The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-11-16
THE RED QUILL
BY IZoLA FORESTER.

loss. There only remained a blind
submission to whatever immutable
laws had caused his ruin. For it was
that-ruin utter and complete.
He had put every dollar of his saw
ings into Tate's venture. And it had
been all right, fair and legitimate.
Tate was true to his part of the bar
gain. The government was to take
over the whole thing from him, he
had said. He had letters to prove it.
And suddenly here had come the blow.
The device had been patented 20
years before. Not as Tate had i'm
agined it in it's entirety, but sufficient
to kill the project and send Hollo-
ways ten thousand into thin air.
II wish I were dead,' he kept say
ing to himself doggedly, wretchedly.
Ahead of him, as he turned into the
subway entrance, was girl. The red
quill in her jaunty cap held his atten-
ton. 1t was like the flicker of color
under an orioles wing. He saw it
again on the crowded platform, and
when they got into the express it was
ahead of him. Red was the hue of
courage, he had read somewhere 1t
stood for life and brotherhood, too.
Out of the dumb despair that bound
him, it was the sole thing that held
his attention. At Fourteenth street
he saw youngster get on the train
and join her. Above the roar of the
train their low laughter reached him.
Their voices came to him when he
slipped YEARLY into the cross-section
seat beside them.
I'VE don't need fiat she was
saying. You can do lots in a fur
nished room, if you know how. I'd
rather than wait, joe
Sure" he agreed warmly. about
another month"; what do you say?
Money amt everything"
He squeezed her arm and smiled
down at her. Holloway closed his eyes
against the challenge of their happi-
ness.
And then. as the train slipped into
the first local stop, there came the
crash, the grinding of the brakes and
slowly the smell of smoke. Out of
che sudden darkness and cries around,
the dull sensation of people stamped
ing for the doors, Holloway felt
hand on his shoulder. 1t was the boy
Gould you help me lift her? She's
tainted"
He was striving to hold her, but the
70
and gaunt, sinewy. He lifted the girl
high in his arms and told the boy to
go ahead. The smoke was beginning
to sting his throat and nostrils. Once
he realized he was treading on fallen
bodies. Hands touched him out of the
darkness, tore at his clothes and
gripped his legs, but he went on grim
ly. Inch by inch, step by step. and
gradually one after another followed
him, winding sinuously through the
long train. The front car nosed the
end of the platform behind the stalled
local.
why don't you open that door,"
the boy asked in agony. Laconically
the motorman turned his head.
Whats the matter with you all?"
he demanded banteringly. "Youse kin
only die once"
The boy damned him aside and
pushed the lever that opened the doors.
Step over the rail- he called out
you're all right. Step over the rail-"
He was one Of the first on the mar
row end of the platform. Holloway
handed the girl to him and turned to
help others. They seemed to we'll and
gush forth out of the dark body of
the train, human beings seeking life.
Standing between the train and the
concrete wall, with the third rail in
perilous nearness. he passed them on
from the train to the platform, women
and girls, children and men. They
reached for his hand and he swung
them up to safety. Then came an
other surging wave of dense smoke
and he lost consciousness.
When he opened his eyes he was up
In the fresh air. They had been using
pulmotor on him. AS he opened his
eyes he saw the eager faces of the
crowd and the girl nearest.
"Gee!" gasped boy Some hero,
amt he?"
"All right, now, old man. aren't
you?" asked the ambulance surgeon.
Who's your nearest friend ."
Holloway shook his head The boy
pressed forward his hat on the back
of his head, his arm around the girls
shoulders
Il am he said, eagerly. "Ill look
out for him. The companyll settle
with him for this, but money amt
everything. He can come home with
me-
Holloway looked up at the sky,
dark already with the early winter
night. Its stars were dim beyond the
electric lights. but they were there.
A curious glow embodied him. He
felt a kinship with the crowding
faces. They were his He had saved
them. He was not alone any longer.
Tate and the money loss seemed like
some trivial, PARKWAY memory. Over
him leaned the girl with the red Quill
in her cap. smiling at him joyously.
the girl he had carried in his arms
through the darkness, and behind her
was the boy she loved
The RED quill-red for courage-red
for brotherly love. red for joy of life.
Holloway smiled back at her as they
lifted him tenderly into the ambu-
lance. The world looked mighty
good TO him just then.
Copyright. 1915. by the Mcclure Newspa.