Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1920-03-26
CHAPTER /.

With an exclamation of annoyance
I crumpled up the note from my great
uncle Rufus and flung it on the floor
My disappointment at its 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
companionship had come to an abrupt
end.
"Cheer up, old man." cried the op-
tirnfstic Birge, "'your luck will change
some timer
Fright" said Roller. as he stopped
to give a final tug to the straps of his
new kit bag, "a chap as crazy about
Adventure as you are is bound to meet
her SOON"
"Stop It," cried in desperation. at
is you two who are to have the great
opportunity. Soon you'll be seeing
shrapnel burst, airplanes battling. reg
lments charging. heroes dying, and T.
I'll be sitting here alone in a hall
room, eating my heart out with lone
someness and envy. spending my days
at an uncongenial desk, and my nights,
God knows how, after you fellows have
gone"
4 "You never can TELL" chirped old
Birge, "all kinds of strange things hap
pen right here in New York. You may
be the one that has had a belIyful of
adventure before we return-if we do
His last three words gave us all a
sobering thought There was chance,
more than a 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 a sad parting fell on
us. The taxicab came and we drove
together to the pier with hardly word
spoken.
AS, we shook hands at the gang
plank old Roller spoke again, a gls
ten of tears in his eye, something al
most prophetic in his voice.
Nelson" he said, 81 feel it in my
bones that something is going to hap
pen to you soon, something thrilling
"I wish to God something would p
/ answered bitterly.
Disconsolately 1 waved them las
| adieu from the dock. In black MOOD
l rallied against the fate that had lef
me behind, poignantly lamenting tn,
lack of the eight hundred dollars tha
would have set me free to accompan,
them.
Two letters, thrust under the doc
in lodging-house fashion, awaited m,
homecoming. One of them / recog
nized at once as my mothers week.,
billet of good advice, and tossed asid
to be read when l was in a bette
frame of mind. The other was in
cramped, unfamiliar handwriting. A
I studied the envelope curiously sus
picion as to the writer's identit
flashed into my mind and eagerly
tore 1t open. My great-uncle, Ruff
OuSlOu, was dA Oiu IudIL. II mus
be from him. What could he be writ
ing to me about? Rufus CASTOR wa
ricn-worth many millions.
1t was merely an invitation to din
with him and his wife. Disgustedly
flung 1t aside. 1t capped the climax Q
my dissatisfaction with everythin,
Here were my two chums starting O
to the war, and here was /, Spaldin
Nelson, twenty-six, strong in physiqu
save for a football knee" that ha
barred me from military service, thirs
ing for excitement, left behind in tn
prosaie business world and now BIZ
DIN to an uninteresting meal with tw
decrepit old relatives. / made up N
rIind not to answer the note. My grea
uncle Rufus could go hang, for all {
his millions. / would not go nei
him.
The sight of my mothers letter lyin
unopened on my desk served to reca
to me that II was she who had proven
ed my going. Poor mother! She an
had been at cross-purposes ever sint
my fathers death while was a youn
ster. 1t seemed to me that always 81