The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-05-20

the occasion of their weekly lunches He left his coat and hat in the cloak room. and deposited the ticket which he received In exchange in his waist coat pocket.
 Afterward he slipped into tho ante- room, where little crowd of men where thronging around narrow counter. exchanging hearty greet ings, and indulging in various forms of preluneheon nourishment.
 MT. Cray. who had mesmeric way of getting served over the shoulders of waiting throngs, dis posed of a small cocktail in a mat ter of seconds and made his way to the reception room, where tho guest of the day stood by the side of his host, exchanging platitudes and handshakes with more or less cor diality with the little streams of ar rivals.
 Presently Mir. Cray wandered into the luncheon room, where he discov- cred the round table for four at which he was placed, exchanged friendly greetings with the two men who were already in their seats. recognized the fact with a little sigh that they were not kindred spirits and glanced with curiosity at the va cant place on his right hand. no claimant to which had up to this time arrived
 It was a crowded gathering. and it takes some time for six hundred men to take their places and be seated.
 .4 !, I approval, glanced through the wine list and finally. yielding to an inn pulse of not unnatural curiosity, he raised the card which reposed upon the tablecloth opposite the vacant chair on his right, and read It. Mr. Otto M. Schreed
 The four walls of the banqueting room dropped away. The pleasant hum of voices, the chatter of crock cry and the popping of corks fell upon deaf ears. MT. Cray's blue eyes were set in a steady stare.
 Gone, his morning coat. his ire proachable linen and carefully tied tie. his patent boots and well-creased trousers. He was back in the tight. ill.fitting khaki of months ago. a strange, sober figure in tho midst Of the hustle; of life, wet living under the shadow of death.
 He stood at the door of tho can teen and he saw them marching by. a long, snakelile procession, some singing some shouting cheery greet ings, some pale and limpfng. Back to the opening in the hills he could
 ,4~1, 1,, I ,Or been a forest and now seemed as though a cataclysm had smitten 1t, a nightmare of stumps and of she'll holes.
 The whole horizon seemed streaked with little feathers of smoke. The sound of guns was in cessant. The boys were OF their way to the mess tents after a stiff 12 hours
 MT. Cray stepped back into the canteen, tasted the coffee In the great urn, ran through the stock of extra provisions, looked carefully round to see that all was ready for the hordes of his customers who would presently throng the place. They came much sooner than they should have done, a little sullen. many of them cursing. pushed and struggled for a place at the counter. swept him clear of the whole of his stock. He could hear their voices: More of that filthy chuck!" Say, some of those guys at home ought to be hung"
 There was a string of lurid adjec- 1 as he felt.
 More of that bum meat, eh?" he asked sympatheticaily. He was met with a chorus of groans. A score or more had left the counter already. He heard the curses of further hordes struggling to get in. Then the scene faded away. He walked down the great impromptu annex to the hospital and spoke to one of tho doctors. The doctors adjectives made the words of his patients sound like the babbling of children.
 More cases of that bad meat" was the plain English of what he said. We are just in, the one corner of the line, too, where VIC can't rely on who ever made the stuff. and the Inspector who passed 1t"
 A little movement by MT. Cray's side brought him back to the pres ent. He glanced up. A tall man of early middle age was taking his seat. Tho two men Exchanged greet INT. sohreea," MT. cr.y @ observed. The man winced e little but ac- And your name?f he asked
 MT. Joseph P, Cray" Mr. Cray replied. "We seem to be neighbors, MT. schreed; Will you join me in That's a great idea," was the Sc MT. Cray did what those few months ago, he would have deemed impossible;. he fraternized with MT. beef" They talked together of many subjects. Their conversation of the two, high-minded patriots. with the obvious views of the well-meanins man: MT. schreed. encouraged to- ward the end of the meal by his companions friendliness. and warmed a little by the wine which he had drunk. became confidential. Say. it's hard question I'm going lowering his voice a little, but does my name suggest anything to your" Mir Cray took up the card and looked at 1t.
 Cant say that 1t does." he replied. ''Well, it was this," tho other ob- served. T was one of the unlucky devils that got into some trouble with the government contractors"
 And I was one of those," MT. Cray unused. who spent hundred Y. M. c. A. in the states exactly my opinion of you" But aloud, MT. Cray's words betrayed nothing of this fact.
 That was hard luck" he admitted. How did it happen?"
 Just as those things do happen"