The Tupelo journal., 1909-04-02
cHAPTER IIi.-Continued.

CHAPTER Hl.-Continued.
Archie looked disappointed. 81 sup
pose So" he sighed. I'm afraid Ia
want to, if they were pointing pistols
at me. Lewis was on the train once
when a man showed fight. He wouldn't
nut up his hands, and the bandit
plugged him, like a fash; he fell
crosswise over the seat and the blood
spurted across Lewis wrist; he said 1t
was like a hot jet of water
The homely and bizarre horror of
the picture had evidently struck home
TO Archie; he half shivered.
TOO much Imagination" grumbled
the colonel to himself. ga Winter
ought to take to fighting like a duck
to water," He betook himself to Miss
Smith; and he was uneasily con
scious that he was going to her for
consoling. But he felt better after a
L,tle talk about Archie with her.
Plainly she thought Archie had plenty
of spirit; although, of course, hH hadn't
told her about the bandits. The negro
was Kidding the passengers; and
women shouldn't be disturbed by such
nonsense. The colonel had old-fash-
ioned views of guarding his woman
kind from the harsh ways OF the
world. Curious, he reflected, what
sense Miss Smith seemed to have;
and how she understood things. He
felt better acquainted with her than a
years garrison intercourse would
have made him with any other woman
he knew.
That afternoon, they two sat watch
ing the fantastic cliffs which took
grotesque semblance of ruined castles
browning their barren h~illsides; or OF
deserted am~phitheaters left by some
vanished race to crumble. They had
talked of many things. She had old
him of the sleepy old South Carolinian
town where she was born, and the
plantation and the distant cousin who
was like her mother, and the hospital
where she had been taught, and the
married sister who had died. Such a
narrow, laborious, innocent existence
as she described! How cheerfully,
too, she had shouldered her burdens!
They talked of the south and of the
Philippines; a little they talked OF
Archie and his sorrow and of the
eternal problems that have troubled
the soul of man since first death en-
tered the world. AS they talked, the
~colonel's suspicious faded into gro
tesque shadows. "Millicent is ridic-
ulous," quoth he. Then he fell to won
dering whether there had been a ro-
nance in Miss Smiths past life. Such
a handsome would look high"
he sighed. Only "a hours ago he had
called Miss Smith "~nice-looking," with
careless criticism. He was quite I'M
conscious of his change of view. That
night he felt lonely, of a sudden; the
old wound in his heart ached; his flu
ture looked as bleak as the mountain
walled plains through which he was
speeding. After a long time the train
stopped with a jar and rattle, ending
in a sudden shock. He raised the cur
tain to catch the flash of the electric
lights at Glenwood. Out of the deep
defle they glittered like diamonds in a
pool of water. Why should he think
of Miss Smiths eyes? With an impa-
a. tient sigh, he pulled down the curtain
and turned over to sleep.
His thoughts drifted, f1oated, were
submerged in a wavering procession
of pictures; he was back in the Philip.
pines; they had surprised the fort;
how could that be when h. was on
guard? But they were there He sat
up in his berth. Instinctively he
slipped the revolver out of his bag and
held it in one hand, as he peeped
through the crevice of the curtains
There was no motion, no sound Of
moving; but heads were emerging be
tween the curtains in every direction
and Archie was standing, his hands
shaking above his tumbled brown
head and pale face. A man in a soft
hat held two revolvers while another
mai was pounding on the drawing
room door, gruf1y commanding those
inside to come out. mo, we shall no
come OUT responded Aunt Rebecca'.
composed, well-bred accents, her nea
e~nunciation not disturbed by a CULVER
sIf you want to kill an old woman
YOU will have to break down the door,
Let them alone, Shay, it takes tot
long; let's finish here, first" called tn,
man with the revolver; they'll com
soon enough when we want them
Here, young Teller, fish out! Nobody'l
get hurt if you keep quiet; if yol
don't you'll get a dose like the man II
No. 6, two years ago. Hustle, youni
felleri"
The colonel was cycling every me
ton, every shifting from n foot t
the other. Let them once get b,
Archie
The boy handed over his pocketbooh
Now your watch" commanded tn
brigand; take it, shay"
Wont you please let me keep tina
watch?' faltered Archie; that wa
paoa's watch"
The childish name from the tall la
made the robber laugh. And mamma
little pet wants to keep it, does he
WAL he can't Get "A move on YOU?