The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1938-11-28
Chapter 80
Nightmare

Nightmare
A YOUNG doctor called In from
Carsted signaled her. take
this fellow. he seems to be a little
more alert than the others"
Kathleen hurried over to the OPP
posite side of the ward. She
reached for the wall with steady
Ing hand. The head on the fat pill
low was white and it was a large
head.
~BalmyF"
Clear blue eyes looked Up at
her. tried to tell her what his lips
were too weak to say. She bent to
kiss them. to warm the chill of
the blue line with her own warm
red lips.
~Balmy. you saved them all.
Every one of them"
His lips moved She leaned close.
Donald" be whispered. did
they !. +. find :. the :. lad?"
Kathleen's voice was blithe and
reassuring. "Oh yes" she answered
readily. "he came in right after
you" She broke of as Norman
waved to her from the doorway.
They're calling me Balmy. I'll be
right back"
Not until she was half way
across the ward die she realize
Balmy hadn't been referring to
that first night of the fire.
Norman grabbed her arm and
hurried her through the doorway.
then thrust hat and slicker ather
They've found him." he told her
we've got to get down to him,
what happened?" Kathleenfelt
the cry was torn from her. Her
sudden descent from Joy to de-
SPAR was not more abrupt than
the down shoot of the skip they
entered.
Macdonald slopes are just the
opposite from the Gregorys. We
work down from level instead of
up. The men lay alcng the steps.
The rescuers handed them up to
the tunnel which had come out
near the top. Tough business that.
Ht4ft~@< = kk0c1 sr1r4 fn,.v,n- aSzI v1t,sk1
ing them in for the fellows on the
other side to pull through Leave
IL 70 Donald to take the work on
the lowest level. The last man out.
the rescue men started leaving.
They didn't realize Donald wasn't
with them until they were outside
checking I'D.
"Is he :. did they find him all
right7"
Norman barked the answer as
the skip touched bottom. eff he'd
been al right he'd have made his
own way through. They had to
make q sling to lift him =. oh
damn II all. If he hadn't been so
al IN before he started that work.
He wouldn'' eat. he couldn't sleep.
He had worries enough with the
mine without breaking his heart
over you. ] don't see why in the
devil you two can't get along"
Kathleen was biting her lips to
keep back her cry of remorse. She
could have eased him over that
period Of waiting. She could have
forced him to rest and take nour-
ish1nent.
Norman grabbed her and pulled
her back against the tunnel wall.
Men were moving slowly forward.
q heavy burden carried between
them. The burden was Donald
Macdonald.
TO their plea, the one who had
directed this last rescue shook his
head. @Can't tell. He must have
dropped from the tunnel TO the
bottom of the slope. Don't know
whether he's unconscious from the
fall or dose of foul air"
That scene would stay with
Kathleen forever. II had a gro
tesque quality. The rescue crew in
their padded suits and queer
masks. the weird lights giving
them an inhuman appearance. The
dark tunnel stretching back. ii
seemed. 70 eternity. II was all part
Of q nightmare.
Kathleen caught one glimpse of
Donald as he was carried into the
skip. With Norman she followed TO
the next level and found Ii another
chapter Of the nightmare. The
emergency ward was a yellow pool
In world of stygian darkness: the
white clad attendants. ghostY
figures from another world.
Miss Splitter
sCUERNEY." shouted the doc
~ tor. get him 10 the surface.
Clear the emergency room. Ruth.
Helen, with mel
Kathleen had always marveled
a. the speed Of the skip. now she
fretted as one carried her up in
the wake Of the guerney.
The door TO the emergency ward
was closed when she reached
there. Il opened once 70 LEI Mrs
Macdonald in. Norman said they
had heard she was flying ND.
you'll call me the moment p"
Kathleen couldn't complete the
question.
Norman nodded.
Kathleen stayed away from
Baimy. knowing he would sense
the cause Of her worry. Il seemed
hours before she saw the nurse
standing at the door, reckoning
70 her. The girl looked puzzled.
Have you ever heard MIR Mac
Donald speak OF 3 Miss Spiffer7"
Kafh9aax. ~hrnh har had asNn -