University of South Carolina Libraries
When the Earth Yawned By EDGAR WELTON COOLEY Copyright. 1909. by American Pres? Asso ciation I ? IT was late when Jack came In? I nearly midnight I heard Mb M key in the lock. I beard the J door open and close softly and saw his face in the dim light of the turned down gas. It was pale, hag gard, careworn. He threw hlm3elf Into a mission rocker and sat gazing Into the flickering fire In the grate. I spoke, but he did not answer.. So "1 rolled out and s?t on the edge of the tied and spoke again. Still he did not reply. He sat with his chin in his $>alm, one long finger pressing against bis temple as though to ease the throbbing. "Old man," ? I said coaxingly, "what's up?" He looked at me a moment as much as to say, "What the deuce are you doing here?" Then he took a paper from bis pocket, unfolded It care fully aud crush ed it in bis fin gers. "It bas come," he said finally, like one talking to himself, "and it hurts." "What has come?" I asked wouderingly. ?Whav? upr? ..Auiy;. hesaid very slowly, not raising his eyes from the fire. "She wants a divorce, of course. I don't blame her. I can't. I've been a dog, Tom." I didn't say anything. The silence made me uncomfortable. Presently he spoke again. "1 thought I had got used to living ?without her and that I wouldn't mind. Eut a man can't always tell. After all. It's pretty hard when it comes to the showdown. But 1 wish she'd had the papers served yesterday or had waited nutil tomorrow." He leaned forward, resting bis elbows on bis knees. "This Is our wedding anniversary, Tom." 1 understood Jack Marryatt well enough to know he'd kick me out of the room if I expressed any sympathy. He didn't want pity. He wanted some one to listen while he cursed himself for a streng headed, stubborn brute. He was partly right, but I didn't be lieve be was altogether at fault. I didn't tell him so; he would have knocked me down. So I dressed, and we lit our pipes, and I listened while be talked of her. 2s'o lover ever spoke more reverently of a woman than he did of Amy. I listened. It was bis heart I heard? his big. honest, throbbing, bruised heart. And as he spoke I saw where the little thread had crept in?the lit tle thread of discord that had grown to a cable and pulled them apart. Jack "was proud, and so was Amy. poor girl ?too proud to see and to understand that, after all, it was only a rope of sand. When at last he ceased I gazed out the window at the moonlight falling upon the spires and domes and roofs ? ?of San Francisco. Here and there j lights flickered in the windows. Be low in the sireet occasionally footsteps j passed, a touring car swept by. or a ' hack from which came voices and laughter. Presently there drifted to us from an all ni::bt restaurant a confusion of sounds, which gradually blended, bear ing to us the melody of "Home. Sweet Home." For n moment Jack listened: then he closed the window and re sumed his seat with a spjh. From afar off. on the still air. came the deep tone of a bell striking the hour one, two. three, four, five. I started ^and looked at Jack. It was morning, and it had not seemed an hour! He walked to a window and stood with j bis hands behind him. the waning j moonlight fringing Iiis hair with pale silver. 1 do not know bow long he stood there. My pipe had gone out. The ashes in the grate were dull and life less. A wicked silence seemed to lay { on everything. Suddenly I heard a sound as of rush ing wind and listened, then got to my feet, only to reel and cling to my chair. The walls trembled and creaked: the' floor rose and fell, a surging sea. The building shivered and groaned like a ?wounded animal. Old man Fear knocked at the door. Something caught me up and tossrd me In the air. and I fell?down, down, down! Agnin I was picked Up and whirled around, once, twice, then dashed against the wall. 1 was dizzy. My head ached; my veins seemed bursting. I grabbed Everyone would be benefited by f takii.g Foley's Orine Laxative for stomach and liver trouble and habit- I ual constipation. It sweetens the j stomach and breath, gently stimu lates the liver and regulates the bowels and is much superior to pills J and ordinary laxatives. Why not j try Foley's Orine Laxative today? Lowman Drug Co.; A. C. Dukos. The two persons to whom a wo man's voice can be sweetest are a small baby she loves and a large wo man she hates. my breath with both hands and held on. The earth wae roaring. It rattled the bones in my body. The sky snug to