Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1921-01-05

as ne read. de ha0 signed but one of
them. when, with an ejaculation upon
the warmth of the weather, he flung
off his cap. and loosening the clasps
of his coat collar, walked into the ada
cent room.
In a few minutes he reappeared;
and, having discarded the motoring
buster, he was outwsrdly transformed.
Snow-white ducks, white outing slip
pers. with silken hosiery shlmmering
where It showed, a soft white shirt.
through the attached collar of which
was looped voluminous tie of blood
red hue, a crush hat, white as an
Easter lily. turned up in front and
down behind and encircled by a GRIM
son ribbon-these made up his attire.
you look like the epitome Of
comic opera" Hunt laughed, aside
from the phone. whittier away?
Yachting?"
NO" replied Fitzhugh, appendng
his signature to the rest of the papers.
mo, I'm not going yachting" He put
down his pen, picked up his cane. stood
up. I'm going into the pit"
But what the" Hunt, who had
half-risen from his chair, sank back.
bewildered. what the dickens do you
want to expose your hand for, Dan?"
Daniel showed his teeth in an odd
grin. For an instant it somehow sug-
gested to the other something sinister
like wolf barring its fangs.
Better come along and watch me,
Hunt, starting toward the door. I'm
going to give 'em something to talk
about. ComingT He waited at the
door, Tapping his cane against his i'm
maculate trousers.
And this day began a spectacular
flourish of snowy histrionics unrivaled
before or since on the Chicago Board
of Trade. During the rest of the days
session in the wheat pit, Fitzhugh, the
actor, was the center of all attraction.
The visitors in the gallery remarked
him and pointed him out to one anoth-
err; the spectators. dealers, brokers
clerks, officers of the board, all those
whose duties brought them on the
floor" soon or late found their atten-
ton directed toward him. His extreme
height, emphasizing his unusual garb,
rendered him strikingly conspicuous
among his fellows. OF them all he
was the only one who stood out dis
tinctly. He was the only one Of his
sort The dramatic scene comported
vxsft ktra IL L., III IL
meat This was the moment he had
dreamed Of long ago when he had
stood up yonder in the visitors gallery.
his whole being keyed to the martial
pitch Of gold that screamed to him
from the battlefield.
But how different the realization
None OF those who elamored about
him, channg him, seeking to take ad.
vantage Of what seemed to them a
mental alteration, knew he was being
tortured by a ghost. The ghost of
woman Of raven hair and olive skin
ard sad. accusing eyes that ever re-
preached him, that eyer seemed to
say: "You were cruel, Daniel-al-
ways cruel" They did not know that
when often he gesticulated to no end.
or that when he Numbered his loudest
and appeared most abandoned to the
feverish excitement of the pit, the up
braidlngs Of the ghost were cutting
him to the quick, were flashing him the
hardest.
As the days passed Fitzhugh's pas
sion for showing off" increased amaz-
ingly. Ever prolific with freaks Of act
Ing, he kept his associates on tenter-
hooks Of curiosity. None could imag
inc what he would do next. He al
ways did the unexpected. Nothing
was too fantastical. Once during a
Saturday nooIhOur he started furore
in the rotunda OF the board Of trade
by striding through the crowd playing
boisterously on a mouth-organ, while
round him capered several monkeys,
borrowed from some ForQuer street
Italians; anon ar dinner In his apart
ment one evening he received his
guests in war paint and feathers and
the full regalia of an Indian chieftain.
Yet those who knew him intimately
as Hunt and two or three others
were not long In noticing a change had
come over him. When he thought he
was unobserved he was given to long
periods of broodlng. and, as they right
ly supposed, all his bizarrerie was not
the real Fftzhugh, but only a mask,
all his theatrical excitement not genu-
inc, but only cloak for an inner I'M
happiness.
II was during one of these dark
periods that he stole secretly away
not sven Hunt knew OF his where
abouts-and for nearly a week was IN
seen m Chicago. The day he returned
he went to his safety deposit vault and
locked therein q packet Of papers.
These papers. obtained at great price
and with commensurate difficulty. were
the deeds to the Fitzrandolph home
stead In Maryland. And still
he was not happy. Still there remained
the void, the dull gap he could not I'LL.
Time and again during his first year
Of grief Fitzhugh had endeavored,
with Characteristic audacity, 10 see
Kathleen. but always substantially in
vain. He had followed her to New
port, whence she flew with her moth
er after the rupture. found she had
sailed the day before for Switzerland,
had taken the next steamer. only to
miss her again. and for three months