The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1908-08-29
A PROPITIOUS
ACCIDENT
By CHARLES o REID
lCopyrlght. by Daily story Pub. Col

NanHOuten had pulled hlnselI
away from the village Of bungalows
and sought the shaded hooks and
dells Of the woodland that lay adj
jacent to the "prettiest resort among
the Black Mountains" He carried
neither gun nor rod, but simply a
pair Of w~ide-open eyes, an ear at
tuned to the wild chords Of nature
and a heart susceptible to the
charms of the forest. Surf bathing
in the lake without the salt had be-
come rather tame; and VanHouten
told himself, as he wandered by the
side of a small stream which fire.
quently spread itself into ample
pools of clear, inviting water, that
he should like n plunge into the
limpid stream, wearing nothing but
o beam of JOY across the front side
Of his face. And the more Van
Houten thought Of this, the more
abominable in his thoughts became
the clinging wetness- Of a bathing
suit when the proprieties were not
to be consulted.
Reaching a pretty pool, which was
cut off from view Of the trail by a
dense thicket Of shrubbery, Van
Houten began to divest himself Of
his light tweed suit and other ar
ticles of summer clothing that he
wore, and presently stood on the
brink Of the pool clad only in the
flesh tights Of nature, ready for the
plunge.
The water was cool and Va Hon-
ten was enjoying himself to the full
est extent, when his exercises were
brought to a sudden and very unex-
pected end. The sharp crack Of a
small rifle split the silences, and
VanHouten experienced a shock
somewhere about the left shoulder
that seemed like nothing less thar
a ten-inch club in the hands Of 3
Sioux Indian. and the water about
him became dyed with his blood.
ooh, I'm shot z he cried, as mucl
from surprise as from the hurt h,
had received.
Then an exclamation came from
beyond the %shrubbery in a woman
tones: "Merciful heavens, I've sho
someone~
And VanHouten had only time t
sink to his neck in the water, whel
an excited young woman, with
very pale face, rushed through tn
bushes to the edge of the pool, drop
ping a small rifle from her hand
as she came. But when she SAY
YanHouten's head above the water
and the blood stains eddying abou
his neck, she sank to the groun
and buried her face in her hands.
"Well, if this isn't a muss,
II
thought VanHouten. "Here II
shot in the shoulder, | do not kno
how seriously, and this girl betwee
me and my clothes and ready
faint"
\ Eileen Benson had taken to rif
shooting as some girls take to go
and other strenuous outdoor exc
cises, and had not learned the poss
bility of danger to others that il
in her innocent amusement.
But now as she sat on the ban.
Of the mountain stream with h
face in her hands, she could see Vi
ions of blood, a dead mar and a Ii
of remorse and widowed afTectio
for herself, for she had recogniz
VanHouten in that first glance
she broke through the shrubbel
For, although she had persistent
circumvented his propositions, $
now realized how very much his
tentons meant to her, now that
r was going to die-and at her han.
= The horror Of it all was terrib
and Eileen sat as one paralyzed, |
i. til VanHouten, growing somewl
weak and dizzy, stammered out
! "Pardon me, Eileen, but t
water is getting cold, and |
growing a little faint, and-and-
Eileen sprang to her feet, oy
joyed at the realization that Y.
Houten was able to speak to,
was still alive; and, between
goad Of her embarrassment urg
her away and her reluctance to.
and leave VanHouten to the possi
consequences OF his wound,
,rtod boe;ta+ad tban +t1rnad 90