| OCR Text |
Show I I deep, cheering. A roertiM wave d k.enara niadi; up of little suuade! Aa officer si rang up to the top of the l THE GIRL AT THE an.l i HOUSE HALFWAY ' s 6 I his .iav-- l t THE FATAL REQUEST sword.' OR FOUND OUT o .t .riaifU.;.:g wLAh no one to hear. Tha Una In or .vu.g re- and O' F By A. L. Harris Author of "Mine Own Familiar F rlend. ale. 1 S K Y T H K A rws and icmiiuM of lilt- - columns q K 11 1 II ' f UK Ay l' f 1 1 1 1 1 tohiioking Company. . H l'1 Him (. Copyright, I l'iV !. lwi . ui'- - and poured volley after I r I A i i'trk met. tr J AlUtltm 6 WMtaai. .' Into tha thick a they wiHidj that lay befoes and tfir iu. Non: u.e bins, there appeared CHAPTER VI. Continued. not lia-clue, no possibility of recuguiziug or am k!e CHAPTER I. Mary Elion's eyes ms ui a long, flu- -l jr, faded llue, trot' "A dreadful railway accident has identifying any. Iteeu hid tint lids they might riiiii.inc. walking, falling, stum taken place on the Southeastern railTed liurritt approached and looked have seen a fare pale ami sad as her ting, bid The Brazen Tonguei. coining on. It swept like g. way. A goods train from lzindon to down uikiu one; then staggered and hug. no 111m own. They sat silent, for it was The band major poet. parallel to the wurkg.j Maidstone, which contained two wag- nearly fell. name I IokI to history. but It deserves time for human speech. The hour long siiiiiti-but surviving. Jt! ons loaded writhing, with petroleum barrels, Are these ah?" he asked, in a Ills ruse. for he and a pi are among the title of the great. came parting, came oil through the wood, writhing.) through aome mistake In the signals, dreadful whisper. The man who was Oj.ljf in the moii I of a poet, a great lips Just lightly touched her cheek. at mud abaitis laid to eg-- ran Into the 4:3ii up tram from Do- In charge of this ghastly detachment man, could there hate been conceived It seemed to him lit heard a faint It writhed, roared, but Jt it. imp ver, at the point where the lines cross. answered, briefly, "There be a heap down of lie stepped slowly that thought hy which the miotic "good hye. . over It broke the rail' swept first-clas- s more on 'em In the church yonder!" triumph should pat-- . the little pinnacle the king walk In the moonlight, aud t. iiws that lay between the tinea and The engine, tender, and three of human exultation, aud reach the his hand was at Ills fare Turning at tlie ahains, and still came on! TLi carriages have been smashed up and burnt by the petroleum. Twenty-thCHAPTER VII. the gate for I he In- -i wrench of sepura was not war, but Fate! higher plane of human sympathy. ree are or either dead form passengers a at hark he drooping ttun, gaed Tht-iKorty black horses, keeping step; came a cloud of smoke, hiding In the Vestry. Mrs. dying." forty trumpeters. keeping unison; upon the gallery. Then face of the liitreuchnient. Thun' The the stood upon his There was very little sleep for anyhead Ellen's perspiration came and lziul-liurthis procession, headed hy a mere mu of saw bursting brow as he read this this now she tin hoys grim and one at Magnolia Lxlge that night. alclan, who none tlm less wan a poet, upon her boxum, seeing that through tbl Fuffucgtitig curtain a few ghastly paragraph over and over Mrs. Burritt was at last persuaded to her Miflrringa a was and that woman, a great man, missed lint Held of Ixuii-f.u'i i. many fu ex. lung rows of facof.; again. go and lie down uisin her bed. where s iino pale, some red, some laughing! burg as It lay doited with the heaps of lial begun. How could 1 possibly let them see she was ministered to hy her daugh. slain, and ikitfe-- also with the grinins some hurr.iu-dMime shouting, sou this? he groaned to himself. They ter and the rook. CHAPTER II. of those who nought their elain; row of faces that! would wearing- -a long out of their niliulx with the and torturing So In lamentations go , wo-fii Id of crossed that h wept through the smoke, following A ling only It. And the- thought suspense, together with brief intervals of horror yet, Came. The Players of the hatred atnl despair, yd leaving linn of hteel a line of stool that struck him, what Is to prevent thorn of broken rest, the night wore away. When the l.t till major was twenty only tears and giicf. Tears and f from red, waved and (lipped. road I tig it all, and more beside, The servants, with scared faces, crept J his of front Is It true, yet grief that knew miles away in grief, in the morning papers? Though, of about the house and prepared the of sympathy, and tears that recked of ti limpets Hounded always tho advance. $ CHAPTER HI. j course, there Is hope there must he breakfast, which nobody touched. In Tim main iiitreiielimeiits other tears. of a Some must have hope! gleam May liurritt came down stairs about at of lay right For a long time the lines of invasion the J The Victory. escaped! How slow this train Is. Anil eight o'clock, and the first thing that had tightened atsmt the old city of angles to the road ulotig which came The bandmuxlor iiiiirxhajod hla mg- ret, why should I want to travel fast- she ssw was the dally paper lying In Ixmltiliurg, and Isiiilshurg grew weak- the Northern advance, and upua the sic at the head