The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-01-21
la, white and stately in the silences
Copyright, 1905, By 1.el. rsrr,ss.s.

! OF us rose Walks ana orange groves.
Ramsdell had found it. Every day
ing for glimpse Of the girl with the
dark eyes and hair like the tint Of the
Egoldenrod. And one day he had found
her, kneeling beside peasant boy i'll
the road. The boy had been run down
by her chauffeur, and was more scared
than hurt, but his sisters and cousins
and aunts, together with the male pop
ulation Of Rudella, had gathered en-
masse, with evil Intentions toward the
white automobile. And Ramsdell had
taken the curly headed, sobbing boy in
i his arms and had carried him Eup the
rocky road to Rudella, bunch Of gray,
stone houses set like gulls' nests in the
cliff crevices. The male population had
followed him, together with tho sisters,
their evil Intentions with goodly dis
play Of gold.
When he had returned to tho cliff
road, the white automobile had been
waiting for him, and he had spoken
with her, merely q few words Of thanks,
but it had been enough. In the days
that followed he had wished devoutly
that tn t. every peasant boy on the Route
a tumble under the wheels Of the white
automobile. - =.
And, that had been all. She might
have been an empress Of The The orient
for all the chance he had Of meeting
her, and yet, in the few last days Of
hopeless, reckless stalking on fortunes
MT;n m n her II face had been always with
found peace that wooed him like a
promise Of forgetfulness of his own
misery. So he had ridden to Mentone
more frequently than the average
CASINO player, and tonight when the
Partlng OF the ways had come, he
found himself musing on the face Of
Beata D 'Istria rather than on the fact
that his word Of honor demanded that
ne take 9 short cut to eternity within
The promenade was deserted. Be-
low. 1t, the rocks jutted out like I'll
tanic teeth of some beast Of prey
raneau. One could leap to them. Not
here, when one could see the lights
Of the Casino, but beyond at the turn
, Of the, path, where the shrubbery Of
the palace gardens shut out the view.
sible, an accident. Suicide carried d With Hi
it a stigma Of deficient moral courage
dear to him. -
At the turn Of the path, he stopped
s SUI otnay ana threw away the half:
sa@e ano fg W5Ts he had exactly the
| w
up his mind; to cancel his debt.to Crit
tenden, a figure stood, already poised
for the leap to death. :: -
It was not moment for introduc.
! tons, Ramsdell caught the figure
, from behind. It swung around, and
: jaw for his pains, and a curse that
was, a cry Of .veritable agony.
! The struggle was a blessed relief tc
the tension of the past hours. AS he
l fell to the road in clinch with the I'M
: known, and wrestled with him, he felt al
# for last moment, fate had giver
{ to settle old scores with. : When he haG
: finished, the nan lay limp and motion
!. less on the ground.
He was young and in evening dress
:, AS Ramsdell looked down at the pail
|. fed that the other personality was a
:; least that Of gentleman, according t.
n certain canons. He loosened the lad :
j. collar and raised him.
HAre you able to waikiki he asked
The 10Th other spoke Poke i II French, CURLY.
: For answer Ramsdell produced q flas]
r from it, With resolute, compressed
= lips, and eyes in which CLEAN O.
IL amusement shone, over the lates
7 somersault of circumstances, he helpe'
=, ~ the man to rise. In less than half al
j hour the two faced each other in Rams
i dell g room at the Hotel de Paris, an
:. it still lacked twenty minutes of mid
a night. '@ sss 3 = .s5s,&
The stranger was nervous and IN
4 strung He sat in a chair beside tn
It table, his head resting on his hands.
> ut would have been over by now,
e he said slowly "why did you y, sto
J, Ramsdell watched quizzically. Some
Ie how ne felt as if a crisis had bee
y passed safely. When he turned to til
e dresser and found box Of cigarette
A. which he had left there, he smiled. 5Th
a tide Of being had refused to be, gauge
n or limited by the burning Of Ave cigar
le cites. It still flowed on, and Rams
q ~ did it because you were usurE
;e ing my place. ~
T'You, too9" = =. :.
It There was a. flash Of fellowship i
0. the glance Of the other. He leane
{, % foF EWS1 eagerly ~
1t Ramsdeu hesitated. 1t was hard {
in select any definite reason. y s. =
y ''Because ! had given my word to q
a a ~ *A Aos|rsy q III your'elf-you d
70 R@msdell thought q =, Beata.
re uNo9 And for me''-he rose frol
IN the table, unsteady and excited-ti
is all that I long for. You have nc
stopped me from it. Tomorrow-th
n next day, or the next, whenever it ca
IN be. it shall be. I will not ive.o
Ramsdell watched the white youn
er face speculatively. There was q frenz
O. in his despair that was pitiful. The be
Ie was certainly in deeper trouble tina
IS himself.
le Tile tapis verti" he asked !.
Ie "To the very end Of all. And II
ne could have staked my life, 1T would hay
as gone also. But that is not al, m ,sieur.
+, He spoke more quietly, with kind,
40 hopeless awe at the ruin he had accoI
Wy plished. !" T am more than ruined:
ct am dishonored. 1t was not my none
en- I have made her penniless, too. Iwishe
on to die before tomorrow, when she WI
10; know
nd VDoes she love youi"
Of "I am all that she loves in Il
no ssThen you are twice fool,' sa
ell Ramsdel, calmly. g 7 am only one. Y
er take your own fife from yourself befo
es you have fulfilled your time. It g
bad thing to give up when tomorro
an holds the cards. Every morning brlni
as. q fresh deal, and the game g never dol
he until death rakes in the pot. But "
at would have taken q life that was dea
Test on earth to another.
lp,1 HThere was nothing left to cover Il
tn dishnnor aYcept death. - :