The Washington times., 1915-12-28
THIRD INSTALLMENT.


A she got up from the bench the ola
woman leaned heavily on the Noui's a''"
hos,de her for support. She looked eau
,i,s,,, .o,.,rd the house and then in the
,nncsitc direction. with the same nerV-
,,,a fe,rlshe stared into the shrubbery
surround,ng them. then sank back onto
1,,h bor Inns moving as If in silent
prayer. oot,a
weakly.
Tell me-
cod knows I've kept the secret so 1ar
-shs never knew nothing about it-your
,,,othar-and nobody. There isn't any
hing YOU con keep a secret Forever.
Rut II I could "a protected YOU from IL
always, precious. ] would sNGh H
soul. pretty near. to do 1t. II an nap
pcned-so long ago-tWehtS years IL ""'
-!st..{ !4eIS {Ngr.S mc Mary',-arged June. gently
patting her writhing hands u,o,t
Twenty years ago MRS. lraVis VIII III
West on a trip with Mr.. travis; SAY sn,a
Mary. speaking rapidly. as If forcing
Zach word. Il went along-l was the
maid 1t was a terrible mace. out Wese e
was in those days. And the place We
went TO was a mining town Where thele
vas nothing but shackS and saloons ana
Iuugh-looking men and half-dead look
= The end of the trip Mrs. Irayis
v,un pIetty near spent. she ouShth |
to have been ttuVeiing at suCh ttn'.
Hut she Just would insist on coming
alung. | remember MIR. Travis ana ms
had to pretty near carry nei lhlo .nE
place where we We're gong 10 stay
while we were there. 1t waSnt reg :
ular hotel-the sign said Gem saloon:
Also Rooms Jake was the name %
the man who kept 1T, and doWnstairs,
when we went in, was nothing but
barroCm all filed with tobacco shoke
and smell OF liquor. There was tables
with men drinking anl gambling ana
they stared at us like we were
strange animals.
lake led the way up the stairs and
MI. Travis and me put our arms
around poor Mrs. Travis and just lift
the bedroom on the second floor;
Marl's eyes stared duly. back
through the mist of twenty years
Her voice 1ultcred-and stopped.
THE bedroom on the second floor.
repeated June. land then
and therwe put her To bed. be
tween us. Mr.. Travis ana me. He had
t. 20 down and Srealk TO some men,
IN some business about Eold mine
ho was interested in, you know And
the reason Mrs. Travis went along
was because she was SO sick AMI
her to stay behind. And then. that
afternoon. Mr.. Travis and most all
tho men in the town went into the
mountains to see a new gold claim
They were the toughest looking
lot an there was one. n big, powerful
fellow, gambler--'Jim Borden they
called him" 80,
"Nnd he was rougher even than the
rest of EN-: but they ali landed what
he said. They went off riding on
horses and mules with packs ana
gums slung on their backs and I re
7
bed ard into Il riCkety, old rocking
chair near the window sos she could
wave her hand Cocd-by and throw a
THAT night her little baby was
born. was all alone there and 1t
went awful withsher-I thought she
was dying. After little while !
called Jake and | told him about the
baby. He said 1T was fine and he Il
send one of the boys out to the mine
10 Mr.. Travis with note and tell
him about the good news.
Then, just as he was going down
the stairs again he turned arounl
and said he'd have to make it a don-
bic note because Jim Bordens wife
had Just had baby an hour before
and jim would want to know, too
A sharp little breeze that spranE
from nowhere rustled the branches OF
the trees. and moved the. low bush:s
with sudden wild touch. The old
nurse jumped 10 her feet. dragging
The unexpected break in the tension
that had held her, tortured the girH'
nerves IT was with difficulty she
stifled the shrek that rose to her liL>
"It was Just the wind" she hear
herself SAYING as she pulled Mar
down on the bench beside her. "juSt
the wind. 1T startled me. And Jak'
sent the note to father and Jim Bor'
den, you were SAYING"
Yes, he sent the note. oh. No
night was long! Mrs. Travis was ur'
conscious And every minute of the
time when / wasn't trying to bring
her to, ! walked the floor with this
mite of baby of hers trying to save
them both.
"rhe next morning early. it see'n'
outlaws outside the town heard tha'
n hig shipment of gold was in tn3
rOsdhouse Waiting 10 20 out. They
al the miurs. 80 they attacked o..
Aisce. llI never To1 g@I the minute