The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1915-10-07


Neither; II have time to get my
supper and catch train. Have you
railway 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 destiua-
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.
ooh, yes. Your train leaves the ter
minal at eleven-thirty; but you can
get into the sleeper any time after
eight o'clock"
Scared at a well-appointed 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 IL he had
come suddenly to his own again after
an undeserved season of deprivation,
and the effect of 1t was to push the
hardships and perils of the preceding
weeks and months into 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-
ton he would find the environment
most favorable for 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 l,fe well-lived that in his case,
at least, the end justified the means.
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 young woman who looked as IL
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 of
the town which he had chosen as his
future abiding place, made him sud-
denly observant
It was the young woman who had
named Wahaska, and he saw now
that his first impression had been at
fault; she was not overdressed. Also
he saw that she was piquantly pretty;
bravura type. slightly suggesting the
Rialto at its best, perhaps. but equally
suggestive OF sophistication, travel and
a serene disregard Of chaperonage.
The young woman's companion was
undeniably her father. Gray, heavy
browed, and with 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. Griswold
did not listen designedly, but he could
not help overhearing much OF the talk
at the other end of the table. From
1t he gathered that the young woman
was lately returned from some Flori-
da winter resort; that her father had
met her by appointment in st. Louis;
and that the two were going on to-
gether; perhaps to Wahaska, since
that was the place name oftenest on
the lips Of the daughter.
1t was at this point that the apex of
Philistine contentment was passed and
the reaction set In. He had been
spending strength and vitality reck-
lessly and the accounting was at hand.
The descent began when he took him.
self sharply to task for the high-priced
supper. What right had he to order
costly food that he could not eat when
the price of this single meal would