Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-12-23
CHAPTER III.

In the Silence of Black Night"
Ihat numb carcass which was Bow
WOW, stirred uneasily. Something was
wrong. A mattress; clean linen; silk
en- paJamas; BATH The body of
Bow-Wow resented these things long
before his soddened mind could COM
prehend them. His body missed the
hnotted rags upon which it had lain
eacn night; 1T missed the cramping
touch OF the kennel, head, foot and
shoulder; 1t missed the gusts of wind,
ro,d boS anu wet or hot and sitting, which
, liau swept upon him through the
cracks OF the box in the alley; SO the
pouy rebelled. 1t rolled, 1t swisted, 1t
strengthened and bent, until 1t became
aware OF a new uneasiness; and this
was the heavy dose OF "fixer" which
Burke had inserted into Bow-Wow as
substitute for whisky.
Ihere is no resisting the ultimate
command of the body. When II is
porn, u mind and a soul spring into
existence. When 1t has reached its
Time to die, the mind and the soul
nave nave no say in the matter; so. in this
me- the body is always supreme. 1t
demands to be fed, to have it's thirst
quenched, to lie in slothful slumber;
and, If it be refused these things, it
Gusts mind and soul.
The body of Bow-Wow commanded
ms mind to awaken; and it did;
| IL,
understanding; and all those mental
powers were comprised in one NUT
tered word, which broke huskily upon
the silence of the black night.
| "Whiskyi"
Bow-Wow opened his eyes. Dark
ness, shot with glimmering light. He
reached out his arms. Space Groan-
ing he sat up painfully, and endeavor-
ing to locate himself. Through a
small window there came the faint H.
Elimination of the street, and the
moist air of the snow. A door stood
a1ar, letting through a slit of dim
radiance from the room beyond.
Bow-Wow shivered. He was thinly
clad. He had been used to sleeping
in all his clothes! He was trembling,
too, from head to foot, with q strange
nausea.
What was this thing which had hap
pened to him? He was in a narrow
white room, and his bed had been i'm
provised on the top of a bathtub, two
mattresses deep. How had he come
here? In all his fuddled conscious
ness, he could find no trace of an an
sWer to that mystery, and the effort at
any thought further than his physi-
cal self. weared, and weakened, and
sickened him. He gave up the vague
and feeble attempt at reasoning, and
returned to the one idea which he
could comprehend whisky!
bathroom. He found himself in a
softly carpeted hall. There was a
light at the end, Pickering, wavering
red glow. With many a stop for
breath and strength, and steadying of
nerves, he edged along the wall until
comfortable with leather chairs and
couches, where half spent log in
the fireplace cast the ruddy reflections
OF its dying flames upon well-chosen
pictures and queer objects of art from
every quarter Of the world. Dazed.
bewildered, he stood swaying, and
blinked stupidity at the fire.
, What are you after, Pop -
, whisky?"
: The lips of Bow-Wow spread in a
formless smile.
"A little whisky" he husked, even
; eyed Burke, in robe and slippers, and
) with his red hair touseled in q thou
sand curling points.
Let's have a look at your eyes.
sport" Without ceremony, Burke
: flashed on a light, drew Billy Lane S
of his right eye. He nodded in bust
ness-like satisfaction, and left Bow
Wow standing by the fire place while
he went out into the pantry. He was
back in moment, and gave the man
a glass with a carefully measured
SpOOnl vi OIL WHISKY III II. bOW-W OW
t clutched at the glass with desperate
, eagerness He lifted it to his lips
$ with n trembling hand, and, after he
: had drunk it, he shivered from head
: to foot
Now drink this" commanded
. This" was a greenish compound,
3, Burke.
which the man swallowed obediently;
3 then he docilely allowed Burke to lead
!. him back to bed.
Two hours passed. Again the body
of Bow-Wow rose in imperious COM
/ mand over the scared mind and soul
S "Whisky!" he gasped, awakening
with q jerk. He was only a ent
S now in coming to consciousness of his
=. surroundings.
, In the kennel he had spent the
nights, from 1 o'clock until dawn, with
e only occasional cravings. which he
could resist until Mike Dowd's barten-
/ der opened the Sink; but in this
= strange environment and under the in.
r fuence of the medicine which Burke
S gave him, his craving had become i'm
perative! There was a burning in
him, There was a buring in him
r there was fever in his veins, and vel
he shiVered with the cold.