Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1915-02-25
cEHPTeR ~.
The Runaway Car.

The Runaway Car.
n ri Many IL man writes down on pa.
IWg per the things he. cannot ar.
=sssd ticulate. Thomas Gallon,
49, dreaming of two women. tact
turn and silent as he was. wrote down
the thoughts which he could not ex-
press IN speech His diary. well thumb
ed. held the history Of many a lonely
night. but of all these nights there was
one that stood out in his mind
1t was the darkness inclosing wom-
an on a bed He still heard her whis.
but | have no religion but mother.
hood" Before his closed eyes came the
vision of lamp lit then almost an ap-
partion-the face of his daughter. One
life had fed possibly appalled, by the
horrors of world that recks not Of our
poor humanity. Yet there was in the
dead woman's arms child. gro
tesquely asleep. us If unawakened to
the sorrows this mother had known.
Ruth" he cried. There was no an
swer from the still woman In the dark
ness. but thus he had christened his
only child
1t seemed to him as II that echo still
reverberated from the moon washed
hills which marked the site Of 1.-THE
Master Key
II am getting old" he thought as he
turned the pages Of the diary as If un.
consciously counting the years since q
woman had leaned over his shoulder.
Ruth he murmured again.
The problem before him was no
longer dim and vague. as 1t had been
in the days of his prime. but absolutely
distinct and cear-what was to become
of Ruth when he died? With his train.
ed business Intelligence he set himself
to solve this question.
He reviewed in his mind all the men
and women he had known. 1t was a
strange procession. They marched be.
fore his sharpened vision. old partners.
t'esh young girls. mature women. men
with check books In their hands, men
dying of thirst on the desert-and viii.
kerson. He sternly put out of his mind
the thought of his former partner-the
man-was he dead? If he had not died
that night In the gulch. If he were still
alive, knowing the secret of 1.-THE Mas
ter Key" who would save Ruth from
his vengeance2
Then there rose before bis mind the
straight. strong, almost austere figure
of his mining engineer, John Dorr-
youthful, of course. but he had proved
himself wholly competent in almost
every task that had been given him.
The old man thought more deeply.
He recalled his own former years. He
himself had broken down the iron bar
riers of Il cold world for the sake of a
woman whose image Ruth was. He
had seen in John DORIS Oyes the grow
ing flame of love. Long experience
had taught the old man that there ia
no passion so dependable In this world
as love
John Dorr loved Ruth. 1t needed no
monetary bond to assure his fidelity to
her interests. and with the sudden.
swift. alert step Of man who had
MS ilI.li dCNISlOlI Tx NSul Jul VII
the porch and called. John. joint"
Within the interior of the little house
down the hill the engineer Of Thomas
Gallons mine had abandoned his blue
prints to study the letters on little
pennant which represented his first
field within the last ten seconds of
play. he knew better than any one
that his mission to Vale Vista was
futile, Using every resource at his
command. he could find no paying ore
and yet-there was the pennant. the
emblem of victory hard fought and
hard won. Should he give up now
lie heard n clear. stern call from up
the hill-"Iohn. John"
I'm win out yet for Ruth's snke.'
he said as he answered that imperious
cry.
Other ears heard that call. and as
John FASTENED down the hill he saw
Ruth's figure by the side Of the bunga-
low, and as if by the opening Of q
shutter he once more saw the lights OF
Broadway and a table spread witt
linen. two people sitting there-his
evil geniuses.
In this complex and highly organized
civilization of ours no man can be as
sured that at any moment some other
! man possibly thousands Of miles dis
tant is not planning an act whose por
tent would never occur to him.
AT table in New York restaurant
man and woman were sitting with
the words Gallon" "Dorr' and "Wil
kerson' on their lips.
Harry Wilkerson has found Ton
Gallon" she said quietly. II wonder
what will happen?"
:. Her companion laughed. Gallon?
had a college mate named 'Dorr.' who
is working for man named Gallon
somewhere out in the mines"
The woman's dark eyes lit up ant
she seemed more strikingly handsome
MS she allowed her sudden passion tt
food her somber face with color.
There is money In that mine. Georg,
Crane" she said. But this man Dor
y what sort of chap is he? You min