ODDS AND ENDS - LOOSE ENDS

When I returned to Denver in October of 1900 after the kidnapping affair at Pocatello there was still a soft spot in my heart for Ella. Though I had no desire to see her again, I was curious to know what had become of her. I made inquiries, and learned that she had married the black-haired boy friend whom I had pummelled, within a month or two after we split up. She had moved to North Denver, a locality I rarely visited, and it was not until sometime in 1903 or 1904 that I met her again as I came out of a department store. She was pushing a baby carriage containing a pretty black-eyed little girl, whom I judged to be about a year old, and by her side was a pleasant-faced chubby boy about four years of age.

To me, the meeting was embarrassing. Why, I do not know. Ella's greeting was more than cordial, and her black eyes sparkled. Motherhood did not seem to have changed her appearance in any way. She told me the names of her two children, and after five minutes of inconsequential chatter we shook hands again and parted, heading in opposite directions.

I had not taken more than ten steps away when, without apparent reason, I stopped and turned to look at her. She, too, had stopped and was looking in my direction. She smiled, I waved to her, and then continued on in a reflective mood, wondering about what might have been and the blue-eyed, curly-headed, flaxen-haired little boy beside her. I wondered then, and I wonder now, if he followed in his father's footsteps and became a tramp. I hope not.

THE END