All-Story Weekly, March 1, 1919 — page 101: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ap bee ie ee - a day ” over a period of fifteen years. = never fasted it.” 2 a tarre 3 is ~~ =, —_— ee, a) See et ee _—— Sees h = a i . + “ sae iS — oS sae view-point. And, being a woman, she promptly set about making reparation. Thus it happened that Colonel Gray, at headquarters, received presently a long let-. ter—unsigned and, in spite of patent la- boriousness, patently the product of a well- nigh hysterical woman—a letter that ex- plained everything. Most important, it contained the information that John Logan was in fact Jefferson Lee, a convalescent at a field hospital. attached to a designated Connecticut division. Colonel Gray dictated a letter to John Logan immediately. It advised him mere- ly of the changed address of Mrs. Jefferson Lee! The day that Mary Lawrence bade good- by to John Logan marked her promotion to a full nurse-ship. She left’him in his wheel- chair where he sat out under a budding apple-tree. She was taking ship for France in three days! She was happy. , After her came Dr. Stanton. He stood beside his prize patient and began to ques- tion him. Jefferson admitted that he had averaged probably “seven or eight drinks Dr. Stanton made a quick computation on the back of an envelope. “TY wonder,” he said, “if you have any idea how much pure alcohol that means.”’ Jefferson had never given the matter a thought. “At your own figures,” the specialist went on, “ you have taken into your sys- tem, in. 5,475 days, pure alcohol to the amount of 350 gallons—five and one-half hogsheads!”’ It was a staggering thought. Jefferson shook his head slowly in contemplation of the dreadful total. Dr.-Stanton knew his business. He proved it now. “You are cured—absolutely nared and it is permanent—if you want it to be per- manent. From now on you need have no fear of returning desire to drink. sire is absolutely gone. “In seven weeks the system is rid of the last traces of the poison. You have been almost ten weeks without a drink. You need alcohol now no more than a man ea “HAVE ON E WITH ME. The de- The specialist. paused a moment. Jef- 2 ferson gazed at him appealingly. word was music to his soul. were true! Dr. Stanton understood. ‘“ The only risk you run now,” he ex- plained, “is memory. If the memory of — that former desire gets the better of you, you will fall. ee If only it- But so long as you keep up- ~ ae permost in your mind that it is only mem- ory and not desire, you are safe.”’ Jefferson’s expression slowly changed. The specialist studied him closely. He put out his hand. ‘“ You are safe, sir,” he said. , With his discharge from the hospi came an honorable discharge from the army. He was as fit as when he enlisted— but with the passing time had come strict _ requirements by the physical examining — = board. He was constitutionally too weak to be acceptable in any branch of the service. Yet he appeared to ae a perfectly healthy — specimen! Late in the cetscea of the following day as Jefferson neared the pretty subur- ban home where the first days of kis mar- ried happiness had been spent, a big auto- mobile filled with joy-riders whirled past the house. yard. threw a whisky flask “ overboard,” sup- posing drunkenly it was empty. It fell on the grass at Junior’s feet. With boyish, mischievous curiosity, he picked it up and started for the house. on the porch, knitting a sweater, did not see him. . Through the little flower garden at the back of the house came Jefferson. through a window in the living-room he Junior was playing in the front One of the occupants of the car Peering «2 pe His mother, © a saw his son entering with the flask in his | 2 hand; saw him stick a finger in the open neck of the flask; saw him as he tilted the bottle and wet the finger; saw him as he withdrew it and started to stick it in his cherry-lipped mouth! Jefferson smashed the pane with his — walking-stick; leaped into the room, and. dashed the flask from his son’s hand. it crashed into the fireplace. The frightened child found himself crushed aaa, the & = man’s. breast. > me =~ — - os