Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-08-12

vi, n valuable ruby ring to the cap
,s;r. and goes ashore toith a tetiop-
..,r c'er do pell named Coast.
rroa., ,rnuts him TO join him in an
.Srs,ture against the lao. but ne
yy.st,,s For f,co months ne played
~ hord Ipck and then gets a job as
H.,s,trv espert at the country resi-
I..ce Of Jonathan X Mcclure. and
=. ,toyfs on his journey. He Is not
s.,iuo pery chipper. He is think.
L. NJ The last days, In Russia and
W w friends killed before his eyes.
AND HEEE 1T CONTINUES
pETER NICHOLS Strengthened and
I passed a hand across his damp fore
had. Through the perspective os this
uodern civilization what had been pass
~, before his vision seemed very vague,
very distant, but he knew that 1t was
MT a dream.
All about him was life, progress. in
aostry. hope-a nation in the making,
nroud of her brief history which had
Noon built around an ideal. II he could
hrl,r this same ideal back TO Russia
7, HI. heart he thanked God for Amer =
,a-imperfect though she was, and
n,dp a vow that in the task he had set
tor himself he should not be found
wanting.
Twice he changed trains, the second
Hme at q small junction amid an ugli-
ness Of clay-pits and brickyarls and
aust and heat. There were perhaps
twenty people on the platform. He
Salked the length of the station and
4. he did so man in gray suit
d,,appeared around the corner Of the
building. But Peter Nichols did not
me him. and in a moment, seated in
his new train in wooden car, which
reminded him Of some of the ancient
Moscow Railroad, he was taken halt
irgly and noisily along the last stage
Of his journey.
with a wheeze Of steam and a loud
cracking of woodwork and creaking of
brakes the train came to n stop and
the conductor shouted the name Of the
station Rather stiffly the traveller de-
eended with his bag and stood upon
the small platform looking about him
turiously. The baggage man tossed out
q bundle Of newspapers and a pouch
Of mail and the train moved off. APP
parently, Peter Nichols was the only
passenger with Pickerel River as a des-
tination.
The station was small, of but one
room and n tiny Office containing, as
he could see, a telegraph instrument,
broken chair with leather cushion,
a shelf and rack containing few
soiled slips of paper, but the Office
had no occupant and the door was
locked. This perhaps explained the abb
sence Of the automobile which Mr.. Shell
don had informed him would meet him
in obedience to his telegram announcing
the hour of his arrival. Neither within
the building nor without was there any
person or animate thing in sight, ex-
cept some small birds futtering and
quarreling along the telegraph wires.
There was but one road, a sandy one.
wearing marks of travel, which emerged
from the scrub oak and pine and def
nitely concluded at the railroad track.
This, then, was his direction, and after
reassuring himself that there was no
other means of egress, he took up his
black suitcase and set forth into the
wood, aware of a sense of beCkoning
adventure. The road wound in and out,
up and down, over what at one time
must have been the floor of the ocean,
which could not be far distant. Had
It not been for the weight of his bag
| Peter would bnva tnunI he
ence OF this complete isolation, the fra
grant silences broken only by the whis-
per OF the leaves and the scurrying Of
tiny wild things among the dead tree
branches. But he had no means of
knowing how far he would have to
ifa'el or whether, indeed. there had not |
been some mistake on Sheldon seniors
part or his own. But the directions had |
been quite clear and the road must. of !
course, lead somewhere-to some village
or settlement at least where he could
get lodging for the night.
And so he trudged on through the
woods which already seemed to be par
taking OF some Of the mystery which
surrounded the person Of Jonathan X.
McGuire. The whole incident had been
unusual and the more interesting be-
cause OF the strange character of his
employer and the evident fear he had of
some latent evil which threatened him.
but Peter Nichols had accepted his
commission with a sense of profound
rehet at escaping the other fate that
awaited him, with scarcely thought
OF the dangers which his acceptance
might entail. He was not easily fright
ehed and had welcomed the new adyen-
.gre, dlsmissing the fears of Jonathan
A. McEulre us imaginary, the emana-
"Cns OF age or an uneasy conscience.
put as he went on, his bag became
|leaWer and the perspiration poured
|.VWn MS face, so reaching a cross path
.nat seemed to show signs of recent
uaVe he put the suitcase down and sat
W u while he wiped his brow. The
SHADOWS were growing longer. He was
pslnning to believe that there was
10 such place us Black Rock, no such
Hsoa as Jonathan X. McGuire and
,sat Seldom, Senior. and Sheldon, Ju-
NOR were engaged in conspiracy
asainst his peace of mind, when above
|,ne now familiar whisperings of the
io'est he heard a new sound. Family
y came at first as though from q great
distance, mingling with the murmur of
voice singing. ~ '''' {
~ seemed a child's voice-delicate, s
itiear' true. as carefree as the note of a
''rpS-unleashing p it's joy to the heavens,
refer Nichols started up, listening
~ore intently. The sounds were coming
SS,Safer, but he couldn't tell from which
ttairyietion' for every leaf seemed to be
Sai5g .aag up the lovely melody which he
Tu'a near quite clearly now. 1t was an
rr with which he was unfamiliar. but
H. H. hnew sw only that it was elemental in
stsn s simplicity and under these crtum.
anfes Snntt startlingly welcome. He waited
th'Str ths S, long moment, listening, found