her imaginings. She laid the 
 bag on the table and fumbled with the silk cord. 
 
 "I'll open it," he said quickly, leaping forward. 
 Their fingers touched. She moved back, her heart 
 pounding then she straightened up with a flush 
 what had she to fear? This man was doing her a 
 kindness that was all. He seemed unconscious of 
 her action. He drew out a necklace of curious de- 
 sign a beautiful piece of matched emeralds. 
 
 "That ought to be good as a starter," he said, 
 holding it off. "When did you get that?" 
 
 "Bill had it made for me when we came back from 
 the hills "
 
 434 The Road of Ambition 
 
 She regretted the words as soon as they had 
 passed her lips why had she alluded to that time? 
 He laid the necklace on the table, stroking it lightly. 
 "Oh, yes," he said, "that reminds me. I never did 
 hear just what happened that day you ran away from 
 me. What made you do it, Daphne. Why did you 
 go back? Was it for the looks of the thing?" 
 
 She stared at him, trying to read his thoughts 
 breathing quickly. 
 
 "What does it matter, Phil, now that it is over 
 and done with?" 
 
 He shrugged. "I was only curious. Who 
 wouldn't be? There I was prepared for a nice long 
 trip to the city with you and when I came back from 
 helping our bags aboard I found you gone, and a 
 half-witted brakeman mumbling some message or 
 other. Why did you do it?" 
 
 She shook her head. "Let's not talk about it," 
 she evaded. Still he persisted: "Was it because you 
 didn't want to come back to Bethel with me afraid 
 of questions and all that sort of thing?" 
 
 She shook her head and her eyes met his squarely. 
 "No, it wasn't that. You know very well it wasn't 
 it was simply because I discovered I cared for my 
 husband as I as I never knew I could care for any 
 man," she ended softly, half to herself. 
 
 "Must have found it out just about train time 
 if I remember correctly, you let me think you'd mar- 
 ried him to help you out of a hole."
 
 Daphne Learns the Truth 435 
 
 She shook her head. "I wasn't sure I wasn't 
 sure until " 
 
 "Until you saw us together, eh? until you proved 
 that in a tight place I didn't come up to scratch and 
 he did. Was that it?" 
 
 "No, no, Phil," she cried. "You're different, of 
 course you are it's your nature to " 
 
 "To make love to a woman I care for exactly. 
 I wasn't sure you recognized that fact. It helps 
 matters, though " 
 
 "What do you mean?" she asked quickly. 
 
 "I mean if I can't get what I want in one way I 
 take it in another!" 
 
 She shrank from him. "And all this talk about 
 helping him " 
 
 "Was the only way I could get you here. It 
 worked, too you must admit that!" 
 
 She backed away from him. "I don't believe you 
 mean what you say you are doing it to frighten me 
 you wouldn't you couldn't mean " 
 
 He shrugged, but his hands trembled. "Do you 
 imagine for one minute that I really proposed saving 
 the man who took you from me? If he hadn't 
 stepped in just when he did you would have taken 
 me in the end. I wasn't such a bad bargain I might 
 have forgiven him for going over my father's head 
 for anything else, in fact but for taking you 
 never!" 
 
 She darted toward the door, but he blocked her
 
 436 The Road of Ambition 
 
 path. "You can't get away," he said easily. "If 
 you call for help, no one will hear you they are 
 very deaf this afternoon. I saw to that. Now then, 
 what are you going to do about it?" 
 
 The mask was off. She stared at him, her hand 
 on her heart stared at the face of the man she had 
 known since childhood at the face strangely dis- 
 torted stained with a deep red flush at his lips 
 drawn into a tight smile at his eyes, cool, apprais- 
 ing. 
 
 "I've wanted you ever since we were small," he 
 continued in a level voice. "There were always, lit- 
 tle boys around you swarms of them and I hated 
 them every last one of them. I hated them when 
 you chose them for partners at dancing school I 
 hated them when they pulled you on your skates or 
 dragged you on their sleds ! I remember wishing 
 I were big so that I could carry you off and keep you 
 away from them so you would always have to 
 dance and skate and coast with me me me !" 
 
 "Phil!" she cried "I didn't know I never 
 dreamed " 
 
 "When I saw you in some fellow's car or canoe 
 I felt the same way only it was worse much 
 worse. I wanted to kill him, but instead, I'd smash 
 things anything I could get my hands on tear 
 them to bits ride my horse until he dropped under 
 me. ... " 
 
 She caught his arm. "Phil, if you cared for me
 
 Daphne Learns the Truth 437 
 
 that way, surely you will help me now you " 
 
 But he went on as though he had not heard her. 
 "Then we grew up and you came out. I asked you 
 that night, do you remember, and you told me you'd 
 never marry a Colt I left you drove my car into 
 the west wall. I didn't care what I did. I told my 
 father I'd have you or no one and he thought it 
 was clear sailing. He always had gone out and got- 
 ten what he wanted it did look as though I'd get 
 you in the end but Matthews stepped in a man 
 from nowheres what did he have to offer that I 
 could not give you? Nothing! And I thought it 
 wouldn't last I didn't see how it could no one 
 did. So I waited, but instead of leaving him you 
 turned around and began to care for him. I couldn't 
 believe it at first but I proved it today I know 
 you're afraid of me yes, you are I know you 
 hated coming here alone but you came just the 
 same because you wanted to save him you risked 
 everything for that man's sake I could have stood 
 the rest but not this not this he's had enough 
 
 of you and now I'm going to take you myself " 
 
 ' He caught her in his arms with a suddenness that 
 gave her no time to escape and as she battled with 
 him she felt his hot breath on her cheek, his face 
 
 close to her own his lips She turned her head 
 
 away. 
 
 "Phil," she cried, "Phil you're mad 
 you're "
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 THE ROAD OF AMBITION 
 
 C OMEONE knocked at the door. She felt his 
 ^ hold loosen and she wrenched herself free. He 
 turned to seize her, but the rap sounded again in- 
 sistent sharp. 
 
 "Get out!" he flung over his shoulder. "What 
 the devil do you mean by ?" 
 
 The butler's voice came to him in a shrill whis- 
 per: 
 
 "There's a man here to see you, sir he won't 
 take no for an answer he says if you don't say as 
 how you're at home he'll he'll break down the 
 door " 
 
 "Who is it?" snapped Phil. 
 
 "Mr. Matthews, sir." 
 
 "Matthews!" 
 
 "Bill !" she cried, with a sob in her voice. "Thank 
 Heavens ..." 
 
 Phil flew to the door. "Tell him I'm out tell 
 him I was here but that I've gone tell him tell 
 
 him " Suddenly he whirled on her, his face 
 
 livid. "You told him you were coming it's a 
 
 trap " 
 
 438
 
 The Road of Ambition 439 
 
 But he read the relief in her face. "No, no I" she 
 cried, "I didn't know I didn't dream he would 
 come." He did not doubt her. 
 
 "Go down and tell him I've gone " 
 
 "Won't do any good, sir. He said he'd give me 
 five minutes' start he said if I wasn't back by that 
 
 time, he'd come after me himself he said " 
 
 There was a sudden silence, charged with tension. 
 The butler's voice rose to a scream: "He's coming 
 now. ..." 
 
 Phil stared at her. "He mustn't find you here," 
 he whispered. "He'd kill you kill me " 
 
 "I'll tell him!" she cried. "He'll under- 
 stand " 
 
 "Don't be a fool !" he ripped out. "No one could 
 understand this you and I here alone I tell you 
 he wouldn't believe you get behind that curtain and 
 if you come out for any reason whatever I'll make up 
 a story that will settle you for all time as far as 
 he's concerned." 
 
 He stuffed her bag of jewels into her hands. 
 "Quick!" he commanded. 
 
 He heard the sound of Bill's voice. "If you don't 
 take me to him at once, I'll break your arm there 
 now will you do it?" 
 
 There came a sharp cry of pain from the servant 
 and the door was flung open. Phil, breathing heav- 
 ily, braced himself, but fell back a pace beneath Bill's 
 glare.
 
 44-O The Road of Ambition 
 
 His eyes were bloodshot and he panted as though 
 he had run a long ways. His glance swept the room 
 and returned to Phil. Suddenly the tremendous 
 strain under which he labored seemed to ease a bit; 
 he straightened up. 
 
 "Well," he said abruptly, "I see you're alone." 
 
 Phil regarded him coolly. "What do you want, 
 Matthews? What do you mean by bullying my ser- 
 vants this way?" 
 
 Bill squared his shoulders. "My mistake, Colt," 
 he said shortly. "I saw red. Someone lied to me 
 someone I might have known would have lied. I'm 
 sorry to break in on you this way I'll go now." 
 
 But Phil took a step toward him. "No, you 
 won't," he said. "Not until you've explained just 
 who you expected to find here." 
 
 Bill flushed. "I've apologized, Colt, that's more 
 than I've ever done to any man. We'll let it go at 
 that. It's a bad blunder on my part. That's all I'll 
 say." 
 
 "Well, then," said Phil coolly, "/'// tell you you 
 expected to find your wife here ! You " 
 
 "What do you mean by that?" 
 
 "Just what I say. What else would make you 
 break in on me this way? What else would explain 
 your relief at finding me alone? Did you think 
 she'd heard you were cleaned out and that she'd 
 come to me? did you think ?" 
 
 "Stop !" Bill's face was white, his voice hoarse.
 
 The Road of Ambition 441 
 
 "Leave her name out of this! do you hear me? 
 Leave her name out of this or I'll finish you ! Yes! 
 and I'd like to do it, too ! I've done a thing or two 
 to one Colt today and I'm just about ripe to tackle 
 another!" 
 
 And he brought down his fist upon the table his 
 face ugly. Phil shrank from him, then with a start 
 he saw the change in his expression for Bill had 
 glanced down at an object under his hand a sud- 
 den curiosity a dazed incredulousness then a 
 swift, sharp suspicion flashing across his face. . . . 
 
