Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-02-20

beschoonbsr on q south Sea island 70
:sss u P1Ss e: shsas person wSo ssS
act the gentleman.
AND HERE RI CONTINUES
THE tall man apparently was quite
L undisturbed.
''And. the third reason is that I have
been looking for just such a--there
really isn't any other word---gentle'
man, providing he was possessed OF an.
other and very essential characteristic.
You possess that characteristic IN a
most marked degree. Your actions to.
night are unmistskable evidence that
you have nerve
ut strikes me that you've got a
little Of It yourself" observed the
young man evenly.
The quill toothpick under the adroit
guidance Of his tongue travelled from
the left to the right hand side VI sne
others mouth.
1T is equally as essential to me-
he said dryly. "You appear to fill the
bill; but there is always the possibility
Of q fly in the ointment; complications
--er--unplcasant complications. per-
haps, you know, that might have arisen
since you left Son Francisco. ana tnuL
might-er-complicate Matters
The young man relapsed into a re.
cumbent position upon the sand. his
hands clasped under his head again,
and in his turn appeared to be absorbed
in the beauty Of the night.
"Moon madness" he murmured
pityinsly. -, j.; .,u u,,
promptly. would you mind sketchlng
in roughly the details Of your interest
a. AZ. lat Az
the aristocracy?" q,
III don't see any reason why
should."' The young man yawned.
"Do you see any reason why YOU
shouldn't?' inquired the other COM
posedly. ",,.
None" said the young man. ex
cept that the steamship sails st ass
break, and I should never forgive my
self II you were left behind !.
"Nor forgive yourself. perhaps, II
YOU failed to sail on her as hrst'
class passenger" said the tall man
"What?" calculated the young man
sharply. ,,
"It depends on the story he . said:
IL don't understand" The young
man frowned. There's chance ior
me to get aboard the mail boat!
at depends on the story sa'd the
other again.
moon. mad" murmurcd the young
man once more, after moment
silence. But It's cheap at the prlce'
for it's not much OF story. beeIh'
ming where you left off in my bios-
ranhv. I ducked when the crash came
In San Francisco, and having arrived
in hell. as YOU so delicately put 1t, }
started out TO explore.
'.Mr. Dante had 1t rlght--there no
use stopping In the suburbs. l hve9
while in his last circle. It's too Dad
he never knew the Frisco waterfront. !;
Il would have fred his imagination I'm
not sure, though, but Honolulu,,s got
a little on Frisco, at that! Luck was
out, ! was fiat on my back when l
got a chance to work my way OUT 70
Honolulu. One place was as sood as
another by them ~ .s
stared At the glowing tip remin,scentiS
with bis gray eyes. .,,n. .hout ,.n.
blina'" o' he ea,W went on; but you didn',
ssv enough. It's a disease, a fever that
sets your blood on fire, and makes you'
life kind of delirious, I guess-ii you
get 1t chronic. ] guess ] wns b3rI
with it. I remember when I was KID
but I forgot, pardon me, the mail
boat sails al daybreak.
"Go as far as you like. said the
tall man. picking at his teeth with the
quill toothpick. &c.,
The young man shook his head.
Honolulu is the next stopping
place" he said. ''On the way out
picked up few odd dollars from my
fellow members OF the crew, and
Tick" 1t was the quill toothplck
The young mans eyes narrowed. and
his Jaw set challengingly.
"Whatever else I've done. he stated
lin a significant monotone. ~'I've never
played crooked. 1t was on the level.
"Of COURSE agreed the tall man
II sat in with the only stakes I had. y
said the young mnn, still monotonously
"a bit Of tobacco, a rather good knife
that I've got yet, and belt that some
one took a fancy to as being worth hall
q dollar -. .,,
the tall man in haste.
The quill toothpick was silent.
"a nal Of mine. one Of the stokcrs,
said he knew Of good place to play
in Honolulu where there was a square
deal" continued the young man 80
A night or so after we reached there,
we rot shore leave and started off. Per.
hans YOU know that part OF Honolulu.
I don't. ] didn't see much of it. knO"
there's some queer dumps, and queer
doings. and the scum Of every nation i
ality under the sun to run up against.
And | know it was q queer place my
mate stcered me into. 1t was faro. The
box was run by an old Chinaman who
looked as though he wcra trying to
impersonate one Of his ancestors. he was
20 old. Nv mate and formed the
English speaking community. There
we've a Jap or two, and q couple OF
pIeasant looking cutthroats who cursed
in Spanish. and n Chink lying on a
hunk rolling his pill. Oh. yes. the place
stunk Every once in a while the door
cpcncd and some other God -forsnken
niece OF refuse drifted in. BY midnight
We had a full house of pretty bad stuff.
at ended In q row. Of course. Some
fool of a tout came in chaperoning a
marty of three men, who were out to
ace. the sights they were passengers.
found out later, from one OF the ships
In port. ] don't know what started the
rumpus some private feud, ] guess. The
Hrst thing I knew one Of the Spanlards
had q knife out and had jumped for
the tout. 1t was free.for-all In q
minute. saw the tout 60 down. and
he didn't look good. and the place sud-
denly struck me Us mighty unhealthy
Dlace to be found in on that account.
"The .tokcr and started to fight our
way through the jam TO the door. There