The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-07-23

ZIP he repeated in an altered tone.
why, they call me Dafy Daniel"
"DaRy Daniel!" Frances was star
tied. "How absurd OF them! meant
your real name," she added.
Daniel Ford" he said dazedly.
Good night, Mr.. Ford" said Fran
e MRS. Tweedy is ringing the bell
% desperately l must CO."
He watched her cross the fields until
she disappeared in the shadowy ORCH
ard.
That night Daily Daniel startled
Pond village folks by coming to prayer
meeting, a place he had avoided for
twenty years.
Perhaps be hoped the schooiteacher
would be there. Perhaps 1t was a
sudden whim. Anyway, old friends
nodded at him, and women smiled, and
the minister shook hands and called
him "Mr. Ford"
Miss Blake did not 60 to prayer meet
Ing. She sat alone in the sitting room
and corrected exercises until the
Tweedys came home from the church.
Mrs. Tweedy vas filed with mild ex.
element.
"Dafy Daniel was at meetingv she
announced as she sank into a chair.
lis that an unusual eventT' smiled
Miss Blake.
"Once in twenty years. Kinder un-
usual" remarked Abner dryly.
"1t's queerr' calculated Mrs. Tweedy,
and then she went on to tell about the
forthcoming fair and carnival which
was to be held in Firemen's hall.
"And the decorations are all Grape
paper and pink ~cheesecloth," ended
Mrs. Tweedy. Suppose it got afire?"
THAT would be dreadful" shuddered
Miss Blake as she went up to her room.
That night the schoolteacher dream
ed that she attended the carnival in
Firemen's hall and that suddenly the
whole place was ablaZe. Some one
picked her up and bore her through
fire and smoke to cool safety.
And she opened her eyes and saw
that her heroic rescuer was Daffy Dan
| lei.
why" she had said to him in wild
surprise, you are a man!'
And be had answered.:
"A man asleep. You have awakened
me-"
She continued to think Of Daniel
Ford far more often than was neces-
sary or required by mere pity for his
lonely condition.
She knew now that many Of his &C.
centricities were due to his habit of
living alone with his grief. She knew
that through systematic reading he had
educated himself above his neighbors.
Daily Daniel was a gentleman and a
scholar, and the attitude of his neigh
bOrs was incomprehensible.
The night Of the carnival!
Firemen's hall was q bower of beau
ty, according to the Pondpoint Bugle.
Flowers, festoons and fair femininity
crowded the ~f1oors,' it said enthusias.
tically before it went on to describe,
the tragedy that followed.
In the middle Of the festivities some
one cried "Fire!"
There was a stampede for the single
exit, but a man impeded the way, a big
man with arms stretched across the
doorway, who cried authOritatively:
zone at a time, one at a time! Wo-
men and children first!"
The man was Daffy Daniel, who had
not attended a festival in twenty years.
While the firemen threw a feeble
stream on the fimsy wooden structure
Daniel Ford kept the crowd from panic
until there remained a mere handful
Of people, who, frightened at the vol
umes Of smoke pouring up the stairs.
declined to go and huddled near the
windows.
Among these Frances Blake fingered,
encouraging, soothing and helping one
and another.
Then Daniel Ford suddenly broke
loose upon them, grasped q woman in
his arms and rushed down the burning
stairs to safety.
Again and again he made the peril
GUS journey, until the room was in
flames and there remained only the
schOOlteacher, pale and calm.
AVut ~ 0AV0uCO. A1O0t 0AVc
your
you have saved twenty lives or
more, Daniel Ford" she smiled at him.
Thank Godr" he said reverently,
those will atone for the lives I could
not save twenty years ago."
As he spoke the burning stairs fell
with a crash.
A cry Of horror went up from the
waiting crowd.
Daniel Ford caught Frances in his
arms even az she had dreamed.
There ia one chance. Will you trust
me2"
YES" she said.
A large window opened on the roof
Of the square entrance porch. The
corner Of the porch jutted against the
trunk Of a huge tree.
Daniel stepped from the window to
the roof and swung himself among the
branches of the tree, Frances held in
II strong arm.