The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-05-30
CHAPTER XII.
Nan Drifts.

lelt nef packet Tor nm ana rOdt
home. Her Uncle Duke was in town
She had the house to herself, witt
only Bonita, the old Mexican servin,
woman, aud Nan ate her late suppe
alone.
The longer she pondered on y,
Spain and his ~dilemma-and her owl
the more she worried. When sh,
went TO bed. upstairs in her littl,
gable room, She tossed on her pillow
till a resolve seized her to 90 up AGAR
to his hiding place and see what sh,
could see or hear-possibly, ii one
We're on foot, she could a plot
She dressed r~esolutely, buckled or
a holster To her side, and, slipping &
~rev0lver-a new II that Gaze had
given her-intO ii for protection. she
walked softly downstairs ana out OF
doors. The night air was clear. with
a three-quarter moon We'll up in the
sky. She took her way rapidly along
the trail to the mountain, keeping as
much as possible within the great
shadows cast by the towering peaks.
breathing stealthily and keyed to Il
tense feeling Of uncertainty and Sus-
piciOn. Nan at length reached without
adventure the corner of the ledge
where she had first seen De Spain,
II there, lying fiat. listened.
Hearing only the music of the little
cascade. she swept the ledge as well
as she could with her eyes, but it was
now so far in shadow as to lie in i'm
penetrable darkness. Hardly daring
to breathe, she crept and felt her way
over it with her hands. discovering
nothing until she had almost reached
De SPANS retreat at the farther side.
Then her heart stopped in an agony
of ACKNOWLEDGEMENT the overhanging
wall she heard voices. De Spain had
confederates, then, and had tricked
her, after all.
But a moment later this explanation
failed to satisfy her. The mutterings
were too constant and too diSconnect-
edit dawned on Nan that this must
be delirium. She could hear De Spain
throwing himself from side to side,
and the near and far sounds, as if Of
two voices, were explained. She crept
nearer.
He was babbling in the chill dark
ness about ammunition, urging men
to make haste, warning them of some
one coming. Nan listened to his raw
ings, overcome by the revelation of
his condition. She told herself he must
die If he remained longer unaided, and
there were unpleasant possibilities, if
he died where he lay. She did not want
to pity or to help him, she convinced
herself; but she did not want his death
laid to a Morgan plot-for none of his
friends would ever believe De Spain
had found his way alive and alone
to where he lay.
All Of this Nan was casting up in
her mind as she walked home. She
had already decided, but without
realizing 1t, what to do, and was will
Ing to assume that her mind was still
open.
Toward daylight Of the morning, De
Spain dreamed he was not alOne-that
a figure moved silently In the faintness
Of the dawn-a figure he struggled to
believe q reality, but one that tricked
his wandering senses and left him, at
the coming of another day, weaker,
with failing courage. and alone.
But when he opened his eyes later,
and with q clearer head, he found food
and drink near. Unable to believe his
sight, he fancied his wavering senses
deceiving him, until he put out his
hand and felt actually the substance
Of what he saw. He took up a bottle
Of milk i~ncredulously, and slipped at 1t
with the caution Of a man not unused
to periods Of starvation. He broke
eggs and swallowed them, at intervals,
hungrily from the shell {; and meat he
cached, animal-like. In nearby cram
MES, and, manlike, In his pockets.
He was determined. If she should
come again, to intercept his visitor.
For forty-eight hours he tried cat-naps
with an occasional sandwich to keep
up his strength. Nan returned un-
seen, and disappeared despite his
watchfulness. A new supply Of food
proved she had been near, but that 1t
would be hard to time her coming.
When she did come. the third time,
an innocent snare discovered her pres
ence. 1t was just before day, and De
Spain had so scattered small obstacles
-handfuls of gravel and little chips of
rock-that should she cSoss the hedge
in the dark she could hardly escape
rousing him.
The device betrayed her. "I'm
awake" announced De Spain at once
from his retreat. When she stopped
Mt the words he could not see her; she
had flattened herself. standing. against
a wall Of the ledge. He waited pa
tiently. "You give me no chance t
thank YOU" he went on after a pause.
II don't need any thanks" she replied
with calculated GOODNESS. II am hop
ing when you are we'll enough you
will go away quietly in the night. That
will be the only way you can thank
mov