The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1922-06-17

Z
\ person who sent II was dead? In
Tint ease. connection Of san With the
/ place where he belonged was J<r-
rnanen;iy broken. Or would some other
communicated from HAT source reaci,
him EDrDe iime-if not money. then
soniefhlDs else! Would lac be sent for
| .";ne day.
Externally. A'nn's iearnin: the little
| TINT xus known about himself made
%" change In his wov Of living: he
went 10 tie Town sch oil. which CON.
bineI GRAMMAR AM high schools
under one roof: snd. y lie grew older.
he cierked In one Of ne Town stores
! dnrinx vacations and In the evenings.
Alan always carried his money home
as pan payment Of those Arrears which
had mounted up against him since the
letter. ceased coming Al seventeen.
having finished high school. he Was
cIerkInx OficIslIy In Nerrilis general
store. when the next letter came.
II was addressed This time not to
papa, but to Alan Conrad. He seiz4d
II, tore IL open. md o bank draft for
fifteen hundred dollars fell out There
wus no letter with the enclosure. M
word Of communication; just the draft
TO the order Of Aim Conrad. Alan
wrote the Chicago bank by which the
| draft had been Issued: their reply
showed that the draft had been pur-
chased with currency. so there WAS no
record 1f the identity Of the person
who hnd sent II. yiore than TINT
amount was due for arrears for the
seven years during which no money
WIS sent. even when the total which
Alan merely endorsed the draft over
to ..fniber-: and that AL Jim. Aims
foster brother. went TO college. But.
when Jim discovered that II NOT only
was possible but planned NJ the uni
veryity for boy to work his why
through. Aim went also.
-Four wonderful years followed. In
conI,nniopship with educated people:
ideas and manners cnne to him which
ne could not have acquired Mt home !:
athletics Strengthened and added hear
Ing to his muscular. weil-fOrmed
bDdy: his pleasant. strong youn: face
acquired se'f-re'inr,ce and seif-contr0I.
Life became Riieti with possibilities for
himself which II had never held before.
But on his dny Of graduation he
had put away the enterprises he had
PINNED and the dreams he dreamed
and. conscious that his debt To father
and mother sfip remained unpaid.-he
hcd returned To care for them: for
fnrher's health had failed and Jim. who
had opened law office In Kansas
CITY. could d" E"tiin: to help.
No more money had followed the
f-uft from Chicago and there had
been no communication. Of any kind !:
bur the receipt Of MO- considerable a
sum Ind revived and intensified all
Aims specu'afI"ns about himself. The
vague expectation Of his CHILDHOOD
that sometime. In S"me why. he would
be sent for; Ind grown during the
last six years. to definite belief.
And nOw-On the afternoon before
the summons had come.
This time, Ms he tore open the en-
veIope. he saw TINT beside check.
there was writing witlin-nn uneven
md nervousIOnk but plainly Ie2ib'e
| communication In iOnglinnd. The
letter made no explanation. IT told
him. rather than hsked him. to come
TO Chicago. gave minnie instructions
for the Journey. and advised him to
telegraph when he started. The
check was for hundred dollars to
pm his expenses. Check and letter
wee signed by II name completely
strange to him.
He was n distinctly attractive look
| Ing Ind, ms he stood now on tile station
pIatform OF the lIttle town, While the
enstl,ound train rumbIcd In. and he
fingered In his pocket the letter from
Chicago.
On the train he tool; the letter from
hIs pochet md for the ,IDzeutb time
rerend II. Wns Covert. n relative? Was