1 II
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$1,00 a Yr, la Advance. ' FOR GOD, FOR COUNTRY, AND FOR TRUTH.'? u D -;.r- Single Copy, 5 Ctnt.
. ; '' - - , ; ' - ) u ul -
VOL, XV. .; PLYMOUTH. 'N, C., FRIDAYS JANUARY 14, 1905. NO. 43
THE
Vh'a common road, with hedges high
Cotfinekon.,either hand,
XVill surely enter by and by
i Some largj luxuriant land.
Thf iitiany wayfarers on foot i
'Hire' toiled from stage to stage,
'And others roll along, the route
With easy equipage.
jll seek, methinfcs, that wide domain
Whereon my thoughts are set. 1
'Press onward? Leave the dusty plain!
Hasten! 'Tis farther yet!
oco
HE 7,45 EXPRESS
. C - --E 1
By FRANCIS CHURCHILL WILLIAMS.
11
C5 'is-v-O'O
XQ&Z WO men were sitting in the
t m )t smking voom of a London
' I O club. One, a tall, athletic
$ A looking fellow, with black
'3TOWr,- hair and clean-cut features,
was tit vvly blowing rings of smoke in
the air as he lay back in the big arm
chair. '
The". fttUefman, slight and clean sha
ven, with a "dngularly mobile face and
twinkling gray eyes, was looking over
a daily paper. Between them was a
tfmall table, furnished with a couple of
stands of club soda and a decanter,
iwhich gave signs of having been welt
used.
"Gerald," said the small man all at
once, dropping the paper into his lap,
-.vliat do you think of train robbers?"
The tall man looked up in lazy sur
prise. "Toppy Russel," he drawled,
"now, what in the name of all that's
wonderful ever put such a question as
that into your head?"
'The paper," explained the other;
and seriously I ask you, what do you
think of train robbers?"
"And just as seriously I reply," re
turned the tall man, "that I think the
fellows who .strip you of your watch
. and valuables and depart with . youir
J!adstone or portmanteau are clumsy
rogues at the best. And the people
they robwell, they're a shade less ad
mirable; for in every case I have heard
of they appear to have acted like cow
ards or fools, and a rogue's always
referable to either of these, to my
Knlnd. And now that you have my can
did and-, doubtless, authoritative, opin
ion on train robbers, please finish, that
soda and try one of these cigars; they
.are worth trying, if .1 say it myself."
Jnly one more question," said Rus-s&f-ns
he took the proffered weed.
"You laugh at the way railway travel
ers act in these little affairs. Now,
. Iiow would you act? Suppose a fellow
jivore suddenly to put a pistol to your
cheek and insinuate a desire for your
iwateh! No one is near. You are alone
:in the carriage. What would you do?"
"J'dTitiock the pistol out of his hand,
svhile pretending to comply witb bis de
tnand, and throw, him out the window
.sifter it," .V ' ' "
Caruthers said this quietly and de
' terminedly, and Rnssel knew him too
Ttvcll to "suspect braggadocio, so he only.
laughed ligbtly at his companion's em
phatic reply and proceeded to envelop
.Iiiinself in cloudj of smoke.
"Well," said the tall man, lookiug at
:1ns. watch and starting up, "I must be
EOing. The express starts at 7.45 and
I've to stop,' at a couple of places be
jfore making the station." And he rang
,for his bag and overcoat.
' "Now, Gex-ald Caruthers," said his
-companion as Gerald was being helped
Into his coat, "remember what you
fcave told me. If I bear of any attempt
.h .train robbery'on the 7.45 express I
i,.vill not write to you, but shall at once
liaVe the track examined and the body
..of the robber discovered and interred.
I ptiipposo you will be willing to do that
U3inh for your victim, won't you?" ;
; h,- certainly," laughed Caruthers.
and the next moment he had wrung
missel's hand and had gone.
At the station he secured a first-class
ticket and then set about to find, an
empty compartment if possible.
As luck would have it the second
-couch he looked into was unoccupied,
find he quickly stored his portmanteau
away, and, settling himself luxuriously
n t ho corner, uttered a silent prayer
Hint no one would come in to interrupt,
viUi the usual traveler's commonplaces
.and platitudes, the nap he had in pros
pect. -
He lOL-Lv'd at his .watch; only one
ROAD.
And in the end shall great repose
.Descend upon my soul,
W hen a t ! t he eager' journ ey 'a ' close,
I reach the sudden goal. , ' "
Content, enlargement, fragrance,ease,
Joy.in the evening's cool, f
The subtle silence in the trees,
The gleam upon the pool
Dreamer! In vain thou hastenest; ,
That glorious land resign; -Take
by the road thy joy, thy rest;
"'The road, the road is thine!
