Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-02-06

roboration. From sunup till taps Of
the previous day Charley had flesned
| at the hide OF an elk, the SCARED fury,
| Afraid of a Fawn, hanging over him
| the while. Both nights from taps on
| he had watched outside the lodge occu-
pied by the bag and an Indian girl.
Captain oliver crossed to the bend
to tell Dallas his results. Matthews
has witnesses who know where he was
every minute Of the time" he said.
Undoubtedly he had no active part In
this affairs"
"He knows about 1t, though she
answered.
"That would be hard to prove"
| Before he went the captain proposed
certain defensive improvements for the
shack. She accepted them gratefully.
Later carpenter nailed thick cleats
across the warped door, and the post
blacksmith put heavy lashes of iron
over the eyes Of the shack.
At nightfall detachment landed on
the east bank, divided and went Oh
scout in opposite directions. 1t was
only part of divers plan OF guarding,
for he did one thing more-spoEe plain
ly to Matthews In regard to the bend.
81 advise you to relinquish all claim
to the Lancaster place" he said. II
shall allow no warning on girls"
Matthews gave his promise.
During the first few days that fol-
lowed Marylyns heart beat pendulum
like between grief and dread. 1t was
grief when in Il moment Of forgetful-
ness she found that she had set the Ia
BILE for three or when, missing her IA
Their sorely--for in the past year he
had been much with her-she spoke of
him to Dallas. At such time, with
sweet impartiaity, she mourned him
as sincerely as she had mourned her
mother. But at night, when the de-
tachment came back from its scouting,
the hunt had been successful and the
troopers should ride across the prairie
to the shack door bearing something
solemnly home.
Those first days past. however, the
sharp edge Of her sorrow. together
with her fears, wore gradually away.
She had the elastic spirit of eighteen,
and she was impatient of this new
heartache. which possessed none of the
romantic qualities of the old. A doubt
Of her fathers death, fostered ~ Dal-
las, grew until It became conviction.
He had been taken away or he had
fed; he would return. Meanwhile,
though nothing could have induced her
to leave the shack after dark, 1t fret
ted her sorely that in the daytime she
was not permitted to 60 as far as the
grove.
That restriction was the only hard.
ship that the elder girl allowed the
younger to bear. Dallas believed tha
their father had come to mortal harm
but she never shared that belief will
Marylyn.
I'VE got to keep stiff upper lip
baby sister" she would say, with al
encoura ging pat. And her smile wa!
always hopeful and cheering.
Mrs. Oli7e came daily and spent he
time with Marylrn. She did not fee
that Dallas needed buoying-
quiet, self poised and stanch. Yet al
the while the elder girl was CROWN.
wan under the strain, for having giver
generously Of her strength there wa
no one from whom in turn she nigh
: take And so her thoughts came Otter
to be OF the one who had faithful.
watched over them, how faithful.
shown by the fact that catastrophe
had followed swift upon his leaving
= And in her heart she cried ont 70
= him.
+ The tragedy on the bend furnished
4 nine days wonder for Brannon, bu
q the garrison felt little grief over Il
. Lancaster had earned their dislike b.
! insults open and yelled and by his dc
a termination to cut his family off fror
every friendly influence. The enliste
! men were even inclined to treat hi
e disappearance facetously. When the
: heard about the pole they declared tina
e in his fright over it he had fired sho
: cut a finger broken a crutch and 81
out One wag announced that th
section boss was mired in some aka
mudhole: another, that he had bee
bitten by polecat a third compose
e some dOggerel lines in which Lancaste
was described as having gone love
g the range" Notwithstanding this til
troopers had deep sympathy for the b.
:. reaved girls.
Oliver, never too popular, they score
roundly for his treatment Of Matthew
and vowed to the latter that he ha
e ample grounds for walking of nm
h leaving the whole shooting match b,
Matthews gently chided them, remin,
d Ing them that any moment an int
f prefer might be badly needed. Flu
thermore, he said, he would disregar
the unfairness shown him, for he kne
L his duty.
Brannon was still asking who ar
why and how in the Lancaster affa
when Squaw Charley discovered an
y showed to Captain Oliver the test
] mony that had in some way escape
10 the scout. Under a willow clump {
% the beach before Shanty Town was
III we'll defined mark in the sand, V sha
ed, long and quite deep, 1t was Il
lie mark left by the PROV Of a boat tn
b. had been pulled out Of the water ar
y hidden at the rivers edge. It was
IF most certain proof Of the route take
going and coming, by Lancaster's q
he sailant.
I'd But no absolute facts were uneart
ed AS the days slipped by this cru