December, 1927, stocks had been declining for several weeks. This month
stocks declined rapidly and Robert was heavily short. Wheat and corn
advanced. Robert had been on the right side for several months. Just
before Christmas he figured that he would cover his short stocks and
wait for a rally which he expected would come in January or February.
He now had profits which gave him working capital of over five hundred
thousand dollars, allowing for all the money that he had spent; so he
decided to put more time in working on his invention, as he was now in
position to spend money enough to develop his first airplane. He kept
in touch every few days with the detective agency, but no word had been
received from Marie. Her parents had about given up hope that Marie was
alive. Robert wrote them a very encouraging letter because he wanted
to cheer them up at Christmas time. Told them that he believed Marie
was alive and that he had faith in God and wanted them to have faith
and continue to pray for Marie's return. Informed them of his great
financial success and told them that he had continued to keep Marie's
account separate and had traded very conservatively for her and that
she now had over $40,000 which he intended to try to increase and have
as a great surprise for her. Robert sent beautiful Christmas gifts to
them in memory of Marie.
A few days before Christmas there was a big decline in the stock
market. All kinds of unfavorable rumors were afloat. Business
conditions were bad. War clouds were gathering thick in Europe.
Newspapers talked of the uncertainties in the new year due to the
coming presidential election. The public had lost confidence and were
selling stocks. Robert decided that this was the time to cash in so
he covered a big line of Shorts in Major Motors, Central Steel and
others. This was a great Christmas for him, financially. From his
beginning with 200 bales of cotton in January, 1927, with a capital of
$1,000.00 and $10,000.00 which Mr. Kennelworth gave him later, thru his
successful pyramiding he had made over half a million dollars. He was
overjoyed with his success because it would help him now to complete
his airplane and other inventions. His mind turned back to Christmas,
1926, when he had bought Marie a beautiful ring with the money he had
saved. At that time he little realized that so much could happen in
one short year. He thought of all he could do for Marie this year if
he only knew where she was. Decided that he would buy some beautiful
presents for her anyway and keep them until she returned to show her
that he was thinking of her on Christmas. He bought a beautiful diamond
ring and a bracelet set with sapphires and diamonds. When the jeweler
delivered them Robert looked them over and thought of all Marie's
beauty and purity. His faith in her was still supreme. He was very sad
and wept bitterly because he felt more keenly than ever the need for
her. He wanted her to be with him to share his financial success.
His heart turned to his next dearest friend--his mother. He decided to
try to make it the happiest Christmas of her life and bought her every
kind of a present that he thought would make her happy and comfortable
and sent her a check for $5,000.00 to do with just as she pleased and
buy anything she wanted. Begged her to come to New York to see him soon
after the new year, as he wanted her to see the sights of the city, and
thought the trip would be good for her health.
In the early part of 1928 Robert calculated that war was inevitable
between England and Russia. He figured that the war would start not
later than the summer and that many nations would be involved and that
later an attack on the United States would come. His first airplane
was now completed,--a small one according to the plan laid down by
Ezekiel in the Bible. The plane had four wings and could fly on either
one of its four sides. It had a new motor with 12 cylinders and could
be operated either with gas, electricity or compressed air. He had
constructed a wheel within a wheel so that he could lower his plane
and land anywhere he chose and could rise straight up. One motor had
a propeller in the center of the plane to lift it up while the other
motor started its direct motion. He could drive his plane backwards
or forwards. It was a great success and the boy wizard of Wall Street
was now hailed as a new Lindbergh of the air. There was an extra motor
built with a collapsible propeller so that he could shift it from the
center of the airplane to the tail, enabling it to go backward or
forward as he willed. The wings were so arranged that they could either
remain stationary or be set in motion up or down by motor. This was a
new and valuable feature in the construction of airplanes.
Robert's next invention was to build a silent motor, or a muffler,
which would prevent any sound. He knew that this would be very useful
in war. After he had completed this invention, tested it and proved it
a success, he offered it to the United States Government, but after the
army officers, who knew very little about this new invention had looked
it over, they refused it. Robert then sailed away in his new plane
which he had named "The St. Marie." He visited England, France, Germany
and in the Spring of 1928 made the longest successful flight to Japan,
where he was received with great honor. Japan was very much interested
in his new plane and in his muffler. The Japanese Government quickly
closed a deal and bought his invention for a large sum of money. Robert
felt that probably one day this invention would be used against his own
country in time of war, but knew that the United States would have to
learn a lesson--that too often in the past American inventions had been
sold to foreign countries because his own Government would not buy them.
