Gilpin observer., 1915-02-25

grain landS, JACK DeVOre turned MS
face northward.
The yacht, driven out of her course
and battered by storms. had been
salved by a transport and towed into
South American port Jack had re-
mained in South America. knowing
that he must be able to support Rose
before he dared ask her to be his wife
He believed that she had loved him
too well to forget him, even though
she must have believed him dead.
With him, upon the homeward voy-
age, went Nathan, the face still vacant,
the eyes rolling, an inarticulate. imbe'
cile clod that had once been a man.
Jacks first act on reaching Amer
lea was to consult famous specialist
The doctor examined Nathan.
'He can be restored to conscious
ness by the removal of the splinter of
bone that is pressing upon the brain"
he pronounced. 1T is difficult opera
ton, and a dangerous one."
would you advise it?" asked Jack
Devore
81 would rather be dead man than
living corpse" answered the doc
tor; and the operation was arranged
for.
my head nurse is wonder" the
doctor continued. you must see her
before the operation"
At the hospital Jack found himself
looking into the sweet eyes of Rose
Lane.
The little cry which even her years
Of training could not suppress, the
look in her eyes. showed Jack that
Rose had not forgotten him. He be-
lieved she loved him. In his happiness
he explained little. saying merely that
he had been rescued, half dead, from
the island shores, and conveyed to
South America. And Rose, in her new
found happiness-she, too, explained
nothing. What she had to tell him
would hurt him, she knew. but now
now she thought only of the lover she
had known so many years ago, whose
image had always haunted her. even
when even after .
She heard his voice as if it came
from an immense distance.
81 am coming to see you tonight" he
was saying. MAY I-Rose?"
Yes" she answered, and turned
quickly away.
She waited for him in suspense that
seemed unbearable. What would he
say. Yet, if his love was true. ought
that fact to make any difference-the
fact that she had married and been
widowed since their last parting?
A ring at the bell, an open door, and
Jack was standing before her. He
took her hands in his. He drew her
toward him.
wait, jack" she whispered. Il
must-tell you something. l have
been married since we parted. My
husband is dead. He was drowned at
sea. And this"
She turned toward the little boy who
sat at a table arranging his bricks.
Jack had not seen him. so quiet had
the child become. as If he knew that
great issues were hanging upon his
presence there.
This is little Nathan" continued
Rose. my husband was Nathan
White"
back into her chair in grief such as
she had never known since that fatal
day when Nathan had swum back to
the ship with the news that Jack was
dead in the island surges. Why had
he left her SO. without more than a
pressure of the hand, without a word ?
And that look on his face-surely it
had not been merely the contempt
that he must have felt for her dis
loyalty?
She was too honest to deceive her
self. She knew that she had never
cared for Nathan. She had married
him, year after their return from the
cruise In response to his continuous
pleadings. She had felt then, although
she had not analyzed her feelings. that
Nathan's presence at her side would
be faint link with the dead man
whose image had ever been in her