Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1893-08-24

whereat Pop Benedict seized a con-
venient neckyOke and killed the cause
of the trouble.
OF course there was fight and
considerable ill-chosen language; then,
as soon as possible, Papa Benedict
sued Papa Walker for the damage to
his cabbagcs and Papa Walker sued
Papa Benedict for the value of the
calf. After that they prosecuted
each other for assault and battery:
the Younger members Of both houses
'sassed" each other at every available
opportunity. Mrs. Walker and Mrs.
Benedict did no more ''neighborin',
and Mort Benedict and Nellie Walker
"busted up with each other That
is, Nellie broke with Mort, who for
his part had a wholesome con-
tempt for feuds and such nonsense.
and would fain have ignored the state
of affairs, so far as Nellie was con-
ccrned, except for the opposition any
Overturcs from him would have re-
ceived on all sides, and especially
from Nellie. So he had to grin and
bear it. leaving howcvec, all hostl-
ties tC the others, and speaking pleas
antly to any of the Walkers ne
CHANGED to meet.
But finally, through rash act of
his own, he was forced into the feud.
There was husking bee of the good
old fashioned sort at Thompson's one
nj, ht and the Younger members of
the hostile houses attended. During
the evening Mort found a red ear ia
his pile, and-he never knew what
impelled him to do it unless it was
that Nellie looked so pretty and
tcmpting-he took his former sweet
heart in his arms and kissed her, not
once, but three times.
AS soon as it could be done without
the girls knowing 1t, Bud Walker and
Harvey Free invited Mort and Pei
Horner out into the moonlit PASTURE
where Bud insisted on '.having it
OUT" Mort demurred, but in vain,
and much to his regret was forced to
click" to Il standstill not only the
man he hoped some day to call his
brother-in-law, but the latter's second
as well; Pei Horner being a cripple
and unable to accommodate young
Free, who was "pinin'" on account
of his principals defeat
That settled it. Thereafter even
tenderhearted Mrs. Walker-who,
like Mrs. Benedict, sincerely regretted
the trouble that kept her apart from
her Old-time friends these four long
years and who always had pleasant
greeting for all the family, especially
for Mort, who Was great favorite Of
hers-cut him dead when she hap.
pened to meet him. and even the
frigid inclination of the head with
which Nellie had been wont to recog-
nize his presence on those rare &C.
casions on which they met was now
denied him.
All this cut Mort deeply, but he
was made Of too tough fiber to show
it: SO. till the end Of the feud. he
tried to act as though he did not care
just as did Nellie, who, however,
was obliged to confess to herself once
in a while that she did care slots"
The spring of 1885 is memorable
one in the history of many portions
of the Dakotas. The amount of rain
in the fall and the snowfall of the
winter preceding had been very Slight
indeed aud there were no spring
rains to encourage the farmers. The
creek beds and coulees were dry; the
lake beds and sloughs were as inno-
cent OF water as powder magazines
and the. matted grasses and reeds
standing in them were as dry as the
grass on the prairies. Everything in
vited the fire tiend, whose work on
the plains is so swift and thorough
and he accepted the invitation.
Flom the wheat regions up north
came tales of his deadly work-Of
counties almost entirely laid waste,
of hundreds made homeless and pen
niless, with nothing left even where
with to wiring their bread out of the
soil.
In C County and its neighbors,
however, all felt secure: the fires
were far north Of them and being
gradually eXtcrminated. Besides,
they were in the Jim River valley; it
is curious how much confidence the
proximity of river will give to the
settler who is threatened by prairie
fires.
Mort Benedict and his father were
returning from the country town one
day, having been in to leave ''mother'
for two days visit and to have the
breaking pillow repaired. For a day
or two there had been rumors of fires
only twenty miles or so to the north
and they were talking of this as they
crossed the bridge four miles from
home. AS they reached the top of
the hill on the west side Of the liver
Mort glanced at the northern horizon,
which was not distant on account of
range of hills running east and
west, and-did his eyes deceive him
or was that smoke just rolling up
above the line of hills?
"Look, father"
Startled, the elder man did So
Good God, Mort. She's a-comin',
an comm Z beat HI, too. We've
got to race t save anything"
And race they did, but the fire was