The Lamar register., 1919-10-08
THE BIG HOPE
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BY LAURA DREW.

DhFt LlHulty WIS IN view iOfk ioui
weeks before 1t dawned on him that
his capital was dwindling to a few dol
lars, and nobody seemed to appreciate
the value of his presence there In a
business way.
He had been so accustomed to the
way people regarded him up home 1t
had been distinct shock TO be over
looked. In Saginaw his kther was the
old lumber king, Jackson Lindley. His
boats were leaders in lake shipping,
his name a power in state politics and
he had Just one son to slip Into his
place.
The trouble was that son had inner
tied the temperament and looks of his
mother, Nanon Sevrier. a French-Ca-
madam girl from the straits, whose
dark eyes and capricious ways had
drawn the silent Yankee lumberjack to
her. back in the early days in the
northern forests.
Llndley had come out OF Ann ArboI
with new viewpoint and the wander
lust. His love affair with Bah Welles-
ley had been a natural result. She was
with a little musical comedy company
that happened to strike Saginaw on Its
route up the lake. and to Lindley she
was the personlfication OF the New
York world he longed to see and be
part OF. In his senior way he had
tried to meet her and make her four
day stay whirlwind memory, but the
trouble was you couldn't find the max
ings OF a whirlwind in Saginaw. AT
the end OF the motor trips and little
suppers after the show Bah SAID
good-by.
You're an awfully nice kid, Lind
Ir you ever hit New York you'd get
along great, II you'd keep your head
and not be like they are down there
He had asked what she meant, and
she had only shrugged her shoulders.
Nothing. she had said, only nobody
cared about anybody else down there.
They weren't neighborly; they Just
didn't care whether you lived or died.
even II you happened to be next door
to them.
you'll know what l mean II you
ever go there" she added.
Now he knew. He had moved from
the McAlpin into little furnished
room on a side street. Not that he
had to. He could have wired home
for money, but he wanted to show the
old man he could stand on his own
and make good. There was nobody In
the rooming house who ever spoke to
him excepting the old Irish woman
who came to clean up his room.
But when he passed in and out he
often saw a girl at the telephone In
the lower hall. She attracted him
oddly. because she seemed like one Of
the girls back home.
Then one night he was waksned BY
q smarting sensation In his throat,
and he opened his eyes to nnd himself
in q gray cloud.
From the basement windows the
smoke was pouring out thickly. A
man passed in the falling snow and he
hailed him. telling him to turn in the
alarm at the corner while he reused
the rest OF the house. He tried as he
made his way through the smoke-filled
halls to remember the people In the
rooms above. hut on the third landing
Miss Donald met him. and she was
wrapped In long gray cloak.
"T've called them ALL" she told him
quietly. at Is Just the furnace. There
isn't any real danger of Gre. Nora for
got TO open the draughts before she
went to bed. and the house is filled
with coal gas and smoke. It's all right
now. She went down to ir 1t.
"when there's so much smoke there
isn't much flame. Mr.. Lindley." she
said seriously.
"How did you know my namef l
didn't think anybody in New York
knew their neighbor's names even." he
told her.
She laughed and hesitated.
"You see, I know some one who
knows you. Bah Wellesley. She's In
the same show am this season up nt
the Jardin des Fleurs. roof show.
you know. I'm from the West, too.
Omaha. and we're friends. She was
down here to see me and recognized
you as you came through the hall, but
you didn't seem to remember her. But
/ know all about you. and I've wanted