The Beggs Independent (Beggs, Okla.), Vol. 11, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, September 15, 1916 Page: 3 of 8
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THE BEG 0 INDEPENDENT
— — — J i i i
SYNOPSIS
—12—
Alan Warns la snt awar from Red Hilt
hla home bjr hla uoole J T ea a moral
failure Clem drlnka Alan'a health on hla
birthday Judge Healy defenda Alan In
hla bualnena with hla employers Alan and
All Gerry's wife meet at sea homeward
hound and atart a flirtation At home
Oerry aa he thinks aeea Alls and Alan
loplna dropa everything and geea to
Pernambuco Alla leavee Alan on the
train and ooee home Oerry leavee Per-
nambuco and goee to Plranhaa On a
noe trip he meets a native girl The
Judge falls to trace Oerry A baby IB born
to All The native girl takes Oerry to
the ruined plantation aha la mlatreea of
Oerry marrfee her At Maple house Col-
llngeford tells how he met Alan— "Ten
Per Cent Wayne"— building a bridge In
Africa Colllngeford meets All and her
baby and gtvee her encouragement about
'jerry Alan cornea back to town but done
hot go home Oerry begins to Improve
Margarita's plantation and builds an Ir-
rigating diton In Africa Alan reads
Clem's letters and dreams of horns Oer-
ry paaturea Ueber's cattls during the
rr'I'Kbt A baby comes to Margarita
Colllngeford meets All In the city and
"hoe her changed Alan meets All J Y
and Clem grown to beautiful womanhood
b the city and realises that he has Bold
hla birthright for a mesa of pottage Kemp
and Oerry become friends They vlalt
Ueber and the three exiles ere drawn
together by a common tla Ueber tells
hla story In South America Alan gets
the fever and hla foreman sends him to
Ueber's
Consider the mantal agony of
an Intelligent man whan he
cemta to rsallte that h has
committed a great wrong an In
reparable wrong against hla
wlfa and against himself Rev-
elation and a sort of terror com -'
to Gorry
I CHAPTER XXIV— Continued
' “You'ye boro op all night aald Ger-
ry “Go and lie down for a while I'll
call you If anything happens
Lichee rose reluctantly “Don’t fall
to call me be said “I’ll leave my
door open
Gerry aat down In a chair beside the
settle lie had not known bow tired
ho was himself Boon be drowsed Hla
head fell forward on hla cheat Sleep
came to him and then a great trouble
came to bis sleep He roused himself
from a nightmare and suddenly wide
awake found Alan'e eyee Used on hla
face
“Ton! mnrmored Alan
Gerry did not answer Hla face be-
came a mask It seemed to him that
only Alan'a eyes were alive and to
Alan that Gerry bad projected hie
spirit to hla bedside to watch him die
Alan tried to amll In defiance
“Can't yon apeakr be wblapered
hoarsely
Gerry leaned forward The question
he had to aak wa stronger than be
It forced Its way through hla lips
“Alan what did you do with her! Tell
me that and I'll go away”
A troubled look came Into Alan’a thin
face Ha frowned “Do with her! Do
with whom!
“Alan” eald Gerry hla auppreeaed
vole trembling “Ton know With
All"
“Oh" eald Alan etlll atrnggtlng on
the verge of consciousness “I remem-
ber I did nothing with her Bbe
' wouldn't go with me"
“Alan" gfoaned Oerry "I eg w yon
I mw yon and Alla on tha train"
The frown was gone from Alan'a
forehead Ha felt sleep coming hack
to him and ha was glad "Tea” b
Mid "she waa on the train with me
I remember Bhe Jumped off A bag-
gageman— caught her" He dropped
off to sleep again
Ueber stepped catlike acroM tha
floor n caught Gerry by one ear
and with tbe otber band over hla
mouth led him out of tbo room Gerry
went tamely When they were on tbe
veranda Lleber looked at him “So"
ho Mid bis blue eyes biasing "yea
only want to kill him”
“No” Mid Oerry dated "not now"
"Mr Lansing" eald Ueber "yon get
out of here We'll settle this bual-
neM some other time”
Gerry's tip trembled “You’re right
Ueber" be said “Tou’re right only
you don't know It all That chap In
there— wa were boys together He ran
a way with my wife That’ why — “
Gerry suddenly stopped Alls had not
cun away She had jumped off the
train Where waa aha then! What
bad she dona throngh the years he
had been away! Why bad aha Jumped
off tha trala Ha struck bis head to
hla bead and stumbd off tha no
rands
' Lleber snger died In him bat
he turasd and want hack to Alma
Two hours later be came out again
to fiDd Gerry crouched on tho veranda
Tha spirit bad gone out of him but
