Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1922-07-07
CHAPTER XVII
M. spearman Goes North.

brought tension to the offices OF Cor
vet. Sheriff. and Spearman and had
called Constance Sheriff. and her
mother downtown where further infor.
nation could be more quickly OBJ
tai Ad--was handed to Constance by a
clerk 40 soon as she entered her ia
TIERS Office. She reread 1t It already
had been repeated to her over the tele
phone.
"a :O5 n. m. Frankfort Wireless sta
ton has received following message
from Number 25: we have Benjamin
Corvet, of Chicago, aboard"
You've received nothing later than
this?" she asked.
Nothing regarding Mr.. Corvet, Miss
Sheriff." the clerk replied.
'The crew."
Eyes; we have Just got the names OF
the crew" He took another copied
sheet from among the pages and hand
ed II to her, and she looked swiftly
down the list Of names until she found
that of Alan Conrad.
Her eyes filed. binding her. as she
put the paper down, and began to take
of her things. She had been cllnging
determinedly In her thought to the
belief that Alan might not have been
aboard the ferry. Alan's message.
which had sent her father north to
meet the ship, had implied plainly
that some one whom Alan believed
might be Uncle Benny was on Number
25; she had been fighting, these last
"a, not Cnnxrtnttnr
therefore Alan must be on the ferry,
too.
She stood by the desk, as the clerk
went out, looking through the papers
which he had left with her. What she
was reading was the carbon of the
report prepared that morning and sent,
at his rooms, to Henry, who was not
yet down.
The last message read: &c 40. Pc
toskey Is calling Manitowoc, Signals
from Number IS, after becoming In
distinct, failed entirely about 5:45.
probably by failure Of ships power
to supply current. Operator appears
to have remained at key. From 8 :25
to 5 :43 we received disconnected mes
sages. as follows: Have cleared an
other car they are sticking to
II down there engine-room
crew Ia also sticking hell on
car deck everything smashed
they won't give up .
sinking now we're going
gOOd-by stuck to end
all they could know
that hand 1t to them
have cleared another car sink
tirely ceased"
Constance had not realized. until the
reports OF the wireless messages told
her that he was gone, what cOmpan-
ionship with Alan had come to mean
10 her. She had accepted II as al
ways to be existent. somehow COM
partnership which might be interrupted
often but always to be formed again.
II amazed her to find how firm place
he haa found In her world Of those
close TO her with whom she must al
ways be intimately concerned.
The telephone switchboard beside
Constance suddenly buzzed, and the
operator, plugging in connection,
said: Eyes, sir; ut once" and through
the partitions Of the private Office on
the other side, q mans heavy tones
came to Constance. That was Henry's
office, and I'm timbre, the voice was his,
but II was so strange In other charac-
teristics of expression that she waited
an instant before saying to the clerk,
Mr.. Spearman has come in?"
The clerk hesitated, but the con-
tinuance Of the tone from the other
side Of the partition made reply SUI
perhuous. Eyes. Miss Sheriff."
Constance went TO Henry's door and
raped. He made no answer and no
move TO open the door; so, after walt
Ing moment, she turned the knob and
went In.
Henry was seated nj his desk. facing
her his big hands before him; one
OF them held the telephone receiver,
He lifted It slowly and put 1t upon the
hook beside the transmltter as he
watched her with steady, silent az
gressive scrutiny. He did not rise ;
only after moment he recollected that
he had not done so and came TO his
feet. Good morning, Connie" he said.
Come In. What's the newsr
The impulse which had brought her
Into his office went from her. She had
not -een nor heard from Henry direct
iy since before Alans telegram had
cone late yesterday afternOOni she
had heard from her father only that
he lad Informed Henry; that was all.
1--we no news, Henry" she said.
Have you7" She closed the door be-
hind her, moving closer to him
How did you happen to lie here,
CONNER he asked.
She made no reply but gazed at him,
studying him. The agitation which he
was trying to conceal was NOT entirely
conseanenA 10 her coming in upon him
II had be< Eullng him before. N had
underlain Tie loudness aud. abuse OF
his WORDS which she had overheard.
That wsb no capricious, outburst OF
temper p'l Irrintipn 10 had come from
something which had seized and heid