The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1911-02-24
CHAPTER /.

city's midday rush, engulfed in Broad
ways swift moving flood of hustling
humanity, jostled unceremoniously
by the careless, Indifferent crowds.
discouraged from stemming further
wolne who hurried up and down the
great thoroughfare. Howard Jeffries,
tired and hungry and thoroughly dis
gusted with himself. stood still at the
corner of Fulton street, cursing the
luck which had brought him to his
present plight.
1t was the noon hour, the important
time of day when nature loudly claims
her due, when business affairs, no
matter how pressing, must be tenn
porarily interrupted SO that the hui
man machine may lay in a fresh store
of nervous energy. From under the
portals Of precipitous Office buildings,
mammoth hives Of human industries,
which to right and left scared dizzily
from street to sky. swarmed thou
sands of employees Of both sexes
clerks, stenographers. shop girls, mes
senger boys-all moved by a common
impulse to satisfy without further de-
lay the animal cravings of their phys
ical natures. They strobe along with
quick. nervous step, each chatting and
laughing with his fellow, interested
for the nOnce in the days work, ma
king plans for w~ell-earned recreation
when five o'clock should come and
the uptown stampede for Harlem and
home begin.
The young man sullenly watched
the scene, envious Of the energy and
activity Of all about him. Each one
in these hurrying throngs, he thought
bitterly to himself, was a valuable
unit in the prosperity and welfare of
the big town. No matter how humble
his or her position, each played a
part in the business life Of the great
city, each was an Unseen, unknown,
yet indispensable cog in the whirling,
complicated mechanism of the vast
world metropolis. 1ntuitively he felt
that he was not ono Of them, that he
had no right even to consider himself
their equal. He was utterly useless
to anybody. He vas without position
or money. He was destitute ever of a
shred Of self4respect. Hadn't he
promised Annie not to touch liquor
again before he found a job? Yet he
had already imbibed all the whisky
which the little money left in his
pocket would buy.
Involuntarily, instinctively, he
shrank back into the shadow of a
doorway to let the crowds pass. The
pavements were now filled to over
flowing and each moment newcomers
from the side streets came to swell
the human stream. He tried to avoid
observation, fearing that some one
might recognize him, thinking all
could read on his face that he vas
a sot, a self-confessed failure, N of
life's incompetents. In his painful
gelf-conscionsness he believed himself
the cynosure of every y and he
WINGED as he thought he detected on
certain faces eide glances of curiosity,
commiseration and contempt.
Nor was he altogether mistaken.
More than n passer-by turned to
look in his direction, attracted by
his peculiar appearance. His was a
type not seer every day in the com.
mercial district-the postgraduate
college man out at elbows. He was
smooth-faced and apparently about 25
years OF age. His complexion was
fair and his face refined. 1t would
have been handsome but for a droop-
ing. irresolute mouth, which denoted
more than average weakness Of char
acter. The face was thin, chalk-likc
in it's lack of color and deeply scanned
with the tell-tale lines Of dissipation.
Dark circles under his eyes and a
peculiar watery look suggested late
hours and ~oyerfondness for alcoholic
~refreshment. His clothes had the cut
Of expensive ~tailors, but they were
shabby and needed pressing. His linen
was soiled and his necktie disar-
ranged. His whole appearance vas
careless and suggested that reckless
ness OF mind which comes OF general
generalization.
Howard Jetfries knew tnat he was a
failure, yet like most young men
mentally weak. he insisted that he
could not be held altogether to blame.
Secretly, too, he despised these sober,
industrious people who seemed con-
tented with the crumbs of comfort
thrown to them. What, he wondered
idly, was their secret of getting on?
How were they able to lead such well
regulated lives when he, starting out
with far greater advantages, had
failed: oh. he knew well where the
trouble lay-in his damnable weak
ness OF character, his love for drink.
That was responsible for everything.
But was 1t his fault II he were born
weak! These people who behaved
themselves and got on, he sneered,
were calm, commonplace tempera-
raerts who found no difficulty in con
trokng their baser instincts. They
did right simply because they found
q easter thsh 70 do wrong. Their vir-