The Elk Mountain pilot., 1921-11-10
heopyrieht 1921 by the Bell Syndicate Inc.

,
mistic a groove. But II the truth of
his whereabouts could have been
made known to them, as they sat thus
together ut what was developing vir-
tually into his wake. with Herbert as
compulsory participant, they would
have turned the session into u riot of
amazement Noble was in the very
last place (they would have said,
when calmer) where anybody in the
world could have madly dreamed of
looking for him They would have
been right about 1t. No one could
have expected to find Noble tonight
inside the old, four-square brick house
of Mr.. III. /. Atwater, Senior, chief of
the Atwaters and father of the dis
turbing Julia. This was an old man of
rigidly limited sympathies; and his
opinion of Noble Dill had become al
most notorious; here was no bosom of
refuge for a lorn Noble needing SOL
ace, nor was his house for any moment
hospitable with Julia out of 1t. Mores
over Mr.. III. l. Atwater, Senior, was
not at present in the house he had
closed and locked it yesterday. giving
the servants weeks vacation and
telling them not to return till he sent
for them; and had then gone out of
town to look over hominy mill he
thought of buying. And yet, as the
wake went on, there was a light in the
house, and under that light sat Noble
Dill.
Returning home, after Florence had
Sh hnf wit La
hand, Noble had changed his shoes
and his tie. He was but mechan-
ism; he had no motive. The shoes he
put on were no better than those he
took off; the fresh tie was no lovelier
than the one he had worn; nor had It
even the lucidlty to be purple one
as evidence of grief. No; his action
was, If so viewed, 'crazy," as Aunt
Fanny had called it. Agitation first
took this form; that was all. Love
and change of dress are closely allied;
and in happier times when Noble came
home from work and would see Julia
in the evening he usually changed his
clothes. No doubt there is some faint
tracery here, too indistinct to repay
contemplation.
When he left the house he walked
rapidly downtown, and toward the
end of this one-mile Journey he ran;
but as he was then approaching the
railway station, no one thought him
eccentric. He was, however; for
when he entered the station he went
to bench and sat looking upward
for more than ten minutes; then rose
and went to a ticket-window and asked
for timetable,
"What road?' the clerk inquired.
"All points SOUTH" said Noble.
He placed the timetable, still fold
ed, in his pocket, rested an elbow on
the brass apron Of the window, and
would have given himself up to re-
Elections, though urged to move away.
Several people wishing to buy tickets
had formed a line behind him and
they perceived that Noble had nothing
more to say to the clerk. The latter
encouraged their protests, and even
went so far as to exclaim, "For
heavens sakel Can't you let these
folks buy their tickets?" And since
Noble still did not move: "My gosh.
haven't you got no feet?"
"Feet? Oh, yes,n said Noble gently.
I'm going away" And went back to
his seat.
After while he sought to study
his timetable. Ordinarily, his mind
was one of those able to decipher and
comprehend railway timetables; he
had few gifts, but this was one of
them. 1t failed him, now; and he
wandered back to the tlcket-window,
and, after urgent coaching, eventually
took his place at the end instead of at
the head of the line that waited there
In his turn he came again to the win
dow, and departed from it after
conversation with the clerk which left
the latter in unconscious accord with
Aunt Fanny Atwater's commiserating
adjective. though the clerks own pity
was expressed in argot. "The poor
nut ~ he explained to his next client.
wants to buy a ticket on train
that don't pull out till ten thirty-five
tonight; and me film 1t all out,
stampin' it and everything. what for
Turned out all his pockets and
couldn't come nearern eight dollars
Il ort o. the price Where you want
to go?"
Noble went back TO his bench and
sat there for long time. though there
was no time long or short for him.
He was not yet consciously suffering
greatly: nor was he thinking Mt all.
True. he had dim. persistent impulse
10 action-or else why should he be
IT the station ?-but for the clearest
expression Of his condition 1t is neces-
,nry to borrow culinary symbol; he
was telling. The state of shock wns
slnMlv tlisnersing while n perceptIon