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the summer to some quiet mountain resort to be with her during the long in which she would be recovering well he ould not complain now that was all right he do it he would be bored of course as usual ut it would be too bad to have her die when she could saved yes that was true and yet he went down to his office again and in the meantime this first form of was tried and proved a success apparently she was much better so the day nurse at three very much better at five thirty mr returned no unsatisfactory word having come in the and there she was resting on a raised pillow if you please and looking so cheerful more like her old self than he had seen her in some time at once then his mood changed again they were amazing these variations in his own thoughts t c not pe for a who was supposed to know his own mind did ever now would not die now the whole would go on as before he was sure of it well he might as well resign himself to the old sense of failure he would never be free now everything would go on as before the next and the next day the same terrible though he seemed glad really grateful in a way seeing her cheerful and hopeful once more still the of failure and being once more bound forever returned now in his own bed at midnight he said to himself now free she will really get well all will be as before i will never be free i will never have a day a day never but the next morning to his surprise and fear or comfort as his moods varied she was worse again and then once more he reproached himself for his black thoughts was he not really killing her by what he thought he asked himself these constant changes in his mood did not his dark wishes have power was he not as good as a murderer in his way think if he had always to feel from now on that he had killed her by wishing so would not that be dreadful an awful thing really why was he this way could he not be human kind when doctor storm came at nine thirty after a call from the nurse and looked grave and spoke of horses blood as being better thicker than human blood not so easily out of the heart when as a was beside himself with self reproaches and sad disturbing fear his dark evil thoughts of last night and all these days had done this he was sure was he really a murderer at heart a dark criminal her death and for what why had he wished last night that she would die her case must be very desperate you must do your best he now said to doctor storm whatever is needful she must not die if you can help it no mr returned the latter all that can be done will be done you need not fear i have an idea that we didn t yesterday and anyhow human blood is not free thick enough in this case she responded but not enough we will see what we can do to day pressed with duties went away subdued and sad now once more he decided that he must not these dark ideas any more must rid himself of these black wishes whatever he might feel it was evil they would eventually come back to him in some dark way he might be sure they might be her she must be allowed to recover if she could without any opposition on his part he must now make a further sacrifice of his own life whatever it cost it was only decent only human why should he complain now anyhow after all these years what difference would a few more years make he returned at evening consoled by his own good thoughts and a message at three to the effect that his wife was much better this second had proved much more effective horses blood was plainly better for her she was stronger and sitting up again he entered at five and found her lying there pale and weak but still with a better light in her eye a touch of color in her cheeks or so he thought more force and a very faint smile for him so marked had been the change how great and kind doctor storm really was how if she would only get well now if this dread siege would only doctor storm was coming again at eight well how are you dear she asked looking at him sweetly and lovingly and taking his hand in hers he bent and kissed her forehead a kiss he had thought up to now but not so to night to night he was kind generous anxious even for her to live free all right dearest very good indeed and how are you it s such a fine evening out you ought to get well soon so as to enjoy these spring days going to she replied softly i feel so much better and how have you been has your work gone all right he nodded and smiled and told her bits of news had that she was coming bringing vi had said he would be here at six with such and such people had asked after her how could he have been so evil he now asked himself as to wish her to die she was not so bad really quite charming in her way an ideal wife for some if not him she was as much entitled to live and enjoy her life as he was to his and after all she was the | 43 |
of his children had been with him all these years besides the day had been so fine it was now a wondrous may evening the air and sky were simply delicious a haze was in the air the bell now ringing brought still another of a long series of inquiries as to her condition there had been so many of these during the last few days the maid said and especially to day and she gave mr a list of names see he thought she had even more friends than he being so good faithful worthy why should he wish her ill he sat down to dinner with and when they arrived and quite more than he had in weeks his own varying thoughts no longer him for the moment he was happy how were they what were the children all doing at ei e bt thirty doctor storm came free again and announced that he thought mrs was doing very well indeed all things considered her condition is fairly promising i must say he said if she gets through another night or two comfortably without falling back i think she ll do very well from now on her strength seems to be increasing a however we must not be too cases of this kind are very treacherous to morrow we ll see how she feels whether she needs any more blood he went away and at ten and left for the night asking to be called if she grew worse thus leaving him alone once more he sat and meditated at eleven after a few moments at his wife s bedside absolute quiet had been the doctor s instructions these many days he himself went to bed he was very tired his varying had afflicted him so much that he was always i tired it seemed his evil conscience he called it i but to night he was sure he would sleep he felt bet ter about himself about life he had done better i to day he should never have such dark i thoughts and yet and yet and yet he lay on his bed near a window which commanded a view of a small angle of the park and looked out there were the spring trees as usual now by the light a bit of lake showing at one end here in the city a bit of scenery such as this was so rare and so expensive in his youth he had been so fond of water any small lake or stream or pond in his youth also he had loved the moon and to walk in the dark it had all always been so suggestive of love and happiness and he had so love and free i i happiness and never had it once he had designed a club the base of which suggested waves once years ago he had thought of a lovely cottage or country house for himself and some new love that wonderful one if ever she came and he were free how wonderful it would all have been now now the thought at such an hour and especially when it was too late seemed hard cold evil he turned his face away from the moonlight and sighed deciding to sleep and shut out these older and darker and sweeter thoughts if he could and lid presently he dreamed and it was as if so me lo that f b een came and took him by the hand and led him out out by streams and clear lakes and a great noble highway where were temples and towers and figures in white marble and it seemed as he walked as if something had been or were promised him b lovely to something which he only the world toward which he walked was still dark or shadowy with something sad and about it a haunting sense of a still darker distance he wa s going toward beauty but he was still seeking seeking and it was dark there when vl t mr mr came a vo e soft almost at first and then clearer arid more disturbing as a hand was laid on him will you come at once it s mrs on the instant he was on his feet seizing the blue silk dressing gown hanging at his bed s head and it as he hurried mrs and the nurse free were behind him very pale and wringing their hands he could tell by that that the worst was at hand when he reached the bedroom her bedroom there she lay as in life still peaceful already limp sometimes thought cold lips were now parted in as though she were sleeping her thin and as he a faint gracious smile or trace of one he had seen her look that way too at times a really gracious smile and wise wiser than she was the long thin graceful hands were open the fingers spread slightly apart as though she were tired very tired the eyelids too rested wearily on tired eyes her form spare as always was clearly under the thin miss the night nurse was saying something about having fallen asleep for a and waking only to find her so she was terribly depressed and disturbed possibly because of doctor storm paused greatly shocked and moved by the sight more so than by anything since the death of little el well after all she had tried according to her light but now she was dead and they had been together so long he came forward tears of sympathy springing to his eyes then sank down beside the bed on his knees so as not to disturb her right hand where it lay j dear he said gently are you vi really gone his voice was full of | 43 |
sorrow but to i himself it sounded false he lifted the hand and put it to his lips sadly then i leaned his head against her thinking of his long mixed i thoughts these many days while both mrs free and the nurse began wiping their eyes they were so sorry for him he was so old now after a while he got up they came forward to persuade him at last looking sad and and asked mrs and the nurse not to disturb his children they could not aid her now let them rest until morning then he went back to his own room and sat down on the bed for a moment gazing out on the same silvery scene that had attracted him before i g in had com at pr tb ff had killed her after all was that possible had his s been answered in this grim way ai now dial really thought though t where was she now what was she now if she knew would she hate him haunt him it was not dawn yet only two or three in the morning and the moon was still bright and in the next room she was lying pale and cool gone forever now out of his life he got up after a time and went forward into that pleasant front room where he had so often loved to sit then back into her room to view the body again now that she was gone here more than elsewhere in her dead presence he seemed better able to collect his scattered thoughts she might see or she might not might know or not it was all over now only he could not help but feel a little evil she had been so faithful if nothing more so earnest in behalf of him and of his children he might have spared her these last dark thoughts of these last few days his feelings were so that he could not place them half the time but at the same time the of the past fe t free had to be adjusted somehow pe ce they mu st be adjusted only how how he and el had agreed not to disturb doctor storm any more to they were all agreed to get what rest they could against the morning after a time he came more to the front room to sit and gaze at tl park here perhaps he could solve these mysteries for himself think them out find out what he did feel he was evil for having wished all he had that he knew and felt and yet there was his own story too his life the dawn was breaking by now a faint shaded the east and dimly lightened this room a tall pier mirror between two windows now revealed him to himself spare his beard and hair astray and his eyes weary the figure he made here as against his dreams of a happier ufe once he were free now struck him forcibly what a farce what a failure why should he of all people think of further happiness in love even if he were free look at his reflection here in this mirror what a picture old done for had he not known that for so long was it not too ridiculous why should he have such vain thoughts what could he of all people hope for now no thing of beauty would have him now of course not that glorious dream of his youth was gone forever it was a an his wife might just as well have lived as died for all the difference it would or could make to him only he was really free just the same almost as it were in spite of his varying free s moods but he was old weary done for a and now the innate cruelty of life its blazing indifference to him and so many grew rapidly upon him what had he had what all had he not missed he stared first at his dark wrinkled skin the crow s feet at the sides of his eyes the wrinkles across his forehead and between the eyes his long dark wrinkled hands handsome hands they once were he thought his stiff body once he had been very much of a personage he thought striking but now he turned and looked out over the park where the young trees were and the lake to the dawn just a trace now a significant thing in itself at this hour the new dawn so new for younger people then back at himself what could he wish for now what hope for as he did so his dream came back to him that strange dream of seeking and being led and promised and yet always being led forward into a darker land what did that mean had it any real significance was it all to be darker still was it typical of his life he pondered i free he said after a time free i know now how that is i am free now at last free free yes free to die so he stood there and his hair and his beard of the shining slave makers it was a hot day in august the rays of a summer sun had faded the once green leaves of the trees to a dull and dusty hue the grass still good to look upon in shady places spread and dry where the light had fallen unbroken the roads were hot with thick dust and wherever a stone path led it reflected heat to weary body and soul robert had taken a seat under a fine old tree whose broad arms cast a welcome shade he had come here out of the toil of the busy streets for a time he gave | 43 |
himself over to blank contemplation of the broad park and the occasional carriages that by presently his meditation was broken by an ant on his trousers which he away with his finger this awoke him to the thought that there might be more upon him he stood up shaking and brushing himself then he noticed an ant running along the walk in front of him he stamped on it t guess that will do for you he said half aloud and sat down again now only did he really notice the walk it was wide and hard and hot many were hurrying about and now he saw that they were black at last one more active than the others fixed his eye he followed it with his glance for more than a score of feet this particular ant was now to the right now to the left stopping here and there of the slave makers but never for more than a second its energy the course it pursued the with which it halted to examine something his interest as he gazed the path grew in imagination until it assumed immense proportions suddenly he himself took a single glance and then jumped rubbing his eyes he was in an unknown world strange in every detail the and many trees had disappeared a forest of immense flat swords of green swayed in the air above him the ground between lacked its carpet of green and was roughly strewn with immense of clay the air was strong with an which seemed strange and yet familiar only the hot sun streaming down and a sky of blue a familiar world in regard to himself felt peculiar and yet familiar what was it that made these surroundings and himself seem odd and yet usual he could not tell his three pairs of limbs and his vigorous seemed natural enough the fact that he rather than saw things was natural and yet odd forthwith moved by a sense of duty necessity and a kind of obligation which he more felt than understood he set out in search of food and prey and presently came to a broad plain so wide that his eye could scarce command more than what seemed an immediate portion of it he halted and breathed with a feeling of relief just then a voice startled him an i to eat questioned the in a friendly and yet self interested tone drew back do not know he said i have just of the slave makers terrible said the stranger not waiting to hear his answer it looks like famine you know the have gone to war no answered mechanically yes said the other they the yesterday they ll be down on us next with that the stranger made off was about to exclaim at the use of the word us when a craving for food brought now forcibly to his mind by the words of the other made him start in haste after him th n came another who him in passing i haven t found a thing to day and i ve been all the way to the region i didn t dare go any further without having some others with me they re hungry too up there though they ve just made a you heard the went to war didn t you yes he told me said indicating the retreating figure of the stranger oh yes he s been over in their territory well i ll be going now hastened after at a good pace and soon overtook him the latter had stopped and was gathering in his a jagged almost as large as himself oh exclaimed eagerly where did you get that here said will you give me a little i will not said the other and a light came in his eye that was almost evil all right said made bold by hunger of the slave makers and yet cautious by danger which way would you advise me to look wherever you please said why ask me you are not new at seeking and strode off the forest was better than this thought there i would not die of the heat anyhow and i might find food here is nothing and he turned and glanced about for a sight of the whence he had come far to the left and rear of him he saw it those great up standing swords as he gazed revolving in his troubled mind whether he should return or not he saw another like himself hurrying toward him out of the distance he eagerly hailed the who was yet a long way off what is it asked the other coming up rapidly do you know where i can get something to eat is that why you called me he answered him angrily do you ask in time of famine certainly not if i had anything for myself i would not be out here go and hunt for it like the rest of us why should you be asking i have been hunting cried his anger rising i have searched here until i am almost starved no worse off than any of us are you said the other look at me do you suppose i am he went off in high and gazed after him in astonishment the indifference and were at once surprising and yet familiar later he found himself falling rapidly into helpless if of the slave makers from both hunger and heat when a voice as of one in pain hailed him ho it cried v he answered come come was the feeble reply started forward at once when he was still many times his own length away he recognized the voice as that of his friend of a little while before but now sadly changed he was stretched upon the earth working his feebly what is it asked what you how did this happen i don t know said the | 43 |
other i was passing along here when that struck me indicating a huge i am done for though you may as well have this food now since you are one of us the tribe can use what you do not eat he sighed oh nothing of the sort said the while he viewed the crushed limbs and side of the sufferer you ll be all right why do you speak of death just tell me where to take you or whom to go for no said the other it would be no use you see how it is they could do nothing for me i did not want your aid i merely wanted you to have this food here i shall not want it now don t say that returned you mustn t talk about dying there must be something i can do tell me i don t want your food no there isn t anything you could do there isn t any cure you know that report when you return how i was killed just leave me now and take that with you they need it if you do not of the slave makers viewed him this reference to a colony or tribe or home seemed to many things for him he remembered now apparently the long road he had come the immense galleries of the colony to which he belonged under the earth the passages by which he had made his way in and out the powerful and ant mother various to be fed and eggs to be tended to be sure that was it he was a part of this immense colony or group the heat must have affected his powers he must gather food and return there kill and bring them back to help provision the colony that was it only there were so few to be found here for some reason the sufferer closed his eyes in evident pain and trembled then he fell back and died gazed upon the now fast body with all but indifference and wondered the spectacle seemed so familiar as to be all but commonplace apparently he had seen so many die that way had he not in times past reported the deaths of hundreds is he dead asked a voice at his side yes said scarcely bringing himself out of his meditation sufficiently to observe the well then he will not need this i guess said the other and he seized upon the huge lump with his but was on the alert and savage into the bargain on the instant he too his upon it i was called by him to have this before he died he shouted and i propose to have it let go that i will not said the other with great vigor and energy have some of it at least and o of the slave makers ing a mighty which sent both himself and mc he tore off a goodly portion of it and ran gaining his feet so quickly that he was a good length off before arose the latter was too hungry however to linger in useless rage and now fell to and ate before any other should disturb him then feeling partially satisfied he stretched himself and continued more at his leisure after a time he shook himself out of his which had seized on him with his eating and made off for the distant in which direction as he now felt lay the colony home he was in one of the darkest and portions of the route thither when there was borne to him from afar the sound of feet in marching time and a murmuring as of distant voices he stopped and listened presently the sounds grew louder and more individual he could now tell that a great company was him the narrow path which he followed was clear for some distance and open to observation not knowing what creatures he was about to meet he stepped out of it into a thicket at one side and took a position behind a great the tramp of many feet was now so close as to contact and discovery and he saw through the of green a strange column along the path he had left they were no other than a company of red warriors slave makers like himself only of a different species the fierce that had spoken of as having gone to war to war they certainly had been and no doubt were going again nearly every warrior carried with him some mark of plunder or of death many bore in of the slave makers i their dead bodies of the enemy or their captured from a colony others bore upon their legs the severed heads of the poor who had been slain in the of their home and whose jaws still clung to their foes fixed in the of death still others dragged the bodies of their victims and shouted as they went making the long lonely path to ring with sounds as they disappeared in the distance came out after a time and looked after them he had gotten far to the left of the warriors and somewhat to the front of them and was just about to leave the shadow of one of bushes to hurry to a neighboring stone when there filed out from the very shelter upon which he had his eye fixed the figure of one whom he immediately recognized as the latter seemed to await a favorable opportunity when he should not be observed and then started running followed in the distance could be seen a group of the who had evidently paused for something moving about in great excitement in groups of two or three and talking some of those not otherwise engaged displayed a sensibility of danger or a lust of war by working their jaws and at heavy stones with their presently one gazed in the direction of | 43 |
and shouted to the others immediately four warriors set out in pursuit mc hastened after to see what would become of him hidden himself he could do this with considerable as he approached he saw moving backward and forward to close the entrance to a cave in which he of the slave makers had now taken refuge apparently that warrior had become aware that no time was to be lost since he also could see the pursuing with a swiftness born of daring and a keen of danger he arranged a large ix at the very edge of the as a key and then others in such position that when the first should in the others would follow then he crawled inside the and pulling the the whole mass in after him this was hardly done when the were upon him they were four cruel deeply one called by the others had a black s head at his one of his temples bore a and the tip of his left was broken he was a keen old warrior however and scented the prey at once hi you he shouted to the others here s the place just then another drew near to the which had he looked at it closely walked about several times sounded with his and then listened there was no answer he exclaimed to the others now they came up they also looked but so well had done his work that they were puzzled i m not sure said it looks to me more like an abandoned cave than an entrance tear it open anyway the second of the speaking for the first time there may be no other exit cried good we will see anyhow of the slave makers come on a third seizing the largest to out with him cried om jumping eagerly to work we will have him out in a it was not an easy task as the were heavy and deep but they tore them out later they dragged forth who finding himself captured seized the head of with his on the other hand seized one of s legs in his powerful jaws the others also had taken hold the of all were thrown back and the entire mass went pushing and turning and tumbling in a whirl gazed excited and sympathetic at first he thought to avoid it all having a horror of death but a moment later decided to come to his friend s rescue a of relationship which was overwhelming coming over him springing forward he upon the back of at whose neck he began to saw with his powerful teeth a new adversary released his hold upon s limb and endeavored to shake off his new enemy held tight however the others however too excited to observe the still struggled to destroy the latter had stuck steadily to his labor of killing and now when s hold was loosened he gave a powerful crush and breathed his last this him little however for both and om were attacking his sides take that shouted om throwing himself violently upon and turning him over saw off his head released his hold and sprang for s of the slave makers head there was a kicking and crushing of jaws and secured his grip kill him om come come at this very moment s severed head fell to the ground and leaping from his back sprang to the aid of come he shouted at w ho was at s head it s two to two now and gave such a to s side that he in pain and released his hold on but recovering himself he leaped upon and bore him down the fight was now more desperate than ever the rolled and tossed s ri ht was broken by his fall and one of his legs was injured he could seem to get no hold upon his adversary whom he now felt to be working toward his neck let go he at him with his but only his jaws better fortune was now with however who was a more experienced getting a grip upon om s body he hurled him to the ground and left him stunned and senseless seeing s he now sprang to his aid the latter was being sadly and but for the generous aid of would have been killed the latter struck a terrific blow with his head and having stunned him dragged him off the two though much injured now seized upon the unfortunate and tore him in two and would have done as much for om had they not discovered that that of the slave makers warrior had recovered sufficiently to crawl away and hide and now drew near to each other in warm admiration come with me said they are all about here now and that coward who escaped will have them upon us there is a corridor into our home from here only i was not able to reach it before they caught me help me this entrance together they built up the stones more effectually than before and then entered the mass in behind them with considerable labor they built up another below you watch a moment now said to mc and then hurried down a long passage through which he soon returned bringing with him a who took up guard duty at the point where the fight had occurred he will stay here and give the alarm in case another attack is made he commented come now he added touching affectionately with his leading the v ay took him along a long winding corridor with which somehow he seemed to be familiar and through various secret passages into the colony house you see he said to familiarly as they went they could not have gotten in here even if they had killed me without knowing the way our are too intricate but it is as well to keep a there | 43 |
now that they are about where have you been you do not belong to our colony do you related his experiences since their meeting in the desert without explaining where he came from of the slave he knew that he was a member of some other of this same tribe without being sure of which one a strange feeling of wandering confusion possessed him as though he had been injured in some way somewhere and was lost for the moment well you might as well stay with us now said are you hungry very said then we will eat at once now gazed upon a chamber of vast proportions with which also he seemed familiar an old of one such no less it had several doors that opened out into galleries and leading to other chambers and store rooms a home for thousands many members of this allied family now hurried to meet them all enough you have had an encounter with them asked several at once nothing to speak of said who that he was had also a touch of look after my friend here who has saved my life not i cried warmly they could not explain however before they were seized by their admirers and carried into a er none of the din of preparation penetrated and was a carpet of soft grass threads upon which they might lie injured though they were neither could endure lying still for long and were soon about though unable to do anything was privileged to idle and watch an on one of the cave which lasted an entire day in failure for of the slave makers the it was a rather broken affair the principal excitement about the and secret at the end of the long where often found himself in the way the story of his had been well told by and he was a friend and hero whom many served a sort of service was established which not only looked to the bringing in of the injured but also to the removal of the dead a was prepared just outside one of the secret far from the scene of the siege and here the dead were laid in orderly rows the siege having ended temporarily the same day it began the household resumed its old order those who had remained within went forth for the care of the young which had been somewhat interrupted was now resumed and which had been left almost in the vast were moved to and fro between the rooms where the broken sunlight warmed and the shadow gave them rest there is war ahead said to one day not long after this these will never let us alone until we give them battle we shall have to stir up the whole race of shining slave makers and fight all the before we have peace again good said i am ready so am i answered but it is no light matter they are our ancient enemy and as powerful as we if we meet again you will see war that is war not long after this and together encountered a who fought with of the slave makers them and was slain numerous of which tribe he found himself to be a member left the community of a morning to labor and were never heard of again between parties of both were frequent and orderly living ceased at last the entire community was in a and a council was called it was held in the main saloon of the a vast chamber whose dome rose like the open sky above them the queen of the community was present and all the chief warriors including and loud talking and fierce comment were indulged in to no point until long a light in the of the spoke he was short and sharp of speech we must go to war he said our old enemies will give us no peace send to all the colonies of the shining makers we will meet the red slave makers as we did before ah said an old who stood at s side that was a great battle you don t remember you were too young there were thousands and thousands in that i could not walk for the dead are we to have another such asked if the rest of us come we are a great people the shining slave makers are just then another voice spoke and listened let us send for them to come here when the again lay siege let us pour out and destroy them let none escape let us first send and hear what our people say broke in loudly the are a vast people also we must have numbers it must be a decisive battle of the slave makers ay ay answered many send the forthwith messengers were to all parts calling the of the shining slave makers to war in due course they returned bringing information that they were coming their colonies also had been attacked later the warriors of the allied tribes began to put in an appearance it was a gathering of the paths in the forests about with their with the arrival of the first of these friendly colonies there was a minor encounter with an host of the who were driven back and destroyed later there were many minor and deaths before the hosts were fully assembled but the end was not yet all knew that the had fled but not in cowardice they would return the one problem with this vast host now that it was assembled was food eventually they expected to discover this in the homes of the but temporarily other provision must be made the entire region had to be colonies of and living in territory were attacked and destroyed their were and the contents distributed every form of life was attacked and still there was not enough both and now inseparable joined in one of | 43 |
these it was upon a colony of who had their home in a neighboring forest the company went singing on their way until within a short distance of the colony when they became silent let us not lose track of one another said mc of the slave makers no said but they are nothing we will take all they possess without a struggle see them running as he said this he in the direction of several that were toward their in terror the i set up a shout and darted after plunging into the open gates striking and as they in a few minutes those first in came out again carrying their others were singly engaged in battle with large groups of the weaker only a few of the latter were inclined to fight they seemed for the most part dazed by their misfortunes numbers hung from the blades of the towering sword trees and the broad floor like leaves of the massive weeds about their where they had taken refuge holding in their jaws baby and rescued from the with which they had hurriedly fled to these nearest elevated objects singly pursued a dozen and in the sport of killing them he tumbled them with rushes of his body crushed them with his and poisoned them with his sting do you need help called once who was always near and shouting yes called scornfully bring me more of them soon the deadly work was over and the two comrades gathering a mass of food joined the returning band singing as they went to morrow said as they went along we will meet the it is agreed the leaders are now of the slave makers did not learn where these latter were but somehow he was pleased lust of combat was now upon him they will not be four to two this time he laughed no and we will not be against them either laughed the lust of war in his veins as they came near their camp however they found a large number of the assembled companies already in motion thousands upon thousands of those who had arrived were already assembled in one group or another and were prepared for action there were cries and sounds of fighting and long lines of hurrying hither and thither what s the matter asked excitedly the was the answer they are returning instantly became sober turned to him affectionately now he said solemnly courage we re in for it a tremendous followed already vast of the were bearing aw ay to the east and not being able to find their own fell in with a strange company order shouted a voice in their ears fall in line we are called the twain mechanically obeyed and dropped behind a regular line soon they were winding along with other long lines of warriors through the tall sword trees and in a little while reached a huge smooth open plain where already the actual fighting had begun to of the slave makers thousands were here apparently hundreds of thousands there was little order and scarcely any was needed apparently since all were individual or between small groups it all depended now on numbers and the results of the between individuals or at the most these small groups and several other were about to seize upon one who was approaching them when an amazing rush of the latter broke them and mc found himself separated from with a red demon snapping at his throat dazed by the shock and he almost fell a prey to this first charge a moment later however his courage and daring returned with a furious bound he recovered himself and forced himself upon his adversary snapping his jaws in his neck take that he said to the tumbling he had no sooner ended one foe however than another clutched him they were on every hand hard merciless like himself and who rushed and tore and with amazing force faced his adversary swiftly while the latter was seeking for s head and with his the former with a quick snap seized his foe by the neck turning up his he into the throat of the other that finished him meanwhile the battle continued on every hand with the same mad vehemence already the dead the ground here single struggled there whole lines moved and swayed in deadly combat ever and anon new lines were formed and strange hosts of friends or enemies came falling of the slave makers upon the of both sides with enthusiasm in a strange and lust of death seemed to think nothing of it he was alone now lost in a tossing sea of war and terror seemed to have forsaken him it was wonderful he thought mysterious as enemy after enemy assailed him he fought them as he best knew an old method to him apparently and as they died he wished them to die broken poisoned in two he began to count and in the numbers he had slain it was at last as though he were dreaming and all around was a vain dark mass of enemies finally four of the seized upon him in a group and he went down before them almost helpless swiftly they tore at his head and body to dispose of him quickly one seized a leg another an a third jumped and at his neck still he did not care it was all war and he would struggle to the last of his strength eagerly at last he seemed to lose consciousness when he opened his eyes again was beside him said well answered you were about done for then was i he answered how are things going i cannot tell yet said all i know is that you were badly when i came up two of them we e dead but the other two were killing you you should have left me to them said | 43 |
of the slave makers noticing now for the first time s wounds it does not matter so much one more or less what of it but you have been injured i oh nothing you are the one to complain i fear you are badly injured oh i returned heavily feeling at last the weight of death upon him i am done for i cannot live i felt myself dying some time ago he closed his eyes and trembled in another moment c e e opened his eyes strangely enough he was looking out upon carriages and in the great city park it was all so strange by comparison with that which he had so recently seen the tall buildings in the distance instead of the sword trees the trees the flowers he jumped to his feet in astonishment then sank back again in equal a him curiously the while i have been asleep he said in a troubled way i have been dreaming and what a dream he shut his eyes again wishing for some strange reason charm sympathy strangeness to regain the lost scene an odd longing filled his heart a sense of lost of some friend he knew missing when he opened his eyes again he seemed to realize something more of what had been happening but it was fading fading at his feet lay the plain and the with whom he had recently been or so he thought yes there only a few feet away in the grass was an arid spot over run with insects he gazed upon it in amazement searching for the details of a lost world now of the slave makers as he saw coming closer a giant battle was in progress such a one for instance as that in which he had been engaged in his dream the ground was strewn with dead thousands upon thousands were and striking at each other quite in the manner in which he had dreamed what was this a revelation of the spirit and significance of a lesser life or of his own or what and what was life if the strange passions moods and necessities which him here could condition those there on so minute a plane why i was there he said and a little a little while ago i died there or as well as died there in my dream at least i woke out of it into this or sank from that into this stooping closer he could see where lines were drawn how in places the forces raged in confusion and the field was with the dead at one moment an odd mad enthusiasm such as he had experienced in his dream world lay hold of him and he looked for the advantage of the shining slave makers the as he thought of the two hosts as against the but finding it not the mood passed and he stood gazing lost in wonder what a strange world he thought what worlds within worlds all apparently full of necessity binding emotions and and all with sorrow their sorrow a vague sad something out of far oflf things which had been there and was here in this strong bright city day had been there would be here until this odd strange thing called life had ended the city editor was waiting for one of his b est e by name a vain and rather self who was inclined to be of that turn of mind which sees m a fixed and ordered process of pi t i h m ti if ne not do exactly right one did not get along well on the contrary if one did one did only so called evil w v r a the good il y r w or mr had in his youth that he had come nearly to believe it presently he appeared he was dressed in a new spring suit a new hat and new shoes in the of his coat was a small bunch of it was one o clock of a sunny spring afternoon and he was feeling exceedingly well and natured quite fit indeed the world was going unusually well with him it seemed worth singing about read that said the city editor handing him the i ll tell you afterward what i want you to do the stood by the chair and read pleasant valley ko april i a most crime has just been reported here a negro this morning the nineteen year old daughter of a well to do farmer whose home is four miles south of this place a headed by has started in pursuit if he is caught it is thought he will be the raised his eyes as he finished a terrible crime what evil people there were in the world no doubt such a creature ought to be and that quickly you had better go out there said the c ity editor it looks as if something might come of that a up here would be a big thing there s never been one in this state smiled he was always pleased to be sent out of town it w as a mark of appreciation the city editor rarely sent any of the other men on these big what a nice ride he would have as he went along however a few minutes later he began to on this perhaps as the city editor had suggested he might be compelled to witness an actual that was by no means so pleasant in itself in his fixed code of rewards and he had no particular place for even for crimes of the nature described especially if he had to witness the it was too horrible a kind of reward or punishment once in line of duty he had been compelled to witness a hanging and that had made him sick | 43 |
so even though carried out as a part of the due process of law of his day and place now as he looked at this fine day and his excellent clothes he was not so sure that this was a why should he always be selected for such things just because he could write there were others lots of men on the staff he v began to hope as he went along that nothing really serious would come of it that they would catch the man before he got there and put him in jail or if the worst had to be painful thought that it would be all over by the time he got there let s see the had been filed at nine a m it was now and would be three by the time he got out there all of that that would give them time enough and then if all were well or ill as it were he could just gather the details of the crime and the and return the mere thought of an approaching troubled him greatly and the farther he went the less he liked it he found the village of pleasant valley a very small affair indeed just a few es between green slopes of low hills with one small business corner and a rambling array of lanes one or two merchants of k the city from which he had just arrived lived out here but otherwise it was very rural he took notes of the whiteness of the little houses the beauty of the small stream one had to cross in going from the at the one main corner a few men were gathered about a typical village headed for this as being the most likely source of information in mingling with this company at first he said nothing about his being a newspaper man being very doubtful as to its effect upon them their freedom of speech and manner the whole company was apparently tense with interest in the crime which still remained seemingly craving excitement and desirous of seeing something done about it such opportunity to work up wrath and vent their stored up animal had probably occurred here in years he took this occasion to inquire into the exact details of the attack where it had occurred where the lived then seeing that mere talk prevailed here he went away thinking that he had best find out for himself how the victim was as yet she had not been described and it was necessary to know a little something about her accordingly he sought an old man who kept a stable in the village and procured a horse no carriage was to be had was not an excellent rider but he made a shift of it the home was not so very far away about four miles out and before long he was knocking at its front door set back a hundred feet from the rough country road fm from the times he said to the tall woman who opened the door with an attempt at being impressive his position as in this matter was a little he might be welcome and he might not then he asked if this were mrs and how miss was by now she s doing very well answered the woman who seemed decidedly stern if repressed and nervous a type won t you come in she s rather feverish but the doctor says she ll probably be all right later on she said no more acknowledged the invitation by entering he was very anxious to see the girl but she was sleeping under the influence of an and he did not care to press the matter at once when did this happen he asked about eight o clock this morning said the woman o started to go over to our next door neighbor here mr and this negro met her ve didn t know anything about it until she came crying through the gate and dropped down in here ere you the first one to meet her asked yes i was the only one said mrs the men had all gone to the fields listened to more of the details the type and history of the man and then rose to go before doing so he was allowed to have a look at the girl who was still sleeping she was young and rather pretty in the yard he met a country man who was just coming to get home news the latter imparted more information all around south of here he said speaking of a crowd which was supposed to be searching i expect they ll make short work of him if they get him he can t get away very well for he s on foot wherever he is the s after him too with a or two i believe he ll be to save him an take him over to but i don t believe he ll be able to do it not if the crowd catches him first so thought he would probably have to witness a after all the prospect was most unhappy does any one know where this negro lived he asked heavily a growing sense of his duty weighing upon him oh right down here a little way replied the farmer was his name we all know him around here he worked for one and another of the farmers and don t appear to have k had such a bad record either except for a little now and then miss recognized him all right you follow this road to the next crossing and turn to the right it s a little log house that sets back off the road something like that one you see down the lane there only it s got lots o scattered about decided to go there first | 43 |
apparent indifference seemingly he was determined to protect his man and avoid mob justice come what may a mob should not have him if he had to shoot and if he shot it would be to kill finally since the company thus added to did not dash upon him he seemingly decided to scare them off apparently he thought he could do this since they like stop a minute he called to his driver the latter pulled up so did the crowd behind then the stood over the prostrate body of the negro who lay in the wagon beneath him and called back go way from here you people go on now i won t have you after me give us the one in a half half tone of voice i ll give ye just two minutes to go on back out o this road returned the grimly pulling out his watch and looking at it they were about a hundred feet apart if you don t i ll clear you out give us the i know you scott answered the voice i ll arrest every last one of ye tomorrow mark my word the company listened in silence the horses and twisting we ve got a right to f answered one of the men i give ye fair warning said the jumping from his wagon and his pistols as he approached when i count five i ll begin to shoot he was a serious and figure as he approached and the crowd fell back a little out o this now he two the company turned completely and retreated g them we ll him when he further on said one of the men in explanation he s got to do it said another let him a little ways ahead the returned to his wagon and drove on he seemed however to that he would not be obeyed and that safety lay in haste alone his wagon was fast if only he could lose them or get a good start he might possibly get to and the strong county jail by morning his followers however him swiftly as might be determined not to be left behind he s goin to said one of the company of which was a member where s that asked over west o here about four miles why is he going there that s where he lives i guess he thinks if he kin im over there he kin im till he kin more help from i late he ll try an take im over yet to night or early in the shore smiled at the man s english this always fascinated him yet the men hesitating as to what to do they did not want to lose sight of and yet cowardice controlled them they did not want to get into direct with the law it wasn t place to hang the man although plainly they felt that he ought to be hanged and that it would be a stirring and exciting thing if he were consequently they desired to watch and be on hand to get old and his son if they could who were out looking elsewhere they wanted to see what the father and brother would do the was solved by one of the men who suggested that they could get to by going back to pleasant valley and taking the sand river and that in the meantime they might come upon and his son en route or leave word at his house it was a shorter cut than this the was taking although he would get there first now possibly they could beat him at least to if he attempted to go on the road was back pleasant valley or near it and easily therefore while one or two remained to trail the and give the alarm in case he did attempt to go on to the rest followed by set off at a gallop to pleasant valley it was nearly dusk now when they arrived and stopped at the corner store supper time the fires of evening meals were marked by smoke from chimneys here somehow the zest to follow seemed to depart evidently the had them for the night the father had not been found neither had perhaps they had better eat two or three had already secretly fallen away they were telling the news of what had occurred so far to one of the two who kept the place when suddenly the girl s brother and several companions came riding up they had been the territory to the north of the town and were hot and tired plainly they were unaware of the of which the crowd had been a part the s got im exclaimed one of the company with that which always the telling of great news in small rural companies he taken him over to in a wagon a hours ago which way did he go asked the son whose hardy figure worn hand me down clothes and hat showed up as he turned here and there on his horse cross lane you won t em that away though he s already over there by now better take the short cut a of voices now made the scene more interesting one told how the negro had been caught another that the was defiant a third that men were still him or over there watching until all the chief points of the drama had been spoken if not heard instantly were forgotten the whole customary order of the evening was once more the company started off on another excited up hill and down through the lovely country that lay between and pleasant valley by now was very weary of this and of his saddle he wondered when if ever this story was to let alone he write it tragic as it might prove he could not nevertheless spend an indefinite period trailing a possibility and | 43 |
yet so great was the of the present situation he dared not leave bv contrast with the horror im g as he n ow noted th e night was so beautiful that it was all but stars were already be to shine distant lamps like yellow eyes from the s in r p the hill j the air was fresh and tender s ome were g afar and a st promised a golden moon the assembled company trotted on no more than a score in all in the dusk and with ahead it seemed too grim a pilgrimage for joking young riding silently toward the front looked as if tragedy were all he his friends seemed to withdraw from him seeing that he was the after an hour s riding came into view lying in a cup of low hills already its lights were twinkling softly and there was still an air of honest and cheery about it which appealed to in his hungry state still he had no thought now of anything save this pursuit once in the village the company was greeted by calls of recognition everybody seemed to know what they had come for the and his charge were still there so a dozen citizens volunteered the local and followed the up the street to the s house for the had now fallen into a solemn walk you won t get him though boys said one whom later learned was the village and telegraph a rather youthful person of between twenty five and thirty as they passed his door he s got two in there with him or did have and they say he s going to take him over to at the first street comer they were joined by the several men who had followed the he tried to give us the slip they volunteered excitedly but he s got the in the house there down in the cellar the ain t with him they ve gone somewhere for help maybe how do you know we saw em go out that back way we think we did anyhow a hundred feet from the s little white cottage which backed up against a sloping field the men then announced that he proposed to go boldly up to the s door and demand the negro if he don t turn him out i ll break in the door an take him he said that s right we ll stand by you commented several by now the throng of natives had gathered the whole village was up and about its one street alive and running with people heads appeared at doors and windows up and down a few revolver shots were heard presently the mob gathered even closer to the s gate and stepped forward as leader instead however of going boldly up to the door as at first it appeared he would he stopped at the gate calling to the eh eh eh the crowd the call was repeated still no answer to the delay appeared to be his one best weapon their coming however was not as unexpected as some might have thought the figure of the was plainly to be seen close to one of the front windows he appeared to be holding a double the negro as it developed later was and chattering in the darkest corner of the cellar no doubt to the voices and firing of the outside suddenly and just as was about to go forward the front door of the house flew open and in the glow of a single lamp inside appeared first the double end of the gun followed immediately by the form of who held the weapon poised ready for a quick throw to the shoulder all except fell back mr he called deliberately we want that v well you can t mm replied the he s not here then what you got that gun fer a voice made no answer better give him up called another who was safe in the crowd or we ll come in an take him no you won t said the i said the man wasn t here i say it ag in you couldn t have him if he was an you can t come in my house now if you people don t want trouble you d better go on away he s down in the cellar another why don t you let us see asked another waved his gun slightly you d better go away from here now the fm ye have out for the lot o ye if ye don t mind the crowd continued to and while stood as before he was very pale and tense but lacked he won t shoot called some one at the back of he crowd why don t you go in an him sure rush in that s it observed a second he yon t eh replied the softly then he added in a lower tone the first man that comes inside that gate takes the consequences no one ventured inside the gate many even fell back it seemed as if the planned assault had come to nothing why not go around the back way called some one else try it replied the see what you find on that side i told you you couldn t come inside you d better go away from here now before ye into trouble he repeated you can t come in an it ll only mean there was more chattering and while the stood on guard he however said no more nor did he allow the turmoil and lust for tragedy to disturb him only he kept his eye on on whose movements the crowd seemed to hang time passed and still nothing was done the truth was that young put to the test was not sufficiently courageous himself for all his daring and felt the weakness of the crowd behind him to | 43 |
