Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1883-09-21
ssrhey'ra orphans now, and I
into the night, :
made 'em sar''.

anso sns llsh y, 1hey 70 su LOW, sslia
| Drawn back some paees from the adwsy,
close to the trunk Of tali pine tree, some dis
4 lance from the sturdy settlement Of Squatter's
Gaich, was one Of those huge, nnaainiy re
iIieles which, in thsseariy days of pioneering.
were known as prairie schooners. Near by,
dimly seen through the darkness, were two
| leap, unhappy looking horses, browsing in q
| helpless way upon the scant heritage which
the place afforded. At the foot Of the tree q
heap Of smouldering embsrs showed that there
had been small fire earlier in tae night This
| was the scene in which Chambers peered half an
hour after the tragic occurrence 1 have just
described. For a long time he sat, thought
1ully ADD silently, npon the pole Of ths wagon.
So far. as any sign of his was concerned, he
| might have been asleep. Possibly he was 60
ing over the events of the evening Perhaps
| DC was framing a scheme for the future.
When moro than an hour had thus slipped
! by, he came ont Of his revery, and arose to his
| feet Thomas Chambers was methodica man.
For years he had plodded along in quiet, care
worn manner, accomplishing nothing that any
| of his companions conld discover, but mover
complaining OF i'll fortune or pain. Men sup
posed he must have money He lived we'll,
but unobtrusivelv, and he never had difficulty
in meeting his obligations. To the suffering
he was always kind Indeed, the local clergy
man. who found but few sour grapes in his
|
| ders could be relied upon, when charity was
needed, to give as literally az q gambler. But
| there WIS no ostentatoD about him. He lived
| ny method. He arose and went to bed at GER
| tain hours, he ate atprescrbed times, and he
ank his four glasses of whisky every
day as regularly as he breabhed. His was
| a purely matar-of-fa fact life. Whatever
| bad luck came 70 him-and it was altogether
| out Of proportion 10 his good forune--he ac-
cepted it without word Of complaint If, as
Nr:ll rfa 0non ta 1,oi ,o1,
| tnan ordinarily pleasant luck, there was never
sign Of jubiIatlou in his conduct. He rarely
talked, saving when words were absolutely
| necessary. What he had to do no did, and he
! made very little fuss aboutit
When Chambers arose from his position upon
the pole OF The wagon, his first operation was
to pile a few sticks Of wood upon the Goals. In
little while there was a blaze, which, after
sputteriny q moment, gave OUT considerable
light This illumination, or the sound of
Chambers foosstep about the place, apparently
| aroused some degree of life inside the wagon,
for there was sli hit movement, and then q
| childish voice, rather petuant in it's tone,
said:
. .'Ihe old man, spose-,dog, gone him"
viously that Of lad ''or you'll get another
larrupin' IF he's full, he's sassy
Glanders leaned against the tree, and all be-
came quiet again. For the second time since
he had arrived upon this scene he fell to
LbluhAuS, auu, us DelOIe, Ills Itu6ctlOuS were SO
absorbing that he lost all consciousness of
what was passing around him. He did not
evon notice hat the canvas flap Of the wagon
Was raised. and that two very big blue eyes
were psering cautiously through the aperture
thus formed 1t was entirely without his
knowledge that tho owner of those curious
eyes stole out of the wagon and crep5 slyly
toward him. Not until she spoke was he aware
of her presence.
''Where's tho old man." were the first words
Chambers heard.
They startled him eighty, and he looked
earnestly into the young face that was upturnea
to his. Perhaps it was the Pickering Of the
freight that caused the quick shade that fell
across his face. Put it looked like an express
sion of pain. The girl, annoyed at his silence
went on, ilnpetuously:
Don't you hear? What in blazes is tho
matter Of you? Where's the old man?"
down the gulch," replied Chambers, slowly
and with some d fficulty.
"Oh," said the girl, with an odd mixture Of
sarcasm and curiosity He sent you up to
be homo till he got good and ready-didn't he?
Told you to tell US to look sharp, or he'd lick
both Of US when he got home, I reckon
hey?"
i'Does he beat you, then?" asked Chambers,
with weak attempt at evasion.
sDoes he? Now you just bet he does And
I've got my opinion Of big loafer that ticks q
little gal like me, what can't help herself. Some
day he'll wake up the wrong outfit, and then
he'll get put under the daisies with his boots
on--you hear me?"
Glanders did hear her, and he shuddered
But he was strangely attracted by the big eyed,
rough spoken little girl, who stood there look
ing him in the face and ejecting her words
with an energy thai would have been ludicrous
under other circumstances. She was slender
curly and light, and it fell in a tangled mass
over her forehead and neck. She was poorly
clad, and her brown feet had long been stran-
gars to the cramping influence Of shoes There
| was touch Of great pity in Mr.. Chambers
eyes as he looked at this child standing there
in the freight and regarding him hNedly.
''Come here" he said, after 8 while; ''come
here and talk with me. I want to ask you some
questions"
He went over and sat down again upon the
poe Of the wagon. The girl looked at him a
moment without moving. Clearly her first i'm
| pulse was to resent his suggestion. But that
| design lived only for moment and she ap-
| preached him without shyness.
''l'll do it," she declared, in a voice from
which the sharpness had all gone. II don't
| know who you are, but like you, though
| can't tell why: 1t amt cause you're handsome
that's dead sure"
! Chambers paid no attention to this uncompli-
! mentary allusion to his personal appearance.
| With him it was no time for idle words or
! thoughts.
| tied herself on the ground in front of him.
| edo you like the old man?-are you fond Of
| him?'
| "Wel," responded the girl, after a pause
! 81 can't say as I'd like to eat him. He's too
! handy with the back Of his fist to make me 80
! awful dead in love with him.
| Chambers sighed, as though he felt relieved
| from some anxiety.
''I5ut them" the girl went on, with childish
| frankness, ''you can't quite hate man when
was, he put all the bread into my mouth as
| ever went there, and I've got to remember
| ttaat. Sometimes there wasn't much Of IT, and
| sometimes it was mighty queer bread But as
! o central thing he did tho best he knowed how,
AMID Say, what are you thinking about
| 80 hard?"
| Climbers was just at that moment thinking
he was about the darkest criminal in the world
| To save himself from possible destruction, he
! had killed fellow being--an act, | regret to
| say, which was not sufficiently lnfrequent in
! those days, aud in that section, to
| call for any special regrets upon its own &C.
| count But Chambers reflected that in deprivng
the Missouri bully of his life, he had also taken
| away the only prop upon which this helpless
| child leaned for support It was q reflection
| which filled him at first with dismaY and self
| reproach, and then with @ certain defniteness
| Of purpose
s'Sis," said he after moment, passing his
hand over her strayipg curls with kind of
rough tenderness that was not without it's ele-
| ment of magnetism; isis, eff thar was man
| mind ye, Idon'5 say thar is a rnan-but eff thar
was one as comes to you and says says this
man, eff SO be as you two children wants home,
bein' without one, ye can come and live along
Of me, and though 1t amt refined and ely.
gaut abode, bein' built al it were in the first
rude stages o civilization-ef any man was to
say this to ye and your dad didn't par ticularly
mind, what would you answer"
The girl looked full in his face.
"Answer? Why, I'd collar the offer like
chain -lightning-only," she hesltated an in