University of South Carolina Libraries
> •i I ABNER - ► «» M *» •• <» O •* By..: WILL N. | HAR.BEN | Author of f "tOrjItrfeH” 2 Copyright, 1902, by HA&PER. « BROS., Who Publish the Work in Book Form. All Rights Reserved - • CHAPTER VII. |LAN made his way along the wall, out of the track of the promonaders, into the office, anxious to escape being spo ken to by any one. Rut here several jo vial men from the mountains who knew him intimately gathered around him and began to make laughing re marks about his dress. “You look fer the world like a dirt dauber.” This comparison to a kind of black wasp came from Pole Baker, a tall, heavily built farmer, with an enormous head, thick eyebrows and long, shaggy bah\ He lived on Bish- p’s farm and had been brought up with Alan. “I’ll be derned ef you ain't nimble on yore feet, though. I’ve seed you cut the pigeon wing over on Mossy creek with them big, strappin’ gals ’fore you had yore sights as high • '6 these town folks.” “It’s that thar vest that gits me," said another. “1 reckon it’s cut low so you won’t drap soft victuals on it, but I guess you don’t do much eatin' with that collar on. It don’t look like yote Adam's apple could stir a peg un der it.” With a good natured reply and a laugh he did not feel, Alan hurried out of tl e office and up to his room, where he bad left his lamp burning. Ray burn Miller’s hat and light overcoat were on the bed. Alan sat down in one of the stiff backed, split bottom chairs and stared straight in front of him. ever in his life had he suffered as he was now suffering. He could see no hope ahead; the girl he loved was lost to him. Her father had heard of the foolhardiness of old man Bishop and, like many another well meaning parent, had determined to save his daughter from the folly of marrying a penniless man who had doubtless in herited his father’s lack of judgment and caution. There was a rap on the closed door, and immediately afterward Rayburn Miller turned the knob and came in. His kindly glance swept the face of his friend, and he said, with forced lightness: “I don’t want to bore you, old man, but 1 just had to follow you. I saw from your looks us you left the ball room that something was wrong, and I urn afraid 1 know what it is. You j^ee, Captain Barclay is a rough, out spoken man, and he made a remark the other day which reached me. 1 wasn’t sure it was true, so 1 didn’t mention it: but 1 reckon my informant knew what he was talking about.” Alan nodded despondently. “I asked her to go to church with me tomorrow night, She was awfully embarrassed and finally told me of her father’s ob jections.” ^ I know what tired the old devil up,” said Miller. “You do?” “Yes. It was that mistake of your father. As I told you, the colonel is as mad as a wet hen about the whole thing. He’s got a rope tied to every nickel he’s ’got, and he intends to leave Dolly a good deal of money. He thinks Frank Hillhouse is Just the thing. He shows that as plain as day. He no ticed how frequently you came to see Dolly and scented danger ahead and simply put his foot down on it, Jus I as fathers have been doing ever since the flood. My dear boy, you’ve got a bitter pill to take, but you’ve got to swidlow it like a man. You’ve reached a point where two roads fork. It is for you to decide which one you’ll take.” Alan made no reply. Rayburn Mil ler lighted a cigar and began to smoke steadily. • “IVs none of my business," Miller burrt out suddenly, “but I’m friend enoagli of yours to feel this thing like the devil. However, I don’t know whaf. to say. I only wish I knew how far you’ve gone into it.” Alan smiled mechanically. “If you can’t look at me and see how far T^e gone, you are blind,” he said. “I don’t mean that,” replied Miller. “I was wondering how far you had committed yourself—oh, hang It!