Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1895-01-26

Man, have You no help for me:
Haven't yod science or skill enough to
put vitality into tI,s miserable carcass
sufficient to enable M to drag il u few
miles further, Can't YOU DO anything
for mc:" The s2G5e Of impotence was
strong upoa him; his voice was hoarse
and feeble. his eyes showed that he
knew beforehand what the answer
must be.
Royal put out his hand to him pitt
fully. but shook ms head:
"Ivpoorf How. Gol himself couldn't
help YOU that way Sop minute and
let me think. There ought t. be way
out of it-there must be n way out of it,
if only were smart enough to see 1t.
Don't fret, please. 1t eXhausts vitality
and does no good. Try to rest"
The closing phrases were born of pro
fessional instinct and delivered mechan-
ically. His mind was busy with the
problem he had set himself to solve.
He was a man quick to trust his own
Judgment and to form new plans. EN-
phatically a man of action, prompt IN
conception, prompt also and untlring IN
execution. DR.. Royals mind worked
habitually along positive lines. To rush
at difficulty and carry it by assault
was the method which most recommends
ed itself to him, and the active, practical
life of the frontier had fostered his nat
ural proclivities. There was little OF the
"shivering and shaking on the bank sc
condemned of the English wit about
Hart Royal. To "jumpin and scramble
through" as well as he could might be
reckoned his rule Of conduct.
The plan he elaborated within the
next half hour might, as a legal meas
IRE, be open to question, but il possessed
the merit of tangibility ana could be
put into immediate execution. 1t was,
in brief, that John Royal. fiat on his
back on that which mignt well be his
dying bed, in MatoacCa, should at the
appointed hour on the following day
marry his cousin, on the other side OF
the mountains, by proxy.
Il don't know how the law stands,
the originator Of the scheme admitted.
land there isn't time to look 1t up. !
never heard of IL marriage by proxy out
side of novel, to be sure: but if man
can marry by telephone | don't see why
he can't be married by proxy. To Inc II
looks as though it wOnld give fighting
chance for immediate possession OF the
money. You can have the marriage re
celebrated if the lady should prefer 1t.
She will JON you at once, Of course"
The sick man caught at the plan. His
Al, Z = l,,,
monwealth in regard to marriage was
neDulous. but to him also the scheme
proposed seemed to offer Il fighting
chance, and even that appeared of price
less value. His eagernes5 was pltlful,
his insistence almost aggressive. The
poor fellow, drifting into the shadow OF
the inevitable. yet holding back with
terrible earnestness, with yearning ten
derness, not for his own sake, but fo1
that of the woman left to his care, the
pathos of it dimmed Royals gray eyes
more than once, and acted as a spur tC
his helpful, sympathetic nature.
There was no question in the mind OF
either man as to who should be the repre-
sentative. The bond of the order had
done away with all Strangeness or sense
of obligation between them, even before
the recognition of the deeper. human
brotherhood had come. Royal made the
necessary arrangements for the care OF
the sick man during his absence. and
also provided himself with the wedding
ring which lie found in his namesakes
pocket. The license would be waiting
at the other end of the line, John Royal
said; he had written about 1t from the
hospital to the gentleman in whose fam.
lily his cousin had lived since their aunt :
death.
In the urgent need of haste it occurred
to neither MN that DR.. Royal, being a
stranger, should have some sort of ere.
dentials, or that it might be necessary
for proxy to have written power OF
representation, as it We're, from his pria-
cipal. Nor did the thought that the
similarity of name might cause com
plication suggest itself. The sick man
was unaware of the coincidence, and the
mind of the other was illed with weight
Ter matters. There WAS little time for
detail.
CHAPTER III.