Iron County register., 1898-03-03
THE Old SILVER TRAL.
81 MARY z. STICKNEY.
LcOpuiEhs 1896. by J. B. LlpplneO# Col
CHAPTER uI-CoNr1SUEn.

that night how grateful we were. We
| were so tongue-tied with excitement
so wholly upset. But afterward-I
would have been so glad of an opportu-
Eity to thank you again. 1t troubled
me to think we had said so little when
you had been so kind"
'It was more than kind of you not
to think it presumption" he answered
her, flushing with pleasure. 81 con-
fess it rather looked like that to me
when you had so courteously dismissed
me at the door of the Colorado building
and persisted in still keeping you i'll
| sight down the walk
"But what a relief it was to me to
find you there when that alarm came,
and the fire company came rushing by
| and the crowd jostled me about! 1t was
So soon after the Cold Storage disas-
ter, and the idea of fire threw me into
panic, to say nothing of the fact that
the crowd seemed disposed to trampie
me to death without perceiving me at
all. was so grateful to you for see
ing me,'' she added, smiling down at
him with perhaps more of kindness
than she knew in the depths of her eyes.
"You seemed like an old friend then-a
friend in need"
"And how grateful was to that fire
alarm for giving me chance to as
sumo the attitude!" he eagerly eX-
claimed. "And when ventured to as
sumo that it might give me pretext to
walk along beside you-ah, Miss Mere
dith, trembled for my audacity then
a good deal more than when was bur-
glarizing up in the Colorado building"
ST can hardly credit that. remem-
| Der you as perfectly cool and self-Pos-
sessed," she declared, holding up her
soft cap as though to shield her face
from the fire, in reality making it serve
as a screen to hide the blush she could
feel burning upon her cheeks. "And
what a mercy it was that you did come,
In view of the fact that Mrs. Hallet
was not waiting for ME at the place
we had agreed upon! With the dark
ness and the crowds about the electric
fountains, 1 should have been wild if
you had not been there to help me find
her. And when she had been discov-
cred and it further developed that she
had lost the child and his nurse-why,
you were a regular godsend. 1t was such
q time of mishaps."
You did seem rather out of luck, for
a fact" he laughed, though when you
make so much of my small services 1
feel anything but sympathetic in a
way; 1 can't be sorry that it happened,
But | never clearly understood, by the
way, how your friend happened to let
the boy get away from her. Was it i'll
Ler hunt for yOu?"
"Oh, no; we had left little Paul with
his nurse looking at the trained animals
over in the Midway late in the after
Eocn, arranging that they were to
take supper at some place over there
where the girl had q friend employed.
l fancy it was her sweetheart, from her
anxiety to patronize the place. At all
events, it was settled that they were
to be left to their own devices until
seven o'clock, when they were to meet
Us by the electric fountains. But Mrs.
Eallet and | became absorbed in hag-
Cling over some curios at one of the AL
gerian baZaars over by the anthropo-
logical building, and before we knew it
IT was after seven o'clock. OF course
she felt that she must fly to keep her
appointment with little Paul, while it
v IS HIS GtlN SGJliCu IIlSlC SuOuIu ltliNC
the intramural train around to the Col
orado building and get my jacket,
which I had left there. It had never
occurred to her that she had arranged
her rendezvous at the spot which was
sure to be most crowded at that hour,
where everybody was gathering for the
illumination; but when she came there.
OF course it was like hunting n needle in
n haystack to find the child and nurse.
Ard then, as it grew dark, and her
search continually appeared more hope
less, while l also failed to come back,
the poor woman was simply wild. II
seemed very funny in retrospect-such
q chapter of incidents; but it did not ap-
PEAL to our sense of humOr at the time
'I should say not" he sympathet-
ically rejoined; adding, with good cheer
essentially masculine: 'Dut you came
out of it all right"
Thanks to you. And now to have
you come a second time to rescue me
from despair:" She paused express
lively, looking at him as though in new
a!,lazemcnt as she reflected upon the
strangeness of such happenings. Did
yCu recognize me at once?-but | re-
1nember-you called me by my name.
Now I think of it. though, l am sur
prised that you know my name. I did
not suppose mentioned it that night"
'sYou did not; but heard your friend
call you Dorothy" he confessed. 'It
IS not very cOmmon-the name; ami
Dorothy Meredith was the only Dor
othy to be found in 20 pages of the
visitors book at the Colorado build
ing. had plenty of time to look
while I was waiting for you to come"
His face had flushed deeply, and there
was a curious light in his eyes as he
smiled up at her.
1t flashed upon the girl that to a
woman who loved him he would be SIM
plv adorable with that smile upon his
face; AID then her checks, too, red
dered for the froward thought, and she
hastily moved away as she murmured
a comprehensive oh"
81 felt most certain of the name" he |
went on, 'but you made your address
cruelty vague, don't you know? 1t was |
simply Colorado. There was not even
a hint as to where you might be found |
in Chicago"
'Oh, it was simply tribute of loyal |
ty to Colorado, signing the name at all"
she hurriedly rejoined, embarrassment |
growing upon her for the frank admis- |
sion of how much he had cared to see |
her again "And then l am rather like |
the man who was born down Cape Cod |
- o11 ,loDo Cbora 7 poD1d hardly Law |