— made love and all that sort of thing.” “I’ve never spoken to her on the sub ject,” Alan informed him gloomily. “Good, good! Splendid!” Alan stared in surprise. "I don’t understand,” he said. "She knows that is, l think she knows— how I feel, and I have hoped that”— “Never mind about that,” interrupted Miller laconically. "There is a chance for both of you if you’ll turn square around like sensible human IWngs and look the facts in the face.” “You mean’’— “That it will be stupid, childish id iocy for either or both of you to let this thing spoil your lives.” “I don’t understand you.” “Well, you will before I’m through with you, and I’ll do you up browu. There are simply two courses open to you, my boy. One is to treat Colonel Barclay’s wishes with dignified respect and l>ow and retire Just as any Eu ropean gentleman would do when told that his pile was too small to be con sidered.” “And the other?” asked Alan sharp ly. “The other Is to follow in the foot steps of nearly every sentimental fool that ever was born and go around look ing like a last year’s bird’s nest or, worse yet, persuading the girl to elope and thus angering her father so that he will cut her out of what's coming to her and what is her right, my boy. She may be willing to live on a bread and water diet for awhile, but she’ll lose flesh and temper in the long run. If you don’t make as much money for her as you cause her to lose, sheTl tell you of it some day or, at least, let you see it, and that’s as long as It’s wide. You are now giving yourself a treat ment in self hypnotism, telling yourself that life has not and cannot produce a thing for you beyond that particular pink frock and yellow head. I know how you feel. I’ve been there six dif ferent times, beginning with a terrible long ifcst attack and dwindling down as I became inoculated with experi ence till now the complaint amounts io b n i,, i a re ;'ian a mom, iary throe wlx* • I see i (..sii one ’ i a ain for an hour s ride. I <.■:!:: do yen a lot of good it you .1 lir.ea to u.o. i'll give you the benelit of my experience.’’ "What good would your devilish ex perience do me?” said Alan impatient ly. £, It would lit any man’s case if he'd only believe it. I've made a study of love. I’ve observed hundreds of typi- musi ration: Poverty on one side, hoodie on the other; more glamour than in other ease because of the gulf between. They get married; they have to. They’ve inherited the stupid idea that the Lord is at the bottom of it and that the glamour is ids smile. Like the other couple, their eyes are finally'opened to the facts, and they begin to secretly wonder what it’s all about. The one with the spondulics wonders harder than the one who has none. If the man has the money, he will feelgood at lirst over doing so much for his affinity, but if he has an eye for earthly values—and good busi ness men have—there will be times when lie will envy Jones, whose wife had as many rocks as Jones. Love and capital go together like rain and sunshine: they are productive of some thing. Then if the woman has the money and the man hasn’t there s tragedy—a slow cutting of throats. She is Irresistibly drawn with the rest of the world into the thought that she has tied herself and her money to an automaton, for such men arc invari ably lifeless. They seem to lose the faculty of earning money—in any other way. And as for n proper title for the penniless young idiot that publicly ad vertises himself as worth enough, in himself, for a girl to sacrifice her money to live with him—well, the un abridged does not furnish it. Jack Ass in billboard letters would come nearer to it than anything that occurs to me now. I’m not afraid to say it, for I know you’d never cause any girl to give up her fortune without knowing at least whether you could replace It or not.” Alan arose and paced the room. “That” he said as he stood between the lace curtains at the window, against which the rain beat steadily—“that is why I feel so blue. I don’t believe Colonel Barclay would ever forgive her, and I’d die before I’d make her lose a thing.” “You are right.” returned Miller, re lighting his cigar at the lamp, "and he’d cut her off without a cent. I know him. But what is troubling me is that you may not be benefited by my logic. Don’t allow this to go any further. Let her alone from tonight on, and you’ll find iu a few months that you are resigned to it, ju^t like the average widower who wants to get married six , months after his loss. And when sht I is married and lias a baby she’ll meet you on tin* street and not care a rap whether her hat's on right or not. She 1 will tell her husband all about it and allude to you as her first, second or third fancy, as the case may be. I have faith iu your future, but you’ve ; got a long, rocky row to hoe, and a ' thing like this could spoil your useful ness and misdirect your talents. If I i could see how you could profit by wait- i iug, I’d let your flame