The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1910-02-17
CHAPTER XIV.
THE PITCHER AT THE WELL.

The surgeon Of that day was better
skilled in letting blood than in stanch-
ing 1t. 1t was well for Luke AsgiIl.
therefore, that none lived nearer than
Tralee. 1t was still more fortunate for
him that there was n In the house
to whom h treatment of such a wound
as his was an everyday matter. and
who was guided in his practice less
by the rules of the faculty than by
those of common sense.
Even under his care Asgill's life hung
for many hours in the balance. There
was a time when his breath, in the old
phrase, would not raise a feather. The
servants were ready to raise the
keen" the cook sought the salt for the
death plate. Colonel John, mindful Of
many q man found living on the field
hours after he should, by all rules, have
died; did not despair; and little by lit
tie the colonel's skill and patience pre-
vailed. The breathing grew stronger,
and, though the end must remain un-
certain, death, for the moment, was
repealed.
Now, he who, when others are dis
traught and wiring their hands, knows
both what to do and how to do Il, can
o fail to impress the imagination.
Unsupported by Flavia, Colonel John
might have done less; yet she who
fetched and carried for him, and shrank
from no sight of blood or wound, was
also the n who succumbed thu most
completely to his ascendancy. Flavia's
feelings toward her cousin had been
altering hour by hour, and his ex-
p%erience of him fastened her tacit sur
render.
Having seen how high he could rise in
adversely, h now saw also how natur-
ally he took the lead Of others, how
completely he dominated the crowd.
uyLst1 nhA 80 n-Ar yn..-Il~l A. -
skill with which he had thwarted plans
which she began to appraise at their
value, she found herself relying upon
him to In extent which startled and
frightened her.
Was IT only that morning that she
had trembled for her brothers life?
Was 1t only that morning she had had
opened her eyes n known him craven,
unworthy of his name n race? Was
1t only that morning that she had sent
into peril the man who lay dying before
her? Fol IL that were SO why did she
now feel so different? Why did she
now feel inexplicably relieved. incon-
ceivably at ease, almost happy? Why,
with the man whom she had thrust into
peril lying In extremis before her, did
she find her mind straying to another?
To one whose hands touched hers in the
work of tendance, who. low-toned, or
dered her hither and thither, and was
obeyed?
She asked herself the question as she
sat In the darkened room, watching.
And In the twilight she blushed. Once.
at a crisis, Colonel job had taken her
roughly by h wrist Ind forced her to
hold the bandage 80. while he twisted
1t. She looked at the wrist now, fancy
ing she could see the imprint Of his
fingers on 1t. she blushed more deeply.
Presently there came, as they sat
listening to the iuttering breath, a low
scratching at the door. At a sign from
Colonel Sullivan, who sat On the innsi
side Of the bed. she stole to 1t and found
Morty O'Beirne on the threshold. He
beckoned to her, n closing the door,
she followed him downstairs. to where
IN the living room, she found the other