ho turned on Ueber with a determi-
nation In hla tired eyea "Too told mo
to get out and I haven’t There are
things I'vs got to know I'll wait”
“I spoke In baste Mr Lansing" said
Lleber “I want you should forgive
me You are all In too Come with
me"
He led him Into hla own room made
him He down and closed tbe shutters
Gerry threw himself across the bed
arms outstretched face down Ueber
slipped out and nolseleMly shut tbe
door ' Gerry lay exhausted Ha coold
not think any more A great weight
lay on bis brain Tha ten minutes
dose In the chair at Alan’s bedslda had
not been resit but a nightmare Pres-
ently he fell into sleep a deep sleep
that waa all unconsciousness
It was almost night when ha awoke
and with tha awakening the weight
Bottled back on his brain only now be
bad the strength to think In spite of it
He got np and went out In search of
Ueber Lleber beard him and came
out into tbe ball Gerry nodded
towards Alan's room “It's all right
Mr Lansing He mast have a solid
mind Tour talk didn't excite him —
didn't even disturb hla sleep He's on
the road up— weak a baby but be'a
started life again He'a asked for you
twice Seems to bare something he's
got to get off bis cheat to you You'd
bettey go In”
Gerry aat down once more betide
Alan Tbe questions he mnet aak
crowded to hla lips but be forced tlAm
back He teated bis strength with res-
olutions and held them It waa bis
way of reassuring himself He want-
ed to feel his firmness rising In him to
meet tbe straggle be felt mast come
when Alaft spoke
Alan knew be was there He mw
him through half-closed eyes bat
more than that he felt him Hla
brows puckered In frown It wae
till bard to nae words “Gerry taat
night I wanted to tell you more only
I couldn't 1 bad to sleep AUx didn't
go with me 8be only came to the
train When I kissed her she woke
np tad found she waao't— carnal after
all - Bhe went back borne Tou didn't
turn np Tou never turued np They
traced you to a river an empty ca-
noe— pyjamas — you know" He
stopped and sighed as though his task
were over
Tbe veins on Gerry's forehead stood
out In knots His chin rested on bis
clenched bands hla elbows on bln
knees "Alan” be said “where la
All now? What baa the doner
Alan opened bis eyguand looked at
him “She la waiting Bhe baa always
waited for you to come back She
would not believe you were dead bo-
cause of tbe boy”
“Tho boy!” groaned Gerry “What
boy!"
“Tours" Mid Alan “He la great
boy There Is a new Alls since he
came Bhe la as far from ma and
what abe was as tha stars Bbo Is a
steady star But It's all right now
Ton'll go back to her"
“1 can't” whispered Gerry hoarsely
ujoro to himself than to Alan "I’ve
got wife hero I’ve got a child hero
To me bo la my first born"
Alan’a eyea opened this time In won-
der A twisted nolle came ta bin Ups
"Tour be Mid “Tour and then tbe
mile changed to faint disgust He
turned bis bead on the pillow away
from Gerry and slept
The next morning found Gerry still
at Usher's Outside the heavenly
bowl of blua waa virgin of clouds It
stretched and domed In a sphered eter-
nity of emptiness Through Ita de-
pressing void tha auo swam slowly
pltlleMly as though It wars loath to
mark tbo paMlng minutes Tbo whole
earth baked Strong trees wilted and
turned np tbe wrong side of their
leaves on the m of beet like dying
fish turning up their wblta belllee at
tbs last gasp Not a breath of air
stirred Heat rose from tho ground In
an unbroken visible wave “My God"
said Alan gtslng with wistful far-
seeing eyes beyond tho familiar repel-
lent seen “a homeward ftvsr
parchsa np jny tongue' " There was
such an agony of longing In tbo words
that Garry waa frightened Bo looked
qneetloolngly at Lleber
“No" Mid Lleber “he'a not dying
Be was dying bat be'a ehaagod Ma
lad Be'a goiog ta go homo InataoA"
“I believe he's ' right Gerry” eald
Alan with a faint amllo “But I didn’t
change my mind He did It for me
He's In lino for a life-saving medal
Ueber's all right” Ha stopped tired
out
Lleber began to talk to Gerry
“How's tha wster In tbo ditch Mr
Lansing!"
“Mighty low” said Gerry He spoke
almost absent-mindedly For tbe first
time In months tho ditch was far from
bis thoughts
"It's hard luck" Mid Lleber "The
river's never been so low before— not
In tbo memory of man Ws do not
bear the falls any more The river la
asleep Do you want me to send my
men down again!"
