The Pickens sentinel-journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1909-1911, August 17, 1911, Image 2

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

SENTINEL-JOURNAL PtUBLISHE4D WrEEK(LY. PICKENS. SOUTH CAROGINA. Life Is getting to be just one hot spell after another. One way to endure the heat is to think of pleasanter things. A good rule to apply is, the hotter A the weather the simpler the life. U C That day on which a new aviation hero does not materialize need not be counted. Infl Until we have an official national d flower perhaps the Mayflower will en have to do. rni With a microbe in every kiss how 1 many narrow escapies do you suppose ke you have had? Iin lr Was it not lucky that the dear wom- ! en got rid of their rats before the hot th wave camte along? br hu Softne people (1o not believe in vaca tions. They needn't go to the school. boy for sympathy. With the wider use of bubbly foun- In tains nearly everybody will learn to ti drink like a horse. b1 el A boy does not regard it as a hard ship to have to take swimming lessons during his vacation. No objection can be raised to the at coatless man unless he sheds his good i manners with his coat. pl th They are breaking the bathing ree ords in Boston. Ilot weather will dc drive people to anything. hi in The fool that rocks the boat is with ,us in suimmertim. but the fool that h speeds his auto is with us always. BE at All society is now divided into two parts-those who have and those who have not been up in an aeroplane. g b One of the troubles about fly swat- p ting is that where one fly is swatted 1 two more appear to plague the swat- i ter. k A newspaper devotes a page of type d and pictures to showing how to man- a age a canoe. There is only one way. tc Walk. tc A Philadelphia man has just sold his autollobile to get money to buy a homo. Just to be different, we pro Sume. What has become of all our Amer can aviators? The foreign airmen aire ti winning all the prtzeH and breaking ,all the necks. One 'eather expert says the world is growing" ,vr.riier. but he listens In vain for a plause. liing on the pirop~het whlo says the world Is grew-u ing coldler. c Aman in California, saved from drowning, gave a clime to is rescuer. J-Ience, it is fair to conclude that no life of value to the world was saved to It. A good nmany of our citizens are anxious to know whiethier the corn plexion of tihe Panama canal wvill hlave hi any effect upon01 the pr1ice of Panama hats. Surgery has restored his reason to aSn insane mian. Sur-gery does manyl lv wonderful thinlgs, but it has nlet roach- a ed the point whence It can r-estore his15 mnoney to a b~ankrdupta gi One of the pirofessor-s hlas been de-b veloping new kinds of potato bugs ini order to prove the theory of evolution. Wily not provo tihe theory withl some thing that might became useful? di A Boston woman started out to do a mian's work-but it r-ainedl and her s back h1ar camne down-.t 1s Catching a big fish caused one man to die of excitement. Perhlaps you o are lucky in that tihe big fish you h hook alwvays get away. Manager Chance has been lIlt on l g the head with pitched balls thirty- ti eight times, but that is not whatc makes him so great a inanlager. Some authorities hold that aviators are trespassers except over navigable waters. But no one can catchl them al In the act. A street car motorman has been ar- . i rested in New York for exceeding the Si8 speed limit. Of course, there did !V not happen to be a coai wagon in tile W track. A new operatic importation can vM sing in various languages, but speaks e only Japanese. The accomplishment Si is of doubtful value, for it is at all S( times dliflcult to tell whait tongue the v grand opera star war-bles with. One of the aviators has succeeded in r sailing under the uipper bridge at Ni- tc tugara; but tils is not likely to help hi any more than Blondiin (lid wvhen lie walked on a rope across the gorge. A Boston teacher, who Is retiring gi after a service of 40 years, advises n( Young teachers to be "a live wire,-' and il and to rest their mindsl by flirting a w lite. Thlere is nothing aged or de. It crepit in this gingery advice, and it 't ought .to remove the reproaeh of Drunes and prisms from the B~oston teacher's reputation forever. ( p WYLOUIS JOSI kUTliOR OP "THU BRAS4 1lJ9UMAU@D? bY [DR )PYRINT BY L.04//3 F/k.tW VAuygt SYNOPSIS. )avid Amber, starting for a duck-sloot r visit with his friend, Quain, comes up a young lady equestrian who has been mounted by her horse becoming fright ,d at the sudden appearance in the road a burly Hindu. He declares he is hmar Lal Chatterit "the appointed uthipieco of The Bell.' addresses Amber a man of high rank and pressing a 'sterious little bronze box. "The To n," into his hand, disappears in the od. The girl calls Amber by name. In turn addresses her as Miss Sophie .rrel, daughter of Col. Farrell