Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1902-05-01
CHAPTER I.


made haste to inquire his way to the
Office of the Concord Blizzard. The
Blizzard was reckoned a very potential
power throughout Dakota, and not to
have heard of it was synonymous with
being stranger in that part of the
country. A man named Keever-Col.
Archibald Keever, if you Please-pre-
sided over the destinies of the Blizzard.
He was also the guiding hand that
manipulated the affairs of the Con-
cord Townsite Company in those
booming times of '85. Guy had to do
with the Colonel on matters pertain
ing to the town, weighty matters so
far as Guy was concerned.
The building that harbored the
sanctum and it's accompanying plant"
was an unsightly two-story structure
covered with tar paper held in place
by strips of lath. A fight of crazy
stairs chung to the outside, and Guy.
somewhat doubtful of their stability,
laid hold of the hand rail and assembled
cautiously At the landing above he
turned sharply to the left and was
confronted by door bearing this
printed placard:
Office of the Blizzard,
Fearless Champion of the Rights of Man,
In General,
And Of the Republican Party,
IN PARTICULAR.
Welcome
DWipe your feet on the mat.
Guy scraped his shoes assiduously
and passc7 into the sanctum. One
would h. J have thought that in
such a III little cubby hole the
powerful nd of Archibald Keever
was wont to evolve those gems of edi-
torial wit which had made the Blizzard
venerated and feared all the way from
Fargo to Bismarck, and from Standing
Rock as far north as Turtle Mountain.
Yet such was the fact. Guy looked
about him with interest. Insurance
calendars, farming implement adver-
tisements, a cheap Autograph of Topsy
and another of Eliza pursued by blood
hounds did their little mite toward
covering the rough board walls. Two
ten-penny nails, affixed to the board
wall by half their length, supported a
white hat and cane. A window con-
tanning eight panes of dusty glass let
in a mellow light upon the great man
who sat at a desk, his profile to the
caller, and took no notice of him. Evil
IDENTIFY the editor was in the throes of
composition.
Guy had no desire to interrupt and
remained standing very quietly in the
center of the floor. Scratch, scratch,
scratch. bumped over that antiquated
desk with his old steel pen, scraping
away as for dear life. What fire the
Colonel must have been throwing into
that editorial! Guy observed him curl
ously.
The Colonel was not tall, but rather
short. He was also very stout-a
pudgy man with an extremely pudgy
countenance. His face wasred, the tip
of his nose conspicuously so. He wore
a mustache and chin whiskers, both
gray and bristling and cut in the fierc-
est form compatible with high re-
special ility. The better to show the
Colone's illustrious bumps, Nature had
denuded of hair the greater portion Of
his scalp. Phrenology had been pas
time study of Guys, and he observed
how. beginning at the temples, the hir-
suite fringe bordered the Colonels
head, passing, at the back no higher
than the topmost limits of philoprO-
genitiveness, imperfectly developed.
Two small eyes, murky, but wide apart,
claimed Guys final attention.
The caller realized suddenly that he
had been in the office for quite con-
siderable period. If the Colonel could
not grant an interview, he might say
young man coughed. The Colonel
frowned heavily, raised his left hand
in token of silence and scratched on.
Guy swung on his heel and started
for the door.
.'Colonel!" cried shrill voice.
Don't let him get away! Maybe he
wants to subscribed"
Guy was startled. He halted and
peered about the room, finally detect
ing a cadaverous, ink-begrimed face
topped with a snarl of red hair. The
facewas peering into the sanctum from
the workroom through an unused
stovepipe hole cut in the partition.
The red haired boy grinned as he
caught Guys eye and lodged away to
escape a paper-weight which the Colo
mel hurled at him. The Coloners aim
was bad, and Guy observed that the
opening was bordered with dents and
abrasions.
by gad!" exclaimed the editor, an
grily. THAT imp has knocked the tar
out of one of the finest things | have
set hand to in many day. If the peo-
pie ever find out what they lose on &C
count of that graceless cub, they'll
rise up as one man and hang him, no
Coubt about it." WhirIing in ais pivot
chair, he glowered at his caller.
Perhaps | had better go and come
back at some more convenient time"
said Guy.
THE mischief has been done, and
my inspiration is knocked into a
cooked hatn answered the Colonel