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the only girl at overlook by fb snklin fife in n y heeald chapieb i m1bv warriskk two names were used for the only girl at oterlook in addressing her the men of the plaoe always said miss warriner in mentioning her they often said mary mite the reason for this distinctive difference was revealed by the sight of miss mary warri- ner herself as she sat on a high stool behind a rude desk under a roughly boarded shelt er and with rapid fingers clicked the key of i telegraphic instrument there was a peijljat poiao of quiet eelipossetslon which wotrive been very impressive dignity in an cider and bigger person and which although here limited by eighteen years and one hundred pounds still made a demand for respectful treatment therefore the men when in her presence never felt like calling her anything else than v miss warrl- ner if she had been less like a stately damsel in miniature and more like each a ohlld as she was in sz only if her employ ment had been something not so near to science as that of telegraphy and not so far off from juvenile simplicity i her brown hair had been loosely curled instead of olose ly coiled and if her skirts had stopped at her ankles instead cf reaching to her feet then she might have been nicknamed mary mite within her own hearing as she was beyond it by those who described her small- ness in a sobriquet there may have been a variance of opinion among those dwellers at overlook who had nude any estimate of her composure but if there was one who believed ttiat she merely assumed a reserve of manner because she was among two hun dred men he had not yet tried his chances of exceptional acquaintance 0 verlook was crud o and tomporary the inhabitants were making a roadbed for a new railway at a spot where the job was extraordinary requiring an uncommonly large proportion cf brain the brawn in the snpposa no work those who were mental laborers in ness the remarkable feat of engineering or were at least bosses of the physical toll were the ones who had errands at the telegraphio shed and for whom mary cent and received messages over the wires the isolated colony of workers was a hundred miles deep in a wilderness of mountain and forest but not a many seconds c istant measured by the time necessary for electrical communi cation from the construction oompanys headquarters in a great oity must you wait for an anbwer mary said sb she clicked the last word of a mes sage its an hour since your first telegram went and they seem in no hnrry to reply polite icdiffetonce and nothing else was g in her dear gentle voice there was neither boldness nor shyness in the eyes that opened wide and blue as she lifted them from the vapor to the man whom sbe questioned there was no mora of a smile than of a pout on the month that worded the inquiry she did not indicate the faintest interest as to whether h went or stayed although she did suggest that he might as well go id rather lounge here if you dont mind was gerald heaths answer here the alertness of the plaoid girl was faintly shown by a quick glance bub it was so furtive that the subject of her wariness did not know his face was being scrutinized and she was quickly convinced that she was not the cause of his remaining for he said ill tell you im anxious about the telegram and in a hurry to get it gerald heath had been lazily leaning against tho makeshift desk of ths telegraph er as he waited and for pastime had whittl ed the smooth birch sapling that formed its outer edge he had ohipped and shaved after the manner of those to whom a sharp pocketkrife and a piece of wood provide a solace there had been no conversation exoept a frw words concerning the message but now he heightened himself to six feet by standing ereot and took on the outlines of a magnificent physique his proportions had not been realized before by tho girl at the other side of the counter she compre hended too that if his somewhat unkempt condition were changed to one which in cluded a face cleaned of stubble beard a suit of modish clothes to replaoe the half worn corduroys and tho shine of a bilk hat and polished boots at his now dusty ex tremities he would beppme a young gentle man whose disregard might be an appreci able slight that was the conclusion which ehe readi ed without any visible sign that her oareless eyes were conveying any sort of impression to her mind as it was he looked an un usually burly specimen of the mon to whom isolation from oity life had imparted an as pect of barbarians before ho had uttered another word she realized that he waa wholly engrossed in the matter of his telegrams and had no thought of the individuality of tho lis toner not only was ehe not the thing that made him wait but she might as well have been old ugly or a man if only she had ears to hear in waa a sucumar afternoon and the clear balmy weatber was seasonable the remov al of