The Fighting Chance

bound for a Southern or exotic winter had departed; and the glittering machine, every part assembled, refurbished, repolished, and connected, having been given preliminary speed-tests at the ho

ty; cross streets were packed; Fifth Avenue, almost impassible in the morning, choked up after three o'clock; and all the afternoon through, and late into the night, mounted police of the traffic squad, adrift in the tide o

ason. Like a set piece of fireworks, with its interdependent parts taking fire in turn, function after function, spectacle after spectacle, glittered, fizzed, and was extinguished, only to give place to newer and more splendid spectacles; separate circles, sets, and groups belonging to the social solar system whizzed, revolved, rotated, with edifying effects on everybody concerned, unconcerned, and not at all concerned; and at intervals, when for a moment or two something

e calculated to disturb nobody, and, so far, without any avowed specific policy other than that which served to decorate a portion of its charter which otherwise might have remained ornately and comparatively blank; the third phenomenon was the reti

ciently exclusive not to compromise Plank's possible chances for something better; in fact, the Saddle Club, into which Leroy Mortimer had already managed to pilot him, was one riser and tread upward on the stair he was climbing, though it was more of a lobby for other clubs than a club in itself. To be seen there was, pe

ot abdominally fat. But Mortimer had become enormous; rolls of flesh crowded his mottled ear-lobes outward and bulged above his collar; cushions of it padded the backs of his hands and fingers; shaving

era might mean something some day. His name was up at the Lenox and the Patroons; he had endowed a ward in the new pavilion of St. Berold's Hospital; he had presented a fine Gainsborough-The Countess of Wythe-

ot to go and what not to do; and he was as docile as he was dogged, understanding how much longer it takes to shuffle in by

inancial matters-save for the periodical presence of the Mortimers: a mansion immense and shadowy, haunted by relays of yawning, livened servants, half stupefied under the vast silence of the twilit splendour. He was patient, not only because he was told to be, but also because he had nothi

e Saddle Club. "Quarrier and Belwether have listened a damned sight more respectfully

eaded Mortimer's indiscretions of speech-was afraid of his cynical frankness in the p

er, folded and pocketed it, touched an electric bell, and when a servant came, "Take Mr. Mortimer's or

epted a cigar; and when the servant had returned and again retired, he half emptied his tall glass, refilled it with mineral water, and, settli

, you dunderheaded Dutchman? It's solid gain, and it's our ball. The Lenox will take longer; they're a 'holier-than-thou' bunch of nincompoops, and it always horrifies them to have any man elected, no matter who he is. They'd rather die of dry rot than e

id Plank, squaring

ed Mortimer, emptying

ndow, his shrewd blue eyes

ith a sidelong glance at Plank's stolid face; "I don't want to push the mourners too hard... Well, I'll see about it... And if it's the thing to do, and the time to do it"-he turned on Plank with his boisterous and misleading laugh and

est, "that all this you are doing for me is very handsome of you, Mortimer. I'd like

a has don

you have been so, too. I-I wish t

r so bluntly that Plank

a-to show m

do anything for us," said Mortimer, b

Plank, the painf

d so long absorbed him. His wits, clogged, dulled by excesses, were now aroused to a sort of gross act

n't stand for, and that's any vulgar misconception on

," protested Plank, angry

, "I were one of those needy social tipster

imer, don't talk like th

Mortimer, getting redder and hoarser, "who live on men like

u crazy, to talk

s! I've every inclination to drop it! If you haven't horse-sense enough-if

break, Mortimer. I wo

hy, so little did I dream that you looked on our friendship in that light that I was-on my word of honour!-I was just

. I wouldn't do it now, just when you're getting things into shape for me. I'm not a fool, anyway. This is in deadly earnest, I tell you, Mortimer, and I'm getting angry about it. You've got to show your confide

of success over this stolid, shrewd young man and his thrifty Dutch instincts, he should feel uncomfortable. Were not his services worth something? Had he not earned at least the right to bor

xtending a huge highly coloured ha

o," mutter

ld not relinq

atters like this-little misunderstandings like this? I'm the man to be sensitive, not you. You have been very good to me,

in riding clothes and spurs came in and found a seat by one of the wi

ncing over his shoulder to see whose s

ding-crop; including Plank, whom he d

ed and carelessly pocketing it without even a nod of thanks. "You know

Plank shook hands an

with Plank. "Lot of jolly people out this morning. I say, Mortimer, do you want that roan hunter of mine you looked ove

hed glass, shook his head, a

Fleetwood politely to Plank, as the t

f it's that big Irish thoroughbred you were riding that you wa

imself to exchange greetings with several men who came into the room rather noisily, their spurs resounding across the oaken floor. One of them, Tom O'Hara, joined

