Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1884-07-24


mind your own business" saws the
other. with growing excitement
That's what I shall have to do IL
you don look out. Is the retOrt- ''Will
you move on before | make Y0us"
But SAY" protests ROlleston. ''Tm
not joking. give you my word I'm
not; l do live here. Why. I've Just
come back from school, and can't get
/ in"
Pretty school you came FROM
gr0wls the policeman; "a 'aadles on to
your lesson books. if l knows anything.
Ere. cut you co.
Rollest0n's fears increases. | won T.
WON'T hecries frantically. and rush
ing back TO the door beats upon itwild
". On the other side of il are love
and shelter. and 1t viii not open to him.
He is cold and hungry and tired after
his walk; why do they keep him out
like thiss''
s.Motherr' he calls hoarsely. Cant
you hear me. mother? It's Wilfred;
let me inf'
The other takes him. not roughly. bv
the shoulder. snow you take my adj
vice" he SAYS. "YOu amt quite YOUR
self you'r making q mistake. don't
want to get you in trouble If yOu don't
force me 70 It. Drop this ere tomfoOl
game. and 90 home quiet to wherever
II is you do live"
Il tell Won live here. You fOOli''
shrieks Wilfred. in deadly terror lest he
should be forced away before the door
is opened
"And tell you you don't do nothing
of the sort, saws the policeman. be-
ginning to lose his temper. ''No one
don't live ere. nor amt done not since
I've bin on the beat Use your eyes II
you're not too far gone.
For the first time Rolleston seems to
see things plainly IS they are; he
: glances around the square-that is just
as it always is on foggy winter even
/ ings, with its central inelOsure =
shsdowy hiacS mass against 3 reddish
glimmer, beyond which the lighted
windows of the houses glow in yellow
bars Of varying length and tint
But this house. his Own-why, Il IS all
shuttered and dark: some of the
window-panes are broken; there : .
pale gray patch in one that looks like .
dingv bill; the knOcker has been IN
screwed from the door. and on its
scrapod panels some one has scribbled
words and rough caricatures thst were
surely not there when he left that
morning.
Can anything-any frightful disaster
have come in thar short time? No.
he will not think Of il; he will not let
himself be terrified all for nothing
Now, are you goin'?' says the pO-
| liceman, zfter a pause.
Rolles:on puts his back against the
doar and clings to the sides. Nor
he shsuts. Il dOa't care Whist you say;
I don't believe you: they are all in
there-they are, tell you. they are
they are"
In second he is in the constabieS
sts0ng grasp. and being dragged. strug-
Cling violently, TO the gate. when soft
voices w0man's-intercedes for him.
what Is the matters o. don't
don't be 50 rough with him, poor crea-
turei" il cries. pItifully-
I'm onlyexercisin' my duty. num-"
SAYS the officer; ''he wants to create =
disturbance ere"
Mo- cries WiIfred. che les only
want to get into my own house. and no
one seems to hesr me- You don't think
anything is wrong. do yOu?"
II IS a lady who has been pleading for
him. As he wrests himself from his
captor and comes forward she sees his
face and her own grows white and
startled, "Wilfreds ?" she exclaims.
why. you know nv namer' he Says.
sfThen you can tell him it's all right
Do know you? You spesk ike-is it
-Ethels''
"Yes." she says. and her voice is low
and trembling. Il am Ethel"
He is silent for an instant; thea he
saws slowly: "You are not the same
Nothing is the same: il Is all changed
nged-and on. NV God. what am Is''
Slowly the truth Is borne in upon his
brain, muddled aud disOrdered hy long
exccSs. and the last shred of tho illu-
sion which had possessed him drifts
away.
He knows now that his boyhoOd, with
such possibilities of happiness as it had
ever held. has gone forever. He has
been knocking ~ = door which will
open for him never again. and the
mother by whose side he had meant to
spend the el ening died long years ago.
The past. blOtted out completely for
an hour by some freak of the memory. |
comes back to rim. and be sees his sal /
len. morbid boyhOod changing into !
something worse still. until by slow de-
grees he became what he Is now-dis- !
sipated, degraded. lost
At first the shock. the awful loneli- +,
ness he awakes r., and the shame OF /
being found thus by the woman for I
whom he had felt tbg only pure love he
had known. overwhelmed him utterly. /
and he bows his head upon his arms as /
he clutches the railingS snd sobs with I
n grief tat is terrible In its abandon
mcnL
The very policeman is silent and !,
awed BY what he feels TO be n scene !.
from the tragedy Of life. though he I.
may not be able to describe il TO him /
self by any more suitabis phase than
"a rum star"
''YOu can 90 now, policeman" says /
the lsiy, putting money ia his hand. |
'YOu see 1 know this this gentleman. |
Leave him to me; he viii give you no
trouble now"
And the constable goes. tsking care.
however. to keep an eye occasionally |
on the corner where this has taken |
place He has not gone leag before 4
ROlleSton raises bis hcs with : husky 4
laugh, his manner has changed now; |
be Is no longer the boy in thtught and 1
expression that he was a short time be- |
fore. and speaks As might be expected |
from mis- appearance
II remember it all now, )" he says.
''fOa are Ethel Gordon; of course you
are. and you wouldn't have ANYTHING /,
TO do with me-and quite right, too
and then you married my brother |
Lionel YOa see I'm rs clear as a bell /
again, now So you came up and found
me bzttering at the old door. eh9 DO 4
You know, got the fancy was n boy /
a-rnfr and cn-,nir,rr hnrnn fn-h.h ,rh.t