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OCTOBER 6, HOG.
we sunny soma
bibih WAGE
i As Reindeer Farmer f Uncle Sam Stretches
*
I * Paternalistic Hand Over Poorer Natives of Alaska
j Thirty‘One’s Redemption ^
LTHOUGH the scandal In
connection with the United
States government’s Alas
kan reindeer, may necessi
tate a change in the sys
tem for controlling the
Industry, no amount of
misconduct can alter the
fact that the experiment
has been a success of
great value in providing
a means of sustenance
for the poor Eskimo of
the nofihermost of Uncle
Sam's possessions.
Attention has been recently directed to
the fact that Uncle Sam was an active
rival of Santa Claus in reindeer farming,
by the open charge that Rev. Dr. Shel
don S. Jackson, head of the Alaskan
educational system, gave away or sold
thousands of ’’-'he animals that the gov
ernment had imported from Siberia at
gieat cost.
Pr. Jackson promptly e,nt%'ed a vig
orous denial, and explained that th#
shrinkage in the size of the herd was
the natural outcome of giving away the
animals to those to whom Uncle Stun in
tended they should go. Rut the charges
of fraud and graft came from Frank C.
Churchill, a special agent of the interior
department., and "were so serious Lhat
Secretary Hitchcock favors legislation
whiph shall take control of the animals
from the educational authorities and mis-]
sionaries, and lodge it with the governor
of Alaska.
In this way the secretary of the in
terior will be able to be in continuous
touch with all that happens to any ant
lered member of Uncle Sam's herd.
Pr. Jackson does not lack defenders,
and many contend that the noted Pres
byterian missionary, as virtual founder
of the reindeer experiment, is, above all
others, the man who should be kept in
charge of it.
The whole experiment was started with
ai: idea of saving the inhabitants of
Alaska from starvation. Before the
coining of Russians, Americans, Ger
mans and English, the native Alaskan
never found any difficulty in getting sus
tenance. The walrus, whale and seal
afforded an endless supply of clothing,
food amt fuel.
REINDEER THE SALVATION.
But the rabid hun'tTng of the white man
gradually decimated these sources of
supply, and Uncle Sam, as new custo
dian of the lives and happiness of his
Alaskan oharges, had to decide between
making paupers of them, as with the In
dian, by confining them to a reservation,
and there supplying food, or to provide
a means by which the natives could
work out their own salvation—and three
meals a day.
Alaskan Missionary and His Reindeer Team.
solicited of all missionaries working in the native Eskimos who had served a
Alaska. i five years' apprenticeship in the care
READILY ACCLIMATED. 1 and management of reindeer; 2,127 had
Reindeer breeding was thus conducted < been earned by the mission stations—
ns tlie industrial part of the day schools,! mainly under contract with The goverti-
wlth which the United States govern-l ment—who, in return for ihe loan off 100
ment is striving to raise the intelligence
of the northern country.
Competent l^iplanders, who had been
in charge of herds in Norway, were taken
to Alaska to give the benefit of their
knowledge to promising young Alaska
natives.
The gradual appropriations brought
from Siberia to Alaska a constantly in
creasing number of reindeer, until even
tually 1,280 had been imported.
Under careful handling, the newcomer
dee.r ha ( ] clothed, fed and cared for na
tive apprentices during their live years’
apprenticeship and then had returned
to the government the original number
of deer loaned them, retaining the. fawns
for future work in training Eskimo ap
prentices; 1.187 'had been earned by the
laplauder teachers, who also had re
ceived small loans from the government,
which, after five years they returned to
the government, retaining the fawns horn
for themselves."
Many persons are hacking up Dr. Jack-
son from the ffenr that White men who
are coining to Alaska in great numbers
lately, will, for their own interests, get
possession of the animals that were
brought into the country as succor to
the starving native.
But th" vigilant eye of Uncle Sam will
see justice done his wards, whether
through Dr. Jackson or the governor of
Alaska.
A \
By ANNB ONNE.
SORT of psychological-, un
certainty hovered over tne
corner bed. They spoke of
him as "That" Thirty-one.
• nd lowered their voices,
but could not have to.d
why.
