The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1896-01-28

rier on the Hidgeree- Kalaba track
and she was at once the brain anC
mainstay of his business.
My first acquaintance with then
occurred on the edge of BoreC
scrub a dismal place and more thar
Zoe miles removed from either of the
above townships. They We're camp
cd beside a big water hole, and OF
dismounting from my horse | was
introduced by the carrier with be.
coming ceremony to his wife. Great
were the proofs of friendship they
showed me, and long will ! cherish
tho memory of that rough but hearty
hospitality. Next morning went
my way, they theirs, and it was
nearly year before we met again.
When next 1 heard of them,
Daphne was in the township hos
pital recovering from serious ao-
oident occasioned by fall from the
wagon, and her husband, an enor-
mously built man, with rough
manner which by those unskilled in
such matters might easily have been
mistaken for insolence, had that
very day returned with loading from
the west. By inquiring after his
wife, whose illness was aware of,
I touched the right string, for his
eyes lit up, his voice softened, and
he answered my questions with sur
prising meekness.
"She is gettin On we'll, !" he said,
"but all the same it is terribly slow
work"
Now, it must be known here that,
although the Kalaba hospital occu-
pies the best position in the town
ship, even then it is, if anything, a
little less cheerful than an under
takers showroom. Great gray
plains surround it on three sides;
the township, with its ugly white
washed roofs, stares at it from the
fourth, and it would be impossible
to say which view'would be likely
to have the most depressing effect
upon an invalid. l am told that
Kalaba was only designed as a depot
for the great west, and / console
myself with the reflection that in
the very near future the overland
railway will obviate that necessity.
Then it will be scattered to the four
winds of heaven. At present it is
the decalogue turned backward.
When my business was finished I
rode up to the hospital and left some
newspapers. Daphne being the only
patient, found her occupying the
best bed in the only ward. Her
wiry black hair struggled in rank
confusion about the pillow, while
her complexion harmonized, as we'll
as a well tanned skin would permit,
with the dingy whiteness of the
counterpane. Only the great dark
eyes lent relief to the monotony of
her expression, and they were now
full of something which when read
Alright spelt hopolessness of an ex-
traordinary degree.
Toward the end of the afternoon
the husband made his appearance,
and preceded by the matron he
stalked into his wife's presence.
For moment he stood in the door
way dazed, bewildered perhaps by
the half darkness. Then recogniz-
ing his wife he advanced toward the
bed.
Daphne, old gal, he said, with
a little tremor in his voice, as he
bent over her, IAN 'ow's it with We
now? Ye looks better by a darned
sight"
She gave a little sigh before she
replied:
I'm nearly we'll now, Bill, bet
tern l ave been by a long chalk.
Sit ye down, old man, an tell us
'ow it goes with the children an the
team"
LII o'aO WI y SlhSOIlJ vi thO OuSO
of the bed, and as if out of compli-
ment to the peculiar cleanliness of
the place fell to scrubbing his face
with a flaring red cotton handker-
chief.
The kids is fit, an the team g
first class" he answered.
Then, with a gesture of almost
awe, he assumed possession of one
of the thin brown hands upon the
coverlet.
my lass, 'ow dog poor yer 'ands
has got, to be sure; but they was al
ways pretty 'ands to my thinkin."
Daphne patted his great brown
paws and allowed a little wan smile
of gratitied vanity to flicker across
her face. Let the woman be ever so
old and plain, she is never beyond
the reach of compliment from the
man she loves.
IAN 'ow's the roads lookin out
back?" she asked.
"A1 an no mistake, green as q
leaf all the way. From here to Kid