The evening world. Newspaper, February 22, 1915, Page 9

“Fr tst:in Peace” ui ia Ba 4 Li 5 4 {a more dear lady,” I a raat Satie ee en it occurred to me that outside might be cooler. Was it possible that I was drunk? I reviewed the: situation. No! I had noticed that she had op whi le under that doesn’t notice little tl when he isn’t sober. em knowing that I must Gnd my hand-! kerchief, the snow coased to fall and the people would know that it wasn’t melted snow that made streak—or were there more? Then: T stumbled; and he some one say | something roughly, I drew myself up stiffly, for | had seen the Dani-| gten.carriage draw up. Mrs. Dahi-' gren was @ sweet young one—was! Daisy Merrick before Herman mar- ried her; and I was her cousin—once removed. I stumbled again. I remember feel- ing Hl pane about it at the time. I hei some one speaking roughly to some person rr mye, telling bim to leave the curb, “ndt to block up the gangway.” I supposed it was a policeman driving away some to Berson who had come to at fashionable assemblage; felt dis- : tinctly sorry that © policeman *mong a lot of excited people and not found it necessary. I didn’t see any know what they were excited about. harm in people looking on if it gave ‘8 a hundred and fifty in them any satisfaction. But police’, the pocketbook" —— Herman again. men are always so manneriess in’ “What's all this, Herman? Why, their desire to exercise their smal! you don’t owe me any money. No- authority. body does. I'm"—— 1 lost my balance again and stum- I vas wheeled around and Her- bled; but this time I knew I had been man’s voice spoke in my ear: “Don't "4 . ton Street and was bumping its wdy I glanced at her, but one could tell Pushed. | still heard the policeman. stop, Bab. Runt. Can't you see you're over tho egublestones hended for the. Us of her appearance, mufled aa e person against me. ‘There was the strip of t asphalt of Mount Royal Avenue, bn in the long coat and thick veil. carpe! ith — thi “You go awn, now!” I heard him stretching from the lighted hall to the CHAPTER II. Autigthibn vente fer ekue cae ae See. eat tet tas bal tah tall pon & tumbled, crushed helsaet forloraly , 7 $etr Gas’ doen at ween. the teowee an’ don't let me ha! ye! 1. . that di it th agen, se? Go awn!” Deaide him, two pieces of broken stick 7 House Without Lights. yet, that does not seem the proper I am abducted by a female knight- errat and given sanctuary on a mhe said. y saw you Tam glad that you remem- your ring,” she sald. “T Rayen’t worn it for @ month and « took box and stared mechani- iy at euch @ ring as I had 1 her—it was on proper att” I eaid, and was guilty of er etpicined al coal coolly. Deen wanting me to parry @ame time; and—- Well, @ after I heard that enry is my chum—and she didn’t lie. Go now, al a i H Eis it ue ih i 53? iti ia oe sf 5 f z a Mr. Baumheimer) who speaks in this eighteenth century strain because he has a very pretty taste for ro- mance and an appreciation of your charms.” She cocked her head to one black car rolled away from Hey- mann’s, I crawled across her to the seat the far-side; and, looking back, saw the officer leap into the formed me, I knew by now that he middie of the crow throw accent was foreign; and her manner up his hands, and h into the of appaking equally’ so, She had & street, calli Followed two very soft but very distinct voice, and shots of it the machine her words came cleanly formed, yet had by no’ across into her English had a certain affectation. tly up and down the street. T headed for the club. I | sit i She replied with what I considered una hasis that she was not;» and even had she not so in- ait i FE i i ‘ ij i Hf i 5 F | | i | it i ; fe to apoll your evident of it; but it is really very silly. Ihave Ro desire to have you pay me compli- 4g ments, dancing about on the floor of sex attraction with verbal nosegays. py, In other words, I desire no flirtation with you.” I considered her, keeping back a emile. “Dear lady,” I returned, you mistake me, I wag not commit- here wit ting myself to .« n._I don’t you out of this; know yet that I desire it, You take with her, me too seriously. To be attracted I stincts, 3 F| i itt i Ey 3 if +f i + i a4 j i 3 E designation, applying itself in my mind to something small. This wom- an was most distinctly not small; she was slender for her height and the breadth of her shoulders; but that slenderness was merely in proportion to the size of her; her hands seemed the only anomaly, those of another i bE ‘within reach of his quiet hands. Some brass buttons reflected the moonlight. i, @ ~=policeoman—and he's hurt"— T looked around the circle of faces. Some new ones had been added: bare- headed men who had come out of the Again I felt the push. This was overmuch. It was bad enough to have the policeman push the poor chap away; but to push him against me—— Lord! that must be stopped. I turned to give him my opinion on the subject. [ E etreets “I fear himself house overlooking the Patapaco. T HE motor followed the as- i ) @ post-grauate course at Ox- phalt, Mount Royal blur- ell, she sulted me, She bred, ring into Lafayette, Lafay- ette into Fulton. It wae all , Jowl. Glub, scowling at Charles