Argosy, Vol. 85, No. 3 — page 162: what you’re looking at

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

504 sought after than the President of the United States. A double and then a quadruple guard was placed before his suite, and all afternoon and late into the evening men came, excited men, enraged men, perturbed men, men who pleaded, threatened, then pleaded again to be granted an interview. Karby turned them all down. He would see no one whose business he did not know beforehand. He was forced to dine in his rooms as a precaution against annoyance, and he spent the evening reading the town’s pa- pers. The reporters had at last hit upon something like the truth and had dis- played the news in glaring headlines. This no doubt was responsible for his popularity and had set the six excited men on his heels. Speculation ran high. One sheet carried a brief editorial, commenting in a general way on the rumor and offering neither praise nor con- demnation of the plan. Karby smiled. He ordered the night guard at the store doubled, and went to bed. © The next morning early the interviewers started their vigil and lined up in the corridor outside his door until the place looked like the floor of the New York stock: exchange. At eleven Karby ap- plied to the hotel management for aid, with the result that the police were called in, cleared the corridors, patrolled the place and kept it clear. At eleven-thirty one of the policemen brought Karby a card stating that a very beautiful woman had sent it in and desired to see Mr. Karby on a matter of the utmost importance. Karby glanced at the name on the card, which read simply: Miss TruxtTon. _ ITI. Karsy stared at the card as though fascinated. At first his calm and rather tantalizing smile puckered his lips, but he sobered immediately and studied the sit- uation a second. ' THE ARGOSY. So they had got a delegate through at last—they were resorting to a woman to tell their message — the egg king’s daughter. Karby’s sense of chivalry produced a struggle within him. Ordinarily he would have been invulnerable to this means of reaching him—but if a woman of breed- ing was willing to sacrifice her pride to the extent of coming here to see him, he believed he should grant the interview. He told the policeman to admit her. Karby went to the window and stood looking out. He heard her enter, heard the door close softly, heard her take a step into the place and then pause, ap- parently to collect herself. This was what Karby desired. He turned ‘slowly and looked into the ex- quisite eyes of the woman on the train, the very girl who had approached him in the hotel lobby soliciting donations to Lakeside Hospital. ~ She was dressed in a tailored suit and presented that well-groomed and well- tended appearance that had so impressed him when he first saw her. She wore a hat which rather shielded her face, but it did’ not prevent his seeing the look of incredulity that swept into her features as she recognized him. As for himself, Karby was not sure whether he changed color or no. He merely stared at her, again a prey to her exquisite eyes. It was a shock, the knowledge that this girl was the egg king’s daughter, and even as he stood there looking at her, the re- alization of the situation came over him. The plan of his general relief store, the slashing of prices, the eggs he already had in stock which he was going to sell for a song—all meant ruin, financial downfall for Truxton. He had known this before —all along and had even counted on it, but now, the realization seemed to tum cold and dampen his ardor. The girl was the first to recover her- self. She came forward holding out her hand and smiling frankly into his eyes. ‘I am so glad to find some one here— comicloool C©