ESSHgSEESSKEBJ
159'!
yr?s"rw
LOVE AND DYNAMITE
By George Elmer Cobb.
(Copyright by W. G. Chapman.)
Evan Bruce, salesman, turned the
corner of a vacant square with a high
board fence around it on a keen run.
It was to see a lithe form with a
satchel in one hand run up a slanting
support, grab at the top of the fence
and bolt over it out of view. Bruce
proceeded, to spot where the man he
was pursuing had vanished. He look
ed through a crack in the fence and
mlnti.
One Glance and He Dropped It With
a Yell.
his good-natured face wrinkled into
smiles andne chuckled.
Bruce had carelessly left his sat
chel on the sidewalk outside of a
store. He made his purchase of some
cigars, and came to the street again
to see a man running away with the
satcheL He had put after him to find
hjm.How ft. a somewhat gad plight.
The thief it seemed had scaled the
fence to evade his pursuer. He had
not, however, counted on what was
before him. Some construction was
meditated beyond the fence. Prepara
tory to the same a broad space had
been covered with an asphalt cement.
The fugitive had dashed across this,
which was, freshly laid. He had sunk
in ankle deep. Mired as in a mass
of mud, he had floundered about and
managed to get back to the edge.
Here he had hastily opened the sat
cheL One glance at its contents and
he dropped it with a yell. Then he
ran down the edge of the cemented
space and disappeared.
It cost Bruce some time and labor
to in turn scale the fence and re
cover his stolen property. He did
this in perfect good humor.
"Wonder what the fellow thought
when he read the labels on those
samples?" he laughed. "Not that it
would have mattered much if he got
away with them, for it seems that I
have come to this dead burg on a
fruitless errand. Biddle & Co., quar
rymen, have burned out, eh? Won't
start up for sixty days. No train out
of here for three hours. Suppose I
go out to where he lives and see if
I cannot get an order out of him
for future delivery?"
No sooner said than done. It had
been raining for nearly a week and
the roads were almost impassable,
Bruce had been told that the Biddle
home was nearly three miles from
town. The picturesque scenery, how
ever, made up for the hard, plodding.
Just beyond the edge of a small
stream running near a ravine he
came upon a pretty country house.
No one responded to continuous
ringing of the door bell. Bruce was
about to return townwards when he
noticed the flutter of skirts near a
pretty little cottage on the same lot
It was pleasant to the tired
journeyee to meet Miss Verona Bid
dle and know that her father would
return withfaxan hour. Iterewpleas-
J.ailterst8lasIie invited. Bru.ce to reg&
feiatac . -J-a jt.-a '
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