Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1902-01-30
IN A STRANGE LAND.

lulS yOulu dIm4eee4J "duucI4uS WV
streets Of the great city. Hi' gar
ments were ill-ftting and coarse. His
large, red hands hung awkwardly at
his side. Two inches Of his wrists
showed below his coat sleeve. His
trousers bagg.d frightfully at the
knees and his heavy plOw shoes were
strangers to polish. But his face was
honest-honest and brown as the au-
tumn fields.
A healthy tan covered his features,
but in his large blue eyes a sadness
fingered. He glanced into a thou
sand faces and saw not one he knew.
He was jostled by the passing throng,
but no friendly hand grasped his. He
was weary with his tramping and hum
cry for the sound Of familiar voice.
Plainly he was from the country.
In his eyes there seemed to slumber
the glitter of the sunlight on the rip
pies of a brook, and his frecklsd face
seemed dapplsd with the shadows
sweeping over meadows clover-cover-
ed. Around his worn and faded gar
ments there seemed to cling the wild
fragrance of the cornfelds far out
stretching and the sweeter, subtle per-
fume Of the tangled, nodding grasses.
His movements were slow and un-
graceful, but his shoulders were broad
and his muscles hard as steel.
Neither tramp nor beggar was Rob
ert Lane, but in his pockets there was
not a penny. A light luncheon he
had eaten, but he knew not from
whence his dinner was to come.
He was searching for work-search-
ing in strange and unfamiliar places.
Few could husk more corn or bind
more grain in day than he, but be
was Of small value in the busy marts
Of trade.
He had cut adrift from his quiet,
peaceful home upon farm to drift
amid the whirlpool Of the metropolis,
lured by wrong impressions, by mis-
guided hopes.
And SO it was not strange that biz
heart was heavy and his eyes dim
with unshed tears. Ever before him
was picture of the sweet-faced girl
waiting for him in the neat white farm
house in the Iowa hills.
He had meant to make her so proud
of him. He had meant to work and
economize to save and to prosper
and then return to the old farm and
her and bring her back with him to
the city and dress her in fine clothes.
He remembered how she smiled up
into his face as they stood beside the
river that last night they were togeth-
er; he remembered how tenderly she
placed her hand upon his shoulder
he remembered how softly the star
light glimmered on the smooth sur
face of the water; how distinctly
there came to them, through the fra
grant air, the barking Of Wilson s
dog on the hilltop a mile away, and
the lowing of the cattle in the low
lands; how the beetles doomed through
the dusk; how the wind whispered
among the corn, ara how, over all,
hung the peacsfulness of summer
evening in the country.
And this was the end of it all-the
end of his dream, of his hopes, Of his
ambitions?
A lump arose in his threat and he
drew the back Of his hand across his
eyes. Cable cars ratified past; elevated
trains thundered overhead. An end
less stream of humanity flowed by like
a boundless ocean about to sngulf him.
Suddenly above the tumult and the
din arose piercing scream, the rattle
ofswiftly moving wheels over the brick
pavement, the shouting Of men and
the sound of scurrying feet.
Then Robert Lane beheld specta-
Gle that drove the blood from his tenn
pies, that made him clench his fists
and stare with cold lips pressed to-
gether.
Along the thoroughfare frightened
team was madly dashing, dragging a
carriage that whipped from side to
side as the animals swsrved this way
and that. A frail young girl clung
desperately to the rear seat, her face
pale, her hair flying in the wind.
As the team dashed toward Robert,
the child's frightened eyes fell on his
freckled face. Perhaps the innate
strength and courage of the man i'm
pressed her childish mind-perhaps il
was but desperate hope of succor