West Side High School - Legenda Yearbook (Saginaw, MI)

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The girl spoke. She had a nice voice, Rollo thought. How much longer will it take? she asked impatiently. We ' ve been gone over five hours as it is. From which the rear seat listener deducted that the time was anywhere from one o ' clock to dawn. It had been near eight when he entered the car. Hm-m. Five hours of riding at at least forty miles an hour. He must be two hundred miles distant from New York. ihe man at the wheel replied. His voice was not nice. It was more of a snarl. Don t wo rry, he answered. It will be another hour at least. The girl stared at the driver, suspicion on her face. Rollo liked her profile. Her hair seemed to be black or dark brown. He was prepared to bet that Clara was a blond. She turned to her companion. That bridge! she cried in dismay. You aren ' t taking me to Buffalo at all. We ' re almost north to Lake Champlain. I was here last summer. He laughed unpleasantly. Not much need of pretending now, is there? he asked. You know you wouldn ' t marry me last week when I asked you, so now you ' ll have to. Then you lied when you said that father was hurt at Buffalo? she demanded indig- nantly. He may be in New York at this minute, and he chuckled coarsely. A strange voice interrupted his chuckle. Rollo was very angry at the man ' s brutal treat- ment of the girl. And you ' d better be there in another five hours, he threatened. He forgot himself in his fury. The driver ' s face went white. He whirled about in nervous haste, his hands leaving the wheel. The girl turned on the lights and looked at Rollo. The unguided car, going nearly fifty miles an hour, left the road, and shot into the river. Rollo worked faster than at any time previous in his life. He reached for the girl, dragged her across the intervening seat, and almost before the car sank filled with water, opened the door in some manner, and fought his way to the surface, still holding the girl with one arm. He obligingly left the door open for Rath to leave by, but that gentlemin was never seen again. The water was cold, but the current slow, and he easily swam the few yards to the shore. A footpath led to the road, and he struggled up with his burden. The girl stirred in his arms, and he laid her down by the roadside, covering her with his coat, which even if water-soaked provided some protection. The night was bright, and by the big, yellow moon, Rollo saw her eyes slowly open. When she found him bending over her she was terrified. Rath! she cried. But on sitting up she realized her mistake. Are you the man who was in the back seat? she inquired, her teeth chattering from cold and fright. Yes, replied Rollo shortly. But do you feel well enough to walk? he asked. If you do you can keep much warmer. We ' ve simply got to find shelter. She agreed so he helped her to her feet, and with one arm around her, they started down the road. It was truly a wild country. The improved stone highway, a state trunk line, seemed entirely out of place in the wilderness. Large pine trees bordered the road on either side. A wooded stretch extended to the right. For perhaps an hour and a half they travelled along the hard stone road. The air was warm, and they were soon fairly comfortable, though their wet clothing was inconvenient. At length they came to a little farm house, resting in a well cleared area. Not a light shone from its windows. Rollo hesitated wh n he reached the door. What shall I do, he complained. It doesn ' t look right for us to be together as late as this. What time have you got, my watch has stopped. She bent her gaze on her time piece. The hands pointed to quarter past two. And it ' s stopped,too, she said holding the delicate piece of workmanship to her ear. We ' ve been walking over an hour, if I ' m any guesser. I can tell ' em we ' re brother and sister, — or else married. She colored. I believe that I ' ll pass as your sister. No one knows us here. Very well. And he rapped sharply on the door. A minute or two passed before a man answered the summons. He carried a shot gun, and his suspicion was obvious. Well what ' dyou want, he croaked, his eyes shifting from one to the other of his vis- itors. Rollo recounted their experience. May we stay here until morning? he inquired. I can telegraph then. How far is the nearest town? There was a touch of pessimism in his last question. Durham Corners is five miles north. He jerked his thumb in that direction. Are ya sure this girl ' s yer sister, he growled, with a gimlet like stare at the object of discussion. Why certainly she is, aren ' t you — uh — Clara, rejoined Rollo indignantly, but with some confusion. Of course she ' s my sister. The idea!

