The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1908-03-27

| kftS miserable t10rds died tOtsh q 0NTgtr
Namara passed out OF the watchers
vision, returning with a water bucket.
with his foot he rolled the unconscious
wretch upon his back, then drenched
him. Replacing the pail he seated
himself. lit cigar and watched the
return of life into his victim. He
made no move, even to drag him from
the pool in which he lay.
Strive groaned and shuddered, twist
ed to his side. and at last sat up weak
U. In his eyes there was now great
terror, while In place Of his drunken
ness was only fear and faintness-ab-
ject fear Of the great bulk that sat and
smoked and stared at him so f1shily.
He felt uncertainty Of his throat and
groaned again.
"Why did you do that?" he whis-
pered, but the other made no sign. He
tried to rise, but his knees relaxed
He staggered and fell At last he
gained his feet and made for the door.
Then, when his hand was on the knob
Mcnamara spoke through his teeth
without removing hfs cigar.
Don't ever talk about her again
She is going to marry me-"
When he was alone, he looked Curl
ously up at the ceiling over his head
'The rats are thick In this shack" he
unused. Seems to me heard whole
swarm of them"
A few moments later a figure crept
through the hole In the roof Of the
house next door and thence down into
the street. A block ahead was the
slow moving form Of Attorney Strive.
Had a stranger met them both he
would not have known which of the
two had felt at his throat the clutch of
O stranger. for each was drawn and
haggard and swayed as he went.
Glenister unconsciously turned to-
ward his cabin, but at leaving the
lighted streets the thought of its DARK
ness and silence made him shudder,
Not now! He could not bear that still
ness and the company of his thoughts,
He dared not be alone. Dextry wou
be downtown undoubtedly, and he. too,
must get into the light and turmoil.
He licked his lips and found that they
were cracked and dry.
At rare intervals during the past
years he had staggered In from long
march where for hours he had waged a
bitter war with cold and hunger, his
limbs clumsy with fatigue, his gar
ments wet and stiff, his mind slack and
gullen. Al such extreme seasons he
had felt a consuming thirst, thirst
which burned and scorched until his
very bones cried out feverishly
a thirst for water or a thirst which
eaten snow could quench but saw
age yearning Of his whole exhausted
system for some stimulant, for some
coursing fiery fluid that would burn
and strange, thirst for whisky, for
brandy! Remembering these occasion
al ferocious desires, he had become
charitable to such unfortunates as were
too weak to withstand similar tempta
lions.
Now with shock he caught himse!-
in the grip of thirst as insistent a.
though the cold. bore down and thn
WEAKNESS or endless heavy miles wrap
ped him about 1t was no foolish wish
to drown his thoughts or to Danish
the grief that preyed upon him, but
only thirst, thirst-a crying, trembling
physical lust to quench the fires thai
burned inside. He remembered thu
It had been more than a year since
he had tasted whisky. Now the fevc.
of the past few hours had parched his
every tissue.
AS he elbowed In through the crowd
at the Northern those next him made
room at the bar, for they recognized
the hunger that peers thus from mems
faces. Their manner recalled Clients
tar to his senses, and he wrenched
himself away. This was not some soil
tary, snow banked roadhouse. He
would not stand and soak himself
shoulder to shoulder with stevedores
and longshoremen. This was some
thing to be done in secret He had
no pride In It. The man on his right
raised a glass, and the young man
strangled madness to tear 1t from his
hands. Instead. he hurried back to
the theater and up to box. where he
drew the curtains.
.Whiskyr' he said thickiy TO the
waiter. Bring It 10 me fast Don't
you heart whiskyr'
Across the theater Cherry Malotte
had seen him enter and jerk the cur
tains together. She arose and went to
him, entering without ceremony.
whats the matter. boyT she ques-
toned.
"Ah, I'm glad you came. Talk to
me-"
THANK you Tor your few well chosen
remarks" she laughed. why don't
Jon ask me to spring some good. orig
nal iokesi You look IKE the finish 70