Show the old settler my dear san Jua ners he induced them to move his fisl bed near to the window where re he could see from his pillow soi some ne of the traffic on the busy street he was desperate for for anything which would break the terrible spell settling so suddenly and grimly upon him anything to soothe him back to the calm way of his wonted thoughts for now of all I 1 times he must think clearly and he must also think fast for if what the doctor had said was true his time was very very short sh it had all come about with paralyzing suddenness the calm and commonplace of his easygoing easy going hitherto had all at once taken on j a most stern and menacing solemn 1 ity that stray bullet in his sidel side had done mischief which neither medical nor surgical skill could repair and it had plunged him into tense emotions giving the very sunlight sun 11 light 1 ht a fateful expression I 1 unlike anything he had seen in it before of late his dominating thou thoughts a gats had worn deep grooves in the tha direction of his blooded angus herd and the new attractive ranch where he kept them the ranch j whre he had occupied himself for far weeks at a tima instead of daiv 1 ing home frequently over the 20 miles of good road to be with ethel and the little toys boys but now his thoughts had gone gene with sorrow sorro v into reverse he found regret in 1 stead of joy in contemplating the bl big t black steers and he elewa flew in io th aha little home where ethel and the little boys would be in a panic anguish from the messa message e he had sent on the screen of his vivid fancy he saw the loved ones in their distress and their unfaltering devotion to him loomed in withering contrast tor to the slim and scrubby i attention he had given them aej he I 1 saw the house his neglected home the trees the walks and fence run down and dilapidated only as ethel had been able to keep them i partly in repair and as against j it h he I 1 saw the well kept ond sporty 1 ranch where swanky dudes came to admire his fine stock he saw j himself hurrying away from his i continued on page four the old settler continued from page 1 brief visits at home while his little boys borys hung pleadingly to him and wanted to go along ard ety etl 31 gazed after him with a pa pain ight heart which she dare not express I 1 but which she could not conceal he wondered how soon they would arrive and whether at that time he would have lapsed into unconscious stupor from the increasing distress of his wound but the long night had dragged all its heavy minutes over him when one of the nurses announced mildly and cautiously that his wife had come and asked if he were ready to see her more ready than for anything else in the world he declared with such enthusiasm that she cautioned him not jo to overdo it might bring su sudden adan disaster ethel had been warned to sur press her feelings to be outwardly calm and to warn the little boys not to cry nor carry on and when she appeared with them in the doorway she was somehow the image of heartbreak heart break crushed and speechless the little boys too their pale faces drawn and pinched with the restrictions looked up pleadingly at her and their father with childish agony of restraint but n thing could keep them from clutching convulsively at their fathers hands and whim whimpering perin 9 under their breath As for ethel she could no longer contain her pent up love and hope and anxiety she bent over him with convulsive sobs and choking outpourings out of unanswered affection which had never been framed into words and he regardless of nurse or doctor or what the consequences might be drew her close to hini him and mingled his tears with hers pressing his hot cheek check against her face he poured 0 out ut the love which had been intensified by separation se pa ration impending and terrible why I 1 have seen that you are infinitely more to me than th anything else in all the world he v contrived in his anguish to say 1 I 1 have just discerned how glorious our home could be and ought to be in love and union together just now when we must be torn tom apart the nurse in tender but firm persuasion induced ethel and the children to leave him to such rest as his burning emotions would permit yet she waited as near as they would allow waited hour after hour for the doctors verdict after he should have completed another examination removing the offending bullet from where it had lodged in the tissues near the opposite side at long last her agony of suspense was broken by the appearance of the doctor his tired face seeming to show lines of new hope there is a fifty fifty ch anceN D he announced 1 I really belie b wg i he can make it ALBERT R LYMAN |