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The Huron Expositor, 1929-06-21, Page 7The Musson to ook Company, V,tdl. Toronto (Continued from last week) Tom nodded gravely. "She " told me last night. And from the way she told me, I know it's not just boy and girl love. She's been singing like a bird all day. And Buddy! He's breathless. I know how he feels. I couldn't draw a full breath for two weeks after 'Bob's' mother-" Gray uttered a wordless, gasping cry. He moved unsteadily toward the door, then paused with his hand upon the knob. Tom Parker was surprised when, after a moment, he saw the man's shoulders shake and heard him utter a thin, cackling laugh. "Time is a grim old joker, isn't he? No way of beating him, none at all. Now I thought was young, but- Lucky I found you here and spared my van- ity." He turned, exposing a face strangely contorted. "You won't men- tion my foolish mistake, will you? No use hurting the ones we love. You know how we feel -fatherly. That's it, fatherly love. I was a silly old fool. They'll be happy. Young peo- ple like that-" The speaker chok- ed. "Young people Well, adios, old man!" He opened the door and walked blindly forth. CHAPTER XXX Calvin Gray did not return to the bank. He went straight to his hotel and, as soon as he could sufficiently control himself to do so, ha telephon- ed Gus Briskow, telling him that he intended to leave town. Then he be- gan mechanically to pack his bag. He moved like a man in a trance, for the 'blow had fallen so suddenly as to numb him; his only impulse was to escape, to hide himself from these people who, of a sudden, had become hateful. His city of dreams had col- lapsed. The ruins, as they lay, meant nothing as yet, for his mind refused to envisage them and he could see them only as they had stood. He grop- ed amid a hopeless confusion of thought -at one moment bewildered, piteously hurt, at the next suffering a sense of shameful betrayal. He had grown old and dull and feeble, too, and for the time being he was incap- able of feeling the full force of a strong man's resentment. This sur- fprised him vaguely. Soon, however, like kindling fires among the ruins, his fury rose -fury sit himself, at Buddy, at Barbara -and in the heat of those scorching flames he writhed. She had loved him. He'd arrear to that. He had swayed her, overpowered her; he had lacked only the courage to trust his instinct. Co- ward's luck! It served him right; he had held her in his arms and had let her slip through; her lips had been raised to his, and be had refused to press them. Imbecile! LONDON AND WIING11CAM North. a.m. p.m. Centralia 10.36 5.51 Exeter 10.49 6.04 ensall 11.03 6.18 llCippen 11.08 6.22 Brucefield 11.17 6.22 (163) (165) Clinton 11.53 6.52 12.13 7.1.2 lyth 12.22 7.21 1Belgrave ..... 12.34 7.33 Wingham 12.50 7.55 Londesboro a South. a.m. p.m. Wingham 6.55 3.05 l3elgrave ... 7.15 3.25 Myth 7.27 3.38 llondesboro 7.35 3.47 Clinton 7.56 4.10 IBrucefield 7.58 4.2E (162) (164) 8.22 4.38 8.32 4.48 8.47 5.05 8.59 5.17 Kippen email Exeter Centralia C. N. B. TIME TABLE East. Goderich Holnnesville Clinton Seaforth St. Columban Dublin a.m. 6.20 6.36 6.44 6.59 7.06 7.11 p.m. 2.20 2.37 2.50 8.08 8.15 8.22 est. a.m. p.m. p.m Dublin 11.17 5.38 9.37 St. Columban. 11.22 5.44 Seaforth 11.33 5.53 9.50 Clinton 11.50 6.08-6.58 10.04 Holmesville 12.01 '7.03 10.13 Goderich 12.20 7.20 10.30 C. P. R. TIME TABLE East. Goderich Menset McGaw Auburn Blyth Walton McNaught Toronto Toronto McNaught Walton ]Blyth Auburn Weaaw Weems et a.m. 5.50 5.55 6.04 6.11 6.25 6.40 3.32 1025 u�p ' grenlaeda he a � rhe tie from hia nae or ' 5a ehol pg him, Old, .h Tea e 18 pt was the grimmest � apl� fou' it the mere thought of 1 htira'a lips unruly forces took possession of basis; he experienced a fierce, ret doss vig- or such ae . he had ewer felt in s younger days. Itweal , dreaadfal, an unappeasable yeaarailsV Saul and 'body, and when the PanOZYSlii had passed, it left hila weak. t e Sank in- to a chair and lay there stupid, inert, until again those (arse began to lick at him and again he twisted in dumb agony. Buddy Briskowl Buddy, of all people! That lout; that awkward sim- pleton, who owed him everything! But