 Philip moved nearer to see but he stopped short, 
 as Bill held up to his gaze the emerald necklace. 
 
 "Where did this come from?" 
 
 Phil shook his head. He moistened his lips and 
 waited. 
 
 Bill spoke again, slowly, with a tremendous effort. 
 "Where did this necklace come from?" 
 
 Still Philip did not move, his eyes fixed on the 
 man's face. Bill approached him, he leaned close. 
 "I've asked you twice where this came from I'm 
 going to ask you once more just once more under- 
 stand? Three times is my limit. Now then, for the 
 last time what is my wife's necklace doing here?" 
 
 Phil whirled on him. "I'll tell you! You want 
 to know, do you? You think I was lying when I 
 said she turned from you when she heard you were 
 broke and came to me. Well, it's true every word 
 of it she came here of her own accord. May Lara-
 
 442 The Road of Ambition 
 
 bee told you you'd find her here, didn't she? Well, 
 
 she gave it to you straight she " Bill leaped 
 
 for him. He wound his fingers about Phil's throat 
 and flung him backwards, smiling at his futile strug- 
 gles his clawing fingers. But he stopped short 
 at a woman's shriek his arms fell to his sides. 
 
 Philip, choking and gasping, slunk to a corner, 
 but Bill, his face gray, stared at the girl who stepped 
 from behind the curtain stared at her as though 
 he had seen her for the first time in his life. 
 
 "Bill," she whispered, "it isn't true it " but 
 
 the words died on her lips at the look in his eyes. 
 
 He turned and glanced at Phil, cowering in his 
 corner and at her then he shook his head, as 
 though trying to collect his thoughts. 
 
 "Bill," she cried, running to his side, "I came here 
 to save you I came here thinking perhaps " 
 
 But he flung off her hand he studied her again 
 with that strange detachment. Then whirling on his 
 heel, was gone. She stood motionless where he had 
 left her. She heard the sound of footsteps, the faint 
 bang of a heavy door. Phil, feeling his throat ten- 
 terly, whispered: 
 
 "By Heaven ! I thought I was a goner that time !" 
 
 His voice broke the spell! She did not answer. 
 She did not look in his direction, instead she flew to 
 the window and flung it wide. 
 
 "Bill!" she cried, "wait wait I'm coming 
 I'm coming "
 
 The Road of Ambition 443 
 
 There was no answer. She turned and ran down 
 the stairs, tore open the front door. 
 
 "Bill," she sobbed, "wait for me wait " 
 
 Stumbling in her haste, she flew after him. The 
 road was black. The sharp stones cut through the 
 thin soles of her slippers, she was panting for breath, 
 but she struggled on. Once they were alone, she 
 told herself, she would make him listen she would 
 tell him all from the beginning he could not have 
 meant to leave her there with Phil to cast her off. 
 He had looked at her so strangely she was afraid 
 perhaps the day's strain had unbalanced him 
 perhaps losing all had unnerved him that and 
 finding her there. . . . 
 
 "Bill!" she cried, "just let me tell you just let 
 me tell you " 
 
 She stopped at the foot of the hill leading to their 
 home she stood there staring the house was 
 ablaze with lights. She caught her breath. She 
 brushed her sleeve over her eyes, what could it mean 
 what could have happened? She approached 
 slowly avoiding the squares of light on the grass 
 pressing close to the bushes. Through the open win- 
 dows she heard, as she drew nearer, the sound of 
 men's voices. 
 
 She reached the porch. That was at least in dark- 
 ness. She crept to an open window and looked in. 
 The room was full of men. Pattison, Decker, Rog-
 
 The Road of Ambition 
 
 ers, Benson the managers of the Works Dugan 
 Graves Old Mack and there in their midst 
 stood Bill, his face still white and strangely tense, 
 but his lips smiling as they crowded about him. 
 
 "Surprise party, Bill," sang out Pattison. 
 "Waited the deuce of a long time. Where did you 
 go after the meeting adjourned? We thought you'd 
 make straight for home on this great old night !" 
 
 Great old night ! What were they talking about? 
 She leaned closer to hear. 
 
 "Colt thought he'd cleaned you out, eh? Picked 
 your feathers. Never occurred to the old boy that 
 your brokers would see you through. You had me 
 going, too ! Why didn't you let on that Transatlan- 
 tic was reeking with money?" 
 
 Rogers broke in: "Did you see Colt's face when 
 the proxies were counted and you had a hundred 
 shares majority? Elected your entire board gad! 
 that was worth the price of admission !" 
 
 Decker shook his head. "But that thirty per 
 cent, cash dividend ! I never dreamed we could de- 
 clare it you kept the secret pretty close, Bill ! Not 
 one of us knew the earnings were so big !" 
 
 "Wait until you read my editorial in tomorrow's 
 paper," shouted Graves. "It's a masterpiece 
 of " 
 
 Pattison interrupted with a roar of delight. "But 
 what finished Colt was when Ditson got up on his 
 hind legs and tried to worry you with the points he
 
 The Road of Ambition 445 
 
 raised and to think you met them all yes, and 
 beat them, too! You weren't satisfied to have the 
 business end of Transatlantic in A-One condition, 
 were you ? Had to have the legal end of it satisfac- 
 tory, too I" 
 
 Daphne shrank back, staring. So he had been 
 saved by some miracle he had been saved all 
 she had done had been for nothing. If he had but 
 let her know she straightened up. He should have 
 done that. He would have had he cared and now 
 when she had sacrificed everything everything he 
 doubted her turned from her. She moved away 
 cautiously she crept to a small French window 
 opening into the music room. She entered softly 
 no one would come in there. She dropped on a 
 chair. She felt very weak very faint. 
 
 She could hear the bursts of laughter Pattison's 
 voice rising in a bellow of mirth. Bill was silent 
 but they did not seem to notice that in their elation. 
 
 After a long while they began to depart. She 
 heard their shouted farewells their cheers the 
 boom of the heavy front door then there fell a 
 thick, warm, enveloping silence. . . . 
 
 She rose to her feet she felt giddy and dazed, 
 but she moved forward she must know the truth 
 tonight she had always said if he did not want her 
 did not need her. . . . She came face to face 
 with him in the hall. He started back, and she saw 
 the recoil in his eyes. She waited for him to speak.
 
 446 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "What are you doing here?" he demanded 
 harshly. She shook her head. 
 
 "Bill," she said softly, "will you let me tell you 
 about it will you listen ?" 
 
 He turned on her. "No, no!" he said sharply. 
 "I will hear nothing " 
 
 She drew herself up. "Very well," she said, "you 
 need not." 
 
 She passed him and mounted the stairs. Half-way 
 up, she turned. He was standing where she had left 
 him, his head bowed. 
 
 "Bill !" she cried, a sob in her voice. 
 
 He stiffened. "I want to hear nothing," he re- 
 peated dully. 
 
 The color flamed into her face, but she did not 
 speak again. Instead, she hurried to her room. She 
 groped blindly for the light she was afraid of the 
 darkness a sudden trembling seized her. 
 
 It was strange that in that black moment Phil's 
 words should flash before her words she had 
 scarcely heard: "May Larabee told you you'd find 
 her here." May Larabee. That meant Bill had 
 seen the woman talked with her had found time 
 in the midst of the panic to listen to her evil tales ! 
 There was something this woman could give him that 
 she could not something that made him turn to her 
 instead of to his wife. . . . 
 
 She dragged a heavy coat from her closet and 
 pulled it on with trembling fingers she found her
 
 The Road of Ambition 447 
 
 purse go ! She would go to the ends of the world 
 if necessary! He had not needed her throughout 
 his struggle, he had not needed her in his hour of 
 triumph but, May Larabee . . . 
 
 She switched off the light and waited, listening. 
 There was no sound from below. She moved down 
 the stairs and through the dim hallway. She found 
 the window unlocked through which she had entered. 
 She stepped out into the clear moonlight. For a 
 moment she wavered, then she shook her head. "He 
 doesn't need me," she whispered. She ran down the 
 steps. . . . 
 
 Tony burst in upon Nedda. "He beat him he 
 beat old Colt to a standstill and Mack took me 
 with the rest up to his house everyone was there 
 you never heard such shoutin' Pattison carryin' on 
 like a kid " 
 
 "Tell me more!" cried Nedda. "What did Bill 
 say what did he do ?" 
 
 "He let them do the sayin' they was as tickled 
 about it as if they'd done it themselves." 
 
 She clasped her hands, her eyes eager. "And his 
 wife, Tony, was she glad, too was she proud and 
 happy and " 
 
 Tony paused and shook his head. "His wife? 
 Why, that's funny, Nedda. I didn't see her any- 
 wheres around." 
 
 "Are you sure, Tony?"
 
 448 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "Yep, there were only men there." 
 
 Nedda caught her breath. "I hate her," she said 
 swiftly. 
 
 Tony stared at her. "Hate who?" But Nedda 
 shook her head. 
 
 "Nothin', Tony. Tell me more was Benson 
 there? What did he say? Go on tell me from the 
 beginning everythin' that happened to Bill." 
 
 And Tony, delighted to have an audience, plunged 
 eagerly into the story.
 
 CHAPTER XXXV 
 
 THE DARK HOUR 
 
 "DILL paced his room with swift strides. The 
 *^ darkness was intolerable. With shaking hands, 
 he switched on the light. It flooded the room. He 
 stared about dully. The very chairs and tables 
 the pictures on the wall seemed unreal. Perhaps 
 they were part of this nightmare from which he 
 would soon awake he would open his eyes to find 
 Daphne waiting for him her eyes tender, her lips 
 smiling. . . . 
 
 His world had tumbled about his ears. He was 
 powerless to do aught but stare at the ruins. . . . 
 He would have staked his life on her love. . . . 
 
