The Washington times., 1910-01-18
.-By--
ALBERT PAYSON TERHUNE

happen upon US at that moment My
own presence on the dock al that hour
would not be easy TO explain The police,
no doubt, were already seeking me. Sup
pose they should md me az ] q m on
a olsuSed pier. leaning over an appar-
entity wounded man. 1t might be hard
10 explain
/ ufteC the man bodily-he was sIen-
der and, though tall, vas not heavy
and stretched him face upward on the
boards. Y could feel his shoulders twitC,.
with retu ming consciousness as the new
position sased the blood pressure on
his brain
Then / rose 10 mn. feet Hitherto the
lantern light had been obsCUred by my
own CrOuChing form. and the unknown 8
head had thus been In dense shadow.
Now the yellow beams fell full athwart
his face And as they did so the closed
eyes opened wide
I started back, scarce less CHASTITY than
the man at my feet Indeed so swift
and involuntaTily was my recoll that
only sharp contact with the side OF
the hut saved me from losing nv bal
auCe and falling prone
The jar as / struck the hut shook some
sense in my bewildered brain, and again
my dumfOunGed eyes met those OF the
injured man.
He was Mark Lee, my own brother.
His face was streaked with blood. One
hand was red and there were darkeniuE
spots on the white front OF his negli-
gee shirt
ran along the pier TO where I had
noticed an Old bucket. with 4 yard or
Two of rotten rope tied 70 its handle
I UnC1rded the rope, dropped the bucket
ever the pier edge and drew u Up half
fun Of water
/ tore open the collar and neck OF
Marks shirt and dashed part Of the
buckets contents into his fac
Il was the Uladvised act OF a badly
ratified man and no Endorsement OF u
can be found IN First Aid TO the IN
jured-' Yet. 20 my surprise, IL served
As the cold water swdSheG over MS
face head and throat. Mark gaspeos
sPUttered an incohrent word or two and
I eyed him with establishment mixed
with relief For the copious dash OF
the water not only revived him but
washed me blood from his face And
L could see thereon no wound or cut
I passed my arm around his body and
lifted him 10 his feet He reeied IN
steadily, but IL was at once evident
that no bones were broken
His clothes were Gi5ordeTed and torn
His eve was still vacant and wander
ing he mumhled inCOherently and do
not seem 10 recognize me
Mark 4 exclaimed sharply Brace
up. man. What has happened2
AT my first quick rnCnosyllable ne ned
reused himself slightly. but now he
siunped again and hung. almost dead
weight. over my arm
Where are you hurt2'' I demanded
Il MIN sleepy
Then. with mingled Joy and disgust.
I saw the truth. He was drunk
Wherever and however he might 9TH
crWiSe he injured. the chief cause Of
his wea kuess and dazed stupidity was
due to drink That was why my foolish
act in hurting cold water over his head
had reused him.
the whole bucket upon him Soaked,
gasping, drUDkenly indignant, he clawed
Grossly at ne
But, unheeding, slipped IN ann
half led hin. along the creakinS dock
to the street beyond
I must get him home at once and
We're he to be seen by
and hands would inevitably lead TO
arrest Then much must come out
which were best to keep secret
To get him home At all was a prob
Mount Royal avenue. True. ! might
take him 20 a hotel nearer by 2 Il IT,
as seemed certain from the bloc /, he
were somewhere wounded, that meant
the instant calling Of a doctor. And a
physician summoned 10 tend q wound
at a hotel sDelt publicity anC news
paper nOtOriet--. neither OF "! Oh We
could Just then face.
And as I stood supporting the inert
figure at the darker side OF the street
waiting for a chance to pilot him into
OlAt OF AEie 0dEheE pNWdFS InaL ran
into the farther side of the thorough
fare, chance solved the problem
4 tsXiCsb. having deposited a noisy
quartet Of merchant marine officers at
the sangplank of a nearby steamship
wheeled and scudded down the street
past US
7 hailed the vehicle It curved in to
ward US where we stood in the friendly
shadow I helped Mark into the taxi
and he collapsed across the entire back
seat
The driver, as I gave the address Of
my mothers house. showed scaut in
terest IN his younger passengers plight
The light was too dim for him TO notice
the blOOdstainS- And the fact that a
drunken, disheveied man was being
helped into cab by a friend. along the
water front. was MT sufficiently novel
10 cause wonder.
Into the taxi I follwoed- and pulling
down one Of the two nova BE front
seats, perched opposite to my recum-
bent brother The taxicab started OF
at a quick pace
So far so good And drew an easier
breath Later there would be time 10
sSk questions; to try to find a way ont
Of this vile middle. AZ present
AaEk reused Eas ogk sf ny reverie