Argosy All-Story Weekly, December 2, 1922 — page 137: what you’re looking at

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

THE DANCE So Nat Silvers, awaiting the arrival of the police, and the investigation that must surely end his career as a restaurateur, and seal the fate of his greatest venture, the King of Clubs, was not quite the Nat Silvers who had watched his patrons en- tering earlier in the evening. It is not years that age one; it is experience. A man may live sixty years without growing old, and may become an old man in a sin- gle night! All this in explanation of Nat Silvers’s train of thought as he sat chewing on his cigar. Perhaps the mere physical effort entailed served a bit to tire and calm him. Cer- tainly his irritation gradually subsided; his ill-humor gave place to a more philosophical mood. When he had talked with Bartlett, he had avowed that the closing of the King of Clubs would ruin him financially. But this had not been quite true. Silvers had taken some chances in his day, but he was not by nature a plunger. Bartlett was a plunger. Silvers took his risks with as much shrewd- ness and caution as he possessed. Need- less to say, then, he had invested heavily in the King of Clubs because he believed in Da Costa as a drawing card, and because he had learned from experience that such resorts, when properly run and _ properly patronized, were rather better than gold mines. But all of his money was not in- vested in the King of Clubs—and all of the money invested in the King of Clubs was not lost. The paintings, tapestries, fixtures, and furniture could all be sold. And with what they would bring, and with what he had laid by, he could easily engage in some quite lucrative and more respectable em- ployment. After all, his son was growing up, and there was his son’s position in life —his son’s future to think of. Silvers had been ambitious for himself only in regard to the accumulation of wealth; but he wanted more than that for his son! A ca- reer! A respected position in society. He reflected—now that fate had decided the matter for him anyway—that now was as good a time as any to retire from the world of night resorts. So the opening night of the King of Clubs should be the closing night as well! OF DEATH. 607 His wife would be pleased to have him busy in the daylight -hours—as other women’s husbands were—and free at night! Per- haps they could have that place in Long Island that she had always wanted—some- where near her sister’s house—only a rather more elaborate one, of course. Nat Silvers leaned back farther in his swivel chair and lighted his cigar. Present- ly the smoke rings began to drift upward. All this time Jack had been sitting at the Colemans’ table with Muriel’s hand in his —although nobody was supposed to see this. Driven from Katherine’s side by Dr. Welland, and urged by Silvers to avoid arousing any one’s suspicions concerning the night’s tragedies, he had fled to Muriel for comfort and consolation. And though he was able to whisper to her only that the matter concerned Katherine, she guessed that it concerned Da Costa, too, and held his hand tightly in hers and soothed him with her calm and her silence. The strongest men will so find comfort in their womenkind; and this Muriel knew. So she did not seek to drag forth the facts that weighed him down. She let her pres- ence ease him, and was content with that. And she shook her head gravely at her father and the rest who were inclined to question Jack about his strange mood. So they talked among themselves and left Jack to his own thoughts. They were far from pleasant thoughts, indeed. The truth was, he felt responsible — at least in part — for the avalanche of misfortunes that had de- scended upon her. For had he not aban- doned her utterly upon Muriel’s advent? Had he not terminated their long intimacy almost abruptly? Had he not forced her to find outside, new interests to occupy her mind and her time? Although they had been brother and sis- ter, they had been more than that! They had been good chums, too. But only up until the time that he had met Muriel. Then, fascinated by this newer, more allur- ing companion, he had begun to neglect Katherine. He had stopped popping in on her for a moment’s chat in the mornings before she was up! He had stopped wait- ing up for her when she was out late, so GOmiGIoOokKsS.;Gom