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DEPUTY of the DEVIL
• By Ben Ames Williams » •
Copyright, Ben Ames Williams. WNU Service.
CHAPTER IX—Continued
—11—•
He began to work with a new in
tentness. Mary Ann, facing him
across Dan’s body, sensed this, and
looked at him quickly. But she
said nothing, asked no question, con
tinued like a machine to supple
ment in every way his efforts with
her own.
And presently, as his senses
cleared, Doctor Greeding began to
feel, with that fine instinct of the
surgeon which is so often right with
out any tangible reason for its con
clusions, that Dan might be saved.
All went so smoothly. The bullet
had been driven by a light powder
charge—by a target, rather than
a service-load. Also, the ball had
struck Dan's belt and thus lost
somewhat of its force, so that its
destructive effect was less than
might otherwise have been the case.
Thus the wound itself was as
mild as possible—though deadly se
rious enough. But also there seemed
to Doctor Greeding ground for hope
in the fact that this absurd, irregu
lar surgical procedure insisted on
performing itself without the least
hitch. Razor-blades instead of the
knife, blunt scissors for dissection,
thread and needle in place of snaps,
clumsily bent spoons for retractors,
each in his hands so incredibly
shrewd and skillful served their pur
pose well; and at the moment the
supply of gauze for sponges neared
exhaustion, Jerrell and Thomas
came racing up the path, bringing
all that might be required.
When Doctor Greeding saw the
end of the task in sight, he spoke
to Nancy. “Enough ether —take the
towel away now." She obeyed, and
Le finished, sure that what he had
done was well done; with a nod to
Mary Ann, he withdrew from the
table where Dan lay. He went to
the sink to wash his hands. Nancy
was there, leaning back against the
drain-board, white and still Doctor
Greeding looked at his daughter,
and he asked gently;
“Head ache? It’s the fumes. Get
out of doors. We must keep Dan
warm, can’t open any windows
here.”
Nancy went obediently toward the
kitchen door, and Mary Ann said:
“We’ll move him into the dining
room, arrange some sort of screen
around him there to keep off
drafts.”
Doctor Greeding nodded. He said
wearily: “It’s been a strain. My
head’s whirling. A surgeon should
never operate on his friends!”
“You did all that could be done,
did it perfectly," Mary Ann assured
him; and she asked, with a sudden
weakening in her tones, her first con
fession of fear: “Tell me what you
think?”
Doctor Greeding hesitated. “Ev
erything was as fortunate as possi-
Nc,” he said. “There are many per
iotations, as you saw. That was in
evitable. But not much poisonous
matter free. Os course, all we could
do was repair the damage, and
drain the wound, and—wait. You
know that as well as I.” He added:
“Yet—l believe he will get better!”
With Thomas and Jerrell helping,
they carried Dan into the dining
room, and laid a mattress on the
table for his bed, and set a fire on
the hearth.
And thus began the vigil that must
endure for days. Doctor Greeding
assumed command. “Another pro
cedure may be necessary later,” he
explained. “I’ll get whatever we
are likely to need, have it ready."
He telephoned to Boston and ar
ranged that a full kit should be dis
patched by messenger. He suggest
ed a nurse; but Mary Ann nega
tived that.
“I shall be within call always,”
she said. “And Nancy will want to
help. Any unnecessary people could
only add to the confusion. He needs
quiet, needs to sleep.”
He assented. “Yes, that’s true,”
he agreed.
“But X must let Father know,”
she remembered.
Doctor Greeding said quickly:
“Os course.” And he urged: “Have
him come up here, Mary Ann." He
was suddenly and for no tangible
reason eager to see Professor Car
lisle again.
Jerrell took this matter in hand;
he volunteered to drive to Boston
and fetch Dan’s father. “It’s bet
ter than having him make the trip
alone,” he said. “And—l must con
fess my fault to him, Mary Ann.”
She reassured him. “It wasn’t
your fault. It was an accident,”
she urged. Yet she let him go.