park? Some of the squadron men asked me-the major. Oh, beg pardon! Didn't know you were trying to stick Mortimer with him. He might do for the troop ambulance, inside!... What? Oh

t?" asked Plank so simply that it took O'Ha

to be offensi

lence, broken by Mortimer, whose entire hulk was tingling with a mixture of surprise and amusement over his pr

ood. "I took his horses up to hunt

im anywhere," said Mortimer. "I gu

shook the ice in it. "That, and-the other bu

of the Lenox Club?" a

. That's foolish. A man may be an ass to join too many clubs but he's always a fool to resign from any of 'em. Yo

d sign?" asked O'

e chief trumpeter'-all that sort of thing-and those Porto Rico spurs of yours, and the ewe-necked glyptosau

pleasantries between Fleetwood and O'Har

him at Shotover," he ventured. "

ards. I could have told you that the first time I ever saw him. We all told him to cut it out, because he was sure to do so

Hara's parting shot concerning the decadenc

ner or later, to land in the family ditch. He has a

ad thing," said

"I think so, too.... I d

better now," said

a moment: "I should be glad

k; "he's been an ass, but who hasn't? I like him tremendously, and I feel very bad over the mess he made of it

heard," said Plank simply; "my

e, surprised, a trifle uncomfortable, yet som

'm only up for the Patroons and

lank. Awfully handsome of you, all that chapel business. I say: I've a cousin-er-young architect; Beaux Arts, and all that-just over.

ile he continued a desultory discussion with O'Hara concerning a very private dinner which somebody told somebody that somebody had given to Quarrier and the Inter-County Electric people; which, if

rier is really the god in the machine, and if he really is doing stunts with Amalgamated Electric, and is also mixing feet with the Inter-County c

button and making a significant gesture toward his empty glass as t

devil of a thing to do, to parallel your own line!" insisted O'Hara. "That is dirty work. Peop

nough to find out when the first ominous rumours arose concerning Amalgamated

penly supporting Amalgamated and hammering Inter-County; and, besides, there's Ferrall in it, and Mrs. Ferrall is Quarrier's cousin; and there's Belwether in it, and Quarrier is engaged to marry Sylvia Landis, who is Belwether'

m. He sat for a while, wiping his puffy eyelids with his handkerchief; then, squinting s

ng nasty to Plank?" he growled. "I

, "how much of a cad a fairly decent

me?" demanded Mortim

me with the goods on. I've been thinking that the men who bother with such questions are

ough to do something for him at the

ed like a bounder just now, after having accepted your hospitality at the Fells. I did mea

ent; he looked questioningly at Mortimer, whose vis

ve simplicity of the man, veneered and polished by constant contact with Mrs. Mortimer, and now showing to advantage in the gra

plunge and dressing-rooms above, whence presently they emerged in street garb to

see his wife driving with Mrs. Ferrall or with Miss Caithness, or perhaps with some doddering caryatid of the social structure; and he'd sit there, leering with gummy eyes out of the club windows, while servants in silent processional replenished his glass from time to time, until in the early night the trim little shopgirls flocked out into the highways in

o a dozen members, then left him to his fate. Whence, presently, Fleetwood and O'Hara extracted him-fate at that moment being personified by a garrulous old gentleman, one Peter Caithness, who di

" said O'Hara cordially. "You've something of his cue movement-so

il is there for a man to do, if he doesn't do anything? He's not going out anywhere since his mother's death; he has no clubs to go to, I understand. What does he do-go to his office

bserved O'Hara, resuming his coat. "H

know the old

her. He had apartments last year, you remember. He gave dinner

e still.... What do you suppose induced him to take that little gin-drinking cat to the

d of his unfortunate story and the pi

ank mildly, "I don't b

hen shrugged. "Unfortunately

it. If he had been sober, the governors would have been bound to take his word of honour. But he couldn't give that, you see. And after they

blue eyes partly closing, so that all the Dutch shrewdness and stubbornness in his face disturbed its highly

n't know things; he doesn't know enough, for instance, to wait until he's a member of a club before he criticises the judgment of it

can get, with Leroy Mortimer as his sponsor.... Wasn't Mortimer rather

ny use for Mortimer

ever said anything unpleasant about any man. I wish I didn't either, but I do. So do you. So do

ense in discussing Siward, as though he

man," mused O'Hara, walking toward the great

ctly do

bout w

t with her-and, I believe his limit with any woman. He was absurdly decent that way;

ou suppose all this business

lwether says he's going to the devil; but that's the sort of thing the major is likely to say. By the way, wasn't there somet

