The Vermont transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1864-1870, 1868-04-03
General Miscellany.
THE PRAIRIE GIRLS DUEL

by MRS. LILLE DEVEREAUN INSTEAD
Out on the prairies, almost west o.
/ shutdown, was little settlement. Fan
! around il, stretched miles and miles OF
/ Wild country, primeval forests, unex-
/ plored hills and vast plains, seemingly
/ Doundless as the ocean, and quite as
/ trac6iess. IL stood nearly under the
/ shadow OF the Rocky Mountains, last
outpost OF civilization between the Mis-
souri, and the Pacific
Life in this frontier village was not
the effeminate existence Of an eastern
city, where every pleasure is enervat-
ing, and the only excitement that OF
money-making. but 4 stirring episode.
IN which each day was crowded with in
cldent while the constant presence of
danger lent zeal to any amusement.
and wild delight 10 the pursuit Of the
hunt or the chase Here anv man s
house was built, not for display but for
safety, so that each one was little eta
del well stored with arms. for her vari-
Gus terrur~ constantly Threatened the
settlers. The red Indians. whose land
they inhabited, might at any time at
tack them, to seek, in a frightful mas
sacre, revenge for their forefathers'
wrongs from the mountains, prowling
bears watched for the lives of any who
straycd far and alone and all night the
long howl Of the wolves warned them
Of the perpetual vicinity Of q deadly
foe.
In such a community, where men and
women alike were Injured TO hardships,
and accustomed to danger, the young
girls We're more hardy than most young
men at the east. Here We're none of the
delicate bellies with fair compilations and
delicate hands, TO whom every eXeTtiOn
Is "a Weariness and labor an impossible
u, but a race OF stalwart damsels, broad
shOuldered and firmly knit in frame,
with eyes as bright as q mountain ca
glc's, skins that were DrOnZed with the
sun and wind, and hands that could
manage a rifle better than a parasol.
Among those who most eXcelledin all
emplOyments which we should cali
masculine, We're the two rival bellies Of
Rocktown, as this village was called
Aurora Field was the only child of q
widowed mother; her father had died
very soon after he brought his young
wife to this western settlement, and for
many years Mrs. Field had found it q
hard and desperate struggle to support
her young child and herself but from
the time Aurora grew up all this was
changed She early showed passion
ate ambition to learn to excel in all the
pursuits by which the settlers earned Il
living, and her persistent perseverance,
joined to great natural ability, before
long crowned her efforts with success
At twenty she had, by her own eXer-
ton, been enabled to build a cottage for
her mother and herself Her garden
was the best and most productive in the
village; the wheat in her fields seemed
greener than in any others but best of
all, Aurora was as skillful a hunter as
any in RocktOwn. Yes, this young girl
had the heart Of brave man in her vir-
gin breast, and the stories of her Prov
ess in the chase were the favorite theme
Of her friends. The rooms of her little
cottage were adorned with the spread
ing antlers of the deer she had shot. and
the packet of furs she sold to the trad
ers every spring. were most of them the
spoils of her deXterity and ingenuity
This young amazon stood a good five
feet six, with figure a. faultless as Di-
ana's, " iron-jOinted and supple-sin-
ewed.N Her face was very handsome,
for under the brown skin the rich blood
flushed out in the roses of youth and
health, her dark eyes flashed with the
laughing light of good nature and quick
intelligence and her chestnut hair hung
in thick, clustering curls, that had new
eT known hairpin or tucking comb, but
were kept trimmed for neatness and
convenience, so that they adorned her
well-shaped head like bright dark cor
onet.
Julia Dalton, the rival queen, was the
daughter of the wealthiest settler in
RocktOwn. With her no necessity had
g a.,
manage a FESTIVE horse, but the more
desire for superiority, which in her am
bilious spirit made it hard to endure
rival or acknowledge defeat She was
the darling of her fathers heart, and he
had taken great pains to teach her to
excel in all the hardy sports of the vii
lage, so that at twenty she could fire a
better shot, ride a wilder horse, and pull
a better oar on the turbid river than
any other girl in Rocktown but Aurora
Field; here she was forced to own an |
equal and III some respects a superior
Never yet had Julia outdone Aurora in |
any contest; many times, when pitted |
against each other, their success had |
been alike, but more than once Aurora |
had come out the victor, and this Julia |
could not forgive Gradually she grew
to hate with desperate dislike this girl |
who, in the midst of her triumphs, was
amiable, sending back laugh
ing reply TO every annoying word, and
generally offering to share the fruits of
her prowess with her defeated antago-
mist. Julia knew, too, that Aurora was
more of a fay0nite than she; her frank
and the dimpled smile that
was always looming around her pretty
mouth and displaying her white teeth,
made her more popular than Julia's /
more reresved address. And yet, per-
haps, Julia was, strictly speaking, the
of the two. She was an
inch taller than Aurora, and her figure
was more slender, but none the less well
Her face was faultless
oval, with features more regularly har-
than Aurora could boast; her
was dark, not from expos