"It’s no use" said Gerry "I don't
daro deepen the ditch any more It’s
’way below tho normal level now" -
Alan atlrrod “What’s that about a
ditch!"
In unhurried phrases and a low
voice Lleber told him tbo history of
Faxenda Flores since Gerry's advent
and of tha great part the ditch bad
played in bringing resurrection to the
abandoned plantation and Ufa to the
neighboring stock
Alan cast curlona glance at Gerry
“Dangerous business" be Mid “fool-
ing with tha normal level In flood
country"
Ueber nodded and went on He
told hla tala well He had seen more
than Gerry eould have put Into words
Gerry listened for a while but be toon
wearied What bad all that to do with
him now! Bo wandered off and start-
ed to saddle True Blua Ha moat get
away from Alan Alan was drawing
him but ba was bound In chains Ba
most remember that Then too what
Alan bad Mid about fooling with tho
normal level worried him Ho most
go back sad elation a guard at tha
great alutce gate
A sudden pnff of Mr then n breeae
then a gale swept down on Ueber’s
from tha aouthwest The wind was
hot a furnace blast from tbo torrid
wilderness It carried with It whirls
of dust light dry sticks and finally
small pebbles that hurtled along the
ground Gerry and hla horse sought
belter by tbo bouts Herders cams
running ont from tbelr quarters and
gathered In front of tbe veranda Tbe
wind suddenly turned cold dropped
and ceased Tha dust settled - The
an biased aa be fora There waa not
a cloud In tbo iky Tbo herders all
looked at Ueber They did not talk
They were waiting
Ueber shrugged hla abouldera
"Somewhere” be Mid with a wave of
his band to tbo southwest “there baa
been rain and ball -and that sort of
thing Temperature fell and drove
the hot air off tbo desert” He told
the men but they did not go away
They stood around their eyea sweep-
ing tbe horizon to the southwest At
last one of them grunted Hla eyea
were fixed on a distant pillar of doit
It cam towards them Lleber used
bla field glasses Without taking them
from hla eyea he ipoko “It's a man
riding Looks like be'a riding for life
Something la up He'a riding to kill
bla horse”
Aa the man approached a dull rum-
bling filled tha ears of tha watchers
So gradual waa Ita creeceodo that they
did oot notice It The rider spurred
and beat hla horse to a final effort
They could see be wae shooting He
drew nearer and they beard him
“Flood! Flood r Then they noticed
the rumbling It became a roar Far
way on tbe Portion roes a white ad-
vancing mist Tbe rider rolled off bla
staggering horse “Tha flood" ha
gasped "Never before baa there been
ueb a flood”
Before the word were out of hla
mouth there waa a frenzied rattle of
hoofs and Gerry on True Blue tore
off at a mad gallop down tba trail
towards Fazenda Flores Almost at
hla heels followed the first mounted
of the herders riding all they knew to
cut acroM to Plranhaa ahead of tha
wall of water
Lieber’s eyes followed Oerry'a flight
Then be turned them on Alan "That
hollow down there” be said "will be
turned Into a rushing river In half an
boar— perhaps less We're Just ufl
hero and that's alL You tea Mr Lan-
sing! He'a tha spot farthest down tba
tralL I'm thinking wa'U never see
him again”
A faint flush came Into Alan'a
cheeks It waa a flush of prido— prldo
In Gerry Gerry bad not hesitated
He had not ridden off llko a laggard
Even now they rould see that ba waa
riding for Ufa— riding with all bis
might for tba Uvea that shackled him
Oerry had naver ridden homo to
death before When True Blue Brat
taggered ba put spun to him and laid
on hla quirt right and left
- Tba roar of tho river waa aa load
that ha could not tall If ba had really
beaten tba flood or not though ha
could aea Just before Mm tha long
oaky ridge af tha main ditch banka
Ba nut gat on
But Tran Blua only name ta atag-
gartng atop a ad or tha qatrt With hla
forefoot ha atm markad tins aa theaflh
with them ba would drag Dla heavy
body and master one step nearer borne
From bla loins back be waa paralyzed
With a last desperate effort be
straddled bla forelegs but be could not
brace himself against tbe backward
Mg of dead weight Gerry felt him
Inking beneath him and suddenly
found himself standing over bla pros-
trate boras Of True Blue hie forefeet
outstretched bis bead and breast etlll
held high there was left only a great
plrit chained to fallen and dying
body
A cry escaped Oerry’a lips— a cry of
horror at what ba fiad done Then
be remembered why be had done It
and ran not for the sluice-gate but for
tbe bridge Ae he reached It tbe roar
became deafening There waa a splin-
tering crackling aound that meas-
