V>he Ragged Edge by Harold MacGrath CHAPTER XIV Ruth lost the point entirely. The doctor expected her to seize upon the subtle inference that there was something furtive, even criminal, in the manner the patient set this obligation upon humanity at large, to look after him in the event of his death. The idea of anything criminal never entered her thoughts. Any man might have endeavored to protect himself in this fashion, a man with no one to care, with jan unnaineablo terror at the thought (as if it mattered 1) of being buried in alien earth, far from the familiar places he lov ed. Close upon this came another thought. She had no place she loved In all this world there was no sacred ground that said to her: Return I She was of all human beings the most lonely. Even now during the recurring doubts of the future, the thought of the island was rcpellant. She bated it, she hated the mission house; she hated the sleek la Soon, the palms, the burning sky. iut some day she would find a place to love: there would be jrosy aples on the boughs, and there would be flurries of snow blowing into her face. It was Astonishing how often this pic ture returned t cold 'rosy apples And flurries of snow. • ‘(Hm poor young man I” she said. The doctor sensed that his bvlt had gone wrong, but he «ould not tell how or why- He •dared not gp on. He was not •ure that the boy had put him self beyond the pale; merely the boy’s actions pointed that way. If he laid his own suspicions boldly before the girl, and in the end the boy came clean, he would always be haunted by the witless cruelty of the act. fhat. night in his den he smok ed many pipes. Twice he clean ed the old briar; still there was ao improvement. He poured a pinch of tobacco into his palm aud sniffed. The weed was all right. Probably something he hud eaten. He was always for getting that his tummy was fif ty-four years old. He would certainly welcome McClintock’s advent. Mac would have some new yarns to spin and a fresh turn-over to his cele brated liver. He was a comfort ing, humorous old ruffian; bnt there were few men in the Orient, more deeply read in psychology and physiognomy. It was, in a way, something of a *>ke to the doctor: psychology and physi ognomy on an island which white folks did not visit more than three or four times a year, only then when they had to. ^Vhy did the beggar hang on down there, when he could have enjoyed all that civilization had to offer! Yes, he would be mighty glad to see McClintook and the sooner he came the better. Sometimes at sea a skipper will order his men to trim, bat ten down the hatches, and clear the deck of all litter. The barom eter says nothing, neither the sky nor the water; the skipper has the “feel” that out yonder there’s a big blow moving. Now the doctor had the “feel” that somewhere ahead lay danger. It was below consciousness, elu sive ; so he sent out a call to his friend, defensively. At the end of each day Ah Cum would inquire as to the progress of the patient, and in variably the answer was: “About the same." This went on for ten days. Then Ah Cum was notified that the patient had aat up in bed for quarter of an hour. Promptly Ah Cum wired the information to O'Higgins in Hong-Kong. The detective reck oned that his quarry would be .up in ten days more. Buth the thought of Hart ford no longer projected upon her vision a city of spires and houses and tree-lined streets. Her fanciful imagination no longer drew pictures of the aunt in the doorway of a wooden house, her arms extended in welcome. The doctor's lessons, perhaps de livered with too much serious emphasis, haa destroyed that buoyant confidence in her ability to take care of herself. Between Canton and Hartford two giants had risen, invisible but menacing—Fe'ar and Doubt. The unknown, previously so at tractive, now presented another face—blank. The doctor had not heard from his people- She was reasonably certain why. They did not want her. Thus, all her interest in life began to centre upon the patient, who was apparently quite as anchorless as she was. Some times a whole morning would pass without Spurlock uttering a word beyond the request for a drink of water. Again- he would ask a few questions, and Ruth would answer them. He would repeat them innumerable times, and patiently Ruth would repeat her answers. “What is your namef” “Ruth.” “Ruth whatf” “Enschede; Ruth Enschede.” “En-shad-ay. You are French t” “No. Dutch; Pennsylvania Dutch.” And then his interest would cease. Perhaps an hour later he would begin again. At other times he seemed to have regained the normal com pletely. He would discuss some thing she had been reading, and he would give her some unex pected angle, setting a fictional character before her with aston ishing clearness- Then suddenly the curtain would fall. “What is your, name!” To day, however, he broke the monotony. “An American. En schede—that’s a queer name.” “I’m a queer girl,” she replied with a smile. Perhaps this was the rpal turn ing point: the hour in which the disordered mind began per manently to readjust itself. I’ve been wondering, until this morning, if you were real.” “I’ve been wondering, too,” “Are you a real nurse!” “Yes.” “Professional!” “Why do you wish to know!” “Professional nurses wear a sort of uniform.” “While I look as if I had step ped out of the family album!” He frowned perplexedly “Where did I hear that before!” “Perhaps that first day, in the water-clock tower.” “I imagine I’ve been in a kind of trance.” “And now you are back in the world again, with things to do and places to go. There is a button loose on that coat under your pillow. Shall I sew it on for you!” “If you wish.” This readiness to surrender the coat to her surprised Ruth. She had prepared herself to meet violent protest, a recur rence of that burning glance. But in a moment she believed she understood. He was normal now- and the coat was only a coat. It had been his fevered imagination that had endued the garment with some extra ordinary value. Gently she raised his head and withdrew the coat from under the pillow. 