HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Clinton News Record, 1915-08-26, Page 61
II
THE GQILDEN . KEY
Cr "The Adventures of Ledgurd,"
By the Author of "What Ho Cost Her."
CHAPTER VII,—(Cont'd).
The young man raised his head.
Once more the pink spot was burning.
Yet how hard to be dignified with the
man from whom comes one's daily
bread.
"You are mistaken, sir," he said. "I
am quite happy and quite satisfied."
Scarlett Trent laughed scornfully.
"Then you don't look it;". he ex-
claimed.
"I may not, sir," the young man
continued, with a desperate courage,
"but I am. After all happiness is
spelt with different letters for all of
us, You have denied yourself—work-
ed hard, carried many burdens and
run great..risks to become a million-
aire. I too have denied myself, have
worked and struggled to make a
home for the girl I cared for. You
have succeeded and you are happy. I
can hold Edith's—I beg your pardon.
my wife's hand in mine and I am,hap -
p3h I. have no ambition to be a mil-
lionaire. I was very ambitious to
win my wife."
Scarlett Trent looked at him for a
moment open-mouthed and open-
eyed. Then he laughed outright and
a chill load fell from the heart of the
man who for a moment had forgotten
himself. The laugh was scornful per
taps, but it was not angry.
"Well, you've shut me up," he de-
clared. "You seem a poor sort of a
creature to me but if you're content
it's no business of ine. Here, e, buy
yourselfan overcoat, and drink a glass
of wine. I'm off!"
He rote from his seat and threw,
a bank -note over the table. The clerk
opened it and handed it back with a
little start.
"I am much obliged to you, sir," he
said humbly, "but." you have made; a
mistake. This ' note ie for fifty
pounds."
Trent glanced at it and held out his
hand. Then he paused.
"Never mind," he said, with a short
laugh, "I meant to give you a fiver,
but itdon't make much odds.. Oraly
see that, you buy- some• new clothes."
The clerk half closed his eyes
and steadied himself by grasping the
• back of a chair. There was a lump in
his throat in earnest now.
"You—you mean it, sir?" he gasp-
ed:. "I—I'm afraid I can't thank
you!"
"Don'ttry, unless you want me to
take it back, Trent said, strolling to
the' side board. "Lord, how those City
chaps can guzzle! Not a drop of
champagne left. Two unopened bot-
tles, though! Here, stick 'em in your
bag and take 'em to the missis, young;
man. I paid for the lot, so there's no
use leaving any. Now clear out as
quick as you can. I'm off!"
"You will allow me, sir—"
Scarlet Trent closed the door with,
a slam and disappeared. The young
man passed him a few moments later I
as he stood on the steps of the hotel
lighting a cigar. He paused again,
intent on stammering out some words
of thanks. Trent turned his back
upon him coldly.
CHAPTER VIII,
Trent, on leaving the hotel, turned,
for almost the first time in his life
westwards. For years the narrow al- I
Iays, the thronged streets, the great'
buildings of the city had known him
day by day, almost hour by hour. Its
roar and clamor, the strife of tongues
and keen measuring of wits had been
the salt of his life. Steadily, sturdily,
almost insolently, he had thrust his
sugar
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bionueal.
way through to the front rakes. In
nian respects y cape s those'were singular
and unusual 'elements which had gone
to the making of his •succuss, Hie had
not been the victory of honied false-
hoods, of suave deceit, of gentle but
legalized robbery. He had been . a
hard worker, a daring speculator with
nerves of iron, and courage which
would have glorified a nobler cause,
Nor had his been the methods of good
fellowship, the sharing of , "good
turns," the camaraderie of finance.
The men with whom he had had large
dealings he had treated as enemies
rather than friends, ever watching
them covertly with close but unslack-
ening vigilance. And now, for the
present at any rate„it was all over.
There had come a pause in his:life. His
back was to °the City and his face was
set towards an unknown world. Half
unconsciously he had undertaken a lit-
tle voyage of exploration.
From the Strand he crossed Trafal
gar Square into Pall Mall, and up th
Haymarket into Piccadilly. He wa
very soon aware that he had wandere
into a world whose ways were not hi
ways, and with whom he had no ki
ship° Yet.he set himself sedulous]
to observe them, conscious that. what
he, saw represented a very large aid
of life. From the first he was away
of a certain difference in himself an
his ways. The careless glance of
lounger on the pavement at Pal
Mall filled him with' a sudden anger
The man was' wearing gloves; a
article of dress which Trent ignored
and smoking a cigarette, which h
loathed. Trent was carelessly dress
ed in a tweed suit and red tie; hi
critic wore a silk hat. and frock coat
patent leather boots, and a dark ti
of invisible pattern. Yet Tren
that he was a type of that clas
which would look upon him, as an out
aider, and a black sheep, until he had
bought his standing. They would
expect him to conform to their type,
to learn to speak their jargon, to think
with their puny brains and to se
with their, short-sighted eyes. At th
"Criterion” he turned in and had
drink, and, bolder for the wine whicl
he had swallowed at a' gulp, he told
himself that he would do nothing
the sort. He would not alter a jot.
