The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1915-04-01

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bears in mind the fact that they signi-
fed more to James Brood than did
his long-neglected son.
! The cold reserve that extended to
the young man did not carry beyond
him In relation to any other member
of the household so far as James
Brood was concerned The unhappy
boy. early in their acquaintance. came
to realize that there was little In COM
mon between him and the man he
called father. After while the eager
light died out of his own eyes and he
no longer strove to encourage the In.
innate relations he had counted upon
as a part of the recompense for so
many years of separation and loneli-
ness. 1t required but little effort on
his part to meet his fathers indiffer-
ence with coldness quite as pro-
nounced; he had never known the
meaning of filial love; he had been
taught by word of mouth to love the
man he had never seen. and he had
learned as one learns astronomy-by
calculation. He hated the two old men
because his father loved them.
The patient butler. Jones. had made
no less than four visits to the library
since ten o'clock to awaken them and
pack them off to bed. Each time he
had been ordered away, once with the
, Joint admonition to mind his own
business"
But it is nearly midnight" pro
tested Jones irritably, with glance
at the almost empty decanter.
, Jones'" said Danbury Dawes. with
= great dignity and an eye that de-
I ceived him TO such a degree that he
: could not for the life of him under
: stand why Jones was attending them
in pairs. Jones. you ought to be in
4 hic-bed d-n you-both of you. Wha
5 you mean. sir, by coming in-hic-
. here thlsh time o. night dis-disturb
8 ing"
d you internal migrate" broke in Mr.
/ Riggs fiercely, don't you dare to touch
l. that hottie, sir. Let II alone!"
a ITS time you were in bed." pro
!, nounced Jones, taking Mr.. Dawes By
n the arm. Mr.. Dawes sagged heavil,
Q In his chair and grinned triumphantly
8 He was short. very fat old man.
take him to bed, JONES'" said Mr.
L Riggs firmly. He's drunk and-ant
utterly useless at time like this
3 Take him along"
I "Who the dev--hic-il are you. sir !?
demanded Mr.. Dawes. regarding Mr.
Riggs as II he had never seen hin
8 before.
s "You are both drunk" said Jones
succinctly.
4 The heavy front door closed with
bang at that instant and the sound G
4 footsteps came from the hall-a quicl
firm tread that had decision in IL.
II Jones cast a furtlve. nervous glanc
H over his shoulder.
II I'm sorry to have Mr.. Frederic Sc
N you like this" he said. biting his iii
VI "He hates 1t So"
The two old men made a commen,
able effort to stand erect. but no e
4 fort to stand alone. They linke
y arms and stood shoulder to shoulde
I'M "Show him in" said Mr.. Riggs. ma
lM nificently.
+ "Now Wen find out wass in tel
Do gram off briny Deep" said Mr.. Dave
ID spraddling his legs little farth,
- apart In order to declare stanc
front.
Its worth waiting up for" said M
Riggs.
Absolutely" said his staunch frien
Frederic Brood appeared in Il
door, stopping short just inside Il
heavy curtains. There was a nome
tary picture. such as stage direct
de would have arranged. He was st
wearing his silk hat and top-coat. al
one glove had been halted in Il
en- process of removal Young Bro,
to stared at the group OF three. fraI
re- stare OF amazement. A crooked smi
ed came to his lips.
TN Somewhat later than usual. see
ne he said. and the glove came of with
ms jerk. What's the matter. Jones? Il
MS bellion?"
io' mo. sir. It's the wireless. SIR"
~ "Wireless?"
'le "Briny Deep" said Mr.. Daw,
,rs w vaguely pointing.
no "Oh." said young Brood, crossi
20 20 slowly to the table. He picked up I
-. ,.n envelope and looked at the inscr
-no tion. "Oh," said he again. In qu
" a different tone on seeing that 1t W
s addressed to him. From father.
s -n dare say" he went on, ane line ,
pearing between his eyebrows.
"a The old men leaned forward. fixi
ma their blear eyes upon the missive.
hat Les hear the worst. Freddy" 81
art Mr.. Riggs.
me The young man ran his finger und
on the flap and deliberately drew out /
emf message. There ensued another T
ere ture. AS he read his eyes widen
ade and then contracted; his firm you
lat. jaw became set and rigid. Suddel
Id: short, bitter execration fell fr
ire. his lips and the paper crumpled In
Ilor hand. Without another word.
er: strobe TO the fireplace and tossed
bal. upon the Goals. II fared for a n
talv cnd and was waited up the chimney