He was little more than
a boy. He had a mass of
dark, close-curling hair
that a woman might have
envied, and eloquent, •m-
pt ring eyes to match It.
But the lines In his drawn
white face, Ms sinister silence, and the
flicker as of hunted fear and desperation
In those eyes whenever the doctor's step
was heard, seemed to mark him down as
a man who Wad something In his life
that It was best to forget. It was a set
tled conviction among them that he had
no wish to -pass the hospital gates aifnin.
Sister Nora ha.fi been preparing some
liniment in a manner that required a'l ^“ s ' Yike“'a" nmn hypnmized, held'by' a
her attention. It iwas done; she wound
a coll of linen around lici arm, replaced
her materials with a quiet swiftness, and
floated like a breath of sweet wind past
hour to save others. I’ve watched; I
know."
"Listen! I shall never speak of Jt
again'; I shall leave it to your man
hood. ‘But, In your sleep, you have
tola me fragments of the truth that
lies upon your mind night and day.
No one else knows; I have planned
and contrived to shield you until—until
I am looked upon here with suspicion.
Are you listening? Be brave. I am
not the magician you think; I am just
a weak woman, drawn to help you by
something I cannot explain. That first
night, when the police came here to take
down your statement, you lied to them.
With the shadow of death over you,
human fear was still -uppermost. 1
watched your face; I knew. The name
you gave them was never your own.
You had not walked here from Liverpool
In search of employment. The story that
a man, whose fa-oe you could not tell
again, had struck at you in the darkness
with some blunt weapon—”
Sister Nora’s quiet voice suddenly
quivered away into a suppressed sob.
Slowly, stealthly. Thirty-one half raised
himself and stared along the ward. He
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Tne agent of the Unitea tSates burt'
DR. SHELDON S. JACKSON,
Unde Sam’s Chief Reinderr Far-
Alaska climate, and in the twelve years, 1 $
between 1893 and 1905, there had been •
born some 13.000 fawns.
The question of distribution was an
other difficult problem. How was the
government to get the reindeer to all
parts of the vast territory, to put them
in the iiands of the right kind of men,
who would care for them properly, and
look to tiie future interest of the whole
community?
Again the government turned to the
missions. It was decided to give each
mission station 100 reindeer, the same
to be held In trust, remaining the prop
erty of the government, but being used
for the best interest of ail the natives
in the vicinity of the station.
The mission bore all the expenses, and
took the responsibility of picking out
proper apprentices to care for the ani
mals. The only reward an apprentice re
ceived, was at the end of each yenti of
faithful service, two reindeer for his per
sonal property. This was Intended to
stimulate him to an effort to start a
herd of his own.
At the end of each five years the mis
sion station was to return to the gov-
ernment the original 100 reindeer, or In
case some of these had died, enough out
of tlie newly horn to bring the total up
to the original investment. After this
the mission was allowed to keep the rest
of the natural Increase.
WELL NIGH IDEAL.
This plan proved well nigh ideal, for
it sent the reindeer into nil parts of
the country, started hitherto shiftless,
! idle natives into new habits of indus-
] try and enterprise, and at the very worst
i gave ifood to many who otherwise would
j ‘have starved or become government
! charges.
| The expense was virtually nothing.
'Hilose reindeer that tlie government fed
and kept, cost on an average about SI I
ar»ieoe in tlie five pears, while those that
Below the Stairs i
By FORD M. HUEFFER.
sla
N the sudden opacity that
fell upon tlie two men.
Chapman saw absolutely
nothing. Before the mur
derous wrath of the man
who had been, ten minutes
before, his friend, he had,
in a moment of tense In
spiration, noticed the the
electric switch near the
light into the room; he would have his
revolver leveled. On the other hand,
Hode >was always for qiu-lck shooting. He
could not tell, too, that his own nerve
was not destroyed: at tlie moment he wa.-t
not quivering at all—hut you never could
tell how you would take a thing, or how
it would affect you. What was he to fio?
If he fired at random lie might hit Hode;
but if lie missed, the light of hts firing
would -give Hode an infallible target.
What was he to do? He would have to
make up his -mind soon.
