The Project Gutenberg EBook of Flowing Gold, by Rex Beach

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Title: Flowing Gold

Author: Rex Beach

Posting Date: December 24, 2009 [EBook #6425]
Release Date: September, 2004
First Posted: December 10, 2002

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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[Illustration: See p. 34 "I'M AWFULLY SORRY, TOO, DAD"]

FLOWING GOLD

By Rex Beach

TO THE ONE WHOSE FAITH, ENTHUSIASM, AND DEVOTION CONSTITUTE A
NEVER-FAILING SOURCE OF INSPIRATION, MY WIFE, SWEETHEART, AND PARTNER.

FLOWING GOLD

CHAPTER I

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 impre