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Rollo was disgusted with the world and its ways. He tossed the photograph across the table to his irate father. When I marry, he delivered his shot dramatically, it will be the woman I love! He stalked tragically from the room, leaving Old Rollo staring at him in amazement, tinged with admiration. Times immemorable the subject was broached, even after this outburst. The Old Man was determined to have his way. He threatened on several occasions to disinherit his son, but some latent instinct in his being told him that Rollo needed tactful handling. Following this situation, he allowed the discussion to drop for awhile, but the government was kept busy carry- ing mail between New York and California. At last he re-introduced it when he and Rollo were dining at the club to which they both belonged. ' Joe Branch and his daughter will be here in a few days, he announced easily. Clara — that ' s the girl ' s name — thinks that Joe ' s coming on a business trip, which he is, in a way. He held up a telegram. They ' re already started, he complted. Mr. Armitage was veiy well pleased with himself. His son finished his dinner, carefully laid down his napkin, and arose to leave. He was very calm. I won ' t have a thing to do with them he stated quietly, and left the room. Mr. Armitage shrugged his shoulders, fully believing that the young man would change his mind when he had to. Rollo called a taxi and went to New York ' s Chinatown, then popular with the Four Hundred, with the determined intent of burying his sorrows in dance and song. He didn ' t care for intoxicating beverages, so it was impossible for him to drown his woes; he at last decided to smoke them out with opium. Unknown to the police of the metroDolis, to whom it must be admitted much is known, was a drug den in the musty cellar of Chinee Charlie ' s Jazz Palace. To this haven of vice Rollo was conducted by a wary, squint-eyed, unemotional old Chink, a student of human nature to his yellow core. To many of the applicants for an onium stall this guarded Oriental turned a bland, saffron countenance with the time-worn words : No got! Others more for- tunate — or unfortunate, as you please — whom he believed desirous enough of the drug to keep secret its origin, he admitted, led them through a secret panel in a private room, down a dirty rat infested passagewav, and into the isolated den. There is little need to dwell upon Rollo ' s only sowing of wild oats. Sufficient to say that he reaped a splitting headache and a deadened mental system, and was entirely devoid of logical reason when he left an hour later. In the first place, his stomach felt strange. Not more than a week previous he had seen in the New York Globe, an advertisement embellished with the picture of a very stout man, who appeared to be calling his dog. That Derverse little animal was sitting happily under the shelter of the fat man ' s abdomen, but of this fact his master was supposed to be entirely igno- rant until he reduced by taking Fish ' s Fatoff Capsiiles. To return to Rollo ' s stomach, figura- tively speaking, that organ of digestion seemed as huge as the one in the patent medicine ad. He glanced cautiouslv down at his fee t. Yes-s-s, he could have seen his dog had he been there, because he could distinguish his toes as it was. I me n Rollo ' s toes. He could have seen old Ruff anyway, since he was an unusually big Newfoundland. His head was also out of joint. It was as heavv as lead and wouldn ' t balance on his shoulders. As a cap to his difficulties, when he looked at one lamp post he saw two. And he usually tried to hang onto the wrong one. He lurched down this street and that, finallv reaching the swarming heart of the city. To the eyes of the curious passers-by he was stupidly drunk. He realized one fact in a dim, unreal way. No self-respectinsr girl would care to marry a man locked up for drunkenness. And he was glad. But as usual when wanted, not a policeman was near, even when a victim was all set for a ride in the wagon. So Rollo meandered on. Suddenly he was seized with a tremendous desire to sleep. The potent opium was numb- ing his faculties. Near him at the curb was parked a large enclosed motor car, empty. Even the chauffeur was absent, so Rollo straightened his hat and sauntered almost elegantly to the machine, opened the door to the back seat, pulled down every curtain, and stretched out luxuri- ously on the soft cushions. II When he awoke, his return from dreamland was punctuated by a series of violent jerks. Apparently the motor car was in motion. Rollo, still dopey, was undecided as to what course he should take, so he remained quiet. From where he lay, by twisting his neck, he obtained a fine view of the occupants of the front seat. The dome lights were not switched on, so the two persons there hqd probably overlooked his presence. He could see them plainly, a man whose face he did not like, and a girl whose face he did like, by the rays of the dash lamp. In spite of a terrific headache Rollo was able to appreciate the beauty of the girl. He lay still, know- ing that silence only would save him from discovery.

