Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1891-10-08
The Claim On Deer Greek.
By A. Il. GIBSON.

W. 0CCpAJ AOcL "a VIZ SNSA~
10 eat
''Too purity ter be scarf from by low
down critter like that sneakin' Hines"
answered Hamlet, finishing his coffee
and rising from the table.
'No, Nancy" he said, after a pause,
81 think you an me an our traps will
'bide hyer at the dugout a spell spite O.
that varInint's threats. His talks to-
thin fur me ter swaller. He just aims
ter scar me off ther claim, but he'll be
plumb disappointed, I low. Nancy, yer
kin jest go erhead an fix up ther dugout
ter suit yerself, while hammer up somt
kind o. brush shed fur the beasts. Well
not spare Their time ter ask Hines eff he's
willin'."
So saying, Adam Hamlet took spade
and ak and walked short distance down
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 a rude shed,
which would serve as a shelter for the
animals when it stormed.
While Hamlet worked away on his
shed down the hollow Nancy was not
idle. She was a skillful housekeepeE
and she had soonput the dugout through
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 valor 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
sunfower stalks gathered from the "a
vine; and Nancy had made the dugOut
as habitable as twas 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, so 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 a listening atti-
tude, for she was certain that she had
heard one of them laugh in gruff 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 it mean? Who kin it be
cavortin' round over the prairies?" she
asked herself.
Suddenly she remembered Dick Hines
unpleasant 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 a bench smoking his old clay pipe.
T., ~, xyo;oo 81,
Pap, reckon that Hines an his low
down gang air comm. Don't yer hyar
'em:"
Eyes, I've heerd 'em, Nancy" replied
Hamlet, IAN I'm awaitin' Their attack"
and she noticed that he had an old
musket in his hand, which he had capt
ured from soldier in the late war.
"Hyer, child Get in Their dugout and
let me shut Their door. reckon eff Their
bent on playin' Injun l kin show 'em
amt erfeared. I've faced too many
Johnnie Rebs in my time ter be scarf
out by passel o. SIGH bushwhackers as
them ems"
He pulled Nancy into the dugout and
closed and bolted the big rough door,
which was composed of two large, heavy
oak boards nailed together.
"Hcllo in tharT yelled Dick Hines,
halting with his gang, half dozen
rough looking fellows, all heavily armed,
before the dugout.
"Hello yerselfI" Hamlet called back
from hole beside the door.
Come out O. thar, an let this hyer
committee show yer how we do up
claim jumper in Kansas"
"Pm 'bliged ter yer fur the invitation,
but I'd ruther be excused frum talin'
any lessons frum SIGH er pack o BUSH
whackers as YER" Adam Hamlet an
swered.
"Ef yer don't come out peaceable-like
we uns will bust in an fetch yer out"
threatened Hines, while poor Nancy
stood shuddering with the widest appre-
tensions by her fathers side.
''Bust awayl I've got somethin' hyer
in my hand tibet kin bust, too, when I'm
er mind ter pull the trigger"
Look hyer, ole chapi This is Dick |
Hines claim, and we uns aim ter help |
him hold it." said one of the uncouth |
horsemen.
Its Adam Hamlet's claim, got in a |
fair and squar' swap from TX Fender, |
back in Qlinoy, an aim ter hold it"
"Ain't yer goin' ter open tibet door,"
demanded Hines impatiently.
What yer need with Their door openT
mockingly asked Hamlet.
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