Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1890-12-18
CHAPTER L

passengers rushed 9or and Through che
station to find egress, discouraged by
the impressive official whose seen%or1an
tones were soaring through the build
ing the name and stopping places OF the
next train. Among che foremost in the
run was hazel-eyed young man with
grip sack in his hand, and the Olive-bronZe
of sea voyage upon a very cookbook
ing face. He was always persuaded that
he could have eluded the great-voiced
-door-keeper and boarded the fast plat
form of the moving cars, had he not run
a-foul of O wheeled chair midway be-
tween the sea&s and incOnveniently-set
radiators in the waiting-room, and mar
rowly escaped o header" He did not
actually fall: Geither did he overset che
vehicle. Avoiding both calamities by
vaulting the dashboard and front
wheels, he get dropped his has and ga
Gse in differene directions, and brought
up at an obtuse angle by catching aS one
of the handicapped radiators. The
first use he made of his hat. which was
picked up by o smiling bystander, was
TO lift it to o woman who was propelling
what he he'd mistaken for baby's per-
.amhulatoo.
II beg youS pavaon. I am sure:' be
said, in maAly fashion. 81 hope the"
he was aboue % say baby" but changed
the phraseology just in time-''that
nobody Gas hurt!''
A glimpse Of che occupant Of the
chair had showed him . wan face too
old for chilats, COO small FOR that of a
grown person. Befoee che woman ad.
dressed could sepiy. elfish accents.
husky snS precise. ssid. .'Nos as ALL
thank your sna there was = cack2s OF
shrill. feeble laughter
The young fellow had lost The train
that should have returned him i'm forty
minutes to the family he had not seen
in six monahss he vas just OF ship-board
and felt the need OF q bath and toilette
upon steady ground, with plenty Of
elbow-room. He had come near having
a bad fall sad had not missed making Q
ludicrous spectacle of himself. for the
entertainment of a gaping crowd. But
he laughed in Q jol{ys gentlemaniy way.
and again raising his bat passed on
without a second glance at the mute
parsonage Uho had pushed the wagon
directly across his track.
Like the rest 81 che disappointed way
farers, he 1aflsed quite up 60 che outlet
s-of the station. end peerea anxiOusly
. through at the empty rails, still stbrat.
{: ing from che wheels Of che vanishing
train, yet he neithes ffowned nor swore.
lie did not even ass: ~When does the
next train 60 10 Eairhill?'' The time.
table o his pocket and that upon the
wall, sec 40 - p NJ" cold him ala, and
more than DE wanted Co know. The
>excitemeot and suspense over, his inner
man became importunate. lie had had
an early brcakf last on che City of Rome,
and was Gar GGngrier row than then.
Doubling upon his tracks. he repaired
to the Keystone restaurant in che same
building wita che vast Haiting-foom and
Offices. Che place was clean, and full
of odoes that. for 4 wonder, we're fresh
and seworys INSTEAD q hanging ON che
air and cliNging 20 Che walls like . view
less I'm S9emoriam" of an innumerabla
caravan % Sead-aad-gone feasts- The
menu was.prosising 20 an unsated up
petite. and hasing given his order 20 a
waiter the @ven9empered customer sat
back in his chaiPand surveyed the scene
with the air of one whose mind waA as
the hymnist aptly puts it-''at leisure
from itself.~
This lack of self-consciousnese under
lay much that made MarcA Gilchrist
popular in his set. He was a clever are
list. and wrought hard and we'll at his
profession, although he had o rich
father. His position in society was as
sured, his physique fine and education
excellent-advantages fully appreciated
by most of the men, and all the women
he knew. If he recognized their value
he was adroit disscmbler. Simple
and frank in manner, he met his world
with outstretched hand. When the
L.. I, 7
humorod astonishment. went about his
business and forgot the churl His
schooluatcs used to say that it did not
pay to quarrel with him. his parents,
that he and his sister May should ex-
change names. That his amiability was
not the result of q phlegmatic tempera-
unent was apparent in the quick bright
ness of the eyes that roved about the
dining room, leaving out nothing, from
the lunch-counter in the adjoining room,
set with long ranks of salvers with
globular glass covers that gave the ar
ray the expression of a chemists labor
-atory-to the whirligig fans thaS
revolved just below the ceiling with
the dual mission of cooling the aemos.
phere and chasing away flies. Our &C.
turned traveller seemed to find these
harbingers of summer weather and
summer pests amusing. He was watch.
ing them interestedly when voice
behind him accosted hurrying waiter
There is young girl over there who
can not walk. Will you lift her out OF
her chair and bring her in? It is just a,
the door and she is very light"
BUSY, now, Miss! Better ask some.
body elser' pushing past
The bafied applicant stood in the
middle of the floor, irresolutely seeming
the more solitary and helpless because
young and a woman. Thus much, and
not that she was comedy and lady
March saw before he sprang to his fee
and faced her respectfully.
Beg pardoni but can 1 be of use? i
VIII give me pleasure if you will allow
me"-catching sight in the doorway O
the one in whose behalf she had spoken
an arch smile-respectfu stin-hghtei