The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1916-11-30
CHAPTER vIII-(Continued.)

her. Her own were closed, n by a
superhuman effort h controlled her
breathing, slowly, gently. as IL she
were asleep. ". .a.u
He looked for a long moment, thrilled
by the delicate beauty Of her sleeping
face, filled with an Intoxicating JOY TO
see that her lips were no longer white;
then, turning reverently away, he I'M
locked the door and stepped forth.
The other occupants of the a were
still wrapped in slumber. Loud shores
Of various kinds and qualities testified
TO that. A dim light at the further end
contended luridly, and losingly, with the
daylight now flooding the outside world
and creeping m~ischievously into the
transoms.
Gordon closed the door of the COM
partment noiselessly and went down
the aisle to the end of the car.
A door was open, and he could hear
voices outside. The conductor STOOD
talking with two brakemen. He heard
the words: Three quarters of an hour
ut least" and then the men walked Off
toward the engine.
Gordon looked across the country,
and for the first time since he started
on his Journey let himself remember
mat 1t was springtime and May.
There had been a bitter WIND the
night before, with a hint of rain in the
AT. In fact. 1t had rained quite smartly
durinR the ride to the hospital with the
hurt child, but he had been so p~erturbed
that he had taken little notice or the
weather. But this was a radiant morn
Ing. a.. uost
charming moods, when 1t touches
everything with a sort OF unnatural
glory after the long winter OF
And cold. Every tree trunk in the dis
lance seemed to stand out clearly, every
little grass-blads was set with a glow
ing Jewel. and the winding stream
across q narrow valley fairly olaZed
with brightness. The very road with It's
deep, clean wheel-grooves seemed like
q well taken photograph.
The air had an alluring softness
mingled with it's tang Of winter that
made onelong to take a walk anywhere
out into the world, Just Tor the JOY OIL
being and doing. A meadow lark shot
up from somewhere to a telegraph pole,
Let go its blithe note, and hurried on; IL
was glorious. The exhllaratlon lliieo
Gordon's blood.
And here was the chance he crayed to
alp away from the train before IL
reached a place where he could be as
covered. II he had but thought to bring
his suitcase! He could slip back now
without being noticed and get II! he
could even go without 1t! But-he could
not leave HtE llldl " 'S
ought he? Perhaps he ought But 1t
would not do to leave his suitcase
with her, for II contained letters ad-
dressed TO his real name. An eNplana-
ton would of course be demanded, and
he could not satisfy a loving mother
and brother for having left n helpless
girl in such a situation-even he
could satisfy his own conscience, Which
he knew he could. he simply
could not leave her, and yet he must get
away from that train as soon as pos
sibie. Perhaps this was the only OPP
portunity he would have before reach
ing Buffalo, and it was very risky, in
deed dangerous, to dare enter Buffalo.
Il was a foregone conclusion That there
would be private detectives ready to
meet the train in Buffalo with full des-
criptions and particulars and only too
ready to make way with him IL they
could do SO without being found out.
He looked nervously back at the door
Of the car. Dared he attempt to waken
her and say that they had made a mis-
take and must change cars? Vas she
well enough? And where could they go .?
He looked off toward the landscape
Cor answer to his question.
They were decidedly in the country.
The train stood at the top of a high
s~mbankment Of cinders, below which
was a smooth country road running
parallel to the railroad for some dis
lance till It met another road at right
angles to 1t, which str etched away
between thrifty meadow lands to a
nesting village. The gioriied stream
he had first noticed far up the valley
elinted narrower here in the morn
ing light, with a suggestion OF water
cress and forget-me-nots in its fringes
a. II veered away under a bridge to-
ward the village and hid itself in a
tangle Of willows and cat-tails.
How easy it would be to slide down
that embankment, and walk out that
road over the bridge to the village,
where of course a conveyance of some
sort could be hired to bear him to
another railroad town and thence to
Pittsburgh, perhaps, where he could
easily get a train to Washington. How
easily il only he were not held by some
Invisible hands to care for the sweet
sleeper, inside the car! And yet, for
her sake as we'll as his own, he must
10 something, and that right speedily.
He was standing thus in deep medi-
tation, looking off at the little village
which seemed SO near and yet would
be so far for her to walk, when he vas
peryaded with that strange sense OF
some one near For an instant he re-
Sisted the desire to lift mis- eyes and
Grove to himself that nc one was pres
ent in q doorway which a be-
fore he knew had been unoccupied
Then, frowning at his own nervousness
DO turned.
She stood there in all the beauty OF
her fresh young %girlhood, a delicate
sailor on her cheeks, and a deep sad
ness In her great dark eyes, which were
dxed upon him intently, in a sort o.
puzzled study. She was fully dressed
even to her hat and gloves. Every
wave of her golden hair lay eXquisitelS
In place under the purple hat, as though
she might ave taken In hour or tive
1t her toilet; yet h had made it will
excited haste, and with trembling fin
gers, determined to have it accomplish
Cd before the return of her dreaded
liege lord. n aE
She a sprung from her berth tn,
instant he closed the o upon her
and fastened the little catch to bal
him out. She had dashed cold wateI
into her face, fastened her garments
hurriedly, and tossed the glory OF he
hair into place with a few touches ant
what h~airpins she could find on tn,
door. Then putting On ner hat, coat
and gloves, she had followed him int,
the outer air. She had a feeling tina
che must have air to breathe or sh,