The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1922-06-09
CHAPTER v

CHAPTER
Arizona Follows lts Lawless Impulse.
The Sea Siren was already begin
ming to fill up when Clay descended
three steps to a cellar and was warily
admitted. A near-Hawaiian orchestra
was stunning out a dance tune and a
few couples were on the floor. Wait
resses, got up as Loreleis, were NOV
ing about among the guests delivering
orders for refreshments.
The westerner sat down in q corner
and looked about him. The walls were
decorated with crude purple crayons
Of underfed sirens. A statue of a nude
woman distressed Clay. He did not
mind the missing clothes, bue she was
so dreadfully emaciated that he
thought 1t wise for her to cling to the
y~ellow-and-red draped barber pole
that rose from the pedestal. On the
base was the legend, 1.-The Weeping
Lady" After he had tasted the Sea
Siren fare the man from Arizona sus-
pected that both her grief and her
anaemia arose from the fact that she
had been fed on 1t.
A man in artists velveteenS, minus
a haircut, with a large, fat, pasty face,
sat at an adjoining table and dis
cOursed to his friends. Presently, dur
ing an intermission Of the music, he
rose and took the rest of those present
into his confidence.
Bourgeois to the core" he an
%nounced, speaking Of the United
States. What are the idols we wor-
ship? Law, the chain which binds an
enslaved people, thrift, born Of childish
fear; love Of country, which is another
name for Grass provincialism. II am
a Cosmopolite, not an American. b.
hemia is my land, and all free souls
are my brothers. Why should l get
wrinkles because Germany sunk the
Lusitania a month or two ago? That's
her business, not mine"
Clay leaned forward on q search for
Information. Excuse me for buttin'
In, and me g stranger. But isn't II yore
business when she murders American
women and childrenT"
The pasty-faced man looked at him
with thinly disguised contempt. You
wouldn't understand IL l explained"
"Mebbeso / wouldn't, but you take
q whirl at it and I'll listen high, wide,
and handsome"
The man In velveteens Unexpectedly
found himself doing as he was told.
There was a suggestion of compulS:on
about the gray-hlue eyes fastened on
his, something In the clamp OF the
strong jaw that brought him up for
q moment against stark reality.
1.-THE intelligentsia Of a country
know that there can be no freedom
until there Is no law. Every mans
duty Is to disregard duty. So, by far
ing far on the wings of desire, he helps
break down the slavery that binds US.
Obey the Cosmic Urge of your soul re
gardless Of where 1t leads you, young
man."
It was unfortunate for the poet OF
Bohemia that at this precise moment
Kitty Mason, dressed In sandals and a
Hlac-patterned SmOck, stOOd before
him with a tray of cigarettes asking
for his trade. The naive appeal in her
soft yes had its weight with the poet.
What is the use of living in Bohemia
If one cannOt be free to follow i'm
pulse? He slipped an arm about the
girl and kissed the crimson lips up
turned to him.
Kitty started back with a little cry
Of distress. A.,
The freedom taken by the near-poet
wa instantly avenged.
A Cosmic Urge beat In the veins of
the savage from Arizona. He took the
poets advice and followed his Law
less Impulse where 1t led. Across the
table q long arm reached. Sinewy
fingers closed upon the flowing neck
wear of the fat-faced orator and
dragged him forward, leaving over
turned glasses in the wake of his
course.
The man in velveteens met the eyes
OF the energetic manhandler and
quailed. This brown-faced barbarian
looked very much like business.
Don't you touch mel Don't you
dare touch me !" the apostle of anarchy /,
Shrilled as the table crashed down.
It'll tur you over to the policep
Clay jerked him to his feet. Hard !,
knuckles pressed cruelty into the soft
throat of the Villager. "Git down on
yore her kcres aca be- the Iady's par