The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1920-08-12
CHAPTER CONTINUED.

CHAPTER I-continued.
P
In Frisco again, with the boy nearly
four years of age, John worked in
many strange places. They lived near
DOry street. John was a marked
man. He did not drink often, but he
chose the most fatal occasions for 1t.
The gray shadows beneath his eyes
deepened. Con learned to cut bread
and light the fireS-a rather solemn
young person. who was well aware
that his father was not always the
same. His eyes were blue, large,
ready to trust. In his consciousness
there was no such thing as stranger.
The matter Cs home remained world
wide.
He ventured down to the steam
ferries and pOndered the mystery of
their endless coming and going. He
loved the strength of horses as they
hauled heaping loads over the cObbles.
He wondered what made the loads so
heavy. And where had everything
come from? The fire-engines were de-
lightful. At night, when they passed
below the window and he could not
get up, he lay beside his father and
wondered what might be burning, and
imagined how the smoke would come
out and blacken the stars, and the fire
crackle and curl up high, as the fire.
men worked from the street. Was it
a big building burning? Who was get
ting burned up? What would they
have done If they hadn't been burned
up tonight?
On some occasions his father would
talk, but he was asleep all the while
and how could he know what he was
saying? Con listened and it was like
Bill the Chink. He could not under
stand the words of either of them, but
it was wonderful to hear. There was
a rhythmic pulse TO these night words
of John Lexington, and upon it Con
was frequently carried into magic
dreams
'Tm going"
The father usually said this to the
boy in the morning, and it did not
mean he was going to work. Con
understood so much, but no more.
John Lexington said it more and more
often.
Con himself became marked for
different" At the age of six he felt
it. He did nearly everything the boys
in the DOry street neighbOrhood, even
the sOiled little yellow boys whose
play was weird with forty centuries of
Asiatic wickedness; but Con was not
always admitted. He could fight and
climb, was generous and bold. But
the clear light in his eyes betrayed
him; he was different.
At length he realized that things were
said concerning his father which he
could not quite fathOm. John seemed
tired and always very gentle, drowsy
but never ready for bed. Their little
kitchen was clean. The bedroom
smeIIed like Father himself, a friendly
personal scent. rather like cinnamon
and whisky. This went with the,
gray-shadowed eyes, and grew more
perceptible when John began to stay
at home every day, being out of work.
Often, now, John Lexington would
take the child between his knees and
look for long time steadily into the
blue eyes. Con found that this was
better than talking. He received his
father into an open heart, giving him
utter devotion. John slept a great
deal when out of work. His eyes were
Swallowed and sunken.
They returned to Dowagiac. The
house was rented by strangers. but the
slovenIy woman next door was there
as always, her sparse black hair stand
ing out at angles from her head. 1t
seemed she wore the same snagged
apron, stiff with grease. She moved
out to the sidewalk to shake hands.
"You amt looking well-and is this
the baby?"
She nonchalantIy pinched Cons
cheek, and he coldly suffered her
touch.
John Lexington did not reach the
cemetery. AS he was leading his son
TO that hill the blaze OF an August
sun mastered him. His vitality was
gone, had left him long since. Con
crossed the street to ask at a house
for water, because his father was
down and could not get up. Dcwa-
giac's new ambulance thus found its
premier case. The boy was handed
over to the .natron OF the city rest
room. After supper they took him to
his father in the hospital
'rm going" said John.
Con was somewhat closer to the
meaning now. Johns eyes were more
deeply Swallowed, but even in this new
situation the boy was treasured by the
familiar scent Of wine and cinnamon
about the bed.
The young son did not like the
funeral. He refused to weep as In
structed. But he screamed when they
let him see that his father was in the
box. He knew all about it now. He