The Elk Mountain pilot., 1922-05-04

U'sIWTv' "
On the Train He Took the Letter
From His Pocket and for the Doz-
enth Time Reread II
boulevard where tall tile and brick
and stone structures lowered till their
roofs were hidden In the snowfall. A
strange stir and tingle. quite distinct
from the excitement Of the arrival at
the station. pricked In Alan's veins.
and hastily he dropped the window to
his right and gazed out. The lake,
as he had known since his geography
days, lay to the east of Chicago;
therefore that void out there beyond
the park was the lake or, at least. the
harbor. A different air seemed to
come from 1t; sounds Suddenly
1t all was shut of; the taxicab.
swerving little, was dashing between
business blocks; row of buildings
had risen again upon the right; they
broke abruptly to show him wooden
walled chasm in which flowed the
river full of ice with tug dropping
its smokestack as 1t cut below the
bridge which the cab crossed; build
ings on both sides again; then, to the
right, a roaring, heaving crushing ex-
panse.
The sound, Alan knew, had been
coming to him as an undertone for
many minutes; now 1t overwhelmed.
swallowed all other sound. 1t was
great, not loud :, all sound which Alan
had heard before, except the soughing
Of the wind over his prairies came
from one point; even the monstrous
city murmur was centered in compari-
son with this. Over the lake, as over
the land, the soft snowfakes lazily
foated, down. scarcely stirred by the
slightest breeze; that roar was the
its own.
Alan choked and gasped for breath.
his pulses pounding in his throat; he
had snatched on his hat and. leaning
out Of the window sucked the lake air
in his lungs. There had been nothing
to make him expect this overwhelming
crush of feeling. The lake-he had
thought Of 1t, Of course, as great
body Of water, an interesting sight
for a prairie boy to see: that was all.
No physical experience In all his
memory had affected him like this
and 1t was without warning; the
strange thing that had stirred within
him as the car brought him to the
Drive downtown was strengthened
now a thousand-fold; 1t amazed. half
frightened, half dizxied him. Now, as
the motor suddenly swung around a
corner and shut the sight Of the lake
from him. Alan sat back breathless.
The car swerved to the east curb
about the middle Of the block and
came to a stop. The house before
which 1t had halted was large stone
house Of quiet, good design; 1t was
some generation older. apparently.
than the houses on each side of it,
which were brick and terra Gotta of
recent fashionable architecture; Alan
only glanced at them long enough to
get that impression before he opened
the cab door and got out; but as the
cab drove away, he stood beside his
suitcase looking up at the old house
which bore the number given In Ben.
jamin Corvet's letter, then around at
the other houses and back to that
again.
The neighborhood obviously pre-
cluded the probability Of Corvet's be
ing merely a lawyer-a go-between.
He must be some relative; the Ques
ton ever present in Alan's thought
since the receipt Of the letter, but held
in allegiance, as to the possibility and
nearness OF Corvet's relation to him.
took sharper and more exact form
now than he had dared to let 1t take
before. Was his relationship to
Corvet, perhaps, the closest Of all re-
lationships? Was Corvet his Il
father? He checked the question
within himself, for the time had
passed for mere speculation upon II
now. Alan was trembling excitedly;
for-whoever Corvet might be-the
enigma of Alan's existence was going
to be answered when he had entered
that house. He was going to know
who he was All the possibilities, the
responsibilities, the attachments, the
opportunities, perhaps, Of that person
whom he was-but whom, as yet, he
did not know-were before him. He
went up the steps ana, Win nngerS
excitedly unsteady. he pushed the bell
beside the door.
The door opened almost instantly
SO quickly after the ring, indeed, that
Alan, with leaping throb Of his heart,
knew that some one must have been
awaiting him. But the door opened
only half way, and the man who stood
within, gazing out at Alan question
ingly, was obviously a servant.
"what is Iii" he asked, as Alan
stood looking at him and past him to
the narrow section Of darkened hall
which was in sight.