Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-09-22

out all the starlight, and the trace waa
no more than a bride path, rougher
than any cart road. Yet we held the
bredkneck pace steadily, save for the
time IL took to thread some steep defle
TO a stream crossing, or TO scramble
up its fellow on the opposite side, and
when the dawn began to gray in the
sky ahead, we were we'll out OF the
broken mountain region into the
opener forest OF the hill country.
The sun was yet below the eastern
horizon when we came TO the fording
OF a larger stream han any we had
crossed In the night. It's course was
toward the sunrise, hence l took it for
some tributary Of the Catawba or the
Broad.
"'Tis the Broad itself" said Eph-
RAIN Yeates, in answer TO my asking;
and yit IL amt; leastwise, 1t amt the
one you know. It's the one the Par
leyvoos claimed in the old war, and
they call ii the F'rinch Broad"
But that flows north and westward,
IL / remember Alright" said I.
so 1t do, so IL do-in gineral. But
~hereabouts twill run all ways for Sun
day, by spells"
IF this be the French Broad we are
not yet out OF the Tuckasege country,
as / take it,"
Mighty nigh to it; nigh enough TO
make camp for a resting spell. / reckon
ye're a-needing that same pretty toll
er'ble, amt We, little gal?" this last to
Margery.
Weary as she was she sfniled upon
him brightly, as though he had been
her grandsire and so free to name her
how he pleased.
II shall sleep we'll when we are out of
danger. But you must not stop for me,
or for Jeanne, till tbs safe to do So
safe? Lord love you, child safe
i9 a word hpynn6 nc UiT and will ha fs1I
we sot We down on your daddy's door
stone. But Wen nah out to give We
a bite and sup and forty winks o sleep
immejitly, If not sooner, now"
So, on the farther side of the stream
the hunter led the way aside, and when
we were come to a small meadow glade
with good grazing for the horses, he
called a halt, lifted the women from
their saddles and came to help me ease
Dick down. The poor lad was stiff and
sore, having no more use of his joints
than IL he were a b~andaged mummy;
but the fever delirium had passed and
he was able to laugh feebly at the tree
limb co~ntrivance rugged to hold him in
the saddle.
How did we come out of ii, JACKIE
he asked. when. we had let him feel the
comfort Of lying fiat upon his back on
the soft sward.
LAS you see. We are all here, and all
III ldiI JCltLtg saving yOuISSll. VI re
the heaviest loser"
He smiled, and his eyes Ianguid with
the fever sought out Margery, who
would not come anigh whilst l was
with him.
That remains to be seen, Jack. II
my dream comes true, l shall be the
richest gamer"
What did you dream"
He beckoned me to bend over him.
tI draopnaI r yyaa dnra hurt and that
she was binding up my bruises and
crying over me-"
Twas no dream" / said; and with
that l went to help Yeates make a
bough shelter for the ONE while
Uncanoola was grinding the maize for
the breakfast cakes.
IT'S no my purpose to weary you
with a day-by-day accounting for all
that befell us on the way back to
MnSklenburg. Suffice 1t to say that we
ate and slept and rose to mount and
ride again; this for five days and
nights, during which Jennifer's fever
grew upon him steadily.
At the close Of the fifth day our night
halt was in a deserted log cabin at the
edge of an unfinished clearing in the
heart of the forest. Here Richards
sickness anchored us, and for three
full weeks the journey paused.
We nursed the lad as best we could
Tor q 1OftnlSnt, DOSING MIN with stew
ings of such roots and herbs as the Ca
tawba could find in the wood. Then,
when we were at our wits ends, and
Yeates and l were casting about how
we could compass the bringing of a
doctor from the settlements, the fever
took a turn for the better-of its own
accord, or for Uncanoola's physickings,
we knew not which-and at the end OF
the third week Dick was up and able
to ride again, this line without the
forked stick to hold him in the saddle.
After this we went IN without mis-
hap, and with no hardship greater than
that or living solely upon the meat
victual provided by the hunters rifle;
and you who know this plough-dressed
region at this later day will wonder
when / write it dow that in all that
long faring, or rather to the last days
stage of il, we saw never a face of any
of our kind, or of the Catawba's.
You may be sure the mon or more
we spent thus in the heart of the Wild
wood was but a sorry time for me.
While the excitement of the pursuit
and rescue lasted, and later, when
anxiety for Richard filed the hours of
the long days and nights. | vas held
a little back from slipping into that
pit of despair which 1 had digged for
myself.
Continued Next Weekly