Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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0 A: oirnesfly to work for It that he was r«*ely refused. When the T work was efficiently and eagerly performed, the grateful housewife usually gave him a package of food for the next meal. * He parsed through Sc^ttdale at ’ night on the bumpers of a fast freight furniture and bedding, bundled out, unsheltered. He applied bis eye to a crack in the rear of the garage. A small car, much more bartered and rusty than his own, with soiled gunny sack bundles on the sagging running boards^ was within. He ghe&sed correctly that the oc- MicKael J. Phillips Illustration* Iry Hamy J^y L«e Mioha*l V. Phillip* ^ 1“ Was early, but the little town slum- j eupant of the cabin was cooking a bered peacefully, its arcs illuminat- late breakfast in the kitchen. The iiig empty streets Copyright ed thru Puhl iahar* Autoca*t«r S*rvico V THE LEADING CHARACTERS t'dison Fort>es, a young reiidont of Scottdale with an inherent craving for liquor, is held for the death of a wocn*n who has been killed by a boot legging truck. Circumatatnial cnvi- dence points to Forbes ar.d rath er than tell the truth of the efrisodet which would clear him hot. cast another friends into bad light, he' stands trial and is senten ced to a long term in prison. The governor of the state, an old friepd » of Eddie’s father, believes him' inno cent and pardons him shortly after his arrival at the jail. Back in ^cott dale he and I Scoots Libbey, a worthies* charact er, who has smashed his machine into another car, killing its lone occupant, a woman. Forbes’ companion and Libbey quit the scene hurridly, leaving the former alone to face a constable who reasons that Eddie, with the scent of whiakey about him, must be con nected in some way with the accident. Accordingly, Forbes is arrested. Patsy Jane, Eddie’s pretty wife, a- grees that public sentiment runs too high against him. Accordingly they migrate up north to some land that has been in the family for years. Settled in their log cabin laiah Sealman, a neighbor, ipays the Forbes a visit and intimates that there are some back taxes for the young couple to pay. Sealman offers «, to give Eddie a job after he goes down to Long Portage, a nearby town, and leama about tht taxes. The neat day while walking about their property they discover a mys- terious mound that contains outcrops admilar to salt. At k the tax office Forbes learns that the back taxes a- nt to oyer eight hundred dollars and that the certificates are held by a Chicago capitalist who is eager to obtain the property. Eddie has five months bo pay. A few days later he helps a booze truck out of the mud mud is presented with a bottle of whiskey which he hides before walk ing over to interview Sealman. Not finding him in, Eddie im bibes too freely of his liquor and m a result Patsy warns him that fee next occurrence of a similar nature will result in her departure. Sealman hears of the trip to the tax office and makes a generous offer lor their place, but Eddie, scenting something in the air, declines. Seal- iBfMl refuses him work and several weeks pass. Then one day, Eddie’s tnasoWes wdakjcn and he accept a ride aboard another liquor truck. He drinks heavily . Now Continue! CHAPTER XI Shanghaied Eddie lay for many hours in a Stupor so profound .it was death like. For other hours he was in a '* fotfrium ehot Lhrough with the misery ejf real illness. His head ached. His flesh protested as thwughjt were be- k, ; hue tom from his themes', llie "boneo 1 themselves seemed packed with pain. He wa* immured in a violently-mov- fcg hell which screeched and clatter ed beneath him, and tossed him un- tafetir .)»* It wan early night of the second p before consciousness returned.! very meek, end his head k He was able after many attempts, to sit up, brac ing himself against a wall or parti tion while he groped in the maze that netted him. First, he was in darkness, clang orous and complete. Second, lie was in a railway freight car in full mo- tifn. How he got there he could not recall. Think as he would, his head between his haiulf, he could remember nothing aflier the first drink on the rum-cruise. It was a loeig time before he could stand up. His trembling fingers re vealed that he was prisoned in- a nar row .^pace running between the two doors in the centre of the car. There wefO cross wise partitions holding ■ki place a cargo that pounded and rasped with the motion of the train. Further explorations told him that the cargo was hardened bolts about four feet in length. He tried the two doors. He was able to slide each of them a little way. He could not open them, be muse t^ey were pealed. It was ap parent that they ware now in the outskirts of a moal ideal railroad centre, pencils of twilight from suc cessive streetlamps pierced the dark ness of the prison fleetingly. The trained xattled interminably over switch points. The droning sound of thqirr progress proved that long lines of cam paralleled them cm sidings. Resolution overcame weakness. He had to get out! He crawled up the space for his body between the top most layer of bolts and the car roof. He wriggled forward, toward the lilt le door, high up, in the end of the car. He found it, but it,-too ,was lock ed. He could not budge it. He inched backward to the centre of -the-car, crossed the open space, and mounted the other partition to the piles of timber in the rerar half. These