7
The World Outside
lmll4 rrm r. Th,
Uy Harold MacGruih
T!!K MTNPATf BEE: OMAHA, AUGUST 20, 1922.
ing In know tin for certainly.
IhoUfclt I lie wanting had no defined
ic.tou for being. Perhaps, in hit
firtt romantic! contact with tin
female of (le tpetir, he dreaded
tlitilliitton.
Jin di..rl Luiky for hrr, for
she would have rrrtlvrd Slant
trillion elsewhere, coming out (if
the night ilif had and at that
hour. Comely, ven In Iter de
draggled condition, with a mule a
compelling aa sunshine. Wit thru
really a dog? would never
know, fit course; but thai did not
Irstrn the wanting. To begin the
new day, to enter the new world,
with a substantial faith in woman
kind; perhapt that it what he real
ly wanted.
That h should, being only half
awake, begin the day tjr question
ing riiolivrt would li due to the
insidious poison hy which be had
hern Inoculated by the prior it-iior-ihe
teller of adventuret, 1 he
man had stirred numeroua doubta,
ai to the honeity r( liia errand, a
to hit identity,' hi actual though
hidden intention; and at these
doubts were alill active, the gill
naturally (ell under the shadow of
lliem,
Why honld the girl lie or in
vent Ia4cs, Bancroft arKued in her
behalf ? Why ahotitd he trll him
there was a do(f if there wasn't?
He hadn't quizzed her; ahe had
been under no obligation to re-
ronnt any of hrr adventure or to
effer explanation. Her declara
tion had been gratuitous. There
fore thre wat a dog, and she had
(tone borne to him under extreme
difficulties, and that wa all there
wa to that. J uut the rt of a
girl to chae around the world,
even iu mighlmaret,
Jfe rued hi ptineliliou regard
for the rule of convention, ex
acted for no other reason than to
impress the girl with the fact that
he knew how to behave. At if a
country bumpkin should know
what wat what in the world of
manncnl Why hadn't he boldly
Kivrn hi name and asked for
hers? She would be In New York,
whitlnr he wan, bound, but he
would have at uiuch chance of
finding her as he would in particu
larizing; one grain of land from
another on-a vast beach.
That man, though 1 Hanrroft
stared at the bills, hit brow fur
rowed. He could rot dismiss the
potion that the whole affair cloaked
entirely another game and that he
had been subtly invited to search
for it. Hence, the sinister sugges
tion that had entered hit mind the
niftlit before and now recurred. No
doubt Snell'a letter had furnibhed ,
the background.
Rattle, murder and sudden death
for sale I That wm the flaw; it
was almost a covert threat . , ,
O, pshaw I the" whole thing wat
ridiculous rubbish without ulterior
purpose. Perhaps the puzzle the
assumption that there wa a "nig
grr in the woodpile" arose from
the puerility of the scheme and the
formidable intellect of the promot
er. An ordinary man, ; promoting
such a crazy proposition, would
not have been a puzzle, but a j6ke.
The man's laughter the hollow
nesi of it and the shading mockery
was in itself something to specu
late upon. Had he ever known Si
las Bancroft There seemed to he
only one way of solving; the riddle,
and that was to sign the contract,
if there was such an instrument.
It wat no fool't curiosity. If Si
las Bancroft had been shocked to
death hit son wanted to know wliy
and by whom.
First, he would call on Lawyer
Snell and get all the business de
tails off the slate; then he would
quiz the head cleric, Johnson, as
to that gentleman's suspicions that
Silas Bancroft had been seared to
death. After thit he would be free
to go where end act how he
pleased. Under an assumed name
he would find lodgingt in some
modest rooming house prefera
bly one of hi own and then he
would fare forth in quest of know
ledge, for he wanted to learn
something about the life of the
great city before he essayed to
match lane with the Great Ad
venture company.
Seven million! and w hat was he
going to do with it all? 'J here was
mo inclination toward clothe and
irwelryj expensive automobiles, a
New iuk house with servant.