Buddy was young! Gray heard himself laughing in hoarse derision. He rose and tramped heavily around his room, and, as he went he crushed and ripped and mutilated whatever his hands encoun- tered. His slow, deliberate, murderous rage demanded some such outlet. All the while he felt within himself two conflicting impulses, heard two voices; the one voice shouted at him to search out Buddy and visit upon him the punishment warranted by a base be- trayal; the other told him jeeringly to lay the scourge upon his own shoul- ders and endure the pain, since h• ha,i betrayed himself. His mind was like a battle ground, torn, upheaved, ob- scured by a frightful murk -he re- membered a night in France, a black night of rumbling, crashing terror. Some remnant of self-control induced him to lock his door and pocket the key, for Buddy might come. He ,,rob - ably would look him up, all grins and smirks and giggles, to tell him the glorious news, to acclaim the miracle. That would be too much. One thing was certain, there was no safety except in flight,:gnoininiour cowardly flight. . . After all, how could Buddy have known? He was a good boy, and he had shovin ais lovr, his loyalty, in a thousand ways. Gray hated him at this moment, but, more bitterly even, he hated himself. It was fate. . . . He fell to cursing aloud, but there was no relief in that, and again the appalling irony of the situ- ation silenced him. He had defied him- self, set himself upon a high place, bent men and affairs to his own ends, until he had acquired a godlike belief in his power to accomplish all things. His victory had been complete. He bad won all -except the one thing he most desired, the very fruit of victor:. Some time later he heard Buddy come whistling merrily down the hail and knock at his door. Gray cowered in his chair, listening in breathless dread until the footsteps retreated. When he rose he moved about stealeh- ily. When night came he took his hag and slunk out of the hotel, for it seemed that men must surely know what a fool he had made of hi nself. It would have been a relict to feel that he was leaving never to return; ,but even that was denied him, for, after his first panic, the truth had come home. He could not rasa away. He had forged chains for his own limbs. Like a tethered mustang lee could plunge only to the end or his rope. Friendship, again! 'There was simple, trustful, faithful Gus Bris- kow. And the bank. God, what a mess things were in! Gray knew he would have to return, have to see "Bele" and Buddy day after day, month af- ter month, and the prospect was too distressing to dwell upon. Again his mind grew weary, baffled; he e' peri- enced a wretched physical illness -- where to go, where to hide until his sickness had passed? That was the question. He thought of Ma Briskow, finally. She was human; she had a heart. A,id Dallas was a sort of homey place; anyhow, the bellboys at the Ajax knew and liked him. That was prob- ably because he had tipped them handsomely, but what of that? If they'd be kind to him now he'd tip them more handsomely than, ever. Lonely men -.old ones -must expect to pay for what they get. He bought a ticket to Dallas. Ma Briskow's eyes were dim; nev- ertheless, she saw the change in Cal- vin Gray when, late the following af- ternoon, he came to see her. "Land sakes!" she exclaimed, in a shocked voice. "Pa never said you was ailin'. Why, Mr. Gray:" "I'm not really ill," he told her, wearily, "just old. I've had a had night." Seating himself beside her couch, he took her hand in his and made her tell him all about herself. He had brought heran armful of flowers, as usual, and extravagant gifts for her adornment -giving, it seemed, was his unconscious habit. While she admired them with ecstatic "Ohs" and "Ahs!" he busied himself with bowls and vases, but Ma noted his fumbling uncertainty of t.,uch and the evident effort with which he kept up his assumption of good cheer. She told him, finally: "Something mighty bad has hap- pened to you, Mr. Gray." He gazed at her mutely, then nod- ded. "Is it something about the - the Princess of Wichita Falls?" "Yes, Ma." "Tse! Tse! Tse!" It was a sym- pathetic cluck. "Was she a wicked