1 ‘ Why did I want it under my pillow!” he asked. “You were a little out of your head.” Gravely he watched the need'fo flash to and fro. He noted the strong white teeth as they snip ped the thread. At length the task was done, and she jabbed the needle into a cushion, folded the coat, and rose. “Do you want it back under the pillow!” “Hang it over a chair. Or, better still, put all my clothes ia the trunk. They litter up the room. The key is in my trous ers.” This business over, she return ed to the bedside with the key. She felt a little ashamed of her self, a bit of a hypocrite. Every article in the trunk was fully known to her, through a~ recount ing of the list by the doctor. To band the key back in silence was like offering a lie. “Put it under my pillow,” he said. immediately sue bad spoken of jthe loose button Jie knew that henceforth he must show no concern over the ^position of that coat. He must not in any way call their attention to it. He must preserve it,, however- as they preserved the Ark of the Covenant. It was liis redemp tion, his ticket out of hell—that blue-serge coat. To witness this girl sewing on a loose button, flopping the coat rbout on her knees, tickled his ironic sense of humour; and laughter bubbled into his throat. He smothered it down with such a good will that the reaction set his heart to pounding. The walls rocked, the footrail of the bed wavered, and the girl’s head had the nebulosity of a composite photograph. So he shut his eyes. Presently he heard her voice. “I must tell you,” she was saying. “We went through your belongings. We did not know where to send ... in case you died. There was noth ing in the pockets of the coat.” “Don’t worry about that ” He opened his eyes again. “I wanted you to know. There is nobody, thenf” “Oh, there is an aunt. But if I were dying of thirst, in a desert, I would not accept a cup of water at her hands. Will you read to met I am tired; and the sound of your voice makes me drowsy.” Half an hour later she laid aside the book. He was asleep. She leaned forward, her chin in her palms- her elbows on her knees,and she set her gaze upon his face and kept it there in dreamy contemplation. Suppos ing he too wanted love and his arms were as empty as hersf Some living thing that depend upon her. The doll she had never owned, the cat and the dog that had never been hers: here they were, strangely incorpor ated in this sleeping man. He depended upon her, for his medi cine, for his drink, for the little amusement it was now permis sible to give him. The knowledge breathed into her heart a satisfy ing warmth. At noon the doctor himaelf ar rived. “Go to lunch,” he ordered Ruth. He wanted to talk with the patient, test him variously; and he wanted to be alone with him while he put these tests. His idea was to get behind this sus tained listlessness. “How goes itt” he began, heartily- “A bit up in the world again; eht” “Why did you bother with met” “Because no human being has the right to die. Death belongs to God, young man.” “Ah.” The tone was neutral. “And had you been the worst scoundrel unhung, I’d have seen to it that you had the same care, the same chance. But don’t thank me; thank Miss Enschede. She caught the fact that it was something more than strong drink that laid you out. If they hadn’t sent for me, you’d have pegged out before the morning ” ‘Then I owe my life to her!” “Positively.” “What do you want me to dot” The doctor thought this query gave hopeful promise. “Always remember the fact. She is some thing different. When I told her that there were no available nurses this side of Hong-Kong. she offered her services at once, and broke her journey. And I need not tell you that her hotel bill is running on tne same as yours.” “Do you want me to tell her that I am gratefult” “Well, aren’t you?” “I don’t know; I really don’t know.” “Look here, my boy, that at titude is all damned nonsense. Here you are, young, sound, with a heart that will recover in no time, provided you keep liquor out of it. And you talk like that 1 What the devil have you been up to, to land in this bogt” It was a cast at random. His guardian angel warned Spurlock to speak oarefully- “1 have been very unhapy.” “So have we all. But we get over it. And you will.” After a moment Spurlock said: “Perhaps I am an ungrateful do*.” “That’s better. Remember, if there’s anything you’d like to get off your chest, doctors and priests are in the same boat.” With no little effort—for the right words had a way of tumb ling back out of reach—he mar shalled his phrases, and as he uttered them, closed his eyes to lessen the possibility of a break. “I’m only a benighted fool; and having said that, I have said everything. I’m one of those unfortunate duffers who have too much imagination—the kind who build their own chimeras ana theri^un away from them. How long shall 1 be kept in this bed!’ ‘That’s particularly up to you. Ten days should see you on your feet. But if you don’t want to get up. maybe three times ten days.” There had never been, from that fatal hour eight months gone down to’ this, the inclina tion to confess. He had often read about it, and once he had incorporated it in a story, that invisible force which sent men to prison and to the gallows, when a tongue controlled would have meant liberty indefinite. As for himself, there had never been a touch of it. It was less will than education. Even in his fevered hours, so the girl had said, his tongue had not betrayed him Perhaps that sealed letter was a form of confession, and thus re lieved him on that score. And yet that could not be: It was a confession only in the event of his death. Living, he knew that he would never send that letter. His conscience, however, was entirely another affair. He could neither stiffle nor deaden that. It was always jabbing him with white-hot barbs, waking or sleep ing. But it never said: “Tell someone! Tell someone!” Was he something of a moral pervert, then! Was it what he had lost —the familiar world—rather than what he had done? He stared dully at the footrail For the present the desire to fly was gone. No doubt that was due to his helplessness. When he was up and about, the idea of flight would return. But now how far could he fly on a few hundred! True, he might find a job somewhere; but every footstep from behind. . . .! * ‘ Who is she ! Where does she come from!” • xou mean miss .EnschedeT” "Yea. That dress she has on —my mother might have worn it.” He was beginning to notice things, thenf The doctor was pleased* The boy was coming around. "Miss Enschede was born on an island in the South Seas. She is setting out for Hartford, Connecticut. The dress was her mother’s, and she was wearing it to save a little extra money.” (TO BE CONTINUED) ’ SMALLER C OP AID TO FARMER Wheat Producer Should Get Better Price This Year, Survey Shows Chicago. — With the American wheat crop estimated at 693.000,000 bushels, the smallest on record since 1917, and with two exceptions the smallest sinee 1911, indications are that a turning point has been reached in the depression that hp& afflicted the bread grower sflice 1919, according to recent statistics. The total crop forecast 93,000,000 bushels less than last year’s harvest and 188,000,000 bushels under the 1918-1922 average. The spring wheat acreage estimate is the smallest since 1900, while deterioration in Kansas, Nebraska and Washington caused the sharp drop in the win ter wheat estimate. or the spring wheat acreage in four leading states, 29 per cent., or about 50.000. 000 bushels, is durum. Al though there is little use for this at home, there Is a good .demand for It abroad. Probably 35,000,000 bush els will be exported, leaving 80,000 000 or 90,000,000 bushels of bread wheat for export. If the crop har vested Is not larger than the esti mate, the exportable surplus out side the durum wheat will be rela tively small. Domestic consumption of wheat In the last six years has averaged 605.000. 000 bushels. Making no al lowance for the growth of popula tion, the exportable surplus from a crop like the forecast would be around 85,000,000 bushels. The United States has certain natural markets for wheat and flour, such as the West Indies and Cen tral America, where the product can be sold at prices even above the world level. In addition, European buyers tend to draw on the United States In the fall months before Canadian wheat Is available In vol ume and after Argentina and Aus tralia have disposed of most of their surpluses. These natural conditions of trade should render it an easy matter to dispose of the surplus— no larger than Is predicted for this year. European crop prospects are poorly defined, but Indications are for a smaller yield than last year, according to the survey. This means that as much Import wheat will be needed as In the year just closing. Smaller crops In Canada and Ar gentina are probable, and since the large surpluses from their last crops have been and are being disposed of at the present lever of prices, smaller yields this year should bring more money. India Is gradually dropping out as an exporting nation. America Will Participate. From Philadelphia Public Ledge* There la no shadow of doubt about America’s presence at the next International conference to be stag ed in Europe. The Washington Government may have been only Indirectly interested In a repara tions settlement under the Dawes program, but when the question comes up of dividing the payments expected of Germany the voice of America will be raised in no un official manner. But, from now on, Germany each year is to pay a lump Bum which must cover not only reparations but all payments of any kind. The United States, at the cc-nference of finance ministers to be held in Paris, desires officially tc present Its bill for expenses incurred by our Rhine army and, most