Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-06-21
DAILY SHORT STORY
The Man at Old Toms.
tCopyright, 1902. by the s. s. Mcclure
Company1

one of its frequent crises. l had slip
ped out for dinner at the old chop
house. The exertions OF the day and
the nervous strain under which I had
been placed had made me feel sim
gularly depressed. My low spirits did
not rise even at the sight OF steam
| ing combination chop and mug of
the mustiest brew. 1 almost leaped
for joy when the form of Dick Travis
appeared in the doorway. Travis had
been Il friend of mine ut Harvard, and
a more jovial. whole souled companion
had never known. l arose and well
coined him with cordiality. AS / took
his hand l noticed that it was cold. He
wore no overcoat, and his clothing
seemed to be thin and of poor quality,
yet for MI that he was the same Dick
| Travis that / had known in Hasty
| Pudding theatricals. ! ordered dinner
| for two. and over mugs of ale forgot
Wall street and the great gcd Nam
mon and thought only of Travis and
his merry stories.
And how have things been going
with you. old man?'' 1 asked.
y look of pain came over the face of
the man. He leaned forward. His
cold hand rested upon my wrist.
Il have n confession to make" he
said. 1T is against my pride 10 say
1t, but before came in here / had not
had a mouthful to eat for three days
The stage has not been kind to me.
was failure
NONSENSE" l said lightly. do not
scare me like that again. had almost
forgotten that 1 was talking to n gen
tleman whose name of Travis mas
querades under that of Richard Black.
ston, the romantic young actor
Il am sorry that l startled you" re-
sumed Travis. You must get used to
jokes of this kind"
He leaned back in his chair and look
ed at me until it seemed that his eyes
glowed like Goals of fire.
Good night" he said. I'm sorry to
have annoyed you with one OF my dis
agreeable moods. You won't see me
again.
Come. come. Travis l exclaimed.
Go back to the office with me. I'll
only be detained there for few min
utes and then come up to the house.
You need few days of rest
Did you call me, sir:'
Peter. the waiter. was speaking.
Il was talking TO Mr.. Travis said,
with some show of annoyance. sual
.The waiter looked puzzled. He glanc.
ed about him. Old Tom, the proprietor
of the chophouse. was nOdding neal
the ale pumps. He, the waiter and II
were the sole occupants of the room.
where is Mr.. Travis | asked.
Don't know him, sir" replied the
waiter.
1.-THE gentleman who just dined with
me-" l said.
The waiter stared. l asked for my
check. The bit of paper bore the
charge for only one service. The table
sworn that l saw nobody remove the
blue china plate and the pewter mug
which had been placed in front of Dick
Travis.
The check" 1 said-"it is for one
1t should be for two
Tom Halloran glanced at the addi-
ton.
"Oh, yes" he said. 1.-THE gentleman
who was with you left very hurriedly.
| don't think you noticed him. He paid
his own check"
Yes" chimed in the waiter glibly.
81 remember now, SIR
The chophOuse keeper turned away.
If ever lie shone In the face of q
man, it appeared in the countenance
of the waiter. yet could have blessed |
him for his mendacity
When reached the Office, found
that everything was in an uproar.
My partner grabbed me by the Shout |
der and whirled me around.
We have been looking everywhere |
for you," he said. ''Where i'm the world |
have you been? Sent to every restau-
rant in this part of town"
II was ut Old Tom's,'' answered.
what possessed you to go to an old
rookery like that? Dining with the
souls of the departed? Here is your
man. sergeant. Does he look as though
he had committed suicide:"
Not muchr' said the person adj
dressed, Il tall fellow. with coal black
mustache. as he advanced toward me-
Whoever the man was. sir. he had
yVur card in his hand when we found
him. Looks as though he had been
thinking about you, doesn't it,"
"I'll call up headquarters and see If
they have another Identification" He
emerged from the telephone booth n
few minutes later. Its all right" he
said. His name was Travis. Found
the name on one of the pockets of his
cOat-tailor's label, you know Say he
was an actor Do you know him?"
1t was a month before / was again
at my office. The doctors told me that
Wall street was enough to rack the
nerves of an iron idol and that they
that half of the men on
change did not die OF brain fever.
Poor Travis had committed suicide
l. -.