THE SUNDAY BEE: OMAHA, NOVEMBER 2G. 1922.
The Room on the Roof
By Will Payne
The Story at a (Jlanre.
Nathaniel Harwood, a handaome
Widower 4) Veer eld. haa dtaalpated
the greater arl af (ha fortune Uft
to htm and hie dauahter wtten
Adolph Krum, a laua grinder, of
fers Mm a chance to re-oup tor
fljnm a project to produce mo
tion puturea In natural colore and
In rl:ef by meana of a camera In
verted by
Simon Curtis, a cruaty old camera
maiuracturer who la Krom'a em
llor and who la perfncting a ls
for the Centura with the aid of
Prraor Htefnman, dry little
wlap of a man who saya he original
ad the Invention. Krom brlnse
ptrlMnan to tfnrwood'e offlre on the
IMh floor of the Belknap building
In I .a Halle atr"t; the three atrtka
haiseln, and Krorn teare ap for.
Una contract with Htelnmen, which
he had alolen. It la earned that
frlrlriii an and Krom ehall work ee
rfetly for Harwood while pretending
to r-t:,eln with r'urlln. Whnt the
mailer of a eecret worktfhnp la dli
cueied Harwood leerfw them to
The ftoom on the ftoof of the
ekyraper, toil Htelnman loneW down
the dlr.ir height and la fearful Ho.
for the time blng he la riven a
ahr.p n Slow Hirer, Ml'-h., where
Harwood, JOelnman and Krom
fnr
;ilzebeth Maiden, tl and beautl
fui. who fa .fudge Macomb' a eecre
tary. Ilnrwood at nnr-e la attracted
to h'-r althoiiah practically eneaired
to Ietitia llrlknap and bar
SKCON'D INSTALLMENT.
urlin Malic Raid.
When Ilnrwood started for Mow
River Hint April day hl life ap
peared :o ho firmly arranged on a
spaciou.-i and lordly pattern. There
hail been a misfortune with hla In
vent menis. but he could wave that
asldo. If ho had lout the money In
took gambling or the like he would
he said have blamed himself bit
terly. Lut be had gone Into legltl
mate business, on good advice. The
time had been adverse; he'd suf
fered tome poor luck. An Letitla
Belknap'j husband there would be
no real difficulty about accounting
to hla daughter for her share of the
estate. It would Involve a some
what humiliating explanation to
Let it la, but he could show her that
he'd simply been unfortuntte. He
won sure there would be no real
difficulty. And as Letitla's hus
band I litre would be no further
bother about money.
Bo the pattern had been arranged,
lie could not conceive of an accept
able or even tolerable pattern of life
which did not include an ample, se
cure Income. He was not a gambler
or profligate, but he had a fine
flair for spending money. His
shapely, nervous hands shed It as
naturally as he breathed. The lux
urious furnishings of his law of
fice and the conceit of a cabin on
the roof were only two Instances.
His Income from the law firm ran
from forty to fifty thousand a
year: but that was mere beggarly
hand to mouth. Letltia would solve
the money question.
Then ho had met a witch who
cast an inescapable spell upon him.
Her clear laughter rang In hla
heart, dimming all other sounds.
When he started In his car for
Slow Itiver or took the train bis
pulses leaped. At Slow River lie
couldn't rest utll he was in her
presence and felt the charm anew.
And every time the miracle hap
pened over again; across 20 years
youth and love were poured
through his veins.
But at 43 one has learned some
cautiion even in love; he was canny,
apprehending her attitude toward
him. By July many of his friends
were out of town for the summer;
but he stayed on, alleging Important
business which took him bock and
forth to Michigan. In August he
did take two weeks' vacation at
Long Lake, three miles from Slow
River. The end of the month he
was back again for three days.
"When Elizabeth went home, the
last of those days, the long, shiny
car stood In front of her mother's
cottage. Harwood and her mother
at on the veranda, with a honey
suckle vine at the end. Besa hardly
climbed the steps before being
aware that they had been talking
about her: there was open conspir
acy In their smiting fncea.
