The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1908-08-12

beautiful game Of yourS-built for
human chopping block or batterins /
ram, as the case may demand. By the
exertion of those muscles for which ht
is no more responsible than Thompson |
there for his red hair he brings dowr |
on his richly undeserving head the |
frenzied cheers Of sport craze6
crowd. He sends man less fortunate |
" endowed physically than himself
into few moments of unhappy obliv
ion and then grins at you with Grass
satisfaction when you cheer him-noi
for himself or because his name means
anything. but simply for what he has
done.
This Darlington comes out of no
where" Desbro continued, "a grace
less, coarse fbered clod. with giants
strength and the broad ideas of goat
hungry for notoriety of the sort his
great muscles can command. and you
pamper his cheap cravings with unc
ton. You sit in the stands and shout
yourselves hoarse while he is battering
some poor fellow In the arena, and you
will go further You will desire the
capture of this athletic lion in spite of
the fact that he is IA social impossi-
bility, and you will be crowding around
trying to put your fraternity pins on
his coat Bah!
81 talked with the man. looked into
his great, oXlike eyes-dead, devoid of
the spark Of real life
| The unfinished sentence broke abrupt
| ly, and every eye in the room followed
/ Desbro's startled glance to the door
way, where, turning his cane in his
hands and staring at the speaker with
/ an expression wholly indescribable,
stood Darlington. For a moment there
| was the dead silence Of utter embar-
rassment; then one by one the men
turned to the tables, while Darlington
cleared his throat and spoke.
81 came to see If possibly l hadn't
misunderstood you," he said, turning
to Desbro. "That name you mention
ed was Morton, wasn't it?'
Desbro, redder than any man had
ever seen him, nodded without speak
ing.
81 thought possibly l hadn't under
STOOD" Darlington explained, backing
awkwardly out of the door, land did
know a man named Horton"
A few moments later Desbro passed
the door of the billiard room, wearing
the raincoat and SLOUGH hat which he
invariably wore on the evening walks
which were as much a part of his ex-
istence as his meals.
No man pretended to know the object
Of these nightly walks of Desbro's. TIC
all inquiries he responded that they
gave him a chance to think without in
terruption."
At the gate Desbro paused to light a
cigarette, and the flare OF the match
as he shielded 1t from the snappy DC
tober wind brought his thin features
into prominence against the darkness
Babbington, standing under a tree MOI
a dozen yards away, turned as the sui
, phur sputtered and saw. His grea
hand clinched instinctfvely into fist
and he had already taken step for
ward when Desbro turned and started
quickly down the street
"ullCI u &c" -
then stepped lightly on to the sidewall
and followed, quietly at first and thel
, without caution as Desbro paid no at
tention to the footballs behind him. Ill
glanced now and then at the reced1n'
lights and then increased the length o
his strides as Desbro's phrases throh
bed through his mind.
ftx-S no p1JJttnrpl
gritting his teeth over the phrase. III
teach the little whelp!
His eyes never left the little spar
which marked the others position. Du
every time he started to close the ga
between them something checked hin
His thoughts refused to run 10 any bu
a given point-a fierce desire to get hi
hands upon the man who had held III
ignorance up to q roomful OF me
while he stood and listened helpleSsl.
AS he had stood under the tree in fror
of the house he had felt only sens
of impotency, of shame, gulping fee
ing of disappointment which was nt
easy to understand. sickening realiz'
ton that some of DesbrO's words ha
rung true.
Block after block the man in frol
walked, turning now to the right al
now to the left, sometimes waikiki
rapidly and again idling along at
snail's pace. They passed through Il
business streets. lonely and deserts
under the harsh glare of the arc light
Here Desbro paused to talk with
liceman with whom he seemed to
on excellent terms, and, turned sudde
~ cold at the sight Of the patrolma
Darlington crossed the street al
nearly lost his man, who wheels
I abruptly into a dark side street.
Darlington was conscious that
7e struggle had commenced within hi
= and that the first heat Of anger W
to passing. He grew ashamed OF b
growing calmness, fearful lest the COZ
~ ing influence Of the walk rob him