The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1908-01-07
Helping Haskin
< Out. 4
By MAUDE LAMBERT.
Convriehted 1907 nv e. g. ParceIIs.
Copyrighted. 1907, BY E. c. PARCELS.


10 laugh.
at doesn't have to be your OWL
WE'LL" explained old Mrs. Prentiss
with a defiant glance at her daughter
in-law. 1T says that If you look int
well at midnight on Halloween yor
will see reflected in the water the face
of the man you are to marry-if yot
are destined to be a bride within tht
year."
''Now, mother, stop putting foolish
notions into Myrtle's head" exclaim
ed Myrtle's mother. 1--WE tried al
these years to keep such things away
from her, and now you are filing hel
mind with arrant nonsense"
The grandmother made gesture OF
dissent.
1--WE didn't call it nonsense in oul
day, SUSIE" she protested. 1--WE used
to have a lot of fun bobbing for ap
pies and all that sort of thing.
guess Myrtle can be good girl, even
If she does bother her pretty head
about the Halloween rites. It's high
time she tried them, anyhow. We
can't go back again when we grow NJ
and find out what we've missed as Chi.
dren.'
The younger Mrs. Prentiss shrugged
her shoulders. Her own youth had
known no such foolish fancies. She
had been brought up with Puritan
RICHNESS and sought to mold Myrtle's
mind, even as her own had been form
ed, in the rigid cast of conventionality
At eighteen Myrtle had never had
any of the childish diversions, and the
advent of her paternal grandmotha,
with this new lore of Halloween, wac
like the visit of fairy godmother. II
was the first time she had seen her ia
theirs mother since, as a child of four,
she had been brought west, and al
ready the kindly old lady had COM
pletely won Myrtle's heart.
The revelation Of the Halloween mys-
teries was the most important disclo-
sure yet made, and Myrtle threw her
self with interest into the idea. Her
grandmother lamented that there was
not time to prepare for Halloween
party, but it was agreed that Myrtle
should prove her fate by the well test.
Wells were few, but in the orchard
was welled spring, and this, it was
decided, would answer the purpose.
Myrtle had never had a sweetheart.
Sweethearts for very young girls were
frowned upon as being frivolous, and
talk of love had been rigidly discour-
aged. At the time even her mother
could not prevent Seth Haskin from
blushing redly under his tan when he
CHANGED to encounter Myrtle, and,
though he had been refused permits
sion to make the weekly call, which In
that section was the preliminary dec
laration of more serious intention, the
girl was more acutely conscious Of his
presence than of the few other men
she met in town or on her weekly visit
to church.
Her grandmother, born matchmak-
er, had already sensed the situation,
and if Myrtle's mother had known that
the old lady had found opportunity to
drop a hint to Seth her passive ac-
quiescence in this frivolity would have
become active opposition. AS it was,
she argued that since Mother Prentiss'
stay was to be short it would be posi-
BILE to regain her lost ground after the
old lady should have returned home.
In John Prentiss his mother found
an able ally He gleefully recalled his
own Halloween celebrations and in
sisted that he could still duck for ap-
pies with the best Of them.
Next year." he shouted, wen have
a regular party, mother. l haven't
felt so young in years" He bent again
over the tub to plunge his ruddy face
after the elusive apple, and his wife,
grimly regarding the unseemly per-
Torrance, shook her head In disap-
proval.
But Prentiss was too absorbed In his
fun to notice the head shake, and he
insisted upon trying all the tests he
knew. Almost before they knew it
the clock struck II and then half past,
and Myrtle, shivering deliciously over
the adventure, stole softly through the
orchard to the bubbling spring.
There was no moon, but stars span
gled the sky, and their light made it
bright enough to see her reflection in
the little pool Obedient to instruc-
lions, she leaned over the placid sur
face and began to repeat the verse her
grandmother had taught her. Her
heart stood still as she heard the APP
proach of footsteps, but her blood
froze In horror when two men took
their stand on the other side of the
hedge and began to talk of their plans.
"The train will be along in about
thirty minutes" said the first. II bet
she gets smashed up some this time"
BEST job ever did" was the re-
Spouse. ''Jim's the engineer, and he
won't see that the rail is out until
they're right on it. They'll be In the
gully before they know what struck
'em. Wen have the safes an away
before they get hint"
She needed to hear no more Of the
conversation to guess at the identity of
at least one of the speakers. For near
ly a year the southwest had suffered
from the depredations of gang OF
train wreckers who operated only
when heavy consignments of specie
were being carried by the express COM
panies
In place Of the usual holdup they de-
rallied the train, often with heavy loss
of life. and made away with the ex-
press safes before the first excitement
was over. Half a mile beyond was
ravine bridged by wooden trestle. II
was evident that they had removed
the spikes from one of the rails and
that the train would pitch into the
gulch.
Even as she knelt over the spring
wondering what it would be best to do
the sound of bell came floating down
from the house-the signal that it was
II o'clock. In the water of the pool
a second face was reflected, and Myr-
tie gave sigh,
eff it only was you, Seth" she whis-
pered. 81 need you So"
''It is Seth" came the answer In a
whisper. what is 1t, dearY
Even in her excitement Myrtle thrill
ed delieiously at the word. 1t was
the first time any one had called her
'.dear" in that tone. She half rose to
her feet.
''There are two men on the other
side of that hedge" she whispered.
zone is Bill Logan and the other one
of his men. They are going to throw
the express into Cat creek"
Their whispering was SO low that it
could not be heard by the men in the
shadow of the hedge. Seth, coached
By Myrtle's grandmother, had ap-
preached so softly that even Myrtle
had not heard him coming, and the
outlaws, ignorant of their espionage,
talked frnpIv of their DlanS.