Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1909-07-01
CHAPTER LII.

Sayton was not over-senSitive, but the
stiffness and hardness of the club house
We're not without their disagreeable i'm
preston on him as he sat at dinner to-
ward the close of his first day in Clark
son. Two of the men to whom Porter
had introduced him at noon proved to be
fellow lodgers, and they exchanged greet
ings with him from the table where they
sat together. They unsociably read their
evening papers as they ate, and left be-
fore he finished. lie was watching the
fading colors of brilliant sunset when
young man appeared at the door, and
after a brief inspection of Saxton's back
walked over to him.
Aren't you MIR. Saxton? I thought
you must be he. My name is Raridan
Don't let me break in on your medita-
tons" he added, taking the chair which
the waiter drew out for him. II met Mr.
Porter while ago, and he adjured me
to be good to you. l don't know whether
this is obeying orders"-he broke off in
a laugh-"that depends on the point OF
view
You are guilty of a very Christian
act" Saxton said. Il was just wonder
ing whether, after the sun had gone down
behind that ridge over there, the world
would still be going round
THE world never stops entirely here,
returned Raridan, but the motion some
times gets very slow. Mr.. Porter tells
me that you're to be one of us. Let me
congratulate uS-and you ~
Warrick Raridan was, socially speak.
ing, the most available man in the Clark
son Blue Book. He was a graduate ir
law who did not practice, for he had
unfortunately, been left alone in the
world at 26 with an income that seemed
wholly adequate for his immediate or fu
ture needs. He maintained an office
which was fairly we'll equipped with the
literature of his profession, but this was
merely to take away the reproach of his
buster fellow citizens. Raridan's office
was the rendezvous for a variety of com
mittees to which he was appointed by
such unrelated bodies as the Clarksor
Dramatic Club and the Diocesan Boart
of Missions of the Episcopal Church. HI
appeared every Sunday at the cathedral
which was the fashionable church In
Clarkson, where he passed the plate fol
the aims and oblations of the well-dresseC
congrega ton.
He was capable of quixotism of the
most whimsical sort. He had, for a year
taken his meals at a cheap boarding
house in order that he might maintain
two Indian boys in school, He was not
at all aggrieved when, at the end of the
first year. they ran away and resumed
tribal relations with their brethren He
chaffed himself about it to his friends
1t was not enough to say that Wary
Raridan could lead a german or tie ar
Ascot tie better than any other man OF
the Missouri River for he was also the
best Informed man in that same strenu
Gus valley concerning the traditions oi
the English stage, and was a fairly
good actor himself, as amateurs ga He
had slight literary gift, which he cul-
tivated for his own amusement. His hui
NOR was fine and keen, and he occasion
ally wrote screeds for the local papers
or mailed pleasant jingles to his intimate
friends.
III wager that if you stay here a
year you'll never leave said Rardan
as they went downstairs together. 1--WE
been about a good deal, and know that
we who live here miss lot of comfort
and amusement which go as matter of
course in older towns. But there's a
roominess and expansiveneSs about things
out here that | like, and | believe most
men who strike it early enough like it,
and are lonesome for it If they go away
II think | understand how you fee
about it," said Saxton. There were
times in Wyoming when Western life
seemed pretty arid, but when | went
back to Boston | was homesick for Chey,
enne."
ITO he continued \