of the itish diplomatic service in India and liting the Quains. Several nights later t Quain home Is burglarized and the anze box stolen. Amber and Qualn go nting on an island and become lost and nber is left marooned. CHAPTER Ilil. (Continued). He had, then, these alternatives: he ight either compose himself to hug e leeward side of a dune till day oak (or till relief should come) or so undortake a five-mile tramp on e desperate hope of finding at the id of it the tide out and the sandbar safe footway from shore to shore. Atween the two he vacillated] not at 1; anything were preferable to a ght in the dunes, beaten by the im acable storm, haunted by the ought of Qualin; and even though he aro to find the eastern causeway un !r water, at least the exercise would tve served to keep him from freez g. Ten minutes after his last cartridge %d been fruitlessly discharged,' he it out for the ocean beach, pausing , the first dune he came upon to rapo a shallow trench in the svrid id cache therein both guns e~ad his tine-bag. Marking the soot with a it of driftwood stuck, upright, ne essed on, eventually pausing on the rerhanging lip of t 20-foot bluff. To a foot the beata below was aswIrl nce-deep with wash of breakers. Awed and disappointed, Amber rew back. Tie beach was impass )le; hete was no wide and easy road the cast, such as ho had thought to tid, to gain tle sandbar he had now > thread a tortuous and uncertain ay through the bewildering dunes. A demon of anxiety prodded him t: he must learn Quain's fate, or go ad. Once on the mainland it were matter of facility to find his way to ke village of Shampton, telophone anglewood and charter a "team" to nvey him thither. Ile shut his teeth a his determination and set his face the cast. Beset and roughly buffeted by the tie; the snow settling in rippling 'ifts in the folds of his clothing and )Ont his shoulders clinging like a oth; his face cut by clouds of sand mug horizontally with well-nigh the rce of birdshot from a gun: ho wed to the blast and plodded stead on. Imperceptibly fatigue benumbed his nses, blunted the keen edge of his notions: oven thte care for Quain be me a mere dull acho in the back of s petrceptions; of physical suffering vatws unconscious, lie fell a prey freakish fancies. For a long time he oved on in stupid, wondering con mplation of a shining cr-escent of nd backed by a gr-eon, steaming all of juntgle. Many visions formed id dissolved in dream-like phantas agorila; but of them all the strongest 1(1 most recurrent wans thtat of the r'l in the black r'iding-habit, walking his sido0 dowvn the aisle of trees. > tha~t ptresenitly the tired and ove r-ought man believed himself talking ith hot, r-easoning, ar'guing, pleadling sperately for his heart's desir-e; . . and wakened with a start, to ~ar tlte echo of her voice as though 0 had spoken butt the instant gone, find his own lips fr'aming the syl bles or hter namo-"Sophia!" Abruptly he regained conisciousness his plight, and with an effort shook s senses back into his head. It as not precisely a time when he mId afford to let his wits go wool ithering. Inflexible of pur'pose in to face of all his weariness and dis utragemeont, he was on the point of isuming his march when Ito was ruck by the circumnstanco that thte hitened shoulder of a dune, quite eanr at hand, should seem as if osted with lightt-coldly luminous. Staring, speeculative, ho hung int the ind-inquisitive as a cat but loath to aste time in footless inquiry. The tow-fall, setting in with augmented olence, decided htim. Where light as, there should be man, and where an, shelter. His third eager stride opened up a ide basin in the duntes, filled with idying veils of snow, and set, at hme dlistance, with two brilliant iuatres or light-windows in an in sible (dwelling. In thte space be teen thtem, doubtless, there woutld be door. But a second time he paused, miembetring that the Island was said be uninhabited. Only yesterday he id asked and been so informed... So passing strange ho held it, in med, that Ito was conscious of a sin ilar relutctance to question the pho mtenont. ie had positively to force mself on to seek the door, antd even hten ho had stumbled against its ap he twice lifted his hand ana set fall without ktocking. Thereo was not a sound within that cou:!d htear above the clamour of .3 ionhn nig-ht PH VANeD 1 DOWb'.! LTC. sw WA[GZIl@U In the end, however, he knocked stoutly enough. CHAPTER IV. The Man Perdu. A shadow swept swiftly across one of the windows, and the stranger a the door was aware of a slight jar ring, as though some more than ordin arily brutal gust of wind had shakem the house upon Its f6undation, or au inner door had been slammed vio lently. But otherwise he had Bo littl4 evidence that his summons had fallei on aught but empty walls or deaf earE that he had begun to debate his righ to enter without permission, when