tiers weie not p : 'led so high. He was soon examining the rear end door. It was fastened, but seemed weak. He found a slender bolt which could be hand- the side opposite to the platform. He was In a nrrrow aisle between two lines of ears. He turned in the di rection from whence he had come. The terminal wa* Chicago. This he I earned from electric signs when the yards broadened out beyond the end i.f the train. He was several hundred miles from Long Portage. The first problem was food; the second, to get tack to Patt y Jane as soon as possible!. Lemorse scourged him as he thought o* her alone in the cabin‘ in the wilderness, worry ing ever him, torn with suspense at his absence. Ha thrust his herds into his pockets. Susp.cion became a certainty, rum-runners had drugged and shang haied him. To make xe«ults mon. effective, .they had robbed him of the few dollars he had had. Their motive wa? a mystery which pould be left to the future for solution. Mean time. there was satisfaction in the thought that he had opened an ac count ip the Lang Postage State bank, a few days previously, and de posited nearly all his money, He carried a dollar bill for eipe'- gendes in a small pocket of his trousers; and this had been overlook ed. When, on the windows of a dingy store on the street beside the grade he was invited to “Eat Here,” he de- Noftalgia and self-pity possessed him as he ching to a brakebeam and rumbled through the place where he was bom. He yearned toward iit, even though it re garded him as a criminal, an out cast and a failure. He dropped from the empty car at daybreak, the rixth day of his absence, iu the Long Portage yard?. He was tfr^d and dinty and hungry; but he could not wait. He hurried up the cement sidewalk which flank ed the broad main street. His foot steps clicked .hollowly in the hush that fettles on ’She world just befor* sunrise. He wa!a w*ell beyond the town when the sun appeared otr the winding' sandy track ahead of him, sentineled in its arising by two stubs of what had once been giant pines. Fatigue • slowed his footsteps in the waist of .the long tramp He saw no one; there was no friendly motorcar to offer a lift. He scan ned the horizon ahead with increas ing eagerness as the sun mounted, and signs told him he was approach ing the end of his journey. There, at last, was the ridge marking the western boundary of their land, from which he could see the cabin. He hurried until he was almost; d <^y. so that Eddie was over-balaif running. A sigh of thankfulness door of the kitchen opened to the south and .there was .no window on the w^at-side, from which he ap- p. cached. The“sand stilled his foot steps. He gained the door without detection. As his shadow fell across it, the sole occupant of the s?all room look ed up from his task. He was a mean- faced, narrow-eyed man with a stub ble of beard on his lined cheeks. He wa; in tthe garb of the motor-tramp, soiled cotton shirt, the sleeves rolled up; khaki breeches, stained with greaser worn canvas legging?; and stubby brown sHousl A cigarette hung from his lips. He was in th« act of turning a strip of bacon in th? frying pen. , ^The man was startled, but nil quick recovery showed he was not un* prepared for a visitor. The fork of which the bacon was impaled clatter ed into t^jian and the man dodgoc into the livfhfcpom through the dooj behind him. Rkwas hri intention t« dope it, but he nks not quick enough Eddie’s body erased against it; hi* foot thrust ittjelf crack. _ I Seeing that He had faded, motor-tramp withdrew his weight su the narrowinf — * . 1 2 welled up; Patsy Jane had not car- i ied out her threat. Smoke was rising from the chimney of the cabin. All was right with the world. With Pat beside him he could make good and show :he world that it? persecution was as unfair as it was cruel. He would get a job, redeem this home in the wilderness they had both come Eddie was under;, them. A hand near either end, he raised. the we&pom to J cra-h it down crosswise on his as sailant’s head. Ed sensed the move, though he could not see. He held more tightly, burrowing downward. The weapon struck him a gismcimgL- ’ blow on the back <rf the head, the main force expending Rself harmless- . ly on his back. The trigger-guard tore his scalp, however, and he could feel the warm blood trickle down. Now his right hand went up to the other’s throat, jamming his head back against-., he logs. The tramp was, of neces sity, compelled to drop the rifle to a- void strangulation. , v He tripped Eddie and they fell. But Eddie, more active, was oiUy^% briefly underneath. He turned theV^ tramp over with a thump, and strug gled to mount astride. A heave of the other’s body broke his hold and sent him flying. . Eddie had no clear picture of what happened, was happening. He^ was in a white rage that prevented dear thought. He was lumping against this hard-f*fced ma n everything that # hfad happened in recent days, and fighting for revenge for those happen ings. Their scuffling feet pushed the rifle partially under a bunk. Neither dared ‘itoop for it. They fought with their fist*. A wave of savage blpws or his face and body, but he did not feel their hurt. He was knocked down and rose to grip the other man and hurl him agair<t the walls. Another blow sent Edd : e on his head and shoulders. The stranger, vrith a grimace of triumph, tried to leap upon him. A frantic foot-thrust stopped the motor-tramp. The boot- heel caught him fairly, so that blood flew from his smashed nose. It was soon after that the strang er stooped to the fireplace for a blud- oed and fell into the livingroom ofl his hands and knees. The etrang retreating to a bunk in the farthe corner, had snatched up a rifle. No he covered Eddie, the weapon again/1 his hip. Eddie came slowly to his feet. Ht was careful to take no frward step? 