The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1903-04-30

before. and she half shuddered at IT,
BY way of apology, she added in an
undertone:
Poor father. He suffers. too. He
has been disappointed and it Is making
him old. Why did that man want to
come here?
She looked bitterly across the dead
line Henry Egerton had just emerged
from his shack and stood. with hands
shading his eyes, watching her. Nearby
she could see his gun leaning against
the side of the shack.
HE must be bad. or he would offer
to compromise" Dorothy continued.
HE is young and able and father
Is old and feeble. He might move on.
and"
She suddenly dropped her voice to
an indistinct murmur for an apparition
appeared in the doorway of the shacl;
which made her excited. She shaded
her eyes and looked more keenly. 1t
was a small, toddling child, scarcely
two summers old, holding uncertainty
to the side of the doorway, and cooling
at the big bail Of fire slowly disap-
pearlng below the horizon. The man
raised his hands and the child ran
to him and jumped into his arms.
"He is married. then, and has fam
lly." Dorothy breathed. Maybe l
have misiudged him. Has the child a
mother. Or"
Again her sentence died out in an
indistinct murmur. but the sun had set
and twilight was rapidly spreading
over the landscape. Dorothy saw an
other form, bent of figure and white of
hair. walking across the field, and
after waving hand of welcome to him
she turned to her work inside.
There was seldom any mention of
their neighbours affairs between father
and daughter and tonight Dorothy
merely told of the presence of the baby
on the opposite side of the dead line
and then subsidized. Jared Wellington
raised his shaggy eyebrows and
grunted:
"Then he's married? He'll bring his
wife next, suppose. Maybe he has
heard that the courts"
A horrible suspicion entered the
minds Of both. Had the courts decided
respecting their claims, and had Henry
Egerton heard that he was the sole and
legal possessor of the quarter section?
Otherwise why had he brought his
family out to his lonely home when he
had lived without them for three
months?
Jared Wellington felt the heavy on.
preston of disappointment. and his
white head dropped lower and lower as
the evening advanced. Dorothy tried
to cheer him. but in vain. Finally she
decided to present the matter clearly
TO her aged parent end show him
that all would not be los even IL the
courts decided against them.
"What of it. father?' she said. cheer
fully. I'VE can go back East and live
l can work and support you. I will
enjoy life more than out here. l can't
stand this much longer. l must have
companions and neighbors.'
mo. no. Dorothy. 1t can never be-" he
murmured. / shall never live to sec
the East again. If it is true that-that
he owns it"-pointing dramatically
toward his cnemy's sha ack-''it will kill
me. l cannot survive It,"
The tears blinded the blue eyes of
the woman, and she turned away to
hide them. ut may not be. father"
she murmured in thick voice.
But whether true or not. Jared Wei
lington took to his bed. and on the NOR.
row he was unable TO raise his head
from the pillow. Dorothy nursed him
with all the skill she possessed. but he
needed more than she could give.
Slumbering fitfully. the patient would
awaken occasionally, and mprmur in
distinct sentences. The fever of age
and anxiety had unsettled his mind,
and he raved like a child Of ten.
Dorothy turned away in despair.
Impending death in the dreary shac
made even her stout heart quail. II
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, debat.
ing whether to go or stay, when sud
denly a slight pressure from without
made her turn hastily. There, almost
at her feet. was bundle of red cloth
ing. surmounted by a shock of light
brown hair. The pair of innocent eyes
looking up at her suddenly CLEANED
with a newborn happiness.
"Muzzer, Muzzer! Use found you
at last. Where's you been so long
Baby's been cryin' an cryin' fur you
Hug baby, an tell him you'll nebber
nebber leave him again..
A pair Of warm arms were raised be.
seechingly upward. Dorothy picked
the little child up in her arms and
hugged and kissed it. The longing In
her heart for some one 10 love and
speak to was almost too much. and she
broke into violent sobbing. The child
cuddled close to her and said softly:
Don't cry, muzzer fur won't leave
you ag'in. Use goin' to stay forebbei
an ebber with you"
The hands, chubby and warm, stroked
the hair of the weeping woman. Dor
othy raised her eyes to look at the little
face pressed to hors, and then she
started. A dozen feet away stood Henry
Egerton, an expression of confusion
and uncertainty ON his face.
He raised his hat and said:
pardon me. I've come for Virginia
She ran nwav and / cOuld NOT catcI