all and purposes he was alone for he did not inspire con he finally fell back a little observing ril im before all right and now the crowd itself began to returning to its stores and homes or standing about the and the one village finally smiled and came away he was sure he had the story of a defeated mob the was to be his great hero he proposed to interview him later for the present he meant to seek out the telegraph and arrange to file a message then see if something to eat was not to be had somewhere after a time he found the and told him what he wanted to write and file a story as he wrote it the latter indicated a table in the little and telegraph station which he could use he became very much interested in the when he learned he was from the times and when asked where h e could get something to eat said he would run across the street and tell the proprietor of the only boarding house to fix him something which he could as he wrote he appeared to be interested in how a newspaper man would go about telling a story of this kind over a wire you start your story he said and til come back and see if i can get the times on the wire sat down and began his account he was intent on describing things to date the uncertainty and the apparent victory of the plainly the courage of the latter had won and it was all so picturesque a he began and as he wrote the obliging who had by now returned picked up the pages and carefully them for himself that s all right til see if i can get the times now he commented very obliging thought as he wrote but he had so often encountered pleasant and obliging people on his rounds that he soon dropped that thought the food was brought and still wrote on as he did so in a little while the times answered an often repeated call at the get ready for quite a story let er go answered the at the tim s who had been expecting this as the events of the day themselves in his mind wrote and turned over page after page between he looked out through the small window before him where afar off he could see a lonely light twinkling against a not he stopped his work to see if anything new was happening whether the situation was in any danger of changing but apparently it was not he then proposed to remain until all possibility of a tragedy this night anyhow was the also wandered about waiting for an of pages upon which he could work but making sure to keep up with the writer the two became quite friendly finally his nearly finished he asked the to caution the night editor at k to the effect that if anything more happened before one in the he would file it but not to expect anything more as nothing might happen the reply came that he was to remain and await then he and the sat down to talk about eleven o clock when both had about convinced themselves that all was over for this night anyhow and the lights in the village had all but vanished a stillness of the purest est country est quality having settled down a faint beating of hoofs which seemed to suggest the approach of a large could be heard out on the sand river as by now had come to learn it was back or of the at the sound the got up as did both stepping outside and listening on it came and as the volume increased the former said might be help for the but i t it i six times to day they wouldn t come that way though it s the wrong road now thought nervously after all there might be something to add to his story and he had so wished that it was all over as he now felt were horrible things he wished people wouldn t do such things take the law which now more than ever he respected into their own hands it was too brutal cruel that negro there in the dark probably and the all and tense worrying over his charge and his duty were not happy things to contemplate in the face of such a thing as this it was true that the crime which had been committed was dreadful but still why couldn t people allow the law to take its course it was so much better the law was powerful enough to deal with cases of this kind they re back all right said the solemnly as he and stared in the direction of the sound which grew louder from moment to moment it s not any help from fm afraid by george i think you re right answered the something telling him that more trouble was at hand here they come as he spoke there was a of hoofs and of saddle as a large company of men dashed up the road and turned into the narrow street of the village the figure of and an older bearded man in a wide black hat riding side by side in front there s said the and that s his father riding beside him there the old man s a terror when he gets his up s sure to happen now realized that in his absence writing a new turn had been given to things evidently the son had returned to pleasant valley and organized a new or gone out to meet his father instantly the place was again lights appeared in and windows and both were thrown open people were leaning or gazing out to see what new movement was noted at once | 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that there was none of the enthusiasm about this company such as had the previous descent there was everywhere and he now began to feel that this was the beginning of the end after the had passed down the street toward the s house which was quite dark now he ran after it arriving a few moments after the former which was already in part dismounted the followed the as it now developed had not relaxed any of his vigilance how ever he was not sleeping and as the crowd reappeared the light inside reappeared by the light of the moon which was almost overhead was able to make out several of his companions of the afternoon and the son there were many more though now whom he did not know and foremost among them this old man the latter was strong iron gray and wore a full beard he looked very much like a blacksmith keep your eye on the old man advised the who had by now come up and was standing by while they were still looking the old man went boldly forward to the little front porch of the house and knocked at the door some one lifted a curtain at the window and peeped out in there cried the old man knocking again what do you want asked a voice want that well you can t have him told you people that once bring him out or break down the door said the old man if you do it s at your own risk i know you an you know me give ye two minutes to get off that porch i want that i tell ye if ye don t off that porch fire the door said the voice solemnly one the old man backed cautiously away come out veiled the crowd you ve if got to give him up this time we ain t goin back without him slowly the door opened as if the individual within were very well satisfied as to his power to handle the mob he had done it once before this night why not again it revealed his tall form armed with his he looked around very and then addressed the old man as one would a friend ye can t have him he said it s ag in the law you know that as well as i do law or no law said the old man i want that i tell you i can t let you have him it s ag in the law you know you t to be around here at this time o night so well i ll take him then said the old man making a move stand back shouted the his gun on the instant i ll blow ye into kingdom come sure as hell a noticeable movement on the part of the crowd ceased the lowered his weapon as if he thought the danger were once more over you all ought to be ashamed of he went on his voice sinking to a gentle reproof try in to upset the law this way the didn t upset no law did he asked one well the law s goin to take care of the now made answer give us that scoundrel you d better do it said the old man it ll save a heap o trouble i ll not argue with ye i said ye couldn t have him an ye can t if ye want all right but don t blame me i ll kill the first man that tries to make a move this way he shifted his gun and waited the crowd stood outside his little fence murmuring presently the old man retired and spoke to several others there was more murmuring and then he came to the dead line we don t want to cause trouble he began moving his hand orator but we think you ought to see that it won t do any good to stand out we think that and the were watching young whose peculiar attitude attracted their attention the latter was standing poised at the edge of the crowd evidently seeking to remain unobserved his eyes were on the who was to the old man suddenly as the father talked and when the seemed for a moment and he made a quick run for the porch there was an intense movement all along the line as the life and death of the deed became apparent quickly the drew his gun to his shoulder both were pressed at the same time and the gun spoke but not before was in and under him the latter had been in sufficient time to knock the gun barrel upward and fall upon his man both shots blazed over the heads of the crowd in red and then followed a general men leaped the fence by and crowded upon the little cottage they about every side of the house and crowded upon the porch where four men were with the the latter soon gave up f and the law were brought and a rope a wagon drove up and was backed into the yard then began the calls for the negro as contemplated all this he could not help thinking of the negro who during all this turmoil must have been crouching in his corner in the cellar trembling for his fate now indeed he must realize that his end was near he could not have or lost consciousness during the intervening hours but must have been there wondering and pray ling all the while he must have been terrified lest the might not get him away in time now at the sound of horses feet and the new murmurs of how must his body and his teeth chatter hate to be that commented the grimly but you can t do anything with em the county sent help it s horrible horrible was all could say | 43 |
he moved closer to the house with the crowd eager to observe every detail of the now it was that a number of the men as eager in their search as appeared at a low cellar at the side of the house carrying a rope others followed with headed by father and son they began to descend into the dark hole with impressive daring who was by no means sure that he would be allowed but who was also determined if possible to see followed suddenly in the farthest corner he the latter in his fear and agony had worked himself into a crouching position as if he were about to spring hi ii loi his nails were apparently forced into the earth his eyes were rolling his mouth foaming oh my he moaned gazing almost as one blind at the lights oh my don t kill me i won t do it no mo i didn t go to do it i didn t mean to dis time i was just drunk oh my my his teeth the while his mouth seemed to open he was no longer sane really but kept repeating oh my here he is boys pull him out cried the father the negro now gave one yell of terror and falling prone he quite bounded as he did so coming down with a dead on the floor reason had forsaken him he was by now a foaming brute the last gleam of intelligence was that which him of the set eyes of his who by now had retreated to the grass outside before this sight was standing but ten feet back when they began to after seizing and binding him although shaken to the roots of his being he still had all the cool observing powers of the trained and even now he noted the color of the scene the red smoky heads of the the appearance of the men the and pulling then all at once he clapped his hands over his mouth almost unconscious of what he was doing oh my god he whispered his voice losing power the sickening sight was that of the negro foaming at the mouth as to his eyes his hands work i ing being dragged up the cellar steps feet foremost they had tied a rope about his waist and feet and so had hauled him out leaving his head to hang and drag the black face was distorted beyond all human semblance oh my god said again biting his fingers unconsciously the crowd gathered about now more closely than ever more horror stricken than at their own work none apparently had either the courage or the charity to what was being done with a kind of mechanical now the negro was rudely lifted and like a sack of wheat thrown into the wagon father and son now mounted in front to drive and the crowd took to their horses content to er a silent behind as afterwards concluded they were not so much hardened perhaps as curious spectators the majority of them eager for any any excuse for one to the dreary of their the task to most all indeed was entirely new wide eyed and nerve ran for his own horse and mounting followed he was so excited he scarcely knew what he was doing slowly the silent company now took its way up the sand river whence it had come the moon was still high pouring down a wash of silvery light as rode he wondered how he was to complete his but decided that he could not when this was over there would be no time how long would it be before they would really hang him and would they the whole seemed so unreal so bar that he could scarcely believe it that he was a part of it still they rode on are they really going to hang him he asked of one who rode beside him a total stranger who seemed however not to resent his presence tl hat s what they got im fer answered the and think he thought to himself to morrow night he would be resting in his own good bed back in k dropped behind again and into silence and tried to recover his nerves he could scarcely realize that he ordinarily accustomed to the routine of the city its and at least outward social regularity was a part of this the night was so soft the air so refreshing the shadowy trees were stirring with a cool night wind why should any one have id die this way why couldn t the people of or elsewhere have themselves on the side of the law before this just let it take its course both father and son now seemed brutal the injury to the daughter and sister not so vital as all this still also custom seemed to require death in this way for this it was like some law hard but custom the silent company an mechanical and therefore terrible thing moved on it also was after a time he drew near to the wagon and looked at the negro again the latter as was glad to note seemed still out of his sense he was breathing heavily and groaning but probably not with any conscious pain his were fixed and staring his face and hands bleeding as if they had been scratched or trampled upon he was but could stand it no longer now he fell back sick at heart content to see no more it seemed a ghastly thing to do still the company moved on and he followed past fields lit white by the moon under dark silent groups of trees through which the moonlight fell in patches up low hills and down into valleys until at last a little stream came into view the same httle stream as it proved which he had seen | 43 |
earlier to day and for a bridge over which they were heading here it ran now sparkling like in the night after a time the road drew closer to the water and then crossed directly over the bridge which could be seen a little way ahead up to this the company now rode and then halted the wagon was driven up on the bridge and father and son got out all the including dismounted and a full score of them gathered about the wagon from which the negro was lifted quite as one might a bag fortunately as now told himself he was still unconscious an accidental mercy nevertheless he decided now that he could not witness the end and went down by the slightly above the bridge he was not after all the utterly from where he stood however he could see long beams of iron projecting out over the water where the bridge was and some of the men a rope to a beam and then he could sec that they were fixing the other end around the negro s neck finally the curious company stood back and he turned his face away have you anything to say a voice demanded there was no answer the negro was probably and groaning quite as unconscious as he was before then came the action of a dozen men the lifting of the black mass into the air and then saw the limp form plunge down and pull up with a creaking sound of rope in the weak moonlight it seemed as if the body were struggling but he could not tell he watched wide mouthed and silent and then the body ceased moving then after a time he heard the company making ready to depart and finally it did so leaving him quite indifferently to himself and his thoughts only the black mass swaying in the pale light over the glimmering water seemed human a d alive his sole companion he sat down upon the bank and gazed in silence now the horror was gone the suffering was ended he was no longer afraid everything was and beautiful the whole had disappeared the moon finally sank his horse to a beyond the bridge waited patiently he sat he might now have hurried back to the small in and attempted to file additional details of this story providing he could find but it would have done no good it was quite too late and anyhow what did it matter no other had been present and he could write a fuller more story on the morrow he wondered idly what had become of why had he not followed life seemed so sad so strange so mysterious so inexplicable as he still sat there the light of morning broke a io tender and gray in the east then came the hues of dawn all the wondrous of celestial halls to which the waters of the stream responded the white pebbles shone at the bottom the grass and first black now gleamed a green still the body hung there black and limp against the sky and now a light breeze sprang up and stirred it visibly at last he arose mounted his horse and made his way back to pleasant a alley too full of the late tragedy to be much interested in anything else rousing his he adjusted his difficulties with him by telling him the whole story assuring him of his horse s care and handing him a five dollar bill then he left to walk and think again since there was no train before noon and his duty plainly called him to a portion of another day s work here he decided to make a day of it about and getting additional details as to what further might be done who would cut the body down what about the the father and son for instance what about the now would he act as he threatened if he the main fact of the his city editor would not mind he knew his coming late and the day here was so beautiful he proceeded to talk with citizens and officials out to the injured girl s home rode to to see the there was a singular silence and in that corner the latter assured him that he knew nearly all of those who had taken part and proposed to swear out for them but just the same noted that he took his defeat as he did his danger there was no real activity in that corner later he wished to remain a popular no doubt it was again before he remembered that he had not discovered whether the body had been removed nor had he heard why the negro came back nor e how he was caught a nine o clock evening train to the city giving him a little more time for investigation he decided to avail himself of it the negro s cabin was two miles out along a pine shaded road but so pleasant was the evening that he decided to walk en route the last rays of the sinking sun stretched long shadows of trees across his path it was not long before he came upon the cabin a one story affair set well back from the road and surrounded with a few scattered trees by now it was quite dark the ground between the cabin and the road was open and strewn with the of a the roof was and the windows patched in places but for all that it had the g ow of a home through the front door which stood open the blaze of a wood fire might be seen its yellow light filling the interior with a golden glow hesitating before the door finally knocked receiving no answer he looked in on the battered cane chairs and aged furniture with considerable interest it was a typical negro cabin poor beyond the need of | 43 |
description after a time a door in the rear of the room opened and a little negro girl entered carrying a battered tin lamp without any chimney she had not heard his knock and started at the sight of his figure in the doorway then she raised her smoking lamp above her head in order to see better and approached io there was something ridiculous about her figure and loose dress as he noted her feet and hands were so large her black head was strongly by little of hair done up in white which stood out all over her head her dark skin was made apparently more so by contrast with her white teeth and the of her eyes looked at her for a moment but little moved now by the which ordinarily would have amused him and asked is this where lived the girl nodded her head she was exceedingly subdued and looked as if she might have been crying has the body been brought here yes she answered with a soft negro accent when did they bring it dis are you his sister yes well can you tell me how they caught him when did he come back and what for he was feeling slightly ashamed to intrude thus in de afternoon about two and what for repeated to see us answered the girl to see my well did he want anything he didn t come just to see her did he yes said the girl he come to say good by we know when caught him her voice well didn t he know he might get caught asked seeing that the girl was so moved yes i think he did she still stood very quietly holding the poor battered lamp up and looking down well what did he have to say asked he didn have much to he said he wanted to see he was a goin away the girl seemed to regard as an official of some sort and he knew it can i have a look at the body he asked the girl did not answer but started as i lead the way when is the funeral he asked the girl then led him through several bare sheds of rooms strung in a row to the one of the line this last seemed a sort of shed for odds and ends it had several windows but they were quite bare of glass and open to the moonlight save for a few wooden boards nailed across from the outside had been wondering all the while where the body was and at the lonely and forsaken air of the place no one but this little pig girl seemed about if they had any colored neighbors they were probably afraid to be seen here now as he stepped into this cool dark exposed outer room the desolation seemed quite complete it was very bare a mere shed or wash room there was the body in the middle of the room stretched upon an board which rested on a box and a chair and covered with a white sheet all the corners of room were quite dark only its middle was brightened by of silvery came forward the while the girl left him no still carrying her lamp evidently she thought the moon lighted up the room sufficiently and she did not feel equal to remaining he lifted the sheet quite boldly for he could see well enough and looked at the still black form the face was extremely distorted even in death and he could see where the rope had a bar of cool moonlight lay just across the face and breast he was still looking thinking soon to restore the covering when a sound half sigh half groan reached his ears at it he started as if a ghost had made it it was so and unexpected in this dark place his muscles instantly his heart went like mad his first impression was that it must have come from the dead oo o came the sound again this time wh as if some one were crying he turned for now it seemed to come from a of the room the extreme corner to his right back oi him greatly disturbed he approached and then as his eyes strained he seemed to catch the shadow of something the figure of a woman perhaps ing against the walls huddled up dark almost oh oh oh the sound now repeated itself even more than before began to understand he approached slowly then more swiftly desired to withdraw for he was in the presence of an old black doubled up and weeping she was in the very of the two walls her head sunk on her knees her body quite still oh oh oh she repeated as he stood there near her in r drew silently back before such f h intrusion seemed cold and the of the mother her love how could one balance that against the other the sensation of tears i came to his eyes he instantly covered the dead and i withdrew out in the moonlight he struck a brisk pace but soon stopped and back the whole dreary cabin with its one golden eye the door seemed such a pitiful thing the weeping alone in her corner and he had come back to say good by swelled with feeling the night the tragedy the he saw it all bu t also with the in o the that hj v l to character of story it e color the pathos the knowledge now that it was not always t was m tt was not so much the business oi t he writer to n j n h im with ess by the ot the er whose blame if any was i exclaimed if triumphantly at last ru get it all b a the lost i hey lived together in a | 43 |
part of the country which was not so prosperous as it had once been about three miles from one of those small towns that instead of increasing in population is steadily the territory was not very thickly settled perhaps a house every other mile or so with large of corn and wheat land and fields that at odd seasons had been sown to and their particular house was part log and part frame the log portion being the old original home of henry s grandfather the new portion of now time worn through which the wind in the at times and which several elms and a tree made picturesque and pathetic but a little damp was erected by y fin ie was twenty one and just married k that was forty eight years before the furniture inside like the house outside was old and and of an earlier day you have seen the what not of cherry wood perhaps with legs and top it was there the old fashioned four bed with its ball like and deep was there also a sadly of an early the of cherry was also high and wide and built but faded looking and with a the the lost rag carpet that all these sturdy examples of enduring furniture was a weak faded lead and affair n hy ann s own hands when she was years than she was when she the loom on which it had been now stood like a dusty bony skeleton along with a broken rocking chair a worm eaten clothes press heaven knows how old a lime stained bench that had once been used to keep flowers on outside the door and other of household utility in an east room that was a lean to against this main portion all sorts of other broken down furniture were about this place an cracked in two of its ribs a broken mirror in an old cherry frame which had fallen from a nail and cracked itself three days before their youngest son died an extension hat rack which once had had on the ends of its and a long since in its clumsy by rivals of a generation the orchard to the east of the house was full of old apple trees worm eaten as to trunks and branches and fully ornamented with green and white so that it had a sad white silvery effect in moonlight the low which had once chickens a horse or two a cow and several pigs were covered with patches of moss as to their roof and the sides had been free of paint for so long that they were gray as to color and a little the fence in front with its and and the side fences of the stake and rider type were in an equally run down condition as a matter of fact they had aged the lost with the persons who lived here old henry and his wife ann they had lived here these two ever since their marriage forty eight years before and henry had lived here before that from his childhood up his father and mother well along in years when he was a boy had invited him to bring his wife here when he had first fallen in love and decided to marry and he had done so his father and mother were the companions of himself his wife for ten years after they were married when both died and then henry and were left with their five children growing but all sorts of things had happened since then of the seven children all told that had been bom to them three had died one girl had gone to one boy had gone to falls never even to be heard of after another boy had gone to washington and the last girl lived five away in the same state but was so with cares of her own that she rarely gave them a thought time and a commonplace home life that had never been attractive had them thoroughly so that wherever they were they gave little thought as to how it might be with their father and mother f old henry and his wife were a loving couple you perhaps know how it is with simple natures that fasten themselves like on the stones of circumstance and weather their days to a crumbling conclusion the great world sounds widely but it has no call for them they have no soaring intellect the orchard the meadow the the pig pen and the chicken lot measure the range of their human when the wheat is the lost headed it is and when the corn is and it is cut and shocked when the is in full head it is cut and the hay cock erected after that comes winter with the of grain to market the and of wood the simple of fire building meal getting occasional and visiting beyond these and the changes of weather the the rains and the fair days the e are no immediate significant things all the rest of life is a far off flickering like northern lights in the night and sounding as faintly as cow bells in the distance old henry and his wife were as fond of each other as it is possible for two old people to be who have nothing else in this life to be fond of he was a thin old man seventy when she died a queer person with coarse gray black hair and beard quite and he looked at you out of dull watery eyes that had deep brown crow s feet at the sides his clothes like the clothes of man farmers were aged and and standing out at the pockets not fitting about the neck and worn at elbow and knee ann was thin and a very umbrella of a woman clad in shabby black and | 43 |
with a black bonnet for her best wear as time had passed and they had only themselves to look after their movements had become slower and slower their fewer and fewer the annual keep of pigs had been reduced from five to one and the single horse which henry now retained was a sleepy animal not over nourished and not very clean the chickens of v hich formerly there was a large flock had almost xi the lost disappeared owing to and the lack of proper care which produces disease the former healthy garden was now a straggling memory of itself and the vines and flower beds that formerly ornamented the windows and had now become choking a will had been made which divided the small tax eaten property equally among the remaining four so that it was really of no interest to any of them yet these two lived together in peace and sympathy only that now and then old henry would become complaining almost invariably that something had been neglected or which was of no importance at all where s my corn knife you ain t never minded to let my things alone no more now you hush henry his wife would caution him in a cracked and voice if you don t ril leave til up and walk out of here some day and then where would y be y ain t got anybody but me to look after so just behave yourself your corn knife s on the mantel where it s been unless you ve gone an put it else old henry who knew his wife would never leave v him in any circumstances used to at times as to what he would do if she were to die that was the one leaving that he really feared as he climbed on the chair at night to wind the old long double clock or went finally to the front and the back door to see that they were safely shut in it was a comfort to know that was there properly on her side of the bed and that if he stirred in the night she would be there to ask what he wanted the lost now henry do lie still you re as restless as a chicken well i can t sleep well needn t roll so anyhow kin let me sleep this usually reduced him to a state of ease if she wanted a of water it was a grumbling pleasure for him to get it and if she did rise first to build the fires he saw that the wood was cut and placed within easy reach they divided this sim pie world nicely between them as the years had gone on however fewer and fewer people had called they were well known for a distance of as much as ten square miles as old mr and mrs honest christian but too old to be really interesting any longer the writing of letters had become an almost impossible burden too difficult to continue or even others although an occasional letter still did arrive from the daughter in county now and then some old friend stopped with a pie or cake or a chicken or duck or merely to see that they were well but even these kindly minded visits were no longer frequent one day in the early spring of her sixty fourth year mrs took sick and from a low fever passed into some which because of her age was no longer old henry drove to the neighboring town and procured a doctor some friends called and the immediate care of her was taken off his hands then one chill spring night she died and old henry in a fog of sorrow and uncertainty followed her body to the nearest ii the lost an space with a few pines growing in it although he might have gone to the daughter in or sent for her it was really too much trouble and he was too weary and fixed it was suggested to him at once by one friend and another that he come to stay with them awhile but he did not see fit he was so old and so fixed in his notions and so accustomed to the exact surroundings k he had known all his days that he could not think of leaving he wanted to remain near where they had put his and the fact that he would have to live alone did not trouble him in the least the living j children were and the care of him if he would leave but he would not j i kin make a shift for myself he continually an to old dr morrow who had attended his wife in this case i kin cook a little and besides it don t take much more n coffee an bread in the s to satisfy me til get along now well enough just let me be and after many and of advice with supplies of coffee and bacon and baked bread duly offered and accepted he was left to himself for a while he sat idly outside his door brooding in the spring sun he tried to revive his interest in farming and to keep himself busy and free from thought by looking after the fields which of late had been much neglected it was a gloomy thing to come in of an evening however or in the afternoon and find no shadow of where everything suggested her by degrees he put a few of her things away at night he sat beside his lamp and read in the papers that were left him occasionally or in a bible that he had neglected for years but he could et little the lost solace from these things mostly he held his hand over his mouth and looked at the floor as he sat and thought of what had become of | 43 |
her and how soon he himself would die he made a great business of making his coffee in the morning and himself a little bacon at night but his appetite was gone the shell in which he had been so long seemed vacant and its shadows were suggestive of so he lived quite for five long months and then a change began it was one night after he had looked after the front and the back door wound the clock blown out the light and gone through all the motions that he had indulged in for years that he went to bed not so much to sleep as to think it was a moonlight night the green covered orchard just outside and to be seen from his bed where he now lay was a silvery sweetly the moon shone through the east windows throwing the pattern of the panes on the wooden floor and making the old furniture to which he was accustomed stand out dimly in the room as usual he had been thinking of and the years when they had been young together and of the children who had gone and the poor shift he was making of his present days the house was coming to be in a very bad state indeed the bed clothes were in disorder and not clean for he made a wretched shift of washing it was a terror to him the roof causing things some of them to remain damp for weeks at a time but he was getting into that brooding state where he would accept anything rather than exert himself he preferred to pace slowly to and fro or to sit and think i the lost by twelve o clock of this particular night he was asleep however and by two had again the moon by this time had shifted to a position on the western side of the house and it now shone in through the windows of the living room and those of the kitchen beyond a certain of furniture a chair near a table with his coat on it the kitchen door casting a shadow and the position of a lamp near a paper gave him an exact representation of leaning over the table as he had often seen her do in life it gave him a great start could it be she or her ghost he had scarcely ever believed in spirits and still he looked at her in the feeble half light his old hair oddly at the roots and then sat up the figure did not move he put his thin legs out of the bed and sat looking at her wondering if this could really be they had talked of ghosts often in their lifetime of and but they had never agreed that such things could be it had never been a part of his wife s creed that she could have a spirit that could return to walk the earth her after worm was quite a different affair a vague heaven no less from which the righteous did not trouble to return yet here she was now bending over the table in her black skirt and gray shawl her pale against the moonlight he called thrilling from head to toe and putting out one bony hand have come back the figure did not stir and he arose and walked to the door looking at it the while i as he drew near however the apparition resolved it h into its content his old coat over the high the lost backed chair the lamp by the paper the half open door well he said to himself his mouth open i thought i saw her and he ran his hand strangely and vaguely through his hair the while his nervous relaxed vanished as it had it gave him the idea that she might return another night because of this first illusion and because his mind was now constantly on her and he was old he looked out of the window that was nearest his bed and commanded a hen and pig pen and a part of the wagon shed and there a faint mist from the damp of the ground he he saw her again it was one of those little of mist one of those faint of the earth that rise in a cool night after a warm day and like small white of fog before they disappear in life it had been a custom of hers to cross this lot from her kitchen door to the pig pen to throw in any scrap that was left from her cooking and here she was again he sat up and watched it strangely doubtfully because of his previous experience but inclined because of the nervous that passed over his body to believe that spirits really were and that who would be concerned because of his lonely state must be thinking about him and hence returning what other way would she have how otherwise could she express herself it would be within the province of her charity so to do and like her loving interest in him he quivered and watched it eagerly but a faint breath of air stirring it wound away toward the fence and disappeared a third night as he was actually dreaming s the lost ten days later she came to his bedside and put her hand on his head poor henry she said it s too bad he roused out of his sleep actually to see her he thought moving from his bed room into the one living room her figure a shadowy mass of black the weak straining of his eyes caused little points of light to about the outlines of her form he arose greatly astonished walked the floor in the cool room convinced that was coming back to him if he only thought sufficiently if he made it perfectly clear by | 43 |
his feeling that he needed her greatly she would come back this kindly wife and tell him what to do she would perhaps be with him much of the time in the night anyhow and that would make him less lonely this state more in age and with the feeble it is not such a far cry from the of illusion to actual and in due time this transition was made for henry night after night he waited expecting her return once in his weird mood he thought he saw a pale light moving about the room and another time he thought he saw her walking in the orchard after dark it was one morning when the details of his lonely state were that he woke with the thought that she was not dead how he had arrived at this conclusion it is hard to say his mind had gone in its place was a fixed illusion he and had had a senseless quarrel he had reproached her for not leaving his pipe where he was accustomed to find it and she had left it was an of her old threat that if he did not behave she would leave him the lost i guess i could find ag in he had said but her threat had always ll not find me if i ever leave i guess i kin some place where can t find me this morning when he arose he did not think to build the fire in the customary way to grind his coffee and cut his bread as was his wont but solely to as to where he should search for her and how he should induce her to come back recently the one horse had been with because he found it and beyond his needs he took down his soft crush hat after he had dressed himself a new of interest and determination in his eye and taking his black cane from behind the door where he had always placed it started cut briskly to look for her among the nearest neighbors his old shoes soundly in the dust as he walked and his gray black locks now grown rather long out in a dramatic fringe or from under his hat his short coat stirred busily as he walked and his hands and face were and pale why henry where ve goin this inquired farmer who a load of wheat to market encountered him on the public road he had not seen the aged farmer in months not since his wife s death and he wondered now seeing him looking so ain t seen have inquired the old man looking up who inquired farmer not for the moment connecting the name with henry s dead wife why my wife o course who do s i mean he stared up with a pathetic sharp the lost of glance from under his shaggy gray eyebrows wail ril swan henry ain t are said the solid a man a smooth hard red face it can t be wife about she s dead dead retorted the she left me early this while i was she got up to build the fire but she s gone now we had a little last night an i guess that s the reason but i guess i kin find her she gone over to race s that s where she s gone he started briskly up the road leaving the amazed to stare in wonder after him well ril be he said aloud to himself he s clean out n his head that poor old s been down there till he s gone his mind i ll have to the authorities and he his whip with great enthusiasm he said and was oflf met no one else in this poorly region until he reached the fence of race and her husband three miles away he had passed several other houses en route but these not being within the range of his illusion were not considered his wife who had known well must be here he opened the gate which guarded the walk and stamped briskly up to the door why mr exclaimed old herself a stout woman looking out of the door in answer to his knock what brings here this is here he demanded eagerly the lost e who what replied mrs race curious as to this sudden development of energy on his part why my o course my wife who do s pose ain t she here now me exclaimed mrs race opening her mouth pore man so you re clean out n your mind now come right in and sit down i ll a cup o coffee o course your wife ain t here but come in an sit down i ll find her f er after a while i know where she is the old farmer s eyes softened and he entered he was so thin and pale a specimen and that he aroused race s sympathy as he took off his hat and laid it on his knees quite softly and mildly we had a quarrel last night an she left me he volunteered laws laws sighed mrs race there being no one present with whom to share her astonishment as she went to her kitchen the pore man now somebody s just got to look after him he can t be allowed to run around the country this way for his dead wife it s she boiled him a pot of coffee and brought in some of her new baked bread and fresh butter she set out some of her best jam and put a couple of eggs to boil lying whole the while now stay right there uncle henry till comes in an i ll send him to look for i think it s more n likely she s over to with some o her friends anyhow we ll find out now just drink this | 43 |
coffee an eat this bread must be the lost tired had a long walk this hei idea was to take counsel with her man and perhaps have him the authorities she about meditating on the of life while old on the rim of his hat with his pale fingers and later ate of what she offered his mind was on his wife however and since she was not here or did not appear it wandered vaguely away to a family by the name of miles away in another direction he decided after a time that he would not wait for race to hunt his wife but would seek her for himself he must be on and urge her to come back well ru be goin he said getting up and looking strangely about him i guess she didn t come here after all she went over to the i guess i ll not wait any longer mis race there s a lot to do over to the house to day and out he marched in the face of her taking to the dusty road again in the warm spring sun his cane striking the earth as he went it was two hours later that this pale figure of a man appeared in the doorway dusty eager he had all of five miles and it was noon an amazed husband and wife of sixty heard his strange and realized also that he v as mad they begged him to stay to dinner intending to the authorities later and see what could be done but though he stayed to partake of a little something he did not stay long and was off again to another distant his idea of many things to do and his need of him so it went for that ihe lost day and the next and the next the circle of his inquiry ever the process by which a character the significance of being peculiar his weird yet harmless in such a community is often and pathetic this day as has been said saw at other doors eagerly asking his unnatural question and leaving a trail of amazement sympathy and pity in his wake although the authorities were informed the county no le s it was not deemed advisable to take him into for when those who knew old henry and had for so long reflected on the condition of the county insane asylum a place which because of the poverty of the district was of staggering and sickening it was decided to let him remain at large for strange to relate it was found on investigation that at night he returned ly enough to his there to discover whether his wife had returned and to brood in loneliness until the morning who would lock up a thin eager seeking old man with iron gray hair and an attitude of kindly innocent inquiry particularly when he was well known for a past of only kindly and those who had known him best rather agreed that he should be allowed to at large he could no harm there were many who were willing to help him as to food old clothes the odds and ends of his daily life at least at first his figure after a time became not so much a common place as an accepted curiosity and the replies why no henry i ain t see her or no henry she ain t been here more customary the lost for several years thereafter then he was an odd figure in the sun and rain on dusty roads and muddy ones encountered occasionally in strange and unexpected places pursuing his endless search after a time although the neighbors and those who knew his history gladly contributed from their store affected his body for he walked much and ate little the longer he the public highway in this manner the deeper became his strange and finding it harder and harder to return from his more and more distant he finally began taking a few with him from his home making a small of them in order that he might not be compelled to return in an old tin pot of large size he placed a small tin cup a knife fork and spoon some salt and and to the outside of it by a string forced through a pierced hole he fastened a plate which could be released and which was his table it w as no trouble for him to secure the little food that he needed and with a strange almost religious dignity he had no hesitation in asking for that much by degrees his hair became longer and longer his once black hat became an brown and his clothes and dusty for all of three years he walked and none knew how wide were his nor how he survived the storms and cold they could not see him with homely rural understanding and himself in hay or by the sides of cattle whose warm bodies protected him from the cold and whose dull were not opposed to his harmless presence overhanging rocks and trees kept the lost him at times from the rain and a friendly hay or corn was not above his humble consideration the of is strange from asking at doors and being constantly or denied he finally came to the conclusion that although his might not be in any of the houses at the doors of which he inquired she might nevertheless be within the sound of his voice and so from patient inquiry he began to call sad occasional cries that ever and anon the quiet and ragged hill regions and to echoing his thin o o o v o o o it had a pathetic insane ring and many a farmer or came to know it even from afar and say there goes old another thing that puzzled him greatly after a time and after many hundreds | 43 |
of inquiries was when he no longer had any particular in view and no special inquiry to make which way to go these cross roads which led in four or even six directions came a time to puzzle him but solve this problem which became more and more of a puzzle there came to his aid another s spirit or some power of the air or wind or nature would tell him if he stood at the of tlie parting of the ways closed his eyes turned thrice about and called o o o twice and then threw his cane straight before him that would surely indicate which way to go for or one of these mystic powers would surely govern its direction and fall in whichever direction it went even though as was not the case it took him back along the path he had already come or across fields he was not so far gone in his mind but that he t the lost ave himself ample time to search before he called gain also the seemed to persist that at some time he would surely find her there were hours when his feet were sore and his limbs weary when he would stop in the heat to wipe his brow or in the cold to beat his arms sometimes after throwing away his cane and finding it indicating the direction from which he had just come he would shake his head wearily and as if contemplating the or an fate and then start briskly oflf his strange figure came finally to be known in the farthest reaches of three or four old was a pathetic character his fame was wide near a little town called in green county perhaps four miles from that minor of human activity there was a place or precipice known as the red a sheer wall of red perhaps a hundred feet high which raised its sharp face for half a mile or more above the fruitful and that lay beneath and which was surmounted by a thick grove of trees the slope that slowly led up to it from the opposite side was covered by a rank growth of and ash through which a number of wagon tracks crossing at various angles in fair weather it had become old s habit so was he by now to the open to make his bed in some such patch of trees as this to his bacon or boil his eggs at the foot of some tree before laying himself down for the night occasionally so light and was his sleep he would walk at night more often the moonlight or some sudden wind stirring in the trees or a the lost animal him he would sit up and think or pursue his quest in the moonlight or the dark a strange unnatural half wild half but utterly harmless creature calling at lonely road staring at dark and houses and wondering where where could really be that particular lull that comes in the of this earthly ball at two o clock in the morning invariably aroused him and though he might not go any farther he would sit up and contemplate the darkness or the stars wondering sometimes in the strange processes of his mind he would fancy that he saw moving among the trees the figure of his lost wife and then he would get up to follow taking his always on a string and his cane if she seemed to him too easily he would run or plead or suddenly losing track of the fancied fi stand awed or disappointed for the moment over the almost difficulties of his search it was in the seventh year of these hopeless in the dawn of a similar to that in which his wife had died that he came at last one night to the vicinity of this self same patch that crowned the rise to the red cliff his far flung cane used as a rod at the last cross roads had brought him hither he had walked many many miles it was after ten o clock at night and he was very weary long wandering and little eating had left him but a shadow of his former self it was a question now not so much of physical strength but of spiritual endurance which kept him up he had scarcely eaten this day and now exhausted he set the lost himself down in the dark to rest and possibly to sleep curiously on this occasion a strange suggestion of the presence of his wife surrounded him it would not be long now he with himself although the long months had brought him nothing until he should see her talk to her he fell asleep after a time his head on his knees at midnight the moon began to rise and at two in the morning his hour was a large silver shining through the trees to the east he opened his eyes when the radiance became strong making a silver pattern at his feet and lighting the woods with strange and silvery shadowy forms as usual his old notion that his wife must be near occurred to him on this occasion and he looked about him with a eye what was it that moved in the distant shadows along the path by which he had entered a pale flickering will o the that gracefully among the trees and his expectant gaze moonlight and shadows combined to give it a strange form and a stranger reality this fluttering of or dancing of wandering fire flies was it truly his lost by a route it passed about him and in his state he fancied that he could see the very eyes of her not as she was when he last saw her in the black dress and shawl but now a younger sweeter the one whom he had known years before as a girl old | 43 |
got up he had been expecting and dreaming of this hour all these years and now as he saw the feeble light dancing lightly before him he peered at it one thin hand in his gray hair the lost of a sudden there came to him now for the first time in many years the full charm of her girlish figure as he had known it in boyhood the pleasing sympathetic smile the brown hair th blue she had once worn about her waist at a her gay graceful movements he walked around the base of the tree straining with his eyes forgetting for once his cane and and following eagerly after on she moved before him a will o the of the spring a little flame above her head and it seemed as though among the small of ash and and the thick trunks of and elm that she with a young a hand o he called have really come have really answered me and hurrying faster he fell once to his feet only to see the light in the distance dancing on on and on he hurried until he was fairly running brushing his ragged arms against the trees striking his hands and face against twigs his hat was gone his lungs were breathless his reason quite astray when coming to the edge of the cliff he saw her below among a silvery bed of apple trees now blooming in the spring o he called o oh no don t leave me and feeling the of a world where love was young and as this vision presented her a delightful of their youth he gave a gay cry of oh wait and leaped some farmer boys this region of and prospect some few days afterward found first the tin tied together under the tree where he had left them and then later at the foot of the the lost cliff pale broken but a smile of peace and delight upon his lips his body his old hat was discovered lying under some low growing the twigs of which had held it back no one of all the simple population knew how eagerly and he had his lost mate k the second choice dear you don t want the letters there are only six of them anyhow and think they re all i have of you to cheer me on my travels what good would they be to you little bits of notes telling me you re sure to meet me but me think of me if i send them to you you ll tear them up whereas if you leave them with me i can them with and and keep them in a little silver box always beside me ah dear you really don t know how sweet i think you are how dear there isn t a thing we have ever done together that isn t as clear in my mind as this great big over the way here in md far more pleasing in fact my thoughts of you are the most precious and delicious things i have but i m too young to marry now you know that don t you i haven t placed myself in any way yet and i m so restless that i don t know whether i ever will really only yesterday old that s my new employer here came to me and wanted to know if i would like an assistant on one of his coffee in said there would not be much money in it for a year or two a bare living but later there would be more and i jumped at it just the thought of and going there did that although i knew i could make more staying right here can t you see how it is with me i m too restless and too young i couldn t care of you right and you wouldn t like me after a while if i didn t the second choice but ah sweet i think the dearest things ol you there isn t an hour it seems but some little bit of you comes back a dear sweet bit the night we sat on the grass in park and counted the stars through the trees that first evening at point when we missed the last train and had to walk to remember the tree and then that warm april sunday in woods ah you don t want the six notes let me keep them but think of me will you sweet wherever you go and whatever you do i ll always think of you and wish that you had met a better man than me and that i really could have married you and been all you wanted me to be by by sweet i may start for within the month if so and you would want them tu send you some cards from if they have any your worthless arthur she sat and turned the letter in her hand dumb with despair it was the very last letter she would ever get from him of that she was certain he was gone now once and for all she had written him only once not making an open plea but asking him to return her letters and then there had come this tender but reply saying nothing of a possible return but desiring to keep her letters for old times sake the happy hours they had spent together the happy hours oh yes yes yes the happy hours in her memory now as she sat here in her home after the day s work meditating on all that had been in the few short months since he had come and gone was a world of color and light a color and a light so the second choice as to seem celestial but now alas | 43 |
wholly dissipated it had contained so much of all she had desired love romance amusement laughter he had been so gay and thoughtless or so romantic and with such a love of play and change and to be saying and doing anything and everything arthur could dance in a gay way whistle sing after a fashion play he could play cards and do tricks and he had such a superior air so genial and brisk with a kind of innate courtesy in it and yet an for and or anything dull or dingy such as but here her fled from him she refused to think of any one but arthur sitting in her little bedroom now off the parlor on the ground floor in her home in street and looking out over the yard and beyond that there being no fences in street over the yards or of the and others she thought of how dull it must all have seemed to him with his fine imaginative mind and experiences his love of change and hi atmosphere of something l than she had ever known how little she had l een fitted perhaps by beauty or temperament to overcome this the something in her work or her home which possibly had driven him away for although many had admired her to date and she was young and pretty in her simple way and constantly receiving suggestions that her beauty was disturbing to some still he had not cared for her he had gone and now as she meditated it seemed that this scene and all that it stood for her parents her work the second her daily to and fro between the company for which she worked and this street and house was typical of her life and what she was destined to endure some girls were so much more fortunate they had fine clothes fine homes a world of pleasure and opportunity in which to move they did not have to and save and work to pay their own way and yet she had always been compelled to do it but had never complained until or until he came and after street with its commonplace front yards and houses nearly all alike and this house so like the others room for room and porch for porch and her parents too really like all the others had good enough quite satisfactory indeed until then but now now here in their kitchen was her mother a thin pale but kindly woman potatoes and washing and putting a bit of or a chop or a piece of liver in a pan day after day morning and evening month after month year after year and next door was mrs doing the same thing and next door mrs and next door mrs but until now she had not thought it so bad but now now oh and on all the or all along this street were the husbands and fathers mostly middle aged or old men like her father reading their papers or cutting the grass before dinner or smoking and meditating afterward her father out in front now a stooped meditative soul who had rarely anything to say leaving it all to his wife her mother but who was fond of her in his dull quiet way he was a pattern maker by trade and had come into possession of this small the second choice ordinary home years of toil and saving her mother helping him they had no particular religion as he often said reasonably human conduct a sufficient p to heaven but they had gone occasionally to the church over in street and she had once joined it but of late she had not gone away by the other commonplace pleasures of her world and then in the midst of it the dull drift of things as she now saw them to be he had come arthur young energetic good looking ambitious and and with her never knowing quite how the whole thing had been changed he had appeared so swiftly out of nothing as it were previous to him had been stout good natured well meaning who was or had been before arthur came asking her to marry him and whom she allowed to half assume that she would she had liked him in a feeble as she thought tender way thinking him the kind according to the logic of her neighborhood who would make her a good husband and until arthur appeared on the scene had really intended to marry him it was not really a love match as she saw now but she thought it was which was much the same thing perhaps but as she now recalled when arthur came how the scales fell from her eyes in a as it were nearly there was a new heaven and a new earth arthur had arrived and with him a sense of something different had asked her to come over to her house in the adjoining for eve and day and without a thought of any the second choice thing and because was busy handling a part of the work in the s office of the great eastern and could not see her she had gone and then to her surprise and strange almost delight the moment she had seen him he was there arthur with his slim straight figure and dark hair and eyes and clean cut features as clean and attractive as those of a coin and as he had looked at her and smiled and humorous bits of things that had happened to him something had come over her a spell and after dinner they had all gone round to s to dance and there as she had danced with him somehow without any seeming boldness on his part he had taken possession of her as it were | 43 |
