Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1918-02-05

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and faced the cabin. It was not far
to nan with two sound legs. A hun
dred yards, pc haps.
Ward crawled there on his hands and
one knee, dragging the broken leg after
him. 1t was not a nice experience, but
it served one good purpose-it wiped
from his mind all thought of that black
past wherein Buck had figured so
shamefully. He had enough to think of
with his present plight, without wor-
rying over the past.
In hall an hour or 80 Ward rested his
arms upon his own doorstep and drop
ped his perspiring face upon then. He
lay there long while in dead faint.
After awhile he moved, lifted his
head and looked about him duly at first
md then with certain stOical accept
ance of his plight. He looked into the
immediate future and tried to forecast
it's demands upon his strength and to
prepare for them. He crawled farther
up on the step, reached the latch and
opened the door. He crawled in, pulled
himself up by the foot of his bunk and
sat down weakly with his head in his
hands. Like a hurt animal, he had
Obeyed his instinct and had crawled
home.
His eyes went slowly around the cab.
IN, measuring his resources and his
needs and limitations. He pulled his
one chair toward him-the chair which
Buck Olney had occupied so unwilling
ly-and placed his left knee upon it
He managed to reach the cupboard
where he kept his dishes, and took down
bottle of liniment and a box Of car.
bOliZed vaseline which he happened to
have. He was near the two big zinc
water pals which, he had filled that
morning just to show Buck Olney how
cool he was over his capture, and he
bethought him that water was going to
be precious in the next few weeks.
He lifted down one pail and swur 9
it forward as far as he could and SET
it on the floor ahead of him. Then ks
swung the other pail beside it. Pain,
fully he hitched his chair alongside
lifted the pals and set them forward
again. He did that twice and got them
beside his bunk. He went back and in
sreCted the teakettle, found it half full
and carried that also beside the bunk
Then he rested awhile.
Bandages! Well, there was a new
-four sack hanging un a nail He stood
up, leaned and got it, and while he
was standing he reached for the cigar
box, where he kept his bachelor sewing
Outfit-twO spools of very coarse thread
some large eyed needles to carry it, al
assortment of buttons and i pair OF
scissors. He cut the -four sack into
strips and sewed the strips together
his stitches were neater than you might
think.
When the bandage was long enough
he rolled it as he had seen doctors do
and fished some pins out of the cigar
box and laid them where he could get
his fingers on them quickly. He stood
I'd again, reached across to a box OF
canned milk and pried off the lid. I'm
liable to need you, too," he muttered
to the rows Of cans, and pulled the box
close. He took Buck Olney's knife and
whitfield some very creditable splints
from the thin boards and rummaged in
his 'warbag' under the bunk for hand.
kerchiefs with which to wrap the
splints.
When he had done all that he could
dc to prepare for the long siege of pain
and helplessness ahead of him he mCv.
ed along the bunk until he was sitting
near the head of it with his broken leg
extended before hi,d and took last
look to make sure that everything was
ready. He felt his gun at his hip, re.
moved belt and all and threw 1t back
upon the bed. Then he turned his head
and stared, frowning, ct the black butt
where 1t protruded from the holster
suggestively ready to his hand. He
reached out and took the gun, turned II
over and hesitated. No telling what in
sane impulse fever might bring upon
him-and still-no telling what Buck
Olney might do when he discovered
that he was not in any immediate dan
ger of hanging.
simple method of Sitting the legs with
Bucks knife, barred his broken leg in
the same manner, braced himself men.
tally and physically, gritted his teeth
and went doggedly to work.
A man never knows just how much
he can endure or what he can do until
he is making his last stand in the fight
for self preservation. Ward had nc
mind to lie there and die Of blood poi
Soning, for instance, and broken bones
do not set themselves. So, sweating
and swearing with the agony Of it, he
set his leg and bound the splints in
place and thanked the Lord il was q
straight, clean break and that the flesh
was not torn.
Then he dropped back upon the bed
and didn't care whether he lived or not
Followed days of fever, through which
Ward lived crafty and lost count of the
hours as they passed. Days when he
needed good nursing and did not get
so much as a drink of water except
through pain and effort. Hours when
he cursed Buck Olney and thought he
had him bound to the chair in the cab
in. Hours when he watched for him.
gun in hand, through the window be
side the bunk.
He had made final trip TO Hardup
two weeks before and had brought back
supplies for the winter. And because
his pay streak of gravel bank had yield
ed a fair harvest he had not stinted
himself on the things he liked TO eat
He lay looking over the piled boxes
against the farther wall and wondered
if he could reach the box of crackers
and drag it up beside the bunk He
was weak, and to move his leg was
agony. Well, there was dish of prunes
OIL the window sill
Ward ate q dozen or so, but he want
ed the crackers. He leaned as far as
he could from the bed. and the box was