The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1900-08-31
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@l BYn@RERT louis STEVENSON. ELTa


1t was cleared the place of tombs, by
dingy and ambiguous houses. One of
these was the house Of Colette; and at
his door our ill-starred John was pres
emily beating for admittance. In an
evil hour he satisfied the jealous in
quiries of the contraband hotelkeeper;
IN an evil hour he penetrated into the
somewhat unsavory interior. Alan, to
be sure, was there, seated in a room
lighted by noisy gas jets, beside dirty
tablecloth, engaged on coarse meal.
and in the company of several tipsy
members of the junior bar. But Alan
was not sober: he had lost a thousand
pounds upon horse race, had received
| the news at dinner time, and was now,
IN default of any possible means of
eAtricatlon. drowning the memory Of
his predicament He to help John! The
thlng was impossible; he couldn't help
| himself.
IF you have a beast of a father"
said he, II can tell you I have brute
Of trustee"
I'm not going to hear my father
called beast" said John, with beat
ing heart, feeling that he risked the
last sound rivet of the chain that bound
him to life.
But Alan was quite good-natured.
All right, old fellow" said he.
Mos respectable man your father"
And he introduced his friend to his
companions as "old Nicholson the
what-d'ye-call-um's son."
John sat in dumb agony. Colette's
foul walls and maculate table linen
and even down to Colette's villainous
casters, seemed like objects in night
mare. And just then there came a
knock and scurrying; the police, so
lamentably absent from the Cation Hill.
appeared upon the scene; and the party,
taken fagrante delictu, with their
glasses at their elbow, were seized,
marched up to the police office, and all
duly summoned to appear as witnesses
IN the consequent case against that
arch shebeener. Colette.
1t was a sorrowful and a nightly
sobered company that came forth again.
The vague terror of public opinion
weighed generally on them all; but
there were private and particular hor-
rors on the minds of individuals. Alan
stood in dread of his trustee, already
sorely tried. One of the group was the
son OF country minister, another of
judge; John, the unhappiest of all,
had David Nicholson to father, the
idea of facing whom on such a scan
dalous subject was physically sicken-
ing. They stood while consulting un-
der the butresses of Saint Giles; thence
they adjourned to the lodgings Of one of
the number in North Castle street.
where (for that matter) they might
have had quite as good supper, and
far better drink, than in the dangerous
paradise from which they had been
routed. There, over an almost fearful
glass, they debated their position. Each
explained he had the world to lose If
the affair went on, and he appeared is
a witness. 1t was remarkable what
bright prospects were just then in the
very act of opening before each Of that
little company of youths, and what
pious consideration for the feelings of
their families began now to we'll from
them. Each, moreover, was in an odd
state Of restitution. Not one could
bear his share of the fine; not one but
evinced wonderful twinkle of hope
that each of the others Tin succession)
was the very man who could step in
to make good the deficit. One took
high hand; he could not pay his
share; if it went on to a trial he should
bolt; he had always felt the English
bar to be his true sphere. Another
branched out into touching details
about his family, and was not listened
to. John, in the midst of this disorder
ly competition Of poverty and mean
ness, sat stunned, contemplating the
mountain bulk of his misfortunes.
At last, upon pledge that each
should apply to his family with a COM
mon frankness, this convention of I'M
happy young asses broke up, went
down the common stair, and in the
gray of the spring morning, with the
streets lying dead empty all about
them, the lamps burning on into the
daylight in diminished luster, and the
birds beginning to sound premonitory
! uOleS IRON Lne groves OF the town gar
dens, went each his own way with
bowed head and echoing football.
The rocks were awake in Randolph
Crescent; but the windows looked
down, discreetly blinded, on the re-
turn of the prodigal Johns pass-key
was a recent privilege; this was the
first time it had been used; and, oh!
with what a sickening sense of his I'M
worthiness he now inserted it into the
well-oiled lock and entered the citadel
of the proprieties! All slept; the gas
in the hall had been left family burn
ing to light his return; dreadful still
ness reigned, broken by the deep tick.
ing Of the eight-day clock. He put the
gas out, and sat on chair in the hall,
waiting and counting the minutes,
longing for any human countenance.
i CHAPTER III.
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aMEMA493SNp highly tragical