The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1888-04-20

was from him. My old feeling of an
tagonism arose strong within me, and,
| assisted by strong draught, l
! wrenched myself from the wall, and
fell so as to conceal has letter. The
other missive, | noted with pleasure,
| was from the Captain. This she soon
read with evident enjoyment, while for
forty-eight hours I continued to con-
ceal from her the other letter, which, it
afterwards transpired, contained an
important request; and he receiving no
reply, quietly withdrew from the whirl
of civilization, going suddenly West
so report said.
After this rapidly fellinto disfavor;
and one day, when sending a box of
old-fashioned garments and new-fash-
toned novels to relative in Dakota, /,
too, was thrown in with the discarded
mass.
After series of adventures and de-
lays by rail, boat and mules, / was
finally unpacked in frontier home
by lovely girl, whose admiration for
me, wreck as was, seemed unbound
ed; and from that moment during
the hot months which followed, Vita
and | were almost inseparable. hung
at her side on many ride over the
prairie among her Indian neighbors,
and great was their interest in me-
'the little piece of paper which folds, :"
as they called me. Inever could re-
press creeping sensation in regard
to these Home Missionary pets, par
ticularly when l saw them dressed
or undressed-fo1 their dances; but
my artistic eye appreciated their tip
ees, patched and smoke-stained, with
their long poles sticking out of the
black opening, up into the sky. And
their poetical domestic life, it was
charming to observe; the noble Hia-
wathas doing the work of pipe-smok-
ing, while the aged Minnehahas
amused themselves toying with the hoe
among the waving corn, or wrestling
with the firewood.
Our rides were generally confined to
the Indian reservation, as this includ-
ed the only attractive scenery, the
land in the other direction being SIM
ply level, monotonous prairie; and Vita
had no fear of the half-ciyilized Sioux,
she being good shot, bold rider,
and liberal dispenser of tobacco and
candy.
One day, as we approached the home
of "The Seven Brothers. there seemed
to be some unusual excitement.
Squaw ladies, Indian gentlemen, arts
tically bare babies, dlme-museum dogs,
all seemed interested over something.
We soon learned that a young traveller,
white man, while trying to ride a
pony which he was trading for, had
been thrown and kicked by the I'M
broken colt, and was lying in state
of Inconsistencies. His arm was evil
IDENTIFY broken, and from the condition
of his clothing he had evidently been
roughly handled by the pony's feet.
Vita's warm sympathies were touched
by his pallid, suffering face, and she
Immediately arranged to have him con-
veyed to her home.
Weeks passed. These weeks were the
busiest ever experienced in my check
cred career: from morning till night, and
in fact often through the entire night,
was in constant motion. Some one
had to watch the sick man continually,
and | was generally required to fan
his fevered brow, and usually l was in
Vita's hand; but of all this he was to-
tally unconscious, not having been in
his right mind one moment since his
| accident.
One morning he quietly opened his
eyes, and it almost made me rattle to
see the change it made in his face; and
in that second there was a mutual
recognition. Without word He
grasped at me-ah! what a flood of
tender recellections I brought back to
him!--and great was Vita's astonish-
ment as he pressed me to his lips; and
his first words were to ask how l came
| there. Then she, in amazement at his
demonstrations, explained that / had
been sent to her by a cousin in New
York He. with that characteristic
thoughtfulness so prominent in man
kind, without stopping to express a
word of gratitude to the patient, worn
| face that for weeks had tended him so
faithfully He, weak as he was at
tempted to dictate letter-and such
a letter, fairly glowing with love and
undying affection-to Her, my former
owner; and poor Vita had to write it
all while he was clasping me to his
heart. Yes, me! whom formerly he
had so despised. Well, /, too, re-
Tented. 1t is so delightful to meet an
old acquaintance who has been as un-
fortunate as ones self
By his dictation I learned that the
note from him which I had concealed
for forty-eight hours was of such q
tender character that He, receiving nc
reply, took silence for dismissal, and
suddenly, as we had learned, buried
himself in the whirlpool of frontier ex'
element
After this letter was mailed he be.
gan counting the days that must pass
before he could hope for reply; ano
as he grew stronger, he'd sit up in bee
and talk for hours of Her to poor Vita
Finally, as his health returned, they
took long rides together through the
romantic paths on the reservation
they attended Indian dances. collected
bead-work and carved pipes; at othel
times whole days were passed on thu
lake, under the impression that they
were. fishing.
And thus weeks flew by, and the let
ter never came. Yes, they still talked
of tit was impossible to drop til,