Then he began again to think of what
had passed. It was all due to his inva-
door, stretched out hi3 1 tiable self-confidence. Mrs. Hode—it was
hand, and, in the instant, 1 f' 1,5 , t . h \ t - in fplie of his Intimacy with
, , ’ . ’ . , , . I her. that had lasted ever since the Hode.?
blotted out the lonf? shoot- find come hack from California, he - nl
ing: gallery, the white t^r- I ways t^p>r#ht of her as Mrs. Hode—Mrs
his friend’s vivid, hateful face with . Hode had always been frightfully timor-
I "us. She had always started: she had
always dreaded being seen—in the most
obscure places, whether in Greenwich, in
Chiswick, or at the Crystal palace. And
he had always laughed comfortingly, for
who of their set would he in Greenwich,
in ChlSwich, or at the Crystal palace?
Suddenly, he felt violently determined
o shoot Hode; for he felt a fierce hatred
get
the heavy moustache. The light had
been so vivid that it still seemed to press
upon liis eyes; the darkness was now so
thick that it seemed to have blotted out
his very senses.
Ten minutes before Chapman had been
a rather commonplace man—with a deli
cate intrigue, if you will, to carry on—] at the thought that if lie. Chapman, died
but feeling himself perfectly ordinary— there, or let Hode pass the door, Mode
With the consciousness of having eaten would 'expose Mrs. Hode. No; on no
his host’s good dinner, and of having ! Hode leave the room alive
.. .. _ , It struck him as odd that lie should
happily digested it with tlie conscious- 1 ] lavo that feeling, because he had begun
ness that in a short time lie would go to ) - l0 believe that he no longer cared
bed and sleep well, and that if he had hop.
betrayed tlie man with whom he was now 1 Yet. at the thought of how she would
idly killing time at tlie targets, he was at affected by disgrace, a cold wave of
, „ ,, 1 !e< seemed to jvass right from his fore
least undiscovered, and would soon extri- , ieafl to his k ' npea . B He drew in his
cate himself from the mess by a prudent i, reatll w ith n pissing sound, and sud-
fliglit. Now lie stood, with his finger on; denlv he heard the tiniest, indistinguisli-
tlie switch, in tlie sudden darkness, a, •’ble sound from the center of tiie dark-
convicted villain, in peril of his very j ness. Hode had caught his nervous hiss;
life. j
j itiad been let out to the various mission
»f education, Dr. Sheldon Jackson, arose! stations for use among the natives, oosl
with tlie plan that has proved the key* Uncle Sam only about 7 cents apiece,
to the situation. He proposed that the; This rosy result would have decided
United States import domestic reindeer; the government to continue along the
from Siberia, and then by teaching the, present line indefinitely; in fact, to great-
young Eskimo how to U6e them, to putily extend the venture, had not tlie un-
in the hands of tlie natives a medium of j fortunate oharges of irregularity forced
transportation, food and clothing. j an investigation.
Uncle Sam was a little slow to get into] Even the agent who made the oharges
action, so Dr. Jackson, having the en-1 against Dr. Jackson regrets the need of
thusiasm of his plan, appealed to the j assailing bis work, for he has put him-
ger.erous minded, and raised $2,200 from, self on record as saying that lie did not
private sources. J believb the distinguished missionary per-
Wlth tills money, in I8i92, he made ai gonally profited by tlie transaction, but
lie was crouching there in the darkness
, . , . , , , . There was no knowing where he was;
He could not believe it; he could not! p er p, a p s he had sprung swiftly to one
believe that he was a villain any more c-itfe when tlie light had gone out; per-
tiian he could believe that in a moment ! hape he was still standing by the ear-
he might be a corpse or might have taken i ' ridge table.
■ heavy Irritability.
a life.
lie stood perfectly still; with a sort of
instinct he retained his breath between
ills lips, for fear tlie sound of hie breath
ing would give to the invisible man that
tie felt in the warkness au indication of
where lie was. There was in front of
111i>i a picture as black as tlie blackness
that hail fallen upon the long gallery;
lie must either shoot Hode or Hode must
shoot him. Their host and the men and
women who formed the house party there
trip over the wastes of Siberia, picked] that all the money involved was used ; were long since in bed; tlie servants were
out 172 reindeetj and brought hem to
Alaska on a revenue cutter, landing at
Port Clarence.
