The Grit-advocate., 1900-12-21

Ihon no went back again into the
dei0 aud attacked tho snow. working
hsrTssdly and fsvsrishly now. He no
loosG stopped to carry the snow cat
Of The tunnel. His shovel struck WOOD,
then came show OF red In TIE blsat
whitsnsss Of the tunnel. Ths door st
last! Es threw his weight against T.
ones! Twice! Again! It burst open
and As found himself IN the dim light
Of small lamp which still burned In
the bracket on the vail. 1ns yson
was not cold. but the Ars In the stove
had been out for soms tine. He ~
not sse Nannetts. Had she gons, then.
after all! Out Of the stiffness came
sound Of iabored breathing. Thea hs
remembered the little room back Of
the stove where the fuel was kept The
door stood ajar. A moment later he
was holding Nannstte IN his arms
striving to bring her back to conscious
ness. Before she opened her eyes she
called his name. She called hin again
and again ~ If calling for help. Then
consciousness came back to her and
she opened her eyes and looked woa-
deringly at him. Frr
While Kssne made her - comforta-
BILE ~ he could and built blazing
fire in the stove. she told him all about
it. How the snowslids had shut her
in just as she had made ready to 10
home. She had not been frightened. a.
she felt sure some one would come for
her. There was plenty Of fuel to keep
the schoolroom warm and she had
enough of her lunch left to do for sup
per. Then the fire had burned low and
she had gone to the little room for
coal. She had tripped and fallen In
the dark and thought she had sprained
her ankle. 1t hurt her cruelty and she
had become frightened when she found
that she could not move without great
pain. She had become terribly afraid
in that little dark room and had cried
out many times for Keene to come to
her 1t seemed too terrible that she
should be there all alone. II Keens
could only know he would come to her
rescue. Then the pain and terror had
overcome her and she had lost all con-
sciousness until she saw him bending
over her.
Keene cut the shoe from the injured
ankle and wrapped his muffier about
her. tying her skirts closely about her
feet. Picking Nannette up in his
strong arms, as If she had been baby
instead Of plump young woman, he
plunged out of the door into the tun-
mel In the snow. The drift was mar
row toward the opening, but he
quickly forced his way out and
stood almost blinded by the dazsling
sunlight which was now breaking
through the clouds. Keene never
knew exactly how he made that trip
from the schoolhouse to Morse's cot
tage. He held Nannette closely in his
arms. felt her heart beating against
his and her warm breath was on his
cheek as he hurried along with
his precious burden. Something told
him that Nannette was his. When he
placed her gently on the couch in the
Morse's parlor she had kissed him and
called him dear Sherman" Keene's
heart was too full Of happiness to have
any room for thoughts OF DR.. Coulson.
In fact, that gallant gentleman was
not mentioned and Nannette sent for
the old doctor at the station In the
valley to attend to her swollen ankle.
All Cedarville was at the wedding
that made Nannette Mrs. Keene, when
the spring brought the wild flowers
back to the fields. Kesne's tunnel Is
still the talk OF the village.