Chapter 9

by Upton Sinclair

　　A week or two had passed, when one day Oliver called his brother onthe 'phone. "Have you or Alice any engagement this evening?" heasked. "I want to bring a friend around to dinner."

　　"Who is it?" inquired Montague.

　　"Nobody you have heard of," said Oliver. "But I want you to meethim. You will think he's rather queer, but I will explain to youafterwards. Tell Alice to take my word for him."

　　Montague delivered the message, and at seven o'clock they wentdownstairs. In the reception room they met Oliver and his friend,and it was all that Montague could do to repress a look ofconsternation.

　　The name of the personage was Mr. Gamble. He was a little man, atrifle over five feet high, and so fat that one wondered how hecould get about alone; his chin and neck were a series of rolls offat. His face was round like a full moon, and out of it looked twolittle eyes like those of a pig. It was only after studying them fora while that one discovered that they twinkled shrewdly.

　　Mr. Gamble was altogether the vulgarest-looking personage that AliceMontague had ever met. He put out a fat little hand to her, and shetouched it gingerly, and then gazed at Oliver and his brother inhelpless dismay.

　　"Good evening. Good evening," he began volubly. "I am charmed tomeet you. Mr. Montague, I have heard so much about you from yourbrother that I feel as if we were old friends."

　　There was a moment's pause. "Shall we go into the dining-room?"asked Montague.

　　He did not much relish the stares which would follow them, but hecould see no way out of the difficulty. They went into the room andseated themselves, Montague wondering in a flash whether Mr.Gamble's arms would be long enough to reach to the table in front ofhim.

　　"A warm evening," he said, puffing slightly. "I have been on thetrain all day."

　　"Mr. Gamble comes from Pittsburg," interposed Oliver.

　　"Indeed?" said Montague, striving to make conversation. "Are you inbusiness there?"

　　"No, I am out of business," said Mr. Gamble, with a smile. "Made mypile, so to speak, and got out. I want to see the world a bit beforeI get too old."

　　The waiter came to take their orders; in the meantime Montaguedarted an indignant glance at his brother, who sat and smiledserenely. Then Montague caught Alice's eye, and he could almost hearher saying to him, "What in the world am I going to talk about?"

　　But it proved not very difficult to talk with the gentleman fromPittsburg. He appeared to know all the gossip of the Metropolis, andhe cheerfully supplied the topics of conversation. He had been toPalm Beach and Hot Springs during the winter, and told about what hehad seen there; he was going to Newport in the summer, and he talkedabout the prospects there. If he had the slightest suspicion of thefact that all his conversation was not supremely interesting toMontague and his cousin, he gave no hint of it.

　　After he had disposed of the elaborate dinner which Oliver ordered,Mr. Gamble proposed that they visit one of the theatres. He had abox all ready, it seemed, and Oliver accepted for Alice beforeMontague could say a word for her. He spoke for himself,however,--he had important work to do, and must be excused.

　　He went upstairs and shook off his annoyance and plunged into hiswork. Sometime after midnight, when he had finished, he went out fora breath of fresh air, and as he returned he found Oliver and hisfriend standing in the lobby of the hotel.

　　"How do you do, Mr. Montague?" said Gamble. "Glad to see you again."

　　"Alice has just gone upstairs," said Oliver. "We were going to sitin the cafe awhile. Will you join us?"

　　"Yes, do," said Mr. Gamble, cordially.

　　Montague went because he wanted to have a talk with Oliver before hewent to bed that night.

　　"Do you know Dick Ingham?" asked Mr. Gamble, as they seatedthemselves at a table.

　　"The Steel man, you mean?" asked Montague. "No, I never met him."

　　"We were talking about him," said the other. "Poor chap--it reallywas hard luck, you know. It wasn't his fault. Did you ever hear thetrue story?"

　　"No," said Montague, but he knew to what the other referred. Inghamwas one of the "Steel crowd," as they were called, and he had beenpresident of the Trust until a scandal had forced his resignation.

　　"He is an old friend of mine," said Gamble; "he told me all aboutit. It began in Paris--some newspaper woman tried to blackmail him,and he had her put in jail for three months. And when she got outagain, then the papers at home began to get stories about poorIngham's cutting up. And the public went wild, and they made himresign--just imagine it!"

　　Gamble chuckled so violently that he was seized by a coughing spell,and had to signal for a glass of water.

　　"They've got a new scandal on their hands now," said Oliver.

　　"They're a lively crowd, the Steel fellows," laughed the other."They want to make Davidson resign, too, but he'll fight them. Heknows too much! You should hear his story!"

　　"I imagine it's not a very savoury one," said Montague, for lack ofsomething to say.

　　"It's too bad," said the other, earnestly. "I have talked to themsometimes, but it don't do any good. I remember Davidson one night:'Jim,' says he, 'a fellow gets a whole lot of money, and he buys himeverything he wants, until at last he buys a woman, and then histrouble begins. If you're buying pictures, there's an end to it--youget your walls covered sooner or later. But you never can satisfy awoman.'" And Mr. Gamble shook his head. "Too bad, too bad," herepeated.

　　"Were you in the steel business yourself?" asked Montague, politely.

