The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1917-09-06

this-er-assistant you speak of Thal
Is rather sad. Was there-mucl
money!"
"s~eventy-eight thousand dollars
said the chief, and put his cigar bach
In his mouth. "There is a story be
hind II, Boroday, and it's that story !
am going to get. I'm warning you be
cause you've played pretty square with
me. I needed that pearl in my bust
ness"
Boroday rose.
"All right, chief" he said. IT an
sorry about young Ward. I hope hi
wasn't killed"
"He wasn't killed." replied the chief.
"And l haven't said his nalne was
Ward. If you haven't had your break.
fast yet, we might breakfast together
I oversight and haven't had time fol
anything"
Ward came back to consciousness in
the great four-poster bedstead In
which old Hilary Kingston had lain In
state. He felt very little pain and no
curiosity at all as to his surroundings.
only an overwhelming lassitude and
WEAKNESS of life. Something-some-
thing that mattered very much had
gone out Of existence. He could not
remember what 1t was.
There was a uniformed nurse by the
bed. He had a curious antipathy to
asking her anything. He had made
a promise Of secrecy to someone
about what1
Toward evening he had managed to
evolve out of his reviving conscious
ness some faint memory Of what had
happened to him. He remembered that
he was walking down q hill and that
I half-hour. late In the afternoon, he
struggled to remember why he had
gone down the hill.
Then he got 1t. He had been up at
the hall to see Elinor. It was Elinor
who had gone out Of his life. Elinori
Elinorl
He slept very little during the night,
and as his fever rose, he called the
nurse "Elinor," and begged her fran
tically to tell him that something was
not trua
"Of course 1t is not true" said the
nurse, WHO was accustomed to being
called various things.
you did not mean 1t at all?" He
eyed her wistfully. The nurse was
large and plain, with q wide, fiat face.
"You, with the eyes Of q saint" said
poor Ward, "to try to tell me that you
are wicked. l see that it is impos-
sible. l think l can sleep now"
The nurse put her hand, which was
large and ill-shaped but very light and
tender, on his head. And so he went
to sleep.
When he was quite settled, the nurse
went out into the hall where ElinOr
was sitting on q straight chair. She
had sat there almost all Of the time
since Ward was carried up the night
before.
"He is sound asleep" she said smil-
lngly. "He thinks l am someone
named 'Elinor,' and he calls me that.
AS my own name is Sarah, it's rather
pleasant"
Ward had been shot on Sunday
night. By the following Wednesday
he was out of danger.
On that same Wednesday the rector
of Saint Jude's brought himself and
his rheumatism back to his parish.
For three days Elinor had hardly
slept or eaten. Never once had she
been in Wards room, but always, day
and night, she was just outside. When
on that Wednesday evening the doctor
said Ward would live, she went down
once more into her garden.
Many times during those three days
had Elinor tried to pray to Wards
God and found herself voiceless and
inarticulate. But now, out Of the
depth Of her great relief, came yelling
the first prayer of her life. She stood
waist-deep among her phlox and lark
spur.
II thank thee" she said. II thank
thee"
Nothing had been heard of HUFF.
The assault on the assistant rector Of
Saint Jude's had been of a line with
the other mysterious happenings
around the village. The little town
was hag-ridden with fear. Extra con-
stables had been worn in, and from
the hall, during her long night vigils,
Elinor had seer many lighted win
dows, where there had been but the
one.