Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1915-09-02

eAau W haNS sou ~ - 49, -
void. Would you like a room. or a
Neither: II l have time to get my
and catch a train. Have you a
guide?"
There is one in the writing room.
But possibly l can tell you what you
wish to know. Which way are you
going?"
Without stopping to think Of the
critical happenings which had inter-
vened since the forming OF the i'm.
pulsive resolution fixing his destina-
ton, Griswold named the chosen field
for the hazard of fresh fortunes, and
its direction.
North; to a town in Minnesota
called Wahaska. Do you happen to
know the placer"
The clerk smiled and shook his
head.
Plenty OF time. is there?" Griswold
asked.
"Oh. yes. Your train leaves the ter
minal at eleven-thirty; but you can
get into the sleeper any time after
eight o'clock"
Seated at a wellappointed table in
the Chouteau cafe, Griswold had ample
time to overtake himself in the race
reconstructive, and for the moment the
point of view became frankly Philis.
tine. The luxurious hotel, with its
air of invincible responsibility; the
snowy napery. the cut glass, the
shaded lights, the deferential service;
all these appealed irresistibly to the
epicurean in him. 1t was as If he had
come suddenly to his own again after
an undeserved season Of deprivation,
and the effect of it was to push the
hardships and perils of the preceding
weeks and months into a far.away
past.
He ordered his supper deliberately,
and while he waited for its serving,
imagination cleared the stage and set
the scenes for the drama of the future.
That future, with all its opportunities
for the realizing of ideals, was now
safely assured. He could go whittier
he pleased and do what seemed right
in his own eyes, and there was none
to say him nay.
In this minor city of his hasty selec.
tion he would find the environment
most favorable for a rewriting of his
book and for a renewal of his studies.
Here, too, he might hope to become by
transformations degrees the beneficent
god.in-the.car of his worthier ambition.
raising the fallen, %succoring the help
less and fighting the battles of the
oppressed.
Further along. when she should have
quite forgotten the Belle jules deck
hand, he would meet Miss Farnham
on an equal social footing; and the
conclusion of the whole matter should
be a triumphant demonstration to her
by their irrefutable logic of good deeds
and a life well-lived that in his case,
at least, the end justified the
The train of reflective thought was
broken abruptly by the seating of two
other supper guests at his table; a
big-framed man in the grizzled %fifties,
and a young woman who looked as II
she might have stepped the moment
before out of the fitting rooms Of the
most famous of Partisan dressmakers
Griswold's supper was served, and
for a time he made shift to ignore the
couple at the other end of the table
Then an overheard word, the name o
the town which he had chosen as his
future abiding place, made him sud
denly observant.
1t was the young woman who hat
named Wahaska, and he saw nov
that his first impression had been a
fault; she was not overdressed. Also
he saw that she was ~piquantly pretty
a bravura type, slightly suggesting the
Rialto at its best, perhaps, but equally
suggestive of sophistication, travel ant
a serene disregard Of chaperonage.
The young woman's companion wa!
undeniably her father. Gray, heavy
proved, and with a face that was
life.mask of crude strength and ele
mental shrewdness, the man had be
queathed no single feature to the alert
ly beautiful daughter; yet the resem
blance was unmistakable. Griswolt
did not listen designedly, but he coult
not help overhearing much Of the tall
at the other end Of the table. From
1t he gathered that the young woman
was lately returned from some Flor
da winter resort; that her father hat
met her by appointment In st. Louis
and that the two we're going on to
gether; perhaps to Wahaska, sine
that was the place name oftenest Oh
the lips Of the daughter.
It wal at this point that the apex o
Philistine contentment was passed ant
the reaction set in. He had beel
spending strength and vitality rech
lessly and the accounting was at hand
The descent began when he took him
self sharply to task for the h~igh.price,
supper. What right had he to orde
costly food that he could not eat whel
the price OF this single meal woul
feed a family for a week?
After that, nothing that the obsequ!
GUS and attentive walter could brin
proved tempting enough to recall tn
vanished appetite. Never havin
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