Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-07-07
AN EMERGENCY CASE.
BY Dorothy Blackmore

i
Copyright 1910 by Associated Literary
Press.
| When Allen Donaldson opened his
eyes to behold beautiful sunrise on
the morning Of the, Fourth of July
his heart gave glad bound. Bright
weather on this, the gayest OF all
summer holidays. was to him a mat.
ter of vast Importance.
He was the manager as well as
the inventor, Of novel scenic rail-
way that he operated on the large
pleasure island where he spent his
summer. During the winter he took
charge of concession in southern
resort. In either climate he found it
unsafe to operate the cars in the rain,
even though there were passengers
willing to take chance He was too
conscientious to take risks with hu.
man life, even for the sake Of great
deal of money.
He sang as he made careful toilet
and found his way to the cool dairy
kitchen where he was accustomed to
eat his breakfast The remembrance
of the proceeding holiday with its
gloom and rain, and the attendant fl.
nancial losses, made his even more
thankful for the brilliant sunlight
everywhere. The Fourth had dawned
hot and clear.
This was his sixth week at the
island resort He had insisted upon
testing every bit of machinery as 1t
was ready to operate. He was care.
full to see that not flaw existed in
a. aysf 1f hn fr~oo 0r vN1a ant Tt
was to this that he owed a clean rec.
ord of not a single fatality on any
of his roads. AS owner and inven.
tor, this meant much to him.
At times he found the noisy, gay
life at the pleasure resort distasteful
The constant music Of summer bands
the shouting. of the orders for vari-
Gus attractions, the tinselbedecked
performers the too bright lights and
the ever-moving throng all became
monotonous. They wearied him.
OF the vast numbers of men and
women with whom he came in con
tact there was one who interested
him. And she-thio little nurse in
the emergency hospital-seemed as
far removed from the life Of the island
as did the sacred recesses Of q
country church. 1t was on the occa
sion of her daily recreation that he
CHANGED to see her.
He learned to watch for her and he
invariably saw her turn straight from
the hospital gates toward the sandy
beach and the great stretch Of ocean
beyond Never once did she wander
through the gay white streets Of the
amusement village. The brilliant
spectacle seemed not to attract her
On the contrary, it seemed as if it
were distasteful to her. Why, Allan
Donaldson wondered, had she chosen
such place?
| In q quiet way he had tried to fine
out who she was and who were her
friends, but aside from the fac. that
she was Miss Winifred Atwood, the
most capable nurse in the institution
he could learn nothing.
Occasionally he met her face to face
as she walked by the sea, and once
when she looked into his face in
passing, he saw that she was more
beautiful than he had suspected. The
salt breeze had whipped color into
her face and the little tendrils that
wandered about her forehead were
girlishly pretty.
Over his breakfast. the young man
thought of her. The very elements
over which he was rejoicing
beauty of the hot, sunny Fourth
and which meant success to him and
his enternriss meant extra work and