City and town life -- Fiction; Man-woman relationships -- Fiction
He opened the door and dashed down the high steps into the full blast
of the blizzard. He waited at the street corner while three overcrowded
cars whizzed past him, ignoring his signals because there was not an
inch of space left in them for another passenger. Then he fought his
way across two or three blocks to the nearest “L” station. He managed to
wedge himself into a train there, and then at least he was on his way.
He was thinking hard and fast, but through all his planning the warm hug
of the tartan comforter round his neck kept Little Ann near him. He had
been very thankful for the additional warmth as the whirling snow and
wind had wrought their will with him while he waited for the cars at the
street corner. On the “L” train he saw her serious eyes and heard the
motherly drop in her voice as she said, “I do hope you'll be able to
keep the page. I do that, Mr. Tembarom.” It made him shut his hands hard
as they hung in his overcoat pockets for warmth, and it made him shut
his sound teeth strongly.
“Gee! I've got to!” his thoughts said for him. “If I make it, perhaps
my luck will have started. When a man's luck gets started, every darned
thing's to the good.”
The “L” had dropped most of its crowd when it reached the up-town
station among the hundredth streets which was his destination. He
tightened his comforter, tucked the ends firmly into the front of his
overcoat, and started out along the platform past the office, and down
the steep, iron steps, already perilous with freezing snow. He had to
stop to get his breath when he reached the street, but he did not stop
long. He charged forth again along the pavement, looking closely at the
shop-windows. There were naturally but few passers-by, and the shops
were not important-looking; but they were open, and he could see
that the insides of them looked comfortable in contrast with the
blizzard-ruled street. He could not see both sides of the street as he
walked up one side of the block without coming upon a confectioner's.
He crossed at the corner and turned back on the other side. Presently
he saw that a light van was standing before one place, backed up against
the sidewalk to receive parcels, its shuddering horse holding its head
down and bracing itself with its forelegs against the wind. At any rate,
something was going on there, and he hurried forward to find out what
it was. The air was so thick with myriads of madly flying bits of snow,
which seemed whirled in all directions in the air, that he could not
see anything definite even a few yards away. When he reached the van
he found that he had also reached his confectioner. The sign over the
window read “M. Munsberg, Confectionery. Cakes. Ice-Cream. Weddings,
Balls and Receptions.”
“Made a start, anyhow,” said Tembarom.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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