The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1908-03-02
The Times
Evening
Story

@lHE man with the yellow over
coat looked at me closely as
he mentioned the name OF
= INV friend. His long, thin
fingers were nervously twist
ing q cigarette, and In the dim lgnl
of the wine room I noticed the shadow
of a smile fit across his face.
did you know Kaspar Licht? l
asked In surprise.
An expression Of slight embarrass-
ment came into his face. and he ala
not reply, but after moment noddea
slightly. None Of US said anything ior
quite a while, and l left him to MS
thoughts until he himself took up the
conversation.
Certainly, certainly. He came
formerly to me. quite often In the
evening, to have chat over bottle
OF wine. No, haven't seen him for
couple OF years. How are things with
him?"
He's dead" l replied.
Again the almost imperceptible
smile appeared in his face. and with
sudden movement he drew his coat
closer about him as II he felt cold.
"Dead?"
"Yes, he was murdered"
My words evidently made q strong
Impression upon him, and noticed
that he trembled. The match which
he was holding In his hand TO light his
cigarette dropped from his fingers and
fell to the floor.
please tell me all about him."
Kaspar Lich. and l were chums
from boyhood, and even while we were
at the high school learned to love
the quiet fellow with the light curly
hair and feverishly red cheeks. Later
while he was at college We Came Btiii
closer to each other. I had then been
obliged to take a position, as 1t was
absolutely necessary for me to earn
my own living. but we met very regu-
larly."
.Kaspar LIGHT was one of the strang-
est young fellows ever met. Tall and
lanky, he always made rather awk-
ward impression which was strength.
|ened by his natural retcence. He did
not care to associate with young peo-
pie Of his own age and knew practi'
cally none OF his fellow students.
Spending. as he did, most OF his time
at home That he considered me Q
friend probably arose from the cir
cumstances that we spent i've years
together sitting ON the same bench
In the high school.
"Iicht was an unusually gifted but
fantastic character. In his own room
in a corner of some obscure restu
rant. during our numerous walks In
all parts Of the city and suburbs he
very often suddenly grew excited and
opened his whole soul to me. spoke tc
| me of all his longings and Of the In
nermost secrets of his heart / have
often regretted that I could never
make him fasten his thoughts to the
paper, for feel sure that he would
have been able to write works Of higf
literary value. In fact, believe thai
| IL he had lived long enough he would
have become famous as a poet.
"Kaspar LIGHT loved the monotonoui
quiet Of the suburbs. or rather OF the
outskirts of the city where the tene
ment- houses stood In long rows alonl
dead streets. Almost every time tina
we went out we visited the parts o
the city where live the poorer working
classes. I noticed that he was par
lticularly fond OF dark and gloomy day.
In the fall, especially when fog en-
veloped the houses and made the pave
ment damp and slippery. On sucl
days he drew me along and invariabl,
grew excited when he saw the lon,
straight streets with their lamps mad,
dim by the heavy fog.
"On these walks he spoke to me al
most necessarily. and on the most ex
Extraordinary and eccentric subjects
While he was speaking his hands wer
In constant motion. and his cheek
were flushed as II In fever.
when he suddenly began to sta,
away from me, and even deny himsel
at home when called, I knew Their
was something the matter. and when