The professional world. (Columbia, Mo.) 1901-192?, 1902-09-26

ed below his coat sleeve. His trousers
bagged frightfully at the knees and
his heavy plow shoes were strangers to
polish. But his face was honest-hon-
est and brown as the autumn fields.
A healthy tan covered his features,
but in his large blue eyes a sadness lin
gered. He glanced into a thousand
faces and saw o one he knew. He
was iostled by the passing throng, but
no friendly hand grasped his. He was
weary with his tramping and hungry
fer the sound of q familiar voice.
Plainly he was from the country. In
his eyes there seemed to slumber the
glitter of the sunlight On the ripples of
d brook, and his freckled face seemed
dappled with the shadows sweeping
owe meadows clover-covered. Around
his worn and faded garments there
the confelds far outstretching and the
sweeter, subtle perfume of the tangled,
nodding grasses.
His movements were slow and I'M
graceful, but his shoulders were broad
and his muscles hard as steel.
Neither tramp nor beggar was Robert
Lane, but in his pockets there was not
a penny. A light luncheon he had
SdlCh, puJ liz hl1CN " "iChNS
his dinner was to come.
He was searching for work-search-
ing in strange ard unfamiliar places.
Few could husk more corn or bind
more grain in a day than he, but he
was of small value il the busy marts of
trade.
He had cut adrift from his quiet,
peaceful home upon a farm to drift
4,o;l +ho u-hiplnNn1c Of fhn n,ptrnno1ic
lured by wrong impressions, by mis-
guided hopes.
And so it was not strange that his
heart was heavy and his eyes dim with
unshed tears. Ever before him was a
picture of the sweet-faced girl waiting
for him in the neat white farmhouse 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 uI
into his face as they stood beside the
river that last night they were togeth,
err; he remembered how tenderly she
placed her hand upon his shoulder: he
remembered how softly the starlight
glimmered on the smooth surface Of
the water; how distinctly there came
to them, through the fragrant air, the
barking of Wilson's dog or the hilltop
a mile away. and the lowing of the
cattle in the lowlands; how the beetles
doomed through the dusk; how the
wind whispered among the corn, ant
how. over all, hung the peacefulness Of
a summer evening in the country.
And was this the end of it all-tht
end of his dreams, of his hopes, of hi,
ambitions?
A lump arose in his throat and hi
drew the back of his hand across hi:
eyes. Gable cars ratified past; elevated
trains thundered overhead. An endless
stream of humanity flowed by like +;
boundless ocean about to engulf him
Suddenly above the tumult and thu
din arose a piercing scream, the rattle
of swiftly moving wheels over the brick
pavement, the shouting of nen and tn,
sound of scurrying feet.
Then Robert Lane beheld a spectacl,
that drove the blood from his temples
that made him clench his fists ant
stare with cold lips pressed together.
Along the t~horoughfare a frightene,
team was madly dashing, dragging
carriage that whipped from side to sid
as the animals swerved this way an,
that. A frail young girl chung desper
ately to the rear seat, her face pale, he
hair flying in the wind.
AS the team dashed toward Robert
the child's frightened eyes fell on hi