The Minneapolis journal., 1905-05-06
Copyright, 1904, by Izola Forrester.)

Copyright, 1904, by lzola Forrester.) |
consulship at Hualtepec lay as a tangi-
BILE temptation under Stap1eton's 8 nose.
| But under the strain of conservative
art, and steady salary, Bosworth had
gone to pieces. There was nothing spe-
cial the matter with him. He had sim
ply collapsed from overwork, and had
come south on ticket tof-leave from
hard labor.
So far Stapleton told, but not word
Of girl up north. He chatted Of his
own affair with frank happiness to any
one who would listen to him, and began
to plan on wonderful habitation for
her who was to come, something be-
tween the grass-thatched bungalow of
q tropical princess and a modern Queen
Anne cottage down on Long Island.
And Bosworth watched the prepara-
! tions for the bride with dogged in
terest and loneliness he would not ac-
knowledge to himself.
Then there came day, three weeks
after he landed, when the consul lay
stretched out in the DOCTORS house up
a breeze was possibility with the
!, thermometer at 100 degrees, and every
day. BosWorth went up to keep an eye
, on him.
J We have fever down here that is
unique and original. After you have
, been told that it is malaria, and ,ty-
RRhOid AM and intG;EEm;ittent they settle settle
rising from general debility and change
: agnosis. Stapleton had it badly, the M
l doctor said. Mornings he was weak and
. chilly, and nights he sailed up to 1O5
g degrees, and told everything he knew
l past, present and future. And mixed
in with campaign and shop talk, there
i, was Staadv crv for Ha1an
q "They are to be married in week, u
Bosworth told the doctor one morning
Q about two. They had stepped from Sta
pleton IS room, out on the wire-screened
d veranda. It was very still. Only 8
a vague, nebulous luminosity lay over the
9 sea far below them. Here and there in
the darkness, inland, the outline of g
g the. sky. "she is at Palm Beach. Il
+, ought to be sent for.''
VI HHe III last about three days maybe
l. said the doctor. "Can you reach her?'
Y IT can ride over to Santa Ana ant
t Stapleton set up high call on th'
Il. inside, and the doctor went in. Bos
d worth lit his pipe and sat on the ver
a anda rail, his Knees up, his back agains
e post, staring off at the low, purplisl
le outline Of mountains. Beyond them, i
m one went far enough, there lay anothe
,e ocean, and one might find boat boun
for the southern coast. Somehow i
,e didn It seem such terrible chance, ly
It ing under bunch of dead revolution
). lists at the foot Of the grand staircas
ID in Japala, or anywhere else. Perhap
III they might reach the top of the gran
o. staircase. He smiled grimly. Their
Il. was a fighting devil in his heart, and h
f, couldn It fight Stapleton If it had bee
Of anyone else,. it wouldn' It have hit s
20 deep. But Stapleton had known of he
er half promise to him, provisional hal
th promise, Of course, in words, but ther
IN had been more than words. He shut hi
tn teeth closer on the amber pipe stem an
he smiled. There was. something eve
he Stapleton couldn't take away from hin
He had an idea that he was the onl
n. that he was the only man who had eve
Of man who had ever kissed Helen in jus
no that way.
"a When he came back, she had tol
th him, she would say for sure, but Bo
m m worth had looked down in her eyes an
th had said, if he came back. It mao
I'd a difference-to Bosworth.
m And Stapleton had played foul,
~, was it Helen9 He drew deep breatl
"a "a and hunted out match for his pip
"a From the open door came the loy
0o steady roll Of Stapleton IS voice, no
- mumbled and indistinct, now risin
90 clear and natural. He caught son
Of it.
lp, "Helen, Helen, come here! Helen!
ye. The match went out in Bosworth
ne hand. Whoever was to blame, one thin
er- was certain. Two people were sati
Or fed, and he was the crowd. Anyho1