Thomas took him in the boat to
the landing where he had left his
car. He would, they decided, return
next day.
Dusk began to creep across the
lake and cloak the island. Dan
was drowsily conscious, murmur
ing absurdities and realizing their
absurdity and chuckling at himself;
and Nancy, close by him, holding
his hand, laughed with him ever so
tenderly. Mary Ann had made a
couch in the billiard-room, close by
where he lay. After dinner—they
ate in the kitchen, in relays, one
of them always by his side—Mary
Ann insisted that Doctor Greeding
go to bed for a while.
“I’ll call you later,” she prom
ised. “Nancy will stay with him,
and I’ll sleep here, and we’ll call
you!"
So Doctor Greeding went to his
room; but at first he did not sleep.
He turned on all the lights, unwill
ing that there should be anywhere
a shadowed corner in which any
thing or nothing might be hidden.
The man’s nerves began to twitch
raggedly. He had a sense of dark
forces gathering like a smothering
cloud. He slept at last uneasily;
and when at last some one came
tapping at his door, he woke with a
bound and a cry.
“It’s Nancy, Father,” the girl
said reassuringly, through the pan
els. “It’s all right. Nothing’s hap
pened. Only Mary Ann thought you
might come down for a while now.”
“At once,” hd promised, steadily
enough; yet it was in fact some
time before he was sufficiently com
posed to face them. When he came
downstairs, he found Mary Ann by
Dan’s side, Nancy half asleep in a
great .chair near. Doctor Greeding
touched Dan’s wrist, his brow, and
nodded reassuringly; and Mary Ann
smiled. She went to spread a
blanket gently over Nancy.
“You lie down too,” Doctor
Greeding directed.
She obeyed him, white and weary;
and Doctor Greeding was left with
the hurt man. He stood beside Dan
for a moment; then he too sat down
—sat without moving, while long
thoughts absorbed him.
Sometime later he looked toward
Nancy. Her eyes were open. He
saw the glint of them.
“Awake, dear?” he murmured.
She smiled. “I had a bad
dream,” she whispered. “But it’s
all right if you’re here.” And she
sighed, and slept again. Her faith
was like a draft of warming wine.
Hours later Nancy roused, and
came and stood with her hand
touching Dan's. His fingers closed
faintly over hers.
“He knows me,” Nancy whis
pered; and Dan muttered:
"Nancy. There?”
“Here always, Dan. Hush now,
darling. Sleep.”
She held him in her love as a
mother holds a babe in arms. Doc
tor Greeding drew back into the
shadows while she took his place at
her lover’s side. And so at last the
long night ended, darkness yield
ng to the warm gray of dawn.
CHAPTER X
There followed davs of waiting, of
that inaction which is so much more
difficult than action, when they
could only tend the hurt man, and
seek to cheer him with their smiles
feeding with the fuel of their un
tainted strength the flickering fire of
life that burned in him. Sometimes
he was in torment, but he managed
to grin despite the pain, hiding his
Ki
RLW
I'3^^
“Head Ache? It’s the Fumes,
Get Out of Doors.”
anguish behind a brave mask of
mirth from these folk who loved
him.
He did thus deceive Nancy; but
at such hours his brow was wet,
and Mary Ann knew he suffered,
and eased him as she could.
Doctor Greeding himself seldom
went far from where the hurt man
lay. He clung to Dan’s proximity,
as a mariner in stormy weather
clings to sate anchorage, with
a jealous diligence. Here was his
task and his desire; to make sure,
first of all, that Dan came back to
health again. He would not by even
a brief absence take the least risk
of failure.
The vigil left its mark upon him,
so that even Mary Ann urged him to
rest, to walk around the island, or
take a boat-ride, or find some oth
er means of distraction.
“You need it,” she insisted
“You’re deadly tired.”
WHEELER COUNTY EAGLE. ALAMO, GEORGIA.
“I’m all right,” he protested. “I’ll
stand by.”
