The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1903-05-08
CHAPTER ~
THE CoPPER cYLINDER

CHAPTER ".
THE COPPER CYLINDER.
job Hendricks passed on his wa
much mystifled with what he had seer
but as he found himself alone on tn
country road his spirits revived Ind h
thoIEh1 that he must be mistaken i
suppostng he had just been face to fac
with n whose presence he feared
Not much changed after all thes
years. he murmured, as he looked t
right and left e the smiling land
scape. Thank heaven! 1t was in tn
country n not in the city, for, in tn
latter case, all traces might have bee
lost"
Evidently the beauties of natZre di
not appeal to him particularly on tina
occasion, though the glories OF sum
mer rested on the land.
He seemed to be In quest of some
thing, n anxious lest he should no
find it.
When at last a wood came in sigh
his steps quickened and his furrowet
brow became more deeply lined will
anxiety. From right to left he glanced
with his sharp eyes, examining thu
trees on each side searchingly ane
carefully.
H8M5 ~ AS ot6iAl0lAlS SSIp AlluS1A a.
I left it." he muttered to himself. II
has stood still, looking not a bit older
while Z have been aging. Well, things
promise well, for it might have beer
laid waste by aSforest fire, Or cut dowr
and a town built on the site. Matters
are not so bad as might be. You vii
come out ahead / think, Job, from the
appearance of tllings."
He began to walk more Slowly now
and occasionally paused to consider
rubbing his nose thoughtfully the While
as he examined the trees and bushes
with the keen eye of a naturalist. Ii
was in one Of these stops that, looking
up, he saw something that drew a
startled exclamation from his lips. It
was a bit of red flannel tluttering from,
the limb of a maple.
The sight Of such an unimportant OBJ
ject seemed to worry him greatly, then
he drew near the bushes that lined the
edge of thearoad like q grean wall, and,
pushing them aside, plunged into the
underground.
I would just#as leave not have such
people nosing about" he muttered. But
they know me better than to interfere
with my work" He forced his way
through the thickest of the underbrush
and entered a little glade in the midst
OF which rose the stump%of what must
have been a great tree.
The mar smiled at the sight, and
waving his hand toward 1t, said: BLESS
ye, old fellow, for standing sentinel SO
long. Your u%sefulness did not cease
When you were struck by lightning"
He passed the tree n went on his
way down n of the aisles of the forest
which at one time must have been a
wagon road, but was oyerrun with
grasses. Now and then he paused to
reconnoiter and to look around.
From time to time he smiled and
nodded his head, as II satisfied that he
was pursuing the right path.
Suddenly, in the midst Of his walk,
without warning, a sharp shot rang out
and his hat, fell to the ground. He
stopped calmly, picked it UP and exam
51ned 1t carefully. mot a bad shot," ex-
aiming the holes, which had evidently
been produced by buckshot. IA little
nearer and I should have had consider
able Of a. Headache and, replacing the
hat on his head, without eve stopping
to look for his assailant, he continued
on his way, turning neither to right
nor left.
THAT must have been the work of a
greenhorn," he said to himself. He
must be- demonstrated with before I go
any further. I might stand a chance of
being ported against when his aim was
5truer."
Nothing further happened: the in
visible marksman did not attempt to
repeat his experiment. The little man
had now come to an opening in the
woods. Beyond, to his right, his sharp
detected a slender thread Of smoke
drifting laZily UP through the warm air.
and it was in this direction that he now
bent his steps.
Entering a little glade he saw beyond
him what seemed to be the foundations
OF a house rooted over with old tar
.paulins and bark. It was out Of a hole
In this roof that the smoke was drifting,
and which had attracted his attention.
There seemed to be no opening to this
building, fbutanear the front wall, set
In the ground, was a quare slab Of
wood like the covering to a well.
Without a moments hesitation he
lifted this, disclosing a burrowlike hole
that evidently communicated with the
interior of the place. Carefully he
climbed down into the hole, and, pass
Ing through a dark passage, found him
SELF In g cellarlike room feebly lit and
filed with sitting smoke M green
fboughs with which the fire had been
fed.
"Ahoy, there! Anybody at home?"
for, In that light, there was no human
being visible.
Then what he had taken to be a
Ah6OSS Ivy IllC ll1S,
seemed to become suddenly endowed
with life. and finally resolved itself into
the form OF a little woman bent with
age. who came hobbling forward with
surprising agaility.
You know me, mother" bending his
head down neal to hers for a moment,
while she examined his features keenly
and then passed a withered hand w
his face.
"Yes, Will, I know YOU. What do you
here?"
1T matters not" roughly. "And let
me tell you, I am not to be ported like
g bird by your people. Just now, as I
was coming through the woods, some
one fired on me-"
IT will not happen again." she said,
timidly. 1T was the youngster; he is
new and has much to learn
1T will be well If you tell him there
are lessons I car teach him that are
not learned in schools" said he, harsh
ly;; lessons that, once learned, are new
er forgotten. You understand, mother?
Let the lad know that once 1 forgive
for his youth, but again
You have nothing to fear" she
stamnered.
He broke out again into a loud laugh
that reused strange echoes in the
place.
'Fear--fear, did 0 say? A pleasant
word. and soft on the tongue, but what
does it mean?" and he laughed again.