Guy Wetmore Carryl

“ He passed into the hall as he spoke, and presently Cavendish heard the click of a telephone receiver slipping from its crotch, and Barclay’s voice speaking, to some one below, of a steak, vegetables, salad, and coffee. He stepped to the table, devoured two or three of the biscuits ravenously, poured himself a glass of sherry, sipped, and then swallowed it, and flung himself down upon a wide divan.
“Have you a cigarette?” he asked, as Barclay reëntered. “I haven’t smoked in three days. That’s worse than mere hunger, you know.” ”

“ I saw she had recognized me and that Kenton City was no place for me. So I was off again to-night. Is she” —
“She is well, and, I am glad to say, happy. We are to be married in the autumn.”
A smile hovered for an instant on Cavendish’s lips.
“God bless her!” he said slowly. “I’m glad of it. But don’t let’s talk of that. She’s as far above me as the stars!”
“And as far above me, too, for that matter!” answered Barclay. “Here’s your supper. While you’re eating, I’ll take my turn at the talk.” ”

“ Could you could you give me a drop of brandy, Barclay?”
“Certainly not!” said the Lieutenant-Governor. “Pull yourself together, man! There’s your bromide. Take that. It’s better than a thousand brandies.”
Cavendish turned, lifted the glass, spilling a little as he did so, and swallowed the sedative at a gulp. Then he stretched himself upon the divan and drew the covers close up about his chin. Presently, from the bedroom, Barclay heard him breathing deeply and regularly, and turning on his side, fell into a heavy, dreamless sleep. ”

“ You’re a bit of a wreck, of course, but it isn’t your pride or your self-respect or what ever you choose to call it, that’s gone. It’s only your nerve. Now you’ve had your experience, and you’re back where you belong, and you’ve friends who like you, and who can help you, and who will. ”

“ Do you want to tell me you’re as weak as that?”
“Every bit!” said Cavendish, attacking the steak again.
“Well, I don’t believe it, that’s all. In the morning you’ll be a different man. I’ll give you a bromide when you’re ready for bed. You’re shaky, as it is, but that’s all a matter of nerves. Now we’ll drop the subject, and talk of other things.”
It was midnight when they separated. Barclay brought out sheets and blankets for the divan, produced pajamas for his guest, put the bath at his disposal, and mixed a strong dose of bromide for him to take upon retiring. ”

“ I had a little money, but only a very little, and not the most remote idea of how difficult it is for a man to make his way in a place where he is unknown, particularly if he has no credentials and is too proud to ask for any from his old associates. ”

“ It will save your asking questions. We parted in anger, Barclay.”
“Let that pass,” put in the Lieutenant-Governor, briefly. “Two years wipe out all scores as petty as was the cause of our quarrel.”
“Well, then,” continued Cavendish more easily, “when I left Kenton City, it was with the best intention in the world of making a fresh start in some place where my story wasn’t known. I went to New York. ”