WILL LILLIBRIDG
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 /-
 
 THE DOMINANT DOLLAR
 
 BY WILL LILLIBRIDGE 
 
 BEN BLAIR. THE STORY OF A PLAINSMAN. 
 With frontispiece in full color by Maynard 
 Dixon. Seventh edition, 60th thousand. 
 
 *#* Besides the wide success of "Ben Blair" 
 in this country the book appeared in a large edi 
 tion in London and also in Australia. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY A. C. McCniRG & Co., CHICAGO
 
 " Most of all because I love you " 
 
 [Pug* ->'/->]
 
 The 
 
 Dominant Dollar 
 
 BY 
 
 WILL LILLIBRIDGE 
 
 Author of " Ben Blair," etc. 
 
 WITH FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS BY 
 
 LESTER RALPH 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
 A. C. McCLURG & CO. 
 1909
 
 COPYRIGHT 
 
 A. C. McCLUHG & CO. 
 
 1909 
 
 Published September 11, 1909 
 
 Entered at Stationers' Hall, London, England 
 
 All rights reserved 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.
 
 PS 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 BOOK I 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. A PROPHECY 9 
 
 II. UNDERSTANDING 35 
 
 III. PLEASURE 56 
 
 IV. UNCERTAINTY 70 
 
 V. CERTAINTY 87 
 
 VI. A WARNING 110 
 
 VII. REBELLION 126 
 
 VIII. CATASTROPHE 146 
 
 BOOK II 
 
 I. ANTICIPATION 165 
 
 II. ACQUAINTANCE 185 
 
 III. FRIENDSHIP 203 
 
 IV. COMPREHENSION 217 
 
 V. FULFILMENT 241 
 
 VI. CRISIS 268 
 
 VII. TRAVESTY 285 
 
 VIII. CELEBRATION 302 
 
 IX. ADMONITION 320 
 
 X. DECISION . , 330 
 
 1512268
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 " Most of all because I love } r ou " (Page 242) Frontispiece 
 
 " I 'm tired of reading about life and hearing about life. 
 
 I want to live it" (Page 66) 64 
 
 " Steve ! " The girl was on her feet, " I never dreamed, 
 
 never You poor boy !" (Page 153) .... 156 
 
 " You mean to suggest that Elice," he began, " that 
 Elice You dare to suggest that to me ? " 
 (Page 107) 278
 
 BOOK I
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 BOOK I 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 A PROPHECY 
 
 YOU 'RE cold-blooded as a fish, Roberts, 
 colder. You 're - There is no adequate 
 simile." 
 
 The man addressed said nothing. 
 ' You degrade every consideration in life, 
 emotional and other, to a dollar-and-cents basis. 
 Sentiment, ambition, common judgment of right 
 and wrong, all gravitate to the same level. You 
 have a single standard of measurement that you 
 apply to all alike, which alike condemns or jus 
 tifies. Summer and Winter, morning, noon, and 
 night it 's the same. Your little yardstick is 
 always in evidence, measuring, measuring 
 You, confound you, drive me to distraction with 
 your eternal ' does it pay.' ' 
 
 Still the other man said nothing. 
 
 " I know," apologetically, " I 'm rubbing it in 
 pretty hard, Darley, but I can't help it. You 
 
 r 9 1
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 exasperate me beyond my boiling point at times 
 and I simply can't avoid bubbling over. I believe 
 if by any possibility you were ever to have a 
 romance in your life, and it came on slowly 
 enough so you could analyze a bit in advance, 
 you 'd still get out your tape line and tally up to 
 the old mark: would it pay! " 
 
 This time the other smiled, a smile of tolerant 
 amusement. 
 
 " And why should n't I ? Being merely the 
 fish you suggest, it seems to me that that 's the 
 one time in a human being's life when, more than 
 another, deliberation is in order. The wider the 
 creek the longer the wise man will linger on the 
 margin to estimate the temperature of the cur 
 rent in event of failure to reach the opposite bank. 
 Inadvertently, Armstrong, you pass me a com 
 pliment. Merely as an observer, marriage looks 
 to me like the longest leap a sane man will ever 
 attempt." 
 
 ' I expected you 'd say that," shortly, " pre 
 dicted it." 
 
 * You give me credit for being consistent, then, 
 at least." 
 
 ' Yes, you 're consistent all right." 
 
 " Thanks. That 's the first kind word I Ve 
 heard in a long time." 
 
 [10]
 
 A Prophecy 
 
 The other made a wry face. 
 
 " Don't thank me," he excepted. " I 'm not 
 at all sure I meant the admission to be compli 
 mentary; in fact I hardly think I did. I was 
 hoping for once I 'd find you napping, without 
 your measuring stick. In other words find you 
 - human." 
 
 " And now you 're convinced the case is hope 
 less?" 
 
 " Convinced, yes, if I thought you were 
 serious." 
 
 Roberts laughed, a big-chested, tolerant laugh. 
 
 " Seems to me you ought to realize by this 
 time that I am serious, Armstrong. You Ve 
 known me long enough. Do you still fancy I Ve 
 been posing these last five years you Ve known 
 me?" 
 
 " No; you never pose, Darley. This is a com 
 pliment, I think ; moreover, it 's the reason most 
 of all why I like you." He laughed in turn, un 
 consciously removing the sting from the observa 
 tion following. " I can't see any other possible 
 excuse for our being friends. We 're as differ 
 ent as night is from day." 
 
 The criticism was not new, and Roberts said 
 nothing. 
 
 " I wonder now and then, at times like this," 
 [ii]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 remarked Armstrong, " how long we will stick 
 together. It 's been five years, as you say. I 
 wonder if it '11 be another five." 
 
 The smile vanished from Darley Roberts' 
 eyes, leaving them shrewd and gray. 
 
 " I wonder," he repeated. 
 
 " It '11 come some time, the break. It 's inev 
 itable. We 're fundamentally too different to 
 avoid a clash." 
 
 "You think so?" 
 
 " I know so. It 's written." 
 
 " And when we do? " 
 
 ' We '11 hate each other as much as we like 
 each other now. That, too, is written." 
 
 Again Roberts laughed. A listener would have 
 read self-confidence therein. 
 
 " If that 's the case, would n't it be wiser for 
 us to separate in advance and avoid the horrors 
 of civil war? I '11 move out and leave you in 
 peaceful possession of our cave if you wish." 
 
 "No; I don't want you to. I need you. 
 That 's another compliment. You hold me down 
 to earth. You 're a helpful influence, Darley, 
 providing one knows you and takes you with 
 allowance." 
 
 The comment was whimsical, but beneath was 
 a deeper, more tacit admission which both men
 
 A Prophecy 
 
 understood, that drowned the surface banter of 
 the words. 
 
 " I think again, sometimes," drifted on Arm 
 strong 1 , " that if the powers which are could only 
 put us both in a pot as I put things together 
 down in the laboratory, and melt us good and 
 shake us up, so, until we were all mixed into one, 
 it would make a better product than either of us 
 as we are now." 
 
 " Perhaps," equivocally. 
 
 " But that 's the curse of it. The thing can't 
 be done. The Lord put us here, you you, and me 
 me, and we Ve got to stick it out to the end." 
 
 " And become enemies in the course of events." 
 
 ' Yes," quickly, " but let 's not think about it. 
 It '11 come soon enough ; and meantime - The 
 sentence halted while with unconscious skill Arm 
 strong rolled a cigarette - " and meantime," he 
 repeated as he scratched a match and waited for 
 the sulphur to burn free, " I want to use you." 
 Again the sentence halted while he blew a cloud 
 of smoke : " I had another offer to-day." 
 
 Following the other's example, Roberts lit a 
 cigar, big and black, and sat puffing in judicial 
 expectancy. 
 
 " It 's what you 'd call a darned good offer," 
 explained Armstrong : " position as chemist to 
 
 r 13 1
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 the Graham Specialty Company, who are build 
 ing the factory over on the East side perfumes 
 and toilet preparations and that sort of thing." 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Graham himself came to see me. As a matter 
 of fact he 's the whole company. He labored with 
 me for two hours. I had to manufacture an en 
 gagement out of whole cloth to get away." 
 
 " And you decided - 
 
 " I did n't decide. I took the matter under 
 advisement." 
 
 ' Which means that you did decide after all." 
 
 Armstrong grimaced in a mannerism all his 
 own, an action that ended in an all-expressive 
 shrug. ' I suppose so," he admitted reluctantly. 
 
 ' I hardly see where I can be of service then," 
 commented the other. 'If you were ten years 
 younger and a minor and I your guardian - 
 
 ' You might point out with your yardstick 
 how many kinds of an idiot I am and stir me up." 
 
 His companion smiled; as suddenly the look 
 passed. 
 
 " I 'd do so cheerfully if it would do any good. 
 As it is - The sentence ended in comprehen 
 sive silence. ; ' What, by the way, did Graham 
 offer? " 
 
 ; ' Five thousand dollars a year, and if I made 
 
 [14]
 
 A Prophecy 
 
 good an interest later in the business. He said 
 four thousand dollars to begin with and gradually 
 crawled up." 
 
 " You 're getting now from the University - 
 
 " Twelve hundred." 
 
 " With ultimate possibilities, I emphasize 
 possibilities - 
 
 " I '11 be dean of the department some day if 
 I stick." 
 
 ' With a salary of two thousand a year." 
 
 Armstrong nodded. 
 
 " And that 's the end, the top round of the lad 
 der if you were to remain until you were fifty and 
 were displaced eventually without a pension." 
 
 ' Yes ; that 's the biggest plum on the uni 
 versity tree. It can't grow anything larger." 
 
 In his place Darley Roberts dropped back as 
 though he had nothing to say. Involuntarily, 
 with a nervous impatience distinctive of him, his 
 fingers tapped twice on the edge of the chair; 
 then, aroused to attention, the hand lay still. 
 
 ' Well? " commented Armstrong at length. 
 
 Roberts merely looked at him, not humorously 
 nor with intent to tantalize, but with unconscious 
 analysis written large upon his face. 
 
 ; ' Well? " repeated Armstrong, " I 'm waiting. 
 The floor is yours." 
 
 [ 15 1
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " I was merely wondering," slowly, " how it 
 would seem to be a person like you. I can't 
 understand." 
 
 " No, you can't, Darley. As I said a moment 
 ago, we 're different as day is from night." 
 
 " I was wondering another thing, too, Arm 
 strong. Do you want to know what it was? " 
 
 ' Yes ; I know in advance I '11 not have to 
 blush at a compliment." 
 
 " I don't know about that. I 'm not the judge. 
 I merely anticipated in fancy the time when you 
 will wake up. You will some day. It 's inev 
 itable. To borrow your phrase, ' it 's written.' ' 
 
 'You think so?" The accompanying smile 
 was appreciative. 
 
 " I know so. It 's life we 're living, not 
 fiction." 
 
 " And when I do pardon me come out of 
 it? " The questioner was still smiling. 
 
 * That 's what I was speculating on." Again 
 the impatient fingers tapped on the chair, and 
 again halted at their own alarm. ' You '11 either 
 be a genius and blossom in a day, or be a dead 
 failure and go to the devil by the shortest route." 
 
 ' You think there 's no possible middle trail? " 
 
 " Not for you. You 're not built that way." 
 
 The prediction was spoken with finality too 
 [ 16 ]
 
 A Prophecy 
 
 much finality to be taken humorously. Respon- 
 sively, bit by bit, the smile left Armstrong's face. 
 
 " I won't attempt to answer that, Darley, or to 
 defend myself. To come back to the point, you 
 think I 'm a fool not to accept Graham's offer? " 
 
 As before, his companion shrugged uncon 
 sciously. That was all. 
 
 " Does it occur to you that I might possibly 
 have a reason one that, while it would n't 
 show up well under your tape line, to me seems 
 adequate? " 
 
 " I 'm not immune to reason." 
 
 ' You 'd like to have me put it in words? " 
 
 ' Yes, if you wish." 
 
 4 Well, then, first of all, I Ve spent ten years 
 working up to where I am now. I Ve been 
 through the mill from laboratory handy-man to 
 assistant demonstrator, from that to demonstra 
 tor, up again to quiz-master, to substitute-lecturer, 
 until now I 'm at the head of my department. 
 That looks small to you, I know; but to me it 
 means a lot. Two hundred men, bright fellows 
 too, fill up the amphitheatre every day and listen 
 to me for an hour. They respect me, have confi 
 dence in my ability and I try to merit it. That 
 means I must study and keep up with the pro 
 cession in my line. It 's an incentive that a man 
 
 [ n ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 can't have any other way, a practical necessity. 
 That 's the first reason. On the other hand, if 
 I went to work for Graham I 'd be dubbing 
 around in a back room laboratory all by myself 
 and doing what he wanted done whether it was 
 interesting in the least or not." 
 
 " In other words," commented Roberts, 
 " you 'd be down to bed rock with the two hun 
 dred admirers removed from the bed." 
 
 " I suppose so looking at it that way." 
 
 "All right. Goon." 
 
 ' The second reason is that my employment as 
 full professor gives me an established position 
 call it social position if you wish here in the 
 University that I could n't possibly get in any 
 other way. They realize what it means to hold the 
 place, and give me credit for it. We 're all human 
 and it 's pleasant to be appreciated. If I went 
 to work in a factory I 'd be an alien outside 
 the circle and I 'd stay there." 
 
 ' There are eighty million people in the United 
 States," commented Roberts, drily. " By stretch 
 ing, your circle would probably take in two thou 
 sand of that number." 
 
 ' I know it 's limited; but there 's an old saying 
 that it 's better to be a big toad in a small puddle 
 than a small toad in a large pond." 
 
 [18]
 
 A Prophecy 
 
 " I recall there 's an adage to that effect." 
 
 " Lastly, there 's another reason, the biggest 
 of all. As it is now the State employs me to de 
 liver a certain number of lectures a semester. I 
 do this; and the rest of the time is mine. In it 
 I can do what I please. If I accepted a position 
 in a private enterprise it would be different. I 
 should sell my time outright and be compelled 
 to deliver it all. I should n't have an hour I could 
 call my own except at night, and the chances are 
 I should n't have enough energy left for anything 
 else when night came. You know what I 'm 
 trying to do that I 'm trying to work up a 
 name as a writer. I 'd have to give up that am 
 bition entirely. I simply can't or won't do that 
 yet." 
 
 ' You Ve been keeping up this fight you 
 mention for ten years now, you told me once. Is 
 anything definite in sight? " 
 
 " No; not exactly definite; but Rome was n't 
 built in a day. I 'm willing to wait." 
 
 " And meantime you 're getting older steadily." 
 
 " I repeat I 'm willing to wait and trust a 
 little." 
 
 Tap, tap went the impatient fingers again. 
 
 " Something 's bound to drop in time if one is 
 only patient." 
 
 [19]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Roberts looked up quickly, the gray eyes keen, 
 the tapping fingers stilled. 
 
 " Something has dropped, my friend, and you 
 don't recognize it." 
 
 ' The tape line again. The eternal tape line ! 
 It 's pure waste of energy, Darley, to attempt to 
 make you understand. As I said before, you 're 
 fundamentally incapable." 
 
 " Perhaps," evenly. " But for your sake I 've 
 listened and tried. At least give me credit for 
 that." Of a sudden he glanced up keenly. " By 
 the way, you 're not going out this evening? " 
 
 " No, Elice is out of town." Armstrong 
 caught himself. " I suppose that is what you 
 meant." 
 
 For a moment before he answered Roberts 
 busied himself with a stray flake of ash on his 
 sleeve. 
 
 ' Yes, in a way," he said. " I was going to 
 suggest that you tell her what you told me before 
 you said * no ' to Graham." 
 
 " It 's unnecessary." The tone was a trifle 
 stiff. " She at least understands me." 
 
 The other man made no comment. 
 
 ' You 're not going out either this evening, 
 Darley? " returned Armstrong. 
 
 "No; I'm scheduled for bed early to-night. 
 
 [20]
 
 A Prophecy 
 
 I Ve had a strenuous day, and to-morrow will be 
 another." 
 
 It was already late of a rainy May evening, 
 the room was getting dim, and silently Arm 
 strong turned on the electric light. Following, in 
 equal silence, his companion watching him the 
 while understandingly, he lit a pipe. Stephen 
 Armstrong seldom descended to a pipe, and when 
 he did so the meaning of the action to one who 
 knew him well was lucid. It meant confidence. 
 Back in his seat he puffed hard for a half minute ; 
 then blew at the smoke above his head. 
 
 '* Was that mere chance that made you suggest 
 Elice in connection with that offer of Gra 
 ham's," he asked, at last; " or did you mean more 
 than the question seemed to imply, Darley?" 
 
 Again for an appreciable space there was 
 silence. 
 
 " I seldom do things by chance, Armstrong. 
 To use your own simile, I 'm too much of a fish. 
 I don't want to seem to interfere with your per 
 sonal affairs, however. I beg your pardon if you 
 wish." 
 
 " But I don't wish you to do so," shortly. " You 
 know that. Besides there 's nothing to conceal 
 so far as I 'm concerned. Just what did you 
 mean to suggest? " 
 
 [21]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Again the other hesitated, with a reluctance 
 that was not simulated. Darley Roberts simu 
 lated nothing. 
 
 " If you really wish to know," he complied at 
 last, " I think you ought to tell her without 
 coloring the matter by your own point of view 
 in the least. She should be as much interested 
 as you yourself." 
 
 " She is. Take that for granted." 
 
 Roberts waited. 
 
 " I know, though, so certainly what she would 
 say that it seems a bit superfluous." 
 
 Still Roberts waited. 
 
 " As I said before, she understands me and I 
 understand her. Some things don't require lan 
 guage to express. They come by intuition." 
 
 And still Roberts waited. 
 
 ' If it were you, now, and there were any pos 
 sibility of a yardstick it would be different; but 
 as it is - 
 
 " Miss Gleason then, Mrs. Armstrong to be, 
 does n't care in the least to see you come on finan 
 cially, is completely satisfied with things as they 
 are?" 
 
 It was Armstrong's turn to be silent. 
 
 ' You Ve been engaged now three years. 
 You 're thirty years old and Miss Gleason is " 
 
 [22]
 
 A Prophecy 
 
 " Twenty-five in August." 
 
 " She is wholly contented to let the engagement 
 run on indefinitely, knowing that your income is 
 barely enough for one to live on and not at all 
 adequate for two? " 
 
 The other stiffened involuntarily; but he said 
 nothing. 
 
 " I beg your pardon the second time, Arm 
 strong, if you wish ; but remember, please, I 'm 
 doing this by request." 
 
 " I know, Darley. I 'm not an absolute cad, 
 and I 'm glad you are frank. Doubtless from 
 your point of view I 'm a visionary ass. But I 
 don't see where any one suffers on that account 
 except myself." 
 
 " Don't see where any one suffers save your 
 self! Don't see ! You can't be serious, man! " 
 
 Armstrong had ceased smoking. The pipe lay 
 idle in his fingers. 
 
 " No. Come out into the clearing and put it 
 in plain English. Just what do you mean? " 
 
 " Since you insist, I mean just this, Armstrong 
 and if you '11 think a moment you '11 realize 
 for yourself it 's true : you can't drift on forever 
 the way you 're doing now. If you were n't 
 engaged it would be different; but you are en 
 gaged. Such being the case it implies a respon- 
 
 [23]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 sibility and a big one. To dangle so is unjust 
 to the girl. Let this apply in the abstract. It 's 
 damnably unjust! " 
 
 " You think that I - 
 
 " I don't think at all, I know. We can theorize 
 and moon and drift about in the clouds all we 
 please; but when eventually our pipe goes out 
 and we come down to earth this thing of mar 
 riage is practical. It 's give and take, with a 
 whole lot to give. I have n't been practising law 
 and dealing with marital difficulties, to say noth 
 ing of divorces, without getting a few inside facts. 
 Marriages are made in Heaven, perhaps, but 
 married life is lived right here on earth ; and the 
 butcher and the rest play leading parts. I recog 
 nize I 'm leading the procession a bit now, Arm 
 strong; but as I said before, you can't dangle 
 much longer if you 're an honorable man ; and 
 then what I Ve said is right in line. If you '11 
 take a word of advice that 's intended right, even 
 if it seems patronizing, you '11 wake up right now 
 and begin to steer straight for the flag-pole. If 
 you keep on floundering aimlessly and waiting 
 for an act of Providence you '11 come to grief as 
 surely as to-morrow is coming, old man." 
 
 " And by steering straight you mean to save 
 money. .To get my eye on a dollar, leave 
 
 [24]
 
 A Prophecy 
 
 everything else, and chase it until it drops from 
 fatigue." 
 
 " I mean get power; and dollars are the tan 
 gible evidence and manifestation of power. They 
 are the only medium that passes current in any 
 country any day in the year." 
 
 Armstrong smiled, a smile that was not pleas 
 ant to see. 
 
 ' You 'd have me give up my literary aspira 
 tions then, let them die a-borning as it were - 
 
 " I did n't say that. So far as I can see you 
 can keep on just the same. There are twenty- 
 four hours in every day. But make that phase 
 secondary. I don't discount writers in the least 
 or their work; but with the world as it is the 
 main chance does n't lie that way and it 's the 
 main chance we 're all after. Fish or no fish, I 
 tell you some time you '11 find this out for your 
 self. To get the most out of life a man must be 
 in the position to pass current wherever he may 
 be. In the millennium the standard may be dif 
 ferent I for one sincerely hope it will be ; but 
 in the twentieth century dollars are the key that 
 unlocks everything. Without them you 're as 
 helpless as a South Sea islander in a metropolitan 
 street. You 're at the mercy of every human 
 being that wants to give you a kick ; and the ma- 
 
 [25]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 jority will give it to you if they see you are 
 defenceless." 
 
 Armstrong was still smiling, the same being a 
 smile not pleasant to see. 
 
 " Now that I Ve got you going," he com 
 mented, "I 've a curiosity to have you keep on. 
 You 're certainly stirring with a vengeance to 
 night, Darley." 
 
 " And accomplishing nothing. Strange as it 
 may seem to you, I 'm serious." 
 
 " I don't doubt it, old man." Of a sudden the 
 smile had passed. ' I can't adjust my point of 
 view to yours at all. If I thought dollars were 
 the end of existence I 'd quit the game now. If 
 the world has come to this - 
 
 ' The world has n't come to it and never will. 
 You simply can't or won't see the point. I 
 repeat, that of themselves they 're nothing, but 
 they 're the means to everything. Get your com 
 petency first, your balance-wheel, your independ 
 ence, your established base of supplies; then 
 plan your campaign. The world is big, infinitely 
 big, to the human being who can command. It 's 
 a little mud ball to the other who has to dance 
 whenever some one else whistles." 
 
 " And how about happiness, the thing we 're 
 all after? " 
 
 [26]
 
 A Prophecy 
 
 " It is n't happiness, but it 's the means to it. 
 There can be no happiness without independ 
 ence." 
 
 "Even marital happiness?" 
 
 " That most of all. I tell you the lack of a 
 sufficient income is the rock on which most mar 
 ried people go to pieces. It is n't the only one, 
 but it 's the most frequent. I Ve seen and I 
 know." 
 
 ' You 'd drive our old friend Cupid out of 
 business, Darley. You don't give him an inch 
 of ground to stand on." 
 
 " On the contrary, I keep him in business 
 indefinitely - 
 
 " Moreover, the examples of the rich, scattered 
 broadcast through the daily papers, hardly bear 
 you out." 
 
 ' They are the exception that proves the rule. 
 Nine hundred and ninety-nine poor couples come 
 to grief, and the world never hears of it. In the 
 thousandth case a rich man and woman make 
 fools of themselves and the world reads the scan 
 dal next morning. The principle is unaltered. 
 The exceptions, the irresponsibles whether rich or 
 poor, are something to which no rule applies." 
 
 " All right." Armstrong sat up, preventingly. 
 " I don't want to argue with you. You 're a 
 
 [27]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 typical lawyer and always ride me down by pure 
 force of mass." He smiled. " Gentlemen of the 
 law are invariably that way, Darley. Figura 
 tively, you fellows always travel horseback while 
 the rest of us go afoot, and if we don't hustle out 
 of the way you ride us down without remorse." 
 
 Roberts was listening again in silence, with his 
 normal attitude of passive observance. 
 
 " I 'm feeling pretty spry, though, to-night," 
 went on the other, " and able to get out of the 
 way, so I 'm going to get in close as possible and 
 w r atch you. I 've tried to do so before, but some 
 how I 'm always side-tracked just at the psycho 
 logical moment." The quizzical voice became 
 serious, the flippant manner vanished. " Hon 
 estly, Darley, I can't understand you any more 
 than you can me. You said a bit ago you won 
 dered where I would end. I have the same 
 wonder about you. Just what are you aiming at, 
 old man, anyway? In all the years I 've known 
 you you 've never come right out and said in so 
 many words." 
 
 ' You mean what do I intend to do that will 
 make me famous or infamous, that will at least 
 make me talked about ? " 
 
 Armstrong laughed shortly. The shot was 
 well aimed.
 
 A Prophecy 
 
 " I suppose that is approximately what I had 
 in mind," he admitted. 
 
 " To answer your question then, directly, I 
 don't intend to do anything. Nothing is further 
 from my plans than to get a position where I '11 
 be talked about." 
 
 "Just what do you want, then?" 
 
 " I want the substance, not the husk. I want to 
 be the party that pulls the wires and not the fig 
 ures that dance on the front of the stage. I want 
 things done when I say they shall be done. I 
 want the piper to play when I pass the word. 
 I 'm perfectly willing that others should have the 
 honor and the glory and the limelight ; but after 
 the play is over I want to be the boy to whom 
 the report is made and who gives directions for 
 the next performance. Is that definite enough? " 
 
 * Yes, definite enough ; but are you going to 
 get there? You asked me the same question, 
 you recall, a bit ago." 
 
 " Yes, if I live." 
 
 "And if you don't live?" 
 
 Again the shrug. " I shall have tried. I can 
 tell Saint Peter that." 
 
 " I did n't refer to Saint Peter. I meant you 
 yourself. Where is your own justification except 
 in the attainment of the end? " 
 
 [29]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 "Justification! " Roberts leaned suddenly for 
 ward, his attitude no longer that of an observer 
 but of a participant, one in the front of the 
 charge. ' The game is its own justification, 
 man ! Things don't have to be done with two hun 
 dred bright young students watching and listen 
 ing to be worth while, my friend." 
 
 Armstrong shifted uncomfortably, then he 
 tacked. 
 
 " Just one more question, a repetition again of 
 your own. Have you the attainment of this ob 
 ject you suggest definitely in sight? You 're 
 older than I and have been playing the game some 
 time yourself." 
 
 " I think so." 
 
 " Do you know so? " 
 
 " As nearly as a man can know anything that 
 has n't come to pass." 
 
 "Just how, Darley? I'm absolutely in the 
 dark in regard to your deals and I 'm curious to 
 know the inside. You Ve got something partic 
 ular in mind, I know, or you would n't speak that 
 way." 
 
 For the first time in minutes Roberts looked at 
 the other, looked steadily, blankly. 
 
 ' I 'm sorry genuinely, Armstrong, but I 
 can't tell you now. Don't misunderstand, please. 
 
 [30]
 
 A Prophecy 
 
 I 'd tell you if I were not under obligation; but 
 I 'm not at liberty yet to say." His glance left 
 the other's face. " I trust you understand." 
 
 " Yes, certainly." The voice was short. " No 
 offence, I 'm sure." 
 
 That there was offence was obvious, yet Rob 
 erts made no further comment or explanation. 
 
 For perhaps a minute there was silence; in 
 characteristic change of thought absolute Arm 
 strong shifted. 
 
 " As long as we 're in the confidant business," 
 he digressed, " there 's still one question I 'd like 
 to ask, Darley. Elice and I have been intimate 
 now for a number of years. I 've asked you re 
 peatedly to call with me and you 've always 
 refused. Even yet you Ve barely met her. I 
 quote you by the yard when I 'm with her, and, 
 frankly, she 's curious why you stay at arm's 
 length. Between yourself and myself why is it, 
 Darley?" 
 
 Roberts laughed ; an instant later the light left 
 his face. 
 
 ' You know I have few women acquaintances," 
 he said. 
 
 " I know, but this particular case is different." 
 
 " And those I do have," completed the other, 
 " are all securely married." 
 
 f 31 1
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Armstrong colored. 
 
 " I don't mean that," smiled Roberts, " and 
 you know I don't. I 'm not fool enough to fancy 
 I 'm a charmer. The explanation, I believe, is in 
 my ancestry. I think they must have been fishes 
 too, and instinct warns me to avoid bait. It 's 
 my own peace of mind I 'm considering and pre 
 serving, friend Armstrong." 
 
 " Peace of mind! " the other laughed. " From 
 you that 's good, Darley. But the tape line " 
 
 " Can't you find it? " 
 
 ; ' I confess - You think there is a time then, 
 after all, when it pays? " 
 
 " Do you fancy I show signs of feeble 
 mindedness? " 
 
 " No, emphatically not; but- Jove, you are 
 human then after all! I begin to have hope." 
 
 Roberts stifled a yawn, a real yawn. 
 
 " I think I '11 turn in," he said. 
 
 " Just a moment, Darley. I feel as though 
 I 'd discovered a gold mine, and I want to blaze 
 its location before departing. Just when, with 
 your philosophy, do you contemplate taking this 
 important leap among the attached? " 
 
 Roberts looked at his companion in silence. 
 
 ; ' Pardon me, Darley," swiftly, " that was flip 
 pant, I admit, but I 'm really serious." 
 
 [32]
 
 A Prophecy 
 
 " Serious ? I '11 take you at your word. It '11 
 be when I mean business, not pastime. Stretch 
 the tape if you wish. There are some things it 
 does n't pay to play with. It '11 be when I can 
 give a woman the things, the material things, she 
 wants and demands to make her happy and con 
 tented. The world is artificial, and material 
 things are its reflection. When I can make the 
 woman who chooses to marry me pass current 
 anywhere, when I can be the means of giving her 
 more pleasure, more opportunity, more of the good 
 things of life than she has known before, then, 
 when I know, not hope, this, and not a minute 
 before- Does that answer your question?" 
 
 " Yes ; that 's clear enough, I 'm sure the 
 implication, too, for that matter." The speaker 
 yawned, unnecessarily it seemed, for his look was 
 keen. " By the way, though, you have n't given 
 me a satisfactory explanation for avoiding Elice. 
 She 's attached practically, not unattached; and 
 I personally want you to know her. I think it 
 would make you understand some things you 
 don't understand now. You might even approve 
 of dangling. What do you say, will you go 
 out with me some evening or will you have an 
 other engagement as usual? I shan't suggest it 
 again, Darley." 
 
 3 [ 33 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Standing, as he had risen a moment before, 
 Darley Roberts looked down at the speaker 
 steadily, the distinctive half-smile of tolerant 
 analysis upon his lips. He laughed outright as 
 though to clear the atmosphere. 
 
 " Certainly I '11 go, Armstrong, if you wish. 
 It never occurred to me before that you took it 
 that way. I had supposed that you and Elice 
 were an example of two being a company and 
 three making a crowd ; also, to change the simile, 
 that previously your invitations were the prover 
 bial crumbs of charity. I '11 be pleased to go any 
 time you wish." 
 
 " All right." Armstrong too had risen. 
 " How about Sunday evening next week? Elice 
 will be back Saturday." 
 
 "A week from Sunday; I shall not forget." 
 
 With the attitude of a big healthy animal, a 
 bit sleepy now, Roberts stretched himself luxuri 
 ously, then started for his own room adjoining, 
 calling back, " Good-night." 
 
 Armstrong watched him in silence until the 
 other's hand was on the knob. 
 
 " Good-night," he echoed absently. 
 
 [34]
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 UNDERSTANDING 
 
 "T \ T HAT is it, Elice? You 're transparent 
 V V as spring water. Out with it." 
 "Out with what, Steve?" 
 ' The secret information of vital importance 
 that you 're holding back with an effort for a 
 favorable moment to deliver. The present is n't 
 particularly dramatic, I '11 admit, but it 's the 
 best circumstances permit." 
 
 ' You 're simply absurd, Steve ; more so than 
 usual." 
 
 " No, merely ordinarily observant. I Ve known 
 you some time, and the symptoms are infallible. 
 When you get that absent, beyond-earth look in 
 your eyes, and sit twisting around and around 
 that mammoth diamond ring your uncle gave you 
 on your sixteenth birthday - Come, I 'm impa 
 tient from the toes up. Who is engaged now? " 
 " No one, so far as I know." 
 " Married, then ; don't try to fool me." 
 '* Who told you, Steve Armstrong? " 
 
 [ 35 1
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " No one." The accompanying laugh was 
 positively boyish. " I knew it was one or the 
 other. Come, 'fess up. I '11 be good, honest." 
 
 ' You get younger every day, Steve," grudg 
 ingly. " If you keep on going backward people 
 will be taking me for your mother soon instead 
 of merely myself." 
 
 ' You should n't go away then, Elice. I 'm 
 tickled sick and irresponsible almost to have you 
 back. I 'm not to blame. But we 're losing valu 
 able time. I 'm listening." 
 
 * You swear that you don't know already 
 that you aren't merely making fun of me?" 
 
 " On my honor as full professor of chemistry. 
 I have n't even a suspicion." 
 
 ; ' I wonder if you are serious somehow I 
 never know. I '11 risk it anyway, and if you 're 
 just leading me on I '11 never forgive you, Steve, 
 never. It 's Margery." 
 
 " Margery ! The deuce it is and Harry 
 Randall, of course." 
 
 " Certainly. Who 'd you think it was : Pro 
 fessor Wilson with his eight children? " 
 
 " Now I call that unkind, Elice. After all the 
 interest I 've shown, too! Honest, though, I am 
 struck all in a heap. I never dreamed of such a 
 thing now." 
 
 [36]
 
 Understanding 
 
 The result of the revelation was adequate and 
 Miss Gleason relented. 
 
 " It was rather ' sudden,' as they say. No one 
 knew of it except their own families." 
 
 " Sudden! I should decidedly say so. I 
 certainly thought they at least were to be de 
 pended upon, were standbys. When did it 
 happen? " 
 
 " Last evening. Agnes Simpson just told me 
 before you came." 
 
 " She did, did she? I thought she looked won 
 drous mysterious when I met her down the street. 
 It was justifiable, though, under the circum 
 stances. I suppose they, the Randalls, have 
 gone away somewhere? " 
 
 " No ; that 's the funny part of it. They 
 have n't gone and are n't going." 
 
 "Not at all?" 
 
 " No. I 'm quoting Agnes." 
 
 "And why aren't they going? Did Agnes 
 explain that? " 
 
 " Steve, you 're horrid again." 
 
 "No; merely curious this time. Agnes is 
 something of an authority, you '11 admit." 
 
 "Yes; I guess I'll have to admit that. I 
 did n't ask her, though, Steve Armstrong. She 
 suggested gratis that Harry could n't afford
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 it. They went into debt to buy furnishings for 
 the house as it was." 
 
 " I don't doubt it. History pays even less than 
 chemistry, and the Lord knows - No ; I don't 
 doubt it." 
 
 : ' Knows what, Steve?" 
 
 "Who knows what?" 
 
 ' The one you suggested." 
 
 " Oh ! I guess you caught the inference all 
 right. No need to have put it in the abstract. 
 We professors of the younger set are all in the 
 same boat. We 'd all have to go into debt under 
 like circumstances." 
 
 Elice Gleason meditated. 
 
 " But Harry 's been a full professor now a long 
 time," she commented; "two years longer than 
 
 you." 
 
 "And what difference does that make? He 
 just lives on his salary." 
 
 " Is that so? I never thought of it that way. 
 I don't think I ever considered the financial side 
 before at all." 
 
 Armstrong looked his approval. 
 
 ' I dare say not, Elice; and I for one am 
 mighty glad you did n't. Life is cheap enough 
 at best without adding to its cheapness un 
 necessarily." 
 
 [38]
 
 Understanding 
 
 The girl seemed scarcely to hear him, missing 
 the argument entirely. 
 
 " I suppose, though," she commented reflec 
 tively, " when one does think of it, that it '11 be 
 rather hard on Margery to scrimp. She 's always 
 had everything she wants and is n't used to 
 economizing." 
 
 Armstrong sat a moment in thought. He 
 gave his habitual shrug. 
 
 " She should have thought of that before the 
 minister came," he dismissed with finality. " It 's 
 a trifle late now." 
 
 " They 've been putting it off for a long time, 
 though," justified the girl, " and probably she 
 thought one has to cease delaying some 
 time." 
 
 "Elice! Elice!" Armstrong laughed banter- 
 ingly. : ' I believe you 've got the June bug flut 
 tering in your bonnet too. It 's contagious this 
 time of year, is n't it? " 
 
 " Shame on you, Steve! " The voice was drip 
 ping with reproach. ' You always will be per 
 sonal. You know I did n't mean it that way." 
 
 " Not a bit, honest now? " 
 
 " I say you ought to be ashamed to make fun 
 of me that way." 
 
 "But honest - 
 
 [39]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " Well," reluctantly, " maybe I did just a bit. 
 We too have been engaged quite a while." 
 
 " Almost as long as the Randalls." 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 The quizzical look left Armstrong's eyes, but 
 he said nothing. 
 
 " And I suppose every woman wants a home 
 of her own. It 's an instinct. I think I under 
 stand Margery." 
 
 From out the porch of the Gleason cottage, 
 shaded from the curious by its climbing rose- 
 vines, the girl looked forth at the sputtering 
 electric globe on the corner. 
 
 " And, besides, people get to talking and smil 
 ing and making it unpleasant for a girl after so 
 long. It was so with Margery. I know, al 
 though she never told me. It bothered her." 
 
 ' You say after so long, Elice. How long? " 
 
 " I did n't mean any particular length of time, 
 Steve. There is n't any rule by which you can 
 measure gossip, so far as I know." 
 
 " Approximately, then." 
 
 " Oh, after a year, I suppose. It 's about then 
 that there 's a comment or two sandwiched be 
 tween the red and blue decks at bridge parties." 
 
 " And we 've been engaged now three years. 
 Do they ever sandwich - 
 
 [40]
 
 Understanding 
 
 " How do I know. They don't do it to one's 
 face." 
 
 " But Margery you say they made it un 
 comfortable for her." 
 
 " Steve Armstrong," the voice was intention 
 ally severe, " what possesses you to-night? I 
 can't fancy what put that notion into your head." 
 
 ' You did yourself," serenely, " just now. I 
 never happened to stumble upon this particular 
 continent before, and I 'm intent on exploration 
 and discovery. Honest, do they," he made an 
 all-inclusive gesture, " talk about you and me? " 
 
 " I tell you they don't do those things to our 
 faces." 
 
 ' You 're evading the question, girl Elice." 
 
 ' They 're not unpleasant intentionally." 
 
 " Still evasion. Out with it. Let 's clear the 
 air." 
 
 The girl drummed on the arm of her chair, first 
 with one hand, then with the other. At last she 
 looked the questioner fairly in the face. 
 
 " Frankly, Steve, they do; and they have for 
 a year. But I don't mind. I did n't intend to 
 say anything to you about it." 
 
 The look of the boy vanished from the other's 
 eyes. 
 
 "I see," he commented slowly. 
 
 [41 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " People are horrid that way, even people 
 otherwise nice," amplified the girl. " As soon as 
 any one they know has an affair it immedi 
 ately becomes public property. It 's almost as 
 bad as a murder case. The whole thing is tried 
 and settled out of court." 
 
 The figure of the man settled down in his chair 
 to the small of his back. His fingers locked over 
 one knee. 
 
 ; ' I suppose it was something of that kind Dar- 
 ley had in mind," he said. 
 
 " Barley Roberts? When? " 
 
 ' We were talking about similar cases a few 
 days ago." 
 
 ' You were? " There was just a shade of 
 pique in the tone. " He must be a regular fount 
 of wisdom. You're always quoting him." 
 
 " He is," tranquilly. ; ' By the way, with your 
 permission, he 's going to call with me to-morrow 
 night." 
 
 'With my permission!" The girl laughed. 
 ' You 've solicited, and received, that several 
 times before and without result. I 'm almost 
 beginning to doubt the gentleman's existence." 
 
 ' You won't much longer. I invited him and 
 he accepted. He always does what he says he '11 
 do." 
 
 [42]
 
 Understanding 
 
 ' Very well," the voice was non-committal. 
 " I 'm always glad to meet any of your friends." 
 
 Armstrong warmed, as he always did when 
 speaking of Darley Roberts. 
 
 ' You will be when you know him, I 'm sure. 
 That 's why I asked him to come. He 's an odd 
 chap and slow to thaw, but there is n't another 
 lawyer in town, not even in the department, who 's 
 got his brains." 
 
 ' They could n't have, very well, could they? " 
 evenly. 
 
 " I '11 admit that was a trifle involved; but you 
 know what I mean. He 's what in an undergrad 
 uate they call a grind. The kind biographers 
 describe as * hewing forever to the line.' If we 
 live and retain reasonably good health we '11 hear 
 of him some day." 
 
 " And I repeat," smilingly, " I Ve heard of 
 him a great deal already." 
 
 Armstrong said nothing, which indicated mild 
 irritation. 
 
 " Excuse me, Steve," said the girl, contritely. 
 " I did n't mean to be sarcastic; that just slipped 
 out. He has acted sort of queer, though, consid 
 ering he 's your room-mate and - - I had that in 
 mind. I am interested, however, really. Tell me 
 about him." 
 
 [43]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Armstrong glanced at his companion ; his gaze 
 returned to his patent leather pumps, which he 
 inspected with absent-minded concentration. 
 
 " I have told you before, I guess, about all I 
 know. He 's a good deal of an enigma to me, 
 even yet." 
 
 "By the way, how did you happen to get ac 
 quainted with him, Steve?" From the manner 
 spoken the question might or might not have been 
 from genuine interest. ' You Ve never told me 
 that." 
 
 " Oh, it just happened, I guess. We were in 
 the collegiate department together at first." He 
 laughed shortly. " No, it did n't just happen 
 either after all. I went more than half way 
 I recognize that now." 
 
 The girl said nothing. 
 
 ' Looking back," continued the man, " I see 
 the reason, too. He fascinated me then, as he does 
 yet. I Ve had comparatively an easy enough sort 
 of life. I was brought up in town, where there 
 was nothing particular for a boy to do, and when 
 it came college time my father backed me com 
 pletely. Darley was the opposite exactly, and he 
 interested me. He was unsocial; somehow that 
 interested me more. I used to wonder why he 
 was so when I first knew him ; bit by bit I gath 
 
 [44]
 
 Understanding 
 
 ered his history and I wondered less. He 's had 
 a rough-and-tumble time of it from a youngster 
 up." The voice halted suddenly, and the speaker 
 looked at his companion equivocally. " Still inter 
 ested, are you, Elice? I don't want to be a bore." 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " I '11 give you the story then as I 've patched 
 it together from time to time. I suppose he had 
 parents once; but as they never figured, I infer 
 they died when he was young. He came from the 
 tall meadows out West straight to the Univer 
 sity here. How he got the educational ambition 
 I have n't the remotest idea ; somehow he got it 
 and somehow he came. It must have been a rub 
 to make it. He 's mentioned times of working 
 on a farm, of chopping ties in Missouri, of heav 
 ing coal in a bituminous mine in Iowa, of - - 1 
 don't know what all. And still he w r as only a boy 
 when I first saw him ; a great, big, over-aged boy 
 with a big chin and bigger hands. The peculiar 
 part is that he was n't awkward and never has 
 been. Even when he first showed up here green 
 the boys never made a mark of him." Again the 
 short expressive laugh. " I think perhaps they 
 were a bit afraid of him." 
 
 " And he got right into the University? " 
 
 "Bless you, no; only tentatively. He had a 
 
 [45]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 lot of back work to make up at the academy. 
 That did n't bother him apparently. He swal 
 lowed that and the regular course whole and cried 
 for more." Armstrong stretched lazily. His 
 hands sought his pockets. ; ' I guess that 's about 
 all I know of the story," he completed. 
 
 " All except after he was graduated." It was 
 interest genuine now. 
 
 " So you have begun to take notice at last," 
 commented Armstrong, smilingly. "I 'ma better 
 raconteur than I imagined. When it comes to 
 being specific, though, after he graduated, I 
 admit I can't say much authoritatively. He '11 
 talk about anything, ordinarily, except himself. 
 I know of a dozen cases from the papers, some of 
 them big ones, that he 's been concerned in during 
 the last few years ; but he 's never mentioned 
 them to me. He seemed to get in right from the 
 start. How he managed to turn the trick I 
 have n't the slightest conception ; he simply did. 
 As I said before, he grows to be more of an 
 enigma to me all the time." 
 
 Apparently the girl lost interest in the party 
 under discussion ; at least she asked no more ques 
 tions and, dilatory as usual when not definitely 
 directed, Armstrong dropped the lead. For a 
 minute they sat so, gazing out into the night, 
 
 [46]
 
 Understanding 
 
 silent. Under stimulus of a new thought, point 
 blank, whimsical, came a change of subject. 
 
 " By the way," commented Armstrong, " I 'm 
 considering quitting the University and going 
 into business, Elice. What do you think of the 
 idea? " 
 
 " What - I beg your pardon, Steve." 
 
 The other repeated the question, all but soberly 
 this time. 
 
 " Do you mean it, Steve, really, or are you just 
 drawing me out? " 
 
 "Mean it!" Armstrong laughed. "Perhaps, 
 and perhaps not. I don't know. What do you 
 think of the notion, anyway? " 
 
 The girl looked at him steadily, a sudden 
 wrinkle between her eyes. 
 
 ' You have something special in mind, I 
 judge, Steve; something I don't know about. 
 What is it?" 
 
 " Special ! " Armstrong laughed again, shortly 
 this time. ' Yes, I suppose so ; though I did n't 
 know it when I first asked the question. Now 
 I 'm uncertain you take the suggestion so seri 
 ously. Graham, the specialty man, made me an 
 offer to-day to go in with him. Five thousand 
 dollars a year to start with, and a prospect of 
 more later on. " 
 
 [47]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 The wrinkle between the girl's eyes smoothed. 
 Her hands recrossed in her lap. 
 
 ' You refused the offer, I judge," she said. 
 
 " No ; that is, I told him I 'd take the matter 
 under advisement." Armstrong glanced at his 
 companion swiftly; but she was not looking at 
 him and he too stared out into the night. " I 
 wanted to hear what you said about it first." 
 
 "Steve!" 
 
 In the darkness the man's face colored. 
 
 ; ' Elice, are n't you ashamed a bit to doubt 
 me?" 
 
 " No." She was looking at him now smilingly. 
 " I don't doubt you. I know you." 
 
 ' You fancy I refused point blank, without 
 waiting to tell you about it? " 
 
 For the third time the girl's fingers crossed 
 and interlocked. That was all. 
 
 ; ' Elice! " The man moved over to her, paused 
 so, looking down into her face. ' Tell me, I 'm 
 dead in earnest. Don't you trust me? " 
 
 " I trust you absolutely, Steve; but that 
 does n't prevent my knowing you." 
 
 " And I tell you I took the matter under 
 advisement." 
 
 " He persuaded you to. You refused at first 
 even to consider it." 
 
 [48]
 
 Understanding 
 
 Smilingly she returned his injured look fair in 
 the eyes. Still smiling, she watched him as in 
 silence he recrossed slowly to his place. 
 
 " Yes, you 're right as usual," he admitted 
 at last. ' You do know me. Apparently all 
 my friends know me, better than I know my 
 self." He shrugged characteristically. ; ' But 
 you have n't answered my question yet. What do 
 you think of my accepting? " 
 
 " I try never to think about the useless. 
 You won't accept." 
 
 ' You may be mistaken, may compel me to 
 against my best judgment." 
 
 " No, you won't do that. I shan't influence 
 you in the least." 
 