protective canvas had left the struct ure an open shed over the iront of whioh hung the bought of the two trees against whose massive trunks it leaned gerald heath reached up with both hinds and held the foliage aside do you get an unobstructed view he aid now ive helped lay out railroads through many a plaoe where it was a shame to let trains go faster than a mile aday- pve surveyed r putet that ought to provide pedal trains for passengers with eye in their heads trains with speed graduated betwesnslxtyl miles an hour and sixty hours a mile it an outrage od nature and art that travellers should ver be whisked past overlook- without a good chancy to sea what were looking at thats why i wrote to the- prvi sldent of the company a month ago telling him how a sllqht deviation from the survoy ed line would enable passengers to get whats favour view now i ho asked how muoh the line would be lengthened by my -ian- a hundred yards i answered and submitted a map showing how the tracks after coming out from the tunnel might tnake a small detour to this very spot in stead of going behind a macs of rocks that will completely hide this and a compre hensive gesture of one arm followed ms sweep of vision places that get their names on impulse are apt to havo appropriate ones camps of railway makers in a hitherto unbroken country are not often miscalled an ensuing town on the same site may bo unmeaningly entertain named as a permanency but the inspirations dent that afford transient nomenclature are usually descriptive it was so fa the case of overlook the railway tunnelled through the mountain and emerged at a height of a thousand feet above a wide valley mary had daily and all day long sat overlooking tb prospeot n i bad astonished and enchvited her at first bur familiarity had blunted the keen ness of her appreciation as shown to her anew it was like fresh disclosure gerald heath st ood holding the boughs aside whioh otherwise obscured a part of theview heap peared to feel that if he was not the painter of this enoimous landscape he at least had the proprietary interest of a discoverer and it was with something of the air ot an art collector proudly extolling his choicest pos session that he turned his eyes from it to mary warriner- j the expression of admira tion onber face although quiet and delicate was qoite satisfactory for a moment only and then the delight passed out of her visage as though expelled by some physical pang it was the suddenness of ths change forit was of itself very alight hat made it per ceptible gerald instinctively turned to lack for the cause into the picture bad come a human figure a few yards in front of the hut stood a man in relation to the landscape far beyond he was gigantic and the shade of the trees made him devilishly buok by contrast with the sunlight of heaven that illumined the rest he was thus for an instant in silhou ette and it chanced that his sharp outlines included a facial profile with the points of a moustache and beard giving satanio sug gestion to an accidental attitude of malicious intrusion the illusion was almost startling but it was momentary and then the form became the commonplaoe one of tonio rwolli who walked under the shelter do a i eentrudo he asked with an italian accent and an italian bearing v i eh thece ees a plaoa bees- marys small departure from a business like perfunctory manner ended at once she took the scrap of paper which bavelli laid on her desk and without a word trans lated its writing into telegraphio clicks i ber was reproduced in the fresh pale wood gerald looked like a man receiving a jurys verdict involving great pecuniary loss il not one of personal condemnation as he listened to the telegram zvt ees whata i theenk remarked bavelli with insolent elation yon ar-re- onea fool as z president be say gerald was already angered by the des patch the taunting epithet was timed to excite him to fury which he impulsively spent opon the more immediate provoker he seized bavelli by the throat but with out choking him and almost instantly let him go as though ashamed of having assailed a man oi not more than half his own strength and nearly twice his age with italian quickness bavelli grabbed geralds knife from the desk against which he was flung he would have used it too if selfdefence had been necessary but he saw that he was not to be further molested and so he concealed the weapon under his arm while gerald strode away unaware of his escape from a stab he is a one beeg bully said bavelli with forced composure eef a lady had- a not been here sfs you tormented him the girl interrupt ed i once saw the best nuured mastiff in the world lose his temper and turn on a she stopped before saying cur and added instead if he was foolish you were not very wise to tease him he iaa what to you zt you takea hees parti r st she bit her lips in resentment but made no reply parehaps he is onea lover oof