The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1905-11-16

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Jail and Of his abortive encounter with
Simpson in the eating house. He had
not deferred the telling from any feel
Ing OF reticence regarding the dis
closure Of family affairs before stran.
gers. News travels in the desert by
some unknown agency. Twenty four
hours after thing happened it would
be safe to assume that every COW and
sheep outfit in a radius of 300 miles
would be discussing it over their camp
firt.s, and this long before there was
an inch Of telegraph wire or rail-
road tie i'll the country. Hawks had
merely reserved the news for Eudora' s
private ear because he hoped thus to
gain an advantage over his three
rivals.
"Ai-yi' said old Sally sharply, and
the chair came to an abrupt stand
still. "In the name O. heaven, how ken
they to let him out?" Mrs. Rodney's
knowledge Of the law was of the
vaguest, and, if incarceration would
keep prisoner out Of more grieyous
trouble, she could not understand Civ
Ing him his freedom. To her the case
was analogous to releasing child
from the duress Of q corner and turn
Ing him loose to play with matches.
How KEN they to let him out?' she
repeated, the still rocking chair con-
veying the impersonal dignity of the
pulpit or the justice seat. II amt
hearn tell of so pearty a couple as the
jail an Jim in years."
The meaning that she put into her
words belied their harsh face value.
With Jim in Jail her mind was COM
paratively at rest about him. She
knew he had been branding other
mems cattle since the destruction Of
his sheep, and she knew the fate of
cattle thieves and that Jim would be
no exception to the rule With her
purely instructive maternity, she had
been fond Of Jim. He had been one
more boy to mother. She harbored no
i'll feeling toward him that he was not
her own. Moreover, she wanted no
galloWs tree intermingled with the an
nails of her family. 1t suited her con-
venience at this particular time that
Jim should stay in Jail. That he had
been given his freedom loosed the
Walls of her condemnation on the in
competents that released him.
Il low they wuz grudgin' him the
mouthful they fed to him, that they
ack SO cutdaciously plumb locoed as
to tu'n man out to get hisself hang
ed. An Jim never wuZ hearty eater.
He never seemed to relish his food,
even when he WIZ a CROWN kid.
Il mind Jim when he first KEN to
u.s." she said, more to herself than to
Eudora, who sat at her feet. The i'm
pending tragedy in the family had
robbed her Of all the joy in her suitors.
They sat Oh a bench Oh the opposite
side Of the house, divided by the very
nature of their interests, yet compan-
ions in misery.
He wuz scarce four, an yet he had
never been broke Of the habit of suck
ing his thumb. Eff he'd ben my child
I'd damned it out'n him before he'd
a seen two, but SEEM he was aged for
an infant havin' such practices I tried
to shame him out'n it, but, Lord-a
MASSEY, men folks is hard to shame
even at four. I Kissed at him like a
gyander every time 1 seen him do it.
Now, I'd knowed better-Td a sewed
it up in a pepper rag"
"What's suckin' his thumb as an in
FAINT got to do with his gettin' lyncheG
now:' demanded Eudora with the
skepticism Of the second generation.
"Wait till you uns has children Of
your oWn,'' shifted her mother from
the assured position Of maternal ex-
perience, IAN see the infant that's al
lowed to suck it's thumb has the max
ms in him Of felon or a unfortunit."
She rocked a slow accompaniment to
her dismal prophecy.
Eudora's eyes, big with wonder, were
fixed Oil the crouching flank of a dis
tant mountain. Her mother broke the
silence. Not often did they speak
thus intimately. Old Sally belonged
" eAe%I NieAo', VI l1lOCuSIS WuO lCel Il
pride in their reticent dealings with
their daughters and who consider the
management Of all affairs of the heart
peculiarly the province of youth and
inexperience.
But tonight she was prompted by
force beyond her ken to speak to the
girl. "Eudory, in pickin' out one Of
them men, she jerked her thumb to-
ward the opposite side of the house,
"git one tha's clar O. the trick O. STAN
pedin' round other winning. It's
bound to ken back to We, same as
counterfeit money"
Eudora giggled. She was of an age
when the fasc;nations Of curiosity as
to the unknown male animal prompt
lavish conjecture II flowed they all
stampeded"
EYES," leered the old Woman-and she
grinned the whole horrid length of her
empty gums-''the most Of 'em does,
but you must shet your eyes to it. The
moment they know you swallow it,
they's wuthless, like horses that has