The Roanoke times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1897-1977, 1897-03-10
FIRED AT RANDOM.


no had intrusted the care of tho proper
ty he had received from his fathers cs-
tate. Estate is u big and general word
and many people use it III n grandilo-
quent manner i'll speaking of Il corner
lot i'll marshy suburb. In Hardesty's
but it was no vast Annelle Jams tract by
any means.
Ho had not been in that littlo town
for II ycars-indeed since the days Of
his school attendance. He recalled how
OH one summer afternoon he had vault
cd out of Il window just ahead of the
schoolmaster's hickory, how when wal
Hoped for it ut homo he had left the
house i'll anger, and how that night he
had boarded II freight train bound Gin
clnnatlward-andh had never gone back
Often he had thought of the old place
and when tho days of his middle ago
came they found him wondering and
wondering and dreaming Mt odd times
about Milt Woodard's cooper shop and
the other things--but he did not 20
back.
After tho death of his father and
when he had come into the old family
residence he seemed to wonder and
dream all the more. Once he had met
the father of Doras Alderman at /, quad
rcnnlal session of tho Methodist confer
ence and had talked to him of Doras,
who had been schoolmatc but III gen
cral he had had little communication
other than that witnessed III the letters
which passed between himself and the
real estate agent. Now, Oh this even
ing, II years aftcrward, he trundlod
into town i'll Il sleeper and thought
smilingly of the day when he had rolled
out on box car. The agent had writ
ten him to the effect that somebody had
offered famous sum for the old Har-
desty homestead, purposing to cut it up
into an addition to the city. The agent,
boyhood friend, had suggested thas
HardcSty come down from Chicago to
give personal attention to the matter.
for by SO doing he believed that Il few
thousand dollars moro could be realized.
Dreaming of the old days, Haylcsty
left the train ut the depot. 1t was il
stone and brick depot, he noticed, and
not the little frame structure in which
he and Tom Coync had loafcd in the
summer of old days. He remembered
Tom Coync very readily, and thought
with especial amusement and interest
upon the episode of the bumblcbccs.
Before reaching the town he had decided
that the very first thing he would do
would be to 90 into the little old wood
en- station and examine the walls to SEQ
II the initials I'D. H., for David
Hardcsty, Were still there where he had
cut them on the wainscoting, to the fury
OF Johnny Clark, the station agent. He
had counted Il great deal Oh the pleasure
or this investigation, and ii ANNOYED
INN somewhat to step off tho car and
INTO spick and trig depot Of masonry
construction.
After the affront of this evidence of
progress and prosperity had somewhat
worn away he started to walk down
the road to tho residence of the agent,
his old friend. He knew the location of
the house, for as Il boy he had been able
to draw map of the town, showing cv-
cry residence, clubhouse, chicken COOP
and fence. Somehow, however, he found
the quest Il bit difficult. New streets ap-
pcarcd, inviting him to walk down into
what had been green fields, but which
were now additions" and places, all
built mp with trinity painted frame
houses.
He found the object of his search mt
last and was admitted. His friend, the
agent, who had only partially expected
him. did not know him ut first, and in
deed Hardcsty would have passed the
other IL thousand times before rccCgniZ-
ing III his brown muStnche and glossy
collar amy scmblancc to the patched and
frccllled boy who had helped him to rob
Frank Stones historic melon patch.
The agent introduced his wife and said
Hardcsty would remember her, but
Hardcsty would have done nothing of
the Sort except for the fact that he had
learned from correspondence that his
friend had married little Eda Stone,
daughter of the sovereign Of the melon
patch.
They talked, after dinner, about
business and about the Improvement in
the city-it had been village i'll the
old days--and about the advisability of
Hardcsty selling his property
Really" said Harlcsty, Il don't
know that care to sell You see, the
old homestead has been i'll the family
for generations, and it seems almost IL
sacrilcgc to dispose Of it. Why, vas
born i'll that house. used to look over
the fence there mt the gooscbcrry bushes
Ill Gallaghers place and wond-by the
way, are the Gallaghers living there
YETI
"Oh, no! They moved away long ago,
and fine, big, stone public school has
been built there.
"A stone public school? Why, Henry,
when we We're boys, one room frame
house did us pretty Mell Do ynu rcmcln-