of the column of ocer? How do I know wliat awaits me Its accustomed place beside the urn. I Wood to town. tha nearest he er lb the mil. Thu wheat lay green side of cupation which was to march Into xt my Journeys end?" "Ah!" she gasped, now to know upon the fields and the odor of the In the fields both the wheat and the Umlxbtirg. The game had been adWhen the train reached London the worst! blossoms of the peach trees hung (lowers wife now trampled, and A mirably played. The victory was cotg-plntThe account she sought waa asBridge, a little before ten. lie found heavy on the air; hut there watt noun thousand Industrious and complaining There was no need to occupy who thought of fruitage or of harvest. bee buzzed protest at the losing of tho trendies, for those who lay la all was bustle and confusion. The signed the most prominent position, news of the accident had spread like and was headed in large capitals, Out there In frout, where the guns their commerce. The defenses them- them or near them would never o rally were pulsing, there went on that grim- selves wera hut earthworks, though for another halt le. There was n wildfire, and a momentarily increas- "Terrible Railway Accident! Thirty-twlives lost! Numbers roasted to mer harvest with which the souls of skilfully laid out. Along their front, longer need for hurry. Before the ing throng of agonized friends and all wera Intimately concerned. The well bidden hy tho forest growth, ran middle of the morning the lines would relatives besieged the officials, at- death!"re&if office and hurried tacked the She the brief paragraph. Into hoys who threw up their hats to greet a line of entangling ahattia of stakes start oa the march Of the few short hither andtelegraph Iiackwards and which so much horror was condensed, thither, the Infantry were fewer than they bail and sharpened Interwoven boughs. miles. forwards, In search of something defi- and stood as though turned to stone. In the center of the llue of defense been before the blusHomliig of the Then coming back to herself, she murDuring the delay a young offlesr of nite In the shnpe of Information. peach. The war hnd grown less par lay tha reserves, the hoys of Ixju Ted IJurritt forced himself through mured: "Mother must never see this. flanked on either aido hy regi- englneerx. Captain Edward Franklin tlcular of IU food. A boy could attend by name, asked permission of hla the crowd which was ge'hered round It would kill her!" And she left the W bullet, or could stop one. Thera ments of veterans, the lean and Idack-haire- colonel to advance along the lino of some person In authority, and put room, taking the paper with her. were yet the hoys. Georgians and Carolinians, until he came Wj the earth- the same questions which burst from "After all, though, alto ventured to families of this whose steadiness and unconcern gave inurdi Of all the to which ho wished to give iu many lips at once. hope, "there have been some saved. Ancient little city none held position comfurt to more thau one bursting works, Was anything more known about Why may not he he among them? more secure or more willingly accord- boyish heart. The veterans had long aniiii! examination. Joining hie regionas it -lit beyond the fortifica- the accident? When would the line Surely Tt-- will send a telegram soon. ed than the Fairfaxes and Urn played the game of war. They hail tions on it passed The colunel gave be clear, anil when would a train be Door hoy! I wonder what he Is domarch. e to their wumThere had alwaya been a king since said good-byhis consent, not altogether willingly. illowed to run to the scene of the ing?" Vou muy see more over there than disaster? A little later In the morning, when you want to see, young man," said PLAIN n it ittttttkfd. irw.cl.i-- i.-.-- i)u . fit, ttopyrtyht. tint, : Smith. ui i n 1 1 tliii-icb- Hca:i-rham- !di l - onii-bnr- I d old-tim- e Beau-Champ- he. Took Ellen's hsad upon hsr bosom. en. They had seen how small a thing la life, how easily and awlftly to be ended. In front of the trenches were other regiments, out ahead In the woods, unseen, somewhere toward that place whence came the steadiest Jarring of artillery and the loudest rattling of the lesser arms. It was very hard to lie and listen, to Imagine, to suspect, to dread. For hours the gamo went on. the reserves at the trenches hearing now distinctly and now faintly the tumult of the lines, now receding, now coming on. These young men. who but lately had said good-byto the women of their kin, began to learn what war might mean. It had been heretofore a distant, unmeasured, undreaded thing, conquerable, not to be feared. It seemed so sweet and fit to go forth, even though It had been hard to say txilonel Fairfax, the leader at tha local bar, perhaps the representative In tho legislature, or In sums position of yet higher trust The Beauchamps had always had men In the rauka of the profesalons or In stations of responsibility. They held large lands, and In tha almost feudal creed of tha tlmea they gave large services in re- turn. It was considered a matter of course that young Henry Fairfax, aon of Colonel Fairfax, should, after completing his studies at the ancient Insti- tution of