Rex Beach

Flowing Gold

Warsaw 2022

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 1

Room service at the Ajax is of a quality befitting the newest, the largest, and the most expensive hotel in Dallas. While the standard of excellence is uniformly high, nevertheless some extra care usually attaches to a breakfast ordered from the Governor’s suite–most elegant and most expensive of all the suites–hence the waiter checked over his card and made a final, fluttering examination to be sure that the chilled fruit was chilled and that the hot plates were hot before he rapped on the door. A voice, loud and cheery, bade him enter.

Would the gentleman wish his breakfast served in the parlor or–No, the gentleman would have it right in his bedroom; but first, where were his cigarettes? He hoped above all things that the waiter had not forgotten his cigarettes. Some people began their days with cold showers–nothing less than a cruel shock to a languid nervous system. An atrocious practice, the speaker called it–a relic of barbarism–a fetish of ignorance. Much preferable was a hygienic, stimulating cigarette which served the same purpose and left no deleterious aftereffects.

The pajama-clad guest struck a light, inhaled with abundant satisfaction, and then cast a hungry eye over the contents of the rubber-tired breakfast table. He, too, tested the temperature of the melon and felt the cover of the toast plate.

“Splendid!” he cried. “Nice rooms, prompt service, a pleasant-faced waiter. Why, I couldn’t fare better in my best club. Thanks to you, my first impression of Dallas is wholly delightful.” He seated himself in a padded boudoir chair, unfolded a snowy serviette and attacked his breakfast with the enthusiasm of a perfectly healthy animal.

“Is this your first visit here, sir?”

“Absolutely. Dallas is as foreign to me as Lhasa. It is the Baghdad of my dreams and its streets are strange. Perhaps they are full of adventure for me. I hope so. Anything exciting can happen in a town where one has neither friends nor acquaintances, eh? You are a well-read man, I take it.”

“I? Why–”

“At any rate, you have heard it said that this is a small world.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good! I merely wish to deny authorship of the saying, for it is false. This is a large world. What is more, it is a world full of cities like Dallas where men like you and me, Heaven be praised, have neither friends, acquaintances, nor relatives. In that respect, it is a fine world and we should devoutly give thanks for its Dallases and its–Dalsatians. Jove! This ham is delicious!”

The waiter was accustomed to “morning talkers,” but this gentleman was different. He had an air of consequence, and his voice, so deep, so well modulated, so pleasant, invested him with unusual distinction. Probably he was an actor! But no! Not in the Governor’s suite. More likely he was one of the big men of the Standard, or the Gulf, or the Texas. To make sure, the waiter inquired:

“May I ask if you are in oil, sir?”

“In oil? Bless me, what a nauseating question–at this hour of the day!”

“ “Most everybody here is in oil. We turn dozens away every day, we’re that full. It’s the boom. I’m in oil myself–in a small way, of course. It’s like this: sometimes gentlemen like–well, like you, sir–give me tips. They drop a hint, like, about their stocks, and I’ve done well–in a small way, of course. It doesn’t cost them anything and–some of them are very kind. You’d really be surprised.”

“Oh, not at all.” The occupant of the Governor’s suite leaned back in his chair and smiled widely. “As a matter of fact, I am flattered, for it is evident that you are endowed with the money-making instinct and that you unerringly recognize it in others. Very well, I shall see what I can do for you. But while we are on the subject of tips, would you mind helping yourself to a dollar out of my trousers pocket?”

The waiter proceeded to do as directed, but a moment later announced, apologetically: “Here’s all I find, sir. It’s mostly pennies.” He exposed a handful of small coins.

“Look in my coat, if you will.”

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