Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-13
CHAPTER III.
A Letter, Bottle and an Old Friend

When Wayne had taken Mrs. Blair to
her own home and had promised on her
doorstep to be good and to come to her
house soon for a further discussion of
family affairs. lie told Joe, the chauffeur.
! that he wished to drive the machine. and
was soon running toward town at maxi
mum speed.
Joe. huddled in an old ulster watched
the cars flight with misgivings. for this
mad race precluded one of Wayne's out
breaks, and Joe was no mere hireling.
but a devoted slave, who grieved when
Wayne, as Joe puts it, "scorched the to-
|! boggan."
Joe Denny's status at the Craighill
house was not clearly defined. He
| lodged in the garage and appeared ir-
| regularly in the servants dining room
with the recognized chauffeur who drove
! the senior Craighill in his big car. 1t
had been suggested in some quarters that
Col. Craighill employed Joe Denny to
keep track of Wayne and to take care
/ of him when he was tearing things
| loose: but this was not only untrue, but
| unjust to Joe. Joe had been a coal
miner before he became the star player
of the PENNSYLVANIA State League, and
Wayne had marked his pitching one day
while killing time between trains at AL
toona. His sang frOid-an essential of
the successful pitcher, and the ease with
which he bafiied the batters of the OPP
| Joe Denny enjoyed at this time con-
| siderable reputation. his fame penetrat-
ing even to the discriminating circles of
the National League. with the result
performances. When fall from an
omnibus interrupted Joe's professional
| career Wayne. who had kept track OF
him. paid his hospital charges. and Joe
thereupon moved his glass arm to
| Pittsburg BY shrewd observation he
| learned the management of a motor car.
and attached himself without formality
| to the person Of Wayne Churcnll. For
more than a year he had thus been half
guardian. half protege: Waynes friends
| for him on occasions to take Wayne
home when he was getting beyond con-
| troll, and Wayne himself had grown to
depend upon the young fellow. 1t was
| something to have follower whom one
could abuse at will without having to
apologize afterward. Besides, Joe was
wise and keen. He knew all the inner
workings of the Craighill household;
ters pertaining to horticulture. to the
| infinite disgust of that person; he adOrn-
! ed the barn with portraits OF leading bail
players. cut from sporting supplements.
and this gallery of famous men was
source of great irritation to Col. Craig
hills solemn German chauffeur, who had
not the slightest interest i'll, or acqualnt-
ance with. the American national game.
| ,JOe'S fidelity to wayne Interests "dS 81
unobtrusive and intelligent that Wayne
] himself was hardly conscious of it. Such
| items of news as the prospective ARRIVAL
! or departure of Col. Craighill; the fact
that he was trading his old machine Tor
| a new one; or that Walsh. Col. Craig
| hilrs trusted lieutenant. had bought a
new team of Kentucky roadsters for his
| daily drive in the park-or that john Nc
| Candless Blair. Wayne's brOther-in-laW,
was threatened with nomination Tor
mayor ON q reform ticket-such items as
! these Joe collected through agencies OF
his own and impaired to Wayne Tor his
better instruction.
| Tonight the lust for drink had laid
hold upon Wayne. and his rapid flight
| through the cool air sharpened the edge
of his craving in every tingling. excited
| nerve. His body swayed over the Wheel
he passed other vehicles by marrow mar
gins that caused Joe to shudder. and
| policemen, looking after him, swore
Quietly and telephoned to Headquarters
that Young Craighill was running wild
again. He had started for the Allie
ouippa Club. but, remembering that ms
! father was there. changed his mind. The
governors of the Penn. the most sedate
and exclusive of the greater citys clubs.
| had lately sent a polite threat of expulsion
for an abuse of it's privileges during a
spree. and that door was shut in his face.
The thought Of this enraged him now as
he spun through the narrow streets In
the business district. Very likely all the