Argosy and Railroad Man's Magazine — page 44: what you’re looking at

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

386 President of these here United States. Is he going to chuck his job?” “Not him,” said the director confidently. “ Besides, he’s under contract to us, and if he broke the contract—” ““ He’d be finished, absolutely!” declared the president. ‘‘ He’s no fool!” The president was playing both ends against the middle, which is a wise game— sometimes. IV. REEVER KEENE had been too long’ in the movie game, and was taking too much money out of it, to have any artistic tem- perament—that is, when he was on the lot. Movie folk have to keep their temperament out of business. Still, when Keene saw what his director was doing to the abalone-pin story, and realized that he could not prevent its being done, he boiled with inward and suffocating rage. After three days he was so stifled with fury that he was ready for an out- break. He had put Jim Bleeker into that story, and when he saw how the director was handling Jim Bleeker, despite all protests, his fury became white-hot. . On the fourth morning he drove to the studio without opening his private mail. Once in his dressing-room, he glanced over the letters while he was making up; but, for him, that mail resolved itself into just one letter. He propped it in front of him and read it over again: Dear Mr, Larricane Within a few days I am leaving for Europe to take part in reconstruction work. I could not leave without writing you to express anew my very. deep appreciation of all.your thoughtful kindness to Jim. I know from his letters what your friendship meant to him, and I have learned from other comrades of your great devotion toward the end. Thanks seem but a little thing to offer; yet, believe me, my thanks and appreciation come from the soul. : I know nothing of your financial position or status in civil life, and I do not wish you to think that I am insulting so deep and pure a thing as your friendship with Jim. How- ever, I am enclosing a card from my attor- neys, who are fully instructed to honor it in ‘any way. If you should ever be in need of advice or aid, it will give me great happiness ARGOSY AND RAILROAD MAN’S MAGAZINE. to know that you will make use of this card as though it had been handed you by your friend, Jim BLEEKER. “Bless her sweet heart,”’ muttered Reever Keene, tearing the card across and tossing it into his waste-basket. He smiled a little, as he thought of his twenty thousand dol- lars in cash, buried where no one would ever - detect it; and of the Kansas oil stock, held by a friend, which brought in itself a com- fortable income. Everybody in the busi- ness thought that Reever Keene blew all he had, like every one else; but Aloysius Lar- rigan knew better. ; He read the letter again, fingering the blister pearl in his scarf, and forgetting his make-up completely. Once more he was standing in that house, half a block off Fifth Avenue; once more he was living through that moment when Mrs. Bleeker had handed him that scarf-pin, with her quiet, steady voice, and her brave, stricken eyes. The thought of it made him sit very quiet, staring at the letter. In all his life he had never experienced a moment such as that; no, not even when Jim had died beside him! It had been a moment of the spirit; a moment of absolute integrity, of purity, of unsullied sweetness. That moment had assoiled many long- soiled years. It had grown upon Larrigan ever since, had grown larger, had grown to mean much more than he had dared admit. Now this letter had come to bring it before him again in all its larger aspects. He made up mechanically and went out on the lot; for an hour he acted mechan- ically, obeying the director without protest, without thought. Then, during a change in the set, he went to his dressing-room. Lola was there, standing at his table, reading the letter. Something went cold inside Reever Keene, and he stepped for- ward as if to take it from her. But she turned upon him, a flood of passion in her face. “Well,” she observed with a sneer, “I guess I got your number now, Mr. Larri- gan! Lady signs herself Jim Bleeker, does she? Maybe we’re goin’ to hear a lot of things that happened—”’ CommicooolkS.conn