vy, measured, passionless voice, as they descended the

I'm due to shine at a function about five. Are you coming up-town either o

e down town, you and I, and we'll look up poor old Siward! Shall we? He's probably a

gesture of adieu, climbed into his electric

diffidently. He hesitated, colouring up. "He might misunderstand my going with you-as

g man beside him. "See here," he said, "you are going a

k; "I should be very g

hattan meaning of the word; for in New York nothing

drawn, masked the blank panes. Three massive wistaria-vines, the gnarled stems as thick as tree-trunks, crawled upward to the roof, dividing the fa?§ade equally, and furnishing some relief to its flatness, otherwise unbroken except by the deep reveals of window and door. Two huge and unsymmetrical catalpa

where in a rapid land Time outstrips itself, painting, with the antiquity

espected; and as Fleetwood pulled the old-fashioned bell, Plank stole a glance over the fa?§ade, where wisps of straw trailed from sparrows' nests, undisturbed, wedged between plinth and pillar; where, behind the lace pane

d by a very old man wearing the black "swallow-tail" clothes and choker of an old-tim

eetwood, entering, foll

f age: "Mr. Fleetwood, sir.... Mr.-." A bow, and the dim eye

ver unsteadily extended. The butler ush

leetwood, pausing on the thr

hen still looking away from Fleetwood:

lways that," said t

was a-a great shock to us all, sir!" He bowed and turned away, holding his salver stiffly; and the

a crystal chandelier dulled by age, and edged the carved foliations of the marble mantel, above which loomed a tarnished mirror reflecting darkness. Fleetwood rose,

g it.... Look at that old grinny-bags in a pig-tail over there! To the cellar for his, if this were my house.... We've got some, too, in several rooms, and I n

aid Plank, und

the window to watch a brand-new French motor-car

was at home and would receive them in the library ab

d, as he and Plank followed the old man up the creaking

ndow, one leg extended, his left foot, stiff

od, hastening forward, "I didn't

d Plank, who stood behind Fleetwood; and, slowly disengaging hi

r. Fleetwood prefers rye, for some inscrutabl

Plank, "I should like to h

Mr. Plank," he added. "And the cigars are at you

r he had lighted his cigar,

oot. "Nothing much." He reddened faintly

ous flash of suspicion came into his eyes; he glanced sharply at Siward

the second man, brought. Siward brooded over his cup, head

measuring out the old rye from the quaint decan

have no use for i

ub, too, and the Owl's Head, and

red of

talk th

e a gesture toward the window; "all the gossip the newspapers miss. I've talked Dr. Grisb

ions; about those absent from the metropolis and the newcomers to be welcomed. He commented briefly on the opera, reviewed the newer plays at the theatres, touched on the now dormant gaiety which had made the season at nearby country clubs conspicuous; then drifted int

ll going to the Assembly, the sport of boss-baiting having become fash

noticed, the stock market speculated upon; and presently conversation died out, wi

n art, literature, and science yet, and you can't go until you've

Nobody ever looks at 'em except d??butantes, who do it

" inquired Siward grav

y still. "It's another feminine bluff-like all

And sc

dy tumbled out of an air-ship the other day; is that what you mean? And they're selli

t what I wanted to know, Billy-all about the arts and sciences....

you be out?" in

shall try to drive to

re?" began Fleetwood impatiently. "I know, of course, that you're not going anywhere, b

hange in him-the dark, hard lines under the eyes; the pallor, the curious immobility of the man, save for his fingers, which were always rest

Electric?" asked F

t. Want to buy some?"

onderously. "Somebody is kic

trying to," s

eetwood. Siward nodded

ntatively, "you people need not worr

on the table beside him, and he picked it up and began drawing initials and scrolls on the margin of a newspaper; and all the

well, except for this sprain." He looked down at his bandaged foot, then his pencil moved listle

Plank moved forward on tiptoe, bulky and noiseless; and

nk, red with embarrassment, yet so naively that a

are to come,

es

what was there in common between himself and such a type as Plank? He had not even troubled himself to avoid him at Shotover; he had merely been aware

e bulky young man now-nothing particularly attractive, either, except for a certain

you have a few moments i

great pleasure,"

stairs; Wands held their coats, and bowed them ou

flush had settled over his cheeks; the aroma of spirits hung in the air, and he looked across the room a

noiselessly, bearing a lamp. She pulled down the shades, drew the sad-coloured curtains, went to the mantelpiece and peered at the clock, then brought a wineglass and a spo

u there?" he as

ed from the hall

eave that

bowed and ambled off downstairs with the decanter, eithe

sion returned; he rested one elbow on the window-sill, his worn cheek on his hand, and with the other ha

