The Grit-advocate., 1906-04-06


Stanhope was startled from his
sleep by a sharp, imperative rap on
the door Of his bedroom window. He
sprang up, donned dressing gown and
slippers and hurried out at once with
a lighted candle. AS he threw open
the door, the Pickering glare quavered
grotesquely across a womans tense.
pallid features.
''Kathleen!" The name broke from
him involuntarily; his tone'was sharp
almost to harshness.
"Dick-Mr. Stanhope-forgive my
intrusion at such an hour. but the
telephone will not work, and lin
afraid M husband is dying. He has
had these attacks with his heart be-
fore. but never SO bad as this She
paused for breath. her slender body
shaking beyond all semb,ance of con-
troll.
''If l can do anything"
''I've already tried everything
could think of, but it is only waste
of time, as he seems to be growing
steadily worse"
Couldn't Il
Again she interrupted:
II thought if l could get a doctor
right away. there might still be some
hope" She had been speaking rap
idly. and her voice broke now for the
first time. the strained dryness of her
eyes yielding to irresistible tears. The
hood Of the long cape she had thrown
around her fell back from her face
and her hair, loosened in the wind,
flowed over her shoulders in a glisten-
ing gold cataract.
Stanhope steeled himself as he look.
ed at her and replied reassuringly:
III go for the doctor Immediately
Don't worry SO much. Perhaps things
aren't as bad as you fear" His voice
trembled little under its veneer OF
calmness, but in her excitement, the
woman noticed nothing of this. She
looked him full in the eyes, a word.
less gratitude shining from her own
Thank you, Dick" she breathed
earnestly. For an instant, she stood
clasping and unclasping her hands in
nervous, half-dazed fashion.
Hurry, do hurry" she plea led. sub.
DUNG her voice row by :. strong eff
fort Then she drew her hood close,
anl turning abruptly, disappeared in.
to the darkness.
Stanhope went back to his room
and exchanged his night-clothes for
riding-suit as quickly as possible.
Then he went out to the stables and
saddled his fastest horse.
In less than five minutes, he had
covered over a mile of the six that
must be traversed. At every step, he
urged his horse ahead with relentless
whip and spur, a strange exhilaration
dominating his entire being. 1t was
not a time for "reminiscences. with
human life in peril, but despite the
rein he put upon himself, his thoughts
conquered, beating upon his brain
with maddening insistence.
Could it be possible that barely
three years had elapsed since Claver-
ing had come and robbed him of
everything that made existence worth
while? his love, his haDpiness-his
all?
The blow had left him old and worn
and bitter with a lifetimes expert
ence. Hope was dead, and the fu-
ture stretched gray and barren
through its intermnable length
ahead.
And Kathleen? She had unhesi-
tatingly made her choice. and only
God and Clavering and herself could
have told the rest
u But something in her face, in the
very atmosphere Of her tonight had
stirred his blood strangely, and his
brain teemed with sweet half-de-
fined, insidious gladness. 1t was to
him she had turned in the hour of her
sorest need.
A sudden wild thought flashed
through Stahhope's mind. What if
Clavering should die, What If the girl