 He clenched his hands. Perhaps he had been to 
 blame. Perhaps he had left her too much alone 
 given too much of himself to his work, and yet it 
 was all for her that he battled each day all for 
 her. . . . His heart, brutally honest, challenged 
 this. Was it for her? Was it not the love of the 
 game itself that kept him at his desk day and night, 
 week in and week out? Yes he must face the thing 
 squarely he must not shrink from the truth ! 
 
 Suddenly he wondered what they would do with 
 449
 
 45 The Road of Ambition 
 
 their lives from now on. There were long years 
 stretching ahead. He could not conceive a life apart 
 from her. He was all at once poignantly aware of 
 what she had come to mean to him her sympathy 
 her tenderness and he had forfeited them, for 
 what? . . . 
 
 The triumph he had won that day was a bitter 
 thing. He had hoped to bring her news of his vic- 
 tory. He had thought of her as he struggled. He 
 had hurried home, May's ugly words forgotten. 
 But Daphne had not been there and the first stab of 
 surprise of fear pricked him. She was not at her 
 father's nor any of her friends ! 
 
 "I think I saw her turning into Colt's," someone 
 had volunteered. 
 
 At the words his mounting passion became a red 
 flame that destroyed his power to reason that left 
 him a helpless creature of impulse. He had gone 
 straight to Colt. But strangely enough the meeting 
 was indistinct all he remembered was Daphne's 
 face as she stepped from behind the curtain that 
 was stamped indelibly on his mind she had looked 
 so white so helpless her eyes fixed on his in an 
 agonized appeal. . . . 
 
 What was it she had said? "I came here to save 
 you. ..." What did she mean by that? She 
 wanted to tell him something, but he would not lis- 
 ten he had been afraid to but what if he had mis- 
 judged her ! The- hope leaped up within him like a
 
 The Dark Hour 451 
 
 "ray of light in darkness he must hear the truth 
 from her lips I now at once I 
 
 He crossed the hall. He rapped on her door. 
 There was no answer. He opened it. The room 
 was empty. He called her maid. 
 
 "I saw her go out not ten minutes ago, sir," she 
 told him. He stared at her. Out! . . . Then 
 seizing her, he questioned her roughly, until, fright- 
 ened by his manner, she began to sob. He flung her 
 from him and ran down the stairs. 
 
 The maid, her curiosity overcoming her fear, 
 leaned over the bannister, staring after him. She 
 motioned the butler to stop him, but Bill thrust the 
 man aside and plunged down the steps. 
 
 Colt! Colt! He must get hold of Colt! That 
 was where she had gone that was where he would 
 find her and when he did . . . 
 
 Once outside, he stared about him. He would 
 make no mistake this time. . . . He should never 
 have let Colt go! That was where he had blun- 
 dered. He hurried down the road muttering to 
 himself. . . . 
 
 Colt's big house a palace of white granite 
 loomed before him. Bill turned in at the gate. He 
 started up the drive. Suddenly he stopped short, 
 staring. Before the door stood a red racer Phil's 
 there was no other car like it in Bethel. ... So 
 he had come in time ! They were about to take flight. 
 He grinned to himself just in time. He ran for-
 
 452 The Road of Ambition 
 
 ward, fearing they might be off before he reached it. 
 But it was empty. He pressed back in the shadow 
 of a clump of bushes. They could not escape him 
 now! 
 
 He had not long to wait. The front door was 
 flung open, and Phil ran down the steps, behind him 
 appeared the butler. 
 
 "Hurry as quick as you can, sir," he called as he 
 shut the door. 
 
 Phil sprang to the seat, but not before Bill had 
 leaped to his side. 
 
 "No you don't I" he growled. "Not so fast/' 
 
 Philip turned with a cry, shrinking back, then he 
 tried to thrust him away, but Bill pinioned his arms 
 in a vise-like grip. 
 
 "For Heaven's sake, Matthews, let me go my 
 father's been taken ill he " 
 
 "Your father!" grinned Bill; then his voice 
 changed to a snarl. "Where is she? What have 
 you done with her?" 
 
 Phil stared at him. "Done with who ? I tell you, 
 Matthews, every minute counts I'm on my way to 
 the doctor's now get in if you want to talk, but let 
 
 M 
 
 me go 
 
 Bill shook his head, as though he had not heard. 
 "Where is she?" he repeated thickly, "quick!" 
 
 Phil caught his breath. "Daphne? do you mean 
 Daphne?" 
 
 Bill watched him narrowly. "If you don't tell me
 
 The Dark Hour 453 
 
 where I can find her I'll finish what I started this 
 afternoon! . . ." 
 
 Phil shrank back, his face white. "So help me, 
 Matthews, I haven't seen her she left right after 
 you did and a few minutes later father came home. 
 He was all in but he had a bad turn just now. 
 Wants the doctor that's where I'm off to now " 
 
 "I don't believe you," said Bill quietly; "you're 
 on your way to meet her but I'll give you a chance. 
 If you're telling the truth get out and ring your 
 bell, and let me question the butler." 
 
 Phil sprang from the car and hurried up the steps. 
 The butler appeared. When he saw Colt, he fell 
 back. 
 
 "Good Heavens, sir, ain't you gone yet? Your 
 father'll be dead before help comes I" 
 
 Philip turned to Bill. "Now, do you believe me?" 
 he cried. "Now will you?" 
 
 "If she hasn't come to you, where has she gone?" 
 Bill cut him short. 
 
 Phil shook his head. "If she thought you doubted 
 her she'd go anywhere rather than stay with you." 
 
 Bill caught his arm. "Colt," he said, "what made 
 her come to you in the first place tell me the truth 
 and I'll let you go." 
 
 "On your word of honor?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "And you'll keep your hands off?" 
 
 "Yes."
 
 454 The Road of Ambition 
 
 "She came to me because I promised to help her 
 if she did." 
 
 "Help her?" 
 
 "Yes. Can't you see? She'd heard you were 
 being smashed, that my father was doing it. She 
 came to ask me to pull you out of the hole. She 
 brought her jewels, thinking I could turn them into 
 money for her. I couldn't stand seeing her plead 
 for another man so I lost my head then I saw I 
 could make trouble between you by lying and I did 
 that's the truth, Matthews so help me that's 
 the truth ! Now then, can I go ?" 
 
 Bill flung him from him. "Yes go," he whis- 
 pered. 
 
 He heard the hum of the motor as the car shot 
 forward, but he did not move. He was stunned 
 dazed Daphne had gone ! he had driven her away ! 
 . . . Never until that moment did he know how 
 much he loved her it came to him with a blinding 
 force. He must find her must beg her to forgive 
 him could she ever forget that he had doubted her? 
 
 He hurried home, perhaps she had already re- 
 turned, but in answer to the question in his eyes the 
 butler shook his head. No, she had not come he 
 ordered the car, then he caught up the telephone. 
 There would be some way to find her he must think 
 think ! 
 
 He called her father first of all. Judge Van Steer,
 
 The Dark Hour 455 
 
 sensing the tenseness in Bill's voice, inquired 
 if anything were wrong. No, Daphne was not there. 
 Bill reassured him and hung up. 
 
 He tried Rosaline Rogers, but her maid informed 
 him that Miss Rogers was away for the week end 
 no, Mrs. Matthews had not rung up. 
 
 Pattison! Perhaps he had seen her. Pattison an- 
 swered jovially, but at Bill's sharp questions, his 
 tone changed. 
 
 "What's the trouble, Matthews? You're not 
 really anxious, are you? She'll be in any minute. 
 You're like an old hen with her only chick! Can't 
 you let her out of sight for an instant?" Then, re- 
 calling her conversation of the afternoon, he went 
 on: "By the way, she rang me up and asked if I 
 couldn't do something to help you. She seemed 
 awfully cut up about it. Why didn't you keep her 
 posted?" 
 
 Bill answered heavily. "I didn't know she'd hear 
 about the panic. I wanted to wait until things came 
 out O. K. I'm a fool " 
 
 "Oh, cheer up," grinned Pattison; "can't the lady 
 be out when you get home without your telephon- 
 ing all the neighbors?" 
 
 Bill rang off his hands were trembling where 
 had she gone? Suddenly he caught up the receiver. 
 "Give me the station," he whispered. 
 
 He did not know what impelled him to do it. He 
 was certain Daphne would never leave Bethel alone
 
 456 The Road of Ambition 
 
 at night. And yet Phil's words rang in his ears. 
 "If she thought you doubted her she'd go anywhere 
 rather than stay with you. ..." 
 
 The station-master answered. "This is Mr. Mat- 
 thews," said Bill quickly. "You know my wife when 
 you see her, Miller; did she leave by the night ex- 
 press? I've just come home from a meeting and 
 have learned she was called away." 
 
 There came a long pause, and Bill waited tensely, 
 then he straightened up with relief. The station- 
 master was speaking. 
 
 "No, sir, I haven't seen Mrs. Matthews buy a 
 ticket here this evening and I know her well by 
 sight." 
 
 "Thank goodness!" breathed Bill, so she had not 
 left Bethel! 
 
 "Wait a moment," came Miller's voice, "my clerk 
 says he heard her ask a little boy to purchase a ticket 
 for her yes he's sure he says he spoke to her, 
 and that she didn't answer. What's that, sir? Oh, 
 the first stop is Winston train gets there eight fif- 
 teen." 
 
 Bill dropped the receiver and sprang to his feet. 
 She had left by the night express! alone! Where 
 was she going? . . . What could he do before it 
 was too late? 
 
 The first stop was Winston Graver lived there 
 head of the Winston Bank Graver would do it 
 for him. He called Winston and waited impatiently
 
 The Dark Hour 457 
 
 for the connection would they never get Graver on 
 the wire? Craver was at home he was eager to 
 serve Bill yes, anything he could do of course. 
 
