im two years
ago, at Christmas time, and the dainty white bedspread that he, fussed
about because he said it was too sissy for a boy's room--oh, I can't tell
you what he saw as he sat and stared at that worn place in the carpet.
But pretty soon it began to grow dark, and at last he rose, keeping his
fascinated eyes still on the bare spot, walked to the door, opened it,
and backed out queerly, still keeping his eyes on the spot.

He was back again in fifteen minutes, with a bottle in his hand. He
should have known better than to choose carbolic, being a druggist, but
all men are a little mad at such times. He lay down at the edge of the
thin little bed that was little more than a pallet, and he turned his
face toward the bare spot that could just be seen in the gathering gloom.
And when he raised the bottle to his lips the old-time sweetness of his
smile illumined his face.

Where the car turns at Eighteenth Street there is a big, glaring
billboard poster, showing a group of stalwart young men in white ducks
lolling on shores, of tropical splendor, with palms waving overhead, and
a glimpse of blue sea in the distance. The wording beneath it runs
something like this:

"Young men wanted. An unusual opportunity for travel, education and
advancement. Good pay. No expenses."

When I see that sign I think of Eddie Houghton back home. And when I
think of Eddie Houghton I see red.

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