The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1884-01-03
MAURICE DAlE's REVENGE.
By WILL +. JOHNSON.

Y'wILL +. JOHNSON.
The farm residence OF Joel Fields
stood near the track of one of the
great railroads trnversing the State OF
Illinois, and down the road west, dis
tance Of five miles and back north three
miles, lived his cousin Mathew Dale.
Each Of them Ind good farms, hut Mr..
Fields had the larger farm and was in
every way possessed Of much more
property than his relative; and the
heir to his splendid farm aud to all
his property was his daughter Hester,
u fair, swcet-tempercd girl, the belle of
the neighborhood, and with whom half
the young gentlemen within radius Of
ten miles We're in love.
1t was u custom of Mr.. Fields to
have number Of guests during
Christmas time, and to have Christ
mas trec and general good time. And
on such occasions he always had his
cousins son, Maurice Dale, come and
stay few days. Not TINT young
Dale was a favorite with him, however,
but mostly on account Of the relation
ship between them.
A few days before the Christmas
which opens my story, Maurice Dale rs
usual accepted the invitation extended
him, and came to the residence of his
relatives.
In addition to the good time to he
had, there was u powerful motive for
his coming-which was that he was
violently in love with Hester, and,
though she had once reject Il him,
he did not despair, but determ ned to
try again. She was not rejoicel to see
him, for. while their association had
never been unpleasant, she had u secret
aversion to his bold, black. watrhful
eyes, that seemed to follow her every
movement There were two other gen.
tlemen invited tc spend the Christmas
with the Fieldses, and the next day after
Maurice Dale's arrival they both came.
First came Willard Moore, n well.to-do
young farmer aud stock raiser, who
lived east ten miles and back from the
railroad two miles. He was fine
looking, manly fellow, with pleasant
way about him calculated to charm
the gentlcr sex, and, Of course, the
great inducemcnt for him to come was
Hester herself, whom he had become
Interested i'll some time before; and,
while he was not exactly in love with
her, hc felt that he could soon be so,
and lc determined 10 find exactly his
state Of feeling by constant association
with her. His sister Lilly, winning,
dark haired girl, favorite among the
gentlemen and m ardent friend of Hes
ter's, accompanied him.
The other visitor wns Jack Tracy,
the best looking and most entertaining
Of tho three gentlemen. He was a
finely proportioned man, "a years old,
Of n fresh, healthful complexion. blue
eye. and n dropping brown mustachc,
which hid Il we'll cut bnt gooa-humorcd
mouth. He was the life Of the com.
pany, or Of any company in which he
might I've. His pleasant humor and
universal cheerfulness would not allow
these around him to become dull or
blue. Of the three none was SO well
come to Hester ~ Jack Tracy. He
lived back in the country, north twelve
miles, and on account Of the distance
had not been frequent visitor at Mr..
Fields house; but, having me. Hester,
he had straightway fallen in love with
her, and looked forward to this visit
with lright hopes of winning her re-
gard.
The evening of his arrival they were
all gathered in the parlor, and music,
cards, and waltzing was the order of
the evenings enjoyment.
Maurice Dale watched with jealous
,&.lNA,, NT.l1...1
Hester, and when she and Jack Tracy
sang together the very harmony of
their voices reused the demon of jeal-
ousy still more in him, and close oh
server would have seen an occasional
CLEAN in his eye which gave sure evi-
den.e or the passion in his breast; but,
ordinarily, he was perfectly calm and
seif.possessed. 1t appc ired that Hester
treated both the other gentlemen with
equal cordiali,y, but toward himself
she MAS constrained in her manner,
though she tried hard not to appear
SO. 1t is almost impossible to appear
friendly and cordial toward one we
secretly disirust, and Hester could not
entirely conceal from the jealous eyes
of her relative the feeling OF aversion
she had for him.
On the morning of the day before
Chri tnlas the men started to take a
tarkey hunt i'm the belt of timber living
along Hurricane creek, several miles to
the southeast Turkeys were not plenti-
ful, though there were still few, and,
rs they were hunted great deal, they
were very wild, and il was extremely
I,sss..stNt ~ - III a. ffaes
Iha. evening, after tue return Of the
hunters, it WIS intended first TO have
tie unloading of the Christmas tree,
ard then few Of the young folks of the
1siphIarhord heing invited IN to have
dan and nshef the Christmas morn
in with merriment and pleasure.
Whea the gentlemen We're ready To
Start on tie hunt. Hester said, in Il
haaicring tone:
i am going to make . proposition IL
urge You TO become yigilant lnntrrs."
What Is it ~ cried they all.
"The one who brings in the largest
g.ne shall hape the first dance with
me-. Aaa low, my friends, with sncll
al incentive, yoa ought 10 do won iers. y
Pray for a buffalo 10 cross my path,
sail Jack, piousiy.
No. indeed, sir, replied she, but at
the same time folding her pretty white
hands Us ii in snpplieation. an act mn,
noticed by all save Jack.
Willard Moore groanea andilly. fol
be- VAS a noiarlously bad slot, and he
cast an appealing look al Hester.
i'aint heart etc." said Hester,
with bewiloaiag look at him, which,
a. Jhok Wa standias iust back OF him,