The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1915-11-27

ery and uSeleSSn6SS or his home going
became more and more apparent as
the days slipped by. Often he Ionged
to fly back to the jungles, to James,
and leave matters as they were. Here
and there, along the way, he had tried
bit of luxury; but the years of econ
Omy and frugality had robbed him of
the ability to enjoy it. He was going
home to what? Surely there
would be no welcome for him at his
journeys end. He would return after
the manner of prodigals in general,
not scriptural, to find that he was not
wanted OF his own free will he had
gone out of their lives.
He fought grimly against the
thought of Elsa; but he was not
strong enough to vanqush the long
ings from his heart and mind. Always
when alone she was in fancy with him.
now smiling amusedly into his face,
now peering down at the phosphores-
cence seething alongside, now stand
| ing with her chin uplifted, her eyes
half shut, letting the strong winds
strike her full in the face. Many a
goodnight" he sent over the seas.
An incident: that would be all
| His first day il New York left him
with nothing more than feeling OF
| foreboding and oppression. The ex-
pected eXhilaration of returning to the
city of his birth did not materialize.
| So used to open spaces was he, to dis
tances and the circle of horizons, that
he knew he no longer belonged to the
! city with its Himalayan gorges and
canyons, whose torrents were human
beings and whose glaciers were the
hearts of these. A great loneliness
| bore down on him. For months ne
| had been drawing familiar pictures,
and to find none of these was like COM
ing home to an empty house. The OLD
life was indeed gone; there were no
threads to resume.
Early the second morning he started
downtown to the offices of the Andes
Construction company. He was ex-
traordinarily nervous. Cold sweat con-
tinually moistened his palms. Change,
change, everywhere change; Trinity
was like an old friend. When the taxi
cab driver threw off the power and
indicated with a jerk of his head a
granite shaft that scared up into the
blue, Warrington asked: what place
is this?"
"The Andes building, sir. The con-
struction company occupies the top
floor"
VERY good" replied Warrington.
paying and discharging the man.
From a reliquary of the Dutch, an
affair of red brick. four stories high,
this monolith had sprung. With sigh
Warrington entered the cavernous
doorway and stepped into an express
elevator" When the car arrived at
the twenty-second story, Warrington
was alone. He paused before the door
of the vice-president. He recalled the
"old man." thin-lipped, blue-eyed. erup-
tive 1t was all very strange, this re,
quest to make the restitution in per-
son. Well he would soon learn why.
He drew the certified check from
his wallet and scrutinized it carefully.
Twelve thousand, eight hundred dol
lars He replaced it, opened the door
and walked in. A boy met him at the
railing and briskly inquired his bust
ness.
Il have an appointment with Mr.
Elmore. Tell him that Mr.. Ellison Is
here"
The boy returned promptly and sig
nified that Mr.. Gilmore was at liberty
Bat It was not the "old man" who
looked up from busy mans desk. II
was the son; SO far, the one familiar
face Warrington had seen since his ar
rival. There was no hand shaking
there was nothing in evidence or
either side to invite it.
"Ah! Sit down, Paul. Let no one
disturb me for an hour" the young
vice-president advised the boy. "AnG
close the door as you go out"
, Warrington sat down; the bridge
builder whirled his chair around ant
stared at his visitor. not insolently
but with kindly curiosity.
You've filled out" was all he said
After fully satisfying his eyes. he
: added: 81 dare say you expected tt
| find father. He's been gone sil
years." indicating one Of the two por
traits over his desk.
1t was not at the "old man" War
rington looked longest. who Is thu
other?" he asked.
| What? You worked four year.
with this company and don't recollec
, that portrait?"
} Frankly. I never noticed it before.
t Warrington placed the certified checl
) on the desk with interest" he said
t The vice-president cracked it. raj
) his fingers over his smooth chin. fold