princess?" The query was gently pui but it deeply affected the man. He tried to smile, failed, then like a for- lorn little boy he came and bowed his head 'beneath her hand. "I knew you'd understand, Mother Briskow, so .I -I ran to you with my hurt, just as I used to run to my Mother Gray." After a while he con- tinued in a smothered voice: "She is not a wicked princess. She didn't mean to hurt me and -that's what makeo it hurt so deep. She tumbled the oh! duke's castle down upon his head; tumbled the old duke out of his dreams. He isn't a duke any longe..." "He'll allus he a duke," Mrs. Bris- kow firmly declared. "He was ;torn that way." "At any rate, he's a sari nld duke now; all his conceit is gone. You see, he was a vain old gentleman and his courtiers used to tell him he -vas splendid, handsome- They staid he looked as handsome as a king, e.ul by and by he began to think he Tans} be a king. His enemies sneered at this and said he was neither duke nor king, but a -a mountebank. That made him furious, so he went t i war with them, and, by Jove, he fought pretty well for an old fellow! Any how, he licked 'em. When they fell down and begged for mercy he knew he was indeed a great person -greet- er even than he had suspected and worthy of any princess in the land.' "Pshaw; ain't a duke higher then a princess?" a.m. IA Ilfl.Ll�l 12.01 12.12 211.26 Man .Ai t ai7z 41?e, thea. "I)zraAt pr a stron sista! son ;lab �1 �a i{: tit desirable • that she would be tattered at ins not, ice. Pits a yet all dressed. up and want to call on ,'-', and, on the way when- ever he looked into a shop window,, he didn't . seep the buns and the candies and the dolls inside; all he saw was his own reflection. It - looked so mag- nificent t' .:t he strutted higher and thought how proud be wa a going to make her. "I guess thatwas the trouble with the old duke aalong; he had never looked deeply enough to see what.wai inside. Anyhow, .what do you think, Ma? While he'd been off at war eon- que'ing peo'ple 'and making them ac- knowledge that he was a king, the lit- tle princess had fallen in love with - with his nephew. .Vice boy, t.sa:, nep• hew, and the duke thought a lo; of him." Ma Briskow's hand, which had been slowly strokipg Gray's bent hear, ceased its movement, she drew a sharp breath. "There happened to be an old mir- ror in the princess's boudoir, and while the duke was waiting for her he saw himself in it. He saw him- self just as he was, not as he had looked in the shop windows, for it was a truthful moment for the Duke of Dallas, when he saw that he wasn't young and beautiful, but old and wrinkled and -funny. That was had enough, but when he looked again and saw the princess whom he loved in the arms of his handsome nephew, why, he gave up. All his fine gar- ments fell off and he realized with shame that, after. all, he was' only the withered mountebank. "When he got home his castle had collapsed. There wasn't a stone standing, so he ran away -ran to his mother." "Oh, Mr. Gray!" Ma Briskow quav- ered. "I could cry. An' after all you done for Buddy!" The man shook his head vigorously, still with his face hidden.. "It isn't Buddy. It's youth. Youth needs no fine adornment, no crown, no victory." "What you goin' to do?" she asked him. "Go on playing the duke, I suppose; r•ebuilcl•the castle the best way I can. That's the hard part. If I could rim away and forget, but -I can't. The old duke walled himself in. He must grin and strut and keep people from guessing that he's only a fraud until he can find a hole in the wall through which he can creep." There was a long silence then Ma inquired: "Would you like to te21 ane something about the little princess? Sometimes it helps, to talk." "N -not yet." "You're a duke, an' the best one that ever lived, Mr. Gray. You can't fool me; I've met too many of 'em. That lookin'-glass lied! Real dukes. an' kings an' such people don't get old. It's only common folks. There's lots of magic, the world's full of it, en' your castle is goin' up again." "After a fashion, perhaps" -Gray raised his head and smiled crookedly -"'but it will never be a home, and that's what I wanted most of all. Do you think I'm very weak, very