Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1901-12-14
DA[PH HOLMES
IL LUCKY HUNCH
By Charles B. Younger.

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Ralph Holmes, express messenger on
a fast night train running from Chica-
go to Peoria. had discharged his duties
in the mcthodical way that comes with
experience and familiarity with ones
daily routine of work and sank into an
easy chair with n ride of fifty miles yet
before him and nothing to occupy his
attention but his own thoughts, the
rumbling of the wheels and an occa
sional note of warning from the en-
ginc. Thoughts come quick and fast
at such times. and so it was with Ralph
Holmes. The events of the four years
since he was thrown upon his own re-
sources passed him in review as a pan
Drama.
On the long. tedious runs" he had
often been absorbed in a rcvcric Of this
sort, but in this instance there were
new and prrplrXing problems confront
ing him. He had always found much
that was gratifying i'll one of these
quiet invoices of his few successes in
life, and. while he felt none the less
pleasure on others, he. found little in
rcminiscCnce to encourage him i'll GER
tain of his desires.
In all of these communiOnS with his
own thoughts there was one central
figure. and that a dear, little woman,
patient and loving, her hair made sill
very and her form bent by the seventy
years of worldly struggle. 1t was
Ralph Holmes mother and we'll he re-
mcmbcrcd the night of his graduation
from high school when she came tot
tCrng to the stage when the exercises
were over, threw her arms about his
neck and wcpt tears of joy. 1t was
glad event for Ralph, for he had closed
his school career with honors, but it
was of vastly more moment to the little
old woman who proudly embraced him,
for the joy which the diploma brought
both of them represented years of toll
and sacrifice on her part. Ralph was
n sensible youth and not unmindful of
the aid his mother had given him, often
at the expense of her own health and
comfort. He, too, recalled on this
night, as often before. the assuring
words he gave his mother before leav-
ing home some months after his gradu-
alton.
"Iou have given me start, NOM
mcr" he had said, that many boy
in better circumstances might be glad
TO have, and | hope you'll live to see
me prove that | deserved fair start"
Then. as the train sped on. Ralph re-
called his entrance to one of the great
medical schools of the city and the
difficulties he encountered during the
first year because of his limited means
Though he had been forced to study
from the books of classmates and wait
on the table at Il restaurant for his own
board, his letters to the little mother
at home were always cheerful and full
of hope, containing as little as possible
of the darker side OF his college life
Then, during the summer vacation, he
had by Il rare stroke Of good fortune
secured the position of express mes
sCngcr Ralph confidently expected
never to experience happier day than
when he made his first run for If
he could but hold the place it would re-
lieve him of the anxiety that the ex-
pensc of his medical education caused
him.
TO be sure. he had held the position
and it had more than paid his own eX-
pcnse. 1t pleased him to note in addi-
ton that he had been able - send a
little money home to his mother. The
two trips n week the year round had
intcrfcred to no small extent with his
attendance at school, but he had been
as faithful as his circumstances would
permit. and it seemed to Ralph, as he
sat there muSing, that the faculty must
have known something of his struggle
and helped him along. Then, too, he
had been deprived of the regular hours
for study which the other students
had, but he had improved all his spare
time. Night after night he had sat in
that same old chair in the express car
when his work was over and "cram-
med" until the whistle blew for PeO-
ria. More than this, his dingy room in
the Railroad hotel there had been
favoritc place for study when he turn
ed in after the long run" for few
hours sleep. The precious sleep had
oftcntimes bosn sacrificed that he
might make good rccitations at college
the following day.
But all this was in the past This
particular night found him senior
and within few weeks of his gradu
ation-the elimination Of his own great
effort. In these closing days of his col
lege career, however, a new desire had
taken possession of him. He had felt