T H E TORCH OF REASON, SIL V E R T O N , OREGON, D E C E M B E R , 1, 1898.
fling myself under the wheels of the with pink blossoms, the other, like and gentle eyes would surely un
express!” he m uttered to him self a bride, all decked in while,
nerve him.
BY MARY E. BRUSH.
as the roar of an approaching train
In the stillness, the waters of the
Nearer and nearer he crept, now
J fell on his ears. “ If th e worst creek sounded louder th an ever, and then, in his trepidation, h it
1 was a subjtct of wonder to comes I can kill myself anyhow ,” and farth er down, where a stretch ting the iron rails with a m etallic
many why Hugh Rushton
added, with a grim smile, as he of meadow land bordered the bank,
clang; but the babbling waters
h ad so far descended th e so took his signal lantern
and went a whole orchestra of frogs was dole- drowned his footsteps.
cial ladder as to become a mere
out.
fully croaking, while from out the
Ju st as his trem bling han d s were
ticket a g e rt at a little wayside s ta
The express stopped a m inute or shadows of the woods came the raided to do the dastard ly act, two
tion.
two to take on four or five pack- m elancholy call of the night bird, sounds in terru p ted him.
He was of excellent family. His ages lying on a truck beside the
W rapping her shaw l about her,
“ M amma, m am m a!”
father had been judge, and his
track, and as the conductor was the lady hurried along, as if bv her
“ Oo— oo— oo!” the w histle of an
grandfather a member of congress.
idly w atching these hoisted into rapid motion to wear aw ay the approaching train .
W hether they had been good men
the car, there alighted, unknow n to dreary, nervous suspense,
Both R ushton and the lady tu rn
is quite another thing.
him , from the rear of the train , a
Inside the station, dim ly lighted ed. There, on the o th er track at
We think of bequeathing lands
lady and a four year old child.
by a sm oky lam p, sat H ugh Rush- the end of the bridge, stood the lit
and money to our children, and too
A sh arp whistle, a snort, a puff, ton, his head on his hand as he tle child, who had probably aw ak
often forget, alas! the lawful in h er
and aw ay went the train up the peered carelessly out a t the slight, ened and come out to search for
itance we generally leave them —
shining track.
swift moving figure.
her parent. She stood there sm il
the stam p of ourselves, what we
The lady, who had alighted,
“ Gad! How worried she is over ing, her little arm s outstretched.
m en tally , m orally and physically
gazed around her in a bewildered a trifle!” he m u tte red coutem ptu-
But, Oh, m ercy! behind her, just
are!
m anner, and then approaching ously. “ W hat has she ever known tu rn in g the curve, was the round,
H ugh was barely th irty , yet he
R ushton, said in a nervous, trem u of an x iety in her d a in tily cared for lurid light of an approaching en
had squandered all his money—
life? A little stupid m istake, re gine!
lous tone:
sown acres of “ wild o ats”—and
“ This is Brunswick, I believe—is sulting in the slight annoyance of
A h alf m inute more and the
now the reaping was at hand.
it not?”
a few hours’ delay, quite upsets childish head, with its wealth of
On a certain April evening he
“ No, m adam .” he replied, rem ov her. She makes as much fuss over golden locks, the fair and delicate
sat alone at the window of his lit
ing his cap, with the breeding of a it as if the whole w orld’s happiness body, arrayed in its d ain ty finery
tle office. N ature generally gives
gentlem an. “ I fear you have made were at stake. W hat does she of white and blue, would be lying
balm to aching hearts, rarely
a m istake. Brunswick is farther know of misery, or wretchedness, crushed and mangled!
though to the pangs of a guilty
on. T his is D n n n ’s Creek. Doubt- or tem p tatio n ? Y oung, pretty, be-
“ My baby! Save h er!” was the
conscience; and the peaceful view’
less the sim ilarity in the sound of loved—and rich, too, for when she m o th er’s frantic shriek.
upon which R ushton gazed was no
the two nam es deceived you.”
spoke of hiring a carriage to B runs-
Ah, where was H ugh R u sh to n ’s
more to him th an the faded scenes
“ Yes, yes, th a t was it. I surely i wick, she took out her purse, and I m urderous thought th en ? Gone,
of a show.
thought the brakem an called out saw th a t it was filled with bills— like the ugly black bat of night!
T he sun had set a h alf hour be
Brunswick. W hat shall I do? I ay, more than one fifty am ong The divine spark of m anhood in
fore, and the tops of the d istan t
ought to reach Brunswick tonight, them! She will------”
him had not been entirely quench
bills were changing from rose and
My husband expects me. H e’ll be
R ushton suddenly paused,
ed!
gold to am ethyst and deep purple.
so worried. W hen will the next
At th a t in sta n t a thought cam e
W ith one bound he reached the
Shadows began to creep across the
* 1 »• * J a
— train come? Or, perhaps I cAn go into his inflam ed b rain —a wicked, child, grasped her in one strong
n earer meadows, green, fresh, and
the sooner with a carriage. P ray ugly, m urderous thought,
arm , and with the o th er swung
with the tain t odors of spring ris
tell rue is there an y conveyance?”
