The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1902-06-05
darkness closed in ho had accomplish.

|
. cd nothing.
= After supper he called at the MAYOR
residence to deliver his report rs agree
. upon. The report, being brief, wa
= briefly delivered, and ne was butto1
!, ing his rough coat preparatory to dt
parture when Cadgers placed n han
; upon his arm.
Mr.. Dawson" said he, &C our df
; sire to recover the body of that ul
: fortunate man has become. owing I
events which have since transpircd
more earnest even than it was whel
we accepted your proposition. lily
glenlc and humanitarian motives have
pcen augmented by sentimental ones
"A bruised and bleeding heart ls now
one OF the considerations we have tt
reckon with. Step this way, please.
lie led the drcdger into an adjoining
room, where the woman and Mrs Cad
gers sat by table. He opened his
mouth to express the formality com
monty incidental to the Introduction OF
gentleman to II lady. His mouth re-
mained open, soundlcss. Gradually
the bcnignlty upon his cOuntcnancc
faded away. Conflicting emotions
besct and bcwldercd him as he OBJ
|
10Y, rush forward and throw her arms
about the drcdgcr's neck. The en-
brace was lengthy one, for the
dredgcr seemed as desirOus of pro-
longing il as the woman, and during
its continuance the mayor recovered
his poise somewhat.
I" 1t appears" he remarked, dryly,
" that you two people are already
slightly acquainted. | am, il is per-
haps, needless to inform you, rather
surprised. Mr.--er-Dawson, will you
do me the kindness to explain?"
The dredger was visibly cmbarrass-
ed. lie looked at the woman, whose
| hand he was fonding, then at the cell.
ing, then at the floor. At last he look
| cd at the mayor and grinncd.
" suppose may as well make Il
clean breast Of IT," he said. 1T was
joke in the beginning. Some of the
men in the gang l had been working
with were forever playing practical
| jokes, and I'd seemed to be particu.
| lar favorite as a butt. made up my
mind to get even. So that day, when
my contract expired, | left my JACKIE,
and vest on the wharf while the others
were at grub. Then crawled under
the wharf and covered myself with
boards and waited for the joke to work
| 1t worked better even than | thought
it would. But l heard the men say sc
many nice things about me, after they
had made up their minds I'd com
mitted suicide because of dlsappoint
come out and give ;cm the horse
laugh"
Very considcrate of YOU" mur
INJURED The mayor.
Yes, ! reckon twas som c:hing Iik;
that Anyway, ! enjoy it. Most mel
have to die before folks say nice thing
about 'em. I was Especially please,
with your own words. Your litti
speech, telling Of the sorrow you fcl
in the ticath OF even u stranger, wa
very nice"
L" am rashly lmpetuous at times"-
Cadgers frowned heavily" and Civ
utterance to sentiments that do III
small credit. Proceed, if you please
: Well, l was comfortable under tn
wharf. The weather was warm, th
light was good and l chanced to hay
novel in my pistol pocket. l stage
there till dark, when | crawlcd out an
footed it to Arcticville, where l took
train for Blue River Falls to see m
glrl. She wasn't there. The folk
said she had gone away somewhere Il
visit, after having a scrap with he
brother, VINO she'd been living with
The woman spoke suddenly. I" II,
turned me ont, jim, after he'd hit mt
in the face, because | wouldn't marry
that friend of his, Tip Weldon.
didn't know what else to do, but come
to you. knew you intended to como
here. SO | wrote to you, saying | was
coming, and then | came. Oh, jim
Jimn
She wept softly, clinging to his hand
There, there, liz, it's all right
now" He bent awkwardly and kissed
: her. {" suppose the letter ie IN the
postoIficc now. was here only q day
But as | was about to say"--turning to
Cadscrs-"l read in the papers about
my suicide, and about the efforts that
were being made to recover my re.
mains, and | said to myself that maybe
could get three or four days work at
good pay dragging for 'em."
" a man would naturally wish to re
cover his own remains," mused the
mayor.
So | wrote you Offering to take on
the job for five dollars day and ind
myself, and you agreed. Twas dare
devil thing for me to do, but needed
the money, and it looked as If it would
go through. | reckon 'twould have,
too, if----''
Cadgers raised his hand, palm out
ward. Enough,' he SAID solcmnly
AMI III his deepest bass. " Permit me
10 inform you, sir, that 1T would not
nave gone through. The fund which
was subscribed to relmburse you in the
premises has not been collected.
@ rul.hermore 1t ls not collectable.
There are upon the paper the names
or no responsible citizens. | have bcen
} somewhat worried as to the manner in
which would set forth this fact 10
you when the moment of sott,onont