 For answer Armstrong stood up, his hands 
 deep in his pockets, his shoulders square. A min 
 ute perhaps he stood so. Once he cleared his 
 throat. He sat down. An instant later he 
 laughed naturally, in genuine amusement. 
 
 " I surrender, Elice," he said; " foot, horse, 
 and officers. I can succeed in deceiving myself, 
 easily ; but when it comes to you - He 
 
 dropped his hands hopelessly. " On the square, 
 though, and between ourselves, do you want me 
 to quit the University and accept this job? 
 It 's a good lead, I realize." 
 
 4 [ 49 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " I 'd rather not say either way," slowly. " I 
 repeat that it 's useless to disagree, when nothing 
 would be gained." 
 
 " Disagree ! We never disagree. We never 
 have in all the time we Ve known each other." 
 
 ' We Ve never discussed things where disa 
 greement was probable." 
 
 " Maybe that 's right. I never thought of it 
 before." A pause. " Has that harmony been 
 premeditated on your part? " 
 
 " Unconsciously so, yes. It 's an instinct with 
 me, I think, to avoid the useless." 
 
 Armstrong stared across the dim light of the 
 porch. Mentally he pinched himself. 
 
 ' Well, I am dumb," he commented, " and you 
 are wonderful. Let 's break the rule, though, for 
 once, and thresh this thing out. I want your 
 opinion on this Graham matter, really. Tell me, 
 please." 
 
 " Don't ask me," repeated the girl. " You 'd 
 remember what I said and it would n't do any 
 good. Let 's forget it." 
 
 " Of course I 'd remember. I want to remem 
 ber," pressed the man. " You think I ought to 
 accept? " 
 
 A moment the girl hesitated; then she looked 
 him fair. 
 
 [50]
 
 Understanding 
 
 " Yes," she said simply. 
 
 " And why? Tell me exactly why, please? 
 You 're not afraid to tell me precisely what you 
 think." 
 
 " No, I 'm not afraid; but I think you ought to 
 realize it without my putting it in words." 
 
 Armstrong looked genuine surprise. 
 
 " I suppose I ought probably it 's childishly 
 obvious, but tell me, Elice." 
 
 ' To put it selfishly blunt, then, since you insist, 
 I think you ought to for my sake. If an income 
 you can depend upon means nothing in particular 
 to you you might consider what it would mean 
 to me." 
 
 Unconsciously the lounging figure of the man 
 in the chair straightened itself. The drawl left 
 his voice. 
 
 " Since we have stumbled upon this subject," 
 he said quietly, " let 's get to the bottom of it. 
 I think probably it will be better for both of us. 
 Just what would it mean to you, that five thou 
 sand dollars a year? " 
 
 " Don't you know, Steve, without my telling 
 you?" 
 
 " Perhaps; but I 'd rather you told me unmis 
 takably." 
 
 As before the girl hesitated, longer this time; 
 
 f 51 1
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 involuntarily she drew farther back until she was 
 completely hidden in the shadow. 
 
 ' What it means to me you can't help know 
 ing, but I '11 repeat it if you insist." She drew a 
 long breath. Her voice lowered. " First of all, 
 it would mean home, a home of my own. You 
 don't know all that that means because you 're a 
 man, and no man really does understand; but 
 to a woman it 's the one thing supreme. You 
 think I Ye got one now, have had all my life ; but 
 you don't know. Father and I live here. We 
 keep up appearances the best we can; we both 
 have pride. He holds his position in the Univer 
 sity; out of charity every one knows, although 
 no one is cruel enough to tell him so. We manage 
 to get along somehow and keep the roof tight; 
 but it is n't living, it is n't home. It 's a perpetual 
 struggle to make ends meet. His time of useful 
 ness is past, as yours will be past when you 're his 
 age ; and it 's been past for years. I never ad 
 mitted this to a human being before, but I 'm 
 telling it to you because it 's true. We Ve kept 
 up this fight for years, ever since I can remem 
 ber, it seems to me. We 've never had income 
 enough to go around. I have n't had a new dress 
 in a year. I have n't the heart to ask for it. 
 Everything I have has been darned and patched
 
 Understanding 
 
 and turned until it won't turn again. It is n't 
 poverty such as they have on the East Side, be 
 cause it is n't frank and open and aboveboard ; 
 but it 's genteel poverty in the best street of the 
 town : University Row. It 's worse, Steve, be 
 cause it 's unadmitted, eternally concealed, hope 
 less. It is n't a physical hunger, but again a 
 worse one: an artistic hunger. I 'm a college 
 graduate with letters on the end of my name 
 when I choose to use them. I 've mixed with 
 people, seen the niceties of life that only means 
 can give, could n't help seeing them ; and they 're 
 all beyond my reach, even the common ones. If 
 I did n't know anything different I should n't 
 feel the lack; but I do know. I 'm not even to 
 blame for knowing. It was inevitable, thrust 
 upon me. I 'm the hungry child outside the 
 baker's window. I can look and look and that 
 is all." 
 
 The voice ceased. Frankly, unhesitatingly, 
 the face came out of the shadow and remained 
 there. 
 
 " I think you understand now what I mean, 
 Steve, unmistakably. I suppose, too, you think 
 me selfish and artificial and horrid, and I shan't 
 deny it. I am as I am and I want things. To 
 pretend that I don't would be to lie and I 
 
 [53]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 won't lie to you whatever happens. I simply 
 won't. We both know what your place in the 
 University means; I perhaps better than you, 
 because I Ve seen my father's experience. I don't 
 often get bitter, but I come very near it when I 
 look back and think how my mother had to plan 
 and scrimp. I feel like condemning the whole 
 University to the bottomless pit. I suppose Mar 
 gery Randall would resent it if I told her so, but 
 honestly I pity her; the more so because I 've 
 always envied her in a way. She 's not used to 
 denying herself anything, and there 's bound to 
 be a reckoning. It 's inevitable, and then - I 
 don't like to think of how it will be then. It 's a 
 tragedy, Steve, nothing more or less." 
 
 Opposite the man sat motionless in his place 
 looking at her. All trace of his usual lounging 
 attitude was absent. He was not even smoking. 
 For almost a full minute after she was done he 
 sat; then he arose abruptly. This time he did 
 not offer to come over to her. 
 
 "So this is the way you feel," he commented at 
 last, slowly. ' It 's a new phase of you entirely, 
 Elice, that I admit; but at least I 'm glad to 
 know it." He thrust his hands deep into his 
 pockets. " In plain English, you 'd barter my 
 position and ambition gladly for things. 
 
 [54]
 
 Understanding 
 
 Frankly I did n't think that of you, Elice, before. 
 I imagined I knew you better, knew different." 
 
 Responsive, instinctively the girl started to rise. 
 Her breath came quick. Swiftly following came 
 second thought and she sank back, back into the 
 shadow. She said nothing. 
 
 A moment the man waited, expecting an an 
 swer, a denial, something ; when nothing came he 
 put on his hat with meaning deliberation. 
 
 ; ' I repeat I 'm very glad you told me, though, 
 even if I do have to readjust things a bit." He 
 shrugged his shoulders. Despite the wounded 
 egotism that was urging him on, it was the first 
 real cloud that had arisen on the horizon of their 
 engagement and he was acutely self-conscious. 
 " Rest assured, however, that I shall consider 
 your point of view before I say yes or no to 
 Graham. Just now - He halted, cleared his 
 throat needlessly; abruptly, without completing 
 the sentence or giving a backward glance, he 
 started down the walk. " Good-night, Elice," he 
 said. 
 
 [55]
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 PLEASURE 
 
 " fTHHE trouble with you, Darley," said Arm- 
 JL strong, " is that you took your course in 
 the University in too big doses. You went on 
 the principle that if a little grinding is good for 
 a man a perpetual dig must be a great deal 
 better." He was in the best of humor this Sun 
 day night, and smiled at the other genially. "A 
 college course is a good deal like strychnine. 
 Taken in small doses over a long period of time 
 it is a great tonic. Swallowed all at once you 
 know what happens." 
 
 From her place in a big easy chair Elice 
 Gleason watched with interest the result of 
 the badinage, but Roberts himself made no 
 comment. 
 
 " You started in," continued Armstrong, " to 
 do six years' work in four and did it. You 
 were a human grinding machine and you ground 
 very fine, that I '11 admit; but in doing so you 
 missed a lot that was more valuable, a lot that 
 
 [56]
 
 Pleasure 
 
 while it does n't make credit figures in the sum 
 total of university atmosphere." 
 
 "For instance?" suggested the other, lacon 
 ically. 
 
 ' Well, for one thing, you never joined a fra 
 ternity. I know," quickly, " that the frats are 
 abused, as every good thing is abused, but funda 
 mentally they 're good. When it comes to hu 
 manizing a man, rounding him out, which is the 
 purpose of college life, they 're just as essential 
 as a course in the sciences." 
 
 " Unfortunately," commented Roberts, drily, 
 " the attitude of a student to the Greeks is a good 
 deal like that of woman to man. She can't marry 
 until she is asked. I was likewise never suffi 
 ciently urged." 
 
 " In that case," laughed Armstrong, " I '11 
 have to acquit you on that count. There was n't, 
 however, anything to prevent you warming up 
 socially. No student has to be asked to do that. 
 You and Elice, for instance, took your courses 
 at the same time. Normally you would have 
 met at social doings on a hundred occasions; 
 and still you have never really done so until 
 to-night, several years after you were grad 
 uated. You can't square yourself on that 
 score." 
 
 [57]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " No," acquiesced Roberts with judicial slow 
 ness; "and still a man with one suit of clothes 
 and that decidedly frayed at the seams labors 
 under appreciable social disadvantages even in a 
 democratic university." He smiled, a tolerant, 
 reminiscent smile. ; ' I recall participating tenta 
 tively a bit early in my career, but the result was 
 not entirely a success. My stock went below par 
 with surprising rapidity; so I took it off the 
 market." 
 
 Armstrong glanced at the listening girl swiftly. 
 Purposely he was trying to draw the other man 
 out and for her benefit. But whatever the 
 girl was thinking her face was non-committal. 
 He returned to the attack. 
 
 "All right," he shifted easily; "we'll pass 
 charge number two likewise. One thing at least, 
 however, you'll admit you could have done. You 
 might have taken up athletics. You were asked 
 often enough, I know personally nature did a 
 lot for you in some things ; and as for clothes 
 the fewer you have in athletics the better. You 
 could have mixed there and warmed up to your 
 heart's content. Is n't it so? " 
 
 This time Roberts laughed. 
 
 " I was engaged in athletics all the time I 
 was in the University," he refuted. 
 
 r 58 1
 
 Pleasure 
 
 " The deuce you were ! I never knew before 
 All right, I bit. How was that, Darley? " 
 
 " Simple enough, I 'm sure," drily. " I ven 
 ture the proposition that I sawed more wood and 
 stoked more furnaces during my course than any 
 other student that ever matriculated. I had four 
 on the string constantly." 
 
 Armstrong sank back in his chair lazily. 
 
 " All right, Darley," he accepted; " when you 
 won't be serious there 's no use trying to make 
 you so. I surrender." 
 
 "Serious!" Roberts looked at the younger 
 man peculiarly. "Serious!" he echoed low. 
 " That 's just where your diagnosis fails, my 
 friend. It 's the explanation as well why I never 
 did those ' other things,' as you call them, that 
 students do and so humanize themselves." Invol 
 untarily his eyes went to the girl's face, searched 
 it with a glance. " It is, I suppose, the curse 
 of my life: the fact that I can't be different. 
 I seem to be incapable of digressing, even if 
 I want to." 
 
 For answer Armstrong smiled his sceptical 
 smile; but the girl did not notice. Instead, for 
 the first time, she asked a question. 
 
 " And you still think to digress, to enjoy one 
 self, is not serious, Mr. Roberts? " she asked. 
 
 f 59 1
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " No, emphatically not. I 'm human, I hope, 
 even if I have n't been humanized. I think en 
 joyment of life by the individual is its chief end. 
 It 's nature." 
 
 " But you said - 
 
 "Pardon me," quickly; " I couldn't have 
 made myself clear then. We 're each of us a law 
 unto himself, Miss Gleason. What is pleasure 
 to me, perhaps, is not pleasure to you. I said I 
 was never asked to join a fraternity. It 's true. 
 It 's equally true, though, that I would n't have 
 joined had I been asked. So with the social side. 
 I would n't have been a society man if I 'd had 
 a new dress suit annually and a valet to keep it 
 pressed. I simply was not originally bent that 
 way. Killing time, politely called recreation, 
 merely fails to afford me pleasure. For that rea 
 son I avoid it. I claim no credit for so doing. 
 It 's not consecration to duty at all, it 's pure 
 selfishness. I 'm as material as a steam engine. 
 My pleasure comes from doing things; material 
 things, practical things. For a given period of 
 time my pleasure is in being able to point to a 
 given object accomplished and say to myself: 
 there, ' Darley, old man, you started out to 
 do it and you Ve done it.' Is that clear, Miss 
 Gleason?" 
 
 [60]
 
 Pleasure 
 
 " And if you don't accomplish it, what then? " 
 commented Armstrong. 
 
 " I shall at least have tried," returned the other, 
 carelessly. " I can call the attention of Saint 
 Peter to that fact." 
 
 Armstrong leaned back farther in his chair. 
 His eyes sought the ceiling whimsically. 
 
 ' That would naturally bring up the old prob< 
 lem," he philosophized, " of whether it were better 
 to attempt to do a thing and fail or not to make 
 the attempt and retain one's self-confidence." 
 
 In her place the girl shifted restlessly, as 
 though the digression annoyed her. 
 
 ' To return to the starting point," she said, 
 " you think the greatest pleasure in life is in 
 action, not in passive sensation? We lazy 
 folks - 
 
 " Pardon me," interrupted Armstrong, " but 
 I want to anticipate and enter an objection. 
 Some of us are n't lazy. We 're merely economi 
 cal of our energies." 
 
 ' We lazy folks," repeated the girl, evenly, 
 " are sometimes inclined to think differently." 
 
 This time Roberts hesitated, his face a blank 
 as he studied the two before him. Just percep 
 tibly he leaned forward. His big hands closed 
 on the chair arms.
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 "Are you really interested in hearing the defi 
 nition of pleasure as I have formulated it for 
 myself, Miss Gleason? " he asked; " I repeat, as 
 I have formulated it for myself? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 Again Roberts hesitated, his face inscrutable, 
 his body motionless as one asleep. 
 
 " Pleasure," he began low, " is power; con 
 scious, unquestionable, superior power. In a 
 small way we all experience it when we are 
 hungry and have the ability to satisfy that 
 hunger. The big animal feels it when the lesser 
 animal is within its reach and the big animal 
 knows it. The lover tastes it when he knows an 
 other returns that love completely, irresistibly 
 knows, I say. The student comprehends it when 
 he is conscious of ability to solve the problem 
 presented, to solve it unqualifiedly. The master 
 of men realizes it when those in his command 
 obey him implicitly ; when his word is law. Pleas 
 ure is not necessarily an exercise of that power, 
 in fact is not generally so; but it lies in the con 
 sciousness of ability to exercise it at will. For 
 the big animal to annihilate the less would bring 
 pain, not pleasure. Hunger satisfied is passivity, 
 not pleasure. And so on down the list. Superior, 
 conscious power exercised defeats its own pur- 
 
 [62]
 
 Pleasure 
 
 pose. It is, as men say, unsportsmanlike. Held 
 in reserve, passive, completely under control, it 
 makes of a human being a god. This to me is 
 pleasure, Miss Gleason." 
 
 For a moment after he ceased speaking the 
 room was quiet. Armstrong still sat staring at 
 the ceiling; but the smile had left his lips. The 
 girl was watching the visitor frankly, the tiny 
 pucker, that meant concentration, between her 
 eyebrows. Roberts himself broke the silence. 
 
 ' You Ve heard my definition, Miss Gleason," 
 he laughed; " and no doubt think me a savage or 
 something of that kind. I shan't attempt to 
 deny it if you do either. Just as a matter of curi 
 osity and of interest, though, so long as the sub 
 ject is up, I 'd like to hear your own definition." 
 Of a sudden he remembered. " And yours, too, 
 Armstrong," he added. 
 
 The wrinkle vanished from the girl's forehead. 
 She smiled in turn. An observer might have said 
 she sparred for time. " After you, Steve," she 
 accepted. 
 
 Armstrong shifted in his seat elaborately. 
 
 ' This is indeed a bit sudden," he remarked 
 in whimsical commonplace, " however - His 
 hands went into his pockets automatically. 
 His eyes followed a seam on the paper over- 
 
 [ 63 1
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 head back and forth, before halting prepara 
 torily. 
 
 " Pleasure with me," he began, " is not practi 
 cal, but very much the reverse." His lips twitched 
 humorously. " Neither has it reference to any 
 superior power. I would n't give one single 
 round penny, providing I had it, to be able to 
 whistle and have a thousand of my fellows dance 
 to the tune against their wishes. If I could 
 whistle so sweetly or so enchantingly that they 'd 
 caper nimbly because they wanted to, because the 
 contagion was irresistible, then - The whimsi 
 cal look passed as suddenly as it had come. 
 " Pleasure with me, I think," he continued so 
 berly, " means appreciation by my fellow-men, in 
 big things and in little things. I 'm a kind of 
 sunflower, and that is my sun. I 'd like to be able 
 to play marbles so well that the kids would stare 
 in amazement; to fashion such entrancing mud 
 pies that the little girls would want to eat them; 
 to play ball so cleverly that the boys would always 
 choose me first in making up sides; to dance so 
 divinely that the girls would dream about it after 
 ward; to tell so entertaining a story that men 
 would let their cigars go dead while they listened, 
 or under different circumstances the ladies would 
 split their gloves applauding if they happened 
 
 [64]
 
 I 'm tired of reading about life and hearing about life. 
 
 I want to live it " 
 
 [Page 66}
 
 Pleasure 
 
 to have them on; last of all, to write a novel so 
 different and interesting that the reading public, 
 and that means every one, would look on the 
 cover after they 'd turned the last sheet to see 
 who the deuce did it; then trim the lamp afresh, 
 loosen their collar comfortably and read it 
 through again. This to me spells pleasure in 
 capitals all the way through: plain appreciation, 
 pure and simple, neither more nor less." 
 
 Again silence followed, but a far different 
 silence than before. Of that difference the three 
 in the room were each acutely conscious; yet no 
 one made comment. They merely waited, waited 
 until, without preface, the girl completed the tacit 
 agreement. 
 
 " And pleasure to me," she said slowly, " means 
 something different than it does to either of you. 
 In a way, with you both pleasure is active. With 
 me it 's passive." She laughed shortly, almost 
 nervously. "Maybe I'm lazy, I don't know; 
 but I 've worked so long that I 'm weary to death 
 of commonplace and repression and denial and 
 - dinginess. I want to be a free individual and 
 have leisure and opportunity to feel things, not 
 to do them. I 'm selfish, hopelessly selfish, mor 
 bidly selfish; but I am as I am. I 'm like the 
 plant that 's raised in a cellar and can't leave 
 
 5 [ 65 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 because its roots are sunk there deep. I want to 
 be transplanted perforce out into the sunshine. 
 I 'm hungry for it, hungry. I Ve caught glimpses 
 of things beyond through my cellar window, but 
 glimpses only. I repeat, I want to feel unham 
 pered. I know pretty things and artistic things 
 when I see them, and I want them: to wear, to 
 live among, to look at. I want to travel, to hear 
 real music, to feel real operas and know real plays 
 
 - not imitations. I 'm tired of reading about 
 life and hearing about life. I want to live it, be a 
 part of it not a distant spectator. That is 
 what pleasure means to me now; to escape the 
 tyranny of repression and of pennies and be free 
 
 -free!" 
 
 For the third time silence fell; a silence that 
 lasted longer far than before, a silence which each 
 was loth to break. While she was speaking, at 
 first Armstrong had shifted about in his chair 
 restlessly; at the last, his hands deep in his 
 pockets, he had sat still. Once he had looked at 
 her, peculiarly, the tolerant half smile still on his 
 lips; but she had not returned the look, and bit 
 by bit it vanished. That was all. 
 
 For a minute perhaps, until it became awkward 
 at least, the silence lasted to be broken finally 
 by the girl herself. Slowly she arose from her 
 
 [66]
 
 Pleasure 
 
 seat and, tall, slender, deliberately graceful, came 
 from her place in the shadow into the light. 
 
 " I 'm a bit ashamed to have brought out the 
 family skeleton and aired it to-night," she said 
 evenly. Under drooping lids she looked from 
 one face before her to the other swiftly. " I don't 
 know why I did it exactly. I 'm a bit irrespon 
 sible, I guess, to-night. We are all so, I think, 
 at times." As deliberately as she did everything 
 she took a seat. Her hands folded in her lap. 
 " If you '11 forget it I '11 promise not to offend 
 in the same way again." She smiled and changed 
 the subject abruptly. " I see by the papers," she 
 digressed, " that at last we 're to have a trolley 
 line in town. The same authority informs us as 
 well that you are the moving spirit, Mr. Roberts." 
 
 ' Yes." It was the ordinary laconic, non 
 committal man of business who answered. A 
 pause, then a significant amplification. ' This 
 is the age of the trolley. There are a hundred 
 miles of suburban lines contracted for as well. 
 No one will recognize this country as it is now 
 ten years hence." 
 
 " And this suburban line you speak of - - I sup 
 pose you 're the spirit back of that too? " queried 
 the girl. 
 
 ' Yes." This time there was no amplification. 
 
 [67]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " So that was what you had in mind the 
 other night when we were talking, what you 
 wouldn't tell me," commented Armstrong, a 
 shade frostily. 
 
 " One thing, yes." Roberts ignored the tone 
 absolutely. " I was not at liberty to make the 
 announcement at that time. The deal was just 
 closed last night." 
 
 Armstrong made no further comment, but his 
 high spirits of the early evening had vanished 
 not to return, and shortly thereafter Roberts 
 arose to go. Promptly, seemingly intentionally 
 so, Armstrong followed. In the vestibule, his 
 hat in his hand, by design or chance he caught 
 the visitor's eye. 
 
 " Pardon me a moment," he apologized, "I 
 forgot something." 
 
 Perforce Roberts, waited while the other man 
 returned to the tiny library they had just vacated. 
 The girl was standing within precisely as when 
 they had left and, as Armstrong did not close the 
 door, the visitor knew to a certainty that his pres 
 ence as listener and spectator was intentional. 
 It w r as all a premeditated scene, the climax of the 
 evening. 
 
 ; ' By the way, Elice," said the actor, evenly, 
 " I Ve been considering that Graham offer care- 
 
 [68]
 
 Pleasure 
 
 fully since I spoke to you about it the other 
 night." He- did not look at her but stood twirling 
 his hat judicially in his hand. ; ' I tried to con 
 vince myself that it was for the best to accept; 
 but I failed. I told him so to-day." 
 
 There was a pause. 
 
 ' Yes," suggested the girl. 
 
 Another pause. 
 
 " I hope you 're not disappointed, Elice." 
 
 Still another pause, appreciable, though shorter 
 than before. 
 
 " No; I 'm not disappointed," replied the girl 
 then. At last Armstrong had glanced up and, 
 without looking himself, the listener knew as well 
 as though he had seen that the speaker was smil 
 ing steadily. " I 'm not disappointed in the least, 
 Steve." 
 
 [69]
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 UNCERTAINTY 
 
 IT was ten minutes after three on the following 
 afternoon when Stephen Armstrong, in the 
 lightest of flannels and jauntiest of butterfly ties, 
 strolled up the tree-lined avenue and with an air 
 of comfortable proprietorship wandered in at the 
 Gleason cottage. A movable sprinkler was play 
 ing busily on the front lawn and, observing that 
 the surrounding sod was well soaked, with lazy 
 deliberation he shifted it to a new quarter. As 
 he approached the house a mother wren flitted 
 away before his face, and at the new suggestion 
 he stood peering up at the angle under the eaves 
 for the nest that he knew was near about. Once, 
 standing there with the hot afternoon sun beat 
 ing down upon him, he whistled in imitation of 
 the tiny bird's call; nothing developing, he 
 mounted the steps and pulled the old-fashioned 
 knocker familiarly. 
 
 There was no immediate response and he 
 pulled again; without waiting for an answer, 
 
 [ 70 1
 
 Uncertainty 
 
 he dropped into the ever-convenient hammock 
 stretched beside the door and swung back and 
 forth luxuriously. Unconsciously, and for the 
 same reason that a bird sings because it is care 
 lessly oblivious of anything save the happiness 
 of the moment he began whistling softly to 
 himself: without definite time or metre, subcon 
 sciously improvising. Perhaps a dozen times 
 he swung back and forth; then the whistling 
 ceased. 
 
 " Anything doing at this restaurant this after 
 noon, Elice? " he plunged without preface. An 
 expansive smile made up for the lack of conven 
 tional greeting. " I 'm as hungry as those little 
 wrens I hear cheeping up there somewhere." 
 
 The smile was contagious and the girl returned 
 it unconsciously. 
 
 " I believe you 're always hungry, Steve Arm 
 strong," she commented. 
 
 " I know it. I was born that way." 
 
 " And you never grew up." 
 
 " Physically, yes, unfortunately. Otherwise 
 - I 'm fighting to the last ditch. I believe about 
 three of those cookies you make and, by the 
 way, they 're much better than mother used to 
 manufacture will fill the void. Don't you hear 
 that cheeping? " 
 
 [71]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 The girl hesitated, disappeared, and returned. 
 
 * Thank you, Elice. Sit down over there, 
 please, where I can see you. It makes them taste 
 better. That 's right. Thank you, again. I 'm 
 going to pay my bill now by telling you your 
 fortune. You 're going to make a great cook." 
 
 ' I wonder," said the girl, enigmatically. 
 
 ' There 's no question about it. And for good 
 measure I 'm going to retail the latest gossip. 
 What, by the way and as a preliminary, do you 
 suppose I 've been doing all day? " 
 
 " It 's vacation. Fishing, I presume." 
 
 "Stung! I did go fishing this morning 
 four o'clock, caught one too; but it was so small 
 and innocent looking that I apologized and threw 
 it back. That was n't what I referred to, how 
 ever. You '11 have to guess again." 
 
 " I have n't the slightest idea." 
 
 ;< I 'm compelled to assist you then. I Ve been 
 helping the Randalls settle. Harry 'phoned me 
 early this morning and wanted to know if I did n't 
 desire to be useful ; said he would exchange com 
 pliments sometime." A significant pause, then 
 a reminiscent sigh. " Every vertebra in my spinal 
 column aches with an individual and peculiar 
 pain." 
 
 ' They 're really settled at last, are they? " in- 
 
 [7*]
 
 Uncertainty 
 
 quired the girl, interestedly. " I can hardly wait 
 to see how things look." 
 
 " I don't blame you for being curious, Elice," 
 sympathized Armstrong. '' I felt a bit the same 
 way myself." A rueful grin. " Merely among 
 ourselves, however, and as a word of advice be 
 tween friends, you 'd better curb your impatience 
 for about a week longer." 
 
 " And why? You 're darkly mysterious, as 
 usual." 
 
 " Mysterious ! Heavens, no ; merely compas 
 sionate." He held up his hand for inspection. 
 " Look at that blister. It 's as big as a dime and 
 feels like a prune. They 're not done yet and 
 they 'd induce you to duplicate it if they ever got 
 you into their clutches. So long as it 's all in the 
 family I think one blister is about sufficient. 
 Better lay low for a week anyway." 
 
 " Steve," the voice was severe, " you 're simply 
 impossible. They 'd never forgive you if they 
 knew you talked that way." 
 
 ' Yes, they would," easily. : ' I promised to 
 come back and help complete the job." Of a 
 sudden he laughed boyishly, reminiscently. 
 " Seriously, Elice, I Ve had a memorable day." 
 He laughed again. " Pardon me, but I Ve 
 wanted to do that for hours and did n't dare. 
 
 [73]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Such a mixture of furnishings as those two people 
 have accumulated you never saw brought to 
 gether under one roof before in your life." 
 "Mixture, how? I fail to see the joke." 
 ' You will when you visit them, all right. I 
 warn you in advance to be discreet." He looked 
 at his companion with whimsical directness. 
 
 ' You see it was this way. They started out 
 together to buy things, with Margery at the helm. 
 She 's not accustomed particularly to consider 
 cost and went at the job with avidity. She 's 
 methodical also, you know, and began at the 
 front door. In fancy she entered the reception 
 hall, and the first need that appealed to her was 
 a rug. She picked out one. It 's Oriental, and 
 a beauty: cost one hundred dollars if a cent. 
 Next, in her mind's eye, she noticed the bare win 
 dows curtains were required, of course. So she 
 selected them. They 're the real thing and two 
 pairs another hundred, I '11 wager. Following 
 came three or four big leather chairs nothing 
 better in town. I can fancy old Harry's heart 
 sinking by this time ; but he did n't say a word 
 
 -yet. Margery took another spurt and went 
 on to the living-room. In consequence another 
 big rug and another hundred withdrawn from 
 circulation. A jolly big davenport more cur- 
 
 r 74 1
 
 Uncertainty 
 
 tains ; and then something happened. They 
 told me so, but I did n't need to be told; for it 
 was then that Harry butted in. They were bank 
 rupt already, and he knew it. He simply had to 
 call a halt. It 's the funniest contrast I ever saw, 
 and pathetic too ; for from this point on the whole 
 house is a nightmare. Cheap! he bought the 
 cheapest things he could find and even then he 
 got scared. By the time they got through the 
 dining-room he must have been a nervous wreck, 
 for the kitchen and upstairs furniture is second 
 hand, every stick and frying pan; and even 
 then- The humor left the speaker's face. 
 " It 's a shame to make fun of it, though, Elice. 
 They 're going to replace it all as soon as they can." 
 
 For a moment neither said anything. 
 
 "And Margery?" suggested the girl at last. 
 
 " That 's where the little tragedy crops out. 
 You see we began the way she had begun at 
 the front door. She was pleased as a boy with 
 new boots at the reception hall. Still cheerful 
 over the living-room. Non-committal in the 
 diner. From there on Harry and I carted things 
 upstairs and juggled with them alone and accord 
 ing to our own ideas." 
 
 For the second time there was silence; then, 
 low-voiced, came another suggestion. 
 
 r 75 1
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 "And Harry?" 
 
 " He 's game," admiringly. "He may be think 
 ing a lot I Ve no doubt he is; but he 's not let 
 ting out a peep or making a sign. He pretended 
 Margery was just tired out and bundled her out 
 of doors under the trees. That 's one thing 
 they Ve got at least : a whole yard full of grand 
 father elms. He sort of looked at me cross-eyed 
 while he was doing it to see if I caught on, but 
 I was blind as a post. By the way, I nearly for 
 got to mention it, but you and I are invited there 
 for dinner this coming Thursday sort of a 
 house-warming and appreciation of my efforts 
 combined." 
 
 " For dinner, so soon?" The girl stared in 
 credulously. ' I don't believe Margery ever 
 cooked a meal in her life." 
 
 " She is n't going to try to yet, she informed 
 me, so be of good cheer. That sort of thing is 
 all to come later on, with the replaced furniture. 
 At present she's to have a maid and take obser 
 vations." The speaker laughed characteristi 
 cally. " I asked her if she referred to the sort of 
 individual my mother used to call a hired girl, 
 but she stuck to ' maid.' It seems they are to 
 pay her six dollars a week. Hired girls only 
 command four." 
 
 [76]
 
 Uncertainty 
 
 Elice Gleason joined in the laugh sympatheti 
 cally. The other's good spirits was irresistible. 
 
 ' You seem to have been gathering valuable 
 data," she commented drily. 
 
 " I have indeed. I could n't well help it. I 
 was even forced into the conviction that it was 
 intended I should so gather." He smiled into his 
 companion's eyes whimsically. ' They 're deep, 
 those Randalls. After all is said I fancy my 
 assistance was acquired not so much from any 
 desire to save as to point a valuable object lesson; 
 scatter the contagion, as it were." He paused 
 meaningly and smiled again. ' Elice mine, 
 we 're in grave danger, you and I. That worthy 
 pair have designs upon our future. They are 
 in the position of a certain class, famed in adage, 
 who desire company. The dinner is only another 
 illustration of the same point." 
 
 Elice Gleason returned the smile, but quietly. 
 She made no further comment, however, and the 
 subject dropped. 
 
 In the hammock Armstrong swung back and 
 forth in lazy well-being-. Overhead the mother 
 
 v CJ 
 
 wren, a mere brown shadow, flitted in return over 
 their heads. There was an instant's clamor from 
 hidden fledglings, and silence as the shadow 
 passed back once more into the sunshine. Watch- 
 
 [77]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 ing through half-closed eyes, comfortably whim 
 sical, Armstrong gazed into space where the 
 shadow had vanished. 
 
 ' What a responsibility the care of a family 
 must be," he commented, " particularly in this 
 hot weather. That wren certainly has my sym 
 pathy and respect." He paused to give the 
 swinging hammock a fresh impulse. " I wonder 
 though," he drifted on, " that is, if it is permis 
 sible to tangle up a variety of thoughts, if it 's 
 any harder than it is to attempt to pull an idea 
 out of one's self by the roots and work it up into 
 readable form with the thermometer above ninety 
 in the shade I wonder." 
 
 Elice Gleason was observing him now, pecul 
 iarly, understandingly. 
 
 "How is the book coming, anyway, Steve?" 
 she asked directly. 
 
 ' Which book? " smilingly. 
 
 " The book, of course." 
 
 ' They 're all the books or were at one 
 time." A trace, the first, of irony crept into his 
 voice. ' To be specific, however, masterpiece 
 number one has just completed its eighteenth 
 round trip East, and is taking a deserved rest. 
 Masterpiece number two is en route somewhere 
 between here and New York, either coming or 
 
 [ 78 1
 
 Uncertainty 
 
 going, on its eleventh journey. Number three 
 has only five tallies to its credit but hope 
 springs eternal. Number four, the baby, still 
 adolescent, has temporarily halted in its growth 
 while I succor a needy benedict friend in distress. 
 I believe that covers the family." 
 
 The characterization was typically nonsensi 
 cal; but, sympathetic, the listener read between 
 the sentences and understood. 
 
 " Is n't the new one coming well? " she asked 
 low. ' Tell me, Steve, honest." 
 
 " Coming well, Elice! What a question to ask 
 of probably America's foremost living writer! " 
 The speaker was still smiling. ' What reprehen 
 sible misgiving, suspicion even ! " Sudden si 
 lence, wherein bit by bit the smile faded. Silence 
 continued until in its place came a new expres 
 sion, one that changed the boy's face absolutely, 
 made it a man's face and not a young one at 
 that. 
 
 " Coming well, Elice?" he repeated. ''Honest, 
 as you say, I don't know." The hammock had 
 become still, but the speaker did not notice, 
 merely lying there looking up into the sunshine 
 and the blue unseeingly. " Sometimes I think 
 it is, and then again if one could only know 
 about such things, know, not hope of course 
 
 [ 79 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 every writer in his own soul fancies and his 
 friends, for that matter, are just about as use 
 ful - The speaker drew himself together with 
 a shrug. For an instant his jaw locked decisively. 
 " I know I 'm more or less irresponsible, as a 
 rule, Elice," he analyzed swiftly, " and probably 
 create the impression that I 'm even more irre 
 sponsible than I am; but in this thing, at least, 
 I 'm serious. From the bottom of my soul I want 
 to write well, want to. As I said before, some 
 times I think I can auto-intoxication maybe 
 it is, I don't know and I 'm as happy as a 
 child, or a god, or a bird, or any completely happy 
 thing you can fancy. Then again, as it 's been 
 the past week, or the past month for that matter, 
 I don't seem to be able to do anything new. On 
 top of this everything I 've already done fairly 
 personifies and leers at me. I get so that I fairly 
 hate myself for the utter failure that I am, that 
 at least I have been so far. I get to analyzing 
 myself ; I can't help it, and the result is n't 
 pleasant. I 've been doing so lately. I don't over 
 estimate myself in the least, Elice girl. Practi 
 cally, commercially, I 'm a zero. I 'm simply 
 not built that way. If I 'm ever of any use in the 
 world, ever amount to anything whatever, it will 
 be in an impractical, artistic way. Whether I '11 
 
 f 80 1
 
 Uncertainty 
 
 ever win out so oh, for light, for light ! . . . 
 Frankly, the new novel is going badly, Elice, 
 cursedly bad! " 
 
 " I 'm sorry, Steve. You know - 
 
 " Yes, I know." 
 
 " I Ve believed always, and still believe " 
 
 " Yes, I know that too." 
 
 ' You Ve got it in you to win; I know it, and 
 you know it. You 've done good work already, 
 lots of it, and - 
 
 'Wade into him and lick him!" bitterly. 
 " He 's only three sizes larger than you are, and 
 afraid -- I know you can lick him. Wade in! " 
 
 The girl said nothing. 
 
 " Forgive me, Elice," with quick contrition. 
 ' That was nasty of me, I confess. But I 'm 
 sore to-day, raw. It 's genius I suppose," sarcas 
 tically, " genius unappreciated." 
 
 Still the girl said nothing. 
 
 " If I could only get a ray of light, a lead, the 
 flutter of a signal from outside the wall. But I 
 keep hammering my head at it day after day, 
 and it remains precisely as it was years ago when 
 I began. It 's maddening." 
 
 Yet the girl was silent, waiting silent. 
 
 " And, last of all, if I should eventually suc 
 ceed, should break through into my own, as Dar- 
 
 e r si i
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 ley Roberts says, even then from any point 
 of view it is n't a cheerful prospect." 
 
 "As Mr. Roberts says? What was that, 
 Steve?" 
 
 " I referred to the reward, pecuniary reward. 
 He figured it out in dollars and cents once when 
 he wanted to bring me out of the clouds. Look 
 ing at it that way, there is n't much to the game 
 even for the winners, Elice." 
 
 " Not much if you win? I can't believe it, 
 Steve. I always supposed - 
 
 " Everybody does. The public, the uninitiated, 
 are long on supposing. Even the would-be's 
 like myself delude themselves and build air castles 
 until some hard-headed friend calls the turn. 
 Then no ; there really is n't much in it, Elice ; 
 nothing in comparison to the plums in the busi 
 ness world. That job of Graham's, for instance, 
 offers greater possibilities than success even, and 
 when it comes to partial success or failure ! It 's 
 a joke, the artistic temperament in this commer 
 cial twentieth century, a tremendous side-splitting 
 joke! One nowadays should be born with suckers 
 on his fingers, such as a fly has on its feet, so that 
 whenever he came into the vicinity of a bank note 
 it would stick fast. That would be the ideal con 
 dition, the greatest natural blessing, now! " 
 
 [82]
 
 Uncertainty 
 
 ' You know you don't mean that, Steve. It 's 
 hot and you 're out of the mood to-day that 's 
 all. To-morrow will be different ; you '11 see 
 things straight again." 
 
 ' Thank you, Elice. You 're right, as usual. 
 I said I was raw to-day. It 's boyish to be so 
 too, I realize that. But it 's hard sometimes, 
 deucedly hard, when others are doing something 
 and getting somewhere to see yourself standing 
 still. One gets to thinking and imagining things 
 that probably don't exist." He took a long 
 breath. " It 's this thing of imagination that 's 
 worse than reality. It crawls in between every 
 thing so; and somehow you can't keep it out. 
 It gives one a scare." He laughed shortly, ill 
 at ease. " It even makes one doubt a little the 
 people one believes in most : take you and me, for 
 instance. In my sane moments I know nothing 
 could get between us; but sometimes I get to 
 imagining times like the last few days when 
 I am raw that we 're gradually drifting 
 apart. A little difference of opinion comes up 
 and imagination magnifies until it becomes a 
 mountain and I know I 'm preposterous, 
 Elice, and there 's nothing really to it, but the 
 thing 's been on my mind and I wanted to tell 
 you and get it out of my system." He had 
 
 [83]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 hurried on, leading up to the point, making the 
 situation deliberately. Now he turned to her, 
 smiling frankly. ; ' It 's preposterous, is n't it, 
 Elice? Tell me so. I like to hear you say it." 
 
 " Preposterous, Steve? " The girl returned 
 the look, but for some reason, probably one she 
 herself could not have told, she did not smile. She 
 merely looked at him, steadily, unwaveringly. 
 ' I have never thought of the possibility before, 
 never questioned. Certainly nothing has come 
 between us. To imagine I never imagine the 
 unpleasant, Steve." 
 
 The figure in the hammock shifted restlessly, 
 as though but half satisfied. 
 
 "And nothing ever will, Elice?" he pressed. 
 " Say that just to please me. I think an awful 
 lot of you, girl; so much that at times I 'm 
 afraid." 
 
 This time the girl smiled, quietly, very quietly. 
 
 "And I of you, Steve," she echoed. " Must I 
 protest that? " 
 
 " No," swiftly, " not for an instant. I don't 
 doubt, mind. ... It 's all that cursed imagina 
 tion of mine. I was only thinking of the future. 
 If things should n't come my way, should n't 
 I put it at the worst possible if by any chance 
 I should remain a failure such as I am now 
 
 f 84 1
 
 Uncertainty 
 
 you would n't mind would overlook it 
 would n't make any difference at all with you 
 and me, would it, Elice? " 
 
 " Steve, you must n't say such things 
 must n't, I say. It 's morbid. I won't listen." 
 
 " But tell me," passionately, " what I asked. 
 I want to hear you say it. I want to know." 
 
 For an instant the girl was silent, an instant 
 that seemed minutes to the expectant listener. 
 For the second time she met him eye to eye. 
 
 " Whether or not you become famous as a 
 writer," she said slowly, " won't make any differ 
 ence in the least. It 's you I care for, Steve ; you 
 as you are now and nothing more." The voice 
 paused but the eyes did not shift. " As for the 
 future, Steve man, I can't promise nor can you. 
 To do so would be to lie, and I won't lie. I say 
 I love you; you as you are. If anything ever 
 should come between us, should, I say you sug 
 gested it and persist it will be because of a 
 change in you yourself." For the second time 
 she halted ; then she smiled. " I think that 's all 
 there is to say," she completed. 
 
 " All! " With a buoyancy unfeigned the man 
 swung out of the hammock upon his feet. 
 ' That 's just the beginning. You 're just get 
 ting under way, Elice." 
 
 [85]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 "No," peremptorily; "all for the present 
 at least. It 's four o'clock of the afternoon, you 
 know, and the neighbors have eyes like - Look 
 at the sun shine ! . . . You 've scared away the 
 wren too, and the brood is hungry. Besides it 's 
 time to begin dinner. Cooks should n't be hin 
 dered ever." She turned toward the door deci 
 sively. ' You may stay if you don't bother 
 again," she smiled over her shoulder. " Mean 
 while there 's a new ' Life ' and a July ' Century,' 
 -you know where," and with a final smile she 
 was gone. 
 
 [86]
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 CERTAINTY 
 
 FOUR months had drifted by; again the 
 University was in full swing. 
 
 Of an evening in late October at this time, in 
 the common living-room which joined the two 
 private rooms in the suite occupied by himself 
 and Darley Roberts, Stephen Armstrong was 
 alone. It was now nearly eleven o'clock, and he 
 had come in directly after dinner, ample time to 
 have prepared his work for the next day; but as 
 yet he had made no move in that direction. On 
 the roll-top desk, with its convenient drop light, 
 was an armful of reference books and two late 
 scientific magazines. They were still untouched, 
 however, bound tight by the strap with which 
 they had been carried. 
 
 But one sign of his prolonged presence was 
 visible in the room. That, a loose pile of manu 
 script alternately hastily scribbled and painfully 
 exact, told of the varying moods under which it 
 had been produced ; that and a tiny pile of 
 
 [87]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 cigarette stumps in the nearby ash-tray, some 
 scarcely lit and others burned to a tiny stump, 
 which had become the manuscripts' invariable 
 companion. 
 
 For more than an hour now, however, he had 
 riot been writing. The night was frosty and he 
 had lit the gas in the imitation fireplace. The 
 open flame had proved compellingly fascinating 
 and, once stretched comfortably in the big Turk 
 ish rocker before it, duty had called less and less 
 insistently and there he had remained. For half 
 an hour thereafter he had scarcely stirred; then, 
 without warning, he had risen. On the mantel 
 above the grate was a collection of articles in 
 digenous to a bachelor's den: a box half filled 
 with cigars, a jar of tobacco, a collection of pipes, 
 a cut-glass decanter shaded dull red in the electric 
 light. It was toward the latter that he turned, 
 not by chance but with definite purpose, and with 
 out hesitation poured a whiskey glass level full. 
 There was no attendant siphon or water conven 
 ient and he drank the liquor raw and returned the 
 glass to its place. It was not the quasi-aesthetic 
 tippling of comradery but the deliberate drinking 
 of one with a cause, real or fancied, therefor and 
 for its effect; and as he drank he shivered invol 
 untarily with the instinctive aversion to raw 
 
 [88]
 
 Certainty 
 
 liquor of one to whom the action has not become 
 habitual. Afterward he remained standing for 
 a moment while his eyes wandered aimlessly 
 around the familiar room. As he did so his glance 
 fell upon the pile of text-books, mute reminder 
 of a lecture yet unprepared, and for an instant 
 he stood undecided. With a characteristic shrug 
 of distaste and annoyance, of dismissal as well, 
 he resumed his seat, his slippered feet spread wide 
 to catch the heat. 
 
 Another half-hour passed so, the room silent 
 save for the deliberate ticking of a big wall clock 
 and the purr of the gas in the grate ; at last came 
 an interruption: the metallic clicking of a latch 
 key, the tramp of a man's feet in the vestibule, 
 and Darley Roberts entered. A moment after 
 entering the newcomer paused attentive, his 
 glance taking in every detail of the all too famil 
 iar scene; deliberately, as usual, he hung up his 
 top-coat and hat. 
 
 ' Taking it comfortable-like, I see," he com 
 mented easily as he pulled up a second chair 
 before the grate. ; ' Knocked off for the evening, 
 have you? " 
 
 "'Knocked off?" Armstrong shrugged. "I 
 hardly know. I have n't knocked on yet. I 'm 
 stuck in the mud, so to speak." 
 
 [89]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Roberts drew the customary black cigar from 
 his waistcoat pocket and clipped the end method 
 ically. As he did so, apparently by chance, his 
 glance swept the mantel above the grate, and, 
 returning, took in the testimony of the desk 
 with its unopened text-books and pile of scat 
 tered manuscript. Equally without haste he lit 
 a match and puffed until the weed was well 
 aglow. 
 
 " Any assistance a friend can give? " he prof 
 fered directly. ' We all get tangled at times, I 
 guess. At least every one I know does." 
 
 Armstrong's gaze left the fire and fastened on 
 his companion peculiarly. 
 
 " Do you yourself? " he asked bluntly. 
 
 " Often." 
 
 ' That 's news. I fancied you were immune. 
 What, if I may ask, do you do at such times to 
 effect your release? " 
 
 " Go to bed, ordinarily, and sleep while the mud 
 is drying up. There 's usually a big improve 
 ment by morning." 
 
 " And when there is n't 
 
 Roberts smiled, the tight-jawed smile of a 
 fighter. 
 
 " It 's a case of pull, then; a pull as though 
 Satan himself were just behind and in hot pur- 
 
 [90]
 
 Certainty 
 
 suit. Things are bound to give if one pulls hard 
 enough." 
 
 Armstrong's face returned to the grate. His 
 slippered feet spread wider than before. 
 
 " I 'm not much good at pulling," he com 
 mented. 
 
 Roberts sat a moment in silence. 
 
 " I repeat, if I can be of any assistance - 
 he commented. " No butting in, you under 
 stand." 
 
 " Yes, I understand, and thank you sincerely. 
 I doubt if you can help any though if any one 
 can. It 's the old complaint mostly." 
 
 " Publishers who fail to appreciate, I gather." 
 
 " Partly." 
 
 " And what more, may I ask? " 
 
 Armstrong stretched back listlessly, his eyes 
 half closed. 
 