 "Go down to the station, meet the Express. My 
 wife's on board, you know her, Craver. Go to her 
 and tell her there's been a mistake. That's all ask 
 her to get off and wait at the Winston House for 
 me. . . . I'm starting for there by motor now. 
 Tell her I'm coming to get her yes yes Craver, 
 don't fail to meet that train ! . . ." 
 
 He rang off. His motor was at the door. He 
 leaped in. He gave a sharp command to the chauf- 
 feur; then he sank back on the cushions the rest of 
 his life would be an atonement if only she would for- 
 give him. "She will!" he cried, "she must. . . ." 
 
 The train rushed through the night. It sped by 
 black fields and valleys it rumbled across long 
 bridges with dark, sluggish water beneath. Inside, 
 the lamps were lighted, and above the click of the 
 wheels rose the chatter of voices the whine of a 
 baby the noisy rustle of papers. 
 
 Daphne, hunched in her corner, staring out, 
 neither saw nor heard. Twice the conductor asked 
 for her ticket, and at length touched her arm. She 
 looked at him with unseeing eyes, as she fumbled for 
 it. He studied her with kindly curiosity that 
 woman was in trouble or his guess was wrong. . . . 
 He'd seen them that way before. . . .
 
 458 The Road of Ambition 
 
 She turned back to the thoughts from which there 
 was no escape Bill had refused to listen to her 
 had thrust her away. Never for an instant had she 
 dreamed he would doubt her. How could he, when 
 her surrender had been so complete when she had 
 again and again proved her love for him ! 
 
 She tried to recall the beginning of the change in 
 him. It was an insidious thing gradual accumula- 
 tion of work which thrust her more and more into the 
 background. She had fought valiantly for her place 
 had striven to keep pace with his thoughts his in- 
 terests but while he tolerated her, he had not 
 seemed to need her. His work was his first love 
 not she she was second or was it third? . . . 
 
 She shuddered and pressed her cheek to the cool 
 pane. The window served as a mirror, in it she 
 could glimpse a vague outline of her head of her 
 long, white throat her curved lips, her deep-set 
 eyes he had said she was beautiful and yet that 
 had not satisfied him. 
 
 She did not know where she was going. Conscious 
 only of one desire to be off to feel the distance 
 between them widening she had taken the first train 
 that left Bethel yes, though the pain of the thought 
 stabbed her like a knife, she was determined never 
 to return never . . . and quite suddenly her lips 
 formed a prayer, "God!" she prayed, "Make him 
 miss me make him want me !" She fell to crying 
 softly.
 
 The Dark Hour 459 
 
 It was at that moment that the crash came . . . 
 with such overpowering suddenness : with such a 
 grinding of brakes a crashing of wood a splin- 
 tering of glass that it snapped off her consciousness 
 for the instant. When she opened her eyes she saw 
 darkness all about her heavy darkness, pressing - 
 her down like a weight. 
 
 Then she heard cries inarticulate sounds from 
 nowhere. She tried to rise, but she was held fast by 
 something solid she struggled against it, but in 
 vain from its polished surface she felt it was wood 
 she understood in a flash the collision had turned 
 the car over her one hope lay in finding the win- 
 dow where was it beneath her? Above her? 
 
 She set her teeth and beat at the wood that im- 
 prisoned her dragging her gloves from her hands 
 turning her face up battling for air and as she 
 strained there came to her the sharp, acrid odor of 
 burning wood. She shrank back trembling she 
 was conscious of a sudden pain in her side it was 
 curious she had not felt it before would they never 
 come ! would they never let her out ! Suddenly she 
 raised her voice in a cry it was but one of the many 
 strange sounds no one would hear her she made 
 another effort beating her fists against the wood 
 then she sank back the pungent smell of smoke set 
 her choking she shut her eyes after all, what did 
 it matter? . . . 
 
 The lights of Winston gleamed rosily through the
 
 460 The Road of Ambition 
 
 darkness. . . . Bill, his muscles relaxed for an in- 
 stant, leaned back. "At last I" he whispered through 
 white lips, "at last! ..." He glanced at his 
 watch. It was after twelve the street seemed 
 strangely full of people hurrying this way and that 
 he wondered where they were bound then he for- 
 got them in the fear that had tortured him each min- 
 ute of the way had she waited for him would she 
 be there? . . . 
 
 "Which way, sir?" asked the chauffeur, slowing 
 down. Bill waved his hand to the left. . . . What 
 if Graver had failed to meet her . . . had missed 
 connections? . . . 
 
 He did not wait for the car to stop, but leaped out 
 and ran up the steps of the Winston House. 
 
 "Daphne!" he cried softly, "Daphne!" 
 
 The lobby was choked with men little knots of 
 them talking in hushed, tense voices. He scanned 
 their faces for a view of Graver a sudden relief 
 swept over him and left him weak as he glimpsed him 
 at a far corner of the room. He pushed his way 
 through the crowd and reached Graver's side. 
 
 "Well, I got here at last!" he shouted to hide his 
 terror. 
 
 Graver turned. He was a round-faced little man 
 with a ready smile, but he was not smiling now. In- 
 stead, his face was a pasty white, his eyes round with 
 horror. He looked particularly small and ineffective 
 in his panic. He stared at Bill without speaking
 
 The Dark Hour 461 
 
 and Bill, a sudden fear crushing him, caught his 
 arm. "You didn't miss her, did you?" 
 
 Graver shook his head; he seemed totally unable 
 to make a sound little round beads of perspiration 
 stood out on his forehead and on his upper lip. 
 
 Bill shook him. "What is it, Graver? Wouldn't 
 she wait ? Wouldn't she listen ?" 
 
 "No," said Graver dully, "it isn't that, Matthews 
 
 "Well, what is it?" he cried. "What is it?" 
 
 Graver moistened his lips. "There's been an ac- 
 cident," he said. 
 
 Bill stared at him. "An accident" . . . then the 
 pent-up suffering of the past hours gave vent in a 
 ery, "Graver, say she's not hurt " 
 
 Graver shook his head. "No she's not hurt." 
 
 Bill caught his arm eagerly. "Not hurt then 
 take me to her where is she where " 
 
 Graver patted Bill's hand he seemed struggling 
 desperately for words at length he shrugged help- 
 lessly, "I don't know how to tell you " 
 
 Bill stared at him. "She's dead!" he cried sud- 
 denly, "she's dead!" 
 
 The men who had been listening, moved away 
 with lowered eyes. Graver, as though the spell had 
 been broken, spoke hurriedly jerkily: 
 
 "There was a fire after the wreck that made it 
 worse you couldn't identify them but we found 
 her purse and this "
 
 462 The Road of Ambition 
 
 Bill stared down at Graver's outstretched hand. 
 In it lay the jade bracelet. He took it mechanically, 
 turning it over and over. 
 
 "That's all," said Graver, then he burst out, "I'd 
 give ten years of my life to have spared you 
 this! . . ." 
 
 Bill did not reply he examined the bracelet with 
 a curious intentness one side had been cruelly 
 dented, but the jade was intact two little serpents 
 with green heads entwined just the color of her 
 eyes . . . just the color of her eyes. . . .
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI 
 
 THE CRISIS 
 
 T) ETHEL lay crushed beneath the tragedy that 
 *-* had befallen Big Bill Matthews. The new 
 day dawned a day which found men stern of face, 
 with heads averted, which found women wrung with 
 pity for the man who had returned alone to the great 
 house on the hill. 
 
 The morning papers told the story of the wreck, 
 and Bethel, reading, was stirred to its very depths. 
 Incongruously enough on the same page blazed the 
 news of Transatlantic's triumph a detailed account 
 of its earnings which would send the stock bound- 
 ing which would more than insure the man's for- 
 tune. 
 
 And as though not content with juggling tragedy 
 and triumph thus grotesquely, fate had given him 
 yet another gift he had received the nomination for 
 governor of the state. . . . 
 
 In glowing phrases the press praised him a man 
 who had appeared repeatedly in the public eye as 
 a friend of labor a candidate who was not only a 
 trained business man but beloved by the people as 
 well a man who had lived up to his ideals! Di- 
 463
 
 464 The Road of Ambition 
 
 rectly beneath was an eyewitness' account of the 
 wreck at Winston a two-column spread which 
 spared no details the cries of women the shouts 
 of men . . . 
 
 A wave of boundless sympathy flowed toward 
 Bill. The men at the Works who loved him as a 
 comrade drew near with wet cheeks and dumb lips 
 rough, shabby men who scarcely knew what it was 
 to weep. 
 
 "Didn't he help me when my kid had typhoid? 
 come down himself to see she had proper care and 
 feedin' " 
 
 "What would we have done last winter without 
 him?" 
 
 "Many's the night I seen him talkin' to the boys 
 listenin' to their troubles " 
 
 Yes, they were profoundly grieved in an awkward, 
 helpless way wishing with all their souls he would 
 call on them to serve him hoping for a chance to 
 thereby prove their devotion. 
 
 But no one could reach him the rich the poor 
 the middle class an unending stream of friends 
 that stormed his door all met with the same re- 
 sponse. 
 
 "No, he won't see you it's no use he won't see 
 any one I'll tell him you called." 
 
 Pattison, his face flushed, his heart full of the 
 deepest emotion he had ever known, alone persisted 
 in an effort to reach Bill, he even stooped to bribery.
 
 The Crisis 465 
 
 "I've got to see him!" he stormed. "Some one 
 has to we can't let him face this thing alone." 
 
 But the servant was firm. "He said no one was 
 to be admitted, sir perhaps later I'll let you 
 know " 
 
 The morning sun, a flagrantly brilliant sun crept 
 beneath the drawn shade of Daphne's room it fell, 
 a yellow patch upon her rug. In the gloom of the 
 darkened room it seemed a joyous thing a spirit 
 of outdoors telling of blue skies of fresh fields. 
 
