Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-12-03
COPYRIGHT. 1905. MCCLURE. PHILLIPS e COMPANY.
CHAPTER XVII.
By LEANOR GATES.
Author of 1.-THE Biography of a Prairie Girl"

winter encroached greedily
ss=S-SS.:z,.sl upon spring. The latter end
Szz.l Of March the weather did not
moderate. Instead the wide valley be-
came channel for winds that We're
weighted with numbing sleet. Then
April returned angrily. bringing cold
rains and blows to check all vegeta-
ton.
But April half gone. a tardy thaw
set in. The icy covering of the river
split into whirlng blocks, the snow
grew soft and Bally, the crust rotteG
and picked up, Soon the tempering
sun drove the drifts from south eX-
pOsures, when freshet coursed down
the couIee and the low spots on the
prairie filed until they We're broad
ponds, around which the migrating
wild fowl alighted with joyous cries.
Now caves dripped muscaily, sluShy
wagon rutS ran like miniature MissOu-
ris and were Travelled by horny frogs,
prairie cocks made each dawning
weirdly noisy, and far and near where
showed the welcome green blue eyed
anemones sprang bravely and tossed
Throughout this season the shack
had but one visitor-SquawC Charley He
brought fuel ana once a week Il basket
of supplies from "B troop" Occasion
ally he came swinging Il brant by the
neck or carrying Il saddle of fresh ven
lson; but, though his manner was as
friendly as ever and he seemed no less
grateful and devoted, he was always
strangely worried and distraught. The
evangelist called by once or twice
when storms or the rushing ice pack
in the river did not prevent his cross
ing. AS for Lounsbury, lie traversed
the bend often OH his way to Brannon.
and if he saw face at window
waved his hand in pleasant greeting,
but he kept to the road.
Since the morning of the aurora the
little family had ceased to speak OF
him. That silence was neither de
manded by the section boss nor agreed
upon by the three. On Lancaster's
part it grew out of the sneaking con
seriousness of the ingratitude he did
not regret. On the part Of Marylyn ii
arose from two causcS-a sense of girl
ish shame ut having confessed her at
tachment and fear that her father
would discover it, With Dallas, con
SderatiOn for the feelings of her sister
made her shrink from mentioning
Lounsbury. Yet there was another rea
son. and one no less delicate-she, as
well, had Il secret to guard.
But in the mind of the elder girl the
thought Of Marylyn's happiness was
the uppermost. There We're dread mo
ments when it seemed TO her as if-that
happiness were to be shattered
During all the past weeks Marylyn
had carefully harbored her fancies
about Lounsbury. Certain of the calico
covered books on the mantel had no
little part in this. Their stories of I'm
dying affection-of bold men. lorn
maidens and the cruel villains who
gloried in severing them-helped her to
fit her little circle into proper roles.
She loved and must crush out her pas
sion. Lounsbury, whom she loved,
had been sent away by her father, and
she lived up to the play consistently
She saw the stOrekeeper apguished over
his Punishment; saw depths of mean
ing in the good natured salutes he gave
the shack. With herself, she accepted
loneliness as Il sign of deeper suffering
She was tortured by self pity. by the
doubt she had flung at Dallas, by the
firm belief that her heart was hopeless
ly fettered. Gazing into a piece OF
looking glass that served her for mir
ror, she marked with sorrowful pride
her transparent skin and lusterless
eyes. She sighed as she watched from
the windows. Patiently she listened
for footsteps, her face half turned tC
the door.
And yet what she took so ira gically
was nothing but failing health. What
was not a fact the night of her admis
sion to Dallas, was almost come &c
pass. The few days of great cold and
hunger in February, coupled with long
confinement III the dirt 6oored house
were having their effect. She was OF
the verge of illness.
Lancaster, whenever he noticed hel
detection, was inclined to pOohpooh it
''She looks as eff she'd jes' been slap
ped" he declared, AN is expectin' an
other lammin' any minnit Eff she'd cry
she'd shore weep lemon juice" Again
he reckoned that she had picked VI
'"some notion" Jealous and suspicious
as ,he was. however. he got no nearer
the truth.
But Dallas-she was misled far more
than either Marylyn or their father
She fought away from the idea tha