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Show MEETING AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE. 165 LITTLE JAKE. '"You ought to remember me, then, for I was an errand boy in that hotel.' "' What,' said he seizing my hand with a hearty grip, 'is this little Jake Scherrer? Why, of course I remember little Jake. Pardon my inhospitable treatment, but I thought when I found you here that your purpose could only be murder and robbery.' " I replied that I, too, considered my life in imminent peril from his threatening appearance. We had both contemplated each other with suspicion, and were quite pleased at the agreeable termination. "He laid his hand fondly on my shoulder, stroked my head, as if I was still a boy, and said: 'Ah, you resurrect a thousand memories of better days. Then I had money, friends and hope. But the woman I loved deceived me. Our wedding day was set, and when I arrived to claim my bride, the words had just been pronounced which made her the wife of another. Disconsolate and forsaken I left the country and have never given anyone the slightest clue to my whereabouts. I could not endure the humiliation in the presence of old friends, and so for twenty years I have been a wanderer in these mountains, never seeing a familiar face. Yours is the first.' " We sat up late that night talking of the old times. When bidding me good-bye, he said, ' we shall never meet again. I shall quit this spot and leave no trace of my further wanderings.' |
