THE NORTH PLATTE SEMI-WEEKLY TRIBUNE,
isferil
KATHLEEN
NORRIS
KATllieiW NORRIJ
CHAPTER XVIII Continued.
18
A Inst curve, and tlu'y know. Over
me of the sharpest nnd ugliest ol' the
loscendlng precipices, crushing down
'Jirough I lu saplings mill underbrush
nd striking the trunks of 11 score of
areas on lt way, the heavy par luid
Jallen like a boulder. And I'eter saw
clint It was AIIx'n par, and with a groat
ay ho sprang over tho hank and, slip
ping and stumbling, followed Its mad
rourso down almost to the dry creek
T)cd In the canyon, and Tell on his
tfiiees beside the huddled figure that,
sreet ami strong, In Its .striped hlue
Ingham, had been Allx only a few
ifiort minutes ago.
S!ie had heeii Hung elear of the cttr.
Hid although every hone In tier laxly
Ann broken, hy hoiiic miracle the face,
except for a deep cut where the. brown
nlr met the tunned forehead, wan un
touched. And iih he caught her In his
irniH and bent over her with the hit
xtiiush of death stopping Iih own
aenii, a soft, thick braid loosened and
"ell like the touch of her hand upon
nls own. and It seemed to hlui that In
ahe trnii(ull face and In the very look
f tho closed and fast-shadowing eye
Uds.he caught a glimpse of Allx's old
4tnlie.
Peter forgot everything else In the
world, lie held her clone to lilrn and
-put IiIh face iignlnst hot face, and por
4inm Hhe hail never so truly been his
awn iih In HiIh inonient of their pnrt
!ng, when the quiet autumn woodland,
Uiot with I one shafts from the sinking
un. rang with IiIh bitter cry:
"N'o, llx not dead! My wife
my wife!"
There were other men and wohien
Uiithorlng fast now, ami the whole Itt
le valley wus beginning to ring with
tflie tragedy. After a while some sym
pathetic man touched I'eter on the
rm to sny that Mrs. Lloyd had
'fainted, and that If ho would plea ho
toll (hem what to do about tho other
1'iinn lie wan not yet dead
I'eter rotated himself, and with help
from half a dozen bunds on nil sides
Uo carried Allx ui to tho road and
ald lier upon a motor robo that some
kindly spectator bad spread in tho
deep dust.
Presently he was conscious that a
-email, slight woman with dlsorderJy
fair hair and with her fijee streaked
with dust and tears was standing bo
side, him, and looking down at her,
tiq saw that It wus Cherry.
"Yes, Cherry V" ho said, moistening
tils dry lips.
"Peter," she said, "they say Mar
gin's living he was screaming" She
frew deathly pale and falntness swept
I'eter Snwv They Were Lifting Mar
tin's Big, Senseless Form.
over her, but she mastered It. "lie
was caught by that tree." hIio Mild
-And he Is living. Will you tell them
tell one of these men that If ho
will help me, we can drive him homo,
If you'll tell him that, then I'll get a
doctor "
"Yes, 1 will," Peter said, not stir
ring. Ills eyes hod the look of a sleep
walker; he nodded slowly and gravely
,nt her, like a very old man. "You '
.ho said to a man who had stopped bis
.car near by and who was pressing
sympathetically close, "Will you?'
If you'll sit In the back seat, dear.
and Just rest his poor bead," a woman
said to Cherry. Peter saw that they
were lifting Marlln'a big, senseless
form In tender bnnds and carrying It
through tho llttlo group. There was
a shudder as Martin moaned deeply
Peter went and sat on tho low banl
'by Allx again, and lifted one of her
limp hands, and held It. Ah, if In
God's mercy and goodness sbo might
mnnn. lie thought, that one slight ray
of V vould flood nil tho world with
v7 utt f -jvf
light for him again 1 Hut she did not
tlr.
"(one?" said Cherry's heartrending
nice, a mere whisper, beside him.
He turned upon her lifeless eyes.
"Cone," he echoed
"Oh, Allx my darling I My own big
Ister!" Cherry sobbed, falling to her
knees and passionately kissing the
peaceful face. "Oh, Allx, dearest!"
riie women about broke Into tears.
Peter pressed his hand close agalnst
his aching eyeballs, wishing that ho
night cry.
"She drove here," he heard a man's
.'olco saying In tho silence, "and she
must have lost control of her car for
a minute. Then do you see? the
wheel slipped on the hank. Once It
got this far, no power In Cod's
a rib"
"N'o power In Cod's earth I" another
man's voice said In solemn continua
tion. "I'eter," Cherry said, "will yon come
to me as soon as you can? I shall
need you,"
"As soon as I can," ho answered
absently,
The car drove away, and he heard
Martin moan again as It inoved,
"Joyce," said a man's kind voice
close beside him. He recognized tho
voice rather than tho distressed face
if an old friend and neighbor. "Joyce,
my dear fellow," he urged affectionate
ly, "tell us what wo may do and we'll
see to It. Pull yourself together, my
dear chap. Now, shall I telephone for
an an ambulance? You must help us
just, a little here and then we'll spare
you everything else."