　　"No, no, oil was my line. I've been fighting the Trust, and lastyear they bought me out, and now I'm seeing the world."

　　Mr. Gamble relapsed into thought again. "I never went in for thatsort of thing myself," he said meditatively; "I am a married man, Iam, and one woman is enough for me."

　　"Is your family in New York?" asked Montague, in an effort to changethe subject.

　　"No, no, they live in Pittsburg," was the answer. "I've got fourdaughters--all in college. They're stunning girls, I tell you--I'dlike you to meet them, Mr. Montague."

　　"I should be pleased," said Montague, writhing inwardly. But a fewminutes later, to his immense relief, Mr. Gamble arose, and bade himgood night.

　　Montague saw him clamber laboriously into his automobile, and thenhe turned to his brother.

　　"Oliver," he asked, "what in the devil does this mean?"

　　"What mean?" asked Oliver, innocently.

　　"That man," exclaimed the other.

　　"Why, I thought you would like to meet him," said Oliver; "he is aninteresting chap."

　　"I am in no mood for fooling," said his brother, angrily. "Why inthe world should you insult Alice by introducing such a man to her?"

　　"Why, you are talking nonsense!" exclaimed Oliver; "he knows thebest people--"

　　"Where did you meet him?" asked Montague.

　　"Mrs. Landis introduced him to me first. She met him through acousin of hers, a naval officer. He has been living in Brooklyn thiswinter. He knows all the navy people."

　　"What is it, anyway?" demanded Montague, impatiently. "Is it somebusiness affair that you are interested in?"

　　"No, no," said Oliver, smiling cheerfully--"purely social. He wantsto be introduced about, you know."

　　"Are you going to put him into Society, by any chance?" asked theother, sarcastically.

　　"You are warm, as the children say," laughed his brother.

　　Montague stared at him. "Oliver, you don't mean it," he said. "Thatfellow in Society!"

　　"Sure," said Oliver, "if he wants to. Why not?"

　　"But his wife and his daughters!" exclaimed the other.

　　"Oh, that's not it--the family stays in Pittsburg. It's only himselfthis time. All the same," Oliver added, after a pause, "I'd like towager you that if you were to meet Jim Gamble's four prizedaughters, you'd find it hard to tell them from the real thing.They've been to a swell boarding-school, and they've had everythingthat money can buy them. My God, but I'm tired of hearing abouttheir accomplishments!"

　　"But do you mean to tell me," the other protested, "that yourfriends will stand for a man like that?"

　　"Some of them will. He's got barrels of money, you know. And heunderstands the situation perfectly--he won't make many mistakes."

　　"But what in the world does he want?"

　　"Leave that to him."

　　"And you," demanded Montague; "you are getting money for this?"

　　Oliver smiled a long and inscrutable smile. "You don't imagine thatI'm in love with him, I trust. I thought you'd be interested to seethe game, that's why I introduced him."

　　"That's all very well," said the other. "But you have no right toinflict such a man upon Alice."

　　"Oh, stuff!" said Oliver. "She'll meet him at Newport this summer,anyway. How could I introduce him anywhere else, if I wasn't willingto introduce him here? He won't hurt Alice. He gave her a good timethis evening, and I wager she'll like him before he gets through.He's really a good-natured chap; the chief trouble with him is thathe gets confidential."

　　Montague relapsed into silence, and Oliver changed the subject. "Itseems too bad about Lucy," he said. "Is there nothing we can doabout it?"

　　"Nothing," said the other.

　　"She is simply ruining herself," said Oliver. "I've been trying toget Reggie Mann to have her introduced to Mrs. Devon, but he says hewouldn't dare to take the risk."

　　"No, I presume not," said Montague.

　　"It's a shame," said Oliver. "I thought Mrs. Billy Alden would askher to Newport this summer, but now I don't believe she'll have athing to do with her. Lucy will find she knows nobody except StanleyRyder and his crowd. She has simply thrown herself away."

　　Montague shrugged his shoulders. "That's Lucy's way," he said.

　　"I suppose she'll have a good time," added the other. "Ryder isgenerous, at any rate."

　　"I hope so," said Montague.

　　"They say he's making barrels of money," said Oliver; then he added,longingly, "My God, I wish I had a trust company to play with!"

　　"Why a trust company particularly?" asked the other.

　　"It's the easiest graft that's going," said Oliver. "It's some dodgeor other by which they evade the banking laws, and the money comesrolling in in floods. You've noticed their advertisements, Isuppose?"

　　"I have noticed them," said Montague.

　　"He is adding something over a million a month, I hear."

　　"It sounds very attractive," said the other; and added, drily, "Isuppose Ryder feels as if he owned it all."

　　"He might just as well own it," was the reply. "If I were going intoWall Street to make money, I'd rather have the control of fiftymillions than the absolute ownership of ten."

　　"By the way," Oliver remarked after a moment, "the Prentices haveasked Alice up to Newport. Alice seems to be quite taken with thatyoung chap, Curtiss."

　　"He comes around a good deal," said Montague. "He seems a verydecent fellow."

　　"No doubt," said the other. "But he hasn't enough money to take careof a girl like Alice."

　　"Well," he replied, "that's a question for Alice to consider."