" He
turned the horse's head toward the city.
That same evening, Adam Goodrich, with his family and two or three
neighbors, sat on the veranda of the Goodrich home, enjoying the
beauties of the hour, and passing the evening in social chat. In the
course of the conversation, someone mentioned the rooms at the Jerusalem
Church. Adam grunted. "What a splendid thing it is for the young men,"
said one of the lady callers. "I don't see why more of the churches
don't adopt the plan. I wish ours would."
"Yes," chimed in another, "and isn't that Mr. Falkner, who has charge
of the rooms in the evening, a splendid fellow? My brother speaks of
him so highly, and all the young men seem to think so much of him."
"Where is he from; St. Louis, is it?" asked the first lady.
"Kansas City," said Frank. "At least that's what _he_ says. He bummed
his way into town last spring and got a job in that infidel Udell's
printing office. That's all anybody knows of him."
"Except that he has never shown himself to be anything but a perfect
gentleman," added his sister.
"Amy," said Mrs. Goodrich, a note of warning in her voice.
"I don't care, mamma, it's the truth. What if he _was_ out of money
and hungry and ragged when he came to town? He was willing to work,
and Mr. Udell says that he is a splendid workman, and--" But her father
interrupted her. "Well, what of it? No one knows anything about his
family or how he lived before he came here. He's only a tramp, and you
can't make anything else out of him.
Pages:
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100