The Savannah morning news., 1903-08-16

| in the house: for he was not content
as the actor, but must be the Prince
in the box as well.
| His friendship for Tom Vanrevel was,
| in measure, that of the vine for the
! oak. lie was full of levities at Toms
! expense. which the other bore with a
grin of sympathetic comprehension, or
at long intervals, returned upon Grail
ley with devastating effect. VanreVel
was the one steadying thing in his
life, and, at the same time, the only
one of the young men upon whom he
did not have an almost mesmeric in
fluence. In good truth, Crailey was the
ring leader in all the devilries of the
town. Many a youth swore to avoid
the rOlsterer's company for all time,
and, within two hours of the vow,
found himself. flagon in hand. engaged
in a bout that would last the night,
with Mr.. Gray out-bumpering the
hardest, at the head of the table. And,
the next morning, the feVered, scarlet
eyed perjurer might creep shaking to
his wretched tasks, only to behold the
cause of his folly and headache trip
ping merrily along the street, smiling,
cleans haven. and fresh as a dew-born
primrose with, perchance, two or
three of the prettiest girls in town at
his elbow to greet his sallies with APP
proving daughter.
Crailey had been so long in the habit
of following every impulse, no matter
how mad, that he enjoyed an almost
perfect immunity from condemnation,
and, whatever his deeds, Rouen had
learned to say. with a chuckle, that it
was only Crailey Gray again" But
his followers were not so privileged.
Thus. when Mr.. Gray. who in his liba-
tions sometimes developed the hui
NOR of an urchin, went to the Pound
at in the morning of New Years
day, hung sleigh bells about the necks
of the cattle and drove them up and
down the streets, himself hideousy
blowing a bass horn from the back of
a big brown steer, those reused from
slumber ceased to rage, and accepted
the exploit as a rare joke, on learning
that it was "Only Crailey Gray" but
the unfortunate young Chenoweth was
heavily frowned upon and properly up
braided because he had followed in the
wake of the bovine procession, mildly
attempting to play upon a hageolet.
Crailey never denied a folly nor de-
Tended an escapade. The latter was
always done for him, because he talked
of his 'graceless misdoings' $50 he was
wont, smilingly, to call thenQ, over.
cups of tea in the afternoons with old
ladies, lamenting, in his musical voice,
the lack of female relatives to guide
him. He was charmingly attentive to
the elderly women, not from policy,
but because his manner was uncon-
trollably chivalrous; and ever a gal
liant, listener We're the speaker young,
old, great or humble, he never forgot
TO catch the last words of a sentence,
and seldom suffered for a reply, even
when he had drowsed through a ques-
ton. Moreover, no one ever heard him
speak a sullen word, nor saw him
wear a brow of depression. The sim
ole n rrrks at, h. 80.
was that of good cheer: he was the
very apostle of gayety, preaching it in
parlor and bar; and made merry
friends with battered tramps and
homeless dogs in the streets at night.
Now and then he would spend several
days in the offices of Gray & Vanrevel,
attorneys and counsellors-a law,
wearing an air of unassailable virtue;
though he did not far, overstate the
case when he said, tom does all the
work and gives me all the money not
to bother him when he's getting up a
case"
The working member of the firm got
up cases to notable effect, and few
lawyers in the state enjoyed having
Tom Vanrevel on the other side. There
was nothing about him Of the floridity
prevalent at that time; he withered
"oratory' before the court; he was the
foe of jury pathos; and, despising
noise and the habitual voice dip at the
end of sentence, was, nevertheless, at
times an almost fearfully effective ora
tor. So, by degrees the firm of Gray &
Vanrevel, young at it was, and in spite
of the idle apprentice. had grown to
be the most prosperous in the district.
For this eminence Crailey was never
accused of assuming the credit. Nor
did he ever miss an opportunity of
making known how much he owed to
his partner. What he owed, in brief,
was everything. How we'll Vanrevel
worked was demonstrated every day,
but how hard he worked, only Crailey
knew. The latter had grown to de-
pend upon him for even his political
beliefs, and lightly followed his part
ner into aboltionism; though that was
to risk unpopularity, bitter hatred, and
worse. Fortunately, on certain occa-
sions. Vanrevel had made himself Gf
not his creed) respected, at least so far
that there was no longer danger of
mob violence for an abolitionist in
Itouen. He was a cool-headed young
man ordinarily. and possessed of an
elusive forcefulness not to be trihed
with, though he was a quiet man. and
had what they called a fine man
ner." And not in the latter, but in
his dress, there was an echo Of the
beau, which afforded Mr.. Gray a point
of attack for sallies of wit; there was
touch Of the dandy about Vanrevel
he had large and versatile wardrobe,
and his clothes always fit him not only
in line, but in color; even women saw
how nobly they were fashioned
These two young men were members
of cheerful band, who Toasted, laugh
ed, wrangled over politics, danced,
made love, and sang terrible chords on
summer evenings, together, as young
men will VIII Cummings, editor of
the Rouen Journal, was one of these; a
tall sallow man, very thin, very awk-
ward and very gentle. Mr.. Cummings
proved himself always ready with a
loud and friendly laugh for the poorest
joke in the world, his countenance
shining with such kindness that no one
ever had the heart to reproach him
with the evils of his journalistic per-
formances, or for the things he broke
when he danced. Another was Tap
bingham Marsh, an exceedingly hand
some person, somewhat languid in ap-
pearance, dainty in manner with wom-
en- offhand with men; almost as
reckless as Crailey, and often the lat
ters companion and assistant in dissi-
patton. Young Francis Chenoweth
never failed to follow both into what
ever they planned: he was short and
pink, and the uptilt of his nose was
coherent with the appealing earnest
ness which was habitual with him.
Eugene Madrillon was the sixth of
these intimates; a dark man, whose
Latin eyes and color advertised his
French ancestry as plainly as his emo
tionless mouth and lack of gesture
betrayed the mingling of another
strain