The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-03-09
A BRAVE GIRLS LUCK.
AND WORKING
FOR HONEST INDEPENDENCE.
The Prairie Fires Sweep away Every
thing she has in the World Except the
Faithful Lover, who Arrives just mt the
Right Time.

The prairie fires, which nave brought
dcsolation and poverty to hundreds in
this section, brought IL husband to one
young woman. A year ago last spring
FANNIE Jordan took up IL farm of 100
acres about nine mile north of Frederick.
OAK, and struck out for herself. She
came to Dakota from Illinois, though
she was born in the East. Not much
was known about her for several months,
as she was shy and retiring, but when
h finally became acquainted with her
%ncighbors they discovered that the girl
had the real mcttlc in her, and predicted
that she would be rich before she was
80. Though far from muscular, Fannie
was the picture of health, and she easily
carried off the palm rs the best looking
girl farmer in the county. Like the ma
jority Of her sisters she had no time to
devote to the gallants of the neighbour
hood, and for a year and u half she led n
hard, grinding existence, practising the
closest economy, and working from early
morning until late at night.
Some of her friends finally discovered
that the girl had Il history. as many such
heroic Adventures in this country have.
She had lived in comfortable circum-
SoASS III " i IN to"h VilIll ItlC
death Of her father revealed the fact that
but q trust fund belonging to n relative,
not yet of age, by his fatal propensity
for specializing in the Chicago grain
market. The girl felt her position keen
ly, and, though she had expected soon
to be married, she rcsolutcly turned from
her lover and sought the far West. She
had read of the success achieved by
young women as farmers in that vicinity,
and %pcrsuading her mother that this was
their only hope of rcgaining their indie
pcndcnce, and at the same time making
good the deficit of their husband and
father, the two converted what little
property they had into cash md came
here. Before their departure the girl
absolved the young man from his
pledges, but in answer to his repeated
requests gave him some slight hope that
at a distant day, if he still remained of
the same mind, she might consider n
proposition from him. Under these cir
cumstanccs the work of breaking and
working Il farm in a new country was
begun.
Tie first year Fannie and her mother
had no help, and they did not succeed
in raising much. Not more than quar-
ter of their land was under cultivation,
and the crops were poor indeed. This
year, with the assistance of a boy, they
did better. They got more than half of
the farm in wheat, and the crop was all
exceptionally good one. Besides this,
they had a fruitful garden, from which
they supplied their own wants and de-
rived a small revenue Their wheat.
On which they had already borrowed
money, was to nave been thrashed about
two weeks ago, but the machine did not
arrive, and it remained in great stalks
near their barn. Figuring on the re-
suits Of heir two years work, mother
and daughter found that there was n
chance and this years crop would clear
them of debt, and that with one or two
morc favorable seasons they would be
able to see the results of their toll in
hard cash
The prairie fire Vas a danger which
they had not taken into consideration.
When Fannie heard that fires were re.
ported at a distance she ran burrows
around her buildings and wheat stacks,
and in other ways prepared for the visi-
tatSon. Her ncighbors did the same,
and when the fires appeared near at hand
nearly everybody went out to fight
them. Fannie's mother remained at
home when the girl was on these er-
rands. On returning to her place one
evening last week the young woman
found fires in her way, and being forced
to make a long detour, it wassdark be-
fore she came to a point where she
could sec her farm. The fires were rag
ing feroely, and she made up her mind
that her farm was threatened if not al
ready burned over. Somebody had set
back fires, with the intention of stop
ping the oonfiagration, and this was the
result. AS fast as her weary and trem-
bling limbs could carry her the girl
dashed ON, a few steps more sufficcd to
convince her that her home and every
thing that it contained was lost. When
she arrived at the place the house was
in ruins, the barn ready to fall, and the
great wheat stacks were glowing heaps
of eanbers. The earth was hot under
her feet, and the air almost sitting. She
called for her mother, and called again.
No one answered. She became sick
with fear and foreboding, and thought
of flight, but there was no place to
which she could go for help. The fires
were all around her, making the heavens
lurid and the mir heavy, anu so, in the
presence of her crushing disaster, the
girl sat down and wept. All night long
she sat by the ruins OF her home, and when
the morning light appeared she made a
careful search for her mother. She was
not in the ruins of the house, and girl
breathed easier, but in the ashes of the
barn the old lady's charred remains were
found. She had evidently gone there
after doing all in her power to save the
place for the purpose of taking the
horse md making her escape, but over
come with the heat, or possibly unable
to manage the beast, both had persisted
tooether