St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-01-16
his former sweetheart in his arms and

IL
Harvey Free invited Mort.and Pei Hor-
ner 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
standstill not only the man he hoped
some day to call his brother-ln.l law, but
the latter's second as well, Pei H orner
being cripple, and unable to accom-
modate young Free, who was "pinin'"
on account of his principals defeat.
That settled it. Thereafter, even
tender-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 had always
bad pleasant greeting for all the fam
lily, especially for Mort. who was 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 wont to recog-
nize his presence on those rare occa-
sions on which they met was now de-
MED 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 awhile, that
she did care, "lots."
The spring of 1SS- is memorable
one in the history of many portions of
the Dakotas. The amount of rain in
the fall, and the snowfall in the winter
preceding, had been very slight indeed,
and there were no spring rains to en-
courage the farmers. The creek
beds and coules were dry;
ioIy ,nhS c1a
were as innocent of water as powder
magazines, and the matted grasses and
reeds standing in them were as dry as
was the grass on the prairies. Every
thing invited the fire fiend, whose work
on the plains is so swift and thorough
and he accepted the invitation.
From wheat rec ions up north came
tales of his deadly work-of coun ties al
most entirely laid waste. OF hundreds
made homeless and penniless, with
nothing left, even wherewith to wiring
their bread out of the soil.
In c. county and its nelghbOrS,
however, all felt secure. The fires were
far north of them and being grad ually
exterminated. Besides, they were IN
the jim river valley; it is curious how
much confidence the proximity of a
river will give to the settler who is
lCutCHCQ Wy pldil uICSs
Mort Benedict and his father were re-
turning from the county town one day,
having been in to leave mother for
two-days' visit and TO have the break
ing pillow repaired. For 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 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 about the line of
hills?
Look. father!''
Startled. the elder man did so.
Good God, Mort! She's a-comin'.
an comm t. beat HI, too. We got t.
race t. save anything!"
And race they did, but the fire was
racing, too; and when they drove their
painting horses into the dooryard the
flames were only few miles away, and
coming down at lightning speed.
While Tom and Roy saddled their
ponies and rounded up the live stock,
Mr.. Benedict and the three elder boys
and Bessie in an incredibly short space
of time put into the two wagons every
thing that it was possible to save. after
which Hal and George Saddled their
ponies. joined Tom and Roy with the
herd. and the whole procession, headed
by the wagons driven by Mort and his
father, moved off at rapid pace toward
the river.
Then. and only then. did Mort notice
that there was no sign of human life
oil, q
gave leap. .~..
"Bessp' he said. sharply. "did-did
they git away? Did We notice 'em
movin' round?"
The girls eyes opened wide. "Oh.
Mort! haven't heard or seen sign of
'em all dayv'
Take them reins. Pm goin' back
an see.'
He leaped from the wagon and ran
back, noting, as he did so, how hot the
air had become and how near the big
wave of smoke was.
Mrs. Walker, singing softly as she
hustled about the kitchen, was bit
startled to see who her unnannounced
visitor was.
Mis- Walker. where's all you men
folks? No, didn't come for trouble
only this prairie fire only little ways
Mrs. Walker sank into chair. ooh,
heavens! AM father sick abed an all
tn boys over t. Berry's on breakln
beeU
Good Lord! Amt 1 glad 1 come
back! Wher's TIN hOsSes?"
"Oh, Mort! They're all loose in the
paster!"
"Git what things we wantuh save
t'gether real quick! They amt no spare
time" And Mort tore out of the house
like a mailman and down to the pasture,
not noticing that Nellie had entered the
kitchen and was staring at him open
eyed.
Both Mr.. Walkers wagon teams were
composed of animals usually as docile |
rs lambs; but today, punched together |
in corner of the pasture, they suited |
the coming flames, and it seemed to put |
wild imps into their mbering car
caSSes, and it was long, trying time |
before Mort could catch two OF them, |
swear, pray, try as he might-and the |
great fire rolled swiftly nearer. The |
wind had shifted from northeast TO |
northwest. Mort saw, with a sinking
at his heart, that there was an even
chance of getting cut off from the river.
Mr.. Walker was on feather bed on
the floor of the wagon and Mrs. Walker
crouched beside him. Nellie ran back
into the house for the family Bible,
then climbed up beside Mort.
Cit up! Clk!' The heavy whip
came down hard on the horses TANKS
and the race was begun.
Faster came the flames: the billow of
smoke rolled over them, now and then
dropping feathery grass cinders as it
passed; they could hear the roar of the
fire and feel its hot breath whenever
the wind increased in velocity-and
Jim river so far away!
Nearer came the great wave of fame:
the air was dense and sutfocating. Mort,
in his frenzy, dashed the now running
horses necessarily, cursing, praying,
saying he knew not what. Mrs.
Walker wept and prayed; Mr.. Walker
now and then gave feeble moan;
Nellie, on the seat beside Mort, kept
her lips tight closed and said nothing,
)nly clinging to the seat more desper-
ately as the wagon bounced and
urehed