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Just a Xittte leafcoh in flDenbfcpqd
Experienca.and Denouement of two Would-be Knights of th Track
There's a couplo of Jerry's rldln' tho
cushions," rojnarHod,tie, chronic loafer
as tho long wtst-bduntf freight rolled
piwt the dopot, "Pretty woll fixed for
HUmdlng room," ho resumed, after en
gaging the aUen1dn.r6f2tnottavblinK
njan seated on a trarirt nearby, "but If,
old Bdb;-flirdri,em, they'll have to move
out In a hurry."
With a Jerk and a heavy groan of
protest relayed along tho entire body
6f the train from tho ongino to tho
caboose, the big frolght came to a
standstill. Two tanned and tattered
tourists, whose arrival had been al
ready noticed and commented upon by
WJlBohvlllo'B most accomplished loafer,
swung themselves out from between a
couple of box cars and alighted upon
terra Anna, Tholr limbs having been
Btlffpncd as a result of a long and
exhausting ride) they stood for amo
mont unsteadily, watching the splitting
up and switching ovolutlons of tho
freight. Then in jdlonco they turned
away to mako the acquaintance of their
surroundings.
Hoforo them Btretchod the dismal
vista of tho single main street of the
place, baked ln thtf oppressive rays of
a July sun and lined on each side with
houses, that reared to view tho blight
ing and disfiguring ravages inflicted
upon them by time and weather. A
fow stunted cotton woods and poplars
nhnmolessly oxhlblted their scared and
dust-covored foliage in a too palpable
attempt to look respectable. A vora
cious horso-fly with a vacuous feeling
Jn bis dinner division, buzzed noisily.
about,' showing thnfho at least 'did not
rosont tho intrusion of tho newcomors.
Overcoming an Impulso to lie down
In tho road and go to sleep, they wan
dered down tho avenue, uninviting
though the prospect seemed. Stopping
at a small weather-beaten building,
which coiiHti tuted the leading storo and
supply depot of the place, they pur
chased come crackore and cheese. This
cfoire they wandered out Into tho coun
try munching their lunch as they wont,
glad to leave behind these sad evi
dences of human habitation and to
strike the open country. On either
side of the road stood waving fields of
half-grown corn and rustling areas of
-small grain, over whose oven .surface
a slight breeze rustled. Tho grasshop
pers ,woro tremendously active, doing
the high jump In excellent style and
alighting upon the platform afforded by
tho brim of one of the wayfarers' hats,
roostejl there until assisted to depart.
A dyspeptic moadbw-lark disturbed tho
other with plaintive trills and squeaks;
and a cow by the wayside stared mildly
nt them, her Bad and sorrowful counte
nauco proclaiming tho exquisite misery
that oxlstenco was costing nor.
Thus far they had hardly oxchanged
n word of conversation, but plodded
along In somber silence. Near the cor
ner of a soctlon a farm house came
Into view, and the pedestrians crawled
under tho shade of an Indulgent willow
by tho roa,dslde to consult.. Overlook
ing their general conversation for a
fow momenta. It might be well to noto
something of their dimensions, capaci
ties, physlogomy and whatovor "B" or
"T" typos they seemed to posses. Both
were of medium height, square build
and tanned apparently beyond re
demption, ovom boyond the restorative
powers of erosive- cosmetics. - One had-
broivn, curly hair and tho other had
blackt; tho dark eyes of one looked in
to tho green oyos of tho other. Paint
lines of intellectuality and weakened
spirituality were dlscernablo in tho
general mako-up of their features.
From tho stylo of their dress. It would
appear that they had been; given their
choice from a rag-pile and chosen the
worst thoy could find. Hut there was
ad air about them that suggested that
thoy may havo seen; bettor days. At
least It la to bo hoped that they had
not seen worse ones. There was some
thing familiar, too, about the songs
they sang and tho names they men
tioned, but upon this point subsequent
events will throw some light.
A recast of. surroundings. They wore
under a willow tree, not far from a
farm house. Both were hungry, and
oacli desired to be served by the other.
Both were anxious for a hand-out, but
nelthor wished to deprive the. other of
the pleasure of going after it. After
an energetic exchange of compliments
and Blangulstlc appellations, they com
promised by agreeing to go together.
Upon entering the yard they braved
tho defiance of a saffron-colored cue
which owed Its life to tho fact that
everyone wastoo busy to shoot it.
They approached tho door ami knocked.
""We're travelin'.. through . the. counr.
try, and wo'rc plumb out of money,"
explained the one whoso turn it was,
"and we'd like to havo something to
cat"
The good farm wife mechanically
opened tho screen door and admitted
them, at tho same timo vaguely won
dering If there was any bqtUar in the
crock on tho floor of tho pantry. Seat
ing them at the kitchen table, she
rummaged the house In search of frag
ments of by-gone repasts and extract
ed a portion from tho pie for the next
'day's'dintfer. This doncr she delivered
the spoils to the ravonous pirates, who
began tho assault upon them with
vicious energy. The massacre was
suddenly interrupted by the entrance
of the lord of the mansions He glared
so frantically at the visitors that thoy
wondered whethor the guarantee to
llfo, liberty and pursuit of happiness
was really bona fide or noU Tho great
man Bat masticating the tips of his
moustache In silence, whllo within hlB
manly boeom there brewed a storm of
threatening aspect. Finally In some
form of articulatloiv between n grunt
and a grumble, ho muttered;
"Where you fellers from?"