v chain rattled, a bolt grated, and thi door swung wide. A flood of radiance together with a gust of heated ai struck him in the face. Dazzled, he reeled across the threshold. Three paces within the room; Ambe paused, waiting for his eyes to adjus themselves to the light. Vaguely con scious of a presence behind him, hi faced another-the slight, spare sil houette of a man's figure between hin and the lamp; and at the same timi felt that he was being subjected ti a close scrutiny- Loth searching and at its outset, the reverse of hospitable 3ut he had no niore than become sen sitivo to this than the man before stepped quier'ky forward and with twC strong ,ands clasped his shoulders. "3avid Amber!" he heard his nami rvonounced in a voice singularly resonant and pleasant. "So you've run me to earth at last!" Amber's face was blank with in credulity as he recognized the speak er. "Rutton!" he stammered. "Rut ton-why-by all that's strange!" "Guilty," said the other with a quie laugh. "But sit down." Ile swung Amber about, gently guiding him to a chair. "You look pretty well done up How long have you been out in this infernal night? But never mind an swering; I can wait. Doggott!" "Yes, sir." "Take Mr. Amber's coat and boots and bring him my dressing-gown anc slippers." "Yes, sir." "And a hot toddy and something tc eat-and be quick about it." "Very good, sir." Rutton's body-servant moved noise lessly to Amber's side, deftly helpinE him remove his shooting jacket whereon snow had caked in thin an< brittle sheets. Ills eyes, grey an shallow, flickered recognition an< softened, but he did not speak in an ticlpation of Amber's kindly "Goo< evening, Doggott." To which ho re sponlded quietly: "Good evening, Mr Amber. It's a pleasure to see yot again. I trust you are well." "QuIte, thank you. And you?" "I'm very fit, thank you, sir." "And"-Amber sat down again, Dog gott kneeling at his feet to unlace an< remove his heavy pigskin huntinj boots-"and your brother?" For a moment the man did not an swer. His head wvas lowered so tha his features wvere invisible, but dull, warm flush overspread hl: cheeks. "And your brother, Doggott?" "I'm sorry, sir, about that; but I was Mr. Rut ton's orders," mutterc< the man. "You're talking of the day you mae Doggott at Nokomis station?'' inter posed his employer from the stand hi had taken at one side of the fireplacc his back to tho broad hearth where on blazed a grateful driftwood fire. Amber looked up inquiringly, nod ding an unspoken afmrmative. "It was my fault that he-er-pre varicated, I'm afraid; as ho says, I was by my order." Rutton's expression was masked b; the shadows; Amber could make notll ing of his curious reticence, and rc mnained silent, waiting a further em planation. It came, presently, with al effect of embarrassment. "I had-have peculiar reasons to not wishing my refuge here to bo dim covered. I told Doggott to be cart ful, should ho meet atny one we knen~ Although, of course, neither of us at ticipated . . . "I don't think Doggott was an: mere dlumbfounded than I," said Anr her. "I couldn't believe he'd left yet yet it seemed impossible that ye should be here-of all place--In th neighborhood of Nokomis, I mean. A for that-" Amber shook his head om pressively, glancing round the men: room in which he had found this mai of such extraordinary qualities. "it' altogether inconceivable," he summe< up his bewilderment. "It does seem so-*even to me, a times." "Then why-in heaven's name "I see I must tell you somethin: -a little; as little as I can help-c the truth." "I'm afraid you must; though I'r damned if I can detect a glimmer c either rhyme or reason in this pre posterous situation." "In th4~ words," Rutton said delil eratoly: "I am hiding." "Hiding!" "Obviously." Amber bent forward, studying th elder man's face intently. Thin an dark-not tanned like Amber's, bu with a native arnsa of akin 11k th-at of the Spanish-it was strongly marked, its featAires at once promi nent and finely modeled. The hair intensely black, the eyes as dark and of peculiar fire, the lips broad, full, and sympathetic, the cheekbones high, the forehead high and somewhat nar row. these combined to form a strangely striking ensemble, and none the less striking for its weird resewblanco to Amber's own cast of countenance. Indeed, their likeness one to the other was nothing less than weird in that it could be so superficially strong, yet elusive. No two men were over more unaliko than these save in this superficial accident of facial contours and complexion. No one knowing Amber (let us say) could ever have mistaken him for Rutton; and yet any one, strange to both, armed with a description of Rutton, might pardonably have believed Am ber to be his man. Yet manifestly they were products of alien races, even of I different climes-their individualities as dissimilar as the poles. "Hiding!" Amber reiterated