Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1900-09-01
A ROMANCE
OF THE RAIL.
BY FREDERICK REDDALL.
i. Illustrations by I. W. Taber.

left little to be desired. 1t certainly
seemed so to the onlooker this bright
May morning. n.
Here was John Draper, president OF
the Pacific and Atlantic railway, sell
made man, multimillionaire, old
enough to have eschewed the follies OF
life and yet young enough to enjoy the
benefits the gods send to sane mortals'
blessed with health, strength, good
conscience and better digestion, at
the moment of which l write literally
monarch Of all he surveyed and about
to take trip of three or four thousand
miles in his personal and private car,
surrounded by charming and con-
genial company of his own choosing
who would bask in the sunshine 0 his
bounty and give him grateful thanks
homage and credit for all the pleasure
bestowed!
So who would not be railroad pres
ident, even II the head that carries the
bondholders' woes Is sometimes un'
easy!
With John Draper came two ladies,
an elder and much younger one. and,
faithful to the old precept which gives
place to age before beauty. the former
shall be described first. This was Mrs.
Bradley Hurst, q married sister Of our
host. Fair and 40 she certainly was
but not even her bitterest enemy could
have called her fat. A laughing eye,
well rounded and mature form. Of me-
dunn height. with carriage and man
ner that denote the thorough mistress
of society and its forms-this was Mrs.
Bradley Hurst. the chaperon of the
party.
By her side and between the two eld-
er. people walked girl half her age,
the exact opposite Of what Mrs. Hurst
must have been in her youth-not too
tall, graceful, dark Of hair. eyes and
complexion. a Vassar alumna and now
two years society graduate; accom-
plished, handsome and wholesome-and
there you have sketched Miss Florence
Granniss. the ward Of John Draper and
heiress to q cool million.
Down the platform they strolled.
Laughing and chatting gayly. yet in the
tender solicitude with which the rail.
road magnate handed the girl into the
car might have been discovered more
than the ordinary regard supposed to
subsist between guardian and ward.
Close at the heels Of this trio came
two others, both young,,both vivacious,
both bubbling over with good humor
and good spirits. wnich were plainly
their natural heritage and partly born
of the prospect of this novel outing.
The lady was Miss Madge Hurst,
daughter Of Mrs. Bradley Hurst. q
piquant maiden Of some 20 winters.
blond. petite, blue eyed and altogether
bewitching-at least so thought Mr..
Chester Ives. who walked at her side,
| looking down from his FIVE feet ten OF
masculinity at the five feet two of fem.
ininity under the broad brimmed
Gainsborough hat then in vogue.
Chester Ives was member of the
fourth estate. whose privilege 1t Is to
WELD the weapon which is said to be
mightier than the sword-though 1t is
often q mere blue pencil-and who, by
dint of patience. perseverance and per-
sistence, had risen from the foot Of the
journalistic ladder to be "Wall street
man" on one of New York's great dai'
lies. Not yet 80. he was already book
ed by his intimates for higher things
He had known John Draper when the
latter was "biding his time" in com
parative obscurity as small merchan,