Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-11-28

| PlOW Woman !
By ELEANOR GATES.
Author O Biography Of q Prairie Girl"
COPYRIGHT 1906 BY MCCLURE. PHILIPS & COMPANY
By ELEANOR GATES.

Author of THE Biography Of q Prairie Girl. :"

punch?" broke in Lancaster. Huh!
WAL, All never did"
Lounsbury's face dyed to a deep
scarlet. mop" he said. "And why?"
Again the section boss gave shrill.
hooking laugh. TOO fat an too
mouthy," he answered.
For an instant Lounsbury wavered.
In that instant the deep scarlet faded,
his eyes opened. his nostrils spread.
'Pa! Par 1t was Marylyn, half
weeping.
Lounsbury's cool voice cleared the
air. I'm Bismarck man." he said
to the evangelist I've got store
there My name is John Lounsbury."
He held out his hand to Dallas.
She advanced again and took it. "Oh,
thank you, thank you," she breathed.
bismarck man." 1t was LancaS-
ter once more WAL. wy the devil
don v stay thar?"
Lounsbury took no notice of him.
I'll be hooting it," he said TO Dallas.
But if can do anything, you under
stand" and went out.
David Bonds keen eyes studied the
elder girl. He expected an outburst
of anger and blame. He was sur
priscd when, without speaking. she
brought the benches to the fire and set
about clearing the table. Lancaster
seated himself and sucked modify at
his pipe. Marylyn fitted behind him
to disappear through the swinging
blankets. The evangelist walked up
and down.
1t was not long before the silence
told on the section boss and forced him
to talk EFF you-all got anythin' t
say" he snarled presently, ~ might
as well spit it out"
No one answered.
.'Ah got jes' this t. say" he contin
| ued: "Ah amt goin' t hev no Iubber
O. storekeeper slaverin' aroun' my
gals
Again no one answered. but David
Bond as he watched Dallas question
ingly determined to be silent no longer.
He paused in his walk. MY friend
he said solemnly. you talk like mad
man. For shame!"
Dallas stood stock still, her eyes
warning him. But it was too late.
Her father snickered. drew on his
pipe once or twice and then grinned up
at the evangelist. '.Its gittin' light
| outdoors" he s4lid significantly. "Ah
| reckon " could cross tn river"
! And so David Bond and the white
horse went the way of Lounsbury.
| Nearly an hour passed before the
section boss addressed Dallas. "Waal,
| wal, waal?"
She was wrapping up to do the morn
ing chores. lust as well, guess
dad" she said YEARLY. 1.-THE meal
and bacon's pretty low. I've been
cooking out of the seed sacks lately"
| 9TH meal an bacon's got T. las" he
answered. Use tn seed eff v want t.
an don give tibet Injun so much. We
shan't asst tick O. no lallygaggin. do-a
| grapevine-twist dandy"
J Dallas sighed, found Marylyn to kiss
her and gratefully breasted the chill all
| beyond the door.
His dismissal from the shack brought
no hardship upon David Bond. He
found an old acquaintance in Colone
Cummings who joyfully greeted hin
as interpreter in the absence of Mat
thews. He found familiar faces among
the hostages, whose sullen reserve il
his presence he laid to their imprison
ment At barracks the enlisted mel
chaffed him mischievously, christenet
him "Methuselah' and installed hin
as official doom sealer" of the post
But when he passed them by to Civ,
every hour of his days and nights t,
young Jamieson-young Jameson, bat
Ting with all his might against col
lapse-the men ceased chatting and lis
tened to him with respect. A crank OF
religion was one thing, man with on
eye on the Bible and his sleeves role,
up for hard duty was another. TIL
troopers cared little for sermonizing
but they honored service. Then,
was Jameson for whom the evangelis
was caring. And Jameson held tn
: very heartstrings of the garrison.
AS for Lounsbury, Brannon enter
tanned him no less gladly. His was tn
: rare good humor that enlivens ever
occasion. He practiced at target shoo
: ing with the enlisted men; he playe
billiards with the officers; he dinet
! made up sleigh rides, lent himself
theatricals, furnished fourth at card
and at the frequent dances led OF
=, homely and pretty alike.
r To David Bond it seemed as IL th
| storekeeper were Indifferent to his ow
dismissal from the shack. But on
morning the evangelist accidental
came upon the younger man. He wa