While in Japan Robert was entertained and introduced to many beautiful
titled ladies and prominent men, but he remained loyal to Marie for
his great success had not turned his head. He was still searching for
Marie, always hoping to find her. He returned to New York in the Summer
of 1928 and was now reputed as being worth more than a million dollars,
after making more successful deals in stocks, cotton and wheat. He had
followed the advice of old Henry Watson and had never scattered over
two or three markets at the same time. When he had a deal on in cotton
or wheat, he stuck to that until he closed the transaction. When he
went into a stock campaign he stayed out of the commodity markets. He
was meeting with success in every direction, but his longing for Marie
continued and the vision of her beautiful face continued to haunt him.
In May, 1928, Walter received a radiogram from Robert saying that he
was leaving Japan the latter part of the month and was going to sail
"The St. Marie" back to New York. Walter and Miss Edna Quinton, the
secretary, had followed the newspaper reports of the great reception
tendered Robert by the officials of the Japanese Government and the
report of the large amount of money they had paid for his noiseless
patent for airplanes. Walter was going to graduate in June so he wrote
his father and informed him that Robert was returning to New York
soon with great honors and he thought it appropriate to have a big
celebration for him when he arrived. As his father was coming to New
York anyway for the graduation exercises, he suggested that he be there
to greet Robert on his triumphant return.
Mr. Kennelworth, who was a member of the Chamber of Commerce of
Texarkana and one of the leading citizens, called a meeting of the
Chamber of Commerce, informed them of the phenomenal success of Robert
Gordon who had left Texarkana one year previous an unknown boy and
who was now the most talked of young man in the world. He had made
more than a million dollars following his own discovery of how to use
the laws laid down in the Bible for foretelling the future course of
cotton, grain and stocks; had built the most marvelous airplane of the
age; invented a muffler to make an airplane noiseless; had driven his
own plane, "The St. Marie" to Japan where he had been received with
great honors and the Japanese Government had bought his invention for
making airplanes silent. Mr. Kennelworth proposed that the leading
citizens of Texarkana go to New York to honor their favorite son on
his return. When he had finished talking there was lasting applause
and hurrahs for Robert Gordon. Colonel Stanton was in the audience. He
arose and said that he heartily endorsed the proposal and would donate
$10,000.00 to the expense fund, that they should go to New York in a
special train to greet the greatest young man of the age who was born
on a farm near Texarkana. Everyone was in favor of it and the wealthy
men all followed Mr. Stanton in offering large sums of money in order
to make the reception a success. When the meeting was over, J.H.
Kennelworth drove out to the country home of Amelia Gordon, Robert's
mother. Told her of her boy's success and the plans to meet him in New
York and give him a great reception, inviting her to go on the special
train as a guest of honor. She thankfully accepted.
On June 9th Robert Gordon's 22nd birthday, the great reception took
place. The special train bearing the leading citizens of Texarkana
arrived, Robert had landed at the new airport on Governor's Island
without any mishap to his plane. "The St. Marie" had performed
perfectly, making the trip from Japan at an average speed of over 300
miles per hour. Robert received the surprise of his life when he saw
his mother and rushed to her, and after greeting her affectionately
turned to shake hands with Mr. Kennelworth and Walter and seeing Mr.
and Mrs. Stanton there was overjoyed and thought sure that Marie had
been found. He rushed to greet her parents and his first words were,
"Where is Marie?" With tears in their eyes, they informed him that not
a word had been received in regard to her. They proceeded immediately
to the Commodore Hotel where the reception committee and the entire
delegation from Texarkana had arranged for a dinner and celebration.
Robert was happy to see all the prominent business men from Texarkana
there to greet him. Mr. Kennelworth made the address. Told Robert how
proud Texarkana was of him; said that this was the age of the young
man and that Robert had demonstrated that he was the greatest young
man of his day. Robert was overwhelmed at this great reception. He
thanked his friends; thanked Mr. Kennelworth, personally, and above all
for bringing his dear old mother to see him; said it was the happiest
moment of his life and that his one regret was that Marie was not
there, but that he still had hope of finding her. When the reception
was over and Robert had a few moments alone with his dear old mother,
she said, "My son, do you remember the dream you had when you were
a little boy, which you told me about? That you were riding a large
bird with white wings across the ocean and how the foreign countries
received you with great honor. My boy, when you landed today I thought
about that dream and how it had been fulfilled. I hope that all of
your other dreams and ambitions will be realized and that you will be
rewarded with Marie's love, because you have been faithful and loyal to
her."
Robert said, "Mother, I do remember the dream quite well, and when I
was in Japan and they gave me such great receptions and honored me, I
thought of the dream and I thought of you and how you had taught me
how to read the Bible and I thought of Marie and how I loved her and
felt that I would gladly give all of the honors just to be with you and
Marie alone because your love and Marie's love mean more to me than
everything else that the world can give."
