196
STUDENT LIFE.
refused to see th e pa ss in g . \ Nhil e he was not born of illu stri ou s parentage, nor midst th e pomp and splend or of an heir apparent to the Span ish throne, Jack lIlu ran e was not the more proud. In th e days that were gone, he had not been a stranger on Regret' s and Sorrow's well-trodden trail s. The hand ling of these v ici ss itudes tended only to furth er develop, and brand his sterl in g worth as a characte r and hi s personal integrity as a man. Throug h the developm ent of di screti onary years in th e roug h environm ent of a littl e no rth-western mining camp, appreciation's ce rtain occult intell ectual powe r was surely but modestl y assum in g r ecogn iti on. The passin g tim e that stood for a cycle of progressive development for J ack was but a few short years from th e awakenin g in th e 1i ttle north-western m i n in g camp to thi s night wh en he sa t on a pole bench with Jim Garret, lawye r. in th e Alaskan mu sic ha ll. Th e period of happy mom ents wa g liding away to mu sic sweet in that prim itive la nd. It was a doll a r a dan ce. bu t, even at that, th e cost was in no II'a v com mensurate with th e innni te :ioys that, it boug ht. The sil verI' rin g of th e coi n a nd dcad plank of gold du st poke 0 11 the bar 111 in g led strangel y m idst the noisy din of happy reve ller and siren. Th e " ho uch ""dam n good stuff" - drunk cl own and aga in to orche.:;tra l 1'I"t11111n , the fur clad min er with favo rite soubrette. swung on. J ack l\I urane was restl ess but
silent. Ne ith er man had an ything to say-everythin g appeared to nave been told. i\I uram: shifted Again o n th e bench fo r comfo rt. crossed hi s kn ees and leaned aga in st the mud chinked log wal1. He tri ed to wand er back, he thought-a moment-abstractedly, mel with an ex press ion of promised contentm ent fe lt fo r man's best in1nimate compa ni on . In joy or 111 so rrow it is ever the same. Having fi lkrl and li g hted up, solac( was long so ug ht in th e sweet fragrant blu e smoke that a rose from the bow l of hi s ni cked and battered pal. He had fo rgotten he had a fri end. Garret was grow in g lo nely . If was di stress in g to with stand tn e engend ered si lence long-er. Th e coun se l tu rn ed to chee r hi s losing client whose ca use he had fough t so hard in that memorab le case to defend. but- he stopped- mellowed silence mastered still. That fraternal consolation wa s hu shed and st ran gely born e away. H(~ would look to sec, adm ire-whil e it lasted. A way dO\\' n deep to that magnifi ce ntl y bala nced cha racte r, he mentall y proposed a nd dran k to hi m who then entwined in th e labyrinth of drea ms approac hed a certain icl ea l. \ Nay back in pkb ian days . the f1-es11111 an year, Gar路路 ret reca l led the ex press i ve sunburned face. the w iel e-brimm ed hat a nd l: lu e Aa nn el shirt. no su spenders-th e \ Veste rn dress that he II'ore th e fi rst t ime that he eve r saw him. A nd th el' came together, we re coll eg e pal s in th e com-