The Red Cloud chief., 1885-05-22

Wildly tObISCttSbDk ~ ~ ~ 1sese
but which they felt must be words q
comfort that were sorey needed
1t was Erastus that broke the spell at
last He had Decn the irst TO rise and
had gone OF Immediately TO feed and
rub down the horses; and returning
had entered i0st in time to hear Mrs
Parsons speak OF the title to the claim.
Tben ke, to-, remembered the rumoH
which they had heard. and knew thai
it vas true. and understood all that II
meant 70 those who had been the only
real friends he had ever known. aud
his young blood grew hot and for .
moment he felt that he could Kill the
| men who were the cause Of so much
suffering: and then there came . great
wave Of affection for the friends who
had given him all the love he had eveI
known. and. stepping forward. he said.
in a tone Of voice that gave . weight TO
his words which his years would have
denied him:
"Uncle John, il the land thieves
have gobbled this place. too. let them
have il. There must be land some
| where that they don't claim. and d
| there u we'Ll find it. and make . bone
on il I'm almost . man now. Uncle
John. and I'll help You; so don't give
up. 1t will be all right yet"
Yes. John. cheer up. We will find
a place 70 star again. somewhere. and
all begin together" said his wife. 81
know. dear. how badly yOu feel: Yon
have built the house for US and have
| thought 80 much about welcoming u
here that II is harder for you than
for US. who only saw it for the first time
last night"
"Inever knew it till just the other
day." sad John. striving to speak in
his natural voice.: they told mo
when l bought the place that it was all
straight. and the courts had decided
that nobody had . claim on it that
would hold but the settler: but it pears
that the rich fellows that claim it raised
. heap of money and bribed Congris TO
reverse tie thing. The other squatters
got wind of it and had q meetin' to see
about it. That was while ] was at Sac
ramento ~arrangin' with Joe fer your
comm. and 1 never knowd anything
about it till Bill Richie, who has the
next claim east came over Thursday
morn to tell me that another meetin
was { o be held that afternoon to hear
the report Of the committee that hal
been sent TO Frisco to find out il it was
true or no. And SO l helped Bill to
notify the neighbours. and We held the
mectin' at Bill's house. and the COM
! mitiee was thar an they said WI was
done for. sure enough; that COngris
had decided that the hui SuscOl Ranch
belonged to \ few fellows that never
struck u blow. nor turned a sod, nor
put up a shanty: and who never pad
nobody fer doin' il, but claimed it be-
cause some Spanish King or other once
pretended to give it - some Of his GRO
mes before there was n United States
or anything else oil this continent but
buiialcr. and bars an 1njins.
Il us. to be proud Of my country"
h3 continued. ''and was fond of sayin'
that everybody stood an ekil chance
here: but it amt so. Nobody don't
stand any chance except he is Il raskil
and = coward into the bargin: stealth
'thout gettin' in front of the law. There
amt no doubt but that Congris was
bribcd. Our fellows have even learned
where and when the money was raised,
and some OF the COngrismep and Ser.
ators who was bought to vote agin us,
but We can't prove nothing in court,
fer everything works agin the poor
man. who only wants Justice. al i5
favor Of the rich one that is seckin' T.
rob him of his earnings: and if it wasn'f
for the wimin aud children that might
IL: left WIS OF il their husbands and
fathers WIS killed. there would he =
fight before some Of us give up our
claims"
This allusion to possible violence
frightened Martha Parsons. What if
the sQua,tsrs should resist and John
should b. killed? The thought almost
took away her breath. and she tried IN
ev-ryway to calm her husband whom
she had never before seen in SO violent
and bitter a mood.
He did not really mediate resistance.
however. Experience and observation
had taught HIM that those who could
control both the Legislatures and the
Courts could bring aids to their assist
ancc that made resistance by any force
which the sIuaitcrs could command
worse than Useless; and after u little
while he cooled down and began IN talk
of seeking 4 new home.
"Somc Of the fellows arc talking Of
= goin up into the foothills. above Sac
ramcnto. where they say thar amt no
claim of any kind on the land. and
where It is most rs easy to grow grapes
and peaches an apricots and Sch as il
Is To raise corn an hogs back in the
State. II they would pay for the work
We done on this place. or even enough
To get lumber for another house. We
could start agin up there. and do purity
We'll may be-. but they won't. Stealin'
Is their game. and havin' paid Conyris
to declare stealth legal. l'spose they'll
go for e rything in sight"
Mrs Parsons prOfessed to be pleased
with The idea Of raising fruit which was
really the case. for she had already seen
evidences since arriving apon the coast
OF the liberslity with which nature dealt
with such Of her products in this eli.
mate. and could she have fit ahso-
Intely certain that they could lind the
right spO, and get \ claim which would
n b. wrest,d from them. she would
have fel; in no small degree contented
with the situation. And now she was
ready { encourage any scheme that
would help to reconcile her husband to
the inevitable.
The result OF further conversation be-
tween the members Of the family was
that Mr.: Parsons agsin mounted his
pony and rode away in the direction Of
kiich'e shanty: and that thst evening
adoHen sinattcrs. many of them accom-
panied by their wives. me: \: the cot.
tage. were introduced to he new conn.,.