Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-07-06

| lat ought to be encouraged by law ant
doctor said; quite marvellous. But
your physique is something very un-
usual, and I should say that you had
led pretty decent life. 1t all counts
1t all counts.
But, although the pain had mostly
disappeared, was still very much
troubled. was here, realized, with
out q friend In the city, with hotel
bill as yet unpaid, and not cent IN
the world that could Immediately lay
my hands on. The night before me
called to me imperatively, and my
enemies had stripped me of the very
sinews of war.
when | had finished my breakfast,
the hotel clerk came and sat down be-
side my bed.
Well" he said, you're looking
pretty fit"
cit enough" admitted gloomily,
"and, for that matter, am going to-
get up in few minutes, doctor or no
doctor. But what I'm going to do
next is more than can tell. Is 1t
quite clear to you that can't even
pay my hotel bill and that l haven't
|
The clerk laughed. II shouldn't
worry about that II were you," he
said. See here, Mr.. Ellsworth, we
know you pretty well by this time
Well let the bill go for while, and
YOU can stay here until you can get
iii touch with friends. In the mean
time I guess we can supply you with
what money you need
l !, o,A
that NewAYork is cold and soulless
place, where tradesman and Boniface
Ehuve learned by such long and bitter
experience the guile Of scheming
world, that no need. however just, can
turn them from their policy of sus-
picion. Yet here was young man,
an employee-to be sure a trusted one
who was offering me, quite as mat
ter of course, trust and assistance
for which he himself must pay, II by
any chance he should have over
estimated my honesty or ultimate
solvency.
"Im sure thank you very much" I
said, rather to hide the sudden flood
Of gratitude which he would have
found embarrassing. Still, try as I
would, my voice was little unsteady,
and, like any normal American, he
became Immediately LII at ease.
4 "Oh, that's all right he said brusk-
ly, and retreated in confusion.
| MY emotions as dressed were
strangely mixed. Within short week
my numb, uneventful life had been
turned topsy-turvy, and it's gray fabric
had suddenly been strewn with be-
wildering tangle of black and gold;
hope and love, loss and fear played
havoc with it's dreary serenity; and
three times within the last few days
chance acquaintances had spoken to
me in kindness. had never had very
much money, now at a stroke was
! absolutely penniless 1t seemed to my
still aching senses as II must be
moving in a dream from which might
at any moment awake. Yet I stepped
out into the city with no very definite
plan and with few borrowed dollars
| in my pocket glowing in spite of my
self, and in spite of my new misfor-
tune, with the unconquered kindness
OF the world. Before left the hotel
II wrote short note to my brother,
telling him simply that had been
waylaid and robbed, and asking him
to loan me a hundred dollars until I
fortunes. This was, recognized, only
an arrow shot into the air, for my
brother was an uncertain person, rare
" in funds, or in the same place for
! any length of time: but at the moment
I II was the only way of getting money
that / could think of, and without
money my blind search for Nancy
would be crippled also.
| l walked for a few blocks in the
fresh air, trying as best could to
make some definite plan Of campaign.
Slater, the retired laundryman, might
still be found, but by what means I
could not at the moment devise, un-
less, perhaps, I were to make an ap-
peal to the police. Every lost day
was an added terror to me, and to
think at all l had to put from my mind
the thought Of Nancy's possible cir
cumstances, Of the many ugly chances
that might befall her. Even II she
had been taken back to her uncle's
the shock of returning to the place
she had feared and hated for SO long
might work her incalculable harm.
Her uncle's! paused abruptly in
the middle Of the block. Why had l
not gone there at the very outset? For
| II she were there made sure they
could not hide. her from me; and II
she were not. and this thing had been
done without the knowledge of Eph-
! RAM Bond, then, for all l knew, he
might prove an eager ally.
I turned, and making my way back
| to Fifth avenue, took bus uptown
determining on my way that the mo-
ment the door was opened / would
slip past the servant and enter the
house. With any sort Of luck the door
should be opened by Jonas, and Jonas.