Omaha daily bee., 1910-10-23
W /EDWARD
A.. o,S,-,...- DAVIS

And the rain fell, and beat upon the
roof There were shrieks in the wind
shrieks not Of anger, but of laughter, for
tho east wind stopped to peer in at the
window Of this dingy little waiting room
and beCraggled group OF bcwildered people
ticEied his fancy lie remembered, you
see, the smart. alert and well-poised APP
pearnnce OF these people when they EN-
barkcd on this perilous trip. Possibly, too
he had memories of that perfect night in
June when these same people had been
favored Of nature; and all bowling, evil
spirits had been held in check. made i'm
potent against the beauty of the resurrec-
ton of the Greek heroine. II indeed h.
had been hushed by the wonder of tina
Greek achievement set into the common
place Of American life, his laughter wa
not exaggerated. 1t was shared, moreover
by the victims of natures jocular spirit
In this dingy, Swallowed, rain pelted DO
OF a room, rude, crude and altogether un
believable to eyes accustomed TO the equip
ment Of modern travel, the voice while
has marvellous power Of reaching GU
and quieting into close attention even the
most stolid of audiences, was laughingl,
adding an A or an U or an l to the letter.
or was sounding BUZZ" when the mum
Der which fell TO her contained a sevel
either in its title or its mpltiples.
The people in the group did not pine
themselves to make sure that they were
really there that would have been too
Insignificant for proof-instead they shook
their heads, held their heads. looked about
them, and listened to the levity OF nature S
elements They were IN fact, too gripped
by the sensation Of each moment to fully
realize that It was a wild night and the
plans included trip up the Ohio, aboard
water craft OF some sort. They merely
played on and waited for the arrival Of
the vehicle which should take them to the
stopping place. No one seemed 10 doubt
the managers ability to conjure up, not
only boat for the river trip but a car
riage to take them to the boat.
The carriage arrived"
10 was an old surrey whose Joints were
weary with much rafting about the world
and protested Mostly against being brought
out on such a rheumatic night. But the
steeds which drew the vehicle were lively
and galloped gaily down the much covered
streets swinging the carriage, and its oc-
cupants from side TO side in a most up
setting manner. The driver likewise had
a nAAilH aHllAL anu tAlhlAeu bhlly WIN the
passenger beside him:
SHOW troupe Is It? Humph! Is that
the leading lRdy?'
And he jerked his thumb back to where
the woman to whom many discriminating
critics accord the foremost place among
Americas players, was olinging to the
seat and resisting the carriages efforts &c
send her out into the inclement world OF
the Kentucky town.
Because Of the dOwnpOur OF rain, the
wind and the probable presence in tn,
river Of much drlftwood, the boat trlT
was postponed until daybreak next day
and the Fora hotel Hospitality offered IL,
comforts 10 the rain beleagured travellers
Now the Fora Is unique even among
country hotels. IL would be difficult e
say which was most stunned: the party
whom the storm had tossed into this primi
tive haven. or the haven into which THU
laughing storm-defying group was tossed
The office OF the hotel was the usual small
town hotel office, only more so--that is
less OF an office and more OF an attempt
10 be one. II contained a gOodly
number OF loafeTs. who stared open.
m0uthed at the arrival OF this avalanche