Dewey County advocate. [volume] (Timber Lake, S.D.) 1910-1913, 1913-07-18

| while he drank, almost greedtly. Al
he sank back on his bed he whisper.
ed: You are very good to take carr
OF me-"
"Oh, no; I'm only too glad! And
now I'm going to build up the IRE
again; your hands are quite cold
mo, don't &C." he pleaded. please
stay here; I'm not cold any more.
And you must 60 to sleep again.
ought not to have wakened you: and
really. l didn't mean to-"
Yes. you ought I've had lots OF
sleep; l don't want any more"
TITS dark, but it's better than It
was that other night. isn't 1t? said
James.
Much better" answered Agatha.
James visibly gathered strength
from the milk, and presently he took
some more Agatha watched, and
when he had finished. patted him
approvingly on the hand. Good boy!
You've done very WELL" she cried.
II was SO thirsty, thought the
whole earth had ran dry. VIII you
think me very ungrateful If say now
wish it had been water?"
"Oh, no; l wish SO, too. But Mr..
Hand could only get us little bit
from a spring, for there isn't any
other pail"
It was some time before Jim made
out to inquire. who's Mr.. Hand?
Ties the man that helped us-out
Of the water-when we became ex-
hausted"
Agatha hesitated to speak Of the
nights experience, uncertain how far
Jim's memory carried him. and not
knowing how q sick man, In his
weakness, might be affected. Still.
now that he seemed almost himself
again, save for the chill, she ventured
to refer to the event, speaking Al :
matter-of-fact way, as II such endur-
ance tests were the most natural
events in the world. James speech
was quite coherent and distinct, but
| very SLOW as If the efforts to speak
came from the depths Of a profound
fatigue.
"Hand-that's a good name for him.
I thought 1t was the hand Of God.
which plucked me, like David, or
Jonah, or some such person, out Of
the seething pillows. But didn't
think of there being a man behind"
Then. after a long silence. Where
is hep
Hes gone of to find somebody to
help US get away from here; car
rage or wagon of some sort. and
some food and clothes"
Something caused Jim to calculate,
though quite feebly, "You poor
thing!" And then he asked. very SLOW
ly, Where is 'here'?"
II don't know: and Mr.. Hand
doesn't know"
"And we've lost our tags" laughed
Jim family.
Agatha couldn't resist the laugh,
though the weakness in Jim's voice
was almost enough to make her weep
as well.
Eyes. we've lost our tags. more's
the pity. Mr.. Hand thinks we're
either on the coast of Maine. or on
eli island somewhere near the coast.
myself think 1t must at least be
Nova Scotia, or possibly Newfound-
land. But Hand will find out and be
back soon, and then we'll get away
from here and go to some place where
we'll all be comfortable"
Agatha stole away. and with much
In vfvNN <h4
fire again. She tended 1t until good
steady heat spread over the rocks, and
then returned to James. She curled
up, half sitting. half lying. against
the rocks.
Clouds had risen during the recent
hours, and it was much darker than
the night before had been. The ocean,
washing its million pebbles up OIL the
little beach, moaned and complained
necessarily. In the long interval be-
tween their talk. Agatha's head would
fall, her eyes would close. and she
would almost sleep: but an under
current of anxiety concerning her
companion kept her always at the
edge of consciousness. James him
self appeared to have no desire to
sleep. He was trying to piece to-
gether, in his mind. his conscious and
unconscious memories. At last he
said:
Il guess I haven't been much good
for a while-have II"
Agatha considered before replying.
You were quite exhausted, I think:
and we feared you might be ILL.,"
And Handy Andy got my Joh."
She laughed outright at this. as much
for the feeling Of reinsurance 1t gave
her as for the jest ITSELF
Handy Andy certainly had a Job,
with US two on his hands!" she laugh
ed.
II bet he did," cried James, with
more vigor than he had shown before.
Hes a great man; I'm for himi
Whan's be coming backr