Omaha daily bee., 1903-06-07

they decided that New York was unbear'
able and the sight of New Orleans during
the Mardi Gras would do them both good.
Mr.. Yates planned the trip without con
quilting Edith. They would go to Memphis
by rail, and there board one of the old
fashioned s~tern-wheel river boats for New
Orleans. Somehow, with the sting OF soctal
failure and the mad rush of his business
life wearing upon him, Yates was hungry
for the old life-the life he had known
when he was only mr.. Clerk" of The
Belle of the West" Those were the days
when the Yates fortune was represented
by three figures, and during those river
trips he had laid the foundations for the
prosperity which now ran into eight figures.
They reached Memphis at night, but he
insisted upon a glimpse of the majestic
sheet of swirling, yellow water. 1t was like
meeting an old friend. he declared and
with Edith's arm held close to his side, he
added:
81 never realized how tired I was until
7 got within sound of my old friends
voice."
The next morning they went on board
..The Valley Queen" Yates thrilled as his
foot touched the deck. He walked briskly
to the little window on the saloon deck
and exclaimed:
.Mr. Clerk, I want two of your best rooms
to New orleans"
A blue-coated figure came close to the
window, a strong, masculine hand held
out some keys, and a voice which made
Mr.. Yates start answered.;
"The best two on board, Mr.. Yates, and
I hope you will find your trip with us most
pleasant and comfortable"
Mr. Yates glanced wildly toward the
shore. 1t was slipping away from them.
They were in mid-stream-and the man at
the window was Allen Houston.
Retreat was impossible. Graceful capitu-
lation was inevitable. Yates put out his
hand.
thereafter he divided his time between
the deck, which he paced with his daugh-
ter. telling her lively yarns Of his own
DAVIS as a river-boat clerk, ana the ONCE
where he shared Houston's p~reoccupation
with his duties. There was something IA
miIiar about 1t all-the pleasant familiarity
which takes ten years of a mans shoulder.
And Houston understood the work, just as
Yates had understood It years before
Where ne had started, Houston was start
ing. Sometimes watching his daughters
face. he wavered. But no; II was impos-
sible. His own case had been exceptional.
All river-boat clerks could not be million
aires, and Houston was merely of good up
state family, without social standing in the
world where Mammon ruled, but could not
buy himself and Edith an entrance. But
in time he would win-and Edith was so
lovely. She must, she could not fail TO
make the desired match.
Yet Mr.. Yates found himself watching
young Houston curiously. He wasn't half
bad, this c~ollege-bred youth. who could
dispatch ONCE duties with ease, placate
patrons who fretted at the slow method OF
travel and in an emergency could tell the
deck more things about their ancestry than
Yates had dreamed OF in his own river life.
They had quit the bluns. and cotton had
given way to cane and rice. In a few hours
they would touch at New orleans. The
deck hands had all been paid on. save for
the dollar which insured their aid In tying
the boat 10 the dock. The clerks duties
were over. his papers in shape and the last
landing made. Mr.. Yates met him on the
saloon deck and remarked: Let's go be-