 " Everything, it seems, to me to-night, every 
 cursed thing! " Restless in spite of his seeming 
 inertia he straightened nervously. His fingers, 
 slender almost as those of a woman, opened and 
 closed intermittently. " First of all, the manu 
 script of my new book came back this morning, 
 the one I Ve been working on for the last year. 
 The expressman delivered it just after you left. 
 That started the day wrong. Then came a suc- 
 
 [91]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 cession of little things. Breakfast, with coffee 
 stone-cold, and soggy rolls ; I could n't swallow 
 a mouthful. Afterward I cut myself shaving, 
 and I was late for lecture, and there was no styp 
 tic in the house, and I got down to my class with a 
 collar looking as though I 'd had my throat cut. 
 The lecture room was chilly, beastly chilly, and 
 about half the men had colds. Every twentieth 
 word I 'd say some one would sneeze and inter 
 rupt. On top of this one chap on the front row 
 had neglected to complete his toilet and sat there 
 for half an hour manicuring his nails, every 
 blessed one of the ten; I counted them, while I 
 was trying to explain proximal principles. At 
 noon we had some more of that abominable soup 
 with carrots in it. Carrots! I detest the name 
 and the whole family ; and we Ve had them every 
 day now for a week. After lunch another big 
 thing. I 'd applied for position as lecturer in the 
 summer school, applied early. The president 
 met me to-day and remarked casually, very casu 
 ally, that the man for the place had already been 
 selected. He was very sorry of course, but 
 Back at the department I found that Elrod, one 
 of my assistants, was sick, and of necessity I had 
 to take his place in the laboratory. Inside half 
 an hour some bumpkin dropped an eight-ounce 
 
 [92]
 
 Certainty 
 
 bottle of sulphuretted hydrogen. It spattered 
 everywhere and the smell ! I feel like holding 
 my nose yet. Later the water got stopped up, 
 and for love or money no plumber- The 
 speaker paused, his shoulders lifted eloquently. 
 " But what 's the use of itemizing. It 's been the 
 same all day long, one petty rasp after another. 
 To cap the climax Elice is out of town. She 's 
 got an English class in a high-school in a dinky 
 little burg out about twenty miles and goes out 
 there every Thursday. I forgot this was the day 
 until I pulled the knocker. That 's all, I guess, 
 except that I 'm here." 
 
 Roberts smiled, the deliberate smile of tolerant 
 understanding. 
 
 " One of those days, was n't it," he commented 
 sympathetically. 
 
 ' Yes," shortly, " and it seems lately as though 
 that was the only kind I had seems as though 
 it was not one but an endless succession. ... It 's 
 all so petty, so confoundedly petty and irritating, 
 and the outlook for the future seems so similar." 
 Of a sudden the speaker arose, selected a bit of 
 rice paper from the mantel, and began rolling a 
 cigarette swiftly. The labor complete he paused, 
 the little white cylinder between his fingers. A 
 moment he stood so, irresolute or intentionally 
 
 [93]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 deliberate; without apology or comment he 
 poured a second glass of liquor even full from the 
 red decanter and drank it in silence. " On the 
 square, Darley," he blazed, " I expected a lot 
 from that last book, banked on it ; and it 's gone 
 flat, like the others." He resumed his seat and 
 the cigarette flamed. " I worked hard on it, 
 did my level best. I don't believe I can ever 
 do any better and now it 's failed miserably. 
 It knocks my pins clean out from under 
 me." 
 
 For a time the room was quiet. Roberts did 
 not smile this time, or offer sympathy. The 
 occasion for that had gone by. He merely 
 waited in the fulness of knowledge, until the 
 first hot flood of resentment had cooled, until the 
 inevitable reaction that followed was on. Delib 
 erate, direct to the point, he struck. 
 
 ' You 're satisfied I 'm your friend, are you? " 
 he asked abruptly. 
 
 The other looked his surprise. 
 
 ; ' Emphatically, yes. One of the few I have 
 - it seems to-night." 
 
 " And I could n't possibly have any selfish 
 motive in in tearing you loose from your moor 
 ings? " 
 
 " None whatever that I can imagine. Why? " 
 
 [94]
 
 Certainty 
 
 ' You won't take offence either if I advise 
 plainly? " 
 
 " No, I 'm not a fool yet. What is it, Dar- 
 ley, your advice? " 
 
 Again Roberts paused, deliberately now, un 
 emotionally. 
 
 " My advice then is to chuck it, for to-day and 
 to-morrow and all time: the University, this 
 whole artistic rainbow, chuck it as though it were 
 hot, red hot, and get down to earth. Is that bru 
 tally plain enough? " 
 
 Unconsciously Armstrong had sat up, expect 
 ant. A moment he remained so, taking in the 
 thought, all its implications, its suddenly sug 
 gested possibilities ; as the full revolutionary sig 
 nificance of the idea came home of a sudden he 
 dropped back in his place. With an effort he 
 smiled. 
 
 '* To answer your question: yes, I think that 
 is brutally frank enough," he said. A moment 
 longer he remained quiet, thinking, the idea ex 
 panding. " Chuck it," he repeated half to him 
 self. " It sounds sensible certainly, to-night 
 particularly." New thoughts came, thoughts like 
 the sifting of dead ashes. "Chuck it," feverishly, 
 " and admit incompetency, cowardice, failure ab 
 solute! " For the third time he was on his feet. 
 
 [95]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " No, never. I '11 go to the devil first." His 
 fingers were on the red decanter, his brown eyes 
 aflame. "I '11- 
 
 " Armstrong! " 
 
 No answer, although the fingers halted. 
 
 "Steve!" 
 
 Still no answer; but bit by bit the hand 
 retreated. 
 
 " Steve," repeated, "sit down, please; please, 
 I say. Let 's talk this matter over a little ration 
 ally. People have changed their minds before, 
 some few billions of them and made good 
 afterward too. Have a little patience, man, and 
 sit down. I have a proposition to make to you." 
 
 Reluctantly Armstrong obeyed. His face was 
 still unnaturally pale and he was breathing hard, 
 but he obeyed. Back in his seat he waited a sec 
 ond, uncertain; with an effort he faced his com 
 panion fairly. 
 
 ' I - - realize I 'm an ass, Darley," he began, 
 hesitantly, " and that this sort of thing is melo 
 dramatically cheap." The white had left his face 
 now and words were coming more easily. " I 
 won't attempt to apologize, I just simply admit 
 the truth. I 've lost my grip this evening." 
 
 " Forget it." The voice was commonplace. 
 " Just forget it." 
 
 [96]
 
 Certainty 
 
 " I can't; I 'm not built that way; but I wish 
 you would. If there 's one thing I hate more 
 than another it 's cheap heroics." 
 
 " I know it and understand. Let it go at 
 that." 
 
 " Thank you. All right." It was matter of 
 fact, but such with an effort. " Let 's hear your 
 proposition." 
 
 As usual Roberts wasted no preface. 
 
 : ' The suggestion is merely in line with what I 
 said before. In so many words, it 's to throw up 
 this place of yours in the University and get into 
 business. You '11 come into contact with realities 
 that way and realities are eternally opposed to 
 cobwebs. You '11 be happier and more con 
 tented, I 'm positive, once you get adjusted." 
 He gave his listener a keen look. " I Ve got an 
 opening in mind right now. Say the word and 
 I '11 have the place ready for you the day they 
 appoint your successor in the University. Do 
 you care to consider it? " 
 
 " Consider, yes, certainly." Armstrong had 
 lit a pipe and puffed at it shortly. " It 's white 
 of you too to offer it. I know it 's a good thing 
 or you would n't make the suggestion." 
 
 " It 's not as good as Graham's offer," refuted 
 the other evenly, " places like that don't dangle 
 7 [ 97 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 loose every day; but it will pay you better than 
 a university chair, and it offers possibilities 
 you anticipate probably, it 's in connection with 
 the new electric line. Between ourselves, Arm 
 strong, this system is going to be a big thing 
 when it 's complete. This is a straight tip. I 
 happen to be in a position to know. I also hap 
 pen to be in position to put you very near the 
 basement, providing you wish to come in with 
 us unhampered." The voice halted meaningly. 
 ' That 's all I 'm at liberty to say now, until you 
 are really in and prove unmistakably I '11 have 
 several things more to tell you then." 
 
 " Don't misunderstand me, Darley," he said 
 slowly, "or take offence, please; but but, to 
 scrape off the veneer, you don't trust me very far 
 even yet, do you? " 
 
 There was a moment of silence, time for sec 
 ond thought. 
 
 ' I can't misunderstand what you mean," said 
 Roberts; " but unfortunately there are others be 
 sides yourself for me to consider." The voice 
 was patient, unnaturally so. " I Ve already 
 talked more than I should." 
 
 " If I accepted," unobservant, Armstrong's 
 mind was running on in its own channel, " the 
 place you mean would take my entire time. In 
 
 [ 98 ]
 
 Certainty 
 
 a way it would be like Graham's offer. I 'd be 
 compelled you catch the idea, don't you?" 
 
 ' Yes." This time the other did not amplify. 
 
 ' You know why I refused that proposition 
 before. We beat the brush pretty thoroughly 
 at that time." It was declination involved, but 
 declination nevertheless unmistakable. " It 's a 
 rocky road I 'm on, and with occasional mud- 
 holes such as well such as I fell into to 
 night; but somehow I can't leave it. I won't 
 try to defend it this time. I 'm not in the mood. 
 But when it comes to breaking free, taking a new 
 trail I simply can't do it, can't!" 
 
 " Very well." The voice was non-committal. 
 Waiting, Armstrong thought there would be 
 more to follow, a comment at least ; but there was 
 none. Roberts merely leaned back more com 
 fortably in his place, remained so for a minute 
 while like smoke the former subject faded from 
 the horizon. Armstrong grew conscious that he 
 was being observed intently. 
 
 " By the way," introduced Roberts, abruptly, 
 " I Ve decided to give up my residence here 
 in the suburbs. They 're remodelling the office 
 building I 'm in, you know: adding another 
 floor, an elevator, and one thing and another. 
 I Ve rented a suite in the addition, to be fitted 
 
 [99]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 out after some ideas of my own. They '11 begin 
 on it inside a week." 
 
 For a moment Armstrong said nothing. 
 
 ' I 'm not particularly surprised," he com 
 mented at last, " that is, not surprised that you 're 
 going to quit me. It was merely a question of 
 time until this place we 're living in here got too 
 small for you. When will you go? " 
 
 ' The lease gives them a month to deliver." 
 
 " A month. All right." There was frost 
 forming in the tone. : ' I '11 try and lassoo an 
 other mate in that time. The place is n't particu 
 larly pretentious, but, nevertheless, I can't afford 
 to inhabit it alone." He smiled, but it was not 
 his customary companionable smile. ' You 're 
 on the incline and trudging up steadily, are n't 
 you, old man? " 
 
 For an instant Roberts returned the look with 
 the analytic one Armstrong knew so well. 
 
 ' I trust so," he returned. A pause, again 
 sufficient for second thought. " Looking into the 
 immediate future I see a lot of grinding to be 
 done, and I need machinery to do it with. This 
 down town move is merely part of the campaign." 
 
 " I see," Armstrong ignored the explanation, 
 even perverted it intentionally. " And the next 
 installation of machinery will be in stone out on 
 
 [ 100]
 
 Certainty 
 
 Nob Hill among the other imitation colonial 
 factories. When 's that to be, if I may ask? " 
 
 Roberts said nothing. 
 
 " When 's it to be, Darley? " repeated Arm 
 strong. " You have it in mind, have n't you? " 
 
 This time Roberts turned, his eyes unsmiling, 
 his lips tight. 
 
 " When have I offended you, and how, Arm 
 strong? " he countered directly. ' Tell me that." 
 
 "Offended!" Roused out of his ill humor 
 Armstrong flushed penitently. ' You 've never 
 offended, never. On the contrary, you 're only 
 too patient with my tantrums." He jerked him 
 self together impulsively. : ' I did n't mean any 
 thing by that at all. I 'm blooming glad to see 
 you prosper. I always knew you would." 
 
 " The imitation colonial factory then - 
 Roberts recalled slowly. 
 
 " Just a dream, a fancy, an air castle." 
 
 " No, a reality-- I hope." 
 
 "What? a miracle! But how about the 
 tape line? " 
 
 " I repeat : I hope. Hope always refers to the 
 future the indefinite future." 
 
 Armstrong smiled broadly, shrugged. Banter 
 tingled on the tip of his tongue, but for some 
 reason remained unspoken. Abruptly as it had 
 
 [101]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 arisen the subject vanished beneath the surface. 
 Merely the memory of that suggestion of things 
 to come remained. 
 
 In the silence Roberts glanced at the clock and 
 arose preparatory to bed. Watching the familiar 
 action, a new thought sprang full-fledged to 
 Armstrong's brain, a sudden appreciation of the 
 unconscious dependence he had grown to feel on 
 the other man. The thought took words. 
 
 " On the square, old man," he said soberly, " I 
 hate to have you go. It '11 be beastly lonely here 
 without you to sit down on me and make me feel 
 foolish." He gestured in mute eloquence. " It 
 means the end between you and me the moment 
 you pack your trunk. We may both put up a 
 bluff --but just the same it 's the end." 
 
 Roberts halted thoughtfully where he stood. 
 
 'The end? I wonder and who will be to 
 blame?" 
 
 " Neither of us," swiftly. " It was inevitable. 
 We '11 simply drift apart. You recall I prophe 
 sied once before - 
 
 " Yes, I recall." 
 
 Armstrong started involuntarily. Another 
 memory had intruded. 
 
 ' You remember something else I pre 
 dicted, do you? " 
 
 [ 102]
 
 Certainty 
 
 A slow smile formed on Roberts' lips. 
 
 " You said that sometime we 'd hate each other, 
 in the same measure that we were friends now." 
 
 " Yes ; and it 's so. I feel it ; why I don't 
 know, can't imagine yet. But it will come 
 about as surely as to-morrow will come." He 
 looked at his companion steadily, unsmilingly 
 prophetic. " Good-bye, friend Darley Roberts. 
 You 're going and you won't return. Good- 
 bye." 
 
 An instant Roberts stood as he was, motion 
 less ; then he turned swiftly. 
 
 " You 're morbid to-night, Armstrong," he 
 returned slowly. "In the morning the sun will 
 shine and the world will look very different. As 
 for my leaving you '11 find another man who '11 
 make a lot better mate than I am. I 'm not a 
 good fellow in the least." 
 
 " I know it," bluntly. " That 's why you 're 
 good for me." Unconsciously his glance trav 
 elled to the mantel, and shifted hurriedly. " I 'm 
 a kind of clinging vine, I guess. To change the 
 figure of speech, I need a stiff rudder to keep me 
 headed straight to windward. I '11 miss you," 
 simply. 
 
 Roberts hesitated a moment, choosing his words 
 carefully. 
 
 [ 103]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 : ' We can't very well always be together, 
 though," he suggested at last slowly. 
 
 " No, we can't. I realize it. It 's - Pardon 
 an ass and go to bed, old man." 
 
 For perhaps half a minute Roberts stood there, 
 the fire from the open grate lighting his face, his 
 big capable hands loose at his sides. He made no 
 motion to leave, nor for a space to speak ; charac 
 teristically abrupt, he turned, facing his com 
 panion directly. 
 
 " Armstrong," he said, " I can't work up to 
 things delicately and have them seemingly hap 
 pen by chance. Nature did n't endow me with 
 that ability. I have to come out with a broadside 
 shot or not at all. I 'm going to do so now. Why 
 don't you get married? Miss Gleason will be a 
 better rudder immeasurably than I am." 
 
 Involuntarily Armstrong flushed, slowly the 
 color faded. He said nothing. 
 
 :< I know I 'm intruding and offending," went 
 on the other; " you show that, but you said a bit 
 ago I was your friend and the thing is on my 
 mind. Believe this at least: I was never more 
 your friend than when I advise the move now. 
 I repeat: why don't you get married, at 
 once? " 
 
 ' Why? You know why, Darley. It 's the 
 
 [104]
 
 Certainty 
 
 old reason the butcher, the baker, and the 
 candlestick maker. They still hold the fort." 
 
 " No, not for you unless you let them. For 
 give another broadside. If you get pinched tem 
 porarily let a friend be of service. I 'm not afraid 
 to trust you. Anyway I chance it. We all have 
 to chance something for happiness. Don't delay 
 any longer, man, don't! " 
 
 "Don't?" Of a sudden Armstrong glanced 
 up and met the other's look steadily. " Don't? " 
 he repeated. ' Why do you say that, please? " 
 
 A second Roberts met the lifted questioning 
 eyes. 
 
 " Because I meant it," he said. " Please don't 
 ask me to say more." 
 
 " But I do ask it," pressed Armstrong, stub 
 bornly. ' You meant something particular by 
 that, something I have the right to know." 
 
 ' Won't you consider what I suggested," 
 asked Roberts in a low tone; "merely con 
 sider it?" 
 
 " Perhaps after you tell me what you meant. 
 Why ' don't,' please? " 
 
 On the cosy room fell silence, the silence 
 of midnight; the longest silence of that inter 
 rupted understanding. For a long while Roberts 
 stood precisely as he was; he started walking, 
 
 [ 105 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 measuring the breadth of the room and back 
 again; something the watcher had never known 
 him to do before, never in the years of acquaint 
 ance, no matter what the uncertainty or diffi 
 culty confronting. A second time he followed 
 the trail back and forth, until, watching him, the 
 spectator felt at last something like terror of 
 the thing he had deliberately conjured and that 
 now was inevitably coming very near; for at 
 last Roberts had halted, was standing over him. 
 " In all the time that I 've known you, Arm 
 strong," said a voice, a new voice, " you Ve asked 
 my advice repeatedly, asked the reason for it, 
 insisted that I explain minutely, and disregarded 
 it absolutely. I 've tried to be honest with you 
 each time, tried to be of service ; and still you Ve 
 disregarded. It 's been the same to-night, the 
 old, old story. I Ve been dead in earnest, tried 
 to be unselfish, and still you question and doubt 
 and insist." A second the voice halted, the 
 speaker glancing down, not analytically or 
 whimsically, as usual, but of a sudden icy cold. 
 ' You insist now, against my request, and once 
 more I 'm going to humor you. You wish to 
 know what I meant by ' don't ' delay. I meant 
 just this, man, just this and no more: Chances 
 for happiness come to us all sometime in our 
 
 [ 1061
 
 Certainty 
 
 lives. They knock at our door and wait for us 
 to open. Sometimes, not often, they knock 
 twice; but they don't keep on knocking forever. 
 There are a multitude of other doors in the 
 world and, after a while, opportunity, our op 
 portunity, goes by, and never returns; no mat 
 ter how loudly we call. Is that clear enough, 
 man?" 
 
 " In the abstract, yes." Armstrong's lips 
 were dry and he moistened them unconsciously. 
 " In the concrete, though, as it applies to my 
 happiness - 
 
 "God, you're an egotist, Armstrong! Is it 
 possible you can't understand, or won't?" 
 
 Slowly, with an effort, Armstrong arose; his 
 face of a sudden gray, his hands fastened to the 
 back of his chair. 
 
 ' You mean to suggest that Elice," he began, 
 " that Elice You dare to suggest that to 
 me?" 
 
 "Dare?" 
 
 They looked at each other, not three feet 
 apart. 
 
 "Dare?" Roberts repeated. 
 
 "Darley!" 
 
 "Don't! I've argued, advised, used persua 
 sion everything. Take that as a warning if 
 
 [ 107 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 you wish, or disregard it if you choose. I 'm 
 done." 
 
 On the chair back the fingers locked tighter 
 and tighter, until they grew white. Tardy 
 comprehension was coming at last. 
 
 ' You mean to warn me," Armstrong scarcely 
 recognized his own voice, " that you yourself - 
 
 ' Yes, I myself. That 's why I warned you." 
 
 ' You yourself," he repeated, " whom I intro 
 duced and took with me as my friend, my best 
 friend you Judas ! " 
 
 " Re-introduced." Roberts' eyes were as 
 steady as his voice. " Re-introduced mark 
 that. Miss Gleason has forgotten, but she was 
 the first girl I met in the University, when I 
 had one suit of frayed clothes to my name, and 
 my stock was below par. Miss Gleason has 
 forgotten, I say, had no reason to remember; 
 but I - Nor - Judas ; drop that for all 
 time. . . . I Ve warned you, you understand." 
 
 "Barley!" 
 
 " No Roberts. I 'm no hypocrite. You Ve 
 precipitated this understanding, compelled it; 
 but perhaps it 's as well. I '11 move out of here 
 to-morrow instead of in a month, if you wish. 
 Do you wish it? " 
 
 Bit by bit the hands on the chair back, that 
 I 108]
 
 Certainty 
 
 had been so tense, loosened, and Armstrong 
 sank back in his seat, his face turned away. 
 
 " I don't know yet." His fingers were 
 twitching aimlessly. " I want to think. . . . 
 You, of all men, you!" He turned, his eyes 
 ablaze, his voice thick. ' Yes, go to-morrow, 
 damn you! and as for your warning, do as you 
 please, get between us if you can." He laughed 
 raspingly. " I '11 delay dangle, you catch that 
 - as long as I see fit. I dare you." 
 
 An instant Roberts stood as he was; slowly 
 and without a word he started for his room. 
 As he did so Armstrong arose swiftly and, all 
 but gropingly, his hand sought the red decanter 
 on the mantel. ; ' I dare you," he repeated 
 blindly, "dare you!" 
 
 "Armstrong!" Roberts had halted, looking 
 back. " Not for any one's sake but your own 
 think a second, man." 
 
 "To hell with you and thought!" 
 
 Without a sound this time or another glance 
 the door to Roberts' room opened and closed 
 and Armstrong was alone. 
 
 [ 109 ]
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 A WARNING 
 
 WITH a dexterity born of experience 
 Harry Randall looked up from his 
 labor of separating the zone of carbon from the 
 smaller segment of chop that had escaped the 
 ravages of a superheated frying-pan and smiled 
 across the table at his wife. 
 
 " On the contrary," he said, refuting a pes 
 simistic observation previously made by the per 
 son addressed, " I think you 're doing fine. I 
 can see a distinct improvement every month. 
 On the whole you 're really becoming an admi 
 rable cook." 
 
 "Undoubtedly!" The voice dripped with 
 irony. ' That very chop, for instance 
 
 " Is merely a case in point," amiably. " Some 
 
 people, unscientific people, might contend that 
 
 it was overdone ; but the initiated that 's us 
 
 - know better. Meat, particularly from the 
 
 genus hog, should always be well cooked. It 
 
 [110]
 
 A Warning 
 
 obviates the possibility of trichina infection 
 absolutely." 
 
 " And those biscuits," equivocally. " I '11 
 wager they 'd sink like steel billets." 
 
 Her husband inspected the articles designated 
 with a judicial eye. 
 
 " Better so. We 're thus saved the tempta 
 tion of eating them. All statistics prove that 
 hot biscuits and dyspepsia - 
 
 ' The salad, then," wearily. 
 
 " Hygienic beyond a doubt. The superabun 
 dance of seasoning to which you doubtless refer 
 may be unusual ; nevertheless, it 's a leaning in 
 the right direction. Condiments of all kinds 
 tend to stimulate the flow of the gastric juice; 
 and that, you know, from your physiology, is 
 what does the digestive business." 
 
 Margery Randall laughed, against her will. 
 
 " And last of all the coffee," she suggested. 
 
 " Frankly, as coffee, it is a little peculiar; but 
 considered as hot water merely, it leaves noth 
 ing to be desired; and science teaches again 
 that, like condiments, hot water 
 
 The two laughed together; temporarily the 
 atmosphere cleared. 
 
 " Seriously, Harry," asked the girl, " do you 
 really think I '11 ever get so I can cook things 
 
 [ in]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 that aren't an insult?" She swept the indi 
 gestible repast between them with a hopeless 
 look. " I 'm trying my best, but at times like 
 this I get discouraged." 
 
 " Certainly you will," with conviction. " Now 
 this bread, for instance," he held up a slice 
 to illustrate, "is as good as any one can 
 make." 
 
 " And unfortunately was one of the few 
 things that I did n't make. It 's bakery bread, 
 of course, silly." 
 
 Randall dropped the offending staff of life 
 as though it were hot. 
 
 ' These cookies, then." He munched one with 
 the pleasure of an epicure. ' They 're good 
 thoroughly." 
 
 ' Elice Gleason baked them for me to-day," 
 icily. " She was here all the afternoon." 
 
 An instant of silence followed; glancing half 
 sheepishly across the board Randall saw some 
 thing that made him arise from his seat 
 abruptly. 
 
 " Margery, little girl," his arms were around 
 her. " Don't take it so seriously. It 's all a 
 joke, honest." With practised skill he kissed 
 away the two big tears that were rapidly gather 
 ing. "Of course you'll learn; every one has 
 
 [ 112 ]
 
 A Warning 
 
 to have practice ; and it 's something you never 
 did before, something entirely new." 
 
 " That 's just the point," repeated the girl. 
 The suddenly aroused tears had ceased to flow, 
 but she still looked the image of despondency. 
 " It 's something I Ve never had to do, and I '11 
 never learn. I Ve been trying for practically 
 a year now and things get worse and worse." 
 
 "Not worse," hopefully; "you merely think 
 so. You 're just a bit discouraged and tired 
 to-night that 's all." 
 
 " I know it and, besides, I can't help it." She 
 was winking hard again against two fresh tears. 
 " I spoiled two cakes this afternoon. Elice tried 
 to show me how to make them; and I burned 
 my finger " - she held up a swaddled member 
 for inspection - " horribly. I just can't do this 
 housework, Harry, just simply can't." 
 
 " Yes, you can." Once more the two teary 
 recruits vanished by the former method. ' You 
 can do anything." 
 
 The girl shook her head with a determination 
 premeditated. 
 
 " No; I repeat that I Ve tried, and it 's been 
 a miserable failure. I - - think we '11 have to 
 have the maid back again, for good." 
 
 "The maid!" Randall laughed, but not so 
 
 8 [ 113 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 spontaneously as was normal. ' We don't want 
 a maid bothering around, Margery. We want 
 to be alone." He had a brilliant thought, speed 
 ily reduced to action. " How could I treat in 
 jured fingers like this properly if there was a 
 maid about? " 
 
 ' There w r ould n't be any burned fingers 
 then," refuted the girl. Intentionally avoiding 
 the other's look, she arose from the neglected 
 dinner-table decisively and, the man following 
 slowly, led the way to the living-room. " Joking 
 aside," she continued as she dropped into a con 
 venient seat, " I mean it, seriously. I Ve felt 
 this way for a long time, and to-day has been 
 the climax. I simply won't spend my life cook 
 ing and dusting and and washing dishes. 
 Life 's too short." 
 
 From out the depths of the big davenport 
 Harry Randall inspected steadily the rebellious 
 little woman opposite. He did not answer at 
 once, it was not his way; but he was thinking 
 seriously. To say that the present moment was 
 a surprise would be false. For long, straws had 
 indicated the trend of the wind, and he was not 
 blind. There w r as an excuse for the attitude, 
 too. He was just enough to realize that. As 
 she had said, she was born differently, bred 
 
 [ 114 ]
 
 A Warning 
 
 differently, educated to a life of ease. And he, 
 Harry Randall, had known it from the first, 
 knew it when he married her. Just now, to be 
 sure, he was financially flat, several months ahead 
 of his meagre salary; but that did not alter 
 the original premise, the original obligation. He 
 remembered this now as he looked at her, re 
 membered and decided the only way it seemed 
 to him possible an honorable man could decide. 
 
 ' Very well, Margery," he said gravely, " you 
 may have the maid back, of course, if you wish 
 it. I had hoped we might get along for a time, 
 while we were paying for the things in the 
 house, anyway; but" he looked away- "I 
 guess we '11 manage it somehow." 
 
 " Somehow!" Margery glanced at him with 
 only partial comprehension. "Is it really as 
 bad as that, as hopeless?" 
 
 Randall smiled the slow smile that made his 
 smooth face seem fairly boyish. 
 
 " I don't know exactly what you mean by 
 bad, or hopeless ; but it 's a fact that so far 
 we Ve been spending a good deal more than 
 my income." 
 
 " I 'm sorry, dear, really." It was the con 
 trition of one absolutely unaccustomed to con 
 sideration of ways and means, uncomprehending. 
 
 [ us ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " Particularly so just now with winter coming 
 on and and girls, you know, have to get such 
 a lot of things for winter." 
 
 This time Randall did not smile; neither did 
 he show irritation. 
 
 ' What, for instance? " he inquired directly. 
 
 " Oh, a tailored suit for one thing, and a 
 winter hat, and high shoes, and and a lot of 
 things." 
 
 " Do you really need them, Margery? " It 
 was prosaic pathos, but pathos nevertheless. 
 ' There 's coal to be bought, you know, and my 
 life insurance comes due next month. I don't 
 want to seem to be stingy, you know that; 
 but ' he halted miserably. 
 
 "Need them!" It was mild vexation. "Of 
 course I need them, silly. A girl can't go 
 around when the thermometer 's below zero with 
 net shirtwaists and open-work stockings." 
 
 "Of course," quickly. With an effort the 
 smile returned. " Order w r hat you need. I '11 
 take care of that too " - he was going to re 
 peat " somehow," then caught himself - " as 
 soon as I can," he substituted. 
 
 The girl looked at him smilingly. 
 
 " Poor old Harry, henpecked Harry," she 
 bantered gayly. Crossing over, her arms went 
 
 f 116 1
 
 A Warning 
 
 around his neck. " Have an awful lot of 
 troubles, don't you, professor man! " 
 
 The argument was irresistible and Randall 
 capitulated. 
 
 " No, none whatever," he answered, as he was 
 expected to answer; and once more sweet peace 
 rested on the house of Randall. 
 
 Back in her place opposite once more Mar 
 gery looked at her husband seriously, a pucker 
 of perplexity on her smooth face. 
 
 " By the way," she digressed, " I Ve been 
 wondering for some time now if anything 's 
 wrong with Elice and Steve. Has he hinted 
 anything to you? " 
 
 "No; why?" 
 
 " Oh, I don't know anything definite; but he 's 
 been here three evenings the last week, you 
 know, Sunday evening for one at that, and it 
 looks queer." 
 
 " I Ve noticed it too," admitted Randall, " and 
 he 's coming again this evening. He asked per 
 mission and I could n't well refuse. Not that 
 I don't like to have him come," quickly, " but 
 it interferes with my lectures next morning." 
 
 " And with our own evenings. I - - just wish 
 he would n't come so often." 
 
 Randall said nothing, but unconsciously he 
 [ 117 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 was stroking the bald spot already appearing 
 on the crown of his head in a way he had when 
 worried. 
 
 " And, besides," justified Margery, " it is n't 
 treating Elice right. I think it 's a shame." 
 
 This time the man looked up. 
 
 " She did n't say anything, intimate anything, 
 I hope?" he hesitated. 
 
 " Of course not. It is n't her way. She 's 
 - queer for a woman, Elice is ; she never gets 
 confidential, no matter how good an opportunity 
 you offer." A pause followed that spoke vol 
 umes. " Agnes Simpson, though, says there is 
 something the matter with Steve at least. 
 They 're talking about it in the department." 
 
 'Talking about what, Margery?" soberly. 
 " He 's a friend of ours, you know." 
 
 ' Yes, I know," the voice was swift with a 
 pent-up secret, " and we 've tried hard to be nice 
 to him ; but, after all, we 're not to blame that 
 he drinks ! " 
 
 "Margery!" It was open disapproval this 
 time, a thing unusual for Harry Randall. ' We 
 must n't listen to such gossip, either of us. Steve 
 and I have been chums for years and years 
 and we simply must n't listen to such things 
 at all." 
 
 [118]
 
 A Warning 
 
 For an instant the girl was silent; then the 
 brown head tossed rebelliously. 
 
 ; ' Well, I can't help it if people talk; and it 
 is n't fair of you to suppose that I pass it on 
 either except to you. You know that I - 
 she checked herself. " It is n't as though Agnes 
 was the only one either," she defended. " I Ve 
 heard it several times lately." Inspiration came 
 and she looked at her husband directly. " Hon 
 est, Harry, haven't you heard it too?" 
 
 The man hesitated, and on the instant solid 
 ground vanished from beneath his feet. 
 
 ' Yes, I have," he admitted weakly. " It 's 
 a burning shame too that people will concoct - 
 He halted suddenly, listening. His eyes went 
 to the clock. " I had no idea it was so late," 
 he digressed as the bell rang loudly. ' That 's 
 Steve now. I know his ring." 
 
 Alone in the up-stairs study, which with its 
 folding-bed was likewise spare sleeping-room 
 and again smoking-room, Margery had not 
 yet surrendered to the indiscriminate presence 
 of tobacco smoke, Steve Armstrong ignored 
 the chair Randall had proffered and remained 
 standing, his hands deep in his trousers' pockets, 
 a look new to his friend one restless, akin to 
 reckless on his usually good-humored face. 
 
 [119]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Contrary again to precedent his dress was no 
 ticeably untidy, an impression accentuated by a 
 two-days' growth of beard and by neglected 
 linen. That something far from normal was 
 about to transpire Randall knew at a glance, 
 but courteously seemed not to notice. Instead, 
 with a familiar wave, he indicated the cigar- jar 
 he kept on purpose for visitors and took a pipe 
 himself. 
 
 " I have n't had my after-dinner smoke yet," 
 he commented. : ' Better light up with me. It 
 always tastes better when one has company." 
 
 ' Thanks." Armstrong made a selection ab 
 sently and struck a match; but, the unlighted 
 cigar in his fingers, let the match burn dead. 
 ; ' I don't intend to bother you long," he 
 plunged without preface. "I know you want 
 to work." He glanced nervously at the door 
 to see that it was closed. "I just wanted to 
 have a little talk with you, a little heart-to- 
 heart talk." 
 
 * Yes." Randall's face showed no surprise, 
 but his pipe bowl was aglow and his free hand 
 was caressing his bald spot steadily. 
 
 " Frankly, old man," the other had fallen back 
 into his former position, his hands concealed, his 
 attitude stiffly erect, " I 'm in the deuce of a 
 
 [ 1*0]
 
 A Warning 
 
 frame of mind to-night and undecided." He 
 laughed shortly. ' You 're the remedy that oc 
 curred to me." 
 
 ' Yes," Randall repeated, this time with the 
 slow smile, " I am a sort of remedy. Sit down 
 and tell me about it. I 'm receptive at least." 
 
 " Sit down! I can't, Harry." The restless 
 look became one of positive repugnance. " I 
 have n't been able to for a half -hour at a stretch 
 for a week." 
 
 ' Try it anyway," bluntly. " It won't do you 
 any harm to try." 
 
 " Nor any good either. I know." He threw 
 himself into a seat with a nervous scowl upon 
 his face. " I have n't been able to do any real 
 work for an age, which is worse," he continued. 
 " My lectures lately have been a disgrace to the 
 college. No one knows it better than myself." 
 
 A moment Randall hesitated, but even yet he 
 did not put an inquiry direct. 
 
 'Yes?" he suggested again. 
 
 " I 'm stale, I guess, or have lost my nerve 
 or or something." Armstrong smiled, a 
 crooked smile that failed to extinguish the fur 
 rows on his forehead. ' By the way, have you 
 got a little superfluous nerve lying about that 
 you could stake me with?"
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Randall echoed the laugh, because it seemed 
 the only possible answer, but that was all. 
 
 In the silence that followed Armstrong looked 
 at his friend opposite, the nervous furrow be 
 tween his eyes deepening. 
 
 " I suppose you 're wondering," he began at 
 last, " just what 's the matter with me and what 
 I want of you. Concerning the first, there 's 
 a lot I might say, but I won't; I '11 spare you. 
 As to what I want to ask of you- Frankly, 
 Harry, straight to the point and conventional 
 reticence aside, ought I to marry or ought n't 
 I?" He caught the other's expression and an 
 swered it quickly. ' I know this is a peculiar 
 thing to ask and seems, looking at it from some 
 angles, something I should n't ask ; but you 
 know all the circumstances between Elice and 
 me and, in a way, our positions are a good deal 
 similar. Just what do you think? Don't hesi 
 tate to tell me exactly." 
 
 In his seat Randall shifted uncomfortably; to 
 gain time he filled his pipe afresh, a distinct 
 dissipation for the man of routine that he was. 
 
 " Frankly, as you suggest, Steve," he an 
 swered finally, " I 'd rather not discuss the sub 
 ject, rather not advise. It 's you know why 
 - so big and personal." 
 
 r 122 1
 
 A Warning 
 
 " I realize that and have apologized already 
 for bringing it up ; but I can't decide myself - 
 I Ve tried ; and Elice there are reasons why 
 she can't assist now either. It 's - ' he made 
 a motion to rise, but checked himself - " it 's 
 something that has to be decided now too." 
 
 "Has to?" Randall's eyes behind the big 
 lens of his glasses were suddenly keen. ' Why, 
 Steve?" 
 
 " Because it 's now or never," swiftly. " I Ve 
 we Ve hesitated until we can't delay any 
 longer. I 'm not sure that it 's not been too 
 long already, that 's why Elice can't figure." He 
 drew himself up with an effort, held himself 
 still. ' We Ve crossed the dividing line, Elice 
 and I, and we 're drifting apart. Just how the 
 thing has come about I don't know ; but it 's true. 
 We 're on different roads somehow and we 're 
 getting farther apart every month." He sprang 
 to his feet, his face turned away. " Soon It's 
 simply hell, Harry!" 
 
 Randall sat still ; recollecting, he laughed, 
 a laugh that he tried to make natural. 
 
 " Oh, pshaw! " He laughed again. " You 're 
 mixing up some of the novels you 're writing 
 with real life. This sort of thing is nonsense, 
 pure nonsense." 
 
 [ 123 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " No, it 's so," flatly. " I Ve tried hard enough 
 to think it different, but I could n't because it 
 is so. It 's hell, I say! " 
 
 "Don't you love her, man?" abruptly. 
 
 ' Love her! " Armstrong wheeled, his face 
 almost fierce. "Of course I love her. A hun 
 dred times yes. I 'm a cursed fool over her." 
 
 "Sit down then and tell me just what 's on 
 your mind. You 're magnifying a mole-hill of 
 some kind into a snow-capped peak. Sit down, 
 please. You irritate me that way." 
 
 A second Armstrong hesitated. His face a 
 bit flushed, he obeyed. 
 
 ' That 's better." The brusqueness was de 
 liberately intentional. " Now out with it, clear 
 the atmosphere. I 'm listening." 
 
 Armstrong looked at his friend a bit suspi 
 ciously; but the mood was too strong upon him 
 to cease now even if he would. 
 
 " Just what do you wish to know? " he asked 
 in tentative prelude. " Give me a clew." 
 
 " What you wish to tell me," evenly. " Neither 
 more nor less." 
 
 "You have no curiosity?" 
 
 Randall made no comment this time, merely 
 waited. 
 
 " Very well, then, if you have no curiosity. . . . 
 
 [ 124 ]
 
 A Warning 
 
 I don't know how much to tell you anyway, 
 what you don't already know. As I said when 
 I first came in, I did n't have it in mind to bore 
 you at all, I just wanted to ask your opinion - 
 The speaker halted and hurriedly lit the cigar 
 he had been holding. ' To jump into the thick 
 of it, I got a little letter from the president 
 to-day, a little warning." Armstrong smoked 
 fiercely until the flame lit up his face. ' It 's 
 the bitterest humiliation of my life, Harry, the 
 last straw! " 
 
 125 ]
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 REBELLION 
 
 FOR a moment Harry Randall said nothing, 
 then deliberately he glanced up and met 
 his friend's eyes direct. 
 
 " Begin at the beginning and tell me the whole 
 story," he said soberly. " I had no idea the 
 thing was really so serious." 
 
 "Well, it is, take that for granted. It's 
 likely to be the end, so far as I am concerned." 
 
 " Cut that out, Steve," shortly. " It 's melo 
 dramatic and cheap. Things can't be so bad 
 if we look at them sanely." He hesitated, and 
 went on with distinct effort. ' To begin with, 
 I 'm going to ask you a question. I hate it, 
 you know that without my telling you, but 
 things have gone too far to mince matters evi 
 dently. I Ve heard a number of times lately 
 that you were drinking. Is it so? " 
 
 "Who told you that?" hotly. 
 
 " Never mind who. I tell you I never be 
 lieved a word of it until you mentioned the 
 president's warning. Now- Is it so?" 
 
 [ 126 ]
 
 Rebellion 
 
 Armstrong's face went red, red to the roots 
 of his hair, then slowly shaded white until it 
 was ghastly pale. 
 
 ' Yes; it 's useless, it seems, to deny it. That 
 others knew, were talking about it, though - 
 It 's true, Harry. I admit it." 
 
 Slowly, slowly, Randall knocked the ashes 
 out of the pipe-bowl and put it away in a 
 drawer of the table. 
 
 " Very well, Steve. I shan't moralize. None 
 of us men are so good we can afford to begin 
 throwing stones. . . . Let 's go back a bit to 
 the beginning. There must be one some 
 where, a cause. Just what 's the trouble, old 
 man?" 
 
 ' Trouble! " It was the spark to tinder, the 
 lead at last. " Everything, Harry, everything." 
 A halt for composure. " I suppose if I were 
 to pick out one single thing, though, that was 
 worse than another, it 's my writing. I think, 
 I know, that 's what brought on the whole 
 cursed mess. Until my last book failed I had 
 hope and the sun shone. When that went down 
 -down like a lump of lead I haven't been 
 able to do a thing, care for a thing since. My 
 brain simply quit work too. It died, and the 
 best of me died with it." 
 
 f 127 1
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " And you began to drink." 
 
 ' Yes, like a fish. Why not, since I was dead 
 and it helped me to forget?" 
 
 " Steve! I hate to preach, it doesn't become 
 me ; but - 
 
 'Preach if you want to; you can't hurt my 
 feelings now." Armstrong grew calm, for the 
 first time that evening. ' When a fellow has 
 worked as I have worked for years, and hoped 
 against hope, and still hoped on and worked on 
 after failure and failure and failure three times 
 repeated- No, don't worry about hurting my 
 feelings, Harry. Say what you please." 
 
 : ' I was n't going to hurt your feelings," 
 evenly; " I was only going to preach a little. 
 I merely wanted to take exception to that for 
 getting business. If you '11 just hold hard for 
 a bit you '11 forget normally, not artificially. 
 Another six months and you '11 be hard at an 
 other scheme, developing it; and the way you 
 feel now - It '11 be a joke then, a sort of 
 nightmare to laugh over." 
 
 " Never. . . . Don't get restless ; I 'm not irre 
 sponsible now. I 'm merely telling you. I Ve 
 been asleep and dreaming for a long time, but 
 at last I 'm awake. Come what may, and truly 
 as I 'm telling you now, I '11 never write another 
 
 [ 128]
 
 Rebellion 
 
 novel. I could n't if I wanted to I Ve tried 
 and know ; and I would n't if I could. There 's 
 a limit to everything, and the limit of my pa 
 tience and endurance is reached. I 'm done for 
 now and for all time." The voice was not ex 
 cited now or unnaturally tense, but normal, al 
 most conversational. 
 
 " For ten years I Ve fought the good fight. 
 Every spare hour of that time that I could 
 muster I Ve worked. I Ve lain awake night 
 after night and night after night tossing and 
 planning and struggling for a definite end. 
 The thing got to be a sort of religion to me. I 
 convinced myself that it was my work in the 
 big scheme, my allotted task, and I tried faith 
 fully to do it. I never spared myself. I dis 
 sected others, of course; but I dissected myself 
 most, clear to the bone. I even took a sort of 
 joy in it when it hurt most, for I felt it was 
 my contribution and big. I 'm not bragging 
 now, mind. I 'm merely telling you as it was. 
 I Ve gone on doing this for ten years, I say. 
 When I failed again I tried harder still. I still 
 believed in myself --and others. Recognition, 
 appreciation, might be delayed, but eventually 
 it would come, it must; for this was my work, 
 - to please others, to amuse them, to carry them 
 
 9 [ 129 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 temporarily out of the rut of their work-a-day 
 lives and make them forget. I believed this, I 
 say, believed and hoped and waited and worked 
 on until the last few months. Then I told 
 you what happened. Then- For the first 
 time the speaker paused. He shrugged char 
 acteristically. " But what 's the use of disturb 
 ing the corpse. I Ve simply misread the signs in 
 the sky that 's all. I could n't produce a better 
 novel than I Ve written if I had the longevity 
 of the Wandering Jew and wrote to the end 
 for I Ve done my best. The great public that 
 I Ve torn myself to pieces to please has seen 
 the offering and passed it by. They will have 
 none of it and they 're the arbiters." He 
 shrugged again, the narrow shoulders eloquent. 
 " So be it. I accept; but I offer no more. For 
 all time, to finality, I'm done, done!" 
 
 ' Even if some of your books should win?" 
 " If every one of them should do so. If half 
 a dozen publishers came to me personally and 
 begged me to resume work. I may be a poor 
 artist, may lack completely the artistic subser 
 vience to or superiority to discouragement, prob 
 ably I do ; but at least I know I 'm human. 
 I 'm like a well in the desert that 's been pumped 
 empty and left never a mark on the surround- 
 
 \ 130 1
 
 Rebellion 
 
 ing sand. I could n't produce again if I wanted 
 to; I 'm drained dry." 
 
 Randall said nothing. He knew this other 
 man. 
 
 " I tell you I 'm awake, Harry, at last, and 
 see things as they are; things now so childishly 
 obvious that it seems incredible I could have 
 gone on so long without recognizing them. 
 People prate about appreciation of artists of 
 various kinds and of their work, grow maudlin 
 over it by artificial light in the small hours of 
 the night. And how do they demonstrate it? 
 Once in a while, the isolated exception that 
 proves the rule, by recognizing and rewarding 
 the genius in his lifetime. Once in a very, very 
 long time, I say. Mind, I don't elevate myself 
 as a genius. I 'm merely speaking as an ob 
 server who 's awakened and knows. As a rule 
 what do they do? Let him struggle and work 
 and eat his heart out in obscurity and without 
 recognition. Let him starve himself body and 
 soul. After he 's dead, after a year or a hun 
 dred years, after there is no possibility of his 
 receiving the reward or the inspiration, they 
 arouse. His fame spreads. His name becomes 
 a household word. They desecrate his grave, if 
 they can find it, by hanging laurel on his tomb-
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 stone. They tear the wall-paper from the house 
 where he once chanced to live into ribbons for 
 souvenirs. If he happens to be a painter the 
 picture that brought him enough perhaps to keep 
 body and soul together for a month is fought 
 for until eventually it sells for a fortune. If 
 he was a writer they bid for a scrap of his 
 manuscript more than he received for his whole 
 work. There are exceptions, I say; but even 
 exceptions only prove the rule. Think over the 
 names of the big artists, the big geniuses. How 
 many of them are alive or were appreciated in 
 their own lives? How many living to-day com 
 pare in the public appreciation with those dead? 
 None of them, practically, none. And still do 
 you or does any other sane person fancy that 
 human beings are degenerating every genera 
 tion, that artistic genius is decadent? It 's pre 
 posterous, unthinkable! It merely points the 
 moral that history repeats itself. Some place, 
 somewhere, the greatest artist in the world is 
 painting the greatest picture the world has ever 
 known and this same world passes him by. It 
 must be so, for human beings advance with every 
 generation inevitably. Some place, somewhere, 
 the biggest writer of all time is writing the big 
 gest book and his neighbors smile because his 
 
 F 132 1
 
 Rebellion 
 
 clothes are rusty. This is the reward they get 
 in their own day and their own generation, when 
 it would sweeten their lives, make them worth 
 living. The fellow who invents a mouse-trap 
 or a safety razor or devises a way of sticking 
 two hogs where one was killed before, inherits 
 the earth, sees his name and fame heralded in 
 every periodical ; while the other, the real man - 
 God, it 's unbelievable, neither more nor less ; 
 and still it 's true to the last detail. Again, it 's 
 all civilization, the civilization we brag of; mag 
 nificent twentieth century civilization ! " 
 
 Still Randall said nothing, still waited. 
 
