Evening star., 1925-05-19
CONTINUED from Yesterdays Starr


He stayed on until late in the after
noon. He forget all about luncheon.
A great calm, so pleasant that It cured
him of hunger. had come upon him.
He had found one spot in New York
where there neither was idle and
aimleSs clamor nor vain hurrylngs
and scurryings to and fro. The fune-
raj professions, motor driven for the
most part, which entered here might
hasten on their way hither, might
hasten again after they had with
drawn, with the now empty hearse
rolling briskly on ahead. But once
inside the high walls and all the while
they were inside there was a SLOW and
solemn decurum to govern their move
mentS.
People going along the winding
paths loitered as they went, spelling
off to one another the name on some
impreSsively large mauSoleum or upon
the base of some particularly tall
shaft. The loosed yellow leaves drop
ping from the trees seemed to spiral
toward the earth very, very slowly
AS though they would cover the graves
gently so as not to disturb the sleep
ers beneath. But that, of course. was
no more than a fancy; the real reason
was that not enough wind stirred TO
toss the leaves about as they came
down through the air.
With the calm a great idea came to
the old turtle-looking man who had
been sitting foS SO long on a bench
where the plots climbed up and over
and on beyond a gentle rise In the
land lie took steps in the matter.
Before he left he had speech with a
young man behind a desk in a small
stone office building near the gate.
The building was modelled like tenn
pie, but the young man was quite
businesslike-oh, quite.
He gave Mr.. Oldham a little illus
trated booklet and with it an address
where further negotiations might, II
desired, be carried on.
This was the idea. Call it fantastic,
call it morbid. if you want to. Still.
this was it: New York had had its
big joke on him: now he would have
his little joke on New York. He'd
lick her at her own favorite game.
He'd show her there was, anyhow, a
place inside the city limits that was
shut away from noise and bustle-a
place where an old fellow whose pins
were sort of beginning to give out on
MIN could take his ease and rest his
feet.
"Tubby sure, thereIl be birds
around. too. and plenty of nice smooth
grass and trees and flower beds and
all. but | amt thinking so much about
them. I'm thinking of the quiet and
the company there'll be, and the
chance to do nothing but Just rest and
loaf for a hundred years"
He said this to himself after he
started back. He was on a surface
car again, with one withered hand
hooked into a strap, Swaying with the
motion as the car sped along between
the blocks, jostling against other
standees when it stopped or started
This trip he had given his seat to a
young woman all in black and with a
baby in her arms. He went on:
Yes, sir, first thing in the morning
I'm going to that there address and
see about buying a lot. 1 always fig
ured that when my time came I'd be
taken back and laid away beside
mother. But mother, she'll understa nd
same as she always did during our
married life together. She won't mind.
She'll know it'll just be my way of get
ting back at them here in this town,
Just my way of putting an everlasting
laugh on 'en. But / won't say any
thing about 1t to Gussie and Oscar till
afterward. They might not object,
seeing that the Iot1l be just the same
as theirs and ready for their use if
either of them should pass on. Still,
they might. So I'll just keep quiet
about it till the deal is closed and the
deeds in my pocket. That'l be best.
The standee Immediately alongside
gave derisive grunt and scrooged
away. He was suspicious of these old
dodoes who talked TO themselves out
loud on street car; probably they