In 1904 congress was stirred to the
point of supplying $6,000, and from that
time in various amounts the total sum
invested in reindeer lias been advanced
to $25,000.
Since it was Dr. Jackson who began
'.'ne experiment. It was deemed proper to
let him continue in charge, and the care
for the building of new churches. j in bed, too. The shooting gallery was at
Dr. Jackson says tiliat the reindeer the very bottom of tlie large house,
have passed from the government with I Hode mid Chapman, at tlie end of a
nenfect regularity into the possession I dull day of rain, had decided to go down
of the natives for whom they were in- eVv * vnmlr ° ff ,he m * tch of
I mt - revolver shots. Chapman, who was
to set off for a protracted tour of dis
tracted tour of disturbed districts in the
Caucasus, had a sufficient motive for
proficiency with the revolver. Hode had
always been a dead shot.
. - , „„„ — 1 H he had dared to move. Chapman
ernment has spent about $250,000 for, would have struck himself for Ids folly
m coming; but the invrsible presence at
ten paces from him had the ear of a
tended.
THE CHARGES.
Hits answer to Agent Churchill was as
follows:
"It was charged that, while the gov-
sense of exas
peration Invaded him. Tt seemed abom
inable that at that juncture he must
worry himself about what he was to
do. He wanted to lie quiet—as it were,
to have time to arrange his affairs, at
least in his head. It occurred to him
that lie ought to he saying prayers be
cause lie was going to die. He was
going to tie cut off in the midst of mor
tal sin—and unrepentant. For—and it
seemeo old t ohim—he was not In the
least repentant. H° was only exasper
ated at tiie folly which had led him to
so imbecilely betray himself to the man
lie had—but lie could not put it that he
had injured Hode. Mrs. Hode had
wanted him—Chapman—and Chapman
had wanted her. What did it matter to
Hode? How had it injured him? And
Chapman was almost worried that lie
did not feel a sense of moral baseness.
What realy troubled him was the atro
cious self confidence that led to the dis
closure. Tie had always been self-confi
dent. Mrs. Hode always forboding. They
had never even written any letters—
except tiie one in which, worn out with
his pending, after meaning to separate
forever, she had written to him: ‘‘Conte
!' the venture lias been left to the bu-j reindeer, and the Alaskan herd numbers
reau of education, whoso head he if- 1 10,234, there are only 2.500 in the pos- j ten paces from hint had the ear of a to me; T cannot live without you.” For
j a government Ual early recognized] seag ion Q f the government. The infer- ! He. Chapman, must stand there, ! some reason that he eouid not fathom,
tint. U did not personally have agents] ence u that I or some one else must , T^i7’i os hrr.nin ml he'darkness o'? "Cp™: ^ bett<>r jU<1 * ment ’ had
enough in Alaska to seo that tlie right; have unlawfully disposed of nearly 8,000] An infinity of time seemed to pass. He
kind of young men were picked out tol of the 10,000 reindeer in Alaska. The | roused himself to wonder what to do.
guard the nerun so the '^operation was] fact is that 3,817 had been earned by He held the switch, he would flash
/
ammo Enjoying a Drive Behind a Swift Footed Reindeer.
never burned that letter. But, to be
sure of it, lie had always caried it about
with him. And that very night, having
come In a little late for dinner, he had
dressed very quickly, and, remembering
from habit the letter in ills shooting
jacket pocket, iie had pushed it simply
with liis handkerchief into his cuff.
Self-confidence! Mkdness! He had
decided a month ago that he must
"break off tlie intrigue,” He had toid
Mrs. Hode that they must part. They
were to have parted in a week, he to go
to tlie Caucasus.
Suddenly into the darkness there
blared at him the question: “What will
she do now?" For he would he—not
gone to the Caucasus—but irrevoeably
away; in unending darkness.
