Wichita eagle., 1889-12-06
With a loaf and a candle!


| We live in the oldest world, where men
| labor to do the simplest things in the most
roundabout way and to put whatever they
come in contact with to purposes otner than
| those intended
Fuh score Of In the main acknowledgment
msn were about to search for the body Of
their master with a loaf Of cake and a candle.
! How loaf and z candle should conduce
| toward the finding of the object they sought,
il is not easy 60 see. What there was in the
nature Of loaf or candle to make each appro-
pirate to the purpose, not one of these ia the
main not unintelhgent men asked.
The upper reach of the canal had drained
itself away, bvt at the locks the rush Of water
had furrowed the bed, pent in as 1t had been
between tie walls, and had left deep pools.
Below the locks the face OF the land was fiat,
the fan slight, and there the canal was brim-
ming, and much of the water that had over
flowed still lay about in the fields This por-
ton of the Keld basin went by the name of
the Fleet, which indicated time when it
had been a waste of ooze and water channels,
sometimes overEowed and sometimes dry.
The whole of the drained canal bed had
been searched between the lock and the
bridge that carried the road across the river
and canal q distance of eequarters Of
mile, but without success. The men who in
tended prosecuting the search in their own
fashion were clustered below the shattered
locks. But the gathering did not consist OF
men only With them were some mill girls
from a factory on the slope that had not
stopped, not having been affected by tho
flood. They wore scarlet or pink kerchiefs
over their heads, pinned under the chin, and
plain white pdnafores to protect their dresses
at their work from the Oil, costume as pic
turesque and becoming as convenient. These
girls were there because it was an unsuitable
place for them-no other reason will suffice
to explain their presence But women, water
and wind will penetrate everywhere.
Mrs. Sidebottom and Salome were also on
the canal bank. They had no faith in the
experiment about to be tried, but each for
different reasons thought it expedient to be
present. Salome would not be away, SO in
tense was her enxiety about the fate Of Uncle
jeremiah, and Mrs. Sidebottom would be
there so as not to seem indifferent. Janet,
tired from her long journey, and not strong,
did not come out; she remained with her mo-
ther Philip and Lambert Pennycomequick
were there as duty; dlsagreeable and
onerous duty the captain considered it, be-
cause it spoiled his dinner.
A loaf and candle.
A good round loaf OF bakers bread had
hole scooped out of it, and into this hole a
tallow candle WAS thrust. The candle was
lighted and sent adrift on the canal
The night was dark, the moon did not rise
for another hour or more. All the mills in
the valley were dark. Not only had they
been brought 10 a standstin by tho flood but
The main of the gas was broken. This was
the cause of the eclipse, likewise of the lamps
on the road The water had left the cottage
of the lockkeeper, and the bodies OF the dead
man and his wife had been found and laid ON
She sodden bed. A yellow giimmer shone out
of the window, for candle burnt there, and
a fire had been kindled An old woman, a
relation, driven from her home by the water,
was sitting there, trying to coax fire to keep
in, in the wet and rusty CRATE, and supplying
herself with gin to keep out the chill.
The town on the hill flank twinkied with
lights, and just beyond the ridge pulsated the
auroral flicker from the distant foundrleS
The lamps on the railway shcne green and
red.
Some of those engaged in the search bore
lanterns.
The cluster on the embankment, with the
moving lights, the occasional flash over red
kerchief or white pinafore, and the refiec-
tons in the water, united TO form pictur-
esque and striking picture
Isl there" said one man. 'Tleet QighD
be headin' agin t. stream"
There's no stream flowing said another.
"There owt ia be, and there Is for sewer
r can't be gan'in up t COURSE
Because t'wind be blawing frae t east
1t was true; the loaf Of bread which had
been placed in the water, instead OF taking
seaward direction with the natural fall of
the current, was swimming slowly but per-
ceptibly upward. The yellow flame of the
candle was turned towards the locks, show
ing in " hich direction the wind set, and ex-
planning naturally the phenomena. The cur
rent was so slight that the wind acting on tho
loaf had power TO overcome it.
"Sho's trevelin' upwards" said the first
speaker. ''Sho's bound TO seek him aht."
Into the canal suddenly fell a mass of I'M
deIInined bank, making a splash and sending
the floating light gyrating and dancing as
the wavelets formed. One OF the mill girls,
going too near the edge, had tTodden on the
loosed soil and nearly fell in herself, provok-
ing laugh and a reprimand.
ef the men, ''If tina falls In rIn none boun
60 hug thee aht"
81 can crawl aht wi'out thy hugging, Bill"
answered the girl promptly.
"Ehl' said another. ''Efie, for sewer thourt
not bawn to be drowned
Some byplay went on-a half romp-in the
rear, between young woolcomber and girl
reeler.
Ma, then shouted the night watch,
"were none come aht for lakes tgames)
land ii you're 10 remain you must be quiet"
The incougruity Of their behay,lr with the
gravity of the occasion struck the young peo
pie, and they desisted
What had become Of the refuge hut1
CNriouIy enough, til this moment no one
had noticed Its disappearance, perhaps be-
cause of the completeness with which it had
been effaced No sooner had the steam pepe-
traIed 70 Its lntsrior than it had collapsed.
and every hriek and slate and rafter mad
been swept away from the platform it had
occupied
The policeman had Joined the party. carry
ing IL front en- enormous bulls eve lantern.
One of the men had provided graphing
irons, always kept resr the bridge because |
accidents were rot uncommon in the canal
and the river; drunken men fell in. children
in play got pushed over. girls in paro1ysuas of
despair threw themselves in.
The 10 with the hight had now got above |
the spot Were the bank had fallen in. apc !
'.- ~.-S : Ia, il With |
III the locks
"Shos got an idce!7
"Wheert II crust or 1T crurgbr'
ShO's maxim rect ahead for 1 deepest hovls
,hole}."