Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-07-04
DA YBREAK
H STORY OF A MAN WHO LOST HIS NERVE.
JAMES %oPPENHEiM, IN THE pELlNEAToR.
Agnes, gliding noiselessly through

Agnes, gliding noiselessly through
the four rooms of the fiat, listened
sharply for the turn Of TOMS latchkey
in the lock. He was quite late; supper
was over; but she almost dreaded his
coming. How could she tell HING? That
morning he had sat at breakfast. eat
ing nothing, his face haggard. his hands
trembling, and finally had blurted out:
live lost my nerve. Agnes! I'm
breaking down!"
She had hurried to him, drawn his
head ear and whispered:
tom! you havn't been fired yet,
and If you are. Billy and I will back
you. Billy. tell daddy to behave"
Billy had stopped banging h table
with his spoon and had said, looking at
his father: Better be good, daddy, or
when I'm big I'll spank you!"
But Tom, instead of laughing, had
thrown his arms round Agnes. and
cried:
my God, what will become of US!
II 1 lose this job. I can't get another
know it. We haven't anything saved
it's all going for insurance. And this
city-how can poor folk live here, with
these rents, these prices? We should
neve have come, Agnes. There. I'm
trembling like q leaf: I'm not q man
any longer"
He had risen and she had chung to
him.
IT'S a fancy on your part. Tom.
Grierson probably isn't your enemy at
all. Doesn't the hot weather make us
all cross? Even Billy-poor fellow
whimpers all day long"
H ought to be in the country" cried
Tom. in agony. "This fearful city
babies dying all about U.s.
There! There! oh, you sweet wife
kiss me-! There! Goodbye"
And he had zone. But Agnes knew
that a very little more would totally
unhinge him.. She felt as If she were
losing him; as If this man. who, with
Billy, made up the passion m purpose
Was he losing his mind? For over a
% he had brooded on the possibility
of losing his job, of being turned adrift
In the big city-dispossessed, cast on
the streets.
The long hot spell had robbed him of
needed sleep; the hard grind. in h Of
flee, the petty strife with the manager,
the long car rides up and down town
In the ~suffocating subway, all these
things had gotten ION his nerves." He
was helplessly faced with a grave crisis.
He could not shake off his morbid neu-
rotic tendencies. his sudden outbreaks
of temper, his fits Of trembling anxiety.
And yet Tom had been one of the most
lovable, tender, whimsical Of men; his
face, with it's bristling mustache. its
clear blue eyes. and tuft of down hang
ing hair over the high forehead. send
ing a warmth into the world 1t was
n Of those strange %visitations of
breakdown that sometimes strike a
man in midcareer. Nothing could more
easily lose him his job than this anxi
most worthless in the Office.
And so Agnes. as h midsummer
twilight stole through the open window
and touched the little kitchen with
magic, listened sharply-afraid. How
could She tell him How could he
stand anything else? She paused now
and then, a soft figure in the last light,
wound with enchantment. her golden
brown hair Slightly luminous. her large
blu yes suffuse with tears, her lips
open and trembling.
Then. suddenly. her heart became a
hard lump and she stood rooted, a
tumbler of water in one hand. He
came in, slouching, broken, his eyes
bullying.
Agnes, Agnes" he muttered, "get me
to ed"
But she did not hurry to embrace
and support him. She spoke involun-
tarily, in a low, meaning packed voice:
Toni"
He felt something ominous in the
sound; he looked up.
"What?"
She tried hard to speak; her voice
came unnatural and weird:
Billy"
He seized the back Of a chair, hard,
and Strengthened up. staring at her.
Something happen to him 2" he
whispered.
Then she said it, with a strange sob:
Hes sick"
"Sick?" he cried. where is he?"
He turned and rushed into the bed
room. Billy vas there. in the crib,
half naked, tossing about and moaning.
The rosy cheeks were unnaturally red,
the luminous blue eyes brilliant, the
lips very pale. Tom sank at the side
of the crib. and spoke in a hoarse
whisper:
"Billy-Billy! Here's daddy"
But Billy did not seem to see him.
Tom seized a little hand.
Agnes" he cried sharply, hes got
fever"
She came up softly.
"More han fever" the words slipped
from her. She STOPPED and laid aside
the top Of the nightgown. A red rash
spread down the tiny breast Tom
stared at this danger signal. the whites
of his eyes looming through the deep
ening twilight. Then he looked up at
Agnes: he rose slowly; he gathered
her close: and she sobbed on his
shoulder. He stroked her head and
whispered: agnes. my Agnes! Is
the doctor coming?"
"HeIl-be-here-in a minute. Tom,
I can't bear all this. You're lost to me
and now-Billy."
The door bell rang. Agnes broke