The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1874-02-05


of woman had always ben . motiv
to valiant deeds for the right. An
how often had he dreamed Of doin
some brave thing while Patty %
Iplauded! Now, when the brav
thing offered, Patty was On the othe
side. This unexpected entsngle
ment Of motives irritstcd him, a. sucl
embarrassment always does perso,
disposed to act impulsively and /,
right lines. And so it happened tba
he rode on in moody silence, whil'
the mother, always looking for sign
of seriousness il the son, mentally re
viewed the sermon of the day, il
vain endeavor to recall some passages
that might have found a lodgmen
in his mind
Had the issue been squarely pre-
sented to Morton he might even ther
have chosen Patty, letting the inter
ests of his friend take care Of them
selves. But he did not decide il
squarely. He began by excusine
himself to himself: What could he
do for like? He had no influence
with the Judge; he had no money tc
buy the land, and he had no inhuen,
tial friends; he might agitate the
question and sacrifice his own hope,
and, after all, accomplish nothing fos
kike. No doubt all these considera.
tions Of futility had their weight with
him; nevertheless, he had an angry
consciousness that he was not acting
bravely in the matter. That he,
Morton Goodwin, who had often
vowed that he would not truckle to
any man, was ready to shut his eyes
to Captain Lumsdcn's rascality, in
the hope of one day getting his con-
sent to marry his daughter! II was
this anger with himself that made
Morton restless, and his restlessness
toek him down to the Forks that
Sunday evening, and led him to
drink two or three times, in spite Of
his good resolution not to drink more
than once. 1t was this rcstlessness
that carried him at last to the cabin
of the widow Lumsden, that evening,
to see ed Bike.
!. 'Kike wss--sixteen; one of those
sallow-skinned boys with straight
black hair that ere sees SO often in
Southern ATTITUDES. He was called
little kike' only to distinguish him
from his father, who ilsd also borne
the name Of Hezekiah. Delicate in
health, and quiet in manner, be was
a boy Of profound feeling, and his
emotions were not only profound but
persistent. Dressed in buckskin
breeches, and homespun cotton over
shirt, he was milking old Molly when
Morton came up. The fixed lines Of
his half-melanchoiy face relaxed .
little, as with smile deeper than it
was broad, he lifted himaElf up, and
said, Hello! Mort! Come in, old
fellerv al
But Mort only sat stili on Dolly,
while Kike came round and strokod
her fine neck and expressed his re-
gret that she hadn't run 1t the Forks
and beat Bill McConkey's bay horse.
He wished he owned such an animal.
Never mind; one of these days,
when / get little stronger, will
open that crick bottom, and then /
shall make some money and be able
to buy a blooded horse like Dolly.
Maybe it'll be colt Of Dolly's, who
knows?'
And Kike smiled with a half-hope-
fulness at the vision Of his impend-
ing prosperity. But Morton could
not smile nor could he bear to tell
like that his uncle had determined
to seize upon that very piece of land,
regardless Of the air-castles Hike had
built upon it. Morton had made up
his mind not to tell Kike. Why
should he? like would hear Of his
uncle's fraud in time, and any men,
tion on his part would only destroy
his own hopes without doing any
thing for Kike. But if Morton meant
to be prudent and keep silence, why
had he not staid at home? Why
come here where the sight Of Kike's
slender frame was a constant provo
cation to speech. Was there a self
contending against self?
Have you got over your chills
vet /? asked Morton.
No. said the ack-haired boy, a
little bitterly. Il was nearly well
when l went down to Uncle Enoch's
to work, and he made me work in
the rain. Come, Kike,' he would
say, jerking his words and throwing
them at me like gravel, get out in
the rain, it'll do you good. Your
mother has ruined you keeping you
over the fire; you want hardening.
Rain is good for you-watcr makes
you grow; you're perfect baby
/ tell yon, he come plaguey nigh put
tin finishment to me, though.
Doubtless what Morton had drunk
at the Forks had not increased his
prudence. As usual in such cases,
the prudent Morton and the impulsive
Morton stood the one over against
the other; and, as always the inn
prudent self is prone to spring up
without warning and take the other
by surprise, to now the young man
suddenly threw prudence and Patty
behind, and broke out with:
your uncle Enoch is a rascal,
adding some maledictions, for cmpha-
sis, not printed.
That was not exactly telling what
he had resolved not to tell, but it
rendered it much more difficult to
keep the secret, for Kike grew a lit
tie red in the face and was silent a
minute. He himself was fond OF
roundly denouncing his uncle, but
abusing ones relations is a luxury
which Is labeled strictly private,
and this savage outburst from his
friend touched Kike's family pride q
little.
i know that as well as you do,
was al he said, however.
He would swindle his own chill.
dren,' said Morton, spurred to greater
vehemence by Kike's disrelish of hil
invective. He viii chisel you out oi
everything you've got before you're
of age, and then make the settlemen,
1 II n q