The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1907-02-08
F1'ER the days fishing the

phrase, "slickin' up Nithers wa
picking at his banjo. and I.orimer WA
adding a few words concerning tn
days catch to the diary which he re
ligiously kept for his wife-~they ha,
not been married a year, The doctor
his back against tree, legs stretch
ed before him, smoked ana watched th'
reflections of the sunset across th
river as they touched a twisting creel
with opalescenee and gave a celostia
shimmering beauty to the fresh greer
of the reeds. Hermann, his Oldest
friend. his hair shining and his face
red from recent plunge into the wat
er basin. dropped upon the ground be-
side him and gave the scene the ap-
proval of long survey as he filled mis-
pipe.
Across the river the marshes and an
upland stretch, with wooded patches
crept to The blue line Of the hills But
on the camp side there was nothing
but a narrow crescent of beach be-
tween the water and the gloom and
mystery of unbroken rising forest
'Not bad, eh, Todd?" said Hermann
finally. The doctor nodded
admit you've mutfed it not coming
up here before. / tell you, these two
weeks each spring make a new man of
me, make me able to go ON with the
grind in the city"
Until July and Southampton"
laughed the doctor. Then he added
quietly, TT is good place; IL knew
1t before"
what. And never Gomez"
NO" The monosyllable was abrup-
ter than even the taciturn doctors
usually were. After it he relapsed into
a fit of musing undisturbed by Her
mans stare, until finally that gentle
man forgot his surprise and the theme
that had occasioned it. Then Todd
spoke again.
we came Up here three seasons
"A1NL We "CAE bosSt LE sdlh.
walter and l, with the governor. That
is, Walter was a boy of seventeen the
last time-twelve years ago. l was
older than I've ever been since-twen-
ty-four and just out of the medical
school. He knew how to give boys a
good time, Hermann. our dad"
cloud of smoke. When before had
Todd ever spoken of Walter?
OF course" he ventured after a
minute, you've never come upon any
trace of him-of Walter"
mo. 1t was that that killed the
old man, Hermann. He was only ff-
ty-eight when he died, and there was
no earthly cause for it but just that ,
one-brooding upon Walter"
Young scoundral." growled Her )
mann
You don't understand" said the t
doctor quickly. Tit was an ugly /
affair. Walter was only nineteen /
when it happened, and it wasn't his /
fault. You remember him, Hermann f
the most impulsive, sensitive, high a
spirited young fellow. You know the h
kind of pride he had-three parts I
youth and conviction that the world
was made for him. Well-it was y
money mix -up-a nasty thing. He'd
been pretty wild and idle and spend Il
thrift at college the year before. and |
the old man thought to sober him down
by putting him to work in the office I
that summer. There was a big mis- r
appropriation, and Sears-father's old l.
head clerk-proved it on tim-on Wal l
ter. | don't know why | am talking p
like this, Hermann. God knows l new Il
er opened my lips about the affair be- n
fore. | suppose it's the place, and /
him as he was then-the u
sayest, the warmest-hear boy, era RI
zy over the woods" fl
Hermann, at the sudden break In his b
Did friends voice, developed an in II
.erest in the farthest ridge Of hills r.
across the river. By and by he growl- 81
ID out something that might be in Ia
erpreted as GO on" CT
walter took it-Lord! can't you see p;
low he would take it, Hermann? You
know boys heroics. l think fathers W
disbelief in him-not his anger-broke al
Walters heart. And the promise flung fit
It him,-that it would all be hushed br
lp-that was the final blow. He walk CO
d out of the house. Father said bit A
erly, Let him CO. and made no effort to
0 get him back, to look for him-any- tn
hing I looked verywhere-couldn't de
nd a trace. Then when Sears was hi
ound out-the thieving hound-We lil to
'y: all the regular channels-friends tn
nd college, and finally detectives. Gle
ut no one knew-not even Christine
eland-they were rather sweet on
ach other, a sort of boy-and- girl
I've always thought that tn
as why she never married." Sh
"Oh, you have, have your interjec- ha
d Hermann. DR.. Todd nodded alb ey,
ntly lip
Man alive half the town believes