Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-03-05

GIL" VIC "oou the STEEL" cried she.
as she let the former catch and stick in
the timber during moments despair.
but 'con't be beat, though; tits not
as II was no better than a man." So
again she set her teeth firm, as if to
show the saw how to bite, and went at
the rough log again.
IL was rough job, and tough one,
too' while the hands so hard upon it
were small and fine. Yet never a he
carpenter went at his work with such
Will; while, alas! not even he-carpen-
ter, expert as he is in the art of doing
the least possible quantity in the longest
possible time, ever made less way. The
very demon seemed to have taken up
his abode in the saw. She had thought
those savage-looking teeth were made
TO cut; and instead of this they seemed
made for the express purpose of catch
ing In the wood, so that they could be
forced neither forward nor backward
for all she could do. Now and then,
indeed, she managed to tug or push a
quarter of an inch this way or that; but
her hair was getting wet through and
her hands sore. What fool was it who
invented saws? The pair of scissors out
OF her work-boX would have done twice
the work in half the time. Again she
stopped to rub her aching fingers, but
again she went on.
The log lay upon a couple of empty
barrels to serve as trestles. The work
Gf work such a waste of indomitable
energy could be called) was carried on
In dilapidated wooden shed, Uttered
with old harralS hrOl-n hn0pS old o,-t
wheels, worn-out hencoops, and hun
dred other odds and ends of agricult-
ural lumber. And of all the unlikely
people to be engaged in such job, she
who was throwing into it such world
of misdirected zeal was the most utterly
unlikely. She had, indeed, none of the
outward and visible signs that 90 to
make up the idea of lady by profess
sion; not only were her clothes defiantly
gathered out of the way of action, with
no thought of elegance. but they were
of the homeliest material, and likely
enough of her own making, supposing
that she sewed not very much better
than she sawed. The gown was of the
very cheapest cotton print; over this
was large course apron, tied over the
shoulders; the sleeves were rolled up,
leaving the elbows bare. Yet she was
no more to be taken for mere farm
servant than was her dress to be taken
for Queens. The bare arms were
white. smooth and slim, matching the
fine white hands; the figure was light
and graceful, with a sort of spring in it,
despite the worst that apron and gown
could do: the bright brown hair was
the one thing about her that her battle
with the saw had not disarranged. She
had no special pretensiCns to beauty,
and at this moment. with bent brows,
clinched teeth, set lips and harrassed
eyes, was by no means looking her best,
whatever that might be. But even thus
her face was not without its promises of
charm. The features were refined to
the point of delicacy; and there was
something touching in the sight of this
slight and slender girl, with less APP
parent strength than belongs of right to
nineteen, battling as if for very life with
what was too much for her weakness
and unskillfulness combined.
''How do the men manage things like
this?" she sighed, mentally groaning.
at looks so easy, and it is SO hard! Is
it because they drink so much beer?
And why are saws made with teeth at
all? l wonder if the chopper would
work better. 1 half wish hadn't be-
gun; but must go on now if it takes
me all night long. Well, at it again.
So YOU think to beat Patience Black
thorn, do you, Master Log, Ell? Well
we'll see which'n give in first, you,
I, or the saw. So-Harkt'
Patience Blackthorn started at the
sound of voices, left the saw wedged
in the stubborn timber, and tripped to
a window-like opening in the shed.
through which she could peep and
listen without being seen. Whence
one may gather that an Englishwoman
who does not know when she is beat is,
nevertheless, daughter of Eve.
The aperture looked, for distant
prospect, over an expanse of meadows,
broken by high hedge-rows, of the
ancient pattern, and running into a low
range of swelling downs; for near
one, into q slovenly farm-yard, empty
of all but muck and litter, with a
broken gate leading into a rough field
road. all ruts and stones. Crossing the
cart-road just in front of the gate ran
footpath through the grass: and two
men. coming along the path from OPP
posite directions, had met precisely al
the entrance to the yard.
.sWhy, Marrish!' said he who came
from the eaSt-a smart, gOOd-lOOklng
Young fellow, with bright face, 8
ready smile, and something of town
air about his look and bearing-'Why,
Marrish! What brings you here of 8
market day?"
business, my lad, business; that's
what brings me, answered he from the
west. What else should bring a man
anywhere, these bad times? But wha
brings youg''
He was very different style of mar
from the other-over forty years old, a
any rate, and perhaps nearer fifty: :
working farmer, from his low-crownec
hat to his top-boots after an ancient pat
tern, but lean and low shouldered, anC
in many other ways not according t
the accepted model of his class nearl,
eighty wears ago. There was nothing
bluff or hearty about him, or any symp
tom of generous fare. On the contrary
he was Iank and bony. and his cheek.
curiously, though not unhealthily. pale
His face was not one likely to be readil.
forgotten; though what physiognomist:
would read in it l can not venture tt
saw. think, however, they would fine
passion in the full, large, almost color
less lips and dull. gloomy eyes, ane
power in the projecting brows and tn
square chin. And therefore they woult
be the more puzzled to reconcile witt
signs of such generous qualities as pas
sion and power the pinched look of tn
xox,rlos ond the thin Vulture-like curvt