 Armstrong hesitated, drumming on the arm 
 of his chair with his slender fingers. But the 
 lull was only temporary, the storm not past; 
 the end was not yet. 
 
 " I suppose," he forged on, " the work should 
 be its own reward, its own justification. At 
 least would-be artists are told so repeatedly. 
 Whenever one rebels at the injustice the world 
 is there with this sophistry, feeds him with it as 
 a nurse feeds pap to a crying child, until he 's 
 full and temporarily comatose. But just sup 
 pose for an instant that the same argument were 
 used in any other field of endeavor. Suppose, 
 for instance, you told the prospector who 'd spent
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 years searching for and who 'd finally found a 
 gold mine that his reward should be in the mere 
 knowledge of having found it, the feeling of 
 elation that he had added to the sum total of 
 the world's wealth, and that he should relinquish 
 it intact as a public trust. Just preach this 
 gospel, and how long would you escape the 
 mad-house? Or the architect who designs and 
 superintends the construction of a sky-scraper. 
 Take him aside and argue with him that the 
 artistic satisfaction of having conceived that 
 great pile of stone and steel should repay him 
 for his work, that to expect remuneration was 
 sordid and disgusting. Do you think he 'd sign 
 a certificate to the effect that you were normal 
 and sane? And still how is it with a writer in 
 this the twentieth century, century of enlight 
 enment and of progress? First of all he must 
 go through the formative period, which means 
 years. Nothing, even genius, springs without 
 preparation into full bloom. No matter how 
 good the idea, how big the thought, it must be 
 moulded by a mastery of technique and a pro 
 ficiency that only experience can give. And 
 meanwhile he must live. How? No matter. 
 The suggestion is mundane. Let him settle 
 that for himself. At last, perhaps, if he has 
 
 r 134 1
 
 Rebellion 
 
 the divine spark, he gets a hearing. We '11 
 suppose he accomplishes his purpose, pleases 
 them, makes them think, or laugh, or forget 
 temporarily, as the case may be. In a way he 
 has made an opening and arrived. And yet, 
 though an artist, he is, first of all, a human being, 
 an animal. The animal part of him demands 
 insistently the good things of life. If he is 
 normal he wants a home and a family of his 
 own; and wants that home as good as that of 
 his neighbor who practises law or makes soda 
 biscuits. With this premise what do the public, 
 who don't know him personally but whom he 
 serves just the same, do? The only way they 
 can show their appreciation tangibly is by buy 
 ing his work; giving him encouragement, mak 
 ing it possible to live and to write more. I 
 repeat I know this is all mundane and common 
 place and unassthetic, but it 's reality. And do 
 they give this encouragement, buy themselves, 
 and let him make his tiny royalty which in turn 
 enables him to live, pass an appreciation on to 
 their friends and induce them to buy? In a 
 fractional proportion of times, yes. In the main, 
 John, whom the writer has worked a year, day 
 and night, to reach, by chance meets his friend 
 Charley. * By the way,' he remarks, ' I picked 
 
 [ 135]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 up that novel of Blank's lately. It 's good, all 
 right, all right; kept me up half the night to 
 finish it. I want you to read it, old man. It 's 
 just your style. No use to buy it, though,' he 
 adds hurriedly. ' Drop in sometime and I '11 
 lend it to you.' Of a sudden he remembers. 
 ' Come to think of it, though, I believe just 
 now it 's lent to Phil or was it Dick who took 
 it. The story 's a corker and they 've both had 
 it.' He thinks again hard and remembers. ' I 
 have it now. Dick gave it to Sam; he told me 
 so. Get it from him yourself. I know you '11 
 like it.' And so the lending goes on so long 
 as the covers hold together. Meanwhile the 
 writer, away off somewhere w r aiting and hoping 
 and watching the sale, in return for the pleasure 
 he gives John and Charley and Phil and Dick 
 and Sam and the rest, and in consideration of 
 that year of w r ork and weariness and struggle, 
 gets enough perhaps to buy a meal at a Chinese 
 restaurant. This is appreciation, I say, enlight 
 ened twentieth century appreciation; and the 
 beauty of it is that every one of that company 
 who get his work for nothing feel that by their 
 praise and by reading his work they Ve given 
 that writer, who can't possibly know anything 
 about it, all that he could possibly desire." For 
 
 [ 136 ]
 
 Rebellion 
 
 the first time that evening Armstrong paused 
 to laugh. " Oh, it 's humorous, all right, when 
 one stops to consider and appreciate! Just sup 
 pose, though, in the name of fair play, some 
 one had suggested to John that he throw that 
 copy of his in the furnace where no one could 
 possibly borrow it, and then go on telling his 
 appreciation. Just supposing some one had 
 suggested that! Do you fancy John would 
 have considered that person wholly sane? And 
 still that writer, besides being an artist, is an 
 animal with a stomach and needs a home to live 
 in, and maybe is human enough to have bur 
 dened himself with a wife and and children 
 
 " Steve, confound it, you Ve gone on long 
 enough." 
 
 " I know it too long." 
 
 " It does n't do any good to rail at something 
 you can't help, that no one can help." 
 
 " Admitted. I 'm just talking to myself 
 and you. It 's all the same." 
 
 ' You Ve never starved yet or gone without 
 clothes, so far as I know." 
 
 " Starved, no. I had soup at my boarding- 
 house for lunch again to-day soup with car 
 rots in it. Hungry I don't know. This is 
 a big world we 're in and I Ve never had the 
 
 [ 137 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 chance even to look over the horizon yet. 
 Hungry? I've been hungry for Elice for 
 years, and I don't dare - Hunger is awfully 
 near to starvation sometimes, friend Harry." 
 
 Harry Randall squirmed. He saw it coming 
 -it! 
 
 " Oh, things will come all right if you '11 be 
 patient," he said and halted himself for the 
 trite optimism. 
 
 'Elice won't; for she's gone already while 
 I 've been patient gone and left me hungry." 
 
 "Nonsense. Rot, plain rot!" 
 
 " No, reality, plain reality. She probably 
 would n't admit it yet, not even to herself, 
 maybe does n't know it yet herself ; but I know. 
 It 's been coming on a long time. I see it all 
 now." 
 
 Randall made a wry face. That was all. 
 
 * Yes, it 's true, Harry, God's truth. I asked 
 you a peculiar question a while ago, asked 
 whether I ought to marry. I did n't mean it ; 
 I was just maudlin. I know without asking 
 that I must n't. Even if Elice would consent 
 - and I think she would consent yet, she 's 
 game I must n't. I 'm waking up more all 
 the time." 
 
 " Steve, you 're maddening impossible. I 
 
 [ 138 ]
 
 Rebellion 
 
 tell you, Elice will never change. You know it 
 without my telling you." 
 
 ' Yes, I know. It 's I who have changed." 
 He remembered suddenly. ' Yes ; it 's I who 
 have changed," he repeated slowly. 
 
 " Well, you '11 change back again then." The 
 effort to be severe and commonplace was becom 
 ing cumulatively difficult. ' You must." 
 
 " Must change back and marry Elice? " 
 
 " Yes," desperately. 
 
 " No, not if by a miracle I could change 
 back." 
 
 'Why? For heaven's sake, why? Don't be 
 a fool, man." 
 
 " Why? " without heat. "Do you really wish 
 to know why? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 Armstrong deliberated. 
 ' You yourself are one reason, friend Harry." 
 
 " I -- I don't understand." 
 ' Yes, you do. I 'm not without observation. 
 You yourself would n't advise me to marry 
 now." 
 
 "Steve!" 
 
 " You would n't, and you know you would n't. 
 No offence. We 're simply looking things 
 squarely in the eye. It 's merely the tragedy 
 
 r 139 1
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 of pennies among evolved humans who require 
 dollars to live and must live. Am I not 
 right, friend of mine?" 
 
 No severity this time, no commonplace 
 nothing. 
 
 " I repeat, no offence; just square in the eye. 
 Am I not right?" 
 
 "Right? I don't know. I can't answer." 
 A sudden blaze. ' You have no right to 
 suggest - 
 
 " No. Pardon me." Armstrong's face worked 
 in spite of himself. " Forget that I did sug 
 gest, Harry. It was brutal of me." 
 
 Randall said nothing. 
 
 " But with Elice and myself it 's different. 
 I Ve awakened in time. Providence, perhaps, 
 sometimes when we least expect it - 
 
 "Steve!" Randall had glanced up quickly, 
 self for the moment in abeyance. ' What do 
 you intend doing, tell me that ? " 
 
 "Doing?" It was almost surprise. "Have 
 you any honest doubt yet, after what I Ve told 
 you? " He halted, scrutinizing his friend's face, 
 and seemed satisfied. " I 'm going to release 
 her; release her unqualifiedly. I can at least 
 be man enough to do that." 
 
 " And if you do what of yourself? "
 
 Rebellion 
 
 Armstrong smiled forcedly, a slow, mirthless 
 smile. " Never mind about myself. I Ve glowed 
 genially for a long time, tried after my own 
 fashion to warm a hearth somewhere; but at 
 last I 'm burned out, nothing but cinders. Never 
 mind about myself. The discussion is futile." 
 
 Randall hesitated; then he gestured impo- 
 tently. 
 
 " Elice, then - For her sake at least - 
 
 " It 's for her sake I '11 do it, because she '11 
 never do it herself. I repeat, I can at least be 
 man enough to do that much for her, make 
 amends to that extent." He looked straight 
 before him, seeing nothing. "She '11 be happy 
 yet, when I 'm well out of the way." 
 
 " Steve! " Argument would not come, rebut 
 tal; only that cry that acknowledged its own 
 helplessness. " I can't bear to have things go 
 that way. I know you both so well, like you 
 so much." 
 
 "I realize that," dully; "but it's not your 
 fault, not any one's fault in particular that 
 I can see." 
 
 Randall did not gesture this time. Even that 
 avenue seemed barred. 
 
 " If I could only say something to influence 
 you, to convince you something adequate." 
 
 [ 141 1
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 ' There 's nothing to be said that I can see, 
 or done, for that matter. It 's like a church 
 catechism, cut and dried generations ahead." 
 
 It was the final word, and for a long time 
 they sat there silent, unconscious of the passing 
 minutes; alike gazing at the blank wall which 
 circumstance had thrown in the way, alike look 
 ing for an opening where opening there was 
 none. At last, when the silence had become un 
 bearable, Randall roused, and with an effort 
 forced a commonplace. 
 
 " Anyway, as yet you 're reckoning without 
 your host in this case Elice," he formalized. 
 " After you 've seen her - 
 
 " It will merely be ended then that is all." 
 
 " I 'm not so sure, even yet." 
 
 " I repeat that I know, know to finality. 
 Some things one can't question when they 're 
 awake. Moreover, I have a reason for knowing." 
 
 It was a new note, that last comment; a note 
 of repression where all before had been unre- 
 pressed. Moreover, it was a lead intentionally 
 offered. 
 
 u What is it, Steve? " asked the other simply. 
 ' There 's something yet which you have n't told 
 me." 
 
 * Yes." Once more Armstrong's eyes were
 
 Rebellion 
 
 on the wall straight before him, the wall he did 
 not see. " I merely suggested it a bit ago. I 
 said Elice had drifted away while I was being 
 patient. At first that drifting was very slow, 
 so slow that I did n't realize it myself ; during 
 the last few months she 's been going fast." The 
 speaker moistened his lips unconsciously; but, 
 watching, the other noticed. ' Things seldom 
 happen in this world without a reason, and they 
 did n't in this case." Suddenly, without warn 
 ing, he whirled, met the other eye to eye. " Do 
 I need to suggest more?" he asked steadily. 
 
 "Suggest more?" Randall's look was 
 blank. " I don't believe I understand." 
 
 " I mean concerning the reason I mentioned. 
 Have n't you noticed anything yourself, had any 
 intimation? " 
 
 " I know nothing, have noticed nothing." 
 
 " No? " Armstrong's scrutiny was merciless, 
 all but incredulous. " Nothing concerning Elice 
 and and Darley Roberts not a whisper?" 
 
 Against his will Randall's eyes dropped. At 
 last he understood. 
 
 ' You have heard. I thought so." Arm 
 strong fumbled with his cuffs, played for time, 
 which meant for self-control. " I 'm glad. It 
 saves my explaining." 
 
 [143]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 1 Yes, I Ve heard." Randall's tongue lagged 
 unwillingly. 'I couldn't help it; but believed, 
 in the least, before no. I thought he was 
 your friend." 
 
 ' Was, yes. Now - It 's been some time 
 since we came to an understanding; and he told 
 me, warned me. I don't blame him or her. 
 I Ve had my chance, ample chance, God knows. 
 ... It 's simply true." 
 
 Randall looked up unbelievingly. 
 
 " And you don't hate him, you who were his 
 friend?" 
 
 : ' Hate? ... I don't know, don't know any 
 thing these days except that I 'm down down ; 
 down in the mire, deep ! " It was the end, the 
 last crumb of confidence, and Armstrong leaped 
 to his feet. ' But what 's the use of dissecting 
 any more, what possible use? " His hat was in 
 his hand and he was heading for the door. 
 ' It 's all simply maddening, and I 'm a fool, 
 a visionary fool, who can't change myself or 
 alter events ; powerless - He halted, turned 
 half about. Instinctive courtesy sprang to his 
 lips. : ' Pardon me, Harry, for bothering you 
 with all this when you can do nothing. I had 
 no idea when I came of staying so long or - 
 or of making a spectacle of myself." He smiled, 
 
 [ 144 ]
 
 Rebellion 
 
 almost his old smile. " Forgive me this time 
 and I promise never to do it again, never." 
 He turned once more to the door. " Don't get 
 up, old man. I can find my way out. Good 
 night." 
 
 " Steve! Wait! " Randall too was on his feet, 
 a sudden premonition of things to come in his 
 mind, a feeling, more than of pity, for the in 
 tention he read clear in the other's face. " Don't 
 go yet don't go at all. Stay with me to-night, 
 please." 
 
 " Stay! " Armstrong too understood, and, un 
 derstanding, smiled ; a smile the other man never 
 forgot. "Stay to-night? . . . No, thank you. 
 I appreciate your motive," hurriedly, " don't 
 fancy it 's not that; but- " no questioning that 
 preventing gesture, no combating it - " but to 
 night I 'm going to forget. . . . Yes, and to 
 morrow night, and the next and the next! " 
 
 10 [ 145 ]
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 CATASTROPHE 
 
 fT^HREE evenings in succession a tall young 
 A man with an ulster turned up high above 
 his chin and a derby hat lowered well over his 
 eyes circled the block of which the Gleason lot 
 and cottage was a part. The first time, in front 
 of the house itself, he had merely halted, hands 
 deep in his pockets, obviously uncertain; then, 
 as though under strain of an immediate engage 
 ment beyond, had hastened on. The second time 
 he had passed up the walk, half way to the 
 door; had of a sudden changed his mind, and 
 disappeared rapidly as before. The third even 
 ing, the present, however, there had been no 
 uncertainty, no hesitation. Instead, he had 
 walked straight to the knocker, and, a gray- 
 haired man in lounging- jacket and carpet slip 
 pers answering his ring, had come to anchor in 
 the familiar den. From his moorings in the 
 single comfortable chair the place afforded, which 
 had been compellingly pressed upon him, he was 
 listening to the other's explanation. 
 
 [ 146]
 
 Catastrophe 
 
 " I think she '11 return soon, though, very 
 soon." Mr. Gleason adjusted his horn-rimmed 
 eyeglasses and peered near-sightedly at his big 
 open-faced silver watch. " She said she 'd be 
 back early and it 's nearly nine now." 
 
 " Something going on, something important, 
 I mean? " 
 
 " No; I don't think so. Just out for a little 
 air, and dropped in on one of the girls maybe. 
 She 's got three freshmen she 's coaching now, 
 and with that out-of-town class and the house 
 here - The long bony fingers tapped ab 
 sently tip to tip. " It 's the only time that 
 she has and I encourage, insist almost, that 
 she go." 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 The tapping fingers went still. 
 
 " I think sometimes I 'm a bit guilty that she 
 at her age that it should seem to be neces 
 sary, I mean - Maybe I imagine it, but it 
 seems to me as though Elice was sort of fagged 
 and different this winter." 
 
 The visitor unbuttoned his coat leisurely. 
 
 " I had n't noticed it," he refuted. 
 
 " No? I 'm glad to hear you say it. You 'd 
 have noticed, I guess, if any one. Probably it 's 
 all my imagination."
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " Elice herself has n't said anything, intimated 
 anything? " 
 
 " Not a word or a hint. Certainly not." 
 Something akin to surprise spoke in the quick 
 reply. " She even wanted to take on another 
 out-of-town class, but I vetoed that. She 's as 
 her mother was, Elice : always planning on doing 
 just a little more." 
 
 ' Than she ought, you think? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 Without apparent excuse, unconsciously, the 
 visitor rebuttoned his double-breasted coat. 
 
 " Some people," he commented, " work more 
 than they ought to, to forget; and others again 
 do various things." 
 
 'What? I beg your pardon." 
 
 ' To forget, to attain callousness, to cease to 
 feel. There are many formulas tried, many." 
 
 " I fear I fail to understand." 
 
 " Doubtless. I don't understand nryself. I 
 was simply rambling. Pardon me." 
 
 Over the horn nose-glasses Mr. Gleason scru 
 tinized the face of the younger man intently. 
 
 " Certainly. For what, though, I admit I 'm 
 mystified." He glanced away perfunctorily. 
 ' Everything is running normally, I suppose, 
 in your department?" 
 
 f 148 1
 
 Catastrophe 
 
 ' Yes, about as usual, Iguess, practically so." 
 
 " Better than usual according to Dean San- 
 ford," cheerfully. " He 's inclined to brag a 
 little this year, justifiedly, too, one must admit 
 from the attendance." 
 
 ' Yes, the attendance is excellent among 
 the students. Among the faculty did the dean 
 seem inclined to brag any on the faculty?" 
 
 "No; he only talked a few moments." Mr. 
 Gleason produced the big timepiece again has 
 tily. " Nine o'clock. I wonder what can be 
 keeping Elice," he fidgeted. 
 
 The visitor smiled, an odd smile, neither of 
 bitterness nor yet of amusement. 
 
 " Not inclined particularly to brag on his fac 
 ulty, the dean, I gather? " returned Armstrong. 
 
 The older man straightened. Out of kindness 
 he would retreat so far ; but if pursued - 
 
 " No, he barely mentioned the faculty, as I 
 remember." 
 
 " Not even the professor of chemistry? " 
 
 The horn-rimmed glasses had left their owner's 
 nose and, as they had a way of doing when the 
 old man was abstracted, swung like a pendulum 
 from his fingers. 
 
 " Not even the professor of chemistry? " re 
 peated Armstrong. 
 
 [ 149 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Very quietly the older man held his ground, 
 very steadily. 
 
 "Just what is it you wish to know, Steve?" 
 he asked directly. ' You gathered, of course, it 
 was a board meeting I referred to and confi 
 dential naturally. I think I need say no more." 
 
 " No, no more, certainly. I was merely curi 
 ous to know if you knew. You 've satisfied my 
 curiosity, I believe." 
 
 " Satisfied! I 'm afraid you 're taking a bit 
 for granted. I repeat, if you '11 tell me explicitly 
 what you wish - 
 
 " I was mistaken, then, after all," with a 
 peculiar direct look. ' You don't really know, 
 Sanford did n't announce - I 'm surprised. I 
 never fancied he 'd miss the opportunity. It 's 
 superhuman repression! " 
 
 For fully half a minute Mr. Gleason said 
 nothing; then at the interrupting sound of foot 
 steps in the storm vestibule, followed an instant 
 later by the click of a latch-key, he leaned sud 
 denly toward the younger man. 
 
 ' That 's Elice now," he said. The voice was 
 almost childishly hurried and curious. ' What 
 was it that you wondered I did n't know, that 
 Sanford didn't announce?" 
 
 From under shaded lids Armstrong observed 
 
 [ 150]
 
 Catastrophe 
 
 the change and smiled. The smile vanished as 
 a shadow passed through the entrance. 
 
 " I merely marvelled that the dean did n't 
 announce that there would be no professor of 
 chemistry after another week, the close of the 
 present semester," he said evenly. ' That is, 
 until a new one is appointed." 
 
 "Steve!" The old man's face went gray, 
 gray as the face of a believer whose gods 
 have been offered sacrilege. In the silence the 
 shadow advanced to the doorway of the room 
 itself; very real, paused there waiting, all-seeing, 
 listening. ' You mean you 're leaving the de 
 partment then, quitting for good? " 
 
 " For good, no, hardly." Again a laugh, but 
 tense now, forced. " Nor quitting. In plain 
 English I mean I 'm kicked out, fired. By re 
 quest, very insistent request, I 've resigned." 
 With an effort he met the girl's eyes fairly. 
 " I Ve babbled my last lecture in college halls, 
 piped my swan song. The curtain is down, the 
 orchestra has packed its instruments. Only the 
 echo now remains." 
 
 " Tell me about it, Steve." The old man had 
 gone, dodderingly, on a pitifully transparent 
 pretext. The girl had tossed coat and gloves 
 
 [151]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 For long, interminably long it seemed to the 
 watcher, the girl stood where she had paused, 
 midway; the figure of her still, too still, her 
 face shading first red to the ear tips, then slowly 
 colorless as understanding drove home. A half- 
 minute probably, in reality, immeasurably longer 
 to them both it seemed, she stood so. Without 
 a word she went back to her seat, remained 
 there, unnaturally still, her arms, bare to the 
 elbow in half sleeves, forming a great white V 
 as the clasped hands lay motionless in her lap. 
 
 For another half -minute no word was spoken, 
 no sound from without drifted into the room. 
 Suddenly the girl turned, her great dark eyes 
 met those of the man, held them steadily. 
 
 ' You said there was something else you 
 wished to tell me. I can't imagine anything 
 more, anything you did n't tell just now. How 
 ever, I 'm listening." 
 
 The man said nothing, nor moved --just 
 looked at her. 
 
 " I repeat, I 'm listening." 
 
 ' Yes, I notice." Armstrong pulled himself 
 together absently. " I was thinking of some 
 thing else; I 'd forgotten momentarily. I al 
 ways was an absent-minded specimen ; and lately 
 I Ve been worse than usual lately." 
 
 [ 154]
 
 Catastrophe 
 
 The girl merely waited this time, the great 
 brown eyes wide and dry. 
 
 ' When it comes to telling you, though," 
 stumbled on the man, " what I came to tell you 
 to-night, what I don't wish to tell you but 
 must Elice, don't look at me, please ; don't ! 
 My nerve 's gone. Don't you wish to ask me 
 questions instead?" 
 
 " Perhaps," obediently the girl turned away, 
 " after you Ve made things clear a bit. Don't 
 fancy I 'm trying to make it hard for you. 
 I 'm not, only, only - Remember, I 'm all in 
 the dark yet, all confused." 
 
 " Yes, I know and I 'm to blame. I Ve 
 been trying for a week to bring myself to tell 
 you, one thing at a time ; but I could n't, and 
 now everything 's tumbled on my head to 
 gether now." 
 
 " Everything? Steve, begin somewhere, any 
 where. Don't suggest things ; tell me. It 's been 
 ten days since you called last. Why was that? " 
 
 " I was afraid. I tried to come, but I 
 could n't." 
 
 "Afraid of what?" 
 
 " Of you, of myself, of life. I Ve known that 
 long to a certainty that the play was over be 
 tween you and me, but I could n't bring my- 
 
 r 155 1
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 For long, interminably long it seemed to the 
 watcher, the girl stood where she had paused, 
 midway; the figure of her still, too still, her 
 face shading first red to the ear tips, then slowly 
 colorless as understanding drove home. A half- 
 minute probably, in reality, immeasurably longer 
 to them both it seemed, she stood so. Without 
 a word she went back to her seat, remained 
 there, unnaturally still, her arms, bare to the 
 elbow in half sleeves, forming a great white V 
 as the clasped hands lay motionless in her lap. 
 
 For another half -minute no word was spoken, 
 no sound from without drifted into the room. 
 Suddenly the girl turned, her great dark eyes 
 met those of the man, held them steadily. 
 
 ' You said there was something else you 
 wished to tell me. I can't imagine anything 
 more, anything you did n't tell just now. How 
 ever, I 'm listening." 
 
 The man said nothing, nor moved just 
 looked at her. 
 
 " I repeat, I 'm listening." 
 
 ' Yes, I notice." Armstrong pulled himself 
 together absently. " I was thinking of some 
 thing else; I 'd forgotten momentarily. I al 
 ways was an absent-minded specimen ; and lately 
 I Ve been worse than usual lately." 
 
 f 1541
 
 Catastrophe 
 
 The girl merely waited this time, the great 
 brown eyes wide and dry. 
 
 " When it comes to telling you, though," 
 stumbled on the man, " what I came to tell you 
 to-night, what I don't wish to tell you but 
 must Elice, don't look at me, please ; don't ! 
 My nerve 's gone. Don't you wish to ask me 
 questions instead? " 
 
 " Perhaps," obediently the girl turned away, 
 " after you Ve made things clear a bit. Don't 
 fancy I 'm trying to make it hard for you. 
 I 'm not, only, only - Remember, I 'm all in 
 the dark yet, all confused." 
 
 " Yes, I know and I 'm to blame. I Ve 
 been trying for a week to bring myself to tell 
 you, one thing at a time ; but I could n't, and 
 now everything 's tumbled on my head to 
 gether now." 
 
 " Everything? Steve, begin somewhere, any 
 where. Don't suggest things ; tell me. It 's been 
 ten days since you called last. Why was that? " 
 
 " I was afraid. I tried to come, but I 
 could n't." 
 
 "Afraid of what?" 
 
 "Of you, of myself, of life. I Ve known that 
 long to a certainty that the play was over be 
 tween you and me, but I could n't bring my- 
 
 [ 155 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 self to say the word. It 's just this I was afraid 
 of. This!" 
 
 ' You mean to tell me now that all is over? " 
 Unconsciously this time the girl had shifted fac 
 ing; quietly again, too quietly was putting 
 the query direct: "That's what you're telling 
 me now? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " And why - Am I the cause have I by 
 word or act have I ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 ' Is it because you Ve lost your chair in the 
 University? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 "Why, then?" 
 
 " Because we Ve ceased to be necessary to 
 each other, have grown apart." 
 
 ' You think we Ve changed ? . . . I Ve not 
 changed." 
 
 " No. It 's I who have changed, have grown 
 away from you." 
 
 "Since when? Let's have it all. Let's un 
 derstand everything. Since when? " 
 
 : ' I don't know when, can't set a date. I 
 merely know." 
 
 ' That that you don't care for me any 
 more? " 
 
 [ 156]
 
 " Steve !" The girl was on her feet. I never dreamed, 
 never You poor boy ! " 
 
 [Page IBS]
 
 Catastrophe 
 
 A halt, a long, long halt. 
 
 " Yes, Elice," said a voice at last. " I 've 
 found out that I don't care for you any more." 
 
 As before, the girl said nothing, never 
 stirred. 
 
 " I shan't try to defend myself, try to ex 
 plain," stumbled on the man. ; ' I could n't if 
 I would. The thing has simply come about - 
 I wish to ask you to release me." 
 
 " Steve! " Of a sudden the girl was on her 
 feet, the forced composure of a moment ago in 
 tatters, the tiny hands locked tight. : ' I can't 
 believe it, can't credit it. I love you, Steve, in 
 spite of all you 've told me ; more, because you 
 need me more now." The locked fingers opened. 
 She came a step forward in mute appeal. ' Tell 
 me that you don't mean it, that you 're merely 
 acting, that, that- As suddenly she halted. 
 Her face hidden in her hands, she dropped back 
 into the seat. " Forget, please," she halted, 
 " that I did that. I did n't mean to. I - - 1 - 
 forget it." 
 
 ; ' Elice dear!" Aroused beyond his pur 
 pose, his determination, the man sprang from 
 his seat, his eyes ablaze, glorious. ' Elice - 
 
 " No, not pity! Never, a thousand times no! 
 Leave me alone a minute. I release you, yes, 
 
 [ 157 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 yes ; but don't come near me now. I 'm hys 
 terical and irresponsible. Don't, please ! " 
 
 Precisely where he stood Armstrong paused, 
 looking down. After that first involuntary 
 sound he had not spoken or come closer. He 
 merely remained there, waiting, looking; and as 
 he did so, though the room was far from close, 
 drops of sweat gathered on his forehead and 
 beneath his eyes. With a restless hand he 
 brushed them away and sat down. Another 
 minute passed, two perhaps; then suddenly, 
 interrupting, incongruous, there sounded the 
 strained rasp of his laugh. 
 
 " Elice," followed a voice, " are n't you through 
 -nearly?" Again the laugh; grating, un- 
 mirthful. " I Ve done this sort of thing iden 
 tically in novels several times, done it realistic 
 ally, I thought; but it never took this long by 
 minutes. Aren't you almost through?" 
 
 Surprised out of herself the girl looked up, 
 incredulous. 
 
 " Something must be wrong, art or reality, 
 one or the other. I - - I wonder which was 
 wrong, Elice?" 
 
 As suddenly as the mood of abandon had come 
 it passed; incredulity, its successor, as well. In 
 the space of seconds the miracle was wrought, 
 
 [ 158]
 
 Catastrophe 
 
 and another woman absolutely sat there looking 
 forth from the brown eyes of Elice Gleason. 
 
 " Steve! I thought I was ready for anything 
 after what you just told me, what you just 
 asked. But this deliberate insult. . . . Did 
 you mean it, Steve, really; or are you merely 
 acting? . . . Don't look away; this means the 
 world to you and me, and I want to be sure, 
 now. . . . Did you mean it, Steve, the way you 
 did it, deliberately? Tell me." 
 
 " Mean it? Certainly. It 's important, what 
 I asked, from an artist's point of view. Either 
 I was wrong or else reality is overdone. . . . 
 Repression 's the word, all critics agree, repres 
 sion invariably." 
 
 " Steve Armstrong! Stop! I won't stand it. 
 Listen. It 's unbelievable, but I must take you 
 at your word your own word. Do you mean 
 exactly what you've said, and done?" 
 
 Again the moisture sprang to Armstrong's 
 face, but this time there was no attempt at 
 procrastination. 
 
 ' Yes, Elice," he said, and looked her fair. 
 
 "Yes? Think. This is final." 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 An instant the look held; the brown eyes 
 dropped. 
 
 [159]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " I repeat, then, you are released, free." She 
 sat very still. " Is there anything else you wish 
 to say?" 
 
 " Perhaps. I don't know. . . . You mean, if 
 I have I 'm to say it now. I can't come again. 
 . . . You 're not going to forgive me? " 
 
 "Forgive? Certainly, if there is anything to 
 forgive. I had no thought otherwise." 
 
 " I 'm not to come again, though. You mean 
 that?" 
 
 " I fail to see the object. . . . To use an ex 
 pression of your own, it 's desecration to disturb 
 the corpse." 
 
 "Even if- 
 
 " Let 's not argue about nothing. I 'm not 
 cursed with nerves ordinarily, but there are 
 times - She arose slowly, stood there beside 
 her chair, gracefully slender, gracefully imperi 
 ous. ' You 've chosen deliberately, you know." 
 
 * Yes, I know." Armstrong too had arisen 
 in his dismissal, involuntarily obedient. " But 
 you said, before I told you, before you under 
 stood, that afterward, perhaps - You remem 
 ber you said that? " 
 
 " Yes ; I remember. Things are changed 
 now, though. What I had in mind you 've an 
 swered yourself. . . . One thing I would like 
 
 [ 160 ]
 
 Catastrophe 
 
 to ask, however, one thing that I hope you will 
 answer truly, no matter whether it hurts me or 
 not. It 's this : Was I to blame in any way 
 whatever, by word or act or suggestion, for your 
 losing your place in the University? Will you 
 answer me that and truly? " 
 
 From the chair where he had thrown it down 
 Armstrong took up the long ulster and buttoned 
 it mechanically to his throat. 
 
 "No, Elice," he repeated; "you're not at 
 fault in any way, by word or act or suggestion. 
 There 's no one at fault except myself." 
 
 ' Thank you. I would always have feared, 
 if I had n't asked, that somehow unintention 
 ally " She was silent. 
 
 Armstrong hesitated, waiting until there was 
 no longer hope. 
 
 ' You have nothing else you wish to say, 
 then? " he asked at last. 
 
 " Nothing ; unless it is this, that you know 
 already: I shall always believe in you, Steve, 
 always." 
 
 " Believe in me! " The shade of the old ironic 
 smile did duty. ' You think I shall still become 
 wealthy and famous? " 
 
 " Perhaps not," swiftly. " I never demanded 
 either qualification of you. Why should I lie 
 11 [ 161 1
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 now? Both are right and desirable in their place, 
 provided they come normally; but their place 
 is second, not first. You know what I mean. 
 I believe that you will always be clean and fair 
 and likeable always." 
 
 Involuntarily the man turned away, until his 
 face was hidden. 
 
 ' You believe this, and still you don't give 
 advice or or warning?" 
 
 " I repeat, I believe in you. Even if it were n't 
 an insult advice would not be necessary." 
 
 A last second they stood there, so near, so 
 very near together and still so infinitely far 
 apart. Dully, almost ploddingly, the man 
 turned to leave. 
 
 " Thank you, Elice," he said. " That 's prob 
 ably the last kind word I '11 hear for a long 
 time. Perhaps, too, it 's justified, perhaps 
 who knows? Good-night and good-bye." 
 
 The girl did not follow him, did not move. 
 
 " Good-bye, Steve," she echoed. 
 
 [ 162]
 
 BOOK II
 
 BOOK II 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 ANTICIPATION 
 
 " A RE you given to remembering dates, 
 -fTL Elice?" 
 
 There had been a pause, one of the inevi 
 table, normal pauses that occur when two people 
 who are intimate are alone and conversation 
 drifts where it will. Into this particular void, 
 without preamble, entered this question. 
 
 "Sometimes. Why?" 
 
 " Not always, then? " 
 
 " No. I have n't any particular tendency that 
 way that I know of. Possibly I 'm not yet old 
 enough for it to develop." 
 
 ' To be more specific, then, to-day is Decem 
 ber the sixth." Darley Roberts' eyelids nar 
 rowed whimsically. " Does that particular date 
 have any special significance, recall anything out 
 of the ordinary to you?" 
 
 Elice Gleason glanced up from the four-leafed 
 clover she was bringing to life on the scrap of 
 
 [ 165 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 linen in her lap, and looked at her companion 
 thoughtfully. 
 
 " From the way you come at me, point blank," 
 she smiled, " I have no doubt it should. Your 
 chance questions, I 've discovered, always do have 
 a string attached to them somewhere. But just 
 at this particular moment I admit December the 
 sixth recalls nothing in particular." 
 
 " Not even when I add, at approximately 
 eight o'clock in the evening? It 's that now. 
 I Ve been consulting the timepiece over there." 
 
 "No; not even that. I'm more and more 
 convinced it 's a distinct lapse on my part ; but 
 again I 'm compelled to confess incompetency. 
 When did what happen at approximately eight 
 P. M. on December the sixth? " 
 
 Darley Roberts stroked his great chin with 
 reminiscent deliberation. 
 
 " On December sixth, at eight o'clock p. M., 
 precisely one year ago," he explained minutely, 
 " a certain man called on a certain young woman 
 of his acquaintance for the first time. It was, 
 I am reliably informed, a momentous occasion 
 for him. Moreover he - Had you really for 
 gotten, Elice?" 
 
 " Yes the date." 
 
 " Strange. I had n't. Perhaps, though, it 
 
 [ 166 ]
 
 Anticipation 
 
 meant more to me than to you." He laughed 
 peculiarly. " I fancy I did n't tell you at the 
 time that it was the first call I 'd ever made on 
 a young woman in my life." He laughed again 
 with tolerant amusement. " I was thirty-three 
 years old then, too." 
 
 The girl drew a thread of green from a bundle 
 of silk in her lap deliberately. " No; you never 
 told me that," she corroborated. 
 
 The wrinkles gathering about Darley Roberts' 
 eyes suddenly deepened, infallible precursor of 
 the unexpected. 
 
 " By the way," he digressed, " I 'm growing 
 curious to know what you do with those things 
 you 're embroidering, those - 
 
 "Lunch cloths?" 
 
 ' That 's it, lunch cloths. The present makes 
 seven, one after the other, you 've completed. 
 I Ve kept count." 
 
 " Curious, you say? " The girl laughed softly. 
 " And still you Ve never asked." 
 
 " No. I fancied there 'd ultimately be an end, 
 a variation at least; but it seems I was mis 
 taken. Do you expect to keep them, as a man 
 does a case of razors, one for each day of the 
 week?" 
 
 Agrun the soft little amused laugh. 
 
 [ 167]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " Hardly. I sell them. There are five more 
 in prospect an even dozen." 
 
 " Oh. I wondered." 
 
 Another void; an equally abrupt return. 
 
 ' To come back to the date," recalled the man, 
 " I remembered it distinctly this morning when 
 I tore the top leaf off the desk-pad. It stood 
 out as though it were printed in red ink, like 
 the date of a holiday. I do I show signs of 
 becoming senile childish, Elice?" 
 
 " Not that I 've noticed. You seem normal." 
 
 " Nor irresponsible moonstruck nothing 
 of that kind?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 " I 'm glad to hear it. I did n't know. . . . 
 Somehow this morning the sight of that date 
 made me do a thing I have n't done since I 
 don't know when. I had a consuming desire to 
 celebrate." 
 
 The girl's head was bent low, the better to 
 see her work. 
 
 "Yes?" she said. 
 
 Again the man stroked his chin, with the 
 former movement of whimsical deliberation. 
 
 " Do you know what people down town, people 
 I do business with, call me, Elice?" he asked. 
 
 " No." 
 
 [ 168]
 
 Anticipation 
 
 "Never heard of 'old man' Roberts?" 
 
 " No," again. 
 
 ; ' Well, that 's me old man Roberts old 
 man thirty-four. . . . By the way, what do 
 you call me, Elice?" 
 
 "Mr. Roberts," steadily. 
 
 " Not Darley; not once in all this last year? " 
 
 No answer. 
 
 " Not Darley even once? " 
 
 " I think not." 
 
 The eyes of the man smiled, the eyes only. 
 
 ' To return again, old man Roberts had a 
 desire to celebrate. The date was on his brain. 
 He did n't even take off his coat after he 'd seen 
 it normally the old man works in his shirt 
 sleeves, you know he just walked back from 
 his private room into the general office. ' To 
 day 's a holiday,' he said. 
 
 ' They stared, the office force there are 
 seven of them. They didn't say a word; they 
 just stared. 
 
 'I say to-day 's a holiday,' the old man re- 
 repeated, ' shut up shop.' ' 
 
 There was a silence. In it Miss Gleason 
 glanced up into two eyes smiling out of a 
 blank face. Her own dropped. Simultane 
 ously, also, her ears tinged scarlet. 
 
 [ 1691
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Darley Roberts laughed a low tolerant laugh 
 at his own expense. 
 
 " Still think I was n't irresponsible moon 
 struck nothing of the kind?" 
 
 " No Mr. Roberts." 
 
 ' Wait. After the force had gone, still star 
 ing, the old man went back to his desk. He 
 looked up a number in the telephone directory. 
 'Mr. Herbert? Roberts, Darley Roberts. - 
 I 'd like to see you personally. Yes, at once. 
 I 'm waiting.' ' 
 
 Again the girl glanced up; something made 
 her. And again she encountered those same 
 eyes smiling out of a masked face. 
 
 ' The old man waited ; ten minutes maybe. 
 He didn't do a thing; just waited. Then 
 events came to pass." Once more the little 
 throaty laugh. ' Mr. Herbert,' he said, ' your 
 house you advertise for sale. How much this 
 morning? ' 
 
 " Mr. Herbert seemed surprised, distinctly 
 surprised. He was only half through the door 
 at the time. 
 
 ' Eighteen thousand dollars. It cost twenty,' 
 - after he 's caught his breath. 
 
 ' It cost you fifteen even. I Ve been to some 
 trouble to find out.' 
 
 [ 170]
 
 Anticipation 
 
 'You can't know the place, Mr. Mr. 
 Roberts.' 
 
 " ' Yes. Top of the hill. Faces east and north. 
 Terra cotta, brick. For reasons you know best 
 it 's been vacant for a month now.' 
 
 ' You can't know the inside, I mean. It 's 
 finished in solid hardwood, every inch.' 
 
 * Yes, I Ve seen it ; oak in front, mahogany in 
 the dining-room, rosewood in the den. I Ve seen it.' 
 
 ' When? I Ve lived there nine years until 
 just lately. Not in that time.' 
 
 ' Yes, during that time. I was at a party 
 there once, a university party which Mrs. 
 Herbert gave.' 
 
 " ' All right. Maybe you know.' 
 
 ' Unquestionably. I repeat the place cost 
 you fifteen thousand.' 
 
 ' The price now is eighteen.' 
 " ' You don't wish to sell at fifteen? ' 
 " ' No.' 
 " ' That 's all, then.' 
 
 ' Roberts confound it - 
 
 ' I 'm sorry to have bothered you. I thought 
 you wished to sell.' 
 
 ' I Ve got to, but I don't have to give it 
 away.' 
 
 'I repeat I 'm sorry to have bothered you/ 
 
 [ 171 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 * I '11 see you again ; to-morrow perhaps ' 
 ' I shall be very busy to-morrow. To-day 's 
 
 a holiday.' 
 
 * A holiday ! Anyway I have n't the ab 
 stract.' 
 
 ' Unnecessary. I said I knew all about the 
 place. I see the deed there in your pocket. 
 You anticipated, I see.' 
 
 ' Well, of all the inexplicable hurry ! ' 
 
 * Shall I write you a check for fifteen 
 thousand? ' " 
 
 Darley Roberts halted. For the third time 
 he laughed. 
 
 ' You gather, perhaps," he said, " that I 
 bought a house this morning. Afterward I 
 bought a few other things just a few. After 
 that I moved in ; into two rooms. I 've had 
 rather a busy day, all told, celebrating cele 
 brating December the sixth. . . . How about 
 it, Elice, now that I Ve elaborated. Any signs 
 of senility, irresponsibility, yet? " 
 
 " No," very steadily. " It seems perfectly 
 natural to me for a man to want a house." 
 
 " Perhaps you 're right. Yes ; I do want a 
 house, no doubt about it; particularly that 
 house. I 've been intending to own it sometime 
 for quite a spell for some eight years now; 
 
 [ m]
 
 Anticipation 
 
 to be exact, since the time I saw it before. . . . 
 You know the place, don't you?" 
 
 " Yes, very well." 
 
 " I fancied so. ... By the way, do you re 
 call that occasion I referred to?" 
 
 " Indistinctly." 
 
 " I fancied that too. . . . You don't remem 
 ber by any chance what a lion I was that 
 night?" 
 
 " No, Mr. Roberts." 
 
 "Not 'no, Barley'?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Not even yet ; and it 's been a year ! . . . 
 As I was about to say, though, I recall dis 
 tinctly. I remember I had a perfectly delight 
 ful time listening to the others' conversation. 
 Likewise dancing with myself in a shadowy 
 corner. Also eating lunch with myself later. 
 I had ample time to think and I decided event 
 ually that there 'd been a slight mistake some 
 how when my name got on the list. ... I liked 
 the house, though, very much; so much that I 
 decided to buy it sometime at a nominal fig 
 ure. I did n't feel peculiarly generous that night 
 when I made the decision. . . . Last of all, I 
 recall I met a girl; rather young then, but 
 rather pleasant also, I thought. She talked to 
 
 [ 173 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 me for an entire minute. I know because I held 
 my breath the while, and that 's my limit. She 
 was the only one who apparently did see me 
 that night, though. Perhaps her being rather 
 young was why." 
 
 The voice ceased. The speaker looked at the 
 listener. Simultaneously the listener looked at 
 the speaker. They smiled, companionably, un- 
 derstandingly. 
 
 ' That 's all, I believe, I have to impart con 
 cerning December the sixth, all concerning the 
 celebration. That is - " of a sudden the banter 
 ing voice was serious and low - " that is, unless 
 there 's something more you 'd like to know." 
 
 The girl was busy with the clover again, very 
 busy. 
 
 : ' I think you Ve told me all there is to tell," 
 she said steadily. " I understand." 
 
 Darley Roberts waited; but that was all. 
 
 ' Very well." The voice was normal again, 
 tolerant, non-committal. " It 's your turn, then. 
 I fear I 'm becoming positively loquacious. I 
 monopolize the conversation. Let 's hear your 
 report since - - Thanksgiving, I believe, the 
 last time I heard it." 
 
 For some reason the girl lost interest in her 
 work. At least there seemed less need of im- 
 
 [ m]
 
 Anticipation 
 
 mediate haste. She rolled the silks and the linen 
 together with a little unconscious sigh of relief. 
 
 " Since Thanksgiving," she said, " I 've cooked 
 eighteen meals for father and myself. I Ve been 
 out of town once, coached two thick heads twice 
 each, attended one bridge party or was it five 
 hundred? I believe that 's all." 
 
 "Not had a call from Miss Simpson?" smil 
 ingly. 
 
 " How did you know? " 
 
 " I don't know. I asked you." 
 
 'Yes; Agnes called of course." 
 
 ' What report of your friends the Randalls, 
 then? " 
 
 " Shame on you really." 
 
 " No. I did n't mean it that way really. 
 You know it. I 'm interested because you are. 
 How are things coming on with them? " 
 
 The girl fingered the roll in her lap absently. 
 " Badly, I 'm afraid. Margery 's gone to Chi 
 cago to visit her cousin, and shop. She can't 
 seem to realize or won't. I went over and 
 baked some things for Harry yesterday. He 's 
 dismissed the maid they had and the place looks 
 as cheerful as a barn. I did n't even see him." 
 ' You noticed the house, though, doubtless. 
 Much new furniture about?" 
 
 [175]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 'Yes, for the dining-room; a complete new 
 suite, sideboard and all, in weathered oak. It 's 
 dear. . . . How in the world did you know, 
 though?" 
 
 " A big rug, too, and curtains, and a lot 
 of things? " 
 
 " How did you know, you? Tell me that." 
 
 ' Would you say it was worth four hundred 
 dollars in all, what you saw? " The eyes were 
 smiling again. 
 
 " Perhaps. I don't know. I have never 
 bought such things. . . . You have n't answered 
 my question yet." 
 
 " I know because Mr. Randall told me. He 
 also requested me, as a favor, to ask you about 
 them instead of going to the house myself." 
 
 ' Which means you made him a loan to pay 
 the bill. Are you a friend of Harry's?" 
 
 " A loan, yes. A friend only as your friends 
 are mine." 
 
 " It 's too bad, a burning shame when 
 Harry works so hard, too." The girl winked 
 fast, against her will. " I can't quite forgive 
 Margery." 
 
 " For going to Chicago? " 
 
 " For everything. For that too." 
 
 "Not if I told you I advised her to go?" 
 
 [ 176 ]
 
 Anticipation 
 
 "You!" In astonishment complete the girl 
 stared. 'You advised her to go?" 
 
 " Yes, the same day I made Randall the loan. 
 It was really a coincidence. I wondered they 
 did n't meet in the elevator." 
 
 " A lawyer in a little town like this, with 
 several departments in his business, comes in 
 contact with a variety of things," he commented 
 after a moment. 
 
 " Tell me about Margery." The girl seemed 
 to have heard that suggestion only. " I can't 
 understand, can't believe really." 
 
 For a moment Roberts was silent. There 
 was no banter in his manner when he looked 
 up at last. 
 
