Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 1911)
.VkT, V 1 V ' . . y:". . -- w ' !- Vt"J - - J tf T1RCD, MCK AND DttCOURAftCD ft u 4 ft 1 ft ' V- mfe QTj CHAPTER I. The Threshold of Adventure. The roar of State street filled the tars of Robert Onne not unpleasantly. He liked Chicago, felt towards the western city something more than the tolerant, patronizing interest which so often characterizes the eastern man. To him it was the huh of gen uine Americanism young, aggressive, pernaps a bit too cocksure, hut ever bounding along with eyes toward the future. Here was the city of great beginnings, the city of experiment experiment with life; hence its incom pleteness an incompleteness not dis similar to that of life itself. Chl mirn llvpri it was the nulse of the great middle west. Onne watched the procession with clear eyes. He had been strolling southward from the ilasonic Temple, Into the shopping district. The clangor, the smoke and dust, the hur rying crowds, all worked into his mood. The expectation of adventure was far from him. Nor was he a man who sought impressions for amuse ment; whatever came to him he weigh ed, and accepted or rejected according es it was valueless or useful. Whole some ho was; any ono might infer that from his face. Doubtless, his fault lay in his overemphasis on the purely practical; but that, after all, was a lawyer's fault, and it was counterbalanced by a sweet kindliness toward all the world a loveabloness which made for him a friend of every chance acquaintance. It was well along in the afternoon, end shoppers were hurrying home ward. Orme noted the fresh beauty of the women and girls Chicago has reason to be proud of her daughters and his heart beat a little faster. Not that he was a man to be caught by every pretty stranger; but scarce ly recognized by himself, there was a hidden spring of romance in his prac tical nature. Heart-free, he never met a woman without wondering whether she was the one. He had never found her; he did not know that ho was looking for her; yet always there was the unconscious question. A distant whistle, the clanging of gongs, the rapid -beat of galloping hoofs fire engines were racing down the street. Cars stopped, vehicles of all kinds crowded In toward the curbs. Orme paused and watched the fire horses go thundering by. their smo king cnariots swaying behind them and dropping long trails of sparks. Small boys were running, men and women were stopping to gaze after the passing engines, but Orme's at tention was taken by something that was happening near by, and as the gongs and the hoof-beats grew fainter he looked with interest to tho street beside him. He had got as far as the corner of Madison street Tho scramble to get out of the way of tho engines had here resulted in a traffic jam. Two policemen were moving about, shout ing orders for the disentanglement of tho street cars and vehicles which seemed to be inextricably wedged to gether. A burly Irish teamster was bellow ing at his horse. The hind wheel of a smart barouche was caught in the lore wheel of a delivery wagon, and the driver of the delivery wagon was Orme Lifted His Straw tr. 'otmsels Son Great Possibilities in Universal Appli cation of Scheme Established by Philadelphia Physician. "10:20 p. m. Joe, what are you studying now? Don't forget your French. Good-night. DAD." This message, or one somewhat like it, tiie Philadelphia Bulletin asserts, is likely lo be roaming about the at- 1 JULs '! 113 JRsA-V BILLl expressing his opinion of the situation in terms which seemed to embarrass the elderly gentleman who sat In the barouche. Orme's eye traveled through the outer edge of the dis turbance, and sought its center. There In the midst of the tangle was a big black touring car. Its one occupant was a girl and such a girl! Her fawn-colored cloak was thrown open; her face was unveiled. Orme was thrilled when he caught the glory of her face the clear skin, browned by outdoor living; the de mure but regular features; the eyes that seemed to transmute and reflect softly all impressions from without. Orme had never seen any one like her so nobly unconscious of Eelf, so appealing and yet so calm. She was waiting patiently, inter ested in the clamor about her, but seemingly undisturbed by her own part in it Orme's eyes did not leave her face. He was merely one of a crowd at the curb, unnoted by her. but when after a time, he became aware that ho was staring, he felt the blood rush to his cheeks, and he mut tered: "What a boor I am!" And then, "But who can she be? Who