New-York tribune., 1896-01-12

, ton made sad blunder when he put mountains
/ in hell Mountains postulate faith and aspira-
| ton. All mountain peoples are religious 1t was
the cities Of the plains that, because OF their
utter lack of spirituality and the mad caprice OF
| their vice. were cursed of God.
| When the first Norwegians near enough to De
called neighbors Canute rejoiced. ana
| planned to escape from bis bosom vice But ne
was not social man by nature. ana mad not the
power Of drawing out the social side OF other peo-
pie. His new neghbors rather feared h'iIl' De
cause Of his great strength and size, his silence
| and his lowering brOws. Perhaps. too they knew
| that ne mad. mad from the eternal teacnery
! of the plains. which every spring stretch green
| and rustic with the promises of Eden. showing
long grassy Iago0ns full Of clear water and cattle
| whose hOofs are stained with wild roses i'eiofr
| autumn the lagoons dried up. and the ground
Is burned dry and hard until ii bistors ana cracks
open.
So instead Of becoming friend and neghbor
| to the men that settled about him, Canute be-
| came IA mystery and terror. They told awiul
stories of his size and strength, and of the aico-
| hol he drank. They said that one night when
| H. went out t. his horses just before he went
| to bed his steps were unsteady and the rotten
| planks Of the floor gave way and threw him be-
| hind the feet Of 4 fiery young stallion. HIS foot
! Was caught fast f.. the floor. and the nervous
| horse began kicking frantically When Canute
| felt the blood trickling down In his eyes from
scalp wound In his head. he reused himself from
| his kingly Indifference. and with the quiet. stoical
| courage of a drunken man leaned forward ana
| wound his arms about the horses hind legs and
| held them against his breast with crushing en-
| brace. All through the darkness and cold of the
| night he lay there. matching strength against
strength when little jim Peterson went over
| the next morning at o'clock 10 go with him to
| the Blue 10 cut Wa, Il. he found him 50. and the
horse was on its Iorc knees trembling and whin-
| nying With fear This is the story the Nor
wegians tell Of him. and If it Is true II is no
| der that they feared and hated this Holder Of
the Heels OF Horses
one spring there moved to the next eighty"
family that made great change in canute's life.
| Ole Ycnson was too drunk most o. the time 10 b"
afraid oi any one, ana ms wlfe Mary was 30
glrrulous To- be afraid II any who listened 10
her talk. and Lena. their pretty daughter was
nor afraid Of man or devil. So it came abOW
that Canutc went over to take his aiconol with
Ole oftcncr than hc took II alone. After while
the report spread that he was going 10 marry
Ycnscn's daughter. and the Norwegian girls he
gan - tcase Lena about the great bear she was
going To keep house for. ~ one could quite soc
how the affair had come about. for Canutc's tao
tics Of couriship wcr" somewhat peculiar lie
apparently never spoke to her AT all He would
sit FOR hours with Mary chat'erng on one side
OF him ana Ole drinking on the other AMI watch
Lena at her work. she teascd MIN. and threw
lour in his face and put vinegar in his coffee. but
h" took her rough jokes with silent wonder never
even smiling. He took her 10 church occasionally.
but the most Watchful and curious people never
saw him speak To- her. He would sit staring at
her while she giggled and hirted with the other
men
Next spring Mary Lee went t. town t. work in
a steam laundry She came home every sunday.
and always across T. Yensen's To startle
Lena with stories Of ten-cent theatres. iremen's
dances and all the other esthetic delights OF
metropolitan liic In a few weeks Lenas head was
tnilplrirlN tunnel ana she gave her father rest
ultil h" let h"r 30 10 town 10 seek her fortune
at the ironing board. From the time she
came home on her first visit she began to treat
canutc with contempt She had bought Il
plush cloak and kid gloves. had her clothes
made by the drcssmaker. and assumed airs and
graces that made the other women of the neigh
borhood cordially detcsi her She generally
brought with her young man from town who
WaNtd his muStachr and a red ncckiic.
and she did not even introduce him to Canutc.
The n"ighbors teased Canute good d, al
until he Knocked one of them down He gave
no sign of suffering from her neglect except
that hc drank more and avoided tn, other Nor
w,glans more carefully than eyer He lay
around IT, his den and mo- one knew what he
felt or thought. but little Jim Peterson. who
had seen him glowcring at Lena i'm church ono
SUNDAY wnen sh" was ther" with the town
man. said that he would not give of his
wheat tor Lena's life or tho town chaps either:
and Jim's wheat was $50 wonlrously worthless
that the statement was an exceedingly strong
one.
Canute had bought a new suit of clothes
possible. They had cost him half n milet crop;
for taiiors are not accustomed 20 fitting giants
clothes In his shanty two months ago and had
never PUT them on. partly from fear Of rdcule |
partly from encouragement. and partly be
caus" ther' was something in his own soul
that rcNoltcd at the littlen's of the device.
L'na was ~ home just al this lime. Work
was slack in the laundry and Mary had not
been Wei. SO Lena stayed at home. glad enough !
20 e"t an opportunity to torment Canute once
more.
loudly rs she worked. Mary was on her !
kne's. backing the stove and scolding violently |
about m" young man who was coming out from |
town that night. The young man had COM |
miti"d thc fatal error Of laughing at Mary's |
ceaselDss bahbl" and had never been forgiven.
II. is no goo l. and YOU will come to a bad |
- ,, ,,,,r,,,. I'm btr,s a., mo-, go. u.b,. |
daughter of mine should act $50. do not sec
why the Lord should visit such a punishment |
upon mc as 10 give me such a daughter There |
are plenty Of good men YOU can marry"
Lena tossed her head and answered curty. !
Il don't happen 10 want - marry any man |
right away and SO long as Dick dresses nice |
and has plenty Of money 10 spend. there Is no
harm In my going with him"
MONEY To spend? Yes. and that is all he !
does with it I'll be hound. You think it very |
fine now. bat will change your tune when You !
have been married five years and see your chill |
drcn running naked and your cupboard empty. |
Did Anne Hermanson come To any good end |
by marrying town man.
II don't know anything about Anne Herman !
son. but know any Of the laundry girls would /
have Dick quick enough If they could get him"
Yes and a nice lot of store clothes huzzies !
YOU are too Now there is Canutcson who has |
an eighty proved up and FIFTY head Of cattle !
and
and hair that alnt been cut since he
baby and a big. dirty beard. and he wears !
overalls on Sundays. and drinks like a pig. |
Besides. he will keep. | can have all the fun !
! want, and when am old and ugly like YOU
ne can have me ana take care of me. The |
Lord knows there amt nobody else going To |
Canutc drew his hand back from the latch
az though 1t were red hot. lie not the
kind Of n man to make good cavcsdropp"r,
and he wished he had knocked sooner He !
pulled himself together and struck the door
Ike battcring ram. Mary jumped and opened !
IL with scroech.
God, Canute. how you scared us, thought !
II was crazy Iou-he has been tearing around |
the neighborhood trying to convert folks. am
afraid as death OF him. He ought to be sent
off. ! think. He is just as liable as not To- Kill
us all burn the barn. poison the dogs.
He has been worrying even TN" poor minister
To death. and he laid up with the rheumatism,
too, Did YOU notice that he was too sick to
prcach last Sunday? But don't stand there in
the cold-come in. Yensen isn't here. but he
lust went over to Sorenson's for the mail he
won't be gone long. Walk right in the other
a cit