Fort Mill times. (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, May 28, 1914, Image 4
r.. ?
ON Ml OPEN TRACK
By GEORGE RANDOLPH-CHESTER.
"And the semaphore was clear?
clear as a crystal!"
He seemed Quite anxious that the
other man. though a stranger met casually
at breakfast in the dining car,
should bear this seriously In intnd,
and he waited for a grave nod of com
prehension before he went on.
""This is the first time I've been over
the route In daylight Blnce then, and
that was ten years ago," he resumed.
"When 1 have to come this way 1 always
travel by night, but this time 1
couldn't help myself. When we hit
the Edgarvllle curve I'm not going to
look out of the window. No matter
how green the grass might be, 1
should see It splotched with red.
where 68 of them?men, women and
k children?lay mounlng, or woise tkuu
that, quiet. And It wasn't my fuult;
the company exonerated me alter they
had investigated The semaphore was
ciear.
"As the crush came I seemed to
have a curious, soft sensation all inside
of me, ns If I were made of nothing
but loose feathers. I remember,
all right! I can't forget It; I wish
I could. I?I sometimes wake up in
the night thinking about it."
The ex-englneer looked about him
curiously ?h he spoke, turning his
somber eyes furtively from side to
side, as If in constant dread of what
they might rest upon.
"It was a morning just like this, and
about this time of year. We were
three minutes late at Gordon Junction,
wultlng for the St. Louis connection,
and that's why I didn't slowdown
much as we came to the Edgarvllle
curve. It's a nasty bend just
there, sharper than they make a curve
now, with not enough dlsli to the roadbed,
and with trees running right up
to the signal tower, so that you
couldn't see a foot beyond. That's
why they had put a semaphore there.
It was the semaphore that killed my
passengers, not me. for that morning
Suddenly He Gave a Scream.
It was clear. Wo never heurd of the
semaphore man again; he cut right oil
ucroHH country, and I suppose he
changed his uunio.
"Ills skipping out thut way helped
to clear me. and as soon us 1 got out
of the hospital the company offeree
me my old Job back, hut 1 couldn't
take it. I knew my nerve was gone
"Have you any Idea what It meant
to bo responsible for, tho death of "e
people? Of course you haven't
hadn't even then, until 1 began t<
move among them. 1 am not going tc '
tell you what It looked like. You may
imagine it for yourself, and be thank
lul that your imagination will not
reach.
"Rut it wasn't the men that gripped
me so hard; it was the women uuo ;
children. Yfflt see. 1 hud my wife and
three babies at home, and you know
what that meuns, for 1 saw just suel
a group inside the lid of your watch
a minute ago. Mine have all been
taken from tne since then, one at o
time, all four of them, and us each
one left mo it seemed to bo somehow
connected with that terrible day out
there In the fleld. I took it as a
sort of punishment, although Ood
knows I shouldn't have been punished
more than this memory is a punish
meat, for It wasn't my fault. The
semaphore was clear, ami it wn?Ti
my business to know what was be
yond it. But it was my hand on the ,
lever Just the sumo, and if the damned ^
suffer worse agony than I did as 1
looked from ? no to the other of t!..?s?
poor, inatmed, helpless creatures, we j
have a cruel lh>d. It's the women and !
children that I can't get over. Ther< i
was one littJo g'rl hist the ego ot ,
my Elsie, with the same brnv.n curls. !
and?"
Ills v >e choked and ho stopped. !
hut the stranger did not look at him.
Ho knew that tho tears were smarting i
upon the ex-englneo? 'H lower eyelids !
and his own eyes were moist. There :
was a little girl like that in the lid of :
the watch case, and just now she was
over a thousand miles away. There
was rpiite a long silence.
' You are not to blame for losing ;
our nerve, was tne stranger's com
monploee remnrk, after he hag cleared
away a certain husklness that was In
h's throat.
"I lost it in one second," replied
the other unsteadily. "I, that had al<va>s
been the coolest man of the
crew in a wreck, was uo use this time.