, -rJ. B. C, in the Pilot. ,
-
minute remaining till 'train time, and
already he beard the doors being
banged to as the guard went his
rounds. ' :
And then then, just as he was put
ting his watch back into his pocket
with a breath of relief, the door of the
compartment was suddenly jerked open
and, framed in the narrow opening, ap
peared the figure of a man of slight
stature,, with . gray beard and . bent
shoulders.
lie peered cautiously into the coach,
and his eyes traveled quickly and with
apparent indifference over the big
frame of Caruthers. Then he stepped
in, and, with a slight nod to Caru.kers;
dropped a small handbag on the cush
ioned seat, pulled his soft wool hat
over his eyes, sank down In one corner
of t the compartment and thrust his
hands deep into his trousers pockets... .
Caruthers witnessed these movements
with some satisfaction, and, after a
glance or two at his companion, and an
instant's look outside at the yellow
lights which were flying by as the ex
press gathered speed he spread out his
legs, pulled his coat up about his ears
and proceeded to make himself com
fortable for the 120-mile ride before
him.
Five minutes later he was sound
asleep and making that fact unmistak
able by the most tremendous snores.
But if Caruthers snored loudly his
brain was fully as active as were his
lungs, and, for a time he passed
through a series of adventures in
dreamland which .were anything but
unpleasant. . .
Then, suddenly, he was transported
from a delightful fantasy into what
seemed to him to be an immense haber
dasher's shop, where he found himself
unceremoniously set down before a lit
tle old man, who insisted upon fitting
around his neck a most prodigiously
high and stiff collar.
Now if there was anything against
which Caruthers was for all time and
most vehemently opposed it was high
collars, and therefore ho struggled hard
to push away his tormentor and re
move the objectionable neck piece. But
all to ho purpose.
To his surprise, he found his arms
weighted down as if with lead. His
persecutor coolly continued to fit on the
collar, and finally, having done this to
his satisfaction, pushed over his head
until the top edge of the collar cut into
his neck and was choking him.
Caruthers used every . endeavor to
raise his arms, but in vain. Great drops
of sweat seemed to drain down his face
as he tugged at his invisible bonds, and
all the time he felt the little old man
passing his, hands, which were plump
and smooth, over his body, thrusting
them now into his pockets, now inside
his vest and again pulling at his fin
gers. All at once, however, even the desire
for resistance left the dreamer, his sen
sations became dull and h fell again
into unbroken sleep.
Iljs next'seusationwas when his eyes
began to feel the light and to "slowly
became aware of a dull, dead feeling
in his arms, a fulness of the head and
a dry con-traction of the throat. After
a while he was sensible of the motion
of his resting place, and at last his
eyes took in enough of what iras about
him to show him that this was no hab
erdasher's shop, but the iuoide of a
railway carriage traveling at high
speed, that there was no high collar
about his neck, and that no little old
man stood opposite him.
But it was some lime, nevertheless,
before his brain became clear enough
to appreciate that all he seemed to
have gone through with, lately was
only a dream, and that he now was in
the 7.45 express from London, and
probably how many hours on his jour
ney? .
He slipped his fingers into his waist
coat pocket for his watch. Then, with
an exclamation of surprise, he raised
himself 'quickly to his feet and-some-what
weakly stood there feeling for the
handsome hunting case which he could
find nowhere.
It took him but a minute to realize
this, and also that the gold cuff buttons
he had worn, and his diamond scarf
pin were gone, and that'a curious stone
studded ring had disappeared from the
little finger of his left hand. '' f
j They all had gone; but where? A
sudden recollection of ;he old bent man
who had entered the compartment just
before their departure and been his si
lent and apparently indifferent travel
ing companion, made him peer closely
into the corner in which that figure
had been curled when he last saw him.
But the corner was empty now; '
As Caruthers' glance moved quickly
over the opposite seat, however, one ob
ject, caught his eye. He picked it up.
It was a handkerchief, innocent of any
markings, but smelling very strongly,
as he instantly became aware, of chlo
roform. The pungent, odor told Caruthers all
he needed. It was a complete confir
mation of the theory which had flashed
upon him at first. He had been robbed
and in all likelihood by the little old
man who had been his companion.
Caruthers pressed; his face, against
the window. He was familiar with
the country through 'which the train
was passing, and he soon saw where
he was.:5 The express was fifty miles
out of the metropolis, and by schedule
must have made a stop at It , about
ten miles back. ; It was there, he de
cided, that the thief had got out.
As soon as the guard had opened the
door of his carriage at the next sta
tion,, half an hour later, Caruthers
jumped down, and, dashing into the
telegraph office, quickly dispatched a
statement of the facts to the chief
of police at R- . His message offered
a generous reward for the apprehen
sion of the rascal and the recovery of
the articles of which he had been
robbed, with the least possibly pub
licity. . .
