Argosy, Vol. 85, No. 3 — page 163: what you’re looking at

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

FIGHTING THE EGG KING. that I know. I’ve come to see Mr. Karby —you will present me to him — it will make things so much easier for me.” Great Heavens, she hadn’t yet awak- ened to the real situation! He smiled rather wistfully, shook his head slowly and said quietly “‘ Miss Truxton, I am Mr. Karby.”’ The horror that came into her features was only compensated by their beauty. Her eyes opened until he imagined he was looking into two wonderful worlds, and she fell back one, two, three paces and stared at him. Karby turned slightly to give her a chance to recover from the shock of his announcement. When he faced her again, she was staring calmly at him, her big eyes regarding him with something of awe. ‘“‘T hadn’t dreamed that you were Mr. Karby, although I might have guessed— put two and two together. You were on the train that day and heard the wild talk of that wild youth. Mr. Karby,’’—she took a step forward and stared hard at him—“ it isn’t true that you’re going to open your store and sell—at such low prices that it will ruin those. who have stocked up on things—hoping to sell when the price was up?” Karby smiled. slowly in the affirmative-and said quietly: “I’m afraid it’s all true, Miss Truxton. I’m putting into effect the very idea which that wild youth, as you call him, declared he would follow if he was one of those eccentric and peculiar millionaires who couldn’t get any enjoyment out of life.” She stared at him, permitting him the fullest view of her wonderful eyes and the sweet features that went with them. Karby caught his breath. He found a madness seizing upon him, a madness which he thrust back with an effort. ‘You know what they call my father?”’ she went on slowly. “The egg king—though I didn’t know until now—that you were his daughter. I understand now why my remark that day caused you such annoyance, but I was not aware of your identity then.” He shook his head fanatical scheme. 505 She passed over the explanation as though she considered it trivial in com- parison with what she had come to say. “You will slash the price on eggs, Mr. Karby?”’ “Storage eggs for twenty cents per dozen, fresh ones for twenty-five, and the strictest kind of fresh eggs, guaranteed, for thirty.” | “Tt means financial ruin to my father,” she said slowly, her eyes not meeting his directly but staring at the wall as though she were speaking some speech which she had committed to mem- ory. ‘“‘He has two hundred thousand gross of eggs in storage— Listen, Mr. Karby, my father stands ready to buy up every egg you possess for forty cents a dozen if you will agree not to stock up any more.” Karby shook his head and smiled. “No, Miss Truxton, I can’t be bought, neither can the eggs I have. Those eggs are for housewives who haven’t had the privilege of owning eggs in any quantity for months. Men who have cornered the egg market will have to suffer along with those people who cornered potatoes, sugar. Your father is not the only one, Miss Truxton.”’ ‘“ But, Mr. Karby, my father has done no wrong. Why, people buy real estate and hold it until prices go ’way up and then sell. It’s the legitimate way to make money. Why do you enter into this wild scheme? You’re losing millions of dollars by it.” ‘“‘ Exactly, Miss Truxton.” He paused, collected himself and faced her squarely. ‘Miss Truxton, it was more than coin- cidence that day which brought me a listener to that wild youth with his But I was one of the very mén he described, a millionaire, if you will permit me the term ‘for lack of a better, who could see nothing interesting in life. ‘‘T was a veritable nomad on the face of the earth. That very trip I was making had no definite destination in view. I was just going from one place comicloool C©