Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 123, No. 4 — page 14: what you’re looking at

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520 should be sufficient reason to keep them out of it. That’s all. I thank yoy.” _ There was no applause or cheers to follow the conclusion of his speech—just a weighty silence. When the missionary tells the pagan that his gods are false, there are no cheers to greet the statement. when a nation hears that its monarch is a traitor, there are no shouts of joy to receive the shocking tidings. To these simple folks of Selma, Turner was a demigod, a trusted friend, a wise counsellor; a leader to be followed as un- questioningly and as blindly.as a flock follows its head sheep. And now that their supreme confidence was shaken by a statement that surely would never have -been made had it been utterly false, they were stunned. Loath as they were to believe, yet they could not completely doubt. If the stranger did not own the Majestic stock, he would not have said that he did; such a falsehood would be too simple of revel- ation. And if he had, indeed, thése worth- less shares, he must have been induced by trickery and misrepresentation—even as the young man had stated—to buy them. Turner had swindled him out of fifteen thousand dollars! Turner—their advisor and protector! Turner—their mortal deity! None knew so well as Turner himself— a master of crowd psychology—the vital effect of Bert’s few words. He had fore- seen this result, in fact, before Bert had uttered them. But he was too wise a strategist to try to prevent the young stranger from addressing the people. Im- agination would construct defamations more virulent than the truth itself; the unspoken word would be more vital than that which was uttered. Now, by the poisonous silence that fol- lowed Bert’s words, he stepped forward, unsmiling now, yet sublimely unabashed; his face-solemnized by an expression of pained tenderness, as if their momentary mistrust hurt him to the heart. Bert stepped back to make room for him, and for a single instant their eyes met. No one but Bert saw the silent warning in Turner’s gray eyes; no one but Turner saw the light of triumph in Bert’s. It was an Digitized by Google ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. instant’s conflict of gray eyes: Turner’s the gray of cold blade-steel; Bert’s, the gray of a stream with the sun dancing Of it. That’s moment’s exchange of gaze was as potent as a physical encounter; Bert thrilled under it—thrilled with the love of a battle of strength. This man was his first enemy. “My friends,” said Turner in a soft voice that was, nevertheless, full enough to reach every eager ear, “I trust that you will not pass harsh judgment upon me be- fore you have heard what I have to say. I hope that you will not be too easily in- fluenced by this stranger’s slurring remarks to censure at once a tried and true friend who has striven so long .and so untiringly to serve you in every way. The state- ments themselves must be weighed against the character of the speaker before you can find out their real worth. “A small group of men among you, representatives of a clique who have per- sistently opposed the principles of honor and righteousness for which I stand, pre- vented me from introducing to you the young slanderer who has just addressed you. I will do so now. I do not know him very well—thank Heaven—but I do know him well enough to let you judge the principles for which he stands. “He is a wastrel, a profligate son of a family that, has ostracized him as being unworthy to bear the name it has given him! His behavior has been so revolting to the moral and physical senses ‘of all | decent people that Ais own father dares not acknowledge him longer ‘s a son! ‘““My friends, would you judge me by the statements of such a debauched scape- grace? Would you turn from me to an impudent stranger who has come among you because no decent community would tolerate his presence? e “It is true, my friends, that I have sold him the stock of the Majestic Hotef. But I did not swindle him! I sold him stock for fifteen thousand dollars that was origi- nally worth fifty thousand! The hotel building is there, the grounds—acres of it— are there, there are furniture and furnish- ings in the building that are just as they PATE UNAS 6)(O)O) =) wu (C S CO THE OHIO STATE UNT