The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1912-01-05
CHAPTER I.

sooner l chuck it the better!"
Caught in the swirl of the busy
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
the tide of pushing, elbowing men and
women who hurried up and down the
great thoroughfare. Howard Jeffr1es,
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.
It 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 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 well-earned recreation
when five o'clock should come and
the uptown stampede for Harlem and
home begin.
The young man sullenly watched
the scene, envicus of the energy and
activity of all about him. Each one
In these hurrying throngs, he thought
bitterly to himself, was 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. Intuitively he felt
that he was not one of them, that he
had no right even to consider himself
their equal. He was utterly useless
to anybody, He was without position
Or money. He was destitute even of a
shred of self-respect. Hadn't he
promised Annie not to touch liquor
again before he found job? Yet he
had already imbibed all the whisky
(Which the little money left in his
1pOcket would buy.
lnvoluntarily, instinctively, he
%Bhrank back into the shadow of a
doorway to let the crowds pass. The
pavements were now filled to over
flowing and each moment newcomers
grom 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 was
q sot, self-confessed failure, one of
life's incompetents. In his painful
self-consciousness he believed himself
the cynosure of every eye and he
WINGED as he thought he detected on
certain faces side glances of curiosity,
commiseration and contempt.
Nor was he altogether mistaken.
More than one passer-by turned to
look in his direction, attracted by
his peculiar appearance. His was a
type not seen every day in the COM
mercial district-the postgraduate
college man out at elbows He was
smooth-faced and apparently about rs
years of age. His complexion was
fair and his face refined It would
have been handsome but for droop.
ing, irresolute mouth, which denoted
more than average weakness of char.
acter. The face was thin, chalk-like
In its 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 overfondness 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 was
careless and suggested that reckless
oess of mind which comes of genera
decentralization.
Howard Jeffries knew that he was 3
failure, yet like most young mer
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 comfor
thrown to them. What, he wondered
idly, was their secret of getting on
How were they able to lead such vel
regulated lives when he, starting on
with far greater advantages. hat
failed? Oh, he knew well where til,
trouble lay-in his damnable weak
ness of character, his love for drink
That was responsible for everything
But was it his fault if he were bor1
weak? These people who behave,
4 themselves and, got on, he sneered
were calm. commonplace tempera
ments who found no difficulty in con
trolling their baser instincts. The
did right simply because they foun,
T easier than to do wrong. Their vii