Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1910-10-28

intoxication. But now his promise to
Nan was behind him, and the Gordon
blood was to the fore.
1T was my fault that Nan stayed so
long," he said, bravely; n he was
immensely relieved when Bryerson, |
making quite sure of his identity, be-
came effusively hospitable.
"Cap'n Gordon's boy-'f cou'se;
didn't make out to know We, t frs.
Come avn in the house an sit a spell;
come in, l say!"
Again, for Mans sake, Tom could do
no less. 1t was the final plunge. The
boy was come of abstinent stock, which
was possibly the reason why the smell
OF the raw corn liquor with which the
cabin reeked gripped him so fiercely.
Be that as it may, he could make III
a feeble resistance when the tipsy
mountaineer pressed him to drink; and
the slight barrier went down altogether
when he saw the appealing look in
Mans eyes. Straightway he OWNED
that there would be consequences for
her when he was gone If the maudlin
demon should be aroused in her father.
SO he put the tin cup to his lips and
coughed and strangled overta single
swallow of the fiery, %nauseating stuff
did this for the girls sake, and then
rose and fled away from the mountain
with his heart ablaze and a fearful
clamor as Of the judgment trumpet
sounding in his ears.
The next morning he came hollow
eyed to his breakfast, and when the
chance offered, besought his father 10
give him one of the many boys jobs in
the iron plant during the summer va
cation-asked and obtained. And nei-
Their the hotel on the mountain top nor
the howell cabin under the second cliff
saw him more the long summer
through.
CHAPTER x.
1t was just before the Christmas hol-
days, in his fourth year of the sectar-
ian school, that Tom Gordon was ex-
PEELED. Writing to the Reverend Silas
at the moment of Toms dismissal, the
principal could voice only his regret
and disappointment. 1t was a most sin
gular case. During his first and second
years Thomas had set a high mark ana
la attained to it. On the spiritual side
he had been somewhat non -committal
to be sure, but to offset this, he had
deeply interested in the preparator,
theological studies, or at least he hal
appeared to be.
But on his return from his frs
summer spent at home there was &
marked change in him, due, so thought
Doctor Tollivar, to his association witt
, the rougher class of workmen in tn;
iron mills. 1t was a. if he had sud.
denly grown older and and harder. ant
| the discipline of the school, admirable
as the Reverend Silas knew it to be
; was not severe enough to reform him
l 1T grieves me more than 1 can tel
you, my dear brother, to be Obliged t.
confess that we can do nothing NOR,
for him here" was the concluding par
agraph of the principals letter, IAN,
to add that his continued presenc
with us Is a n to the morals o
the school When 1 say that the of
: Tense for which he Is expelled Is by n
means the first, and that it is the dou
BILE one of gambling and keeping in
" toxicating liquors in his room, you will
understand that the good repute O
Beersheba was at stake, and there wa
no other course open to u.s."
Thomas Jefferson turned his back OF
r three and a half years Of Beersheba
y with hot tears in his eyes and an mgr
word on his lips. The Pintsch light
were burning brightly in the Pullman
and ~these-and the tears-blinded hin
n Some of the sections in the middle @
d the car were made down for the nigh
and while he was stumbling in tn
wake of the porter over the shoes an
e the handbags left in the aisle, tn
train started.
: Lower ten, sah," said the black DO,
and went about his business in the lin
en- locker. But Tom stood balancin
: himself with the swaying of the ca
i and staring helplessly at the occupar
q of lower twelve, a young girl in a gra
q travelling coat and hat, sitting with he
face to the window.
"Why, you-somebody!" she exclaim
l. ed, turning to surprise him in the a,
Of glowering down on her. do yo
know, I thought there might be ju,
one chance in a thousand that you'd =
le home for Christmas, so I made the POI
"a ter tell me when we were coming
81 Beersheba. Why don't you sit down
Tom edged into the opposite seat ar
D. shook hands with her, all in miserabl
- comfortless silence. Then he blurte
~ out:
% 'If I'd had any idea you were on tn
10 train, I'd have walked"
" Ardea laughed, and for all his mi,
ia cry he could not help remarking no
much sweeter the low voice was grow
70 ing, and how much clearer the blue
Mt her eyes was under the forced light
g. the gas-globes.
"a you are just the same rude BIO
aren't your" she said, lenientiy. "a
there no girls in Beersheba to tea,
C. you how to be nice?"
ut II didn't mean 1t that way" he ha
n. tened to say. I'm always saying L
n wrong thing to you. But II you ~