Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-11-05
By ELEANOR GATES,
CHAPTER ".
author of 1.-THE Biography Of Prairie Girl.

oI lne cavalry. scarcely were
fssz1sSsss55 the Indians safe in the stock
ks.s-Egk ade and the troopers once
more in barracks when some first flakes,
like down plucked by the wind from
the breasts of the southwark Fastening
wild fowl, came floating out of the sky.
Soon the long sumac leaves on the
coulee edge We're dropping under Il
crystalline weight, the black plowed
strip was blending with the unplowed
prairie, and the shock head of the cot
tonwood shack was donning q spotless
nightcap, and so heavy anu ceaseless
was the downfall that at supper time
the sweet trumpet notes of retreat"
a covered plain.
When morning dawned the heavens
were cloudless, and the laggard sun as
it rose shone with binding glory upon
peaceful miles. Nowhere was q sign
of wallow, path or road, ana the coulee
yawned, white Tipped. Even the Mis-
souri, was not unchanged, for away to
the northwest there had been u mighty
rainstorm, and the murky river tum-
bled by in waves that We're angry and
swollen.
Since his early boyhood the section
boss had not known snow. Before the
previous day Dallas and Marylyn had
never seen it. 1t was with eXclamat
tons of delight. therefore. that, crowd
ing together in the doorway. the three
first caught sight of the gliStening
drifts.
''Pa, it's like a Christmas cardr
cried the younger girl, and. barehead-
ed, she ran out to frolic before the
shack.
To Dallas the scene had a deeper
meaning. Here was what would dis
courage and block any one who had
put off necessary improvements! And
this would last long after the expira-
ton Of that six months. II guess
therell be no building or blowing
now" she said TO her father happily.
He, fully as relieved, returned u con-
fident assent
A little later old Michael, the ferry
man, drove by, breaking track along
the blotted road. His ancient cordu-
roys. known to every river man from
Bismarck to Baton Rouge, were hidden
beneath layers of overcoats. Through
lar, two wide holes gave him outlook: a
third and smaller aperture was filled
by the stem of a corncob pipe. He
was headed for the cattle camp. the
lines over a four-in-hand hitched to
three empty wagons. third team tied
to the tailboard of the hindmost box.
On the arrival of the saloon gang
the pilot had left his steamboat in the
hands of his two helpers and made bis
way to Shanty Town. There in a
Single hut, percheG atop a whisky
cask and kicking its rotund belly com
placently with his heels, he had wet
a throat, long dry, from the amber
depths beneath him.
With each succeeding glass his OBJ
legations had grown apace. Neverthe
less, for a lifetime of rough service
had brought about an immunity thai
belied his Celtic blood, his brain re
manned clear, his step steady and his
eye unbleared. Thus it happened tina
when, cut off from grazing, 1t was nee
essary for the Shanty Town teams tx
be returned at once to Clark's ole
Michael was on hand and in condition
to take them and by so doing wipe
out his drinking account
AS he came opposite the shack Mary
Ign was still running about in thu
snow, while Dallas was sweeping GU
some long, narrow drifts that hat
sifted in through window and doc
cracks. Squirting across at them; b.
recalled all at once heated converse
ton that had taken place at Shant.
Town the afternoon of the southwark
departure of a Dodge City courier
And he shook his head sorrowfuliy.
"Ye'll have yer hams fule befor
long" he advised aloud, cor it's m
that's not good at guessin'." And, lift
ing the front of his cap, he sympathet
ically blew the purple bump tina
served him for a nose till 1t ram
through the crisp air like a throat
bugle.
Farther on as he sat bordering deer
ly and letting the leaders choose thei
course a horseman came cantering tc
ward him and drew rein beside hi
wheel. 1t was Lounsbury, buried t
the ears in a buffalo coat
Sure, it's somethin' important, JOIN
that's a-bringin' We out tday," erie
old Michael roguishly, his brogue dis
closing his identity. Its ayther tile
grams or l-a-a-ydies."
The storekeeDer colored under hi