William and Mary College, atep Into hla father's law office, eventually to be admitted to tha bar and to become bis father's partner; after which be should marry Mias Ellen Beauchamp, loveliest daughter of a family noted for its beautiful women. Bo much waa tbla taken for granted, and so fully did It meet the approval of both families, that the tide of the young people's plans ran on with little to disturb Its current Young Fairfax seemed so perfectly to represent the traditions of his family, and hla futura aeemed to secure; and Mary Ellen her-seltall and slender, bound to be stately and of noble grace, seemed so eminently fit to be a Beauchamp beauty aud a Fairfax bride. For the young people themselves It may be doubted If there had yet awakened the passion of genuine, personal love. They met. but, under the strict cods of that lanu aud time, they never met alone. For two years Colonel .Fairfax had been with his regiment, fighting for what he considered the welfare of his country and for the Institutions In whose Justice he had been taught to believe. Then remained at the old Fairfnx borne In loiiisberg only the wife of Colonel Fairfax and the son Henry, the latter chafing at a part which seemed to him so obviously Ignoble. Spirited and proud, restive under comparison wl.irh he hnd never heard hnt always dreaded to hear, Henry Fan fax begg.-.- l his mother to let him go. tluiueh still she said, Not e good-bye- f, 11 jet. But the lines of tho tightened ever about Iiutid-urgThen came a day a fatal day fraucht with the tidings of whnt seemed a double death. The wife of Colonel Henry Fairfax enemy . was grande dame that day, when aho burled her husband ami sent away her son. There were yet traditions to sup- port. Henry Fairfax said good-b- a to Mary Ellen upon the gallery of tho old home, beneath a solemn, white faced moon, amid tha odors of tha drooping honey . Now there began to appear in the woods before the trenches the figures of men. at first scattered, then becom- ; ing steadily more numerous. There came men bearing other men whose arms lopped loosely. Some men walked with a hand gripped tightly to an arm; Two men otbera hobbled painfully. sometimes supported a third, whose would now head, heavy and and then be kept erect with difficulty, the eyes staring with a ghastly, sheepish gaze, the fare In a look of horrified surprise. This awful rabble, the parings of the defeated line In front, dropped back through the woods, dropped bark upon the young reserves, who lay there In the line. Rome of them could go no farther, but fell there and lay silent. Others passed back into the fields whore droned the protesting bees, or w here here and there a wide tree offered shelter. Suddenly all the summer air was filled with angui-d- i aud horror. Was this, then, the War? And now there appeared yet other figures among the trees, a straggling, broken line, which fell hack, hailed, stood and fired always calmly, cunilv. at some unseen thing in front of them. Hut this line resolved itself into Individuals. who came back to I lie edge of the wood, methodically picking He ir way through the nbntli. c'.iaibing the Intervening fences, and finally clauih ering Into the earthwork to take their . places fur the final They spoke with grinning respect of that which was out there ahead, coming on. They threw off their ronta and tightened their belts, making themselves comfortable for what time there yet remained. At last there came a continued. Franklin went oil, following as nearly as he could the line of the assault at the previous day. a track all to boldly marked by the horrid debris of the As he reached the first edge fight. of the wood, where the victorious col-- tt mu had made Its entrance. It seemed to him that there could have been no such thing as war. The air was sort and sweet. Just cold enough to stir tho leaves upon the trees and set them whispering Intimately. All about was the suggestion of calm and rest and happiness. Surely It had been a There . could .hlX? dream! battle here. This that had been a dream wis changed Into a horrid nightmare ts the young officer advanced Into tko wood. About him lay the awful evidences. Coate, caps, weapons, bit of gear, all marked and emphasized with many, many shapeless, ghastly things. Here they lay, these Integers of the line, huddled, jumbled. They had all the contortions, all the froien ultimate agonies left for survivors to see snd remember, so that they should do more go to war. Again, they lay so peacefully calm that all the lesson was acclaim for happy, painless war. Some lay upon their backs where they had turned, thrusting up a knee In the last struggle. Borne lay face downward as the slaughtered fall. It eras all a hideous and cruel dream. Surely It could be nothing mure. It could not The birds gurgled and be reality. twittered. The squirrels barked and played. The sky was Innocent It must be a dream. (To be continued.) No Tima for Kindness. Don't you think the modern woman Is In danger of getting sb busy shs has no time to be kind?" asked a sweet old lady the other day. "We hear so much about making every minute count and always having some work or course of study fur spare hours snd systematizing our activities that there Is no room left for wayside kindnesses. We get so tremendously absorbed In our own affairs, so so intent on not missing anything that Is going on, that we pass hy a thousand little gracious acts that. If we had been living fifty years back. Instead of now, we should have thought of. It Isn't only the lame, the halt and the Mind that need oar love. There are hundreds who never fall by the w ay or ask publicly for tho cup of cold water who yd arc perishing fur hick of it. I think thu woman had the advantage over the pica lleil new woman In quickness (f sympathy ami respona-Iveness.