The Red Cloud chief., 1885-05-15

NAhehaHTHA cant cegne homo after
you and the babies Ike i hoped 20 do. csuse
I'm broke again: i~eastwise ] eev ben since I
~'"ec you fast, aDc Amt squarely go, onto
my feS Yet. but I'm goin ter send you some
money by next steamer; all I can scruu,.
together. md ! want you and the tat,e. 10
pack up and come put.
know a sook s hard fer you 10 have 20 make
the trip acroes the plains alone with the chill
0feo. bue ! dont - no way tn hsap n unsc.s
we are never 10 see one another asnin. and I
rh'l stand inst, nor 1 don't ls-lie 1c you want
10 either. And there's Rastur. he must be
geftin most a man now. and WIN help you "A
neap. and IN do the square thing 10y the boy
when hc gct- out here
10 Rronsonis wifeis cousin. Sy Pe,er~. has
writ 10 that he f. goin To come out this sum.
ner with a company. and you can come with
You remember Sy. He's a Twin up near
prrkinsvl lie now, bein driv ID of his land
Yong OF The rest of us. ~ will he glad Ia do
you "A good turn ! know. for when We ~ "a both
broke up back in New England by Roin Sc
curity ut the bank. he and i sw0pped SYM
paihy Nth one another, and now that the
railrass corporation bas gobbled as both. ~
whibc within to do some more -wopin of the
lame kind l reckon. as swopin sympathy
means swopin help with poor folks.
lepesc you'll want to know what kiDd of q
pinre am hskin yos to come 10, and ! tell
you honest, Marty. when ] say that nafur
done "A way up job when she made this coun-
try; just about the best she IL capable of dom.
j reckon, an all I'm askJn for NOV IL TO have
You an the babies. an Ill he saiisfcd for all
the hard work and losses we've lad. and
they've driy US from ara to sea almost, n COB
bin up one home after another utter we had
made eth by hard work.
Seems To me tibet Their must he somethin
wrong with the law. fer the poor don't stan no
chance with the rich. an tue more law the less
the fellows that works gifts.
When ! wrote you afore. ] was rakin i'm the
TIT pretty smart. me mn my pBrd. but some
fellows from New York came up there and
proposed TO form a Jint stock company, and
onered IN Pvt In q Tor Of machinery for hist n
out the ore, agin our claim. All bein as we was
anxious 10 get at the dust ss fast as lssssib.e.
40 az we could 90 back TO the States fer our
families. we agreed TO IL, but some way IL
The other fellows elected themselves
directors, an Pnted one OF themselves
iook-keeper. and par,l and me never exactly
understood how 81 was. but there was ASSESS
meuts instead of diyics. and finally we wus
both froze out OF the milne entirely after pay
IA back Ia the company all the dust we Ind
with EN-.
After that I knocked around I'm the d iggins
for "a spell. an then hearIn of this Suscol
Ranch i struck ont for u, ana here j am. nm
j tell Won, wife, shes just the most glorious
Dat of country Uu this side of the big range
which nobody doesn't come back from when
they hey crost il. and hcv took up l6b acres
of land. and viii hev n cabin up an a good bit
Uf the size broke aforc you git here. and well
be comfortable in our old aye yit, in spite Of
everything.
This here's the finest valley in the State and
would nil have been took up long ago only
some rich fellows pretended TO have a kind OF
"A Spanish chain on To Il. ana folks were afraid
60 settle here, most OF EN-, for fear Of beln
driv OF like we have been. but finally some
tciicr took the case up TO court and IL was de-
cidcd IN favor OF the squaticrs: TINT II. them
a. WAS on the land maxim of themselves
homes: and now e~vcrybod, rs q rushin in and
pre- empiiu quarter sections. and you needn't
I've afraid of bein lonesome, for vel have
neighbors ON every side in less than u year.
Well. this Is IN awful long letter. bur YOU
see i wanted Ia tell sou all about everything.
and ] hope Won wont feel too bad because {
cant come for YOU. You know Id Ice To IL l
could. hut ] cant and I promise you shant
ever have To move agin. They cant drive US
much further any way. unless they make Us
take ship fer II AN they cant do that, fer the
courts hes decided thni no body hes any claim
on to thus here ranch, ceptin the fellows that
think Sy Peters will be down TO see you
within n week from the time you get this. for
l wrote him Ia 20 al once 50 a. ia give you all
the time possible for gettin ready.
Hop,n this will lind you and the babies us
well as II leaves me. ! remain
Your lovin husband.
JOSH PARSONS.
The above letter was read by Martha
Parsons. first silently. and then aloud
TO her two little girls. eight and ten
years Of age. As they stood in front Of
t,leir mother and listened with breath
less attention and wide open eyes. rs if
SCtiIS "pifSfSIAul thidsSs E5iI Stoffpu>.
half frightful. but altogether strange
and un~eNplainsble.
These were the babies that John Par
sons had left six years before. when a
corporation representing a railroad laid
claim to a large trac: If land upon
which he and hundreds Of Others had
settled. having bought and paid for il.
and holding. rs they supposed. incon-
tcstsble titles thereto.
When il first became known 10 them
that a corporation would contest with
them the right 10 their homes and
farms, a portion of the settlers threat
ened vengeance and declared they would
give ,p their own only with their lives;
but John loved peace better than rom
tention. and knew 5y experience the
difficulty Of fighting bodies that have no
souls within them. and he had said 10
his wife:
1T is no use. Marty. The Philistines
are upon us agin, and we have got to
git It's hard. l know: harder fer YOU
ner for nue., for you was brought up sort
o tender like and INST TO better things,
an you've worked hard and gone with
out much. and now when we RS just
gettin' Q start agin' after losin' what
your father CIV us an all We had added
TO il, on the spot where You was born.
it's mighty tough. bur we'll have to
stand il.
They can't put US of the place for q
time. any Way. for some u the fellers
are goin' to fight EN- with the law.
though 'tain't no use. for they'll take
everything they want In the end; and 4
they want X an. hut while they are =
dom it Ill try an win enough to make
another home for YOU and the babies.
Ill so to California, Marty. and make q
fortune. while You stay on the place
with the youngsters. and by the time
they git ready to turn you out of this,
never fear but I'll come back with
enough to take YOU to another home
an u better one. May be it is for the
best. after sll. May be Ill git rich
enough To 20 back East and buy the
old place where YOU was born"
And . John Parsons had Got to-
gefher what money he could by the sale
of their few head of cattle and sheep.
leaving the family with one row TO sup
ply them with milk. had kissed the
battles Is they lay asleep in their cradle.
had kissed the wife who for long wears
TO COMO should only know such sleep
"a cor1es to those worn with ceaseless
lsbor and STUDY of how TO make the IN
rene meet the expenses which mus. be
met, and had crossed the plains and
mountains thst lay between his home
snd the Pacific Ocean, hoping to gather
enough gold to repay them for Al their
pSst labor and snfferingS
AS John had anticipated. some Of the