Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1899-04-06
AT FOUR O'CLOCK.

|
AT FOUR O'CLOCK.
For more than a month there had
! been growing among the men of Town
send $ set suspicion that he was go
ing to the bad Once he had been seen
coming out of house which seemed to
the eyes of Chadwick who met him.
to conceal possibilities of faro To be
sure. it was found afterward that
Townsend had been to visit his
"goody's' husband, who was laid up
with a broken leg; but the impression
clung. nevertheless.
Then Morton saw him one day on
the street in conversation with young
woman of somewhat fiamboyant archi-
lecture and although it was proved
beyond a peradventure that she was
the very respectable person who did
his mending. yet there were many who
believed that Townsend was mashed.
Unexplained. however. was his dis
appearance from his usual haunts at
o'clock every afternoon. There were
rumors of his having been seen in din
gy streets in the port by men who were
walking out from Boston and were tax
ing short cut through that region.
Such being the state of public opin-
ion, no one was surprised to have Town
send throw down his hand one day as
the clock struck 4. although the last
jack pot had been unusually exciting
I'm not coming in. he said I'm
fact I'm going out an attempt at
wit that was greeted with derision
With the shutting of the door every
hand was tossed upon the table as if by
common consent
Hes doing this every day to my
personal knowledge, said Chadwick
land I'm going to see it out this after
noon
"I'll go with your cried Morton.
The rest had no theories. but went
from curiosity-all except Allen, who
was a senior and who knew Townsend 3
mother and was in love with his sister,
and hence felt it incumbent upon him
| to take the interest of an elder brother
| in his welfare
For 90 minutes he led them at smart
pace through the better part of Cam
bridgeport. and then turned aside into
a short bystreet that extended toward
the river
There was no electric light in this
s,r3~x ~
| winter afternoon concealed the group
of spies in its fast deepening shadows
Townsend passed the tenements and
went up the steps of a cottage. the on
! ly detached house on the street 1t was
at the end-beyond it tin can strewn
vacant lot extending to the marsh
Allen looked grave as he saw Town
send knock as if to warn the inmates
of his coming and then take Iatchkey
from his pocket and enter before the
door could be opened from within
With one accord the eavesdroppers
moved toward the vacant lot. where a
shaft of light streamed from side
window Once around the corner they
did not see woman who left the house
almost as soon as Townsend had enter
ed
What they did see as they pressed to
the window. whose partly raised cur
tain allowed them good view of the
room and its occupants was of ma
ture to surprise every one of them
Before the FIRE sat an old woman
whom the novels of so years ago would
/
eyes indicative of a disordered mind
blazed in face crowned by mass Of
unkempt white hair Her thin figure
ever swayed to the promptings of an in
ner restlessness. and her nervous hands
clutched necessarily at her dress or at
the air
The onlookers were in time TO see
Townsend greet her She responded to
his salutation by blow of her cane,
which the young man lodged with
coolness born of experience
Seemingly unruffied by this reception
Townsend went to closet in the room.
and taking from it chatting dish and
eggs and milk and butter he get about
the preparation of an omelet
"Well I'll-be-hangedi said Chad
wick, slow in his amazement
"By Jove' exclaimed Morton
THAT the silver dish his mother sent
him on his birthday thought he ID
put it in hook.
Allen said nothing. but he felt a
twinge of remorse for he had thought
so too
1t required some skill to serve the
meal once it was cooked Townsend
| placed small table before the old lady
She promptly kicked it over
When at last she was induced to hold
the plate. she first threw bit of the
omelet to the cat "A ibation to Felis,
whispered Grimston. who had taken
| honors in classics and antiquities) and
then flung her fork into the fire Town.
send rescued it and substituted spoon.
which seemed more to his patients $
| fancy
To air the overheated room Townsend
opened the window directly over their
heads as they squatted on the ground
He lifted the curtain higher and looked
out blindly into the darkness Allen
thought that he heard him sigh So did
| Morton Morton was just little man
when once be was convinced
II say. fellows he whispered excit-
edly when Townsend had been recalled
to his duties by a boiling over of the
leakettle that threatened to put ont the
bis ehoes and quietly passed through
the upper rooms and down the front
stairs. when he put on his shoes again.
He managed to open the door. II
stuck, but he had forgotten that it open
cd in. In fact, he never remembered
having opened it at all before.
The men filed into the stufTy parlor.
Some one suggested that the windows
be opened Lyford stared for moment.
There were no screens in the windows.
"Oh. yes, he replied. with a deal of
energy. ..Of course / meant to have
them open and forgot Mrs Merritt has
been very busy or she would have at
tended to it for me
His blue eyes twitched and he drew a
deep breath as he pushed up the win.
dows and fung back the blinds. He
saw a dozen flies dart in. and he gave a
quiet chuckle. His emancipation had
begun.
The meeting opened with its usual