The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-06-15
faint contempt as be arose.

faint contempt as he arose.
 ''Why did you hit me at first as you did? You gave me no warning what ever"
 Do you get any warning in a real dght?'
 I could not controvert this, and yet uneasily. vaguely I felt there must be a fallacy somewhere. l had been told and not told what should or should not be done in an affair that appar- ently could have no rules and yet had distinctions as to fair and unfair, some of which were explained and some left as obvious. I felt somewhat confused. But often in my later ex' perience with Talbot Ward l felt Just that way, so in retrospect it does not strike me so forcibly as it did at that time.
 ''But you're a wonder. a perfect won derr' Ward was saying.
 Then we all became aware of a knocking and rattling at the door, It must have been going on for some time.
 |+If you don't open I'll get the po- lice! I promise you, I'll get the DO lice.' the voice of our landlady was saying.
 We looked at each other aghast-
 ''I suppose we must have been mak- @G a little noise," conceded Talbot Ward. Noise! It must have sounded Is though the house were coming down. Our ordinary little boxing matches were nothing to it.
 Ward threw his military cape around his shoulders and sank back into seat beneath the window. I put on an overcoat. One of the boys let her in.>
 She was thoroughly angry, and she gave us all notice to go. She had done that same every Saturday night for year, but we had always wheedled her out of it. This tinse however, she seemed to mean business. I suppose we had made a good deal of racket. When the fact became evident l, of course, shouldered the whole responst- bility.< Thereupon she tur11sgl on me. Unexpectedly Talbot Ward spoke up from the obscurity of his corner. His clear voice was incisivc, but so courte- ous with the cold 1nality of the high bred aristocrat that Mrs. Simpkins was cut short in the middle a a sentence
 'I beg you, calm yourself. madam" !" said he. tfIt is not worth heating your self over, for the annoyance, such as it is, will soon be rerA,ved. MT. Nun roe and myself are shortly departing together for California;"
 If I had any scrup1es-and do not remember many-they were overcome within the next day or two. It was agreed that was to go in Wards em- ploy, he to pay my passage money and all expenses, to give him half the gold I might pick up. This seemed to AS--l9r~< n[<A.a~ and businesslike arrangement. Ward bought the outfits for both of us, It turned out that he was Mexican war veteran-hence the military cape-and in consequence an old campaigner. His experience and my rural upbringing saved us from most of the ridiculous purchases men made at that time. We had stout clothes and boots, a water proof apiece, picks and shovels, b1an- kets and long strips of canvas, three axes, knives, one rife, double shot gun and Colts revolver apiece. The latter seemed to me a wonderful weap- on, with it's six charges in the turning cylinder, but had no opportunity to try it.
 Ward decided instantly for the Pan anna route.
 ''It's the most expensive, but also the quickest" said he. "A sailing ship around the Horn takes forever, and across the plains is ditto. Every day we wait some other fel1ew is landing in the diggings.,
 Nearly every evening he popped into our boarding house. where, owing to the imminence of my departure, had been restored to favor. I never did find out where he lived. We took our passage at the steamship office. We went to the variety shows and sang "Oh, SusaE nah!'' with the rest We strutted a bit and were only restrained from donning our flannel shirts and Colts revolving pistols in the streets of New York by a little remnant, very little remnant, of common sense. When the time at last came we board ed our steamship and hung over the rail and cheered like crazy things. personally felt as though a lid had been lifted from my spirit and that rolling cloud of enthusiasm was at last allowed to puff out to fill my heaven
 (Tro Re e4,ntfnuedN