- New York Tril-unc- "- . Technical Point. A "Yon say your road carried a million la.- -t )(. nttil "You can?" s "Yi. r: ye.ir? I c.ia prove it. sir.1' let's pet right d.mn to "Well, lto-facts, (an you mak- - two p: tmt of ope ni.M!?" Of C'Ctr-.not." No doubt in some juii'v, (.jj. man lit o. n or tied the Uoaty times." Tmpietional''y. Well, does that make fifteen cr twenty passengers of him?" Non." In view of that, can you say that youve carried a nt.l'.ion But th railroad man retired an grily. He never did have any use fog a technically exact n:an anyway. what little rvemed to as allow there was. "Yti'-y'vput Vm all inside the chau-r-- i i rails, said the old man, who had himself a sort of ghoulish master of the ceremonies. No one seemed to care to be the first to approach that part of the hoi edifice. At last Ted Burritt, with a gi.cu determination, approached the railing. luside. the bodies, or what bad once been bodies, were disposed in twi rows. Those on the right hand lay in coffins which had been hattlily gathered from all parts of the neighborhood; those on the left were mere groups of ashes collected together on pieces of tarpaulin. Ted liurritt began at the right-hanside. The other people followed his example, and the old clerk acted as cicerone. This 'tin," he said. Indicating the terrible contents of one coffin, is supa young female, as posed lo they found a thimble and a bit of a dress among the ashes. Thimble 'ad the name o' Lizzie scratched on It." A matt who was craning bis neck over Ted liurritt'i shoulder gave a sharp cry: "That's my girl! That's my Lizzie! And her mother waiting for her at home, anil won't believe as anything can have happened to her Oh. Lord! and he broke out into wild outcries. Some of the ethers, forgetful of their own concerns for a moment, gathered round hint and made an attempt at consolation. 'At least yuu know which she is that ought to be a little comfort to you. 'But I thought she might have been saved. She was such a good girl and look at. her there! and he gesticulated towards the open coffin. 'I cant stand much more of this, murmured Ted Burritt, as he wiped the great drops of perspiration from his forehead. They left the bereaved parent moaning over his child's remains and again parsed on. The next three coffins were examined, shuddered at and left. The mutilated corpses which they contained jxisxcssed neither head, feet nor hands. They could never have been taken for anything human had . not the fact been established beyond all doubt. Was either of those his rj Slf.lt. n father?" There only remained one or two more belonging to that row, and they, too, were unrecognizable. After that nothing was left but the poor heaps of ashes on the other side. 'This Is all, ladles and gentlemen," said the old man, with a sort of char'sides one nel house cheerfulness, more in the vestry, as was put there in consequents of bein' very little damaged, 'cept about the legs; and passon did say as I was to show 'Im fust, though bein' easy recognized. But my pore old ed's bln all of a Jumble since th' accident, and I clean forgot 'im. But anybody as likes can Jest step Into the vestry and see 'Im for thelrselves. Theyve laid 'Im out on the table, through bein of a hextry slzs, and runnin short o coffins. E was found buried under a lot o and they ad a deal o trouble to git 'im out. There was a general rush In that direction on the part of all those who had a male relative missing. (To be continued.) rub-bldg- e, "What's thatf Run, May, and over from And tha answers, repeated and over again, and passed month to mouth, were: "No further details of the accident had been ascertained, and no names of the victims had yet been published, as the telegraph lines had been broken. The first train to Bannock Bridge, the scene of the disaster, would be run aa soon aa the line was clear, and that could not be for some hours longer. The unfortunate people who craved to Ipiow what might be the fate of some of their nearest and dear- est, could do nothing but wait, hour after hour, every minute of which seemed an age, anil each separate hour an eternity. And so, at last, the hours wore away, and very early in the morning a train started, bearing its weary, haggard load of men and women, each hoping that God had at least been merciful to him, or her, whoever else He might hive bereaved. Ted Burritt sat in his corner of the carriage, and let his thoughts wander where they would. All at once the thought occurred to him. What had become of the friend? The friend whom his father went to meet, and who was to return with him? But whst did