That Printer of Udell's: A Story of the Middle WestWright, Harold Bell
General
That Printer of Udell's: A Story of the Middle West
Wright, Harold Bell
Christian fiction; Middle West -- Fiction; Printers -- Fiction; Young men -- Fiction
Amy started to her feet in alarm when she heard the low knock, and
then as she listened to her mother's voice softly calling her name,
the hot tears filled her eyes once more, and she moved as though to
destroy the note in her hand. But as she hesitated, her father's words
came back: "You may have your tramp, but don't call me father. You are
no daughter of mine," and a cruel something seemed to arrest her better
impulse and force her to remain silent.
Mrs. Goodrich, when she received no answer to her call, thought that
her daughter was sleeping, and with a sigh of relief, went to her own
room. A little later, the father came upstairs and retired. Then Frank
returned home, and the trembling listener heard the servants locking
up the house. When all was still, and her watch told her that it was
a few minutes past midnight, she carefully opened the door, and with
her satchel in her hand, stole cautiously down the stairs and out of
the house. Hurrying as fast as she could to Broadway, she found a cab,
and was driven to the depot on the east side.
As Amy stepped from the vehicle beneath the electric light and paused
a moment to give the driver his fare, a man came out of a saloon on
the corner near by. It was Mr. Whitley. He recognized the girl
instantly, and springing to one side, drew back into the shadow of the
building, where he waited until she went to the ticket office. Then
going quickly to the open window of the waiting room, he heard her ask
for a ticket to Jonesville. After the train had pulled in and he had
watched her aboard, he entered the cab that had brought her to the
station, and was driven to his hotel.
The next morning Whitley was the first to learn from Frank Goodrich,
of Amy's quarrel with her father, and the reason. Without a word of
what he had seen, he made hurried preparation and followed her on the
next train.
At Jonesville, he easily made the rounds of the hotels and carefully
examined the registers, but Amy's name was on none of them. Concluding
that she must be at the home of some friend, he had placed his own
name on the last book he examined, and seated himself to think over
the situation, when he heard a bell-boy say: "That girl in number
sixteen wants a 'Frisco' time-table."
Whitley lounged carelessly up to the counter and again glanced over
the register. Number sixteen was occupied by a Miss Anderson. Catching
the eye of the clerk, he placed his finger on the name and winked.
"When did she get in?" he asked, in a low tone, at the same time
slipping a gold-piece beneath the open page.
"On the one-thirty from the west, last night," the fellow replied, in
the same cautious manner, as he whirled the book toward him and deftly
transferred the coin to his own pocket, without attracting the attention
of the landlord who stood near by.
"I believe I'll go to my room and clean up," said Whitley, a moment
later.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account