Signal-Copiahan. (Hazlehurst, Copiah County, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1886-09-23
A DREADFUL CREATURE.
Romance OF a Fair Pre-omption-
list OF Dakota.

II was in the dcbatablc land. near
the line which marks the common
boundary 81 Dakota and Minnesota,
that an accident led to my acquaint-
nncc with Rachel Haynes. We were
In 4 Pullman SlrepinS-car, and | had
been from the first impressed with her
appearance. which was rather distin-
guishcd, rs compared with tho other
passengers. Her dress indicated the
judicious union OF gcntility and
economy. Her Jacket, remember,
was trimmed with Yak lace. Such OF
INV readers rs are OLD enough to rc-
member when Yak lace went out OF
fashion will have an idea of the an
tiquity OF the garment. which. how
ever. was made and worn 80 well that
the Yak lace actually seemed 90 add L
Kind of elegance. Sho had the soft
coil, Of fine, black hair which usually
accompany dclicat, features, ANA n
contr,llto voice. and unhcsita,ingly
marked her rs a We're dc We're.
The accident. which in itself hardly
deserves the namc of incident, caused
her 10 seat herself 10y my side about
niue o'clock, and. to my utter amaze
mcnt, because the We're dc Ncrcs are
not coniidin. set. Is rule. TO talk
10 me about herself.
~ ,um one Uf those Dreaded Great
urc~. prc-cmptionist.' she began,
with frank laugh "Scc my hands,
how brown they are. | have been
working for nv board all summer. ear
rying water twenty rods for washing,
and doing The cookinc for live men and
two women. and was never 50 happy
in my life
have no doubt that my face was 4
temptation to continue revelations, for
i was intensely Interested and aston
ishcd. not 50 much at her wos'lS rs the
rare joy in existence which rang in her
voice, was written on her face, and
made the whole woman rs inspiring rs
81 bird-song I'M the morning.
II never meant to do It," she con-
tinucd; "nevcr in the world. have
taken caro- of myself since was six
teen. Then ] worked tor my board
and went 10 school. Then taught
school in lllinoiS-lifty or sixty chill
dr,n at time. That was pleasant
enough, but after three years of it |
seemed To break down, and the doctor
sand that l must die before winter.
The only person in the world who be-
longcd To me was brother, whom l
had not seen for five years.
"Ilc was Dakota farmer, and kept
writing to me 10 como there. hut re-
fused, declaring that one mania from
which would be- utterly free was the
land craze. which seized every body
who set foot on prairie soil. should
not pay taxes and Groan under n
weight of borrowed money TO be the
proprietor Of endless acres. But that
summer made up my mind that the
doctor was right about my dying in
the fan, and il occurred to me one day
that the memory of visit with my
brother might possibly be pleasant
thing 20 take to Heaven. and l wrote
10 him that l would como and stay
two weeks.
III hardly believe myself when i
tell il. but had not been there twenty
four hours before had prc-cmpted
the claim next to his, one hundred and
sixty acres of land. can't describe
IL. but felt like new creature with
the first breath Of that clear prairie air
and the first touch of the blessed
ground. At the end of the two weeks
j returned TO make arrangements for
coming back 10 keep house for my
brother, but before i came again my
brother was dead. After that l'fclt
that could not live away from Da'
ko,a. Because of the law | could not
have his claim; he bad not paid all
that was duc-so it went back to the
Government.
.But 1 had my own. That fall |
had little shanty put up and hired
myself to the people on the next place.
In that way earned my living and
enough more to pay for breaking my
land in the spring. Every night l used
TO 70 over and stand on my territory
mine every blade of grass and grain OF
sand. down to my central spark OF fire,
which it is hard to believe exists dur
In. Dakota winter. grew strong
every day. and in little while could
build fires in the morning and milk