Connecticut western news. [volume] (Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Conn.) 1871-1970, 1901-06-20
A ROMANCE OF
THE FOREST.
The Story of Long Wooing
With an Abrupt Ter
mination.
B Y @. H. A u G. u r.
B Y G.. H. A UGU r.
oCoo oG0o 100000 OK
Dark the halls and cold the feast,
Gone the bridemaids gone the pries


Dark the halls and cold the feast,
Gone the bridemaids, gone the priest.
The s o'clock train on the Duluth,
South Shore and Atlantic railroad
takes you away from the beautiful
town Of Marquette, on Lake Superior,
climbs slowly up to the iron hills,
passes through Negaunee, Ishpeming
Michigamme, rival cities Of the NORTH
ern Peninsular," and, bowling along at
20 miles an hour, brings you at noon to
Sidnaw, whence a short branch road
extends to Ontonagon, and, If you have
to change cars, may heaven help you
in your sorry plight, for you must wait
hours In a dreary place.
Two hundred feet from the track at
Sidnaw station is a good sized frame
building, with q hotel sign over the
door and tin beer sign on either side
of 1t. You get your dinner here, and
after dinner you may sit ON the hotel
veranda and view the entire town and
all Of it's inhabitants.
The town site comprises about half a
10 GO acres it would be called In other
parts Of the country tract of cleared
land. The hotel before alluded to Is
set back against the woods ON one side
of the tract, while the business portion
of the place-five saloons, a store and
board walk-skirts the other edge.
The railroad track passes through the
center. There is no street There are
everywhere blackened tree stumps and
scattered blades Of brown dry grass
standing detiantly In pepper and salt
colored soil of muck and sand.
The main feature of Sidnaw Is ST.
lence-the awful silence of the great
surrounding forest-but it is broken at
intervals by a dogfght or an explo-
sion Of oaths from the saloon district,
where red shirted, SLOUGH hated woods
men from the lumber camps play cards,
just visible within the darkened door
ways.
A line of freight cars stands on the
track by the station, and now and then
an engine that has been sizzling and
kissing all by itself among the trees
comes out and bumps these cars about
In an aimless sort of way for few
moments and then goes into retirement
again.
You spend four hours In the contem-
plation of this scene; then that fool en-
CINE backs a lot of the freight cars and
an old passenger coach down to the
station, and you get aboard and go to
Ontonagon. the terminus of the road,
and 1t takes you two hours to go-just
half as long as 1t took to "change cars
l had changed cars at Sidnaw once,
and l was on my way thither again.
depressed and low spirited at the pros
pect before me, when, all suddenly,
was invited to attend a wedding while
waited. and once more the world look
ed rosy.
The prospective bride occupied the
seat behind me In the car. | had not
noticed her particularly until she bent
forward. and, touching me on the arm
she asked II l could inform her al
what time our train was due in Sid
nav. Then | turned and beheld a lady
of some 40 summers, wearing a fowery
gown Of white and green, with black
lace mitts. and having beside her one
| Of those big black 80 cent travelling
bags that circulate so freely In the
| west.
The ready politeness with which
| answered her question encouraged hel
| to ask more. and eventually / found Il
| necessary to sit sidewise that might
more conveniently keep up my end OF
| the conversation. which shifted from
| one topic to another with wonderful
| rapidity and finally merged into a 70
| nance of which she was the heroine
and to the completion Of which | wa:
cordially asked to lend my presence.
| Its 10 years." she said. "since this
Mr.. Prince left Kaukauny and came VI
here into the lumber camps. Him and
me was young folks then and KEEP
company together a spell, but when b,
asked me to marry him | said, NO.
wouldn't marry nobody Then b,
went away. and never heard of hin
till three years ago he wrote and sale
somebody'd told him l was single ant
he was waitln for me; wouldn't never
marry another woman. he said. nohow
and he hoped I'd take him into consid
Grafton again.
THAT letter made me feel kind O
queer-to think he'd been so faithful
all these years. l never believed h.
set so much store by me as all that.
was a good mind to write him a favor
able letter right then and there, blu
when 1t come right to the point
couldn't make up my mind to do 1t. s.
just wrote him wanted year NOR
to think about It.
"Well. / never heard a word fror
him no more than's If he was dead til
the year was up. Then he wrote agail
and said he was still waitin.
81 put hirs off till Christmas, then til
spring, and so it's been a-goin up L
two weeks ago. when it come over m
all to once that l wasn't treatin tn
man right. He'd been dreadful loni
sufferln and patient and deserved hi
reward. and I set down and wrot
him I'd have him.
HE wanted to come down to Kau
kauny after me, but wouldn't have II
l told him to save his money, and II
come up. So we fixed 1T that way, an(
today the weddin comes off, and
want you to be there. Mr.. Prince
got a minister from Ontonagon, ant
he's invited a few of his friends to wit
ness the ceremony, and l guess it'll b.
a pleasant, sociable little gatherin
Anyhow, it'll be better than waitin 70
the train, with nothin to do"
I agreed with the lady and eagerl.
accepted her invitation. had curl
osity to behold this faithful old lQYs