Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1919-07-12
CHAPTER II-Continued.

Barnes laughed aloud. There VAS
no withstuudlug the fellows sprlghtly
lmpHdence.
y happen 10 enjoy walking" snid
be.
"If | enjoyed it ns much as you do
I'd be- lmping into Harlem by this
time" said Mr.. DillinEford sadly But
you see I'm an actor. I'm too proud
to walk"
The cracked bell on the office desk
Interrupted him, somewhat peremT-
torily. Mr.. DHlingford's face assumed
m expression Of profound dignity. He
lowered his voice as he gave vent TO
the following:
"Thnt man Jones Is the meanest hu-
man being God ever let Yes, sir,
coming. sirr He started for the open
door with surprising alacrity.
Barnes surveyed the little bcdcham-
Der. 1t was just what he had expected
II would be- The walls were covered
with garish paper selected by one
who had an eye but not taste for
.color-bright pink flowers that looked
watermelon split promiscuously over
a background of pearl gray. The bed !
stead, bureau and washstand were Of |
fensively modern. Everything was as
clean as q pin, however and the bed |
looked comfortable. He stepped to the |
small, many paned window and looked |
out into the night. The storm was ut |
T. Ill Ie, 20 ha had !
heard such q clatter of rain, nor a |
siad taat sas.saea - ap EPt9 sy;,r.uv
His thoughts went quite hdVuruiAg
to the woman who was out there In
the thick Of It. He wondered how she
was taring and lamented that she was
not I'm his place now and he in hers.
What was she doing up In this God
forsaken country? What was the name
of the place she was bound for? Green
Fancy! What an odd name for
housed And what sort Of house
His reflections were interrupted by
the return of Mr.. Dilllngford. who car
ried a huge pewter pitcher from which
steam arose in volume. At his heels
strobe tall. cadaverous person in i
checked suit.
Never had Barnes seen anything
quite SO overpowering in the way of
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 mar
row border of azure blue. The general
tone was dirty gray due no doubt to
age and constitution that would not
allow il TO outlive its usefulness.
Meet Mr.. Bacon, Mr.. Barnes" in
troduced Mr.. DillingfOrd, going TO the
needless exertion Of indicating Mr.. Ba-
con with generous sweep of his free
hand. "0ur 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 ii over with
while the list was fresh in his men,
ory. Fried and boiled potatoes beans.
succotash, onions, stewed tomatoes and
-er-iust moment, please. Fried
and boiled potatoes. beans"
"Ham and eggs, potatoes and a cup
or two of coffee" said Barnes, sup
pressing desire TO laugh.
"And apple pie" concluded the
waiter triumphantly. II knew I'd get
1t If you gave me time. As you may
what you would call an experienced
waiter. As Il matter of fact. =
The bell downstairs rang violently.
Mr.. Bacon departed in great haste
While the traveller performed his an
lutionS Mr.. Dillingford, for the moment
disengaged, sat upon the edge of the
bed and enjoyed himself He talked.
I'VE were nine mt the start" said he
peRSively. Gradually we were re-
duced 10 seven. not including the man
nger 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
Mr.. Rushcroft. the stur-Lyndon Rush
croft, you know-myself and Bacon
Tommy Gray. Miss RuShcroft, Miss
Hughes and woman named Bradley
seven of us. The woman named Brad
ley said her mother was dying In Buf.
falo, so the rest of US scraped together
all the money we had-nine dollars
and sisty cents-and did the right
thing by her Actors are always do
ing darn-fool things like that. Mr.
Barnes. And what do you suppose sht
didf She took that money and bought
two tickets to Albany, one for herself
and another for the manager of the
company-the lowest, meanest orner
Test white man that ever But l an
grabbing the old mans part. Yor
ought to hear what he has 10 say about
Mr.. Manager. He can use words
never even heard Of before. So tina
leaves Just the four of us here. work
ing OF the two days board bill Of