drawn her close and told her she had beautiful eyes and hair and such a delicately rounded chin and that he thought she danced gracefully and was sweet he had nearly fainted wi th ht do you like me he had asked in one place in the dance and in spite of herself she had looked up into his eyes and from that moment she was almost mad over him could think of nothing else but his hair and eyes and his smile and his graceful figure had seen it all in spite of her determination that no ne should and on their going to l ed later back at s home she had whispered ah i saw you like arthur don t you i think he s very nice recalled replying for knew of her affair with and liked him but fm not crazy over him and for this bit of treason she had sighed in her dreams nearly all night and the next day true to a request and a promise the second choice made him arthur had called again at s to take her and to a which was not so far away and from there they had gone to an ice cream parlor and during it all when was not looking he had squeezed her arm and hand and kissed her neck and she had held her breath and her heart had seemed to stop and now you re going to let me come out to your place to see you aren t you he had whispered and she had replied wednesday evening and then written the address on a little piece of paper and given it to him but now it was all gone gone this house which now looked so dreary how romantic it had seemed that first night he called the front room with its commonplace furniture and later in the spring the with its vines just and the moon in may oh the moon in may and june and july when he was here how she had lied to to make evenings for arthur and occasionally to arthur to keep him from contact with she had not even mentioned to arthur because because well because arthur was so much better and somehow she admitted it to herself now she had not been sure that arthur would care for her long if at all and then well and then to be quite frank might be good enough she did not exactly hate him because she had found arthur not at all she still liked him in a way he was so kind and faithful so very dull and straightforward and thoughtful of her which arthur was certainly not before arthur had appeared as she well remembered to be plenty e od enough in fact h v i the second choice all that she desired in a pleasant way calling for her taking her places bringing her flowers and which arthur rarely did and for that if nothing more she could not help continuing to like him and to feel sorry for him and besides as she had admitted to herself before if arthur left her w t his parents better off than hers and hadn t he a good position for such a man as he one hundred and fifty dollars a month and the certainty of more later on a little while before meeting arthur she had thought this very good enough for two to live on at least and she had thought some of trying it at some time or other but now now and that first night he had called how well she remembered it how it had the parlor next this in which she was now filling it with something it had never had before and the porch outside too for that matter with its gaunt vine and this street too dull commonplace street there had been a of snow during the afternoon while she was working at the store and the ground was white with it all the neighboring homes seemed to look sweeter and happier and more inviting than ever they had as she can e past them with their lights peeping from under curtains and drawn shades she had hurried into hers and lighted the big red shaded parlor lamp her one artistic treasure as she thought and put it near the piano l it and the window and arranged the chairs and then to the task of making herself as pleasing as she might for him she had gotten out her one best house dress and done up her hair in the fashion she thought most and that he had not seen before and the second choice her cheeks and nose and darkened her as some of the girls at the store did and put on her new gray satin slippers and then being so arrayed waited nervously unable to eat anything or to think of anything but him and at last just when she had begun to think he might not be coming he had appeared with that arch smile and a it s here you live is it i was wondering george but you re twice as sweet as i thought you were aren t you and then in the little behind the closed door he had held and kissed her on the mouth a dozen times while she pre tended to push against his coat and struggle and sa that her parents might hear and oh the room afterward with him in it in th red glow of the lamp and with his pale handsome face made thereby as she thought he had made her sit near him and had held her hands and told her about his work and his dreams all that he expected to do in | 43 |
stopped in at the store and asked her to go to point with the result that she had no time to he had gone to the house and sat with her parents until ten thirty and then a the second choice few days later although she had written him offering an excuse had called at the store to complain slightly do you think you did just right you might have sent word t you who was it the new fellow you won t tell me about on the instant supposing it was what s it to you i don t belong to you yet do i i told you there wasn t any one and i wish you d let me alone about that i couldn t help it last thursday that s all and i don t want you to be with me that s all if you don t want to you needn t come any more anyhow don t say that pleaded you i don t mean that i won t bother you though if you don t want me any more and because not knowing what else to do he had gone and she had not seen him since and then sometime later when she had thus broken with avoiding the railway station where he worked arthur had failed to come at his appointed time sending no word until the next day when a note came to the store saying that he had been out of town for his firm over sunday and had not been able to her but that he would call tuesday it was an awful blow at the time had a vision of what was to follow it seemed for the moment as if the whole world had suddenly been reduced to ashes that there was nothing but black anywhere she felt that about all life yet it all came to her clearly then that this was but the beginning of just such days and just such excuses and that soon soon he would come no more he was beginning to be tired of her and soon he would not the second choice even make excuses she felt it and it and terrified her and then soon after the indifference which she feared did follow almost created by her own thoughts as it were first it was a meeting he had to attend somewhere one wednesday night when he was to have come for her then he was going out of to n again over sunday then he was going away for a whole week it was absolutely he said his commercial duties were increasing and once he had casually remarked that nothing could stand in the way where she was concerned never she did not think df him with this she was too proud if he was going he must go she would not be willing to say to herself that she had ever attempted to hold any man but just the same she was by the thought when he was with her he seemed tender enough only at times his eyes wandered and he seemed slightly bored other girls particularly pretty ones seemed to interest him as much as she did and the agony of the long days when he did not come any more for a week or two at a time the waiting the brooding the wondering at the store and here in her home in the former place making mistakes at times because she could not get her mind off him and being reminded of them and here at her own home at nights being so absent minded that her parents remarked on it she felt sure that her parents must be noticing that arthur was not coming any more or as much as he had for she pretended to be going out with him going to s instead and that had deserted her too he having been the choice driven off by her indifference never to come any more perhaps unless she sought him out and then it was that the thought of saving her own face by taking up with once more oc v to her of using him and his affections and and if you will to cover up her own only this was not to be tried until she had written arthur this one letter a pretext merely to see if there was a single ray of hope a letter to be written in a gentle enough way and asking for the return of the few notes she had written him she had not seen him now in nearly a month and the last time she had he had said he might soon be compelled to leave her awhile to go to to work and it was his reply to this that she now held in her hand from it was frightful the future without him but would never know really what had if she went back to him in spite of all her delicious hours with arthur she could call him back she felt sure she had never really entirely dropped him and he knew it he had bored her dreadfully on occasion arriving on off days when arthur was not about with flowers or or both and sitting on the porch steps and talking of the railroad business and of the whereabouts and doings of some of their old friends it was shameful she had thought at times to see a man so patient so hopeful so good natured as deceived in this way and by her who was so miserable over another her parents must see and know she had thought at these times but still what else was she to do fm a bad girl she kept telling herself all i t ik second choice wrong what right have i to offer what is | 43 |
left but still somehow she realized that if she chose to favor him would only to be top grateful for even the of others where she was concerned and that even yet if she but to a finger she could have him he was so simple so good natured so stolid and matter of fact so different to arthur whom she could not help smiling at the thought of it she was loving now about as loved her hopelessly and then as the da s passed and arthur did not write any more just this one brief note she at first grieved horribly and then in a fit of despair attempted bravely enough from one point of view to herself to the new situation why should she despair why die of agony where there were plenty who would still sigh for her among others she was young pretty very many told her so she could if she chose achieve a vivacity which she did not feel why should she brook this without a thought of why shouldn t she enter upon a gay and heartless career indulging in a dozen at once dancing and killing all thoughts of arthur in a round of there were many who beckoned to her she stood at her counter in the store on many a day and over this but at the thought of which one to begin with she faltered after her late love all were so tame for the present anyhow and then and then always there was the humble or faithful to whom she had been so unkind and whom she had used and whom she still really d so often self thoughts in the second choice tion with him crept over her he must have known must have seen how badly she was using him all this while and yet he had not failed to come and come until she had actually with him and any one would have seen that it was literally hopeless she could not help remembering especially now in her pain that he adored her he was not calling on her now at all by her indifference she had finally driven him away but a word a word she waited for days weeks hoping against hope and then the office of s superior in the great eastern had always made him an easy object for her coming and going as she frequently did this very station he was in the office of the assistant train on the ground floor where passing to and from the local which at times was quicker than a street car she could easily see him by peering in only she had carefully avoided him for nearly a year if she chose now and would call for a message blank at the adjacent telegraph window which was a part of his room and raised her voice as she often had in the past he could scarcely fail to hear if he did not see her and if he did he would rise and come over of that she was sure for he never could resist her it had been a of hers in the old days to do this or to make her presence felt by outside after a month of brooding she felt that she must act her position as a deserted girl was too much she could not stand it any longer really the eyes of her mother for one it was six fifteen one evening when coming out of the store in which she worked she turned her step the second choice homeward her heart was heavy her face rather pale and drawn she had stopped in the store s retiring room before coming out to add to her charms as much as possible by a little powder and and to smooth her hair it would not take much to her former sweetheart she felt sure and yet it might not be so easy after all suppose he had found another but she could not believe that it had scarcely been long enough since he had last attempted to see her and he was really so very very fond of her and so faithful he was too slow and certain in his choosing he had been so with her still who knows with this thought she went forward in the evening feeling for the first time the shame and pain that comes of deception the agony of having to an ideal and the feeling of despair that comes to those who find themselves in the position of stooping to something which in better days and better fortune they would not know arthur was the cause of this when she reached the station the crowd that usually filled it at this hour was there were so many pairs like arthur and herself laughing and hurrying away or so she felt first glancing in the small mirror of a weighing scale to see if she were still of her former charm she stopped thoughtfully at a little flower stand which stood outside and for a few purchased a tiny bunch of she then went inside and stood near the window peering first to see if he were present he was bent over his work a green shade over his eyes she could see his stolid genial figure at a table stepping back a the second choice moment to she finally went forward and in a clear voice asked may i have a blank please the of the discarded was such that it brought him instantly to his feet in his way he rose his eyes glowing with a friendly hope his mouth in smiles and came over at the sight of her pale but pretty paler and prettier really than he had ever seen her he thrilled how are you he asked sweetly | 43 |
as he drew near his eyes searching her face he had i ot seen her for so long that he was intensely hungry and her paler beauty appealed to him more than ever why wouldn t she have him he was asking himself why wouldn t his persistent love yet win her perhaps it might i haven t seen you in a month of sundays it seems how are the folks they re all right she smiled and so am i how have you been it has been a long time since i ve seen you i ve been wondering how you were have you been all right i was just going to send a message as he had approached had pretended at first not to see him a moment later to affect surprise although she was really a heavy sigh the sight of him after arthur was not could she really interest herself in him any more could she sure sure he replied i m always all right you couldn t kill me you know not going away are you he no i m just to she the second choice i to meet me to morrow and i want to be sure she will you don t come past here as often as you did he complained tenderly at least i don t seem to see you so often he added with a smile it isn t anything i have done is it he and then when she protested quickly added what s the trouble haven t been sick have you she affected all her old gaiety and ease feeling as though she would like to cry oh no she returned i ve been all right i ve been going through the other door i suppose or coming in and going out on the avenue car this was true because she had been wanting to avoid him i ve been in such a hurry most nights that i haven t had time to stop you know how late the store keeps us at times he remembered too that in the old days she had made time to stop or meet him occasionally yes i know he said but you haven t been to any of our old card parties either of late have j you at least i haven t seen you i ve gone to two or three thinking you might be there that was another thing arthur had done broken up her interest in these old store and neighborhood parties and a and club to which she had once belonged they had all seemed so pleasing and amusing in the old days but now j those days had been her usual companion when his work permitted no she replied but with a forced air of pleasant remembrance i have often thought of how much fun we had at those though it was a the second choice shame to drop them you haven t seen harry or task recently have you she inquired more to be saying something than for any interest she felt he shook his head then added yes i did too here in the waiting room a few nights ago they were coming down town to a i suppose his face fell as he recalled how it had been their custom to do this and what their one quarrel had been about noticed it she felt the least bit sorry for him but much more for herself coming back so to all this well you re looking as pretty as ever he continued noting that she had not written the and that there was something wistful in her glance prettier i think and she smiled sadly every word that she from him was as so much gold to him so much of dead ashes to her you wouldn t like to come down some evening this week and see the mouse trap would you we t been to a together in i don t know when his eyes sought hers in a hopeful way so she could have him again that was the pity of it to have what she really did not want did not care for at the least nod now he would come and this very devotion made it all but worthless and so sad she ought to marry him now for certain if she began in this way and could in a month s time if she chose but oh oh could she for the moment she decided that she could not would not if he had only her told her to go ignored her but no it was her fate to be loved by him in this moving pleading way and hers not to love him as she wished j j the second choice to love to be loved plainly he needed some one like her whereas she she she turned a little sick a sense of the of gaiety at this time creeping into her voice and exclaimed no no then seeing his face change a heavy sadness come over it not this week anyhow i mean not so soon she had almost said i have several engagements this week and tm not feeling well but seeing his face change and the thought of her own state returning you might come out to the house some evening instead and then we can go some other time his face brightened intensely it was wonderful how he longed to be with her how the least favor from her comforted and lifted him up she could see also now however how little it meant to her how little t could ever mean even if to him it was heaven the old relationship would have to be resumed in once and for all but did she want it that way now that she was feeling so miserable about this | 43 |
other affair as she meditated these various moods racing to and fro in her mind seemed to notice and now it occurred to him that perhaps he had not pursued her enough was too easily put off she probably did like him yet this evening her present visit seemed to prove it sure sure he agreed like that come out sunday if you say we can go any time to the play fm sorry if you re not feeling well i ve thought of you a lot these days come out wednesday if you don t mind she smiled a wan smile it was all so much easier than she had expected her triumph and so the second choice in consequence a flavor of dead sea fruit and defeat about it all that it was pathetic how could she after arthur how could he really make it sunday she pleaded the farthest day off and then hurried out her faithful lover gazed after her while she suffered an intense to think to think it should all be coming to this she had not used her telegraph blank and now had forgotten all about it it was not the simple that discouraged her but her own future which could find no better outlet than this could not rise above it apparently or that she had no heart to make it rise above it why couldn t she interest herself in some one different to why did she have to return to him why not wait and meet some other him as before but no no nothing mattered now no one it might as well be really as any one and she would at least make him happy and at the same time solve her own problem she went out into the and climbed into her train slowly after the usual pushing and of a crowd it drew out toward that region in which her home lay as she rode she thought what have i just done what am i doing she kept asking herself as the wheels on the rails fell into a dance and the houses of the brown dry endless city fled past in a myself from the past the happy past for supposing once i am married arthur should return and want me again suppose suppose below at one place under a shed were some market of the last of their the second choice day s wares a sickly dull life she thought here was avenue with its line of red street cars many and tracks and counter streams of how often had she passed it morning and evening in a like way and how often would unless she got married and here now was the river flowing smoothly between its banks lined with coal pockets and away away to the huge deep sea which she and arthur had enjoyed so much oh to be a small boat and drift out out into the endless restless deep somehow the sight of this water to night and every night back those evenings in the open with arthur at point the long line of dancers in s the woods at the park with the dancers in th she choked back a sob once arthur had come this way with her on just such an evening as this pressing her hand and saying how she was oh arthur arthur t and now was to take his old place again forever no doubt she could not trifle with her life longer in this foolish way or his what was the use but think of it yes it must be forever now she told she must marry time would be slipping by and she would become too old it was her only future marriage it was the only future she had ever contemplated really a home children the love of some man whom she could love as she loved arthur ah what a happy home that would have been for her i but now now but there must be no turning back now either there was no other if arthur ever came back the second choice but fear not he wouldn t she had risked so much and lost lost him her little venture into true love had been such a failure before arthur had come all had been well enough stout and simple and frank and direct had in some way how she could scarcely realize now offered sufficient of a future but now now he had enough money she knew to build a cottage for the two of them he had told her so he would do his best always to make her happy she was sure of that they could live in about the state her parents were living in or a little better not much and would never want no doubt there would be children because he them several of them and that would take up her time long years of it the sad gray years but then arthur whose children she would have thrilled to bear would be no more a memory think of that and the dull the commonplace would have achieved his finest dream and why because love was a failure for her that was why and in her life there could be no more true love she would never love any one again as she had arthur it could not be she was sure of it he was too fascinating too wonderful always always wherever she might be whoever she might marry he would be coming back between her and any possible love receiving any possible kiss it would be arthur she would be loving or kissing she at her eyes with a tiny handkerchief turned her face close to the window and | 43 |
stared out and then as the of came into view wondered so deep is romance what if arthur should come back at some time or now supposing he should l e here at the i j i i the second choice station now accidentally or on purpose to welcome her to soothe her weary heart he had met her here before how she would fly to him lay her head on his shoulder forget forever that ever was that they had ever separated for an hour oh arthur arthur but no no here was here the over her train the long business street and the cars marked and avenue running back into the great city a few blocks away in street and than ever was her parents cottage and the routine of that old life which was now she felt more fully fastened upon her than ever before the lawn the the front all alike now would come the going to and fro of to business as her father ana she now went to business her keeping house cooking washing sewing for as her mother now did these things for her father and herself and she would not be in love really as she wanted to be oh dreadful she could never escape it really now that she could endure it less scarcely for another hour and yet she must must for the sake of for the sake of she closed her eyes and dreamed she walked up the street under the trees past the houses and all alike to her own and found her father on their reading the evening paper she sighed at the sight back daughter he called pleasantly yes your mother is wondering if you would like or liver for dinner better tell her oh it doesn t matter the second choice i i she hurried into her bedroom threw down her hat and gloves and herself on the bed to rest silently and groaned in her soul to think that it had all come to this never to see him any more to see only and marry him and live in such a street have four or five children forget all her youthful and all to save her face before her parents and her future why must it be should it be really she choked and stifled after a little time her mother hearing her come in came to the door thin practical affectionate conventional i v v what s wrong honey aren t you feeling well to night have you a headache let me feel h r thin cool fingers crept over her temples and hair she suggested something to eat or a powder right away tm all right mother fm just not feeling well now don t bother fu get up soon please don t would you rather have liver or to night dear oh anything nothing please don t bother will do anything if only she could get rid of her and be at rest her mother looked at her and shook her head then retreated quietly saying no more lying so she thought and grinding destroying thoughts about the beauty of the past the darkness of the future until able to endure them no longer she got up and looking out of the window into the yard and the house next door stared at her future what should she do what should she really do there was mrs in her kitchen getting her dinner as usual just as her own mother the second choice v was now and mr out on the front porch in his shirt reading the evening paper beyond was mr in his yard cutting the grass all along street were such houses and such people simple commonplace souls all clerks fair ly successful like her father and excellent in their way but not like arthur the beloved the lost and here was she or by decision j of necessity soon to be one of them in some such as no doubt forever and for the moment it choked and stifled she decided that she would not no no no there must be some other way many ways she did not have to do this unless she really wished to would only then going to the mirror she looked at her face and smoothed her hair but what s the use she asked of herself wearily and after a time why should i cry why shouldn t i marry i t amount to anything anyhow arthur wouldn t have me i wanted him and i am compelled to take some one else or no one what difference does it really make who my dreams are too high that s all i wanted arthur and i don t want and he at my feet i m a failure that s what s the matter with me and then turning up her sleeves and removing a which stood out too from her breast she went into the kitchen and looking about for an apron observed can t i help where s the and finding it among and in a drawer in the adjoining room proceeded to set the table i aj c tu v a story of stories e a smoky v c it o r city or only let the m it two rival papers two and only two the star and the news the of which are rather keen to each other on the staff of the news slightly the better of the two newspapers put p yes david or red a little shift of due to the facts that first south russian jew who looked exactly like a red he v that is a peculiarity of south russian je w i be li ev e that it | 43 |
was more as it were to l e th or city than it was to be a south jew give him a self confident race track or manner put on him loud or clothes a diamond ring a pin in his tie a green hat yellow shoes a contemptuous tough smile and you have mr red as mr but wait on the star slightly the lesser of these two great that the city to a foam of interest place mr no less young not over twenty two tall college y rather graceful as young college men go literary of course highly am with gold eye glasses a wrist watch a cane in short one of those ambitious young gentlemen o i a story of stories this rather un ha go un lucky w who has distinct to say nothing of dreams as to what the newspaper and literary professions combined should bring him and who in addition despised all creatures of the red or amateur police and political type well may you ask what was mr with his peculiar characteristics doing on a paper of the importance and distinction of the a long story my newspapers are peculiar institutions for this same paper not long since had the truly elegant presence of mr himself and so excellent a writer and news was he that on more than one occasion he had been set to or the tales which mr red who was then but connected with the paper as a brought in this in itself was a crime against art and literature as mr saw it for when you come right down to it and in the strict meaning of the word mr was not a writer at all could not write in fact could only bring in his stories and most interesting ones they were nearly all of them whereas about the paper at all times were men who could mr for instance it insulted if not outraged mr s sense of the fitness of things for the news to hire such a person and let him the title of or representative for he admired the news very much and was glad to be of it but red the latter was one of those hard life but by no means hard luck jews who by reason of ambition and will had raised himself out of frightful conditions he had never even seen a story of stories a bath tub until he was fifteen or sixteen by turns l e had been a race track y stable boy around a saloon and what not of late years and now because he was reaching a true wisdom he was between twenty five and six he had developed a sort of taste for as well as politics of a low order and was in addition a police he was really a sort of in his way only the sporting and political found him useful they him and paid him well for his tips because his tips were always good t g city editor of the news a round gross per was more allied to than to in spirit although he was like neither was s first superior in the newspaper world he did not like because for one thing of his wrist watch secondly his large gold glasses much larger than they need have been because of his cane which he carried with considerable of an air the truth is was eastern and the city editor was western and besides had been more or less thrust upon him by his managing editor as a favor to some one else but could write never doubt it and proved it he was a vigorous with a fine feeling for words and above all a power to and whatever he s w a thing which was of the utmost importance in this rather loose western atmosphere he could handle any story which came to him with ease and distinction and seemed usually to get all or nearly all the facts on the other hand for all his and one might almost say of spirit was what i a story of stories would have called a practical man he knew life he was by no means as artistic still liked to know what was going on and and could always tell him whereas never could also by making s stories he knew he could offend him the two were like oil nd water and christian when first told to relate the facts of a certain tale to and let him work it out the former strolled over to the his lip curled tip j at one corner eye fixed oa him and said the chief says to give this and let work it out oh for a large bright broad ax however always your for duty and order bent on him an equally cynical yet eye up his trousers slightly adjusted watch and glasses and began to ta e down the details of the story them out of his with a and worthy of a better cause not long after however it was brought to the ears of mr that mr had said he was a stiff and a cheap ink a la de da no less that writers one and all college and otherwise didn t count for much anyhow that they were all starving to death and that they grew on trees a phrase which particularly enraged mr for he interpreted it to mean that they were as numerous as the sands of the sea as plentiful as mud by that such dogs should be allowed to take the of great writers into their hands thus a story of stories nevertheless and in spite of all this the fortunes of mr went forward and that chiefly as mr frequently groaned at his expense would come a long j t to and mr t h o f into the | 43 |
king s he having in the meanwhile to neglect some excellent tale of his own would go forth again free to point the next day to a column or column and a half or a half column story and declare im my story think of it i that swine there is an end to all things however even life and crime in due time as per a series of accidents and the ill will of mr mr was in self respect compelled to transfer his energies to the star a paper he had previously as being not so good but where he was now made very welcome because of his ability then to his astonishment and disgust one day while covering a police station known as the south ninth from which many amazing police tales whom should he encounter but red no less now a on the news if you please and doing police he had a grand and even contemptuous manner barely to notice raged but he noticed at once that was far more en with the various and the captain as all that was going on in this station than ever he had dreamed of being it was red here and hi sport there while replied with various caps and he gave himself all the airs of a newspaper man proper about i a story of stories and talking of this that and the other story which he had written some of them having been done by himself and what was more was soon intimately with the captain in his room strolling in and out of that as if it were his private and somehow giving the impression of being in touch with and deeds of which he had never heard and never would it made doubly apprehensive lest in these secret tales and mysteries should be unfolded which should have their first light in the pages of the news and so leave him to be laughed at as one who could not get the news in consequence he watched the news more closely than ever for any evidence of such treachery on the part of the police while at the same time he his interest in any such as came to his attention by reason of this as well as by his greater skill in writing and his imagination on more than one occasion he gave mr a good to make good stories out of things which mr had evidently dismissed as worthless au now and then a case appeared in the columns of the with details which he not been able to obtain and concerning which the police had insisted that they knew it was thus that mr secured his revenge and very good revenge too it was at times but mr managed to hold his own as for instance late one august afternoon when a negro girl in one of those crowded which made up an interesting and even amazing portion of o was cut almost to by an ex lover who following her from river city to river city and town to town had a story of stories finally come up with her here and had taken his revenge it was a tale this it appeared but only after the greatest industry on the part of mr that some seven or eight months before the o papers curiously were always interested in a tale of this kind this same girl and the negro who had cut her had been living together as man and wife in and that later the lover a coal or working now on one boat and now on another the between new and o who was plainly wildly fond of her became suspicious and finally satisfying himself that his mistress who was a real beauty after her kind was to him set a trap to catch her returning suddenly one day when she imagined him to be away for a week or two of labor and bursting in upon her he found her with another man death would have been her portion as well as that of her lover had it not been for the interference of friends which had permitted the pair to escape ity the double of and desertion he now set out to follow her as the cutting on this occasion proved returning to his task as and working his way thus from one to another he arrived by turns in and new in each case making it a point to disguise himself as a selling and charms and in this capacity walking the crowded negro sections of all these cities calling his wares up one of these stifling finally in o which bordered on this same police station and where so many lived he i a story of stories this late august afternoon his but now love in answer to his cry of rings pins his false love apparently not his voice put her head out of a doorway on the the damage was done dropping his tray he was upon her in a flash with his and her until she was be recognition with cruelty he cut her cheeks lips arms legs back and sides so much so that when arrived at the city hospital where she had been taken he found her unconscious and her life of on the other hand the lover had made good his escape as had her curiously this story captured the fancy of mr as it did that of his city editor later completely it j was such a thing a he could do and do well with art he turned it into a rather w ck tragedy into it after convincing his rather f city editor that it was worth the telling he had crowded a bit of the flavor of the hot fronts of and new the sing song of the at their lazy labors the idle dreamy character of the slow moving boats this alley | 43 |
with its curtain hung and its idle ing shuffling negro life even an old negro refrain appropriate to a and the low bold negro life two such might enjoy were pictured an old negro with a yellow dotted over her head who kept talking of and sam and the girl had moved him to a poetic frenzy naturally cm iv story of stories it made a tale and his city editor felt called upon to compliment him on it but in the news owing possibly to s inability to grasp the full significance the romance of such a as th is it received but a scant lo y f was not the type of that see were but once seen he could realize ha tin een beaten and it him you think you re a he the next day on sight his lip a curl with scorn and rage you think youve pulled off swell say i ve been up against you boys before and i can work all around you all you can do is get a few facts and then em up you never get the real stuff never and he even snapped his fingers under the nose of the surprised mr wait ll we get a real case some time you and me and then ril show you wait and see my good fellow mr was about to begin but the cold hard glare in the eyes of mr quite took his breath away then and there mr put a strange haunting fear of himself v into mr s mind there was something so age about him so like that of an angry or snake that it left him all but speechless is that so he managed to say after a time you think you will do you that s easy enough to say now that you re beaten but i guess i ll be right there when the time comes aw go to hell growled savagely and he walked off leaving mr smiling pleasantly a and at the same time wondering a story or stories what it was mr was going to do to him and when the to this was somewhat more interesting as mr came in one morning fresh from his bath and breakfast his new city editor called him into his office mr in contrast with mr was a small and yet and capable man whom could not say he admired as a man or a gentleman but who he was sure was a much better city editor than and who appreciated him as never had i e at his true worth had annoyed him with such a dog as whereas had almost him and what a nose for news mr eyed him rather solemnly and on this occasion and then observed do you remember that big m p train robbery that took place out here near about six months ago tes sir and do you remember that the governor of this state and his military staff all in uniform as well as a half dozen other big were on board and that they all reported that there had been seven all heavily armed some of whom went through the train and robbed the passengers while others compelled the engineer and to get down the engine and then blow open the express car door and safe for them and carry out the money about twenty or thirty thousand dollars all told remembered it well he had been on the news at the time and the full page spread had attracted his keenest attention it was as he a story of stories thought of the character of this region raw and still daring it so much of the of th when pack train and stage coach were the rule and not the exception it had caused his hair to at the roots at times so real w as it never had he been so close as it were to anything so dramatic yes sir i remember it very well he replied and do you remember how the newspapers laughed over the fact that the governor and his military staff had crawled into their and didn t come out again until the train had started tes sir well how just read this and here mr handed him a the while his eyes gleamed with a keen humorous light and mr read medicine m k arrested here to day to robbery of m p express west of february d last money recovered being brought to o c t a this p m should arrive six thirty apparently mr there was nothing to that seven story at all there weren t any seven robbers but just one and they ve caught him and he s confessed and here he burst into more laughter no went on if this is really true it is a wonderful story you don t often find one man holding up a whole train anywhere and getting away with twenty or thirty thousand dollars it s amazing i ve decided that we won t wait for him to a story of stories arrive but that you re to go out and meet him according to this time table you can take a local that l leaves here at two fifteen and get to pacific fifteen iy minutes ahead of the express on which he is coming in and youve just about time to make it that will give you all of an hour and a half in which to interview him it s just possible that the news and the other papers won t get wind of this in time to send a man think of the opportunity it gives you to study him no seven robbers remember but just one and the governor and his whole staff on board make him tell what he thinks of the governor and his staff make him talk ha ha you ll have him | 43 |
all to think of that and they crawled into their ha ha you ve got the of a lifetime mr stared at the he recalled the detailed descriptions of the actions of the seven robbers how some of them had up and down outside the train while others went through it the passengers and still others forward the engineer and broke open and robbed the express car safe in the face of an armed messenger as well as and and how tbey had then into the dark how could one man have done it it couldn t be true nevertheless he arose duly impressed it would be no easy task to get just the right touch but he felt that he might if only the train weren t over run with other he stuffed some into his pocket and down to the union station if mr could be said to bustle here he encountered his first a story of stories on inquiring for a ticket to pacific the slightly disturbing response of which road was made are there two asked mr m p and c t a they both go to pacific do they yes which train leaves first c t a it s waiting now mr hesitated but there was no time to lose it didn t make any difference so long as he connected with the express as the time table showed that this did he paid for his ticket and got aboard but now an thought came to him supposing other from either the news or one of the three afternoon papers were aboard especially the news if there were not he would have this fine task all to himself and what a beat but if there were others he walked forward to the which was the next car in front and th re to his intense disgust and nervous dissatisfaction he of all people the one man he would least have expected to find on an of this kind the one man he least wanted to see mr no less serene determined a cigar between his teeth crouched low in his seat smoking and reading a paper as calmly as though he were not bent upon the most task of the year exclaimed mr and even bitterly he returned to his seat nervous and ill composed all th more so because he now recalled threat wait ll we get a real case some time you and me the low creature why he couldn t j a story of stories even write a decent sentence why should he fear him so but just the same he did fear him why he could scarcely say was so raw savage brutal in his mood and plans but why in heaven s name he now asked himself as he meditated in his seat as to ways and means should a man like send a man like who couldn t even write to interpret a story and a character of this kind h ow could he hope to d ig the odd f v queer c se plainly he was too crude too to get it straight nevertheless here he was and now plainly he would have this awful creature to contend with and was so bitter toward him he would leave no trick to beat him these country and and railroad men whoever they were or wherever they came from would be sure on the instant to make friends with as they did and do their best to serve him they seemed to like that sort of man worse luck they might even at refuse to let him interview the at all if so then what but would get something somehow you might be sure secret details which they might not relate to him it made him nervous even if he got a chance he would have to interview this wonderful in front of this awful creature this one man whom he most despised and who would deprive him of most of the benefit of all his questions by writing as though he had thought of and asked all of them himself think of it the dreary local sped on and as it drew nearer and nearer to pacific became more and more ner a story of stories for him the whole charm of this beautiful september landscape through which he was now was all spoiled when the train finally drew up at pacific he jumped down all alive with the determination not to be in any way and yet nervous and worried to a degree let do his worst he thought he would show him still just then he saw the latter jumping down at the same time him and on the instant his face clouded over he seemed fairly to with an angry animal rage and he glared as though he would like to kill at the same time looking around to see who else might get off my enemy was written all over him seeing no one he ran up to the station agent and apparently asked when the train from the west was due decided at once not to trail but instead sought information from his own conductor who assured him that the east bound express would probably be on time five minutes later and would certainly stop here we take the here he said you ll the whistle in a few minutes it always stops here does it asked anxiously always as they talked came back to the platform s edge and stood looking up the track at the same time this train pulled out and a few minutes later the whistle of the express was heard now for a real c thought somewhere in one of c l be this a by a nd u ty in spite of the of be to aboard and get there first ex a story of stories plain who he was himself into | 43 |
the good jl graces of the and the prisoner and begin his questioning as best he might i perhaps by the ease with which he should take charge in a few moments the express was rolling into the station and then saw his enemy leap aboard and with that iron and which always irritated so much race through the forward cars to find the prisoner was about to essay the rear cars but just then the conductor a genial looking soul stepped down beside him is the train robber they are bringing in from bald on here he inquired from the star and been sent out to interview him you re on the wrong road brother smiled the i i he s not on this train those fellows have you newspaper men i m afraid they re bringing him in over the m p as i understand it they took him across from bald to and caught the train there but i ll tell you and here he took out a large open face silver watch and consulted it you might be able to catch him yet if you run for it it s only across the field there you see that little yellow station over there well that s the it s due now but sometimes it s a little late you ll have to run for it though you haven t a minute to spare was all on the instant suppose in spite of s zeal and he should him yet by catching this other train while he was searching this one all the of his youth and profession rose up in him without stopping to thank i a story of stories his he leaped like a hare along the little path cut across this lone field and which was evidently well worn by human feet as he ran he wondered whether the genial conductor could possibly have lied to him to throw him off the track and also if his enemy seeing him running had discovered his error by now and was following that the conductor had told him the truth he looked back occasionally taking off his coat and glasses as he ran and even throwing away his cane apparently was still searching the other train and now at the same time looking eagerly forward toward the other station saw a arm which stood at right angles to the station lower itself for a clear track for some train at the same time he also a mail bag hanging out on a take post arm indicating that whatever this train was and whichever way it might be going it was not going to stop here he turned still uncertain as to whether he had made a mistake in not searching the other train supposing the conductor had deliberately him suppose had made some preliminary arrangements of which he knew nothing suppose he had supposing the were really on there and even now was busy with the opening questions of his interview while he was here behind oh lord what a beat i and he would have no reasonable to offer except that he had been what would happen to him he up in his running chill beads of sweat bursting out on his face as he did so but then looking backward he saw the train begin to move and from it as if shot out of a gun the significant form of leap down and beg in to i o a story of stories f f i f i it i j if along this same path then by george the robber was not on it after all the conductor had told him the truth ha would now attempt to make this other train he had been told that the was coming in on this could see him along the path at top speed his hat off his hands waving nervously about but by now had reached the station a good three minutes ahead of his rival desperately he ran into it a tiny thing sticking his eager face in at the open office window and calling to the stout little of it when is the east bound m p express due here now replied the agent does it stop no it don t stop can it be stopped no it cannot r you mean to say you have no right to stop it i mean i won t stop it as they spoke there came the ominous shriek of the express s whistle tearing on toward them for the moment he was almost willing that should join him if only he could make the train and gain this interview he must have it w expected him to get it think of what a beat he would have if he won what would think if he failed would five dollars stop it he asked desperately into his pocket no will ten it might the agent replied and rose to his feet r tr a story of stories i i stop it urged handing over the bill the agent took it and a of yellow order which lay before him something on the face of one and ran outside holding it up at arm s length as he did so at the same time he called to run on down the track run after it she won t stop here she can t she ll go a thousand feet before she can slow up get on down there and after you re on i ll let er go he waved the yellow paper desperately while all tense with excitement and desire began running as fast as he could in the direction indicated now if he were lucky he would it and would be left behind think of it he could get them to go ahead maybe before could get aboard oh my as he ran and thought he | 43 |
heard the grinding wheels of the express rushing up behind him in a thought as it were it was alongside and past its wheels and sparks true enough ft was stopping he would be able to get on oh glory and maybe wouldn t be able to wouldn t that be wonderful it was far ahead of him now but almost stock still and he was running like mad as he ran he could hear the final of the wheels against the as the train came to a full stop farther on and then coming up and climbing aboard breathless and gasping painfully he looked back only tp see that his rival had taken a course across the common and was now not more than a hundred feet behind he would make the train if he kept this up it could scarcely be started i a story of stories quickly enough to leave him behind even if paid i for it instead of setting himself to the stem task of keeping mr off the train however as assuredly mr would have done with his fists or his feet if necessary or his money mr now hesitated uncertain what to do on the rear platform with him was a newly stepped forth and coming out of the door the conductor let her go he cried to the conductor let her go it s all right go on don t that other fellow want to get on asked the latter curiously no no no exclaimed and yet pleading don t let him on he hasn t any right on i arranged to stop this train tm from the star p you if don t let him oi it s the train robber i want go ahead but i as he spoke mr came up panting and wet but with a of triumph and joy over his rival s discomfiture written all over his face as he pulled himself up steps you thought you d leave me behind didn t you he sneered as he pushed his way upward well i you this time didn t i r now was the moment of mr s career had his courage been equal to it but it was not he i had the opportunity to do the one thing which might have victory from defeat that is push mr off and keep him off the train was j to move but instead of this raw i which mr would assuredly have employed i he hesitated and unable in his ment to make up hi mind while mr not to be or with dashed into ihe car in s a story of stories of the robber in the sudden of his discomfiture now followed him with scarcely a thought for the moment only to see bustling up to the in the third car ahead who to a country and surrounded by several was staring idly at the passengers sport the latter was saying as mr sat down patting the familiarly on the knee and fixing him with that gaze of his which was intended to soothe and flatter the victim that was a great trick you pulled off the paper ll be crazy to find out how you did it my paper the news wants a whole page of it it wants your picture too say you didn t really do it all alone did you well that s what i call swell work eh cap and now h turned his on the country and the in a moment or two more he was telling them all what an intimate friend he was of the chief of of o and mr so and so the chief of police as well as various other of that world plainly admitted to himself he was beaten now as much so as this he thought his was gone what a victory this might have been and now look at it he sat down beside his enemy beginning to think what to ask the while the latter himself in his raw way on his success began the prisoner on his great feat the dull stuff thought mr to think that i should have to contend with a creature like this and these are the people he considers something and i i i a story of stories he wants a whole page for the news i my word he d do well if he wrote a half column alone still to his intense he could not fail to see that mr was making excellent not only with the country who was a big bland creature but the and even the himself the latter was a most specimen for so unique a deed short broad shouldered with a even dull looking face blue gray eyes dark brown hair big rough hands and a and skin he wore the cheap clothes of a a blue shirt gray trousers coat and a red handkerchief in of a collar on his head was a small round brown hat pulled down over his eyes after the manner of a cap he had the still indifferent expression of a cap bird and when finally faced him and sat down he seemed scarcely to notice either him or or if so with eyes that told nothing often wondered afterward what he really did think at the same time he was so at the mere presence of that he could scarcely speak the latter had the average s habit of an intense interest and an enthusiasm which he did not feel his face itself in a cheery smile the while his eyes followed one like those of a hawk attempting all the while to discover whether his assumed enthusiasm or friendship was being accepted at its face value or not the only time seemed to obtain the least grip on this situation or to impress himself on the minds of the and prisoner was | 43 |
