Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1910-05-07
CHAPTER H.
a Torn telegram.

a Torn Telegram.
mnched alone at the Gilmore
house and went back to the city at
once. The sun had lifted the mists
and a fresh summer wind had cleared
away the smoke pail The boulevard
was full Of cars flying countryward
FOR the Saturday haf-holiday. toward
golf and tennis. green fields and bah
bling girls. gritted my teeth and
| thought OF Mcknight at Richmond
And then. FOR the first time. I associ-
| ated John GilmoTe's Granddaughter
with the West" that Mcknight had
irritably fiurE At me.
still carried my travelling bag. for
| Meningitis vision az the window Of
the empty house had not been without
eject ] did not transfer the notes 20
my pocket. and. n had. Il would
not have altered the situation later
Only the other day Mcknight put
this very thing up 20 me.
Il warned YOU" he reminded me.
II told you there were queer things
coming. and 20 be on your guard. You
ought 10 have taken your revolver"
1T would have been Of exactly as
| much use as a bucket OF snow in
Africa" retorted. IF I had never
closed my eyes. or n I had kept my
| finger on the trigger OF a six-shooter
| (Which is novelesque for revolver)
the result would have been the same.
And the next time you want a little
excitement E--th every variety OF thrill
thrown In, I can put you by way OF Il.
You begin by getting the wrong berth
in Pullman car. and end"
"Oh, know how II ends" he fin
ished shortly. Don't you suppose the
whole things written on my spinal
| marrow"
But I am wandering again. That is
the difficulty with the unprofessional
story-teller: He yaws back and forth
and can't keep IN tho wind: he drops
his characters overheard when he
hasn't any further use for them and
browns them; he forgets the coffee
pot and the frying pan and all the
other small essentials. and. II he car.
ries love affair. he mutters a fer.
vent Allah be praised" when he
lands them. drenched with adventures
at the matrimonial dock at the end OF
the final chapter.
I put in a thoroughly unsatisfactory
afternoon. Time dragged eternaIly. ]
dropped into a summer vaudeville. and
bought some ties at a haberdasher's
I was bored but unexpectant: I had
no premonitiOn Of what was to come
Nothing unusual had ever happened
20 me: friends OF mine had some
times sailed the high seas OF adven.
ture or skirted the coasts OF chance
but all OF the shipwrecks had occurred
after a woman passenger had been
taken on. Ergo" had always said
mo women" repeated II TO nv
self that evening almost savagely
when / found my thoughts strayinE
back TO the picture OF John Gilmore
granddaughter. j even argued al
ate my solitary dinner at a downtown
restaurant
Haven't you troubles enough" ]
reflected. without looking for more
Hasn't Bad News gone lame. with q
matinee race booked for next week
Otherwise aren't you comfortable
Isn't your house in order? Do yol
want TO sell a pony in order to have
the library done over in mission OIL
the drawing room in gold? Do yo,
want somebody TO count the empty
cigarette boxes lying around ever,
morning."
Lay 1t TO the long idle afternoon, {,
the new environment. to anything yol
/ I fnly
haps / did. was confoundedly lone
ly- For the first time in my life II
even course began 20 waver Tn
needle registered warning marks o.
the matrimonial seismograph, line
vague enough. but lines
My alligator bag lay at my fee
still locked While I waited for m
coffee I leaned back and surveyed tn
people incuriously. There were til
usual couples intent on each other
my new state OF mind made me RI
gard them with tolerance. But at tn
next table, where a man and woma
dined together, a different atmospher
prevailed. My attention was frs
caught by the woman's face. She ha
been speaking earnestly across tn
table. her profile turned to me- ha
noticed casually her earnest mannel
her somber clothes, and the grea
mass OF odd. bronze-colored hair o
her neck. But suddenly she glance
toward me and the utter hopelessnes
almost tragedy--of her expressio
struck me with a shock. She hal
closed her eyes ard drew a lon
breath. then she turned again TO til
man across the table