It seems to him to lie suddenly horri
ble that he can do nothing better for
her—that she must pass the rest of her
days with him Irrevocably underground
—just as at that moment he was un
derground, and she. far above, no doubt,
filled with fears. For she had told him
that every night was to her an agony
of dread till her husband looked tn to
say goodnight on his way to bed. Then
only, she had sakl, did she feel secure.
While “they”—tlie two men—were still
downstairs, she dreaded always discov
ery, outcry, and an unending horror.
During tlie last month—since Chapman
had mentioned his determination to go to
the Caucasus—Hode had talked a good
deal about "Ella.” A mentally tranquil
person—though capable of violent rage—
Hode, as became his miutty distinguished
military career, had accepted his married
life as a thing of routine. He had lived
seven years with his glia without ob
serving her more than to know that she
liked an occasional present of flowers,
and thought that one ought to rest for an
hour . after lunch. He would no more
have suspected her of psychologic# vaga
ries than he would have expected hia
Continued on Last Page.
the knot of nurses who had Just come
off duty.
No one lisd ever called her beautiful.
Jn that caJm. Madonna-like unconscious
ness of herself, in her unstudied devotion
to duty, lay the simple secret. As she
went diown the word, of which she had
sole charge till dawn, there were furtive
nestles and murmurs of "Sister Nora!"
from either side of the avenue and spot
less beds. "Sleep” was the order, and
she went straight on. but In her wake
was left a calm little smile to one, a
queenly nod to another, a mute prom
ise in her eyes to a third, and so son. At
Thirty-one, as she reached the far end,
she did not glance. Her lips had seemed
to set and sadden unknowingly. At that
moment she looked like a woman who
had convinced hervlf of the necessity
of some stern purpose, and would not
waver.
Under tlie coverlet Thirty-one watched
her with a breathless, frightened inten
sity. For some minutes she stooped
above the bed in the ■ •pposite corner; tlmn
at last she straightened u.n, stood with a
hand to her forehead and moved back
down the ward. She had not looked at
him. Thirty-one seemed to draw a breath
as of mingled' longing and relief.
Did she know? For quite a long time
she stood with her bang turned at the
far end; then suddenly she wheeled round.
Thirty-one's figure had been raised upon
one arm almost to a sitting posture, star
ing that way. He dropped back like one
detected on the threshold of a crime; ’he
coverlet went over his head.
Ten o’clock. Sister Nora was upon her
feet. Down the ward she went noiseless
ly. resolutely. She paused In Thirty-
one’s comer.
"Thirty-one!’ she said, in that low, deep
vofoe of hors.
No answer. His eyes and lips were
closed as in sleep. She made as if to go,
turned quickly again—and the eyes were
staring at her.
“I knew it,” she bent to whisper. She
laid a hand upon his forehead: the in- j
stincts of the trained nurse came first.
“Oh. you can easily deceive me, but you
cannot deceive yourself. Thirty-one, to
night or never! What is it to be? ’
"You’re wrong; there's nothing to tell,
came his quick whisper hack, huskily
defiant. "Keep away from me. as the
others do. Let me go as T came; you
promised that. Don't touch me—I'm
poison to you!”
It would have made most sensitive
women shrink; so much was condensed
In the words. Sister Nora took both the
flinching hands in hers determinedly. It
was the tender fearlessness and search
ing intuition that have made women in
ail ages the conqueror of man.
"If so. I may touch poison without be
ing defiled. Did I promise that? Then
my conscience makes me break the prom
ise. You are going to tell me before you
leave this place," site said. She had
slipped down upon her knees. "You dare
not go with the thought that you lied
to tlie woman who, through God. helped
to give you back your precious life. Aye,
precious, if you only knew It! A true
woman’s duty does not end just there.
If I can help you, T must do it. An
vast awe.
"I Med to them." he repeated, as to
himself. “I can't lie to her. She knows;
she wants to make a man of me again.
That night—that night it was all or
nothing with me. I had not the price of
a bed or a meal; I had gambled it all
away, and owed more than I could pay.
In that fear of exposure, I was wander
ing' the streets. There was a house—a
house in a quiet road. As 1 passed it.
