The Washington times., 1937-02-23

all, the wood ticks had givel
and the chances of Sylvia S
But-even so-Tobias had faller
Ill of a fever, and no debate needed
to be had on what kind of fever il
was.
But you could be as unsentimen
tai as you pleased, the fact re
mained that the death of Sylvia
marked the end of an epoch. She
had been the one warm. loyal. If
fectionate Carry-over from that
other phase of his life.
Sylvia was gone I'd with her
departure there had one also MS
sense of hopeless wishing for re-
covery of the monotonous life he
had lived as surgeon at Parkway
Hospital. True-surgery was his
natural meter, and he would never
feel entirely at home and happy
doing anything else; but he could
readjuSt, he thought, to some oJher
type of activity-bacteriolo per-
haps-if only he might have Phyl-
lis.
He heartily wished he might
have an hours chat with Dean
Harcourt. He believed he would
be able to summon the courage
necessary to state the case of his
love for Phyllis and ask for coun-
sci. It was odd-her coming out
where he was. Curious coinci-
dence.
The thought occurred that he
might write a letter to the dean
and tell him how things stood
and did he have a right to tell
Phyllis how he felt? Instantly he
rejected this idea. You couldn t
hope to tell it in letter.
He had dreamed about her so
much, and longed for her so pas
Sionately, that he was distrustful
of his own sight, fearing what he
thought and hoped he saw would
turn out to be an hallucination.
No-there she was, adorable
creature, sitting exactly where
they had sat on the slight eleva-
ton of the great rock where the
full view of the valley burst
through the graceful tops of the
pines.
He walked slowly toward her
from the thick wood and pres
entity she glanced quickly, startled,
in his direction. Then-the thing
that happened swiftly, incred,
IDLY so astonished him tn a
he stopped in his tracks, un,
able to fathom it. Phyllis had
leaped to her feet and was run,
ming toward him with all the
abandon of an ecstatic child. She
was flourishing an open letter.
Look" she shouted. "Oh, I'm
so glad for you! I was so in hope
you'd come!" She thrust the letter
into his hand, and taking his
arm, began tugging him along to
the place where she had been
sitting.
Read it," she commanded,
curling up so close beside him that
her head touched his shoulder
tits wonderful" she whispered.
Then, impulsively, she laid a hand
over the letter and facing him
asked, with an impatience that
could wait no longer, What is it
that's so dangerous on Boone
Mountain?"
wv ELL" he explained, heSi-
tatingly, "the Government Re
search Laboratory for the inves-
tigation of spotted fever is up
there; is that what you mean?"
please forgive me-for what I
said to you, the other day."
Listen" she said, when she had
recovered her voice a little, did
Sylvia get there safely? I wanted
you to have her, and Mrs. Gibson
said there wasn't any reason that
she knew of why you shouldn't
so brought her up this far and
told her to go and find you"
You're a dear girl, Phyllis" he
said slowly-a little doWncast,
though, she thought. Sylvia ar
rived-in gay spirits"
Funny she isn't with you. I
should have loved to see her"
Yes" he replied mechanically,
"and she would have liked to see
you"
NEWELL" 1t was the first time
she had spoken his name and it
stirred him deeply. She caught
his arm tightly in both hands.
Don't tell me that anything has
happened to Sylvia!"
Yes" he admitted, adding
"that is-She was sick"
Phyllis pressed her forehead
against his shoulder and wept like
a little child.
You must not blame yourself,
dear" ne said consolingly. You
didn't know there was any danger.
And there wasn't, really, if I had
taken proper precautions And I
believe that Sylvia would have
been glad to know that her death
had-"He paused for a moment,
cropping for the right words, and
finished with "She was very fond
of us both, you know"
Presently Phyllis Strengthened,
rubbed the tears out of her eyes
with the backs of her wrists, as a
very little girl might have done, he
reflected, and said, thickly, Read
that letter."
Cod" he shouted. The good
old buffers going to come through!
He's going to come clean! He's
going to set me free!"
Thnrnllph1u shaken NTH eYcita