Like a crasy uiau I went from on<to
another of them where iboy lay on
the ground, all the living and some of
the dead, I guess, telling them over
and over again that It wasn't my fault,
that the semaphore was clear?clear
as a crystal! I made them look to
where both Its useless arms, the red
and white, hung limp In the sunlight.
h One man laughed wheu 1 told him.
then fc* cursed lue, and died with the
4
_ ^ J . .
of the window and ^linking g: avely.
There wart long np>p by and by, and
the atranger spoke'of it.
"Yea," agreed the ex-engiueer, "we
ought to be out of bere. This is Gordon
Junction, and the St. Louie train
1b In ahead of ua."
The conductor presently came
hustling Into the car.
"Lucky you're aboard, Billy." be |
said, mopping Ms brow. "Jimmto Dale
baa Juat taken sick In the cab. and
you'll have to pull us in to the end
of the division. I'll report to head- j
quarters that you're In charge."
There was no vehement outburst of
refusal, such as the stranger had expected.
instead, the ex-englneer sat
Bllent for some time, moistening his
lips alternately with a curious, slow
deliberation.
iuu kuow wnere we are, aon t you.
Murphy?" he finally returned, and
the conductor gave a atnlle of understanding
indulgence. ""Can't Jlmtnle
last until we pass the Edgarvllle
curve? I won't mind running her in
from there."
"Last!" repeated Murphy. "Hb'b in
the baggage car on u cot now, with a
doctor that we got out of the Clnciunuti
(deeper. Acute gastritis, he calls
it. Nothing to it, Billy?you'll have to
forget that old affair and take the
throttle."
Without a word the ex-engineer
arose, and, compressing his lips,
walked out of the car and toward the
engine. The stranger uotlced that as
he went he was snapping the fingers
of each hand alternately.
It was an engine of a new type, but
the man who climbed into it had been
for nearly ten years in the shops of
the road, und he knew every lever,
every cock, every device that confronted
him. Slowly he opened the
steam way, slowly the ponderous
wheels began to revolve, and all at
once the old tingle canto back into
his linger tips, into his hand, into his
arm, into the muscles of his buck, into
his entire body. Once more, as it
gathered speed. ho was part and parcol
of his engine; tho breezo that
came in nt. tho enh windows swept
across his face and ruffled his grizzled
hair; tho rock and the sway of
the big machine struck him with a
keen sensation as of one homesick
but returned home.
Little by little he "let her out." and
they spun past farmhouse and fields
and hills, past woods and marsh and
sandy waste, through rocky cut and
across bridge and trestle and culvert,
over hrook and creek aud sluggist
river. There came upon him an exhilaration
as if he hud tasted of new
wine. Even at the head of tho grade
leading down to the Edgorvllle curve
he seemed to be half drunk with the
Joy otr it ull, and blithely he calle 1
across the c:-b 10 the greeu tiremau.
"We're all right this morning, my
boy; the semaphore is clear?clear as
crystal!"
They were just nearing the signal
tower when suddenly he gave a
scream that set his tireman uiulver,
and. throwing himself upon his lever,
lie reversed. Willi all his might he
gripped the steel handle, staring [
straight ahead with horror-widened
eyes and tightly clenched Juwb, for 1
his face gone as white as his hair.
The momentum was too great to allow
the train to he stopped at the
tower, but with a jet k it came to a
standstill at tho field just he>op.d the
curve.
The conductor and the stranger
..nr me iim 10 come rum. iu* Oil
ahead, to find the engineer in the
empty Held, limping painfully with his
haml upon hie back and bending over,
tiret to one aide ar.d then to tho other,
talking; and eaeh time he at retched
a trembling liund to where bo'h arms
of the semaphore, the red oad the '
white, hung straight down in the mm- j
light.
"I can't find the little girl th-t Was
liko uty Elsie!" lie complained, as
they approached hint. Then he slowly
raised his head and met their
glance; his eyes were wide set, and
there was in them the wild light which
110 man, having once seen, can ever
forget.
"It wasn't my fault!" he exclaimed
piteously, pointing his trembling hand
toward the signal tower. "The semaphore
was clear?clear as a crystal!
Look'"
(Copyright, by lite Frank A. Mutn?y Co.) 1
Lige the Martinet.