Walter Kennelworth was graduated from Columbia College in June and
prepared to work with Robert in the office. Edna Quinton had proved
to be a faithful employee and a valuable aid to Robert. She had taken
care of his business and looked after his financial transactions
while he was away. Robert soon went to work on a new invention, and
perfected a machine to read the minds of people a short distance away
and also a machine which he named the "Tel-talk." This machine was made
on the principle of the radio; by raising and lowering it at certain
angles it would record all the conferences in the different buildings
in Wall Street. Robert also used this machine to get reports on all
the conferences of the big manipulators. He knew that manipulators
in Wall Street suspected that in some way he understood their plans
as he was making money too fast and they were conspiring to find a
way to get him wrong on the market and break him. They changed their
plans often but found that each time Robert was on the right side of
the market. Even his friend Walter knew nothing about Robert's latest
invention. He kept it in a secret room, and no one had ever seen it
but himself. It was a very delicate little machine with indicators
like a compass, delicately balanced and operated by electricity. His
success was causing great excitement and schemers wanted to get his
secret. They knew that Edna Quinton had been in his office ever since
he was in New York. She was invited to a dinner at the Biltmore where
she was offered a large sum of money if she would reveal the secrets
of how Robert Gordon so successfully operated in the market. She told
them frankly that she knew nothing about how he did it, but if she
did know, no amount of money would induce her to turn traitor to her
employer. Edna made up her mind that when she reached the office the
following morning, she would tell Mr. Gordon just what had happened.
Upon reaching the office unusually early she found Mr. Gordon there.
He seemed unusually happy and she thought that he must have news of
Marie. Before she had time to tell him what had happened the night
before, he called her into his secret office, the room that she had
never seen before. There she saw all kinds of strange instruments which
she knew must be some of his new inventions. He took her to a little
machine in the corner of the room and showed her some peculiar lines
that the machine had recorded on the paper the night before. He told
her that his machine received the impressions of people's minds and
recorded their thoughts, especially when they were greatly excited or
interested in any matter. He read to her from the record on the machine
in substance exactly what had been said to her the night before. Then
he turned to the Bible and showed her where it said "Everything that
is concealed will be revealed, and everything that is covered will be
uncovered." Edna was more excited than she had ever been in her life.
She knew that the machine had revealed the truth. Then she said to Mr.
Gordon that she had intended to tell him that morning just what had
happened and hoped that he would believe that she was loyal to him and
had refused to accept a bribe. He then showed her another record on the
machine like a phonograph record which would record people's thoughts
and told her that it indicated just what she had been thinking about.
The machine had read her mind and recorded her thoughts. He assured her
that he did believe her and trust her. Edna was moved to tears at this
great confidence. She knew that never before had she been permitted
to see this secret room and while she knew of Robert's great love for
Marie, she felt that this confidence he had placed in her was more than
a matter of business confidence and that he had some love for her. She
had always admired him but had never thought of loving him. Now she
knew that she did love him.
A few days later Edna had a talk with Walter, because she had known
him before Robert came to New York and it was thru his influence she
had secured the position. She told him what had happened and confided
in him her love for Robert. He was happy to know this and hoped that
Robert would fall in love with her as he believed it would be best for
him. Walter said, "I am not an expert judge of how emotions work in men
and women, but the way for you to find out how Robert feels toward you
is to watch his actions, make notes of how often he speaks of Marie,
of the letters he writes trying to find her. Continue to be as nice
and kind toward him as you have always been. If in a few months his
interest in the search for Marie wanes, and he ceases to talk about
her, it will be a sure sign that his mind and heart is turning toward
you."
Soon after Walter graduated, Robert called Miss Quinton into his secret
office one morning and told her he was going to form a new firm under
the name of "Gordon, Kennelworth & Quinton" and that Edna was to have
an interest in the firm, as reward for her faithful service. She was
to help with the work on the secret discoveries. Edna was overjoyed at
this and her emotions got the best of her judgment. She flung her arms
around Robert's neck, kissed him, told him he was the most wonderful
man in the world and that she loved him. He drew himself quickly away
from her, sat down in a chair and stared out the window for several
minutes before he spoke. Then he turned toward Miss Quinton, faced her
with a firm but kind face, told her that she had made a mistake in his
actions, that he was rewarding her for faithfulness and that there
was no sentiment in the matter, that he did not love her, that he was
loyal to his long-lost Marie and would never love anyone else. Edna
hardly knew what to say. She begged his forgiveness and tendered her
resignation. He told her that he would refuse to accept it; that they
would go right on and work together just the same as in the past, if
she felt that she could and wanted to. She assured him that she wanted
to remain as long as he wanted her, and that in the future she would
always control her emotions.
