The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-10-11
TRAGEDY OF THE HILLS.

When Charles Dickens saw an Ameri-
! can prairie for the first time he wonder
/ ed how any human being could live
! upon it a year without gong MAD. I Ell
statistics show that a preponderance of
| evidence is in favor of the Drairies and
against the hills. The great psalmist
| sang: Il will lift up mine eyes unto the
| hills, from whence cometh my help,
not material help. but divine. for those
were the fgurative hills of God, and
| their tops reached to heaven. The hills
that give strength also take 1t away.
as the men and women living on those
declivities that are bare and bleak in
winter, that lift their bald and rugged
fOreheads to the eternal altitude of the
skies, can freely testify. Humanity only
accentuates the loneliness A house
perched on the side of one of those eter-
nal hills is as remote as an eagles nest.
We have all viewed such a dwelling on
the hillside with its somber- background
when gazing from a car window on the
flying panorama of travel. Whether 1t
was only a woodmans cabin or the
more Dretentious frame house, with u
veranda, our thoughts were invariably
of thankfulness that we did not live
there. For it requires superhuman
strength to live up to the hills.
In the door of a cabin on such hill
side a young woman was standing sur
rounded by trio of dogs. that were
giving tongue to their joy at seeing her
again after half hours absence IN
search of a COW which had wandered
away Her head was covered and her
face obscured by a clinging sunbonnet,
which she threw aside. revealing an al
most startling type of rustic beauty,
and braids of red-brown hair tied in
girlish braids at the naDe of a neck
that was the perfection of symmetry.
She was speaking aloud either to her
self or the dogs.
IF ever said I liked tn hills lied.
An if I ever said l loved Hi Dimmock
I-why, hello. Tennessee, what brought
you back alone"
Tennessee was beautifully marked
hound with long. silken hair and a
plumy tail. which she waved in rapid
gyration as she fondled the young wo-
man. 81
where's your boss-has anything
amt fell down and hurt himself. has
hep
But the dog was quietly licking her
hand, and she looked inside the cabin to
see if the gun hung in its place. 1t did
not, so she decided in her own mind
that Tennessee had tired of the hunt
and come home. a trick for which she
had been soundly trounched within
week.
A wild, concerted rush of the dogs re-
vealed the fact that a stranger was APP
preaching. a man on horseback, who
put his hand to- his mouth to form
trumpet. and called out shrilly:1
Hello, the house! Call off your
dogsr' ss
At a word from the woman the whole
pack ran under the cabin floor, snarllng
and growing, but obedient to orders.
Then the stranger threw himself easily
| from his horse, and advanced to the
door of the cabin.
DO you know me, Nell?" he asked.
Sure" answered the girl: You
haven't changed any in two years. But
don't know what brings you here.
The man flushed at her words and
stammered, .I-I-saw you from the cars,
and you looked kind of lonesome and
homesick, and / thought maybe you
would be glad to see an old friend, and
that's all there is to it,
Hi is out shooting squirrels, said
the girl. Il reckon he'll be home any
time now. He's right peart with his
gum and she gave a forced laugh
Has he sobered up any living in this
wilderness?'' asked the man. s
Dave Hardness, you never liked HI.
not even when you were boys together.
You prophesied when / married him he
would break my heart, but there never
was kinder husband on earth than Hi
! Dimmock. If you've come here to find
out how we get along you can go back
and tell them that. If you don't want to
get into a quarrel with Hi-he's the
right stuff-you will so now"
She would not even look at him for
fear she would draw contrast in her
own mind between him with his. alert,
upright figure and the sodden form and
features of her husband.
TT beats me, Neli,'' he said presently,
| what you ever saw in Hiram Dimmock
to throw yourself away on him. I amt
any too good, but there wasn't one of
! the boys in the old crowd that wasn't
head and shoulders above him for de-
cency and fair dealing. You might have
had your choice, Nell. and you took
him Why did you pick out the worst
| one in the crowd2"
The girl looked him in the face, lifting
large, limpid blue eyes to his with
sincerity that vanquished all doubt
II loved him. He was poor and plain
| looking and Stunned by the rest of you,
and ell that made me love him better.
4 When he is sober there isn't a better
hearted or kinder husband in the world.
| I'm glad to see you, but go now. Dave
Some day were. going back. but not
now" Tears filled her eyes as she
spoke.
Nell" cried the man, losing his head
in moment of sudden resolve, come
away from here with me-now-tonight
and go back to your old home. Give
me the right to make you happy
back to civilization and a home such as
you deserve I have loved you since we.
went to school together You are
wretchedly unhappy can see that
/ A sudden, clicking noise from the
ca bin smote the air. The man talking
started, but Nell glanced back and said:
That is the clock. 1t often does that
Yes, I'm wretchedly unhappy, every wo-
man who loves is, but I haven't fallen
so low yet as to need your help, your
sympathy, Dave Harkins. If you have
anything more of that sort to. say, I
reckon I'll call the dogs. They will pro-
tect me in the absence of my husband
Forgive me, Nell, and forget what
said. If your love doesn't reform H.
/ Dimmock no power on earth can. God
bless you. Nell, and good-by."
He rode away, a, picturesque figure in
the sunset, but the eyes of the woman
leaning. in the. doorway did not look
after him. Before he was. absorbed in
the lessening distance she had turned
into the cabin and drawn the calico cur.
tains apart that draped a space in the
/ wall into which a bed was built. A man
lay there roughly dressed, holding in
j Il