Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-12-02
In Memory of
Tom Satan
By SHANNON BIRCH.
Copyright, by Shortstory Pub. Co..

life or Seafar1ng man IOr many years
before resigning the cramped quarters
of a-shipboard for the wide acres CT
a Kansas homestead
1t was in the spring of 1869 that
the one-time mariner, departing from
the sea, had homesteaded the north
east quarter of section II, township
three, south; range three, east, in
Thomas county, Kansas-160 acres,
mSre or less, according to government
survey. At that time he was 40 years
old.
Elminta Minerva was SO, when, in
the fall Qf the same year, she had left
New England for the west, and home
steaded the southwest quarter of Sec
ton II, township three, in the afore-
said county of Thomas, and state of
Kansas, containing $50 acres, more or
less, according to government survey.
1t is hardly necessary to state that
Jonas was Irish, and Elminta Miner
va, Yankee.
Both had been heart-whole until this
date.
A half section of prairie inhabited
by two souls animated by the same
aim should produce, in perfection, the
conditions of rural romance. Such
were the conditions in this instance,
and as was to be expected, Jonas and
Elminta Minerva fell in love. The
utilities, however, were not to be for
gotten, and the marriage day was
postponed until each should, in home
steader language, have proved up;
they would then be the owners of
half section, rich domain for them
and their successors.
Between the one-roomed, white-cur-
tanned cottonwood dwelling of the
spinster settler and the windowless
dugout of her bachelor lover lay half
mile of Kansas prairie; and midway
intersecting the beaten path, ran the
Solomon, a three-rod wide stream of
clear water, with bottom iI. patches
of sand and pebbles. On either bank
was a growth of willow and elm, cot
tonwtad and wild plum, that made a
May day on the Solomon a pleasant
epoch in life In crossing this stream
-as was his daily custom--Jonas
used ford which lay, not as the crow
flies, between his abode and that Of
his beloved, but at an angle with
each dwelling-this because of the
shallow fording at that point.
The time for proving up the claims
was now fast approaching. Nor had
the years these two had waited been
by any means without fruit. With
money saved from his seafaring days,
Jonas had fenced his land, and other
wise added to it's attractiveness. He
had also broken the sod of 80 acres
for corn planting.
To Elminta Minerals claim also
had been added many improvements,
provided for from a frugal fund hoard
ed from years Of school Naching, and
the remainder of this sum, together
with the yearly yield from an indus
triolIs flock of hens and two well-pre-
served COWS, combined to make for
her a degree of prosperity that need
ed only a receipt of deed for her
homestead, and marriage with Jonas,
fully to round out her happiness.
jonas, sometimes on a June even
ing, would linger along the path to
Elminta Minerals, dreaming of love,
his ear intent on the song of the vel
low-crested meadow lark At such
times the air was undoubtedly translu
eCent.
But upon this state of primeval con-
tentment and reasonable hopes one
blot existed In spite OF his love Of
the sky and sense of relationship with
nature, Jonas felt an ineradicable dis
trust for one of the humblest of all
created things-namely, Elminta Mi
rerva's black cation Satan. This
too, in spite of the fact that the ami
NAL was the pet and companion of his
spinster neighbor,
Taa Satan" was the addition Of Jo-
mas, who thus signified his belief in
the animals malign influence upon
two lives that were meant to be joined
If not upon two farms as well. To
be sure, his predictions of disaster
had not yet been VERIFIED but what
of this marriage in the spring, where
by all these years of toll and waiting
should be crowned? Who could tell
but that Tom Satan waited and hun
gered for this opportunity?
It was in vain that Tom Satan
would arch his back and rub against
Jonas bootleg, inviting a friendship
that he thought ought to exist after
SO many years of acquaintanceship
The other ostentatiously repealed all
such advances.
Csn this special day Jonas remained
longer than usual and when he started
home the sun was below mid-after-
noon. For this reason he did not take
his usual path, but instead made
bee line through the pasture, striking
the river down stream for the ford.
Upon reaching the bank he tucked his
trousers legs into his boot tops and
stepped into the water, there running
not more than four inches deep. The
soft sand yielded slightly, but Jonas,
CT