The Bolivar County Democrat., 1923-11-17
The Cortlandts of Washington Square

| was brought in yesterday? The leg
amputation case|'
"The one who died in the night?"
eyes. He talked to me before he
died 1t seems he knew you"
| "Knew me?"
"Yes. He was in the Fifty-fifth. He
was, he says. Captain Renneslyers s
orderly"
II wish I had talked to hm! He
might have told me something about
Hendricks"
ale did tell me. He says he saw
him, at Culpepper."
"At-Culpeper. But that was after
Charlottesville" Ann put both hands
on the doctors arm to steady herself
was he-hmself? Did he know
what he was saying?"
81 think So But, of course, l can't
be sure of it,"
could they have made such mis-
take?"
'The first casualty list of every bat
tie Is incorrect. You know that"
But, Doctor Small, how can we find
out?"
you can telegraph"
That's useless. We've been tele-
graphing ever since the message came,
trying to get particulars of Hendricks
DEATH"
"Then you can only wait"
"Wait? Doctor Small, I can't wait
If my guardian were at home he would
find out, If he had to go down to the
Army of the Potomac himself! |"
The doctor nodded. II suppose so.
but as he isn't here we must be pa
tent"
AIMS thoughts were chaotic.
If Hendricks lived her guardian would
be happy again. =. Every one would
be happy She remembered how
old and broken her guardian had
looked, there on the dock before he
sailed; she had cried looking at him.
She felt she must send the good news
to him as quickly as possible.
II must write to my uncle" she
said. II must let him know at once"
Doctor Small put restraining hand
on her arm. 81 wouldn't. do that" he
said gently; wait until you are sure.
You will only make it harder for him
if you encourage him to hope, and
then disappoint him."
This was good advice and Ann nod
ded soberly as she received it. She
went home at once. 1t was, she lecd-
ed, imperative that she find out
whether Hendricks lived or not. There
must, she thought, be some one who
could go to Virginia.
AS she hurried through the streets
she tried to fix her mind on the per-
son, but in vain. She knew enough of
conditions near the front to realize
that it required intense personal inter-
est to accomplish anything there; II
was not an errand which one could in
trust to clerk. -. Hendricks
father was ill-he had had bronchial
cough all the late winter, and had
finally allowed Mrs. Renneslyer to
take him over to Washington for a
cure in that more balmy air, with the
result that he was miserably laid up
there, in the hotel. All the
young men she knew were Off fight
ing. 1t was a pity that she
was a girl. She considered
for moment, putting the matter be-
fore Mrs. Cortlandt, and urging her to
take the trip, but at once she knew
that la6v would on1y achO tho dootor,c
sane judgment that all they could dc
was to wait. Ann felt that 1t would
be more than she could endure If she
was forced to hear that unanswerable
statement again. Her tired nerves
shrank miserably from the prolonged
emotional crisis into which her news
would plunge the women of her fam
lily. If only she might go her
self to look the matter up She hall
paused, breathless with desire, at the
idea. Once at the front, too. II
would be strange if she could moi
make some connection with a hospital
there. -. She had no conscious
plan. yet time seemed curiously
precious, and when she reached Wash.
ington square she broke into a run
At the door Joseph told her that
Mrs. Cortlandt and Fanny had re-
sponded to call from the Sanitary
commission ladies' and had gone there
to- work. Miss Fanny, she say to tell
you to come too, Miss Ann. They's q