you still she would not reply to his impertin ence that angered him more than the severest rejoinder would have done j ob i am anre a zt he ees one suitor she gave way at length to his provocation and yet withont any violent words for she simply said you are insulting while he is a least reasonably polite when he heeds me at all whioh isnt often not a often but some what olosely he heedr you see zit with an open palm he strnok the plaoe on the sapling where gerald had whittled the spot was on the outer edge where mary could not aoo it from her seat she went round to the front of the primitively con structed desk or high counter to gratify her curiosity there she saw that gerald had carved a hand her own hand as she instant ly peroeived the small and shapely mem- bivelli was a sub contractor and this was one of his frequent communications with officials at tho companys city office the response was likely to be immediate and he waited for it i i to get the full value of this view gerald heath resumed and now he ad dressed himself to mary directly as though with almost a purpose of ignoring bavelli to whose greeting ho had barely responded you need to come upon it suddenly as i once did we had been for months blasting and digging through the mountain every days duty in that hole was like a spell of imprisonment in a dark damp dungeon and yonr men bwelli looked like a chain gang of convicts you woulda no daresay so mooch to theirs facos bavelli retorted with an in solence that was unmistakably intentional oh i didnt mean a reflection on them said usrald disregarding tho others quar relsome aggressiveness we all look rascal ly in the mud drip and grime of tunnel work and your gang of swarthy italians are bound to have a demoniao aspect under ground j t it was more carelessly than intentionally that gerald thus provoked bavelli there had been dislike between them growing out of friction between their respective duties as a civil engineer and a sub contractor for the firmer was necessarily a critic of thelatters work but they had never quarrelled and gerald saw nothing on this occasion as bavelli seemed to for any outbreak of tem per bettare be oivvil with your tongue rwolli sneered well i think so too as we are with a lady v zit ees whya i inaeeat yon treata mo as one gentleman r so it seemed that he was especially regard ful of how he figured in the presence of mary warriner i itflmfi i like one gentleman qh i will treat yrv like two gentlemen so politely and gar aid began to again nonchalantly whittle the birchen pole i wa iroing to tell how when at last wo broke through he rojk at this end of tho tunnel i happoneu whs right there a blast tore ont anapertuits siveral feet wide we saw daylight tbroogb me smoke we rushed pellmell over the broken atone and struggled with one another to get through first it was why it waa you- bavelli wasnt it whom i tussled with yes we got into the breaoh together you tried to push me back yon couldnt of course you couldnt and the nairatora reference to his own superior strength was exasperatingly accompanied by a glance not free from oon- tempt eat was a all ccn fun rwolli smiling ly explained to mary and then his eyes turned dsrkly upon gerald eiof eet had a been one earnesc fight the different result was vaguely indicted by a hard clinch of sets and a vloious ornnoh of teeth it was beyond a doubt that bwelli opuld not bear to be belittled to mary bnt she and gerald were alike inattentive to his exhibition of wrath no prisonor was ever more exultant to escape heath went on than i was to get out of that dark jj noisome hole into clean sunlight i ran to this very spot and well tbp landscape was on view just as it is now stcjwas like getting from gloom into glory tho young mans exuberant words were npt spoken with muoh enthusiasm and yet they had surniient earnestness to prove their sincerity ho had stopped whittling and his knif s lay on the desk as he turned bis back against the sapling and rested both elbows on it f so ive been writing to the president of the company urging him to defleot the route a trifle so that passengers might come out of toe tunnel to see a landscape worth a thou sand miles of special travel and- to be had by going less than as many feet this is the very latest day for changing the survey tomorrow will be too late that lawny pro telegraphing so urgently click click olickl mary wont to the telegraphio instrument she delivered the message by word of month instead of tak ing it down fa the usual manner with a pen gerald heath overlook she translated from the metallio language of the instru ment your idea is foolish we cannot it henry deckerman presi- with rare fidelity she had unconsciously posed it while working the key of the tele graphio instrument under the jick knife sculptors eyes and there had been ample time for him to whittle a fab simile into the birch he is almost as impertinent as you