White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1917-07-15

+~F1@A 81 / IL III
dertaking. making IL necessary To hire
double crews Of picked men. Yet. as
the weeks wore Into months the intri-
cate details were wrought out one by
q 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'Seil had
thoughtfuily prepared suitable living
quarters The girls were rs hungry
as Dan TO have u part in the deciding
struggle. or at least to see 1t close at
hand. for the spirit of those engaged
In the work had entered them also.
Life at Omar Of late had been rather
uneyentful. and they looked forward
with pleasure TO a renewal Of those
companionable relations which had
made the summer months SO full OF
interest and delight But they were
disappointed. Life at the end Of the
line they found to he a very grim. n
very earnest. and in some respects an
extremely d~isagreeable affair: the fey-
erish. ~unceasing activity of their friends
left no time for eenpanisnsiiip or rec
reation OF any sort. More and more
they. too. came tn feel the sense of
haste and strain pervading the hole
army of workers. the weight of respon-
sibiiify that bore upon the commander.
Dan became almost a stranger 10
them. and when they saw him he was
obsessed by vital issues. Mellen was
gruf and irritable: Parker In his pre-
occupation ignored everything but his
duties. Or MI their former comrades
ONeil alone seemed aware OF theIr
presence. But behind his smile they
saw the lurking worries: in his eyes
was an abstraction they could not pen
citrate. in his bearing the fatigue of a
man tried TO the breaking point.
To Eliza there was a certain joy
merely In being near the man she
loved. even though she could not help
being hurt by his apparent indiuer-
ence. The iong weeks without sight
Of him had deepened her feeling and
she had turned for relief to the writing
OF her hook-the natural outlet for her
repressed emotions. Into It's pages she
had poured all her passion. all her
yeariing. and she had written with an
intimate understanding Of O'Neirs am
billions and aims which later gave the
story Its unique success as n epic OF
financial romance.
Hers was u nature which could not
be content with idieness. She took up
the work that she and Natalie had be
gun. deEoting herself u~n0btrusiyely get
effectively 10 wakins O'Neil comforta.
BILE. II was a labor OF love. done with
no expectation OF reward; II thrilled
her. filing her with mingled sadness
and satisfaction But II Murray no
ticed the improvement In his surround.
ings. which she sometimes doubted. he
evidently attributed It to a sudden ac-
cess OF zeal on the part of Hen, for he
made no comment. Whether or not
she wished him TO see and understand
| she could hardly tell. Somehow his
un0bservant. masculine acceptance OF
| things better and worse appealed to
| the woman In her. She slipped into
O'Neil's quarters during his absence
and slipped out again quietly. She
learned to know his ways. his peculiar
tiles. She found herself caressing and
talking to his personal belongings ~
II they could hear and understand.
She conducted long conversations with
the objects on his bureau. One norm
ing Ben entered unexpectedly TO sur
prise her In the act Of kissing Mnrray's
shaving mirror rs n II still preserved
the image OF Its owners face. after
which she banished the cook boy ut-
terly and performed his duties with
her own hands.
or 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 i~ncoherent 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 bis tho~ughtfulness all this
time. The rascal has made enough to
retire rich
He seemed not TO understand his
duties very well. so | took charge. But
you had no business TO catch mel"
The flush died from Ellza's cheeks. and
she faced him with thoroughly femi-
nine Indignation.
Il can't let you go on with this
said Murray. Il ought to be doing
something for you."
Buf the girl farcd I'D deiant1y. 81
love 1t. I'll do IL no matter II you lock