Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1918-06-07

~ II ehe were murmur1ng over q o1eepy
baby.
Ward closed his e0es, opened them,
and looked up into her face. One
hand came up uncertainty and caught
her fingers closely. "Wilhelmina-
mine y he said, in his hoarse voice.
His eyes cleared to sanity under her
touch.
Billy Louise drew a small sigh Of re-
lief and reached unobtrusively with
her free hand for the gun. She slid
1t down away from his fingers, and
when he still paid nc attention, she
picked 1t up quite openly and laid 1t
against the footbOard. Ward did not
say anything. He seemed altogether
occupied with the amazing reality Of
her presence.
"YOu've got a terrible cold and from
the looks of things, you've had 1t for
about six months" said Billy Louise.
Her eyes went cOmprehensively about
that end Of the cabin, with the de-
pleted cracker box, the half-emptied
boxes Of peaches and tomatoes, and
the buckets that were all but empty
Of water. She was shocked at the pitt
full evidence Of long helplessness. She
did not quite understand. Surely
Wards cold had no kept him in bed
81 long.
"Well. this is no time for mirth or
laughter" she said briskly, to hide how
close she was to hysteria, "since 1t
looks very much like the morning
after First, we've got to tackle that
fever Of yours" She picked up a
water pail and started for the door.
As she passed the foot of the bu6k,
she confiscated the two revOlvers and
took them outside with her. She had
no desire to be mistaken again for
Buck Olney.
When she came back Wards eyes
were wild again, and he started up
in bed and glared at her. Billy Lou
Use laughed at him and told him to lie
down like q nice buckaroo, and Ward,
recalled to himself by her voice,
Obeyed. She got the washbasin and
a towel and prepared to battle his
head. He wanted a drink. And when
she held a cup to his lips and saw how
greedily he drank, a little sob broke
Unexpectedly from her lips. She
gritted her teeth after it and forced
a laugh.
"You're sure a hard drinker." she
bantered and wet her handkerchief to
lay on his brow.
"That's the first decent drink I've
had for a month";" he told her, drop
ping back to the pillow, refreshed to
the point Of clear thinking. "Old Lady
Fortunes still playing football with
me, William. I've been laid up with
a broken leg for about six weeks. And
when l got gay and thought l could
handle myself again, I put myself out
of business for a while, and caught
this cold before ! came to and crawled
back into bed. Tm-sure glad you
showed up, old girl. l was-getting up
against it for fair" He coughed.
Looks like It," Billy Louise held
herself rigidly back from any emo
tional expression. She could not af.
ford to "go to pieces now. She tried
to think just what a trained nurse
would do, In such a case. Her hospi.
tai experience would be Of some use
here, she told herself. She remem.
bered reading somewhere that no ex.
perience Is valueless, If one only ap-
plies the knowledge gained.
"First," she said cheerfully, 1.-THE pa.
tient must be kept quiet and cheerful,
So don't go jumping up and down on
your broken leg, Ward Warren; the
nurse forbids 1t. And smile, if it kills
you"
Ward grinned appreciatively. Sick
as he was, he realized the gameness
OF Billy Louise /; what he failed to real
lie was the gameness Of himself. I'm
a pretty worthless specimen right
now" he said apologetically. But I'm
yours to command, BiI-the-Conk.
You're the DOCTOR"
Nope, I'm the cook, right now. I've
got a bunch. How would you like q
cup of tea, PATIENT"
I'D rather have coffee-Doctor Will
liam"
"Tea. you mean. I'll have it ready
in ten minutes" Then she weakened
before his imploring eyes. "You really
oughtn't to drink coffee. with that fe-