Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1907-09-12

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lei Of the delicate lips that some
how reminded him Of the odd note in
her voice.
She did not look toward him once,
and when the procession had passed
and the sidewalk relaxed its tension
she slipped into the crowd and was
lost. Pennington remained by the let
ter box until IL sidewalk was clear
and the street almost deserted; then
he turned and walked in the opposite
direction from what he had intended,
bis head bent thoughtfully.
The next day there was q rumor of
Pennington's going abroad; his house.
keeper had received a note to close
the house, the agent to look after the
affairs until further instruction.
Down on n Of the back streets
a street unknown to Pennington's old
tfe-were many dingy offices, meager in
appointments, but representing q vast
accretion Of labor. At one Of them q
line Of men were seeking employment,
passing in front of a keen eyed fore
man, who accepted or rejected them al
most with a glance, but the reflections
were few. Men were wanted for new
blocks of buildings going up, men Of
skill, Of strength, of merely carrying
capacity, anything that could add to
the labor force and hasten the work.
So when q white handed nan of con
fessed incapacity stopped in front Of
the foreman's desk he was looked at
askance, but finally accepted and set
to carrying brick from the sidewalk to
the men who were laying the founda-
ton. 1t was muscle making or muscle
breaking work, and for the first few
days-or weeks event. seemed wholly
of the breaking.
But there was an under element Of
doggedness in P%ennington's nature
which had never come to the surface,
WEAKNESS long before the days were
half owe and at noon be sank into Il
%crouching heap upon the nearest board
rather than cross the street to a res
taurant, he struggled On in some way
until the hour Of dismissal came, The
second day the boss told him grufHy
that he could not afford to pay him
more than half wages, and the third
day that he should pay him nothing at
all, for he was worth nothing.
That was tantamount to a discharge,
and so the boss meant 1t, but it was
not one Of actual words. Pennington
disregarded it.
The boss looked toward him doubt
fully from time to time, but in the end
concluded to let him remain. Such de-
termination promised good work If the
man survived the breaking in. Be-
sides, he must be in dire need. The
boss could understand why such a
workman might seek employment in
vain. When pay night came he was
given an envelope like the others, and
the boss thought he knew why the now
blistered and bleeding fingers turned
the envelope over and over and finally
slipped it into a pocket where Il hand
was allowed to I main as though to
feel its contact. l;ut he did not. 1t
was merely the first money that the
new man had v e earned.
Pennington had a little room over the
secondhand Jew store where he pur-
chased his coarse suit Of working
clothes, but he had not brought money
to pay the room rent. He possessed q
cheap silver watch, however, and this
he left with the Jew as security. With
his first pay envelope he redeemed the
watch.
In his room were a cot, a chair and q
rusty little stove propped up with
wooden blocks. But it was not until
the third week that he started a fire
in the stove and made d~isastrously in.
efectual attempts to cook his break
fast. 1t was a good sign, however
And by this time the blisters on his
hands had disappeared under rough
Jumps and ridges.
How he had lived before this no one
knew but himself, for until he received