Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-02-16
CHAPTER Xxx.
He That Was Dead.

He That Was Dead.
Eyes, tits I, the unlucky penny; Old
Galahad, In flesh and blood and bone.
shouldn't get white over it. Arthur. 1t
isn't worth while. can sec that you
haven't changed much. u.Ness it Is
that your hair is . little paler at the
temples. Gray? I'll wager I've few
myself" There was q fiippancy in his
tone that astonished Warrington's own
ears, for certainly this light mockery
did not come from within. At heart
he was sober enough.
To steady the laundering beat Of his
pulse he crossed the room, righted the
chair, stacked the books and laid
them on the desk. Arthur did not
move save to turn his head and to fol.
low with fascinated gaze his brothers
movements.
"Now, Arthur. I've only little
while. I can see by your eyes that
you are conjuring up all sorts Of ter
rible things. But nothing is going to
happen. I am going to talk to you:
then I'm going away; and tomorrow 1t
will be easy to convince yourself that
you have seen only a ghost. Sit down.
I'll take this chair ut the left"
Arthur's hands slid from tho desk:
in kind Of collapse he sat down. Sud.
denly he laid his head upon his arms,
and a great sigh sent its tremor across
his shoulders. Warrington felt his
heart swell. The past faded away:
his wrongs became vapors. He saw
only his brother, the boy he had loved
SO devotedly, Arty, his other self, his
scholarly other self. Why blame Ar.
thur? He, Paul. was the fool.
Don't take It like that. Arty." he
said.
The others hand stretched out
blindly toward the voice. "Ah. great
God, PAUL."
II know! Perhaps I've brooded too
much" Warrington crushed the hand
in his two strong ones. "The main
fault was mine. couldn't see the
length Of my nose. threw a tempta.
ton in your way which mono but q
demigod could have resisted. That
might, when I got your note telling me
what you had done. did damnably
foolish thing. went to the club bar
and drank heavily. was wild to help
you, but couldn't see how. At two n
the morning I thought saw the way
Drunken men get strange ideas into
their heads. You were the apple Of the
mothers eyes; was only her son. Nc
use denying 1t. She worshiped you;
tolerated me. came back to the
house, packed up what absolutely
needed. and took the first train west
It al depended upon what you'd do
You let mo 60. Arty, old boy. ! sup
pose you were pretty well Knocked up
when you learned what had done
And then you let things drift. 1t was
only natural. had opened the way
for you. Mother, learning that l was
thief. restored the defalcation to
save the family honor. which was your
future. We were always more or less
hard pressed for funds. did not
gamble, but wasted . lot. The moth
er gave us an allowance Of five thou
sand each. To this managed to add
another, five and you another four. You
were always borrowing from me.
never questioned what you did with It
would to God had! It would have
saved US lot of trouble"
The hand in his relaxed and slipped
from the clasp.
Some Of these things will sound
bitter. but the heart behind them isn't
So did what thought to be great
and glorious thing. was sober when
/ reached Chicago. I. saw my deed
from another angle. Think Of it; we
could have given our joint note to
mothers bank for the amount. Old
Henderson would have discounted II
in second. It was too late. went
on. Tho few hundreds I had gave out
I've been up against 1t pretty hard
There were times when I envied the
pariah dog. But fortune came around
one day, knocked, and let her in.
returned to make q restitution. only to
learn that 1t had been made by you,
long ago. A trick Of young Elmore's.
shouldn't have como back IL could
have sent the money"
Arthur raised his head and sat up
"Ah, why did you not write? Why did
you not let me know where you were?
God 10 my witness, II there is cor.
ner Of this world unsearched for you
For two years I had . man hunting.
He gave up. ! believed you dead"
Dead? Well, was in q sense"