The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1903-12-06

the opposite side. and when the dawn be-
gan 10 gray in the sky ahead we were
well out of the broken mountain region
and into the opener forest Of the nil
country.
The sun was yet below the eastern
horizon when we came TO the fording OF
larger stream than any we had crossed
in the night. Its course was toward the
sunrise, hence I took II Tor some triou-
tary Of the Catawba or the Broad.
"'Tis the Broad itself" said Ephraim
Yeates. In answer to my asking; land yit
II amt; leastw1se. 1t amt the one you
know It's the one the Parleyvoos
claimed IN the old war and they call it
the Frinch Broad"
But that flows north and westward, If
I remember Alright" said l.
so It do so it do-in gineraL But
hereabouts twill run all ways for Sun
day. by spells"
IF this be the French Broad we are
not yet out Of the Tuckasege country, as
I take it."
Mighty nigh to It; nigh enough to
make camp for a resting spell. reckon
we're a-needing that same pretty tole' BILE
bad. amt We, little gal?" this to Mar
gerry.
Weary as she was, she smiled upon
him brightly, as though he had been her
grandsire and so free to name her how
he pleased
Il shall sleep we'll when we are out OF
danger. But you must not stop for me-
or for Jeanne. TIL it's safe to do So"
Safe? Lord love We. child safe is a
word beyond US yit, and viii be till we
sot you down on your daddy's doorstone.
But Well make out to give ye bite and
sup and forty winks o. sleep immejitly,
II not sooner. now"
So. on the farther side Of the stream
the hunter led the way aside, and when
we were come to a small meadow glade
with good grazing for the horses. he
called a halt, lifted the women from
their saddles and came TO help me ease
Dick down. The poor lad was stif and
sore, having no more use of his joints
than II he were a bandaged mummy; but
the fever delirium had passed and he
was able TO laugh feebly at the tree-limb
continuance rugged TO hold him in the
saddle
How did we come out Of 1t, Jack?" he
asked. when we had let him feel the
comfort Of lying fat upon his back on
the soft sward.
AS you see We are all here and all
in fair fettle, saving yourself. You're
the heaviest loser"
He smiled. and his eyes languid with
the fever sought out Margery, who
would not come a-nigh while was with
him.
That remains to be seen. Jack. II my
dream comes true, I shall be the richest
gamer"
What did you dream?"
He beckoned me TO bend lower over
him. Il dreamed I was sore hurt and
that she was binding UP my bruises and
crying over me-"
Twas no dream" I said: and with
that I went TO help Yeates make a Dough
shelter for the women. while Uncanoola
was grinding the maize for the breakfast
cakes.
lis not my purpose to weary you with
oay-by-day accounting for all that be-
fell US on the way back to Mecklenburg
Suffice II 70 say that we ate and slept
and rose to mount and ride again; this
Tor I'VE days and nights, during which
Jenniters fever grew upon. him steadily
Al the close Of the fifth day our night
nah was In deserted log cabin at the
edge OF an unfinished clearing In the
heart OF the forest. Here Richard
sickness anchored US, and for three full
weeks the journey paused.
We nursed the lad as best we couId for
a fortnight, dosing him with stewfngs OF
such roots and herbs as the Catsuba
could find in the wood. Then. when we
were ar our wits ends, and Yeates and
/ were casting about how we could com
pass the bringing of a doctor from, the
settlements, the fever took a turn for
the better-of its own accord, or for I'm
canoola's physickings, we knew not
Which-and at the end of the third week
Dick was I'D and able to ride again, this
time without the forked stick to hold
him in the saddle
After this we went on without mishap.
and with no hardship greater than that
OF living solely upon the meat victual
provided by the hunters rife; and you
who know this plough-dressed region at
this later day will wonder when I write
II down that in all that long faring, or
rather to the last days stage of il. we
saw never a face Of any of our kind, OF
of the Catawba's.
You may be sure the month or more
we spent thus in the heart of the wild
wood was but a sorry time for me
While the excitement of the pursuit and
rescue lasted, and later, when anxiety
for Richard filed the hours of the long
days and nights, / was held a little back
from slipping into that pit of despair
which I had digged for myself.
But when the strain was off and Dick
was UP and At again, the misery of il al,
came back with added goadings. / had
never dreamed how cutting sharp
twould be to see these two together day
by day; TO see her loving, tender care OF
him, and TO hear him babble of his love
for her in his feverish vaporings Yet
all this 7 must endure. and with il a
thing even harder. For. TO make it worse
II worse could be, the shadow of COM
plete enlargement had fallen between
Msrgery and me. True to her word
given in that moment when / had be-
sought her not to speak aloud for her
own safetysa sake, she had never opened
her lips to me: and for aught she said OF
did l might have been a deaf-mute slave
beneath her notice.
And as she drew, away from me, she
seemed to draw the closer to Richard
Jennifer. nursing him alive when he was
at his worst, and giving him all the
womanly care and sympathy a sick man
longs for. And later when he was At to
ride again. she had him always at her
side in the onward faring.
As I have said before, this was all as
would have IL. Yet II made me sick in
my souls soul; and at times I must needs
fall behind to rave IL out in solitude
cursing the day when ] was born, and
that other more unfortunate day when ]
had reared the barrier impossible be-
tween these two.
What wonder, then, that, as we neared
the fighting field Of the great war, grew
more set upon selling the first chance that
might offer an honorable escape from
all these heartbnrnings? Twas a