Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1912-02-24

tue was nothing to brag about. II
was easy to be good when not eI-
posed to temptation. But for those
born with the devil in them 1t came
hard. 1t was all a matter of heredity
and influence. Ones vices as we'll as
ones virtues are handed down to us
ready made. He had no doubt that
in the Jeffries family somewhere in the
unsavory past there had been a weak,
vicious ancestor from whom he had
inherited all the traits which barred
his way to success.
The crowds of hungry workers grew
bigger every minute. Every one was
elbowing his way into neighboring
restaurants, crowding the tables and
Bullets, all eating voraciously as they
talked and laughed. Howard was
rudely reminded by inward pangs that
he, too, was famished Not a thing
had passed his lips since he had left
home in Harlem at eight o'clock that
morning and he had told Annie that
he would be home for lunch. There
was no use staying downtown any
longer. For three weary hours he had
trudged from office to office seeking
employment, answering advertise
ments, asking for work OF any kind.
ready to do no matter what, but all to
no purpose. Nobody wanted him at
any price. What was the good OF a
man being willing to work II there
was no one to employ nim7 A nice
lookout certainly. Hardly dollar
left and no prospect of getting any
more. He hardly had the courage to
return home and face Annie. With a
muttered exclamation of impatience
he spat from his mouth the half-con-
sumed cigarette which was hanging
from his lip. and crossing Broadway.
walked listlessly in the direction of
Park place.
He had certainly made a mess OF
things, yet at one time. not so long
ago. what a brilliant future life
seemed to have in store for him! No
boy had ever been given a better
start. He remembered the day he
left home to go to Yale; he recalled
his fathers kind words OF sncour
agement, his mothers tears. All, II
AAn AAOlnCA OnAg ACAf
maybe. everything would have been
different. But she died during his
freshman year, carried OF suddenly
by heart failure. His father married
again, a young woman 90 years his
junior. and that had started every
thing on wrong. The old home life
had gone forever. He had felt like
an Intruder tha fret TINA ba want
home and from that day his fathers
roof had been distasteful to him. Yes,
that was the beginning OF his hard
luck. He could trace all his misfor-
tunes back to that He couldn't stand
for stepmother, naughty. selfish.
supercilious. ambitious creature who
had little sympathy for her predeces-
sor's child. and no scruple in show
ing It.
Then, at college. he had met Robert
Underwood. the popular upper class
man, who had protested to take
great fancy to him. He, timid young
freshman. was naturally fiattered by
the friendship OF the dashing, fascinat-
ing sophomore and thus commenced |
that unfortunate intimacy which had
brought about the climax TO his trou-
bles. The suave, amiable Underwood, |
whom he soon discovered to be a gen
tlemanly scoundrel, borrowed his |
money and introduced him into the |
sporty" set, an exclusive circle into |
which. thanks to his liberal allowance
from home, he was welcomed with |