River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1902-10-02
THE
DEPUTY CLAIMANT
BY ISABEL z. MACkAY.
WHY did he not come to Eng
wv land himself?" asked the girl,

"A II j hIu uC uOD COlbt ~ Ing
wv land himself?" asked the girl,
refectively.
The deputy claimant began to chew
a blade of grass. "Well to tell the
truth, think he was little bit-ahem
nervous"
''You mean that he was afraid. lam
not surprised. All thieves are cow
ards"
"Thieves!' exclaimed the deputy
claimant, reproachfully.
Eyes, thieves" said she. What do
you call man who, just because he
happens to be my uncle's son, and my
uncle happened to be two years older
than my father and happened to have
got married without telling any of his
Relationship because Of little
thing like that-here he comes and
takes my home away from me and
makes me 90 and live with Aunt Maria!
hate Aunt Martial" she finished, vim
dictively.
The deputy claimant depressed a
smile.
Don't you call a man like that a
thief?" repeated the girl, angrily.
1-ef-IndL lS-LHe law
ooh. if you're going to talk law"
said the girl, disdainfully.
The deputy claimant Immediately re-
pressed his legal knowledge. Instead
he looked up at her and thought how
very pretty she was, and how the back
ground Of green trees and velvet lawn
suited her. He had been thinking these
same things ever since he first visited
there, four weeks before.
at is deuc-very hard on you. You
seem to be in place here You were
made for parks, you know, and big
rooms and servants and pretty dresses,
and-er-that sort of thing"
The girl threw out her hands with
little pathtic gesture. at is my
home!" In her eyes there was home
sick look already. Her glance wan
dered over the broad terrace, through
the branching green of the trees to the
flowers in the distance, and the quaint
old house basking peacefully in the
Gun. She went on, dreamily:
ut is not so much giving up the serv-
ants, or the pretty dresses, or ceasing
to be called the lady of the manor.
that go with it: it is the thought of
having no right here-here, where l
have lived all my life and thought l
should live always. To go away and be
a stranger. and all this belonging to
some one else-some one whom have
never seen-an outsider-an alien"
at is hard luck" said the young
man, alphabetically. Then, remem-
herring his duty as proxy for the alb
sent one, he continues: "But, you see,
you ought to be just. You can't help
seeing that he could not help his ia
Their being two years older than yours,
and he could not help the law
The girl gave a weary little sigh.
"No," she said, 81 suppose not. But he
need not have insulted me-
''What?' said the deputy claimant,
sitting up straight and nearly choking
himself with the grass blade he had
been chewing.
HE could have helped that" said the
young lady, with emphasis.
Il do not understand" he protested
"Did you say that he has insulted
you?"
oh" she said, 81 thought you did
not know. will tell you if you prom
Use never, never to breathe word. He
wrote to Aunt Maria
Yes" he said, "but''
"He wrote to Aunt Maria" she con-
tinued, triumphantly, land he told her
that l might have the property back
if / would take him with it"
oh" said the young man, reproach-
fully, che did not put it like that"
How do YOU know?" she asked,
quickly. But of course he did not put
it in Just that way. He said that he
was very sorry to dispossess the pres
ent claimant, that he understood that
the person in question was very young.
He said he did not know much about
girls, but that didn't she think it would
settle things naturally if-if-''
Il see" he said. He made a ter
rible bungle of it. poor fellow!"
WAS it an insult or was it not?
asked the girl, inexorably.
The deputy claimant looked very
miserable. He was certainly in tight
place.
Looking at it from your point of
view," he said, finally, considering
YOUR character, your training, your
views of life and things like that, it
was certainly an insult. understand
that now But when he-ahem-read
me the letter
"Oh. he did read you the letter!''
II did not look at it in just that
way and neither did he. You see, we
had both lived all our lives out on
prairie farm. We did not know much
about girls, as he says. He did not
understand he did not under
stand anything" he finished, desper-
ately.
And you thiEa?"
Il think he did not mean it as an in
suit. know he did not
He glanced at her imploringly, but
she looked away. There was slight
pause.
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