The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1895-08-15
PROLOGUE.
Upon a Heap of stones.

nest Htlt IL minute lbNANi WI ''''
heap of stones, perhaps you'll feel bet
ter presently"
The speakers were a man and a boy
who. together with n little girl, were
vending their weary way over the
bleak, wind swept Wiltshire downs in
the direction Of London. In all direc-
tions the eye wandered over a great
undulating track of stuble fields. from
which the corn had not long been lear
ed here and there relieved by a patch
Of grass land. In summer time, when
covered by a mass of golden grain,
the landscape was a charming one,
but OF that bleak October evening,
with low, heavy, black clouds driven
across the sullen gray sky by moaning
fitful gusts Of wind that chilled the
poor pedestrians to the bone, 1t was
as cheerless a prospect as one could
imagine.
Away. a long way down in the hOl-
low of the road. a few houses could be
dimly seen. but they were at least two
miles from where they stood, while be
hind them no habitatiOn was in sight.
They were tramps. The man was n
wretched looking object; the few mis-
cradle rags that hung about left eX-
posed his chest and arms and knees;
his naked tOes peeped through the
broken uppers of shoes that were held
on to the feet only by e of pieces
of string; a beard of a fOrtnight'S
growth rendered yet more repulsive
the corpse-like face with its hollow
cheeks and sunken eyes. yellow skin
over which the wind blew the long,
shaggy gra hair, "surmounted by a
battered and almost crownless hat.
The boy like his father was ragged,
shirtless, and also shoeless. A shock
Of red hair was the only covering of
his head; his face was tanned and
freckled by exposure to the atmos-
phere and had the wolfish look Of hun
ger upon 1t. Had it been cleaned and
the hair arranged, some people would
have called it handsome, but it had 4
sullen, evil expression. that. while it
might have fascinated would, at
the same time, have repealed. He
might have been about nine or ten
years of age
The girl was not more than five. A
petticoat and a thin cotton frock were
all the clothing that protected her from
the keen wind. A white, wan face,
blue with cold, and with a patient
look upcn II, ana YOU nave II third
and the last of the group.
The man sat down upon the heap OF
stones the boy had pointed to, or rath-
er dropped upon them, with a groan
Josh" he said, family, II an dy-
ing!'
Not so bad as that, father" said
the boy; but there was no sympathy
In his tone-it was hard and indiffer-
ent.
But at those awful words the little
girl crept closer to him, with a look Of
fear in her eyes.
as there nowhere you can get any
help" said the man. and his lips SEEM
ed scarcely capable of forming the
words.
who do you think would give us
hclp?" said the boy with a bitter sneer
that made him look positively diabol-
zeal. There amt a casual ward e n
err than Marlborough, nor a ~workhouse.
Perhaps you think they'd give you a
bed and some port wine at II of the
farm housesT'
"Let me GO" said the little girl.
"Tn run down to the houses and beg
'em to come"
"Yes. little Lucy, 60" said Josh,
squatting down upon the stones beside
his father. She'll get more pity than
/ should; they'll be more likely to do
something for her. Cut off, Lu, and
be sharp about IT.. Give 'em plenty of
sobs, and say he's the best father on
the face Of the earth"
Before he had finished speaking the
poor little thing was trotting away in
the direction of the houses we have
before mentioned. and in a few min
utes the tiny figure was but n mere
speck in the cleaning. .
what a hard young brute you are
to let that child 60" groaned the dy-
ing man.
IF I'm hard and a brute, it's you
that's taught me. to be So answered
the boy sullenly.
Don't speak TO- me like that. l tell
you I'm dying" sobbed the man.
The boy made no reply: never even
looked up, but began playing with the
stones.
"Josh," said the man, again raising
himself feebly : upon his elbow. 81
know I've been harsh and cruel to
you. and that it is much by my fault
that | am in this state now. But you
don't know what | have gone through
how | have been wrOnged, what has
made me what / am. Josh. instead of
lying here. dying MS l am-as l am
upon q heap Of stones on the roadside,
/ ought TO be riding in my carriage;
and YOU. instead Of being homeless and
shoeleSs, and a -Biserable vagabond,
ought 10 be at Harrow ~ Eton; but
for one man-one man, who robbed me
of my birthright-my stepbrother, he
turned my fathers heart against me
with lies. I was d~isinherited, and he
got all that was mine; hat was yours,
Josh, would You like to be revtnged
upon that a that made you and me
heggars?'