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Show that she spent the entire day answering an-swering telephone iind door hells. A nmnberof Nancy's schoolmates called up from town, as well as some of the far famed "hoy friends." There were calls from Exeter asking if Jack was as badly off as the papers pa-pers Intimated; and it seemed to the distracted woman that she had not time in which to cheer the Invalid. In-valid. Cousin Columbine was better than her word, the second message arriving almost an hour before promised. Louise called her broth-rr's broth-rr's office and read it to him. "It's addressed to you, Jim. She says: 'Doctor thinks things look rather better, and considering how far away you are, advises you not to start immediately. Jack doing as well as can be expected. Nancy suffering greatly but her courage Is good and will Increase as weakness wears away. Letter follows this, but will write and wire daily for the present. Shall stay near Gloek-ner Gloek-ner hospital so address me there.'" "Then Dad won't go?" asked Phil, hovering near as his aunt telephoned. tele-phoned. She shook her head. "Are they both better?" Aunt Louise nodded because speech came hard. The message was hopeful, yet she seemed to read a oi bll9 stned on the "" '"'". "'hen Nancy Nelson, nlne-IH'I""llr nlne-IH'I""llr sub deb. daughter of Mrs. .lames C, Nelson of IC"' ,,,n" t01,i"n f J"" Colum- ,! ' " Msnn- Pl'MK'w res ,,t of Pine , ; ' "','' ''""nulo. stripped to her '"'''"ear in order to put her lollies on children who were frcez-S frcez-S to dealh before her eyes; while "r 1,''L1't Jack, seventeen, fue-" fue-" the storm In hope of bringing ";lp, succeeded in reaching a distant dis-tant ranch where he collapsed arter C'ving news of the whereabouts of the missing bus. Without the heroic actum of these two young people, Mxtoen children would undoubtedly linve perished. Frantic parents-" Margaret read no further because "or hands were shaking so that she could not see the type; but she "mnaged to call, a call that somehow some-how startled her husband; and at that very moment the front door uell rang. James set the corfee pot on the stove, and said, "You answer that te'l. son. I'll see what Mother wants." Margaret was lying back against the pillows, her face colorless. One hand still clutched the paper, and a limp gesture told her husband he was to read It. He sat on the bed, and, strangely, his daughter's name stared up at him as he took the sheet, even before he saw the headlines. head-lines. ". . . Nancy Nelson . . . stripped to her underwear . . . brother Jack . . . collapsed. . . ." "It's a telegram !" cried Phil, bursting Into the room In great excitement. ex-citement. "Maybe It's from Cousin Columbine asking me to visit her. Open It quick, won't you? Why what's the matter? rs Mother sick again? Gee! there's the telephone, What'd it have to ring for now?" As he sped away, his father stared down at the yellow envelope. For a moment It seemed as if he could not face its contents. Then, bracing brac-ing himself Inwardly, he tore It open, eyes seeking the signature before he read : "Don't be unduly alarmed by reports re-ports In papers Stop Jack making good fight against pneumonia and all possible being done Stop Telegraph Tele-graph if coming Stop Will wire again at noon after talking with doctor Stop Am proud of your children chil-dren Columbine Nelson." Margaret, watching his tense face, cried out "Is is It " "Not that 1" James broke in quickly. "Not that, dear!" and read the message, his voice trembling. Then the small boy was back, calling call-ing as he ran up the stairs: "It's Aunt Lou on the telephone. She wants you, Dad. Where's that telegram? tele-gram? Was it " When James returned five min- eyelids kept closing against her will. At times It seemed Impossible Impossi-ble to drag them open, m-r bands were numb; her bare logs curiously curious-ly lifeless. Tom Osgood, stripped to his overalls over-alls nnd cotton shirt, was putting his clothes on the boy who had piven up Jack's coat. Without Tom's help, Nance told herself, she could not endure much longer. That boy was a hero I How many times had she seen him, when on the brink of dozing, pull himself together to-gether valiantly to help the younger young-er