Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1908-06-26
CHAPTER VI.

~. standing upon the Veranda tnaC the
49, stretched out her hand to help him
4bo elder woman released a cutting
orl, Then q servant brought a chair,
I hjIIovs of nausea surged over him.
T,,1+ az his consciousness waned, and he
49,, launching, chair and all, into space,
Tsno,s voice reached him again.
TEo, ha was in the hallway, through
-.-oo miracle, and insisting most uncom-
S1onIv that he was not to be taken into
tbo library, but into the music room, be-
oorso the windows there commanded the
mountain. :.
To avoke to the interesting discovery
.,a+ Miss Stansbury was tanning him.
PRESENTLY she re-chilled towel in the
TODD basin and folded it upon his fore
head, now deIiciously cool.
"Tt's mighty sweet of you to take care
&C ma this way" he muttered gratefully.
~I1oU is Pelee? How long have | been
here? The last l remember, l was lost
in the hall, and you found me-"
"Yon'ye been here about three hours,
ur Constable. Pelee is quiet again, but
Cha whole world is white outside-a per-
foot blizzard of ash has fallen! They
,ov terrible thing has happened at the
.vtramp northern end of the city. The
River Branch overhowed her banks, and
ran with boiling mud from the volcano.
Thirty people are reported killed and the
Tsine Guerin destroyed"
She thought he was considering the
disaster in the silence which followed, but
N reality he was battling with the old
problem.
"Niss Stansbury," he said finally, sis
there anything a man possessed OF full
faculties could do, say or bring about that
would induce your mother to spend the
night od-shore"
She shook her head.
you know that the Madame could be
brought in for the mails tomorrow morn
ing"
Il have taken the liberty to suggest
that to mother" Lara replied. ''She says
that tomorrow will be time enough"
Miss Stansbury, won't you put your
self in the care of Captain Negley to-
night? l hope I'm wrong, but the Guerin
disaster may be only a preliminary dem
onstration-like the operator experiment.
Ing to find if it is dark enough to start
ths main fireworks. You know, l would
stav ashore, and Negley is a good old man
of the sea-
Don't you understand, Mr.. Consta-
bIe?" she said, in real distress for deny
ing him so repeatedly. Don't you see
that such thing would bring down a
miserable scene upon our heads? Besides,
am not thinking of my own safety as
such a paramount thing. l don't want to
be one Of Jobs lone survivors. Mother
and Uncle Joey and you must go-when
I do"
The pale, searching face regarded her.
Again he was silent. His lips were shut,
his eyelidS half-closed. A swift
intuition was borne to the woman. He
was about to renew the siege. She was
not ready, and shrank from being moved
to a decision which she had not formed
In the privacy of her own mind. The
last two days of suffering had rendered
her strangely responsive to his mental ac-
tons. His quest had filled her brain with
wonders but they were not yet coalesced
impulses and inspirations without
unity, unbound as yet by judgment. She
wanted to yield with grace, if 1t came to
that, but not to be overthrown. His hand
reached for hers, but she drew away.
Miss Stansbury-"
Please don't say it now! she whis-
pered swiftly, her words startling herself
quite as much as the man. ''These are
such dreadful hours! We must think of
the crisis-only of that-putting behind
all that passed last night !"
"Untl? said Constable, sitting up.
"Oh, who can tell? One knows-Mr.
Constable, isn't it wicked of you to mud
die me this way?"
A smile from him had given her the
saving turn. The tension was eased
Now, as he held out his hand to her, she
was not slow to accept it, or to miss
the meaning of the compact.
"PeIee will be beyond the sky line for
Us all pretty Soon," he said cheerfully.
wen be very good pals in the mean
.'Ine Please go to the window and see
now our ogre is faring-the giant who
'AinAS he's going to eat US when we're
PF'me-member the fairy story? By the
way, Miss Stansbury, did you ever have
set OF billiard balls cracking off caroms
On your brain PAM"
Yes, and ten-pins. Men don't know
headache matters. The north
clearer sir. A little while ago it was
oil seething mass of blacks and grays."
Al exclamation broke from her lips,
@Uu constable joined her at the window
a uozeh birds had fallen to the lawn from
Tue caves. Most of them were dead from
'ns tainted air. The sight brought the
situation more forcibly than ever to her
mind
| should think the birds would fly
away :. she said pityingly.
Perhaps the mother birds are waiting
t SoS mails to come in," suggested voice
%sI4o them. Mrs. Stansbury was stand
'"s IN the hall doorway.
y gracious rain cleared the air of early
se0nS and Constable settled himself
,~ further nap at the north window
b asla!rs He had not realized his ex-
:, 1s'Ioh' and was astonished to find that
st, vas midnight when he awoke. He was
on rvlsef but a cyclonic headache still
~ stressed him. Glad though he was for
r,. uours passed, still he was by no means
tLpp'eclatlve of the chances he had