iL I could feel the humming in my feet. Every hair of my head, every nerve, every fiber of me, was vibrat ing a million times a second. I was numb, tortured, delirious with fever, shaking with a chill. I saw Jack at intervals. In that awful first instant he had extinguished the gas, but the moon and the dawn shone dimly. In which his face half showed. Here and there the shadows ihlfted, rose and fell?wave shadows. From above, from below, from every side came a grinding, shattering, roar ing, like a hundred trains crossing a hundred bridges. Then followed the sil very rattle of breaking glass, the thun derous crash of walls, wild screams that grew feeble, ceased, then silence. I ran to a window, but could see nothing but dost, dust. It shut out the day and the moon. I groped back into the room. Jack was standing in the open door, twisting and untwisting his soft felt hat. "Earthquake! My God!" he cried In a hoarse whisper. I tried to speak, but my tongue was frozen. I reached out my hand and touched his coat. I felt the warmth of his body and laughed like a child thai feels the pressure of its mother's kiss in the dark. He clutched my arm. "Come!" he ? cried. "Come!" It was a savage cry, yet trembling with agony. ""Where?" I asked. I was frightened at my own voice. "Amy!" he cried. "Merciful God. Amy!" We went down the stairs?stagger bag, falling, struggling, we went down the stairs. He was the first in the street, I after him. He led the way. and I followed. Over piles of brick and iron, through dust that choked and blinded, we ran. The streets were full of people, running like we were. But there was no word spoken, save only the cry of some one under a wall or the crooning of a mother to a child In her arms. I was beginning to breathe once more and to get a new grip on life when again came the rumble and roar, and the earth trembled In its agony. Tall buildings leaned till they all but touched. I could see but a narrow line of sky between. I thought they would fall and crush me, but I didn't care. I didn't care for anything. I wanted to laugh. I thought if I didn't laugh I'd die. But I didn't-I ran. I could hardly keep on my feet. I seemed to be stumbling over ridges of earth that sank out of sight when I stepped on them. Jack kept right ahead of me. but presently he stopped so suddenly that I ran into him. "Oh." be said, "I can't leave them there!" His face was pale as death. Anxiety burned in his eyes, but a great pity trembled in bis voice. "Can't leave whom?" I Rasped, but already he had turned back. I followed, and we came to a frail woman sitting on the curbstone. In her arms was a baby. At her knee was a little girl. The girl was crying. On the woman's face was the paieness of' utter exhnustlon. on her lips was a prayer, and In her eyes, resting on her children, the deep pain with which love embitters despair. "Madam," he said, "you will let us help you?" She looked at him, in her eyes a blessing worlds could not purchase. He clasped the baby in his arms and motioned for me to take the girl. Then, with his strong hand grasping the woman's arm. we hurried away. Three blocks distant a man bolted into us?a large, broad shouldered man with prime on his hands and grease and dirt on his face that shone pale Deneath. The woman threw her arms about the man's neck and sobbed, and the man took Jack's hand and held It for an Instant, then reaehed forth his arms for the babe. Jack kissed the child and handed It to him and stood looking at it wistfully until they were swallowed by the thronp. We passed a church. The door was open. A few candles burned dimly. Without on the stone steps a black robed priest stood, crucifix in air. khautinp. About him a few of the faitiiful knelt. His black locks were blowing In the rising breeze. His eyes were upturned. Upon his calm face was written, "Fence, be still." So we came to a corner, where Jack paused and caught my arm. His face was without color, ghastly in the weird light of the new day. His voice was scarcely more than a whisper. Ills eyes shone like those of one who has staked his last cent upon the turn of a wheel and knows the issue Is life or death. "Tom," he cried, "look! I cannot! I cannot!' He covered his face with his hands. He was trembling. A child ran past crying for its mother. "Look where?" I asked. He glanced at me durably and raised his hand to his head, then lowered it. A red blotch gleamed dully on his brow at the edge of his hair. His fin gers were red. "Tom"?he was on his