The Red Cloud chief., 1886-08-27
Z
Romance of a Fair Presumption
iet Of Dakota.

II was in Inc debatable land. near
The line which marks the common
boundary of Dakota and Minnesota.
that an accident led TO my acquaint-
ance with Rachel HAYNES. We were
IN a Pullman s~lcepin"-car, ana / had
been from the first impressed with her
arancc, which WAS rather dl-tln-
ruishnd. a compared with the other
passengers. Her dress Indicated the
iudicious union of gentility and
conomy Her jacket, ] remember,
was trimmed with Yak lace. Such Of
my readers "a are old enough TO re-
member when Yak lace went ont OF
fashion will have an idea of the an
;iguity Of the garment. which, how
ever, wa> made and worn 80 well that
the Yak lace actually seemed to add q
Kind ot elegance. She had the soft
coils of fine. black hair which usually
accompany delicate features, and IA
contraIto voice. aud ] unhcsitatinglv
marked her a. a We're de We're.
The accident, whica in itself hardly
deserves the name of incident, caused
her 10 seat herself 10y my side about
nine O'Clock, and. To- my utter amaze
mrnt. because the We're de- Ncrcs are
not a contidimg ST, as a rule. to talk
To me about herself.
al a, "a ns shn.. .lrnalfIl arsRf-
urcS. a prc-cmp;ionist. she began,
with a frank laugh. See my hands.
how brown they are. | have been
working for my board all summer. car
rying wafer twenty rods for washing.
and doing he cooking for five men and
two womcn and | was never SO happy
in my life.
have no doubt that my face was n
temptation 10 continue revelations, for
was intensely interested and aston
ishUl. no; 80 much ut her words rs the
rarn JOY in existence which rang in her
voice, was written on her face. and
made the whole ornan ~ inspiring "a
Il bird-,ong in the morning.
Il never nrant tu do II" She on
tinupi "n"v"r in the world. | have
taken ra,c OF myself since | WAS six
teen. Then l worked tor my board
and went To- school. Then | taught
school in Illinois fifty or sixty chill
drsn at a time. That WAS pleasant
enough. but after three ycars of ii
seemed 10 break down. and the doctor
sand th.t ! NUT die before winter.
The oaiy person IN the world who be-
longcd Ia me WAS 4 brother. WHOM
had not seen for I'VE wears.
He WAS Il Dakota farmer. and kept
writing 10 me L. come there. bu ! re-
fused. declaring that one mania from
which / would bc utterly free WAS the
land craze. which seized every body
who set foot On prairie soil. ! should
not pay y and groan under 3
weight of borrowed money TO be Tho
proprietor of endless acres. But tina,
summer | made up my mind that The
doctor Was right about my dying IN
the fan. and il occurred 10 me n da,
tha, the emo of a visit with my
brother nigh, possibly be a plcaSan,
thing 10 take To Heaven. and l wrot,
To him that l would come and sta,
two weeks.
Il hardly believe myself when
tell il. hut | had not been there twenty
four hours before l had pre-cmptec
the claim next TO his. one hundred anc
sixty acres of land. l can't deScrib,
il. but | felt like :: new creature Will
the frs, breath of that clear prairie al
and the frs; touch of the blesSc,
ground. At the end of the two week,
returned 10 make arrangements fcl
coming back 10 keep house for m,
brother. but before l came again m,
brother WAS dead. After that l feel
that l could not live away from Da
kota. Because of the law l could no
have his claim; he had not paid nj
that was due-so i, went back TO tn,
Government.
But l had my own. That fall
had a little shanty put up and hires
myself 10 the people on the next place
In that way 1 earned my living ant
enough more TO pay for breaking m,
land in the spring. Every night l use,
TO 60 owe and stand on my territory
mine every blade of grass and grain q
sand. down TO my central spark Of fire
which il is hard to believe exists dur
ing 4 Dakota winter. l grew s,ron:
every day. and in n little while coui,
build fires in the morning and mill
COWS. and think nothing OF it. l dr
feel so rich every time l remernbere,
my estate. with my fine castle in Ia
middle Of it-not in the least Ike
maid-of-all-worS or broken-dowI
school-teacier. Not much of a castle
either. l wanted 10 have a lock @,
the door as a slight concession 10 COZ
v~eniionality. but the carpenter locke
So surprised that l did not INSIST
viii confess TO you. though, that