The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1884-10-24
then a warm.tinted tropical flower,
blown about by the wind. A slow intel
ligence seemed to dawn upon her.

ligence seemed to dawn upon her.
How was the kid dressed?n
The men looked at her in dull amaze
ment. One of them %vouchsafed al an
swer:
Some kind of a pink frock, all rufles
from top to bottom. Looked like a rose.
l seen her playin' round the car this
mornin'," he added. half apologetically,
as If to %eXtenuate his poetic smile.
"IWere q three-year old girl"
His closing Information was addressed
70 the crowd. The woman was forgot
ten and turned to the door with a sud-
den determination. The d m recollec-
ton had taken shape Ind form at last.
The men sprang to their horses and set
out to scour the country in various direc-
tons.
Over the trackless plain, with it's
clumps of mesquite and greasewood, a
woman went swiftly along. Stumbling
over the rough ground, her feet pierced
the mlnute needles OF cactus or stabbed
with the hafsher thrusts of
e opea fs,te payonetf NJ. she never
winds played about her bare head, and
refreshed and restored her heated brain.
Her step grew firm and steady. and, ere
long, she left far behind her the circuit
within which a hundred men we're beat
ing every foot Of ground.
She had progressed several miles up.
on her rough pilgrimage, when her pace
siackened and she commenced to wan
der to and fro, her head benz in anxious
scrltlny, C-lling out at times in a soft,
low voice, which her rough companions
would never have recognized. But she
eve moved on in the direction of the
Big Floridas.
She WAS taking q ling as straight as u
bee" she said to herseH. 81 see it oil
she was running away to the mountains.
Don't know? ! must have been just
about her age when ! set out for Mount
katahdin. l had gone down to Aunt
Jones's on a visit with mother"-
Something choked her with that word.
forbidden herself even in thought for so
many years. Yet she pronounced it
over and over again, moaning all the
time. Out upon the desolate plains, far
from any hum n habitation, with only
the mountains, the sky and stars in
sight, she was nearer the old life than
she had been for years.
A sharp cry in the distance, multiplied
until it became a discordant chorus, ar
rested ner attention.
"rhecnwardly coyotes!" she muttered.
"They'd never harm the child, but
they'd brighten the little thing to death,
out here alone"
"A sudden recollection made her shud-
der. The Floridas out there were said
to have lately harbored another foe,
cowardiy and t~reacherous as the wolves
OF the plain, but sparing neither baie
nor woman. A band of m%arauding
Apaches had been lurking in the neigh
borhood. What if, attracted by the
bright raiment of the child; they had
swooped down upon her? The frail
mother, helplessly wringing her hands
or sobbing rs she placed TO her lips some
battered toy or little garment belong
ing to he lost child, hardly felt a deep
er anguish in her heart than swayed the
abandoned woman at the terrible vision
she had conjured.
Suddenly she stopped short. What
was that faint wall that echoed in the
distance? The moon had risen and
stood high above Cooks Peak, a silver
globe in the sky, lighting up every clump
add bush. Hardening a moment, she
then went swiftly toward a small object
SHE deserted afar off, and came at last to
where a little child sat, frightened and
exhausted, beside u bunch ofsage-brusb,
and lifted her tiny arms appealingly.
"Mamma! me want mammal"
eyes. oarling, l will take you straight
to her"
The woman's voice was fine and low,
with a strange, affectionate thrill.
She took from her shoulders the tat
tered shawl and wrapped it around the
little one; then lifted her in
her arms. and, with soothing
words and tender reinsurance,
turned back toward the town. In the
bright moonlight her path was plain as
day, n she picked her way carefully
to say the child any unnecessary Jolt or
jar. From time to time, as she looked
down upon the little creatures face and
met the gaze of innocent, inquiring eyes
strange emotions stirred in her heart,
All. God! had it been her lot to fold as
her " such a baby to her heart! What
tailsman could be so mighty against evil
as the love OF an innocent child! She
did not heed the cold night air, which
chilled her through and through. For
gotten were her thorn-pierced feet, her
torn and bleeding hands.
AS she neared the town, q mounted
horseman spurred forward to meet her,
in eager inquiry. Then he lifted his re.
signal that the child was found.
The child, warn and safe in her nest
in the tawdry shawl, held out her arms
with a glad cry, and the mother, her
eyes shining through her tears, snatched
the baby to her breast and covered her
with kisses. Then she turned with gem
tie gratitude to the woman who stood
watching her, with her souls hunger
speaking through her eyes.
BY the time she reached the settle
ment and turned down the main street,
the scattered scarchers had all fallen in,
and IL crowd surrounded her and fol-
1 l>r,ol ~ 10. 1,~nla D.A
was it the pure child that nestled in her
arms, or the new look that had been
born into her face?-created a subsle
barries which protected her from any
rude approaches.
Under the bright glare of the lamps in
the sleeper the two met-the
one with the blight of disease wasting
her body; the other with the pitiless
curse of a moral blight fastened upon
her soul.
"Poor girl! You must be ccld-you
are not half clothed. What can we do
for your 1t ls a priceless service you
have rendered"
Some tender cord had been touched
vibrated sharply again. The softened
look beca ne more marked upon her
face. AS the two women gaZed at each
other, a slow recognition dawned in the
mothers eyes.
"MaryW
The voice was tender and forgivjnz,
as if with that word she would bridge
some terrible cha m that had widened
between the two sisters lives.
The woman of the town put ont her
hand with an imploring gesture, and
half turned away as if to free her eyes
from some phantom Of the past.
"Don't! I can not bear it" Uncon-
sconciously to the other, she too was
holding out the sceptre Of mercy, re-