Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-02-02

man and God." The creatures firsts
were clenched and his eyes were list
ening, as his voice rose to greater We
hemence. whisky! 1t burns the
body and it sears the brain!"
1t was Piggy Marshall, who. with
one of his rare flashes of memory,
/ suddenly recalled the great joke. He
knew now why he always chuckled
at the mention of Vows name.
1t was the regular, climax to this set
speech. He suddenly reached over
Jerry-the-Limps shoulder and gave
Bow-Wow's whisl<ers a violent yank.
That was the great joke
Here again came that strange men,
ory of the body. The Bow-Wow of
old had sunk so low in his torpidity
THAT he had lost all power of resent
ment. The Harrison Stuart of the
Ipast year had brought his body up
to manliness; and it was his body
which now struck impotently out at
Piggy Marshall, but landed its fist on
the snarliag mouth of Jerry-the-
Limp!
With scream of rage, Jerry
plunged for him. Bow Wow backed
to avoid the blow, Tank Tonkey, just
behind him, stepped aside, and Bow
Wow fell to the floor, hitting his
head on the iron foot rail. He lay
stunned for a moment, and Jerry
the-Limp, who was q quick thinker,
and stamp him, until the long pent-
up glut of vindictive rage should be
appeased; and the other would have
allowed him to do it, for that was the
rule of the game in the Bowery.
Jerry-the-Limp was just drawing
his heavily shod foot for the first
kick at Bow Vows face, when there
landed on his shoulder a hand so
weighty and a grip so sharp that it
nearly extracted the shoulder bone!
l.,, IN In AT
picked meat with fingers hewed
roughly in the end, and it belonged to
Mike Dowd!
Here youi" beloved Mike, and he
shook Jerry -the-Limp until his teeth
chartered. "You duck before / smash
you! You're barred from this joint,
you shrimp!" and he flung Jerry
backwards, without looking where he
landed. so violently that he crashed
against the door with q grunt. Find
ing himself SO handy to egress, jerry
the Limp, who was quick thinker,
promptly jumped outside and hurried
up the Bowery, with total disregard
for his poor crippled leg.
In the meantime, Mike Dowd lean
4 ed down to pick up the fallen combat
ant, and, as he did 30, he stopped,
with catch of his breath.
'"St. Patrick, it's -" lie paused at
the name.
IL A
husky chorus apDrised him of that
fact.
Get back, you!' roared Mike. "Set
down." and they sat.
He had picked up the fallen man.
whose eyes were staring wildly about
him, and now led him behind the bar,
where there was chair at the for
clean, here. 1t was Mikes drawing
room.
81 am sorry to see you this way
friend" He was careful about names
even though he was leaning over and
speaking in a low voice. "I knew
there'd be a comeback some time
though, and knew you'd break here
| guess it's lucky you did. Need a
little drink of something?"
Harrison Stuart shook his head.
THANK you," he tremulously re.
turned. iii be all right" The fall
the slight confusion of his scalp, the
slight flow of blood, had shocked him
out of his stupor.
Now you just set still and rest
and I'll call up Billy. He'll fix you,'
and Mike went to the telephone al
the other end of the bar, while the
pin-eyed servitor plodded back to the
dusty and blackened barrels at the
rear of the room, to fill the bottles
for the day. Mike asked for his mum.
wire. At that moment Jean Stuart
was trying to call Billy, to ask how
Hal was, and Tavy. hollow-eyed, was
standing at her side. They had nc
answer, for Billy and Burke were still
sound asleep. They did not know yet
that Harrison Stuart was gone
So he had failed failed within two
weeks of grasping the crown OF his
long waiting! Even through the fumes
which -bewildered his brain, he real.
lied 1T all. He had been drunk! He
was here in this foul hole, not as o
curious spectator, but as one of its
brutalized habitues. He could never
trust himself again! He could never
summon sufficient confidence, not YET
sufficient strength, to fight through
that battle for another whole year
much less for the balance of his life,
Jean! Tavy! He had come into theil
lives only to disgrace them again!
And how often would he do it in the
time to come? With a moan of an.
guish. he rose from his chair and
walked down to the center of the bar
to look at himself in the mirror, con.
seious, while he did it, that, to add
to his humiliation, all those decrepit
wrecks of humanity over against the
: wall were watching his every move
: ment and leering at him. He turned
to the narrow mirror just above the
open cash drawer, and what he saw
in the bleared and distorted face
chilled the blood in his veins He
almost stopped his breathing, and
, looked and looked, and read the full
depth of his degradation!
: AT last Mike Dowd had his call.
} By some trick of the switchboard. he
: had the wire before Jean Stuart.
Billy Lane's?"
Yes" The sleepy voice of Burke.
Billy up?"
mo sir - yes; he says he's awake. +"
We'll, tell Billy this is Mike Dowd.
There's a certain party down here.
: he'll know who -"
There was deafening explosion.
J a concussion as if all the air in the
room had been compressed and then
suddenly released, jingIing of
glasses. and then IL heavy fall. Mike
Dowd dropped the receiver and ran
to the huddled figure. Harrison
|, stuart was crumpled on the floor i'm
shapeless heap, at his hand the re-
Voiver snatched from the cash draw
! er Harrison Stuart had fought his
last battle with drink. and had ron