The Washington herald., 1921-10-23
ROAD CLOSED: DETOUR
.Ttoenty-FiUe Thousand s
Dollars, a Hero and Four
Spoopins HauDks.

StDooping HolDks.
1T tire. o'clock on q certain Saturday
~ afternoon-a balmy day in early
-: IA spring-a ysuns man Of the name OF
- Elmer ouayIs stood bareheaded on the teps
most step Of the city hall in River City. His
r.neral appearance was that OF man who
DAD been thoroughly through the mill. One
arm vas bound across his breast. He had
no eyebrows. His hair had been cropped very
close, revealing to the public gaze q white.
well shapen poll. He was about twentyeight
y.srs old. q medium height and weight
save fer his broad sheuldsrH, he was slender.
= He wssxhs4. sRipped. not more. perhaps,
than q hundred and nfty pounds. II was .
nsc.sarx part Of his prsfssziOn- for he had
ons that he Be sf athletic tendency and
build. wseks before he had been psssably
good locking chap. Weeks later he would
enes more come into his own
He Etsod erect and straight, but painfully
.unharrassed, upon the topmost step. In
trent him thsrs stretched knock-dow9
lf6kA8E kAHsn-a small AFFAIR." WITH
door surface ten by tsn. Elmer ouayls was
not the whole show here by any means.
There was somsthisg else that made this
particular occasion INVARIABLY unique and
eur1oqA There was . mysterious, misshapen
object resting In the middle Of this platform
an object hidden and concealed Over this
object N American dag had been thrown.
sral Boy h ths secret knew wer what was
:. kssraSpsrhsps. But thsy couldn't see what
AND NEST Of the people !Atdn11
- kn0WHe4TsS< ~ =
N. Hsnorabls Sam oliver, River county-s
rental, popular, and eloquent prosecutor Of
the pleas. delivered the presentation speech.
He was nsyer ttresoms- In this case he was
brtsf and to the point With . final toss Of
his hnky hair Sam Oliver reached his perora-
den-hs Numbered out his climax. Dramatl'
osIiy he motionsd to . dozen little boys and
EirA- 5cramhling eagerly across the plat
form. they drsw away the nag. The crowd
, sHFRs4 forward to catch the better glimpse
r. sGNhat jar there revealed. x,,y ~
n charlottesville Sam Oliver turned 20 the
handaged youth beside him
TO JOG, young Elmer ouayie,' he cried,
this hard earned heap q coin"
II was heap Of coln-a heap Of bills and
sosn- Pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters,
halves, silver dellars, dollar bills, twos fivea.
tens, and 10 on mp 70 nf1es. Clean money.
soIIsd money, thrown intSsa heap. Much
money-twentydve thousand dollars by 40
taal count Twenty-Five thousand dollars in
FOOD Amsrtcan eurency. And all for Elmer
va ,.S~S i
~, <TAs .zssnes was intense. Then. ~, in o.
nash, three dtminutive cheer leaders sprang
TO the platform, raised their voices IN sharp,
metallic treble, and swung and svayed, and
hunE their bodies to the four corners of the
wind shrfn voices respondsd-young voices.
Young voices were in the majority, young
eyes gIistened, young bodies<thousands Of
them-palpitated and pulsated In that crowd
For the gift was the gift OF the school chill
d1en Of River City to Elmer Quayle. the for
"a lerp Soupg hero standing there on the top
/. stsR q, the city hall yj-.
II was the idea Of the school childrsn, this
? 2 Etftr-Sl- Idea born and nurtured in their
schools In secret they had made their
preparations for tribute to their hero-for
more than month they had busted them
selves about the great drive Of their young
lives. It was their own personal drive for
their own personal idol. They had pestered
the Life out Of River City business men-but
with grave cautions to their contributors not
70 tell Elmer. ouayle. nor any Of his family,
nor any OF his friends about It. Elmer
Quayie was not to know.
IN They A8d, indeed. intended great things. At
ne start they had thought Of buying Elmer
g. pvayleS . twenty-five thousand dollar house
70 live In They had thought Of having built
tor him Q twenty-five thousand dollar auto
mobile They bad considered fitting up for
him . twenty-five thousand dollar sporting
goods store, where they could all rush In and
spend much money all the time. Many of
than had thought Of many meritorious
thingh TIE inevitable result was clamor,
internecine strife. And then from the very
midst Of these warning elements there rose
"a gpeat kiptns, . spendthrtft, Q very hunien
spsRahrN He opinsd that II. he wers Elmer.
. ouayJe he'd rather have the money. His
chance remark was recognised a. q lash Of
inspiration. Every youthful donor. every
collector and dispenser Of small coin,
searched his own conscience and found there
the naked truth He would rather have the
money too. And then . young High School
,idealist-her soul attuns with poesy-undsr-
took to snnools this idea She capped the
climax.
., tTAs nonsy-tust a. IT comes tn,- she
Ard thsrs It was It lay in front Of Elmer
auayie warm with the pressure Of their
youthful hands o.
Elmer Quayle glanced nervously about
him. The crowd was not all composed of
children There were adults a-plenty. His
own friends were there; others. Idlers en-
thusiaste, hero worshipers. School teachers;
Of COURSE There was one school teacher IN
particular In whose direction Elmer 0uayIe
- glanced from time to time--slancedS as .
- rrtan N deep trouble glancss toward his.
: frfshd wisp Of q girl, this, younger than
he-a gir with wistful, wtnsome eyes She
vas marked ngure, too. For al about her,