Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-10-23

|
 cheerful, dubious, alarmed or angry.
 Now and then sleeve brushed his or
 hand touched him tentatively. It | was strange moment, moment of
 possibilities, to which the crunching
 wheels, the oaths and laughter from
 the blocked traffic of the roadway,
 made continuous accompaniment. Keeping we'll to the left Chilcote still beat On. There was a persistence in | his movements that almost amounted l to fear-a fear born of solitude filled | with innumerable sounds. For space
 he groped about him without result, then his fingers touched the cold sur face of a shuttered shop front and q thrill of reinsurance passed through him. With renewed haste and clinging | to his landmark as blind man might, he started forward with fresh impetus For a dozen paces he moved rapidly and unevenly, then the natural result occurred. He collided with man com ing in the opposite direction.
 The shock was abrupt. Both men swore simultaneously, then both laugh cd. The whole thing was casual, but Chilcote was in that state of mind when even the commonplace becomes abnormal The other mans exclama- tion, the other mans laugh, struck on his nerves. Coming out of the dark ness, they sounded like repetition of his own.
 Nine out of every ten men in London, given the same social position and the same education, might reasonably be expected to express annoyance or amusement in the same manner, posSi- bly in the same tone of voice, and Chil- cote remembered this almost at the moment of his nervous jar.
 "Beastly fog.' he said aloud. "Tm trying to find Grosvenor square, but the chances seem rather small"
 The other laughed again, and again the laugh upset Chilcote. He wonder ed uncomfortably if he was becoming a prey to illusions But the stranger spoke before the question had solved itself.
 "I'm afraid they are small," he said. 'It would be almost hard to find ones way to the devil on night like this"
 Chilcote made a murmur of amuse- ment and drew back against the shop.
 "Yes. We can see now where the blind man scores in the matter of sal vation. This is almost repetition of the fog of six years ago. Were you out in that?" It was habit of bis to jump from one sentence to another a habit that had grown of late.
 "No.' The stranger had also groped his way to the shop front. "No, I was out of England six years ago"
 You were lucky" Chilcote turned up the collar of his coat. "It was an atrocious fog. as black as this, but more universal. I remember it we'll It was the night Lexington made his great sugar speech. Some of us were found on Lambeth bridge at in the morning, having left the house at 12."
 Chilcote seldom indulged in reminIs- cences, but this conversation with an unseen companion was more like a soliloquy than a dialogue. He was almost surprised into an exclamation when the other caught up his words.
 "Ah! The sugar speech. he said. Odd that I should have been looking 1t up only yesterday. What a mag niflcent dressing up of dry subject 1t was! What a career Lexington prom. !sed in those daysw
 Chilcote changed his position.
 You are interested in the muddle down at Westminster" he asked sar. castically.
 "IT it'was the turn of the stranger ! to draw back a step. ''Oh, 1 read my | newspaper with the other 5000. GOO, | that Is all. I an; an outsider" His voice sounded curt. The warmth that admiration had brought into it a mo- meat before had frozen abruptly.
 An out;lder.' Chilcote repeated. What an enviable word-'
 Possibly. to those who are well in- ] side the ring. But let us go back to Lexington. What pinnacle the man ! reached. and what a drop he had, It has always seemed to me m extraor- dinary instance of the human leaven running through us all What was the real cause of his collapsef' he asked suddenly. Was it drugs or drink? I have often wished to get at the truth"
 Again ChIlcote changed his attitude.
 ''Is truth ever worth getting atr he asked irrelevantly.
 ''In the case of a public man-yes. He exchanges his privacy for the inter. est of the masses. If he gives the masses the details of his success. why not the details of his failure? But was it drink that sucked him underr
 ''No" Chilcote's response came after a pause
 "Drugsy-
 Again Chilcote hesitated. And at the moment of his indeclslon a woman brushed past him I--,--,...Hg bOisterous- ly. The sound jared him.
 Was it drugsT- the stranger went on easily. T have always had a theory that it was-
 "Yes. It was morphia- The answer game before ChiIeote had realized it. The woman's laugh at the strangers luiet persistence had contrived to lraw it from him. Instantly he had 'p1ken he looked about him quickly. ike one who has for a moment for ,otfen a necessary vigilance.
 There was silence while the stranger H,a-re-h- o--r- tha fufo-ruaffou inst given !