Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-02-10
ZEPHA.
III An. III. GIBSON.

The autumn rain was beating against
log cabin that stood as q relic of the
early sestl ,ment OF Kansas. Inside
t.lis somewhat dilapidated structure sat
Sol Grim, with pipe in his mouth,
sLivering over some damp logs that
sputtcred and seemed to defy the ruddy
blaze in the old fireplace. Near by,
Susan Grim, a gaunt, coarse.faced
woman, was preparing the evening
meal. BY the dingy, half-glassless
window, to catch the rays of meager
light it admitted, stood slight, grace
fnl girl OF Is, looking as unlike old
Sol and his virago wife as it were
90 ,sible to look, and as out of place in
that rude cabin as beautiful antique
vase would have been. The girl, as
was her habit, had snatched few
minutes to read. Ono could tell al
glance at the flushed face, in the gray
evening light, that she was interested
in her book and accorded the theme
precocious understanding. Her name
was Zepha Olney, and that was about
all any one knew of her. A few of
the neighbors had heard she was the
child of deserted wife, who had died
all alone at the cabin of old Sol Grim,
while on her way to find her husband
in the far West. Zepha was but a
small child then, and consequently
knew nothing, comparatively, of her.
self. The woman dying friendless, of
course, some one had to take care Of
She child. Though Susan Grim had
nearly scolded the roof off, old Sol had
his way for once and gave Zepha a
home, such as it was; and here she had
Lived ever since, going to the district
school and later to the town school, be-
cause old Sol said she should. This
hal been source of much irritation
to the turbulent Susan, and she had
made the path of the young girl very
-thorny indeed.
>"Gonsarn yer, Zeph, of yer hain't got
Chat aire ole book agin." scolded Susan
Grim. II say, Sol Grim, yer was big
fool ter be so set on eggycatn' that
lazy hulk an maxim her so ALFRED in
terlectool that she tries ter shift all
the work onter me. An that air fool
book yer got her, that she's everlastin'
.pourin' over, Shakespeare, err whatever
yer calls it, I've goat min ter bum it
up. Here yer air draweis up with yer
rheumatic: an her realm away, not got
her min on a tarnal thing els, an only
me ter do Their work erbout ther ranch.
Eff l was yer, zeph Olney, not KNOWN
lis yer ever he'd airy dad er yer own er
not, I'd drap books an SIGH and try ter
come down onter level with the folks
as l was dependin' onter, anyhow"
Iepha closed her book and faced the
woman, her large dark eyes flashing
but an appealing look from old Sol, who
was suffering from a severe attack of
rheumatism in his knee-joints, kept her
quiet. ooh, yer needn't flare up, Zeph.
~Jist put on Soils ole coat an take the
bucket an milk ther COWS. An min
yer, give 'em plenty O fodder, fur ther
nights rainy an they need heavy
feedin', +" finished Susan.
Zepha was glad to obey. Out in the
;autumnal rain milking the COWS was
far pleasanter than being sheltered in
che cabin listening to the termagant
Grim. Though the corn fodder was
rain-soaked and heavy for the slender
arms, Zepha was not mindful of her
burden, for the COWS knew and loved
her, at least, and to feed them was q
labor of love.
AS Zepha was returning to the house
with bucket of milk, a slip of paper
which the wind had carried and lodged
under some old logs. caught her at
tention. She picked it up, and,
damp as i was, and regardless of the
steady down-pour of rain, she stopped
to read it. It was bill announcing a
play to be rendered that night by a
travelling company, at the opera house
in the town one mile distant from the
Grim cabin. She rerused the bill
over and over, as if it held some power
of fascination for her she was unable to
break. How she wished she might at
tend! How she envied the feminine
names, their place in tho caste of char
acters! Her eyes shone brilliantly, her
color came and went, her chest rose