The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1896-01-23
10000

| and no hand was raised to avengo his
death. The pistol cracked. and the
knife flashed, and the blood flowed.
and stained the sward and left its
dark. accusing hlCtcheS: but there was
10 judge. No retributiOn reached the
| guilty one The wrath of the frontiers
man was slow and sluggard; it re
Ouired more than Il few ordinary muir
| dcrS to rouse il.
But something like a year previously
a drunken half-brced had attempted
to kiss Lucy AIaclane. The girl had
boxed his ears. and. being stout Of
muscle herself. and firmly knit in the
limbs. she had sent him staggering
into the dust. The drunken man had
returned to the assault of defiant
maidenly virtue and had been stretch
ed full length at the girls feet, sense
less and bleeding, by a fierce and
swinging blow from the back of Il
wOodsman'S axe. which. Lucy welded
rs scientifically as a man. When he
had recovered consciousness he had
era wled away. fouling the air with
curses and threats against Lucy. His
words were overheard and doomed
him. The girl pleaded for his life
she tried persuasion. anger. stern c0ul-
mand. All were equally unavailing.
That half-breed'S body swung for
weeks from the branch of Il red oak.
over a ChaSm many hundreds of feet
in depth, while the CarriOn buZZardS
tore the clothes into rags and picked
every shred of flesh from the bones.
Then it dropped down into the canyOn
and its pieces lay by the side of the
raging mountain torrent for months
afterWard, until Il pack of hungry
cay0teS, venturing thus far mountain
ward one black night made short
work of them and crunched them up.
That half-breed's fate proved Il saw
q warning. and men whose CONVEX
SatiOn was habitually studded with
adieCtivcS and other interpretations of
the VileSt and ti!thiest sort became
choice and careful in their language
when Lucy Madame vas the topic of
campfire talk.
She was barely eighteen, that bright
eyed queen Of the mountains. and the
little vixen knew that she held dos
potic sway over all the inferior male
creation for miles around. They all
p~ttrd her and loaded her with pres
entS; they idOliZpt and spoiled her.
Yet she was as good, as simple, as
true. as truSty, as homely and as
kindly as any country girl brought. up
within sound of English cathedral
chimes. Many an ailing mountajneer
her dainty care nursed back to health
and strength: dying men had crossed
the dark threshold with lighter hearts
when fairy Lucy's" soft fingers had
smoothed their pillows of skins. Men
NCoull rilp for milnS and miles nIt Of
their way to be gladdcned by one of
Lucy'S pretty smiles, and a wonder.
in that country where. among a crowd
of Sioux squaws. loathly half-breeds
and viler unwOmanly white wOmen
that were dragged by the p]rOxenet's
net from the stewS of st. Louis or
Memphis into the gambling and dane
ing hells of the frontier traders sta
tons. she alone represented the holy
attributes of pure womanhoOd.
The young man returned to the girl
the tin cup which he had drained of
its refreshing contents of mountain
water.
Thank you, my dear" he said. as
his hand grazed her rosy finger tips.
The contact made his palms Jingle,
and his speech became a little bolder.
He refined in his ~prancing horse tight
ly and raised himself in his stlrrups.
ID you know that you are charming.
my DEAR" he exclaimed, his eyes glis-
tcning and flashing at her.
You bet | do" was the stOlid and
lOng-drawn reply.
1t sh3cked the young man first of
all, and then made him laugh out
right.
There's nature here" he said to
himself. "Glorious, unadulterated ma
ture, She is worth fifty Lady Eve
lyneS. How I'd make them all jump
If brought her into the drawing room
at Chauncey Towers"
Then it's two miles. you say" he
continued. "tO Dick Ashland's?'
jest about that the girl replied:
AN Tat boss o yewrn's got to riggle
a bit less, | reckon. or yew'll git to the
canyon bottom instead o Dick Ash
lands. The path amt much more'n a
yard wide at BlacknOse Corner, an
yew've jest got to keep his nose
straight or down yell go into the alder
bushes"
THANK you for the warning. my
dear" the young man retorted. odd
Sam and | have gone up and down
many n bad mountain road before to-
day and | think we'll manage to
wriggle round Blacknose Corner. So,
good-by," he exclaimed, putting spurs
to his horse and kissing his hand to
her.
Lucy looked after him as he gal
lopcd up the mountain path. The
sounds of his horses hOOfs and the
clatter of his rife against his
powder flask became less and
less audible, but she still saw him
turn, and urn again, waving his hat
back to her. Then he disappeared
among the great pines and the stunted
cedarS. and Lucy Shadino her eyes