The Lafayette advertiser. [volume] (Vermilionville [i.e. Lafayette], La.) 1865-19??, 1908-03-06
LIFE
PARTNERSHIP
By ROY NORTON
(Copyright.)

uSTS, udu WCtsSu VI pAosNU'
or suffered, and fed or starved to-
gether. Neither the deserts Eastness,
the mountains ~rugSedress, nor the
forests impenetrabieness a Deen
strong enough to separate them, bat
now that mightier thing, the owe OF
woman threatened to come between.
Singularly enough it all am about,
as good old Hugh Mccarthy, who
owned the claim farther up the canyon,
said, because of the buttin in OF civ
ilization." And Hugh ought to know,
because for ten years he had been
their only neighbor within a days
ride.
The Ahpalino, as it meandered along
the lire trying to find whether 1t
flowed in California or Oregon, wasn't
very rich in gold; lest fair diggin's-
yes, jest fair diggin's," the partners
had truthfully told the forlorn-look-
ing Jim Sands, when he first appeared
on the scene with the woman, then
his wife.
Mr.. and Mrs. Jim, moi hankerin'
much fur riches" staked as their
claim the regulation number OF feet a
mile below. Then, as Hugh said,
Jim had caused a heap of trouble by
gettin' up and dyin'." That was less
than a year after his arrival.
Neither tears nor weeds were af-
fected by the widow; she was a little
toe used to tough luck and a little
too angular and sharp-featured for
either. One of the kind of women who
seem to take nearly everything as a
matter of course and ali in the days
work. But the partners were tender
hearted old fellows. as becomes men
whose lives had been passed out in
Gods good open and from the time
of Sands death their trouble began.
Life with them had assumed great
method, passing along fixed lines and
within definite times. Their routine
being broken upon, through the neces-
ity of "lookin' after the wilder" each
twilight after the days toll. was real
ly the first little crack within the fife.
1t isn't on record anywhere whether
Abner or Ezra was the one who first
thought of going to her assistance, but
it's most probable that both thought
of it at the same time. The effect,
however, was quite obvious.
Now that there was a widow a mile
down the canyon. the grass didn't look
SO nice and the bushes weren't SO
trim, and it didn't take a pair Of field
glasses to find a weed here and there
in the garden. That's what Hugh
said.
1t went on this way quite q while.
until after they had cut wood enough
to run the Sands dere!ict through the
winter and were ready to haul and
pile it in her cache. And in the mean
time the cumulative result was that
both loved the widow, and both want
ed to marry her, and each kept quiet
because he didn't want to hurt his
partners feelings.
The widow was a willing sort, and
would probably have just as soon ac-
cepted one as the other.
One night, after they had trudged
through the darkness to their
cabin, lighted the lamp and taken
their regular seats in regular places
on opposite sides Of it, Abner broke
silence.
"Ezry," he said, with an odd little
Quaver in his voice, you've got to
marry the wilder. / give you my
consent. 'Tain't fair to a woman to
pay her as much attention as you nave
without marryin' her."
Although Ezra wanted nightly to
marry the widow, he didn't want to
leave Abner, and it hurt his heart
that Abner wanted to marry him OF
hathaway
His jaw dropped until his mouth
hung open, his eyes filled to the brim
with tears, and he looked really old.
He sat for a long time and gazed at
the floor, a picture of utter detection.
"Abner." he said, after he could
trust himself to speak, Il amt done
nothin' to you. hev 1? Ye don't want
to get shet Of me-do you?"
Then they both broke down about
as far as they could, neither wishing
to show his emotions to the other, and
ended by discussing the trying situa-
ton from all points Of view. Abner
wasn't altogether frank. though; he
practised deception by insisting that
he didn't love the widow. Their con-
fidence brought forth one result, and
that was-the partition. There had
been 30 many mental reviews Of the
years past that both realized the i'm
possibility Of living under separate
roofs.
They slept In q double-decked bunk,
one above the other, over against the
cabin wall, and long after the smiling
moon had crept over the hillside to
watch tenderly over them through the
night and throw the light Of her peer.
Ing through their window, they tum-
bled and tossed in the shadow Of the
great adventure; Abner because he
vas losing a partner and not gaining
J wife. and Ezra because Of the trial
before him, winning q wife but losing
liner.
The following day Ezra procrasti-
mated, and in the end convinced Abner
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