are she aaid and turned to eee how bivelli took the comment bat bavelli had disappeared then being alone sho laid a hand of her own ccquettishly alongside its wooden counterpart and critically admired the like nesa it was an unwarranted liberty she said to herself bnt he did it very well the delicate fibre of the wood had favored the cirvere purpose the imitation hand bore a shade of futtery in the barley tinted birchen white and in the fire grained satin smoothness that the keen blade had wrought but this waa not too much for more than a reasonable compliment as to the model ling that waa sincerely accurate and the fingcra rested on the key precisely as mary had seen them during many hours of many days it is an excessively vain girl who admires herself as actually as she does a portrait and the telegrapher really saw more beauty in the birohen band than she had ever observed in the live one aa she con templated io bavelli returned noiselessly behind her iawiah to bay somejhing mses warriner the itillan accent of rwolli grated with unnatural harshnesa on marys ears and if he had been an intruder upon her privacy instead of a man in a really publio place aho would not have been surprised into a deep flush she snatched her hand away from its wooden counterpart and clasped it with its mate behind ber as she leaned her shoulder gainst the carving to hide it if you havo a message to send sho said i cant get it on the wire too soon its within five minutes of tho time to shnt off f sbe started to go behind the desk he stopped her with a touch upon her shoulder and she shrank away reprovingly although it was solely the mans earnestness that had made him do it nono- it ees not words for a ze wire zit 1 have a for yon ho said i wiaha to tell to yoursolf something will you leeatenl i yes if it is something that i ought to hear theeaccz it i am a more than i seem here deefe rent so deefe rent you would hardly know a me in zs place i am only a oontraotor for zi laborer i am a as com mon as my gang ina slothes ina manner too eh but een one hour een one minute i coulda conveence you zit i am a some thing finer mary did not snow in her perfectly re gained composure that she waa so much pozzled by the mans enigmatic talk she said jj i dont see bow it could be worth while mr rivelli oh yes i bega pardon for ze con- tradlottion yes it ees worth a while away from a hero mary i wonld a be so deeferent zit you a love me stop mr rivelu stop i the command was positive bnt it was not obeyed 9 i i love a you 1 ho oaught her by one wriat aa ho began she was utterly nnreslstaat if she had struggled or cried on j he would have gone on with his voluble excited declaration but her placidity was incomprehensible to him i mr bavelli she began after a moment yon understand english t perfectly mees warriner well here is plain english for you i would use italian if i could so that yon mightnt mistake me you ro to let go of my hand he did it you are to go awy instantly and never come here again except on business go at onoe that he did not do for whata did you come here into one camp oof men eef if i didnt expect to be unsafe ill tell you it was a mistake operator number nine was ordered to this post number nine had been a man who had within a week been dischargedand his number given to me by an oversight no alteration was made fa the record to show the sex of the new number nine i oooldnt afford to lose the work b aides well svbesldes besides i reasoned that every man at oterlook would protect me against all the other men if yes eef yea if i cjred absolutely nothing for any single one of them therefore 1 am not afraid but you most not annoy me i fury fltshed into the mans eyes into his reddened face into the sudden tension of his gripped hands the girls contemptuous indifference maddened him she saw this and waa at onoe alarmed for she realized that here was a reckless lover one who heated dangerously where another would have chilled under disdain but she main tained an unshaken voice as she said you may as well know however that i am amply protected the night watchman is ordered to indude this combined office and residenceof mine fa every round he makes so i sleep quite unconcernedly in the day time too x shall have defence if it becomes necessary oh have no alarm mees warriner and the mans facial expression softened singularly as be gized wistfully at the girl i haf said i lovea you then with a atartline quick transition he glared menac ingly off in the direction that garald heath had gone lb seemed curious to mary too that in hia rage his english was clearer than usual as he growled it is your lover that shoud be afraid of me he sung out one fist in a fierce menace and added in italun v nelvindicarvi wsoono chtgli mi rends la sua vita chapter ii tus klour and haky warrinkr the full moon looked for mary warriuers little house that night aa soon as a clearance of the sky permitted