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food nutriment where it belongs. It requires u6 1
starvation process. You enn eat all you want. It
makes musole, bone, sinew, nerve and brain tissue
out of the excess fat, and quickly reduces
I thought of a leather bag in a bureau, wight to normal. It takes off the big stomach
reheYM tne compressed condition and enables
crammed with old gold' coins, little
crosses, unset stones, ail lumped together
there by the man who thought more of
bis medical books than of alj the money
in tlie world. It drew me with the
strength of a clutching hand. It was
Dr. Franklin's house. I had known the
maid there; I knew just how tlie doors
and passages lay. I never stopped to
think of an afterwards. * * * 1 did it—
I could not tell how. I was climbing out
again by tlie balcony window. and
thought I heard a sound behind. A face
seemed to look at me across tlie draw
ing room. It was a blind leap for tlie
ground, and one of the sharp-pointed
rails caught me here—just here. I lay
there, waiting for death; f felt that the
bleeding was inward. Then, as my
thoughts came back, I moved down the
road] and—and hid the leather bag in
place where I could find it agin, if T
lived. With that dread of the hue and
cry behind, I must have dragged myself
a mile from the spot; and then someone
saw me fall forward. * * * Heavens.
I've 'put mv life into her keeping! What
can I snv,' what can T do. to make her
believe that I live to forget It—that I'm
not a hopeloss villain?”
"I only asked you to trust me. Now.
if you mean that your first act when
v nn leave this .place will be to make res
titution to tbo man you have wronged.
The rest—the rest lies between you and
your maker."
<‘Y ef! _yp Si " he whispered. He had given
one quiver at the ordeal which the calm
voice created for him. "But if the po
lice should come here again, what could
I say without adding to that lie? To be
kept here in that suspense for another
month, fearing every moment—. No. it
would end in madness. I’d sooner die
tonight and escape it all that way!
“Hush! You are to live, to work vour
own redemption. That restitution will he
the first step toward freedom for your
manhood. And then— ’
"Then—?" he breathed, as if a life o/r
death sentence were in the balances.
She did not answer. She had covered
her face with her hands for a moment.
Then, as she rose to move swiftly away, ,
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purpose, was missing. Sister Bertha, in
charge, had not turned her back for a
moment: dumb with the shock, she
could only stare blankly until her ques
tioning gaze rested upon Sister Nora.
But the calm eyes in that pale face an
swered nothing; besides. Sister Nora had
not been on duty at the time. He had
stolen down the staircase unnoticed,
mingled with the convalescents in the
grounds below, and passed the main
gate.
There were vague whispers from out
side that a cab had heen waiting near
at hand—that a veiled woman's hands
had readied from it and helped him m
with a marked tenderness; but this was
held to he the inevitable note of ro
mance that follows mystery.
"Y'ou have it?"
"Yes." the man whispered. A flush
of shame darkened his face in the dusk,
but it was gone again quickly. "It was
there, lying between the shrubs and the
wall. I have touched nothing in it. If
you doubt me—,” and his* black bag
clicked.
"No, no!” She turned her face. "If 1
trusted you to come back to me herei
I can be sure of all else;"
"Heaven bless you!” he muttered, keep-
she " found her arm gripped and held. [ ing hack* a sob. He stood uncertainly;
TXnirty-one's voice was different.
“Not yet! I'll do tlmt—T H .promise it—
if you will carry on the noble part you
have begun. Stand by me; help me
through it' You have come In through I moment had come, and that she was
mv lffe at its darkest hour; one word ] here hlm to s 1 ™" tlie o™ 1 ™ 1 an<1
from von now-one look-will keep me j Pave the way to his redemption, how
. * . .. T _ f ___ win* nuf could he hope to realize that her money
true to mv better self. I^et me mot our . _ _ 4>l .. r . , ,
, , , , . rinn’f had paid for the small furnished room
the past and begin life again—but non t j > .. . .
