The weekly tribune and the Cape County herald. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1918, 1914-11-27

N-@zE- OGhSotA4 ~ e<11o Tie "lQdOH.
Il can see clearly enough" said vii
kerSon, that there is a girl mixed
up In this affair. Tom Gallon never
walked like that"
He rode slowly down the steep hill
till he reached the pumping engine
Bill Tubbs, the bulky, sodden faced
engineer, came to the doorway.
rs this The Master Key?" de
manded Wilkerson.
1T certainly is" was the response.
"And-old Tom Gallon runs ft?'
Wilkerson pulled out flask, divining
Bill Tubbs' ruling vice, and the en-.
g1neer, after a long drink, wiped his
mouth with the back Of his oily hands.
so you are looking for Thomas Gal
lon, are you? Well, he owns this mine,
but it's mostly run by a young girl
there in that bungalow on the hill.
You see, Tom amt up to what he used
to be. The ore is getting worse every
day and the old mans sick up there in
his house"
I'm going up to see him now" said
Wilkerson. He rode on a few yards
and surveyed the snug houses, stamp
mill and all the apparatus of the grow
ing mine and snarled: so this is what
he wanted for himselfp'
The man he was seeking lay prop.
ped up IN bed. To Ruth he gave ev-
erything-silks and down and all the
soft things Of this life. Himself he
still slept on a hard cot with a straw
pillow under his head-that is. he had
slept. 1t seemed to him that sleep
had forever fed. and be was now look.
ing up into Rdth's face almost pIeafs.
fngly. trying to keep his grim old lips
from asking sympathy. There was
reason In his mind that he should &C.
cept 10 tender ministration from the
lovely girl who stood beside him. His
sacrifice must be complete; so when
his daughter bent over him and asked
him If he felt all right he mustered
smile.
There's nothing the matter with me,
Ruth" he was saying, and his glance
sought that Of John Dorr, who stood
at the foot of the bed. The eyes of
the two men met, and Dorr impercep-
j'bly nodded his head in token that he
would not tell. Not that he yet knew
The secret of 1.-THE Master Key" but
y recognized the fact that sooner or
la'rr he was to know.
Eyth stopped over and said:
Papa, don't believe you do feel
we'll I'm going to make you some
thing not to drink. I'll bring you a
toddy." And she went into the kitch-
en- ard shut the door.
wren she was gone John nodded a
pleasant Good night" and also left.
Then old Thomas Gallon rose and
weE3 20 his worn desk and got his well
thu.ohed diary.
Il n-n haunted" he wrote slowly, sal
ways haunted. Am to die without
knowing whether WilkersOn is alive
and hat Ruth is safer
II hat moment he glanced up and
thong at he saw the sinister face of his
50rmer partner at the window. By the
atroDgest effort of will he managed TO
control himself and went on writing:
'Wilkerson still alive by night
when will he come out into the day?
lie shall never have the key that
would unlock the secret to my little
s-iT"s happiness. I will trust John"
/ Fancy to yourself scenes that must
have fed like swift films before the
old mans eyes as he put the diary
AWAY. The desert and its mortal |
., driTal-iY1rr frrand- |
lIy Of precious water; gold; murder; |
bis escape with the plans, their loss /
T., the chest when the vessel went |
Eoyva in a caldron of flame; the image |
IF his dying wife; the picture of the |
labe he had lifted from her chill breast |
t-Ruth, for whom he had suffered. He 1
r. we'd his head on his folded arms.
such is the bitterness that the night |
rings upon those who are alone.
When Ruth came in with the steam
hg glass Of toddy she quietly set the
lass down and went out on the porch
} look at the light across the gu1ch
thich marked John DORIS window.
puth was calling to youth.
1t was no apparition that Gallon had
zen at the window this time. 1t was
eally Wilkerson, who, after one salts
ed glance, rode swiftly away.
1T was midnight when he raped at
le door of the Vale Visa railroad
alton and called the sleepy agent.
II want to get a telegram through
ght away" he said brusquely. ''There
an extra dollar in your pocket If you
n rush It"
The slender boy who represented the
kcky Mountain Southern railroad ST.
htly led the way in, turned up the
lex of the lamp and showed blanks
d pencil across the counter.
You look half asleep to me-" Wilker.
D growled as he picked up the pen
rhe boy scanned the stranger quiet
and opened the drawer Of his tel
aph desk and faced his visitor
ain. wilkerson caught the CLINT of
steel barrel of a revolver in that
liver.
You must have some money in the
e." be snarled 81
ibe boy looked at him with Steely