 Bill, seated there alone his arms folded, stared 
 dully at the sunlight stared with a flash of resent- 
 ment it seemed so vividly alive dancing saucily 
 on the rug suddenly he arose, moved by a quick 
 impulse flung up the shade letting in a rush of 
 light. 
 
 "She loved it," he said impatiently. "It was part 
 of her yes, it was part of her." 
 
 He moved about softly there stood his picture 
 on the dressing table another of him on the wall 
 where she could see it from her bed and yet an- 
 other on the bureau a snapshot taken of him in the 
 
 woods In the woods! that was where they 
 
 had first come to know each other she had wanted 
 to go back but he would not there had been too 
 much to do. Too much to do. ... 
 
 The thought was a torture to him he stared 
 about with hot eyes, then flung himself from the
 
 466 The Road of Ambition 
 
 room . . . but each corner of the house called up 
 an image of her. The music room he could see 
 her beneath the lamp surrounded by her gay court 
 his study he could almost fancy her curled up 
 on his couch her chin in her hand, listening to his 
 plans his dreams the entrance hall here she 
 greeted him at nights with arms outstretched and 
 eager lips. . . . Each room held the whisper of 
 her presence the sound of her voice. He could 
 not stay there he could not stay there. And yet 
 he could not drag himself away. . . . 
 
 This was madness he must find something to do 
 something at once then he thought of his work 
 that was it. Work. He had always said it made 
 the world go round that would save him he must 
 get back to it at once ! 
 
 Next day he sent for Pattison. He did not seem 
 to see his friend's flushed face, nor feel the extra 
 pressure of his fingers. 
 
 "Feel up to taking a bit of a spin?" asked Pat- 
 tison, awkwardly, to bridge the sudden silence. 
 
 Bill nodded. "Yes, I think I'd like that." 
 
 Pattison marvelled at his calm at his level voice 
 and quiet manner he did not quite know what he 
 had expected to find but surely not this. Bill was 
 bearing up splendidly no doubt of that! Once 
 outdoors, Bill spoke casually of business, of return- 
 ing to his office asked careful questions about mat- 
 ters that had arisen in his absence.
 
 The Crisis 467 
 
 "He's not going to let this thing crush him," 
 thought Pattison, with infinite relief. At length he 
 broached the nomination. 
 
 "You got it, Matthews, on the second ballot," he 
 said, half afraid he should not have spoken, but Bill 
 nodded. "I thought I would Dugan seemed pretty 
 sure," was all he said. 
 
 Pattison left him at his door. He felt much easier 
 about him. After all Matthews had always been de- 
 voted to his work there was no getting away from 
 that ! Well, it was going to be his salvation in this 
 crisis. 
 
 Bill watched him out of sight with the little smile 
 still on his lips, then he entered the house. He 
 passed the butler with a casual word, an inquiry 
 about a caller. He mounted the stairs, his shoulders 
 straight, his step firm. He entered Daphne's room, 
 and shut the door. 
 
 Suddenly he covered his face with his hands. 
 "Daphne!" he cried aloud, "I can't go on 
 I can't " and he began to sob with the deep rack- 
 ing sobs that tear a man's soul. 
 
 He accepted the nomination with the same quiet 
 gravity he listened to Dugan's words of praise. 
 He went to his desk each day and toiled until late 
 he met men with whom he had to do business he did 
 not shrink from interviews he planned anew they 
 must make steel helmets the army was going to
 
 468 The Road of Ambition 
 
 need them not a steel helmet in America let 
 Bethel be the first to turn them out. 
 
 He learned.of Colt's collapse of May Larabee's 
 hurried departure for parts unknown to all ques- 
 tions he responded fitly, and yet it seemed at times 
 as though what he heard passed over him as 
 though he brought his attention to a focus with a dis- 
 tinct effort. 
 
 Mack and Tony watched over him with anxious 
 eyes. They saw the change in him a change so 
 subtle that there was no putting your finger on it. 
 It was merely that he smoked incessantly, that his 
 hands trembled, that his eyes looked as though he 
 had not slept. 
 
 Mack ventured to speak of it. "You ain't gettin' 
 the proper rest, Bill," he said, his old face quivering 
 with anxiety. Bill laid a hand on his shoulder, 
 "Don't worry about me, Mack. You know I never 
 did need much sleep there's too much to be 
 done " 
 
 "Yes," said Mack, "but you ain't in no fit shape 
 to do it!" 
 
 It was at the end of two weeks that Pattison, call- 
 ing at the Transatlantic office on a matter of great 
 importance, found Bill's desk deserted, and Davis, 
 his secretary, consumed with anxiety. "He never 
 fails to let us know if he expects to be detained I 
 can't imagine what's keeping him."
 
 The Crisis 469 
 
 Pattison determined to find out, and hurried to 
 the house on the hill. 
 
 Bill welcomed him with smiling lips, but with a 
 certain tenseness about his jaw. 
 
 "I thought you'd come," he said, leading the way 
 to his study. "Sit down." 
 
 Pattison did, wondering a little at his manner. 
 "Was afraid you might be laid up," he said gruffly. 
 
 Bill shook his head, "No, I'm not laid up. I'm 
 through." 
 
 "Through?" shouted Pattison, "through what?" 
 
 "Through with work. I'm not going back to the 
 office, except to clean things up." 
 
 Pattison stared at him. "Great Heavens, Bill, 
 you don't mean that?" 
 
 Bill nodded. "I do just that." 
 
 "What's the matter? You aren't sick, are you 
 you " 
 
 Bill shook his head. "No, I'm not sick. I'm bet- 
 ter than I was. That's the reason I'm sure of my- 
 self those first few days I couldn't be I really 
 thought that what I needed was an overdose of busi- 
 ness to make me forget. I've tried, Pattison, I've 
 honestly tried my best but I can't stick it out any 
 longer I'm like a fire that's gone out the spark 
 that set me off is missing I can't rekindle without 
 it I'm -well, I'm ashes. ..." 
 
 Pattison sprang to his feet. "You're talking rot, 
 Matthews; it's because you've been alone too much
 
 470 The Road of Ambition 
 
 you've had a chance to think hang it all that's 
 bad for a man at a time like this ! Look here, you've 
 had a knock-out we all know that you've been liv- 
 ing on your nerves what you need is company 
 come up to my place for a while, let me take you 
 away somewhere a rest " 
 
 "That won't help me. Nothing will. I tell you, 
 the spark's gone, Pattison. At first I struggled along 
 with a notion that work would satisfy the cravings 
 of any man that I could fill up any gap in my life 
 with a sufficient amount of it. Well, I was wrong. 
 But I couldn't know better, because work has been 
 a sort of passion with me all my life. I couldn't 
 seem to get fed up on it always wanted more 
 and then I married, and after a few weeks I found 
 I was ready to go back to the game again but with 
 
 a difference It seemed as though I had never 
 
 worked so well before as if I had never gone after 
 such big things and gotten them, too ! And I, in my 
 ignorance, didn't know that it was because I had a 
 woman's love and strength as my spark my incen- 
 tive to get out and do things no I never dreamed 
 it ! I thought it was all myself 
 
 "It's queer, isn't it, that I should have to wait until 
 I had lost her to find it out, but I have, Pattison 
 and nothing you can say nothing anyone can say 
 will change me you see, I'm through through for 
 all time. ..." 
 
 "But the nomination " breathed Pattison.
 
 The Crisis 471 
 
 Bill shook his head. "I'm sorry for Dugan, but 
 I can't help that. I've already sent him a note telling 
 him I shall have to refuse it it isn't too late as 
 for the Transatlantic, it's in good shape now, and 
 with you at the helm it will be clear sailing Benson 
 can take my place as general manager of the Works 
 I couldn't choose a better time to step out." 
 
 "But Matthews," pleaded Pattison, "you won't 
 always feel this way it's just for the time being 
 you're passing through this thing now you've lost 
 perspective you'll see it differently once you get 
 away " 
 
 Bill smiled. "I'll give that theory a test, Patti- 
 son that's only fair but I tell you the spark's 
 gone." 
 
 Tony, with old Mack at his heels, waited at the 
 door of the Hope Mission for Nedda. 
 
 As she stepped outside, she caught sight of them. 
 Tony, his face troubled, caught her arm. 
 
 "Nedda," he cried, "we've got to do something 
 about Bill we've come to ask you " 
 
 She drew in her breath sharply, "What is it, 
 Tony? What's the matter?" 
 
 Tony told her, tumbling out his words in a breath- 
 less fashion. "Bill's quitting work selling all his 
 stock selling his house don't nothin' matter to 
 him no more all his rich friends have tried to bring 
 him around, but it didn't work. The first we heard
 
 47 2 The Road of Ambition 
 
 of it was when he come in today and says goodbye 
 to us tells us things will go on just the same as usual 
 and that we mustn't mind his going off he wouldn't 
 look at us though, when he said it would he, Mack? 
 We asked him where was he going, but he wouldn't 
 say he wouldn't say nothin' only that we was not 
 to forget that it was up to us to see that the men at 
 the Works had a square deal and that Bethel kept 
 on turning out the best steel in the country but we 
 can't let him go like that he don't know what he's 
 doin' ! He's cuttin' loose from everythin' he loves 
 and just driftin' he won't listen to us but he 
 might listen to you Nedda, can't you do something 
 to keep him anchored?" 
 
 "Me I" she breathed. "What could I do ?" 
 Old Mack shook his head, there were tears in his 
 eyes. "The boy ain't been himself since the day his 
 wife was took and I knew it I says, mark my 
 words he's sufferin' inside of him and that's the 
 worst kind like a worm at the heart of an apple 
 but they wouldn't none of them listen to me but 
 now they know I was right why, there ain't no 
 surer way of killin' himself than droppin' everythin' 
 in the prime of life with the whole world ahead of 
 him it isn't natural it isn't right, and Tony says 
 he'd listen to you why don't you go to him, Nedda, 
 and kind of talk to him make him see that there's 
 somethin' left in life." 
 
