The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1915-02-14

do. But, for all that, he despired
! them--justifably so. no doubt. II one
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 a 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 part of the rec0mpense for so
many years of separation and loneli-
ness. It required but little effort on
! his part to meet his fathers lndiffer-
| ence with a coldness quite as pro-
/ nounced; he had never known the
meaning of filal 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
Put 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-
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 III
hic-bed, d-n you-both of you. Wha'
you mean. sir, by coming n-hic-
here thsh time O. night dis-disturb.
ing"
you internal ingrate,' Sroke in Nj
Riggs fiercely, don't you dare to touch
luul DONlltt oIl' l>'l IL uiOhC'
ITS time you were in bed pro
nounced Jones, taking Mr.. Dawes by
the arm Mr.. Dawes sagged heavily
in his chair and grinned triumphantly.
He was a short, very fat old man.
Take him to bed, Jones, said Mr..
Riggs firmly. He's drunk and-and
utterly useless at a time like this
Take him along"
"Who the dev-hic-il are you, sir?
demanded Mr. Dawes, regarding Mr.
Riggs as if he had never seen him
before.
you are both drunk" said Jones
succinctly.
The heavy front door closed with a
bang at that instant and the sound Of
footsteps came from the hall-a quick,
firm tread that had decision IN It.
Jones cast a furtive, nervous glance
over his shoulder.
I'm sorry to have Mr.. Frederic see
you like this" he said, biting his lip
He hates it So"
The two old men made commend
able effort to stand erect, but no eff
fort to stand alone. They linked
arms and stood shoulder to shoulder
SHOW him in," said Mr., Riggs. mag
nificently.
Now well find out wass in tele
gram off briny deep" said Mr.. Dawes,
spraddling his legs a little farther
apart in order to declare stanch
front.
Its worth waiting up for" said Mr.
Riggs.
ABS lutely," said his staunch friend.
Frederic Brood appeared in the
door, stopping short just inside the
heavy curtains. There was momen-
tary picture, such as a stage director
would have arranged He was still
wearing his silk hat and top-coat, and
one glove had been halted in the
process of removal. Young Brood
stared at the group of three, frank
stare of amazement. A crooked smile
came to his lips.
Somewhat later than usual, see"
he said, and the glove came off with a
jerk. What's the matter, Jones? Re-
bellion?"
mo, sir It's the wireless, sir"
"Wireless?"
"Briny deep" said Mr.. Dawes,
vaguely pointing.
oh" said young Brood, crossing
slowly to the table. He picked up the
envelope and looked at the inscrip
ton. Oh said he again, in quite
different tone on seeing that it was
addressed to him. From father,
dare say" he went on. a fine line ap-
pearng between his eyebrows.
The old men leaned forward, fixing
their blear eyes upon the missive
Les hear the worst, Freddy" said
Mr.. Riggs.
The young man ran his finger under
the flap and deliberately drew out the
message. There ensued another pic
ture AS he read his eyes widened
and then contracted; his firm young
jaw became set and rigid. Suddenly
a short, bitter eXecration fell from