can she be?" A policeman made his way to the black car. Orme saw him speak to the girl; saw her brows knit; and he quickly threaded his way into the street. His action was barely con scious, but nothing could have stopped him at that moment. "You'll have to come to the station, miss," the policeman was saying. "But what have I done?" Her voice was broken music. "You've violated the traffic regula tions, and made all this trouble, that's what you've done." "I'm on a very important errand, she began, "and " "I can't help that, miss, you ought to have had some one with you that knew the rules." Her eyes were perplexed, and she looked about her as if for help. For a moment her gaze fell on Orme, who was close to the policeman's elbow. Now, Orme had a winning and dis arming smile. Without hesitation, ho touched the policeman on the shoul der, beamed pleasantly, and said: "Pardon me, officer, but this car was forced over by that dray." "She was on the wrong Bide," re turned the policeman, after a glance which modified his first intention to take offence. "She had no business over here." "It was either that or a collision. My wheel was Bcraped, as it was." She, too. was smiling now. The policeman pondered. He liked to be called "officer;" he liked to be smiled upon; and the girl, to judge from her manner and appearance, might well be the daughter of a man of position. "Well," he said after a moment, "be more careful another time." He turned and went back to his work among the other vehicles, covering the weakness of his sur render by a fresh display of angry au thority. The girl gave a little sigh of relief and locked at Orme. "Thank you," she said. Then he remembered that he did not know this girl. "Can I be of further service?" he asked. "No." she answered, "I think not Hat From Kic Ketd. By Wireless niosphere by wireless any evening. At present it is likely to be transmitted only by Dr. Walter Webb of Sharon Hill to his son, Joseph S. Webb, a freshman at Swarthmore college. The finer details of this minute-by-minute parental guidance were com pleted recently when a receiving sta tion was installed in young Webb's room In Wharton hall, the boys' dorm i But thank you just the same." She gave him a friendly little nod and turned to the steering gear. There was nothing for it but to go, and Orme returned to the curb. A moment later he saw the black car move slowly away, and he felt as though something sweet and fine were going out of his life. If only there had been some way to prolong the incident! He knew intuitively that this girl belonged to his own class. Any insignificant acquaintance might introduce them to each other. And yet convention now thrust them apart. Sometime lie might meet her. In deed, he determined to find out who she was and make that sometime a certainty. He would prolong his stay in Chicago and search society until he found her. No one had ever before sent such a thrill through his heart. He must find her, become her friend, perhaps But, again he laughed to himself. "What a boor I am!" After all she was but a passing stranger, and tho pleasant reverie into which his glimpse of her had led him was only a reverie. The memory of her beauty and elusive charm would disappear; his vivid impression of her would be effaced. But even while he thought this he found himself again wondering who she was and how he could find her. He could not drive her from his mind. Meantime he had proceeded slowly on his way. Suddenly a benevolent, white-bearded man halted him, with a deprecating gesture. "Excuse me, sir," he began, "but your hat" Orme lifted his straw hat from his head. A glance showed him that it was disfigured by a great blotch of black grease. He had held his hat in his hand while talking to the girl, and It must have touched her car at a point where the axle of the dray had rubbed. So this was his one me mento of the incident. He thanked the stranger, and walked to a near-by hatter's, where a ready clerk set before him hats of all styles. He selected one quickly and left his soiled hat to be cleaned and sent home later. Offering a ten-dollar bill in payment, he received in change a five-dollar bill and a sliver dollar. He gave the coin a second glance. It was the first sil ver dollar that he had handled for some time, for he seldom visited the west "There's no charge for the clean ing," said tho clerk, noting down Orme's name and address, and hand ing the soiled hat to the cash boy. Orme, meantime, was on the point of folding tho five-dollar bill to put it into his pocket