Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-06-15
HER HERO.
BY .ALEx.DUKE BAILIE.

HER HERO.
by ALExDUKE BAlL1E.
Tn where the railroad, and the old
ANAL and the broad Susquehanna run
N,rsllel through the iron mining, iron
nqYufacturing regions of Lancaster
County, Pennsylvania, in that semi
civilized community, I, Quaker
scbool-teacher, transferred myself from
thp a,,iet atmosphere of Philadelphia,
arl took charge of the county school.
Filing health obliged me to make the
Change, bat though I soon found
Strength and appetite and sound
sleep, vet I was terribly lonely.
The Young people in the furnace
rroprietor's family were seldom at their
home and were too much inclined to
csyety to care for one so "prim and
SCI IL her ways" as myself, and the
working people, such few as came in
contact with, seemed also to resent
tla preciseness which was both natural
anl cultivated in me.
So, as | say, had very lonely life,
not but that it was all too lively during
school hours The young outlaws were
not really bad, but they were rude,
bosterous and uncultivated, being al
lowed to run perfectly wild while at
home.
Their admiration was all for and
tier talk ever Of the toughest acts and
Displays of brute strength.
Eoto TnoH exit 90 cha yuoc n ,J1ad
WAS a hoyden of fifteen years, good
girl, but the leader or prompter Of all
mischief, and the most openly avowed
alorer Of Red Dick" who seemed to
lie chief of his class in that section.
From the first hour of my charge of
the school I heard almost every ten
minutes of something Red Dick had
done, was doing, or was about to
do there was a new story to be
told OF him every morning,
to be repeated with variations
at noon recess, and to be again told at
evening, and even to be muttered dur
ing study time.
"Say, Red Dick knocked Brad!ey's
haykecp outer the second story window
last night"
Kate Imoff, communicated this news
i'll loud whisper to some late conner.
"What for?"
Kicking his dog, and Red Dicks 60
ing to fight him next Sunday afternoon.
And Red Dick says that when he's done
with him that barkeep won't kick no
more dogs for month, and Red
Dick"
Kate Imotf" I cry, sharply, "you
shall be punished for talking in school, ["
and so she was detained half-hour at
noon, but no sooner was she out of the
house than I heard, through the win
dow, her clear voice explaining that
lied Dick was going down to Ma
Longs barn to play his fiddle for dance
that night, and that she was going with
her sister Nell, and was going to dance
till morning.
And so it went on day after day until
TINS Red Dick became perfect terror
that outraged my ears during most OF
my waking hours and actually haunted
my brain at night, for J. could then
see him in all his ruffianly
strength and bulk, and great swagger
and loud, profane voice. I had never
seen him but we'll knew what manner
Of man he was from those of the same
KIND had to pass in my short walk
rom the school to my boarding place,
which constituted almost my entire
exercise.
The lmofts lived nearly mile away,
c'ose by the mines from which the ore
was dug, and this Red Dick seemed to
Keep himself very near them. From
what could understand he had for sew
fral years wanted to marry Nell Imof,
Mates sister, then about 20 years of
age, but the girl did not seem to care
lor him, treated him with an indiffer-
ehce IN marked contrast to the feeling
sue ,, showed to young teamster named
alex Sutton. All this I cleaned from
Asach conversation overheard from the
e!aer children at school, knew none
OF the parties but Kate.
For two weeks. about the middle of
my second term, it had been raining
uaeaVlly and almost necessarily. Only
nose children living near at hand at
ended school, and my classes were
very small. One day the room was en-
~! uesefted except by myself; AFTER
waiting more than an hour I locked
1ne door and made my way
o LUCK to my clearinghouse; here only
one ola servant was at home, and on in
Jury found that everybody else was
ao"n at the river bank; "fresh" was
lining on rapidly, the waters. were
,l.hs, and by noon it was fully ex-
p ph that the great RATS of logs,
wv Iulch mad been resting on the muddy
;; 1u.'om OF the river, extending far out
tu'o the shallow water, could be
- the few miles further down
w. 'he many saw-milis that turned them
4nlo millions of feet of lumber.
curiosity led me to the BANKS of the
r.us4uehanna, and there I saw the
NNer, which usually had more pro: