Adventure Magazine Cover, October 1911 — page 5: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

VOL. 2 OCTOBER, 1911 THE FREAK BY JOHN | COCHRANE, MD" CHAPTER I TRAINOR CHANGES HIS LODGINGS ARVARD had a lot of freaks in our day, and = sa most of them flocked tide to the new boarding- club. Our table comprised the choicest col- lection—we gloried in our collective repu- tation for insanity—but by enthusiastic consent we accorded the palm to Trainor. Six and one-half feet of big bone and steel muscle, he had come out of the West and landed in our midst with a whoop; and where he was, things were always doing. His boyish-grim face, with generous thin lips and nostrils, ever shone with clean vitality; and his presence was like the strong north wind, crackling with electric energy. When he loped along the street, in the driveway for choice, where he towered above the horses, people perforce turned to look. Strong men smiled in sympathy, women ba eT es ae L looked frightened, boys whistled on their fingers, and his few friends said, as they shook their heads: “That Trainor certainly is cracked!” Perhaps because I stood over six feet, perhaps by reason of the attraction of opposites, he had chosen me for a friend. ‘Trainor said that it was because I alone had the stomach to stand him. And he was no companion for a retiring invalid. To be with him was to be con- spicuous always, in trouble frequently, but never unoccupied or dull. For instance: It was a warm May afternoon when it was an effort to breathe. On my way through the Yard I heard a long stride on the gravel behind me, and stepped aside to let the big fellow come abreast. ‘“Come to my room, will you?” He always spoke in a low vibrant bass, ' and flushed when our eyes first met. With- out a word I turned to walk with him across Harvard Square. He expressed his satis- *Dr. Cochrane is the author of “The Crook and the Doctor” and ‘Cupid and the Crook” which appeared in earlier numbers of ADVENTURE and received much favorable comment. Copyright, 1911, by The Ridgway Company. All rights reserved, 951 CO NO. 6 5}