THE COURIER
9
The Courier
Published Every Saturday
Entered In the Postofflce at Lincoln aa second
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- STORIES -
The Brown Silk Tastcl
Uy Mrs. McKillip, for The Courier.
It was the night before Christmas
and I was waiting in the station at
AR.awiins, a little town about an hour's
ride from the city, for the express. I
had worked the town very successfully
for the dry-goods linn for which I
traveled. With my memorandum book
full of orders I was in a Christmas
frame of mind. My baggage was
checked and to while away the time
before the five-thirty train came In 1
read the following letter:
"Dear Ned: Do not fail us Christ
mas eve. for we are ail to meet at
your home and have an old-fashioned
family gathering. Your father and
mother are happy because all their
children are to be together again under
the parental roof. Your brother will
be there from college and your sister
Daisy with all of her family. The baby
and T will go over in the afternoon and
if your train does not arrive on time
"you are to go directly to your father's
house. Your mother told me to write
you that she will not have dinner un
til eight o'clock so as to make more
sure of your sitting down to the table
with all the rest. Then after dinner the
Christmas tree in the back parlor will
be lighted up. Grandfather gave baby
a quarter to buy you a present and it
took the little fellow two days to de
cide what to buy for "Father." At
last he bought a woolly horse. He
keeps it in a barn made of a paste
board box. in a corner of the sitting
room, and he leads it by a string halter
to water twenty times a day.
"Now, Ned, come home as soon as
you can. With love from the baby and
his mother. NELLIE."
The letter brought a vivid picture of
the homestead and of all my "folks"
gathered around the big grate in the
sitting room, with the Christmas tree
shut into the darkness of the front
room, and all the children with their
eyes at the crack between the folding
doors, trying to catch a glimpse of the
mysterious tree, the tree that had a
woolly horse tied to the topmost twig
for me.
Suddenly the piercing shriek of the
danger signal, followed by a terrible
;S crash n ml the slssimr of escaping
4 steam broke into my reverie and sent
me bounding out onto the platform
where I fully expected to see the en
gine and cars piled up in one heap.
Hut it was a scene of twilight peace.
The horses hitched to the waiting
hacks were dozing. The sounds of the
little town came faintly to my ears. A
log barked far away and everything
was undisturbed. lp and down the
track nothing was in sight but a dead
train of freights on a siding. In the
baggage room the men were busy sort
ing out the trunks to go on the coming
train.
"Didn't you hear a whistle just now?"
I asked the baggage-master. "No," he
said, "the express is twenty minutes
late. It'll not be here for half ah
hour." I thought to myself that I had
just dreamed the most vivid dream of
my life. Then my eyes fell on my own
baggage. It was battered and bent.
The Iron bands to my sample cases
were twisted and wrenched out ot
shape, and my large zinc trunk hail a
hole in the side which looked as though
It had been used as a testing target
for a Gathmin gun. From t 'i"'e ii
its side a brown silk tassel protruded.
As soon as I bent over to examine It.
"the hole disappeared' and the Iron
bands to the sample cases straightened
themselves as quickly as a schoolboy
in mischief assumes the attitude of de
portment when he finds that the eyes
of tlie teacher are sternly fastened
upon him. I rubbed my eyes and took
a turn around the depot only to have
the same phenomena repeated when I
returned. This time I walked cautious
ly up to within a distance of four feet
in order to catch the baggage un
awares. As I backed away from it the
hole In the trunk reappeared and
there was the brown silk tassel again
and the battered sample cases. I con
cluded that I was either drunk or
dreaming, and If the former" it was a
distant after-effect, for I swore off
many months before this occasion.
Then a friendly hand was on my
shoulder and I was whirled about to
gaze into the wholesome face of Bob
Hayes who traveled for another house.
"Hello! old man." he said. "Going
home to hang up your stocking?"
"Yes," I answered, "are you?"
"Sure. I can't miss Santa Claus." he
said. "But how are you anyway? I
have not seen you for a coon's age."
"O. I am all right." I said. "Business
has never been better. How do you
stack up?"
We took several turns up and down
the platform and I edged him over to
the baggage room and asked him if
my baggage looked battered and brok
en. Bob looked at it carelessly ami
said my trunk and sample cases looked
a little the worse for wear but no
worse than any other cases this time
of the year. I asked him if he could
not see the hole in the trunk and the
pathetic brown silk tael. H 'ooked
at me as a man sometimes looks at a
respected friend whom for the first
time he suspects is the worse for a
drink of whiskey. He said again that
my baggage was "all right" and that if
he did not know me so well he should
think I had been drinking. Then he
gave me a cigar, lighted one himself
and fell to studying me as men study
friends whom they suspect of abera
tions. Bob tried to conceal his suspi
cions of me by praising the cigar he
had given me. He said it was givn
him by a fussy old nabob who had his
cigars made to order for a fabulous
price.
As we strolled up and down the plat
form Bob told me about the presents
he had bought for his mother and sis
ters. "And this year." he said. "I have
bought a diamond ring for the sweet
est girl." and he tapped his breast.
"Confound that old lumber wagon,
why does it not come along?" said my
friend. "We shall both be late for
those who wait. T have an engagement
at nine o'clock and here it is ten min
utes to six."
A whistle announced the belated ex
press, as he spoke. We walked to the
edge of the platform to watch the en
gine round the curve. We stood in the
glare of the headlight. The spell was
upon me again for the glittering lamp
was a death's head and grinned hor
ribly. Bob swung himself aboard and called
to me to come on. "Bob." I called,
"don't go on that train tonight. There's
something wrong. Anyway I am not
going." "Are you crazy? Get on board
quick or you'll get left. This is not an
accommodation train and you will have
to hurry. Jump on. you lunatic!"
shouted Bob. but I turned toward the
waiting room as the train pulled out.
