Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1916-11-03
CHAPTER II
"Mrs. Morten.n


II was three in the morning before
Peter Stark, having to the best of his
endurance and judgment tired Whit
aker out with talking, took his hat and
his departure from Whitaker's bach
elor rooms. Whitaker shut the hall
door and turned back YEARLY into his
iving-room. 1t was three in the MORN
ing; his body ached with fatigue, yet
he made no move toward his bedcham-
Der.
Picking his way across a floor lit
tered with aliases, charts, maps and
: guide. books, he went to the bathroom
and took 6, bottle Of choral from the
medicine closet.
What he took brought him three
hours Of oblivion. He rose at eight,
ordered his breakfast up by telephone,
bathed and dressed. When the tray
came up, his mail came with it. Among
others there was one letter in which
he read:
Dear Hugh: I can call you that, now,
because you're Peters dearest friend and
therefore mine and the proof of that is
that I'm telling you first of all of our
great happiness Peter and I found out
that we loved one another only yesterday,
so we're going to be married the first of
June and. :"
Whitaker read no more. He could
guess the rest. and for the moment
he felt too sick a man to go through
to the end. Indeed, the words were
blurring and running together beneath
lbs gaze.
After a long time he put the letter
aside, absent-mindedly swallowed a
cup Of lukewarm coffee and rose from
an otherwise untasted meal.
THAT settles that, of course" he
said quietly. sand 1t means I've got
to hustle to get ahead of Peter"
Whitaker packed handbag with
few essentials, not forgetting the bottle
of choral. He was not yet quite sure
what he meant to do after he had de-
f1nitely put himself out of Peter Stark's
sphere of influence, but he hadn't much
doubt that the drug was destined to
play most important part in the ulti-
mate solution, and would as readily
have thought of leaving it behind as
of going without toothbrush or rail-
way fare.
Leaving the bag in the parcels-room
at the Grand Central Station, he went
downtown to his office. Happily his
partner, Drummond, was out of town
for the day. He worked expeditiously,
having no callers until just before he
was ready to leave. Then he was
obliged to admit ono who desired to
make settlement He took Whitaker's
receipt for the payment in cash, leav-
Ing behind him fifteen one-hundred-
dollar notes. Whitaker drew his per-
sonal check for the right amount and
left it with a memorandum under the
paper-weight on Drummond's desk;
put match to a shredded pile of per-
sonal correspondence in the fireplace {;
and caught a train at the Grand Gen.
tral at one-three.
Not until the cars were in motion did
ne experience any sense of security
from Peter Stark. He had been APP
prehensive until that moment of some
Unforeseen move on the part of his
TREND; Peter was capable of wide but
sure casts of intuition on occasion,
especially where his affections were
touched. But now Whitaker felt free,
Tree to abandon himself to meditative
despair. Cold horror crawlec in his
brain like Northumberland of him
sen OF his morbid flesh, of that MORT
pund body unfit to sheathe the clean
fire of life.
at about four o'clock the train
stopped to drop the dining-car. Wholly
s"ayed by blind impulse, Whitaker got
ny, TOOK his handbag and left the car.
On the station platform he found
@mself pelted by a pouring rain. He
Imprisoned himself in the body of an
~beu and decrepit four-wheeler, and
SS ley rocked and crawled away, the
D-na windows wept increasingly. and
,IuVeasIngly the rain drummed the
"us roll on the roof.
IA tine they stopped before
sauOhng structure whose weather
DOeFueo facade, white with taking
u a bore the legend: Commercial
se Whitaker carried his handbag
ue steps and across the rain-swept
auua into a dim, cavernous hall.
euolcle fenced of in enc corner
S. ',aea the Office proper. Whitaker
ma 'ea by the desk, a gaunt, weary
n, hagridden by fear. There was in
4iuo desolate picture of the room
49, ISirs when he-his soul: the i'm
SNaole essence Of himself-should
nnished with 1t.
AT his