What um to be done to keep the
income normal? That was the Old
Man of the Sa. Certainly lie
!.ukrd, the miner taint, for there
Was no deiie to add to the fortune
ir to hu-hand it. What he wanted
p4'Uitlarly was a creditable way
of getiiiitf rid of some of it, Dissi
pation i out ot the qnr.tnni, for
lie had no provm atii.n. There was
10 be suit, the chorus girl I'rotil
account he bad tead in itewp
ei rr:iiuinn thr pretty little
iwiiiMuiils, h wm now mired
that Moloch' reputation wat a
Hailed thing in comparative appr
Mr. They oiled to swiftly that
it .d.it,t for nan to
ruined and virtuous at the same
time, Odd, that there should be so
many volume n how to make
money (aUa) a failure) and none
on how to iiwml it (which would
naturally be a tuccets), Thi con
ceil made him chuckle.
Hit father came back tlito hi
thought. The mote he mulled it
over the more decided he be
came thai the qurttion of bit father
bring a miser teemed open to de
hate, No one in the village wat
able to rite definitely a case in
point, Perhaps ft wat because hit
father had never bothered to re
fute the allegation, preferring
.aloofneit to defense. Still, there
was the miser' ton, himself, hit
cheap clothes, hit empty pockets.
Flul ibis argument wat weakened
by the knowledge that there were
many farmert' ont hereabouts no
better off than be, or whose youth
had matched hit in poverty ttriek
enness. Vet, that did not teem to
hold. The farmert were poor be
yond any doubt, white rumor con
tended thai hit father wat secretly
a rlih man. It was probably upon
this prrmie that the villagert had
built up the father' reputation.
There wat a mi!y tou, h in all
thete year of neglect.
It seemed queer that all hi
thoughlt thi morning should be
inconclusive. Whichever, way they
ran they encountered walls. Hit
father, the girl, the teller of adven
tures, his own problem, all were
on the other tide of systeriou
walls.
The vista caught hit eyet again,
and be (tared for some time at the
hill top, and presently the vista dis
solved and out of this dissolution
came the fare of the girl at the
moment of her smile. Nothing
could be more honest than that
smile; he did not require experience
to discern this: it wat palpable. But
so had the tmile of the adventurer
been honest the tender smile he
had addressed to one of those old
chairs. More walls. Bancroft rum
pled his hair in perplexity . , .
I-ove. Well, he hadn't given that
much actual contemplation. He had
never gone to church social or
barn nances, knowing that he
would have been unwelcome: and
it wa at these festivities that boy
and girls began to pick and
choose. He hail been an bnlsider,
living under the somber aegis of
the miser. On the other hand, be
could not recall thai he had pricved
particularly. The village rhebe
and Alices, with their incessant
giggles and cheap perfumery, had
amused him. He had his revenge
by comparing them with those ra
diant creations, urban and bucolic,
of the great minds that had been
bis comrades. He sometimes wor
ried a little for fear that hit imagi
nation, setting his dream too high,
might allow the real girl to pass
bun without his being any the
wiser.
Supposing he wasn't Silas Ban
croft's son? The question, com
ing like a bolt from the blue, had
the effect of bludgeoning hit fac
ulties. For a moment he ttood
dazed. What agency had permit
ted such a question to disrupt his
sentimental musings? Not Silas
Bancroft's son? Surely his mind
was full of unaccountable kinks
this morning;.
lie heard voices below and lent
an ear.
"And nobody ever dreamt of
it!"
"No more did I."
"What's he going to do with it?"
"I'm sure I don't .know, Mrs.
Linden," answered the voice of
Mrs. Home.
So Williams had spread the news
as quickly as this? Bancroft
shrugged. It had to be known;
so it didn't matter. All the girls
would be making eyes at him now;
and those who had prophesied his
eventual hanging would refer to
him as "that fine young chap
Bancroft. Not a horse trough I
"1 suppose he'll go to New
York where he can spend it," said
Mrs. Linden, bitterly.
"He will," replied Bancroft, sot
to voice; "and this very night!"
"Autymobilcs and moving pic
ture actresses, and all that, He
ain't so innocent. Or he'll go on
gouging folks the way hit lather
did."
"What he does with his money
Is his own business,"
"Did you know that there was a
young woman here last night and
that he went with her over to the
Central?"
"Yci, and 1 gave the poor young
thinij a pair of Mocking and my
best short."
"Ill" A f in-e 'What did be
have otiJ"
"Nothing "
' bat - after all vour m,h of
fnitlitul . r. ue ' Will, I neur
heard, . . ,"
"I wai ri'gntaily paid. Uut bow
tt d VM I nd Oft there w mil.
lion.V
"Why. be lold Wdhamt tai
n'ghl. ,ve niiilionil And the
(Hd l ord knew how much IiUhhI
ft on that money. Millions, and
he never gave a cru to this town,
where both his wile and ton were
born. He didn't even ram i I the
mortgage on the First l'rcbt"f
lan chuich. (), I know where he
la this minute."