ones? Why, he was drowsy now, poor darling! Ills task accomplished, accom-plished, he had slumped onto that huddled mass upon the door. Oh, he mustn't go under! Not brave little Tom Osgood ! Nancy dragged herself up, shaking the boy with all her failing strength. "Wake up. Tommy ! I need you ! We must help these children. Don't go to sleep, Tom. . . . Keep righting right-ing .. . fighting. . . ." An hour later when the bus door snapped open and Matthew Adam, his uncle, and two grim-faced fathers fa-thers stepped fearfully Inside, Nancy's Nan-cy's fur coat was covering a mound of children, while the girl herself, almost too spent to realize that help had come, sat on the floor amid a drift of snow with only a child's thin sweater covering her thin silk underwear, nodding, nodding, nod-ding, as she rubbed mechanically at a small boy's frozen feet. CHAPTER XI SCCLI events are "news" to the Associated Press. On the morning morn-ing after that momentous blizzard James Nelson arose early, for Margaret Mar-garet was convalescing from an attack at-tack of flu, and the woman who had been coming in to help was also ill. Hence it devolved on Dad to get the family breakfast; but be- "Wake Up, Tommy. I Need You." THE STORY FROM THE BEGINNING Ruined financially, James Nelson, Boston merchant, breaks the news to his household. A short time before, an elderly cousin of Nelson's, Columbine, Colum-bine, had suggested that Nance, his daughter, nineteen, come to her at Pine Ridge, Colo., as a paid companion. Jack, Nance's brother, seventeen, urges her to accept, to relieve their father of a financial burden, and offering to go with her so that she will not feel too lonely. It Is arranged that the two shall go. Met by Cousin Columbine, they are somewhat dismayed by her unconventional attire and mannerisms, but realize she has character. Mark Adam, son of a close friend of the old lady, Is Introduced. The desolation deso-lation (to Nance's city Ideas) of Pine Ridge appalls the girl. The newcomers new-comers meet Matthew Adam, Mark's older brother. Cousin Columbine explains ex-plains her reasons for desiring Nance to come to her. Nance gets better acquainted with Matthew Adam, and Is impressed by his good sense and his good looks. An absence of Interesting reading in the community gives Nancy an Inspiration. She outlines an Idea for a public library at Pine Ridge. Cousin Columbine Invites friends to celebrate Nancy's social "debut." "de-but." The girl has a delightful evening, and goes to bed with a feeling of greater contentment with Pine Ridge. Nance divulges her plan for a Pine Ridge "public library." With the gathering of the books the establishment estab-lishment opens, Nance being the "librarian." With Matthew and Jack, Nance visits an uncle of Matthew's, on his ranch. Matthew Is compelled to stay at his uncle's, and on their way home the brother and sister are overtaken over-taken by a storm. They come on a group of school children In a stalled bus. Without heat or food, suffering in the deadly cold, the pair, through the night, keep the youngsters from the sleep of death, practically divesting divest-ing themselves of their clothing so that the smaller children may have some warmth. PTER X Continued 14 nv Ions will vve ,lls' ' IIow it vi'ti?" He raised a foot nv j bare log above the I pit my socks on Joey :i.e hours ago when you 1 "ijin.. That boy's nil in, tid some of these little girls ",e the day through unless es us. If we had food It ,. new life Into them ; but ' :cti pail's empty and " ;ijied, silenced by a moan ,e cne In the huddled mass, ' y a child, worked at her 1 ; in desperation. It was, the twin who wore her :Jiid suddenly the girl was - il her woolen stockings S protested: "You keep Sis! Say, are you going Po you want to freeze to ' lou're in your thin silk un- I know it. I saw you 3i of that kuitted tiling a a. D n you, Nance Nel-teep Nel-teep those stockings on!" : aid nothing. Jack was, irstood, half crazed with for all those helpless chil-i chil-i herself as well. Slipping i Into her shoes again, she pull her warm hose over :e;s of the small sufferer; :e of the girls, watching In struggled out of her coat Med it about her Uttle sis- threw a smile, a drawn, !e that Cousin Columbine : have recognized. : ; help