The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-02-07
BURKE'S NOVEL.
BY FRANK 1T. SWEET. tCopyright. 1902 by Daily Story Pub. Col .

S&e@f@S%S%S~k the bank; then they stopped using meat and everything but the baregt necessi- ties; then the furniture began to find its way. to secondhand dealer, and at last Burke put the stopper in his Ink bottle and faced the situation squarely.
 You will have to go back to your father and mother. Edith." he said ten- derly. "and I wilt do what I ought to have done in the first place--go and try to find something at which can make
 "Is It necessary, BurkeT' she asked. wistfully.
 T see no other way. As soon as I can earn a support will send for you. d. Ana oSr naSs pans %n sad sSs hopes sP ' atecusy
 For the present, darling. living comes first. If we can ever get enough ahead to warrant Us in even partial idle, ness we will try again. But am afraia we must oEiy regard 1t as a pastime, and de pend upon some thing else for sup port"
 And so the rest of the furniture was sold and Edith returned to her people, and Burke took just enough to buy an emigrant ticket West.
 For the first two years he worked as a cowboy on an exposed ranch, round, Ing up cattle and chasing Indians ana encounters with wild beasts and wilder men. and spending long weeks ana months out on the open prairies with notf ing but wild nature and his own thoughts He grew bronzed and bearded and his eyes and brain became alert and discriminating from his perilous sur roundings. He lost his dhident manner, and life among the unruly cattle made his voice strong and decisive
 The third year he took the money he had saved and bought few head of cat tla and began ranching it on his own account. He was almost continually in the saddle now. protecting and caring for his stock and looking for fresh graz ing lands. Up under the side of a noun tain he built a small cabin; another year he would enlarge it, and-perhaps-send for Edith.
 Then came the long. terrible winter wh: oh devastated the whole Northw@st. Cattle were lost by the hundreds of thous- ands and Burke was among the first to suffer. His grazing land was peculiarly exposed. and the first heavy snowLaii completely blockaded the little valley from the outside world. At first he was dazed by the blow-two years lost. and Edith hack wonder waiting for him.
 In anticipation of the long winter eVen- ings he had brought paper and ink, ana n.w, in his despair, he turned 10 them feverishly. but as he wrote his brain be- came clearer and gradually focused it. self upon n1e central idea. At the end of q week he destroyed what he had Wrltten. ana dSdil' "iit'h9 slowly and carefully, and becoming more and moEe interested as he proceeded.
 Fortunately he had plenty of provisions. and now and then was able to capture small game near the cabin. Snow sue ceeded snow, and blizzards followed close In the wake of each other. It was April before he could leave the valley. but by that time the novel was finished.
 He did not expect much from 1t when he sent 1t off, his old experience pre- cluded that. But he knew the novel was good, and If some publisher would as sume the risk of bringing it out he would be satisfed-nay. more than satisfied for Edith would be pleased.
 He was working again as cowbody when a ranchman brought him the pub fishers letter. two months later. He read it through slowly. and then. obltv, ious of the cowboys around him. bowed his head upon his horses neck. And yet the letter was only a few lines Of com mendation and a proposition. But in 1t was a check, and the check and the proposition together meant that he could return to Edith and that they could re sume their writing and housekeeping without any further misgivings as to the future.