Then the reaction set in and I called
myself a chump who did not know
enough to get on his train when it
came in. I thought of my wife and
boy and mother who were holding the
merrymaking and the impatient chil
dren back in order that I might "share
it. Of the dinner spoiling an hour ov
erdone while a silly mother's son
waited and let his train go by because
he was afraid of the cars.
The station agent smiled when I
asked him what time the next train
went, supposing that I had missed the
train in t'le usual way A local train
passed in half an hour and as I
v. tflf 1 i' fcn-l-is ro ' 1 1
grinned at me. I got aboard, and as I
took my seat In a real self-disgust I
reckoned that I should still be on time
for my mother's dinner. I knew she
would wait till the last minute for me.
As we drew Into a small village I
noticed an unusual bustle on the plat
form. As I Jumped off I heard the
word "horrible wreck, terrible loss of
life." Sick with apprehension. I
learned that on account of a train
dispatcher's blunder the express had
collided with an extra. Just a few miles
the other side of the village.
The local had orders to pro eed
slow ly to the place of lisaster where
the passengers would be transferred to
a special sent out from the city.
When we got to the wreck I looked
for Bob among the survivors who were
be'plng to carry the wounded and tit
dead from the burning smoking mass
of wood and iron: amog the wounded
who were temporarily sheltered near
But my search was f-ultless and 1
sought the place where they had laid
the dead.
There under the light of a tlarlng
torch, I found him. The merry eyes
were shut forever, and the fine, strong
young body was crushed to shnpeless
ness. His frank, manly face was un
scarred. As I stiod looking down on
the body of my friend. I asked myself
what force had disarranged my vision
and my hearing so C-nt I saw the
mask of death In place of the head
light and heard before it happened the
crash that would kill my friend. I
gave the ollicials Bob's address that his
body might be carried into the home
where they were waiting for him with
quips and cranks and mirthful wiles.
the echo of his own happy temperament.
It was half-past eight when the little
house-maid answered my ring, and I
entered the dining room where dinner
was half over. A faint, strange feeling
came over me as wife, mother, father,
brother, and sister rustled to greet me.
and over all the shrill voice of my little
son called a welcome. He .lodged un
der the elbows of the grown-up people
and shouted "Fathr. I buyed you u
woolly horse and it Is tied to the top of
the Christinas tree." Then I bowed my
head over the yellow curls and the
tears rolled ovei them. I would not
tell them anything to mar their pleas
ure, merely explaining my tardiness by
saving that I came In on a local and
the local was late.
The next day I went to the union
station to claim my trunks. They had
a familiar look. They were battered
and bent, the Iron bands of my sample
cases were twisted and wrenched nut
of shape and a brown silk tassel hung
out of a nigged dole in the zinc trunk.
Anil this time as I bent over the trunk
I could feel the silken fibres of the tas
sel with my hand.
I am not a man who is easily In
fluenced. I do not alwnys take advice
even when I know It Is good; my wife
will corroborate that. Even the em
phatic commands of the donor of the
woolly horse are not always obeyed.
But since the wreck I do not disregard
the admonitions of my psychic self.
7e 7f .-
Brothers
hTatherlne Melick.
The Reverend James Matthlason had
a brother who hail followed the St.
Iawrence to the sea. while James was
a jockey on the Toronto course. For
twenty-five years the only reminder
of the rover had been the two chromos
I
M
It's the Steady Exercise . . .
That docs the good to your muscles and liuilds up the
wasted tissue. It's the spasmodic excreta- that docs
more harm than good. One day a week in a gymna
sium is a dangerous thing for anybody. Get one of our
Ho m e Tra in ing O tt tfits
Have it where you can use it twice a day, for a few
minutes, and you will be surprised at the .steady gain
in health, and the improvement in your general phys
ical development. Sec us for particulars, circulars, etc.
P. E. ALMOND,
1106 O STREET. LINCOLN', NEB.
Useful Gifts for
Men and Women
Morris Easy Chairs,
Parlor Rockers,
Parlor Cabinet.-,
Ladies' Parlor Desks,
Sideboards,
Chafing Di-he-,
Vends Martin Tables,
Weathered O.ik
Furniture,
Dining Chairs.
Cut Gla-s.
Oriental Rug-..
Fine Chinaware,
Hall Clock-,
Cutlery,
Rattan Furniture.
Fine Lace Curtain-,
China Closet.-,
Mu-ic Cabinet.-.
Hall Trees
Chamber Suit-.
Indies' Dres-ing
Table-.
Colonial and French
Divans
Oriental Pilhms.
Chitfiinier-.
Candelabra,
Carving Sets
Steins
1.1 "" " " -' '
NT I -H'W
1 : M
Ladies' I)e-k- make acceptable
Chri-tma- Gifts. We have one
hundred designs in mahogany,ak.
bird's-eye maple, and birch to se
lect from. Price- run from $.".0o
tosV0.00.
Specieil Sale
Oriental Rugs Navajo Blankets
Indian Portieres,
Parlor Lamps,
Enamel Reds
Oak Hall Scats
Hall Chairs,
India Stool-.
Flemi-h Tapestries,
Parlor Clocks
Library Furniture,
Bedroom Clothes Racks
Carved and Inlaid Jla-
hogany Parlor
Rocker-,
Antique Armor.
Bra-s Bed-,
YVrnis MartinCabinets
Gold and Gilt Chairs.
Leather Couches,
Gentlemen's Desks,
Office Chairs,
Combination Desk
and Bookcases,
Parlor Tables,
Parlor Portieres.
Oriental Hanging
I -imps.
"-" E:;::::; Rudge & Guenzel Co. t;;
26
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