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Show yJjrX 6r5pNE PART OXF I"hc Awakening CIlAPTEIt J (. roping in Ihe Hark The convict gang had a pleasant place to work today. Their road building had taken thorn sotnft miles from the scattered outskirts of Wal- I la Walla, among fleldf? green with growing oarloy. The convicts themselves were in a genial mood, easily moved to wide grins; nnd with a single exception they looked much like any other road gang Curiously enough, when-over when-over the warden's thought dwelt upon the inmates of his prison, there was Blwaya ono wind-tannei. vivid face, one brawny, lowering form that 'fined to demand individual consideration con-sideration The man who was listed on tho records nx Ren KlDney wee distinctly an individual. "That's the queerest case we ever had here at Walls Walla," Sprtgley (old his follow guard. as they watched the man's pick swing In the air. "Sometimes I wonder whether I he ought to he here or not. Jook at I that face he hasn't any more of a I criminal face than T have." Tho other guard. Howard, scanned hiS companion's faee with mock enre. I "Now 'et me tell you how they happened to catch him Maybe you I heard "he nnd lago Frank wen- In the act of breaking into the Weatern-l Weatern-l anlsli Bank They were in the alley. In the ct of Jimmying a win-dow. win-dow. and oil nt nnce Kinney straight j Sned op as if something had hit him I nnd let the jimmy fall with a thump to the pavement He put his hands to bis head, like a man with a head-ache head-ache and the next instant a cop , came running from the month of tho illev. "Kinney was heeled, but he didn't i even pull his gun. Now lot ino tell you another queer thing. Yon know ' MiP chiftf Ktarlrl n ffi'uti.TYi liprr- I to keep track of all the prisoners. He hoa them all fill out a card. Well, when this man Klnnoy turned In his card, he had written 'Ren' on it, but the rest was absolutely blank. "Mr. Mitchell thought at first that the man couldn't write. It turne.i out though, that he ran write an Intelligent band, and r.pell good. too. Then Mitchell decided he wa.s just sulking, but I'm confident I know the answer The reason ho didn't fill out that eard was becauso he couldn't remember, "He couldn't remember where or when he wa.s born, or who wore his folks, or Where he had come from, or how he had spent hla life. Amnesia that's what the doctors rail it amnesia am-nesia following some sort of a men-te men-te I trouble. In the end you'll seo that I'm right." There bad been quite a northern migration lately, these late spring days Thf last of the waterfowl had passed by now, but the northern migration mi-gration was not yet done. Bon thought about them as birds of passage, and the thought amused him And at the sight of a small, stooped figure advanelng toward him up the railroad right-of-way he paused, leaning on his pick. Because Ben had paused, for the first time In an hour, his two guard looked up to see what had attracted his attention They saw what seamed to them a white-haired old wanderer of slrty ye?rs or more, hul St first they were Wholly at a loss to ; explain Ben's fascinated look of growing Interest. As ho paused to scrutlnlre the ron- ict gang neither insolene nor fear, ono of which was certainly to be expected, ex-pected, became manifest In his j face. Both guards were bold and amazed I by the apparent fort that at tho first i scrutiny of the man's outline, hla carriage nnd hlR droll, wrinkled face, the prisoner Kinney was moved and stirred as if confronted by tho risen dead. The old man ran. In great stride toward him. "My God. aren't you Bon Darby?" he demanded. The convict answered hlrn oj from ' a great distance, his voi' e cool and J calm and with an. infinite certainty. I "Of course." he said. "Of course j I'm Darby." For the moment that chance meet- ' ing thrilled all tho spectator with tho sense of monumental drama Tho I convicts stared; Howard, the second guard, started absurdly, ratbr guiltily, guilt-ily, when the old man whirled toward to-ward him "What are you doing with rn Darby in a ronvh t jrnnr"'' the old wanderer demanded. "What am I doln''' Howard's astonishment as-tonishment gave wnv to righteous indignation "I'm guardln' convicts, that's what I'm a-doln'." The old man had turned his eyeS again to the tall, trembling flgur. n-Ben n-Ben "Ben. Ben!" he said, evidently ! struggling with deep emotion "What ' are you doing hero?" "Five years for burglarv." he an-swered an-swered simply. "Guilty, too i don't know anything more. And I .an t rem mber who you are." "Vou don't know me?" Some of Ben'e own bewilderment seemed to pass to him. "You know Sara MH-vllle MH-vllle Rptigiev itepped quickly to m. i- vllle'r side "He's