Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-02-01
-. BY.

"Nt'piiNttN ouN tiIt ih:sis bh.'h Cii
AIMS face and hastily turned the con
versation into less personal channels.
Thus every influence swept her to-
ward dislike of the wounded mans
very name. aud thereafter she ignored
bis presence In the house, his being in
She neither asked after his health nor
replied to any report OF question made
by her brother concerning HIM
Louis brought 10 Raymond one day
a small limp book in red leather. which
he prolfcred with the air of giving a
gem.
Whats this?' asked Raymond.
Your diary"
No; my fathers. He was out here
before | was born, when the Indians
We're here
Raymond opened the volume with
languid interest. but soon realized that
he was looking inro the past through
the eyes Of a poet. Part Of it was writ
ten in ink very lcgibly, but in fine
running hand. while other of the pages
were hastily scrubbed in pencil and
not 10 be easily deciphered Plainly the
record had been made under great dis
advantages and in the field. The inks
We're Of various colors, some watery
blue. some dusty black.
Louis opened the book at the front
wherein the picture of a slender, smil-
ing. handsome young fellow in som
brero and hunting clothes had been
pasted
"He enjoyed his new hat, didn't he?"
said Raymond, to whom the essential
incongruity of the refined face and Dor
der ruffian toggery first appealed.
You're the image Of your father?" he
added, looking keenly at the boy. 'He
don't look much older in this picture,
taken at sylvanite. Well, Sylvanite was
a wild town In those days. is there
much about it in the book?"
Ten pages. He wrote page of
fine script every day, but don't care
SO much for that-these stage rides,
and the big canyons, and crossing the
rivers, and the Indians-he saw lots Of
1ndians-the Utes-these are what in
terest me-"
Raymond became profoundly inter
ested in this book. There was an ap-
peal in the closing entry which touched
him profoundly. The entry was head
ed 1.-The Last View" and closed with
these words: II love my home and my
friends in the east but this primeval
world has laid its spell upon me. l
shall come again next year"
ibid he come again?" asked Ray
mond.
mo-" answered Louis sadly And
it was soon evident to Raymond that
the lad knew very little Of his father
beyond the message in the worn little
book.
Leave this with me, Louis. want
to read it all" he said. And the boy
was glad of this interest.
Mrs. Barnett came in later and ask
ed, what are you reading?"
'It is a journal kept by Louis IA
Their. Did you know him?"
"oh, very well! He was my favor
lite uncle"
'1Tell me of him. Who was he-how
did he come to make this trtp?"
Mrs. Barnett took a comfortable seat
81 don't know where Uncle Phil got
his streak of sentiment. He was one
of six brothers, all successful bust
ness men; keen, practicaEyou know
the kind. But Phil-well, he was the
odd sheep-he always seemed q boy
to me. He worked in the bank, but
his mind was on other things. don't
remember how they came to send him
out here, but I can recall perfectly
the effect he had on me when talking
of his trip. He glorif1ed this country.
He saw the mountains as the old time
landscapists pictured them. When l
first came wept with disappointment,
the range seemed so prosaic by con-
trast. He talked Of nothing else for
year. Then he married and gradual
ly ceased referring to his experiences"
"He never came again, Louis tells
me-"
"No. His wife was not the kind Of
girl to go west. 1 don't want to say
anything severe about Alicia, but she
made Phil very unhappy. When Ann
was born Phil wanted to call her Hes.
per, in memory of his trip to the west,
but Alicia cried out against it. 1t was
an odd name, but it was pretty, and
there was no reason why the father
shouldn't have had his wish, but that
was her way. She was cold and selfish
even in her honeymoon. l never saw
such a girl. Phil went with her to
every fashionable resort in Europe, but
she not merely refused to make O. trip
into his Hesperian mountains, but she
wouldn't let him go. He used to get up
into the Adirondacks now and then,
remember, but only for day or two.
Oh. how exacting she was. After Louis
was born she grew worse. She became
never could see that she had
q particle of maternal affection. 1t
Ann isn't like her it is because Pills
blood is in her veins. Louis is exactly
as Phil was, as l recall him when
saw him first"
You say the father called her Hes
per?" pursued Raymond. acuteiy inter
ested In all that concerned Ann.
ut was his pet name for her. Few
people knew 1t. l don't think Louis
knows it. for Ann considered the name
absurd as She grew older and neyer re-
fers to it. I think it is q pretty name,