The Prescott daily news., 1915-06-17

Il can see clearly enough" said Will 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, cange to the doorway.
 "Is this The Master KeyY" de- manded Wilkerson.
 Tt certainly is.' was the response.
 "And-old Tom Gallon runs it?" Wilkerson pulled out flask, divining | Bill Tubbs ruling vice, and the en- gineer, 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 l there in that bungalow on the hill. You see, Tom ain't 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: 50 this is what he wanted for himself!"
 The man he was seeking lay prop ped up in bed. To Ruth he gave ev- erything--slks and down and all the soft things of this life. Himself he | still slept on hard cot with q straw pillow under his head-that is. he had slept. It seemed to him that sleep | had forever fled. and he was now look ing up into Ruth's face almost plead ingly, trying to keep his grim old lips from asking sympathy. There was reason in his mind that he should ac- cept no 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 be felt all right he mustered smile.
 "rhere's nothing the matter with me. 1 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 tibly nodded his head in token that he would not tell. Not that he yet knew the secret of The Master Key" but he recognized the fact that sooner or later he was to know.
 Ruth stopped over and said:
 Papa, l don't believe you do feel well. I'm going to make you some thing hot to drink. I'll bring you a today" And she went into the kitch- en and shut the door
 | When she was gone John nodded a | pleasant Good night" and also left. Then old Thomas Gallon rose and went to his worn desk and got his well thumbed diary.
 "l am haunted" he wrote slowly, "al ways haunted Am I to die without knowing whether Wilkerson Is alive and that Ruth is safe?"
 At that moment he glanced up and | thought he saw the sinister face of his former partner at the window By the strongest effort of will he managed to control himself and went on writing:
 "Wukerson still alive by night When will he come out into the day? | He shall never have the key that would unlock the secret to my little | girls happiness. will trust John." Fancy to yourself scenes that must | have fled like swift films before the old mans eyes as he put the diary | away. The desert and it's mortal | thirst; Wilkerson, ever drinking greed | fly of precious water; gold; murder; his escape with the plans, their loss in the chest when the vessel went down in a caldron of flame; the image | of his dying wife; the picture of the babe he had lifted from her chill breast Ruth, for whom he had suffered. He bowed his head on his folded arms.
 Such is the bitterness that the night brings upon those who are alone. l When Ruth came in with the steam ing glass of toddy she quietly set the | glass down and went out on the porch to look at the light across the gulch | which marked John Dorr's window. 1 Youth was calling to youth. It was no apparition Shat Gallon had seen at the window this time. It was really Wilkerson. who, after one satis- l fled glance. rode swiftly away. | It was midnight when he rapped at | the door of the valle Vista railroad station and called the sleepy agent
 "1 want to get telegram through right away" he said brusquely. "There is an extra dollar in your pocket if you | eoO rush if