Chapter 16
gladiator by philip wylie chapter sixteen there must be in heaven a certain god a paunchy cynical god whose task it is to arrange for each of the birthward marching souls a set of circumstances so nicely adjusted to its character that the result of its life in triumph or defeat will be hinged on the finest of threads so hugo must have felt coming home from war he had celebrated the armistice hugely not because it had spared his life most of the pomp parade bawdiness and glory had originated in such a deliverance but because it had rescued him from the hot blast of destructiveness an instantaneous realization of that prevented despair he had failed in the hour of becoming death itself such failure was fortunate because life to him even at the end of the war seemed more the effort of creation than the business of annihilation to know that had cost a struggle a struggle that took place at the hangar as the dispatch-bearer rode up and that remained crucial only between the instant when he lifted his fist and when he lowered it brevity made it no less intense
a second of time had resolved his soul afresh had redistilled it and recombined it not long after that he started back to america the mass of soldiers surrounding him were undergoing a transition that hugo felt vividly these men would wake up sweating at night and cry out until some one whispered roughly that there were no more submarines a door would slam and one of them would begin to weep there were whisperings and bickerings about life at home about what each person disintegrated again to individuality would do and say and think little fears about lost jobs and lost girls cropped out were thrust back came finally to remain and no one wanted life to be what it had been no one considered that it could be the same hugo wrote to his family that the war had ended that he was well that he expected to see them some time in the near future the ship that carried him reached the end of the blue sea and he was disembarked and demobilized in new york he realized even before he was accustomed to the novelty of civilian clothes that a familiar friendly city had changed
the retrospective spell of the eighties and nineties had vanished new york was brand new blatant rushing prosperous the inheritance from europe had been assimilated a social reality entirely foreign and american had been wrought and new york was ready to spread it across the parent world those things were pressed quickly into hugo's mind by his hotel the magazines a chance novel of the precise date the cinema and the more general more indefinite human pulses after a few days of random inspection of casual imbibing he called upon tom shayne's father he would have preferred to escape all painful reminiscing but he went partly as a duty and partly from necessity he had no money whatever a butler opened the door of a large stone mansion and ushered hugo to the library where mr shane rose eagerly i'm so glad you came knew you'd be here soon how are you
hugo was slightly surprised in his host's manner was the hardness and intensity that he had observed everywhere i'm very well thanks splendid cocktail smith there was a pause mr shane smiled well it's over eh yes all over and now we've got to beat the spears into plowshares eh we have mr shayne chuckled some of my spears were already made into plows and it was a great season for the harvest young man a great season hugo was still uncertain of mr shayne's deepest viewpoint his uncertainty nettled him the grim reaper has done some harvesting on his own account he spoke almost rudely mr shayne frowned disapprovingly i made up my mind to forget danner to forget and to buckle down and i've done both you'll want to know what happened to the funds i handled for you i wasn't particularly the old man shook his head with grotesque coyness not so fast not so fast you were particularly eager to hear we're getting honest about our emotions in this day and place you're eating with impatience well i won't hold out
i've made you a million a clean cold million hugo had been struggling in a rising tide of incomprehension that statement engulfed him me a million in the bank in your name waiting for a blond girl i'm afraid i don't exactly understand mr shane the banker readjusted his glasses and swallowed a cocktail by tipping back his head then he rose paced across the broad carpet and faced hugo of course you don't understand well i'll tell you about it once you did a favor for me which has no place in this conversation he hesitated his face seemed to flinch and then to be jerked back to its former expression in return i've done a little for you and i want to add a word to the gift of your bank-book you have if you're careful leisure to enjoy life freedom the world at your feet no more strife for you no worry and no care take it be a hedonist there's nothing else i've lain in bed nights enjoying the life that lies ahead of you my boy vicariously voluptuously catchy phrase isn't it my own i want to see you do it up hugo rubbed his hand across his forehead it was not long ago that this same man had sat at an estemena and wept over snatches of a childhood which death had made sacred
here he stood now asking that a life be done up-round and meaning cheap obvious things he wished that he had never called on tom's father that wasn't my idea of living he said slowly it will be forget the war it was a dream i realized it suddenly if i had not i would still be just a banker not a great banker the great banker i saw suddenly that it was a dream the world was mad so i took my profit from it beginning on the day i saw how exactly eh i mean how did you profit by the war mr shayne smiled expansively what was in demand then my boy what were the stupid traduced misguided people raising billions to get what why shells guns foodstuffs six months i had a corner on four chemicals vitally necessary to the government and the government got them at my price i owned a lot of steel i mixed food and diplomacy in equal parts and when the pie was opened it was full of solid gold hugo's voice was strange and that is the way my money was made it is mr shayne perceived that hugo was angry now don't get sentimental keep your eye on the ball i-he did not finish because mrs shayne came into the room
hugo stared at him fixedly his face livid for several seconds before he was conscious of her even then it was only a partial consciousness she was stuffed into a tight bright dress she was holding out her hand holding his hand holding his hand too long there was mascara around her eyes and they dilated and blinked in a foolish and flirtatious way her voice was syrup she was taking a cocktail with the other hand maybe if he gave her hand a real squeeze she would let go a tall sallow young man had come in behind her he was mr jerome leonardo bateau a perfect dear mrs shane was still holding his hand and murmuring mr shane was patting his shoulder mr bateau was staring with haughty and jealous eyes hugo excused himself in the hall he asked for mr shane's secretary he collected himself in a few frigid sentences please tell mr shane i am very grateful i wish to transfer my entire fortune to my parents in indian creek colorado the name is abednego danner make all arrangements please a faint butt followed him futilely through the door in the space of a block he had cut a pace that set other pedestrians gaping to a fast walk chapter sixteen