knees, grip Hoarseness broncYtis and other throat troubles are qu;;uly cured by Foley's Honey and Tar a3 It soothes and heals the InflamM throat and bronichal tubes and the most obsti nate cough disappears. Insist upon having the genuine Foley's Honey and Tar. Lowman Drug Co., A. C. Dukes. Foley's Honey and Tar not only stops chronic coughs that weaken the const:'.:;;:o:i and develop into con sumption, but heals and strengthen? the lungs. It affords comfort anc ping my band In botb of bis?"I'm a dog!" "Yes, yes," I said impatiently, "bat what do you want me to do?" "I'm a dog!" be repeated. "She had none to protect ber." He sprang up. "God! Do you understand?" His face was savage; there was a wild look in his eyes. "If one hair of her head"? The strong odor of smoke came to me. I could hear the crackling of flames. The gong of a ?re engine sounded in the distance, drawing near er and nearer. Above us, between the tall buildings, the sky was a ribbon of pink. I "In heaven's name," I cried, "where is she, Jack?" He pointed toward the cross street. "In the middle of the block," he whis pered, "on the left; a large, red hotel. Look, Tom. Is it there?" I looked. The air was hazy with smoke and dust I could not see dis tinctly. But presently It cleared. "Yes," I said. "It is there." I saw Jack drop something into his pocket?a glittering barrel. Side by side we rushed into the hotel office. It was filled with people. They were running here and there like ants when you disturb their nest. Yet all was silence?the silence of intense fright. Amy was not of them. Up the stairs we dashed. Jack in the lead. On the third landing we met. How utterly God forsaken she looked! But when she saw Jack she paused and stood like a stag at bay, her head poised proudly, her lips trembling, but voiceless, the color coming aud going ! on her cheeks, her bosom heaving. Through a window the red reflection of the fire streamed. It fell upon the wall behind her?a scarlet background for her raven hair. I caught my breath. She was beau tiful?beautiful! I could hear my heart pounding. I could feel my veins tingle. I forgot the hell that surged around us. I forgot the red tongued death that was reaching out. I could see nothing, think of nothing, but her! "Amy!" Jack was standing motion less; not upright, like she. but leaning The floor rose and fett. toward her. His hat was In his hand. That red mark showed on his fore head, and his eyes?you could see his soul through his eyes. "Well?' she said haughtily. I saw Jack stagger, but he caught himself, raised himself up, up, until he stood six feet and more, magnifi cent In his manhood. "Amy"?his voice was calm?"in this hour I belong here with you. It may be the last time, but you'll let me"? Slowly she dropped her eyes, then raised them. They were full of panic. Her lips trembled. Her small frame shook. "Jack," she cried, "I don't want to die!" She was sobbing. He placed a hand under her chin and, raising her face to bis, gazed courage Into ber eyes. "Come," he said. He spoke firmly, and she followed us, her hand in Jack's. From a window we could see in a dozen places where hell had broken through?red arms that reached up ward, grasping the sky. Above there was no blue, only a low hanging can opy of smoke, blood red, rolling to ward the sea. Through the corridors and up the stairs there seemed to drift a voice that yet was not the voice of man, for no one could have told whose voice It was. Shrieking with terror, trembling with hopelessness, it came: "Fire! Fire! And there Is no water!" Set faces met us in the street?a flood of humanity, a dumb, sweeping tide that bore us on and on. For hours we .walked; it seemed a thousand miles. Aud always Amy and Jack were silent, and always her hand was In his. Once I saw him look at her, a deep wist fulness In his eyes, but he did not speak. So we trudged on. Suddenly I heard a commanding voice. "Back!" it cried. "Clear the way!" An automobile shot past?a red flash, like a meteor. The wind caught my light hat and sent It spinning. I saw Amy grasp Jack by the arm and cast a frightened glance over her shoulder. "Jack," she whispered, "did you see that?that?in the uuto?" "Yes." be said. "It was dynamite." She shivered. Dynamite, and the streets choked with humanity! We knew what it meant. Another hell was to be turned loose?a hell to meet a hell! 1 thought fast, but I did not speak. I could not. We came to a small park that over looked the bay. The waves were lash In*: themselves