when it came to those finer a story of stories shades of questioning which concerned just why for what reasons the had attempted this deed alone but even here noticed that his was all ears and making copious notes but always to s astonishment and the prisoner as well as his paid more attention to than they did to himself the y tu to him as to a lam p and seemed to be really immensely more impressed with him than with himself although the principal lines of questioning fell to him after a time he became so and enraged that he could think of but one thing that would really have satisfied him and that was to attack physically and give him a good beating however by degrees and between them the story was finally extracted and a fine tale it made it appeared that up to seven or eight months preceding the robbery possibly a ear had never thought of being a train robber but had been only a freight or yard hand on this same road at one of its division points he had even been promoted to be a sort of superior and assistant freight at some station where there was considerable work of this kind previous to his railroad work he had been a livery stable in the town where he was eventually apprehended and before that a somewhere near the same place about a year before the crime owing to hard times this road had laid off a large number of men including and reduced the wages of all others by as much as ten per cent naturally a great deal of labor discontent ensued and strikes and the like were the order of the day again a certain number of train i a story of stories which were charged and traced to discharged and dissatisfied now followed the methods of successful train were then and there so cleverly set forth by the average newspaper that nearly any so inclined could follow them among other things while working as a freight had heard of the many money made by express companies in their express cars their large the manner in which they were guarded and so on the road for which he worked at this time the m p was as he now learned a very popular route for money both east and west and although express messengers as those in charge of the car and its safe were called were well and invariably armed owing to the many train which had been in the west recently still these had not been without success indeed the deaths of various messengers and even passengers and the fact that much money had recently been stolen and never recovered had not only encouraged the growth of everywhere but had put such an fear into most connected with the roads that but few even of those especially picked guards ventured to give these battle but just the same the which eventually resulted in this amazing attempt and its success was not so much that was a poor and discharged railroad hand unable to find ny other form of employment although that was a part of it or that he was an cold cruel and subtle soul which he was not by any means but that he was really largely unconscious of the tremendous risks he ru ij i c i v v a story of stories was taking he was just mentally well as it c i was a fact which had to bring out and which noted he had never as it now developed figured it out from the point of danger from the point of view of success in sum in his idleness having wandered back to his native region where he had first started out as a livery hand he had now fallen in love with a young girl there and then for the first time perhaps that he was rather hard for ca sh and unable to make her such presents as he desired he had begun to think seriously of some method of raising money even this had not resulted in anything until another ex railroad hand who had been laid off by this same company arrived and proposed in connection with a third man whom he knew to rob a train at this time had rejected this scheme as not not wishing to connect himself with others in any such crime later however his own condition becoming more pressing he had begun to think of train as a m of setting himself u p in only as he reasoned it m be alone why alone that was the point all were so anxious to discover why alone with all the odds against him well he couldn t say exactly he had just kind o sort o as he expressed it that he might frighten them into letting him alone other so few as three in one case of which he had read had held up large trains why not one revolver shots fired about a train easily frightened all passengers as well as all so the other robbers had i a story of stories told him and anyhow it was a life to death job either way and it would be better for him he thought if he worked it out alone instead of with others often he said other men or they had girls who told on them he knew that looked at him intensely interested and all but moved by the sheer courage or or somewhere in this frame but how could he hope to overcome the engineer baggage man express messenger conductor and passengers to say nothing i of the governor and his how by the way did he know at the time that the governor and his i staff were on board no he hadn t known that until afterward and as for the | 43 |
discovery finally that this particular ex had returned rather recently to his semi native town and had there been going with a certain girl and that even now he was about to her also it was said that he was possessed of unusual means for him next it was discovered that her to those on the handkerchief mr was arrested a search made of his room and nearly all of the money recovered then being caught with the a story ol stories goods he confessed and here on this day was he being hurried to o to be and while mr and mr like hovered over him anxious to make literary capital of his error i the only thing that consoled mr now that i this story was finally told was that although he had i failed to make it impossible for to get it when it came to the writing of it he would be able to him making a better and more connected narrative still even here he was a little during this interview had been making endless notes putting down each least shade of s questioning and with the aid of one or several of the best men of the would probably be able to work it out then what would be left but as they were o a new situation itself which soon threatened on the face of it to rob of nearly if not quite all his advantage and this related to the matter of a picture it was most essential that one should be made either here or in the city only neither nor himself i nor the city editor of the apparently had thought l to include an artist on this expedition now the importance of this became more and more apparent and with that keen sense he had for making tremendous capital of seeming by suggested after first remarking that he guessed they would have to send to police afterward and have one made how would it do old man if we took him up to the news office after we get in and let your friends hill and make a picture of him these two were of in the art department as a story of stories happened to know then both of us could get one right away say take him to the star only the a s is so much nearer which was true and we have that new flash light machine you know which was also true the star being but poorly equipped in this respect he added a friendly aside to the effect that of course this depended on whether the prisoner and officers in charge were willing no no no replied and suspiciously no i w on t do that you mean you want to get him into the a office first not at all never stand for that hill and are my friends but i won t do it h you want to bring him down to the star that s different i ll agree to that our art department can make pictures just as good as yours and vou can have one for a moment s face fell but he soon returned to the attack from his manner one would have judged that he was actually desirous of doing a favor but why not the he insisted pleasantly those two boys are your friends they wouldn t do anything to hurt you think of the difference in the distance the time we ll save we want to save time don t we here it is nearly six thirty and by ihe time ve get back to the office it ll he half past seven or eight it s all right for you because you can write faster but look at me i d just as go down there as not but what s the difference besides the news has got a better plant and you know it either hill or ll make a fine picture and they ll give you one ain t that all right at once he what it was that wanted a story of stories what he really understood was that if could get this great train robber into the office of the r s first it would take away so much of the sheer r e he would be put to of repeating all he had and seen en route for once there other i hers would be able to take the criminal in hand and with the aid of what had to report extract f j such a tale as even himself could not better n h addition it would be such a triumph of to go out and bring your subject in no it s not replied and i won t do it it s all right about hill and i know they ll give me a picture if the paper will let them but i know the paper won t let them and besides you re not doing it for that reason i know what you want you want to be able to claim in the morning that you brought this man to the news first i know you for a moment appeared to be by this j i and half seemed to abandon the project he took it i j up again after a few moments however seemingly i in the most spirit in the world only he kept with his eyes a thing which he had never attempted before aw come on he repeated looking in the eyes what s the use being small about this you know you ve got the best of the story anyhow and you re goin to get a picture too the same as us if you don t then we ll have to go clear to your office or send a man down to the jail think of the it ll take what s the use of that | 43 |
one picture s as good as another and you can t take a story of stories any good pictures down there to anyhow and you know it he talked he held s eyes with his own and all at once the latter began to feel a curious w ve of ease and uncertainty or sion creep over with all this what was so wrong with this proposition anyhow he began to ask himself even while inwardly something was telling him that it was all wrong and that he was making a great mistake for the first time in his life and especially in connection with so trying a situation he began to feel an odd sense of ease and comfort or as if surrounded by a cloud of something that was comfortable and soothing this scheme of s was not so bad after all he thought what was wrong with it hill and were his friends they would make good and give him one was saying seemed true enough only only for the first time since knowing him and in spit of au his opposition of this afternoon and before found himself not his rival as violently as he had in the past but feeling as though he weren t such fm utterly bad sort after all curiously though he still didn t believe a word that said but to the news sure he found himself saying in a dumb half or warm way that wouldn t be so bad it s nearer what s wrong with that hill or will make a good picture seven or eight inches long and then i can take it along only at the same time he was thinking to himself t shouldn t really do this i shouldn t think it he ll claim the credit of having brought this man to the news office he s a big bluff and i hate him i ll a story of stories be making a big mistake the star or that s what i should say let him come down to the star in the meantime they were entering o the station of which now appeared by now somehow had not only convinced the officers but the prisoner himself could even see the rural love of show and parade a gleam in their eyes their respect for the news the larger paper as opposed to the star the star might be all right but plainly the news was the great place in the sight of these for such an exhibition as this what a pity he thought that he had ever left the news as he arose with the others to leave the train he said no i won t come in on this it s all right if you want to bring him down to the star or you can take him to police but i m not going to let you do this you hear now don t you but outside laying hold of his arm in an genial fashion seemed to come nearer to him than he had ever dreamed was possible before you come up with me to the news now kept saying and then i ll go down with you to the star see we ll just let hill or take one picture and then we ll go down to your place you see r although mr did not see he went for the time nothing seemed important if had stayed by him he could possibly have prevented his writing any story at all even as dreamed hailed a carriage and the six of them crowded into it and were forthwith whirled away to the door of a story of stories the news where once they had reached it and the and the hurrying across the to that familiar door which once had meant so much to him suddenly awoke what was it the door or the temporary distraction of at any rate he awoke now and made a f ran effort to himself wait he called say hold on stop i won t do this at all i don t agree to this t but now it was too late in a the prisoner officers and even himself were up the two or three low steps of the main entrance and into the hall and then seeing the of it he paused as they entered the and was left to on the of the thing that had been done to him what was it how had this low brute succeeded in doing this to him by the lord he had succeeded in him or something very much like it had become then of his superior brain his intellectual force in the face of this gross savage desire on ttie part of to win it was had beaten him and that in a field and at a task at which he deemed himself unusually superior great heavens he suddenly exclaimed to himself that s what he s done he s beaten me at my own game he s taken the prisoner whom i really had in my own hands at one time into the office of our great rival and now in the morning it will all be in the paper and i allowed him to do it and i had him beaten too why didn t i kick him off the train why didn t i bribe the conductor to help me i could have i was afraid of him that s what it is and to morrow there ll be a long in the news t f i a story of stories telling how this fellow was brought first to the news and and they ll have his picture to prove it oh lord what shall i do how am i to get out of this j and weary he groaned and swore for i blocks as he made | 43 |
urgent desire to be out in the street together after eight and to linger where the boys could see and overtake them r old mrs never knew she was a fat old completely by her and lord and at nine o clock regularly as he had long ago deemed meet and fit she was wont to her way upward and so to bed old himself at that hour closed the and went to his chamber before that all the children were called sharply once from the below and once from the window n n old and his above only mrs did it first and last it had came because of a shade of not wholly apparent in the father s nature that the older of the needed two and sometimes three now that she had got in with the maiden needed that many calls and even more i she was just at that age for which mere thoughtless holds its greatest charm she loved to walk up and down in the as yet bright street where were voices and laughter and occasionally moonlight streaming down what a nuisance it w as to be called at nine anyhow why should one have to go in then anyhow what old her parents were wishing to go to bed so early mrs was not so strict with her daughter it made her when insisted as he often did in german come you now in a very hoarse and voice came eventually frowning and wretched all the moonlight calling her all the voices of the night ii her to come back her innate opposition due to urgent youth made her coming later and later now by august of this her year it was ten when she entered and was almost invariably angry i lock you he declared in strongly english while she tried to slip by him each time i ow you du come ven i say yet hear now ril not answered but it was always under her breath poor mrs troubled at hearing the wrath in her husband s voice it spoke of harder and times which had been with her still she was not old and his powerful enough in the family to put in a word so there were other nights however many of them and now that the young sparks of the neighborhood had the girls attention it was a more time than ever never did a street seem beau its shabby red walls dusty and pro trading store steps and iron seemed bits o the ornamental of heaven itself lights the cars the moon the street lamps had a tender eye for the dashing a young and of the district the son of a farther up the street what a fine fellow he was indeed what a handsome nose and chin what eyes i what authority his was always cocked at a high angle in her presence and his hat had the least suggestion of being set to one side he had a shrewd way of one eye taking her boldly by the arm her as hey pretty and was strong and and worked when he worked in j a tobacco factory his was a trade indeed nearly acquired as he said and his pockets that he had money of his own altogether he was very aw want to go in for he used to say to her tossing his head on one side to listen and holding her by the arm as old called tell him didn t hear no i ve got to go said the girl who was soft i and plump and fair a maiden t well don t have to go just yet stay another minute george what was that fellow s name that tried to us the other day old m and his roared old if you do not now come ve see ive got to go repeated with a faint effort at starting can t you hear don t hold me i to aw want to be such a coward for y don t have to go he won t do my old man was always like that up a years ago let him say kid but got sweet eyes they re as blue an your mouth now stop you hear me would protest softly as swiftly he would slip an arm about hei waist and draw her to him sometimes in a vain sometimes in a successful effort to kiss her as a rule she managed to an elbow between her face and his but even then he would manage to touch an ear or a cheek or her neck sometimes her mouth full and warm before she would develop energy to push him away and herself free then she would protest mock earnestly or sometimes run away now i ll never speak to you any more if that s the way you re going to do my father don t allow me to kiss boys anyhow and then she would run half ashamed half smiling to herself as he would stare after her or if she lingered develop a kind of anger and even rage aw cut it want to be so shy for like me what s into anyhow hey in the meantime george and their companions might be and going o old and his through a similar contest perhaps hundred feet up the street or near at hand the quality of old ro s voice would by now have become so however that w ould have lost all rt int he e and becoming frightened hurry away then it was often that both and as well as would follow her to the corner almost in sight of the old l t him call young would insist laying a final hold on her soft white fingers and causing her to quiver thereby oh no she would gasp nervously i can t ell go on then | 43 |
he would say and with a of his heel would turn back leaving to wonder whether she had him forever or no then she would hurry to her father s door all my time calling you on de old would roar the while his fat hand would descend on her back take dot now don d you come ven i call in now i show you und come you more at dis time ve see if i am in my own house du minute ten to morrow und you see you get i der door lock du not in mark du and he would glare w h fully at her retreating figure would sometimes cry or she almost hated her father for his cruelty the big fat rough thing and just because wanted to stay out in the bright streets too because i he was old and stout and wanted to go to bed at ten he thought every one else did and outside was the old and his dark sky with its stars the street lamps the cars the and laughter of eternal life oh she would sigh as she and crawled into her small neat bed to think that she had to live like this all her days at the same time old was angry and equally determined it was not so much that he imagined that his was in bad company as yet but he wished to against possible danger this was not a good neighborhood by any means the boys around here were tough he wanted to pick some nice sober youth from among the other he and his wife knew here and the re at the an for instance she n f he knew she only from his shop to the door of the and back again had not his wife told him so if he had thought upon what far pilgrimage her feet had already ventured or had even seen the dashing hanging near then had there been wrath indeed as it was his mind was more or less at ease on many many evenings it was much the same sometimes she got in on time sometimes not but more and more claimed her for his steady and bought her ice cream in the range of the short block and its corners it was all done lingering by the and strolling a half block either way in the side streets until she had offended seriously at home and the threat was repeated anew he often tried to persuade her to go on or of various kinds but this somehow was not to be thought of at her age at least with him she knew her father would never endure the thought and even had the courage to men o old and his tion it let alone run away mere lingering with him at the adjacent street corners brought stronger and stronger even more blows and the threat that she should not get in at all t well enough she meant to obey but on one radiant night late in june the time fled too fast the moon was so bright the air so soft the feel of far summer things was in the wind and even in this dusty street in a newly white summer dress had been up and down with when as usual they encountered and now it was ten and the regular calls were beginning aw wait a minute said stand still he won t lock out but he will though said you don t know him if he does come on back to me tu take care of til be here but he won t though i you stayed out a little while he d in all right that s the way my old man used to try to do me but it didn t work with me i stayed out an he let me in just the same don let him he some loose change in his pocket never in his life had he had a girl on his hands at any hour but it was nice to talk big and there was a club to which he belonged the street and to which he had a key it would be closed and empty at this hour and she could stay there until morning if need be or pi han he would take her there if she insisted there was a sinister grin on the yo th s face by now s affections had carried her fan old and his this youth with his slim body his delicate strong hands his fine chin straight mouth and hard dark eyes how wonderful he seemed he was but nineteen to her eighteen but cold shrewd daring yet how tender he seemed to her how well worth having always when he kissed her now she trembled in the balance there was something in the iron grasp of his fingers that went through her like fire his glance held hers at times when she could scarcely endure it i ll wait anyhow he insisted longer and longer she lingered but now for once no voice came she began to feel that something was wrong a greater strain than if old s voice had been filling the whole neighborhood i ve got to go she said but you re a coward are said he what r always so scared about he always says he ll lock out bat he never does yes but he will she insisted nervously i think he has this time you don t know him he s something awful when he gets real mad oh i must go for the sixth or seventh time she moved and once more he caught her arm and waist and tried to kiss her but she slipped away from him rf ah he exclaimed i wish he would lock out at her own she paused more to | 43 |
soften her progress than anything the outer door was open as usual but not the inner she tried it but it would not give it was locked for a moment she paused cold fear racing over her body and then knocked l io old and his no answer again she rattled the door this time nervously find was about to cry out still no answer at last she heard her father s voice hoarse and indifferent not addressed to her at all but to her mother let her go now it said savagely from the front room where he supposed she could not hear i her a lesson teach hadn t you better let her in now yet pleaded mrs faintly no insisted mr let her go now if she stay let her stay now ve see how she likes dot his voice was rich in wrath and he was saving up a good beating for her into the bargain that she knew she would have to wait and wait and plead and when she was thoroughly wretched and subdued he would let her in and beat her such a beating as she had never received in all her born days the door rattled and still she got no answer not even her call brought a sound now strangely a new element not heretofore apparent in her nature but nevertheless wholly there i was called into life springing in action as full j formed why should he always be so harsh t done anything but stay out a little later than usual he was always so anxious to keep her in and subdue her for once the cold chill of her girlish fears left her and she wavered angrily all right she said some old german springing up i won t knock you don t need to let me in then old and his a suggestion of tears was in her eyes but she backed firmly out the stoop and sat down hesitating old saw her lowering down from the t ut said nothing he would teach her for once what were proper hours at the corner standing also saw her he recognized the e dress and paused steadily a strange thrill racing over him really they had locked her out this was new it was great in a way there she was white quiet shut out waiting at her father s sitting thus pondered a moment her girlish and anger her her pride was hurt and he felt they l r out would they all right she would go out and they should look to it how they would get her back the old for the moment the home of came to her as a possible refuge but she decided that she need not go there yet she had better wait about awhile and see or walk and frighten them he would beat her would he well maybe he would and maybe he wouldn t she might come back but still that was a thing afar off just now it didn t matter so much was still there on the corner he loved her dearly she felt it getting up she stepped to the now and strolled up the street it was a rather nervous however there were street cars still and stores lighted and people passing but soon these would not be and she was locked out the side streets were already little more than long silent walks and gleaming rows of lamps old and his at the comer her youthful lover almost upon her locked out are he asked his eyes shining for the moment she was delighted to see him for a nameless dread had already laid hold of her home meant so much up to now it had been her whole life yes she answered feebly well let s stroll on a little said the boy he had not as yet quite made up his mind what to do but the night was young it was so fine to have her with him his at the farther corner they passed officers and idly swinging their clubs and discussing politics tis a shame officer was saying the way things are run now but he paused to add ain t that old s girl over there with young it is replied looking after well i m he d better be an eye on her said the former she s too young to be around with the likes o him agreed he s a young tough he observed i never liked him he s too fresh he works over here in s tobacco factory and belongs to the he s up to no good i ll warrant that teach em a lesson i would was saying to as they strolled on we ll walk around a while an make em think mean business they won t lock out any more if they don t let old and his in when we come back fu find a place all right his sharp eyes were gleaming as he looked around into her own already he had made up his mind that she should not go back if he could help it he knew a better place than home for this night anyhow the club room of the if nowhere else they could stay there for a time anyhow by now old who had seen her walking up the street a one was at her audacity but thought she would soon come back it was amazing that she should exhibit such but he would teach her such a at half past ten however he stuck his head out of the open window and saw nothing of her at eleven the same then he walked the floor at first then nervous then nervous and he finally ended all nervous without a of wrath his stout wife sat up in bed and began to her hands lie | 43 |
lingering near also detained he was beside himself with fear rage affection you you he exclaimed at once glaring at the when told that this was the young man who was found with his girl then seized with a sudden horror he added turning to you done oh oh you you he repeated again to angrily now that he felt that his daughter was safe come not near my old and his any more i your du du he made a move toward the lover but here the interfered stop that now he said calmly take your daughter out of here and go home or lock you both up we don t want any fighting in here d ye hear keep your daughter off the streets hereafter then she won t get into trouble don t let her run around with such young as this then there won t anything happen to her we ll do whatever s to be done aw what s commented now that he felt himself reasonably safe from a personal encounter what have i done he locked her out didn t he i was just her company till morning yes we know all about that said the and about you too you shut up or you ll go to special i want no out o you still he ordered the butcher angrily to be gone old heard nothing he had his daughter he was taking her home she was not dead not even morally injured in so far as he could learn he was a compound of wondrous feelings what to do was beyond him at the corner near the butcher shop they encountered the still as they passed he was pleased to see that had his once more it jo a high height don t lock her out any more he called that s what brought the other girl to door you know v old and his dot said i say the other girl was locked out that s why she committed suicide i know said the german under his breath but he had no intention of her out he did not know what he would do until they were in the presence of his crying wife who fell upon weeping then he decided to be reasonably she like you said the old mother to the wandering ignorant of the seeming lesson brought to their very door she like you i not you now said the old butcher solemnly too delighted to think of punishment after having feared every horror under the sun go not any more keep off de so late i von t it dot let him come here some more i fix him no no said the fat mother her daughter s hair she t run no more yet no no old mrs was all mother well you wouldn t let me in insisted and i didn t have any place to go what do you want me to do i m not going to stay in the house all the time i fix him roared all his rage now on the lover freely let him come some more der he should oh he s not so bad told her mother almost a heroine now that she was home and safe he s mt the s boy they live here in the next block don t you ever bother that girl again the old and his was saying to young as he turned him loose an hour later if you do we ll get you and you won t get off under six months y hear me do you aw i don t want er replied the boy and let him have his old daughter what d he want to lock er out for they d better not lock er out again though that s all say i don t want er beat it replied the and away he went s ci a t k a i if u us i will you walk into my parlor t t was a noon in july after several months of meditation on the warning given him by his political friend during which time nothing to it had occurred was making ready to return to the hotel to which his present prosperity entitled him it was a great affair the about sixty minutes from his office facing the sea and amid the pines and sands of the island his wife the girl as he referred to her had been compelled in spite of the plot which had been revealed or suggested owing to the of their child to go up to the mountains to her mother for advice and comfort owing to the of the fall campaign however he could not possibly leave and sundays and occasionally nights he was busy out and one fact and another in regard to the of the city which was to be used as a little later on the and his ring as it was called w as to be at all costs he was certain to be re it tha i came to pass in spite of that he wa s eminently sincere as to value and even t he ity of what he was doing the city was being f f v hat labor than to worm out the details and expose them to the gaze of an abused and irritated but the enemy itself was not helpless a gentle will you walk into my parlor man in the business of whom he had never even heard called to offer him a position in the west which would take him out of the city four or five years at the least and pay him six or seven thousand dollars a on his failure to be interested some of his mail began to disappear and it seemed to him as though divers strange characters were taking a peculiar and | 43 |
undue interest in his movements lastly one of the connected with his own party called to see him at his office you see it s this way he said after a short you have got a line as to what s going on in connection with that south land transfer the mayor is in on that but he is absolutely determined that the public is not going to find it out and so is his partner not until after the election anyhow are prepared to use some pretty rough methods s q out for yourself you re l i you well her close you and the kid don t let them get you away from her even for a moment where you shouldn t be you saw what happened to two or three years ago didn t you he was about to expose that yellow point deal but of course no one knew anything about that and then all at once he was arrested on an old charge of desertion an old debt that he had failed to pay was produced and his furniture seized and his wife was induced to leave him don t let them catch you in the same way if you have any ts bring them to us and let us see what we can do about them and if you are interested in any other woman break it off send her away get rid of her will you walk into my parlor viewed him with an irritated half pitying smile there isn t any other woman he said simply think of his being to the g and the kid the blue eyed pink kid don t think fm trying to into your affairs went on the vm just telling you if you need any further advice or help come to me but whatever you do look out for yourself and that he put on his high silk hat and departed stood in the of his office after his visitor had gone and gazed intently at the floor from what he had discovered so far he could readily believe that the mayor would do just what hi friend had said and as for the s friend the real estate it was plain from his whispered history that no tricks or were beneath him another had once said in describing him that he would not stop short of murder but that one would never catch him red handed or in any other way and certainly that appeared to be true he w as more powerful than he had ever been much more so than the mayor since he and his wife had come to this hotel several things had occurred which caused him to think that something might happen although there was no evidence as yet that his suspicions were y ell founded an over dressed semi widow of forty had arrived a business woman she indicated herself to be conducting a highly successful theatrical agency in the great city and consequently in what one of s friends was wont to describe as the of war she in will vou walk into my parlor brown and wine colored brown slippers and stockings a wealth of suspiciously hair her car for she had one was of respectable reputation her skill and to risk at of good report she was in the of the hotel clerks and of the a cheerful and liberal even while mrs was at hall mrs had arrived making herself comfortable in two rooms and bath on the sea front and finding familiar friends in the manager and several who appeared to be and real estate and who took a respectable interest in and the she was hearty and neither nor his wife could help liking her a little but before leaving his wife had casually wondered whether mrs would be one to engage in such a plot her friendliness while possible of any interpretation was still general enough to be free of suspicion she might be looking for just such a situation as this though to find alone do be careful dear his wife h you become too doubtful leave and go to another place at least that will compel them to provide another set of people and off she went fairly serene in her faith in her husband s ability to manage the matter thus much against his will at first found himself alone he began to wonder if he should leave or weather it out as he expressed it to himself why should he be driven from the one comfortable hotel on this nearest beach and that when he most needed it away from a region where he was regularly en most of his political friends particularly at will you walk l to my parlor week ends for so near a place it had many advantages a delightful course several courts food and rooms reasonably well above complaint and a refreshing and delightful view of the sea over a broad lawn besides it was absolutely necessary for him to be in the near by city the greater portion of every single working day his peculiar and pressing investigation demanded it and a comfortable place to rest and at night was also imperative it s beautiful here he said to himself finally and here is where i stick where is there any other place as convenient besides if they re going to follow me they re going to follow me in consequence he back and forth between this place and the city thinking of what might happen becoming a little doubtful he decided to call on frank and talk it over with him was an old newspaper man who had first turned lawyer and then seemingly the major portion of the time he still a bachelor he had three clubs several hotels and a dozen country homes to visit to say nothing of a high power car just | 43 |
now he was held close to his work and so was this coast he liked and and incidentally whom he wished to see prosper though he could not quite direct him in the proper way reaching the city one morning him to s o ce and there laid the whole case before him now that s the way it is he concluded staring at the pink cheeks and partially bald head of his friend will you walk into my parlor and i would like to know what you would do if you were in my place gazed thoughtfully out through the high towers of the city to the blue sky beyond while he with his fingers on the glass top of his desk well he replied after a time scratching his thoughtfully i d stick it out if i were you if there is to be a woman and she is attractive you might have some fun out of it without getting yourself in any trouble it looks like a summer proposition to me of course you ll have to be on your guard take out a permit to carry a revolver if i were you they ll hear of it if they re up to anything and it won t cheer them any in the next place you ought to make out a day to day statement of your exact movements and swear to it before a if they hear of that it won t cheer them any either and it may make them try to think up something really original besides he went on i haven t so very much to do evenings and week ends and if you want me to i ll just be around most of the time in case of trouble if we re together they can t turn much of anything without one of us knowing something about it and then too you ll have an eye witness he was wondering whether the lady might not be interesting to him also i m over at sunset point just beyond you there and if you want me i ll come over every evening and see how you re making out if any trick is turned i d like to see how it is done and he smiled in a manner that s just the thing echoed thoughtfully i don t want trick turned i can t afford will you walk into my parlor it if anything should happen to me just now i d never get on my feet again and then there s the wife and kid and fm sick of the newspaper business and he stared out of the window well don t be worrying about it insisted soothingly j st be on your guard and if you have to stay in town late any night let me know and i ll come and pick you up or if i can t do that stay in town yourself go to one of the big hotels where you ll feel thoroughly safe for several days to avoid being a nuisance returned to the hotel early also he secured a permit and his hip pocket with an weapon which he resented but which he nevertheless kept under his pillow at night his uncertainty worked on his imagination to such an extent that he began to note suspicious moves on the part of nearly everybody any new character about the hotel annoyed him he felt certain that there was a group of people connected with mrs who were him though he could not prove it even to himself this is ridiculous he finally told himself i m acting like a five year old in the dark who s going to hurt me and he wrote laughing letters to his wife about it and tried to resume his old time it wasn t quite possible however for not long after that something happened which disturbed him greatly at least he persuaded himself to that effect for that was a characteristic of these incidents their to another interpretation than the one he might fix on in spite of s advice one night will you walk into my parlor about nine he decided to return to hall and that without calling his friend to his aid what s the use he asked himself he ll be thinking i m the biggest coward ever and after all nothing has happened yet and i doubt whether they d go that far anyhow he consoled himself with the idea that perhaps humanity was better than he thought but just the same as he left the train at and saw it glimmering away over the meadows eastward he felt a little uncertain as to his wisdom in this matter station was a lonely one at nearly all times save in the morning and around seven at night and to night it seemed especially so only he alighted from the train most people went to and fro in their cars by another road why should he not have done as had suggested he now asked himself as he surveyed the flat country about called him to his aid or stayed in the city after all a car would not have been much better either as had pointed out giving a possible lurking enemy a much sought point of attack no he should have stayed in town or returned with in his car and telling himself this he struck out along the lonely short stretch of road which led to the hotel and which was lighted by only a half dozen small strung at a considerable distance apart en route and as he was saying to himself that it was a blessed thing that it was only a few hundred yards and that he was well armed and fairly well constructed physically for a contest a car about a bend in the road a short distance ahead and stopped two men got | 43 |
from now on she mrs was to be a really truly didn t they with her and if they were all very nice and with this a sweeping glance included them all they might help entertain her wouldn t that be fine she was a darling of a girl clever a good a in short various and sundry things almost too good to be true but above all other things she was really very beautiful with a wealth of brown hair brown eyes a perfect skin and the like neither nor offered the other a single look during this recital but later on meeting on the great which faced the sea said to him well what do you think yes i suppose it s the one well she tells it well it s interesting to think that she is to be so perfect isn t it he laughed a few days later the fair visitor put in an appearance and she was all that mrs had promised and more she was beautiful saw her for the first time as he entered the large dining room at seven she was as mrs had described her young certainly not more than twenty one at most her eyes were a li ht brown and her hair and will you walk into my parlor skin and hands of t she seemed simple and laughing gay not altogether fine or perfect but fairly intelligent and good to look at a ery she was at mrs s table the paying her marked attention and at sight liked her too say he began some beauty eh til have to save you from yourself i fancy tell you how we ll work it you save me and save you the old lady certainly knows how to select em apparently and so does well now my boy look out and he approached with the air of one who was anxious to be a poor stricken victim himself had to laugh however much he might be on his guard he was interested and as if to this she paid more attention to mrs and her two friends than she did to or she was or pretended to be absolutely sincere and ignorant of her possible as a and they in turn pretended to accept her at her own only announced after dinner very gaily that she might him all she pleased he was ready by degrees however even during this first and second evening began to feel that he was the one he caught her looking at him or or both and he insisted to himself and even vainly enough that he was her intended victim when he suggested as much to the other merely laughed don t be so vain he said you may not be i wish i were in your place see if i can t help take her attention from you and he paid as much attention to her as one will you walk into my parlor however s mind was not to be he watched her narrowly while she on her part gaily of many things her life the winter before in the bathing at where she had recently been a trip she had been promised she was an expert at as she later proved putting in a heavy perspiration whenever he played with her and keeping him on the jump he tried to decide for himself at this time whether she was making any advances but could not detect any she was very in the distribution of her and whenever the dancing began in the east room took as her first choice one of the and then the former as did mrs and the had machines and by her and them in spite of the almost ever present was invited to be one of a party in one or the other of their cars whenever they were going anywhere of an afternoon or evening he was suspicious of them however and refused their invitations except when was on the scene and invited when he was willing enough to accept then there were or games in the hotel occasionally and in these as well as when he was there were wont to join being persistently invited did not dance and ragged him as to this why didn t he learn it was wonderful she would teach him as she passed amid the of dancers at times he could not help thinking how graceful she was how full of l and a spirits saw this and at the same time finding her very and interesting himself will you walk into my parlor not help thinking what a fascinating what an amazing thing really it was providing it were true that so dark a personality as could secure such an attractive girl to do his vile work think of it only one beautiful able to further herself in many ways no doubt and yet here she was under suspicion of a possibly what could be the the reward my you don t know these people was always telling him they re the limit in politics you people to do anything anything it isn t like the rest of life or business it s just politics that s all it seems a cynical thing to say but it s true look at your own what do they show i know but a girl like that now replied solemnly but after all as he insisted to they did not know that there was anything to all this she might and she might not be a it might be possible that both of them were her and other absolutely innocent people so far all that they had been able to find out concerning mrs was that she was as she represented herself to be the successful owner and manager of a theatrical agency she might have known the better days and connections which she | 43 |
took quarters somewhere in the building coming and going and seeming never to know mrs or her friends and yet one day across some sand which skirted an adjacent he saw them and the jew walking along together he was so astounded that he stopped in amazement his first thought was to draw a little nearer and to make very sure but as they walked slowly in his direction that he could not be mistaken he beat a hasty retreat that evening was taken in on the mystery and at dinner time seeing the hebrew enter and seat himself in state at a distant table he asked casually a isn t he mrs and the one present surveyed the stranger with curious but indifference haven t the slightest idea answered the will you walk into my parlor never saw him before and suits i ll a thousand he looks as though he might be rich whoever he is innocently commented i think he came thursday he doesn t seem to be any one in particular that s sure added mrs and the subject was dropped was tempted to accuse the young woman and her friends then and there of falsehood but he decided to wait and her this was certainly becoming interesting if they could lie like that then something was surely in the air so she was a after all and she was so charming his interest in her and mrs and their friends grew and then came the matter of the mysterious blue or as afterward came to call it a great brute of a car beautifully even made and with an engine that talked like no other there was a ring about it which seemed to carry a long way through the clear air and over the sands which the sea it was the possession so he learned later through mrs of one of four fortunate youths who were at the next hotel west ut a mile away the owner one by name the son and heir to a very wealthy family was a friend of hers whom she had first met in a commercial way in the city they came over after s arrival she explained to help entertain and they invariably came in this car and his friends smart youths all played and bridge and knew all the latest shows and dances and drinks they were very gay looking at least three of them and were inclined to make much will you walk into my parlor of though as mrs cautiously confided to after a time she did not propose to allow it s parents might not like it on the other hand and being sober men both and of excellent discretion were much more welcome almost every day thereafter mrs would go for a ride in her own car or that of taking if he would and for companions however as he made clear at the very beginning was opposed to this don t ever be alone with her i tell you or just in the company of her and her friends anywhere except on this they re after you and they re not finding it easy and they re beginning to work hard they ll give themselves away in some way pretty soon just as sure as you re sitting there they want to cut me out but don t let them do it or if you do get some one in my place you don t know where they ll take you that s the way people are framed take me or get them to use my machine and you take some other man then you can the conditions partially anyhow insisted that he had no desire to make any other arrangements and so thereafter whenever an invitation was extended to him w as always somehow included although as he could see they did not like it not that seemed to mind but mrs always complained must we w for him or isn t it possible ever to go anywhere without him explained how it was was an old and dear friend of his they were practically spend will you walk into my parlor ing the summer together had nothing to d just now they seemed to take it all in the best part and thereafter was always ready and even willing to suggest that they come along with him in his car but the more these accidental occurred the more innocently perverse was mrs in proposing occasional of her own there was an interesting walk through the pines and across the to a neighboring hotel which had a delightful and this she was always willing to essay with just only whenever he agreed to this and they were about to set out would always appear and would have to be included then mrs would remember that had forgotten her or purse or handkerchief and would return for it leaving and to stroll on together but would always wait until mrs returned he was not to be like this by now he and in spite of this atmosphere of suspicion and uncertainty had become very friend y she liked him he could see that she looked at him with a slight of the eyes and a faint of the nostrils at times which what and when seated with him in the car or anywhere else she drew near him in a gently and sympathetic and way she had been trying to teach him to dance of late and scolding him in almost phrases such as now you bad boy or oh when once he had dropped something or big clumsy one how big and you really are i can scarcely guide you will you walk into my parlor nd to him in spite of all her dark she was really beautiful and so graceful hat a complexion he said to himself on more than one occasion how light and | 43 |
or cleared up by the arrival of a third car containing a party of four middle aged men who seeing them in the wood and the other car standing by stopped to investigate it was s presence of mind which kept them there do you mind staying by until that other car leaves he whispered to one of the ho was helping to s machine i think they purposely tried to wreck us but i m not sure anyway we don t want to be left alone with them finding themselves thus replaced and the others de will you walk into my parlor to stay and his followers were most and they had forgotten something back at the inn they explained and were returning for it as they had reached this particular spot and had seen the lights of s car they had tried to stop but something had gone wrong with the gear they had tried to turn but couldn t and had almost wrecked their own car as there any e they would gladly pay assured them there was not the while he and accepted their apologies in seeming good part however that they needed no help after they had gone and with the strangers as guards made their way to the hotel only to find it dark and deserted what an amazing thing it all was said to himself over and over the great metropolis v with plots like this for spoil cold blooded murder at j tempted and that by a young girl and these young i men scarcely in their middle and yet there j was no way to fix it on them here he was fairly convinced that on two occasions murder had been planned or attempted and still he could prove nothing not a word did not even dare to accuse any one and this girl of beauty and pretending an affection for him and he half believing it and at the same time convinced that she was in on the plot in some had he lost his senses he was for getting out now feeling as he did that he was dealing with a band of who were his death by accident in case they failed to him by some trick or plot but was of another mind he could not feel that this was will you walk l to ly parlor a good time to quit after all everything had been in their favor so far in addition had come to the conclusion that the girl was a very weak tool of these other people not a clever herself he argued this he said from certain things which he had been able thus far to find out about her she had once been he said the private secretary or personal assistant to a well known banker whose institution had been connected with the interests in and whose career had ended in his and flight perhaps there had l een some papers which she had signed as the secretary or which might make her the victim of or of some of his political friends besides by now he was willing to help raise money to carry s work on in case he needed any the city should be protected from such people but considered a y little soft or easy and thought that could influence her help him if he tried stick it out he insisted stick it out it looks pretty serious i know but you want to remember that you won t be any better oflf anywhere else and here we at least know what we re up against they know by now that w e re getting on to them they must they re getting anxious that s all and the time is getting short you might send for your wife but that wouldn t help any besides if you play your cards right with this girl you might get her to come over to your side in spite of what she s doing i think she likes you or you might make her like you and then you could get the whole scheme out of her see how she looks at you all the time and don t forget that every day will you walk l to my parlor yon string this thing along without letting them bring it a disastrous finish the nearer you are to the election if this goes on much longer without their anything won t have a chance to up anything new before the election will be upon him and then it will be too late don t you see on the strength of this agreed to linger a little while longer but he felt that it was telling on his nerves he was becoming irritable and savage and the more he thought about it the worse he felt to think of having to be pleasant to people who were at heart and trying to destroy you the next morning however he saw at breakfast fresh and pleasant and with that look of friendly interest in her eyes which more and more of late she seemed to wear and in spite of himself he was drawn to her although he did his best to conceal it why didn t you come back last night to play cards with us she asked we waited and waited for you oh haven t you heard about the latest accident he asked with a peculiar emphasis on the word and looking at her with a cynical mocking light in his eyes no what accident she seemed thoroughly unaware that anything had happened you didn t know of course that s car almost ran us down after you left us last night no she exclaimed with genuine surprise where well just after you left us in the wood beyond it was so fortunate of you two to have left just when you did and he | 43 |
smiled and ex will yo c walk into parlor briefly and with some cynical comments as to the gear that wouldn t work as he did so he examined her sharply and she looked at him with what he thought might be pain or fear or horror in her glance certainly it was not a look a sympathetic interest in the plans of her friends or if they were such her astonishment was so obviously sincere revealing in a way that it all but won him he could not make himself believe that she had had a hand in that anyhow it must be as said that she was more of a tool herself than anything else she probably couldn t help herself very well or didn t know the to which her pretended friends were prepared to go her eyes seemed troubled sad she seemed weaker more futile than at any time since he had known her and this while it did not add particularly to his respect softened his personal he felt that under the circumstances he might come to like her he also thought that she might be made to like him enough to help him he had the mastery of her he thought and that was something he had described the incident with all the of detail that he could showing how he and had escaped death by a hair s breadth she seemed a little sick and shortly after left the table had taken good care to make it plain that the strangers in the other car had been informed as to the exact details of the case and had offered their services as witnesses in case were wanted but wc don t propose to do anything about it he said not now anyhow and it was then will you walk my parlor s that she seemed to become a little sick or faint and left him whether owing to this conversation or the accident itself or to circumstances concerning which he knew nothing there now seemed to come a temporary lull in the of this group the blue disappeared as an active daily fact in their lives mrs was called to the city on business for a few days as well as mr the cloak and suit man as always called him who in all the time he had been there had never publicly joined them mrs came back later as cheerful and as ever but in the meanwhile there had been an approach on the part of toward himself which seemed to promise a new order of things she was more natural and more genial than die had been hitherto she was with him more smiling playful and yet concerned he thought because of their conversation the morning after the accident he felt easier in her presence more confidential as though he might be able to talk to her about all this soon and get her to help him they had two hours together on the second afternoon of the absence of the others which brought them within sight of each other s point of view it began after lunch because had some reports to examine and was staying here to do it she came over and stood beside him what are you doing she asked oh fm looking up some facts he replied smiling up at her sit down they fell into conversation first about a match which was being held here and then about his i o will you walk into my parlor work which he described in part after observing that she knew all about it or ought to why do you always talk to me that way about everything in connection with you she asked after a moment s pause ou have such a queer way of speaking as though i knew something i ought not to know about your affairs well you do don t you he questioned grimly staring at her now there it is again what do you mean by that do you really need to have me explain to you he went on in a hard cynical manner as though you didn t know i don t suppose you ever heard of the union bank of for instance or mr its president or mr or mr the at the mention of these as at the mention of the accident there was something which seemed to click like a in her eyes only this time there was no sign of pain none even of confusion she seemed except for a faint trace of color to be fairly calm and poised she opened her mouth slightly but more in an attempted smile of than anything else the union bank mr mr what are you talking about she persisted who is mr and where is the union bank really now miss he said with a kind of fury if you want me to have any regard of any kind for you in the future quit lying about this you know well enough what i mean you know who mr is all right and why he left will you walk into my parlor n you also know mr although i heard you say you didn t and that right after i had seen you walking with him out here on the three weeks ago you don t remember that i suppose this as she fluttered slightly stared completely shaken out of her composure and a real flush spread over her cheeks and neck for the moment her expression hardened the least bit then gave way to one of mingled weakness and confusion she looked more or less guilty and why mr she pleaded weakly how you talk positively i haven t the slightest idea of what you mean and i wish you wouldn t be so rough i don t think you know what you re talking about or if you do you certainly don t know anything about | 43 |
