Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-13


here she had, seemingly. irrevocably Of
Tended him by one Of those sudden, girlsh
freaks so inexplicable to the male lover.
fore. He had arrived lite, but his bright
blue eyes quickly sought her brown ones.
and he was hastily making his way across
the desert Of red and green ingram carpet
ing that separated the group of expectant
girls, from the bashful line of boys. when
dapper Jim Curtis of Tape & Twists dry
goods emporium" advanced at exactly
the same instant from the opposite end Of
the row.
May 1 have the pleasure, Miss Reader"
and viii you give pe tbis dance, Lucy?
were whispered simultaneously into the two
pink ears of the bewildered girl
She hesitatingly rose, and, womanlike
took the arm of the man she hated, leaving
the man she loved to glover after her In a
stupor of Indignation. That was their last
meeting, for Charlie left the house almost
Immediately, and she had neither seen nor
heard from him. since. Her father. who
dearly loved her. noted the cessation of GER
tain frequent letters and the sadness in his
darling's eyes and longed with all his great
laundering heart to comfort her. When she
asked, the next morning after his return on
Bonnie Belle, IL she might spend the rest Of
the week with Jennie Miller in Arkansas
City he was glad to answer:
why, sartin, Lucy sartin, amt needin'
tn mare now that things is at sech a stand
still, an yer ma seems quite clipper over tn
new medicine Only look out little fer
bummers and roughs-th' kentry's full of
en-
Yes. father, I'll be there before noon.
and you know I'll be safe with the Millers,
Wouldn't you like to live in a town, par
wall, l amt sayin' / shouldn't like it
but what's tn use in chinnin? Here we've
sqGatted. an We couldn't scrape up tn dust
to git, eff we wanted to. Shell cinch up
tn mare?"
mo, father, can. You fix It up with ma,
please That'u be the toughest jobr'
He smiled broadly in answer to her
roguish look, and disappeared, to coax and
wheedle the peevish, half sick, wholly dis
couraged mother into a reluctant consent to
her daughters absence.
Lucy found that her father had not exag-
gerated the state of things at Arkansas
City. She was obliged to check Bonnie Belle
TO walk as she steered her way through
the teeming streets to the small frame
house of her friends, the Millers. But she
gave little time to wonder or questionings.
Mr.. Miller was an attorney and after
Drlef response to his daughters glad well
come Lucy said briskly:
Jennie. dear, 1 came on business. 1
want to see your father-where is hep
He's home now. It's dinner time. I'll
nave brother Joe unsaddle Belle-come right
into the dining room; we're all there"
After the noon meal, which consumed lit
tie time, the good natured Miller led his
guest into the gloomy parlor, sacred to
silence and obscurity, except on Sunday
nights. Here, after a struggle with a re-
fractory window that he might admit some
much needed air, he turned with a twinkle
in his shrewd eyes.
you, Miss Lucy? Anything about regis
tration of claims, or"
Yes, sir, that's just it."
HeyF Mr. Miller was evidently not a
little astonished.
Yes, sir. I'm going to ride for a claim
at Perry, and i want you to tell me just
what to do to make everything safe and
legal"
"Vbau, tha o..or.,., -o,,o. ,,
his chair closer to gaze intently into her
brave young face. palIid with resolve IT'S
ride that will tax the strongest man, let
alone girl like you. You'll simply be run
down and stamped to death in the rush.
You're crazy to-"
I'm a good rider, Mr. Miller, and Belle
Is sure-footed. I'm going to take up town
site claim at Perry. Fathers too old and
not afraid. I don't hold my life SO very
dear anyhow. What have / to live for on
that dreadful, burnt up prairie? Don't try
to dissuade me. but let me know exactly
what to do. l tell you / will make a go Of
it,
by gravy! / believe you will" he said
after a long. intent look. well Iisten:''
and he proceeded carefully to set forth the
legal forms and requirements necessary
without interposing single word of fur
Their remonstrance.
The next two days would have tested the
resolution of most men, and did sap the
lines under that blazing Kansas sun, blis-
tered with heat, parch I'd with thirst gritty
and blind with the penetrating dust, wait
ing for their slow turns at the registration
booths. But Lucy was a determined girl
and used to hardshps. She had ridden
many day from dawn to cleaning perched
upon the wheat drill or corn dropper, and
truGged hours picking up the 'murphies'
her father hoed out Of thesred, black earth.
She had galloped miles over the sun-swept
praires, once holly pursued by two drunken
Indians; she had slept more than once with
no roof above her and no couch beneath,
and she knew what endurance meant.
Today she was dressed in loose blouse
and skirt of thin, cool flannel, with a mans
sombrero crowning her close-braided blonde
hair, whose short locks curled naturally
about her forehead. A sharp machete was
thrust into her leather belt, and within the
blanket, rolled into a tight bundle and
strapped to her saddle bow, was hidden
bottle of cold tea, some lemons and paste
board box filled with food. She had come
to stay.
If tell you she also hid in her pocket
several sticks of gum, do not be disguised.
She knew that chewing often relieves thirst
by exciting the salivary glands to greater
activity, and she only intended to resort to
the Vassar remedy when cold tea and lem
ons failed.
All day she stood in line. At night she
ate and drank. then wrapped her blanket
about her. and gaZed up at the stars. Some
thing in her quiet, self-Contaiped manner
prevented approach or insult, and several
decent-looking men, with more than one
woman, were in her immediate vicinity, so
she felt no fear. In fact, all physical feel
ing seemed in allegiance.
She had started on this mad scheme in a
mood of strained excitement. Her lovers
continued silence, her hateful, monoton-
ously barren existence, her fostering dis
content with all her Surroundings, only in
tensified by her school years away from
fOme-all this lad wrought her feelings to
pitch where almost any act was possible.
Physical limitations seemed overcome by
sheer brain force and nervous tension. She
hardly thought of food or drink, and she
bore the heat and crowding of the weary
wait, only half comprehending their full
measure of suffering, deeply was her
mind disturbed by thoughts of her estranged
lover, and of the dreary life stretching
before her, year upon year, as the prairie
stretched before her door, wave upon wave,
to the furthest limits of earth and sky.
II she gave a suppressed groan, now and
then, 1t was because of mental suffering
only; and If her face, beneath its CRIME of
dust and sweat, was drawn and pailid, IT
was because the brain above never ceased
from tensest thought. Nor did the strain
loosen till her registration was accomplish
Cd and she knew that she was enrolled as
land claimant. Then for time tired ma
ture succumbed, and she dropped into a
sleep which knit up the raveled tissues once
mo 40 Co 1ox,b,