Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-11-26
He Stared at the Few scant Notes.

ne Stared al Inc rev Scanr NOTES.
AS Sandry obediently finished the
last drop, the general reached in the
capacious pocket of her dish apron.
Here" she said, "see what / found
She held squarely before his eyes Q
little red morocco notebook, opened at
a page far to the back.
Miss Ordway dropped it Is she rode
off on the bay this mornin' an |
picked it up"
Without volition, Sandry glanced at
the white page, which held a few
neatly tabulated notes.
I'VE ought not to read 1t, ma" he
was saying, st may be private"
Then a change came over his fea.
lures and involuntarily he peered
closer.
Mas keen, old eyes were upon his
face and she saw it slowly lose what
little color returning life had given 1t,
saw a look of bewilderment, of amaze
and something very like fear settle
down upon it, drawing the features,
Tightening the skin. He stared hard
at the few scant notes, then raised
dilated eyes to her.
Are you sure, ma, SURE" he
asked in a strangely altered voice.
Sure? Ever know me to speak
when l want sure, son? 2" said the gen.
eral grimly.
For, though the notes on the page
were so few and SO meaningless to an
outsider, it was plain that they had
fallen under the one pair of eyes
whose owner they most vitality con.
cerned.
This was what Walter Sandry read:
Tuesday night: Ruinedl Ruinedl Help
less, and he does not know!
Wednesday,: S~coundrels aI-James B.
Observation-Disclosures and Zinc,
Consolidated. Legitimatel My God, it's
done legitimately! Within the law May
such law be damned, James B. Whitby-
I am the law this night.
Thursday: Dad. old chap!
When he had finished, his weak
hands trembled on the sheet and there
was the look of a cornered animal in
the bright, blue eyes that sought the
old woman's pleadingly.
MA" said Sandry hoarsely, take 1t
back and put it where Miss Ordway
will casually find it, and. don't say /
saw it."
Without a word, Ma Daily picked up
her bowl, put the little red book in her
pocket and took Siletz away to the
noon work, leaving the man for the
first time alone. OF a wide and Gun.
ming knowledge was this old handler
of men. She knew that he would
think best in solitude.
Mother" said Siletz as they passed
up the path, "she never dropped that"
Course not. lied an stole both,
but it's worth while. There's some
thin threatenin' Sandry, an though
he's pretty weak to be worried, it's
best he should know"
And in the meantime Poppy Ordway
was talking to Hampden on the Silets
road. The man was passionate. force.
full, a little worried by her long alb
sence from their rides, and he used
every persuasion at his command to
win her from the Daily camp.
What for do you want to stay
there?" he begged.
Don't you Know I am writing a iunr
Der story?"
Sure. But why can't you come to
the Yella Pines?"
And have the country talking? ]
ride with you too much for that.
hnUn q FQntIfofsnn ~ kha or1ot rJ0Fl0
that l can't afford to lose in the little
one."
But they say you're goin' to marry
that da-beg yer pardon-that johnny
Eastern. That SO? For Gods sake,
girl, don't say it,"
Hampden's red face was pale, and
she enjoyed seeing this coarse, bull
like man shaken to his foundations.
"And what If it isl"
I'll kill him! So help me heaven,
I'll get him next-I tell you l cant
stand for thatl"
Get him next time" she was saying
swiftly to herself, "oh, Hampden, !
fancy there1l be a lot of getting
whether or not Walter Sandry wants
me to quit-now, after all I've gone
through with you to get my line stakea
outi"
Aloud she said at the same time
Not isn't true" And Hampden
caught her hand and kissed 1t.
March crawled by and April-MT
came in with the feel and look of sum
mer-as it does in the western bills
warm and bright and eternally sunny
Sandry wondered If it had ever raineoi
Any exertion tired him cruelty, so ne
ioafed about the office, sat on the ease
porch at the cook-shack, and talkeo
idly with the three women. for Poppy
Ordway. despite Ma Daily's GOODNESS
and hints, and Siletz' silence, sun
STAYED on at the ANN. Often Sand1
Continued on page