The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-02-28
CHAPTER VI.
TIME day broke with a scream Of
wind out of the prairies and
such cloudbursts of snow that

bitterly that now and then he stopped
and, painting and gasping, leaned his
weight against it. The snow on the
ground was caught up and flew like
sea spume In q hurricane; 1t swirled
about him, joining the fakes in the
air, so that IT seemed to be showing
from the ground upward as much as
| from the sky downward Fierce as it
was, hard as it was to fight through,
snow from the earth, snow from the
/ sky, Joe was grateful for 1t, feeling
| that it yelled him, making him safer,
| though he trusted somewhat the
| change of costume he had effected at
| Beaver Beach. A rough workman's
cap was pulled down over his ears and
| eyebrows; a knitted comforter was
wound about the lower part OF his
| face; under q ragged overcoat he wore
| blue overalls and rubber boots, and in
one of his red mittened hands he
swung a tin dinner bucket
He bent his body against the wind
| and went on, still keeping to the back
ways, until he came to the alley which
passed behind his own home, where,
| however, he paused only for q mo-
ment to make a quick survey Of the
premises. A glance satisfied him; he
ran to the next fence. hoisted himself
YEARLY over it and dropped into Roger
Tabor's back yard.
The place seemed empty, and he was
on the point of going away when he
heard the click of the front gate and
saw Ariel coming toward him. AT the
sound of the gate he had crouched
| close against the side of the house,
but she saw him at once.
She stopped abruptly and, throwing
the waterproof back from her head,
looked at him through the driven fog
Of snow. One of her hands was
stretched toward him involuntarily,
and 1t was in that attitude that he
long remembered her-she looked an
Undine of the snow.
Suddenly she ran to him, still keep
ing her hand outstretched until 1t
touched his own.
How did you know me?" he said.
"Know your was all the answer she
made to that question. "Come into the
house. I've got some coffee on the
stove for you, I've been up and down
the street waiting for you ever since it
began to get light. There's no one
here"
She led him to the front door, where
he stamped and shook himself. He
was snow from head to foot.
She wasted no time In getting him
to the kitchen, where, when she had
removed his overcoat, she placed him
in a chair, unwound the comforter and,
as carefully as a nurse lifted the cap
from his injured head When the strip
Of towel was disclosed, she stood quite
still for a moment, with the cap in her
hand. Then, with a broken little cry,
she stopped and kissed a lock of his
hair which escaped, discolored, beneath
the bandage
"Stop thatl" he commanded, horribly
embarrassed.
ooh, joe" she cried, 81 knewl /
knew 1t was there, but to see it! And
It's my fault for leaving you. had TO
go or l wouldn't have-T'-
"Whered you hear about it?" he
asked shortly.
Il haven't been to bed" she answer
ed Grandfather and 1 were up all
night at Uncle Jonas, and Colonel Fit
croft came about 2 O'Clock, and he told
u.s."
did he tell you about Norbert?"
'Yes-a great deal" She poured cof-
fee into a cup from a pot on the stove,
brought it to him, then, placing some
thin slices of bread upon a gridiron,
began to toast them over the hot Goals
1.-THE colonel said that Norbert thought
he wouldn't get well,'' she concluded,
land Mr.. Arp said Norbert was the
kind that never die. and they had quite
an argument
what were you doing at Jonas Ia
bor's?" asked Joe, drinking his coffee,
with a Frightening eye.
eve were sent for" she answered.
what for?"
She toasted the bread attentively
without replying, and when she decid-
ed that 1t was brown enough piled it on
a warm plate This she brought to him
and, kneeling in front Of him, her ell
bow on his knee, offered for his con-
sideration, hooking steadfastly up at
his eyes. He began TO eat ravenously.
What forT' he repeated. 81 didn't
suppose Jonas would let you come in
| his house. Was he stck?"
"Joe," she said quietly, disregarding
his questions-"Joe, have you got to
run awayT'
Eyes, I've got to-" he answered.
Would you have to go to prison If
you stayed?" She asked this with a
GREATNESS tensity.
I'm not going to beg father to help
me out he said determinedly. He
said he wouldn't and he'll be spared
the chance. He won't mind that; no
body will care. Nobody What does
anybody care what I do!"
Now you're thinking Of Mamie!' she
tod