 " I did n't tell you this merely to gossip," he 
 said slowly ; " I think you appreciate that with 
 out my saying it; but somehow I felt that you 
 ought to know that if any one could do any 
 good there it is you. I never met either of 
 them before, that 's another coincidence ; but 
 from what you Ve told me and the little I 
 saw of them both that day, I felt dead 
 sorry. Besides, life 's so short, and I hate 
 divorce." 
 
 " You can't mean it has come to that? " 
 
 " It had n't come, but it was coming fast. 
 
 12 [ 177 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 She visited me first. From there she was going 
 straight to her father to stay." 
 
 " It 's horrible, simply horrible and so un 
 justified! You induced her, though, to go to 
 Chicago instead? " 
 
 " It was a compromise, a play for time. I 
 tried to get her to go back home, but she refused, 
 positively. The only alternative seemed to be to 
 get her away quick. . . . Was I right?" 
 
 ' Yes, I think so, under the circumstances. 
 But the trouble itself, I can't understand yet 
 Was it that abominable furniture? " 
 
 " Partly. At least that was the final straw, the 
 match to the fuse. The whole thing had been 
 gathering slowly for a long time. I did n't get 
 the entire story, of course. She was n't exactly 
 coherent. It seems she ordered it on her own re 
 sponsibility, and when the goods were delivered 
 - the thing was merely inevitable, some time 
 that was all." 
 
 "Inevitable? No. It was abominable of 
 Margery unforgivable." 
 
 " I don't know about that; in fact I 'm in 
 clined to differ. I still maintain it was inevitable." 
 
 "Inevitable fiddlesticks! Harry is the best- 
 natured man alive, and generous. He 's been too 
 generous, too easy; that 's the trouble."
 
 Anticipation 
 
 "'Generous?'" gently. "'Generous?' . . . 
 Is it generous for a man with nothing and no 
 prospect of anything to take a girl out of a 
 home where money was never a consideration, 
 and transplant her into another where practic 
 ally it is the only thought? . . . 'Generous' 
 for his own pleasure, to undertake to teach her 
 a financial lesson he knew to a moral certainty 
 in advance she could never learn? Do you hon 
 estly call that ' generous ' ? " 
 
 " But she could learn. It was her duty." 
 
 "Duty!" Roberts laughed tolerantly. "Is 
 ' uuty ' in the dictionary you use a synonyme for 
 ' cooking ' and ' scrubbing ' and ' drudgery ' ? Is 
 that your interpretation? " 
 
 " Sometimes in this case, yes; for a time." 
 
 " Permanently, you mean? " 
 
 " No ; for a time until Harry got on his 
 feet." 
 
 " He '11 never get on his feet unaided. Instead 
 he '11 get more and more wobbly all the time. 
 The past proves the future. He 's proved it." 
 
 " You 're simply horrid." There were real 
 tears in the girl's eyes now, not a mere premoni 
 tion. " I 'm sorry I ever told you anything about 
 them." 
 
 " I know I 'm horrid, grant it. A friend I 
 [ 179 1
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 once had told me I was a fish, cold-blooded 
 like one. Nature made me that way, you see, 
 so I can't help it. And still I 'm inclined to be 
 lieve if Mrs. Randall had chanced to select any 
 other lawyer in town there 'd be a real separation, 
 instead of one in prospect, right now." 
 
 Elice Gleason looked up penitently. 
 
 " I 'm sorry," she said simply. " I did n't 
 mean that." 
 
 " I don't doubt it," equally simply. 
 
 ' You 're so blunt and logical though ; so 
 abstract." 
 
 ' Yes; I am that way." 
 
 The girl drew a long breath. Seemingly, after 
 all, the victory was hers. 
 
 ' Well, what are we going to do about it? We, 
 their friends, have to do something." 
 
 ' Yes, that 's the question what? " 
 
 " Margery will never go back now of herself. 
 I know her." 
 
 " No; she '11 never go back of herself, never. 
 Do you blame her? " 
 
 No answer. The query was sudden. 
 
 " Honest, do you blame her? " insistently. 
 
 "I thought I did. I don't know I don't 
 know." 
 
 " Does * love, honor, and obey ' mean ' wash, 
 
 [ 180 ]
 
 Anticipation 
 
 bake, and scrub ' to a girl who has never in her 
 life before done any of the three?" 
 
 Still silence. 
 
 ; ' Would you, if you were in her place, come 
 back would you? " 
 
 " I? " It was almost a gasp. " I 'm not like 
 Margery. I Ve counted pennies all my life." A 
 sudden flame. " But why do you bring me in? " 
 
 "Why? That's true. I had no right. I 
 apologize. To come back to Mrs. Randall. " Do 
 you still blame her? " 
 
 " No, I don't believe I do. I ought to, I feel 
 that; but I don't. It 's tangled, tangled !" 
 
 ' Yes. It 's the first symptom of divorce." 
 
 The girl flashed him a sudden look. 
 
 " And you hate divorce. You just said so." 
 
 " From the bottom of my soul. I meant it." 
 
 Miss Gleason flashed a second look. Sur- 
 denly, unaccountably, she held the reins. 
 
 ' What 's to be done then? Margery is as she 
 is, we both know that ; and and Harry loves 
 her, we both know that, too. What do you 
 suggest? " 
 
 " I ? " Roberts smiled, his slow smile. " I 'm 
 her lawyer and abstract. Besides, her father 
 is wealthy. There 'd be a fat fee if she returned 
 to him." 
 
 [181]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 ' You forget that I apologized." 
 
 ' That 's right. I 'm always forgetting." Ap 
 parently he did not remember even yet. 
 
 ' You 've neglected to answer my question," 
 impatiently. " I repeat: what are you going to 
 do about it? " 
 
 " I asked your solution first. Do you give it 
 up?" 
 
 ' Yes," with a little gesture; " I give it up." 
 
 Darley Roberts smiled; a contagious, con 
 vincing smile. 
 
 " Very well, I '11 try then," he said. " I shan't 
 promise anything. I '11 simply try." 
 
 "Try how?" 
 
 Again Roberts smiled; but through whimsi 
 cally narrowed lids now. 
 
 " I 'm not sure of the details yet myself. I 
 merely have an idea. There 's an old adage con 
 cerning Mahomet and the mountain, you know." 
 
 " And in this case Margery represents the 
 mountain? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 Unconsciously the girl's color heightened. 
 
 ' You really fancy," swiftly, " that Harry can 
 be stirred up enough, can be made practical 
 enough you forget you said a moment ago 
 that he would never advance financially." 
 
 [ 182]
 
 Anticipation 
 
 " No. The adage will have to be adjusted 
 a bit to meet the requirements. He '11 have to 
 be carried there." 
 
 Elice Gleason drew a quick little breath of 
 understanding and something more. 
 
 "If you '11 do this for one almost a stranger, 
 one wonders what you would do for a friend," 
 she said; "one wonders." 
 
 For an instant the man said nothing ; abruptly, 
 dismissing the subject, he arose. 
 
 ' There 's just one other thing that I meant 
 to tell you," he said; "something that perhaps 
 you know already. I 'm pretty busy and I 
 don't always find time to read the local news. 
 So it 's not unusual that I did n't know before. 
 Steve Armstrong is back." 
 
 Quietly the girl arose also, stood so very still. 
 
 ' Yes," she said. " He 's been back a week. 
 He 's working in the big drug-store on the cor 
 ner, Shaw's place, in the laboratory." 
 
 ' That 's all, then. I thought perhaps you 
 did n't know." 
 
 For an instant the girl was silent; she looked 
 her companion full in the face. 
 
 " He called the afternoon he came. He was 
 almost pitiable. Father came home finally." 
 
 "Elice!" 
 
 [ 183 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Their eyes held. Not three feet separate they 
 stood there; but neither stirred. 
 
 "Mr. Roberts." 
 
 In silence the man put on top-coat and gloves ; 
 not hastily, nor yet lingeringly. Equally natu 
 rally he picked up his hat. 
 
 " December the sixth," he said. " One whole 
 year. To-morrow will be the seventh and 
 business battle, again." For the first time 
 he dallied, the big soft felt hat turning absently 
 in his hand. " Somehow I 'd hoped a lot for the 
 sixth, planned a lot and now it 's past." His 
 eyes shifted, fastened elsewhere compellingly. 
 
 "It is all past, all over, gone into history, 
 isn't it, Elice?" 
 
 " Yes, it 's past, Mr. Roberts." 
 
 " Not even ' past, Darley,' not even that 
 
 yet?" 
 
 The brown eyes dropped. They had fought 
 their fight and won for December the sixth. 
 " No. Not even that yet," she said. 
 
 [184]
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 ACQUAINTANCE 
 
 AT the corner next beyond the Gleason home 
 Darley Roberts caught the nine o'clock 
 car, and remained on it until the end of the 
 division, practically the extreme opposite edge 
 of* the town, was reached. He was the last 
 passenger to leave, and as the motorman was 
 reversing the trolley he paused a moment in the 
 vestibule. 
 
 " Normal load was it, Johnson? " he asked 
 the conductor. ' You rang up twenty-four 
 fares, I noticed." 
 
 The man looked consciously surprised to be 
 called by name. 
 
 ' Yes, Mr. Roberts," he said; " we carry any 
 where between twenty and thirty at this time 
 of night." 
 
 " How about the next trip, nine-thirty? " 
 
 " Better yet if anything." 
 
 "And the next, the last?" 
 
 [ 185 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " Best of all. The straps are nearly always 
 loaded." 
 
 Roberts buttoned up his coat deliberately. 
 
 ' Think it would pay to run a couple of hours 
 longer? " he asked, and this time the conductor 
 all but flushed at the unexpected confidence. 
 
 ' Yes ; I 'm sure it would, Mr. Roberts ; 
 especially when the school 's in session. The 
 boys would ride half the night if they could." 
 
 ' There seems to be a good deal in that. By 
 the way, you have only one shift on this car 
 now, I understand." 
 
 It was the long-hoped-for opportunity and 
 Johnson grew eloquent. 
 
 " Right you are, and it 's the dog's life for 
 us men. I Ve had only one hot meal a day 
 since I took the job." He searched the impas 
 sive face before him with a glance. " If the 
 schedule was stretched a little, now, at either 
 end and a second shift added - 
 
 ' That 's a good idea. I 'm glad it occurred 
 to you. Better speak to the superintendent 
 about it yourself; he '11 see the point." Roberts 
 alighted deliberately. " Any suggestion you 
 men in the service make is valuable." As he 
 vanished up the street toward his destination, 
 in the fulness of knowledge that the contem- 
 
 [ 186]
 
 Acquaintance 
 
 plated suggestion had been decided from the 
 turning of the first wheel on the system, he left 
 behind him a man imbued with an esprit de corps 
 that was to grow and leaven the entire working 
 force. It took but a minute all told! 
 
 Five minutes later, in the half dark doorway 
 of a cottage on a side street, he was face to 
 face with Harry Randall. 
 
 " Pardon me if I intrude," he was saying, 
 " but I 'm going out of town to-morrow and I 
 wish to talk with you a bit before I go. Can 
 you spare me a little time?" 
 
 " Certainly." Randall's manner was decidedly 
 stiff. Nevertheless he led the way through the 
 vestibule and living-room to the dining-room be 
 yond. There he halted significantly. " By the 
 way," he began, " the furniture I mentioned - 
 
 "Damn the furniture!" Roberts met his 
 host's look steadily. 'You know me better 
 than that, by reputation if nothing more. I 
 said I wished to talk with you. May I?" 
 
 Randall colored, and the stiffness vanished as 
 by a miracle. 
 
 " Pardon me," he said. " I Ve got a sort of 
 den upstairs where I do my work." Again he 
 led the way. " My wife 's out of town, though, 
 now, and things are a bit mussy." 
 
 [ 187]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Roberts made no comment, and they mounted 
 the stairs in silence. 
 
 Inside the room the visitor swept the place 
 with a single all-including glance. Thereafter, 
 apparently, he observed nothing. 
 
 " First of all, then," he initiated bluntly, " do 
 I intrude? If so, I can tell my business in five 
 minutes; if not, we might possibly become 
 acquainted." 
 
 Again Randall colored; then he smiled, his 
 saving quality. 
 
 " Not in the least. It 's Friday night, you 
 know. In addition I was a bit lonely. I 'm 
 distinctly glad to see you." 
 
 ' Which, interpreted, means glad to see any 
 one." 
 
 ' Yes, I suppose so." 
 
 For an instant the old odd smile shone in 
 Roberts' eyes, then it disappeared, leaving them 
 normal, inscrutable. 
 
 ' To begin with, then, I came primarily to 
 talk about Steve Armstrong. I believe he 's a 
 friend of yours." 
 
 4 Yes." A halt, then the query direct re 
 turned. "Is he of yours?" 
 
 " I '11 answer that question later, if you please. 
 At least he 's the one adult to date I can re- 
 
 [ 188]
 
 Acquaintance 
 
 member who ever called me by my first name. 
 Did you know that he 'd returned to town? " 
 
 ' Yes. He was here last night." 
 
 "Responsible, was he?" 
 
 "Mr. Roberts!" Randall flushed like a 
 woman with strangers. " Pardon me, but there 
 are some questions I can't answer at least 
 until you answer my own of a moment 
 ago." 
 
 " I understand perfectly. Also, contrary to 
 your suspicion, I did n't avoid your question 
 to make it difficult for you. It requires two to 
 be friends. Enmities I, personally, have none. 
 Life 's too short and too busy. If it will as 
 sist you any, I met Armstrong in the street this 
 evening face to face, and he declined to speak. 
 I judge he 's no friend to me. Am I any more 
 clear? " 
 
 " Yes," simply. 
 
 "Do you wish to answer my question now, 
 then?" 
 
 " I judge you have a good reason for ask 
 ing. He was not responsible, wholly." 
 
 "Not even decently so?" 
 
 " Hardly." 
 
 " I gathered as much from his appearance 
 to-night. It was the first time I 'd seen him 
 
 [ 189 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 in nearly a year. You know the whole story 
 between Armstrong and myself, I take it? " 
 
 ' Yes," once more. 
 
 " And your sympathy is naturally with him." 
 
 " It has been." 
 
 "And now- 
 
 The smile that made Randall's face boyish 
 came into being. 
 
 ; ' I 'm deferring judgment now and observ- 
 ing." 
 
 " I fear I can't help you much there," said 
 Darley, shortly. " I wished to discuss the future 
 a bit, not the past. The last time I talked with 
 Armstrong he w r as impossible. I think you 
 know what I mean. All men are that way when 
 they lose their nerve and drown the corpse. 
 What I wish to ask of you is whether the thing 
 was justified. I 'm not artistic. I don't brag 
 of it I admit it. You 're different; your opin 
 ion is of value. Commercially, he 's an impos 
 sibility. He could n't hold a place if he had it 
 - any place. I don't need to tell you that 
 either. As a writer can he write, or can't 
 he?" 
 
 Harry Randall took off his big eyeglasses 
 and polished one lens and then the other. 
 
 " In my opinion, yes and no." He held the 
 
 [ 190 1
 
 Acquaintance 
 
 glasses to the light, seemed satisfied, and placed 
 them carefully on his nose. " A great writer - 
 he '11 never be that. It takes nerve and infinite 
 patience to be anything great, and Steve invari 
 ably loses his nerve too soon. He lacks just 
 that much of being big. As for ability, the 
 spark he 's got it, Roberts, as certainly as 
 you and I are sitting here. Elementally, he 's a 
 child and will always remain a child. I think 
 most artists are more or less so. Children can't 
 bear criticism or delay uncertain delay that 's 
 Steve. On the other hand, if he were encour 
 aged, kept free on the financial side, left at lib 
 erty to work when he felt the mood, and then 
 only, then - - I realize it 's a big ' if ' and a big 
 contract for some one he 'd make good. Have 
 I answered your question?" 
 
 'Yes. And here's another: Is it worth 
 while?" 
 
 ' To bolster him, you mean; to ' pull him out 
 of the mud,' to use his own phrase?" 
 
 "No; that would be a waste of energy. I 
 mean to keep him out permanently, to continue 
 pulling indefinitely." 
 
 For a long time the two men sat in silence. 
 
 " God knows," said Randall at last. " I Ve 
 asked myself the same question for years and
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 could n't answer it. It 's as big as the universe. 
 Steve is simply an atom. It 's unanswerable." 
 
 In the pause following Roberts lit one of the 
 seemingly inexhaustible black cigars, after prof 
 fering its mate. Again the two sat there, the 
 blue haze of mutual understanding gathering 
 between them. 
 
 '' I say it 's unanswerable," repeated Randall. 
 " It 's the old problem of the young supporting 
 the uselessly old, the well serving the incurably 
 diseased. It means eternal vigilance from some 
 one, eternal sacrifice. It 's insoluble, neither 
 more nor less." 
 
 " Yes," said Roberts. " I Ve found it so - 
 insoluble. Particularly so in this case." 
 
 Slowly Randall's glance lifted, met the other's 
 eyes. That instant, as a flame is born, came 
 full understanding between them. 
 
 ' Yes, particularly so in this case," echoed 
 Roberts; " for it means a woman's sacrifice, one 
 particular woman's sacrifice. Nothing else in 
 the world will do nothing." 
 
 It was the beginning of personal confidence, 
 the halting-point for conversation between these 
 two. Both knew it and neither crossed the line. 
 They merely waited until a digression should 
 come naturally. Roberts it was who at last in- 
 
 [ 192]
 
 Acquaintance 
 
 troduced it, and in a manner so matter of fact 
 that the other was all but deceived. 
 
 " Has Armstrong been doing anything lately 
 in a literary way anything, I mean, that justi 
 fies your opinion? " he asked abruptly. 
 
 " No, not that I know of; absolutely nothing." 
 
 ' You 're relying, then, on past impressions 
 merely." 
 
 ' Yes ; specifically the last novel he wrote, - 
 the one of a year or a year and a half or so 
 ago." 
 
 ' You have n't by any chance a copy of the 
 manuscript, I suppose?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 ' You could doubtless get it, however? " 
 
 " I think so unless some time he became 
 morbid and burned it." 
 
 " He has n't done that ; I know him. He 
 might threaten ; but to do it he 'd as prob 
 ably go hungry. Get it some time, will you? " 
 
 " I will if you request. You don't wish it 
 for yourself, do you? " 
 
 " No, not for myself. Perhaps not at all. 
 I Ve not decided yet. Anyway get it, please, 
 and be ready if I should ask." He flashed a 
 look no man had ever questioned, could ques 
 tion. 'You don't doubt my motive?" 
 
 13 [ 193 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " No. The manuscript will be ready. I '11 
 answer for that." 
 
 No further question of interest was asked, no 
 additional hint of purpose proffered. The sub 
 ject merely dropped, as in the beginning it had 
 merely begun. In some ways they were simi 
 lar, these two men in general so dissimilar. 
 
 " I had another object in calling to-night," 
 said Roberts, and again the announcement was 
 made without preface. ' The opportunity to 
 buy a house presented itself to-day and I ac 
 cepted. Perhaps you know the place, J. C. 
 Herbert's, on top of the hill." 
 
 ' Yes." Open wonder spoke in the voice, open 
 mystification. ' Yes, I know it." 
 
 ' It 's been vacant for some time. I moved 
 this afternoon, just into a couple of rooms. My 
 boy is there now trying to warm up the place; 
 but even then it won't be particularly inviting. 
 Besides, I 'm out of town quite a bit and in the 
 future am likely to be called away still more. 
 It occurred to me that if I could find some 
 married people whom I trusted, who would take 
 a personal interest in it and make it a home, 
 it would be pleasanter for me than being tucked 
 away in a couple of rooms alone and the rest 
 of the barn empty." 
 
 [ 194 ]
 
 Acquaintance 
 
 'Yes," repeated Randall, impersonally, "I 
 think I appreciate your point of view. It 's a 
 little cheerless to be in a house alone." 
 
 " I would n't expect to interfere with them 
 in any way," Roberts drifted on, " or live with 
 them nothing of the kind. As I said, I prob 
 ably should n't even be there much ; only at 
 night. I 'd expect to keep it up coal and 
 light and that sort of thing just the same as 
 I would have to do if I were alone. I 'd natu 
 rally wish to help furnish it, too; the things 
 that would inevitably fit in with it and would n't 
 fit 'any place else. But the main thing would 
 be to have somebody about to make my own 
 corner livable, to sort of humanize the place. 
 You catch my idea? " 
 
 ' Yes, I think so." Harry Randall's hand 
 was on his bald spot, caressing it absently. 
 ' Yes, I think so," he repeated. 
 
 " It 's a big place, even larger than I remem 
 bered, when I went through it to-day," went 
 on Roberts again. " It '11 take considerable help 
 to keep it up and some one will have to be 
 about constantly to direct. I have the help in 
 mind right now, competent too - I meet a lot 
 of people in various ways and I 've had the thing 
 on my mind ; but the supervision it 's simply 
 
 \ 195 1
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 out of the question with me at the present." 
 He faced the other, looked at him straight. 
 ' Would you and Mrs. Randall care to accept 
 the place as a home in return for taking the 
 responsibility of up-keep from me? " 
 
 In the pause following Harry Randall's face 
 went slowly red. Equally directly he met the 
 other's look. 
 
 " Pardon me, Mr. Roberts," he said, " but 
 Mrs. Randall and myself are not exactly objects 
 of charity yet." 
 
 Darley Roberts' expression did not alter by 
 so much as the twitching of a muscle. 
 
 ' That was unjustified, Mr. Randall," he said 
 evenly, " and you know it. Let me explain a 
 bit further. I happen to have a house, but no 
 home. By the same chance you are able to pro 
 duce the reverse. Just why should it be an 
 offence upon my part to suggest bringing the 
 two together for the mutual benefit of us 
 both? " 
 
 " Why? Because it 's unequal, it 's patron 
 age; and though I work for twelve hundred 
 dollars a year, I 'm still American born." 
 
 " Granted the latter remark. I 'm also 
 American born, in the remotest corner of the 
 most God-forsaken county in- I won't name 
 
 [ 196]
 
 Acquaintance 
 
 the State; I might hurt some one's feelings." 
 Roberts' big ringers were twitching in a way 
 they had when something he had decided to do 
 met with opposition. " Nevertheless I hope 
 that fact does n't make me wholly unreason 
 able. When it comes to patronage, we 're all 
 patronized: you do a kindness for a friend, 
 without remuneration, and he accepts it ; that 's 
 patronage. The University gives you a posi 
 tion as professor, out of a dozen applicants who 
 could do equally well, and you accept gladly. 
 That 's favoritism, another word for patronage. 
 A 'client comes to me and pays a fee for doing 
 a certain labor, when my competitor across the 
 street would perform it equally capably, and 
 for perhaps a smaller fee. That 's patronage. 
 You patronize your tailor when you order a suit 
 of clothes, the butcher when you buy a beef 
 steak. It 's the basis of life, elemental. The 
 very air you breathe is patronage. It costs you 
 nothing, and you give nothing adequate in re 
 turn. To characterize patronage as un-American, 
 stultifying, is preposterous. Even if it were true 
 in this case, you 'd have to give another reason 
 for offence. I refuse to consider it." 
 
 ' Well, unbusinesslike then, if that is better." 
 "Unbusinesslike? Wait. In company with 
 [ 197]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 three other men I 'm developing a silver mine 
 down in Arizona. The mining claim belongs 
 to a fifth man, belongs to him absolutely. He 
 knows the metal is there as well as we do; but 
 it 's down under the ground, locked up tight 
 in a million tons of rock. As it is now, so far 
 as he 's concerned, it might as well be on Mars. 
 If left to himself alone he 'd live and die and 
 it would still be there. He has n't the ability 
 nor the means to make it of use. The other 
 three men and myself have. We can develop 
 it, and will; to our own purposes, share and 
 share alike. According to your notion there 's 
 patronage somewhere ; but exactly where ? Point 
 me the offence? " 
 
 Again Harry Randall caressed his bald crown. 
 The argument was convincing, almost. 
 
 ' The cases are not parallel," he combated 
 weakly, " not even similar." 
 
 "And why not?" shortly. " I 'm no longer 
 a young man particularly. I 've never had a 
 place that I could call home in my life; never 
 for a day that I can remember. I want one 
 now, fancy I see the possibility of making one; 
 a place where I can keep a friend now and then 
 if I wish, where I could even order in a supper 
 and entertain if I saw fit. I chance to have the 
 
 [ 198 1
 
 Acquaintance 
 
 ability to pay for the privilege, and am willing 
 to pay. That 's my affair. You chance to be 
 able to make that home possible and incident 
 ally enjoy it yourself. It 's like the silver mine, 
 - mutual benefit, share and share alike. The 
 cases seem to me parallel, quite parallel." 
 
 Opposite Harry Randall sat very still. In 
 absent forgetfulness he polished the big glasses 
 the second time and sprung them back carefully 
 on his nose. But even yet he did not answer, 
 merely sat there waiting; awaiting the moment 
 to counter, to refute. 
 
 '"Am I not right?" asked Roberts, bluntly. 
 "Isn't the proposition logical?" 
 
 " Logical, yes. The logic is very good." 
 Randall glanced up keenly. The moment for 
 which he had been waiting had come, more 
 quickly than he had expected. " So good in 
 fact that I see but one fault." 
 
 "And that?" 
 
 This time the keen eyes smiled, very candidly. 
 
 ' The sole fault, so far as I can see, is that 
 you don't believe in it yourself." 
 
 For the space wherein one could count ten 
 slowly the two men looked at each other ; slowly, 
 in turn, on Roberts' firm fighter's face there 
 formed a smile, a peculiar, appreciative smile. 
 
 [ 199 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " Granted," he said. " I admit failure." The 
 smile passed like a dropped curtain. " More 
 over be assured I shall not dissimulate again. 
 As a friend, or whatever you wish, however, I 
 advise you to think carefully before you refuse 
 an offer made in good faith and to your own 
 advantage." 
 
 Listening, Harry Randall straightened. His 
 lips closed tightly for a second. ' You mean, I 
 presume," the words were painfully exact, " to 
 remind me that you hold my note for four 
 hundred dollars, and to imply - he halted 
 significantly. 
 
 For a moment the other man said nothing, 
 the face of him told nothing. Then deliberately, 
 from an inner pocket, he drew out a leather 
 wallet, from the wallet a strip of paper, and 
 held it so the other could read. Still without 
 a word he tore it to bits. 
 
 ' The devil take your note! " he observed, suc 
 cinctly and without heat. 
 
 " Mr. Roberts, you - ' Randall's face was 
 crimson, " you - 
 
 "Yes I--" 
 
 "You didn't mean that, then, really?" 
 
 Roberts said nothing. 
 
 " I 'm grateful for the confidence, believe me. 
 
 [ 200 ]
 
 Acquaintance 
 
 It 's not misplaced, either. Accept my assur 
 ance of that too." 
 
 " My name is Roberts, not Shylock. I told 
 you before I am American born, of American 
 parents." 
 
 " I beg your pardon," abjectly. The red had 
 left Randall's face and in its place, as on a 
 mirror, was forming another look, of compre 
 hension and more. ' Yet you advised ; and 
 if not that- ' of a sudden he got to his feet. 
 Something was coming he knew to a certainty 
 something unexpected, vital and he felt 
 better able so to meet it. " Just what did you 
 mean? " 
 
 Roberts was studying him deliberately, with 
 the peculiar analytical look Armstrong of old 
 had known so well. 
 
 ' You can't imagine yet," he queried, " not 
 with the motive you fancied eliminated? " 
 
 ' You wish to do me a kindness, a disinter 
 ested kindness. For what reason? " 
 
 " Cut out my motive, providing I have one, 
 for the present. It 's immaterial." 
 
 " That does n't help I can't conceive 
 On a sudden came a flash of light that aug 
 mented to a blaze. " Can it concern Margery 
 and me? Is that it? " 
 
 I 201 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Roberts did not look up. ' Yes," he said. 
 ' You know, then," tensely. " How much? " 
 ' Everything." Roberts inspected the wall 
 paper opposite as though interested. " If you '11 
 permit me I '11 help you to avoid an action for 
 divorce." A pause. " One, moreover, I can't 
 help but feel somewhat justified." 
 
 For long, very long, there was silence abso 
 lute. Then, adequate time having passed, appar 
 ently Roberts lost interest in the wall pattern. 
 
 " Sit down, please," he suggested. " At last 
 it seems we understand each other. Let 's talk 
 things over a bit." 
 
 [ 202
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 FRIENDSHIP 
 
 " T 7ERY well, I 'm listening." 
 
 V It had come about, that return of 
 composure, more quickly than a stranger would 
 have thought possible, perhaps more quickly 
 than the visitor had expected. At least for a 
 moment he did not follow the obvious lead. 
 
 " Particularly I 'm waiting for an explana 
 tion of that word ' justified ' you used." The 
 voice this time was low. ' You recall you said 
 'justifiable action,' do you not?" 
 
 " Somewhat justifiable, yes." 
 
 Randall looked straight before him. 
 
 " Don't you agree with me? " added Roberts. 
 
 " Frankly, no. I admit I 'm biassed, however 
 at least I trust I 'm not a cad, unable to 
 acknowledge a deficiency when shown." 
 
 "Or to administer the remedy, providing that 
 remedy is proved innocuous?" 
 
 "Yes; I trust that also." 
 
 " Very well, we '11 return to ' justifiable ' quali- 
 [ 203 1
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 fied. It will make things easier perhaps. You 
 don't wonder how I happen to know about 
 your trouble? " 
 
 ' There could be only one explanation." 
 
 * Thank you. That simplifies matters also." 
 A halt; then the fundamental question direct: 
 ' Will you trust me to help you, trust me 
 unqualifiedly? " 
 
 ' Yes," no hesitation, no amplification, just 
 that single word, " yes." 
 
 Darley Roberts remained for a moment quite 
 still. 
 
 ' Thank you, again," he said. " I have had 
 few compliments in my life, and that is one." 
 Again he sat quite still, all but the great 
 hands, the only feature of him that ever showed 
 restlessness or rebellion. ' To begin with," he 
 resumed suddenly, " I am a lawyer, not a 
 preacher. My business is with marriage the 
 contract, not marriage the sacrament. Senti 
 ment has no place in law. Contracts are prom 
 ises to deliver certain tangible considerations; 
 otherwise there would be none. Again contracts 
 are specified or implied; but morally equally 
 binding, equally inviolable. In the eye of the 
 law when you married Margery Cooper you 
 contracted, by implication, to deliver certain 
 
 [ 204 1
 
 Friendship 
 
 considerations, chief among them one purely 
 psychological happiness. By implication you 
 did this. Is it not so? " 
 
 'Yes, by implication." 
 
 "Have you fulfilled that contract?" 
 
 " I have tried." 
 
 ' The law does not recognize attempts. 
 We 're ignoring the Church and sentiment now. 
 Have you fulfilled your contract? " 
 
 "No; I failed." 
 
 "You admit it freely?" 
 
 'Yes; I can't do otherwise." 
 
 " Let 's drop the legal point of view then. 
 You know why you failed?" 
 
 ' Yes, and no. A contract carries a mutual 
 obligation. Margery failed also." 
 
 Roberts flashed a look. 
 
 " Do you desire a separation, too? " incisively. 
 
 "No, God, no!" It was sudden panic. "I 
 love her." 
 
 " And she loves you," evenly. " She '11 re 
 turn, unquestionably and in the future will 
 go again as inevitably, unless you fulfil your 
 contract. It 's life." 
 
 Again Harry Randall stared straight before 
 him, the weight of the universe suddenly on his 
 shoulders. 
 
 [ 205 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " Fulfil " he halted. " Supposing I can't 
 fulfil?" 
 
 ' Wait. We '11 discuss that in a moment. 
 First, you admit there was a certain justifica 
 tion for what she has done?" 
 
 No rebellion this time, no false pride. 
 
 * Yes," simply; " you were right. I admit it." 
 
 ' The contract of implied happiness then ; you 
 failed because - 
 
 Randall completed the sentence as was in 
 tended. " Because we could not live, cannot live, as 
 Margery demands, upon what it is possible for me 
 to make. There is absolutely no other reason." 
 
 " She is extravagant, you think? " 
 
 " For the wife of one in my position, yes." 
 
 " I did n't ask you that. Is she extravagant, 
 for herself as she is ? " 
 
 Against his will the first suggestion of color 
 showed on Randall's face. 
 
 " I fail to see the distinction," he said. 
 
 " In other words," remorselessly, " you ques 
 tion my right to wield the probe. You prefer 
 not to be hurt even to effect a cure." 
 
 :< No, I repeat that I 'm not a cad. Besides, 
 I Ve told you I trust you. When a woman 
 marries a man, though, with her eyes open - 
 He caught himself. : ' Pardon me, I 'm ashamed 
 
 f 206 1
 
 Friendship 
 
 to have said that. To answer your question: 
 no ; Margery was n't extravagant in the least 
 by her standard." 
 
 ' You mean by ' her standard,' " apparently 
 Roberts had heard only the last sentence, " the 
 habit and experience of her whole life, of twenty- 
 two years of precedent when you married her." 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " And of generations of inheritance back of 
 that. The Coopers are an old stock and have 
 always been moderately wealthy, have they not? " 
 
 ' Yes, back as far as the record goes." 
 
 'Very good. Can you, by any stretch of the 
 imagination, fancy Mrs. Randall, being as she 
 is, ever living happily in an atmosphere so dif 
 ferent from that she has known, which time and 
 circumstance have made her own? Can you? " 
 
 " No." The voice was low again, very low. 
 " In my sane moments, never." 
 
 Roberts waited deliberately, until the pause 
 added emphasis ; with equal deliberation he drove 
 the wedge home. 
 
 " And still, in the fulness of this knowledge, 
 you contracted by implication to deliver to her 
 this same thing happiness," he said. 
 
 A second Harry Randall waited, then uncon 
 sciously he passed his hand across his face. 
 
 [ 207 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 ' Yes," he echoed, " in the fulness of knowl 
 edge I did it. I loved her." 
 
 "Loved? And yet you sacrificed her! And 
 on top of that again labelled her rebellion un 
 justified!" He was silent. 
 
 Again Harry Randall's hand passed across 
 his face, and this time it came back damp. 
 
 " God, you 're hard on me! " he said. " I de 
 serve it, though, and more. She was ignorant 
 absolutely of what it meant to count pennies and 
 deny herself. She couldn't realize, couldn't!" 
 
 Roberts said nothing. The leaven was work 
 ing. 
 
 " I hoped, deluded myself with the belief, that 
 it would be different; yet from the first I knew 
 better. I was to blame absolutely. I simply 
 loved her, as I do now that was all." 
 
 'Yes." This time the voice was gentle, un 
 believably gentle. : ' I think I understand 
 think I do. Anyway," the voice was matter of 
 fact again, startlingly, perhaps intentionally, so, 
 " we 're wandering from the point. The past 
 is dead. Let 's bury it and look into the future. 
 Do you see the solution yet?" 
 
 Randall looked up swiftly. He smiled; the 
 smile of a noncombatant. 
 
 ' Yes, I see it; I can't help seeing it; but " 
 
 [ 208 ]
 
 Friendship 
 
 The sentence completed itself in a gesture of 
 impotency confessed. 
 
 " Don't do that, don't! " The annoyance was 
 not simulated. " It 's unforgivable. . . . You're 
 healthy, are you not?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "And strong?" 
 
 " Reasonably." 
 
 ' Well, what more can you ask? The world 's 
 full of work; avalanches of it, mountains of it. 
 It seems as though there never was so much to 
 be done as now, to-day; and the world will 
 pay,' pay if you '11 do it. Can't you see light? " 
 
 Randall caught himself in time to prevent a 
 second gesture. 
 
 " No, frankly, I can't. I Ve tried, but I 'm 
 fundamentally incapable." 
 
 Roberts' great fighting face flashed about. 
 
 "You've tried how?" 
 
 Randall hesitated, and once again the color 
 mounted his cheek. 
 
 " I do my work here in the department the best 
 I can, creditably, I think; but still there isn't 
 much to look forward to, nothing adequate." 
 
 " And that 's as far as you Ve tried? ' 
 
 " Yes; I have no other training." 
 
 Roberts looked at him, merely looked. 
 
 14 [ 209 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " No other training ! . . . You fancy this 
 little university, this little bounded, contracted 
 circle, is the world ? You Ve tried ! Let me see 
 your hands." 
 
 Higher and higher mounted the tell-tale color ; 
 obedient as a schoolboy Randall obeyed. Some 
 thing compelled. 
 
 Again Roberts looked and turned away. " A 
 woman's hands; I fancied so. ... And you 
 hoped to fulfil your contract, defied fate with 
 those hands!" His own worked, and under 
 command went still. ' You agreed to let me 
 help you, did you not?" he digressed suddenly. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "And promised to trust me? I wish that 
 understood clearly in the beginning." 
 
 ' Yes," again. 
 
 ' Very well, then, that brings us back to the 
 starting-point. I repeat my proposal that Mrs. 
 Randall and you change your residence imme 
 diately. Must I analyze further? " 
 
 " No, I understand and appreciate. I ac 
 cept too if Margery - ' he halted with a wry 
 smile. " Do you think she would if I asked 
 her? " 
 
 Roberts' expression did not alter. " Suppos 
 ing you write her and find out," he suggested. 
 
 [ 210 ]
 
 Friendship 
 
 " And in the meantime you '11 have three days to 
 settle in your new home," he added irrelevantly. 
 
 Again Randall colored, like a youth planning 
 on building his first nest. The contagion of the 
 thing was upon him, the infinite, rosy possibili 
 ties manifest. 
 
 " I can do it easily," he said, " and she '11 be 
 surprised and pleased I can fancy the way 
 she '11 look now." Second thought intruded. 
 " I 'm afraid, though, the few things we 've got 
 here won't even make an impression there. The 
 place is so big by comparison." 
 
 * That 's all right," easily. " I said I 'd want 
 to take a hand." He had a seeming inspiration. 
 " Supposing you get Miss Gleason to help you 
 and suggest what more is needed. I 'm sure 
 she 'd do it for Mrs. Randall and you. I '11 
 speak to her too." 
 
 " Just the thing. I 'd like that immensely. 
 No one can help that way like Elice." 
 
 " Let 's consider it settled then." His point 
 carried, Roberts' great hands were loose in his 
 lap again. " I had just one other matter I 
 wished to speak about to-night. How 'd you 
 like to accept a position under me with the new 
 company? " He did not elaborate this time, did 
 not dissimulate. : ' I '11 personally guarantee you 
 
 [ ill }
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 four thousand a year, beginning January first, 
 with three weeks' vacation." 
 
 " How would I like it! " For the third time 
 Harry Randall fell to polishing his glasses ; but 
 this time, in spite of an effort to prevent, his 
 hand shook visibly. ' You don't need to ask 
 me that. It would be a miracle ; only only 
 I 'm a bit afraid of a position of that kind 
 afraid it would be too big." 
 
 ' The company would expect you to earn it, 
 of course," impassively. 
 
 " But I 'm not worth it. I know that and I 
 don't want to accept under false representations. 
 It 's beyond me." 
 
 " Beyond nothing! " curtly. ' If I say you 're 
 worth it, you are. I '11 make you so help if 
 necessary. Do you accept?" 
 
 " Accept, yes, and thank you. I won't pro 
 test, or presume to misunderstand your intent 
 in offering it to me. I realize you 're giving 
 me a chance to make good where I failed to 
 fulfil my obligation with Margery." The voice 
 was not so steady as it might have been and for 
 an instant Randall halted. : ' If you don't mind, 
 though," he went on, " I 'd like to ask you a 
 question. I can't conceive why you, a stranger, 
 practically, should do all this for me. I 'm 
 
 [212 ]
 
 Friendship 
 
 simply confused, it 's all so unprecedented. Why 
 do you do it, please? " 
 
 Into Darley Roberts' eyes crept the old odd 
 smile that spread no farther. 
 
 'You mean it's all so unprecedented of 
 me," he returned bluntly. 
 
 Randall said nothing. It was true. 
 
 ' Was n't that what you meant? " he repeated, 
 and just for a second the smile crept beyond 
 the eyes. 
 
 ' Yes. It 's useless to lie." 
 
 -To me?" 
 ' This time Randall's face flamed undeniably. 
 
 ' Yes to you," he admitted. ' You 're posi 
 tively uncanny." 
 
 "Don't do it then," shortly, "ever. To an 
 swer your question: The main reason, I think, 
 is because to-day is December the sixth a 
 holiday." 
 
 "A holiday!" Randall stared, as in the 
 morning Herbert had stared. 
 
 : With me. . . . Another reason is that I Ve 
 been an under dog myself for a very long time 
 and perhaps, though, I am mistaken." 
 
 " No, I 'm one of the breed unquestionably." 
 
 " And under dogs have a fondness for each 
 other instinctively." 
 
 [213]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Randall held his peace. He had the quality 
 of presentiment and it was active now. 
 
 ' There was still a third reason." No smile 
 in the blue eyes now, just an impassive blank. 
 " I had a call a few days ago from an upper 
 dog, by heredity. He offered me a thousand 
 dollars cold not to do what I 've just done." 
 
 Randall was not a good gambler. His face 
 whitened to the lips. 
 
 ' You refer to Margery's father," he said. 
 
 ' Yes. It seemed to me well, under the cir 
 cumstances, for you to know. He was strongly 
 in favor of letting matters drift. I gathered 
 he has never been particularly fond of you." 
 
 " No, never. But Margery - 
 
 " I understand absolutely. Take this for what 
 it is w r orth from a disinterested observer: Your 
 wife is square, man, from the ground up. Don't 
 ever for an instant, because you were reared 
 differently and have a different point of view, 
 fancy otherwise. Tote your end of the load fair 
 - 1 believe you see how now and she '11 tote 
 hers. It '11 be worth your while." 
 
 " Roberts ! " Randall was upon his feet, he 
 could not do otherwise. " Honestly I don't know 
 how to thank you. Anything that I can say, 
 can do even- 
 
 [214]
 
 Friendship 
 
 " Don't try, please. I 'd rather you would n't." 
 No pretence in that frank aversion, no affecta 
 tion. He arose as one whose labor is over. 
 " Let it go at that." 
 
 In sheer perplexity Randall frowned. His 
 hands sought his pockets. 
 
 " But, confound it, I don't like to. It 's so 
 inhumanly ungrateful." The frown deepened. 
 " Besides, when this intoxication is off I '11 real 
 ize what a lot I 'm accepting from you. That 
 house, for instance. You did n't buy a place of 
 that kind for an investment or for yourself 
 alone. I 'm not an absolute ass. You 11 want 
 it all some of these times, and then - 
 
 Slowly Roberts faced about; equally slowly 
 he smiled. 
 
 ' Would it relieve your mind any," he finally 
 asked, "if I were to promise to tell you the 
 moment I do want it all?" 
 
 " Yes, a lot." 
 
 " I give you my word then." 
 
 : ' Thanks. I believe that too; but 
 
 For the second time Roberts smiled, the smile 
 of finality unquestionable. 
 
 " Must we return and go through it all 
 again?" he asked. "It's after midnight now, 
 but if you wish- 
 
 [215]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 "No; not that either." 
 
 " All right. I '11 send the office-boy around 
 in the morning to help you move. He has 
 nothing else really to do." Roberts paused at 
 a sudden thought. ' By the way, I '11 not be 
 back until a week from to-morrow. Suppose 
 we have a little house warming, just we four 
 strangers, that night? " and before the other 
 could answer, before the complex suggestion in 
 its entirety took effect, he was gone. 
 
 [216]
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 COMPREHENSION 
 
 IT was three o'clock in the afternoon of a 
 sultry July Sunday when a big red roadster 
 drew up all but noiselessly and, with an instinct 
 common to all motorists, a heritage from an 
 equine age past, stopped at the nose of the 
 hitching-post in front of the Gleason cottage. 
 In it the single occupant throttled down the 
 engine until it barely throbbed. Alighting, gog 
 gles on forehead, he passed up the walk toward 
 the house. Not until he was fairly at the steps 
 did he apparently notice his surroundings. Then, 
 unexpectedly, he bared his head. 
 
 " Be not surprised, it is I," he said. " Not 
 in the spirit alone but in the flesh." Equally 
 without warning he smiled. " Needless to say 
 I 'm glad to see you again, Elice," as he took 
 the girl's offered hand. Then deliberately re 
 leasing it: "and you too, Armstrong," extend 
 ing his own. 
 
 [217]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Precisely as, with his companion of the shady 
 porch, he had risen upon the newcomer's ad 
 vent, the other man stood there. If possible his 
 face, already unnaturally pale for a torrid after 
 noon, shaded whiter as an instant passed with 
 out his making- a motion in response. 
 
 " And you too, Armstrong," Roberts repeated, 
 the smile still on his face, the hand still ex 
 tended; then, w r hen there still came no response, 
 the voice lowered until it was just audible, but 
 nevertheless significant in its curt brevity: 
 " Shake whether you want to or not. There 
 are seven pairs of eyes watching from behind 
 that trellis across the street." 
 
 Armstrong obeyed as though moved by a 
 wire. 
 
 " Speak loud, so they can all hear. They 're 
 listening too," directed the low-voiced mentor. 
 
 Armstrong, red in the face now, formulated 
 the conventional. 
 
 " Thanks." Roberts sat down on the top 
 step, his big-boned body at ease, his great 
 bushy head, in which the gray was beginning to 
 sprinkle thick, a contrast to the dark pillar of 
 the porch. " I just returned an hour ago," 
 he added as casually as though food for gossip 
 had not been avoided by a hair's breadth and 
 
 [218]
 
 Comprehension 
 
 was not still imminent. " It 's good, unquali 
 fiedly, to be back." 
 
 Armstrong returned to his seat, a bit uncer 
 tainly. His hands were trembling uncontrol 
 lably; in self-defence he thrust them deep into 
 his pockets. 
 
 " Have you been out of town? " he asked. 
 
 ' Yes, for over a month." No affectation in 
 that even friendliness. He laughed suddenly 
 in tolerant, all but impersonal, self-analysis. 
 " And I 'm tired tired until the marrow of 
 my bones aches." He laughed again. " It 
 seems as though I never was so tired in my 
 life." 
 
 Armstrong looked at him, in a sudden flash 
 of the old confidence and admiration. 
 
 " I beg your pardon, then," he said hurriedly. 
 " I did n't know that you had been away, of 
 course, and rather fancied, from your coming so 
 unexpected - And that again after two years 
 almost You can understand how it was pos 
 sible, can't you? I 'm ashamed." 
 
 " Certainly I can understand," easily. ''' Let 's 
 all forget it. I have already." He smiled an 
 instant comprehensively fair into the blue eyes, 
 then characteristically abruptly he digressed. 
 " By the way, Elice," he said, " can't we have 
 
 [ 219 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 some of those cookies of yours? I Ve dreamed 
 of them, along with other things, until - Do, 
 please, if they 're in stock. I mean it. Still 
 down at Phelps's are you? " he asked the other 
 directly when the girl had gone. 
 
 " No." A long pause wherein Armstrong did 
 not look up. "I left there a couple of weeks 
 ago. I 'm not doing anything in particular just 
 now." 
 
 The cookies, far-famed and seemingly always 
 available, were on hand, and Roberts relapsed 
 into silence. From her own seat behind them 
 Elice Gleason sat looking at the two men, pre 
 cisely as she had looked that first evening they 
 had called in company. 
 
 'That's a new motor out there, isn't it? ' ? 
 she asked at last. 
 
 ' Yes." Roberts roused and shook the scat 
 tered crumbs off his khaki coat. " It came while 
 I was away. This is the first try-out." 
 
 Miss Gleason was examining the big machine 
 with a critical eye. ' This is a six-cylinder, I 
 judge. What 's become of the old four, Old ' 
 
 "Reliable?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Disgraced its name." Roberts smiled pecu 
 liarly. " I took it along with me w r hen I went 
 
 [220 ]
 
 Comprehension 
 
 West. It 's scrapped out there on the Nevada 
 desert, God knows where, thirty miles from no 
 where. I fancy the vultures are wondering right 
 now what in the world it is." 
 