burn unmolest ed; but circumstances are agaiust us.” ' , “I’d already seen my duty,” said , Alan Im a low tone as he came away | from the window. “I have an engage- ! I mont with her jater, and the subject , shall be avoided*” “Good man!” Miller’s cigar was so < FAMOUS WOMAN SCOUT. How “Calnmity Jane” Got Her Narno. One of Her Uarinir Feat*. The late noted female character “Calamity Jane,” who had been known on the western frontier since 1870, was christened Calamity Jane in 1872 by Captain Egan, then commander of the army post at Goose Creek, S. D., whoso life she had saved, says the New York World. Captain Egan was shot from his horse by an Indian. The woman scout killed the ludin-n and, picking up the wounded officer, she placed him across her saddle and rode off to the fort under the fire of other Indians, When Captain Egan, who was uncon* scious at the time, learned the circum stances of ins rescue, he said to hi# preserver: “You are a good person to have around in time of calamity, and I christen you (Calamity Jane, the heroine of the plains.” Buffalo Bill (Colonel Cody) tells the following story of Calamity Jane: “In 1876 Jane, by a daring feat saved the lives of six passengers on a stagecoach traveling from Deadwood, S. D., to Wild Birch, in the Black Hills country. “The stage was surrounded by In dians, and the driver, Jack McCaul, was wounded by an arrow. Although the other six passengers were men, not one of them had nerve enough to take the ribbons. Seeing the situation, Jane mounted* the driver’s seat without a moment's hesitation and brought the stage safely and in good time to Wild Bii'ch. "Jack McCaul afterward recovered, and some time later, while in Dead- wood. lie assassinated Wild Bill, one of Calamity Jane’s best friends. The mur der was a cold blooded one, and it was the general opinion that lynching was only too mild for him. Calamity Jane was in the lead of the lynching party, and it was she that captured the des perado. She had left her rifle at home, but with a butcher’s cleaver she held him up, and«a very few minutes later McCauI’s body was swinging from the limb of a cottonwood tree and his soul had passed over the great divide.” ■f The Great Rheumatic Cure -AND- Spring” Blood Purifier Positively cures a!l diseases arising from impurities in the blood, includ ing Catarrh, Indigestion, Chronic Constipation, Kidney and LiverTroobles, etc. Every person in the land needs a powerful blood purifier every Spring! You need it. You want the best—the standard. That is RHE.UMACIDE. BEWARE OF DANGEROUS SUBSTITUTES. RHEUMACIDE benefits instead of injuring the digestive organs as many so-called medicines do. RHEUMACIDE is a powerful alterative, but old people or children can take it with absolute safety. Price fi.oo at Druggists, or express prepaid on receipt of price. Bobbitt Chemical Co., . . Baltimore, fid., U. S. A. tor sale hylthe Cherokee Drug Company. AN AUTOMOBILE YACHT. short that lie stuck the blade of his penknife through it that he might eu- cal cases and watched marriage from Joy it to the end without burning his inception through protracted illness or Angers. “That’s the talk! Now I boredom down to dumb resignation or must mosey on downstairs and dance sudden death. I don’t mean that no with that Miss Fewclothes from Rome lOVeps of the ideal, sentimental brand —the one with the auburn tresses that are over happy fiftor marriage, but 1 , says ‘delighted’ whenever she is spo- do believe that open ?yed coyrtsliip j ken toi” Will beat the blind sort all hollow ‘ Alan went back to the window. The that in nine cases out of ten, If people ' rain was still beating on it. For a long time he stood looking out into the blackness. The bad luck which had i come to his father had been a blow to him, but its later offspring had the j were mated by law accordlug to the judgment of a sensible, open eyed ju ry, they would be happier than they now are. Nothing ever spoken is truer than the commandment, ‘Thou shalt grim, cold countenance of death itself, have no other God but me.’ Let a man He had never realized till now that put anything above the principle of Dolly Barclay was so much a part of living right, and he will be miserable. The man who holds gold as the chief thing lu life will starve to death in its cold glitter, while u pauper iu vugs will have a laugh that rings with the music of immortal joy. In the same way the man who declares that only one woman is suited to him is making a god of her, raising her to a seat that won’t support her dead, material weight. I frankly believe that the glamour of love is simply a sort of in sanity that has never been correctly named and treated because so many people have been the victims of It.” “Do you know,” Alan burst In al- i most angrily, “when you talk that way I think you are off. I know what’s the matter with you—you have simply frittered away your heart, your ability to love and appreciate a good woman. Thank heaven, your experience has not been mine! I don’t see bow you could ever be happy with a woman. I couldn’t look a pure wife in the face and re member all the flirtations you’ve in dulged in—that Is, If they were mine.” “There you go,” laughed Miller. *‘Make It personal. That’s the only way the average lover argues. I am speaking in general terms. Let me fin ish. Take two examples—first, the clmp crazily In love, who faces life with the red rag of his infatuation— his girl. No parental objection, every thing smooth and a carload of silver ware, a clock for every room in the house. They start out on their honey moon, doing the chief cities at the biggest hotels and the theaters in the three dollar seats. They soon tire of themselves and lay it to the trip. Ev ery day they yake away a handful of glamour from each other tin, when tuoy reach .home, they have come to the conclusion that they are only hu man, and not the highest order at that. For awhile they have a siege of discontent,, wondering where it’s all gone. Finally tlpj man Is forced to go about hls work, and the woman gets to making things to go on the backs of f'halfs and trying to spread her trousseau over the next year, arid they bygin to court resignation. Now, 1 If they had odt bAd the glamour at^ tack they would have got 1 do#*i 'to business sooner, that’s all, and they would have set a better example to ther plungers. Now for the second his very life. For a moment he almost gave way to a sob that rose and strug gled within him. He sat down again and clasped his hands before him in dumb self pity. He told himself that Rayburn Miller was right; that only weak men would act contrary to such advice. No, it was over—all, all over. This story will be next Friday’s issue. continued in Its Inventor Kxiiecttt to Explore Florida Swamp In .Novel Craft. Destined for service both on land and water, the much discussed “automobile yacht” will soon be prepared to make its journey to the south, says the New York Herald. As far as botli marine and terrestrial architecture are con cerned the amphibious craft is not a thing to delight the eye, for it has lines which have never been considered beautiful. Its inventor, Anton Schmidt, a cabi net maker of Newaik, N. J., who built It, says that lie is sure that it will do all that is required of it either in the water or on dry land and that soon he will make his arrangements to go to Florida, where lie has been invited to explore a swamp. Near Ocala, he has been informed, there is a morass which incloses a more or less active sulphur volcano. Rank vegetation abounds on the outskirts of the region, and in the center there is an unexplored spot be- Ijeyeff fo tjbound in sulphurous fumes au<5 salamanders. . ¥he vessel bus had a trial trip in the waters near Newark, and when all the machinery is placed in it he believes that within a few weeks he will reach the region which a.waits his ipvestiga- tion. This land and water craft, as Mr. Schmidt calls it. is forty-five feet in length, eight in beam and has a draught of three feet. Its total height is only a trifle more than six feet, just enough to permit a man to stand up inside. It has five wheels in all, two large ones at the side and one at each end and a small one beneath, which serves ns a support when the craft is on dry land and as a means of propulsion when it is Immersed. The greater part of the power will be applied to the side wheels. The Inventor thinks that the craft may easily proceed at the rate of six miles an hour on land and eight In wa ter. Dyspeptics r ut made every day by their own carelessness, '(hire lb at case of Constipation and Indigestion before il becomes chrdnic. Take FA>Oiiis nai Tonic Fillet*, the only remedy that assists Nature and dd& not fei in her way. Strong, purgitivewffipe, arid ttako-iMffifnsed invalids. Ramon’s act gently arid lOVt Ike ay stem independent of drug*. Sample and booklet Tree. Complete Treatment S3* A,-; 25 days 35 cts. ^•ISAbrk. »•**♦** tjM For sale by Cherokee Drug Company. To Printers; We Manufacture the very ‘Highest Grade of Brass Rules Brass Leads Brass Leaders Brass Galleys Metal Borders Leads and Slugs! iT>|L. S. k Metal Furniture ^ ^jMetalJLeaders £rT.., “Spaces andJQuads \ MW- Bimetal Quoins 4 Send us a memo, of just whatKyou! require, and let us quote you prices. 