The Holly chieftain., 1898-02-11

salutatior- '-Oh. It's you. 10 It, Mr..
Thorndyke? l didn't know you at
first. Come back to take o look at tho
corpse?"
1T amounts to that, I'm afraid, !" said
Philip. sympatheticany.
1T does. for fac,-just that. All
VIC need now is good, oid-fashioned
earthquake: not the fever-and-ague
kind you read about nowadays. but the
sort they used to put in the Biographies
when We went to school-n shake with
big crack in the middle OF it TO bury
the wreck decently out of sight"
Its DREADFUL" said Philip. not
knowing what else 10 say. why didn't
you get away with the rest OF them ?"
The man made pathetic gesture OF
helplessness- There were two rca-
sons. In the first place. bought my
stock and paid for it. no missed the
help Of the deputy sherifrs and the
creditors; they made the move easy for
most of 'em. tell you. Then. again.
1t costs money to move stock of hard
ware. even II you know where to take
il, and don't"
II think you're more to be pitied thnn
the Others" ventured Philip.
You're right about that. It's ter
rible thing to be anchored in q dead
town. and that's what am-both an
chors down and stuck in the mud, with
the windlnss broken. at that" The man
smiled at his own joke and went back
to his seat on the spool of wire when
Philip told the driver to turn down into
the manufacturing district.
In the space between the railway and
the river the air OF desolation was even
more oppressive than in Broadway.
Tall chimneys standing guard over
many-windowed factories whose walls
had never vibrated with the jar Of the
expensive machinery left to rust and
crumble within them; piles of costly
lumber wnrping and twisting in the
weather; rows of cottages built for the
operatives, tenantless now, save for an
occasional family of negroes living
rent-free in the industrial desert. 1t
seemed like desecration to break the
silence. and neither Of them spoke until
the carriage hnd reached the bisecting
street OF the old town.
This is Allacoochee the original" :"
said Philip, "and fancy 1t has gone
back to just whit it was in the antedi-
Iuvian days. There's the Mountain
| house; fine old southern mansion. they
told me it used to be. That's the old
courthouse at the head of the street
where / found the deed, you know.
| This is Catron's store, and the place
next door-well, II that isn't nerve!"
The exclamation pointed Mt slim
figure standing before a doorway over
inscription Simon Pragmore, Notary
Public" The figure lifted its slouch hat
ut sight of the carriage and its occu-
pants. and out Of its sallow and immo-
bile face came the courteous salutn-
ton: ''Good mawnin. Misteh Thorn
dyke; glad to see you lookin' SO well.
sch"
II suppose that is Mr. Pragmore?''
said Helen, n little Inter.
Philip wns wrestling with ghost Of
indignation. "Of course It is; and to
think that he has the assurance to come
back here and go on with his business
as though nothing had happened! I've
mind to stop over and revive the
charge against him."
"Indeed you won't do anything Of the
kind" retorted Helen. and Philip
changed the subject.
"Have yon seen enough Of the place p
he asked.
ayes"
well, haven't. Drive back up
| Broadway pust the Guaranty building,