The Holly chieftain., 1898-06-03
CHAPTER I.


trunk was mine. the passenger myself.
Then the train went on again, the en-
gine pulling and Kissing in vain al
tempt to acquire suddenly .he greatest
speed, seemingly IA great impatience
that it had beer ompelled to stop at
nll-whi"h was not 10 be wondered at;
for, when l gs,zed around. from what
could see, SidiAglgn was nothing more
than station house. few miles of
railroad, and a wide stretch of hilly
country.
There was ayoung fellow of about my
age standing in the doorway of thewait-
! ing-room. He was regarding me with
evident curiosity. ! stepped up to him.
where is the station agent?" i asked,
briefly.
why, I'm the agent" the fellow re-
| piled, in drawing tones.
isn't there any town here, or at least
settlement? Is this" sweeping my
arm around in comprehensive gesture
lis this all there Is of Sidington?'
You kin see about all there is from
here" the agent replied, with grin.
Then, to my surprise. he stepped out
on the platform, locked the door, and
put the key in his pocket.
Are you going TO leave the station ~
inquired.
Yes. No use stnyin' around. There
amt no more trains till three o'clock.
when a couple of GOALS pass. This amt
much of n station"
But what's to be done about my lug
gage?" asked, impa'icntly. pointing
coward q large trunk and several bum
! a:es Mt the upper end OF the platform
The agait licked in the direction l
indicated. ''Oh. that all YOURS, is ii?
l thought may De it II ght be. Got
checks, suppose?'
Yes, certainly. Here they are"
He took the checls. gazed at them
doubtfully for a moment. then slowly
went TO the pile Of luggage.
u guess it's all right" he said, after
taking the checks from the various ar
ticles of baggage Ind carefully compar-
ing them with the ones l had given
him. You kin take 'em along
Now the trunldwas large and heavy.
and turned on the fellow with u touch
of anger, for at frst thought he was
making game ofsme. But when l saw
the expression of stolid Indifference
on his face, it struck me he was simply
dull and stupid.
THANK you." I finally said. at is
very kind of you to allow Inc to take
my own properly. Perhaps you will
show further Kindness by telling me
how / am to take it. The bundles L
might possibly manage, but the trunk,
as you see, is large. and, can assure
you, heavy, andI really should prefer
not to carry it. II any other way of re-
moval might be devised"
For a moment it seemed TO me the
blast of sarcasmproduced an effect, for
just shadow Of smile appeared on
the agents face. 1t lasted but an in
slant, however, and the blank stare
ings took its place.
"Where you wnnter go?" he finally
asked, in an Indifferent manner.
81 would like 70 go TO Nelsonyille, if
there could be found way TO get my
trunk there too.- replied.
$50 you're goin' to Nelsonville?" He
favored me with quick, searching
glance. which was Immediately with
drawn when he caught my eye. Mel
sonville's about three miles from here"
he continued. '.'Tain't much more of n
place than Sidington. You amt eoin'
to stay there, are you?"
l was about to answer sharply that
that was my business, but, remember
ing the curiosity that the advent of n
stranger generally causes in the minds
of country folks. told him my plans
were not defni.e.
"'Tain't that i wanter be impert'-
nent," he went on. with grin; but l
thought if you was only goin' to stay
there over night you might leave your
trunk in the station"
"Well, had intended to spend two or
three months, possibly longer, in Nell
sonville. 1t depends altogether on how
l like it. So, you see. must have my
trunk"
Two or three months." He gazed
down at the track for moment, and
then turned quickly toward me as
though an important idea had just
come to him.
There amt no hotel at Nelsonville.
P'raps you didn't know that" he said.
1T will make no difference to me. l
have made arrangements for nccommo-
dation, You see. Lam going to occupy
n portion of my own property"
"Oh, you own place there, then?"
Yes, the old Nelson homestead is
mine. 1t descended to me from my
grandfather, Abrnm Nelson. He has
been dead is years. have not seen the
place since. | was quite n small boy
then. And now. as l have plenty Of
leisure, the desire y natural to revisit
the scenes of boyh6od days"
The agent listened 10 my words, and
was considerably amused to note the
interest they inspired-nn interest, I
thought then. due wholly to country
fellows curiosity.
IF have told you oil you wish to
know about myself" went on, will
you kindly tell me, as return favor,
where team can be procured to cart
me and my belongings over to my
place?"
The fellow grinnsd at me, Us though
there had been sonnAthing in my words
of an amusing nature; but finally he did
give me the desired information:
"Why, / guess maTbe Jake Hunsickel
kin take you over. He's Just gettin' in
the oats. but if youpay him, p'rnps he'll
leave the oats be tbng enough TO drive
10 Nelsonville and back. Anyway, he
kin take you after srpper, Il you wanter
wait till then"