The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-05-20
THE ADVERTISERS
 DAILY SHORT STORY

I of the veteran. She had wop the sl,V and wired news of it to her employer She had barely stepped or the train a | her home town when the attorney grasp | ed her hand. He. spoke excitedly.
 My girl, you are rich. The old soldier | is dead. You get his right under the | homestead law. I congratulate you. | And she tainted of joy. Friends came | by scores to congratulate her. Her par.
 ents were .overjoyed. The father s iosl | ambition was retrieved. He prepared lt l move to the claim and assist his daughter 1 in it's improvement. But she forbid | 'It is my farm. I have won it fairly. | will run it alone. I will improve 1t and
 then sell it-no. I will keep 1t ana hVe | there the rest of my days.
 | And she moved away. Gregg came not | The fall passed. and with her scant say l ing Ann Dorsey managed to pull togetnef | a small wooden shack, string a three- | strand wire fence about her place ana | blow up several acres for small patcn | of wheat The winter was trying one | She chopped her own fuel. although doz- | ems of husky young fellows m the heisn- s | borlood tried to persuade her to allow l them She scrimped and saved, but the | dollars dwindled to dimes and then 10 | nickels. One bleak morning she looked | out of her window and found herself pen niless her cupboard almost empty. She saddled her bony broncho and rode to | Iawton There was an oversupply of stenogra phers. but she managed to secure temporary employment in the once or
  The winter passed and spring put new and invlgorated life into everything. Ann went out to her shack and prepared to put in her small fields of corn and oats. Hope inspired her, the work seemed iight Indeed.
 Settlers joined each other on days when there could be no blowing to put in cy- claves, cellars built in the open, pro tection from the dreaded cyclone Of the southwest prairies They offered in thelr rough fashion to put one in for Miss Dor sey, but she smiled and thanked them, re- fusing.
 T will help myself" she said proudly,
 to one of the neighDor women.
 The hot days of early summer brought
 her corn through the ground. and it
 pushed upwardly. until her heart was
 fairly bursting of excitement. With the
 proceeds of her crop she would build 8
 neat cottage. buy new road cart and
 perhaps a new dress if there should be
 enough left. It was after hard days
 work that she lay dreaming of these
 From the southwest came the fntermit-
 tent rumbling. with an occasional crash,
 which shook the window panes until they
 rattled as if hit by hailstones. The thun-
 der came nearer, the lightning lighted up the whole prairie for miles. She looked
 out of the window and could see people
 fleeing for their caves.
 T have no cellar. and I will be just as safe here" she assured herself. But all
 the while her fragile little body was
 trembling with fear. Her thoughts went
 back to her home in Kansas, where the
 cave on.their farm had been fitted out
 with beds and all conveniences, for her
 parents were deathly afraid of cyclones
 and lived in their cave on stormy night.
 Here she was on the vast prairie of a
 new country a prey for the twister
 should it pass her way. There was no
 cellar nearer than a mile. and even then
 the black clouds were sweeping and
 whipping the earth short distance away.
 The frame shack was picked up and twisted into million pieces. Ann was hurled into the air and consciousness taken away before she knew the storm had burst. And when she did open her eyes ten hours later, Gregg. his eyes nev- CT so pleading, his touch never so tender and sympathetic, smoothed her brow and assured her she was soon going back to her claim.
 But can go with vou?"' he whis. pered You know I want to be farmer too. have caught the fever"
 And so you don't think was rude | to use my opportunity" she pleaded Just think! I have won a farm and 8 | husband too" And her slender arms ! drew his head down to her pressing pas sionate kisses upon the face that had | haunted her like spectre but had driver | her to desperation. happiness. affluence.