Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-12-11
II aint afraid of 'em!"

argued. o"
~ amt got nothin' else to Law it out
on" Nancy returned.
but picket fence would'ye
oen 30 much nicer" Obed's wife Ia
mented.
lou can put picket fence long
your half, or u stump fence or a catern;I9
mr. rail fence" Nancy snapped. "1his
but you might a. consulted sonea,o3v
oout 1t, seems to me-" said Obed,
81 don't consult others 'hont family
matters. she answered. with dry signif-
canoe.
50 they let her aone, end the fence.
building went on. The Usage oranges
were we'll set, and for two years were we'll
tended by the man who took the lob.
1t was excellent soil and they grew
rapidly. They were splashed-that is,
bent lengthwise along the row and pinned
to the ground, that they might become
,mpenetrable when from the PROSTATE
branches others would shoot up. And
the feeling which began with the sug-
gestion OF the fence grew with it's growth.
Obed talked it over at home with h;s
wife. aud Nuncy thought it over in lr.lra
of loneliness.
Obed's wife's relations thought it an
outrage, and advised Obed to get out an
injunction or something of the sort. But
obed had wisdom enough left to refrain
from legal proceedings.
"Twould be going from bad to wuss, y
nc remarked, land 1 don't see how q
oodyd injine lot O CROWN stuff like
that
Then another idea took possession Of
Nancy. She seldom saw Obed now
even the children did not come to see
her. 1t was so much farther around the
road, and the old path was closed. Obod
had ceased to farm her portion. saving
he '.s'posrd she'd want to run her place,
as she'd run her fence, alone;" and she
had promptly and spiritedly replied that
she could do it we'll enough. So at last
| she felt herself left to the mercies of her
hired man, Ike.
| "Ye're goin' to have that fence
trimmed up?' Ike queried, one morning.
-. She looked out. How it had grown
Those plants had been in perfect sympa-
thy with her. They had sent out branches
in every direction, until the line was a
mass of thorn-covered branches. The
hedge was impenetrable.
Serves 'em right she exclaimed,
under her breath. They'd no business
to make sech fuss over that cows
doins, nor over that fence neither. No,
l amt goin' to trim it. Let it grow" she
went on, in q lower tone, "till We can't
see nothin' of nary one Of u.s."
That was how the long line Of thickly
interviewer branches came to be left to
shoot skywnrd untrimmed, until it lost
all likeness to the hedge she had at first
planned.
She was nervous and trembling from
an attack Of neuralgia one September
morning when Ike informed her, as he
swallowed his third cup Of coffee, that
the charm leaked like ali git-out, an the
hay'd got wet, the cow'd got the collie
eatin' apples, and Nep'd gone lame with
one Of them sage thorns in his foot, +"
ending with the announcement, "Obcd's
We gone to the Fair, an I'm goin', too. y
"They didn't use to forget to ask me
to go with en-" Nancy murmured to her
self, as she hurried off to the east room
which faced the hedge.
70 be sure, she knew she had before
now refused to 60 to the Fair with them
saying she had Nep; but he was lame
and they had certainly forgotten her
Then there was the barn, and the COW. II
the orchard fence had been built, she
would not have had the colo.
Then came the thought that there used
to be no worry for her when Obed had
charge; but lie had left her alone.
She turned to the window involuntarily,
and looked over the fields as she had
done daily for years; but she could see
nothing now but tall, waving branches,
which seemed to nod at her and say,
"You see we've done it; aren't you
glad?' The aspiring tree-tops had at
last fulfilled her wish; at last she could
not see even Obeds chimneys.
She was alone indeed-and she was in.
tensely miserable.
Ike drove off as she looked, calling out
to her that the COW was dead. She saw
Nep limping out by the hedge, and she
went back to- the kitchen with On aching
heart and throbbing head.
The day was a long one. How many
times she went to the east room to look
towards Obed's she could not have told.
1t was late in the afternoon when she
aimlcssly wandered there again. Had
Obed's folks come home? Blue smoke
was curling up. But they would stay
late at the Fair on Thursday-the best
day.
Bonnie must be at home. She did re.
member that Ike said he had cut his foot;
but she had not been there.
A cloud Of smoke rolled up. She picked
up another pair Of glasses and put them on
That was flame that shot up above the
trees then, surely! Something was
wrong. ...
She shook violently as she hurried
back to the kitchen. How could she get
there? She must go! 1t was too fa,
, around. There was the old path; but
the hedge was too thick to penetrete.
One second she hesitated; then her eye
fell on the axe by the wood-pile, and
catching it up, she hurried down the old
path. ,,,.
But who was that? Millie, six-year-old
Millie, this side Of the hedge, her dress
; torn, her face and hands scratched, and
the tears rolling down her cheeks. She