The patriot. [volume] (Indiana, Pa.) 1914-1955, 1915-02-27
SS =
C22
COrr1fOrIerS
What's the Use of Worry
ing r
by EDWARD HOLLYWOOD


In the kitchen beneath Jernigan's )
bedroom the clock whirred and began
TO sound the hour At the first jan
| Cling stroke Jernigan lifted his head
and became aware. with u quick throb
OF gratitude. that he had been asleep
The question was. for how long:
There was no daylight at the curtained
window. but he was sure that it must
be nearly sunrise and in alert anxiety
he counted the strokes of the clock.
Nine, ten. eleven-and silence. Ger
nigan groaned wearlly. He had been
in bed only thirty minutes. after all.
Through the doorway of the adjoin
ing room, where his wife slept with
the two children, he bllnked at the
white, dim hummOck of Lizzie's back
and listened to her placid breathing
NoiseleSsly he drew ON some clothes.
found pair of slippers and glided
swiftly down the dark stairway.
With a hand on the knob Of the
front door be turned and peered into
his narrow parlor. The blue glare
from an arc lamp in the street family
Illuminated the parlor table, revealing
the bank book on it and his private
account book and the sheets Of paper
covered with penciled figures. He has
lily secreted them before he went out
of doors.
Jernigan was the bookkeeper for Mr..
Ellice at the Rudale mill, as his father
had been before him. He was a skill.
ed and honest accountant. The tor
menting figures had nothing to do with
his employers affairs. They repre-
sented his own endeavor TO deal with
the terrible fact that during the past
two years he had diminished by nearly
$1,000 the modest capital which he
had inherited from his parents.
He looked mOrosely down the desert
ed street toward the huge mill. IT.
windows glowed: its looms chanted
their endless. sonorous hymn of pros
perity. On hill near by was the state
ly, old fashioned Ellice mansion. with
it's tall columns of white stone. Mr.
Ellice was evidently entertaining an
evening party there. The lamps of
motorcars shot their golden beams over
the lawn, and Jernigan heard a Va
grant strain of dance music.
His vague plan was to stroll as far
as the office of the mill before turning
back.
Behind the building he halted in be,
wilderment. A light cleaned from
rear window. Somebody was in the
office!
Now, it was impossible for Jernigan
to believe that any one had rightful
business there by night without his
knowledge. so he crept close to the
window. He saw a man standing be-
side the Office table. On the table were
books Of account and sheets of paper
covered with penciled' figures. The
man bent over them. then paced the
room, then returned doggedly to the
table, then paced the room again. Jer-
uigan caught his breath, for the man
was John Ellice.
The bookkeeper stared. as If in a
theater, at a counterfeit presentment
Of himself pacing his own parlor. FL
Ices unbuttoned coat showed a loose
pajama jacket; he wore slippers, and
his hair was ruff1ed like that Of one
driven from his bed. His face. as he
bent at the table under the light,
was drawn and white.
Jernigan interpreted the picture
swiftly. Indeed. there was only a sim
gle possible meaning for him. and this
was a meaning which swept every
thing else out of his simple soul as a
gigantic and appalling torrent sweeps
humble valley. The sight Of an FL
lice Of Rudale in the torment of finan-
cial worry was to Jernigan what the
sight Of collapse of the great pyra-
mid would have been to an ancient
Egyptian. Other affairs of life for Jer-
nigan were totally obliterated by awe
stricken CONSERVATION and a sympathy
almost reverent.
Ellice snapped off the electric lamp,
pushed the papers into drawer of the
table and locked it. He decided that
his daughters dance would be over.
and he wondered If he could sleep.
Then he smiled grimly, knowing well
enough that it was not dance music
which had kept him awake. HSa neck
contracted sharply, as If something
was perched on his shoulder.
His thoughts whirled back to the pa
pers in the table drawer. Had he for
gotten to jot down the loan from the
Samson Trust? OF course he had! Hp
began to compute the interest for tn
coming term. And what. In heavens |