The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-07-06
THE FIGHTER

NoSAAOA OA -1Nt11cD SOnOVer, fSd1IrOdQ-
 err" 'sDr. Dale,'' con Glory's
 Trail," etc.
 NEW YORK
 FRANK F. LOWELL COMPANY
 1909
 Copyright, 1909, by Albert Payson
 Terhune
 tcontinued from Page g.,
 -aurmured Desiree. .I seem to be in a fortress where no ill can ever get to
 He wrapped the coat more closely about her and held her, tenderly as a mother. reverently as a priest might eear the Host And after a time, as sne lay against his broad breast. the long curling fringe of her eyelasfes be- gau to wayers Sleepily she lifted her face. lsss% sss
 'Kiss me good nfght,'' she said, her voice slow with drowsiness. s
 The fire died down and the ring of heat-ramparts it had reared against the autumn cold crumbIed away. The sleeping girl rested cozily warm in Conover's- arms. The man, his back against thes tree, sat motionless: fear Ing by the slightest move to disturb her sleep.
 He dared not rise to replenish the smouldering fire. He was coatless- and the growing cold gnawed with in [I0o9dl$ koe3luSSS InIOuSn lH0 lIla neglfgee shirt, into his arms and shoulders. It was the coldest night he had known Since his arrival at the -Adfrondacks.
 As the last flame died down upon the bed of red-gray coals, Rex woke with a culver of chilliness, crept close to the embers and lay down again. Caleb, first making sure the movement had mot disturbed Desiree, fell to enyying the dog. The cold had sank into his h1YeG The frnnnSqihi1ifv shift ing his suited position galled him. as the endless hours crept by Cramped. half frozen. racked with the agony of sti6ening muscles and of blood that could no longer circulate, he clenched his teeth over his underlip from sheer pain- The girl, who at first had lain 6eather-like in his arms. now seemed heavy enough to tear loose his throb- Ding bfceps. Nor would he, for all the physical anguish of his plight, move her body one hairs breadth.
 And so. like a sleepless Galahad be- fore some old world forest shrine.-like in infinite suffering.-he sat the long night through
 At length his body grew numb, his 6iood congested. Aching discomfort his frame Of iron and had left it hard dly impervious to further Ill. His mind, when bodily surcease came, awoke to new activity. His thoughts, t<1L lffSL Q19JO1nIeQ- ana WOnQSr1nSly happy, settled down soon to their wonted sharp clearness. Then it was he coolIy weighed this thing he had done.
 It was like him to array in battle order all the contrary arguments of the easei that with the brute force of This dominafion he might batter them to pieces. And a long array they were.
 F'irst,-his own social yearnings. his golden dreams of a secure place within the inner charmed circle of Granite society," The only road of ingress had ter of that circle. Preferably with I1etty Standish- Now all that was out of the question: Desiree herself was popular. But he knew she could not like himself She had not family nor other prestige for such a tremendous uplift Nor, as she herself had said. did she value such position.
 Had she married Hawarden, Caine or any of a half dozen other eligible Gran dte men, Desiree's own place in society would straightway have become more than assured. With Conover as of rank-with him. Nothing higher could be in store for her. Forever, Caleb must assail the circle in vain, or else sink back content with his own lot far outside its radius.
 The very fact that he was married. and married to an outsider who would not second his attack,-would render the walls of society impregna- bIe against him. As a. single man. with money and with the power to use the money as a battering ram,-he lad already knocked great breaches in the notifications Now he could never pass triumphant through those gaps.
 A flife-ambition,-an compelling even if Unworthy Of a strong man,-was will fully to be foregone. He, who had ever fought with all that was within AxR Ia desires, must now forever abandon the earliest and greatest. of them al1- On the very eve of his careers most com plete victory he must forever lay aside the sword.
 Something like sigh broke from between his blue-cold lips. The sound made the girl stir ever so slightly in her sleep. Caleb glanced down in sltIInber. There. against his arm rested Desiree's upturned face. The dark silken flashes lay peacefully above the sleep flushed cheeks. She was so eyes bending above her. Inexpress- ibly precious to him always; thou sand-fold more so. now, in the hour of his renunciatfon of all else for love of her.
 A wave of undreamed-of tenderness swept over Conover; possessing him to the utter extinction of every other thought of passion; sweeping away in y US aSdQlO1S TuSu all SSSllSe O1 OOuDlS and regrets. In an instant of blinding sou1-light he saw once and for all the futilfty of what he had abandoned; the Godgiven marvel of what he had won in it's place.
 The battle was over. Caleb Conover had lost-and won. In his heart he knew he was no longer the Fighter; no more a seeker for Dead-Sea Fruit. His battles, social and financial, were at an end. This coming clash at the Legis1ature.-this mission on which Desiree was dispatching him, her, true knight to save the fortunes of others should be his last field. After that. a3new, strange peace!-and -Desiree!
 Defiantly. Conover glared out into the night, beyond the smoking remnant of the fire; as though challenging the ghosts of slain ambitions to rise again before him that he might confound them all by merely pointing at the girl who slept in his arms. She-the