Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-10-29

AAvS US uAlllCuiI TO 40 That with the
comparative loneliness OF the place,
WALL. What had Red been teie-
phoning about? y Uncertainty hung on
q Perhaps itShad been his final
instructions, perhaps a change Of
plan. Good God! Perhaps it was al
ready done! No. no! Not that! But
could n 60 alone. or !. Hallway
down h next block a green-blinded
building with solemn white lamps
|f1anking its doorway caught her eye
Tho police station!,e Slowly she
shook her head. After all, Red must
be betrayed II the police were told. and
Red had been kind to her, really good
to her,, in his way. always. even before
her illness. No she would not go to
the bullsNunless it became imperative.
Besides, h had>not a.scrap of evil
dence, and the police are not quick to
on the bare word Of such as she.
NThey would delay in listening, haggle
over letting her talk to the lieutenant,
then doubt what she told them,
making q hideous waste of time.....
Time! And what else was she doing,
but wasting it while, Adam WAS in
danger. Perhaps. even at this mo-
ment, DYING.
She darted out into the street again,
turning east to the Subway. and
hurrying as fast as her broken breath
permitted. The streets were blighted
with the heat, all the glamour with
which the winter crowds. disguise
them gone. and only the bare ma
chinery of the city's life remaining to
NIL the empty with raucous
sound>and whirlwinds Of dry filth.
LAUNDERING drays and pert motor wag-
ons, street-cars and lonely, empty
hanson cabs. things either static or
drearily grinding at a dull routine that
Kept The city going while it waited for
the magic touch of winter. A hot and
dreary waste, a populated desert, an
inferno Of a city, gasping in the fierce
grip of theElaring sun.
AS Pearl turned into Broadway, a
giant clock on a skeleton of electric
light-ftted steel, told Times Square
that 1t was twenty-five minutes of
three. The remaining blocks between
her and the station in the Times build
ing seemed to stretch ahead INTERIM
inably. People appeared to get in her
way deliberately, delaying her pro-
gress; wagons and cars kept rounding
the corners just as she wished to cross.
At F~orty-second street and Seventh
avenue h was held up in front, of
Hammerstein's for incredibly long
moments in the lee Of a huge, scream
ing poster Of Valeska Suratt, while an
omniscent policeman directed a SEEM
lngly endless stream Of tvaff1c to flow
in front of her, holding her back.
Everything seemed in conspiracy. to
hold her back! Then at last a clear
whistle; deliberate, releasing, and she
was across. under the wheels, almost,
OF h last automobile and plunging
through the mad confusion of the drug
store through the white-tiled corridor.
like an endless, highly sanitary rab-
bit-burrow, elbowing people out Of the
way. always pushing people aside in
the frantic>fear that they would delay
ming to-:
The clock above the ticket Office said
fifteen minutes to three. She showed
her coin across and, Selling her ticket.
ran the length of the platform to catch
an out-n1oving train. Several others
q with her, and she. wondered, in
definitely. what they could be hurry
ing about that was one-half so press
ing as her wi terrible errand. -.
The guard shot the door to, and the
hot, foul-smelling air began % rush
into the swiftly swaying car: They
were moving, moving, at last.
With uncomprehending eyes she
read and reread the advertisements
catsup, and an unearthly Hooking
cake, sliced with incredible nicely:
somebody's collars. with a blond
young man that looked a little like
Adam. What had Red been>saying
on the phone?. >. And a brand Of gar
ter, and the six best Sellers" a brass
polish. 4. Would she be in time?
Seventy-second street, and a dazed
change to the tmpatiently waiting
express. Then more swaying, more
evil wind. more slippery. wicker-cov-
same train. even to the advertise
ments; the catsup, the polish, the
young collar man who looked like
Adam. Had they changed the plan?
A roar, a sigh, from the slowing train,
and a station, where people would not
hurry to get on, where the guard took
too long TO close the doors. oh,
hurry, hurry, for dear Christ's sake!
She closed her eyes. and swayed
with the motion of the car, sick with
~imaginings. only to open them again
roaring progress Of the train through
its almost endless tunnel, became like
"a, monstrous snail to her impatient
soul. All! Faster! Faster!.. 80. &
At length her street The guards
voice cut like steel, so sharply did the
words smite her. She pushed her way
through the gates, and climbed the
stairs to the outer air. painting again,
and weakly leaning against the wall
of the exit-hood for a moment before
she was able to go on. Then down
through the hordes of children. the
slatternly women, the Overlooking
shops, running into those etep1ally,
conspiring crowds who interfered, n
til that corner when she turned river
ward under the shadow of the cliff on
which Ewes house stood. And now
she, who had always looked aloft there
with envy and questioning in her
eyes. hurried past unnoticing, hurried
past the warehouse and the two apart
ment houses, and there she could see
the high boardings of the garden
fence with its flaming poster advers
tisements.
At sight oft her heart tailed, and
against her will she slackened her
steps. Apparently her feet had
turned to lead, so that she could
scarcely drag one after the other.
Near the gate she was obliged to lean
against the papered boardsNor a ter
rible trembling seized upon her, shak-
ing her to the very soul. and she could
nov have stood alone. The thick layers
OF paper next her cheek smelIed
strangely with the soaking of rains
and the blisterlng Of suns. but she did
that was enough. What was inside?
She dared not. she could not go
fhrther and look for very terror. It
was q thousaAd times worse than the
first time she had crept back to this
place, sick of. body and mind. OH!
that day, long past, when she had