me you must have me mixed up with some one else or with something that i don t know anything about she moved as if to leave now listen to me a minute he said sharply and don t be so ready to leave you know who i am and just what i m doing i m running an investigation on my own account with which i mean to break up the present city political ring and i have a lot of evidence which might cause mr and the mayor and some others a lot of trouble this fall and they know it and that s why you re out here mr is connected with the mayor and he used to be a bosom friend of your friend jack and and mrs are in his employ right now and so are you you think i don t know that and his friends were working with you and mrs and and these will you walk into my parlor also and that tried to run into us the other night and kill me and that tm being watched here all the time and on but i am and i know it and fm not in the dark as to anything not one thing not even you and he at her angrily now wait a moment he went on quickly as she opened her mouth and started to say you don t look to me to be so and devilish as all this seems or i wouldn t be talking to you at all and your manner all along has been so different you ve appeared so friendly and sympathetic that i ve thought at times that maybe you didn t know exactly what was going on now however i see that you do your manner the other morning at breakfast made me think that possibly you were not so bad as you seemed but now i see that you ve been lying to me all along about all this just as i thought only i must say that up to now i haven t been to believe it this isn t the first time an attempt has been made to get people in this way though it s an old political trick only you re trying to work it once more and i don t propose that you shall work it on me if i can help it plainly you people wouldn t hesitate to kill me any more than hesitated to ruin three years ago or than he hesitate to ruin me or any other man or woman who got in his path but he hasn t got me yet and he s not going to and you can tell him that for me he s a he a bunch of the mayor and au the people working with him and if you re in with them as i know you are and know what you re doing you re a too will you walk into my parlor oh oh oh don t she exclaimed please don t this is too terrible to think that you should talk to me in this way but she made no attempt to leave now i want to tell you something more miss if that s you real name went on as she was putting her hands to her temples and exclaiming and she again as i said before you don t look to me to be as bad as you seem and for that reason i m talking to you now but just see how it is here i am a young man just starting out in the world really and here you are trying to ruin me i was living here with my wife and my little two year old baby peacefully enough until she had to go to the mountains because our little boy was taken sick and then you and mrs and and and the and all the rest of the crowd that are and have been around here watching and came and began to cause me trouble now i m not helpless and you needn t think i wasn t warned before you came because i was there are just as many influential men on my side of the fence right now as there are on s will be and he isn t going to get away with this thing as easily as he thinks but just think of your part in all this why should you want to ruin me or help these people what have i ever done to you i can understand s wanting to do it he thinks that i have facts which will injure him and i have and that because i haven t made any public statement the evidence is still in my hands and that if i am put out of the way or the whole thing will blow over and nothing will happen to but it will you walk into my parlor won t not now any more it can t this thing will go on just the same whether i am here or not but that isn t the point either i was told two months ago that you would come not by mrs but by friends of mine and that an attempt would be made on my life and at that she opened her eyes wide and sat there apparently amazed and here you are on time and doing just as you were told and you aren t the least bit ashamed to do it but don t you think it s a pretty shabby game for you to play he stared at her wearily and she at him but now for the moment she said nothing just sat there that big blue machine that was to have killed me the other night he went on stretching matters a little | 43 |
in so far as his own knowledge was concerned was all arranged for long before you came down here i haven t the slightest idea why you work for but i know now that that s what you re doing and i m sick of you and the whole thing you re just a plain little that s all and i m through with you and this whole thing and i don t want you to talk to me any more what s more i m not going to leave this hotel either and you can take that news to if you want to or mrs or whoever else is managing things here for him i ve kept a day to day record of everything that s happened so far and i have witnesses and if anything more happens to me here i m going to the newspapers and expose the whole thing if you had any sense of decency left you wouldn t be in on anything like this but you haven t you re just a shabby little and that lets you out and that s all i have to say will you walk into m parlor he stood up and made as if to walk oflf while miss sat there seemingly dazed then jumped up and called after him mr please please mr i want to tell you something he stopped and turned she came hurriedly up to him don t go she pleaded not just yet wait a minute please come back i want to talk to you and though he looked at her rather he followed her well he asked you don t understand how it is she pleaded with i a look of real concern in her eyes and i can t tell you either just now but i will some time if you will let me but i like you and i really don t want to do you any harm really i don t i don t know anything about these things you re telling about truly i don t they re all terrible and horrible to me and if they are trying to do anything like that i don t know it and i won t have anything more to do with it really i won t oh it s terrible and she clenched her hands t do know mr diamond now i admit that but i didn t before i came down here and mr and mr i did come here to see if i could get you interested in me but they didn t tell me just why they told me mrs did that you or some people whom you represented were trying to get evidence against some friends of theirs mr s i believe who were absolutely innocent that you weren t happy with your wife and that if some one any one were able to make you fall in love with her or just become very will walk into my parlor good friends she might be able to persuade not to do it you see there wasn t any plan so as i know to injure you bodily in any way they didn t mc that they wanted to injure you physical really they didn t that s all news to me and dreadful all they said was that they wanted to get some one to get you to stop make it worth your while in a money way if i could i didn t think there was anything so very wrong in that seeing all they have done for mc in the past mr mrs and some others but after i saw you a little while i she paused and looked at him then away i didn t think you were that kind of a man you see and so well it s different now i don t want to do anything to hurt you really i don t i couldn t now so you admit now that you do know mr he commented but not without a sense of triumph behind it all i just told you that she said she d and stared at her suspiciously that she liked him plain and in a sense it was different from that of a mere passing and as for himself well he couldn t help liking ber in a genial way he was free to admit that to himself in spite of her and that she was attractive and as yet she personally had not done anything to him certainly nothing that he could prove she seemed even now so young although so and wise and much about her face its the delicate of hair about her the drooping of the upper lip sharpened his interest and caused him to well he inquired after a time will you walk l to my parlor oh i wish vou wouldn t turn on me so and leave me she pleaded i haven t done anything to you have i not yet anyhow that s just the point not yet there s the whole story in a yes but i promise you faithfully that i won t that i don t intend to really i don t you won t believe me but that s true and i won t i give you my word truly why won t you still be friends with me i can t tell you any more about myself now than i have not now but i will some time and i wish you would still be friends with me i promise not to do anything to cause you trouble i haven t really have i have i how should i know he answered and roughly the while believing that this was a deliberate attempt on her part to interest him in spite of himself to get | 43 |
came and which he had been accustomed to frequent as a splendid place to walk and smoke but not any more he was too certain of being picked up there or of being joined by mrs and only to be left with with possibly the three or a as witnesses he could not help thinking how ridiculous it all was he even took he and in s car and mrs with them or not as the case might be it was all well enough so long as was along to one place or another in the immediate vicinity never far and always the two of them armed and ready for any emergency or as they said it seemed a thing to do still they felt a little by their success so far and besides was decidedly attractive to both of them now that she had confessed her affection for she was most with him and genial to and him and calling him the was always over how well he and were managing the affair more than once he had pointed out even in her presence that there was an element of sport or fascinating drama in iu that she couldn t fool them all of which was helping to pass the time even though his own and s life or at least their reputation might be at stake go on go on is my advice kept saying now that he was being amused let her fall in love with you make her testify on your behalf get a confession in black and white if you can it would be a great thing in the campaign if you were com will you walk into my parlor to use it he was a most practical and political soul for all his could not quite see himself doing that however he was too fond of her she was never c so yielding so close to him as now when he and were out with her now the two of them ventured to rag her as to her part in all this asking her whether the other car were handy whether the had been properly lined up and as to who was behind this tree or that house there d be no use in going if everything wasn t just right they said she took it all in good part even laughing and mocking them better look out here comes a spy now she would sometimes exclaim at sight of a driving a wagon or a farm hand pushing a to both and it was becoming a farce and yet between themselves they agreed that it had its charm they were probably her and they would all quit soon they hoped so anyhow but then one night just as they had concluded that there might not be so very much to this plot after all that it was about all over and mrs was writing that she would soon be able to return tlie unexpected happened they were returning from one of those shorter which had succeeded the longer ones of an earlier day and and and true to his idea of avoiding any routine which might be seized upon by the enemy as something to expect and therefore to be used passed the main entrance and drove instead around to a side path which led to a sunk in porch will vou walk l to my parlor on either side l y high x x hedges and sheltered pines true also to their agreed plan of never being separated on occasions like this they both walked to the door with his car so that it could not be moved during his absence on the steps of this side porch they a little about another safe night and how hard it was on the to keep them up so late and moving about in the dark in this fashion when said she was tired and would have to go she laughed at them for their you two think you re very smart don t you she smiled a little wearily it would serve you right if something did happen to both of you one of these days you know so much is that so chuckled well don t hold any midnight as to this you ll lose your beauty sleep if you do to which added yes with all this hard work ahead of you every day i should think you d have to be careful oh hush and go on she laughed moving toward the door but they had not gone more than a hundred and fifty feet down the shadowy side path before she came running after them quite out of breath oh dear she called sweetly as she them and they having heard her footsteps had turned i m so sorry to trouble you but some one has locked that side door and i can t open it or make them hear won t one of you come and help me then as the two of them turned that s right i forgot you always work in pairs don t you will you walk l to my parlor smiled also they couldn t help it it was so ridiculous at times on occasions like this for instance v ell you see how it is the door may be very closed and it might take the two of us to get it open seeing that was really coming he changed his mind i guess i can get it open for her don t bother this time i ll have to be going in anyhow he added the thought came to him that he would like to be with a little while just a few moments left them after a look and a cheery good night in all the time they had been together they had not done this but this time it seemed all right had | 43 |
never felt quite so close to as he did this evening she had seemed so warm laughing gay the night had been but mellow they had and over such trifling things and now he felt that he would like to be with her a while longer she had become more or less a part of his life or seemingly so such a genial companion he took her arm and tucked it under his own it was nice over there at the he commented thinking of an inn they had just left beautiful grounds and that music it was delightful wasn t it they had been dancing together oh dear she sighed the summer will soon be over and then i ll have to be going back i suppose i wish it would never end i wish i could stay here forever just like this if you were here she stopped and looked at the taking a full breath and stretching out her arms and do look at those fire flies will you walk into my parlor she added aren t wonderful she hung back watching the flashing fire flies under the trees why not sit down here a little while he proposed as they the steps it isn t late yet do you really mean it she asked warmly you see fm beginning to be so foolish as to want to trust you isn t that yes i m even going to risk fifteen minutes with vou ml i wish you two would quit your just once she pleaded i wish you would learn to trust me and leave behind just once in a while seeing that i ve told you so often that i mean to do nothing to hurt you without telling you beforehand looked at her pleased he was moved a little sorry for her and a little for himself in spite of himself his wife and baby as he now saw he had come along a path he should not have and with one whom he could not respect or there was no future for them together as he well knew now or at any other time still he lingered well here we are he said alone at last now you can do your worst and i have no one to protect me it would serve you right if i did mr but if i had suggested that we sit down for a minute you would have believed that the wood was full of it s too funny for words the way you carry on but you ll have to let me go upstairs to change my shoes just the same they ve been me dreadfully and i can t stand them minute if you want to you can come up to the other balcony will you walk into my parlor or i ll come back here i won t be a minute do you mind not at all he assented thinking that the other balcony would not be as open as this much too private for him and her certainly not run along but i d rather you came back here i want to smoke anyhow and he drew out his cigar and was about to make himself comfortable when she came back but you ll have to get this door open ic me he said i forgot about that oh yes that s right he approached it looking first for the large key which always hung on one side at this hour of the night but not seeing it looked at the lock the key was in it i was trying before i put it there she explained he laid hold of it and to his surprise it came open without any effort whatsoever a thing which caused him to turn and look at her i thought you said it wouldn t open he said well it wouldn t before i don t know what makes it work now but it wouldn t then perhaps some one has come out this way since anyhow i ll run up and be down right away she hurried up the broad flight of stairs which ascended leisurely from this entrance returned to his chair amused but not conscious of anything odd or out of the way about the matter it might well have been as she said doors were contrary at times or some one might have come down and pushed it open why always keep doubting perhaps she really was in love with him as she seemed to indicate or and would o will you walk into my parlor net permit any one to injure him through her it would seem so really after all he kept saying to himself she was different now to what he had originally thought and what she had originally been caught in a of her own emotions and compelled by him to do differently from what she had previously planned if he were not married as happily as he was might not something come of this he wondered the black green wall of the trees just beyond where he was the yellow light from the one l owl lamp which ornamented the ceiling the and the all soothed and entertained him he was beginning to think that politics was not such a bad business after all his end of it at least or being pursued even his work thus far had yielded him a fair salary furnishing as it had excellent copy for some of the newspapers and political the best was being reserved for the last nd was leading him into more interesting ways than the old newspaper days had and the future outside of what had happened in the last few weeks looked promising enough soon he would be able to deal the current administration a body blow this might raise him to a high position he had not been so easily as | 43 |
they had hoped and this very attractive girl had fallen in love with him for a while he stared down the black green path up which they had come and then fixed his eyes in lazy contemplation on one of the groups of stars showing above the suddenly or was it suddenly more a whisper or an idea he seemed to become aware of something that sounded as he will you walk into my parlor listened more keenly like a light in the garden beyond the hedge it was so very light a mere of the grass or stirring of a he pricked up his ears and on the instant strained every muscle and himself not that lie imagined anything very dreadful was going to happen but were they up to their old tricks again was this the wonderful again would they never stop removing the cigar from his mouth and the in which he had been slowly moving to and fro he decided not to stir not even to move his hands so well concealed was he from the bushes on either side by the arrangement of the posts one of which was to the left of him in this position he might see and not be seen did they know he was there how had they found out were they always watching yet was she a part of it he decided to get up and leave but a moment later thought it better to linger just a little to wait and see if he left and she came back and did not find him there could it be that there was some new trick on foot while he was thus swiftly meditating he was using his ears to their utmost certainly there was a light approaching along the other side of the hedge to the left two in fact for no sooner was one seem still near at hand than another was heard coming from the same direction as light and delicate as that of a cat even as he well knew it was so amazing this and so desperate and cruel that it made him a little sick perhaps after all he had have kept with him not have lingered in this fashion he was about to leave a nervous thrill chasing up and j will you walk into my parlor down his when he heard what he took to be s step on the stair then she was coming back after all as she had said she was not a part of this as he had feared or was she who could tell but it would be foolish to leave now she would see that he was wholly suspicious again and that stage had somehow seemed to be passing between them she had promised on more than one occasion to protect him against these others let alone herself anyhow he could speak of these and then leave he would let her know that they were hanging about as usual always ready to take advantage of his good nature but now her step having reached the bottom of the stair and ceased she did not come out instead a light that was beside the door but out at this hour was turned on and glancing back he see her shadow or thought he could on the wall opposite to the right she was doing something what there was a mirror below the light she might be giving her hair a last pat she had probably arrayed herself slightly differently for him to see he waited still she did not come then swiftly a sense of something treacherous came over him a creeping sensation of being and defeated he felt over his nerves this thrilling fear which seemed to almost convey the words move hurry run he could not sit still a moment longer but as if under a great leaped to his feet and sprang to the door just as he thought he heard additional movements and even whispers in the dark outside what was it who now he would see inside he looked for her and there she was but will you walk into my parlor how different when she had gone upstairs she had been arrayed in a dress very smart and out door but here she was clothed in a soft clinging such as one would never wear outside the hotel and instead of being adjusted with her customary care it was decidedly as though she might have been in some disturbing and unhappy contest the collar was slightly torn and pulled open i sleeve at the shoulder and wrist the hang of the skirt over the and the skirt itself torn a ragged over the knee her face had been powdered to a dead white or she herself was overcome with fear and distress and the hair above it was as though it had been shaken or pulled to one side her whole appearance was that of one who had been assailed in some evil manner and who had come out of the contest as to her clothes and shaken as to her nerves brief as his glance was was amazed at the he was so taken that he could not say anything but just what it all meant came to him in an flash to fly was his one thought to get out of the vicinity of this not to be seen or taken near it with one bound he was away and up the easy stair three at a time not pausing to so much as look back at her meeting her first wide half frightened stare with one of astonishment answer and fear nor did he pause until he had reached his own door through which he fairly jumped himself in as he did so once inside he stood there white and shaking waiting for any sound which might follow | 43 |
any pursuit but hearing none going to his mirror and mocking at himself for being such a fool as to will vol walk into my parlor be so easily taken in after all his caution and talk lord he sighed lord and after all her and promises this very evening too he thought what a revelation of the and treachery of human nature so she had been lying to him all the time leading him on in the face of his almost precautions and suspicions and to night almost at the close of the season had all but succeeded in him then was not so easily to be after all he commanded greater loyalty and in his than he had ever dreamed but what could he say to her now that he knew what she really was if ever he saw her again she would just laugh at him think him a fool even though he had managed to escape would he ever want to see her again never he thought but to think that any one so young so smooth so seemingly affectionate could be so so clever and cruel she was much more than either he or had g ven her credit for after moving the and chairs in front of the door he called up and sat waiting for him to come actually as he saw it now she had meant to stage a seeming assault in which he would have been accused as the criminal and if they had sufficient witnesses he might have had a hard time proving otherwise after all he had been g about with her a great deal he and and after he had told himself that he would not her witnesses were there close upon him in the dark even though he might be able to prove his will you walk into my parlor ous good character still considering the suspicious fact that he had with her and this treacherous situation so long would a jury or the public believe him a moment or two more and she would have screamed out that he was attacking her and the whole hotel would have been aroused her secret friends would have rushed forward and beaten him who knows they might even have killed him and their excuse would have been that they were justified unquestionably she and her friends would have produced a cloud of witnesses but she hadn t screamed there was a curious point as to that even though she had had ample time and she had had and it was expected of her and intended that she should why hadn t she what had prevented her a strange disturbing thought began to take root in his mind but on the instant also he did his best to crush it no no i have had enough now he said to himself she did intend to compromise me and that is all there is to it and in what a fashion horrible no this is the end i will get out now to morrow that is one thing certain go to my wife in the mountains or bring her home meanwhile he sat there trembling revolver in hand wiping the sweat from his face for he did not know but that even yet they might follow him here and attempt the charge of assault anyhow would they could they just then some one knocked on his door and after demanding to know who it was opened it to he quickly told him of his evening s experience well said heavily and yet she certainly is the limit that was a clever say what you will a wonder and the coolness of her will you walk into my parlor why she with us about it i thought you were taking a chance but not a great one i was coming around to thinking she might be all right and now think of this i agree with you that it is time for you to leave i don t think you ll ever get her over to your side she s too the next morning was up early and on the smoking and meditating as to his exact course he would go now of course and probably never see this girl with her s heart again what a revelation to think that there were such clever beautiful about in the same world with such women as his wife contrast them his wife faithful self sacrificing patient her one object the welfare of those whom she truly loved and then put on the other side of the scale this girl an one without scruples or morals her sole object in life apparently to advance herself in any way that she might and that at the expense of everybody and everything he wanted to leave without seeing her but in spite of himself he sat on telling himself that it would do no harm to have just one last talk with her in order to clear up whether she had really intended to scream or no whether she was as evil as he really thought now her with her enormous treachery and her for the she was what new lie would she have on her tongue now he wondered would she be able to face him at all would she explain could she he would like to take one more look at her or see if she would try to avoid him completely this morning she must be meditating on how unfortunately she had failed missed out and only will you walk into my parlor last night she had taken his hand and smoothed it and whispered that she was not so bad so mean as he thought her to be and that some day he would find it out and now see he waited a considerable time and then sent up word that he wanted to see her | 43 |
he did not want to see this thing closed in this fashion with no chance to at least her to see what new lie she would tell after a while she came down pale and seemingly exhausted a weary look ai out her eyes as though she had not slept to his astonishment she came over quite simply to where he was sitting and when he stood up at her approach as if to ward her off stood before him seemingly weaker and more hopeless than ever hat an excellent he thought he had never seen her so downcast so completely overcome so well he began as she stood there new lie have you fixed up to tell me this morning no lie she replied softly what not a single lie anyhow you ll begin by won t you you re doing that already your friends made you do it of course didn t they was right there and mrs they were all waiting for you when you went up and told you just what to do and how it had to be done wasn t that it and you had to do it too didn t you he sneered told you i didn t have anything to say she answered i didn t do anything i mean i didn t intend to except to signal you to run but when you burst in on me that way he waved an impatient hand oh all right she went on sadly i will you walk into my parlor can t help it if you won t believe me but it s true just the same everything you think all except that plot and this is true but i m not asking ou to believe me any more i can t help it if you won t it s too late but i had to go through my part anyhow please don t look at me that way ed not so hard you don t know how really weak i am or what it is that makes me do these things but i didn t want to do anything to hurt you last night not when i left you and i didn t i hadn t the slightest intention really i hadn t oh well sneer if you want to i couldn t help myself though just the same relieve it or not nothing was farther from my mind u hen i came in only oh what a state my life has come to anyhow she suddenly exclaimed you don t know your life s not a mess like mine people have never had you in any position where they could make you do things that s just the trouble i men never know women really i should say not he but i have had to do so things i didn t want to do but i m not pleading with you ed really i m not i know it s all over between us and no use only i wish i could make you believe that as bad as i am i ve never wanted to be as bad to you as i ve seemed really i haven t oh honestly oh cut that stuff please he said i m sick of it it wasn t to hear anything like that that i sent for you the reason i asked you to come down here merely to see how far you would face it out whether you would have the nerve to come really that was oh just to see whether you would have a new lie to spring and i see you have you re a won will you walk into my parlor der you are but like to ask you just one favor on t you please let me alone in the future fm tired and i can t stand it any longer fm going away now this fellow you are working for is very clever but it s all over it really is you ll never get another chance at me if i know myself he started to walk off ed ed she called please just a minute don t go yet ed she begged there s something i want to say to you first i know all you say is true there s nothing you can say that i haven t said to a thousand times but vou don t understand what my life has been like what i ve suffered how been pushed around and i can t tell you now either not now our family wasn t ever in society as mrs pretended you knew that of course t g j j p any x and had a hard time too terrible and she began her eyes j know i m np good last night proved it to me s a fact but i hadn t cant t o do ny harm even when i came alone that really t didn t i pretended to be willing that hear me out ed an please don t go yet i could signal jou to run without seeing me really i did when i first left you was locked arid back for that sole reason i suppose did something to it so i couldn t open it t here were others up there they made me go back i can t tell you how or why or who but they were all about me they always are they re determined to get you ed in one way or another even if i don t help them and fm telling you you d better look out for yourself please do go away from will walk into my parlor here don t anything more to do with me don t have anything more to do with any of these people i | 43 |
can t help myself honestly i can t i didn t want to but oh she wrung her hands and sat down wearily you don t know how i m placed with them what it is yes well fm tired of that stuff now added and i suppose they told you to run back and tell me this so as to win my sympathy again oh you little liar you make me sick what a and a you really are ed ed she now sobbed please please won t you understand how it is they have watched every entrance every time we ve gone out since i came here it doesn t make any difference which door you come through they have men at every end i didn t know about it until i went upstairs really i didn t oh i wish i could get out of all this i m so sick of it all i told you that i m fond of you and i am oh i m almost crazy i wish sometimes that i could die i m so sick of everything my life s a shabby mess and now you ll hate me all the time and she rocked to and fro in a kind of misery and cried silently as she did so stared at her amazed but yes he insisted i know the same old stuff but i don t believe it you re lying now just as you have been all along you think by crying and pretending to feel sad that you might get another chance to trick me but you won t i m out of this to day once and for all and i m through with you there s no use in my appealing to the police under this administration or i d do that but i want to tell you this will you walk into my parlor if you follow me any longer or any of this bunch around here fm going to the newspapers there ll be some way of getting this before the courts somewhere and r try it and if you really were on the level and wanted to do anything there s a way all right but you wouldn t do it if you had a chance never not in a million years i know you wouldn t oh ed ed you don t know me or how i feel or what i ll do she you haven t given me a chance why don t you suggest something if you don t believe me and see well i can do that easily enough he replied sternly i call that bluff here and now write m p out a c of s been going on here let me r you dictate it and then with me to a or ihe district attorney and swear to it now we ll see just how much there is to this talk about caring for me and he watched her closely the while she looked at him her eyes drying and her sobs ceasing she seemed to pause and stare at the floor in a mood yes well that s different isn t it i see how it is now you didn t think i d have just the thing to call your bluff with did you and just as i thought you won t do it well i m you now so good day i have your measure at last good by and he started off ed she called jumping up suddenly and starting after him ed wait don t go i ll do what you say i ll do anything you want you don t be i will but i will i m sick of this life i really am i don t care what they do to me now afterwards but just the same i ll come please don t be so hard will you walk into my parlor on me ed can t see can t you see ed how i feel about you crazy about you i really am i m not all bad ed really can t you that only only and by no v he had come back and was looking at her in an incredulous way i wish you cared a little ed do you just a little can t you if i do this he looked at her with mingled astonishment doubt contempt pity and even affection after its kind would she really do it and if she did what could he offer her in the way of that which she nothing tie knew that she could never herself from this awful group by which she was surrounded her past the memory of the things she had tried to do to him and he he was married he was happy with his wife no there was his his future his present position but that past of hers what was it ht w could it be that people could control another person in this way she claimed especially like these and why wouldn t she tell him about it what had she done that was so terrible as to give them this power even tf lie did care for her what chance would he have her itself to either or escape the of secret enemies that was him and her just now they would be discovered and forth at their worst all the details that would make it impossible for him to come forth personally and make the charge which would constitute him champion of the people no no no but why considering all her efforts against him should she come to his rescue now or by doing so will you walk into parlor expect him to do anything for her by way of return he smiled at her a little sadly yes well i can t talk to | 43 |
you about that now not for the present anyhow you re either one of the greatest and that fever lived you re a little light in the upper story at any rate i should think that you might see that you could scarcely expect me to like you let alone to love you all things considered and particularly since this other thing has not been straightened out you may be lying right now for all i know acting as usual but even so let s first see what you do about this other and then talk he looked at her then away over the sea to where some boats were coming towards them oh ed she said sadly observing his distracted gaze you ll never know how much i do care for you although you know i must care a lot for you to do this it s the very worst thing i can do for me the end maybe for me but i wish would try and like me a little even if it were only for a little while well let s not talk about that now he replied not until we ve attended to this other anyhow certainly you owe me that much you don t know what my life s been either one long up hill fight but you d l come along with me just as you are if you re coming don t go upstairs to get any hat or to change your shoes t ll get a car here and you can come with me just as you are she looked at him simply directly all right ed but i wish i knew f ow this is going to end i can t come back here this vou know you walk into my parlor if they find it out i know i owe this to you but oh dear i m such a fool women always are where love is concerned and i told myself never let myself get in love any more and now look at me they went off to the city together to his office to a to the district attorney s office a great triumph she confessed all or nearly so how she had formerly been employed by mr how she had met mr there how later after me had fled had employed her in various secretary how she had come to look upon him as her protector where and how she had met mrs and how the latter at mr s request she was not sure only it was an order she said had commanded rather her to do this work though what the was she refused to say it for a later date she was afraid she said once he had this document in his possession was and still he was doubtful of her she asked him what now what more and he re her to leave him at once and to remain away a time until he had time to think and decide what v he wished to do there could be nothing between them not even friendship he reassured her unless he was fully convinced at some time or other that no could come to him his wife his campaign or else time was to be the great x nd yet two weeks later due to a message from her to his office for just one word a few minutes anywhere that he would suggest they met gain this time merely for a moment as he told him will you walk into my parlor self and her it was foolish he shouldn t do it but still at this interview somehow managed to establish a claim on his emotions which it was not easy to overcome it was in one of the small side in the rather out of the way in the great financial district protesting that it was only because she wished to see him just once more that she had done this she had come here she said after having dropped instantly and completely out of the life at hall not returning even for her wardrobe as he understood it and hiding away in an quarter of the city until she could make up her mind what to do she seemed wa r much alone she did not know what was to become of her now what might befall her still she was not so unhappy if only he would not think badly of her any more he had to smile at her seemingly pathetic faith in what love might do for her to think that love should turn a woman about like this it was fascinating and so sad he was fond of her in a way he now himself quite sincerely so her interest in him was pleasing even moving but what is it you expect of me he kept saying over and over you know we can t go on with this there s the girl and the kid i won t do anything to harm them and besides the campaign is just beginning even this is foolish of me i m taking my career in my hands this lunch will have to be the last i tell you well ed she agreed looking h him at the very close of the meal you have made up your mind haven t you then you re not going to see me e you seem so distant now that wet e back y will you walk into my parlor in town do you feel so badly toward me ed am i really so bad well you see for yourself how it is don t you he went on it can t be you are more or less identified with that old crowd even though you don t want to be they know things about you you say and | 43 |
they certainly wouldn t be slow to use them if they had any reason for so doing of course they don t know anything yet about this confession unless you ve told them and i don t propose that they shall so long as i don t have to use it as for me i have to think of mv wife and kid and i want to do anything them if ey il this would break her all up and i don t want to do she s been too square and we ve gone through too much together i ve thought it all over and convinced that what i m going to do is for the best we have to separate and i came here to day to tell you that i can t see you any more it can t be can t you see that not even for a little while not even for a day it just can t be i m fond of you and you ve been a brick to pull me out of this but don t you see that it can t be don t you really see how it is she looked at him then at the table for a moment and then out over the buildings of the great city oh ed she reflected sadly i ve been such a fool i don t mean about the confession i m glad i did that but just in regard to everything i ve done but you re right ed i ve felt all along that it would have to end this way even the morning i agreed to make the confession but i ve been making myself will you walk into my parlor hope against hope just because from the very first day i saw you out there i thought i wouldn t be able to hold out against you and now you see i haven t ell all right ed let s say good bye love s a sad old thing isn t it and she began to put on her things he helped her wondering over the strange l of circumstances had brought them together and was now them apart i wish i could do something more for you i really do he said i wish i could say something that would make it a little easier for you for us both but what would be the use it wouldn t really now would it no she replied he took her to the and down to the and there they stopped for a moment well he began and paused it s not just the way i d like it to be but well he extended his hand here s luck and good by then he turned to go she looked up at him ed she said wait aren t don t you want to she put up her lips her eyes seemingly misty with emotion he came back and putting his arm about her drew her lips to his as he did so she clung to him seeming to vent a world of feeling in this their first and last kiss and then turned and left him never stopping to look back and being quickly lost in the immense mass which was by as he turned to go though he observed two separate men with taking the scene from will you walk into my j angles he could scarcely believe his senses as he gazed they stopped their work clapped their together and made for a waiting car before he could really collect his thoughts they were gone and then as i live he exclaimed she did do this to mc after all or did she and after all my feeling for her and all her the little and now they have that picture of me kissing her stung by george and by the same girl or by them and after all the other things avoided that s intended to make that confession worthless she did that because she s changed her mind about me or she never did care for me grim thought did she could she know do a thing like that he wondered is it she and or just alone who has been following me all this time he turned solemnly and helplessly away now after all his career was in danger his wife had returned and all was seemingly well but if he proceeded with his as he must then what this picture would be produced he would be disgraced or nearly so then what he might charge fraud a picture produce the confession but could he her arms had been about his neck he had put his about her two different men had taken them from different angles could he explain that could he find again was it wise would she testify in his behalf if so what good would it do ould any one in politics at least believe a morally man he doubted it the the contempt no one except his wife and she could not help him here will you walk into my parlor k at heart a nd de he on now clearly convinced that because of this one silly act of kindness all his work of months undone and that r ever h e nt e r t h e pr land of his better future not here at least that future to which he had forward with so much hope neither he nor his wife nor child fool fool he exclaimed to himself heavily and then fool fool why had he been so sympathetic and why so interested but finding no answer and no clear way of escape save in denial and counter charges he made his way slowly on toward that now dreary office where so long he | 43 |
had worked but where now because of this he might possibly not be able to work at least with any great profit to himself o l t l thought w hat cl ever those two were or could not be sure of and so thinking he left the great crowd at his own that vast which and the and all the daily and using the same crowd which had wished to help and against whom as well as himself this little plot l a j been and so easily and finally so successfully worked v the of the j tt would be difficult to say just how the trouble aboard the began or how we managed to sail without things going to every fifteen minutes but these same constitute the business of this narrative it was at and the weather w s hot some of us one in particular were mortal tired of the we were leading it was a dingy old shop inside loaded with machines and apparatus and all the that go to make up the little and furniture that use and the labor of making them was to about a hundred men all told painters an engineer and a yard handling a score of guineas all of whom were too dull to interest the three or four wits who in the engine room old j the r was one of these a big sort of fellow five foot eleven if he was an inch with of flesh showing through his thin shirt and tight trousers and his face and neck constantly standing in beads of sweat tl g i r e smith a small man of five with arms like a and a face that was expressive of a goodly humor whether it was very brilliant or not the village smith as we used to call him then there was ike little ike the blacksmith s who was about as queer little cabin boy as ever did service on an ocean going steamer the of the or in a blacksmith s shop a small lad whose coat was three and his trousers four times too large for him hand me downs from some mysterious source immensely larger members of his family i presume he had a battered face such as you sometimes see given to represented in bronze and his ears were excessively large he had a big of dirty yellow teeth two or three missing in front his eyes were small and his hands large but a sweeter soul never crept into a smaller or more body poor little ike to think how near came to being driven from his job by our tom foolishness i should say here that the w as not a boat at an rd d out ot our o n long s point where the the i nd where stood th i i hop in all worked w to the south of us water to the west of us water to the north of us and the railroad behind us just like the four or was it the six hundred at anyhow we got our idea from the shop and the water all around and e said after mu ch g about one thi ng and we were h r and that the men the crew that the was the and i was the mate if everything were ship shape nd this a and truly ocean going vessel as i said before i do not know exactly how the idea started except that it did old john was al ways admiring the beautiful that passed up and down the of the outside and this may have had something to do with it anyhow he would stand in the of his engine room and the of the watch everything in the shape of a craft that went up and down the stream he didn t know much about boats but he loved to comment on their charms just the same that there now must be s he used to say of a fine black craft that had a finish to it an that there s the governor s wouldn think now them d feel comfortable a back there on the deck an them dollar cigars on a day like this aw it would usually be hot and the water a flashing blue when he became excited over the question right o i once commented aw them s the boys as knows how to live i wouldn like better on a day like this than to set out there in one o them easy chairs an do up about a pound o tobacco come now wouldn t that be the ideal life for your uncle it truly would i replied sadly but with n inherent desire to only i don t think my uncle is doing so very badly under the i notice he isn t losing any flesh well i i m a little stout i ll admit still them conditions would be more congenial like i ain t as active as i used to be a nice an some good old fifty cent cigars an a cool breeze d just about do for me you re too modest john you want too little you ought to ask for something more suited to your instincts what do vou say to a house in the of the fifth avenue a country place at and the friendship of a few and well fm not backward he replied if them things was to come my way i guess i could up to em aw truly truly john you re quite right but you might throw in a few of just to show that there are no hard feelings between you and the company while you re waiting for all this i notice your steam is getting low eh what hang the steam | 43 |
the village smith was proud to be hailed as n little ike being of an order of mind that fancied the world ended somewhere abruptly in the rocky mountains and that you really could shoot bu after you left new york did not the meaning of it all at once but at last upon him when he got the idea that we really considered this a ship and that he was the s mate with the privilege of lowering the boats in case of a wreck or other disaster he was beside himself he exclaimed me a n s mate s de real t ing ain t it heave ho and he fell back on the captain s and kicked his heels in the air the of the you want to remember though ike i said once in an evil moment what small things the good and evil fortunes of all things that this is the captain s cabin and s mates are not much on a vessel such as the if you want to retain your position you want to be respectful and above all obedient for instance if the captain should choose to have you act as for a few minutes now and then it would be your place to rejoice at the request you get that do you not on yer life replied ike who understood well enough that this meant more work that s right though in big john pleased beyond measure at this latest development i m captain here now an you don t want to forget that no back lip from any n s mate what the mate says goes the for yours n on orders from the captain now to show that the boat s in order you can in a few right now na i will not come ike i said no you can t go back on the captain like that we have the irons for and i eyed a pile of old rusty chains lying outside the door we might have to him up cap and lay him down below and to prove the significance of my thought i up one end of a chain and rattled it solemnly the captain half choked with fat laughter that s right the there ike ike looked as if he doubted the regularity of this as if life on the deep might not be all that it was cracked up to be but for the sake of regularity and in order not to be reduced to the shameful the of the tion of a or worse irons which was the only alternative offered he complied after he had thrown in eight we both agreed that this was true order and that the organization and dignity of the might well l e looked upon now as established v things went from good to better we persuaded joe who was the s assistant back at the wheel that his dignity would be greatly in this matter if he were to accept the position of day watch particularly since his labors in that capacity would accord with his duties as a of the road for if he were stationed in the rear front room actually anyhow and compelled owing to the need of receiving and taking away various and boards as they came out of the and machines to walk to and fro it would be an easy matter to notice any suspicious lights on the horizon forward and to come aft at once or at least at such times as the was not looking or when he came to heat his or get a drink and report amiable joe i can see him yet tall stoop shouldered a slight cast in one eye his head like a duck s as he walked a most agreeable and pathetic person his dreams were so simple his wants so few he lived with his sister somewhere in l avenue in a and carried home bundles of to her at night all this great distance to help out he received not earned he did much more than that seventeen and a half cents an hour and dreamed of what i could never the of the quite make out marriage a little cheap flat some here l is so pi th t t ii light on the bow or light on the port bow were the chosen phrases which we told him he was in duty bound to use adding always sir as respectful should also we insisted on his instantly making known to us at such times as we gin happened to be in the engine room together all bell whistle passing vessels and most of all the monthly pay car as it rounded the curve half a mile up the track about the of every month the matter of the approach of the pa car was absolutely without exception if he failed to do that we would be compelled sad as it might be and excellent as his other services had been to put him in irons here we showed him the irons also joe cheerfully accepted for days thereafter he would come back regularly when the need of his coffee or securing a drink and lifting a straight forefinger to his forehead would report light on the port bow sir i think it s in the steel works up the track here or light on the sir it s the fast mail maybe for no thinks joseph i used to you are not supposed to give your thinks if the captain wishes to know what it is he will ask back to the machine for yours joseph joseph shock headed with dusty hair weak eyes and a weaker smile would retire and then we would look at each other the captain and i and grin and he would exclaim the of the pretty fair discipline mate oh i think we ve got | 43 |
em going captain like order mate you re right cap i don t suppose the mate d ever condescend to take orders like that eh mate well hardly cap still you don t want to forget that i m captain mate and you don t want to forget that i m mate captain thus we would one another until one of the crew arrived when without loss of dignity on either side we could easily turn our attention to him and these what a dull crew often non er speaking foreigners against or in front of whom we could jest to our hearts content they could not even guess the amazing things we were ordering them to do on penalty of this that and the other things went from better to best we reached the place where the fact of the shop s being a ship and the engineer the captain and i the mate and the smith the n ad came to be a matter of general knowledge and we were admired and congratulated and laughed with until nearly all the workers of the shop with some trifling and unimportant exceptions the for one began to share our illusion cabinet makers all the one exception as i say was the only he was a host in himself a mean ill creature of i course who looked upon all such ideas as de the of the and in a way of order and good work he was red headed big handed big footed dull he had no imagination beyond lumber and furniture no poetry in his soul but the crew the hundred headed crew accepted it as a relief they liked to think they were not really working but out upon a blue and dancing sea and came back one by one the the the one and all with cheerful to do us honor so you re the captain eh lazy old jack the partner of car asked of the engineer and john looked his full dignity at once that i am jack he replied only able ain t supposed to ask too many familiar questions are they mate well i should say not i replied arriving with a basket of able should always salute the captain before addressing him anyhow and never fail to say sir still our crew is new it s not very able and the end of it is a little on the vm thinking but all things considered we can afford to overlook a few errors until we get everything well in hand eh captain right mate returned the captain you re always right nearly before i could start an argument on this score one of the able one who was thus commented on observed i don t know about that seems to me the mate of this here ship ain t any too much or the captain either the captain and i were a little dismayed by this what to do with an able seaman who was too strong and too dull to take the whole thing in the proper the of the spirit it threatened smooth this particular person was old the carpenter from the second floor who never to us seemed to have quite the right lightness of spirit to a go of all this he was too likely to turn rough but well meant humor into a personal to himself ell captain there you are i said cautiously with a desire to maintain order and yet peace you see it does look that way don t it big john replied the with a expression half humorous half severe what ll we do mate under such circumstances lower a boat captain and set him adrift i suggested or put him on bread and water along with the and the they re the two worst aboard the boat we can t have these breaking up our discipline this last calculated to flatter was taken in good part and over the difficulty for tlie time being nothing was taken so much in good part or seemed to soothe the feelings of the rebellious as to include them with their in an order of punishment which on the very first day of the it had been decided was necessary to lay upon all the guiding officers of the plant we could not hope tc control them so we placed them in irons or lowered them in boats them as an the s office as the lock up it went well oh no oh no i don t want to be put in that class old replied the flattering having smoothed his ruffled soul fm not so bad as all that the of the very well then i replied briskly what do you think captain the latter looked at me and smiled do you think we kin let him go this he inquired of me sure sure i replied if he s certain he doesn t want to join the and the old went away smiling seemingly convinced that we were going to run the at in fashion and before long most of the members of the crew consented to have themselves called able for nearly a month thereafter during all the finest summer weather there existed the most charming life aboard this ideal vessel we used the shop and all its details for the purposes of our fancy became pins the machines of the shop ship s the logs in the yard floating when the yard became too as it did once we pretended we were in and had to cut our way out a process that took quite a few days we were about all day on the weather in phrases strange vessels or on the part of the officers in irons or the men or announcing the various bells etc in an evil hour however we lit upon the wretched habit of upon little ike the butt of a | 43 |