into red foam, leaping high in air -"id falling in red rain. The sun was copper ball. We found a clear spot between two trees and sat down to rest. Amy was quite exhausted. Jack fanned her relief in the worst cases of chronic bronchitis, asthma, hay fever and lung trouble. Lowman Drug Co.; A. C. Dukes. Delay in commencing treatment for a slight irregularity that could have been cured quickly by Foley's Kidney Remedy may result in a scri pts kidney disease. Foley's Kidney Remedy builds up the worn ouc tis sues and strengthens these organs. Lowman Drug Co.; A. C. Dukes. with his bat I ached all over, bat I lay back upon the grass and thanked my hardworking old guardian angel that I was still aboard this pretty good old earth. Then I heard a crash like a thou sand claps of thunder. The earth seemed to reel before the blast like a ship in a storm. Between us and that red glare something shot upward ?something big. black and screeching ?a building that man bad studied and planned and labored to build. An other followed, and another and an other, like handfuls of sand thrown In the air by children. Whole squares seemed rising and melting. It was br-r-r-um, br-r-r-um, br-r-r-um-um-um! There was no waiting, no pause. The world seemed leaping into atoms, while the flames reached up long arms to grasp the fragments before they re turned to earth. It was the, wrath of God pitted against the flendishness of > Satan. It was awful?awful! Amy. covered her eyes with her hands and sobbed softly. "Don't!", begged Jack. "Please don't I can't stand it!" She raised her eyes to his suddenly. "Oh," she said, "do you care?" "Yes!" he cried passionately and held out his hands. He was standing above her. I never saw greater tenderness on a man's face. For an Instant she looked at him. then lowered her eyes again. A pearl glistened on the end of a lash. "You aren't fnir," she said, rather rebelliously. "You are taking an ad vantage." "1 am unfair," he replied tremulous ly. "Forgive me." He turned about and bit bis nails. He was pale, yet perspiration beaded his forehead. Presently he faced her again. "I am sorry," he said. "We might have saved some of your effects. You have lost everything, I am afraid, for, see, the flames must already have reached your hotel." His voice was solicitous, almost tender. Yet there was no trace of passion in it. "No," she said, "I did not lose all The rest does not matter." She spoke softly, avoiding his eyes. "You saved something?" he asked He was looking away to where the dy namite and the fire were leaping at each other's throat. "A trifle," she said wearily, raising her eyes and dropping them again. "1 had gone back after It and was return lug when?you came." 1 saw him glance at her quickly, then avert his eyes. "If I might guess"? he began, but she iutcrrupted "You forget. You are not to be un fair." He bit his lip, but smiled wanly "Come, then," he said, "it were best we go. I will take you to Sister Grace in Oakland. Would you mind?" She hesitated. "I will promise not to see you," he resumed quickly, "un less"? "Unless?" "Unless you wish." "I will not mind, then," she said. Again we were In the throng, push ing, shoving. With Amy between us, Jack and I fought our way Inch by Inch till we reached the ferry build ing and were aboard the boat. Slowly we crossed the bay?with the pace of a snail. The red flames seemed leap ing toward us as though seeking to clasp us to their scarlet breasts. We could see the streets leading down to the wharfs?black with creatures,dumb and swaying with the Intensity of aw ful despair. The water front was a surging mass, the docks crowded with cringing humanity, their faces fiend Ish In the reddish, flickering light. When I felt my feet again on solid ground I took a full breath. I don't think I ever put my lungs to any bet ter use. Amy was laughing?the un natural merriment of one whose nerves are frayed at the edges. Jack guided her out of the crowd. His face was tense with the words that trembled in his eyes, but were not to be spoken. He was aging fast. The strain, the anxiety, the heartache, were telling on him. We were all silent?I clinging to the joy of living, Amy with dewy eyes. Jack drinking In the sweetness M'c rushed into the office. of her presence as a man In raid-desert quaffs his last drop of water. Grace saw us coming and met us in the yard. Jack opened the gale, and Amy passed through. I saw the women throw their arms around each other's neck; I heard them sobbing and turned my back, a smothering in side of me. Presently 1 heard Grace speak. "But are you not coming in?" she said. "No." said Jack firmly. Amy was looking at him. a light in her eyes I had not seen there during the hours we had been together. Her hands were clasped Id front of her THE BANK OF SPRINGFIELD. Ofllccrs. L. M. Mlms, President; Jno. McB Bean, V. P.; J. B. Smith. Cashier; Edith Phillips, Asst. Directors. L. M. Mlms. Jno. Bean, Joe. A. Berry, L. B. Fulmer, W. P. Hut to. J. W. Jumper, H. A. Odom, T. L. Gleatoa, 0. C. Salley. All business Intrusted to ua re reives careful, official attention. Leave your Surplus fundi with m ?t four ner opnt Merest. Fndlvided 1*1-0111*. 