Adventure Magazine Cover — page 67: what you’re looking at

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

The Great Keegles the exact figure at which I intended to bid. Two days later I discovered that he was connected with—in fact was president of—a construction company here in New York— quite a recent venture of his. The chairman of the board of directors of the company which has this work in charge was to be in New York for ten minutes this morning to receive the bids. He had been in Washing- ton to confer with some of the big politicians and was on his way West. No bids would be received by him after six o’clock this morning. ‘This cousin of mine had discovered that I had not yet placed my bid and, quite accidentally, last night Miss Hayden over- heard him in a public place, arranging with some member of his company to hold me prisoner until after the train had left for the West. The rest you know. My bid is in— at a lower figure than the one I gave my cousin.” He smiled and reached over for Miss Hayden’s hand. “Miss Hayden and I were married at six-thirty o’clock on the strength of my bid. I think that ends it— except your reward. That g Miss Hayden leaned forward. ‘Mr. Kee- gles,” she said, smiling at him, “I want you to meet Mr. Hartley and me at that bench in Madison Square to-night. ‘There we will talk about your reward.” “Why ” began Hartley. But Miss Hayden placed her finger-tips over his lips. “T engaged Mr. Keegles for this affair,” she said, ‘‘and I am going to reward him in my own way!’ | “That’s settled, then,” said Hartley with a grimace at Keegles; ‘“‘I forgot that I was married.” IV AT FIVE MINUTES to three Kee- gles entered the office of the North- western Construction Company. He was greeted with a smile by the engineer in chief. “The old man has just come in,” said the chief. “I’ve spoken to him about you, and he wants to see you.” Keegles followed him to a door upon which was the legend in gilt letters: “Private office.”’ The chief opened the door and called: ‘‘Doc, here’s that engineer I told you about!” Keegles found himself in a big, luxuriously furnished room. A big man over at a desk 823 had his back toward the door and Keegles was compelled to pass around it. When he had done this he was still behind the man. He found himself fairly shaking with a hope that the president had not changed his mind about employing him. He was just felicitat- ing himself upon his good fortune in getting this chance when the president turned and faced him. It was Pounds! For a tense instant the two men stared at each other. Then Pounds’ face became poisonously bloated. But, before he could speak, Keegles grinned at him, wheeled and walked toward the door. Before he reached it Pounds was on his feet. “Hey there!” he said. Keegles turned, still grinning. ‘Are you the man who wanted that job?”’ “I did want a job,” returned Keegles. ““Come back here!”’ said Pounds. Keegles hesitated and then returned a few steps. Was Pounds the sort of man who could forgive and forget? “IT suppose you still want a job?” said Pounds. Pounds’ voice was very smooth, and for the slightest instant Keegles thought he had relented. ‘You bet!” he answered. Pounds grinned vindictively. “I just wanted to tell you,” he said, “that you can go to Keegles laughed, though he felt more like strangling Pounds. “I had that coming,” he said mildly; ‘‘and more too. You haven’t come anywhere near getting even.”’ He wheeled again and passed out through the other office without looking toward the chief. He was silent during the trip down on the lift, and for some distance down the crowded street. Then pedestrians were astonished to hear a stern faced young man exclaim with unusual bitterness: “The great Keegles!”’ The tone led his hearers to believe that there was grave doubt about the prefix. \WA FOR the twentieth time Keegles <= circled the gurgling fountainin Madi- “son Square. At the beginning of the twenty-first turn he halted before a bench and stood looking down at it. “Tt’s just what you deserve,” he said. He dropped into it, flinging his arms wide with an eloquent despair. Then he heard a rustle of skirts and a woman’s voice. “Of course it’s he!” said a woman’s voice. Comiclboolkks.conn