The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1895-08-16
FOURTH COUSINS.
~ CHARLES p. WIZARD.
Something had happened

@ n NAY ShNN AAN&
road, the least travelled of all the ways
| that lead down from the Montecito
valley into Santa Barbara, and Q the
| first haIf-hour after the event they met
no n
1t was what the inhabitants OF the
Channel City call a genuine Santa
Barbara day" The sun shone warn
and bright, and a soft perfumed breeze
came out of the west There was June
in the air, although the calendar was
set for midwin;er, The birds sang in
the trees above them, the squirrels
chirped from the hillside, and their
horses, wandering at times from the
road. sank to the knee IN a waving sea
of flowers.
First Of ALL" she said, breaking the
silence of a whole minute, You must
tell my father"
"Certainly." said the young man.
who's afraida"
You have never seen papa do the
role of the eruel parent" said the girl;
The can be quite a dragon. Asyou are
a kinsman. however"
"a fifth cousin" cried the young
man, with a laugh.
We'll, fifth cousins are better than
nothing, aren't theya'
Truly: how else should we be here
to-day?!' Then the young MAJ added
with peculiar and significant emphasis:
Il am inclined to pride myself on that
little scheme"
The girl brought her horse to a sud
den stop and turned her clear brown
eyes, half opened under their long
lashes, upon her companion.
THAT little scheme" she repeated,
slowly. I don't understand.
The young man laughed uneasily.
why, Catherine said he. You don't
mean that you have believed in the en-
tertaining fiction about our great
Observation-Disclosures
"Old Ebenezer Strong exclaimed
the girl. How dare you call him fc-
t%itious, when I saw his portrait at my
own grandfather's."
"As your ancestor, my dear one, he
is an undoubted reality-but as mine,
| regret to say, he is merely a Pigment
of your worthy fathers Imagination.
In short-I would fain break it to you
as gently as possible-we are not fifth
cousins at all, but just plain ordi-
nary"
Mot fifth cousins!"
mo, darling; and if you are going
to faint, please fall on this side, with
your head right here on my shoulder"
II won't! Wretched boy, how could
you deceive poor papa so?"
II didn't deceive him. He deceived
himself. From the very beginning of
u acquaintance he seemed deter
mined to locate me somewhere on the
Weston family tree, and you aided and
abetted him in the attempt"
''klcnard Strong, now can you'll"
Il have a sweet and gentle DISPOSE
ton, and when he asked me if 1 was
not descended from Ebenezer Strong,
of West Brighton Center, and you
looked at me so appealingly-"
Il didn't any such thing!!"
"Why shouldn't / assent? I have
doubtless had several hundred ances'
tors named Strong, and l took the
chances that some one of them rejoiced
in the prenomen of Ebenezer.. 1t is
just the sort Of a name that my for.
bears were given to putting upon them
selves. as an effective and continuous
modification Of the flesh. A horsehail
shirt, now, would be nothing to it."
"You may laugh, if it pleases you,'
said the girl, severely, "but if papa
had known you were not a relative we
should not be riding alone together
He generally disapproves of the east
ern people who spend the winter a
the hotel"
IF you really feel that I have beer
guilty of false pretenses," said the
young man, drawing his horse a little
nearer suppose we begin all over
again."
Keep your distance, STRIP exclaimed
the girl, steering to the opposite side
Of the road. IF we are to start afresh
let it be from the very beginning
three weeks ago.
Now, as to your father" resumed
the young man, 81 think l understand
him pretty we'll, because my one anc
only parent, the governor himself; il
constructed on much the same plan
Wherever he goes he is continually il
search Of the lost tribes of the Strong
g~enealogy. The last letter l had from
him in Colorado, where he is spending
the winter, contained the announce
ment that he had unearthed four o,
' new cousins-choice specimens,
doubt not, that he will expect me tc
meet and embrace on my way home.
Perhaps it was wrong he contin.
ued, after a moment Of reflection, .stc
play upon that little popularity 81
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