ured by tbe great commotion seemed
llko tbo tinkle of a tiny bell Bat there
waa something In the sound that called
to bla brain He cast a glance over his
shoulder The monster beams of bla
lnlce-gate hurled splintered Into ths
air were still banging against tha blue
sky Under them surged an angry
white wall of racing water Even aa
be started to run down tbe long slope
to tbe house Gerry thought with a
great relief that If the gate bad been
closed It would have gone even to like
matchwood
Below him Faaenda Fiores lay peace-
ful etlll under tbe blazing tun Tbe
cotton was a little wilted but high and
strong tha cane stunted bat alive
Only jn tba pasture bottoms tha stock
had gathered In frightened dumps
Their Instinct bad told them that dan-
ger hovered near Suddenly from the
quiet Iioom buret Margarita carrying
her aon on one arm Bbo bad seen
Gerry from a window Whlla tbo oth-
ers watched the rising river and now
this terrifying torrent banting down
apon them from above aha bad slipped
out to run to him
Tbo bouse at Faaenda Flores stood
on a domed monod Behind the monad
was g slight hollow beforg the steady
rise to the bridge began Gerry caught
algbt of Margarita a she ran down
toward this hollow Terrified be cast
glance at the descending flood and
hla eye measured Ita pace against hers
“Go back!" he shouted with all tha
strength of bla lungs and waved his
arms It was as though he bad not
spoken Through tbe din and roar of
tbe flood the sound of the words scarce-
ly reached bla own Mrs
At tho very bottom of the botlow
Margarita felt that aha was stepping
In water She took her eyea from
Gerry who she thought was beckoning
to her and looked down A hurrying
rivulet wboae swift flow carried It be-
fore the churning crest of the flood
tagged at her ankles She looked up
toward theOhnndering wall of oncom-
ing water and knew that abe was lost
She stopped and fixed her eyee oo
Gerry who waa plunging down tbe
slope In a mad effort to reach her Bhe
called to him bat she knew be eould
oot hear her With arms stretched to
their highest she held np tbe Man The
Man waa not frightened Hla black
eyes were fixed on bit running father
Margarita coold fed him gurgling with
joy In tbe new game Then suddenly
he cried out It waa a wall of fright
The wall waa cut short Broken In
two It rang terribly In her ears as
abe went down
The water had felled Margarita and
tbe lisa Gerry mw them flung down
the crest of the wave They became
auddeoly a twirling sodden mass In-
animate mvs for tha fling of a loose
limb Into clearer view against tba blqo
sky or tho uncoiling of long black hair
on tha seething water
Gerry reached the torrent Marga-
rita and tba Man bad already been
whirled far towards tha great river
He plunged Into the flood The water
wae thick with earth sticks uprooted
plants and debris of every sort Con-
flicting swirling currents tugged at
heavy atones rolled them along and
sometimes even toaaad on to tha sur-
face Gerry's struggling body was burtad
hither and thither A stray current
shot him to the surface but before be
could take breath other curreots
sucked him down and dragged him
long tba rough surface of tha crum-
bling aolL Ha felt though bo wero
being tom limb from Umb
Tbea suddenly be was cast Into aa
eddy that In comparison with tha mael-
strom was almost peaceful For an
Instant be felt Uke one who awakes
from a terrible dream but with tha
sigh that trembled to hla Hpe cams
realisation
From bead to toe be waa battered
and braised His cotton clothes wero
In tatters Hla chest heaved In great
spasmodic gasps Breath whistled
through hla wracked lungs Bla eyes
protruded Bla bead ached till It
teemed on tbo verge of banting Bat
to bis mind pierced I thought sharper
than pain— tba thought of Margarita
and tha Man With clenched teeth be
struck out for the current
Far far away rose a dusty tins or
mist It marked tbe bead of tba flood—
tho meeting of weter with tho accumu-
lated duet of ralnleee months Gorry
recognised tho meaning of that line
Somewhere there U tbo turmoil of the
Brat rush of tha mad flood wore Mar-
garita sad tho Man— what waa left of
thorn Tho dlstaare dlamayod him hat
ho swam on Thea ha (sit tha (hat sy-
proaclilng end of endurance ' A sob
choked him
It waa only mtnntes till hla arms re-
fused to -answer to bla will They
moved so weakly that more thnn once
bit gasping month sank below tbe wa-
ter He (wallowed great gulps of tbe -
turgid flood Then an uprooted 'tree
brushed by him He clutched ita
branches i
When all else In tha world has
paaaed from a man’s brain there re-
mains tbe life Instinct— the will lo fight
