Show fr y 4 novelized from the comedy of the same name by illustrated rupert from of lh ply a produced bahea by hanry W lavt I 1 by u E oa j CHAPTER 1 I 1 the wreck ot tha taxicab the young woman in the taxicab scuttling frantically down the dark street clung to the arm of the young man alongside as II 11 she were herrl fled at the lawbreaking neck risking speed but evidently some greater fear goaded her for she gasped cant he go a little faster can t you go a little faster 1 I he young man alongside howled as be thrust his head and shoulders through the window in the door but the self created taxi gale swept his bolce aft and the taut chauffeur perked his car in vain to catch the vanishing syllabus syl labes that he roared can t you go a little fastert the indignant charioteer simply bad to shoot one barbed glare of into that I 1 as lie turned bla head and growled say do youse want to lose me me licenser for just one instant be turned bis head one instant was just enough the unguarded taxicab seized the op bolted from the track and flung as it were its arms drunkenly around a perfectly respectable lamppost attending strictly to its business on the curb there ensued a con fourth of july sparks new ures exploded metals ripped two wheels spun in air and one wheel neatly severed at the axle went reel ing down the sidewalk half a block before it leaned against a tree and rested A dozen or more miracles coincided to save the passengers from injury abo young man found himself stand ing on the pavement with the un door still around his neck the young woman s arms were round bis neck her head was on bis shoulder it had reposed there often enough but never before in the street under a lamppost the chauffeur found him belt in the road walking about on all fours like a bewildered quadruped evidently some overpowering need sot speed possessed the young worn on tor even now she did not scream che did not taint she did not mur adur where am P fahe simply said what time la it honey and the young man not realizing bow befuddled be really was or how his band trembled fetched out bla watch and held it under the glow of the lamppost which was now bent over in a convenient but disreputable attitude A quarter to ten sweetheart aplenty of time tor the train hut the minister honeil what about the minister the consideration of this riddle was interrupted by a muffled hubbub of yelps whimpers and canine hysterics immediately the young woman forgot collisions train schedules everything she showed her first sign of panic get they groped about in the topsy taxicab rummaged among a jumble of suitcases handbags urn brellis and minor impedimenta and fished out a small dog basket with an inverted dog inside was ridiculous in any position but as be alad tall foremost from the wicker kt he resembled nothing so much ab a heap of tangled yarn tumbling out of a work basket lie was an in skein and bad much to say before be consented to snuggle under bis mistress chin about this time the chauffeur came prowling into view he was too deeply chocked to emit any language of the garage he was too deeply chocked to achieve any comment more brilliant than that mess don t look much like it ever was r taxicab does it the young man shrugged hla shout dars and stared up and down the long street for another the young woman looked sorrowfully at the fiock and queried do you think you can make it go tho chauffeur glinted her way an fn pity for her whole sex than in icorn for this one type as he mum bled make it go it 11 take a steam winch a week to unwrap it from that lamppost the loung man apologized I 1 t to have yelled at you he waa evidently a very nice young man not to be outdone in courtesy the chauffeur retorted 1 I haan hadn t ought to have turned m head the young woman thought wha nice chauffeur 1 but she gasped great heavens you re hurt I 1 its but a scratch on mi 1 I end mo a clean handkerchief ifrey r 1 iby y t tte the young man whipped out his reserve supply and in a trice it was a bandage on the chauffeurs hand the chauffeur decided that the young worn an was even nicer than the oung man but he could not settle on a way to sai it so he said nothing and grinned sheepishly ns he said it the oung man named harry was wondering how they were to proceed he had already studied the region with dismay when the girl resolved we II 11 have to take another taxi harr yes marjoree Marj orle but we can t take it till we get it you might watt here all night wit out ketchan ln a glamp of one the chauffeur ventured I 1 come this way because you wanted me to take a short cut its the longest short cut I 1 ever saw the young man sighed as he gazed this way and that the place of their shipwreck was so deserted that not even a crowd had gathered the racket of the collision bad not brought a single policeman they were in a dead world of granite warehouses wholesale stores and factories all locked and forbidding ana full of silent gloom in the daytime this was a big trade artery of chicago and all day long it waa thunderous with trucks and corn merce at night it was pompeii so utterly abandoned that the night watchmen rarely slept outside and no footpad found it worth while to set up shop the three castaways casta ways stared every which way and every which way was peace the ghost of a pedestrian or two hurried by in the far distance A cat or two went furtively in search of warfare or romance the lamo posts stretched on and on in both dl lons in two fo revers in the faraway there was a mut fled rumble and the taint clang of a bell somewhere a street car was bumping along its rails our only hope said harry come along marjoree Mar jorte he handed the chauffeur five dollars as a poultice to his wounds tucked the girl jundef one arm and the dog basket under the other and set out calling back to the chauffeur good night good night the girl called back good night the chauffeur echoed he stood watching them with the ten der gaze that even a chauffeur may feel for young love hastening to a honeymoon he stood beaming so till their foot steps died in the silence then