it matter about him? Why. but for him, though the accident would have taken place all the same, it would have had nothing to do with that pleasant, peaceful home at Dulwich! By the time he had recovered himself a little he saw that the day was beginning to dawn. Surely they must be very near the scene of the disaster. Even in the faint early light, which was all they had to illumine the scene, signs of the recent catastrophe began to appear. By the rldo of the line they saw drawn ii some of the Another moment, ruined carriages. and the train drew up at the picturesque little country station, which had now been converted Into a temThe nnvirnfti!. porary wild-eyecavalcade, which alighted at the platform, w-- r, met by the who merely motioned with his arm, and w.iid. In there." The whole crowd, with one nccord, poured In the direction Indicated. A dreadful sight met their eyes. In the waiting room and booking office a dozen charred remnants of human beings were laid out on tarpaulins each one of which had lost all semblance te humanity. Thera was no dead-hous- aeel" Burritt was Just being coaxed to take a little beef tea, the fateful double knock once more t through the house. What's that?" crlod Mrs. Burritt, sitting bolt upright Perhaps he's come back safe after all! Run, May. and sex' The housemaid met her on the stairs, bearing a yellow envelope. The boy is waiting to know If there la any answer, miss, she said, and lingered In the expectation of hearing something of the contents. The girl seized It and tore It ! open To return to her brother, who had been told that there were yet many more bodies in the church, for which room could not be found elsewhere, and who, accompanied by a detach ment of other seekers, thereupon left the station for the sacred edifice. It was a relief to find themselves again In tha open air, after the ghastly sight that had Just met their eyes. 3ut there was horror In the thought that they were only exchanging one such scene for another. Could he have been one of those T' was the awful thought which pursued the young man one of those fearful, And was it Indescribable objects! such a thing ns that that he must take home with him. if it should prove by any means possible to separate the Identity of the one from the other?" He came in sight of the church, which was not far front the station. Arriving at the porch, the foremost of the party discovered that the door was locked. Here was a sudden check and they began to consult together as to where the key might be found. As they did so, a window of one of the little cottages opposite the church was thrown up, and an old man. In a quaint, old fashioned nightcap, stuck tils head out. I Ih he cried; "ye must jest bide a bit, and I'll be with ce. This was evidently the clerk or set ton; at any rate, he waa the Individual required, and thre was nothing to do hut to "bide," as he had desired them. At last the churchyard gate clicked and a shriveled, heut figure made Its appearance, dangling a hunch of great keys in one hand. He threw the great door open with a clang, and the people entered the church. It was Yery dark Inside. The windows were most of them of colored glass and high up, and the old fashioned pews and the thick quat columns which supported the Mrs. Were Dandy-LionsHe had been In the Dark Continent for two or three years, and when home on a visit he delighted to spin his tall yarns about his experiences In Africa. The hunting of wild Hons was his specialty how he could shoot them, how he could go out and be sure of finding one, how It was done, etc., etc., and he generally wound up by saying that' he never yet saw a lion that he feared. One night after he had finished yarning he was a little taken aback by one of bis audience, who said: Thats nothing. I have lain down and actually slept among lions In their wild, natural state. I dont believe that Im no fool!" said the great hunter. "Its the truth, though. "You slept among Hons In their wild, ." natural state? "Yes, I certainly did." Can you prove It Were they African? Well, not exactly African lions. They were dandelions. Practical Toys. Toys, whether useful or aa a pastime as instructors, are fascinating. However, the toy is practical. Children have miniature worke ing antes. A train, a splendid toy, is a real train of cars with real locomotive and real track. There are children out West on whose fathers property small streams cross. These hoys imitate the things they see going on about them. They build dams, check the water, construct miniature systems of irrigation In exact copy of the plan used by the farmers of that country. The water thus damned nourishes a garden plot of their own. In this play there is the dignity of education. make-believ- Thought Ade Needed Schooling. The following story Is going the rounds of Highland Park, where George Ade spent the summer. The aforesaid was walking along the street one day when he met a mite of humanity, kindergarten hent, one of Mr. Adcs summer colleagues and friends. Mr. Ade called out: "Hello! Going to chool? The prompt reply came. In the same tone of good comradeship, without the least suggestion of flippancy, but Just as Mr. Ade would have It: No; are you?" |