12.000.Od Capital...$30,000.0(1 PUTS A QUESTION. A Woman Asks Mr;- Rockefeller to "Beat It." The August American Magazine publishes a letter, signed "An Amer ican Woman," in the department, "The Pilgrim Scrip," in which the author claims that men have come to realize that in modern industrial conditions the majority of them can not conduct a paying business and live according to the tenets of the Christian religion. "But," she continues, "they rebel against the hyprocisy of such a course. Americans may be cynics but they are not hyprocites. The motto of the majority may be, 'If religion interferes with your busi ness, then cut out your religion,' but on the other hand, the instinct of the majority is also to demand of those who profess religion that they shall practice it. "It is, for instance, one of our great American jokes?it has al ready been celebrated in rag-time ballad?that Mr. John D. Rocke feller teaches Sunday school. The attitude of the average American toward this fellow-citizen of our might be translated into these words: " 'Conduct your business as you wish, Mr. Rockefeller, for, after all, we rather admire sharp practice when it makes good. Put your helpless competitors out of the game, drive them to failure, despair and suicide, buy up the Upper House, create a Third House. But don't on top of that, don't we beg of you, have the face to preach the Golden Rule. Really, Mr. Rockefeller, when it comes to this Sunday school prop osition, you're nothing but a joke. Beat it!"' Pointed Paragrapns. Shady transactions?the parasol bargains. Often hard to get over?the stone wall. Spoony couples do not always en joy a stirring sermon. They sometimes serve more than pop at a "Pop" concert. Moving pictures do not always move to either laughter or tears. Sometimes it's well to understand when told to stand from under. Is a threat to take the veil neces sarily what is called a veiled threat? The sailor may be able to live on water, but he wants some bread with it. Many a girl who wears a rat keeps as quiet as a mouse about it. The expressman may not have much to say when he gets home and his wife expresses herself. It is never a lofty aim when you attempt to make some other person the target of ridicule. Often as soon as a pair of lovers tumble to each other, they have a falling out. When a man likens a girl to a flower she has a right to think she is his pick. When people can be genuinely charitable it is to themselves. The faster a girl can run away from a man the sooner she can catch him. The reason a girl Is sure a man would like to marry her is some other grl also thinks she's the one. If a woman rides a block in a taxicab she can talk about it after ward as when she was on an auto mobile tour. A woman dresses pretty much the same way to go outdoors in sum mer as she does to go to bed in winter. He sang to her In the gloaming, But Cupid supplied the art, For while he sang, he was playing On the organ called her heart. Mr. Ericson's Old House. Go see it, it's a beauty. It stands out among all its neighbors, because the coloring is so bright and clear. Mr. Ericson painted with L. & M. Paint and says it cost 1-3 less than ever before. He bought only 12 gallons of L. & M. Paint and 9 gal Ions of Linseed Oil to mix with it. This made 21 gallons of pure paint, and cost only $1.20 per gallcn. It's as handsome as the fiDest in town. The L. & M. Is sold by J. G. Wan namaker Mfg. Co.. Orangeburg, S. C. Love songs she was joyed to hear; She thought It the sweetest music If people with symptoms of kidney or bladder trouble could realize their danger they would without loss of time commence taking Foley's Kid ney Remedy. This great remedy stops the pain and the irregularities, strengthens and builds up these or gans and there is no danger of I'.right's disease or other serious