The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1910-10-27
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| 1R1 III
EEE5.:|

and thankful to have escaped aotice
] paid for my breakfast and lsfG AZ
tAs cabstand chose ths least AilaSt-
dated hanson ] could AAA. and giviaG
The driver the address of ths 0ilners
residence. IN the East end. eot In
! was Just in time. A. tAs cab
tsrned and rolled q. . slin young
nan in . straw hat separated himself
iron . little group Il Dsa al hur-
FSe1 toward ~.
Hey! Wait Q miauts thsrs!- ~
called. breaking into . trot.
But the cabby diA not hear. o. Dse-
hAps did not care "a. We JoGged cen
fertably along. to my relief. IsaviaS
the young man far behind. I avoid
reporters on principle. having learned
long ago that I am an easy mark for
. clever interviewer.
1t was perhaps niAs o'clock when
left the station. Our way was along
the boulevard which hugged the side
of one Of the city's great hills. Far
below. to the left. lay the railroad
tracks and the seventy times seven
looming stacks of the mills. The white
mist of the river. the grays and blacks
Of the smoke blended into . half-re.
vealing haze. dotted here and there
with fire. It was unlovely. tremen-
dous. Whistler might have painted 1t
with its pathos. its majesty, but he
would have missed what made 1t In.
6nitely suEgestive-the rattle and
roar Of iron on iron. the rumble Of
wheels. the throbbing beat. against
the ears. of nre and heat and Drawn
welding prosperity.
Something of this l voiced to the
grim old millionaire who was respon-
sible for at least part of it. He was
propped up in bed In his East end
home. listening to the market reports
read by a nurse. and he smiled . little
at my enthusiasm.
Il can't see much beauty in 1t my.
SELF" he said. But it's our badge Of
prosperity. The full dinner pail here
means a nose that looks like a flue.
Pittsburg without smoke wouldn't be
Pittsburg. any more than New York
prohibition would be New York Sit
down for a few minutes. Mr.. Blakeley.
Now, Miss Gardner, Westinghouse
Electric"
The nurse resumed her reading in
a monotonous voice She read liter
ally and without understanding. using
initial and abbreviations as they came.
But the shrewd old man followed her
easily.
As the nurse droned along. found
myself looking curiously at photo
graph In a silver frame on the bed
side table. 1t was the picture Of .
girl III white. with her hands clasped
loosely before her. Against The dark
background her figure stood out slim
and young Perhaps 1t was the rather
grim environment. possibly it was my
mood. but although as general thing
photographs Of young girls make NO
appeal to me, this one did. found
my eyes straying back to it. By q
little finesse even made out the
name written across the corner. ALI
SON."
Mr.. Gilmore lay back among his
pillows and listened to the nurses
listless voice. But he was watching
me from under his heavy eyebrows.
for when the reading was over. and
we were alone. he indicated the pic
ture with gesture.
II keep 1t there to remind myself
that am an old man." he said. THAT
e xln
expressed the customary polite
SURPRISE at which, finding me respon-
sive. he told me his age with a chuc-
kle Of pride. More surprise, this time
genuine. From that we went to what
he ate for breakfast and did not eat
for luncheon. and then to his reserve
power which at IS became a matter
for thought. And so, In a wide circle,
back to where we started, the picture.
Father was a rascal" John Gil
more said, picking up the frame. "The
happiest day Of my life was when
knew he was safely dead in bed and
not hanged. If the child had looked
like him, well. she doesn't. She's
a GilHpre. every inch. Supposed to
look like me-"
"very noticeably." I agreed soberly.
had produced the notes by that
time. and replacing the picture Mr..
Gilmore gathered his spectacles from
beside IT, He went over the four notes
methodically, examining each care
fully and putting It down before
he picked up the next. Then he
leaned back and took OF his glasses.
They're not so bad" he said
thoughtfully Not so bad. But l
never saw them before That's my
unonicial signature. I am inclined to
think"-he was speaking partly to
himself-"to think that he has got
hold of letter of mine. probably to
Alison. Bronson was friend of her
rapscallion of father"
took Mr.. Gilmore's deposition and
put 1t into my travelling bag with the
forged notes. When saw them again,
o1vrNot <hr1~ L, 1otor thov uvnrA