Jerrell and Professor Carlisle had
arrived early on the first morning,
having left Cambridge at dawn.
Doctor Greeding welcomed them.
There was rising in him a deep af
fection for these folk, a new per
ception of the kindliness and under
standing in them all. Jerrell, for in
stance, had not offered to throw the
resources of his wealth at their
disposal; his silence seemed to as
sume that whatever could he done
for Dan, they would do. Some men,
Doctor Greeding reflected, would
have displayed the arrogance
natural to financial power; would
have insisted on summoning other
physicians, nurses, on importing
hospital facilities of every kino. He
liked Jerrell for his reticence in
this direction.
And Doctor Greeding had, where
the others were concerned, even
more personal reasons for grati
tude. The accident to Dan was,
after all, his fault; and Nancy, and
Dan too—since they were familiar
with firearms—must know this. Yet
neither reproached him, or offered
him blame.
He welcomed Professor Carlisle’s
coming as an opportunity for con
fession, hoping by an open admis
sion of his culpability to ease his
own heart; and he took the first con
venient occasion. He and Jerrell
were in the big living-room; Mary
Ann and Nancy and Professor Car
lisle were with Dan in the dining
room, the length of the house away.
Then Professor Carlisle came back
from Dan’s side; and he asked Doc
tor Greeding:
“You think he has a chance, Doc
tor? Mary Ann says that is your
opinion.”
“I believe so, yes,” Doctor Greed
ing assented. And he said, to Jer
rell as well as to Professor Car
lisle: “I hope so. Because, Pro
fessor, this was not Jerrell’s fault:
it was mine.”
Jerrell protested generously:
“Hardly, Ned. It was my clumsi
ness.”
But Professor Carlisle waited,
watching Doctor Greeding; and the
surgeon said explicitly:
“No, Ira.” He spoke to Dan’s
father. “You see. Professor Car
lisle, I had just fired the pistol. I
removed the empty clip, thinking I
had fired the last cartridge. Most
accidents with automatics occur
through just such carelessness as
mine. I should have worked the
action to be sure that the barrel was
empty. I neglected to do this. I
should have made sure the gun was
empty before giving it to jerrell.”
He smiled frankly. “Nc one has
blamed me,” he confessed.
“They’ve all been mighty kind and
generous. But it was my ault, just
the same.”
Neither man spoke; and he added
honestly:
“As a matter of fact, this was
worse than carelessness. With that
particular pistol, if the barrel is
empty, the action stays half-open.
The fact that it was closed should
have warned me that there was still
a cartridge in the barrel. I was in
credibly stupid!”
There was a moment's silence.
Then Jerrell said uncomfortably:
“Decent of you to say that, Ned.
But after all, if I hadn’t pointed the
gun at Dan—”
He added, in an incredulous rec
ollection: “I didn't mean to, tried
not to. I can’t understand it, ev
en now. It was exactly as if some
one’s hand, on mine, swung the pis
tol toward Dan—"
“If it had been empty, you could
have done no harm,” Doctor Greed
ing insisted.
Professor Carlisle looked keenly
at the Doctor. “No one is—blam
able for an accident,” he remarked.
“This of course was an accident.
Let it rest so.”
And he repeated his question of a
moment before. “You think he will
recover?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” the older man inquired.
“On what signs do you rely?”
Doctor Greeding hesitated, shook
his head, smiled. “I don’t know,”
he said. “Instinct. A guess, per
haps.” He chuckled. “Or it may
be that I’m relying on my luck. I
was born under a caul, Professor.
The old women say that’s a sign of
luck, you know; and I've always
been lucky, certainly.”
Professor Carlisle sat down, al
most suddenly, as though he were
tired. His eyes still on Doctor
Greeding’s face, he filled his pipe
and lighted it. So presently he
spoke.
“Born under a caul, were you.
Doctor?” he repeated thoughtfully.
