The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1923-05-06

rest of the city and is SO unusual,
Il both for its position and its architec-
ture, that it is impossible for a stranger to
see it without asking: who built that
house?" For it is one of those buildings
which entice the imagination; it is stamped
with personality like the lined face of a
middle aged man.
When natives Of the city hear the ques-
ton they reply with smile That's the
house that Steve built" Then their smile
goes out and they tell long story. They
tell it reverently and curiously at once,
for to the people of that city it is a miracle
of the first water.
In reality it is a commonplace tale, dis
tnguished only because of single missing
chapter. There have been, Of course, a
thousand attempts to explain away the
miracle What follows is the truth, and, like
the truth, it is odd and inconsistent to a
degree So there is no attempt to keep you
in suspense l, is not a short story, for what
short story coulG begin with house and eend
with man. 1t is merely straightforward
catalogue of the facts in the case. In such
a catalogue it is necessary to go back to the
beginning of things.
They were both large men, but there the
similarity between Keene and Burton end
ed. Burton was graceful in spite of his
bulk He was blond and handsome, with a
rare smile Keene was swarthy, lean, angu-
lar, with peculiarly bright and steady eyes.
He always gave the impression of one
oh To TO CT Of a
sort In fact, he usually was, for while
Burton was born to money, social standing,
and an easy life, Keene had to fight for
everything from the beginning SO that it
became habit with him. He liked to argue
he liked to take the opposite side; he liked
to do the hardest thing. From the very first
these two were rivals. When they were
boys of the North Side, and Keene mar
shaded the hardy little ruffians of the South
Side.
For the city falls into two distinct di-
visions. To the north it swells up into
pleasant hills and raise the dwellings up to
the fresh sea-winds and to the light of the
sun. To the south it falls away in a dead
level flat filled with budding, gray-fronted
houses, and overcast by the drifting smoke
of the factories, so that shadow seems to
hang over it always. Even on the, golden
days of summer there is an unclean mist
over the South Side. When you cross the
street which is the dividing line between
the two sections, you feel the difference at
once. Your eyes droop unconsciously from
the sky and hunt the pavement; you grow a
little chary of breathing the sooty air deep.
Success followed Burton from the start.
His gang always won when they were chill
dren; when they went to college he cap
tanned Yale team that beat Princeton by
the bitter margin of a single point, and
Keene was the star Of that Princeton team
-Keene, with his swarthy skin as if the
faint of that sooty air had colored it; Keene,
with his downward, searching eyes,
When they came back from college they
went into the same business-real estate
Hal moved into big, sunny offices with a
chauffeur and stcnographer and an office
boy; Steve opened a gloomy little cupboard
in the wall To make the parallel complete,
they fell in love with the same girl. For
that matter, every young fellow in the upper
set was frankly in love with Molly Saun-
dcrs Steve Keene was not in that set. All
he could do was to stand on the outside and
watch her enter. Inside was Hal Burton, and
it was Hal Burton who married her.
After this blow it was the graceful part
for Steve to confess defeat and retire, but
Steve was not graceful and had never ac-
uuired the habit of retiring. Like the COM
mander of the Bonhomme Richard when his