for tbe last minute of bis allotted be-
ing Tbe life Instinct was all that atilt
Uved in Gerry It urged him to a last
effort He dragged bla body upon the
tree where tbe branches forked from
the main trunk Utterly exhausted bo
Mnk Into their embrace They held
him aa though In a cradle
The roah of tha waters began to
slacken They stretched oot over tho -valley
and crept np Its aides They did
not flow so much now as rise Tha val-
ley became a moving sea On It i flow-
ing surface beasts fowls and reptile
struggled mad-eyed for Ufa Here
and there a bloated carcass brought
down from far np tbe river blundered
blindly through tbe living and brought
creams of terror from tbe swimming
horses and gasping Iowa from tha
straggling cattle
From the middle of tbe sea rose tha
old plantation bonsa still high and dry
on Its mound It seemed very tiny —
a toy bonsa on a lonely Islet
A great open wblta umbrella lined
with green aMled gayty along It
caught In tba branches of Gerry's tree
Uprooted cotton bashes floated by and
cans snapped off sometimes tom np
In whole hills banked up against tba
tree and formed a vast unstable
Island toward which swam the delud-
ed stock
From tha month of tha cleft In the
river gorge Issued a thundering cata-
ract It bad burst through the walla
of tbs ditch and aven nnaeated a sec-
tion of tbe rocky crag against which
the sluice-fate had been buttressed
Tba ditch waa gone It could never
be again for tbe water was tearing
the channel of tho cleft deeper and
deeper Tbe turbid flood devoured tha
lit of the valley accumulated since
man waa and carried It seething out
towards the rirer The valley would
be left naked stripped of tbo source
of Ufa
Gerry's tree bad crawled away from
the main current In n vast eddy It
approached tho mound whereon squat-
ted tbe old plantation house Dona
Marla atood at tba edge of the waters
Her two hands wero clenched and held
above her gray bead Thin wlape of
hair bung about ber face Her fare
was distorted Bhe wae curling Oerry
cursing the day of hla birth the day of
hla coming the day he bad opened hla
ditch 8ha swept ber arm over tho -terrible
scene and called dowa the
curse of all tba 'ruin and death on his
bead But Gerry waa beyond hearing
In all the world there wae oone to bear
tha old woman 8ba stood alone about
her tbe alleot waters above ber the
biasing bine aky
The tree shot ont of tho eddy Tbo
current the main current from tha
cleft canght It squarely and swept It
away It suddenly shook Ita long trail
of riffraff and turning and taming
more and more swiftly swam ont on
to tba churning bosom of tbo great
river
Tbe valley had disappeared Squat-
ting oa tha very level of the far-flnng
waters the old boose still stood Tha
bright ton struck a glint of light from
Its white walls and gave rich colors to
Its most-grown tiles Tbo roof was
crowded with fowl end a strange mod'
ley of heavy flying birds glad of a
perch on which to rest Dona Maria
went Into tbo boas Bbo dosed tho
great board (hatters Tbs house looked
a if It had closed ita eyas In n last
renunciation
Gerry’s tree floated dowa tha river
It swung slowly along near the north
shorn Just below It were houses
They wero perched on tho cliff Below
them were more bouses and nndoe
these tbe tiled roofs of still other
houses Just topped tho flood Tho
bouses were what was left of Piran-
has From tha shore canoes In search
of loot began to ah oot ont on tho
quietening waters One of them hap-
pened upon Gerry’s tree and then
upon Gerry Gerry’s eyes opened and
then dosed again Ha scarcely felt
tha arms that lifted him They car-
ried him to tho old Inn tho miserable
little inn be had left behind on that
glorious morning of no long ago '
1 WWWWSWMWMitMWMrNWSW
Would It not bo n tort of
poetle Juetlee If Carry should
die now without over being
able to make nmondn to Alla
for hie dreadful suspicion and
without over seeing hla son and
hair!
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Ceylon a Crown Colony
Ceylon In often referred to aa n part
of British India but It la n crown col-
ony by Itself with an antlrely aepnratn
administration and system of euatoma
duties posts telegraphs eta It In
essentially aa agricultural country
sad ha manufactures are chiefly relat-
ed o the product o Mriculisn
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The Beggs Independent (Beggs, Okla.), Vol. 11, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, September 15, 1916, newspaper, September 15, 1916; Beggs, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc2306200/m1/3/: accessed July 7, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.