book. Suddenly he looked at it Intently. Written in Ink across the face of it, were the words: "Remember Person You Pay This To." The writing was apparently a hur ried scrawl, but the letters were large and quite legible. They appeared to have been written on an uneven sur face, for there were several jogs and breaks in the writing, as if the pen had slipped. "This is curious," remarked Orme. The clenk blinked his watery eyes and looked at the bill in Orme's hand. "Oh, yes, sir," he explained. "I re member that. The gentleman who raid it In this morning called our at tention to it." "If he's the man who wrote this, he probably doesn't know that there's a law against defacing money." "But it's perfectly good, isn't It?" inquired the clerk. "If you want an other instead " "Oh, no." laughed Orme. " Tho banks would take it." "But, sir " began the clerk. "I should like to keep it If I can't get rid of it, I'll bring it back. It's a hoax or an endless chain device or something of the sort. I'd like to find cut" He looked again at the writing. Puzzles and problems always inter ested him, especially If they seemed to involve some human story. "Very well," said the clerk, "I'll re member that you have It, Mr " he peered at the name he had set down "Mr. Orme." Leaving the hatters's, Orme turned back en State street, retracing his steps. It was close to the dinner hour, and the character of the street crowds had changed. The shoppers had disappeared. Suburbanites were by this time aboard their trains and homeward bound. The 6treet was thronged with hurrying clerks and shop girls, and the cars were jammed with thousands more, all of them thinking, no doubt, of the same two things something to eat and relaxa tion. What a hive It was, this great street! And how scant the lives of the great majority! Working, eating, sleeping, marrying and given in mar riage, bearing children and dying was that all? "But growing, too," said Orme to himself. "Growing, too." Would this be the sum of his own life that of a worker In the hive? It came to him with something of an inner pang that thus far his scheme of things had included little more. He wondered why he was now recog nizing this scantiness, this lack in his life. He came out of his reverie to find himself again at the Madison street earner. Again he seemed to see that itory at Swarthmore college. He and his father have had a station at their home for some time and they have installed one at college so that the son will not grow rusty in handling the key. The beauty of the scheme Is seen after a little thought. Suppose the young man writes home that, owing to the press of studies, he will not be able to visit the old folks over Sun day. Then on Monday his father clicks out a message inquiring wheth er Joe had received one which was beautiful girl In the car, and to hear the music of her voice. How could he best set about to find her? She might be, like himself, a visitor In the city. But there was the touring car. Well, she might have run In from one of the suburbs. He could think of no better plan than to call that evening on the Walllnghams and describe the unknown to Bessie and try to get her assistance. Bessie would divine the situation, and she would guy him unmercifully, he knew; but he would face even that for an other glimpse of the girl of the car. And at that moment he was start led by a sharp explosion. He looked to the street. There was the black car, bumping along with one flat tire. The girl threw on tho brakes and came to a stop. In an instant Orme was In the street If he thought that she would not remember him, her first glance al tered the assumption, for she looked down at him with a ready smile and said: "You see, I do need you again, after all." As for Onne, he could think of nothing better to say than simply: "I am glad." With that he began to un fasten the Epare tire. "1 shall watch you with interest," she went on. "I know how to run a car though you might not think it but I don't know how to repair one." "That's a man's job, anyway," said Orme, busy now with the jack, which was slowly raising the wheel from the pavement. "Shall I get out?" she asked. "Does my weight make any difference?" "Not at all," said Orme; but, never theless, she descended to the street and stood beside him while he worked. "I didn't know there were all those funny things Inside," she mused. Orme laughed. Her comment was vague, but to him it was enough just to hear her voice. He had got the wheel clear of the street and was taking off the burst tire. "We seem fated to