, 1885-11-08
THE GIRL


lnlb bcCtlou. drought q uubDhnu 70 ohc
young woman. A year ago last spring
Fannie Jordon took up a farm Of 100
acres. about nine miles north Of here, and
struck out for herself She anne 10
Dakota from Illinois. though she was
born In the east Not much was known
about her for several months. as she was
shy and retiring. but when she finally be.
came acquainted with her neighbors they
discovered that the girl had the real mettle
In her and predicted that she would be
rich before she was 20.
Though far from muscular, Fannie
was the picture of health. and she easily
carried of the palm as the best looking
girl farmer Ia the county. Like the ma.
lority Of her sisters she had no time to
devote TO the g~allants Of the neighbor-
hood. and for a year and a half she led a
hard grinding existence. practicing the
closest economy and working from early
morning until late at night.
Some OF her friends finally discovered
that the girl had a history. as many such
heroic adventurous in this country have.
She had lived in comfortable circum-
stances In a rural Illinois town until the
death Of her father revealed the
fact that he had lost not only
his own property: but a trust fund be
longing TO a relative not yet of age, by
h' AahAa IARHNhaNN wi oI81hAhhAhh
in the Chicago grain market Tho girl
felt her position keenly. and though she
had expected soon TO be married she rcso-
lutely turned from her lover aud sought
the far west
She had read Of the success achieved
by young women as farmers In this vicin.
ity; and, %pcrsuading her mother that this
was the only hope Of regaining their indie
pendence and at the same time making
good the deficit of their husband and
father, the two converted what little
property they had into cash and came
here. Before their departure the girl ab.
solved the young man from his pledges,
but in answer to his repeated requests
gave him some slight hope hat at a dis
tant day. if he still remained of the same
mind, she might consider Il proposition
from him. Under these circumstance
the work Of breaking and working a farm
in a new country was begun
The first year Fannie and her mother
had no help. and they did not succeed in
raising much. Not more than a quarter
of their land was under cultivation, and
the crops were poor indeed This year.
with the assistance of a boy, they did
better. They got more than half Of the
farm in wheat. and the crop was an OK
%ceptionally good one. Besides this, they
had q fruitful garden, from which they
supplied their wi ant and derived a
small revenue. Their wheat, on which
they had already borrowed money, was to
have been thrashed in a short time.
but the machine did not arrive, and it re
manned in great stacks near their barn.
Figuring on the results OF their two years
work, mother and daughter found that
there was a chance that this years crop
would clear them out of debt, and that
with one or two more favorable seasons
they would be able to see the results of
their toll in hard cash
The prairie fire was a danger which
they had not taken into consideration.
When Fannie heard that fires were re-
ported at n distance she ran burrows
around her buildings and wheat stacks.
and in other ways prepared for the vista
ton. Her neighbors did the same, and
when the fires appeared near at hand
nearly everybody went out to fight them.
Fannie's mother remained at home when
the girl was gone on these errands. On
returning 10 her place one evening re.
Gently the young woman found fires in her
way, and being forced to make a long de
tour it was dark before she
came to a point where she could
ing fiercely, and she made up her
mind that her farm was threatened. II
not already burned over. Somebody had
set back fires. with the intention of stop
ping the conilagration. and this wa the
result. As fast as her weary and trem-
bling limbs could carry her the girl
dashed on, aud a few steps more sufliced
to convince her that her home and every
thing that 1t contained was lost
When she arrived at the place the house
was in ruins, the barn was ready to fall.
and the great wheat-stacks were glowing
heaps of embers. The earth was hot III
der her feet and the air almost sitting.
She called for her mother, and called
again. No n answered. She became
sick with fear and f~oreboding and
thought of fight; but there was no place
to which she could go for help. The
fires were all around her. making the
heavens lurid and the air heavy; and so,
in the presence of her crushing disaster,
the girl sat down and wept.
All night long she sat by the ruins Of
her home. and when the morning light
appeared she made q careful search for
her mother She was not in the ruins Of
the house. and the girl breathed easier;
but in the ashes of the barn the old lady's
charred remains were found. She had
evidently gone there, after doing all In
her power TO save the place. for the pur-
poht VI AhkllE Ant nOIbC anu HluhlUE ntT
escape; but overcome with the heat or
possibly unable TO manage the beast. both
had persisted together.
Fannie's mother was buried by the
neighbors. most Of whom. like the
girl. had lost nearly everything. What
was to be done nobody knew. Where
all were p%enniless and wretched there
was no advice that could be followed.
and all seemed stunned by the ca'amiiy
which had come upon them. Then
Fannie visited her farm for the first time,
intending TO leave that day for the rail
road, and seek assistance, she know not
what or Of whom. Her poverty was
absolute. Her debts were greater than
her equity in the land. Everything that
she had on earth was destroyed except
the clothing that she wore. she stood by
the ruined home and looked out for miles
on blackened prairies. The sky was over
cast with leaden clouds. and the wind blew
crisp and cold from the north. Above
and below everything was dark. but the
somber view was not blacker Than her
" future.
She buried her face In her hands and
turned from the desolate scene lust in
time TO hear the clatter Of hoofs on the
roadway. and. looking up, the girl saw
the fellow from Illinois whom she had
left in despair eighteen months age. lie
rode up TO her. jumped from his horse.
and addressed her quietly. She had little
to say and there was not much that he
could say, as his appearance caused a fresh
flood of tears to low.
He told her that he had read Of her
mothers death and Of their losses by fire,
and had come by the first train
In the hope that he could be Of
service to her. He would do p y
thing that she said lie had
money and time. II she wanted to re.
build he would stay and boss the job IL
she wanted to 20 back TO Illinois he would
60 with her. and they could settle the
matters up here at their leisure. If she
disliked him aud wanted him to clear out
You may not be aware OF 1t, but it's Q