The Washington times., 1920-04-13
,Ofice- to- Home l:' Story
THE TRAMP AND THE PULLMAN.

ing put off oeee. tsol And from
the looks Of this. young msn yen
have been up TO more than stesiinS
a ride. this time" d. f'N.ls 80.
There was a sudden jerk, whIsh
intimated that the train wSS about
TO Increase it's speed. The con-
ductor caught the tramp by the
shoulder. and with "A quick twist
flung him from the train. The pas
senger uttered an angry cry or re-
monstrsnce and tried to stay the
act, but was too late. BY the time
they had passed the gorge, apd 20
the train gathered keadway., they
saw the tramp plunging and stag
gering down a steep embapkwept,
at the bottom OF which he riEhted
himself and waved his hand cheer
fully at the .recedinE train. ~.
Five minutes later the young
man was back In the car. two
seats from the end.Astili daEed and
white. suddenly the door. ~ the
forward opened and a girl, entered,
holding a paper IN her hand. She
came straight to him, -
Robert, what does this Awfyi
thing about you smssp7" she ex-
claimed. Il suppose you have seen
INV pdPNisf
He was heIding to the back of
the seat for support. his f-face
drawn and hagsard. 'r - ~
mo, you needn't show II to me-,
Helen" he answered. u have not
seen the paper, but | know what
II contains. II is true. ! only dts
covered IL myself a few minutss
ago.. / was given my mail as We
left the hotel and slipped " into
my pocket, did not read IL until
I left you, and your, mother AID
came back to the observation car
Just now. IT was all In letter
from my partners" az
The girl looked at him.. her lips
trembling. But she smiled.
II know IL is not tr1e. Robert"
she declared, positively; mot a
word Of 1t. ] have known you aver
since we went to school together
and you are. utterly incapable OF
a thing like that. You have net
read the paper, so you do not 'un-
derstand, Why, Robert her voice
quiveFed with indignation, the pa
per says you stole half million
OF dollars, and from poor people
mostly people whose means Of sup
port II was. It's absurd. fou have
been with US the last three months.
and this has all happened. within
that time"
But don't you see it's. juat the
same, Helen?' he said, gently. Tho
money, was intrusted to me, and /
am the sole one responsible. II I
neglected the trust and allowed my
partner an opportunity to do the
rest. am really the one TO blame"
II say you are not" she inter-
rupted. emphatically. Maybe 1t
was unbusiness-like. and maybe you
are legally responsible-I do not
know about that. But / do know
your are no more guilty than I am.
in the way the paper puts 1t. OF
course you will let every cent Of
your. property so toward paying
those poor people, and IL 1t isn't
enough, we will pay the rest on
Just as fast as we can earn it,"
Helen! Helenm. he, demonstrated
sharply, you must not talk like
that You do not understand. We
cannot be married now. Why; dear,
I may be arrested" i = -
All the more need your will have
for my help, then" she replied
calmly. Tf / am to be a helpmeet.
there never will be more occasion
for 1t than now. We will be mar
ried just as soon as we reach Gin
cinnati, just as we planned, and
then we will work together to live
this thing down. Why, Robert"
For the young mans head had
suddenly dropped to the back Of the
seat, and his shoulders were heav-
ing convulsively. She sank to the
scat beside him, slipping one of her
hands into his, and stroking it
softly until he should regain con-
troll Of himself.
And miles behind them on the
track sat tramp. waiting for
slow freight.