Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-01-09
CHAPTER XVIII
Old AdelbePt

NLD ADELBERT. of the opera, had
~ lost his position. No longer. n
sausage In his pocket for refreshment,
| did he leave his little room daily for
the opera. A young man who made
oEiing eyes at Olga, of the grade-robe.
and who was not careful to keep the
/ lenses clean, had taken his place.
He was hurt In his soldiers soul
There was no longer a place In the
kingdom fer those who had fought for
Il. The cry was for tho young And
even In the first twenty-four hours a
subtle change went on in him. His
| loyalty. on which he had built his creed
OF life, turned to bitterness.
! The first day Of his idieness he wan
dered into the back room Of the cobbler's
shop near by. where the butter-scllcr
from the corner. the maker of artificial
flowers for graves, and the cobbler
himself were gathered. and listened
without protest to such talk as would
have reused him once to white anger.
! But the iron had not yet gone very
deep, and one thing he would not per-
nit It was when. In the conversation.
one Of them attacked the King. Then
! indeed he was reused to fury.
"a soldier and gentleman" he said.
Fer him lost this leg OF mine. and lost
/ ! u
hospital he himself came, and"
A burst of jeering laughter greeted
this. for he had told It many times. Told
| IT, because IL was all he had instead OF
leg, and although he could not walk
on II. certainly Il had supported him
through many years.
AS for the little Crown Prince" he
went on firmly. II have seen him often
He came frequently to the opera He
has n fine head and bright smile. lie
will be a good king"
| But this was met with silence.
Once upon a time student named
/ Haeckel had occasionally backed him
| up in his defense Of the royal family.
| But for some reason or other Haecliel
| came no more. and old Adelbert missed
him. He had inquired for him
frequently.
Where is the boy Haeckel," he had
asked one day. ~ have not seen him
lately"
No one had replied. But n sort Of
grim silence settled over the little room.
| Old Adelbert, however, was not discern
ing
Perhaps. as a student. he worked too
hard"--he had answered his own Ques-
tion. They must both work and play
hard, these students. A fine iotof young
men. ! have watched them at the
opera. Most Of them preferred Italian
to German music"
But. that first day of idleness. when he
had left the cobbler's. he resolved not
to return. They had not been un-
friendly. but he had seen at once there
was difference. He was no longer old
Adelbert Of the opera. He was an old
man only, and out OF work.
He spent hours the first free after
noon repairing his frayed linen and his
shabby uniform. with his wooden leg
stretched out before him and his pipe
clutched firm in his teeth. Then
freshly shaved and brushed, he started
on a painful search after work. With
no result. And. indeed, he was hopeless
before he began. He was old and in
firm. There was little that he had even
the courage to apply for.
True. he had his small pension, but IL
came only twice year. and was sent,
intact, to take care OF an invalid daugh-
ter In the country. That was not his.
He never used a penny OF II. And he
had saved triie. by living on air. as
the concierge declared. But misfortunes
come in threes, like fires and other
calamities. The afternoon Of that very
day brought letter, saying that the
daughter was worse and must have an
operation. Old Adelbert went to church
and burned candle for her recovery
and from there to the bank, to send
by registered mail fne surgeons fee
He was bankrupt in twenty-four
CONTINUED TOMORROW