Charlevoix county herald., 1912-12-28

trlnkets into the satchel. Ii was too
much for the little old lady's little
old husband. He fairly shrieked:
Young man, you're a damned
scoundrei. and the best argument
ever saw for hell-fire!"
Mrs. Temples grief changed to hor.
ror at such bolt from the blue:
'Walter!" she gasped. ''such lam
guage!"
But her husband answered In self
defense: Even a minister has right
to swear once I'm his lifetime
Mallory almost dropped In his
tracks, and Marjorie keeled over on
him. as he gasped: Good Lord. DIR.
Temple, you are IA Minister"
Yes, my boy" the old man con-
fessed, glad that the robbers had re-
lieved him OF his guilty secret along
with the rest OF his private properties.
Mallory looked at the collapsing Mar
jorie and groaned: And he was In
the next berth all this time!"
The unmasking of the old fraud
made a second sensation. Mrs. Eos
dick called from far down the aisle:
DIR. Temple, you're not detective?
Mrs. Temple shouted back furious
ly: How dare you?"
But Mrs Fosdick was crying to her
luscious-eyed mate: "Oh, Arthur. he's
not a detective. Embrace mel"
And they embraced, while the rob-
bers looked on aghast at the sudden
Oblivion they had fallen into. They
focused the attention on themselves
again, however, with ferocious:
Here. hands up" But they did not
see Mr.. and Mrs. Fosdick steal kiss
behind their appraised arms, for the
robber to whose lot Mallory fell was
gloating over his well-tilled wallet.
Mallory saw 1t go with fortitude, but
noting piece OF legal paper, he said:
Say, old man, you don't want that
marriage license, do your
The robber handled it as If II were
hot-as il he had burned his fingers
on some such document once before.
and he stuffed it back in Mallory's
pocket. II should say not. Keep 1t.
Turn round"
Meanwhile the other felon turned
up another beautiful pile OF bills In
DR.. Temples pocket. Not so worse
for parson," he grinned. you must
be one OF them Fifth avenue sky
shaffures."
And now Mrs Temples gentle eyes
and voice filled with tears again: ION.
don't take that. That's the money for
his vacation-after thirty long years.
Please don't take that"
Her appeals seemed always to find
the tender spot OF this robbers heart.
for he hesitated, and called out:
Shall we overlook the parsons wad.
pcdner?"
Take It, and shut up, you molly
coddle!" was the answer he got, and
tie vacation funds joined the old gew
gaws.
And now everybody had been
robbed but Marjorie. She happened t.
be at the center OF the line. and both
men reached her at the same time:
Il seen her first" the first onT
shouted.
You did not" the other roared.
II tell you l did"
Il tell you / did" They glare,
threateningly at each other, and theiI
revolvers seemed to meet. like two
game cocks, beak to beak.
The porter voiced the general hope
when he sighed: "Oh. Lawd, II they'd
only shoot each other"
This brought the rivals to their evi.
senses, and they swept the line with
those terrifying muzzles and that
heart-stopping yelp: Hands up!"
Bill said: you take the east side Of
her, and I'll take the west"
''All right"
And they began to snatch away her
side-combs, the little gold chain at
her throat, the jeweled pin that Nal
Tory had given her as the first token
of his love.
The young soldier had foreseen this.
He had foreseen the wild rage that
would unseat his reason when he saw
the dirty hands OF thieves laid rudely
on the sacred body OF his beloved.
But his understanding had drilled
him to govern his impulses. to play
the coward when there was no hope
of successful battle, and to strike only
when the moment was ripe with per-
feet opportunity.
He had kept telling himself that
when the finger OF one OF these men
touched so much as Marjorie's hem,
he would be forced to fling himself
on the profane miscreant. And he
kept telling himself that the moment
he did this, the other man would 4
calmly blow hole through him. and
drop him at Marjorie's feet, while the
other passengers shrank away In ter
ror.
He told himself that, while II might
be a fine impulse to leap to her de-
tense. II was a fool impulse to leap
off a precipice and leave Marjorie
alone among strangers, with a dead
man and scandal. as the only re-
wards for his impulse. He vowed that
he would hold himself in check, and
let the robbers take everything. ieav
ing him only the name OF coward |
provided they left him also the power