Amador ledger., 1908-03-06

A Christmas AID.

Ned Bucklins parents, desiring to in
auencc their son for what they deemed
his good, desired that instead Of fol-
lowing in their footsteps as farmers
he should go to college and study
profession But Ned had become in
volved with Alma Blodgett. Il farmers
daughter and although she urged him
to act upon his fathers and mothers
advice he insisted Ola an immediate
marriage, which was equivalent to re-
naming on the farm. This set his par
ents to trying to break up the match,
and. failing to do so, they continued to
work with view to Il separation OF
the young married couple till they Sc
cured the result they desired.
Five years after the separation Ned's
parents were both dead. Ned now re-
allied that great mistake had been
made. lie had divorced his wife at
their instgation, and they had gone
to their long home leaving him in his
loneliness. Alma had only consented
to a divorce on condition that she keep
the children, Il boy and n girl She
was a plucky woman and supported
herself and them. Her husbands fa-
Their to secure the divorce had settled
a few thousand dollars on her. which
by thrift and good investments she
Increased. But no sooner had the sep
aration taken place than. taking her
children, she left the location where
she had been made unhappy and gave
no inkling as to where she was going.
Soon after the death of his parents
Ned began to search Cor his wife and
children. He hunted six years with
out success Then. hearing of the adj
vantages of farming on the lands
wrested from the great American des-
ert in Dakota, he sold his farm, went
there. bought land and began once more
under new conditions. But neighbors
were few and far between. and the
man was lonely. During the days he
was occupied, but on summer evenings
the chirp Of insects sounded loud and
melancholy, while the winds in winter
howled about his shack and made him
desolate. At last he could stand it no
longer He advertised for a wife, in
his ad. giving a brief summary of the
conditions Of his marriage and divorce.
Among the replies he received was
one signed "Widow" that struck him
more forcibly than any of the rest,
though he had little confidence in any
Of them. widow" wrote from point
not far distant She had come to Da-
kota to farm with her three children.
The only difficulty she labored under
was that she was a woman. A man
was needed on the premises. She
would either sell her farm to unite
with good practical man. or If it APP
peared to be more eXpedient the man
could sell out and join her.
Bucklin was rather pleased with the
tone of the letter, though the hand
writing indicated an uneducated per-
son. 1t was some time before he made
any reply, for he could not bear to
give up all hope of finding his wife
and children. When his crops were in
and Christmas was approaching he
wrote for particulars which would en-
able him to visit the widow. She re-
piled that he would find her in a GER
tain township midway between two
settlements, and since her shack was
the only one within five miles he
would not be likely to miss it. She
suggested that If he could come at
Christmas she would have more time
to make his acquaintance. since she
had planned her work to have few
days at that time comparatively free.
She also asked that if he lived near a
town he would bring a few things for
the children for Christmas. inclosing n
list of what she wished and a post
Office order to cover the expenditure.
Bucklin wrote that he would visit her
the day before Christmas, but return
ed the postOffice order.
After writing the letter he fell to
thinking that he was about to go on
FOOLS errand. He pictured the widow
old and ugly. She had admitted that
she was middle aged, which with a
woman he thought would mean at
least fifty. Then the children would
! be an objection. The sight of them
would continually remind him of his
own little boy and girl, who must be
now something like fourteen and
twelve years old respectively, and he
would hate these youngsters, in whom
he had no interest lie wrote the
widow frankly the story of his mar
riage and divorce, admitting that, al
though he was desperately lonely, he
could never be happy except with his
J own wife and children
Christmas came 1t was crisp
morning. Buclilin was awakened by a
ray of sunlight shooting through a
crack. The first thought that struck
him was that somewhere his boy and
girl were dancing over their gifts, He
gave groan, turned over and after