silly to come to you for a little mothering?" "That's the kind of children mothers love best," the old woman said, then she drew him down to her and laid her cheeks against his. "There! I've made you cry," he exclaimed, reproachfully. "What a selfish beast I am! I'll go now." "Won't you stay an' have supper with Allie an' me? We're awful lonesome with Pa gone. Allie's out som'er's, but -it would do me good to know you was here an' it'll do you good to stay. You can rest yourself while I take my nap." Ma Briskow did not wish to take a nap, but she knew that Gray needed the solace of his own thoughts just now, so, when he agreed, she sent him downstairs. "No Ma. Not higher than anis prin- cess. Hl'er father made all the laws She is very noble and very good. Good princesses are scarce and -and so, of First balm, indeed, had come to the man; the smart was less intense. To put his trouble into words somehow lightened it; then, too, the grateful knowledge that some warmth of sym- pathy was his made it easier to bear. But it remained a cruel burden. That gentle, dreamy soul up yonder could not know how it hurt. How could she understand, for instance, what it meant to go back and face the deadly dull routine of a life from which all zest, all interest, had fled? A routine broken only 'by moments of downright torture. Yes, and the effort it would take to smile! God! If there were only some way to break his fetters, slip his gyves! GraY's_brain, like his body, had grown tired and feverish. To be sure little more than a day had gone by since he had sallied forth like a knight but it seemed a year, an age, and ev- ery hour brought a new and keener distress. He found it possible new, for the first time, to relax a bit physi- cally, so he closed his eyes and lay back in any easy chair while the twilight stole in upon him. . Sooner or later his mind, too, would cease its torment, for pain distils its own an- odyne. Then he would sleep. It would he a blessing to forget for ev- en an hour, and thus gain strength with which to carry on the fight. Pot what a useless battle it was! He could never win; peace would never come. He heard Allie enter the house, but he did not stir. He would have to put on the mask soon enough, for, of course, she must never suspect, on Buddy's account. The room, which had grown agreeably dark. was sud- denly illuminated, and he lurched to his feet to find the girl facing him from the door. She was neither start- led nor surprised at his presence, and when he tried to smile and to greet her in his accustomed manner, She interrupted him by saying: "T knew you were here." "So? Then Ma is awake again?" Allie shook her head vaguely "I knew you were here the minute I came in. I can 'most always tell." There had been a shadow of a smile upon her lips, but it vanished; a look of growing concern crept over her face. "What's the matter? Whatev- er has happened, Mr. Gray?" "Why, nothing. I was feeling tir- ed, worn out. Indulging myself in a thoroughly enjoyable fit of the blues." His voice broke when he tried to laugh. Allie uttered quick, low cry, a wordless, sympathetic sound. 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Allie had the knack of silence; blessed attribute in man or woman, and ' to Gray's surprise he found that her mere presence was comforting. She startled him by saying, suddenly: "You're hurt! Hurt badly!" He lKoked up at her with an in- stinctive denial upon his lips, but, re- alizing the futility. of deceit, he nod- ded. "Yes, Allie." The girl drew a deep breath, her strong hands closed harshly she said: "I could kill anybody hat hurt you. I wanted to kill Buddy that time. Is it those Nelsons? Have they got you down?" There was something fierce and masterful in Mlle's concern and her inquiry carried with it even more 'than a proffer of help; she had, in fact, flung herself into a protec- tive attitude. She suggested nothing so much as a lioness roused. "No, no! It is nothing like that. I merely fooled myself had a dream. You ld 't d st and my dear " won n un er. . Allie studied him soberly for a moment. "Oh, yes, r would! I do! i understand perfectly. Nobody could understand as well as T do." "What do you