The Yale expositor., 1911-12-14

results or all their labor Will be mine
because while they work for you, you
belong to me. | could buy men, wom-
en- or souls with you-but l won't.
am just going to breed you. | am 60
ing to breed you until you get me an
other like yourself and then | am go
ing to do it all over again. And you
will never get away from me on this
earth, either" He turned to me with
that disgusting leer of his.
Tom, how many of these beauties
have you saved up?"
Not any. And it doesn't look as
you for second-class board and lodg-
ings." He leaped to his feet in
quivering rage, for the moment made
speechless by my unprecedented in
science In daring to resent his insults.
But his voice came to him soon
enough. Grimacing like a chimpan-
zee he fairly sQuealed in his anger.
"Second-class lodgings! You never
had enough money in your life to buy
quarter Of 1t. And you never will
have, either, you spendthrift. If
didn't charge you for your living you
would have just that much more to go
to the dogs with. You ought to thank
me for it. Second-class board You
will be glad to get bone to gnaw yet,
you puppy" Suddenly he subsidized
to a sheer and began smoothing my
coat over like a prospective buyer OF
old clothes.
This suit. how much did it cost
you, huh?"
Fifty dollars"
And the rest of that trousseau that
you wear around in the mud, includ-
ing the overcoat?"
Il don't know. | never figured it
up. Probably seventy-five more"
He sat down with a thump and sat
glazing at me as his voice gradually
rose again.
"A hundred and twenty-five dol
lars worth of dry goods on your back
as you strut around the streets! And
on your salary" He popped up like
jack-in-the-box and stood before me.
scarecrowlike, with arms outstretched
and his clothes hanging in shapeless
pouches from his slat-like frame.
Look at me! This suit cost me
nine dollars and have worn it for a
year. Ny shirt cost 40 cents, my
collar six and my necktie eight. Mean
to say | am not as well dressed as
you?"
That is matter of personal opin-
In ic IF Il
ness so long as | pay you for my iv-
ing. At any rate have never had to
ask you for money" He reached for
ward with his long arm and began
humping me on the chest with his
bony knuckles.
Hey! Wouldn't you though if you
thought you could get it? Wouldn't
you though. Mr.. Peacock, with your
fine clothes, if you thought you could
wheedle a dollar out of me? But you
know your Uncle Abner amt fool
enough to let you have it. I'd rather
trust it to Bruce, for with all his fool
ishness he has got twice the sense
that you have. He takes chances and
some day may win a fortune, viii e
you only spend, spend, spend. Get. a
cent from mel I'd like to see you"
With a quick run he gathered up the
money, showed it into the safe, spun
the combination until it ratified like
roulette wheel and faced me again
with his nose wrinkled. ! faced him
in boiling rage. For while | had
always cherished the natural and Ie-
climate hope that |, as his next OF
kin, might some day profit by reason
of his accumulative instincts, he could
have left his money strewn broadcast
throughout the house from the time
had first come to live with him and
would not have touched a dollar of
1t, even had | known never would be
even suspected Furthermore, none
had a better reputation for honesty
than myself. and his everlasting treat.
ment of me as a potential thief had
always nauseated me. Not caring how
he might regard the act, | drew the
key to the front door from my pocket
and flung it on the table before him.
| 1t was the only key to the house
/ had ever possessed and its surrender
left me without means of entrance,
but without another word stalked
out into the open. banging the door
behind me. Never had | been in
more villainous mood than now as
strobe through the trees on my way
downtown.
| desired to see Bruce again. | was
concerned to know just what turn his
dependency might take, and thought
that might cheer him up bit. Know.
ing his usual place Of habitat in his
hours of recreation 1t was not long be-
fore had located him. He was
bumped up buzzard-like In a semi-pri-
vate room of cafe, his hands sound
ing the depths of his pockets and his
chin resting upon his breast. A cock
tail, apparently untasted, stood on the
table before him. sat down on the
! other side Of the board, noticing that
| his eyes were closed.
He had the general appearance of a
man who had been drinking Ordi-
narily immaculate of person, he was
now semi-disreputable He had not