The Holly chieftain., 1915-04-23

His hat was on and his hair. eSter tho
swim. cleaned soft and yellow. For
the sake of tie widow upon whose
boat hs found himself. he had shaved
a. well ~ he could with Henrys
razor, and while his cheeks were
smooth enough, he still wore . small
yellow mustache and goatee. Both
were brushed until they shOne like his
hair and they lent q fascinating and
distinctly foreign air to his long. thin.
clever face. In his arms was the lit
tie dog with its enormous bow Of sky
blue ribbon.
Bartlett VIC ndered II he were going
mad and seeing things that were not
80. At two. or thereabouts. he had
seen Martin. dirty. shabby. tired and
had given him money on which to get
drunk. At seven. yacht. which had
not been In Westhaven for over q
week. carefully deposits the youth.
clean. fresh. well-dressed at his very
side. Was he mad?
Billy. too. had seen. but did not won
der. She knew he was q tramp, for he
had said he was. but she never
thought Of him or pictured him other
than well-dressed. well-cared for.
gently blase and bit languid. She
looked at him now over the heads of
the intervening crowd and her heart
did not question how he came there.
only rushed out to him with the glad
ness In her eyes, the joyous smile on
her parted lips. He had said he would
come. and there he was. Further she
did not question. Their eyes met
over the heads of the people, eager
questioning In his. joyful answer In
hers.
Hastily he dropped the pup with
the sky-blue bow upon the wharf.
among the plebeian feet there Assem-.
bled, and reaching Billy's side through
the crowd. grabbed both small hands
and stood laughing down at her.
Billy" he whispered. "Oh. you
Billy"
There was. there must be some ex-
PLANTATION, Bartlett told himself des-
perately. It could not be that this
was not Martin? Bartlett had not
slept with the youth for nearly a
week without being pretty familiar
with the long lank form. the thin,
careless face. And 1t was equally i'm
possible that the forlorn piece of hu-
manity who had stood that afternoon
in the drawing-room and inquired for
Billy was not Martin. They were one
and the same and once more he and
Billy had met on equal footing. To
ask the boy again to get drunk was an
absurdity.
Il suppose I can give him q Job
where he won't have much more to do
than draw his pay" thought Bartlett.
hopelsssly. daxedly. f
The Watermelon dropped Billy's
hands and turned to her father in
wellbred greeting, but their eyes met
and in the Watermelon's was grim de.
f'ance. He had seen Billy again and
nothing could part them now. All his
humility and repentance had gone.
and in their place was his old-time
arrogance and sublime self-assurance.
Fate In the form of a little white dog
had brought him and Billy together
again, with the Watermelon, still
clean. still well-dressed, and to all out.
ward appearances the same as the
other gay youths Of Billy's acquaint-
ance. With head up, jaw shut, he
scorned to lower himself for anyone.
He would prove himself worthy, not
unworthy Of Billy. Out OF his repent
ance had grown his manhood He
was no nameless hobo of the great
army of the unemployed. He was
Jeroboam Martin, son Of the late
Rev. Mr.. .Iartin, in temporary flnan-
cial embarrassment that could be soon
remedied. He would work for Billy
and they would be happy on his
wages. He drew himself up and held
out his hand. Bartlett could take 1t
or not as he pleased. The Water
melon had sought or desired no mans
favor, and Jeroboam Martin would not
stoop to do 80.
For one second the two stared at
each other grimly, square jaws shut,
lips unsmiling. then Bartlett's hand
shot forth and he clasped the Water.
melons.
"Ah. Martin" said he. how ara
you. boy?"
And still holding him BY the hand,
he patted the Watermelon ON his arm,
jovially. After all he liked the boy,
and right or wrong. wise or foolish,
fate was against any other action,
fate in the form of a half-drowned
poodle dog.
The Watermelon rested his arm on
Bartlett's shoulder with boyish sfPec