Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1900-11-02
it's no wonder folks take lin for one
O. that highfalutin' crowd. tell you,

Dave went out into the back porch,
where a stream of water shot from
the end of hollow log into trough;
the water came from spring on a hill
side half mile distant. The inventor of
this crude aqueduct was Ronald Fan
shaw; he was only a boy when he con-
ceived the idea, but he gave every spare
moment to its construction. He had
felled the trees, dug the long ditch
| through the meadows and fields, taken
| the level and completed what was still
considered a marvel of convenience by
| the neighbors. While it was building,
Jason Fanshaw- had contributed many
peevish objections to the work. which
| he considered waste of time, but when
| the clear. cold water gushed out at his
door, he melted under a blaze of Won
der, and now no stranger ever came to
his house who was not shown "the wa
| terworks.''
s'Huh,'' he would exclaim with pride,
nobody else has got spring on his
land high enough fur such a thing. Col.
Hasbrooke would pay no end O. money
| eff he could have it. He has to keep two
niggers busy film his tank an then the
| waters stale an hot. You see, we sunk
our pipes so deep that the waters as
cold as ice"
A hundred yards from the house
was a dense wood which stretched on
to small river mile away, and fur
| Their on to high mountain, and here
Dave found his brother lying on the
grass reading his Blackstone. In his
| unlikeEess to his family he was an
anomaly; he was over six feet in height,
| well built, slender, dark of complex
ion, hair and eyes. There was in the
shapely prominence of his brow sug-
gestion of strong mentality one might
look for in vain in any of the other
Fanshaws; his limbs had the slight,
strong look of blooded horse; palm
list would have said that his hands in
dicated the possession of refined, SEN
sitive spirit.
"Oh, 1 had no idea you was heer!"
exclaimed Dave. 81 jest thought I'd
take walk to git away from all that
clatter up at the house. An to tell
you the truth, I've got quart hid in
that stump thar; don't you want to
wet yore whistle, as the Teller said?
have to keep it hid from the old man;
! he's too alfred stingy to buy whisky,
but he loves it like hog does slop."
'You know never drink, replied the
other, firmly. His words formed a
striking contrast to the dialect of his
brother; there was vague sadness of
tone in his voice, and his eyes dropped
as if they were weary of the print upon
which they had been resting.
"Well, reckon you won't mind eff I
take pull at it," said Dave. "I'm dry
as powder-horn." He removed flat
stone from the hollow of the stump
and took out his flask. "Here's lookin'
at you,'' and the neck of the bottle went
into his mouth.
81 suppose they made me the subject
of their talk, as usual" said Ronald,
when Dave had replaced the flask under
the stone and sat on the stump, his legs
crossed.
mot any more'n commoo, Ron;
they've got to talk; talkin' comes as
l natural to women as cluckin' Goes to
hens; the only difference is hens cluck
when they are busy, an cackle when
they've laid; the time TO git away from
+. a woman's tongue is when she's idle
an that's all the time. But, honest,
L don't see why they won't let you
alone. You want to read an study, be-
: cause it suits you, an am with you
tooth an toe nail. Now, had my head
set on ranch life out west, because
l Utterly love boss flesh an cattle-raisin',
but they all come down on me like a
r landslide an rs had to hoe corn an
. cotton like niger fur aboutfor cents
t day, when might been maxim two
: dollars an a-had my independence"
D Ronald Fanshaw smiled genially, but
e he made no reply, and Dave sauntered
e away to the river to see if his trout
s lines had caught anything. When he
found himself alone our hero fell te
e dreaming of his past life. Above the
e tree-tops half a mile to the east, OF
q a Slight elevation, he could see the
o high, steep roof and dormer window:
z of the chief mansion of the locality
f "Carnleigh,' the splendid home of the
e county's greatest planter, Col. Henry
< Hasbrooke.
C The house, id its silent grandeur, rep
S resenting wealth and power, had been
I a potent factor in the struggles of this
young man towards the acquisition Of
q things above and beyond him in the
:. dreamy blue realm of possibility. It.
S massive Corinthian columns, its vas,
t white proportions and its aristocratit
: inmates, whom he saw driving along
d the roads, told him constantly what ht
. and his family were not. Up to bis
e twenty fifth year his fancy had dared tt
play only about the exterior of this ole
q family seat, but of late his imagination
d call it ambition, if you will, had lee
d him beyond the mystic portals, and ht
i walked there with men and ladies'; hs
f dined there; he discussed topics he ha6
t read with the white-haired host; hs
I stood near the piano and heard Evely1
Hasbrooke play and sing; he saw he1