The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1922-06-14

Wilton and Kitty hardly spoke on
| the way home When he left her at
her door she turned TO him and asked
abruptly:
will, you are still as deeply in
love with Molly as ever, aren't your
"Of course I am, Kitty" he an
swered.
Then 1 am glad, for your sake and
hers" answered Kitty, and went
quickly into the house.
Wilton walked back to his shack. a
little puzzled. He had arranged to
show Kitty the progress of the work on
the following morning; but when he
called for her he found her In the midst
OF her unpacking, and she put 1t of
until the afternoon. Wilton laughed
chided her and went to his work.
She kept him waiting till three
ooock, when they started He felt the
| pgade Of the artist as he led Kitty from
one place TO another Locomotives were
snorting, and lines of ballast trucks oc-
cupied the narrow-gage that had been
Laid down to the waters edge.
In the ballast pit, from which the
/ w. ~~~~~ va St~0AA W as hCdlu
till night. the great, unwieldy steam
shovel scraped its huge steel teeth into
the face Of the cut with the scrunch
OF an ogre's feast, and, turning, dis
gorged its plumber into the empty
trucks alongside
Kitty shuddered and pressed WI
tons arm. tits nke-it's like some
living monster. WILL" she said. Lets
| go on"
He led her toward the muskeg. But
on the way he stopped suddenly beside
the summit of the ridge.
| Kitty" he said, In a low voice, 81
don't know If 1 ought to tell you-per-
haps you'd like to know. This liz
where Joe"
Her grasp upon his arm frightened
convulsively. "No, no, Willr' she said
hurriedly. II don't want to see 1t.
can't bear to think of it.'
They followed the line of ballast
trucks along the narrow-gage down to
the swamp's edge. Construction upon
| the foundations was we'll under way.
Tons of debris had been poured into
the muskeg, and had simply spread
themselves over the bottom, finding
their level like water Soundings
taken had showed the bedrock hardly
raised from its level twenty feet be-
meath the surface
| Wilton and Lee Chambers had there
fore begun the construction Of trestle-
work. Teams hauled bundles OF logs,
bound with a chain, to the scene Of
operations. The uprights for the lower
tier were driven into the ground, and
the horizontal members and diagonals
were nailed up, completing q crazy,
shaking structure just strong enough
to take a pair of metals at the top.
/ As they reached the edge Of this
structure the whistle blew. The work.
men knocked off and came slowly past
them toward the camp. Wilton and
Kitty stood alone at the edge Of the
embankment, where the aimsy struc-
ture Of the trestle began.
Kitty looked at Wilton breathlessly.
'It's wonderful, Will!'' she said. 1T
makes me feel so out of place and USE
less"
Wilton looked at her In surprise.
why. how can you feel that way, Kit
typ" he asked reproachfully. you
have been loyal to the core to Joel"
Don't say that !" she cried fercely,
and, turning swiftly from him, began
to make her passage across the tenn
porary sleepers. Twelve feet beneath
them the sluggish stream forced its
narrow channel through the muskeg.
Wilton called to Kitty.
you'd better come back" he shout
ed. 1T isn't very secure, and you
might lose your footing"
But she went on without needing
him, until she stood almost at the end
of the shaking structure. 1t was q
dangerous place. The wind blew
strongly, sending her skirts flying
about her, and tumbling her hair upon
her shoulders.
"Come back, Kitty" called Wilton,
making his way across the planks un-
til he reached her side. He put out his
hand to steady her. Then he saw that
the tears were streaming down her
| cheeks
"Why, Kitty, what Is itT' he begged.
II didn't hurt you?"
She shook his hand from her arm
with a violent gesture, leaning back
and suddenly she lost her stance and
toppled from the edge Of the trestle
into the river below.
a plunge into that viscOus water was
more dangerous than a tall. Wilton
realized it instinctively. He leGped feet
first and found himself struggling in
: the gluey swamp, half mud, half wa,
d ter. Kitty, who had fallen into the
center of the stream, appeared half a
: dozen feet away, her white face up
r turned, her hands catching for support
as the shallow current carried her to
ward the lake.
+ Fighting madly, Wilton detached his
limbs from the sucking mud and man.
aged to grasp her skirt as she drifted
E past him. With a desperate effort he
I drew her to him and struggled