The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1917-02-03
An Effect Of
A Cyclone
By WILLARD BRAKEMAN

uioi liiS anu was cliteIluS u HOlci
when a man in the doorway looked at
me with u growing expression of as
constituent on his face. | could not
understand why he regarded me thus,
for / did not remember to have ever
seen him before. | passed into the no.
tel. Persons were moving about, one
I ran up against another man, who
looked at me with the same expression
as the man | had met in the doorway.
AS he passed me | turned and looked
back at him and saw him looking back
at me.
Not ten minutes after this a hand
was clapped on my shoulder, and a
voice said:
Jim Donegan, l want you!"
This third surprise was a clew to the
others. Quite likely l resembled a
man who was wanted for crime or per-
haps supposed crime. I certainly never
broke a law in my life.
True enough, both the men who had
looked at me in surprise swore that l
was Jim Donegan, who a few days be-
fore was caught red handed In a rob-
berry, but got away. The only thing
about my case that seemed to puzzle
my accusers was that should openly
show myself in Topeka. But when I
denied that l was Donegan they con
Guided that l was bluffing.
While | was being taken to Jail one
of those Kansas cyclones came up and
cut a swath right through the town,
taking in me and my captor. What
became of him l don't know to this
day. AS for me, l vas blown against
a tree box and chung to 1t till the storm
had passed, which involved only a few
minutes. What especially interested
me was to make good my escape from
those who had mistaken me for some
nj else. / was fearful lest my captor
would get his hands on me again.
Perhaps, considering the damage that
had been lone by the storm, l magni-
fed my own Importance. Nevertheless
I thought of nothing but re-arrest.
Holding to the path of the cyclone, ]
ran like a deer till l came to a house
with a hole in it's side so big that |
could walk right through it. There
was a bed inside that looked very in
viting for a tired man. l was not tired.
but 1t occurred to me that it would be
a good place to hide. So 1 jumped into
bed and covered up, all except my
eyes, resolving that 1 would pretend to
have been killed by the cyclone.
l had not been in bed long before a
pretty girl came in and, seeing me, ran
out crying:
"Who in the world was in bed in the
spare room when the storm Gamer"
A woman, a young fellow about sew
enteen years old and a little girl came
into the room. l lay staring at the
ceiling, pretending to, be dead. 1t
seemed to me that this was the only
way to avoid answering questions as
to how l came to be in bed In a strange
house.
Hes not dead" said the girl who
had discovered me. Don't you see the
color in his cheek?" / concluded that
it would be better to play injured. l
groaned and lowered my eyes to the
group bending over me.
"Where am II" asked.
"How in the world did you come to
be here?" exclaimed the woman in a
tone of amazement.
Don't you remember anything? p ask
ed the girl.
It" remember being taken up by a
wind and landed somewhere, but when
/ stopped / lost consciousness" Then
looking in assumed wonder at the open
side of the house, "Can it be that was
blown through there?'
l asked them if they couldn't cover
up the opening and let me stay there
till l felt able to go somewhere else.
They got blankets and tackled them up
between me and the outside. Then
they asked me what else they could
do for me-. l told them that l would
prefer to be let alone for a time till
could collect my faculties, declaring
that l felt bruised all over. They spg-
gested hat some bones might be brok-
en-, but as this would involve an imme-
date examination | said my bones
were all right. The girl said that
though she could understand how l
might have been blown in at the aper-
ture she couldn't understand how /
could have been blown into bed and
covered up. l said that just before
they had come in l had felt a sensa-
ton of cold and had doubtless pulled
the covers i've me.
do you remember tucking yourself
imp asked the young lady.
1 paid no attention to what vas plain
ly a sarcasm. | was well tucked in,
for l had got under the covers without
throwing them down.
Well, l played safe" long enough
to send for my brother, dreading all
the while that the house would be
searched for me. Had l seer the dam
age that had been done l would not
have feared so much for myself. A
strip of the town several hundred
feet wide had been wrecked and