Bryan daily eagle and pilot. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1909-1918, 1916-07-24
At sHER|Frs SALE
BY CATHERINE cRANMER.


recognition and establishment in exclu-
siye bachelor quarters. All this had
kept him SO occupied that scant time
had been left to Keep up friendly In.
tercourse with the Prineville people.
and since the death of his only Prime
vile relative, John Daniels, the law.
yer with whom he had first read law,
he had not been back to visit the little
county.seat town.
Seated in his book.lined ONCE one
summer morning. John Morton was
going over his personal accounts.
Just then the postman came in and
deposited some mail on Johns desk.
There were some letters Of profess
sional import, club notice of ban.
Quet for . distinguished visitor to
the city, legal publication or two and
the little home paper from Prineville.
Many copy Of the Weekly Argus
had gone into the waste basket un.
opened, but on this particular morn.
ing 1t was the paper that claimed
precedence over all the other mail.
Over In the right.hand column Of
the third page was a row Of legal no
tees, and glance over these
brought an indrawn whistle of sur
prise from John.
The cause Of his agitation was this
notice: Pursuant to the order of the
county court, l the undersigned, sher-
ID Of Cornwall county, will on Mon
day. June the twelfth. at tho north
door OF the courthouse. at ten O'Clock
In the forenoon, sell at public sale
to the highest bidder for cash certain
property Of Barbara Anderson. con.
sisting Of the following" Then fol.
lowed a detailed description Of what
John readily recognized as the old
Anderson homestead, which stood on
the outskirts of Prineville, and which
he recalled as the scene Of many
lively tennis game with Barbara. With
his elbows ON the desk and his head
In his hands. John sat staring at the
notice. but what he really saw was
O thousand incidents Of summers
gone by.
He also thought OF the friendly cor.
respondence he had kept up with
Barbara when he first came to the
city. and no WINGED a. he realized
that II was largely due to his nesli.
gence that the correspondence had en-
Itirely died out. Other causes were
that he had been busy with his pro-
fesslon and Barbara had been tied
down by the invalidism Of her mother
following the shock OF her fathers
death In q railroad accident.
He called the stenographer In and
let loose such an avalanche OF rapid
dictation that she had to bend over
her notebook with flying fingers and
alert ears to catch all he said. At ten
o'clock Monday morning. enough Of
her whirlwind notes still remained to
DO transcribed to keep her busy an
day. but there was no danger Of her
work being augmented. for John Nor.
ton was hundred miles away and was
at that moment alighting from his
dusty roadster In front Of the old
Anderson homestead. u
With the directness and determine
ton which had In i've years time put
him on professional plane with mon
ten years his senior. John had. In Ave
minutes time. told Barbara that sue
cess had brought him nothing that
took the place OF their comradeship Of
I'VE years before. and no begged her
to renew II and to let him be . fro
Quent visitor at the old homo a. DO
fore.
You'd always DO welcome. John -
she said cordially, but sadly. but the
old home is being sold this minute 4
tho courthouse door. II II brings
enough to pay the mortgages and to
keep mo In New York until can quail.
lily for once work. I'll be In luck. You
see, I couldn't leave mother to earn
anything, and to give her tho comfort
she needed tho homo was heavily
mortgaged. Perhaps you didn't know
Of her DEATH"
John was ready to begin an cxplana
ton when the telephone rang.
ITS the sheriff. I'm sure" said Bar
bara nervously. He Ia TO call mo up
TO say when and where TO come 70
sign the deed but I can't talk. Won,
you answer him.
John held a brief conversation over
tho telephone. ending with an assur
anco that they would come right down
Barbara rose bravely and advanced
toward the door. With her hand on
the door knob. sho turned to John.
who bought it-st. Roses parish
or tho Masonic lodgo1"
Neither" no answered.
But there couldn't have boon any
other buyersl were there no bid,
at all'" Both hope and fear were II
her surprised inquiry.
"Yes. Barb. there was buyer" Johr
spoke quietly. and no took barbara,
hand from tho door knob and held 4
in his own. The man who bought
was acting for another man. The pric,
paid was ave thousand. but that Other
man wants something with tho home
that Is worth more than any number
OF thousands. The man who bought Il
was acting for me. and what wanl
above all else IL you"
After a few blissful moments had
passed In silence. John added. III
we were married before we sign N,