and then beamed down on her abode effu gently but it was eleven oclock before the gusty wind blew ths thick clouda aside and let the orb illuminate overlook back of the ahed fa which the ttlegrapher worked by day was a structure in which she slept at night it was built of slabs with big growing trees to form ita irregular corners and their lowest limbs contributed tho rafters while stripped bark and evergreen boughs made the roof tho foliage swayed above in the fitful wind and covered the cabin and the grass around it with commingling separat ing capering shadows of leaves aa though a multitude of little black demons were try ing to get to the alnmberer within their antica looked spiteful and angry at first but as the wind lessened to a bretzj and aa tho moon seemed to mollify them they became frolicsome without malice and at length when the merest zephyrs impelled their mo tions they gambolled lazily good humored- ly above and around the oouoh of mary mite it was midnight when a man shot into the open space around the cabin like a missile he ran first to the front of the struoture where a tarpaulin curtained the ahed for the night and gizad for a moment blankly at this indication that the hour was not one of business tremendous haate waa denoted in his every step and gesture he plucked twice at the canvas as though to pull ft down then he skurriod around to the single win dow of marys apartment whose only door opened into the abed and ponnded with hia knucklea on the ill fitted sash making it clatter loudly silence within followed this noise without hello i wake up i he oried dont fool for a minute wake up i tnere was no response and he skipped to and fro in his impatience he was an ordinary shoveller and pounder with noth ing to distinguish him from the mass of manual laborers at overlook but unlike the usual man with an errand at the telegraph station flourished a scrap of paper 1 want to telegraph i he shouted and struck the window again get up quiok i its life and death 1 mary warriner was convinced that her services were urgently and properly requir ed she peeped warily ont to inspect the man estimated him to be merely a mes senger and then opened wide the aish which awung laterally on hinges her delicate face ooie the same sort of calm that characterized itduring business hours but the moon shone on it now the hair had got loose from the bondage of knot and pin and for an outer garment sheiwas carelessly ei wrapped in a white fleecy blanket tho man did nut givo her time to inquire what was wanted youre the telegraph girl aint you ho exclaimed well heres something to telegraph tta in a hurry hurry hurry dont loso a minuto i couldnt send it tonight mary said you musk vjjvj i p isnt possible there is nobody at the other end of the line to receive it the wire is private belonps to the railroad oompany isnt operated exoept in the day time youll have to wait until to mor row v to morrow ill be hundred years old or else dead the man almost wailed in des pair what i was only ten years old yesterday to night im- sixty tomorrowll be too late here here send it tonight miss piease send it tonight the mystified girl mechanically took the piece of paper wbioh he thrust into her hands bnt her eyes did not drop before they discovered the toss- ity in his face and when they did rest npon the paper they saw a scrawl of hieroglyphics it was plain that this midnight visitor was a maniao against overlooks civil and sane men mary had entrenched herself oonfi lently behind her apathy but with the round of the dook she bad been beset by agreeable sentiment by violent passion and now by irrational delusion 8uo screamed for help a watchman responded almost instantly to her call he was a stalwart fellow em ployed to guard the oompanys tools and ma chinery against mischief at night and bis patrol slnco mary inhabited the cabin had brought him very frequently past the plaoe he chanced to have como almost there when he heard the outcry upon seeing the cause of the girls fright he dropped all perturba tion of his own and treated the inddent as a matter of course the lunatic wobbled like a drunken man about to collapse as be mumllod his request over and over again here now eph tho watchman said with as much of cajolery as command you mustnt bother the young lady aint you ashaned to soareher this way get right out of this the watchman took the other by the arm and aa they started off one insisting one objecting the official looked back to say he wont hurt nobody miss warriner hes just a little cranky thats all mary watched them out of sisht and while she was doing so gerald heath ap proached from the contrary direction he had heard the girls scream wby he was within earshot he might not have been able to explain satisfactorily for it was not bis habit to take midnight walks even when the air waa so brightly moonlit and so tempora rily fine j but if cross questioned