Henry A. Thornton, whose selection 1
as general manager of the Great East- ,
era railroad has electrified England,
will be regretted by the lx>ng island 1
railroad, where hie humanity has endeared
him to both high and low.
"Thornton, thorough as he is," said
a New York railroad man, "is no martinet.
lie never annoys the thousands
tinder liini with useless inquisitions.
"lie told me one day that a certain
railroad martinet reminded him of a
young bride who wont forth for the j
first time to do her marketing.
"She wanted chickens. Site selected
a live pair. Then, as the dealer tied j
the flopping birds' legs together, she I
said sever dy;
.-no .i'ii Mir" > r * nuitc u*
You'll And yourself in trouble, mlrtl,
if lhe>'ro not quiio fresh.' "
HOW TO BE SAFE.
Tommy?Pop, in the Welsh rabbit,
a domestic ^nimal?
Tommy's Pop?Yea, my son.
Tommy?Then it won't hurt you, >
will it?
Tommy's Pop?Not if you don't
eat it.?Philadelphia Record.
VICTIMS.
First Highwayman?Hully smoke,
Pikey, didjer see tie fat wad dat de
old guy was Hash in'?
Second Highwayman?Sure. Yon
can have him. fully. I'm trailin'
de chap wit tie basket of eggs.
SAVED HIS LIFE.
"When your erring son came homo
did you kill the fatted calf?"
"No, his mother wouldn't let ine,
so i forgave him." i,
Ill - ? I ^
UN ARTISTS DREAMS
, it j
By H. M. EGBERT.
John Tarbox sat at his desk, his
head bent over a sheet of white paper.
Hia fountain pan was poised between
his lingers. He was a writer, and in
a moment he would be plunged into
the sweet delirium of creative literature.
Suddenly a disturbing element burst
in upon his peace. Tarbox looked up. i
Beside him, with a half loving, half
pitying, wholly maternal expression
upon her face, stood one of the prettiest
women imaginable. Her hair
was soft and fluffy, her gentle gray
eyes sparkled with good-humored tolerance
and kindly good will.
"Johu, dear, here is a letter for
you." aald this apparition. "L>o you
want the turnips inashed for supper
or boiled whole?"
John groaned in spirit.
"Put it down, Molly," he said. "The
turnips? O, any old way."
Molly Tarbox placed the letter upon
the table.
"I'll leave it here so that you won't
forget to read It." she said. "I do
hope it is an offer of a position. And
remember, John dear," she shook her 1
Anger warnlngly, "there isn't much
money left, even fur turnips. Have
you got an idea?"
"Yes!" yelled her husband, rutining
his flrieers thrnnarh lii? hair
Molly smil&i discerningly and withdrew.
There had been a time when
she would have been dismayed at
John's speaking to her in that tone '
of voice. But she was wiser now. She '
went out of the room, still smiling.
John Tarbox groaned in desolation
of Bpirit.
"Turnips!" he muttered contemptuously.
"And now it's gone! Just
when I had the situation in hand? 1
gone! Spoiled for u turnip! O, why
didn't I marry a woman who would
have understood me?"
John Tarbox was not a brute; he
was & creative artist. He and Molly
loved each other sincerely. But Molly
was not urtistic by temperament; if
she had been there would probably
not even have been turnips.
John Tarbox lowered his head upon j
his arms in agony of soul, unit pres- I
ently ho fell into an uneasy sleep, in I
his sleep he had a strange sueeesslou
of dreams.
Dream No. 1. John Tarbox, coated
with white dust and seated among a
number of heaps of squared slnbB. was
chipping with a chisel upon the surface
of a glazed brick. Upon his head I
was a sort of mitre, which only partly
H? Looked Up.
warded off the rays of a very hot sun.
Ho was chiseling out a series of
strunge, arrow-like marks upon the
glazed surface In front of him, and ho
seemed to understand perfectly what
ho was doing, although he could not 1
have explained It.
A disturbing element broke in upon
his peace, lie looked tip. lieside him, >
weating a half loving, half pitying,
and wholly maternal expression upon
her face, stood one of the prettiest
women imaginable. She was dressed
in a long, flowing blanket, and her
dark hair was bound back with u
fillet. The words she spoke, though
strange, were perfectly intelligible to
him.