thousand being incapable of grasping the true edge of our humor he was the one soul who was yet genial enough to take it and not complain we called upon him to ashes to split the wood to run aft that the of the was to the back gate and see how the water stood more than once he was threatened with those same irons previously mentioned and on one occasion we actually dragged in a length pretending to bind him with it and fasten him to the with the n s consent of course which resulted in a hearty struggle almost a row we told him we would put him in an old desk we had a prison no less and once or twice in a spirit of john tried to carry out his threat him in much against his will finally we went to the length of attempting to physically enforce our commands when he did not obey which of course ended in disaster it was this way ike was in the habit of sweeping up his room the smith s shop at three o clock in the which was really not reasonable considering that there were three hours of work ahead of all of us and that he was inclined to resent having his fine floor up thereafter on the other hand i had to carry through there all this time and it was a sore temptation to drop a few now and then just for the devil s sake after due consultation with the captain i once requested him td order that the n s mate leave the floor untouched until half four at least which was early enough the n s mate replied with the very cheering news that the captain could go to the devil he wasn t going to kill himself for anybody and besides the l ad once told him he might do this if he chose heaven only knows why what did the captain think that he the n s mate was anyhow here at last was a stiff problem what was to be done plainly this was i the of the the and besides it was and in addition it so our sense of dignity and order that we decided it could not be only how to arrange it we had been putting so much upon the n s mate of late that he was becoming a little rebellious and justly so i think he was always doing a dozen things he need not have done still unless we could command him the whole official management of this craft would go by the board or so we thought finally we decided to act but how direct orders somehow were somewhat difficult to enforce after due meditation we took the n a most officer and one who loved to ike largely because he wanted to feel superior himself i think into our confidence and one late afternoon just after ike had speaking up the deck the latter sent him to some other part of the shop or vessel rather while we over his newly cleaned floor with a and lavish hand it was intensely delicious causing of laughter at the time but ike came back and cleaned this up not without a growl however he did not take it in the cheerful spirit in which we hoped he would in fact he was very about it calling us names and threatening to go to the in the lock up if we did it again however in spite of all and largely because of the humorous spectacle he in his rage presented we did it not once but y three or four times and that after he had most laboriously cleaned his room a last assault one afternoon however resulted in a dash on his part lo the s office i m not goin to stand it he is declared to have said i the of the by one who was by at the time when he appeared in front of that official they re up my floor with s two an three times every day after cleaned it up for the day quit first the that raw non humorous person previously described who evidently with ike and who in addition from various sources had long since learned what was going on came down in a he had decided to stop this nonsense t want you fellows to cut that out now he declared vigorously on seeing us it s all right but it won t do don t rub it in let him alone i ve heard of this ship stuff it s all damn nonsense the captain and mate gazed at each other in sad solemnity could it be that ike had turned traitor this was he had not only complained of us but of the ship the what of soul we retired to a corner of our now vessel and consulted in whispers what would we do would we let her sink or try to save her perhaps it was advisable for the present to cease pushing the joke too far in that quarter anyhow ike might cause the whole ship to be destroyed nevertheless even yet there were ways and ways of keeping her afloat and an even when no official authority existed ike had loved the or rather the captain s office above all other parts of the vessel because it was so comfortable here between tedious moments of iron for the smith or blowing the or various tools that had been sharpened he could retire on occasion when the was not about and the work not pressing it was the very next room to his and the of the gaze from the captain s door or window out on the blue waters of the where lay the and up the same stream where stood the majestic at noon or a | 43 |
little before he could bring his cold coffee sealed in a tin can to the captain s engine and warm it again the captain s comfortable held his coat and hat the captain s wash bowl a large wooden tub to one side of the engine into which comforting warm water could be drawn served as an ideal means of washing up since the l os n s mate had become friendly with the captain he too had all these privileges but now in view of his all this was changed why should a rebellious n s mate be allowed to obtain of the captain more in jest than in earnest one day it was announced that unless the n s mate would forego his angry opposition to a less l ed deck well mate the captain observed to the latter in the presence of the n s mate with a wink and a you know how it goes with these here don t you no more hot coffee at noon time unless there s more order here no more up in the captain s tub no more in the captain s window in the cool breeze as well as them what say eh we know what to do with these here now don t we mate eh this last with a very huge wink you re right captain very right the mate replied you re on the right track now no more unless order must be maintained vou know oh all right replied little ike now fully in earnest and thinking we were if i can t i can t i the of the the same i don t pick up no after four and off he strolled think of it final and complete and there was nothing more really to be done all we could do now was to watch him as he by himself at odd free moments down by the in an odd corner of the point a lonely figure his trousers and coat too large his hands and feet too big his yellow teeth no one of the other ever seemed to be very enthusiastic over ike he was so small so queer no one really but the captain and the mate and now they had deserted him it was tough yet still another ill descended on us before we came to the final loss let us say of the good craft in another evil hour the captain and the mate themselves fell upon the question of a matter which so long as they had had ike to trifle with had never troubled them now as mate and the of this sea going enterprise i began to question the authority of the captain himself occasionally and to insist on sharing as my privilege all the and of the office to wit the best seat in the window where the wind the morning paper when the was not about the right to stand in the doorway use the etc the captain objected solely on the ground of mind and still we fell a the mate in a stormy unhappy hour was reduced by the captain to the position of mere and ordered upon pain of personal assault to the captain s cabin the mate reduced the captain to the position of and stood in the doorway in great glee while the latter the of the owing to the of his xi was compelled to whether he wanted to or no it could not be avoided the engine had to be kept going in addition the mate had brought many morning papers an occasional cigar for the captain etc there was much and discord and finally the whole affair ship captain mate and all was declared by the mate to be a creation of his brain a phantom no less and that by his mere act of it the l whole ship officers men boats sails could be extinguished sent down without a ripple to that of men the jones s the captain was not inclined to believe this at first on the contrary like a good he attempted to sail the craft alone only unlike the mate he lacked the curious faculty of turning jest and fancy into seeming fact there was a something missing which made the whole thing seem unreal like two rival we now called upon a single army to follow us but the crew seeing that there was war in the cabin stood off in doubt and i fancy indifference it was not important enough in their lives to go to the length of the personal ill will of either of us and so for want of agree ment the ship finally disappeared yes she went down the was gone and with her all her fine seas winds distant cities storms for a time indeed we went by each ther it us seeing how in spite of ourselves we had to work in the same room and there was no way of getting rid of each other s the of the presence to find a common ground on which we could work and talk there had never been any real between us just je t you know bu t serious jest a kind of silent sorrow for many fine things gone still that had been enough to keep everything out of order now from time to time each of us thought of restoring the old life in some form however weak it might be without some form of humor the shop was a bore to the mate and the captain anyhow finally the captain to his old and the routine work becoming dreadfully monotonous both mate and captain began to think of some way in which they at least could agree remember the henry asked the one fer time and r weather had over the wretched memory ot previous quarrels and that i do john | 43 |
i replied pleasantly boat vas he h she was john the n s mate he wasn t such a bad old was he henry even if he wouldn t quit up the s he certainly wasn t john he was a fine little remember the chains john echoed that worthy and then do vou the old could ever be found where s down there on the bottom mate well she might captain only she d hardly be the same old boat that she was now that she s been down there so k ng would she all these and so on wouldn t it be easier to build a new one don t you think the of the t don t know but what you re right mate what d we call her if we did well how about the harmony captain that sounds rather appropriate doesn t it the harmony mate you re right the harmony shall we put er there put her there replied the mate with a will we ll a new crew right away captain eh don t you think right wait we ll call the n an see what he says just then the n appeared smiling well what s up he inquired noting our unusually cheerful faces i presume you ain t made it up have you you two he exclaimed that s what we have n an what s more we re of the old an re her the harmony or rather a new one what say it was the captain talking well i m mighty glad to hear it only i don t think you can have your old n s mate any longer boys he s quit quit we both exclaimed at once and sadly and john added seriously and looking really distressed what s the trouble there who s been anything to him now we both felt guilty because of our part in his pains well ike kind o feels that the shop s been it into him of late for some reason observed the n heavily i don t know why he thinks you two have been to him out i guess says he the of the can t do anything any more that everybody makes fun of him and him out we stared at each other in wise illumination the new captain and the new mate after all we were plainly the cause of poor little ike s depression and we were the ones who could restore him to favor if we chose it was the captain s cabin he sighed for his old pleasant oh we can t lose ike captain i said what good would the harmony be without him we surely can t let anything like that happen can we not now anyhow you re right mate he replied there never was a better n s mate never the s got to have im let s talk reason to him if we can in company then we three went to him this time not to torment or but to and plead with him not to the shop or the ship now that everything was going to be as only better and well we did v a v o sl r i ti married tn connection with social one to the other during the few months they had been together there had occurred a number of things which made dearer to and th ib em though it be confessed jt j t i one which had been troubling was not whether he would fit agreeably into her social dreams he knew he would so great was her love for him but whether she would fit herself into his of all his former friends he could think of only a few who would be interested in or she in them she cared nothing for the life except a it concerned him and he knew no other because of his enthusiastic temperament it was easy to see now that she was with him constantly that he could easily be led into one relationship and another which concerned her not at all he was for running here there and everywhere just as he had before marriage and it was very hard for him to see that should always be with him as a matter of fact it occurred to him as strange that she should want to be she would not be interested in all the people he knew he thought now that he was living with her and observing her more closely he was quite sure that most of the people he married had known in the past even in an indifferent way would not appeal to her at all take for instance or or with her theatrical talent or or any of these women of the musical art world with their radical ideas their indifference to appearances and yet any of these i women would be glad to see him by his wife and he would be glad to see them he liked them most of them had not seen but if they had he fancied that they would feel about her much as he did that is that she did not like them really did not fit with their world she could not understand their point of view he saw that she was f or on e all this excitement their gathering in this and that this meeting of and models and theatrical stars which she had heard him and others talking about she suspected of it no good results it was too feverish too far removed from the commonplace of living to which she had been accustomed she had be en raised on a farm where if she was not actually a farmer s daughter she had witnessed what a real struggle for existence meant out the neighborhood | 43 |
of there were ao artists ho models no no such as here about her there people worked and worked hard l her father was engaged at this minute in breaking soil of his for the spring planting an old man with a white beard an honest kindly eye a broad charity a sense of duty her mother was i married y bending daily over a cook stove preparing meals washing dishes sewing clothes mending doing the thousand and one which fall to the lot of every good and mother her sister for all her gaiety and beauty was helping her mother teaching school going to church and taking the commonplace facts of mid western life in a simple good natured way and there was none of that e of which marked the eastern had suggested that they give a tea and decided that they should invite and who were both still moral in francis a young and the latter because she had a charming voice and could help them entertain was willing to invite both miss and miss not because she really wanted to know either of them but because she did not wish to appear arbitrary and especially contrary in her estimation liked these people too much they were friends of too long standing she reluctantly wrote them to come and because they liked and because they wished to see the kind of wife he had they came there was no real friendship to be established between and miss however for their outlook on life was different though miss was as as in her attitude and as set in her convictions but the latter had decided partly because had neglected her partly because was the victor in this contest that he had made a mistake she was convinced that married had not sufficient artistic apprehension sufficient breadth of outlook to make a good wife for him she was charming enough to look at of course she had discovered that in her first visit but there was really not enough in her she was not sufficiently trained in the ways of the world not sufficiently wise and interesting to make him an ideal companion in addition she insisted on thinking this vigorously and smile as she might and be as gracious as she might it showed in her manner noticed it did too he did not dare intimate to either what he thought he felt that there would be no peace it worried him few he liked very much but alas had no good to say of her as for he was grateful to her for the pleasant manner in which she between and she saw at once what s trouble was and did her best to suspicions by treating formally in her presence it was mr here and mr there with most of her remarks addressed to but she did not find it easy sailing after all was suspicious there was none of the old freedom any more which had existed between and he saw by s manner the moment he became the least and free that it would not do that evening he said forgetting himself hey you come over here i want to show you something he forgot all about it afterward but reminded him honey she began when she was in his arms before the fire and he was least expecting it what married makes yo u be so free with people when they call here youve not the kind of man that can really afford to be free with any one don t you know you can t you re too big you re too great you just yourself when you do it and it makes them think that they are your equal when they are not who has l een acting free now he asked on the instant and yet with a certain make believe of manner the storm of feeling the atmosphere of censure and control which this remark why you have she persisted and yet apparently mildly and innocently you always do you don t exercise enough it isn t that you haven t it naturally you just don t exercise it i know how it is you forget stirred with opposition at this for she was striking him on his tenderest spot his pride it was true that he did lack dignity at times he knew it because of his for the beautiful or interest men dramatic situations anything he sometimes became very gay and free talking loudly using expressions laughing it was a failing with him he knew he carried it to excess at times his friends his most intimate ones in the musical profession had noted it before this in his own heart he regretted these things afterward but he couldn t help them apparently he liked excitement freedom gaiety natural ness as he called it it helped him in his musical work but it hurt him if he thought that any one else noticed it as out of the ordinary he was exceedingly sensitive and this developing line of criticism of s was something married new to him he had never noticed anything of that in her before marriage up to the time of the ceremony and for a little while afterward it had appeared to him as if he were and master she had always seemed so dependent on him so anxious that he should take her why her very hfe had been in his hands as it w ere or so he had thought and now he tried to think l over the evening and see what it was he had done or said but he couldn t remember anything everything seemed innocent enough he couldn t recall a single thing and yet i don t know what you re talking about he replied withdrawing into himself i haven t noticed that i lack dignity so much i | 43 |
have a right to be cheerful haven t i you seem to be finding a lot that s wrong with me now please don t get angry she persisted anxious to apply the measure of her criticism but at the same time to use the quickness of his sympathy for her obvious weakness and apparent helplessness to shield herself from him i can t ever tell you anything if you re going to be angry you don t lack dignity generally honey you only forget at times don t you know how it is she was up to him her voice her hand his cheek in a curious effort to combine affection and punishment at the same time felt nothing but wrath resentment failure no i don t he replied what did i do i don t recall doing anything that was so very much out of the way married it wasn t that it was so very much honey it was just the way you did it you forget i know but it doesn t look right it you what did i do he insisted impatiently why it wasn t anything so very much it was just when you had the pictures of those new which mr lent you and you were showing them to miss don t you remember what you said how you called her over to you no he answered having by now completely forgotten he was thinking that accidentally he might have slipped his arm about or that he might have said something put of the way about the pictures but could not have heard he was so careful these days anyway why you said hey you come over here now what a thing to say to a girl don t you see how ugly it sounds how vulgar she can t enjoy that sort of remark particularly in my presence do you think she must know that i can t like it that i d rather you wouldn t talk that way particularly here and if she were the right sort of girl she wouldn t want you to talk to her at all that way don t you know she wouldn t she couldn t now really no good woman would would she flushed angrily good heaven were such innocent simple things as this to be made the subject of comment and criticism was his life because of his sudden marriage to be pulled down to a level he had never previously even contemplated why why this so new to his life so different to anything he had liver endured in his youth or since was certain to him greatly to married be a constant thorn in his flesh it cut him to the core he got up putting away from him for they were sitting in a big chair before the fire and walked to the window i don t see that at all he said i don t see anything in that remark to raise a row about why for goodness sake i have known for years and years it seems although it has only been a little while at that she s like a sister to me i like her she doesn t mind what i say i d stake my life she never thought anything about it no one would who likes me as well as she does do you pitch on that to make a fuss about for heaven s sake please don t swear exclaimed anxiously using this expression for him further it isn t nice in you and it doesn t sound right toward me vm your wife it doesn t make any difference how long you ve known her i don t think it s nice to talk to her in that way particularly in my presence you say you ve known her so well and you like her so much very well but don t you think you ought to consider me a little now that i m your wife don t you think that you t to want to do anything like that any more even if you have known her so well don t you think you re married now and it doesn t look right to others whatever you think of me it can t look right to her if she s as nice as you say she is listened to this with disturbed opposed and irritated ears certainly there was some truth in what she said but wasn t it an awfully small thing to raise a row about married why should she quarrel with him for that couldn t he ever be in his form of address any more it was true that it did sound a little rough now that he thought of it perhaps it wasn t exactly the thing to say in her presence but didn t mind they had known each other much too long she hadn t noticed it one way or the other and here was charging him with being vulgar and and with being not the right sort of girl and practically vulgar also on account of it it was too much it was too narrow too conventional he wasn t going to anything like that permanently he was about to say something mean in reply make some cutting when came over to him she saw that she had lashed him and and his generally easy attitude pretty thoroughly and that he was becoming angry perhaps because of his he would avoid this sort of thing in the future anyhow now that she had lived with him four months she was beginning to understand him better to see the quality of his moods the strength of his passions the nature of his weaknesses how quickly he responded to the of pretended sorrow joy or distress she thought she could reform him at her leisure she saw that | 43 |
he looked upon her in his superior way as a little girl largely because of the size of her body he seemed to think that because she was little she must be weak whereas she knew that she had the use and the advantage of a wisdom a tact fulness and a of which he did not even dream compared to her he was not nearly as wise as he thought at least married in matters relating to the affections hence any appeal to his sympathies his strength almost invariably produced a reaction from any mood in which she might have placed him she saw him now as a mother might see a great overgrown boy only to be to be brought out of a very unsatisfactory condition and she decided to bring him o it of it for a short period in her life she had taught children in school and knew the moods of the race very well now she you re not really going to be angry with me are you you re not going to be mad to me childish language oh don t bother he replied it s all right no i m not angry only let s not talk about it any more you are angry though she slipping her arm around him please don t be mad to me i m sorry now i talk too much i get mad i know i t please don t be mad at me honey i ll get over this after a while i ll do better please i will please don t be mad will you he could not stand this very long just as e thought he did look upon her as a child and this pathetic baby talk was irresistible he smiled grimly after a while she was so little he ought to endure her of temperament sides he had never treated her right he had not been faithful to his engagement vows if she only knew how bad he really was slipped her arm through his and stood leaning against him she loved this tall slender dis married i i looking youth and she wanted to take care of him she thought that she was doing this when she called attention to his faults some by her persistent efforts maybe he would overcome these silly disagreeable offensive traits he would overcome being he would see that he needed to show her more consideration than he now seemed to think he did he would learn that he was married he would become a quiet reserved man weary of the silly women who were round him solely because he was a and and good looking and then he would be truly great she knew what they wanted these nasty i women they would like to have him for themselves well they wouldn t get him and they needn t think they would she had him he had married her and she was going to keep him they could just all they pleased but they wouldn t get him so there there had been other following this one relating to not having told his friends of his marriage for some little time afterward an which in his easy going brain no deep planted seed of but just a careless indifferent way of doing things whereas in hers it as one of the most things imaginable imagine any one in the middle west doing an i like that any one with a sound sane conception of the and duties of mar its character for having come to this estate by means of a hardly won victory was anxious lest any of lack of consideration alien interest or affection flourish and become a raging disease which would or de married the conditions on which her happiness was based after every encounter with miss for instance whom she suspected of being one of his former flames a girl who might have become his wife there were fresh charges to be made she didn t invite to sit down sufficiently quickly when she called at her was one complaint she didn t offer her a cup of tea at the hour she called another afternoon though it was quite time for it she didn t invite her to sing or play on another occasion though there were others there who were invited i gave her one good shot though said one day to in her troubles she s always talking about her artistic friends i as good as asked her why she didn t marry if she is much sought after did not understand the mental sword involved in these feminine he was to be deceived by the airy which sometimes accompanied the bitterest feeling he could stand by listening to a conversation between and miss or and any one else whom she did not like and miss all the subtle and cutting which were exchanged and of which was so thoroughly capable he did not blame her for fighting for herself if she thou t she was being injured but he did object to her creating fresh occasions and this he saw she was quite capable of doing she was constantly looking for new opportunities to fight with and miss or any one else whom she thought he truly liked whereas with those in whom he could not possibly be interested she was genial and even affectionate married enough but also thought that might be better engaged than in creating fresh difficulties truly he had thought better of her it seemed a sad on the nature of friendship between men and women and he was but nevertheless found a few people whom she felt to be of her own kind m bland who had s first piano recital a few months before invited and to a for them quite dinner at the where they met the musical critic of an evening paper | 43 |
of the museum of fine arts and his wife joseph one of the wealthy of the opera and its and mrs neither nor had ever seen a private dining room set in so a manner it fairly glittered with and tinted glass the wine were seven in er set in an ascending row the order of food was complete from russian to black coffee nuts and cigars the conversation wandered its intense intellectual way from american and singers european painters and discoveries of ancient in the of the to the manufacture of fine glass on long island the character of certain and of paintings in america and the present state of the fine arts museum listened eagerly for as yet he was a little uncertain of himself bis position in the art world lie did not quite know how to take these fine and able personages who seemed so powerful in the world s affairs joseph as bland calmly indicated to him married must l e worth in the neighborhood of fifteen million dollars he thought nothing so he said of paying ten fifteen twenty thirty thousand dollars for a picture if it appealed to him mr was a of formerly of a western museum the leader of one of the to in the was a student of musical history who appeared to have a wide knowledge of art tendencies here and abroad but who nevertheless musical for a living he was a little man of on his father s side but as he admitted bom and raised in he liked for his simple acknowledgment of the fact that he came from a small town in the middle west and a business out in i it s curious how our nation brings able men from i the ranks he said to it s one of the great joyous hopeful facts about this country yes said that s why i like it so much thought as he dined here how strange america was with its mixture of races its unexpected sources of talent its tremendous wealth and confidence his so very humble at first s o very one of the of of his day was in its way an illustration of its resources in so far as talent was concerned mr who had once been a tailor so he was told and his wife was another case in point they were such solid practical looking people and yet he could see that this solid looking man whom some might possibly have sneered at for his and curiously english was as e married wise and sane and keen and kindly as any one present perhaps more so and as wise in matters musical the only difference between him and the average i american was that he was practical and not given to nervous enthusiasm liked him too it was at this particular dinner that the thought occurred to that the real merit of the art and musical world was not so much in the noisy which she heard at so many places frequented by in times past at least s s and elsewhere but in the solid commercial achievements of such men as joseph bland and she liked the yes yes of mr when anything was said that suited him particularly well and his i seen with which he interrupted several times when grand opera and its stars were up for consideration she was thinking if a man like that would take an interest in how much better it would be for him than all the enthusiasm of these silly noisy she was glad to see also that could hold his own with any and all of these people he was as much at ease here with mr talking about greek as he was with mr discussing american musical conditions she could not make out much what it was all about but of course it must be very important if these men discussed it was not sure as yet whether any one knew much more about life than he did he suspected not but it might be that some of these eminent art critics bank married ers and like m bland had a much wider insight into practical affairs practical affairs he thought if he only knew something about money i somehow though his mind could not grasp how v money was made it seemed so easy for some people but for him a grim dark mystery after this dinner it was that began to feel that ought to be especially careful with whom he associated she had talked with mrs and mrs and found them simple natural people like herself they were not puffed up with vanity and self esteem as were those other men and women to whom had thus far introduced her as compared to and or her own mother and sisters and her western friends they were more like the latter mrs wealthy as she was spoke of her two sons and three daughters as any good natured mother would one of her sons was at the other at she asked to come and see her some time and gave her her address mrs was more apparently more given to books and art but even she was interested in what to were the more important or at least more necessary things the things on which all art and culture based themselves the commonplace and necessary details of the home cooking housekeeping sewing were not her consideration as indeed they were not mrs s the former spoke of having to go and look for a new spring bonnet in the morning and how difficult it was to find the time once when the men married were getting especially excited about european and american artistic standards asked are you very much interested in art mrs not so very much to tell you the truth mrs oh i like some pictures and i hear most of | 43 |
the important each season but as i often tell my husband when you have one baby two years old and another of five and another of seven it considerable time to attend to th e art of raising them i let him do the art for the family and i take care of the home this was sincere consolation for up to this time she appeared to be in danger of being by this artistic storm which she had encountered her arts of cooking sewing housekeeping appeared as nothing in this vast about music painting books and the like she knew nothing as she had most painfully discovered recently of almost as little of van and with whom the were apparently greatly concerned and when people talked of singers artists and often she was compelled to keep silent whereas could stand with his elbow on some mantel or piano and discuss by the half hour or hour individuals of she had never heard anybody and everybody who appeared to interest the element it was positively a phase of this truth was that because of his desire married to talk his pleasure in meeting people his joy in hearing of new things his sense of the dramatic could catch quickly and retain vigorously anything which related to social artistic or intellectual development he had no idea of what a full radiant thing his mind was he only knew that life things intellect anything and everything gave him joy when he was privileged to look into them whereas was not so keenly minded and he gave as freely as he received in this whirl of discussion this lofty was all but lost but she clung to the hope i that somehow a on for the material needs t of her husband the care of his clothes the j tion of his meals the serving of him quite as would a faithful slave would bind him to her at once and quickly she hated and feared these arrayed minded looking maidens and women who appeared from this quarter and that to talk to all of whom apparently had known him quite well in the past since he had come to new york when she would see him standing or leaning somewhere intent on the rendering of a song the of some dramatic incident the description of some book or picture or personage by this or that delicately of the art or music or dramatic world her heart contracted and a nameless dread seized her somehow these creatures however intent they might l e on their work or however indifferent actually to the artistic charms of her husband seemed to be intent on taking him from her she saw how easily and naturally he smiled how at home he to be in their company how married surely he to the type of girl who was beautifully and dressed who had eyes fascinating hair a figure and vivacity of manner or how naturally they to him in the rush of conversation and the exchange of greetings he was apt to forget her to stroll about by himself engaging in conversation first with one and then another while she stood or sat somewhere gazing nervously or on unable to hold her own in the cross fire of conversation unable to retain the interest of most of the selfish sensation seeking girls and men they always began talking about the opera or the play or the latest sensation in society or some new singer or or poet and being new to this atmosphere and knowing so little of it was compelled to confess that she did not know it dazed and frightened her for a time she longed to be able to grasp quickly and learn what this was all about she wondered where she had been living how to have missed all this goodness gracious these things were enough to wreck her married l think so poorly of her how could ite h p it she watched these girls and women talking to him and by turns while them as best she could became envious fearful angry charging first herself with next with neglect next these people with vanity and lastly the whole world and life with a conspiracy to cheat her out of what was her own why wouldn t these people be nice to her why didn t they give of their time and patience to make her comfortable and at home as freely say as u i married they did to him wasn t she his wife now why did neglect her why did they hang on his words in their eager way she hated them and at moments she hated him only to be struck by a wave of remorse and fear a moment later what if he should grow tired of her what if his love should change he had seemed so of her only a little while before they were married so taken by what he her grace simplicity and pull on one of these occasions or rather after it when they had returned from an evening at francis s at which she felt that she had been neglected she threw herself into s arms and exclaimed what s the matter with me why am i so dull so uninteresting so worthless the sound of her voice was pathetic helpless with the quality of an sob a quality which had appealed to him intensely long before they were married and now he stirred nervously why what s the matter with you now he asked sure that a new storm of some sort was coming what s come over you there s nothing the matter with you why do you ask who s been saying there is oh nothing nothing nobody everybody everything exclaimed and bursting into tears i see how it is i see what is | 43 |
way understood this it keenly why he insisted you mustn t talk like that you re better than you say you are you say you don t know anything about or art or music why that isn t all there are things many things which are deeper than those things emotion is a great thing in itself dearest if you only knew you have that had it had i it but who else in la dame de it is written about but it is never commonplace it s great i d rather have your deep u w of emotion than all those cheap pictures songs and talk put together for sweet don t you know and he her more closely great ar t is base d on great emotion there is really no great art without it t know best of all being a you may not have the power to express yourself in music or books or pictures you play enough for me but you have the thing on these things are based you have the power t feel them don t worry over yourself dear i see that and i know what you are whether any one else does or not don t worry over me i have to he nice to these people i like them in their way but married i love you i married you isn t that proof what more do you want don t you little don t you see now aren t you going to up and be happy you have ne ain t i can t you be happy with just me what more do you want just tell me nothing more honey she went on sobbing and close nothing more if i can have you just you that s all i want you you she him tight sighed secretly he really did not believe all he said but what of it what else could he do say he asked himself he was married to her in his wa he loved her or at le her intensely and am i great she and after she had held him tight for a few moments doesn t it make any difference whether i know anything much about music or books or art i do v something don t i honey i m not wholly am i no no how you talk and will you always love me whether i an thing or not honey she went on and wont it make any difference whether i can just cook an d and do the and keep house for you and will you like me because i m just pretty and smart i am a little pretty ain t i dear you re lovely whispered you re beautiful listen to me sweet i want to tell you something stop crying now and dry your eyes and tell you something nice do you how we stood one night at the end of your father s field there near the barn gate and saw him it ft married coming down the path singing to himself driving that team of big gray horses his big straw hat on the back of his head and his sleeves rolled up above his elbows yes said do you remember how the air of roses and and cut hay and oh all those lovely of evening that we have out there in the country yes replied and do you remember how lovely i said the sounded in the pasture where the little river ran yes and the beginning to flash in the trees yes and that sad deep red in the west where the sun had gone down yes i remember said crushing her cheek to his neck now listen to me honey that water running over the bright stones in that little river the grass spreading out soft and green over the slope the cow bells the smoke curling up from your mother s chimney your father looking like a out of bible days coming home all the soft sounds all the sweet all the of birds where do you suppose all that is now i don t know replied something complimentary it s here he replied easily drawing her close and her it s done up in one little body here in my arms your voice your hair your eyes your body your moods where do you married suppose they come from nature has a all her own she s like a sometimes things she takes a little of the beauty of the sunset of the sky of the fields of the water of the flowers of dreams and aspirations and simplicity and patience and she makes a girl and some parents somewhere have her and then they name her and then they raise her nicely and innocently and then a bold bad man like comes along and takes her and then she cries because she thinks he doesn t see anything in her now isn t that funny o oh exclaimed melted by the fire of his feeling for beauty the and sweetness of his the of his compliment the manner in which he her patiently out of herself oh i love you dear i love you love you love you oh youve wonderful you won t ever stop loving me will you dearest you ll be true won t x you ll never leave me will you i ll always be your little won t i oh dear i m so happy and she him closer and closer no no and yes yes assured as the occasion demanded as he stared patiently into the fire this was not real passion to him not real in any sense at did not feel that it was he was too of himself his life and love however much he might with and be drawn to her he was questioning | 43 |
himself at this very time as to jt was that caused him to talk so was it sympathy love of beauty power of poetic expression delicacy of sentiment certainly nothing more wasn t it this was already causing him to be hailed as a married great he believed so could he honestly say that he loved ie no h was he couldn t now that he had her arid realized her dis as wn his own principally no he liked her mi sorry for h that ability of his to paint a picture in notes and musical phrases to extract the last ringing delicacy out of the keys of a piano was at ihe bottom of this last description to for the moment it might seem real enough but he ik was thinking of the truth pf the picture she had painted of it was all so every word she said she was not really suited to these people did not them she never would he would always be soothing and she would always be crying and worrying v a j when the old century was new w hen william ton of left his father s st george s square new york in the of it was a day of social activity which in the of his ordinary commercial duties might be termed among other things a luncheon at the s a stroll with one mile to the meadows and a visit in the evening to the only recently where were organized the first permanent company of players ever transported to america i the circumstances he had no time for counting house duties and had accordingly decided to mate a day of it putting the whole matter of commerce over until such time as he could labor which was to morrow as he came out of the door over which was a di pane for a he was a striking example of the new order of things h the declaration of independence and the the colonies over the british long trousers of light cloth his legs and re fastened under his shoes by a flower ornamented pink waistcoat and light blue dress coat of shared with brass buttons yellow gloves and an exceedingly narrow silk hat in giving his appearance that touch of completeness which the fashion of the day demanded in the face of those of the older order when the old century was new w ho still u lie custom ee breeches and solemn black he was a little apt to appear the exaggerated nevertheless it was good form my madame would expect it at any of hers and the common people knew it to be the all desirable whenever wealth permitted in lower pearl street below wall which direction he took to reach the green and the he encountered a number of the fashionable so far as the commercial world was concerned who were anything but idle like himself why master are you business so early in the morning inquired robert whose iron business was then the most important in the city for this day only returned smiling agreeably at the thought of a pleasant day to come several engagements make it you are going to the collect then possibly returned looking in the direction of the old water where all of the city s drinking supply was stored no said the other i had not thought of it what is there some one i understand who has a boat he wishes to try it is said to go without sail i should think one with as many ships upon the water as you have would have heard of any such invention as that ah yes answered young i have heard of men who are going to sail in the air also i will believe that a vessel can go without sail when i see it well said the other i do not know these in when the old century was new are strange at best but there might be no harm in looking at it i think i shall go myself later oh i should also like to see it said the other providing i have time hen is it to sail do you know r about eleven answered the post tells of it many thanks for the information returned the other and with a few as to ships expected and the news from france they their separate ways in one of the many fine yards which spread before the old below wall street e beheld th e n d president of the states among the elder bowed gravely to the younger gentleman and returned to his work a fine gentleman thought the latter and weu worthy to be the chief of this good government as he the green he observed that there was no one of the many about taking advantage of the pleasant sunlight to enjoy an hour at that favorite and so continued his way to the adjoining the slip where never had the commercial new interested in the matter of shipping failed to find a crowd messrs john jacob and william van were already upon ground as he could see at a distance the distinct high hat of the one and the figure of the other standing out in clear relief against the green waters of the bay elder was there he of the vast ship business and of the finest when the old century was new woven in holland old jacob and the lean van and van merchants all and famous men of the city smiled and laughed together as they discussed the of trade and the arrival of er spray and the laughing mary both in the service between new york and liverpool almost every worthy present was armed with his spy glass as the three foot were then called and now and | 43 |
then one would take a look down the bay and through the distant to see if any sign of a familiar sail were present and how is master asked the elder the of the one exceedingly wealthy family of the community very well thank you returned the other surveying the company whose knee breeches and black coats presented a striking contrast to his modem trousers and fancy jacket these modern fashions exclaimed the elder coming forward make us old fellows seem entirely out of date they are a wretched to hide the legs if i were a young woman i would have no man whose form i could not by his clothes and if i were a young man put in the john jacob i would put on no clothes which a woman did not approve of ah well said the other smiling these fashions are strange not ten years since a man would have been out of new york had he appeared in such finery as this and now by when the old century was new it is we old fellows who are like to be shown the door for dressing as our fathers taught us not so bad as that said dress commands the old style yet at evening this is but daylight custom but how about the green is no one to play there this morning not when two ships like the silver spray and the laughing mary are like to show their noses at any observed stoutly t have fifty barrels of good india ale on the silver spray here has most of the hold of the laughing mary filled with his dress goods no when stocks must be quickly it is a weary watch this for these dogged vessels added there is no good counting wind or wave the too is not dead yet worse luck to him i saw that about the said young perhaps the government will wake up now to our situation the can wipe our vessels oflf the seas and hide the idea we need more war vessels and that quickly i think and i too said but we are like to have them now only to day to buy more land across the east river there and he waved his spy glass in the direction of the green outlines of long island and that reminds me said pulling out his by the attached to it i but now met who says there is to be a boat tried at the collect which goes without sail it is to be run by steam when the old century was new i ha exclaimed i have no time for such nonsense i heard of it remarked there is something to it there could be no harm in going to i am going said and by the bye it is high time i was on my way and if you have no objection i go with you said who was seriously interested to know if there n was anything to tliis idea or not others hearing this joined them having thus secured companionship young proceeded up the slip to the green whence with his friends he now turned into the and so out past the fine and stores of that new to the old white residence where later was to be white street and thence eastward across the open common to the where is now the quite a formidable company of had gathered the aristocracy gentry and common forming in separate groups a very plain and homely looking individual of the older school clad in and knee breeches was there with a contrivance large enough to sustain his own weight in the water which he was with a a hammer and an oil can to put in final shape for the very important experiment of without sail naturally he had the and even pushing and attention of all present while the citizens thus gazed awaiting in comfortable idleness for something of the to happen there came a sound along the east road to when the old century was new ward the city where suddenly appeared the outlines of an s water wagon a great on wheels which by its haste suggested fire close after followed the another vehicle of the same kind which secured its name from its owner both drivers hailed the crowd while yet a distance off with shouts of fire and then from distant street were heard the sounds of a bell out the same intelligence everybody now wavered between the possibility of witnessing a invention and the certainty of seeing a splendid with the result that certainty instantly upon learning the nature of the fire both and gentry departed leaving and with their associates gazing at the wonder alone that must be near the president s observed who was looking toward the city it may spread this fellow will get nothing out of his machine to day i fear returned moved by the thought of a dangerous and yet interesting fire as he gazed rather upon the quiet who had not remained unaware of this public let us go back with somewhat more of eagerness than was with their general stately bearing this rather important local company now took up the trail of the water and returned in william street just off the old boston road and near the newly named liberty street were many signs of public excitement the fine residence of the recently by the french minister had when the old century was new taken fire and was rapidly burning although nine of the fourteen water of the city were upon the scene of action and eight men were toiling at each handle little progress was making bucket were also in operation the citizens drawing upon every well in the neighborhood for blocks about but to small result the flames gained men ran looking for s water conveyance which had not yet been pressed into action | 43 |
and s which however had already been sent to the collect for more water there was a deal of clatter and confusion coupled with the certainty of destruction for no could throw the water the second story more than once the as rattled forward from the collect and the east river was totally while the flames gained new ground this latter was to the of the roads and the of the help at the supply end where since all thought to gaze upon the fire none were remaining to help the or the energetic when this last company of fire arrived with their and other for fighting a blaze the flames had gained that there was little to be done wasted half an hour discussing fire protection and then himself of his engagement i must be out of this he said to as they stood gazing upon the flames and the throng i am late as ic is the genial scarcely heard him at all so was he that his own luncheon mattered not at all quietly withdrew then and getting when the old century was new back into boston road and the himself toward the green and s that lady s mansion was to the west of ihe old looking out over lawn and lane to some space of water to be seen in the east river and a boat or two at anchor in the bay as he tapped upon the broad door with its brazen a servant opened to hint bowing profoundly in greeting will master give me his hat and gloves ah master remarked the hostess who now entered smiling i had almost doubted your though you have good reason whose house is it burning count s answered mentioning the french representative to our government i have sent a servant to discover it for me but he has not yet returned it must have fascinated him also we must sit to lunch at once sir as the hostess said this she turned about in her great now but recently like long trousers come into fashion and led the way her hair was done in the curls of the post revolution period three at each side about the ears and a tall that was almost a curl in itself with stately grace she led the way to the dining chamber and bowed him to his place a daughter and a friend entered almost at the same moment with them through another door at the head of the long table there were already standing the two black table servants of this dignified household splendid imported trained in virginia my lady s table was a gleam with much of the richest plate and old holland china in o when the old century was new the city an immense silver the and at every corner were separate gold sticks making a splendid show i have the greatest terror of fire anywhere in our city began the hostess even as young was bowing we have so little protection i have urged upon our the necessity of providing something better than we have a water tower or something of the sort but so far nothing has come of it you were at the fire master inquired the handsome i came that way with several friends from the collect he answered why the collect asked the hostess who was now seated with the two towering above her there is a man there who has a boat which is to go without sail as i understand it providing his idea is correct it is to go by steam i believe only he did not succeed in making it se do to day at least not while i was there it may have gone though i could not wait to see oh exclaimed putting up a pair of pretty hands and really is it a boat that will travel so i cannot for that returned the youth gravely it was not going when we visited it the fire and my engagement took the entire audience of the away and he smiled i shall have no faith in any such trap as that until i see it observed madame fancy being on the water and no sail to you mercy i it will be some time before men will ven when the old century was new ture afar on any such craft returned the youth but it is a bit curious dangerous i should say suggested mistress no said not that i think my father has often told me that master predicted to him that men should harness the lightning before many years that is even more strange than this that may all be true said madame but it has not come to pass yet it will never be in our time i fear but did you hear of the case of jewels at s has he imported something new inquired the last ship brought a case of gems for him i hear continued the hostess that should be of interest to you master the youth flushed slightly at the involved his attentions to mistress were becoming a subject of pleasing social comment so it is he said gaily as he recovered his composure i shall look in upon this very afternoon and i should like to see what is new in france said the ruddy seriously i have not an or a pin in my collection that is not as old as the hills nor any the less valuable i venture answered with an impressive air i would give them for new ones believe me returned the girl upon this company the two waited with almost noiseless accuracy one serving at each when the old century was new in answer to silent looks and from the host watched them out of the corner of his the while in his new home he thought the fair lady consented there should be two her more tender | 43 |
