The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1905-09-13

Il have a sister in Phoenix
Then send her to Phoenix. There
couldn't be safer place for her from
now until May"
BY the last week in September Mrs.
Morgan was ready to depart When
the day came the entire family. with
one exception. announced its intention
of going to the station to speed the
traveller with cheerful words some
thing very much needed in this in
stance
This exception of course, was Bart
lett. He, with his usual aversion to
farewells, had mumbled something.
and was leaving the table at noon
when his father said:
Bartlett, aren't you going to say
good-by to your mother."
"Good-byw muttered Bartlett from
the doorway. Hope you'll have a
nice time"
Mrs. Morgan's eyes filed with tears,
but Bartlett gave no sign of seeing
them, unless an unusually vigorous
slamming OF the front door might have
been sign.
At two o'clock the family with some
what forced cheerfulness. went to put
Mrs. Morgan on her train. She kissed
her many relatives good-by as they APP
peared; but in the interval OF waiting
for the cry, can aboardr her eyes
wandered frequently to the door or
searched the faces of the crowd on the
pia tform.
1t really did not seem possible that
Bartlett could let his mother 90 so far
away and for so long a time without
giving some small sign that he loved
her Bnt the train pulled out finally,
and no Bartlett had appeared.
Now among Bartlett's friends was
man named Johnson. who had owned
an automobile the first to appear in
the town.
Whether it was the owners inexper-
ience or whether the machine itself
was defective no one had ever been
able to discover, but the runabout had
never worked with any degree of sat
| isfaction to its rather sensitive owner,
whose fads. at best, were short lived
He had soon abandoned it and bought
a horse.
From the first Bartlett had hovered
about this misbehaving automobile like
bee about clover. His devotion both
amused and touched Johnson, who, in
the days when his faith in gasoline
was strong, had often invited Bartlett
to ride with him, and who had fire.
quently found the boys skill with tools
of service when things went wrong.
Afterward, unable to sell the now
somewhat damaged machine TO any
body who knew Of its vagarles, and
too honest to sell it to any one who
| did not, Mr.. Johnson permitted Bart
lett to experiment with it.
After months Of labor, and the clev-
er substitution Of parts which he had
himself manufactured it began to look
as If the boy We're actually going to
restore the automobile to something
like its usefulness. Several times be-
fore the day Of Mrs. Morgan's depart
ure the machine had journeyed two
blocks and home again without
! breakdown.
Immediately after luncheon the day
Of Mrs. Morgan's departure, Bartlett,
with his hands in his pockets, stood
in the doorway Of the Johnson carriage
house, gazing at the repudiated auto
mobile. The light of strong purpose
shone in his gray eyes a moment
later when he glanced at his watch,
hastily filled the automobile tank with
gasoline, flung the doors wide. and
started his unwleldy pet toward the
| entrance.
The driveway was rough and trifle
uphill, but the boy trundled the vehl-
Gle TO the road. worked away at the
crank until the engine was started,
and got in, while short, ejacuatory
sounds issued from the motionless ma
chine. Then he pushed the lever, and
with a sudden slbilant explosion the
automobile was spinning down the
street, leaving the atmosphere in its
wake redolent Of gasoline.
Bartlett knew exactly where he
wanted to go, but he realized that 1t
was one thing to possess this knowl-
edge ana quite another to impart ii
to a VIGOROUSLY erratlc automobile.
The spot he had in mind was sixteen
miles distant, for he had something 10
do and he meant to do II. In the same
circumstances any other boy would
have thought of a far simpler plan of
carrying out the idea; but Bartlett was
no one but himself, and the workings
Of his mind We're as incomprehensi
BILE at times as were the complicated
J inner workings OF the Johnson auto
mobile.
! Sixteen miles are not many for q
first class machine, on good, Level
road. 10 accomplish In two hours and
a half, but sixteen miles, when half
OF them are uphill and much OF the
; road Is sandy, are a great many.
The country roads We're worse than
Bartlett had expected to find them