The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1883-05-11

sStsN AOkA VIC pau 60oIuS(l JIG so
smoothly for old b Welstead had been New.
some's personal friend, and Charles prospects
were Of the brightest M = & {, s.
on these pleasant evenings which have
mentioned, 1t was great fun to see Joe. darling
curaa seat in tho neighborhood. OF the young
,auy, with profound disregard for any CLAIMS
her parents might have upon his courtesy. II
ne attained the coveted position, he would lean
bac!- IN his chair with what he imagined to be
many anecdotes OF horses and dogs. with occa-
sional "reminiscences OF the ''biR nobsn who
had professional relations with his father On
such occasions Miss Clsyy would initiate him
TO his face in the most amusing way, looking oil.
sne t'm me- az demure as little mouse, while Well
whether to laugh or be angry. Even he usually
broke down, however, when the two came to
discuss "hetlquette," and Joe, In his character
Of gentleman, laid down his views as to when
teller should raise lis at" and when no.
of laughter from all OF ue. in which Joseph
would Join, though protesting loudly that he
was unable to see the joke tss.g
y is proverbially dangerous thing to play
With edged tools. l have been sure whether
think that at first lie did not. Perhaps, if
some one had informed him Of it then, he
might have mastered his feeling, and much
0Ato01y ubto U60u dNeCLeu. IL was clear 10 OS
| young fellows who had gone through the same
experience how things were tending, but we
| held our tongues rather than spoil what we
considered a capital Joke. Cissy may have
seen it too, and given him little mischievous
encouragement-at least young ladies have the
credit Of not bsing blind in such cases. Ger
tainlv Smith pursued his hopeless suit with q
vigor which astonished us. During business
hours he lived sort of ay.dream. musing
upon his perch like some cogitative fowl, and
while every evening found him interfering with
Welstead's tete-a-tete 1t the high corner house
| in Eldon street -
| At last the crash came. There was no need
to ask what had happened when little Joe
skunk quietly into the Office one morning with
bleared with the wakefulness of restless
night. We never learned the particulars Of his
dismissal Suffice it that he was informed
once and forever that gap which there was no
aud himself 81 bore up bravely and
and hide faem 'he vulgar u MS e.1s
mankind, but he became an altered man. What
had been passing fancy with us had taken
root in his very soul and grown there, SO that
was now unable TO wrench it out The ordeal
he had gone through chastened him to great
extent from his vulgarity by toning down his
natural spirits, and though he occasionally
ventured "Hawl haw!" it was painfully
artificial, and good deal more suggestive of q
dirge than Of merriment The worst feature Of
his case was that every week increased the
gloom which hung over him. We began to sus-
| poet that our estimate of his character had
been superficial one, and that there were
depths in the little mans soul of whose exist
ence we had been ignorant
Four months had passed away: None Of us
had changed much during that time, with tho
exception of the Gentleman. We cav little of
him except III Office hours. Where he spent
the rest of the day was mystery. Once met
among ring-bolts and chains, carelers of the
fact that trip or slip might send him into eter-
nifty: Another time saw cloaked figure Turk
| ing in the shadow beside the house in Eldon
my approach. His naturally unhealthy
complexion had become 80 ca
daverous that the sandy eyebrows and
| moustache stood out quite dark against it His
clothes hung loosely on his figure. The eye
glass was discarded. Even the once gorgeous
| ring seemed to have assumed eombre aud
| melancholy luster, as if in sympathy with the
feelngs Of its owner. His manner had lost all
is old audacity, and become timid and retiring.
doubt II any of his rustic acquaintance would
have recognized their gaudy Joseph in the
shambliug. unkept figure which haunted the
counting house of Ducat. Gulden & Ducat.
The termination Of Welstead's engagement
began to draw near. It had been arranged that
after his marriage he was to be promoted to the
management of another branchin distant part
of the county. This approaching breakup in
our little circle drew us all closer together, aud
made us the more sorry that the general har-
| mony should be destroyed by the unhappinesa
O. ono of our number. Ii VIC could have cheered
him we would, but there was omething IN his
| look, for all his snobbishnesss, which forbade
even sympathy on subject so sacred. He on
deavored to put on careless manner when he
| joined US all in wishing Welstesd good luck at
midday on the Saturday preceding the Monday
| on which the wedding was to take place. We
low clerk again until he appeared in the char
acter of bridegroom. How little did we guess
the catastrophe which WAS impending!
remember that Saturday evening we'll It
was in January. and clear wintry sky, with q
suspicion OF an aurora in its northern quarter,
spread over the great city There was slight
frost in tho air, and the ground cllnked cheer
lily under foot Que OF my fellow clerks-Dul-
lan-and had kept by little Smith all day, for
there was wild look about his ewes which made
| lis think it might be unsafe to leave him t. his
own devices We dined OF restaurant, aud after
ward dropped into theater, where Joe's giast-
ly face in the stalls had very depressing effect
upon tho pantomime. We were walking slow
ly homeward after supper, it being then be-
tween ~ and l, when we saw great crimson
glow upon the heavens such as aurora never
threw, and fire engine dashed past us with
whistle and clnng, the big -boned shaggy
horses whirlins it along at such o rat, that we
only caught glimpse Of flash of light. and
cluster of bearded, holmetsd heads suspend
ed, az it were i'll the darkness.
I have always had weakness for fires.
There is something grand and enuobling in the
irresistible sweep of great volume Of flame.
could moralize over confagratlon as Cha
| t:aubr;and did over Niagara Dullan is of the
same bsnt of MUD, aud the Gentleman was
ready 10 turn anywhere from his own thoughts.
VIC all began running in the direction of the
blaze
At first we ran languidly, jogging along with
many other people who were hurrying toward
tho same goal Then, as we came into a
quarter of the town which We knew well we
q most invountarily quokened our pace,
until, tearing round familiar corner ut racing
speed, we pulled up, and gazsd silently into
each others pale faces. Thera, not hundred
Street.-The house under whose hospitable roof
We had spent go many happy hours-wih the
red flames licking around the whole lower
story. and squirting out of every chink and
crovice, while dense pail of smoke obscured
the upper windows and the roof
We dashed through the crowd together, and
fought our way to the clear space OH which the
tiremen were connecting their hose. AS we
reached them, q half naked man, barefooted
and disheveled, was pleading with the superln-
tcnlent, clutching franticalIy at his arm, and
already rent with jagged streaks of ascending
flame.
e "Foo short!" he screamed, in o voice which
wo were Mortified to recognize as that of Mr..
Newsome. 1T can't belt mustn't be! There
are more escapes than one Oh, man, man,
she is burning -choking -suffocating! Do
something! Save her! Ny chi!d-my boaut-