1 * $$ A + vKl* I We are not in any trust or combination,!and you will be agreeably surprised at what we can save you over the regular prices. «£jrwOiuri?j.v» Old column rules refaced^and made good’as new, at a very small cost.! ^Highest prices paid for^old Itype, leads,^elec tros, brass, etc.\ : h- PHILADELPHIA“;PRINTERS SDPPLY|C0. <)oW Entreet JPa.. Kud of Hitter Fight. “Two physicians had a long and stubborn fight wDh an abcess on my right lung,” writes J. F. Hughes of DuPont, Ga., “and gave me up Everybody thought my time had come. As a last resort I tried Dr Kir g’s New Discovery for Consump tion. The benefit I received was striking and I was on my feet in a few days. Now I’ve entirely regained my health.” It cotquers all Coughs,! Colds and Throat and Lung troubles. Guaranteed by Cherokee Drug Co. Price 50c, and $1.00. Trial bottles j free. MELONS ON A PEACH TREE. Mutual sorrow blooms into mu tual friendship, but mut&l greed soon gnaws a rugged hole in mutual affection. Hancooks’s Liquor Sulphur will give you immediate relief and per- manetly cure all such diseases as Eczema, Pimples, Tetter, Herpes, Ringworm, Dandruff, Diphtheria, Sore Throat, Cuts, Burns, Open Sores, and all blood and skin troubles. Hun dreds of oases of skin diseases have been permanently cured by the use of Haucock’s Liquid Sulphur after all other remedies failed. For sale by the Cherokee Drug Co. Uncle Htllte Somers' Hew Idea For Annual Garden Freak. If Uncle Billie Somers, who has a small truck farm at Churchtown, near Pennsville, N. J., does not surprise hls neighbors each season in growing something of the freakish nature he puts it down as a poor season, says the Philadelphia Press. Growing water melons In boot legs, citrons in bed springs and squashes with Inscriptions on them Is hls hobby, but this year he has succeeded in filling a peach tree with watermelons. Surrounded with blushing peaches In one large tree several nearly ripe wa termelons are hanging, or, rather, prop ped up, and the sight Is a remarkable one. Uncle Billie has always had water melons at Christmas time. He has a knack of keeping them in good condi tion and generally invites hls friends to the feast. He says when the time comes that he can’t beat hls neighbors with something new he is ready to quit. Commercial Printing Of every description executed with neatness and dispatch at The Ledger office, Gaffney, S. C. New Type, New Presses, the finest quality of Ink and Paper, and Compe tent Workmen. Send us your orders. T,o Printers and Publishers Please note that we are Authorized Agents 1^0 r The National Compositype Co., Sole Manufacturers / The man who thinks he can pray God away from Hls original design and purpose has got more gall than good sense. 0 ’ll C. . ■ 1 l.' 1. (Liu T h ' bails Many persons Ip this ,coi#flannUy ar* suffering from kidney oomplalnt who could Ivold fatal Foley> JUdn^ Qpr* kesDrugCo. “ A Finn For Hncktrberry Plckerx William Gilbert, near New Paris, Ind., is running hls twenty-five acre huckleberry marsh on a novel plau. says the Indianapolis News. Instead of giving the pickers a share of the ber ries Mr. Gilbert l^as lnvRed the public to pay 25 cents admission to the marsh and pick as many berries as they can during their stay. At the opening of the marsh there wer? forty-six teams and 125 pepple awaiting entrance. Peo ple are flocking thither from all direc tions and ore taking away Immense quantities of berries, are flue and plentiful. ^ i ' > of Lu - . Du. The Automatic Type Casting ” " or Sort Caster With this Machine a Printer can make all his own Type from 8 to 26pt., also Borders, Ornaments, Leaders, Spaces and Quads, etc., as perfect jin every [respect and at the same low prices they now cost the Type Foundry. Write for particulart and Catalogue. Tfie PfiiWefcliia Printers' 5uppfy (0. —' w £908 k .flLBEjft STREET, fWlWfJELf! nV