They must take him as he was or
leave him, He suffered his thoughts
to dwell for a moment upon hie
wealth, on the years which had gone
to the winning of it, on a certain
nameless day, the memory of which
even now sent sometimes the blood
running colder through his veins, on
the weaker men who had gone under
that he might prosper. Now that it
was his, he wanted the best possible
value for it: it was the natural desire
of the man to be uppermost in the,
bargain. The delights of the world
behind, it seemed to him that he had
already, drained. The crushing of his
rivals, the homage of his less success-
ful competitors, the grosser pleas-
ures of wine, the music -halls, and the
unlimited spending of money amongst
people whom he despised had long
since palled, upon him, He had a keen,
strong desire to escape once and for
ever from his surroundings. He
lounged along, smoking a large cigar,
keen -eyed and observant, laying up
for himself a store of impressions,
unconsciously irritated at every step
by a sense of ostracism, of being in
some indefinable manner without kin-
ship and wholly apart from this world
in which it seemed natural now that
he should find some place, He gazed
at the great houses without respect
or envy, at the men with a fierce con-
tempt, at the women with a sore feel-
ing that if by chance he should be
brought into contact with any of them
they would regard him as a sort of
wild animal, to be humored or avoided
purely as a matter of self-interest.
The very brightness and brilliancy of
their toilettes, the rustling of their
dresses, the trim elegance and dainti-
ness which he was able to appreciate
without being able to understand, only
served to deepen his consciousness of
the gulf which lay between him • and
them. They were of a world to which,
even if we were'permitted to enter it,
he could not possibly belong. He- re-
turned such glances as fell upon him
with fierce insolence; he was indeed
somewhat of a strange figure in his
ill-fitting and inappropriate clothes
amongst a gathering of smart peo-
ple. A lady looking at him through
raised lorgnettes turned and whisper-
ed something with a smile to her com-
panion—once before ,he had heard an
audible titter from little group of
loiterers. He returned the glance with
a lightning -like look of diabolical
fierceness, and, turning round, stood
upon the curbstone and called a han-
som.
A sense of depression' Swept over
him as he was driven through the
crowded streets towards Waterloo.
The half -scornful, half -earnest, pro-
phecy, to which he had listened years
ago in a squalid African hut, flashed
into his mind. For the first time he
began to have dim. apprehensions as
to his future. All his life he' had been
a toiler, and joy had been with him
in the fierce combat which he had
waged that day.' He had fought his
battle and he` had won—where were
the fruits of his victory? A puny,
miserable little creature like Dicken-
son could prate of happiness and turn
a shining face to the future—Dicken-
son, who lived upon a pittance, who
depended upon the whim of his em-
ployer, and who confessed to ambi-
tions which were surely pitiable.
Trent lit a fresh cigar and smiled;
things would surely come right with
him—they must. What Dickenson
could gain was surely his by right 'a
thousand times over.
lie took the train for Walton,
travelling first-class, and was treat-
ed .with much deference by the of-
ficials on' the line. As he alighted and
passed through` the booking -hall into
the, station -yard a 'voice hailed him.
He' looked up sharply. A,` carrif'ge
and pair of herses was waiting, and
inside a young woman with a very
smart hat and a profusion' of yellow,
hail,
"Come. on, General;' she cried.
"I've done a skip and driven down to
meet you. Such jokes when they miss
me. The old lady will be as sick as
they melee 'em, Can't we. have a
drive round for anehour, eh I"
Her voice was 'high-pitched and
penetrating, Listening to it Trent:
unconsciouely compared it with he
voices of the women of that other
world into which he had wandered
earlier In the afternoon. He turned a
frowning face towards her.
"You might have spared yourself
the trouble," he said shortly. "I
didn't order 't carriage to meet me
and".I don't want one. I am going,,to
walk herne."
She tossed her head.
"What a beastly temper you're in!"
she remarked. "I'm not particular
about driving. Do you want to walk
alone?"
"Exactly!" he answered, "I do!"
She leaned back in the carriage with
heightened color. :