Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1911-07-27
Destiny and the Rabu.

80 N $1,000 l
ed and husky roar of a locomotive
whistle saluted an immediate grade
crossing.
Reused by this sound from his soil
tary musings In the parlor car OF
which he happened temporarily to be
the sole occupant, Mr.. David Amber
put aside the magazine over which
he had been dreaming, and looked out
of the window, catching a glimpse OF
woodland road shining white between
somber walls of stunted pine. Lazily
ne consulted his watch.
Its not for nothing" he observed
pensively, that this railroad wears
its reputation; we are consistently
late"
His gaze, again diverted to the fly
ing countryside, noted that 1t had
changed character, pine yielding to
scrub-oak and second-growth the
ragged vestments of an area some
years since denuded by fire. This,
too. presently swung away, giving
place to cleared J nd-arable acres
golden with the stubble Of garnered
harvests or sentinelled with unkempt
shocks of corn.
In the south a simmer of laughing
gold and blue edged the faded hori-
Zon.
Eagerly the young man leaned for
ward, dark eyes tightening, lips part
ing as if already he could taste the
Of the sea.
Then, quite without warning, a deep
elbow Of the bay swept up almost to
the railway, its surface mirrorlike,
profoundly blue, profoundly beautiful.
q think" said the traveller softly
81 think it's mighty fine to be alive
and-here!"
He lounged back comfortably again,
smiling as he watched the wheeling
landscape, his eyes glowing with ex-
p~ectancy. For his cares were negli-
sible, his content boundless;. he was
experiencing, for the first time in
many years, a sense of freedom akin
to that felt by a ~schoolboy at the be-
ginning of the summer vacation. The
work of his heart and hand for a little
time belonged equally to a forgotten
Yesterday and an uncontemplated To
morrow; he existed only for the con-
fident Today. He had put behind him
the haunts of men, and his yearning
for the open places that lay before
him was almost childlike in its fer
vency; he would, indeed, have been
n,1i4a oaficfod ~ occ,rod fhot ho wa
to find nothing to do save to play aim.
lessly in the sun. But, in point Of
fact, he looked forward to an employ
ment much more pleasurable; he was
off to shoot duck with his very dear
friend, Mr.. Anthony Quain of Tangle
wood lodge, Nokomis, Long Island,
Again the whistle bawled uncannily
and the train began to moderate its
speed. objects in the foreground that
otherwise had been mere streaked
blurs assumed recognizable contours
North Of the line a string of squat
square, unlovely frame edifices
aligned upon a country road, drifte6
back. A brakeman popped head an6
shoulders into the car and out again
leaving the echo of an abrupt bark tt
be interpreted at the passengers
leisure.
Slowly ioltAg across a rutted, dusty
road, the cars stopped. Amber, alight
ting, found himself upon a length o
boardwalk platform and confronted
10y a Interestingly matter-of-fact wood
en- structure, combining the functions
of waiting room and ticket and tele
graph offices. From it's caves de
pended a w~eather-worn board bearing
the legend: "Nokomis."
The train, pausing only long enough
to disgorge from the baggage car
trunk or two and from the day coach
es a thin tricEle Of passengers, fun
on into the wilderness, cracked bel
clanking somewhat disdainfully.
BY degrees the platform cleared, tn
erstwhile patrons of the road and tn
station loafers-for the most part hal
marked natives Of the region-straf
Cling of upon their several ways
some afoot, a majority in dilapidate
Surveys and buckboards. Ambe
WdLCueu InSIl 20 viii uudSSum6Q ii
difference; their type interested hil
little. But in their company he pre-,
entity discovered one, a figure S
thoroughly foreign and aloof in att
tude, that 1t caught his eye, and, ha,
ing caught, held it clouded with pc
plexity.
Abruptly he abandoned his belong
ings and gave chase, o%vertaking th
object of his attention at the far en-
of the station.
Doggott!' he cried. Il say. Do
gott!"
His hand falling lightly upon til
mans shoulder, brought him squar
Iy about, his expression transient
startled, IL not a shade %truculent
sDoggott, what the deuce brings yo
here? And Mr.. Rutton?"
Amber's cordially educed no r
sponsc. The gray eyes, meeting cyl
dark, kindly, and penetrating, ficke
ed and fell; 81 much emotion they b
trayed, no more, and that as disinge
uous as YOU could wish.
"poggott!" insisted Amber, di
concerted. Surely you haven't fc
gotten rae--Mr. AMBER 4
The man shook his head. beg pa
.gon. sir" he said: you've got a
HMNN"N N.H..ft