The Irish standard., 1897-02-13

pas1efiger,5
self when the lamp flashed red snd tasn
back TO yellow agzfn In answer 20 the
engineers coll for signalg After tl.a4
It was too late; there was rush and q /
roar, . discordant changing Of the ems
CINE bell mingled with the Kissing OF
steam, and before lie could cross the
street the train had Numbered past
without stopping.
Circumstances, and the power to
pick and choose among the Possibilf-
ties, have much to do with ones penco
Of mind. Halt an hour earlier Philip
had debated with himself the neces-
sity for hurrying back to .AlEacoeehea
that night. The small hotel was clean;
the supper had been Of the kind which
prophesies wholesome breakfast;
and he was weary enough to call it q
days work and 60 to bed. None tho
less, when he realized that his last
chance for reaching AlIacoochee had
faded into q distant roar and two red
eyes staring back at him down tho
long stretch of straight track
north of Glenco, he was im-
1nediately possessed with an linz
Fortunate devil of Impotence. AS a
matter Of fact, since there was an early
train in the morning, it could make lit
tie difference whether he slept at Glen
co or at his room at tho Johannisberg;
but it was part Of his plan that he
should reach Allacoochee at once, and
go he must, If he had to walk. So
much he said to the hotelkeeper, who
was at a loss TO understand the impa-
thence Of his guest. A man might
walk, he said; it was only ten miles.
And then, again, a man might ride, it so
be he were willing to pay for horse,
Philip caught at the alternative and Of
fered to pay literally. The horse was
found, and after many minute d}rec-
lions about the road, which were qualf>
fed, repeated and amended until they
were hopelesssly obscure, Thorndyke
rode away in the darkness.
Having set out in haste, he had am1
pie time to repent in leisure. The road,
little used at any time, and practically
abandoned since the opening Of the
1uilN d1 o0Ol ICu sway 1AoAAA kAAS VeSAANJ
and ran in tertuous wsndings and in1
genious doublings over spur Of Johns
mountain. At the top Of the spur ii
speedily lost it's identity in succession
Of wood roads, and, after following sew
eral of the latter to their vanishing
points, Philip gave up the struggle and
determined to let the horse And the
way if lie could. In common with UNI
equestrian mankind in general, PhiliA
shared tho belief in the inerrant path
finding instincts Of horse; butafter am
other hour OF hesitaut wandering, DUR
ing which time he had been thrice gar-
roted by low-swinging branches, and
impartialIy bruised about the legs by
the efforts Of the horse to squeeze be-
tween close-growing trees, his conft-
dence in the sagacity of the animal be-
gan to waver. From doubt to ccr1
tainty is but step and Philips faith in
horses went the way of all decisions
when the clumsy beast stumbled on tha
edge of ravinc, slid helplessly to the
bottom, and ended by throwing his
rider into heap of stones.
Philip was half stunned by the fall.
and when he came to himself he found
that he had gained a sprained ankle and
lost horse. Remembering ruefullV
the maxim about great haste and small
speed, he got up with some difficulty
and continued his wanderings afoot UNI.
til the pain in his ankle became unbear-
able. After that there was nothing fON
it but to sit down & nd wait for daylight,
and he was abont "a. resign himself to
this comfortIess alternative, when he
heard cock crow. Chickens argued
Inhabitants, and Philip dragged him
self painfully in the direction Of the
sound until he came to the log cabin
of a mountainecr. II was b,lt a miser-
able howell of a single room and loft,
and its indwellers were doubtless
Bedouins in, other respects than in their
hospitality; but of the latter Philip
soon had grateful assurances. He was
taken in and cared for; the man making
up fire in the crumbiing stone fire.
place while the woman bathed his swol~
len ankle and called half~grown boy
from the loft to 20 out after red clay for
a poultice. And afterward they would
have made him take the only bed in the
cabin il he had not insisted upon Sleep
ing ON the floor before the fire.
When Philip awoke the next morning
he found himself as completely pris-
oncr US even Sharpless could have de-
sired. Walking was out of the qucs.
ton, and his host had neither horse
nor the disposition to go to Gleneo to
procure enc, though his offers of hos
pitality were as generous as he knew
how to make them. Philip guessed at
the mans reason for not wishing to APP
pear in Glenco when the mountaineer
offered him potation from a Jug
drawn from it's hiding place beneath the
punchcon floor, and forbore to press
the point, contenting himself with re-
quest that the boy might be allowed to
carry a letter to Allacoochee. The
permission was given, and Philip wrote
q note to Duncan, telling him of the
accident and urging him to spare no
pains to keep Kigrow out Of the hands
of Sharpless and his emissaries during
tie enforced armistice. This he in
closed in fine to Protheroe. in which
he begged the young engineer to de-
liver the message to the Scotchman.
Not having an envelope, he took that
from ITeIen's letter, drawing his pencil
through his own name and writing
nftor MANY