Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-03-05

'Eh, what's that?" Alan Berresford,
tall, athletic, good looking. swinging a:
rafting pace down the city streets,
flung around as an odor, fraint, fra
grant, delicious. assailed his nostrils.
"Lilacs, by Jupiter!"
Lilacs, in truth The street stand at
the corner brimmed over with them
great purple swaying plumes of sweet
ness among their cool, green, smooth,
heart shaped leaves.
"Lilacs. SIR? The swarthy skinned
young vender evidently expected q
liberal purchaser.
"Yes-no; wait a .minute" And this
prosperous man of affairs, whose die
tum could shake the board of trade
building over on Lasalle street to it's
foundations. stood looking absently at
the flowers. lost in retrospection.
Lilacs! He saw all at once the quaint
home in pretty, peaceful country
town. He saw. too, the overgrown
old garden where. the peonies and
gooseberries interlaced silken stems
and briery branches. and farther back
still, just where the emerald slopes of
, the orcbard. came gently dimpling
down. a secluded green stretch of path
way. AT either side a row of lilac
bushes grew higher than n mans head
"a way of bloom and beauty, of over.
| whelming fragrance. Lilac lane they
called Il. And when the moon rose
| and set shifting shadows about the
place'it was luminous mosaic of NOV.
ing leaves and silvefy fights where he
and Elsie walked.
"Lilacs, sir?"
| "Yes-a lot" Berresford pulled him.
; self together with start. All, that all
/ seemed so long ago! Had he been let
| ting himself drift into q sentimental
| dream-here. in broad daylight. on one
! Of the most crowded streets of great
+, city? He glanced around half guiltily,
Then. with little cynical smile and
| shrug of his shoulders, he turned to
| the Greek flower seller. Send those
! to my hotel" He motioned to a great
earthen jar full of the beautiful blooms
He penciled name and number on his
business card and handed it to the
man with bill
Then, receiving his change, he walk
ed on. the scent of the Hlacs still seem
ing to perfume the sIrging city street
"Hello. Berresfordw
But the man addressed apparently
did not hear. In this place of blart
and hustle his thoughts had gone
astray. He was no longer walking
down the street of a western metropo
rs
He was walking with girl in {
gown Of palest rose and green through
the changeful lights and shadows tina
filckered over Lilac lane.
Hold on. Alan. What is the mat
ter with you? You'll get run over tn,
first thing you know! Can't you speal
to an old friendT'
; Berresford swung around. An OLE
friend. All the dreaminess went out O
his eyes. His jaws were set-hard
Yes. a Judas friend-one who coult
and did betray! And that now. jus
now. In this crowded city street h
should loom up-he who had been re
sponsible for such disillusion, such sor
row. such loneliness!,
Ronald" he cried in scorn. "Hov
dare you speak to me?'
Amusement was apparent on the fac
Of the man who had addressed him
ALAN Berresford, have you gone cleal
daft? Why. should not speak to you
We who sat side by side In the sam
school. went swimming in the sam
creek. went sweathearting together
Berresford controlled himself wit
an effort. Men were passing whom b
knew = whose salutations, deferentia
ard admiring, he mechanically &C
koowledged. The necessity for sci
control was obvious. I'VE must no
attract attention" he said. LET u
walk on"
And walk on in silence they did
was not until they. had gone sewers
niocks that Beresford could contrt
himself sufficiently to explain his r
pudiation of Ronald Dever.
ut is a queer coincidence" he sal
ssthat you should have spoken to q