Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1918-02-08

cough, too. Got every measly thing he
can think of. Even got a crouch against
the Flower of the Ranch-oh - Her
voice was crooningly soft and sweet.
as If she were murmuring over a sleepy
baby.
and looked up into her face. One
hand came up uncertainty and caught
her fingers closely. "Wilhelmina-
mine !" 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 u~nobtrusively with
her free hand for the gun. She slid
it down away from his fingers, and
when he still paid no attention, she
picked it 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 it 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 not kept him In bed
so long.
"Well, this is no time for mirth or
laughter" she said briskly, to hide how
close she was to hysteria, "since it
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 bunk,
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 a 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 1t and forced
q laugh.
'fYou'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 td
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 1 got gay and thought l could
handle myself again, I put myself out
of business for a while, and caught
this cold before l came to and crawled
back into bed. I'm-sure glad you
showed up, old girl. I was-getting uI
against 1t for fair" He coughed.
"Looks like it," Billy Louise hello
herself rigidly back from any emo
tional expression. She could not af'
ford to Ego 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 n only ap'
plies the knowledge gained.
First" she said cheerfully, "the pa
ltient must be kept quiet and cheerful
So don't go jumping up and down or
your broken leg, Ward Warren; the
nurse forbids it. And smile, If it kills
you"
Ward grinned appreciatively. Sicb
as he was, he realized the gameness
of Billy Louise; what he failed to real
ize was the gameness of himself. "I'n
a pretty worthless specimen righi
now" he said alphabetically. But Tn
yours to command, Bill-the-Conk
You're the DOCTOR"
"Nope, I'm the cook, right now. I've
Bot d uuncu. I1oW. WOulu you Inc .
cup of tea, patient?"
I'D rather have coffee-Doctor Viii
Ham,"
"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
II. uEN Nl@.SI&