The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-06-17


away to vanish forever. Then eacl
passenger was morally certain that til,
thief had crept past him while he wa'
pursuing the respectable gentleman
opposite, and the newsboy was surest O
all that he had been propelled into theil
midst by some unseen power on tn,
platform. The inevitable result of Sc
much excitement was chilling doubt il
Miss Mayhew's alarm had not been onl,
a womans scare after all.
"Look at her for yourselves, she said
Indignantly, reading skepticism on every
side.
The old lady's appearance was certain
ly dilapidated and battered, while hel
beautiful beads were lying in her lap
Ruth replaced them preparatory to hel
getting out ut the crowded terminus
where she changed cars. The old lady
fiuttered away almost before the trair
had stopped, and when she had beer
gone fully five minutes Miss MAYHEM
ratified the beads on the floor with sud
den crash. The thief had weakened the
clasp in his efforts to secure them
Something must be done. In vain she
appealed to selfish men they We're not
going to lose their places. Much good
but vague advice was volunteered about
keeping the necklace until she could
forward it some time, which she cut
short with decisive
1 will do it myself"
The emergency required prompt ac-
ton, and she was equal to the emer-
gency. Without moments hesitation
! she rushed out.
Chow long do we stop9" she in
quired of brakeman, who exhaled hot
oil from his very countenance.
"Twenty minutes" replied the brake
man, surely melted by the evil one.
Where, oh, where will that brakeman
go when he dies2 Was his conscience
deadened as well as his outer ear by the
din of his life or did he view with in
difference the possibility of any future
state being worse than the pandemonium
of his present existence2 Our traveller
was Immediately beset by crowd of
clamorous hackmen desirous of driving
her out of her wits, if not to the end of
the earth. Escaping this snare, she fell
into another of babies and dusty parents.
How many tender innocents she upset
in her haste, thus increasing the general
uproar, Ruth, although naturally hu-
name, never knew.
Everywhere a hopeless blockade of
baggage, trunks and struggling humani-
ty-everywhere insane panic of hurry in
the fear of being left behind. The be-
wildered woman could not approach
within ear-shot of the perspiring ticket
master, whose sutfrsed face glared
vengefuly through his pigeon-hole as
he snapped short the incoherent ques-
tions of distracted passengers. If she
could only ascertain where the old lady
had gone!
(Which is the Locust Valley train 2"
she asked Of baggageman who was
pausing to take breath after lifting
Saratoga trunk of gigantic dimensions.
The baggageman, with agoniAlng de-
liberation, rested his great hands on his
hips, thrust quid of tobacco into his
cheek, stared at his interlocutor, and
said:
"Heyi"
Miss Ruth repeated her question with
the energy of despair.
Where do you want to go E lnqulr-
ed the baggagemaI, Warily.
And then it became q painfully evi-
dent fact that where Miss Mayhem want
ed to go AID where she was going were
two widely sundered matters, for she
beheld her train in motion. To rush
toward it, to signal blindly-as if the in
sensate monster would stop to be held
back from jumping on board in gentle
manly fashion, and then to be left gaz-
ing blankly into space-that was her ex-
pGrience. A voice came back on the
wind:
81 will keep your things for YOU"
To inveigh bitterly against the deceit
fulness of brakemen was an impulse
which our unfortunate lady checked with
true dignity of character.
81 will find the old lady at all events"
she decided, "even though she should
prove the proverbial needle in that hay
stack of depot"
There never were so many trains look
ing exactly alike, and apparently headed
in the same direction, with their engines
prancing aimlessly up and down. Oh,
the satisfaction of at length beholding a
familiar old face, spectacles on nose,
beaming behind q window. Miss May
hew dashed frantically forward, waving
the necklace aloft. The old lady started,
felt instinctively at her throat, and be-
gan to tumble no less frantically at the
closed sash. Varnish and springs defed
her. Horrors
The train, after dawdling any length
of time, at this inauspicious moment con.
cluded to move. 1t was pleasant sight
to behold Miss Mayhem racing along the
platform, casting dignity to the winds,
and the old lady on the verge of apo
Ifr fl,A
raise the window. How the people
stared, to be sure But Miss Mayhem
did not care. She was long past person
al sensitiveness; and when the sash
finally yielded, just as she reached the
extreme edge of the platform, she threw
in the beads, and retiring, seated herself
on a carpetbag to burst into tears. Her
courage completely failed her; the weak,
silly, feminine sobs would come.
A gentleman had approached to claim
the earpetbag. He was tall, bronzed,
and bearded, and he wore o scarf about
his throat of some curious Eastern fab
ric. Miss Mayhem, the tension of ex-
cltement having snapped, was left as
weak as an infant. Her pocket had been
cut, and her portemonnaie was gone.
Had she, in securing her companions
safety, fallen victim to the snaky young
man herself9 She now rose, making
some confused apology for the condition
of her late throne, the carpetbag.
Ruth Mayhew" exclaimed the
stranger. 81 cannot be mistaken.
Surely you wear my gift, the little
brooch, silver and pearls"
With startled expression of wonder
she looked up into his face, and read Joy