Evening star., 1934-10-26
CHAPTER XIV.
LIFE HISTORY.

v ON was waiting for Marian IN
the lobby, and after helping the
boy stow the boxes in the rear
he tucked her under a huge
woolly robe as If she were some
thing fragile. He even cautioned
Hero not to crowd her.
AS the shining nose Of the car
headed along Virginia street and on
to the transcontinental highway they
laughed together. There was a sense
of adventure in thus running away
from the gently determined Silver.
And then, rolling over the white
pavement and through mountains
where blazing stars seemed to have
slipped from the sky to become en-
tangled in the high ridge Of pines,
Lon began to talk; talked seriously,
personally.
Ian, I said 7 had a lot to talk
about" he began. You'll probably
laugh when I tell you that am the
subject. But, you see, you don't real
ly know anything about me. and !
want you to know everything.
"You know I come from AIS town,
Cleveland. And you know that be-
fore went to Cleveland I came from
farther South and that I have a few
relatives down Missouri way. That's
about all. You know came out here
to go into business for myself, but
you don't know where my money for
that business came from nor anything
of the real me, so here goes.
"I was born and grew up In st.
Louis. My people were poor. and !
mean poor; you have no idea OF
what poverty can mean. My father
was Irish, a happy-go-lucky fellow
who worked when he couldn't find
anything else to do. My mother was
a Canadian, and, like most Canadt-
ans, worked all Of the time.
dad had the wanderlust. The rea-
son the family settled in st. Louis was
because mother refused to go any
farther. There were three Of us then.
a sister and brother older than my
self.
when was 4, the other two con-
tracted some kind Of fever and died.
A few years later Dad wandered OF
and forgot to come back.
"By that time mother had paid q
small amount on the old house In
which we were living. It was large,
a regular barn Of place and as in
convenient as o church would be for
keeping house. However, she did the
only thing she could do to make a
living, started taking in boarders and
roomers.
"My earliest memories were Of
mother, trotting (she never walked,
always moved on a little half-trot)
across that big kitchen floor, from
stove to sink, sink to table, table to
pantry. She walked miles every day.
The dining room and living room
were as bad, but the bed rooms were
like cells.
She used to fall into bed, dog tired
every night. I'll never forget that
stuffy little room, one window opening
out on to brick wall, hotter than
Hades in the Summer and damp as
swamp in the Winter.
"She used to talk to me q lot be-
cause, guess, there wasn't any one
else to talk to; complained about
the way men built houses in which
women had to work.
II used to promise her that when
I grew up I'd build the right kind Of
places for mothers, and she'd laugh
a bit, but she'd let me build toy
houses and that sort Of stuff.
when was 10 began helping q
carpenter who lived near us, and by
the time I left grammar school had
q regular job.
"I spent my spare time doing the
old house over. I cut down the htch-
en- and enlarged the bed rooms,
painted the dark woodwork In bun
and papered the walls in green.
/ "And then, Just as we had the
place looking fine, mothers health
broke. She went to the hospital for
an operation. That took all the saw
ings we'd managed to scrape together.
I was only II and didn't earn enough
to keep up the payments, small as
they were, and we got behind.
"She came home, but wasn't strong
enough to work as she had before,
and about that time some industry
wanted the land our house was on.
The city condemned the property, the
owners were paid the price allowed.
and we were told tU get out.
"It was too much for her. She
lived Just one week after we moved
In some furnished rooms"
He paused O few moments, and
Marian stared straight ahead, not
wanting to see the furtive movement
of his hand. as it went up presumably
to pull his soft hat to q different
angle.
"And here comes the laugh" he
resumed. "The only job ] could fnd