Thank you, Fred," Peter answered
iftor a moment. "Thank you. Will
you help mo take my wife home?"
"You wish It that way?" the other
man said anxiously.
"Pleitse," Peter answered simply.
And Instantly there was moving and
clearing In the crowd, n murmuring
of whispered directions.
After a while they were at the moun
tain cabin, and Kow, with tears run
ning down his yellow face, was helping
them. Then they went Into the old liv
ing room, and Allx was lying there,
splendid, sweet, untouched, with her
bravo, brown forehead shadowed soft
ly by her brown hair, and her lnshes
resting upon her checks, and her lin
gers cJnsped about tho stems of three
great, creamy roses.
There were other flowers all about,
and there were women In the room.
White drnperles fell with sweeping
Hues trom the merciful veiling of the
crushed figure, and Allx might have
been only asleep, and dreaming some
heroic dream that lent that secret
prldo and Joy to lier mouth and lllled
those closed eyes with a, triumph they
had never known In life.
Peter stood and looked down at her,
and the men and women drew hack.
Hut although the muscles of his mouth
twitched, ho did not weep, lie looked
long at her, while an utter silence
lllled tho room and while twilight
deepened Into dark over tho cabin and
over the ipountaln above It.
"So that was your way out, Allx?"
Peter said In the depth of bis soul.
I'luil was your solution for us all?
You would go out of life, nway from
the sunshine and tho trees and the
hills that you loved, so that Cherry
and I should ho saved? I was blind
not to see It. I have been blind from
the very beginning."
Silence. Tho room was filling with
shadows. On the mantel was a deep
howl of roses that bo remembered
watching her cut was It yesterday or
centuries ago?
"I was wrong," he said. "Hut I
Ihluk you would he sorry to have mo
face what I am facing now. You
were always so forgiving, Allx; you
would bo the first to be sorry."
He put his hand over tho tigerish
pain that was beginning to reach his
heart. Ills throat felt thick and
choked, and still ho did not cry.
"An hour ago," bo said, "If It hnd
been that the least thought of what
this meant to you might have reached
mo an hour ago, It would not have
been too lute. Allx, one look Into your
eyes an hour ago might havo saved
us all! Krod," Peter said aloud, with
a bitter groan, clinching tight the
hands of the old friend who had crept
In to stand beside him, "Fred, sbo was
here, In all her health and Joy and
strength only today, And now "
"I know old mon " the other man
muttered, lie looked anxiously at Pe
ter's terrible face. In the silence the
dog whimpered faintly. Hut when Pe
ter, after an endless five minutes,
turned away, It was to speak to bis
friend In an almost normal voice,
"I must go .down and see Cherry.
Fred. She took her husband to the
old house'; they were living thorp."
"Helen will stny here," the old man
assured him quickly. "I'll drive you
down and pome back here. We thought
perhaps a few of us could come here
tomorrow afternoon, Peter." bo added
timidly, with his reddened eyes filling
again, "and talk of her n little, and
pray for her a little, and then take
her to to rest besldo the old doc
tor"
'I hadn't thought about that," Peter
answered, still with the air of finding
it hard to link words to thought. "Hut
that Is the way she would like It.
Thank you and thank Helen for
me"
'Oh, Peter, to do anything" the
woman faltered. "She came to us, you
know, when the baby was so III day
after day my own sister couldn't have
been more to us!"
"Did she?" Peter asked, staring at
the speaker steadily. "That was like.
her."
He went out of the house and got
Into a waiting car, and they drove
down the mountain. Allx had driven
him over this road day before jester-,
day yesterday no, It wus today, he
remembered.
"Thank Cod I don't feel It yet as
I Hi if 1 1 1 feel It, Thompson I" he said
quietly. The man who was driving
gave him an anxious glance.
"You must take each day as It
comes," he answered simply.
Peter nodded, folded his arms across
his chest, and stared Into the early
dark. There was no other way to go
than past the very spot where the hor
ror had occurred, hut Thompson told
his wife later that poor Joyce had not
seemed to know It when they passed
It. Nor did he give any evidence of
emotion when they reached the old
Strickland house and entered the old
hallway where Cherry had come nylng
In, a few short years ago, with Mar
tin's first kiss upon her Hps.
Two doctors, summoned from San
Francisco, were here, and two nurses.