 "And he don't think there is?"
 
 The Crisis 473 
 
 "No," said Tony. "I tell you he don't care a 
 shoot about nothin' all the things he was buildin' 
 up, he turns over to someone else all the big deals 
 he was puttin' over he cuts loose from he needs 
 somebody at a time like this and if his old pals 
 don't stick by him and see him through, who's goin' 
 to?" 
 
 Nedda drew herself up. "All right, Tony," she 
 whispered, "I'll go. ... " 
 
 "I knew you would!" he cried. "I knew you 
 would!" 
 
 Nedda approached the big house. She scarcely 
 heard Tony's whispered admonitions, or Mack's 
 mumbled prayers. With eyes straight ahead, with 
 chin raised, her lips were framing a song a song 
 that filled her with a throbbing eagerness a tumult- 
 ous joy "I'm going to see him. . . . I'm going to 
 see him" . . . the voice within sang silently again 
 and again. 
 
 "Talk to him like you used to," pleaded Tony. 
 "If you don't make him see it no one can." 
 
 She nodded and they left her. She mounted the 
 steps, still with that sense of deep elation of brood- 
 ing tenderness she had wanted to come to him from 
 the minute she had heard of his trouble but he did 
 not seem to need her she had learned how quickly 
 he took up the reins once more this indeed was the 
 Bill of old self-reliant strong but now now
 
 474 The Road of Ambition 
 
 the gates were down he was bruised weary and 
 she was going to him. . . . 
 
 She rang the bell. The butler, at the sight of an- 
 other strange face, drew back. "Mr. Matthews isn't 
 seeing anyone, ma'am," he announced monotonously. 
 Still she pressed forward. 
 
 "He'll see me," she said. "Tell him it's Nedda." 
 
 The butler shook his head. "My orders are " 
 
 "Tell him it's Nedda," she repeated softly and 
 something in her voice made him pause it was so 
 infinitely gentle like a caress. 
 
 He left her in the great entrance hall, wondering 
 at himself as he did so. She waited, her eyes fixed 
 on the door through which he had vanished she did 
 not see the splendid room in which she stood the 
 
 walls hung with tapestries, the carved staircase 
 
 "He'll see me," she whispered, almost as though 
 it were a prayer. 
 
 At length the butler reappeard. Her eyes 
 searched his face for a sign. Had Bill refused? 
 Had he shut himself away from her, too? 
 
 The butler was speaking, "Come this way, please." 
 She did not move for an instant in the flush of 
 gladness that swept over her, then she nodded. "I'm 
 coming," she said. 
 
 Bill was awaiting her in the doorway of his study. 
 She scarcely knew him, he had changed so greatly 
 since the Factory Street days. She raised her eyes
 
 The Crisis 475 
 
 to his face could it be possible that this great quiet 
 man with haggard eyes and grim lips was her old 
 playmate? For an instant her courage failed her 
 she drew back. 
 
 "Nedda I" he said, and at the sound of his voice, 
 she gave a cry: 
 
 "Bill! Bill! what's come over me to stare at you 
 this way," and she laid her hands in his. 
 
 The butler withdrew and Bill, smiling a trifle, held 
 her off at arms' length. 
 
 "Little Nedda," he mused; "it seems as though it 
 were only yesterday that I left you all ! ..." 
 
 He drew her into the study and seated her in a 
 chair. He stood before her, smiling down at her, 
 and she searched his face quickly. He was older, 
 yes, with a great weariness in his eyes and in the 
 droop of his shoulders but he was the same Big 
 Bill for all that. 
 
 "It was good of you to come," he said slowly. 
 "I'm glad, Nedda do you know, I'm glad. ..." 
 
 "I thought you might need me," she said simply. 
 
 He caught her hands again. "Nedda ! Nedda ! 
 
 I do need you I do " he cried, his voice full of 
 
 pain, then he recovered himself. He drew up a 
 chair beside her. "You haven't changed," he told 
 her, "not a bit just the same little flower girl how 
 good it is to see you!" 
 
 But she would not let him talk of her. "Bill," 
 she said, "Tony tells me you're goin' away."
 
 476 The Road of Ambition 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 "Where are you goin'?" she demanded. 
 
 He shook his head, he seemed all at once pro- 
 foundly tired. "I don't know, Nedda, anywhere 
 it doesn't greatly matter." 
 
 She leaned forward. "Why do you say that, Bill? 
 Isn't there nothin' left you want to do?" 
 
 He did not meet her eyes. "Nothing, Nedda," 
 he replied. 
 
 She insisted gently, "That ain't like you, Bill 
 you've always loved work ever since the beginnin' 
 you have to just as a framework of steel gird- 
 ers becomes a finebuildin' you became a big man 
 you're of the stuff big things are made of you can't 
 get away from that!" 
 
 He smiled at her. "You always believed in me, 
 Nedda, didn't you?" 
 
 She nodded. "That's why I know you can't stop 
 now you'll have to go on doin' big things to the 
 end. . . ." 
 
 He flung himself to his feet. "Not now, Nedda 
 not now I'm not the man you used to know he 
 was a good fellow who deserved to succeed and 
 but I don't I " 
 
 "Why don't you?" she asked slowly. 
 
 He rose, pacing restlessly, his hands in his pock- 
 ets. "How can I explain, Nedda? It's something 
 inside of me that tells me so " 
 
 "No, it ain't," she cut him short; "you're worryin'
 
 The Crisis 477 
 
 about somethin' that's what makes you say it " 
 
 He whirled on her. "How did you know that?" 
 
 "I know," she said. 
 
 He did not speak for a long while; she waited, 
 her hands loosely clasped. At length he paused be- 
 fore her. 
 
 "You're right, Nedda," he burst out "I do know 
 I was a fool who threw away the greatest gift on 
 earth who thought that other things in life counted 
 more do you know what I mean Nedda? Can 
 you guess " 
 
 "You mean love," she said quietly; "that's the 
 greatest gift on earth." 
 
 "Yes, yes," he cried. "I mean love but I know 
 better now only it's too late oh, Nedda, don't 
 ever make that mistake no matter what they tell 
 you hold it and keep it and guard it for it's the 
 one thing that counts " 
 
 She moved her lips, her eyes on his face. "Yes," 
 she whispered, "it's the one thing that counts. . . ." 
 
 He strode to the window, his back to her. "You 
 see," he flung at her, "that feeling as I do I can't go 
 on I can't keep on doing the things that took me 
 from her that built up a wall between us " 
 
 "No," she said softly, "but there's other things 
 to do." 
 
 He whirled. "What? What do you mean?" 
 
 She shook her head. "When you're ready, I'll 
 tell you."
 
 478 The Road of Ambition 
 
 But he insisted. "No tell me now now." 
 
 But she would not. u No go away for awhile 
 and see new people and places and when you are 
 tired of that come back to me and I'll tell you " 
 
 "Nedda I" he cried, "if you think that will help 
 If you think there is really something left for 
 me " 
 
 She smiled. "You were made to do big things, 
 Bill don't ever forget that. ..." 
 
 The winter passed, and spring came again- a ten- 
 der, fragrant season calling the crocuses from the 
 ground swelling the buds giving the earth a man- 
 tle of green but instead of answering to its call its 
 wide-flung invitation, Bethel neither saw nor heard 
 wrapt as it was in its own misery. 
 
 War was in the air War ! . . . and with it came 
 its forerunners a soaring of prices a blockade of 
 foodstuffs. With the breaking off of diplomatic re- 
 lations, traffic on the high seas had been suspended 
 and in the shipyards of the country lay thousands 
 of tons of munitions in its terminals trainload upon 
 trainload of product 
 
 And the men of the country waited wondering 
 dumbly what would happen next in the game of di- 
 plomacy a game in which they were the pawns 
 wondered what would become of their families if the 
 call to arms came if the prices rose still higher 
 
 Bethel suffered keenly it lay so close to great
 
 The Crisis 479 
 
 wealth it could not fail to hear of the First Fam- 
 ilies' follies their banquets and dances while 
 with its dwellers across the track the purchasing of 
 bread of milk became a grave problem. 
 
 There were small riots and public gatherings 
 a spirit of sharp unrest prevailed of waiting which 
 had almost reached the limit of endurance. 
 
 Pattison watched the surliness of the men with 
 rising uneasiness he knew not how to cope with It 
 he had been a rich man all his life They re- 
 sented his advances on that very ground. The bar- 
 rel-top speakers that shouted nightly to the gather- 
 ings in Factory Street spoke bitterly against him and 
 his kind the listening crowd became more sullen 
 more difficult to manage 
 
 Pattison, at his wit's end, breathed a sigh, "I wish 
 to heavens Matthews were here, he'd know what to 
 do!" 
 
 Mack and Tony took their fears to Nedda. 
 "There's goin' to be trouble no gettin' away from 
 it a crowd broke into a bakery on Factory Street 
 today and cleaned out the place you couldn't arrest 
 them, neither, because most of 'em was mothers with 
 babies in their arms there's no one can handle 'em 
 I wish to God Bill was back!" 
 
 Benson, surveying the sullenness of his men at the 
 Works, was alarmed; he had never seen them that 
 way before it was an outgrowth of the inflam- 
 matory words to which they had been listening each
 
 480 The Road of Ambition 
 
 night trouble was brewing it wasn't that they 
 were dissatisfied it was that they were distrustful 
 they were growing more and more convinced that 
 the men who owned the Works were not their friends 
 were waiting for a chance to double-cross them 
 take back the powers granted them. The poison of 
 the instigators had done its work it colored their 
 thoughts there was no dislodging it. 
 
