Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1920-02-05
Salvation By Accident.

A needle in the sole Of a foot is
painful, but in the following story,
written by a contributor in the At
lantic Monthly, il brought salvation TO
, man who was very much in need o;
il Parker was "sorehead"-sullen
AZ breakfast, surly at dinner, quarrel
some in the Office, crusty on the street,
a bear at the party, hog on the road
hy in the ointment. His wife was
afraid of him, his chilren were afraid
Of him, his clerks were afraid Of him
He was Crouch"
One night, about two in the morn
inc he rose, grumbling, to fasten a
tapping shutter. On the way to tho
window he emitted a yelp of distress
When they turned on the lights, Park
or was sitting on the floor, Juggling al
something embedded in the sole of his
left foot. Presently he held up half
Of a needle! 1t was evident, they
thought, that the other half had re-
manned in his foot.
The family was drowsily sympathetic,
but confident that the doctor would
find the broken needle in the morning
with a magnet. Parker, however, SLEPT
little during the remainder of tho
night; he feared blood poisoning.
Immediately after breakfast he
sought the family physician, who, af-
ter patient investigation, assured him
that he must have stepped on an al
ready broken needle, for there was no
fragment OF the steel to be found. But
Parker knew that he was carrying in
his body deadly thing that undoubt-
edly had started upon its fatal mis-
sion. He left the Office early that at
tenoon and went home to surprise
Mrs. Parker with display OF more
tenderness than she had observed in
him since their honeymoon, which had
long ago passed into total eclipse Al
dinner he appeared greatly interested
in the conversation Of Bill and Susie
about the high-school party. He
patted Rags, the dog, who surveyed
him for some moments with an ex-
preston of undisguised incredulity
before retiring to the hearth to reflect
upon the relationship Of humanity and
caninity.
All that night Parker lay awake pre-
pairing for the speedy wind-up of his
terrestrial affairs, and at breakfast he
heur;iJarnI ha ahoI -.
cOuraging conversation concerning
other interests than his own At the
sfice curiosity reigned supreme and
unsated. The clerks asked one an
ether what in the world had come over
the old man; and when he went out
for lunch, Parker gave a blind man
quarter and bought War Cry Of
Salvation Army lassie.
The shadow never lifted. Every
night when he went to sleep he babe
himself good-by, for the chances OF
his being alive in the morning were
Just as remote as they would ever be.
But IT was not morbid shadow. 1t
forced him to generate more light.
Sometimes his eyes grew moist and
his throat ached when he reflected
upon the deeply sympathetic under
standing of his wife, who studiously
avoided any reference to the impend-
ing tragedy, and who, in spite of her
secret sorrow, acted up to the situa-
ton in manner heroic.
The fact that Mrs Parker, while
moving the rug in her husbands room
on the Friday morning following the
accident, discovered half a needle
the point driven firmly into the floor
may also have given her courage to
see the terrible thing through with
cheerful resignation.