Martin hint been laid upon a hastily
moved bed In the old study, to be
spared the narrow stairs. The room
was metamorphosed, the whole house
inoved about It as about a pivot, and
there was no thought hut for the man
who Jay, sometimes moaning and some
times ominously Mill, waiting for
death.
"He cannot live!" whispered Cherry,
ghastly of face, and with the utter
chaos of her soul and brain expressed
by her tumbled frock and the careless
ly pushed back and knotted masses of
her hair. "His arm Is broken, Peter,
and his. leg crushed they don't dare
touch him ! And the surgeon says the
spine, too and you see his head ! Oh,
Cod ! It Is so terrible," she said In
agony, through shut teeth, knotting
her hands together; "It Is too terrible
that ho Is brenfhlng now. that life Is
there now, and that they cannot hold
It!"
She led Peter Into the sitting room,
whore the doctors were waiting.
"Is there nny hopo?" he nsked, when
Cherry had gone awny on one of the
restless, unnecessary Journeys with
which she was filling the endless
hours. One man shook bis head, and In
the. silence they beard Martin groan.
"It Is possible he may weather It,
of course," the older man said doubt
fully. "Ho Is coming out of that first
stupor, and we may bo able to tell bet
ter In a short time. The fact thnt he
Is living nt all Indicates n tremendous
vltnlity."
Cherry came to the door to say
"Doctor!" oik a burst of tears. The
physicians departed at once to the
study, nnd Potcr was Immediately sum
moned to assist them In handling the
big frame of tho patient. Martin was
thoroughly conscious now; his face
chalk white. Cherry, agonized, knelt
beside the bed, her frightened eyes
moving from face to face.
Thqre was a brief consultation, then
Cherry and Peter were banished.
Peter watched her with a confused
sense that the whole frightful day had
been a drenih. Once she looked up
and met bis eyes.
"He can't live," she said In n whis
per. "Perhaps not," Peter answered
very low. Cherry returned to her som
ber musing.
"We didn't see this end to It, did
we?" she said with a pitiful smile
after a long while.
"Oh, no no!" Peter said, shutting
bis eyes and with a faint, negative-
movement of his head.
"Poor Cherry If I could spare you
all this!" knotting his fingers and feel
ing for the first time the prick of bit.
tor tears against his eyelids.
"Oh, there Is nothing you can do,'
she said faintly and wearily after a
while. And sbo whispered, as If to
herself, "Nothing nothing nothing !"
CHAPTER XIX.
It wiir all strango and bewildering,
thought Peter. It was not like any
thing ho hod ever connected In his
thoughts with Allx, yet It was all for
her.
The day was warm and still, and
the little church was packed with
(lowers and packed with people. Worn
en were crying, and men wero crying,
too, rather to his dazed surprise. The
organ was straining through the
warm, fragrant air, and tho old clergy
man, whose venerable, leonlno head,
In Its crown of snowy hair, Peter could
see clearly, poke in a voice that was
thickened with tears. Strangers, or
almost strangers, had been touching
Peter's hnnd respectfully, timidly, had
been praising Allx. She had been
"good" to this one, "good" to that one,
they told him; she bad always been so
"Interested" and so "happy."
Her cotlln was hurled In flowers
many of them tho plain flowers she
loved, tho gillies and stock and ver-.
bona, and even the sweet, sober wall
flowers that wero somehow like her
self, Hut It was the roses that scented
the whole world for Allx today, and
fresh creamy buds bad been placed
between tho waxen fingers. And still
that radiant look of triumphant love
I lingered on her quiet face, and stUl
the faint ghost of a smile touched the
once kindly und merry mouth.
They said good-,by to her nt the
church, the villagers and old friends
who had loved her, and Peter and
two or three men alone followed her
down along tho winding rond that led
to the old cemetery. Cherry was
Hinging over the bedside of her hus
nind, who still miraculously lingered
through hours of pain, but ns Peter,
responsive to a touch on his arm,
crossed the church porch to blindly
enter the waiting motor car, be saw,
erect and grave, i the front seat,
In his decent holiday black, and with
lis felt hut held In his hands, Kow,
claiming his tight to stand beside the
grave of the mistress he had loved
and served so faithfully. Tho sight of
him, In his clumsy black, Instead- of
the usual crisp white, and with a sud
and tear-stained face shook Peter
strangely, but he did not show a sign
of pain.
