Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1916-12-07

up the valley OF the salmon.
Had the government permitted the
hyak coal fields 10 be opened up the
lower reaches OF the :. Il. and n. would
have had value. but all activity in
that region had been throttled. and the
policy OF delay and indccision at head
quarters promised no relief.
The actual erection of steel work was
impossible during the coolest months;
Parker had planned only to rush the
piers, abutments aud false work 10 COM
pletion so that he could take advantage
OF the mild spring weather preceding
the breakup. The execution OF this
plan was In itself an unparalleled un-
dertaking, making it necessary 10 hire
double crews OF picked men. Yet. as
the weeks wore into months the intr.
cate details were wrought out one by
one and preparations were completed
for the great race
Late in March Dan Appleton went
10 the front. taking with him his wife
and his sister. for whom O'Neil had
thoughtfully prepared suitable living
quarters. The girls were as hungry
as Dan 10 have part in the deciding
struggle, or at least To see IL close at
hand. for the spirit OF those engaged
In the work had entered them also.
Life at Omar OF late had been rather
nneventful. and they looked forward
with pleasure 10 Il renewal OF those
companionable relations which had
made the summer months so full Of
interest and delight But they we're
disappointed. Life at the end of the
line they found 10 be Il very grim. Il
very earnest and in some respects an
extremely diSagrccable affair. the few
erish. INCREASING activity OF their friends
left no time for companionship or rec
reation OF any sort More and more
they. too. came 10 feel the sense OF
haste and strain pervadng the whole
army OF workers. the weight OF respon
sibiity that bore upon the commander
Dan became almost a stranger TO
them, and when they saw him he was
obsessed 10y vital issues. Mcllen was
gruff and irritable. Parker la his pre-
occupation ignored everything but his
duties. OF AN their former comrades
O'Nei alone seemed aware Of Their
presence. But behind his smile they
saw the lurking worries. i'm his eyes
was an abstraction they could not pen
citrate, IN his bearing the fatigue Of Il
man tried 10 the breaking point.
To Eliza there was a certain 10y
merely IN being near the man she
loved even though she could not help
being hurt by his apparent indiffcr-
ence. The long weeks without sight
of him had dccpcned her feeling and
She had turned for relief 10 the writing
of her boOk-the natural outlet for her
reprcssed emotions Into its pages she
had poured all her passion. all her
yearning. and she had written With m
Intimate understanding Of ONeirs am
billions and aims which later gave the
story its unique success as an epic OF
financial romance.
Hers was nature which could not
be content with idlcness. She took up
! the work that She and Natalie had be
! gun. devoting herself unobtrusively yet
/ effectively 20 making O'Neil comforta-
BILE IL was Il labor OF love, done with
no expectation of reward; il thrilled
her. filling her with mingled sadness
and satisfaction But if Murray no
ticed the Improvement In his surround
I ings. which she sometimes doubted, he
evidently attributed ii TO sudden ac-
cess OF zeal on the part OF Ben. FOR he
made no comment. Whether or not
a.. al. IL, Il a
she could hardly tell. Somehow his
unobservaut. masculine acceptance of
things better and worse appealed to
the woman in her She slipped into
O'Neils quarters during his absence
anu Slipped out again quietly She
learned to know his ways. lis peculiar
tiles. She found herself carcsSing and
talking 10 his personal belongings as
If they could hear and understand
She conducted long conversations with
the objects on his bureau one morn
ing Ben entered Unexpectedly 10 sur.
prise her in the act OF kissing Murray 5
shaving mirror as if it still preserved
the image of its owners face. after
which she banished the cook boy ut
her own hands.
OF course discovery was inevitable
At last O'Neil stumbled in upon her
In the midst OF her task and, question
ing her. read the truth from her bushes
and her incoherent attempts at expla-
nation.
so you're the one who has been
doing this" he exclaimed in frank as
constituent And I've been tipping
Benny for his thoughtfulness all this
time. The rascal has made enough TO
retire rich
He seemed not to understand his
duties very well 40 | took charge But
you had no business 10 catch me-"
The flush died from ELIAS cheeks. and
she faced him with thoroughly femi-
nine indignation
Il can't let YOU 20 on with this.
said Murray ~ ought TO be doing
something for YOU
But the girl hared mp deiantly. ~
love it, TN do ii no matter If YOU lock
me out I'm not on the payroll. YOU
know. SO YOU have 40 authority over
me-none ~ all
His eyes roNed around lie room
and for the first lime he fully took IN
the changes her hands had wrought
MY dear child. its very nice 10 he
spoiled this way and have everything
neat and clean. but cmharrasSc~