Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1935-12-27
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FINAL INSTALMENT'

FINAL INSTALMENT
When Fisk Cancelled their secone
reservation Gloria went to bed
There seemed to be nothing serious.
ly wrong with her and in fact Their.
was nothing the matter-except
broken heart. Racehorses are lik,
that-they will run until thei,
hearts break, until there is not an.
other gallop in them; and Gloria
was from thoroughbred stock. Tht
desert had beaten her.
A few days later Fisk wired te
the port for the best doctor avail
able, and the latter came up on a
special locomotive. What the doc
tor said drove out of the husband.
mind all thoughts of oil, of fishing
jobs, of Homestake Number One,
A nurse was secured as quickly a.
possible and meantime the physi-
clan stayed on.
Fisk did not return to the we'll;
he hung about the house, a dumb
figure of suspense. Gloria no long
er knew him and that was ter
rifying. He was like a frightened
child, deserted and alone. Every
whisper hat issued from her lips
was like a knife-thrust. He did not
sleep; his eyes grew bloodshot from
the tears that came whenever he
left the sick room.
The doctor and the nurse watch
ed him covertly and more than once
they found him muttering words
as senseless as those that fell from
the sick wife's lip. He wildly
cursed himself and the desert.
Nature finally exacted toll for
the way he had cheated her, and al
though he ached intolerably for
sleep, he arrived at a condition
where he could not close his eyes;
when he lay down his brain began
to race and black fancies drove him
signing out of his bed.
One morning when the brazen
sun rose over the hills and began
again to pour its hatred into thu
valley, the doctor told him as gently
as possible that the end was nea,
and that he must prepare himself
1t was merely a question of time
now, a question of hours, when the
tired heart would cease to function
Gloria was in no pain; -further slim.
ulants were useless, they woule
merely serve to hasten that inevi.
table moment when the weight Of
her lungs would prove too heavy
for her feeble breath to lift.
Donald groaned. If only shs
would revive enough to recognize
him, to give him one word, one
look! He would know then tina,
she forgave him. But for her te
slip away without even a smile, a
kiss-God, no!
ut isn't a case where any sort
of medicine can do much good,'
the doctor explained. "I've had
other cases like it. Nothing organ
ically wrong, but-you understand
It's the country, I guess. The hea,
or the monotony or-hope deferred
maybe. We have a lot of it down
here. If your well had come in
Pm sure she'd have rallied" HI
said sure she'd have rallied"
The husband sat most of that day
in a trance waiting for his hideous
dream to end. Sometimes he bowec
his head in his hands, but the other
watchers could not tell whether i,
was tears or sweat that ran dowr
between his fingers. They fanciec
it must be the latter, however, 70,
his grief was too abysmal for tears
Late in the afternoon Fisk hearc
the little brown Goya children play
ing in the road. They were laugh
ing! He groaned aloud. Children!
Gloria and he had wanted children
but there again the desert had
thwarted them. This was no coun-
try for white women. A man might
as we'll lock his wife in a furance
and expect her to bear children.
So Gloria was dying! And he had
killed her! He rose and creakec
about the house, wringing his hands
His mental numbness was wearing
off now and agony consumed him
His mind was galloping, running
away, and he talked incessantly, bu,
with a thick tongue and withou,
finishing his sentences. Yes. HI
had killed her! He had staked hel
out on the ~blistering desert as the
Apaches staked out their prisoners