The San Juan County index. (Aztec, N.M.) 1890-19??, 1901-01-18

practically deserted because there was
but one day to intervene before Christ
mas.
The attendant in the refreshment
DON yawned tedi Dusly as, ~perfunctor-
fly polishing a glaw tumbler. he look
ed aimlessly out OK the little window
into the area that sAqred the gloom of
the coming evening With It's friends.
the alley, which went 1t to the right
and left in search Of FOLKS
In the card room the tablNs. She DOM
ino sets, chessmen and packs of @
rested undisturbed; no noise OF tn
clicking billiard balls from the room
upstairs OF Of rumbling spheres in the
tenpin alley below ioated up toward
the Office, the reception room and the
library IN the main floor. Even the
chairs and settees along the hallway
seemed weighted with ennui.
From n Of those away-of places
like the basement, the attic or the
stuify coat room came the resonant
tones Of a conventional cuckoo thing
telling the hour Of eight, when down
the main stairs stepped Wilder VIII
kins, a bachelor, a man Of the world,
a millionaire and a cynic.
Was your dinner all right, MI. viii
kins?" asked the Office man, and the
club members answer as he passed
through toward the reading room was:
Very good, indeed"
Wilkins sat at n Of the tables, and
picking up a paper imagined that he
was reading, but his delusion was
broken within a minute by his arising
and looking through a window into
the brilliantly lighted street. There's
life enough out there" he murmured
to himself, as he turned in a tired sort
Of way and looked in a hopeless fash
ion at the various portraits on the
walls. Then he returned to the read
ing tables and lighting a cigar at
fected deep interest in a book he had
taken up.
It's mighty strange" said he, after
a pause, that a mere sentiment can
send dozens Of ordinarily good fellows
on on a certain day Of the year to fret
and worry and berate themselves e
storekeepers and clerks, ten-pound tur-
keys and 2O-pound babies, when there
Is a comfortable, rational, available re-
sort like this one to which they may
make their escape" Then he threw
away his half consumed cigar and with
the strength of a firm resolution made
his way to the card room, where for
half an hour or more he applied him
self to solitaire.
That beats the record" he said,
throwing down his cards and looking
at his watch. "Half-past nine O'Clock
and not a soul has entered the place.
Presently l will say something harsh
about Christmas" At this juncture
his y caught a new lot Of notices on
the club bulletin and stepping across
the room he studied them, now and
then offering comments unfavorable
upon what he had read.
Surfeited by this species of recrea-
ton he visited the courtroom, and when
the boy who assisted him with bat and
coat asked: Are you going home so
early, Mr.. Wiikins?' he responded:
you don't suppose l would stay in
such a place as this when / have the
alternative Of going to bed, do your"
An hour later, utterly free from any
thing akin to appreciation Of the ele-
gance Of his apartments, and totally
blind to the %mellowness Of the light Of
human intercourse, Wilkins was in bed
himself that he was an absolute
for having been born with the
faculty Of acquiring money, and scold-
ing any man, himself in particular who
had judgment so poor as to favor his
stomach in preference to his tired
eyelids. his tired head and his tired
heart.
He simply could not sleep, and he
found himself listening to the rustic Of
the pillow beneath his head as he tried
to formulate the intangible patterns he
seemed to see even though his eyes
closed. Just when 1t seemed to
him that he had conquered the sleep
god, an L train over the Sixth avenue
caught a special stratum Of clearness
in the atmosphere and aroused him
its noises. At this he rolled over
in bed. and pushing a clinched fist UNI
der his jaw, commanded: Here, now,
don't be a helpless imbecile, but go
to Sleep" And his answer was a
twinge In n OF his feet so that his
next task was the recovery OF the loos-
ened bedclothes.
And then he went to sleep. That Is
10 say, he thought he was asleep, and
80 ventured to discover himself on the
outer circumference OF a vast globe
which wa sailing swiftly through IL
Irritable space, while, in a frenzy OF
despair, he was keeping his position
the whirling thing simply by force
Of bleeding fingers and bruised and
legs set against the hard sur
lace. His vision extended millions Of
miles, 30 that he saw clearly that
gradually he was losing the hold which
vas to send him down, down forever
INTO chaos.
At last his overstrained nature yield
ID, the fingers let go. and he aWOkt
With a yell. on the floor at the side
II his bed. Aching all over and
trembling like a pot Of jelly In the
lands Of a boy making a surreptitious
lisit to his mothers pantry, Wilkins
at upon the floor and smiled grimly
be passed a somewhat harsh esti-
nate as to his own character. well,
le finally observed, as he arose to his
eet, "I1l just go out and get good
md drunk in earnest. No limitations
OF me" and then he walked toward
he window that opened into the
lustling street.
Directly opposite. and on the same