H e started from his chair. I t him self and his burden around on
ing from them . A little east of
“ No, m adam , this is only a little fall over with a crash. R ushton one of the projecting beams of the
the w eatherbeaten station a creek
way station. The people who get turned toward the door, and stood bridge, and, by strenuous efforts,
came h u rrying down from a cleft in
on the cars here are m ostly farm ers with his hand on the knob irreso kept steady bold there u n til the
the hills, the foamy, w hirling wa
Besides, lutely. Should he do this?
train went th u n d erin g by.
ters full of p etu lan t m urynurings, from up the country.
The lady was alone. No one had
Brunswick
is
tw
enty
miles
from
Then, with one agile bound, be
as if angry th at they had been
here, and you could get there soon- observed her alight from the cars, gained solid footing again, and soon
spanned by an audacious bridge,
est by w aiting for the next train , H er ticket had been m arked B runs placed the child in the arm s of her
over which ran the shining tracks
due at eleven this evening. It is wick. Who, then, would look for trem bling and half fainting m other.
of the railroad.
quite cool out. I ’ll m ake a fire in her a t an o th er place? She had
T his was H ugh B u sh to n 's deed!
Tall, dark w’oods one side, a bor
the ladies’ room, m adam , and try m oney with her.
G iddy with the m ental and phys
der of rocks and boulders on the
and m ake you as com fortable as I
He, H ugh R u sh tcn , was in dire ical strain , lie turned away, u n
other, made the place picturesque,
can.”
distress. R uin stared him in the m indful of the lad y ’s tearful excla
indeed, but no less gloomy.
D am p airs from the creek crept face. To avert it, money m ust be m ation of gratitude, and went hack
A robin lighted on the telegraph
to his little office. H e staggered to
wires and sat there, sw aying to and up and a (h illin g wind from the h ad — money at any price,
The sw eat stood in beaded drops a chair and sat down, burying his
fro, trillin g out his song, quite u n hill swept down, so th at the fire in
conscious of the messages of joy or the round, pot-bellied stove was de- upon the m an’s forehead. The face in his hands, w hile scalding
hand tu rn in g the door knob trem - drops trickled through his fir.gers.
sorrow th a t might be flying beneath cidedly comfortable.
W hen, however, the little stove, bled as with ague.
‘‘S ir,” said a gentle voice a t the
bis feet.
like
a
short,
stout
m
an
of
choleric
IIe
opened
the
door
and
went
little ticket window, “ sir, money
T he b ird ’s ringing carol brought
.. .»v.,
.^ p O B d to n began to grow red with i out> wa)ki
i<n down t|)e can never repay you for your brave
no smile to H u g ..................
h ’s gloomy
face.
haunted by a h o rri-l" * ‘a , ’ 1‘e ' a ily , fe"
° f ,he beaten p ath le a d in g to the track. act, but let me show m y g ratitu d e
H e was ever
consciousness th
th a a t t f i , , °°, opP,eb8l' e-
P ,c ln i “ T here, a few rods from him , stood a t least by begging you to take
ble fear and the B consciousness
folded shaw l as a pillow beneath the Jadv
th is,” and, with pleading eyes, she
he was on the eve of sorrow and
the head of her little girl, who had
sham e, and th a t perhaps a prison
She was on the bridge, leaning held out her well filled purse.
fallen asleep on one of the seats,
He knew th a t the crisp, clean
cell threatened him.
over th e low railing, and peering
she opened the door and went out.
into the foam flecked water below. bills she offered would bring him
A few weeks previous, when ca
The night was light and clear.
release from disgrace—still, the aw
rousing - with several dissolute
corn- i J u s t above the purple rim of the
One little * push—
------ ------
— the w
— hirling
....... ° wa-
— ful th o u g h t of how he purposed
panions, he had gambled aw ay not hills hung the moon, its silver cres- ter8 and s h a rP» jagged rocks would
getting possession of those sam e
only his own earnings, but a ls o o n e ;Cen t reflected in the w aters of the do the re s t
hundred dollars of the railroad ]creek. T he brown boughs of the
T h at
was
H ugh
R u sh to n ’s bills made his face flush with
sham e, and he drew back, saying
com pany, whose agent he was. To ma ¡des and the red and yellow th o u g h t
kindly:
day the new superintendent had wands of the willows were begin
\\ ith livid face, red, inflamed
“ No, dear lady, I cau not accept
unexpectedly sent word th a t he ning to be wrapped in a fringe of eyes, and lips parted, revealing the
them . Y et I th an k you for your
was coming to settle up accounts, tender green foliage, while 'a t the clenched teeth, R ushton crept soft
kindness and — Oh, there come6
Exposure and disgrace were inevit- rear of the depot, which had also ly behind her.
your train . Let m e assist you and
able
been the home.of the foim er ag e n t,' Oh, how he hoped she w ouldn’t little missy here.”
ve half a m ind to go out and stood two apple trees—one, rosy ( turn! One look from the fair facet
Soon the train bore aw ay the
A T h o u g h t and a Deed.
I