Our Square and the People in It

ed. The ritual of initiation for Cyrus was, at first, chance words and offhand nods, then an occasional bidding to sit in at Schwartz's, an

nderings. Acting as chauffeur to ten tons of ill-balanced metal, he promptly discovered, is an occupation to which the tyro must pay explicit heed if he would keep within the bounds of his precinct. About the time whe

t be," said the owner

," contradi

I'm jig

g Presbyterian boss of a fashio

you doing

marine under Go

et of well-tailored manhood mounted nimbly to Cyr

Cartwright, whose appearance in that quarter did not greatly surp

know of. I

unt for such a reversal of form, eh? Keep

ear," observed

nervous breakdown last spring.

xture. Three of gin

orse,' says he. 'I'm a busy man with no time to waste on sure losses. Flat down, Cyrus, you aren't worth it.' 'This is all I've got of me,' I said. 'I'm worth it to myself.' 'Then do it for yourself,' he snapped. 'You're the only one that can.' 'Will you tell me how?' 'I will,' says he. 'But you won't do it. You aren't man enough.' 'Gerry,' I said, 'you may be a good doctor, but you're a damn liar.' 'Am I?' says he. 'Prove it. Cut the booze and go to work.' 'Work won't do me any good,' I said. 'I've tried it, and it bored me worse than the other thing. When I'm bored, I naturally reach for a drink.' (There's a great truth in that, you know, Carty, if the temperance people would only grab it: bo

oung clergyman studied Cyrus out of the corner of his eye. "I wouldn

ute. You never get bored, Carty, when you have the probabilities of your next meal to speculate on, pro and con. Odd jobs have been my stay mostly, before I landed th

verend Morris Cartwright. "

er. But you'll have to fetch it to me from Schwartz's.

reporter was present to witness one of New York's fashionable young pastors emerging from

e of your disgraceful secrets, what are you doing in this galley? Heading off

the doctors," retor

row some water in my face and d

ouse-" His ranging vision fell upon the row of figures joyously dancing in the window. "Never mind,"

the visitor's expression when he came out, a long hour later. He looked at once harassed, regr

out across the flaring lights and quivering shadows of Our Sq

hat draw one back become irksome ties. The messenger from the world which she had temporarily foregone wa

ion so dear to that Protean arbiter of destinies. Returning one evening from a call upon a small invalid friend in a tenement quite remote from Our

Bonnie Lassie had the courage of one who rules. She swooped into that black byway like a swallow entering a cave. Now the screams were muffled, with a grisly, choked so

mind to that of a great, magnanimous dog-the gaunt one released the Sicilian and stopped to pick up his hat, which had fallen in the struggle. Then the girl's heart leaped and clogged her throat with terror, for, as Cyrus turned, the pretense fell from the face of his opponent and it

murderer screamed, tottered, withered. His weapon tinkled upon the coping. Then an arm of inordinate size and strength encircled the Bonnie Lassie, whirled her up out of a pit of blackness, and supported her through a reeling world. At her ear a quietly urgent voice kept insist

my hand," she w

away before the crowd came," he said. "You ha

," she shuddered.

ed on a bench in Our Square could she gather her res

Lord

of blackness, and supported

t-you s

again, as she closed her eyes against the sight, she c

t is

, but receded again. "He might have killed you!" she exclaimed. "I thought when you t

ed he was through. Don't know that breed,

know what might have happened to me.

e carelessly

hat?" She looked

ow that neighborh

e name of

Er-wha

ow long have you bee

ll red. "Well, that's no place

I saw you, down near Avenue C,

e grudged. "Avenue C is

en guarding me

to match his. But, while Cyrus blushed like a brick, the Bon

rted out. "If anything should happen to

with an ammonia popgun?" she s

always like me. It's m

you on sight," she pronounced with

owledgment. At tha

more," she said fretfully. "

deep inside me, at

t makes you so different. And

culping me?" he

and found, to her discomfiture, that it caused a queer, inexplicable little pang deep insi

me to sit f

uld you

ch clock. "I've forty-

ever-increasing impersonality, a pain was born in his heart and grew and burned, because to this woman who had clung to him in the abandonment of mortal weakness but an

the first. Well, what right h

nce come forth from her absorption to see and interpret the man's eyes, she might have known. For only in the eyes does a brave man's suffering show; the rest of h

our clothes," she said lightly.

at the foot of my bed and keep

esting change. But wh

old me once to

t was before you were an honest w

se for me

don't s

you sometimes?

th you doing patrol duty in fr

y accusative third party to her dual self-communion. Said the woman within her, woefully: "I mustn't see him again. I mustn't! I mustn't!" Said the sculptor within her, exultin

and distrait. Presently the suspicion dawned upon Cyrus that she was avoiding him. Being a simple, direct person, he laid his theory before her. She denied it with unnecessary heat; but that didn't go fa

full two hours early, he beheld mounting the steps of the funny little mansion a heavy male figure, clad from head to foot in what had a grisly suggestion of professional black. The sight sent a chill to Cyrus's heart. The chill froze solid w

Good

-fallet

tteth-

Forth In-

awdly Caret

Wo

s-but

y, and Fa

ng Thereof I

th-his-Subst

-Pic-nics

Danceth

r Fe

h SL

a quartette, consisting of an aeroplane, a Salvation Army captain, a white rabbit, and an Apache, while a motley crowd circulated a

long since dark, but Cyrus's pedal fantasia on t

o go to a fancy party in, M

ocial Circle?" inquire

A dead swe

fule!" said the Scot,

" said Cyrus the G

rtz's to wash his hands and