The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1897-06-29
THE
Providence
Express
A~

phPS' a. 49, D''''' "'S
under the stroke, and a tiny echo
whispered back from the wall, and was
lost in the low, placid Kissing of the
engine.
Joe had no right to be smoking in
that room, where he was assistant en-
gineer in the basement Of u huge de-
partment store. But to-day he felt
reckless, and cared no more for re-
gulations han " tramp. What a hash
he had made of things, to be sure
And how all his past mistakes came
trooping back and hedged him in,
until they stood too thickly for q
thought TO escape him without their
leave. IL gave him Il grim sort of
satisfaction Just to look them over
each being one more proof to back up
his own opinion of himself against
himself. And he was but a young fell
low, too!
Too young for his place, the mighty
"head of the house" had thought at
first but he liked young men, and had
long since learned to Il k their meas
ure, and Joe had swung through the
searching examination as though he
had been fed on dynamics and steam
gauges from his cradle, instead of
having just graduated from q stationary
engine ON q farm. SO now he was here
watching the needle on the indicator.
the glow Of the furnace on the floor,
the height OF the water column in the
guarded glass tube nj the arm
was many a mile away. Had it paid ?
Yes, it had he told himself, savage
ly. There are some things that no
man will ever stand. And Lou had
told him-had told him-what was it ?
That she had married beneath her,
and that he had married her for the
farm. He writhed at the thought even
now.
Curse the farm 1t was she that
| loved, not Il lot OF barns and CATTLE"
he roarcd, then sank back on his stool
and covered his face.
Then he began to make excuses for
her to himself. She was but q girl
not eighteen. Toe young to marry,
they had said, ne wise heads Impul-
the world. Why had he not been more
patient with her, and tried to do the
things which seemed so a~ll-important
to her although SO triiling to him ?
He could see now that each chance
ignored had been the gentle sliding of
u quicksand through a barrier, until at
last enough had passed to carry all
before IL in an overwhelming rush
that had swept away heir happiness
forever
Dinner, joe"
1t was his superior, returned from
his own lunch, and Joe rose slowly,
d. YEARLY, and put on his coat. A dozen
light-hearted, small salesgirls were
huttering into the stock. room beyond
with their own ~luncheons, ana hailed
him with a shout in the free, "all-of-
a'family way customary among such.
"Jot. come and turn this box over ="
Joe! please lend me your knife to
cut this knot"
Joe | want you, too ~ in four or
live different directions at once as he
passed through the room. But his
lace was so full Of gloom, as he silently
lent those that needed it a helping
hand, that u shadow fell on them
which lasted till long after the hour
was over. What could it mean ? And
each small heart gave a little throb of
fear and pity, for with them but one
outlook could give them such a mien
their sword OF Damocles, dds
charge" Add what would they do
now without Joe ?
Out into the hurly-burly and roar of
the streets plunged the engineer. 1t
might help him to forget. The rum
Bile swept up one great artery Of trade
and met at right angles another in a
swirl OF battle thunder. Cabs, lumber
Ing drays, crashing, Changing electric
cars and the secthing mob of hurry
Ing souls, that filtered through the
crossways and in and out among the
teams as though reckless OF life-this
was what he sought, and he let him
self drift with the crowd. But man
does not hang sorrow on a nail when
be Ions his hat for an outing. re
takes it with him as ne would a watch,
and orever finds himself referring to
1t. AS to happiness-what had be-
come Of his p? .
Sold, to the man in the white hat,
for fourteen cents ~
Joe stopped short, bewildered by the
words and the resulting shout of
laughter from many voices. Uncon-
sciously he had entered a cross street,
and was opposite an auction room, in
the middle Of which was an eager,
laughing crowd. Their gayety at
tracted him, and he shOuldered
straight in, as though that had been
his real destination. Perhaps it was,
under fate's kindly guiding hand.
1T was one Of those semi-annual
affairs that brighten the monotony OF
the salesman's life, the disposal of un-
heap Of them lay behind a counter
and before it pressed a rough, good
naturedly excited throng, with here
and there an unkempt, earnest-eyed
little jew, whose highest bid invari-
ably was Thirty shents |" For these
packages were always sold unopened,
and it was the unwritten law that the
buyer should open his package then
and there for the JOY of the losing
bidders. Up went a valise on the
counter. How much for this 9" and
swift came the bids Ia ridiculously
small gains Five cents, ten cents,
sold for twenty-one cents, to the fat
man in the corner 2" A knife forces
the lock in a twinkling. Treasures ?
That depends on individual estimation.
Three old bricks and a wad of news
papers are revealed, and the crowd
guys the buyer, who enjoys it as much
as they. A box A Jew wriggles to
the front, eyes 1t keenly, bids up TO bis
limit" thirty shents and gets it.
He is disposed to shoulder it and make
of, but the bystanders won't hear to
that. UP comes a Ratchet. Smash .
and a lot OF samples OF shoes appear.
Isaac grins happily and is cheered for
his luck. Several small parcels bring
quite high prices, as more likely TO
contain valuables. One box is loaded
with last years %almanacs, advertising
a patent medicine, which the laughing
buyer promptly distributes by peltine
the heads OF men on the floor below
him with this literature Of a bygone
day, till someone pulls him and his box
nf Che oH-I A-~A