Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-06-25
AVN. Z. ,hrs..' seq .notA~.

.. 'Oner seq he, short an sharp
-An the boys but Ira begun to chuck their
money down on the table
Much did you git, IryF ser the chesr-
man.
Ira squtrulsd around on his beels fer
minute.
.NoneP seq be, pretty soon. an shorter
than ever 'Hain't even go. my own nowf
wal, ser tho chaernlan, burned If you
h'aint pretty tookin' chap TO let q claim
holder clean you cut that-a-wayr
at you don't like my way growled Ira.
right savage, jest lump it, an be durn to
your
AN he jumped up an left the room leav-
ing Us with our mouths open. =, to SPEAK
By the time we come 10 our lenses, con
tinued Hank, Ira want nowlur to be found
Boys SCI the cheerma,., sum IN demands
our attention NOR n the boom hu iness Iry's
crazy, reckon.
~0f We put toward the claim Ira had
visited Some Nv Us knowed by sight the
feiler that was a-hotdin' it-quiet, peaceabls
chap from summers East But, quiet or not,
Lone Mound had 10 Use for anybody that
not only wouldn't whoop up the boom, bat
actually robbed the committee, an so we
a-reckoned on his a-eayia' the ueighborhood
shortly after we got there
The poor cabin or shack OF the claim
holder did not look like the abode of a des-
perate character Beside the door was a. little
bed Of bright hued prairie flowers, and wild
morning glory was trained up TO one OF the
little windows. line approach of the COM
mitteemen met no opposition, and, with wea-
pons handy, they entered the cabin.
Upon the poor bed lay the claim holder
His enaciatel face, fever flushed and CHASTITY,
and his voice, little more than q quayering
whisper told Of dangerous illness. On the
table lay little heap Of money, and on a
chair at the belsiss WAS Il bowl Of broth
I'm glad 10 So you, the sick man said,
family Il suppose Ira Henneker sent you
He was here little while ago"
The intruders appeared exceedingly uncom-
Portable. Each looked at his neighbor, as If
mutely asking him TO say something appro-
pirate
"Sick long, pardnerf ASKED the chairman
Of the committee, presently.
II don't know said the sick man, YEARLY.
II have been delirious, | think. | grew
worse and worse, and then all was blank
till just before Ira came. 1t may not have
been long, yet it seems months since | felt
myself slipping from consciousness. But
feel little, Just a little, better now. Ira was
very kind TO me, and the broth did me good =
1t was evident that he had not seen the
money on the table.
Il must get well as soon as can. for Alice
is coming soon coming soon"
Alice He dwelt lovingly on the name
.'Alice! Little Ahcel Coming soon."
How soouf" asked the chairman for want
Of II more appropriate question.
If she meets with no delay on the trip, she
will b. here by the 10th or llth of this
month. must hurry and get we'll by that
time, for want to meet her when the buck
board brings Ter over from Prairie City
am going to hire you to bring her Hank,
and Why, les gomez
Hank did not learn all Of the story till
afterward. 1t was the simple story of two
long ~ in hearts. The claim holder had
come west to make on the prairie a home for
the only girl in the world to him, and TO
whom h. vas the only man in the world.
AIld Sic, left behind, had persevered in her
duties as the teacher of little country school,.
adding to tie small store of dollars that
should be common property when they be
came one.
Presently the time prescribed by law before
a claim becomes the property Of home
Steader" would end, and then they could set
ito down comfortably in little prairie home
Of their own.
AT last, u little windfall in the form of q
small legacy from distant relative, came to
the girl, and she fastened to write the good
news to her lover The marriage need not he
postponed any longer. As soon as the neces-
sary LOCALITIES were completed and she OBJ
tanned possession of her property, she would
hasten to him
la Int tort ba oil bn1tar all
dangerously he did not realize.
At his isolated cabin his condition had not
been suspected by the scattered neighbors till
the visit of the boomers.
Ere the claim holders story was ended
there came the tnud of hoofs, and moment
later Ira lienneSer strobe in, followed by DR..
MrCu I'd, from Prairie City.
Tbs boomers left the cabin, but when, after
the examination, DR.. McCord joined them,
with grave face and solemnly shaken head
they re-entered the house. Without consult
ing the rest, the treasurer Of the finance com
mittee laid on the table little pouch CON
tanning the reception fund.
Doc said he, in a hoarse aside, ''h
moneyil rlal;e"-
II can only do my best" returned the ply
sician
''What's left " III be plenty fer bega1
the chairman.
PLENTY FIR the boom" finished some one
as the chairman paused.
Ten minutes later, with the exception Of
the physician and a couple of volunteer nurses
the sick man was alone. The rest of the
boomers were attending to duties or purchas
ing articles deemed by clumsy sympathizeri
to be of utility to an invalid. This done
they arrayed themselves in their best clothes
kept for state occasions.
Meanwhile, the half wild ponies Of Hanl
Fisher were jerking the old blue blackboard
along the grass fringed road rapidly TOWARD
/ Prairie City
Had to be thar in time fer the train If il
jerked all the wheels often the blackboard,
Hank explained to lis passenger. Thar wa
the girl Nv that pore cuss comm on the trair
that was durn near due, an him half deaC
an not expectin' her for sev'ral days, OWN
! to havin ben delirious an losin track thu
flight o. time so to speak"
The girl who descended from the train a
Prairie City and inquired for conveyance t.
/ Lone Mound was soon seated behind the hal
wild ponies that Immediately began kicking
distance swiftly behind them.
Somehow said Hank, conddentially
cher face reminded me Nv these yere wild
blush roses that grow on the sunny slopes o
the little holIers it was so pure an innocen
an bright An her eyes, blue fax flow
ers, er the So when the summer rain cloud
break away Ter a minute, so to speak, wa
as soft and sorto meltin as-as"-
At a loss for al appropriate simile, Hanl
bestowed upon tine half wild ponies a sount
crack of the black snake whip.
wal, proceeded Hank, pretty soon ate
We come il sight Nv his shack, seed sump'n
was up To boys was a-standin' in a solemn
row in front Nv the house, an all NV EN- hat
their hats of. When we got up clost two
Nv em showed he cheerman NV the boon
committee fory I'd as if they wanted him t.
do soIac talkin', an ne looked as if he'd ruthe,
| b. killed ~ the spot When the team stop
ped, ia herman twisted about as if he wa.
spectin 10 he whipped fer sump'n', an lookin
at tie girl besi,.a me an jest openin an shut
/ tin his mouth like cat fish, without sayin'
word
Hank seq he, all of a sudden, he's gon,
over the R.nscN an got back NV the others
spite NV their tryin' to make him stay aheat
! NV EN-
The girl didn't see what was up, but did
! an fer a minute | reckoned on turnin' thi
| we're ole blue blackboard around an gettin
! her away from the sorrer that was befor.
! her, ! was that overcome by my feelin's 81
| to speak Then Doc McCord come out u,
the shack and stepped forward
Mis- SEE he, yer young mans Der
| powerful sick. an'-an'-I-y ou-you mus
! prepare fer Their worst an