The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1925-04-22

He realized then that the rifle bullet
had split one of his ribs, probably
glancing off again, and that the bone
had given way under the strain of the
girls weight.
In a way this eassured him, Or a
glancing wound of that kind was not
likely TO be a serious one. On the
other hand, the agony was growing
uncomfortable. Every step was now
torture. Three or four times, when 1t
seemed impossible to proceed, Lee was
forced to set the girl down and, lean
ing against tree, to gasp for breath.
Eternities seemed to be passing. All
his left side was now flaming hell Of
pain, which radiated from the wound
throughout his body, and this was be
coming an automaton, driven by the
will. He was no longer conscious Of
muscular control over 1t. A hundred
times he felt that the next step must
be his last And yet some monitor in
the back of his consciousness kept in
sisting that he must complete the mile
he had set himself and would not let
him drop In his tracks.
And as he staggered on, he was sur
prised to hear himself talking TO him
self, and he listened with mild inter
est, as II he were overhearing the re-
marks Of third person
He heard himself solemnly address
ing Estelle, thanking her for having
relieved him of the last vestige of the
l1rS Hnr
He had thought he loved her once,
and that love, although unworthily
bestowed, had not been wholly folly.
Estelle had had many good qualities
of heart; she was reckless and pas
sionate, but there was nothing petty or
mean about her. She was the daugh
ter of a weIl-to-do lumberman, and she
had been we'll educated; but there was
some faint in her blood, some atavistic
tendency that drove her upon wild and
cratic courses.
For a while she had been on the
stage. and had earned some reputa-
ton as a clever mimic.
For a long time Lee had known
nothing Of the stories that were being
circulated by all the gossips Of the
town. nor that her name was asso-
ciated with that of a man named Kean,
whom he had never met. Kean was
one Of a gang selling liquor to the
Indians, and he had a wife in Chicago.
When. burning with anger, he went
to confront Estelle, it was to find that
she had been warned of his discovery,
and had fed from the place-to Kean,
the gossips said.
Lee never made any inquiries. As
soon as possible he secured trans
fer to another post; then he was sent
to France. and his life had no room
for feminine interests.
About ten months previously, how
ever, while In the trenches, he had
had a letter from Mrs. Kean, enclos-
ing a copy of a marriage certificate.
She was thinking of a divorce, and
wanted to know whether he could give
her any information about the couple.
Lee knew nothing of either.
But the letter had shaken him a
good deal, as had the meeting with
Estelle that day as well. What an
end for her!
1t was a queer personality that
talked. the fragments of the man whom
he had once been, and Lee discovered
that this lost portion Of his personality
was recalling to mind all sorts of
queer things, quite trivial and unim-
portant episodes Of that unhappy en-
And so one part of him held colloquy |
with the shade of the woman who was
now nothing to him, while the other |
held the unconscious girl. and drove |
the tagging body onward.
And to his horror. in that dim light |
the girl he clasped seemed to take on
the aspect of Estelle. ard he found it
was to her that he was talking.
But then he heard her moan slightly.
and pulled himself together. This was
not Estelle, it was his comrade of the
range whom he was carrying. The |
phantom disappeared into the past. and
once more Lee was aware of that odd
sense of tender companionship. He
.ested her head more gently against
lis shoulder.
At last. when he was satisfied that
lie had gone the mile he had set him
elf, he laid the girl down gently on
he ground and. breaking off some
pruce branches, he made bed for
Ter and wrapped her in his mackinaw
gain.
And with that it was all he could
10 to hold himself together while he
xamined his own wound as best he
ould.
He saw that it was a mere flesh
round. The bone had taken the force
f the bullet, which had glanced off,
nd one broken end was working into
he flesh.
He tore some strips from his shirt.
nd having brought the ends into po-
Ition, bound them tightl.. And then
e dropped to the ground at the girls ,
aet and lapsed Immediately into a
elrious slumber.