 'You had an accident?" 
 
 " Rather." Roberts got to his feet deliber 
 ately. " Some other time I '11 tell you the story, 
 if you wish. It would take too long now, and 
 it 's entirely too hot here." He looked at his 
 two listeners impartially. " Besides, there 's 
 other business more urgent. I have a curiosity 
 to see how quickly the six-eighty out there 
 will eat up thirty miles. It 's guaranteed to 
 do it in twenty-five minutes. Won't you come 
 along? 
 
 " I '11 take the rumble and you two sit for 
 ward," he added as they hesitated. ' You can 
 drive as well as I can, Elice." 
 
 "Not to-day; some other time," declined 
 Armstrong, hurriedly. He started up to avoid 
 a change of purpose, and to cover any seeming 
 precipitancy lit a cigarette with deliberation. 
 " I was going, really, anyway." 
 
 Roberts did not insist, nor did he dissimulate. 
 
 " As you wish. I meant it or I should n't 
 have made the suggestion. Better glue on your 
 hair if you accept, Elice. I have a presenti- 
 
 [ 221 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 ment that I '11 let her out to-day." He started 
 down the walk. ' I 'm ready when you are." 
 
 Behind him the man and the girl exchanged 
 one look. 
 
 " Come, Steve," said the girl in a low voice. 
 " I ask it." 
 
 " No," Armstrong's thin face formed a smile, 
 a forced, crooked smile; " I meant what I said, 
 too, or I would n't have refused. Likewise I 
 also have a presentiment of a different kind. 
 Good-bye." 
 
 "Steve!" 
 
 " No." 
 
 And that was all. 
 
 Out in the long street, University Row, glided 
 the big red roadster; slowly through the city 
 limits, more rapidly through the suburbs, then, 
 as the open country beyond came to view, it 
 began gradually to find itself. 
 
 " Want to see her go, do you, Elice? " asked 
 Roberts, as the town behind them grew indis 
 tinct in a fog of dust. 
 
 ' Yes, if you wish." 
 
 " If I wish." Roberts brought the goggles 
 down from his forehead significantly. "If I 
 wish," he repeated, the inflection peculiar. He 
 looked ahead. The broad prairie road, dust 
 
 [ 222 ]
 
 Comprehension 
 
 white in its July whiteness, stretched straight 
 out before them, without a turn or a curve, direct 
 as the crow flies for forty miles, and on through 
 two counties, as he knew. A light wind, begot 
 of their motion alone, played on their faces, 
 mingled with the throbbing purr of the engine 
 in their ears. ' If I wish," for the third time; 
 and notch by notch the throttle began to open. 
 
 On they went, the self -evolved breeze a gale 
 now, the throb of the big motor a continuous 
 moan, the cloud of dust behind them a dull 
 brown bank against the sky. On they went over 
 corivex grades that tilted gently first to the 
 right, then to the left, over culverts that spoke 
 one single note of protest, over tiny bridges that 
 echoed hollow at the impact ; past dazzling green 
 cornfields and yellow blocks of ripening grain, 
 through great shadows of homestead groves and 
 clumps of willows that marked the lowest point 
 of swales, on on - 
 
 Roberts leaned over close, but his eyes did 
 not leave the road for the fraction of a second. 
 
 " Afraid, girl? " he asked. 
 
 " No." 
 
 Again the man looked ahead. They were fair 
 in the open now, already far from the city. It 
 was the heat of a blistering Sunday and not a 
 
 [ 223 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 team or a pedestrian was astir. Ahead, for a 
 mile, for miles perhaps, as far as they could 
 see, not an animate dot marred the surface of 
 the taut, stretched, yellow-white ribbon. 
 
 "Shall I let her out, Elice?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Sure you're not afraid in the least?" 
 
 " Certain." 
 
 Again the throttle lever and its companion 
 spark began to move around the tiny sextant, 
 approaching nearer and nearer. Simultane 
 ously, sympathetic, as though actuated by the 
 same power, the hand of the speedometer on 
 the dash began to crawl up and up. They had 
 been all but racing before; but now- 
 
 Behind them the cloud of dust rose higher 
 and higher, and darker and darker as the suc 
 tion increased. To either side was no longer 
 yellow and green distinct, but a mingling, indis 
 tinct, mottled unreality. Ahead the ribbon of 
 yellow and white seemed to rise up and throw 
 itself into their faces; again and again end 
 lessly. The engine no longer moaned. It 
 roared as a fire under draft. The wind was 
 a wall that held them back like a vise in their 
 places. In the flash of a glance the man looked 
 at the face of the dial. The single arm was 
 
 [224 ]
 
 Comprehension 
 
 pasted black over the numeral sixty. Once more 
 the throttle advanced a notch, the spark lever 
 two and the hand halted at sixty-five. The 
 wind gripped them afresh, and like human 
 fingers grappled with them. Up, fairly level 
 with their eyes, lifted the advancing yellow- 
 white ribbon. By his side, though he did not 
 look, the man knew that the girl had covered 
 her face with her hands, was struggling against 
 the gale to breathe. He was struggling himself, 
 through wide-opened nostrils, his lips locked 
 tight. On his bare hands the sweat gushed 
 forth and, despite the suction, glistened bright. 
 Yet once more, the last time the throttle moved, 
 the spark and met on the sextant. With its 
 last ounce of power the great car responded, 
 thrilled; one could feel it, a vital thing. Once 
 again the speed-hand on the indicator stirred; 
 but this time the man did not see it, dared not 
 look even for the fraction of a second. Like 
 grim death, grim life, he clung to the wheel; 
 his eyes not on the road beneath but a quarter 
 of a mile ahead. About him the scuttling earth 
 shaded from motley to gray; but he did not 
 see. A solitary tree loomed ahead beside the 
 ribbon, and seemed to crack like a rifle report 
 as they flashed past. At the radiator vent a 
 
 15 [ 225 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 tiny cloud of steam arose, caught the gale, and 
 stung damp on his cheeks. Far ahead, then 
 nearer and nearer miraculously, a blot of green 
 that he knew was the tree fringe of a river, 
 took form, swept forward to meet them, came 
 nearer and nearer, arose like a wall - 
 
 Back into neutral, separating until they were 
 once more opposite, went the two companions 
 of the sextant. Simultaneously again the speed 
 indicator followed the backward trail. Incred 
 ibly swift the gale dwindled, until it barely 
 fanned their cheeks. The roar of the great 
 engine subsided, until once more it was a gentle 
 murmur. The vivid green and the dull yellow 
 of summer took their respective places; and 
 like a live thing, beaten and cowed, the big car 
 drew up at the very edge of the grove, left the 
 yellow road-ribbon, rustled a moment amid the 
 half-parched grass and halted in the shadow 
 blot of a big water maple thirty miles almost 
 to a rod from the city limits they had left. 
 
 A moment the two humans in the seat re 
 mained in their places, breathing hard. Delib 
 erately, almost methodically, Roberts wiped the 
 sweat from his face. 
 
 * Thirty-two minutes, the clock says," he 
 commented. ' We dawdled though at first. At 
 
 [ 226 ]
 
 Comprehension 
 
 the finish - He looked at the indicator pecu 
 liarly. " I 'd really like to have known, for 
 sure." 
 
 The girl stood up. She trembled a little. 
 
 ;< Would you really? Perhaps - 
 'You looked, Elice? I fancied you shut 
 your eyes." 
 
 " I did only for a second. It read seventy- 
 two." 
 
 Roberts turned a switch and the last faint 
 purr ceased. 
 
 " I imagined, almost, you 'd be afraid," he 
 saici evenly. 
 
 " I was horribly," simply. 
 
 'You were; and still I won't do it again, 
 Elice." 
 
 Without a word the girl stepped to the 
 ground. In equal silence the man followed. 
 Taking off the long khaki coat he spread it on 
 the ground amid the shadow and indicated his 
 handiwork with a nod. For a half-minute per 
 haps he himself remained standing, however, his 
 great shoulders squared, his big fingers twitch 
 ing unconsciously. Recollecting, he dropped on 
 the grass beside her. 
 
 " Pardon me, Elice," he apologized bluntly, 
 " for frightening you." He smiled, the infre- 
 
 F 227 1
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 quent, tolerant, self -analytic smile. " I some 
 how could n't help doing what I did. I knew 
 it would break out sometime soon. I could n't 
 help it." 
 
 For a moment the girl inspected him, her 
 head, just lifted, resting on her locked arms, 
 her eyelids half closed. 
 
 'You knew what? Something's hap 
 pened I know; something unusual, very. I 
 never saw you before as you are to-day. I 'd 
 almost say you had nerves. Do you care to 
 tell me?" 
 
 Roberts was still smiling. 
 
 "Do you care to have me tell you? " he 
 countered. 
 
 ' Yes, if you wish." 
 
 " If I wish if I wish you told me that 
 once before, you recall." 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " And I proceeded to frighten you horribly. 
 You said so." 
 
 ' Yes," again. 
 
 " Does that mean you wish to be frightened 
 again? Do you enjoy it?" 
 
 " Enjoy it? I don't know. I 'm curious to 
 listen, if you care to tell me." 
 
 Roberts had stretched himself luxuriously on 
 [ 228 1
 
 Comprehension 
 
 the cool sod. He looked up steadily, through 
 the tangled leaves, at the dotted blue beyond. 
 
 ; ' There 's nothing to frighten you this time," 
 he said. " Nothing to tell much, just money." 
 
 " I gathered as much." 
 
 "And why, Elice?" 
 
 " Several reasons. First of all, a practical 
 man does n't carry an automobile half across the 
 continent by express without a definite stake 
 involved. Later he does n't ' scrap,' as you say, 
 that same machine without regret unless the 
 stake was big and won." 
 
 '"You think I won, then?" 
 
 " I know." 
 
 "And again, why?" 
 
 The girl flashed a glance, but he was not 
 looking at her. 
 
 " Because you always win," she said simply. 
 
 "Always?" A pause. "Always, Elice?" 
 
 "Always in matters of --money." 
 
 The man lay there still, looking up. Barely a 
 leaf in the big maple was astir, not a single sen- 
 sate thing. Had they been the only two people 
 alive on a desert expanse they could not have 
 been more isolated, more completely alone. Yet 
 he pursued the lead no further, neither by word 
 nor suggestion. Creeping through a tiny gap 
 
 [ 229 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 a ray of sunlight glared in his eyes, and he 
 shifted enough to avoid it. That was all. 
 
 In her place the girl too shifted, just so 
 she could see him more distinctly. 
 
 " Tell me about it," she said. " I 'm listen 
 ing." 
 
 ' You 're really interested? I don't care to 
 bore you." 
 
 ' Yes, really. I never pretend with you." 
 
 Slowly Roberts sat up, his head bare, his 
 fingers locked over his knees. 
 
 ' Very well. I 'phoned, you remember, that 
 I was going West to look at a mining claim." 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "What I should have said, to be exact, was 
 that I was going to file on one, if it was n't 
 too late. I 'd already seen it, on paper, and 
 ore from it; had it assayed myself. It ran 
 above two hundred dollars. It was one of those 
 things that happen outside of novels oftener 
 than people imagine. The man who furnished 
 the specimens was named Evans, a big, raw- 
 boned cowboy I met down in the Southwest, 
 where I Ve got an interest in a silver mine. 
 He 'd contracted the fever and worked for our 
 company for a time. When the Nevada craze 
 came on he got restless and wanted to go too. 
 
 [ 230 ]
 
 Comprehension 
 
 He had n't a second shirt to his back so I grub 
 staked him. Nothing came of it and I staked 
 him again. This time he came here personally 
 to report. He had some ore with him and a 
 map; just that and nothing more. Whether 
 he 'd found anything worth while he did n't 
 know, did n't imagine he had, as it was a new 
 section that had n't produced as yet. He had n't 
 even taken the trouble to secure his claim. 
 What he wanted was more money, grub money; 
 and he had brought the specimen along as a 
 teaser. He swore he had n't mentioned the 
 matter to a soul except me. There was n't any 
 hurry either, he said, or danger. The prospect 
 was forty miles out on the desert from Tonopah, 
 no railroad nearer, and no one was interested 
 there much as yet. If I 'd advance him another 
 thousand, though I 'd been backing him a 
 thousand dollars at a time he 'd go back and 
 file regular, and when I 'd had an assay made, 
 if the thing looked good, he 'd sell to me out 
 right for five thousand cash." 
 
 For the first time the speaker halted, looked 
 at the listener directly. 
 
 " Still interested, are you? " he queried. " It 's 
 all money, money from first to last." 
 
 " Yes, go on. I think I saw this man 
 
 [ 231 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Evans, did n't I, around with you for several 
 days?" 
 
 " Possibly. I kept him here while I was get 
 ting a report. I 'd seen some ore before and 
 the scent looked warm to me. Besides, I knew 
 Evans, and under the circumstances I felt 
 better to keep him in sight. I did for a week, 
 night and day. He never left me for an hour. 
 He 'd been eating my bread and salt for a year, 
 had every reason to be under obligation and 
 loyal, was so tentatively, his coming proved 
 that; but, while one has to trust others up 
 to a certain point in this world, beyond that 
 - 1 Ve found beyond that it 's better not to 
 take chances, even on obligation. . . . Have 
 you ever known anything of the kind your 
 self? " 
 
 The girl was not looking at him now. " I Ve 
 had little experience with people," she evaded, 
 " very little. Go on, please. I 'm interested." 
 
 : ' Well, the report came the day I 'phoned 
 you, on the last delivery. Evans was killing 
 time, as usual, about the office and I called him 
 into my private room and locked the door. I 
 read it through to him aloud, every word; and, 
 he did n't seem to take it all in at first, again. 
 All at once the thing came over him, the full 
 
 [ 232 ]
 
 Comprehension 
 
 meaning of that assay of two hundred dollars 
 to the ton and he went to pieces, like a fly 
 wheel that 's turned too fast. He simply caved. 
 For ten years he 'd been chasing the rainbow 
 of chance, and now all at once, when he 'd fairly 
 given up hope, he 'd stumbled upon it and the 
 pot of gold together. It was too much for 
 him. 
 
 ' This was at five o'clock in the afternoon, I 
 say. At six o'clock I unlocked the door and 
 things began to move definitely. What hap 
 pened in that hour does n't matter. It was n't 
 pleasant, and under the circumstances no one 
 would believe me if I told; for I had his written 
 promise to show me the ledge he 'd found and 
 to sell whatever right he had to the claim him 
 self to me for twenty-five thousand dollars. . . . 
 I found it, I have an incontestible title to it, 
 and I refused a million dollars flat for it less 
 than three days ago!" 
 
 In her place the girl half raised, met the 
 speaker eye to eye. 
 
 " And still, knowing in advance it was worth 
 a fortune, Evans sold to you." 
 
 "Yes, voluntarily; begged it of me. I said 
 no one would believe me now, even you I 
 don't care for the opinion of any one else." 
 
 [ 33 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " I don't doubt you, not for a second." The 
 brown eyes had dropped now. " But I can't 
 quite understand." 
 
 " No, I repeat once more, no one can under 
 stand who was n't there. He was crazy, avari 
 ciously crazy. He wanted the money then, then; 
 wanted to see it, to feel it, that minute. It 
 was his and he wanted it; not the five thou 
 sand he 'd promised, but five times that. He 
 would n't wait. He would have it. 
 
 " I tried to reason with him, to argue with 
 him, offered him his own terms if he 'd let me 
 develop it; but he wouldn't listen. If I 
 would n't accept he 'd throw me over entirely, 
 notwithstanding the fact that I 'd made the find 
 possible, and sell to some one else sell some 
 thing he did n't have ; for at last it all came 
 out, why he 'd gone crazy and would n't wait. 
 He 'd lied to me previously. Before he 'd left 
 Tonopah he 'd talked, told of his find to a half- 
 dozen of his friends, and left them specimens 
 of the same ore he 'd brought me. He 'd told 
 them everything, in fact, except the location. It 
 developed that he had retained judgment enough 
 to keep back even a hint of that; and they were 
 waiting for him there, he knew it and I knew 
 it, waiting his return, waiting to learn the 
 
 [ 234 ]
 
 Comprehension 
 
 location, and to steal his claim before he could 
 stake it himself." 
 
 " And still, feeling certain of that in your 
 own mind, you paid him his price! " 
 
 " Every dollar of it before I took the mid 
 night train West. I raised it after business 
 hours, in a dozen different ways; but I got 
 it. I pooled for security everything I had in 
 the world except Old Reliable ; I kept that 
 free for a purpose, my house, my library, my 
 stock in the traction company, some real estate 
 I own. I had to give good measure because I 
 had' to have the money right then. And I got 
 it. It was a pull but I got it." 
 
 The girl's head was back on her folded arms 
 once more, the long lashes all but covering her 
 eyes. 
 
 " Supposing Evans had been lying to you 
 after all," she suggested, "in other things be 
 sides the one you mentioned." 
 
 Over Roberts' face flashed a momentary smile. 
 
 " I told you we \vere locked in that room to 
 gether for an hour. He was n't lying to me after 
 that time had passed, rest assured. Besides, I 
 was n't entirely helpless or surprised. I 'd been 
 out in that country myself and Evans was n't 
 the only man I had reporting. I 'd been wait- 
 
 [ 235 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 ing for a chance of this kind from the day the 
 first prospect developed at Goldfield. I knew 
 it would come sometime if I waited my 
 chance." 
 
 " So you gambled with every cent you had 
 in the world." 
 
 ' Yes. All life is a gamble. If I had lost 
 I was only thirty-five and the earth is big. 
 Besides, to all the world I was still ' old man ' 
 Roberts, not ' Darley.' There was yet plenty 
 of time if I lost." 
 
 ' You went West that same evening, you 
 say." The long lashes were all but touching 
 now. "What then?" 
 
 ' Yes, with Evans in the same Pullman sec 
 tion and Old Reliable in the express car for 
 ward. I had an idea in my head and followed 
 it out. I felt as certain as I was of my own 
 name that they 'd have scouts out to wire ahead 
 when Evans was coming ; so it would n't be 
 any use to get off at an obscure place. I also 
 knew that the chances were I could n't get a 
 conveyance there at once for love or money; so 
 Old Reliable was already good and ready. 
 Every tank was full. The tonneau was packed: 
 ten gallons extra gas, five gallons of water, a 
 week's rations everything I could think of 
 
 [236 ]
 
 Comprehension 
 
 that we might need. We 'd go through to the 
 end of the line, all right, but if I could help 
 it we shouldn't wait long after we got there. 
 And we didn't." 
 
 This time the girl did not interrupt, either 
 with comment or gesture; merely lay there 
 listening. 
 
 ' Ten minutes after we struck town we were 
 away, under our own power. It was night, but 
 we were away just the same. And that 's where 
 we got the lead, a half hour's lead. They 
 knew, all right, that we 'd come, fancied they 
 knew everything but they hadn't planned on 
 Old Reliable. It took them just that long to 
 come to and make readjustment. Then the real 
 fun began. There was no moon, and out on 
 the desert the night was as dark as a pocket. 
 We simply had to have a light even if it gave 
 us away. Evans thought he knew the road ; but, 
 if there ever was one, before we 'd gone ten 
 miles we 'd lost it. After that I drove by com 
 pass entirely and instinct. But I could n't go 
 fast. I did n't dare to. For an hour and a half 
 the indicator showed we 'd gone twenty-four 
 miles we had everything to ourselves, seem 
 ingly the entire world. We had n't heard a 
 sound or seen a live thing. Then, as we came 
 
 [ 237 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 up on a rise, Evans looked back and saw a light, 
 -just one light, away, away back like a star. 
 A few seconds afterward it disappeared and we 
 made a couple more miles. We mounted a 
 second rise and this time Evans swore. He 
 was with me by this time, body and soul, game 
 to the finish ; for the light was n't starlike now 
 by any means. It did n't even twinkle. It just 
 simply rose up out of the ground, shone steady, 
 vanished for a time, and rose up anew with the 
 lay of the country. They were on our trail at 
 last, they could n't miss it. It was plain as a 
 wagon road, and they were making two miles 
 to our one. They must have had a good car; 
 but anyway everything was with them. They 
 could drive to the limit by our trail; but I 
 could n't, for I did n't know what was ahead. 
 I let her out, though, and Evans watched. He 
 didn't swear now, he just watched; and every 
 time that light showed it was nearer. At last, 
 - we 'd made thirty-two miles by that time, 
 he saw two lights behind instead of one and 
 saw them red, I judge, for how he swore! It 
 was then or never and I opened the throttle 
 to the last notch and we flew over everything, 
 through everything until we stopped." 
 'You struck something?" 
 
 [ 238 ]
 
 Compr ehen sion 
 
 'Yes. I don't know what nor didn't stop 
 to see. The transmission went, I knew that. 
 The engine was still threshing and pounding 
 when we took to our heels. We could hear it 
 and see the two lights coming and we ran 
 Lord, how we ran! It seems humorous now, 
 but it was n't humorous then. There was a 
 fortune at stake and a big one; for a claim be 
 longs to the chap who puts up the monuments. 
 We ran straight ahead into the night, until we 
 could n't run another foot ; and then we walked, 
 walked, ten miles if an inch, until the two lights 
 of Did Reliable became one, and then went out 
 of sight entirely. Then we lay down and panted 
 and waited for daylight. . . . That 's about all, 
 I guess." 
 
 "They didn't follow you, then?" The girl 
 was sitting up now, the brown eyes wide 
 open. 
 
 ' They could n't. A hound might have done 
 so, but a human being could n't that night." 
 Roberts dropped back to the grass, again avoid 
 ing the rift of light. " At daylight Evans got 
 his bearings, and that day we found the claim, 
 built our monuments, tacked up the notice and 
 the rest. I learned afterwards there were six 
 men in the machine behind; but I never saw 
 
 [ 239 1
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 any of them until the day I left. They made 
 me an offer then." 
 
 "And Old Reliable?" 
 
 Roberts hesitated, then he laughed oddly. 
 
 " I paid a parting visit there too. The re 
 mains were n't decent junk when the same six 
 got through expressing their feelings that 
 night." 
 
 [ 240 ]
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 FULFILMENT 
 
 A N hour had passed. As the afternoon sun 
 JL\* sank lower the shadow blot beneath the big 
 maple had lengthened and deepened. In con 
 sequence the annoying light-rift was no more. 
 Overhead the leaves were vibrating, barely vi 
 brating, with the first breath of breeze of even 
 ing born. Otherwise there was no change; just 
 the big red roadster and the man and the girl 
 idling beside. 
 
 " Poverty, work, subservience," conversation 
 had drifted where it would, at last had tem 
 porarily halted, with the calendar rolled back 
 twenty years; "poverty, work, subservience," 
 the man had paused there to laugh, the odd, 
 repressed laugh that added an emphasis no 
 mere words could express. ' Yes ; they 're old 
 friends of mine, very old friends, very. I 'm 
 not likely to forget the contrast they Ve made, 
 ever, no matter what the future holds." 
 
 ' You Ve not forgotten, then, what 's past, 
 
 16 [ 241 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 overlooked it? Isn't it better to forget, some 
 times, some things? " 
 
 " Forget? " The man was looking straight 
 up into space. " I wish I could forget, wish it 
 from the bottom of my soul. It makes me 
 hard at times, and I don't want to be hard. 
 But I can't ever. Memory is branded in too 
 deeply." 
 
 The girl was picking a blade of grass to 
 pieces, bit by bit. 
 
 " I 'm disappointed. I fancied you could do 
 anything you wished," she said low. ' That 's 
 what has made me afraid of you sometimes." 
 
 The man did not stir. 
 
 " Are you afraid of me sometimes, really? " 
 he asked. 
 
 * Yes, horribly as much afraid as when we 
 were coming out here to-day." 
 
 " I 'm sorry, Elice, sorry for several reasons. 
 Most of all because I love you." 
 
 It was the first word of the kind that had 
 ever passed between them. Yet neither showed 
 surprise, nor did either change position. It was 
 as though he had said that gravitation makes 
 the apple fall, or that the earth was round, a 
 thing they had both known for long, had be 
 come instinctively adjusted to. 
 
 [ 242 ]
 
 Fulfilment 
 
 " I knew that," said the girl gently, " and 
 know too that you 're sorry I am afraid. You 
 can't help it. If it weren't true, though, you 
 would n't be you." 
 
 The man looked at her gravely. 
 
 " You think it will always be that way? " he 
 asked. " You '11 always be afraid at times, I 
 mean? " 
 
 " Yes. You 're bigger than I am. I can't 
 understand you, I never can wholly. I 've given 
 up hope. We 're all afraid of things we can't 
 completely understand." 
 
 'Silently the man passed his hand across his 
 face, unconsciously; his arm fell lax at his side. 
 As the girl had known, he did not follow the 
 lead, would not follow it unless she directed the 
 way. 
 
 ' You said you fancied I could forget what 's 
 past," he said at last. " Did you honestly be 
 lieve that?" 
 
 ' Yes, or ignore it." 
 
 " Ignore it or forget ! " The fingers of the 
 great hands twitched. " Some things one can't 
 ignore or forget, girl. To do so would be super 
 human. You don't understand." 
 
 " No ; you Ve never told me. You 've suggested 
 at times, merely suggested; nothing more." 
 
 [ 243 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 'You'd like to know why the reason? It 
 would help you to understand? " 
 
 " Yes; I think it would help." 
 
 " It might even lead to making you un 
 afraid? " 
 
 A halt this time, then, " Yes, it might pos 
 sibly do even that." 
 
 Again the man looked at her for long in 
 silence, and again very gravely. 
 
 "I'll tell you, then," he said. "It isn't 
 pleasant for me to tell nor for you to hear; 
 but I 'd like you to know why if you can. 
 They 're all back, back, the things I 'd like to 
 forget and can't, a very long way. They date 
 from the time I first knew anything." 
 
 The girl settled deeper into the soft coat, her 
 eyes half closed. 
 
 ' You told me once you could n't remember 
 your mother even," she suggested. 
 
 " No, nor my father, nor any other relatives, 
 if I ever had any. I was simply stranded in 
 Kansas City when it was new. I was n't born 
 there, though, but out West on a prairie ranch 
 somewhere. The tradition is that my parents 
 were hand-to-mouth theatrical people, who 'd got 
 the free home craze and tried to live out on the 
 west Kansas desert, who were dried out and 
 
 [244]
 
 Fulfilment 
 
 starved out until they went back on the road; 
 and who then, of course, did n't want me. I 
 don't know. Anyway, when my brain awoke 
 I was there in Kansas City. As a youngster I 
 had a dozen homes and none. I was any one's 
 property and no one's. I did anything, ac 
 cepted whatever Providence offered, to eat. Ani 
 mals must live and I was no exception. The 
 hand seemingly of every man and woman in the 
 world was against me, and I conformed to the 
 inevitable. Any one weaker than I was my 
 prey, any one stronger my enemy. I learned 
 to 1 fight for my own, to run when it was wisest, 
 to take hard knocks when I could n't avoid them 
 and say nothing. It was all in the game. I 
 know this is n't pleasant to hear," he digressed. 
 
 " I 'm listening. Go on, please." 
 
 " That was the first stage. Then, together 
 with a hundred other similar little beasts, a 
 charitable organization got hold of me and 
 transplanted me out into the country, as they 
 do old footsore hack horses when they get to 
 cluttering the pavement. Chance ordained that 
 I should draw an old Norwegian farmer, the 
 first generation over, and that he should draw 
 me. I fancy we were equally pleased. His 
 contract was to feed me and clothe me and, I 
 
 [ 245 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 was twelve at the time, by the way, to get out 
 of me in return what work he could. There 
 was no written contract, of course; but never 
 theless it was understood just the same. 
 
 " He fulfilled his obligation in his way. 
 He was the first generation over, I repeat, and 
 had no more sense of humor than a turtle. He 
 saw that I had all I could eat after I 'd done 
 precisely so much work, his own arbitrary stint, 
 and not a minute before. If I was one iota 
 short I went hungry as an object-lesson. He 
 gave me clothes to wear, after every other mem 
 ber of the family had discarded them, in supreme 
 disregard for suitability or fit. He sent me to 
 school during the months of January and 
 February, when there was absolutely nothing 
 else to do, and when I should have been in the 
 way at home. At times of controversy he was 
 mighty with the rod. He was, particularly at 
 the beginning of our intimacy, several sizes 
 larger than I. It was all a very pleasant ar 
 rangement, and lasted four years. It ended 
 abruptly one Thanksgiving Day. 
 
 " I remember that day distinctly, as much 
 so as yesterday. Notwithstanding it was a holi 
 day, I 'd been husking corn all day steady, from 
 dark until dark. There was snow on the ground, 
 
 [ 246 ]
 
 Fulfilment 
 
 and I came in wet through, chattering cold, 
 hungry, and dog-tired to find the entire fam 
 ily had left to celebrate the evening with a 
 neighbor. They did that often of a holiday, 
 but usually they left word. This time they 'd 
 forgotten, or did n't care. Anyway, it did n't 
 matter, for that day had been the last straw. 
 So far as I was concerned the clock had struck 
 twelve and a new circuit had begun. 
 
 " I looked about the kitchen for supper, but 
 there was none, so I proceeded to prepare one 
 suitable to the occasion. Among other things, 
 the farmer raised turkeys for the market and, 
 although the season was late, there were a few 
 birds left for seed. I went out to the barn with 
 a lantern and picked the plumpest gobbler I 
 could find off the roost, and an hour later had 
 him in the oven. This was at eight o'clock in 
 the evening. While he was baking I canvassed 
 the old farmer's wardrobe. I 'd grown like a 
 mushroom those last years and, though I was 
 only sixteen, a suit of his ready-made clothes 
 was a fair fit. I got into it grimly. I also 
 found a dog-skin fur coat and, while it smelled 
 a good deal like its original owner, it would be 
 warm, and I laid it aside carefully for future 
 reference. 
 
 [247]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 ' Then came supper. I did n't hurry in the 
 least, but I had a campaign in mind, so I went 
 to work. When that bird was done I ate it, and 
 everything else I could find. I had the appe 
 tite of an ostrich, and when I was through there 
 was n't enough left for a hungry cat. I even 
 considered taking the family cat in to the feast, 
 - they had one, of course, and it always looked 
 hungry, too; but I had a sort of pride in my 
 achievement and I wanted to leave the remains 
 as evidence. 
 
 ; ' It was ten o'clock by this time and no one 
 had shown up. I was positively sorry. I 'd 
 hoped the old farmer would return and find me. 
 I had a few last words to say to him, some that 
 had been lying heavy on my mind for a long 
 time. But he did n't come, and I could n't wait 
 any longer; so I wrote them instead. I put 
 on the dog-skin coat and started away on foot 
 into the night. If I 'd had money I would have 
 left the value of the clothes ; but he 'd never 
 given me a dollar in all those four years, so I 
 took them on account. It was two miles to town 
 and I made it in time to catch the ten-forty-five 
 freight out. 
 
 " I forgot one thing, though. I went back 
 after I 'd got started a quarter of a mile to say 
 
 [ 248 ]
 
 Fulfilment 
 
 good-bye to the horses. I always liked horses, 
 and old Bill and Jerry and I had been good 
 friends. I rode the pilot of that engine and got 
 into Kansas City the next morning. That was 
 the second stage. . . . Still interested, are you, 
 Elice?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Next, I landed in the hardwood region of 
 Missouri, the north edge of the Ozarks. It was 
 the old story of one having to live, and I 'd seen 
 an ad in the papers for ' loggers wanted.' I 
 had answered it, and the man in charge dropped 
 on' me like a hawk and gave me transportation 
 by the first train. Evidently men for the job 
 were not in excess, and when I 'd been there a 
 day I knew why. It was the most God-forsaken 
 country I 'd ever known, away back in the moun 
 tains, where civilization had ceased advancing 
 fifty years before. The job was a contract to 
 deliver so many thousand feet of lumber in the 
 log daily at the mill on the nearest railway. 
 There was a five-mile haul, and we worked under 
 a boss in crews of four. Each crew had to de 
 liver eight big logs a day, seven days in the 
 week, three hundred and sixty-five days in the 
 year. How it was done, when they were cut, 
 when hauled, was not the boss's affair just 
 
 [ 249 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 so the logs came. When we of the crews ate 
 or slept was no one's affair just so we kept 
 on the job. No single man could handle one 
 of those big cuts, no single mule team haul it 
 in places over those cursed mountain roads. 
 That 's why we worked in crews. On the aver 
 age we worked eighteen hours a day. In sum 
 mer this was long, in winter it seemed per 
 petual; but I was in it and I was going to stick 
 - or thought I was. The other three in my 
 gang were middle-aged men, hard drinkers, 
 good swearers, tough as oak themselves. The 
 boss was a little tobacco-eating, bow-legged Irish 
 man. I never, before or since, knew a man who 
 could swear as he could, or drink so when he 
 struck town. It seems to go with the logging 
 business; but he was a master. 
 
 : ' I struck this place in the winter. It was in 
 the winter following, again by chance on a 
 holiday, but Christmas this time, that I quit. 
 They don't have much cold down in that coun 
 try and usually but little snow; but this year 
 there had been a lot, soft, wet snow, half rain, 
 that melted on the ground and made the roads 
 almost impassable. For that reason we 'd been 
 getting behind in our contract. We simply 
 could not make two trips a day; and Murphy, 
 
 [ 250 ]
 
 Fulfilment 
 
 the boss, grew black and blacker. He swore 
 that if we could n't make but one trip a day on 
 that one haul we 'd have to carry two logs each 
 instead of one. The thing was barely possible 
 on good roads, wholly impossible with the 
 ground softened; but he was the boss, his word 
 law, and before daylight on this Christmas 
 morning we were loaded and on the road. 
 
 " I was on the head wagon with Murphy 
 behind me, the other three following. The first 
 half-mile was down grade and we got along all 
 right. Then came the inevitable up grade fol 
 lowing and the team began to flounder. They 
 were mules, of course, horses could never have 
 stood for a day the grief of that mountain 
 hauling, great big-framed, willing fellows that 
 in condition would pull anything any team 
 could pull; but now they were weak and tired, 
 and so thin that their bones almost stuck through 
 their hides from the endless grind. They did 
 their best, though, and struggled along for a 
 few rods. The wheels struck a rock in the 
 road and they stopped. I urged them on and 
 they tried again, but the load would n't budge. 
 There was but one thing to do, to double with 
 the team behind, and I slid off to make the 
 coupling. 
 
 [ 251 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " Murphy had been watching it all in silence, 
 
 - a bad sign with him. When he saw what 
 
 I was going to do he held up his hand to the 
 
 rear team, which meant: * Stay where you are.' 
 
 ' Give over the lines,' he said to me. 
 
 " I knew what that meant. I 'd seen him 
 cripple animals before; but that was when I 
 first came. Since then I 'd had another year 
 to grow and to get hard and tough. I was 
 going on eighteen and as big as I am now al 
 most ; and I was n't afraid of him then or of 
 any human being alive. 
 
 ' It 's no use,' I answered. ' We may as 
 well double and save time.' 
 
 ' He said something then, no matter what; 
 I was used to being sworn at. 
 
 " ' No,' I said. 
 
 " He jumped off the load at that. I thought 
 it was between us, so I jerked off my big mit 
 tens to be ready; but the mules' turn was 
 to come first, it seems. He did n't wait for 
 anything, just simply went at them, like a 
 maniac, like a demon. I won't tell you about 
 it it was too horribly brutal or about what 
 followed. I simply saw red. For the first time 
 and the last time in my life, I hope, I fought 
 a man fought like a beast, tooth and nail. 
 
 [252]
 
 Fulfilment 
 
 When it was over he was lying there in the mud 
 we 'd made, unconscious ; and I was looking 
 down at him and gasping for breath. I was 
 bleeding in a dozen places, for he had a knife; 
 but I never noticed. I suppose I stood there 
 so for a minute looking at him, the other three 
 men who had come up looking at me, and not 
 one of us saying a word. I reached over and 
 felt of him from head to foot. There were no 
 bones broken and he was breathing steadily. So 
 I did what I suppose was a cruel thing, but one 
 I Ve never regretted to this day, though I Ve 
 never seen him since. I simply rolled him over 
 and over in the mud and slush out of the road 
 and left him to come to. After that we 
 pulled off the second log from each of the four 
 wagons and left them there beside the track. 
 Then we drove on to town, leaving him there; 
 sitting up by that time, still dazed, by the 
 side of the road. There was just one logging 
 train a day on that stub, and when we pulled 
 into town it was waiting. Without a word 
 of understanding, or our pay for the month, 
 the four of us took that train and went our 
 four separate ways. That 's the third stage. 
 . . . Begin to understand a little, do you, 
 Elice?" 
 
 [ 253 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 'Yes; I begin, just begin, to understand 
 many things." 
 
 Roberts shifted position silently, his arms 
 crossed under his head for a pillow. But he 
 was still looking straight up, through the gently 
 rocking leaves at the infinite beyond. 
 
 ' The next stage found me in a southern Iowa 
 soft-coal mine. The explanation is simple. I 
 had saved a few dollars; while they lasted I 
 drifted, and to the north. When they were 
 gone I had to work or starve. I had no educa 
 tion whatever, no special training even. I was 
 merely a big, healthy animal, fit only for hard, 
 physical work. I happened to be in a farming 
 and mining community. It was Winter and 
 there was nothing to do on a farm, so by the 
 law of necessity I went to work heaving coal. 
 
 " I stayed there a little over seven months 
 and during that time I scarcely saw the sun. 
 I 'd go into the tunnel at seven in the morning, 
 take my lunch with me, and never come out 
 until quitting time. I worked seven days in 
 the week here too. There was n't any union and, 
 anyway, no one seemed to think of doing dif 
 ferently. At first it used to worry me, that 
 being always in the dark. My imagination kept 
 working, picturing sunlight and green things; 
 
 [ 254 ]
 
 Fulfilment 
 
 after a bit that stage passed and I used to 
 dread to come out of the tunnel. The glare 
 hurt my eyes and made me blink like an owl 
 in the daytime. I felt chilly, too, and shivered 
 so my teeth chattered. But I stuck to it, and 
 after a few months the thing seemed natural 
 and almost as though I 'd been there always. 
 I began to cease to think and to work uncon 
 sciously, like a piece of machinery. I even quit 
 counting the days. They were all the same, so 
 what was the use? I just worked, worked, and 
 the coal dust ground into me and sweated into 
 me until I looked more like a negro than a white 
 man. 
 
 ' Time drifted on this way, from Winter 
 until Spring, from Spring until Summer; at 
 last the something unusual that always comes 
 about sooner or later happened, and I awoke. 
 It was just after dinner one day and I 'd gone 
 back to the job. I had a lot of loose coal 
 knocked down in the drift and was shovelling 
 steadily into a car when, away down the main 
 tunnel, I saw a bunch of lights bobbing in the 
 darkness. It was n't the time of day for an 
 inspection, and anyway there were several 
 people approaching, so I waited to see what 
 it meant. 
 
 f 255 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 ' They came on slowly, stopping to look at 
 everything by the way. At last they got near 
 enough so I could make them out; there were 
 three men and a woman. I recognized one of 
 the men by this time, our foreman, Sharp. 
 He was guiding the others and I knew then 
 they were visitors, owners probably, because no 
 stranger had ever come before while I was there. 
 The woman, I saw that she was a girl now, 
 called one of the men ' father ' ; and from the 
 way she spoke I guessed why she was along 
 too. She 'd come anyway, whether they ap 
 proved or not. The drift I was working in was 
 a new one, just opened; and when they got 
 there the whole group stopped a little way off, 
 and Sharp began explaining, talking fast and 
 giving figures. If any of the men saw me they 
 didn't pay any attention; they just listened, 
 and now and then one of them asked a ques 
 tion. But the girl was n't interested or listen 
 ing. She was all eyes, looking about here and 
 there, taking in everything; and after a bit she 
 noticed the light in my cap and came peering 
 over to see what it meant. I just stood there 
 watching her and she came quite close, all curi 
 osity, until finally she could see my face. She 
 stopped. 
 
 [256 ]
 
 Fulfilment 
 
 ' Oh,' she said, ' I thought it was just a 
 light. It 's a man.' 
 
 ' Yes, it 's a man,' I said. 
 " She was looking at me steadily by this time, 
 wholly curious. 
 
 'A a white man? ' she asked. 
 " I thought a moment, then I understood. 
 
 ' Yes, a white man,' I answered. 
 " She came up to the car at that and looked 
 in. She glanced back at me. Evidently she 
 was n't entirely satisfied. 
 
 ' How old are you ? ' she asked. ' You look 
 awfully old.' 
 
 " I leaned over on the car too; I 'd begun to 
 think. I remembered that to me she seemed so 
 very, very young; and all at once it flashed over 
 me that probably I was n't a day older. 
 " ' Eighteen,' I said. 
 
 " ' Eighteen ! ' She stared. ' Why, I 'm eigh 
 teen. And you have you been here long?' 
 
 " I suppose I smiled. Anyway I know I 
 scared her. She drew back. 
 
 " * I don't know,' I said. ' I Ve forgotten. 
 If you '11 tell me the date maybe I can answer. 
 I don't know.' 
 
 ' You don't know ! You can't mean that.' 
 " ' Yes, I Ve forgotten.' 
 
 17 [ 257 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " She did n't say a word after that, just looked 
 at me as a youngster looks when it goes to 
 the circus for the first time. I fancy we stood 
 there half a minute so; then at last, interrupt 
 ing, the man she 'd called ' father ' looked over 
 and saw us. He frowned, I could see that, and 
 said something to the foreman. He spoke her 
 name." 
 
 Just for a moment Roberts shifted his head, 
 looking at his silent listener steadily. ' What 
 do you fancy was that name he called, Elice? " 
 
 Elice Gleason started involuntarily, and settled 
 back in her place. 
 
 " I have n't the slightest idea, of course." 
 
 ; ' It was n't an ordinary name. At that time 
 I 'd never heard it before." 
 
 " I 'm not good at guessing." 
 
 Roberts shifted back to his old position. 
 
 " It was ' Elice.' ' Elice, come,' he said. 
 
 ' The daughter hesitated. I imagine she 
 wanted to ask me several things yet, whether 
 I had cloven feet, for instance, and lived on 
 spiders ; but she did n't. She went back to the 
 other three and they moved on. That was the 
 last I saw of them. 
 
 " I worked the rest of that day, did about 
 three men's work, I remember. That night I 
 
 [258]
 
 Fulfilment 
 
 drew my pay and went to bed; but I didn't 
 go to sleep. I did a lot of thinking and made 
 up my mind to something. I decided I 'd been 
 the under dog long enough. I have n't changed 
 the opinion since. Next day I saw the sun 
 when it was straight overhead and soaked the 
 coal dust out of my skin as much as pos 
 sible. . . . That 's all of the fourth stage. . . . 
 Hadn't I better stop?" 
 
 The girl shook her head, but still without look 
 ing at him. 
 
 "No; I want to learn what you did after 
 that, after you woke up." 
 
 " I went West. I had n't seen the sun or the 
 sky for so long that I was hungry for it. In 
 Omaha I fell in with a bunch of cattlemen and, 
 as I always liked to handle stock, that settled 
 it. I accepted an offer as herder ; they did n't 
 call it that, but it amounted to the same. I had 
 a half-dozen ponies, rations for six months, and 
 something under a thousand head of stock to 
 look after. By comparison it was n't work at 
 all; only I was all alone and it took all the 
 time, day and night. I did n't sleep under a 
 roof half a dozen nights from July to October. 
 When the cattle bunched at night I simply 
 rolled up in a blanket where they were and 
 
 f 259 1
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 watched the stars until I forgot them; the next 
 thing I knew it was morning. I had hours to 
 read in though, hours and hours; and that was 
 another thing I was after. For I could read, 
 I was n't quite illiterate, and I was dead in 
 earnest at last. When the Fall round-up came 
 I quit and went to Denver, and porter ed in a 
 big hotel and went to night school. 
 
 ' There is n't much to tell after this. I drifted 
 all over the West and the Southwest during the 
 next few years. I got the mining fever and 
 prospected in Colorado and California and Ari 
 zona; but I never struck anything. I learned 
 something though ; and that was that it is n't 
 the fellow who makes a find who wins, but the 
 chap who buys the prospect, almost invariably. 
 That was useful. Every Winter I landed in a 
 big city and went to school, night school or 
 mining school or commercial school. Finally it 
 dawned upon me that I was taking the long 
 road to an end, that the short cut was to be 
 really ready to do a thing before making the 
 attempt. I decided to go to a university. That 
 would take years, and meantime I had to live. 
 I could make a living in a little city easier than 
 a big one, so I came here. . . . You know the 
 rest." 
 
 [ 260 ]
 
 Fulfilment 
 
 Elice Gleason sat up, her fingers locked over 
 her knees. 
 
 "Yes, I know the rest; but " She was 
 silent. 
 
 " But you don't wholly understand," com 
 pleted the other. ' You don't, even yet, do you, 
 Elice?" 
 
 " No, not entirely, even yet." 
 
 ' Why I can't forget when I wish or help 
 being hard? " 
 
 ' Yes, when you have such infinite possibili 
 ties now." 
 
 *' Now," supplemented the man evenly, " when 
 society at large could n't pound me down any 
 longer or prevent my getting out of their 
 power." 
 
 The girl did not answer. 
 
 Deliberately Roberts sat up; no longer list 
 less or tolerantly self-analytic, but very wide 
 awake, very direct. 
 
 " 1 11 have to tell you a few more reasons, 
 then; read between the lines a bit. I never did 
 this before to any one; never will again to 
 any one. But I must make you understand 
 what made me as I am. I must; you know 
 why. Tell me to stop when you wish, I '11 obey 
 gladly; but don't tell me you don't understand. 
 
 [ 261 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 ' To begin again at the beginning. My par 
 ents abandoned me. Why? They were starved 
 to it, forced to it. Self-preservation is the first 
 law. I don't clear them, but I understand. 
 They were starving and irresponsible. I merely 
 paid the price of relief, the price society at large 
 demanded. 
 
 " At the first home I had afterward the man 
 drank, drank to forget that he, too, was an 
 under dog. Some one again must pay the 
 price, and I paid it. Now and then I 'd suc 
 ceed in selling a few papers, or do an errand, 
 and earn a few pennies. After the manner of 
 all lesser animals I 'd try to hide with them; but 
 he 'd find me every time. He seemed to have 
 a genius for it. He 'd whip me with whatever 
 was handy; at first for trying to hide, later, 
 when I would n't cry, because I was stubborn. 
 Finally, after he 'd got tired or satisfied, he 'd 
 steal my coppers and head for the nearest bar. 
 Once in January I remember a lady I met on 
 the street took me into a store and bought me 
 a new pair of shoes. I hid them successfully 
 for a week. One day he caught me with them 
 on and pawned them. 
 
 ' The old farmer the charity folks traded me 
 to was a Lutheran. Every morning after break- 
 
 [ 262 ]
 
 Fulfilment 
 
 fast he read prayers. He never missed a day. 
 Then he 'd send me out with one of his sons, 
 a grown-up man of twenty- two, and if I 
 did n't do exactly as much work as the son I 
 went hungry until I got it done if it took half 
 the night. He also had a willow sapling he re 
 lied upon when hunger did n't prove effective. 
 He 'd pray before he used that too, pray with 
 one hand gripping my neckband so I couldn't 
 get away. I earned a dollar a day one single 
 solitary dollar when I was logging oak in the 
 Ozarks. Day after day when we were on the 
 haul I used to strap myself fast to the load to 
 keep from going to sleep and rolling off under 
 the wheels. I got so dead tired that I fell asleep 
 walking, when I did that to keep awake. You 
 won't believe it, but it 's true. I 've done it 
 more than once. 
 
