Adventure Magazine Cover, October 1911 — page 37: what you’re looking at

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

Easy Gold a big scale? And, once it got to be public property, it wouldn’t be worth anything.” “T don’t see why not!” “Do you happen to own any Gold Bonds?” | “You bet! Ive got a bunch of Havana 5’s. and New York & Jersey 6’s.” ‘Just so. Now, suppose the New York & Jersey Company could pay off your bonds in a gold that cost them five cents on the dollar; and suppose that gold sud- denly became so plentiful that your dollar wouldn’t buy a loaf of bread! Just where would you come in?” ‘“That’s where I’d go out of business!” admitted Manahan. ‘““So you see,” smiled Carmelita, ‘‘why it’s necessary to go slow and keep the whole affair quiet. Glauber is making the gold right along—he told me that much—but goodness! it’s so tedious! And he’s an old man. I do what I can for him, but just now I’m not in a position to help much.” She laughed up into his face frankly. ‘‘ That was cruel of you the other night at seven-up. It isn’t often I have such rotten luck. But I do admire a person who plays a good hand, don’t you? It’s sort of foolish, I suppose, but I always judge a man’s char- acter by the way he plays cards.” Manahan got up puffingly and made her a grotesquely exaggerated bow. The roll of fat on his neck was a rich, deep purple; but, of course, his attitude might have ac- counted for the heightened color. IV m A CARMELITA whose slender, graceful figure was sheathed in a gown of Persian blue, with threads of gold shimmering through its crépe-like texture—a color-scheme the keynote of which was the dull gold chain she wore about her throat, with a beautifully carved scarabee of lapis-lazuli hanging from it— glided into the dining-room that night at the side of the wide-girthed Morris Mana- han, his importance heightened immeasur- ably by the barbaric splendor of the woman who thus honored him. ‘““You’ve got every other woman in the place faded to a whisper,” he grunted ad- miringly. “Thanks!’’? drawled Carmelita. “I am feeling particularly fit, as our English cous- ins say. Isn’t the air glorious? Are you 5 983 quite rested from your long tramp?” she added solicitously, ignoring the buzz of ex- citement that was magnetizing the air- waves about them. i “Oh, yes. That is to say, I—I didn’t feel tired.” ‘Shall we have another game after dinner?” “Cert—I say! I had that gold weighed!” “You did? Well?” “Pretty near twenty dollars’ worth!” “You don’t mean it?”’ ‘“‘And it’s the real goods, too! Why, if he can turn out that sort of stuff, there’s nothing to it! A bushel or two, and we could all afford to quit working!” ‘“‘1’m afraid poor old Glauber would die of old age before he could get even one bushel of it together,’ murmured Carme- lita reluctantly. “Oh, of course, I’ll have to dope out some other basis for him to work upon,” said Manahan arrogantly. “One thing sure, it’s ridiculous for him to stay up in these mountains. He ought to be nearer his base of supplies. Besides, if he moves away from here he needn’t leave any for- warding address. Then that smart Aleck in Kansas City can whistle.” Carmelita shook her head. ‘‘ You’d never get Herr Glauber to leave the Ozarks.” “Why? Couldn’t he do the trick any- where else just as well as here?” asked Manahan suspiciously. “T’m not sure about that. He claims that being near Hot Springs has already saved him thousands of dollars.” “Come again! I didn’t quite get that.” “T can’t explain it very well because I don’t just understand it myself. But it’s like this: For some time experimenters have believed that gold would ultimately be produced through the agency of radium; but good gracious! if Glauber had the price of a gram of radium he wouldn’t have to look for gold. Now, of course, you know what they claim for the waters of these springs?” Manahan nodded. He was too well ac- quainted with the phrase “radio-active gases,” so often encountered in the litera- ture of the place, not to follow her after a fashion. “Well, Herr Glauber believes that not only the waters of the springs, but all the soil about here is permeated with radium, and to that agency he attributes much of cCOmiclbook CO