me, Evelyn," she ' .:Iy. "We must wake some Most ones and keep them t ' i nearly noon when, as the sided. Jack said the words -jck terror to his sister's - going now, Nancy." His vmbled a little. "As I see -s no other way. Keep up mge; and for God's sake, keep fighting. Unless the iris up again I'll reach that ;a few hours." j -if you don't?" eyes met, and Nance knew iter realized how slim a "'jehad. Her lips trembled ; made a gesture toward the "w but I can't let them ty, while there's a chance ' : them. Bill," (turning to who wore his jacket), "I'm 'help and it looks as if I'd Me that coat. No, I won't 'socks" (as the little boy bravely to remove them). ;-rJ0d, you keep the kiddies I'm counting on you older ielp." : tere," spoke up the boy "you find a fence, Jack, w It If you can. Dad told that if ever I got caught blizzard, to find a fence : tang onto it. And if you mail box you'll know a snmewhere near. Gosh ! , -I sort a wish you wouldn't ;"d a smile. ''"n't you worry, kid. I'll 'esire, so long as the wind You just help Nancy J5 rou can ; and whatever 'f"n't go to sleep. Keep that by night we'll be safe ")f"l-good-by every one." II "t look at Nancy as he The girl knew that ""'dare to; and in another ,ttis tall form was blotted J "Jt fate would meet him, , ' ""'se terrifying plains, ., '?rp(I, tears stinging her " , All (with a clutch of " "'e wind rising? Jd, interminable hours J 'mending. The dread-' dread-' ,icl down, returned, and t'' lot to return. No one Jllst when the blizzard s '""e by one the children 'Milling to the portentous ,' ee Nance succumbed 1,0 aroused by the fran-'n5 fran-'n5 fists of Tommy Os- still intense when .' dusk approached the the whimpering voices j, ' ln on ominous silence. Jcliiklren had given up . "ipletely spent with cold. .I h and even fright. For ' , Cpn strange happenings j' Parture. Twice they Uie sound of npproach-"n,y npproach-"n,y to find that their t. ;, , Reived them. Two ;,,,rc) had "seen" the v' ,, ' as the mirage x- into tears of disap- . .;J Wnraseously on icy . t Nance knew, a 'sh erfieni"K through K'as giving out. Her something between the lines. Pneumonia, Pneu-monia, she thought, sometimes travels faster than a railroad train. Was that why the doctor advised Jack's parents not to come? Long as he lived Matthew Adam was never to forget the terror that possessed him when, after hours of tramping snowdrifts, he stepped into that stalled school bus. And, perhaps strangely, his first glance fell, not on Nancy, but on the mound of apparently lifeless children chil-dren beyond her. Then, all in a breath, they focussed on the girl herself a girl only half clad, her hands moving mechanically In an effort to bring circulation Into a boy's small feet which were, it transpired later, not frozen so badly bad-ly as her own. Her head, drooping forward on her breast, lifted with difficulty as the door opened, then dropped again, but not too soon for Matthew to have seen the glassy look that clouded her blue eyes. "Nancy I" he cried. Just that, lie was on his knees had snatched at the fur coat and wrapped it 'round her. It seemed to him that the girl fought back the overpowering overpow-ering drowsiness by a supreme effort. ef-fort. One icy hand groped for his cheek, as If to make sure that he was flesh and blood. She struggled to speak struggled so valiantly that Matt's eyes misted with pity when, after a moment, the words came. "Find . . . Jack. . . . You must find Jack, Matt. . . . And . . . then take . . . the children. ... I am ... all ... all right. . . ." After that Nancy knew nolhing at all for a long time. She retained re-tained only a confused memory of rousing for a moment to find herself her-self In a room that seemed very full of people; wondering why Matthew Mat-thew Adam and a strange woman were packing snow about her legs; and hearing a child cry out as If in pain. She recalled that later (how much later it was impossible to say), she had cried herself, with such pain as she had not imagined; and then things blurred again. Once, they told hor. she oppned her eyes and asked for Jack, but drowsed again before the answer came. Her first clear memory was waking wak-ing to a sense of intense suffering, and seeing bright sunlight dancing across her bod. It