The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1898-08-19
A QUIET LIFE.

"A OOlfLl LII lie
The Philistine that the
mercury has reached the 100 mark. 1t
is too warm to philosopher, or to get
indignant, or even sentimental. Let me
tell you a story. 1t has no especial
merit, except that it is true.
The Ohio river was, at a time not far
back in the dim vistas of the past,
Just a succession of shallow ponds and
f~ar-reaching banks of sand. Biennerhas-
set or Daniel Boone would have been
ashamed Of it. Large boats could not
run, and the little ones, which tried
to fill their places, but only succeeded
in rafting around in them, were un-
speakable craft. That especial one
%patronize was named the Betsy Jane,
and it is to be hoped that Betsy James
equal for dirt and general dilapidation
does not exist elsewhere. 1t had a
solitary and detected smokestack.
which leaned like the tower of Pisa.
At the stern was a broken and shabby
wheel, which turned slowly in the
water, like a sick fish trying to be
sportive. There was a square inch
of dirt for every square inch of space.
In the ladies' cabin, called that In a
lofty spirit Of courtesy, was a sheet
iron stove, heated to the last degree of
redness, toward which spat at irregular
intervals several hollow-eyed and ca
daverous mountaineers from up
Sandy" An odor of onions and poor
whisky added its charms to the elevat-
ing scene. A ragged pallet was spread
upon the floor, and upon it lay a young
person in the last stages of a wearing
illness, whose delicate features were
Swallowed by evidences Of approaching
dissolution. The squalor of the sur
roundings can not be described, and
the poor sufferer feebly tried to lessen
it by driving away the October days.
Poor GIRL whispered the fire tender,
selling q fan and for a half hour doing
battle with the insects. At the n of
that time the poor girl rouse from
an uneasy doze, 1shed from under the
pillow a piece Of plug tobacco and bit
off a mouthful. "She' was a boy. The
father Of the lad, a little the worse
for liquor, and steadily growing more
so, here appeared upon the scene and
launched forth into d recital of his
woes.
That there boy he said, "ain't nc
poor white trash. His mother was a
Breckenridge. She had to finish all
the pedigree for the family. She and
I run of to Ohio and got married. She
died when he was 2 years old, and I
raised him. She left some property,
fixed so I could not get 1t. He's edu-
Gated. I amt got on no paper collar,
but he could buy me out If he wanted
to. He right stingy, but I don't be-
grudge him nothing. I amt got on no
paper collar"
Pardon me-" broke in the fire ten
der. but you informed me Of that
once. How long has he been i'll"
"Oh, about two years. Six doctors
have given him up. I'm taking him
to Cincinnati to have an operation. Say,
Jimmy, take your medicine" The
father produced a bottle containing a
white powder, and the boy, with a SUI
preme effort burst forth:
''Say, miss, / won't take it. Don't
let him give it to me. It's morphine.
He wants to quiet me SO he can get
the money"
Jimmy" said the blear-eyed parent,
with a dignity which would have been
amusing under less pitiable circum-
stances, 'ain't you ashamed? I reckon
the lady knows you're fooling."
Jimmy clutched a worn pocketbook
more tightly and went n
I'm not fooling. He makes me take
1t, then he gets the money away from
me and buys liquor. Do something for
me, miss. Tn going to die. I know
I'm going to die. Tell the captain.
Tell somebody. Oh. I won't take that
awful stuff. Don't let him.
He fell back exhausted, and the pock-
etbook dropepd to the floor. The father
tried to grasp it; so did the fire tender.
He was slow and tipsy; she was agile
and sober, and won the game.
III you wasn't a lady" said the man,
I'D have the law Of you. I amt got on
no paper collar" But his auditor was
flying to the captain.
you don't know what you've done.
miss said that Official. that mans
q Mccoy, almost the last one left. I
suppose you know about the feud. He'd
shoot you II you wasn't 9 lady. "A
lady,s = lady down this way. Holy
smoke! Think OF m~onkeying with q Nc
Coy! Ola you see them uns in his