Show a a kellen and miss van wyck by J W SCOTT d D copyright by Short story pub co the southern pacific railroad and rogue river came down the winding gorges of southern oregon running abreast like wolves on a blood trail by paths that shuffle in and out and cross and re cross as they dailve to the south ever to the south and wherever the road sweeps over the river on a bridge the water tugs at the piers to bring it down and year by year the sweating engines ot many thundering trains hoot derision at the turbulent sen ot the mountain rag ng with foam on lips kellen s division was in this part ot the world he was a conductor and as he punched tickets from teno to and from gland to Kit switch he forgot about how the aher ran and clutched at the feet of h and inwardly cursed the n monotony of things and aridness arld ness of life and prayed a change he was of the kind of men who take too much interest in too many women there Is always trouble in that but there is not always a tragedy in the bottom of the bag his wife had blue ees and while she was growing a little bit faded there was a pathetic babyish sv estness in her face that would have nailed some men to the foot of her throne throughout the day and the she galloped into half an hour later of all time but kellen wanted fire evidently the pathos and the babyishness and the sweetness ably wearied him ft hen miss van wyck tripped on he coach step and gave him a smile for aid received out of black eyes b arning in a pale face a trifle strained and worn looking there is no question but that the watcher of men s lives re corded the arrival on the road he trav eich of a woman of interest to him kellen owed miss van wyck to the gods of the public school they led her into the region that knew him she taught school at and when she took up the birch rod there she elevated the window blind and noted down kellen s train as a means oa 01 escape as it whirred along the liver bank by the black water ind ripped up the valley hen she donned the robe of office she did not say here are many little ones to me given that I 1 may mold etem into fine vessels as the potter shapes the clay and that Is enough 0 o she said this place is lonely I 1 see no young men here what a vile wilderness she knew that she had to ride alone n the summer afternoons and that the birds and the squirrels chattered hor and that the loneliness struck upon her nerves and made her start at shadows wherefore she was very dissatisfied but she tell upon the device of go lug up the road to which was almost a town and possessed a few in the way of some women friends and a fresh face once a year 1 perhaps these flights were made friday evenings after the children went home for the week and the home curning befell sunday nights so she would be ready for school on monday morning after it had become kellen s un righteous custom to stop at her seat and look into her face and grin and say something pretty in a voice too low to be caught by the other gers the flights got to be regular ard thus there grew up something be t een them it you had observed her closely you would have seen that she watched for him after she took her seat looking expectantly forward whenever the coach door opened and that a faint blush put warmth in her white cheeks and a look sprang into her eyes when he came down the aisle t may be he forgot about his wife in tall ing to her it does not matter he did forget about her and about the avis pledged at the church when she was not so faded and he mad a plan to help miss van wyck kick the dust of from her shoes doreler they fixed up between them to go away from oregon secretly and be quietly wound up his few business if fairs and drew all the money he had in bank their plan was to meet in the evening a few miles abbie nes quillie and from there ride awai on horseback together miss van wyck was to station herself in the woods by the railroad at a grade foot where his train slackened speed and he was to drop off the tram covertly when it should pass take the horse she should bring for him and ride with her 30 miles through the night and the woods to the oregon coast then they were to make seattle by steamer and train and go east once east they should plan further for one thing miss van wyck would thereafter have an es cort when she went riding and she would not have to endure the depress ing rain clouds hanging over the nes hills when mrs kellen should see fit to give kellen a divorce they would be married kellen gave his wife no hints but left the blow to fall upon her without warning he wanted his scheme to succeed and to avoid hindrances and was therefore very cautious they selected friday evening tor their departure notwithstanding the e 11 devil that presides over that day because miss van wyck would not be inquired for till monday morning when the children should return to school and that would give them a big start she told the horse owner of the village from whom she hired the horses that she was going riding down the river to ballenton Bal lerton with a friend who would call for her at the house wl ere she dwelt that she had tima to make the proper arrangements chile he had not and accordingly the horses were left at her door the OTIS were hooting in the shad vs when she reached the rendezvous at the grade toot and the river was growling among the willows her nerves were on razor edge when kel len s train went by and back among the trees she jerked her restless horse s bobbing bead with aimless and unreasoning viciousness but kellen did not get off as the train ried along puffing and flah ing its lights miss van wyck sat waiting on her horse a long time star ing after the train and biting her lips while her heart variously fluttered and sank and stood still the gloom of the woods increased and was imparted to her soul she waited stoically tor an hour hopelessly and wonderingly and then turned toward A quarter of a mile above the tryst ing spot the rogue runs between nar row shores like a mad river aej a railroad bridge crosses it there at the train drew near the bridge kellen ws seen to go out on the platform and look ahead according to a custom of his later the forward brakeman missed him and he was found no moie upon the train down the river a mile from where be should have dropped off to jo n miss van wyck with an eager smile on his face the river spreads out sud denly over a flat in shallows and here there was a ford leading back to nes I 1 miss van wyck rode through tl e clr trees under the moonlight to this spot and there she saw something in the river close to the bank halt in and halt out of the willow shadows it was going round and round slowly in an eddy and its white face waa turned up to the moon no doubt it looked ghastly for when she galloped into halt an hour later she was raving and wringing her hands in a state of hysteria her nerves had been seriously shocked and as she swayed and shook in the saddle it was gathered out 0 her incoherent moan ings and self reproaches that some thing was wrong at the ford some men went out there and there they recovered kellen s body from the river and they picked up the horse that had been led for him browsing along the road afterward it wa found that a signboard on a post that stood close to the railroad track at the bridge where he disappeared had been twisted halt around it was thought that he leaned too tar out and struck that which was criminally close to the and it is probable that at the time when miss van wyck was wait me tor him in the grisly timber with parted lips and heaving breast he was washing heedlessly by his ears deaf and his eyes blind in the current of the rogue the horse owner and the nurse who amended miss van wyck through the fever that followed the hysteria and listened to her delirious babble fur dished information that patched out her story kellen was buried at mo kuhl teno where his wife lived and no one whispered anything to his wife about miss van wyck so the fading little woman with the pathos charged eyes of blue grieved over him sincerely the funeral took place while miss van wyck was delirious and kellen was some time in his grave when sha recovered this saved her pain because she could not have gone to the funeral had she been well being ur known to his wife and having no recognized ground of acquaintance with him that would have justified it s soon as she was well she resigned her school and hurried away from she now teaches school in the south of california in a bare flat region where the sun shines all the time she cannot endure rain nor clouds nor mountains nor woods and running water in the moonlight tarns her sick and shuddering |