The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-03-27
CHAPTER 1.

l.
To take Mark Sabre at the age
of "a, and in the year 1912, and at
the place Penny Green is 20 neces-
state looking back a little towards
the time of his marriage in 1904,
but happens to find him in good
light for observation. Encounter
ing him hereabouts, one who had
shared school days with him at his
preparatory school so much as
"a years back would have found
matter for recognition.
4 usefully garrulous person, one
Hapgood, a solicitor, found mucf.
Whom do you think / met yes
terday? Old Sabre! You remember
old Sabre at old Wickamote's?
Yes, that's the chap. Used
to call him Puzzlehead, remember !?
Because he used to screw up his
forehead over things old Wicka-
mote or any of the other masters
said and sort Of drawl out, We'll,
1 don't see that, sir Yes,
rather, And then. that other
expression of his. Just the oppo-
w uGA OlQ lChdnOle VI oOLuS
one had landed him, or all of US.
with some dashed punishment, and
we were gassing about 1t, used to
screw up his nut in the same way
and say, We'll, what does he mean,
you ass" and he'd start gassing
some rot till someone said, Good
lord, fancy sticking up for mas
teri And old Puzzlehead would say,
! You sickening fool, I'm not stick
ing up for him. I'm only saying
he's right from how he looks at it
and it's no good saying he's wrong
Ha! Funny days . . Yes, l
met him.
Yes, in his office saw him 3.
He's in a good business down there
at Hidborough. Dashed good. For
tune, East and Sabre Never
heard of them? All, well, that
shows you're not a pillar of the
church, old son. If you took the
faintest interest in your particU
lar place of worship, or in any
Anglican place of worship, you'd
know that whenever you want any
thing for the church from a hymn
( book or a hassock or a pew to a
pulpit "a screen or spire you go
to Fortune, East and Sabre, It'd
borough. Similarly in the schol-
astic line, anything from a birch
rod to a desk-Fortune, East and
Sabre, by return and the best. No,
they're the great church and school
furnishing people.
married? Oh. yes, he's married.
Has been some time, l believe,
though they've no kids. had lunch
at his place one time / was down
Tidborough way. Now there's a
place you ought to go to paint one
of your pictures-where he lives
Penny Green. Picturesque, quaint
il ever a place was
= Yes, you go down there and
have a look, with your sketch
book. Old Sabre1l love to see you
His wife? Oh, very nice,
distinctly nice. Pretty woman,
very. Somehow l didn't think quite
head. Didn't appear to have the re-
hottest interest in any of the things
he was keen about and he seemed
bit fed with her sort of talk.
Hers was all gossip-all about the
people there and what a rum crowd
they were. Devilish funny, /
thought, some of her stories. But
old Sabre-well, / suppose he'd
heard 'em before. Still, there was
somethin g-something about the
two of them. You know that sort
of-sort of stiffish feeling you some
times feel in the air with two peo-
pie who don't quite click"
CHAPTER II.
/.
Thus, by easy means of the gar
rulous Hapgood, appear persons,
places, Institutions; lives, homes,
activities; the web and the tangle
and the emanities of minute frag-
ment of human existence. Life. An
odd business. Into life we come,
mysteriously arrived, are set on
our feet and on we go: functioning
more or less ineff .ctively, passing
through permutations and combi-
|; nations; meeting the successive
events, shocks, surprises of hours,