Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-07-30
ingman and trucklin' to the oppressor;

linen L wish you may SeC WAat YOU
Deserve" said Curly, turning abruptly
on his heel and walking off, without the
ceremony of a farewell.
Thisbe stood looking after him III ut
ter silence. her hands clcnched at her
sides, her nostrils dilated, her whole
figure tense with anger. Anger, too,
with which surprise was largely mingled,
for Curly Schwartz had been her humble
slave fer so long that she could scarcely
realize that he had at last declared his
independence. Perhaps she would like
him all the better for it after a while.
Even in the midst of her rage there vas
a strange new ache at her heart which
she proudly denied even to her own
soul.
Gas if I cared for him. she muttered
face homeward.
Curly had walked rapidly in the direc-
ton of Browns mill. He was not a
coward, as he had truly said; but if his
intention to turn ''black sheep had got
ten wind the less he was seen alone after
dark the better. Smoketon police We're
not distinguished for their efficient vigil
lance, and many a striker would have
asked no better fun than to knock the
TRAITOR quietly over the head.
Browns mill stood at the end of
Brown street, with the hill behind it.
Not Immediately behind, however.
There was quite a stretch of compare
lively level ground. ven before n
came to the railroad, which ran along a
sort of ledge or terrace, just before the
really steep ascent began. But, unless
one turned and went back some distance
along Brown street, and then fetched
a compass by means of alleys and
other circuitous byways, the only mode
of getting from front to rear, or vice
versa, Of Browns mill was through the
mill-yard. All Of which Curly knew
without noting, as we all know perfectly
unimportant matters which may lever
theless come to influence our future.
The gates were closed, but they opened
at his knock and he passed within the
wide Enclosure.
The great strike at Smoketon was
caused by something only too familiar
to IL day and generation-haste to
get rich. A secondary cause was over
production. There were several other
causes not entirely creditable to our hui
man nature, and finally there came a
reduction of the scale of wages.
Browns mill, after standing idle for
four months, had secured the services
Of a number of f~eeder-nailers and was
now prepared to 90 to work. A part
of the mill had been fitted up as a dor
mitory, ample provisions had been laid
in, and there We're signals, passwords,
etc, already in vogue among the hands,
most of whom came from a neighboring
city. In short, it was evident the own
ers did not expect to carry out their
plans without opposition.
Nor did the strikers intend they
should. Thisbe Barton knew that per
fectly well, but had not used it as an ar
gument in speaking to her lover, partly
from a latent fear that he might be in
tluenced thereby, for in her heart she
liked the ''black sheep too we'll to wish
to see him prove a coward. Theirs had
been a strange alliance. Thisby, the
youngest of eight children and the one
daughter, had during her twenty years
of life been petted, spoiled and INDUCED
by father, brothers and a weak and some
what silly mother, who thought no one
in the world so beautiful or clever as
her young daughter. And indeed the
| girl must be allowed the credit of being
a magnifi cent animal. Her auburn hair
when unbound, fell to her knees in a
mass of shining ripples; her eyes had
the brightness, not only of perfect
health, but OF fearless spirit; her COM
plexion all the brilliance possible to
Sr,nla%O,, 1rhi1o ho,. fnr,,, yroS fhof of
a beautiful Amazon, Curly, on the
other hand. small, slight, and appar-
emily predestincd to nailers' consump-
ton. was the only son OF a widowed
mother; and while the Bartons were
comparatively well off in this worlds
goods, the Schwartzes had not a penny
beyond what Curly could earn by his
work in the mill. Thisby Barton had
stood by him ~womanfully ever since, in
his eighth year he had been left father
less and well-nigh friendless. She was
in age a year younger, in appearance
several years older; than the puny,
sickly boy whom she loved better than
any of her seven brothers, and pro-
tccted with the 1i%erceness of a tigress in
defense of her young. The taunts of
her brothers about her ''little sweet
heart, who could not even read a circus
poster" had merely the effect of induc-
ing her to impart her own scanty stock
of information to him after work. hours,
which amateur pedagogism, reacting
upon herself, gave her a much more
thorough knowledge of what she had
learned than has been usual among
''sweet girl graduates since the youth
full days of u grandmothers.
When they grew up this state OF
things underwent some little change,
and Curly, who had always looked
upon Ihisbe as his personal and pc
culiar property, was overwhelmed with
CONSERVATION to find himself snubbed
and neglected, while the young beauty
laughed, hirted and accepted candy and
buggy rides-favorite ot1springs OF
Slmoketon's brave to Smoketon's fair
from those more favored by fortune
than himself. True, it was only her
head that was turned; her heart was
still in the right place-that is to say,
in the possession of Curly himself; but
how was he to be sure of that?
1t was a matter upon which Thisbe
grew to have little doubt in the long
days that followed his turning "black.
sheep.n Perhaps the bitter abuse