New-York tribune., 1920-10-03

Of Chicago's North Shore suburbs, tc
spend the week end with the Coles
(Cole was the lawyer whose good
counsel in the matter Of the divorce
l have already reported.) AS he
passed one of the hotels famous for
it's latitudinarian attitude toward
It's clientele, a man he knew came
out of the restaurant and called up
his car to the curb. Cases ac-
quaintance with him dated from, and
was confined to, his stage door and
cafe period and he'd gladly have
gone by with a mere nod. When
the man urged him to come in and
have drink he declined with the
explanation that he had Just time to
make his train for High Forest.
"Immensel" the man said.
"Were going out that way our
selves. Get in. That's damn sight
better than poking out there In one
Of their tinpot trains"
There was no denying this state
ment and the big car looked invit-
ing. Case hesitated visibly. The
man snatched his suitcase from him
and slowed it In the tonneau.
"Get in," he commanded. Then,
to the chauffeur, II sha'nt want
you. Drive myself. You can report
tomorrow. No! Sit down." he in
sisted, turning again to Case. "The
others'll be out In a minute. Here
they are now! We're going to take
Walter Case here to High Forest" "
he announced to the trio, two women
and man, who were crossing the
sidewalk.
He didn't know how long the four
Of them had been drinking, but he
was somewhat reassured by the
driving Of his acquaintance at The
wheel. He navigated the downtown
traffic skillfully and with good judg-
ment. He chose the main interior
highway north In preference to the
overcrowded drive along the shore,
and it was not until he'd got out of
town and got fairly launched on the
twenty-foOt concrete roadway that
he began to drive fast Here, how
ever, he hit Il solid forty-hve miles
an hour and held 1t.
The early October evening settled
down chill and misty, and they all
got pretty cold. Even the girl In
the tonneau, although frankly in the
embrace Of the other man, COM
planned bitterly that she was freez-
ing and adjured the driver to hurry
up and get somewhere where they
could get warm. "Somewhere"-
the real objective Of the party
turned out to DO roadhoGse known
as the Daf'odil, situated at the four
corners where one would naturally
turn east to 60 to High Forest. 1t
was so completely taken for granted
by all the party that stop should
De made there that Case did not
even protest.
ALT an hour later, seeing that
1 Case, who was drinking moth
ing but Vichy and not getting
into the spirit Of the party at all,
was uncomfortable, he offered to run
him over alone, leaving his trio of
guests to await his return here at
the Daffodil. But the girls and the
other man wouldn't hear of this.
The road from the Daffodil to
High Forest is narrow gravel road
capable Of holding high speed so
long as one stays in the single well
marked pair Of tracks at the crown
Of 1t. Less than a mile from the
Daffodll is little plank bridge with
out guard rails over q tiny creek.
AS they approached this creek a
westbound car of joyriders like
themselves came tearing along, un-
able to yield any Of the road be-
cause Of the narrowness of the
bridge. The eastbound car pulled out,
missed the bridge altogether with
its outside wheels and turned over.
By the time the other car had
stopped and backed down to them
Case had picked himself up and as
certained that beyond the possibility
of broken wrist he had suffered no
injury. The girl who had sat in the
tonneau with him had fallen into
the plowed field the other side of the
creek and was screaming hysterical-
~ Her man was sitting waist deep
IN the water of the creek, asking
where everybody was and what had
happened. The owner of the car,
trying to stanch bad. glass cut In
his scalp with a handkerchief, was
bending over the girl who had been
riding in front, and Case made his
way across the creek to him. The
girl at their feet was Enthusiastically
and horribly dead.