Harwood spoke; "Sit down. IV"
-for by now ha used hlr nickname.
Sitting down, she wondered what
the conapliacy wan. He at once told
her.
"How would It suit you to go to
Chicago as my swretarv? I've got
to hnvw .Mitr'tMMly. Tou ran read
law ihere, too,"
lir even opened and ebon at
him. "Uvally?" sha braathe.1 In
credulously. "Vra, lff.h-e.1' You ran do It bet
ec th.tti anUly I know."
Mm Mil.len was beaming with
graDfUatton.
"ttf route Id tike It" KllraWlh
iWWr.l taut a It inch f.ir he
rank.r
A ttltle tilee Mrs, U il.t-n eti
Intel the KrfUce, ktu (li-m In
tlik aver the thUlW
"I ay yu IM a weea, aiM
II (w4.
rtiM -r ! aJ
leetel e-trtve4l ' O I m a4 w. IH
IMI"
Ml tf )dii at t ran a-l
you back here," Hurwood replied
with a smile. "A secretary who's
capable of doing my work must be
worth Uuat much. We can try It
out and see wliethur or not you
are."
lie was speaking pleasantly, yet
It all sounded tremendously busi
ness like even down to dry dollars
and cents. And liess was aglow
over the prospect; Chicago, $75 a
week, a big law office!
Nathaniel Harwood had given her
a wonderful summer. The first eve
ning when she hud found him In
her mother's cottage sho hud fallen
In love with him and declared tha
fact to her mother as they ate their
canned supper on the kitchen tuUe.
She bad mentioned It with t-ntliUHi-asm
to Judge Llacomb the next day.
It was somewhat dlffereut from
fulling in love with Weinman be
cause it was more deferential, ad
miring; but otherwise It was much
the same.
She had a sort of persotiul pride
In his good looks the handsomest
man she had ever seen. And In tils
clothes that were always just right
without being like a tailor's dummy.
She eagerly admired his air no
pleasant, so smluble, yet assured;
bearing himself toward the world
with a smile, yet with poise, and
with that effect of alert, vigorous
capability. He wus a big man,
moving at ease in big affairs!
She was by no means above a
certain invidious pleasure which hl'i
p m rmf .yywff'y"''''"' a u.'ih 1,1)1.1,.;. w 1, ywr.-g .v.g,...-
f 7',, TT7 - ' x
' , H V ' '''ft t" ' I
1 A 'V '
ft!
e. . ra A
1 tit ir.i.Vv- ri. hi
In August he did take a two weeks' vacation at Long lake, three
miles from Slow River.
companionship conferred upon her.
For example, she was abundant
ly willing to let other Slow River
ladles, young and old, to see her
sitting beside him in the long, shiny
car. Here and there one of these
ladles had been inclined to look
down upon the shabby genteel Mai
dens! She had a very sincere,
warm-hearted admiration and re
gard for this rather splendid visitor
from Chicago.
But of lata there had been a trou
blesome Interrogation mark in the
back of her head. Sha could not
account for Harwood on tha ground
that he was coming up there on
business: he found her good com
pany; he was old enough to be her
father; he liked to visit and run
around with her. But of late well,
sha st-vmed In feel a temperature
above mere friendship; an ardor be
hind this pleasant companionship.
' Was she possibly going to he asked
a momentous question?
Of Uta there bad beort such an
Interrogation point In the, bark of
her bead. Hut this offer of the
secretaryship stne4 In eras the
question tolk ll Wus propoalug
a perfectly ma iter of fc nfe
tixtal reUttonahlp: and a wi'niltf
ful tipittng for her In a nOalneas
a! tfhm was ta k la Chh-aso
a wek from the fallowing MftJy.
I Uat (taturiUr In HIow Itiver,
Tare v'.U.k In I a af'.ernta.