"1 wouldn't slander the dead,
Mr. Linden. You all ought lo be
satisfied with the way you treated
him when he was alive. There
my cotfee't boiling over. I can
smell it. You'll have lo excute
me."
Silence followed. Bancroft peer
ed from behind hit curtain. He
law Mrs. Linden something of a
grenadier inarching alormlly
down the path lo the gale. He
blew a mocking km after her; for
this conversation had suggested
a fine idea".
He went into the bathroom and
filled the tub, which wa of bat
tered tine, walled in with cherry.
He shaved first, then look lo the
tub, speaking noisily. Busy
body Linden, eh? And she
would spread her new that there
had been no legacy for Mrs,
Home Aunty, a he familiarly
and lovingly called her. Hi
father' title would now be riven
with spikes; eternally he would
be in this town the miser.
He wat hungry when he entered
jhe dining room. "Chow, Aunty!"
he called. "Chow I"
She came in with platters in
.both hand, one heaped with
smoking golden brown panraket
and the other rizzling with bacon
and fried egg. He fell to, health
ily. Mr. Home hovered about
lnm. He jc.ssxd with her between
bites, but when he had drunk hi
second cup of coffee hi face be-'
came serious.
"Aunty, am I really Silas Ban
croft' ton?
"What? Land o' Cosheti, Jerry
boy, whatever put that into your
head? What makes you think you
mightn't be?" curiously,
"O. I don't know, l'opped into
my head. It reems lo me a real
father would have left some advice
with all this money, considering;
that until recently I never saw a
hundred dollars in a lump sum."
"Jerry, I was present when your
father and mother were married.
I was with your mother when you
came and when she died a week
later." , .
"Maybe he hated me for having
called her death?"
"No, he never spoke a harsh word
to you, boy, or ever laid a heavy
hand on you. You wasfl't ever
whipped. But that was becaufe
you war a good boy. Thev went
lo New York, but came back when
she, was took ill. This was her
houe?. lie went back to New
York and left you with me. He
got pneumony and was in a hosni
tal for weeks. When he finally
came back he told me lie was go
ing lo live here. But, O, bo v
chanced he was!"
"Then he was different once?"
eagerly.
"He was something like you,
Jerry, energetic. But after he
came back he didn't seem to take
any interest in anything but money
money. lie moved about, like be
wasn't sure, and spoke little. But
now I know it was his heart. If
I was you, Jerryf boy, I'd go away
from this mean town and never
come back. O, I know. They'll
be after you, trying to Kiss your
boots them as yanked their
(laughters inside the gates when
they saw you and wouldn't let
their boys play with you. Yes, sir;
that's what I'd do if I was you."
The klcntical advice offered by
the adventurer, but that was all.
The two impulses were totally dif
ferent. "I am going to New York, aunty,
this very night. I'll be gone sev
eral months. I want you to keep
the house for me. I'll write you
from time to time, but .nobody
must know where I am. You see.
that rhan last night was the begin
ning. The door is going to be
hammered loose by men and
women who'll have schemes a
thousand of them by which they
hope to transfer some of mv shek
els to other pockets. Tell them
I've gone away and will not re
turn under six months."
"Take rare o' yourself. New
York is a dreadful ritrund you
like Red Kidingliood!"
"That't pretty good, aunty, But
I'll fight shy of wolves who pre.
tend to be mv grandmothers. I
sha'n't go to New York with nn v
illusions about it. I'm not goiui;
in search of fortunes I have one.
But I've got to have this town for
awhile, So why not to the big citv,
and git my eiliicaiii.n over uith?
I bate ht.tiu; I uaul to hud out
bow lo ue Ihrm."
Mrs. Home retired picc'pitaUly
to Ihe lili hen to have a good ci v.
I or thi boy wai as her own, ,She
bad taught ii prayers. And How
bis inno.eine and all this money
might rninttiii to detroy bim.
When r cam in lo clear th
u!.le she found iint tt!) m bis
chair, figuring on the bark of an
envelope.
"Why, whal't the matter?" be
wauled lo know, observing Ihe ted
ne of her eve.