beauty he i not help thinking how much more they d appear behind her than his present hostess who was attractive enough it made him restless for certainly this afternoon he ould if he could learn his fate the jewels d be one excuse he would take her ta look at jewels before the evening called them to the er and then he would see ice he was free of the entertainment provided away into wall street the spire of beginning to cast a short eastward shadow it the building occupied as the new national few from the colonies were to be the new mixture of stores among the was beginning to make lovely wall street a bank had opened just below the ol its entrance reaching out to the very in the view of the gardens beyond soon e city kept on growing all the fine old gardens d have to go pondered as he walked until he came to a s below william street where he entered a window looking out upon a small a face disappeared and now he was greeted by servant at the door y compliments he said to mistress pleases and i am waiting e servant bowed and retired in a few moments when the old century was new more there fluttered down into the large reception room from above the loveliest of the new order of finery that he had ever seen such in curls and such lightness in silken displayed upon spreading he felt to be without with a graceful courtesy she received his almost ponderous bow mother gives you her greeting and she cannot come with us she said she has a very severe headache i am sorry to hear that he replied but you will come the weather has favored us and i fancy the meadows will be beautiful to see oh yes i will come she returned smiling it is not quite three however she added you are early i know he answered but we may talk until then besides there is something i wish you to see before time no i will tell you of it later henry will be on time they seated themselves very respectfully distant and took up the morning s had he heard of the fire and where the french minister was now being entertained cards had but this morning come from the jacob van for a reception at their new house in street the were to build farther out in pearl street i think it is a shame she said the way they are us in this street we shall have to go also very shortly and i like wall street when your turn comes perhaps you will not mind it so much he returned thinking of the proposal he when the old century was new hoped to find the courage to make street is certainly pleasing after the new style she thought of all the fine being erected in that new residence section and for some to him inexplicable reason smiled outside through the vine window she could see a broad open turning here is the carriage she said as they came out of the quiet chamber into the open sunlight part of their reserve vanished once in the carriage beside him she smiled happily as they rolled into william street and up the old boston road into the green shaded she laughed for the very joy of laughing it is good to feel spring again she said the cold days are so many as they an occasional citizen before his doorway or pleasure upon horseback greeted them the distinguished was here gaily old peter s mansion was kept as rich in flowers as when he had been alive to care for it are not the fields beautiful about here he observed after they had passed the region of the collect lovely she returned i never see them but i think of dancing they are so soft let us get out and walk upon them anyhow he answered henry can wait for us at the turn yonder he was pointing to a far point where through a of trees the winding leading out ii when the century was new from here joined now a lane through the woods and fields gaily she and he helped her down when the servant was out of hearing he reached for a and pressing his lips to it said here is a token of what she said what should it be he asked wistfully spring probably and nothing else youth she answered laughing and nothing else he questioned drawing close with a tenderness in his voice how should i know she said laughing and casting it down because of her fear of the usual significance of the situation you mustn t throw it away he said stooping keep it til tell you what it means i i see the wild roses she exclaimed suddenly increasing her pace i should rather have some of those for a token if you please he relaxed his and hastened for that which she desired when he returned to hand them to her she was laughing at something ah you laugh he said sadly i think i know it is because of the day she answered somehow he could make no progress with his declaration until it was too late already they were near the carriage and south along the road a quarter of a mile was the country house her relatives the were there as owners he scarcely had time for what he wished to when the old century was new shall w stop there he asked in a subdued murmur as in driving again they the long where guests were seated enjoying the prospect of the meadows beyond it is four now and the begins at six there are some new jewels from france at s which i thought you might like to see before then | 43 |
jewels from france oh yes i should like to see those let us go there she answered but i must have time to dress too you know to the guests then bowing as they passed they returned a smiling nod and meeting s in carriages and chairs extended this same courtesy bs they went along in a mock dreary manner but finding that it availed nothing thought to tempt her with jewels what are these you have from france of which i hear he inquired of as they watered that sturdy s shop in maiden lane on the very last packet explained the latter spreading the best of his upon a black velvet cloth before them you will not see the like of these six diamonds in new york a ain for many years i warrant you look at this he held up an exquisitely wrought ring of french in which a fine stone was gleaming and smiled upon it look he said it is very large it is cut by did you ever see such he turned it over and over and then held it lovingly i the band itself is so small he added hat i believe it would fit the lady s finger let us see she put out her hand and then seeing when the old century was new that it slipped on and fitted opened her eyes wide now is not that beautiful exclaimed the what a f the finest of any that i have imported yet and it fits as though it had been ordered for her he cast a smile upon whose interest in the fair he well knew the latter not the slightest understanding it is well cut she said and the loveliest you have ever worn added by her side in front of the counter and between their bodies he was her free hand let it stay he said gently when he had secured it and was the significance of the ring to her fingers oh she said smiling as if she were only you are too daring i might do he answered such a ring said the i will then said she then master said you need only send the bill to me and he laughed as he pushed the remaining display away as they came out after having vaguely picked over the others the young lover was all upon the narrow side path a servant a trunk tc the i dock upon a brushed him rudely but he did not notice only a crying out the the blast of the of the stage i coach from boston the dust of the side path where the of the was sweeping the pre i to the performance of the night attracted when the old century was new and pleased him he helped his gaily into the carriage and half bounded with joy to the seat beside her where he smiled and smiled i may not wear it though said his now that the remarkable episode was over she held up a dainty finger because as you know have spoken to my father as yet it nevertheless he answered i will speak to him fast enough i give you good day master said the distinguished as they passed from wi ll i am ig to wall street near where that made temporary stopping place when in the city master william cried his softly using for the first time his given name has bid you good day good evening f cried all deference in a moment because of the error which his excitement had occasioned good evening to you sir and he and bowed very gracefully again how can i be so though of all these he said as he turned once more to his fair intended when i have you it is not to be expected but necessary just the same she said and if you are to l thus quickly your duties what am i to think for answer he took her hand then they made their way to the old again and there being compelled to leave her while she dressed for the he made his way toward the broad and tree shaded where was the only true and lie walk for a lover the older houses nearest the when the old century was new city in their dutch architecture of an older and even period the wide paths and broad rich in both vines and flowers the rapidly evidences of population as one s steps led northward all combined to soothe and set dreaming the poetic mind here young as so many before him strolled and thinking of all that life and the young city held for him indeed ne love was hfe the lovely to build that m sion of his own far out indeed above street but in this self same where all was so suggestive of flowers and romance he had i no as he pondered of what a century might bring forth the crush and stress and wretchedness fast treading upon this path of loveliness he could not ee f f v modern library of the world s best books complete list of titles in the modern library for in ordering please use number at right of title a modern book of with ai introduction by the seven were hanged and the red introduction by thomas i introduction by william de b short stories by t r smith charles his prose and poetry by t r smith introduction by the art op black and white introduction by arthur william peace introduction by best ghost stories introduction by arthur b best humorous american short stories with an introduction by alexander best russian short stories x with an introduction by thomas william poems with notes by william butler heights introduction by rose butler samuel the way of all flesh james branch beyond life introduction by carpenter edward love s coming of age in through | 43 |
these seemingly through which i walked each day doing collecting for an payment furniture these ponderous regions of large homes where i and dwelt these curiously foreign of almost all and lastly that great area surrounded on two sides by the river on the east by the lake and on the south by railroad yards and stations the whole set with these new tall buildings the wonder of the western world fascinated me a book about myself was so so so new i thought in its best days must have been something like this to young or to the young here was a city which had no traditions but was making them and this was the very thing that every one seemed to understand and rejoice in was like no other city in the world so said they all would every other american city new york included and become the first of all american if not european or world cities this dream many hundreds of thousands of its citizens held dear would be first in wealth first in beauty first in art achievement a great world s fair was even then being planned that would bring people from all over the world the the new great northern hotel the amazing for its day temple twenty two stories high a score of public institutions and the like were being constructed it is something wonderful to witness a world metropolis springing up under one s very eyes and this is what was happening here before me about the city in an inquiring way and dreaming half formed dreams of one and another thing i would like to do it finally came to me dimly like a that strains at its shell that i would like to write of these things it would be interesting so i thought to describe a place like island in the a and neglected realm then covered with made of boats in two and yet which seemed to me the height of the picturesque also a building like the or the temple that vast of twenty two stories high and at that time actually the largest building in the world or a pit like that of the board of trade which i had once visited and which astonished and fascinated me as much as anything ever had that roaring yelling screaming of life and then the lake with its pure white sails and its blue water the with its black water its tall grain and black coal pockets the great railroad yards covering miles and miles of space with their cars a book about mt how wonderful it all was i as i walked from place to place i began to vas word pictures or these same and many other things free verse i suppose we should call it now which concerned everything and nothing but somehow expressed the poetry of my soul and this thing to me indeed i was crazy with life a little or with romance and hope i wanted to sing to dance to eat to love my word dreams and concerned my day my age poverty hope beauty which i mouthed to myself aloud at times sometimes because on a number of occasions i had heard the frank w and his like like on the subjects of life and religion i would pleading great as i went i imagined myself a great orator with thousands of people before me my gestures and and thought perfect poetic and all my hearers moved to tears or of wild delight after a time i ventured to commit some of these things to paper scarcely knowing what they were and in a fever for self advancement i them up and sent th n to field in his column and elsewhere i had read about being occasionally discovered by some chance or work noted by one in authority i waited for a time with great interest but no vast depression to see what my fate would be but no word came and in time i realized that they must have been very bad and had been dropped into the nearest waste basket but this did not give me pause nor grieve me i to express myself i i dreamed and i had a singing feeling now that i had done this much that some day i should really write and be very famous into the bargain but how t how t my feeling was that i ought to get into newspaper work and yet this feeling was so that i it would never come to pass i saw mention in the papers of calling to find out this or being sent to do that and so the idea of becoming a gradually itself in my mind though how i was to get such a book about myself a place i had not the slightest idea perhaps had to have a special training of some kind maybe they had to begin as clerks behind a counter and this made me very for those glowing business offices always seemed so far removed from anything to which i could most of them were with or wall of bronze or copper on the walls imitation mother of x earl lights in the in short all the of a s court brought to the outer counter where people or paid for because the newspapers were always dealing with signs and wonders great functions great commercial schemes great and pleasures i began to conceive of them as in which all concerned were prosperous and happy i painted and newspaper men generally as receiving being sent on the most urgent and interesting i think i confused with and prominent men generally their lives were laid among great people the rich the famous the powerful and because of their position and facility of expression and mental force they were received everywhere as equals think of me new young poor being received in that | 43 |
way imagine then my intense delight one day when the help wanted male columns of the herald i encountered an advertisement which ran in wanted a of bright young men to assist in the business department daring the promotion possible apply to business between and a m here i thought as i read it is just the thing i am looking for here is this great paper one of the most prosperous in and here is an opening for me if i can only get this my fortune is made i shall rise rapidly i conceived of myself as being sent off the same day as it were on some brilliant mission and returning somehow covered with glory i hurried to the office of the herald in washington street near fifth avenue this same morning and asked to see the business manager after a short wait i was permitted a book about to enter the of this great who to me of the material splendor of the front o to be the equal of a at least he was tall graceful dark his whiskers parted in the middle of his chin his eyes pools of see what a wonderful thing it is to be connected with the newspaper business i told myself i saw your ad in this morning s paper i said tes i did want a half dozen young men he replied beaming upon me but i think i have nearly enough most of the young men that come here seem to think they are to be connected with the herald direct but the is we want them only for clerks in our free christmas gift they have to judge whether or not the are and keep people from imposing on the paper the work will only be for a week or ten days but yon will probably earn ten or twelve dollars in that time my heart sank after the first of the year if you take it you may come around to see me i may have for you when he spoke of the free christmas gift i vaguely understood what he meant for weeks past the herald had been a campaign for gifts for the poorest children of the city it had been the rich and the comfortable to give the medium of its scheme which was a for the free distribution of all such things as could be gathered cash or direct of supplies toys clothing even food for children but i wanted to become a if i could i suggested well he said with a wave of his hand this is as good a way as any when this is over i may be able to introduce you to our city editor the title city editor and me it sounded so big and significant this offer was far from what i anticipated but i took it joyfully thus to step from one job to another however brief and one with such prospects seemed the greatest luck a book about myself in the world for by now i was nearly on the subjects of poverty loneliness the want of the creature comforts and pleasures of life the mere thought of enough to eat and to wear and to do had something of paradise about it some previous long and fruitless for work had marked me with a horror of being without it i about to the herald s christmas as it was called a building standing in fifth avenue between and and reported to a brisk in charge of the out of these to the poor without a word he put me behind the single long counter which ran across the front of the room and over which were handled all those toys and christmas pleasure pieces which a loud concerning the dire need of the poor and the proper christmas spirit had produced life certainly offers some amusing at times and that with that gay which life alone can muster and achieve when it is at its worst here was i a victim of what would look upon as slavery and robbery quite as worthy i am sure of gifts as any other and yet lined up with fifteen or victims souls like myself all out of many of them out at elbows and all of them out gifts from eight thirty in the morning until eleven and twelve at night to people no worse off than themselves i wish you might have seen this chamber as i saw it for eight or nine days just preceding and including christmas day itself yes we worked from eight a m to five thirty p m on christmas day and very glad to get the money thank you there poured in here from the day the opened which was the morning i called and until it closed christmas night as an of alleged souls as one would want to see i do not say that many of them were not deserving i am willing to believe that most of them were but deserving or no th were still worthy of all they received here indeed when i think of the many who came miles carrying slips of paper on which had been as per the advice of this paper all they a book about myself to bring them or their children and then recall that for all their pains in having their minister or doctor or the herald itself y their request they received only a of what they sought i am inclined to that all were even more deserving than their reward indicated for the whole scheme as i soon found in talking others and seeing for myself how it worked was most loosely managed endless varieties of toys and comforts had been talked about in the paper but only a few of the things promised or vaguely indicated were here to give for the very good reason that no one would give | 43 |
them for nothing to the herald nor had any sensible plan been devised for checking up either the gifts given or the i who had received them and so the same person as some of these soon discovered could come over and over bearing different lists of toys and get them or at least a part of them until some with a better eye for faces than another would chance to recognize the and point him or her out jews the fox like type of course and the poor irish were the worst in this respect the herald was supposed to have kept all written by children to but it had not done so and so hundreds claimed that th r had letters and received no answer at the end of the second or third day before christmas it was found necessary because of the confusion and uncertainty to throw the doors wide open and give to all and sundry who looked worthy of whatever was left or handy we the clerks being the judges and now the clerks themselves seeing that no records were kept and how without plan the whole thing was poor relatives and friends and these descended upon us with baskets suits of clothing and the like but receiving instead only toy toy baby s story books the mess of cheap things one could imagine for the newspaper true to that of commerce which demands the most for the least the greatest show for the least money had gathered all the odds and ends and left of toy bargain and had a book about myself them into the large to be out as best we could we not give a desired article to any one person because it were there which was rarely the case we could not get at it or find it yet later another person might apply and receive the very thing the other had wanted and we clerks going out to lunch or dinner save the mark i would seek some little and eat ham and beans or and coffee or some other at ten or fifteen cents per head hard luck stories comments on what a the herald gift was on the strange characters that showed the and dusty with eyes too and too dry for tears were the order of the day here i met a young newspaper man gloomy out at elbows who told me what a wretched pathetic struggle the newspaper world presented but i did not believe him although he had worked in st paul a poor failure i thought some one who can t write and who now and his substance in living when he has it so much for the sympathy of the poor for the poor but the herald was doing very well daily it was filling its pages with the splendid results of its charity the poor relieved the homes restored to and bliss can you beat it t but it was good and that was all the herald wanted hey a i hey a i chapter n ok christmas eve there came to our home to spend the next two days which chanced to be saturday and sunday a friend and fellow clerk of one of my sisters in a department store because the store kept open until ten thirty or eleven that christmas eve and my labors at the herald office detained me until the same hour we three arrived at the house at nearly the same time i should say here that the previous year my mother having died and the home being in dissolution i had ventured into the world on my own several sisters two brothers and my father were still together but it was a divided and somewhat home at best our mother was gone i was already wondering in great sadness how long it could endure for she had made of it something as sweet as dreams that temperament that charity and understanding and sympathy i we who were left were like trying our wings but fearful of the world my practical experience was slight i was a creature of slow and uncertain response to anything practical having an eye single to color romance beauty i was but a half baked poet as i was hurrying upstairs to take a bath and then see what pleasures were being arranged for the morrow i was by my sister with a hurry now and come down i have a friend here and i want you to meet her she s awful nice at the mere thought of meeting a girl i brightened for my thoughts were rs on the other sex and i was forever complaining to myself of my lack of opportunity and of lack of courage when i had the opportunity to do the one thing i most to do shine as a lover although at her suggestion of a girl i pretended to and be superior still i to the task of myself on coming a book about myself into the general where a fire was burning brightly i beheld a pretty dark haired girl of medium height and graceful who seemed and really was good natured and sympathetic for a while after meeting her i felt stiff and awkward for the mere presence of so pretty a girl was sufficient to make me nervous and self conscious my brother e had gone off early in the evening to join the family of some girl in whom he was interested another brother a was out on some christmas eve lark with a group of f so here i was alone with c and this stranger doing my best to appear gallant and clever i recall now the sense of sympathy and interest which i felt for this girl from the start it must have been clear to my sister for before the night was over she had explained by way of me | 43 |
that miss had a beau later i learned that was an orphan adopted by a fairly comfortable irish couple who loved her dearly and gave her as many pleasures and as much liberty as their circumstances permit they had made the mistake however of telling her that she was only an adopted child this gave her a sense of and a longing for a closer and more enduring love such a mild and sweet little thing she was i never knew a more attractive or clinging temperament she could play the and i remember at the dexterity of her fingers as they up and down the and across the strings she was wearing a dark green and brown skirt with a pale brown ribbon about her neck her hair was parted on one side and this gave her a sort of i found her looking at me now and then and smiling at one or another of my affected remarks as though she were pleased i the nature of the work i was doing but deliberately attempted to it in her mind and my sister s with the idea that i was regularly employed by the herald as a newspaper man and that this was merely a side task subsequently out of sheer a book about myself vanity and a desire to appear more than i was i allowed her to believe that i was a on this paper it was we could see great fluttering about the gas lamps outside in the cottage of an irish family across the street a party of was at play i proposed that we go out and buy and and roast them and that we make snow punch out of milk sugar and snow how gay i felt how hopeful i in a fit of great daring i took one hand of each of my companions and ran trying to slide with them over the snow s screams and laughter were musical and as she ran her little feet under her skirts at one comer where the stores were brightly lighted she stopped and did a graceful little dance under the electric light oh if i could have a girl like this if i could just have her i thought forgetting that i was nightly telling a scotch girl that she was the sweetest thing i had ever known or wanted to know came with laughter and up to the last moment was to sleep with my sister and preceded me upstairs saying she was going to eat salt on new year s eve so that she would dream of her coming lover that night i lay and thought of her and next morning hurried downstairs hoping to find her but she had not come down yet there were christmas stockings to be examined of course which brought her but before eight thirty i had to leave in order to be at work at nine o clock i waved them all a gay farewell and looked forward eagerly toward evening for she was to remain this night and the next day through with my work at five thirty i hurried home and then it was that i learned and to my great astonishment and gratification that she liked me for when i arrived dressed as i had been all day in my very best e and a were there to entertain her e my younger brother attempting to make love to her his method was to press her toe in an open foolish way which because of the jealousy it in me seemed to me out of the depths of from the moment i entered i fancied that a book about myself had been waiting for me her winning smile as i entered reassured me and yet she was very quiet when i was near gazing into the fire during the evening i studied her admiring every detail of her dress which was a bit different from that of the day before and more attractive she seemed infinitely sweet and i flattered myself that i was preferred over my two brothers during the evening we two being left together for some reason she arose and went into the large front room and standing before one of the three large windows looked out in silence on the scene that our neighborhood presented the snow had ceased and a full moon was brightening everything the little cottages and flat buildings glowed through their drawn blinds a red christmas wreath in every window i up my courage to an unusual point and heart in mouth followed and stood beside her it was a great effort on my part she pressed her nose to the pane and then bi on it making a misty screen between herself and the outside upon which she wrote my rubbed them out then breathed on the window again and wrote her own her face was like a small wax flower in the moonlight i had drawn so close moved by her romantic call that my body almost touched hers then i slipped an arm about her waist and was about to kiss her when i heard my sister s voice now al and you come back we must go she said and as she started i ventured to touch her hand she looked at me and smiled and we went back to the other room i waited eagerly for other solitary moments because the were too and there was no other opportunity that evening but the next morning church claiming some and sleep others there was a half hour or more in which i was alone with her in the front room looking over the family i realized that by now she was as much drawn to me as i to her and that as in the case of my scotch maid i was master if i chose so to be i was so wrought up in the | 43 |
reception of my first i visited other newspaper offices only to find the same and even colder conditions the offices in most cases were by no means so grand but the atmosphere was equally chill and the city editor was a difficult man to approach often i was stopped by an office boy who reported when i said i was looking for work no when i got in at all nearly all the city merely gave me a quick glance and said no i began to feel that the newspaper world must be controlled by a secret or order until one bony specimen with a pointed green shade over his eyes and dusty red hair looked at me much as an eagle might look at a pigeon and asked ever worked on a paper before t no sir how do you know you can write t i don t but i think i could learn learn learn f we haven t time to teach anybody here you better try one of the little papers a trade paper maybe until you learn how then come back and he walked off this gave me at least a definite idea as to how i might begin but just the same it did not get me a position meanwhile looking here and there and not finding anything i decided since i had had experience as a and must live while i was making my way into to return to work and see if i might not in the meantime get a place as a having been previously employed by an ea payment house i now sought out another the company in lake street not very far from the office of the firm for which i had previously worked from this firm having been hard pressed for a winter overcoat the preceding fall i had abstracted or held out twenty five dollars intending to restore it but before i had been able to manage that a slack up in the work occurred due to the fact that wandering street agents sold less in winter than in summer and a book about myself i was laid off and had to tbat i was in my the manager and owner who had to take a to me said nothing other than that i was making a mistake taking the path that led to social hell i do not recall that he even requested that the money be but i was so that i was convinced that some day unless i returned the money i should be arrested and to avoid this i had written him a letter after leaving promising that i would pay up he never even to answer the letter and i believe that if i had returned in the spring paid the twenty five dollars and asked for work he would have taken me on again but i had no such thought in mind i held myself disgraced forever and only wish to get clear of this sort of work it was a game at best selling to the ignorant for twelve and fourteen times its value now that i was out of it i hated to return i feared that the first thing my proposed employer would do would be to inquire of my previous employer and that being informed of my stealing he would refuse to employ me with fear and trembling i inquired of the firm in lake street and was told that there was a place awaiting some one the right party the manager wanted to know if i could give a bond for three hundred dollars they had just had one arrested for stealing sixty dollars i told him i thought i could and decided to explain the proposition to my father and obtain his advice since i knew little about how a bond was secured when i learned that the company one s past however i was my father an honest worthy and defiant german on being told that a bond was required the idea with much vehemence why should any one want a bond from met he demanded to know hadn t i worked for mr m in the same couldn t they go there and find at thought of m i shook and rather than have an investigation dropped the whole matter deciding not to go near the place again but the manager taken by my look i presume a book about myself called one evening at onr house he had taken a fancy to me he said i looked to be honest and he liked the neighborhood i lived in he proposed that i go to one of the local companies and get a three hundred dollar bond for ten dollars a year his company paying for the bond ont of my first week s salary which was to be only twelve dollars to start with this promised to involve explaining about m but i decided to go to the company and refer only to two other men for whom i had worked and see what would happen for the rest i proposed to say that school and college life had filled my years before this if trouble came over m planned to run away but to my astonishment and delight my admirably the following sunday afternoon my new manager called and asked me to report the following morning for work oh those singing days in the streets and and of those hours when in bright or thick weather i the and dreaming dreams i had all my to myself after one or two o clock the speed with which i worked and could walk would soon get me over the list of my customers and then i was free to go where i chose spring was coming i was only nineteen life was all before me and the feel of plenty of money in my pocket even if it did not | 43 |
belong to me was comforting and then youth youth that and song in one s very blood i felt as if i were walking on tinted clouds among the of the dawn how shall i do justice to this period which for perfection of spirit ease of soul was the very best i had so far known t in the first place because of months of exercise in the open air my physical condition was good i was certain to get somewhere in the newspaper world or so i thought the condition of our family was better than it had ever been in my time for we four younger children were working steadily our home life in spite of among several of my brothers and sisters was still pleasing enough altogether we were and my father was looking forward to a day when all a book about myself family debts would be paid and the soul of my mother as well as his own when it passed over could be freed from too prolonged in for as a he believed that until all one s full debts here on earth were paid one s soul was held in on the other side for myself life was at the toss i was like some bird poised on a high and fluttering and ready for flight again i was like those flying and that ride so gracefully on still wings above a summer landscape seeing all the wonders of the world below again i was like a song that sings itself the spirit of happy music that by some of creation is able to rejoice in its own and joy was ever before me the sense of some great adventure lurking just around the comer how i loved the note of even the grinding wheels of the and cars the and clatter of cable and electric lines the of in every street the of heavy smoke that hung low over the city like impending the storms of wintry snow or rain the glow of yellow lights in little shops at evening mile after mile where people were stirring and bustling over potatoes flour all these things were the substance of songs paintings poems i liked the sections where the women of the town were still at noon sleeping off the of the preceding night or at night were preparing for the gaudy make believes of their midnight day i liked those sections crowded with great black steel works yards where in the midst of stress and men mixed or or joined or prepared those pleasures and for which the world and itself life was at its best here its promise the most glittering i liked those raw where in small set in yards drunken and and were to be found about in a hell of their own and for contrast i liked those of great set upon the great streets of the city in spacious where a book about servants stood by doors and carriages tamed in at gates and under heavy i think i grasped in its larger material if not in its more complicated aspects its bad was so bad its good so very good keen and reckless eager new people or or tbe more fortunate among them but they were never heavy or dull or asleep in some the of dirt or the icy of poverty fairly shouted but they were never still pools of misery on wide bleak stretches of swept by winds one could find men who were dog or cat hides but their wives were buying yellow or red silk shaded lamps or blue and green on time as i could personally testify churches with gaudy and services rose out of masses of and gas with glistening bars of colored glass and stood as the and clubs of bleak masses of huts there were vice districts and wealth districts hung with every luxury that the wit of a commonplace or conventional mind could suggest such was in the vice districts i had been paid for shabby and lamps all by plump naked girls from bed to to get a purse and then offered certain for a dollar or its equivalent a credit on the contract slip in the more exclusive i was sent around to a side entrance by comfortably dressed women who were too proud or too sly to have their neighbors know that they were buying on time black at me from behind windows at noon plump wives drew me into situations on sight death mourned over their late lost in my presence and postponed paying me but i liked the life i was crazy about it was like a great in a tumult of noble i was like a guest at a feast eating and drinking in a delirium of ecstasy chapter iv but if i was wrought up by the varying aspects of the city i was equally wrought up by the delights of love which for the first time folly with the arrival of was i in love with no as i understand myself now i doubt that i have ever been in love with any one or with anything save life as a whole twice or thrice i have developed stirring passions but always there was a voice or thought within which seemed to say over and over like a bell at sea what does it matter t beauty is eternal beauty will come again but this thing ufe this picture of effort this of hope and joy and despair that did matter i beauty like a bell the of the dawn the whispering of gentle winds and waters in summer days and places was in everything and everywhere indeed the appeal of this local life was its relationship to eternal perfect beauty that it should go i that never again after a few years might i see it more that love should | 43 |
pass i that youth should pass that in due time i should stand old and contemplating with age eyes joys and wonders whose sting and color i could no longer feel or even remember out on it for a damned tragedy and a joke proved to be in love with me she lived in a two flat frame house in what was then the far middle south section of the city a region about fifty first and streets her foster father was a railroad and had saved up a few thousand dollars by years of toil this little apartment represented his her taste such as it was a ample little place with red curtains a pair of folding doors which separated two large rooms front and back there were lace curtains and white shades at the windows a piano a most soothing luxury for me to a book about myself plate y and then store furniture a red velvet a red several other new badly designed chairs quaint little soul how cheery and and with life she was when i met her her as i afterwards came to know was a man of thirty five who had found in her all that he desired and was eager to marry her as he eventually did he was wont to call regularly on wednesday and sunday evenings taking her occasionally to a or to dinner when i arrived on the scene i must have all this for after a time because i manifested some opposition leaving her no choice indeed and sundays became my evenings and any others that i chose regardless of my numerous and no doubt defects she was in love with me and willing to accept me on my own terms yes saw something she wanted and thought she could hold she wanted to unite with me for this little span of existence to go with me hand in hand into the ultimate i think she was a poet in her way but when i called the first night she sat for a little while on one of her red chairs near the window while i occupied a i had hung up my coat and hat with a and had stood about for a while examining everything with the purpose of it and her it all seemed and pleasing enough and curiously i felt more at ease on this my first visit than ever did at my scotch maid s home there her cautious religious though genial and well meaning mother her irritable blind uncle and her more attractive young sister disturbed and tended to me here for weeks and weeks i never saw s when finally i was introduced to them they on me not at all this first night she played a little on her piano then on her and because she seemed especially charming to me i went over and stood behind her chair deciding to take her face in my hands and kiss her perhaps a touch of remorse and in consequence a bit of now swayed her for she got up before i could do it on the instant my assurance became less and yet my mood hardened a book about for i thought she was trifling with me after the previous sunday it seemed to me that she could do no less than permit me to embrace her i was deciding that the evening was about to be a failure when she came up behind me and said don t you think it s rather nice across there between those over the way a gap between houses revealed a long stretch of now covered with snow gas lamps flickering in orderly rows an occasional frame house glowing in the distance yes i admitted this is a funny neighborhood she ventured people are always moving in and out in that row of houses over there are i said not very much interested now that i felt myself defeated there was a silence and then she laid one hand on my arm you re not mad at me she asked using a name which my sister had given me the sound of it on her lips soft and pleading moved me oh no i why should i bet i was thinking that maybe i t to be doing this there s been some one else up to now you know yes i guess i don t care for him any more or i wouldn t be doing what i am i thought you cared for me why did you invite me down oh i do she said placing both her hands on my folded arms and looking up into my face with a kind of i know it isn t right but i can t help it you have such nice hair and eyes and you re so tall do you care for me at yes i said smiling over my victory i think you re beautiful i smoothed her cheek with one hand while i held her about the waist with the other we went over to the red and i took her in my arms a book about myself and held her and kissed her mouth and eyes and neck she to me and and told me bits about her work and her floor and her social companions and even her she danced for me when i asked her doing a dog to and fro her skirts lifted to her she was sweetly feminine in no wise or bold i stayed nearly one in the morning i had nine or ten miles to go by owl cars arriving home at nearly three but at this time i was not working and so my time was my own the thing that troubled me was what my scotch girl would think if she found out which she never would and how i could myself from a situation which now that i had was not | 43 |
as interesting as it had been chapter v as spring approached this affair moved on the work of the company was no harder than that of the company and i had more time to myself because of an sense of my personal importance and because i thought it a wonderful thing to be a newspaper man and so very much less to be a i lied to as to what i was doing when i be through with collecting and begin t i was eager to know all about music painting literature and to be in those places where life is at its best i was now that i had not made better use of my school and college days and so in my free hours i read visited the art gallery and library went to and the free intellectual churches or schools were my favorite places on sunday mornings i would sometimes take or my scotch girl to the thomas which were just beginning at the or to see the best plays and actors mary joseph thinking of myself as a man with a future i assumed a kind of attitude toward my two finally breaking with n on the pretext that she was stubborn and superior and did not love me whereas i really wanted to assume privileges which she with her conventional notions could not permit and which i was not generous enough not to want as for she was perfectly willing to yield with a view i have always thought to moving me to marry her but being deeply touched by her very obvious charm i did nothing once my work was done of an afternoon i over many things waiting for evening to come when i should see again usually i read or visited a gallery or some park was intensely sweet to me her eyes were so soft so a book about myself liquid and so she was gay with at times a suggestion of hidden melancholy at night in that great world of life which is the business heart of i used to wait for her and together once we had found each other in the crowds we would make our way to the great railway station at the end of where a tall dock tower held a single yellow clock face if it chanced to be tuesday or thursday i would go home with her on other nights she would sometimes stay down to dine with me at some place i never knew until toward the end of the following summer when things were breaking up for me in and greater opportunities were calling me elsewhere that during all this time she had really never her relationship with my fearing my perhaps by what necessary lies and innocent she had held him against the time when i might not care for her any more i know not the thing has now was she t i do not think so at any rate she was tender clinging and in need of true affection she would take my hand and hold it under her arm or against her heart and talk of the little things of the day the customers and the women of social pretensions the other girls who sometimes upon or betrayed each other usually her stories were of amusing things for she had no heart for bitter there was a note of melancholy running all through her relationship with me however for i think she saw the and uncertainty of my point of view already my mind s eye was a farther horizon in which neither she nor any other woman had a vital part fame applause power possibly these were me once she said to me her eyes looking into mine do you really love me don t you think i do i replied and yet saying to myself that i truly cared for her in my fashion which was true yes i think you do in your way she said and the it a book about myself interpretation me i saw myself a stormy hanging over the black waves of life and never really resting anywhere i could not my mind would not let me i saw too felt too knew too much what was i what any one but a small bit of on an endless sea being moved hither and thither by what tides t oh dead or living sleeping or waking listen to these few true words you were beautiful to me my heart was hungry i wanted youth i wanted beauty i wanted sweetness i wanted a tender smile wide eyes loveliness all these you had and gave peace to you i do not ask as much for myself my determination to leave the company was associated with other changes equally important and of much more interest our home life now that my mother was gone was most unsatisfactory what i took to be the airs and of my sister m toward whom i had never borne any real affection had become i disliked her very much for though she was no better than the rest of us or so i thought at the time she was nevertheless inclined to as to the duty of others here she was married yet living at home and at such times and to such places as suited her husband s convenience obtaining from him scarcely enough to maintain herself in the state to which she thought she was entitled only a small portion to the of the home and yet setting herself and her husband up as whose social manners might well be copied by all her whole manner from morning to night day in and day out was one of superiority or so i thought at the time i am mrs g a if you please she seemed to say g is doing this i am going to do so and so it can | 43 |
scarcely be expected that we in our hi state should have much to do with the rest of you yet whenever a was in or near he made our home his abiding place two of the best rooms on the second floor were set aside for his and m s use the most stir a book about myself ring preparations were made whenever he was coming the house swept flowers bought extra cooking done and what not the moment he had gone things fell to their natural and rather careless pace m retired to her rooms and was scarcely seen for days t another sister who despised her heartily would and when she thought the burden of family work was being shouldered on to her would do nothing at all my father was left to go through a routine of duties such as fire building care of the furnace which should have the but which in these conditions made it seem as if he were being put upon g another sister who was anything but a added fuel to the flames by the drift of things to the younger members a e and myself the thing that had turned me against m followed a letter which my brother paul once sent to my mother a check for ten dollars and intended especially for her because it was sent to her personally she wanted to keep it secret from the others and to do this she sent me to the general on which it was drawn with her signature in and myself as the proper i got the money and returned it to her but either because of her increasing illness or because she still wanted to keep it a secret when paul mentioned it in another letter she said she had not received it then she died and the matter of the money came up it was proved by inquiry at the that the money had been paid to me i confirmed this and asserted which was true that i had given it to mother m alone of all the family felt called upon to question this she visited an at the general a friend of a s by the way and persuaded him to make inquiry with a view no doubt to me the result of this was a formal letter asking me to call at his office when i went and found that he was charging me with the of this money and demanding its return on pain of my being sent to prison i blazed of course and told him to go to the devil when i reached home i was furious i called out my sister m and told well many things a book about myself for weeks and even i had a burning desire to strike her although nothing more was ever done or said concerning it for over fifteen years the memory of this one thing divided ns completely but after that having risen as i thought to superior interests and i condescended to become friendly the first half of was the period of my greatest bitterness toward her and in consequence when my sister c came to me with her complaints and charges we between us a kind of revolution based on our opposition to m and her airs but on the inadequate distribution of the family means and the inability of the different sisters to agree upon the details of the home management according to g who was most bitter in her charges both m and t were lazy and as a matter of fact i cared as little for c and her woes as i did for any of the others but the thought of this home by m and t and supported by us younger ones with father as a kind of pleading of the treasury weeping in his beard and moaning over the general of our lives was too much indeed this matter of money not idleness or was the of the whole situation for if there had been plenty of money or if each of us could have retained his own there would have been little c was jealous of m and t and of the means with which their relations supplied them and although she was earning eight dollars a week she felt that the three or four which she contributed to the household were far too much a y who earned ten and contributed five had no complaint to make and e who earned nine and supplied four and a half also had nothing to say i was earning twelve later fourteen and gave only six and very often i much of this so between us c and i a revolution which ended for us all late in march a crisis came because of a bitter quarrel that sprung up between m and c c and i now proposed with the aid of a and e if we could a book about myself get it either to drive m from the house and take charge ourselves or rent a small apartment somewhere pool our funds and set up a rival home of our own leaving this one to as best it might it was a hard and cold thing to plan and i still wonder why i shared in it but then it seemed plausible enough however that may be this was worked out to a definite conclusion with c as the whip and and myself as general a small apartment only a few blocks from our home was fixed upon prices of furniture on time studied cost of food light enters gone into c in her eagerness to bring her rage to a conclusion volunteered to do the cooking and housekeeping alone and still work as before if each contributed five dollars a week as we said we would have a fund of over eighty dollars a month which should house and feed us and | 43 |
buy furniture on the plan a was consulted as to this and refused saying which was the decent thing to say and characteristic of him that we ought to stay here and keep the home together for father s sake he being old and feeble e always a lover of adventure and eager to share in any new thing agreed to go with us we had to our but even with only sixty dollars a month as a general fund we thought we could get along and so we three c being the had the cheek to announce to my father that either m should leave and allow us to run the house as we wished or we would leave the was not given in any such direct way charges and counter charges were first made long arguments and were indulged in by one side and the other finally seeing that there was no hope of forcing m to leave g announced that she was going alone or with others i said i would follow e said he was coming and there you were i never saw a man more distressed than my father one more harassed by what he knew to be the final dissolution of the family he pleaded but his fell on youthful ears i went and the flat had a book about myself the gas on and some furniture and then toward the end of march in weather we moved never was a man more than my father during these last two or three days of our stay having completed the details c e and i were busy marching to and fro at spare moments carrying clothes books pictures and the like to the new home there were open now between c and m as to the possession of certain things but these were finally adjusted without blows at last we were ready to leave and then came our last to my father and a when my turn came i marched out with a hard cheery independent look on my face but i was really heavy with a sense of my and a and my father were the two i really preferred my father was so old and frail well he said with his accent when i came to say good by you re going are you i m sorry i done the best i could the girls they won t ever agree it seems i try but it don t seem to do any good i have prayed these last few days i hope you don t ever feel sorry it s c who up all these things he waved his hands in a kind of despairing way and after some and phrases i went out the cold march winds were blowing from the west and it was raw gray tomorrow it would be brighter but tonight chapter vi as april advanced i left the company to improve my condition i was tired of collecting the same districts the same excuses by degrees i had come to feel a great contempt for the average mind so many people were so low so so dirty so they were food for dreams little more owing to my experience with the manager of the company in the matter of taking what did not belong to me i had become very cautious and this meant that i should be compelled to live from week to week on my miserable twelve dollars in addition home life had become a horrible burden the house was badly kept and the meals were wretched being of a fault finding disposition and not having m or t to fight with c now turned her attentions to e and myself we did not do this and that the burden of the work was left to her by degrees i grew into a kind of servant being told one april friday of some needs that i must supply and having decided that i could not endure either this abode or my present work i took my fate in my hands and the next day resigned my job having in my possession sixty five dollars i was now determined come what might never to take another job except one of unless i was actually driven to it by starvation and in this mood i came home and announced that i had lost my position and that this home would therefore have to be given up and how glad i was now i should be rid of this dull flat which was so and as i see it now my sister sensibly enough from her point of view perhaps was that e and i as dutiful brothers should support her while she spent all her money on clothes i came to dislike her almost as much as i did m and told her gladly this same day that we could not live here any z a book about myself longer in consequence the furniture company was to come and get the furniture our lease of the place being only from month to month it was easy enough to depart at once b and i were to share a room at the de q s for dollar and a half a week each such meals as i ate there to be paid for at the rate of twenty five cents each then and there as i have since noted with a kind of curiosity the last phase of my rather troublesome youth began up to and even including this last move to street i had been intimately identified in spirit at least with our family and its concentrated home life during my mother s life of course i had felt that wherever she was was home after her death it was the house in which she had lived that held me quite as much as it was my father and those of us who remained together to | 43 |
liked me a little he seemed to take a fancy to me from the moment of our first conversation and included me in what i might call the family spirit he was interested in politics literature and the newspaper life of bit by bit he informed me as to the various who were the most successful newspaper men how some did police some politics and some just general news from him i learned that every paper carried a sporting editor a society editor a dramatic editor a political man there were managing sunday news copy readers and writers all of whom seemed to me men of the very greatest import and they earned which was more amazing still from eighteen to thirty five and even sixty and seventy dollars a week from him i learned that this newspaper world was a in which clever men struggled and fought as elsewhere that some rose and many fell that there was a element among newspaper men that drifted from city to city many drinking themselves out of countenance others settling down somewhere into some fortunate berth before long he told me that only recently he had been copy reader on the t me but due to what he as office politics a term the meaning of which i in no wise grasped he had been put of his place he seemed to think that by and large newspaper men while interesting and in some cases able were and and above all and almost in considerate of each other being young and inexperienced this point of view made no impression on me whatsoever if i thought anything i thought that he must be wrong or that at any rate this would never trouble me in any way being the live and industrious person that i was chapter viii it made me happy to know that whether or not i was taken on i had at least achieved one friend at court advised me to stick get on he said a day or two later i believe you ve got the stuff in you maybe i can help you you probably be like every other damned newspaper man once you get a start an but i help you just the same hang around that will begin in three or four weeks now ill speak a good word for you unless you tie up with some other paper before then and to my astonishment really he was as good as his word he must have spoken to the city editor soon after this for the latter asked me what i had been doing and told me to hang around in case something should turn up but before a newspaper story appeared for me to do a new situation arose which tied me up closer with this prospect than i had hoped for the lone writer previously mentioned a friend and intimate of the city editor had just completed a small work of fiction which he and the city editor in combination had had privately printed and which they were very eager to sell it was as i recall it very badly done an imitation of tom without any real charm or human interest the author himself mr was a yellow haired person he spent all his working hours as i came to know writing those and which are required by purely journals i gathered as much from conversations that were openly carried on before me between himself and the city editor the managing editor and an individual who i later learned was the political man they were out as i heard the managing editor say one day to get some on orders from some individual of whom at that time i knew nothing a book about myself and mr was your true or a or writer what he was ordered to pen once i understood i despised him but at first he amused me though i could not like him whenever he had some particularly malicious or line as i learned in time he would get up and dance about and in a way so for the first time i began to see how party and party tendencies were or twisted or and it still further reduced my estimate of humanity men as i was beginning to find all of us were small irritable nasty in their struggle for existence this little editor for instance was not interested in the party which this paper was supposed to represent or indeed in party principles of any kind he did not believe what he wrote but receiving forty dollars a week he was anxious to make a job of it just at this time he was engaged in throwing mud at the national republican administration the mayor and the governor as well as various local whom the owner of the paper wished him to attack what a pitiful thing or our alleged free press was i then and there began to gather dimly enough at first i must admit what a shabby compound of back room public professions all looking to public and which should lead again to public and financial like politics as i was now soon to see was a of in which men were busily and for what their wretched might in the way of financial social political returns i looked at this dingy office and then at this little yellow haired rat of an editor one afternoon as he worked and it came to me what a desperately subtle and thing life was here he was this little busily and above him were strong dark men never appearing publicly perhaps but paying him his little salary privately it down to him through a and an editor in chief and a managing editor so that he might be kept busy lying a book about myself but the plan he had in regard to his book the of the | 43 |
