Show LOST STAGE COACH had been buried in the sand forty years with its i treasure by SE belina LINA LILLIAN HIGGINS HIGGIN 3 you must not bo be discouraged geed abner n er 11 spoke mrs waldron in her bar patient sympathizing iziah way im not mother was the prompt but infinitely weary response it Is not mot tile tho loss loaa of business home and friends what worries lorries mo me la Is tile the fact that after all my sacrifices I 1 shall not bo be able to pay my creditors in lull full it la Is a pretty heavy load for an old man like mo me to carry remember tho the promise on whom goda hand rosteto ro re hath both god clod at ills hla right hand abner waldron tried to smile biallo bravely kissed the dear old patient face of ills helpmeet and left tho the house lor for ills his accustomed stroll it had bad ceased to seem like homo horne for a week weak pst past for it was scheduled to follow tho the krestof rest of his bla possessions and go towards paying his debts he had done very well in a business way vay until a smooth smart city pro rooter had come coma to albion ills father james waldron the banker had come to tho the little michigan town 60 50 years abaro since lie ile had left the son some money and abnor abner had built up a profitable manufacturing business then the promoter had filled his mind with expansive ideas ile ho had branched out the sleek aleck schemer had reaped a rich harvest and then failure abnor had bad turned over every penny tie be had in tho the world it paid up everything except a few thousand dollars mrs alre waldron had in her own right a small farm in an adjoining county they had decided to go there and wore were now on the eye evo of departure its tile older children richard and maud that I 1 care about tho the thoughtful bankrupt had told his close friends the boy can earn ills hla own living the girl lias has a fine education and can do 40 the samo same but you soo see both are engaged On I 1 expected to give them a good start in life now the weddings must be postponed it seems as though my foolish ideas of becoming a mull mur r A was batea Q great lumbering old fash toned vehicle llon alre have driven hap happiness 3 away from everybody who had anything to do with me abner evaded meeting hla his neigh ebors and took a lonely route out of town he was soon eoon among the sand hills he wanted to think plan out resignation tor for the present content ment for the future it was a great sand district about albion lying along the lake shore air currents had bad piled up great greaf yellow mountains of tho the shifting particles one wind storm would build up a great hill in a night A second from a contrary direction would obliterate this thin baturo building an hour abner got in among th a ancs and sat down amid as lonely and desolate des i scene as could well kwell bo be imagined the bleak environment chilled him betat but at the same time quieted alono alone and he be reviewed all the past he bravely faced the future after all it would bo bd rest and peace after turmoil ad strife the small be happy an tco comfortable fordable for table and the little farm farin might bring in enough to help him to pay eventually the Ahe debts that harassed hla sensitive nature like a millstone f about labout his neck A cheerful reaction took place in abnery tAb nera mind as he reflected that after ra all his was not the worst condition in the world he had a loyal helpful wife and loving obedient children from a more comfortable atti att mind hla his thoughts idly dr drifted ted to dreaming over eye events a in his bla past life then in a whimsy whimsical I 1 way a st story 0 ry of 0 the long ago came to hla his memory ills alls father had been well nigh ruined right among these treacherous sand aana nalls nearly 40 years since the event was waa the sensation of the hour through the whole district james waldron had removed his little country bank ti to albion from Bank Sank atuck in the next county over in gold toad had been carried in locked iron boxed in anold an old stage coach its driver had t lost jost llis bis way among the sand hills a great storm halcome had come up and he be wat wa blown from his seat against a rock arid tendered end ered insen insensible insensibly sibl 0 when he came back to conscious asa the tha aldge coach the horses the treasure had bad disappeared thorn ther wt a search all over the country it brought no results with difficulty the tha banker met the groat great loss loaa it was waa generally decided that robbers had driven the treasure away stage and all and no trace ot of the outfit W waa ever found the sky aay had bad darkened while abner sat dreaming A cyclonic gust nearly swept him off his bla mot feet as ae lie be got up to make a start for home A blinding rain of at sand cut his face abnor abner walked briskly forward but several times in his up and down hill pro progress grebs lie ho went headlong as tile tho sand slides took him on off his footing this Is getting s serious leri oual 1 he ex claimed as he slid nearly the tha length of a hill to land in a gully between two towering mountains of sand lie he tried to io reas cond cand it was like breasting an avalanche the cut was filling up fast at one time tho the sand was up to ilia hla knees chyl I 1 shall bo be engulfed 1 it to Is like quick sandl ho be reflected in vivid alarm ills situation was truly critical ha knew that unless ho he got out of what was a natural funnel for the tornado air currents lie he was waa lost ile he str ug aled on camo came to a turn in the gully and dimly made out a slanting mass of gnarled broo roots abner ran to it slipped a cavity was revealed and ho he dropped into darkness dark nesa fully 20 teet feet tho the breath was nearly knocked out of ills hla body and it was some time bo fore ibo he could arise to his hie foot feet lie ho stood on a sandy foundas foun foundation dat lon apparently of some borne largo sheltered vold void it 11 was so dark he bo could not make out its extent groping along ho he landed eu L against a post then it occurred tobia to him that he be had come upon one of the many sand band submerged houses swallowed up in somo some tornado years before once he be had stepped into a chimney all that was left visible of ono of these engulfed structures abner was a smoker ho he therefore carried matches and feeling in his pocket packet for one drew it forth and flared it then than transfixed he strain 1 ed his gaze wondering it if some aladdin touch had suddenly created a fairy scene tor for deluded senses before him was an open shed supported by posts dock back of it was a great lumbering old fashioned vehicle attached were the skeletons of a team of horses thrilled amazed in almost a shout tho the electrified observer gasped out tho the lost stage coache yes it could be no other it was no other like lightning through his bis bowl bewildered brain ran a theory elucidating all the mystery of 40 years yeara and more to this shelter on tile the night the bank was moved the horses had strayed to be enveloped swallowed up in tile great winding wreaths of sand past rescue and eight until now more alore matches a closer inspection and there intact just juat as they had been originally stowed were tho the iron boxes abner found tie the bank treasure his by right of discovery hla his by right of legal inheritance so all the dark claude passed away drooping root ends anda enabled the adventurer to regain the open air when the sand storm was over and the family roof was saved and soon there were two joyful weddings copyright 1912 by VW 0 chapman |