Charlevoix county herald., 1914-09-05

There was sloping ground upon
the side where the bridge-operator's
house stood. Upon the upper side
of the track was level ground, and in
darting off the bridge he was COM
PEELED to take this He waited until
the long freight had steamed by,
feeling that at last he had happily
reached human companionship again.
He had been ages away from man
kind in the last few hours, and he
had an absurd feeling that mankind
must be as glad to see him once
more as he was to greet his fellow
man.
AS soon as the red lights of the ca
boose had slipped by, he darted -
across to the bridge operators shan
ty. 1t was locked and dark. He
beat upon the door, he shrieked aloud
aloud for admittance. No sound an
swered him.
For a moment he felt as if he
must sink down against that harsh
portal to close his eyes and let the
snow bury him under. But man does
not die so easily. Even though his
mind and his body be willing, that
mysterious thing called life arises i'm
protest No sooner had he felt that
deadly numbness stealing over him
again than he shook it off with
mighty effort, and once more STUN
bled out upon the track.
Another switch-light, battling red
against its vortex of binding snow,
loomed up before him, and then the
bright light cleaned through the
window of a small telegraph-station.
Just as he approached this, a man
came swinging down the track from
the other direction with lantern,
and he was unlocking the station
door just as the Ishmaelite stepped
upon the platform. -
"For Gods sake, mister, let me ~
a WHILE" pleaded the wanderer.9
"Just to get warm!"
The agent held up his lantern to
look the man over. His eyes were
wild and staring His slouch hat, his
grmy face, his unshaven cheeks, his
blackened and cracked lips, his entire
apparel and appearance condemned
him as one whom his fellow man had
utterly cast off
Cant do it." said the station
agent briskly Strictly against or
ders. I'd lose my job if did"
He swung open the station door. A
rush of heat burst out that turned
the man fairly faint He raised his
arms piteously toward that heat and
warmth-and the door closed upon
him.
Across the track, up a steep en-
bankment, stood little white house.
There was the clear, steady light of
a lamp in the front room, and, more
than that, there was Pickering red
glare upon the ceiling that told of an
open fireplace. Summoning his
strength anew, the man climbed up
and looked in at the window.
A woman sat there, gray-haired.
and two stalwart men, who were
evidently her sons, sat one upon each
side of her. The light of cheerful
They were eating apples, and the
two men had removed their shoes,
their stockinged feet outstretched to
the grateful warmth of the fire.
The outcast knocked upon the
door. The woman opened it.
"For the love of God, madam" the
man exclaimed, "let me in to warm
myself by your fire. You have two
big men there. | can do no harm. |
am freezing"
slammed in his face. Why should
that woman worry herself to harbor
a possible incendiary, possible
thief, possible murderer, a prob
able carrier of vermin' And she
saw tramps every day!
He half stumbled and half fell
down the embankment to the track
The light from the house above
streameC upon the station sign. At
one end of it, in small gilt letters.
was "Kingsbury, eight miles," He
knew by the sign that Kingsbury
must be the end of a railroad divi-
sion. He knew the name of the
town vaguely, and guessed that it
must be a small city.
Eight miles! He had cone nearly
forty that day Could he make the
eight?
He looked back at the little white
house. He was reluctant to plunge
again into the blackness of the night,
into its cold, and into it's misery.
Why, out there in the unknown dark.
lurked the very terror of death! He
dreaded to leave this place where
warmth and good cheer and life
abode 1t seemed that if he were
even in sight of the other shells that
contained fire and food, it must in
some vague way help him.
He saw the woman and her two
sons clustered at the wide window
looking down at him. That saved
him. Filled with great hate, he
stumbled into the night. The fire
of wrath that burned in his body
seemed to warm him, to renew his
strength.
Continued next week.