The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1906-06-08
BITS.
AND A NICKEL.
III e-....n ITEp nIpP
By.H. WALTER. BURR.

we come ter the Burnin' Hills. Peers as
though could feel the heat right now.
There! Look yonder.
They were now on an eminence command.
ing a good view Of the lower hills, and as
they looked down into the darkness they
could see distinctly long lines Of glowing
red, streaking the earth like the trails OF
fiery serpents. The redness pulsated like
thing OF life. and as II did so the very
ground about seemed to heave up and down.
/ Then suddenly all was darkness again,
/ eyer see," she continued Il may be a
| coward an all thet. Mebbe 30. 1t may a
i bin all ghost story, too. But there it Is,
an We got ter cross tibet place,
/ The brave young man was getting really
/ scared He had never before been out IN
| the mountains in the night time, and the
awful stiffness, broken now and then Dy
| unpleasant sounds peculiar to the mountain
country, awed and frightened him. HIS
| teeth were fairly chattering.
"I-I-wish we had started back sooner -
be managed TO say. "I--I-had no idea
Yer might a had purity good idea she
answered; but 1t amt a-goln' to do no
good ter git scared now. Come along
| faster"
BY this time they were nearing the
dreaded place. Suddenly. as she reached
forward her foot to take a step, she realized
instinctively that II was not finding solid
Footing as soon as 1t should. A sudden and
uncommon warmth came upward. and In
another instant the faint glow was seen,
showing her chasm, with the further
she called to her companion, Mind yer
sye!" They had changed places-she was
now the master and he the slave.
What Is itg' he asked, as he neared the
and felt himself falling. But the girl was
quick. Suddenly reaching out her arm, she
grasped him by the hand and fairly drag
ged him across the chasm
well. / never!'i he exclaimed In fright
That's something awful, don't you know
| say are there many more like thatT'
Come on, an quit yer talkin," was the
but say, 1wo-bits, 1t isn't safe, is it2''
he called after her.
Il amt afeard," she answered: 'If you
are why stay where you are, or go back
an find the highest peak
Blast the little imp" he muttered II
wonder IL she's going TO 90 away and
leave me out here all alone. Perhaps Il
would serve me right, for l suppose it's all
nay own fault, But really, had no idea
there was any truth In what she said"
Hello, Two-bitsl Don't run away and
leave me all alonei" And there came into
his throat something very like a sob.
Look out there!' he heard her call; and
in the darkness he saw her some five feet
ahead Of him. Don't try TO walk thar, or
y yer III iall IN, sure It's wide, l tell yer,
We'll, what will l DOR he asked |
can't stay here all night
Mebbe yer could jump across. did
but I'm only coward" She was becoming |
sarcastic but not without purpose. The
child was beginning to see that the young |
man would need every incentive she could |
offer to get him to put forth his best ef- I
forts. She had no doubt of her own ability |
to clear all the chasms, but she was quite /
sure that her companion was not accus-
toned to such tricks. Now he stood like
q scared child on the opposite side of the
ditch. If the situation had not been so
serious. It would have been comical
Well, yer comin'?" she asked i'm
He stepped back for a run, but when he
came to the edge again he stopped short |
and looked ruefully at the red glow beneath /
him. He held out his hand and drew IL
back suddenly, as he felt the intense heat
Then what little courage he possessed for
sock him, and he began to whimper.
Just can't make 1t, Two-bits Whatever
shall ! dor
"W-a-ll' drawled the matter-of-fact girl,
i s'pose could 60 ahead an git some of /
the fellers from town ter come out an help
yer across; They'll make no end of fun Of
yer, though"
"Biast the fun" he cried Hurry up
and get me out of this, most anyway"
"All right Stay where you are, and I'll
be back after a while; and she bounded
away like deer leaving George Casey
sitting there In the night alone
Minutes dragged like hours, and the dark
ness seemed to grow thicker every moment,
except when. 1t was penetrated by that I'M
amy glow from down below. Then, as he