in a tone scarcely louder than a whisper. "And you have found me out, my friend." "But-but I don't-" Rutton lifted a hand in deprecation; and as he did so the door in the rear of the room opened and Doggott en tered. Cat-like, passing behind Am. ber, he placed upon the table a small tray, and from a steaming pitcher poured him a glass of hot spiced wine. At a look from his employer hi filled a second. Amber lifted his fragrant glass. "You're joining me, Rutton?" "With all my heart!" The mar came forward to his glass. "For old sake's sake, David. Shall we drinlk a toast?" Ho hesitated, with a marked air of embarrassment, then impul sively swung his glass aloft. "Drinli standing!" he cried, his voice oddly vibrant. And Amber rose. "To the king-the king, God bless him!" "To the king!" It was more an ex. clamation of surprise than an echc to the toast: nevertheless Amber drained his drink to the final drop. As he resumed his seat, the room rang with the crash of splintering glass; o . in the End, However, H Rutton had dashed his tumbler t( atoms on the hearthstone. -"WVell!" commented Amber, lifting -his brows questioningly. "You arn -sincere, Rutton. lBut who in blazes 1 would ever have suspected you of be ing a British subject?" '"Why not?" -"But it seems to me I should have -known-" -"What have you ever really knowr -about me, David, save that I am my self?" "Well-when you put it that way -little enough - nothing." Ambl laughed nervously, disconcerted. "But Sseriously now, this foolish talk aboui hiding is all a joke, isn't it?" "No," said Rlutton soberly; "no, it's no joke." Ho sighed profoundly. "As for my recent whereabouts, I have beer 1-ah-traveling considerably; moving about from pillar to pest." To thix the man added a single word, the more significant in that it embodiet t the nearest approach to a confldencc that Amber had over known him t< make: "Hunted." "Hunted by whom?" "I beg your pardon." Rutton beni forward and pushed the cigarettes tc Amber's elbow. "I am-ah--so pro foccupied with my own moan troubles David, that I had forgotten that yet had nothing to smoke. Forgive me.' "That's a matter, I-" Amber cut short his imnpatient catechism in deference to the other's mute plea. And Rutton thanked hinr Swifh a glance-one of those looks I which, between friends, are more elo t quent than words. Sighing, ho shool the flames. And silently studying hIs face-the play of light from lamp and hearth throwing its features iP' sa lient relief-for the first time A , r, his wits warmed back to activity from the stupor the bitter cold had put upon them, noticed how time and care had worn upon the man since they had last parted. He had never suspected Rutton to be.his senior by more years than ten, at the most; tonight, how ever, he might well be taken for fifty. Impulsively the younger man sat up and put a hand upon the arm of Rut ton's chair. "What can I do?" he asked simply. Rutton roused, returning his regard with a smile slow, charming, infinitely sad. "Nothing," he replied; "abso lutely nothing." "But surely-!" "No man can do for me what I cannot do for myself. When the time comnes"-he lifted his shoulders light ly-"I will do what I can. Till then . . ." Ho diverged at a tangent. "After all, the world is quite as tiny as the worn-out aphorism has it. To think that you should find me here! It's less than a week since Doggott and I hit upon this place and settled down, quite convinced we had, at last, lost ourselves . . . and might hav( peace, for a little space at least! And now," concluded Rutton, "we have tC move on." "Because I've found you here?" '*'ecause you have found me." "I don't understand." "My dear boy, I never meant yot should." "But if you're in any danger-" "I am not." "You're not! But you just said "I'm in no danger whatever; hu ianity is, if I'm found." "I don't follow you at all." Again Rutton smiled wearily. didn't expect you to, David. But thi misadventure makes it necessary tha I should tell yon something; you mus be made to believe in me. I beg yox to; I'm neither mad nor making gaim of you." There was no questioninj the sane sincerity of the man. H1 continued slowly. "It's a simple fact incredible but absolute, that, were m, whereabouts to be made public, great, a staggering blow would b *%.' E Knoke SoulyEnug . mustcknow Stoaty aEugh. eo struc Moast he peoul ndd-"i o te i worl.. .Don' augh Dmb "I'med notnfughing "ucan expet yo to understand me: you couldln't unl-es I were to tell you what I may noi But you know me-better, perhapi than any living man save Doggott ..and one other. You kno' whether or not I would seek to delud you, David. And knowing that could not, you know why it seems ti me Imperative that, this hole bein discovered, Doggott and I must be take ourselves elsewhere. Sure1 there must be solitudes-!" IHI ros with a gesture of impatience and b4 gan restlessly to move to and