Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1948-06-04
We
Corner

nOWN in the well, with no way of
getting out and with little hope
of rescue, Chris Thornton remem-
bered the line he had written over
and over in his copybook some 40
years before. NEVER PUT OFF
TILL TOMORROW WHAT YOU
CAN DO TODAY" He could fairly
see the large round letters he had
SO laboriously formed with pen held
stiffly in ink-smeared fingers.
The line had had little meaning
for him then-just some words that
he must write over and over until
Miss Curry was satisfied And Miss
Curry had been hard to satisfy. Its
meaning was brought home sharply
to him now-when perhaps it was
too late.
However, the former owner of the
farm had let so many things about
the place run down that he had time
only to take care of what seemed
most necessary. Undoubtedly, he
thought ruefully, it would have been
wiser to replace the rotten boards
that covered the abandoned well,
even though his COWS might have
stepped over a fallen wire to tram
pie his promising corn.
All day he had been fixing fences,
and coming home he had forgotten
about the well which he could not
see in the darkness. An ankle had
been hurt in the fall - perhaps
sprained or broken. 1t was swollen
and painful, and probably would be
worse by morning.
He struck a match and looked at
his watch. Twenty to nine. Surely it
must be later than that, for it
seemed like hours since he had
fallen. He held the watch to his ear;
1t was running now anyway.
Never before had a night been
SO intending. Snatches of sleep
came at intervals, rsleep broken
by torturous dreams in which he
was forever climbing, yet never
quite reaching the top.
How long, he wondered, could a
man live without water? And how
soon would anyone miss him? Not
soon enough, he was certain.
The farm lay in lonely place and
a car seldom passed over the grass
grown road. He had had few visitors
during the months he had lived
here. Lou Edwards, his nearest
neighbor, had stopped in several
times, but it was unlikely that Ed
wards would come again soon for he
had little time for visiting since his
last boy had left.
Thornton knew that a man could
climb out of a well without ladder
by bracing his back against one side
and getting toehold between the
stones On the opposite side. He had
seen it done though he had never
tried it himself. To try it now, when
his foot was so painful he could not
stand on it, was out of the question.
Should've busted my neck in
stead" he muttered bitterly. "That
would have ended the misery
sooner
The stars faded from the small
circle of sky that he could see.
Gradually light entered the well.
Whining softly, his dog looked down
at him; probably she had been sit
ting there all night, waiting for him
to come up. If only there were a
way to have the dog summon help.
He might as well forget that. There
wasn't any way.
He wished it would rain, for
enough water might rim down into
the well to satisfy his growing thirst.
Then too, Edwards might find time
to come; his other visits had been
made on rainy days. Might as well
forget that too. 1t wouldn't rain.
Why did that copybook line keep
looming before his eyes? Otherwise
he never thought of things that hap
pened so long ago. Of course, other
wise he had other things to think