looking around. Her arm had taken his
again, and held it tightly; but the
awe and unreality of it were as great
as ever. If he could not believe that the
let me drift alone! "Whom have I
turn to when I pass those gates? Gould
T face any of my friends again? Alone,
I'm a coward: with my guardian angel
near me. and with t'he thought that some
day, perhaps, if I prove myself a man—”
It broke off. The walls of the ward
seemed to be moving; the beat of time
seemed to be suspended for him just
then. W'hat bad he dared to say? As-
liour ago, when you sat up. you wp re j aur6( jiy ho could not have told. Tie
trying once more to find out a way of j knew only tbat there was a task before
tricking me. If your clothes had been at , j 1 [ m g rea to r than he could realize yet; t
hand, you had it in your mind to leave ] that t}l | s angel-woman hovering above
the place by stealth—even if you had to him seemefl to be the incarnation of all
creep out at that window and risk your j t ha| is purest and most precious in a
life afresh. Forced to live on in spite man ' s ideals. To lose her again for-
of yourself, you have brooded solely
upon escape. To you this is a prison
Why?”
’’Don’t.” he muttered, faintly implor
ing. “If you know all that, you ought
not to come near me. Help me to get
away—forget me! What is my life to
•you. from the moment I get past that
door? Nothing!”
"Nothing—and everything! Tonight
ends my watch here for another week
ever—to remember ber only as a sweet
figure moving through his dreams- no!
And it seemed as if Sister Nora had
known. Or was it that she could not
bring herself at this fateful moment to
give the answer that might throw him
hack upon desperation? He was not to
know. He lay that next minute in an
incredulous quiver. He was alone; none
of it seemed real. He struggled to real
ize that Sister Nora had stooped sud-
I must speak: T shall shrink from noth- fienly. put iter lips to bis damp forehead
ing,” came quietly down to him. “Up j aa seal some silent compact, and
till now T have felt myself responsible t ] ia( ^ vanished like a shadow,
for you, the physical man; now it would j she had drawn back behind one of
haunt me if I thought I had let the im- ( screens at the far end of the ward,
mortal part of you drift out into dark- ghe was upon her knees, her hands
ness. Thirty-one, will you trust me with ; strained together, whispering:
the triith?" "What could I say? To help him—
He looked at her as one yielding to ] aave hint! Gan I help loving him as
a spell. Sister Nora looked steadfastly. | j e ould never love aga.in? Cannot I
He made one last effort to turn her ' hope, as he hopes?"
sympathies. | Barely one week later a thing unt
where he was living—that her own
hands had given it all the thoughtful
finishing touches for iiis comfort—that
her womanly protectiveness had inspired
day by day the parcel of delicacies to
bring hack his health? Her deepest
thoughts he could not read. At soma
day he might hope to; but tonight she
was simply his ideal of God's noblest
creation—the angel-woman who was lift
ing him on "stepping stones of his dead
self” to higher things.
They walked on in silence till he
paused with a shudder of recollection,
his voice a husky rattle.
"Over there—the house with the red
lamp. What—what if I never come
back to you here? What if he should
lock the door upon me and send for the
police? Could I answer for—’’
“I had thought of it," she whispered.
Her fingers had taken the black bag
from 1/t; her face was calm and deter
mined. "You shall wait here. If I seo
him, hand back his valuables intact,
and implore his forgiveness, surely he
could not—’’
"If he did!" Thirty-one cluetched her
arm convulsively. “Don't go. Send it by
tlie post. You shall not risk anything
more for me.”
"I must. I must know mat you can
•begin life tomorrow without that
shadow upon your mind. It is with you
now; it would be always.” She put
back his hands. "I am going; I have no
fear. A few moments more and you
will be free—free for the woman who
loves you!”
She broke away and crossed the quiet
"You'd hate me,” he rattled. "You'd [ paralleled In the history of the hospital roadway quickly. A moment more, and
wish the pity had never entered Into i had been recorded. Thirty-one, still
you; that’s the truth tonight. You ought I haggard and strange, but able for the
not to be here; you should be on the j first time to move up and down the ward
leper island, giving your life hour by I In a suit of clothes lent him for that
the hall door of the
ftom his sight. He
house had shut her
stood back in the
Continued on Last Page.
Aa Eskimo Family Demonstrating That Reindeer Can Be Ridden as Well aa
^ Driven,