The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1925-12-18
IN TWO PARTS
Part One

/
With Threats and
RecrinpinGtiOns
"HE "Five-forty-five," f~avorite
hOmeward transport for inhab-
\ itants of the northern suburbs,
was so crowded on this wet and dark
January afternoon that Henry Beels-
by could not find a seat, and had to
stand in the aisle. The aisle, more
over, was a jam Of commuters rather
than a thOrOUghfare, and to permit
the necessarily frequent passage of
the train conductor, Beelsby had not
only to stand, but to continue holding
the bundles hat already made his
arm ache-he had carried them a
hurrying half mile before he reached
the station; one of them contained
an electric iron and another five
pounds of dog biscuit"
Beelsby, tall, dark haired, long
featured, and STOPPING, was not yet
middle aged but of fragile appear
ance and constitution. He was hab-
itually sallow from indigestion and
every December he caught a cold
that ''hung on" %badgering him and
gnawing at his disposition, until
late in the spring. His discomfort
was most acute in January; and to-
day he had worked harder than US
ual, down in the dense winter smoke
of the city where he had the small
est possible partnership interest in
the smallest of commission houses.
All day long he had cOughed, sneez-
ed, and wheeZed over his work, un-
able to comply with the exasperated
requests of his partners to "Cut it
out for Gosh sakes!" He cOughed,
sneeZed and wheeZed on the train,
too, where his bundles prevented him
from taking any decOrOus or hygien-
iC precautions, though the annoyed
glances and mutterings of passen-
kers near him plainly expressed their
anXietieS concerning the cOntagiOn,
and made him we'll aware of their
opinion of him.
His unpOpularity among them became
vivid; he heard (and perceived that he was
intended to hear( repeated suggestions that
the conductor should re requested Ito dc
something about it." but as Beelsby
couldn't do anything about it, himself, hC
failed to see how the conductor might bC
more effective. Besides, he was toe tired
TO care what they said, or what they
caught from unexpectedly those whC
were seated at ease and u~nencumbered-
and when the train reached his station n,
cOughed his way out with a logged bitter
ness. Wish some of EN- would catch it!
was his thought. "DOggOne selfish pigs =
The station taxicab men of the %affluen'
suburb let him pass without a hail. His
two year old derby hat and his older over
coat, with the collar turned up to his long
tenuOus ears, were familiar to them. anC
they knew he would not ride, although IN.
rain. just turning into to snow, was fly
ing heavily on the January wind. IL
paused for a moment before taking the el
ementS upon his chest, and from under tn
caves of the station shed watched befurre,
men and women stepping into the lighte,
interiors Of their closed cars, where iittl
radiators made the air tropical. Gaitere
chauffeurS sOlicitOusly closed the door
lest the occupants should be put to s.
dangerous an eXertiOn; and one after an
other the limousines powerfully glide
away, preceded by long twin cones O
white light alive with flOcks of snowflake
in irresponsible cOmmOtiOn. The taXicab
and two Omnibuses filled themselves wit
passengers, rOared, trembled, heaved an
departed; Beelsby was the only pedestria
to face the winter storm.
"DOggOne old pigsF'
He said it again at the next cOrne
where he had the misfortune to drop on
of his bundles, and in retrieving it, let tw
others slip from his exhausted arms. III
snow came so thick and so fast, and wa
so clinging, that by the time he c%Ontrive
to be again on his way much Of him wa
indistinguishable from his background.
"Gettin' inside my collar nOw!' he mu'
tered. "DOggOne selfish old pigs!' An
there was still before him a windy and We
half mile as long as five times that di
lance would have been in good weather.
TYHEN at last he came stamping upC
w the small veranda of the white co
Onial cottage that was his home ]
announced h0arsely to the brass knock
upon the closed door that he was ready
drop and added that he couldn't ha'
gone another step if he died for it. Neve
khNnnu hn nnnAHnnnA % mn n"a nhn
himself, coughing an accompaniment; al
he was still thus engaged when his wi
opened the door for him.
She was a glittering slender figure in Il
sudden light, though his eyes were too W
to see her better than as a watery dazzl
and he was too tired to draw inferenc
from the fact that she wore her white ta
feta evening dress, her crystal necklaC
and the blue glass sapphire earrings
had given her for his Christmas present
month before. Crystal and blue glass we
becoming to her blOned cOlOring; she W
a pretty woman, as perfectly dainty
feature and outline as if she had been t
bricated at Sevres.
The fault in her prettiness was that
was a little overcast by the plaintiff a
Xiety, already querulOus, sometimes to
seen in the expressions of wives of m
who are remaining unsuccessful rath
hazardOusly deep into their thirties. i
tween her eyebrows the Infamous vertit
line that prematurely initiates the beau
of the disseminated had begun to appe
4 nv 4C4AN GAL Z AAhAUhL iva .
harbinger Of permanence; and her VIII
forehead was misshapen by it now. as 6
stared forth upon her husband while
stamped and tapped the snow from hi
well. for heavens sake! she cried, -"
you realize what time it isl 1 told you
take the fOur-fifty, not the five-fOrty-fiv
81 know you. did he returned. as
came indoors and inimically deposited
burdens upon a chair in the little hallw'
you also told me to get you an elect
iron, your mended glass fruit dish, W
new plated teapot. a box Of brass bead
tacks, and five dOggOne pounds of d.
gone dog biscuits! HOw'n the name
conscience do you expect a man to-
Henry she interrupted, will you
kind enough to stop swearing merely
cause I happened to ask you to do "
share Of the household errands?
wouldn't have hurt you to hurry 9 littl
"Hurry'2" he repeated, dropping
sOggy OvercOat upon the bundles. II
with a feeble remnant Of strength
slapped his hard wet hat angriiy do
upon the Overcoat. Don't you s'pose I
to hurry to get all that done and eXI
20 get home before day after tOmOrrO
IT, 60 A. ~