Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1917-06-29
"Oh, they talk about drink! The

o
only thing that really matters is
what it does to women! You see
what it's done to me! Anyway,
he took me. And we met Jack
Garland there. We didn't go to
very nice places. That's how we
met him." She indicated Smith
again. A great sob choked her.
"Oh, that awful country! There
are 10000 different kinds of flow
ers there-and 10000 600 different
kinds Of SINS"
Edith brought her back to the
story.
"oh, tell me! Tell me about
Mr.. Smith"
ellis names Garland" she
said, as if she made a clumy eff
fort to keep the record straight.
"And one morning, down there in
the opium joint, CHARLIE place
the House with the Red-lacquered
Balcony, on the Foochow road
he climbed out of his horrid bunk,
and he left us. But, before he left,
he talked to us. He said anybody
who wanted to go to ruin on opium
could do it, but he was through
with it. He said he would drink
whisky. He said he knew what
whisky would do to him, but no.
body could tell what opium would
do? And he begged us to come
back to America. He said he was
going to work and get enough
money to come back. And he did
he did!"
Her voice broke shrilly. Some
how, they all knew that, when she
had said that, she had put words
on the great tragedy, the poignant
grief, Of all her life.
"What's the use Of putting on
all this stuff" Simpson spoke I'M
easily. "All three of us were"
"Be quiet!" Smith silenced him
sternly.
The agitator had stood leaning
slightly forward, his lips a little
parted, his eyes always on the Les
lie woman. Little beads Of mois-
ture stood out on his forehead. He
was making a terrific effort to re-
member conscious, directed,
systematic effort into which he
threw all his strength. If a real
curtain had hung behind him, he
could have put out his hand and
torn it apart. He wondered in a
dizzy, whirling way why he could
not make his brain obey him in
the same manner, compel it to go
through the curtain of darkness
that hid his past from him.
The plash OF the fountain in the
court and the singing Of the thous-
ands came through the open win
dow.
eco ont" Edith urged Mary
again.
"And afterward. we came
back" the slow, fiat voice went
on. She indicated Simpson. "He
ran against him in some charity
house somewhere in the west and
recognized him-but Jack Car
Land, Mr.. Smith, couldn't recog-
nize anybody. He'd lost his mem
Dry. Then Simpson-you people
call him Simpson - lost sight of
him until we happened to come to
Washington. And they-they Of
fered us money to do = what we
did do. I think he-Simpson-
fixed it up, and they accepted it."
"Garland - Charles place -
Virginia." Smith repeated the
words, oblivious to the presence of
others. They could see how he
searched the chambers of his mind,
how he tried to overlap the
things that shut off the corridors
Of his memory. His whole body
was tensed, like that of a man
about to spring forward. His
clenched hands were thrust hard
against his thighs. He looked al
ways at the Leslie woman. 81
don't can't remember" he
said.
At last she raised her eyes to
meet his.
"You, used to talk q lot about
your home,'' she said. "You used
to say lovely things" Her un-