Ono of them hastened to explain:
"We're from Mason City, Iowa, aud
Avo'ro going up to Colorado -where we
expect to work In tho mines."
This explanation seemed too stiff
and formal, aud a suspicious look stole
into the eye of the Interlocutor. Look
ing at them he pursued his inquiries.
"UBter to know some peoplo myself
in those parts," he taJd. "Know the
Adklnsons?"
"Yes, think 1 remember hearing of
them. Don't recollect much about
em."
"Know Bill Tyler?" this with a
meaning glanco at his wife.
"Well, yes.' Saw him frequently."
"What's he doing now?"
-"Elected county treasurer just before
we left."
"Old Bill Tjler! County treasurer?
Why, he was headed for the poor house
when I knowed hlnu
"Mebbo It was another Bill Tyler. '
"Perhaps it was. "How's Tom Web
ster getting along? Is he still active?"
"Yes, he's -got a good start and scllb
groceries by the carload."
"Sells groceries! Good Lord: The
man I knowed was a preacher. Sure
there wesnt another Tom Webster?"
To this question there win no iv
jtal catalepsy, fetarlng helpleeely at him.
MB bad them at their wit's cncLjwnd
oyed theni mercilessly. Thcsn'ouo nerv
ously stblo -a- glance afc-tho other,-something
seemed to pass between them,
and then in splto o themselves they
grinned. That was their Undoing.
Everything was off. For five mlnutes.
straight they rolled and tossed im help
less laughter, chocking themsolves now
and then, only to break loose again
worse than cver -In helpless imbe
cility thoy laughed as if their lives de
fended .upon ho effort Like a (at
man gone dart ovor an ancient ana
time-worn joko, they laughed till they"
could laugh no-more. Finally, recov
ering their reason, thoy awaited de
velopments. Their persecutor was glaring at them
with baleful energy, Misery and jol
lity were never so closely connocted.
Tho suspicion on his face and tho utter
ridiculousness of tho thing had an un
balancing effect. Tho youths felt In
clined to burst forth again, but re
strained thoraBolves.
Not a word did .their persecutor say.
Ha simply sat there looking keen,
sullen and malevolent aH In a bunch.
Tho almosphore was oppressive, bo tho
guesta sought tho outer air. And now
more trouble was yet to come. Trou
ble, red-oyed and ovor vigilant, swooped
down upon them from another quarter,
exulting In the success of his first as
sault They were about to turn the corner
of the house ami dash for liberty, when
as a final and crushing blow their de
nouement was accomplished. They
met a familiar figure the worst that
could happen.
"Why, hello. Jackson! Hello.
Hobbs!" it exclaimed "Whore did you.
blamed guys get that rig? Did you pick
People are sometimes glad to meet
old acquaintances, but little cordiality
was exhibited here. The two masquor
aders felt the present exporience to be
the most humiliating thoy had ever
encountered. Already uey had made a
show of themselves ami hero was more
of It Here was this senseless Dodders
to cap the climax. Doddere the red
topped barb who used to sit in the
back seat and chew tho rag In tho
Math, class. Anyone else would have
done
Not delaying to satisfy tho curious
Mr. Dodders, they pushed past -him
Into tho open country, leaving him
standing there looking witless and sur
prised. They pushed along with accel
erating speed until soveral miles had
been covered. Finally they halted ami
bivouaced under a cottonwood. There
they sat In silence, mopping their heat
od brews. Finally ono spoke:
"Say Hobbs. you make a first-class
hobo, but a blamed poor spieler. Say,
don't you feel like lrlckln' yourself?
Honest now, don't you? That blamed
Dodders! Had to blunder 'round and
3GAR
sponse and for a moment the shrewd
farmer sat eyeing the youths with n
baleful penetrating stare, while the
objects of his attention' shifted uneasi
ly in their chairs, helplebs In fuv-e of
tho storm that they knew must burst.
Finally he started again.
"How's Tom Dodders getting along?"
he asked1 with an expectancy in his
tone" that seemed to solicit a full and
detailed account of him.
"Well, lie's making It out all right,
I guess." was tho reply. "Tom met
with a rather serious accident and "
Tho youth btopped. There was some
thing in the man's face- that startled
him. It actually beamed with malic
ious triumph, as ho raised his fore
finger decisively and addressed tho
wretched youths: s
"Met wth a Borious accident! What
d'you think of that Sally?. Moved
west and sottled on this farm. Terri
ble accident, that! If you don't know
It already, Dodder's ray name, and I
ain't sufferln so bad from my serious
accident but what i can see that you
fellers have been tryln' to codfish mo
all along!"
"Well, maybo it was another Tom"
came In weak tones. V
"Oh. hang It, kid! Ring off!" Inter
rupted tho triumphant Doddere.
"What'B the use. I lived back there a
great many years and knowed all tho
peoplo. And you alnt told a single
thin'1 straight Own up, now; you're
a'braco of flrat-class liars. Ain't that
a fact?"
This was a cruel speech and It did
its work. Completely trapped, the two
youths sat in a state of hopeless raen-
flx us worse than over. What
fellows say If thoy ever hear of tills?
Oh! Holy Moses! Tell you what,
Hobbs. the world's a mighty small
place."
"Nebraska Is, anyhow," assented tho
addressed Hobbs with a Blgh.
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