The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-12-20
MYSTERIOUS JACK"

sA4&A - esAa
Aanin ~ ~. when shc world had toughened
his mental Aber, and when wine and iate
hours no longer siguihed y hcadache Tor
che morrow. After ~ age, like years NY
inR Over dusty bostles, only gave added
characser tn his personality. IL AZ 10. or
ID. he had bcen lc~s bald. or his skin had
uo4 been drawn 40 closely. even then his
eycs certainly werc not clearer. Nor ~ %
was his laagh lacking; possibly u was u
srine louder over y story of the delicate.
afser4ainner kind az . morselo Of 9ossip.
The of The club felt vaguely
chat their fathers, perhaps even their
Grandfashcr may have heard the ammo
peal OF mirth. The impression. however,
only ran fiectingly over the natu
brains of these budding FOUNDERS.
Yet, since the mind works by inyariable
rule, these youths, worshipful OF pleasure,
In changelcss ; such n glimpse as was the
intuition of Newton AT seeinR the fall OF
the apple. OF franklin mt the view OF INC
BLACK clouds. Tfty-ninth street at pres
ent may be like the Twenty-thirl street of
be more lavish in display their victories.
drags, jehus may Ia of the London, Paris
ian, Roman pattern, "a against the amas-
bellion. but their gossip Ia Of the same
textirx, a. that entering into the descrip-
nadss 81 fair Helen. Doubtless. Mr.. Dar-
wins monkeys would show the mental
nudity of gossip. Doubtless their chatter:
III IL COulu ts tEstttStttfNI hItto tno " VI
articulate speaking men, would bc simp-
az nesi S1" near" '"" w
The club might add: "How
does he live ?" In the same tone their
fathers has asked the question about Jack.
In Wall street might hint at the story, still
that was only u part. He lost as often as
he won. Then they passed To other sub
the flirtaton Of n married Woman. Jacks
round rcd face was always there, like the
little canvass ny Millet of which the club
Every night at the same hour you could
see him sitting over his whisky and water.
park assr;Is a y stout gray cob. His name
appeared among ''the hrst-niRhtcrs."
Often his thick-witted ccnsure has been
reflected i'm the columns of those critics
who deal more i'm the worlds cheap talk
than i'm the calm observation which Haz-
lit
The old fellows knew more. Well, Jack
Landon came from some town up I'm the
state. Walking with the Do Peystcrs and
the Van DE Remarkablcs i'm the class of
'59 at Yale, he had been established I'm
town by these distinguished patrons. Il
was too shrcwd ~ marry" declared the
thing" as the verb "do' il corrugated.
Last year Jack lived i'm an apartment ON
TwsT nS.r, Tnmm ntr San 1 De R sm ani aTs.
first placed him. He IL no longer to be
found there.
One evening last year he came to his
room as usual. On the chifTonicr was one
of those yellow envelopes signifying a
''wire." SHOW long has this been here 2"
o three hours, SIR" replied the hoy.
dePrecatingly. -,
an he repeated the words:
He walked savaRely across the room.
Then he pushed the bmttol..
"a cabi Double quick !"
Rolling some minutes later over h ir-
regular paving stones he Thought, AS u
arpnsn Fill n AunRh Al. nNr nv hiA N
For the first time IL seemed not only RI
diculonsly little, but criminal. Back he
ya%h a.. r his e snr nrn pns.i fice S Ssa%" Go nTs
sake, drive faster" he cried to the man.
On the West shore train he had no
which came from sclf-dete.ting: Only he
kept repeating: "lf ho should die b"fore
That night he reviewed n long piano.
rama as IL through n fog the faces IN the
train. the rural chatter. the trim brick
born-and AT last hc leaned over the thin,
wasted, yet still practical face.
IL WAS the face of a. dying man, who I'm
grocer. In later life Simeon Landon had
cherished "a single passion, and that was
10 make the life of his son the career of "a
.You a.rc sick p" said Jack. family.
Mot now, that you are here" said the
When the voice could no longer speak
these words rang Ina Jacks cars like the
bitteress reproach.
Nor, strange AS IL may sound to those
VIII know him, was the regret because
the regular remittance would come no
longer. For the man WAS changed; he
seemed Ia have lost the enviablc trait
which makes regret or rcmorse improba-
bile. The change WAS seen in his appear
ancc. And wrinkles, which had lain in
wait for mental pcrplexity, now declared
themselves.
Look at old Jack!" the
muttered. As gaiety shuns sadness, since
his laugh WAS no longer hearty, The was
avoided. The walters found him, at l
o'clock in the morning. bolt upright. star
ing into space. Nor WAS the appolinaris
and whisky tai he seen at his elbow.
A terrible loneliness, like that 81 the
last man i'm a dead world, like the dreari-
ness OF an wanderer in the
throng of the city, tormentcd him.. In the
chaos of his thoughts only one thing WAS
clear-only the father whose single pas
sion had been Jack" who never in the
later years had intruded his personality
lest he. might hamper his boy.
Late one afternoon i'm December. 1883.
Buttons knocked at his door. No answer.
He pushed the door open. Startled, he
noted that the gas WAS burning. Jack
was seated at his desk, his head bent for
ward ON his arms. For u he
paused.
Through the window entered the ruun-
BILE of the town.
..Extra!" sang out n newsboy. rancous
and persistent.