The Savannah morning news., 1903-03-29
Continued from Last Sundays NsN-sl
CHAPTER w.
NETTLES

NETTLES.
Two men who have been comrades
snd classmates al the Alma N.srs~ -
John HAIRLESS and Tom Nere.i.,a- ;vo
who have belonged 70 the same c-.lS
and roomed in the same entry Who
have pooled their clothes sa3 money
in a common stock for either - Ezz ga
on: who have shared The to--l-sS x
athletic war. Irluuph,oE ;oSss1s-.
sometimes with an intense t-s---rlS-,-
cy: two men who were o1cs SoES SCI
ting hazed together. haz-< l- -.o ~
kindly fashion IN thsir C.sra. a5sAyS
helping each other 70 sax aT21-aS t1s
night before an sxa1't~sz tao1 z-3 IN
blow away the su@cc%lcz-S s-zs-zs.z-S
like foam the aishS sEss-. s---S--S-
wrestling. dancing. laughing SG-fcs-,-
ing together. through ~ Lc-- S-1 -
years OF life. c~o Sut2 brave 1-----
panions. meeting n tse Stre- Tea~S
are touchirgly tender and '7sr'sss- - -
each other. b-r the tenderness S.ase>
the shy. United States sor-z- g.. 1-S-4s-
ing epiJhs-s. AMI ,Ee <a-sSSeS a-s
blows II JOAN EarSisSS @aG eS's- -
health urir jursei srd V-oS ps-'---S~ Ten,
Meredith could 20 more -4rs ---oN-
himself on MS knees csSl3 be al--s aid
called him -c-t [r.@r5~ -1z- r. cc-.1
have danced Oh -Es SlscS-T--s-
one day they -1C1E1- IRE -z-o-et
sleeping. the nurse famed Al-a So<;ly.
and Meredith had Stolsn n and WIS
sitting BY The COZ one q Sa-SleSS
eyes had been [-e@1 r. -@s oszs-aSA,
and. when Tom came in. L closed but
by and by Ns-s3ich Became aware
that the Uubl--s god eye mad opened
I
thevic moisture yet T. r1lakle1 with
a conprehan5tuE light. ana John knew
that IL was his old Tom Meredith who
was sitting beside him. with the sir
of having sat there very often before.
But this bald. rltddle-age5 young man,
not without elegance. yet prosper
Gus burgher for all that-wss this the
slim, rollickiug broth of q boy whose
thick auburn hair used 70 make one
streak OF flame as he spun around the
bases on a home run? Without doubt
it was the stupendous fact, wrought
by the alchemy OF seven years.
For, though seven years he a mere
breath in the memories Of the old, it
is a long TRANSPORTATION TO him whose
first youth is passing, and who finds
unsolicited additions aCcruing to some
parts of his being and strange de-
priVations in others. and upon whom
the unhappy realization begins to be
borne in, that his is no particular case,
and that he of all the world is rot
to be spared, but, like his forbears,
must inevitably wriggle in the dis
guising crucible of time. And. though
men accept it with apparently patient
humor, the first realization that peo-
pie do grow old. and that they 90 it
before they have had time to be young,
is apt to come like a shock
Perhaps not even in the intermlna-
BILE months of Carlow had HAIRLESS
realized the length of seven years so
keenly as he did when he beheld his
old friend at his bedside. How men
may be warped apart in seven years,
especially in the seven years between
twenty-three and thirty! At the lat
ter age you may return to the insep-
arabic of seven years before and speak
not the same language; you find no
heartiness to carry on with each other
after half an hour. Not so these class
mates, who had known each other to
the bone.
All, yes, it was Tom Meredith, the
same lad, in spite of his masquerade
of flesh; and Helen was right; Tom had
not forgotten.
It's the old horse thief" John muir
INJURED, TREMENDOUSLY.
You go plumb to thunder" answer
ed Meredith between gulps.
FNltn lie WAS well enough, lnGX mad
long talks; and at other times Hank
less lay by the window and breathed
deep of the fresh air. while Meredith
attended to his correspondence for him,
and read the papers to him. But
there was one phenomenon of litera-
ture the conValescent insisted upon OBJ
serving for himself, and which he went
over again and again, to the detri-
ment of his single unswathed eve. and
this was the Carlow Herald"
The first letter he had read to him
was one from Fisbee, stating that the
crippled forces left in charge had found
themselves almost distraught in their
efforts to carry on the paper las their
chief might conclude for himself on
perusal of the issues of the first fort
night of his absence), and they had
made bold to avail themselves of the
services of a young relative of the
writer's from distant city-a cana
BILE journalist, who had no other en-
ployment for the present, and who had
accepted the responsibilities of the
Herald temporarily. There follow
ed note from Parker, announcing
that Mr.. Fisbee's relative was a bird.
and was the kind to make the e'Her-
add hum. They hoped Mr.. Harlless
would approve of their bespeaking the
new hand on the sheet; the ;laper
must have suspended otherwise Hark-
less, almost overcome by his surprise
that Fisbee possessed a relative. die
tated hearty and grateful indorse-
ment of their action, and, soon after
received typewriter rejoinder. some
what complicated in the reading, be-
cause of the numerous type errors and
their corrections. The missive was
signed H. Fisbee," in strapping mas
culine hand that suggested six feet Of
enterprise and muscle spattering ink
on its shirt sleeves
John groaned and fretted over the