Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1915-03-30
CHAPTER I.
The Taste OF the Meat.

~N the beginning he was Cnr1soo
pher Bellew. BY the time he was
at college be had become Chris
Bellew. Later In the bohemian
crowd of San Francisco be was called
Kit Bellew. And In the END be was
known by no other name than Smoke
Bellew. Nor would 1t have happened
had he not had fond mother and an
iron uncle and had he not received a
letter from Gillet Bellamy.
II have Just seen copy OF the BIZ
low" Gillet wrote from Paris. "Of
course OHara will succeed with It
But he's missing some tricks 20
down and see him Let him think
they're your own suggestions. Above
all. don't forget to make him tre that
dub who's doing the musical and art
criticism. Another thing. Tell him to
kick around and get some gink to turn
ont a i've serial and to put into 1t the
real romance and glamour and color OF
San Francisco"
And down to the office OF the BIZ
low went Kit Bellew faithfully to In
struct OHara listened O'Hara
agreed O'Hara nred the dub who
wrote cridcisms Further, when
O'Hara wanted anything no friend
could deny MIN. Before Kit Bellew
could escape from the office he had
become an associate editor. had agreed
to write weekly columns Of criticism
TIL some decent pen was found ana
had pledged himself to write weekly
installment OF 10000 words on the San
Francisco serial-and all this without
nay. The Billow wasn't paying yet.
ORara explained
Luckily for Kit he had bis own In
come. Small It was compared with
some, yet 1t was large enough to en-
able him to belong to several clubs
and maintain q studio In the Latin
Quarter. Yet be was always broke, for
the Billow, In perennial distress. alb
sorbed his cash as well as bis braina
There were the illustrators, who pc
riodically refused to illustrate; the
printers. who periodically refused to
print, and the office boy, who frequent.
y refused to Otticiate. At such times
O'Hara looked at Kit and Kit did the
rest.
When the steamship Excelsior arriv-
cd from Alaska. bringing the news OF
the Klondike strike that set the eoun'
Try mad. Kit made q purely frivolous
proposition
.Look here, OHara," he said. "This
gold rush is going to be blythe days
OF 80 over again. Suppose ! cover II
for the Billow2 III pay my own ex'
penses."
O'Hara shook his head Cant spare
you from the office, Kit Then there's
that serial"
The next Kit heard Of the Klondike
was when be dropped into the club
that afternoon and encountered his un-
cla "Hello. avuncular relative" Kit
greeted. won't you join mer
He ordered cocktail. but the uncle
glanced with irritated disapproval at
| the cocktail and on to bis nephew's
face. John Bellew came Of the old
| hard and hardy stock that had crossed
the plains by OF team In the 6fties.
and In him was this same hardness
and the hardness Of q childhood spent
IN the conquering Of q new land.
"You're not living right Christopher.
I'm ashamed of you. Your father was
q man, every inch Of him l think he'd
have whaled all this musical and artts
| tic tomfoolery out of you"
"Alas! these degenerate dayh Kit
dghed.
The older man was on the verge OF
choking with wrath. but swallowed II
down and managed TO articulate. "HoW
old are your"
II have reason to believe
II know. Twenty seven. You In
ished college at twenty-five. You've
dabbied and played and frilled for i've
years. Before God and man. OF what
use are youi When l was your age
I had one suit Of underclothes. ] waa
riding with the cattle In Coluso.
vas hard a. rocks. and could sleep on
q rock I lived on jerked beef and
bear meat am q better man pnyu
cally right now than you are You
weigh about l6o. l can throw you
risht now or thrash you with my nsts.
| aIk Ao>sn,t tako r phIn3Ool .pcnQ3Q