Williams news., 1922-09-22

Il[lllllIIlllllIlllIIlllIllllIl IlllllIIl[lIITMT5 | overhead; the truck separated them
 It bore down: upon Alan, holding him | motienless and, on the other side, it
 crushed upon Corvet's legs. l He turned over, as far as he could, l and spoke to Alan. "You have been 1 saving me, so now I tried to save you | he said simply. +"What reason did you have for doing that? Why have you been keeping by me?"
 | I'm Alan Conrad of Blue Rapids,
 Kansas" Alan cried to him. And | you're Benjamin -CorvetI You know
 me; you sent for mel Why did you do that?"
 :: Corvet made no reply to this. Alan, peering at him underneatha the truck. | could see that his hands were pressed | against his face and that his body shook. Whether this was from some | new physical pain from the movement | . of the wreckage, Alan did not know j.till he lowered his hands after a mo ment,; and now he did not heed Alan or seem even to be aware of him. 'pear little Connie" he said aloud. r. "Dear little Conniel She. mustn't smarry hlm-not himI That must be seen to- What shall I do, what shall I do?"
 Alan worked nearer him. Why mustn't she marry him P, ',-hs. cried to Corvet. "Why2 Ben Coryet, tell mel Tell me why !" =
 "Who are you?" Gorvet seemed.o only with an effort to become conscious of AIan's presence. ,
 "I'm Alan Conrad, whom you used to take care of. I'm from Blue Rap ids. You know about me; are you my father, Ben Corvet7 Are you my fla therf or what-what are you to mel"
 Your father?'' Corvet repeated. .tDid ne tell you that2~ Re:kil1ed your father"
 Killed him? Killed him, howr'
 "Of course. He killed them a1l-an. But your father--he shot him he shot him through the head!"
 Alan twinged. Sight of Spearman' came before him as he had first seen Spearman, covering in Corvets H. brary in terror at an apparition. And the bullet hole above the eye!" So that was the hole made by the shot Spearman fired which had killed Alan's father-which shot him through the head! Alan peered at Corvet and called to him.
 Father BenitotI" Corvet called in response, not directly in reply to A1an's question, rather in response to what those questions stirred. Father Benitot T"
 Some one, drawn by the cry, was moving wreckage near them. A hand and. arm with a torn sleeve showed; Alan could not, see the rest of the fig ure, but by the sleeve he recognized that 1t was the mate.
 "Who's caught here?' he called down.
 Benjamin Corvet of Corvet, SherA Till and Spearman, ship owners of Chi cago," Corvet's voice replied deeply. fully; there was authority in 1t and wonder too-the wonder of a man find ing himself in a situation which his recollection cannot explain.
 "Ben Corvetr r' the mate shouted in surprise; he cried it to the others, those who had followed Corvet and obeyed him during the hour before and had not known why. The mate tried to pull the wreckage aside and make his way to Corvet; but the old man stopped him. "The priest, Father Benitotl Send him to me. I shall never leave here; send Father BenitotP"
 The word was passed without the mate moving away. The mate, after a minute, made no further attempt to free Corvet; that indeed was useless, and Corvet demanded his right of sac rament from the priest who came and crouched under the wreckage beside him..
 Father Benitot I''
 'I am not Father Benftot. I am Fla ther Perron of L'Anse."
 'It was to Father Benftot of St. 1g- mace should have gone, Father = The priest got a little closer as Cor vet spoke, and Alan heard only voices now and then through the sounds of changing metal and the drum of ice against the hull. The mate and his helpers were working to get him free. They had abandoned all effort to save the ship; it was settling. And with the settling, the movement of the wreckage imprisoning Alan was in creasing. This movement made useless the efforts of the mate; 1t would free Alan of itself in a moment, if it did l not kill him; it would free or finish | Corvet too. But he, as Alan saw him, was wholly oblivious of that now. His | lips moved quietly, firmly and his eyes | were fixed steadily on the eyes of the | priest.
 CTO BE CONTTNUED)