The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1900-11-16
com. along. and have a visit with rs

The wedding will je soon?'
christmas Eve said he--"the little
gals idea. She says. I like good timo
heaped up fhick-not spread out thin
says she. 30 Christmas Eve It's TO be-"
left Nebraska the next week. I
haS n delightful summons to the we'd
ding. but when the holidays came 10
was impossible for me to leave New
York. The remainder OF the narrative
give az II was given me on my visit
the following summer.
II seems the p~rospector. for years.
had been secretly saving. a very few
dollars each year. toward the price OF
a diamond drill. The fund grew with
pitiful slowness: In the year OF tho
wedding II was still several dollars
short OF the requisite amount. But
out OF the past two crops he had also
boarded a little corn for the day OF a
better price. In the fall Of this year
the better price prevailed. BY draw
ing ever SO little on the current crop
the drill fund could be completed.
But there was q new light In Bar
den's face.
Meanwhile Walt and Laura had a
secret OF their own. In the early days
OF their betrothaI Laura suggested
that instead of giving each other gifts
they a v what little money they could
and buy something for him. Only one
something there was. Of course, for
him.
SO. aside from Waits main econo-
mixing with a view to his establish
ment. they. too. we're saving.
As December came on, the young
people attempted to draw the prospect
or out on the subject of drills. Wat
thought he knew pretty we'll what i'm
plement was wanted. but IL would not
do to blunder now Imagine their sur
prise to discover a new unwillingness
on the old mans part TO be led upon
the subject. Then they thought OF
the mining machinery catalogue. but
the catalogue had disappeared. Search
revealed the book all but hidden back
OF the school books on the shelf.
One evening Walt and Laura return
ed from a walk found the old man
pacing on the ten acre lot adjoining
his own. striding round his ground
at the boundaries was a favorite exer-
else with him. but this was another
mans land.
You're on side. fatherl" Walt
shouted. Barden halted. yes, yes.
lad. Of course" he replied, and joined
them to the house in a mysterious
mood.
Not long after this they came upon
him at nightfaii busy In III tomato
garden. apparently ~shoveiing earth.
In the morning Walt noticed that The
old coal shaft was Allied In level with
the surface
The p-rospector's f.es thesa ~.
wore = look that vas AZ once oekermir
ed. sad. joyful.
Something's up with dad" sal
Walt to Laura. He's covering UP nj
his trucks OF the last ten years
Laura beamed. He thinks our
wedding will end II. and is trying 60
put coal out OF his mind. Won't we
spread IL thick. thought"
On Christmas Eve the surprise on
both sides was complete. Just before
the ceremony the ~prospector produced
a deed. running to Walt and Laura. OF
the adjoining ten acre lot.
Build your house there. boy. It's
all right: you didn't know. but I've
saved 1t. The lands your'n and the
little gals for a home"
Then the two placed the parcel con-
tanning the drill in his hands.
That highway gossip. tho
Platteville News. printed a long notice
OF the wedding. without SO much as
a hint OF this spreading It on thick"
After the wedding they took the
prospector TO live in the Jenifer house.
which was tight and warm. All were
attentive to him there. He was better
contented than ne had been for years
when the frost gets out o. the
ground" he would say. wen see
what wen see." The drill he kept be-
side him-fondled II sometimes when
he thought he was unobserved. He
drew elaborate plans Of the strata ms
he had found them at the former drill
ing. At the bottom. lying at such and
such an angle to the surface. shown In
jet black on the plat-but s~crupulousiy
without the word coal. Plenty fhr
everybody" said he. Il can sec tho
smoke from the mines now-by Jim
lnyl Amt II grand? The Platte VAL
ley II pay us what she owes us yet"
Thus on his bright days. Other
times he would rub the frost from tie
pane, peer out past the bare-limled
cotton woods. tap %nervously on the sill
and heave o great sigh. which trans-
lated meant; when the frost just gets
out O. the ground-if II ever doesi'
Perhaps In such moods he had a
foreboding OF the truth-ttSt It never
would, In time for him.
Winter was prolonged into March.
After a thaw in February. there was a
fierce aftermath. There was much IN
ness In the coanty. Pneumonia claim
ed more than one life In Plattevipe on
fearfully short notice. Bardoa was
cut down between a Thursday jmd
Sunday. His hands clenchcd the new
drill 10 the last. they told me.