Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1874-10-16
KITTY's FORTY"

Ii QOeSll' t Go men any g00d 10 i've 1paf
from women and children. | never knew
q boys school in which there was not {
tendency to rowdyism, and lumbermen
sailors, fishermen, and other men that live
] only with men are proverbially half beal
sort of people. Frontiersmen soften down
when women and children come-but
forget myself, it is the story you want.
Burton and Jones lived in a shanty by
themselves. Jones was a married man
and finding it hard to support his wife in
Fdown east' village, he had emigrated
( to Northern Minnesota, leaving his wife
| under her fathers roof until he should be
| able to make start.'' He and Burton
had gone into partnership. and had s'pre-
empted'' town site of three hundred and
| twenty acres.
There were perhaps twenty families scat
tered sparsely over this town site at the
time my story begins and ends, for it ends
in the same week in which it begins.
The parties had disagreed, quareled and
divided their interests. The land was also
shared between them except one valuable
forty acre piece. Each of them claimed
that piece of land, and the quarrel had
grown SO high between them that the
neighbors expected them ito shoot at
sight, In fact, it was understood that
Burton was on the forty acre place. deter
mined to shoot Jones if he came, and Jones
had sworn to go out there and shoot Bur-
ton, when the fight was postponed by the
unexpected arrival Of JoAes' wife and
child
jones' shanty was not finished, and he
was forced to forego the luxury of fighting
his old partner, in his exertions to make
wife and baby comfortable for the night,
fb3Hgs Instead Of one hfl there were
four, an occurrence not. uncommon IN this
latitude, but one which always bodies a
terrible storm.
In his endeavor to care for wife and
child, Jones was Modified little, and half
regretted that he had been so viqsnt about
the piece of land; but he was determined
not to be backed down. and would GER
tainly have to shoot Burton or be shot
himself.
When he thought Of the chance Of being
killed by his old partner, the prospect was
not pleasant. He looked Wistfully at
Kitty, his two-year old child, and dreaded
that she should be left fatherless. Never
theless, he wouldn't be backed down. He
would shoot OF be shot.
While the father was busy cutting wood
and the mother was busy otherwise, little
Kitty managed to get the shanty door
| open. There was no latch as yet, and her
prying little fingers easily swung III back.
A gust Of cold air almost took her breath
away, but she caught sight of the brown
| grass without, and the new world sees@ed
so big that the little feet were fam to try
and explore it.
She pushed out through the door, caught
| her breath again, and started away down
path bordered by sere grass and the dead
stalks of the wild flowers.
How often she had longed to escape from
restraint and paddle out into the world
alone So out into the world she went
rejoicing in her liberty, in the blue sky
/ above, and the rusty prairie beneath. She
would find out where the path went, and
what was at the end OF the world. What
did she care if her nose was blue with cold
and her chubby hands red as beets. Now
and then she paused to turn her hea6
away from rude blast, a forerunner Of
the storm, but having gasped moment
she quickly renewed her brave march il
search of the great unknown
The mother missed her, but supposed
Jones, who could not get enough of The
child's society, had taken the little pet GU
with him.
Jones, poor fellow, sure that tie darling
was safe within, chopped away until tina
awful storm broke upon him, and at las
drove HIM half-smothered by snow ant
\ half-frozen with cold into the house
When there was nothing left but retreat
he had seized an armful Of WOOD and cal
ried it into the house with him, to max
sure Of having enough to keep his wife ant
Kitty from freezing in the coming awful
ness of the night. which now settled dow
upon the storm beaten. and snow-blinde'
world.
1t was the beginning of that terfibl
storm in which so many people were froze
to death, and Jones fed none too soon.
When once the wood was stacked by tn
stove, Jones looked around for Kitty. I'll
had no more than inquired for her whe
father and mother each read in the other
face the fact that she was lost in this Wllt
dasbing storm Of snow.
So fast did the snow fall and SO dark We
the night that Jones could not see thfe
feet ahead of him. He endeavored to 10
low the path which he thought Kltt
might have taken, but it was buried
snow drifts, and he soon lost himself.
He stumbled through the drifts, CALM
out to Kitty in distress, but not known
whittier he went. After al hour OF d
spairing wandering and shouting, he can
upon house, and having raped upon u
G door. he found himself face to face VII
his wife.
tn bod ra+11rna1 tn hic own house III II