Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1907-12-11
CHAPTER IL.
|EFoRE Dallas reached the er

N-1RH Tor at least some DAYS to
come her work ON the pIowed
strip must cease. Far and wide from
ttersmen 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 a new town
must at once be legally theirs.
When the mules were turned east
ward again Dallas brought them I'D
Tor a breathing spell and. going apart
q 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 succession of uneventful
years whose milestones would be the
growing record of beeves and bushels.
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 lean-to.
She looked across at the shack, squat
ting on gentle rise at the center of
the claim as If it had fed 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 1t the appearance of 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 haR-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 plow So
brief had been her meeting with the
storekeeper that Immediately follow
ing it his features had escaped her
Now she recalled them and thought
that she recalled that when he had &C
coeted her they had worn a mocking
expression. What If her father in his
sudden excitement and concern should
tell Lounsbury that the claim was not
yet filed upop: should confide In this
stranger, who might then take advan-
tage of the ignorance, age and Grip
pied condition of the section boss!
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 81
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 almost
obscured. There was "a ,smirk ON its
twisted face.
But when, entering the house, she
met Lounsbury's kind level look the
distrust she had felt unconsciOusly
vanished.
he was seated astride bench to the
left Of the fireplace, his hat flung down
in front of him, his shoulders against
the wall, his booted legs thrnst out
Festfully across the floor. Dallas, see
ing him out of the saddle for the first
time, was struck by his splendid
length, next by his heayiness-a round
but muscular heaviness that she had
never noted in a Texan. Leaning back
with folded arms, he showed. however,
despite his weight and rotundity, the
pliance and the litheness of the west
erner. His hair was dark and thick
and worn In a careless part, his throat
was bronZed above the lacings of his
shirt, his face clean shaven, somewhat
square, yet full, and set with blue
eyes that showed an abiding CLINT Of
merriment.
If Dallas as she crossed the sill form
ed with the swift keenness of the
plainswoman a new and truer esti-
mate of Lounsbury, he, saluting cor
daily, failed not to measure her. The
dirt floored shack, partitioned by Ma
vajo blankets and furnished with I'M
planed benches, was background to-
tally unsulted TO Marylyn's delicate
beauty, but for the elder daughter of
the section boss its very rude sim
plicity seemed strangely fine and fit
ting.
many "OHieA udu COME uDuer the
storekeeper's notice during his frontier
hfe-roughly reared women of pure
ways who toiled and bore with the pa
thence of beasts, the women Of the
army, matching in dress and habits
those he had known as a boy, and last
OF all the kind that always follows in
the track of soldier, scout and gam
bier. Yet never before on the sun
down side of the Mississippi had he
seen one who possessed along with the
reserve a lonely bringing up enjoins
the dignity and poise that are counted |
the fruits of civilization.
TITS good blood he said to himself,
"and"-with a glance at the section
boss-"it's from the mothers side"
Lancaster at that moment was truly |
n fan hut