Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1888-12-21

/ nope oi any mediation from thr parents.
! would know il. Unless Hiram had bc'n
| warned h" was still lulcd in his fntuous
| dream OF civilization. At that time nc and
| MS men were in the tulcs with ihc stock to
I've satisfied she herself must go to the bound
| airy.
| She reached HE ridge OK the cotton woods
| ANA SNcamorcs and fpW hundred yards
! further brought her to the edge of that gen.
Tie southern SLOPE which at last sank into
| the broad meadow of the drhatcahlc ground.
| In spite Of Staccv's mvlious criticism of
! ITS intrinsic value. this theatre OF savage
| diSocnsion. violence, and bioodshcd was 10y
| some IRONY OF nature II pastoral landscape
| OF singular and peaceful rcposc. The soft
glacs stretching before her was i'm spring
ccrulcan with lpns. and later starred with
| Hi0rjPoSdS. The meadow was transvcrsely
crossed by a curving line of alder, that in
Dictated rare watcrcouise. of which in the
dry season only single pool remained to
| flash back the mvarNing sky. There had
been no attempt at cultivation of this broad
cNpanSc wild oats, mustard. and rank
grasses left il a tossing Sla of turbulent and
NariaGatcd color whose waves rode high
enough to ougulf horse and rider in their
choking depths. Even the traces of human
| struggle, the upruotcd stakes, scattered
fence rails. and empty posi- -holcs were for
ever hidden under these pillows of verdure.
Midway "f the field and near the water
course arose Mckinstry's har--the solita-
ny human structure whose rude. misshapen,
hulglng sides and swallow haunted caves
bursting with hay from the neghboring
pasture. seemed however only an cNtraNa-
giant growth of the prolific soil. Mrs. Nc
knNtrN gaz"d at ii anXiouSly. There was
no sign of life or movement near OF around
II II stood aS it had always Stood deserted
ana solitary. BUT turning her eyes to the
right. beyond the Watcrcourso, she could see
a slght regular undulati"n OF the grassy sea
ana what appeared To he the drifting on lis
surface OF malt dozen Souched hats in the
direction of the aldors. There was no longer
any doubt party from the other side was
approaching the border.
\ shout and the quick gallopmg of hoofs
behind her sent thrill of relief to her
heart she had barely time TO draw aside
! as her husband and his followers swept past
her down the slope But it needed not his
furious cry. "Ihe ltnrrlSonS heV sold us
out, ~ 10 tell her That the crisis had come.
She held her breath as the cavalcad@ di-
verged, and III open order lurouSly APP
preached the water course and she could see
sudden cncck ana hesitation III the move
| ment III the meadow at That uniooked-for
onset. linen she thought OF the barn. 1t
would he r2ilNlng point Tor them IL drlNen
| back-a tower ol defence II beSleged. there
| were arms secreted beneath the nay Tor Such
| an emergency. She would run there,
| Swingto its open doors, and get ready to
! barricade them.
She ran crouchingly, seeking the higher
grasses and hranbles OF the ridge to escape
observation from the meadow until she
could descend upon the barn from the rear.
! She threw aside her impeding shawl her
brown holland sun bonnet torn oil her head
| and hanging by It's strings from her shout
| derS, let her coarse SllNer-threaded mar
stream like name over her back her lace
| and hands We're bleeding from thornS ana
whitened by dust. But she struggled ON
| hercely Ike some hunted animal until she
| reached the descending tran, When letting
| herself go blindly, only withheld by the
| long grasses she clutched at wildly ON either
| side, she half fell, half stumbled down the
| slope and emerged beside the barn, breath
less and exhausted.
| But what a contrast was there For
| an instant She could scarcely believe that she
had left the ridge with her husbands say
| age cutlery in her ears, and III her eyes the
swift vision of his furious cavalcade. The
| boundary meadow was hidden 10y the soft
| lines of graceful willows i'll whose dim re
ceSses the figures OF the passionate horse
| men seemed to have melted for ever There
| was nothing now TO interrupt the long vista
| OF peaceful beauty that stretched before her
| through this lonely hollow To the distant
| sleeping hills. The bursting barn Ill the
| foreground, heap"d with gralu that 1rlnged
| ITS caves and brlatled from ITS windows and