 "There's only one man they'd believe in, and 
 that's Big Bill," he told himself; "if I knew where 
 to reach him!"
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII 
 
 THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY 
 
 TT was an evening in April the air for all its 
 * softness, held a chill, and Nedda, a coat about her 
 shoulders, sat on the steps of the little house on Fac- 
 tory Street. Tony and Mack had gone to a meeting 
 it was to be a fiery affair intended to whip the 
 crowds to greater unrest. Why couldn't they get 
 wheat and flour as well as the rich folk! why did 
 they sit back and do nothing ! Were they going to 
 let their children starve before their very eyes! 
 
 Nedda pleaded with Tony to stay away, but he 
 would not. "We've got to hear what they're savin' 
 we won't know how to handle them, if we don't." 
 
 She watched for their return, leaning her head 
 against the railing her body relaxed. Suddenly 
 her breath quickened, she sat up, staring at a figure 
 that was approaching a man who walked slowly 
 heavily. She sprang to her feet her cheeks flam- 
 ing, her lips parted, but she did not move she 
 waited until he came close to her, until he raised his 
 eyes. 
 
 "Bill! Bill!" she cried with a sob, "you've come at 
 last! ..." 
 
 481
 
 482 The Road of Ambition 
 
 He stared at her. He looked white and drawn as 
 though he had fought a battle with himself and lost. 
 
 "Nedda 1" he cried, "to think you should be here 
 just as though you were waiting for me " 
 
 "I was!" she cried, "every day every hour I've 
 prayed you would come back. ..." 
 
 "I've come," he said, "but only to tell you it's 
 no use that I've tried and failed Nedda, tell me 
 what am I good for?" 
 
 She clasped her hands. "Bill, do you know why 
 you've come do you know what's brought you here 
 now at this time? it's because you heard them 
 calling you the men, I mean because they knew 
 you were the only person in all the world who could 
 save us from a strike a revolution " 
 
 "What do you mean, Nedda?" 
 
 She laid her hand on his arm. "Bill, I've been 
 praying and praying for you to come back. I told 
 you there was work for you to do big work I 
 would not tell you what it was do you remember?" 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 "Well," she went on, "it's the biggest work in the 
 world, Bill not a desk in Bethel proper but 
 right here in Factory Street where you came from 
 it's the kind of work you can do better than any one 
 else it's the kind of work that will make you forget 
 yourself because you'll be so busy thinkin' of the 
 men you're helpin'." 
 
 He caught her hands in his, crushing them.
 
 The Dawn of a New Day 483 
 
 "Nedda do you mean that the boys have been ask- 
 ing for me ?" 
 
 She nodded, crying softly. "For you yes yes 
 a hundred times wishin' you were here hopin' 
 you'd come back. What with trouble stirrin' in the 
 Works and with mothers who can't find food for 
 their babies they don't know what to do " 
 
 His eyes lightened. "And this is what you meant, 
 Nedda?" he asked. 
 
 She nodded. "Yes only I couldn't know they'd 
 need you so bad Oh, Bill," she cried, breath- 
 lessly, "with you to help here with you at the helm 
 there's nothin' we can't do !" 
 
 He caught her eagerness he laughed suddenly, 
 his eyes full of light. 
 
 "Stirring up trouble, are they, poor beggars 
 well, we'll build them milk stations yes, and soup 
 kitchens we'll give them food cheaper than they've 
 ever had it " 
 
 "Oh, Bill!" she cried, the tears on her cheeks. 
 "You've come back! You've come back!" 
 
 Bill Matthews had returned ! Bethel thrilled with 
 the news scarcely believing it eager for a glimpse 
 of him suddenly reassured by his presence. 
 
 Pattison was the first to reach the little house on 
 Factory Street. 
 
 "Come back with me," he pleaded. "Make your 
 headquarters in Bethel proper; Gad! but it does my
 
 484 The Road of Ambition 
 
 eyes good to see you guess you knew we'd needed 
 you in the worst way - " 
 
 Bill smiled and shook his head. "I'm going to 
 stay right here, Pattison; there's plenty to do. 
 Here's where I came from and where I be- 
 
 And through the weeks that followed he worked 
 day and night and w r hile he was often silent, his 
 eyes regained their old light, he was eager for more. 
 
 The men turned to him like children to a parent 
 pitifully glad that he had returned. They shouted 
 aloud to their families that all would be well now 
 that Big Bill was back. They hissed the street speak- 
 ers from their stands they broke up meetings and 
 scattered the mutterers all was well now - ! 
 
 And Nedda, close by his side, helped him with his 
 plans for the men he would not proceed without 
 her advice and she dreamed of a golden future, 
 with her hand joined in his. 
 
 Tony spoke of it to her, "Nedda, it's you that 
 brought Bill back he's got you to thank." 
 
 But she shook her head. "He would have come 
 back anyhow, it might have took longer it might 
 not 'a' been to Bethel but it would 'a' been some- 
 where he couldn't have lived unless he worked 
 and he'd have found sooner or later that the people 
 needed him." 
 
 But Tony persisted. "Still he's always sayin' he 
 has you to thank."
 
 The Dawn of a New Day 485 
 
 "Is he, Tony?" she asked. Tony nodded. 
 
 "Yes he says he leaves it to you to decide what 
 he's to do next " 
 
 She smiled, but did not answer. 
 
 When Tony had gone she went to her room. 
 From a shelf she lifted a box. She unfastened the 
 cord that bound it and opened it. In it lay a red 
 dress faded and creased and a tiny velvet 
 case. . . . 
 
 She shook out the dress with a smile on her lips 
 and stroked its folds gently, then she laid it back 
 but at the velvet case she did not smile instead, 
 her lips became tender, her eyes full of dreams 
 she opened it and lifted out the diamond brooch he 
 had given her. She laid it against her cheek then 
 she clasped its chain about her neck no one could 
 see it beneath the coarse fabric of her dress, but she 
 felt it against her throat and the quick tears sprang 
 to her eyes. . . . 
 
 It was her night to teach at the Mission. She 
 would be late. She drew down the cover of the box 
 and thrust it out of sight beneath her bed. For a 
 minute she paused, studying herself in the 
 glass. . . . Was she worthy? . . . Did she dare 
 hope that at last the dream which lay close to her 
 heart might be fulfilled? . . . Tony's words rang 
 in her ears. 
 
 "He says he leaves it to you to decide what he's 
 to do next . "
 
 486 The Road of Ambition 
 
 She smiled and closed her hand over the brooch. 
 She would decide then and she would try to make 
 him glad she had done so as long as she lived! . . . 
 
 It was damp out, with a chill drizzle. She shiv- 
 ered and buttoned her coat close about her throat. 
 She gathered up her skirt and moved forward, her 
 head lowered against the storm. She saw the lights 
 of the mission gleaming mistily through the fog. 
 She hurried toward them, when suddenly she collided 
 sharply with someone. She looked up. It was a 
 shabby, shifty-eyed man, who, recovering himself, 
 reached down swiftly for something that lay gleam- 
 ing in the gutter. 
 
 Quick as a flash she picked it up. It was a gold 
 locket. 
 
 "Give it to me," he snapped; "it's mine." 
 
 She glanced down at it. It had fallen open by 
 the light of the lamp overhead she could see that 
 there was a picture inside. She looked again. Then 
 she closed her hand over it swiftly, her lips set in a 
 hard line there was no mistaking the picture in- 
 side it was of Bill. . . . 
 
 "You've stole it !" she shot at him. He seized her 
 arm roughly, but she flung him off. A woman was 
 running toward her. 
 
 The thief, seeing her, made off with a curse, and 
 Nedda braced herself no doubt this was the locket's 
 owner Nedda waited for her so this woman had
 
 The Dawn of a New Day 487 
 
 Bill's picture how had she come by it? By what 
 right did she wear it? Nedda determined not to 
 give it up without good reason the woman called to 
 her. 
 
 "Did you stop him he snatched it before I had 
 time to think he " 
 
 The woman had come beneath the rays of the 
 lamp, and Nedda raised her eyes, then she fell back 
 with a cry the world rocked beneath her feet for 
 the woman waiting breathless for her to speak was 
 Daphne. . . . 
 
 "I saw you pick it up," she was saying, "did you 
 give it to him did you ?" 
 
 Nedda did not move, she scarcely breathed her 
 eyes fastened on the woman's face. His wife . . . 
 his wife. . . . 
 
 "Did you give it to him?" she insisted. "I value 
 it very greatly " 
 
 Nedda thrust her hand behind her. 
 
 "I gave it to him," she said. 
 
 The woman with a cry turned in pursuit, but 
 Nedda caught her arm. 
 
 "He's got away with it," she said; "you won't 
 never catch him now." 
 
 She studied the woman's face, the sharp fear in 
 her eyes the quick intake of her breath. 
 
 "Oh, but I must get it back!" she cried. "I can't 
 lose that . . . it's all I have it's . . ." 
 
 She stopped. Nedda was speaking. "I think I
 
 488 The Road of Ambition 
 
 know who he was," she lied. "If you tell me your 
 name and where you live maybe I can get it back for 
 
 "Oh, if you could!" said the woman, then she 
 hesitated, but only for an instant. "I visit the mis- 
 sions to see how they are conducted, I will only be 
 here in Bethel tonight but if you should find it you 
 can reach me, care of the headquarters in New 
 York." Then, as though as an afterthought; she 
 added, "My name is Miss Dale." 
 
 Nedda nodded. "I'll remember," she said. 
 
 The woman smiled. "Thank you," she said; "I 
 would lose everything I own, rather than that," and 
 she was gone gone there was nothing to assure 
 Nedda that it had not been an illusion a fancy of 
 her brain except the locket in her hand. . . . 
 
