La Junta tribune., 1898-11-26
DIR. FALCONER'S
TEMPTATION &c
- s SHORT
STORY
(Continued.)


Jus, send me few strong doses Of
/ quinine doctor, and order me some
! milk and some Goals. and | sail be
able to get along by myself, rs ] have
often Gone before and will often again.
few days will pull me round all
| right without troubling any one"
| I'm afraid 1t may be more eeTt-
GUS matter this time" said the doetor.
| "bu; have your own way for the pres
! ert I'll gee that you have some milk,
and " ! have a spare rug or blanket I'll
! send It swell to throw over you.
I Now, good-by, and see that you keep
/ yourHelf as warm and comfortable as
you can under the difficult circum-
I stances you have chosen for yourself.
Il oughtn't to have listened to him,
he went on to himself as he walked
! home through the driving snow. which
| had been falling thlckly for some time;
| but there's that old Ulundi rug OF
mine he can have tonight. II looks ~
| II he would need 1t badly"
The ensuing night proved keen and
| frosty and Falconers thoughts revert
/ ed more than once to the miserable
| shelter in which he had left his patient
( and the still more miserable shake
| down on which the fever-strtcken
I wretch was lying. At comparatively
early hour the next morning he was
again at the door. waiting in some Inn
| patience until IL was again unclaimed
and unlocked and revealed the solitary
, inmate shi uring and moaning In
] agonies OF feuralgia. so this 10 the
resul, OF lehving you to your own de-
/ vices!" he exclaimed as he strode In;
but come. there is no time to be lost
now. Get on your clothes. and any
| thing you want to take with you, and
| will have ny at the door In hve
t minutes. But sit down first and let
| me give you hypodermic dose OF
morphia to quiet your pain. Is there
| any water in the house?"
You can get It at the tap. and here is
a cup. But tell you plainly. I'm not
going cut OF this house. DO anything
( you can for me without removing me.
and will thank you and repay you
when / can. do thank you a hundred
times for the rug you sent me last
night. But go to infirmary or hospital
l will not; understand that clearly.
We'll, well!" said the doctor. wish
| ing to humor him for the moment;
'lie down there and get under the rug
then. Hold out your arm. There.
| you1l feel better in a minute. deal
better" he muttered to himself as he
| drove home . full dose: "it will be
| easier to get him away SO. Now lie
still and keep yourself warm for half
an hour. ! have another case to see In
! ~ ,,.tn he hor rL hor
| In that time So saying. he walked
/ quickly to the door. from which he
withdrew the key and put 1t In his
| pocket 1t was several minutes walk
| to the nearest cab stand and nearly half
| an hour had elapsed before he was
again at the door with a wheeler.
To his chsgrin he found 1t fastened by
the chain, but With q powerful push Of
his shoulder burst 1t open and en-
tered.
His patiel.. <as lying on the floor Of
the front room on his face, having ap-
parently succumbed to the influence OF
the morphia as he was returning from
putting the chain on the door. What
as he stopped to lift him. Halo,
What have we here? those tumors
again!" In . moment he had laid the
insensible figure on the bed and was
hastily undoing his clothing. Under
| the mans shirt, and next his skin. was
fastened q broad canvas belt, furnished
with six large leathern pouches widely
distending and bulging prominently.
''Ha! this explains the mystery! Va
cuus cantabit indeed! What . weight!
These are malignant tumors with 4
vengeance! Come. my friend. let CO.
-this to the patient. who was feebly
and half unconsciously clutching at the
| belt as he withdrew 1T must make
a thorough examination OF these tu-
mors, since L have discovered them at
last"
Placing the belt on the foor-for
there was no table in the room--he un-
loosed the strap OF one of the pouches
with fingers that trembled with excite
ment A yellow gleam caught his eye.
and for a moment his hands shook SO
| violently and uncontrollably that
small avalanche Of gold coins rolled out
upon the bare boards with a 1ingling
crash, and spread over the floor. His
head swan, flashes OF hre seemed to
dance before his eyes, a thunderous
reverberation filled his ears. and before
| he was able to control his own move
| ments he was down on his knees wildly
/ clutching at the coins with both hands,
thrusting them into his pockets as fast
as he could gather them up. Recov-
ering himself with sense Of shame
and amaxement such as he had never
| felt heSove he was conscious of shud-
dering SO violently that his teeth chat
tered, and the gold dropped again and
again from his fingers. For shame.
Richard Falconerv' he heard himself
saying aloud. "is this your contempt