Polk County news-gazette. (Benton, Tenn.) 190?-191?, 1910-12-01


There was nothing for 1t but to go,
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 fne
were going out Of his life. II 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
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 a boor l ami"
After all she was but passing
stranger, and the pleasant reverie 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 heE
would be effaced. But even while he
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
a deprecating gesture. Excuse me,
sir" he began, but your hat"
Orme lifted his straw hat from his
head. A glance showed him that 1t
was disfigured 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 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
Orme's name and address, and hand
ing the soiled hat to the cash boy.
Orme, meantime, was on. the point
Of folding the five-dollar bill to put 1t
into his pocket book. Suddenly he
looked at 1t intently. Written in ink
across the face of it. were the words:
Remember Person You Pay This To"
The writing was apparently 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 in Ormes hand.
"Oh, yes, sir" he explained. Il re-
member that. The gentleman who
paid it in this morning called our at
tention to it."
IF he's the man who wrote this, he
probably doesn't know that there's
law against defacing money"
But it's perfectly good, isn't it?"
inquired the clerk "If you want an
other instead"
ooh, no." laughed Orme. The
banks would take It,"
but, sir" began the clerk.
81 should like to keep it. If l can't
get rid of it, I'll bring 1t back. It's a
hoax or an endless chain device or
something of the sort I'd like to
find out"
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 1t, Mr. -" he
peered at the name he had set down
Mr.. Orme."
Leaving the hatters's, Orme turned
back on State street, retracing his
steps. 1t was close to the dinner
hour, and the character of the street
crowds had changed. The shoppers
had disappeared. Suburbanites were
by this time aboard their trains and
homeward bound. The street was
thronged with hurrying clerks and
shop girls, and the cars were damned
with thousands more, all Of them
thinking, no 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 a worker in the hive?
1t came to him with something of an
inner pang that thus far his scheme
of things had included little more.