The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1900-04-27

He held out his hand. l. a. =
'Come i'm said he. There are two
chairs and IRE enough for forty It is
a pity I cannot give you something to
eat and drink" s'>sss.eas ,s,,,...
He was smiling, and actually, for .
moment, q glow went through him
like that which comes from the exer-
else of hospitality. The other man
advanced almost jauntily.
swell, call this white!"'2 he said,
in commendation. you're "a gentle
man, I ken see that, if you are down
on your luck" ,&..5A J, ->.x j.,
Don't speak of that, please" said
Rhoda, lightly. II was just making
up my mind to forget it for time"
'Eh? Well, that's good idee.
Something to eat and drink, did yeh
say? Man. I've got i'll"
"No!" -. -
"Here yeh are" He took two slices
Of dried bread out of his pocket.
"That's the eatin'."
He produced flask in which there
was, perhaps, tour 1nouthfuls of am
Der liquid. "And that's the drinkin',
and there might be more"
eve can toast the bread" suggest
ed Rhoda. His guest drew a formid-
able knife from his pocket and opened
it's one terrible blade slowly. Rhoda
smiled with infantile grace and seat
ed himself cross-legged before the
II 81 N
purpose of that unsheathing of the
weapon, but he determined to make
light of it. However, he had appar-
emily no cause for apprehension. His
companion stuck a slice of bread on
the point of the blade and held it up
before the fire.
1T smells good" remarked Rhoda.
II wish to heaven. there was smell
of hot coffee going with it,"
The other man looked pensively
into the fire.
eyes," he said, rehectively, ~ wish
so, too" He got to the second slice
of bread and toasted it to warm
brown. Then they began to eat. It
was quite a ceremony. The men
talked of going to climate where
there was no winter. and they were
truly magnificent. No one listening
would have doubted their ability. to
visit such a place if they had pleased.
Afterward they made the fire safe and
laid down with their feet toward the
glowing ashes and slept.
"Maybe I'll be I when I wake up
and maybe WON'T" thought Rhoda,
humorously, as sleep came over him.
''But it doesn't matter, really. That
knife, however, is an ugly sleeping
companion. I dare say I shall know
more about it by morning than 1 do
now"
He fell asleep easily for all of that,
and he dreamt of walking under
palms with the man by his side, and
of sailing with him over summer seas.
He dreamt of fighting by his side,
and of struggling to defend him from
some danger; and then,' suddenly, he
sat up and saw the dawn peeping
about the edges of the curtain.
$50 the knife isn't in me, after ALL"
he commented, and looked about for
his companion. But he was not to
be found. Inc room was unoccupied
save by himself. Instinctively he felt
for his money. 1t was safe. And on
the floor by his side lay the knife.
Rhoda lifted it and stared at it stu
pidly. Then, by degrees, the signii-
canoe of it came over him. It was a
gift for remembrance. and all that
its owner had to bestow. It was the
first evidence of friendship that the
man who held it in his trembling
hand had received for years. Some-
thing that he had thought dead
stirred in him. He put the gift in his
pocket and arose to his feet. Obscure
ly it came across him that the hos
pitality had been worth while, the
confidence had been worth while-it
had been worth while to dream those
dreams of comradeship. He went out
of the murky building and down on
the street. As he walked along lie
held his head like a man who has a
purpose in his mind. The skulking
attitude of the night before was gone.
He walked into a newspaper office
and bent over the desk where the ad.
vertisements for workers were dis
played, and, as he looked at them,
writing down number of addresses,
he ranked himself once more in the
mighty file of honest men. Dimly,
like an evil vision, away into the OBJ
livion of the past, wound that Other
procession of which he had once been
a part--that procession of dark flg-
ures with averted gaze, with mischiev-
GUS hands, with vain thoughts!-Chi-
cago Tribune.
How Polly Knew. ~eA e.
A "befo' -de-war' matrons was teach