The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-01-20
The Nearest Thing.


Company's station at aIarenzoa the uop-
ical sun was blazing down
In the dim light of the Hving-room
were TWO young men.
Brickenden, the man on the sofa, open
ed his eyes. He .shiversd slightly.
Thank heaven I'm through with this
weeks doseT' he exclaimed. What a
! first-class. aIl-around JOY IS intermittent
fever.'' Then mis- eyes fell on his com
panion, who was in the act Of raising
his glass to his lips. Here, go easy
+ Stavvyt'' ne cried.
stavyy tossed down the remaining
brandy
ct was impossible in any casef' he
/ said, jerxiiy. Then he broke into a harsh
laugh rive never told you my little
story, have 7, BrickT
It's quite d 2-penny novelette," con-
+ tinued Stavert. MY mother made run
away match with poor devil of an
artist. She was a woman of title and
belonged to q noble family, who prompt
" disowned her for daring to marry the
man she loved She was absolutely cut
off: her name was never to be mentioned
again in the family.
when / was about Is ! found myself
an orphan. with IN odd hundred pounds
to my name. Ny great idea had been
+ the navy. and a friend wrote TO my I'M
Gle, who was a lord Of the admiralty 10
know if he would help me. The dear
gentleman replied that, as he refused to
recognize his sister. so he must refuse
( to recognize her son"
But" interposed Brickenden" what
ABOUT the impossibls thing-the incident
which has caused you to adopt drinking
brandy neat as your favorite recrea-
tion?"
After putting in my five years at Cal
cut Point I went home. had pretty
good time knocking around. In the
midst of it I went to Cowes for the re-
eatta week 7 ran against some decent
people. who invited me on their yacht.
He paused And there-I met heri
at was my fathers case over again.
but without his means to carry It to an
issue She was clean above me in sta
ton She loved me, and I loved her 1t
was a mad time!
sAnd as I was getting eS q month for
/ working cable end in a foreign hoe,
and not good for anything else-good
God, it was utterly impossblei So I just
told her what had to be. and went. They
appointed me to Marenzoa, and here I've
been for six months, cursing my luck
I can't forget her Every day. every
hour, every minute, she is in my
thoughts I can't have her, l never can
Brickenden had risen from his seat.
and crushed wide straw hat on his
head.
my turn on: so long. old sonp' he said
Iaconically. as he strolled away
Presently Rennick. the senior, poked
his head into the room in which Stavert
was sitting
1.-THE Turbulent has Just anchored off
the point" he announced, "and rye sig
nailed 'em to come up. So Wen be hav-
ing - hit Of sDree tonight"
Another couple of hours. and a batch
of the younger officers of n. Nj. s. Tur-
bulent invaded the quarters. They had
been there before, and their arrival was
always welcomed by the L. T. C. men
As the night drew on they gathered
around the tinkly station piano and made
merry over songs that were comic in
name and noisy in chorus.
Early in the evening Stavert had made
a discovery There was a newcomer,
lieutenant who had lately Joined the
ship The midshiDman referred to him
as the "'OnerabIe 'Erbert" His proper
name was the Hon. Herbert Haylesde1,
and he was grave-looking young man
with a somewhat pompous manner. Sta
vert had heen introduced and though
4bev had never met before he al once
recognized him. The 'Onorab1e 'Erbert
glanced curiously at him, they shook
hands rather stiffly and turned away.
He made his way out into the night.
HE knew me! My own cousin Yet
I'm only the u T c. man. to him, a
casual acquaintance he can't escape from
meeting. Curse him.
He stumbled along the little path that
led to the operating-room and relieved
Brickenden who had been eagerly wait
ing for him.
For the first hour he was kept pretty
a. Il
hitting a message when a name INST
caused him to start. Tt was 10 a firm
Of Port John lawyers. and Il ran: %in-
form lieutenant Havlesden sudden death
of father: must return home immedi-
ately."
He sent the message along, then sank
back in his chair, his brain a-whiTl.
lord Eaylesden was dead, and his only
son, now smoking placidly in the quar-
tiers not a hundred yards. away, would
reign in his stead. Stavert ground his
teeth. To think that this man should
have everything. while he And. now
he came to think Of it, this young leu
tenant was the only man between him
and the title IF he had died Dick Sta
vert. the telegraph operator. would have
stepped into It all-would have
been able to marry the one woman
who!
At last Rennick relieved him. Pale
and dfsheveIed his eyes burning like hot
coal. Stavert staggered back to the quar-
ters One in his room. he pulled a big
leather trunk from its corner and rum
mayed feverfshIy among its contents FL
nally he pulled out tiny glass bottle
E'sTt would be safe-abso.uteIy safer he
muttered hoarsely.
The Turbulent. Respondent IN her white
awnings and cleaning decks. was lying
mot.onless on the calm sea In the
srnoktng-r0on1 n small group If officers +
were chatting and laughing. Together m
one side Of the table, sat Brickenden /
and stavert-the latter opposite I3euten-
ant Havlesdan who at that moment va
slipping q glass of whisky
1.-THE gigs coming in" cried one IF +
the officers. glancing out Of the port /
hole. Havlssden put down his whisky /
"Sfant be a minute" he said. hurrving /
away on deck Then one Of the officers
noted something curious about the boat +
and commented on it. They al stood M f
and crowded around the por5hoie
Stavert did not move. He shot glance +
at their backs The next moment sis +
hand had s1iuned to his pocket and with I
drawn something His hand passed 4
swiftly over Hayles5eu's glass and
tiny stream poured into r. Iaen MS
hand went back 70 hiss pocket
Ther rs-eeate7 themselves ard re-
sumed their talk Sr8vert felt hiz eyes
frepu f~resfe4f3,tv To the 6ead'v glass IN
front % him He sruddered eanvulsive-
IT, Tlth superhuman effort Be turn-
ed away and Joined IN the conversation.
talking ia : hirh-pitched tone and laueh-
ing Brickandsn Eazed a. him IN Wonde~
There was Sudden crash IN TIE deck
above their heads. followed by cry