The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-10-21
The Euening Story
The Red Quill.
CBy lola Forrester.)


John Holloway stepped from the.
elevator numb and blind to the hur-
rying life around him. He did not
even feel the first tense agony of his
loss. There only remained a blind
submission to whatever immutable
laws had caused his ruin. For it was
that-ruin utter and complete. He
was fifty-nine. He knew he would
never have the strength or hope to
work in the treadmill again, year
after year, accommodating money dol
lar by dollar. The future was blank
AS he passed along lower Broadway
the cold air brought him back into
the passing world. 1t was after 5.
People were hurrYing by him, going
toward the subway kiosks or up to
Brooklyn bridge. He stopped at the
corner of Trinity's yard and bought
ar evening paper from a boy. The
old gravestones showed in The early
winter 'wilight a spectral posing.
Some seemed to lean toward him with
an answer to the question pressing on
his brain, what was he to do?
He had put every dollar of his saw
ings into Tate's venture. Not all at
seemed to grow and promis security
against failure. And it had been all
right, fair and legitimate. Tate was
true to his part of the bargain The
government was to take over the
whole thing fro mhim, he had said.
He had letters to prove it. And sud-
denly here had come the blow. The
device had been patented twenty years
before. Not as Tate had imagined it
in it's entirety bat sufficient to kill
the project and send HoHoway's ten
thousand into thin air.
81 wish 1 were dead" he kept say
ing to himself doggedly, wretchedly.
Ahead of him, as he turred into the
subway entrance, was a girl. The red
quill in her jaunty cap held his atten-
ton. 1t was like the flicker of color
under an orioles wing. He saw it
again on the crowded platform, and
when they got into the express it was
ahead of him. Red was the hue of
courage, he had read somewhere. 1t
stood for life and brotherhood, too.
Out of the dumb despair that bound
him, it was the sole thing that held
his attention. At Fourteenth street
he saw youngster get on the train
and join her. Above the roar Of the
train their low laughter reached him.
AS the crowd thinned out, stttion by
station, he could watch their faces,
hers with love in her eyes as she
looked up at him and his own surety
in her. Their voices came to him
when he slipped YEARLY into the
cross-section seat beside them.
We don't need flat" she was
saying. You can do lots in a fur
rather than wait, Joe. It's the waiting
years that count. We nesd to be with |
each other a good deal, more now
than afterward. 1 think
Sure he agreed warmly. About |
another month: what do you say |
Money amt everything
He squeezed her arm and smiled |
down at her. Holloway closed his eyes
against the challenge of their happi-
ness
the first local stop, there came the
crash, the grinding of the brakes and |
slowly the smell of smoke. Out of the |
sudden darkness and cries around, the |
dull sensation of people stampeding |
for the doors, Holloway felt a hand on |
his shoulder. 1t was the boy
Gould you help ne life her? She's
tainted"
He was striving to hold her, but the |
crush was terrific Holloway was tall
high in his arms and told the boy to
go ahead. The smoke was beginning |
to sting his throat and nostrils. Once
he realized he was treading on fallen /
darkness, tore at mis- clothes and |
gripped his legs, but he went on |
grimly. At the platform the guard /
refused to open the doors. Somebody I
another went, and the doors were still /
shut. Holloway did not stop to argue.
he went on, inch by inch, step |
by step, and gradually one after an
OIner 1O1OWeQ WlnQlnS SlnuOuSly
the long train. Once he
stopped and called out to them to be
careful, to go slow, to keep their
nerve, not to trample and strike in the
dark.
The front car nosed the end of the
platform behind the stalled local
why don't you open that door?"
the boy asked in agony. Laconically
the motorman turned his head. He
was damned and crushed and threat
ened, but he held MS post with a
curious fatalism and humor.
Whats the matter with you all %
he demanded banteringly- 'YOuse kin
only die once.
The boy jammed him aside and
pushed the lever that opened the
doors.
''Step over the rail- he called OUT.
You're all right. Step over the rail-
He was one of the first on the mar
row end of the platform Holloway
handed the girl to him and turned to