The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1903-06-12

lie ><I finances. Yet that Is wha
Raoul Delisle did though
he was young. well nurtured and with
In the memory Of his old neighbors
1t was a dark, rainy night In May
when he alighted In the old, familiar
station. He saw an acquaintance OF
the old days hurrying across the area
The man owed him SO. In his own
pocket was forty cents. But his
clothes were threadbare. faded and III
fitting and he could not bring himself
to accost his debtor. Raoul was tired
and hungry. He had come West from
Buffalo In day coaches with few oppor.
tunities and small means TO satisfy
his hunger.
He knew exactly the way TO his old
home. but as he wandered thlther he
realized that the growing traffic Of the
town had encroached upon what once
was the most aristocratlc section. As
he trudged along In the narrow shelter
OF the houses. he remembered the very
corners he had turned, riding In the
cab which bore him upon his first
"start" for Germany. Those had been
noble. radiant. halcyon days, when he
bade goodbye to his father and friends
and set out for n tour OF Europe and
course OF study at Leipsic. There
was no reason why he should go 10 the
old home. His father was dead his
family scattered and poor. 1t had all
happened like devastating storm
OF the prairies while he was crossing
the sea. Even the funeral had oc.
CURED before he reached New York.
Ten years had passed since he had
learned that he was an orphan, a
pauper, an outcast of fortune.
Raoul was a very commonplace man.
He haC done the best he knew, and
was quite sure that 1t was very bad.
After decade of precarlous adventure
in dozen trades he was now so poor
that the anticipation OF breakfast was
almost as remote and fantastical as his
boyish dreams of heaven. He went
into n cheap cafe near the depot and
bought meal of bacon and eggs, with
bad coffee and faded lettuce as tokens
Of the prodigality of the menu. When
he came out the rain was falling In
cold, shifting sheets, though IL was
May. He turned up his coat collar
and edged along by the walls toward
the old house. Ten years make
mighty change In the average Ameri-
can city. Raoul found outbult, one.
story store fronts in some OF the old
mansions where the elite Of the older
day had lived and triumphed. The
old corner church, whose chime OF bells
was yet fresh In his memory. had been
transformed into barroom. with wine
parlor and gayety where once had
been sanctuary and auditorium. Yards
which he remembered as green, breath
Ing spots of his boyhood. were black
and sllmy with the CRIME of smoke
and moisture.
He recalled with n bitter smile the
stories he had told his cousin Mar.
guerlte In Leipsic of the glories, the
freedom, the opportunity, the repub-
licansm of his home. or what fields
there were for her young genius as n
musician; Of what hope there was for
her un-German yearning for personal
recognition. "IIow lucky" thought he.
that she had sense enough 10 forget
my invitation TO visit us--to visit the
Delisles-and know at first hand the
splendor which l then thought TO be
real"
He skunk down the street, bending
his thin face from the slanting rain.
He began to wonder where he would
pass the night. The wind blew keen
and chill against his tattered front.
His heart, warm yet with the unbidden
memory of Marguerite. his yellow
haired cousin of the far land, was not
cast down.
Il shall pass by the old home" he
thought.
And then he looked into the gray.
ashen, rain-swept lot where he had
played marbles and flown his kite
when boy. There was frost in the
whipping wind which swept across Il.
and Raoul. alert now. and yet oblivious
OF the years, fastened along till he
stood in the wet shadows of the old
house-the home that had been his
fathers and might have been his own.
The old iron paling that had separated
Its narrow lawn from the sidewalk was
battered and rusty. He looked up at
its foggy walls and felt the tweak OF
pity at his heart when he saw that
some OF its blank. unlighted windows
were broken. He lodged into the shell
ter of its squalid doorway and tried
to picture the last day Of Its activity
the day when they bore away his bank.
rupt, broken-hearted father. The flare
OF kerosene lamps at the lunch counter
next door distracted him. A dismal
STOPPING figure crossed the street yell.
ing "Crawfeesh-' Some slatternly
women, with shawls on their heads.
speaking In raucous voices and laugh.
ing boisterously, ran across the lighted
crossing.
What lucky thing for Marguerite. :"
he was thinking. ''lucky that she stayed
at home with her cheese-making and
her cow-milking." And then he thought
OF the tawney-haired girl. with the big,
blue eyes and the yearning lips who
had listened to his stories of America.
But the night came down colder and
colder TIL Raoul fingered the two sill.
yer dimes In his wet pocket and won.
dered what he should do for shelter
A gust of drench.ng wet wind drove
him against the door. His hand rest
ed upon the knob. He turned II ant
entered. The sound Of his first foot
fall echoed among the empty spaces