Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1896-10-10
Tx WaDderer.


rse.e was presage of storm
Masses OF blue-black clouds hung over
tl,e sunset. The wind walled and died.
and died and walled. In the roadway
rusty leaves leaped suddenly to the air.
eddicd and swirled, and stroye to unite
With the tree that had east them SHY I
grin. in the dixie. At the fringe OF the
cloud there was star.
\ stile had been fixed at the turning
OF the read. 1t had three bars ana q
step to cross by. On either side the
hedge grew thiekly; and there, also
two trees, like guardians, gaunt in the
horried light.
To the further side there stretched
nath across the meadow; 1t led TO tne
old house that has stood among the
beech trees through generations.
From the stile you could see the tnr-
refs above the treetops. The inhefltor
Of the name of Dalrymple, the squire,
lived there. If you followed the roa9
YOU would also come to the nan, anu
enter by the great gate. But the paeh'
way was nearer by far.
ON the side Of the pathway, IN the
angle where il joined the stiie, .here
lay a pond. In this district there
abouts il was looked ON as place VI
i'll omen, and back TO a time out OIL
mind the children of the Dalrylhpies
had passed it at nightfan with speedy
steps and eyes aslant. Yet not 10 ION
learned in lore, but TO the weirdness Oh
the place itself. should you go Ior tue
reason. The trees grew close 10 the
margin and met overhead, save oniy
in ne center, where the banks were
widest. III stranger should take
stone and hurl it TO that point, ne
would get in return tone so deep anu
resonant as well might make MN
| wonder. Now the trunks creacked anu
whined, and the wind whistled IN the
| branches. And the shadows were
black on the pond. -,
! A man was seated on the stlle. Ills
back was to tine road, and ms eyes
were fixed upon the turret tops ABOVE
/ the trees. He had come upon Jour
ney; you could tell it from MS poots'
He was hungry; you could tell II IRON
his eyes Such man, indeed, as ohs
would pass upon the further slue oi
the road, and be glad to get riu %
toward evening What hangs 10 ths
feet one vaguely calls "Doots, VIII
him it was scraps of leather. AND nov
thin he vast Through the rents IN M
garments there peered out angles s.
sharp that the coolest, II he saw them
could scarcely withhold his pity. A
the points they were lacerated Q!
thorns, but the blood had congeaie'
and Law matted thickly with the dus
of travel. His hands We're ike claws
Long. sinewy toil-stained, they pro
truded shamefully from his rags, and
clutching the rail upon either SIDE, KEEP
him fixed on his narrow perch.
There is a penury that chills tn
blood. 1t was the face of that mar
Coarse. tangled. thickly clothed wit
dust. his hair hung loose and ran
upon his shoulders. A scanty growt
of unkept beard, streaked and tinge
: with gray. bristled from the lower POI
lions of his face, as weeds gro'
sparsely on the arid soil. His cheek
were so hollow that the bones aboy
: stuck out like knuckles on a man
g clenched fist. The color OF his ski
! had come, though time and sam
ness of treatment, to accord with II
o dull. coarse brown of his hair and h
y clothes. His eyes, lusterless, dee
), sunk in their sockets, wild, strained
il the margins with with blood, wear
gaZed at the turrets Of the hall. haN
:. seen such a look upon the face OF
= starving dog.
5 The wind walled in the branche
and the clouds massed in the west, b.
the man sat still upon the stile. III
h when those who were hurrying fro
: the storm came by he moved to !
= them pass; yet ever he dropped upt
y the side that was furthest from Il
a hall. Such as were women eyed hi
IS in askance, and such as were men wi
y wonder. But not soul passed him
& salutation. So the man remained, al
10 the birds cried out for the storl
Then two maids returning to the hi
:, came to the stile, and tossed the
u heads, resenting that he should 81
81 with his clothes the rail which this
* skirts must touch.
Is Yet the stile was his own. Nor I
az stile alone, but the grass at his fe'
"a and the great house at the end Of {
pathway. and the broad acres tn
- pressed 1t around. There was warm
ne and good cheer at the house. Still [
re man moved not. Had the journey be
long and did he linger to rest at t
stile? Or did he wait there for soI
~ one who tarried?
no Then there came the prattle Of CT
!. dren's voices in the road. They bs
~ bled merrily as their nurse press
)" them on from the storm. And tn
er passed the man by. Then their voiC
d, ceased, and their feet sped still fast
US and many a frightened glance tn
rd cast behind them wonderingly. A
m he saw a laborer approach along
n, pathway, returning from his wo
- The pipe he smoked glowed warm
GU and the man shiyered. But at the ST
'e- he spoke to the laborer, and his vo
nd was hoarse, as one that is seldom us
ng what children are those?"
ed The workman stopped abruptly, a
n looked at the man in surprise, dot
or not, and maybe. he wondered at
:. questioner.
he Them he said at last, In a stro
AZ. broad accent. "Them's the SPUR
a BARNS"
ld- But 1 thought the squire was
In old rnaurv