And he said: “I remember you
once told me some strange experi
ences of a friend of yours, who
was also born under a caul.”
Doctor Greeding felt his cheek
flame; then the blood dramea away,
and he cursed his folly, his own
loose tongue. There was no accusa
tion in the Professor’s tone; yet
Doctor Greeding felt himself ac
cused.
“Yes, so I did,” he confessed
lamely.
Professor Carlisle puffed at his
pipe, his old eyes stern and still.
“Strange things do happen,” he said
gravely, “ —some things too dark for
the human mind to contemplate.”
He met Doctor Greeding’s glance.
“I perceive,” he said, “that Dan
and Nancy—”
“Yes. lam much pleased,” Doc
tor Greeding said hurriedly.
“You do not —object?” the Pro
fessor asked.
“No,” the other man assured him.
“No!” And he said: “Strange
things, yes. Dan’s recovery—l
think he will recover—is almost
like a miracle, for instance." Some
thing like an appeal for mercy was
in his tone.
The old man said inflexibly: "Yes.
If he does recover.”
And at that, abruptly. Doctor
Greeding turned away and went out
through the billiard-room to where
Dan lay. He questioned Mary Ann
with a glance.
"He’s fine,” she said. "Not much
pain, and no temperature. Doctor,
you mustn’t—doubt. He’ll get bet
ter.” She smiled hearteningly. "He’s
bound to. This is one of your mir
acles, you know.”
“It’s already twenty-four hours,”
he reflected. “Wound draining?”
“Perfectly.”
"I’ll stay with him for a while,”
he suggested. “If you want to—
rest.”
And he did in fact stay close to
Dan’s side during the days that fol
lowed. This was not all solicitude
for Dan. It was in part defensive;
since so long as he stayed near
Dan—who was conscious and ration
al now—he need not be alone with
Professor Carlisle.
There was in Doctor Greeding a
passionate desire to avoid that wise
bold man, whose shrewd eyes saw so
much, who might be keen enough
to suspect, and even to credit, the
incredible. He perceived that ques
tions multiplied in the other’s mind;
but so long as he himself stayed
near Dan, who must overhear any
catechism that might be attempted,
Professor Carlisle could not inter
rogate him.
And—Doctor Greeding hao no an
swers ready for the old man’s un
asked questions; so he clung to Dan
as a buckler and a shield.
He and Mary ?,nn and Nancy
shared that vigil; but he bore the
greater burden. It was as though
he poured his own life and strength
into the hurt man. He seemed in
fact visibly to fail while Dan grew
stronger. For Dan's strength did
begin to return, his coloi to im
prove; and his spirits were brave
and unsubdued.
Doctor Greeding, by contrast, be
gan to look like an ill man. Nancy
paid him a heavenly tenderness.
And Mary Ann entered with her in
to this conspiracy of gentleness to
ward the man who so visibly grew
weary and drawn before their eyes.
She said to him, once, at dawn:
“You mustn’t—wear yourself out.
Doctor.” And she added, under
standingly: “Father told me you
blame yourself for Dan’s being hurt.
But that's wrong. You mustn’t wor
ry. Grief and worry can make you
ill, and Dan doesn’t blame you.
None of us do.”
He said: "I wonoer if that’s why
Dan’s getting better. Because he’s
not blaming me, not—hating me.
Hate and anger are poisonous
things, Mary Ann. They can de
stroy a man, if he harbor them.”
She protested smilingly: “Nobody
hates anybody here!”
He said gently: “You’re a very
fine woman, Mary Ann." There
was a question in his mind, but he
did not ask it. There was no need.
To any discerning eye, it was clear
Russians Unearth Rich Archeological
Finds That Are of Historic Importance
Archeological finds of historic
importance have been brought to
light by a number of Soviet scien
tific expeditions, says the Chicago
Tribune.
The Crimea, Kazakstan in cen
tral Asia, the ancient Tatar re
public, the Georgian republic in
the mountainous Caucasus, and the
Ural province, are among the re
gions which have yielded rich finds
that are being studied by specialists
ii. various Soviet museums.
