2 THE ACORN "Are you going far?" Hugh asked, "Perhaps you will sit back with me and talk." "Glad to do it," the other answered. "Yes, I am going far," and as he looked out of the window again he continued, "Death we all would go far, farther than I care to go just now, if an accident were to happen here." "Our journey home would be sudden," Hugh responded, and his voice revealed the fact that his spirits had suddenly become depressed. "Are you going home now?" the other asked. "Yes," answered Hugh, "Yes, I am going home, going to a little home that I haven't seen for six long years, going to a little Mother, the noblest that ever lived." "What has kept you away so long?" the other asked. "Work, striving for success. Six years ago Mother and I lived on a little farm. There I worked and sang, inspired by my beautiful surroundings, inspired by God revealed in nature, until, one day, a man from the city heard me. He was driving slowly past, and as I sang at my work, he stopped to listen, although I was not aware of his presence. I was conscious only that I lived in a big world and was free; conscious that the blue of the morning sky, the great buds of the trees, the tender blades of grass, the birds, the humming bee all were praising their Creator. I could not help but praise Him also, and the joy in my soul went out in song. After I finished he called me to him and told me that the world needed my song to make it better and brighter. He advised me to go abroad and study, that I owed it, to the world. Well, urged by my Mother, I left home and sailed for Europe, where for six years I have worked hard while my Mother sold acre after acre of the little farm to pay for my music lessons. Mother and the little house only remain, but I am returning successful with the promise of a wonderful career." In the confidential turn the conversation now took, Hugh learned that the other was a business man returning to his home from a prolonged eastern trip and that he had a young wife and child anxiously awaiting his return. "I believe that I am a fool for riding in this train," said the stranger, "Do you believe in premonition?" Hugh was looking out of the window and did not answer. His spirits were dull and low and he felt a sensation that he had never before experienced. The train reached the summit of the mountain and a long down grade lay before it. The engineer, as if vexed at the tedious journey, sought to make up lost time, and curves were taken at a dangerous speed. The two men were still engaged in their conversation when they heard and felt the screaming and grinding of the brakes. Hugh leaped THE ACORN 3 to his feet impulsively, then there was a terrible crash, and blackness enveloped him. Hours after, he painfully opened his eyes. His temples were throbbing and pain racked his entire body. He tried to move, but failed. It seemed that tons of weights were bearing down upon him. He tried to think and slowly it all came to him a wreck. Turning his head slightly, he saw a form not far away lying still, pinned down by splintered timbers. He watched it long, until it moved. An arm lifted and the head turned. Hugh recognized the stranger with whom he had talked. He saw him open and then close his eyes, and simultaneously Hugh's own eyes closed and darkness came. When Hugh again moved he was conscious of a great heat, his face seemed blistered, his lips were painfully swollen and he tried in vain to make a sound. Turning his head, he again saw the form of the stranger trying to free himself from the burning wreck. He now heard blows being struck upon the timbers over his own body, and through the cloud of smoke that blew over him, causing him to choke, he dimly discovered a man with a wet cloth tied around his head, fiercely swinging an ax. In a second's time Hugh thought of his Mother, of his past life, of the future, and then his eyes fell upon the stranger. Instantly there flashed into his mind the subject of their conversation, and he thought of the wife and child. He seemed to realize that there was not time to save both the stranger and himself as the heat was terrific. With desperate effort he made a sound, and by motioning with his one free arm forced the man with the ax to understand then fainted. Hugh was aroused for an instant by a severe pain in his feet, and through the smoke he saw two men lift the form of the stranger from the wreck. The pain in his feet grew more intense and he closed his eyes and lay still. His spirit slowly left his burning body, gazed for a moment reflectively upon it, and then started on its long journey home. L. E. G., '10. JIM NEVILL, DETECTIVE Jim Nevill stole quietly homeward through woods just east of Carlton, Vermont. It was deep twilight and he became conscious of a peculiar, uncanny feeling as he chose his way carefully over the rough ground, wishing himself home. The dim moon rose slowly as he neared the edge of the woods. A bat flitted past him. An owl screached in the distance. He halted and could feel his heard beat violently against his chest wall. There! Did he imagine he heard a