Middletown transcript., 1874-07-25
Srlrtt Storp.
KITTY'S FORTY.
by EDWARD EGGLESTON.

1t doesn't do men any good to live
apart from women and children. l never
knew boys school in which there was
not tendency to rowdyism. And lum-
bermen, sailors, fishermen and other men
that live only with men are provsrbially a
half-bear sort of people. Frentiermen
soften down when women and children
come-but forget myself it is the story
you want.
Burton and Jones lived in shanty by
themselves. Jones was a married man,
but finding it hard to support his wife in
down east village, he had emigrated to
Northern Minnesota, leaving his wife un-
der her fathers roof until he should be
able to "make a start" He and Burton
had gone into partnership and had "pre-
empted" town site Of 800 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 partners had disagreed, quarrelled,
and divided their interests. The land was
all shared between them except one valua-
BILE forty acre piece. Each of them claim
ed that piece of land, and the quarrel had
grown SO high between them that the
neighbors expected them to 'shoot at first
sight" In fact, it was understood that
Burton was on the forty acre piece, 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 Jones' wife and
child.
Jones' shanty was not finished, and be
was forced to forego the luxury of fight
ing his old partner, in his exertions to
make wife and baby comfortable for the
night. For the winter sun was surround
ed by sun dogs Instead of one sun
there was four, an occurrence not uncom-
mon in this latitude but one which always
bodies terrible storm.
In his epdeavor to care for wife and
child Jones was modified little, and half
regretted that he had been so violent about
the piece of land But he was determined
not to be backed down and would certain
ly have to shoot Burton or be shot him
self.
When he thought of the chance of be-
ing killed by his old partner, the prospect
was not pleasant. He looked wistfully at
Kitty, his two year old child, and dread
ed that she should be left fatherless. New
ertheless he wouldn't be backed down.
He would shoot or 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 yet, and her
prying little fingers easily swung it back.
A gust of cold air almost took her breath
away, but she caught sight of brown grass
without and the new world seemed SO big
that the little feet were fain to try and ex-
plore 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 there was at the end of the
world What did she care if her NOSE
was blue with cold and her chubby hand.
red as beets. Now and then she paused
to turn her head away from a rude blast
fereruI->r of the storm, but, having
gasped moment, she quickly renewed
her brave march in search of the grea
unknown.
The mother missed her, but supposed
that Jones, who could not get enough o.
the child's society, had taken the littl,
pet out with him.
Jones, poor fellow, sure that the dar
ling was safe within, chopped away unit
that awful storm broke upon him, and a
last drove him, half smothered by snow
and half frozen with cold, into the house
When there was nothing left but retreat
he had seized an armful of wood and car
Rad II inin fh1 aouaa NTH him 10 mn