Street, I toak quite too much to drink; and with the drink to " is for the german and could #08 fo one. I reflected moodily it was the first Monday of th son, Then I went back to the club and instead of eating my dinn genstble man, I drank more and fell into e game of cards. the midst of it Legree and Read and said that they were due to eseort some girls to the german. The recalled me. I was not en- tirely sober now, as you may believe when I tell you that there came into my head the idea that I would go to Heymann’ 1 unshaven in lounge clothes was, have & word with Sophie before she the hal! I left the club my derby hat Diew into the gutter and collected mud Qn@ snow; in attempting to rescue it asitpped and crushed one appearance it gave me, I turned up the collar of my coat and cut through Madison Street, coming out on How- reaching the ourb in front of rman. mae the Bachelors’ T had enough breeding ieft—call it you will—not to go into the gouey. Of past seasons; girls with @ little open, and hair into shining coils, and dainty gkirts beld just high enough for one pee ailk-stockinged slimness. there—was Sophie! was the Denton brough- i? fool me on those blue Pace ts—wel, ‘Holbrook my word! and Mrs, Den- met she did not e t dented hat! There he was, big, red-faced, with @ sausage mustache and screwed-up But I saw no other person; no one to be pushed. Yet the policeman ‘was still: talkin; “Are you goin’ or not—hey?" He raised his club; and then I un- derstood—dully at first for it seemed incredible he should have made @ mistake. “Go awn—get out!” He talking to me. “Ht I haf teh tell yeh agen”—— he threatened. Talking to me! Suddenly I realized my unshaven condition, my lack of evening clothes, my muddied ana But for all of that red anger welled up in me that this fat hind should lay his hands on me and iasue insulting orders when a doi people I knew had made me the cyno sure of their eyes. “Why, you d-—— fool,” I whispered angrily, “don't make a show of your- pele. i 1m a member here; all these people know me"——— “Go awn!" he said, and put out his hand roughly. I nearly fell sprawii: went down to my knee: 4 vestige of reason left me. Strangitharms were ever peaceful peo! They were too hu of of muscles and sinews be otherwise than re nance’ Bmall things failed to irritate them, and they often dismissed large things with a laugh; but when the red anger of the Strangitharms came across their eyes, some of the old Berserker rage of Hugo Strong |’ th’ arm up, and for the moment there was only a blind, tearing desire to hurt, burt, and hurt again. And here is all I remember of the incident that sent me a wanderer, outside the law. See what an ugly round puff face he has, Take that, you hop-toad! And that too! There! There! Pah! It'a too fat to nit. Oh, Lord! Hit me with a club, will you? I'll show you! There's your club! it over your silly fat head—and take another for good measure. And the: damned club show ‘em at the ‘Word (cae att two pleces—take It As quickly as the red had come, it faded, I heard a woman scream. Now some one was whispering in my ear: “Run, Bobby, run! You've killed him!" The person had a hand on my arm. I turned to see Edith Dahigren’s white face, Herman Dahigren, tall and gener- ally cold-eyed, was trying to thrust @ leather purse into my hand. “Take a cad and drive like hell for Union Station. There's a Southern express at 10:30, You can just get it. 1 connects with the San Fran- hall; @ back-driver in of the street, hor make-up too evident in the, lamp-light; and two negroes covert grins of satisfac” as Y lool to the fallen officer, the blood from his mouth staining the carpet. A Roland Park car shirred by south-bound, a Linden Avenue shot northward, both monster FE jane shapes against the dark of Howard Street; and a small electric runabout drew up by the carpeted strip, a heavily veiled ‘woman at the wheel. “He "I eaid, “what's all U “You've killed that policeman— that’s all,” returned Herman Dahl- gren, coldly—“‘and if they get you it will be manslaughter at least; and five years’ imprisonment. So you'd better cut and run for the station and slip off at the Mexican border ag I told you.” “I killed him?” I asked, moistening my | lips. ‘Herman—you're joking— verRun, you fool. There'll be another policeman in a minute. Look at the crowd!" And Edith’ same = adjul shouted at me; were talking alike. stood back, my bod: ways, my knees bendi: as I regarded with horr' ty face of the man whose death was voice whispered the nm. Vincent Carr men and women charged to me. “T didn't kill him,” I said, in a dry whisper. “He pushed you and you hit him, He struck at you with his club and ‘ou took it away from him and beat him over the head with it—— Bobby, here comes another policeman run- qa, ning down the street, running after a little boy. That's the youngster that was selling papers here. He's told him! You"-——— “Jump in het Mr. Bobby”. A woman speaking this time; man gripped my arm. That ‘woman in the motor invitéd you to jump in, For the Lord's sak: grab the opportunity and jump. your only chance.” He propelled me toward the curb; the woman was holding out a hand. Even with the full horror of the acci