Tho twisted low branches of oak
frees threw shadows on the gruve
when they tlnalJy reuched It, and sheep
were cropping the watered grass of
the graveyard. The soft autumn sky,
the drift of snowy clouds across the
blue, the dear shadows on brown
grass under the oaks, all these were
familiar. Hut Peter still looked dazed
ly at bis black cuff and nt tho turned
earth next to the doctor's headstone,
telling hlmseJf again that this was for
Allx. How often he had seen her sit
ting there, with her bright face sobered
and sweet, as she tulked lovingly,
eagerly of her father! They had of
ten come here, Peter the more willing
ly because she was so sensible and
This Was Allx's Grave, Newly Covered
With Flowers.
happy about It ; she would pack lunch,
button herself Into one of tho crisp
blue ginghams, chatter on the road
In her usual fashion. And If, for n
few moments, the train of memory
fired by the sight of the old doctor's
gruve became too poignant and tears
came, she always scolded herself with
that mixture of childish and maternal
Impatience that was so characteristic
of her, and that Peter had seen her
use to this very father years ago!
He remembered her, a tall, awkwnrd
girl, with a volume of Dickens slip
ping from her lap as she sat on a has
sock by the fire, teasing her father,
scolding and reproaching him. Blazing
red on her high cheekbones, untidy
blnck hair, quick tongue nnd ready
laugh: that was the Allx of the old
days, when he hnd criticized and pnt-
ronlzed her, nnd told her that she
should be more like Anne nnd little
Cherry 1
Ho remembered being delcgnted, one
day, to tnko her Into town to the den
tist, and that upon discovering that
tho dentist was not In his office, he had
taken her to the circus Instead. She
had been about thirteen, and bin) eaten
too many peanuts, he thought, nnd
had lost a petticoat In full sight of the
grandstand. Hut how grateful nnd
happy she had been !
"Dear llttlo old blue petticoat!" he
snld. "Dear little old madcap Allx 1"
There was silence, the silence of
Inanition, about him. He came to
himself with n start. Ho was up on
the hills, In the cemetery this was
Allx's grave, newly covered with wilt
lug masses of fiowers, and lie wn?
keeping everybody waiting. Ho mur
mured an apology; tho waiting men
wero all kindness and sympathy.
(TO I3E CONTINUED.)
Salt and Dampness.
Salt Is what is cnled "hygrosco
pic," that Is, It eagerly absorbs mois
ture. In fact, both air and salt are
absorbents of moisture and it Is u
contest between them as to which
gets It. llesults depend on atmos
pheric conditions. Ordinary atmos
phere always contains a proportion
of moisture, and wnrm air Is apt tc
he more humid than cold, ns It ab
sorbs and holds water vapor more
readily than cold air. Salt bus such
nihility for molsturo that under such
conditions It draws It from the air
When the nlr becomes dry, the mois
ture is given up by the salt, which In
turn becomes dry us It returns the
molsturo to the air.
Make Funnel From Eggshell.
When It Is desired to 1111 narrow
necked bottles and a funnel Is una
vailable, one can be Improvised from
an eggshell. The shell should he quite
dry, nnd a small opening made at the
bottom. Stand the shell so that the
hole Is we'll over tho opening, of the
contnlner to bo filled, and proceed
as with a regular funnel.
WRIGL
"After
Sis
w w
T21 X2
MV2T 1 1 TiiiiT
mi iii iii mi Hi iijijl
The
Flavor
Lasts
The Long and Short of It.
J'Frank," observed the wife, "you
were talking In your sleep last night,
and you frequently spoke In terms of
endeurment of n certain Euphetnln.
Who Is Euphemia?"
"Why, my dear, that was my sis
ter's name."
"Frank! Your sister's name was
Mary !"
"Yes, dear, but wo called her Eu
phemia for short."
Unpoetlc.
"Why did the Arab fold up his tent
and silently steal away?"
"I suppose," said the camper, "It
was the same old story. The mosqui
toes got to ho too much for him."
Realities of matrimony are usually
less pleasing than the illusions of love.
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sjlsk tne man
EYS
Every Meal"
uiimiiiiiiiii.miiimi
Next time you
want to concen
trate on a piece
of work Just slip
astickofWRIGLEV'S
between your teeth.
It's a wonderful help
EE in rlailu tasks and
sports as well.
Hazards
disappear
and hard
!' !:
places come easy
for WRIGLEY'S
gives you comfort
and poise it adds
the zest that
means success.
A great deal
for 5c
SEALED TIGHT
KEPT RIGHT
Success and Failure.
"I met Barrie," said an editor, -"at
n dinner pnrty In London. What a big
head he's got, to be sure!
'"Sir James,' I said nervously, toy
ing with the stem of my wine glass, I,
suppose, Sir James, that some of your
plays do better than others? They are
not nil successes, I Imagine?
"Barrio leaned bis big head on Its
little thin neck toward me. Ills sau
cerlike ej'es twinkled.
"'No,' he said, 'some Peter out and
some Pan out.' "
Wealth of Fertilizer In Coal.
A four-foot seam of coal contains
enough ammonium sulphate to fertil
ize the land above it for more than
000 years.
Gratitude has good eyes.
wno owns on
9 nny