第109章

From the farms of Illinois and Iowa, from the ranches of Kansas and Nebraska, from all the reaches of the Middle West, the Wheat, like a tidal wave, was rising, rising.Almighty, blood-brother to the earthquake, coeval with the volcano and the whirlwind, that gigantic world-force, that colossal billow, Nourisher of the Nations, was swelling and advancing.

There in the Pit its first premonitory eddies already swirled and spun.If even the first ripples of the tide smote terribly upon the heart, what was it to be when the ocean itself burst through, on its eternal way from west to east? For an instant came clear vision.

What were these shouting, gesticulating men of the Board of Trade, these brokers, traders, and speculators? It was not these he fought, it was that fatal New Harvest; it was the Wheat; it was--as Gretry had said--the very Earth itself.What were those scattered hundreds of farmers of the Middle West, who because he had put the price so high had planted the grain as never before? What had they to do with it?

Why the Wheat had grown itself; demand and supply, these were the two great laws the Wheat obeyed.Almost blasphemous in his effrontery, he had tampered with these laws, and had roused a Titan.He had laid his puny human grasp upon Creation and the very earth herself, the great mother, feeling the touch of the cobweb that the human insect had spun, had stirred at last in her sleep and sent her omnipotence moving through the grooves of the world, to find and crush the disturber of her appointed courses.

The new harvest was coming in; the new harvest of wheat, huge beyond possibility of control; so vast that no money could buy it, so swift that no strategy could turn it.But Jadwin hurried away from the sound of the near roaring of the Pit.No, no.Luck was with him;he had mastered the current of the Pit many times before--he would master it again.The day passed and the night, and at nine o'clock the following morning, he and Gretry once more met in the broker's office.

Gretry turned a pale face upon his principal.

"I've just received," he said, "the answers to our cables to Liverpool and Paris.I offered wheat at both places, as you know, cheaper than we've ever offered it there before.""Yes--well?"

"Well," answered Gretry, looking gravely into Jadwin's eyes, "well--they won't take it."..............

On the morning of her birthday--the thirteenth of the month--when Laura descended to the breakfast room, she found Page already there.Though it was barely half-past seven, her sister was dressed for the street.She wore a smart red hat, and as she stood by the French windows, looking out, she drew her gloves back and forth between her fingers, with a nervous, impatient gesture.

"Why," said Laura, as she sat down at her place, "why, Pagie, what is in the wind to-day?""Landry is coming," Page explained, facing about and glancing at the watch pinned to her waist."He is going to take me down to see the Board of Trade--from the visitor's gallery, you know.He said this would probably be a great day.Did Mr.Jadwin come home last night?"Laura shook her head, without speech.She did not choose to put into words the fact that for three days--with the exception of an hour or two, on the evening after that horrible day of her visit to the Cresslers, house--she had seen nothing of her husband.

"Landry says," continued Page, "that it is awful--down there, these days.He says that it is the greatest fight in the history of La Salle Street.Has Mr.

Jadwin, said anything to you? Is he going to win?""I don't know," answered Laura, in a low voice; "Idon't know anything about it, Page."

She was wondering if even Page had forgotten.When she had come into the room, her first glance had been towards her place at table.But there was nothing there, not even so much as an envelope; and no one had so much as wished her joy of the little anniversary.

She had thought Page might have remembered, but her sister's next words showed that she had more on her mind than birthdays.

"Laura," she began, sitting down opposite to her, and unfolding her napkin, with laborious precision.

"Laura--Landry and I--Well...we're going to be married in the fall.""Why, Pagie," cried Laura, "I'm just as glad as I can be for you.He's a fine, clean fellow, and I know he will make you a good husband."Page drew a deep breath.

"Well," she said, "I'm glad you think so, too.Before you and Mr.Jadwin were married, I wasn't sure about having him care for me, because at that time--well--"Page looked up with a queer little smile, "I guess you could have had him--if you had wanted to.""Oh, that," cried Laura."Why, Landry never really cared for me.It was all the silliest kind of flirtation.The moment he knew you better, I stood no chance at all.""We're going to take an apartment on Michigan Avenue, near the Auditorium," said Page, "and keep house.

We've talked it all over, and know just how much it will cost to live and keep one servant.I'm going to serve the loveliest little dinners; I've learned the kind of cooking he likes already.Oh, I guess there he is now," she cried, as they heard the front door close.

Landry came in, carrying a great bunch of cut flowers, and a box of candy.He was as spruce as though he were already the bridegroom, his cheeks pink, his blonde hair radiant.But he was thin and a little worn, a dull feverish glitter came and went in his eyes, and his nervousness, the strain and excitement which beset him were in his every gesture, in every word of his rapid speech.

"We'll have to hurry," he told Page."I must be down there hours ahead of time this morning.""How is Curtis?" demanded Laura."Have you seen him lately? How is he getting on with--with his speculating?"Landry made a sharp gesture of resignation.

"I don't know," he answered."I guess nobody knows.

We had a fearful day yesterday, but I think we controlled the situation at the end.We ran the price up and up and up till I thought it would never stop.