he turned back to the chaotic remnants of his machine he worked at it hpe lessly for some time afore be bad reason to look within there be found the handbags and suitcases umbrellas and other equipment he ran to the corner to call after the owners they were as absent of body as they bad been absent of mind ha remembered the street number henry mallory and marjoree Marj orle newton they bad given him as their destina alon he waited till at last a yawning policeman sauntered that way like a lonely beach patrol and left him in charge while he went to telephone abts garage tor a wagon and a wrecking crew it was close on midnight before be reached the number his fares had given him it was a parsonage lean ing against a church he rang the bell and produced from an upper window a nightshirt topped by a drowsy frowsy head he explained abo situ atlon and his possession of certain properties belonging TO parties un known except by their arst names th clergyman drowsily murmured oh yes I 1 remember the young man was lieutenant henry mallory and he said he would stop here with a young lady and get married on the way to the train but they never turned up lieutenant mallory eh where could I 1 reach him he said he was leaving tonight for the philippines the philippines well III be the minister closed the window just in time CHAPTER II 11 the early bird and the worm in tho enormous barn of the rail road stood many strings of cars as if a gigantic young gulliver stabled bis toya there and invisibly amused himself now whisking this one away now backing that other tn some ot the trains were noble equip ages fitted to glide across the map with cargoes of lilliputian mil llon alres and their lilliputian ladles others were and linked up day and ding cars packed with workers like ants cars are mere vehicles but locomotives have souls the express en alnes roll in or stalk out with grandeur and ease they are like cm porous they seem to look with scorn at the suburban engines snorting and grunting and shaking the arched root with their plebeian choo choo aa they putt from shop to cottage and back the trainmen take their cue from the behavior ot theli locomotives tha conductor ot a transcontinental noda to the conductor ot a shuttle train alth less cordiality than to a brakeman ot his own the engineers of the look like senators in overalls they are far traveled men leading a mighty life ot adventure they are pilots of land ships across land oceans they have a right to a certain condescension of manner but no one feels or shows so much arrogance as the sleeping car porters they cannot pronounce ous but they can be it their als daan tor the entire crew of any train that carries merely day coaches or half baked chair cars Is as only a darkey in a uniform can ex press disdain tor poor white trash of all the haughty porters that ever curled a lip the haughtiest haught iest by far was the dusky attendant in the ban francisco sleeper on the trans amer lean limited ills was the train ot trains in that whole system ills car the car of cars ills passengers the passengers sur of all his train stood now waiting to set forth upon a voyage of two thousand miles a journey across seven imperial states a journey that should end only at that marge where the continent dips and vanishes under the breakers of the pacific ocean at the head of bis car with his little box step waiting for the toot ot the first arrival the porter stood his bead swelling under bis cap bis breast swelling beneath bis blue blouse with its brass buttons like reflections of bis own eyes ills name was ellsworth jefferson but be was called anything from coarr to and he usually did not come when be was called tonight he was wondering perhaps what passengers with what alons would fall to his lot perhaps he was wondering what his chicago sweetheart would be doing in the eight days before his return perhaps be was wondering what bis ban francisco sweetheart bad been doing in the five days since be left her and how she would pass the three days that must intervene before he reached her again he bad othello a ebon color old he have othello s green eye whatever his thoughts he chatted gaily enough with his neighbor and the portland sleeper suddenly he stopped in the midst of a soaring chuckle lordy man looky what a corn in the portland porter turned to gaze I 1 got my fingers crossed I 1 hope you git him 1 I hope I 1 dont he 11 work you hard and cuss you out and he won t give you even a much obliged thata right he aln t got a usher to carry bis things and hes got enough to fill a van the was plainly of eng elsh origin it takes all sorts of people to make up the british empire and there Is no sort lacking glorious or pretty or bour or sweet but this was the type of english globetrotter globe trotter that makes himself as unpopular among foreigners as he Is among bis own people he Is almost as durable as the americans abroad who twang their banjo brag through acu icu rope and berate france and italy for their innocence of buckwheat cakes the two porters regarded mr harold wedgewood with dread as he bore down on them he was almost lost in the plethora of his own lug gage he asked tor the san fran casco sleeper and the portland porter had to turn away to smother his gurgling relief ellsworth jefferson B heart sank he made a feeble effort at self pro the pullman conductor not being present at the moment he in quiren have you got yo ticket of cawse could I 1 see IP of cawse not too much trouble to fish it out the porter was fading do you remember yo anumba numba of cawse take these he began to pile things on the porter like a mountain unloading an avalanche the porter stumbled aa he clambered up the steps and squeezed the strait path of the corridor into the slender aisle he turned again and again to question the invader but he waa motioned and bunted down the car till he was halted with a this will dothe selected section three for his own the porter ven aured are you sho this Is yo num ba ot cawse I 1 m shaw how dare you question my 1 I you hoss 1 waa just asten you TO BE CONTINUED |