The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1911-05-24

There came a knock at the door. and
he opened it to let young Rensselaer,
In.
You're just in time. Bert" he de-
clared. What have you 20 do this
EVENING""
anything or nothing" replied Rens-
selaer. AT 3 o'clock all ] want to
do is get as far away from the mutton
abattOir as possible and forget all
about it until the next morning. But
what reckless dissipation have you in
mindT
81 have some friends over in New
Jersey that l am more or less obliged
to see" replied Phillip. land l thought
you might sacrifice yourself enough
TO run over with me. / understand it's
only an hour and half if you take the
tunnel. Frankly, / want to get into
the subway, to smell the subway
smell, and renew. If 1 can, the inn
pressions Of novelty that enjoyed in
my boyhood. You see. was only n
kid the last time l was here"
at must have seemed n wonderful
place to you them" said Rensselaer,.
For myself, I'd rather be a cow
puncher than anything | can think Of.
but my respected auntie can't conceive
Of ones living anywhere else than in
or near Manhattan, and. moreover she
fears i might contract a misalliance
out west, as she still declares my IA
Their did"
"That was his one best trick, wasn't
it?" inquired Phillip.
"No doubt of it," returned the other
"I'm thesfirst Rensselaer, in n hundred
years who has been able to battle
without the aid of valet and the first
one to have blood enough to gush
when he was cut, and my mother
well, she was a real woman, gentle,
but brave, too; sweetly feminine. but
strong and healthy; tactful, but sincere
and honest" His voice quavered, and
he stopped
81 wish I might have known her"
said Kelvin" '"That is a good country
to produce real human beings"
Rensselaer, turned to him quickly.
"Of course I'm not going to ask you
what your plans are nor how you
reached your present point" he observ-
cd. ''but you're doing a stunning thing
if it's your aim to gain profitable con-
spicuOusness. There hasn't been so
much real money in the financial dis
trict in years. You certainly must have
put in a remarkable five years. Where
did you go from MontanaY
"Oh. down to Tennessee in the real
estate business" said Phillip guarded
ly. 81 managed TO get in pretty good
on them. | did a stroke or two. down
there that brought me some success
and some influential friends. Now
am going TO make a big play. You
know a certain Wall street crowd. still
in business, broke my father, and he
died from It."
"I remember your telling me some
thing about that. But be careful you
don't everyday your game" warned
Rensselaer,, whereat Kelvin only smil-
ed, though grimly enough.
They had reached the bottom of the
hotel elevator shaft now, and they
turned into the subway corridor, a con
venience which impressed Kelvin very
much.
"Its n bad development" stated
Rensselaer,, shaking his head. There
is a growing tendency toward these
direct entrances both in business and
in tenement districts, and it is bound
to produce a race Of toilers who will
see no sunlight whatever. They will
practically be human moles, like that
errand boy yonder-undersized and I'M
developed. physically. mentally and
morally, white and soft and 1abby, like
putty. They will not be men; they will
be worms"
Sometimes the worm may turn"
Phillip speculated, land II 1t does
watch QUIT When n country loses
its middle class it is in n bad way.
You can crush out of mankind every
thing. even hope, with one exception
the capacity to kill"
Rensselaer, laughed. "Can you mag
inc anything more amusing than
fight with about fifty of those chaps?"
81 don't see the fun in it." objected
Phillip. 81 saw a crowd Of newsboys
In Chicago attack a very brawny man
once, and they nearly killed him."
''I've known cowmen to fight over a
milder discussion than this" laughed
Rensselaer,. 81 guess we'd better drop
it. Do you remember that famous
fight between Mutton Harris AID
Freckles Lane over the proper way to
flop a pancakeT
That started line Of "reminiscences
which lasted until they searched out
the home of Ben White.
The Whites were strictly an Install
ment family. They lived in an install
ment house, wore installment clothing.
sat upon installment furniture and
read installment books. AS Kelvin and
Rensselaer, turned in at the gate a
scowling collector was turning away
from the door. in which stood plump,
rosy and altogether wholesome looking
young woman.
81 knew you'd comeT she said, with
an unmistakable ring of delight in her
voice.
"ouitc natlfrollv." phillin assured