Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1903-03-12

THE bleak Stretches of browning
l grass gave a tinge of sadness TO
the landscape, and the hum of innum-
cradle insects which had prolonged
the summer months well into the fall
were growing fainter and less ryth-
mic with the advancing season. The
crops had been garnered and the ap-
proach of frost brought no terror
to the farmers, but in some indie
scribable way it affected the nerves
of the lonely woman standing before
her rude shack gazing toward the
setting sun. Somehow the autumn
had always brought a shade of sad
ness into her life. Even back in the
old New England days-before the
horrible nightmare had transformed
her life-she had experienced the
same feeling of depression.
81 guess it's because l hate to see
things dying" she explained to her
self to stifle back a rising rebellion
of sorrow. "The summer was short
enough back home, but, out here it's
all too short"
There was a dreary, homesick eX-
preston in the eyes, and through the
struggling hair the bronzed forehead
showed little marks of premature
wrinkling. Dorothy Wellington in her
girlhood days had been termed
"comely," a word which just fell
short of calling her good-looking or
handsome. But with time and eXpe-
rience her features had grown harsh
er, and yet without blotting out a
certain sweet expression of resigna-
ton. Eternal longing for the impos-
sible, however, eats out the heart
and ambition of the strongest, and
Dorothy was daily finding her bur
den more uncomfortable.
SIT isn't natural" she confessed tc
herself many times. I'D rather give
up all and go back without a cent
l could work and make q living. Not
in Dunbary, but somewhere else
anywhere except here"
1t was a strained and unnatllra
position for a young girl to find her
self in, and nothing but a strong
stern sense of duty could hold hel
to the bargain another day. 1t was
not home on the bleak Oklahoma
plain. The very quarter section OF
which they lived was in dispute. TIT
shack which they had built for ten
porary quarters might not be thei
own. Across the dead line" Their
was another shack-a second blot OF
the landscape. To one or the othe,
the quarter section belonged, but tt
which none could say. The slow-mov
ing courts would in time decide, bu
for the present there was only al
armed truce, and neither side dare
venture on the property of the other
Jared Wellington had left Dunbar,
in the east to cast his lot in with tn
early settlers of Oklahoma, and whel
the rush began he had been among
the first to settle on a desirabl
quarter section. But while he ha
been busy stalking out the section
another had filed a claim to the sam
piece of land. There was a dispute
which threatened to end in murder
but Dorothy had been the O
quoting the two combatants. The
agreed to let the courts settle tn
claim, and meanwhile the two owner
built on the opposite sides of tn
dead line" which they drew exactl
through the center of the quartz
section.
That was three months ago, an
in the meantime Jared Wellingto
and Henry Egerton had nursed thei
wrath in silence while they plante
and gathered their first season
crops. Each bitterly envied the othe
the crops which by right should b.
long to him. With alert eyes an
gun loaded for active service eac
watched the other, determined to e,
act the full pound of flesh demande
in the agreement. Had accident {
sickness forced either over the idea
line" the other would unquestionab
have shot his enemy in his tracks tt
moment he set foot on his propert
Such were the bitter conditions Il.
der which Dorothy had lived for thrt
months, hoping and praying that IL
courts decision would shortly sett
the controversy, but never did the la
seem to lag more exasperatingly. A
tumn was changing the whole ia
of the landscape and winter was a
preaching with its long period
gloomy weather, but the dead line
and the Egerton shack in the di
lance, continued to make life II
Dorothy and her father bitter al
disagreeable.
Jared Wellington was as hard al
set in his ways as the New Englal
granite hills among which he hi
been reared, and Dorothy knew
nature too well to attempt to indu
him to compromise with his lone
n~eighbor. Lonely Henry Egert'
seemed to be in his shack, for Meth
wife, mother nor child appear
around his home. Daily he had toll
in the fields all summer, returnii
to his rude home at night to prepa
his. own supper, and smoke quiet
and solidarity near the door OF !
shack Until the was darken