"John, dear," ho understood her to
say, "Melchlscdek, the high priest, j
V U that if vnn ?* 111 ? i ?
/ ? ?..Mv .. ^ vu niii uu oumr 1 u be rip- ;
tlona for him upon the temple col
utnns, ho will pay you t>5 shekels a
mouth. His majesty wants to make .
a few remarks about his victory over
the Jebusltes. Do you want the kid
stewed or fried lu palm oil for supper?"
.1 oliii Tarbox groaned in spirit.
"Tell Melchisedek to go to Gehenna,"
ho answered. "Cook the kid any
old way. Hoi) it in its mother's milk.
Now you've driven that idea clean out
of ray head."
lie was alone ugaiu. He looked up
at the blue cxpunse of the skv.
"O Hel," he prajed, "next time thou
bringest me back to earthly life, bestow
on me a woman who can understand
me."
Dream No. 2. John Tarbox. wearing
a short, tight blanket of goat's hair,
sat In the shade of a colonnade, wrlt ns
with a reed pen upon a roll of
papyrus, lie had Just dipped his pen
into the Inkhoru when a disturbing ln lurnc
j arrested bis hand. He looked
up. to t-.-p beside him. wearing a half
loving, half pitying and wholly mater- i
nal expression, one of the prettiest
women in the world. She was dressed,
like himself. In a blanket, only longer,
and her jet black hair fell about
her shoulders*
"John." she said to him In a tongue
which was quite comprehensible,
though gtrer>R?\ "here's a chance for
us to get a little bit ahead. The prophet
Jeremiah says he can use a lamentation
every day except the Sabbath.
Us says he has set Ure4 sf repealle*
*
^ I % IVI I L. L.
him see them, flow would you like
the scape-goat cooked this afternoon?"
i John Tarbox threw out his hand and
i tipped the Inkhorn over.
| "Tell him to go to Jericho!" he
roared. "Now you've put that prophecy
of mine clean out of niv head."
He bowed his head among the temple
columns. "Why wasn't I born In
the patriarchal age!" he groaned.
Dream No. 3. Johh Tar box. clothed
In a nine-foot blanket and wearing
No. 10 sandals, was seated at a low
table, etching upon a waxed tablet
with a sort of darning needle. He
worked fast and furiously, absorbed In
his task. But as he wrote he became
conscious of a disturbing element in
the situation. He looked up, to see
beside him, wearing a half loving, half
pitying, and wholly maternal expression
upon her face, one of the prettiest
women imaginable. Her flowing
robe was girdled at the waist, and
her red hair was coiled gracefully at
the back of her head.
"John dear," she said, in a partly
familiar language whose import, nevertheless,
wub very clear to him,
"Cassius Caesar's head slave is waiting
in the atrlus. Caesar says he wants
2,000 more words about his Galllo
wars for his publisher before sunset
tomorrow, on the uame terms as before,
Caesar to supply all the material.
And l.ucullus has sent us 15 nightingales'
tongues, which were left over
from ills party last night. Would you
rather have them scalloped or en
broehette?"
John Tarbox groaned in agony of
soul.
"Tell Caesar I've got etcher's
cramp." he answered. ' The tongues?
O, can them! Now you've made me
forget what t * ?? " ~ '
about."
He was alone. Every vestige of an
idea had left hhn. His stylus fell from
his hand.
"O Proserpine^* he prayed, "who
presldest over the destinies of mortals,
next time thou sendest me forth
from the infernal regions, send with
me a woman who has the power to un- >
derstand me!"
Dream No. 4. John Tarbox, dressed
in a linen sack coat, with bare legs
somewhat mottled by the east wind,
was stauding upon a castle parapet,
lingering a mandolin. His eyes were
directed toward a small barred window,
a few feet above his head, at
which the Countess I-eopardhearl occasionally
took the air. A love song,
which had just come to him. hovered
upou his lips.