was a white bod in a small, white room ; and a white-clad white-clad woman was speaking to a shadow In the door. Nancy's eyes traveled upward and saw a cap. So the woman was a nurse. And this must he a hospital. "Put why am I here?" she asked herself confusedly. con-fusedly. "And what has happened to my legs?" Then she remembered remem-bered ! Those dreadful hours of cold and hunger those helpless children Jack facing the blizzard all alone. And suddenly Nance Nelson was Just a little girl again, a frightened little girl who yearned for the comfort that had never failed her when life seemed cruel nnd life had never boon po cruel before. She said, her voice breaking break-ing a little: "I want I I want my mother." (TO BE CONTIN'UED.J utes later there was a bit more color in Margaret's face, and Phil, avidly avid-ly perusing the story, lifted his head from the newspaper to exclaim: ex-claim: "Gee, Daddy! Jack wasn't wearing any socks! He'd put 'em on a little feller that was freezing. And Nance had given her stockings to some one, too, and her dress' n her fur coat and everything. She just had one o' the kid's sweaters over her slip. Site got unconscious soon as they found 'em. One of those Adam fellers got there first. Nancy's legs are frozen to " He ceased abruptly at the warning warn-ing glance from his father. "That's enough now, Phil. Louise had seen the paper, Margaret, and was rather worked up for Louise. Another teacher will take hor classes and she'll catch an early train out here. I'll slay until she comes, dear. She asked if we were going to Colorado, but " "I I feel as If I must, Jim," said Margaret weakly. "If Jack has pneumonia pneu-monia h! he's grown so fast that" "The last letter said he'd gained twelve pounds," the little boy reminded re-minded them, "and Nancy said he'd never looked so husky." "I know, hut . . ." Her lips trembled, nnd James Interrupted: In-terrupted: "I understand bow you feci, Margaret; but It's Impossible for you to travel now. This flu's so treacherous if one gets up too soon. But I'll drop everything and go myself my-self unless the next telegram is reassuring. re-assuring. I promise that." "Is pneumonia a very bad thing to have?" questioned Phil soberly. "Pretty bad," Dad answered, thinking that should Jack not weather it his mother could scarcely scarce-ly reach him In any case. "Now close your eyes, Margaret, and I'll bring some coffee. You'll feci stronger when you've had something to eat." Louise Nelson said afterwards fore beginning this unaccustomed duty he stopped to take in his morning paper. Spring had come early to Edge-mere. Edge-mere. The air, James noticed, was almost balmy. He had a melodious whistle", and Mendelssohn's "Spring Song" was on bis lips when, suddenly sud-denly realizing that time was fleeting, fleet-ing, he turned toward the kitchen. "Hello, there!" greeted Phil on his way downstairs; and smiling, James tossed him the paper without with-out looking at it. "Take that up to your mother, Phil. She may like to glance at the news before I go. But come right back, sonny. I need a cook's assistant! And ask how much coffee cof-fee I ought to use." Margaret looked up happily as the boy entered her room. "It's good to hear Dad's whistle, isn't it?" she said, recalling the long months when that cheerful sound was silenced. "I feel like a slacker lying here while lie turns a cook ; but the doctor says I'm not to stir for another week. Thank goodness Aunt Louise will be out tonight! Don't stop to read the paper, Phil; and tell your father fa-ther a heaping tablespoon " "Look here!" The small boy's eyes were bright with interest. "There's been a'nawrul blizzard In Colorado! I wonder if it was neat-Cousin neat-Cousin Columbine's." Margaret reached for the paper, continuing almost automatically: "A heaping tablcspoonful to every cup, Phil." Then as he ran to Join his father, her eyes fell on these arresting ar-resting headlines: "Terrific blizzard sweeps Colorado Colo-rado plains. Bus full of school children chil-dren saved by heroic efforts of two young people after the driver, going go-ing in search of help, became confused con-fused and died in the storm. "Denver, Colo., March 27. A story of heroism and self-sacrifice was enacted yesterday afternoon In |