Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1930-09-20
INSTALLMENT THREE

Through the murky darkness over
the rough, twisting road the three
men travelled ali the night, which to
Carl, at least, seemed endless. The
truck. despite the expert guidance OF
Gene, seemed determined to throw
them into the fearsome shadows Of
the swamp, whose black and ghostly
foliage formed an arch over their
heads SO dense that for miles at
time the star-studded sky overhead
would be obScured.
Toward midnight Hotshot climbed
into the back of the machine to take
what he called "cat nap" Left
alone with Gene, Carl rode along
silently for time, lost in his own
thoughts.
Since the time they had started for
the distant Barre plantation early
that evening he had been wondering
whether or not he was doing fool
ish thing in going to the cotton farm
to work. Perhaps it would turn out
to be peonage plantation where the
workers were never able to escape. In
that case, he would be worse off than
ne had been in the refugee camp on
the banks of the Mississippi.
His Chicago Sweetheart
All he wanted to do, he told him
self, was to earn enough money to
return to Chicago. When he got
there everything would be all right
again. He frightened at the thought
that after he arrived at the planta-
ton he could write to Anton Bigal,
his banker friend, telling him of his
plight. Bigal had been his fathers
friend, and he had shown extreme
interest in CarlS progress in Chicago.
Surely he would not refuse to help
him at such time as this.
In the dark gloom Carrs thoughts
turr ed to a subject of which he had
refused to think since the tragic news
of his parents death had drawn him
from Chicago-Antoinette Gale. He
had persistently put any thought OF
the slim, ivory-skinned girl from him,
but now the remembrance of her
came to him with a poignance which
made his heart ache. He asked him
self if he really loved the girl, or
whether it was his deSolate plight
that made his thoughts of her so ten
der.
Antoinette-she represented part OF
what he was seeking. She was a
part and parcel of what he hoped to
find at the summit of his career
success. She was the daughter Of one
of the oldest and most wealthy fami-
lies in Chicago, and she was among
the most popular of the smart young
er set for which Carl had had so
little time Sophisticated, lovely, very
deSirable-She was everything that
Carl had ever wanted-and the fact
that she had shown that she cared
for him served to lift some of the
weight of his depression.
Ambition Inspired
He would 60 back to Chicago
plunge into the swift whirl OF bust
ness and social life-and he would
never stop until he had reached the
very top. The thought struck him
that at the present time he was
plunging into something very far re-
moved from what he had planned for
himself-the work on the planta-
ton, but he mentally waved that
thought aside
This would be only an episode, an
interlude, such as his experience in
the flood camp had been. Nothing
could stop him. Nothing could halt
his ambition, he told himself de-
terminedly. He would be somebody
would attain to the levels his mother,
who had known only the dreary hard
ness of farm life, had hoped for him.
His thoughts were brought back to
his surroundings by the sharp screech
or the brakes as the truck came to
an abrupt, lurching halt.
Whats the matter, Gene?" he
asked his companion.
Gene was hunched over the steer
ing wheel staring with bated breath
into the darkness in front of them.
"Hesh!" the youth painted fearfully.
Ahead of them, looming palely in the
blacknesS, a huge white shape took
form. Carl stared.
'What is it, Gene?" he whispered.
'Jawdyl dom know!" the latter
replied tenSely. Maybe it's a hant"
In putting the incidents Of "SentiI
4 =, H. etc Of