Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1900-12-20

Surely no pupil was EVER more CRATE
full for help, or more light-hearted
over her tasks, than she was, and her
perseverance and patience converted
the stumbling blocks Of one day into
the fairly easy words of the next, until
at last her reading was so good thar II
was high time she should tax TO the
pen.
Every night I blessed that little
primer for the way in which it
us together. To be sure. l might easlIy
have bought another, but then should
have missed the touch of her hand as
we thumbed and fingered the book to-
gether, and have lost the moments
of bliss when her hair. tossed by the
wind. swept over my cheek.
IT seems to me that / can hear her
ripping laughter now as l heard IL
when I told her that Persia's famous
King would have frowned upon her
had she dared to address him as "Ex-
erexes."
"Ah! why" she said. didn't they
give the man a decent name, like
Maurice. or william, or-or Jack?" and
the mink gave me a CLINT from her eye,
ana WnlSpeIeu the last Ildiilc 81 NANi
that I went home delighted.
/ can see. too. the light that glowed
I'm her glorious eyes, and the colour
that came ande went as / read to her
of this or that famous knights deeds,
done in honour Of his lady; and the
look of pleasure that made her face
radiant, did I but praise her, is as
beautiful in the remembrance now as
IT was in the actual beholding then.
Though no one but ourselves knew OF
our meetings, which were thus some
what clandestine, she saw no harm in
them. and they were so pleasant to me
that I never raised the point, for to the
pure all things are pure. and in this
respect she matched the angels of
heaveni
Then came the lessons in writing. We
made use of a pencil. and how sweetly
she bothered me- first? And sure, she'd
never get the turn of this letter. or the
twist of that, and why weren't they all
as easy to make as o's?"
When September was ending. and the
air began to grow chilly, and the
leaves to flutter down upon us in all
the glory of their autumn colours, she
brought me her first letter, and i wait
ed to read it until 1 was alone. and
read it over and over again until it
was mine by heart. lust a few sim.
pie words of thanks, just a wish that
she could do something for me to re-
pay me for my patience and kindness,
just a hope that some day we should
meet again, and then the Yours,
gratefully, ". c." She spelt 1t great
fully" and I kissed the word. because
1t showed me hat / must teach her
again some day.
And all this time Mcguire was spin
ming romances, his star of hope shin
in resplendent in the zenith when
some story was accepted. and waning
towards the literary horizon, or set
ting altogether for a while, when his
book came back, as come it did with q
regularity that had long since passed
the stage of m~onotony. And to keep
him working-and he was happier So
and to leave me free to give my lessons
I advised him to rewrite portions of his
work, to touch II up here and there,
and to illustrate it more freely, so that
it Jared forth fatter each time. until 1t
was DulKy lnQeeu.
Now that the meetings. in the woods
were over I cast about for some means
of seeing Nora in a legitimate manner,
and / made use of her fathers failiBgs
to aid me in my endeavor. Having at
last presented myself q sufficient num-
Der of times at the bar to make my
face familiar, and after running a
great risk of losing my character for
sobriety, I was at length invited into
the I'M err sanctum, where the higher
class patrons assembled to enjoy their
grog and an innocent game of cards.
And here I was privileged to address
Mr.. Courtney for the first time, and
the manner of my approach, which /
was careful to make as deferential as
possible, won upon him to accept the
cigar I proffered, and before the evening
was over we had exchanged cards. In
the mellowness of his condition, oegot-
ten for his potations, and in pity of my
loneliness, CT which 7 drew an awful
picture, he promised to call upon me.
And. mirabile dictu. he proved him
self a nan of his word, and two days
afterwards he bore down upon US at
the orthodox hour, dressed in his best,
though Their were traces of someone's
deft firgers in the neatly-mended
gloves, and his cravat-for he was old
fashioned TO wear one-had assumed a
mere BETTING position than when I
had last had the pleasure of beholdine
1t. There were creases in his we'll
worn frock-coat, and his trousers were
of a cut that was not Poole's, and.
although he was somewhat of a wreck
what was left of him proclaimed that
he had once been a good looking, WELL
set-up man.
Mcguire had locked himself up in
his den, and had my visitor been a
Prince of the Blood Royal the author
would not have vouchsafed to have
bestowed upon him the light of his
countenance, so hat I had to do all
the entertaining.
You're very pleasant here, Mr.. Ire
mayre." said my guest, as he slipped
his port. for tea was tabooed-"you're
very pleasant here" and he waved his
hand as though the country for miles
around were mine. "And I'm sorry
thai 1t isn't in Ireland we are. where
] could ask you to come and see me
ip the castle where the Courtneys
have reigned ever ~since-well, ever
since the Flood. But I'll maybe go
back again, and then IL you're ever