Jjtea .la.in, rtnree. la the ef
fii- froea t h raurihamea Here he
hid h Id lk uh a ritvnl s Uvea
- autiog lit I woe, as a rt la,
tr a avaa)te, irf4 (aat-ne.1 a.l.
hiat. a 1 tJ lma s'ta ha'.
whiMta age nobody knew, wus push
ed to the buck of his buld, per
spiring head. An alpaca ju kt
dangled from his lean shoulders, the
left sleeve empty sine Sltllnh.
His Urand Army button was In the
lapel of the Jacket. He secjiied to
Hess a kind of beloved ghost more
than ever ghostly since the country
was full of stnooth-cheked vet
erans of another war.
"I'roper hot!" he confessed, as
he replaced the watch and wiped
his forehead with a hand that had
long done the work of two. His
thin, parchment face, with a pen
dant none, wrinkled deeply In a
smile which confessed the joke of
Its being so hot in Septcmljcr. H
retained soma of the smile as he
uddt-d with a casual air:
"You'll be having crrunds. No use
your staying here any longer.
There'll be nothing for you to do."
The stump of his left arm flopped
in the empty sleeve. When ho wag
nervous the stump flopped that way.
His speech meant that her employ
ment in his office was ended.
Sho knew well enough that Judge
I.lsconib was no longer the leading
lawyer in Slow River, nor by any
means the mot prosperous. This
office was old and shabby. Rut it
had been a haven. ' The old mun,
with his empty sleeve and Grand
Army button, loved her; she had
a port of call in his heart. She
wanted to cc'tch him In her arms
and hug him; the wanted to I'.Imi
him. But his lifelong, prim Yankee
decorum would have been vastly
disconcerted at either demonstra
tion. "Of course, I'll run around to
morrow to say good-bye," she as
sured him.
Yet this was the real leave tak
ing. Monday tha stout Harrington
girl, who chewed gum, would be his
stenographer. With a bright nod
and smile sha went out and paused
a moment In tha dingy hall to bits
a corner of her lip and wink her
eye rapidly.
When tha door cloaed on her
bright nod and smile the Judga
stared at it a moment, very thought
fully. Sort of ghostly, for he had
reached that old ago when a loved
face that disappears behind a door
may never be seen again. It tugged
at his heart. Then, with a vague
stmla under his while mustache, ha
ant down at his desk, look off a
glased straw hat, and begun writing
out a memorandum of lha tat mat
ter. She had another good bye to say
and waa praaonily approaching the
squat bru k basket Cv. tuty. The
street a huh it fronted bad been
little iuhhI sini'e the basket enter,
prtae tilled, grass and weeds grew
In lb rvlwsy; lha cement side
W4lk waa brvken here and there,
(te all, king through lha rtarks,
Nrarlng Ida fad.wy she heard
klsh, angry w-wds from mil hla.
Tkrej a kallesA, araUng w4 waS
ram f!tng aut af ika ass aVw,
vtOeully iuite-l kf r
f l furv. eM terhKl avtea Ida
broken cement walk and fell
sprawling In the weeds beyond.
Hu was Immediately followed by
1'eter tlreen, also hatlrss, and In
high wnitli. I'etor Utte- d some
unprintablo words as he advanced
upon th prostrate mun, who roll.-d
over to get out of ths way.
Then a large young man, In a cap
and loose flannel Jacket, ran out of
the office. I'eter had already drawn
his foot back to kick the mun In
the weeds. The young mun Si-lz'-d,
his arm with a jerk to spoil bis
kick, saying, "Here! Here!" H
was frowning, yet he seemed not
vury angry.
Peter swung around a bit and
drew back the free urm for a blow.
The next Instant he wus on his
back in the weeds and Kll&ibeth
was looking at the young man with
decided and admiring Interest. The
sudden trip that sent Peter on bis
back was a masterpiece. It took
a good man to do thut.