"I'm afraid r
He Jumped up and put his arm
around her. "Hon't worry about
me, Aunty, I'm a country bump
kin, but not the kind New York
er ever taw before. My middle
name, at the boy used to say at
tamp, it Caution instead of Jerryt
and nobody will know who Jere
miah Collingswood is'
"'Jhe iiionry'H never make )ou
happy."
"j 'ir haps not. I didn't ak for
It; but now 1 have it, I'll do the
brtt 1 ran with it, I'll write oik
in auhile. and you can reply in
rare of Ihe attorneys, whoe ad
dret 1 will give you before I go."
Then he kissed her check.
He slole away al tundown and
look the 6:30 for New York. Hit
only piece of luggage was a cane
suitcase willi a battered loth. In
order lo keep ihe case from falling
open he had had lo bind it with
a length of clothes-line. He wore
a suit of village more clothe and t
a shocking derby hat. It wa all
deliberately planned, hither hi
education wat lumber, or it' was
hi ready servant. It wat to be a
test of hit courage and resource;
a test of the readiness of hit
tongue to speech. Here on thi
train and on the street of the
city he would not be particularly
noticed; but at the desk of tome
famous hotel. If he passed this or
deal, if he put through hi little
comedy, New York would hold no
terrors for Jiim.
Once the train had reached it
maximum speed, he began to ex
amine the typewritten sheets which
enumerated hi wordly posses
sions. There were thousand up
on thousand in the banks; there
were all manner of gilt edged
bonds and ttocks; ships, homes,
apartment and tenements. There
wa here none of those lordly edi
fice rich men erect as monuments
to themsclvef. All the real estate,
with one exception, lay below
Twenty-third street pickups aft
er old families had petered out,
gold mine in brick and brown
stone, "Ah!" be said aloud. Here was
the item for which he was search
ing. The first Presbyterian rhurch,
mortgage for $6.2M, interest pay
able annually What should he do
with it? He stared out of the win
dow into Ihe falling night. All at
once he began to laugh, a joyoti
rollicking laughter. What a re
venge what a completely raiis
fymg revenge I Very good. He
would cancel this mortgage upon
one condition, that he should be
permitted to furnish al hi own ex
pense a memorial window dedicat- '
ed to his father. If that didn't Mir
theJii, Gabriel's trumpet wouldn't!
He would submit Ihe proposition
in person. He wouldn't miss see
mg the vestrymen's faces for half
his fnrtuhe. Oh, he knew. They
would writhe and twist, hem and
haw ami agree. But there should
he no loophole. It was to be
agreed also that if the window
were broken, he rould have the
right to present another, and so on,
so long as he lived and the church
stood the church his father had
been married in and buried from.
His laughter roused the young
man in the seat behind. The
stranger smiled. It was not at
any thought, but at a picture; the
clothes line around the suitcase,
the cheap, ill-fitting clothe, the
derby which recalled Ihe headgear
of Joe Weber when old Broadway
was somewhere. A boob, pure and
simple, heading into the big town,
with seven millions -in hi leans!
'Jhe move had been so quick that
lie hadn't had. tiire to wire the
professor. O, will; he would call
him up a soon as Mr. Hick tied
himself up for the night. He
would probably bunt up some $2
caravansarie. All right. Where
ever he went, a certain, guy known
as The Shadow, would toddle along
after. Taxis, surface cars, tub
way, or on the hoof, it was alt
Ihe same. The Shadow would
never lose sight of The Substance,
Bancroft became inordinately
elated. The possibility of avenging
himself, without hurt to any one,
was Ihe most satisfying emotion
be hud yel known, Miser' ton!
Miser's soul Yah! To avenge
himnrlf for thai, for Ihe years of
talloiu tK, hit iuii and in null a
manner as lo male all ihe neigh
boring town sick with lauttlilrrt
The ironic humor of the memorial
window would tuioitie a county
ctaii
But be had anoihtr blow in
s'oie. The memorial would
hii;iiil the vilLiKer. bill this f.
ond blow would ulun them, l
l.nd In the home town three
fueudt, no linnet Mrs, Home,
rioffnr Miller, piiueipat of the
villa academy, and M Hewtt,
It ladtd tpiiitter whn .tvri !.
oruan in the Filst Ptet1ni,riao
church, l or levrral vrar lie had
pumped the bellow s of (hat oigailj
nd alter rehearsals, Siimd.?
