Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1897-11-18

Dorothy Meredith and her father. AS
a child, when by her mother she had
been taken to live in the old family
home at Brooklyn, her father had been
to her as fairy prince whose occa-
sional visits had meant lavish gifts and
unlimited indulgence. She had been
fond of him, in frank, childish selfish
ness, for what he did rather than what
he was to her-after the canny method
of children, who see so much of that
to which they are supposed to be blind,
half guessing at the incompatibility
which led her parents to dwell SO much
apart, and instinctively divining some
what of the jealous regard of each for
her, by means of which she might, as
it were, pit one against the other, to
attain her own small ends. As she
grew older the colonel, always hand
some and debonair, gradually assumed
a good-humored elder-brother attitude,
which perhaps the girl appreciated the
more for the peevish fretfuiness which
had grown upon the invalid mother
with passing years. Her father. al
though, as she well knew, naturally of
choleric temper, was to her generally
amiable and always care1esSly indul-
gent. He sometimes ventured upon adj
vice or criticism, occasionally even car.
rying interference so far as to tease her
to the verge of tears by his rather merci-
less gift of satire; but he never seemed
to dream of demanding any actual
obedience to his wishes. He appeared
to regard her, indeed, as a somewhat
interesting young woman, whose &C
quaintance. on the whole, he quite en-
joyed, but whose conduct he considered
rather outside the limit of his legiti-
mate jurisdiction.
This easy-going attitude the girl had
found very pleasant in the time they
had been together since her mothers
death He made it clear that he liked
to have her with him; but he was also
at pains to have her understand that her
own wishes were to have full weight in
determining all her movements. When
their plan of going abroad in the early
summer had been broken up, the colonel
had been at some trouble to mitigate
her disappointment by proposing the
pleasantest possible alternatives. She
might have gone to any of the fashiona-
bic resorts of the east, under the
chaperonage of a convenient relative;
but she knew that he was pleased when
she elected to go with him to Colorado
instead, and even more pleased to hear
her speak of it as going home. Under
his cool, noncEalant reserve she knew
that he was really fond of her, really
| anxious to make her happy; but, though
i'll turn she was intensely loyal il her
devotion to him, she could not disguise
from herself the fact that in a way they
still were almost strangers.
He looked up and saw her after n mo-
| ment, but beyond brief nod, convey
| ing some surprise as well as a certain
shade Of disapproval, he gave her no
| further attention for the time, going
OH with his talk with McCready, the
superintendent, who also looked out
| to greet the girl with a smiling familiar
| ity which she secretly resented. He
| was n tall, muscular fellow of some 80
years, his face presenting certain type
of coarse, bucolic good looks, of which
| he seemed overweeningly conscious,
carrying himself with an air of COM
| placent egotism which to Dorothy made
him almost insufferable.
well, you make paying trip of it
| this afternoon, sure" he was saying,
| when presently he accompanied the
colonel down the steps. eff you've got
! Brigham solid, it's about all we want"
'Well, I guess we've got him." the
| colonel rejoined, stopping on the last
step to button his gloves. He was a
fine-looking man of the sandy-haired,
ruddy blond type, carrying his thin,
why form with an alert, military
grace which cheated time of no less than
ten good years in the visible record of
his age. There was conscious strength
in, rrIo of
stubborn will-power in the thin-lipped
month, half covered by a dropping
| blond mustache just lightly touched
with gray; boundless pluck and en-
ergy in the whole poise of the man.
$50 you had to come out and get your
self wet ?" he called out to his daughter,
regarding her with frank irritation.
Yes; 1 had to come" she nonchalant-
| " returned, in no whit disturbed by his
passing peeyishness. 'I hope did not
keep you waiting"
"As it never entered my mind that
you would be here at all, in view of the
| rain, I can assure you that you certainly
| did not" he answered, his tone still
| caustic, but his face softening some
| what as he looked up at her youthful
! loveliness, glowing from her ride. He
turned away to get his horse, which was
| fastened to post at one side, while the
superintendent came on to speak to
| Miss Meredith.
You're your fathers own daughter,
| Miss Meredith he observed, bold adj
miration in his small, shifty eyes. 1T
takes more'n a cloudburst to stop you
when you set out to do a. thing. And
| the colone1-I'd like to see the cyclone
| that would feaze him."
The girl smiled vaguely, in recogni-
ton of the intended compliment, her
eyes following her fathers movements.