University of Oregon monthly., February 01, 1908, Image 18

U n iv e r sit y
of
O r egon M o n t h l y
21
II.
Dave Brandon was a man slow to think and slow: to act, but
like the famous mills of the gods, he was very thorough.
' ♦jComing from the north, from the solitudes,, he had the shyness
and deep abiding respect for womanhood that inevitably comes to
those who live much alone. He had worshipped Mary from afar.
When the disquieting rumors reached his ears, he felt.instinctively
that they were untrue but their, persistence worried him. Just when in
the natural course of events he,'should have attained the status of
a familiar friend Mary left.
% Dave, rambling along with his geology hammer, knocking off
pieces'here and there, took council with, himself,«went over the
whole ground. In the end he decided that a great injustice had
been done. Smiting a. nearby>, rock a blow that splintered the handle
of his'/hammer., he- swore to “even things up,” and he resolved
to begin the task pf/tracing down the despicable slanders. Had
Dave been more given to society instead of finding friends in the
fossils in Miocene sandstone his. task might have been much easier.
But at last he was almost sure that Charley Dexter was the guilty
one; and .instinct told ;him that, Charley’s inamorata, Lila, had a
hand .in it. . H e .was loth to- believe. in Charley’s baseness at first,
•fori^Charley was owe of the leading spirits in the fraternity of. which
Dave had been proud to become a member. ' He was at the point,
where,, in. spites/of the fact that all/trials converged- to one focus,
he was yet reluctant to proceed when chance,directed that he should
receive' incontrovertable proof. 'Now and then he found himself
enjoying the peculiar charm of the Bohemian affairs common among
the more sporty element of h is /‘frat.” He had happened into one
of the clubs up town and found a bunch of the fellows, making
merry.. They welcomed him,, and the tide of good fellowship flowed'
on. Later they were gathered around the table,, telling stories more
or less pungent. Charley Dexter was particularly gay. ' Presently
through the haze of cigar smoke some words of Dexter’s pierced the
comfortable indifference of' Dave, and he leaned forward, alert to
.every .word. x As he listened a slow anger filled him, for the fellows
before him were all men who bore the title of “good fellows,” were
prominent socially,,they represented a class to him which he held
as/dncapable of base,7 motives. He controlled'7himself only by a
great effort and listened as Dexter, flushed, swaying slightly from
side to side as, he grasped the table, retailed for the amusement of