Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1907-12-25

time The rest was ia ken by the meals,
the chores and the effort of keeping
warm. The line of calico covered books
helped to vary the monotony, So did
the visits of Squaw Charley But these
were becoming more brief now. Not
that Lancaster made them unpleasant
Charley was necessary to him-but
that the Indian was always in a fever
to be gone. Since the council his eyes
were less downcast, his face was less
stolid.
One day brought a totally unexpect-
ed visitor, whom Lancaster recognized
with some misgivings as the United
States land agent at Bismarck. The
section boss was soon treasured, how
! ever. The agent said that. having bust
/ ness near Brannon and remembering
that Lancaster wished to file an entry
on the bend when the first claimants
six months were up, he had come by
In the case of man who was hurt, he
said, the law allowed such q course
! The section boss, thus saved the ardu-
GUS trip, signed the necessary papers
with a jubilant mark.
| Then came old Michael for a time or
two. 1t seemed at first as If he were
to be a favorite. He could adapt him
self with all the art Of his race And
before Lancaster he was intensely
/ southern in his views. whipping the
north In many a broguey strife Until
! it befell through a slip of the tongue
"a slip that sent him packing off, for
he boosted how in $50 his freckled
hands had helped in plotting the Fed
erals to Island No 10!
! 1t was an outcome that gave Dallas
! little concern. Marylyn was her wor-
| ry. The younger girl was listless, pale
and moody. Now and then Dallas be-
! lieved she saw look of actual suffer
ing in her eyes. Once, awakening in
'the night. she heard her sob.
Marylyn was unhappy, and the
thought made the elder girl desperate
This led her to plan: Lounsbury must
be asked to forgive their father and
come again-must be told of Marylyn's
confession.
Soon afterward second worry pre-
scented itself, one fully as serious. The
provisions were dwindling, the seed
sacks shrinking fast, and, estranged
from Lounsbury, they had nowhere to
ask credit but at the fort.
When Dallas spoke of 1t to her IA
Their, he chuckled. "Waal, we got ST.
mon, amt WEI" he said.
That same night Marylyn put down
her fork and stared across the table at
her sister. "Why, Dallas, you don't
eatp' she complained.
Dallas laughed. IT don't work, hon
! ey," she answered.
The question of fuel entered next
and became a grave one. So far the
weather had been fairly mild for the
place and the season. Now 1t took a
more rigorous turn. The bitter cold
was intensified by a stiff wind. Snow
began to fall, and the wind. growing,
drove the fakes level, so that they cut
the face like filings of steel CharIey's
trips became uncertain, then impossi-
BILE. The work of getting out hay for
the stock was a desperate tax. 1t was
so difficult. that Dallas dared not spare
a straw for the fireplace, and Ben and
Betty's manger hard to be drawn upon
LOL "OOd. w hCI VI supply
failed, the benches were sacrificed one
by one, the cupboard was torn down,
and the bunk and part of the table
were split into kindling.
The family slept shoulder to Shout
der before the hearth, with the brave
colored blankets of the partition for
extra covering. Lancaster and the
7 orfr cfo TN ha6 on NP kIa
twenty-four hours. Dallas got up only
long enough to tend the animals and
prepare food. But day came when
she could not make her way to the
lean-to and when the warped door
could not be opened in the teeth of the
raging storm. Toward noon she
cooked some food, however. The seed
sacks were empty. There was no rice
and no -four. While the blizzard
howled without and Simon and the
mules called pitifully for their fodder
! and drink, she broke up what was left
| Of the table. Over its blaze the last
smitch of bacon went to SAVIOR the
last pint of beans.
| After the meal Dallas read aloud.
Lying down, she held her book In one
hand until her fingers were blue with
cold, then changed to the other. Fa-
Their and sister drowsed, and she put
the story aside to study over the pre-
dicament, In which she felt herself at
fault. Counting on billiards., but know
ing nothing of their duration, she had
determined to say little about their
needs until those needs pressed. when
she knew, her father would see their
extremity. The extremity had come.
/ Yet, willing or unwilling, Lancaster
was cut off from seeking help.
That day closed in fearful cold The
wind was becoming a furious gale,
Sturdily the log house withstood It,
Only the roof seemed threatened. With
each great blast 1t lifted a little, as If
on the point of whirling away, but