Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1907-04-18


oh. Yes. monsieur" She answered,
with an expansive grin. Step Zis way
We mounted "A dirty stair. and She
threw open the door with a flourish
meant TO be impressive.
"Zese are ze rooms. monsieur. zey
are Yer fine"
looked around them with simulated
interest. smothering my DISCUS, as we'll
as | could.
How long have they been vacani?'
/ asked.
Since only two days, monsieur. as
You se-. zey are YER fine ooms
That settled il. II they had been va
cant only two days. l had no further
interest in them. and With some eX-
cuse l made my way out. glad to es-
cape from that fetid atmosphere OF gar
lie and onions. SO l Went from
house TO house. stumbling over
dirty children: climbing grimy
stairs. catching glimpses OF
crowded sweat shops: peering
into all sorts of holes called rooms by
courtesy: inhaling a undred stenches
In as many minutes. gaining an in
sight that sickened me into the squalid
life OF the quarter. Sometimes l began
to hope that At last l was on the right
track. bur further inquiry would prove
my mistake. So the morning passed
and the afternoon. l had covered two
blocks to no purpose II at least |
turned eastward 10 Broadway. and
took a car downtown to the office. My
assistants had reported again-they
had met with no better success than
l. Mr.. Graham noticed my detected APP
pearance, and spoke a word OF COM
fort.
II think you're on the right track,
Lester" he said. But you can't hope
to do much by yourself-it's too big a
job. Wouldn't 1t be better to employ
h1lf a dozen nrt>n to lato,ti,ac o,,} ,~,t
them under your supervisionc You
could save yourself this nerve-trying
work. and at the same time get over
the ground much more rapidly. Be
Sides experienced men may be able to
suggest something that you've over
looked"
had thought of that had won
dered If i We're making the best pos
sihle use of my opportunities-and the
suggestion tempted me. But some thing
rose Within me=pride. ambition, stub
bornness. What you willard I shook
my head. determined to hang on. Be
sides. i had still before me that battle
OF wits with Martigny. and was re-
solved To make the most of II.
Let me keep on by myself a day or
two longer. sir" l said. II believe I'll
succeed yet. II l dom there will still
be time TO call in outside help. i fancy
I've made n beginning, and l want to-
see what comes OF It,"
He shook me kindly by the hand.
i like your grit" he said APPROX
insly. land I've every confidence i'm
you-it wasn't lack of confidence that
prompted the suggestion. Only don't
overdo the thing, and break down as
Royce has. He's better. by the way,
but the doctor says that he must take a
long vacation-a thorough rest"
I'm glad he's better. I'll b careful"
I assented. and left the Office.
While l waited for Il car ] bought n
copy OF the last edition OF the Sun
from force OF habit. more than any
thing; then. settling myself In a seat
still from force of habit turned to
the financial column and looked it over.
There was nothing OF special interest
there, and I turned bac to the general
time. Suddenly one caught my eye
which brought me up with a shock.
The item read:
Shortly after 10 o'clock this morning
Il man ran up the steps OF the Court
landt street station Of the Sixth av-
enue elevated. in the effort to catch
an uptown train just pulling out. and
dropped over on the platform with
heart disease. An ambulance was called
from the Hudson street hospital and
the man taken there. At noon 1t was
said he would He was still
too veal to talk. but among other
things a card of the Cafe J%ourdain. 81
West Houston street. was found in his
pocketbook. An inquiry there developed
the fact that his name Ia Pierre Be-
thune. that he is recently from France.
and la no relatives in this country
In a moment 1 was out Of the car.
and running westward to the elevated.
I felt that I held in my hand the adj
dress l needed.