The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1919-12-19

History" and beneath the title. the
rubric, Biographies Of the 500 Most
Prominent Citizens and Families In
the History Of the City" He had
glanced at it absently. merely noticing
the title and subtitle. and wandered
out of the room, thinking of other
things and feeling no curiosity about
the book. But he had thought of it
several times since with a faint, vague
uneasiness; and now when he entered
the lobby he walked directly into the
parlOr where he had seen the book.
The room was empty as it always was
on Sunday mornings, and the flamboy-
ant volume was still upon the table
evidently a fixture as sort of local
Almanach de Gotha, or Burke, for the
enlightenment of tenants and boarders.
He turned to the index where the
names Of the five hundred Most Promi-
nent Citizens and Families in the His
tory of the City were arranged in al
phabetical order, and ran his finger
down the column of AS: Albeit, Alb
bolt, Abrams, Adams, Adams, Adler,
Akers, Albertsmeyer, Alexander, Allen,
Ambrose, Ambuhl, Anderson, Andrews,
Appenbasch, Archer, Arszman, Ash
craft. Austin, Alvey.
Georges eyes remained for some
time fixed on the thin space between
the names "AIlen" and Ambrose"
Then he closed the book quietly, and
went up to his own room, agreeing
with the elevator boy, on the way,
that it was getting to be a mighty
nasty wet and windy day outside.
The elevator boy noticed nothing un-
usual about him and neither did Fanny,
when she came in from church with
her hat ruined, an hour later And yet
something had happened-a thing
which. years ago, had been the eager
est hope Of many, many good citizens
OF the town. They had thought of 1t,
longed for 1t, hoping acutely that they
might live to see the day when it would
come to pass. And now 1t had hap
pened at last: George Minafer had
got his come-upance.
| He had got it three times filed and
running over. The city had rolled over
his heart, burying 1t under as it rolled
over the Majors and buried 1t under.
The city had rolled over the Amber
sons and buried them under to the last
vestige; and it mattered little that
George guessed easily enough that
most OF the five hundred Most Promi-
nent had paid something substantial
| of f},o nf ctn vii
etc."-the Five Hundred had heaved
the final shovelful of SCOT upon that
heap Of obscurity wherein the Amber
sons were lost forever from sight and
history. Quicksilver In a nest of
| cracks!"
George Minafer had got his come
upance, but the people who had SO
longed for 1t were not there to see It,
and they never knew 1t. Those who
were still living had forgotten all
about 1t and all about him.
George had seen Eugene only once
since their calamitous encounter. They
had passed on opposite sides of the
street, downtown; each had been
aware that the other was aware OF
him, and yet each kept his eyes
straight forward, and neither had
shown a perceptible alteration of coun
tenance. 1t seemed to George that he
felt emanating from the outwardly i'm
perturbable person of his mothers ole
friend a hate that was like a hot wind
At his mothers funeral and at the
Majors he had been conscious thai
Eugene was there: though he had aft
erward no recollection of seeing him
and, while certain of his presence, wa.
uncertain how he knew of 1t. Fanny
had not told him, for she understood
George well enough not to speak Il
him Of Eugene or Lucy. Nowadays
Fanny almost never saw either o.
them and seldom thought of them-s(
was passing middle age, when old in
tensities and longings grow thin an(
fiatten out as Fanny herself was thin
ming and flattening out; and she wal
settling down contentedly to her apart
ment-house intimacies.
AhV lily was oO DiS, AOW, lliul pCO
pie disappeared into it unnoticed, ant
the disappearance of Fanny and he
nephew was not exceptional. People
no longer knew their neghbors as
matter of course; one lived for year.
next door to strangers-that sharpes
of all the changes since the old day
and a friend would lose sight of
friend for year, and not know it.
One May day George thought he hat
a glimpse of Lucy. He was not Ger
tain, but he was sufficiently disturbed
In spite of his uncertainty. A promo
ton in his work now frequently tool
him out of town for week. or longer
and it was upon his return from one o
these absences that he had the strang
experience. He had walked home iron
/. the station, and as he turned the cor
ner which brought him in sight of tn
apartment house entrance though tw
blocks distant from II. he saw a charm
ing little figure come out. get into
shiny landaulet automobile, and driv
away. Even at that distance no on