The Newtown bee., 1900-05-11

Canada or the other place with $70, ,000 l of the firms money Confound it!' Why, he had known Charley for two years; always thought him number chap, incapable of dishonesty; an ad- mirable fellow, and engaged to some girl in the interior, but who she was Halliday could not remember. He looked out over the flying fields and thought what fools mortals are anyway. Now here was R young man who had 8s fair field and future before him as one could desire trusted by his employers, booked for ad- vancement and, moreover, engaged to- By Jove wonder who she is, and how she'll take the news when she hears all thisP" He folded the paper and jam med it deep into his pocket with an eloquent "Bah! Thank heaven I'm not in his boat, wherever it is bound"
 He felt in no mood for reading further :; the topsy-turvey tumble of sin and crime thrown together through the column, gave him 8 kind of moral, if not gastric, nausea. Newspapers" he thought, "are of no earthly use, unless it be to shake fellows confidence in himself generally" And then 8 consolidating idea occurred to him. "Well, newspa- pers are not so bad, anyhow" and his mind pictured how, next morning, upon unfolding clean, fresh, damp copy of the Chicago Nuptial Gazette, his eye would behold in glaring headlines: IA brilliant ceremony! Mr John Halliday and Miss Ethel Lovejoy! United in holy bonds '" or something to that effect, with underneath glowing description written up by his old chum Bob, on the staff, and two good cuts of Ethel and himself very neatly done in printers ink.
 II wonder what Bob will get up any way?" he unused as he lit fresh cigar, and made mental calculation as to the velocity of the train. "Deuced slow we're going. Nearly noon. Iwonder where we stop for dinner? It's Dayton on the other line, but on this I don't-''
 He was going to say "know," when his thought was interrupted by the sud- den slowing down of the train. A series of jerks, which nearly threw him from the seat, then grating, scraping noise, two screeches of the whistle, and vio. lent stop.
 "What the devil has happened now p he exclaimed. IA general smash.up, 8 cracked wheel or"
 Pushed and damned by the other pas. sengers he got out of the car as best he could, sadly lamenting broken hat. A general commotion followed, and queries ran pell-men through the crowd:-
 "What's the matter?" Whats the matter?''
 "Eccentric rod broke."
 ''Eccentric rod broke!' growled g brakeman, as he rushed by with several tools. What an ''eccentric" meant, moi many seemed to know, and if the man had said that the locomotive had "brok. en leg'' or "had stroke of paralysis, ; the enormity of the accident might have filtered through the more obtuse crani ums. Anyway, Halliday learned that the engine was 'dead," and that the prospects of resuscitating the iron mons ter were worse than hopeless. He took & look at the disabled locomotive, listen. ed to the engineer and fireman grunting and swearing under the boiler, and turn cd away disheartened.
 "Well, it's all up with me. Here's a hang-up, sure enough, and I'm due st 4, and-EthelI Good heavens, what fix, and what will I dc? Telegraph, o1 couse, telegraph, and all will be well P
 He glared around anxiousIy. Cross. roads. Open country. Small village in the distance, mile or so across the fields.
 "Confound it! Where are we, any. way, and where in thunder's the tele- graph officer"
 "Thet's Bloomfield over yonder," vol. unteered an old farmer who had just reached the crossing, and driving tiilap. dated vehicle hitched to 8 raw-boned animal with sore legs. "Hed smashup Thas hs no tellygraph wires here, but thar's one over thar in the town. If ye'd like to go real hard, I'll take yer in, young man. A tellygram's purity i'm Iportant thing"
 Halliday eyed the horse, thought oi the ''fiery, untamed steed" of Mazeppa and then looked over at the town. The horse didn't appear sufficient unto the quality thereof; and the town didn't re semble it's name very much; but he had no time to lose, and he must get that dis patch through Orwell, he wouldn't