Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-09-16

laughed.
Johnson shook his head. Never heard Of
that or her"
johnson. I'm going to take you out some
night and show you the own"
NO. sir. This is the town. .hereabouts
Here is where we hold the reins, sir. Those
fancy, Offices uptown don't mean anything
Dow here we, own the city. You will wan
me to mail this special delivcry?"'
Yes
johnson scrubbed his chin, which was a.
ways in need Of a shave late afternoons
Mr.. Bancroft, it's none of my business, but
it seems to me that some one ought to nd
wise YOU" -
About WHAT"
Writing personal letters to young ladies
of the theater. They're a bad lot.''
But I'm not writing any letters; and II
I did, Bancroft wouldn't appear in any OF
them. I'm Jeremiah Collingswood, remem-
ber."
II am only suggesting. sir. 1 can't help
but observe the headlines in the newspapers.
Always some young fellow is being rocked.
by these harpies."
well, III remember. I've seen some Of
that in the newspa pers myself. At present I
am perfectly safe. I'm Il poor young man
who has come to the city to work"
Women have a way of finding out what
they wish to know, sir"
II haven't any locks to shear, Mr.. john
son. The military cut doesn't give much Of
a hand grip
True. Do you ever think about it?.
Johnson asked, with a jerk Of the thumb
toward the room once occupied by Silas
Bancroft.
Yes" said Bancroft, his expression seri-s
Gus. by the way, who owned that house
before my father bought it?"
II can tell you in a minute nswered
the old clerk. He returned after a brief
absence. 1T was purchased from the Chem
ioal bank
WHO owned it before that?"
Il should have to make a search"
Don't bother. But l find myself curious
about everything
Yes, sir. I still hold to the opinion that
there were high wordsSin there"
But what can be done?" said Bancroft
erasively. There isn't so much as a single
hair to pick up"
johnson sighed. There doesn't seem to
be-"
:. Do you know anything about my father
that Mr.. doesnit?"
" No, sir"
"well, send this letter special delivery;
and tell Mr.. Smell I'll be in tomorrow, be-
tween eleven and twelve" N.
Nh. Smell tells me you're quite a Latin
scholar, sir"
"Oh, l can get along with it."
That's one of my pastimes, sir. l never
tire of the NIncid."
- All of which l saw, and part Of which 1
was Well talk it over some day. I'm in a
hurry now" --.~~
Johnson sighed again Youth was ever in
u hurry. All at once a brilliant idea popped
into his dusty mind. lie determined to see
what sort Of a girl this Miss Bowman was.
1t was due to the firm to see that this
youngster was particularly guarded. 1t was
not right to. sit back and permit him to be
made a fool of.
"By-by. Better reconsider and let me
give you 4 whirl some night" said Bancroft,
unconsciousy using one of Jenny Malloy's
words.
I'm too old for that nonsense"
III wager you never had a wllirl.' ;
Maybe not. Good day, sir"
On the way back to the house in Ninth
street Bancroft studied Nancy's letter; that
is, he studied the address on the envelope.
Even though he knew the exact wording OF
the letter. even though it was really adj
dressed TO him. he would never break into It.
But he would always keep it. y
He was not in love; he was merely in the
middle of one Of those first adventures Of
youth; he was tiguratively sitting on the
porch in the moonlight, or going to a barn
dance or to n church social. It was the
thirsty heart, reaching for the nearest water;
and somehow Nancy was the naturalization
Of those dreams he had had Of women.
Lacking q Nancy, he would have been tenn
porarily satisfied with n Jenny; u pretty.
friendly young woman, no matter what her
name was. a
He was astonished when the train guard
whined, Eighteenth street."
He walked down to Ninth street. Every
where men AID women. boys and girls. were
pouring forth out Of doors. almost with that
jerky hurriedness Of the slowly turned NOV
ing picture. camera which had always made
him laugh. But, in this hour he found moth
ing to laugh at. He was struck by an astound.
ing fact. He was without ambition: that II,
he had no objective, no goal. 1t seemed in
credible. He could not recall having desired
to be something-a novelist, an inventor, q
merchant prince. What was the meaning Of
that? He had lived the very kind Of life to
stir the ambition; and all these years he had
lent his body to mental tasks and his brain
to moonshine. What would he have been had
his father died in poverty? A farmland, or 9
a. country school teacher, all his life! To-
carve out a niche for himself-he hadn't
really given the matter any substantial con-
sideration. Oh, yes, he had imagined himself
this or that character. but he had never Gre
ated a permanent dream of which he himself
should be the wool and warp. And now the
- 1880 ANSAASs WI ~
the instinct.
1t was a distinct shock. What could he do?
What should he try to do? The notion Of
fooling about with at Latin primer now dis
gusted him. Could he write? Surely, no; or
he would have begun scribbling long ago. He
was. twenty-four. the son of his father, and
he had no definite ambition, no goal toward
which to set his energies! He became ap.
palled; and the depression abided with him
long after the curtain had risen upon the
first act Of The Purple Moth Until he
discovered johnson in the audience!
He wanted to laugh: for he understood the
meaning of the old fossils appearance in this
ungodly temple Of music and flesh and laugh
ter. Wanted to see for himself what sort or
a girl it was whose dog had been worth SO
much trouble. The first impulse was to meet
and carry him off to Nancy and Jenny,
as first mate to his own Columbus. That
would be funny-the fossil and the pollywog
venturing forth for the first time into the
night lie OF a great city. But he had Is
dismiss the notion as too dangerous. Il John.
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