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Well you needn ' t git huffy, returned the farmer unbending a trifle. Folks can ' t be too keerful of their reppitations. I guess I kin fix you up. For the remainder of the morning till seven o ' clock the girl slept in a bedroom upstairs, while Rollo had an old couch in the dining room. Their host seemed to trust him with the family silver at any rate. When the clock struck a tinny seven, the wife of the farmer woke him. Jed ' s goin ' to Durham ' s, she informed him, an ' if you want to tellygraph, you kin ride with him. She appeared to be a kind, motherly little woman. I ' m bakin ' , she continued, an can ' t get you a reg ' lar meal, but there ' s some milk an ' coffee, an ' some cold ham on the table there. You ' dbetter eat before you go. Yer sister, Clary, was sleepin ' so nice it was a pity to wake her up, so I left her sleep. Rollo was disappointed. He was anxious to see the girl once more. He almost fancied that he was in love with her. Well, he could wait. He thanked the old lady, and was finished eating, when a tremendous i-attling sounded outside the door. He seized his hat and coat which were now dry, and hurried out. Jed was sitting in an old Ford, of some ten years of age, judging from appearances. It quivered from radiator cap to tail light. Morning,, sallied the tiller of the soil, somehow less formidable when seen by daylight. Thought I might as well give yuh a lift, sence I was goin ' anyhow! Rollo returned the greeting, and thanked him for his consideration. It most certainly would be more pleasant to ride the five miles, for the sun was already hot enough to be dis- agreeable. The car, though old and decrepit as it was, covered the ground with surprising agility, reaching the settlement in shortly under fifteen minutes. He found his way to the diminutive telegraph station with no difficulty, and handed to the operator an envelope containing the message which the girl wished sent. She seemed to be afraid that he might forget a verbal message, so the night before — or to be exact, earlier in the morning — she had given him the envelope. It was nearly two hours later that the reply came. Jed had completed the deal which brought him to town, and was waiting, so they returned. It was after ten o ' clock when the farm was reached. The girl looked prettier than ever in the sunlight as she read the answer- ing wire. ... ' Father will be here as soon as he can, by motor, she exclaimed. It will be late this afternoon, though. Rollo was nothing loath to spend the afternoon in her company. She called him Ted. He called her Clara, the name of the only girl with whom he had ever been involved, and whom he had never seen. After viewing all of the live-stock, especially the clumsy gambols of a small calf, she announced her intention of picking wild flowers. They crossed a pasture to the woods by which they had passed after their thrilling ex- perience that morning. Flowers were very much in evidence, and they spent a long time gath- ering Mayflowers and violets. Her eyes, he discovered, were the exact shade of the most purple violet. Do you know, she said suddenly, I could live forever under these blue skies and big trees. And this clear country air — ! Marry me and you can, he replied just as suddenly. His utterance, almost unconscious was most startling. The girl gave him a quick glance, and blushed. But she was not offended. I couldn ' t, anyway, she retorted with a laugh. I ' m a confirmed man hater. But don ' t you think we ' d better go? Rollo certainly did not want to go, but he couldn ' t think of remaining against her wishes, so he agreed. When they came to the farmhouse some time after, it was nearing four o ' clock. They had not waited long before a car, dusty from travel, drove up to the gate. In the tonneau sat Mr. Armitage and a strange man of about his age. Dad! cried Rollo, almost stunned with amazement. Father! exclaimed the girl eagerly. Then you ' re Rollo, she accused in surprise. And — for the love of Mike — , you must be Clara! he countered, more befuddled than ever. Explanations were in order, and the newly discovered Clara was a logical candidate. She undertook the task. We reached New York sooner than we expected, she began. That is, Jim, the chauf- feur, Mr. Rath, and 1 did. Father stopped at Buffalo on business. We left him there yester- day morning, and arrived at New York about this time in the afternoon. Jim took me to the hotel, and Mr. Rath went somewhere else. At about nine last night he came to the hotel and