meet," she said. Orme looked up at her. "I hope you won't think me a cad," he said, 'If I say that I hope we may meet many times." Her little frown warned him that she had misunderstood. "Do you happen to know the Tom Wallinghams?" he asked. Her smile returned. "I know a Tom Wallingham and a Bessie Wall Ingham." "They're good friends of mine. Don't you think that they might Intro duce us?" "They might," she vouchsafed, "If they happened to see us both at the same time." Orme returned to his task. The crowd that always gathers was now close about them, and there was little opportunity for talk. He finished his job neatly, and stowed away the old Ore. She was In the car before he could offer to help her. "Thank you again," she said. "If only you will let me arrange It with the Wallinghams," he faltered. "I will think about it" She smiled. He felt that she was slipping away. "Give me some clue," he begged. "Where is your spirit of romance?" she railed at him; then apparently re lenting: "Perhaps the next time we meet" Orme groaned. With a little nod like that which had dismissed him at the time of his first service to her, she pujlcd" the lever and the car moved away. Tumult in his breast, Orme walked on. He watched the black car thread its way down the street and disappear around a corner. Then he gave him self over to his own bewildering re flections, and he was still busy with them when he found himself at the entrance of the Pere Marquette. He had crossed the Rush street bridge and found his way up to the Lake Shore drive almost without realizing whither he was going. Orme had come to Chicago at the request of eastern clients to meet half way the owners of a western mining property. When he registered at tho Annex he found awaiting him a tele gram saying that they had been de tained at Denver and must necessari ly be two days late. Besides the tele gram, there had been a letter for him a letter from his friend. Jack Bax ter, to whom he had written of his coming. Jack had left the city on business, it appeared, but he urged Orme to make free of his North side apartment So Orme left the Annex and went to the rather too gorgeous, but very luxurious, Pere Marquette, where he found .that the staff had been Instructed to keep a close eye on his comfort All this had hap pened but three short hours ago. After getting back to the apartment, Orme's first thought was to telephone to Bessie Wallingham. He decided, tfowever, to wait till after dinner. He did not like to appear too eager. So be went down to the public dining room and ate what was placed before him, and returned to his apartment just at dusk. In 'a few moments he got Bessie Wallingham on the wire. "Why, Robert Orme!" she ex claimed. "Wherever did you come from?" "The usual place. Arc you and i Tom at home this evening?" sent the previous day. What excuse could be offered? Of course, this Is not likely In this particular case, because Webb is a diligent student and does what he says he Intends to do. But when the practice of having wireless stations at all homes and all schools in common what will the average boy do? At present Joseph Webb, at school, has only a receiving station. Dr. Webb can counsel and admonish him to his heart's content and there will be no "back talk." ar y y. T&NNlflERMERWN Tzmrn&uraKf' COSYSUOKV f09 Jjf SOOQtSSIJfcD 5 "I'm so sorry. We're going out with some new friends. Wish I knew them well enough to ask you along. Can you have some golf with us; at Arra dale tomorrow afternoon?" "Delighted! Say, Bessie, do yon know a girl who runs a black touring car?" "What?" "Do you know a tall, dark girl who has a black touring car?" "I know lots of tall, dark girls, and several of them have black touring cars. Why?" "Who are they? There was a pause and a little chuckle; then: "Now, Bob, that won't do. You must tell me all about It to morrow. Call for us In time to catch the one-four." That was all that Orme could get out of her; and after a little banter and a brief exchange of greetings with Tom, who was called to the tele phone by his wife, the wire was per mitted to rest Orme pushed a chair to the window of the sitting room and smoked lazily, looking out over the beautiful expanse of Lake Michigan, which reflected from its glassy surface the wonderful opalescence of early evening. He seemed to have set forth on a new and adventurous road. How strangely the girl of the car had come into his life! Then he thought of the five-dollar bill, with the curious inscription. He took it from his pocketbook and ex amined it by the fading