Charlevoix county herald., 1914-09-05

bricks of the ledge here were too hot
for comfort, but as it was his second
night in the place he knew what to
do. He hunted around in the shed
until he found one of the wide boards
that are used for shedding the piles
of green brick 1t was smooth and
dry, and he put it upon the ledge;
then, putting his foot on top of the
furnace door just beneath, he scram-
bled up.
He took off his shoes al l rolled
them with tops uppermost, so that
they made a pillow. He took off his
coat, and, lying down, covered him
self with it.
1t was warm anu comfortable up
there. True, when the wind came
whistling through he shivered occa-
sionally, Notwithstanding the fact
that the heat at his back was begin
ming to be a trihe excessive. He fell
into a troubled doze by and by,
awaking with a start to find that the
heat had become unbearably painful
wherever his body touched the board.
He turned upon his face. 1t was re-
markable how chilly this made him,
even while his clothes seemed burn
ing wherever they touched his back.
His unseen companions were con-
tinually turning and grumbling, but
still they held to their places. Other
dark figures appeared now and then
at the shed opening, and felt care
fully along the ledge to find lodg-
ment, until at last all the places were
occupied.
Suddenly hoarse voice came from
the end of the she'd
"Hey, you blankety blank hoboes !!
Hike, yous!
The voice came upon the uneasy
sleepers like the voice of judgment.
They rolled--most of them-to a sit
ting posture; they slipped on their
shoes; they scrambled down from
their places; they reluctantly drew
on their coats; they shuff1ed, a slow,
muttering, half-defiant, miserable
crowd, out at the other end of the
shed.
They did not disperse, however.
They waited until all was quiet, and
then they slipped back, one by one,
to their places. They h. d been
tricked. 1t was a newcomer, cold and
half frozen, who had r-ed this ruse
to secure a good place. Already he
was reposing upon warm board,
with his head pillowed upon his shoes
and his coat spread over him.
At last came the morning, and
with - first streak of the gray
dawn came the watchman-the real
watchman this time Not only did he
order them off, but after there had
been time enough for an exodus he
went down the shed, feeling along
the ledges himself, and two or three
sound sleepers were unceremoniously
routed out
The man who had limped in at
midnight shuffled out with the others
into the raw February morning. He
stopped just at the mouth Of the
shed and picked up very small
package, wrapped in piece of dirty
newspaper. 1t contained a few slices
of buttered bread that some other
soldier of misfortune had dropped,
aid he put it hastily in his pocket.
The other slouching, limping fig
ures in the same group with him
were cold and surly, and not one of
them spoke to the others. They went
away separately and in hatred, most
of them going back to the frowning
maze of brick and mortar and slush-
Uttered pavementS which they had
left the night before. Why, they did
not know.
This one bit of human wreckage
stood at the edge of the railroad
track, and, shivering, looked toward
the city with profound distaste. It's
wilderness of tall chimneys was al
hD1n ..tL 4.
ing's mist a hundred r,lling COL
umns of black smoke. The farther
his gaze penetrated into that murky
haze, the blacker the pail that hung
over the city seemed to become.
A week now he had spent in its
inhospitable streets, and in all that
great, seething maelstrom there had
been no place for him. He had
sought faithfully for work of any
sort, but others had been ahead of
him, everywhere, and with each
passing day his condition had become
worse. Two nights he had spent in
the flop room" of the only police
station which harbored vagrants.
The third night his application had
been refused. His face had become
familiar.
He turned resolutely toward the
direction where the open country
lay. Surely, some place in this
world, there must be spot where
he could pause; some task, day by
day, and some freside, night by
night, that would welcome him; some
self-respecting niche that he could
once moro fill. The fiat, cold land
scape gave him no answering hope,
but one thing was certain-he could
not stay where he was. Rest was
not for him nor such as he. He
must move on.
The railroad track had been re-
Gently rock ballasted Rock-ballast-
ing is done in this way-stone,
crushed to hen's-egg size, and pre-
senting nothing but sharp corners
and angles, is packed along the en-
bankment, is piled up in the center
of the track, is scattered on the ends
Of the ties. This mans shoe soles
were almost paper thin, and the up
pers were cracking. The rock bal
last made progress both painful and
difficult; but by watching the tie
ends carefully, and by adopting a
half-skipping gait, stepping some