The Cooperstown courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., N.D.) 1902-1913, 1903-11-19
a& THE KIDS
OME-COMING
e g. -. 90, s..i.l.,s: ~.
sBY MARGUERITE SLABLER,
- 81 TT
VII HEN tina usaal quantity Of .haeo,
IkG4 h0I


JxIHEN thu usual quantity 81 bacon
Nv and beans had been consumed
and the leavings cleared up by Yank,
thss men lit their pipes and proceeded
tOAsytew the details Of the recent MUIR
deg at Rattlesnaks Bar. :, This subject
STIMULATED = thought and loosened
toggues as nothing else could possibly
hxSe done. = =
Fou can see the whole business vas
a.tenderfoot job" opined Pike, tho
cook. sousing his kettle into the creek,
' he'd never a. left them pigeon
tosd tracks, ....,........-s-s-...-..-..
IAhd thereupon arose a spirited dis
ct1esion as to what the object of the
shooting might have been-theft saor
reyenge. Each man urged his ownas
gAent, until the discussion waxed
h6 handled in the hard; brutalized
Mahner that cb1des from thesmind in
unh to suchs occurrence ina communi-
MIWhere might makes right and the
eF4ck Of q revolver, il undispnted. law.
With a deeper disgust than ever for
eX1rything about this camp life, the
Kfdspushad back from, the circle and:
Slipped Into the ravine he
struck, then straight up the mountain
where tier upon tier the tall pines.
girded the hillside till the sharp, black
outlines Of the topmost row stabbed the
gsJamison wasaeafled the kid ~ Ills
companions only from custom. His
weather beaten, haggard countenance
bore no suggestion now Of immature
youth. Yet this same gaunt, hairy
Fellow was the fair-skinned, ruddy.
tenderfoot who had cast. his lots with!
them few years before, and been ever
since the butt Of every practical joke
ands low, cunning trick their .idleness.
might devise. For the Kid could not
COOK t..sock-eye,'' = or WELD a crow-bar,
oty sdriye q pack-train, or fearouae, or
HYen swear, worth speaking of; and
the things he could do, and do we'll,
were not the accomplishments needed
In prospecting and panning.
.. y Still pulling himself up by the st6bby
chaparral, the Kid climbed, leaving the
ramp and its associations as far behind
aSspossibles AT last the world was lost
below him, the distant cry of noun
tail lion and the thick, fiat track where
q RATHER had slid through the red dust
we're the, only reminders Of a fellow
s1nhabitant. When safe from The intru-
sion Of bacon and tobacco fumes, and
the suggestions of camp life that came
With them, he, drew from the bosom of
his flannel shirt a bulky little packet,
.ahd the next blissful moment was
thousands of miles from the sordid life
about him. He closed his eyes to see
d stately colonnade OF tall white holI
Iyhocks leading up to vine-clad
porch. the air grew heavy with the
breath Of honeysiickles, and on the
steps, under aa, the CLUSTERING yellow ON
ssAssharp, fierce zap from Yank smote
hih ear and broke, the spell With 9
bound he was on lii feet AMI OF again.
ips search Of st1ll rarer atmosphere,
forshe was reading in precise little
scheolma'am hand: ~
u lave read your letter over and over
tut know 1t all by heart. and all day
IonesI tell myself you will be home next
month, and all night long I dream OF our
msst!ng. but then it ,seemsIto good!
tnsbs true. : 7 ;, = - :
sAnd SO on to the middle Of the If
taanth page, confessing the pain Of the
long, weary waiting she had never
) spVken Of until the end was in sight.
~