The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1883-09-28
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eiAAii " SLGi l'E tuo lutlTc,- a
When moro than an hour had thus slipped
by, he came outof his reyery. and arose to his
!eet thomas Chambers was q metholical man.
For years he had ploided donsin a quiet, care
worn manner, accomplishing nothing that any
OF his conipanion- conlds discover, but never
complnihing'of mfortnne' or pain. Men sup
posed he must havo money He lived well,
but nnobtrusfyelv. and he never had difficulty
lil meeting hR obligations. To the suffering
No was always kind. Indeed, the local clergy
man, VINO found but few sour grapes in his
vineyard, was wont TO say that Thomas Clan
ders cnuld be relied upon, when charity was
needed, to give as literally as a gambler. But
there was 10 ostentaiion about Linn. He lived
by metho1. He arose and went to bed at Ger
tain hours, ho ale at prescribed times. and he
q aux his four glasses of whisky every
day as regularly as he breathed. His was
3 purely Z maltsr of fact life. Whatever
bRi !lick came 10 him-and it was altogether
out Of proportion 10 his good fortune-hc ac-
cHpud It without a word Of complaint If, as
was rarely the case, he had a touch of more
than ordinarily pseasantluck,s there was never
. s,snsof jubiia ion in his contInct. e H. rarely
|falked, saving when words were absolutely
necessary, What he had to do he did, and he
made verv little fuss aboutit.
&Nhentilan5ers Arose from his position upon
the pole of the wagon, his first operation Vas
10 pile 4 few sticks OF wood upon tho Goals. In
a iI'le while there was a blaze, which, after
suffering a moment, gave out considerable
llSht Ihls llluminaiou, or the sound of
Gtander's footstep about the place, apparently
aroused some degree of life inside the wagon,
for tHere was c Sill hit movement, and then a
childish voice, rather petulant in its tone,
said: N
" SHE Oh, ID ~ !sa ri ! s;Rss5s55-d l% E igs2e ! him;" on-
viously that of 2 lad, cor you'll get another
larrupin'. Eff he's full, he's sassy"
Chambers leaned agalust tho tree, and all be-
eame quiet again For the second, time since
he had arrived upon this scene he fol 10
thinking, and, as before, his reflections were so
absorbing that he lost all consciousness of
what was passing around HIM. He did not
oven notice That the canvas flap of the wagon
was raised, and that two very big blue eyes
were pieringJ cautiously through the aperture
thus formed. 1t was entirely without his
knowledge that the owner of those curious
eyes stole out of ihc wagon and crepy slyly
toward him. Not until she spoke was he aware
of her presence. ~ 54ns ''SH fF
where's tho old man ?" were the first words
Chambers heard. II.
earnestly into the young face that was upt1rrca
to his. Perhaps it, was the Pickering of the
tireiight that caused the quick shale that fell
across his face. But it looked like an express
sion of pain. The girl, annoyed at his si!suce,
went on, impetuonsly: aff ~ t-s ,
Don't YOU hear? What in blazas is. the
matter of you? Where's the old man?' i3s3
sF~'sDown the snlch," replied Chambers, slowly
and with spme,d tlicnlty.L
oh said the girl, with an odd mixture of
say he was drunk, 1 s'pose. Said lie wouldn't
be home TIL he got good and ready-didn't he?
Told you to tell us 10 look sharp, or he'd lick
both Of US when he got home, Il reckon
"Does he beat you, then?' asked Chambers,
with q weak attempt at evasion.
Does he? Now you just bet he does. And
I've got my opinion of 4 big loafer that Hicks a
little gal like ME, what can't help herself. Some
day he'll wake upthe wrong outfit, and then
he'll get put under the daisies with his boots
on-you hear nle?"N
Chambers 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 ejccling her words
with an energy thar would have been ludicrous
under other circumstances. She was a slender
child. perhaps twelve years old. Her HAIR was
curly and light. amt it fell III IL tangled mass
over her forehead and neck. She was poorly
clad, and her brown feet had long been stran-
gevs to, thecramping Influence of shoes. There
was atouGh of great pity in MI. CHAMBERS
eyes az he looked at this child standing there
initie freight and regarding him ti1edly.
Come here" he SAID, after a while; como
here aud talk with me. l want to ask you some
questions"
|~po c OF the Hwagon.+ tfne 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 shynesa &#
r. "Fn Go it, She declared,,i in aEvoice from
(which tho 5shatpuess had an gone. CT don't
know who you are, but like you, though l
can't tell why. 1t amt cause you're handsome
that's dead sure"
.tGlanderssp paid no attention to this uncompli-
rsentarv aliusion 10 HIS personal appearance.
With him it was no time for idle, words or
thoughts.
Tell me-" he said, when the girl had set
tied herself on tho ground in front of him,
'do you like tho old man?-are you fond of
Lim?''
"Woll." responded the girl, after a pause,
81 can't say as I'd like TO eat him. He's too
handy win the hacl, OF his fist to make me so
awful dead in love with him"
b GInnders sighed as thought he falt relieved
From some anxiety.
K "I3utthcn, F." the girl went on, with childish
'frenkncss, "you can't quite hate a man when
he's the only purtcctor you've got. Ugly as lie
was, he put all tho bread into my mouth as
ever went there. and I've got TO remember
TINT. Sometimes there wasn't much of IT, and
a Een'ral thing he did the best he knowed how,
and Say, what are you thinking about
so hard?"
Chambers was Just at that moment thinking
he was about the darkest criminal in the world.
| To save himself from possible destruction. he
uiu hipSG Z i9lio" ~ -an act : Te6tetY 10
say, whieh was not sufficiently lnfrequent in
those days, ana IN that section, / to
call for any special regrets upon its. own ac-
count But Flanders retlectedthat IN depriving
the missouri pully y OF hislfe g, ne md also taken
away the only prop upon which this helpless
chliI leaned for support y was 2 reflection
vhhcn nlied MN OF tnrst with dismay:a self
reproaeh, and then, with a certain dedniteness
Of purpose. Ebsst s&BAtNftli az Il
|. ISIS, said he, after a moment, passing his
fand over her ssraslng curls witha kind OF
rough tenderness that vas not without its Gle
mentor magnetism: BIS, OF !thnr was a man
mind ye, fdon't say thar isa man--but Of thar