 She felt numbed cold dazed. . . . Daphne 
 was alive by some strange twist of fate she was 
 alive ! Suddenly she flung off the spell that held her 
 motionless she clenched her hands what right had 
 this woman to reappear in this, the supreme hour 
 of her life this hour for which she had waited so 
 long, the wife he mourned as dead had come 
 back . . . but he did not know . . . need he ever 
 know? This woman seemed content to be apart 
 from him and yet Nedda could not forget the look- 
 in her eyes when she learned the locket was gone 
 she loved him too. . . . She loved him too. . . . 
 
 The rain beat down on her face, but she heeded it
 
 Xedda Did Not Move . . . Her Eyes Fastened 
 on the Woman's Face
 
 The Dawn of a New Day 489 
 
 not . . . what must she do? What must she say? 
 After all, he was hers now hers she had brought 
 him back from the valley of despair she had found 
 for him an interest in life. . . . What had this 
 woman done to deserve him? "It's for you to say 
 what he will do next!" for her to say. . . . 
 Should she send him back to his wife? Or should 
 she keep him? . . . 
 
 The woman had said she was going to be there but 
 one night that meant she would disappear again 
 just as she had vanished into the fog no, the chance 
 was scant that he would ever meet her would ever 
 learn the truth. Nedda's fingers tightened about the 
 locket she had waited so long ! so long ! . . . 
 
 She whirled sharply and set out toward home. 
 She hurried up the steps and unlocked the door. 
 With shaking hands, she pushed it open and entered. 
 In the hallway she came face to face with Bill she 
 staited back, slipping her hand quickly into her 
 pocket, but he came toward her. He looked tired, 
 but at the sight of her his face lighted up. 
 
 "Nedda!" he cried, "you're drenched through 
 where have you been?" 
 
 She did not speak, her eyes on his face how she 
 loved his voice his smile his strong brown 
 hand chafing hers loved him loved him loved 
 
 "What's the matter?" he asked, but she wrenched 
 her hand away.
 
 4QO The Road of Ambition 
 
 "Nothing," she told him, as she ran past him up 
 the stairs. . . . 
 
 She closed her door she must fight this thing out 
 to the end She would never give him up 
 never. . . . The woman was content to let him be- 
 lieve her dead well, then he should believe it ! She 
 studied the face in the locket hungrily she valued 
 it, did she? Why, then, had she thrown his love 
 away? With a sudden fear, she ran to her bureau 
 and searched about until she found a little box she 
 dropped the locket inside, and tied it up she thrust 
 it far back out of sight then impulsively dragged 
 it out, and thrust it in the blouse of her dress. If he 
 should ever find it he would ask her where it had 
 come from she had lied to the woman but could 
 she lie to him? . . . She shivered suddenly, and 
 flung open her door. She would tell him tonight 
 how much she loved him he was lonely well, with 
 her arms about him he need be lonely no more. . . . 
 She was young vital eager, her lips were warm 
 could she not give him as much as the woman she 
 had met in the fog? . . . 
 
 She descended the stair softly, the little study 
 he called his own was in darkness. She hesitated in 
 the doorway had he gone out? She entered and 
 when her eyes were used to the shadows, she saw 
 him. His back was turned toward her, but she could 
 see that his head was bowed in his hands. For an
 
 The Dawn of a New Day 491 
 
 instant the yearning to go to him was so great it 
 seemed as though she could not hold it in leash 
 to stroke his head with her fingers, to let him draw 
 her hand to his cheek she closed her eyes in an ecs- 
 tacy of longing. . . . She reached out her arms to 
 him. . . . 
 
 He stirred, and she heard him catch his breath 
 sharply she waited, listening unashamed then 
 she caught the words he whispered brokenly : 
 
 "Daphne I want you so I need you. ..." 
 
 After a time she leaned toward him and touched 
 his shoulder. He sprang up. 
 
 "Nedda!" he cried. "I did not know you were 
 there!" 
 
 She smiled a little. "There is something I want 
 you to do for me, Bill." 
 
 "Anything," he said. "Anything." 
 
 She drew from her waist the little package and 
 laid it in his hands. 
 
 "It's a locket I found it belongs to a Miss Dale 
 at the Star Mission. Would you take it to her for 
 me?" 
 
 "Why, of course," he said, then he took her hand 
 in his. "You're tired, Nedda, aren't you?" 
 
 "Yes," she said. "A little." 
 
 He patted her hand. "I've been making you work 
 too hard. That's the trouble. I'll be back soon," 
 he called, as he left her.
 
 49 2 The Road of Ambition 
 
 But she did not reply. She heard the bang of the 
 front door, then silence. . . . 
 
 "It's for you to tell him what he'll do next " 
 
 Well, she had told him. . . . She reached out her 
 hand and stroked the back of the chair against which 
 his head had rested. . . . 
 
 The Star Mission was a low, rambling building. 
 Its chapel windows were flung open little shafts of 
 light piercing the mist and on the night air came 
 voices singing a warm, rich volume of sound. 
 
 Bill, approaching, was strangely stirred. It was 
 like a scene from a play the building's harsh out- 
 lines softened and rounded by the mist its lights 
 dim, unreal, the voices ringing out with their mar- 
 tial rhythm. . . . 
 
 It moved him and he waited until the music had 
 ceased until the droning of a voice took up the 
 story another had dropped, before he approached. 
 
 He mounted the steps and entered the rough little 
 chapel full to overflowing with the flotsam and jet- 
 sam of the tide men who had come there as a 
 refuge from the wet streets frowsy women with 
 tired eyes children who stared at him frankly. 
 
 On a raised platform at the far end of the room, 
 a thin-lipped man was extolling the virtues of work 
 glorifying the laborer and his audience listened, 
 for the most part stolid unmoved the women 
 hushing the babies in their arms the men stamping 
 their feet to get them dry.
 
 The Dawn of a New Day 493 
 
 Bill smiled to himself. Why talk to them of work 
 that was their daily diet their curds and whey 
 why not tell them of the things they longed to hear 
 without knowing it of flowers of trees of wind- 
 swept hilltops work had its place in the world, but 
 there were other things infinitely finer! He had 
 come to know that at last it seemed to him almost 
 as though he had been born again. 
 
 The smile still lingered in his eyes as he glanced 
 about him they were types all of them the rab- 
 bit-faced little woman at the piano fumbling the 
 leaves of a hymn-book the portly deaconess beside 
 her the suddenly he paused, stiffening were his 
 eyes playing him a trick? He rubbed them and 
 stared at a woman whose back was toward him. 
 She was slender and tall, with a trick of up-tilting her 
 chin that he had seen but one woman do one 
 woman in all the world. . . . He felt his pulses 
 pounding he must see her face ! He must see her 
 face ! And as though she felt his eyes upon her she 
 moved restlessly away and speaking a word to the 
 pianist passed from view through a low door. 
 
 He must see her! he must! he almost cried the 
 words aloud. The thin-lipped speaker, having con- 
 cluded his address, was making his way toward him. 
 He saw in him a possible donator, but Bill gave 
 him no chance to speak. "That young lady in black, 
 who was here a minute ago," he burst out. "Can 
 you tell me her name?"
 
 494 The Road of Ambition 
 
 The thin-lipped man glanced about, puzzled, then 
 he nodded. 
 
 "Oh, yes, I think you must mean Miss Dale." 
 Dale! So that was her name! Of course, it had 
 been just fancy then he recalled his errand. 
 
 "I would like to see her for a moment I have 
 something for her." 
 
 "The locket?" inquired the thin-lipped man, "she 
 will be so glad." 
 
 He pointed eagerly to the little door. "She's 
 in the office, shall I call her?" 
 
 But Bill shook his head. "No, you needn't," he 
 said. "I'll take it to her myself." 
 
 It was a small, bare room with a square desk in 
 its center and a green light directly above it, the rest 
 of the room was full of shadows. 
 
 The woman stood by the window. In the half 
 light Bill saw the sweep of her white throat. He en- 
 tered softly. 
 
 "Miss Dale," he said, "I have brought you your 
 locket." 
 
 She turned, and Bill, seeing her, fell back with a 
 cry. 
 
 She had not moved, but he saw the throb of a pulse 
 in her throat the rise and fall of her quick breath- 
 ing. 
 
 He stared at the woman before him the woman 
 with Daphne's hair Daphne's eyes Daphne's 
 curved red lips but who could not be she because
 
 The Dawn of a New Day 495 
 
 she was dead ... he was dreaming that was it 
 he was dreaming! 
 
 She came toward him. She reached out her hand 
 and touched him. 
 
 "You !" she cried. "You !" 
 
 She was flesh and blood flesh and blood! She 
 lived! She lived! She had been given back to 
 him. . . . 
 
 "Daphne," he whispered through white lips, "are 
 you real are you you ?" 
 
 He did not wait for an answer, but with a cry he 
 swept her to him. . . . 
 
 After a time he spoke, "Why did you do it? Why 
 did you let me think I had lost you?" 
 
 She answered softly, her eyes on his face. "After 
 the wreck, I was ill very ill the sisters at the 
 mission nursed me, but for a long while I could not 
 tell who I was or where I came from and when I 
 grew better there were long hours in which to think 
 and think. . . . One day I heard them talking 
 about you I heard them say that you believed me 
 dead but that you had gone on with your work as 
 before and when I heard all this I felt sure you 
 did not need me " 
 
 "Need you," he cried. "Daphne! Daphne!" 
 
 She drew his head close to her cheek. "Tell me 
 you do," she whispered. "Oh, tell me you do! I 
 can never hear it enough. ... It took so much
 
 496 The Road of Ambition 
 
 courage to go on without you and I have so little 
 left I am afraid afraid " 
 
 He caught her face between his hands and gazed 
 deep into her eyes. 
 
 "You need never be afraid again-" he said slowly. 
 She clung to him. 
 
 "I am afraid of the big things you will do the 
 things that will take you from me " 
 
 He shook his head. "The biggest thing in the 
 world will be making you happy," he told her. 
 
 She was content then to feel his arms about her. 
 She did not speak again for a long while. . . . 
 
 THE END
 
 / _*