e habit of a dozen years. And I got to coming
here back in the days when George ran a pool and billiard hall, and I
suppose I'll come until I die, and then George will bring his wheezy old
quartette around and sing over me, and probably act as pall-bearer
too--if he doesn't read the burial service of the lodge in addition."

"Well, a year's a year," said the suave Judge Van Dorn. "A year ago you
boys were smoking on me as the new judge of this judicial district. All
hail Thane of Cawdor--" He smiled his princely smile, taking every one
in with his frank, bold eyes, and waved himself into the blustery night.
There he met Mr. Calvin, who, owing to a turn matters had taken at home,
was just beginning another long period of exile from the hearthstone. He
walked the night like a ghost, silent and grim. His thin little neck,
furrowed behind by the sunken road between his arteries, was adorned by
two tufts of straggling hair, and as his overcoat collar was rolled and
wrinkled, he had an appearance of extreme neglect and dejection. "Did
you realize that it's over a year since election?" said Van Dorn. "We
might as well begin looking out for next year, Joe," he added, "if
you've got nothing better to do. I wish you'd go down the row to-night
and see the boys and tell them I want to talk to them in the next ten
days or so; a man never can be too early in these things; and say--if
you happen in the Company store down there and see Violet Mauling, slip
her a ten and charge it to me on the books; I wonder how she's doing--I
haven't heard of her for three months. Nice girl, Violet."

And Mrs. Herdicker hadn't heard of Miss Mauling for some time, and
sitting in her little office back of the millinery store, sorting over
her old bills, she came to a bill badly dog-eared with Miss Mauling's
name on it. The bill called for something like $75 and the last payment
on it had been made nearly half a year ago. So she looked at that bill
and added ten dollars to Mrs. Van Dorn's bill for the last hat she
bought, and did what she could to resign herself to the injustices of a
cruel world. But it had been a good year for Mrs. Herdicker. New wells
in new districts had come gushing gas and oil into Harvey in great
geysers and the work on the new smelter was progressing, and the men in
the mines had been kept steadily at work; for Harvey coal was the best
in the Missouri Valley. So the ladies who are no better than they should
be and the ladies who