dis order. Do not disregard the early symptoms. Lowman Drug Co.; A. C. Dukes. That ever caressed the ear. Et wasn't artistic isingjng, Many people with chronic throat and lung trouble bfve found com fort and relief in Foiey's Honey and Tar as It cures stubborn coughs after other treatment has failed. L. M. Ruggles, Reasnor, Iowa, writes: "The doctors said I had consump tion, and T got no better until T took Foley's Honey and Tar. It stopped the hemorrhages and pain in my lungs and they are now as sound as a bullet." Lowman Drug Co.; A. C. Dukes. Witnessed Husband's Suicide. Mrs. Wm. Co^:. wife of a promi nent farmer of Talliaferro county, Ga., not dreaming of her husband's desperate intentions Thursday, saw him place a revolver to bis temple and pull the trigger. Cox had been in bad health for some time, and arising Thursday morning complain ed of insomnia. Without another word, he secured bis revolver and fired the fatal shot, dying almost instantly. SIX DAYS A WEEK Today's News Today The Daily Record 1113 Gervais St., Columbia, S. C. Published every afternoon during the week by The Record Publishing Company, Geobqe L. Bakbb, F. H. MoMasteb, President. Vlce-Pres. and Treas. JAS. A. HOYT, Editor and Central Manager. SUBSCRIPTION RATES One Year.15.00 Six Months. 2-50 Three Months. 1-25 One Month.42c One Week.10c Slucle Copies.6c Rural Route Edition, Three Dollar* per Year. Associated Press Service?TODAY Full Market Reports?TODAY Live Columbia News?TODAY reaches Sumter, Orangeburg, Camden, Newberry, Manning, Batesburg and all nearby towns BEFORE SUPPER Today's News Today The Blackstone sckdol For Girls Established in 1894. Tho aim of the school is clearly set forth by its TV/J rYTTf"^. "Thorough instruction under positively Christian influences at tho lowest IVAU UU. possible cost" The school was established by tho Methodist Church, not to mako money, but to furnish a place where girls can be given thorough training in body, mind, and heart at a moderate cost. The object has been r o fully carried out that as a nroi tt nr. Itis to-day, with its faculty of 32, its boarding patronage of 800. and its l\EO ULI. building and grounds, worth $140,000 THE LEADING TRAINING SCHOOL FOR GIRLS IN VIRGINIA. pays all charges for the year, including the table board, room, lights, steam neat laundry, medical attention, physical culture, and tuition in all subjects except music and elocution. Apply for cataloguo and application blank to REV. JAMES CANNON, JR., M. A., Principal, Blackstone, Va. $150 WOFFORD COLLEGE SPARTANBURG, S. C. HENRY NELSON SNYDER, H. A., Litt. D., LI. D. PRESI DENT. TEN DEPARTMENTS?Gymnasium under competent director. Grounds. Library and Librarian. . Science Hall. Fifty fourth year begins September 15, 1909. For catalogues address J. A. GAMEWELL, Secretary. Athletic Wofford College Fitting School SPAKTA2STBUR(r, S. C. Three New Brick Buildings. Electric Lights. Steam Heat. Individual attention to each student. Next session begins September 15, 1909. For catalog and information address A. M. DuPR E. Headmaster. The more we are civilized the more care we bestow on our toilet needs, as that means respectability. We mention a few of the more im portant needs that you should take with you on your vacation. In our complete drug store we can tell you i of many more. Brushes. Combs. Tooth Brushes. Common Medical Needs. Tooth Paste or Powder. Alcohol Stoves. Rubber Gloves. Sun Burn Lotions. Cold Creams and Lotions. Talcum Powder. Wash Rags. Soaps?100 kinds. Witch Hazel. Mosquito "Skoots." Hand Brushes. Ciuars. Candy. Razors, Strops and Soaps. Manicure Goods. Stationery. j J. G. Wairaamsker I SITg. Co. "All Your Drug Store Needs." Mail Orders Filled. SPAHR'S TALK ON YOUR VACATION NEEDS! There are many things you waall on that trip. Fir3t of all you may need a re membrance for those you are going to visit. No matter how much you take with you it is the thought that counts. We are particularly well stocked for gifts to take with you. Then we can tell you some good things you should take with YOU. THERE IS A GOOD KODAK FOR ONE THING. There Is no Kodak like the East man and we are direct agents. Gather the Idea? You trade with one price. YOU MAY WANT A GOOD WATCH, or a cheaper one. We have them. Little toilet articles which are In dispensable on a trip let us supply you. Perhaps you are an Elk and will go to the Los Angeles meeting. We can give you the emblem direct? beautiful ones with the right price. Ask us. The Best .Tenders Since '07. i