Los Angeles herald., 1906-08-12

- as if the door Of hope had closed, and
crepe was hanging from the knob in mourning
Tor his romance cruelty done to death.
Roger Golden, victim Of dependency. sulked
in his room under the caves of the boarding.
house, and would not be comforted He was
young, and this first great trouble overwhelmed
him Seven long days had worn away since she
had spoken, without dullng the keenness of the
blow she had inflicted In that dreary week
his face had grown haegard his dress careless,
business hours had been more than ever a farce
IN the sixby-ten room in tall building down
town which he called his office The rare client
seeking an architects advice might have knocked
on its door in vain; for even had he gained adj
mission, IN the few minutes in each day during
which its tenant occupied the place Il would
have been but to be hidden to take himself and
his need of plans and specifications elsewhere
There was little of the money-maker in Golden
and at this time dollars seemed to him hardly
worth the seeking, even though it was to his
lack of sufficient store of them that his woe
might be traced She was not mercenary-so
much he realzed-but she understood the cash
requirements of love in modern cottage and
the great truth that steady inroads upon a mod
est capital do not open the way to prolonged
marital bliss Again and again had she, speak.
ing not from the wisdom of prophecies but as
ne suspected, from that of her father, urged him
to cultivate the painful virtues of prudence
thrift and economy, and as often had he laughed
from the beginning of things the song of the
siren has been of joyous ideness, or it has been
sung to deaf ears. And then the climax had
come. diamond ring which had captivated
his fancy had charmed her eye, but startled her
common sense. She had rejected not only the
gift but the giver, not with the haste Of i'm
pulse, which generally spreads the carpet for
contriton to walk upon, but with the gently in
exorabe delberateness of we'll grounded convic-
tion, which hardly knows the risk of self.re-
proach Perceiving which, he bad gone away
sorrowful, and sorrow had been his portion ever
since.
Golden, wasting an afternoon in staring at the
month-old ashes in his CRATE and finding in them
sort of dumb fellowship of calamity was not
pretty picture. Nor he good to look upon
when he fell to pacing the floor with almost the
energy to be expected in hfe-prisoner who,
anxious for death, is ordered to daily exercise
to maintain his health. After little however,
the slow tramp up and down the room ceased.
Picking up book at random from half dozen
on his table, he threw himself into chair and
tried to read. 1t seemed at first that he could
not have made poorer selection than the com
pendium of legal forms which chance had put
in his way. He turned the leaves mechanically
glancng at line or two here and there Sud-
denly something caught his eye He read the
page from beginning to end, smiling with grim
approval not so much of the phraseology of the
paragraphs before him of plan which they
suggested. He took long sheet of paper from
his desk and wrote carefully, beginning with Tn
the name of God, Amen" and continuing with
frequent references to the book until he had
covered the paper to within an inch of the lower
margin. So much accomplished, he pushed an
electric button; in few minutes a servant ap-
peared.
please ask Mrs. Mack to come here" said he
"and come yourself, Norah."
Presently the landady hustled into the room,
l. =. u
name to the document on the table, requesting
them to witness the signature. This they did in
rather awe-stricken fashion, subscribing them
selves slowly, and going back to touch up
letter two where the ink had not flowed free
ly from the pen. Then they tiptoed out, with
the solemnity of the occasion still upon them
The young man looked at his watch.
'Four-forty," he reflected; can hour and a
half more of the afternoon. I'll go out; can't
stand this place any longer"
Evening had come when he returned from
his ramble, and most of his fellow-boarders had
dined. 1t pleased him to have table to him
self and with an appetite slightly sharpened by
his stroll, he made better meal than had been
his custom for the last few days. As he rose
from his seat the maid brought him telegram,
handling it gingerly, a thing of fateful posi-
bilities.
"Just come, sor" she exclaimed ''The bye's
watin'."
low envelope and ran his eye over the message:
"If possible come to me at once. Don't delay.
Ny days numbered.
ORCHARD CREIGH."
'I'm off tonight" was the answer Golden
scribbed on blank produced from the messen-
gers pocket Then he dashed up the stairs to
his room, jammed into small vase few arti-
cles necessary for journey, and, picking up his
hat and light overcoat, started for the door
There he naugpd IrrpsolutRlU and turnad haol
TO take from a drawer of the desk the document
which he had prepared few hours earlier, and
to inclose it in envelope upon which he placed
his name and above it the words please hold
for" This envelope he thrust within a second
upon which he wrote John Henry Burnett The
Maharajah, City" and decorated with post
age stamp. little later, he hurried along
the street to the nearest cab stand he dropped
the letter in corner mail box. He had two
miles to cover in order to reach the railway sta
ton, and his time brief. The cabmans fac,
heightened when he heard his prospective pas
senger's demand
There's just one way ye make it, mebbe, ,
he declared. That's by walkin' the railroad
bridge from this side of the riyer-if he das'
try it."
"AI right" cried Golden "Get me to tn,
bridge, then as fast as your horse can travel
After ten minutes of rafting over rough pave
ments swift lodging along crowded thorough
fares, and break-neck driving down quiet sid
streets, the cab pulled up on the edge of net
work of tracks, dotted with many switch light
and busy in places with the making up of trains
To the right the shadowy outlines of the bridg
showed the path which Golden had TO follow
There were signal lights about the structure, bu
they were high above the ground and too faint t
lessen the darkness below them At its begir
ming, at least, the passage promised to be nerve
trying, especially to one who knew of the hun