fro. Amber started suddenly, flushini "If you mean--" Rutton's kindly hand forced hir back into his chair. "Sit down, David I never meant that-never foi an ii stant dreamed you'd intentionatiy be tray my secret. It's enough that yel should know it, should occasionall' think of me as being hero, to brini misfortune down upon me, to work al incalculable disaster to tho progres of this civilization of ours." "You mean," Amber asked uncer tainly, "thought transference?" "Something of the sort-yes." Thb man cameo to a pause besidlo Amber looking down almost pitifully Into hi; face. "I daresay all this sounds hope lossly melodramatic and neurotic and tommyronic naid t . . IC tell you nothing more. I'm sorry." "But only let me help you-any way in my power, Rutton. There's notb ing I'd not do. . . ." I "I know, David, I know it. But my case is beyond human aid, since X ank powerless to apply a remedy myself." "And you are powerless?" Rutton was silent a long moment. Then, "Time will tell," he said quietly. "There is one way . . ." He re. sumed his monotonous round of the room. Mechanically Amber began to smoke, trying hard to think, to peno. trate by reasoning or intuition the wall of mystery which, it seemed, Rut, Rutton Turned to the Fire, His Head Drooping Despondently. ton chose to set between himself and the world. Pre ;ently he grew conscious that Rutton was standing as if listening, his eyes averted to the windows. "What Is it?" he inquired at length, t unable longer to endure the tensity t of the pause. "Nothing. I beg your pardon, D vid." Rutton returned to his chair, I making a visible effort to shake off a his preoccupation.. "It's an ugly night, out there. Lucky you blundered on this place. Tell me how it happened. What became of the other man--youP a friend?" The thought of Quain stabbed Am ber's consciousness with a mental pang as keen as acute physical an guish. He jumped up in torment. "God!" he cried chokingly. "I'd for gotten! He's out there on the bay, poor devil!-freezing to death if not drowned. Our boat went adrift some how; Quain would insist on going aft er her in a leaky old skiff we found on the shore . . . and didn't come back. I waited till it was hopeless, then concluded I'd make a try to cross to Shampton by way of the tidal bar. And I must!" "It's impossible," Rutton told him with grave sympathy. "But I must; think of his wif ch!) d rer~ Rutton-! NT49r48 yet-a baro chance; he may have reached the boat. If he did, every minute I waste here is killing him by inches; he'll die of exposure! Dut from Shampton we could send a boat-" "The tide fulls about midnight to night," interrupted Rutton, consulting his watch. "It's after nine-and there's a heavy surf breaking over the bar now. By ten it'll be impassable, and you couldn't reach it before 11. Be content, David; you're powerless." "You're right-I know that," groan. ed Amber, his head in his hands. "I was afraid it was hopeless, but but-" "I know, dear boy, I know!" With a gesture of despair Amnbei resumed his seat. l'or some time he remained deep sunk in dejectioh. At length, mastering his emotion, he looked up. "How did you know about Quain-that we were together?'' he asked. "Doggott saw yctt land this morn ing, and I've been watching you all clay with my field-glasses, prepared to take cover tho minute you turned my way. Don't be angry with me, David; it wasn't that I didn't yearn to see you face to face again, but that. ..I didn't dare." "Oh, that!" exclaimed Amber with an exasper-ated fling of his hand. "Be y tween the two of you--you and Qualn Lyou'll drive me mad with worry." "I'm sorry, David. I only wvishi V LImight say more, It hurts a bit to have you doubt me." "I don't doubt," Amber declared in desperation; "at least, I mean I won't r if you'll be sensible and let me stand by and see you .through this trouble whatever it is." Rutton turned to the fire, his head drooping despondently. "Trhat may not be," he said heavily. "The great est service you can (10 me is to for got my existence, now and henceforth, erase our friendship from the tablets or your memory, Pass me as a stran ger should ouri ways ever cross again," . lie flicked the stub of a cig arette into the flames. "Kismet!.. .I mean that, D~avid, from miy bheart. Won't you do this for mne-one last favor, old friend ?" Amber nodded. "Then . . ." Rlutto attempted to divert the subject. "I think yovu niid 1Quain? Any relation to Quain's -. 'Aryan Invasion of India?' " (TO l10 C'ONTrINU1ED.) S Ideals Always important, Vit is by beClieving in, loving and fot lowing illimitable ideals that a mane ' grows great. Their very impossibility a is their highest virtue. They live be fore us as the image of that whic1t we are to grow for ever.-Stopford Birooke. Height of Meanness. 5 "Our ne0w neighbor must be a very stuspiclous character." "Why sof" I "She emplloys a manid whio is deaf ad