The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-11-22

something that was inaudible to my ears
but whether from his hesitation or the
distance l could not determine. There
was no such uncertainty in her reply.
however, which was given in her usual
curt fashion: .'Al right. You kin trapse
along home now and turn in
She turned the corner of the extension
and disappeared. The tall figure of the
man wavered hesitatingly for a moment,
and then vanished also. But | was too
much excited by curiosity TO accept this
unsatisfactory conclusion, and hastily
picketing Chu Chu few rods from the
front door l ran after him. with an in
stinctive feeling that he had not gone far.
i was right. few PAGES distant he had
halted in the same dubious, lingering way.
s'Hallol" said.
He turned toward me in the like awk-
ward fashion, but with neither astonish-
ment nor concern.
S"Come up and take drink with me be-
fore you 60" said, IF you're not in q
turned out l don't see why we mightn' t
have smoke and talk together"
II dursn't'
l looked up at the six feet of strength
before me and repeated wonderingly:
"Dare not?"
'.She wouldn't like it." He made a
movement with his right shoulder toward
the extension.
"Who?"
"Miss Karline."
"Nonsense!' I said. "She isn't in the
cabin-you won't see her. Come along"
He hesitated, although from what could
discern of his bearded face, he was weakly
smiling.
Come"
He obeyed, following me not unlike Chu
Chu, | fancied, with the same sense of SUI
perior size and strength and slight
whitening OF the eye, as if ready to shy at
any moment. At the door he backed"
Then he entered sideways. / noticed that
he cleared the doorway at the top and
sides only by a hairs breadth.
By the light of the fire could see that,
in spite of his full first growth of beard,
he was young-even younger than myself,
and that he was by no means bad looking.
As he still showed signs of retreating at
any moment, | took my flask and tobacco
from my saddlebags, handed them TO him,
pointed to the stool, and sat down myself
upon the bed.
You live near here?"
Yes" he said, little abstractedly, as if
listening Tor some interruption, "at Ten
Mile Crossing"
why, that's two miles away"
81 reckon"
Then, you don't live here-on the clear
ing?"
"No. b'long to the mill at Ten Mile"
You were on your way homer"
"No;" he hesitated, looking at his pipe.
kinder meander round here at this time,
when Johnson's away, to see if every
things goin straight"
II see-you're friend of the family"
"'Deed mop He stopped, laug hed,
looked confused, and added, apparently to
his pipe, "That is, a sorter friend Not
much. She"-he lowered his voice, as if
that potential personality filled the whole
cabin-wouldn't like it.
"Then a. night, when Johnson's away,
you do sentry duty round the housed"
Eyes, sentry dooty,-that's it"; he
seemed impressed with the suggestion
that's 1t! Sentry dooty. You've struck
it, pardner."
"And how often is Johnson away?"
bout two or three times week, on an
average"
'But Miss Caroline appears to be able to
take care of herself. She has no fear"
Fear! Fear wasn't hangin' round when
she was born!" He paused. mo, sir.
Did we ever look into them eyes?"
hadn't, on account of the lashes. But
l didn't care to say this, and only nodded.
"There amt the created thing livin' or
dead, that she can't stand straight up to
and look at"
/ wondered if he had fancied she exper-
fenced any difficulty in standing up before
that innocent, good-humored face but l
could not resist saying:
Then don't see the use of your walk
ing four miles to look after her."
I was sorry for it the next minute, for
he seemed to have awkwardly broken his
pipe, and had to bend down for long time
afterward to laboriously pick up the small.
est fragments. At last he said, cautiously:
''Ye noticed them bits o. tiannin' round
the chillren's throats ?''
l remembered that had. but was uncer.
tam whether it was intended as proven.
tive of cold or a child's idea of decoration.
/ nodded.
That's their trouble. One night, when
old Johnson had been off for three days to
Coulterville, | was prowling round here,
and | didn't git to see no one, though
there was light burning in the shanty all
night. The next night | was here agin-
the same light twinklin', but no one about.
l reckoned that was mighty queer. and
jess crep up to the house an listened. l
heard suthin' like little cough onest in a
while, and at times suthin' like little
moan. didn't burst to sing out, for I
knew she wouldn't like it, but / whistled
careless like, to let the children know 1
was there But it didn't seem to take.
my skin III I didn't come across
the bucket of water I'd fetched
up from the spring that mornin', standin'
there full, and never taken inl When I
saw that reckoned I'd jess wade in, any,
how, and knocked. Poorly soon the door
was half opened, and saw her eyes blaz-
in at me like them Goals. Then she
flowed I'd better git up and git, and shet
the door toi Then l lowed she might tell
me what was up-through the door. Then
she said-through the door-as how the
children lay all sick with that hoss-dis-
temper dipthery. Then she lowed she'd
use doctor eff I'd fetch him. Then she
lowed again I'd better take the baby that
hadn't ketched it yet along with me
and leave it where it was safe. Then
the door all wrapped up in a blankit
like papoose, and you bet | made
tracks with it. l knowed thar wasn't no
good goln' 70 the mill, SO | let out for
Whites, four miles beyond, whar there
was Whites old mother. | told her how
things was pointin' and she lent me
boss. and jess rounded on Doctor Green
at Mountain Jim's, and had him back
back here afore sun up. And then I
heard she wilted-regularly played out,
you see-for she had it all along wuss
than the lot. and never let on or whim-
peredi"
at was well you persisted in seeing her
that night, | said, watching the rapt ex-
preston of his face. He looked up
w n oeCa uie cohsclous VI my sSIutiny,
and dropped his eyes again, smiled feebly,
and. drawing 4 circle in the ashes with
broken pipe stem, said:
But she didn't like it, though.
suggested, little warmly, that if she
allowed her father to leave her alone at
night with delicate children she had no
right TO choose who should assist her in
an emergency. 1t struck me afterward
that this was not very complimentary to
him, and l added hastily that | wondered
If she expected some young LADY, TO be