Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1894-01-25
OUT OF THE DEPTHS.
Kate and Her Lovers-A Tale of
the Mines.

Kate and Her Lovers-A Tale of
the Mines
lis that your last word, Kate?'
my last"
You have no love to give meo"
How many times must you ask
me?''
But it seems that have looked into
your eyes and that they have given me
different answer than your tongue
Deny it or not, Kate, your eyes have
looked into mine and told me that /
had small place in your heart l
have seen it, say what you may, and
though your voice was silent, your
eyes, my bonnie Kate. have whispered
soft promises that caused. nv temples
to throb and the blood to rush to my
head, until l seemed half mad with
joy"
She, a stalwart English lass, brown
Us berry, as handsome an example of
a working woman as ever lived,
laughed. 1t was musical, bewitching
laugh. but it sounded like death
lsnell TO the man who stood before her,
with face afiame with passion. He
was tall specimen of the Anglo-Saxon
type of miner, with arms like a
blacksmith and the legs and
thighs of an athlete. Kate was
the daughter of the captain of
the mine and came from the same part
of England to America when the mining
industry here was almost in its infan-
cy; when there was no over-production
of any ore, and fortunes were more
easily made than now. For some time
Geoffry had been sutton for her hand.
and Kate had played fast and loose I'M
til at times the demon of jealousy ragged
SO furiously that he was almost beside
himself To see his Kate upright as
saplipg-Kate, whose every movement
was the majesty of motion-with the
figure of woman, and the heart and
caprices of a maid; with the soft eyes
of a deer and the tongue of a shrew-
to see Kate, the lnbodiment of noble
physical development, in the arms of
another at the dance, with no word for
him, was torture. keen and exquisite.
And then when he approached her, the
angry flush upon his face, there was
..balm in Gilead" in the soft glance she
shot at him, and he forgot his resent
ment in the contemplation Of her face.
And now at twilight time they two
stood Just without the door of her
fathers cottage. The sun was going
down in q haze like that seen on the
ocean. 1t was not a golden sun,
though so near it's resting place, but a
sun of silver, bright and shining, in
harmony with the snow-covered sur
face of the earth and the gray sky.
Above the hills the shaft houses were
sharply defined against the sky, and in
the distance the tprests-those noble
Michigan forests-seemed like dark
fringe around the pailid landscape.
The man drew nearer to the woman.
Can you deny. Kate, that your eyes
have told me you might care for me?"
"Pshaw! A woman's eyes, Geoffry?
They may say many things they do
not mean"
lyon mean you have been playing
with me?"
''Oh. do not say So"
Kate. take care"
"Of what?"
"You are playing with fire, lass My
love must have its way-you must be
mine"
.Must? Indeed! You have pleas
ant manner Of winning woman. Sure
ly l may love whom / choose"
Eyes; and you love that Norwegian.
At the dance saw how you looked at
bim-how you encouraged him. while
stood aside with the rage in my heart
to kill you both. Before that scoundrel
came between us two"
r.You forget yourself to defaule a
man behind his back. tits cowardly-
if ne were here"
"You defend him. You love him?"
Defiantly: "And if it were true?'
He grasped her arm with cry.
ut cannot be, Kate. You must love
no one but myself You belong 70 me,
lass, and L"
LET go my arm"
Il will not"
Coward"
Perhaps"
81 shall hate you"
1T is as well since you do not love
..At last 1 understand you. despise
YOU now that know you. Let go of
my arm"
No"
cit is the part of a man to exert
brute strength over a woman. l be-
ilieve You are coward enough to strike
a woman"
WHAT"
He released her arm and stood be-
fore her, pale as death. One hand he
passed nervously through his hair,
while his features worked convulsive-
Nv. She. with figure erect and blazing
ewes. confronted him.
eff that is your last word. good-by.
he said. Tell your Norwegian to look
out or will kill him"
Perhaps he's better man than
you"
Don't drive me too hard with your