Two hours later, arrived at his des
tination, he left the train, took a han
som to police headquarters and notified
them that a dispatch addressed in his
name might be received from R- .
If such a dispatch did come, it was to
be sent to B Hotel, he ordered.
Then he was driven to the hotel, and,
llaving engaged a room, turned in and
quickly fell asleep.
It was 7 o'clock in the morning when
he was awakenedby a knock on the
door of his room and a telegram was
handed him. It was from the police
at R- , and ran as follows:
"Have got thief am', recovered all
articles. Thief disguised. Young man.
Think he is old hand at business. Com
municate at once."
Caruthers sent ; the servant double
quick for a morning paper, and having
satisfied himself that the news of the
robbery and of the capture of the thief
had at least not gained circulation out
side of R , ho dressed himself leis
urely. Then he ate a comfortable breakfast,
lit a cigar with the utmost satisfaction
and strolled down to police headquar
ters. To his surprise he found another dis
patch from R awaiting him there.
He read:
VCome and get me out of this. I was
the old man who traveled with you and
stole your things. I wanted, to see you
throw me out; of the window. I ac
knowledge " the corn. Come quickly.
This confounded place Is damp, and
they won't helieve my story.
'Torrr."
In amazement, which ?apidly gave
way to laughter he could not restrain,
Caruthers read the message a second
time, and then he telegraphed to the
chief of police at R :
"Hold thief. Dangerous man. ray
no attention to his story. Be with you
to-morrow. , G. CARUTHERS."
It was a woebegone and irate speci
men which Caruthers savr when the
"dangerous man" was led forth from a
cell at the police station at R next
day.'
But Caruthers smothered his laugh
ter at the sight, smoothed Russel's
wrath as far as possible by apologies,
and, having paid the costs and tines
which the police demanded that some
one should pay, after Ins explanations,
walked out of the station with his
tricr.d.
To this day, -lowever, Toppy Russet
has serious doubts as to Caruthers
statement that he "believed Rnssel's
telegram a forgery," and he awaits a
chance to turn the tables on the man
he "robbed." New' York News.
' Sentence Sermon .
Empty hours' make aching hearts.
No man can be happy all to himself..
A great intent makes for noble in
tent. There Is no known way of insulating
sin.
A prayer can be long without being
tall. ,
A clean heart is the secret of a clean
head.
The painfully, pious are never power
fully so.
It takes more than liftiness to make
a saint.
Malice is sharper at the hilt than in
the blade.
Worship is more in looking up than
in bowing down.
He makes little out of life who is al
ways on the make.
Depreciating others will not help the
world to appreciate you.
The service of another is a sovereign
cure for our sorrow.
When a man catches up with his
own ideals he has begun to die.
A man's soundness does not depend
on the amount of sound he makes.
The milk of human kindness does
not seem to 'keep well in blue bottles.
The man who is willing to go to
heaven alone may find he is going the
other way.
When opportunity is measuring your
head she will not take in the bump of
self-esteem.
There is no comfort in a crown on
the top of the head when there is a
frown on the front of the face.
It is a good deal better to live in a
glass house and take your chance on
stones than to have no windows at
all. Chicago Tribune.
A Surprise Bag.
The ladies in our church pack a bar
rel every year for some home mission
ary family. One thing to go in each
barrel is what is called a "surprise
bag." One of the ladles volunteers
to furnish the bag, which is a work or
shopping bag of generous size. It-is
sometimes made of silk or cloth, but
this year it was a very dainty cre
tonne work bag. On the day when the
barrel is packed, the bag is passed
around to the ladies present for con
tributions. These are various, consist
ing largely of notions such as thread,
silk, pins, needles, tape, hooks and
eyes, buttons and so forth, with an oc
casional handkerchief, necktie, or any
small article. Even a coin might be
dropped in, and one ottering this year
was a little pot of clubhouse cheese.
The supply of several quarts of sewing
materials would gladden any house
wife's heart and be a stock on which
to draw for many months. Such a bag
must be especially welcome to the min
ister's wife in a little Western town,
far from, the city, perhaps, and with
poor shopping privileges. Good
Housekeeping.
Self-Propelled' Cars.
In England the self-propelled rail
way car is coming into extensive use,
especially for branch lines where the
traffic is so small as not to warrant the
operation of steam locomotives or the
application of electricity. Recently
one of the largest electrical manu
facturing firms in America has ordered
in England an oil engine for this pur
pose, which will be used with a
dynamo to generate current for ordi
nary car motors. The advantage of
such an installation is that there is no
loss ,ot fuel when the car is not in
motion, and that the motor can be put
into operation r.t an instant's notice.
