The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1892-11-24

i face could be traced ia the STARLIGHT
4 now struggling through the clouds.
Markham leaned closer down to get
4 a better view. Then with q startled
Il glance he turned to his comrades.
4 sBoys," he exclaimed, sits q cnl!n
Had q meteor fallen in their midst
no greater surprise could have been
manifested by the party.
II lowed, said one sheepishly,
that we was followin' Blake. ''''-s
'.Of course you did an SO did the
rest Of u.s. spoke up the southerner
in his COOL, sarcastic way. .'sBut we
made q pretty spectacle Of oursel ves,
didn' t we, a chasin' this little gal over
the prairies cold night like this. Bnt
now let e get her back to tn cabin
Merl was insensible and one arm
hung limp and moveless by her side.
Markham lifted her to his saddle and
the remainder Of the party were lust
mounting their horses when a crackl-
ing sound in the bushes and dry weed 8
attracted their attention. q
"A dozen revolver hammers clickedl
| AL waited and watched eagerly IN
til at once they saw a number Of
| points OF fire in @ semi-circle before
them and then dark forms came cal1ti-
ously forward. q 37I 8 8 u
Cattle, as I'm . sinner, Z CALCULATED
Markham N Boys, tits Q, bunch Of
the Credentials herd wandered off an
here we was goin' ter Z
! The cattle came nearer and one 81
| the herders recognized them and swore
with string OF oaJns nearly as long
as his lariat that MARKHAM was ripht
and the tall grass in the bottom
lands, sprinkled with brush had prov
ed an affective hiding place for the
stray animals even had the season
been later.
+ was far past midnight when the
party dreWiup at the nearest house,
Blake's cabin. eve oughtn't bring
her here but it's too far in any Other
direction, said Markham, .ssan we kin
send fer some OF the women.
Blake met them a mile ormorefrom
the house, as he had saddled his own
horse and followed to see what was
the fate of his rescuer. s5@ q
Blake, said Markham, when they
had laid down their burden on the
rude bed and lighted a fire, eve hev
BIN a pack o tarnel fools an but fer
that brave lassie, thar, you'd be hang
m from some neighborin' cottonwood.
Ye would, fer a fac. ?
Blake's face whitened as he thought
OF it for he knew that he had little
to offer against the party's circum-
stantial evidence. ...s:S.a 81
| By daylight Mrs. Markham and the
only man pretending to medicinallore
the paymaster of the Occidental Com
pany. were at the cabin.
She's bruised pretty bad" said
McCarrick, ns he felt OF the girls head.
'SHer arm is broken and she has had
other injuries. She unjust not be moved
for week. Then she'll be all right. y
They stepped outside the cabin to
have further consultation and did not
notice that Blake returned to the
house. .7 ' 8
He knelt by the side Of the white
faced sufferer. She was conscious
now and blushed as she saw his beard
ed lace SO near her own. The doctors
| words were repeated and then he
added some other words, the import
| OF which was that she need not ever
be moved from the cabin if she would
butsay yes.
"But but-the school marm?' she
stammered, with q half-jealous pang.
The school mam?' repeated Blake.
DO you mean my sister, Mary?"
There was no more hesitancY and
when with Markham and the rest
standing around, cCarrick, who was
also a justice OF the peace, made the
settler and his rescuer husband and
wife, no one was SAD but Mrs. Fleegle
who thought what a good servant she
had lost and how angry her husband
would be: 1, sTI a
"And it's Thanksgiving, too" ex-
claimed Blake when he had received
the congratulations Of his late enc
mics. "A
Ya-as, you hev' two things ter be
thankful fer" said Markham dryly.
Eyer life an yer wife, .
There was no Thanksgiving dinner,
ior there was no time or room
for such thing; but there was just as.
much happiness in Blake's heart and
Merl, as her face glowed with glad.
ness, felt that even with her perilous
ride and the resulting accident she.
had purchased her entry into q new
lie cheaply. The rest Of the furnii-
ture was brought later on and Blake
said it reached the one it was intend
ed for. +.
The Fat I'm.
~ q