At Ann Arbor her Irvely Interest
In athletics had led her to study
the best men critically; she had a
'wise eye in th.U direction. This
young man In the , loose flannel
Jacket looked promlnlng, and that
trip was corking. Rut all this wal
a swift, subconscious byplay In her
inlnrl.
For a moment Peter Green was
vastly d'sconocrtcd at finding him
self on his bark. Then the young
man was holding a hand to help
him to his feet, saying, "Get up.
Don't be foolish.!' He was frown
ing, but It was clear to the spectator
that he was not very angry.
Peter had recovered himself, then,
and sprang aglely to his feet, avoid
ing the extended hand and swiftly
taking the position of a boxer. He
culled the young man a name which
is sometimes considered sufficient
provocation for homicide.
"Don't be silly," the young man
reproved him, gravely. "You know
we did no harm."
To Peter Green this was proof
that the young man had no stomach
for a fight. He thrust his heavy
law toward the pacifist's face and
bawled:
"Sneakln skates! Damn pick
pocket rubbernecks! Smelt o' that!"
and extended h i balled fist within
three Inches of his opponent's nose.
But the opponent merely looked at
him reprovingly, with an 'annoyed
little frown. That further con
firmed Peter's belief !n the young
man's lack of spirit and further
raised hla Ire. Impatient at the
feeble, medium of speech, he put a
mighty paw against 'the young
man's breast and gave him a push
that sent him two or three steps
backward.
"You're acting foolishly," the
young man soberly reproved. "We
simply made a mistake."
- Peter's reply was prompt and to
the point:
"Yer a stlnkln' liar! You saw the
plgn plain enough! Damn stlnkln"
liar!" He shouted the Insult, and
seemed provoked beyond endurance
by the other's passive attitude,
hands at side" "I'm goin' to stop
yer clock!" he declared, and squared
to strike.
Elizabeth then screamed. In a
flash she saw that the old man
who had been thrown out waa on
his feet, with a leveled platol In his
hand, about to fire.
The young man sprang back. The
gangling old man with the -pistol
pulled the trigger, and all of them
heard a metallic click as the ham
mer of the weapon fell on a car
tridge that failed to explode. Peter
Green's blow expended itself harm
lessly In the air.
In a flash the young man com
prehended the cause of Elizabeth's
scream. Fairly before the hammer
of the pistol fell he was moving
with great agallty upon tha shoot
er. He grasped tha pistol wrist,
forcing It downward, and as tha old
man pulled tha trigger again, a
cartridge exploded, tha bullet bury
ing Itself In the ground. . There
was a struggle for the weapon then.
"Drop It! Drop It!" tha young
man waa saying. The old man
managed to swing with hla left fist,
striking his captor on tha cheek.
The captor merely held on .to the
wrist, repeating. "Drop It!"
Tha tU man gave a sound that
expressed pain and raise sort of
muffled, snarling scream aa lbs
powerful bund twisted hla wrlal.
He dropped lha latn Into tha
weed and struck at his raptor
gain. Tha raptor, however, hud
tt hi head down and a ihauldr-r
hum-tint up defensively, aa lbs
blow merely glance, the lop of
bis bee. 0. II released taa lwUt4
artel and put a lg arm acrsa
tha el I man's eheat la atit further
biuwa. Tb old man kacknl aay
glowering at aim.
f'Usaheta laotmM aha Kad avee
seea a mora nUetervtU eii at than
(hla taa. loaves iated eld sa ta
prente. eejeev hieea lit a wtrvia
at tag, hi ral. leutkery face l.a-
lorled, his eyes like hot coals, lils
mouth open, the lower lip, beneath
his struggling grl::.l.d tnuetai.he,
thruat out a mouth ready to bite.
Thn young man followed him a
step or two and spoke cool, emol
lient, us one speaks to a child In a
fit of temper: "Steady, uncle,
steady!" We're all right. Keep
cool."
The eld man glared at him ond
summed, "Damn dog! Dawn yel
low dog!"
