The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1900-04-26

leSSlou sue tuouSht IL and what an
ornament to it she considered me.
"She sounded me frequently on my
ambitions, and [ told her freely what
were my hopes.
You are welded to your work.,
she said to me one day.
&c L am replied.
''Then she looked at me with an
expression which L did not under
stand and changed the subject. I
never saw her outside of the office.
was practically penniless, and she
accustomed to luxury. | was not in
society. Our lives had little in COM
mon. l loved her. Tho thing for
me to do, as a sensible person, was to
mako the best of it silently, and 1 did
so. Did l do right, Perk?"
Precisely, Billy. Get along"
"Well, after while her engage
ment TO one of the great men of the
city-name Jones-was announced,
and il fell upon my narrowed soul
with much the gentleness of thun-
derclap. ! felt bad, Perk, but at the
same time felt glad-gad that had
uOb luHuO uu uSS Oh myself.
'I had been sorely tempted, heaven
knows. At the first opportunity
she had dropped into the Office to re-
load her camera i'll the coat closet-I
shook hands with her and told her as
clearly as Icould-uot knowing what
to say-how delighted l was, and,
sir, she turned squarely about with
i ntYto NvDr1 and lnfE a., L. i'll, 1 l..
looking every bit, l doubt not, as
foolish as L felt. That was in Janu-
any. The wedding was to occur in
June.
81 worked like a cold weather fly
and tried to forget her. I succeeded
pretty well. Her visits to the Office
had ceased with my well-meant con-
gratuIatory performance, aud this
made it easier for me, although my
heart beat like shorthand whenever
heard q female voice from the
private Office, and the sudden swish
of skirts caused me to jump violently.
But l did not see her again until
May-three weeks before the we'd
ding. She had been in Chicago, 1
believe, paying farewell visit to
schoolmate, and Incidentally"
"Never mind that, Billy" inter-
jected Perkins. "You don't know
what she was doing incidentally.
Come to the point"
Widger bowed gravely. "Allright,
Perk. thank you. l was alone in
the Office one stormy night, fixing up
a aIr;,,o, of o;r,, f,leokooI, ro,, 81, ~. ,,,.,-t
day, when the telephone bell rang
like forty fires. put the receiver to
my ear, held it there for perhaps n
minute, yelled yes into the trans
mitter, bolted into my oyercoat and
turned out the light.
81 was ut c., S. and Y. shops five
minutes later, and, swinging onto the
rear platform of the caboose attached
to wrecking train, in an hour / was
on the scene of the worst railway
smash-up in the history of Minnesota
Ever see splintered passenger
train at night, Perk-white faces star
ing at you by lantern light, groans
seeming to rise out of the earth,
steam smoke, horror? never real
lied until that night what an awful
thing darkness is--darEness to which
there is no limit-that almost sulfo-
Gates man and strikes him blind.
Time and again involuntarily passed
my hand before my face to clear way
in the blackness for my eyes.
''There was a station not far away,
and after getting what information (
could took my way in that direction
to get off some dispatches for the first
editions of the morning papers,
stumbling along as best I could,
yearning for light, light, light. And,
Perk, I-I-there was light"
Celestial fire, Billy?"
Something like it. / stumbled
over body finally. | had been
dreading it, and praying that | might
be steered clear of that sort Of oh.
stacles. 1t gave out the faintest kind
of moan when struck it, and | re-
coiled as much as fifteen feet, think,
Then 1 took firm grip on myself and
approached it again, because that
seemed to be my duty.
"The man or woman, whichever it
was, had evidently crawed out OF the
wreck and tried to go somewhere. 1t
had failed wretchedly. T. was lying
IN the long, wet grass at quite little
distance from the track. 1t might
not be found for hours il passed it
by. Nevertheless, hesitated. |
confess it with shame.
"Then / knelt by its side and
passed my hands over its cold, rain
washed face and bedraggled hair. 1t
was woman. put my finger to its
pulse. 1t was alive.
"'The flutter of the straining heart
acted like strong stimulant upon
me. / lifted the limp form in my
arms and felt my way onward to the
station. 1t was long walk and
hard one, not uniraught with danger,
for there was bridge to be crossed,
but | reached the end at last and
passed into the light of the waiting
room, aud-and and, Perk, it was
she. l had been carrying her in my
arms all that distance.
81 believe they considered me in
sane when / laid her upon the opera
tors bed and looked into her face,
For an instant my strength went from
me to the.last ounce and all but col
lapsed; then it came back in mighty
wave, and | suppose L did act like a
| MAMMA