The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1905-06-16

coTHey. Salu l, CapplnK the venture
by telling hin, what little he knew OF
Tarleton's disposition. and also OF the
lndian-arming plot l had overheard.
Well dodge the redcoatS. never you
lear; we're at our best In that" he re-
joined. rather carelessiy. And as to
the Cherokee upstirring. that's an Old
story. The kings men have tried 1t
twice and they have not yet caught
Jack Sewer or Jimmie Robertson
a-napplns. Ease your mind on tina
score. Captain Ireton. and come along
with us. ii you nave nothing better to
do. can promise you a hard living,
ana hard lighting enough to keep it in
c~ountenance."
AT this | was brought down to some
consideration Of the present md its de
mands. AS fortunes wheel had
twirled: I had my life to be sure: but
by the having of it was made the
basest traitor to my friend-to Jennifer,
and no whit less to Marsery.
Twas out of any thought that I
should take the field against the COM
mon enemy. leaving this tangled web
of mystery and misery behind. In
sheereSt decency I owed it first to Jen-
infer to make a swift and frank confess
sion of the ~ill-concluded tale of happen
ings. That done. l owe" it equally to
him and Margery to find some way to
set aside the midnight marriage.
So 1 fell back upon my wound for an
excuse, telling the captain hat l a
not yet fit to tax the tield-which 81
+ enough. Whereupon he and his
men set ME well beyond the danger OF
immediate pursuit and we parted COM
pany.
When I was left alone / had no plan
h a reached beyond the days end.
Since to go to Jennifer house by day.
light would be to run my neck afresh
into the moose, saw nothing for it
but to lie in hiding until nightfall. The
hiding place that promised best was
the old hunting lodge in the forest. and
th%ttherward l turned my face.
1t was a wise man who said that he
who goes with heavy heart drags heavy
feet as we'll: but while l live 1 shall. re-
emb how that saying clogged the
path for me that morning. making the
shrub-sweet summer air grow thick
and lifeless as I toiled along. For sober
second thought. and the %unnerving re-
action which comes upon the heels of
some sharp peril overpast. left me
aghast at the coil in which a tricky fate
had enta gled me.
The second thought made plain the
dlspiteous hardness of it all, showing
me how l had reasoned like a boy in
planning for retrieval. Would Jennlfer
believe my tale. though l should swear
1t out word for word on the Holy Evan
gelists? I doubted it: and striving to
see 1t through his eyes. was made to
doubt it more. For death should have
been my just;tier, and death had played
me false.
AS for setting the midnight marriage
aside. l made sure the lawyer tribe
could find a way, If that were all. But
here there was a loyal daughter of the
church to reckon with. Loathing her
bonds. as any true-hearted maiden
must. would Margery consent to have
them broken by the law? knew we'll
she would not. Though our poor knot
ting of the tie had been little better
than a tragic farce, it lacked nothing
of force to bind the tender conscience
of a woman bred to look upon the
churchly rite as final.
So. twist and II as 1 might. the coil
was desperate; n as 1 STROBE on
gloomily. measuring this the first
stage in a pilgrimage 1 had never
thought to make. a fire of sullen anger
began to smok and smolder within me,
and 1 could find it in my heart to curse
the cruel kindness of my to
sorrow in my inmost soul tina they had
come between to make a living recreant
OF one who would fam have died an
honest