The San Francisco call., 1906-07-15
BY.
A. WARD

He's enough better" returned S@ck
TRANQUILITY. SOS I'm sending him on
into the desert this afternoon. long o
/ Dick Dale. Can you git UP on the roo1
of this house? They calclate 70 pass
the Geiger Grade about 3 O'Clock. ana
it's pretty near that now.
Come" she cried. snatching neecy
white shawl from the hall table. This
wayg She fed up the stairs ne
painted after.
Down a long. dark passage she led
him. up another flight. and they Wero
in the attic. There was ladder mere
leading to a scuttle in the roof Sno
was up like a kitten. pushed back the
trapdoor and climbed out on the tiles.
The roof was not quite fiat. but she
kept her footing till she reached one
of the chimneys.
You can see pretty good here. he
said. Joining her in the shadow OF the
yes. but" she halted. they cannot
see usp' She stood on tiptoe and
stretched up to her fullest height
Mo- she said, this will never do.
There are boxes in the attic. If you
could hand me UP a box"
He entered into the spirit OF her er-
fort. "Surer' he cried
A big packing-box was pushed
through the scutt1e and placed by the
chimney. Immediately the round,
bright head OF child appeared In the
opening.
you too?" asked Jack. He laughed
as he lifted Miss Elsie to the box be-
side her mother.
There they arer' murmured Kath-
arine.
Two horsemen were riding slowly
down L street In the direction OF the
Geiger grade. The taller. slighter or
the two. Jagged behind, as tf-her
ar "a fhnnRhf-hA were
10th to leave. Now and then he
turned in the saddle and looked back
If she could only see his facei II she
could read his heart! To have but this
Hush, and thank God for thati
With the forthputting Of her pa
tience came a boon. The horsemen
wheeled. the taller. slighter. first They
were looking towards Richmond Hill.
She tore the fleecy white shawl from
her head and throat. and flung 1t out
like a banner Elsie clung TO her
skirts, frantica11y shaking her pima
fore.
Was he too far away? No, he had
seen the fiuttering signals. Slowly,
slowly, he lifted his sombrero and held
ii high above his head in salute. His
companion followed his example. So
doing homage to that white flag until >.
it fell
Come. Jack. and help us down"
called Katharine. stop, Elsie We
must let them CO."
He calclates to be gone about two
months" said Jack, as he lifted down
first one and then the other. He told
me to tell you. He wanted you to
know"
They turned again IN the direction OF
the Geiger grade The hOrsenen had
disappeared But on the road they had
taken Katharine saw them whenever
she looked that way; saw Clement
wheel and lift his hat. saw him wait
there, motionless, heard Jack say, He
told me to tell you. He wanted you TO
know"
And Clement. riding away from the
little mining town, from the church
where he had been blessed as well as
harassed. the Courthouse and the fail
where he had achieved as well as suf-
fered, from the man who had nursed
him as tenderly as a woman, and the
woman who had loved him with the
courage and directness OF a man, re-
ceived as the token and emblem OF all
these, their beckoning and their bene-
dtction. the iutter OF that white hag
on Richmond HILL
But these were of the day he was
now leaving, the day to which he would
return. Between lay a night Of vigil,
OF isolation, OF shadow. OF wlde-open
spaces. of mysterious, hidden Influences
of communion with the stars-a night
of reconsecratfon to God and his work.
THE END.