Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-10-31
CHAPTER II.
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ET

L OF nef 1urrOW Sne knew tlaC
ES--9 for at least some days to
Nas-&4g come her work on the plowed
strip must cease. Far and wide from
tiersmen may have heard of the rail-
roads coming, and their first move
would be, perhaps had been, rush
TO the land office to file upon quarter
sections touching the survey. And SO
no hour dared be wasted before her
father started on his long deferred
trip. The claim on the peninsula-the
claim which the storekeeper had named
as the terminus of the proposed line,
as the probable site for new town
must at once be legally theirs
When the mules were turned east
ward again Dallas brought them up
for a breathing spell and, going apart
little distance. sat down. her knees
between her hands. 4 short space OF
time had made incredible changes in
their plans, in the possibilities of their
prairie home. Before the cutting of
the last two sodS there had stretched
ahead only a succession of uneventful
years whose milestones would be the
but now-she could not have credited
her senses had it not been for a
glimpse of Lounsbury's horse industri-
ouSly cropping beside the Iean-to.
She looked across at the shack. squat
ting on d gentle rise at the center of
the claim as if it had fled there for
refuge out of the grassy sea whose
dry waves Tapped up to its very door
Its two small windows looking river
ward the narrow door OF warped
lumber between and the shock roof of
meadow grass held down by stones
gave it the appearance of Il grOteSque
human head that was peering from out
the plain. As Dallas for the first time
noted the curious resemblance the
shack seemed to smile back at her-a
wise, reassuring smile.
A moment later the north wind
hooded the sky with clouds, putting
the bend in gloom. She got TO her feet
and FASTENED toward the pillow. SO
brief had been her meeting with the
Storekeeper that Immediately follow
ing it his features had escaped her.
that she recalled that when he had ac-
costed her they had Worn a knocking
expression. What if her father in his
sudden excitement and concern should
tell Lounsbury that the claim was not
yet filed upon; should contide in this
stranger, who might then take advan.
tage of the ignorance, age and Grip
&c I,A
Hurriedly she unhitched Ben and Bet
ty, hung their brides on the names
and turned the team loose to Craze
Then she started homeward with ST
mon close upon her heels, and as she
crossed the cloud darkened claim She
glanced again at the shack. Its win
dows were in shadow, its door almos
obscured. There was q smirk on it:
twisted face.
But when, entering the house, sh'
met Lounsbury's kind, level look the
distrust she had felt unconscious!
vanished.
He was seated astride bench to tn,
left of the fireplace, his hat flung dow
In front of him, his shoulders agains
the wall, his booted legs thrust on
restfulIy across the floor. Dallas, see
ing him out of the saddle for the frs
time, was struck by his splendid
length, next by his heaviness-a roun'
but muscular heavineSS that she hat
never noted in Texan. Leaning bacl
with folded arms, he showed, however
despite his weight and rotundity, tn
nIiancp and the lithenpSS of the west
erner. His hair was dark and thic
and worn in a careless part, his throa
was bronZed above the lacingS of hi
shirt, his face clean shaven, somewha
square, yet full, and set with blu
eyes that showed an abiding CLINT G
merriment.
If Dallas as she crossed the sill form
ed with the swift keenness of til
plainswoman new and truer est
mate of Lounsbury, he, saluting co
daily, failed not to measure her. TIL
dirt floored shack, partitioned by \;
vajo blankets and furnished with III
planned benches, was background t.
tally unsuited to Marylyn's delicat
beauty, but for the elder daughter
the section boss its very rude sin
plicity seemed strangely fine and fl
ting.
Many women had come under I'll
storekeeper's notice during his frontit
Thoroughly reared women of pun
ways who toiled and bore with the p;
army, matching in dress and habi