The Red Cloud chief., 1888-06-15
sod, added, and tho entire roof covered with

sod, added, and tho entire roof covered with
dirt q foot thick.
Board "ooEs Ne another luxury not en-
joyed by the majority, 'dirt floOrs' being
the rule. That is, the earth enclosed within
the four walls is leveled down as smoothly
q possible with q spade, and considered quite
good enough. It is no uncommon occur
renee to see people who own hundreds OF
heads of cattle and three or four sections OF
land living in sod hOuses-or even ''dug.
outs' sometimes. with dirt roofs and dirt
foors-buildings which Eastern farmers
would not consider fit to winter stock in.
This being the usual style of living among
the pioneers Of Nebraska, Of course when
Mrs. Ashley took a claim and fixed it up 50
much better than the surrounding ones, il
was no wonder that she was at once set
apart by Ter neighbors as being ''t0O fine.
haired for any thing"
Perhaps it was owing to this, or, it may
have been because she never encouraged
familiarity with her neighbOrs, that she had
not q single intimate acquaintance among
them, after living in the vicinity over five
years. She had made proof on . pre-emp-
ton at the end Of the first six months of her
residence there and had Immediately placed
Q homestead filing on q quarter section ada
cent to her tree-claim. That she had consid-
cradle stock and wa making money was all
any of her neighbors knew of her. Even
the people whom she hired to do her work
knew nothing more. except that she was
never backward or afraid Of putting her own
shoulder to the wheel when work was press
ing.
She had a boy. twelve years Of age at the
time Of which We write, and a girl three
years younger. To any inquiries concern
ing her husband, she invariably replied:
Il lost him many years ago."
One hired girl, more daring than the rest,
ventured to continue the subject in spite Of
her mistress ~forbidding looks when the
matter was alluded to by inQuiring:
"What allied himF"
"Heart disease" replied the lady. while q
grim smile rested on her face, Us she went
outside and closed the door to end the con-
vers0tiOn.
b was O handsome woman, not over
thirty-one or two years Of age, and several
Of the bachelors of the vicinity had made
advances with u view to matrimony, all of
which were politely, but firmly, repused.
She always declared she was opposed to
second marriages. The truth of the matter
was that, owing to a sad experience, she
did not have much faith in men, or il mar
riage Of any kind, whether second or first.
She had passed her girlhood in a country
village in the vicinity of Chillicothe, Ohio,
and at seventeen had become engaged to
Ashley Winthrop, a rising young lawyer Of
that city. Her acquaintance thought she
had married extremely well-bIt she hadn't.
She had become acquainted with young Win
throp while he Was ruSticating in the viii
lagc. She, being the belle there. he engaged
her In what he at first intended TO be a
Irritation; but before he knew it h. was
more interested in her than he had intended,
and when it came time to leave, some way
it was SO easy to ask permission to come
back for her some time. She seemed to
look and long for some such proposal, too,
and he could not but acknowledge to
himself that she had a right to do SO, after
their intimacy. Yet he had never meant
things to go SO far, and knew that it was
not for the best. She was too thoroughly
a country girl to bear transplanting to the
city. She was not the sort of woman he had
always looked forward to marrying, yet so
proud was he Of what he termed his
honor" that, CALLING as the bondage would
be 10 him, he would not make a clean breast
of it, and end matters between them. So
they were married and went to Chillicothe |
to live. If her unassuming country ways |
annoyed him before, when there was no one
but himself to note them, how much more |
so now that all his friends could witness |
them. She soon learned that her husband |
was ashamed of her, and this made matters
worse, for b tried to please him b. |
affecting the fine lady, and made a miserable |
failure Of Il.
To a man Of domestic tastes only she
would have proven u treasure. Her house
was the best ordered, and her table afforded
unsurpassed. But her husband
overlooked her virtues entirely, in contem-
what he considered her DEFICIENCIES.
He avoided taking her out with him when
ever it was possible, and made both himself
his wife miserable.
When they were married five years, Mr..
Winthrop was elected to the Legislature,
and. of course, offered to take his wife
10 Columbus with him when he went, which
was q bad move for both. Having no one
10 look after, and 10 one to look after him,
he had too much time for getting into mis-
thief. At the sam hotel at which he was
stopping a Senator from q northern district
also boarding, accompanied by His
laughter.
It is hardly likely that q mar 90 tenacious
II his honor that he would fulfill o distaste-
Ful contract of marriage for its sake, would
willfully withhold the fact Of his marriage
md enter into a filtration; 90, perhaps, the
for disclosing the fact never
presented itself. However that may have
,een, certain it is hat Ashley Winthrop
'oon began to seek the society of Senator
daughter, Louise, and acknowledge
o himself that, If he were only free, here
vas the woman he would choose for q wife.
And the girl! Why, she was fattered by
evident interest and admiration of the
young member from Chillicothc; en-
Dyed his society at first, and later on-why
VII women he such foolsy-proceeded to fall
lead and ears in love with him without so |
much as trying to find out any thing about
lis past life. Her father, also, rather en-
outraged the intimacy, taking it for granted
hat a young man whose fellow citizens re-
pected him enough to elect him to the
legislature must be all right. This goes to
rove, by the way, that men are not always
8 acute as they ought to be, either.)
No mutual agreement as to the state of I
n>:. ho--A. $685. -.-:r>I "a r