The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1891-07-30

SAINT 1t purity, papT asked the girl,
too deeply lost in admiration Of the scene
10 eat.
"Too purity ter be scarf from by low
down critter like that snealrin' Hines"
answered Hamlet, finishing his coffee
and rising from the table.
"No, Nancy" he said, after pause,
II think you an me an our traps will
'bide hyer at the dugout q spell spite o
that varmint's threatA His talks too
thin fur me ter swaller. He just aims
ter scar me of ther claim, but he'll be
plumb disappointed, / Tow. Nancy, yer
hin jest go erhead an fix up ther dugout
ter suit yerself, while hammer up some
kind o brush shed fur the beasts. Well
not spare ther time ter ask Hines ef he's
willin'."
So saying, Adam Hamlet took spade
and az and walked q short distance down
o wide ravine, where he found load Of
poles and heavier timber which TX PEN
der had cut and hauled from the woods
but had not used. With this timber he
began the construction Of rude shed,
which would serve as 0 shelter for the
animals when itstormed.
While Hamlet worked away on his
shed down the hollow Nancy was not
idle. She was q slillful housekeeper,
and she had soon put the dugout through
o process Of complete renovation. The
underground apartment was not very
generous in its dimensions, but their
household goods were not very numer-
Gus, and there were but two persons to
become inmates Of it, so they could
easily manage to exist there until they
were able to build more comfortable
quarters How many Of our brave
pioneer folk like them have patiently
borne with hardships, and lived in dug
outs or uncomfortably cramped and
wretched cabins, that the untamed prai-
ries might be reclaimed from the savage
and the wilderness, and made, after
many struggles, fruitful and fitted to
the needs Of civilized humanity. They
are real benefactors, and the world owes
them such great debt Of gratitude that
will never be redeemed. But their deeds
Of yalor and noble sacrifices are recorded
on the scroll Of history, and we cannot
utterly ignore them, should we have the
disposition to do so.
Before night Hamlet had his shed
completed, even to covering one side and
the end and top with brush and dead
sunhower stalks gathered from the ra-
vine; and Nancy had made the dugout
as habitable as itwas possible to make it.
They had received no visits that day
from any Of their distant neighbors, and
had almost forgotten Dick Hines
threats, when Nancy, who had been
down to the creek for bucket Of water,
heard through the darkness Of the night
the rapid approach Of several horsemen.
There was no moon yet, 90 she could dis
tinguish nothing In the starlight but
several dark forms, whose horses were
bearing them with mad speed onward
toward the lonely dugout.
She bent her head in o listening atti-
tude, for she was certain that she had
heard one Of them laugh in q gruf voice
But she could hear no words, only the
swish, swish Of the horses feet as their
riders urged them over the prairie She
strove again to pierce the intervening
space with her clear hazel eyes. but she
could not make out the shadowy forms
what does IL meanl Who kin 1t be
cayortin' round over the prairieSr she
asked herself.
Suddenly she remembered Dick Hines
visit Of the evening before,
and leaving her bucket, she ran swiftly |
up the grass grown path to the dugout, |
before which she had left her father seat !
ed on bench smoking his old clay pipe. |
In an excited voice she cried;
Pap, reckon that Hines an his low |
down gang air comm. Don't yer hyar
'emT
"Yes, I've heerd 'em, Nancy replied
Hamlet, IAN I'm awaitin' ther attack" "
and she noticed that he had an old |
musket In his hand, which he had capt
ured from q soldier In the late war.
"Hyer, childI Get in ther dugout and
let me shut ther door. reckon Of theT
bent on playin' Injun | kin show Aem |
amt erfeared. I've faced too many
Johnnie Rebs In my time ter be scart |
out by . passel O. sich bushwhackeFs a.
them ems"
He pulled Nancy into the dugout and
closed and bolted the big rough eoOr,
which was composed Of two large, heavy
oak boards nailed together.
Hello In tharT yelled Dick Hines,
hAlting with his gang, q half dozen
rough looking fellows. all heavily armed,
before the dugout.
"Hello yerselfl" Hamlet called back
trom o hole beside the door.
"Come out o. thar, an let this hyer
committee show yer how we do up q
Slain jumper in Kansas"
"Pm 'bliged ter yer fur the invitation,
but I'd rutheF be excused frum talin'
my lessons frum sich er pack O. bush
whaclers as YER" Adam Hamlet an
Iwered.
"Ef yer don't come out peaceable- e-like
We uns viii bust in an fetch yer out"
Hines, while poor Nancy
'tood shuddering with the widest appre-
by her fathers side.
Bust awayi Eve got somethin' hyer
n my hand thet Kin bust, too, when I'm
II mind ter pull the trigger"
Look hyer, ole chapi This Ia Dick
Hines claim, and we uns aim ter help
lim hold It," said one Of the uncouth
lorsemen,
H1ts Adam Hamlets claim, got IN q
air and squar' swap from X Fender,
back in nlinoy, an ! aim ter hold It"
saint yer goin' ter open thet doorS"
Hines impatiently.
"What yer need with ther door openP'
nockngly asked Hamlet.
ave uns want ter git our paws on
leF. We White liyered claim iumnar. varfSl