he would doubtless have maintained that he had sought onlyto escape from the darkness and- closeness of his shanty quarters besides where would he so likely wander fa quest of good sight and breath as to the spot whence he could view tne scenery which he in vain asked the railway company to exhibit to their passengers as he turned the corner of the cabin he saw eph and the watchman departing and comprehended the disturbance eph has been frightening yon mist warriner he said mary acreamed again but thla time it waa a low musical little outcry of modesty she had not observed geralds approach she clutohed the blanket closely around her- whlte throat which had been almost as much exposed as by an ordinary cut of frock and drew under cover the gleaming wrists which had all day been bired to a greater extent bysleeves of handy working length then she reached out one taper arm and swung the sash around on ita hinges so its inner oovering of muslin made a screen between her and the visitor he did not apologzo for his intrusion and the pouted a little on her bate bide of the sash at his failure to da i see it was eph that alarmed yon said he what did he do she told him and then asked who is ho and what ails him he is a common laborer with an uncom mon effliotibn was the reply one day an excavation cavod in and for an hour ho was burled some timbers made a little apace around his head but the rest of him waa paoked in earth he had breathed the inclosed air two or three timea over and was almost suffocated when we got him out he waa insensible he never came bjok to hia senses he believes he is living at the rate of more than a year every hour that is why he was in such a hnrry with his imagin ary message poor fellow i came from the obverse side of the sash yes poor fellow the narrator assent ed i understood ma hallucination at once when a man la suddenly placed in mortal peril his past lite dashes before him half drowned men afterward tell of review ing in a minute the events of yeara it is a curious mental phenomenon well this poor chap bad that familiar experience bus with a singular sequence the impression that all his lifetime before the accident hap pened in a brief time has remained in his disordered mind he believes that hia whole earthly existence la condensed that future years aa well aa his paat ones are compressed into days and his days into minutes nothing oan disabuse him of this idea everything is to him ephemeral thats why i named him eph short for- ephemeral you see he doesnt remember his real name and on the roll he had only a number he has done his work well enough nntil within a few days but now hia malady seems to have tnrned to the worst he has talked wildly of getting soae physicians to oheck the speed of time with aim and it may have been that he wished to telegraph to this fancied expert it is singular mary said and very sad to bk continued wet the b0pe3- how the great egyptian obelisk was fle vated in koine in the year 1581 the egyptian obelisk weighing 1000000 pounds was raisedin the square of st peters borne pope sixtus v proclaimed that no one should utter a word aloud until all danger was passed slowly it rises inoh by inch foot by foot until the taik is almost completed when the strain becomes too great the huge rope yields and slips toe workmen are dis mayed and fly wildly to escape the impend- ing disaster suddenly a voice b eikes the silence wet the ropes rings ont cleartoned aa a trumpet there on a high post standing on tiptoe his eyes glittering with excitement is one of the 800 workmen a sailor named 1 bresca di s kemo his appearance startles everyone bnt his words inspire he is obeyed the ropes swell and bite the stone the column osoends again and fa a moment more stands securely on its pedestal and the daring sailor la forgiven a boardinghouse surprise dishley queer things people discover when they are living at boarding housea at dinner at my boarding louse yesterday i stuck my fork into a pieoe of pie and brought np a collar button that i loso a week ago hnagga thats nothing i lifted off the top of my strawberry bborteake at my boardinghouse yesterday and what do yon suppose there was in it disbley i give it up a silk umbrella perhaps snaggs no sir strawberries dashtey incredulously aw what are you giving me american be joined the salvation army mrs stubbfas whats the matter neighbour yon took as though waa in a peok o trouble mr jobbles if s that boy o mine mrs stubbins his gains on is downright awful mrs stubbins ah well boys will be boys as the sayin is wots he done now mr jobbles bin and jined the solva tion army mrs stubbins oh the ardenod young willafa what he was wanted por valet ringing up the dootor at 11 30 pm councillor m sonde his compliments and desires you to come to him at ones dootor en desbabile good gracious i what is the matter with him valet he wants a fourth hand for a rub ber of wnlst gttt r