Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1906-08-23
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TERREMOTO
By HoNORE wILLSiE


! For three months now Eleanor had
| been on the desert edge fighting for her
| brothers health 1t first the desper-
| alton of the struggle had kept her
| thoughts from straying eastward. had
! crammed with anxiety each moment
| that otherwise would have been wretch
| ed with Inconsistencies.
But now. with the leisure that came
with Jacks returning health, homesick-
ness was beginning its inroads upon
her. This made doubly hard to bear
| the fact that Jack was developing the
| righteousness of die convalescent and
that an ordinary pacific disposition was
| becoming so irritable that ii taxed even
| the devotion of this most devoted sis
| ter. On Ills particular afternoon he
| had expressed an nordnate desire for
a certain brand of cigars.
| But. Jack dear" objected Eleanor,
1.-THE doctor says that you must not
smoke
| who says | want to smoker growl-
ed jack Il just want to look at them
| and sniff Of them and feel them And
| | want t!rm today"
Eleanor sighed patiently. ITS five
miles to town. JackyA And though it's
4 o'clock. it's frightfu.ly hot. Don't you
want to wait until tomorrow"
"Oh. of course, If you don't want TO
do the favor for me- replied the in
valid. walking fcenlt acEsss the tent to
pick up FAM
why. certa ~. i'm going, Jacky,"
she cried "rb1 kea} .yon't last much
longer" and shdliksfpeared toward
her own tent. lehvaS her brother look
| ing bit sheepsh.
SO now Eleanor was riding slowly
! along the blistering trail toward the
sleepy little adobe village which boast
| ed a single Yankee store, ut which she
thought she could get the cigars. She
| was a beautiful girl slender Of body
| and lovely of face. with the refinement
| of good blood through many genera
tons showing in every lineamcnt. Her
| dark blue eyes, Swallowed by the heavy
| lashes, looked tired. and her figure
| dropped little as If in utter weari-
| ness.
Its getting pretty hard" she
| thought. Its spring up there. with
| the snow melting into little rivulets,
and the pussy willows out, and the
wind flowers coming. Only the thought
| of Jacks getting well keeps me from
| going mad
| She started little as a CHEEKY hal
| loo greeted her, and she saw riding
down the trail toward her 4 broad
| shouldered, jolly chap in cowboy at
| tire. He wheeled his mustang and
rode beside her.
II was taking jaunt out to tell you
that have almost finished my work
| and must fly eastward again"
"Oh. that is too bad!" cried Eleanor.
The mans fine brown eyes beanled.
''Pve only known you week." he an
swercd, but it's been a mighty pleas
| ant week.
Jack VIII miss you" said the girl
The man eyed her silently she's
wearing herself out" he thought II
wish ! could take her away from
here. Burwell's nearly strong enough
to go 1t alone now. Gads! She's
| beauty
Eleanor wiped the alkali dust from
her face and told him the reason for
her trip to town
Rather hard on you" commented
Hartley.
Eleanor smiled but said nothing,
and they rode for some distance in ST.
lence, Hartley's gaze scarcely leaving
for an instant tie dropping profile be-
side him.
81 wonder" he thought, "if she real
ICES that she's never told me n word
of herself who she Is or--by the Lord
Harry, if she'd have me I'd marry her
tomorrow even if they both came from
founding asylum"
BY this time they were riding M the
street of the dirty little Mexican village.
whose inhabitants were too absorbed in
the sight of the .\mericanos to move
from beneath the horses feet until
urged to do so by Hartley in Il patois
that made up in vigor what it lacked
in lucidity.
The Yankee store was the only frame
building for miles around 1t was
OWNED pE IN enterprlSlng Ncrmonter
who was making a small fortune in the
lazy little town where money went
faster than it came
Hartley tied the horses and they en-
tered the store. inst as they stepped
within the door 1t slammed shut vio-
lently behind them and the tremor of
its impact shook the entire building.
The st0rekecper, the only other person
in the dusky room. looked up in sur
prise that quickly changed to alarm.
The tremor instead Of ceasing in
creased
What's the matter?" he cried. run
mig 10 the front Of the store.
Il don't know" replied Hartley. IF
wore NJ north ~ think Il was n
,lynamit" blast bur
Here the crockery in the window cIat-
tered ard a roll of turkey red fell to
the floor.
Its an earthquake cried the Yer
monter. Come on. get out of here
quick" and he made dash for the
knob But the door was fast ana i'm
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