Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1873-08-07

his love in his eloquent style? And then
Louisa laughed wicKedly at the prospect,
| and decided that if he was enough in love
| to do thus and thus, it would be safe for
her beyond a. peradventure to take her
own time about making up, to show SUI
preme indifference to his regard No more
heart than an adder, indeed! What was
it, then, that ached so, day after day, as
the dull, cold November wind sighed
| about the house and touched the neighbor.
ing pines into Eolian harps and swept up
the dead leaves only to scatter them again ?
Why was she always straining her eyes
down the frost-whitened country road ?
| And what was it that trembled in her bo-
som whenever speck appeared against
the frosty sky? But Louisa had reckoned
without her host. Ben was not the man
who was fond of reiterating love that
had been received SO coldly. He didn't
mean to leave the woods till March, if ne
could hold out SO long. Moreover, it was
Mr.. Bruce himself who proposed to go
| back with the oxteam and bring the sup
plies and hire the men.
II don't feel quite right about the head"
said he, "and want Louisa to cosset me.
Then I'll go out to Shopton and see Scales
and Weight about the supplies, and be
back before you and 81 have eat up all
| this ere vituals."
Call right, sir" said Ben, smothering a
twinge of disappointment which he
| wouldn't own to himself. "We'll get the
howell ready for the cattle while you're off,
| and take tramp through the woods and
spot the best timber for telling"
there's enough to do" said Uncle
! Simon. you'll be back in five days,
say!"
"If I'm lucky. How's the stores, 81 ~
they are. But the sooner you get back
the better. It'll be a sight easier for you
| if you can manage to get up before a
heavy snow comes. You, see, we haven't
had anything but spits yet though maybe
we're going to hev an open winter"
CAY, ay," answered Mr.. Bruce, as he
| drove off through the woods with his OK
team. provisions for week, eh 2
That'll tide We over, reckon. There's a
sight of work to be got through with in a
weeks time. There's the supplies to be
got, and the hands to be hired: femme see
five cutters, two transfers, and cook
that's about it, and to hev 'em ready to
start when / do, and l amt so young as
was. Heyday, it's rub and grind a lum.
berman's life isl"
Alas there was more work to be gotten
| through with in weeks time than Mr.
| Bruce had an inkling of; so much that il
| ran over into the next week, as work has
| a trick of doing.
When Louisa saw that it was only her
old father trudging along with the return
| ing OK team her mercury went down to
zero in half a second. She saw before
her weary three months of loneliness
| and longing, and she saw, too, that she
deserved it,
"It's deuced cold day for an old man"
said Mr.. Bruce, shivering before the wood
| fire, as if there should have been special
sets of weather created to suit customers.
| whats that you've got cooking on the
crane, Lu? Stew? amt got no more APP
petite than bear in August Brindle
and Trot were slow as cold molasses
they've seen their best days, Ireckon, like
their master. Wish I'd snapped 'em to
Dunn for the yearlings and boot; 1t would
hev bin good bargain. ST sent his love
to you, Lu. I've got cold. 1 reckon
I'll turn in and sleep it off"
"They oughtn't have let you come,,'
said Lu, Indignantly, as she carried him
a bottle of hot water for his feet. "Uncle
81 or Ben ought to have come instead"
1T want their fault; thought could
drive better bargain with the hands
Ben said he'd come in my place, but his
heart want set on it," which assurance
in no wise comforted Louisa.
Mr.. Bruce was restless all night, and in
the morning was out of his head, and
didn't know his right hand from his left,
and called Louisa Ben, and asked grand
ma to put the oxen into the cart, mistak
ing her for Uncle Simon. And Louisa
half frightened to death, jumped upon
old Roan's back and galloped all the way
to ShOpton for the nearest doctor.
"Ahem! Nothing more nor less than a
fever" said he, the instant he laid eyes on
Mr.. Bruce.
as he dangerousg" asked Louisa.
Dangerous Oh, l guess he'll pull
through. I'll leave this prescription, and
be round to morrow. There's Mr.. Ma
verick, of the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS tavern
at our place-had the same symptoms a
week ago, and he's about today. There's
no telling about these things; different
constitutions take diseases differently
At least, you needn't be alarmed at
present GSod-morning," with an empha
sis on the good. Louisa thought 1t was
anything but a good-morning, after the
/ COullOIt VI pIOiCSSIOuhi PiCSChSS Wos
withdrawn. But the next day her father
was no better, nor yet the next, though
the doctor assured her that he was doing
as well as could be expected, whatever
that might be.
Louisa was too busy, and weary with
watching and nursing, cooking and look
ing after the house, and seeing to grand
mas cold, and keeping order and quiet
among the children, to take note of the
sick mans delirious words, though he
was constantly talking about the camp,
sixty miles away-where her own
thoughts wandered whenever she had
time to think them-bargaining with i'm
aginary teamsters, haggling with Scales
and Weight over groceries, and repeating,
provisions for a week, for o week., for
a week" and counting the days on his
fingers and losing the count, and begin
ming over again and again, as If it were
a puzzle upon the solution of which his
life depended And so the fever ran to
the ninth day and turned, and the patient
fell into quiet sleep, and awoke too
weak and languid to put words together,
or to remember anything but that he had
suffered fearful nightmare and it was
Il IL l.