Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-02-02
fCopyrieht by Little. Brown and Company
CHAPTER XIV.
The Hookin'.C ouah Man.

sibilities. She saw Wards fin
gers drop away from the gun, but they
remained close enough for a danger
ously quick gripping Of 1t again, If the
whim seized him. Still-surely to
goodness, Ward would never set crazy
enough to hurt herl Perhaps her fem
inine assurance Of her hold on him,
moro than her courage, kept her nerves
fairly steady. She bit the pencil alb
sently, watching him.
Ward turned his head restlessly on
the pillow and coughed again. Billy
Louise got up quietly, went close to
the bed, and laid her hand on his fore
head. His head was hot, and the veins
were swollen and throbbing on his
.temples
: Brave Buckaroo got q headacher'
she queried softly, stroking his tenn
piles soothingly. "Got the hookin'-
cough, too. Got every measly thing he
can think Of. Even got a crouch against
the Flower of the Ranch Her
voice was crooningly soft and sweet.
AS II she were murmuring over q sleepy
baby.
I. Ward closed his eyes, opened them,
and looked up into her face. One
hand came up uncertainty and caught
her fingers closely. "Wilhelmina-
miner he said, In his hoarse voice:
His eyes cleared to sanity under her
touch.
Billy Louise drew q small sigh of re-
lief and reached unobtruslvely 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 it
against the footboard. Ward did not
say anything. He seemed altogether
occupied with the amazing reality of
her presence. ~. 4 ,
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 Complementary about
that end Of the cabin, with the de-
pleted cracker box, the half-emptied
boxes Of peaches and tomatoes, and
the buckets that we're 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, "slnce 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 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 nice buckaroo, and Ward,
recalled to himself by her voice,
obeyed. She got the washbasln and
a towel and prepared to battle his
head. He wanted drink. And when
she held cup to his lips and saw how
greedily he drank, little sob broke
unexpectedly from her lips. She
gritted her teeth after it and forced
laugh.
"Yon're anre /: hard d-!nke-," she
bantered and wet her handkerchief to
lay on his brow. j..
"That's the first decent drink I've
had for 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
q broken leg for about six weeks. And
when got gay and thought 4 could
handle myself again, put myself out
of business for a while, and caught
this cold before I came to and crawled
back into bed. eI'm-sure glad you
showed up, old girl. was-getting UP
against It for fair" he coughed.
3, 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 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 Il valueless, II one only ap-
plies IT, knowledge gained.