The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-07-16

suddenly remembered % previous engage
Wcut and started in some haste 90 keep
10. heading directly across the cr0Ouri
ground. Papa Benedict wished to ioi-
low with more dignity than the calf DE.
sired, and presently his feet were sgrJpcd
from under him 10y % wicket, and he was
being handled the way che vaqucros iu
South America are supposed 20 make but
ter-at the end of q lassO. He did not
look very neat when "a few minutes later
he reached the Walker residence and
called his neighbor out He was holding
the calf up short, but his temper had
Slipped its tether and caused him to say
bad words, TO which Pop Walker replied
in kind -whereat Pop Benedict seized q
convenient neckyoke and killed the cause
of the trouble.
OF course there was fight and CON
siderable ill-chosCn language; then, as
soon as possible. Aapa Benedict sued
Papa Walker for the damage to his
cabbages and Papa Walker sued Papa
Benedict for the value of the calf. After
| that they prosecuted each other for as
sault aud 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,
" NO. lOI HIS IdIls lldu IL NllOAtHbllt Nbl-
tempt for feuds and such nonsense, and
would fain have ignored the state of
affairs, so far as Nellie was concerned,
except for the opposition any OvertureS
from him would have received on all
sides, and especially from Nellie. So he
had to grin and bear it, leaving, however
all hostiites to the others, and speaking
pleasantly to any of the Walkers he
CHANGED to meet.
But finally, through a rash act of his
own, he was forced into the feud. There
was a husking bee of the good old-fash
toned sort at ThOmpsOn'S one night, and
the younger members of the hostile houses
attended Daring the evening Mort found
a RED ear in his pile, and-he never knew
what impelled him TO do it unless it was
that Nellie looked so pretty and tempt
ing-he took his former sweetheart in his
arms and kissed her, not once, but three
times.
AS soon as it could be done without the
girls knowing it, Bud Walker and Har-
vey Free invited Mort and Pei Horner
out into the moonlit pasture, where Bud
insisted on "haying it out" Mort de-
INJURED, but in vain. and much to his re-
greet was forced to ''lickn to a standstill
not only the man he hoped some day to
call his brother-n-law, but the latter's
second as well Pei Horner being cripple
and unable to accommodate young Free,
who was 'pinin' ~ on account of his
principals defeat.
That settled it. Thereafter even ten
der-hearted Mrs. Walker-whO, like Mrs.
Benedict. sincerely but silently 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 a great favOrite of hers-cut him
dead when she happened to meet him, and
even the frigid inclination of the head
with which Nellie had been won't to rec
ognize his presence on those rare occa-
sion 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 q while that she did care
"lots"
The spring of 1873. is a memorable one in
the history of many portions Of the Da-
| kOtaS The amount of rain in the fall and
the snowfall of the winter preceding had
been very slight, indeed, and there were
no spring rains to encourage the farmers.
| The creek beds and coulees were dry; the
! lake beds and sloughs were as innocent of
water as powder magazines and the mat
| ted grasses and reeds standing in them
| were as dry as Jne grass on inc pEdlTleS
Everything invited the fire tiend, whose
work on the plains is so swift and thor
ough-and he accepted the invitation.
From the wheat regions up north came
tales of his deadly work-of counties al
most entirely laid waste, of hundreds
made homeless and penniless, with moth
ing left even wherewith to wiring their
bread out of the soil.
nc county and its neighbOrs, how
ever, all felt secure; the fires were far
north of them and being gradually exter-
minated Besides, they were in the Jim
river valley it is curious how much con
fdence the proximity of a river will give
to the settler who is threatened by prairie
fires.
Mort Benedict and his father were re-
turning 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
river Mort glanced at the northern hor-
zon, 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.