Poetry -- 20th century -- Periodicals; Short stories -- Periodicals
By and by they ran out of the street into an open space with large
gates in front, through which people were passing by the uniformed
gatekeepers. The bishop could catch the flutter of flags in the air;
men and boys were selling sheets of paper and bawling loudly in his
ears. Many cabs and carriages and automobiles were “parked” about the
inclosure. He paid the driver, who again took occasion to tell him, in
a hoarse whisper:
“Take my tip; you won’t be sorry. Bet it all on Hotspur.”
On either side of the gates the bishop saw booths at whose windows men
were selling tickets. Approaching a booth, he tendered a five-dollar
bill, receiving in return a badge and three dollars. For a moment he
hesitated, and looked at the grinning countenance of the ticket seller.
“How much is--this?” he faltered, holding up the badge.
“Grand stand, two dollars; that’s a grand-stand badge.”
The window shut down with a bang, and the small man in black passed
through the turnstile, holding out the badge dumbly to the gatekeeper.
The man tore off something and handed the larger portion back to him.
As the bishop passed inside he saw a man attach the--to him--badge of
iniquity to the lapel of his coat. He himself held the gaudy bit of
pasteboard as if its very touch was defiling, and then tossed it on the
ground.
Presently he found himself in front of a stand a quarter of a mile
long, black with people. So many never had he seen gathered together at
one place.
A band was playing back near the grand stand. Men and women jostled
him, laughing, chatting, paying no attention. He heard a young man
near him say: “Get your program--one dime,” and gave ten cents for the
narrow-leaved “racing card.” He stood holding it mechanically in his
hand. Though his eyes rested on the verdant green of the infield, they
did not see it. They were looking back into the past of little more
than four years before. The racegoers shouldered him heedlessly. He
hardly realized the discomfort, he had forgotten the place to which he
had come, the sights and scenes of the race course on this great Derby
day were forgotten.
How well he remembered the other, the day when the crushing blow had
fallen on his heart! That had been the real reason for his sadness.
Until that morning, four years before, as fresh in memory as yesterday,
the bishop had thought his only son, at college, would follow in the
footsteps of the father. He recollected tearing open the missive in the
beloved handwriting, and reading the letter which had burned deeply
into his memory and his soul.
As he stood looking back into the past, isolated, though surrounded by
thousands, he went over it again:
DEAR FATHER: Your last letter, in which you suggested that it
was high time I had made the choice of a profession, set me to
thinking. As a result I have made my decision.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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