suffering loss of memory," lie eznlalned swift iv "This Is tho first time he ever re- i jcallod his twti name" I Melville gazed at him in Ihcredu- jlous astonishment, then turned to Sprlgley. "May I talk to you about 1 bis case?" he asked quietlv. "If not to you. who can I talk to? There are a few points that might help to j clear up " 1 Many and Important were tho de- I veiopments which arose from tb.ir conference. Melville's northward journey wa postponed for some days. nnd within a week this rame White-haired, ln old man was pleading bis case to tho governor of tho State of Wnshmgton. It came ! about, from the snme cause ihnt . noted alienist. Forest, of Seattle I visited Ben Darby in his cell; and , finally thnt the prisoner himself waa taken to the capital at Olympla. , The brief lno,ultlon that' follow r, 1 ehnnK-ing the entire current of Ben I Darby! life, occurred in the private office of MoN'nmara. the governor ! The alienist from Seattle conducted :he examination. "You don't remember this man?" Forest aske him quietly. Indicating Ezra Melville. Again Ben's ayes studied the droll gray face. "With the vaguest kind of memory. 1 know I've seen him before often. I can't tell anything else." 'He's a good friend of your famllv I should say he was a very good friend, to take the trouble and tin;-he tin;-he has. in your behalf" Ben nodded. The explanation was beyond him. Fores leaned forward. "You ie. member the Saskatchewan river?" j Ben straightened, but tho dim 1m-magos 1m-magos in his mind were not char enough for him to answer In the affirmative. af-firmative. "I'm afraid not " Melville leaned forward in his chair The Old Man Ran in ;r at Stride 1 Toward Him. "Ask him if he remembers winning the -anoe race at Lodge I'ole or the tlmo he shot the Althabaska Haplds " Ben turned brigbtlv in him but lOwly ahook his head ' ..nn't remember re-member ever hearing of them before." "I think you would, in tirao." Forest For-est remarked "Thev must have been interesting experiences. Now what do Ihete moan to you? Thunder Lake Abner Darby Edith Darby Mae Lean's College " Abner Darby! It was curious what ii flood of lendeiness swept through Ben ay, whispering, repeated the name. Since his own wae Darby. Abner Ab-ner Darby was. In all probability, his father; but his reasoning intelligence, rather than his memory, told him BO The name of Kdlth Darby conjured up in his mind a childhood playmate a girl with towzled yellow curls and chubbv, confiding littlr. hands. But theso dim memory-pictures went no further; there were no later visions of Edith a a young woman, blossom-ling blossom-ling with virgin beauty. Tho third name of the three. MacLoan'a College, callsd up no memories whatever They ll srrengthen in time, i m sure," Forest told him. "Iul them lout of your mind, for now. Ixst it Ixj blank " Tho alienist again lo.ined toward him, his eyes searching. There ensued an instant's pause, possessing a cortaln quality of suspense Then l Forest spoke quickly, sharply. "Wolf Darby!" In response a curious tremor passed over Ben'.H frame, giving In some do-gree do-gree the effect of a lolent starl. ' Wolf Darby." he rep.-ated hesitantly "Why do you call mo that?" The very fact that you know the name refers to you, not someone else, shows that that blunted memory of yours has begun to function In some degree Now think. What do you: know about 'Wolf Darby?" Ben tried in vain to find an answer. A whole world Of meaning lingered Just beyond the reach of his groping mind; but always it eluded him. Foroat) suddenly upoke to old Bars Moiviiio-.i and the latter put a small, cardboard! box Into his hands. 1 w.nt you to see what J have' hera," P'orest told Ben They wern j your own possessions once you sent: them yourself to Abner Darby, your late father and I want you to see if you remembor them " Evidently this was the climax in the examination. Forest opened the box, taking therefrom a roll of white cotton. cot-ton. This he slowly unrolled, revealing reveal-ing two amalli ribboned ornaments of gold or bronze Ben's starting eyes fastened on them Xo doubt ho recognized them. "Tho Victoria Cross, of courao," ho said slowly, brokenly. "I won It, didn't I tho day that day at Ypros the day my men weri trapped " Ills words faltered then The wheels of his memory, starting Into motion,! were stilled nnce more. Again thoj gras4. daaljttese sir Oi pod over htm. Vet. to Forest the experiment was an unqualified un-qualified success. "There's no doubt of it"' he ex-1 claimed. Ho turned to McN'amara, the governor. "His bruin is just as j ; sound as yours or mine. With the i .right environment, tho right treatment,! he'd be on the t might road to recovery'-" (Continued hi Our Next I-vsno) oo |