likely, for private claims of American clti sens against the German Govern ment, amounting in all to about (500,000,000. What is more, Amer ica claims priority for her occupa tional expenditures. There can be nothing unofficial about the pre sentation of this bill. In this connection a curious story is circulating in London. It had been decided to call the coming confer ence a “Conference of Allied Fi nance Ministers.” Ambassador Kel logg, however, sensed an incon sistency and suggested “Financs Ministers of the Allied and Associ ated Powers." Philip Snowden, Bri tish Chancellor of the Exchequer, countered that this change would be impossible because the United States is not a party to the Ver sailles Treaty—that the “Allied Fi nance Ministers” would simply in vite the United States to be repre sented. America to be Invited as a sort of after-thoughtl The very Idea! And the upshot of the argu ment involving such grave diplo matic niceties is that the United States will be represented upon any terms and In any way It desires. A matter of email detail and slight consequence, perhaps. But how strange it must sound to cer tain ears—this insistence by Amer ica upon full-fledged, official, si mon-pure representation In a Euro pean conference! Sea Fog Stiii a Menace. From New York Herald-Tribune Into the curtain of “aea smoke” that looms In his course the skipper on the bridge can see not one foot further than can the landlubber on the deck below. Nor is his guess as to what maverick vessels be mov ing beyond it much better than that of any landsman in the passenger list. One by one science is conquer ing the perils of the deep, save only fog. Still must the mariner grope bis way through the clammy banks that so often enfolds his vessel, trust ing to half speed and a siren to carry him through unscathed. Steam power and steel construction have conquered the gales and even the hurricanes that once sent the stanchest vessels to the bottom. Tho international ice patrol, with the as sistance of the wireless, has greatly reduced the danger of such another disaster as that when the Titanic was ripped open on a perfectly clear night by a submerged tentacle of a great berg. Careful charting of harbors has rendered it possible to make port, if necessary, in any part of the world without a pilot. But still the fog remains, and still while blindly ploughing through It vessels encounter and ram one an other as tho Swift Arrow rammed the Boston off Point Judith on Mon day night. It was believed during the war that the submarine detect*6rs. which are a sort of undersea/ telephone, had supplied a ship w>.h ears, by which it could listen through fog as well as through darkney-4. But a ship must be motionless^ to work the detectors with anythiryi' like efficiency. And it is her business to keep her course, whatever .nay be the weather. Without question science will some day find a means of dispelling, not the fog but its danger. Already wireless brings first aid in time of collision. In the course of time detec tors will be evolved which will not only work while vessels are in mo tion, but locate accurately the posi tion of other ships which are in dan gerous proximity. The conquest of fog Is the next important step in the science of navigation. When It is ac complished the last major terror of the sea will have vanished. Mr. Davie’ Clients. From the Springfield Republican. If Mr. Davis needs A defense be cause of his Wall-street clients, It Is best found perhaps in the case of George W. Wlckersham. Mr. Wlckersham had been a Wall-street lawyer for over twenty years when he became attorney general In the cabined of President Taft. The law firm of Strong, Cadwalader & Wiek ersham had had its share of fees from big business. Yet Mr. Wick ersham as attorney general of the United States became one of the most active “trust bustlers" that big business has had to contend with. It was he who Initiated the dissolution suit against the United States Steel corporation. He, a Wall-street lawyer! Mr. Davis has been practicing law In the Wall street district only three years. Before then he "went broke” financially In representing the United States government at the British court. He came home rich in experience, but with no bank account. His three years practicing law In New York cannot have made him a millionaire — not yet. Clients of vast resources have sought him, and that Is a tribute to his ability. But he has not been corrupted, nor so far biased prob ably In his political and economic thinking by three years of legal practice In Wall street that the six years in which he was the lawyer for the government in prosecuting all kind of offenders against the laws of the United States has been •ompletely counteracted. Inconsiderate Exploitation. From the Washington Star. The names of great men oft we view On bad cigars, and candy, too. Who wil! believe that men of fame Consumed the wares tnat bear their name? And statues In their honor rise That friends would never recognise. Their names are given--which Is worse— To Infants who grow up perverse. Alas, what Incidents Intrude To show a world's Ingratitude! The Mean Thing. Peggy: "Does your husband tarh In h!s sleep?" Polly: "No. and It's awfully *oias narating. 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