The Grangeville globe. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho) 1907-1922, 1915-01-07
Enchanted
Stranger
By F. A. mitchell

~ and San Francisco which 10 COM
letely isolated. 1t Is not one of those
pufh mining towns that have been
10 Realistically described by Bret
aarte and his followers, but a quiet,
obar place. with no lighting, no gam
sling. no horse stealing, no lynching.
Ehe only objection to the town-so
aId Miss Virginia Keating- was that
a0thfng ever happened there.
No new invention ever penetrates to
gherryville. There is neither gas nor
slecfricity. the lights used being OH
amps and candles. The fuel used is
rood. Of which there is an abundance
ID the neighboring forests. No shrek
If locomotive or honk of automobile
i beard. Occasionally an OK team
meanders slowly through the town, or
Ebe sound of trotting horse breaks
he stiffness. Nevertheless Cherry
VILE is a stable town. There is one
main street half a mile long, crossed
atright angles by number Of less
lrnportant ones. ~
One day man came into town
whose appearance broke the lethargy
that overhung the place. He was mi
n18 an arm, there was a scar on his
forehead, and number of his teeth
were missing. their disappearance be-
Ing accounted for by hole in his
cheek. He gave his name as Erastus
Clarke. but seemed disinclined to fur
nish any further account Of himself.
III any one asked him about the loss
of his arm or other deficiencies he
looked scared and turned away with
out reply.
Where there Ia no solution OF mys-
terry one is very soon invented. There
was but one opinion in Cherryville
about Mr. Clarke. Some enemy had
mutilated him. Here the main view
OF his case branched. One side felt
sure that he had swindled some one.
the other that he had alienated the af-
xections of a wife from her husband
and that that husband had mauled
him. But never a word Of explana-
ton could be elected from Clarke.
Miss Heating had all the curiosity
that is usually attributed by unterri-
f1ed bachelors to her sex and resolved
10 md out the mystery enveloping Mr..
Clarke II she had to marry him to
do 30.
Miss Heating on walking down the
main street of Cherryville behind Mr..
Clarke noticed that when he came
10 cross street he would stop. look
to the right and then to the left be-
fore crossing. This he repeated at
Bvery street. Miss Heating. being a
true investigator. did not make up her
ufnd definitely as to the cause OF his
doing this. but she naturally assign
ia a to the fact that he was on the
watch for an enemy. She made a
mantal memorandum of the fact. but,
realizing that Clarke would not ex-
plain the matter, refrained from ask
Inn him to do so until she had pre-
pared the way.
However, reticence was not one of
Miss Keating's traits. and she talked
about this popularity of Mr.. Clarke's.
From that time whenever he was seen
on the street he was followed at a
distance by curious persons who were
anxious to be on hand to see the fight.
for they were now sure that Clarke
had come to Cherryville to escape an
enemy and was expecting that enemy
to appear at any time to batter him
some more.
Miss Heating made but poor success
in getting up an affair Of the heart be-
tween herself and Mr.. Clarke. The
trouble was that he seemed to have
had the spirit Of a man knocked out
Of him. She smiled on him sympathet-
scaiiy. but could not for long draw
him away from the dread Of that mys-
terious something for which he seemed
TO be looking.
One day she met Mr.. Clarke In a
store, and they walked out on to the
street together Suddenly from the
other end of the town there came the
honk of an automobile, the first that
had ever been heard In Cherryville.
Mr.. Clarke trembled and turned pale.
THE honk was repeated nearer and
louder. Mr.. Clarke ran back into the
store. Miss Heating followed him and
found him crouching behind counter.
s.Has it gone?' he gasped.
aGone? What gomez"
sThe auto"
Miss Heating looked at him wonder.
ingly; then beam Of light burst in
upon her. do you mean to say that
all this terror has been caused by an
automobile?' she asked.
Mr.. Clarke. stiftened by the contemp-
fuous look she gave him, came out
from hiding and confessed.
Il came from a large city. where
there are thousands Of autos. never
rode In one myself, so was not injur-
cd that way My only hope was not to
get killed while crossing street. Once
! was knocked down. Ny arm was
crushed. and 1t was amputated A
second time ] received this scar on
~.