 " I was sick one day in the coal mine, deathly 
 sick. The air at times was awful. I laid down 
 just outside the car track. I thought I was 
 going to die and felt distinctly pleased at the 
 prospect. Some one reported me to the super 
 intendent. He evidently knew the symptoms, 
 for he came with a pail of water and soaked 
 me where I lay, marked time, and went away. 
 I laid there for three hours in a puddle of water 
 
 [ 263 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 and soft coal grime; then I went back to work. 
 I know it was three hours because my time check 
 was docked exactly that much. 
 
 ' When I was going to night school in Den 
 ver the day clerk, who 'd got me the place, took 
 half my tips, the only pay I received, to permit 
 me to hold the place. It was the rule, I dis 
 covered, the under-dog penalty. 
 
 " I said I never struck anything prospecting. 
 I did. I struck a silver lead down in Arizona. 
 While I was proving it a couple of other pros 
 pectors came along, dead broke and out of 
 provisions. I divided food with them, of course 
 - it 's the unwritten law and they camped 
 for the night. We had supper together. That 
 was the last I knew. When I came to it was 
 thirty-six hours later and I was a hundred miles 
 away in a cheap hotel without even my bill 
 paid in advance. The record showed that claim 
 w r as filed on the day I disappeared. The mine 
 is paying a hundred dollars a day now. I never 
 saw those two prospectors again. The present 
 owner bought of them square. I don't hold it 
 up against him. 
 
 " I went to night school all one winter in San 
 Francisco with a fellow named Stuart, another 
 under dog like myself. We roomed together in 
 
 [ 264 ]
 
 Fulfilment 
 
 a hall-bedroom to save expense and ate fifteen- 
 cent dinners together at the same soup -house. 
 He clerked in a little tobacco store daytimes. I 
 was running an express elevator. We both 
 saved a little money above what it cost to live. 
 Things went on in this way for four months, 
 until the end of the winter term. One morning 
 when I woke up I found he 'd gone. I also 
 found that the little money I 'd saved was gone. 
 They went together. I never saw either again. 
 " I had another friend once, I thought. It 
 
 was after I 'd decided to come here to the uni- 
 
 
 
 versity. I was harvesting on a wheat ranch in 
 Nebraska, making money to pay for my ma 
 triculation. He was a student too, he said, from 
 New York State, and working for the same pur 
 pose. We worked there together all through 
 harvest, boiled side by side in the same sun. 
 One day he announced a telegram from home. 
 His mother was dying. He was crazy almost 
 because he had n't nearly enough money to take 
 him back at once. And there his mother was 
 in New York State dying! I lent him all I 
 had saved, seventy odd dollars ; and he gave 
 me his note, insisted on doing so though he 
 hoped the Lord would strike him dead if he 
 failed to return the loan within four days. I 
 
 [ 265 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 have that note yet. Perhaps the Lord did strike 
 him dead. I don't know. 
 
 " It was nearly September by this time and 
 harvest was over, my job with it, of course; so 
 I started on east afoot, tramping it. I was n't 
 a particularly handsome specimen, but still I 
 was clean, and I never asked for a meal with 
 out offering to work for it. Yet in the three 
 hundred miles I covered before school opened 
 I had four farmers' wives call the dog, I re 
 corded the number; and I only slept under a 
 roof two nights. 
 
 " Even after I came here, after - Elice, 
 don't ! I 'm a brute to have done this ! From 
 the bottom of my soul I beg your pardon." 
 
 The girl was weeping repressedly, her face 
 buried in her hands, her whole body tense. 
 
 "Elice, please don't! I'm ashamed. I only 
 wanted you to understand ; and now - I 'm 
 simply ashamed." 
 
 " You need n't be at all." As suddenly as it 
 had come the storm abated, under compulsion. 
 "I wanted to know several things very much; 
 and now I think I do know them. At least I 
 don't wonder any more why." She stood up 
 decisively, disdaining to dry her eyes. 
 
 "But we mustn't stop to chatter any more 
 
 [ 266 ]
 
 Fulfilment 
 
 now," she digressed preventingly. " You made 
 me forget all about time, and cooks should never 
 forget that. It 's nearly sundown and father 
 he '11 have been hungry for two hours." 
 
 Roberts got to his feet slowly. If in the new 
 light of understanding there was more he had 
 intended saying that day, or if at the sudden 
 barring of opportunity he felt disappointment, 
 his face gave no indication of the fact. He 
 merely smiled in tolerant appreciation of the 
 suggestion last made. 
 
 " Does n't your father know the remedy for 
 hunger yet, at his age? " he queried whimsically. 
 
 "Knows it, yes," with an odd laugh; "but 
 it would never occur to him unless some one 
 else suggested it." 
 
 A pause, then she looked her companion full 
 in the face, significantly so. " He 's dependent 
 and irresponsible as a child or as Steve Arm 
 strong. They 're helpless both, absolutely, left 
 to themselves ; and speaking of that, they 're 
 both by themselves now." She started for the 
 motor hastily, again significantly so. 
 
 " Come, please," she requested. 
 
 [ 267
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 CRISIS 
 
 IT was nearly dark when the big red car drew 
 up in front of the Gleason cottage and, the 
 girl only alighting, moved on again slowly down 
 the street. At the second crossing beyond, out 
 of sight of the house, it switched abruptly to 
 the right for four blocks, into the poorer section 
 of the town, and stopped before a battered, old- 
 fashioned residence. A middle-aged man in his 
 shirt sleeves sat on the step smoking a pipe. 
 At a nod from the driver he advanced to the 
 curb. 
 
 "Mr. Armstrong in, Edwards?" asked Rob 
 erts directly. 
 
 The man shook his head. 
 
 " Been here, has he? " 
 
 " Not since he left this morning ; about ten 
 o'clock it was." 
 
 Roberts paused, his hand on the clutch lever. 
 
 : ' Will you have him 'phone me when he comes, 
 please? " 
 
 [ 268 ]
 
 Crisis 
 
 ' Yes, certainly." 
 
 " Thank you." 
 
 The next stop was at the office, dark with a 
 Sabbath darkness; but not for long. Within 
 the space of a few minutes after he came, every 
 light switched on, the windows open wide, his 
 coat dangling from a chair in the corner, Roberts 
 was at work upon a small mountain of corre 
 spondence collected upon his desk, a mountain 
 of which each unit was marked " personal " or 
 " private." At almost the same time a waiter 
 from a near-by cafe entered with a tray of sand 
 wiches and coffee. Thereafter he ate as he 
 worked. 
 
 An hour passed. The sandwiches disappeared 
 entirely and the mountain grew slightly smaller. 
 A second hour dragged by and the mountain 
 suffered a second decline. For the first time 
 Roberts halted and glanced at the clock. A 
 moment later he took down the receiver from 
 the 'phone on his desk and gave a number. 
 
 ' That you, Randall? Has Armstrong been 
 at your place to-night ? You have n't seen him 
 at all to-day, then. No; nothing. Just wanted 
 to know, that was all. Good-night." 
 
 Another half -hour passed ; then, without paus 
 ing in his work, Roberts pulled the buzzer lever 
 
 [ 269 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 for a messenger. When the latter appeared he 
 scribbled . a few lines on a sheet of paper, ad 
 dressed an envelope, and gave it to the boy with 
 half a dollar. 
 
 ' There 's a mate to that coin waiting here 
 for you if you can get me an answer within 
 half an hour," he said. * You know the party, 
 don't you?" 
 
 " Sure. Yes, sir." 
 
 " Follow up the trail, then. You Ve lost one 
 minute of your thirty already." 
 
 For the third time he returned to his work, 
 halting only when the messenger in blue 
 returned. 
 
 " Can't deliver it, sir," explained the latter 
 curtly. " I Ve been all over town and no one 
 has seen him. Thank you, sir. Good-night." 
 
 For several minutes this time Darley Roberts 
 sat in his desk chair thinking, quite motionless. 
 The clock on the wall recorded midnight and 
 he compared the time with his watch to make 
 certain of its accuracy. Once more he took 
 down the telephone receiver. 
 
 ' This you, Elice? " he asked after a moment. 
 "Can I be of service? Never mind, no need to 
 explain. I understand. I '11 be right up." 
 
 In spite of the city speed limit the big red 
 
 [ 270 ]
 
 Crisis 
 
 car made those twelve blocks intervening in 
 sixty-four seconds flat. 
 
 "How did you ever know?" infinite won 
 der, infinite relief as well in the tone. ; ' Tell 
 me that, please." 
 
 " I did n't know, of course. I merely guessed. 
 Has it been long? " 
 
 Involuntarily the girl shuddered, then held 
 herself steady with an effort. 
 
 ' Yes, since dinner. He came while we were 
 eating; and father- 
 
 " I understand," preventingly. " Don't worry. 
 It 's all over with now. Did any one else see 
 any of the neighbors, I mean?" 
 
 " I think not. It was after dark and Oh, 
 it 's simply horrible ! horrible ! " 
 
 ' Yes," gently. "I appreciate that. Let 's not 
 speak about it. Your two roomers are both in? " 
 
 The girl nodded. 
 
 ' They didn't suspect anything wrong either?" 
 
 " No, the hammock was dark and father 
 watched. They went right up to their rooms 
 without stopping." 
 
 Roberts nodded, and looked out of the win 
 dow. The light in the residence district of the 
 town was on a midnight schedule and was now 
 
 [271 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 cut off. He turned back. A moment he stood 
 so, silent, facing the girl there in the dimly lighted 
 hall. Under a sudden instinct he reached out 
 and laid a hand compellingly on each of her 
 shoulders, holding her captive. 
 
 ' You don't misunderstand my intruding here 
 to-night, do you, Elice?" he asked directly. 
 
 "Misunderstand!" The girl looked at him 
 steadily, the dark circles about her eyes eloquent. 
 "Never. How can you fancy such a thing! 
 Never." 
 
 " And you 're willing to trust me to bring 
 everything out right? It will be all right, take 
 my word for that." 
 
 Still the girl did not stir, but gazed at him. 
 ' Yes, I trust you implicitly, always," she said. 
 
 A moment longer the hands held their place 
 before they dropped. 
 
 " All right, then," he said perfunctorily, " go 
 to bed. I '11 take care of Steve to-night and 
 in the future. Don't worry. Good-night." 
 
 ' Wait," a hand was upon his arm, a com 
 pelling hand. ' You mean - 
 
 Roberts smiled deliberately, his slow, imper 
 sonal smile. 
 
 : ' Exactly what I said. This will be a lesson 
 Steve should never forget. I can't imagine his 
 
 [ 272 ]
 
 Crisis 
 
 repeating it ever. Besides, I 'H help him not 
 to. I have a plan." 
 
 'You mean to help him as as you helped 
 Harry Randall and Margery? " 
 
 A moment the man was silent, though he 
 smiled. 
 
 " No, not exactly. I '11 merely assist him to 
 help himself. I think perhaps it 's only my duty 
 anyway, that maybe I 'm more or lees respon 
 sible. By the way, don't be surprised if he dis 
 appears for a bit. He may possibly decide to 
 go out of town. That 's all, for now." 
 
 'The girl drew a long breath. 
 
 "You responsible!" she echoed. "If you're 
 responsible, how, then, about myself?" 
 
 "Elice!" Roberts cut her off peremptorily. 
 " I refuse to listen. Go to bed at once, I in 
 sist. I '11 come to-morrow and talk if you wish. 
 Just now it 's all too near. Good-night again." 
 
 An instant later, on the darkened porch with 
 out, he had the arm of the doddering old man 
 in the grip of a vise. 
 
 '' Leave everything here to me," he said 
 swiftly, " and see to Elice." He was leading 
 the other toward the entrance. " Listen. See 
 that she goes to bed at once ; and you too. 
 I '11 attend to everything else. Trust me," and 
 
 18 [ 273 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 very gently he himself closed the door behind 
 the other two. 
 
 It was after office hours of the day following 
 when Stephen Armstrong, a bit pale but care 
 fully groomed this time, entered the outer room 
 of Darley Roberts' office and, with decided re 
 luctance, approached the private apartment 
 beyond. The door was open. Seated before 
 the big desk, shirt-sleeved as usual, Roberts 
 sat working. As the newcomer approached he 
 wheeled about. 
 
 " Come in," he said simply. " I 'm glad to 
 see you." 
 
 The visitor took a seat by the open window 
 and looked out rather obviously. 
 
 ;< I just received your note a bit ago," he 
 began perfunctorily, " and called instead of giv 
 ing you an appointment, as you asked. It 's 
 the least I could do after last night." He 
 halted, looking at the building opposite steadily. 
 " I want you to know that I appreciate thor 
 oughly what you did for me then. I I 'm 
 heartily ashamed, of course." 
 
 " Don't speak of it, please," swiftly. " I Ve 
 forgotten it and I 'm sure Miss Gleason and her 
 father have done the same. No one else knows, 
 so let 's consider it never occurred. It never 
 
 [274]
 
 Crisis 
 
 will again, I 'm sure, so what 's the use of re 
 membering? Is it agreed?" 
 
 Armstrong's narrow shoulders lifted in silence. 
 
 " As for not speaking of it again," he an 
 swered after a moment, " yes. Whether or not 
 in the future, however I 'm not liar enough 
 to promise things I can't deliver." 
 
 " But you can ' deliver,' as you say," shortly. 
 ' You know it yourself." 
 
 Armstrong shook his head. 
 
 " I 'm not as bumptious as I was a few years 
 ago," he commented. : ' I 'd have said * yes ' 
 th'en undoubtedly. Now I don't know." 
 
 Roberts swung about in his desk chair, the 
 crease between his eyes suddenly grown deep. 
 
 " Nonsense," he refuted curtly. ' You 're not 
 the first man in the world who has done some 
 thing to regret. Every one has in some way 
 or another and profited by the experience. 
 It 's forgotten already, I say, man. Let it pass 
 at that, and go ahead as though nothing had 
 happened. By the way, have you had supper 
 or do you call it dinner? " 
 
 For the first time Armstrong looked at the 
 speaker and, forgetting for the instant, he al 
 most smiled. The question was characteristic. 
 
 " I Ve already dined, thank you," he said, 
 f 275 1
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Without comment Roberts called up the cafe 
 and ordered delivered his customary busy-day 
 lunch of sandwiches and coffee. 
 
 " I 'm going East on the eleven-fifty limited 
 to-night," he explained, " and there are several 
 things I Ve got to see to first." In voluntary 
 relaxation from work he slipped down in the big 
 chair until his head rested on the back. There 
 after for a long time, for longer doubtless than 
 he realized, he sat so, looking at the other man; 
 not rudely or unpleasantly, but with the old, 
 absent, analytical expression large upon his face. 
 At last he roused. 
 
 " I suppose," he began abruptly, " you 're won 
 dering what it is I wish to speak with you about. 
 I '11 explain in advance that it 's of your per 
 sonal affairs purely, nothing else. Would you 
 prefer me not to intrude? " 
 
 For a moment Armstrong did not answer, 
 but with an effort he looked at the questioner 
 directly. 
 
 ' If it were a couple of days back," he said, 
 " I should have answered ' yes ' emphatically. 
 Now - ' his glance wandered out the window, 
 resting on the brick wall opposite, " now I 
 hardly know. You Ve earned a sort of right 
 to wield the probe ; and besides - 
 
 [ 276 ]
 
 Crisis 
 
 " Never mind the right," shortly. " I tell 
 you last night is forgotten. I meant to see you 
 and have the same talk anyway with your 
 permission." 
 
 Still Armstrong hesitated, looking steadily 
 away. ' You Ve condoned the fact, then, that 
 I Ve cut you dead on the street regularly? " 
 
 " I understood and did n't blame you. 
 There are dozens of people who know Old Man 
 Roberts and still never see him when passing 
 face to face. It 's all in the game." 
 
 At last Armstrong's glance returned, almost 
 with wonder. " And you don't lay it up against 
 them? " 
 
 " Sometimes. Usually, however, not. Life 's 
 too short to play with toys; and enmities are 
 toys^ double-edged ones at that. You have n't 
 answered my question yet." 
 
 " I know; but just a moment more. Do you 
 recall, by the way, a prophecy I made once, 
 years ago? " 
 
 'Yes; it never came true as far as I am 
 concerned." 
 
 " Perhaps you never had cause to have it do 
 so." 
 
 " Possibly." 
 
 " With me it did come about. I Ve hated you 
 
 [ 277 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 ever since from the day you left. Do you 
 
 realize why I have n't answered your question? " 
 
 ' Yes, why you have n't. I 'm still waiting." 
 
 " I 'm wondering," mused Armstrong, " why 
 
 I don't hate you, now that we 're here together. 
 
 I 've thought a lot of bitter things about you, 
 
 more than about any one in the world. I don't 
 
 know why I don't say them now that I Ve got 
 
 the chance." 
 
 ' Yes, you have the chance. I 'm listening." 
 " I know." Armstrong's long fingers were 
 twitching nervously. Despite an effort to pre 
 vent his lower lip trembled in sympathy. " And 
 still, now that for the first time I have the 
 chance, I can't. I don't want to. I - Of a 
 sudden an uncontrollable moisture came into his 
 eyes, and he shifted about abruptly until hi% face 
 was hid. "Damn you, Darley Roberts!" he 
 stormed inadequately, " I don't want to a bit, 
 but after all I trust you and and like you. 
 You have my permission to intrude. I want 
 you to, have wanted you to a hundred times." 
 The Rubicon was crossed at last and he made 
 the admission that for long had trembled on his 
 tongue. " Somehow I can't get along without 
 you and keep my nerve. I think you 're the 
 only person in the world who even in a measure 
 
 [ 278 ]
 
 "You mean to suggest that Elice," he began, "that 
 Elice You dare to suggest that to me?" 
 
 [Page 107}
 
 Crisis 
 
 understands me, and can maybe make a man of 
 me again." 
 
 In his place Darley Roberts sat looking at the 
 other, merely looking at him. The silence grew 
 embarrassing, lasted into minutes; but still un 
 consciously he remained as he was. At last sud 
 denly his eyes dropped and simultaneously the 
 ringers of his big hands twitched in a way that 
 heralded action. Whatever the problem of that 
 period of silence decision had come. 
 
 " I think I understand what you mean," he 
 said deliberately. " Perhaps, too, it 's true. I 
 doh't know. Anyway I '11 try to play the 
 game try to." He remembered, and the 
 hands lay still. " By the way, you 're not work 
 ing now? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 "Have you anything definite in sight?" 
 
 Despite the permission he had granted but a 
 moment before Armstrong colored; with an 
 effort he met his questioner frankly. 
 
 " No," again. 
 
 ' That 's good. It occurred to me that it 
 might clear the atmosphere here a bit if you 
 went away for a time. What do you say to 
 McLean's for a couple of weeks?" 
 
 On Armstrong's face the red of a moment 
 
 [ 279 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 ago changed to white, a white which spread to 
 his very lips. 
 
 "And take the cure, you mean! Do you 
 think, really, it's as bad with me as that?" 
 
 "No," bluntly; "I'd have said so if I had. 
 But just because you might not contract pneu 
 monia is no reason for not wearing an overcoat 
 when the thermometer is at zero. I 'd go if I 
 were you, just as I 'd be vaccinated if there was 
 an epidemic of small-pox prevalent." 
 
 ' But the admission! A confirmed alcoholic! " 
 
 " Confirmed nothing. Your going is no one's 
 business but your own. The place is a general 
 sanatorium ; it 's advertised so. Anyway you will 
 have good company. The biggest bondholder in 
 the Traction Company is there now. Do you 
 happen to have the money that you '11 need 
 convenient? " 
 
 " No. That 's another rub; and besides on 
 the square, Darley, I don't need to do that 
 yet. I know after last night things look bad; 
 but " 
 
 " I understand perfectly. Let 's not waste 
 ammunition on a man of straw. The change 
 will do you good, though, anyway. I 'd go my 
 self for the sake of that big marble plunge if 
 I could spare the time." He was writing a 
 
 [ 280 ]
 
 Crisis 
 
 check swiftly. " Pay it back when something 
 drops," he proffered; "there will be something 
 develop soon there always is. By the way, 
 why not go along with me to-night ? It 's on 
 the same road." 
 
 Armstrong accepted the slip of paper mechan 
 ically; a real moisture came into his eyes, and 
 he held it back at arm's length. 
 
 " Darley, confound you," he protested, " I 
 can't accept that. I simply can't!" 
 
 " Can't why? It 's good. Try it anywhere 
 down town." 
 
 "You know I don't mean that; but- 
 
 " Yes ' The big fingers were twitching 
 ominously. 
 
 " But after what 's past 
 
 " Would n't you make me a loan if positions 
 were reversed? " shortly. 
 
 " Yes, certainly ; but 
 
 " Forget it, then." Roberts turned back to his 
 desk abruptly. " Pardon me if I go on work 
 ing. I 've simply got to clear this desk before 
 I go." He waited in silence until the other man 
 started to leave; just as Armstrong reached the 
 door he wheeled about. 
 
 ' You '11 be with me at eleven-fifty sure, won't 
 you? " he asked directly. 
 
 [281 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Armstrong hesitated, his eyes averted. 
 
 * Yes," he said at last. 
 
 " Good. I '11 attend to the reservations for 
 both of us. Travel East is light now and we '11 
 have things practically to ourselves. There are 
 a number of other things I wish to talk with 
 you about and we '11 have all night to do it 
 in. I suppose you '11 see Elice this evening? " 
 
 Again Armstrong colored. ' Yes," he re 
 peated uncertainly. 
 
 " Tell her, please, for me that I '11 be out of 
 town for about three weeks. Meanwhile the car 
 is subject to her order. I left directions at the 
 garage. If it 's convenient for you to happen 
 around this way about train time there '11 be a 
 cab waiting. Good-bye until then." 
 
 For two hours thereafter Roberts worked 
 steadily until every scrap of correspondence 
 on the desk had been answered or bore memo 
 randa for the instruction of the stenographer on 
 the morrow. At last he took down the 'phone. 
 
 "Randall? There'll be a carriage call for 
 my baggage shortly. It 's all ready. Thanks. 
 By the way, have you that manuscript handy 
 I spoke to you once about? All right. Tuck 
 it in somewhere while you think of it, please. 
 You 're still of the same opinion, that it 's good ; 
 
 [ 282 ]
 
 Crisis 
 
 at least worth a hearing ? Very well. It '11 be 
 published then. I 'm accepting your judgment. 
 Never mind how. This is between you and 
 me absolutely. I 'm not to figure ever. If 
 it goes flat he '11 have had his chance. That 's 
 all any of us can have. By the way, again. 
 I 'm sorry to miss Mrs. Randall's dinner-party. 
 I 'm not often honored in that way. Anyway, 
 though, perhaps it 's as well. I 'm impossible 
 socially; and, fortunately, I know just enough 
 to realize it. Yes; that's all. Good-night." 
 
 Thereafter he waited until he got " Central " 
 on 'the wire. 
 
 " Call me at eleven-thirty," he requested. 
 " I '11 be asleep, so ring me long and loud. 
 Eleven-thirty sharp, remember, please." 
 
 He hung up the instrument with a gesture 
 of relief and leaned back in his chair, his great 
 bushy head against the bare oak, his big hands 
 loose in his lap. A half -minute perhaps he sat 
 so until the eyes slowly closed and, true to 
 his word, and swiftly as a child at close of day, 
 he fell asleep. 
 
 At eleven o'clock the watchman of the build 
 ing, noticing the light, came to investigate. A 
 moment he stood in the open door, an appre 
 ciative observer. On tiptoe he moved away. 
 
 [ 283 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " Some one 's paying good and plenty for 
 this," he commented sotto voce and with a know 
 ing wag of the head. ' The old man 's all in 
 - and he is n't doing it for his health alone, 
 you bet!" 
 
 [ 284 ]
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 TRAVESTY 
 
 OUT in the street, in front of the Gleason 
 cottage, the red car glistened in the moon 
 light. In the shade of the familiar veranda 
 Roberts tossed his gauntlets and cap on the floor 
 and drew forth two wicker rocking-chairs where 
 they would catch the slight midsummer night 
 wind. 
 
 " Hottest night of the season, I fancy," he 
 commented, as he helped his companion remove 
 her dust coat and waited thereafter until she 
 was seated before he took the place by her side. 
 " Old Reliable number two certainly did us a 
 good turn this evening. Runs like an advertise 
 ment, does n't it? " 
 
 It was a minute before the girl answered. 
 
 ' Yes. It sounds cheap to say so, but at times, 
 
 like to-night, it almost seems to me Paradise. 
 
 It makes one forget, temporarily, the things one 
 
 wishes to forget." 
 
 " Yes," said her companion. 
 [ 285 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 ;< I suppose people who have been accustomed 
 to luxuries all their lives don't think of it at 
 all ; but others - She was silent. 
 
 ' Yes," said Roberts again, " I think I un 
 derstand. It 's the one compensation for being 
 hungry a long time, I suppose; the added en 
 joyment of the delayed meal when at last it is 
 served. At least that 's what those who never 
 went hungry say. I hope you '11 get a lot of 
 pleasure out of the machine this Summer." 
 
 The girl looked at him quickly. 
 
 ' I? Are you going away again? " 
 
 ' Yes. I start West to-morrow. Things are 
 moving faster than I expected." 
 
 "And you won't take the car with you?" 
 
 " No, I shan't play again for a time. I al 
 ways had a theory that a man should know a 
 business he conducts, not take some one else's 
 word for it. I 'm going to put on my cordu 
 roys and live with that mine until it grows up. 
 I don't even know how long that will be. la 
 a way to-night is good-bye." 
 
 The girl said nothing this time. 
 
 " I meant what I said, though, in regard to 
 the car," returned Roberts. " I shall be disap 
 pointed if you don't use it a lot. I Ve always 
 felt as though it sort of belonged to us together, 
 
 [ 286 ]
 
 Travesty 
 
 we Ve had such a lot of pleasure out of it in 
 common. They tell me at the garage that while 
 I was away last time it was n't out at all. 
 Didn't Steve deliver my message?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 ; ' Won't you promise to do differently the rest 
 of the season? " 
 
 Again the girl paused before she answered. 
 
 " No," she said then. " You understand 
 why?" 
 
 " Not if I request otherwise? " 
 
 " Don't request it, please," swiftly, " as a 
 favor. I repeat, you understand." 
 
 " Understand, certainly, what you mean to 
 imply." The big hands on the man's knees 
 drooped a little wearily. ' You don't trust me 
 wholly, even yet, do you, Elice? " he added 
 abruptly. 
 
 " Trust you! That 's a bit cruel." 
 
 The man shifted in his seat unconsciously. 
 
 " If it was I beg your pardon," he said gently. 
 " I did n't intend it so. I suppose I 'm wrong; 
 but what others, mere observers, say seems to 
 me so trivial. The gossip of people who 'd knife 
 you without compunction the instant your back 
 was turned for their own gratification or gain 
 to let them judge and sentence pardon 
 
 [ 287 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 me once more. I shan't mention the matter 
 again." 
 
 The girl looked steadily out into the night, 
 almost as though its peace were hers. ' Yes," 
 she returned, " you are wrong but in a dif 
 ferent way than you intimated. It is n't what 
 others would say at all that prevents my accept 
 ing, but my own judgment of myself. You Ve 
 done so many things for me ; and I in return 
 I 'm never able to do anything whatever. It 's 
 a matter of self-respect wholly. One can't ac 
 cept, and accept, and accept always in the 
 certainty of remaining permanently in debt." 
 
 The man looked at her oddly. Then he glanced 
 away. 
 
 " No ; I suppose not," he acquiesced. 
 
 'If there were anything I could do for you 
 in turn to make up even partially ; but you 're 
 so big and independent and self-sufficient " 
 
 "Self-sufficient!" Roberts caught the domi 
 nant word and dwelt on it meditatively. " I 
 suppose I am that way. It never occurred to 
 me before." The big hands tightened suddenly, 
 their weariness gone. " But let 's forget it," he 
 digressed energetically. ' This is the last time 
 I '11 see you for a long time, months at least ; 
 and a lot can happen in months sometimes. The 
 
 [ 288 ]
 
 Travesty 
 
 future is the Lord's, but the present is ours. 
 Let 's enjoy it while we may. What, by the 
 way, are you going to do the remainder of the 
 Summer? " 
 
 "Do?" The girl laughed shortly. "What 
 I 'm doing now, I fancy, mostly. Father will 
 be away the first week in September. I prom 
 ised Margery I 'd stay with her during that 
 time; otherwise A gesture completed the 
 sentence. 
 
 Roberts looked at her oddly. " Is that what 
 you want to do you?" he asked bluntly. 
 
 '" Want to do? " Again the laugh. " What 
 does it matter what I want to do? " She caught 
 herself suddenly. " Margery and I may go 
 away to a lake somewhere during that week," 
 she completed. 
 
 "And after that?" suggested the man. 
 
 ; ' The university will be open then. I Ve se 
 cured a place this year, assistant in English." 
 
 "You're really serious, Elice?" soberly. 
 " This is news to me, you know. You really 
 purpose teaching in future? " 
 
 ' Yes." She returned her companion's look 
 steadily. " Father was not reappointed for the 
 coming session. He 's over the age line, I 
 supposed you knew." 
 w [ 289 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 "No; I didn't know before." Without ap 
 parent reason Roberts stood up. The great 
 hands were working again. A moment he stood 
 there so, the big bushy head outlined distinctly 
 against the starlit sky; with equal abruptness 
 he returned to his seat. 
 
 ' What a farce this is you and I are play 
 ing," he said. " Do you really wish it to go 
 on longer? " 
 
 The girl did not look at him, did not move. 
 
 " Farce? " she echoed. 
 
 The man gestured swiftly. 
 
 " Don't do that, please," he prevented. ' You 
 and I know each other entirely too well to pre 
 tend. I repeat, do you wish this travesty to 
 go on indefinitely? If you do I accept, of 
 course but do you? " 
 
 Instinctively, as on a former occasion, the 
 girl drew her chair farther back on the porch, 
 until her face was in the shadow. It was out 
 of the shadow that she spoke. 
 
 "Prefer it to go on? Yes," she said; "be 
 cause I wish you to remain as you are now. But 
 really wish it, no ; because it 's unfair, wholly 
 unfair." 
 
 "Unfair to me?" 
 
 " Yes, to you." 
 
 [ 290 ]
 
 Travesty 
 
 For the second time Roberts gestured. " Take 
 that consideration out of the discussion abso 
 lutely, please," he said. ' With that under 
 standing do you still wish this pretence to go 
 on?" 
 
 " I wish to keep your friendship." 
 
 "My friendship nothing more? I'm bru 
 tally blunt, I realize; but I can't let to-night, 
 this last night, go by without knowing some 
 thing of how you feel. You never have given 
 me even so much as a hint, you know. I Ve 
 waited patiently, I think, for you to select the 
 moment for confidence ; but you avoid it always ; 
 and to-morrow at this time - You know I 
 love you, Elice. Knowing that, do you still wish 
 me to go away pretending merely polite friend 
 ship? Do you wish it to be that way, Elice? " 
 
 The girl ignored the question, ignored all ex 
 cept the dominant statement. 
 
 ' Yes, I know you love me," she echoed. 
 ' You told me so once before." 
 
 "Once! A thousand times; you understood 
 the language. It seems foolish even to reiterate 
 the fact now. And yet you Ve never answered." 
 
 " I know. I said it was unfair; and still - 
 
 ' You won't answer even yet." 
 
 " I can't. I 'm drifting and waiting for light. 
 
 [291 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Don't misunderstand ; that is n't religion I 've 
 not been to church in a year, or said a prayer. 
 It is n't that at all. I simply don't want to hate 
 myself, or be hated by another justly later." 
 
 " And you expect to drift on until that light 
 comes? " 
 
 A halt, long enough for second thought or 
 renewal of a decision. " I can't do otherwise. 
 There 's no other way. It 's inevitable." 
 
 ' Inevitable ! ' Roberts shrugged impa 
 tiently. " I don't like the word. It belongs in 
 the same class with ' chance ' and ' predestina 
 tion ' and * luck.' There are few things inevit 
 able except death." 
 
 ' This is one that I must wait." 
 
 " And you can't even take me into your confi 
 dence, about the reason why? Mind, I don't 
 ask it unless you voluntarily desire. I merely 
 suggest." 
 
 " No," steadily; " I can't tell you the reason. 
 I Ve got to decide for myself - - when light 
 comes." 
 
 Roberts' great shoulders squared significantly. 
 
 " But if I know it already," he suggested 
 evenly, "what then?" 
 
 No answer, although the other waited half a 
 minute. 
 
 [ 292 ]
 
 Travesty 
 
 " I repeat: what if I know it already? " 
 
 " Do you know? " 
 
 Roberts' glance wandered into the shadow 
 where the girl was, then returned slowly to the 
 street and the red car. 
 
 " I rode East with Steve Armstrong," he said, 
 " as far as he went. I also wired him when I was 
 coming, and we returned together. He told me, 
 I think, everything except about your father. 
 He forgot that, if he knew. Do you doubt I 
 know the reason, Elice? " 
 
 Out of the shadow came the girl's face, the 
 face only. 
 
 ' You did this for Stephen Armstrong after 
 what is past! Why?" 
 
 " Because life is short and I wanted to know 
 several things before I came to-night. Would 
 you like to hear what it was I wished to learn? " 
 
 Again the face vanished. 
 
 ' Yes," said a voice. 
 
 ' You know already, so it won't be news. One 
 was that he still cares for you as always. He 
 perjured himself once, because he thought it was 
 his duty; but he has never ceased to care. The 
 other thing was that he 's changed his mind and 
 is going back to his literary work. His novel, 
 that was accepted tentatively, will be published 
 
 [ 293 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 next Winter. What else I learned is immate 
 rial. I don't often venture a prediction, but in 
 his case I '11 make the exception. I believe that 
 this time he '11 make good. He has the incentive 
 - and experience. Do you still doubt I know 
 the reason, Elice? " 
 
 " No. But that you should teU me this! " 
 
 " I claim no virtue. You knew it already. 
 I 'm merely attempting to simplify to aid the 
 coming of the light." 
 
 For the second time out of the shadow came 
 the girl's face, her whole figure. " Darley Rob 
 erts," asked a voice, " are you human, or are n't 
 you? I don't believe another man in the world 
 would, under like circumstances, do as you have 
 done by Steve Armstrong. I can't believe you 
 human merely." 
 
 The man smiled oddly; the look passed. 
 
 " I have merely played the game fair," he 
 explained dispassionately, " or tried to, accord 
 ing to my standard. Like yourself, I don't want 
 to hate myself in the future, whatever comes. 
 The hate of others I 'm indifferent to that, 
 Elice." 
 
 " And still you love me." 
 
 " I shall never care for another, never. The 
 time when I could, if it ever existed, is past." 
 
 [ 294 ]
 
 Travesty 
 
 The white hands dropped helplessly into the 
 girl's lap. 
 
 " I thought I understood you," she said, " and 
 yet, after all - 
 
 ' We live but once," gently. " I wish you to 
 be happy, the happiest possible. Does that help?" 
 
 ' Yes, but In a panic the face, the hands, 
 retreated back into the shadow again. " Oh, 
 I 'm afraid of you once more, afraid of you," she 
 completed. 
 
 A moment the man sat still; then came his 
 unexpected deliberate smile. 
 
 '"No; not afraid. I repeat you know me ab 
 solutely, and we 're never afraid of things we 
 know. I explained once before that that 's why 
 I went through the detail of telling you every 
 thing. You 're not afraid of me in the least, any 
 more than I am afraid of you." 
 
 "No?" 
 
 The smile still held. 
 
 " No." 
 
 "And still - 
 
 " I repeat, it is n't fear of me that prevents 
 your answering." Like a flash the smile van 
 ished. Simultaneously the voice dropped until 
 it was very low, yet very steady. ' You love me 
 in return, Elice, girl. It isn't that!" 
 
 [ 295 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 From the darkness silence, just silence. 
 
 " I say, you love me in return. Can you 
 deny it?" 
 
 Still not an answering sound nor a motion. 
 
 Roberts drew a long breath. His big eloquent 
 hands hung free. " Shall I put in words the exact 
 reason you won't answer, to prove I know? " he 
 asked. 
 
 ' Yes." The voice was just audible. 
 
 A moment Roberts paused. " It 's because 
 you are afraid, not of me, but of Steve Arm 
 strong: afraid of the way the Lord fashioned 
 him. Elice, come out into the light, please. We 
 must face this thing. You 're not his mother, 
 and you don't love him otherwise. Tell me, 
 is a sentiment dead greater than one living? 
 Will you, must you, sacrifice the happiness of 
 two for the happiness of one? Answer me, 
 please." 
 
 An instant the girl hesitated; obediently she 
 came out into the light, stood there so, her hand 
 on the pillar of the porch. She did not glance 
 at her companion, did not dare to do so. 
 
 " I repeat, I can't answer you yet," she said 
 simply. " It 's bitter, cruel to you, I know, and 
 to myself; but it would be infinitely worse if 
 if I made a mistake." She paused, while a rest- 
 
 [ 296 ]
 
 Travesty 
 
 less hand swept across her face. " I can't help 
 feeling that I 'm to blame a good deal al 
 ready, that if I had n't changed, and shown the 
 change She sat down helplessly, the sen 
 tence incomplete. " Oh, I can't bear to think of 
 it. It drives me mad. To feel you have the re 
 sponsibility of another's very soul on your hands, 
 and to have failed in that trust - 
 
 "Elice!" 
 
 " Don't stop me. It 's true. If I had married 
 him years ago when he first wished me to do so 
 he 'd never have gone down. I cared for him 
 then*, or fancied I did so; and I could have held 
 him up. But instead " 
 
 "Elice! I won't listen. You 're morbid and 
 see ghosts where nothing exists. You 're no more 
 to blame for being human and awakening than 
 lightning is to blame when it strikes." He stood 
 up, suddenly. " Besides, the past is dead. To 
 attempt to revive it is useless. The future alone 
 matters ; and it 's that I wish to talk about. I 
 can't bear to think of going away and leaving 
 you as you are now. It 's preposterous. If you 
 cared for Steve I should n't insist for a moment, 
 or trouble you again so long as I lived; but you 
 don't care for him." He took a step forward, 
 and stopped where she must look him in the face. 
 
 [ 297 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 ' You don't care for him, that way, do you, 
 Elice? " he asked. 
 
 Straight in the eyes the girl answered his look. 
 But the lips spoke nothing. 
 
 " And you do love me, love me, don't you, 
 girl?" 
 
 Still not a word ; only that same steady look. 
 
 " Elice," - the man's hands were on her shoul 
 ders, holding her immovable, " answer me. 
 This is unbearable. Don't you love me? Say it. 
 I must know." 
 
 Bit by bit the long lashes dropped, until 
 the dark eyes were hid. " I can't say it yet," 
 she said, " you know that. Don't compel me 
 to." 
 
 " Cannot or wiU not? " 
 
 Still no answer, merely silence. 
 
 Just noticeably the man's big hands tightened 
 their grip. " I can make you very happy, Elice, 
 girl," he voiced swiftly; " I know it; because I 
 have the ability and I love you. I '11 take you 
 away, to any place in the world you wish to go, 
 stay as long as you wish, do whatever you choose. 
 I '11 give you anything you want, anything you 
 ever wanted. I have the power to do this now, 
 and I '11 have more power in future. Nothing 
 can stop me now or prevent, except death alone. 
 
 [ 298 ]
 
 Travesty 
 
 Say the word and I '11 not go West to-morrow. 
 Instead, we '11 begin to live. We 're both starved 
 for the good things that life has to offer. We '11 
 eat our fill together, if you but say the word. 
 We Ve wasted years both of us, long, precious 
 years. There 's a big, big debt owing us ; but 
 at last, at last - 
 
 "Barley Roberts!" 
 
 The man suddenly halted, passive. 
 
 ' You don't realize what you 're doing, what 
 you 're saying. It 's unworthy of you." 
 
 A moment longer the grip of the big hands 
 still 'clung as it was. They dropped, and the 
 man drew back. 
 
 " Unworthy? " He looked at her steadily. 
 " Can you fancy I was trying to buy you? I 
 thought you realized I love you." 
 
 " I do. But you 're only making it harder 
 for me to do right." 
 
 "Do right?" Once more the echo. "Right!" 
 He laughed, as his companion had never before 
 heard him laugh. " I wonder if it is right to 
 make a certain cripple of one human being on 
 the chance of making a real weakling less weak? 
 Right to " a sudden tense halt. " I beg your 
 pardon," swiftly. " I did n't mean that. For 
 get that I said it." He stooped to pick up his 
 
 [ 299 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 cap and gauntlets. When he came forward 
 once more he was himself again, as he would be 
 from that moment on. 
 
 " Don't fancy for a minute I mean to hurt 
 you, or to make it harder for you now," he said 
 steadily; "but this is the end, you realize, the 
 turning of the ways and I must be sure. You 
 still can't give me an answer, Elice? " 
 
 The girl did not look at him this time, did 
 not stir. 
 
 " No, not even yet." 
 
 A pause, short this time. 
 
 " And you won't reconsider about going to 
 work for a living, won't let me help, as a friend, 
 merely as a friend? You know me too well 
 to misunderstand this. It would mean nothing 
 absolutely to me now to help, and would not 
 alter our friendship, if you wish, in the least. 
 Won't you let me do this trifle for you if I 
 ask it?" 
 
 Resolutely the girl shook her head, very 
 steadily. 
 
 " I understand and appreciate," she said; 
 " but I can't." 
 
 A moment longer the man waited. He ex 
 tended his hand. ' There 's nothing more to be 
 said, then, I fancy, except good-bye." 
 
 [ SOD ]
 
 Travesty 
 
 For the first time in that long, long fight 
 the girl weakened. Gropingly she found the 
 extended hand; but even then the voice was 
 steady. 
 
 " Good-bye," she said and that was all. 
 
 301 ]
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 CELEBRATION 
 
 IT had been a gay dinner, a memorable dinner. 
 The mere ostensible occasion of its being in 
 celebration of the publication of Steve Arm 
 strong's first novel, " The Disillusioned," would 
 of itself have been sufficient reason therefor. In 
 addition, the resignation, by a peculiar coinci 
 dence to take effect the same day, of the former 
 manager of the Traction Company, Darley Rob 
 erts, with a recommendation that was virtually 
 a command for the advancement of his acting 
 assistant, Harry Randall, to his place, added 
 another reason no less patent. If a cloud existed 
 that evening to mar the happiness of those four 
 long-time friends gathered in commemoration of 
 the dispensation of Providence jointly enjoyed, 
 it most emphatically had not lifted its head 
 above the surface. Never had Margery Randall 
 bubbled with more spontaneous abandon; or, 
 even in the old university days, had Elice Glea- 
 son laughed more easily. And as for Steve 
 
 [ 302 ]
 
 Celebration 
 
 Armstrong, the guest of honor, the conquering 
 hero, it was his hour and in its intoxicating 
 completeness he had enjoyed it to the full; had 
 stretched it on and on that he might enjoy it 
 again. Now, the last course served, the last toast 
 proposed and drunk in inadequate chocolate, and 
 the two girl friends, after the habit of old ac 
 quaintances, left to their own private confab, 
 Randall and Armstrong drifted instinctively 
 upstairs to the former's den for their after- 
 dinner smoke. In absolute well-being, too keen 
 almost for words, Armstrong dropped into a big 
 leather chair, facing his host. 
 
 " By Jove, Harry," he commented explo 
 sively, " I tell you this is something like living. 
 I never enjoyed myself so much before in my 
 life." 
 
 Harry Randall, decidedly stouter than the 
 Randall of professor days, smiled appreciatively 
 as he selected a cigar from the convenient 
 humidor. 
 
 " Yes, the world does look rather bright to me 
 to-night, I '11 admit," he acquiesced. 
 
 "Bright!" Armstrong laughed outright in 
 pure animal exuberance. " It 's positively daz 
 zling: the more so by comparison." He looked 
 at his companion with the frank understanding 
 
 [ 303 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 of those long and intimately acquainted. ' What 
 a change a few short years can make sometimes, 
 can't they? What an incredible change!" 
 
 Harry Randall returned the look, but gravely 
 this time. 
 
 ' Yes, I Ve been thinking of that all the 
 evening," he said simply. 
 
 " So have I." Armstrong laughed shortly; 
 "that is, when I have n't been too irresponsibly 
 happy to think at all. Just to get my bearings 
 I tried to fancy myself back where I was once 
 when I came to tell my troubles to you; and 
 went to pieces at the end of the narrative." He 
 gestured eloquently. ' What a fool I was and 
 what a liar to swear I 'd never do any more 
 literary work, or permit a book of mine to be 
 published in any circumstances, ever!" Once 
 more the gesture, ending in an all-comprehen 
 sive shrug. ; 'Bah! I don't like to think of it. 
 The whole thing 's a nightmare, neither more 
 nor less! " 
 
 Again Harry Randall did not smile. 
 
 "Yes; the past was a little that way," he 
 echoed again. 
 
 For perhaps half a minute Armstrong smoked 
 in reminiscent gravity; swiftly as the shadow 
 had intruded it passed. 
 
 [ 304 ]
 
 Celebration 
 
 " Let 's forget it," he proposed, " forget it 
 absolutely and never speak of it again. By the 
 way, do you own this place now? " 
 
 " No; Roberts still holds it. I made him an 
 
 offer before he went away last Summer, but he 
 
 would n't even consider it then. I '11 try again 
 
 when he returns. Margery wants it badly." 
 
 ' When he returns? Is he coming back soon? " 
 
 " I judge so, although I Ve had no word. 
 There were a number of letters and telegrams 
 came for him yesterday, and a batch of them to 
 day. I suspect that he intended being here to 
 night and is delayed for some reason." Randall 
 removed his glasses and polished them with un 
 necessary diligence. "I wired him when I heard 
 what he 'd done for me, but I have n't had any 
 answer yet. I 'd have given anything to have 
 had him here to-night. It was the one thing 
 lacking." 
 
 For a moment there was silence. 
 
 " He has done a lot for you, Harry, that 's a 
 fact," commented Armstrong, judicially. ' Your 
 new place at six thousand dollars a year is a 
 pretty good thing even for these days." 
 
 "A lot? Everything! He pulled me out of 
 hell and gave me a chance when I 'd never have 
 made one myself, I owe him everything; and 
 
 20 [ 305 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 I 've never been able to do him one blessed ser 
 vice in return." 
 
 Armstrong squirmed uncomfortably. The 
 usually reticent Harry Randall like this was a 
 novelty. 
 
 " For that matter, he 's done a lot for both 
 of us," admitted Armstrong, perfunctorily. " I 
 appreciate it too, thoroughly." 
 
 Randall looked up swiftly; in remembrance 
 equally swift he turned away. 
 
 ' Yes ; he 's done miracles for both of us, more 
 than we can possibly realize," he said softly. 
 "More- 
 
 " Harry," interrupted Margery Randall's voice 
 from the stairway, " I 'm sorry to hasten you 
 men, but Elice thinks she must go. Her father 
 is n't well, you know, and is at home alone." 
 
 " I '11 wait, Elice. It 's early yet. See how 
 your father is and come down when you can." 
 Armstrong looked at her meaningly, with all 
 but an appeal. ' This is my night, you know. 
 You really can't refuse to let me see you 
 to-night." 
 
 The girl busied herself with the lights and the 
 gas in the grate. 
 
 " I know, Steve ; but really I 'd rather not see 
 [ 306 ]
 
 Celebration 
 
 any one longer to-night." She took off her coat 
 almost hurriedly. " It 's a busy time for me now 
 before the holidays ; and with father as he is - 
 That 's why I came away so early, you know. 
 Not to-night, please, Steve." 
 
 Armstrong silently paced the length of the 
 little library, pitifully bare in comparison with 
 the home they had just left. He halted. 
 
 " Do you realize that you Ve invariably pre 
 vented, by one excuse or another, my talking with 
 you alone in months now? " he asked abruptly. 
 " Don't you mean ever to give me a chance 
 again? You know what it is I wish to speak 
 about, Elice." 
 
 The girl was standing quite still now. 
 
 '* Yes, I know what it is you wish," she 
 corroborated. 
 
