The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1908-11-24
CHAPTER VIII.
Continued.

Then one man whose arm she
grasped in her eagerness, said eyes, ;"
as he shook her off, and she made
for a carriage; but another said
No" to her on the way, and she
stopped when another declared he
didn't know, but thought it was,
which made the matter doubtful once
more, and again she began: els this
the southampton train?" but before
she received an answer she was
almost lifted off her feet by the
sudden swaying of the crowd to
make room for porter with noun
tain of luggage on truck, and was
carried from the door of the car
riagey beside which she had been
standing, over to the book-stall,
against which she was pinned for
some seconds.
The swaying of the crowd in the
opposite direction released her, only,
however, to force her back the next
moment, back, back, struggle as she
would, through the nearest entrance
this time, to the place where the
booking offices are. Here the pres
sure relaxed, the crowd thinned, she
could move again of her own ac-
cord.
porter hurried past her, gum
ming a printed label on new-look-
ing Gladstone bag as he went. There
were two black letters on the bag.
She looked away after seeing them,
I before the fact struck her as .signi-
ficant. Then she looked again, hur-
rying forward to read them, and just
succeeded as the porter handed the
bag into first-class carriage.
The doors were shut by this time;
size could not see through the win
day: but the letters on the bag were
L. S., and she made a frantic dash
for the carriage. The bell rung; the
whistle shrieked; a voice shouted
All in" the buzz of the crowd be-
came a roar; there was rush of
rough men from the refreshment
room; they elbowed her to one side
THE weak must go to the WALL
and gained their own seats; the
train began to move.
Conscious of nothing but her OBJ
ject she pressed forward again-any
carriage would do now-she tried to
catch the handle of door; it passed
her.
Look out there!" STAND back!"
She'll be killed." a dozen voices
roared, yet she tried again.
But now her arms were grasped on
either SIDE She put forth all her
strength to release herself, but was
held as if in wise. Then, woman
like, she sent up an exceeding great
and bitter cry, and then all was still.
The train had slipped from sight;
the crowd had melted away; strange
hush had fallen, lack of life, where
all had been uproar and hurry a mo-
ment before. Her captors dropped
her arms.
She pressed her handkerchief to
her lips; her mouth was full of blood.
The guard who had held her on one
side looked at her pityingly, while
the gentleman who had caught her en-
The other spoke severely:
you've nearly killed yourself,
young lady. Couldn't you let the
train go when you saw you had
missed it?"
That's the way they do, sir!" the
guard exclaimed, "and we gets
blamed when accidents happen
"Oh, sir!" Gertrude moaned, clasp
ing her blood-stained handkerchief
convulsively to her breast, eff you
only knew how much depended on
my catching that train!"
The gentleman took her hand and
drew it through his arm.
Come" he said, "before crowd
collects. Allow me to see you into a
cab. And forgive me if you think
am taking too much on myself, be-
Ing stranger to you. l have
daughter about your age. I am
afraid, though, you have had a severe
shock. You can hardly walk. Try
and get as far as the refreshment |
room, at all events, and lean on me
as much as you like. A glass of water
will revive you
With her usual good luck, Gertrude |
had found another kind friend to help |
her in her need, and she resigned her
self to his ministrations with perfect |
confidence, as she sunk exhausted |
into the deep, luxurious plush arm
chair to which he led her in an inner
room behind the bar.