The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1900-10-12

unLrOQQen corner OF the world where ne
might surely find concealment till the
night should fall. Thither he passed
down the lane; and when he came
there, behold! he had forgotten the
frost. and the pond was alive with
young people skating, and the pond
side coyerts were thick with lockers
on. lio looked on awhile himself.
There was one tall, graceful maiden,
skating hand in hand with youth, on
whom she bestowed her bright eyes
perhaps too patiently; and 1T was
strange that with anger John, beheld
her. He could have broken forth in
curses; he could have stood there, like
mortified tramp, and shaken his fist
and vented his gall upon her by the
hour-or so he thought; and the next
moment his heart bled for the girl
Poor creature it's little she knowsw
he sighed. LET her enjoy herself
while she can" But was it possible,
when Flora used to smile at him on the
Braid ponds, she could have looked so
fnlsome to sick-hearted bystander?
The thought of one quarry, in his
frozen wits, suggested another; and he
plodded off toward Craig Leith. A
wind had sprung up out of the north
west; it was cruel keen, it dried him
like fire, and racked his finger-joints. 1t
brought clouds, too; pale, swift, hurry
ing clouds, that blotted heaven and
shed gloom upon the earth. He scram-
bled up among the hazeled rubbish
heaps that surrounded the cauldron of
the quarry, and lay fiat upon the stones.
The wind searched close along the
earth, the stones were cutting and
icy, the bare haZels walled about him;
and soon the air Of the afternoon began
to be vocal with those strange and dis
NAL harpings that herald snow. Pain
and misery turned in Johns limbs to
narrowing Impotence and blind desire
of change; now he would roll in his
harsh lair, and when the flints abraded
him, was almost pleased; now he would
crawl to the edge of the huge pit and
look dizzily down. He saw the spiral
OF the descending roadway, the steep
crags, the clinging bushes, the pepper
ing of snow-wreaths, and far down in
the bottom, the diminished crane.
Here, no doubt, was way to end it.
But it somehow did not take his fancy,
And suddenly he was aware that he
was hungry; ay. even through the tor
lures of the cold, even through the
frosts of despair, a gross, desperate
longing after food, no matter what, no
matter how, began to awake and
spur him. Suppose he pawned his
watch? But no, on Christmas day
this was Christmas day-the pawn
shop would be closed. Suppose he
went to the public house close by at
Blackhall, and offered the watch, which
was worth ten pounds, in payment for
meal of bread and cheese? The in
congruity was remarkable; the. good
folks would either put him to the door,
or only let him in to send for the po-
lice. He turned his pockets out one
after another; some San Francisco
tram-car checks, one cigar, no lights.
the pass-key to his fathers house,
pocket-handkerchief, with just a touch
OF scent; no, money could be raised on
none of these. There was nothing for
it but to starve; and after all, what
mattered it? That also was a door of
exit.
He crept close among the bushes, the
wind playing round him like a lash:
his clothes seemed thin as paper, his
joints burned, his skin curdled on his
bones. He had a vision of a highly
ing cattle-drive in California, and the
bed Of a dried stream with one muddy
pool, by which the vaqueros had en-
camped: splendid sun over all, the big
bonfire blazing, the strips of cow
browning and smoking on skewer of
wood; how warm it was, how savory
the steam of scorching meat! And
then again he remembered his manifold
calamities, and burrowed and wal
lowed in the sense of his disgrace and
shame. And next he was entering
Franks restaurant in Montgomery
street, San Francisco; he had ordered
a pan-stew and venison chops, of which
he was immoderately fond, and as he
sat waiting, Munroe, the good attend
ant, brought him a whisky punch; he
saw the strawberries float on the delec-
table cup, he heard the ice chink about
the straws. And then he awoke again
to his detested fate, and found himself
sitting, bumped together, in a windy
combe of. quarry refuse-darkness
thick about him, thin flakes of snow
flying here and there like rags Of pa
per, and the strong shuddering. of his
body clashing his teeth like hiccough.
We have seen John in nothing but
the stormiest conditions; we have seen
him reckless, desperate, tried beyond
his moderate powers; Of his daily self,
cheerful, regular, not unthrifty, we
have seen nothing; and it may thus be
surprise to the reader, to learn that
he was studiously careful of his health.
This favorite preoccupation now
awoke. If he were to sit there and
| die of cold, there would be mighty lit
tie gained; better the police cell and