Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1906-03-28
IN TIME OF STORM.
z H3H EB EE8 E EHB E E3 E3 *
>4~O~Nu~ON~~~~~NN~~~

eyes until she could hardly tell where
she was going. And Larry, in the cab
Of his engine, with his hand on It's
throttle, felt dull ache at his heart
| that goaded him to desperation. He
did not care whether he lived or died.
He would go straight to destruction
as fast as his engine could take him,
were 1t not for those he held in his
care. The sweetest, most lovable girl
in the world, for all Of her tempers,
was his no longer, and what was the.
use Of living without Kitty?
Here vera two young people making
| themselves miserable over nothing, and
feeling that the world had come to an
end because they had quarreled. The
one could not be content without the
other, because so far as they were con
Cerned they were the only ones living
who really counted. Kitty had told him
to go to Rosie but he intended to go
to the devil instead, CT some other
place equally disastrous.
Kitty, in her turn, found many rea-
sons for self-pity, and wept oceans of
tears at the visions she conjured.
Larry, guiding his engine along the
track past the door of Kittys cottage,
kept his eyes turned sternIy away and
the whistle of his engine silent. What
was the use Of his usual greeting?
The cottage presented a blank front
with no Kitty at the door or window.
How was he to know that she was hid
den behind a window curtain, an hour
before it was time for his coming,
watching and listening for the distant
roar Of his train2
The days sped by until they mum
bered three, which to the parted lovers
seemed like years Of arrangement
Larry avoided going where Rosie was,
and manlille felt that ne hated her as
the cause Of his trouble Kitty, in pub
lie, was careless and gay. When she
was alone it was another story.
! Neither were turning toward recovery,
and the very weather itself was in ac--
cord with their misery. Two Of the
three days since they mad quarreled
| were dark and threatened a storm. It
was a time Of lowering skies, and in
the wind there sounded moaning voices.
The third day the storm broke early in
the morning, drenching the earth with
a cold rain that fell in torrents.
Its a bad time for the railroad"
| Kitty's father said when he started out
in the evening on his duties of inspec-
ton. I'm feeling bad myself, wild the
! fever and a head that's splitting wild
aching, but [ must watch, this night"
LET me go, father" Kitty entreated.
you're too sick to go out in the storm.
Let me go in your place"
"And for why?" returned her father.
Its not woman's work I'm doing
Kape to the house, girl, wild a light in
the window for me and Larry It's
the boys run tonight, wild a big train
! load of people. It's an excursion he's
bringing back, bad luck to the night and
the rain that's going to do harm Do
you mind the culvert, girl, just below?
I'm thinking it's there we'll have trou-
BILE wild the rising water and the soft
/ ground underneath. It's there I'll be
watching"
Kitty saw her father go out in the
night, with many fOrebOdings. He was
really too i'll to be at his post, but what
could she do, save to stay at home and
obey his orders? She put a light in the
window as he had directed and sat
| down to wait and watch for an IN
known danger which seemed impend-
! ing. The tempest, increasing in fury,
dashed the rain in sheets against the
windows. The little cottage, buffeted
| by the gale, shook on its foundations.
| Kitty, with her imagination kindled,
sat covering in fear, longing desperate
ly to do something, she knew not what,
| but wishing most Of all that she had
Larry and her father in safe keeping.
Within the silent house the clock
! licked and clucked loudly in the lulls
of the storm. 1t was almost time for
her father to be making his return trip
over the section. Kitty wrapped her
self in a shawl and went to the door,
gazing out through the darkness. There
was nothing abroad but the storm, and
that was in a wild fury. The rain
! drove around her; the wind caught at
her shawl, almost snarching it away
from her hold
Where was her father? Where was
Larry? 1t was nearly the hour for his
train. Excursions were usually belated
and it was impossible to tell exactly
when Larry's train would pass. What
was it her father had said about the
culyert? Why didn't he return? The
next moment her question was answer
ed. She saw him come staggering out
Of the blackness of the night, struggling
! toward home, falling on his knees, ris-
/ ing again with an effort, and moving
! unsteadily with uncertain feet that
seemed beyond his control. She rushed
to meet him and almost dragged him
into the house. where. overcome by