El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-08-06
= One WOman's Story =
By Virginia Terhune Van de Water
CHAPTER *

! lNM the anxious races OF AGE pal ems
~ bending over her as she opened
her eyes after a brief period of UncOn-
seriousness. She found herself lying
upon the living room couch her fore
! head wet from the water which her
/ mother had applied in the effort to
bring her around" She struggled to
! a sitting posture, beginning at once to
| explain the attack of faintness which
had seized her.
7 have been working a little too
hard in this warm weather" she said
4 have not felt well lately. anyway,
and this is but sthe elimination Of the
/ WEAKNESS ana strain-nOthing else"
She spoke no word Of the news that
had held her eyes waking far into the
night, nor Of the blessed relief Of the
I knowledge that the man who she had
feared was injured or dead was alive
| and we'll
you won't Try TO go to school to-
day, will you2" pleaded her mother.
The girl smiled 1T is Saturday,
mother" she reminded her But
! must go down to the Public Library to
/ look up some matters want to be sure
/ of. before Monday. But I will take a
| cup of coffee first"
She drank this when her mother
/ brought it to her, then rose with de-
! cision-
Il am ashamed of myself to be so
A.! weak and foolish. she exclaimed
/ PLEASE dear people. try to forget it"
! Would you like to look over the
! morning paper?" asked her father, eye
| ing her keenly.
mo. thank you" she said quickly.
, Thank you, mother. for waiting SO
! sweetly on your silly daughter. I viii
/ go to bed early tonight and not repeat
this performance Of fainting. I never
did such a thing quite so causeIessly
/ and suddenly before in my life"
When she had left the LIVING
+ the father and mother gazed again
into each others faces.
The fact that she avoids the sub
1ect that made her faint shows that
she cares for this young man." declar-
ed the mother Well he is a nice fell
low, I guess"
Il don't care how nice he is" re-
torted the father, he is not half good
enough for my girl Before I consent to
any serious attentions from him I am
| going to write to his firm and find
| what his record is"
That's all right, dear" agreed the
/ wife indulgently. approve of your
| doing that But If the Angel Gabriel
I trumpet and aIl-were to ask you for
| Mary you would not think him good
enough for her"
AND he wouldn't be-" asserted the
! father, without a smile.
The most tender mother is willing
even. at times, glad-tO have her
( daughter marry an honorable, WeIl-tO-
I do man; fond father seldom looks
| with favor upon any sutton for his
! daughters hand
An hour later Mary appeared in her
! mothers room, her hat and gloves on.
| ready to go out Mrs. DanfOrth looked
solicitously at her, but seeing that the
I color mad returned to her eyes. she
| forbOre to utter any protest II the
her go In tie library she might find
I child was restless it was better to LEI
! the books She needed for her work,
/ they might quiet her nerves, turning
her thoughts from agitating subjects
Mrs DanfOrth would have been sur
prlsed could she have seen her daught-
| e. when she reached her destination.
! Instead Of going at once in search of
: the yoluH es in which she was to look
/ up" certain important subjects, she
! went direct to the reading room OF the
/ library and was in a few minutes i'm
I mersed in the morning papers. A close
observer would have noticed that the
only columns she read were those deal
ing with the recent railroad wreck and
| the deeds of herOism of the various IN
injured passengers-the most active and
( bravest Of whom had evidently been
the young Texan, Gordon Craig by
name" As the girl read, her cheeks
! glOwed and a soft light came to her
/ eyes. So absorbed was she in her
dreams that she was leaving the build
/ ing before she remembered that in
| her wrist bag she carried a list of
/ books of reference which she must
/ lind this morning, and, with start
! went in search of these Somehow all
! seemed very duh today
/ As 1t was Saturday. Mr.. Danforth
/ came home at nOOntime. and was there
/ when his daughter returned a little
/ before the luncheon hour. He greeted
I her brightly
''Wellr' he said loosely, 'T saw
4 our hero this mOrningi Craig was at
/ my office He ran in to tell me that
! he was all right and to ask il we had
/ seen the account of the wreck I told
/ him that we had. but I did not flatter
him by telling him we had been badly
/ scared about him"
/ Mary drew a sigh Of relief. She had
! reared her 1aRher might mention her
! evident anxiety, then she reminded
/ herself that she might have known hg
4 would not, She waited for his next
l remark Although she had read and
| reread the newspaper accounts of
/ Craig's heroism, she hoped to hear more
answered her unSpOken thought
He said little about himself" he
went on. and liked him better for
| that When I said that I understood
] he had done some pretty fine work he
/ turned as red as a lobster and said
! 1t was only what any man would have
I done under the circumstances and
changed the subject So I let 1t drop
I asked him to come up and see US
( before he goes back to Texas. and he
said he would try to-"
Probably he viii not find time to-
said Mary, with studied indifference
She began to talk vivaciOusly of her
work, of the approaching school com
mencement. OF anything and everv-
I thing except of Gordon Craig And
| he father and mother, watching her.
understood.
That afternoon a messenger left at
| her door note for her. It was short:
Dear Miss Danforth- VIII Won give
me the happiness of your company TO
I the opera next Wednesday night2
will call for you at quarter before eight
| The performance is Aida
Faithfully yours,
Gordon Craig"
The reply that the messenger carried
! back to Craig was even more brief
than the note he had brought:
MY dear Mr.. Craig: Thank Won
will be ready at 7:45 Wednesday night.
Sincerely yours
Mary DanfOrth"
Continued in next issue)