Ancient flint implements on the
site of a 200,000 year old settlement
of Neanderthal man were found on
the Katcha river in the Crimea by
ar. expedition of the Moscow His
torical museum. This is reported
to be the first settlement of that
era discovered in an open area, all
previous Neanderthal settlements
having been found in hillside caves.
In the village of Pychka nearby
the expedition discovered some in
teresting examples of the art of the
pre-Scythian culture of 3000-2000
B. C. These drawings depicted
battle scenes, executed on the face
of a cliff in red pigment, over an
area of ten meters.
Numerous relics of the Bronze
Age were found in Kazakstan by
another expedition of the Histor
ical museum. After weeks of pains
taking excavations, a communal
enough that between Mary Ann and
Jerrell there was a bond which
grew stronger in these days under
the same roof together. Jerrell
seemed younger each day; and
Mary Ann wore radiance like a
garment, and a happy certainty
and pride.
The second day after Dan’s hurt,
there was a change in the weather.
It grew warmer, and a hot haze ob
scured the sky, diffusing the rays
of the sun. Dan suffered from the
heat, as they all did; yet the day
passed somehow. After dinner, Nan-
1 / fWm
W y
*I, i
X
“It's the Way the World Is,
Though, Isn’t It, Father?”
cy and Doctor Greeding went out
on the open terrace in front of the
house, where a feint breeze stirred.
The stars were obscured by the
haze across the sky; and Nancy
said:
“We need a shower. Father, to
clear the air.”
He nodded. "Tomorrow, prob
ably,” he said. "It’s never uncom
fortably hot here for very long.”
They stood side by side, her arm
through his. “But I don’t think I
shall ever like it here again,” she
confessed.
He was shaken. “No? Why, Nan
cy?”
“I think partly because Dan was
—hurt here,” she decided. "And—
it can’t ever be the same without
Mother. When Dan can be moved,
let’s go back to Cambridge, Fa
ther. Sell the island.”
“I wish you’d stay here with me,”
he suggested. “For a while, for
this last time—”
She said, with the blind cruelty
of youth: "I hate leaving you, Fa
ther. But—l want to be with Dan,
always. Juife's so short! I know
that now. We've so little time. I
don’t want to miss a single day I
might have with him!”
“I shall be lonely without you
Nancy,” he confessed.
“I know,” she nodded. “And I’m
sorry. It’s the way the world is,
though, isn’t it. Father? No mat
ter how much I love you, I must
go to Dan.”
He assented gravely. “Yes. And
I won’t try to keep you from him.”
She laughed, clinging to his arm,
her voice deep and w r arm. “You
couldn’t, ever,” she whispered ar
dently. “No matter how you tried.
Nothing ever can.”
(TO BE CONTINUED)
hut twenty-five meters long, tombs
and a sacrificial altar were un
covered. In the altar were found
the charred bones of prehistoric
domestic animals, pot containing
the remains of food, and several
bone cubes resembling modern
dice
That the Stone Age man roamed
the mountains of the Caucasus is
indicated by the discovery of a
cave near the city of Jugilee, Geor
gia, in which a number of flint
implements were found.
Olfactory Organ
The sense organ of smell, the
olfactory organ, is tucked away in
a not easily accessible region,
making it difficult to reach it for
experimental purposes. It is at
the top of the nasal chamber, bank
of each eye socket. It consists of
a patch of membrane about an
inch square that differs in color
from that of the surrounding aress.
It is covered with delicate fila
ments resembling hairs that are
the sense receptors. A coating of
mucous substance is maintained on
the membrane immersing the
sensitive filaments. The substance
that produces the smell reaction is
dissoved in the mucous coating
and in this dissolved form affect*
the filaments.
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The End
When faith is lost, when honor
dies, the man is dead—Whittier.
Gas, Gas Ml
theTime,Can’t
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