The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1903-07-10
What Altura
Bid Mrs. ca,hy NJ. schorn
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fcopvright 1902 by w. R. Hearst.)

| Copyright, 1902, by w. R. Hearst.)
| It was near the middle of May, 1865 The
Air was laden with the sweet perfume of
| many-hued flowers and the birds were
| singing amidst the leafy boughs Of the live
,aks or idly swinging upon the slender
| branches of the pines. The sweet-scented
| breeze swept through the pine needles
with a low, SOFT kissing sound and the
num of myriad insects fitting here and
| there In search Of food or sporting amid
The blooming chapparal filled the air. The
lay was warm, the sun glared down In
| Aery splendor upon the tender, fresh Vege-
| tation that would yield up its life in q
lew weeks to his too ardent gaze.
Two children sat in the shade of an old
nanzanita whose red trunk and branches
cleaned brightly through the screen of
green Altura, the elder a gt'l some
twelve years Of age, had pushed the sun
Ianging at the back of her neck. She
was small for her age and was not what
, IN ordinary observer would call handsome
Her face was sun-browned, a few freckles
we're scattered over her nose and cheeks
and her brown hair hung in a mass of
tangled curls, from beneath which shone
beautiful, fearless, earnest gray eyes.
Her brother, Rob, who sat near her
whiting a stick of elder into a @popgun
ior Tommie, their youngest brother, was
:wo years younger than she. He was
y.
Altura and Rob were the eldest children
IF Mr. Brown, who owned a large tract
Of land known as the Live Oak ranch in
one Of the counties north of Sacramento
Ind near a rich mining district He had
brought his family in wagons across the
plains, where they We're attacked by In
iians. This experience had SO frightened
Mrs Brown that she had never recovered
rom the shock, and from a happy, cheer
.ul, hopeful woman she had become nerv-
,us, fretful and Respondent, always look
slant dread Of something terrible about
20 happen. Consequently many of the
cares that usually belong, to a mother de-
yolved upon Altura, or Alta as she was
generally called. The responsibility had
developed In her a strength of purpose
Ind readiness to think and act in an
emergency far beyond her years. Seven
Year-old Tommie, her youngest brother,
always came to her with all his childish
woes: Rob confided all his hopes and plans
% her and was never SO happy as when
she could go with him out to the range
where he was herding stock.
he had coaXed her to go with him to-
lay, saying, Il do get SO lonesome with
only Dicky Pony and shep Dog for com
have such nice ride. I'll let you ride
Dicky and Til ride Dandy Jim, for he
teels so smart since father turned him
loose In the pasture that I'm afraid he
you, rode him. too, that guess he's forgot
he belongs to you. Then we'll get some
real nice pine gum that saw on an old
tree down in the Indian gulch, and We'll
30 around Chaparral hill to where SO
many manzanitas grow. You know where
me bedrock comes up out Of the ground
Pm the hillside? Well, right there inc,the
pig manzanita a grossbeak- is making her
1est; may be she has young birds by this
.1me for 1T was three or four weeks ago
that I was there
ZION, but the grossbeak's nest was empty,
while here and there amid the chaparrai
ne children heard the mournful, trem-
hio9 whistle Of the full-fledged young
Its too bad, tRolo!'2 said Alta, flor I
| wanted one SO much to send to Aunt Mar
sia. When she was here last summer she
,aid that there We're plenty, of orioles and
| hnnets in Sacramento and they made their
aests In the big cottonwood trees that
grew along the sidewalks, but there We're
| 40 groSSbeakS there and she was sorry
Tor abe thought that they We're such sweet
| singers
/ Never mind, Alta. I'1l3try and find aa-
iether nesttfor YOU There! them old horses
| have started off again! T. wish they had
played down BY the creek a little longer,
1 Tor wanted to make this popgun for
rommie; but must keep them in sight
Ithe mountains The A. @ aim a. -
| Say, Alta,g Iook!f Them horses over
| there amt ourn, for they're picketed-
shem down there by the grapevines in
that they belong to? Guess they must
Di,, prospecting. for quartz on chaparral
They ,nitied,t the lariats BY 4! which their
ponies We're Dieketed and were soon in
the saddle riding toward home which di-
tection the stock they We're herding had
taken aiken :, =,
This morning and he said AIollie was COM
hg to see us tomorrow
Mollie Smith4Was a deaf, mute and was
| the only child playmate they had, for the
land was owned in, such large tracts that
neighbors who had families We're several
miles apart-miners seldom bringing their
| families to the mines. Alta and Rob had
been Miles playmates and friends SO
long that they understood the sign Ian
guage Of the 1nutes and could communi-
rate as freely by 1t as II they. too, We're
| nutes. Frequently at home, when their
mother was SO nervous and irritable that
| they carried on conversations in that way,
the. sound Of their voices annoyed her.
| heir father sometimes Joining in their
l silent talk Often their mother chided
! lhem for indulginC. in this kind of panto-
mime, saying it was wicked and looked
heathenish when 1t was not necessary to
communicate in that manner Then Mr..
Brown would say. good naturedly, Let
,hem alone, mother, it won't hurt them,
Ind It might be a fine thing sometimes to
| be able to talk without being heard.'
| After driving the stock into the corral
| the children entered the house, which
stood close to the dusty Waystde, facing
aid the Cooking and ho aiG placed ia
i lunch for them on, a. table in the long
1 cool dining room, where the family usual
1 ty sat in the afternoon to enjoy the cool
| breeze that came I'M through its many
windows. While eating they became aware
| from the sloWatoned conversation carried
on between their parents that; come i'm:
absence which seemed to@be the cause Of
great uneasiness to both. AT length Mr.
1 Brown said In louder tone:
ut Is to goAby the q o'clock stage to
4 morrow morning, and Mcconnell SAID hi
would stay here tonight. / hope he'll
some early for never felt this way abou
/ anything of the kind before
4 tsOh, George:" said Mrs. Brown, rocking
1 slowly to and fro in her chair. I wisf