The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1905-10-26
By
Carroll Watson Rankin.

scious ticket seller, not suspecting that
he had become fancy pet" went on
with his work with a ludicrously SOL
emn cOuntenance.
Well pleased with his prank, Edward
was watching the smiles and grins on
the faces round him when small boy
touched his elbow
Say" said the boy, heres a note
your sister sent you. I've hunted all
over the place for you
| Edward tore open the envelope and
found this note within:
Dear Ned:-Cousin Susie came on
the noon train to go to the fair, but /
have headache and can't go. Meet
her at two o'clock at the north en-
trance, and see that she gets a good
place on the grand stand.
Edward looked at his watch. 1t was
| already almost two. The train, only
half a mile away, was whistling at
that moment. Edward set off on
run down the race track toward the
north gate.
By this time he had completely for
gotten the secretary and the work at
| the judges stand. With lot of Bel
gian hares and a pretty cousin on his
mind, Edward had no thought to spare
| for anything SO trivial as a loosenei
| board
| One Of the chief attractions at the
fair that year was a spiral tower built
| of gas pipe, the work of a local genius.
| Up and down this arrangement trained
acrobats rode bicycles and performed
all sorts of daring feats. At night
| the final act was advertised to take
place in the midst of glory, with fire.
works spoutiag from perforations in
| the gas pipe and from a torchlight ar
| rangement on top. The tower had
| been tested and been found to work to
| perfection.
| That evening everything, including
| the fireworks, went off as advertised.
| and was voted an entire success The
show OYER, the delighted spectators
| hurried away to secure seats in the
| crowded homeward-bound trains The
/
| Buildings turned their attention to
locking UP fer the night, and by half
| past ten hardly twenty persons re-
NAMED inside the gates. The grounds
appeared dark and foriorn, for only
the small portion containing the build
ings was lighted.
Suddenly there was a cry of Fire."
| followed almost instantly by a con-
tinuous vo.ley CT sharp explosions,
coming from the direction OF the deser-
I'd grind stand.
TITS the judges stand!" cried the
president, who had rushed to the door
of the administration building. Look!
| It's all ablazei A spark from the tow
| 3r must have got into those fireworks
| n the room underneath, but don't
see how, when the door was on the
east side. | hope the acrobats are ali
out; they use that place for dressing
.oom, and some of them sleep there"
Hicks" said the secretary, turning
abruptly TO Edward, did you nail that
board on as I asked you to?'
Edward turned white. mo, sir"
said he, Il forgot it,
The next second the culprit had
leaped down the steps and was speed
ng down the race track toward the
blazing structure, from which rockets
and Roman candles were still spouting
| forth.
| Near the fire all was confusion. The
fair grounds were long three miles
| from town; the only available way of
| getting water was from the rusty,
s,ow-moving pump near the stock
sheds, almost half mile distant; and
at first no one thought Of telephoning
for chemical engine.
To Edwards great relief, the aero
bats escaped with their lives, but all
their belongings were feeding the
| flames. The three who had taken part
in the final act were still in their
costumes. s
| The wind w6s driving the sparks to-
ward the huge, new grand stand. If
that went, the loss to the agricultural
association would be very great The
gate receipts the year before had fall
len off, owing to continuous run of
bad weather, the society was in debt,
and ill-prepared for fresh disaster
With anxious eyes every one watched
the grandstand
why don't you get shovels and
throw sand on the fire?" suggested the
acrobat in rose-colored tights. Il saw
that done out west once, where they
didn't have water. 1t worked all right
there. | guess the rockets are about
done shootin' by now
I'LL get shovels!" cried Edward.
There's a couple under the Office
counter"