dent and the realisation of my peril, col not but note that it was a small and dainty gaunt- jer- smal! vei let that ‘encased the outstreched hand; it {8 one my small pleasures to note such things about women; and I saw also that her belted gray mietoe- coat gave promise of an exquisi elimness of re, A thick mot veil ware} over and around a soft grass-straw hat hid her face; but there was a glint of bright eyes from behind the meshy fabric, rag; her the car; for although the fumes of the liquor had been brushed from my head like . #0 many cobwebs at the first woman's shriek, my legs were still far from aid not walt until I a blur to me as I sat star- ing blankly aheg# at the winking lights of the broad avenue, each one an accusing eye. The events of the evening passed before me; the at- tempt to speak to Sophie, the snub, hot resentment, then the push of a policeman; and the sudden blind rage and blood-lust. And I killed some poor fellow who was do- ing his.duty in front of Heymann’s. It seemed so strange, so horri and unnatural that I ehould have killed a man; I, who of all men bore kindness to others close to my heart. I had heard of the Strangitharm temper—a Berserker loss of sunity which brought iInsensate outrages; had beén warned of it by my father about whom some atrénge tale was in circulation concerning @ lapse of his own that had sent him @ wanderer over strange lands in his youth; but that I, who was ever dis- tinguished for evenness of tempera- ment and a broad toleration, should ever maltreat one of my fellow men was paradoxically absurd, Perhaps my bulk and strength had 1 Hitherto saved me from the flung in- sult of the iN-tempered and envious; certainly had the policeman been other than 6 feet 2 he would not have Presumed to lay hands upon a man of my inches. For I am huge; an ainch and @ half over the police- man’s height; broad in proportion; with legs and arms like the knotted branches of trees, a natural develop- ment for the most part, but augmented by the love for athletics I had displayed in achool and college ye. I mention my etrength. One must have something; and that was all I had. Born in a lowly station in life, I might have been the champion pile- ariver of my gang; might even have learned tricks and been exploited by vaudeville managers as the Hercules who catches cannon-balls at the top of his spinal column; but so far it had done me no good, save only to makegme more or less Impervious to decay from lack of occupation. But at that moment | cursed my strength and hated it; for had I less of it my policeman would now be charging me with assault before his sergeant; and the turnkey leading me away ton hard seat behind bars for the nigh! It. was very hard to realize I had killed a man; somehow It smacked of the absurd. “I killed him?” I sald, with won- dering question, “I think there is very little doubt of that,” she replied, and at the time I noticed shé spoke somewhat differ- ently from the people whom I knew. “He waswery still and white; and the man who knelt down by him and felt his heart said that he was dead. I think they would hang you if they caught you—such is the rule of this country where such a person may insult a man of the upper class; in my own country they would not dare Se Jeg © Rand Vpen ech 80 ree, yeu are not American’ had thai woman. While I had observed these things, the cur had turned out of South Ful- ton Street into the Frederick Road. “I don’t quite understand what to say to you.” I was quite honest in this, for the notion of a woman exposing her- self to arrest and imprisonment to aid & complete stranger from the punish- ment of his own misdeed was some- thing that called for other than usual “I don’t quite understand” — “My friend,” she interrupted, “I do not want any thanks. it was a pleas- ure to gain @ man of your eize for our project. What that project is:you will discover in good time. not.im- agine me @ female knight-errant res- culng weak males from danger. I was Pi led in that neighborhood and had @lowed down my car while I took my bearings, The quarrel began about that time; andl stopped my machine i Set, it ome “lik dd nee. men you, men of atrei aad courage who have reason to fear the law. To them we extend protection and give employment"——. “My dear girl,” said 1, fo all about my peril in the pang ave me to hear a woman taleag ao dryly and curtly, “you are not t ey | like @ wonuin—but like @ machine, Bweet femininity ia too scarce to sacrifice it for @ poor imitation of man's worst qualitica”"— She laughed. “You seem to bi very merry rogue, Maater Bobby,” she said, “Would you have me coquet with you? Iam sorry that my atten- tion must be kept to the guiding of this vehiclo"—~ ‘Let me!" I urged, “No-~you do not know the way andlamnoteure thatiwish you to know it. Whom did you fancy me, my friend? An errant damsel capti- vated by that Grecian bend and tho giant muscles; one who would p: ently in answer to your gratitude tell you that she and all that was hers now belonged to you—ber hero! —eh, air?” “Even my enemies grant me tain lack of conceit, ma’amse! I replied. “And will you be offended if I aay that the thought of having killed a man coming #0 quickly upon my wine-drugged wits gave me no room until a moment ago to question your motives at all? But now with the spell of your femininity upon me for you are very feminine for all your assumption— I begin to be in- terested in them. As for myself, I must confess, I'm not much inter- ested in my own fate. To-night has put up a little slab te a very badly spent set of years—some twenty-five in the cemetery of the minds of peo- ple who know me.” I drew some crumpled bills and some change from my pocket. “T have, fair rescuer, just four dol- lara hirty-five cents. I have & good temper, and do not drink wisely. But from this night on —if I live—I'll be a drunkard no long- er, I had always consoled myself with iting: the belief that I hurt ne one but Well, myself by my bibulous habits; but having killed a man when drunk I realize myself a menace to others. So we can leaveout the drinking part of it. And Sere E anna your sarrion, iF resouer—Robert Strangitharm, M@trengitharm Manor (now rented by must first be sure that a woman js githarm. reasonably charming. Now, that is & pretty hat a@ pretty veil and a becoming one + but you may be— er—advanced in years—and—er—un- attractive, for all I know.” She made some sort of a sound, a wott eeniatory sound, which had no consideration in it; and her gaunt- leted hand jerked thevveil at the bow under her throat. The veil loosened, fell away from her face; and the wind, catching it, blew it out into a long streamer soft outline of cheek and ¢; that your seventeenth ocentu fit matches for the brows. At my amile her foot came down menrilny afid, unfortunately, on my foot. It was a small foot, but the displeasure “Ouch!” I eald, the emile fi q “Tm 90 sorry!” she said, reaching back for the flying veil, “Don't apologize, my lady,” said I, holding my foot. “If I am hereafter afflicted by a growth on that par- ticular @pot it will serve as @ re- minder of the fact that women are necessarily feminine—even you, m: dear lady, for all your philosophy, were not able to bear the insinuation of lack of charm. I rether imagined you would do as you did.” “Oh!" said ehe, with a cross little brand me @o, dear lady,” I returned, horrified. “The only one who knows women is @ woman herself—and she only Rpows one woman. Women are eternally ununderstandable to men, because they will make sacrifices and undergo discomforta for things too trivial to be appreciated by the pro- posing sex.” "A cynic, too, You become inter- esting, Master Robert.” “And you abusive, dear lady, Cynics, blaze men and asses all come under the same classification in the category of life, I enjoy sensations too much to be a cynic.” ‘For instance—t! sensation of talking like a drawing-room play character!" “Alas!” 1 said, with complaining “School-for-Scandal” lery, “you smother me beneath unproved accu- gations, each one more insulting than the last. To talk like a drawing- room character is only to twist about truisms, to paraphrase old saws; shall we play the game and let me prove to you how easy it is”. She smiled, “And what is the game?" “You are to give mi old proverb, room If I falter I will make « Srowing, character's ‘epigram’ of it. for half a minute before delivering it, your acousation holds.” “You aro really quite amusing, then, ‘A stitch in time saves time,” I replied. ‘That's the lasy tailor’s assistant talking, Mages doy the it “Bo are mos! plarame of the modern society play. jext!” “*Theres many 0 slip ‘twit the out and the lip’ Quick! A behind, I caught a collar. yebrow are very ner, No girle who when doubt would You You I they were 38 Pelt f] : i A tf i trees that heat went out of my han deep & Y ii f i i fi i 2 é &) E : i as that must surely be blowa struck on the pavement Heymann’s. It had occurred that if\such were to be the sentance, and I éaw any of 4 sion my money 0 for revolver, aky and stillness of the use of the remote. I taken much conal of death. 1 ehi Sue coverars, not heretofore ivered, ever used them to any pro- yourselt? Wildness is times excusable; waste of talente—that I did not answer her: along the Frederick Turnpi only the whir of the motor for hear- Ing. Oooasionally a car flashed by like a monster yellow 3%. I found myself’ jerki ing my head Voluntarily in the fear that it it hold ag a passenger some of the law apprised of my crime. ‘We went streaking through Catons- ve, and when we turned sharply, deflecting our course southeast, I sur- mised that we were on the Roll peat, Several Sante on our = we been stopped by wary pore of turnpikes; but this time the little fore the bar’ cama down, and" fore eo 08: an breathed relief. wi “Where are we going? I asked, with trace of my former light manner! “To a place that guarantees safety,” she replied, pointe tone «ee: position should be grateful for that much, and would do well mere qusetions, bef. pean t was some time lore we our course again, this time more or less due south and into a road thet was a shame to the administrators of my native State. The car bounded and jumped along like a wounded gees lopper: and after some little ime your le the trees. much of ag : E aH i is Bur now inthis gloom of set 5 ie to Imply that one in my pat