Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1919-06-13
cHAPTER II-continued.

Barnes laughed aloud. There was
no withstanding the fellows sprightly
J~mpudence.
Il happen to enjoy walking" said
he.
IF 1 enjoyed it as much as you do
I'd be limping into Harlem by this
time" said Mr.. DiIlingford sadly. "But
you see I'm an actor. I'm too proud
to walk"
The cracked bell on the Office desk
interrupted him, somewhat peremp-
torily. MI. Dillingford's face assumed
an expression Of profound dignity. He
lowered his voice as he gave vent to
the following:
'tThat man Jones is the meanest hui
man being God ever let Yes, sir,
coming, sirl" He started for the open
door with surprising alacrity. +
Barnes surveyed the little bedcham-
Der. 1t was just what he had expected
it would be. The walls were covered
with a garish paper selected by one
who had an eye but not a taste for
.color-bright pink flowers that looked
more or less like chunks of a shattered
watermelon split promiscuously over
a background of pearl gray. The ped
stead, bureau and washstand were Of
fensively modern. Everything was as
clean as a pin, however, and the bed
looked comfortable. He stepped to the
small, many-paned window and looked
out into the night. The storm was at
its height. In all his life he had
heard such a clatter Of rain, nor a
wind that shrieked SO appallingly.
His thoughts went quite naturally
to the woman who was out there In
the thick of it. He wondered how she
was faring and lamented that she was
not in his place now and he In hers.
What was she doing up In this Cod
forsaken country? What was the name
of the place she was bound for? Green
Fancy! What an odd name for a
house! And what sort Of house
His reflections we're interrupted by
the return Of Mr.. Dillingford, who car
ried a huge pewter pitcher from which
steam arose in volume. At his heels
strobe a tall, cadaverous person in a
checked suit.
Never had Barnes seen anything
quite so overpowering in the way of a
suit. Joseph's coat of many colors was
no longer a vision Of childhood. 1t
was a reality. The checks were an
inch square and each cube had a mar
row border of azure blue. The general
tone was a dirty gray, due no doubt to
age and a constitution that would not
allow it to outlive it's usefulness.
"Meet Mr.. Bacon, Mr.. Barnes" in
troduced Mr.. Dillingford, going to the
needless exertion of indicating Mr.. Ba-
o with a generous sweep of his free
hand. "Our heavy leads. Mr.. Monta-
que Bacon, also of New York"
"Ham and eggs, pork tenderloin,
country sausage, rump steak and
spring chicken" said Mr.. Bacon in a
.cavernous voice, getting it v with
while the list was fresh in his mem
DRY. "Fried and boiled potatoes, beans,
%sguccotash, onions, stewed tomatoes and
-er-just a moment, please. Fried
and boiled potatoes, beans"
Exam and eggs, potatoes and a cup
,or two Of Coffee" said Barnes, sup
pressing a desire to laugh.
"And apple pie" concluded the
waiter triumphantly. 81 knew I'd get
1t If you gave me time. AS you may
have observed, my dear sir, / am not
what you would call an experienced
~r,oikov Ac n poot+or of foof -
The bell downstairs rang violently.
Mr.. Bacon departed in great haste.
While the traveller performed his alb
buttons Mr.. Dillingford, for the moment
disengaged, sat upon the edge of the
bed and enjoyed himself. He talked.
"We were nine at the start" said he
lpensively. Gradually we were re-
-duced to seven, not including the man
ager. Two of 'em escaped before the
smash. The low comedian and char
,acter old woman Joe Buckley and his
wife. That left the old mani mean
MI. Rushcroft, the star-Lyndon Rush
croft, you know-myself and Bacon,
Tommy Gray, Miss Rushcroft, Miss
Hughes and a M named Bradley,
seven of us. The woman named Brad
ley said her mother was dying in Buff
falo, so the rest of US scraped together
all the money we had-nine dollars
and sixty cents-and did the right
thing by her. Actors r always do
ing .darn-fool things like that, Mr..
Barnes. And what do you suppose she
did? She took that money and bought
two tickets to Albany, one for herself
and another for the manager Of the
company-the lowest, meanest
lest white man that ever But I am
grabbing the old mans part. You
ought to hear what he has to say about
Mr.. Manager. He can use words /
never even heard of before. So that
leaves just the four Of us here, work
ing off the two days board bill Of