The Holly chieftain., 1922-08-10
CHAPTER xvn
Mr. spearman eoe. NORTH.

bon copy-that message which had
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
tained-was handed to Constance by
clerk as soon as she entered her ia
TIERS office. She reread 1t 1t already
had been repeated to her over the tele-
phone.
II :05 n. m. Frankfort Wireless sta
tion has received following message
from Number IS: we have Benjamin
Coryet. of Chicago, aboard"
you've received nothing later than
thisi' she asked.
Nothing regarding Mr.. Corvet, Miss
Sheriff." the clerk replied.
'1Ihe crew7'
"Yes; we have just got the names of
the crew." He took another copied
sheet from among the pages and hand
ed 1t to her, and she looked swiftly
down the list Of names until she found
that of Alan Conrad.
Her eyes filled, binding her, as she
put the paper down, and began to take
off her things. She had been clinging
determlnedly 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
few hours, against conviction that
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: "6: 40, Pc
toskey is calling Manitowoc, Signals
from Number %. 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 5 :25
to 5 :43 we received disconnected mes
oHSeS, 10 loiioWbs nave CledTeu HI
other car they are sticking to
1t down there engine-ro0m
crew is also sticking hell on
car deck +. everything smashed
-. they won't give up I.
sinking now we're going
good-b3 stuck to end
-. all they could know
that hand it to them /.
have cleared another car sink
s. q. Signals then en-
tireIy ceased"
Constance had not realized, until the
reports Of the wireless messages told
her that he was gone, what compan-
ionshlp with Alan had come to mean
to her. She had accepted 1t as al
wayR TO be existent, somehow-a COM
Panfonship which might be interrupted
often but always to be formed again.
II amazed her to find how firm place
he had 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; "Yes, sir; ut once" and through
the partitions of the private office on
the other side, mans heavy tones
came to Constance. That was Henry's
office and in timbre, the voice was his,
but 1t 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 su-
perfluous. "Yes. 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 at his desk. facing
her his big hands before him; one
of tlem held the telephone receiver
He lifted it slowly and put 1t upon the
hook beside the trhnsmitter as he
watched her with steady, silent, ag-
gressive scrutiny. He did not rise;
only after moment ne recollected that
he had not done 40 and came to his
feet. Good morning, Connie" he said.
Come in. What's the news?"
The impulse which had brought her
Into his office went from her. She had
not seen nor heard from Henry direct
ly since before Alan's telegram had
come late yesterday afternoon; she
had heard from her father only that
he had informed Henry; that was all.
i've no news, Henry" she said.
"Have your" She closed the door be-
hind her. moving closer to him.
How did you happen to be 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
consequent to her coming in upon him; {;
II had been ruling him before. 1t had
nnderlaln the loudness and abuse Of
his words which she had overheard.
-t,at uf1l,