The Washington herald., 1914-04-19

any bears to eat them up. either. And
right up there on the cliff was a big
restaurant where you could get anything
you wanted - eat. Four million people
lived in San Francisco then. And now
in the whole city and county there aren't
forty all told. And out there on the sea
| we're ships and ships always to be seen,
| going in for the Golden Gate or coming
out. And airships in the air-dirigibles
and flying machines. They could travel
two hundred miles an hour. The mail
| Francisco Limited demanded that for the
minimum. There was a chap. a French
man. I forget his name. who succeeded in
making three hundred but the thing was
| risky. too risky for conservative persons.
| But he was on the right clue. and he
would have managed it if it hadn't been
for the Great Plague. When l was A
boy there were men alive who remember
ed the comm OF the first aeroplanes.
and now 1 have lived to see the last of
them. and that sixty years ago"
The old man babbIed on. unheeded by
the boys. who were long accustomed to
| his garrulousness. and whose vocab-
ularies, besides. lacked the greater por-
| ton of the words he used. 1t was no.
ticeabIe that in these rambling soliIoquies
his English seemed to recrudesce into
better construction and phraseology. But
when he talked directly with the boys
it Iapsed. largely. into their own un-
couth and simpler forms.
But there weren't many crabs in
those days" the old man wandered on.
They were fshed out. Snd they were
great delicacies. The open season was
only a month long. too. And now crabs
are accessible the whole year around
Think of it-catching all the crabs you
want. any time you want. in the surf of
the Cliff House beach
A sudden commotion among the goats
brought the boys to their feet. The dogs
about the FIRE rushed to join their snarl-
ing fellow who guarded the goats. while
the goats themselves stampeded in the
direction of their human protectors. A
half dozen forms. lean and gray. glided
about on the sand hillocks or faced the
bristIing dogs. Edwin arched an arrow
that fell short But Hare-Lip. with a
against Goliath. hurled a stone through
the air that whistled from the speed Of
its fight. It fell scIuarely among the
wolves and caused them 10 stink away
toward the dark depths Of the eucalyptus
forest
The boys laughed and lay down again
in the sand. while Granser sighed pom
derously. He had eaten too much, and
with hands clasped on his paunch, the
fingers interlaced. he resumed his maun-
derings.
The fieeting systems lapse like foam"
he mumbled what was evidently a quota
tion. That's it-foam. and neeting. All
mans toll upon the planet was just so
much foam. He domesticated the service
able animals, destroyed the hostile ones.
and cleared the land OF its wild vegeta-
ton And then he passed. the food OF
primordial life rolled back again, sweep
ing his handiwork away-the weeds and
the forest inundated his fields. the beasts
of prey swept over his fiocks, and now
there are wolves on the Cliff House
beach" He was appalled, by the thought
Where four million people disported
themselves, the wild wolves roam today.
and the savage progeny of our loins.
with prehistoric weapons. defend them
selves against the fanged dcspoiIers
Think of it: And all because of the Scar
let Death
The adjective had caught Hare-Lip's
car.
Hes always saving that. he said to
Edwin. What is scarlet
The scarlet of the naples can shake
me like the cry OF busles going by" the
old man quoted.
It's red" Edwin answered the ques-
ton And YOU don't know it because
YOU come from the Chauffeur Tribe. They |
never did know nothing. none of them
Scarlet is rcd-I know that"
Red is red. amt it," Hare-Lip grum- |
bled. Then what's the good of gettin'
cocky and calling it scarlet"
RED is not the right word" was the
reply. The plague was scarlet The
whole face and body turned scarlet in
an hours time Don't l know? Didn't I |
see enough OF it? And l am telling you |
it was scarlet bccause-weII. because it
was scarlet There is no other word
for it
Red is good enough for me-" Hare
Liz muttered obstinately. My dad calls
rcd red. and he ought to know. He says
every body dic1 of the Red Death"
Your dad is a common fellow. de-
sccndcd from a common fellow" Granscr
retorted heatedly. Don't l know the be-
ginnnSs Of the Chauffeurs? Your grand
sire was a chauffeur. a servant and with