light The words ran the full length of the face. Orme noticed that the writing had a foreign look. There were flourishes which seemed distinctly un-American. He turned the bill over. Apparent ly there was no writing on the back, but as he looked more closely he saw a dark blur in the upper left-hand corner. Even In the dusk he could make out that this was not a spot of dirt; the edges were defined too dis tinctly for a smudge; and it was not black enough for an ink-blot Moving to the center table, he switched on the electric lamp, and looked at the blur again. It stood out plainly now, a series of letters and numbers: "Evans, S. R. ChL A. 100 N. 210 E. T." The first thought that came to Orme was that this could be no hoax. A joker would have made the curious cryptogram more conspicuous. But what did it mean? Was it a secret formula?' Did it give the location of a burled treasure? And why in the name of common sense had it been written on a five-dollar bill? More likely, Orme reasoned, It con cealed information, for or about some person "S. R. Evans," probably. And who was this S. R. Evans? The better to study the mystery, Orme copied the inscription on a sheet of note paper, which he found in the table drawer. From the first he de cided that there was no cipher. Tho letters undoubtedly were abbrevia tions. 'Evans" must be, as he had al ready determined, a man's name. "Chi" might be, probably was, "Chi cago." "100 N. 210 E." looked like "100 (feet? paces?) north, 210 (feet? paces?) east" The "A." and the "T." bothered him. -A." might be the place to which "S. R. Evans" was directed, or at which Could Make Nothing And so it may go on. Inventive fa thers may devise a thousand and one ways of keeping the son at college up to scratch. When such home and school connection becomes general It is hard to say how unbearable a col lege boy's life will become. Taste and Smell. Physiologists have long known that many sensations ordinarily ascribed to taste are in reality due to smell, but this fact has been made" clearer than before by the investigations of German savants. Air enters the olfac imilriTO Y he was to be found a place suftdent ly indicated by the letter. Now jw t the "T." was It "treasure?" Or wss it "timer Or "true?" Orme ha4 m way of telling. It night even be tss initial of the person who had penned the instructions. Without knowing where A" wss, Orme could make nothing of the cryptogram. For that matter, he realized that unless th secretwera criminal it was not his affair. But ha knew that legitimate business in formation is seldom transmitted by such mysterious mean. Again and agate he went over the abbreviations, but the more closely he studied them, the more baffling he found them. The real meaning ap peared to hinge on the "A and the "T." Eventually he was driven to the conclusion that those two letters could not be understood by anyone who was not already partly in the secret, if secret it was. It occurred to him to have the city directory sent up to him. He might then find the address of "S. R. Evans," if that per son happened to be a Chlcagoan. But it was quite likely that the "ChL" might mean something other than that "Evans" lived in Chicago. Per haps, In the morning he would satisfy his curiosity about "S. R. Evans" but for the present he lacked the inclina tion to press the matter that far. In the midst of his puzzling, the telephone bell rang. He crossed the. room and put the receiver to his ear "Yes?" he questioned. The clerk's voice answered. "Ho nor Poritol to see Mr. Orme." "Who?" "S-e-n-o-r P-o-r-I-t-o-1," spelled the clerk. "I don't know him," said Orme. "There must be some mistake. Art you sure that he asked for me?" There was a pause. Orme heard a few scattering words which indicated that the clerk was questioning the stranger. Then came the informs? tion: "He says he wishes to see yon about a five-dollar bilL" "Oh!" Orme realized that he had no reason to be surprised. "Well, send him up." He hung up the receiver and, re turning to the table, put the marked bill back Into his pocketbook and slipped into a drawer the paper om which, he had copied the lnscrlpUoa. