Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-12-11
).
CHATTER ].
Treasare-Trova

CHATTER /. (
Trcasure-Tfove.
John Brooke sat on the side of tn,
bed and stared dreAnhly, a~bstracte,
and unseeing, at the empty fireplace
across the room.
"Is there anything I can get TO
you, sir?v
"A blue.uniformed bellboy. who ,hal
switched on the electric light, Opener
a window and turned up the catche
Of Brooke's travelling bag, asked tn
question ps he stood with a hand Of
the doorknob..
Thus AROUSED, the young man ex
tfacted q dime from his trouser
pocket and held 1t out to the lad.
mo, nothing, thank you." he an
sWered. And then, as the boys ham
closed over the coin, he added: "Yo,
can have me called at eight o'clocl
tomorrow, II you will"
Left to himself. Brooke's dream wa!
not renewed In its place was al
overwhelming sense Of loneliness;
Suddenly he had fallen prey to de
preston. He vas alone, not only ii
2 strange city, but in a strange land
And yet it was the land Of his nativi
~. BY birth he was an American
but from infancy he had dwelt OF
sun-kissed Oahu in the far Pacific
the crossroads Of three continents
And his home had been Honolulu, thu
Beautiful, where "Aloha"-'Iove tt
y9u!"-is the watchword.
He had found New York chill, damn
and inhospitable by contrast. Thu
taxtcab man who drove him from the
station had snarled at hinA and thf
foom-elerk in the hotel Office below
had treated him with superior indif-
ference. Only the siiver-buttoned
be1l-boy had been halfway kindly;
the impersonal, the stereotyped. the
prospecting.
He wondered whether Boston,
| whittier he was bound, would give
him more cordial greeting; whether
it would seem less forbidding on first
acquaintance. There, at all events, he
would not be totally friendiess, for,
suddenly orphaned, he was going to
his uncie-his mothers brother-who
was OF the Stock Exchange and had
promised him, a place in his Office.
Brooke was almost sorry now that
he had decided to stop over in New
York. It would have been ~pleasapter,
probably, to go on and find a vel
come at his journeys end, instead Of
hating on the threshold where he was
unknown and kindly greeting was not
to be expected. But he had long
cherished a desire to see the great
metropolis of the United States. He
had read of it, heard stories about it,
and listened to descriptions OF its
wonders until it had become a sort Of
Turing obsession. And now, after
travelling nearly six thousand males,
he had come upon his prize. only to
find the gilt furnished and the color
ing dimmed.
Presently he drew his hand i'm
patiently across his eyes, took a deep
breath, stretched himself and stood
up, making a gallant effort to throw
OF the melancholy mood which had
dropped upon him-Admitting that he
not fair to- his host; that the fault
was with himself and the conditions
rather than with his stopping place
and his people: that he was weary
after his journey; that it was the
weather and the hour which was to
blame; that instead Of observing dur
ing his short ride from the railway
station he had fallen into a dream,
~AW sDSANSN H~kA&HA IA0 I01n~ W0AAHCu
windows Of his taxicab, and that the
dream had besn one Of mixed pleas
ure and pain and far removed from
h present time and place.
He stood for 2 HAoment before the
Ions, plate-mtrr0r panel Of the closet
door, telling his reflection these
things. and scanning deprecatingiy the
figure which faced him. He scarcely
blamed h cabrnan now for his snarl,
or the room clerk for his superior
air, for he saw himself travel-soijed,
unshavep and unshorn-hH whole APP
pearance shabby and unkempt.
Swarthy-sktnned, as are all jewellers
in the Hawaiian archipelago, hts
duskiness was augmented by the dust
Of travel. until his race might be a
matter OF question:; and his clothes OF
good material and originally well-f At.
ting, were rent in some places and
stained with mire and SCOT in others
He glanced sideways at the gray
hat OF soft felt which lay upon the
bureau between the windows, and
smiled. It was scarcely more thar
4 snaS,f and It. was several sizes TOT
large for him. But it had been better
than no hat at all, and his own wa
lost In the accident last night. For 1
little he wondered where he had go
his disreputable-appearing makeshift
and then he remembered. Yes. It ha&
bean given to hin, at the farm hous
whore he had carried her.
And 30 he fell to dreaming again
standing there. before the tails mir
ror. ! And on the summit Of his I'll
of ghosts was she whose eyes wer
voice was the echo Of purltng brooks
| 0Nco NOVA he hAlN .hAp Nlnan v%hln H