Middletown transcript., 1886-09-16
4 FAIR RpRE-EMpTIONIST.
. SHORT AND TRUE STORY OF LIFE
ON THE DAKOTA PRAIRIE.

i Il was in the debatable land,i nea
the line which marks the commo
boundry Of Dakota and Minnesots
that an accident led to my acquain
/ tance with Rachel Haynes.
We we're in a Pullman sleeping-ea1
and I had been from the first impress
ed with her appearance, which wa
Lrather distinguished, as comparec
with the other passengers. Her dres
indicated the jldicious union of gen
tility and economy. Her jacket, 1 re
member, was trimmed with Yak lace
Such Of my readers as are old enough
to remember when Yak lace went ou
of fashion will have an idea of the
antiquity Of the garment, which, how.
ever, was made and worn SO we'll thai
the Yak lace actually seemed to ado
kind of elegance.
She had the soft coils of fine black
hair which usually accompany delicate
features, and a eontralto voice, and
unhesitatingly marked her as We're
de We're.
The accident, which in itself hard
lily deserves the name of incident
caused her to seat herself by my side
about 8 o'clock, and to my utter
amazement because the We're de
Veres are not a confding set, as a
rule, to talk to me about herself.
"I am one of those deadful creatures,
| a pre-emptionist," she began, with
frank laugh. "See my hands, how
brown they are. I have been work
ing for my board all Summer, carry.
ing water twenty rods fer washing,
and doing the cooking for five men
and two women, and was never SO
happy in my life"
I have no doubt that my face was
temptation to continue revelations,
for / was intensely interested and as
tonished, not SO much at her words
as the rare joy in existence which
rang in her voice, was written on her
face, and made the whole woman as a
bird song in the morning. ETH
81 never meant to do it," she con-
tinued.; never in the world, Ihave
taken care Of myself since 1 twas i6.
Then I worked for my board and
went to- school. Then i taught
school in Illinois fifty orsixty child
rem at a time. That was pleasant
enough, but after three years of it |
seemed to break down, and the
doctor said that l must die before
Winter.
"The only person in the world who
belonged to me was a brother, whom
l had not seen for FIVE years.
He was a Dakota farmer and
kept writing to me to come there, but
| refused, declaring that one mania
from which i would be utterly free
was the land craze, which seized
everybody who set foot on prairie soil
| should not pay taxes and groan
under weight of borrowed money to
be the proprietor of endless acres.
But that Summer I made up my mind
that the doctor was right about my
dying in the Fall, and it occurred to
me one day that the memory Of 9
visit to my brother might possibly be
a pleasant thing to take to Heaven
and wrote to him that I would come
and stay two weeks.
Z" I hardly believe myself when
tell it, but had not been there twenty.
four hours before I pre-empted the
claim next to his, 100 acres of land
II can't describe it, but I felt like
a new creature with the first breath o.
that clear prairie air and the frst
touch Of that blessed ground.
"At the end Of the two weeks re
turned to Chicago to make arrange
ments for coming back to keep house
for my brother, but before I came
again my brother was dead. Aftel
that [ felt that I could not live away
from Dakota. Because of the law
could not have his claim; he had NO
paid all that was due-so it went bach
to the Government.
"But I had my own. That fall
had a little shanty put up and hiree
myself to the people on the next place
In that way I earned my living ane
enough more to pay for breaking my
land in the Spring. Every night
used to 60 over and stand on my ter
ritory-mine every blade of grass ant
grain of sand. down to nv centra