Walter Kennelworth had completed a special course in chemistry at
college and was now prepared for work in the new firm. His father had
been following Robert in the market during the past year and had made
a large amount of money. He presented Walter with $100,000.00, part of
the profits which he had made out of the market, with the understanding
that the money was to be used in helping to further Robert's inventions.
In the Fall of 1928, Robert and Walter completed an invention of
Sun-mirrors, whereby they were able to collect the rays from the sun
and produce heat powerful enough to melt down skyscrapers in a few
minutes. With these mirrors and the aid of electricity, they discovered
a powerful light ray. Robert knew that this was going to be of great
value in the coming war. They named this machine "The Demon of Death."
Miss Quinton had been very much interested in this machine during the
course of construction, and she named it "Spit-Fire" because it could
send forth such powerful sparks of fire, destroying instantly any
metal that it touched. They held a conference and agreed that this
new discovery must be kept secret and should never be used except in
the defense of the United States in time of war and only then if our
country was in dire peril and unable to cope with the enemy. There was
one secret connected with the machine that only Robert knew. They
intended to start to build a giant airship in a short time equipped
with "The Demon of Death." They figured it would send a powerful death
ray 3000 to 5000 miles through space, destroying everything within
a radius of 700 miles. Work was started on the new machine with all
secrecy. It had already been christened "Marie the Angel of Mercy."
Robert and Walter were making money rapidly in the cotton market. The
war clouds were gathering and Europe was buying cotton. It had had a
big advance and they were playing the fast moves up and down, both on
the buying and selling sides. There is an old saying that intimacy
breeds contempt, but it did not prove so with Walter Kennelworth and
Edna Quinton. One beautiful morning in early September, 1928, Robert
Gordon stepped into the laboratory and found Edna in the arms of
Walter. He made a hasty exit, but Walter and Edna knew that they had
been caught. Robert was very happy at this discovery because he knew
that it was just the thing Walter needed to stimulate his ambitions
and give him something to work for. He realized what a wonderful woman
Miss Quinton was, and that she, too, needed inspiration that love alone
could give. That evening he invited Walter to dinner with him and when
they were alone said, "Well, Walter, the love bug has got you at last."
Walter was bashful at first and didn't want to talk much about it; then
he admitted that it had come on very suddenly when he and Edna had
realized that they were both in love with each other. Robert told him
that it was inevitable and that now was the time it should start and
that it would be better for both of them. They were business partners
and it would make them more happy and successful in their work. Walter
asked him if he still had hopes of finding Marie. Robert told him that
he did--that he would never give up the search.
Everything moved along smoothly after this. Walter and Edna were
happy in their work and the Fall of 1928 rewarded them with a new and
wonderful discovery. They had been able to perfect a machine which
would reflect light in such a way as to make an airplane invisible and
this, together with Robert's noiseless invention, solved the problem.
He knew now that in time of war, the plane could be used to sneak
upon the enemy and that they would be unable to see or hear it. After
holding a conference, they decided that this invention, as well as
"The Demon of Death" should not be patented or offered for sale to any
Government, that they would test it out and keep it a secret. Here
Robert's great generosity showed itself again when he decided that this
invention should be used in time of greatest need for the benefit of
the United States. Walter said, "Robert, love indeed does make a great
man, makes him unselfish, causes him to think of his country, of his
mother, his sweetheart and everything else before himself. No wonder
you are making a success and always will, because you are doing right."
The completion of the great machine, "The Demon of Death," which
Robert had worked on untiringly day and night, was a great triumph for
him, but his wonderful energy had been exhausted. Walter had noticed
before the machine was completed that Robert looked tired and worn.
His mind lacked its old-time quickness and he feared for his health.
Robert began to reach the office late and ceased to take an interest
in his work. He was moody and despondent. Thanksgiving Day, Walter and
Edna arranged a big dinner and invited Robert. He appeared very much
worn and ate very little dinner. Both Walter and Edna noticed that
he was less talkative than ever before. About an hour after dinner
was over Robert fell in a faint. A doctor was called immediately and
after making a careful examination pronounced it a case of nervous
breakdown. Said there must be something preying on his mind or that
he had been under a long strain. Walter explained the disappearance
of Marie and how Robert had worried over the love affair; his long,
strenuous campaigns in the stock and commodity markets and his work
upon his inventions; that up to a few months previous Robert had been
able to work almost day and night without showing any fatigue, but that
in recent weeks he had noticed a great change in him. After the doctor
had heard the story of the love affair and Marie's disappearance, he
was sure that a long and needed rest was necessary to restore Robert to
his normal health. He ordered him to remain absolutely quiet and not
attempt to look after any of the details of his business. A few days
later Walter persuaded Robert to go to Atlantic City, which he did,
and after remaining there and resting a couple of weeks, he returned
apparently well and showed his old-time strength and vigor. Was anxious
to get back to work and look after his speculative deals in the market.