| Show ily EUBA NOll WEST coper IMS by the author company the train came to a standstill in front of the little unpainted depot only one man stepped off and with but a moment s pause the train steam ed on again rhe stranger stood a moment glancing half curiously down the line 0 old wooden buildings that formel the one street sam old place he thought with a half amused smile H old van winkle had come back here after his twenty years sleep he d never have known he d been asleep its the old town that has taken a twenty years nap this time though he soliloquized there Is not a new building and hardly a change ol 01 any kind since I 1 left As he ed up his grip and turned towards the old weather beaten hotel he became conscious that he was the center of interest to the loafers loung ing about the platform an hour later he at by the open window 0 his room meditatively smoking the half amused smile re turned to his face as he thought of the greetings he had J received I 1 wonder wl all the old codgers are anyway he reflected I 1 ve a dim idea that I 1 used to 1 now them 1 ut ie had too much ele to think of in the last twenty years to remember them now I 1 wonder it jaci trong la still in this little one doroe town his thoughts ran on poor old jack I 1 h iven t thought of him beffi e in pars I 1 used to think the sun revolved around jack well I 1 suppose he has vegetated here until he is like the rest of those old fogies down there it s a shame too for jack was as bright amb alous a bo as yen will often find if it haan hadn t been for that conscience of his that ie him leave home after his father s accident he might have made his way in the world without any trouble the law er puffed his cigar in s lence for a while presently the aboor opened and the landlord entered with a pitcher of water grey lazily turned his head and inquired does lack strong live here cef jack you bet he does brownsville Browns ville be brownsville Browns ville biti out jack poor fellow he s been having hard luck this last year though the gossip loving landlord perched himself on he edge of the tible glad of an excuse to talk and rambled on for the next half hour by the end of that time his aguet was in possess on of the principal events of strongs 1 fe during the past swep ty years hum lost everything he had but the old home in that fre jid hea had to mortgage the homestead to get funds to stock up again hal his own family and the old biks to support his old father and mother heart brok en at the idea of leaving the lome stead why in t he just the man I 1 m looking for in this little deala he i zed I 1 can mal e good use of him and do him a booi gooi turn at the same time he smoked on thought fully tor some time then looked at his watch G es 1001 the old fe low up he concluded As he rose he glanced complacently at the prosper 01 elegantly attired figure reflected in the cracked mirror and thought ot the probable contrast between his appearance and that of his old chum he sauntered down the street and into the open door under the modest sign J H strong A man in a worn fitting suit for wasted his life here he thought pityingly studying the others care worn face at last he pulled out his watch and turning to the merchant with a smile remarked now may I 1 talk business to you for a few moments 9 strong led the way to the little of flee at the back of the store his friend carefully closed the door before he sat down then he in low earnest tones for some time care fully explaining his scheme the merchant listened silently with an on his face that grey could not fathom do you seea grey asked at last you say strong began in a queer constrained oice that this hender son has found out that there s a vein of coal running tb ough the old barnes place old mr barnes don t 1 now it and henderson has offered you a big fee if you can get the place for him cheap you ve got barnes where you can crowd him for money and compel him to sell and you offer me a clear thousand collars lol lars it buy the place and then turn it over to henderson tor you think maybe they d guess about the coal it hen derson tried to buy it himself and there are reasons why you don t want to appear in it Is that the way of ita grey nodded jack was rising to the bait quicker than he expected he had been a little doubtful about dis closing his hand strong was so likely t i bit I 1 am t so poor that I 1 need to sell my self respect to have queer notions but he seem ed to comprehend the situation it he did state the case somewhat bad ly do you remember when old barnes lent ou the money to start out in lifee strong presently inquired mus ingi certainly I 1 do and ft was paid back with interest long ago I 1 ve loaned a good many people money in the last ten but I 1 don expect them to hold me in e eri asting gratitude for it A addonio ai donio ie flitted over his face iso the people he loaned money to dian didn t usually hold him in grateful remembrance he dian didn t lend it to penniless young chaps without cecur lt such as he once was either but it was not necessary to explain that to jack it would break the old peoples hearts to have to leave the old place and they re too old to begin life over again it would mean the poorhouse in a few years strong still spoke in a constrained oice bosh that has nothing to do with the question my dear fellow you must learn to leave sentiment out of business or ou will never get along in the world all tha twaddle about heart strings and blighted lives and the rest of that stuff doean doesn t count when it comes to a matter of busl ness gray smiled patronizingly across at stona st ona with his most world iv wise air besides he went on after a moment s i ause when it comes to a question of heart strings I 1 guess your father s and mother s cie c ie twined about as securely about t bat old place of yours as old barnes and his wife s are about theirs and I 1 understand inder stand that your place goes it oi dont tale this chance to save it then he added well do you take mi offer the fierch its face had biown white he slowly rose to his feet and afoo I 1 looking loo kina down at grey meas 1 im with honest indignant eyes gie dimly wondered why he seemed to wither up under that clear gaze athy he who bad towered so tar above this country storekeeper when he en the door had someway shrunk he seemed a pigmy beside a g an it bic waa low and con trolled tl bugli intense when be shohe no hf said 1 I ont yes im poor but I 1 aint so poor that I 1 need to sel my self respect and every finer feeling in my nature suddenly expression changed HP held out hla hands with a quick move ment toward the man who had been hs boyhood s chum and hero while his face tick on a look of yearning pity oh dick old chum that all he said but the words held a world of they were the requiem over a mattered ideal grey stared wonderingly the man who should have been awed by his manifest ind have envied him his prosperity was looking at him with pity struggling against contempt in his face someway he adjust his thoughts to their former complacency that s all these unfounded cn founded ers know about busin sa anyway he thought contemptuously be reach ed tor his hat |
