The Savannah morning news., 1903-03-29

too, had come to see him during his
better days-from Judge Briscoe, open
ly tender and SOlicitOuS, to the emDar-
raised William Todd, who fiddled at
| his hat and explained that. being as
he was in town on business Ca palpable
/ fiction) he thought he'd look in to see
if they was any word would wish
to be sent down to our city" The
good will the sick man had from ev-
cry one touched him, and made him
feel unworthy. and he could see 10th
ing he had done to deserve it. Mr..
Meredith could (and would not-open-
ly, at leaSO have explained to him that
it made not a great deal of difference
what he did; it was what people
thought he was.
His host helped him upstairs after
| dinner, and showed him the room pre-
pared for his occupancy. Harkless
sank, signing with weakness, into
deep chair and Meredith went to a
window-seat and stretched himself out
for smoke and chat
Doesn't it beat your time" he said
cheerily, ito think of what's become
of all the old boys? They turn up so
differently from what we expected,
when they turn up at all. We sized
them UP all right so far as character
goes, 1 fancy, but we couldn't size up
the chances of life. Take poor old
Pickle Haines; who'd have dreamed
Pickle would shoot himself over a
bankruptcy? l dare say that wasn't
all of it-might have been cherchez la
femme, don't you think? What do
you make of Pickles case, John?"
There was no answer. Harkless'
| chair was directly in front of the man
| tel-piece, and upon the carved wooden
shelf amongst tobacco-jars and little
| curios, cotillion favors and the like
h., - ~,
| tographs. One of these was that of a
| girl who looked straight out at you
| from a filigree frame; there was hard
| ly corner of the room where you
could have stood without her clear,
| serious eyes seeming to rest upon
| yours.
| "Cherchez la femme?" repeated
| Tom, putting unconsciously. Pickle
| was a good fellow, but he had the
| deuce of an eye for a girl. Do you
| remember" He stopped short, and
saw the man and the photograph look
| ing at each other. Too late, he I'M
| happily remembered that he had
meant and forgotten to take that pho
| tograph out of the room. before he
| brought Harkless in. Now he would
| leave it; and Helen Sherwood was not
| the sort of girl, even in a fiat pre-
sentiment, to be continually thrown in
/ the face of a man who had lost her.
| And it always went hard, Tom re-
| fiected, with men who stretched vain
| hands to Helen, only to lose her. But
1 there was one, he thought, whose out
| stretched hands might not prove so
/ vain. Why couldn't she have cared for
| John Harkless? Deuce take the girl,
| did she want to marry an emperor?
| He looked at Rarkless, and pitied him
| with an almost fearful compassion. A
| feverish color dwelt in the GONZALES
1 q oh hn taf
| ed his eyes was there no longer; in
stead, they burned with steady fire.
| The image returned his unwavering
| gaze with inscrutable kindness.
| You heard that Pickle shot himself
| didn't your" Meredith asked. There
was no answer; John did not hear him.
| DO you know that poor Jerry
Haines killed himself, last March?'
Tom said, sharply.
| There was only silence in the room.
| Meredith got up and ratified some tongs
in the empty fireplace, but the other
| did not move or notice him in any
| way.
Meredith set the tongs down, and
/ went quietly out of the room, leav-
| ing his friend to that mysterious inter
| view..e
When he came back, after a remorse-
| full cigarette in the yard, HAIRLESS was
still sitting. motionless, looking up at
| DQOlORGdpn
| They drove abroad every day, at
first in the victoria. and, as Harkless'
I strength began to come back, in a
| knock about cart of Toms, light trail
| of blue smoke floating back whenever
the two friends passed. And though
the country editor grew stronger in
the pleasant, open CITY, Meredith felt
that his apathy and listlessness only
deepened, and he suspected that, in
| Harkless' own room, where the photo
graph reigned, the languor departed
| for the time, making way for de-
/ structive fire. Judge Briseoe, paying
a second visit to Rouen told Tom, in
an aside, that their friend did not seem
| to be the same man. He was altered
| and aged beyond belief, the old gen.
tleman whispered sadly.
/ Meredith decided that his guest need
ed Notwithstanding to take him
out of himself; he must be stirred up
to rub against people once more. And
therefore one night he made a little
company for him; two or three appar-
| emily betrothed very young couples,
for whom it was rather dull, after they
had looked their fill of HAIRLESS Gt
| appeared that every one was curious
to see HIND; and three or four mar
ried young couples, for whom the en-
tertainment seemed rather diverting in
an absent-minded way (they had the
air OF remembering that they had for
gotten the baby; and three or four
bachelors, who seemed contented in
any place where they were allowed
to smoke; and one widower, whose
manner indicated that any occasion
whatever was gay enough for him; ana
four or five young women, who ((Aere-
dith explained TO john were OF their
hosts age, and had been left over
out of the set he grew up with; and
for these the modest party took on a
hilarious and clipper character. 1t
is these girls that have let the men
go by because they didn't see any
good enough; they're the jolly souls"
the one widower remarked, confden.
| TALLY. They've been az II long
| while. and they know how, and they're
| light-hearted as robins. They have
more fun than people who have re-
I spOnsibiiities. ["
All 81 these lively demoiselles tut
/ tered about HAIRLESS With commissf'i-
| tive pleaaautries, and, 10 spite ~ his
| pr0tostafions. made him recline in fh9
: biggest ana deepest chair on me porch
where they surfeitea ham With sinaness