The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-05-07
Eoenit1g Story
The Ancient Call.

Kathleen and the young surgeon
looked at the silent man in the hos
pital cot-silent save for the queer
gurgling sound that filled the room
with every breath he drew.
Hes not worth saving" the young
doctor said He's the worst gun
man in the city; the police are tickled
to death that they landed him."
AS the inferno turned away,
Kathleen started to speak, but thought
better of it. Instead she went to the
cot and looked down into the drawn
face of her patient. 1t was a lean,
pain. The blond. wavy hair curled
away from a broad forehead that was
suggestive of strength.
so he's the mysterious gang leader
that has kept the police It bay for so
long" she said to herself, smiling. He
looks it-like a leader; and if he
doesn't die with that wound thru his
chest, they'll kill him-perhaps."
1t may have been because Kathleen
was Irish, because in her blood ran
the strain of men who cheerfully
champion a lost cause as well as one
that is certain. whose sympathies are
with the underdog, no matter who the
dog may be-
Not worth saving''-it was a chal-
lenge. She would do her best to save
him, all that lay in her power.
So the battle went on. The uncon-
scious gunman, unknowing still
seemed to be fighting to save himself
Tenacious of life, he chung to the
brink of the vast abyss of eternity, re-
fusing to slip down into the darkness
that only the star of raith illumines.
A man appeared, and said he was
| the police guard She smiled and told
I hi hot h. L.
prisoner unless he slipped away at the
summons greater than that of the law.
| In the conversation the guard ex-
planned that the prisoner was "Shep'
Allard, shot in midnight brawl in
which three men were killed.
She went off duty for the afternoon.
| In the evening she went to the room,
nodded at the guard and once more
took up her special care. The gun
man had improved a bit-"that kind
die hard the guard had told her.
| Her Irish heart went out a little
more to the silent, suffering fellow,
set close around by his foes, yet cling
! ing gamely to life.
| The young surgeon on his rounds
! stopped in, and he looked at her with
his keen, cynical eyes. Kathleen, why
such interest in this chap? Now, il
you would only be as much interested
| in me"
| She turned her dark head in his di-
rection. IF L knew that you had the
courage to do what he has done-and
the brains" she remarked dryly. Il
might"
With a snort he had gone.
The days went. Slowly Allard crept
back over the brink. grimly, tena-
ciously, to life; and she gave him all
the aid in her power, as if her strong.
capable young hands, locked in his,
had aided him.
One afternoon she stood looking
down at him, and her heart pounded
as she saw his eyes flutter and open.
| the dim consciousness that was his,
his eyes took her in, and then she sa "
the light of his spirit, in spite of his
determined effort. recede and fade
again in Inconsistencies
1t left her trembling. "Of all things
in this queer world, have 1 been fall
ing in love with gunman?" she
asked herself.
Somebody else thought so, evidently,
her doctor lover, for that evening in
the nurses dining hall a friend said,
smiling family, katie. what's this I
hear? You getting interested in that
criminal? Don't, dearie, for heaven
sake; it's just like you. You ought to
vikings or the cavemen. Just because
there's fighting blood in you he ap-
peals to you
| Kathleen looked at her with gray.
dreaming eyes Honey, you're right
about this; do admire and some day
shall love a man with a. fighting heart.
Yes'm.'' She buttered her bread
calmly.
All the next day he lowered between