The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1891-03-13
THE ROOM.MATES
ny JOHN d. RAYMOND.

quarrel between them; they were not
deaf mutes; they were normal, every day
young men, and one, at least, longed
ardently to hear the others voice.
It came about in this way 'HadIcy was
n reporter on the Ne,os- HcraM, where he
had filed certain round OF dry -as dust
assignments for ycnrs and was not much
liked by his associates. He had tend :,
cncy to drudge; he wore faint "mutton-
chop" side -whiskcrs and turned up the
bottoms OF his trousers when it rained.
But he was really capital fellow, and in
spite Of his prosiac exterior no had
little romance of his own. He was en-
gagged to be married, and Alice Tyler
was girl of whom any one might well
bc proud. She was tho niece OF friend
of Hadley's, and when no proposed To-
her, after a long, dcspairing courtship,
he was astounded to find himself ac-i
cepted. II seemed incredible that such
perfect creature could ever be his own,
but after he had somewhat recovered
from his transports his practical nature
asserted itself, and he began to retrcnch
MS expenses In preparation for the evspt.
Thus 1t was that he eventually answered
an advertisement for room. mate.
1t SO happened that the other occupant
OF the room was also n reporter, although
very different stamp of man. John
Ashton was n mctcoric genius. Ho was
a waif from dead and gone Bohemia.
His forte was the strange, tho odd, and
the grotcsque, and his startling and un-
looked-for strokes had gone far toward
making the Chronicle famous. In his ..gld
ho was invaluable, and he had long since
killed his chance for promotion by merit.
ing it too much.
The Nens-Leralf, rs everybody knows,
is published in tho afternoon, while the
Chronicle Is morning daily, and Had
10y, who had made his arrangements
through the landlady, was disappointed,
when he awoko early on the first day in
his new quarters, to find that his room.
4pats, whV>had let himself in sometime
'duslAs Aih night, was then asleep in the
.&itAle Meo~e opposite his own. He had
Nisea shAnself much pleasure from
much edmired, but the pale, handsome
face and slight form, relaxed in the Ian
guor of deep sleep, prompted him to
dress as quietly rs possible and slip out
without awakening the other.
1T turned out, to IIndley's infinite
cha2riu, and probably to Ashton's secret
amusement, that this was no mere acci-
dent. The former went to work carly
in the morning and his duties ended
.'|hSy"thc big presses threw out the first
| copy of the last edition, ut about dusk.
Ashton, on. the other hand. arose little
after noon, loungcd about until dark and
left, Ills desk any time between one and
three O'Clock at night. Consequently,
when he reached the room no invariably
found IIadley asleep. and when he awok"
T., he was the only occupant. And vico
: Versa. Several things conspircd to main
tain this fantastic relationship. Their
offices were remote from one another
Their work was essentially different. 1t
|sdit not make common resorts or mutual
day they never met.
p such was the curious train of eventi
which had carried them through one
summer and into an autumn that brought
to Hadlcy many miserable hcartachc.
shadow had somehow fallen across tho
honest fellows love affair. 1t was hard.
ly to be defined in terms; that was the
worst OF lUx-lt was so intangible; so diff.
iicult to say just what was wrong. There
was a change in Alice. She was silent
she was diStraught; her tears came and
wont like !.p.;! T"iu. let snc protested
that nothing was amiss, and met his
wcll-mcant questioning with an impa.
ticnce that surprised and frightened him
for he did not know very much of wo.
men. and her asscyerations sounded to
his ears like confessions in disguise.
Above all, he felt cumbersome unfit.
ness to cope with the situation. Il was
like plow-boy cssaying to probe SEN
| sitivc wound. md nt lcnnth he feared to
speak lest he should prccipitate some un-
| known crisis.
Thus it was, when at dusk one autumn
day he walked from the office to Alice's
home to pay one of his customary visits.
1t was an indolent evening, suave with
the spell of Indian summer, and through
the dreamy haze that wrapped the city
even the hum Of traffic sounded faint and
! harmonious, like choir of giant insects
at the approach Of night. He fell into a
| ItNtilS lC NdlkCu Oh, anu "ueU
he stopped mechanically before the house
he did not ring ut once, hut sat down
upon Il little bench just within the cato
| and masked by lilac. bushes.
The narcotic calm of the scene and
hour had lullcd hlm into serenity, and
| night fell unmarked, until, at length, a
familiar voice broke in upon his medita-
tiops. Hc recognized it on the instant
as Aiiccs, DUO fe wa, ,ainaled with
deeper tones that were unfamiliar to him.
Although no;words had yet detached
themselves from tho tanglc Of sound, it
seemed 20 him that one voice was urging
and one demonstrating. Presently they
came nearer and stopped by the gate.
| "Oh, | cannot! 1 cannot!" some one
cried. 1t was Alice's voice, and although
there was not iot of the spy in Hadley' 3
nature, something in the information held
him spell-bound
'But Why notl' said the other voice
n mclodious baritonc-iow, persuasive,
lnf x,,t, l..