The machinery is placed in a small
compartment at the end of the car, and
requires but little attention. Such
cars, driven by various forms of
motors, have been found of especial
value in England to bring passengers
to main electric and steam lines, and
it would seem as if there was an equal
field of usefulness for them in the
United States. Harper's Weekly.
Tlie Boston Way.
Florence "I never was so annoyed!
The man had no business in the yard,
anyway, and when I went to the win
dow to see what ho was doing he had
the impudence to exclaim, 'Massage:"
Gertrude '"For goodness sake, what
could he have meant by that?"
Flcrer.ce "Well, of covrse. he said
'rubber,' bnt ioas:ar:e' is more elegant,
C'.ii'i you tUiuUV lcr.;un. Transcript.
HE STOPPED THE PAPERS
I've topDecl my paper, yes I hav;
I didn't like to do it.
But tlie editor he got too smart,
And I allow he'll rue it.
I am a -man aa pays hia debts,
And I won't be insulted.
So when an editor gets smart,
I want to be consulted.
I took his paper 'leven years.
An' helped him all I could, sif
An' when it comes to dunnin' me,
I didn't think he would, air.
But that he did, and you kin bet
It made me hot as thunder,
Snys, I, I'll stop that sheet, I will,
If the cussed thing goea under.
I hunted up the measly whelp,
An' for his cunnin' caper
I paid him 'leven years an' quit!
Yes, sir, I've stopped his paper.
Manson (Kan.) Democrat.
"Some dogs display wonderful intel
ligenee." "Yes," answered Mr. Cnm
rock. "I have one that howls every
time my daughter plays the piano."
Washington Star.
Young Masher (to rival) "I say, oJd
chap, I hear you're an excellent run
ner. Is that true?" Rival (eagerly)
"Rather!" Young Masher "Well,
tlen, run home:" Punch.
Remarked the trout "I never fall
A prey to fell designs;
I don't get caught, for I was tatig&t
To read between the lines."
"Bullion's country estate is costtHft
him dearly. lie keeps twenty servants
and forty horses on it." But he might
have gone in deeper he might have
tried to raise crops on it." Judge.
Lady of the House "Lorena, yn
break more china and glass than any
cook we ever had." Lorena! can't
help it, ma'am; it's these big sleevrs
drags 'em offen the tables." Cineineati
Commercial Tribune.
"I notice that these new autnmn
cloaks are said to reveal the figure
Mrs. Wiggleton had one on to-day."
"Did it reveal the figure?" "Yes. IShe
had left the price tag on the eorkm"
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
. Gilroy "Parsons is a libcia so.-t of
fellow. He offered me a cigar jost
now." Butman "You didn't lake if?"
Cilroy "Noi" Butman "Then how do
you know whether it was liberality, or
merely malice?" Boston Transcript.
Although not pretty now, I know.
With this thought I'm consoled:
When I have reached three score and tea
I'll then be pretty old. ,
Farmer Jason "So you want a 5b.
eh? What can yer do?" Frolicsome
Frisbie "Nothin'." Farmer Jason
"Well, I can't give you a job of that
kind, but it seems to me yon might
get a job somewhere as a war cor
respondent." The Rabbit "I had a narrow eseape
from being killed by an amateur
sportsman to-day." The Grouse
"Was he such a good shot?" The Rab
bit "No; but when the gun kicked it
knocked him over and he almost sat
on me."
Miss Withers "You are Washing,
Cora! What was that clumsy partner
of yours saying?" Miss Knisely "Oh.
nothing; only that before he met me
life seemed a desert to him." Miss
Withers "That is no reason why he
should waltz like a dromedary, is
it?" Town and Country.
Lady Visitor "Your little girl seem
to be very much taken with me, Mis.
Stepswcll." Mrs. Stepswell "Yes; and
she doesn't often take to strangers.
You think Mrs. Kippur is real niee,
don't you, Agnes?" Agnes "You said
she was a cat, mamma, but she doesn't'
look a bit like one." Boston Tran
script. "Theic's mighty w people," saiT
Farmer Corntossel, "that knows what'
to do with a farm after tiiey get one."
"I have noticed that," answered the
girl with frizzes. "They always insist
on filling the whole place up with corn
and oats and things, when they might,
have sue'.-- lovely tennis covrts and gol
links." Washington Star.
What We Grew.
We grew 340,000,000 bushels of!
wheat this year, and it brought a dol
lar ii bushel.
We grew 2.100,000,000 bushels of
corn, and it is worth $1,200,000,000.
We will harvest 11,000,000 bales of
cotton, ivA it is worth 350,000,000.
We grew the largest cat crop in live
years, and the largest hay crop on rec
ord. But the egg crop any year is worth,
more money than any other crop.