Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1910-12-21

and Orme returned to the curb. A
moment later he saw the black car
move slowly away, and he felt as
though something sweet and fine
were going out of his life. If only
there had been some way to prolong
| the incident! He knew intuitively
that this girl belonged to his own
| class. Any insignificant acquaintance
might introduce them to each other.
And yet convention now thrust them
| apart
Sometime he might meet her. In
deed, he determined to find out who
she was and make that sometime a
certainty He would prolong his stay
in Chicago and search society until
he found her No one had ever before
sent such a thrill through his heart.
He must find her, become her friend,
| perhaps But, again he laughed to
himself, What boor l ami
After all she was but passing
stranger, and the pleasant Teverie into
which his glimpse of her had led him
was only a reverie. The memory OF
her beauty and elusive charm would
disappear; his vivid impression of her
thought this he found himself again
wondering who she was and how he
could find her He could not drive
her from his mind.
Meantime he had proceeded slowly
on his way Suddenly a benevolent.
white-bearded man halted him, with
deprecating gesture. Excuse me,
sir" he began. "but your hat"
Orme lifted his straw hat from his
| head A glance showed him that it
was disfgured by great blotch of
black grease He had held his hat in
his hand while talking to the girl,
and it must have touched her car at
a point where the axle of the dray
had rubbed. So this was his one me-
mento of the incident.
He thanked the stranger, and walked
to a nearby hatter's, where a ready
clerk set before him hats Of all styles,
He selected one quickly and left his
soiled hat to be cleaned and sent
home later.
| Offering a ten-dollar bill in payment,
he received in change five-dollar bill
and silver dollar He gave the coin
a second glance. 1t was the first sill
yer dollar that he had handled for
some time, for he seldom visited the
west.
There's no charge for the clean
ing" said the clerk, noting down
l
ing the soiled hat to the cash boy.
Orme, meantime, was on the point
Of folding the fiye-dollar bill to put it
| into his pocket book. Suddenly he
looked at it intently. Written in ink
across the face of it, were the words:
Remember Person You Pay This TIC"
The writing was apparently a hur-
ried scrawl, but the letters were large
and quite legible. They appeared to
have been written on an uneven sur
face, for there were several joys and
breaks in the writing, as if the pen
had slipped,
This is curious, remarked Orme
The clerk blinked his watery eyes
and looked at the bill III Orme's hand.
ooh, yes, sir" he explained. q re
member that The gentleman who
paid it in this morning called Our at
tention to IL"
IF he's the man who wrote this, he
PROBABLY doesn't know that there's a
law against defacing money"
But it's perfectly good, isn't it?'
inquired the clerk. III you want en-
other instead"
ooh, 20" laughed orme. e The
banks would take it,
But, sir began TIE clerk.
Il should like TO keep it. If can't
get rid of it, I'll bring it back. It's a
| hoax or an endless chain device or
something OF the sort Id like to
find cut
He looked again at the writing
Puzzles and problems always inter
ested him, especially if they seemed
to involve some human story.
Very well" said the clerk, I'll re-
member that you have it. Mr ' he
peered at the name nc had set down
Mr. Orine"
Leaving the hattarss, Ormc turned
=! back On State street, retracing his
steps Ii was close to the dinner
| hour. and the character of the street
crowds had changed The shoppers
had disappeared. Subarbanites were
by this time aboard their trains and
homeward bound. The street was
throaged with hurrying clerks and
shop girls, and the cars were damned
| with thousands more, all of them
| thinking. 70 doubt, of the same two
things something to eat and relaxa-
ton
What a hive it was, this great
street! And how scant the lives Of
| the great majority! Working, eating,
| sleeping. marrying and given in mar
riage, bearing children and dying
was that all? But growing, too" said
| Orme to himself Growing, too. !"
| Would this be the sum of his own
/ life-that of worker in the hive?
! Ii came to him with something of an