n the bluish shadows around the eyes. The mark of the master-vice was there; its stamp in the swollen, worn-out hollows; its imprint in the

stepped into the highway which his doo

he called

y step, and the old man enter

back. Didn't you hear

ir

you he

. Stephe

was a

mbl

ir

g to bring th

bell. Wands came this time, a lank, sandy, silent man, grown gray as a rat in the service of the Siwards. He received his master's orders, and withdrew; and again Siward waited, biting his under lip and tearing bits from the e

lf-pity were becoming almost as frequent

fell-fell on his own doorsteps, carried into the old Siward house by old Siward servants, drunk as his forefathers? It was none of Fleetwood's business. It was none of the servants' business. It was nobody's business except his own. Who the devil were

ned bell savagely; and after a long while he heard servan

grew sharper, parching, searing every strained muscle in throat and chest, he struck the table beside him, and clenched his teeth in the fierce rush of ago

ous, and curled forward over his colourless ears. He wore steel-rimmed spectacles, each glass divided into two lenses; and he sto

ly tied. His loose string tie was the first thing Siward could remember about the doctor;

oothache? I'm ashamed of you, Stephen, cutting capers and pounding the furniture! L

e man, who seated himself beside him. Dr. Grisby scarcely note

you; I want to see that ankle first. Here, somebody! Light that gas. Why the mischief don't you have the house wired for electricity, Stephen? It's wholesome. Gas isn't. Lamps are worse

Gumble appeared,

ant any,"

d Dr. Gris

't car

Do you think I don

ng to join him. He ate hurriedly, closing his eyes in av

mering under his half-closed eyes. And for a long while Dr. Grisby sat, doubled almost

ter go, Stephen,"

iver-to M

on your feet in two weeks. Then you'd

you say so. But

go now. I said

rha

our word?" demanded

doc

y n

ness. There seems to be some sort of c

od fight. There's a fighting chance; on my soul of honour, there is, Steve, a fighting chance for you! Now! now, boy! Buckle up tight! Tuck up your sword-sleeve! At 'em, Steve! Give 'em hell! Oh,

ay very still

do devious things, sly things, cheating things, slinking things-anything and everything to get at the thing you crave. I've given you something to fight with, and you

.. I

you, considering the stuff you read-get people down here to see you; get lots of people. Telephone 'em; yo

, I

ter, physically, don't we? Of course we d

eated Siward un

ightest pause, and a narrowing of the gimlet eyes behind the lenses. "Love

But, being a Siward, he w

the doctor. "What's the ma

y, too. There's something underhand, somewhere." He bent his head and fell to plucking at the faded brocade on the a

onably sure as a gentleman can be of something he is not fashioned to understand? That's it, is it? All right, sir-all right! Very w

d fell si

t, Stephen. You have not earned the right to admit further symptoms. No, sir, you h

cto

ir

-admitt

m sorry. You have no ri

ed them-admitt

a good fight-a very good fight, with no chance of losing anything but life. You go up the river to Mulqueen's. That's the strategy in this campaign; that's excellent manoeuvring; that's good generalship! Eh? Mask

aughter broke out like the

d in Siward's haunted eyes, t

used me," he

go and get well; then try it again! Then you'll see! And if she is an idiot-in the event of her irrational persistence in an incredible and utterly indefensible attitude"-he choked up, then fairly barked at Siward

Siward said: "If I shou

, now and then. But if they do, good God! I say it's better to be born and have a chance to fight than never to come into the arena at all! By winning out, the world learns; by failure, the world is no les

out the room with short little ba

he evil in them is in the ascendant. Never, until they are cured. That's what I say; that's what I maintain. Crime is a disease; criminals are sick people. No marriage for them until they're cured; n

at, and wiped his damp features and polished his forehea

inually. I've other patients-several-plenty! Do you think you're the only man I know w

again, a worn,

I'm alone it's-hard. One of those crises is close now

N

t en

Ste

or enough to make me sleep-not even to make me d

es

his once-for

N

I'm so tired of this ache. If I could only have some sleep, and wake up in good shape, I'd stand a better chance of fighting.... Wait, d

elp you any m

this

this

r, if she isn't for such moments? Tell her you need her voice; tell her you need her faith in you. Damn central! Talk out in church! Don't make a goddess of a woman. The men who want to marry her, and can't, will do that! T

d passed before he slowly sat up and groped for the telephone book, opened it, an

that strange, timid, formal letter, in which, grief-stunned as he was, he saw only the formality, and had answered it more fo

book wearily, and lay back in the shadow of