"You must tell me the worst, you know, Bertha," said Bart. "What do
they say at the hospital? Is father in serious danger? Will he die?"

"No," answered the sobbing girl, "he will not die, but oh! Bart--the
doctor says he may be blind for life!"




CHAPTER V

READY FOR BUSINESS


Bart Stirling stood ruefully regarding the ruins of the burned express
shed. It was the Fourth of July, and early as it was, the air was
resonant with the usual echoes of Independance Day.

Bart, however, was little in harmony with the jollity and excitement of
the occasion. He had spent a sleepless night, tossing and rolling in bed
until daybreak, when his mother returned from the hospital.

Mr. Stirling was resting easily, she reported, in very little pain or
discomfort, but his career of usefulness and work was over--the doctors
expressed an opinion that he would never regain his eyesight.

Mrs. Stirling was pale and sorrowed. She had grown older in a single
night, but the calm resignation in her gentle face assured Bart that
they would be of one mind in taking up their new burdens of life in a