The daily Alaskan., 1904-03-04
TIE MlLLIONTH
 CHANCE

dout look at him.
 Miss Bradford complied by shooting toward Fielding one of those mysteri. ous side elances which enable wom an. without turning her head. to com pass wonders of vision Then she flushed rosiIy.
 "You are very hard on him. she breathcd softly. careful of the nearby clerk at the glove counter in the big department store.
 "Uard nothing grumbled Mr. Brad ford. -If there's any impractical anl- nal on Che face of the globe it Is an Inventor. Take that internally foolish scheme Of his. for insmnce-that spring cushion he has Invented to attach to the bottom of elevators in case of a fall Now. what do you suppose the percentage of accidents on an elevator lsf'
 "How should kuowt retorted his daughter with a superb feminine con tempt for statistics.
 "Less than one in million jour ueys. said her. father triumphantly t not yepc.ously.
 .'Just the same. returned bis duugh- ter obsuuateIy, it must be very dis agreeable when thut milliontl acci- dent does happen"
 Her father walked slolidly toward che machine lu question: Sarah rai- Ing obcdleuty after him, though her thoughts were othorwhere. and her eyes now ya'uiy swept the crowd for glimpse or young Fielding.
 "I suppose you are not afraid to go upT ieered Mr. Bradford as the two found themselves the only occupants of the cage gs it rose to the fourth floor
 "Of course I'm not" said Sarah re- sentuuy Then she added artfully .You talk about iuvendu- as though it was ike-wcu. like drinking
 .It is as bad as drinking said her father solemuly tor as the cocaine or the poetry habit Any one of these wul ruin a mans career. Now, sarah, don't be au day choosing that scarf for your mother"
 This Inst as they stepped from the rar Mr. Bradford was secretly afraid of Che majestic females that swept to and fro on this special Goor their demi- trains eliju- u0.saiessiy over tHo deep carpets. their eyes fronting his with am msolpu. soom that quite ahJshed him. yuut 0s he was apt to be at home
 "lIere man they seemed to be whis- pering among themselves. Finally the banker solaced himself by going to a window and loolug out on the street.
 Hence hc did not see Fielding step from Che elevator n the next moment. He was not aware that two heads were bending together over the scarf, on which neither of the young people saw aught ot the coiors.
 But even the choice of a scarf cannot last forever. Itwas prematurely ended by the return of the magnate, who turned as purple as the Persian silks before him when he bcheld the pretty lableau
 He grew more purple still when Field ing quietly entered the c0r with them. But the banker choked down his wrath on reaectng that even inventors can lawfully ride in any public convey auce. Then he snapped angrily at the elevator boy
 "Nhy--are we stopping before this blank wall you young procrasdnatorf Do you think this sort of thing is en- joyablet"
 But the boy a lad of sixteen, newly ln duty, went white with terror.
 "Somethu's wrong up above" he stammercd "Josh. he's been drinkin ! kuowcd thought never told Some tbiu's wrong. and inc brake aiu't hold In right It's sGppu" he ended in shril ycu
 "Three floors to fau" thought Field. Ing as le seized th- half fuindng girl ln h,s arms Aloud he cried ghcerily; Don't be frightened any of you. My cushion attachment was sold ,he firm Inst week. IT Js on'
 Aye-if, How large a word. As the cage shot downward at fearful speed. very slightly broken by the yielding ropes, thc suker found a whole century of thought compressed Into that l1ier period. X voice cried in his ear that lt was judgment on him. che cushion would not be there, that the cdea would strike the ground with Che sonnd SO happily denominated by the newspapers as "sickening thud." He saw himself and his child piled in mongled heap he to whom life had always seemed SO substantial and sure
 Then half dozen women waiting in the basement saw the falling cage shoot downward and rise again like a rubber ball. When it came down the second time it rested quiveriugly on the springs. while inside was au undig- nifed mass. which presently astonish- cd the watchers and the component parts of the heap by resolving into four badly shaken but quite uudam- Dged people.
 The elevator boy staggered ont first.
 "Gee. be stommored. holding his head. "If I doD't get even wid Josh for dat ] never thought we'd stop this side of Chiuy