Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 123, No. 4 — page 18: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

524 and Turner managed to break him. Took away everything he had—everything. “ Added to that, David’s daughter, who was the apple of his eye, ran away from home one day; and David’s never seen or heard of her to this day. After Turner had made David penniless, he was kind enough to give him a job at the Majestic, working about the hotel as an outside man, shoveling away snow and doing odd jobs like that during the season, and keeping the greunds im order during the summer months. The Majestic was flourishing then.” ‘““ What kiled it?” asked Bert. “The anti-gambling law. The pros- perity of the Majestic depended wholly on gambling. They used to call it the Mente Carlo of the Middle West in those days. From Octeber to June, people used to come from all over this part of the country and spend their vacations or their week-ends at the Majestic. They used to be a swell crowd of people, too, just as they have now at the good hotels at Hot Springs and those places. But gambling here was the only attraction, and when that stopped, it was all over with the Majestic. But Turner made a pile of money in it while it last Bert nodded thoughtfully. ‘ Hasn’% he made any attempt to revive it?” Fred shrugged. ‘ Hew? You can't bring people to a place just because there’s a nice hotel there. They want a reason. Can you see any reason in Selma?” he added dryly. “{ know one thing,” said Bert, snap ping shut his jaws. “I’m going to find a reason!” A short time later Bert took his leave and, taking advantage of Fred’s offer of the use of his horse and buggy, set out to inspect the Majestic Hotel. The road which he followed in accordance with Fred’s directions, was a continuation of Main Street, which, after the single long block of commercial buildings had been left behind, became a street of residences, bordered by spreading maples. Further on, at the rounding of the bend, it narrowed to a lane, shaded by the inter- laced boughs of trees that edged it. Here the air was sweet with the rich scent_of ,ARGOSY- ALLSTORY WEEKLY, greenery. Unseen birds twittered and chattered and chirped in the dense foliage. Insects droned through the air, some_of them so gorgeously colored that Bert would have been reluctant to call them “bugs.” Despite the heat of the afternoon, there was that dank coolness of the woodland that no sun, however intense, could quite penetrate. | Presently the road opened into a clear- ing, and in the center of this shadeless area stood the defunct hotel—a huge white se- pulcher marking its own _ burial-place. The road circled to pass under a dilapi- dated porte-cochere that jutted from a wide loggia, running the entire length of the building. The top of this porte- cochére formed an uncovered balcony; and on either side there were flights of steps that rese from the driveway to the elevated veranda. Beyond the square piflars that sup- ported the loggia was a paved promenade, running past lines of windews and several doors that opened into the ground fioor of the hotel. Bert, peering through one of the many broken panes of these windows, saw that . the entire floor was one vast room with what little that remained of its furnishings covered with sheets that were gray with dust. He surmised that this had been the casino and that the room had heen so de- nuded by the withdrawal of all the gam- bling paraphernalia. After he had tried the several doors lead- ing to this room, and those giving upon the loggia above, and had found them all se- curely bolted, he effected an entrance into the hotel by removing the giass from an already broken window and climbing over the dust-caked ledge. An hour later he completed his tour of inspection, which was as thorough as it was clothes-soiling; and now, because he had been pleasantly sur- prised by the appearance of the interior, he was less pessimistic about the task that lay before him. Of course, the building was in a sofrow- ful state of neglect; it was practically de- void of paint; there were few windows that were not broken or cracked; dust lay en- crusted inches thick over everything; it 0 Are UNG HUME DOO AS CO