The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1920-03-24
CHAPTER I.

With an exclamation of ANNOYANCE
crumpled up the note from my great
uncle Rufus and flung it on the floor.
MY disappointment Mt It's contents was
the one thing needed to complete the
utter misery OF wretched day.
Only that morning my roommates,
Birge and Roller, fortunate fellows,
had been informed that their applica-
tions for the ambulance service had
been accepted. Our year of happy
companionshlp had come to an abrupt
end.
Cheer up Old man." cried the op-
timistic Brge, "your luck will change
some time"
fright" said Roller, as he stopped
to give final tug to the straps Of his
new kit bag "a chap as crazy about
Adventure rs YOU are is bound to meet
her soon"
"Stop IT," I cried in desperation. 1T
Is you two who are to have the grcnt
opportunity. Soon you'll be seeing
shrnpncl burst, airplancs battling, reg
iments charging, heroes dying, ana L
I'll be sitting here alone in hall
room, eating my heart out With lone
somcncss and envy spending my days
at an uncOngcnial desk, and my nights,
God knows how, after you fellows have
gone"
"YOu never can tell" chirpcd old
Birge, "all kinds Of strange things hap
pen right here in New York. You may
be the one that hns had bellyful Of
adventure before we return-if we do"
: His last three words gave lis nfl q
SOLDERING thought. There was chance,
more than chance, that never again
on this earth would we three be to-
gether again. Eight Of our college
mates had preceded Birge and Roller
to the great battlefield. Already three
of them lay In hero graves somewhere
under the lilies Of France.
The silence Of q sad parting fell on
us. The tnXcab came and we drove
together to the pier with hardly word
spoken.
As we shook hands ut the gang
plank old Roller spoke again, q glis-
ten Of tears In his eye, something al
most prophetic In his voice.
"Nelson," he said, "I feel 1t in my
bones that something Is going to hap
pen to you soon, something thrilling"
"I wish to God something would 7"
answered bitterly
- DiscOnsolatcly I waved them last
adieu from the dock. In black mood
rallied against the fate that had left
me behind, poignantly lamenting the
lack Of the eight hundred dollars that
would have set me free to accompany
them.
Two letters, thrust under the door
in lodglng-house fashion, awaited my
homecoming. One OF them I recog-
billet OF good advice, and tossed aside
to be read when I was In better
frame of mind The other wCs In q
cramped, unfamiliar handwriting. AS
7 studied the envelope curiously sus-
piclon as to the writer's identity
flashed into my mind and eagerly !
tore 1t open. My grcat-uncle, Rufus
CASTOR. was an old old man. 1t must
be from him. What could he he writ
ing to me about? Rufus Castor was
ricn-worth many millions.
1t was merely an invitation to dine
with him and his wife. Dlsgustedly
flung 1t aside. 1t capped the climax of
my dissatisfaction with everything
Here were my two chums starting of
to tho war, and here was I, Spalding
Nelson twenty-six, strong in physique
save for football knee" that had
barred me from military service thirst
ing for excitement, left behind I'm the
prOsaic business world and now bid
den to an unlnteresting meal with two
dncreplt old relatives. made np my
mind not to answer the note. My great
uncle Rufus could go hang, for all OF
his millions. / would not go neal
him.
The sight Of my mother's.letter lyinf
unopened on my desk served to recall
to me that II was she who had prevent
ed my going. Poor mother! She ant
had been at crOss-purpOses ever since
my fathers death while was young
ster 1t seemed to me that always sht
had opposed everything wanted to do
After I left college she had found {
place for me In the office of one Of m,
fathers friends in the little western
city where our home was. had beer
two years getting away to join Birg,
and Roller In New York. Most Of al
,siie had set herself against my goin,
to France. She did not believe in war
4 was the only man left in tho family