The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1925-05-29
CHAPTER l

he was out Of uniform, and he had
gone there for reason typical to him.
For most Americans q single track
success is an inspiration of life; there
is a raw meat satisfaction in hewing
also an instinct for playing the latest
game If IT is money-making, or trade,
or industrialism or production-efficien-
cy, the rank and file go painting after
1t until some one rings for the under
taker. i have always thought that the
source Of the Imagination which was
responsible for Peter DeWolfe's tastes,
policy and conduct was most difficult
to uncover. The true sense Of play,
not only applied to play but to all the
endeavors of life, even those which are
usually accounted grim-like war and
marriages. rare flower TO bloom on
the American soil 4; 1t Is still more rare
a blossom TO find growing in family
tree rooted, as Peters was rooted, In a
bed of money and only fertiliZed by
that humdrum conventional pretense
of our large cities which at latest ac-
counts is still giving many persons the
same old pale glories.
This rare flower bloomed In Peter
and saved him from doing the common
places with himself which rich young
men who have become orphaned bach
elors usually do. 1t made Peter a great
deal more like those individuals, rare
enough even abroad-the whimsical
Englishman, the adventurous French
man, the humorous Spaniard and the
practical Russian, who, though they be
the white crows of their respective
f1ocks, exceed in numbers the Ameri-
cans who value full living above that
rather uninteresting and easy prize
which is called Success"
Peter took an interest in living. The
common run of bachelors who are pro-
vided amply with millions accept the
alternative of going to the devil or
going to business; DeWolfe's magma
ton came TO his rescue and provided
him with a third choice which. in his
quiet way, he seized about the time he
left college. 1t was to live for the sake
of living.
To some this might have meant self
indulgence; to Peter 1t meant an in
diligence of mankind. To some it might
have meant fads and whims, such as
hunting big game from airplanes at
the source of the Nile; Peter would do
that very thing, perhaps, but it was
an incident not half as interesting to
him as an oil field he developed in
Texas or settlement house he pro-
noted In New York. He kept him.
self as a very neat, well-cleaned slate
upon which life could write IL 1t
wished; If it failed TO do so Peter
wrote on it a little himself-enough
TO keep himself useful. The same man
who invented the Devote milimeter
also set down from time to time some
charming verses, and the public knows
at least one short lyric from the
Leaves Of Argonne" which he wrote
In the hospital before his promotion to
major
Dark skin, blue eyes, thin sensitive
lips, the appearance of one well bathed
In ice-cold water. the flexible lean waist
of good horseman, the long muscu-
lar fingers of a good tennis player
who had not lost the delicacy of touch
which made him something less than a
distinguished performer upon a cello
these were the outward introductions
which made that particularly admira-
BILE little group of British gentlemen
officers find his acquaintance so
quickly.
Eversby Benham of the r. A. F.
must bear the blame for the months In
which DeWolfe found his great adven-
ture at a time when to Peter adven-
ture had become dull beyond words
and the mind-image of himself sitting
on New York park bench, surrounded
by engaging little foreign brats, listen
ing to hurdy-gurdy in the summer
dusk, was the most exciting and deli
cious picture conjurable from his re-
sourceful imagination Of what a won
derful moment Of life after a whirl
with war could be- For 1t was Ben
ham, who only later went home to the
office of the air ministry, and who has
since distinguished himself in the de-
velopment of civil-fying who first
steered the young American across the
path Of Brena Selcoss.
Are you going back?" said Benham.
Home" said Devote, with an at
tempt to say the word without senti-
ment.
Red Cross ladies, Waacs. beautiful
high caste Parisiennes and even the
charming daughter of your what's
his-name at the peace conference
and still bachelor! By the by. De-
Wolfe, what happened to your lady
with the gorgeous arms at that fiubbv
little cafe on the south bank of the
SeineY
IAN engaging goddess" said De
Wolfe. "She is. believe, petticoat
buyer. She tried to convert me into
the Methodist faith. Those beautiful
arms are for the neck Of some Y. M. C.
A man with glasses and a tickling
cough. She borrowed thirty francs
from me and then went off to see a
daughter Of hers who Is driving an
ambulance near Coblentz."
You are well armored, Peter" Ben
ham had said, gazing with a reflective
and perhaps mischieyous smile across
the fiat fields of France with their
titled squares and wisp-armed trees
and thin mists of dusk. by the by,
say, doesn't this landscape remind one
OF Corot's paintingsT
DeWolfe grinned.
What would make you fall In love
with a woman?" asked Benham.
Almost anything" Peter replied.
But that's not the problem; the prob