The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1926-02-19

again, leaving a -treacnerOus outer crisp
upon a sea of mud.
a mile from JOe's house the railroad cut
MeSC and east, two shining tracks that
linked the prairie to the seabOard.
AS they approached the crossing a plume
O W! smoke curled up, thick, black, moving.
Inc train. The twelve-thirty. Well wait
Joe drew the PAGERS to a walk. He could
near the train now, that long drawn Whis-
ne winch always sounded as if the great
sIeeI monster fled across the plain crying !:
where are you? Where are your"
Joe Burch glanced at Astrid and his
mouth twisted into a wry smile. 1t had
Deen just here. twenty years ago, that
Terry ala not hear what had happened
told her.
"a slice Of am? Thin. Yes'm. don't
suppose you've heard the news about the
accident2 Terrible accident. People named
Burch. The rich Burch. Lived out Fillmore
way in a big brown house with a red roof.
Nice fellow, too"
Gerry hung on to the edge Of the counter
with both hands. She watched the long,
bright butchers knife slice into the ham
rat, lean, fat-slap. Quarter of q pound"
They were waiting for the train to pass.
The engineer whistled. YOn know how it is.
Awful noise. That twelve-thirty's the Cali
fornia express. 1t came tearing through
and caught the buggy right on the track.
Maybe the horses were scared. Tossed EN-
up: Killed them both"
The horses p
"Yes'm. Killed Mrs. Burch, too"
"~Killed-him 2"
Il guess not. They've got him over al
the hospital. All smashed up"
Paper String.
twenty-five cents. Anything else
ma'am?"
NO"
Gerry wandered up the street toward the
library, her mind vacant. Funny that peO.
pie could still be going about their bust
ness, laughing, meeting, talking. quite as
II nothing had happened! She saw old Mr.
Shultz standing in the doorway of the new
Star building.
When she approached him with tina.
Dmnd look i'm her eyes, stammering
Where have they taken him?" he caught
her by the arms and shook her. mis-.
Gerry, what's the matter? Where have they
taken who
Joe Burch,"
His look softened. 81 didn't know, Miss
Gerry, you cared for him. At the County
hospital: Wen take a cab.
You come right along"
They were in one Of the station hacks
sitting side by side in a musty half twi
light. Mr.. Shultz kept murmuring: "TO'
bad. Too bad
Gerry tried to explain, but the weigh
against her heart was too great. She leanet
forward, staring out of the window.
At the hospital a nurse, glancing at NT
Shultz's card, said criSply, Come upstairs
"a A@AANHA AZ Wa
never walk again
He lay on a narrow crib in a room tina
was too bright and clean; his face wa
averted. Gerry went forward, leaned owe
him. He turned his head, slowly, slowly
Its me-Gerry. I heard only a fey
minutes ago. Don't you believe them. Don
you believe anything they tell you. Out O
her pity and her dread she said a strang
thing. THE desert blOOmed, Joe. Remem
ber."
He looked at her. His eyes we're dull. II
licked his lips and turned his head ava
again. He shut her out.
All the way home Mr.. Shultz patted he
back with his delicate, withered hanC
There, there. 1t was nice Of you, Mis-
Gerry. Now, don't you worry
Again the agony of waiting! Weeks an
weeks of waiting for some one to com
who did not come, with that catch {
5 dreadful hope every time the bell rams
: Always it was the grocer or the DOstma
: or the newspaper man or some one sellin
something. But never was it Joe Burcl
She heard that he had left the hOspita
that he walked with crutcheS. Il guess II
E a fool. 1 shouldn't have gone to the hosp
: tai" And again she surrendered her del
ciOus possibility.
o In the spring she sold the house.
Paris is growing in the other direction
e Miss Reynolds, toward Fillmore. / cOul
have sold the house for you five years az
d at quite a figure. Quite a figure. The be.
n and cash and a mortgage. Say. eight th0l
b sand. Terms. Easy terms. A Chinese lauI
d dry is looking for a house in this neigl
g bOrhOOd."
Gerry received the Chinese laundryma
d in Maisie's parlOr. He was young, tn
Chinese, with a puckered, sensitive, Gag,
face. He Fingered MaIsie's treasures, rul
bed his tabered yellow fingers over Il
surfaces Of things, peered, sucked in h