Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1909-04-30

left Hugh saw his way to hasten his
W going ON the next visit the see!
was dropped in the bishops mind So
~cleverly that he thought the idea his
own That day be said to the sur
geon IN charge:
He Is gaining so rapidly | have been
wondering If be couldn't be taken
away where the climate will benefit
him. Will he be able to travel soon?''
Il think So" answered the
1--WE suspected internal injury at first.
but ] imagine the worst he has to fear
Is the Disagreement. Mountain or sea
air would do him good" he added re.
fectively. What he will need is tonic
and building up"
The bishop had revolved this In his
mind. He knew a place on the coast.
tucked away In the expresses. which
would be admirable for convalescence
He could arrange a special car. and be
himself could make the journey with
him. He proposed this to the surgeon
and with his approval put his plan III
motion. In two days more Hugh found
his going fully settled.
The idea admirably fitted his neces-
sity. The spot the bishop had selected
was quiet and retired and, more, was
near the port at which he could most
readily take ship for South America.
Only n reflection made him SILVER
the route lay through the town of
Smoky Mountain. Yet who would
dream of looking for a fugitive from
the law in the secluded car that carried
a sick man? The risk would be small
enough, and 1t was the one way open.
On the last afternoon before the de-
parture Hugh asked for the clothes he
had worn when he was brought to the
hospital, found the gold pieces be had
snatched in the burning chapel and
tied them in a handkerchief about his
neck. They would suffice to buy his
sea passage. The one red counter be
had kept-it was from henceforth to be
had made so long ago-he slipped into
q pocket of the clothes he was to wear
away, a suit of loose, comfortable
tweed.
Waiting restlessly for the hour of
his going, Hugh asked for the news
papers. Since the first he had had
them read to him each day. listening
fearfully for the hue and cry. But
today the surgeon put his request
aside.
"After you are there" he said. IF
Bishop Ludlow will let you. Not now.
You are almost out of my clutches, and
| must tyrannize while | can"
A quick look passed from him to his
assistant as he spoke, for the newspa-
pers that afternoon had worn startling
headlines. The sordid affairs of a
inning town across the ranges had lit
tie interest for Aniston, but the names
of Stires and Moreau on the clicking
wire had walked it thus late to the SEN
sation. The professional caution of the
tinker of human bodies wished, how
ever, that no excitement should be
added to the unavoidable fatigue of his
patients departure.
This fatigue was near to spelling de-
feat, after all, for the exertion brought
again the dreadful stabbing pain, and
this time it carried Hugh into a re-
gion where feeling ceased, conscious
ness passed and from which he strug-
gled back finally to find the surgeon
bending a%nxiously yer him.
81 don't like that sinking SPELL" the
latter conided to his assistant an hour
later as they stood looking through the
window after the receding carriage.
ut was too pronounced. Yet he has
complained of no pain. He will be in
good hands at any rate" He tapped
the glass musingly with his foreflnger.
"It's curious" he said after a pause.
81 always liked Sanderson-in the pull
pit. Somehow he doesn't appeal to me
at close range"
The special car which the bishop had
ready had been made a pleasant inte-
rior. Fern boxes were in the corners,
a Gagged canary swung from a bracket,
and a softly cushioned couch had been
prepared for the sick man. A moment
before the start, as it was being cou-
pied to the rear of the resting train,
while the bishop chatted with the con-
ductor, a fiustered messenger boy hand
ed him a telegram. 1t read:
1 arrive Admission tomorrow 5. Conf
dental. Must see you. Urgent.
JESSICA-
The bishop read 1t in some perplex-
fly. It was the first word he had re-
ceived from her since her marriage;
but, aware of Hugh's forgery and dis
grace, he had not wondered at this.
The newspapers today pictured a still
worse shame for her in the position of
the man who in the name etill was her
husband, who had trod so swiftly the
downward path from thievery to the
worst of crimes. Could Jessica's com
ing have to do with that? He must
see her, yet his departure could not
now be delayed. He consulted with
the conductor, and the latter pored
over his tablets.
AS a result his answering message
flashed along the wires to Jessica's