The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1895-09-20

Wv XII ~ blazed in the lit
y %Tn tie sod fireplace.
{ ~ | IL There were some
HEG matters he wanted
to think over, and he had found that
he could best collect his thoughts
when his pipe was at his lips.
Outside the wind moaned dismally,
and the sharp rattle of sleet could be
heard as it pelted the curtainless win
dow.
81 reckon I'm about a. comfortable
as any settler on Badger prairie" he
unused, gazing into the glowing Goals.
plenty NV grub. scads NV wood, an no
one ter look alter but myself"
Here he paused in his musings, and
pulled vigorously at his pipe. Perhaps
the condition implied by his last words
did not bring the amount of satisfac-
ton he would have liked to persuade
himself it did. It was tsue that Dick
ftolton was pretty we'll fixed for the
winter when one considered the almost
destitute condition Of some of the set
tiers on Badger prairie. He had gath
cred his small crop, got up his win.
ter's wood, stored an abundant supply
Of provisions in his cabin, then sold
his team, put the money in the bank
along with the little nest-egg he had
already laid by, and ridden home with
Sim Drake.
Them bosses NV mine would a eat
their heads off fore spring" he ex-
planned, mot countin the trouble NV
feedin' an takin' care NV EN-. got
two hundred fer 'em, an in the spring,
when plowin' time comes, | can buy
jist as good a team fer the same
money. With corn dollar bushel,
that raves me about forty dollars, ter
say nothin' NV the trouble NV feedin',
watefin' an curryin'. Now thar's Ben
Spikes with five ole crow-bates. Not
a thing has he got ter do with 'em, but
he's goin' ter winter the whole bone
yard, and when spring comes his
cropll be eat up, an like as not he'll
be comm ter me fer corn. 1t amt no
wonder that some people aire pore
vas, an allus win be-"
Dick thought over all these things as
he sat gazing into the red Goals. He
was pretty well fxedfor the winter-he
was quite satisfied on that point He
had no stock to feed and look after
during the cold months. That, too,
was viewed with no small degree of
He had no one but him
self to care for.
He could not get beyond this point
with the same feeling of qualification
that had marked his disposition of the
other domestic problems. In spite OF
his efforts to conceal the fact from
himself, this question brought some |
yery unpleasant reflections 1t also |
a face before his mental vision |
the face of Mrs. Rudd, widow |
whose cabin stood just acre.
draw" Mrs. Rudd was very
i've, not over thirty-five and one of1ehe
Quickest little women on the flats
that was the verdict of the denizens OF
Badger prairie. She managed her af
tairs quite as well as any of the men,
,ven the most thrifty of them, and
With no one to assist her except Lizzie
ones, ndlI-slSVcT, Who HiouO NSA
nome with Mrs Rudd. Dick had joined
m the admiration which had been be-
slowed ON the little widow In fact,
,is admirati soon took aform which
vas quite ardent in its character.
Dick Holton was not the man to
waste time In idle hesitation, and
when he had got to state Of realiza-
ion of his feelings he laid the whole
natter before the fascinating little
widow and offered her his heart and
and.
The ability to transact business with
ispatch was one of Mrs Rudd's noted
ualities, and an engagement for an
srly marriage was the result.
There was more than one reason
vhy such a union should prove both
onyenient and desirable to the con-
ractiuR parties. Their claims joined,
nd each needed the help that one
rould bring to the other. Dick was
lrei of cooking his own meals and do
ug his Homework, and Mrs. Rudd felt
he need of a man TO look after the
rork on the claim. u