Hut before he could fit iite tlrst
word to the tune he became conscious
of u disturbing element In the sltua- I
tloa. At the barred window appear- |
ed the face, not of the Countess L?eopardheart.
but of one of the prettiest
women Imaginable. She wore a half
loving, half pitying, and wholly ma- !
ternal expression upon her face, and
her long, amber-colored hair was held
high over her head with two tortoise
shell pins and u bird cage.
"John, dear." sho said, in a tnnmi?
which reminded him of the French
class that his wife used to attend. "I
Just dropped in to see tne countess,
and she says she hasn't time to come
to the window, because Count l<eopardheurt
is expected back from the
Second Crusade this afternoon, but
she wants me to drop down this roBe
to you, and if you'll compose a martial
air in honor of his return she'll get
you a position about the castle. And,
John, site's ordered a barbecue from
the butcher, and wonders whether you
think it ought to be stuffed or not."
John Tarbox's mandclln fell from
his nerveless liugers, and the wind
blew icy cold about his kneea.
"Tell her to go to Autloch!" he
shouted. "Now you've made me forget
every word of that madrigal!"
DRAW A
ii
Savings Bank
W. B. KEACHAM, hisidem
I
<
l^sasgsa^^Egsassasgl
S Have you
"Rock Hi
I
i Cakes, Jelly
1 Fresh and Fine,
If rem th<
Phone 116, for
PARKS GRC
| E. S. PARK
%
I I IVI C.O
He> turned away. "It the Heresy be
true of those who say that v.o come
more than once to birth." he mused,
"may I obtain a woman next time who
will understand me!" He stopped, for
a sudden light had come to him.
"Haven't 1 met that woman somewhere
before?" he asked.
John Turbox awoke. A strong odor
of turnips, which had wafted Into his
room from the region below, warned
htm that sooner time was at band. He
looked around blm. dazed by the
strange experiences which he had |
undergone. Upon the* cover of his paper-box
a letter lay. John opened and ;
read It.
"John, dear," said Molly, coining out
of the kitchen, "can you eat layer
cake without the layer? I left it out
by accident."
John waved the letter at her.
"Never mind that! Listen, Molly!
Griggs wants me to do soice writing
for him."
"Mr. Griggs!" exclaimed his wife.
"What sort of writing can he have
to offer you?"
"He wants^ine to write insurance
policies," answered John. "And, j
Molly?" He looked at her and hesitated.
"I'm glad I've got you, my dear,
and 1 think I ought to accept after it
has been offered to ine so many times, j
don't you?"
"1 don't know what you uieau, '
John," answered Molly, "hut supper's
ready."
(Copyright. 1814, Uy W. U. i" > *v >
IS NO LONGER AN ORACLE.
People Have Ceaaed to Look Upon the
Dictionary as an Authority That
la Infallible.
The dictionary is ceasing, gradually,
hut surely, to be an oracle. Its i
position as sueh was never quite secure.
Even when Samuel Johnson
first essayed to set the standard of
English usage he had to encounter
both scoffers ami Scotsmen; the
scoffers organized
triumphed. So that step by step,
pushed forward by the omnivorous i
industry of Gorman scholarship and *
lured onward by commercial compe- '
tition, the dictionary, unlike the pro- j <
verbial rolling stone, has gathered | <
much moss by rolling?down hill! j ?
To cite from the dictionary is now ,
proof, not of the correctness of a j ,
word or idiom or pronunciation, but i (
merely of its existence.
A century of encyclopedists has
accomplished this. When Diderot .
began his work his aim was to systematize
knowledge parallel with a
given philosophy of things; today
the encvcloj>edist takes, with llucon, j
"all knowledge for his province." t
The dictionary has followed closely
behind. The gain, after all, is ours.
Standards are now set, and disputed, [
in a separate place assigned to them; j
the dictionary gives us the whole ;
wealth of words from which to draw
at will. It would seem that the principle
of inclusiveness could scarcely
he carried beyond the position
reached today, unless to include the
necessary popular formations that
must continue a9 long as the language
lives.
