Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1894-09-28

/ ~
People Would Come at All Hours.
cred up? He was no more drunk than
/ i am
Excuse me, but you are quite sure
II that your breath-howeycr"
i The cordials the fatigue Had | been
1 getting Dusenberry drunk?
You are sure he has gomez
Il saw him leave half an hour ago. :
4 Good night" And l strobe from
that place in an agitation of soul that
i ought to have turned Dusenberry' S
hair gray. I had left that place I'M
Is guarded. | was now. most likely,
i walking around the streets Of that
| city. perhaps in the yiIest slums, Il
prey to yillainy and accident. a crea-
| ture without mind, deaf. blind, TN
feeling! What would-wlat had-be-
come of me? Suppose / We're at the
bottom of the river ut this moment.
and should be doomed to occupy the
/ interior body that / lived in at pres
] ent. Despair! Suppose that Dusen-
berry's personality and suppose that
while | was asleep he should succeed
/ in doing it. Again. despair! | might
/ be manned or crushed; my clothes
might at this moment be in the pcs
SESSION of a gang of corner loafers who
| wCuld pawn them on the morrow for
beer, obliging me to lie perdu in the
| friendly screen of coal yard until
/ night fell again. and | was enabled
/ to steal home without exciting com
4 ment. l rushed aimlessly from street
! to street. making Dusenberry puff as
I | did so. for some minutes before l
could form any plan of action, the
dread of being permanently locked in
with Dusenberry, in his now hated
form. driving me almost mad. l went
to the nearest police station ard in
quired if anything had been seen of Il
tall good-looking man of 81. dressed
| in excellent taste and of polished de-
meanor who had left the d hotel
while suffering from the effects of Il
s;tnStToke.
In October asked The sergeant.
lifting his brows
'.Oh -ah--well it was something like
it,
well. we amt seen notlin' of i'm.
See?"
Fl left the place III II new On
reaching Il dark and lonely street 4
sat on the eurbstone and tried TO weep,
but til re We're no tears in Dusenberry.
and had to give it up. All this time
/ had vague sense of relation to my
old self that kept from utter loss of
hope / rendered that during my
ardent wish to be at home n vivid pic
ture. almost like a sensation. Of my
self going in that direction, acompan-
led the thought. How it, after all, ]
had retained enough power over my
unconscious self to cause it to make
the journey? rushed away in the di-
rection of my flat, and arrived at the
door in bewilderment of hope and
fear. The clock struck 3, as | turned
the corner. What Il night it had been!
I felt in my pocket for my key. Chump
that I was! I had only Dusenbcrry's
key. knew that if l broke into the
house was liable to get Dusenbcrry
shot and also arrested. and | did not
want to go as far as that with him, so
/ resolved on an expedient hardly less
bold; / rang.
Somebody was up and moving about
the place. Oh. if it could only be-if j
dare hope-I bent all my thought to
it. In three minutes the knob ratified:
the door swung open. Dim as the light
was there was no installing the figure
that stood there. 1t was myself.
Saints be praised.' he cried. Il did
get there ahead of myself, after all
The figure in the doorway stood still
gazing straight into the dark with
fishy. nnseeing eyes. and breathing
heavily, like one who walks in his
sleep. Listening at the stair foot
could hear no sound except the snoring
@J1r
rival of this automaton Of myself had
not been known to anybody. My wife
was asleep. The bell had been TN
heard. and only my viii had brought
the figure to the loor Selling it / 4
drew it passiyely out. closed the door
softly behind it and led it up the street
TO where the shadow of tall maple
fell in Il black gloom around some
yards of sidewalk. | leaned it against |
the tree trunk, grasped its hands and
put every atom of my will into an i'm |
perious demand to change Again, the
momentary darkness, faintness. giddi-
ness; then / found myself supported /
by the tree, looking ut Dusenberry who
was tightly clutching my hands and |
grcasily perspiring. / shook him off |
He was daZed and showed n desire to I
sit down. Taking him by the arm I |
walked him to the corner. where an
electric light threw Il garnish illumina-
ton over the street. A man was ap- |
preaching from the left, and / saw the
CLINT of Il belt plate and official shield
upon him. He was policeman When
he had come up / said: Officer, |
found this man on my door step just
now. He rang my bell. He has evi-
IDENTIFY been drinking, but he is fairly
dressed and may have sore money
about him. VIII you kindly see hiL1
away from here?'
The officer did, just that. and Duscn-
berry daZed but docile. went along with
him. He was taken to the police sta
ton but as by that time he had recov-
ere enough of his. senses to find
the way to the ferry and thence home
on an carly freight. he was allowed to
90. no record of the arrest being en-
tered on the blotter. Both of us slept
late next morning. / awoke with a
feeling of deep thankfulness, and went
went to the hotel for my watch and
which / secured only at cost
Of knowing look from the clerk.
awoke only to embark ON
4 sea of troubles and misunderStand-
ings. He remember ed nothing}of what
had happened while | occupied his
tenement of clay, and to thisy hour he
does not see how it was that after fall
ing asleep in the lobby Of the p no
tel he should awake In Hackehsack. il