New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-12-06

,,,i turned TO the south. Thcatcr crowds loStled
t, ms DE started slowly toward the Times Building;
t, ~. paid mo- heed to the jots and bumps that the
t crowds of the White Light district ever hold in
.tS~, for the dreamer The lights had thrown their
,,yn,let 10 him. and he had accepted their challenge:
Vtli .as there in Acg York that, property Gdryiised,
5a2 bring Tie greatest good 10 The greatest rHm5erf
As he reached the base of the towering triangle OF
steel and stone that stands beacon for those pilgrims
whose Mecca is Broadway and i2d street he paused
uncertainty Crowds Swrled round him. and he ielt
the pulse of the city ,hrobbing faster and faster as the
glow Of It's night fever increased The human moths
were seeking the Gght-ayc and finding it, lie too was
seeking light: but not that which blazed on all sides of
him. The subway offered convenient escape from the
glare that was beginning TO blind him, and he turned TO
it gratefully
Ten minutes later ne stepped from Souhbound local
at Aston Place. Emerging from the kiosk he turned
west and walked briskly toward Washington Square
The sky was cold but clear and though 1t was early
IN March, little breeze stirring.
A thrill swept through Bruce as he approached the
SQUARE II was there, on one of the wooden benches
behind the statue Of Garbaldi that he had fought out
h first battle in the metropolis and-hlS heart throbDed
. ri, ister-it was there he had met the girl who I'M
dcrstood.
LIGHTS burned in half dozen Of the studios on the
north rs he stepped from the shadow of the University
Building and he gazei at Of them ongngly Then,
bracing himself he turned away and walked toward the
statue Hulllcd figures on the benches that benevo-
lent city provides for the overflow from its municipal
lodging houses crouchcd closer he passed and now
and then the craclle of a newspaper beneath a ragged
coat warned him that the night was cold.
Il was not from chill that he Shivercd, however, as
t. dropped upon the bench just beyond the bronze
osttas Of Garbaldi. 1t was because his whole being
WI, ouivcring with the excitement Of the fray to come
the sh for the intangible something that he knew he
must make and win before he could turn his back upon
the t where the dollar sign accepted as the standard
Of success.
He sat quietly for a moment gazing at the base OF the
statue Then turning slowly, he let his eyes seek out
and asen upon one Of the softly lighted windows Just
beyond the arch.
an, here again. little girl" he whispered fighting
the old fpht-onlv its for something better this time
and vou-you are up there fighting your fight And
we're going to win out, both Of u.s.
ALMOST as he breathed the words slim figure came
"A 20 the window on which his gaze was fixed, and
pressing the curtains apart, stood facing the southern
end Of the square 1t remained there for perhaps iu
minute shouetted against the light, and Bruce knew
that the girl who understood was making her nightly
snDeal for help and encouragement to the twinkhng
electric cross on the tower of the JudsOn Memorial
He watched her until She melted behind the curtains
Then he too turned his eyes 10 the radiant emblem that
11oci so chccriv over the black tenementS OF Ihri
street But his thoughts were strange and jumbled.
~Whv don't YOU always mean the same to me; ne
challenged why is it that at times you're just an
electric sign like those that advertise the theaters-oy
smaller and weaker
He paused. as if he expected the cross to flash reply
10 him And it did with q CHEEKY twinkle that sent
no, flush 70 his forehead The flush dccpenc as he re-
called the words that had been addressed TO him once
during chance meeting in that square with sam VII
son. headquarters man the Stars ~lobster trick
~When its O. mean night and story breaks down IN
the old Greenwich district always cut through here
cause know that I'll get good lucl; wink from that