The young man repented, kindly,
"He cool. We're all right. Wo
can't do anything here, now, you
katiw. We must go back."
Peter Green stool gaping at this
not yet quite able to adjust hi
mind to the sudden change In tha
sltuntlun.
"W must go back now," tha
young man was saying to the elder,
low and cooly "There's nothing
more we can do here. Soma peo
ple ere eomlfig "
Indeed, several men nnd boys, at
tracted by the shot, were coming
up the disused street. Some glim
mer of reason evidently was return
ing to the old man's congested
brain.' Rut ha couldn't iulte tear
himself away yet. He turned to
Peter Green and hurled a couple of
Insults nt him:
"Thug! Ulackguard:"
A tame ending lo this scene waa
by no means to Peter Green's taste,
especially now that a larger audi
ence was on the way. He took up
the challenge itiHtantly. striding for
ward, f sts balk-d "and Jaw out
thrust, and threw down the gang
of battla ffius:
"Sneag thief! Stlnkln' old porch
climber! Open yer head again and
I'll land cn your
The sorely afflicted peacemaker
thrust himself between them,
frowning with great perplexity, but
still perfectly cool. He reasoned
with Peter mildly:
"Don't be foolish. You see he's
lost control of himself. Just keep
quiet and wel'U get away."
Ry this time I'eter was perfectly
aHsifred of this bulky young per
son's pacific principles. He there
fore sounded a scornful challenge:
"You! You big stiff! Purty face!
I ll slap you to sleep!" Again,
swiftly, he assumed the attitude of
a boxer, ready to strike. The hard
tried young man seemed almost in
despair."
"Be reasonable," he urged, his
eyes on Peter's dancing fists, but
without putting up a defense.
They all Itnew that Elizabeth was
there, for they had heard her
scream. Yet the rutdi of action had,
so to speak, swept her aside. Tbo
three men had been so busy watch
ing each other that they'd no time
to notice her.
At this point however, slje canio
Into the scene decisively, stepping
swiftly toward Peter Green and ex
claiming In a voice of authority:
"Peter! Let them alone! Behave
yourself! Go back to the office!"
It was, vicariously, the voice of
authority, since In a way she repre
sented his employer, Judge Lis
comb. But a young female's inter
vention in this fashion was highly
offensive to lilm particularly as
half a dozen men" and boys, before
whom he might play a stellar role,
were coming on at a rapid walk.
"You keep out of this," ha
growled. " 'Taint your affair. I'll
tend to my own business. You
tend to yours."
She had already drawn herself up,
chin lifted. Her dark blue eyes
lashed at him: color rose In her
cheeks. Her voice rang; "It is my
affair! Let them alone!" She
looked obliquely over her shoulder
at the young man In the flannel
Jacket and aubdtied her voice to a
courteous tone: "You'd best go
now."
For a moment she felt It was Just
touch and go whether or not Peter
Green was going to defy her author
ity. He waa scowling at her. His
defiance. If it came, was quite sure
to take a rude form. She was aware
that the young man waited also,
regarding Peter very soberly. For
the moment she and the young man
had Joined moral forces and fr sn
Instant lha Issue hung In the bal
ance; but for that Instant Peter held
his tongue, and they felt lha! they
had wan.
The young man took off hi bnt.
He was sweating from tha heat of
tha day and lha strussle with bis
undo. A spot on hi ihevk bnr,
abet the unH struck bun.
abraded, and a trickle of blad r
front II. :t I. leth thouahl be a a
t.nly twa or three ye re t4dr than
herself, lie waa not a ksn.lem.a
yaung man. Hi Mir waa kihUr
and tlw. There a funny lu
ll t rU.ntal rteasa la hi !.
head III mm was anything l(
t'rx-laa. Instead ? a flu !
4 atoaaa. M faca was sunte.i i.e.1.
It M lug that a eaatial t (
aa aKt bar rul aha N-ir,
(teattaaed aa la Beieal
a