'If* 011 ' if was a sizeable stiek that bad led as < battering-ram. sVV Halfi=ittiirx}|. half^cr chic hang, he drove it against the litMe door*which; had been cracked across in the past by 'hifting cargoes. Soon he had broken away two of the boards com posing it, so that he could reach out, twi it off the 5081 a nd remove the hasp. The door slid back easily. Hq w«s free. But another problem presented itself. The train puffed steadily onward. The wheels made evil noises on the many curves;, and tthe cars leaned sharply to the mew di- rect : on. How could he>, in his weak ened condition, crawl out the narrow doorway, find the grab-irons and de scend them to safety? He was sure to fall between the cars and be ground to pieces. Fortune inclined to him in friend ly ? a«hion. There was a long whistle, the train slowed, topped. He could hear a blast from the locomotive, and the men, calling to one another. The train was rtanding by a long freigttf shed, whose platform was illumined by many arc-lights. Seals were be ing broken: There was a rattling of hand trucks. The top was a per manent one. Here was a killer, who would shoot without conscience and without mercy if it seemed expedient to shoot. “Whait ane you doing In my house?” growled Ed fla “Your house? Say, you got « nerve!” was the insolent reepo “This old shack » empty, be sold for taxes, and you talk about ‘your’ house! It ain’t yours as much as it i? mine.” "You tie!” i«oapped Eddie. “It’s of here, jaukk" acended. He spent seventy cents for coarse filling food. It revived him wonderfully. When he took to the grade again his aches and pains had grown more subdued. His head was cleorer;he was no long er co terrifyingly dizzy. Fortunate ly ithe night waa warm for April. After two hours of walking a lumber- yard invited him. He crawled through strands of barbed wire end laid down pp some scattered planks, odorous with the /cent of the north. He slept soundly. Winning, his way hhme was not easy. He waa inexperienced in steal- y miles. to love, again! And he never wbuld drink v CHAPTER XII A FIGHT The deadly eyes narrowed. “Bet- _ ter not call me a liar, sport. Go on, yourself, before I have to drop you.” Eddie moderated his tone andflis ■language. The stranger had the up per hand. “See here,, my friend, you’re wrong,” he said. “I own this place. My name is Forbes. They’ll tell you in Long Portage fr’s my pro perty. I’ve been away; that’s aJl.” Since Eddie kept his distance and so?m*d disposed to argue, the tre 1 -- passer accomodated himself to the situation. He shifted the rif^e from his hip across his body, holding it slightly higher than before. It was still reasonably ready for service. “I’d say you been away,” was his jeering comment. “No one’s been here for years. I was here las: four, five weeks. I brought that stove. This place is as much mine as it is yours.” You know I’d been here,” replied burn*^ hi two. leaving one piece more than a foot long in length and pyrami- daJ in form. He cauj&t, sitaller end, as tf by 1 handle.His face was contorted Into the enarl of a maddened huskie-dOg as he threw 'all his might ^ Eddie’s head. Eddie"fo^ge-l ju*t\» time. The erased h ’ temple, struck the logs and rebounofd in front of him so that it was almo# under his feet' ,*# The throw left the ii|r»ngeT off the wall at' Eddie’s 1« hand.. r o LEND t 00 ing rides. He walked He crawled out of the little end 1 Eating waa a problem door dixtily, found the grab iron?, I a erious one. When h and descended in the* darkness on; food at back doors, though not asked for offered so I He began to note ominous signs The place had a down-at-'the-hcol and neglected air. There was an unsight ly litter by the woodshed. Papers were strewn about the sandy yard. Something was wrong. He veered cautiously to bring the garage be tween the open back door and him- Eddie. “You saw my stuff and threw it out.” “No one was here when I come,” replied the man, doggedly. “I like it here. I’m goin’ to stay. You better move.” His eyes wavered about the room as he spoko andEddie took the sled- der chance offered. He flung hinrelf acro.s the room and hard against the'.bi; man’s stomach. ■erked it in front of him. hands on its ncaresfcedge power of his 160 pounds drove the table ah« floor. It caught ‘he thigh*, jamming^ With a growl, seized him bj him face doi He held M hand and' tramp wit could not the blow? threaten* The U swept it attempt club in as he fell fc out JlintS: H lUTH CAROLINA. (( ?r rush is over—is the i get a permanent wave, ly it through the Spring I months. rife for an appointment. The latter, an in- relf. He did this after a ftry^of greet-' stant too tlate, saw his danger and >ing had died on his lips. This.didn’t tried to swing his gun. But Eddie .look like Patfcy Jane. It was as! war inside, his arms around the c'her squalid as a city slum. His tee.h set themselVes when he noted the composition of the heaps about the woodshed. It was his own on4*s body. He forced the tramp against the wall. His adversaiy shifted his His arms; bolding the gun, were rd Beauty Shoppe A. DBAS, Prop. Phone No. 2237 Augusta, Ga. •-i