The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1901-01-17
Il dld have. but he is no more" Al

II dld have. but he IL no more" An
told him all about the bequest.
He laughed so long and heartily over
It that | was glad for his sake that it
had happened. Already l was begin.
ming to look wholly upon the humorous
side of the affair. .-.s
1T Is almost too good not to be print
ed" he said. But his son may square
matters when he dies"
II do not want matters squared" I
growled Il can earn a living for a
few years TO come. l shan't worry"
by the way. is that Miss Landors
whom you used to rave about in your
letters married yet"
No" Miss Landors was Phyllis
only to her intimate friends. l called
the waiter and ordered him to replen-
ish my stein. Dan watching me curl
ously the while. mo, Miss Landors is
not married yet"
81 have often wondered what she
looked like" he unused.
when do you 60 on your vacation?'
| asked rrelevantly.
''In week or ten days-maybe to-
morrow It's according to how long
stay sober"
l was sorry that he had recalled to
me the name of Phyllis. 1t dampened
my sociability. | was not yet prepared
to take him into my confidence. The
ale. however. loosened our tongues.
and. though we did not talk about our
present affairs. we had pleasant time
recounting the days when we were
young in the sense that we had no real
trouble. Those were the times when
we were earning $l5 and $40 the week;
when our watches were always in dur
ance vile; when we lied to the poor
washerwoman and to the landlady;
when we would always be around to-
morrow and settle up with our cred
itors
There was no ennui those days."
laughed Hillars.
True. Do you remember the day
you staid in bed because it was cheap
er to sleep than work on an empty
stomach"
And do you remember the time l
saved you from Jail by giving the sher-
if my new spring overcoat to pay
washerwoman's bill of six months
standingY
Il hung around Jersey City that
day" said L. And then there was more
ale. and so on. 1t was when at last
we rose.
"Well. we'll go back to the Office and
get your case" said Dan. where's
your trunk?'
AT the Victoria"
"All your luggage must be sent to
my rooms. | will not hear of your 60
ing elsewhere for lodging while in
town. l have a floor. and you shall
share it, It's bachelors ranch from
basement to garnet. inhabited by art
lists. journalists. one or two magazine
men, a clever novelist and three of our
New York men, There is no small fry
save myself We have little banquets
every Friday night and they some
times last till Saturday noon. I've
taught the Frenchman who represents
the Paris Temps how to play poker,
and he threatens to become my Frank
enstein who will eventually devour
me-" Hillars laughed. and it sounded
like the laughter of other days. lack,
l think you will do me good. Stay
with ME and keep rye away from the
bottle if you can. No man drinks for
pure love of liquor. My father never
loved it, and God knows what he was
| trying to forget. For that's the sub
stance of it all. to forget. When you
start out to the point of forgetfulness.
you must keep it up: regret comes
back threefold with soberness. 1t
seems silly and weak for man who
has been buffeted as l have. who Is
supposed to gather wisdom and phil
losophy as a SNOWFALL gathers snow as
it rolls down hill. to try to drown re-
greet and disappointment in liquor. A
man never knows how weak he is
till he meets the one woman and she
will have none Of him."
And somehow | got closer to Hillars
spiritually. There were two Of US. so
it seemed. only l was stronger or else
my passion did not burn SO furiously
as his.
Continued.