to'ghu, she had ud to p'ay for
him, rouipotitioiit not generally
beard intide of country ebinihei!
filling hi boy'l soul with irlrttiaJ
happmcii, Out of kindiie.t (or a
I'nloru pirith, who wa guilty of
no crime save thai of bung ihe
son of Silt Bancroft,
.Sol in bit will, but now! Wbeif
they were growing old and bent
and betplets, when a speej of j k
nets would lob them of all they
bad saved up, if Ihey bad tawd up
anything. Now, while Ihey could
rnjry il. To make thete three hap
ly who had tried lo lighten a sent),
live boy' misery. Not to add, lh
enduring happi'ms of a grnerout
acl. Tomorrow, one of the first
things be did. It would serve at an
eternal bulkier against all future
misforlunes. Out of these millions,
more or leu lawfully acquired,
should come happiness to three
lonely human beings. He would
give each a check, certified, for
5.0f)0.
Die thought lightened his step at
be wandered through the mars of
the Grand Central terminal. Out
side, al Ihe curb, he paused, hut
ryes and cars bewildered. 1 1 waa
the first time he bad ever seen New
York at night, during the theater
hour. Thoutauds of vehicles twist
ing in and out, surface cars clang
ing a postage through the stream!
of hurrying humans, dazzling,
changing lights, His brain was ftf
oared; he had often visited New
York London, Paris but for all
that, the a.'lual fairly stunned him;
there was a glory to it and a
menace.
Here was this world outside he
bad always longed ro keenly to see.
Here he would be shunted and buf
feted for months, because he had
determined lo play the part of i
poor young man who had come lo
seek his fortune and become a
part of Ihe world Shakespeare)
called "the middle of humanity." In
a few days his brain would absorb
all these sights and tort out the
confusions, and he would grow
used to the city, But just now he)
was a little afraid. One thing was'
in bis favor, a kind of buckler; he
had always been lonely, so loneli
ness here would not depress hint
any more than it had at home, if
as much.
Across the way was a giant hos
telry, brilliant with lamps. Ban-
croft eyed this with humorous
speculation. That vast rookery
had many a queer nest in it; there)
would be the crow, the peacock,
the sparrow and the hawk; and
somewhere a bird by the name of
Cieorge Bellman. Supposing ho
put up there for the night and get
the lay of the land? Providing he
coiild p-iss the censor at the desk,
df they balked at lu'j suitcase and
his derby there was always Alad
din's lamp in his pocket $10,000,
Comforting thought!
Behind hint stood The Shadow1,
smiling tolerantly. The poor boob
didn't know what to do, ch, ot,
which way to turn? It was a great
temptation to offer the hick some;
friendly Silvice, but the tuofessor
had banned any such Samaritan
ism.
Seeing an opening, Bancroft
strode forward resolutely, The
Shadow at his shoulder, ready to
give him a friendly shove if he
hesitated. The worst thing that
could happen to the Great Adven
ture company would be the acci
dental bumping off of Collings
wood Jeremiah Bancroft. Lord
what a monicker! Sounded like
one of those oofty-goofa that get
into the Sunday supplements fot)
nothing. And Jeremiah hit mid,
die name, tool The passage was
made in safety, however. But as
Bancroft started to mount the ho
tel steps, The Shadow slipped his
hand to hi forehead.
"Holy smokel I'll have lo wif
ness tin's, whether lie pipes me or
not, They'll give him the air with'
a springboard. O, the poor bickl"
(('!,) ruhl, !t
(To Be Continued)
1
i
B.tuk messenger in V1 street
w ill le dressed iu bright red coals,
ami have portable safes attached
to padlocked belts around their
w-aNii, I'mler this syttrm, it it
believed the public will rush to
ihe rescue of any retl-coated met
enger attacked by rohhrtt.
V JJiKHUioo temple U to br
erected in Ste, Anne de Beaiipre,
Oucbec, lo replace the one de
stroved. A monastery costing
it Ma ins) will aio be built tor th
Hcili uiploi is fathers.
l eiry metal is a new al'ny J
had. uHWiu, hatiuin and until
amount . i.ifu r roiuliHn n't 1 ha,
alloy it praitnally tuittxiitnah!,
i ii "
The Vnited State conmmM
t i,. iMnlt if di. world's lulbtf
I M.ilnr! i n
