The Western news., 1903-04-22

oeIius HIuLy, the patient would
awaken occasionally and murmur in
distinct sentences. The fever Of age
and anxiety had unsettled his mind,
and he raved like child Of ten.
Dorothy turned away in despair. I'M
pending death in the dreary shack
made even her stout heart quail. 1t
was ten miles to the nearest physician,
but 1t was necessary to go. Would the
Feeble patient awaken, and, finding
himself deserted, commit some wild
act?
She held the door half open, debating
whether to go or stay, when suddenly
slight pressure from without made
her turn hastily. There, almost at her
feet, was bundle of red clothing, sur
mounted by shock OF light-brown hair.
The pair Of innocent eyes looked up at
her suddenly cleaned with newborn
happiness.
'Muzzer! Muzzer! Use found you at
last. Where's you been SO long? Baby
been cryin' an cryin' for you. Hug
baby, an tell him you'll nebber, nebber
leave him again."
A pair Of arms were raised beseech-
ingly upward. Dorothy picked the little
child up in her arms and hugged and
kissed it. The longing in her heart for
some one to love and speak to was al
most too much, and she broke into a
violent sobbing. The child cuddled to
her and said softly:
Don't cry, muzzer, fur l won't leave
you ag'in. Use goin' to stay forebber
all eber with YOU"
The hands, chubby and warmt
stroked the hair Of the weeping wom-
an. Dorothy raised her eyes to look at
the little face pressed to hers, and then
she started. A dozen feet away stood
Henry Egerton, an expression Of con-
fusion and uncertainty on his face.
He raised his hat and said:
Pardon me, I've come for Virginia.
She ran away, and I could not catch
her until she crossed-crossed over
here"
Dorothy still held the child in her
arms, and Virginia suddenly exclaimed:
Use found muzzer! Use found muz-
zer, Uncp Hen'y. Here she is."
The face of the man worked strange
ly. A softening Of the firm outlines
made him look tender and sympathetic.
"Poor Virginia lost her mother a
week ago." he murmured, land she has
come to live with me. could not bear
to tell her the truth. But suppose (
was wrong. Come, Virginia, come with
Uncle Henry"
mot unless muzzer comes, too,"
pleaded the child.
The embarrassment Of the man In
creased. Dorothy, understanding the
position Of the two, suddenly raised her
eyes from the shock of brown hair and
said quickly:
Leave the child with me a short
time. She is happy, and I-I-need
some one"
There was break in her voice, but
she continued with more self-control:
"But l must go away for doctor.
Father is very sick, and he needs help
and medicine"
Henry Egerton had been thinking of
the picture the two made framed In
the doorway, and he started at the
mention Of her father. Then, apparent
ly without thinking, he said: "I'll go for
the doctor if you'll keep Virginia until
l return. I'll be back soon."
He strobe away rapidly without
| glancing again at the picture, which
somehow had strangely affected him,
! and within ten minutes he was riding
| tiercely toward Oklahoma City. During
the ten miles he hardly saw an object
| on the landscape, and when he return.
ed in company with the physician he
was quiet and taciturn.
| Virginia and Dorothy were not in the
doorway to greet him on his return, but
unmindful Of the feud between the two
families he strobe into the small shack
behind the physician. Then, while that
individual examined his patient, he
| waited patiently at the foot of the rude
bed. furtively watching two faces
| which seem inseparably associated to-
gether.
Jared Wellington was long time in
bed and the fever wasted him to q
skeleton. Nature had robbed him OF
the power and strength to protect his
shack from the approach Of the enemy
But before his complete recovery the
dead line" had been obliterated. The
little footsteps of Virginia had worn q
smooth path across it from shack tc
shack, and often Henry Egerton fol
lowed after his tiny niece ito 60 an see
muzzer." Somehow there was as much
attraction for him as for the innocen,
child, who had found in its bereaye
ment another who quickly healed tht
wound.
Then one day Henry Egerton walked
to the old shack with lines drawn tight
er around his mouth, and with eyei
hardened to bear a new burden. Tht
decision of the courts in their respec
tive claims had been handed down
The ownership of the valuable quarter