Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1918-05-24
N for his lantern. He eye.

ndins it a most useful souvenir Of The
acounter-and pried Off a hoard from
le peach box. Two nails stuck out
through each end of the board. lie
'eaned again from the bed. reached ont
with the board and caught the uails in
a crack on the upper edge of the crack
err box. He dragged the box toward
him until it caught against a ridge in
the rough board floor. when the nails
bent outward and slipped away from
the crack. Ward lay back, exhausted
with the effort he had made and tor.
mented with the pain in his leg.
After awhile he took the piece of
board and managed to slide it under
the box, lifting a corner Of it oyer the
ridge. That was hard work, harder
than you would believe unless you tried
it yourself after lying three days fast.
ing with a broken leg and a fever. He
had to rest again before he took the
other end Of the board that had the
good nails and pulled the box up be-
side the bunk.
In a few minutes he made another
effort and pried part of the cover off
the cracker box with the knife. Then
he pulled IL half a dozen crackers and
ate them, drank half a dipper Of water
and felt better.
He had held himself aloof from the
men Of the country. He knew the Sea.
beck riders by sight: he had talked a
little with Floyd Carson two or three
times ana had met Seabeck himself.
He knew Charlie Fox in Il purely cas-
ual way, as has been related, and Peter
Howling Dog the same.
None OF these men were likely to ride
out Of their way to see him. And nov
that his mind worked nationally he had
no fear of Buck Olney's vengeful re-
turn. Buck Olney, he guessed shrewd'
ly, was extremely busy just now put
ting as many miles as possible between
himself and that part of Idaho. Unless
Billy Louise would come or send for
him he would in all probability lie alone
there until he was able to walk. Ward
did not try to comfort himself with any
decisions Of hope.
AS the days passed he settled himself
grimly to the business of getting through
the ordeal as comfortably as possible.
He had food within his reach and a
scant supply Of water. He worked out
the question of diet and of using his
to the best advantage. He
had nothing else to do and his alert
mind seized upon the situation and
brought it down to a fine system.
For inst; nee, he did not open a can
Of fruit until the prunes were gone.
Then he emptied a can Of tomatoes into
the bowl as a safeguard against pto
maine poisoning from the tin, and set
the empty can on the floor. During the
warm part of each.day he slid open the
window by his bunk and lay with the
fresh air flaming his face and lifting
the hair from his aching temples.
He tried to eat regularly and to make
the fruit Juice save his water supply.
Sometimes he chewed jerked ~venison
from the bag over his head, but not very
often; the salt in the meat made him
drink too much On the whole, his
diet wa %..--clthrul ana in a measure
, sat styling. He did not suffer from the
want of any real necessity, at any rate,
He had his few books within reach,
He read a good deal to keep from think.
ing too much, and he tried to meet the
days with philosophic calm. He might
! easily be a great deal worse off than
he was, he frequently reminded him
self,
/ But he was lonesome-so lonesome
that there were times when life looked
absolutely worthless; when the blue dev
lis made him their plaything and III
saw Billy Louise looking scornfull.
upon him and loving some other ma
better: when he saw his name black
ened by the suspicion b a he was
r .stler-preying upon his neighbors
cattle. when he saw Buck Olney laugh
ing in derision of his mercy and hXin
fresh evidence against him to contour
him utterly.
] He had all those moods, and they lei
their own lines upon his face. But b
] had one thing to hearten him. and tina
was the steady progress OF his broke
leg toward recovery. A n tediou
i process 1t was of necessity, but Z
t nearly as he could judge the hone WI
O knitting together and would he straigl
and strong again If he did not try
IS hurry it too much. He tried to ke'
9 count of the weeks as they pasSe
e When the days slid behind him unit
II he feared he could not remember he c
a a little Notch on the window sill en-
IN morning with Bucks knife, with eve
seventh day a longer and deeper not
u than the others to mark the weeks. 1
It, first three days had been so hazy tn
II he thought them only two and mark
Ne them so, but that put him only n d
he out of his reckoning.
ct He lay there and saw snow siith
pit past his window. driven by Il whoopi
al wind. 1t worried him to know that
ne calves were unsheltered AID uni
h. while his long stack of hay stood |
II ~touched-unless the cattle broke do'
e. his fence and reached it. He HOP
they would. but he was Il thorou
AZ workman, and in his heart he KIN
Elk that fence would stand.
Sc He saw cold rains and sleet. III
d. there were days when he shiyered
ed der his blankets and wof'd Rave civ
1t. much for a cup of hot coffee; dd