The Adair County news., 1922-05-23

| not, ana Nifty thought the world OF
Wilton.
Wilton could never understand his
secret feeling about Kitty. She was
devoted to Joe. Perhaps that was
what lay beneath his latent antago-
nism toward her. He was jealous Of
her. He was jealous of a woman's
love for Joe.
81 guess not J" said Joe Bostock
again, pressing his hand hard down
on WiltOn's shoulder.
And, in that instant, Wilton heard
the crack of a rifle, and felt q violent
blow on the upper part of the left arm,
which knocked him to the ground. AS
he fell, Joe BOstock' pitched forward
upon him.
Twice Joe's lips quivered as if he
was trying to speak. Then the lower
| jaw dropped and the eyes rolled up
ward. A grayish pallor crept over the
| face.
| Wilton saw that Joe's mackinaw had
a tiny tear in it, over the breast A
trickle of blood seeped through the
cloth. He wrenched the garment open
! with his right hand, pulled up the
sweater, and tore the shirt apart. The
heart, fluttering like a wounded bird,
stopped under his hand. Joe sighed
once, but he never stirred again. The
bullet had passed clean through Joe
BOstock's heart from the back. And,
as he tried to raise JOe'S body, Wilton
realized that the same bullet had
broken his left arm, which hung limp
from the shoulder.
He sprang to his feet, d mad
wrath giving back to him his ebbing
strength. He glared about him, but
it was impossible to ascertain from
where the shot had come. He could
not even locate the direction within
a hundred degrees, for Joe had been in
the act of turning. Nobody was in
sight, and the woods were silent.
His believing call of fury that went
echoing through the trees elected no
| answer. He tore strips from his hand
kerchief, holding it between his teeth
and, with his left hand on his knee.
knOtted them about a stick and i'm
prOviSed a tOurniquet. The blood was
| squirting down his sleeve in jets, the
pain was intense, and it was impOs-
sible to take off the mackinaw and
hope to replace his arms in it; but
he twisted with all his force until the
diminishing flow showed that he had
compressed the artery. Thrusting the
| longer end Of the stick beneath his
armpit, he passed the other through
the buttOnhole of the garment, and,
STOPPING, managed to get JOe's body
upon his shoulder and to hold it with
his right arm.
His impulse was to carry Joe's body
back to the camp, but he knew that 1t
would be impossible to make the dis
tance. Yet to leave it would mean
the certainty of mutilation by bears
| or timber-wolves unless he could
build cairn of stones. And of that
he was equally incapable. He set
JOe's body down, and, in the first full
realization of his loss and his predica-
ment, he shouted curses to the sky
That murder had been intended he
did not believe; no doubt the shot had
been a bullet fired at some nearer
mark, perhaps a hare, and by one Of
the half-breeds. He suspected that
the transit-bearer, following them up,
had fired the shot, and, seeing the ia
tality, had fled. '~~7,'~a-----~-,.-------.-
But the thought that this might be
the explanation was only a fleeting
one. Joe was dead, and his body must
be cared for, just as if he were alive
taken back to the camp and thence
out of the woods. There was no pos
sibility of leaving Joe's body there.
Yet it seemed to him that he could
not hope to reach the camp. And
now another idea came to him.
1t was seven miles back to the camp,
but only five to the portage over the
frozen swamp. Upon the other side
Of the portage was a trail that came
out of the prairie southwark and
wound into the unknown north.
Along this Indians brought their win
ter catches to the trading-store Of
Mcdonald, the factor of the Hudson's
Bay company.
Travelling was hard along the shore
Of the great Muskeg, but it would
mean two miles less, and it was lust
possible to make the store. McDOn-
aid was a queer, taciturn, sometimes
venomOus old man, and had evinced a
strong dislike of Wilton on the Occa-
sion of their last meeting. Yet Nc
Donald would shelter him and receive
Joes body. And then there was Molly,
his daughter.
Wilton, having made his choice, act
ed on it at once. With a great effort
he raised JOe's stiffening form upon
his shoulder; and doggedly he began
his awful journey, his right arm grasp
ing the dead man, his helpless left
hugging the tourniquet-stick against
his side.
He stumbled over the rough ground
until he reached the cleared road
through the trees. Here the going was
easier, but the burden numbed his
right hand and shoulder, the throbbing
pain in his left seemed to beat time to
his footsteps, and the ache of the
| cramDiDg muscles increased the agony