Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1912-04-12
CHAPTER I.
Destiny and the Rabu.
6Y LOLfk5 ehOSEA7 K-7NcE

Destiny and the 6abu.
Breaking suddenly upon the steady
drumming of the trucks, the proiong-
ed and husky roar of locomotive
whistle saluted an immediate grade
crossing
Reused by this sound from his soli-
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 glimpse Of
woodland road sl.H9s whte Between
soInbsr walls OF sunted pine. Lazily
he consulted his watch
It's not for nothing he observed
peilsively, that this railroad wears
its reputation; we are consistently
late .
his gaze, again diverted to the fly
ing countryside, noted that it had
changed character, pine yielding to
scruh-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 arabic acres
golden with the st b5ie of garnered
harvests or sentinelled with rnkem3t
shocks of corn.
In the south simmer OF laughing
gold and blue edged the faded hori
xon.
Eagerly the young man leaned for
wsrd, dark eyes tightening, lips part
ing as if already he could taste the
SAVIOUR of the sea-
Then, quite without warning, deep
elbow of the bay swept up almost to
the railway, its surface mirror-like,
profoundly blue, profoundly beautiful.
II think" said the traveller softly
Ell 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-
pectancy. For his cares were negii-
gible, his content boundless; he was
experiencing, for the first time in
many years, sense of freedom akin
70 that felt by a schoolboy at the be-
ginning of the summer vacation. The
work of his heart and hand for 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
quite satisfied if assured that he was
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 Quaia of Tangle-
wood lodge, Nokomis, Long Island
Again the whistle bawlad uncannily.
and the train began to moderate it's
speed. Objects in the foreground that
blurs assumed recognizable contours
North of the line a string of squat,
square, unlovely frame" edifices,
aligned upon a country road, drifted
back A brakeman popped head and
shoulders into the car and out again,
leaving the echo of an abrupt bark to
be interpreted at the passengers
leisure
Slowly iolting across a rutted, dusty
road, the cars stopped. Amber, alight-
ing, found himself upon a length of
boardwalk platform and confronted
BY distressingly matter-of-fact wood
en- structure. combining the functions
Of waiting room and ticket and tele-
graph ohices. From it's caves de-
pended a weather-worn board bearing
the legend: "Nokomis."
The train. pausing only long enough
to disgorge from the baggage car q
trunk or two and from the day coach
es thin trickle OF passengers. flung
on into the wilderness, cracked bell
clanking somewhat disdainfully.
By degrees the platform cleared, the
srstwhile patrons Of the road and the
station loafers-for the most part hall
marked natives of the region-strag-
Cling off upon their several ways,
some afoot. majority in dilapidated
surveys and buckboards Amber
watched them go with unassumed in