Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1923-03-14
CHAPTER III
The Far Call.

| ingtOn was not inclined TO STACK WORTH
ly possessions. His very humble
years in Dowagiac had taught him
how little the human creature requires.
Somewhere in a boyhood of neglect
and frayed edges he had learned how
to feel rich without an array of
trinkets. Tonight, his travel bag. a
black slouchy leather affair, dear to
his heart for having been through a
! great deal with him, was packed with
clean things, and room at the top. He
travelled light.
The distant draw of the sands was
upon him now, rousing the old loneli-
ness that sometimes made trouble.
At such times Con thought of his
mother. The woman next door had
told him enough to identify his fathers
beloved with the nameless beauty in
his own heart. The hurt of this love-
illness was often the starting-point for
a rampage in the cutters. A sweet
ness was forever eluding him. 1t
swept near in the words of Stephen
! March, and at last there was a guild
ance upon his energies. Their talk of
danger was only a courtesy, as Con re-
garded it. For one who had known
the red tangles of the underworld,
peril was no more to be feared than
thunder in the night.
Andrew March entered Cons room.
at might be better to leave dark
house." he suggested.
81 understand" replied Lexington.
"pll find a cab over at the end of the
park. That ought to break any con-
nection with you here"
"You do not regret your accept
anceY
Ear from it," declared Con, hastily.
do you mind going alone|'
"NO, it will do me good. l have
everything to think over. It's rather
strain, you see-such novelty
this strait and narrow"
They laughed.
"You haven't collapsed under it, +"
said March.
SIT isn't narrow the way you've
brought it to me-"
81 have told you," continued the
gray-haired friend, ''that probably you
will never return"
Their glances met and held mo-
ment. The elder sought a possible
trace of fear, but did not find it. Lev
ington had the good taste not to utter
brave words. He had accepted his
mission.
There is used in the Orient very
thin parchment, as grateful to the
finger-tips as the cheek of babe,
smooth as swans down, and even
more sacred to yellow men.
"Wear this over your heart" said
| Andrew March, smiling.
A small folded parchment was placed
in Cons hand 1t was a duplicate of
the map on the stolen square of silk.
This copy was in a soft leather sack,
the size of a visiting card to be Sc
cured about his neck by leather cord.
Andrew then gave him a sealed en-
velope, and in regard to it said:
st haven't been very explicit with
! you. Con. There are some things that
are not mine to tell you-now. When
! you have opened and read it, you will
have committed yourself, and you
must not turn back. The breaking of
the seal is your pledge. But until
then, you are free, you have no obliga-
lions of any kind, to me or any one
else. You will understanding Shan
sung"
March smiled family, almost with
| solemnity, Lexington bowed, accept
ing the small sealed packet. He
packed it to the bottom of the bag.
Presently they went to the fathers
room. The old man stood up, tall and
steady, the light of youth in his eyes.
There was brief farewell, firmly
spoken. Again in Levington's room,
Andrew March gripped the young
mans hand, little more tensely than
usual, and the silence between these
two was vital with enduring affection.
March then took his leave.
1t was not yet midnight. Con wait
| ed in his room, while the lights of the
March house were dimmed. Into a
new clarity of mind came images from
his earliest days-Shasta that beckon-
ed, the alley in Memphis, and one
humid evening in the harbor of Flop
ura. Con wanted his father, forget
| ting that he was twenty-five.
About one o'clock he turned out his
own light and left the friendly room,
passing down the hall, the black bag
with him. At the door of Andrew
March's room he paused an instant.
Bis benefactor was sleeping, the
bedroom door partly open. Con had
not stopped from sentiment, but in the
darkness he caught a curious scent,
as of cinnamon and musty wine. It