Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1896-06-25
XIV.

result of which a life depended,
Dorothy Gray was driving briskly along
the. Bassettville road. The task she
had undertaken was simple, but none
the less important for that fact; she
had merely to cover more than score
of miles in the shortest time possible
For many girls of heS acquaintance the
undertaking would have been the
easiest thing imaginable; and with n
good deal of envy she recalled the skill
shown by one or two of her friends on
occasions when the moving cause was
nothing more weighty than a chance to
display prowess as a whip. Unfortun-
ately for her, she had seldom held the
reins over anything more spirited than
the lazy animals occasionally hired by
her aunt on a specific guarantee that i'll
no way could they be started out of
slow trot, hardly faster than the walk
for which all of them evinced a strong
preference; and, although she had
gained very fair understanding OF the
idiosyncrasies of the roadster in front
of her, her knowledge had the draw back
of being for the most part theoretical.
Still, she had not begun the journey
without duly considering its conditions,
and, on the whole, they were favorable
to a novice. The road was good, though
here and there very narrow, as IS some
times the case with rural highways;
there were no sharp pitches of the kind
to shake unframed nerves; and the
l. ro 81, nj Y
with the equine joys of
boiling. Not to press him at first
that was her plan, for much haste
might mean little speed in the end.
For the first half-mile she drove al
most leisurely, but when she had
reached the top of the ridge which bor-
dered the lowlands along the shore she
tightened the reins little, and felt in
stantly the roadster's response to the
summons. He settled down to the
work before him as if he liked it, with
the long telling strides which covered
ground with such deceptive ease. A
quarter of n mile ahead was buck
board bearing two passengers and
drawn by a horse which, she saw as
she came closer, was trotting steadily.
1t surprised her to observe how rapid
ly she overhauled the other conveyance,
even when the driver, after a look over
his shoulder, piled his whip with the
evident intention of giving her a chase
A few hundred yards showed him the
of the contest, and, with
native courtesy and perhaps a shrewd
guess that his own wheels would be
the safer by allowing the stranger a
generous share of the road, he pulled
his vehicle well out of the way as she
sped by him. She caught a look of Gu
riosity on his face as she turned in her
seat to watch her swift progress.
There was just the tinge Of excite
ment in the ride to make her forget
for time the sorry cause of it. The
coolnesS. of approaching evening was
upon the land, although the sun was
still well above the horizon, and what
little breeze was stirring blew in her
face. On she went, now across n plain,
now surmounting a gentle ACTIVITY,
now winding along a valley among the
low hills, but always with the same
smooth motion, as steady as it was
fleet. An old weather-stained farm
house sprang into view on her right.
She remembered that it was counted as
marking the halfway point of the
road. A glance at her watch showed
that, even with her slow start, she had
covered a little more than five miles
in "a minutes. With Is or 16 miles yet
to be traversed this might be doing too
much; and on the next rising grade
she set herself to the task of slacken-
ing the speed. There was somewhat
of a struggle between horse and driver.
but at last she won. More than once
was the test repeated before Bassett-
vile was reached, but when she turned
into the main street of the town her
watch told her that less than so min
utes had sufficed to cover the last half
Of the trip.
A pretty little woman was sitting on
DR.. Fowler's doorstep as the fair mes
senger drove up. She came briskly
to the gate, and, leaning upon it, lis
tened intently to the girls brief ac-
need of n surgeons services.
"But the doctors away" the little
woman said. HE has gone to Trent,
and / don't expect him back before
midnight-Pm Mrs. Fowler, youknow."
"But can't we catch him by telc
graph ?" Dorothy asked anxiously. as
there no way? The case is so desperate.
Zen HI 10
Mrs. Fowler shook her head. NO."
she answered, regretfully, for she was
proud of her husbands surgical skill,
"I shouldn't know where to address
telegram, and there's no train till the
late one. Who is in charge of the case
now?"
"Dr. Morris-that is DR.. Banks. I
suppose he is in charge, with DR.. Nor
rfs assisting him"
"Umph! DIR. Banks-I know him.
The other don't"
The lady's tone expressed very little
confidence in the surgical talent of
Rodneytown.
'Dr. Banks has a sprained wrist, and
DIR. Morris is a-a-specialist in a-a--
nervous diseases" Dorothy hastened to
explain. "They united in sending for
DR.. Fowler"
ooh, l understand" said DIR. Fowler's
wife, amicably. at is dreadfully un-
fortunate that he is away"
Mrs. Fowler, please advise me-" said
Dorothy, earnestly. "The doctors
argue that an immediate operation Of
fers the only hope of saving the mans
life. l am sent here for a surgeon.
find him gone. What should do?"
There's nobody else here I'd trust
with a cats life. DR.. Morse-I mean
Morris-must operate, or you will have
to wait for my husbands return. He
can hardly get to Rodneytown before
two or three o'clock in the morning"
A new doubt assailed the girl. How
about instruments? Banks and
should have them, she supposed, but
there was the chance that we We're
unprepared with suitable appliances.
AS briefly as possible she told Mrs.
Fowler what was in her mind.
"Sure enough" cried the little wom-
an, 81 don't believe old DR.. Banks has
anything of the sort. Well not risk
it, anyway"
She ran into the house, returning in
o moment with case under her arm.
Here's a set of instruments" said
she. Take it; my husband has an
other. Get back to Rodneytown as
quick as you can If they decide to
wait for DIR. Fowler they can send word
over this evening. oh, don't bother