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Retort Courteous. Two men were occupying a dousis, seat in a crowded car. One of them was a long-distance whistler and tms other was evidently annoyed. "You don't seem to like my whist ling?" said the noisy one, after a five minute continuous performance. ( "No, I don't" was the frank reply. "Well," continued the other, "maybe you think you are man enough ts stop It?" "No, I don't think I am' rejoined the other, "but I hope you are." And tho whistling was discontin ued. The Philosopher of Folly. "Don't marry your stenographer," advises the Philosopher of Folly. "Shs belongs to the union and knows the rules and shell never let you hirs another one." of the Cryptogram. tory chamber, where the nerves con nected with the sense of smell are centered, both through the nostrils and through an inlet leading from the mouth. In consequence, a breath of perfumed air manifests its odor not only when it is breathed in, but when it is breathed out. For this reason we are sometimes deceived as to the source of the pleasure we derive from things taken into the mouth, the agrceableness of the impression being due, in some cases, rather to smell than to taste. Health Mrs. J. P. Pcsrtertoa, 154 So. I fayette St, Marshall, M&. says: "For years I suffered from Brigafs disease which the doctors sen wss Incurable. I grad nallygrew weaker mi til I had to take to ny bed. The kidney seer ttoss were suppressed; I became terribly bloat ed. and finally reached the point where I too so interest In life. It was at this time I begantaklagDosH't Kidney Pills and soon improved. When I had used' 13 boxes I . was without a sign of the trouble which seemed to be carrying me to my gra w." Remember the name Doaa'a. For sale by all dealers. 5 cents a box. Foster-Milburn Co-.BuIBdo.N.Y. IN THE LIMELIGHT. "Did you ever feel that the eyes c4 the world wore upon you?" "Once a year, when I wear the neck ties that my wife gives me at Christ mas." SKIN TORTURED BABIES SLEEP ANDM0THERS REST A warm bath with Cutlcura Soap, followed by a gentle anointing with Cutlcura ointment, Is generally suffi cient to afford immediate comfort in the most distressing forms of itching, horning and scaly eczemas, rashes, ir ritations and inflammations of in fants and children, permit sleep for child and rest for parent, and point to permanent relief, when other methods fail. Peace falls upon distracted households when these pure, sweet and gentle emollients enter. No other, treatment coats so little and does so much for skin sufferers, from Infancy to age. Send to Potter Drug & Chem. Corp., Boston, for free 32-page book on the care and treatment of skin aad scalp troubles. A Deadly Error. Dr. W. B. Cannon of Harvard, dis cussing anti-vivisection literature at a dinner In New York, said with a smile: "This literature, in part at least. Is ss flagrantly erroneous as the medlcai department conducted by a young col lege girl in a weekly paper. A sam pie reply In this department ran: - 'Bereaved. The reply given last seek was a mistake. It should have been ten drops of laudanum, not ten cups of laudanum. Yes. we advocate cremation rather than the old-fashioned burial." Hand Beats Machine. Cigars are still made by hand, na machine having yet been Invented that will roll them so nicely and evenly as do deft human fingers. The cheap est cigars the three-for-flve variety are made of French, Kentucky, Alge rlan or Hungarian leaves. At the othei extreme are the cigars smoked by the czar of Russia, which are of the choic est and best matured Havana, and which cost $1.50 each. Nipped in the Bud. Parke Too bad about Bilfer's boy, wasn't it-got him graduated from, college and thought ho had a career before him. Lane What happened? Parke Why, he has just eloped; with tho lady chauffeur. Life. Doesn't Seem Natural. "Here's a new kind of magazine tory." "In what way?" "A village storekeeper Is intro duced who doesn't say, 'Dog my cats!'" We find the worst In all by trying t get the best of anyone. I Your Appetite Easily Restored and regulated If you will only begin your meals with a dbsebl Hostetter's Stomach Bitters. Loss of appetite is a sure sigii of some disturbance of the stomach and bowels, which the Bitters will quickly correct. There fore, try it this very day. For over 57 years it has been assisting those who suffered from Indiges tion, Dyspepsia, Gostive- ness, Colds, Grippe and Malaria, and it will do vou eood. too. Insist on having Hostetter's. AUen'sClcerinedalYecnrekChronlclJ leers. Bom tnwraifiriflttCTcraricoMlTicrmJ- Solent Clrers.1 iUnt yirers. ntercnnai mrer.n nnnwew r4trMrn.iiiMm- hbwijb JJ.JI.LBN J mnjxy. (JttJStrmaUtlaa, IS name to ivmnssda Osssrs KMMty Wis TmssV bsbbbbbbW smmBBsr I ST 9sBBB BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBm BBB SBBMmSs' BF in msBssjisin . HsLp to remember 7 " CShsnvrjunssd a remedy Ser COUCH and COlPstt l i r J ;ti v: yl. - tS? " J vL r yp.,- -. ? ?rf-. ? 25?T