 Armstrong fingered the gloves in his hand 
 nervously. "Aren't you going to listen then? 
 I won't attempt to make any apologies for the 
 past. I can't. But I 'd hoped you 'd forgotten, 
 or at least forgiven, by this time. I Ve tried to 
 make good, honestly, Elice; and to-night partic 
 ularly don't stand me in the corner any longer, 
 please. I Ve been punished enough." 
 
 "Punished!" The girl wheeled. "I 
 wonder - She checked herself suddenly. 
 
 [ 307 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 ' Very well," she digressed swiftly, - " wait. 
 I '11 be back soon," and she was gone. 
 
 Alone Armstrong threw hat and topcoat into 
 a chair almost irritably; walking over to the 
 grate, he stood gazing down into the blaze ab 
 sently. For some reason it called to mind an 
 other grate and another occasion when he had 
 looked absently therein; and almost uncon 
 sciously he caught himself glancing at the shelf 
 above, half expecting to catch the play of light 
 from a red decanter thereon. With the shrug 
 of one who banishes an unpleasant memory he 
 turned away. He was still standing, however, 
 when the girl returned. 
 
 " Is there any way I can assist, with your 
 father? " he asked perfunctorily. 
 
 " No, thank you. He 's asleep. It 's mental, 
 the trouble with him, more than anything else." 
 She sat down and indicated a place opposite. 
 " I 'm so glad Harry Randall escaped in time." 
 
 "And I as well? " 
 
 ' Yes, and you, assuredly." 
 
 Armstrong waited; but she said no more, and 
 with an odd diffidence he cleared his throat 
 unnecessarily. 
 
 : ' It 's sacrilege, though, for us to talk common 
 places to-night," he anticipated hastily. " There 's 
 
 f 308 ]
 
 Celebration 
 
 too much else to discuss, and to-day has meant 
 too much. Do you realize what this day really 
 means for both of us, Elice?" 
 
 The long fingers lay in the girl's lap, quite 
 stiU. 
 
 " Perhaps. But tell me if you wish." 
 
 Again the fantastic diffidence held Armstrong 
 in its grip; and again he freed himself with an 
 effort. 
 
 " It means, first of all, that at last I 'm on my 
 feet, where I 've always wished to be. It means 
 that I 'm to have my chance and that again 
 means independence." He overlooked abso 
 lutely the egotism of the statement, was uncon 
 scious of it. Success loomed too big and incon- 
 testible; possible future failure lay too remote 
 to merit consideration. "It means all of this; 
 but beyond that it means that I have the right 
 to tell you again that I love you. You know I 
 love you, as always, Elice." 
 
 "As always?" 
 
 " Forget, please. This is to-day ; my day, 
 our day. You don't doubt I love you? " 
 
 "No; I don't doubt it." 
 
 Armstrong breathed deep. An instinct all 
 but overwhelming impelled him to rise, to he 
 substituted with his eyes. 
 
 [ 309 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 ' You realize all that I wish to say," he said 
 swiftly, "so why make a farce of it by words? 
 We Ve drifted apart for a long time, a hide 
 ously long time, and it 's been my fault through 
 out ; but now that it 's over won't you come back 
 to the beginning, Elice, to the place where we 
 separated?" He halted for breath, for words 
 where none were adequate. " I want you, Elice, 
 want you now and always. Tell me, please, 
 that you Ve forgiven me, that you '11 come 
 back." 
 
 In the girl's lap the hands crossed steadily; 
 again that was the only move she made. 
 
 "So far as I am concerned there 's nothing 
 to forgive, nor has there ever been," she said 
 gently. "As for going back, though, I can't; 
 because I can't. It 's useless to lie, for you 'd 
 find me out. I've simply awakened." 
 
 ' You mean you don't care for me any 
 more? " 
 
 " No; I care for you very much; but not in 
 that way. It was so before the end came. I 
 awoke before that." 
 
 " And still you would have married me then." 
 
 "Yes," simply. 
 
 "And now?" 
 
 The girl did not answer, did not even look up. 
 [ 310 ]
 
 Celebration 
 
 " And now," he repeated insistently, " tell me; 
 and now? " 
 
 This time the brown eyes lifted, met his 
 steadily. 
 
 " Unless something happens I can't marry 
 you now," she said. 
 
 Armstrong looked at her; at first dazedly, 
 then with a trace of color gathering under his 
 fair skin. 
 
 "Unless something happens?" he repeated. 
 " Pardon me, but what do you mean by 
 that?" 
 
 " Nothing," swiftly. " I was thinking of 
 something else. I hate to hurt you; but as I 
 said before, it 's useless to temporize. I can't 
 marry you now, Steve." 
 
 In his place Armstrong settled back dumbly. 
 Unconsciously he passed his handkerchief over 
 his mouth. The hand that carried it trembled 
 a bit. 
 
 ' You really mean that, do you? " he groped, 
 half to himself, " mean the break to be really 
 final this time? " He shut his eyes, like a child 
 suddenly awakened in the dark and afraid. 
 " Somehow I had n't expected that at all, had n't 
 planned on it. I suppose it was childish of me; 
 but I Ve been taking things for granted, on the 
 
 [311]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 strength of the past, and and Of a sudden 
 the rambling tongue halted. The eyes opened 
 wide, unnaturally wide; and in their depths was 
 again that new look of terror, but now mag 
 nified. ' Tell me that you don't mean it, 
 Elice, really," he pleaded. " I was just begin 
 ning to live and hope again; and now tell 
 me!" 
 
 Long before this the girl had ceased looking 
 at him. Instead, with the instinctive fascina 
 tion an open fire exerts over all human beings, 
 she had turned toward the tiny jets of gas in 
 the grate; her face propped in her hands she 
 sat staring into the depths of the flame. She 
 scarcely seemed to breathe, even when she 
 spoke. 
 
 ' Yes, I meant it," she repeated patiently. 
 
 For a long time there was silence, long 
 enough with the man for the mood to pass, the 
 mood of terror, and in reaction its antithesis, 
 reckless abandon, to come in its stead. For come 
 it did, as was inevitable; and heralding its ap 
 proach sounded a laugh, a sudden mirthless, 
 sarcastic laugh. 
 
 " So this is the end of my day," he said. He 
 laughed again. ''' I might have known it was 
 too good to last. What a fool I was to imag- 
 
 [ 312 ]
 
 Celebration 
 
 ine that just because one thing had come my 
 way everything else was going to follow suit. 
 What a poor, blithering fool!" 
 
 " Steve! " No lethargy in the girl's figure 
 now, in the face of a sudden turned toward him 
 appealingly. " Don't take it that way or say 
 such things. Nothing has changed in the least. 
 I 'm still your friend, as I Ve always been; so 
 is Harry Randall and the rest. You 're still 
 a successful writer; you've proved it to-day, and 
 you '11 prove it further with the new book you 're 
 working on now. I repeat, nothing has altered 
 in tHe least. Don't talk that way. It hurts 
 me." 
 
 In his chair, erect now, Armstrong merely 
 smiled. But his color was higher than normal 
 and the blue eyes were unnaturally bright. 
 
 " No, nothing has changed, I suppose," he 
 said evenly. ' You 're right there. I Ve simply 
 been in a trance that 's all and I Ve inad 
 vertently come to. I seem to have the habit of 
 doing that." He smiled again, hopelessly cruel 
 in his egotism. " Of course I have friendship, 
 oceans of it, yours particularly, as I Ve had all 
 the time. And success; it monopolizes the sky, 
 fairly blots out the stars, and obscures the sun 
 like an eclipse. There 's no end to the success 
 
 [ 313]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 I have. It 's infinite. And still further, incen 
 tive: to be and to do and to fight." The smile 
 vanished. He could not mock in the face of 
 that thought even yet. ''Incentive! What a 
 travesty. Elice, you Ve killed the last trace of 
 incentive I had just now." 
 
 "Steve!" The girl's hands lifted imperi 
 ously. " Stop. Have you no pity? " She 
 shook the swift-gathering flood from her eyes 
 rebelliously and faced him fair. ' You '11 be 
 very sorry you said such things after you Ve 
 had time to think," she went on. " Don't add 
 regret to the rest to-night. Please don't." 
 
 " Sorry, perhaps," echoed the man, " and re 
 gret possibly. Anyway, what does it matter? 
 It 's true." 
 
 " True no," swiftly. " I can't believe it. I 
 won't. Don't say that. In pity, don't." 
 
 " But, I repeat, it is true," doggedly. " I 
 at least can't help that. Elice, don't cry so!" 
 Of a sudden he was on his feet bending over 
 her. "Please don't. I love you!" 
 
 "Don't touch me! I can't stand it!" The 
 girl had drawn away swiftly, the repression of 
 years for an instant broken. ' You dare to tell 
 me that now ! Love - She cut herself 
 
 short with an effort of will and, rising hurriedly, 
 
 [ 314]
 
 Celebration 
 
 walked the length of the room to the window. 
 For more than a minute, while Armstrong stood 
 staring after her dumbly, she remained so; her 
 face pressed against the cold pane, looking out 
 upon the white earth. Deliberately, normally, 
 she turned. Seemingly without an effort, so 
 naturally that even Armstrong was deceived, 
 she smiled. 
 
 " Pardon me," she said evenly. " I 'm not 
 often hysterical." She was returning slowly. 
 "I '11 be glad when vacation comes. I think 
 I 'm tired." She seated herself and motioned 
 the other back into his place, a motion that 
 was a command. " Now, tell me, please, that 
 you didn't mean what you said a moment ago 
 when we were both irresponsible. It will make 
 us both sleep better." 
 
 The smile had left Armstrong's face now, and 
 in its place was the pallor of reaction. But he 
 was quiet also. 
 
 " I wish I could," he said steadily, " but I 
 can't. It '11 be exactly as it was before." 
 
 The girl was still smiling, that same nor 
 mal, apparently effortless, smile. 
 
 "Nonsense!" she refuted, in tones delib 
 erately matter-of-fact. ' There 's all the dif 
 ference in the world. Before you had no 
 
 [315 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 audience. And now the entire country will 
 listen now." 
 
 " It does n't matter," dully. " It 's always 
 been you that counted really. Success was an 
 incident, but you were the real incentive." 
 
 "I?" She laughed gently. "On the con 
 trary it was I who tried to lead you away from 
 your work, to make you practical. Don't you 
 remember the Graham offer? " 
 
 " Yes," hurriedly. " I Ve thought of it a 
 thousand times. It was the big mistake of my 
 life when I refused his proposal. If I 'd ac 
 cepted then - 
 
 ' You 'd not have been a successful writer 
 whose work goes on sale to-day in every city 
 in the United States." 
 
 " Perhaps. But I would have had you. What 
 do I care for success in comparison to you!" 
 
 Listening, just for an instant the girl's nos 
 trils tightened; again she laughed. 
 
 ' We seem to be travelling in a circle," she 
 bantered, " and keep returning to the starting- 
 point. It 's discouraging." 
 
 " It 's written," said Armstrong, simply. "We 
 can't avoid it. With me you 're the starting- 
 point as you 're the end, always. Did n't you 
 recognize yourself so in the last novel?" 
 
 [316]
 
 Celebration 
 
 The girl settled back in her seat wearily. 
 
 ' You told me, I recall," she said. 
 
 "And in the one before?" 
 
 " You told me that also." 
 
 Armstrong was observing her steadily. 
 
 " You are in the new one too," he said; "the 
 one I Ve been working on but which will never 
 be completed now. You Ve killed the girl there 
 too, Elice." 
 
 "Steve!" The hands had gone swiftly to 
 the girl's ears, covered them completely. " I 
 shan't listen. This is worse than folly. It 's 
 madness." 
 
 " I can't help it," monotonously. " It 's my 
 self. I can't avoid being myself." 
 
 " Nor I myself, Steve," very gently. " Can't 
 you realize that? " 
 
 The man passed his hand across his eyes as 
 though brushing away something tangible. 
 
 " No, I can't realize anything," he said dully, 
 " except that I love you and have lost. This 
 and that the world is dead and I am alone 
 in it." 
 
 For the second time the girl arose, and even 
 yet quite steadily. But at last her lips were 
 trembling. 
 
 " I think you had better go now," she re- 
 
 [ 317 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 quested. :< I can't stand this much longer; and 
 besides, to keep it up would do no good that 
 I can see. To-morrow is Saturday, and if you 
 still feel there is anything you must say to me 
 I shall be at home all day. But to-night 
 please go now." 
 
 As in a dream, Armstrong arose, obeying her 
 command as he always obeyed in small things. 
 
 ' Yes, I suppose you 're right," he echoed 
 dully. ; ' I realize I 'm only making matters 
 worse by staying, only getting us farther apart." 
 He buttoned his coat to the chin and drew on 
 his gloves linger ingly. ' If I were to call 
 to-morrow, though, is n't there a chance that 
 you would be different? Can't I have even 
 hope?" 
 
 The girl said nothing, did not appear to hear. 
 Subconsciously she was counting the seconds, 
 almost with prayer; counting until she should 
 be alone. 
 
 But still Armstrong dallied, killing those same 
 seconds wilfully. 
 
 " Are n't you going to offer me even hope, 
 Elice?" he repeated. "I'll be in hell when 
 I go, without even hope." 
 
 It was the final straw, that prophetic sug 
 gestion, the snapping straw. With one gesture 
 
 [318]
 
 Celebration 
 
 of hopeless, impotent misery, of infinite appeal 
 as well, the girl threw out her hand. 
 
 " Go," she pleaded brokenly, " go quickly. 
 There 's a limit to everything and with me that 
 limit is reached." She motioned again, and 
 Steve went out into the night. 
 
 [ 319]
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 ADMONITION 
 
 THERE was a light in the den as Darley 
 Roberts, having let himself in with his 
 latch-key, started up the stairs toward his own 
 rooms, and, although he moved softly, Harry 
 Randall himself faced the newcomer on the 
 landing, his hand extended. 
 
 " I was waiting for you," he announced with 
 out preface. " I felt sure you 'd be in to-night 
 sometime." He was smiling a welcome, one 
 unmistakably genuine. "Delayed, were you?" 
 ' Yes. A wreck out about seventy miles. I 
 just got in on the relief," laconically. The ac 
 companying grip, however, was not curt. 
 ' You '11 read about it in the morning. Looks 
 comfortable in there," with a nod toward the in 
 viting den. " Early enough yet for a chat, is it? " 
 : ' I was hoping so. That 's why I sat up." 
 ' Thanks. I '11 be with you in a minute." 
 Shortly, in lounging-robe and slippers this 
 time, he came tiptoeing down the hall past the 
 
 [ 320 ]
 
 Admonition 
 
 other sleeping-rooms; a big alert shape that 
 seemed mountainous beside the lesser Randall 
 idly awaiting his return. 
 
 ' Very well," he introduced characteristically 
 as he dropped into a convenient seat, " let 's hear 
 all about it everything. I 'm listening." 
 
 Randall caught the contagion of brevity, as 
 he always did when in the other's presence. 
 : ' What would you like to hear about first," he 
 returned smilingly. "Have you any choice?" 
 
 " Yourself," with a steady look. " Every 
 thing 's right, I see." 
 
 " Yes, everything 's right," echoed Randall, 
 " so much so that I 'm simply foolishly happy." 
 He paused meaningly. " And now, since - 
 
 Roberts gestured merely gestured. 
 
 " Are n't you going to permit me even to 
 thank you?" countered Randall. 
 
 " I came to hear the news," evenly. Roberts 
 smiled suddenly at the look on his companion's 
 face. " I understand about that other matter," 
 he digressed, ambiguously but nevertheless ade 
 quately; "let it go at that. Mrs. Randall, I 
 presume - 
 
 " She hung your portrait, life size, in the 
 parlor downstairs a few days ago," with direct 
 malice. 
 
 21 [ 321 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Again Roberts gestured; then he looked up. 
 They laughed together and the tabooed subject 
 by mutual consent passed into oblivion. 
 
 " Miss Gleason Elice " suggested Roberts. 
 
 " Still at her place in the university." Ran 
 dall busied himself with a strand of lint on the 
 collar of his smoking- jacket. "Her father 's gone 
 all to pieces, you know, and she seems a bit 
 tired. Otherwise she's herself as always." 
 
 " No, I did n't know," said Roberts. " And 
 Armstrong? " 
 
 :< He 's been working steadily for months, and 
 been straight absolutely." Randall ventured a 
 glance at last. ' To-day was his big day; you 
 do know that. He was in the clouds this 
 evening." 
 
 " I should like to have been with you." The 
 tone was non-committal. " Strange to say I like 
 to see people in that frame of mind. It makes 
 for optimism. Will his new effort, you think, 
 stand on its own legs?" 
 
 ' Yes ; always providing nothing interferes. 
 I 've seen the first half. It 's more than good. 
 It 's excellent. You 're in it, distinct as life, by 
 the way." 
 
 Roberts lit a cigar and smoked for a minute 
 in silence. 
 
 [ 322 1
 
 Admonition 
 
 " I 'm sorry, sincerely, that I 'm there," he 
 said then. He gazed at his companion steadily, 
 and with a significance Randall never forgot. 
 " I used to fancy I was n't afraid of anything. 
 I 'm not afraid of most things, dynamite or 
 nitro-glycerine or murderous fanatics or physical 
 pain ; but in the last year I Ve learned there 's 
 one thing on earth, one person, I 'm afraid of 
 deathly afraid. You know who?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " I predicted once he would make good. I 
 believed it then. Since I Ve been alone a good 
 deaj and had much time to think, and ques 
 tion. That 's why I am afraid." Roberts 
 paused to smoke, seemingly impassive. ; ' I 'd 
 give every cent I have in the world and start 
 anew to-morrow without breakfast if I could 
 only know, only know to a certainty that he 
 would keep his grip. But will he? . . . I 'm 
 afraid!" 
 
 Scarcely knowing what he did, Randall lit a 
 cigar in turn and smoked like a furnace. His 
 tongue attempted to form an assurance, but try 
 as he might he could not give it voice. Once 
 he had promised not to lie to that man op 
 posite, ever; and in the depths of his own 
 soul he knew that he, too, was afraid. At last, 
 
 [ 323 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 in self-confessed rout, he voiced the common 
 place. 
 
 ' It 's my turn to ask questions now, I think," 
 he said. "Are you back to stay?" 
 
 Roberts looked up, only half comprehending; 
 he roused himself. 
 
 " No. I intend to close out everything. I 
 doubt if I ever stay anywhere permanently 
 again. I '11 keep the house here, though." 
 
 ' You 've decided not to sell it even to 
 me?" 
 
 Roberts paused. 
 
 'Yes," he said at last; but he offered no 
 explanation. 
 
 Randall waited, hoping for a lead whereby 
 light might come. But none opened, and the 
 subject dropped. 
 
 " I judge the mine 's making good," he com 
 mented, with the trace of awkwardness he al 
 ways felt when approaching the other's personal 
 affairs. ;< Will you return soon?" 
 
 " Probably not soon." The voice was almost 
 listless. " I put everything in shape for an 
 indefinite absence before I came away. To 
 answer your question : It 's a wonder, bigger 
 than I ever hoped. It '11 still be a great mine 
 a generation from now." 
 
 [ 324 ]
 
 Admonition 
 
 Randall caught his breath. The big game 
 was yet new to him, and the volume of wealth 
 suggested was cumulatively overpowering. 
 
 "Bigger than you expected!" he echoed. 
 ; ' Then that means millions ! " 
 
 Roberts glanced at his companion curiously. 
 Slowly he smiled. 
 
 ' Yes," he said, " it means millions. I have n't 
 even an idea how many eventually." The smile 
 left his face, every trace of expression as well. 
 " I could sell for ten to-day if I wished; but 
 I have no intention of selling." 
 
 Randall sat looking at the other as if hypno 
 tized. He forgot to ask questions, forgot almost 
 to breathe. To read of gigantic fortunes, the 
 property of absolute strangers living a thousand 
 or thousands of miles away, is one thing : to have 
 one personally known, an actual acquaintance 
 in possession it held him speechless, staring. 
 The other's familiar, tolerant laugh aroused him. 
 
 "Don't, please," said Roberts. "They've 
 been doing that to me wherever I show myself 
 and write my name ; that is, when they have n't 
 been proving relationship." He laughed again 
 shortly. " It 's wonderful how many relatives 
 I Ve discovered of late and friends I've made. 
 Don't do it, please." 
 
 [ 325 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Randall could still color and his face went red. 
 
 " I beg your pardon," he apologized, "I " 
 
 " Nor that either," swiftly, almost curtly. 
 " Just be yourself, natural. I like you that 
 way." He looked at the other openly, with 
 frank intentness that heralded the unexpected. 
 
 " It 's possible," he digressed evenly, " that 
 I '11 be here some time, but the chances are I '11 
 only stay a day or so. After to-night we '11 
 probably not see much of each other, maybe 
 nothing at all, ever. We 're rather different 
 types and our roads lead differently." He smiled 
 to dissipate the mystification he saw gathering 
 on the other's face. ' This is a preface. What 
 I 'm aiming at directly is to say a thing or two 
 that have been on my mind for some time 
 in case I don't have the opportunity again." 
 Once more the smile, the same smile that had 
 won the confidence of the other against heavy 
 odds in the beginning of their acquaintance. 
 " Do you mind if I 'm a bit fatherly to you? " 
 
 " No." Swift as thought, as panoramic mem 
 ory, Harry Randall had remembered everything ; 
 and, without shame, his eyes were moist. " I 'd 
 like you to be so. I understand." 
 
 Roberts looked away at the red and green 
 wall opposite. 
 
 [ 326 ]
 
 Admonition 
 
 " It 's just this, then; and if you wish me to 
 stop say the word; I get reports of various 
 things in various ways. It 's part of my philos 
 ophy to know of events in advance if I can. 
 I 've heard that you are speculating a bit. Is 
 it true?" 
 
 Randall started involuntarily; but the other 
 was not looking. 
 
 " How in the world did you know? " he 
 questioned. 
 
 " Never mind how I know. I 'd tell you if 
 it would do any good ; but it would n't. It 's 
 true,- is n't it? " 
 
 ' Yes," Randall moistened his lips; " a little." 
 
 " Things coming a trifle slow for you, are 
 they? Hard to meet expenses ' : 
 
 "No; it's not that; but- 
 
 " I understand perfectly." Roberts was still 
 inspecting the pattern of the paper with minute 
 attention. " As perhaps your best friend, though, 
 don't do it. If at any time you need money, 
 really need it, remember I am your friend, and 
 don't hesitate to tell me. But outside of that " 
 He halted significantly, waiting; then, sufficient 
 time having elapsed, he looked at the other again 
 directly. 
 
 " Now for the fatherly admonition," he di- 
 
 [ 327 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 gressed evenly, " or whatever you please to call 
 it. You 're doing well here, and will do better 
 as time goes by. You 're on your own feet, solid. 
 Don't gamble with things as they are, ever. It 's 
 contagious, I know, when a man gets a little 
 surplus, and looking over the rise of the horizon 
 sees such an infinite field beyond; but steer clear. 
 Some men can gamble and lose, and forget it 
 and come up smiling again. Others are fash 
 ioned by nature differently. Once down they 
 stay down; and regret as long as they live. 
 It 's a fundamental difference no power can 
 change. I hope I have n't hurt you unforgiv 
 ably, Randall?" 
 
 Harry Randall glanced up, and his eyes held 
 steady. 
 
 "No; and I'll not forget. I promise you 
 that." Involuntarily he started to rise, his hand 
 half extended, his eyes bright; but he sat down 
 again. "If I could only thank you right, 
 Roberts," he voiced tensely, " could only show 
 you in some way that I appreciate- He 
 halted, the sentence so consciously inadequate, 
 incomplete, - "If I only could," he repeated 
 helplessly. 
 
 A moment they sat there so, looking at each 
 other, merely looking. Then at last, with an 
 
 [328 ]
 
 Admonition 
 
 obvious weariness Randall had never seen him 
 exhibit before, Roberts slowly arose. Still an 
 other moment he stood there, looking down. 
 
 " ' Roberts,' " he echoed in a low tone, " ' Rob 
 erts,' always ' Roberts ' ! Not ' Darley,' even 
 then." He turned abruptly toward his own 
 rooms, his great shoulders all but blocking the 
 doorway as he passed out. " Good-night," he 
 said. 
 
 [ 329]
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 DECISION 
 
 THE light on the porch was dim, and as Elice 
 Gleason, answering the ring, opened the 
 outer door she stared as one who sees unbeliev 
 able things. For a moment she did not utter a 
 sound, merely stood there gazing at the visitor 
 with a look that was only partially credulous; 
 in sudden weakness, oddly unlike her normal 
 composure, she covered her face with her hands. 
 
 "Elice!" Unbidden, the man came wholly 
 within. " A thousand pardons for startling you. 
 I should have let you know - - 'phoned at least. 
 I pardon me, please." 
 
 With an effort the girl removed her hands, but 
 Darley Roberts saw she was still trembling. 
 
 " No need to apologize." She closed the door 
 mechanically. ' You did surprise me, it 's true ; 
 but that was n't the trouble really. I 've been 
 expecting something to happen all day, some 
 thing that has n't happened yet, and when you 
 rang I fancied- She laughed, as though 
 
 [ 330 ]
 
 Decision 
 
 the inadequate explanation were complete and 
 withal a thing of trivial moment. ' You remem 
 ber once I told you I believed, after all, you had 
 nerves. I 'm making the tardy discovery that 
 I Ve got them myself." 
 
 In his turn Roberts smiled and ignored the 
 obvious. He seldom anticipated, this man. 
 
 ' Yes, we all have them, I guess," he dis 
 missed, " along with an appendix and a few other 
 superfluous items." He was still standing just 
 within the doorway. " First of all, though, I 
 don't intrude? Harry Randall told me about 
 your 'father." 
 
 " He 's been much better to-day, and he 's 
 asleep this evening already." In swift reaction 
 the girl was herself again, more than her recent 
 self, positively gay. "Intrude!" she laughed 
 softly. 'You're actually becoming humorous; 
 and as you would say, your dearest enemies have 
 never accused you of that before. Come." 
 
 Between genteel poverty and absolute poverty 
 there are distinguishing signs and Darley Roberts 
 observed all things; but not once from his point 
 of vantage in the den he recalled so well did he 
 seem to take observations any more than he 
 seemed to see the alteration, likewise unmistak 
 able, in the girl herself. 
 
 [331 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " It seems as though it were only yesterday in 
 stead of - I don't like to think how many ages 
 ago, I was here last," he commented as he relaxed 
 in familiar comfort. " If you just had one of 
 those linen things you used to work on, and " 
 
 The ball of white, like a crumpled handker 
 chief, which had been lying idle in the girl's lap 
 was unrolled and, before the speaker's eyes, there 
 appeared against the colorless background a 
 clover with four leaves. 
 
 " Elice! " It was unfeigned surprise. " Is this 
 another regiment or are you still working on that 
 last one yet? " 
 
 The girl sorted her silks in demure impassivity. 
 
 " Another regiment entirely or is it an army? 
 I 've forgotten how many comprise a regiment." 
 She went to work with steady fingers. " These 
 lunch cloths of mine are becoming as staple as 
 soap or quinine." 
 
 Roberts watched as the needle went through 
 and through, but he did not smile. He could 
 not. 
 
 " Another regiment ! Then I have n't really 
 been sleeping," he said. " For a moment when 
 that four-leafed clover showed - By the way, 
 do you happen to recall what day of the month 
 this* is?" 
 
 [ 332 ]
 
 Decision 
 
 " Yes." The girl's eyes did not leave her 
 work. " I remembered it the first thing when 
 I got up this morning." 
 
 " You remembered? And still you were sur 
 prised when I came. Did n't you think I 'd re 
 member too? " 
 
 " I did n't doubt it." 
 
 " And come to commemorate the date, De 
 cember the sixth? " 
 
 " Commemorate, yes. Come? I did n't know. 
 I hoped until it grew dark ; then one loses 
 certainty alone after dark." 
 
 " It was n't that which you had expected all 
 day to happen, though," said Roberts, evenly. 
 
 The girl did not dissimulate. 
 
 " No," she said simply. 
 
 One step nearer had they approached the mys 
 tery, one step only, but the man came no further 
 then. 
 
 " And were n't you going to commemorate it 
 yourself, since you remembered? " he digressed. 
 
 ' Yes, I have done so. I Ve been celebrating 
 all day. I have n't washed a dish ; they 're all 
 stacked out in the kitchen. And this- ' she 
 stood up deliberately and turned about that the 
 other might see - " is my party gown, worn in 
 honor of the occasion." She returned to her 
 
 [ 333 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 place and again the needle passed methodically 
 in and out of the linen. " Are you satisfied? " 
 
 "Satisfied!" It was the rebellious cry of a 
 dominant thing trapped and suffering. " Satis 
 fied! " By pure force of will he held back the 
 flood. " Elice, won't you please put up that 
 work for to-night? It 's ghastly." 
 
 As though paralyzed, the white hands paused, 
 for half a minute lay idle. Without comment she 
 obeyed. 
 
 ' You know what I mean," said the man. " It 
 makes me irresponsible. I want to throttle the 
 something somewhere to blame." 
 
 ; ' I 'm sorry. I did n't mean to hurt you. If 
 I had expected for an instant - 
 
 "Don't, please!" It was supplication from 
 one accustomed to command. ' Talk about hu 
 man beings being pawns in the game or straws 
 before the whirlwind!" Again the curt repres 
 sion by pure force of will, and the inevitable 
 pause with the digression complete following. 
 " I have n't heard your report of yourself yet, 
 Elice. It 's due me, overdue. I promised you 
 not to write, and kept my word, you know." 
 
 The girl looked at him with eyes that tried to 
 smile. 
 
 " Ask me anything else and I '11 answer," she 
 
 [ 334 ]
 
 Decision 
 
 said. ' This I can't answer, because there 's 
 nothing to be said. I 've merely been waiting." 
 
 " As you were to-night, when I startled you? " 
 
 The girl's lips tightened, but they relaxed. 
 She was in command now. 
 
 " Yes," she said. 
 
 It was the second step; and for the second 
 time the man approached no nearer then. 
 
 " Won't you let me ask you questions instead," 
 countered the girl, " as a favor? " 
 
 " Certainly, if you prefer." 
 
 " ' If I prefer.' " She mouthed the words de 
 liberately. ' Very well, then. What have you 
 been doing since I saw you last? " 
 
 Roberts gave her an odd look. 
 
 " Getting older mostly," he said. 
 
 " I might have chronicled that fact myself," 
 echoed the girl. 
 
 ' Very fast," added the man, evenly. " Did 
 you notice my hair? " 
 
 "It is grayer a bit," reluctantly. 
 
 " Grayer! " Roberts laughed. " I made a 
 microscopical examination recently for one hair 
 of the original color to preserve as a relic. It was 
 too late. Do you care to volunteer in the 
 search? " 
 
 The girl ignored the invitation. 
 
 [ 335 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 ''' What else did you do? " she asked. 
 
 ' Worked some." Roberts held up his great 
 hands, calloused heavily over the palms. " I Ve 
 learned several things by actual experience : drill 
 ing, dynamiting, sharpening steel, mucking ore, 
 assaying everything." 
 
 " And what else? " relentlessly. 
 
 " Prospected a little. Ran out of provisions 
 and went two days without a bite to eat. Re 
 turned to find a strike on at the mine and the 
 strikers in possession." He halted reminis- 
 cently. " I knocked a man down that day: the 
 leader. He dared me and there were a dozen 
 others backing him up. It was him or me and it 
 could n't be avoided. In the affair I hurt my 
 hand ; while it was healing I went to 'Frisco and 
 took in the theatres." He held up the member 
 indicated, reversed this time for inspection. A 
 white jagged scar ran diagonally over the 
 knuckles. " It 's entirely well now." 
 
 The girl caught her breath. No query this 
 time. 
 
 The hand returned idly to the man's lap. He 
 looked away. 
 
 " It 's a rough life out there," he resumed 
 evenly, " wild and primitive ; but it 's fascinat 
 ing in a way. Besides, it 's one of the things I 
 
 [ 336 ]
 
 Decision 
 
 wanted to know. I think I do know it. I don't 
 believe any one could fool me on a mine now." 
 
 Elice Gleason looked at him steadily, until per 
 force he returned her gaze. 
 
 " Granted," she admitted steadily; "but is it 
 worth while? " 
 
 ; ' Worth while? How do I know or any 
 one. It 's necessary for some one to know. It 's 
 part of the big game. Farther than that - My 
 hair is all gray now and I don't know." 
 
 His companion looked away, with a little ges 
 ture of impatience. 
 
 " t<ast of all, the mine itself? " she suggested. 
 
 Roberts hesitated, his face inscrutable as a 
 book closed. 
 
 " If I knew what you wanted to know," he said 
 at last, " I 'd tell you ; but I don't. It 's fabu 
 lous, if that answers your question. It 's like 
 Aladdin's lamp : there 's nothing material on the 
 face of the earth it won't give for the asking. 
 It 's producing enough now daily to keep a sane 
 man a year. It 's power infinite for good or 
 evil, and creating more power day by day." 
 He halted, then unconsciously repeated himself. 
 " Yes, power infinite, neither more nor less." 
 
 There was a long silence before his companion 
 spoke. 
 
 22 [ 337 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 " And power, you said once, was the thing you 
 wanted most. You have it at last." 
 
 ' Yes, I have it at last, that 's true. I can com 
 mand the services of a thousand men, to work 
 for me or amuse me; or for another if I direct. 
 I can pass current anywhere at any time, and 
 make any one I care to name pass current with 
 me. The master key is in my possession tight. 
 I can choose my tools for whatever I wish done 
 from a multitude. The material is limitless, for 
 I can pay. Besides, as I said before, this power 
 is increasing inevitably, whether I 'm asleep or 
 awake, growing by its own momentum. I have 
 it at last, yes; but it neither is nor ever was 
 what I wanted most, Elice. I said I wanted it, 
 you're right; but I never said I wanted it most. 
 You know what I want most in the world, 
 Elice." 
 
 Listening, Elice Gleason folded her hands 
 tight, until the blood left the fingers. 
 
 " Yes, I know," she said steadily. " We 
 understand each other ; it 's useless to pretend 
 otherwise. I 've tried, and you Ve seen through 
 the disguise and smiled. It 's simply useless." 
 The clasped hands opened in a gesture of dis 
 missal. " But don't let 's speak of it now. I 
 want to hear your plans for the future. What 
 
 [ 338 ]
 
 Decision 
 
 are you going to do now that you have 
 power? " 
 
 "Do?" Roberts looked at her steadily. "That 
 depends upon one condition absolutely. It 's 
 superfluous for me to name that one." 
 
 The girl flashed him a look from eyes unnatu 
 rally bright. 
 
 " Please," she pleaded, " leave it alone for a 
 time. You have two courses outlined, an option. 
 It would be unlike you otherwise. What are 
 those two? " 
 
 " I did n't mean to be insistent, Elice," said 
 Roberts, gently. ' Take my word for it ,1 shan't 
 be again, whatever you decide. Yes; I see two 
 ways ahead. In one, work will be secondary, 
 another's happiness first, always first. In the 
 other, I shall work to forget. The incentive 
 of the game itself is gone. I 've won the 
 game. But there is no other way to forget 
 and retain self-respect ; so I shall work to 
 the end." 
 
 " And you must decide soon? " 
 
 ' Yes, at once. I can't remain longer in un 
 certainty. Nothing is so bad as that. It 's like 
 a bungling execution: infinitely better for all 
 concerned to be complete. To-morrow I take 
 up the trail one way or the other." 
 
 [ 339 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Opposite, the girl caught her breath for an 
 instant; but though the other saw he said noth 
 ing. He had promised he would not. 
 
 " You '11 leave then to-morrow, if " That 
 was all. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "And never come back, never?" 
 
 " Not unless I am sent for. Life is short and 
 holds enough pain at best. I have several proj 
 ects in mind, and I shall be free to follow 
 them where they lead. I '11 go to Mexico 
 first. They 've barely scratched the resources 
 down there. Later I go to South America. 
 Afterward I have n't planned. I '11 simply 
 follow the lead. There 's work enough to 
 do." 
 
 The girl looked at him through eyes that 
 held their old marvel, almost their old fear. 
 
 ' You can cut yourself off so, from all the old 
 life, really? " she voiced. 
 
 " Yes, Elice." 
 
 It was finality absolute, the last word, the 
 ultimatum. 
 
 "And still you love me?" breathed the girl 
 low. 
 
 " More than I love life. You don't doubt it." 
 
 From her seat the girl arose abruptly and 
 [ 340 ]
 
 Decision 
 
 passed the length of the room with long, uncon 
 scious strides, like a man. She made no effort at 
 dissimulation or concealment now. The time for 
 that was past. She merely fought openly, 
 but in silence. Once she sat down for a moment ; 
 but for a moment only. Again she was on her 
 feet. A bit later she asked the time, and very 
 quietly Roberts told her. She went to the win 
 dow in the front of the house commanding the 
 street and scrutinized its length. She returned 
 and resumed her seat. 
 
 " Can I help you in any way, Elice?" asked 
 Roberts, gently. 
 
 The girl shook her head. 
 
 " No," she said steadily. " No one can help 
 me. I can't even help myself. That 's the curse 
 of it. There 's nothing to do but wait." The 
 folded hands changed position one above the 
 other, and after a moment returned as before. 
 " Do you understand? " she queried without 
 preface. 
 
 An instant Roberts hesitated, but an instant 
 only. 
 
 ' Yes, I think so. You intimated you were 
 expecting some one to come." 
 
 " Something to happen," substituted the girl. 
 
 " It 's all the same," evenly. 
 [ 341 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Silence followed for a space while they sat 
 there so ; breaking it, the girl looked at the other 
 directly. 
 
 " I have refused him definitely," she said, with 
 out consciousness of the seeming ambiguity of 
 the remark. " I did so last night." 
 
 ' Yes," very low ; and that was all. 
 
 The girl drew a long breath, like one prepar 
 ing for the unknown. 
 
 " I could see no other way of finding out for 
 sure. Like yourself, nothing seemed to me so 
 bad as uncertainty." 
 
 " Yes," once more; just " yes." 
 
 " He sat just where you are sitting now; and 
 when I told him he laughed." A second the 
 brown eyes dropped, then in infinite pathos they 
 returned to the listener's face. ' You know 
 how he laughs when he 's irresponsible. It was 
 horrible." 
 
 " I know," echoed Roberts. " I Ve heard it." 
 
 " And then he went away. I sent him away. 
 I could n't stand any more then. It seemed to 
 me I 'd go mad if I tried." 
 
 Although the room was warm, the girl was 
 
 hivering; rising, Roberts lit the gas in the 
 
 grate. But he said nothing, absolutely nothing. 
 
 Through wide-open eyes the girl watched him 
 
 [ 342 ]
 
 Decision 
 
 as he returned to his seat. Involuntarily she 
 threw out both arms in a gesture of impotency 
 absolute. 
 
 " That 's all," she completed, " except that I 
 told him to return if he felt he must. I Ve 
 been expecting him every minute all day; an 
 ticipating horrors. But I have n't heard a 
 word." 
 
 It was the mystery at last, impersonate. Like 
 a live presence it stood there between these two 
 human beings in the room, holding them apart, 
 and each in his separate place. 
 
 l^Tot for a moment but for minutes this time 
 they sat in silence. Neither thought of speak 
 ing commonplaces now, nor again of things in 
 timate. The period for these was past; the 
 present too compellingly vital. What the man 
 was thinking he did not say nor reveal by so 
 much as an expression. He had given his word 
 not to do so; and with Darley Roberts a prom 
 ise was sacred. A question he did ask, though, 
 at last. 
 
 "Wouldn't you like me to go and find out 
 for certain, Elice? " he suggested. " I '11 do so 
 if you wish." 
 
 " No." It was almost a plea. " We '11 find 
 out soon, very soon, I 'm positive. I '11 know 
 
 [ 343 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 whatever he does. He 's certain to tell me ; and 
 I wish you here if he comes. Besides, neither 
 of us could do anything whatever to alter the 
 inevitable, even if we tried. We must simply 
 wait; it can't be much longer now." 
 
 Once more there was a long silence, ghastly 
 in its dragging moments, and again broken by 
 the man. 
 
 ' I shan't trouble you to go through the ar 
 gument again, Elice," he said, " or attempt to 
 alter your decision, whatever it may be. I can't 
 presume to judge another's soul. But, merely 
 to know for certain : you 've decided positively 
 to marry him, if - The sentence ended in 
 
 silence and a gesture. 
 
 His companion did not answer, appeared al 
 most not to hear. 
 
 ' Tell me, please," repeated the man gently. 
 ' You may as well. It won't hurt either of us 
 any more for you to say it if you 've so 
 decided." 
 
 ' Yes," answered the girl this time. " I Ve 
 tried and tried to find an escape; but there is 
 none." She passed her hand over her throat as 
 though the words choked her, but her voice was 
 now steady. " His blood would be upon my 
 head, always, if I could prevent and still let him 
 
 [ 344 ]
 
 Decision 
 
 go down. God help you and me both, but 
 I can't do otherwise!" 
 
 A moment longer Roberts sat still fixedly 
 still; he stood up, his great hands clenched until 
 they were as white as the scar itself. 
 
 " I think I 'd better go now," he said, " be 
 fore Armstrong comes." The great shoulders 
 of him were swelling and receding visibly with 
 each breath. " I don't know, of course ; but I 
 fear to go passive and unresisting to the stake 
 myself, and to remain passive and unresisting 
 when I saw the same fire that was to be my 
 fate touching you, scorching you slowly to death 
 and for a fault that was neither of your mak 
 ing nor mine, for which we are in no respect 
 responsible - I 'm afraid that is beyond me, 
 Elice. I 'd better go at once, before he comes." 
 
 " No." The girl, too, was on her feet facing 
 him. " Please don't. You don't really mean 
 what you just said." 
 
 "Don't I? You believe in miracles. I'm 
 human and I 'd throttle him if he came while 
 I was here and came as he came once before! " 
 
 " Stop ! in pity. If it does happen he '11 not 
 be to blame; it will be because he can't help it. 
 You 're big and strong and he '11 need you as 
 well as me. Wait." 
 
 [ 345 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 The man drew back a step, but his great jaw 
 was set immovably. 
 
 ' You can't realize what you 're asking," he 
 said. " Remember my conviction is not your 
 conviction. I still believe that two predominate 
 over one and that nature's law comes first. I '11 
 go because it is your decision and final; but I 
 can't change elemental things at command. Don't 
 ask it or expect it, because it is impossible." 
 
 ; ' It 's not impossible, though," desperately. 
 " Nothing is impossible with you." 
 
 Roberts' great head shook a negative. 
 
 ' This is. I can't discuss it longer. Good 
 bye, Elice." 
 
 The girl's brown eyes followed him as, deci 
 sively now, he prepared to leave, and in hope 
 less, abject misery. She spoke one word. 
 
 " Darley," she said. 
 
 The listener halted, motionless as a figure in 
 clay. 
 
 "Darley," repeated the girl; and again that 
 was all. 
 
 "'Darley!' It was the man's voice this 
 time, but it sounded as though coming from a 
 distance. " ' Darley! ' At last! and now! ' 
 
 " Darley," yet once again, " as I love you and 
 you love me don't desert me now!" 
 
 [346 ]
 
 Decision 
 
 On the room fell a silence like death, to 
 those two actors worse than death; for it held 
 thought infinite and complete realization at last 
 of what might have been and was not; of what 
 as well, unless a miracle intervened, could never 
 be. In it they stood, each where he was, two 
 figures in clay instead of one. Interrupting, 
 awakening, torturing, sounded the thing they 
 had so long expected; the impact of a step 
 upon the floor of the porch without; a moment 
 later another, uncertain, and another; a pause, 
 and then, startlingly loud, the trill of an elec 
 tric bell. 
 
 For an instant neither stirred. It was the 
 expected; and still there is a limit to human 
 endurance. The girl was trembling, in a nerv 
 ous tension too great to bear longer. An effort 
 indeed she made at control; but it was a pitiful 
 effort and futile. In surrender absolute, aban 
 don absolute, she dropped back into her seat, 
 her arms crossed pathetically on the surface of 
 the library table, her face buried from sight 
 therein. 
 
 " Answer it, please," she pleaded. " I can't. 
 I'm ashamed, unutterably; but I can't!" 
 
 Again the alarm of the bell sounded; curtly 
 short this time and insistent. 
 
 [347]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 Without a word or even a pause Darley 
 Roberts obeyed. As he passed out he closed the 
 door carefully behind him. 
 
 Five minutes that seemed to the girl a life 
 time dragged by. Listening, she heard the 
 opening of the front door, the murmur of low, 
 speaking voices, a murmur ceasing as abruptly 
 as it began; then, wonder of wonders, the door 
 closed again with a snap and a retreating step 
 sounded once, twice, as when it had come, on 
 the floor of the porch. Following, she marked 
 the even footfall of Roberts returning. The 
 electric switch that he had turned on snapped 
 back as he had found it, the intervening door 
 opened, and he entered. But, strange to say, 
 he did not pause or say a word. As one awak 
 ening from a dream and not yet wholly con 
 scious, he returned silently to his former place. 
 On his face was a look she had never seen be 
 fore, which she could not fathom. 
 
 " Darley." Unbelieving the girl leaned toward 
 him appealingly. " Tell me. Was n't it he? " 
 
 The man looked at her then, and there was 
 that in his gray eyes that tinged her face 
 crimson. 
 
 "No. It was Harry Randall," he said, "It's 
 all right, Elice. The miracle came." 
 
 [348]
 
 Decision 
 
 "The miracle!" The voice was uncertain 
 again, but from a far different cause this time. 
 " Don't keep me waiting. Tell me. Is he 
 well?" 
 
 This time Roberts actually smiled, smiled 
 as he had not done -before in months. 
 
 " Yes ; and writing like mad ! That 's the 
 miracle. He 's been at it steady now for twenty 
 hours, and won't even pause to eat. He sent 
 for Harry to deliver the message. It 's inspira 
 tion he 's working under and he could n't stop 
 to come himself, would n't. He said to tell you, 
 and. me, that it was all right. He 'd found him 
 self at last. Those were his words, he 'd 
 found himself at last." As suddenly as it had 
 come the smile passed, and Roberts stood up, 
 his big hands locked behind his back. 
 
 ' We Ve thought we understood him all these 
 years," he said steadily, " but at last I realize 
 that we have n't at all. It would be humorous 
 if it had n't been so near to tragedy, so very 
 near. Anyway, it 's clear now. Harry Randall 
 sees it too. That 's why he would n't stay. 
 Steve Armstrong never cared for you really at 
 all, Elice. He thought he did but he did n't. 
 It was himself he cared for; and a fancy. 
 Neither you nor I nor any one can change him 
 
 [ 349 ]
 
 The Dominant Dollar 
 
 or help him more than temporarily. We 're 
 free. He '11 stand or go under as it was writ 
 ten in the beginning." The voice lowered until 
 it throbbed with the conviction that was in the 
 speaker's soul. " No man alive who really cared 
 could find inspiration where he found it. The 
 world is before us and we 're free, Elice, free ! " 
 Unconsciously, in answer to an instinct she 
 obeyed without reason, the girl too arose, an 
 exaltation in her face no artist could reproduce 
 nor words describe. 
 
 ' Yes," she said. " I see it all too at last. 
 We 've all been blind." She caught her breath 
 at the thought that would intrude, force it back 
 as she would. "And still we came so near, so 
 very, very near- 
 
 'Yes; but it's past." The man opposite 
 was advancing. Not the impassive, cold Darley 
 Roberts the world knew, but the other Darley 
 Roberts revealed to one alone; the isolate 
 human alone and lonely. " But it 's past, past, 
 do you hear? And to-day is December the 
 sixth, our anniversary ours." He halted, 
 waiting. He smiled, with a tenderness infinite. 
 "Is it 'Darley' still, Elice? Won't you come 
 and say it again? " 
 
 THE END
 
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