Extremes of Ni'lnmi
The uorlherntuoei national forest '
It the Chugach In Alabku; the south- i
rnmost is the Luqulllo In l'orlo Rico. .
k. CHECK
ifor money you owe and
note how much more respectful
your creditors
regard you. They like to
do business with a man
who has an account at
our hack. Thov know he
is doing business in a
business-like way. Ret- |
ter open such an account
even if your atfairs are
not large. They will
grow all right.
of Fort Mill,
W. B. MFACHAM. Jr. Cashier
I|1
gsassasasasasasasasasasafa
I
tried our |,
11" Bread {!
Rolls, Etc? |
and almost hot ?i
i t
e oven. S i
a trial order. gj| "
1GERYCO. I;
S, Manager. jJJH n
A
"Quality, Purity
and Service"
Is Our Motto.
*
There's only one way to know
i
when the other fellow's prices are
in line. That is to phone 8 or 14.
? i
JONES, the grocer. J
Phones 14 and 8.
I DISCRIMINATION j
t
^ Should be used in the ?
I
is the best floor paint to use. It is made especially tol flH
be walked upon, is ready h r usr, easy to put on?you ^
can do it yourself?and dries quickly. A quart will
cover about 75 square feet, two coats.
Ask for a copy of our "I loine Decorating" booklet, j
It tells von all about the u..c of paints, enamels, stains \
and nnishes in the home. BSfl
J. J. BAILES, Jj B
LUMBER - PAINTS - OILS flH
Yoiir Own Paint!
YOU WILL SAVE 60 ct.. PER GAL. BH
J THIS IS HOW
tBuy 4 gals. I.. A M. SKMI-MIVH) HI!AL FAINT.
And 3 gals. Linseed Oil to mix with it - - 2.10 ]
You then make 7 gals, of pure paint for - - $10.50 ,
It's only $1.50 pt r gal.
Anybody can mix the OIL with th PAINT. miWW
Whereas, if you buy 7 gals. of ready far-use |.aint iui,. . '>
CANS, you pay $2.1^ . ;vl. or Si4.7'?. n&&. . a.
The L. Cf M. SEMI-MIXt /? HE I.?. T.MS I is IT, Willi I.E. * .'>
XiNC titnl I.IN.SEEiJ Oil., tin- he.-. Ki4"n n ; .in: mm , i'i < tor I <;*/ yei.rj.
Use a gal. out of any L.&M.PALN I you buy, and II i:ot Cie
paint made, return the paint and get ALL jour moucy bad!.,
Marks End of Childhood.
Children pass out of a lup..' ope L| fl A Bi&'
t Imple Into |^||cS(a LV
encea and dlscreilnns In neath . ? r *
uiposed and artittciul liio \ud Z An
re lost. Out of llie finished I Aim . *-<y'
ratcbful, restrained man and wntua I JS? wS'
o child emerges again.?" The I'aa- ???_??t.~ ~h_ -? .'">
Innate Krlends." MM6 A NOW M&n Of Hin*
. "I wm suffering from pain in ?Hy K
stomach, head and back," writeijH..^>&< (
For Borrowed Book*. T. Alston, Kalelgh, N. 0., "andjrfiv
80 uiuiiy books were borrowed and l^ver and kidneys did not work jtfffc t
ever returned front the writer's hoim but four bottles of i?lectric
iat she purcbueed a script stencl Diade ine feel like a new Bjtaia. 'JR./
earing her own name und a ploan? j |WICf 50 CTS. TALL DAUC STQ^tS, ,
?tum." To oat* uus plan Las pro\.-> j?5555555555SSS555S55552SIIIISISSI!IIl2525E^^r;
itlilhotiiry is rststalai bar bouts 1. J juu? ui ota p?p?i^fo^rj^iwC
n Mas,' I Tianaa olRc*
\ C^?|Ce^ ^1C s^0Te a^ T
A _S-2A ?.? . - - 1
xx visit wm impress you with the truth of that ?
claim. A single purchase of our Shoes will prove it. ,
?
M'ELHANEY & CO. t
Floors Like New !
Marred and worn floors are liard ro clean and hard to^
keep clean, llalf an hour's work with the paintbrush
changes your old shabby floors into new floors that arc i
easy to keep clean and hard to wear out. i
ACME QUALITY I
ci riAD u a ivr . /-n . .i