mean by that?" "I've been hurt, ton." She laid a hand upon her breast.. "That's why I sit in the dark." "My dear child! I'm sorry. Gus said you were unhappy. but I thought it was merely -the new life. You're young; you can forget. It's only us old ones who can't forget. Sometime you must tell me all about it." The girt smiled faintly, but he nodded, positively: "OTs, it's a relief to tell sonislief1 ''! I feel better alre ad'7 for eovsfddinlg fn lila. Yes, and'seam 'sym- pathy is mighty soothing, too. It seems almost as if I had come home." a He closed his eyes and laid his head back. Allie placed her hand upon his forehead and held it there, for a mom- ent before she moved away. It was a cool and tranquilizing palm and he wished she would hold it there for a long time, so that he could sleep, for- get- Allie Briskow went to her room, and there she studied her reflection in the mirror carefully, deliberately, before saying: "You can do it. You've got to do it, for he's hurt. When a girl is hurt like that, it makes a woman of her, but when a man's hurt it makes him a little boy. I -I guess it pays to keep on praying." It was perhaps a half hour later that Mr Ilriskow heard a sound that caused her to rise upon her elbow and listen with astonishment. It was the sound of low, indistinct, but joy- ous singing: it came from Allie's room. Allie singing again! What could have happened? Slowly Ma's face became wistful, eager. "Oh, Mister Fairy King!" she whispered. "Please build up his castle again. You can do it. There's magic in the world. Make him a duke again, an' her a queen. for yours is the power an' the glory for ever an' ever. Amen. THE END The Gallant General -"Among the prettiest girls present was Brigadier - General Blazer," wrote a young re- porter in his account of a garden party. The next day he was called to the editor's room. "What do you mean by writing stuff like that?" demanded the edi- tor. "Well," explained the reporter, "that's where he was." -Border Cit- ies Star. Didn't Say "Easel Nuuttla"-A farm- er who was much troubled by tres- passers during the nutting season consulted with a botanical friend. The following notice was posted at con- spicuous points about his premises. "Trespassers, take warning! All persons entering this wood do so at their own risk, for the Corylus avel- lana abounds everywhere about here, and never gives warring of its pres- ence. - The place was unmolested and the farmer gathered his crop in peace. - Christian Register. "It used to be the height of my ambition to own a motor car," said the worried -looking man. "And what is the height of your ambition now?" asked his friend. "To sell it." "Henry, you look worried; what is the trouble?" "I was stung by an adder this af- ternoon." "What! How did it happen?" "i went to the hank, and the clerk, Oliver after looking up the ledger, told me , my account was over -drawn." , impressed, but with a view to an en- gagement, ventured to suggest one improvement. I should like to hear an 'h' or two," he said. "Can't teach me anything abaht music, guv'nor," was the reply. "There ain't no 'h's'-the 'ighest note's G.'A i should say the Stock Exchange sweepstake is a private lottery with certain semi-public characteristics.- Sir haracteristics-Sir W. .Joynson-Hicks. The world does move. Canada is now planning a war upon insects - from the air. ---Ottawa Journal. Windsor has reached the 75,000' population mark and feels that it will soon give dust to Detroit. -Brantford Expositor. • The truth may not he so complicat- ed as some may have us think. -Sir Lodge. "Gibbs is in business for himself, isn't he?" "For himself? Well, I should say he's in business for the benefit of an extravagant family." Seaside hotel proprietor (instruct- ing new waiter in his duties) : "This is the visitors' book. Always try to get visitors to write their apprecia- tion before the account is presented." "What is the national air of this country?" asked a foreigner of an ac- quaintance. "Mighty cold, as a rule." A tenor, "found" in a factory, was on trial before a well known London manager. t:+" sang with sin °; =.lar purity about 'carts and Wee anti 'appy 'omes. lie manager was duty ee ,1