park high school of which he had been a member a few years before had numbered about three of these two hundred were girls one hundred and fifty of whom he claimed to have known personally one afternoon as i was preparing to leave after all the had been given out the city editor called me over and with the help of this little writer began to explain to me a plan by which if i carried it out faithfully i could connect myself with the daily as a i was to take a certain list of names and addresses and as many copies of the adventures of harry or some such name as i could carry and visit each of these of mr at their homes where i was to recall to their minds that he was an old of theirs that this his first book related to scenes with which they were all familiar and then persuade them if possible to buy a copy for one dollar my reward for this was to be ten cents a copy on all copies sold and in addition and this was the real bait i was to have a on the globe as a at fifteen dollars a week if i succeeded in selling one hundred and twenty copies within the next week or so i took the list and gathered up an of the thin volumes fired by the desire thus to make certain my entrance into the world i cannot say that i was very much pleased with my mission but my necessity or was so great that i was glad to do it just the same i was nervous and as i approached the first home on my list and i suffered and pains in my vanity and my sense of the fitness of things the only i could find in the whole thing was that mr actually knew these people and that i could say i came personally from him as a friend and fellow member of the globe staff it was a thin but apparently it went down with a few of those pretty girls the majority of them lived in the best of the south side some of them of the truly rich whose parents had insisted upon sending their children to the local high school in each case a book about myself upon inquiring for a girl with the remark that i came from mr of the globe i was received in the parlor or reception room and told to wait presently the girl would come bustling in and listen to my story smiling contemptuously perhaps at my shabby mission or opening her eyes in surprise or curiosity mr mr t said one girl why i don t recall any such person and she retired leaving me to make my way out as best i might another exclaimed harry has that little written a the nerve to send you around to sell his book why do you do i will take one because i am curious to see the kind of thing he has done but ih right now it s as silly as he is he s invented some scheme to get you to do this because he knows he couldn t sell the book in any other way others remembered him and seemed to like him others bought the book only because he was a member of their class some struck up a genial conversation with me in spite of my distress at having to do this work there were it gave me a last fleeting picture of that new sunny ity which was the most marked characteristic of of that day and contrasted so sharply with the scenes of poverty which i had recently seen in this region for it was june newly returned from the of the east and europe were themselves about the and within the open chambers of the houses traps and go carts of many of the and elect filled the south side streets the lawn suit the game the lawn party and the family game were everywhere in evidence the new rich and those most ambitious at that time were peculiarly susceptible i think to the airs and manners of the older and more regions of the world they were bent upon their new wealth in terms of luxury as they had observed it elsewhere hence these youths in english suits with up trousers sticks and ties and intended to suggest the spirit of london a book about myself as they imagined it to be hence the high headed girls in dresses their cheeks and eyes bright with color who no doubt imagined themselves to be great ladies and who carried themselves with an air of remote disdain the whole thing had the quality of a play well really the houses the the movements of the people their games and interests all after the fashion of a play they saw this as a great end in itself which perhaps it is to me in my life hungry love hungry state this new rich prosperity with its ease its pretty women and its effort at refinement was quite too much it set me to dreaming and longing made me ache to and pose after this same fashion chapter ix in due course of time i having performed my portion of the contract it became the duty of the two to their agreement with me every day for ten days i had been turning in the cash for from five to fifteen books thereby establishing my reputation for industry and mr was very anxious to know at the end of each day whom i had seen and how the mention of his name was received instead of telling him of the many who laughed or or bought to get rid of me gracefully i gave him flattering reports lately by way of reward i presume he had | 43 |
taken to reading to me the passages in his mr the city editor confided to me one day that he was from a small town in central not unlike the from which i hailed and which i then roughly and to him and from then on we were on fairly good terms he dug up a number of poems and granted me the favor of reading them some of them were almost as good as similar ones by and after whom they were obviously today i know them to be bad or then i thought they were excellent and grieved to think that any one should be going to make a reputation as a great poet while i the only real poet although i had done nothing as yet to prove it remained i did not know until later that i might not have secured a place even now so numerous were the of clever and experienced newspaper men had it not been for the influence of my friend for one reason or my youth perhaps my crazy and general ignorance of things he had become interested in me and seemed fairly anxious to see me get a start out of the tail of his eye he had been watching when i arrived of an evening and there was no one present he sometimes a book about myself inquired what i was doing and by degrees although i had been not to tell he extracted the whole story of s book i even him a copy of the book which he read and pronounced rot adding they ought to be ashamed of themselves sending you out on a job of this kind you re better than that as the end of my task drew near and i was another uncertain wait he put in a good word for me but even then i doubt if i should have had a trial had it not been for the which was rapidly drawing near on the day the newspapers were beginning to chronicle the advance arrival of various leaders from all parts of the country i was taken on at fifteen dollars a week for a week or two anyhow and assigned to watch the committee rooms in the hotels grand pacific and there was another youth who was set to work with me on this and he gave me some slight instruction over us was the political man who commanded other men in different hotels and whose presence i had only noted when the was nearly over if ever a youth was cast adrift and made to realize that he knew nothing at all about the thing he was so eager to do that youth was i cover the hotels for political news were my complete instructions but what the devil was political what did they want me to do say write t at once i was thoroughly terrified by this which i had so eagerly sought for now that i had it i did not know how to make an clear for the first day or two or three therefore i wandered like a lost soul about the and parlor floors and committee rooms of these hotels which i was supposed to cover trying to find where the committee rooms were who and what were the men in them what they were trying to do no one seemed to want to tell me anything and as dull as it may seem i really could not guess i had no clear idea of what was meant by the word politics as used various country and brushed past me in a manner when i hailed them with the tion that i was from the they waved me off with i a book about myself am only a you can t get anything out of me see the well what was a t i didn t know i did not even know that there had been lists published in all the papers my own included giving the information which i was so anxiously seeking i had no real understanding of politics or party doings or organization i doubt if i knew how men came to be let alone elected i did not know who were the various state leaders who the why one candidate might be preferred to another the of such an institution as hall or the things called property interests were as yet beyond me my mind was too much concerned with the poetry of life to busy itself with such minor things as politics however i did know that there was a bitter on between david hill governor of new york and ex president of the united states both for on the ticket and that the organization of new york city was for hill and bitterly opposed to i also knew that the south was for any good as opposed to or hill and that a new element in the was for richard bland better known as silver dick of i also knew by reputation many of the men who had been in the first administration imagine a raw youth with no knowledge of the i of america trying to gather even an of what was going on the nation and the city were full of dark political but of it all i was as innocent as a baby the bars and were full of who drank swore sang and at the top of their lungs swinging and in their long frock coats and wide hats amused me they were forever pulling their whiskers or drinking smoking talking or looking solemn or desperate in many cases they knew no more of what was going on than i did i was told to watch the movements of from south and report any conclusions or of conclusions as to how his would vote i a book about myself had a hard time finding where his committee was and where and when if | 43 |
ever it but once i identified my man i never left him i dogged his steps so persistently that he turned on me one afternoon as he was going out of the house fixed me with his one fiery eye and said young man what do you want of me anyhow t well you re aren t yes sir i m well i m a from the i ve been told to learn what conclusions your has reached as to how it will vote you and your editor of the be damned he replied and i want you to quit following me wherever i go just now i m going for my and i have some rights to privacy the committee will decide when it s good and ready and it won t tell the globe or any other paper now you let me alone follow somebody else i went back to the office the first evening at five thirty and sat down to write with the wild impression in my mind that i must describe the whole political situation not only in but in the nation i had no notion that there was a political man who in with the managing editor and editor in chief understood all about current political conditions the political pot i began was already beginning to yesterday about the and of the various hotels hundreds upon hundreds of the of american etc etc i had not more than eight or nine pages of this before the city editor curious as to what i had discovered and wondering why i had not reported it to him came over and picked up the many sheets which i had turned face down no no no he exclaimed you mustn t write on both sides of the paper don t you know that t for heaven s sake and all this stuff about the political pot boiling is as old as the hills why every country paper for thousands of miles east and west has used it for years and years you re not a book about myself to write the general here see if you can t find out what has discovered and show him what to do with it i haven t got time and he turned me over to my gold who eyed me very severely he sat down and examined my copy with brows he had a round face which seemed all the more ominous because he could fiercely and his eyes could blaze with a cold examining glance this is awful stuff he said as he read the first page he s quite right you want to try and remember that you re not the editor of this paper and just consider yourself a plain sent out to cover some hotels now where d you go today t i told him what d you i described as best i could the whirling world in which i had been no no i i don t mean that i that might be good for a book or something but it s not news did you see any particular man f did you find out anything in connection with any particular committee i confessed that i had tried and failed very good he said you haven t anything to write and he tore up my precious nine pages and threw them into the waste basket you d better sit around here now until the city editor calls you he added he may have something special he wants you to do if not watch the hotels for or committee meetings and if you find any try to find out what s going on the great thing is to discover beforehand who s going to be see f you can t tell from talking to four or five people but what you find out may help some one else to piece out what is to happen when you come back see me and unless you get other orders come back by eleven and call up two or three times between the time you go and eleven because of these specific instructions i felt somewhat encouraged although my first attempt at writing had been thrown into the waste basket i sat about until nearly seven a book about myself when i was given an address and told to find john g er secretary of the treasury and see if i could get an interview with him failing this i was to cover the grand pacific house and and report all important and even if i had secured the desired interview i am sure i should have made an awful of it but fortunately i could not get it only one thing of importance developed for me during the evening and that was the presence of a united states supreme court justice at the grand pacific who upon being by me as he was to his room for the night and told that i was from the globe eyed me and my boy he said you re just a young new i can see that otherwise you wouldn t waste your time on me but i like i was one myself years ago now this hotel and every other is full of leaders and discussing this question of who s to be president i m not discussing it first of all because it wouldn t become a justice of the united states supreme court to do so and in the next place because i don t have to my position is for life i m just stopping here for one day on my way to you d better go around to these committee rooms and see if they can t tell you something and smiling and laying one hand on my shoulder in a way he dismissed me my i thought what a fine thing it is to be a i all i have to do | 43 |
is to say i m from the globe and even a justice of the united states supreme court is smiling and agreeable to me i hurried to a to tell and he said he don t count write a stick of it if you want to and i ll look it over how much is a stick t i asked eagerly and curiously about a hundred and fifty words so much for a united states supreme court justice in election days chapter x i cannot say that i discovered anything of import this night or the next or the next although i secured various which after much with my spirit and some hard intelligent frank statements from my friend were whipped into shape for the trouble with you said as i was trying to write out what the supreme court justice had said to me is that you haven t any training and you re trying to get it now when we haven t the time over in the they have a sign which reads who or what when where all those things have to be answered in the first paragraph not in the last paragraph or the middle paragraph but in the first now come here that stuff and he cut and running thick lines of blue lead through my thoughts and in a line or two all that i thought required ten a smile played about his fat mouth and i saw by his twinkling eyes that he felt that it was good for me news is information he went on as he worked people want it quick sharp clear do you hear now you probably think i m a big stiff up your great stuff like this but if you live and hold this job you ll thank me as a matter of fact if it weren t for me you wouldn t have this job now not one copy reader out of a hundred would take the trouble to show you and he looked at me with hard cynical and yet warm gray eyes i was wretched with the thought that i should be dropped once the was over and so i here and there anxious to find something of a morning from six o clock until noon i studied all the papers trying to discover what all this was about and just what was expected of me the one great thing to find out was who was to be a book about myself and which or individuals would support the successful candidate where could i get the information t the third day i talked to about it and as a favor he brought out a paper in which a rough was made which showed that the choice lay between david hill and with a third man as a dark horse southern sentiment seemed to be about him and in case no agreement could be reached by the new york as to which of its two opposing it would support their vote might be thrown to this third man of course this was all very to me i did my best to get it straight learning that the two thousand strong was to arrive from new york this same day and that the leaders were to be at the i made my way there determined to obtain an interview with no less a person than richard who along with and a hard faced individual by the name of john f seemed to be the brains and of the organization in honor of their presence the was decorated with flags and some of them crossed with or indian feathers above the lined bar was a huge tiger with a stiff projecting tail which when pulled downward as it was every few seconds by one and another caused the image to a deep growl this delighted the crowd and after each growl there was another round of drinks red faced men in silk hats and long each other on the back and out their joy or threats or on the first floor above the office of the hotel were richard his friend and adviser and they sat in the of a great room on a huge red receiving and talking as a representative of the a cheap star fastened to one of the of my waistcoat and concealed by my coat my soul stirred by being allowed to mingle in affairs of great import i finally made my way to the of this imposing group and ventured to ask for an interview with a book about myself himself the great man short carefully almost too carefully dressed his face the of that of a tiger looked at me in a genial way and said no i remember the patent leather button shoes with the gray tops the heavy gold ring on one finger and the heavy watch chain across his chest you won t say who is to be f i persisted nervously i wish i could he grinned i wouldn t be sitting here trying to find out he smiled again and repeated my question to one of his companions they all looked at me with smiling condescension and i beat a swift retreat defeated though i was i decided to write out the little scene largely to prove to the city editor that i had actually seen and been refused an interview i went down to the bar to review the scene being there while i was standing at the bar drinking a there came a curious lull in the midst of it the voices of two men near me became audible as they argued who would be hill or some third man not the one i have mentioned bursting with my new political knowledge and longing to air it i at the place where one of the strangers mentioned the third man as the most likely choice solemnly shook my head as much | 43 |
as to say you are all wrong well then who do think inquired the stranger who was short red faced of south i replied feeling as though i were stating an truth a tall f air dark haired in a white hat and paused at this moment in his hurried passage through the room and looking at the group exclaimed who does me the to mention my name in m with the i am of south no intrusion i hope i and the two others stared in confusion a book about myself none whatever i replied with an air thinking how interesting it was that this man of all people should be passing through the room at this time these gentlemen were saying that of would be and i was going to say that sentiment is running more in your favor well now that is most interesting my young friend and i m glad to hear you say it it s an to be even mentioned in connection with so great an office however small my and who are you may i my name in i represent the oh do you that makes it doubly interesting won t you come along with me to my rooms for a moment you interest me young man you really do how long have you been a oh for nearly a year now i replied and have you ever worked for any other paper yes i was on the herald last fall he seemed elated by his discovery he must have been one of those swelling flattered silly by this chance discussion of his name in a national atmosphere an older newspaper man would have known that he had not the least chance of being seriously considered somebody from the south had to be mentioned as a compliment and this man was fixed upon as one least likely to prove disturbing later he out to a shady balcony overlooking the lake ordered two and wanted to know on what i based my calculation in order to not seem a fool i now went over my conversation with i spoke of different and their as though these conclusions were my own when as a matter of fact i was quoting my seemed surprised at my intelligence you seem to be very well informed he said but i know you re wrong the party will never go to the south for a candidate not for some years anyway just the same since you ve been good enough to champion me in this public fashion i would like to do something for you in return i suppose your paper is always anxious for a book about myself advance news and if you bring it in you get the credit now at this very moment over in the hotel mr william g and some of his friends mr has just gone over there are holding a conference he is the one man who holds the balance of power in this he represents the interests and is heart and soul for now if you want a real beat you d better go over there and hang about mr is sure to make a statement some time today or tomorrow see his secretary mr and tell him i sent you he will do anything for you he can i thanked him certain at last i had a real piece of news this conference was the most important event that would or could take place in the whole i was so excited that i wanted to jump up and run away it will keep he said noting my no other newspaper man knows of it yet nothing will be given out yet for several hours because the conference will not be over before that time but i d like to my office i pleaded all right but come back i ran to the nearest i explained my beat to the city editor and anxious lest i be unable to cover it asked him to inform the head political man he was all excitement at once congratulated me and told me to follow up this conference then i ran back to my i see he said that you are a very industrious and eager young man i like to see that i don t want to say anything which will set up your hopes too much because things don t always work out as one would wish but did any one ever suggest to you that you would make a good private secretary f no sir i replied flattered and eager well from what i have seen here today i am inclined to think you would now i don t know that i shall be returned to the after this year there s a little dispute in my state but if i am and you want to write me after next january i may be able to do something for you i ve a lot of bright young fellows come up in the newspaper a book about myself don and i ve seen a lot go down if not too much attached to it perhaps you would like this other better he smiled serenely and i could have kissed his hands at the same time if you please i was already whether one so promising as myself should leave the newspaper profession but even more than my good fortune at this bit of news or beat as it proved i was impressed by the company i was keeping and the realm in which i now moved as if by right great hotels a newspaper office with which i was connected this these the display of comfort and luxury on every hand only a little while back i was an inexperienced dreaming for an easy payment company and now look at me here i sat on this grand balcony the to my right a table between ua | 43 |
a time when the country was over the possible of the old party to strength and power was something like living i listened to the speeches those conceived and word and whereby district leaders and personality followers seek to upon the attention of the country their own as well as those of the individuals whom they admire although it was generally known that was to be the money power of america having fixed upon him and it was useless to name any one else still as many as ten different great leaders were put in each man so mentioned was the beau ideal of a nation s dream of a leader a a lover of liberty and of the people this in itself was a liberal education and slowly but surely opened my eyes i watched with amazement this love of and noise the way in which various and individual followers loved to shout and walk up and waving and blowing horns different states or cities had sent large new york a marching club two thousand strong all of whom had seats in this hall and all were plainly instructed to yell and at the mention of a given name a book about myself the one thing i heard which seemed rather important at the time because of a man s voice and gestures was a speech by the to his candidate david hill and save the party from defeat indeed his speech until later i heard william seemed to me the best i had ever heard clear forcible sensible he had something to say and he said it with art and seeming conviction he had presence too a sort of animal like he made his audience sit up and pay attention to him when as a matter of fact it was interested in talking privately one member to another i tried to take notes of what he was saying until one of my associates told me that the full minutes of his speech could soon be secured from the being in this great hall cheek by with the best of the newspaper world thrilled me now i said to myself i am truly a newspaper man if i can only get interesting things to write about my is made at as the different of the city were pointed out to me george peter charles d my neck swelled as does a dog s when a rival appears on the scene already at mere sight of them i was anxious to try conclusions with them on some important mission and so see which of us was the better man always up to the early i was so human as to conceive almost a deadly opposition to any one who even looked as though he might be able to try conclusions with me ip anything at that time i was ready for a row believing now that i had got thus far that i was destined to become one of the greatest newspaper men that ever lived but this brought me no additional glory i did write a description of the thing as a whole but only a portion of it was used i did get some details of committee work which were probably in the political man s general summary the next day being interest fell os thousands packed their bags and departed a book about myself i was used for a day or two about hotels gathering one bit of news and another but i could see that there was no import to what i was doing and began to grow nervous lest i should be dropped i spoke to about it do you think they drop i asked not by a damned sight he replied youve earned a show here it s been promised you you ve made good and they ought to give it to you don t you say anything just leave it to me there s going to be a conference here tomorrow as to who s to be dropped and who kept on and have my say then you saved the day for us on that stuff and that ought to get you a show leave it to me the conference took place the next day and of the five men who had been taken on to do extra work during the i and one other were the only ones retained and this at the expense of two former dropped at that i really believe i should have been sent off if it had not been for he had been present during most of the transactions concerning mr s book and thought i deserved work on that score alone to say nothing of my subsequent efforts i think he disliked the little writer very much at any rate when this conference began according to who was there and reported to me sat back a look of contented cm his face not unlike that of a fox about to a chicken the names of several of the new men were proposed as for the old ones when not hearing mine mentioned he inquired well what about well what about retorted the editor he s a good man but he training these other fellows are experienced i thought you and sort of agreed to give him a show if he sold that book for no i didn t said i only promised to give him a around time i ve done that but he s the best man on the staff today insisted i a book about myself well he brought in the only piece of news worth having he s writing better every day he according to and and taking the hint that the might be carried higher up or changed their attitude completely oh well said let him come on i d just as have him he may pan out and so on i came at fifteen dollars a week and thus my newspaper | 43 |
career was begun in earnest chapter xii this change from to being an newspaper man was delightful for a very little while a year or so it seemed to open up a clear straight course which if followed must lead me to great heights of course i found that were very badly paid ranged from fourteen to twenty five dollars for and as for those important about which i had always been reading they were not even thought of here the best i could learn of them in this office was that they did exist on some papers men were still sent abroad on or to the west or to africa as but they had to be men of proved merit or genius and connected with papers of the greatest importance how could one prove to be a genius f salary or no salary however i was now a newspaper man with the opportunity eventually to make a name for myself having broken with the family and with my sister c i was now quite alone in the world and free to go anywhere and do as i pleased i found a front room in place overlooking union park in which area i afterwards placed one of my i could walk from here to the office in a little over twenty minutes my route lay through either street or washington east to the river and morning and night i had ample opportunity to on the or out at elbows character of much that i saw both washington and from east to the river were lined with vile and yellow and gray frame houses and possibly misery and whole streets of degraded dejected miserable souls why didn t society do better by i often asked of myself then why didn t they do better by themselves t did who as had been book about into me up to that hour was all wise all and make people or did they themselves have something to do with it f was government to blame or they themselves t always the miseries of the poor the and physical which trail folly passion fascinated me i was never tired of looking at them but i had no solution and was not willing to accept any suspecting even then that man is the victim of forces over which he has no control as i walked here and there through these truly terrible i peered through open doors and patched and broken windows at this wretchedness and much as a man may tread the poisonous paths of a curious and yet it was this and tendency however which helped me most as i soon found even in was still in that stage which loved long upon almost any topic nearly all news stories were to make more of them than they deserved especially as to color and romance all were being written in imitation of the great particularly charles who was the ideal of all newspaper men and as well as magazine special writers how often have i been told to imitate charles in thought and manner i the city wanted not so much bare facts as feature stories color romance and although i did not see it clearly at the time i was their man write t why i could write upon any topic when at last i discovered that i could write at all one day some one i suppose me speak of what i was seeing each day as i came to or went from the office to my room suggested that i do an article on s which lay between and the river and twelfth streets for the next sunday issue and this was as good as meat and drink for me i visited this region a few times between one and four in the morning wandering about its its dark its gloomy mire and atmosphere s wretchedness was never utterly tame dis a book about myself or hang dog whatever else it might be rather it was savage bitter and at times and the vile and who this region all led a if or horrible life saloon lights and smells and lamps gleaming from behind broken and from below wooden gave it a and dangerous color jew s tin pan and were forever going always with a noisy life between twelve and four oaths foul phrases a and reconciliation to everywhere these were some of the things that it although there was a closing hour law there was none here as long as it was deemed worth while to keep open only at four and five in the morning did a heavy peace seem to descend and this seemed as wretched as the heavier vice and degradation which preceded it in the face of such a scene or picture as this my mind invariably paused in question i had been reared on religious and moral theory or at least had been compelled to listen to it all my life here then w s a part of the work of an gk d who nevertheless apparently a most industrious devil why did he do why did nature when left to itself devise such and human heaps y in or behind windows or under lamp posts in these and creatures with the or most fox like expression and with heavily lips and cheeks and blackened eyebrows were ready to give themselves for one dollar or even fifty cents and this in the heart of this and prosperous west a land with milk and honey what had brought that about so soon in a new rich healthy land god devil t or both working together toward a common end near at hand were huge and rapidly the and trains morning and evening were crowded with earnest careful saving seeking well dressed people who were anxious to work and lay aside a com a book about myself and own a | 43 |
then why was it that these others lived in a hell t was ood to blame t or society t i not solve it this matter of being with its difference is permanently above the understanding of man i fear i smiled as i thought of my father s attitude to all this there he was out on the west side demanding that all creatures of the world return to christ and the catholic church see clearly whether they could or not its grave import to their immortal souls and here were these and wretched filthy greasy and the men low ill rum soaked body i mere bags of bones many of them blue scarlet if god should get them what would he do with them t on the other hand in the so better walks of life there were so many self swine masters whose faces were maps of gross and whose clothes were almost a of sound i think i said a little something of all this in the first newspaper special i ever wrote it seemed to open the eyes of my you know observed to me as he read my copy the next morning between one and three you have your faults but you do know how to observe you bring a fresh mind to bear on this stuff anyhow i think maybe you re cut out to be a writer after all not just an ordinary newspaper man he into silence and then at periods as he read he would exclaim christ i or that s a hell of a world then he would fall foul of some english and with a kind of malicious glee would cut and hack and and shake his head until i was convinced that i had written the rot in the world at the dose however he arose his lap lit a pipe and said well i think you re but i believe you re a writer just the same th ought to let you do more sunday and then he talked to me about phases of the he knew it with a like section in san where he had once worked a book about myself a hell of a fine novel is going to be written some of these things one of these days he remarked and from now on he treated me with such equality that i thought i must indeed be a very remarkable man chapter this world of newspaper men who now received me on terms of social equality who saw life from a purely and yet in the main imaginative me considerably and finally me from and so many of them were hard gallant without the slightest trace of the and terror of fortune which agitated me they had been here there everywhere san los new york london they knew the ways of the newspaper world and to a limited extent the workings of society at large the conventional minded would have called them harsh impossible largely because they knew nothing of trade that great american standard of ability and force most of them as i soon found were like john free from notions as to how people were to act and what they were to think to a certain extent they were confused by the general american passive acceptance of the sermon on the mount and the as governing principles but in the main they were nearly all of these things and of conventional principles in general they did not believe as i still did that there was a fixed moral order in the world which one at his peril heaven only knows where they had been or what they had seen but they the motives professed or secret of nearly every man no man apparently was utterly and honest that is no man in a powerful or dominant position and but few were kind or generous or truly as i sat in the office between or with them at dinner or at midnight in some one of the many small frequented by newspaper men i heard tales of all sorts of not only in low life but in our so a book about myself called high life most of these young men looked upon life as a fierce grim struggle in which no quarter was either given or taken and in which all men laid traps lied through illusion a conclusion with which i now most heartily agree the one thing i would now add is that the of the world is in the main genial and that in our hour of success we are all inclined to be more or less liberal and warm hearted but at this time i was still about the sermon on the mount and the expecting ordinary human flesh and blood to do and be those things hence the point of view of these men seemed at times a little at other times most people make laws for other people to live up to once said to me and in order to protect themselves in what they have they never intend those laws to apply to themselves or to prevent them from doing anything they wish to do there was a youth whose wife believed that he did not drink on two occasions within six weeks i was sent as to inform his wife that he had suddenly been taken ill with and would soon be home then and would bundle him into a hack and send him off one or two of us going along to help him into his house so solemnly was all this done and so well did we play our parts that his wife believed it for a long enough for him to pull himself together a year later and give up drinking entirely another youth boasted that he was and was himself with another there was whose joy it was to sleep in a house of every saturday | 43 |
night and so on i tell these things not because i rejoice in them but merely to indicate the atmosphere into which i was thrown neither nor virtue nor nor was either a compelling or cause of either success or failure or had anything to do with true newspaper ability rather men succeeded by virtue of something that was not intimately related to any of these if one could do anything which the world really wanted it would not trouble itself so much about one s private life a book about myself another that was being brought about in me was that which related to my personal opinion of myself the feeling i was now swiftly acquiring that after all i amounted to something was somebody a special or two that i wrote thanks largely to s brought me to the among those of the staff who were writing for the sunday a few news stories fell to my lot and i handled them with a freedom which won me praise on all not that i felt at the time that i was writing them so well or differently as that i was most earnestly concerned to state what i saw or felt or i even a few of my own mild poetic on i scarcely recall what which with a eye at first but later to publish the signature of because he had decided to me this grieved me for i was dying to see my own name in print but when they appeared i had the audacity to call upon the family and show them of my sudden rise in the world and saying that i had used the name as a compliment to a nephew during this time i was taking a rather lofty hand with because of my great success of the fact that i had been for months that i was connected with one of the best of the local papers and telling her that i did not think it so wonderful but now i began to think that i was to be called to much higher and solemnly asked myself if i should ever want to marry a number of things helped to this question in me for one thing i had no sooner been launched into general than one afternoon in seeking for the pictures of a group of girls who had taken part in some summer night festival i encountered one who seemed to be interested in me a little of about my own age very sleek and dreamy she responded to my somewhat timid advances when i called on her and condescended to smile as she gave me her photograph i drew close to her and attempted a to which she was not averse and on parting i asked if i might call some afternoon or evening hoping to crowd it in with my work she agreed and a book about myself for several and week i was put to my utmost resources to keep my engagements and do my work for the newspaper profession that i knew neither week days nor sundays off i had to take an and it in part or that i was delayed and could not come at all thus early even i began to adopt a attitude toward this very work twice i took her to a once to an organ recital and once for a stroll in park by which time she seemed inclined to yield to my to the extent of i me to put my arms about her and even to kiss her protesting always that i was wanton and forward and that she did not know whether she cared for me so much or not charming as she was i did not feel that i should care for her very much she was beautiful but too too carefully reared her mother upon hearing of me looked into the fact of whether i was truly connected with the and then her daughter to be careful about making new friends i saw that i was not welcome at that house and thereafter met her i might have in this case had i been so minded and possessed of a little more courage but as i feared that i should have to undergo a long courtship with marriage at the end of it my cooled because she was new to me and comfortably stationed and better dressed than either or n had ever been i esteemed her more highly made from a material point of view and wished that i could marry some such well placed girl without assuming all the stem obligations of matrimony during the second month of my work on the there arrived cm the scene a man who was destined to have a very marked effect on my career he was a tall dark slender legged individual of about forty five or fifty with a shock of curly black hair and a burst of whiskers he was truly your gold type red eyed at times but intelligent and genial reminding me not a little of my brother rome in his best hours he wore a long dusty black f and a pair of black trousers and worn by a book about myself liquor and rough usage his feet were in wide shoes of the old boot leather variety and the of locks and beard was surmounted by a black hat such as were wont to affect his nose and cheeks were tinted a fiery red by much drinking the nose having a and texture this man was john t a well known middle west er man of that day a truly brilliant writer whose sole fault was that he drank too much originally from st louis the son of a well known there he had taken up as the most direct avenue to fame and fortune at forty five he found himself a mere on in this profession tossed from | 43 |
job to job because of his weakness his skill if not by that of younger men it was said that he could drink more and stand it better than any other man in why he can t begin to work unless he s had three or four drinks to him up harry once said to me he has to have six or seven more to get through till evening he did not say how many were required to carry him on until midnight but i fancy he must have consumed at least a half dozen more he was in a constant state of semi which was often concealed during my second month on the was made city editor in place of who had gone to a better paper later he was made managing editor i learned from that he was well known in newspaper circles for his wit his pen and that once he had been considered the most brilliant newspaper editor in st louis he had a small spare intellectual wife very homely and very who still adored him and had suffered ood knows what to be permitted to live with him the first afternoon i saw him sitting in the city chair i was very much afraid of him and of my future he looked and uncouth and had told me that new usually brought in new men as it turned out however much to my astonishment he took an almost im a book about myself fancy to me which into a kind of affection and even if yon will permit me humbly to state a fact a kind of adoration indeed he swelled my head by the genial and hearty manner in which almost at once he took me his guidance and my career as rapidly as he could the while he borrowed as much of my small salary as he could please do not think that i this then or that i do now i owe him more than a dozen such borrowed over a period of years could ever repay my one grief is that i had so little to give him in return for the very great deal he did for me the incident from which this burst of friendship seemed to take its rise was this one day shortly after he arrived he gave me a small concerning a girl on the south side who had run away or had been from one of the homes it has ever been my lot to see the girl was a hardy irish creature of about sixteen a neighborhood street boy had taken her to some wretched in south street and her her mother an old irish catholic woman whom i found bending over a when i called was greatly exercised as to what had become of her daughter of whom she had heard nothing since her the police had been and from picked up by a i learned the facts first mentioned the mother wept into her wash as she told me of the death of her husband a few years before of a boy who had been injured in such a way that he could not work and now this girl her last hope from a newspaper point of view there was nothing much to the story but i decided to follow it to the end i found the house to which the boy had taken the girl but they had just left i found the parents of the youth simple plain working people who knew nothing of his whereabouts something about the wretched little homes of both families the the poverty and which would ill become a pretty girl impelled me to write it out as i saw and felt it i hurried back to the office that afternoon and out a kind of romance which a book about myself in the course of the night seemed to take the office by storm who read it at first then said it was interesting and then fine he at one point as he read you re letting your youthful romantic mood get the best of you i see this will never do bead my boy read the city editor picked it up when he returned intending i presume to see if there was any sign of interest in the general introduction finding something in it to hold him he read on carefully to the end as i could see for i was not a dozen feet away and could see what he was reading when he finished he looked over at me and then called me to come to him i want to say to you he said that you have just done a fine piece of writing i don t go much on this kind of story don t believe in it as a rule for a daily paper but the way you have handled this is fine you re young yet and if you just keep yourself well in hand you have a future thereafter he became very friendly asked me out one lunch time to have a drink borrowed a dollar and told me of some of the charms and wonders of work in st louis and elsewhere he thought the was too small a paper for me that i ought to get on a larger one in another city and suggested how valuable would be a period of work on the st louis of which he had once been city editor you haven t any idea how much you need all this he said you re young and inexperienced and a great paper like the or the new york sun starts a boy off right i would like to see you go first to st louis and then to new york don t settle down anywhere yet don t drink and don t get married whatever you do a wife will be a big to you you have a future | 43 |
picture i was against anything also against detection and being beaten up by those whom i was offending for i noticed after the first day or two that the of some of the shops occasionally studied me curiously or ceased their more shameful in my presence and produced something of more value the facts which my articles presented however finally began to attract a little attention to the paper either because the paper sold better or because a book about myself this was an excellent club wherewith to his enemies the now decided to call the attention of the public the to what was going on in our columns and undertook to frighten the police into action by swearing out against the different owners of the shops and thus compelling them to take action i became the of a semi literary semi public reform the principal members of the staff assured me that the articles were in fact and color and highly amusing one day by way of the license and with the aid of i secured the names of the alleged owners and of nearly all of these shops and thereafter attacked them by name describing them just as they were where they lived how they made their money etc in company with a private and several times with i personally served of arrest accompanied the to police where they were immediately released on and then ran to the office to write out my impressions of all i had seen repeating conversations as nearly as i could remember describing uncouth faces and bodies of and and by sly indicating what a farce and sham was the whole seeming interest of the police one day and i called on the chief of police demanding to know why he was so indifferent to our and the facts we put before him to my youthful amazement and he shook his fist in our faces and exclaimed you can go to the devil and so can the i know who s back of this campaign and why well go on and play your little game shout all you want to who s going to listen to you haven t any circulation you re not going to make a mark of me and you re not going to get me fired out of here for not performing my duty your paper is only a dirty political rag without any influence is it well you just wait and see i think you change your mind as to that and we stalked solemnly out and in the course of time he did change his mind some a book about myself of the had to be arrested and and their places closed up and the longer we talked and exposed the worse it became for them finally a dealer approached me one morning and offered me an eighteen gold watch to be selected by me from any store in the city and paid for by him if i would let his store alone i refused another a dark dusty most amusing little jew offered me a diamond pin upon sticking it in my and said oo see oo ask any what he thinks if that ain t a real stone if it ain t if he says no bring it back to me and i ll give you a hundred dollars in cash for it don t you mention me no more now be a nice now i m a hard man just like anybody else i run a honest place i carried the pin back to the office and gave it to he stared at me in amazement why did you do this he exclaimed you shouldn t have taken this at all it may get the paper in trouble they may have had witnesses to this but maybe not perhaps this fellow is just trying to protect himself anyway we re going to take this thing back to him and don t take anything more do you hear money or anything you can t do that sort of thing if i didn t think you were honest i d fire you right now he took me into the office of the editor in chief who looked at me with still gray blue eyes and listened to my story he dismissed me and talked with for a while when the latter came out he exclaimed triumphantly he sees that you re honest all right and he s to death now we ll take this pin back and then you ll write out the whole story just as it happened on the way we went to a magistrate to swear out a charge of attempted against this man and later in the same day i went with the to serve the warrant to myself i seemed to be swimming in a delicious sea of life what a fine thing life is i thought here i am getting along because i can write soon i will get more money a book about myself and maybe some day people will begin to hear of me i will get a fine reputation in the newspaper world s to this vigorous campaign of which was the inspiration and guiding spirit all these shops were eventually closed in so much at least john b had achieved a revenge as for myself i felt that there must be some serious and favorable change impending for me and true enough within a fortnight after this the change came i had noticed that had become more and more friendly he introduced me to his wife one day when she was in the and told her in my presence what splendid work i was doing often he would take me to lunch or to a saloon for drinks for which i would pay and would then borrow a dollar or two or three no part of which he ever returned he me on | 43 |
the subject of study urging me to give myself a general education by reading attending lectures and the like he wanted me to look into painting music as he talked the blood would in my head and i kept thinking what a brilliant career must be awaiting me one thing he did was to secure me a place on the st louis just at this time a man whose name i have forgotten i think the washington correspondent of the st louis globe came to to report the preliminary preparations for the great world s fair which was to open the following spring already the construction of a number of great buildings in park had been begun and the newspapers throughout the country were on the alert as to its progress as i may as well call him a cool capable observer and writer was an old friend of introduced me to him and made an impassioned plea in my behalf for an opportunity for me to do some writing for the in st louis imder his direction the idea was to get this man to allow me to do some world s fair work for him on the side in addition to my work on the and then later to persuade joseph b of the former paper to make a place for me in st louis as you see he said when he introduced me he s a mere a book about myself boy without any experience but he has the of a first rate newspaper man i m sure of it now henry as a favor to me i want you to help him you re close to joseph b editor in chief of the st louis y and he s just the man this boy ought to go to to get his training has just completed a fine piece of work for me he s closed up the shops here and i want to reward him he only gets fifteen a week here and i can t do anything for him in just now you write and ask to take him on down there and i ll write also and tell him how i feel about it the of this was that i was immediately taken into the favor of mr given some easy gossip writing to do which me sixteen dollars the week for three weeks in addition to the fifteen i earned on the at the end of that time some correspondence having ensued between the editor of the and his two admirers i one day received a which read yon may have position on this paper at twenty a week beginning next monday wire reply i stood in the dusty little globe office and stared at this wondering what so great an opportunity only six months before i had been and hanging about this back door here i was tonight with as much as fifty dollars in my pocket a suit of good clothes on my back good shoes a good hat and overcoat i had learned how to write and was already here as a star i felt as though life were going to do wonderful and beautiful things for me i thought of that now i should have to leave her and this familiar and now comfortable atmosphere and then i went over to to ask him what i ought to do when he read the he said this is the best chance that could possibly come to you you will be working on one of the greatest papers and under one of the greatest that ever lived make the most of your chance go t of course go let s see it s tuesday our regular week ends friday you hand in your resignation now to take effect then and go sunday i give you some letters that will help a book about myself you and he at once turned to his desk and wrote out a series of instructions and that night and for four days after until i took the train for st louis i walked on air i was going away i was going out in the world to make my fortune withal i was touched by the pathos of the fact that life and youth and everything which now about me so was for me as well as for every other living individual slipping away chapter xv decision to my newspaper life in involved the problem of what to do about during these spring and summer days i had been amusing myself with her imagining sometimes because of her pretty face and figure and her soft clinging ways that i was in love with her by the lakes and of s on the lake shore at park where the white sails were to be seen in s little room with the windows open and the lights out or of a sunday morning when her parents were away visiting and she was preparing my breakfast and her nose and chin in the attempt how happy we were how we and kissed and made promises to ourselves concerning the future we were like two children at times and for a while i half decided that i would marry her in a little while we were going everywhere together and she was planning her wedding the little she would have when we were married we were to live on the south side near the lake in a tiny apartment she described to me the costume she would wear which was to be of satin of an ivory shade with slippers and stockings to match but as spring wore on and i grew so restless i began to think not so much less of as more of myself i never saw her as anything but beautiful tender a delicate almost perfect creature for some one to love and cherish once we went hand in hand over the | 43 |
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